Author: Gugu Lourie
JSE-listed Cognition Holdings has snapped up the remaining 60.3% stake it didn’t own in BMi, a research firm specialising in consumer and industrial research. By Gugu Lourie The firm that operates quietly to provide telecoms and IT solutions to big telecommunications operators said it would pay R11 million for buying the stake from The Tandem Trust, Gareth Pearson and Dana Braithwaite. The transaction will be facilitated through an issue of Cognition shares at R2 valued at more than R7.4 million and R3.7 million in cash. Cognition currently owns 39.7% of the issued shares in BMi Research. In July 2014,…
In the business world, the ebb and flow of prosperity depends upon two forces: disruptive technology and competitive advantage. During the industrial era, for example, competitive advantage emanated from business efficiencies such as Henry Ford’s production line assembly system, which revolutionised the automobile industry and manufacturing processes globally. By Uriel Rootshtain, Application Services Group Lead at Microsoft SA By the advent of the information age, technology was not just being used to drive production efficiencies, it also drove information efficiencies as well. The competitive advantage began to shift to businesses’ access to information, but the cost of obtaining said information…
MTN South Africa is strengthening its market position after it reported on Thursday that its customers rose 2% to 29,1 million in the quarter to end-September driven by pre-paid market. By Gugu Lourie The cellphone operator attributed this growth to a 3,1% rise in the pre-paid subscriber base, supported by the continued success of attractive below-the-line campaigns. The contract subscriber base recorded a 2,6% decline to 5,2 million due to the disconnections of approximately 90 000 low-cost router SIMs recorded on the Autopage subscriber base and low availability of handsets. The mobile phone operator has been losing customers to rivals – Cell C and…
South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene announced on Wednesday that R1 billion would be allocated to rollout broadband and broadcast digital migration. By Staff Writer The revised MTEF (medium-term expenditure framework) shifts about R9 billion from within existing baselines to priority programmes, said the ministry. “About R1 billion will be shifted for the rollout of broadband infrastructure and broadcast digital migration,” said Nene, during tabling in parliament of the medium term budget policy statement on Wednesday. The statement added that about R4.8 billion is reprioritised for upgrades and maintenance of the national and provincial road networks, R1.4 billion has…
No person within ICASA is in denial about the problems (both internal and external) that the organisation faces and the reasons why the organisation has performed so poorly. Neither are we ignorant about the mammoth task that lies ahead if we are to turn the organisation around. By Willington Ngwepe, chief operations officer of ICASA The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa today tabled its 2014-15 Annual Report to Parliament. The report presents an overview of the Authority’s performance for the 2014-15FY. It paints a bleak picture of the Authority’s performance during the past financial period. The organisation is…
Technology firm HITec Sure, which supports security company SOS Protec with its infrastructure and IT requirements, is rolling out wireless internet access and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs. By Gugu Lourie HITec Sure is based in the suburb of Gillview in the South of Johannesburg and is promising customers’ internet access that is wireless, fast and affordable. The tech firm that supports SOS Protec with its infrastructure and IT requirements has launched an internet access service, known as MYiweb. The service is available on “special offer”. Customers can buy 4Mbps line capped 20GB at R399/month, 2Mbps uncapped at…
The art of futurology – predicting what future society might look like – is plagued with difficulties. Books, films, TV shows and plays that feature such efforts are all judged through the prism of hindsight. By Stewart Boogert The 1989 film Back To The Future Part II (BTTF2) saw its characters travel in time to 21 October 2015 and experience a world hugely different to the 1980s one they came from. Now we have reached 2015, it is clear that some of the predictions have proved surprisingly accurate – while others have fallen woefully flat. But we’re also surprisingly close…
Bond villains have always been interesting characters: sophisticated, intelligent and supremely well-equipped with futuristic and cutting-edge toys. Aptly, the new official car of evil, a Jaguar C-X75 driven by henchman Mr Hinx in the latest Bond movie Spectre, is as advanced as it gets. By Chris Ebbert A 850-horsepower hybrid with four electric engines and diesel-fuelled micro turbines, it can reach a top speed of more than 200mph. The prototype was too costly to go into full production but has been dusted off specially for the movie. It can cover the first 60km of any journey in purely electric mode, and…
MTN Group on Tuesday announced that MTN Cameroon will receive $100 000 (R1,3 million) to invest in community projects, as recognition of the outstanding and selfless work of employees in that country, during the group’s annual employee volunteer programme. By Staff Writer MTN Cameroon employees rallied together during the 21 Days of Y’ello Care campaign to build eight classrooms and a dormitory at two schools for visually impaired learners. The team also constructed and equipped three libraries in centres for the disabled. The activities are estimated to have impacted more than 4500 beneficiaries. Y’ello Care is an employee volunteer…
Telkom, the country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group, plans to offer the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans users R10 000 funeral cover by simply recharging with R100 or more airtime. By Gugu Lourie The firm, which owns Telkom Mobile, has partnered with Africa’s biggest insurer Old Mutual, which would underwrite the cover valued at R10 000 at no additional costs for the telephone group subscribers on the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans. This innovative solution has been developed by Telkom as a loyalty funeral cover for prepaid users. Telkom said customers on the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans will…