Fibre or a fibre-optic internet connection can add tremendous value to any organisation. Even though this technology is relatively new to the market, the rate of adoption across businesses and homes has been intense and it seems that the benefits of fibre far outweigh the  task of switching over from broadband Internet or copper-connectivity to fibre.

Business Fibre

How does fibre work?

Fibre optic cables use pulses of light to send your data between 2 points. Traditional copper cable uses sound pulses over the expensive copper metal between two points. Wireless technology uses radio signal pulses to transmit your data streams from your device to the WIFI router or access point.

Fibre optic is, by simple scientific fact, the best technology currently available for data communications. A business fibre line should be every businesses primary choice for internet service provision.

Business Fibre Benefits

1. Speed, speed and more speed

Terms like ‘light speed’ and ‘symmetric speed’ should get you really excited. The reality is that slow internet connectivity can cost a business up to a week’s worth of production timen. That’s huge. Fibre optic cables are thinner, lighter and more durable than ADSL allowing the data to travel at light speed – up to 100 times faster than ADSL. This means transferring higher volumes of traffic without impacting on the download speeds. ‘Symmetric’ speed refers to equal upload and download times with fibre optic connections, so you can expect:

• Faster file transferring
• Uninterrupted streaming
• Faster page load times
• Uninterrupted VOIP (long distance voice calls)

2. Take it to the cloud

The seamless transfer of data means that you can move your business processes straight into the cloud. This is a really business-friendly tool for apps, hosting and storage applications with easy access to all cloud-hosted information from anywhere. This also means no more bulky storage devices that are prone to crashing and losing vital information.

Read more: Fibre FAQ’s

3. Scalability

The technology allows for huge increments over the limited bandwidth copper and wireless technologies support. Entry level fibre offerings start at 10mbit, which is usually the higher ranges on copper. These can easily scale upwards to 100mbit and even 1gbit if your business requires it.

4.Reliability

Copper cables are notoriously unreliable. The illegal copper market makes them vulnerable to theft, they are subject to degradation over the years and susceptible to electromagnetic interference. Heavy traffic flow across the cables slows down internet connection, a problem for those in big organisations. Fibre cables, on the other hand, are constructed from glass so are not susceptible to theft, electromagnetic interference or weathering. There is also no impact on speed from other users making it the optimum business option.

5.Bring on the bandwidth

Reaching your data cap is something every business can attest to and, while fibre optics are not unlimited, they do offer significantly higher bandwidth. The following activities tend to eat up a lot of bandwidth, so if your business depends on any items below, definitely consider the fibre optic solution:

• Web conferencing
• Streaming high-definition video
• SIP trunking
• File sharing
• Cloud applications

6. Security and resilience to interference

Fibre optic by its nature is a point to point technology, making it dedicated to you, so there is no sharing of your fibre line with outside parties like copper or wifi solutions allow. Fibre is also no susceptible to magnetic, electrical or other types of interference that plague both copper and wireless technologies.

7. Cost savings

Once the initial costs have been factored into the installation of fibre optic cabling, the savings will become increasingly evident. Enhanced speed and reliability result directly in improved business productivity. Fibre optics also allow for scalability so, as this business grows, so can the internet connection. This means you don’t have to outlay huge expenses at the start.

Most major cities across South Africa now have access to fibre optic internet services, with smaller towns and outlying areas also poised for connection. It’s important to liaise with the right internet service provider, however, to ensure you get the right package, for your company.

ECN is a leading telecommunications and business fibre partner in South Africa. ECN offers a broad set of cost effective voice, data and hosted services to meet our customers ever growing technological needs. Our market leading Fibre for business provides our customers with the option of replacing their existing voice service provider to substantially reduce their monthly telecommunications bill.

ECN integrate all VoIP and Virtual PBX technologies through their business fiber offerings, giving you a one to one high speed (lightspeed) voice and data business internet service. Find out more about ECN’s comprehensive business fibre and full service offerings and how we can modernize your business.