South African network provider Telkom has signed an agreement with rival MTN South Africa, under which the latter will take over the deployment and operation of Telkom’s radio access network (RAN), although both companies will ‘retain and enhance [their] competitive differentiation and flexibility’, TechCentral reports. Further, going forward, the two companies will be able to roam over each other’s networks.
Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said that the move is in line with the company’s plans to reduce risks from its loss-making mobile business, noting: ‘The conclusion of the agreement will allow us to expand our mobile coverage and to reduce our operating costs and capital expenditure significantly. We will be able to provide our customers with effective access to the latest state-of-the-art national voice, 2G, 3G and [Long Term Evolution] LTE networks without having to incur the significant capital expenditure ordinarily required to achieve such national coverage.’ The deal is subject to the conclusion of various binding commercial agreements.
12 Mar 2014
