Author: Gugu Lourie

MTN said in a statement on Thursday that it was experiencing voice and data connectivity issues affecting some of its subscribers across the country. “Engineers are investigating the issue,” the company said. “MTN apologise to affected customers for any inconvenience caused.” In May, Mteto Nyati MTN CEO, said MTN has prioritised transforming customer experience as one of the key differentiators that will set MTN apart from the competition. To that end, MTN embarked on an aggressive network rollout which saw the operator increasing spend by 92.9% last year and adding 966 2G sites, 1 593 largely co-located 3G sites and 3…

ogaVenue the Lagos-based online events venue booking platform, announced on Thursday that it has secured a $45k seed investment from Spark and Hotels.ng. By Staff writer The investment will be used to increase inventory, for further expansion to more states across Nigeria and to build out the product, engineering and business development team. Launched in 2014, the online events venue search & booking platform enables customers to source the perfect venue for weddings, conferences or birthdays. ogaVenue was launched by Andrew Airelobhegbe, former CTO at Amsbro.com (An EdTech startup). After just one year of trading, ogaVenue already lists 2000+ venue…

The SA Post Office (Sapo) has launched a free app to allow customers to keep track of all their parcels and locate the nearest Post Office branches. “This is intrinsic to our new strategy of modernising our services as a group, with technology the critical enabler for customer solutions,” Sapo Chief Information Officer Mthoko Mncwabe said on Thursday. He said the Post Office is using technology to improve customer experience. The app, simply called ‘South African Post Office’, is available free of charge on the Google Playstore for Android devices and on the iStore for Apple devices. The app tracks…

When it comes to identifying someone allegedly involved in a crime there can be risks associated with seeing photos of people on Facebook and other social media, as the recent case involving convicted killer Adrian Bayley highlights. By Paul McGorrery Bayley was arrested in 2012 for the rape and murder of ABC journalist Jill Meagher. He later pleaded guilty in 2013 and was sentenced to a minimum term of 35 years. In 2014 and 2015, Bayley was found guilty of raping three other women. The first incident was alleged to have taken place in 2000 and the other two were in…

JSE-listed IT firm Adapt IT informed investors on Thursday that headline earnings per share – South Africa’s main profit gauge – rose 36% to 57.54 cents a share for the year to end-June 2016. By Staff writer The software and computer services firm added that its operating profit jumped 58% to R136 million. Adapt IT CEO, Sbu Shabalala, attributed the strong performance to various factors including the implementation of a strategy focused on sustainable growth and diversification. “The Adapt IT strategy is to remain an industry focused niche software provider which grows turnover and profit at a much higher rate…

When you drop a piece of food on the floor, is it really OK to eat if you pick up within five seconds? This urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate it. Research in my lab has focused on how food and food contact surfaces become contaminated, and we’ve done some work on this particular piece of wisdom. By Paul Dawson While the “five-second rule” might not seem like the most pressing issue for food scientists to get to the bottom of,…

Humans are highly social creatures. Our brains have evolved to allow us to survive and thrive in complex social environments. Accordingly, the behaviors and emotions that help us navigate our social sphere are entrenched in networks of neurons within our brains. By Caitlin Millett Social motivations, such as the desire to be a member of a group or to compete with others, are among the most basic human drives. In fact, our brains are able to assess “in-group” (us) and “out-group” (them) membership within a fraction of a second. This ability, once necessary for our survival, has largely become a detriment…

South Africa is ranked 34th globally in a new report from OpenSignal app that take measurements from millions of smartphones users in 95 countries. By Gugu Lourie OpenSignal examines the overall mobile data performance of the 95 countries to see how they stack up. OpenSignal says while 4G or LTE is a big factor especially in the most developed nations, 3G is still an important component of most countries’ mobile data infrastructure and Wi-Fi has a major influence on the way the majority of the world uses smartphones. “We found only two countries that averaged data speeds faster than 30…

Two lucky fintech entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are about to get a big boost, as they are invited to join the Fintech Africa 2016 programme. By Staff writer Village Capital is recruiting entrepreneurs across Sub Saharan Africa for the business development program, which will take place in Nairobi, Lagos and Accra. Africa is fertile ground for new fintech services which are leveraging the power of communities and social media to make financial services more relevant, while using data to deliver more meaningful financial services on an ongoing basis. For more read: The unstoppable rise of African fintech is rapidly changing the…

