Author: Gugu Lourie

South African mobile and fixed-line telephone customers seem to be generally doing well, thanks to the number portability regulation giving them more options: to choose when to stay or dump either Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom. But can you believe it, according to the Number Portability Company (NPC) the average number of numbers ported every month is 76 058? The low number of customers porting their numbers could indicate that consumers are happy with their network operator – Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom. Number Portability is a process that enables end-users to retain their telephone numbers when changing from one network operator to…

MTN South Africa has spent more than R50 billion on upgrading its network infrastructure in the past five years. South Africa’s second-biggest operator has improved its Long Term Evolution (LTE) population coverage to over 96%. It is a standard for wireless data transmission that allows for faster downloads of your favourite music, websites, and videos. It is definitely much faster than the previous technology, 3G. LTE – sometimes referred to as 4G LTE – also offers less buffering and better streaming. MTN has rolled out low band LTE, which uses spectrum bands below 1GHz. This improves coverage and significantly improves the…

South Africa’s Telkom has published its 2020 integrated annual report, which shows the group’s ownership by geographical region. As of 31 March 2020, Telkom is 50.5% owned by institutional investors, 40.5% held by the Government of South Africa, 6.4% is owned by non-institutional investors, and the remaining 2.6% is held as treasury share. Broken down into geographical regions, Telkom’s ownership is as follows: South Africa – 44% United States of America – 37% United Kingdom – 9% Europe – 6% Rest of the world – 4% Despite South Africans owning 44% of the telco, foreigners seem to have an appetite for…

South Africa is finally seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and President Cyril Ramaphosa could announce eased lockdown restrictions later this week. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced on Saturday that there are now a total of 553,188 cases of coronavirus in South Africa, reflecting an increase of 7,712 cases from the 545,476 infections reported previously. The data shows that there are 301 new COVID-19 related deaths, taking the total to 10,210 casualties. A steady decline in the infection rate and other critical indicators have raised hopes that the worst of the pandemic’s first…

Telkom boss Sipho Maseko’s total remuneration was reduced by R2 million in 2020 financial year to R21.8 million versus R23.2 million in 2019, according to the company’s latest annual report. Maseko took home guaranteed pay of R8.8 million and R10.5 million in vested shares. He also received R2.4 million in dividends on shares that weren’t vested. Telkom’s highest-paid executive was former chief financial officer Deon Fredericks, who retired as chief investment officer. He was paid a total of R26 million, including R16 million in vested shared and 5.7 million in severance pay. Fredericks was followed closely by Alphonzo Samuels, who…

As part of its plan to exit the Middle East, MTN is in talks to sell MTN Syria to TeleInvest, the operator disclosed on Thursday. “As part of this process, we are in advanced discussions to sell our 75% stake in MTN Syria to TeleInvest, which is the minority shareholder in MTN Syria with a 25% holding,” MTN said. “As part of the review of our portfolio, we believe the group is best served to focus on its pan-African strategy and to simplify its portfolio by exiting the Middle East region in an orderly manner over the medium term.” TeleInvest…

MTN sees value in its joint venture with SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. In 2017, Momentum Metropolitan and MTN launched aYo, a micro-insurance joint venture. It began its roll-out in Uganda in January 2017 and has also been deployed in Ghana and Zambia. At the end of June, our aYo insurance joint venture had 8,6 million registered policyholders, MTN informed investors on Thursday. “We have agreed to increase our shareholding in aYo to 75% and will consolidate it in the future,” MTN said. “aYo generated R48 million in service revenue in the first six months to end June, and continues…

MTN has added more new subscribers in the last six months as more people signed up for its mobile and data services amid the coronavirus pandemic. Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone company announced its subscribers increased by 10,6 million to 261,5 million for the six months ended 30 June 2020. The operators also reached a significant milestone in surpassing the 100 million mark of active data users. By end June 2020, MTN had 102 million active data users. It also recorded 38,3 million Mobile Money (MoMo) users and in Nigeria added 114 000 agents to reach 222…

MTN Group is selling its 75% stake in MTN Syria as part of its strategy to exit the Middle East in an orderly manner. The company informed investors on Thursday that it was focusing its strategy in future on the African markets: “As part of our ongoing portfolio review, we believe the group is best served to focus in the future on our pan-African strategy,” said Rob Shuter, MTN CEO. “We will therefore be exiting the Middle East in an orderly manner over the medium term. As a first step we are in advanced discussions to sell our 75% stake…

MultiChoice chief executive Calvo Mawela’s total remuneration was $649 000 (R11.3 million) in 2020, up by 3% compared with last year’s R10.6 million, according to the pay-TV’s operator’s annual report released today. Executive chairman Imtiaz Patel was paid $620 000 (R10.7 million) and CFO Tim Jacobs received R7.5 million. These amounts include base salary, pension, benefits, and short-term incentives. Patel and Mawela are paid in dollars, which is aligned with the MultiChoice Group Dubai-based contracts and considers Dubai’s cost of living and typical expatriate benefits for Dubai. The company said to focus significant time on the MultiChoice Rest of Africa…

South African Airways (SAA) has put an immediate stop to the spending of all Voyager Miles – even for non-air rewards. “The ability to earn Miles, through our various Voyager programme partners, will continue as normal,” SAA said in a note to Voyager Miles customers. The redemptions of miles will be paused for another month until 31 August 2020, said SAA. “You will therefore not be able to redeem your Miles for awards until after 31 August 2020”. SAA said it was aware that its members were eager to receive their membership credentials reflecting the new expiry date of their…

