Southern Africa
Cell C has Started to Migrate Subscribers off its Network
Image sourced from Town Press Cell C has started migrating its customers to MTN’s cellphone tower infrastructure while it prepares to decommission its own towers. “Our strategic vision is to differentiate ourselves by focusing on innovative products and services without being owners of capital-intensive infrastructure. This creates more flexibility and capacity to deliver the right quality of service to our current and future customers,” says Cell C CEO, Douglas Craigie Stevenson. “Cell C is pioneering the evolution of the MNO space in South Africa by becoming a significant wholesale buyer of network capacity and infrastructure services. It is a win-win as the individual operators deliver segmental expertise to the benefit of everyone in the industry.” In response to a vastly changed busin...
MTN Offers Free Data to Users for Downloading the COVID-19 Alert App
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) In an effort to rally South Africans to download and use the COVID-19 Alert app, MTN has zero-rated its use and will also give customers 1GB of free data for an hour after download as a reward for their efforts in fighting the pandemic. The COVID Alert SA app, which was designed by Discovery for the National Department of Health, uses Bluetooth contact-tracing technology to let people know when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. It does this in a way that always preserves app user privacy and anonymity. “One of the critical aspects of combatting COVID-19 is the ability to detect positive cases early and to isolate as many contacts as possible. The COVID Alert SA app gives every smartphone user i...
South Africa’s Best and Worst Mobile Networks Revealed
MTN has been named South Africa’s best mobile network by the 2020 Mobile Network Quality Report. The report is based on 1.2 million speed tests which were performed by 41,000 MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 January and 31 December 2020. The research shows that South Africa had an average download speed of 29.33Mbps and an average upload speed of 11.24Mbps last year. MTN had the highest average download speed at 52.84Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 29.39Mbps, Telkom on 21.58Mbps, Cell C on 17.46Mbps, and Rain on 11.90Mbps. During 2020 the average network speed of South Africa’s mobile operators increased significantly despite higher data usage. This was made possible by temporary spectrum which was issued to Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Rain by the Independent Commu...
Citrix Appoints New Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa
Citrix has appointed Matthew McKay as its new Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. With over 22 years of experience within the IT and telecommunication industry, McKay is expected to contribute extensive skills in sales, operations and go-to-market strategy. “Matthew brings great technology experience combined with a proven record leading teams at major international organisations,” says Amir Sohrabi, Area VP for Emerging Markets at Citrix. “He is joining Citrix at an exciting time, as many businesses accelerating their digital strategies and are focused on empowering people to work from anywhere, at any time, with any device. Citrix continues to be at the forefront of creating the next wave of work environments, and I am confident that Matthew will be a great leader for the team in S...
Sub-Saharan Africa’s to Mobile Traffic to Grow 6.5 Times by 2026
Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by almost 6.5 times the current figures, with total traffic increasing from 0.87EB per month in 2020 to 5.6EB by 2026. Meanwhile, the average traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 8.9GB over the forecast period – this according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. As the demand for capacity and coverage of cellular networks continues to grow, service providers are expected to continue investing in their networks to cater for this uptake and meet evolving consumer requirements. In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile subscriptions will continue to grow over the forecast period as mobile penetration today, at 84 percent, is less than the global average. LTE is estimated to account for around 15 percent of subscriptions by the end of...
Vodacom Launches Widest 5G Network in KZN
Vodacom has announced its plans to roll-out the widest 5G network in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its 5G network is currently available on 156 live 5G sites across the KwaZulu-Natal province and supports both mobile and fixed wireless access services. To launch the 5G network in KZN, Vodacom used the temporary spectrum assigned by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), including 1×50 MHz in the 3.5 GHz, 2x10MHz and 700MHz. Vodacom has decided to use the 700 MHz band for wide-scale mobile, 5G coverage and is supplementing network capacity with 3.5 GHz where required. “Vodacom now offers the widest 5G network coverage in KwaZulu-Natal and we expect to expand our national 5G footprint significantly once we get access to new spectrum. We are confident that the r...
