Fibre versus ADSL — price showdown

Fibre to the home (FTTH) packages are generally cheaper than ADSL, with the latter only being more cost-effective for low-speed service in specific situations.

However, it should be noted that FTTH packages aimed at less affluent demographic — like Vuma Reach, Frogfoot Air, and Openserve Web Connect — are cheaper than Telkom’s ADSL packages.

It is challenging to compare fibre packages to ADSL like-for-like as the speeds often don’t align. However, it is possible to determine which is cheaper by calculating the cost per Mbps.

A 10Mbps ADSL package through Afrihost will cost you R397 a month — or R39.70 per Mbps. Comparatively, a 10Mbps FTTH package through Afrihost on TT Connect’s network will cost R627 per month or R62.70 per Mbps.

However, a 10Mbps fibre package through Afrihost on Openserve’s network will cost the least at R329 per month or R32.90 per Mbps.

When it comes to packages with download speeds of 20Mbps or greater, fibre is more cost-effective.

Afrihost offers several FTTH plans through Openserve — Telkom’s fibre network operator — and each of them is cheaper than their respective ADSL counterparts.

Afrihost charges R497 per month for a 25Mbps FTTH package, while an ADSL package with a maximum download speed of 20Mbps will cost you R597 through the same Internet service provider (ISP).

This works out to R19.88 per Mbps for the fibre product and R29.85 per Mbps for the slower ADSL package.

Vuma Reach and Openserve Web Connect offer FTTH packages that align directly with the ADSL packages in terms of download speeds.

Openserve Web Connect’s 10Mbps package from Afrihost costs R329 per month, while an ADSL package with the same download speed goes for R397 a month.

Vuma Reach’s 20Mbps and 40Mbps fibre products cost R399 and R529 a month. 20Mbps and 40Mbps ADSL packages cost R597 and R697 per month.

Therefore, Vuma Reach’s 20Mbps and 40Mbps packages are R9.90 and R4.20 cheaper per Mbps than Telkom’s ADSL counterparts.

Things to consider

Before deciding whether fibre or ADSL better suits your needs, there are several aspects to consider other than price.

Fibre connections can achieve higher speeds than ADSL and generally have better upload speeds. Therefore, if your Internet usage involves a fair amount of uploading, FTTH would suit you better.

Unless you have bare minimum Internet needs, the slowest download speed you should consider for a frequent user or small household is 20Mbps. These speeds tend to be cheaper for fibre.

Another consideration is that Telkom wants to switch off ADSL and migrate its copper Internet customers to fibre packages.

However, the network operator clarified that it would not switch off copper or disconnect DSL customers where it does not have fibre presence.

The tables below compare the prices of the most cost-effective Afrihost FTTH packages to those of its ADSL offerings.

Note there are two tables. The first compares the pricing of higher-end fibre packages, while the second compares the pricing of fibre products such as Vuma Reach and Openserve Web Connect, which are aimed at less-affluent areas.

Now read: Telkom’s plan to switch off ADSL