Telkom AR front.qxp

• Interfacing with the media
While the media is an influential stakeholder in its own right, it is
also a vehicle through which we can communicate to our
broader stakeholder base. To this end, a dedicated media unit
was established to ensure we sent out a consistent message to
enhance our reputation and create greater brand awareness.
On the reactive front, the vast scope of our activities ensured a
very high level of media interest in the year under review. Media
enquiries ranged from our growth and expansion plans to cable
theft, the provision of broadband, regulatory issues, the evolution
of the network, our financial results, service delivery, customer
complaints and corporate governance.
As a result of our commitment to providing accurate and strategic
information to the media, our reputation took a turn for the better.
During the year under review, the value of proactive media
engagement was underscored in three areas – the 2010 Soccer
World Cup; the sale of our shares in Vodacom and the strategic
agreement with AT&T.
2010 World Cup
As FIFA’s main partner in the development of fixed-line network
infrastructure, we are responsible for providing infrastructure and
communication services. Our capabilities in this regard were
highlighted through media site visits and face-to-face interviews
with the key people in our 2010 project office.
The Vodacom transaction
Throughout the transaction process from November 2008 to
June 2009, journalists were given as much access as they
requested to our key top management team.
The AT&T agreement
At the announcement of the strategic memorandum of
understanding, journalists had the opportunity to spend time with
the role players from both companies.
We pride ourselves not only on building strong relationships
between the media and our management team, but also on
enhancing the media’s knowledge of the IT industry as a whole.
In the year under review we hosted a number of well attended
functions, including inviting key media to the Southern African
Telecommunication and Applications conference.
• Connecting with our employees
In addition to refining our internal communication channels, we
provided effective and timeous communication to all employees
on the progress of our transformation programme, Telkom Renaissance.
The programme’s specific communication was given a
highlighted visual appearance to distinguish it from other
electronic communications and to emphasise the status of each
message. Weekly messages containing detailed information on
the project’s progress were issued and a tailor-made web site
Telkom Annual Report 2009 39
Group
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Management
review
Sustainability
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Performance
review
Financial
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Company
Financial
Information