Sipho Maseko - Afrikan Heroes

Sipho Maseko Steps Down as Telkom Group CEO

July 24, 2021

Telkom Group has announced that Sipho Maseko will be stepping down from his positions as Group CEO as well as executive director of Telkom and its subsidiaries. According to Telkom, the process to appoint a successor is “well underway” and that a new designated Group CEO will be announced in the not too distant future. For the remainder of his role, Maseko is expected to ensure the incoming Group CEO designate’s orderly transition into the role.

Sipho Maseko is expected to step down from his positions as Group CEO as well as executive director of Telkom and its subsidiaries on 30 June 2022.

Maseko joined Telkom on 1 April 2013 during a time when the semi-private South African telecommunications firm was facing “severe challenges”. During his eight-year tenure, Maseko managed to turn the business around – evolving it from a traditional fixed business to a portfolio of businesses that comprises the Mobile, IT, Wholesale infrastructure business and the Masts and Tower portfolio.

“I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a new leader who will take Telkom to even greater heights. I will stay on until June 2022 to ensure a smooth transition for my successor,” Maseko says.

“I am most thankful to my colleagues across our country, for trusting me to lead Telkom, and for supporting me throughout this journey of transition.”

“Under his leadership, the Group has had many remarkable strategic achievements in the execution of its broadband led strategy which are reflected in the Group’s current healthy position,” a statement from Telkom reads.

“The Mobile business grew to become the third-largest mobile business in South Africa with more than 15 million customers generating R20-billion ($1.3-billion) revenue. Fibre footprint was expanded and the fixed customer base was migrated to new technologies (fibre and LTE).”

Telkom says that to date, the number of homes connected with fibre exceeds the number of homes connected with copper. The Telkom Group has diversified the revenue pool acquiring an IT business and commercialised under-utilised infrastructure assets such as Masts and Towers and Data Centres.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

South Africa’s Telkom Group Records Growth in Mobile Business

May 27, 2021

South Africa’s leading telecoms company, Telkom has said that the lion’s share of its income in the year ended 31^st March 2021 was made up by “next-generation technologies” like its mobile business. Growth, driven by the mobile business, saw EBITDA grow 11.7% to R11 973 million, with EBITDA margin expanding by 2.8 ppts to 27.7%.

Despite a challenging environment, Group revenue grew 0.4% to R43 222 million. Mobile business revenue growth now more than offsets the anticipated structural decline in fixed-voice revenue and revenue pressures from COVID-19. The results showed a change in revenue mix, with legacy fixed-voice income now contributing only 15% to the business.

Notwithstanding the challenging trading environment, the Group delivered underlying earnings growth of 88.1% to R2 622 million, growing BEPS and HEPS by 89.6% and 53.4% respectively compared to the prior year.

Telkom Group CEO, Sipho Maseko says “our mobile business continued its growth trajectory as we surpassed 15 million subscribers during the year, carrying even more data traffic in 4G and 4,5G, as well as commencing our 5G rollout.”

He adds, “Allocating capital to a data-led and fibre-enabled mobile networks – a growth area of our business – successfully prepared us for the significant increase in data demand and mobile broadband services as more people worked, did business and studied from home.”

Mobile broadband traffic increased 53.2%, resulting in mobile data revenue growing by 41.0% and underpinning the 34.5% increase in mobile service revenue to R16 938 million.

Telkom’s BCX unit suffered a decline in revenue as the national lockdown and the work-from-home response impacted fixed-voice revenues from enterprise customers. Information technology (IT) revenue also came under pressure as corporates deferred capital expenditure (CAPEX) and delayed projects given the increased levels of uncertainty.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Telkom Reports Increasing Subscriber Base

November 11, 2020

South Africa’s third mobile telecommunications operator, Telkom South Africa has revealed that it recorded a rise in subscriber base pushing its numbers by to 13.7 million – to claim the position of South Africa’s third mobile operator. Telkom delivered solid EBITDA growth despite a slight revenue decrease of 0.4% to R21.4 billion in the face of difficult trading conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Telkom’s decision to invest in infrastructure ahead of demand enabled us to meet the surge in demand and weather the acceleration of the decline in fixed voice revenue during the national lockdown,” says Sipho Maseko, Telkom Group CEO. Telkom Mobile expanded margin by 13.2 ptts to 29.9%, optimised direct cost to revenue ratio from 53% in the prior period to 38% and more than doubled its EBITDA to R2.9 billion.

Mobile data traffic is up 81%, a significant increase attributable to the increase of people working from home and online schooling due to the national lockdown. “Telkom Mobile has performed exceptionally well, despite the negative impact of the national lockdown on parts of our business,” says Maseko.

BCX and SMB saw a decline of 11.3% and 25% respectively, driven by a decline in enterprise fixed voice revenues. The decrease in fixed voice volumes also impacted Openserve negatively with revenue declining by 13.6%, a shift driven by 22.7% decline in fixed voice revenue compared to the prior period. Despite this, Openserve maintained the highest connectivity rate in the market through improved fibre to the home connectivity rate from 43.6% in the prior year to 53.8%. Gyro masts and towers revenue increased 7.7% to R628 million despite the slowdown in the permitting and construction process due to the national lockdown.

“We are pleased with a solid set of results in a year where growth was challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic that strained the South African economy. These results reflect the quality and dedication of our people and business partners,” concludes Maseko.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry