All the latest technology news from South Africa and around the world.
Former Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys and former First National Bank CEO Michael Jordaan have joined the board of Invenfin, the venture capital division of investment holding company Remgro Limited, as nonexecutive directors. Uys is already Remgro’s investment executive
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
Convergence Partners, the communications technology investment management firm controlled by businessman Andile Ngcaba, has signed a R400m long-term funding deal with Nedbank Capital. The facility will be used by Convergence Partners Investments, the vehicle that
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
Mobile operator Vodacom is giving 1GB of free data to all of its 33m-plus customers in South Africa. The only catch is that if they want it, they have to use it this Sunday, the day it is made available. The mobile operator, which is keen to drive up the number of people using data services on its network – this week launching
Toll tariffs will increase in line with the consumer price index (CPI) on 24 May, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) said on Friday. “Any adjustments to the tariffs are based on the preceding 12 months’ CPI. The average CPI adjustment for Sanral toll tariffs is 5,8%,” it said in a statement. Transport minister Dipuo Peters
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
Vodacom has become the latest operator to debut a low-cost, own-branded smartphone aimed at getting more South Africans connected to the Internet. Following the launch early this year by MTN of the Steppa smartphone, which costs R499 – read TechCentral’s review of it – Vodacom has announced it will also begin selling a
Gijima has moved to fill its crucial sales leadership function, naming IT industry veteran Bill Hoggarth as its new chief sales officer, effective immediately. According to Gijima, Hoggarth has more than 30 years of executive, general management and sales experience in the IT sector. He joins the company, which has had a torrid time
