Cape Town – Over 80 areas in South Africa will be eligible to a free upgrade from ADSL copper technology to fibre connectivity, says Telkom.
The company announced on Monday that it was offering customers a free upgrade to higher speed fibre connectivity for two months as it pushes ahead with its roll-out of high speed broadband.
READ: Telkom starts migrating ADSL customers to fibre
“Upon conclusion of the trial our customers have two choices regarding which fibre package to proceed with. They can either opt to revert to the original DSL speed at exactly the same price point although the connectivity will now be delivered over fibre,” Jacqui O’Sullivan, Telkom managing executive of Group Communication told Fin24.
“These packages include the 2Mbps package at R399, the 4Mbps package at R549 and the 8Mbps package at R689. This means they would have been migrated onto the fibre platform at no additional cost,” O’Sullivan added.
The company’s push toward fibre comes as Vumatel, 123Net and others deploy fibre broadband in mainly affluent suburbs and government policy aims for universal broadband by 2020.
Areas
Customers will contacted directly regarding access to the fibre network, the telco said.
“Telkom will be communicating directly with all its DSL customers on the 2Mbps, 4Mbps and 8Mbps packages currently residing in Telkom’s fibre footprint,” O’Sullivan explained.
She warned though, the offer was specifically for Telkom Retail customers, alluding to the newly launched Openserve wholesale division which operates infrastructure.
“This trial will be offered by Telkom Retail and the offer is targeted at Telkom’s existing DSL customer base. Like many other Internet Service Providers, Telkom’s Retail arm procures its fibre connectivity from infrastructure wholesale provider Openserve which sells its fibre infrastructure based on an open access model to all interested ISPs. Telkom does not have any exclusivity on Openserve’s fibre network.”
Telkom will be offering the fibre upgrade to residents in the following areas:
Pretoria:
Faerie Glen
Brooklyn
Groenkloof
Waterkloof
Eldoraigne
Olympus Ah
Monument Park
Boardwalk
Sterrewag
Wierda Park
Menlo Park
Nieuw Muckleneuk
Hazelwood
Baileys Muckleneuk
Johannesburg:
Craighall Park
Houghton Estate
Parktown North
Douglasdale
Morningside
Hyde Park
River Club
Dunkeld West
Morningside Manor
Atholl
Craighall
Sandhurst
Forest Town
Dunkeld
Rand Park Ridge
West Cliff
Bryanston
Sundowner
Sandown
Wendywood
Illovo
Rosebank
Benmore Gardens
Parkhurst
Cape Town:
Atlantic Beach Golf Estate
Camps Bay
Plattekloof
Vierlanden
Welgedacht
Newlands
D' urbanvale
Oude Westhof
Bishopscourt
Oakwood Pinehurst
Klein Bron
Sonstraal Heights
Claremont
Lake Michelle
Val De Vie Estate
Longwood Pinehurst
Protea Heights
Vredekloof Heights
Loevenstein
Clifton
Van Riebeeckshof
Sonkring
Baronetcy
Burgundy
Pinehurst
Cape Town
Klaassenbosch
Selborne
Durban:
Umhlanga
Winston Park
Chelmsfordville
Atholl Heights
Chiltern Hills
Clarendon
Hilldene
Wembley
St Helier
Bothas Hill
Athlone
Westville
Belvedere
Mount Edgecombe Estate
Dawncrest
Port Elizabeth:
Mill Park
Linkside
Weybridge Park
Port Elizabeth
Summerstrand
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