Highway Africa News Agency

Telkom SA has bought Africa Online (AFOL), an internet service provider for 125 million rands from the African Lakes Corporation. AFOL which offers dial-up, lease lines, VSAT and broadband services to both retail and corporate entities operates in eight African countries namely Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Swaziland and Cote D'Ivoire. The company however has active affiliates in South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritania, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Angola and Cameroon.

Telkom acquired AFOL for 125 million rand (20.1 million dollars) but the name of the company remains the same and its investment into AFOL is estimated at 6.8 million dollars.

Telkom says the acquisition falls in line with its ambitious Pan-African growth strategy.

AFOL-Ghana established in 1996 has an internet subscription share of 25 per cent with a presence in five of the ten regional capitals in the country.

The company upgraded its services recently to provide iburst under the infinet brand name last year for clients within the Accra-Tema metropolis and hopes to cover its challenges with the acquisition and experience from Telkom.

AFOL has had to deal with fierce global competition on cost leadership strategies, infrastructure underdevelopment and expensive bandwidth, increasingly demanding global oriented stakeholders (consumers, shareholders, staff and media), ever changing regulatory environment and rapid technological advancements with broadband preference.

Telkom has vast infrastructure and IP network among other experiences. Managers expect to boost the services of AFOL by developing innovative pricing and bundling options, bundling of broadband access and improve customer experience and satisfaction.

Growth strategies for the AFOL in 2007/08 includes expansion of network infrastructure, establish additional affiliates to increase associate presence across the African continent to about 39 countries , expand product range and invest in systems to improve service levels through greater network management capabilities.

AFOL hopes the acquisition will create greater brand awareness through visibility, ensure that company retains critical skills, make quick network expansion to drive opportunities and topline revenue, encourage innovation and aggressiveness about business opportunity.

The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of AFOL, Mr John Joseph said during a speech in Accra, Ghana said part of AFOL's strategy is to optimize its network use so that their customers can benefit from the vast experience, modern and technological advances at Telkom SA.

"In South Africa alone, Telkom SA is investing over 30 billion rand over the next five years in network upgrade. In due course, I will be able to tell you what level of investment we will make in AFOL but I can assure you it will be significant and will greatly transform the company?s technology platform."