Telkom marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations World Telecommunications and Information Society Day at Orlando West Secondary School today to celebrate SOWETO’s latest accolade as the first South African township to receive fibre to the home. 

Telkom has rolled out fibre in Diepkloof and Orlando, passing Orlando West Secondary School, making SOWETO the first South African township to receive fibre to the home.

According to Telkom Group Chief Executive, Mr. Sipho Maseko, Telkom has invested in fibre to the home in SOWETO because Telkom believes that access to broadband has become a necessity for human and economic development.

Addressing students of Orlando West High School, Maseko said the availability of the fibre will help Sowetans bridge the digital divide by bringing the world to people’s doorstep. 

“We want to say, here stood boys and girls with great ambitions to change the world. They reached for them and touched the world in ways that could never be imagined.” said Maseko. 

Residents and businesses in Diepkloof and Orlando West will now receive faster connectivity and a better network experience. The availability of fibre in SOWETO supports the township economy revitalisation strategy. Business can now get up to 1Gig of fibre enabling faster and reliable connectivity for their business.

“The World Bank estimates that every 10% point increase in broadband penetration accelerates economic growth by up to 1.3 percentage points.

“We trust that this level of growth will be realised by businesses in SOWETO,” he concludes.

Notes: 
Approximately 60% of the people working on the Telkom fibre rollout are Soweto residents. 
Telkom has committed to ensuring that Orlando West Secondary School has a cyber laboratory.