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4
Feb 2010 |
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JSE-listed cellphone group Vodacom will cut interconnection rates on 1 March, provided its regulator lets it do so, and has promised to remove all references to a glide path in its new application. Previous filings by the mobile operators, made on 25 January, sought to prevent the Independent Communications Authority (Icasa) from regulating interconnection rates until March 2013. These rates are the fees the mobile operators charge each other and other telecommunications companies to carry calls onto their... |
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3
Feb 2010 |
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The cellular operators and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) are at loggerheads over the new interconnection tariff agreement, which the regulator rejected this week. Icasa said the proposed new interconnection agreements signed by MTN, Cell C and Vodacom late last month "sought to bind the authority to an undertaking not to review mobile termination rates until March 1, 2013". Interconnection rates are the fees cellular operators charge each other and other network operators... |
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3
Feb 2010 |
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Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda on Wednesday supported the Independent Communications Authority of South Africas (IcasaҒs) decision not to review the interconnection amendment agreements submitted to it by cell phone operators MTN, Cell C and Vodacom. The Department of Communications noted in a statement that the Minister respected the independence of Icasa and that he had previously indicated that the final decision on the matter rested with the regulator. In October last year, the cell phone... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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South Africa's biggest wireless phone operator Vodacom posted higher third-quarter profit as a rise in customers and mobile Internet usage helped offset weaker business at its international units. Vodacom, owned by UK-based Vodafone, said on Tuesday group revenue for the nine months to end-December increased six percent to R15,425-billion and mobile customers were up 9,5 percent to 40,5 million. Customer growth in its main South African market rose 2,5 percent year-on-year to 27,1 million. The company,... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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Vodacom, SA's largest cellular provider, has lost more than a million subscribers in three months, because of the SIM card registration Act, it says. The company says the effect of the law has mostly been felt in the prepaid sector, with a 1.3 million reduction in prepaid customers in the quarter, to 22.6 million. The loss of subscribers was attributed to the implementation of RICA, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, in the middle of... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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A power failure on the SAT-3 undersea cable left customers without international Internet access from 8.30am this morning. This is the second failure in under a month, and Telkom says the power failure happened during planned maintenance on the line between Lagos and Abidjan. The SAT-3 maintenance technicians are busy re-routing restorable traffic. This process commenced at 9.59am this morning,Ӕ the company explained in a statement. Last month, the cable failed between Accra and Abidjan, leaving Telkom... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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Telkom sources say the loss of connectivity across the SAT3 cable system which has caused a slowdown of international connectivity was caused by whats known as a degraded cable, but Telkom has refused to say what exactly has caused the problem. According to Telkom Operations Specialist Dee Radcliff in an interview with Business Day, TelkomҒs Technical Department registered the outage at 06h00 this morning. He refused to comment on the possibility that the cable had been stolen. The SAT3 cable is one of... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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SA's largest cellular operator, Vodacom, says an HSPA+ site went live in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, over the weekend. The company is also upgrading its network to faster speeds and aims to have 100 high-traffic sites online for the Soccer World Cup. Last week, rival Cell C said it would roll out what would be SA's fastest cellular network to date. The third mobile operator appointed Chinese telecommunications equipment provider ZTE to deploy HSPA+, in a deal worth about R2.9 billion. Ready for... |
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2
Feb 2010 |
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Vodacom will double the speed of its 3G network in time for the World Cup, offering download speeds of up to 14,4Mbit/s from its 3G-enabled base stations by June. Thats the word from Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys, who was speaking to journalists following the release of the cellular groupҒs financial results for the three months ended 31 December 2009. However, Uys has cautioned that not all the backhaul transmission links to the groups base stations - these are the links that connect its cellular towers... |
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31
Jan 2010 |
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A student was shot and killed during an armed robbery in Woodstock on Friday, Cape Town police said. Inspector November Filander said the student from Cape Technikon was shot through his neck and head when a robber attempted to rob his cellphone on the corner of High and Searl streets in Woodstock at around 16:00. "He died on the scene with his cellphone still in his hand," said Filander. Filander said the suspect robbed two boys, aged between 14 and 16 from their cellphones before he shot the student,... |
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31
Jan 2010 |
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The Independent Communications Authority said it will respond to the countrys major cellular providers on Monday regarding their interconnection deal. In November last year MTN, Cell C and Vodacom agreed to cut interconnection fees to 89 cents a minute following pressure from Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda. Through bilateral discussions, the operators made a commitment to reduce their fees over a three year period, starting from March this year. This deal was lodged with ICASA for approval. ICASA... |
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29
Jan 2010 |
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About 15 tenants, including children, living in block of flats on the corner of Hunter street and Kenmere road, staged a sit-in at the Formula1 hotel in nearby Berea. They refused to leave the hotel until Telkom provided alternative accommodation. Ode Gabamda, 24, said: "I went to my flat yesterday [Wednesday] afternoon after the explosion and found out that a lot of my things were either destroyed or stolen. "If I leave the hotel, where would I go to with my two children?" Cars, residential and commercial... |
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29
Jan 2010 |
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Cellular network operators have made a commitment to reduce their interconnection fees over a three-year period starting from March 1, but no immediate benefit will be transferred to consumers through lower rates. The cellular operators agreed with the government last year to cut the fee to 89c a minute from March. This will save fixed-line operator Telkom R1 billion in annual costs while Vodacom, Cell C and MTN will together lose R1bn revenue. The slashing of fees came amid fierce criticism of major... |
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28
Jan 2010 |
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An underground gas leak was responsible for yesterday's explosion that damaged a Telkom exchange in Yeoville as well as adjacent buildings. It was earlier believed that a municipal transformer had exploded. One man was in hospital, phone lines were down, pavements were cracked, windows were smashed and damage was still being calculated following the massive blast yesterday morning. Just after 8am, an explosion occurred on the ground floor of the grey three-storey building in Hunter Street. Two people were... |
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28
Jan 2010 |
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Cell C is to deploy what will be SA's fastest cellular network to date. The third mobile operator has appointed Chinese telecommunications equipment provider ZTE to roll-out HSPA+. The deal is worth about R2.9 billion and forms part of Cell C's R5 billion plan to establish a 4G network across SA this year. CEO Lars Reichelt claims Cell C is now leading the industry and will be the first mobile operator in SA to deploy HSPA+ technologies. The new network will have technologies that incorporate download... |
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