All the latest technology news from South Africa and around the world.
Eskom called for cost-related tariff increases on Tuesday, citing Sanral’s woes as proof that the consumer-pay principle needs to apply to safeguard the credit ratings of parastatals. Finance director Paul O’Flaherty told MPs the utility needed tariffs to reach a cost-reflective level of 90c per kilowatt-hour in real terms
Vodacom was forced to abandon the branding of its new “Freedom 99” prepaid tariffs on Friday night after the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) sent it a letter of objection in which it warned that it would seek a court interdict if the operator pressed ahead with its plans. It was also forced to replace
Thanks to cost-containment measures, solid demand for data and strong growth in its international businesses, Vodacom has lifted its headline earnings per share in the 2012 financial year by 8,1% to R7,09 on revenue that rose by 9,4% to R66,9bn. A 24% increase in free cash flow allowed the telecommunications group
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is planning to dilute its shareholding in mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile SA by selling a portion of its shares to Dubai-based telecommunications company, the Friendi Group. At the same time, Virgin Mobile
Vodacom is in breach of Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) regulations for not filing its new 99c/minute prepaid tariff plan with the regulator before announcing the new rates on Wednesday. That’s the view of Icasa, whose spokesman, Paseka Maleka
Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig suggested this week that mobile termination rates (MTRs) — the fees mobile operators charge other players to carry calls onto their networks — should be reduced further after they are cut to 40c/minute in March next year. Knott-Craig told
The Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality has lifted its nearly two-month-long moratorium on the installation of new fibre-optic telecommunications infrastructure in the vast East Rand region of Gauteng. Industry body, the FTTH Council Africa, which had threatened
It is expected that smart ID cards will be in use by the next general elections, the home affairs department said on Thursday. Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in Pretoria that by 2014 some South Africans would be using the smart cards instead of the green
Alan Knott-Craig, installed as Cell C’s new CEO on 1 April, is wasting no time in taking the fight to the operator’s bigger rivals, MTN and Vodacom. Just days after cutting the cost of broadband as part of new promotional offers, Cell C has now slashed the cost of
Cell C and Vodacom both slashed their prepaid rates on Wednesday, but MTN appears unwilling to be drawn into the unfolding price war, saying its rates are already the most affordable in the market, even compared to latest cuts from its competitors. Vodacom is offering