Volkswagen plans to bring five new electric cars to market, according to a Madison report. By Staff Writer The site said all Volkswagen’s electric cars will be based on its new modular electric-vehicle architecture – and they’ll be sold in the U.S., Europe, and China. In a new interview with German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, VW brand chief Herbert Diess, said the new electric VW is slightly smaller than the compact Golf hatchback on the outside, but its interior room is comparable to that of the midsize Passat. “It will be all-electric, battery-powered, with a range of “400 to 600 kilometers.” The VW…

MTN SA has announced the finalists who will be vying for the coveted winner’s prize in various categories in the Women in ICT – Partnership for Change Awards. The announcement of the finalists follows an intensive adjudication process where a panel of judges examined the nominations submitted.  The Women in ICT – Partnership for Change Awards is a pioneering women recognition programme that was launched by MTN in partnership with Kagiso Media’s Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio. The awards are segmented into eight categories to cater for female contribution across the broad spectrum of the industry. The shortlisted nominees…

BMW South Africa today revealed the BMW 7 Series with the Remote Control Parking system. By Staff Writer The BMW 7 Series is the world’s first series-produced car that enables owners to manoeuvre in or out of forward-parking spaces or garages without anyone at the wheel. As such, the Remote Control Parking option allows drivers to access tight parking spaces with ease. The driver initiates the car’s progress forward into or in reverse out of a space using the BMW Display Key. While the car is carrying out the semi-automated manoeuvre, the driver watches out for obstacles. Launched in South Africa in January…

BMW will launch a newly revised BMW ConnectedDrive Store – which offers BMW customers access to the complete spectrum of services and vehicle app like real time traffic and BMW Internet Services – in South Africa in September 2016. By Gugu Lourie The store will be an extension to the current BMW ConnectedDrive Portal to allow further personalisation. The full suite of BMW ConnectedDrive services was first introduced in South Africa in June 2014. With the built-in SIM card and a BMW registered account, customers are able to access their personal, password-protected BMW ConnectedDrive area, make individual settings and manage vehicle-related data…

South Africa’s Telkom said this afternoon that it secured an urgent interim court order interdicting and restraining CWU (Communications Workers Union) and its members from a number of illegal activities associated with the union’s current strike. Today, the CWU blocked access to the Telkom Campus in Centurion, along with some Telkom yards. Less than 100 CWU members today chose to harass and intimidate employees in Centurion. There were also some reports of blockades and intimidation at a few Telkom facilities elsewhere in the country. Telkom employees in Centurion were physically restrained by protesting workers from entering the Telkom campus and…

South Africa’s first LGBT video-on-demand (VOD) channel has been launched to provide content that unashamedly tells the stories of Africa’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. By Staff Writer “Traditional TV channels have historically offered only small smatterings of one-dimensional LGBT content that ironically reinforces stereotypes instead of shattering them. “PrideTV reverses the trend to restrict access to LGBT themes by South African and African broadcasters,” says Joanne Raphael Katz, PrideTV Content Manager. PrideTV costs R79 a month (or R790 for 12 months – 2 months free) and viewers subscribe by visiting www.prideTV.co.za. Credit cards are accepted. Alternatively, viewers can…

Is there anything that MTN doesn’t do? The mobile phone company is into mobile money, telematics, cloud computing, connected cars, telemedicine. As part of its hunt for new revenue streams, MTN has been quietly conquering the digital music space. By Gugu Lourie But there is nothing quite about MTN Music generating more than R944 million ($70 million) in revenues in the six months to end-June 2016 from distributing music digitally in Africa. For MTN, this performance in the digital music space is nothing but part of its diversification strategy to retain customers and differentiate itself from competitors. Asked how MTN…

VAST Networks, South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, announced on Monday that it was working with AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, to offer AT&T users Wi-Fi in the country. By Staff Writer In a historic alliance with South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, AT&T customers with an eligible offer and the AT&T Passport app can now roam on VAST Networks Wi-Fi in any of their locations across the country. VAST Networks aims to keep people connected at all times. The network is South Africa’s most developed and seamless Wi-Fi ecosystem which offers an integrated “on-the-go” Wi-Fi experience. VAST Networks locations…

