Fibre Network Operators are "killing" Telkom

Bradley Prior

Bradley Prior

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Fibre Network Operators are "killing" Telkom

Telkom is rapidly losing ADSL and fixed-line subscribers across South Africa, despite its plan to be the premier fixed-broadband provider in the country.

Telkom currently has 2,267,000 fixed-line subscribers, which is the lowest this figure has been since the dawn of South Africa’s democracy.
 
Great! I mean if it takes more than a week for the Rep on MyBb to respond to an ADSL issue that started in August last year it just shows that nothing has really changed.Quality of the the service is up and down. Sometimes a problem gets resolved in a day (best case scenario) most of the time its a fight to the death to just order a speed upgrade.
 
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This is an opinion piece. - @Bradley Prior

Should have had it at the top... I'm not disputing the fact that Telkom is losing customers, but I'm definitely shocked at your lack of insight into the telecoms industry and its history.

Telkom isn't losing customers to fibre, they are letting adsl/ copper lines die like most technologies eventually do. It would be stupid for them not to.

They also had a monopoly on broadband infrastructure for the longest time until they were forced to let go, now they are playing nice.

Geez man open a Google search window and research the subject a bit... :rolleyes:
 
lowriderza said:
This is an opinion piece. - @Bradley Prior

Should have had it at the top... I'm not disputing the fact that Telkom is losing customers, but I'm definitely shocked at your lack of insight into the telecoms industry and its history.

Telkom isn't losing customers to fibre, they are letting adsl/ copper lines die like most technologies eventually do. It would be stupid for them not to.

They also had a monopoly on broadband infrastructure for the longest time until they were forced to let go, now they are playing nice.

Geez man open a Google search window and research the subject a bit... :rolleyes:
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Exactly this. Lots of people cancelled their fixed lines (a lot of which weren't used for broadband) due to the MNOs. Now they're actually gaining fibre customers and will continue to do so. Far from "dying".
 
Swa said:
Exactly this. Lots of people cancelled their fixed lines (a lot of which weren't used for broadband) due to the MNOs. Now they're actually gaining fibre customers and will continue to do so. Far from "dying".
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It's the same with these Dstv articles on Mybb.... Maybe they should drop that English First Language requirement? It seems like they need to cast the net a bit wider for talent.
 
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Its all written around sensationalism.

If something is just partially true then it will get an article written in such a language that the article is technically true yet misleading but hey as long as the headlines generate clicks these articles will keep popping up.
 
Telkom must replace the cable between houses. When there is water on the old cable no phone can work.
 
Telkom has a gap they aren't filling where they aren't rolling out fibre as fast as ADSL and copper infrastructure is withering out.

They never really made the most of their copper infrastructure with the entry level speed still at 1mbps for years.
 
Fox1 said:
Telkom has a gap they aren't filling where they aren't rolling out fibre as fast as ADSL and copper infrastructure is withering out.

They never really made the most of their copper infrastructure with the entry-level speed still at 1mbps for years.
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What has never made sense to me is the fact that so many areas with ADSL still have not been converted yet? if the density of ADSL users are high you have a way easier time migrating them over to fiber. You retain a customer with a better service and they are familiar with Telkom services and how things work. You should definitely not roll out fibre and run copper alongside with it as I have seen in so many areas such as my own complex. Switch off the copper network then.
 
Louis72 said:
What has never made sense to me is the fact that so many areas with ADSL still have not been converted yet? if the density of ADSL users are high you have a way easier time migrating them over to fiber. You retain a customer with a better service and they are familiar with Telkom services and how things work. You should definitely not roll out fibre and run copper alongside with it as I have seen in so many areas such as my own complex. Switch off the copper network then.
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Makes no sense to incur additional expenses when there's already adsl available. Makes more sense to roll out in areas without any infrastructure and so gain additional customers and then just treat the areas where the adsl is dying as areas where there were never any services weighing up which ones makes more sense to roll out to.
 
Swa said:
Makes no sense to incur additional expenses when there's already adsl available. Makes more sense to roll out in areas without any infrastructure and so gain additional customers and then just treat the areas where the adsl is dying as areas where there were never any services weighing up which ones makes more sense to roll out to.
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valid point there. The big question is if the areas that there was no ADSL to start off with such as poorer communities has any need or means to afford a R700+ fibre subscription now? Would they actually get people connecting instead of just rolling out and making a loss?
 
Swa said:
Makes no sense to incur additional expenses when there's already adsl available. Makes more sense to roll out in areas without any infrastructure and so gain additional customers and then just treat the areas where the adsl is dying as areas where there were never any services weighing up which ones makes more sense to roll out to.
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Maintenance and cost benefit of 1 fiber user is more profitable for a company than having 4 users or perhaps even more on adsl.

So even if they get rid of ADSL users without offering the users fiber alternative the reduction in maintaining old copper networks that relay to these areas is more profitable than having these clients remain on ADSL.

Of course the ultimate profitable option would be to make sure all ADSL users have a viable fiber offer to move on to.
 
Louis72 said:
valid point there. The big question is if the areas that there was no ADSL to start off with such as poorer communities has any need or means to afford a R700+ fibre subscription now? Would they actually get people connecting instead of just rolling out and making a loss?
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Actually, some of those "poor people" are already spending around R700 on variety of data contracts due to non-existence of Fiber in their areas, not every person who reside in the township is unemployed and SASSA recipient. Some people choose to stay in those "poor areas" for variety of reasons. In my residential area for instance, it's not your old apartheid establishment, but a relatively newer "Urban Township" if there's anything like that, otherwise it's my creation, a post 94 establishment where majority of residents are your "black & couloreds" middle class, they subscribe to LTEs and wireless DSLs (sorry I didn't claim to be techsavy), you see this by the number of wifi "available networks" when you lock in your wifi and/ the number of wireless external aerials on top of their houses that there is high demand for broadband access as well in these no so affluent areas. I believe the first company to move in such areas would make a killing, we are watching how we're sidelined by the big fiber ISPs and we will respond in kind one day. ;)
 
They believe that Telkom’s inefficiency and poor support have created an opportunity to compete against them and migrate subscribers away from the company.
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I hope Vumatel is not trying to claim that it has better support compared to Telkom?

If you are unlucky enough to have a Vumatel line problem (like a dodgy splice) you will find that it can take weeks to get any support from Vumatel.
 
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