Afrihost

Afrihost is a South African Internet Service Provider (ISP) providing a number of services, including ADSL broadband, fibre, fixed wireless, mobile services and web hosting.

Afrihost (PTY) Ltd
Afrihost
Private
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded2000
HeadquartersJohannesburg, South Africa
Area served
South Africa
Key people
  • Gian Visser (CEO)
  • Brendan Armstrong
  • Greg Payne
  • Angus McRobert
  • Dean Suchard
  • Peter Meintjes (former)
ProductsADSL and other broadband services, web hosting, mobile voice and data
Websitewww.afrihost.com

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 MacRobert, former CEO of Internet Solutions and joint CEO of Vox Telecom.[2] Dean Suchard, formerly CFO of Dimension Data, joined the board as Financial Director in 2016.[3]

Services

In 2000, Afrihost offered web hosting services.[1][4] 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.[5][6]

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.[7][8]

Accomplishments

In 2017, Afrihost won various industry awards for its Fibre and ADSL offerings, as well as for its customer care.[9][10]

Customer service

Afrihost has received complaints[11] regarding service delivery. Complaints range from lack of service delivery, incorrect billing from customers to poor-performing offerings, especially in 2013.[12] In 2015, Afrihost experienced wide-scale ADSL issues, which resulted in many complaints.[13] In 2017, Afrihost launched 24-hour support for its customers.[14]

Network issues

In 2012, the company made the decision to move their broadband ADSL services from Internet Solutions to MTN Group.[15] 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[16] and received a suspended fine of R50,000 in October 2015 from the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa for a complaint relating to the company's ability to provide advertised services.[17] 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.[18]

In response, Afrihost launched a pilot project with a limited pool of users[19] to develop their own independent national broadband network, in partnership with Echo SP and Three6Five.[20] Their entire customer-base was migrated to the new network in October 2015.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Q&A with Afrihost CEO Gian Visser". TechCentral. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. "Vox to focus on strategy". ITWeb.co.za. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  3. "MTN sells out of Afrihost". Iol.co.za. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  4. "2017 MyBroadband Conference in photos". MyBroadband.com. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  5. "Uncapped ADSL and Fibre – South African ISPs' fair usage levels and throttling". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  6. "New Afrihost mobile voice prices unveiled". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  7. "MTN buys controlling stake in Afrihost - TechCentral". TechCentral. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  8. Okunola, Folarin. "MTN: Telecom giant dumps 50% stake in Afrihost". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  9. Memeburn (15 September 2017). "These companies won big at the 2017 PriceCheck Awards - Memeburn". Memeburn. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  10. "Gear of the Year Awards - ADSL and Fibre Providers - htxt.africa". htxt.africa. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  11. "Afrihost service - hosting complaint". mybroadband.co.za. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  12. "Afrihost Internet problems". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  13. "Massive Afrihost ADSL problems". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  14. "Yes, Afrihost has 24-hour support which has proved ineffective, their poor service to clients continues in 2018". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  15. "Afrihost's big ADSL move". Mybroadband.co.za. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  16. "Major Afrihost ADSL outage". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  17. "Afrihost fined for ADSL network problems". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  18. Vermeulen, Jan (14 June 2016). "Afrihost must pay fine for ADSL network problems". mybroadband. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  19. Staff Writer (29 July 2015). "Afrhost New ADSL network tested". MyBroadband. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  20. Staff Writer (11 November 2015). "Here is what Afrihost's impressive new ADSL network looks like". MyBroadband. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  21. Duncan McLeod (9 October 2015). "Afrihost moving DSL clients to new network". TechCentral. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
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