Vodacom has hired a top expert in electronic payments and financial services to head its mobile commerce division. The telecommunications operator has appointed Herman Singh, formerly head of Standard Bank’s innovation arm, Beyond Payments, as its managing executive for mobile commerce. Singh
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) remains one councillor short after Rubben Mohlaloga, the person named for the position by communications minister Dina Pule, was charged with fraud late last year. Nevetheless, Icasa says it is able to function effectively
Zimbabwean-born Democratic Alliance MP and shadow communications minister Marian Shinn is no career politician, having joined parliament only after the last general election in 2009. For most of her life, she was involved in journalism and, later, public relations. Shinn, 62, grew up in
Samsung’s new top-end smartphone, the Android-powered Galaxy S4, has set the benchmark that other manufacturers, especially Asian rivals such as Sony, HTC and Huawei, are going to have to beat in 2013. The S4, launched at a no-expense-spared event in New York two weeks ago, packs the sort of technology into its
Samsung’s Ativ Smart PC is positioned as an option for those who want the functionality of a laptop and a tablet in a single device. Powered by Windows 8, this is a tablet computer that comes with a keyboard dock bundled. Despite being punted as all-in-one devices, most laptop-tablet
Vodacom is taking direct aim at its biggest rival, MTN, announcing a new prepaid tariff plan, Anytime Per Second, on Tuesday that competes head-on with MTN’s One Rate plan. MTN recently cut the price of its One Rate calling plan from R1,75/minute
The crippling effect of an illegal strike by postal workers is easing, the Post Office said on Tuesday, adding that it expects to clear the remainder of the backlog in undelivered mail “within a few working days”. The Post Office says the strike at its two main mail-sorting centres
A family trust controlled by Pinnacle Technology Holdings CEO Arnold Fourie has sold R33m worth of the company’s shares. Pinnacle announced on Tuesday that the Carmen Fourie Family Trust had offloaded 1,5m shares at a price of R22/share. At the end of the
The Nigerian Communications Commission has cut interconnection rates, the fees operators charge one another to carry calls between their networks, in an effort to reduce the cost of voice calls for consumers. The commission has announced new rates for incumbents, smaller players and newcomers that will decline
Seacom has restored services for most of its customers across Southern Africa and East Africa, it said on Tuesday. This comes four days after several cable systems, including Seacom’s, were cut in the Mediterranean Sea. The company, whose cable system runs from
