Fibre internet in Gauteng on Openserve (Telkom) network

[Fintan]

I found out yesterday that Telkom have started to install new conduits in our estate and the surroundings that I can only assume must be for fibre. I have posted a few pictures below for those of you that are interested.

The image below is a new man hole that was dug for a new development that is underway.


Here is a picture of the same manhole with the conduit that will be fed to the Telkom box about 20m up the road.


Here is a closer look at the 2-way conduit.



Further up the road, they have already started feeding a 4-way conduit into our estate.



Apparently the contractors will be back in the estate today to continue their work. I have asked my wife to corner them to ask them a few questions:

1. Contractors name? Lungisa - VRG telecommunications and projects. Seems to be a new contractor on the block.
2. Are they installing the conduit only or are they installing the fibre cables at the same time too? (I couldn't find any evidence of this) The same contractor will be installing the fibre cable.
3. When are the expecting to be finished? Should be finished with the conduits this week and should complete the fibre by next week.
4. Are they aware of what this conduits are for? (I assume it is for fibre, but I'm asking this to be sure) Confirmed that the work is for Telkom fibre.

 

[jcheek]

I found out yesterday that Telkom have started to install new conduits in our estate and the surroundings that I can only assume must be for fibre. I have posted a few pictures below for those of you that are interested.

<snip>

Confirmed that the work is for Telkom fibre.

Way to go Fintan - welcome to the league of the almost-connected
Now just a large glass of patience needed ... hang in there mate !

 

[feo]

Still can't get an ETA for Telkom fibre for Erasmia which is really frustrating.

 

[jcheek]

Yes, it happens on FTTH too ...

So these past few days have seen quite a bit of action by the Telkom fibre installation teams around my block, with a number of people getting commissioned after signing up for FTTH.

And yes, just like when Telkom works on voice or ADSL lines, the activity appears to cause upsets on FTTH too :



So it seems that fibre is no more immune in that respect.

 

[biena]

Same here.
Sat Oct 24 13:29:00 2015 Sat Oct 24 13:36:33 2015
Sat Oct 24 13:36:36 2015 Sat Oct 24 13:41:07 2015
Sat Oct 24 13:42:44 2015 Sat Oct 24 13:57:12 2015
Sat Oct 24 13:58:05 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:19:47 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:19:51 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:27:39 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:29:17 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:37:49 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:39:34 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:54:43 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:56:39 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:03:23 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:05:10 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:09:33 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:09:38 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:16:18 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:18:02 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:25:40 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:27:26 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:38:19 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:40:10 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:49:01 2015
Sat Oct 24 15:50:53 2015 Sat Oct 24 15:58:27 2015
Sat Oct 24 16:00:13 2015 Sat Oct 24 16:04:32 2015
Sat Oct 24 16:06:39 2015 Sat Oct 24 16:11:05 2015
Sat Oct 24 16:11:18 2015 Sat Oct 24 16:16:59 2015
Sat Oct 24 16:17:22 2015 Sat Oct 24 16:21:41 2015
Sat Oct 24 16:23:37 2015 Sat Oct 24 16:27:53 2015

 

[jcheek]

Same here.
Sat Oct 24 13:58:05 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:19:47 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:19:51 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:27:39 2015
Sat Oct 24 14:29:17 2015 Sat Oct 24 14:37:49 2015
etc etc etc

Hehe .. good to know I'm not alone.
Saw the Telkom guys were busy on Colorado Road, which might be something of a main arterial.

Ah well .. LTE failover is doing good duty today!

 

[biena]

Whatever was wrong seems to have stopped.

 

[jcheek]

Whatever was wrong seems to have stopped.

Roger that - all good here too now.
Edit : Spoke too soon. FTTH still sick - lumpy and low average throughput :



Too sick even to stream Deezer without annoying breaks

 

[jcheek]

... and today we're back to normal.



Interestingly, my WebAfrica/Telkom connection - when it's working properly, that is - now consistently exhibits about a 5:1 (20%) download:upload speed ratio. Thats an improvement from the ~10% it was showing initially.

 

[FFF]

The telkom map has been updated.

 

[Jase]

The telkom map has been updated.

sniff, the coverage literally stops 2 blocks from my house... actually one long block.

 

[Bursty-dude]

Seen Telkom fibre dudes in the area very often lately.
And The Purple has happened just two blocks away from our place.

 

[FFF]

Fortunately my house is now covered. Now to decide on a service provider

 

[PostManPat]

Fortunately my house is now covered. Now to decide on a service provider

Depends what speed you want. If you looking for 100mb, just get the cheapest data + line rental package. Then buy DSL accounts that support up to 100mb.

