Top Stories
Dell to ‘Spin-Off’ Shares in VMware
Image sourced from TechCrunch Dell has revealed its plan to spin off its 81% stake in VMware in an attempt to reduce its debt. According to TechCrunch, the way that the deal works is that “Dell plans to offer VMware shareholders a special dividend of between $11.5 and $12 billion. As Dell owns approximately 81% of those shares that would work out to somewhere between $9.3 and $9.7 billion coming into Dell’s coffers when the deal closes later this year”. Dell CEO, Michael Dell says that by spinning off VMware, “we expect to drive additional growth opportunities for Dell Technologies as well as VMware, and unlock significant value for stakeholders. Both companies will remain important partners, with a differentiated advantage in how we bring solutions to customers”. This is a move long ...
Fibre Cable Connecting South Africa to Mauritius is Operational Thanks to Emtel
Image sourced from @philBE on Twitter Emtel has provided the official landing point – a ANSI/TIA tier 3 certified data centre – for the METISS (Meltingpot Indianoceanic Submarine System) fibre optic cable in Mauritius – this will see the country connected to Reunion Island, Madagascar and South Africa via a 3,200 km cable. “METISS is already connected to many global public cloud services, application providers and African exchanges with fully redundant backhaul in Mauritius and South Africa,” says Kresh Goomany, CEO of Emtel. “It provides global telecoms organisations, multinationals and enterprises with interests in connected regions, with the reliable services and capacities they need for telecommunications that empower digital enterprises. The whole offer comes with a world-class qualit...
14.3 Million South African Facebook Users Implicated by Data Breach
On April 3, Business Insider uncovered how more than 530 million Facebook users personal information had been made publicly available in an unsecured database – this included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. And now, VPN provider Surfshark has revealed that of the affected users, Egypt is the number one victim of this hack with the accounts of 45.1 million users being exposed while 14.3 million users were South African. In general, the top 10 countries by breaches make up 50% of all the breach cases – and of those cases, fewer than 10% of the profiles had their addresses exposed. On the other hand, nearly 90% of the users suffered from phone number leaks /* custom css */ .tdi_3_009.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_009.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Faceb...
South Africa Halts Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
South African Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize has announced that the country would temporarily halt its Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rollout. This follows the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) temporary suspension of the vaccine in the United States after six recipients developed a rare blood-clotting disorder. According to The New York Times, all six recipients were women aged between 18 and 48, and each of them developed the illness within one to three weeks of vaccination. “We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” says Dr Peter Marks, FDA Director for Biologics Evaluation and Research. As it stands, no South African recipients have reported experiencing blood clots following the vaccine. However, Mkhize says that they will ...
MTN Ranked as Best Mobile Network in South Africa
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) MTN has been ranked as the best mobile network in South Africa – ahead of Vodacom, rain, Telkom and Cell C – according to the latest MyBroadband Insights Mobile Network Quality Report. The report is based on 349,575 speed tests that were performed by thousands of users across the country. The research shows that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 33.23Mbps and an average upload speed of 12.71Mbps. MTN had the highest average download speed at 64.29Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 32.76Mbps, Telkom on 27.83Mbps, Cell C on 20.82Mbps and Rain on 10.58Mbps. MTN’s exceptional performance is a result of a R50-billion infrastructure investment over the past five years to extend coverage, improve network quality, and increase...
Unlocking the Potential of Healthcare Data at Zebra Technologie’s Free Webinar
On 14 April 2021, leading healthcare technology solutions provider, Zebra Technologies in partnership with IT News Africa will virtually demonstrate how to streamline workflows and significantly reduce costs in healthcare facilities as well as identify patterns to enable intelligent predictions. Under the theme “Patient Journey and the Digital Twins” this free and innovative webinar will empower the healthcare sector with technology solutions that enable them to instantly connect, collaborate and communicate with colleagues. Register and learn how to better support patients and improve performance with the insights that come from capturing real-time data in your emergency department or operating theatre. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_66e.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_66e.td-a-rec...
