Telkom bets big, but will it be enough?
Now ‘naked' without Vodacom, the telecoms giant plays its two trump cards.
Now ‘naked' without Vodacom, the telecoms giant plays its two trump cards.
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Telkom bets big
- Thread starter rpm
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wizzard2040
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Marketing strategy for telcom .. Appologise for blatantly ripping us off since 2003,drop your prices very quickly so that the effort of changing to another isp is not worth it. Now they going to waste Huge sums of money on crap nobody wants to use drop everything focus on DSL
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Lightscribe
Banned
Pull those rabbits out of the hat, telkom... 
Seems telkom is becoming the one to piggyback on others...
Time...
Seems telkom is becoming the one to piggyback on others...
Time...
InTheCube
Expert Member
Or Telkom Media.
In any case, I'd like to see Telkom, and all it's shareholders suffer for a few years. Let that share price drop to below R10. I hope their bottom line gets killed by competition and their own incompetence.
Carbon_Fibre
Expert Member
Peeked into the future ... EPIC FAIL.
They should stick to adsl and look at fibre.
They should stick to adsl and look at fibre.
nelwa
Expert Member
This is bad...has anyone ever really thought what would happen when Telkom goes under? I don't think there would be any fixed lines in the country, except for large metro areas...
saffakanera
Expert Member
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- Sep 25, 2006
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I reckon the infrastructure will be auctioned off to the Private sector, which is fkn AWESOME considering the fact that it would trigger an almost immediate LLU event!
Pray for that dude, pray for that.
Moederloos
Honorary Master
Telkom should look at offering something new to the market.
Like reasonable prices.
Like reasonable prices.
+1 Amen to that!
Pilgrim
Wugger
Sting
Ghost in the Machine
Why would they go under? They made a R38billion profit after tax and have a net debt:EBITDA ratio of 0,8x and a very strong balance sheet.
MidnightWizard
Executive Member
STOP praying
NO
You all seem to assume that there can be nothing worse than Telkom. ( as it currently stands )
IF Telkom were sold off it WOULD go to a BEE company -- or company with a LARGE BEE component.
Telkom being sold off does NOT guarantee that things will improve.
(for the consumer -- but the NEW owners / shareholders might be able to suck more out of it)
Look back in time to when Telkom had an International component -- WHAT did they do before selling out at a HUGE profit.
MW
NO
You all seem to assume that there can be nothing worse than Telkom. ( as it currently stands )
IF Telkom were sold off it WOULD go to a BEE company -- or company with a LARGE BEE component.
Telkom being sold off does NOT guarantee that things will improve.
(for the consumer -- but the NEW owners / shareholders might be able to suck more out of it)
Look back in time to when Telkom had an International component -- WHAT did they do before selling out at a HUGE profit.
MW
davemc
Executive Member
I read that entire article, and I have to wonder just how stupid upper management in that company is.
Let me point out some blatant glaring massive problems that are evident without even beginning to delve into the inner workings of that big fat slow expensive and downright stupid company - Telkom:
1. Their product offering has to be the single most difficult thing to determine.
For a company that survives on selling products and services, finding out what services are available, and what the complete cost of the services are, the hardware required and the actual attributes of the products and services available is near impossible.
As a simple example, point me to where I can find out about their 3G product, the costs, the coverage map and the service parameters.
I shudder to think how on earth they're going to describe their new services they are adding to their portfolio.
Perhaps Teklom should take a closer look at solving their existing non-information issues first.
2. Telkom should not be playing in other parts of Africa
Telkom have spent a fortune on trying to gain a foothold in other parts of Africa. The reason user to warrant their hyper spend is the apparent fact that the available market cap in South Africa has been reached.
But, at the same time, with the same breath, Telkom is also expanding it's South African infrastructure and introducing new products into their portfolio. This is not the actions of a company faced with a market cap, but the actions of a company branching out into new segments of the existing market, expanding the market size.
I still firmly believe that the push to enter other markets was a political one, and one that did not make sense to begin with, and most certainly does not make any sense now that Government is taking more of a back seat in this business.
Their actions completely contradict their reason for spending out of the country.
Besides, if you want to take over communications in Nigeria, a buy-out would be a much better approach.
3. Competition is fierce now, but it's going to get insane
The dawn of competition in South Africa is only just starting. As more and more fully licensed operators realise the value of their license and learn the means of attracting investors, so more and more infrastructure will be built and utilised that directly competes with Telkom.
These small operators now have the means of bypassing Telkom completely in major cities, and are starting to view Telkom as the operator that they are forced to use in some areas, where instead they should be viewing Telkom as the operator that they want to use.
The small operator's viewpoint is significant as it indicates a trend that is extremely dangerous to the health of Telkom.
Meh.
Let me point out some blatant glaring massive problems that are evident without even beginning to delve into the inner workings of that big fat slow expensive and downright stupid company - Telkom:
1. Their product offering has to be the single most difficult thing to determine.
For a company that survives on selling products and services, finding out what services are available, and what the complete cost of the services are, the hardware required and the actual attributes of the products and services available is near impossible.
As a simple example, point me to where I can find out about their 3G product, the costs, the coverage map and the service parameters.
I shudder to think how on earth they're going to describe their new services they are adding to their portfolio.
Perhaps Teklom should take a closer look at solving their existing non-information issues first.
2. Telkom should not be playing in other parts of Africa
Telkom have spent a fortune on trying to gain a foothold in other parts of Africa. The reason user to warrant their hyper spend is the apparent fact that the available market cap in South Africa has been reached.
But, at the same time, with the same breath, Telkom is also expanding it's South African infrastructure and introducing new products into their portfolio. This is not the actions of a company faced with a market cap, but the actions of a company branching out into new segments of the existing market, expanding the market size.
I still firmly believe that the push to enter other markets was a political one, and one that did not make sense to begin with, and most certainly does not make any sense now that Government is taking more of a back seat in this business.
Their actions completely contradict their reason for spending out of the country.
Besides, if you want to take over communications in Nigeria, a buy-out would be a much better approach.
3. Competition is fierce now, but it's going to get insane
The dawn of competition in South Africa is only just starting. As more and more fully licensed operators realise the value of their license and learn the means of attracting investors, so more and more infrastructure will be built and utilised that directly competes with Telkom.
These small operators now have the means of bypassing Telkom completely in major cities, and are starting to view Telkom as the operator that they are forced to use in some areas, where instead they should be viewing Telkom as the operator that they want to use.
The small operator's viewpoint is significant as it indicates a trend that is extremely dangerous to the health of Telkom.
Meh.
Sting
Ghost in the Machine
@davemc: good post and I fully agree with you. A bit hesistant on the 3G component in point 1 as they are still busy with the roll out and hopefully it will improve significantly!
At the media briefing yesterday they did acknowledge that their product catalogue was not on par and that they are reviewing it. But how long before they do something about it - that is they question!
At the media briefing yesterday they did acknowledge that their product catalogue was not on par and that they are reviewing it. But how long before they do something about it - that is they question!
Currently they still hold the monopoly for fixed line telecoms, with the complements of the DoC. In that arena they have no competition and thus do and charge what they want. Hopefully we'll see LLU in our lifetime, cause I think that is the only thing that could really give us some sparks in the telecoms sector. Provided that the DoC does not put a "watching Telkom's back" clause in the relevent LLU legislation.
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
Interesting times.