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Telecoms News

Infobip implements chatbot solution for Africell

By: Schalk Burger Updated 3 hours ago Omnichannel and cloud communications company Infobip has implemented its Answers chatbot solution at mobile network operator Africell. Africell is a fast-growing mobile network operator with a pan-African footprint, providing fast and reliable mobile network coverage and related technology... →

Cell C final recapitalisation in sight as noteholders approve special resolution

By: Natasha Odendaal Updated 3 hours ago The final stages of the overall Cell C recapitalisation transaction are being implemented after lenders of the embattled mobile operator voted in favour of the compromise offer of 20c for every R1 of debt. The overall recapitalisation transaction is expected to proceed to final close late in... →

MTN SA Foundation launches 2022 MTN Women in Digital Business Challenge

By: Natasha Odendaal Updated 4 hours ago The MTN South Africa (SA) Foundation has launched its inaugural 2022 MTN Women in Digital Business Challenge, with a R1-million commitment, to support 10 less established female-owned small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs). The 10 candidates, who are female graduates and/or alumni... →

RocketNet, Zoom Fibre to bring fibre to Boabab project in Saldanha Bay

By: Schalk Burger 4th July 2022 Internet service provider RocketNet has partnered with fibre optic network provider Zoom Fibre to roll out high-speed fibre Internet in Saldanha Bay. The fibre network will serve as the backbone on which the Saldanha Bay municipality will build its smart city infrastructure, says RocketNet CEO... →

MTN Group announces key appointments

By: Natasha Odendaal 1st July 2022 Telecommunications group MTN has appointed new CEOs for its operations in Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda, effective September 1. MTN has also created a new senior MTN Group post: operations executive for Liberia, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau and Congo-Brazzaville effective August 1, reporting to... →

MTN crowd sources generators from small business

By: Natasha Odendaal 30th June 2022 Telecommunications group MTN South Africa (SA) is exploring practical and innovative solutions to the power crisis and seeking out partners with generators as it works to maintain customer connectivity during escalating loadshedding across South Africa. Along with an aggressive rollout of... →

Court ruling pushes out digital migration wrap-up

By: Natasha Odendaal 29th June 2022 The Constitutional Court of South Africa has upheld an appeal to set aside the High Court decision to switch off South Africa’s analogue signal and complete the long-delayed digital migration by June 30. In April, e.tv lodged an urgent appeal to the Constitutional Court against the judgment and... →

Satrix launches smart city infrastructure feeder ETF

By: Darren Parker 28th June 2022 South African index investment business Satrix, a division of Sanlam Investment Management, has announced that its new smart city infrastructure feeder exchange-traded fund (ETF) will offer investors access to the rapidly growing investment opportunity of smart cities. The fund’s initial public... →

Vodacom’s #CodeLikeAGirl programme trains 4 000

By: Natasha Odendaal 27th June 2022 The number of young girls trained under information and communications technology group Vodacom’s #CodeLikeAGirl programme is expected to reach 4 000 by the end of the financial year. Starting from a base of just 20 girls from schools around Tembisa equipped with coding skills under the programme... →

Reform, State capability, corruption must be addressed before South Africa can progress – Mavuso

By: Donna Slater 24th June 2022 Three critical issues stand in the way of South Africa moving forward in terms of developing and attracting investment, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso said at the Southern Africa France Business Forum on June 22. Hosted by Business France, French Foreign Trade Advisors and the... →

An image of Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso

Operation Vulindlela making progress in driving priority structural reforms

By: Marleny Arnoldi 21st June 2022 The Presidency’s Operation Vulindlela (OV) has made markable process on accelerating implementation of priority structural reforms since its establishment in October 2020. Presidency project management office head Rudi Dicks addressed delegates during the Manufacturing Indaba, held in Sandton on... →

Presidency private office director Saul Musker explains how far Operation Vulindlela has come with assisting structural reform

5G the fastest growing mobile technology – report

By: Natasha Odendaal 21st June 2022 Fifth-generation (5G) technology is scaling faster than any previous mobile technology generations, with predictions that it will account for 60% of global mobile network data traffic by 2027. The June 2022 Ericsson Mobility Report revealed that, currently, about a quarter of the world’s... →

