Licensed Microwave vs. Fibre: Choosing the Best Internet Connection for Your Site

What Is Business Fibre?

Business fibre uses thin glass or plastic strands to transmit data as pulses of light. It delivers the fastest, most consistent internet solutions available in South Africa — with symmetrical upload and download speeds, ultra-low latency, and virtually unlimited scalability.

Fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) connections are delivered through underground ducting directly to your premises. Once installed, a fibre line provides a dedicated or shared connection depending on the service tier — with enterprise-grade options offering guaranteed bandwidth via SLAs.

For businesses in well-covered urban areas, business fibre remains the preferred choice for reliable internet. It supports VoIP, cloud applications, video conferencing, and large data transfers without performance degradation.

What Is Licensed Microwave?

Licensed microwave connectivity uses point-to-point radio links operating on regulated frequencies allocated by ICASA. Unlike unlicensed wireless (which shares public spectrum), licensed microwave delivers dedicated, interference-free bandwidth between two fixed points — typically from a base station or tower to your business premises.

Because the spectrum is licensed and protected, microwave links provide near-fibre performance with dedicated bandwidth, low latency (typically 2–5 ms), and guaranteed throughput. This makes licensed microwave the strongest fixed-line alternative for businesses that need reliable internet but lack access to fibre infrastructure.

Learn more about how licensed wireless internet differs from standard wireless and LTE solutions.

Side-by-Side Comparison: Licensed Microwave vs. Fibre

Factor	Business Fibre	Licensed Microwave
Maximum Speed	Up to 10 Gbps	Up to 1 Gbps (typically 100–500 Mbps)
Latency	1–3 ms	2–5 ms
Bandwidth Type	Dedicated or shared	Dedicated (always)
Deployment Time	2–8 weeks	3–10 business days
Infrastructure Required	Underground ducting to premises	Line-of-sight antenna
Weather Sensitivity	None	Minimal (rain fade at very high frequencies)
Coverage	Limited to fibre-lit areas	Anywhere with line-of-sight to a tower
Scalability	Highly scalable	Scalable within spectrum allocation
Best For	Urban offices, data-heavy operations	Remote sites, rapid deployment, fibre-gap areas
Monthly Cost (100 Mbps)	R 2 500 – R 5 000	R 3 500 – R 7 000
Reliability	99.9%+ uptime	99.9%+ uptime (with SLA)

Speed and Bandwidth

Business fibre leads on raw speed. Enterprise fibre connections scale from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps, with symmetrical upload and download available on dedicated lines. For businesses running cloud ERP systems, large file transfers, or multi-site video conferencing, fibre delivers the highest throughput available.

Licensed microwave typically delivers speeds from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps. While this is lower than top-tier fibre, it is more than sufficient for the vast majority of South African businesses. Critically, microwave bandwidth is always dedicated — you never share capacity with neighbouring businesses as you might on a shared fibre service.

For guidance on how much bandwidth your business actually needs, see our internet speed guide.

Reliability and Uptime

Both technologies deliver enterprise-grade reliable internet when properly deployed. Fibre is immune to electromagnetic interference and weather — the light pulses travelling through glass are unaffected by external conditions. This makes fibre the most physically reliable medium available.

Licensed microwave achieves comparable uptime (99.9%+) through dedicated spectrum, redundant hardware, and engineering-grade link budgets that account for rain fade margins. In practice, a well-designed microwave link in Gauteng or the Western Cape will match fibre reliability for all but the most extreme weather events.

One area where microwave can actually outperform fibre: fibre cables are vulnerable to cable theft, construction damage, and municipal works — all common issues in South Africa. A microwave link, being airborne, is immune to these ground-level disruptions.

Deployment Timeline

This is where licensed microwave offers a decisive advantage. Fibre installation requires trenching, ducting, and civil works — a process that typically takes 2–8 weeks depending on the distance from the nearest fibre node and municipal approvals required.

Licensed microwave can be deployed in 3–10 business days. Once a site survey confirms line-of-sight to a base station, the installation involves mounting an antenna, configuring the radio link, and commissioning the service. No trenching, no council permits for ducting, no waiting for third-party civil contractors.

For businesses relocating, opening new branches, or needing temporary high-speed connectivity for projects, microwave's rapid deployment is a significant advantage.

Cost Comparison

Business fibre is generally more cost-effective on a per-Mbps basis, particularly in urban areas where fibre infrastructure already exists. A 100 Mbps dedicated fibre line typically costs between R 2 500 and R 5 000 per month, depending on the provider and SLA level.

Licensed microwave connections are priced slightly higher — typically R 3 500 to R 7 000 for equivalent speeds — reflecting the cost of licensed spectrum and dedicated radio equipment. However, the total cost of ownership shifts in microwave's favour when you factor in:

• Lower installation costs — no trenching or civil works
• Faster time-to-revenue — operational in days, not weeks
• No dependency on third-party fibre infrastructure
• Reduced downtime risk from cable theft or construction damage

For a detailed breakdown of all connectivity costs, visit our guide on the most reliable internet connection for businesses.

