Telkom is again in the process of finding a black economic empowerment (BEE) partner for its wholly owned subsidiary, Swiftnet.
Spokesperson Candice Jeffreys says negotiations with two prospective BEE partners have fallen through in recent months, and Telkom is not presently in talks with a company.
"Part of the licensing agreement is that we are required to have a 30% BEE partner," she says. Jeffreys was unable to disclose the deadline imposed by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to find a partner.
"All I can say is that we still have time to find a suitable partner," she says.
Telkom would not disclose the reasons the previous two sets of talks fell through.
Swiftnet, trading as Fastnet Wireless Service, provides services in the credit card security, fleet management and cheque verification sectors.
The agreement reached between ICASA and Telkom that Swiftnet would take on a BEE partner occurred in the second half of 2004, says Lee-Ann Cassie, telecommunications enforcement manager at Telkom.
In 2001 Telkom bought the remaining 40% in Swiftnet that it did not already own, from empowerment group VHR Wireless.
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