Top Fibre Service Providers for Small Businesses

We compare some of South Africa’s best Fibre Service Providers. Get information on pricing, features and how to choose the best possible option for your business.

Broadband
17th ,May, 2022
Review
Compare Our Best Picks
Vox - Best for variety of package options
Read Review Compare Quotes
  • Uncapped and unshaped
  • Symmetrical data
  • Router included
  • Free uncapped voice
  • Dedicated voice link included
Telkom - Best for affordability
Read Review Compare Quotes
  • Stable Fibre Connectivity
  • Uncapped Data
  • Free Router
  • Free Installation
  • Unshaped Data
Afrihost - Best for customer service
Read Review Compare Quotes
  • Free .co.za, .online and .site domain registration
  • Unlimited traffic
  • Anti-spam and anti-virus
  • Website backups
  • Access to site stats
Introduction

Fibre is the fastest and most reliable connection we have in South Africa. It has the capacity to work at the speed of light and can achieve speeds of up to 200 Mbps. This review looks at top fibre service providers in South Africa. 

What Is Fibre To The Business?

There are two types of fibre in South Africa, Fibre To The Home (FTTH) and Fibre To The Business (FTTB). FTTH is normally used in households and is cheaper than FTTB which is more expensive as it takes into consideration a business’s needs.

According to Accelerit, a fibre internet service provider, “FTTB has several advantages over FTTH, including wider coverage, better contention ratios, complex security, and clearly-defined service level agreements (SLA).”

The Benefits Of Fibre For SMEs

In an interview with SME South Africa, Rise in Fibre Adoption Among SMEs, Arthur Goldstuck, principal researcher for SME Survey and MD of World Wide Worx, notes that a key benefit of fibre for SMEs is that it enables SMEs to operate online without any of the performance and quality constraints they may have faced before.

This means that their communications are significantly improved, enabling businesses to utilise solutions like video-conferencing and social media platforms to further their business. It also enables businesses to use the Internet for transactional purposes, thanks to the quality and speed of the connectivity.

How to Get Fibre?

To get FTTB you need to have fibre infrastructure in the area that you operate in. Infrastructure providers do not offer any retail services to end users. Some of the biggest fibre infrastructures providers in South Africa are Vumatel and Openserve, however there are many more out there.

Check with the fibre infrastructure provider to find out if there is fibre available in your area. After which you would then choose an internet service provider (ISP) operating within that fibre infrastructure that fits your needs. 

Unlike infrastructure providers, fibre service providers  provide retail services for the end user. Well known examples include Telkom and Afrihost. Once you have signed up with an ISP, the fibre infrastructure provider will send someone to install fibre to your business. When the process is complete the ISP will send you a router and activate your account. This should take 3-5 operating days, depending on your area.

Main Features
  • Uncapped broadband – Afrihost has no usage thresholds and offers unshaped and unthrottled fibre meaning that customers can use their internet all times, with the same speed. 
  • State of the art fibre network – This provides customers with better products, better support and connectivity throughout. 
  • Fast and reliable fibre – their fibre speed is up to 50x times faster than any ADSL line in South Africa and they have stable connection with lower latency. 
  • Connect multiple devices – connect more devices at faster speeds.
Pricing

Device costs – Some service providers will provide a fiber-ready router device for free, however some service providers will charge you for a wifi router. The cost of a wifi router ranges between R349 and R399. 

Monthly subscription – In order to receive internet connection, you pay a monthly fee to your service provider. There are some service providers who offer prepaid fibre packages without any contracts. 

Speed – Different packages have different speeds which will affect what you pay. Packages range from 10 Mbps to 500 Mbps. The package that you choose will be largely affected by the number of people that will need to be connected to the internet. Connections can be asymmetrical or symmetrical. 

Buyer's Guide

When looking to buy fibre, there are certain features that you need to consider.

Consider the following:

  • Costs 

Fibre can be more cost effective than ADSL and LTE in the long run. You can also save costs because fibre allows connections of up to 20-50 people on the same network at a fixed cost every month. What you pay will largely depend on the fibre structure. The bigger the fibre infrastructure, the more expensive it is. 

  • Speed 

The speed of your internet connection is important, to ensure your team’s sustained productivity. To ascertain what speed you will require, consider what your team’s needs and the company’s data storage needs. 

  • Fibre availability in area

There are certain areas in South Africa that do not have fibre. Check if there is fibre availability in the area in which your business operates and which fibre infrastructures are available as it will affect which ISP you choose. 

  • Support 

There will be instances where you will need fibre support. Ensure that the ISP you choose offers great support and is available 24/7 in case of the emergency. 

Get a Quote

The best purchases for small businesses in 2024

Finding the right purchases for your small business is time consuming, so smesouthafrica.co.za looked at the list of options to come up with the following recommendations.

img
Compare Quotes
Powered by smesouthafrica.co.za