Telkom pushing ADSL
Telkom has come under fire earlier this year for their poor lead times for ADSL installations, and even ICASA jumped in to regulate that an ADSL installation should be done within 30 days. Telkom has improved their installation rates since then through interventions like sub-contracting the installation process.
“It is certainly true that Telkom has upped its monthly installations, and this is reflected in the fact that ADSL adoption in the consumer and SME business segment increased to 190 172 customers in the six months ended September 2006 (an increase in penetration of over 99% in the interim period ended Septemer 2006),” Telkom said.
At the end of March this year Telkom had 143 509 ADSL subscribers, which means that its subscriber base grew by 46 663 over the last six months. This gives an effective monthly installation rate of 7 777.
Moving towards 2010
At the current installation rate Telkom will add only 303 303 ADSL users by the beginning of 2010, falling short by quite a margin of its aim of 15-20% ADSL line penetration rate it is aiming for.
Papi Molotsane, Telkom’s CEO, has already moved the goal posts after he said last year that the target will be reached within three years. The decline in fixed lines will further make it easier to reach an ADSL line penetration rate of 15%.
Telkom confident it will meet target
Telkom is however still confident of reaching their target by 2010 despite the current slow growth due to installation problems.
“Telkom is confident of achieving ADSL penetration of 15%-20% of fixed access lines by 2010. The Company is working towards consistently reducing installation times. Part of the strategy towards attaining this includes the constant evaluation, improvement and upgrade of internal efficiencies and processes,” said Lulu Letlape: Telkom Group Executive for Corporate Communication
“In addition, a self-install option is also being customised for South Africa. Telkom has accelerated its fibre roll-out to shorten copper loop lengths and has also accelerated the roll-out of IMAX (an integrated multi access platform) for wireline services and WiMAX (for wireless services),” Letlape concluded.
Some industry players said that Telkom may be aiming for a monthly installation rate of 30 000, and while Telkom was not willing to confirm or deny this figure, it did say that they “always endeavour to meet and surpass installation targets that will expand ADSL access to a wider customer base.”
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