Afrihost

Afrihost
Private
Industry Telecommunication
Founded 2000
Headquarters Johannesburg, South Africa
Area served
 South Africa
Key people
Products ADSL, Broadband Services, Web Hosting, Internet Peripherals
Website www.afrihost.com

Afrihost is a South African Internet Service Provider (ISP) providing a number of services, including ADSL broadband, Fibre, Fixed Wireless, Mobile and web hosting.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

The company was established in 2000 by CEO Gian Visser,[8][9] 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 MacRobert, former CEO of Internet Solutions and joint CEO of Vox Telecom[10]. Dean Suchard, formerly CFO of Dimension Data, joined the board as Financial Director in 2016.[11][12]

Services

In 2000, Afrihost offered web hosting services.[8][9] As of 2018, Afrihost is a broadband and telecoms service provider as well, which offers ADSL, VDSL, broadband, fiber-to-the-home, mobile voice and mobile data services.[13][14][15][16][17]

MTN Group's purchase and sale of stake in Afrihost

In 2014, MTN Group purchased 50.02% Afrihost's shares for R408 million. However, in 2016, MTN Group sold its stake in Afrihost.[18][19]

Accomplishments

In 2017, Afrihost won various industry awards for its Fibre and ADSL offerings, as well as for its customer care. [20][21]

Customer service

Afrihost has received complaints[22] regarding service delivery. Complaints range from lack of service delivery to poor-performing offerings, especially in 2013.[23] In 2015, Afrihost experienced wide-scale ADSL issues, which resulted in many complaints.[24] In 2017, Afrihost launched 24-hour support for its customers.[25]

Network issues

In 2012, the company made the decision to move their broadband ADSL services from Internet Solutions to MTN Group.[26] 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.

In 2015, Afrihost experienced a major network outage[27] and received a suspended fine of R50,000 in October 2015 from the ISPA for a complaint relating to the company's ability to provide advertised services.[28] This decision was appealed in June 2016 and Afrihost was fined R30,000 in addition to the suspended R50,000 fine for using "exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity" in its advertisements.[29]

In response, Afrihost launched a pilot project with a limited pool of users[30] to develop their own independent national broadband network, in partnership with Echo SP and Three6Five.[31] Their entire customer-base was migrated to the new network in October of the same year.[32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Digging into MTN's R408m Afrihost deal". Moneyeb.co.za. 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  2. ↑ "MTN takes control of Afrihost". Fin24.com. 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  3. ↑ "Afrihost Mobile Data review: an answer to #DataMustFall?". Memeburn.com. 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  4. ↑ "Afrihost announces 200Mbps product range". Memeburn.com. 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  5. ↑ "These companies won big at the 2017 PriceCheck Awards". Memeburn.com. 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  6. ↑ "Your favourite internet suppliers are…". Citizen.co.za. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  7. ↑ "Visser, Ramuthaga win IT Personality, Visionary CIO". Itweb.co.za. 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  8. 1 2 "Q&A with Afrihost CEO Gian Visser". TechCentral. 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  9. 1 2 "2017 MyBroadband Conference in photos". MyBroadband.com. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  10. ↑ "Vox to focus on strategy". ITWeb.co.za. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  11. ↑ "Internet Software and Services Company Overview of Afrihost (Pty) Ltd". Bloomberg.com. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  12. ↑ "MTN sells out of Afrihost". Iol.co.za. 2016-06-26. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  13. ↑ "Afrihost launches R4,000-discount fibre promotion". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  14. ↑ "Uncapped ADSL and Fibre – South African ISPs' fair usage levels and throttling". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  15. ↑ "Shoot-out: Telkom FreeMe vs Afrihost Mobile - TechCentral". TechCentral. 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  16. ↑ "New Afrihost mobile voice prices unveiled". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  17. ↑ "Best ADSL and Fibre ISPs in South Africa". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  18. ↑ "MTN buys controlling stake in Afrihost - TechCentral". TechCentral. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  19. ↑ Okunola, Folarin. "MTN: Telecom giant dumps 50% stake in Afrihost". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  20. ↑ Memeburn (2017-09-15). "These companies won big at the 2017 PriceCheck Awards - Memeburn". Memeburn. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  21. ↑ "Gear of the Year Awards - ADSL and Fibre Providers - htxt.africa". htxt.africa. 2017-02-21. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  22. ↑ "Afrihost service - hosting complaint". mybroadband.co.za. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  23. ↑ "Afrihost Internet problems". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  24. ↑ "Massive Afrihost ADSL problems". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  25. ↑ "Yes, Afrihost has 24-hour support which has proved ineffective, their poor service to clients continues in 2018". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  26. ↑ "Afrihost's big ADSL move". Mybroadband.co.za. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  27. ↑ "Major Afrihost ADSL outage". Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  28. ↑ "Afrihost fined for ADSL network problems". Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  29. ↑ Vermeulen, Jan (14 June 2016). "Afrihost must pay fine for ADSL network problems". mybroadband. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  30. ↑ Staff Writer (2015-07-29). "Afrhost New ADSL network tested". MyBroadband. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  31. ↑ Staff Writer (2015-11-11). "Here is what Afrihost's impressive new ADSL network looks like". MyBroadband. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  32. ↑ Duncan McLeod (2015-10-09). "Afrihost moving DSL clients to new network". TechCentral. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
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