[dropcap]V[/dropcap]umatel will introduce a new, 200Mbit/s fibre-to-the-home offering on 1 August, according to several Internet service providers.
The company itself is not saying anything — a spokeswoman was unable to comment immediately when contacted on Wednesday by TechCentral — but several ISPs have said in private that they intend introducing 200Mbit/s offerings on the Vumatel network.
Vumatel’s biggest rival, Telkom-owned Openserve, offers speeds of up to 100Mbit/s across its fibre-to-the-home network.
Afrihost was first out of the blocks to formally unveil new pricing on Wednesday, revealing in a statement that it plans to drop the price of its 100Mbit/s Vumatel offerings on 1 August, while introducing the new 200Mbit/s products.
“These changes allow us to be more competitive and offer better solutions to a wider range of clients,” Afrihost said in the statement.
It said it will now offer an uncapped 200Mbit/s symmetrical connection (same speed downlink and uplink) starting at R1 497/month. A premium uncapped 200Mbit/s option will cost R1 897/month, while a priority uncapped offering will fetch R2 097/month, it said.
Asymmetrical options, offering 200Mbit/s down and 20Mbit/s up, will cost R1 397/month for a home uncapped option, R1 697/month for premium uncapped and R1 997/month for priority uncapped, Afrihost said.
At the same time, the ISP is cutting the price of its symmetrical and asymmetrical 100Mbit/s Vumatel packages (full details in the table below).
Cool Ideas, another ISP, has also published new 200Mbit/s pricing on its website, offering an uncapped symmetrical connection on Vumatel for R1 499/month. An asymmetrical option fetches R100 less than that. – © 2017 NewsCentral Media