A different type of internet...
2010-03-18 09:13
Cape Town - Web consumers in South Africa will experience a different type of internet, with MWEB's announcement of uncapped broadband for users. It may also mean dramatic changes in the pricing landscape.
"It is a game changer in South Africa. It essentially allows web consumers in South Africa to experience a different type of internet," internet strategist Matthew Buckland told News24.
"The type of internet that allows for downloading of movies, the type of internet that allows for live legal streaming of movies and TV series. The type of internet that sees applications that we use on our desktop moving more and more into the web browser and becoming online services," he added.
He said that users will approach the internet differently because of the uncapped offer.
"Uncapped broadband does translate into a vastly different approach into using the internet."
New realities
Buckland said that piracy might decline with efficient legal movie and music downloads.
"Uncapped broadband will work against piracy because the more and more we see the proliferation of legal services - services that provide a cost-effective way of consumers watching movies, downloading music and a very good and efficient service, consumers will naturally drift to those legal services," he said.
He said that the launch of uncapped broadband changed the internet landscape in SA and that companies would have to adapt to new realities, but that there was also opportunities for businesses.
"It's been a long time coming, those companies need to adapt to this new environment. Seacom's just launched, another one coming online this year, two others coming online in 2011 and 2012.
"We know what this meant: Dramatic change in pricing landscape and the way we price. There have also been changes in legislation. There's opportunity for business.
"This means the lowering of the cost to do business in this country. For a long time, it's been no secret that it's been too high; it's been way too high," said Buckland.
He feels that mobile internet access will continue to grow because of the cost of computers, despite moves to provide cheaper netbooks.
Internet focused
"You still need a computer to access the internet and computers cost money. However, I think it's good news for South African internet penetration for the broader South African consumer. We know what mobile's doing already - mobile is basically accessing an emerging market South African consumer.
"There are South Africans coming online and accessing the internet for the first time via their mobile phones. That's only going to get cheaper.
"There are also plans afoot to bring out cheaper laptops and cheaper networks. The cost of computers and hardware is coming down. There is lots of talk about creating laptops and netbooks that are completely internet focused that don't actually pay much attention to the desktop offline OS, that are online focused.
"And with very cheap or cheaper connectivity, that kind of computing device is actually more and more of a reality. So I think it's good news for the broader South African consumer," he said.
He warned though, that South Africans shouldn't expect to see dramatic cost reductions across the board soon.
"It will take time to filter through, it's not an immediate thing and I think people in this industry often tend to overestimate the effects of these changes."
Competitive pricing
Buckland also said that SA was the fifth largest internet market in Africa, despite the size of the economy.
"The official figures are more like five million South Africans accessing the internet, if you look at other figures they are about seven or eight, but that's not really good enough because that's below 10% internet penetration. We're not even the biggest African country.
"If you consider we're the biggest economy in Africa by a long way, it's an indictment that our internet trends haven't followed the size of our economy. We should be somewhere around the 20% or 30% penetration mark."
He said that MWEB could do more, but added that it was still early days in this market.
"This offering that MWEB has come out with is certainly good, but it could be way better. It's the start of more competitive pricing. We're at the beginning of a change in our broadband environment.
"From a consumer perspective, it's good news," he added.
News24 is part of 24.com, a subsidiary of Media24, which is in the Naspers stable. MWEB is a subsidiary of Naspers.