Telecoms glossary • B
Broadband
Four ways to get a line into a South African business, and one question that separates them: will it hold a call at four in the afternoon.
What is broadband?in VoIP and business telephony
1. Broadband is permanently connected internet access carried at a rate high enough for modern applications, as distinct from dial-up, which tied up the phone line and reconnected for every session. In South Africa it arrives four ways: fibre to the premises, fixed wireless from a mast, LTE, and 5G.
2. No single speed threshold defines it in law here. South Africa’s National Broadband Policy sets access targets instead, most recently the whole population at 10 Mbps and 80 percent at 100 Mbps by 2030.
The four types, as they stand in 2026
The delivery method decides latency, upload shape and how the line behaves when the neighbourhood gets busy. Headline megabits decide none of those.
- Fibre
- Light down a glass strand from a network operator’s cabinet to your building. Lowest and steadiest latency, and the only option normally sold symmetrical on business packages. Coverage is the constraint, not capability. On MyBroadband’s February 2026 figures, Vumatel passes just over 2.04 million homes, Openserve 1.50 million, Herotel 606,000, MetroFibre 515,000, Frogfoot 446,000 and Octotel 400,000, with ISPs reselling across those networks.
- Fixed wireless
- A radio link from a mast to an antenna on your roof, installed by a WISP. Where fibre has not been trenched, this is the serious alternative rather than the compromise, provided the link is line of sight and the sector is not oversubscribed. Latency sits above fibre but is stable enough for voice on a well provisioned link.
- LTE
- Mobile broadband on the 4G network, sold as a router and a SIM. Almost universal coverage and quick to install, with latency and throughput that move with cell congestion. Its real job in a business is as the backup path, not the primary one. See getting the best call quality over LTE.
- 5G
- No longer a metro novelty. Vodacom passed 60 percent population coverage in March 2026 and MTN reported 40 percent in April 2026, so fixed 5G is now a credible primary line in covered areas, with latency close enough to fibre for voice. Coverage is by population rather than by land area, so verify the signal at your actual address before committing.
Which type carries a phone system
Voice needs consistency more than capacity. Twenty concurrent calls fit inside 2 Mbps, so every option below has enough bandwidth. What differs is how each behaves under load.
| Property | Fibre | Fixed wireless | LTE | 5G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical latency | Lowest, stable | Low, weather sensitive | Variable with congestion | Near fibre where covered |
| Upload shape | Symmetrical on business plans | Often asymmetrical | Asymmetrical | Asymmetrical |
| Behaviour at peak | Holds on low contention | Depends on sector load | Degrades in busy cells | Degrades in busy cells |
| Install lead time | Weeks where trenching is needed | Days | Same day | Same day |
| Role for voice | Primary | Primary where fibre is absent | Backup | Primary in coverage, backup elsewhere |
The practical answer for most offices is fibre with a wireless backup on a different network, cut over automatically by failover routing. Compare the two side by side in business fibre, fixed wireless and 5G for VoIP.
What to check before you sign anything
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Coverage at the address, not the suburb
Fibre coverage maps are drawn per street and 5G coverage is quoted per population. Both can show green while your building sits in a gap. Get a feasibility check on the exact address in writing.
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The upload figure, in writing
This is the number your calls, backups and video meetings share. A large download beside a thin upload is the standard shape of a consumer package, and it is what fails first in an office.
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Contention, and whether there is an SLA
Ask for the contention ratio and the repair clock. Business packages carry an uptime commitment and a stated time to fix; consumer packages are best effort however the sales page is worded.
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Whether copper is still in the path
Legacy copper voice and ADSL services have been withdrawn progressively across the country. If any part of your service still rides copper, plan the move rather than waiting for the notice. Our guide covers the sequence: transitioning away from Telkom lines.
Reading a broadband quote
Two lines advertising the same megabits can be entirely different products. What you are buying is the contention ratio, the upload, the SLA and the repair time, and only the first number appears in the advert.
If the phone system is going on this line, ask the ISP directly whether they shape or prioritise voice traffic, and what happens to your traffic when their upstream link is congested. A provider that cannot answer that is quoting you a consumer product.
About this entry
Definitions are written for South African business buyers and checked against primary sources – provider documentation, standards bodies and ICASA – not vendor marketing. Reviews are independent and sponsors are always disclosed. Read our editorial policy and scoring methodology.
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