Fixed-4G isn’t going anywhere — here’s what South African ISPs have planned

Mobile network operators in South Africa have focussed on launching 5G Internet solutions for some time now, but 4G isn’t going anywhere.

MyBroadband asked South African Internet service providers about their plans for fixed-4G products.

Webafrica told MyBroadband that it recently launched a fixed-4G product and planned to play more aggressively in the fixed wireless space.

“We’re looking to play more aggressively in this space as the demand for decent internet outside of Fibre coverage areas increases substantially,” it said.

“We’ve just launched a new MTN Fixed LTE Uncapped product range, all uncapped packages with high fair usage policies to complement our existing Telkom Fixed LTE product range.”

Afrihost told MyBroadband that it currently has no new 4G plans in its pipeline.

Vox Telecom told MyBroadband that it would launch LTE Failover for its fibre-to-the-home customers.

This will work as a backup to its fibre connectivity, switching over to the wireless technology if the fibre connection goes down.

Cybersmart told MyBroadband that it has no imminent plans to expand its mobile products.

We also asked Mweb and Supersonic for comment, but they had not responded by the time of publication.

South African ISPs now have a new upstream provider from which to choose, with Cell C having relaunched its wholesale fixed-4G service in November 2022.

The mobile operator announced the launch in marketing material aimed at ISPs, saying that the launch forms part of its “journey of change” and adding that the new product will create new opportunities for its business partners.

Cell C said its fixed-LTE product is available to ISPs and resellers that sell to the consumer, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), and the enterprise markets.

MyBroadband asked ISPs whether they had plans to use Cell C’s new product, and both Cybersmart and RSAWeb said they have no intentions to resell the operator’s fixed-LTE services.

Cybersmart said fixed-LTE products are not on its list of priorities, with the ISP using the wireless technology as a backup to its fibre products.

On the other hand, RSAWeb said it doesn’t have imminent plans to sell Cell C’s fixed-4G services, with the ISP rather focussing on its existing products on MTN’s network.

Details of Cell C’s plans to relaunch its wholesale fixed-LTE product first emerged in August 2022. It had previously sold the services through Internet Solutions, which resold it to ISPs.

However, Cell C exited the wholesale fixed-LTE market in 2019, attributing its decision to the product no longer being feasible.

Uncapped fixed-LTE from Afrihost, Axxess, Vox Telecom, and Webafrica

Afrihost, Vox, and Webafrica offer uncapped fixed-LTE packages depending on coverage in South Africa.

All three ISPs offer products from Telkom and MTN, providing some diversity in coverage and price points.

Vox Telecom and Webafrica include fair usage policies (FUPs) for all of their uncapped fixed-LTE offerings.

While Afrihost’s Pure LTE uncapped package is also subject to a FUP, it specifies that its uncapped fixed-LTE products on Telkom are not throttled at all.

“No throttling rules apply to Telkom LTE Uncapped packages and you should receive the full speed that you signed up for,” Afrihost’s terms and conditions read.

Across the three ISPs, Axxess and Webafrica offer the cheapest uncapped packages, with prices ranging from R299 a month to R779.

The pricing and limitations of each ISPs uncapped fixed-LTE products are summarised in the table below.

Now read: Telkom warns of massive drop in profits

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Fixed-4G isn’t going anywhere — here’s what South African ISPs have planned