Telkom South Africa has confirmed that 23 suburbs in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will be fully covered by the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network by the end of March 2015. Telkom revealed that its fibre-optic footprint extends to almost 50% of the main metro areas in these locations, including: Bailey’s Muckleneuk, Groenkloof, Kloofzicht, Parktown, Brooklyn, Hillcrest, Lukas Rand, Parktown North, Craighall, Houghton Park, Monument Park, Parkview, Craighall Park, Hurlingham, Muckleneuk, Peach Tree, Eldoraigne, Hyde Park, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Sandhurst, Elton Hill Ext. 3, Illovo, Parkmore, Waterkloof and Westcliff (all Gauteng); Bishopscourt, Green Point, Plattekloof, Silwerkloof Estate, Camps Bay, Kenilworth, Robben Island, Uitsig, Cape Town, Lovenstein, Schotschekloof, Waterfront, Claremont, Mouille Point, Selborne and Wynberg (all Western Cape); Atholl Heights, New Germany, Chelmsfordville, Winston Park, Chiltern Hills, Woodside and Dawncrest (all KZN).
As previously noted by CommsUpdate, Telkom South Africa disclosed in November 2014 that it would have a FTTH presence in 23 suburbs in the three provinces by 1 December. Previously, Telkom said that there were a total of 26 suburbs across the country where it would be offering residential fibre services, although it subsequently scrapped plans to press ahead with FTTH rollouts in Parkview and Parkhurst, after the two suburbs awarded fibre-optic deployment contracts to Dark Fibre Africa (Parkview) and Vumatel (Parkhurst). The operator commercially launched its FTTH service in the selected areas in December 2014, as planned.
Meanwhile, in separate news Telkom SA has announced that it has withdrawn a licence transfer application, which was submitted to telecoms regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in August 2014. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in May last year Telkom proposed to buy 100% of Johannesburg-listed IT solutions firm Business Connexion (BCX) for ZAR2.7 billion (USD233 million) and delist it from the bourse, with 80% of BCX’s equity shareholders voting in favour of the deal in November. The deal is currently subject to regulatory approval from the Competition Commission of South Africa, the Competition Authority of Botswana, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Commission and the ICASA. However, following an in-depth review of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), and sections 13(1) and 31(2A) in particular, the two companies decided that application for the transfer of licences from BCX to Telkom will not be required. Despite the licence transfer application withdrawal, Telkom highlighted that the acquisition deal remains on track, pending final approval from the competition authorities.