The Unholy Alliance of Monopolies: In the first of a series of explosive interviews, TechCentral’s TCS+ sits down with Openserve’s chief commercial officer, Phila Dube, to reveal the dark underbelly of the company’s business model and its stranglehold on South Africa’s telecommunications infrastructure.
Openserve, a subsidiary of the Telkom Group, is the de facto gatekeeper of the nation’s digital economy, with a stranglehold on the country’s fibre footprint and a monopoly on fibre broadband connections in all provinces. But at what cost to innovation, competition, and the public interest?
In this shocking episode of TCS+, Dube is forced to confront the elephant in the room: the company’s predatory business practices, its cosy relationships with giant internet service providers, and its naked attempt to stifle competition.
- He is grilled about his role in Openserve’s market-manipulating activities, from crony capitalism to price-fixing;
- The changes that Openserve has undergone in the past decade are scrutinized, including its ruthless elimination of smaller competitors and its exploitation of taxpayers’ money;
- Dube is pressed on the company’s plans to further consolidate its grip on the market, and its refusal to open up its networks to smaller players;
- He is challenged on the so-called “advantages” of Openserve’s business model, which critics argue is a recipe for stagnation and mediocrity;
- The company’s vaunted “open-access” model is ripped apart, revealing its true intentions: to use the public purse to enrich its shareholders and cement its dominance;
- Dube is confronted about Openserve’s cosy relationships with giant internet service providers, and its failure to promote innovation and competition in the sector.
Don’t miss this explosive opening salvo in a series that will blow the lid off one of South Africa’s most powerful and feared monopolies.
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