Telkom's LTE-Advanced goes live in Parkview

Issued by Telkom Business
Pretoria, 17 Nov 2014

Telkom's new super-fast LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network went live today in Parkview and surrounding areas, delivering peak Internet connectivity speeds of up to 150Mbps.

Parkview has been identified as a Telkom "Futurehood" and is the first of over 50 suburbs set to be connected to Telkom's LTE-A network by March 2015.

Speaking at an event held in Parkview, Managing Director: Telkom Mobile and Consumer, Attila Vitai, said: "Telkom is excited to launch LTE-A in Parkview as part of our new 'Futurehood' campaign. The Futurehood is a place where the possibilities of high-speed broadband meet the specific requirements of the people, homes and businesses across SA.

"Telkom is on a journey to deliver super-fast broadband options on both mobile and fixed lines to cater for the specific needs and requirements of our customers. We are gearing ourselves up to be as responsive as possible to what our customers want, be it VDSL, fibre or LTE-A."

Vitai said Telkom's LTE-A offer was comparable to speeds available over a fibre network and offered a compelling alternative to fixed-line solutions for high-speed connectivity. "Being a mobile solution, LTE-A does not require a wire-connection that goes into your home and it is completely 'plug and play'. LTE-A can turn your home into a fully connected WiFi hotspot, allowing for up to 32 devices to be connected simultaneously."

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The promotional offer unveiled to customers in the Parkview area today includes 100GB of data, at peak speeds of up to 150Mbps, for R1 399 over a 36-month contract. "At these speeds our customers will be able to download a 10GB HD movie in less than eight minutes, or download a 60MB music album within nine seconds," he explained.

"This is just the beginning of Telkom's super-fast broadband journey and we are excited to deliver this technology across the country in the coming months," Vitai said.

Telkom

Telkom SA ("Telkom") is a full-service telecommunications provider for South Africa. The company offers wholesale, business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of voice and data services and products, in support of the company's mission statement - seamlessly connecting people to a better life. As of 31 March 2014, Telkom had approximately 3.6 million telephone access lines in service and 475 144 ports connected via MSAN access.

The company had consolidated operating revenue of R32.5 billion and profit after tax of R1.577 million for the year ended 31 March 2014, excluding the net curtailment gain. Total assets amounted to R39.4 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R22.8 billion as of 31 March 2014. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.2 billion for the year ended 31 March 2014.

The company offers business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

* Fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription-based value-added voice services and calling plans;
* Fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs, and these include PABX, computers, routers, modems, telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
* Interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
* Fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and Internet access and related information technology services;
* Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
* W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next-generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
* Mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through its mobile brand called Telkom Mobile;
* Telkom Mobile is continuously expanding its long-term evolution (LTE) coverage. It is the company's latest generation of mobile network technology that provides superfast mobile wireless broadband with low latency (or buffering) that gives users an unsurpassed experience for their everyday data connectivity needs. It is a step up from 3G, offering up to 90Mbps download speed and up to 25Mbps upload speeds - approximately three to four times faster than current 3G speeds. It is an ideal option for use in areas where there is no ADSL infrastructure; and
* Convergence is one of Telkom's key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom. The company will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of its mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.

The Telkom Group consists of Telkom as well as two main subsidiaries, namely Trudon and Swiftnet. Trudon provides several directory service offerings off both physical and electronic platforms and Swiftnet provides a suite of services including traditional connectivity services for point-of sale, managed SIM services and customised wireless and wired virtual private network services.

Telkom is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and has a market capitalisation of approximately R17.5 billion (as at 31 March 2014).

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