Study: South African broadband use to double in '06

30.11.2005
Broadband Internet access, which finally made an impact on South Africa in 2005 with the first 147,000 users settling into high-speed online lives, will almost double in usage in 2006 to 277,000 users, according to the 'Broadband in SA 2005,' a new research report from World Wide Worx.

'It is the kind of growth rate we saw in the early years of Internet take-up in this country, but it is still going to be a big disappointment for some operators,' says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.

'Those who are investing in broadband roll-out expect instant take-up by the public, and that simply does not happen in what is still a luxury category.'

The biggest success story of broadband, according to the report, is Telkom's much-criticized ADSL service.

Aggressive marketing and continual movement in pricing and bundling strategy has seen far more rapid roll-out than Telkom's critics had forecast. Not surprisingly, Telkom dominates broadband, with ADSL holding 66 percent of the market -- a share that is unlikely to diminish in 2006.

'We found that there is little incentive for Telkom to respond to critics of ADSL, since the customers are voting so strongly with their wallets,' says Goldstuck.