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All the latest technology news from South Africa and around the world.

The 16% electricity tariff hike every year for the next five years is unavoidable, public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba said on Tuesday. “It [the tariff increase] is not fair, [but] it is necessary,” Gigaba said at a business breakfast in Fourways.

Telkom’s mobile arm, 8ta, has reached an agreement with Google to allow its customers to access the US company’s search service, its Gmail e-mail software and social networking website Google+ for free from mobile devices. The service, called

South Africa needs an independent operator in the electricity sector, the Free Market Foundation (FMF) said on Tuesday. A single grid owner and operator, South Africa’s current model, resulted in a lack of competition, FMF director Eustace Davie told reporters

The South African government must be careful not to crowd out the private sector as it moves to increase the penetration of broadband services in the country. This is the warning from Dimension Data Africa and Convergence Partners chairman Andile Ngcaba, who was

For the first time in Vodacom’s history, the number of SMS and MMS messages sent by the mobile operator’s South African customers has declined, information accompanying its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2012 shows

The number of mobile subscriptions in Africa will cross the 750m mark during the fourth quarter of 2012 and reach 1bn before the end of 2015, according to forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media. Africa has the highest rate of growth in

Vodacom has lifted its interim dividend by 36,5% to R3,55/share on the back of a strong financial performance, particularly in its non-South African operations, in the six months ended 30 September 2012. Outside South Africa, Vodacom’s

Former Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt has taken the top job at Georgia’s largest telecommunications operator, MagtiCom. Reichelt, who left South Africa’s third mobile operator in July 2011, is now based in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. MagtiCom has about 2m

In an effort to curb excessive use of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) on its network, mobile operator MTN SA has changed its policies for the service, angering customers in the process. BIS offers unlimited on-device Web browsing and other data services for a low

An IT contract worth R23m, awarded by the Gauteng finance department, is under investigation by the Hawks, the Sunday Independent reports. The contract was given to Lefatshe Technologies without going through a tender process, apparently