Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Apple is said to be eyeing Formula 1 broadcast rights

      9 July 2025

      Vodacom, Maziv deal now looks likely after CompCom U-turn

      8 July 2025

      Icasa publishes new draft regulations for digital TV

      8 July 2025

      Fast-growing Beira port to get private mobile network

      8 July 2025

      MultiChoice hit with multimillion-rand fine for privacy ‘breaches’

      8 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Gov’t outlines new course for Telkom

    Gov’t outlines new course for Telkom

    By Craig Wilson19 November 2012
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Roy Kruger

    Roy Kruger, technical adviser to communications minister Dina Pule, says Telkom is set to stage a turnaround despite being overstaffed “like all government entities”.

    He says Pule has submitted several proposals, including a recommendation, on the company’s future to cabinet. He says cabinet will announce its decision in coming months.

    Telkom is key to achieving government’s goals of universal broadband access by 2020 and subsidies may be required to drive uptake, he says.

    Earlier this month, Kruger made controversial comments suggesting, among other things, that a proposed sale of 20% of Telkom’s equity to Korea’s KT Corp was a “rubbish” deal and insinuating, without naming her, that outgoing Telkom CEO Nombulelo Moholi was part of the “problem” at Telkom. His comments prompted Pule to express “regret” at Kruger’s remarks.

    “Private companies are looking after profitable areas while government is obliged to look after rural areas,” Kruger says. “The two sectors aren’t talking to each other.”

    Telkom has to be the foundation for roll-out of broadband to rural areas, he adds.

    “As we’ve said over the last few months, the ministry was given a mandate to come up with solutions [for Telkom], which we’ve done. We have a number of options and have recommended one. Cabinet needs to make recommendations on this and, although I can’t be specific about the [minister’s] recommendation, I can tell you that you will see a massive turnaround in Telkom and its roll-out plans.”

    Kruger says that, like all government entities, Telkom is overstaffed. “The company has 22 000 people to support,” he says. “It’s not the most cost effective, and it could probably manage with a quarter of the staff.”

    As part of the new strategy for Telkom, Kruger says the department of communications has looked at the A$36bn National Broadband Network (NBN) being built in Australia by the state-owned NBN Co. “That’s what we’d like to do here,” Kruger says. “We want to create a wholesale network that will open the market to new players.”

    Australia’s NBN project will eventually see high-speed fibre-optic networks connecting 93% of that country’s homes and businesses at speeds of up to 1Gbit/s.

    Kruger says one of the challenges in achieving universal access is ensuring there is sufficient demand from consumers. “If you look at the [department of communications’ broadband] policy document, it says government needs to come up with incentives, and these are two-fold: physical devices so people can take up broadband when it’s rolled out, and then some sort of subsidy scheme for the bandwidth.”

    Kruger says South Africa is a developing country and, as such, should consider, for example, providing government subsidies for connectivity in rural areas for five years. The classification of “rural” could be done using living standards measures or similar measurements. “Within five years, a connected rural area should lift itself up,” Kruger says. “New businesses should be created, new entrepreneurs should emerge, and this should bolster wealth in those areas.”

    After five years, government could reduce or phase out the subsidies and, by then, the rural communities should then be generating the demand and the means to take over the cost of connectivity themselves.

    Telkom remains key to providing this infrastructure, whether or not it is subsidised to do so. “Telkom has 144 000km of fibre-optic networks, which is nine to 10 times the capacity of all the other fibre-optic networks in SA. It makes sense that government should make use of this.”

    However, Kruger says the role the state can play in the company’s future remains limited. “What you have to understand is, although the department looks after Telkom, it’s still a private company. We can influence it as a shareholder, but that is all.”  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media



    Dina Pule KT Corp NBN Co Nombulelo Moholi Roy Kruger Telkom
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleAfrica leads in mobile innovation
    Next Article Telkom’s viability ‘at risk’

    Related Posts

    Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

    19 June 2025

    MTN CEO edges Vodacom rival in pay stakes – but just barely

    18 June 2025

    TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

    16 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei South Africa Partners Forum 2025: joining hands for a digital, intelligent future

    8 July 2025

    Powering South Africa’s industrial intelligence with Huawei Cloud’s AI-native innovations

    8 July 2025

    Rain launches a new way to connect. It’s a loop

    8 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.