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3
Sept 2010 |
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South Africa's third cellular network operator Cell C launched its next generation network under the "4Gs" brand in Port Elizabeth on Friday. The new HSPA+ network is scheduled for a phased rollout in 10 cities across the country. Data pricing on the network is likely to spark a local price war in mobile broadband, with Cell C making data available at 5c per MB in bundle with an out-of-bundle rate of 39c. Two packages are available on the new network, both sold at a flat fee that includes a modem and 12 |
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3
Sept 2010 |
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Telkom's need of a further eight months to appoint a CEO is ridiculous and likely to create chaos in the organisation, says the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Thabo Mogalane, the CWU's deputy general secretary, says the organisation has had plenty of time to recruit a new CEO and is very disturbed the board needs even more time to replace ex-CEO Reuben September. Last month, Telkom announced September's immediate and abrupt departure from the organisation in order to make way for acting CEO Jeffrey |
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3
Sept 2010 |
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Cell C will begin upgrading its new wireless broadband network to 42Mbit/s within the next six to eight months, CEO Lars Reichelt says. On Friday, Cell C switched on the first leg of its third-generation (3G) cellular network in Port Elizabeth, offering peak speeds of up to 21Mbit/s. It is expected to expand the network to two more cities in September - probably Bloemfontein and Durban. The operator's new network, which it is building in the 900MHz frequency band, can be upgraded through software. The |
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3
Sept 2010 |
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Cell C, which launched its third-generation (3G) mobile network in the Eastern Cape city of Port Elizabeth on Friday, is playing up its launch offering of two broadband modems with 24GB and 60GB data bundles. But the company has also quietly introduced two new data-only products at prices that are significantly lower than the offerings that are bundled with modems and much cheaper than anything offered by rivals MTN and Vodacom. The two products that Cell C is playing up cost R1 499 and R2 999 for 2GB/month |
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2
Sept 2010 |
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Arguments that Neotel is under obligation to focus on the consumer segment have been quashed. Instead, licences under which the company operates make no provision for pre-defined consumer reach targets. "Neotel's converted I-ECNS (individual electronic communications network service) and I-ECS (individual electronic communications service) licences do not have split in terms of enterprise, wholesale and retail. "The licensee is entitled to construct, maintain and operate an electronic communications network |
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2
Sept 2010 |
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The East Africa Submarine System (Eassy) cable has not made the sort of splash on the SA broadband market as many had expected it to. The 10 000km-long submarine fibre cable, which runs along Africa's east coast, is the second new cable to arrive on SA shores in the past year. The first was Seacom, which went live in 2009. SA also has the Sat-3 and Safe system, which is part-managed by Telkom. Eassy, which became available commercially in July, runs along a similar but shorter route to Seacom's cable and |
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1
Sept 2010 |
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Telecommunications operator Cell C will launch the first leg of its mobile broadband network in Port Elizabeth. TechCentral has established that Cell C will launch its third-generation (3G) network, on which it is spending about R5bn in 2010, in the Eastern Cape city. Media have been invited to attend a launch function this Friday, which will take place in Port Elizabeth. It's the first commercial 3G network in SA to use the 900MHz radio frequency band, a differentiator Cell C hopes will give it a leg-up |
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1
Sept 2010 |
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In a surprising move, MWeb is lobbying government to give Telkom the more than R1bn in cash stashed away in the universal service fund so that it can plough that money into upgrading its network. CEO Rudi Jansen is especially keen for the money to be used to upgrade the so-called last mile of copper cables that connect customers to Telkom's network. He says the network has fallen into disrepair and needs work if it's to be used to deliver the next-generation of broadband applications over fixed lines. |
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31
Aug 2010 |
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Telkom is losing fixed-line customers at a faster rate in comparison to previous years, according to Business Monitor International's (BMI) latest report on SA's telecommunications sector. In its fourth quarter report on the local telecoms market, industrial research group BMI envisages a total decline of 3 percent in landline usage. The research group says SA incumbent Telkom, in its results for the financial year ending 31 March, reported a decline in demand for prepaid PSTN lines.
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31
Aug 2010 |
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Third mobile operator Cell C will unveil its 4Gs network on Friday, 3 September; however, the company is mum about which city will be first to receive access to the network. Speaking at a press conference last month, Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt explained that the company's 4Gs ['s' stands for speed and service] would be rolled out city-by-city, in six cities across SA. The operator has committed to 34 percent coverage of the South African population by the end of the year and 67 percent population coverage |
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26
Aug 2010 |
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Vodacom has lost its exclusivity over Apple's iPhone in SA: MTN will launch the product in the country within weeks. The cellular network operator will announce late on Thursday afternoon that it will begin selling the iPhone device through its channels. TechCentral has learnt that MTN will issue a press statement later on Thursday confirming what many had already expected: that it has secured a distribution agreement with Apple. The one-line statement will read: "MTN will launch iPhone 4, the thinnest |
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26
Aug 2010 |
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For a man thrown in at the deep end and in an acting position, Jeffrey Hedberg looks more than comfortable in the Telkom hot seat - though it might be just temporary. Pulled out of Nigeria, where he was placed last year to sort out Telkom's troubled subsidiary Multi-Links, the former Cell C boss has to take over a difficult spot left behind by Reuben September, who opted for early retirement in June this year. Perhaps Hedberg would have already made some headway in sorting out the mess at Telkom had he be |
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26
Aug 2010 |
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Fixed-line operator Telkom has installed company veteran Deon Fredericks as its acting chief financial officer, as Peter Nelson has left the company earlier than expected. Nelson, appointed as Telkom CFO in November 2008, unexpectedly announced his resignation in July. His resignation notice period was originally due to end on 9 October but it has now been revealed he has left the company with immediate effect. The CFO's resignation, for which no explanation was offered by Telkom, came shortly after the |
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25
Aug 2010 |
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A month before Jeff Molobela took over as chairman from Shirley Arnold at Telkom in November last year, he started meeting the 12 board members individually. The meetings were lengthy enough for the board members to raise concern about two albatrosses - the launch of its mobile service and its loss-making Nigerian subsidiary Multi-Links "It (Multi-Links) could sink Telkom," he was told. They were right. It has emerged that Multi-Links made a loss of R659-million in the latest financial year, and is still |
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25
Aug 2010 |
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On the fourth anniversary of its operations in South Africa, telecommunications network operator Neotel has snubbed consumers, saying it has little interest in anything other than corporate and middle-sized companies as well as its wholesale customers. The company was awarded South Africa's second network operator (SNO) licence in 2005 with a firm mandate to tackle the monopoly of incumbent network Telkom. Since then the market has been effectively deregulated in terms of network licences, but Neotel's lic |
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