ADSL users have argued vehemently against the 3GB data cap on Telkom's ADSL, and lately, the Sentech MyWireless "fair use" policy has left customers and prospective clients unsure as to how it will resolve bandwidth-hogging. Both companies have sought to clarify their positions.
Steven White, Telkom executive of new product development, says Telkom's solution protects customers. "The cap we place on users who use a lot of bandwidth helps to ensure the pool doesn't shrink with their actions. When they hit the cap, they can have the same service by buying an additional user name and password from their ISP."
No matter what other criticism it faces, Telkom wishes to position itself as a responsible, reliable network. "We want to provide a consistently good service, and enough of it," says White. "The cap effectively means that the person who does not exceed fair use also does not concede to the person who does over-use the service."
Intelligent network
White's comments point to Telkom's permanent shaping (protocol prioritisation) policy, which gives precedence to protocols that don't harm bandwidth availability. They are http (browsing), smtp (mail) and ftp (file transfer). Excessive ftp use can be harmful, though. Telkom's proactive network monitoring scrutinises this carefully. "Bad" protocols include peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa and Napster, and are not given priority.
Sentech's acceptable use policy (AUP) does not give any details other than simply forbidding "excessive consumption or utilisation of the network as determined in Sentech's sole discretion". It reserves the right to restrict access to the network, increase fees, including upgrading culprits to a higher class of service, or terminate the service.
Maureen Mphatsoe, Sentech's senior external communications manager, says the AUP used in conjunction with IP network monitoring means Sentech is able to assure customers that a handful of abusers do not affect the rest. "These abuses are clearly highlighted on our network and dealt with individually. The other customers will not suffer as a result. Our monitoring is meant to ensure that at worst, all our customers get fair quality of service."
'Not so bad'
White says only 24% of ADSL users use peer-to-peer protocols. Their potential to disrupt the service had been neutralised with the imposition of the cap, and the pool is grown every time one of them upgrades his service, says White. He adds that Telkom has measured less than 20% of its users reaching the 3GB cap.
He says users should also look to other factors when deciding on broadband service provider. "Is there sufficient coverage? Telkom covers 50% of SA, amounting to 90% of our target market," he says. "We are in negotiations to implement a mini-DSLAM (digital subscriber access multiplexer), which will provide broadband access in areas previously deemed uneconomical to equip. Our satellite options mean you have a range of price and bandwidth options, with the lowest at R1 000 per month, for lower entry points."
White also points to the cost-effectiveness of copper infrastructure (Sentech currently only has radio-frequency equipment).
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