Telkom Business invites SMEs to join the journey to convergence

Issued by Telkom Business
Pretoria, 18 Jul 2013

"Telkom Business has long recognised what studies tell us, that the SME market is the fastest business growth area," Pierre Marais, Sales Executive of Small and Medium Business Services (SMBS) at Telkom Business, said at a customer breakfast hosted by Telkom Business in Port Shepstone on 18 July.

The SMBS division within Telkom Business holds about 350 000 customers on its books, ranging from small "mom and pop" shops to stable and traditional operations. "We contribute about one-third to the total revenue of Telkom Business," says Marais. "That is why we have initiated these gatherings, because we recognise the need to engage more directly with our customer base around the country."

Marais and his team also aim to use this as a platform to educate and inform SMEs on developments within Telkom Business, specifically in the area of convergence. "It is unfortunate that many of our customers assume that because they are small businesses, the journey to convergence doesn't apply to them. We want to disrupt that mode of thinking."

Technology is developing in such a way that convergence is inevitable, and according to Marais, everyone needs to join the journey. "Our drive, beyond educating people about the concept itself, is to showcase how this is starting to manifest in practical terms. What offerings are we starting to put on the table and how do these translate for the typical small business out there?"

Marais explains: "There are many out there who still suffer under the misconception that we are nothing more than a fixed-line operator. Equally disturbing is the notion that fixed-lines no longer have a place, given all other recent technological advancements." Through these engagements, Telkom Business showcases the expanse of its product offerings and capabilities. Presentations included Telkom Business's mobile as well as cloud and IT capabilities.

Rounding things off was a panel discussion featuring subject matter experts from within Telkom Business, in the areas of fixed-line, products, house and converged product offerings. "We want to demonstrate the full scope of how we can partner with small business owners. With our range of offers, they are better enabled to do what they do best and that is run their business."

Telkom

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa and on the African continent. It had consolidated operating revenue of R32.5 billion and profit after tax of R501 million for the year ended 31 March 2013, excluding a once-off impairment charge. Total assets amounted to R41.6 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R17.9 billion as of 31 March 2013. The group generated free cash flow of R2.1 billion for the year ended 31 March 2013.

As of 31 March 2013, the company had approximately 3.8 million telephone access lines in service and 73 400 ports connected via MSAN access. Telkom offers business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

* Fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (public switched telephone network) lines, including ISDN (integrated services digital network) lines, and the sale of subscription-based value-added voice services and calling plans;
* Fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, computers, routers, modems, telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
* Interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
* Fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and Internet access and related information technology services;
* Data centre operations include e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
* W-CDMA (wideband code division multiple access), a 3G next-generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
* Mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through its mobile brand called Telkom Mobile; and
* Other services, including directory services, through Trudon, wireless data services, through Swiftnet, and Internet services outside South Africa, through the iWayAfrica Group.

Convergence is one of Telkom's key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for the company. It will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of its mission statement: seamlessly connecting people to a better life.

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