True uncapped ADSL a reality?

By Damian Clarkson for storm

Johannesburg, 01 Sep 2004

Storm has unveiled an ADSL offering that it claims comes with no fine print, becoming the latest Internet service provider to promise true uncapped connectivity.

DataPro introduced a similar uncapped ADSL service earlier this year.

The launches follow controversy over other local ADSL offerings, which had users complaining about "hidden caps" and reliable connectivity issues.

Storm business development manager Dave Gale says users of Storm's new uncapped ADSL - aimed at small and medium enterprises - will not be restricted, regardless of how much connectivity they use.

"There is no limit whatsoever to our ADSL offering. Even if you are downloading 24 hours a day, you will have the same connectivity at the beginning of the month as at the end."

Sports car version

Gale concedes there are still certain concerns associated with ADSL, as uninterrupted connectivity cannot be guaranteed - unlike a leased-line. "In terms of performance, you can think of ADSL as a sports car, and a leased-line as the family saloon. The sports car is much faster, but you can't be guaranteed the same reliability as the latter.

"ADSL promised to fill the gap between dial-up and permanent connectivity and has to a degree but with some irritating restrictions. For example, to run a server on ADSL one needs complicated ways of managing an IP address that keeps changing. Because of this, Storm will offer users a fixed IP address."

Gale says another possible drawback is the fact that ADSL is unavailable in certain areas.

IT professional Roelf Diedericks, creator of the mywirelesssucks Web site, believes ADSL has proved a fairly reliable option. "I have subscribed to DataPro for the last few months, and have found it to be reliable. In total, I have been using ADSL for nearly two years, and down time has been minimal. I think it is a viable option for SA."

'No irritating 3GB limit'

Some services may purport to provide an uncapped offering, but this is not always the case, says Gale. "Telkom has a limit of 3GB, and once you exceed that, you are assigned to an account that is restricted. Basically this means your connectivity will just about stop."

Storm users will still be faced with Telkom's contention ratios, adds Gale. "We can't offer a pure-Storm ADSL. We aren't saying we're improving their service, or making it faster. But we can ensure there is no irritating 3GB limit in place."

While the increasing number of entrants in the ADSL market is a positive occurrence, the reliance on Telkom could be seen as a negative, he says. "It is good to see companies offering bandwidth not completely from Telkom - that's good for competition. But there is a disadvantage in some sense that you're always slightly reliant on the same company.

"But I must say that I think Telkom [ADSL] has been quite reliable."

The Storm uncapped offering will cost R1 500 per month, excluding VAT, says Gale. "However, companies will also need to apply for a Telkom ADSL line for business customers, which costs in the region of R700."

The company has also unveiled a shared leased-line solution for companies requiring less bandwidth - restricted to four users per line - costing R950 per month for a shared 64Kb access or R1 900 for a shared 128Kb, excluding VAT.