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18
March 2010 |
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Internet service provider MWEB has introduced uncapped ADSL accounts starting at R219 per month, the lowest price ever for the service. According to mybroadband.co.za, the company ran an aggressive advertising campaign using a Facebook page which attracted over 13 000 users. In a press release Rudi Jansen, MWEB CEO, said: "Internet penetration in South Africa remains below par in fact, South Africa has fallen behind a number of other African countries in recent times. The lack of well-priced, generously... |
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18
March 2010 |
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South Africa's second-largest consumer ISP, MWEB, has announced significant changes to its ADSL products, with a full range of uncapped packages. It has taken some flack in recent months for not bringing prices down yet, and many in the market suggested an aggressive move was likely. It says it is the first major player in the market to offer "uncapped ADSL on a significant scale". In the lead up to today's launch, it has been running the "Free the Web" campaign, which it used to highlight the frustration... |
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18
March 2010 |
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Web consumers in South Africa will experience a different type of internet, with MWEB's announcement of uncapped broadband for users. It may also mean dramatic changes in the pricing landscape. "It is a game changer in South Africa. It essentially allows web consumers in South Africa to experience a different type of internet," internet strategist Matthew Buckland told News24. "The type of internet that allows for downloading of movies, the type of internet that allows for live legal streaming of movies and... |
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18
March 2010 |
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ACCESSING the Internet via broadband connections is becoming more popular, a survey released yesterday shows. "The number of South Africans accessing the Internet via broadband connections has grown by more than 50% in the past year - a direct consequence of the growing need for round-the-clock connectivity," the surveys authors Cisco and World Wide Worx said. The survey - entitled Internet Access in South Africa 2010 - also showed that wireless broadband had been growing almost three times as fast as... |
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17
March 2010 |
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Telkom, which will become SA's fourth mobile network operator when it launches commercial wireless services later this year, will sign a national roaming agreement with MTN, multiple independent sources have said. The apparent deal means Telkom mobile customers will roam on MTN's network outside the big urban centres where Telkom hasn't yet built infrastructure. MTN has beaten Vodacom, the other bidder, to win the deal, according to sources close to both MTN and Telkom. MTN operates both 2G and 3G network... |
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16
March 2010 |
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WITH Telkom gearing up to enter the cellphone market, a recent study by research firm Synovate found that half of South Africans aged 16 and older would be prepared to buy a Telkom SIM card. The research, which concentrated on metropolitan areas, found that 68 percent of those interviewed felt there was sufficient space for another mobile operator to enter the market, 71 percent believed Telkom had the infrastructure, and 68 percent believed it had sufficient sales and distribution channels to sell its... |
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15
March 2010 |
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MTN SA is at an advanced stage of planning that will result in it opening its network of base stations to rival operators in an effort aimed, in part, at reducing operating costs. "In three or four years from now, I want two or three other operators on my infrastructure," says MTN SA MD Karel Pienaar (pictured above). "It makes total sense." MTNs move comes as rival Cell C is in talks to sell its national network of base stations, apparently in an effort, at least in part, to help defray its crippling... |
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12
March 2010 |
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Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda is in the spotlight again over his apparent penchant for lavish spending of taxpayer money. According to a newspaper report on Friday, the minister has racked up huge bills at five-star Cape Town hotels, even though he has an official residence in the city. According to the Mail and Guardian, Nyanda has not spent one night in his ministerial residence, instead using the lavish rooms at the Mount Nelson and the Twelve Apostles hotels at a minimum cost of R4 000/night... |
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11
March 2010 |
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South African telecommunications company MTN Group pointed to an extensive network expansion and investment strategy which resulted in capital expenditure of R31.2 billion for the year, a 10.6 percent increase on 2008. The company on Thursday reported a 16.6 percent decline in adjusted headline earnings per share to 754.3 cents for the year ended December 2009 from 904.4 cents a year ago. Basic HEPS declined to 803.2 cents from 836.5 cents a year ago. Excluding the impact of the functional currency losses... |
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11
March 2010 |
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A special inter-ministerial committee is to be set up to finalise government's broadband policy, government spokesman Themba Maseko says. Briefing the media following Cabinet's regular meeting, he said the draft national broadband policy had been tabled and discussed at the meeting. "The policy seeks to, among other things, address availability, accessibility, and affordability of broadband, building an information society, as well as to promote uptake and usage of broadband." Cabinet decided that an... |
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10
March 2010 |
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SA consumers, used to high prices for telecommunications, must be rubbing their hands in glee. The cost of broadband and voice telephony has begun falling, in some cases dramatically, as competition finally begins to take effect. At the weekend, cellphone giant Vodacom announced it was effectively cutting its peak-time prepaid rates by as much as 40%. Vodacom customers who subscribe to a new prepaid offering, with a uniform all-day rate, will enjoy off-net call charges between 6 am and 8 pm on weekdays of ... |
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10
March 2010 |
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Telkom has resorted to deploying armed guards to hide in bushes overnight to try to stop gangs from stripping phone lines in the Western Cape. Sources have told the Cape Argus that one of the hardest-hit areas is the Elgin Valley, where a 1km stretch of phone line had been stolen during the night on at least six occasions recently - leaving a number of farms without phone lines. Another stretch of phone line, in Valley Road which leads off the N2 to prominent apple and wine farms, had been stolen 10 times... |
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10
March 2010 |
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Whether you get your internet through your phone line from a service provider (iBurst, MWeb, Neotel) or through a data card on your cellphone, section 40 of Rica says that you must be registered in terms of the Act. Rica makes it compulsory for everybody with cellphones, everybody buying a new SIM card, and all broadband internet users to register at their service provider with proof of residence and their identity document or passport. It was introduced to help fight illegal activities, particularly... |
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10
March 2010 |
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A study find that 84pct of South Africans "cannot live" without their cell phones, while 54pct say their cell phone would be worse to lose than their wallets. This is according to research carried out by Johannesburg-based market research company, Synovate. Synovates head of client services, Andries Lombaard said: "With the never-ceasing increase in functionality of cell phones, phones have gone far beyond calling, texting and taking photographs. They serve communication and information needs and definitely ... |
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9
March 2010 |
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Within days of mobile interconnection rates being cut, SAs two biggest cellphone operators, MTN and Vodacom, have slashed their peak-time prepaid voice tariffs. The two companies have cut prepaid rates between 6am and 8pm on weekdays by as much as 40%. Interconnection rates are the fees the mobile operators charge each other and other operators to carry calls onto their networks. The rate during peak time was cut from R1,25/minute to 89c/minute on 1 March. Now MTN and Vodacom have introduced prepaid... |
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