Afrihost
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg, South Africa |
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Area served
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South Africa |
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Key people
|
Gian Visser (CEO) |
| Products | ADSL, Broadband Services, Web Hosting, Internet Peripherals |
| Website | www |
Afrihost is a South African Internet Service Provider (ISP) providing a number of services, including ADSL broadband and web hosting.
The company was established in 2000 by CEO Gian Visser,[1] Brendan Armstrong and Peter Meintjes, who were later joined by Greg Payne (former COO of Internet Solutions). Originally a web hosting and general IT services company, Afrihost joined the broadband market in 2009. They have since been joined by Angus McRobert, former CEO of Internet Solutions and joint CEO of Vox Telecom.
History
Beginnings and establishment as a hosting company
Visser, Armstrong and Meintjes attended King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) in Houghton Estate. After qualifying in different areas, they came together to form Afrihost as a side business to their full-time pursuits. As the demand for hosting services grew (in the wake of the dot-com boom), they each quit their full-time positions to focus entirely on Afrihost. From humble beginnings in Visser's mother's home, the company steadily grew more profitable. By partnering with Internet Solutions, Afrihost were able to offer an affordable hosting solution.
The company initially offered a wide range of IT services including networking, web design, web hosting and PC sales and maintenance, later discontinuing other services in order to focus solely on web hosting.
Entry in to ADSL market and R29 per GB campaign
In 2009, Afrihost made the decision to enter the ADSL market.[2] Although they had previously offered dial-up internet access, they had discontinued broadband services to focus on hosting. Visser and his partners felt that ADSL was a necessary offering to ensure that their web hosting interests remained competitive. By this time they had been joined by Payne.
Afrihost originally entered the market aggressively, pricing themselves at R55 per GB of data. Despite this, the initial response was not as good as expected and it began to look as though the venture would fail. An advertising budget was raised for a campaign to promote Afrihost's bandwidth services. However, at a casual meeting over drinks, Visser and Payne decided to use the budget to subsidise bandwidth and enter the market even more aggressively at R29 per GB. The public response was highly positive and established several hallmarks of Afrihost's brand — of subsiding pricing in lieu of traditional advertising, as well as aggressive pricing strategies.[3]
Purchase of Axxess
Afrihost purchased one of their biggest direct competitors, Port Elizabeth-based Axxess,[4] in mid-2011. There was great synergy between the two companies, as well as the additional price point leverage of an expanded consumer base. Axxess's shareholders also included former Internet Solutions executives Andrew Simpson and Angus McRobert, who had previously worked closely with Payne at Internet Solutions and with Afrihost as suppliers. McRobert elected to trade his shareholding in Axxess for an overall stake in Afrihost, making him a minor shareholder.
Move from Internet Solutions to MTN
In 2012, the company made the decision to move their broadband ADSL services from Internet Solutions to MTN Group.[5] After months of negotiation, the deal was finalised in July/August 2012, and their entire client base (as well as Axxess's) was transferred to the new network on 16 October 2012.
The start of mobile data offerings
In mid-2013 Afrihost announced plans to enter the mobile market after noting the substantial growth in this sector and the fact that many clients had begun requesting such a service.[6] In August 2013 Afrihost disclosed more information about their mobile data plans, stating that they would be selling data-only SIM cards for their new data service, the main focus of which was to provide mobile data for devices such as tablets, dongles and MiFi modems. The packages would have no out-of-bundle charges, instead making use of a cap once data was depleted and would be month-to-month, like their existing ADSL offerings.[7] Afrihost started pre-orders for their first mobile data services on the 20th of August 2013 and commercially launched the services on the 3rd of September 2013.[8]
On 2 June 2014 it was announced that Afrihost had sold 50% plus 1 share of its stocks to MTN. This was part of an effort by Afrihost to increase its already strong rate of expansion, with more resources being available to the company after the sale. Both companies believe that through MTN being the majority shareholder of Afrihost, they will benefit each other in numerous ways. In a statement, MTN noted that it would be able to leverage off Afrihost's strong customer service, value proposition and agility, thereby boosting MTN South Africa’s presence in the SME, Corporate/Consumer and Connected Home segments. The company also stated that the deal would allow them be able to supply Afrihost with products for its existing customer base and vice versa.[9] The existing Afrihost executive team will remain, controlling the company's day-to-day operations and strategic vision.
