The Mobile TV Consortium has been granted a licence to test the Korean standard for mobile television, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), in SA. The consortium, controlled by businessman Richard Moloko’s Moloko Investment Group and backed by high-profile shareholders including former Telkom chairman Shirley Lue Arnold, says it expects to have a service ready for pilot in about a month.
Investment in information technology will be a key focus area for US retailing giant Wal-Mart if it proceeds with its nonbinding offer to buy SA retail group Massmart in a R30bn deal. Massmart, which owns Makro and other discount stores, told shareholders on Monday morning that Wal-Mart Stores had made a preliminary, nonbinding proposal, which could lead to the world’s largest retailer acquiring the JSE-listed group for R148/share.
Sony has fired an important salvo in the motion controller moves with the September launch of the PlayStation Move controller for the PlayStation 3. This control scheme is Sony’s bid to capture some of the casual gaming market that Nintendo currently dominates and that Microsoft will also target with its Kinect motion-sensing camera.
Police and governments around the world need to collaborate more closely to develop the security legislation and training needed to combat a growing tide of cybercrime. That’s according to Microsoft’s global chief security advisor, Roger Halbheer.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has apologised for its statement criticising the functionality of SA’s satellite SumbandilaSAt. Last week, the DA’s shadow minister for science and technology, Marian Shinn, lambasted the department of science & technology for its proposed investment in SumbandilaSat’s builder, Sunspace, which was approved by cabinet earlier this year.
Falling mobile termination rates and slow recovery of the economy are dampening the growth of SA’s telecommunications market. That’s according to a new report from BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T). The report forecasts that the industry will grow only 5% over the next five years, with most of that growth coming from data services.
Arc Telecom, a start-up company established by former iBurst Business staff, is taking aim at the small and medium-sized business market with its converged telecom services. The company will offer its services from Thursday.
A judge in the North Gauteng High Court has overturned an interdict preventing Vodacom from disconnecting the customer lines it supplies to Gogga Tracking Solutions. In his ruling, Judge Neil Tuchten cites a number of irregularities in documents Gogga presented to the court and awards all legal costs to Vodacom. He criticises both Gogga and its legal counsel for their conduct during the case.
The sale of SA’s Dimension Data to Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) has received approval from the Competition Commission. The Commission has referred the deal to the Competition Tribunal and has recommended the deal go through without conditions.
Datatec subsidiary Logicalis has acquired Singapore-based unified communications business Touchbase for an undisclosed amount. JSE- and London-listed Datatec says Touchbase has annual revenues of around US$8m. Touchbase will be integrated into Logicalis’s Singapore operation.
