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8
Nov 2010 |
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Cellphone giants MTN and Vodacom have raked in more than R15 billion in revenue from interconnection rates in the past financial year. And although the rates - the fee one network pays another to terminate a call - are being cut, cellphone companies warn this will not reduce call charges. Both MTN and Vodacom are awaiting next month's outcome of the Competition Commission's six-year long investigation into price collusion. The countrywide investigation saw scores of high-level employees of the two... |
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8
Nov 2010 |
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Mobile fledgling 8ta continues to show promise, with the unveiling of some aggressive contract options for its mobile voice and data offerings. However, the deals are heavily in favour of 8ta-to-8ta calls. The company entered the market only a month ago, revealing at first only prepaid deals. 8ta vowed at the time that it would disrupt the mobile market as it introduced some compelling prepaid offers. Through various print outlets, as well as information revealed on the 8ta Web site, the company has... |
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8
Nov 2010 |
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Vodacom's RICA woes are behind it, as it added new subscribers to its South African base and grew market share in the first half of the year. The SIM card registration Act, or the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, requires all cellular operators to register their subscribers' identity numbers and proof of residence, or cut them off from the network. Initially, operators had 18 months until the end of December to register customers, but an ... |
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5
Nov 2010 |
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It's a deal that's been a long time coming. After many months of careful planning and negotiation, Cell C will sell 3 200 of its cellular base stations to US-based American Tower Corp (ATC) for USD430m (R2,9bn). The company will use the money to restructure its balance sheet. The cellular operator will sell 1 400 of its existing towers and, over the next two years, another 1 800 that are currently under construction. TechCentral first broke the news of Cell C's plans back in March. Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt... |
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3
Nov 2010 |
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A MDANTSANE woman is battling communications giant Telkom after she claims the company incorrectly billed her for almost five years, and now refuses to refund her in cash. Nombulelo Qushu said she lodged a query with the company in August 2008 after she noticed the airtime loaded on her pre-paid Telkom line was finished unusually quickly. "The strange thing was that every time I loaded airtime, I would make one or two calls and the airtime was finished," she said. According to Qushu, an investigation... |
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3
Nov 2010 |
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Cell C officially launched their first 21 Mbps HSPA+ mobile broadband services in early September, offering the best mobile broadband prices ever seen in South Africa. At launch Cell C offered clients two prepaid broadband packages: 1. For R1,499 you will get a modem capable of speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and 2GB of data every month for a period of 12 months. 2. For R2,999 you will get a modem capable of speeds of up to 21.6Mbps and 5GB of data every month for a period of 12 months. Cell C has now... |
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3
Nov 2010 |
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There appears to be growing uncertainty among senior Telkom officials about the future of the group's chairman, Jeff Molobela. Sources close to the group say Molobela's contract as chairman expired at the end of last week and has not been renewed. Molobela, who is close to sacked communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, was appointed to the position a year ago, replacing Shirley Lu-Arnold. TechCentral could not reach Molobela for comment. And Telkom group CEO Jeffrey Hedberg says he is unable to comment... |
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3
Nov 2010 |
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Converged communications network operator Neotel on Tuesday welcomed the regulated price reductions in mobile termination rates as a means to providing conditions open to real price competition. On Friday, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) announced further reductions on mobile termination rates to 73 cents per minute at peak and 65 cents at off-peak times, from current rates of 89 cents and 77 cents respectively. The peak national fixed line termination rate will decline to... |
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3
Nov 2010 |
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Internet service provider Afrihost has some good news for internet users: it is giving away 1GB of data for free - and it insists there is no catch. "There's no catch. We know how sceptical you internet guys are so there's no catch because you guys would pick it up quickly," Afrihost CEO Gian Visser told News24. As part of a special offer to users, the ISP has begun giving away free 1GB ADSL accounts. "Instead of using our marketing budget to pay for TV ads, we're giving it back to our clients so that... |
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2
Nov 2010 |
http://www.techcentral.co.za/mweb-under-fire-over-peering-demands/18644/
Internet service providers have slammed Mweb's decision to cut off its transit links, saying the company ought to have engaged in discussions instead of taking the fight to the media. Last week, MWeb cut off its transit links with Telkom's wholesale Internet access provider Saix, while at the same time preventing users of some other service providers from accessing content on the MWeb network. MWeb wants to encourage local providers to peer with it, instead of charging it for transit on networks. The... |
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2
Nov 2010 |
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Neotel on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to cut cellphone termination rates - or call rates. "Neotel welcomes the statement made by Icasa on 29 October 2010 indicating a phased reduction of both mobile and fixed call termination rates over a three year period in the final regulations," the telecommunications company said in a statement. Neotel said it supported increased competition as this would lead to effective and fair pricing. "We are pleased to... |
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1
Nov 2010 |
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Telkom Wholesale has unveiled their SAIX Lite ADSL offering, which promises to compete with Internet Solutions (SEACOM) bandwidth prices. The per-GB Lite offering is about half the price of Telkom's wholesale per-GB price, My Broadband reported. The offering is intended to compliment the unshaped, shaped and local-only data services. ISPs using IS bandwidth (Afrihost, Cybersmart, Axxess) have been able to offer much cheaper per-GB prices, but the Lite offering should allow for similar prices. The account... |
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31
Oct 2010 |
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In a shock development, controversial communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda has lost his job. President Jacob Zuma announced on Sunday evening that Nyanda would be replaced by former deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie. Padayachie, who had served as deputy communications minister under the late Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, was most recently deputy minister of public service & administration. News of Nyanda's axing came as a surprise to political analysts given that he was seen as politically close... |
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29
Oct 2010 |
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MTN, Africa's biggest mobile operator, yesterday forecast a rise in subscribers of nearly 10 percent by year's end, reaping the dividend from billions of dollars of spending on its networks. The company said subscriber numbers grew by 4 percent in its third quarter, overcoming intense competition and price cuts from rivals. Strong growth in Nigeria, Iran and South Africa prompted the company to lift its forecast for new users this year by 8.5 percent, to 22.9million from 21.1million In Nigeria, MTN's... |
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29
Oct 2010 |
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The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on Friday published the final Call Termination Regulations for both mobile operators and Telkom's fixed-line calls. Call termination rates (CTRs) are the fees telecommunications operators charge each other to carry the other operators' traffic on their network. In terms of the new regulations, MTN and Vodacom would have to reduce their peak mobile CTRs to 73c a minute by March 2011 and to 56c a minute by March 2012. Offpeak mobile CTRs would... |
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