Cheapest 1Gbps fibre packages in South Africa

August 8th 2024

Africa, network, South Africa, Telecom News

South African homeowners looking to benefit from the highest available fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) speeds have numerous 1Gbps options from which to choose, with prices starting at R1,049 per month.

Generally, South African households don’t need speeds as high as 1Gbps. However, they are suitable for homes with multiple gamers, several people who want to stream 4K content simultaneously, and remote workers who require consistent connectivity.

Theoretically, a 1Gbps package can download up to 125 megabytes (MB) of data every second.

At these speeds, and assuming you have the correct category Ethernet cable and an SSD with fast data writing speeds, it will take between 30 and 40 minutes to download Ark: Survival Evolved.

According to Game Rant, Ark: Survival Evolved’s 250GB+ file size makes it the largest PC game by file size.

At the same time, downloading a 1.5GB movie will take approximately 12 seconds.

Prices for 1Gbps FTTH packages have dropped significantly since they were first commercially available. Vumatel’s first 1Gbps line — XDSL Uncapped — cost R4,699 when it launched in December 2015.

It was the only FTTH provider at the time offering a 1Gbps fibre line.

Since then, more than ten fibre network operators (FNOs) have launched 1Gbps FTTH packages. These include Frogfoot, Mitsol, Zoom Fibre, MetroFibre, Octotel, Evotel, and Dark Fibre Africa.

Telkom’s wholesale fibre division, Openserve, is one of the few that has yet to launch a 1Gbps FTTH package. However, on a two-year contract, it offers a 1Gbps fibre-to-the-room (FTTR) plan for R2,899 per month.

MyBroadband previously attended a demonstration of an FTTR installation by Huawei at the Mobile World Congress in 2022.

FTTH connections only have a fibre optic cable connection up to the optical network terminal. An FTTR system features long strands of fibre optic cable installed throughout the household to connect Wi-Fi access points in multiple rooms.

This is said to drastically improve Wi-Fi speeds by linking all home hotspots with fibre optic cables.

1Gbps fibre-to-the-home price showdown

MyBroadband compared symmetrical and asymmetrical 1Gbps FTTH packages available from various prominent Internet service providers (ISPs) and FNOs.

Regarding asymmetrical lines, Webafrica offers the best pricing for 1Gbps packages through Mitsol, Zoom Fibre, MetroFibre, Vumatel, and Frogfoot.

The most affordable is Mitsol’s FTTH, with 1Gbps download speeds and 100Mbps upload speeds for R1,049 per month.

South Africans who require higher upload speeds can also get Zoom Fibre’s 1Gbps package with 500Mbps upload for R1,149 through Webafrica.

Other FNOs offer the same Zoom Fibre package. Cool Ideas charges R1,239 per month, while Afrihost charges R1,277.

Vumatel’s 1Gbps FTTH package with 500Mbps upload through Cool Ideas is the most expensive asymmetrical package we compared at R2,429 per month.

The most affordable symmetrical 1Gbps fibre package we compared is Comtel Communications’ offering through Cool Ideas, which costs R1,149 per month.

Once again, Webafrica is highly competitive regarding pricing. Its symmetrical 1Gbps packages with Comtel Communications, Link Layer, Frogfoot, and Mitsol take the second to fifth place spots in the list.

Afrihost’s symmetrical 1Gbps FTTH package on TT Connect’s network is the most expensive at R2,247 per month.

Interestingly, this is still cheaper than the two most expensive asymmetrical packages.

The table below compares asymmetrical 1Gbps FTTH prices from various FNOs and ISPs.

Asymmetrical 1Gbps fibre prices
Internet service providerFibre network operatorDownload speedUpload speedMonthly price
WebafricaMitsol1Gbps100MbpsR1,049
WebafricaZoom Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,149
WebafricaMetroFibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,189
WebafricaVumatel1Gbps250MbpsR1,204
WebafricaFrogfoot1Gbps500MbpsR1,209
Cool IdeasZoom Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,239
AfrihostZoom Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,277
WebafricaOctotel1Gbps200MbpsR1,289
AfrihostMetroFibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,297
WebafricaOpen Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,299
Cool IdeasMetroFibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,359
RSAWebOctotel1Gbps200MbpsR1,375
RSAWebVumatel1Gbps200MbpsR1,395
AfrihostFrogfoot1Gbps500MbpsR1,397
RSAWebEvotel1Gbps100MbpsR1,455
Cool IdeasOpen Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,497
AfrihostVumatel1Gbps250MbpsR1,497
AfrihostOpen Fibre1Gbps500MbpsR1,497
AfrihostOctotel1Gbps200MbpsR1,547
Cool IdeasVumatel1Gbps250MbpsR1,549
RSAWebMetroFibre1Gbps250MbpsR1,695
Cool IdeasThink Speed1Gbps500MbpsR1,699
Cool ideasOctotel1Gbps200MbpsR1,784
AfrihostUnifybr1Gbps200MbpsR1,857
RSAWebVumatel1Gbps500MbpsR2,095
AfrihostVumatel1Gbps500MbpsR2,347
Cool IdeasVumatel1Gbps500MbpsR2,429

The table below compares symmetrical 1Gbps FTTH pricing from various FNOs and ISPs.

Symmetrical 1Gbps fibre prices
Internet service providerFibre network operatorDownload speedUpload speedMonthly price
Cool IdeasComtel Communications1Gbps1GbpsR1,189
WebafricaComtel Communications1Gbps1GbpsR1,219
WebafricaLink Layer1Gbps1GbpsR1,299
WebafricaFrogfoot1Gbps1GbpsR1,309
WebafricaMitsol1Gbps1GbpsR1,309
RSAWebFrogfoot1Gbps1GbpsR1,485
AfrihostFrogfoot1Gbps1GbpsR1,497
Cool IdeasMitsol1Gbps1GbpsR1,499
WebafricaFibre Suburb Networks1Gbps1GbpsR1,499
AfrihostMitsol1Gbps1GbpsR1,547
Cool IdeasLink Layer1Gbps1GbpsR1,599
Cool IdeasDark Fibre Africa1Gbps1GbpsR1,699
WebafricaTt Connect1Gbps1GbpsR1,729
WebafricaLightstruck1Gbps1GbpsR1,749
Cool IdeasFrogfoot1Gbps1GbpsR1,759
Cool IdeasTT Connect1Gbps1GbpsR1,899
AfrihostTT Connect1Gbps1GbpsR2,247

Source: My Broadband

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