Internet service provider MWeb has completed what it calls a “four-phase infrastructure and backbone upgrade” that now means it’s running a 10Gbit/s connection between SA’s three biggest cities and offering subscribers in Durban a more direct route into its network.

The first phase involved upgrading MWeb’s link between its data centres in Gauteng and the Western Cape, says CEO Rudi Jansen.

He explains that the link will provide improved performance for Cape Town customers who host e-mail with MWeb, which is stored at its Johannesburg data centre, as well as Johannesburg subscribers accessing websites hosted at the company’s data centre in Cape Town.

The second phase resulted in MWeb, which is owned by pay-TV operator MultiChoice, building a direct link into Telkom’s Internet Protocol Connect service Durban. IP Connect provides access to the fixed-line operator’s broadband digital subscriber line network. Durban customers were previously being served from Johannesburg.

MWeb is also creating connections from Teraco’s data centre in Johannesburg and Cape Town to the latter’s new facility in Durban. This included building a 10Gbit/s connection between Johannesburg and Durban and a similar line from Durban to Cape Town.

Phase three will offer open peering options for other Internet service providers at Teraco’s Durban data centre. In the final phase of the upgrade, MWeb has bought additional bandwidth on the Seacom submarine cable system.

“Our total international capacity is now in excess of 23Gbit/s across the Seacom and Sat-3 cables,” says Jansen. — Staff reporter, TechCentral