It’s the weekend, and that means it’s time for another dose of TalkCentral, South Africa’s leading weekly technology podcast. Your regular hosts Duncan McLeod and Regardt van der Berg pull up a couple of chairs for a discussion on Telkom and the future of its fixed-line business. They also chat about
Trade union Solidarity on Thursday warned Telkom not to use race in deciding which employees to retrench. “Solidarity today gave Telkom a final warning to abandon the race criteria it uses for retrenchments,” the union’s industry head Marius Croucamp said in a statement. He said it was unlawful to do so
The ongoing decline in the number of fixed lines in service in South Africa, a trend that has been evident for more than a decade now, is a “big concern” for Telkom, but is the result of fixed-to-mobile substitution more than the cost of line rental. That’s according to the group’s chief operating officer
Broadband Infraco will no longer report into the department of public enterprises. Instead, the department of telecommunications and postal services (formerly known as the department of communications) will have oversight responsibility. It’s not known if the changes in reporting have been implemented
Vodacom is going to face an uphill battle in its attempt to get regulatory approval for its R7bn acquisition of Neotel. Its competitors, who are already publicly questioning the legality of the deal, are likely to lobby for it to be scuppered or at the very least have strict conditions imposed on it. “It will be challenged
Telkom’s share price has reached its strongest levels in more than five years, touching highs not seen since May 2009 when the telecommunications operator disposed of its 50% stake in Vodacom. On Friday, the counter reached a new five-year high of R46,42/share before falling back. On
Telkom is giving serious thought to relocating its head office from downtown Pretoria to facilities closer to Johannesburg – at its campus in Highveld in Centurion – in a move designed mainly to cut costs, according to its group CEO, Sipho Maseko. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, but it’s understood
Regard-van-der-Berg-180Wi-Fi hotspots are popping up everywhere, and access is no longer uncommon in public spaces. Even minibus taxis will soon become Wi-Fi hotspots, with nearly 90% of taxi body Santaco’s fleet earmarked for Wi-Fi deployment over the next three years
Telkom wants to cut its ratio of staff expenses to revenue to 25% in the next five years, its acting chief financial officer Deon Fredericks has revealed. In the 2014 financial year ended 31 March, the ratio was 28,6%, down from 29,8% in 2013, a decline of 3,7%. The telecommunications operator
MTN will not get access to Telkom’s valuable chunk of 4G/LTE radio frequency spectrum in the 2,3GHz band. The negotiations between the two companies, in which it is proposed that MTN takes over the financial and operational management of Telkom’s radio access network, specifically excludes
