The arrival of Netflix in South Africa offers a viable solution to costly paid-for TV solution, but will our current Internet capacity be able to handle its demands? asks GREG WRIGHT, Product Owner at Webafrica.
The arrival of Netflix in South Africa promises an alternative to current and expensive TV services on offer – that of being able to stream hundreds of popular movies and TV shows in real time, on demand, whether it be from your smartphone, tablet or computer. While this is good news for our increasingly tech-savvy population, this new development also raises the question of what kind of Internet data and streaming capacity is necessary to make use of a service like Netflix – and whether it is an affordable alternative.
The Netflix revolution is good news for South Africans – among others, there is no more need to hide your location using VPN connections or sneak around with 3rd party apps. All you really need is a decent Internet connection, be it fibre, ADSL or mobile. If you are concerned with saving your data, there is added good news: with Netflix, you have the ability to actually set your bandwidth consumption within your Netflix account by setting the quality of your video.
Contrary to popular belief, a decent Internet connection that will allow you to use a streaming service like Netflix does not have to break the bank. In fact, it might be cost efficient in the long run.
Take fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), for example: FTTH allows users to stream footage on demand, without buffering. Unlike ADSL, with FTTH there is no requirement to couple Telkom voice lines with a fibre line. Saying goodbye to Telkom voice lines means a monthly saving of R186 per month. Due to its super-streaming abilities, there is also less of a need for expensive satellite TV subscriptions. Many fibre customers end up cancelling their satellite subscriptions, or at least downgrade them to a cheaper package. The cherry on top is that fibre is more affordable than people think. For example, there are packages where a 20/2Mbps fibre line with a 200GB data bundle and free router and setup retail for R769 per month. A package like this should fulfil all the needs of an average-sized family. And if you have said goodbye to Telkom and satellite TV, it’s a win-win.
Currently, internet over fibre is only available in certain towns and suburbs where the cables have physically been laid. To see if it’s hit your neighbourhood yet, click here: http://bit.ly/1GpUGst
If the growing fibre network has not hit your neighbourhood just yet, your next best option for streaming Netflix movies and series is to get an ADSL package. There are various packages available – a capped account for streaming services is a good option as it is on a higher bandwidth priority. Again, this kind of bundle will not break the bank. For example, a 100GB capped package retails for R199 per month.