Fibre prices can be downright confusing.

They vary from ISP to ISP, who also offer different things, and disappointedly, many are not especially upfront about what their Fibre prices include.

To choose well, you have to know your stuff or risk frustration later on down the line.

And so we did the research for you and put together a guide on what top ISPs are currently offering, and what they’re charging. Please take note that this is not for FTTH, but internet for business, whether you’re a one-man show or bigger company:

What are ISPs offering to businesses?

In this article, we’re comparing several Fibre prices and deals from four reputable Fibre companies:

1. BitCo
2. Afrihost
3. Telkom
4. Vodacom

Current Fibre prices and deals

Special notes: BitCo business Fibre packages seem more costly than others, but the service is also superior. Here is why:

• Download and upload speeds are the same
• Genuine unlimited data, unlike most ISPs who offer uncapped but then shape or throttle data to avoid network congestion
• Speed is consistent and not affected by how many devices are connected at the same time

Special notes: All of Afrihost’s uncapped packages are never throttled, but may be shaped according to network congestion. This affects your speed. If you don’t want your speed to be affected by other user usage, it is better to go with one of their capped packages.

Special notes: All Telkom premium Fibre deals are unshaped, but download and upload speeds are not listed. In addition, speeds listed are not guaranteed, instead they says that speeds, “go up to…”, so it is likely that upload/download speeds are not synchronous.

Special notes: Vodacom’s business Fibre deals are not synchronous; they offer “up to” certain upload and download speeds.

What are your needs?

What many people don’t understand (because no one’s telling them), is that with an internet connection, you get exactly what you pay for.

If one ISPs prices are far lower than another, you have to ask why.

If you don’t, you’re only asking for trouble.

There are two vital factors that must influence your decision as to which package is right for your needs; your choice must not be based on Fibre prices alone, because these elements can negatively impact your business:

1. Line speed
2. Reliability

We’ll cover both in more detail:

1: Speed

The right line speed for your business is essential, because while it obviously determines how fast internet downloads and uploads are, it can also mean frustration…here’s what many smaller businesses do not know: the heavier the internet usage, or the more people added to the network, the slower the internet becomes.

The majority of Fibre providers reduce their pricing, but fail to publicise the fact that download and upload speeds are different, or that they throttle speed according to peak times and traffic.

Look for “uncontended” and “synchronous” speeds, which means that a) speed is not affected by the amount of traffic accessing the internet, and b) download and upload speeds are the same.

Compare Fibre provider speeds.

2: Reliability

Fibre is single-handedly the most reliable and fastest out of all connection types because of Fibre-optic cables.

But here’s the thing: unless you choose the right ISP, you are not guaranteed good speeds, because so much can interfere with reliability. We won’t cover that in detail here, but here’s an example of what we mean:

• The last mile: if the last mile is not Fibre-optic cables, you won’t get Fibre-fast speed. In some cases BitCo business Fibre pricing may seem higher  than other ISPs, but our business Fibre packages are the most reliable; nothing affects the speed, especially the last mile because we own our own infrastructure and the last mile is Fibre.

What influences Fibre prices

There’s a lot that influences Fibre prices – here’s what most ISPs won’t disclose, or what many tend to get sneaky about:

Speed: when ISPs offer cheaper packages, check that the upload/download speeds are not different. For example, BitCo’s Fibre prices, although very competitive in some cases may be slightly higher, but our upload/download speeds are synchronous and nothing affects them.

Uncontended: most speeds offered by the majority of ISPs are affected by other uses. Look for “uncontended” services where this is not the case. For instance, BitCo’s packages.

Uncapped: you may think that uncapped is best, but when it’s uncapped, most times ISPs either shape the data or throttle users, so when the network gets congested, your speed suffers. If the ISP offers uncapped data, check upload/download speeds and whether the service is uncontended or not. Note how BitCo’s business Fibre packages are uncontended plus synchronous plus uncapped.

SLAs and support: If an ISP offers SLA’s, you can expect better service than when they don’t. Many ISPs outsource technical support and in that case, you may experience slower service than if they have their own in-house team, as does BitCo.

Take our online connectivity guide to find the perfect solution for your business!