Fixed telephone services provider TelOne says at least 48 percent of its network equipment is still running on the analogue system due to lack of funds needed to digitalise operations. TelOne is on record saying it requires at least US$300 million to digitalise operations. In a statement, the company said the old equipment could not support new services.
“TelOne is still operating a significant amount of legacy equipment which has become obsolete and suffers from constant breakdowns,” read part of the statement.
“The company still has about 48 percent of its network equipment running on analogue which has no capacity to offer services currently demanded by customers.”
As a result of stiff competition from mobile operators, TelOne has lost close to 50 000 subscribers over the past two years.
It has also failed to connect more people to its landline network due to financial and infrastructure limitations.
TelOne has an installed landline capacity of 401 500 lines but presently close to 350 000 lines are working.
The fixed telephone penetration rate has dipped drastically over the years as TelOne now has slightly over 300 000 subscribers.
The company has been earmarked by Government together with ten other parastatals for commercialisation. — New Ziana.