| |
 |
|
15
July 2010 |
|
JSE-listed telecommunications company Telkom will pay US80 million (R600 million) to settle its nine-year-old dispute with US-based Telcordia. In a statement on Thursday, Telkom said Telcordia's claims in the total amount of US128 million plus interest were finally settled in terms of a mutual agreement based on an arbitration ruling. This was concluded on July 13, 2010, in terms of which Telkom was paying the amount of US80 million. The dispute related to the supply, installation, and integration of a... |
| |
|
|
15
July 2010 |
|
Cellular network operator Cell C is about to conclude the sale of its 50 percent stake in Virgin Mobile SA, TechCentral has learnt exclusively from a well-placed industry source. The deal must, however, still be referred to the Competition Commission for approval. It's not known who is buying the Cell C stake - the other 50 percent of the business is owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group -but previous speculation has centred on JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms. There are also rumours circulating that a... |
| |
|
|
14
July 2010 |
|
Reuben September's decision to step down early as CEO of Telkom wasn't unexpected. All eyes are now on the board, which must appoint his successor. Will it make the right choice? Or will the decision be political? It was probably inevitable that September didn't stick around at Telkom until his contract ended in November. When the board elected not to renew his contract, the long-serving Telkom executive took it badly, say company insiders. That's not surprising: who would want to hang on for five months... |
| |
|
|
13
July 2010 |
|
Internet and data users in Africa were promised cheap, fast, efficient and unlimited connection with the arrival of the Seacom cable. But when the undersea cable that connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Asia broke last Monday, experts began questioning Seacom's promise to lessen the digital divide between Africa and wealthier regions. Last Monday's Internet breakdown is reported to be the second major outage since the cable went live last year. The first outage occurred in... |
| |
|
|
13
July 2010 |
|
Fixed-line telephone operator Telkom on Tuesday announced the resignation of its director and chief financial officer Peter Nelson, with effect from October 9 2010. It follows hot on the heels of the resignation of group chief executive officer Reuben September last Friday, July 9. September, however, will continue in a consulting role until November 1 2010. "The Board thanks him (Nelson) for his valuable contribution to Telkom and wishes him well in the future," the group said in a brief note.... |
| |
|
|
12
July 2010 |
|
It will take another 10 days to repair the damaged parts of the Seacom data cable, lying nearly 5km deep off Africa's east coast. The weather, the depth of the fault and the parts needed are all delaying the repair process, said Seacom. July 22 was the earliest date by which repairs could be completed. The undersea cable has been out of operation since Monday July 5, and has been disrupting international internet operations. Seacom first said that repairing it would take just over a week, but problems... |
| |
|
|
9
July 2010 |
|
South Africa's largest fixed-line telephone company Telkom [JSE:TKG] has appointed Jeffrey Hedberg, head of its struggling Nigerian unit, as acting group chief executive to replace Reuben September. Hedberg is regarded as a turnaround specialist and was brought into the company to assist with struggling Nigeria's Multi Links, after he helped South Africa's smallest mobile phone operator Cell C. September, who has led the company for the past three years, agreed to step down as CEO from July 11 and will as... |
| |
|
|
9
July 2010 |
|
Despite signing an MOU with Main One, both companies are still focused on getting their networks fully operational, says Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy. Seacom's current cable break that has all but left the undersea cable operator inoperable for a week, has raised market speculation that it may soon formalise alliances, if not an outright merger, with similar companies. This week, Seacom's vulnerability as a single line operator was highlighted when a segment of its East African cable broke, leading to downtime... |
| |
|
|
9
July 2010 |
|
MWEB has confirmed that it has restored all of its international bandwidth and is running at full capacity. Since SEACOM announced the cable fault this past Monday, MWEB has been working very closely with SEACOM to ensure the stability of its network while identifying alternative options to secure additional redundancy. Says Derek Hershaw, MWEB ISP CEO, said: "While Seacom continues with the repairs of the cable fault, we have in the interim secured full capacity split over two separate routes. Seacoms... |
| |
|
|
9
July 2010 |
|
In the wake of the latest internet cable fault, SEACOM announced that it has secured a few restoration options. "SEACOM has successfully secured a number of restoration options for its clients through other international connectivity providers, including cable networks. This effectively provides customers with alternatives to re-route services and restore connectivity," an official statement read. "These restoration solutions are now being actively implemented. The exact cause of the problem is still being... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2010 |
|
Internet service providers are buckling as the SEACOM cable outage continues, with SEACOM saying that the repair could take up to two weeks to fix. Users and ISPs have been venting their anger ever since the cable system went down, with OpenWeb CEO Keoma Wright going on the offensive in his latest newsletter. "Today we have received alot of emails from many angry folks regarding the Seacom international outage. We understand. Everyone is frustrated," Wright wrote. "Seacom should be held accountable for... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2010 |
|
Seacom has secured alternative capacity options for its customers, but Internet service providers will be charged a "small premium" to use them. A fault on the Seacom cable between Mumbai in India and Mombasa in Kenya cut off many Internet users on Monday, with repairs expected to take a week or more. The cable also suffered downtime in April when the Sea-Me-We 4 cable in the Mediterranean was cut. Seacom is leasing capacity on Sea-Me-We 4 until it can get a section of its cable through the Red Sea lit up... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2010 |
|
Time is running out for Telkom to resolve the issue of salary discrepancies among employees of the company's largest unit, trade union Solidarity says. The union had given Telkom's executive management until Friday to agree to an urgent meeting to discuss remuneration of employees of the company's Data Advance Services unit (DAS). Solidarity maintained that the general state of labour relations at the telecommunications company had now reached an alarming point and would have to be discussed as a matter... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2010 |
|
The fixed-line operator desperately needs a mobile solution to curb dwindling voice revenue, but will face a tough battle to gain traction. Telkom will have its work cut out for it when it launches its mobile operation later in the year, as the company will challenge incumbents in a saturated market, note analysts. The fixed-line operator is launching what will be SA's fourth mobile operation and expects to spend about R6 billion over five years to develop infrastructure. The move is necessary, says Telkom... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2010 |
|
Consumers signed up with internet provider Internet Solutions (IS) had been the hardest hit by the second breakdown of Seacom, the undersea broadband cable running along Africa's east coast, Sean Nourse, the IS executive for connectivity, said yesterday. The Seacom fibre-optic cable which connects Africa with Europe via India broke down on Monday between Mumbai and Mombasa. It enables high-definition television, peer-to-peer networks and digital television connection over the internet. The breakdown has... |
|
