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Johannesburg - Fibre broadband market forces are becoming increasingly competitive in South Africa, according to Telkom group chief executive officer Sipho Maseko.
At a Telkom annual results briefing in Johannesburg on Monday morning, Maseko briefly outlined how competition in the local fibre broadband market is heating up.
Companies such as Vumatel are increasingly targeting suburbs in cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town with fibre to the home (FTTH) product offerings.
Areas such as Parkhurst and Greenside in Johannesburg have already been provided with fibre broadband from the likes of Vumatel.
These offerings are independent of Telkom, allowing customers an alternative in terms of fast internet products.
However, Telkom is also rolling out its own FTTH products in major centres such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
But Maseko acknowledged that competition in this space is increasing, with about 25 fibre broadband infrastructure providers in South Africa.
“So it is getting tough out there,” Maseko told attendees. “As a company we need to make the right response."
Maseko also said that globally, players such as search giant Google are also entering the broadband space.
“Clearly, we’re being attacked from all fronts,” said Maseko.
He also said it will be “game on” in the local fibre space in times to come.
Telkom is targeting 20Mbps, 40Mbps and 100Mbps wholesale fibre broadband offerings in selected areas in SA.
The company on Monday also reported that it has surpassed the 1 million mark in terms of the number of local ADSL broadband connections in South Africa. ADSL broadband provides slower internet speeds than fibre broadband.
