The use of a device to jam cellular phone signals, privately or publicly, is illegal in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) said on Wednesday. “No organisation is allowed to jam cellular signal, and any device which is used to jam signal is illegal,” Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka

E-readers have been a bit of niche product in the South African market and, until recently, usually made their way into the country by special order from online retailers or in jet-setting friends’ suitcases. Canada’s Kobo wants to change that, and its first foray into the market, the Kobo Touch

Cell C is launching two new promotional data packages that offer customers Internet access at less than R9/GB of data, the mobile operator said on Wednesday. It is launching a prepaid product called Giga 200, which offers 50GB of data for use between 6am and midnight and 150GB

After a period of “consolidation” at its local office, Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC is promising a renewed assault on the South African market by increasing its profile in the country and introducing new Windows Phone 8 and Android 4.1 smartphones. “We’ve had a period

Canadian e-reader manufacturer Kobo has launched its first product in South Africa, predicting it will challenge Amazon.com’s Kindle for dominance in SA by taking more than 50% of the market within the next 12 months. Kobo has launched its first e-reader device in

Summit Partners announced on Tuesday that is investing €20m (R224m) in the German parent company of online fashion retailer Zando. Much of the cash will reportedly flow to the South African arm of the company. Last month, the European company secured an investment from JP Morgan

Almost two-thirds (64,8%) of South African households have no access to the Internet. Of the 35,2% that do have Internet access, 46,3% get online using a mobile phone. Only 8,6% of South African households have access to the Internet at home. Statistics SA released the information as part

More South African households own televisions than they do refrigerators, according to 2011 census, released on Tuesday. Of the 14,5m homes around the country, almost 10,7m have a TV, while 9,9m have a fridge. According to the document, more than 12,8m households have

Absa has lost another of its top executives. Its managing executive for digital channels, Christo Vrey, has resigned and his deputy, Adrian Vermooten, will fill the vacant position. Vrey left Absa at the end of September. Vrey, who has been with Absa

SA’s largest retail bank, Absa, will release its banking application to its staff next month and to consumers in the first quarter of next year, a spokesman for the company says. The app will be available first to users of Apple iOS and Google Android phones, with other platforms to follow later