Telkom’s Retail and Consumer division has announced that it will be leveraging open access fibre from network provider Vumatel to complement its extensive fibre network footprint and to reach even more consumers in more areas across South Africa.
Telkom has made significant progress in separating its various business units to best serve its various customers. Through Telkom’s wholesale network provider, Openserve, Telkom already has the most extensive fibre network footprint in the country with access to over 81 000 homes passed. Openserve remains committed to its 2018 goal of reaching one million South African homes.
“The fibre industry is highly competitive and we have seen an accelerated rollout of fibre networks across the country,” says Telkom Retail CEO Attila Vitai. “While Openserve holds the lion’s share of the national fibre footprint – there are currently areas not covered by its fibre network.
“To this end, it makes commercial sense to leverage the networks of other open access fibre network providers to ensure that our customers in these areas can be served immediately.”
“Through Vumatel’s fibre network we will offer our products and services to customers in over 21 new suburbs across Gauteng. This is a clear demonstration of Telkom’s commitment to meeting the demands of our customers in new and innovative ways,” he adds.
Vumatel CEO Niel Schoeman says: “We welcome Telkom Retail as a new service provider on the Vumatel network and believe their depth of experience in this industry will certainly benefit the consumer.
“Vumatel’s robust fibre network will add desirability to Telkom’s new fibre product and service range and we look forward to providing even more choice to South Africans for high-speed fibre connectivity.”
Vitai adds: “In future, Telkom will consider the commercial viability of dealing with other network infrastructure providers to reach even more areas across South Africa with our high-speed fibre offerings.
“Leveraging infrastructure from various open access network providers is a step change in how we previously procured our network requirements and is consistent with the ideals of functional separation between Telkom’s wholesale and retail business units. Telkom is moving into an era of growth and we believe this partnership is a nature next step on that journey,” he says.
