ANC Members of Parliament delivered a clear message to Telkom last night that it must follow government's telecommunications strategy, as government is the utility's largest shareholder.
The message came from two prominent ANC politicians last night, at a dinner in Cape Town hosted by Telkom. The event formed part of the introduction of its new mobile arm, 8ta, and also presented highlights of its future strategy and the release of Telkom's latest results.
The dinner was hosted by several key Telkom executives, including acting group CEO Jeffrey Hedberg and Telkom SA CEO Pinky Moholi.
It included politicians from all the political parties, the National Assembly, and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) - Parliament's upper house.
Also in attendance was deputy communications minister Obed Bapela, who congratulated Telkom on the 8ta launch.
Bapela has already made clear his intentions concerning Telkom. In an interview with ITWeb last week, he said government would have to question Telkom as to why its African strategy had failed.
“Telkom must not forget that it is a step-child of government,” said communications portfolio chairman Eric Kholwane. “Therefore, Telkom must follow government's strategy in rolling out broadband to the rural areas and the poor.”
Kholwane was referring to the fact that government still owns 39.5% of Telkom's shares, plus the shares owned by the Public Investment Corporation, which brings the state's total holding up to 54%. Government also has the right to appoint the Telkom board.
Kholwane said the 8ta launch was “good” as it showed how the other network operators were making money out of the market.
“The other operators will have to sharpen up. We have already seen prices come down.”
Kholwane said a recent trip to Malawi showed many African countries had plans to alleviate poverty using information and communications technology.
“But SA has no such plan to bring everyone on board. We need to roll out broadband in this country to alleviate poverty,” he commented.
Priscilla Themba, chairperson of the NCOP's joint committee on labour and public enterprises, also reminded Telkom of its place.
“With 8ta, Telkom can really start moving into the rural areas and bring telephones to the poor,” she said, adding that Telkom would have to “follow in government's shoes in reaching the poor and rural areas”.
MPs from the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and Cope all delivered messages of congratulations.
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