Author: Gugu Lourie
Telkom told TechFinancials.co.za on Monday that it is still interested in transforming the coin or card operated payphones into wifi hotspots. By Gugu Lourie Last year Telkom told TechFinancials.co.za that it was contemplating turning its thousands of public payphones into wifi hotspots. In 2013, City of New York asked designers to re-imagine the city’s decrepit payphones as internet-flinging, ad- spitting future machines, according to Gizmodo. Telkom 79 000 public payphones scattered around the country could create an instant massive network, which could help provide broadband access to millions of South Africans. Speaking at Satnac conference in Hermanus on Monday Prenesh Padayachee,…
Telkom wants to double and accelerate its investment into fibre-to-the-home (FFTH) and the country’s fixed-line telephone group CEO, Sipho Maseko, said the company would have passed 1 million houses by 2018. By Gugu Lourie Speaking at Telkom’s annual Satnac technology conference, held at Arabella, Hermanus, Maseko said the company is aiming to pass 70 000 homes connected with fibre by end of this year and targeting 150 000 by March next year. Maseko said the company has alreay passed 38 000 homes by end of August 2015 that are now connected to its fibre network. “We are doubling and…
Electromagnetic fields are all around us. They are a part of our natural environment, produced by the Earth and the sun. But they are also becoming increasingly prominent with advancements in technology, such that we are surrounded daily by many different sources of electromagnetic energy. By Sarah Loughran Mobile phones, Wi-Fi, personal computers, smart meters, radio, television and even the TV remote control – they all emit this kind of energy. Mobile phone base stations are continually being installed, and Wi-Fi hotspots are increasing all of the time. Cafés and restaurants, libraries, hotels and even some city centres and parks now…
South Africa’s Naspers, a multinational group of ecommerce and media brands, is ‘taking a big bet’ on a US-based start-up letgo, which was recently launched to offer a highly visual mobile marketplace allowing users to post, buy, sell and communicate with each other instantly and for free. Naspers is investing $100 million (R1.38 billion) into the start up. By Gugu Lourie Letgo, which was founded in 2015 has already been downloaded more than 2 million times – with users in the U.S. and around the world posting more than 500,000 listings with a total gross merchandise value of over $25 million.…
Now that so many teenagers have smartphones equipped with cameras it’s inevitable that they’re used to take pictures, sometimes regrettable pictures, and to share them with others. The problem is that this is not just often regrettable in their own eyes, but also illegal in the eyes of the law. By Nikki Godden-Rasul A 14-year-old boy who took a naked selfie and sent it to a girl at school that he’d been flirting with recently found himself in hot water with his school and with the police. Both his and the girl’s details have been added to a police…
Telkom will be automatically migrating Home and Business LTE and LTE-A plans (table below refers) to the recently introduced higher value SmartBroadband Wireless (LTE) and SmartBroadband Wireless LTE-A plans as of 1 October 2015. By Staff Writer The new plans will give customers added value in terms of double data allocation through the included Night Surfer Data and unlimited access to WiFi data at Telkom’s public WiFi hotspots. “Customers will be migrated to the higher value plans free of charge and there will be no change to their monthly recurring subscription fees after the migration. Our LTE and LTE-A…
MTN has expanded its fibre to the home (FTTH) footprint to the Western Cape, and trenching has already commenced in the picturesque suburbs of Fresnaye and Bakoven as the operator prepares to connect approximately 1 000 homes with this high speed network before the end of the year. By Staff Writer The rollout of this high speed fibre network by MTN to the residents of Fresnaye and Bakoven follows a successful deployment of FTTH to a number of suburbs around Johannesburg including at the eco-estate of Monaghan Farm, Lonehill, Parkmore and surrounding suburbs. MTN has already commenced the civil works in…
Telkom on Friday announced that it will be rolling out the second phase of SmartBroadband Uncapped High Speed Wireless packages to more than 200 additional areas in Gauteng. The online sale will take place on 7 September to offer the uncapped packages to customers on a 24 month contract at prices starting at R599. By Staff Writer The second phase on the online sale comes off the success of the first phase in June, where approximately 400 people took advantage of the packages in 29 locations in Gauteng. Phase two of the sale will also allow customers to purchase…