Services
Broadband Internet
DSL Internet is available from Afrihost in both capped and uncapped forms.
Capped offerings are available with limits ranging from 1 GB to 2 TB per month. These all have top up costs of R5 per GB and provide unshaped bandwidth.[10]
Uncapped internet is provided either as Standard Uncapped or Business Uncapped. Standard Uncapped data is available at speeds of up to 1, 2, 4, 10, 20 and 40 Mbit/s. These offerings are semi-shaped, according to network traffic.[11] Business Uncapped data is available at speeds of up to 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 and 40 Mbit/s and is unshaped. Fixed IPs are available for the Business Uncapped packages at a cost of R50 each.[12]
Various capped DSL offerings with WiFi roaming and prepaid capped DSL services are also available.
DSL lines are available from Afrihost at speeds of up to 2, 4, 10, 20 and 40 Mbit/s.[13] These are managed by Afrihost, with the company logging faults and corresponding with Telkom on the customers' behalf, saving them time. The DSL lines can be bundled with ADSL data. Bundles allow for ADSL line rental and data to be combined on one bill, as opposed to customers receiving two separate bills. All capped and uncapped offerings can be bundled.
All of Afrihost's DSL services include instant activation, month-to-month contracts with pro-rata billing, @afrihost.co.za email accounts with webmail and 5 aliases and access to Afrihost's ClientZone.
ClientZone is an online tool providing users with detailed ADSL data usage graphs, connectivity, hosting and billing information and a means to update their account details and log support tickets. In November 2013 this was redesigned, creating ClientZone 2.0, providing an easier to use, more modern-looking user interface.[14]
Web hosting
Afrihost provides a number of different hosting services. Cloud hosting is available in the form of cloud server hosting and enterprise cloud hosting, both of which have the option of being managed. Specialised hosting is available in the form of reseller, rack and dedicated server hosting. Windows and Linux hosting are also available.
Domains
Domain registration, pointing, parking and personalised email accounts are available.
Mobile data
Mobile Data is available with limits ranging from 250 MB to 10 GB. Top up costs are R99 per GB. All mobile data offerings are unshaped, LTE ready and include month-to-month contracts and a free email account with webmail.[15]
DSL modems and mobile devices
Afrihost also offers Netgear wireless router modems[16] and a number of different 3G and LTE mobile devices[17] to consumers.
Other services
Afrihost also provides Search engine optimization, CM4all website builder and ESET internet security services.
All Afrihost clients get free Fax2Email services.[18]
Network
Afrihost's DSL network is one of the largest in South Africa and uses the MTN fiber network which makes use of high speed bi-directional links between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg and Durban and Johannesburg. The network's traffic connects internationally via the WACS undersea cable in the case of the Cape Town and Johannesburg IPCs and the EASSy undersea cable in the case of the Durban IPC. Afrihost also has backup international capacity on the SAT-3 submarine cable.[19]
Awards
ISP of the Year
Afrihost was voted 2011 ISP of the Year at the 2011 MyBroadband Conference.[20] The award is based on votes by broadband consumers in various categories such as broadband performance, client service and consumer satisfaction. Afrihost won the award again the following year.[21][22]
The company was the first ISP to win the prestigious ISP of the Year Award four consecutive times by claiming the award for a fourth time in 2014.[23]
Other Awards
In 2012, Afrihost finished first in the South African Deloitte Fast 50 competition that recognizes the country's fastest growing technology companies. The awards, that are given out in various countries around the world, recognize revenue growth driven by leading intellectual and are a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.[24] Afrihost was voted the runner up Broadband Maverick of the Year at the 2011 MyBroadband Conference.[25] At the 2013 MyBroadband Conference, the company won the award for IT Personality of the Year for CEO Gian Visser and Forum Representative of the Year for Afriman. These, added to the ISP of the Year award, meant they took home the most awards by any company at the conference.[26]
See also
References
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