Dimension Data CEO Brett Dawson has slated the slow rate of telecoms deregulation in SA, saying it impedes the country`s competitiveness in the call centre arena.
"Telecoms liberalisation is frustratingly slow," he said in a teleconference at the release of a strong set of financial results for the year to September.
"We are years late as a country and it is impacting the competitiveness of Africa."
He says India forced its telecoms operator, even as a monopoly, to slash bandwidth pricing for call centres, "and the rest is history".
Dawson adds that a call centre contract with AOL created 1 000 jobs. "But the commercials don`t allow for expanding that industry. The commercials are quite tough. The rand is stronger than when we started, which is no one`s fault, and bandwidth pricing is still very high.
"Deregulation is taking too long. We are still investing in it - our capex is higher this year and part of that is investment in Internet Solutions for the voice environment.
"But things are taking long and we are still not sure how things will pan out there."
Group strategy
Looking at the group`s overall strategy, Dawson says Dimension Data is focused mainly on organic growth. "We are not planning big acquisitions to buy growth," he adds.
Dimension Data operates in six lines of business - network integration, converged communications, customer interactive solutions, operating environments and messaging, data centres and storage, and security.
"We are going to remain focused on the six lines of business," Dawson says. "We`re not changing the game plan."
The group is planning to expand into eastern Europe, as a major client, DHL, has moved its European head office to Prague.
"In Chicago, a major client is opening an office there, so it makes sense for us to establish a presence there."
Dawson says Africa is also an exciting market as telcos move in with new technologies. "There are exciting growth prospects in Africa."
He says the group is also pleased with the benefits of its black economic empowerment credentials in SA. "We have had significant wins from the likes of SARS (the South African Revenue Service), the Post Office and SITA (State IT Agency).
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