In the days when it was a state monopoly, it would have been fair to describe Telkom as primarily a technology company; the question was which technology was best for the job, and customers more or less had to fit in. When the telecommunications market was deregulated, that had to change – technology had to be seen not in isolation, but within the context of market needs and, ultimately, the business’ profitability.

The company’s success over the past few years, and in particular its penetration of the highly competitive mobile market, is testimony to the way in which it has made the necessary changes in its corporate culture, and how those changes have paid off in terms of market share. Hugo van Zyl, Managing Executive: Mobile Networks at Telkom, is in many senses the epitome of the journey that the company and its people have undertaken.