In the past five years, Openserve has become a leading network infrastructure provider in SA committed to delivering the ultimate broadband experience and value to its customers. 

Openserve covers more than 2.4-million households with fibre either directly to the home (FTTH) or to the cabinet (FTTC), with a national coverage spanning metros, urban areas, small towns and townships. Exciting fibre expansion plans to provide FTTH services to the entire FTTC  footprint will be announced in the near future.  

The Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown prompted significant demand for reliable internet connectivity, and this has continued to grow, as more people are working and learning from home indefinitely. 

During the peak period of the pandemic, Openserve doubled speeds for free on its network, introduced symmetrical speeds to its fibre portfolio and increased sync profiles. It offered numerous incentives including discounted or free installations and launched or enhanced affordable internet connectivity options through Openserve Fibre Connect, Pure Connect and Copper Connect products, as well as price reductions for Openserve Pure Connect.

As part of the speed upgrade, there will be no cost implications for ISP partners directly related to this initiative to enable them to upgrade their customers.

In support of its fibre rollout strategy of providing high quality, future-proof broadband connectivity to all customers, Openserve continues to upgrade customers within the Openserve fibre footprint from their current technology onto its fibre network. Further incentives are also being offered to ease the transition process onto the Openserve fibre network for the affected customers. 

Fixed broadband pricing compares favourably to mobile data offerings

The price per gigabyte of data that end users pay over fixed broadband connections compares favourably to mobile data offers and promotional offers from mobile providers. The table below compares the per gig price a user on Openserve fibre would pay on a typical uncapped package from an ISP, to a typical promotional mobile data deal. 

This example is based on the current ISP pricing of uncapped packages in the market. The price per gig rate over Openserve’s fixed broadband is expected to drop more once the price changes alluded to above, take effect and are passed on to end users. In addition to competitive per-gig rates, fixed broadband users generally have a more reliable and consistent user experience than mobile users.

* On Openserve fibre, the user could use more than 1TB resulting in an even lower per gig rate.

Openserve strives to give its customers the most value, beyond affordable pricing

Openserve launched a self-service app in November 2020. Available on Android and IOS, this app enables customers to manage their broadband network connection and internet service at a push of a button.

The Openserve Connect App puts self-service capabilities in the hands of the customer, allowing potential and existing customers to engage with Openserve directly to get their homes connected to the Openserve broadband network. 

All customers on Openserve infrastructure, copper or fibre, are encouraged to download the app to check whether their line has been upgraded, and also to influence the future rollout out of fibre in their respective areas by registering their interest.

Openserve is committed to finding new and innovative ways of enabling the flow of information, and will continue to work closely with its ISP partners to ensure a world-class connected experience for the customer at their home.

This article was paid for by Openserve.