Dialling the right number

Telkom's mobile pricing is not bad - much better than any of the mobile providers. Same kind of trend as with their data pricing - undercutting Vodacom, MTN and Cell C on most aspects of the service - voice, SMS. MMS and data.
 
There are definitely shades of Telkom Media here. When Telkom first invested in Telkom Media, telcos everywhere had identified the way of the future, and that was by climbing the value chain from telco to content provider. It was all so obvious. Now look at them...

Now we hear that the way of the future is mobile, and that no telco should be without mobile. But is this the reality for Telkom?
  • Their pricing is just mobile me-too, with a small discount. (Why not like Neotel?)
  • Inter-operator mobile pricing is essentially controlled by interconnect rates (VC & MTN).
  • If they are really aggressive, they're just going to cannibalise themselves.
  • They've chosen a relatively expensive technology (e.g. compared to Neotel).
  • How much coverage can they build realistically? Roaming isn't a solution.
  • How much market share can Telkom realistically expect?
 
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The question regarding market share is indeed interesting. I think Telkom will initially have a strong focus on trying to gain a foothold in the contract market with its bundled offerings. Until the company has a well developed distribution channel and smooth prepaid system in place it will not be able to compete against the cellular operators.
 
Telkom's distribution channel should already be in place, where would you go for any other Telkom product? It seems like their major issue now is finalising the agreement with Vodafone to allow the operator roaming between it's own sites other networks.

The big questions we should be asking is if Telkom can win over customers by offering bundles to supplement their fixed line offerings, and if management can pull this off with or without more allegations of corruption with regards to tender processes.
 
If Telkom were to make all its transmision media available as part of the same bundle - similar to MTN's contracts - things could be interesting.

For instance consider a DO contract where one could use one's minutes/MB over any medium, cell, wifi or fixed in the most convenient manner and all at current DO pricing?

Under these circumstances the requirement for other service providers would go away.

Better still would be if Telkom, MTN amd Vodacom ALL provided this choice!
 
Competition is good, just a shame nobody takes Telkom seriously anymore.
 
bekdik said:
over any medium, cell, wifi or fixed
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Only two operators can put in fixed line to your home. Telkom and Neotel.
bekdik said:
Better still would be if Telkom, MTN amd Vodacom ALL provided this choice!
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Except if i missed something.

In terms of coverage. Telkom owns many properties, so putting up the masts they already have a big step ahead from operators starting from scratch.
Not to mention their own backbone.
 
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ingeon said:
Only two operators can put in fixed line to your home. Telkom and Neotel.
Except if i missed something.

In terms of coverage. Telkom ownes many properties so putting up the masts they already have a big step ahead from operators starting from scratch.
Not to mention their own backbone.
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Not any more. Now you can connect physically to any IECNS licence holder and while they cannot technically offer you a voice line product, they can offer you a VOIP solution. It's up to them to build the network though and do all the red tape to bring the line to your home... but it is going to happen fast in the more dense suburbs.

You are correct on the coverage though. Will be very easy for Telkom to put up towers at all their various nationwide service centers or sub stations.
 
Garyvdh said:
Not any more. Now you can connect physically to any IECNS licence holder and while they cannot technically offer you a voice line product, they can offer you a VOIP solution. It's up to them to build the network though and do all the red tape to bring the line to your home... but it is going to happen fast in the more dense suburbs.

You are correct on the coverage though. Will be very easy for Telkom to put up towers at all their various nationwide service centers or sub stations.
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Very intresting. I thought it was only for self provision.
Where can one find the IECNS & ECS license?
How many company`s have this license.
 
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ingeon said:
Very intresting. I thought it was only for self provision.
Where can one find the IECNS & ECS license?
How many company`s have this license.
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there are about 500 old VANS licence holders which are all eligible to have their licences converted to IECNS. ICASA is in the process of giving those out.

You can search right here on this forum for more info about IECNS.

It was intended for self-provision only, but the lucky by-product is that they can connect directly to consumers under the guise of network connections, completely bypassing the telecommunications regulations.

At least that is my understanding.. maybe someone can correct me?

local Loop unbundling is only about giving other operators access to Telkom's copper network. There is nothing preventing these licence holders from building their own networks.
 
Garyvdh said:
local Loop unbundling is only about giving other operators access to Telkom's copper network. There is nothing preventing these licence holders from building their own networks.
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Barring the cost and lead times to build it, which is a serious pity as I think we'd really benefit from smaller ISPs building infrastructure in limited areas and offering superior services.
 
I for one hope that Telkom doesn't fail in the short run!

Rudolph mentioned that their mobile prices are competitive. Hopefully if they set up a decent distro channel, and get at least a mid-level single digit percentage of the market, VC and MTN may seriously start to perceive Telkom Mobile as a threat, and then true competition may kick in (As opposed to the current incremental competition between the 4 mobile providers).

Obviously this won't be happening for, hmmm, say 2 years, but it never hurts to dream.

As an afterthought, it would be interesting to see Telkom buy out a share in Blue Label Telecoms, so that they can have some sort of notable control in the prepaid market. That, and it would help build tributary channels.

Just my 2c worth. :D
 
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