KZN businesses migrate to MetroConnect

Johannesburg, 11 Sept 2009

An increasing number of businesses in the eThekwini metropolitan area are turning to the municipal Metro Ethernet fibre network for faster and more reliable Internet access.

Andre Joubert, GM of MWeb Business, which is a reseller of the municipal network, says the company has connected 24 companies of all sizes, but especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to the service in the past eight months.

According to Joubert, the largely fibre-based eThekwini MetroConnect network offers several bandwidth options at rates up to 60% lower than the copper-based Diginet offerings from Telkom. “The bandwidth flowing through the pipes are still the same price, but the reduced cost comes with the actual physical fibre line and putting the line in the ground.”

Joubert explains that when hitting a 2MB [capacity] cap on the Diginet line, companies are required to add another pipe, whereas the fibre line option is much more scalable. He also says the fibre cables are less vulnerable to theft, providing more uptime for users.

“In most instances, our clients have migrated from the standard copper-based Diginet or ADSL lines to the eThekwini Metro Fibre network, which offers improved service levels, higher capacity and reduced costs. Our own MWeb Durban offices have changed over from an ADSL service to a MetroConnect line, and we have seen a significant improvement in the quality and speed of our service,” says Joubert.

He adds, however, that the high uptake of the service has led to problems with capacity, but notes that the council and MWeb Business are working on these issues.

The next step for eThekwini, Joubert speculates, would be to offer these optimised fibre services to ratepayers. But he says getting fibre to homes is a problem, and wireless access to the network is also an issue as a result of frequency allocation. Joubert remains positive, however, about these services being offered to consumers in the future.

Joubert believes that as the benefits of fibre broadband become apparent and regulatory issues are resolved, the transfer of these benefits to consumers and ratepayers will only be a matter of time.