Corporate strategies and market developments in South Africa's telecommunications industry

Abstract

This article focuses on various factors that are usually exploited by media institutions to impede competition. A case study of South Africa's Telkom and three cellular phone service providers is used to illustrate how such factors are often used to buttress monopoly in the market and impede other smaller competitors. This article posits that company size alone cannot yield higher profits and market gains without factors like concentration strategies and forms of integration; vertical, horizontal and diagonal expansion; the impact of regulation; policy stipulations; and technological innovation. Demand size also causes a ripple-effect to the increase in value of a product, thereby increasing the volume sold. Economies of scale and scope also need to be analysed concomitantly. Keywords: Cellular phone service providers, Telkom, Telecomunications industry, Vodacom, MTN, Cell C