Cell C CEO wouldn't rework retrenchment process

I've never liked this guy, but he's changing things for the better. The result is that I've decided to port my number from Vodacom, I'm getting a much better deal!
 
Interesting take on the Telkom-Korea deal. I wonder what those who thought the government was crazy and stupid have to say now.

Other than that, I am glad I didn't port to MTN after Alan followed me to Cell C.

Keep it up Mr Knott-Craig, I am behind you all the way!
 
Shhhooo-weeee... AKC must really be p1ssing off the MTN and VC management(smaller bonuses) and shareholders(smaller dividends)... they too are organisationally bloated and will have to shed excess weight to stay competitive in the medium-long term!

Has there been any news on CellC plans to improve their network? For me it's(network quality) still the biggest deterrent to porting from VC and MTN.
 
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Interesting read... Never knew the GVT vs KOREA deal was viewed in that light...

Let's hope he changes the local mobile telecoms space for the better over a short period of time...
 
Its common knowledge that AT&T and a malaysian telco bought into telkom, raped telkom, and fled without improving the network in any way... this has been open knowledge for a decade or so... The fact remains is that we had the chance of having the world leaders on board, but instead government was scared. They approve every other major "foreign" investment deal (think ABSA and Barclays, Standard Bank and ICICI, Massmart and Walmart, etc...) but as soon as its their profits and their parastatals at risk - they're too scared.

Furthermore, KT is staying on as a management service layer to Telkom. This is a good thing, but now they're an expense to Telkom rather than an equity holder driving performance. Just look at their share price, what a joke.
 
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Also, lets not get into governments business management skills... telkom, eskom, SAA, etc. LOL
 
The biggest cost in pricing a call, says Knott Craig is the mobile termination rate (MTR) – the fees that the telecoms operators charge other players to carry calls onto their networks. “These rates are eight times higher in SA than they are anywhere else in the world.”
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Lets not forget that AKC is partly responsible for the inflated MTR ripoff in the first place.

Time away from the industry opened his eyes to a few things. “When you are in it sometimes you don’t see the wood for the trees. There were things that could have been done and should’ve been done.”
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Instead of doing the right thing, you chose the path of greed.

You trust him with your money, I won't.
 
evilstebunny said:
Lets not forget that AKC is partly responsible for the inflated MTR ripoff in the first place.

You trust him with your money, I won't.

Instead of doing the right thing, you chose the path of greed.
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We all hated it him at some point but he was doing what shareholders wanted then and hes doing exactly the same thing now, though the circumstances are completely different. From a consumers point of view we have nothing to compain about right now.
 
manesan said:
We all hated it him at some point but he was doing what shareholders wanted then and hes doing exactly the same thing now, though the circumstances are completely different. From a consumers point of view we have nothing to compain about right now.
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And once again, he is building a business – not trying to win a popularity contest.
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Like i said, you're welcome to trust him again. I won't.
 
evilstebunny said:
Lets not forget that AKC is partly responsible for the inflated MTR ripoff in the first place.

Instead of doing the right thing, you chose the path of greed.

You trust him with your money, I won't.
Click to expand...

Well, give the man credit - he basically built Vodacom from scrath to a mega business
Looking after the shareholders

Now he is redeeming himself ;-) and is looking after the consumer

Either way, he will be leaving a legacy in the mobile industry
 
Haha seems like he's had a change of heart! Those years in retirement must have shown the promise of lower mobile rates!
 
Like him or hate him the man talks a lot of sense....I ve been wondering to myself also why KT wanted to buy into telkom?Could it be that they cant really milk their own people and are looking for new markets to milk instead?

I guess we all just assumed they would buck telkom up but I always had it in the back of my head that they just wanted to plunder without investing really....I guess AKC is right in that vodacom should have never been allowed to be sold to Vodafone as lets face it they are taking millions out of the country to their rich little british island while the cash pool in SA only gets lower and lower while we export raw materials which will eventually run out and dont yield major profits in the long term...not good for the country in the big picture/long term.

Also I can understand why he initiated the job cuts and for anyone asking why he didn't take a pay cut well two reasons,cell c needs him more than he needs them and secondly he was not the one that put those structures/jobs in place in the first place he is simply streamlining the whole operation and the only way forward from here for cell c will be an upward shift since they were already in the red!In a few years time he will probably be able to hire ten times that amount of people if he's strategy pays of.
 
The dude had a revelation, just like Agent Smith in The Matrix. :)

Personally I think his concience has caught up with him & he wants to do the right thing for South Africa.

Too long South Africans got totally ripped off (and still are) by the telecoms companies. I still remember it was just too expensive to phone on prepaid, so we all used our mobile phones as a super expensive texting device.

Now those days are over and we can actually use our phones to make a phone call with. :)

Go Alan & CellC!!
 
demiurge said:
I'm sure that's very comforting to the actual individuals who are now unemployed,
especially coming from Mr I-Earned-A-Million-A-Month-when-I-was-unemployed AKC...
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Dude i was personally retrenched last year so those individuals should just suck it up and get back on their feet and stop complaining like sisies...its a big world out there and every company is not a charity, they do what they need to.The company that retrenched me still closed down five months after they retrenched me and several other people so with hindsight its easy to see that what needs to be done sometimes needs to be done for the greater good of the business.

You make your own way in life and nobody is going to spoon feed you to success.
 
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evilstebunny said:
Lets not forget that AKC is partly responsible for the inflated MTR ripoff in the first place.



Instead of doing the right thing, you chose the path of greed.

You trust him with your money, I won't.
Click to expand...

Come Dude read the last sentence in the article AKC is here to build a business not win popularity contests. He answers to his board and his board alone. Unfortunately in a Capitalist society doing the right thing is the path of greed.
 
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