8ta brand to become Telkom Mobile

Cape Town - Telecommunications firm Telkom [JSE:TKG] is to restructure elements of its mobile business 8ta, according to Business Report.

Telkom reportedly told staff on Friday that it would "progressively change the 8ta brand to Telkom Mobile".

Telkom said in a statement that "elements of the market which had been serviced and marketed under the 8ta brand, will soon be serviced under the Telkom brand".

There had been reports that Telkom was looking to sell 8ta, but the operator said it had yet to receive an offer and did not comment further on speculation.

8ta was launched in 2010 and was expected to be a "formidable game changer in the local telecoms industry".

In the 6 months to September 2012, 8ta posted a R587m loss compared with a R1.066bn loss the year earlier. While subscribers grew to 1.1 million, said Business Report.