Author: Gugu Lourie
South African Airways (SAA) will be expanding the offer of Samsung tablets on board as a way of improving in-flight entertainment to business class customers travelling on regional flights. “Following the launch of this offering in September last year on the Mauritius route, customers have shown a keen interest in this innovation which we are now expanding to our Nairobi, Kenya route as from this week after the successful uptake on Mauritius. We will continue to roll out additional routes after our Nairobi trial, while we continue to monitor customer satisfaction,” says Kim Thipe, SAA Head of Marketing. SAA customer…
With the first event in the Telkom DGL Masters series kicking off shortly at rAge Expo 18-20 March 2016, Cape Town, Telkom DGL has now announced the shoutcasters, or eSports commentators, that will be involved. In order to create the buzz that is required at this type of event Telkom DGL has secured the shoutcasting services of Barry ‘Anthrax’ Louzada and Lewis ‘Vudulew’ Williams, both well known in the eSports community. This is another big addition to the new league, not only building the profiles of the MGO’s in South Africa but also those known for shoutcasting. “We are very happy…
Five new Western Cape businesses have been created that less than six months ago were little more than great ideas, thanks to support from Telkom FutureMakers and Cape Town’s Bandwidth Barn. The businesses have been developed by InnoTech, a Telkom-funded 20-week programme focusing on web and mobile applications development, software development and design, and gaming. The initiative, facilitated by the Bandwidth Barn, aims to stimulate new business creation and support the expansion and growth of existing companies through the uptake of technology and innovation capability. FutureMakers is Telkom’s enterprise and supplier development programme. Fifteen entrepreneurs with concepts or early stage prototypes were included in…
Webafrica said on Thursday that about 80 000 homes on its network are able to access fibre through its partnertship with multiple fibre providers. As part of Webafrica’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) rollout strategy, the ISP has partnered with Fibrehoods, Telkom and Vumatel. “Over 80 000 houses in our network can now access fibre”, says Webafrica Product Owner, Greg Wright. “FTTH in South Africa is growing at a rapid speed, and within our network the reach of fibre is growing on a monthly – even weekly – basis. Most recently, we have added 4000 homes in Johannesburg and 2000 homes in Cape Town to…
A small start-up situated in Fourways, Johannesburg, is changing the face of security providers nationwide. Specialising in technical installations across the niche world of business and personal security, Security Brokerz is providing customers around the country with a ‘one-stop-shop’, working with customers to create a quality and reliable security solution customised to individual requirements. “We offer a product agnostic broker service, with a specific focus on the SME landscape, retail, home owners and new developments,” explains Shawn Nicholls, founder and owner, Security Brokerz. What this in effect means, is that it offers security solutions from a wide range of legally…
Dealing in the rand should come with a ‘Government Health Warning’ and I fear the swings we have seen this week will continue, Adam Phillips of Umkhulu Consulting said on Wednesday following confirmation from deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas that the Guptas did offer him Nhlanhla Nene’s job. By Fadia Salie “I should think Zuma, Moyane, the Hawks and the Guptas are more than slightly nervous tonight. The market desperately needs to rid itself of politically fired events and get back to basics. Is that not what Gordhan is trying to do? I think he is,” he told Fin24 in…
South Africa should optimise its funding model in the procurement of its 9 600 MW nuclear build programme to ensure cheaper electricity costs, according to Rosatom’s Nikolay Drosdov on Wednesday. By Matthew le Cordeur Drosdov, director of international business for Rosatom, told Fin24 that South Africa should “optimise the model to decrease the price of electricity, because … the proportion between investments and loans depends on the … levelised cost of electricity”. “You have to pay interest rates from your price of electricity if you’re using a lot of debt money,” he said on the sidelines of the Nuclear Africa…
The speed at which Russia and Egypt signed a deal to build a four-reactor nuclear plant in November 2015 shows how quickly a nuclear procurement process can unfold, a Russian source said on Tuesday. By Matthew le Cordeur The engineering, procurement and construction funding model developed by nuclear state-owned company Rosatom to secure the deal was the best solution for South Africa too, the source – who preferred to remain anonymous – explained. He said it was a superior solution for technical, legal, political, economic and industrial reasons. “It’s the better solution,” he said. “It’s shorter. You can start the…
