Author: Gugu Lourie
Cell C is at it again – challenging you as a customer to try their network for free. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it would you? “Well what about a cellphone network?,” Cell C ask potential customers. “Thinking of trying out Cell C Contract Buy Out, but you still need convincing? We’re so confident in our ever-improving network that we’re willing to let you try it out for FREE with a Cell C Test SIM card pre-loaded with Cell C airtime,” Cell C reveals on its website. This move is part of Cell C aims to…
By Staff Writer The annual Gartner Symposium/ITxpo taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from September 28 to 30 will examine the need for companies to evolve into a digital business and remain competitive. “No company, irrespective of size and industry, can afford to avoid the digital disruption taking place. Gartner predicts that this will be a defining year in which CIOs will use digital to transform their risks into bold business outcomes,” says Jeffrey Mann, Gartner research vice president. What started as a discussion on the Nexus of Forces (the convergence of Social, Cloud, Mobile and Information)…
By Tony De Sousa, Managing Executive: Solutions Business at Telkom Are your constituents’ contact details up-to-date? Across our continent, a top priority for most governments is the need to “improve communication and delivery of services to all citizens”. Placing the “customer” at the core of going digital is occurring across all sectors, and citizen centricity in government is no different requiring a shift in how service delivery is rendered – across ALL levels of government. Enhancing communication with citizens leads to better understanding of citizens’ needs and enables personalized communication and services to individual citizens– thus, shifting focus to outcomes…
Under pressure because of the need to continue reviving itself, Telkom is moving ahead with its cost-cutting push despite opposition from three trade unions. By Staff writer The parastatal was forced to halt its Section 189 retrenchment process to cut 4 400 jobs and move 3 200 people to outsourced businesses after the unions went to court. But the company will now look at alternative ways to cut costs. These measures include voluntary retrenchment, the introduction of flexitime and a possible wage freeze, said Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko. “I am positive; I believe that Telkom will be sustainable in the future. But it is going to be difficult in the beginning,” said Maseko. “We have…
It is a “palm-sized device that you can use to transform your TV monitor into a computer for work, home or play. You can also connect your external hard drive and flash disk to the device to watch your favourite movies or listen to music or work on your documents.” If every room in your household has a plasma television, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen or a high-definition monitor, why would you need a personal computer (PC) desktop? All you have to do is use a CloudGate Square Desktop PC – a palm-sized computer powered by the Windows 8.1 operating…
By Kees Snijders, MD at Flickswitch Using SIM cards have become a way of life for the digital citizens of today. With our reliance on smartphones and tablets, these tiny components are integral to staying connected. For small to medium enterprises where cost efficiencies are essential, managing SIMs have never been more important. SIMs extend beyond just data and voice billing in the devices of employees. They play an essential role in machine to machine (M2M) communication. Forming part of the Internet of Things, M2M enables systems to communicate with other devices anywhere in the world. Multi-device connectivity This means that organisations can…
Cellphone consumers – it’s time for you to start using Telkom mobile services. Telkom offers more high value plans for its prepaid subscribers than any other operator in South Africa. “Telkom had strong plans and a variety of options at virtually every price point,” stated Beth Teitel, Tarifica’s South Africa analyst. “MTN and Cell C were each competitive in one or two profiles, but only Telkom’s plans provided strong consumer value across the board.” Telkom offers best value for prepaid consumers, according to new study by Tarifica, a leading telecommunications pricing research firm. The Tarifica Score has been used to evaluate the…
By Staff Writer Data deduplication might seem like a new thing but the reality is that the technology has been around for quite some time. Warren Olivier, regional manager of Veeam Southern Africa, discusses the roles Big Data and the always-on business have played to bring it back into the spotlight. “Storage has become a hot topic in recent months with many companies trying to leverage the sheer amount of data they have at their disposal to make more effective strategic decisions. And with the IDC forecasting that Big Data will grow at a 26.4 percent compound annual growth rate…
By Gugu Lourie State-owned pension fund Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has raised R3.3 billion in bookbuilding exercise, after placing 24.7 million shares with institutional investors. Priced at R134 per share, the shares were discounted by 3.6% to the the closing price per Vodacom share on 13 July 2015, the day preceding the pricing of the bookbuild trade. “The PIC is a long term holder of Vodacom and does not currently plan to dispose of shares during or following the expiration of the lock-up period. As is customary in these types of risk mitigation transactions, the PIC has agreed to a…
MTN and union agree to end the strike immediately By Staff Writer MTN South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati today announced an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to end the strike immediately. “The agreement serves the common interests of MTN and the employees, and allows MTN to focus on its core reason for existence, which is to deliver services to its customers,” said Nyati. He apologised for the inconvenience that MTN customers suffered during the period of the strike, and thanked them for their patience and loyalty. At the core of the agreement is that the union has accepted…