Telkom has completed its pilot of its upgraded fixed-line broadband network and plans to launch commercial services offering 20Mbit/s and 40Mbit/s connections from next week.
The telecommunications operator has been testing the upgraded network, which makes use of high-speed fibre-optic infrastructure closer to consumers’ premises as well as an ultra-fast version of the copper-based digital subscriber line technology called VDSL, since October 2012.
“The pilot has seen participating customers experience broadband speed and throughput of an outstanding quality,” says Telkom wholesale and networks MD Bashier Sallie.
According to Telkom, 90% of participants on the 20Mbit/s service consistently synced to the network at that speed and 74% of those on the 40Mbit/s trial network synced at the maximum speed.
Based on this, Telkom’s wholesale division is planning to launch 20Mbit/s and 40Mbit/s options to the market from 4 March. The 40Mbit/s product is four times faster than the currently available fixed broadband service.
As part of the pilot project, Telkom upgraded 53 street distribution cabinets in five exchange areas. These are Benmore Gardens, Fourways and Waterkloof in Gauteng, Durban North in KwaZulu-Natal and Durbanville in the Western Cape.
Customers can use Telkom’s online tracking tool from 4 March to check if they are within the coverage areas. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
