Zero. That’s how many payphones Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko wants to retain. “If I could get to zero, I’d be very happy,” he said in an interview with TechCentral on Tuesday.
Telkom currently has about 20 000 payphones on its network, down from a peak of roughly 40 000, he said.
Though regulations prevent Telkom from simply disconnecting them all, Maseko said communications regulator Icasa has been “very supportive” in allowing the company to get rid of many of them, “especially those that are absolutely not profitable”.
Payphone use has plummeted in the past 20 years as more and more South Africans get connected via the mobile networks.
Estimates suggest that between 70% and 80% of South Africa’s population has a cellphone. Sim card penetration is already north of 160% of the population as many people have multiple active Sims.
“Icasa understands that it doesn’t help to have regulations that are onerous and that don’t serve any social good,” Maseko said. “They will exempt us potentially from compliance from some of those [regulations].”
It’s unlikely the number of payphones will get to zero any time soon, but it’s clear that Telkom intends to continue decommissioning them as fast it’s allowed to.
Asked if some of its payphones could be repurposed, Maseko said Telkom’s wholesale network arm Openserve is “looking at some kind of Wi-Fi pilot” in the cities. In the UK, BT Group (formerly British Telecom) transformed some of its iconic red payphone booths into Wi-Fi hotspots. — © 2016 NewsCentral Media