Author: Gugu Lourie

By Guy Zibi, founder and MD at Xalam Analytics Rarely has an industry been as celebrated as the African mobile industry over the past decade – and deservedly so. From its unprecedented ability to alter human interaction and communication, change the fabric of entire economic sectors, attract massive infrastructure investment, the contribution of the telecoms sector to African development over the past fifteen years has been truly transformational. And yet, even as the industry continues to bask under such well-deserved plaudits, seldom have the fundamentals that have long underpinned its success been so much under threat and its future so…

By Gugu Lourie Vodacom, is South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, and is an indicator of how the sector is performing in the country. Vodacom on Thursday published good sets of financial numbers indicating that the company’s growth is not slowing down. Vodacom South Africa prepaid active customers rose 2.3% to 28.4 million for the quarter ended-June 2015. Contract customers, excluding Machine-to-Machine sim cards, were up 3.1% to 4.9 million as a result of higher gross connections and ‘greater customer loyalty’. The company’s revenue rose 5.5% to R16 billion, benefitting from strong growth in data and increased equipment sales.…

Vodacom South Africa on Thursday published its latest subscription numbers and show just how much ground its competitors has to cover to keep up, especially Cell C that is trying to entice customers to its network. According to the numbers Vodacom South Africa published, the country’s biggest mobile phone operator’s active data customers has grown to to 17.7 million (excluding Machine-to-Machine subscribers), representing 53.3% of active customers. The mobile phone operator said smart devices remain extremely popular, with approximately 12 million active on the network in South Africa which is almost 3 million more than a year ago. The average amount of…

By Staff Writer Connection Telecom, SA’s cloud-based PBX provider, owes much of its success and customer value to a hosting arrangement with Teraco, Africa’s largest and only vendor neutral data centre provider. MD Dave Meintjes says when the company had to choose a data centre for its cloud services, Teraco’s world-class Johannesburg and Cape Town facilities were a no-brainer. Teraco currently has over 6500 m² of floor space across its Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town facilities, with an additional 5000 m² due for completion in late 2016. Its data centres offer resilient power, dual fibre routes and multiple carrier…

Buy an MTN device or data bundles and walk away with keys to your dream house worth R2 million  By Staff Writer Have you ever dreamt of owning your own house or building one for your family? Then dream no more. MTN has launched a competition where one lucky subscriber who purchases an MTN data bundle or an MTN device stands a chance to win a dream house worth a cool R2 million. The competition, aptly called the Dealicious promotion, started on 1 July and will run until 30 September 2015. It is open to all new or…

Vox Telecom’s focus on improving service delivery has won over investors who had considered selling their shares a few months ago. The company’s uncompromising attitude towards service delivery and its innovative management team are reasons enough to be confident of future growth. While many Information Communication Technology (ICT) companies flood the market with numerous products, Vox Telecom prefers to perfect its service delivery to its customers. The company – which was delisted from the JSE in 2011 by its investors that include Investec, Lereko Metier Capital and RMB – is taking measures to provide quality fibre services and other products…

By Gugu Lourie Jens Montanana, Datatec’s boss, towered again among the top ranks of the highest-paid CEOs in 2015 with total compensation of $3, 2 million (R39 million) compared to $1.77 million (R21.9 million) in 2014. Montanana’s total pay was more than that of MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa, who was paid R28 million in 2014 for running a company valued at more than R400 billion. The total pay of Montanana, who run Datatec an IT firm that is valued at more than R13 billion on the JSE, was $ 3.2 million (R39 million), made up of $1.2 million…

By Candice Sutherland, Business Development Consultant at SHA Specialist Underwriters The need for businesses to ensure that they are adequately protected from cybercrime has been brought to light once again following the announcement that the notorious dating website Ashley Madison is the latest victim of hackers. It is estimated that more than 37 million of its global subscribers, of which 175 000 subscribers are South African, could now see their personal information – including bank details – compromised unless the website shuts down. This incident is yet another example of how easily hackers can target businesses and breach all their…

