Telkom-Based FTTH in Cape Town

G

Gralalo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
154
Reaction score
1
Location
Cape Town
Hi guys. This is a thread I'm about how Telkom is progressing with their Fibre in Cape Town.

I know there is a similar thread called "Telkom-based FTTH in Pretoria" but as the name suggests, it's only in Pretoria.
The reason why I am starting this thread is to see how other people In CT are slowly but surely receiving Fibre.

Please feel free to Post instillation pictures, general fibre questions or even a few specs of you already installed Fibre line:D

I will make my contribution to this thread shortly as the area next to me has started with fibre installation ;)
 
Well actually I don't live in Pretoria and posted my fibre shenanigans in the Pretoria thread. But I'm a bit of a rebel...

Keen to see some more installation pics!
 
EDIT: I replaced all the image links with live preview Images (Attachments)
(I did not have sufficient permissions to post attachments until now.)

Ok, so I live in Amandelrug, Kuils River and the Fibre installation is currently happening almost right next to me, but I drive throught Haasendal often and I know a few friends that live there as well.

Now if you're anything like me, you'll almost definitely let out a BIG *sigh* when you hear the words 'FTTH', because it seems to be everywhere except your home:(

SO this all began about...well exactly 4 Months ago, 22 September 2015. The Haasendal area was covered in a wonderful pink as seen below.
IMG-20150922-WA0001.jpg

The months that followed seemed pretty stale and as of December 2015 i started seeing Telkom bakkie's Driving past my house at least once a week - at a time it was everyday. I haven't driven through Haasendal for about a week until today, which is where i saw the first part of the Fibre installation.
DSC_0149.jpg

In these next photos you can clearly see the fibre pipes coming out next to some black ducts (dont know what that is, maybe copper from ADSL?) and other wires that are most probably electricity. You can also see a brick wall being built to access the fibre from ground when installation is done.

A close-up inside the hole
DSC_0152.jpg

And a close-up of the fibre pipe where you can clearly see the conduits inside. I did try to see if anything was written on it, but i could see - i will try to figure out who the contractors working for Telkom are.
DSC_0158.jpg

Another 200m further and around a few bends, there is another hole with the conduit coming out of the ground.
DSC_0162.jpg

This is how the current fibre availability looks like with a rough path (red) and places where you can see it coming out of the ground(blue)
Capture.jpg

I'm sorry that i couldn't post the images directly yet, though i think it went alright with what I had;)

EDIT: I replaced all the image links with live preview Images (Attachments)
 
Last edited:
Inertia said:
Well actually I don't live in Pretoria and posted my fibre shenanigans in the Pretoria thread. But I'm a bit of a rebel...

Keen to see some more installation pics!
Click to expand...

I have actually noticed this in recent days:D
Just thought it'd be nice to have it all in one place
 
Gralalo said:
Hi guys. This is a thread I'm about how Telkom is progressing with their Fibre in Cape Town.

I know there is a similar thread called "Telkom-based FTTH in Pretoria" but as the name suggests, it's only in Pretoria.
The reason why I am starting this thread is to see how other people In CT are slowly but surely receiving Fibre.

Please feel free to Post instillation pictures, general fibre questions or even a few specs of you already installed Fibre line:D

I will make my contribution to this thread shortly as the area next to me has started with fibre installation ;)
Click to expand...


I live in Bishopscourt and we have had FTTH for about 14 months though.
Will dig up my old photos.
 
I'ts been a few days now and some progress has been made with the laying of the fiber, most notably 3 new locations that have been dug up. One of which is this one.
DSC_0168.jpg

One of the first places that was dug up has now been filled back up and is now waiting for the new wall enclosure to set before putting on a lid. You can see the differences here.

BEFORE
DSC_0149.jpg

AFTER
DSC_0170.jpg

You will also notice a sign in the picture below that speaks of "Libby Construction". Now i'm not quite sure but as far as i can recall i haven't heard about these contractors - and seeing as this is a very different area than Pretoria, Telkom's outsourcing of contractors will also be different. From what i can gather they do most of Telkom's DSL services installation (Fibre/ADSL both under and above ground)
DSC_0169.jpg
 
Last edited:
Gralalo said:
I'ts been a few days now and some progress has been made with the laying of the fiber, most notably 3 new locations that have been dug up. One of which is this one

One of the first places that was dug up has now been filled back up and is now waiting for the new wall enclosure to set before putting on a lid. You can see the differences here.

