Rumba, a soon to be launched Internet service provider (ISP), has denied that it is owned by Telkom after questions were raised by the market about the ownership of Rumba`s domain name.
Andrew Cripps, MD of Web design company Inloco, noted yesterday that Rumba`s domain name was owned by Issachar Informatix Limited, which in turn owns Yournet - the ISP from which Rumba gets its connectivity. A domain name search of Yournet revealed that Telkom owned the Yournet domain name, raising questions about whether Yournet was owned by Telkom.
Other industry players also raised this question.
Rumba marketing manager Charles Odendaal says that Rumba is a close corporation registered under the name Lyan Enterprises and is not owned by Telkom.
Pieter Coetzee, MD of Yournet, says Rumba is able to offer ISDN lines at R49 a month because of an agreement that Yournet signed with Telkom two years ago.
"Yournet signed an agreement with Telkom to purchase both dial-up and ISDN lines at a discounted price. We are, however, an independent company and our domain name is registered as being owned by Telkom as they did some outsourcing work for us when we started up and they hosted some of our servers. We are not owned by Telkom," he says.
William Stucke, MD of the Zanet ISP, says the problem with Rumba`s price is that it undercuts the other ISPs in the market.
"Rumba is offering ISDN lines cheaper than we buy them from Telkom. While most ISPs are purchasing ISDN accounts for R68 and then selling them to consumers, Rumba is purchasing them and then selling them to users at R49 a month. If the discount is offered from Telkom to one company it should be offered to everyone," he says.
However Cripps says ownership of Rumba or Yournet is not necessarily the real issue, but the question is whether Telkom is undercutting the market to make more money.
"If Telkom sells ISDN lines at a discounted rate to an ISP compared to what it sells it to other ISPs, then the ISP is able to offer the service to consumers at a cheaper price. A vast number of users joining a cheaper ISP would mean more money for Telkom as the users utilise Telkom`s infrastructure to access the Internet," he says.
Telkom media relations spokesperson Ravin Maharaj says prices for SAIX services are provided on a quotational basis. If accepted, agreements are signed with customers under confidential. He confirmed that Telkom does not own Yournet.
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