Author: Gugu Lourie

Telkom is poised to provide fresh evidence of its turnaround on Monday 16 November, and to detail its further plans to retain and attract more customers on its network against Vodacom, MTN and other smaller players as the telco’s seeks to revolutionise broadband access in the country. By Gugu Lourie Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone group, which this year acquired tech firm Business Connexion and is keen on snapping up Cell C, continues to produce good growth and is likely to deliver better-than-expected performance when it reports its six months to end-September 2015 on November 16. The executives of the telco,…

A Cape Town tech start-up that successfully laid down the “tracks” for mobile payment apps like SnapScan to thrive has evolved into a dynamic business with aspirations to expand its value-added products. By Matthew le Cordeur, NewsAgency WiGroup founder and CEO Bevan Ducasse said that creating a common mobile payment thread for consumers, retailers and banks was crucial, but that making the transaction fee “free” was game changing. SA’s only interoperable point-of-sale mobile transacting network was founded in 2007 and in 2015 has developed into a 90-strong team. In August, Investec acquired a significant shareholding in wiGroup, with some reports valuing…

Africa’s biggest mobile network MTN could have avoided a $5.2bn fine in Nigeria, but regulators in that country have also been harsh on the company. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency This is according to Dobek Pater who is a director and analyst at telecoms, IT and media research firm Africa Analysis. On October 26, mobile network MTN announced that it was fined $5.2bn by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM cards in that country. The record fine came after Nigeria kick-started its SIM card registration process in 2013. This registration process in…

MTN, Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, said on Monday afternoon that Nigerian talks are still ongoing and requested investors to exercise caution. By Gugu Lourie MTN has resumed trading on the JSE. Africa’s largest mobile phone operator said that “engagements with the Nigerian authorities are continuing and any material developments in these engagements will be communicated to shareholders through SENS.” Earlier today, the JSE halted trading in MTN Group Limited shares pending an announcement from the company. The operator, which is the biggest in Nigeria, said after midday that “shareholders should specifically exercise caution when reacting to information on this…

 FNB on Monday announced that it has hit 100 000 active SIMs distributed for its mobile network service offering since its launch in June. By Staff Writer Customers are adopting the service offering that seamlessly integrates with its digital platforms, giving greater control over spend. “We didn’t expect to hit the 100 000 active SIMS mark before the end of the year but the strong organic uptake by customers is an indication that there’s a strong need for a transparent, flexible mobile service. 75% of the new SIMS are prepaid and 25% are post paid, and 40% of customers fall…

The JSE announced on Monday that it has suspended MTN Group shares with immediate effect. By Gugu Lourie “The JSE has halted trading in MTN Group Limited shares pending an announcement from the company,” the stock exchange operator said on Monday. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator is already facing an investigation by the JSE for possible insider trading related to the timing of its first statement to shareholders that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had fined them $5.2 billion. Last week MTN announced that CEO Sifiso Dabengwa is in discussions with the Nigerian Authorities over the fine. Email TechFinancials.co.za at [email protected]

The Japanese robot Pepper, made by Aldebaran Robotics, has sparked interest regarding the potential of robots to become companions. By Skye McDonald  According to its makers, Pepper can recognise emotions from your facial expressions, words and body gestures, and adjust its behaviour in response. This heralds a new era in the development of sociable artificial intelligence (AI). But it raises the inevitable question as to whether AI is ever likely to be able to understand and respond to the experiences of humans in a genuine manner, i.e. have empathy. In their shoes In order to answer this question, it is important…

If you’re thinking of forwarding a joke about Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, just don’t. By News24 Correspondent A Zimbabwean man is complaining all he did was click “Forward” on a joke about the long-time leader, who turns 92 early next year. However, the neighbours to whom 38-year-old Titus Maposa sent the text message, sent it to the police and he was arrested, according to a report in Friday’s Manica Post newspaper. The offending joke was a message falsely attributed to Ecocash, Zimbabwe’s mobile money transfer scheme, which said the president had deposited $1 500 (R20 745) into their account. The newspaper said the…

