Red Bull MOBILE is expanding their product range by adding new data products to their range.

Red Bull MOBILE has introduced two new data offerings, and through their partnership with Cell C the company is able to give their customers a great all round internet experience.

The new Red Bull MOBILE data offerings operate through Cell C’s HSPA+ network ensuring that customers will always get an enhanced internet experience. The data offerings will be bundled with customised Red Bull MOBILE USB Data Stick and will also have a custom designed user interface manager with some Red Bull flavour to it.

The Red Bull MOBILE data offerings comes available in two varieties, one on a 24 month contract and the other on a once-off package.

The 24 month contract option will cost you R249 per month and will give you 3GB of data every month and a 21Mbps capable Red Bull MOBILE branded Huawei E367 USB Data Stick, out of bundle rates are 39c per MB

The once-off data option will give you access to 6GB total of data that you can use at your own discretion and a Huawei E367 USB Data Stick, this will cost you R1499 once-off.

In addition to the new Red Bull MOBILE data offerings, the company has also introduced new top-up contracts and added the LG Optimus Android smartphone to their RMB 200 package.

For more information about the new Red Bull MOBILE products visit www.redbullMOBILE.co.za

It’s no secret that when it comes to innovation and setting standards in the local broadband market, MWEB is at the forefront. MWEB, the company that revolutionised uncapped Internet in South Africa, has now gone and done another first in South Africa by upgrading all 512k customers to 1Mbps.

This news comes after rumours have been doing the rounds that Telkom will be doing away with their 512k ADSL lines and upgrading all customers to 1Mbps, however no promises have been made by Telkom as to when the switchover will happen.

MWEB has taken the lead, and from today the 512k option will be obsolete from their product line. MWEB will be upgrading all current 512k customers to 1Mbps speeds at no extra cost and the new 1Mbps uncapped products will also be priced the same as the previous 512k products.

Users that are already on a 1Mbps data only option will get a price reduction and from now on only pay R299pm, while the new 1Mbps All Inclusive package will be priced at R599pm.

Uncapped ADSL is no new phenomena amongst South African ADSL users, we have been having it for longer than a year already, but one ISP I have been following closely since MWEB and many other local ISP’s released their Uncapped ADSL is WebAfrica.

WebAfrica has always been a pioneer in the local Internet market, but with the introduction of Uncapped Internet they somehow failed to deliver and instead focussed more on building their very own Tier 1 network.

After almost a year, WebAfrica has finally introduced their very own Uncapped ADSL product, Business Uncapped provisioned through the SAT-3 cable system and not Seacom.

“Web Africa Business Uncapped ADSL is intended for those who want the best possible performance from their ADSL line for their business. Furthermore, redundancy is par for the course with SAT3 bandwidth being primary and SEACOM bandwidth for failover.” said Web Africa CEO Matthew Tagg.

Tagg also added that “What also sets our product apart is our transparency, in terms of excessive usage and AUP rules clearly laid out in the online console with a graphical meter.”

WebAfrica’s Business Uncapped product offers clients lower content ratio’s, prioritised bandwidth, 24 hour business support, 10 email addresses and a usage management interface all without the need to sign a contract.

WebAfrica Business Uncapped ADSL is priced starting from R499 for 384kbps data only or R599 for the complete 386Kbps package that includes ADSL line rental. For more details about pricing view the WebAfrica Business Uncapped ADSL page.

I am glad to see WebAfrica is starting to move into the Uncapped ADSL market, but it looks like we will have to wait a bit longer for a consumer Uncapped ADSL offering from them.

SEACOM the undersea cable notorious for bringing South Africans cheap international bandwidth has broken down yet again, leaving lots of South African with limited or no international Internet connectivity at all.

Clients of ISPs making use of SEACOM started reporting connectivity issues from 23:30 last night. MWEB released a statement on Twitter that the cable break is in Cairo and related to a curfew in region engineers delayed to fix.

MWEB is currently running at 65% of its international capacity and in an attempt to provide customers with a pleasant browsing experience during the outages, has cut all P2P traffic. This means that service like bittorrent will not function during the outage.

Many ISP’s has raised concern with one SEACOM client saying that they must really get off this cable system as the “failure rate is ridiculous”.

What are your thoughts? Can you live with cable breaks as long as you have access to cheap Internet?

Both Vodacom and MTN has released devices the past week that enables consumers to browse the web from the comfort of their couch on their televisions, eliminating the need for a computer to be connected to the web.

The devices differ quite allot with MTN opting for a desktop phone device called InternetOnTV and Vodacom a keyboard device called the WebBox, both devices plug into your TV. Here is how the MTN InternetOnTV stack up against the Vodacom WebBox.

Although both these device aim to bring cheap affordable Internet to the unconnected without the need of a computer the data bundled with them are quite disappointing and not to mention the prices to top up Internet bundles with both providers. MTN are however looking at providing a 90min uncapped option for the MTN InternetOnTV device but the price are however still unknown.

At this time the MTN InternetOnTV device looks like its the winner of the two, offering faster speeds and the ability to make voice calls.

MTN today launched InternetOnTV, a home phone and Internet device in one that will bring cheap affordable Internet Access to the masses through their televisions.

The launch of the MTN InternetOnTV device comes just days after Vodafone launched their WebBox through a partnership with Vodacom here in South Africa.

