How good is the Telkom 3G Network?

[Nicksteroonie]

I am an ADSL user in my office since it was available in SA.

Now I busy signing up for a mobile broadband for my laptop for when I go on holiday.

I was planning on Vodacom but now I see Telkom is also offering 3G and they are a bit cheaper.

How good is their network? Do they have national coverage in smaller towns, coastal towns etc?

Or is it better to stick with Vodacom?

[torgo]

coverage not as good as VC and MTN. They still building their network. But thus far the speeds are gr8!

[rurapente]

im confused, are they running their own infrastructure? or are they their own? i.e not a re-branded MTN, VC, Cell-c? I wouldnt think they would get a license for that given concerns of monopoly, since they own the infrastructure VC and MTN traverse on, and could "sell" it to themselves much cheaper.

[Nicksteroonie]

Apparently they have their own network. You can check out the coverage map here: https://secureapp.telkom.co.za/wireless/coverage.do?prod=wcdma

[Saajid]

I believe that Telkom already has a license to offer GSM/3G/HSDPA/UMTS services. They just coudn't use their license fully because of the restrictive shareholder agreement that they had with Vodafone (Vodafone and Telkom were 50/50 shareholders in Vodacom), which stated that Telkom couldn't compete against Vodacom on the mobile front, or something to that effect.

So Telkom couldn't compete on the truly mobile front, so they developed their GSM/UMTS network as a fixed mobile network, meaning you can be mobile within a cell (base station coverage area), but once you move out of the cell, the connection will not be handed over to the next base station, but will be lost.

Since Telkom has sold it's stake in Vodacom, they should now be able to offer a full, truly mobile GMS/UMTS service, just like MTN and Vodacom do. I don't know why they aren't offering this as yet - in theory it should be easy to move from fixed mobile to truly mobile.

At the moment, they have limited coverage, but most major cities are covered already - check the coverage map on their website.

I believe they are planning to sign a roaming agreement with Vodacom, which will allow them to piggy back off Vodacom's network in area's where they don't yet have coverage (which is what Cell C did when it launched).

I also believe that Telkom will be launching Telkom Mobile soon, which will compete directly with Vodacom/MTN/Cell C on the mobile front.

All this is based on reading, and forum discussions, rumours, etc, on myBB.

[rurapente]

hmm. nice.

[RazedInBlack]

Its called an Infrastructure licence! Meaning, they can set up thier own!

[DXL]

Telkom is definitely launching their own Fully fledged mobile network.

Gauteng is LIVE and Operating.

ONLY Contract users are being signed up for now.

The Network is going LIVE in many parts of the country.

Telkom is very secretive at the moment about its mobile plans.

I would assume they Don't Want any hinky , pinky Tricks from MTN & VodaCom to sabotage their Business plan.

They are already undercutting MTN & VodaCom in the mobile Broadband Space with price and Value.

More to come from what i hear.

The mobile network offers some of the best wireless speeds in the country ATM.

Prepaid & Number Portability is also on its way to the Telkom Mobile Network.

I believe they are close to launch.

No idea whats the Delay though.


DXL - Team

[Sting]

Delay due to billing systems, customer support, platform support, roaming agreement, etc?

[RazedInBlack]

They already have month to month type pre-paid on 3G.

[torgo]

@DXL
Good speeds thus far. How can we check balance on data bundles?

I am told for data i must send sms to do at 2222. but cant do that
from e960 when sim is in. is there somewhere on internet to check?


And balance on voice closer package?

[eltherza]

is there somewhere on internet to check?


Not that I know of.

If you want to check your usage, you'll have to log into your e960 via the browser - it'll show you the usage there.

I have the E220 Dongle - it comes with connection software that gives you indication of your usage. Remember, this is no hard cap, so you'll be billed 0.30c a MB out of bundle.



They are already undercutting MTN & VodaCom in the mobile Broadband Space with price and Value.


Yip, 0.30c per MB is the cheapest 3G there is (out of bundle)



The mobile network offers some of the best wireless speeds in the country ATM.


And most reliable as well. I've never had more than 5min downtime - except the day that cable was broken which effected almost all telkom internet though.

[Nicksteroonie]

So do you think its worth signing up for Telkom 3G as a "roaming service"?

I already have Telkom ADSL in my home office which I use daily, so Telkom 3G would be used purely for travel.

How soon do you think their network will expand to smaller towns?

[Sting]

They are busy signing a roaming agreement with either Vodacom or MTN and then there will be full roaming... This is until they have built their own mobile network (using mostly there own existing high sites!).

[cavedog]

Telkom is building on Vodacom and MTN masts it seems. I saw a couple of telkom vans at a MTN tower. They took the branches of the fake tree and installed a big white box with 2 aircon's next to MTN one. After a week or so they put back the fake tree's branches and since then I pick up SA02 on my phone

[Sting]

Many of these towers are actually Telkom towers and are leased to MTN/VC....

[warwickw]

I would wait until they offer a prepaid service, like VC and MTN do.

Telkom's current offering is monthly only, for a holiday connection not worth committing to, if on the other hand you will make use of it every month then its a great offering.

Come on Telkom, give us prepaid 3G/HSDPA

[Park@82]

Come on Telkom, give us prepaid 3G/HSDPA

+1

[spikegv]

been using this service for 9 moths already and i must say that telkom have the best 3G network i have ever used