Author: Staff Writer
South Africa is at a tipping point: we must embrace electric vehicles (EVs) – not just because of the environmental impact, but also because of the economic benefits. “This is something I’ve said time and again, but now I’ve put my money where my mouth is – by investing in an EV,” said AutoTrader’s CEO, George Mienie. The car that has been purchased is a Jaguar I-PACE. And he says it represents a bitter-sweet moment. “I’ve spent decades enjoying the sound of powerful petrol and diesel engines, particularly V8s, which I love! (in cars and planes). Now, when it comes…
As the 2021/22 Premier League season kicks off in August, its unparalleled global audience will see “Match Insights—Powered by Oracle Cloud” in real-time during television broadcasts. The Premier League, the world’s most-watched football league, has chosen Oracle as its official cloud provider. In teaming with Oracle, the Premier League will increase the excitement surrounding every game through new in-match statistics that provide a deeper understanding of the live-action on the pitch. Oracle’s data and analytics and machine learning technologies will deliver these ground-breaking statistics in real-time to a global audience of billions each season. The broadcasts will include insights such…
Huawei, in conjunction with the Youth ICT Council, has launched a 5G training programme that will see 100 South African young graduates equipped with vital 5G skills and insights. The programme forms part of Huawei’s wider commitment to equipping South African graduates with the skills they need to make the most of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Given that 5G technology will play a pivotal role in driving that revolution, the skills provided to the programme participants will go a long way to equipping them to thrive not only as workers, but also as entrepreneurs. Speaking at the launch, Dr…
Football fans across the continent will be able to stream every match of the UEFA Euro 2020, which runs from 11 June to 11 July 2021, on Showmax Pro. Launched last year, Showmax Pro bundles the existing Showmax entertainment offering with music channels, news and live sports streaming from SuperSport. Euro traditionally produces outstanding soccer, with many of the world’s leading players given a grand stage. There will be spectator limits in place, and matches will be held in 11 cities across 11 countries – a “romantic gesture”, according to UEFA, to celebrate the 60th birthday of the tournament. Viewers are promised a one-of-a-kind spectacle, with the stark differences between the host cities contributing to the uniqueness…
Small and medium business owners can now have access to web-based tools and information technology while ensuring that their stakeholder data is protected through Telkom Business’ latest Software as a Service (SaaS) value propositions, Out-of-the-Box Software (Zoho) and Out-of-the-Box Secure (BlackFog). Through Telkom Business’ Out-of-the-Box Software (Zoho), customers can access an office tools suite, Internet of things management platform, and a suite of IT management software. To enable businesses to increase productivity, Telkom Business’ Out-of-the-Box Software (Zoho) has integrated applications focusing on web and mobile apps for sales, marketing, accounting etc. Out-of-the-Box Software (Zoho) is currently available on the Telkom…
Telkom Mobile is introducing full international roaming services to its prepaid and top-up customers. Previously, these customers could only use SMS roaming. International mobile roaming is a service that allows mobile users to continue to use their mobile phone or other mobile devices to make and receive voice calls and text messages, browse the internet, and send and receive emails, while visiting another country. Roaming extends the coverage of the home operator’s retail voice and SMS services, allowing the mobile user to continue using their home operator phone number and data services within another country. The seamless extension of coverage is…
The internet became a lifeline to the outside world during 2020, connecting South Africa’s remote workforce to their jobs, children to teachers and educational resources, and families to virtual entertainment. According to Vuma’s 2020 End-User Customer Satisfaction Research Study, which assessed the fibre internet usage of over 27,000 respondents during the lockdown, work accounted for 96% of households’ frequent fibre internet usage. Social media (96%) and streaming TV services (91%) were also popular in homes during this period, with teens, pre-teens and younger kids being the highest consumers of content on these platforms. The internet was also a family lifeline…
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has announced that R27 billion has been pledged by operators and vendors to usher in 5G fibre technologies in South Africa. The Minister said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday. “We believe that partnerships and collaborations are key to taking our sector to greater heights. “I am therefore pleased to announce that R27 billion is being pledged collectively by the operators and vendors to expand the 4G network, and to deploy the 5G and fibre technologies in South Africa, which has…
Discovery Bank today launched a Friend Referral Rewards, bringing more of the benefits of shared-value banking to existing and new clients. The referral programme, the first of its kind among South African banks and financial institutions, will give clients the functionality to invite friends and family to sign up to the Bank – and for both clients and friends to get rewarded in the form of Discovery Miles, creating an eco-system of shared-value. “Internationally, some of the most successful technology-driven businesses, such as Airbnb and Uber, have reached unprecedented scale from “digital word-of-mouth” referrals and, at Discovery, we’ve always believed…
MTN South Africa today announced a $2 million (R28 million) partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to expand MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) business. The partnership will target the unbanked and underbanked population by establishing a strong network of MoMo agents in the country. The partnership will also see a strong job employment drive and will see IFC and MTN South Africa seek to recruit 10 000 Mobile Money Agents in 2021 to increase access to affordable financial services in underserved communities. MTN will identify, recruit, enrol, train, and supervise the new MoMo…