The new plans from Icasa include asymmetric rates for mobile operators which have a market share lower than 20% – greatly befitting Telkom<\/a>‘s mobile arm, as well as Cell C<\/a>, but negatively impacting larger operators such as MTN<\/a> and Vodacom<\/a>.<\/p>\n Telkom<\/p><\/div>\n On Tuesday (8 October) Telkom’s share price climbed to its highest point in 2013, trading at R27.62 by close of trade on the JSE.<\/p>\n A climb of over 5% came after group CFO, Jacques\u00a0Schindehutte<\/a> acquired just under R6 million worth of the company’s shares on Wednesday (2 October), and a further 4% rise was seen after Icasa announced the new termination rate plan.<\/p>\n Sentiment surrounding Telkom has taken an upbeat turn in the year so far, as CEO Sipho Maseko<\/a> continues to address the company’s ills of the past, with promises of a turnaround in strategy and business at the telco.<\/p>\n Telkom opened the year at R16.93, and to-date, the telco has seen a 63% rise in its share price, having dipped to a trade low of R11.34 during the course of year. This places Telkom’s market cap at just over R14.38 billion.<\/p>\n MTN<\/p><\/div>\n South African mobile operators, MTN and Vodacom have also had an interesting year.<\/p>\n MTN has been hit with a number of controversies during the course of 2013, but also a number of successes.<\/p>\n A report into allegations made by Turkish network operator, TurkCell<\/a>, against MTN’s operations in Iran, cleared the mobile company of any wrong-doing in the matter. The case was subsequently dismissed in the USA where TurkCell had laid charges against MTN, and ultimately dropped by the Turkish operator.<\/p>\n However, in the past few months, MTN has conducted a number of investigations into its own business in South Africa, and as a result, a number of executives had been dismissed.<\/p>\n Thanks to the company’s strong international operations, despite a dip in local subscribers, the company has growth, and its share price has reflected that growth, accordingly.<\/p>\n Following Icasa’s new termination rate announcement, MTN’s share price suffered, losing close to 6% of its value.<\/p>\n MTN opened the year with a stock price of R176.99, and to-date has boosted its share price 6.87% to R188.55 – quite far off from its 52 week trade high of R202.34 – giving the telco a market cap of R354.87 billion.<\/p>\n Vodacom<\/p><\/div>\n On 1 October, Vodacom confirmed reports that it had entered into exclusive discussions to acquire 100% of South African telecoms provider, Neotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n The deal, which would be the largest for Vodacom this year if it goes through, could be valued at as much as R10 billion rand ($994 million) according to a report in Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Through acquiring Neotel, Vodacom would be gain access to thousands of kilometres of fibre and extremely valuable spectrum, currently held by the telco.<\/p>\n This, according to Vodacom’s CEO Shameel Joosub<\/a>, would allow Vodacom to offer fixed-line services and to boost its mobile offerings for businesses and consumers – and effectively make the company a direct competitor to Telkom.<\/p>\n Vodacom is also set to gain from the windfall from a US$130 billion deal between its parent company, Vodafone<\/a> and its US subsidiary, Verizon Wirless, which saw the former sell its stake in the business.<\/p>\n However, despite the generally positive year, on the back of the announcement that mobile termination rates would be cut further, Vodacom’s shares have sunk to R113.37.<\/p>\n The company started the year at R126.20, meaning that, to-date, the company’s shares have declined by 9.64% on the JSE, giving the company a market cap of R168.69 billion.<\/p>\n Taken from Bloomberg, 8 October 2013<\/small><\/p>\n Vodacom, MTN, Telkom horrifically criminal \u2013 analyst<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Vodacom, Neotel confirm talks<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n MTN CEO warns \u201cdestructive\u201d rivals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Telkom](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Telkom-shrink.jpg\")
<\/a>Telkom’s rise<\/h3>\n
![\"MTN](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/MTN-business.png\")
<\/a>MTN arena<\/h3>\n
![\"Vodacom\"](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Vodacom-growth.jpg\")
<\/a>Vodacom performance<\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n Telco<\/strong><\/td>\n January share price
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n52-week high
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n52 week low
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n8 October share price
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n% change<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Telkom<\/td>\n R16.93<\/td>\n R27.99<\/td>\n R11.34<\/td>\n R27.62<\/td>\n 63.14%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MTN<\/td>\n R176.99<\/td>\n R202.34<\/td>\n R149.44<\/td>\n R188.55<\/td>\n 6.53%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vodacom<\/td>\n R126.20<\/td>\n R129.88<\/td>\n R98.85<\/td>\n R113.37<\/td>\n -10.17%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n More on South Africa telcos<\/h3>\n