Telcos eyeing one roof to save cost

By GYNNIE KERO
Sister agencies under Telikom Kumul Holdings will be housed under the same roof come March next year to cut down on rental costs, chairman Andrew Johnson says.
Johnson said yesterday that its wholesale business, PNG DataCo, would operate separately.
“Transition period will be done before the year ends,” he said.
“We have physically moved people into Telikom Rumana (Waigani).
“Over time, as we run out of the lease in the bmobile Building which runs out in March next year, everybody will be in the Rumana building.
“We own the Rumana building, we don’t own the other.
“We will probably keep the DataCo people physically separate because we want to keep the DataCo wholesale image separate.
“It saves us a bit of money having all not in a rental property.
“At the same time, DataCo is a small entity, so I’d rather spend the extra money and have them in a standalone business.”
Johnson said Kumul Telikom Holdings as a new entity would consist of two retail businesses: a fixed business and a mobile business.
“We are creating an entity under Kumul Telikom Holdings and have two retail businesses: a fixed business and a mobile business – fixed business like EMTV and FM 100 and wholesale business like DataCo PNG,” he said.
“We will combine our assets, and combine our people.
“What we are really doing is restoring the business to what it should have been years ago.”