Author: Gugu Lourie

South Africa’s Telkom and the state-owned entity Broadband Infraco are in talks over possible collaboration as part of the government’s restructuring of state-owned entities to remove duplication between the two entities, according to a media report. By Staff Writer Business Day newspaper reported on Wednesday that this will be part of a rationalisation process of state owned entities by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services. Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele told Business Day in an interview that ‘as part of a rationalisation process, Telkom and Infraco were looking at how they could co-operate on infrastructure projects’. Infraco,…

Local mobile operator MTN plans to compensate some of its one million customers who were hit by a network outage this week. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency MTN said on Monday that it was experiencing connectivity issues that affected approximately one million voice, SMS and data customers. The connectivity issues started on Sunday, MTN’s executive for group corporate affairs Chris Maroleng told Fin24. Customers, for example, who bought a data, SMS or airtime bundle on Sunday that they couldn’t use over a 24 hour period could qualify for the reimbursement, explained Maroleng. “We need to establish of those one million, how…

During the State of the Nation Address debate on Tuesday afternoon, DA leader Mmusi Maimane cited the Star Wars prologue, saying President Jacob Zuma lived in a galaxy far, far away, on “Planet Zuma”. By Mpho Raborife, NewsAgency Following the debate in the National Assembly, South Africans uploaded creative memes on Twitter, poking fun at Maimane’s comments, accompanied by tweets with their views. Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said Maimane was probably on a PlanetFitness Treadmill. He was probably on a PlanetFitness Treadmill doing cardio when he thought of this “planet Zuma”. What a joke — RSA Min of Sport (@MbalulaFikile) February…

Mobile operator MTN said in a statement late on Tuesday that some of its customers were still experiencing intermittent connection, despite announcing earlier that it has remedied the network problems. “The intermittent connection issue is still under investigation. MTN’s engineers implemented a solution yesterday evening which alleviated some of the problems and restored services. However, some of the subscribers are still experiencing connectivity challenges,” the mobile phone operator said in a statement. The South African-based telco explains: “We are continuing our investigations with the support of all the parties in order to fully restore services. Our engineers are currently working…

INX-ZA announced on Tuesday that Durban has become the first South African city to get a multi-site Internet exchange point. This has been achieved following a public private partnership between INX-ZA and Ethekwini Municipality (Durban Municipality). By contributing resources from its Ethekwini Fibre Metro project, the City of Durban has been able to work towards its socio economic goals to promote the local economy. Having multiple site Internet Exchanges, lowers the operating costs for local Internet Service Providers based in Durban, increases the quality of the experience for Durban users, especially when accessing websites hosted locally in Durban. Internet exchange points enable Internet…

MTN, in partnership with the MTN Solution Space and Jumia, on Tuesday announced the launch of the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia. The Pan-African competition, will be the first of its kind in Africa, bringing together over 1000 entrepreneurs, students and investors, to collaborate on ways to amplify and consolidate the continent’s entrepreneurs. Targeting more than 60 universities in 13 countries across Africa, the competition will challenge students to develop a unique digital application or smart solution that will solve a tangible problem faced on the continent. “We are incredibly excited to partner with Jumia to launch the entrepreneurship challenge.…

Mobile operator MTN has remedied the network problem that saw a million subscribers affected by intermittent outages of SMS and data. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “Our engineers worked around the clock to resolve the connections issues. Everything is back to normal, we are monitoring and shall revert if any changes during the day,” MTN SA told Fin24. Late on Monday intermittent network problems related to SMS, data and voice caused about a million subscribers to have limited access to the network. “MTN experienced network intermittent connection issues affecting approximately one million voice, SMS and data customers throughout the country yesterday (Monday).…

One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity, which described how gravity warps and distorts space-time. While this theory triggered a revolution in our understanding of the universe, it made one prediction that even Einstein doubted could be confirmed: the existence of gravitational waves. Today, a century later, we have that confirmation, with the detection of gravitational waves by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (aLIGO) detectors. Here we collect reactions and analysis from some of the leading astronomers and astrophysicists from around the world. By Keith Riles, Alan Duffy,  Amanda Weltman, Daniel Kennefick,  David Parkinson,  Maria…

