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The Seacom submarine fibre-optic cable system should be back online by late next week after a repair ship arrived at the site of the fault in the Indian Ocean. “The designated ship has been deployed to the location of the fault where it will proceed to locate the cable on the seabed,” a Seacom spokesman says.

Senior managers at Telkom must be brought to book for alleged corruption and fraud at the parastatal, the Communication Workers Union said on Friday. This included managers who were resigning, said union spokesman Matankana Mothapo, who questioned the timing of the resignations.

The Communication Workers Union is “horror-struck by infightings” in the communications department led by minister Siphiwe Nyanda. “We have observed that there is a battle of power that is hampering progress between the director-general Mamodupi Mohlala and the minister of communications,” the union said in a statement on Friday.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) on Friday extended the time for written submissions on the draft numbering plan regulations to 26 July. The communications sector regulator said it had reviewed requests for an extension and decided to change the initial 19 July deadline.

Dimension Data’s telecommunications division Internet Solutions (IS) may make use of some of the innovative technology coming out of Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT) as it steps up the roll-out of its own telecommunications network infrastructure. That’s the word from Didata chairman Jeremy Ord, who was speaking to TechCentral a day after the London- and Johannesburg-listed group announced it was being acquired by NTT in an all-cash deal worth R24,4bn.

The Democratic Alliance will refer communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda to the Public Protector. It wants the government watchdog to investigate tenders that Nyanda may be involved in. The DA’s shadow minister for communications, Niekie van den Berg, says the DA will decide later on Friday when it will approach the Public Protector.

Cellular network operator Cell C is about to announce the sale of its 50% stake in Virgin Mobile SA, TechCentral has learnt exclusively from a well-placed industry source. The deal must, however, still be referred to the Competition Commission for approval.

MB Technologies co-founder Leo Baxter has sold his 45% stake in the IT distribution business to Investec Bank for an undisclosed sum. The company says Baxter has decided to focus all his efforts on his medical recovery following a polo accident in 2007 which left him paralysed. The treatment has produced encouraging results and Baxter has regained some movement.

Telkom will pay US$80m (R604m) to settle its nine-year long legal wrangle with Telcordia Technologies. In 1999, Telcordia signed a contract with Telkom to supply a customer-care solution to SA’s fixed-line business. Telkom terminated the contract two years later, saying the US-based business was in breach of contract by not providing the product to the agreed specifications.

Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda has dismissed allegations in a newspaper report that he may suspend department director-general Mamodupi Mohlala as “false, spurious and malicious”. Nyanda’s spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso says in a statement that the minister “exercises political oversight over the department and gives it policy direction in line with his statutory and constitutional mandate”.