---
title: Telkom SA reassesses operation amid mixed results - Developing Telecoms
description: South African fixed-line provider Telkom is “continuing to explore all avenues to derisk [its] mobile business”, according to CEO Sipho Maseko.
canonical_url: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/4983-telkom-sa-reassesses-operation-amid-mixed-results.html
language: en-GB
date: 2013-11-25T12:15:40Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/4983-telkom-sa-reassesses-operation-amid-mixed-results.html. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1102
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/4983-telkom-sa-reassesses-operation-amid-mixed-results.html. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


South African fixed-line provider Telkom is “continuing to explore all avenues to derisk \[its\] mobile business”, according to CEO Sipho Maseko.

The group’s newly-launched mobile operations have thus far incurred losses. Although it is the established fixed-line incumbent and has experience of the mobile market through its now-defunct partnership with Vodacom, Telkom as a solo operator is a newcomer to mobile in South Africa.

Telkom’s mobile offering is currently the country’s last-placed operator, trailing Cell C, Vodacom and MTN. The unit registered “negative mobile EBITDA” of ZAR773 million ($76.5 million) in the first half of the 2014 financial year, a drop of 8% on the previous year.

However, the operator did increase its mobile revenue by 55.4%, with mobile data revenue increasing 50% year-on-year. This was driven by growth in subscriber numbers, as well as promotional offers aimed at encouraging data usage.

Contract subscriber numbers fell along with postpaid ARPU, leading to a drop in operating revenue from mobile voice and subscriptions of 20.2%. The drop in subscribers was ascribed to “a large number of hybrid contracts \[expiring\] as well as the continuation of the debtors clean-up to ensure a better quality customer base”.

This may only be a temporary setback; Telkom noted that its hybrid contracts “were generating low ARPUs”, adding that its existing customer base is “providing a more sustainable growth base than the prior period”.

In addition, while the mobile unit’s Capex rose 56.4% in the first half of the year, this was due to infrastructure investment as “a result of the first half of the prior year being a repositioning period.”

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#james_barton_4d6427c012"
            },
            "dateModified": "2013-11-25T12:15:40Z",
            "datePublished": "2013-11-25T12:15:33Z",
            "description": "South African fixed-line provider Telkom is “continuing to explore all avenues to derisk [its] mobile business”, according to CEO Sipho Maseko.",
            "headline": "Telkom SA reassesses operation amid mixed results",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/Company_Logos\/telkom_logo_600.gif",
                    "caption": "",
                    "description": "",
                    "width": 600,
                    "height": 515
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/4983-telkom-sa-reassesses-operation-amid-mixed-results.html"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/4983-telkom-sa-reassesses-operation-amid-mixed-results.html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "James Barton",
            "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#james_barton_4d6427c012"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Developing Telecoms"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/devtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/highResLogos\/dt-site-logo-440.png",
            "width": "440",
            "height": "122"
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->