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24
March 2011 |
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The Competition Commission has cleared SA's two largest cellular operators of colluding to set interconnection rates between themselves, to the detriment of Cell C. The commission's manager of advocacy and stakeholder relations, Oupa Bodibe, says it will not refer an investigation into alleged collusion by MTN and Vodacom to the Competition Tribunal for a hearing. Bodibe explains that the commission could not find evidence that MTN and Vodacom had agreed among themselves to fix interconnect rates to the... |
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24
March 2011 |
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Cell C has released its first self-branded handset, which the company says will provide customers from all income groups the opportunity to get connected. Following the smartphone boom, there is a rising demand for low-end handsets that can offer similar functionality. The Cell C F250 will retail for R499. "Cell C is committed to providing affordable communications solutions to all South Africans. The launch of the Cell C F250 is in line with this commitment," says Cell C executive head of marketing Simon... |
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23
March 2011 |
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Finally, Telkom has a new group CEO. After years of instability, the organisation should have a chance to get settled. It is steadiness at the helm that is paramount if it's going to survive and perhaps even thrive in a cutthroat competitive environment. Analysts and market watchers have welcomed the appointment of Nombulelo "Pinky" Moholi as Telkom's CEO from 1 April. Apart from a brief sojourn at Nedbank, she's been at the telecommunications operator for more than 15 years and understands intimately how ... |
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22
March 2011 |
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will unveil a new management and operational structure next month after the completion of its restructuring, which includes a R200m rebranding exercise. However, according to company sources, the restructuring was designed to identify operational redundancies and consolidate some functions, which may lead to retrenchments. Vodacom had invited the Communications Workers Union for consultations this week on its "customer care operation model 2011". The union said it expected to be informed of retrenchments ... |
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22
March 2011 |
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Vodacom SA said today that it would change the way its call centres are organised as part of a series of actions to improve the customer experience. The mobile telecommunications group group stressed that no retrenchments would take place due to its plans. Vodacom said that in order to establish centres of excellence with specialist call centre providers, about 1,000 call centre agents contracted to the group via third parties would be contracted to those call centre specialists. "There will be no change... |
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20
March 2011 |
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Telkom chair Lazarus Zim said this week, following the announcement that Nombulelo "Pinky" Moholi had been appointed as CEO, that the company was run by its management and board, but that government was a "strong ally'' in the process. Government is the biggest shareholder in Telkom, with a direct interest of 39.8%. However, government's special class-A or "golden" share, which gave it the right to appoint five of the company's 12 directors, including its chairman, expired on March 5. Zim was appointed... |
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18
March 2011 |
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Union calls on Telkom CEO to replace AA plan with skills retention strategy Solidarity puts five demands to Pinky Moholi of Telkom: Stability at management level now necessary, says Solidarity Trade union Solidarity submitted five demands regarding various issues to Nombulelo (Pinky) Moholi after she was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at this telecommunications giant. These demands include various issues, including the retention of critical skills, job security, stability and continuity at... |
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15
March 2011 |
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About 100 workers from one of the largest MTN call centres in the country downed tools yesterday, demanding a ban on labour brokers. Workers from the Mt Edgecombe MTN branch picketed a few metres away from their offices demanding to be hired permanently and that their salaries be increased. The workers are employed by a labour broker, Tlhalefang Placement, on behalf of MTN. One of the workers, Jeffrey Mdiba, said he had been employed as a contract worker for six years. "I have been working here for six... |
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14
March 2011 |
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The investor market expects current head of Telkom's South African operations, Nombulelo "Pinky" Moholi, to be appointed as group CEO within the next few days, a move that will be broadly welcomed. Telkom's acting CEO, Jeffrey Hedberg, will exit the company at the end of this month, and speculation is rife over who will take up the top post and face the task of turning the operator around. Several names have been bandied around for the position as Telkom CEO, including Moholi; the company's former CFO,... |
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13
March 2011 |
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The Telkom board is widely expected to appoint Nombulelo "Pinky" Moholi, the present managing director of Telkom SA, as CEO of the group in the coming days. Moholi, widely seen as the favourite to take over the top job when acting CEO Jeffrey Hedberg departs at the end of the month, enjoys the support of the board and government, Telkom's biggest shareholder, a telecommunications source said. Spokesman Pynee Chetty said Telkom "will issue a statement in due course, and will comment when the board gives us... |
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11
March 2011 |
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MWeb CEO Rudi Jansen says the Naspers-owned Internet service provider is expecting Telkom to begin offering uncapped broadband soon over its fixed-line network. But he says he'd welcome the decision. "We are waiting for Telkom to do something," Jansen says. "We will be ready for them when they launch." Telkom is widely rumoured to be planning to introduce uncapped offerings this year after asking some of its customers how they'd feel about such a service. The operator had earlier criticised service... |
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11
March 2011 |
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Since 2007, second mobile operator MTN has spent R14 billion to upgrade its network to focus on optimised smartphone performance, and plans further upgrades in 2011. Lambo Kanagaratnam, newly-appointed CTO at MTN SA, explains that the operator is modernising its base station equipment, paying attention to energy efficiency by deploying cellular towers using renewable energy resources. "MTN already has approximately 150 base stations with fibre access and hopes to increase this number five-fold in 2011.... |
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11
March 2011 |
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Third mobile operator Cell C will continue to invest in its R5 billion network, as it prepares to upgrade the speed of its new HSPA+ network from 21Mbps to 42Mbps, before the end of May. Cell C first unveiled its new network in Port Elizabeth (PE) in September last year as part of a phased rollout. The company confirmed this morning that it is on track to begin its upgrade to 42Mbps, starting in PE by latest end of May. "As announced at the launch of our network in PE last year, we made a commitment to... |
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9
March 2011 |
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Second mobile operator MTN seems to be keeping a cool head regarding the reduction of mobile call termination rates (MTRs), which has been knocking its main competitor, Vodacom. South African mobile operators voluntarily cut interconnect rates from March last year, dropping the price from R1.25 per minute to 89c. At the beginning of the month, rates dropped again to 73c per minute at peak and 65c during off-peak times. Next year, rates will drop to 56c per minute and then to 52c. By March 2013, wholesalem... |
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9
March 2011 |
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Second mobile operator MTN reported a 49 percent leap in data revenue from the previous financial year, of which its South African operation contributed 58 percent of the group total. Outgoing MTN CEO Phuthuma Nhleko said this morning at the company's financial presentation, for the year ended 31 December, that MTN views data-related services as one of its key revenue drivers over the past year, as well as the year ahead. Nhleko pointed out the booming figures include packet switched data users, which... |
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