{"id":285,"date":"2007-06-15T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-15T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2007-06-15T11:20:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-15T09:20:00","slug":"titans-square-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/285-titans-square-off.html","title":{"rendered":"Titans square off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysts say Vodacom's agreement with pay-TV operator MultiChoice<\/a> to resell DStv illustrates that the cellphone group's shareholding structure is dysfunctional and that relations between it and 50% shareholder Telkom may have broken down completely. <\/font><\/p>\n

Vodacom's deal with MultiChoice is a direct challenge to the fixed-line operator's new Telkom Media subsidiary. Telkom Media, which has a budget of R7,5bn, has aggressive plans to compete in pay-television, a market that is dom-inated by MultiChoice. <\/font><\/p>\n

It has said it will launch pay-TV bouquets that start at R100\/month, targeting the emerging black middle class. But now Vodacom and MultiChoice are offering two new DStv bouquets targeting the same market and available for R139\/month. The new bouquets will make Telkom Media's entry into the market more difficult. <\/font><\/p>\n

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of research firm World Wide Worx, says Vodacom's MultiChoice deal underlines the "extent to which there is a lack of strategic congruence between the activities of Vodacom and Telkom". <\/font><\/p>\n

Asked whether he believes Vodacom<\/a> Group CEO Alan Knott-Craig is being deliberately provocative, Goldstuck says: "One certainly gets the impression that he is cocking a snook at Telkom." <\/font><\/p>\n

One JSE analyst, who ask ed not to be named, says: "It is evident that Vodacom's shareholding structure is dysfunctional and I can understand why Telkom would prefer another mobile partner. " <\/font><\/p>\n

The UK's Vodafone<\/a>, Vodacom's other shareholder, has long said it would like to buy Telkom's stake. Market talk is that the growing tensions between Telkom and Vodacom could lead to the fixed-line operator selling out and seeking another mobile partner, possibly Cell C. <\/font><\/p>\n

Cell C's largest shareholder, Saudi Oger, is keen to sell its stake but market talk is that it has attached a valuation of about US$3bn to the business. "If Telkom paid that, the market would take a dim view, especially given that it would take further investment to bolster Cell C's market share," the analyst says. <\/font><\/p>\n

The MultiChoice deal is not the only one that is likely to cause conflict. The cellphone group is also building a powerful Internet service provider (ISP) business that will compete head-on with Telkom and tier-one ISPs. <\/font><\/p>\n

Vodacom has hired away several of Telkom's top executives to run the new company. <\/font><\/p>\n

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Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

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Analysts say Vodacom’s agreement with pay-TV operator MultiChoice to resell DStv illustrates that the cellphone group’s shareholding structure is dysfunctional<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecoms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}