The minister of small business development, Lindiwe Zulu, launched a state backed online portal, FinFind, that is designed to help small enterprises across the country to access finance. By Ujuh Zulu unveiled FinFind during an SME conference held in Sandton yesterday. The development of the portal was financed by U.S. Aid. It is designed to walk with SME’s to a state where they are easy to apply for finance. FinFind has been positioned as a one stop shop with oodles of information and links to key enterprise finance institutions like the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), Industrial Development Zone and…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Friday started an investigation into the timing of MTN Group’s  announcement on Monday that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had fined them $5.2bn. “The investigation will follow due process to establish whether there have been any breaches of the listings requirements and can be a lengthy process,” said Andre Visser, head of Issuer Regulation at the JSE, in a statement on Friday. “As with all price sensitive announcements, the Market Regulation team is looking into trades that took place before the announcement in order to determine if there is any evidence of possible insider…

South Africa’s television set-top box tender is coming under the spotlight as an investigation has been launched into its procurement process. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency Replying to questions from an African National Congress (ANC) member in the National Council of Provinces in Parliament on Thursday, the Department of Communications said allegations of Chinese imports have sparked a wider investigation. Earlier this year, the state-owned Universal Services and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) – which reports to the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services – awarded South Africa’s R4.3bn set-top box tender to 26 bidders. Set-top boxes (STBs) will decode…

JSE-listed telecommunications firm Huge Group, which is on a hunt for buys, announced on Friday that it has entered into an agreement to buy 100% of local ICT provider Centracom for R82 million. By Gugu Lourie The telecoms firm – which has raised R1.2 billion for future acquisitions – said the acquisition of Centracom would be settled via an issue of vendor shares and cash. The South African-based telecoms firm said the acquisition of Centracom would enable Huge to increase its customer base by 20% to 13 000 and enhance annuity revenue cash flows and increase the number of…

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded MTN’s  credit rating and put the mobile network on a watch negative amid a $5.2bn fine in Nigeria. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency S&P said on Thursday that it’s lowering its ratings on MTN from ‘BBB’ and ‘zaAA+’ to ‘BBB-’ and ‘zaAA-’. S&P also put MTN on a CreditWatch with negative implications, meaning that it could downgrade MTN if its liquidity position and credit metrics weaken further. This is after it emerged this week that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has fined MTN 1.04 trillion naira ($5.2bn; R71bn) related to delayed disconnections of…

Political parties have declared war on cable thieves by supporting the Criminal Matters Amendment Bill in Parliament on Thursday. By Thulani Gqirana, NewsAgency The bill was debated in the National Assembly where it was supported by a majority of parties, with the exception of the Economic Freedom Fighters. It has now been referred to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. The Criminal Matters Amendment Bill introduces harsher sentences for the destruction of essential infrastructure and more stringent bail conditions and applications for perpetrators. African National Congress MP Bongani Bongo said the bill addressed not only the theft of metal, but…

eThekwini Municipality residents could soon get the latest council decisions from the comfort of their own homes. By Amanda Khoza, NewsAgency On Wednesday, the city approved a proposal to broadcast eThekwini Municipality Television to residents. It would not cost anything as the city would use existing infrastructure, municipal spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa said in a statement. Human settlements and infrastructure committee chairperson Nigel Gumede said it was a wonderful idea as people could stay informed about city policies. “We already have the television screens and nothing will have to be spent in this regard. For us, it is a way of communicating…

Many years ago Michael left his small town for the big city to pursue his studies in Law. Although just 19 years of age, he believed ambition and intelligence was his perfect recipe for success. By Staff Writer Upon obtaining his LLB degree from one of the countries top universities, with a Cum Laude, finding a top firm for his articles was a smooth and quick process, actually this would be the first time that Michael would experience being headhunted, how exciting he thought, a real Harvey Spector. In just 5 short years, after completing his articles and being…

