Telkom plans to launch its consumer 5G products on 17 November 2022, spokespeople for the company have told MyBroadband.
The network operator commercially launched its 5G network last week in partnership with Huawei at a glitzy event in Johannesburg’s Wanderers cricket stadium.
Telkom consumer business CEO Lunga Siyo announced that they had 123 active 5G sites on the network and would focus on fixed wireless access products at launch.
Telkom’s mobile network managing executive, Lebo Masalesa, said they have already started testing mobile 5G.
They will launch on smartphones as soon as manufacturers certify their devices’ compatibility with Telkom’s 5G network, Masalesa explained.
Regarding their fixed services, Telkom senior manager in charge of 5G fixed wireless, Greg Roberts, said they planned to launch with 24-month and 36-month contract packages that include a router.
These will not be “free to use”-type deals. At the end of the contract period, subscribers will own the router.
Roberts said they would use data from their coverage map to alert prospective customers if they require an external antenna for optimal performance.
He said subscribers could use the Huawei router that Telkom has opted to launch with indoors and outdoors.
Telkom will arrange for a professional installer to put up the outdoor system at an extra charge.
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Customers who need an outdoor installation will also receive a Wi-Fi mesh kit with their purchase.
Roberts said Telkom plans to launch three tiers of uncapped products in November.
The entry-level product will offer up to 50Mbps download speeds, the mid-level will be up to 100Mbps, and at the high-end Telkom will have a service with unrestricted speeds.
All three products will be governed by Telkom’s standard fair use policy (FUP).
Telkom’s FUP lets subscribers download at their maximum speed up to a certain threshold, after which they are throttled to 4Mbps.
After consuming another 50GB, the throttling is increased to 2Mbps for the remainder of the month.
Roberts told MyBroadband that over 90% of Telkom’s customers do not exceed their first FUP threshold.
He said Telkom’s thresholds would be 500GB for its 50Mbps uncapped 5G service, 1TB for the 100Mbps one, and 2TB for the unlimited product.
In its standard FUP, Telkom also has a separate threshold for peer-to-peer services such as BitTorrent and Skype, as well as NNTP. Once you reach the threshold (currently 50GB), these services are throttled to 128kbps.
The table below summarises the uncapped 5G products Telkom plans to launch mid-November.
Source: My Broadband
