Neotel wants to work with small wireless Internet service providers as it struggles to roll out connectivity to rural and underserved parts of the country. Mike Silber, policy and special projects specialist at Neotel, says as one of the few telecommunications network licensees with community service obligations the company is mandated to deploy network connectivity to rural schools and clinics.
Ousted communications director-general Mamodupi Mohlala says the way communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda fired her was akin to a “public execution”. Mohlala tells TechCentral that she had questioned the minister on several issues related to the running of the department. “But I never expected it to come to a head like this.”
SA’s telecommunications industry regulator needs to rethink the way it divvies out the radio frequency spectrum that can be used to provide the next generation of wireless broadband services. The spectrum in question, particularly the 190MHz available in the 2,6GHz band, should be split into three separate parts — two bands catering to so-called frequency-division duplex technology (FDD) and a third band catering to time-division duplex (FDD) systems.
“The situation has deteriorated to an extent that I am not able to make untainted deductions on your actions and responses. The breakdown of our relationship has left the department in a stalemate.” This is one of the accusations levelled at former communications department director-general Mamodupi Mohlala by communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda in his letter of dismissal to her, dated 23 July.
When it comes to the latest handsets, consumers want to know more about the software they’re buying than the hardware specifications of the phone itself. This is driving big competitive changes in the smartphone market and reshaping an industry. A few years ago, buying a cellphone was a relatively trivial exercise.
Telkom nonexecutive chairman Jeff Molobela, under fire for allegedly overstepping his mandate and interfering in the day-to-day operations of the group, has hit back at his critics, saying he’s been unfairly maligned. Molobela used a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday to slam “innuendo from a number of quarters” and refute claims that he “recklessly ignored corporate governance”.
Outgoing Telkom chief financial officer Peter Nelson has sold nearly R1,8m worth of the group’s shares in the open market just days after he announced he would be stepping down from the telecommunications group. Telkom informed the market late on Tuesday that Nelson sold 53 421 ordinary shares last Friday, 23 July, a week after he surprised shareholders by announcing he would step down.
Super 5 Media, once one of SA’s most promising new pay-TV operators, is coming apart at the seams. TechCentral can reveal exclusively that management has gone to ground amid signs the company, once regarded as the strongest potential competitor to incumbent MultiChoice and its DStv service, is collapsing.
Trading on the cash equities market at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was still halted by early Tuesday afternoon following a technical problem. It’s the second time in a month that technical problems have prevented trading on the local bourse. A similar closure on 12 July was attributed to an international connection problem between the stock exchange and MTN.
Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda needs to appear before parliament’s communications portfolio committee to explain his reasons for dismissing his director general Mamodupi Mohlala, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. “It is deeply concerning that the minister seems to have taken this action on his own accord amid allegations that he is trying to centralise the control of departmental tenders in his own authority, apparently without due consultation in cabinet or with the president,” DA chief whip Ian Davidson said.