Century City businesses way ahead with broadband speeds

businesses using the Century City Connect network through one of 15 internet service providers is 19.39 megabits a second (mbps).

“This puts Century City streets ahead of the South African, Cape Town and Gauteng averages of 3.99 mbps, 3.56 mbps and 4.60 mbps. It is also ahead of the international average of 13.84 mbps and on a par with Europe, which has an average connectivity speed of 19.59 mbps.”

De Swardt was reacting to an international speed index report released by Ookla Net Index, which showed that South Africa’s average speed of 3.99 mbps was only the sixthfastest in the Southern African Development Community, and Cape Town’s speeds are even slower.

“We calculated the Century City average based on the number of business connections presently on the network and the average broadband speed came to 19.39 mbps. We also worked out the average for residential connections, which is 14.87 mbps.”

Greg Deans, a director of Century City Connect, says there is no doubt the network is rapidly changing the way companies in the precinct do business and how residents live, and it’s proving to be a major drawcard for businesses.

“Century City Connect has given Century City an advantage over other nodes, which are scrambling to try to offer faster broadband speeds. So far, 15 internet service providers (ISPs) have been signed to the network.

“Although we have the big brand ISPs on board, we also have some smaller-niched ISPs which can address the specific requirements of smaller users. We believe we have the right mix of ISPs to offer the necessary range of services tailored to users’ needs and pockets as well as the customer interface.”

Deans says end users can shop around for the most suitable package for them and don’t have to be locked into long contracts, so they can easily switch to another service provider if dissatisfied.

He says fibre has been taken past all properties in the Century City precinct.

“We have put fibre directly into or adjoining the premises of about 450 businesses, so all tenants in those buildings can have their own direct access to the network,” says Deans.