Telkom announced on 13 May 2011 that the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has entrusted its telecommunications needs to the telecom for the upcoming municipal elections.<\/p>\n
According to information received by MyBroadband, the IEC have requested a network maintenance freeze by Telkom from 16 to 23 May 2011. It is also understood that the Telkom SA national network operations centre (NNOC) has activated a work freeze period on the Telkom Network.<\/p>\n
“The so-called ‘freeze period’ is an industry best practice that is usually observed during peak retail periods,” Telkom explained.<\/p>\n
“This period of heightened protection of Telkom’s core transmission network is also implemented to ensure that special events, such as the upcoming 2011 Municipal Elections, is delivered across a network architecture that is secure, stable and resilient,” Telkom said.<\/p>\n
According to Telkom, the network freeze means that essentially no planned maintenance or upgrades will occur during the period. However, Telkom added that it was important to note that all normal service restoration and service installations will continue as usual. Telkom said that it anticipates no disruption to its customers.<\/p>\n
Telkom previously announced that they are responsible for the secure delivery of ballot results from 20,864 polling stations around the country to the National Results Centre (NRC) at the Tshwane Show Grounds, via 350 Municipal Election Offices (MEOs), 9 Provincial Results Centres (PRCs) and the IEC’s Headquarters (IEC HQ).<\/p>\n
In addition to the primary solution that caters for the IEC’s needs, Telkom said that it is also fulfilling the requests of broadcasters and media channels that wish to provide local and international coverage of the voting and counting process.<\/p>\n