Cloud is modernising and streamlining the way in which repeatable solutions and services are delivered to clients. South African telcos operating in Africa are catching on and big industry players are marching to the virtual battleground in an effort to diversify revenues streams. By Gugu Lourie Telkom’s acquisition of technology firm Business Connexion (BCX), a big move towards cloud services, will help the parastatal address the information technology and communication (ICT) needs of local businesses. It also provides Telkom with a ready-baked Africa strategy, covering more than seven African countries. Global online retailer Amazon has joined the fray, announcing in…
Westcon, which celebrates 30 years in the IT channel, has gone from the brainchild of three founders operating from a garage to a global distributor with more than 4 000 employees in nearly 70 countries across the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa. By Staff Writer Westcon, a subsidiary of JSE and London-listed Datatec, is celebrating 30 years of exceptional service and support in delivering results for its partners in the channel. The company recorded $4.9 billion revenue in full year 2015 and grew by 19% organically in that year alone. Westcon is focused on technology practices in Security,…
Vodacom reached nearly 4 million music lovers with Influencer Marketing – Webfluential. It created online talkability for the music streaming service Deezer, a Vodacom partner streaming partner, through social media influencers such as LiveSA, YoMzansi, Da L.E.S, Luthando Sosha, Slikouronlife and The Fuss. By Taryn Hyam, Webfluential’s marketing communications manager. Vodacom wanted to increase awareness with various youth, entertainment and music audiences on why they should consider music streaming and why Vodacom Deezer is the best option.With Deezer being an online download, the objective was to create the conversation online where potential users could access the download easily.To achieve the goal of igniting…
Telcos dominate the mobile payments industry across Africa. Banks need to move out of catch-up mode. By Ria Pinto, Director, Financial Services Sector, IBM Africa truly is the mobile continent. Consider the figures: some two-thirds of Africans have a mobile phone, and 600 million mobile devices can be found on the continent. However, Kenya aside—where 50 percent of citizens use mobile money for key payments—mobile commerce or m-commerce has been slower to take off. But as big investment in m-payments by South Africa’s big-four banks shows, the opportunity is substantial. M-commerce adoption will be driven by the high…
Continuing on its commitment to provide connectivity, at the best price, Vox Telecom has on Thursday announced that it is doubling all month-to-month Fat Pipe data bundles specifically for its Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) customers. By Staff Writer Available to Vox Telecom FTTH customers (new or existing), the promotional offer applies to month-to-month Fat Pipe data packages and is specific to non-Telkom Fibre-To-The-Home areas. “There is no doubt that the demand for high speed, quality, unshaped data is growing and is largely being driven by consumers wanting to download or stream high definition and soon, 4K Ultra High Definition movies…
Worldreader, a global literacy non-profit organisation, has teamed-up with one of the world´s most popular mobile browser Opera Software to try to offer free digital books to more than 10 million readers by the end of 2015. By Gugu Lourie The organisation has so far reached 5 million mobile readers in Africa. Globally, it has enabled over 6 million people in Asia, Africa and South America, to get access to, read and enjoy over 28,500 free digital books, via their mobile phones. The San Francisco-based organisation is dedicated to improving literacy in the developing world through digital books. Mobile…
By Gugu Lourie Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, is debuting Always On banking via WeChat social media platform – described as a first in South African banking with virtual bankers online 24/7. The banking group says Always On solutions gives its customer’s 24-hour access to a dedicated virtual banking team to enable always on banking anytime and anywhere. “We know how busy life can get. We understand that your daily time is limited and that this may affect your finances. Wouldn’t it be great to have a bank that is always available, whether it’s Friday night or Sunday…
FNB announced on Wednesday that money sent to recipients via its mobile money solution eWallet topped the R1 billion a month mark for the first time in July 2015. This is an increase of 66%, from R650 million sent in the July 2014, proving that mobile money is now a real replacement for person to person cash payments. By Staff Writer The bank said the first R1 billion took it two years to reach, and now people are sending R1 billion a month. It added the numbers are big, but the primary focus for it is to really impact…
SA’s tech start-ups are making it big globally as they push beyond their Cape Town and Johannesburg borders, and some are attracting big global investors. By Gugu Lourie South African tech start-ups are already making headlines globally and might be aiming to follow on the footsteps of South African born Elon Musk, who founded Paypal and later sold it to eBay to create exciting firms such as Tesla Motors and Space X. Other local start-up sold for billion dollars include a virtual gift card service firm, Gyft, founded by a South African Vinny Lingham. These start-ups are aiming to…