Mark van Wyk, a private pilot and entrepreneur from Cape Town, has won the first prize at the inaugural AVI Awards for his prototype UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). By Staff Writer Van Wyk’s UAV will become the first hydrogen powered aircraft in Africa, fully developed in South Africa. The awards are a culmination of the partnership between the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS). Van Wyk, founder of the company FlyH2 Aerospace and his partner, Onno Huyser, is developing a large, fixed-wing unmanned aircraft for survey and environmental research purposes. The aircraft will…

Globally the construction industry has been labeled as a late adopter, but the advent of mobility and resulting trends such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has led to the industry using these devices in a manner adverse to the industry’s effective management. By John Haefele, managing director of Onsite Control Systems, providers of cloud collaboration solutions for construction in Africa. Ironically, developed to make business easier and progress quicker, these very same tools have caused disarray for construction projects. There are now simply too many methods of communication and very little in place to manage any of it.…

The City of Tshwane’s free Wi-Fi programme hit a milestone of one million unique devices on Wednesday. The free Wi-Fi rollout programme is part of the metro’s eKaelo strategy to boost engagement and government response with citizens. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “It’s just a number, but it’s a biggie. It means that Tshwane has touched the lives of over one million people: Mostly young and mostly in low income communities. That’s cool,” Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, Project Isizwe chief executive told Fin24.The non-governmental organisation is responsible for the delivery of the Tshwane network and the record was reached at 20:47 on Wednesday…

Many consumers agree to buying goods or services over the phone yet are unaware that these verbal contracts can be legally binding and may have financial implications. By Staff Writer It’s a scene that will be all-too-familiar to South African consumers. You’re sitting at your desk, frantically working on a report that was due an hour ago, when your cellphone rings. It’s your cellphone company, or gym, or other service provider, and they have a special offer they want to tell you about to get you to upgrade your service. You “uhuh” your way through the conversation, giving a final “uhuh” when the caller asks…

 For organisations within the transportation sector, the use of intelligent predictive maintenance platforms – connected to a variety of structured and unstructured data sources – can unleash some powerful business advantages. By Martin Vergunst, Business Solutions Executive at T-Systems South Africa Case studies show that maintenance costs can be reduced by up to 30%, productivity can rocket by 25%, and downtime due to outage can be lowered by up to 45%. Predictive maintenance platforms rely on sensors that monitor the performance of a particular component or piece of equipment. For example, on a passenger train there may be sensors monitoring…

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has won an urgent court interdict to halt planned strike action on Thursday. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency On Wednesday, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at a media briefing said it was planning a march involving an estimated 4 000 Gauteng postal workers in Johannesburg. CWU issued demands to convert all Sapo contract workers to permanent employment, payment of outstanding back pay, 10% salary increases for the current financial year, a halt to changes in workers’ terms and conditions of employment and a “total stop to piecemeal salary payments”. Union members further expected to…

About 28% of parents in South Africa feel they have no control over what their children see or do online, with 41% concerned that their children’s Internet-dependency is becoming an addiction, according to a new research by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International. Added to this, many adults worry that their own, digitally-active parents and grandparents could be equally vulnerable. By Staff Writer About 47% of respondents in South Africa believe that the threats their children face online are increasing. The top concern is the risk of kids encountering inappropriate or explicit content (52%), with 55% convinced that kids have unrestricted access…

From the first mobile phone 30 years ago, which weighed in at a massive 4.7kg and had 30 minutes of talk time, we’ve evolved in just 20 years to a time where the telephony function is but one small element of our smart-devices. By Yule Edwards MTN and Vodacom launched the first cellular services in South Africa in 1994 and the public was sceptical. Calls were expensive and only the top LSMs were able to afford the devices and their upkeep. And why would you need to be available on the trot anyway? It seemed ridiculous in a country where most…

Identity theft in South Africa is on the rise as cyber crooks eye stealing from company executives, a survey has found. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency According to a 2015 Metrofile Information and Records Management Index of 200 executive managers of local companies, 7% of respondents indicated that their companies had been the victim of identity theft in the last year. That number is up four percentage points from 2014 as cyber crooks eye lucrative schemes to steal personal and financial data. “It is more lucrative for criminals to target businesses, rather than individuals, when it comes to perpetrating identity…