Author: Gugu Lourie

The Competition Tribunal of South Africa has agreed to indefinitely postpone a hearing regarding a R7bn merger between Vodacom and Neotel. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency This comes after Vodacom released a market update earlier on Monday, saying the company is exploring a “revised transaction structure” regarding the Neotel deal. Vodacom in its statement said the revised transaction discussions “will directly impact the extent of the approval being sought from the Competition Tribunal and the scope of the Competition Tribunal hearing”. The Competition Tribunal then on Monday morning announced a delay in the meeting, which was expected to hear challenges from…

With the December holidays only a few weeks away, many executives, business owners and entrepreneurs will be planning to take their work away with them. Few people can afford to completely disconnect from the office, particularly at a time when businesses of all sizes and across sectors are under pressure. For those travelling abroad, however, staying connected can quickly become a costly – and often complex – exercise. Some travellers opt for local SIM cards, others rely on public and hotel Wi-Fi, and most are unaware of the security and cost implications of each option. So what is the…

Vodacom is in discussions with Neotel and its shareholders to explore a revised transaction structure. By Gugu Lourie The South African biggest mobile phone operator is in a process of buying Neotel for R7 billion from its parent company Tata Communications. The Competition Tribunal was set to hear Vodacom’s application for the acquisition of Neotel between today, 23 November 2015, and 11 December 2015. But the tribunal has agreed on the weekend to postpone a hearing into the proposed R7bn Vodacom-Neotel merger. Vodacom informed investors on Monday that it was in discussions with Neotel and the shareholders of Neotel…

The Competition Tribunal of South Africa agreed on the weekend to postpone a hearing into the proposed R7bn Vodacom-Neotel merger. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency This comes after Vodacom [JSE:VOD] and Neotel brought an application for a postponement of the hearing that was scheduled to start on Monday. Reasons for the postponement were not disclosed by the Competition Tribunal. However, Fin24 understands that the delay has inconvenienced parties opposed to the merger as witnesses have been transported to Gauteng where the hearing is planned to happen in Pretoria. Instead, the Competition Tribunal will hold a private pre-hearing on Monday to discuss…

Telkom on Sunday announced that that it has teamed up with Olympic sprinter, Usain Bolt in a media partnership to promote fibre technology. Bolt is regarded as the fastest person ever and the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these events and the first man to win six gold medals in sprinting. By Staff Writer This alliance is a first of its kind between a South African telecommunications company and an international sprint star.  Telkom is currently rolling out an extensive network of fibre technology as…

South Africa’s Telkom’s share price has been on the up again today, buoyed by yesterday’s collapse of the talks with Dubai-Based Oger Telecom to buy Cell C. By Staff Writer On Thursday, Telkom shares jumped after acquisition talks with Oger Telecom to buy its stake in Cell C collapsed, ending concern the local firm would overpay to bulk up its mobile phone assets. Telkom shares traded a 1.52% higher at R68.02 by midday on Friday as investors continue to digest news of the country’s incumbent fixed line operator calling talks off  discussions with Oger Telecom to buy the country’s third biggest…

Turnaround plans at the South African Post Office do not include any talk of privatisation, says the state-owned company’s new chief executive officer. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Cabinet on Thursday approved the appointment of Mark Barnes as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the South African Post Office (Sapo) with his five-year term expected to start on January 15 2016. Barnes is currently the biggest shareholder and executive chairperson in investing and trading solutions company Purple Group. He was also previously an investment banker at Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank (SCMB) and former head of private equity firm Brait. Government…

  Project Isizwe, a non-profit organisation which aims to bring Free WiFi to low-income areas across South Africa, was counted amongst the big winners at the 8th Annual Africacom Awards, held yesterday at the Cape Town ICC. Project Isizwe won in two categories: “The Best Connectivity Solution for Africa” for the Tshwane Free WiFi Project and “Best App for Africa” for the Tshwane WiFi Voice Mobile App. Launched in 2013, Tshwane Free WiFi, currently has over 700 live sites and 1 Million Unique Users connected at speeds averaging 15mbps. The people of the City are able to enjoy 500MB…

Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mark Barnes as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the South African Post Office (Sapo) on Thursday. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Barnes has been appointed for a five-year period, starting from January 15 2016. There is expected to be a handover from Trevor Ndlazi who was appointed as acting group chief executive officer in October. Barnes graduated from UCT with an Honours Degree in Actuarial Science and attended Harvard Business School. He is also the single biggest shareholder and executive chairperson in investing and trading solutions company Purple Group. He also has leadership experience…

Big data has become some sort of celebrity. Everybody talks about it, but it is not clear what it is. To unpack its relevance to society it is important to backtrack a bit to understand why and how it came to be this ubiquitous problem. By Bruce Mellado Big data is about processing large amounts of data. It is associated with multiplicities of data formats stored somewhere, say in a cloud or in distributed computing systems. But the ability to generate data systematically outpaces the ability to store it. The amount of data is becoming so big and is produced so…

Telkom shares jumped after after acquisition talks with Dubai-based Oger Telecom to buy its stake in Cell C collapsed on Thursday, ending concern the local firm would overpay to bulk up its mobile phone assets. By Staff Writer Telkom said on Thursday talks to buy Cell C collapsed after not reaching an agreement with Oger Telecom on how to value Cell C. By “mutual agreement” Telkom and Oger Telecoms said they have ended all discussions related to the potential purchase of Cell C by Telkom. “Through Telkom’s engagement with Oger Telecoms in relation to Cell C, it has become…

Free Wi-Fi has come to residents of Gauteng’s East Rand as the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality starts rolling out the early stages of its connectivity programme at public facilities. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency Residents wanting to use the Wi-Fi can choose “Ekurhuleni Free Wi-Fi” network on a smartphone and are allowed a daily cap of 250MB. The Wi-Fi roll-out is coming to public facilities like clinics and libraries in areas such as Benoni, Boksburg, Brakpan and Springs. Officials said the network is robust and high-speed. “From a speed point of view we don’t put on a cap. They get a capacity of…

 Telkom and Dubai-based Saudi Oger Telecoms on Thursday terminated their talks for a deal to sell Cell C to South Africa’s fixed-line telephone group. By Staff Writer Telkom informed investors on November 9 2015 that it was in talks to buy Cell C . But On Thursday  Telkom said the deal talks were called off after the telco performed due diligence on Cell C. “Shareholders are now advised that Telkom and Oger Telecoms have mutually agreed to terminate these discussions,” Telkom informed investors on the JSE. The main hurdle to the deal was not disclosed to investors on the JSE, but Telkom…

Africa’s biggest mobile network MTN has been slapped with a Ugandan court order to pay $662 000 (R9.3m) in damages for anti-competitive behaviour. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Fin24 understands that MTN supplied a mobile money transfer company called EzeeMoney with one modem line and over 30 telephone lines on a postpaid basis to help carry out its business. However, MTN is then said to have changed the contract to a prepaid basis because EzeeMoney didn’t meet the mobile network’s criteria in terms of call volumes. But Nigerian newspaper Leadership has reported that EzeeMoney accused MTN of cancelling the contract with…

It might be thought that a firm threatened with a R200 billion lawsuit would see its shares plummet on the JSE. But investors in Vodacom Group, which is majority owned by British mobile giant Vodafone, have ignored Alieu Conteh’s threat to sue the South African-based mobile phone operator. By Staff Writer According to a report by Financial Mail magazine, Vodacom has been slapped with a $14 billion (R200 billion) claim by its partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, businessman Alieu Conteh. Conteh is the controlling shareholder of Congolese Wireless Network (CWN), which is a minority shareholder in Vodacom…

Cloud software maker Citrix announced on Thursday the appointment of Sherif Seddik as MD and vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). By Staff Writer He will report to Carlos Sartorius, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Services. Seddik will be responsible for the growth and development of the Citrix operation across EMEA, driving revenues, generating new business opportunities and cultivating the company’s valued partner ecosystem. “I’m drawn to Citrix’s vision and proven ability to connect people to apps and data on any device, platform and through the cloud,” says Seddik.  “Citrix offers such a unique value…

Despite the lower cost of W-Fi compared to mobile network connectivity, there is still low adoption of the technology in emerging markets such as South Africa, says an industry player. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “In developed markets the Wi-Fi adoption in homes is more or less 100%, in sub-Saharan Africa you still only see home Wi-Fi adoption for the privileged few,” Johan Terve, vice president of Marketing at Aptilo Networks told Fin24. The company specialises in carrier offload and has operations in 65 countries. Terve was speaking on the sidelines of the AfricaCom tech showcase underway in Cape Town. He said…

