SANDTON, South Africa-Telkom is selling its wholly owned trunking operator, Q-Trunk. Telkom maintains this is part of a move to deliver more efficiency and focus on its core businesses.
Said Sizwe Nxasana, Telkom’s CEO: “For Telkom, it makes business sense to channel all its resources into its massive, fixed-line roll-out and modernization program, which will contribute to the development and competitiveness of South Africa as a whole.”
The sale is being conducted through an open tender process, and bids will be accepted until 4 October. The bid documents stipulate the potential bidders will be evaluated on the criteria of price, black-empowerment participation and employee equity.
Q-Trunk, licensed five years ago, covers about 80 percent of the country and has an existing customer base of about 6,900 connections. Industry sources say there are currently a total of 16,000 active trunking users subscribed to the three national trunking operators-Fleetcall (holding the major share), Q-Trunk and One 2 One.
The sale of Q-Trunk’s MPT-based system arrives at a crucial time in the telecommunications history of South Africa, as the black-empowerment groups are also vying for the third cellular license.
