Browsing: Telkom

Want to phone someone on Vodacom? Rather than dialling “082”, you may soon have to dial “882” instead. Draft regulations governing the phone numbering scheme SA uses could mean that every phone number in the country will have to change. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has released draft numbering plan regulations that could result in South Africans having to learn a raft of new dialling codes if fully implemented.

The fixed-line telecommunications market in SA is set for a turnaround, in part because of declining mobile termination rates, says technology research and advisory firm BMI-TechKnowledge. A new report, SA Voice Services Market Forecasts and Analysis, shows that between 2009 to 2014, fixed and mobile revenues are forecast to grow at compound annual growth rates of 3% and 7% respectively.

Senior managers at Telkom must be brought to book for alleged corruption and fraud at the parastatal, the Communication Workers Union said on Friday. This included managers who were resigning, said union spokesman Matankana Mothapo, who questioned the timing of the resignations.

Telkom will pay US$80m (R604m) to settle its nine-year long legal wrangle with Telcordia Technologies. In 1999, Telcordia signed a contract with Telkom to supply a customer-care solution to SA’s fixed-line business. Telkom terminated the contract two years later, saying the US-based business was in breach of contract by not providing the product to the agreed specifications.

Reuben September’s decision to step down early as CEO of Telkom wasn’t unexpected. All eyes are now on the board, which must appoint his successor. Will it make the right choice? Or will the decision be political? It was probably inevitable that September didn’t stick around at Telkom until his con- tract ended in November. When the board elected not to renew his contract, the long- serving Telkom executive took it badly, say company insiders.

The surprise resignation of Telkom chief financial officer Peter Nelson could point to deeper problems at the telecommunications group, say analysts. Birgitta Cederstrom Nicholson, technology research head at Frost & Sullivan, says Nelson’s resignation and the early exit of the company’s CEO, Reuben September, is reason for concern.

Telkom’s chief financial officer, Peter Nelson, appears to have quit his job in part because of frustrations with the way the telecommunications group is being led by its board of directors. Telkom surprised the markets on Tuesday afternoon when it announced that Nelson had tendered his resignation just days after CEO Reuben September left the group.

In a shock development, Telkom chief financial officer Peter Nelson has resigned from the telecommunications group. The move comes less than a week after the departure of group CEO Reuben September. In a short statement issued to the JSE’s Sens news service on Tuesday afternoon, Telkom says Nelson has informed the board of his resignation as director and chief financial officer with effect from 9 October 2010.

Vincent Raseroka has been appointed as acting CEO of Multi-Links, Telkom’s deeply troubled operation in Nigeria. Raseroka will hold the post while the telecommunications group searches for someone to replace Jeffrey Hedberg, who has been appointed as Telkom CEO, replacing Reuben September. Raseroka, who had been Multi-Links’s chief operating officer, takes over with immediate effect. He was previously CEO of SAA technical and held various executive positions at packaging business Nampak.

Former Cell C CEO, American national Jeffrey Hedberg, has been appointed to lead Telkom as group CEO in an acting capacity following a decision by Reuben September to end his contract early. September, who has been expected to leave Telkom in November, has elected to leave now. Senior sources at Telkom say developments in recent weeks, in which the board decided not to renew his contract, have taken a toll on September’s health.