Telkom has announced that its broadband rollout has now reached 38 000 South African homes as at the end of August 2015 and 1 317 LTE sites added to its network. The company has now set ambitious targets that it says will culminate in 1 million homes connected to fibre by 2018.

The company says it will achieve the milestone in steps that begin with fibre rollout to 70 000 homes by December 2015, capacity to connect 150 000 homes by March 2016 and 500 000 by December 2016.

Sipho Maseko, Telkom's chief executive officer said the goal was part of the company's commitment democratising broadband access during his address at the Southern African Telecommunications Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) today.

"We have set ourselves the objective of contributing to transforming the South African economy. South Africa is a developing democracy. We want to accelerate this development," said Maseko.

Telkom says fibre rollout for large metropolitan areas will carry on and that they have partnered with the south african government to provide broadband to under-serviced areas.

"We must recognise that the issue of access lies at the heart of the divide. You either have access or you don't. It's as simple as that. To cross the digital divide, you must provide universal access," added Maseko.

Maseko also called on mobile operators to join Telkom to bridge the digital divide during his address.

"If we are to overcome the access deficit, and in light of the mobile revolution and the benefits this has engendered, South Africa needs to see wholesale access to the mobile local loop and active sharing of the radio access network. This is an imperative and an important precursor for democratising broadband,"

Maseko called on South Africa's telecoms regulator to consider its spectrum strategy to allow for fairer distribution of spectrum. He said there is a need for decisive, unambiguous action to ensure South Africa's competitiveness.

"As a nation we've done some pretty remarkable things. We can do so again. I believe we are at an inflection point. History will judge us one day on how we – government, operators, academia, the regulators and original equipment manufacturers – have used our collective resources to bring about sustainable change and economic development by bringing broadband to our people," concluded Maseko.