Vodacom and AUDA-NEPAD Partner to Build Digital Infrastructure to Manage COVID-19 Vaccinations
Vodacom Group has announced that it will work with AUDA-NEPAD to build digital infrastructure to manage COVID-19 vaccinations across up to 55 countries, following successful deployments in South Africa – to manage vaccinations – and in Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria – to manage infant inoculations. The roll-out of mVacciNation, developed by Mezzanine, a member of the Vodacom Group, is the first project in a public-private partnership that has been formed between Vodacom Group and AUDA-NEPAD to boost Africa’s digital transformation and build resilience for the post-Covid world. “Vodacom has been at the forefront of helping governments where we operate to curb the spread of COVID-19,” says Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group. “Making our mVacciNation platform available to all African coun...
Microsoft to Acquire Nuance Communications in ‘Biggest Deal’ Since LinkedIn
Microsoft is set to acquire AI software company Nuance Communications – marking Microsoft’s second-largest acquisition ever. The “Nuance deal would be a trophy for Redmond,” according to Wedbush Analyst, Dan Ives. “Nuance is in the midst of an unprecedented strategic turnaround the last few years under the leadership of CEO Mark Benjamin and we believe the company represents a unique asset on the health-care front for Microsoft.” TechCentral revealed that the acquisition could value Nuance at about US$56/share, giving the company an equity value of about $16-billion. “This can really help Microsoft accelerate the digitisation of the healthcare industry, which has lagged other sectors such as retail and banking,” says Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst, Anurag Rana. “The biggest nea...
6 Ways to Improve Your POPIA Readiness
When it comes to POPIA compliance readiness, only 30% of South African organisations believe they are well-prepared – according to the KnowBe4 online data protection survey. To make sure your company is ready, Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist KnowBe4 Africa, has shared six things that you can do: 1. Education and Awareness Should be a Top Priority “Education and awareness should be a top priority for organisations as we approach the POPIA deadline,” she says. “This is critical at every level of the business, from top management down to every person who works at the organisation. Everyone has to be aware of their responsibilities with regards to handling personal information and their roles when it comes to the safeguarding of personal information.” People unfortunatel...
Airtel Kenya Makes Network Upgrades to Avoid CA Fines
Sourced from Comms MEA Airtel Kenya has made a number of improvements to its network in order to meet the regulatory minimum threshold on quality of calls across the country. Airtel Managing Director, Prasanta Das Sarma told Business Daily that 270 sites were upgraded from 2G and 3G sites to 4G while more than 400 sites were added in upcountry towns and highways. “In total, the upgrade covered 20 counties. Some more sites will be added by end of April when the work will be done,” says Sarma. “We are vindicated when we see more customers using us. With this kind of expansion, we will be able to satisfy CA criteria (on voice quality).” Airtel Africa – and Telkom – came under fire earlier this year when the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) placed the telco’s under scrutiny after alleged...
Huawei Partners with Mondia to Expand Contactless Payments Across Africa
Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) has teamed up with Mondia Pay, a digital payments company, to roll out seamless and contactless payments solutions for mobile network operators. Since the commencement of the partnership in September 2020, demand for the implementation of Direct Carrier Billing service (DCB) for seamless, contactless payments for mobile users in the MEA region has grown. Mondia Pay’s direct carrier billing service integration was launched with Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat UAE. During this quarter the following operators – Ufone Pakistan, Cell C South Africa, Orange Tunisia and Ooredoo Algeria – will go live with the DCB service, following the testing phase. As a DCB services for consumers, Mondia Pay is available on HuaweiAppGallery, to facilitate online payments. Subscribers ca...
Ride-Hailing Platform, Bolt Now Available on Huawei App Gallery
Huawei has announced that ride-hailing platform – Bolt – is now available on its AppGallery. The service provides users with a simple, affordable, and much quicker way of reaching any destination within certain cities in South Africa. Moreover, it can help users avoid the hassle of missing an important appointment, reduce stress related to heavy traffic during peak hours, and enable a secure and contactless payment method. Huawei has also revealed that ride-hailing apps – like Bolt – are integrated within the core Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem. They include Huawei Map and Location kit, which provides an accurate location when booking rides and location tracking, thereby offering an enhanced user experience. FNB Banking App Launches on Huawei App Gallery FNB has confirmed that its ...
