ADSL on its last legs in South Africa

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  By   Daniel Puchert Partially state-owned telecommunications company Telkom announced in its financial results for the year ending 31 March 2025 that its ADSL subscribers had more than halved to under 30,000. According to the company’s operational data, ADSL lines decreased from 64,959 in March 2024 to 29,770. This 54.2% decline highlights that the legacy broadband technology is slowly approaching the end of the road. Telkom’s ADSL business peaked at the end of March 2016 with 1.01 million subscribers — two years after fibre upstart Vumatel  broke ground in Parkhurst . What followed was a sharp decline in Telkom ADSL subscribers. Customers connected to its copper networks decreased by more than 500,000 over the next four years. This was partly driven by Telkom itself, which began actively switching off its copper network in some neighbourhoods. If it did not have fibre in the area, it would offer a “fixed line lookalike” wireless service that ran over its cellular ...

Joe Biden stumbles as he boards Air Force One

 Saturday 20 March 2021 - 6:02am

US President Joe Biden trips as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. AFP/Eric Baradat

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden on Friday lost his footing and tripped multiple times while walking up the steps to Air Force One.

The American leader (78) had proceeded swiftly about halfway up the airstairs to the presidential jet when he stumbled.

Holding on to the railing with his right hand, he attempted a quick recovery but tripped again, this time dropping to his knee.

Biden stood up, paused and brushed his left pant leg before he headed up to the top of the airstairs, turned and saluted, and then entered the aircraft.

READ: 'Takes one to know one' Putin mocks Biden over 'killer' comment

Air Force One took off shortly afterwards from outside the capital Washington for a flight to Atlanta, where Biden was to meet members of the Asian-American community which has been shocked by a series of shootings in massage parlors.

"He is doing fine. He is doing just great," deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters about Biden's stumble.

Biden, the oldest president ever to take office, made a point of hustling to his appearances while on the campaign trail.

Last year he was routinely seen jogging up steps to a stage or towards a podium.

Joe Biden just fell 3 times in a row trying to go up the stairs to Air Force One pic.twitter.com/gTUTckUH32

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 19, 2021
Source
AFP

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