Telkom to enforce Fair Usage Policy
Telkom today announced that its Internet Service Provider (ISP) will enforce
its Fair Usage Policy (FUP) in the spirit of enhancing the Internet experience
of all its users.
Telkom ISP has always had a FUP in place but has, till now, exercised
much leniency in terms of enforcing the stipulations thereof. As
a result, the usage of a few users has had a negative impact on the network
and on the online experience of fellow users.
Arnold Van Huyssteen, Telkom’s Acting Managing Executive for Product House
says, “Delivering a high-quality broadband experience is becoming increasingly
challenging as the trends towards bandwidth intensive applications become
more apparent in the everyday lives and businesses of our customers.
“The contention for available network capacity is also growing and our
customers are becoming increasingly concerned about fairness and equitable
service and this has prompted us to carefully re-think our Bandwidth management
policies to the benefit of our entire customer base,” continued Van Huyssteen.
Telkom’s broadband network is a shared resource, used by all its broadband
users. Since networks do not have unlimited capacity, the operator continuously
monitors the network and adds capacity when appropriate. As such, it is
critical for the Company’s ISP to also innovate on a level that helps ensure
that bandwidth is allocated fairly between all its users and applications.
“As an ISP we understand the need to do our part in containing any negative
impact on the broadband eco-system as a whole. We will be taking action
when certain trends are spotted that may have resulted in a poor customer
experience for the average user on our network,” explained Van Huyssteen.
Telkom is committed to making the best use of the ISP’s resources in a
fair and non-discriminatory way. The Company has taken steps to inform
all its customers and prospective customers on the associated benefits
and profiles of its existing ISP product range.
Additional Information
Important information for Telkom ISP users:
1. SoftCap users are prioritised over Telkom’s network,
even over uncapped users.
2. Telkom
has introduced a roll-over function for unused data, so all unused data
purchased via credit card will now roll over to the next month of purchase.
3. Telkom Internet uncapped accounts are designed for
either home or business use, and customers need to select the appropriate
package designed for their access port speed and type of usage
application. Choosing a home use product for business usage and vice-versa
will result in sub-optimal internet experience.
4. Telkom’s Internet uncapped products are not capped in the ordinary course of business. However, Telkom reserves the right to apply restrictions on an uncapped account if the usage trend is determined to be affecting the user experience of all the others on Telkom’s network.
5. Such restrictions may include, but are not limited to, throttling throughput speeds to an appropriate proportion of the actual port speed and / or shaping a bandwidth to limit the use of bandwidth intensive protocols and applications such as fast downloading, some online gaming and streaming video.
6. Examples of interface which may compromise Telkom’s
network performance and cause network congestion, include running excessive
concurrent internet sessions or accessing excessive bandwidth intensive
protocols such as peer-to-peer. In this event Telkom reserves the right
to terminate the uncapped account on which usage is continuously affecting
network performance.
7. In order to assist users when Telkom’s network performance
is being impacted by their actions, the ISP will provide information,
as is practically available, regarding usage status by way of a usage tracker
tool. Users will be able to track their own usage also. Once usage is indicated
as being dangerously high, Telkom reserves the right to suspend the relevant
account or apply restrictions within 24 (twenty four) hours of users being
notified. Users impacted in the aforementioned manner will only be returned
to full service profile at the beginning of the next month.
8. All Telkom’s Internet data limits is now SoftCapped,
which means that once the monthly data cap is reached, service will not
be cut-off. SoftCap keeps users connected, at no extra cost, so that users
may continue to send and receive emails, browse the Internet, and stay
in the social media loop, albeit at a reduced speed. Monthly data usage
limit (cap) is the amount of data included in an internet plan. Once this
allocated data is depleted, users may select one of the following options:
- Continue using the internet at no extra cost but at a reduced speed.
- Top-up using a credit card or using post-paid billing up to a predefined
data limit which will be billed through the next month for the amount by
which the cap was exceeded. Additional data may be purchased via the secure
credit card purchase facility by logging into the Top-Up portal at https://secure.telkomsa.net/topup/.