Author: Gugu Lourie
By Ujuh The South African government has changed the tune in its digital migration policy from one that features ‘subsidised’ set top boxes (STBs) for poor households to one that speaks of distribution of five million STBs for ‘free’. The ‘totally free’ language has emerged in recent statements made by the department of communication and its principal Faith Muthambi. In her latest statement on the matter Muthambi said “Government will provide free STBs to more than 5 million poor television household owners instead of a partial subsidy of 70% as previously approved in 2008.” This was upheld by the cabinet.…
Orange Business Services is scouting for potential business customers in Africa, where many markets are experiencing rapid economic growth. Orange Business Services, which is focusing on providing business-to-business (B2B) IT and telecommunications services, is a division of France’s Orange – Europe’s fifth-biggest telecom operator by market value. International companies that are expanding across the African continent mostly use South Africa as a base. They are looking for reliable connectivity that minimises service downtime. Orange Business Services has developed a fully managed, seamless Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and satellite network in 54 African countries, which assists companies seeking to expand navigate…
By Staff writer Nokia remains the single biggest phone brand in the major African markets, but its market share is plummeting fast, according to the Mobile Africa 2015 study, which found that Blackberry continued to be seen as a cool phone. The study was conducted by mobile surveying company GeoPoll and World Wide Worx, which surveyed 3 500 mobile phone users in five of Africa’s major markets, namely South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. The survey confirms a widely held view that Nokia remains the single biggest phone brand in the major African markets. However, its market share is…
Major XLink Communications shareholder, Vodacom, wants to accelerate growth of this provider of wireless data machine-to-machine (M2M) services. M2M services are also referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) – a concept of connecting devices – ranging from refrigerators, geysers and smart electricity meters to coffee makers – to the internet. The intent to grow the business comes at a time when South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator is struggling to find lucrative acquisitions targets on the African continent. In 2007, Vodacom acquired a 35% shareholding in XLink and later upped its stake to 50.1% as a means of…
By James Allen-Robertson Artists including Beyonce, Daft Punk, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Kanye West and Madonna recently joined Jay Z in New York to launch Tidal, his artist-owned streaming service. Their two targets, poor audio fidelity and a loss of artist control, indicate a dissatisfaction with the way that consumers are treating music. The Tidal revolution hopes to convince consumers that music and creativity can be better in the age of digital streaming. Yet within a day of the announcement there has already been significant backlash. The internet is awash with scepticism of Tidal’s revolutionary claims. Though judgement should be…
By Staff writer MTN SA has become the first operator on the continent to release a Firefox OS-based smartphone using the latest version of the operating system. The mobile phone operator said the Alcatel OneTouch Fire E smartphone represents its commitment to provide its customers with the widest range of smart devices designed to fit every budget and requirement. Firefox OS is the first mobile operating system powered completely by Web technologies. Users get the performance, personalization and price they want in a smartphone packaged in a beautiful, clean, intuitive, and easy-to-use experience. It is designed for the Web in…
By Andrew Quodling Twitter’s new system for reporting harassment and threats to law enforcement comes after the platform has received serious criticism for its poor handling of harassment. The company’s chief executive, Dick Costolo, acknowledged the company’s failings in a leaked memo; We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years. It’s no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We’re going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them. Complex problems…
By Matthew Lynch Mobile devices as teaching tools are becoming a more and more common part of the American education experience in classrooms, from preschool through graduate school. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 58% of U.S. teachers own smartphones — 10 percentage points higher than the national average for adults. Those teachers are building that tech-savviness into their lesson plans, too, by embracing bring-your-own-device policies and leading the push for an iPad for every student. In 2013, an estimated 25% of U.S. schools had BYOD policies in place and it’s reasonable to assume those numbers have risen…
