Author: Duncan McLeod

Third mobile operator Cell C intends investing R2,3bn in growing its national network in 2014, to address capacity problems and to cater for a fast expanding subscriber base. The operator said on Tuesday that it had 16,6m subscribers at the end of April, a sharp

Cell C grew its subscriber base in 2013 by 35%, ending the year with 13,6m customers, the mobile operator said at a media conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The unlisted company, which isn’t required to disclose its financial numbers, revealed more

Cell C has upped the ante in South Africa’s mobile price war. The mobile operator has slashed prepaid call rates to 66c/minute, from 99c/minute previously. The new 66c tariff excludes its Supacharge recharge benefits, which will continue to be available

The “last mile” fixed-line infrastructure into people homes in South Africa is “awful” and is holding back competition in South Africa’s television broadcasting industry by preventing Internet protocol television and video-on-demand players from launching services

Forget Vodacom’s R899 Smart 4 mini, launched last week. Forget, too, MTN’s entry-level, R499 Steppa smartphone, which the mobile provider launched earlier this year. British semiconductor firm ARM Holdings is predicting the cost of smartphones will drop to just

Two weeks ago, Icasa provisionally awarded licences to five new subscription television broadcasters. It hopes the move will help crack open what has become a highly concentrated market that is now thoroughly dominated by one operator, MultiChoice. The communications regulator will be hoping that it is more successful in this

Telkom has pulled the plug on an invitation for interested bidders to apply to partner the fixed-line telecommunications operator in providing video-on-demand (VOD) services to its customers. It now tells TechCentral that it intends reissuing the tender. The new tender “will be based

Duncan McLeod and Regardt van der Berg are your hosts for this week’s episode of TalkCentral. In the show, they chat about South Africa’s first “social” election. Also in the podcast this week, your hosts discuss the resignation of Alan Knott-Craig as CEO of Cell C and chat about the prospects for the company. And Apple’s apparently

Altron has effectively increased its shareholding in subsidiary Bytes through a R669,2m cash deal in terms of which Bytes South Africa has acquired 27% of its equity held by two empowerment partners. The JSE-listed technology holding company controlled the Venter family said on Friday that it had acquired the shares from Kagiso Strategic

Alan Knott-Craig has stepped down as CEO of Cell C following the stroke he suffered in November last year. Jose Dos Santos, who had been running the company in an acting capacity in Knott-Craig’s absence, will take the reins at the company on a permanent basis with immediate effect. Knott-Craig is not lost to Cell C, however. In a