Margate - President Thabo Mbeki fired an indirect salvo at Telkom yesterday by calling on the telecoms regulator to find a speedy resolution to the country's local loop unbundling process.

Telkom currently has exclusive ownership of the local loop, which is the final link between the former monopoly and customers. Its grip on the loop has enabled it to charge high telecoms prices. Unbundling it would let other operators make use of it and a reduction in telecoms prices would follow.

"Icasa [the Independent Communications Authority of SA] must intervene to speed up the progress of unbundling," Mbeki said after a three-day meeting on communications with an advisory group of business leaders and industry experts.