Icasa is set to crack open South Africa’s free-to-air television industry to more competition. As South Africa moves to digital broadcasting, the communications regulator is planning to license a third terrestrial player to compete head-on with the SABC and e.tv. If it goes ahead, which
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Think BitTorrent and most people think piracy – an easy way to get music, movies and software on the Internet using the peer-to-peer protocol, which was founded in 2004 by San Francisco’s BitTorrent Inc. But BitTorrent is a hugely useful
At TechCentral, we get called on average at least once a week – sometimes far more often – by a friendly sounding Indian national warning us that our Windows computer is infected with a virus. The call, which originates from a call
For more than a century, science-fiction writers have been dreaming of robots intelligent and adaptable enough to pass as human. And the mechanical creatures that inhabit books and movies may finally become reality — and within our lifetimes. This isn’t a result of a single massive
Expect high drama in South Africa’s mobile industry in coming weeks as Icasa readies new regulations governing call termination rates. What the communications regulator decides will have a big impact not only on the financial health of the
A new Internet service in the remote north of Uganda and the roll-out of 4G in Ghana — neither involved a traditional mobile operator but both have set the new pattern for Africa’s new broadband deployments. In Uganda, Zoom Wireless was set up by long-time Kenyan Internet
The Internet is full of get-rich-quick schemes. Just like the secrets to magical weight loss, these schemes are exactly what they appear to be – too good to be true. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for ordinary people to make money via the Internet. Two local start-ups are betting they can
As the debate over network neutrality rages in the US, South African Internet service providers, through their industry association, have urged communications regulator Icasa to steer clear of crafting regulations dealing with the contentious issue — at least for now. But what’s
South Africa’s stately progress towards implementing fibre to the home (FTTH) has taken a turn for the better after two residents’ associations took matters into their own hands. One, Parkhurst in Johannesburg, has appointed a supplier and the other, nearby Parkview, is asking for quotes on delivering home fibre. The big gorillas in South Africa’s
Smartphones as we know them today really started emerging about 10 years ago. My first experience with one was with the groundbreaking HTC Wallaby in 2002. The Microsoft Windows Mobile-powered Wallaby was primitive next to today’s smartphones — the interface was difficult to navigate without a stylus and there was no app store – but it offered an