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by meeta

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20 July 2010 10:40

Telkom simply refuses to compete

Lack of ADSL price changes boggles the mind.

JOHANNESBURG - Telkom (JSE:TKG) had a golden opportunity. Despite most of the market being caught napping on March 18 when Mweb launched affordable uncapped ADSL packages (and most service providers then rushed to bring offers to the market), Telkom had a three-month window to "rebalance" its tariffs before filing its annual price changes with Icasa.

Nearly every single analyst and technology journalist in the country expected Telkom to do something - anything - about its ADSL pricing in the face of increased competition.

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13 July 2010 11:22

Who will be Telkom's next CEO?

Government's influence can't be discounted.

JOHANNESBURG - Reuben September's departure as group CEO of Telkom (JSE:TKG) caught many by surprise. Some in the industry suggested that if he lasted this long, he'd be around for a good few years still. But, the job of Telkom boss is like being coach of the Springbok rugby team. You're going to be fired (even if it's not termed as such), it's simply a matter of "when".

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06 July 2010 10:02

Which ADSL package is cheapest? Or the best value?

Comprehensive comparison between uncapped, capped, shaped and unshaped services.

JOHANNESBURG - Last month this column highlighted The Airtime Bible, a release comparing mobile phone contracts across the four different providers.

Buyers' Bibles, the publisher of The Airtime Bible, has also released The Broadband Bible, a comprehensive comparison of ADSL packages.

We compared uncapped ADSL prices in April, after ISPs followed MWEB's lead of offering affordable services with no caps. The comparison was limited to a dozen or so ISPs, across the 384kbps, 512kbps and 4mbps options.

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29 June 2010 10:48

4G is not about insanely higher speeds

Its all about the AVERAGE user experience, argues Vodacom's CEO.

JOHANNESBURG - Right now, there is a lot of hype about "4G". Cell C, for example, keeps arguing incorrectly that it's building out a 4G mobile data network.

South Africa's third-largest operator is investing R5bn together with Chinese equipment maker ZTE in rolling out a network capable of speeds of up to 21Mbps (megabits per second).

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23 June 2010 11:23

Telkom mobile is a no-brainer, no really

Why sceptics may yet eat humble pie.

JOHANNESBURG - The continent's largest fixed-line operator, Telkom, is in trouble. Yes, it has improved its free cash flow significantly in the past year, it's keeping costs under control, it's reorganised its debt, and its data strategy in South Africa is beginning to show promise. But there's very little room for another multi billion-rand error like Multi-Links.

No one at Telkom will really admit that the purchase of Multi-Links in Nigeria was a mistake. At the time, it might be argued, Telkom couldn't afford not to be in Nigeria. Hindsight, after all, is an exact science.

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