Telkom’s shares spiked more than 3% in afternoon trade on Friday following reports that it is close to an agreement with the South African government to start a R750 million broadband roll-out project.<\/p>\n
The listed telecommunications firm, of which the government has a majority shareholding, gained R1.80 or 3.4%, to R54.80 on the JSE after Bloomberg <\/a>said that the parties have held “extensive discussions about the contract”, citing two people linked to the deal.<\/p>\n Telkom shares rose as much as 4.7%, before a retreat during the morning session.<\/p>\n It said that Telkom has carried out site inspections and studied how to implement the plan in eight districts.<\/p>\n Telkom declined to comment on the project.<\/p>\n A government spokesperson told Fin24<\/a> that it hasn\u2019t yet selected the \u201clead agent\u201d for the deal.<\/p>\n “The lead agent in the roll out of broadband through the government policy known as South Africa Connect has not been appointed yet,” said Siya Qoza.<\/p>\n “The department is following due process to facilitate the roll-out of broadband for Phase 1, which aims to link government facilities in eight rural districts to fast, secure and reliable internet.”<\/p>\n President Jacob Zuma said during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, that the government will fast track the implementation<\/a><\/strong> of the first phase of the roll-out to connect more than five thousand government facilities in eight district municipalities.<\/p>\n In his 2013 SONA<\/strong><\/a>, Zuma punted the fact that the government plans to achieve 100% broadband penetration in South Africa by 2020.<\/p>\n Telkom is 40% owned by the government, while state owned investment company, the Public Investment Corp, has 11.65% in the telco.<\/p>\n Telkom\u2019s share price tumbles 10%<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom reports big growth in mobile, but revenue stalls<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Telkom<\/h3>\n