After years of rigorous debate, the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) has finally issued the final draft minimum standard for the set-top box decoders that will be used to receive digital terrestrial television signals in SA. The draft spec outlines a basic receiver that does not include a return path for interactivity. The draft spec, which was published
Just when telecommunications industry players and analysts thought SA couldn’t possibly get any more undersea broadband infrastructure, news is emerging of a raft of new cable systems that will serve both SA and the region. On Monday, Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA — the so-called Brics countries — announced plans for a new high-capacity
Although some US analysts are predicting that Apple’s share price could push past the US$1 000/share barrier in the next 12 months, making it the first $1 trillion company, I believe the more “boring” technology companies such as Dell, Microsoft and Intel offer a more sensible prospect for investors. The market is valuing Apple’s operating
Next month, the gigantic West African Cable System (Wacs) will come online, bringing around 400Gbit/s of submarine fibre capacity to SA at launch. But what does this increase in capacity mean for SA consumers and Internet service providers? Sean Nourse, executive for connectivity at Internet Solutions, says that although the effects of Wacs
The department of communications’ policy summit next week has generally been welcomed by analysts and industry players, who say the event is long overdue, especially in light of Africa slipping down world connectedness rankings. Communications minister Dina Pule said on Tuesday that the colloquium had been
A lot of people are scratching their heads this week at the news that Facebook is acquiring photo-sharing site Instagram for US$1bn. The allure of retro-styled photo filters is pretty weak justification for a price tag that high. But of course it’s not about the photo filters, it’s about the fact that Instagram engages your
“Ideas so simple,” reads a cartoon on an elevator door, “that they feel like the completion of a thought,” continues its twin. Similar doodles adorn the walls of HTC’s headquarters in Taoyuan, near Taipei, and business cards carried by the smartphone-maker’s staff. John Wang, the chief marketing officer, lays out a set of four: concentric
MTN is facing a storm over claims that it helped the Iranian government to spy on local subscribers and assisted the regime in its brutal crackdown on protesters in 2009 and 2010. In court papers lodged in the US last week, rival mobile operator Turkcell alleged that MTN told its Iranian military-linked partners it
Telkom’s management team failed to follow internal tender procedures and is to blame for a court interdict on Friday that prevents it from continuing with work to improve its access network into homes and businesses. This is the allegation levelled against the operator by networking equipment vendor ZTE Mzanzi, a joint venture between China’s ZTE and local black empowerment
News on Friday that the cost of IP Connect, the product Internet service providers have to buy from Telkom to access the fixed-line operator’s last-mile broadband network, was to fall by 30% from 1 April should lead to lower retail prices as early as this week. However, service providers polled by TechCentral on Monday still want to understand the mechanics
