Keep Telkom out of foreign Oger’s hands

yip

the article is long on why this would be a bad deal but very short on what alternatives there are
 
If it is owned by external company x,y,z,h,i,j,m .. who the frek ever, then the governmint can get their asses back into gear sorting out the regulations and claiming the stuff that MUST belong to the country back. Like the freaking landing points.

Right now, conflict of interest is costing us all our appendages.
 
The answer is not for the government to remain in charge and run Telkom like some sleepy state department. It needs dynamic executives, with global ambition, but who also understand SA’s needs — people tempered by a conscience, so that the average citizen is not trampled in the quest for profit.
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I am sorry, but I do not agree with this soppy article. The truth is, the best concience for any company would be a competitor. That is the only way you will get companies to care about what the customer wants...

The customer's needs become very important when you need to give them what they want in order to win ground...

This "concience" refered to in the article is a myth in business. It is a little Unicorn. Much loved but lesser spotted...

Companies only have social responsibility programmes to look good for their customers (in a competative environment)... Not because they give a ****!

I prefer 10 competing overseas companies rather than government's finger in the pie...
 
Thanks Antowan. Competition is what is good for the consumer. If government had been playing a proper role by ensuring freer competition, we'd all be in a better position (including Cell C).
And as for Maverick, I can only say that Cell C needed no BEE transformation. It was South African company in all respects from the word go, and the leadership has always been most respectful and tolerant of diversity; hardly something that can be said of most South Africans or our businesses.
 
Furthermore, following this ridiculous thinking, the writer should argue that the government should not allow the sale of Vodacom to Vodafone, giving a 'foreigner' control of a monopolist in an industry where customers cry out for lower charges.
 
The answer is not for the government to remain in charge and run Telkom like some sleepy state department. It needs dynamic executives, with global ambition, but who also understand SA’s needs — people tempered by a conscience, so that the average citizen is not trampled in the quest for profit.
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Idealism is nice in theory, but the reality is that Telkodemonopolies would simply end up with another political appointee CEO & board that are tempered by pure greed and don't know the meaning of conscience & morality.

It's all too easy to blame SBC for all of the problems with Telkodemonopolies, but SBC has been gone a long time now, and Telkodemonopolies has been under the control of guavamentalists, and there is no noticeable difference IMO in the way the company is run.
It is an enormously tricky balance, so the government may need to retain its ownership stake — but pare its influence — to strike that balance.

There are certainly no easy answers, but flogging Telkom to foreigners is not the solution.
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Rubbish.

Competition is the key to keeping Telkodemonopolies in check.

With effectively 60% control over Telkodemonopolies, the guavamentalists have to date not asserted any executive control over Telkodemonopolies that has in any way benefited South Africans, there is no good reason why the new regime should hold on to even one share in Telkodemonopolies.
 
ic said:
With effectively 60% control over Telkodemonopolies, the guavamentalists have to date not asserted any executive control over Telkodemonopolies that has in any way benefited South Africans, there is no good reason why the new regime should hold on to even one share in Telkodemonopolies.
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But what if a tsunami hits our coastline? :D
 
trust me the Saudis will milk us much more than the americans (STC/AT&T) did. We're better off with the devil we know. We need to oppose this, have some patience and we'll see something brighter in the next couple of years.
 
aadil said:
trust me the Saudis will milk us much more than the americans (STC/AT&T) did. We're better off with the devil we know. We need to oppose this, have some patience and we'll see something brighter in the next couple of years.
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IMO you are missing the point - it doesn't matter who owns Telkodemonopolies, shareholders are greedy by nature, what is essential is effective competition and lots of it to keep Telkodemonopolies and its shareholders in check.

And while Telkodemonopolies doesn't currently have any wired fixed line competition when it comes to the local loop, it is worth noting that Vodacom & MTN & NeeTel are starting to offer fibre optic leased line services, and Digicrap is a major bread & butter money-spinner for Telkodemonopolies. Even worse for Telkodemonopolies, is that its 2 largest leased line customers, Vodacom and MTN, are self-provisioning their own fibre optic links.

