Telkom goes mobile
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian at Telkom’s recent results announcement, chief executive Reuben September said that Telkom’s position had always been to sell its stake in Vodacom only if there is an alternative equal to or better than Vodacom.
However, September said that Telkom recently acquired access to the critical spectrum 1 800MHz to 2 100MHz, which would allow it to roll out a fixed wireless network that could be used for mobile.
“That puts Telkom as a standalone in a completely different perspective,” said September.
“We have a very strong underlying network and we have a very strong relationship with our corporate customers.”
September made reference to the success of Multilinks, Telkom’s Nigerian business.
“In Multilinks we are a dual-licence operator on the fixed and mobile side and it’s a vision of our capabilities in a very short space and time,” he said.
“We want to do the same thing here in South Africa.
“We are looking at this process as the liberator for Telkom in bringing the underlying value to the table,” he said.
September told the M&G that Telkom would not consider a full national roll-out of infrastructure.
“That I would not consider in any space of time,” said September.
“What is clear to me that we need to build in selective areas, where the underlying strength of our network, coupled with our channels to market and our relationship with customers will bring us returns.”
He said Telkom would work with partners that allowed it to roam over their networks.
“I can tell you that there will be partners available,” said September.
“We will not be a pure mobile virtual operator, it will be a part build, part partnership.”
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