By Staff Writer On the back of Telkom’s recent introduction of a range of mobile voice bundles, Telkom today announced four new SmartPhone plans offering customers three times the value of the plan they purchase. “These new plans give Telkom customers more choice as well as three times the value,” says Attila Vitai, Telkom’s Managing Director: Consumer and Mobile Services. As an example, the Smartphone Basic package allows customers to pay R50 and receive 150MB of data, 150 SMSs, and 150 total voice minutes. This is made up of 50 minutes for Telkom mobile calls, another 50 minutes for Telkom…

By Gugu Lourie Vox Telecom announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Frogfoot Networks, a South African-based Internet services company, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is the second to be concluded by the company, which kick-started four months ago a five-year plan growth strategy. Last month, Vox Telecom’s acquired Wishlist, shoring up Microsoft consulting and integration capabilities, for an undisclosed amount. Through Frogfoot Networks’ acquisitions Vox Telecom will gain a firm footing in the growing market for the Fibre-to-the-Business (FTTB) and Fibre-to-the-Home. Furthermore, the company sees this deal fast tracking its own fibre strategy by leveraging the existing…

Cell C is at it again – challenging you as a customer to try their network for free. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it would you? “Well what about a cellphone network?,” Cell C ask potential customers. “Thinking of trying out Cell C Contract Buy Out, but you still need convincing? We’re so confident in our ever-improving network that we’re willing to let you try it out for FREE with a Cell C Test SIM card pre-loaded with Cell C airtime,” Cell C reveals on its website. This move is part of Cell C aims to…

By Staff Writer The annual Gartner Symposium/ITxpo taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from September 28 to 30 will examine the need for companies to evolve into a digital business and remain competitive. “No company, irrespective of size and industry, can afford to avoid the digital disruption taking place. Gartner predicts that this will be a defining year in which CIOs will use digital to transform their risks into bold business outcomes,” says Jeffrey Mann, Gartner research vice president. What started as a discussion on the Nexus of Forces (the convergence of Social, Cloud, Mobile and Information)…

By Tony De Sousa,  Managing Executive: Solutions Business at Telkom Are your constituents’ contact details up-to-date? Across our continent, a top priority for most governments is the need to “improve communication and delivery of services to all citizens”. Placing the “customer” at the core of going digital is occurring across all sectors, and citizen centricity in government is no different requiring a shift in how service delivery is rendered – across ALL levels of government. Enhancing communication with citizens leads to better understanding of citizens’ needs and enables personalized communication and services to individual citizens– thus, shifting focus to outcomes…

It is a “palm-sized device that you can use to transform your TV monitor into a computer for work, home or play. You can also connect your external hard drive and flash disk to the device to watch your favourite movies or listen to music or work on your documents.” If every room in your household has a plasma television, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen or a high-definition monitor, why would you need a personal computer (PC) desktop? All you have to do is use a CloudGate Square Desktop PC – a palm-sized computer powered by the Windows 8.1 operating…

By Kees Snijders, MD at Flickswitch  Using SIM cards have become a way of life for the digital citizens of today. With our reliance on smartphones and tablets, these tiny components are integral to staying connected. For small to medium enterprises where cost efficiencies are essential, managing SIMs have never been more important. SIMs extend beyond just data and voice billing in the devices of employees. They play an essential role in machine to machine (M2M) communication. Forming part of the Internet of Things, M2M enables systems to communicate with other devices anywhere in the world. Multi-device connectivity This means that organisations can…

Cellphone consumers – it’s time for you to start using Telkom mobile services. Telkom offers more high value plans for its prepaid subscribers than any other operator in South Africa. “Telkom had strong plans and a variety of options at virtually every price point,” stated Beth Teitel, Tarifica’s South Africa analyst. “MTN and Cell C were each competitive in one or two profiles, but only Telkom’s plans provided strong consumer value across the board.” Telkom offers best value for prepaid consumers, according to new study by Tarifica, a leading telecommunications pricing research firm. The Tarifica Score has been used to evaluate the…

By Staff Writer Data deduplication might seem like a new thing but the reality is that the technology has been around for quite some time. Warren Olivier, regional manager of Veeam Southern Africa, discusses the roles Big Data and the always-on business have played to bring it back into the spotlight. “Storage has become a hot topic in recent months with many companies trying to leverage the sheer amount of data they have at their disposal to make more effective strategic decisions. And with the IDC forecasting that Big Data will grow at a 26.4 percent compound annual growth rate…

