The West African Cable System (Wacs), the latest submarine cable to land on African shores, has arrived, offering SA operators 500Gbit/s of capacity at launch. The system, which has a design capacity of 5,1Tbit/s, makes use of both 10Gbit/s and 40Gbit/s technology on different segments and will
Telkom’s mobile arm, 8ta, hit the ground running in the months after its launch in 2010, offering compelling products and spending a small fortune plastering its brand across billboards and newspapers. But industry insiders say the mobile operator hasn’t managed to capitalise on its early
Alan Knott-Craig has played his first card since being appointed as CEO of Cell C on 1 April. The operator has released a new least-cost routing (LCR) product, called LCRAnyNet, that Knott-Craig says will “reduce the cost of telecommunications for business and will bring down the barrier for small
Mobile operator MTN saw subscriber numbers in SA grow by 3,2% in the quarter ended 31 March 2012, although there was a decline in average revenue per user (Arpu) in both the prepaid and postpaid markets. The group as a whole reported subscriber growth of 3,7% for the quarter. The group recorded
Nigeria’s telecommmunications authorities Thursday threatened to impose sanctions on an affiliate of SA’s giant mobile phone service provider, MTN, over alleged poor service to subscribers. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued the warning to MTN Nigeria Communication in a
MTN’s share price is likely to remain wobbly as jittery foreign investors face massive pressure from US authorities and lobby groups to quit their exposure in Africa’s R255bn cellphone giant because of its business activities in Iran. The company is in danger of being smacked with US sanctions for allegedly providing the Iranian government
New twists have emerged in the US$4,2bn lawsuit filed by MTN’s cellphone rival, Turkcell, in a US court. Chris Kilowan, the disgruntled former MTN director in Iran who, according to sources, approached Turkcell with MTN memos that formed part of the court filings but have yet to be verified, could find that his actions backfire on him.
MTN, the R255bn Johannesburg-listed cellphone giant, is in danger of being whacked with sanctions by the US for its telecommunication activities in Iran and Syria. US President Barack Obama issued an executive order this week that allows American authorities for the first time to impose sanctions on individuals or entities found to have
Communications minister Dina Pule hopes government will have a draft policy direction on spectrum ready sometime next month. She says her department has not rushed the process because “whatever process we undertake must benefit all South Africans”. “We don’t want to rush things.” Telecommunications operators
The release last week of Research ICT Africa’s report on mobile phone pricing in Africa has provoked a little controversy. The facts are quite damning. SA has some of the highest mobile costs on the continent. This is odd given the country’s comparative wealth and infrastructural advantages. By rights, SA ought to have the cheapest phone
