Telkom sees ADSL growth

By Damaria Senne for Telkom
Johannesburg, 14 Nov 2006

Telkom has seen strong data growth in the past six months, with the number of ADSL subscribers increasing by 99.6%, to 190 172, as at 30 September.

Presenting the fixed-line operator's six-month interim report, CEO Papi Molotsane said the total number of Internet subscribers, including ADSL, dial-up and satellite, grew 14.8%, from 261 721 in September 2005 to 300 570 at the end of September 2006.

DSL 1024 sales have increased from an average of 360 per week to 660 per week since its launch, Molotsane said.

The ADSL self-install option, which is expected to reduce the installation time of ADSL, is close to completion, he noted.

The interim report shows Telkom holds 67% of broadband market share, with Vodacom having 14%, MTN 9%, iBurst 7% and Sentech 3%.

"We are confident of achieving ADSL penetration of 15% to 20% of fixed access lines by 2010," he said.

Improved lead times

Outlining some of the broadband initiatives that Telkom has embarked on, such as the trial of the 4Mbps offering, Molotsane said Telkom was passionate about broadband and increasing its value proposition.

"Even sceptics and detractors must admit that Telkom is at the forefront of the broadband arena," he said.

One of the issues that Telkom has been criticised for is the length of time it takes for an ADSL line to be installed once a customer has applied for a service. Molotsane said this has been reduced from 30 days to 21 days, with Telkom aiming for a reduction to 14 days.

The challenge lies in areas where Telkom needs to build infrastructure first before installing an ADSL line, he explained.

Molotsane said ADSL applications that require the building of infrastructure have previously not been separated from straightforward installation requests and, as a result, Telkom's waiting period figures were skewed.

In future, the two batches will be separated and the information communicated to stakeholders accordingly, he says.