Here’s why you need fibre – and a faster way to get it

Smart homes are the way of the future and already everyone wants a faster internet connection for their phones, laptops and TVs – but obtaining that connection is unfortunately not always a speedy process when you move to a new home.

However, national property management company Trafalgar has now partnered with Openserve – a division of Telkom – to put residents and tenants in the buildings, estates and rental homes it manages on the fast track to a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connection. All they have to do is email broadband@trafalgar.co.za to apply and get the accelerated service.

“ADSL and VDSL have been the standard broadband internet connections in SA for many years,” notes Trafalgar MD Andrew Schaefer, “but now it’s time for something much faster and capable of handling much more ‘traffic’ as a rapidly increasing number of users gain access to the internet and start to make more use of smart devices for VOIP calling, video streaming and home management via the Internet of Things (IoT).

“And FTTH is the alternative that we are recommending to most of the estates and sectional title complexes that we manage, because it can transfer huge volumes of data at very fast speeds on a securely-managed network.”

FTTH makes use of fibre-optic main cables which buried throughout a whole area or suburb, like a telephone or ADSL network, with branches that are diverted to individual homes, apartment blocks and housing complexes, he explains.

“It offers users long reach that is not prone to interruption by weather conditions, coupled with virtually unlimited bandwidth that experts say will be able to handle even the 30Gps upload and download demands of cloud computing and future technologies such as holographic high-definition TVs, android companions and virtual reality holidays.”

In the meanwhile, Schaefer says, FTTH already enables users to receive telephone, audio, video and TV data streams via a single super-fast and cost-effective broadband connection, and to make increasing use of Smart technologies to remotely control appliances, lights, thermostats, home security devices and monitoring systems for aged parents or pets.

“Other advantages are that fibre-optic cables are more durable than the copper cables used to carry DSL connections and safe from electrical interference and theft. Being glass and usually made of silica sand, they are also more environmentally friendly, and do not emit any electro-magnetic radiation at all.”

However, he says, although Openserve has the biggest fibre footprint in SA, not all areas in SA are connected yet, and Trafalgar can also facilitate an LTE service as an alternative to DSL in the meanwhile.

“LTE, also known as 4G, is a wireless broadband solution that relies on broadcasting towers – which makes it very convenient for homes and businesses that don’t have any cable connections in their area. Indeed, LTE currently has a much bigger footprint in SA than FTTH and is the network that most cell phone companies are using to provide what we know as ‘mobile data’.

“It is not a long-term solution for household internet connectivity, because the speed can vary enormously depending on distance from the nearest tower, the weather, and the number of users contending for signal from a particular tower at any given time. But it is a very popular choice among tenants at the moment, and we can also facilitate faster LTE connections via an email to broadband@trafalgar.co.za.”

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