Sign up with GoogleBefore I go out clubbing (wooooo!) heres *another* article on the recent developments 
Source - Reuters
S.Africa's Telkom, rapped by govt, eyes price cuts
Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:09 PM GMT
By Rebecca Harrison
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African fixed-line phone firm Telkom may cut some tariffs after the government complained that high prices were impeding growth and deterring foreign investment, the company said on Friday.
Telkom spokesman Xolisa Vapi said communication regulator ICASA had decided to cap Telkom's price increases at 3.5 percentage points below inflation, which would force the company to cut some prices.
"We will be announcing new pricing soon," Vapi said. "Some of our prices may come down, some may not."
The government approved the new pricing cap -- which is tougher than a previous price rise limit of 1.5 percentage points below inflation -- last week.
South Africa's targeted CPIX inflation rate rose by an annual 3.9 percent in May.
Telkom has been criticised by consumers groups, businesses and the government for charging too much for calls and Internet access, stalling the roll-out of phone lines to low-income households and deterring much-needed foreign investment by inflating the cost of doing business.
Vapi's comments came a day after the government, which owns more than half of Telkom, said phone prices were too high and were hurting economic growth.
MONOPOLY ERODING
"The high cost of telecommunications, as well as the inability to extend fixed-line services to the overwhelming majority of the people, is a major barrier to achieving the ... critical mass that would impact positively on economic growth," Roy Padayachee, deputy minister of communications, was quoted by local media as saying at a telecoms conference.
The government has been chipping away at Telkom's monopoly with new laws that let value-added network operators offer cheaper calls over the Internet.
But it has been accused of dragging its feet over the launch of a second national operator and critics say Telkom continues to dominate the market and rip off customers.
In his state of the nation address in February, President Thabo Mbeki said it was unacceptable that some fixed-line rates were 10 times those of developed countries.
Telkom has slashed the cost of international and long-distance calls in recent months, as well as prices for high-speed Internet access, but has offset this by increasing local call tariffs and rental and connection fees.
Vapi said the new pricing policy would probably be introduced in Septemeber.
He declined to say which calls the company was thinking of making cheaper, but said Telkom was working with the government to make sure its prices were not hurting business.
"We are working to manage down prices and make sure we do not have a negative impact on the cost of doing business in South Africa," he said.
Source - Reuters
S.Africa's Telkom, rapped by govt, eyes price cuts
Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:09 PM GMT
By Rebecca Harrison
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African fixed-line phone firm Telkom may cut some tariffs after the government complained that high prices were impeding growth and deterring foreign investment, the company said on Friday.
Telkom spokesman Xolisa Vapi said communication regulator ICASA had decided to cap Telkom's price increases at 3.5 percentage points below inflation, which would force the company to cut some prices.
"We will be announcing new pricing soon," Vapi said. "Some of our prices may come down, some may not."
The government approved the new pricing cap -- which is tougher than a previous price rise limit of 1.5 percentage points below inflation -- last week.
South Africa's targeted CPIX inflation rate rose by an annual 3.9 percent in May.
Telkom has been criticised by consumers groups, businesses and the government for charging too much for calls and Internet access, stalling the roll-out of phone lines to low-income households and deterring much-needed foreign investment by inflating the cost of doing business.
Vapi's comments came a day after the government, which owns more than half of Telkom, said phone prices were too high and were hurting economic growth.
MONOPOLY ERODING
"The high cost of telecommunications, as well as the inability to extend fixed-line services to the overwhelming majority of the people, is a major barrier to achieving the ... critical mass that would impact positively on economic growth," Roy Padayachee, deputy minister of communications, was quoted by local media as saying at a telecoms conference.
The government has been chipping away at Telkom's monopoly with new laws that let value-added network operators offer cheaper calls over the Internet.
But it has been accused of dragging its feet over the launch of a second national operator and critics say Telkom continues to dominate the market and rip off customers.
In his state of the nation address in February, President Thabo Mbeki said it was unacceptable that some fixed-line rates were 10 times those of developed countries.
Telkom has slashed the cost of international and long-distance calls in recent months, as well as prices for high-speed Internet access, but has offset this by increasing local call tariffs and rental and connection fees.
Vapi said the new pricing policy would probably be introduced in Septemeber.
He declined to say which calls the company was thinking of making cheaper, but said Telkom was working with the government to make sure its prices were not hurting business.
"We are working to manage down prices and make sure we do not have a negative impact on the cost of doing business in South Africa," he said.