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Telkom on target to meet licence obligations
01 October 1999
Telkom South Africa, the incumbent, is trying to bring telecoms services to more of the population. This year alone, the telco will install over 600,000 lines. Telkom South Africa's CEO Sizwe Nxasana talks to Mark Holmes about the operator's plans to improve the levels of telecoms service in South Africa.
Telkom South Africa, South Africa's incumbent telco, operates in a
unique set of conditions. The legacy of apartheid means that there
is a big teledensity disparity between white residential areas and
more impoverished areas in the country. In the white
neighbourhoods, 97% of people have access to telecoms services
whereas in the under-serviced areas, that figure is barely over
50%.
One of the main challenges for Telkom remains the installation of
new lines in under-serviced areas. The operator has been given
certain licence obligations by the government and plans to have
seven million lines operating by the year 2002. The operator will
lose its fixed-line monopoly in 2003. The exclusivity period has
enabled Telkom to embark on an expensive modernization programme
ahead of full-scale competition.
The company benefits from having SBC Communications and Telekom
Malaysia as strategic partners. The government sold a 30% stake in
May 1997 to the two operators...
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