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Afrihost

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Afrihost (PTY) Ltd
Afrihost
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded2000; 25 years ago (2000)[1]
HeadquartersJohannesburg, South Africa
Area served
South Africa
Key people
ProductsFiber internet
VoIP
Mobile services
Web hosting[4]
SubsidiariesAxxess
Websitewww.afrihost.com

Afrihost is a South African internet service provider (ISP)[5], providing a number of services, including fiber internet, fixed wireless, mobile services, VoIP, and web hosting.[4]

History

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The company was established in 2000 by CEO Gian Visser,[1] Brendan Armstrong and Peter Meintjes, who were later joined by Greg Payne (the former COO of Internet Solutions).

The business was originally run from Visser's home, until it moved to offices in 2005.[6]

Originally a web hosting and general IT services company, the firm joined the broadband market in 2009. The original executives have since been joined by Angus MacRobert, former CEO of Internet Solutions and joint CEO of Vox Telecom.[7]

In 2011, Afrihost acquired Axxess,[8] an ISP founded in 1997, which offers FTTH (Fibre) Internet services through most service providers, including OpenServe and Vumatel.[9][10]

In 2014, MTN Group purchased 50.02% of Afrihost's shares for R408 million. However, in 2016, MTN Group sold its stake in Afrihost.[11][12] The shares were sold back to Afrihost's directors for R325 million.

Dean Suchard, formerly CFO of Dimension Data, joined the board as Financial Director in 2016.[13]

In mid-2021, it was announced that Afrihost would acquire a majority stake in competing South African ISP, Cool Ideas, after the deal was unconditionally approved by the country's Competition Commission. This will significantly increase Afrihost's share of the local internet subscriber market. Cool Ideas will continue operating as a stand-alone brand and business, including comprising the same management team and employees. All original shareholders of Cool Ideas, including founders Andre Jooste and Paul Butschi, will retain their stakes in the company.[14]

Services

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In 2000, Afrihost offered web hosting services.[1][15]

In 2018, it was a broadband and telecoms service provider as well, which offers ADSL, VDSL, broadband, fiber-to-the-home, mobile voice and mobile data services.[16][17]

As of 2025, Afrihost offers fiber internet, fixed wireless, mobile services, VoIP, and web hosting, among other services, catering to the South African market.[4]

Accomplishments

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In 2017, Afrihost won various industry awards for its Fibre and ADSL offerings, as well as for its customer care.[18][19]

In 2025, Afrihost celebrated winning the MyBroadband ISP of the Year Award for the third consecutive year.[5]

Criticism

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In 2015 and 2016, Afrihost faced criticism of a decline in service levels, and degraded performance of its broadband products. This was due to not provisioning enough capacity to properly serve the volume of clients it had.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Q&A with Afrihost CEO Gian Visser". TechCentral. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b Jan Vermeulen (24 February 2025). "The man who became the face of ISP excellence in South Africa". MyBroadband. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  3. ^ Jan Vermeulen (5 June 2024). "The one Afrihost founder who left the company". MyBroadband. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Afrihost". Afrihost. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b Partner (7 April 2025). "Why Afrihost has won Best ISP of the Year for three consecutive years". MyBroadband. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  6. ^ "The Afrihost story". Afrihost. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Vox to focus on strategy". ITWeb.co.za. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Afrihost-Axxess deal concluded". MyBroadband. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Axxess upgrades speeds and cuts prices for services on Vumatel network". Telecom Paper. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Vumatel price cuts on Axxess released". MyBroadband. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  11. ^ "MTN buys controlling stake in Afrihost - TechCentral". TechCentral. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  12. ^ Okunola, Folarin. "MTN: Telecom giant dumps 50% stake in Afrihost". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  13. ^ "MTN sells out of Afrihost". South Africa: Independent Online. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Afrihost's acquisition of Cool Ideas gets approved". Bizcommunity.com. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  15. ^ "2017 MyBroadband Conference in photos". MyBroadband.com. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Uncapped ADSL and Fibre – South African ISPs' fair usage levels and throttling". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  17. ^ "New Afrihost mobile voice prices unveiled". Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  18. ^ Memeburn (15 September 2017). "These companies won big at the 2017 PriceCheck Awards - Memeburn". Memeburn. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  19. ^ "Gear of the Year Awards - ADSL and Fibre Providers - htxt.africa". htxt.africa. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
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