The telecommunication landscape is constantly shifting and the line between Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers is getting more and more blurred. By Eckart Zollner, head of business development at New Telco Advances in technology and trends in efficiency creation, such as sharing infrastructure, are constantly changing the rules that define what a Tier 1 and Tier 2 provider is. Providers, both Tier 1 and Tier 2, have to look for ways to focus on their core strengths and revenue opportunities in order to remain competitive and retain their positions in the market. In order to free up their time and resources…

Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla Motors – has just revealed the second part of his master plan for the company. And it’s a doozy. Not content with producing sleek electric cars (which to be fair, was only ever a stepping stone to greater things), Musk wants to fundamentally change how we live our lives. But the road to Musk’s techno-utopia may be rocky. By Andrew Maynard Tesla Motors Master Plan.” Steps one to three were simple and elegant: Build [a] sports car Use that money to build an affordable car Use that money to build an even more affordable car.…

December 1900 marked the first ever “Christmas Bird Count”. Its aim was to get people counting bird species rather than killing them. It’s now an annual tradition. Every year on a specific day between December 14 and January 5, thousands of volunteers – ordinary people, not scientists – gather in more than 2,000 locations in the Western hemisphere to count birds. By Marina Joubert Conservation biologists use this data to assess bird populations’ health and look at long-term trends. This is probably the earliest recorded example of citizen science, a phenomenon that filmmaker Geoff Haines-Stiles calls …science with, for and by…

Mobile is fast-becoming the dominant marketing channel for companies across the vast majority of industries. By Gillian Hughes, VP Corporate Sales at Veoo. This is largely because mobile adoption can offer businesses, and particularly marketers, who are keen to reach out to potential new customers, with simplicity, speed, and scale. However, these companies should consider the fact that while nearly everyone has a mobile phone these days, this doesn’t mean that everyone uses their mobiles in the same way. One mobile feature that is becoming an increasingly hot topic is the mobile wallet. More and more consumers are embracing mobile wallets,…

Vodacom has decided to outsource a larger portion of its customer service to Merchants, a South African business process outsourcing (BPO) provider. By Staff Writer BPO is commonly known for call centre services outsourcing, which makes up 67% of the total industry. Merchants has been running Vodacom’s prepaid customer service for the past ten years, and recently expanded its offering to cover other areas of the business as well. Merchants announced on Thursday that it has launched a second Vodacom customer service centre in Cape Town. With the addition of this centre, Merchants is now accountable for operating the prepaid,…

Vodacom’s YeboYethu BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) scheme was listed today on the JSE’s black economic empowerment (BEE) board. By Staff Writer The mobile phone operator, which is owned by British mobile phone giant Vodafone, said YeboYethu listing on JSE BEE segment provides investors with enhanced liquidity. The Vodacom YeboYethu empowerment scheme was established in 2008 and allowed black people to purchase Vodacom SA shares at a discount. YeboYethu does not own nor have any beneficial interests in nor rights to Vodacom Group shares. Since YeboYethu’s incorporation, over 100 000 black people have been able to hold, through investing in YeboYethu shares.…

The City of Johannesburg’s GeoJozi Developer Challenge calls on developers aged 30 or under to help the City improve its systems of allocating and maintaining addresses across the 1,644 km2 municipality. By Staff Writer If you are a developer with an interest in apps, maps, data, urban development or cities then enter this competition which focuses on location technology. It is being run for the first time this year by the City in partnership with Wits University’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) and mapping software company, Esri South Africa. Across the world, street addresses and location are used as…

MTN plans to outsource some of its Call Centre facilities in a bid to optimise its operations and enhance customer experience. By Staff Writer “To that end, MTN has adopted a hybrid outsource model which will result in MTN retaining some call centre facilities while others are outsourced to a third party vendor,” the company announced on Wednesday. MTN expects the process to be completed by September this year. The outsource partners have a sound financial track record and have an impeccable reputation in the call centre industry, having provided services to a number of companies in the retail,…