Two separate announcements on Wednesday morning demonstrate that competitive rivalry continues to intensify in SA’s fixed-line broadband market.

In the first announcement, MWeb has announced it will not charge its customers more for uncapped asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) access as Telkom upgrades users on 512kbit/s lines to 1Mbit/s. Though Telkom hasn’t provided much detail about the upgrades, many users have reported that their lines have been bumped up to the higher speed in recent weeks.

MWeb CEO Rudi Jansen says Telkom is in the process of upgrading 512kbit/s subscribers to the higher line speed, but he can’t say exactly how far down the track it is. “From what we can see on the network, it is a fair bit that has been upgraded,” Jansen says.

The upgrades mean 1Mbit/s uncapped MWeb ADSL will cost R299/month, or R599/month with Telkom line rental included.

Subscribers that have signed up for MWeb’s 1Mbit/s products in the past month will enjoy a reduction in their subscription from 1 June to the new rates, the company says.

In the second announcement on Wednesday, Vox Telepreneur has said it will offer free bandwidth for new and existing users.

Vox Telepreneur, a unit of Vox Telecom, says it will provide 2GB of free data to subscribers who have their ADSL lines with the company. Those who buy data only will get 1GB/month free.

“We are giving away free data to all our usage-based subscribers, without any contractual obligations, and regardless of what line speed or data quality they choose,” says Vox Telepreneur’s Brad Gatter. — Staff reporter, TechCentral