Mpumalanga Business 2021-22

Out with the
archaic, in with the
innovative
In a watershed decision, National Treasury has opened
RT15 2021 up to the four primary telco service providers,
ending five years of exclusivity for the telco awarded
RT15 2016. This now offers the public sector and stateowned
enterprises a choice in terms of where they want
to spend their communication and data budgets.
his new RT15 2021 transversal
contract now brings with it
Tcompetition and the expectation
of service delivery.
“The responsibility now rests on the
service provider, organs of the state
and state-owned enterprises,” says Nic
Chauke, MTN’s head of Sales and RT15.
“The directive from National Treasury
to the public sector is that when they
engage with service providers, delivery
is vital.
“Appointment of a service provider is
now entirely left to the individual organ
of state, which can select the provider
based on merit, such as the support
structure to execute well. A state entity
that wants to secure services has to visit
the National Treasury website and opt
in, indicating their intention to procure
the services through this transversal.
A letter will be issued by Treasury
indicating that they have opted in.”
While RT15 2021 is a five-year term,
there is flexibility for organs of state to
take contracts out for periods that suit
them. This means that only if service
providers do a `phenomenal job’ by
having the quality and scale of network
and a dedicated team focused on the
execution of service, will contracts be
renewed.
“It also means that we need to
keep moving on infrastructure
issues, especially power, alternative
power, roads and addressing theft of
equipment,” continues Chauke.
“Covid-19 has highlighted some of
the limitations of broadband, such
as the cost of data. In education, for
example, this is inhibited by the lack of
devices and steep data prices. This is
one of the areas we need to align our
offering to.
“Last year started a huge drive
for us in universities and there were
instances where we provided reverse
bill apps and helped institutions, such
as Unisa, to foot the bill.
“Covid-19 meant the industry had to
work hard to introduce innovation, but
this has been a fantastic thing.”
MTN Business takes its hat off to
National Treasury for what it has
crafted to provide competition and
enable government to have access
to uncapped data. This means that
state employees can have unlimited
access to work apps without incurring
personal costs. The biggest factor to
Nic Chauke, Head of Sales and
RT15 at MTN Business
mention is the cost containment, which
means that government spend can be
deployed elsewhere such as healthcare
and infrastructure. By implication,
these benefits filter directly through to
citizens.
“The value proposition now
moves away from the archaic way
communications was offered in the
past. National Treasury has driven
the industry to become even more
innovative and flexible. We can now
offer uncapped data, voice and closed
user group minutes, SMS and closed
user group SMS at the aggressively
competitive rates government has
negotiated with us.
“The public sector has responded
so positively to this and it is really
encouraging to see the channels of
communication opening up.
“Since this contract became
effective, we have been engaging with
a number of government departments
on a daily basis. It has also opened up
the horizon to engage with government
to work closely with rural communities
and partner with small entities,
something we are very excited about,”
he concludes.
Email – mbali.mhlanga@mtn.com
Call – 083 200 6830
Click – mtnbusiness.co.za
For more information, please visit:
www.treasury.gov.za
Exclusive to Government departments
that opt in to RT15-2021