Author: Gugu Lourie
In a meeting held on Wednesday 11 March to hear employees’ grievances around the payment of 2014 performance bonuses, MTN SA undertook to provide feedback to employees on their bonus proposals. The MTN SA leadership team met with employees today as promised. MTN SA confirms that there will be no additional performance bonus payments to employees for the 2014 financial year. This decision follows a request by general and supervisory level employees for the company to consider granting them an ex gratia payment or higher bonus payment, as they deem the payment of 4% of their annual pensionable salary…
By Gugu Lourie Under the leadership of Sipho Maseko Telkom’s turnaround strategy is finally showing positive signs as the fixed-line company cuts costs and enters into partnerships to outsource the things it does not want to manage itself, leaving it to focus on its customers. Earlier this month Telkom announced new partners to manage its non-core activities that include call centre operations and staff, as well as certain legacy IT billing systems, an internal printing division as well as the network and operations, and retail supply chain units. Majority-owned by government and valued at more than R38bn, Telkom has identified…
By Gugu Lourie The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) regulator have given green light on Telkom’s proposed R2.7bn acquisition of Business Connexion (BCX), although the South African fixed-line telephone group is still waiting for approval from the local regulators. “We wish to inform shareholders that the COMESA Competition Commission has unconditionally approved the proposed transaction,” Telkom and BCX said in a statement on Monday. However, the transaction is till awaiting approval from South Africa’s regulators – Competition Authorities; the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the issue of a compliance certificate by the Takeover Regulation…
By Staff Writer “CarFi will be available in South Africa before the end of this year. It is compatible with all car models from leading automobile manufacturers that feature a cigarette lighter or in-car charger outlet.” Huawei unveiled its in-car 4G LTE mobile WiFi device, Huawei CarFi, which converts vehicles into WiFi hotspots on wheels for added convenience in daily life. Delivering download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and connectivity for up to 10 devices, Huawei CarFi can be easily transferred from one vehicle to another. “At Huawei, we aim to be one step ahead in providing great technology…
By Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Speech delivered at the Inaugural Conference of the Wi-Fi Forum of South Africa “I urge the Wifi Forum of South Africa to work towards ensuring that Wi-Fi as a delivery medium for broadband supports job creation and economic development by contributing to the growth of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) which operate within the ICT environment.” I am pleased to address you this morning at what I am told is the first ever conference of the Wifi Forum of SA. President Jacob Zuma in his 2015 State of the Nation Address declared this year as the “Year…
By Gugu Lourie Even though South African subscription-based video-on-demand (SVoD) services have failed to attract the expected millions of subscribers, the technology is developing at an unbelievable speed with new players trying to attract subscribers. Unlike the local mobile cellphone sector, which managed to attract millions of subscribers when it launched 20 years ago, SVoD, which is in its infancy, seems not to be doing that well. The delivery of video content is shifting towards subscription-based SVoD and consumption habits are fast changing – a development that provides hope for revenue streams diversification for all players involved. Already Vidi, an…
Delivering smartphone essentials, apps and the best of Microsoft services at an incredible price. Microsoft today announced the availability of the Lumia 435 in SA retailing from R1 149. The Lumia 435 is the first 400 series Lumia, and the most affordable Lumia yet. With core smartphone features, the best Windows Phone experiences and access to the latest apps, it opens up the Lumia to even more people. “It is clear by the unprecedented adoption of smartphones across South Africa that people want a phone that is capable of performing more than just basic tasks, at an affordable price. The…
By Gugu Lourie “One of the top activities for smartphone owners is watching video content, and one of the fastest growing video streaming apps aimed at Africans is Tuluntulu,” says van der Hoven. Tuluntulu – a mobile streaming platform app that enables its users to watch TV anywhere and anytime – continues to grow despite mobile operators and media firms with big pockets launching video-on-demand (VOD) services across the African continent. Tuluntulu is enjoying positive traction with significant milestones being reached since marketing commenced in August 2014. The Tuluntulu app has now been downloaded over 110,000 times in 154 countries,…
By Gugu Lourie MTN has a bold plan to tap into the digital space in Africa and Middle East by diversifying revenue streams away from voice to suit its customers’ modern digital lifestyles. However, MTN – Africa and Middle-East’s biggest mobile phone operator – is not likely to challenge Naspers – the multinational group of e-commerce platforms that owns stakes in China’s Tencent, India’s Flipkart and Russia’s Mail.ru. But MTN might encroach on Naspers’ territory and pose a threat to other smaller players in the e-commerce and e-tailing industry. That said, MTN obviously sees opportunities to tap into the digital…
By Staff writer Video-on-demand (VOD) service VIDI has weighed into the current uncapped mobile broadband debate saying that the dearth of wholesale mobile broadband offerings is holding back the country’s entertainment industry. The conversation around true uncapped mobile broadband has again been brought to the fore following a statement last week by the Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA (ISPA). The Association called for SA telcos to take bold action to bring down the costs of mobile broadband by introducing wholesale mobile data products. ISPA reasons that the absence of a wholesale mobile data offering is an obstacle to deepening…