Author: Gugu Lourie
By Staff Writer Samsung Electronics SA announced on Monday that MTN Business has been appointed as a reseller of Samsung’s KNOX licenses to its customers. Samsung’s security platform complements MTN Business’ suite of enterprise-ready products and services as well as reinforcing the strong strategic relationship between the two companies. With a growing trend towards Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), where employees are using personal smartphones and tablets in the workplace, enterprises are increasingly cognisant of the need for a security solution that meets modern demands. The expanded partnership agreement combines Samsung’s pioneering mobile technology and secure Android platform, with MTN…
By John R. Woodward, Justyna Petke and William Langdon Computer scientists have a history of borrowing ideas from nature, such as evolution. When it comes to optimising computer programs, a very interesting evolutionary-based approach has emerged over the past five or six years that could bring incalculable benefits to industry and eventually consumers. We call it genetic improvement. Genetic improvement involves writing an automated “programmer” who manipulates the source code of a piece of software through trial and error with a view to making it work more efficiently. This might include swapping lines of code around, deleting lines and inserting…
Struggling mobile phone operator Cell C has raised R3.26 billion ( €240 million) by selling bonds to global investors. These new bonds have an identical maturity date, of July 2018, and coupon, of 8.625%, as the existing Euro issuance. The cellular operator said the original principal amount sought was upsized as a result of strong investor appetite. Despite this increase, the offering was still oversubscribed. The firm said the proceeds will be utilized to fund Cell C’s capital expenditure and cash requirements in furtherance of its business strategy. “I am delighted that we have closed such a significant public debt issuance. This…
Banking – a fruitful platform for cybercrime By Riaan Badenhorst, managing director of Kaspersky Lab Africa Much attention is being placed on the growth of malicious software and threats, and the financial implications that these pose to one’s IT systems – especially if they are not effectively protected. Yet, it seems that the more traditional ways of misusing financial systems by cybercriminals, such as for the purposes of fraud, is not getting the attention it deserves. In fact, according to a survey* conducted by Kaspersky Lab together with B2B International in 2014, 52% of financial companies globally reimburse customer losses…
Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecasts 2015 Projects Mobile Video Traffic to Grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 73% in South Africa By Staff Writer According to the 10th annual Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast 2015, by 2019, there will be 27 million South African Internet users, up from 15 million in 2014. South African IP traffic will grow 6-fold by 2019, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44%. Factors expected to drive traffic growth include increase in Internet users, personal devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, faster broadband speeds, and the adoption of advanced video services.…
Cell C, South Africa’s third mobile operator, on Thursday accused rival mobile phone operators of “preventing customers from cancelling their contracts early by charging these customers excessive and unreasonable cancellation penalties”. By Staff Writer “While the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) allows network providers to charge a reasonable cancellation penalty when customers wish to terminate their contracts early, Cell C has been made aware of certain instances where some of the network providers are charging customers more to cancel their contracts early than to stay in their contract for the full term. This means that customers who are unhappy with their current…
Harnessing technology to leverage the internet of things By Isaac Mophatlane, CEO of Business Connexion The internet of things is driving the need for organisations to transform into digital businesses and this is disrupting business operations like never before. Being globally competitive means being able to make rapid business decisions. For companies this means digitisation of process, automation of workflow, access to global information affecting ones business and being able to respond with agility, based on factual information. Digitisation is not just about scanning and saving a document but having the ability to scan, extract, analyse and search information in a document automatically as…
By Staff Writer Orange, French telecoms group, will open the doors to its first physical retail store in the country, situated in Claremont, Cape Town, on June 26. “The opening of a physical store is a logical step for us,” explains Orange Horizons CEO Sébastien Crozier. “The response to the Orange Online Store by South African consumers exceeded all or expectations, which led to a local warehouse being established to service this market. We therefore have sufficient stock levels to justify the opening of our first retail store in the country. “We are excited about the store, as it not…
By Staff Writer Cell C has teamed-up with Facebook to bring affordable Internet access to consumers through the launch of Facebook’s initiative, Internet.org free basic services in South Africa. Internet.org was developed by Facebook and its technology partners to create a way to bring affordable Internet access to under-served communities. “We are excited to bring Internet.org free basic services to Cell C customers in South Africa,” says Markku Makelainen, Director of Global Operator Partnerships at Facebook. “With Internet.org free basic services, more people in South Africa will have access to resources and information that can create new opportunities and ideas,…
By Staff Writer Vox Telecom has expanded its consulting and integration capabilities, with the acquisition of Wishlist Corporation, a certified Microsoft Dynamics partner, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition makes Vox Telecom, through its Microsoft Consulting and Software Integration division, one of the largest Microsoft Dynamics partner for the mid-market in southern Africa. “One thing we are certain of, is that companies are becoming increasingly dependent on cloud-based solutions and even more dependent on bandwidth. Our ability, through our expertise, and Vox Telecom’s infrastructure, to offer these critical functions, under one banner is very exciting and presents a number of…