Lastest DSL News
(PRWEB) January 20, 2005
In the last quarter of 2004 MyADSL launched a full scale investigation into the broadband offerings in South Africa. This investigation was launched to clear up the confusion and help buyers choose between the various broadband offerings available in the marketplace today. The idea behind this initiative was to evaluate the true performance in comparison with the advertised characteristics and inform users about the strengths and limitations of each service. This investigation built on prior research from respectable organizations like MIT and the Australian Government and involved all aspects of broadband services, including price, performance and reliability.
The final percentage was calculated by using a carefully designed algorithm which quantifies all the results and produces an accurate final mark for each service. This algorithm was designed by Conrad Beyers from the University of Pretoria and Rudolph Muller from MyADSL, and we are confident that it is one of the most advanced and accurate broadband measuring systems in existence today. The final results involved over 6000 performance tests, in-depth surveys and user feedback regarding the various services.
TelkomÂs HomeDSL 384 emerged as a clear winner. Its comparatively low cost, good performance and great reliability meant that other broadband offerings were unable to compete favorably. TelkomÂs HomeDSL 512 finished second and WBSÂs iBurst offering third. The full set of results is as follows:
1. Telkom HomeDSL 384 78%
2. Telkom HomeDSL 512 75%
3. WBS iBurst 70%
4. Sentech MyWireless 256 67%
5. Telkom DSL 512 Unshaped 66%
6. Sentech MyWireless 128 63%
When the same algorithm was used to compare our local offerings with international broadband services, the outlook was far less rosy. Not one of the South African services scored more than 30%. Price and performance are the major factors that push the local services down. Some of the results are:
1. JapanÂs Yahoo!BB 45M 96%
2. United StateÂs Earthlink DSL 74%
3. United KingdomÂs BT-Yahoo 1M 53%
4. AustraliaÂs BigPond 1500 50%
5. TelkomÂs HomeDSL 384 26%
6. TelkomÂs HomeDSL 512 25%
7. WBSÂs iBurst 23%
8. SentechÂs MyWireless 256 23%
Considering the poor performance from local offerings it is hardly surprising that ICASA is continuing its investigation into TelkomÂs ADSL services in an attempt to breach the gap and bring SA broadband services closer to world standards. Without better and more affordable broadband services we will lag even further behind world standards which negatively impacts on the local IT industry and the economy as a whole.
The full Broadband Ratings Report can be downloaded from http://home.telkomsa.net/rudolph/broadband_ratings.pdf For more information about these ratings and related discussions please visit the MyADSL Forum (http://www.myadsl.co.za)
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