Mtunzini: Where South Africa’s Broadband Revolution Began

Coastal Town’s Pivotal Role in Shaping the Nation’s Internet Landscape

The quaint KwaZulu-Natal town of Mtunzini holds a unique distinction: the birthplace of South Africa’s broadband revolution. Sixteen years ago, the arrival of a submarine cable transformed the country’s internet access, dismantling a monopoly and ushering in an era of more affordable connectivity.

Breaking Telkom’s Monopoly

Before Seacom, South Africa relied on limited international bandwidth sources. These included the SAT-3/SAFE cable system, controlled by **Telkom**, and telecommunications satellites. These options were costly for internet service providers.

International bandwidth prices were extremely high. Prior to 2009, ADSL data cost between R60 and R80 per gigabyte. Local-only data was more affordable. This all changed when Seacom went live in July 2009.

Overcoming Obstacles

Construction on the Seacom cable started in November 2007. The South African government created uncertainty regarding local ownership. Then-communications minister **Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri** announced that cables had to be majority-owned by local or African investors.

It was widely criticized as most subsea cables are financed by international consortia. It seemed the government was trying to protect **Telkom**’s monopoly. Industry sources also indicated vested interests were involved.

Despite the political hurdles, Seacom found a solution. They entered into an agreement with Neotel, now Liquid Intelligent Technologies. **Seacom** also brought on board South African shareholders, including **Johann Rupert**’s Venfin, **Cyril Ramaphosa**’s Shanduka Group, and **Andile Ngcaba**’s Convergence Partners.

Broadband Transformed

Within two months of Seacom’s launch, **Afrihost** unveiled an ADSL product offering data for R29 per GB. This move slashed international data prices by over 50%. According to a 2023 report, the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data in South Africa is now around $2.60, a significant drop since 2009 (DataReportal).

Six months later, **Mweb** launched an affordable consumer uncapped ADSL service. The late former **Mweb** CEO **Rudi Jansen** said **Seacom** was a key factor in enabling uncapped ADSL. The company went “from no network to one of the biggest networks in a space of 4 months,” he stated.

Seacom’s arrival ended **Telkom**’s dominance in subsea fiber capacity. This paved the way for affordable, uncapped broadband products.