Nairobi, August 26, 2020: Earlier this month, Telkom’s leadership announced that we had taken the bold decision to carve out a new direction for Telkom.

Given our vast infrastructure asset base, terrestrial fibre, and our 4G network, we are confident in this new direction, one that has also been strengthened by the accelerated digital transformation, making both businesses and individuals acutely aware of the need to change how we do things.

This digital transformation is particularly important within the telecommunications sector, creating an increased demand for broadband, connectivity, and digital platforms, by the individual consumer, corporates, and the public sector.

I am excited to share our new strategic focus areas, that will address this current transformational dynamic as well as Telkom’s long-term objectives, as we work towards becoming a thriving integrated Telco provider, and the technology company of the future.

Our New Strategic Focus Areas:

• To better position our infrastructure asset base and services, to drive digital transformation within the Consumer, SME, Corporate and Public sectors, to enable them become smart entities;
• To create a future smart landing hub for the majority of sub-marine cables in the region as we continue to provide connectivity to all data, entering and exiting Kenya;
• Bridging the consumer digital divide; connecting the unconnected through the expansion of our 4G/LTE network, as well as through cutting-edge technologies such as Loon;
• Up-skilling our employees to be future-fit, to serve the evolving needs of our customers.

Evolution of our Service Delivery Units:

The structure of our current business has to reflect this new strategic direction. To this end, Telkom has restructured its Service Delivery Units into two, with the following as the respective leads:

Focus Areas for Service Delivery Units:

a. Telkom Consumer will focus on the following:

• Data:  Investing in innovative technologies that will enable faster scaling of our network and services, realising better customer experience;
• Financial Services:  Telkom is enhancing its financial services offering, to be reflective of current customer demands, with respect to increased security, simplicity, availability and reliability;
• Partnerships: We are working with developers and other technology solution entities (bringing faster and affordable technology to the end-user) to deploy services and solutions that will address current and future consumer needs/ trends;
• Digitisation of products and customer service channels, to simplify the customer journey.

b. Telkom Digital will focus on innovative approaches to create more value for Telkom’s customers:

• Making use of our extensive fibre network, we will drive digital transformation by enabling public and private sector players to become smart entities, by way of technologies such as Internet of Things (IoTs), Cloud, Big Data and Analytics;
• Increasing our product and solution portfolio, as we walk the digitisation journey with our customers, providing solution design, hosting and managed services, as well as other strategic post-implementation support and operational services;
• These advantages will enable more flexibility for guaranteed uptime, higher service levels, and therefore more value for our customers;
• Telkom will incubate its future cloud business, with the aim of providing a carrier neutral experience.

Impact to our Employees:

There will be no loss of jobs as a result of this business restructuring.

Telkom will be creating new career growth opportunities as a result of this structural evolution.

Telkom will also be investing further in its people, with respect to skill development, to deliver our new strategic direction.

Why we are doing this:

This business restructuring will enable Telkom to sharpen its efficiencies, with respect to service provision and overall customer experience. It will also enable us to partner more strategically with like-minded entities, for example, in the telecommunications, technology and financial services sectors. The end game is to be the technology partner of choice to our consumers, private and public sector clients.

Mugo KIBATI

Chief Executive Officer

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About Telkom

Telkom connects the people that keeps Kenya on the move. It does this by providing integrated telecommunications solutions to individuals, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Government and large corporates in Kenya, drawing from a diverse solutions suite that includes voice, data, mobile money as well as network services. Powered by its vast fibre optic infrastructure, it is also a major provider of wholesale carrier-to-carrier traffic, within the country and the region.

Telkom is building on strong, consumer-centric ethos that is committed to providing innovative, accessible and refreshingly simple communications solutions that suit customers’ everyday communication needs.

Established as a telecommunications operator in April 1999, Telkom is 60 per cent owned by Helios Investment Partners, with the remaining stake held by Kenyans through the Government of Kenya. Telkom has 4,150 km of terrestrial fibre cabling, serving as a key conduit for broadband connectivity, inland. Telkom Kenya also owns a 23% stake in TEAMS, a 5,000km undersea fibre optic cable through Fujairah, UAE; a 10% stake in LION2 another 2,700km undersea fibre optic cable through Mauritius. It also owns a 2.6% stake in the East African Submarine System Cable and manages the National Optic Fibre Backbone, an inland fibre optic cable network running through Kenyan counties. The arrival of DARE 1 with Telkom as the landing partner further reinforces its role in the management of the National Optic Fibre Backbone.

Please visit www.telkom.co.ke to get to know more about Telkom.

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For clarification, please contact: George MLAGHUI | gmlaghui@telkom.co.ke

Follow Telkom on Twitter: @TelkomKenya