Afrihost

Afrihost
Private
Industry Telecommunication
Founded 2000
Headquarters Johannesburg, South Africa
Area served
 South Africa
Key people
 Gian Visser (CEO)
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 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 [2]. Dean Suchard, formerly CFO of Dimension Data, joined the board as Financial Director in 2016.

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.[3] 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 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.[4]

Purchase of Axxess

Afrihost purchased one of their biggest direct competitors, Port Elizabeth-based Axxess,[5] 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.

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 20 August 2013 and commercially launched the services on 3 September 2013.[8]

Sale of shares to MTN

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.

In September 2016, Afrihost's CEO, Gian Visser announced that Afrihost would be buying back their shares from MTN [10]. Several articles published at the time cited various reasons for the dissolution of the partnership [11], however Visser was positive about the relationship and stated he would " like to take this opportunity to thank MTN for the many miles they have run with us over the past few years. We have learnt a lot and we wish them all the absolute best in the future." MTN's financial results suggested that the shares were bought for apprioximately R325 million. [12]

Afrihost is now an independent company again, with private shareholders.

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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17]

Web hosting

Afrihost provides a number of different hosting services, from shared hosting to dedicated server hosting. Server hosting is available in the form of Cloud Server Hosting, Enterprise Cloud Hosting and Physical Hosting, all of which have the option of being managed. Specialized hosting is available in the form of Reseller Hosting, where a user gets access to a WHM reseller platform. Dedicated Full Rack, Half Rack and 1 Rack Unit are available, should you have your own hosting equipment, but hardware must adhere to datacentre standards. Windows and Linux hosting are available as default deployment options, but other custom setups can be requested where required.

Domains

Domain registration, pointing, parking and personalized 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.[18]

DSL modems and mobile devices

Afrihost also offers Netgear wireless router modems[19] and a number of different 3G and LTE mobile devices[20] 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.[21]

Network

In 2012, the company made the decision to move their broadband ADSL services from Internet Solutions to MTN Group.[22] 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[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]

In response, Afrihost launched a pilot project with a limited pool of users[26] to develop their own independent national broadband network, in partnership with Echo SP and Three6Five.[27] Their entire customer-base was migrated to the new network in October of the same year.[28]

Awards

ISP of the Year

Afrihost was voted 2011 ISP of the Year at the 2011 MyBroadband Conference.[29] 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 in 2012, 2013 and 2014.[30][31][32]

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.[33] Afrihost was voted the runner up Broadband Maverick of the Year at the 2011 MyBroadband Conference.[34] 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 more awards than any other company at the conference.[35]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Q&A with Afrihost CEO Gian Visser". TechCentral. 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  2. ↑ "Vox to focus on strategy". ITWeb. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  3. ↑ "Afrihost throws its hat into the ring". TechCentral. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  4. ↑ "Broadband price war on the cards?". TechCentral. 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  5. ↑ "Afrihost in talks to buy Axxess". TechCentral. 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  6. ↑ "Afrihost’s mobile broadband plans". MyBroadband. 2013-07-22. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  7. ↑ "Afrihost Mobile top-up prices, other details emerge". MyBroadband. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
  8. ↑ "R29 per GB mobile data". MyGaming. 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  9. ↑ "MTN buys stake in Afrihost". MyBroadband. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  10. ↑ "Differences in Afrihost, MTN's unhappy marriage". ITWeb. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  11. ↑ "MTN dumps its 50% stake in Afrihost". FIN24. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  12. ↑ "How much is Afrihost paying MTN to buy back it's shares". mybroadband.co.za. 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  13. ↑ "Capped DSL". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  14. ↑ "Uncapped DSL". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  15. ↑ "Business DSL". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  16. ↑ "DSL Lines". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  17. ↑ "Afrihost Reinvents ClientZone!". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  18. ↑ "Mobile Data". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  19. ↑ "DSL Modems". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  20. ↑ "Mobile Devices". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  21. ↑ "Fax2Email". Afrihost. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  22. ↑ "Afrihost’s big ADSL move". Mybroadband.co.za. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  23. ↑ "Major Afrihost ADSL outage". Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  24. ↑ "Afrihost fined for ADSL network problems". Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  25. ↑ Vermeulen, Jan (14 June 2016). "Afrihost must pay fine for ADSL network problems". mybroadband. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  26. ↑ Staff Writer (2015-07-29). "Afrhost New ADSL network tested". MyBroadband. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  27. ↑ Staff Writer (2015-11-11). "Here is what Afrihost’s impressive new ADSL network looks like". MyBroadband. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  28. ↑ Duncan McLeod (2015-10-09). "Afrihost moving DSL clients to new network". TechCentral. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  29. ↑ Kyle-Ben Snyders (2011-10-26). "Afrihost wins ISP of the Year at MyBroadband Conference 2011!". El33tonline.com. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  30. ↑ "2012 MyBroadband awards". MyBroadband. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  31. ↑ "2013 MyBroadband Awards winners announced". mybroadband.co.za. 2013-10-09. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  32. ↑ "2014 MyBroadband Awards winners announced". mybroadband.co.za. 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2014-09-30.
  33. ↑ "South Africa’s fastest growing tech companies". BusinessTech. 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  34. ↑ Kyle-Ben Snyders (2011-10-26). "Afrihost wins ISP of the Year at MyBroadband Conference 2011!". El33tonline.com. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  35. ↑ "2013 MyBroadband Awards winners announced". mybroadband.co.za. 2013-10-09. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
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