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Telkom has launched prepaid fibre, saying consumers who previously couldn’t apply for a broadband fibre line for credit-vetting reasons can now do so. The service is available on the fibre network built and run by Telkom’s wholesale business, Openserve. Rival Vumatel has launched a similar prepaid fibre service, called Vuma Reach, though it’s only available in selected areas. Telkom said it expects its prepaid fibre service to appeal not only to thos...

Communications regulator Icasa has revealed that Telkom has asked it for additional spectrum in the 2.3GHz frequency band — and the company is willing to give up its holdings at 2.4GHz to make it happen. In a notice published in the Government Gazette dated 15 October, Icasa said it received an application from Telkom at the end of July for an amendment to the assignment of the two bands....

Wireless broadband operator Rain has sprung to Icasa’s defence in the communications regulator’s legal showdown with Telkom over temporary spectrum. TechCentral has learnt that Rain filed papers in the high court this week warning that Telkom is trying to license spectrum via the back door and saying that if the company is successful in securing an interdict against Icasa, there could be permanent harm done to competition in the telecommunications indu...

Openserve, the wholesale infrastructure division of Telkom, has started deploying fibre in city and suburban blocks, rather than across entire areas, especially where it is up against endemic copper cable theft. That’s according to Openserve managing executive Selby Khuzwayo, who said in an interview with TechCentral this week that although mobile communications can serve as a backup where copper infrastructure has been stolen, it’s far from ideal, esp...

MTN South Africa is going uncapped – not on fibre, but on its wireless network, launching uncapped fixed-LTE plans starting at R499/month in a challenge to rival Rain. The speed-based fixed-LTE plans will offer customers a "bottomless data experience", MTN said, though they do include a fair-use policy. The plans are month to month, though 24-month contracts are available, too, if a "free" router is bundled in....

Frogfoot, a licensed open-access infrastructure provider, has announced its acquisition of the Link Africa Western Cape FTTH network, which helps solidify the company’s position as one of the leading Fibre Network Operators in the country....

Telkom warns that Icasa will inadvertently cause degradation in mobile network quality and an increase in data costs. This is because Icasa plans to take back the radio frequency spectrum that it temporarily assigned at the start of South Africa’s national state of disaster due to the Covid–19 pandemic. If the regulator follows through on its plan, it will likely lead to a negative effect on the South African economy at a time when we can least afford ...

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is still experimenting with hooking up remote towns to the Internet via frickin' laser beams. Today, Alphabet's moonshot "X Lab" shared an update on Project Taara, its experimental point-to-point optical communication system, often described as "fiber optics without the fiber." The company built a working installation in Africa and has been blasting a 20Gbps link about 5 km across the Congo River to a town of millions of ...

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has torn strips off communications regulator Icasa over its intention to withdraw temporary spectrum from operators at the end of November. Speaking to television news channel Newzoom Afrika on Tuesday, BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso said that if Icasa proceeds with its plan to take back the spectrum, it will be tantamount to creating "digital load shedding". "We are saying as business that the timing makes no sense," Mavuso s...

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Remgro released its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2021, which revealed a strong performance of Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH). CIVH is a growing telecommunications player through its subsidiaries, Vum... Read more

Rain’s new Unlimited Home 5G Basic service, which costs R499 per month, is an excellent option for people who want an affordable, uncapped broadband service for their home. This was MyBroadband’s finding after we tested the pr... Read more

MultiChoice Group has launched a fixed-wireless Internet access service called DStv Internet in South Africa offering three data packages designed for streaming media. Aimed at consumers who do not have access to fibre services, D... Read more

The latest data recorded through MyBroadband’s speed test app revealed that Vodacom and MTN produced speeds over 700Mbps on their mobile networks. The peak speed recorded on Vodacom’s network was 732Mbps using a Samsung Galaxy... Read more

Rain is ensuring that there is enough capacity on its 5G network to sustain the rollout of its cheaper uncapped package for R499 per month. "As we roll out the network, we add coverage and capacity," Rain CEO Brandon Leigh told My... Read more

For fibre network operators who have built their infrastructure using Active Ethernet technology, it costs them no more to offer a 10Mbps line than it does 1Gbps. Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON), an alternative technology, ... Read more

African Rainbow Capital (ARC) reported its full-year results for 2021 last week. The group reported a 16.3% rise in its so-called intrinsic portfolio value to R12.3-billion, albeit that once the recent dilutive capital raise is ex... Read more

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has hardly had a chance to warm the chair in her new office in Pretoria. Yet the newly appointed communications minister needs to act with haste to try to resolve the spectrum licensing crisis that is now engu... Read more

Rain’s uncapped 5G data packages offer significant savings over similar packages from MTN and Vodacom. Rain recently released an affordable, uncapped 5G data plan that offers speeds of up to 25Mbps for home use at R499 per month... Read more

The Designated Judge for the Interception of Communications, Justice Bess Nkabinde, has revealed that there is no way for her office to verify whether the applications they receive from law enforcement are truthful or not. Nkabind... Read more

elkom’s Openserve wholesale unit is pinning its hopes on a new fibre-on-demand service, as part of its strategy to expand its fibre footprint across SA’s under-served and marginalised areas. The fibre network operator bills it... Read more

A Cape Town-based internet service provider, TooMuchWifi, is offering cheap internet to the city’s townships for R4 per gigabyte. According to the company, TooMuchWifi provides fibre-backed internet connection, which works great... Read more

Once every 100 years or so our sun emits a massive Coronal Mass Ejection (CMEs) and these can be enough to cause damage to certain electrical systems, satellites and power grids etc. But a new study has also warned of an “intern... Read more

A new study from the Saudi-based cultural institute, Ithra, suggests that around 44 percent of people are worried about their wellbeing, which they think is affected by smartphones and the internet. The survey reveals that over 42... Read more

If you go out for a meal, and that meal disappoints, you only get let down once. The same can be said for a coffee shop, or a farmstall, or a local market. But if your internet service provider (ISP) lets you down, then you’re c... Read more

Not to be outdone by any of the country’s other mobile operators, Telkom is the latest to cut prices of its 1GB and 1.5GB mobile data packages by just enough to make it the cheapest prepaid prices. The telecoms company announced... Read more

Afraud scam to the tune of R357.3‑million allegedly from a “syndicate” led by a former Cell C information technology executive has highlighted the telecommunications company’s financial woes after it posted a R5.5-billion ... Read more

Telecommunications company MTN has warned that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa’s) decision to take back temporary radio frequency spectrum on 30 November could lead to ‘digital load shedding... Read more

MANY South Africans have experienced various problems with their fibre connection this week, across internet service providers (ISPs). According to a study by Old Mutual, over half of the working population work from home when nee... Read more

MTN South Africa has cut data prices with a 30-day validity, in some instances by as much as 60%. The headline price for 1GB of ad hoc data is now R85, from R99 previously, matching rival Vodacom’s pricing. The reduced data pric... Read more

Shameel Joosub earned R55-million before tax in the 2021 financial year, a 26% increase on the previous year’s R43.4-million, according to a regulatory filing. Tax, however, zapped a big chunk of that pie, with Joosub left with ... Read more

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