loosecannon
01-10-2004, 10:09 AM
Dear Subscriber,
A matter of choice
The introduction of a second network operator and the imminent liberalisation of the telecoms industry may be the start of a unpleasant roller coaster ride for Telkom.
The tale of a US company may forecast what the communications services provider can expect to happen in the coming year.
A colleague brought to my attention the 'story behind the story' regarding the sale of US telecommunications firm AT&T Wireless to Cingular. He billed it as: "How AT&T saw its moer... is Telkom reading this?"
For those less fluent in Afrikaans slang, that statement is a less than polite way of describing a company coming apart at the seams, among other things.
You see, in late 2003 a US federal ruling came into effect that allowed subscribers to wireless companies to switch among providers while keeping their phone numbers. There was, to some extent, a liberalisation of the industry.
For AT&T, the ruling resulted in a mass exodus of customers to other communications service providers after those customers had endured what reports describe as 'years of substandard customer care, spotty coverage and dropped calls'.
The massive flight of subscribers also occurred despite the fact that many of them were obligated to pay early termination fees or outstanding balances on their contracts, which reports claim is a standard procedure among many telecoms firms in the US. Customers were willing to pay just to get away from AT&T.
So AT&T, well aware it was holding the losing hand in the wireless market, put itself up for sale. A suitor, in the form of Cingular, responded and bought the firm.
A Seattlepi.com report says that the closing of the deal will most likely be followed by massive layoffs among the company's more than 31,000 employees.
The short and sweet lesson in this story is that when a telecoms firm no longer has a monopoly on the market then customers will vote with their feet.
It is also a warning to Telkom because it is obvious that there exist a large number of disgruntled Telkom customers in South Africa.
Their problems with the company may only be perceived ones. But even perceived problems, if they are never addressed, can act as the motivation for customers to rapidly move elsewhere when the opportunity presents itself.
Regards
Philip Devine
Business Report Online Editor
A matter of choice
The introduction of a second network operator and the imminent liberalisation of the telecoms industry may be the start of a unpleasant roller coaster ride for Telkom.
The tale of a US company may forecast what the communications services provider can expect to happen in the coming year.
A colleague brought to my attention the 'story behind the story' regarding the sale of US telecommunications firm AT&T Wireless to Cingular. He billed it as: "How AT&T saw its moer... is Telkom reading this?"
For those less fluent in Afrikaans slang, that statement is a less than polite way of describing a company coming apart at the seams, among other things.
You see, in late 2003 a US federal ruling came into effect that allowed subscribers to wireless companies to switch among providers while keeping their phone numbers. There was, to some extent, a liberalisation of the industry.
For AT&T, the ruling resulted in a mass exodus of customers to other communications service providers after those customers had endured what reports describe as 'years of substandard customer care, spotty coverage and dropped calls'.
The massive flight of subscribers also occurred despite the fact that many of them were obligated to pay early termination fees or outstanding balances on their contracts, which reports claim is a standard procedure among many telecoms firms in the US. Customers were willing to pay just to get away from AT&T.
So AT&T, well aware it was holding the losing hand in the wireless market, put itself up for sale. A suitor, in the form of Cingular, responded and bought the firm.
A Seattlepi.com report says that the closing of the deal will most likely be followed by massive layoffs among the company's more than 31,000 employees.
The short and sweet lesson in this story is that when a telecoms firm no longer has a monopoly on the market then customers will vote with their feet.
It is also a warning to Telkom because it is obvious that there exist a large number of disgruntled Telkom customers in South Africa.
Their problems with the company may only be perceived ones. But even perceived problems, if they are never addressed, can act as the motivation for customers to rapidly move elsewhere when the opportunity presents itself.
Regards
Philip Devine
Business Report Online Editor