Telkom fixed lines drop by 110 000
The number of fixed lines in South Africa continued to decline in 2007 and dropped by the largest margin over the past year.
The number of fixed access lines for the year ending 31 March 2008 was 4 532 000, down 110 000 from the 4 642 000 for the previous year. In 2006 Telkom had 4 708 000 fixed line subscribers while it had 4 726 000 users in 2005.
There has been a steady decline in fixed line numbers since the turn of the century, something that does not bode well for Telkom.
While the fixed line decline can partly be attributed to the popularity of mobile telecoms services, the broadband revolution should have served to revitalise the need for a fixed line connection.
Telkom’s lack of aggressively-priced ADSL services and relatively poor speeds and usage limits mean that the mobile providers are again competing effectively with the fixed line provider in the broadband space.
Telkom’s broadband market share has dwindled from 83% in 2004 to 68% in 2006 to just 41% now.
For Telkom to improve its market share the number of fixed lines in operation is of great value, something which Telkom will have to address if it wants to stop losing clients to other operators.
Telkom fixed line numbers – give your views
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