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3
Nov 2011 |
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The core of the Johannesburg Broadband Network Project - an initiative to connect the City of Johannesburg - is almost complete, and is anticipated to be switched on before the end of the year. So said Andy Martin, head of customer service, industry and government at Ericsson, during a recent workshop the company hosted on the socio-economic impacts of improving broadband speeds. "We are running about three months ahead of schedule," he said. "Upon completion, the network will cover all the eight regions ... |
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2
Nov 2011 |
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Years after complaints were first lodged, Telkom is finally being called to answer to charges that it abused its monopoly in the telecommunications industry. It could face a huge fine. But the foreign shareholders responsible for the excesses are gone. When SBC (which later became AT&T) and Telekom Malaysia bought a 30 percent stake in Telkom through Thintana in the late 1990s, they didn't hesitate to enforce the rights they believed had been afforded to the fixed-line telecoms operator by the Nelson... |
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1
Nov 2011 |
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Fibre to the home in SA is "inevitable" but in the interim long-term evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology will meet growing bandwidth requirements of both consumers and companies. This is the view of MTN Business GM for fixed-mobile convergence, Justin Colyn, who says LTE may be combined with fibre in future to stand in as a last-mile substitute for fixed networks. Colyn says that MTN Business is partnering with fibre players to increase its access to fibre and deliver much faster broadband. He... |
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27
Oct 2011 |
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NEARLY three years ago, MTN's local unit had to slash costs, including retrenching staff, to survive SA's first recession in more than a decade. Budgets were revised and projected revenue growth targets of up to 40 percent year on year were cut to just 5 percent, forcing an overhaul of the business. Fast-forward to the present and MTN SA appears to be on such a steady growth path that its chief financial officer, Zunaid Bulbulia, can even boast that market leader Vodacom 's domestic grip is being loosened.... |
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27
Oct 2011 |
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Neotel reported a total comprehensive loss of R1,8bn in the financial year to end March 2011, the latest annual report from parent Tata Communications has revealed. In 2010, the company turned in a loss of R1,15bn. However, the company's directors have expressed confidence in its ability to continue as a going concern. "They are satisfied that the group has access to adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future," the report says. The directors base this conclusion on... |
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27
Oct 2011 |
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MTN had 158,6m customers at the end of December, a 4,1 percent increase for the quarter, from 152,3m at the end of June, the JSE-listed emerging-markets telecommunications operator said on Thursday. The subscriber contribution between MTN's three main regions has remained relatively unchanged. South and East Africa region contributed 23 percent (June: 22 percent) of the Group's total subscribers, while West and Central Africa and Middle East and North Africa contributed 44 percent (45 percent) and 33 ... |
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27
Oct 2011 |
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When cellphones came on to the South African market in the mid-90s they were a status symbol only a few could afford, but now more than 80 percent of South Africans have cellphones. Vodacom, the biggest provider, has 27.7 million customers, MTN has 18.8 million and Cell C, the smallest provider, has eight million. During the past year Vodacom turned over R54 billion and almost doubled net profits to R8bn. International player MTN increased profits by 20 percent and had South African revenues of around... |
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26
Oct 2011 |
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The country's leading mobile operator, Vodacom, has blamed software glitches for its network failure that shut out customers yesterday. This was the second time in five months the network has failed. In June, on the last day of Rica registration, Vodacom subscribers were thrown into turmoil when the operator's network collapsed. At the time Vodacom said it was multiple failure of transmission system equipment. The Vodacom glitch comes barely two weeks after BlackBerry services were severely disrupted... |
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26
Oct 2011 |
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Vodacom has played down the idea of uncapped broadband plans on its network, especially if it can't get access to more radio frequency spectrum. This is despite rival MTN's moves to offer uncapped data in some tariff plans, subject to certain terms and conditions. "It's technically very difficult to build enough base stations with the available spectrum in the universe," says Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys. "God only created so much spectrum. You can't go to the hardware store and buy more spectrum." Uys was... |
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26
Oct 2011 |
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Telkom's mobile arm, 8ta, has built six base stations using next-generation long-term evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology, with 50 sites under construction and plans to expand the network to Cape Town and Durban in the next few months as part of a field trial. The company is the third SA operator, after MTN and Wireless Business Solutions, to announce plans to build a radio access network using LTE. Telkom plans to use LTE as a substitute in areas where it doesn't have fixed-line coverage as well... |
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26
Oct 2011 |
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Several ICT leaders gathered at Vodacom World on Wednesday, to take part in the 7th annual My Broadband Conference. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys kicked off the conference saying the mobile operator is ready to launch its LTE network but is being hindered by the lack of spectrum. "LTE, short for long term evolution, is considered by many to be the obvious successor to the current generation of UMTS 3G technology, which is based upon WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, and HSPA. LTE is not a replacement for UMTS in the way that... |
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26
Oct 2011 |
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The Independent Communications Authority of SA's (ICASA) failure to promulgate complete carrier pre-select (CPS) regulations means consumers will not benefit from lower prices next month. CPS, which allows end-users to use an alternative operator to place a call, starts coming into effect from the end of next month. In theory, this should reduce the cost of long-distance calls as it should introduce more competition into the sector. However, alternative telecoms providers argued that CPS is "dead in the... |
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25
Oct 2011 |
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James Hodge of Genesis Analytics has painted a stark picture of wide-ranging anticompetitive abuses, including excessive pricing and price discrimination, allegedly committed by Telkom in the last decade. Hodge is presenting this week to the Competition Tribunal in its hearings into alleged anticompetitive behaviour by Telkom. Genesis Analytics has been engaged by the Competition Commission to provide an economic assessment of the allegations raised by the commission against Telkom. The commission wants... |
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24
Oct 2011 |
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In the latest round of ministerial musical chairs, communications minister Roy Padayachie has been shuffled to public service and administration, replacing Richard Baloyi who, in turn, has moved to co-operative governance and traditional affairs. Padayachie has spent less than a year in the communications portfolio, having taken over from former minister Siphiwe Nyanda during a large-scale Cabinet reshuffle towards the end of last year. The latest reshuffle was announced this afternoon by president Jacob ... |
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24
Oct 2011 |
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New data tracking trends in the mobile space finds that 72 percent of people use mobile internet on a daily basis while 18 percent no longer use a fixed line to access the internet at all. More than half (56 percent) of respondents in SA accessed the internet daily, by mobile. MEF, a trade body for companies wishing to engage consumers and monetise their goods, services and digital products via the mobile connected device, found that 57 percent of respondents around the world had used mobile banking. MEF... |
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