Telkom ADSL and fibre shocker

Telkom released its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2019, which show a big decline in fixed-broadband subscribers.
Telkom’s fixed-line broadband subscribers – which include ADSL, VDSL, and fibre-to-the-home customers – declined from 974,181 in September 2018 to 781,255 in September 2019.
This means Telkom lost 192,926 fixed broadband subscribers over the last year, which equates to a 19.8% decline in its customer base.
While it is not surprising to see a big decline in ADSL subscribers, it is shocking that Telkom was not able to migrate them to its own fibre network.
This means that other fibre players like Vumatel, Octotel, and Frogfoot are outperforming Telkom in the fixed-broadband market.
Telkom ISP losses
The company has also suffered serious losses on its Internet service provider (ISP) services over the last year.
Telkom Internet all-access subscribers declined from 550,606 in September 2018 to 476,763 in September 2019.
This decline is closely linked with the company’s loss of its dominance in the fixed-broadband market.
Telkom has a poor reputation among consumers, and South African subscribers who want to migrate to fibre would much rather use ISPs like Afrihost, Supersonic, or Axxess.
Big fixed-broadband decline
The table below shows Telkom’s large fixed-broadband decline over the last two years.
Telkom Fixed-Broadband Subscribers | |
---|---|
Date | Subscribers |
Mar-03 | 2,669 |
Sep-03 | 12,000 |
Mar-04 | 20,313 |
Sep-04 | 37,000 |
Mar-05 | 58,278 |
Sep-05 | 95,920 |
Mar-06 | 143,509 |
Sep-06 | 190,172 |
Mar-07 | 255,633 |
Sep-07 | 335,112 |
Mar-08 | 412,190 |
Sep-08 | 491,774 |
Mar-09 | 548,015 |
Sep-09 | 602,720 |
Mar-10 | 647,462 |
Sep-10 | 699,368 |
Mar-11 | 751,625 |
Sep-11 | 795,419 |
Mar-12 | 827,091 |
Sep-12 | 841,831 |
Mar-13 | 870,505 |
Sep-13 | 898,203 |
Mar-14 | 926,944 |
Sep-14 | 971,319 |
Mar-15 | 1,005,286 |
Sep-15 | 1,015,307 |
Mar-16 | 1,027,507 |
Sep-16 | 1,018,405 |
Mar-17 | 1,003,521 |
Sep-17 | 999,311 |
Mar-18 | 981,176 |
Sep-18 | 974,181 |
Mar-19 | 847,650 |
Sep-19 | 781,255 |