Hi Ish,
This is the reply [1] to the internet-related questions in the
National Assembly:
"As regards households having been given access to high-speed internet
service, I am informed that Mauritius Telecom has already connected more
than 160,000 households to high-speed internet services."
"By the end of 2018, it is expected that all the households in Mauritius
will have the possibility of being connected to high-speed internet
through fibre by Mauritius Telecom."
The following was about actions to make high-speed internet more affordable:
"Firstly, I am informed that, in July 2015, Mauritius Telecom has introduced
a high-speed internet package at Rs499 VAT inclusive, thereby
offering high-
speed internet at the cheapest price in the African region.
Secondly, since 01 June 2015, customers of Mauritius Telecom who subscribe
to the ADSL internet service have benefitted from a 30% decrease of the
internet tariff, which has dropped from Rs699 VAT inclusive per month
to Rs499 VAT inclusive.
Thirdly, between January and October 2015, Mauritius Telecom has
also migrated,
free of charge, about 50,000 households from the traditional
copper network to
a new fibre network. The internet speed of these customers has
been upgraded
by up to 10 times without any additional charge on their monthly rental."
I found an ISP in South Africa advertising a 1 Mbps package [2] for
Rs 213. Orange Mauritius [3] is currently advertising a 512 Kbps
package for Rs 499. I do not view that download speed as
high-speed. In 2012, the target [4] of the Ministry of Information
and Communication Technology was that: "At least 60% of homes should
have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 10 Mbps
and actual upload speeds of at least 5 Mbps by 2014". In my opinion,
the target has not been reached as it is unlikely that 60% of homes
have access to a download speed of 10 Mbps and a upload speed of 5 Mbps.
Regards,
S. Moonesamy
1.
http://mauritiusassembly.govmu.org/English/hansard/Documents/2015/hansard3815.pdf
2.
https://www.webafrica.co.za/adsl/
3.
http://www.orange.mu/internet/adsl-home.php
4.
https://www.icta.mu/documents/nationalbroadbandpolicy2012.pdf
Received on Wed Nov 04 2015 - 16:16:39 PST