Telecoms (ICT) as driver for business growth in SA

Abstract

The market environment of telecommunications in South Africa is such that currently there is only one provider of fixed-line services. This has contributed to much claims of prices of incumbent being too high. The government has licensed operators and service providers to compete with Telkom in an attempt to lower the costs of telecommunications in South Africa. The purpose of this research is to understand the relevance and nature of pricing policies, critically evaluate the management of pricing policies, research literature, theory and also the impact that these pricing policies have had on the business of Telkom. The research was conducted by analysing Telkom pricing related documents, financial statements and conducting interviews. The research found that the price-cap regulation has restricted flexibility in the pricing policies and that Telkom has adopted a short-term based approach to management of the pricing policies.