Telecommunications Action Group

This meeting has been postponed. We will re-schedule the meeting as soon as possible. Send your details to info@tag.org.za if you do want to participate.

Some time back the Telecommunications Action Group bought a number of shares in Telkom and over the past few months we have been distributing these to individual consumers interested in being more active in Telkom affairs. We've been doing this because we believe that the more active shareholders in Telkom the better. Our next meeting to give away more shares is Thursday 29 November in Johannesburg at 6pm.

As we near the end of November it is time for a quick review of the month. TAG appeared in a number of articles in local media over the past week. These include: Business Day, MyADSL and (an interview Alastair did, but hasn't seen) on SummitTV

Telecommunications Action Group statement on the appointment of Reuben September as Telkom CEO
While the Telecommunications Action Group (TAG) welcomes the appointment of a Telkom CEO as a much-needed step, we are disappointed that the Telkom board has not taken this opportunity to introduce new vision to the organisation.

If you are looking for real insight into the South African telecommunications scene then the 2007 MyADSL Broadband Conference at Vodaworld is where you will want to be on November 27.

The MyADSL Broadband conference is now an established feature of the annual telecommunications scene and each year proves well worth the time.

This year's programme include speakers from Google, Neotel, Vodacom, MTN, Internet Solutions, Vox Telecom, Telkom Media, Neology and iBurst.

Competition, operating costs and service discounts reduced profit in the six months to end-September 2007, Telkom's acting CEO Reuben September said today.

Despite the decline in profit, Telkom still reported a operating profit of R7.3 billion and operating revenue that grew 8.3 percent.

Operating profit declined 4.8 percent from R7.69 billion in the previous period to R7.3 billion in the six months to end-September.

MINISTER STILL ON A TELECOMMUNICATIONS GO-SLOW

The Telecoms Action Group (TAG) today expressed disappointment at the continued failure of the South African department of communications and the minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, to speed up the pace of telecommunications reform in the country.

In her budget vote in parliament yesterday, the minister granted Telkom until November 2011 to unbundle the local-loop, the final connection between homes and businesses and their relevant exchanges.

Business Day reports today:

Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has effectively handed Telkom another four years of monopoly in the landline telephony market, drawing criticism from analysts who say any further delays will hamper the government’s drive to reduce the costs of doing business in SA.

Moneyweb reports today that fixed-line operator Telkom has cut its retail price of international bandwidth to all destinations by 30%, with effect (retrospectively) from May 1.

"Speaking exclusively to Moneyweb earlier today, Steven Hayward, managing executive for retail marketing, said the new rates, especially on the lower speed connections, now “compare favourably” with pricing of bandwidth globally.

On January 19 the Telecommunications Action Group published its advert in the Mail & Guardian.

The advert was paid for by more than 200 contributors and is the first step in what we plan to be a series of actions to highlight the unnacceptably high costs of telecommunications in South Africa.

A bank account has been set up called "Telecoms Action Group". All money received into that account will be used only for TAG-related activities. We are aiming to raise R50 000 for the advert, but any extra money received will be used for similar targeted campaigns.

The banking details are as follows:
Name: Telecoms Action Group
Bank: Standard Bank
A/C Number: 402330137
Branch Code: 004205
Branch Name: Jan Smuts Ave