When you decide how much you can afford to spend on Internet connectivity, you are really making a decision about how fast you would like, or need, your connection to be. Andre Joubert, GM of MWEB Business discusses the ongoing demand for faster connectivity.
While businesses have a wider choice of connectivity options than ever before, there is one connectivity trend that has remained constant over the years: the need for speed continues unabated.
The world wide wait
The days when the World Wide Web was dubbed the World Wide Wait are over for most users but there are some, particularly those still using dial-up – for whom the wait continues.
But for most others, the wait has become a relative thing. It all comes down to the speed of your Internet connection – how much you have, how much you need, how much you want, and – usually the deciding factor – how much you can afford.
You get what you pay for
The truth is that what businesses are really paying for when they purchase connectivity, is speed. The higher the speed of your connection, the more you pay.
It is relatively easy for a business to move up the speed chain: from dial up to ADSL and from there to 10MB ADSL, bonded ADSL, fixed-line diginet and, where it’s available, fibre optic or VDSL.
It will take some time before fibre connectivity becomes ubiquitous across South Africa, although it is rapidly being rolled out in high-density metropolitan areas –particularly areas in which business demand for connectivity is high. VDSL is likely to take even longer.
Why pay more for speed?
The question that is often asked is why any business should pay more for speed.
The answer used to be: because speed and increased productivity go hand in hand. Now, an increasingly important facet to the speed conundrum is the Cloud.
The Cloud has moved beyond hype and is likely to become a key component of any business’ computing and communications strategy within the foreseeable future.
It’s speed that will drive Cloud capability. There are business tools – information, data and apps – that are simply not viable at low speeds. With big bandwidth pipes and the speeds these deliver, the Cloud becomes a practical option for all businesses, large and small.
The drive for MWEB Business has always been to narrow the ratio between speed and cost; and to make the cost of speed – especially in its uncapped and unshaped format – more affordable. It’s this drive that will bring the benefits of the Cloud within reach of all businesses.