Shope-Mafole backs new broadband network

[AdLo]

http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=3435391

The South African government was the majority shareholder in Telkom and was 100 percent committed to the new EASSy undersea cable and accompanying terrestrial broadband network for Southern and Eastern Africa. This was the message to delegates at the Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown on Tuesday from Lyndall Shope-Mafole, director-general of the department of communications.

 

[Peter7]

Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane told a newspaper last week that the South African telecommunications operator was having second thoughts about investing in the new network, which promises to slash telecommunications and Internet costs by 80 percent in Southern and Eastern Africa. Molotsane said Telkom would have to consider whether it would be in the interests of its shareholders to make the investment, given envisaged restrictions on charges it could pass on to consumers who used the new network.

Paraphrase: We won't invest because we won't be able to rip-off consumers like we are currently doing.

 

[antowan]

Telkom would have to consider whether it would be in the interests of its shareholders to make the investment, given envisaged restrictions on charges it could pass on to consumers who used the new network.

Another reason why Telkom needs to be split up and divided into a number of competing little baby Telkoms.

 

[Highflyer_GP]

Paraphrase: We won't invest because we won't be able to rip-off consumers like we are currently doing.

Precisely. To add to that, investing on behalf of our shareholders is more important than investing on behalf of our customers.

Papi is no better than $izwe was.

 

[dominic]

shareholdercentricity?

the two quotes above would seem to imply that shareholdercentricity as practised by the big T does not extend to fulfilling the express desires of its majority shareholder. Hmmmm. Not sure I buy that.

it is a remarkable statement - very bluntly this is what we are about. deal with it. you want to regulate us and take our local loop and international toys away. right. stuff you. then we won't play.

basically the same response as to the initial adsl regulations - vintage toys out the cot stuff. i think we will be seeing a lot of this as the ECA develops - posturing, positioning, threatening and stalling, stalling, stalling