Author: Duncan McLeod

CIVH, the Remgro-controlled holding company that owns both Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, is talking to both local and international investors to raise R6-billion in new funding.

Gianfranco Campetti, a major driving force behind the introduction of South Africa’s new electrical plug and socket standard and a recent guest on TechCentral’s podcast, has passed away.

EOH Holdings subsidiary EOH Mthombo has sold Mars Holdings and its principal business Syntell to a consortium led by current Syntell executive directors for a base price of R211-million.

TechCentral reported on Tuesday that Pick n Pay was set to become the first mobile virtual network operator on MTN’s network. The companies have now published details about the PnP Mobile initiative.

Retail group Pick n Pay will be the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to use MTN South Africa’s newly launched platform to support these types of virtual providers, TechCentral has learnt.

Vodacom South Africa is building a platform to support mobile virtual network operators and expects to launch this soon after the conclusion of the spectrum auction next March.

South African fibre broadband provider MetroFibre Networx has raised R1.5-billion in a new funding round led by infrastructure-focused private equity fund manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers.

Vodacom South Africa enjoyed a 64% year-on-year increase in data consumed by “smart devices”, including smartphones and tablets, driven by the Covid-19 lockdown, parent Vodacom Group said on Monday.

Vodacom Group hiked its interim dividend by 9.2% to R4.15/share (R3.80 previously) on strong headline earnings growth in the first half of its 2021 financial year and a dividend receipt from Kenya’s Safaricom.

MultiChoice Group chief financial officer Tim Jacobs has said in an interview with TechCentral that the pay-television broadcaster will “keep an open mind” to any approach by France’s Canal+.