Openserve is introducing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into its Network Operations Centre (NOC), to help detect potential fibre faults before they disrupt connectivity.
This, as the telecommunications infrastructure provider works towards more autonomous network management.
During Digital Council Africa’s Conext 2026 annual event, Dr Sunil Piyarlall, executive for network architecture and modelling at Openserve, delivered a keynote presentation titled: “The future of fibre: Building resilient, intelligent and scalable networks”.
He noted the company is using fibre sensing technology to distinguish between normal activity around its fibre routes and vibrations that could indicate potential damage.
Openserve’s NOC monitors connectivity across the company’s terrestrial fibre network, submarine cable infrastructure and satellite services, including its existing geostationary satellite connectivity.
The undersea cable systems associated with Openserve’s South African infrastructure and international connectivity include: the Equiano, SAT-3/WASC, South Africa Far East cable, West Africa Cable System (WACS), and the EASSy submarine cable.
According to Piyarlall, the centre monitors national fibre routes, optical transport equipment, IP networks, internet breakout points and major customer networks to track performance, detect faults, maintain alternative routes and coordinate repairs, helping preserve domestic and international connectivity.
He added that the emerging technologies being integrated into the centre can flag suspected interference so Openserve can investigate and take preventative action.
“We're using fibre sensing. The technology allows the network to learn from vibration patterns over time, helping it identify unusual activity and alert teams to investigate before a fibre cable is damaged.
“So, we know that if a car is going over the bridge and a fibre vibrates in a certain way it's normal traffic. The system learns that over time if someone's digging with a spade, it sends a very different type of sonar wave to alert us.
“And that's AI starting to work, and then it would alert you and say we suspect something is happening at that point, please go have a look, and that is how we do preventative maintenance.”
In March 2024, multiple undersea cable breaks off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire disrupted South Africa’s international internet connectivity, affecting mobile and fixed-line services, cloud platforms and online applications.
The affected systems included the WACS, Africa Coast to Europe and SAT-3/WASC, alongside MainOne, which does not extend to South Africa. The damage was attributed to a suspected underwater landslide, and the loss of capacity forced network operators to reroute traffic through remaining connections.
Widescale monitoring
Piyarlall says the centre's highly-secure operating environment reflects the national importance of the infrastructure it oversees.
The centre monitors millions of network elements, ranging from fibre-to-the-home optical terminals, to Ethernet access devices. Its monitoring responsibilities also extend to network equipment and environmental conditions at exchanges, including temperature levels that could affect operations.
The facility uses a large video wall to display different parts of the network, enabling teams to monitor faults, network performance and major customer connections, he noted.
The company employs more than 3 000 technicians on the ground to carry out installations, network assurance and repairs. Piyarlall said Openserve has sufficient technical resources, supplemented by subcontractors when additional support is required.
“Openserve categorises faults according to severity, allowing teams to prioritise incidents that pose the greatest risk to connectivity. The operations centre is supported by a self-healing network designed to reroute traffic automatically when a fibre route fails.
“So, as soon as a fibre breaks, that traffic is automatically routed onto another five and that incident gets flashed on our video wall and we got teams that start fixing the fibre that's broken.”
However, the resilience of this arrangement depends on alternative routes remaining available and having sufficient capacity to carry diverted traffic.
Piyarlall points to an incident in 2025 in which a fibre break in the Western Cape was followed by another break affecting a route in the Free State. The second incident occurred while teams were responding to the first fault, which was in a dangerous area requiring security support.
“With two routes unavailable, traffic was diverted to the third route, which could not accommodate the full load. The disruption demonstrated the consequences of multiple failures affecting the same network and the importance of redundancy and sufficient capacity.
“Openserve subsequently addressed the issue and has since upgraded its national transport network following a major outage.”
Modern speed
Openserve is introducing AI across several functions, particularly as it works towards autonomous network operations.
However, Piyarlall says the technology’s effective deployment depends on modernising legacy infrastructure and ensuring network equipment can communicate with one another.
The company is decommissioning much of its legacy infrastructure, including copper networks and exchanges, while refreshing equipment to support newer technologies.
“We have started introducing it across processes: we run the process of our technicians and our specialists through machine learning. Telecommunications infrastructure requires substantial capital investment, and Openserve is continually refreshing equipment to maintain network efficiency and accommodate changing technology requirements.”
The company expects fibre cables installed underground to last between 20 and 30 years, but the equipment operating alongside them changes much more frequently, he commented.
Critical services
Openserve is Telkom’s wholesale fibre and connectivity business, supplying network infrastructure through channels to the market, rather than dealing directly with every end customer.
According to Telkom’s latest results for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, Openserve performed strongly, with revenue rising 5.6% to R3.32 billion, EBITDA increasing 6.7% to R1.10 billion and external revenue growing 18.2% year-on-year.
During his presentation, Piyarlall explained the company’s fibre network spans more than 90 000km and could potentially reach eight million locations across SA, highlighting the scale of the wholesale network operator’s existing infrastructure.
The eight-million-location estimate is based on mapping a 5km radius around the company’s fibre-ready nodes, according to Piyarlall. He said the calculation takes into account the network’s fibre infrastructure and its potential reach.
“Openserve has fibre infrastructure in every municipality in the country, although some smaller municipalities do not have their own points-of-presence and receive connectivity from neighbouring municipalities.
“Infrastructure plays an important role in supporting connectivity across multiple sectors of the economy, including financial services, fuel distribution and other services that depend on communications networks.”
The network also has 34 internet breakout points across the country, access to three submarine cables and four international routes, with one route through Brazil under development.
Piyarlall added the NOC's continuous monitoring and fault-management processes are central to maintaining network availability and limiting the impact of disruptions.
Openserve continues to upgrade its infrastructure to support higher bandwidth requirements.
Piyarlall stated the company has deployed 10Gbps passive optical network technology and has tested speeds of 50Gbps on its network in the Kruger National Park area.
Wider deployment of higher-speed services to homes will depend partly on whether consumer devices and the market can make practical use of the additional capacity.
“Openserve has also introduced fibre-to-the-room as an extension of fibre-to-the-home, targeting households where WiFi performance deteriorates in rooms far from the main router. The service uses fibre-connected access points to create a mesh network throughout a property.”
Piyarlall says Openserve expects demand for such services to grow as consumers become more familiar with the benefits of consistent connectivity across larger homes.
“For our network operations, the immediate focus remains on modernising infrastructure, using machine learning to identify potential faults and improving the ability to maintain connectivity before incidents affect customers,” he concluded.
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