Limpopo Business 2016-17 edition

INTERVIEW
the Internet has direct impact on improving the
lives of people. This is no different for Limpopo.
In addition to that, there are a number of
unique aspects to how we operate in Limpopo
and what our market needs. For example, data usage
is growing exponentially and we are still one
of the fastest-growing data regions for Vodacom,
even though we are coming off a smaller base.
However, what I find fascinating is that voice has
also been growing – so people in Limpopo are
still talking. It’s a good thing and a bad thing.
It’s good that people talk because we still make
money from it, although not at the rate that we
used to previously because there’s been so much
of a reduction in the pricing, which most customers
don’t believe but there has been, so that’s the
one thing. And then the second thing is that we
still have in the region of about four-million 2G
devices on the network. Now that represents an
opportunity – it’s an opportunity for customers
to have a better experience, so we no longer roll
out 2G –only base stations. Now we only roll out
2G and 3G. Vodacom is pushing customers towards
knowing the benefits of having improved
technology at their fingertips in terms of data
usage. We also educate customers on new 3G
and LTE devices that range in price from R299
to R1 399. You don’t have to go out and buy 2G
phones because you’re scared that someone is
stealing your data. Vodacom will make a substantial
investment in customer education this year.
How are you guys able to give work to
SMMEs and what are the opportunities
for businesses in Limpopo?
There are three angles to the business we manage
in Limpopo. The network is the underlying product,
Consumer business relates to our retail customers
and Enterprise business talks specifically to business
customers and the public sector. On the network
side there are tons of areas of opportunity, from the
company that supplies the diesel to the company
that has to survey the land and get permission from
the local municipality to enable us to build a site,
and the list goes on to areas such as maintenance.
One of the companies that constructs sites for us
in the region is called Boniswa, and it’s owned by
an African black woman so I’m very proud of that
relationship. She employs 150 people of which 75%
are from Polokwane and has been so great that
we’re one of the regions that made our accelerated
site roll-out target. When you have suppliers
who share your vision and passion to win then your
job becomes easier. We give a lot of work to small
and medium businesses and some of them are no
longer small; they may have started off small but
they’ve grown up and are flourishing, and that’s on
the network side. We have in excess of 1 000 sites
and 3.9-million customers to manage. Without the
many small-medium businesses partnering with us,
we would not be able to deliver to our customers.
IF COMPANIES LIKE
OURSELVES ARE
NOT PUTTING IN THE
INVESTMENTS IN RESOURCES
AND INFRASTRUCTURE NOW,
IN FIVE YEARS IT’S GOING TO
BE TOO LATE.
On the consumer side we have a massive distribution.
We have 50 franchise stores in the province besides
our national chain partners like PEP, Edgars, Game, etc.
One of our local franchisees, Mohabi Mahape, is
from Seshego. While he still owns the store there,
he also owns 11 other stores including the store
in the recently launched Mall of the South. So this
thing has spread its tentacles, but underneath this
whole Limpopo development is the fact that we are
starting to have an influence on the greater business
community. The company is also really committed
to small/medium enterprise growth and Vodacom
is really embracing the spirit of giving back to
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LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2016/17