Dumisani Ndlela,Staff Reporter
SOUTH Africa’s Johannesburg Securities Exchange-listed tele-communications group Telkom has targeted a hike in tariffs for calls to Zimbabwe, a move meant to boost international interconnection revenues and mitigate losses.
Zimbabwe was among two other countries targeted for a hike in tariffs due to a net payment of interconnection fees to international operators, mainly in Zimbabwe.
In a statement, Telkom said its tariff adjustments were filed with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and that subject to the regulator’s approvals, the new tariffs would become effective from August 1.
International fixed line outgoing calls to some destinations like the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and China would either remain unchanged or drop significantly, Telkom announced.
But the Telkom managing director, Nombulelo Moholi, told the South African press that despite an overall drop in tariffs, those to neighbouring Zimbabwe would be increased.
“Effectively, the overall adjustment for international calls will be zero percent but tariffs to certain destinations — such as Zimbabwe and Namibia — will increase,” Moholi said.
In the previous financial year to March 2010, Telkom experienced an increase in mobile interconnection which was driven largely by price increases on traffic to Zimbabwe.
But this meant that Telkom’s mobile international outgoing calls resulted in interconnection fee payments to international operators, mainly Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is one of Telkom’s major traffic partners.
However, there is more traffic coming out of South Africa to Zimbabwe than there is traffic going to South Africa from Zimbabwe. This is partly due to an exodus of Zimbabweans to South Africa because of a decade-long economic crisis that receded last year after the formation of an inclusive government.
The migrant Zimbabwean population, estimated at some three million, call home to family and friends, resulting in Telkom becoming a net payer of interconnection fees to Zimbabwean networks.
The fact that tariffs from Zimbabwean operators have been increased also means that the interconnection fees for Telkom calls into Zimbabwe have become equally high.
Some reports have suggested that the South African telecommunications operator, which is also Africa's largest integrated communications company, providing integrated communications solutions to an entire range of customers, was trying to negotiate lower interconnection rates with Zimbabwean phone operators.
Telkom already has a foothold on Zimbabwe's telecommunications landscape, with a 100 percent shareholding in Africa Online, a Pan African Internet Service Provider with operations in Zimbabwe as well as MWeb Africa, another Internet Service Provider with operations in the country.
MWeb delivers the latest technology in VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) and internet connectivity, as well as web hosting, development and email services.
Telkom had early this year been understood to have bid for a 49 percent stake in Zimbabwe’s state-owned TelOne, with high-level discussions in Zimbabwe for a possible acquisition having been held last year.
Telkom had dispatched a team of acquisition experts to TelOne. The experts had reportedly conducting a due diligence exercise on Zimbabwe's fixed line telecommunications operator and also determined how much would be required to upgrade TelOne's antiquated equipment, which would be apart from the cost of acquisition.
The South African operator has however, denied eyeing a stake in TelOne, saying it had been roped in to assists with a proposed turnaround.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form