By Gugu Lourie State-owned pension fund Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has raised R3.3 billion in bookbuilding exercise, after placing 24.7 million shares with institutional investors. Priced at R134 per share, the shares were discounted by 3.6% to the the closing price per Vodacom share on 13 July 2015, the day preceding the pricing of the bookbuild trade. “The PIC is a long term holder of Vodacom and does not currently plan to dispose of shares during or following the expiration of the lock-up period. As is customary in these types of risk mitigation transactions, the PIC has agreed to a…

MTN and union agree to end the strike immediately By Staff Writer MTN South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati today announced an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to end the strike immediately. “The agreement serves the common interests of MTN and the employees, and allows MTN to focus on its core reason for existence, which is to deliver services to its customers,” said Nyati. He apologised for the inconvenience that MTN customers suffered during the period of the strike, and thanked them for their patience and loyalty. At the core of the agreement is that the union has accepted…

Douglas Craigie-Stevenson, Managing Director of Vodacom Business Africa, tells us about the company’s evolution and innovation. Offering total communications solutions to multinational and pan-African companies across the continent, Vodacom Business Africa is a key player in the ICT market in Africa and beyond. In this Q&A video, Managing Director Douglas Craigie-Stevenson talks about the company, who they are, the services offered, key focus areas and challenges. ‘We are where our customers want us to be,’ he says. Visit the VBA website, www.vodacombusinessafrica.com, to find out more. Published in Vodacom Now Email TechFinancials.co.za at [email protected]

By Gugu Lourie Gumtree, online classified firm, has teamed-up with Africa’s largest bank by assets Standard Bank to provide a new secured online payment solution  for its customers. The eBay owned classifieds provider said on Wednesday that it has added Shepherd, a Standard Bank-powered escrow service,  to make its a peer to peer (P2P) trading platform  safe. The P2P trading platfom allows buyers and sellers to do a transaction online without meeting face-to-face. The firm added that this is part of its continued plan to become the most trusted operator in the online P2P trade market. Shepherd operates as a third party that facilitates  transactions on behalf…

By Staff Writer Trade union Solidarity today welcomed Telkom’s decision to abolish its Section 189 restructuring process in its entirety. However, the trade union cautions that, with its offering of voluntary severance packages, Telkom is misleading workers. Marius Croucamp, spokesman at Solidarity, said Solidarity was of the opinion that many workers mistakenly consider a voluntary severance package as an attractive alternative while it is not necessarily the best option in the long run. “A voluntary severance package merely presents a temporary solution for those who are seeking other work. Given the turbulent labour market, finding a job again is not…

The company is also planning a digital campus for bloggers and marketing-tech businesses Webfluential has hired a former Apple executive to beef up its rapid expansion in the African and European markets. The firm also plans to have a “Digital Campus” in its new office in Sandton with an aim to invite bloggers and marketing-tech businesses to collaborate with the Webfluential team. It said new resources are actively being sought to address the needs of account management, campaign execution, influencer data analytics, programming and development. Webfluential is a subscription-based online platform that connects brands with consumers through credible and most…

State-owned pension fund Public Investment Corporation (PIC) will sell 1.7% stake in South Africa’s largest mobile phone operator by subscribers Vodacom Group, a deal that could be worth more than R3.5 billion. The PIC has appointed Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch as sole bookrunner to sell 25 million ordinary shares in Vodacom Group, representing about 1.7% of the company’s issued share capital, the PIC said in a JSE filing on Tuesday. Vodacom shares closed at R139 on Monday and selling 25 million shares at yesterday’s closing price will translate to R3,48 billion. “This placement is in relation to a hedging activity in…

Telkom, which has decided to abide by the court order to stop force retrenchments, is looking at other measures to contain costs which include a wage freeze across the board, Voluntary severance packages (VSPs) and voluntary early retirement packages (VERPs). Sipho Maseko, Telkom CEO said on Monday the company was also Investigating flexible working hours (flexi-time), potential outsourcing options, reduced working hours in the form of a shorter work week and new methodologies to improve productivity. Telkom was planning to retrench up to 4 400 employees while a further 3 400 may be transferred to other companies before the forced retrenchments was…