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No use of radio at this point in the timeline
Copper wire used for land-based fixed-line telecommunications
No use of copper at this point in the timeline
No use of satellites at this point in the timeline
No use of fibre optics at this point in the timeline
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
No use of personal computers at this point in the timeline
First practical telegraph using Morse code
First commercial telephone service set up in New Haven,USA and London,England
Radio used for both inland and intercontinental telegraphic communication
Copper wire Manual mechanical exchanges
No use of copper at this point in the timeline
No use of satellites at this point in the timeline
No use of fibre optics at this point in the timeline
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
No use of personal computers at this point in the timeline
Manually operated telephone exchanges in every major US city –32 000 kms of copper cable laid
Wireless telegraphy introduced Pretoria exchange starts with 127 subscribers in 1891 and SA Department of Posts and Telegraphs created in 1910
Radio used for both inland and intercontinental telegraphic communicationFirst transatlantic phone calls made by radio in 1927
Copper wire Automated electromechanical switching
First transatlantic telephone cable using copper wire went into operation in 1956
No use of satellites at this point in the timeline
No use of fibre optics at this point in the timeline
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
No use of personal computers at this point in the timeline
First electromechanical switching systems introduced eliminating need for switchboard operators
Radio used for both inland and intercontinental telegraphic communication
Copper wire Electronic switching
No use of satellites at this point in the timeline
No use of fibre optics at this point in the timeline
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
No use of personal computers at this point in the timeline
Electronic switching systems introduced
1.8 million telephone lines in South Africa
Radio used for both inland and intercontinental telegraphic communication
Copper wire Digital switching
Copper wire
Satellite communication
First transatlantic cable using fibre optics laid in 1988 and first use of fibre on land in late 1980s
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
First personal computers generate need for private data which did not exist previously
Digital switches introduced which are smaller and faster than their predecessors
First commercially available cellular phone
Introduction of digital cellular networks –2G for mobile voice communication and microwave transmission used in point-to-point communications
Copper wire now used for fixed-line voice and data (broadband data delivery) by means of asymmetrical digital subscriber lines (ADSL) providing access to the Internet
Telkom’s network provides connectivity for both Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecoms
Copper wire
Satellite communication
Telkom’s network provides connectivity for both Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecoms
Telkom commissions SAT-2 fibre optic link
First email services made available by Internet service providers in early 1990s
Personal computers
Worldwide web conceived in 1991
First publicly available global positioning satellite (GPS)
is formed in 1991 and applies for mobile GSM (global system for mobile communication) licence
Starting in 1992 capabilities of fourth generation of fibre optic cables resulted in rapid increase in the use of fibre optic cabling in telecommunication systems
Introduction of 3G to meet demand for data use with mobile phones and laptops.
By 2005 use of ADSL to deliver fixed broadband in South Africa had grown 188%
Use of fixed-line voice declines
Copper wire
Satellite communication
Fibre optic cabling starts to replace copper to the home and business
No use of internet protocol at this point in the timeline
Personal computers Introduction of Ethernet, a physical and data link layer technology for local area networks (LANs)
3G transformed telecoms industry as its data capabilities enabled media streaming of television and movie content and music to handsets and computers
Introduction of long-term evolution (LTE) standards (4G) using an all Internet protocol (IP) network
Use of fixed-line voice declines
Copper wire
Satellite communication
Demand for ever greater fixed-line speeds creates race to provide fibre to business and home
Used as means of communication
Acquisition of IT companies by telecoms to expand into ICT as part of converged offerings to the home and business
Every smartphone has a GPS
Every smartphone has Internet connectivity and receives emails
With introduction of LTE voice calls now transmitted as data, not separately as in the past
The next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards, 5G, is expected to be 100 times faster than 4G. It will be evolutionary in enabling mobile devices to handle more data and revolutionary in enabling a massive Internet of things (IoT) ecosystem
While a decline in fixed access lines continues (further 6.5% decrease in FY2016) by March 2016 had 1 028 000 fixed broadband subscribers and broadband traffic volume had increased 38.7% year-on-year to 471 958 terabytes
By March 2015 has over 1 005 286 fixed broadband subscribers
Copper wire
Satellite communication
Rapidly growing demand for ever greater fixed-line speeds accelerating race to provide fibre By March 2016 had: Passed 81 503 homes with fibre and 1 451 986 homes with fibre to the curb,850 gated communities covered with fibre
Used as means of communication IoT
Acquisition of IT companies by telecoms to expand into ICT as part of converged offerings to the home and business
Telkom acquires ICT company Business Connexion (BCX)
Every smartphone has a GPS
Every smartphone has Internet connectivity and receives emails
With introduction of LTE voice calls now transmitted as data, not separately as in the past
Telkom switches on its all new Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems(IMS) core