The past, present and future of Openserve, with CEO Althon Beukes

--:--
Openserve, South Africa’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure provider, has been through enormous changes in the nine years since it became a separate brand and a subsidiary of the Telkom Group in 2015.
In the latest podcast in a five-part series of interviews with Openserve executives, the company’s CEO, Althon Beukes, tells TechCentral’s TCS+ about these changes and what they have meant for the company and the broader market, including its internet service provider partners.
Beukes provides an overview of these changes, including the recent spinoff of Openserve into a separate subsidiary within Telkom.
In the interview, Beukes reflects on:
• The changing dynamics of the telecoms infrastructure market in South Africa;
• Why there’s been a slowdown in the roll-out of fibre-optic networks;
• How Openserve is performing considering the broader market context;
• How load shedding and load reduction have impacted Openserve, and the investments it has made to overcome the challenge;
• The shift away from legacy copper technologies and the big growth in next-generation services, and what’s driving that demand;
• The potential for industry consolidation – and why much depends on the outcome of the ongoing Competition Tribunal investigation into Vodacom’s acquisition of up to a 40% stake in Vumatel parent company Maziv;
• What Openserve would like to see flowing from the Competition Tribunal process; and
• Openserve’s future plans, including where it’s headed in the coming years.
Do not miss a fascinating discussion – and the rest of the interviews in the series.
2 Sep 2024 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

Lessons from South Africa’s biggest cyberattacks

IT security breaches are on the rise in South Africa and worldwide, and with AI tools at their disposal, criminals are scaling up their attacks. With the risk of attack so high, organisations are forced to look beyond beefing up security – they must prepare for the unfortunate event where…
25 Jul 15 min

First Distribution’s guide to a bulletproof cyber crisis response strategy

In cybersecurity, prevention is always better than cure. However, organisations have to prepare for the worst-case scenario, one where their systems are breached by cybercriminals. This is the second in a series of three podcasts on how to manage cyber crises effectively when they happen. The first episode – watch…
24 Jul 11 min

How cyberthreats turn into cyber crises

In today's hyperconnected society, a cybersecurity crisis isn’t just a technical glitch; it's a profound disruption that can bring businesses, governments and even entire countries to a halt. For organisations to protect themselves effectively, they must understand what cybercriminals are capable of, where the vulnerabilities in their own systems are…
23 Jul 13 min

Vox’s Craig Blignaut on the data boom and the future of Wi-Fi

Data is like oxygen in the digital era, and people are using more of it. In 2025 alone, global mobile data usage is projected to reach 200 exabytes per month. That is 200 billion gigabytes of data consumed monthly by everything from high-definition video streaming to online gaming and IoT…
22 Jul 14 min

Samsung unveils significant new safety feature for A-series phones

Samsung Electronics recently launched the latest line-up of its popular Galaxy A-series of midtier smartphones, with the A26, A36 and A56 replacing the older A25, A35 and A55 models. One of the most notable new features of the A-series is a curated artificial intelligence module, dubbed Awesome Intelligence, that brings…
16 Jul 18 min