All the latest technology news from South Africa and around the world.
Vodacom has quietly cut its prepaid call rate to 79c/minute on per-second billing, just weeks after MTN did the same. However, the new Vodacom rate is promotional, and expires on 14 July. If Vodacom makes the new 79c rate permanent – by filing the tariff with communications regulator
Independent mobile infrastructure provider IHS has completed its acquisition of more than 1 200 network towers from MTN. It has bought all of the mobile group’s towers in Zambia and Rwanda. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. IHS subsidiaries in Zambia and Rwanda acquired ownership and
Pinnacle Holdings has confirmed weekend newspaper reports that it is being investigated by the Financial Services Board (FSB) because of a possible contravention of the Financial Markets Act related to share trading that took place in March 2014. The FSB is probing possible insider trading, Pinnacle said in a statement to
The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday claimed the SABC has refused to televise its second election advertisement. “The DA has just learnt that the SABC will not allow our second Ayisafani television advert to air in this crucial final week of the campaign,” the party said in a statement. “This is political censorship, plain
The Democratic Alliance will seek an urgent high court interdict if the SABC does not flight its second television advertisement, party leader Helen Zille said on Wednesday. The advert was supposed to be aired on Wednesday morning, but was not. “The next slot for the advert is tonight at 9pm on SABC2
As South Africa inches slowly towards migrating from analogue to digital terrestrial television, communications regulator Icasa has provisionally granted licences to five new pay-TV operators following an exhaustive hearings process that took place in 2013. The companies and consortia that have bid for the licences
A fortnight after rival MTN announced it was cutting its prepaid rates to 79c/minute, Cell C has introduced four new prepaid vouchers – on a promotional basis – to its product line-up. To be launched on 1 May and available until 31 July, the new Supacharge vouchers give consumers “free” rand value and flexibility
Eskom on Sunday defended its proposed upgrades to Megawatt Park, its head office in Johannesburg, as a necessity despite the utility being under financial constraints. “This are essential, they aren’t lavish upgrades,” spokesman Andrew Etzinger said. He said the upgrades were necessary for the health and safety of staff, data
A solar-powered lamp, which doubles as a cellphone charger and as a fully fledged Wi-Fi hotspot, could soon bring safe lighting to poor users in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. The next model, also due for release soon, will offer wireless broadband. The “solar jar” project is the
The Democratic Alliance has launched DemocraCITY, a strategy game on social media platform Mxit, which it describes as a hybrid between SimCity and Tamagotchi, in an effort to convince voters to make their mark for the party in the upcoming general election. In a statement, the DA says each game runs for 72 hours, with players being