MTN SA targets 25% 5G coverage in 2022

By: Natasha Odendaal 21st June 2022 Telecommunications group MTN South Africa (SA) aims to have 25% of South Africa’s population covered by fifth-generation (5G) connectivity by the end of 2022, as it ramps up its deployment. MTN currently has over 1 000 active 5G sites servicing dozens of towns and cities across South Africa... →

Noteholder meeting for Cell C compromise offer postponed to July 5

By: Natasha Odendaal 21st June 2022 A two-week delay in the noteholder vote to approve an extraordinary resolution on a compromise offer will have no impact on the timing of the overall Cell C recapitalisation transaction, which is expected to proceed to final close in July 2022, JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms assured shareholder... →

Telkom revenue declines, flat Ebitda results reported for FY22

By: Natasha Odendaal 14th June 2022 JSE-listed Telkom remained under pressure during the year ended March 31, 2022, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) contracting 0.5% to R11.9-billion. The group’s Ebitda margin expanded by 0.2 percentage points to 27.9% during the year under review. →

New call centres to boost Cape Town’s R14bn BPO industry

By: Irma Venter 10th June 2022 The opening of new call-centre sites in Cape Town shows that the city’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is shining brighter than ever, says City of Cape Town Economic Growth MMC James Vos. Teleperformance’s Observatory site currently hosts 1 500 staff, servicing four clients from the... →

Icasa chairperson steps down

By: Natasha Odendaal 8th June 2022 Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng is stepping down, citing a need to take some time off after an enervating period. Modimoeng tendered his resignation on Wednesday and will now start serving notice to ensure a smooth handover, with... →

Telecoms companies receive notice to pay about $180m a year to Congo

By: Bloomberg 8th June 2022 The Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered mobile phone companies operating in the African nation to pay a levy estimated at about $180-million a year, people with knowledge of the matter said. The operators including Orange, Vodacom Group, Airtel Africa and Africell Holding received invoices... →

Icasa re-evaluating Woan ambitions

By: Natasha Odendaal 7th June 2022 The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is still committed to pursuing a Wireless Open Access Network (Woan); however, it has to be done properly, said Icasa chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng. Presenting to the Portfolio Committee on Communications on Tuesday, he... →

IHS Towers, MTN complete R6.4bn acquisition and lease back agreement

By: Natasha Odendaal 1st June 2022 Independent tower owner, operator and developer IHS Holdings has completed the acquisition of 5 701 towers from mobile telecommunications operator MTN South Africa (SA) for R6.4-billion after receiving the necessary regulatory approval from the South African Competition Commission. IHS Towers... →

S&P revises Telkom credit rating following sovereign rating

By: Creamer Media Reporter 30th May 2022 S&P Global Ratings (S&P) has revised Telkom’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed its foreign and local currency rating of BB. This followed S&p’s revision of South Africa’s foreign and local currency ratings to positive from stable. →

Saben boosts TVET college connectivity

By: Natasha Odendaal 26th May 2022 South African Broadband Education Networks (Saben) has increased bandwidth for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges from 10 Mb/s up to 200 Mb/s using FortiGate devices from NEC XON. Saben has connected and upgraded 256 of a targeted 283 TVET college campuses from 48... →

Paratus starts fibre deployment in Gaborone

By: Creamer Media Reporter 26th May 2022 Pan-African network operator Paratus has started deploying the first independent fibre infrastructure in Gaborone’s central business district This step in providing businesses with critical connectivity follows three years of planning the deployment of fibre infrastructure across Botswana. →

BT, MTN partner to form strategic alliance

By: Natasha Odendaal 26th May 2022 South African telecommunications giant MTN Business and UK-based fixed and mobile telecommunications firm BT have partnered to form a strategic alliance to enhance security and communications services to business customers across Africa. The operators will collaborate closely to enhance each... →

Blue Label launches bond process for Cell C recapitalisation

By: Creamer Media Reporter 26th May 2022 JSE-listed Blue Label, in an update to shareholders, has announced the next step in the long-awaited recapitalisation of mobile operator Cell C. This involves a bond process to get approval of the compromise offer that has been made to those secured lenders, who formerly held publicly listed... →

