INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
Fibre helps drive SA economy
during COVID-19 pandemic
Shane Chorley, Head of Sales and Marketing at Frogfoot
Networks, discusses how fibre is helping drive the South African
economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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If the lockdown South Africa is currently
experiencing is highlighting anything
then it is to show that access to fibre has
become as much a human right as electricity
and running water. With many employees
now having to work from home and others
placed on enforced leave, high-speed,
reliable and affordable Internet access
becomes critical.
“Even if the country is still very much in a
fibre deployment phase, the competitive
landscape in South Africa has enabled fibre
providers to roll out at aggressive rates.
This has resulted in the growth of demand
for fibre at homes with people discovering
increasingly innovative ways to benefit from
its use,” said Shane Chorley, Head of Sales
and Marketing at Frogfoot Networks, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Vox.
Going faster
While installing a fibre connection inside a
house can be disruptive, it provides a far more
consistent experience than what is available
from wireless technologies such as 4G, LTE,
and 3G. As more home users are accessing
a range of bandwidth-intensive applications
such as video streaming services and video
conferencing solutions, the wireless networks
have struggled to maintain service levels.
“But once fibre is installed, the ability to
upgrade it is relatively simple because it is
a fixed-line connection. This also means
that even if the home user is unsure about
what line speed to get, the Internet service
provider can upgrade it in real-time to more
accurately reflect their needs.”
This means that unlike 4G which has a
theoretical maximum download speed of
100Mbps (assuming there are no other users
on the network), a fibre line can be upgraded
to 1Gbps with no contention (meaning the
line speed is not impacted by the amount of
users on your home network). To put this into
context, a high definition movie might take
15 minutes to download over a 100Mbps
4G line when nobody else is using it. That
same movie will take less than 30 seconds
to download on the 1Gbps fibre connection
even if other members of the household are
using the line.
“Given the current COVID-19 crisis the
country is experiencing, we have made the
strategic decision to move customers to
higher line speeds free of charge from 1 April
to 30 June. This Double Up promotion is vital
to mitigate against some of the economic
impact the lock down will have on South
Africans. With more people accessing fibre
from home during this period, we anticipate
some will use connectivity more excessively,
while others might still maintain their usual
behaviour. But given the increased demand
for video streaming services and work from
home solutions, this promotion will ensure a
consistent user experience.”
Essential service
Chorley says that fibre providers
such as Frogfoot are classified as an
essential service, forming part of the
telecommunication basket of providers.
This means that it can continue running
and maintaining its network. “While we will
be able to continue with home installations,
Shane Chorley, Head of Sales and Marketing
at Frogfoot Networks
some of the practical aspects around this
will still need to be understood. There is a
balance to what we want to do versus what
is possible. So, even though we can certify
our contractors and suppliers to work during
this lock down period, the entire supply
chain must be operational. For example,
how will our contractors get access to what
has been labelled as non-essential materials
during this time?”
He says that the highest priority for the
business will always be the safety of its
employees and its customers.
“There has been a massive spike in demand
for fibre over the past several days. We
will put all the necessary health and
safety checks in place for our contractors
performing installations and we will never
force ourselves into people’s homes.
Customers must request an installation to
take place and we will manage the process
as safely as possible. •
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