ShowMax expands local partnerships to improve access to internet TV, enbaling Makro stores nationwide to offer its prepaid vouchers. Makro joins Pick n Pay, CNA and Game stores where ShowMax vouchers can be purchased. This moves gives access to many viewers who do not have a credit card or PayPal account. ShowMax prepaid vouchers can also be bought online using eBucks. One of the major obstacles holding back the uptake of internet TV in South Africa is the cost of internet. Which is why ShowMax is partnering with internet service providers (ISPs), like Telkom, to give subscribers access to high-speed…
Do you think that the machine you are reading this story on, right now, has a feeling of “what it is like” to be in its state? By Matthew Davidson What about a pet dog? Does it have a sense of what it’s like to be in its state? It may pine for attention, and appear to have a unique subjective experience, but what separates the two cases? These are by no means simple questions. How and why particular circumstances may give rise to our experience of consciousness remain some of the most puzzling questions of our time. Newborn babies,…
Netflix announced last month that it will launch a second screen experience within its app, allowing subscribers to view additional information related to the program they are watching. By Marc C-Scott This functionality will be available to those who use their portable devices to cast content to their television screens via devices such as Roku, Apple TV or Chromecast. The information presented on the second screen will include cast member information and additional program information. But some of Australia’s free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters have already tried to incorporate a second screen experience, and all have failed. So will this Netflix second…
VOIP Service provider Otel Telecoms has tap former MTN manager Christopher Geerdts as COO (Chief Operations Officer). “Chris has been specifically appointed as Otel’s COO to support the company during the current rapid growth phase that is finding expression in our national expansion. Chris’ ability to seamlessly integrate technology and business models will help further enhance Otel’s reputation as a leading independent telecoms provider,” Otel CEO Rad Jankovic said. He added that OTEL is developing a multi-channel strategy and Chris has been brought on board to ensure the effective implementation of this strategy across OTEL’s distribution channels. Geerdts has consulted to…
MTN has launched the next generation of mobile network technology called Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) in the affluent suburbs of Camps Bay, Moreleta Park and at the Gautrain station in Rosebank. LTE-A offers MTN’s customers a cutting-edge network experience that is robust, it packs more speed into the same amount of spectrum which should allow more people to access the network simultaneously while improving the overall customer experience. Krishna Chetty, Acting CTO at MTN SA says: “Our introduction of this new technology is in line with MTN’s vision of leading South Africa into a bold new digital world and to…
Although CIOs are primarily responsible for the IT Asset lifecycle, most executives have very little or no idea when it comes to IT Asset Disposal (ITAD). More importantly, very few know how to meet legislative compliance whilst reducing total cost of ownership. Executives responsible for IT asset management need to understand the principles of IT Asset Disposal (ITAD) and they need to consider regulatory compliance and the protection of company information. IT disposal has legislative requirements, compliance to Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (PoPI 2013), the National Environmental Waste Management Act 2008 (NEMWA 2008) and the Consumer Protection Act…
Is the Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act just another piece of legislation trumped up by politicians or is it just good business practice that has been neglected over the years? Gone are the days when companies can be lackadaisical in their approach to the protection of their client’s personal information. Ignoring the PoPI Act will soon result in hefty fines and even jail sentences. Systems that were originally put in place to store and protect personal information have become a major threat to organisations and more specifically, to the businesses or individuals who entrust their personal or business information…
Four candidates were approved by Parliament on Tuesday to fill vacancies at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa). By Jenni Evans, NewsAgency They are Paris Mashile, Peter Zimri, Botlenyana Mokhele and Keabatswe Modimoeng who will fill vacancies that arose when William Currie, Joseph Leboa, William Stucke and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu left in 2014. Their names would be forwarded to the Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi for consideration. “We hope the councillors take the job seriously in ensuring the independence of the broadcaster,” said Inkatha Freedom Party MP, Narend Singh. Icasa regulates the South African communications, broadcasting and postal services sector…
South African internet micro-jobbing service Money for Jam (M4JAM) has ceased trading after failing to make a profit, the company’s CEO Andre Hugo has told Fin24. By Gareth van Zyl M4JAM was launched in 2014 on instant messaging service WeChat and it enabled users to perform ‘micro-jobs’ to earn money. The M4JAM business model was further based on taking a licence fee from clients on every successful completed job. The startup’s representatives told Fin24 last year that the service surpassed 70 000 users. WeChat Africa, a Naspers and Tencent joint-venture, also invested into the social jobbing platform. But despite these…
