The hidden costs South Africans are paying for fibre

One of the unfortunate parts of upgrading to a better internet option is the hidden costs not included in your monthly contract.

We asked Abraham van der Merwe of Frogfoot where to find South Africa’s hidden Fibre costs:

This is entirely dependent on the network and ISP offerings on top of the network.

Most fibre networks in SA are currently offered on an open access basis which provide consumers with a very competitive environment and ample choice.

As a result, most ISPs offer turn key solutions over these networks (i.e. consumer pays ISP for all the services – no other hidden fees) unlike traditional ADSL infrastructure where there typically would have been a telephone line payable to Telkom, an ADSL line and a data bundle payable to the ISP.

Laurie Fialkov of CyberSmart confirmed that the charges would be entirely ISP dependent, when asked whether he was aware of any hidden costs in CyberSmart’s offering:

Not on our implementation no. But on everyone else that I know of you do have to pay an installation fee and still buy a router.

Our implementation also includes a 021 or 010 number free-of-charge, whereas on all other installations I have seen you have to pay extra for these.

Have you had to pay for any extra nasty surprises for your Fibre line? Let us know in the comments below and in our forums.