As telecommunications group Telkom continued the turnaround that raised its share price from R11 a few years ago to the current R55 a share, the previously beleaguered group aimed to play a significant role in the provision of broadband to all South Africans.

Speaking at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Network and Applications Conference (Satnac), in Port Elizabeth, on Monday, CEO Sipho Maseko said broadband had “transformed” lives, with business having a critical role to play.

Telkom, which was on a journey to reposition the business to achieve commercial sustainability, aimed to lead the way, fulfilling a broader role in transforming the South African economy through broadband.

“[Broadband] has changed the way we interact with the world to such an extent that there is no point in arguing over the importance of ubiquitous broadband,” he stated.

“As part of our turnaround, we have given this matter much thought. It is our belief that Telkom is ideally positioned to be the anchor in a public–private partnership to realise the [South Africa Connect] national broadband plan.”

Telkom had more than 147 000 km of fibre; 16 588 fibre distribution points enabling more than 100 000 services; a 55% population reach with its third-generation coverage; 2 428 sites on air; 1 165 live long-term evolution sites on air and 3 675 Wi-Fi access points.

The group had also started the roll-out of fibre-to-the-home connectivity to over 20 suburbs by March 2015, with nearly 2 000 of the targeted 25 000 homes already passed.

“Telkom would like to position itself as the carrier of carriers. What this means is that Telkom can and wants to, in collaboration with government and other operators, provide and manage a lean and efficient telecommunications infrastructure that will enable competitiveness in the services layer to the benefit of both consumers and operators, Maseko said.