Telkom’s fixed-line nightmare

Telkom released its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2021, which revealed a continued decline in fixed access lines.
The company’s fixed-line subscribers dropped from 1.602 million in March 2020 to 1.284 million in March 2021.
This means Telkom lost 318,000 fixed-line subscribers over the last year. This equates to a 19.9% decline in its customer base.
This trend is nothing new. It started in 2001 when the company lost 531,000 subscribers from its peak of 5,493,000 fixed-line users in 2000.
Telkom further reported a significant decline in fixed broadband subscribers – down from 686,525 in March 2020 to 605,807 in March 2021.
Other parts of Telkom’s fixed-line business were also hit hard over the last year. Closer subscribers declined by 30% while its Internet all access subscribers are down 15%.
As a result of these declines Telkom’s total fixed-line traffic plummeted from 8,832 million minutes to 6,787 million minutes over the last year.
The only fixed-line segment which showed significant growth was fibre. Telkom increased the number of homes connected to fibre from 219,583 to 281,065.
The increase in fibre-to-the-home connections were partly a result of the higher active fibre connectivity rate. It increased from 48.2% in March 2020 to 51.1% in March 2021.
The company also increased its fibre coverage and the number of fibre to base station connections.
Telkom’s fixed-line decline
The table below provides an overview of Telkom’s fixed-line subscriber numbers over the last 30 years.
Telkom Fixed Lines | ||
---|---|---|
Date | Subscribers | YoY Change |
1993 | 3,458,000 | — |
1994 | 3,594,000 | +136,000 |
1995 | 3,773,000 | +179,000 |
1996 | 3,926,000 | +153,000 |
1997 | 4,259,000 | +333,000 |
1998 | 4,645,000 | +386,000 |
1999 | 5,075,000 | +430,000 |
2000 | 5,493,000 | +418,000 |
2001 | 4,962,000 | -531,000 |
Mar-02 | 4,924,000 | -38,000 |
Mar-03 | 4,844,000 | -80,000 |
Sep-03 | 4,812,000 | — |
Mar-04 | 4,821,000 | -23,000 |
Sep-04 | 4,870,000 | 58,000 |
Mar-05 | 4,726,000 | -95,000 |
Sep-05 | 4,730,000 | -140,000 |
Mar-06 | 4,708,000 | -18,000 |
Sep-06 | 4,675,000 | -55,000 |
Mar-07 | 4,642,000 | -66,000 |
Sep-07 | 4,621,000 | -54,000 |
Mar-08 | 4,532,000 | -110,000 |
Sep-08 | 4,504,000 | -117,000 |
Mar-09 | 4,451,000 | -81,000 |
Sep-09 | 4,398,000 | -106,000 |
Mar-10 | 4,273,000 | -178,000 |
Sep-10 | 4,234,000 | -164,000 |
Mar-11 | 4,152,000 | -121,000 |
Sep-11 | 4,073,000 | -161,000 |
Mar-12 | 3,995,000 | -157,000 |
Sep-12 | 3,894,000 | -179,000 |
Mar-13 | 3,800,000 | -195,000 |
Sep-13 | 3,713,000 | -181,000 |
Mar-14 | 3,618,000 | -182,000 |
Sep-14 | 3,531,000 | -182,000 |
Mar-15 | 3,439,000 | -179,000 |
Sep-15 | 3,323,000 | -208,000 |
Mar-16 | 3,217,000 | -222,000 |
Sep-16 | 3,090,000 | -233,000 |
Mar-17 | 2,954,000 | -263,000 |
Sep-17 | 2,840,000 | -250,000 |
Mar-18 | 2,678,000 | -276,000 |
Sep-18 | 2,566,000 | -274,000 |
Mar-19 | 2,267,000 | -411,000 |
Sep-19 | 1,975,000 | -591,000 |
Mar-20 | 1,602,000 | -665,000 |
Sep-20 | 1,432,000 | -543,000 |
Mar-21 | 1,284,000 | -318,000 |
Telkom operational data
The tables below provide an overview of Telkom’s operational data.