 

[FFF]

Depends what speed you want. If you looking for 100mb, just get the cheapest data + line rental package. Then buy DSL accounts that support up to 100mb.

So its possible to run a standard adsl package like vox's fatpipe with a fiber line?

 

[StoneCold]

So its possible to run a standard adsl package like vox's fatpipe with a fiber line?

Indeed it is

My house is also now covered, so I'm in the same boat. But also going to go for the cheapest data package as I already have a VOX account as well that I can use in conjunction with it.

 

[Off-The-Chart]

Indeed it is

My house is also now covered, so I'm in the same boat. But also going to go for the cheapest data package as I already have a VOX account as well that I can use in conjunction with it.

jou lucky bugger

think the mountain between me and the rest of PTA is maybe making us wait longer

 

[jcheek]

Now to decide on a service provider

You may find the comparison table I prepared here to be of some help in making that choice. Not all that much has changed since then.
You can also use the links in my OP to take you to posts that discuss each of the main service providers' offerings in more detail.

So it's possible to run a standard adsl package like vox's fatpipe with a fiber line?

As other folks have already pointed out, this does indeed seem to be the case.
Telkom's FTTH is essentially just another "last-mile" access medium that connects individual subscribers to Telkom's access network, in exactly the same way that xDSL does (hopefully just with fewer distance constraints and better overall performance).
Once you're on the Telkom network, you need a connection to your chosen service provider's network to provide the actual data services. That connection looks the same irrespective of whether you came in with FTTH or xDSL - I believe it is done with Telkom's "IPConnect" (IPC) product.
This separation between line arrangements and data arrangements is exactly the same in the case of fibre as it is with xDSL, ... aaaand it comes with all the same evils, like divided responsibility, "best effort services" and IPC itself.

The infrastructure and management tools that the various ISPs have developed to facilitate subscriber access from the Telkom last-mile networks were developed with ADSL in mind, but they still apply for FTTH.
To illustrate, the account facilities and management tools that WebAfrica provide for my FTTH connection have "ADSL" all over them:



Telkom is unfortunately not offering "naked FTTH" in the same way that it offers naked DSL .. at least, not yet.
The private-sector ISP's obviously like you to take a bundled offering (FTTH line + data) from them, but while they don't officially sanction it, some will allow you to contract with them for the Telkom fibre line only (no data). WebAfrica explicitly defines this possibility, though they do charge R100pm premium on the line rental for the privilege.

There's also nothing stopping you from having multiple data accounts with multiple ISPs, exactly as PostManPat suggested here :

... just get the cheapest data + line rental package.

 

[FFF]

You may find the comparison table I prepared here to be of some help in making that choice. Not all that much has changed since then.
You can also use the links in my OP to take you to posts that discuss each of the main service providers' offerings in more detail.



As other folks have already pointed out, this does indeed seem to be the case.
Telkom's FTTH is essentially just another "last-mile" access medium that connects individual subscribers to Telkom's access network, in exactly the same way that xDSL does (hopefully just with fewer distance constraints and better overall performance).
Once you're on the Telkom network, you need a connection to your chosen service provider's network to provide the actual data services. That connection looks the same irrespective of whether you came in with FTTH or xDSL - I believe it is done with Telkom's "IPConnect" (IPC) product.
This separation between line arrangements and data arrangements is exactly the same in the case of fibre as it is with xDSL, ... aaaand it comes with all the same evils, like divided responsibility, "best effort services" and IPC itself.

The infrastructure and management tools that the various ISPs have developed to facilitate subscriber access from the Telkom last-mile networks were developed with ADSL in mind, but they still apply for FTTH.
To illustrate, the account facilities and management tools that WebAfrica provide for my FTTH connection have "ADSL" all over them:

View attachment 311603

Telkom is unfortunately not offering "naked FTTH" in the same way that it offers naked DSL .. at least, not yet.
The private-sector ISP's obviously like you to take a bundled offering (FTTH line + data) from them, but while they don't officially sanction it, some will allow you to contract with them for the Telkom fibre line only (no data). WebAfrica explicitly defines this possibility, though they do charge R100pm premium on the line rental for the privilege.

There's also nothing stopping you from having multiple data accounts with multiple ISPs, exactly as PostManPat suggested here :

Thanks for all the info! probably just going to go with a webafrica 10Mbps, 90GB + (360GB) since I have been using them and like their service. Pity that vox doesn't offer free nighttime data on their fiber products....

 

[biena]

Some good news for the folks on WebAfrica.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/adsl/144479-webafrica-unveils-impressive-new-adsl-data-prices.html

double your data for the same price.