Openserve, Telkom SA's wholesale division, has announced a reduction in its IP Connect (IPC) pricing and speed, as well as price changes to its Openserve Fibre Broadband (OFB) access portfolio.

Effective on 1 August 2017, the communication technologies and infrastructure provider says when pricing is adjusted down next month, wholesale clients that purchase IPC capacity will pay 25% less than they do today.

IPC is the Openserve's service which enables licensed operators to connect to its broadband network, enabling them [operators] to provide their own DSL and FTTH related offerings.

"Openserve has been working to improve the country's broadband eco-system, with the objective of continuously reaching more South Africans in more places with broadband access," says Openserve CEO, Alphonzo Samuels.

According to Samuels, the company will also upgrade its 2Mbps and 8Mbps offerings to 4Mbps and 10Mbps respectively free of charge. In addition to the upgrades, the wholesale pricing across its entire OFB portfolio will decrease by an average of 9% across.

"We will work closely with the resellers of our broadband products to ensure that these price reductions filter through to the end user with either price reductions or enhanced services," he says.

Telkom launched Openserve in 2015 with the aim to generate more revenue streams, as well as to implement a 'more flexible and agile operating model.'

The company says it is cognisant of the positive effect that accessible broadband services can have on the economy of our country. "We are, as a key infrastructure player, have made strategic investments in the network to allow us to drive efficiencies and pass those cost benefits on to our clients and their end customers. This will stimulate greater competition in the ICT sector while contributing to an overall lower cost to communicate," says Samuels.

This latest reduction on the cost of IPC follows reduction announcement the company made in May this year, to provide more affordable fixed broadband.

In June last year, the company had also reduced entry-level pricing for its IPC by up to 57%. It said this was aimed at encouraging further competition in the broadband market. The company's chief of sales and marketing; Prenesh Padayachee said the company would do what is necessary to reduce bandwidth costs while improving overall network performance.

In October last year, it partnered with Huawei to deploy a high-speed fibre packet and optical transport network which it said supported 8Tbps per fibre, with one pair of fibre supporting 400 000 families with 20Mbps bandwidth per family concurrently.