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30 July 2012

Telkom launches SpaceStream Home

Telkom today unveiled SpaceStream Home, an IP based communication solution making use of the latest satellite technology.

This addition to Telkom's satellite product portfolio offers voice and Internet services to small business and residential customers. SpaceStream Home offers Internet access with a download rate of up to 512 kbps and either one or two Voice over IP, telephony lines per single deployment. Currently a monthly bandwidth cap of 1 Gigabyte is linked to the Internet service.

Steve Lewis, Telkom's Managing Executive of Product House says, "An area of focus for Telkom's satellite strategy is to enable voice and data services in areas where normal wire line or wireless access networks are not cost effective or where high reliability cannot be ensured."

To this end, the intial focus will be on customers who are currently serviced by manual exchanges, old copper wire line technologies and customers who fall within the SKA exclusion zones.

"SpaceStream Home is an entry level product designed to deliver voice and Internet services to areas with unreliable or no terrestrial infrastructure. It is an especially compelling offer for our customers in rural areas that have been repeatedly hit by cable theft," explained Mr Lewis.

Added to the challenge of cable theft, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) requires large radio silent areas around the antennas. This prevents the use of terrestrial wireless systems and cellular phones. SpaceStream Home meets SKA's requirement for radio silence.

"Telkom is sympathetic to its customers in these areas. We understand that the farming community is reliant on quality and sustainable telecommunications services. ICT services are a vital component to the running of a business and is an integral part of everyday living," said Mr Lewis.

"It was therefore also important for Telkom to make sure we select the most appropriate satellite technology. SpaceStream Home uses the proven Ku frequency band (12-18 GHz) space segment and is deployed with 1.2 metre antenna dishes to reduce susceptibility to rain and poor weather conditions, thereby improving service reliability."

"This innovative offering is the result of Telkom's commitment to consistently update our products and services to make telecommunications more affordable and accessible to business and the broader South African public," concluded Mr Lewis.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

SpaceStream Home, which includes both voice and internet, will be offered at R499 pm with an upfront installation fee of R6914.24. Two contract options are available to allow customers to pay off the installation fee on a monthly basis. Customers will be charged R1103 pm for a 12 month contract, while a 24 month contract will cost R814 pm. This offering includes both voice and Telkom Internet 1Gig option, with a second voice line charged at standard Telkom tariffs. All the above prices include VAT and terms and conditions apply.

Customers serviced by manual exchanges or residing in the SKA affected areas will be contacted by Telkom in due course.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

 OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

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ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer 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 our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  •  information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.

Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom.  We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.