Is Telkom dying?

According to a recent MyBroadband article, Telkom is rapidly losing ADSL and fixed-line subscribers across South Africa.

The company once had aspirations to be the leading fixed-broadband provider in the country, but current figures show this is not the case:

• Telkom’s fixed-line subscribers stand at 2 267 000, the lowest since 1994
• Telkom’s ADSL, VDSL, and fibre subscribers declined from 981 176 to 847 650 in the last year
• There has been a 13.6% decline in fixed-broadband subscribers
• Independent fibre network operators (FNOs) are rolling out fibre networks faster than Telkom can
• Companies like Vumatel offer a wide range of pricing – from free for a 4Mbps line to R1,299 for a 1Gbps connection 
• Vumatel’s partnership model rapidly gained momentum in South Africa, putting Telkom on the back foot
• The rush to get fibre rolled out across SA lead to a land-grab and pricing cuts, leaving Telkom on the sidelines
• Telkom is too big and too slow to respond quickly
• Today Telkom’s fibre-to-the-home market share is below 40%
• Telkom has significantly cut its fibre-to-the-home investment over the last year, decreasing the capital expenditure in its fibre network from R2.112 billion in its 2017/2018 financial year, to R1.216 billion in its 2018/2019 financial year