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12
May 2010 |
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The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) was found to be in a thicket of difficulties, including the possibility that recent decisions were void, during its appearance before Parliament's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) yesterday. The organisation regulating the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal industries, endured a roasting for allowing for fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure. ANC MP Roy Ainslie pointed out that the amounts were limited - nearly R40 000... |
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11
May 2010 |
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Karl Muller, an activist concerned about the effects of radio frequency radiation on human health, has filed criminal charges against Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) at the Brixton police station in Johannesburg. Muller (pictured), who says there is overwhelming evidence that radiation from cellphone towers is harming people's health, has accused WBS - which operates a wireless broadband network through its iBurst subsidiary - of erecting masts in contravention of planning regulations. He has also accuses... |
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10
May 2010 |
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South Africa's third-largest mobile phone operator, Cell C, posted a rise in annual profit on Wednesday, as it boosted its subscribers by 8 percent, despite tough competition from dominant players Vodacom and MTN Group. Unlisted Cell C is the smallest of South Africa's wireless providers and has struggled to remain competitive in Africa's largest economy. The firm, which is majority owned by Saudi Arabian group Saudi Oger, is increasingly seen as a potential takeover target. Telecom firms are keen to ... |
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10
May 2010 |
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South African cellular subscriber numbers took a dip in the last quarter of 2009, leaving analysts to ponder if the market has reached saturation. Frost & Sullivan analyst Spiwe Chireka says that for the first time, SA saw a 2percent drop in overall subscriber numbers in the last three months of 2009, to 49 120 511. This represented a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 4percent and an annual decrease of 2percent, she explains. "We do believe that the bulk of this decrease is attributed to RICA [the law... |
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7
May 2010 |
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SA's third mobile operator, Cell C, has signed a pan-African roaming deal with international telecoms powerhouse Zain. Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt says the deal will allow Cell C subscribers to roam in countries with a Zain network, at significantly reduced rates, and Zain customers can do the same in SA. Subscribers from both companies will also be able to recharge where they have network presence. The deal will surprise many in the industry, who would have expected Zain to have made this agreement with MTN... |
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28
April 2010 |
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Peering is a business relationship between ISPs where they help the flow of data between each other's customers to their mutual benefit. Peering can improve performance and help make moving large amounts of traffic easier as peers share the load. According to MWEB CEO, Rudi Jansen South Africa has a very ineffiecient peering network, which translates into higher costs as service providers charge for traffic coming to and from their networks. "It is also why it is cheaper to route traffic abroad destined ... |
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28
April 2010 |
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Internet users continued to experience disruptions to their connections on Wednesday, as Seacom had trouble resolving the problems on the cable system. The Mediterranean section of the SEA-ME-WE 4 submarine cable system, which Seacom uses to connect to London, had a fault on April 14 and the repair was scheduled for April 17, but delayed until April 24, the company told News24. "However, due to ongoing maintenance activity on another cable network servicing Africa and poor weather in the Mediterranean... |
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26
April 2010 |
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Growing speculation about MTN's alleged negotiations with Egyptian telecoms giant Orascom was fuelled on Friday after the network operator issued a cautionary, warning shareholders to take care when dealing with shares. Without explicitly revealing the potential business partner or nature of the negotiations, MTN said the full impact thereof would have a material effect on the price of the company's securities. "These discussions may or may not lead to any transaction," it said. MTN declined to comment... |
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24
April 2010 |
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The decision last week by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to reduce mobile termination rates was not unexpected. What the industry didn't expect was for the regulator to move as quickly as it has to reduce fixed-line rates. It's been a long time coming, but Icasa has finally revealed how it would like to see mobile termination rates - the interconnection fees the mobile operators charge one another to carry calls onto their networks - reduced over the next three years. Icasa, which ... |
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23
April 2010 |
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Vodacom has announced that from May 1, customers will receive between 17 percent and 60 percent more data free, on all Data Bundles smaller than 3GB. Most customers will receive 20 percent more free data, and in certain instances will be paying as little as 17 cents per MB. The offer applies, regardless of whether the customer subscribes to a Data Contract or buys a once-off bundle to use on an ad-hoc basis and is available on both the Broadband Advanced and the Broadband Standard services. Customers,... |
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20
April 2010 |
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Vodacom looked set on a collision course with its former shareholder, fixed-line operator Telkom, on Tuesday as it officially launched its high-speed fibre network aimed at business customers. Providing fixed-line services to corporate customers is an area that Telkom, which disposed of its 50% stake in Vodacom in 2009, has long dominated. Vodacom Business plans to offer the metro Ethernet fibre-based network, which it calls Metro E, to businesses in SAs main metropolitan areas. The launch follows several... |
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20
April 2010 |
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Construction of the East Africa Submarine System (Eassy), the second high-capacity fibre-optic cable along Africas east coast, was completed on Monday night, ahead of schedule. According to the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), the largest shareholder in Eassy, the so-called "final splice" took place at 11.40pm SA time on Monday night. "The installation phase of the project, which started in Maputo, Mozambique in December 2009, was completed on board the cable-laying vessel Ile de Batz in the... |
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20
April 2010 |
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South Africans will have universal access to broadband by 2019, communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda said in his budget speech in parliament on Tuesday. "We have finalised the broadband policy whose vision is to ensure that South Africans have universal access and services to broadband by 2019," Nyanda said. "The benefits accruing from the policy will include the provision of multimedia and e-government throughout the country." The growth of broadband would "expand markets" and have widespread benefits... |
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19
April 2010 |
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Telkom will be reducing its management staff in the next two months as part of a restructuring process aimed at cutting costs, streamlining efficiencies and enabling the company to compete head-on with rivals. The surprise announcement was made on Friday through letters its to 2 600-odd managers. Trade unions Solidarity and the SA Communications Union (Sacu) were displeased by the announcement. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) could not be reached for comment. Telkom is trying to reduce its management... |
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19
April 2010 |
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"The mere fact that Telkom is considering retrenching employees, whether or not it is voluntary, means that, in terms of legislation, they first have to consult with trade unions," trade union Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said in a statement. The move to announce plans to go ahead with voluntary retrenchments was an "act of bad faith", said Kleynhans. "Nearly 2530 members of management received a memorandum in this regard on Friday. However, trade unions were only notified of the voluntary... |
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