Author: Gugu Lourie

If pre-Christmas searches are anything to go by, this festive season many visitors to South Africa’s online marketplace bidorbuy would like Santa to bring them – a drone. By Staff Writer “The term drone is now among the ten most frequent searches on the site, shoulder-to-shoulder with watches, smartphones, laptops, tablets, consoles, games, toys and hobbies”, says bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker. The most sought after watch seems to be Rolex, although that search probably belongs in the domain of wishful thinking, as the pricing on bidorbuy starts from R5000 for a small second-hand ladies’ watch to half a million rands…

Fixed line revenues are tumbling but mobile has helped spur a jump in earnings at Telkom, the company said in its interim results statement on Monday. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency Telkom’s group net revenue increased 1.2% year-on-year for the six months ended September 2015 from R13.29bn to R13.45bn. A key challenge for the company has included its fixed-line voice usage revenue which decreased 14.1% to R3.1bn. The number of Telkom fixed lines in South Africa also continued to fall from 3.5 million in September 2014 to 3.3 million in September 2015.But revenue from mobile service and subscriptions increased 41% to R1.2bn…

Nigerian regulators’ decision to extend a November 16 deadline to fine MTN R74.8bn suggests discussions are making headway, says an analyst. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued a R74.8bn fine to MTN last month for failing to disconnect five million unregistered SIM cards in a timely manner. The NCC then set a deadline of November 16 for MTN to pay the fine. But MTN, which has 62 million subscribers in Nigeria, said in a market update on Monday that “Nigerian authorities have, without prejudice, agreed that the imposed fine will not be payable until the negotiations…

Cellular product distributor Allied Mobile Africa has secured $55 million (R800 million) funding deal with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). By Staff Writer The debt funding facility is to drive the company’s growth in South Africa as well as their expansion on the rest of the African continent. From its inception in 2003 Allied Mobile has grown to be the dominant, cellular product distributor and 3rd-party logistics provider to the mobile telecommunications industry in Africa. Allied Group owns a substantive share of Virgin Mobile South Africa. Leveraging its leadership position in South Africa and other existing markets, Allied Mobile…

MTN has advised investors on Monday morning that the Nigerian Communications Commission has agreed not to impose a $5.2 billion fine on Africa’s largest mobile phone operator until talks have beeen completed. By Staff Writer MTN Nigeria, which was fined for failing to deactivate SIM cards that were not complying with Nigerian laws, is still in talks with that country’s government. The deadline set for the payment of the fine was today, November 16. “Although the Nigerian Communications Commission set a deadline for payment of the fine by Monday, 16 November 2015, shareholders are advised that the Nigerian authorities have,…

From Cape Town to Thohoyandou, more than 3 000 public health facilites span South Africa. In rural areas, the distance between health facilities can span hundreds of kilometres often covered via poor roads. In places like these, the difference between a health care worker having cellphone reception or seeing the familiar “no service” on a cellphone screen can be a matter of life or death. By Dr Adam Asghar, Dr Indira Govender, Dr Desmond Kegakilwe and Dr Garrick Barber Linda* is a rural community service doctor. While on call one night earlier this year, she receives word to brace herself for…

MVN-X, which is led by ex-Virgin Mobile boss Steve Bailey, is interested in buying an Internet Service Provider (ISP) as part of its growth strategy that includes looking for mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) opportunities in other parts of Africa. By Gugu Lourie The Durban-based firm, led by Bailey and instrumental in the launch of me&you Mobile, iSmart and mrpmobile, is targeting ISPs for acquisitions around the country. MVN-X, which was founded 18 months ago, aims to form mutual beneficial partnerships with leading retailers and brands diversifying into the mobile space. It acts as a middleman between the mobile phone…

Adroit Technologies scooped the Mind2Machine Award of the Year 2015 for their App that was built on the REMOTEWORX Machine2Machine Platform. The App monitors, controls and manages a geographically distributed set of mobile and fixed generator sites by  inspecting power, fuel and alarm systems of the generators. By Staff Writer Moses Joseph Mayimela walked away with the Breakthrough Developer of the Year award for his prototype monitoring system that allows for the tracking of perishable and non-perishable goods that are being stored in fridges and transported by vehicles over long distances. The system provides an early warning prompt to…

Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi is aiming to target a tech-savvy market in South Africa, says a distributor. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency The manufacturer, which has seen success in mainland China for its devices, is bringing the Redmi 2 and Mi 4 to SA through a distribution partnership with MIA Group. “The phones that we’re bringing in – the Mi 4 and the Red Mi2 – they’re coming in at a very affordable price and I think that is how they’re going to differentiate themselves in this market,” Kerry Taoushiani marketing executive at MIA told Fin24. She said that the company known…

With Cell C planning to add another mobile virtual network operator next year, MVN-X and me&you Mobile are showing good subscriber growth. By Gugu Lourie me&you Mobile, which was launched successfully by MVN-X, has managed to garner more than 6000 customers in the past six months. The operator is an agile business that has high a average revenue per user, making its foray into the telco space profitable. Brett Howell, me&you Mobile CEO, told TechFinancials.co.za that the firm is planning to increase its customers to between 20 000 and 25 000 by the end of 2016. “It’s been encouraging…

Imagine a media company diversifying its revenue streams by becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) like FNB Connect, Virgin Mobile, me&you Mobile, SmartMobile and mrpmobile. MVN-X is assisting a South African media firm to do just that. By Gugu Lourie Former Virgin Mobile boss Steve Bailey, who was instrumental in the launch of Me&You Mobile and MRP Mobile through his firm MVN-X, is assisting a local media firm to launch a successful MVNO. Bailey disclosed in an interview to TechFinancials.co.za that MVN-X was working hard to establish another MVNO in South Africa. “We are very upbeat about it. So, we’ve got…

Expanding your business north of the Limpopo is an excellent growth strategy if you’re looking to capture new markets and become a truly international operation. But while heading up into the rest of Africa can be a lucrative and exciting move for your business, it should be done for the right reasons. Rocketseed South Africa – a home-grown tech company that helps organisations to cultivate marketing capital through email branding – recently embarked on an expansion drive into Africa. Since the first deal was done in August 2014, Rocketseed is active in two African countries outside of South Africa…

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Dr. Siyanbonga Cwele has served charges on his department’s Director-General (DG) Rosey Sekese. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency This comes after Cwele put Sekese on precautionary suspension in August for two months amid a probe being launched into leadership problems at the department. Business technology publication ITWeb reported in March this year that insiders said Sekese has allegedly been on a “witch hunt” to purge staff members who oppose her. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services did not, on Wednesday, want to comment on what Sekese has been charged with until the…

Coming shortly after Tiger Brands CEO, Peter Matlare, decided to throw in the towel, partly due to a Nigerian mess, the fall of MTN Group CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, comes to entrench the view that Nigeria stands as a poisoned chalice for a number of South African corporations. By Ujuh Reporter With the largest population (about 178.5 million people) on the African continent, Nigeria has for a while been touted as the holy grail within the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative. This was capped by the rebasing of the Nigerian GDP calculation which positioned the country as the largest economy on the African…

If South Africa’s Competition Tribunal does not give the go-ahead for Vodacom to buy Neotel, the country’s biggest mobile phone operator still has an ace up its sleeve. By Gugu Lourie The tribunal is set to hear Vodacom’s application for the acquisition of Neotel between 23 November 2015 and 11 December 2015. The proposed R7 billion transaction has already been approved by the country’s communications watchdog, ICASA. However, the deal is being opposed by rivals Telkom, MTN and Cell C. ICASA’s decision to approve the proposed transaction has also been taken on review in the High Court by Telkom,…

The sudden resignation this week of MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa over the Nigeria $5.2 billion fine fiasco resulted in Africa’s largest mobile phone operator losing more than R80 billion of its market value. MTN old hand Phuthuma Nhleko has been put back in charge for six months to steady the ship, the question is who will take over after that? By Gugu Lourie MTN has swiftly moved to install non-executive chairman and board member Phuthuma Nhleko at the helm of the company, while it tries to find an amicable solution with Nigerian authorities over the staggering US$5.2 billion…

The City of Tshwane has doubled the daily data allowance on its public Wi-Fi programme. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “Tshwane free Wi-Fi daily cap has been increased from 250MB to 500MB per day,” Alan Knott-Craig Jnr of Project Isizwe told Fin24. The non-governmental organisation has been tasked with the installation of Tshwane’s Wi-Fi programme which has delivered over 700 hot spots in the metro. Knott-Craig Jnr was quick to point to the consumer cost saving of the project. “The equivalent monthly cost based on R120/GB is R1 800. In effect, Tshwane gives R1 800 worth of internet per month to people…

The first phase of the Namola security application has been given the green light in the City of Tshwane. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “Roll-out has started at Atteridgeville and Pretoria CBD. Once these areas are covered and Namola has been adopted there we will move out to the remaining regions,” Craig Rivett of Ever Africa told Fin24 about the launch. The project, which bills itself as an “Uber for security”, initially worked as a smartphone application so that people could call for an escort when they felt unsafe. It has evolved into a parallel communications channel where tablets in Tshwane Metro…

Smart cities are best defined as urban ecosystems that leverage technology and connectivity to deliver services to citizens. They touch on almost every aspect of public life: basic service delivery (like water, electricity and sanitation), healthcare, public transport, security and surveillance, traffic management, education, energy-efficient buildings, and technology-driven payment systems. By Martin Vergunst, Business Solutions Executive at T-Systems South Africa A smart city integrates various municipal departments, connected by innovative technologies, giving citizens access to public services with ease and low cost. In this way, the smart city vision promises to fuel economic development, increase levels of citizen participation, and…

­ It could herald a great leap forward in the way we live our lives. The internet of things, the idea that objects can be interconnected via a global network, will run your home, keep you healthy and even check how much food is in your fridge. It will mean a trillion new “smart sensors” being installed around the world by 2020. But what’s going to power these devices? By Jeff Kettle In some cases, the energy source is obvious: sensors in fridges or traffic lights can simply tap into mains electricity. But it’s much trickier to power something that detects…

If you are an entrepreneur, or a small medium business enterprise (SME) running an office or a retailer and you need a surveillance system that is easy to install and use, try the Axis F34 surveillance system. By Gugu Lourie This video surveillance solution only requires a personal computer (PC) to activate its cameras on the internet and thereafter the user doesn’t need a PC to use the video cameras. Users are likely to be impressed by the fact that Axis F34 surveillance system removes the need for a recorder for your videos? The solution comes with two 64 GB…

MTN’s biggest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), has questioned the role of the board of directors of MTN over the $2.5 billlion Nigerian fine. By Staff Writer The PIC noted the resignation of MTN’s Group CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, early this morning. MTN announced on Monday that it has appointed its Phuthuma Nhleko as executive Chairman after Dabengwa resigned. “Whilst the PIC acknowledges that Mr Dabengwa’s resignation is the noble thing to do in the current circumstances, the PIC is of the view that a lot more people need to take collective responsibility for the fine that was imposed…

The resignation of MTN group chief executive officer Sifiso Dabengwa is a “loss to the industry”, says Vodacom boss Shameel Joosub. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Dabengwa joined MTN in 2004 as the company’s CEO in Nigeria. He then became group CEO in 2011. But Dabengwa resigned on Monday amid the company facing a $5.2bn fine in Nigeria for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards in the country in a timely manner. Since the announcement of the fine, MTN’s share price has tumbled from a close of R190.84 on Friday October 23 to R159.42 at 13:44 on Monday November 9. The…

South Africa’s biggest mobile network Vodacom wants a regulatory approach to data-driven over the top (OTT) applications such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency WhatsApp has grown to over 10 million users in South Africa, according to research from World Wide Worx and Fuseware. And Vodacom, in its interim results announcement on Monday, said that it has experienced a 33.5% data growth rate but that the company had invested R6.2bn in SA to cater for greater internet usage. This follows a R5.8bn investment in 2014. “A lot of your data growth is driven by the same people who are trying…

MTN Group shares and that of its Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) scheme MTN Zakhele regained some of the lost ground on Monday after the mobile phone operator said it has appointed its Phuthuma Nhleko as executive Chairman after the group CEO resigned. By Gugu Lourie The MTN and MTN Zakhele shares have recouped the lost ground they lost due to the Nigerian troubles that have rocked the mobile phone operator. MTN shares gained 1.71% at R160.14 by 11:58am on Monday while MTN Zakhele shares rose 12.42% at R77.01. The shares gained after MTN group announced earlier on Monday that it…