The Fixed-Line Alternative for Remote Areas

This is where licensed microwave truly shines. Across South Africa, thousands of business premises — in industrial parks, peri-urban areas, farming communities, mining sites, and smaller towns — have no access to fibre infrastructure. For these locations, the choice is often between LTE (with its variable speeds and shared bandwidth) or licensed microwave.

Licensed microwave is the best fixed-line alternative because it delivers:

• Dedicated bandwidth — not shared with residential or mobile users
• Guaranteed throughput — backed by SLAs comparable to fibre
• Low latency — critical for VoIP, cloud PBX, and real-time applications
• Rapid deployment — no dependency on underground infrastructure
• Interference-free — licensed spectrum means no congestion from neighbouring networks

For businesses running VoIP or Cloud PBX systems, microwave's low latency and jitter-free performance ensures voice quality matches that of a fibre connection — something LTE and unlicensed wireless cannot reliably guarantee.

When Fibre Is the Best Choice

Business fibre remains the ideal internet solution when:

• Your premises are in a fibre-lit area with multiple provider options
• You require speeds above 500 Mbps or symmetrical multi-gigabit connectivity
• Your business processes massive data volumes (video production, large backups, data centres)
• You need the lowest possible latency for financial or real-time trading applications
• Long-term cost optimisation is the priority and infrastructure already reaches your building

Read our complete guide to business fibre in South Africa for detailed deployment advice.

When Licensed Microwave Is the Better Choice

Licensed microwave is the superior internet solution when:

• Fibre infrastructure does not reach your premises or business park
• You need connectivity deployed within days, not weeks
• Your site is in an industrial area, rural town, or mining/agricultural zone
• Cable theft or construction damage has disrupted your fibre service repeatedly
• You need a dedicated, interference-free backup link for business continuity
• You are opening a temporary or project-based site

In these scenarios, microwave delivers reliable internet performance that matches fibre — without the infrastructure dependency. Explore our full microwave internet guide for technical details.

The Hybrid Approach: Fibre + Microwave

Many enterprise clients achieve maximum uptime by combining both technologies. A typical hybrid deployment uses fibre as the primary link and licensed microwave as a dedicated failover — or vice versa in areas where microwave is the primary connection.

This approach delivers:

• True redundancy — two physically independent paths with no shared failure points
• Automatic failover — if the fibre is cut, traffic switches to microwave within seconds
• Load balancing — distribute traffic across both links during normal operation
• 99.99%+ uptime — approaching carrier-grade availability

For businesses where downtime directly impacts revenue — call centres, e-commerce, medical practices — a fibre-plus-microwave strategy is the gold standard for backup internet solutions.

How to Choose the Right Internet Solutions Provider

Whether you choose fibre, microwave, or a hybrid approach, selecting the right provider is critical. Key evaluation criteria include:

• Coverage verification — can the provider deliver to your exact address?
• SLA guarantees — what uptime percentage is contractually guaranteed?
• Response times — how quickly will faults be acknowledged and resolved?
• Spectrum licensing — for microwave, confirm the provider operates on licensed (not unlicensed) frequencies
• Network monitoring — does the provider offer proactive 24/7 monitoring?
• Scalability — can bandwidth be upgraded without hardware replacement?
• Integration support — does the provider support VoIP, cloud PBX, and VPN requirements?

SureTel provides both business fibre and licensed microwave internet solutions across South Africa, with dedicated support and proactive network monitoring. Explore our business internet connection options to find the right fit for your site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is licensed microwave as fast as fibre?

Licensed microwave typically delivers speeds up to 1 Gbps, which is lower than top-tier fibre (up to 10 Gbps). However, for most business applications — including VoIP, cloud systems, and video conferencing — microwave provides more than sufficient dedicated bandwidth. The key advantage is that microwave bandwidth is always dedicated and never shared.

Can I use licensed microwave for VoIP and Cloud PBX?

Yes. Licensed microwave's low latency (2–5 ms) and dedicated bandwidth make it excellent for voice applications. Many SureTel clients run full Cloud PBX and VoIP systems over microwave links with voice quality identical to fibre connections.

What happens to microwave during bad weather?

Licensed microwave links are engineered with rain fade margins that account for South African weather conditions. In practice, a properly designed link maintains connectivity through all but the most extreme thunderstorms. Outages due to weather are extremely rare with enterprise-grade installations.

Is licensed microwave more expensive than fibre?

Monthly costs for licensed microwave are typically 20–40% higher than equivalent fibre speeds. However, installation costs are significantly lower (no trenching) and deployment is faster (days vs weeks). For sites without fibre access, microwave often delivers the best value when total cost of ownership is considered.

Can I combine fibre and microwave for redundancy?

Absolutely. A fibre-plus-microwave hybrid is one of the most effective redundancy strategies available. The two technologies use completely different physical paths — underground cable and airborne radio — eliminating shared failure points and delivering near-perfect uptime.