If Telkodemonopolies ever does divorce itself from Vodacom [the battered wife in this unhappy marriage to the devil], it should soon be clear that Telkodemonopolies is an empty shell with an aged infrastructure that it is desperately trying to replace, i.e. without Vodacom, Telkodemonopolies is not worth much at all. However, selling off its 50% of Vodacom, will give Telkodemonopolies a very large cash injection, which it can use to keep shareholders happy for a while, as well as accelerate its NGN infrastructure rollout.
 
I understand what you're saying, but still is it the best option? What are the Saudis gonna do differently? They'll embark on a massive PR and marketing campaign about how Telkom is under new ownership/management and how they're gonna be different. They reduce adsl prices and people will say WOW great news, not realising the price cuts were coming anyway. They'll slow down competition by using a number of tactics including the wait and see method, meaning people will say let me stick with Telkom - maybe it's gonna different/better?

What if Telkom (under firm government control) sold off it's stake in Vodacom and invested part of that cash in infrastructure. Wouldn't that be better for us?

You can't think about what's on the table today. Trust me the telecoms landscape is changing at a rapid pace but we'll only start seeing it in the months ahead.

Remember also, that Government owns a big chunk of Telkom, technically that belongs to us, the citizens of this country. I believe Telkom is hugely undervalued, so as an investment decision selling it now is not smart. I'm not convinced the government will sell anyway as they want to shape the industry (even though they doing a pathetic job)

I believe the ideal situation would have been a Telkom/MTN tie up.

We cannot rely on government or ICASA to liberalise the telecoms sector. It's probably a pipe dream anyway. What we can hope for is a slightly more competitive environment where can get decent services at decent prices. Local Loop Unbundling is not something I'm putting to much hope on. Wimax and Neotel CDMA are my bets along with Seacom. These are going to force prices down including Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, Iburst.
 
aadil said:
trust me the Saudis will milk us much more than the americans (STC/AT&T) did. We're better off with the devil we know. We need to oppose this, have some patience and we'll see something brighter in the next couple of years.
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:confused:
The historical evidence is against this argument.
The Americans
The Saudis
Our government
... so what are you basing your ideology on?
 
aadil said:
I understand what you're saying, but still is it the best option? What are the Saudis gonna do differently? They'll embark on a massive PR and marketing campaign about how Telkom is under new ownership/management and how they're gonna be different. They reduce adsl prices and people will say WOW great news, not realising the price cuts were coming anyway. They'll slow down competition by using a number of tactics including the wait and see method, meaning people will say let me stick with Telkom - maybe it's gonna different/better?
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How is that scenario any different to the current guavamentally-controlled scenario where Poison Ivy and Stalin-Mafole over at the Dementia of Communistications, have been actively preventing competition from shaping the telecoms market?

The people that create market legislation should not be allowed to monopolise that legislated market. That is the problem we currently have, and it has been very effective in protecting Telkodemonopolies and maintaining its monopoly.

The solution would be for guavamentally-held shares in Telkodemonopolies to be sold, and for Telkodemonopolies to sell its 50% shareholding in Vodacom.
aadil said:
What if Telkom (under firm government control) sold off it's stake in Vodacom and invested part of that cash in infrastructure. Wouldn't that be better for us?
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Telkodemonopolies has always been under firm guavamental control: 6 out of the 10 board members are guavamentally appointed and owned.
aadil said:
Remember also, that Government owns a big chunk of Telkom, technically that belongs to us, the citizens of this country. I believe Telkom is hugely undervalued, so as an investment decision selling it now is not smart. I'm not convinced the government will sell anyway as they want to shape the industry (even though they doing a pathetic job)

I believe the ideal situation would have been a Telkom/MTN tie up.

We cannot rely on government or ICASA to liberalise the telecoms sector. It's probably a pipe dream anyway. What we can hope for is a slightly more competitive environment where can get decent services at decent prices. Local Loop Unbundling is not something I'm putting to much hope on. Wimax and Neotel CDMA are my bets along with Seacom. These are going to force prices down including Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, Iburst.
Click to expand...
In case anyone is not aware, the guavamentalists [via their beloved PIC] also control a large-ish chunk of MTN shares, so it should be clear why the ANC favours a deal between Telkodemonopolies & MTN - incestuous is how I would describe the outcome of such a marriage.
 
Sell the damn thing already. Take back what belongs to the people - SAT3 and the landing station(s?). Government must unbundle the local loop (now not in 5 years). That will force the new owners of Telkom to compete in a fair market.
 
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