Telkom has launched its funeral insurance, which includes single member, family and extended family benefit options. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. Also read: Telkom Enters Financial Services Fray in Ongoing Drive to Diversify New and existing Telkom customers will have access to different cover options, which will determine their premiums. The country’s largest fixed-line provider said its funeral insurance has 5 different cover levels starting from R10 000 to R70 000. The minimum entry age for a main member and spouse is 18, and the…

South Africa’s telco Telkom waded into the country’s red hot financial area with a new financial services entity to compete against the likes of mobile phone rivals MTN, Vodacom and FinTech players. Telkom Financial Services will offer solutions to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the digital economy. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. The main aim is to bring down some of the barriers, especially for small to medium businesses to be part of the economy. The country’s largest fixed-line provider disclosed in an advert…

COVID-19 has drastically impacted on the manner in which society conducts one-on-one engagements – most notably within the medical sphere. In light of the additional COVID-19 risks associated with comorbidities like diabetes – it’s more important than ever to have these conditions well under control and managed – even without your traditional doctor’s check-ups. Guidepost, an innovative SA company, is providing the solution to managing diabetes during COVID-19. The company has secured an undisclosed amount of funding to scale-up its business. AlphaCode and Endeavour, which have been monitoring this space and both decided to bet on this local company at…

The appointment of the new CEO at MTN Group is soon to be finalised, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone group said. “The succession process for the MTN Group CEO role is on track and MTN expects to make an announcement in this regard in the next 4 to 8 weeks,” the company informed investors on Friday. “Current Group CEO Rob Shuter will complete his fixed four-year contract in March 2021 as announced earlier this year and this timing will enable a seamless handover to his successor.” In March, MTN announced Shuter would step down. Shuter joined MTN…

BT Group has announced the appointment of Rob Shuter as CEO of its Enterprise unit and as a member of BT’s Executive Committee.   Shuter is currently CEO at MTN Group, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone company with 250 million customers across 21 countries. Prior to joining MTN, he served as CEO of Vodafone’s European Cluster as well as being CEO of Vodafone Netherlands. “MTN notes the announcement issued today by BT Group Plc that Rob has been appointed as the CEO of BT Enterprise,” MTN informed investors on Friday. “Rob will relocate to the UK and…

Streaming wars are well underway. Netflix, ShowMax, Prime Video, VIU and others are all vying for our attention. South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC might also join the fray by streaming its content. So one wonders which streaming service is popular in South Africa. According to the latest figures from JustWatch, an international streaming guide with more than 20 million users, Netflix has the highest market share in South Africa. Netflix is followed by Showmax, which is worth mentioning, as in most other countries of the world, Prime Video occupies second place after Netflix. Streaming charts in Q2 2020 Market share development…

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) refuted allegations that it is delaying the commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS). The Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) announced on Wednesday that it has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court. The BITF said it wanted to expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period.…

Over the past 30 years, information technologies have advanced rapidly, making people’s lives and work much easier. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed though that digital infrastructure has not kept pace with technological developments. According to the ITU, over half of the world’s population still does not have Internet access nor access to other digital technologies. As economies across countries slow, governments grow increasingly concerned with economic recovery strategies. “We envision a more connected, intelligent, and innovative future,” said Catherine Chen, Huawei corporate senior vice president and director of the board. “Above all else, we must ensure this is an inclusive,…

Lobby group the Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) is taking the country’s communications regulator ICASA to court. “The BITF has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court and expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period,” BITF said in a statement on Wednesday. The BITF is a national non-profit organisation which represents previously disadvantaged…

The Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers, Prosus raised R32.8 billion ($2 billion) in a bond offering on Tuesday. The company said the funds would be used for general corporate purposes, including potential future mergers and acquisitions activity, and to further augment the company’s liquidity position. The company said in a statement that the offerings attracted strong investor demand, with US dollar notes more than seven times subscribed and euro debut notes more than eleven times subscribed on the eight year notes and twelve times subscribed on the twelve year notes. “It is expected that this financing will…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Wednesday said it would impose a public censure and fine of R7.5 million on struggling tech firm EOH Group due to non-compliance with its listing requirements. “EOH’s previously published financial information for the periods 2017 to 2018 did not comply with IFRS and was incorrect, false and misleading in material aspects and this incorrect information was disseminated to shareholders, the JSE and the investing public,”  the JSE said in a statement. “For these reasons and with reference to the JSE’s findings of breach, the JSE has decided to impose a public censure and the…

Anushka Bogdanov, the lead independent non-executive director of EOH and chairperson of the Social and Ethics Committee, has resigned from the board of the company. Bogdanov resigned from the board of directors of EOH with immediate effect. “A process to appoint a new lead independent non-executive director and chairperson of the Social & Ethics Committee is underway and shareholders will be advised of such appointments in due course,” EOH said in a statement. “The board of directors of EOH would like to thank Ms Bogdanov for her contribution to EOH over the past year and wishes her well in her…

5G – the fifth-generation wireless network – is about astounding speeds and almost zero latency – the lag time between when your phone pings the network and when it responds. After years of anticipation and a considerable amount of hype, 5G is finally in South Africa. With 5G you can download movies in seconds and YouTube clips instantly plus experience lag-free real-time gaming. MTN recently launched its 5G network with 100 sites in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. The launch was made possible, in part, by the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by the…

The rapid roll-out of more online food shopping capacity has helped South Africa’s retailer Woolworths report soaring sales over the lockdown period. The South African government has announced a national lockdown that requires the closure of non-essential businesses between 27 March 2020 and 16 April 2020 and has implemented various regulations and directives which have impacted the way Woolworths does business. The country is currently on lockdown at level 3. South Africa began easing restrictions at the beginning of May 2020. “Woolworths Food continued its positive momentum into the last nine weeks of H2, growing sales by 16.1%, as the…