MetroFibre is stepping up efforts to rollout pay-as-you-go fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services, as it seeks to address connectivity shortfalls in the country.
It says innovative ways to provide affordable fibre to homes in underserved areas are required, and the pay-as-you-go model is one such solution, as it removes the need to commit to lengthy contracts.
There is fierce competition in the fibre market. Most companies have now set their sights on the township and smaller markets, popularly referred to in the sector as the secondary or underserved markets.
Openserve, the Telkom-owned fibre network operator, is one such company, which also recently introduced prepaid fibre offerings to give customers the option to make flexible payments on fibre connectivity packages.
MetroFibre is the latest company to join in the race, unveiling the MetroConnect package, which it says has a once-off activation fee of R260 and gives customers a free-to-use ONT/Router (which remains the property of MetroFibre) and a 20Mbps service, with no installation fee.
For a top-up starting at R20 for 24 hours up to R400 for 30 days, MetroFibre says customers get access to an unlimited data, uncapped symmetrical 20Mbps package.
MetroFibre says it has completed successful deployments in a number of affordable housing developments in Riverside View and Kwa Thema, and will be rolling out in Tembisa next.
Brett Russell, head of product development at MetroFibre Networx, says connecting underserved areas is a “challenge that MetroFibre is tackling head-on with the rollout of our MetroConnect solution”.
He adds: “The need for quality, affordable internet connectivity for work, education, transacting and entertainment purposes is ubiquitous, and has been rapidly escalated by the pandemic. We need to find ways to transcend the limitations that lock millions of South African homes out of access to fibre connectivity and leave them reliant on expensive and limited mobile connectivity.”
MetroFibre, which was launched in 2010, is a significant player in the FTTH and fibre-to-the-business markets.
As at 31 April, its fibre network had passed over 350 000 homes and aims to pass an additional 500 000 homes by 2025.
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