Neotel gains while Telkom drains

By Paul Vecchiatto for Neotel
Cape Town, 23 Oct 2007

Neotel has hired three top telecommunications industry guns as it ramps up to bring products and services to the market and develop its national network. Its rival, Telkom, is experiencing an executive drain.

This news comes in the wake of Telkom losing another of its top executives, with CFO Kaushik Patel announcing his resignation to take up a similar position with a parastatal.

This means Telkom has lost its last remaining permanent senior executive, as people in acting capacities hold all the other C-level positions.

Patel`s resignation is clouded by the fact the incumbent telecoms operator is about to undergo a preliminary investigation by the Financial Services Board for insider trading. Telkom says the timing of the two events is unfortunate, but there is no link.

Executive decisions

According to Neotel, the new executives will fill new positions at the company.

This comes as the second national operator prepares to launch more enterprise products and services sometime in November, after having to postpone the originally earmarked September date.

Neotel MD Ajay Pandey says the most recent additions to his executive team create a solid foundation for the company as it rapidly ramps up operations, builds its network and takes its offerings to market.

The new team members are Fani Zulu, who will hold the title of executive head of external affairs; Stefano Mattiello, executive head of enterprise sales; and Siphiwe Ndwalaza, executive head of human resources.

Recruitment feat

According to Neotel, Zulu is an experienced corporate affairs expert. He served as Eskom`s spokesman for several years, and previously worked in senior positions at SARS and the Department of Public Enterprises.

Mattiello held senior executive positions at Motorola and Sun Microsystems, both technology companies with extensive interests in the telecoms industry. Neotel says he brings an enormous amount of experience in growing and managing the enterprise customer base.

Ndwalaza was head of HR at national signal distributor Sentech. Neotel says he has a solid understanding of the telecoms sector and its human capital requirements.

"Attracting these exceptionally experienced executives is a huge coup for Neotel, as we scale our organisation," Pandey said.

Speedy growth?

Neotel was launched 14 months ago, after receiving its licence in December 2005. It has a fibre backbone and distribution network stretching almost 12 000km.

"We`re growing our network very quickly to be able to offer South African businesses and individuals a real - and better - alternative to our current incumbent national operator," says Pandey.

Neotel launched its international wholesale services in August last year, along with NeoLink, a national leased-line product being used by several large enterprise customers, including the State IT Agency and Internet Solutions.

Neotel is undertaking pilot services for its converged wireless Internet and voice solutions in certain areas of Johannesburg and Pretoria. These services will be introduced commercially after the pilot services have been concluded.