Empowermentbanner
30 July 2010
 
 
New wavelength
Larry Claasen
Stephen Mncube, the new chairman of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), will certainly have his hands full leading the telecom and broadcasting regulator. It has come in for a great deal of flak from government and the parliamentary broadcasting committee for not getting the big telecom operators to bring down prices. Former academic Mncube, who is 70, will also have to tackle Icasa’s unwieldy structure.
Financial Mail
Friday, July 09, 2010
 
 
Gauteng broadband project ‘faces axe’
Sibongakonke Shoba
The long-awaited multibillion-rand Gauteng Link broadband project could be shelved, a senior government official has told Business Day. Putting the project on ice would mean Gauteng residents would have to wait longer for access to faster and cheaper broadband. According to reports, about R40m has already been spent on prefeasibility studies. The Gauteng executive council approved the project strategy in 2006 with the aim of integrating existing networks to create faster and cheaper access to broadband
Business Day
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
 
TeleMasters halves its quarterly dividend
Thabiso Mochiko
Uncertainty around the regulation of interconnection fees has forced TeleMasters — the first AltX-listed firm to declare quarterly dividends, in August 2008 — to halve its quarterly dividend payout to 2c per share. “Due to the flux in the market and the cessation of commission incentive bonuses, the board of directors deem it prudent to decrease the dividend per share by 2c per share compared to the previous quarter to see the company through its transition to a full telecommunications provider,” CEO Mario Pretorius said on Friday.
Business Day     Monday, July 05, 2010
 
 
Icasa in bid to balance fair prices and profit
Thabiso Mochiko
The telecommunications industry is anxiously waiting for the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to announce its final decision on the interconnection rate cut after a marathon three-day public hearing last week. The regulator issued a statement on Friday but did not commit to any time frames regarding the release of the final call termination regulations. The regulations mainly seek to reduce the wholesale price or interconnection rate —
Business Day     Monday, July 05, 2010
 
 
Faith in Africa
Stafford Thomas
Robert Venter, CEO of Altron, has good news for shareholders. Better times are ahead for the company, whose headline profit fell 40% to R625m and whose dividend dropped 47% over the past three years. The biggest company in the Venter family’s electronics and electrical empire, Altron has been battered from all sides. The strong rand alone wiped R100m off its bottom line in the year to February 2010, says Venter. At work, too, was a slump in building and construction activity, which sent demand for power cables diving 65% from early-2008 levels
Financial Mail     Friday, July 02, 2010
 
 
Placed on hold
Larry Claasen
“You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can’t take the Post Office out of Telkom.” So goes an old joke in the telecommunications sector that pokes fun at the alleged conservative and bureaucratic mind-set at the operator. Small telecom companies say they have to box clever to get a piece of the action, but that all Telkom has to do is use its near-monopoly power, stemming from its days when it was part of the post & telecommunications department, to get its way.
Financial Mail     Friday, June 25, 2010
 
 
Where to, Telkom?
Duncan McLeod
Pity whoever is appointed to replace Reuben September as the next CEO of Telkom. The new head will be inheriting a difficult business facing its biggest-ever competitive and regulatory threats. Telkom isn’t the same company it was in the late 1990s, when, led by a foreign management team, it was able to hike prices out of all proportion, milking SA consumers for all they were worth, all the while abusing its monopoly and chasing off the slightest hint of competition. Today, Telkom is threatened. Vodacom and MTN are demanding a piece of the action
Financial Mail     Friday, June 25, 2010
 
 
FNB sees value of banking by cellphone
Sure Kamhunga
Firstrand expects banking subsidiary FNB to aggressively grow its cellphone banking business in Africa and steal a march on competitors as it develops a cost-effective delivery channel to reach mainstream customers. Cellphone banking is being touted by analysts as the next battlefront for banks competing to grow customers in Africa, where millions remain unbanked mainly due to lack of banking infrastructure.
Business Day     Thursday, June 24, 2010
 
 
More Articles

The Bottom Line Business Day Wednesday, June 23, 2010
New directions Financial Mail Friday, June 18, 2010
Drifting past the port Financial Mail Friday, June 11, 2010
MTN quits talks on Orascom takeover Business Day Thursday, June 10, 2010
Vodacom sale of WBS stake near finality Business Day Thursday, June 10, 2010
Government needs a radical rethink of Telkom shareholding Business Day Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Race up a shifting dune Financial Mail Friday, June 04, 2010
Beware the hammer Financial Mail Friday, June 04, 2010
Steady progress Financial Mail Friday, May 21, 2010
Set Telkom free Financial Mail Friday, May 21, 2010
What next for Vodacom? Business Day Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Vodacom’s iBurst sale opens way to licence Business Day Tuesday, May 18, 2010
WiMAX wireless networks are proliferating in Africa Business Day Monday, May 17, 2010
Call for the state to subsidise internet use Business Day Monday, May 17, 2010
A scuffle in front of goal Financial Mail Friday, May 14, 2010
Shareholders halve Cell C debt to assist expansion of network Business Day Thursday, May 06, 2010
Twice-thwarted MTN turns its attention to Orascom Business Day Thursday, April 29, 2010
SA telecom signs Nigerian sea-cable deal Business Day Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Icasa legal threat risks mobile TV promise to Fifa Business Day Monday, April 26, 2010
Cabinet overrules Icasa on Infraco licence Business Day Friday, April 23, 2010
You too, Telkom Financial Mail Friday, April 23, 2010
Consumers want new cell operator, says Telkom Business Day Tuesday, March 16, 2010
MTN plans a less ambitious BEE deal Business Day Monday, March 15, 2010
Broadband growth will see SA ‘rival Dubai as a hub in Africa’ Business Day Monday, March 15, 2010
FNB's hotspot Financial Mail Friday, March 12, 2010
Plaudits for Nhleko, but ‘it is time to go’ Business Day Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Gaps for bridge-builders Financial Mail Friday, February 26, 2010
Lifeline under the sea Financial Mail Friday, February 19, 2010
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Out of control
By Robin Wooley
2009/01/29 12:00:00 AM
Black Economic Empowerment (“BEE”) was meant to have found itself on more certain ground with the gazetting of the Codes of Good Practice in 2007. After all the years of anticipating an end to the moving targets and constantly shifting playing fields, the South African business community had cause to celebrate the birth of a decade of BEE certainty as the Codes superseded the plethora of sector charters and corporate self regulation.
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