Telkom has finally lifted the lid off its plans to increase fixed-line broadband speeds.
The company is doing away with its 384kbit/s service and replacing it with a 1Mbit/s product. Customers with 1Mbit/s lines will in future connect at 2Mbit/s. ADSL line rental charges will remain unchanged for affected customers. Telkom’s Internet service provider, TelkomInternet, also has no plans to adjust its prices.
The upgrades will take place progressively, starting in August. Telkom expects the upgrades to be completed by the end of September.
The fixed-line operator emphasises that the higher speeds are the maximum available on these products and actual connection speeds may be affected by the quality of copper in the ground and other factors.
“We are accelerating the evolution of broadband offerings in the country,” Telkom’s MD of consumer and retail services, Manelisa Mavuso, says in a statement. “We are now in a position to create new products and services that will allow customers to run multiple bandwidth-hungry applications simultaneously and at faster speeds.”
Telkom says the upgrades apply not only residential customers but also business ADSL clients.
Telkom is investing billions of rand in upgrading its last-mile network. The company has plans to introduce much faster broadband speeds — possibly as fast as 40Mbit/s — in the next few years as it takes fibre closer to homes and businesses. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media