Seacom, which started life exclusively as an undersea cable operator, has slowly been expanding into new areas, including national backhaul and business connectivity. The company is now getting into the consumer Internet service provider market with a new fibre ISP called WonderNet.
The fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) provider is entering an already-crowded market and the move could raise some concerns among competitor ISPs that buy wholesale international capacity from Seacom, which already ruffled feathers a few years ago when it entered the business connectivity market.
Seacom said WonderNet will offer a “fully online, automated and seamless user journey as well as month-to-month contracts without any installation fees or long-term commitments”.
The company has developed a digital platform it plans to launch in mid-May which, it said, will keep users engaged and informed “throughout their entire journey with WonderNet”.
“It’s a very competitive space,” said Steve Briggs, Seacom’s chief commercial officer, in a statement. “But ISPs that plan to have a long-term play in FTTH will be those that offer superior customer experience and automated systems with great digital interfaces.
App-driven
“Our mobile app-driven, one-touch-point architecture allows consumers to easily check their usage, invoicing and how their order is progressing. You can also perform speed tests and log support tickets. This means 24/7/365 support without the frustration of sitting on calls, and because our call centre agents are qualified and trained technicians, issues will be caught and resolved instead of being dispatched,” said Matthew Campbell, Seacom’s head of FTTH and small and medium enterprise. WonderNet’s app will help customers to self-diagnose technical issues and offer recommendations to fix common problems, he said.
WonderNet offers a range of uncapped, unthrottled packages from 10Mbit/s to 1Gbit/s. The company has not disclosed its planned pricing yet. However, all packages include a standard Wi-Fi router, without upfront costs and can be purchased on a month-to-month option. There is no fair-usage policy and no contention ratios, it said. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media
