Telkom has proudly launched its asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL) offering, saying it expects about 300 000 subscribers for the long-awaited service. Will subscribers rush to sign up? Probably not.
Internet users are already doing the sums and coming to the conclusion that the ADSL service amounts to overpriced hype that still can`t guarantee the high-speed access they dream of.
As sexy as its speed is, for ADSL to be viable you would need to use the Internet for more than 35 hours a month during office hours.
Tracy Burrows, Journalist, ITWeb
Even Telkom concedes that only "discerning Internet and remote users" are likely to opt for ADSL. Traditionally, "discerning" means a very small, high-income market.
Although ADSL is theoretically capable of speeds of up to 8Mbps, Telkom is offering 256Kbps upstream and 512Kbps download without any speed guarantees. The speed limitation is deliberate to control costs. Also keep in mind that the net speed you achieve over an ADSL connection will be dependent on the mercy of both Telkom and the Internet service provider (ISP) you use, instead of just the ISP as in the case of a point-to-point line.
Another downside is that only 1 700 ports will initially be available and users more than 3.5km away from their local exchange, or in areas with poor copper line quality, are unlikely to be approved.
Those who do get a line, face a maximum data limit of 3GB a month, even though that is not supposed to be enforced at first. This is roughly equivalent to downloading the ITWeb front page close to 10 000 times, but amounts to 600 or so songs in MP3 format and only four full-length feature movies compressed for decent quality.
This would be ample for home users, but it may not be enough for hardened Internet addicts who have been awaiting high-speed access precisely because they want to download movies and music on a large scale. Chances are that such users will have to start paying extra if they exceed the limit next year, something they will not take kindly to.
And you need to have fairly ambitious downloading plans to justify the costs of ADSL. Residential users will pay a flat rate of R748 a month for an ADSL line, plus about R250 for ISP charges. The total is about R1 000 a month, without taking into account the R404 installation cost per line and the R2 000 modem, although there are no calls and thus no call charges for an Internet connection. So, two people could go online for (relatively) unlimited access at a cost of around R1 000 a month, which could make it an option for a small business operation that needs more than one hour`s Internet access a day during peak time. It is not viable for home users.
ISDN access comes to about R270 a month, including line rental and ISP charges but excluding call charges. The R700 difference can go a long way towards paying for the phone calls on which you ostensibly save with ADSL. Especially if you opt for the new SurfMore 30 Plus package, which includes line rental and ISP charges with 30 hours of free off-peak Internet calls at R418. That still leaves a fair margin for call costs if 30 hours a month is not enough to feed your online habit, or if you need limited access during office hours.
But you could certainly justify the cost of ADSL if, for some reason, you need 24x7 Internet access. Doing that over a sluggish normal dial-up connection would cost you between seven and eight times more just in call charges and your ISP wouldn`t be too happy with you either.
As sexy as its speed is, for ADSL to be viable you would need to use the Internet for more than 35 hours a month during office hours. If you are a dial-up or ISDN user and pay less than R500 a month for your ISP calls, forget ADSL unless you have cash to burn. And if you are a technical manager looking for a cheap replacement for Diginet, shame on you. You should know better than to subject your users to the vagaries of a network over which you have no control.
[With input from Phillip de Wet]
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