BEFORE AFTER

You will also notice a sign in the picture below that speaks of "Libby Construction". Now i'm not quite sure but as far as i can recall i haven't heard about these contractors - and seeing as this is a very different area than Pretoria, Telkom's outsourcing of contractors will also be different. From what i can gather they do most of Telkom's DSL services installation (Fibre/ADSL both under and above ground)
Libby Construction Picture
Click to expand...

http://libbyconstruction.co.za/
Looks like they know what they are doing...
 
An update: As of today I have counted 12 of those fibre manholes and another 4 in the making.
Progress looks promising:)
 
Last edited:
I came home a few hours ago and the contractors were busy digging what looked like Fibre Back-haul trenches.
DSC_0184.jpg
 
Last edited:
I also found a tape barrier next to the orange netted barriers, It had "Vodacom" all over, i don't know if they might be involved as well.

Here is the Vodacom branding
DSC_0181.jpg

Here you can see a fibre labeling
DSC_0182.jpg

This just makes me wonder who is working on/with these fibre lines because as of now i have seen evidence of:
1. Libby Construction
2. Alcatel-Lucent
3. Vodacom
Working on the installation of fibre.

Ill have a look over the weekend to try to find the group manager, so i can ask them some questions:whistle:
 
Last edited:
UPDATE: I want to inform everyone that I have now gained permissions to attatch images. You will notice that all the image links have been replaced :D
 
SFW007 said:
i foresee fibre break un developed land for builders ...
Click to expand...

As of now there are no homes built on this land, only on the parts opposite it, but I'm not sure if it's reserved for building or not. A fibre break would suck along the line though.
 
Cape Town is slow when it comes to fibre rollouts....

There are some area which neither Vodacom,MTN or Telkom want to go.

(When enquiring.. they just say they need R17,800 a month commitment from your neighbourhood) - That's basically R1000 for 18houses. (in an area). or 36houses of R500 each.
 
Napalm said:
Cape Town is slow when it comes to fibre rollouts....

There are some area which neither Vodacom,MTN or Telkom want to go.

(When enquiring.. they just say they need R17,800 a month commitment from your neighbourhood) - That's basically R1000 for 18houses. (in an area). or 36houses of R500 each.
Click to expand...

That's pretty reasonable. Most fibre connections cost over R1k pm anyway. I just wonder how long it takes to get the installation after getting an area to commit.
 
Napalm said:
Cape Town is slow when it comes to fibre rollouts....

There are some area which neither Vodacom,MTN or Telkom want to go.

(When enquiring.. they just say they need R17,800 a month commitment from your neighbourhood) - That's basically R1000 for 18houses. (in an area). or 36houses of R500 each.
Click to expand...
72 houses at R250 doesn't seem bad
 
Gonna bug the Century City Connect guys and our body corporate to see if we can get in on the fibre. The BC last year mentioned plans to get fibre for an up to date DSTV setup & connectivity possibly later this year. Our BC is 96 units.
 
StrontiumDog said:
Gonna bug the Century City Connect guys and our body corporate to see if we can get in on the fibre. The BC last year mentioned plans to get fibre for an up to date DSTV setup & connectivity possibly later this year. Our BC is 96 units.
Click to expand...

I can only think that it'll be worth the effort once you crossed the bridge ;)
Just unfortunate that I live in a 'remote' area, we probably wont have fibre until the late 20's:cry:
 
Looks like the Fibre is finally HERE!

I started seeing Libby filling the conduits with Fibre since Monday.
Not long now until FTTH installations should begin:D

DSC_0686.jpg
 
Libby trenched through my garden go get to Telkom's pole in the corner for the fibre in the immediate area.

I finally got Telkom to come out for my fibre yesterday and they said that I must do one of two things:
A) Cut one of my trees down
B) Dig my own trench with conduit

In addition, they don't drill holes, I need to go that myself. Of course one of my housemates told me the above while I was at work so naturally I was fuming because they didn't tell me ahead of time.

To avoid delays, I dug the trench last night and put 25mm conduit in. Hopefully fibre arrives by the weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X