Telecommunications provider BitCo has reached an agreement with Chatz Connect to sell its home broadband product, which competes with Telkom’s fixed-line ADSL offerings, through Chatz’s network of retail stores.

Chatz Connect, the largest of Vodacom’s independent dealers, is a big player in South Africa’s cellular retail market. It has a national footprint, with a presence in all the major cities.

Bitco, which historically has focused on the voice communications market, is expanding aggressively into providing last-mile broadband services and has launched a line-of-sight-dependent home uncapped broadband product using unlicensed wireless spectrum in the 5,8GHz band. It says it’s meant as a “true ADSL alternative”, offering guaranteed download speeds of 2Mbit/s, 5Mbit/s and 10Mbit/s.

BitCo has about 100 wireless high sites, with plans to expand this by a further 40 by the end of the year. The company offers coverage in parts of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and North West as well as Bloemfontein in the Free State and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga.

Jarryd Chatz, formerly sales and marketing director at Chatz Connect, has bought a stake in BitCo and joined the company as business development director focused on developing its broadband offering.

The company has begun rolling out home broadband product to Chatz Connect outlets. They intend completing this roll-out by the end of 2015. BitCo says the retail roll-out is being timed to accompany the expansion of its metro Ethernet network. “This includes lighting fibre across South Africa as a backhaul solution from the additional high sites BitCo will build by the end of 2014,” it says.

BitCo has three home broadband plans available. The 2Mbit/s and 5Mbit/s options cost R699/month and R899/month respectively and offer uploads speeds of 1Mbit/s. The 10Mbit/s plan offers 2Mbit/s uploads and costs R1 499/month.

BitCo uses multiple-input and multiple-output Wi-Fi technology — multiple antennas at the base station and at the receiver to improve performance — while backhaul is provided either through wireless links in licensed spectrum or through fibre.

It offers residential users a voice service for R139/month. Consumers can plug any instrument into a spare port on the eight-port Cisco switch that is supplied with the home broadband product. Calls are charged at 86c/minute to mobile phones and 35c/minute to land lines. — © 2014 NewsCentral Media