South African-based distributor of personal computers and electronic equipment Rectron said on Friday it planned to sell its 100% shareholding in  Rectron Australia. By Gugu Lourie The firm, which is part of the JSE-listed ICT distributor Mustek, said the Australian unit will be sold for more than AUD 1 million to IG3 Education Ltd. The deal is effective from 1 October 2015. Rectron added that the deal was part of its drive to dispose of non-performing and non core assets. It will utilise the proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt. The net asset value of Rectron Australia…

Absa Bank, a division of the Barclays Africa, has piloted a new predictive alert service that not only notifies customers of potential shortfalls in their bank accounts, but which also offers personalised options to make it easier for customers to manage their finances. By using the latest in big data and open source technologies, Absa’s smart personal alert enables customers to effectively manage their monthly payment obligations and avoid unexpected surprises. To date, it has been piloted to more than 50 000 customers in South Africa, according to Yasaman Hadjibashi, Chief Data Officer for Barclays Africa. “The alert works…

Metrofibre Networx, a tech company led by ex-Absa boss Steve Booysen, has secured a lucrative contract to be the preferred fibre supplier to Kyalami Estates, the company announced on Thursday. By Staff Writer The deal is a big win for Metrofibre, one of South Africa’s fastest growing fibre company, against its smaller and bigger rivals. Situated in Kyalami in Gauteng, Kyalami Estates was one of the first security estates established in South Africa and today the residents in its some 1100 homes enjoy 24-hour controlled access in an environment where urban convenience is housed in a rural environment with extensive parklands and…

 The Automobile Association (AA) said that it is disappointed that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has decided to go the legal route before resolving their e-toll billing problems. In an attempt to force Gauteng road users to pay their fees on the controversial tolling system, Sanral appointed a debt-collection agency to manage this process for them, the AA said. Sanral has been sending an SMS to an undisclosed number of Gauteng road users, which reads: “We have noted your refusal to pay your outstanding e-toll balance. Your vehicle details are being submitted for listing, and legal action will commence…

Batman. Superman. Iron Man. What do all of these characters have in common? We have all sat in our comfy seats at the movie theatre and watched them defeat numerous super villains with their superhuman strength and indomitable will. We have watched them save the world from impending doom. We have watched them take the law into their own hands. We have watched them do all of this in the name of the “greater good”. They are vigilantes. We call them heroes. By Amy Eliason, an Associate at Webber Wentzel Yet, these characters dwell in the realm of fantasy. We…

In a move aimed at bringing affordable broadband to Small and Medium Business Services (SMBS) industry, Telkom is offering a million megabytes of free Internet data to customers in this segment of the market. By Staff Writer This deal that is available until 31 March 2016 is equivalent to 1000GB of data. The telco said in a statement that the offer, which is subject to the signing of a new broadband bundle contract, is priced from R249/month over 36 months for its  ADSL line of up to 2Mbps including a SoftCap data allocation of 10GB/month, in addition to the…

Fed-up songwriters have issued mobile network MTN a ‘take-down’ notice to remove music from its stores as of today. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Non-profit organisation the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (Capasso) is accusing MTN of owing songwriters R1m in unpaid royalties for 2014. Capasso is further accusing MTN of failing to declare music sales data and earnings to songwriters for 2015. And now the copyright body wants MTN to “cease the use, sale and other exploitation of musical works owned or represented by Capasso members” by Wednesday, February 10. The mobile network sells music via services such as its…

Thanks to the advancement of ICT on the continent, Africa is in a strong position to capitalise on forecasts that the machine-to-machine (M2M) sector will generate $40 billion in global services revenue by 2019. By Kees Snijders, MD of Flickswitch. Machine to machine refers to direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless. Forming part of the Internet of Things, M2M enables systems to communicate with other devices anywhere in the world. Africa has an enviable reputation of using technologically-driven solutions to overcome many of its challenges. And while not all countries share the same priorities,…

The use of an SMS that directs Gauteng e-toll users to pay outstanding fees is illegal, said the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) on Wednesday. Outa, which changed its name from Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance recently, said it needed the public to “register their dissent” so that it can begin “a mass-action campaign to put a halt to Sanral’s intimidating messages”. Sanral (the SA National Roads Agency) has been trying to encourage user compliance ever since Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a revised e-toll payment plan to appease road users last year. That was the carrot. Now Sanral…

