Telkom has seen a\u00a0dramatic increase in the number of customers making use of its\u00a0mobile data services, specifically its\u00a0Smart Broadband LTE offerings, the company stated.<\/p>\n
Telkom\u2019s Managing Executive for Group Communications Jacqui O\u2019Sullivan\u00a0said that as a result of the increase, certain sections of its\u00a0TDD (Time Division Duplex) LTE network in metropolitan areas have been experiencing congestion.<\/p>\n
“While our networks are upgraded on an ongoing basis, additional infrastructure investments have been made and are currently underway to further accommodate this unprecedented increase in demand,” said\u00a0O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n
“This capacity was also required as part of a larger refarming project to deploy LTE on the 1,800MHz band.”<\/p>\n
Telkom LTE customers recently complained to MyBroadband about\u00a0high latency during peak times<\/strong><\/a> on the operator\u2019s network.<\/p>\n A number of users posted speed test and online gaming statistics which showed their latency increasing from\u00a0below 50ms to over 200ms in the evening.<\/p>\n Several users\u00a0said their latency peaked between 500ms to 1,000ms when the problem was at its worst.<\/p>\n O\u2019Sullivan said that less than 10% of Telkom’s LTE sites are reported as congested, and the company was\u00a0upgrading capacity at\u00a0at least 500 sites this financial year.<\/p>\n She said peak traffic times vary per site and per region, but Telkom had noticed its\u00a0peak traffic starting earlier – from between 15:00-16:00 –\u00a0and continuing later – up to 01:00.<\/p>\n “Congested areas have been identified and our network team are currently implementing additional core capacity, site backhaul, and radio capacity.”<\/p>\n “It is a priority to ensure we continue to deliver the quality performance our customers deserve, and we apologise for any speed reductions as a result of the huge growth in demand.”<\/p>\n Prepaid price shootout: Vodacom vs MTN vs Cell C vs Telkom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nSite upgrades on the way<\/h3>\n
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