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8
June 2010 |
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Politics. That may be the real reason Telkom CEO Reuben September's contract is not being renewed when it expires in November. According to well-placed sources, he's had a troubled relationship with the ANC under President Jacob Zuma after he engineered and oversaw the disposal of Telkom's 50 percent stake in Vodacom. To understand the background, one has to go back to May 2009, to the first few days of the Zuma administration. September was summoned to a meeting with Zuma and told that the deal to sell 15... |
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8
June 2010 |
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Yet another undersea cable system is coming to connect SA and other African countries to the global Internet, bringing the promise of an international bandwidth glut and lower broadband prices for consumers and businesses. France Telecom has announced the new project's backers, mainly operators, have signed an agreement for the construction of the US$700m (R5,4bn), 5,1Tbit/s, 17 000km-long system known as the Africa Coast to Europe (Ace) cable. Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded the supply and maintenance... |
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7
June 2010 |
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THE government needs to radically rethink its shareholding in Telkom if it wants the company to compete and survive its operational and leadership crisis. The government is trying to maintain control over the business through pressure to bulk up its black economic empowerment credentials. It has appointed consultants to investigate how it can retain the right to appoint key executives such as the CEO and chairman, and also have more board representatives and measures that ensure its empowerment ratings... |
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6
June 2010 |
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Telkom's new CEO will have to revive an organisation that has gone from bad to worse under Reuben September, say commentators. Telkom announced on Friday that September would be retiring in November. This announcement came after reports that he was leaving after boardroom ructions at the telecoms group. According to Business Day, the outgoing CEO claimed that newly appointed chairman Jeff Molobela, a representative of the government (which is a major shareholder), has been leading an effort to have... |
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6
June 2010 |
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Cellphone networks have started announcing roaming deals for World Cup visitors after British papers warned fans to expect exorbitant bills when using their mobiles in SA. Cell C said it has roaming agreements with 540 telecommunications operators in 186 countries, following its latest agreement with African mobile telecommunications provider Zain. The group also highlighted its data roaming agreements with 249 roaming partners in 112 countries. In terms of its latest partnership, Cell C said that... |
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4
June 2010 |
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Despite providing access to Facebook Zero in seven African countries where it operates, international mobile service provider MTN has no plans to make the data-charge free version available to South African mobile users any time soon. In a brief statement released to Memeburn.com on Thursday, MTN dashed any hopes that local users may have had of being able to access Facebook Zero, the new mobile offering from the social networking giant. Citing the fact that they were choosing to focus all of their... |
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4
June 2010 |
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Telkom CEO Reuben September will quit his post after a request for an extension to his contract and several complaints were ignored by the board this week. In a letter to the board last week, he accused board chairman Jeff Molobela, as representative of the government, Telkom's largest shareholder, of "interference" and wanting to "dispose" of him. Mr September will step down in November when his contract expires after three years at the helm, leaving the fixed-line operator in a crucial period with its ... |
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4
June 2010 |
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In a surprise announcement this morning, Telkom revealed its CEO, Reuben September, will retire from the company, a move that analysts call a troubling sign for the fixed-line giant. Telkom says the "depth of Telkom's existing leadership experience and expertise will ensure the period of transition would be a smooth one". However, September is not the first executive to jump ship over the last month; four other top level staff members have made the move, leading to speculation that Telkom is undertaking... |
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2
June 2010 |
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Telkom has submitted a proposal to resolve salary disparities among employees in two of its divisions, trade union Solidarity said on Tuesday. "Employees' discontentment over the salary disparities has reached boiling point, but Telkom's new proposal is a clear indication that the company recognises the seriousness of the situation and realises that a solution must be found urgently," Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said in a statement. Kleynhans said Telkom had submitted a new proposal for resolving... |
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2
June 2010 |
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is being pressed by the Department of Communications to sell more of a stake to black investors, to meet the state's empowerment requirements. Consultants had been appointed to investigate measures the government could take as majority shareholder to strengthen Telkom's black economic empowerment (BEE) status, Mamodupi Mohlala, the department's director-general, told Business Day last week. Telkom does not meet the government's requirement of a 30 percent BEE shareholding. A 7,2 percent stake is owned by ... |
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2
June 2010 |
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South Africa's first interconnect rate cut in eight years has translated into a meager 2% cost decrease for the average business contract subscriber. This is according to a survey published in May by voice-based telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecoms. Du Pont CEO Graeme Victor concluded that most pre-paid phone users had not significantly benefitted from the decrease in interconnect charges. "This clearly indicates that if the government and regulatory authorities are serious about reducing... |
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2
June 2010 |
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The SIM card registration law has been thwarted by perpetrators who know exactly how to get around its requirements.
The SIM registration law, which was put in place to stop criminals using cellphones to commit crimes, has failed. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) came into effect last July. The law requires people to register their SIM cards and provide proof of residence and an identity document. While South Africans have until... |
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1
June 2010 |
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MTN SA is moving its legacy core voice network over to Internet Protocol (IP)-based infrastructure. The company follows several local and international businesses, which have made the same move to keep their networks current and capacity-friendly. MTN CTO Sameer Dave says the IP solution is where the future lies for telecoms operators. Vodacom has already launched a product on its IP network, called Metro Ethernet. Parts of Telkom's next-generation network are also based on the technology. While... |
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31
May 2010 |
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SA mobile giant will MTN has spent an estimated R1bn on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The company has disclosed it spent just short of half a billion rand on infrastructure to cater for additional demands on its network during the soccer tournament. Added to other expenditure on the event, this brings the company's total World Cup spending to just over R1bn, according to Fin24.com's estimates. MTN chief technology officer Sameer Dave said that additional infrastructure will focus on areas of high activity during... |
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28
May 2010 |
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In a major top-level purge, three senior Telkom executives quit this week amid allegations of tender irregularities leading to billions of rands in lawsuits, and following the poor performance of Telkom's Nigerian business, Multi-Links. Sources said the telecoms giant was in turmoil, with an emergency top-management meeting being called on Wednesday this week. The sources said that Telkom's head of procurement, Stafford Augustine; its head of network infrastructure provisioning, Marius Mostert; and Telkom... |
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