While Blockchain technology is certainly worth investigating, CIOs should not be fooled into thinking it is the panacea for all the potential use cases currently under discussion. It’s advisable to apply a healthy dose of skepticism. By Martha Bennett, Forrester’s principal analyst Stories about digital currencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular, are still filling news feeds. However the industry is now more focused on the underlying technology of the blockchain and the concept of the shared ledger. This is most clearly evidenced by the raft of startups which have been attracting headlines and investment dollars. A number of established…
First National Bank (FNB) says it plans to close over 20 outlets amid the growing adoption of digital banking channels. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency FNB came to the decision after it launched a review of branch related functions. The bank found that, during the expansion of its digital banking platform, there was a duplication of services and “unrealised efficiencies in our points of presence”. “During this review, some sales and service outlets close to our full-service branches were identified as not being well utilised by customers and these functions are being transferred into the nearby full-service branch,” Lee-Anne van Zyl,…
Two South African young men, who moved to Silicon Valley, one of the world’s centres of technological excellence in California, have developed an app for public transport navigation. Tyler Hoffman and Unathi Chonco, former learners of Pretoria Boys High School and University of Pretoria, have released Transit Wise, which they believe will revolutionise public transport in South Africa. “I hope that we can bring a major reform to public transport as we know it, because these systems can be really useful if maintained and used properly,” said Chonco, who is from Westville outside Durban. Transit Wise, which is available for…
Mobile network Vodacom South Africa is considering various options for its sluggish mobile money transfer service M-Pesa. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency M-Pesa enables customers – particularly unbanked users – to transfer money from person-to-person using mobile phone and text-messaging technology. In 2010, Vodacom launched M-Pesa in South Africa and the company set a target of reaching 10 million local users. Vodacom then relaunched the service in August 2014 in a bid to spur interest in the product. The M-Pesa relaunch in 2014 further involved a simplified registration and FICA process and the establishment of 8 800 points of presence.…
Following a rigorous seeding tournament, Telkom today announced the line-up for the first event in the Telkom DGL Masters series taking place at the rAge Expo 18-20 March 2016, Cape Town. The purpose of the seeding tournament, which took place between 22 February and 6 March 2016, was to match up the teams for the knock-out stage of the DGL Masters, rAge Cape Town. As a result of this the line-up will be: The eight teams representing each of the eight Masters Multi-Gaming Organisations (MGO’s) will be competing for the R100000 prize pool. The prize pool is broken down by placement: First…
MTN has appointed Larry Annetts to the position of Chief Consumer Officer effective from today as part of the organisation’s ongoing quest to improve service quality and provide its customers with a distinct experience. Annetts’ role will include consumer marketing, he will also be responsible for overseeing all activities related to the sales and marketing division. He will also be expected to maintain a focus on innovation and efficiency and drive a holistic approach to deliver segmented propositions to the consumer whilst supporting other revenue streams within MTN SA. Annetts has a proven track record of streamlining operations, inculcating a…
Domains.co.za is helping to make the Internet a more secure environment in which to conduct business, pursue leisure activities and socialise with the launch of Secure Socket Layers (SSL) certificates at R25.month including installation. A Secure Socket Layers, or SSL, certificate encrypts online data that is being sent or received while Internet users navigate websites. This data typically includes sensitive information such as telephone numbers and credit card details. By creating a secure connection between the user’s computer and the server that a particular website is hosted on, potential customers receive peace of mind. “For the price of a good…
INX-ZA has for the first time expanded the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX) beyond the Rosebank facility that has served Africa’s oldest Internet exchange for twenty years. JINX began as a project of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) and is now independently managed by INX-ZA which currently operates the only community-run, public Internet exchanges in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. This local Internet milestone follows an agreement between INX-ZA and leading web hosting company and data centre operator, Hetzner. The partnership has seen INX-ZA extend the reach of JINX to Hetzner’s well-positioned, vendor-neutral and fully-redundant data centre in Samrand, near…