Mail & Guardian Reporter
It is no secret that international telecommunications deregulation has opened the door to a myriad expansion opportunities in other countries. The popular trend is for telecommunications operators to move into markets abroad, yet Telkom is continuing to position itself as a regional telecommunications leader and information technology powerhouse. Randall Seidl, Telkom’s managing executive: sales, explains why this strategic decision will enable African businesses to have the best of both worlds.
“In keeping with Telkom’s historical commitment to the region, the company is sparing no effort to maintain its position as Africa’s premier telecommunications company. Telkom is taking this focus into a new arena where the IT, telecoms and networking industries are increasingly starting to play in the same space.”
Expansion further afield would undoubtedly offer new revenue opportunities, but the other side of the coin is that Telkom’s considerable resources would be used to service other markets should it expand abroad.
“As other telecommunications operators have found, expansion invariably results in a situation where local resources are deployed elsewhere to provide solutions internationally,” comments Seidl. “We believe that this would be to the detriment of our regional customer base and this was a major consideration when we decided on our current course. Contrary to the current trend of global expansion, I want to tell our business customers that we will continue to concentrate our best people and resources right here.”
Telkom’s commitment to South Africa can be seen in its considerable investment in the National Network Operations Centre. “This is just one of the examples,” says Seidl. “Furthermore, our continued investment in upgrading and enhancing our IT infrastructure will ensure that we keep on the absolute leading edge.”
Seidl says that in the African context, as elsewhere, growth depends on a robust and solid communications network. “We know this is our basis, and for this basis to grow we have to provide the necessary communications and IT infrastructure.”