Telkom puts fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) rollout on the fast-track. As part of its goal to reach 500 000 homes with fibre by the end of 2016, Telkom is aiming to connect more than 12 000 Bryanston residents to FTTH by March 2016, making it the largest fibre open access suburb to date. By Gugu Lourie
The suburb of Bryanston has been announced by Telkom as the newest and lucrative market for its highest-speed residential broadband or FTTH services and the residents would be pleased that the fibre roll out has already started.
“We are rolling out fibre to all of Bryanston as part of our aggressive push to provide one million homes with fibre access by 2018,” said Telkom MD of Wholesale and Networks Alphonzo Samuels. “Bryanston will be a model for the country when it comes to connecting entire suburbs to fibre broadband.”
Telkom is utilising its vast fibre infrastructure of more than 149,000 kilometres, which is unrivalled in South Africa, to bring this technology to Bryanston.
Last week, Telkom announced that its open access fibre broadband network would include more than 25 additional areas, suburbs and communities by the end of September 2015.
Fibre will soon be available in multiple additional suburbs of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Port Elizabeth.
Telkom fibre would be accessible to one million homes by March 2018, with half a million homes to have access by the end of 2016. Telkom already has the largest fibre to the home network in the country, with 38 000 homes currently having access.
Fibre to the home currently allows for download speeds of up to 100Mbps, allowing users to download a standard definition 4.7GB video in under seven minutes. An entire music album can be downloaded in eight seconds.
Fibre optic cables transmit light and is thus not affected by interference from electromagnetic noise such as radios, motors, power lines, electric fences or other cables. Consequently, fibre is a reliable and stable broadband product.
Telkom’s coverage map allows you to check fibre availability for your area. Go to http://www.telkom.co.za/coverage/ or http://www.telkom.co.za/coverage/ftth/. Coverage maps are regularly updated as Telkom expands its fibre network.
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