There’s been plenty of talk about the need for greater mobile data coverage in rural areas but it’s easy to become blasé about it when you’re ensconced in a coverage-rich metropolis for 350 days of the year. Hit the road and the plight of those who live with abysmal or nonexistent data coverage becomes clear
It is a perversion of SA’s broadband sector that wireless players punch above their weight. More than 21m South Africans use a wireless connection to access the Internet — with a tablet, smartphone or dongle — whereas fewer than 800 000 subscribe to an ADSL broadband connection. This is according to the Organisation for Economic
It has been a lively year for technology, despite the bad state of the world’s economy. Technology is now so intrinsic to both business and personal life that it might appear recession-proof. But this high-level view masks the Darwinian ferocity of the battles raging between the tech titans. The year 2011 will be remembered as
A reading of a detailed draft plan by the telecommunications regulator to license radio frequency spectrum for next-generation wireless broadband networks shows it wants to entice new entrants, maximise competition and encourage infrastructure sharing. It could change SA’s telecoms
After a series of false starts, humbly acknowledged, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) yesterday came out with a new proposal to allocate the sought-after spectrum in the 2,6GHz band and, rather progressively, spectrum in the 800MHz band, too. Previous
Next year will be a decisive one for Microsoft as it readies new products to fend off challengers in the consumer technology market. Its upcoming touch and tablet-friendly operating system, Windows 8, will be an important part of its plan to win back the hearts and minds of
Gaming is the biggest entertainment industry in the world, bigger than even Hollywood. It’s the biggest in SA, too. It seems if you want to make money in entertainment, you’d be better off learning to code than trying your luck on Idols. Though sales of CDs, cinema tickets and DVDs have declined
The telecommunications regulator came under attack last week after it published a long-awaited framework on local-loop unbundling. It was accused of, among other things, failing in its mandate. But the truth is it has limited room to move. The Internet Service
Earlier this year, Cell C lost a battle with its larger rivals, Vodacom and MTN, over its use of the term “4Gs” in its advertising campaigns. MTN and Vodacom argued to the final appeal committee of the Advertising Standards Authority, which found in their favour, that ordinary consumers
We’ve all heard the saying “local is lekker” and seen campaigns by local manufacturers urging us to support SA brands. However, the “China effect” is being felt the world over, our own country included, as businesses and retailers increasingly look towards the Far East to