South Africa’s Top 10 Google Searches in 2020
Image sourced from Search Engine Land Google provides a unique insight into the major moments and top trends of 2020 based on the most popular searches conducted in South Africa. Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what South Africans have been searching for and asking Google. The information goliath processes more than 40 000 search queries every second. This translates to more than a billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. This year’s trending searches show South African’s keen interest in the world and people around them. The US election, COVID-19 and Sasol shares captured the nation’s attention. From pineapple beer recipes to Kobe Bryant and Joe Biden, South Africans use search to find out about the things that matte...
Why 5G is Crucial to Closing the Digital Divide
It’s safe to say that high points during the COVID-19 pandemic have been few and far between. South Africans were, however, met with at least one welcome development earlier this year with the launch of the country’s first 5G which supports both commercial mobile and fixed wireless 5G services. Although people were confined to their homes for an extended period of time during lockdown, many South Africans living in major metros were able to use 5G technology to stay in touch, work from home and keep themselves entertained. Not surprisingly, the demand for data during this time was greater than ever before. Vodacom recorded a 40% increase in mobile data traffic in South Africa during the last week of June during the peak of the pandemic, compared with pre-COVID-19 lockdown levels. As the ci...
Apple iPhone 12 Available for Pre-Order in South Africa
The Apple iStore customers can pre-order the iPhone 12 range – for both cash purchases and contract upgrades – from 11 December 2020. The devices will then be delivered straight to their door starting 18 December. The full range of Apple devices includes: iPhone 12 iPhone 12 Mini iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max “Pre-ordering from iStore is a great way to secure upgrades for both cash and contracts purchases early. We offer flexible delivery, so no matter where you are in South Africa during this holiday season, we will get your iPhone to you. To make the experience even better, we have over R3000 worth of free benefits only available to iStore iPhone 12 customers,” says Chris Dodd, CEO of iStore. How to pre-order the iPhone online for cash Pre-ordering online for cash gives custo...
Telkom Partners with YahClick to Expand Access to Satellite Connectivity
Telkom Consumer and YahClick have signed an agreement which enables individual and business consumers to make “high-quality” voice calls and access broadband data packages from anywhere in South Africa using only a satellite connection. For Phase 1, Telkom will commence with migrating a number of identified consumer customers first and launch to new customers in early 2021. This is expected to significantly expand access to affordable connectivity in rural areas nationally without access to fibre. YahClick Satellite Services will deliver the Telkom data and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) packages through its Satellite Platforms, using Hughes Gateway and Ground Segment technology. “This agreement enables us to seamlessly connect our customers nationwide. Our data service with YahClick ...
Nutanix Appoints New CEO
Nutanix has appointed Rajiv Ramaswami as its new President and CEO, effective 9 December 2020. Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who previously announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor. Ramaswami is a seasoned technology industry executive who has held senior executive roles at industry leaders including VMware, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nortel, after having begun his career at IBM. He has an impressive 30+ year track record of building and scaling businesses in cloud services, software, and network infrastructure. In his most recent role as COO, Products and Cloud Services at VMware, Ramaswami co-managed VMware’s portfolio of products and services. During his tenure, Ramaswami led several important acquisitions and was playing a key ro...
Discovery Bank Appoints New CEO
Image sourced from MyNewsDesk Discovery has appointed Hylton Kallner as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Discovery Bank, with effect from 1 January 2021. Kallner takes over from Barry Hore, as the Bank has completed its build and migration phase. Building on this momentum and supported by the Bank team, Kallner is taking Discovery Bank forward as it accelerates this growth and increases its focus on integration. Discovery Chief Executive, Adrian Gore says “Hylton will leverage his experience as CEO of the SA businesses in building a powerful and integrated composite. His understanding of Discovery’s Shared-Value business model, along with his extensive experience at Discovery Group spanning nearly 25 years, position him well to drive continued growth and success for Discovery Bank....
