Telkom will complete the legal separation of its wholesale division Openserve, with the unit becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the telecommunications group from 1 September.

Telkom CEO Serame Taukobong said the separation, which has been in the works for some time, will “promote and drive autonomous ability and market visibility”.

Openserve was created in 2015 under the direction of former Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko. At the time, Maseko told TechCentral that a “deep functional separation” between Telkom and Openserve was about removing a “critical stumbling block” in the way of Telkom’s path to success.

“Through this separation, Telkom will improve its customer focus and establish clearer lines of accountability. As a standalone business unit within Telkom, Openserve will be autonomous and will be responsible for its own profit and loss account,” Maseko said then.

The move signalled a remarkable shift in approach for a company that was found by the competition authorities in 2013 to have abused its monopoly in the 1990s and 2000s to the detriment of Internet service providers and other rivals.

The latest development takes the separation of the entities even further.

“We have been on a journey to transform and unlock value in the group by separating the operating businesses to become standalone entities, which started with BCX and subsequently Gyro, which now operate as separate legal entities wholly owned by Telkom,” Taukobong said on Wednesday.

Recently, Openserve has started accelerating the roll-out of fibre to South African homes. “Openserve is confident that the ongoing increase in demand for data consumption will drive the growth in fibre connectivity and is positioning its network to provide a connected experience to more and more communities across South Africa,” Openserve said. – © 2022 NewsCentral Media