Turning on the meter

If you are a Cable & Wireless Internet customer in Seychelles, you can no longer expect to download as much as you like and don’t pay for it.

The company says about 5% of its customers use up to 50% of the bandwidth available.

At the core of this issue is the use of the Internet to download material, which can be text, photos, songs and videos, including full length feature films. Cable & Wireless argues that the use of broadband has increased dramatically as both the number of Internet users and the amount they download have increased.

This situation is not only unsustainable, but threatening to slow down the speed of Internet on the Cable & Wireless network. The solution, the company argues is makes those who use a lot pay more.

Cable & Wireless Internet customers have been informed that they are being placed on different packages according to their customary usages. Besides the basic fee for the package, customers will be charged for additional usage above the allowance in the package.

But this move has raised many protests. Some customers have accused the company of simply using the scheme to increase prices, making them pay more for a service they were getting.

Cable & Wireless says the majority of its customers will not see any increase in their monthly payments if their usage pattern remains the same.