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.

Matsepe-Casaburri told Parliament yesterday she was giving Telkom until November 1 2011 to unbundle the so-called “local loop”, which links the national telecommunications network to individual homes and businesses.

Although the minister said “the unbundling process in SA should be urgently implemented,” the reality is that Telkom will have at least another four-and-a-half years to further entrench its market dominance.

Telkom, 38%-owned by the government, has long resisted unbundling the local loop, arguing it was part of its infrastructure.

Critics have complained about the lack of movement on unbundling and the resulting slow rate of rollout of fixed line telephone lines and broadband DSL accessibility.