Information Technology Reference
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threshold. Whilst this proved largely unproblem-
atic for Internet users with basic online needs,
power users were less than impressed with this
product revision. Nonetheless, despite the limita-
tions, the deployment of broadband heralded an
era where consumers were granted a much
greater degree of Internet freedom and didn't need
to be as time-driven in their online behaviour as
was previously the case. Hence, broadband was
deemed by the South African Internet commu-
nity to be a significant step in the right direction.
The table below illustrates the migration from
dial-up to broadband. It is evident that dial-up sub-
scribers have increased year-on-year until 2004,
but have dramatically declined since this time.
Early in 2004, Sentech (the government-owned
national television signal carrier) launched their
MyWireless service. This allowed Internet users
the ability to experience broadband connectivity
through a wireless medium. The service used
advanced radio technology to send/receive data
between the PC and Internet. However, this was
not a true mobile solution in that the computer
needed to be in a fixed-location (i.e. remain sta-
tionary) whilst an Internet session was in progress.
Furthermore, Sentech's limited network presence
meant that the service was only available in a
small selection of metropolitan areas. The service
was launched without a data cap, instead relying
on fair use by its customers. This attracted many
would-be ADSL customers who weren't enthu-
siastic about using a service which essentially
limited them to only a few hours of usage per day.
Unfortunately, the MyWireless service attracted
a considerable amount of negative press due to
teething network problems and their lack of sup-
port in dealing with customers' frustration. This
resulted in a small group of disgruntled customers
becoming incredibly vocal about their experi-
ences, even going so far as to establish a hate site
(www.SentechSucks.co.za). The company was
also forced to reconsider its “all you can eat”
philosophy in terms of usage and thereafter im-
posed absolute restrictions on uploads and down-
loads. Eventually, in 2008, as financial loses
mounted and broadband competition intensified
from much larger plays, the company pulled the
plug on the MyWireless service and began dis-
mantling the transmission equipment.
Wireless Business Solutions (WBS), a private
operator tasked with the responsibility of running
the network of National Lottery point-of-sale
terminals, commercially launched their iBurst
service in early 2005. This was very similar in
nature to Sentech's offering, although it featured a
higher theoretical download transmission speed of
1 Mbps. It did, however, include a monthly three
gigabyte data cap, similar to that of Telkom. The
iBurst team appeared to have learnt from Sen-
tech's MyWireless failures and, combined with
improved funding for network expansion, now
boasts an impressive infrastructure covering the
major centres and growing on a monthly basis. The
appetite for its services seems encouraging, as it
operates in areas where Telkom's ADSL service is
unavailable. It also capitalises on Telkom's tardy
Table 2. Growth and decline of dial-up subscrib-
ers in South Africa
Year
Subscribers (growth/decline)
1994
15 000
1995
33 600 (124%)
1996
79 700 (137%)
1997
196 620 (147%)
1998
366 235 (86%)
1999
560 000 (53%)
2000
782 000 (40%)
2001
960 000 (23%)
2002
1 008 000 (5%)
2003
1 048 320 (4%)
2004
1 088 000 (4%)
2005
1 080 000 (-1%)
2006
1 030 000 (-5%)
2007
908 000 (-12%)
2008
700 000 (-23%)
Source: Goldstuck (2009)
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