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04 February 2014

Helping SMEs to Manage Mobile Costs

The ability to work remotely via mobile communication is a necessary requirement for conducting business in South Africa, especially for SMEs. The challenge therefore, for small business owners, is to ensure their employees’ ability to be mobile, while managing the costs thereof.

“Our mission at Telkom Business mobile solutions is to provide our customers with incomparable offers that will enhance their productivity and benefit their bottom line,” says Megan Nicholas, managing executive at Telkom Business mobile solutions. “We have pinpointed areas that are cost drivers and have developed various product offerings to help counter the effects of those specific drivers.”

The following points highlight how SMEs can save on mobile costs and manage their communication expenditure.

  • Typically, customers pay for each mobile call made, with the cost varying based on a number of factors. This makes it difficult to budget. ”We have package a host of Smart voice offerings so that when customers use the Telkom Mobile network, those mobile-to-mobile calls between each other are completely free,” explains Nicholas.
  • Mobile network operators generally structure their packages with rates varying based on what network they call. When customers call mobile-to-mobile during working hours, primarily in peak time for example, the costs are higher. “We have devised a specific package that bills at flat rates for voice calls, data and SMSs, at any time of the day”.
  • Most businesses allow their employees to connect to their Wi-Fi hotspot, however, Wi-Fi connectivity outside of the office is limited. “We offer our mobile subscribers tangible benefit by giving them free Wi-Fi access at over 1,500 hotspots in SA. A 10 GB cap applies.”
  • According to Nicholas, “Some operators offer an unlimited free voice calling plan for a fixed fee. While messaging and data plays a large role in our communication, it is still a cost. Telkom Business launched a product that offers free, unlimited calls, data and SMS’s for a nominal monthly flat rate. Let’s face it, peace-of-mind is an important component of doing business profitably.”

Nicholas concludes: “We give our customers connectivity anywhere and at any time without expecting them to spend unreasonable amounts to do business.”

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

Technopark

Highveld

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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.