Telkom, YES partner to create ICT job opportunities

By: Natasha Odendaal 24th May 2022 Telecommunications group Telkom has partnered with business-driven initiative Youth Employment Service (YES) to provide 499 South African youth access to job opportunities, learn future-fit skills in the ever-growing information and communications technology (ICT) sector and contribute to their... →

Lithium-ion battery assembly plant opened in Cape Town

By: Irma Venter 20th May 2022 Swedish energy storage specialist Polarium has opened a lithium-ion battery assembly plant in Montague Park, Cape Town. The facility is the group’s third in the world, with the other two plants in Mexico and Vietnam. →

Nedbank invests in RapidDeploy for rapid response technology for public safety

By: Schalk Burger 18th May 2022 Financial services firm Nedbank has made an equity investment into emergency response technology platform RapidDeploy to deliver life-saving rapid response technology for public safety. The firm notes that investment in such technologies is necessary owing to the antiquated, legacy technology... →

Opening of new Cape Town call centres to boost the city’s R14bn industry

By: Irma Venter 17th May 2022 The opening of new call-centre sites in Cape Town shows that the city’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is shining brighter than ever, says City of Cape Town Economic Growth MMC James Vos. Teleperformance’s Observatory site currently hosts 1 500 staff, servicing four clients from the... →

Vodacom posts earnings increases as it concludes watershed transition year

By: Natasha Odendaal 16th May 2022 As telecommunications group Vodacom posts increases across the board for the year ended March 31, group CEO Shameel Joosub describes the year under review as being watershed for the evolving technology group. Vodacom has made significant strides in transitioning into a pan-African technology... →

MTN posts strong Q1 performance

By: Natasha Odendaal 13th May 2022 Telecommunications group MTN has reported a strong first quarter, delivering double-digit service revenue growth and expanding earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins. During the three months to March 31, group Ebitda increased by 21.1%, with the Ebitda... →

MTN South Africa invests R2.2bn in Gauteng network modernisation

By: Natasha Odendaal 11th May 2022 Telecommunications group MTN South Africa is investing R2.2-billion into its 2022 network modernisation programme in Gauteng to meet demand, maintain network excellence and extend reach into township areas. MTN’s countrywide modernisation of network South Africa, or Monza, project – 68% of which... →

Liquid partners with Peace Cable Company

By: Natasha Odendaal 11th May 2022 Pan-African technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Peace Cable Company to introduce 800 Gb/s of additional subsea capacity in Mombasa on the global submarine cable, which will be ready in 2022. While acting as a new global Internet route between Asia, Europe and the... →

MTN Group links remuneration of senior executives to ESG goals

By: Creamer Media Reporter 11th May 2022 Telecommunications giant MTN Group has linked the remuneration of senior executives with the group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, supporting the delivery of its Ambition 2025 strategy and, in particular, the strategic priority to create shared value with ESG at the core.... →

WAPA encourages government to release 1 200 GHz of WiFi 6E spectrum

By: Creamer Media Reporter 11th May 2022 New data shows that South Africa could benefit by $57.76-billion over the next 10 years by enabling 1 200 license-exempt megahertz in the 6 GHz band. This comprises $34.81-billion in gross domestic product contribution, $13.32-billion in producer surplus to South African businesses and... →

Vodacom South Africa MD appointed

By: Natasha Odendaal 10th May 2022 Vodacom Tanzania MD Sitho Mdlalose has been appointed as Vodacom South Africa MD, effective July 1, succeeding Balesh Sharma, who is stepping down at the end of June to pursue an external career opportunity. Mdlalose, who has been Vodacom Tanzania MD since August 2021, will return to South Africa... →

Ethiopia's State telecom launches 5G services in capital

By: Reuters 10th May 2022 State-owned operator Ethio Telecom launched a fifth-generation (5G) mobile phone service on Monday in a key step ahead of competition from new entrants in an industry that has been closed for international players. Next-generation 5G networks can provide data speeds at least 20 times faster than... →

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