The recent inclement weather has wreaked havoc with Telkom SA's wholesale division Openserve infrastructure in Gauteng and KZN coastal areas resulting in a significant increase in network related faults.

In a statement Openserve says its services in Gauteng "have been hit hard", particularly in the West Rand.

"This is because Gauteng has a high water table which has led to flooding of Telkom's underground infrastructure. The flooding has restricted workmen from accessing the fault zone and will cause delays in repair times," the company explains.

The extent of the damage to infrastructure in KZN, which spans buildings, indoor and outdoor core and access network infrastructure, is substantial and the net impact is still being assessed, according to Openserve.

The company adds that in both provinces overhead cables have also been affected with trees becoming waterlogged resulting in branches breaking or falling onto overhead cables with resultant damage. Lightning has also caused damage to the cable network and customer premise equipment.

"Openserve is proactively monitoring all critical sites to minimise service interruptions and is doing its utmost to restore services in affected areas as soon as possible. To assist, additional resources are being mobilised from other areas of the business," says Lucas Ndala, Openserve's Chief of Operations.

"The Company understands the great inconvenience disconnection of its services brings to its clients and their customers and will be on extra high alert during this period, mobilising all available technicians to work additional hours if needs be. In the event of power outages key Openserve infrastructure sites are equipped with standby generators that can last up to eight hours," he said.

Ndala advises residents and businesses that run on Openserve's network to report faults via their respective service providers.

Telkom South Africa launched Openserve in 2015 with the aim to generate additional revenue streams, and implement a more flexible and agile operating model.

In August the division announced a reduction in its IP Connect (IPC) pricing and speed, as well as price changes to its Openserve Fibre Broadband access portfolio.