By Ujuh The Shoprite Group is promising to introduce a smart trolley that can interact with a smartphone and play shopping guide in a move that feeds into the techie craze called internet of things (IoT). This comes with the introduction of a R50 refundable deposit for all trolleys. The largest retailing group in Africa, Shoprite, said in a statement the GPS enabled trolley will be able to direct consumers fast and effectively through their shopping list and also alert them to discounted products and promotions while in store. The group said it aim to convert and replace all its current…
The R2.7bn transaction by Telkom to buy fast-growing technology group Business Connexion (BCX) is edging closer and both companies sees the deal closing by 30 April 2015. Telkom bid for BCX, announced in June 2014, is still being reviewed by SA regulators, which in 2007 blocked Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone group’s attempt to buy the technology firm. The regulator said at the time that the deal would have resulted in Telkom thwarting competition in the managed network service sector, which could have led to exiting of smaller players and lesser opportunities for consumer. Isaac Mophatlane, BCX CEO, said on Tuesday that…
By Kroshlen Moodley Now is the ideal time for Eskom to use advanced analytics to improve decision-making and better handle South Africa’s power crisis. Eskom has always used a degree of analytics to manage power supply. However, the big data it gathers from power plants, transformers, generators and other machinery only reflects events that have already happened, making decisions based on this historical data ineffective. Looking back vs looking ahead The biggest problem is that decision-making is reactive rather than proactive. Take infrastructure maintenance as an example. Many of South Africa’s power plants are operating well beyond their 30- to…
By Staff writer Talks between Telkom and Communications Workers Union (CWU) have deadlocked over voluntary severance and early retirement packages for staff members of the fixed-line telephone group’s non-core activities such as call centre that are being outsourced. Telkom said on Tuesday it has offered voluntary severance and voluntary early retirement packages to CWU members affected by the Section 197 process currently underway. This move follows after discussions between Telkom and CWU reached a deadlock. Two weeks ago, Telkom approached organised labour with an offer related to our current Section 197 process to outsource elements of our business to external…
By Ujuh The City of Johannesburg has embarked on a programme to roll out free internet and Wi-Fi access in public libraries in what the city described as a giant leap to bridge digital divide. The programme called e-World was launched by executive Mayor Parks Tau on Friday, 27 March 2015. The launch coincided with National Library Week, which this year was run under the theme “Connect @ your Library.” Tau said “Internationally, we are in a digital race. However, as a City and a country we are not running nearly fast enough. Through this programme we are lacing up…
After seven years of organic growth Teraco Data Environments – South Africa’s independent co-location data centre operator – is ready to put its foot on the acquisitive pedal to drive growth and expand its facilities. Executives will spend the year focusing on making sure that the company taps into strong growth in internet usage and the increased adoption of cloud services. The data centre market, which is one of the fastest-growing industries, is buoyed by increased internet usage and proliferation of smart devices in Africa as well as the rise in data centre outsourcing. The industry in SA is also…
By Casper Mabona If you like Samsung gadgets and appliances, you’ll want to check out new brand stores opening in Cape Town and Durban in April. “As consumer needs continue to evolve, consumers want to experience and engage with a brand and its products and services. The addition of the two new brand stores is a testimony of Samsung’s commitment to be present where our customers are,” says Michelle Potgieter, spokeswoman at Samsung Electronics SA. A Samsung Brand Store is a premium outlet that showcases the full range of Samsung products, including visual display, digital imaging, digital appliances and mobile…
Vodacom, SA’s largest mobile phone operator, shipped over 170, 000 own-branded tablets in the last quarter of 2014, according to a report from global research firm IDC. This has helped the Middle East and Africa (MEA) tablet market to record robust year-on-year growth in the final quarter of 2014, rising 26.1% year on year to total 4.43 million units. “The telco channel experienced its highest ever rate of growth during the final quarter of 2014,” says Victoria Mendes, a research analyst at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “There are a couple of reasons behind this growth – in South…
In a year when Africa and Middle East biggest mobile phone operator return more than R20bn to its shareholders as a dividend windfall and invested back R26bn in network, the MTN Group’s CEO Sifiso Dabengwa was paid R28m in total compensation in 2014. Dabengwa, who has focused on sweating the assets instead of growing by acquisitions, received R9.3m salary and R13.3m bonus plus R3.5m share gains and other benefits such as retirement, according to the operators’ 2014 integrated annual report. Dabengwa helped the company grew shareholders return by 20.3% to R20bn in 2014 and assisted MTN to post a 20%…
