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20
May 2011 |
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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled in favour of a complaint lodged against Cell C, and has ordered the mobile service provider to withdraw its claim of offering the "fastest mobile Internet" in SA. The complainant, Johannes Roux, lodged the complaint in December last year, questioning the veracity of the claim "South Africa's fastest mobile Internet" as contained in a Cell C television commercial. Roux also claimed that, despite living in Johannesburg South, which was presumably covered... |
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16
May 2011 |
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Vodacom has shrugged off the pressures of a maturing mobile market and falling wholesale call tariffs between networks to turn in a red-hot set of financial results in the 12 months to 31 March 2011, boosting headline earnings per share by 28,6 percent and combined dividend pay-outs for the full financial year by 61 percent to R6,8bn. Helped by a lower effective tax rate, reduced capital expenditure, cost-containment measures and strong demand for mobile broadband, Vodacom, which is 65 percent held by the ... |
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16
May 2011 |
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The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is weighing its options on whether to strike or interdict Vodacom from proceeding with a planned restructuring of its call centres after the parties deadlocked in talks on Wednesday. Union leaders have been at odds with Vodacom over the cellular operators decision to outsource 700 agents to specialised call centre companies and offer "mutual separation agreements" (MSAs) to agents who want to leave. Vodacom said it was necessary to train agents in specific skills and... |
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16
May 2011 |
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Neotel is stepping up its focus on the retail consumer market with the launch on Monday of a new handset that, at first glance, looks remarkably like a mobile phone. The R399 device, made by Chinas ZTE, uses NeotelҒs "fixed-wireless" code division multiple access (CDMA) network. Though it resembles a cellphone, it offers only limited mobility. "Unlike other home phones, Neotels cordless phone is not restricted by residential parameters and can be used wherever coverage exists within the same geographical... |
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12
May 2011 |
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Telkom's new mobile operator, 8ta, will introduce per-second billing for prepaid customers from 15 May. Until now, calls were billed per-minute. "All new prepaid customers will be billed on a per-second structure," Telkom says. Calls will be charged at R2,75/minute in peak times and R1,12/minute off-peak, with per-second billing applying from the moment a call is initiated. The rates apply for calls to 8ta customers and users of other mobile networks. In comparison, MTN charges R2,89/minute, billed per... |
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12
May 2011 |
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Nashua Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSE-listed Reunert Group (RLO), announced on Thursday that it was to offer 8ta's cellular services and products to its subscriber base countrywide with immediate effect. 8ta, a division of Telkom (TKG), is South Africa's fourth and newest mobile network operator. Nashua Mobile said that the full range of post-paid products from 8ta would be available from its national network of dealers and franchised stores, while 8ta's prepaid products would be available from ... |
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10
May 2011 |
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Vodacom is concerned that it does not yet meet black economic empowerment criteria of 30 percent and is eyeing the government's 13.9 percent stake in the company, worth about R16.5 billion, to help solve the issue. BusinessLIVE has learnt that Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys met with Communications Minister Roy Padayachie late last week with the aim of starting negotiations over the government's stake in Vodacom. However, the direct mention of such a sale was not made. Tiyani Rikhotso, the spokesperson for the... |
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9
May 2011 |
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Customers of MTN spent less on calls in the first quarter, the company said, prompting a 2-percent fall in the shares of Africa's largest mobile phone operator. Average revenue per user (ARPU), a key industry measure, was hit by intense competition and currency swings, falling 10 percent in South Africa and 6 percent in its key Nigeria market. ARPU in Syria, which has been battered by political unrest, slid 12 percent and fell 5 percent in Ghana. "Increasing competition might be a concern and (there is) ... |
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9
May 2011 |
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If you've got a contract cellphone, safeguard it, because if a fraudster gets hold of it, your bill could skyrocket within days and potentially cripple you financially. Many contract cellphone subscribers have learnt the hard way that their network's bill limit facility is not entirely reliable, and have had to pay an unexpectedly high bill. Because, of course, the contract's small print states the network will not be responsible if the bill exceeds the customer's chosen monthly limit. Ashok Sewpersad of... |
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9
May 2011 |
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Vodacom users in Johannesburg might have noticed a slight decline in signal strength, disconnected calls and poor internet connection since the giant cell phone network recently turned red. The slight weakening in connectivity is in part a small price to pay though - regarding the fact that the company is upgrading its connection service. In a few months time, says executive head of media relations, Richard Boorman consistent signal strength, and faster internet connection should be something of the norm ... |
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9
May 2011 |
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MTN, Africa's largest cellphone company, increased subscriber numbers 4 percent in the three months to March from the December quarter, the network said in a subscriber numbers update on Friday. The group's total subscriber number increased to 147,2-million by the end of March from 141,6-million at the end of December. However, the average revenue per user fell in some of its key markets, meaning that MTN's customers spent less on calls in the first quarter. Average revenue per user was hit by competition... |
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9
May 2011 |
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The Johannesburg Broadband Network Project (JBNP) , a joint venture between Ericsson and the City of Johannesburg, continues to make progress with some 300 km of fibre-optic cable having been laid in the core network from the south of Soweto to Midrand at a cost of R250-million. In the first year of the network roll-out, 100 buildings of the City of Johannesburg have been connected, a target that was said to be three months ahead of schedule. Overall, the JBNP is worth R1,2-billion, and will deploy between... |
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6
May 2011 |
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Telecommunications giant MTN revealed that it's building a pilot long-term evolution (LTE) network in Gauteng. MTN is planning 100 base stations by the end of the year, TechCentral reported, with the operator also expanding its fibre network between stations. MTN SA Managing Director Karel Pienaar has cautioned that it will take a few years before LTE devices enter the mass-market. "It will take five more years until LTE is truly ready for the average consumer," Pienaar told the website. MTN isn't the... |
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6
May 2011 |
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First National Bank's Internet service provider, FNB Connect, will offer its subscribers free access to YouTube for two months, effective until the end of June, in a sign of increasing competition in the broadband market. The offer is available to the company's fixed-line digital subscriber line (DSL) users who are registered for its FNB Connect Surf product. YouTube, owned by Google, is one of the most bandwidth-hungry Internet applications. FNB Connect is available only to customers of the bank, but it ... |
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6
May 2011 |
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Africa's largest cellular operator, MTN, expects to add another 18.4 million subscribers to its base this year, despite political unrest in some of the countries in which it operates. MTN had previously anticipated adding 16.9 million new subscribers during the year, but revised its guidance in a subscriber number update to the market this afternoon. Most of the gains are expected to come from Iran, where the company hopes to add as many as another 850 000 users. The company says it ended the three month... |
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