Star status

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 9 April 2007

Internet Solutions (IS) is gaining star status in the broadband community because of the generous local usage allowances on its ADSL accounts.
 
“IS ADSL offering has a soft cap, so when the client uses the initial component, we find that based on the fact that they have connectivity to IS, the local component should still be allowed to be delivered to a certain extent. The total cap is based on international trends and user requirements, looking at what the typical user would require, and allocating for this” (Internet Solutions’ ADSL offerings gaining in popularity, MyADSL, 3 April 2007).
 
In other words, if you reach the limit on your international usage allowance, you will still be able to have local Internet access. This is true if you make use of an IS ADSL account.
 
Is the same true for SAIX ADSL accounts?
 
No. If you reach the limit on your international usage allowance, you won’t be able to even access the Internet locally. This is true for SAIX ADSL accounts, which is hard capped.
 
Why are caps necessary at all?
 
To limit network abuse ‘…which may deteriorate the general service quality for other users’ (Internet Solutions’ ADSL offerings gaining in popularity, MyADSL, 3 April 2007). This is according to Internet Solutions.
 
Manager of Broadband Solutions at IS, Bruce Henderson, made it clear that the intention is not to place unnecessary limits on users, but to rather let ‘…users enjoy their broadband experience…’ (Internet Solutions’ ADSL offerings gaining in popularity, MyADSL, 3 April 2007). “In this light we are also not limiting usage on some services, for instance, we allow users to send and receive mail, even if their international cap is utilized. This is a basic service, and fundamental that it is available” (Internet Solutions’ ADSL offerings gaining in popularity, MyADSL, 3 April 2007).
 
In other words, unlike some other ISPs Internet Solutions is clearly not in the business of placing unnecessary restraints on users just for the sake of pulling profits.
 
What about expected growth in Internet Solutions’ ADSL customer base?
 
‘IS predicts that their ADSL customer base will grow by between 35% and 40% year on year, which would see the broadband provider growing their current 30 000 subscribers to between 45 000 to 50 000 by the end of 2007’ (Internet Solutions’ ADSL offerings gaining in popularity, MyADSL, 3 April 2007).
 
In other words, IS will see the addition of between 15 000 and 20 000 new ADSL users to their existing ADSL customer base by the end of the year. 
 
ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) welcomes Internet Solutions’ drive to bring ADSL users more value for money by limiting restrictions.