South Africa enters the third millennium with uncapped internet finally enabled

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Article by Marc Aupiais

With an announcement mid March 2010, by major South African internet provider, Mweb, that it would be providing fixed monthly rate, unshaped, uncapped internet service to South African users, at a cheap rate, the South African internet market has since opened up. According to News24, another group OpenWeb, has also since decided to provide a similar service.

Until now, South African internet use has generally been limited to at most a few gigabits’ download per month, and was largely seen as expensive. Sites such as YouTube, or Ustream.tv were seen as luxuries, to be used in moderation, and a small South African news service such as our own, certainly would not have been placing audio of articles online.

In fact, the IT industry had complained of it being very hard to compete internationally. Many South Africans will have noted being cut off from international internet at least once, having surpassed their cap adequately for the punishment to ensue in the previously toe deep internet environment in South Africa.

The move accompanies Mweb’s new internet infrastructure installed nationally, and independent it would appear, from the government Telkom network. The new, cheap internet will certainly be welcomed during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the Republic of South Africa.