Got Fibre FOMO? Here Are Some Great Fibre Alternatives!
How annoying is it when your mate gets a new phone upgrade and wastes no time in letting you know how much better his phone is to yours? Or when his new smartwatch does everything except make the coffee while all yours does is tell the time? FOMO much? We get it. Not having access to the latest technology is frustrating, but it’s not terminal. There are ways to get around it without having to compromise too much. Take Fibre to the Home (FTTH) for example. Yes, it’s undoubtedly the preferred technology for connecting your home to the Internet at an affordable rate. Unfortunately, however, it’s not yet available in all parts of South Africa. But whinge not – there are some great fibre alternatives available!
Why Doesn’t My Area Have Fibre?
Please believe us when we say that billions of Rands are being spent on deploying FTTH as rapidly as possible throughout the major centres in South Africa. However, it’s not yet available everywhere, and the reality is it won’t be for the foreseeable future. Why? Building FTTH networks is expensive, so a high customer uptake is needed in order for the return on investment to be acceptable to the network operators. This means they’re concentrating on rolling out fibre in high-income areas with high population density. Unfortunately, less populated, agricultural and lower LSM areas are not on the current or future radar for fibre suppliers.
Even in some of the more affluent urban areas, FTTH could take five years or even longer to roll out. So, what can you do in the meantime?
Your Choice Of Fibre Alternatives
Although fibre is undoubtedly the word on everyone’s lips when it comes to internet connectivity, homes and businesses not yet able to access it need reliable, fast and affordable connectivity today. And they also need the option to switch to fibre if and when it becomes available in their area. Here are some other, high-speed fibre alternatives to consider:
LTE
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is an entirely wireless broadband solution with the added advantage of being completely mobile. One of the main advantages of LTE is that it relies on broadcasting towers, not cable. This makes it fast and convenient for businesses and neighbourhoods that don’t yet have fibre in their area.
It’s important to remember, though that with a wireless solution, location is key. How far you are from the nearest broadcast tower has a direct impact on the speed you get. The weather, and other environmental conditions, also have an effect. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to test the speed you’re likely to get until you’ve already signed on the dotted line. In addition, as with all wireless products, speeds drop as the user-base expands and more subscribers compete for capacity from the same broadcasting tower. From a mobility point of view, though, LTE wins hands down. You can take and use your router anywhere where there is an LTE signal. With fibre, your connectivity is fixed and you can only connect from your home or office. LTE is also a great back up in case your fibre goes out of service for an extended period.
WISP
Some Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISP) offer uncapped and unthrottled internet packages that are ideal for unlimited online TV streaming, as well as services such as Netflix and Showmax. It’s vital, though, to do thorough research into a WISP before committing, as many are small, community-based networks with limited resources. They lack the capital to build a high capacity, scalable and fully redundant network.
Wireless technology, although it can’t match the performance of fibre, is definitely a better option than ADSL. It’s fast to deploy and offers a quick and effective solution to a business’ demand for reliable connectivity. With greater access to converged and centralised services, and greater automation within businesses, there is a growing demand for wireless point to point (PtP) services.
It’s becoming increasingly popular for businesses to adopt hosted, outsourced services for email, business applications and even backup and disaster recovery services. These can all be served via wireless connections. The best part is, you don’t need to own your wireless infrastructure – you can simply rent equipment from your provider. This means a significant reduction in costs without sacrificing access to the latest wireless technologies.
WiFi
WiFi is a short-range technology best suited to multi point connectivity – particularly for indoor use. Because it operates in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, it is vulnerable to congestion and interference from other WiFi networks or devices in the area. It is, however, likely to continue playing a significant role in connectivity and will no doubt remain as the dominant technology for residential applications.
Huge Connect offers connectivity and mobility solutions to any business, from SMEs to the retail market to financial institutions. We’ve got everything you need for your ADSL, VSL, Fibre, WiFi or Satellite connection, so let’s chat about which solution best meets your business needs.
