Openserve reduces its IPC access from August 1 by 25%

‘Openserve has been working to improve the country’s broadband eco-system.’

OPENSERVE, the wholesale division of Telkom, has taken a step in its efforts to reduce the cost of communication in South Africa with further planned price reductions to its IP Connect (IPC) and speed as well as price changes to its Openserve Fibre Broadband (OFB) access portfolio.

Openserve chief executive, Alphonzo Samuels, said: “The new pricing will be effective from August 1. When pricing is adjusted down, the organisation’s wholesale clients that purchase IPC capacity will pay 25 percent less than they do today.”

“We are contracted to provide network infrastructure services which include fulfilment, provisioning, maintenance and assurance services to wholesale clients and their customers,”

Samuels said Openserve had made strategic investments in the network to allow them to drive efficiencies and pass those cost benefits on to their clients and their end customers. This would stimulate greater competition in the Information and communication technology sector, while contributing to an overall lower cost to communicate.

This latest cut on the cost of IPC follows the reductions announced in May this year that aimed to provide affordable fixed broadband to more South Africans. Changes on the fibre broadband access front entail both speed increases and price reductions that will be effected across the OFB portfolio of wholesale offerings.

“Our 2Mbps and 8Mbps offerings will be upgraded to 4Mbps and 10Mbps, respectively. These migrations will occur free of charge. In addition to the upgrades, the wholesale pricing across entire OFB portfolio will decrease by an average of 9 percent across the portfolio”.

“We will work closely with the resellers of our broadband products to ensure the benefits of these price reductions filter through to the end user with either price reductions or enhanced services,” said Samuels. In June last year, the company had also reduced entry-level pricing for its IPC by up to 57 percent.

It said this was aimed at encouraging further competition in the broadband market.

Openserve plans, engineers, operates and maintains Telkom’s core and access network. The company offers a diverse range of products and services across the connectivity value chain. It is the only largescale provider that delivers large-scale integrated copper and fibre-based offerings over a high-speed backhaul network.

“Openserve has been working to improve the country’s broadband eco-system, with the objective of continuously reaching more South African’s in more places with our broadband access,” said Samuels.