Telkom announced today (6 August 2012) that it is about to reach the critical milestone of connecting its 200,000th customer to its 10Mbps ADSL service.
“This is the result of clear and focused set of efforts to deliver on our Broadband strategy,” said Managing Director of Telkom Wholesale and Networks, Bashier Sallie.
“In simple terms we have set out to upgrade the speed of entry level and mid-range broadband access, whilst building out the footprint for our high-speed broadband.”
Sallie added that they are on track to complete the 384kbps to 1Mbps, and 1Mbps to 2Mpbs upgrades in the next 60 to 90 days.
“These upgrades together the brisk demand for our 4-10Mbps bodes well for the commencement of our high-speed broadband pilots.”
The usage of fixed line broadband data has grown exponentially since the introduction of uncapped data usage.
“So it’s not just a case of 200,000 10Mbps connections – it’s important to understand the one-to-many or multiplier application of fixed broadband. I would say on average four people have the use of a fixed broadband connection in the home; in small and medium business this is probably significantly higher,” said Sallie.
Bashier Sallie
Network upgrade
In March 2012, Telkom announced the start of a journey towards a future-proof network, based on a comprehensive set of network interventions.
At the time Sallie said, “We have commenced the last, and arguably the most challenging, of these interventions – a revamp of our access network. The destination is an all-IP network designed to enable fixed-mobile convergence and truly differentiated high-speed broadband.”
Sallie explained that the revamp of Telkom’s access network aims to enable a truly differentiated broadband capability.
He reiterated that Telkom will take fibre deeper into the network, thanks to new fibre capabilities, and will smartly leverage a mix of access technologies, namely very high-speed DSL technology (VDSL2) in a fibre-to-the-curb configuration and passive optic fibre (PON) configuration directly to the home or business premises.
Telkom aims to increase our Multi Services Access Node (MSAN) rollout to 3,700 points of presence in the country. This new generation fibre access node will enable VDSL2 and xPON speeds.
“We are on schedule in building out our pilot footprint and will make the detail available in the next couple of weeks,” said Sallie.
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