| |
 |
|
19
Oct 2009 |
Profit-ridden MTN and Vodacom not too pleased.
South Africa's smallest cellular operator, Cell C, has said lowering interconnection rates to 60c would further hamper its chances of making a net profit. Cell C has yet to produce a net profit eight years after its launch. Its struggle to turn around its losses is mainly due to the high interconnection fees it has to pay to rivals MTN and Vodacom, which have 17.2 million and 27 million customers, respectively. Cell C has about 7 million subscribers. Cell C chief executive Lars Reichelt said an interconnect... |
| |
|
|
18
Oct 2009 |
Dept of Communications on warpath, finally.
Once government is done with slashing cellphone interconnection rates, it will issue directives to cut the costs of broadband, international calls and short message service (SMS), which are all high by global standards. Mamodupi Mohlala, the director-general of the communications department, said this week that the government had set itself a deadline of forcing down telecoms costs by the end of May next year. "We have a programme of action that has specific timelines. We expect by May next year to have... |
| |
|
|
18
Oct 2009 |
ICASA to make it into book of records under 'Most Useless Regulator of All Time'.
Does everyone need a R1.1-million BMW as "the tool" with which he is supposed to "deliver on my mandate" and meet the expectations of the public"? But Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda's spokesman, Tiyani Rikhotso, defending such lavishness in the same week as Nyanda attacked the cellphone industry for having a cash cow is an irony seemingly lost on everyone. The interconnection fee attack reached fever pitch last week, with the networks being summoned before Parliament to explain themselves. All the... |
| |
|
|
16
Oct 2009 |
Silly act has predictable effects - next step, have no phone = steal to get phone.
Legislation meant to help the police crack down on organised crime is having a detrimental impact on mobile operators. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (Rica) requires service providers to register details about their customers, including ID and proof of residence. This has led to a sharp slowdown in growth in new subscribers. Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys says there is been a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth. Rica has definitely... |
| |
|
|
15
Oct 2009 |
Being South Africa no one's looking too surprised either.
A reduction in the interconnection rate would not necessarily result in lower charges for cellphone calls, Karel Pienaar, the managing director at MTN, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on communication yesterday. A global study in 24 countries showed that a 10 percent cut in interconnection rates was followed by a 10 percent average rise in retail call rates. Pienaar said that if the operators were forced to cut their interconnection rates there would be serious consequences for the country. He... |
| |
|
|
15
Oct 2009 |
Price collusion heading for price collision.
South Africa's cellphone firms are facing another battle with regulators after the country's competition commission said on Thursday it would investigate possible collusion over prices in the industry. "We've got three cases that we are investigating (in the cellphone industry), but they deal with the same issue," Nandi Mokoena, Competition Commissions' manager of strategy and stakeholder relations, told Reuters on Thursday in a telephone interview. "The allegations are that cellular phone companies have ... |
| |
|
|
15
Oct 2009 |
And the catch all along is that Gov makes more money if interconnect is cut. Tut tut.
A sudden drop in interconnect rates would benefit Telkom, says Vox Telecom CEO Tony van Marken. Telkom is the only operator that will get a Christmas present if interconnection rates are cut immediately, and it will use it to cross-subsidise and frustrate competitors, said Vox Telecom CEO Tony van Marken. JSE-listed Vox Telecom, which has made a name for itself in the least-cost routing (LCR) market, was the last to present before Parliament during the marathon two-day public hearings into the interconnect... |
| |
|
|
15
Oct 2009 |
Lie detectors not working, promise good enough.
Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys has denied accusations that the cellular group colluded with rival MTN to hike interconnection fees months before Cell C began operating in an attempt to stunt the then-new player at the start. Politicians, including ANC MP Johnny de Lange and Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, have accused the two incumbent cellular network operators of raising the fees to make life difficult for Cell C, which was granted SAs third cellular licence at the beginning of the decade.... |
| |
|
|
15
Oct 2009 |
Winston the pigeon set to fly internationally.
The East African Submarine Cable (Eassy) - which will run along the east coast of Africa from South Africa to Sudan - will begin installation operations soon. The cable is scheduled for completion in June 2010. Eassy will be the next undersea cable to be rolled out after Seacom was completed earlier in 2009. Eassy represents an international consortium of 27 operators that have invested in the project, including South African firms Telkom, Vodacom, MTN and Neotel. Said Angus Hay, executive head of... |
| |
|
|
14
Oct 2009 |
Helluva bargain, cell networks would say.
Johannesburg consultant Thabiso Mokgoro is fuming after being charged R33 000 by MTN while in Botswana, but was billed six times less when in the US for about the same amount of calls. He told MPs yesterday that he felt ripped off for being charged thousands of rands while working in a neighbouring country for a few weeks. Mokgoro said he felt his hands were tied and did not have an option but to fork out the R33 000 the service provider had charged him for calls he made when he was in Botswana for six... |
| |
|
|
14
Oct 2009 |
All windows flung open for hot air to escape hearing venue.
Members of Parliament today interrogated mobile network operator MTN over its heavy dependence on revenues generated by interconnection fees. On the second day of public hearings held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications on interconnection costs, MTN found itself slightly better treated than its rival Vodacom yesterday, both in terms of the tone of the questions and MPs pressing for answers. At the beginning of the meeting this morning, MTN attempted to ward off any threat of being ... |
| |
|
|
14
Oct 2009 |
Public Fleecers Anonymous meeting proceeding well.
MTN MD Karel Pienaar made the commitment in writing to committee chairman Ismail Vadi during the committee's public hearings on what it says is the excessive and exorbitant costs of mobile termination rates (MTR) in the industry. The MTR is the fee one network charges another for receiving calls on its network. Vodacom agreed to a similar discussion with the committee during its presentation on Tuesday. During the question and answer session following Pienaar's presentation to the committee on Wednesday... |
| |
|
|
14
Oct 2009 |
No real DIFFICULTy encountered as yet.
Telecommunications company Neotel said on Wednesday the construction of the East African Submarine Cable (EASSy), one of four undersea cables in which the first converged network operator is involved, is still on track. This follows the recent Management Committee of the EASSy Cable held at Livingstone in Zambia at which Neotel is represented. "As a local company providing global access, we are the only telecoms company that offers connectivity through all international cabling systems - EASsy (East Africa... |
| |
|
|
14
Oct 2009 |
Cell provider drops a ripper in cell cartel elevator.
Cell C, South Africa's youngest mobile operator, pulled the rug from under rival MTN yesterday, calling for the immediate reduction of the mobile interconnection rate to 75c for the two dominant players and to 65c for itself. MTN managing director Karel Pienaar had told Parliament's committee on communications that its proposal to slash the rate mobile operators charge each other to connect calls across networks would undermine Cell C's viability. But Cell C chief executive Lars Reichelt said when his turn... |
| |
|
|
13
Oct 2009 |
Provider fighting tooth and nail to protect all-too-precious profits.
An arbitrary and ill-considered intervention to reduce cellphone interconnection rates could have unintended consequences, the National Assembly's communications committee heard on Tuesday. This could result in the disconnection of marginal cellphone customers who made up at least 30 percent of the customer base, a Vodacom delegation led by CEO Pieter Uys said in its presentation to the committee. The committee is holding public hearings on what it says is the excessive and exorbitant costs of mobile ... |
|
