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17
Nov 2009 |
But we doubt the CEO will take a pay cut.
MTN planned to reduce its permanent and temporary workforce as a result of the decline in the economic environment, the cellphone company said yesterday. "Approximately 403 permanent employees may be affected towards the end of March next year, which comprises about 7 percent of MTN SA's 4 679 permanent employees." The company would also be reducing the number of temporary employees in its service during 2010. MTN said its South African subscriber base had declined from 17.231 million at the end of June ... |
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16
Nov 2009 |
R70,000/mo for everyone unlikely.
Tension is mounting between the communications regulator's council and senior management over salary hikes. This week, insiders said the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) council - made up of nine councillors and the chairman, Paris Mashile - refused to approve salary adjustments of general managers and senior managers because if it did so their salaries would be on par with those of the councillors. According to a source, this was one of the issues fuelling the tension and could lead to ... |
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16
Nov 2009 |
Just in time for Christmas, too.
The Times has learnt that at least 403 permanent employees from various sectors will be axed starting December 1. This after the company reported its worst performance in 15 years for the half-year ending in June. The country's second-largest cellphone operator, MTN reported losing 5% or 750,000 subscribers between June and September this year, attributed to the economic downturn. It also blamed Rica, a new legislation that requires new customers to present their identity details when buying new starter ... |
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16
Nov 2009 |
Quiet Christmas at the CEO's house this year.
It was a bad Friday the 13th for Telkom investors. The fixed-line telecommunications operator warned on Friday that its interim profits in the six months to September would take a big knock because of poor performance in its key markets of SA and Nigeria. The SA business experienced margin pressure, Telkom said. This was as a result of higher than inflation increases in operating costs mainly as a result of:... |
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16
Nov 2009 |
Virgin Mobile gets the competition ball rolling like a mofo.
Consumers will see a flurry of telecoms rate cuts heading up to the December holidays.
Consumers will feel the effects of the interconnect rate cut sooner than expected as an alternative telco price war begins. Several local alternate players, joined by the voices of fixed-line operator Telkom, virtual mobile operator Virgin Mobile and third mobile operator Cell C, have started a chorus of lower consumer call rates. Last week, Department of Communications (DOC) minister Siphiwe Nyanda announced to the... |
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16
Nov 2009 |
Please, Telkom, make the options 1, 4 and 8Mbps.. thanks and best regards.
Telkom is strongly rumoured to be planning to up line speeds on its asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband network as competition from the mobile operators and other telecommunications providers intensifies. Technical sources at Telkom say it is planning to bump up its 4Mbit/s ADSL service to 8Mbit/s in March 2010. It seems likely that Telkoms 384Kbit/s and 512Kbit/s products will also enjoy a speed increase, though this could not be confirmed. Telkom is cagey about its plans. In response to... |
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13
Nov 2009 |
New all day 99c per minute drop down rate delivers pwnage to cell operators.
Mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile SA, a joint venture between Cell C and Richard Bransons Virgin Group, will introduce a new product this weekend that it says will offer reduced prepaid rates to SA consumers. Virgin Mobile head of strategy & business development, Jonathan Newman, says the new rate is R1,99/minute for the first five minutes of a call, dropping to 99c/minute thereafter. The rate applies all day and represents a 32% reduction over the companyҒs current prepaid tariff. The product... |
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13
Nov 2009 |
Company gives charges the hairy eyeball.
Converged communications network operator Neotel, today, welcomed the announcement that interconnection tariffs would be lowered next year. However, the group called for rates to be lowered even further. Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda announced yesterday that cellphone rates would, initially, be reduced by 36 cents early next year. Speaking in the National Assembly, he said the new agreed reduced mobile termination rates (MTR) by Cell C, Vodacom , and MTN would be 89 cents in peak times and 77 cents... |
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12
Nov 2009 |
Yet still far higher than other countries, naturally.
Cellphone rates will, initially, be reduced by 36 cents from early next year, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda announced on Thursday. Speaking in the National Assembly, he said the new agreed reduced mobile termination rates (MTR) by Cell C, Vodacom, and MTN would be 89 cents in peak times and 77 cents off peak. Currently, subscribers paid R1.25 in peak times and 77 cents off peak. The new rates would come into effect on February 1 for Vodacom and Cell C, and March 1 for MTN, Nyanda said. This would... |
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12
Nov 2009 |
Stupid cell law continues its money-wasting spree.
The new SIM card registration law has affected starter pack sales, says SA's third national mobile operator, Cell C. Although the company did not give exact figures, the impact has been seen in its two larger rivals. MTN lost 4.7% of its local subscriber base in the three months to September. Vodacom saw a drop-off in gross connections after the implementation of the Act, but managed to add 579 000 subscribers in the six months to September. It has cautioned that it will start to see deeper effects of... |
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10
Nov 2009 |
Provider maintains #1 position for laughing stock of international operators.
Salt is calling for the delay of the Telkom installation of the line, until other operators can bid for it.
The Southern African Large Telescope (Salt) board is considering delaying the installation of a direct link between Sutherland and Cape Town, as Telkom has more than doubled its asking price. Telkom is supposed to install a 155Mbps line between Salt, situated in the Northwest Province, to the South African Astronomical Observatory, situated in the heart of Cape Town, by December. Currently, data is ... |
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9
Nov 2009 |
Lawyers lined up in scene straight out of '300'.
Last week the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) reserved judgment in the legal battle between Telkom and the Competition Commission. Industry sources said that they were hopeful that the judgment would be handed down before the end of term and also that it would help to resolve the controversial issue of the jurisdiction of the competition authorities in telecoms issues. The case before the court concerns the charges of an abuse of dominance by Telkom, which were referred to the Competition Tribunal by the... |
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8
Nov 2009 |
Recoup the money from Government, we say.
Vodacom announces the interim results today for its first full six months after its unbundling from Telkom. Analysts predicted that the mobile operator would take a knock in subscriber numbers and revenue due to Rica, which MTN cited as a contributor to its fall in subscriber numbers. Between June and September MTN lost almost 5%, or 750 000, of its SA subscribers. Spiwe Chireka, ICT analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said Vodacom would shed subscribers "or at best remain stagnant" due to consumers' reluctance... |
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7
Nov 2009 |
"I'm balancing my portfolio, that's all". Fair enough.
A Securities Exchange News Service search shows that on October 7, Dabengwa sold 295000 shares valued at R129 each. Last Sunday, the Sunday Times Rich List, which placed Dabengwa at number 78, listed the worth of his 0.10% investment in MTN as R204-million. Speaking to the Sunday Times yesterday, Dabengwa said he had sold the shares for "personal reasons". "I'm balancing my portfolio, that's all," he said. In August, the Sunday Times revealed how Dabengwa was embroiled in a bitter court battle with Xolisa... |
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5
Nov 2009 |
Fiery politician no fan of Africa-time.
A host of regulations are in the works at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), but delays in having these promulgated harms job creation in SA, says a politician. Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille says ICASA is far behindӔ in promulgating regulations that would give proper effect to the Electronic Communications Act (ECA). She says regulatory delays hamper liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, which has a knock-on impact on job creation. Communication can be us... |
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