Telkom believes that MTN and Vodacom's roaming deals must be investigated

[Bradley Prior]

Telkom believes that MTN and Vodacom's roaming deals must be investigated

Telkom has criticised the roaming deals Vodacom and MTN have initiated with smaller networks and claims that ICASA should investigate these deals in more depth.

 

[My_King]

Ag shem

 

[Thor]

I agree with this.

 

[susefan]

This time round Telkom seems to have a convincing point.

 

[Swa]

Come on Telkdom, you lost. You had the chance for a mutual roaming deal with Cell C but didn't want to pursue that avenue.

 

[Swa]

This time round Telkom seems to have a convincing point.

Telkom is trying to tell Icasa how things "should" work rather than how they work. They are essentially trying to change the rules in-game while being the losing team. There are other avenues they can use to do that.

 

[supersunbird]

The four deals that Telkom was referring to are:

• Vodacom–Rain: 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz
• MTN-Cell C: 900MHz, 1,800MHz, and 2,100MHz
• MTN-Liquid Telecom: 1,800MHz
• Vodacom-Liquid Telecom: 3,500MHz

What about the Vodacom-Telkom deal?

 

[justmaimane]

What about the Vodacom-Telkom deal?

Vodacom doesn't utilize the Telkom's towers/network

 

[konfab]

“A normal roaming deal is one where a small operator – usually a late entrant into the market – has access to a larger fully-rolled out network for a transitional period.”

Except Telkom is not a late entrant into the market as they owned 50% of Vodacom in 2008.

 

[backstreetboy]

Lol should've offered more for Cell C.

 

[Hummercellc]

Um, Telkom has for years had more spectrum than MTN and Vodacom (almost combined), as illustrated by theirs truly.

Now that MTN and Vodacom have come up with creative ways to increase their spectrum availability, thus exceeding Telkom, it is only now an issue for Telkom?

While MTN and Vodacom have never complained to my knowledge, about the fact that Telkom has such a large chunk of spectrum vs the competition.

Secondly Telkom owns hundreds of Physical Towers, it took the others many years to build their networks, but it's an issue for Telkom.

I am sorry but, I am of the view here, Telkom are acting like 5 year old's.

Can we apply the same methodology to Telkom's Fiber network and Footprint as Telkom have applied to MTN and Vodacom's tower footprint, and have Telkom's Fiber network separated as they suggest with the towers?

 

[Johnatan56]

Except Telkom is not a late entrant into the market as they owned 50% of Vodacom in 2008.

No, Telkom had to sell off that division, it's not Telkom Mobile.

Um, Telkom has for years had more spectrum than MTN and Vodacom (almost combined), as illustrated by theirs truly.

Telkom also has spectrum assigned to it that's part of the "public" domain but they can't use, e.g. sea rescue, satellite, etc.
A couple of years I called MyBB out on it and posted all of it and most of what each was assigned to, if you can find it it should give you an idea. It's all matter of public record.

Can we apply the same methodology to Telkom's Fiber network and Footprint as Telkom have applied to MTN and Vodacom's tower footprint, and have Telkom's Fiber network separated as they suggest with the towers?

Technically they are separate, Telkom mobile, openserve and Telkom ISP are separate entities, they're just owned by the same parent company. They may not offer each other better rates, etc., there was a court case in regards to that.

 

[Martin_P]

Vodacom doesn't utilize the Telkom's towers/network

Neither does Mtn of Cell C Network.

 

[Swa]

Telkom also has spectrum assigned to it that's part of the "public" domain but they can't use, e.g. sea rescue, satellite, etc.
A couple of years I called MyBB out on it and posted all of it and most of what each was assigned to, if you can find it it should give you an idea. It's all matter of public record.

Telkom has a lot more LTE spectrum at their disposal. They are complaining that they don't have more of the lower bands like the others while the others are complaining about the opposite as over the years the higher bands have become more valuable.

Technically they are separate, Telkom mobile, openserve and Telkom ISP are separate entities, they're just owned by the same parent company. They may not offer each other better rates, etc., there was a court case in regards to that.

But they can structure it so one division can absorb the losses of another which is what everyone have been complaining about as they can't afford Telkom's prices while it makes no difference to Telkom's internal billing. They are NOT separate entities.

Neither does Mtn of Cell C Network.

What I wanted to say. Double standards at play here.

 

[Johnatan56]

Telkom has a lot more LTE spectrum at their disposal. They are complaining that they don't have more of the lower bands like the others while the others are complaining about the opposite as over the years the higher bands have become more valuable.

Yes/no, each one comes with advantages and disadvantages as you've stated. The lower bands give more of an advantage due to the range, so coverage is better, higher is better for data rate, but Vodacom and MTN have enough in the higher bands that it's not that much of an issue with aggregation.

But they can structure it so one division can absorb the losses of another which is what everyone have been complaining about as they can't afford Telkom's prices while it makes no difference to Telkom's internal billing. They are NOT separate entities.

They can't, each is shown in the balance sheet, and e.g. Telkom ISP cannot get preferential rates compared to OpenServe. Same must be offered to everyone, and Vodacom and MTN are definitely keeping an eye on Telkom's financial statements to check for smart accountants.

 

[Swa]

They can't, each is shown in the balance sheet, and e.g. Telkom ISP cannot get preferential rates compared to OpenServe. Same must be offered to everyone, and Vodacom and MTN are definitely keeping an eye on Telkom's financial statements to check for smart accountants.

I didn't say anything about preferential rates. Telkom can charge whatever they want as a standard rate as at the end of the day they don't feel it. And it's a single entity with a single balance sheet so a "loss" in one department won't make a difference to the business that's making a net profit. This is the very thing the industry has been complaining about.