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7
Dec 2010 |
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The majority of local Internet service providers (ISPs) have caved into MWeb's unilateral demands for open peering arrangements. Telkom, however, stands firm on its decision to refute MWeb's decision to cut transit links and its subsequent demands. MWeb said last month it would no longer pay a cent for local transit links and that any local ISP wanting to connect to it would have to peer with it directly. The company then severed its paid peering through Telkom's wholesale Internet access provider, SAIX,... |
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6
Dec 2010 |
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Less than a month after winning a deal to buy Cell C's national tower infrastructure, US company American Tower Corp (ATC) has signed another big African tower-sharing deal, this time with MTN in Ghana. MTN said on Monday that it reached an agreement with ATC to establish a joint venture in Ghana, to be called TowerCo Ghana. TowerCo will be managed by ATC, which is taking a 51 percent stake in the new entity; MTN will hold the remaining 49 percent. The transaction involves the sale of up to 1 876 of MTN ... |
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6
Dec 2010 |
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South African mobile operators have been slammed for lacking transparency in their prepaid options, placing unsuspecting subscribers, by default, on high price rates, with little communication as to how to move onto the better-marketed - and better-priced - deals. Unlike the contract or post-paid options offered by the operators, prepaid consumers have no options as to which prepaid package they are signed up to when they purchase a SIM card. Heidi Gouws, national sales manager of telecommunications... |
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6
Dec 2010 |
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Unbundling the local loop is the last step to making SA's telecommunications landscape fully competitive, says Neotel chief technology officer Angus Hay. Hay tells TechCentral that allowing other operators access to the physical cable infrastructure into people's homes is the best way of boosting competition in the broadband market. Telkom owns most of this infrastructure. However, communications minister Roy Padayachie has told the partially state-owned company - government directly holds 39,8 percent of... |
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3
Dec 2010 |
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Reports alleging that Telkom acting group CEO Jeffrey Hedberg has been acting against the board's wishes and that Telkom is acting in contravention of the Public Finance Management Act have been slammed as "erroneous in several respects" by the fixed-line operator. This week, national daily newspaper Business Report wrote that it was in possession of a report about the alleged lack of corporate governance at Telkom, compiled by the Communications Workers Union and sent to Telkom last week. But Telkom... |
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3
Dec 2010 |
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The recently-unveiled East Africa Submarine System (Eassy) plans to more than double its current available capacity in 2011. Following 100 percent network reliability during its first four months of operation, Eassy has taken the decision to increase its "lit capacity", utilising 40Gbps wavelength technology. Although premature, Eassy's management committee explains that its continued success has enabled a system upgrade to be initiated sooner than planned. "The level of capacity sales in the first few... |
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2
Dec 2010 |
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Telkom is in talks with Middle East telecoms operator Etisalat to sell the cellphone division of Multi-Links to Etisalat's Nigerian business. This came out in a whistle-blowing report on the alleged lack of corporate governance at Telkom that the Communications Workers Union (CWU) sent to Telkom last week. The report, a four-page letter written by a Multi-Links executive to the public protector, claims acting Telkom chief executive Jeffrey Hedberg and his team presented the board with several options to... |
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2
Dec 2010 |
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Former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda has been given the joint second lowest score in the Democratic Alliance's annual cabinet report card. Every year, the DA produces a scorecard in which it outlines its assessment of the performance of cabinet members, giving each a rating out of 10. This year, two ministers, Nyanda and state security minister Siyabonga Cwele both received the second lowest scores on the list, both getting one out of 10. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, former minister of women and... |
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1
Dec 2010 |
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Players in the cellular industry are getting into the festive spirit, as mobile operator MTN introduces a free talk time deal and BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion readies holiday-specific applications. MTN has introduced a prepaid deal that offers its subscribers 60 minutes of free airtime for every R30 airtime voucher purchased. As from 28 November, any MTN PayAsYouGo customer on the Call per Second plan, who buys a single recharge voucher to the value of R30 or more, will benefit by "earning... |
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30
Nov 2010 |
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Vodacom has released an Internet Starter Pack, nipping at the heels of Cell C's competitively-priced data bundles. As the name implies, the bundle is aimed at entry-level users who need basic access for e-mail and Web browsing. It is priced at R399, which includes a 3G USB modem and 100MB of data per month, for 12 months. The out-of-bundle data rate on the Internet Starter Pack is R2 per MB. It is still possible to purchase additional data bundles for the SIM card. This is in direct response to the entr... |
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29
Nov 2010 |
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Cell C is "going for Telkom's jugular with its new rates" and is no longer playing in the same field as SA's other mobile operators, says an analyst. Less than a month ago it released the rates for its first data bundle rates, Cell C has slashed the rates to as little as 13c/MB. "These prices are a challenge to [Telkom's digital subscriber lines]," says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. Cell C has introduced a 3GB bundle for at R400, effectively providing 1GB more than it had at the same price previously... |
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29
Nov 2010 |
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Multi-Links - a wholly owned subsidiary of Telkom - will be sued for damages, Blue Label Telecoms said on Friday in a statement. Blue Label has an effective ownership of 36.72 percent in Africa Prepaid Services Nigeria (APSN) through its 72 percent shareholding in Africa Prepaid Services. "In terms of the Super Dealer Agreement with Multi-Links, APSN was given the right to procure customers for, and to sell and market, the complete range of Multi-Links' CDMA services and products, on an exclusive basis in... |
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28
Nov 2010 |
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Outgoing MTN Group CEO Phuthuma Nhleko may have secured himself hundreds of millions, thanks to his participation in the company's black economic empowerment (BEE) share offer. The Zakhele BEE share scheme offer had been more than 1.7 times oversubscribed and applicants could not get all the shares they had applied for. About a week ago Nhleko also became R400m richer after selling 3.2m shares at the market price. According to MTN, this deal was done partly because of commitments following a transaction ... |
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26
Nov 2010 |
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Almost 94 percent of all applicants for MTN's black economic empowerment offer have received the full amount of Zakhele shares for which they applied, as the operator prioritised its smaller investors first. The JSE-listed mobile operator announced the offering earlier this year, in which 4 percent of its ordinary shares would be sold as part of a public offering. This would translate into an effective 29 percent ownership of the South African operations, said MTN. The deal offered a total of 80 900 000... |
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26
Nov 2010 |
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Fourth mobile operator 8ta is testing BlackBerry smartphones on its network and will likely be ready with an offering early next year. The operator is also in discussions with Apple to offer its iPhone smartphone range, but was unable to give any details at this point as it is bound by a strict non-disclosure agreement. The BlackBerry play will be a significant one for the newcomer, as it has been recognised as a fast-growing cellular brand in SA. BlackBerry smartphones were rated as the second "most... |
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