Telkom aims to defend and grow

Telkom articulated its “defend and grow” strategy when it opened its latest data centre in the northern Cape Town suburb of Bellville today.

Bellville 2, Telkom says, is the latest state-of-the-art green data centre and is part of its Data Centre Operations, one of its three main operating arms. The other two are Telkom South Africa and Telkom International. The three-arm structure came into operation earlier this year.

The product offering, labelled “Cybernest”, aims to capture the expanding data centre market SA is developing. It also helps Telkom move into a market it tried to jump into two years ago with the aborted purchase of Business Connexion, which was rejected by the Competition Commission.

Other companies such as Internet Solutions, Vodacom Business and Neotel are either expanding their data centre operations, or building new facilities to offer managed solutions to the growing market.

“They are providing managed services; hosting and reselling their own networks to companies.”

Van Wyk says many telecommunications operators are sensing opportunity in the local market as more and more networks are rolled out and international connectivity improves.

Telkom CEO Reuben September says the Bellville 2 launch amplifies the group's growth strategy.

“As we strive to maintain our position as one of the leaders in SA while expanding our footprint on the African continent, we have consistently articulated that 'defend and grow' is the essence of our refocused strategy.”

He adds that the convergence of IT with the company's telco capabilities is a “natural extension of Telkom's value proposition”.

Reuben acknowledged that Telkom initially attempted to grow its data centre operations and capabilities by exploring the acquisition route both locally and globally.

“Having extensively researched best practices across the globe with regard to data centre operations, we're now in a position to leapfrog many other players in this field. For instance, our new data centre in Bellville - in terms of design, capacity as well as our environmentally friendly, energy-efficient features - places it on par with the top 10% in the world.”

He explains that several strategic considerations have driven Telkom's expansion into the IT services market, such as the rising demand for a robust, redundant infrastructure. “Internationally, demand for data centres exceeds supply by something in the region of 6:1.”