Author: Gugu Lourie

DUBAI-based Oger Telecom has received numerous offers from SA and international companies for its 75% stake in Cell C, the country’s third mobile phone operator, according to Business Day. “Six groups approached us with interest in acquiring our stake in Cell C,” Oger Telecom’s chief legal officer and deputy CEO Mazen Abou Chakra told Business Day this week. “No decision has been taken. We are very happy with the good performance of Cell C over the past 12 to 18 months and we remain fully committed to the business until a decision to sell our stake is taken.” Saudi Telecom…

The latest Vehicle Price Index figures released by TransUnion has indicated that the demand for used vehicles continues to increase, with one new vehicle financed for every 1.78 used. New car price inflation has also softened, while the price inflation of used cars is accelerating with increasing speed. By Jeff Osborne, Head of Gumtree Automotive It is not unusual when considered against the backdrop of lower consumer confidence and increasing financial pressure. Fuel and electricity costs, the rising cost of new vehicle imports, uncertainty about the economic outlook – all have an impact – and because the gap in pricing…

Vodacom has pioneered a new way to watch video via mobile. Video Play is an app that utilises spare network capacity to download and cache selected video content at a reduced cost.  Users pre-select their content, which is then downloaded during low-demand periods (typically overnight). By Staff Writer Vodacom announced on Tuesday Vodacom Video play app that lets you browse through its catalogue of videos and tag those you want to download on to your device. When installed on a mobile device the app offers access to a selection of mobile videos from content producers like eNCA, eTV, Urban Brew and MobiTV.…

Print is far from dead: Contrary to popular belief the digital revolution has not killed the print industry. According to a report by global research house, Ovum, the printed product is proving resilient in many countries, including mature markets such as Japan and Norway and growth markets such as South Africa and India. By Staff Writer At a recent MyWorld of Tomorrow roundtable hosted by Business Connexion and Ovum it emerged that print currently accounts for 86% of annual revenues and this figure is only expected to drop to 76% by 2020. Nick Thomas, practice leader in digital media…

South Africa’s Net1 UEPS Technologies, which facilitates payments between institutions and individuals without easy access to banking services, announced on Tuesday that it has been ranked on Fortune’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list for 2015. By Staff Writer The Fortune magazine’s annual list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies focuses on public companies with the most stellar three-year profit, revenue, and stock growth. “I am very proud of our maiden inclusion in Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies list,” said Serge Belamant, chairman and CEO of Net1. “Our ranking in the top 100 affirms the efforts of the Net1 global team over the last three…

“It’s Law Just Made Simple” by LexNove, an online legal platform that seeks to strip away inefficiencies of the big law environment and facilitates access to those who need it most – at fixed, transparent, free market prices – without compromising on the quality of the legal service being rendered. By Gugu Lourie LexNove is a South African-first online legal platform for clients to find a “perfect” lawyer online. Co-founders of LexNove – Andrew Taylor and Kyle Torrington – with six and five years of respective legal practice experience believe that their start-up “is a revolutionary concept which seeks to…

It’s clear Google does not like the right to be forgotten, and it has from early on sent notifications to publishers of de-listed links in the hope they will cry “censorship”. Certainly BBC journalist Robert Peston felt “cast into oblivion” because his blog no longer appeared in search results for one particular commenter’s name. By Eerke Boiten The UK’s data privacy watchdog has waded into the debate over the enforcement of the right to be forgotten in Europe. The Information Commissioner’s Office issued a notice to Google to remove from its search results newspaper articles that discussed details from older articles…

Gartner’s “Hype Cycle for ICT in Africa, 2015″ report identifies over 30 key technologies and describes how they will impact business performance during the next 10 years. By Gartner “The Hype Cycle (see Figure 1) aims to help global strategic officers and domestic CIOs from the private and public sectors take account of the current state of important technologies across Africa, including their maturity, adoption and traction,” said Mbula Schoen, senior research analyst at Gartner. “It will help them make informed decisions about where to invest and how to advance their operations locally.” Figure 1. Hype Cycle for ICT in…

​Whether you are traveling for business or for pleasure, mobile connectivity is now a must-have. Ensuring that you will have reliable Internet access on your travels – anytime, anywhere – is arguably now as important as getting your visa and passport ready. Yet for any traveler today, relying on static Wi-Fi at a hotel, coffee shop  or branch office simply doesn’t cut it. Given our increasing reliance on mobile apps such as Google Maps, Uber and WhatsApp, connectivity when mobile has become essential. By Craig Lowe, Managing Director at execMobile​ Take the business traveler, for example. On arrival, he…

The South African premium tablet market, has stagnated over the past five quarters, hit by tough economic conditions. By Gugu Lourie The International Data Corporation (IDC) reported on Monday that the South African premium brands tablet market has stagnated over the past five quarters. The global technology research and consulting firm said this was due to shrinking consumer disposable income, high levels of unemployment, the weak rand, and the growing shift of consumers towards smartphones that now typically sport larger screens. The other trend shaping the market is that end users are delaying their renewals in an effort to gain extra…