MTN and Telkom Ink Roaming Deal

Incumbent operator Telkom South Africa and mobile operator MTN South Africa yesterday announced that they have reached agreement on nationwide roaming. At the same time, Telkom also announced plans to build 2,000 base stations over the next two years as part of its strategy to launch wireless operations. Telkom has suffered profit declines from its core business after selling its stake in mobile group Vodacom in 2009.

The company says it will invest ZAR6 billion (USD82 million) over the next five years to launch a new mobile business. Pinky Moholi, managing director of Telkom SA’s business unit said: ‘The agreement paves the way for Telkom to launch its mobile service later this year by offering its customers seamless access to a stable MTN SA network with a substantial national footprint, whilst continuing to roll out its own mobile base stations,’ quoted IT News Africa.