Convergence Partners, the technology investment vehicle controlled by Dimension Data Africa chairman Andile Ngcaba, wants to work with partners to build a multibillion-rand national wholesale mobile broadband network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology. TechCentral has learnt exclusively that Convergence Partners

What a news week! In the latest edition of TechCentral’s TalkCentral podcast, your hosts Duncan McLeod and Craig Wilson unpack the news that Convergence Partners, the technology investment vehicle of Dimension Data Africa chairman Andile Ngcaba, wants to work with partners to build a wholesale, open-access

MultiChoice flexed its legal muscle this week to keep the National Consumer ­Commission at bay, using a technicality in an attempt to squash the commission’s case against it. The pay-TV broadcaster was before the Consumer Tribunal this week because the commission believes that its subscriber contract violates the

Cellular operator MTN has warned that the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) draft proposals for licensing of spectrum in high-demand spectrum bands have the “high risk” of leading to “regulatory failure”. Efficient licensing of spectrum in the two bands in question

Described by its founder, Gerhard van der Westhuizen, as a “social publishing network”, Pretoria-based Internet start-up Snaglur has managed more than 50 000 sign-ups and generates about 15 000 unique visits a day just two months since launch. Similar to US social platforms Tumblr and Posterous

The Intelsat New Dawn satellite, partly funded by SA’s Convergence Partners, has had a troubled birth. Launched on Good Friday last year, the satellite ran into serious problems when its “west antenna reflector” failed to deploy. Engineers have been unable to correct the problem. A number of attempts were

“Ideas are like rabbits,” said John Steinbeck. “You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” The same could be said of ideas fora, whose population expanded again in February with the birth of Solve For X, an experimental Google-sponsored conference where entrepreneurs

Spain has just reported its first quarter of negative growth in two years, but Barcelona feels like a boom town this week as it plays host to the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecommunications industry’s biggest annual trade fair. The number of smartphones, mobile-broadband connections and app downloads

Telecommunications operator iBurst is in play and a deal could be announced within the next few weeks, according to several well-placed industry sources. TechCentral has not been able to establish which company is courting iBurst, which is owned by Wireless Business Solutions Holdings (WBS), but it’s

Cell C has slammed telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), over its invitation to apply for valuable radio frequency spectrum, accusing the authority of opening itself up to legal challenge and of producing a document “so vague so as to not be capable of proper interpretation”