MTN and leading Internet service provider, Afrihost, have announced a ground-breaking strategic partnership that is set to leapfrog customer service by providing seamless converged solutions. Through the partnership, MTN Business will become second in the market in terms of IPC capacity and third in terms of physical connections. In turn, Afrihost will become more flexible in the design of products and services, and will also have more freedom over pricing and tailor-made solutions.
Says Zunaid Bulbulia, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN SA: "We are confident that this collaboration will change the telecoms landscape, as two leaders in their respective markets have come together to fundamentally change the way in which DSL is offered. MTN Business is now able to provide a wholesale service and has put the power in Afrihost's hands to be able to define their own product offering and service parameters. We are proud to be associated with a company that has proven over the years to be client-focused and innovative in their approach, not to mention having been voted best ISP for the second year in a row by consumers."
The partnership will assist Afrihost to market itself aggressively in the DSL sector as it addresses the company's need for a telecommunications partner that provides a seamless and future-proof network while maintaining and elevating the solid client service that Afrihost is known for. MTN has committed to a protected international bandwidth service that will be delivered via redundant international cable systems on a cable agnostic network architecture, which guarantees 99.8% service availability. Afrihost will also have access to undersea cables, such as the West Africa Cable System (WACS), the East Africa Submarine Cable (EASSy) and the National Long Distance fibre-optic network, all of which MTN is a major investor in. Afrihost will also have access to MTN's redundant IPC infrastructure and local network.
"We have conducted rigorous tests and research to ascertain the agility of the MTN network to ensure that our clients' experience is not compromised," explains Gian Visser, CEO of Afrihost. "We are confident that the MTN network has the capacity and capability to carry our traffic seamlessly and efficiently. MTN and Afrihost will proactively manage traffic patterns and network capacity to ensure a high level of service even in the unforeseen event of specific cable failures. We will also have access to additional international capacity when the need arises, which bodes well for maintaining our service levels at the highest standard and exceeding expectations at every turn."
Visser adds: "Given the calibre of MTN's network, this partnership guarantees improved quality of service to the Afrihost client base, backed by more infrastructural capacity, impressive uptime and solid redundancy."
Concludes Bulbulia: "MTN Business is exceptionally excited about this industry-first strategic partnership with Afrihost - to be able to provide a DSL offering that is not only based on a reliable and redundant network, but one that can be moulded to meet specific DSL needs. Partnering with Afrihost forms a critical part of broadening our DSL offering to vendors. It's a game change in terms of DSL offerings in the market - where we are entering a new world, which requires innovation. This partnership is one critical step in truly demonstrating our intention to evolve as a top tier ISP to revolutionise business in Africa."
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