Phoning will be so much easier

According to Telkom spokesman, Pynee Chetty, this is part of the Telkom’s network core project.

The construction work is for two new inter exchange optic fibre links, which will increase the bandwidth capacity between these exchanges

Chetty explains that every country has an exchange which is connected to people in the area but people, part of the exchange, should be able to contact everyone around the world.

“We are basically increasing the capacity to make it possible for everyone to do just that,” he says.

In a statement released on December 4 it states Telkom Wholesale and Networks is investing R12-billion in its Next Generation High Speed Broadband Network to ultimately support South Africa’s broadband ecosystem at large.

Their acting managing director, Alphonzo Samuels, says that free DSL speed upgrades during 2012 and 2013, as well as an effective IP Connect price reduction of 43% in the last year, are the most visible elements of Telkom’s commitment to invest in Broadband.

“There is, however, much happening behind the scenes with significant investment in transport, aggregation and access networks supporting the Broadband ecosystem,” adds Samuels.

As the country’s foremost supplier of wholesale network products and services, Telkom has been committed to enabling its customers to deliver on the connectivity demands that South Africans have come to expect.

Therefore Telkom recently announced its DSL speed upgrades, at no additional cost to ISPs, which will be finalised in February.

“This investment is important for the evolution of broadband in South Africa and the cost carried by Telkom Wholesale and Networks was not passed to the industry,” explains Samuels.

He points to continuous investment in current Broadband Access Technology, ADSL 2+, to ensure lower costs and provide higher quality throughput to fixed broadband subscribers. The cost of this was also not carried over to the OLOs on the retail end.

Simultaneously Telkom has also invested in new generation broadband access technologies such as VDSL, PON (Passive Optic Network) and Active Ethernet.

“The deployment of Fibre to the Home and Multi Service Access Nodes initiatives is aimed at delivering even higher speeds to the industry. This will ultimately drive the demand of rich media content and will enable ISPs to compete with mobile broadband offerings via LTE,” he says.

“New investment in transport and aggregation technology, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing and Broadband Network Gateway deployment in the network core has reduced input costs.

“This will contribute to the broadband ecosystem by providing a world-class IP Network that will support the drive of rich media content bundled with high speed DSL Access offerings,” he predicts.

“Lastly, as part of Telkom’s IP NET investment, it has provided a fully redundant IP NET overlay that ensures end to end reliability as part of the end user experience in the internet and virtual private network market.”

Looking back at 2013, Samuels notes that Telkom Wholesale and Networks has been instrumental in driving down the cost to communicate whilst still enabling Other Licensed Operators (OLOs) and ISPs to deliver quality broadband at higher speeds to their end user.

He further states, “Enhancing the network and the broadband experience is reliant on the requirement to make equitable returns on our investments in the broadband ecosystem.

“It is important to acknowledge that the broadband ecosystem will not evolve without significant investment by all players, and not Telkom alone. Without substantial investment participation by the industry, including OLOs and ISPs, our efforts, from a wholesale perspective, will not realise the full benefit intended for the end users.”

“I am confident that we have done much to provide the necessary undercarriage elements to our wholesale customers to enable them to build quality fixed broadband offerings in a commercially sustainable way. We remain committed to continuing our investments in the broadband ecosystem and to drive down the costs of communication,” concludes Samuels.