Telkom
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- "Telkom" is also the name of an Indonesian telecommunication company - see TELKOM
Telkom is a telecommunications monopoly in South Africa. Telkom is a semi-privatised, 67% state-owned company, listed dually on the NYSE (Symbol: TKG (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=TKG)) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
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Telkom and their community
The majority of better informed and educated South Africans do not view Telkom in a positive light, as their daily net income is numbered in the millions of dollars whilst still maintaining some of the the highest local and international call charges in the world. The high cost of Internet access in South Africa is generally ascribed to South Africa's extreme southerly geographical location, but others accuse Telkom of exploiting its monopoly on the SAT3 & SAFE backbone lines, which account for the majority of international bandwidth in the Republic.
Telkom has persistently fought through the legal system to retain monopoly position, and were particularly vocal against the introduction of a Second Network Operator (SNO) into the country. Tata, an Indian conglomerate, is a major stakeholder in the new SNO. South Africans usually give Telkom very low marks for customer satisfaction, which can be shown on the consumer feedback site HelloPeter (http://www.hellopeter.com/search.asp?searchby=1000&mainsearch=1&keyword=telkom), and on various other reports generated by those following developments.
Telkom was managed by US-based SBC Communications from 1997 to 2004. SBC has since sold their interest in the company.
Infrastructure
At a 2002 estimate, there are close to five million fixed lines currently in use in South Africa, all of which are currently owned and operated by Telkom. According to the World Factbook, it is the 'best developed and most modern in Africa'. It consists of local copper loops, microwave and fiber optic loops, and wireless connections.
The first use of telecommunication in the Union was a single line telegraph connecting Cape Town and Simonstown. After Bell's development of the telephone, the first undersea links were introduced, first connecting Durban and Europe, and soon after, the rest of the world. The network continued to develop organically in a heavilly regulated market as international technology developed. At this point, Telkom and the South African Postal Service were still the same entity.
In the 1960's, Telkom was connected to 72 nations and total outgoing annual international calls numbered over 28,800.
The routing and billing system were almost completely digital by the mid 1980's, which made way for the currently used systems of ATM, SONET, ISDN and others. Telkom SA, Ltd. was founded on 1 October, 1991.
Broadband Internet in South Africa
Telkom provides ADSL to subscribers, typically to inner-city and surburban areas in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. The roll out of the service continues, and penetration is increasing into lower-income areas. Telkom is currently the largest provider of broadband in the Republic, with over 60, 000 subscribers at last count.
The premium service offered, 'Business ADSL Unshaped', offers downstream and upstream bandwidth of 512 and 384 kilobits respectively. Usage is limited to three gigabytes in a calendar month, with port prioritization and bandwidth shaping appearing on cheaper packages. An average ADSL subscriber in South Africa pays roughly R1,010 (approximately $160 US) per month, the annual amount of which is slightly higher than the average national per-capita income.
Competition
Recent bills passed by the South African government have lowered many restrictions on companies wishing to provide telecommunication access in the Republic. Competitors to the land-line monopoly have flourished, with special note given to providers of wireless broadband, who provide greater geographical penetration, by means of the technology used, than Telkom. Examples of these providers include Sentech, an extension of the state broadcaster, and WBS Co., a black owned enterprise.
There are three cellphone networks in South Africa, listed in terms of numbers of subscribers, they are Vodacom (who Telkom and the United Kingdom's Vodafone have large stakes in), MTN and Cell C. There are approximately twice as many cellphone subscribers than land line subscribers in South Africa, and since these networks route their calls over their own systems, GSM providers have taken a large chunk of Telkoms' business.
Another promising technology is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which may decrease the amount of calls made over the PSTN in the near future. Telkom's international calling rates are already far undercut by VoIP providers: A Telkom call to the United States will cost R1.40 a minute; a call of comparative duration made through Skype will cost R0.14.
Competition in broadband and telephony is diminshed somewhat due to the fact that Telkom owns the international links to the rest of the world - the vast majority of bandwidth and telephone calls is routed through them. Finally, although the Government are taking steps to liberalize the market, laws regarding telecommunications are still quite restrictive relative to the United States and other developed nations. An examples of restrictive legislation is the Draft Convergence Bill, which attempts to control the development of such commerce.
Number Format
+27 11 555 0112 (from abroad) 011 555 0112 (local)
+27 -> Country Code 11 - > Area Code 5730112 - 7 Digit Phone Number
External Links
- Telkom Offical Website (http://www.telkom.co.za/)
- Telkom protest site (http://www.hellkom.co.za/)
- Corporate History (http://www.telkom.co.za/portal/page?_pageid=554,72063&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL¶mURL=/pls/portal/docs/page/news/telecomshistory.jsp)