Vox Telecom, understood to be in discussions about a management buyout and delisting from the JSE, renewed a cautionary notice on Thursday morning saying it’s still in talks that could affect its share price.

It’s the fourth time Vox has renewed the cautionary. It first warned shareholders about negotiations on 13 September last year. It renewed the cautionary on 26 October and then again on 7 December.

It has not said what the cautionary is about.

Under JSE rules, cautionary notices have to be reissued or cancelled within six weeks of their publication.

Vox Telecom directors are understood to be unhappy about the performance of the company’s share price, which has languished in the doldrums over concerns the impact of planned cuts in wholesale mobile call termination rates will have on its profitability.

Vox, through its Vox Orion subsidiary, is a big player in the least-cost routing (LCR) market where players have taken advantage of arbitrage opportunities from high call termination rates. These are the rates operators’ charge one another to carry calls between their networks. The Independent Communications Authority of SA is forcing down the rates on a glide path between now and 2013.

The cut in rates prompted Vox, at least in part, to write down goodwill and intangible assets to the tune of nearly R750m late last year.

Vox Orion is actively moving its LCR customers onto its own telecommunications network. — Staff reporter, TechCentral