Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Court battle brewing over contentious Joburg CCTV by-law

      7 July 2025

      Biometrics boss slams home affairs over R10 ID query fee

      7 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      South Africa denies anti-US stance amid Trump tariff warning

      7 July 2025

      Rain’s new Loop lets you carry your Wi-Fi and music everywhere

      7 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on cloud cost management in Microsoft Azure

      26 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Telecoms » Telkom to ditch 3G network after dumping 2G

    Telkom to ditch 3G network after dumping 2G

    Telkom, which has already turned off its 2G network, will likely switch off 3G services soon, too.
    By Nkosinathi Ndlovu21 November 2023
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Lunga Siyo

    Telkom, which has already turned off its 2G network, will likely switch off 3G services soon, too.

    According to information contained in the group’s interim results on Tuesday, 82% of the devices on its network are 4G capable.

    “It does simplify things because we don’t have 2G and 3G on top of 4G and 5G,” Telkom Consumer CEO Lunga Siyo told TechCentral at the results presentation in Sandton.

    It does simplify things because we don’t have 2G and 3G on top of 4G and 5G

    “It makes the mix of radio equipment, the orchestration of the network itself and how you carry the traffic much less complex,” Siyo said.

    The complexity of network management is a challenging core function for mobile operators – so much so that competitor Vodacom has turned to artificial intelligence in an effort to make it easier.

    One of the ways Telkom manages the complexity created by the small portion of non-4G devices on its network is to hand those workloads over to its roaming partners, Vodacom and MTN. Only a combined 11% of devices on its own network still rely on 2G (2%) and 3G (9%) technologies.

    Being much smaller than Vodacom and MTN, which boast far larger capex budgets, Telkom cannot afford to be wasteful in infrastructure spend. This is where roaming adds an additional benefit by acting as useful a data source for the operator.

    Roaming

    Where it doesn’t have coverage and relies on its roaming partners, Telkom will build its own infrastructure to cater to them directly when it notices strong growth in roaming traffic in those areas. It also utilises cheaper data bundles to coax customers into switching to its 4G/LTE network and off the Vodacom and MTN networks. These LTE bundles are can be used only when the subscriber is connected to Telkom’s core network – in other words, consumer can’t “roam”.

    “As an example, take a typical prepaid customer that spends R100/month on data, which is largely for WhatsApp and streaming. You give them a value proposition of, say, 15GB (anytime) plus 15GB (nighttime) of data, which is one of our biggest deals for R90. Now they can do more with the data for about the same spend,” said Siyo.

    That most of Telkom’s network utilises newer technologies bodes well for the operator. The department of communications & digital technologies has said government wants 2G networks switched off by June 2024 and 3G switched off by March 2025. According to Siyo, Telkom’s network no longer carries any 2G traffic, while its goals for 3G switch-off are in line with the department’s.

    “Other operators are saying 3G should be switched off but not 2G yet… For us, it’s not an issue because we don’t have a lot of 3G traffic. It is largely voice, which we can actually divert to Vodacom and MTN if we wanted to. If everyone has to switch it off, then we’ll move our customers to voice over LTE,” said Siyo.

    Switching off 2G and 3G networks, however, might have disastrous consequences for users who cannot afford to purchase 4G-capable handsets. One way of driving costs down is for operators to subsidise them on behalf of users, with the intention to make the revenue back through services purchased on the network. But Siyo said that in an increasingly prepaid environment, this strategy no longer works well.

    “A lot of operators have moved away from subsidising devices because it has become too expensive. Also, customers tend to switch between operators so you don’t have a guarantee that you will get the revenue. That’s why we have been pushing OEMs to make devices at the US$40 price point instead of $80,” he said.

    The chip shortage during Covid made it difficult for manufacturers to produce devices at lower cost, but now that prices are normalising Siyo said they are willing to push to design cheaper devices. But even if devices are manufactured and imported at lower cost, import duties add a significant amount to the cost that is eventually passed on to the consumer.

    Read: Telkom wants next spectrum auction postponed

    “The other challenge is when the devices land at OR Tambo or Durban airport, the government then classifies the phone as a luxury, which attracts some form of a duty. So, we have been engaging with the industry body, ACT, to talk to the department of trade & industry and explain that if we want to switch off 2G and 3G, then we must take away the import duty. Then you create a reasonable ecosystem of 4G and higher devices that are cheaper for South Africans to buy.

    “That import duty cannot be as high as if it is a luxury good because it is not,” said Siyo.  — (c) 2023 NewsCentral Media

    Get breaking news alerts from TechCentral on WhatsApp



    Lunga Siyo MTN MTN South Africa Telkom Vodacom Vodacom South Africa
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleHiring Sam Altman doesn’t solve Microsoft’s OpenAI problem
    Next Article Telkom wants next spectrum auction postponed

    Related Posts

    Sasol, Vodacom team up to modernise Secunda operations

    4 July 2025

    Vodacom’s influence on Maziv too strong to ignore: tribunal

    27 June 2025

    MTN – the network for networks

    25 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei launches next-gen fibre-to-the-room solution

    7 July 2025

    Remote monitoring tools: IT lifesavers or hacker gateways?

    7 July 2025

    The school placement crisis is getting worse

    7 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.