The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price has climbed nearly 3% since market close on Friday. Meanwhile, the telco has commenced a major upgrade to its national fibre network.
Telstra shares gained 1% on Wednesday. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) jumped 1.8% today.
Let's take a look at what is happening at Telstra.
Fibre build commences
Telstra has started work on a revamp of its national fibre network. The aim is to improve the size, reach and bandwidth of the network.
On Tuesday, the company began construction in Western Australia between Bakers Hill and Northam. Orange in New South Wales will be the next construction destination.
The project will add 20,000 new route kilometres to Telstra's existing network and deliver transmission rates of more than 650 gbps (gigabits per second). This is six times more than the standard rate of 100gbps. The network has dual cables on each fibre route.
Telstra InfraCo chief executive Brendon Riley commented on the upgrade:
It's a significant step toward the fibre network Australia deserves. It's the fibre network that will power everything from small businesses selling to their local neighbourhood, through to cutting-edge Australian innovators creating their businesses in the metaverse.
It forms part of our ambitious T25 transformation goal for InfraCo, to deliver profitable growth and value by improving access, utilisation and scale of our infrastructure.
On Monday, speculation emerged Telstra may be considering buying a 51% stake in Fetch TV. The idea is to potentially "compete with Apple and Google".
Telstra has recently been rated as an add by Morgans with a $4.56 price target, my Foolish colleague James reported on Sunday.
Telstra share price recap
The Telstra share price is up 26.6% over the past 12 months, but shares in the telco have dropped 5.5% year to date.
For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) has returned 14% in a year.
Telstra has a market capitalisation of more than $46 billion based on its current share price.
