Telkom South Africa has spun off its wholesale division into a separate business tasked with providing equivalent service to all telcos and its parent company alike.
The new entity is called Openserve, and is led by Alphonzo Samuels, who until now has served as CTO of Telkom SA.
"With the launch of Openserve, we want to make a significant impact on the way we provide open access broadband to all South Africans. We welcome a more open-access environment and believe that we, as Openserve, can make important headway in helping all South African bridge the digital divide," Samuels said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Telkom intends to play a substantial role in lowering the barrier to entry for new players and to increase the competitiveness of smaller players," the telco added.
Telkom SA said Openserve will operate as an autonomous, standalone business unit within Telkom, and will be responsible for its own earnings or lack thereof.
"The separation heralds a new era in the Telkom group as it prepares to welcome a more open-access environment and all the opportunities it offers," Telkom SA said.
The operator said the spin-off also forms part of a broader turnaround strategy that it claims will "facilitate greater focus, accountability and most importantly, customer-centricity."
