Author: Gugu Lourie

VAST Networks, South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, announced on Monday that it was working with AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, to offer AT&T users Wi-Fi in the country. By Staff Writer In a historic alliance with South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, AT&T customers with an eligible offer and the AT&T Passport app can now roam on VAST Networks Wi-Fi in any of their locations across the country. VAST Networks aims to keep people connected at all times. The network is South Africa’s most developed and seamless Wi-Fi ecosystem which offers an integrated “on-the-go” Wi-Fi experience. VAST Networks locations…

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The telecommunication landscape is constantly shifting and the line between Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers is getting more and more blurred. By Eckart Zollner, head of business development at New Telco Advances in technology and trends in efficiency creation, such as sharing infrastructure, are constantly changing the rules that define what a Tier 1 and Tier 2 provider is. Providers, both Tier 1 and Tier 2, have to look for ways to focus on their core strengths and revenue opportunities in order to remain competitive and retain their positions in the market. In order to free up their time and resources…

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Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla Motors – has just revealed the second part of his master plan for the company. And it’s a doozy. Not content with producing sleek electric cars (which to be fair, was only ever a stepping stone to greater things), Musk wants to fundamentally change how we live our lives. But the road to Musk’s techno-utopia may be rocky. By Andrew Maynard Tesla Motors Master Plan.” Steps one to three were simple and elegant: Build [a] sports car Use that money to build an affordable car Use that money to build an even more affordable car.…

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December 1900 marked the first ever “Christmas Bird Count”. Its aim was to get people counting bird species rather than killing them. It’s now an annual tradition. Every year on a specific day between December 14 and January 5, thousands of volunteers – ordinary people, not scientists – gather in more than 2,000 locations in the Western hemisphere to count birds. By Marina Joubert Conservation biologists use this data to assess bird populations’ health and look at long-term trends. This is probably the earliest recorded example of citizen science, a phenomenon that filmmaker Geoff Haines-Stiles calls …science with, for and by…

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Mobile is fast-becoming the dominant marketing channel for companies across the vast majority of industries. By Gillian Hughes, VP Corporate Sales at Veoo. This is largely because mobile adoption can offer businesses, and particularly marketers, who are keen to reach out to potential new customers, with simplicity, speed, and scale. However, these companies should consider the fact that while nearly everyone has a mobile phone these days, this doesn’t mean that everyone uses their mobiles in the same way. One mobile feature that is becoming an increasingly hot topic is the mobile wallet. More and more consumers are embracing mobile wallets,…

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Vodacom has decided to outsource a larger portion of its customer service to Merchants, a South African business process outsourcing (BPO) provider. By Staff Writer BPO is commonly known for call centre services outsourcing, which makes up 67% of the total industry. Merchants has been running Vodacom’s prepaid customer service for the past ten years, and recently expanded its offering to cover other areas of the business as well. Merchants announced on Thursday that it has launched a second Vodacom customer service centre in Cape Town. With the addition of this centre, Merchants is now accountable for operating the prepaid,…

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Vodacom’s YeboYethu BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) scheme was listed today on the JSE’s black economic empowerment (BEE) board. By Staff Writer The mobile phone operator, which is owned by British mobile phone giant Vodafone, said YeboYethu listing on JSE BEE segment provides investors with enhanced liquidity. The Vodacom YeboYethu empowerment scheme was established in 2008 and allowed black people to purchase Vodacom SA shares at a discount. YeboYethu does not own nor have any beneficial interests in nor rights to Vodacom Group shares. Since YeboYethu’s incorporation, over 100 000 black people have been able to hold, through investing in YeboYethu shares.…

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The City of Johannesburg’s GeoJozi Developer Challenge calls on developers aged 30 or under to help the City improve its systems of allocating and maintaining addresses across the 1,644 km2 municipality. By Staff Writer If you are a developer with an interest in apps, maps, data, urban development or cities then enter this competition which focuses on location technology. It is being run for the first time this year by the City in partnership with Wits University’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) and mapping software company, Esri South Africa. Across the world, street addresses and location are used as…

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MTN plans to outsource some of its Call Centre facilities in a bid to optimise its operations and enhance customer experience. By Staff Writer “To that end, MTN has adopted a hybrid outsource model which will result in MTN retaining some call centre facilities while others are outsourced to a third party vendor,” the company announced on Wednesday. MTN expects the process to be completed by September this year. The outsource partners have a sound financial track record and have an impeccable reputation in the call centre industry, having provided services to a number of companies in the retail,…

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As companies continue to grapple with the need to become more digitised, many are being held back by legacy technology. By Matumane Tshabalala, managing executive of Application Services at Business Connexion. The cost of modernisation is often an inhibitor, but removing the risks associated with outdated technology far outweighs the price. The challenge is that many organisations do not even realise how vulnerable they truly are. The first step organisations need to take is to understand what legacy technology and applications are running in their environments and how critical these are to their business, which requires a thorough assessment of the…

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