Johannesburg, 19 Sep 2006
Telkom is going on the road to promote its PC bundle offering, aimed at the small and medium enterprise (SME) market.
The bundle, which is available on a 36-month payment plan, includes a PC or laptop, as well as dial-up or ADSL Internet access. The lowest-cost package, an AMD PC bundle, with dial-up Internet, costs R219.27 per month, the same price as for the bundle that is available to residential customers.
"The value that we offer our business customers is this offering is a one-stop shop, with our clients paying one bill for the PC, phone line, Internet service and phone minutes where applicable," says Pierre Marais, Telkom executive of sales.
The AMD PC/384DSL offering costs R584.37 per month, while the lowest Toshiba laptop/dial-up offering costs R225.06 per month and the 384DSL offering costs R590.06 per month.
Importance of ICT
The promotional events started today in Johannesburg, and are scheduled for Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Kimberly, Mafikeng and Rustenburg. The events will run until the second week of October, says Marais.
Speaking at the Johannesburg event, Tebogo Khaas, president of the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Forum emphasised the importance of ICT access to help small businesses to survive and even become globally competitive.
While 70% of SMEs fail within the first three years, a recent study by the Finmark Trust found that businesses started by entrepreneurs who are more educated and earn more money - living standard measure (LSM) five and upwards - stand a better chance of success than those businesses started by lower-earning income groups.
Entrepreneurs in the LSM five and above categories know what information they need to improve their chances of success and have the means, through technology, to access it, Khaas added.