Vodacom has been slapped with a US$14 billion (R200 billion) claim by its partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, businessman Alieu Conteh, according to a report by Financial Mail magazine. The magazine said the claim follows an ongoing legal dispute between the parties. Conteh is the controlling shareholder of Congolese Wireless Network (CWN), which is a minority shareholder in Vodacom Congo. In its financial statements, Vodacom says the latest claim seeks to “invalidate a court decision to remove Conteh as statutory manager of CWN as well as the liquidation of Vodacom Congo and its payment of various sums to CWN…

The SABC on Wednesday announced the suspension of its Group CEO Frans Matlala, four months after he was appointed. By Naledi Shange, NewsAgency Spokesperson for the public broadcaster, Kaizer Kganyago said Matlala had been suspended pending an investigation. “The SABC’s Group Executive: News and Current Affairs, Mr Jimi Matthews, will be acting GCEO during this time,” he said. While the details around Matlala’s pending investigation were unclear, Kganyago said they would not comment any further on the matter until all processes were finalised. Matlala’s suspension comes just four months after his appointment. He took over in July following the abrupt resignation…

A new “Laan” is coming to the SABC in the form of Systraat, the South African public broadcaster’s first web series in the form of an Afrikaans animation show. By Thinus Ferreira, NewsAgency Systraat will also be the SABC’s first show to roll out and be “broadcast” online first before it’s shown on linear television. Systraat (“Sidestreet”) is produced by Stemmburg Television – also responsible for the long-running Afrikaans music competition show Noot vir Noot and the more recent Musiek Rouletteon SABC2. The first episode will debut on 24 November at 21:00 on SABC3’s YouTube channel. Systraat’s internet debut follows the…

While competition among South Africa’s four leading banks is fierce, FNB has successfully managed to keep bank charges down while offering improved services and unmatched connectivity—keeping it ahead of the game. Its success strategy has involved a partnership with DFA, owner of South Africa’s largest open-access high speed fibre network. Future proofing the network Access to high speed fibre connectivity was a fairly new concept for the local market in 2007, and there were a limited number of providers able to meet FNB’s needs. To overcome this issue the bank registered as an ISP and acquired an Electronic Communications…

MTN’s share price continued its downward trend on Tuesday as news emerged that the Nigerian authorities would not reduce the $5.2bn fine. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) slapped the hefty fine on Africa’s biggest mobile operator after MTN failed to register 5.1 million SIM cards. The NCC however cut MTN some slack by extending the November 16 deadline for payment to an undisclosed date. The $5.2bn (over R74bn) fine is based on a charge of 200 000 naira ($1 005) for each unregistered customer. According to data from INET BFA, MTN’s share price dropped as much as…

 Higher speed long term evolution (LTE) networks are set to drive a massive increase in data consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, said a new report. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency According to the Ericsson Mobility Report released at the AfricaCom tech conference under way in Cape Town, data traffic is expected to grow 15 times between 2015 and 2021, reaching 2 200 Petabytes. “In sub-Saharan Africa, the dividends of connecting the unconnected through mobile broadband access and driving new services cannot be overlooked as it allows business and society to fulfil their potential and create a more sustainable future,” said Fredrik Jejdling, regional…

From 17 November, the highly acclaimed series Breaking Bad is coming to ShowMax. Breaking Bad, which debuted in 2008, tells the story of high-school chemistry teacher Walter White who branches out into the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs after learning that he has terminal cancer. Over five seasons and 62 episodes in total, the tale of Walter’s desperate bid to make money for his family in the time he has left unfolds. Speaking about bringing Breaking Bad to ShowMax, head of content Victor Eckard said: “Breaking Bad is simply epic. It’s one of the most witty, clever, dark and…

We are still in the early stages of a new era in sport: the era of big data. Most sports fans love statistics.  Goals, points, runs, saves. They are the tools of the trade. But it’s only recently that we started paying attention to advance data, or analytics, which was strange and controversial just 15 years ago. By Brett Parker, MD at SAP Africa Let me tell you a story about a major sporting event that happened in Europe. Fans traveled hundreds of kilometres to be there. There were no hotel rooms available, so they pitched tents and slept outside. Before the…