Telkom AR front.qxp

service. All costs including installation,
telephone equipment, line rental and call
charges are paid in advance, eliminating
the need for monthly telephone bills. We
target our prepaid service mainly at firsttime
residential customers who do not have
sufficient credit history, and are located in
areas where we can provide access to our
network without significant additional
investment. Customers who have previously
had their telephone service disconnected
due to non-payment are also encouraged
to migrate to our prepaid service option in
order to reduce future non-payments while
satisfying demand for our services.
We also offer a broad range of valueadded
voice services on a subscription or
usage basis including call forwarding, call
waiting, conference calling, voicemail, tollfree
calling, ShareCall which permits
callers and recipients to share call costs,
speed dialling, enhanced fax services and
calling card services for payphones. These
services complement our basic voice
services and provide us with additional
revenue while satisfying customer demand,
enhancing our brand and increasing
customer loyalty. Value-added voice
services such as our CallAnswer voicemail
service are also bundled with value-added
calling plans such as Telkom Closer, to
further enhance the value of these services
to our customers.
We provide payphone services throughout
South Africa. As at March 31, 2009,
Telkom operated approximately 132,208
public payphones and approximately
3,146 private payphones, of which
approximately 39% were coin-operated
and combination payphones, and the
remainder card-operated payphones.
The table opposite presents information
regarding our post-paid and prepaid lines
as well as payphones as at the dates
indicated, excluding our internal lines.
The table above shows information related
to the number of our fixed access lines in
service, net line growth and churn for the
periods. Churn is calculated by dividing
the number of disconnections by the
average number of fixed access lines in
service during the year.
Connections include new line orders resulting
primarily from changes in service and, to a
lesser extent, new line roll-out. Disconnections
include both customer-initiated disconnections
and Telkom-initiated disconnections. Included
in disconnections and churn are those
customers who have terminated their service
with Telkom and subsequently subscribed to a
new service with Telkom as a result of
relocation or change of subscription to a
different type of service.
Value-enhancing bundles
During the year under review, Telkom
continued to focus on customer retention
and offering value for money by
continuously enhancing packages such as
PC bundles and Telkom Closer, including
the following:
From August 1, 2009, Closer customers
will have the option to choose between
CallAnswer and Identicall. Currently the
package includes only CallAnswer.
Telkom Closer 1
Includes line rental, CallAnswer, a minimum
flat-rate charge for calls during off-peak
Telkom Annual Report 2009 89
Year ended March 31,
2008/2007 2009/2008
(in thousands, except percentages) 2007 2008 2009 % change % change
Opening balance 4,708 4,642 4,532 (1.4) (2.4)
Net line growth (66) (110) (81) (66.7) (26.4)
Connections 572 497 482 (13.1) (3.0)
Disconnections (638) (607) (563) (4.9) (7.2)
Closing balance 4,642 4,532 4,451 (2.4) (1.8)
Chum (%) 13.6 13.3 12.5 (2.2) (6.0)
time up to one hour, a discounted per
record rate for local and long distance
calls subject to a minimum charge, as well
as 30 free local minutes during standard
time introduced since August 2007. In
addition, with effect from August 2008,
this package includes 60 free local internet
minutes during off-peak time.
Telkom Closer 2
Includes line rental, CallAnswer, unlimited
free calls during off-peak time up to one
hour, a discounted per record rate for local
and long distance calls subject to a
minimum charge, as well as 30 free local
minutes during standard time introduced in
August 2007. In addition, with effect from
August 2008, this package includes
60 free local internet minutes during offpeak
time.
Telkom Closer 3
Includes line rental, CallAnswer, 1,300
inclusive free peak-time minutes, unlimited
free calls during off-peak time up to one
hour, a discounted per second rate for
local and long distance calls subject to a
minimum charge, as well as reduced rates
to selected international destinations and
pure per second billing for fixed-to-mobile
calls since August 2007.
Telkom Closer 4
All the benefits of Telkom Closer 3 bundled
with Fast DSL up to 384 Kbps.
Telkom Closer 5
All the benefits of Telkom Closer 3 bundled
with Fastest DSL up to 4096 Kbps.
Telkom Closer plans 1 to 3 have an option
to purchase 150 or 75 local internet hours
during call more time.
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