With the need for comprehensive, reliable and affordable communications solutions growing across southern Africa, Directel wanted a service provider that could provide fibre connectivity which could cater for both the speed and capacity requirements of its customer base. By migrating to EPN and Last Mile from Internet Solutions, Directel gained access to an extensive connectivity network that offered a range of benefits, and opened up a whole new world of solutions for its business and retail customers.
Based in Johannesburg, Directel is a proudly South African communications service provider that focuses on providing reliable, high-quality end-to-end communication solutions tailored to the needs of its customers – mainly small and medium-sized businesses in southern Africa. It aims to provide the functionality and features usually associated with large enterprise solutions, thereby enabling them to benefit from communication solutions with a competitive edge. Delivering a superior, personalised customer experience is high on the Directel agenda, as it recognises that every communications solution is unique.
With a strong focus on unified communications and resiliency, Directel prides itself on giving customers the advantages of the latest technologies without the overbearing costs often associated with these solutions.
There is an ever-growing need for high-quality, reliable communications within southern Africa. To provide bespoke, state-of-the-the-art solutions in the region, with the right support and at the right price, Directel requires services that are highly scalable and easily managed.
In June 2016 Directel identified the need to expand its fibre network so it could reach more business customers. The organisation needed both connectivity and bandwidth to expand its network and deliver dependable (and affordable) communications solutions to businesses across a wider geographical region – and was looking for a service provider that could help it deliver.
Because IS already works with an expansive network of reliable fibre vendors, the EPN and Last Mile solution was quickly identified as the ideal option for Directel’s needs. Even though Directel already had a last mile solution installed, it could rely on best-effort services only; with EPN and Last Mile it can rely on a guaranteed service from IS, which means Directel business customers get a more reliable service, too.
Migrating to a new product always comes with its challenges, but thanks to the IS team the migration was easily managed. In just a month, nine sites were up and running, already connected via EPN and Last Mile. As part of the migration, all links were upgraded which meant Directel could benefit from higher capacity and bandwidth.
EPN and Last Mile is one product with many benefits: it is a cost-effective solution that provides ultra-fast VPN connectivity for network, Internet services and communication services – all of which were needed to address Directel’s connection and bandwidth needs.
High speeds enable rapid access to high-bandwidth applications and fast transfers of bulk data. In addition, bandwidth can be scaled up or down to meet demand, and can burst up immediately – which means there is no need to wait for an upgrade in order to expand capacity. In addition, with EPN and Last Mile Directel is able to rate-limit customers and make it easy for them to upgrade if needed – something that couldn’t be offered before.
Because the backhaul and bandwidth are supplied by IS, Directel could focus its efforts and energy on running the business and creating amazing customer experiences. IS monitors the network and can immediately identify a potential problem and take action to address it before the network goes down. Set service levels agreements also mean Directel can have peace of mind knowing that the expert team of IS engineers are there, 24/7, when needed. Thanks to the IS client management and sales support teams, Directel customers could enjoy a more bespoke and tailored response to their specific requests.
EPN and Last Mile from IS can plug into any of Directel’s fibre vendors, so there are no limitations on where and how Directel can provision services to its customers. Directel can expand its network and add new sites anywhere, anytime. Not only does this make the business more competitive, it also allows Directel to explore new ways of growing its footprint across the region. With Cape Town and Durban expansion plans on the table, EPN and Last Mile provided the perfect base of connectivity to expand the Directel fibre network to more businsses across southern Africa.
Following the installation of EPN and Last Mile, Directel also purchased the IS LTE solution for its RocketNet business, which provides fibre to the home (FttH). The company’s relationship with IS has allowed it to provide better fibre solutions to its entire customer base – from homes to businesses – as it continues its journey of exploring new ways of providing the best communications solutions, countrywide.