{"id":374838,"date":"2020-11-10T07:47:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T05:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=374838"},"modified":"2020-11-10T08:14:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T06:14:33","slug":"telkom-fixed-line-bloodbath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/374838-telkom-fixed-line-bloodbath.html","title":{"rendered":"Telkom fixed-line bloodbath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Telkom\u2019s interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2020 revealed what most people expected – a big decline in fixed-line subscribers.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s fixed-line subscribers dropped from 1,975,000 in September 2019 to 1,432,000 in September 2020.<\/p>\n

This means Telkom lost 543,000 fixed-line subscribers year-on-year, which equates to a 27.5% decline in its fixed-access line customer base.<\/p>\n

The latest decline follows a trend which started in 2001 when the company lost 531,000 subscribers from its peak of 5,493,000 fixed-line users in 2000.<\/p>\n

Over the past two decades, Telkom launched numerous new fixed-line products, including ADSL, VDSL, and fibre, but this was not enough to stem the losses.<\/p>\n

Many Telkom subscribers dumped their fixed-line services and migrated to competitors like Vumatel, Vodacom, MTN, and Rain.<\/p>\n

While copper theft was to blame for some of the losses, Telkom was its own worst enemy in many cases.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s poor customer service and billing problems caused tremendous frustration among its users, which prompted them to look for alternatives.<\/p>\n

Telkom, however, put the decline down to factors outside of its control like competition from mobile services, copper theft, and tough economic conditions.<\/p>\n

The operator has also proactively started to replace its copper-based clients to fixed-LTE \u2013 a strategy which is paying dividends.<\/p>\n

The decline in fixed-lines can be expected to continue as Telkom is planning to stop providing copper-based services altogether by 2024.<\/p>\n

Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said phasing out copper was needed because maintaining multiple cable network technologies is costly, and expertise on copper networks is dwindling.<\/p>\n

Curiously the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed Telkom\u2019s plan to decommission its copper network.<\/p>\n

It has created an immediate strong demand for broadband access, and the company\u2019s fibre network is not able to meet this demand.<\/p>\n

Telkom\u2019s wholesale arm Openserve is now using its copper network to satisfy this demand in the short term.<\/p>\n

The company did, however, say it will continue its decommissioning strategy in locations where copper is not \u201ceconomically viable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Copper used to rule until fibre, LTE, and 5G arrived<\/h3>\n

For over a decade, Telkom\u2019s ADSL was the only game in town for most South Africans who were looking for affordable, uncapped broadband access.<\/p>\n

Sentech\u2019s MyWireless and WBS\u2019s iBurst wireless products provided some competition to Telkom in selected areas in the mid-2000s, but ADSL remained the preferred choice.<\/p>\n

Things started to change when Vumatel launched affordable fibre access in Parkhurst in October 2014.<\/p>\n

Vumatel showed it was possible to take on and beat Telkom in the fixed-line market, which sparked a fibre revolution in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Many other fibre network operators, like Frogfoot, Octotel, Cybersmart, Vodacom, MTN, and SADV, followed Vumatel\u2019s example and started to roll out fibre across the country.<\/p>\n

Telkom was on the back foot, and many households and businesses dumped their ADSL line for fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-business.<\/p>\n

Improvements in mobile technologies, which made it possible to offer fast and affordable fixed-wireless broadband access, emerged as another big competitor to ADSL.<\/p>\n

Over the last few years MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom, and Rain launched competitively priced fixed-LTE and 5G products.<\/p>\n

Telkom even proactively moved many of its ADSL subscribers to its new fixed-LTE products in many areas.<\/p>\n

Both fibre and wireless access provide higher speeds at lower prices than ADSL, which means DSL is seen as old and tired technology which should only be used as a last resort.<\/p>\n

The effect was a rapid decline in copper lines as ADSL and VDSL subscribers migrated to these new technologies.<\/p>\n

Telkom\u2019s fixed-line decline<\/h3>\n

The table below provides an overview of Telkom\u2019s fixed-line subscriber numbers since 1993.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Telkom Fixed Lines<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Date<\/th>\nSubscribers<\/th>\nYoY Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1993<\/strong><\/td>\n3,458,000<\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1994<\/strong><\/td>\n3,594,000<\/td>\n+136,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1995<\/strong><\/td>\n3,773,000<\/td>\n+179,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1996<\/strong><\/td>\n3,926,000<\/td>\n+153,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1997<\/strong><\/td>\n4,259,000<\/td>\n+333,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1998<\/strong><\/td>\n4,645,000<\/td>\n+386,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1999<\/strong><\/td>\n5,075,000<\/td>\n+430,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2000<\/strong><\/td>\n5,493,000<\/td>\n+418,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2001<\/strong><\/td>\n4,962,000<\/td>\n-531,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-02<\/strong><\/td>\n4,924,000<\/td>\n-38,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-03<\/strong><\/td>\n4,844,000<\/td>\n-80,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-03<\/strong><\/td>\n4,812,000<\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-04<\/strong><\/td>\n4,821,000<\/td>\n-23,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-04<\/strong><\/td>\n4,870,000<\/td>\n58,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-05<\/strong><\/td>\n4,726,000<\/td>\n-95,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-05<\/strong><\/td>\n4,730,000<\/td>\n-140,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-06<\/strong><\/td>\n4,708,000<\/td>\n-18,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-06<\/strong><\/td>\n4,675,000<\/td>\n-55,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-07<\/strong><\/td>\n4,642,000<\/td>\n-66,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-07<\/strong><\/td>\n4,621,000<\/td>\n-54,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-08<\/strong><\/td>\n4,532,000<\/td>\n-110,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-08<\/strong><\/td>\n4,504,000<\/td>\n-117,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-09<\/strong><\/td>\n4,451,000<\/td>\n-81,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-09<\/strong><\/td>\n4,398,000<\/td>\n-106,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-10<\/strong><\/td>\n4,273,000<\/td>\n-178,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-10<\/strong><\/td>\n4,234,000<\/td>\n-164,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-11<\/strong><\/td>\n4,152,000<\/td>\n-121,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-11<\/strong><\/td>\n4,073,000<\/td>\n-161,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-12<\/strong><\/td>\n3,995,000<\/td>\n-157,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-12<\/strong><\/td>\n3,894,000<\/td>\n-179,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-13<\/strong><\/td>\n3,800,000<\/td>\n-195,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-13<\/strong><\/td>\n3,713,000<\/td>\n-181,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-14<\/strong><\/td>\n3,618,000<\/td>\n-182,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-14<\/strong><\/td>\n3,531,000<\/td>\n-182,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-15<\/strong><\/td>\n3,439,000<\/td>\n-179,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-15<\/strong><\/td>\n3,323,000<\/td>\n-208,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-16<\/strong><\/td>\n3,217,000<\/td>\n-222,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-16<\/strong><\/td>\n3,090,000<\/td>\n-233,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-17<\/strong><\/td>\n2,954,000<\/td>\n-263,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-17<\/strong><\/td>\n2,840,000<\/td>\n-250,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-18<\/strong><\/td>\n2,678,000<\/td>\n-276,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-18<\/strong><\/td>\n2,566,000<\/td>\n-274,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-19<\/strong><\/td>\n2,267,000<\/td>\n-411,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-19<\/strong><\/td>\n1,975,000<\/td>\n-591,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar-20<\/strong><\/td>\n1,602,000<\/td>\n-665,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep-20<\/strong><\/td>\n1,432,000<\/td>\n-543,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Telkom Fixed-Line Graph<\/h3>\n