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28
Sept 2011 |
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Broadband, whether fixed or mobile, should be billed on a per-usage basis or via reasonably priced bundles, but under no circumstances should be uncapped, says Altech Technology Concepts CEO Wayne de Nobrega. "The idea of uncapped is great, but when the service is offered, it is chased by abusers," says De Nobrega. "People don't look at it as allowing them to behave as they normally would without fear of running out of data. They want to see how much they can get." Technology Concepts is a subsidiary of... |
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28
Sept 2011 |
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Telkom's mobile arm, 8ta, will launch parental control in the first quarter of 2012. "8ta believes children should be protected from harmful content that can be easily retrieved from their mobile handsets, and parents should be equipped with the necessary tools to protect their children." The operator adds that it is reviewing several options that are at the forefront of technology with regards to parental control. It plans to introduce a comprehensive solution soon. Some local operator... |
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26
Sept 2011 |
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From 1 October until the end of January, MTN customers subscribed to its uncapped data packages will not be subject to speed restrictions when they exceed "fair-use" limits, the cellular network operator has confirmed. MTN first introduced its "Uncapped Lite" and "Uncapped Pro" contracts in 2010, priced at R749/month and R1 999/month respectively. It reduced the prices in July, with uncapped Lite now costing R299/month and Pro R899/month. Both packages have been subject to throttling once a certain amount... |
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26
Sept 2011 |
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Telkom is permanently increasing all data caps for Telkom Internet All Access products. The announcement follows a three-month free blended data promotion that was launched in July, increasing the monthly data cap on the 1GB package to 5GB, the 5GB package to 10GB and the 9GB package to 20GB. "This promotion was well received by customers who enjoyed free additional data usage for three consecutive months," says Telkom. It adds that with the promotion drawing to a close at the end of this month, it will ... |
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23
Sept 2011 |
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Ten MTN former and current employees accused of involvement in a massive airtime scam that may have cost the company as much as R200m have been arrested during a series of raids by police and Joburg metro police officers. Fellow workers watched aghast as some of the suspects were arrested as they arrived at work at MTNs head office in Fairlands in Johannesburg, yesterday. Eight men and two women were arrested between 11pm on Wednesday night and 4am yesterday as they arrived at work, according to Wayne... |
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22
Sept 2011 |
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Ten MTN staff members were arrested in Fairland, north-western Johannesburg, on Thursday morning for fraud involving an amount of R200m, metro police said. Spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said the eight men and two women were arrested when they arrived for work at the sprawling MTN head office complex on Thursday morning. Metro officers were among the contingent of law enforcers who made the arrests. Minaar said the arrests were made after police received a tip-off. More than 560 SIM cards were recovered. The... |
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21
Sept 2011 |
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Telkom, South Africa's biggest landline services provider which has spoken out strongly against the rampant theft of cables in the country, has outlined plans to counter the scourge. The company said it had devised a number of plans as the prevalence of the crime was affecting service delivery and impacting negatively on the growth of Africa's biggest economy. "In our efforts to counter the scourge of copper cable theft, Telkom has adopted various interventions which include, but are not limited to,... |
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14
Sept 2011 |
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Chief executive of mobile operator Vodacom, Pieter Uys on Wednesday moved to clarify the group's position on BlackBerry, after it dropped a bombshell on Monday that it intended to curb connection speeds of those customers who were "abusing" the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS). Uys said: "I'm very concerned that the steps we were planning to put in place were interpreted as punishing normal users. This is not at all our intention and no changes have been implemented to slow down any customers' BlackBerry... |
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12
Sept 2011 |
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At its annual results presentation earlier this year, the mobile operator announced that it would be spending more than R6 billion enhancing its network in South Africa. The company also committed to a longer term target of doubling the number of 3G base stations on the network. Chief technology officer Andries Delport said: "Increasing network capacity and signal coverage has been a major focus and since the beginning of the year, we've added over 250 new 3G base stations. Additional capacity has also... |
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12
Sept 2011 |
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Vodacom is implementing a capping system on its BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) for users exceeding 100MB of usage per month. BIS users who exceed the 100MB threshold per month will have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G. Vodacom says BlackBerry Enterprise users will not be affected. According to the operator, this is only one of the measures being put in place "aimed at improving the user experience". Vodacom says that according to its own research into usage patterns, 95 percent of BlackBerry... |
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12
Sept 2011 |
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Trade union Solidarity has accepted Telkom's offer of a seven percent pay rise this year, the union said on Monday. "The agreement is currently being finalised and will soon be signed by all parties," said spokesman Marius Croucamp. He said the final offer was an increase of seven percent for 2011 and 6.5 percent for 2012, as part of a two-year agreement. The original offer was a 4.5 percent increase. "A strike in the industry could have been catastrophic, since even the service delivery of ATMs is... |
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12
Sept 2011 |
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Vodacom has defended its decision to throttle the download speeds of BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) users who download more than 100MB/month, saying some users were exceeding 100GB of data in a 30-day period using BlackBerry smartphones. The company says it will move customers who use more than 100MB/month from its higher-speed 3G network to a far slower 2G service, but emphasises consumers will not be bandwidth capped. It found that "more than 95 percent of BlackBerry data usage was attributable to... |
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9
Sept 2011 |
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Cell C has deployed its HSPA+ network in Welkom, Kroonstad and Koppies, extending its coverage in the Free State. The latest expansion of the network now puts Cell C's national coverage at 63 percent of the South African population. Mothibi Ramusi, Cell C head of regulatory affairs, says the company sees the expansion of the network as an economic enabler for millions of South Africans. "We call upon the Free State community to engage with us and together develop sustainable enterprise initiatives towards... |
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7
Sept 2011 |
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Vodacom has launched a new security feature that will help protect its customers from cellphone fraud by automatically locking their SIM card if irregular call activity is detected. Vodacom has launched a new security feature that will help protect its customers from cellphone fraud (image: file) Vodacom has been experiencing an increase in the number of fraud incidences that were due to International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF). In this type of fraud, a syndicate steals handsets or SIM cards from victims ... |
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6
Sept 2011 |
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LLU is described as the process where the incumbent operator made its local network, the copper cables that run from customers premises to the telephone exchange, available to other companies. The Department of Communications said that unbundling was aimed at increasing innovation, increasing the quantity and quality of services, reducing the prices paid by customers and increasing the number of available business opportunities. Addressing a panel discussion at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Network... |
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