19 April 2021

Telkom and Openserve in South Africa stand accused of unlawfully using network infrastructure of another provider to offer fibre broadband services.

According to reports, the unlawful use of network infrastructure was discovered during the recent R30 million upgrade of the fibre optic cable network in Midstream Estate, Guateng.

In the early 2000s, when Midstream Estate was in the development stage, developer Bondev registered servitude for the installation and maintenance of a telecommunications network.

It built a primary set of sleeves to provide telecoms services in the estate. A separate set of sleeves were also installed by Bondev and handed to Telkom for their purposes.

Over time the Telkom sleeves network and connection pits were extended, and fibre optic cables were installed by contractors under the instruction of Telkom and Openserve.