Competition Tribunal approves Telkom Swiftnet sale with conditions

[Jan]

Telkom R6.75-billion tower sale gets the nod

The Competition Tribunal has approved Telkom's sale of its masts and towers business, Swiftnet, to a consortium led by UK-based investment firm Actis for R6.75 billion, with conditions.

This key approval comes after Telkom shareholders voted in favour of the deal, and the Competition Commission gave its blessing, recommending that the Tribunal approve the deal.

 

[pstation]

It seems like silly and myopic thing to do, but it makes perfect sense because the network really no longer matters and it's no longer a selling point for the wireless carriers. Years ago a big selling point for a network would be if they had the best coverage, fastest speeds, fewest dropped calls, etc. But now, pretty much all networks provide a similar experience and there isn't too much of a difference.

All of the carriers can increase profits by all sharing each other's infrastructure. It doesn't make sense for mtn, vodacom and telkom to build separate towers in the same neighborhood when they can all utilize the same tower together and share the costs.