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Cape Town - Filling the demand for online gamers in South Africa, OpenWeb announced a new package suited to high speed broadband.
The internet service provider (ISP) has introduced a Home Uncapped Plus package suited to online gaming and streaming.
Gamers rely on high speed broadband in order to compete with players both in SA and abroad, and while mobile internet services are ideal for e-mail, social media and web browsing, it is not acceptable for rich media consumption.
The OpenWeb service then fits between the company's two other Home products and has been optimised for video and gaming.
OpenWeb's Home Uncapped Plus pricing starts at R249 for 2mbps (megabits per second) to R1 199 for 20mbps.
SA broadband access
Vodacom has committed itself to rolling out a fibre broadband network should its deal with Neotel get government approval. Meanwhile, MTN has signalled its intention to roll out fibre to the home (FTTH) services as well.
In addition, firms like Vumatel are engaged in offering broadband packages with speeds starting at 4Mbps up to a blistering 1gbps (gigabits per second) .
According to the former department of communications' presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Communications, in 2013, 33.3% of the South African population had internet access.
However, the department (now renamed the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services) submitted ambitious targets of 50% access at 5mbps by 2016, 90% by 2020, and 100% at 10mbps by 2030.
Broadband is seen as critical to economic growth and poverty alleviation. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
How this will be achieved is a significant challenge according to the government's own broadband policy document, South Africa Connect: Creating Opportunities, Ensuring Inclusion South Africa's Broadband Policy.
"Significant growth in the ICT sector over the last decade has not been accompanied by the realisation of the primary policy objective of affordable access for all to the full range of communications services that characterises modern economies," says the policy.
"The slow deployment of fixed broadband services (ADSL), and its relatively high costs, meant that over the last five years mobile broadband rapidly became the primary form of broadband access; rather than providing a complementary service to fixed broadband as it has done in mature economies."
Open networks
In addition, the policy urges that broadband networks in SA be open access so that they facilitate a large number of players and increase competition to provide lower pricing for consumers.
In particular, the policy highlights Telkom's closed network.
"Although a large number of internet service providers can legally provide internet services over ADSL, their ability to differentiate their offerings and service levels is limited by the cost and points of interconnection into the Telkom network."
If you’re a gamer, click here and tell us what broadband services and speeds you need to play online.
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