{"id":546672,"date":"2005-08-18T21:09:09","date_gmt":"2005-08-18T21:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/546672-getting-telkom-ready-for-competition.html"},"modified":"2005-08-18T21:09:09","modified_gmt":"2005-08-18T21:09:09","slug":"getting-telkom-ready-for-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/546672-getting-telkom-ready-for-competition.html","title":{"rendered":"Getting Telkom ready for competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

He will be shadowing incumbent CEO Sizwe Nxasana as of September 1; Nxasana\u2019s contract expires at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Moneyweb Power Hour on Radio 2000, Molotsane said that the beginning of his tenure will be spent listening to what people within the business are saying, especially as he does not have experience in the telecommunications field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for any new CEO to get into an organisation and keep their mouth shut for a while, and listen to what people are saying. I would need some time to go into Telkom, do some kind of a diagnostic, and evaluate what the critical issues are, and perhaps formulate a strategic agenda moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molotsane\u2019s says his strength is his ability to learn fast, and that he was employed to lead Telkom in the \u201cvery competitive market that is starting to emerge\u201d.<\/p>\n

The challenges he will face at Telkom \u2013 dissatisfaction regarding high telecommunication prices, the inevitability of Telkom\u2019s market share being eroded by the SNO and sustaining the excellent numbers Telkom has reported \u2013 are very different to those he has faced in his current position as head of Transwerk, the Transnet subsidiary dealing with the provision of trains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge will be different but we will have to ensure that, whatever we do we still maintain or improve shareholder value. Telkom has been very successful. The numbers have been fantastic. But competition will be a challange,\u201d says Molotsane. <\/p>\n

While Molotsane says Telkom\u2019s technical expertise is in place, his experience in the hospitality industry at food outsourcing company Fedics and as the president of will bring a more service-focused edge to the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what is important for me is to really focus on what I can deliver to the customers, because if the customer is contented and happy, I will definitely get the kind of returns that I need,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor this economy to thrive and move forward, we\u2019ve got to have very competitive and profitable businesses. But at the same time, this business must be responsible, be a good corporate citizen, and be able to contribute to society in such a way that we can improve the quality of life of people. But in order for us to do that, you\u2019ve got to run a profitable business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molotsane speaks highly of his previous boss, Transnet CEO Maria Ramos: \u201cI\u2019ve learnt a lot from Maria, there\u2019s no doubt about it. What I will take away from Transnet is the ability to rally forces behind a single agenda, the ability to expect meticulous work from all my people, and to build a strong team that will take Telkom forward. To work with a lady like her \u2013 gee, it\u2019s a fantastic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allan Gray\u2019s Stephen Mildenhall says colleagues at the institution who had met Molotsane were impressed. Mildenhall says Molotsane\u2019s new position will be \u201ca huge challenge\u201d, as revenues come under pressure with competition: \u201cit will be a huge challenge not to cut more staff, just to keep profits afloat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Irnest Kaplan, the managing director of Kaplan Equity Analysts, says that Molotsane\u2019s appointment is an interesting development: \u201cMany players depend on Telkom, and if he is lenient in his approach, companies like DataPro and Internet Solutions [both are Internet service providers] may benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaplan found it strange that a person without telecommunications experience was selected: \u201cSizwe Nxasana also didn\u2019t have telecoms experience [he\u2019s an accountant], but times are different. There is so much complexity in the industry at the moment, and that it is going to be a challenge for Molotsane, despite his excellent qualifications.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0 <\/font>http:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane is rolling up his sleeves to maintain Telkom\u2019s stellar financial performance in the face of competition, as the second network operator (SNO) shapes up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"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":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-546672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546672"}],"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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}