TUESDAY, 1.00PM
TELKOM’s legal woes with the South African Callback Association (Sacba) operators have become even more entangled, with allegations that the telecoms parastatal has approached corporates in South Africa to use a callback service run by Telkom itself. A corporate source claims that Telkom is considering setting up a callback facility through a third party, possibly involving SBC Communications of the US and Telkom Malaysia, its new strategic equity partners. The source also says that Telkom will reduce its international telephone rates as a temporary measure.
However, Telkom says: “There is no truth in the rumour that Telkom is planning to offer callback services.” The South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra) says it knows nothing of the reports, but claims that Telkom is well within its rights as SA’s only licensed telephone provider to set up a callback operation, according to the Telecommunications Act.
The Act allows Telkom to exclusively provide telephone services to areas that have previously been neglected. Whether this exclusivity applies to cheaper international rates for customers through more efficient international networks serviced by domestic callback operators, a practice which has been declared illegal by Satra, is being contended in court by Sacba.