Telkom may face jobs squeeze
Network operator to meet unions for talks on possible retrenchments
Telkom will meet labour unions to discuss the possibility of job cuts should the partially state-owned network operator fail to persuade regulators to back down on proposed changes to call termination rates. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) wants to lower termination rates — also known as “interconnect” fees that telecoms operators charge each other for carrying calls on their networks. — from October 1. Of concern to Telkom, which is 41% state owned and has SA’s biggest fixed-line network, is that Icasa wants to slash termination rates for fixed-line operators from 10c to 3c by October 2020, while mobile termination rates would fall by only 4c, to 9c. While no job cuts were imminent, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said the operator would meet the Communication Workers Union and the SA Communication Union on Tuesday, as retrenchments “will be one of the options on the table” if Icasa did not budge. If effected, the changes would be “a calamity, a big problem, and we’d...
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