Telkom SA to expand super-fast broadband across South Africa

South Africa’s Telkom SA is to dramatically expand the availability of super-fast broadband services across the country, as part of its strategic ‘Network Transformation Initiative’.

The project includes upgrading the existing access network with new-generation VDSL2 technology serving 4.4 million subscribers, and where commercially viable will also include the introduction of gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technologies to support fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) capabilities.

The telco also expects these new access technologies to be key enablers for potential future services such as video-on-demand, IPTV, and high quality voice services.

Telkom SA has chosen network equipment from Alcatel-Lucent to enable this expansion of super-fast broadband services, including its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) product family, which supports passive optical networking (PON) and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies on the same platform.