By Gugu Lourie While you’re still processing that email sent by your boss about your annual salary rise, we’d like to take a minute to inform you that Vodacom is increasing its contract tarriff plans from 1 May. “From 1 May Vodacom will be increasing the subscription fees on selected contract price plans. Changes apply to Vodacom Smart, uChoose Smart, uChoose Flexi, Top Up and Mobile Broadband packages,” the company said on Thursday. Vodacom said the price changes are applicable to existing Vodacom customers on these price plans as well as new customers. Below are the details of the changes.…
By Gugu Lourie Vodacom’s smartphones in its network rose by 22% to 8.9m in the quarter to end-December 2014, Vodafone said in its financials on Wednesday. Vodafone added that Vodacom’s data revenue rose 19% attributing the growth to an 86% increase in data volume, with average monthly usage per customer now 445MB. However, Vodafone revealed that Vodacom’s service revenue fell 3.9% with quarterly revenue trends deteriorating further following increased competitive and macroeconomic pressures in South Africa. South African service revenue dropped 5.8%, mainly due to a weakening in prepaid customer voice activity as a result of competitive pressures. Vodacom Group…
Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao on Wednesday revealed that he fancies the Vodacom brand over Vodafone and maybe they could consider rebranding the world’s second biggest mobile operator by subscribers into Vodacom. “If you ask me about the brand, I kind of prefer Vodacom than Vodafone, because Vodacom is more modern. It really talks about what we do. It’s not just a phone. It’s broader. So, maybe one day we will consider doing the opposite, actually the whole thing being called Vodacom including Europe and other countries,” Colao told TechFinancials.co.za, while responding to a question what is a stumbling block…
By Gugu Lourie XLink Communications – a provider of wireless data machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services – has signed a non-exclusive distribution deal with UK-based and London-listed Cyan Holdings, a specialist in smart metering for electricity, gas and water, and lighting control. Under the transaction, XLink will distribute Cyan Holding’s smart energy communication technology, which enables the measurement and control of energy consumption for the metering and lighting markets, helping to increase energy security and reduce costs. The agreement includes an order for Cyan’s smart metering hardware and software, CyLec, for a 100 unit Proof of Concept project in SA. “Given…
By Casper Mabona Short-term insurer Santam has launched its app with the Be Safe tracking device that enables users to request friends and family to virtually track while they are out and about, whether exercising outdoors, road tripping or coming home from a night out. The app is free, and it’s for everyone, not only Santam clients and is available for download on Android and iPhone devices. If you are not a Santam policyholder and you are involved in an accident, you can still email all the relevant information from the app to your own insurer. “It is just another…
By Gugu Lourie Sometimes when one calls a mobile phone or landline operator a voice prompt says: “Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed” – and yet the reality might be that the options haven’t changed in years. You can blame the anomaly on the use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. Such technology is usually used by automated customer services for mobile or landline phones. It consists of voice recordings menu, accessible by pressing selected numbers on your device. Although this technology is still being used in the digital era it has resulted in numerous complaints. The…
South African e-commerce sites are popular destinations for Nigerian online shoppers, a trend which points towards great business opportunities. This is established in a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of PayPal and FNB. The survey captured e-commerce trends in South Africa and said the market was about to explode. The survey found that 30% of Nigerian cross-border shoppers have purchased goods from South Africa in the past 12 months. The research also showed that Nigeria has a higher propensity from its internet users to shop online than South Africa. The survey found that 70% of South African internet users are shopping…
By Ujuh The agreement between MTN and Lonehill Residents Association (LRA) to roll out fibre in the leafy suburb of Northern Johannesburg entrenches a remarkable business model in the emerging wave of fibre to the home (FTTH). The parties announced that MTN will provide the infrastructure at its own cost and will maintain it during the lifespan of the technology. MTN has also set up a dedicated 24-hour FTTH centre to provide support services to its customers. The alternative would have been too costly even for this leafy suburb. The LRA would have to bear the massive capital expenditure of…