iBurst frees 20Mbps ADSL

iBurst has taken on the copper infrastructure that does not belong to Telkom to make the new product work, says Jannie van Zyl, CEO of iBurst.

Newly-appointed iBurst CEO Jannie van Zyl says this is the first in a long line of network-based technologies it will release in the coming weeks. The solution will be entirely free of Telkom's infrastructure and technologies, he adds.

Telkom is the only company with an ADSL network, since it primarily owns the copper infrastructure to the home. Traditionally, operators have bought the access technologies from Telkom, and supplied the ADSL services that run over the infrastructure.

Most companies have been waiting for the release of the last mile infrastructure through the local loop unbundling process. However, the end of 2011 is the earliest the last mile can be expected to be released.

Van Zyl says iBurst was not happy to wait until then to begin a high-speed ADSL service. “Not many people realise that Telkom does not own the entire last mile,” he says.

The trend for local building developers is to lay their own copper infrastructure to gated communities, shopping centres and the like. Telkom does not own that infrastructure, although it has traditionally been asked to connect that copper to its network.

iBurst says it has now taken the initiative and started honing in on the copper that is not owned by Telkom to begin the roll-out of its own ADSL service. Once the local loop is unbundled, the company will take the product to the consumer.

The service that iBurst will push over the infrastructure is ADSL2+, which can reach download speeds of up to 23Mbps and upload of 3Mbps. The company will implement its own multiplexes that will then connect to its own backhaul network.

Telkom reportedly has this technology in place, and Van Zyl says he is not sure why Telkom has not enabled the high speeds yet, although he says he expects to see Telkom's 8Mbps service soon.

The concern for iBurst is that Telkom could switch its own ADSL2+ into overdrive and begin full-scale roll-out of its own competing service. However, Van Zyl says: “If we prompt them to bring faster access to SA, then the rest of the industry can buy us a beer.”

iBurst has been through a tough year, undergoing an intensive restructuring process. As part of the restructuring, Van Zyl aims to reposition the company as a “serious network provider”.

The new service will place it well on the path to attaining its network provision goal, since it has an extensive local microwave backhaul network, coupled with various other access technologies, like fibre and satellite.

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