The Western Cape government is unable to deliver eLearning to disadvantaged schools as crime is stopping contractors from deploying broadband. Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said in her latest newsletter that the city has committed enormous resources to achieve its eLearning into its education system, “so that the “digital divide” does not drive further inequality in our society”. The provincial government’s eLearning requires every school to have free internet access, which in turn requires that they are all linked to Broadband. By the end of this year almost every school in the Western Cape should be linked to broadband, but the province is…

The days of using paper tickets at parking bays could be numbered if a local startup has its way. Mobile application KaChing officially went live on Tuesday and promises a cashless, ticketless parking system that allows drivers “seamless entry and exit to malls”. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency The application is available on the Google Play Store for Android devices and the Apple Store for iPhones. Jaco Marais, managing director and co-founder of KaChing, explained to Fin24 how the technology works. “How it works is that you download the application from the Apple Store or the Android Google Play store and then…

 The fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, will debut tonight in Telkom’s new advertising campaign for its Boltspeed fibre.  Telkom’s partnership with one of the most recognised sporting heroes in the world, created an ideal platform to showcase the very best in broadband, Telkom’s Boltspeed Fibre. The launch of the Boltspeed Fibre TV commercial follows hot on the heels of Telkom’s recent announcement that it has also launched South Africa’s largest ever fibre trial campaign. Telkom is offering more than 11 000 DSL customers across the country, the opportunity to experience Boltspeed Fibre, at no additional cost. Through the trial,…

Payment service provider PayGate has teamed up with African secure payment solutions firm Trans Africa Solutions to enable barcoded invoices to be settled in cash at retailers and Post Offices throughout South Africa via its patented Smart Code product, SCode. By Staff Writer Until now, barcoded invoices, which allow cash settlement, have been the exclusive domain of large companies which have had to negotiate individual deals with retailers and undergo lengthy and costly integration processes. E-commerce offerings have been cut off from this option, which has significantly constrained their access to certain markets.  “SCode’s revolutionary solution will allow even the smallest…

French insurance and asset management firm AXA has bought an 8% stake in Africa Internet Group (AIG), Africa’s biggest e-commerce firm for €75 million (R1.4 billion). By Staff Writer AIG is owned by mobile phone giants MTN, Millicom and Rocket Internet. MTN is planning to use AIG to grow its e-commerce business. The company said in a statement that the completion of the transaction is subject customary closing conditions, including the closing of the previous investment round, and is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2016. The additional capital contributed by AXA will further strengthen the balance sheet…

MTN Nigeria is prepared to defend in court its acquisition of Visafone, which will enable the mobile phone operator to deploy wireless broadband services in Africa’s biggest economy. Etisalat has filed a lawsuit against MTN and Visafone to challenge the acquisition. By Staff Writer The Leadership Newspaper in Nigeria reported on Tuesday that MTN Nigeria is “ready to meet Etisalat Nigeria in court over its acquisition of Visafone”. MTN is deploying the 800MHz spectrum for the commercial rollout of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for its fourth generation (4G) network. “Etisalat has filed a lawsuit against MTN and Visafone, and we have…

Malaik, crowed sourcing platform which describes itself as a global portal for high impact investing in African businesses, launched this week a call for applications for funding to African entrepreneurs. By Ujuh Reporter In a statement launching the call for applications Malaik said access to finance is a challenge for entrepreneurs across the world. The problem is most severe in Africa and yet small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) are the primary job creation engine in Africa, accounting for over 95% of firms and 60%-70% of employment. Neku Atawodi, founder and CEO of Malaik said “Africa is brimming with entrepreneurs with…

Of course, machines will not always get it right. But like autopilots in aircraft, and the driverless cars that are just around the corner, medical robots do not need to be perfect, they just have to be better than humans. By Anjali Jaiprakash, Jonathan Roberts and Ross Crawford Imagine your child requires a life-saving operation. You enter the hospital and are confronted with a stark choice. Do you take the traditional path with human medical staff, including doctors and nurses, where long-term trials have shown a 90% chance that they will save your child’s life? Or do you choose the robotic track, in the…