Bulk of the trouble started in 1997… 

It is no secret that the bulk of the trouble started in 1997 when government decided to sell 30% of Telkom to Thintana, handing effective control of Telkom to foreign operators.

Thintana housed the Telkom interests of US-based SBC Communications (now part of AT&T) and Telekom Malaysia. To make a long story short, Thintana made it clear from the start that they are only interested in maximising profits from their Telkom interests in South Africa, even if it meant the closing down of South Africa’s emerging ISP (Internet Service Provider) industry at the time. This almost happened after Telkom claimed at the time that its operating license gives it a monopoly over the Internet Protocol (IP) or total control over the Internet industry in South Africa. Lucky for us, Telkom’s ridiculous claims fell on deaf ears and came to nothing. Thintana however, determined to maximise profits, used anti-competitive practices such as cross-subsidisation of services and predatory pricing to make it almost impossible for Telkom rivals to compete. This is the main reason why the Competition Commission, backed by the SA VANS Association and Telkom rivals, are now out to fine Telkom for anti-competitive practices.  

Unlucky for us, the main culprit in the saga, Thintana, has sold their stake in Telkom in 2004 and will in all probability escape punishment.  

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