What Is Fibre And What Can It Do For My Business?

A successful business will always be in a race against time. How so? Look around you – every service you can think of is advertising faster turnaround times, faster deliveries or faster customer service responses. The success of McDonald’s lies – not so much in the quality of its food – but in the fact that you can get a full meal in under 2 minutes. And it’s for this very reason that so many businesses are opting for fibre. But, what is fibre, and how will it impact your business?

What Exactly Is Fibre?

“Fibre,” as it’s most commonly referred to, is fibre optic broadband. It is a technology that makes use of glass or plastic threads known as fibres (hence the name) which modulate messages into light waves. In this way, the speed of light is, quite literally, harnessed to transmit data at blistering speeds. This turns your Internet connection into something of a beast – in a good way!

There is an ongoing battle between the bigger telecom providers to roll out fibre across South Africa, but it is a pretty costly exercise to lay down the infrastructure, so the focus has been on wealthier residential and commercial areas. The rest of us have to put up with ADSL for the time being.

What Can Fibre Do For My Business?

Okay, so we know that fibre is super-fast. But what does that actually mean for a business like yours? We can start by asking the question, what’s the difference between fibre and ADSL?

ADSL has served us well over the past few years and is a far cry from the dial-up modems that we used in days gone by. However, the advent of fibre has highlighted a few issues with ADSL which, if we have the choice, we shouldn’t have to worry about.

Fibre is more reliable

Businesses need a reliable internet connection. It’s a simple fact. Our websites and online stores, our internal connections, phones, POS systems, accounts and email all rely on the Internet. In fact, an Internet connection is as important to a business as electricity and running water.

An ADSL connection relies on copper cables from a Telkom exchange which often results in downtime from electrical interference, long lead times to fix cable faults, no service due to copper cable theft, and poor maintenance. Fibre won’t let you down during a lightning storm, as it is not susceptible to electrical interference and once installed, is a sturdy and reliable platform requiring little maintenance.

Fibre is faster

We know that fibre is fast, but exactly how fast? Do you download images or large files from the net? If so, your average 10 Mbps ADSL connection will take around a minute and a half to receive a 100 MB file. Not too bad hey?  However, your fibre connection does this is 8 seconds flat!

However, this searing speed translates into more than super-fast downloads. The reverse is also true: uploading accounts information, connecting to your bank (even during busy times), sending files internally, uploading videos and images to your social channels, enjoying Skype conference calls and screen sharing are all frustration-free tasks with fibre.

Another little-known fact is that your location affects your ADSL speed, whether you like it or not. The further your connection is from a Telkom exchange, the slower your Internet. The speed of a fibre connection is far more constant and enjoys very little signal degradation over long distances.

Fibre offers more options

If you have been considering an IP phone system to reduce your call costs and simplify your business, then fibre will be your new best friend. The clarity and bandwidth offered on a fibre connection will make Internet calls an absolute pleasure. Conference calls from global locations are made easy, video streaming is viable, and it doesn’t matter how many people need access to your system, it’s not slowing down any time soon.

An ADSL connection has a limited capacity and will choke if it is burdened with too many users. The quality of IP calls are at the mercy of the connection, and a busy line means broken conversations and dropped calls.

What Do I Do Now?

The question is no longer, “Should I move to fibre?” but “Which telecoms company can hook me up?”

If you have fibre in your area, then this is a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t want the speed and reliability, and the endless opportunities afforded by a fibre connection? However, what you don’t want is to be trapped in an expensive long-term contract and held hostage by inconsistent service delivery – a sad reality in the world of telecoms.

We’d like you to consider this: A month-to-month contract at an affordable rate which includes fibre, Wi-Fi, firewall, fixed IP telephone and failover, coupled with brilliant service delivery and a single point of contact.

While your competition is asking, “What is fibre?” you are already light-years ahead. Let’s connect.