Author: Gugu Lourie

The SABC has called for an inquiry to determine licence conditions and tariff structure for digital sound broadcasting (DSB) services. “The Authority must conduct an inquiry to determine the licence conditions, obligations, and tariff structure for signal distribution including the regulatory regime for multi-channel distribution services and convergence,” the public broadcaster said in a submission to ICASA. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will be holding (virtual) public hearings on the draft DSB Regulations, 2020 on 20 and 21 January 2021. On 13 November 2020, the Authority published a Draft DSB Regulations 1, and the deadline for written…

In a submission to the country’s communications watchdog ICASA, broadcaster Primedia has recommended that the regulator ensures final Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB) regulations make no mention of the switch-off of analogue sound broadcasting services. The Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) will be holding (virtual) public hearings on the draft DSB Regulations, 2020 on 20 and 21 January 2021. On 13 November 2020, the Authority published a Draft DSB Regulations 1, and the deadline for written representations thereon was 29 December 2020, which was subsequently extended by notice to 8 January 2021. By the closing date, ICASA had received fifteen written submissions…

Naspers announced on Wednesday a R250 million ($17 million) investment in AgriTech business Aerobotics. The Series B round that was oversubscribed was led by Naspers, one of the world’s most powerful and lowest-flying investment firms, with significant participation from Platform Investment Partners, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation. Last May, Naspers invested a R100 million investment in Aerobotics, through its earlystage business funding initiative Naspers Foundry. Aerobotics is a subscription-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides intelligent tools for the agricultural industry to manage its crops. Aerobotics, founded by James Paterson and Benji Meltzer in 2014, is a…

Microsoft has invested in Cruise, General Motors (GM) driverless car unit, pushing the company’s valuation to $30 billion (R447 billion). The global tech company has invested R29 billion ($2 billion) in funding in cruise. Cruise was bought by GM in 2006 for $1 billion (R14.9 billion). Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Cruise’s goal is to drive change by building the world’s most advanced self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles that safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Cruise and General Motors on Tuesday announced they have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to accelerate the…

The South African financial regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) supports the liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI) to recoup money paid to investors. MTI is a bitcoin Ponzi scheme started in South Africa. The FSCA has finalised its investigation into Mirror Trading International (Pty) Ltd (MTI) and will share its report with the liquidators appointed by the Master of the High Court. The appointed liquidators are Mr. AW van Rooyen (Investrust Insolvency Practitioners), Mr. H Bester (Tygerberg Trustees), Mrs. J Barnard and Mrs. D Basson (Tshwane Trust Co). The FSCA said in a statement that it understands that…

DeHaat, an Indian online platform technology-based platform offering end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, has raised $30 million (R453 million) in a new financing round to help the business scale up in both size and scope. The funding round has been led by Prosus, which is owned by South Africa’s Naspers. RTP Global co-invested in the round with participation from existing investors, Sequoia India, FMO, Omnivore & AgFunder. DeHaat, which is Hindi for village, aim to aggregate 10 million Indian farmers while helping them to also increase their profitability. The platform integrates a digital marketplace with a rural network of last-mile…

This week embattled Cell C informed the market that it had started migrating its contract and broadband customers to rival Vodacom.    TechFinancials first reported in October 2020 that the embattled mobile phone operator was trying to appoint a managed services provider to handle its contract and broadband customers.    At the time Cell C would neither deny nor confirm the development.   We reported that the troubled mobile phone company was in talks with Comm Equipment Company (CEC), a handset financing company owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, which also owns 45% of the operator.   The move to…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…