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7
Oct 2010 |
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MWeb, the company that introduced SA's first relatively affordable uncapped products, has now unveiled an uncapped and completely unshaped 10Mbit/s option aimed at business customers. The product, which costs R4 999/month, could prove popular among companies that currently shell out for often much costlier leased-line services. But it'll only be available in areas where Telkom has upgraded its telephone exchanges to support digital subscriber lines capable of speeds of up to 10Mbit/s. Bernard Kur, head of... |
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7
Oct 2010 |
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Cell C has to remove "4Gs" from its new advertising campaign, after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the term is misleading and dishonest. MTN, Vodacom and several consumers laid complaints against Cell C's advertising campaign, which includes a logo reflecting "4Gs" and the claim it is building the first 4Gs network in the Southern Hemisphere. The complaints stated that the claims are misleading, since consumers will mistake it to be a reference to the "4G" standard of network. "This ... |
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6
Oct 2010 |
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Analysts are predicting better-than-expected growth for telecommunications group MTN Group [JSE:MTN] in the second half of 2010 and investors are expressing a renewed enthusiasm in the company as it begins to provide business services in African markets. Industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, Spiwe Chireka, said that confidence in MTN was certainly not due to its South African operations. "We haven't seen any interesting developments in South Africa in the past three or four months and MTN's business... |
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5
Oct 2010 |
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Telkom has declined to comment on the launch of its much anticipated mobile arm. If IT news provider TechCentral is to be believed, "Heita" will be launched next week. Telkom has already launched an advertising campaign with the word Heita, and the colour pink prominent in otherwise black and white print, which has featured in national newspapers and on billboards in Johannesburg. TechCentral has speculated that Telkom will launch its cellular network under the new name on October 14. "We will not comment... |
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4
Oct 2010 |
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Cell C's mobile offering has been receiving mostly positive press, with fast speeds and a larger than normal cap making for a great deal. But it was the comparison to Telkom's ADSL that drew plenty of gasps from the audience in attendance for the Cape Town launch. With a year's subscription to Cell C's high-end offering costing R3000, Telkom's 4Mb/s DoBroadband offering paled in comparison, costing an estimated R9000 over 12 months (5GB cap, installation and modem included). Even without the costs of... |
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4
Oct 2010 |
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"Heita!" is said to be the new brand name of Telkom Mobile's consumer offerings, but the fixed-line operator will neither confirm nor deny it. When questioned as to whether the campaign is linked to Telkom Mobile, the company responded by saying: "Telkom has no comment on this matter." Media reports over the weekend revealed that various billboard and television adverts, which offer only animated pictures with the word Heita strewn across the picture, are the beginnings of the soon to be unveiled mobile... |
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4
Oct 2010 |
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Former Post Office CEO Maanda Manyatshe has been slapped with a R6-million lawsuit that might scupper his chances of taking the helm of Telkom. Manyatshe, tipped to be in the running to fill the Telkom CEO's seat recently vacated by Reuben September, is being sued by a forensic auditor he hired to clear his name during his 2006 battle with the SA Post Office. The summons served on Manyatshe details the battle between the Post Office - of which he was CEO until 2004 - and his defence team. Manyatshe was... |
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2
Oct 2010 |
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Heita! That's the name of Telkom's new mobile business, or at least the part of it that's going to focus on the mass consumer market. After a bit of sleuthing, TechCentral has ascertained that the traditionally fixed-line operator is set to launch consumer mobile services under the "Heita!" branding on 14 October. Heita is township slang and means "hello" or "howzit". It's understood "Heita!" will only be used to brand Telkom's consumer mobile products. The Telkom name will feature more prominently in... |
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1
Oct 2010 |
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After years in planning, Telkom is expected finally to unveil its mobile network in a fortnight. However, analysts say the company will have to pull out all the stops to gain any traction in the cellular market. David Lerche, telecommunications equity analyst at Avior Research, says Telkom may be on the right track as it is expected to begin by targeting the rural areas where the incumbent operators are not as entrenched. According to Lerche, Telkom will first tackle the rural prepaid market and only... |
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1
Oct 2010 |
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TELKOM says it is investigating stationing armed guards in areas especially vulnerable to copper theft, and using wireless technology as an alternative to cables, as it admitted it is the victim of "cyclical" theft. Residents of Bishopstowe, Cramond and Swayimane have complained recently that their telephone lines have not been working for months after they were damaged by copper thieves. Telkom spokesperson Pynee Chetty said in many high-theft areas, cable is repeatedly stolen, sometimes within days after... |
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30
Sept 2010 |
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The battle between MTN and Telkom over interconnection fees has been postponed to Saturday. The hearing called by the Independent Communications Authority of SA's complaints and compliance committee was thrown into dissaray this morning when the two companies' legal teams butted heads over an affidavit submitted by MTN. The complaint, lodged by Telkom earlier in September, accuses MTN of slowing down the interconnection negotiation process in a bid to keep prices higher for longer. Telkom, which is due... |
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30
Sept 2010 |
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Former Telkom COO Molatsi Nzeku has won his fight against the telco, for what he claims was an unfair dismissal early last year. At the time of his dismissal, Telkom accused Nzeku of not delivering on his portfolio, as the company still faces severe service delivery challenges. The action was preceded by strong opposition from Nzeku against a proposed management reshuffle at Telkom. The company noted at the time that Nzeku had opposed the operator's restructuring to the point where his role had become... |
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29
Sept 2010 |
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In the past month, news has emerged of plans to build yet more high-capacity undersea cables to wire up Africa. With the continent about to be awash in bandwidth, attention needs to shift to bringing broadband to consumers. It feels like almost every week that new cable projects are being unveiled that will bring yet more high-speed submarine capacity to Africa. There's an investment rush underway, with billions of dollars being poured into submarine fibre optics. Just in the last month, SA's eFive Telecoms... |
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28
Sept 2010 |
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Cell C will launch its new high-speed 3G network in Cape Town on Thursday, a city that has proved notoriously hard for operators to deliver wireless services. At the same time, Cell C is launching its so-called "4Gs" network in the coastal city of East London today (Tuesday), following the companys introduction of broadband services in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. Cell CҒs executive head of marketing Simon Camerer says the network covers 81% of East London already, and he expects the entire city to... |
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28
Sept 2010 |
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THE reduction in how much cellphone operators pay to connect calls on each other's networks, together with increased competition, will slow down growth in the telecommunications sector, according to the latest report by research firm BMI- TechKnowledge. Slow growth in the telecommunications sector is expected to continue until the end of the year, in tandem with the economy's slow recovery from the first recession since the early 1990s. Revenue from business customers will continue to be negative, despite... |
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