The department of communications’ colloquium to discuss a review of policies governing SA’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector saw controversy on Friday after a commission set up to discuss telecommunications at the two-day event appeared to have failed to delve meaningfully into the issues it was
The first industrial revolution began in Britain in the late 18th century, with the mechanisation of the textile industry. Tasks previously done laboriously by hand in hundreds of weavers’ cottages were brought together in a single cotton mill, and the factory was born. The second industrial revolution came in the early 20th century, when
Communications minister Dina Pule hopes government will have a draft policy direction on spectrum ready sometime next month. She says her department has not rushed the process because “whatever process we undertake must benefit all South Africans”. “We don’t want to rush things.” Telecommunications operators
Conduct Telecommunications, a “last-mile” fibre-optic telecommunications operator owned by the Birchman Group, plans to extend its high-speed access network to more suburbs in Johannesburg in the next few months, including to Rosebank, Chislehurston and Rivonia. The company, which has raised funding from the Industrial Development Corp
The release last week of Research ICT Africa’s report on mobile phone pricing in Africa has provoked a little controversy. The facts are quite damning. SA has some of the highest mobile costs on the continent. This is odd given the country’s comparative wealth and infrastructural advantages. By rights, SA ought to have the cheapest phone
The tough times continue for Finnish phone giant Nokia, which has struggled to keep up with Apple and Android in the smartphone era. On Thursday, the company announced its results for the first quarter of 2012. Net sales fell sharply year over year, from US$13,6bn to $9,7bn. The company took a $1,7bn loss on those sales, and Colin
New Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig has told the department of communications’ policy colloquium in Midrand, which is taking place on Thursday and Friday this week, that the cost of accessing the Internet in SA needs to be cut in half. He lamented the telecommunications industry’s “failure” to offer the
Communications minister Dina Pule has called for a complete overhaul of government policies governing the country’s broad information and communications (ICT) sector, with new legislation to be gazetted before the end of next year. Pule was speaking at the department of communications’ ICT Colloquium in Midrand on Thursday
After years of rigorous debate, the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) has finally issued the final draft minimum standard for the set-top box decoders that will be used to receive digital terrestrial television signals in SA. The draft spec outlines a basic receiver that does not include a return path for interactivity. The draft spec, which was published
On Monday, Moody’s, the ratings agency, downgraded Nokia’s debt to near junk status. The share price has been in freefall in the past year, with some analysts painting a bleak future for the Finnish company. Yes, it’s bad. But Nokia is already planting the seeds of its turnaround. There’s no doubt that fortunes are made and lost
