Telkom confirms talks with MTN
Telkom says it has entered into negotiations with MTN South Africa regarding the potential outsourcing of the operation of the Telkom radio access network (RAN) to MTN.
Telkom added that a deal would also include a potential expansion of the existing roaming relationship between the parties to include bilateral roaming.
“As a normal business practice, MTN has entered into negotiations with Telkom regarding agreements that involve the potential outsourcing of the operation of the Telkom radio access network (RAN) to MTN,” said Eben Albertyn, the CTO of MTN SA.
“MTN is also in discussions with Telkom regarding the potential expansion of the existing roaming relationship between the parties to include bilateral roaming. As these are on-going negotiations, MTN will not comment any further on the matter until they are finalised,” he said.
Rumours regarding an MTN and Telkom Mobile deal have been doing the rounds since December 2013.
Speculation suggested that a deal between the two companies would see MTN get access to Telkom Mobile’s 2,300MHz LTE network, and may even invest in the growth of this network.
A closer relationship between MTN and Telkom regarding backhaul and transmission network capacity acquisition was also rumoured.
Sipho Maseko, Group CEO at Telkom, admitted last year that the Telkom Mobile business is going through “a very difficult time”, and is in discussions with parties over future operations.
“If successfully concluded, this may have a material effect on the price of Telkom’s securities,” the group warned in a statement on SENS.
More on Telkom and MTN
MTN, Telkom Mobile network sharing deal here soon: report
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