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04 July 2013

We are Convergence, says Telkom Business

Telkom Business is claiming its position as South Africa’s converged solutions enabler in its recently launched advertising campaign.

Mala Suriah, Executive of Strategic Marketing at Telkom Business says that while still relatively new in South Africa, convergence is a worldwide ICT megatrend. Telcos now deploy converged offers as part of their traditional business.

It is a navbar-brand’s responsibility, when it takes a leadership position in introducing a new idea into the market, to educate the market on the concept before even attempting to sell products and services. “This campaign aims to simply achieve the educational job. The world of telecommunications has changed, as has the way we consume data and video. Telkom Business is proud to be a change agent of society and business.”

“Convergence is, in effect, any combination of capabilities that come together to address a communication need,” says Suriah. “We are the only telecommunications company that truly offers any combination of solutions.”

She adds that convergence at Telkom Business includes data, voice, cloud, IT, fixed and mobile capabilities. With its next generation fiber and mobile networks as well as its world class data centre, Telkom Business is best positioned to bring this service offering to the market.

According to Suriah, internal customer research indicates varying definitions of the concept of convergence. “In general, people perceive convergence to be some magical gadget. The reality is that it is not simply about an all-in-one device; it is much more than devices or gadgets.”

Convergence is a philosophy that can be a fundamental driver for business transformation. The deployment of converged solutions in any business will yield benefits that include increased overall business productivity, cost savings, and convenience.

This campaign sets the tone for the overall Group’s Convergence campaigns, with Telkom Business taking the lead with the kick-off message. Says Suriah: “Telkom Business is already starting to educate customers by spreading the message that we are their ideal partner when it comes to Convergence”.

The journey to Convergence is twofold. Thanks to constantly evolving technology, the capabilities that can feed into Convergence and the different possible configurations thereof are yet unknown. “For our customers it is also about solutions, helping them to discover their optimum communications requirements,” explains Suriah. “The return on investment for the customer comes in the form of cost effectiveness, improved productivity and convenience.”

“Through this campaign we are telling the market that we are more than just a landline operator. More importantly, we offer tailor made fixed mobile solutions specifically for small and medium businesses”.

“Even in our forthcoming product advertisements, Convergence will remain a common thread throughout. It is also important that we continue to reinforce the message that we are one solution, one service provider,” concludes Suriah.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

Telkom Park, The Apex

92 Oak Avenue

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ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

  • fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;
  • fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, Computers, Routers, Modems, Telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
  • interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
  • fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and internet access and related information technology services;
  • Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
  • W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
  • mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  •  information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.

Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom.  We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.