The MTN InternetOnTV device however is way better when compared to the WebBox Vodacom has launched. The device includes a built-in 3G modem that supports 7.2Mbps connectivity, a keyboard, RCA cables and a mouse, and can be used with a MTN PayAsYouGo sim card to surf the web from you TV.

“Through the launch of our InternetOnTV device, we aim to increase internet penetration among previously disadvantaged and unconnected communities in South Africa,” explains Mapula Bodibe, General Manager: Consumer Marketing at MTN South Africa.

The device does not only offer users web browsing, but owners of the MTN InternetOnTV device can also make phone calls and send and receive SMS messages and emails.

Unlike the WebBox from Vodacom, the InternetOnTV device offers social media integration, MS Office document support and 3G 7.2Mbps and a built in media player supporting MP3, AAC, DIV, WMA and MPEG4 codecs.

The MTN InternetOnTV device will be on sale at selected Jet retail stores countrywide at a cost of only R999, and Jet account holders can choose to pay of the device over six months interest free. The packages includes R60 worth of airtime which can be converted to a 75MB Internet bundle.

Although the device is a bit more expensive than the Vodacom WebBox one must note that this is a 3G capable device and that it includes Voice and Messaging functionality, but price wise for the poor this device will still be a bit too much for their pocket, although I have to give credit to MTN for making it available through Jet stores on interest free credit.

This morning while listening to the radio I noticed an advertisement saying you can get 12GB of free Internet.

The Free ADSL offer is a promotion by @lantic giving customers 12GB of free ADSL. The 12GB of free ADSL are split up over a period of 6 months meaning you will get 2GB per month for 6 months.

What is the catch? From what I understand the main catch is that once you reach your 2GB cap in a month you will not get capped, instead @lantic will start to bill you for every megabyte you use after your first free 2GB. All the out of bundle data will be billed at 5c per MB which works out at R51.50 per GB. The offer is also only open to new clients.

If you sign up for the Free ADSL promotion also be aware that once your six months of free usage are over @lantic will automatically continue the service and you will be billed R49 p/m. You need to give at least 30 days notice to terminate the contract.

So what are you waiting for? Go grab that free ADSL while you can, just be sure you do not over use and to cancel on your 5th month.

A lot of you may have noticed all the recent Heita advertisements on TV and in public and wondered what it is all about. Techcentral unraveled all earlier today.

Heita! That will be the new brand under which Telkom will launch its new Mobile Broadband offering to the public on 14 October 2010.

Heita! will only be the brand name under which Telkom will provide mobile services to consumers while sticking to a more traditional name with Telkom in it for business offerings.

It looks like Telkom has embraced social media with its new Heita brand when you have a look at the new Heita website. It features a twitter feed keeping track of the keyword #heita as well as a blog feed that shows the latest blog posts with the Heita keyword in them. Apart from the streams the Heita website also features Wallpapers and Videos of its advertisement campaigns.

With Cell C that recently announced its new HSPA+ mobile broadband data at prices starting from R34 per GB it would be interesting to see at what Telkom’s Heita mobile offering will be priced.

Earlier this year MWEB started the broadband price wars by bringing affordable uncapped Internet to the South African market, a few months in and just about every other ISP out there are offering these uncapped accounts undercutting MWEB with a few rands here and there but nothing big.

Axxess has now introduced a brand new Uncapped Internet offer to the market aimed at the average household user that would just like to surf the Web, watch Youtube videos, Skype with their friends and family and download the odd file now and then.

The new package from Axxess is called Just Surf and offers the average household user Uncapped Internet at a mere price of only R99 per month for 384Kbps. There are also 512Kbps and 1024Kbps Uncapped Internet packages available at R149 per month and R249 per month.

Managing Director of Axxess, Andrew Simpson, has however warned that the Just Surf packages are not meant for heavy downloaders and even though there are no Fair Usage Policy on these new Uncapped Internet accounts, users making use of bulk downloading protocols like BitTorrent or any other Peer 2 Peer service will be slowed down.

Other ISPs are however not sitting back and within hours of Axxess announcing their new Just Surf Uncapped Internet packages, OpenWeb has already hit back by introducing the exact same Uncapped Internet packages undercutting Axxess by a mere R1.

OpenWeb’s Uncapped Internet are priced as follows:

1. R98 – 384Kbps
2. R148 – 512Kbps
3. R248 – 1024Kbps

Telkom must surely be feeling the pressure since MWEB stunned the local ADSL market by introducing cheap uncapped Accounts, and with Afrihost offering 1GB ADSL bundles for a mere R29 per GB doesn’t make it easier for them also.

Telkom unveiled their new Do Broadband packages and prices, but its not that a big improvement. Prices stay the same with just increased bundle sizes, and their attempt at lowering top-up prices is disgusting.

Telkom Internet subscribers will from 1 August 2010 see their packages increase with a few GB and top-up prices will drop to R49 per GB, still way above the R29 per GB offering we are used to nowadays from ISPs like Afrihost.

Telkom is yet to announce pricing of their new 10Mbps service, and there are allot of questions regarding whether Telkom will automatically upgrade current 4Mbps users like they did in the past with 1Mbps users, or if the new 10Mbps service will cost extra.

Still I feel Telkom’s attempt at reducing ADSL prices is pathetic, what’s your thoughts on the price reduction?