South Africa’s part state-owned operator Telkom will roll out fibre to the home (FTTH) services in 20 suburbs across the country by the end of 2014, as well as launching high-speed home LTE connectivity, the operator has promised.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of Telkom Sipho Maseko said the operator would meet customer demands for high-speed quality internet connections, and would ensure this first phase of rollouts takes place by the end of the year.
“We hear customer’s demands for high quality and high speed Internet connectivity. Telkom is on a determined path to deliver on these demands,” Maseko said.
“Our commitment to deliver this rollout by the end of the calendar year indicates our efforts to put our customers’ needs at the heart of our strategy.
“The quality of connectivity that fibre and LTE provide means that South Africans can take advantage of the endless possibilities that access to the Internet can provide.”
The operator said the fibre and home LTE connections will offer speeds of up to 100mbps.
“This rollout is a precursor of many exciting prospects that Telkom is working towards. With speeds of 100 Mbps on the fibre network and peak speeds of 100 Mbps on the home LTE network, the concept of the Connected Home becomes a lot more tangible and the possibility for value added services is within reach,” Maseko said.
In Johannesburg, the suburbs of Bryanston, Houghton Estate, Morningside, Rosebank, Sandhurst and Westcliff will benefit from the FTTH roll out; while Alexandria, Diepkloof and Soweto will gain home LTE networks.
In Pretoria, the suburbs of Brooklyn and Gardenkloof will get FTTH connectivity; while the nearby areas of Ivory Park, Kagiso, Kwa-Thema and Tembisa will gain home LTE networks.
Kloof and Reservoir Hills in Durban will see FTTH networks unveiled, and the Kwa-Mashu, and Umlazi areas will benefit from LTE.
In Cape Town, areas of Bishopscourt, Camp’s Bay, Foreshore and Plattekloof will be connected to the FTTH network, while Mitchell’s Plain will gain a new home LTE network.
HumanIPO reported in November last year Telkom pledged to unveil FTTH connectivity within one year, following successful trials across 45 clients.
Rival operators are also working on FTTH initiatives, with MTN due to commercially launch its FTTH offering within weeks, and Vodacom having told HumanIPO the operator is actively working on FTTH roll-out, but could not give a specific timeframe.
In May, the residents of the Parkhurst suburb of Johannesburg issued a tender to telecoms companies for the provision of FTTH services to the area, with the residents eventually choosing Vumatel as the winner of the project.
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