South Africa - Broadband and Internet Market, Overview and Forecasts

Synopsis

South Africa’s Internet and broadband market has finally taken off after years of stagnation due to an expensive operating environment created by Telkom SA’s dominance in the fixed-line and international bandwidth market. Wireless broadband, including 3G mobile data services now rival available ADSL offerings in terms of both speed and price, and have consequently taken the upper hand in terms of subscriber numbers. With its fixed-line network reaching less than 10% of the population, the incumbent has reacted by launching its own 3G network and the country’s first commercial WiMAX service, but various competitors are hard on its heels rolling out the same technology, including second national operator Neotel.

A new converged licensing regime has created hundreds of companies licensed to offer Internet services. There has been consolidation in the sector which is expected to continue.

The arrival of four new international submarine fibre-optic cables in South Africa between 2009 and 2011 has brought down the cost of international bandwidth dramatically. Previously, Telkom had been monopolising access to the only major cable serving the country, SAT-3/WASC/SAFE.

Companies covered in this report:

Telkom SA, Neotel, Vodacom, MTN Network Solutions, Cell C, Atlantic Internet Services, Business Connexion, Internet Solutions, Verizon Business, MWEB, Vox Telecom (DataPro), Sentech, iBurst (WBS, Blue Label).

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Internet market
  • 2.1 Overview
    • 2.1.1 Internet statistics
  • 2.2 Internet demographics
  • 2.3 Community access projects
    • 2.3.1 Microsoft Digital Villages and telecentres
    • 2.3.2 The Smart Cape Access Project
    • 2.3.3 Intel’s ‘World Ahead’ initiative
• 3. South Africa’s ISP market
  • 3.1 Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA)
    • 3.1.1 Internet Exchange Points (IXP)
  • 3.2 Selected major ISPs
    • 3.2.1 Atlantic Internet Services
    • 3.2.2 Business Connexion
    • 3.2.3 Internet Solutions (IS)
    • 3.2.4 MTN Network Solutions
    • 3.2.5 MWEB
    • 3.2.6 TelkomInternet, SAIX
    • 3.2.7 Vox Telecom (DataPro)
• 4. Broadband market
  • 4.1 Overview
    • 4.1.1 Broadband statistics
  • 4.2 ADSL
    • 4.2.1 Major ADSL providers
    • 4.2.2 ADSL tariffs
    • 4.2.3 ADSL2+
    • 4.2.4 ADSL wholesale
  • 4.3 Wireless broadband
    • 4.3.1 WiFi
    • 4.3.2 WiMAX
    • 4.3.3 EV-DO
    • 4.3.4 Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA)
    • 4.3.5 MyWireless (Sentech) – decommissioned
    • 4.3.6 iBurst (WBS, Blue Label)
  • 4.4 3G mobile broadband
  • 4.5 Broadband via satellite
  • 4.6 Broadband over powerlines (BPL)
• 5. Forecasts
  • 5.1 Forecast – Internet users – 2013, 2016
  • 5.2 Forecast – Broadband subscribers – 2013, 2016
  • 5.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
• 6. Related reports

• Table 1 – Internet users and penetration rate – 1999 - 2012
• Table 2 – Broadband subscribers – 2004 - 2011
• Table 3 – Telkom ADSL subscribers – 2003 - 2011
• Table 4 – Telkom SA WiMAX subscribers – 2008 - 2011
• Table 5 – WAPA industry survey – 2006 - 2008
• Table 6 – Sentech MyWireless subscribers – 2005 - 2008
• Table 7 – iBurst subscribers – 2005 - 2011
• Table 8 – Forecast Internet users – 2013; 2016
• Table 9 – Forecast broadband subscribers – 2013; 2016

• Chart 1 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2002 - 2012

• Exhibit 1 – Large ISPA members – December 2010