execMobile is preparing to expand into the roaming of things (Internet of Things) in a move aimed at capturing a sizeable share of the billion dollar market. By Gugu Lourie execMobile has been in business for five years. Based in South Africa the firm has been working on perfecting the art of keeping people connected in an “affordable, safe and convenient” way. Through its PocketWifi solution, execMobile helps travellers avoid massive international roaming costs for data. It allows users “easy and affordable” mobile data while travelling abroad and connects to superfast 3G networks in 149 countries. A traveller (individuals,…
The country’s third mobile phone operator Cell C, which is likely to be sold by its parent company DUBAI-based Oger Telecom if a good buyer is found, has introduced a promotional offer available on EasyChat prepaid tariff plan that offers customers free data with every R50 recharge. By Gugu Lourie Cell C is introducing a new prepaid promotion that provides customers with free data with every recharge “Every recharge of R50 and above will attract 3 X the recharge value in free MegaData on the EasyChat tariff plan,” Cell C said. The promotion will run from 1 September 2015 to 30…
The power of mobile cannot be underestimated, attributable to the fact that many people in South Africa remain unbanked, and a large percentage of the population owns a mobile / smart device. We have seen how M-Pesa has taken off in East Africa, and once regulations are cleared in South Africa, we’ll see more of this form of banking. By Tony Smith, CEO at Oxygen8 South Africa Banking is the second most popular category in the usage of mobile technology, having amassed 17.6% of all votes, according to the Oxygen8 report based on the survey on Mastering Multichannel Journeys.…
The journey for 23-year-old twin brothers Benjamin and Isaac began with their vision to start an IT company, coupled with their ambitious drive to make it succeed. Isaac Mophatlane, CEO of Business Connexion (BCX) reflects on the journey and what they have achieved. Looking back at two decades of ICT excellence 24 August 2015 marked a historic day in the history of BCX and in particular for Isaac Mophatlane, Group CEO, as the company delisted from the JSE, following the successful acquisition by Telkom and after trading for over 11 years as an independent listed company. Ben and I discovered…
WhereIsMyTransport, a South African-based transport solutions start-up has announced a R12 million investment from local and global investors. Now the company is looking to overseas expansion after it set-up an office in London. By Gugu Lourie The transport solutions startup, which was established in Cape Town seven years ago, is dedicated to improving the commuter experience in emerging markets and determined to turn commuter data into a system that serves cities and users alike. The firm also provides to the City of Tshwane a Findmyway, an app providing a point-to-point journey planner integrating public and alternate modes of transport.…
execMobile, a South African company founded by Craig Lowe, has this year so far saved its clients (individuals, SMEs or corporate travellers) close to R100 million in data roaming costs by using its PocketWifi solution. Lowe is also excited about the possibility of an agreement with Telkom, South Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone group. By Gugu Lourie execMobile’s PocketWifi enables clients (individuals, SMEs or corporate travellers) to have their own personal, secure connection to the super-fast 3G internet. This enables users to work wherever and whenever – while at the same time jettisoning huge data roaming costs. “You always strive for…
Today execMobile introduced a 2015 Rugby World Cup data roaming agreement to enable South African travelling to the games in England an affordable, secure and convenient way to remain connected. South Africans travellers to the UK will be able to tweet securely any exciting moments during the World Cup. Also they will be able to post their pictures on Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and WhatsApp. They can also use Skype. By Gugu Lourie South Africans travelling to the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October will be able to avoid high roaming cellular costs…
Cloud storage offers a means of storing files online, which can be accessed from anywhere to work with, sync and share. It is like having a cloud-based USB drive. Whereas cloud backup solutions address the need for business continuity, with 100 percent data recoverability and a relatively quick restore to status quo. By Staff Writer Vox Telecom has launched CloudBackup PRO, an easy to use hybrid backup application developed for small to medium businesses that stores data safely, in the cloud or on a local hard drive for disaster recovery purposes. “The hype around cloud has blurred the lines between…