south africa
Inside the ambulance, his female colleague lay on a stretcher with a serious gunshot wound to her head after she was allegedly shot by Kwa-Thema hostel residents near Springs, east of Joburg, on Tuesday.
Residents erupted as Eskom officials arrived under police escort to disconnect illegal electricity connections from mains power boxes in the area.
As they were leaving, shots rang out from hostel windows.
Constable Nolwandle Moeti, who is in her 20s, was hit in the head during the shootout.
Police raided the hostel, ransacking rooms and body-searching residents.
"No firearms were found during the search but four suspects were taken into custody for questioning. We're still trying to establish who actually pulled the trigger," said police spokesperson Captain Enoch Dube.
Moeti, who was based at Kwa-Thema police station and worked for the Crime Prevention Unit, was in a critical but stable condition at a Joburg hospital.
Dube said Eskom had begun disconnecting after four people, including a nine-month-pregnant woman and a 3-year-old baby, were electrocuted because of the connections.
"These unsafe illegal connections are normally made carelessly from nearby schools and mains power boxes in the area.
Hostel residents told us they have been trying to get their councillors to sort out their electricity problems for more than 10 years, hence they made illegal connections," he said.
[Johannesburg, 24 April 2008] - Value-added network service providers (VANS) wanting to self-provide national backhaul networks through an individual electronic communications network service (I-ECNS) licence face the same financial and social obligations as major telecoms operators.
This is according to Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) chairman Paris Mashile.
He spoke in response to a presentation by Uninet CFO Mulwell Rebelo, at the sixth annual Digital Africa Summit, in Sandton, this week.
The issue arose during a discussion on the High Court proceedings instituted by the Wireless Access Providers' Association (WAPA) asking for clarity on the right of VANS to self-provide networks.
WAPA believes VANS have held this right since 2006, but there has been conflicting messages on the issue, said Rebelo.
In response, Mashile said licences that ICASA issues to operators under the same group have to be similar in every respect.
This means that, in theory, VANs issued with I-ECNS licences have similar financial and social obligations as major players like Telkom, Neotel and the mobile network providers. “If there are differences, they must be justifiable,” he said.
Mashile also argued that the Electronic Communications (EC) Act already provided that VANS can self-provide networks through the class ECNS licence system.
A class ECNS licence allows telecoms providers to roll-out regional telecoms networks, but they cannot establish national backhaul infrastructure. “The terms and conditions are clear,” Mashile said.
No limit
ICASA previously argued that it is not trying to exclude VANS from gaining access to I-ECNS licences.
The regulator said it would convert current licences, and then ask VANS to present their business and technical plans to be considered for I-ECNS licences.
ICASA did not set a limit on the number of I-ECNS licences it would issue, said the official. The number of VANS gaining a licence will depend entirely on the number of VANS that qualify, he noted.
The Internet Service Providers Association of SA says it is watching the WAPA proceedings with interest. However, it neither approved nor disapproved of the legal action.
ICASA is also facing legal action from Altech Autopage Cellular on the issue of whether VANS have the right to self-provide networks.
The company launched an urgent application with the Transvaal High Court to interdict the ICASA process to convert licences to be in line with the EC Act.
The application also cites communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Mashile and the 24 VANS that either participated, or indicated their willingness to participate, in the ICASA licence conversion hearings, as respondents.
ICASA says it is aware of media reports on the case, but would not comment further.
Telkom (JSE:TKG) this morning announced that it had declined an offer from Oger Telecoms as it was not in the interests of shareholders. It added that the disposal of the company "or its subsidiaries, joint ventures or any parts thereof will not be considered by Telkom without a compelling strategic rationale".
The company also announced the intention to invest in a fixed-wireless voice and data network as well as a mobile data network. It says it will unveil these plans in due course. Telkom spent R2,6bn last year on capital expenditure and is expected to spend R7bn during this year.
Previously the company's CEO Reuben September has repeatedly stated Telkom's intentions in the mobile space, saying that it wanted to "achieve a fixed-mobile service provider model across the fixed and mobile value chain". Speaking at the company's analyst day presentation today, September said that Telkom's core strategy of defending and growing profitable revenue "remains on track".
The company is continuing with its rollout of a WiMAX network, enabling consumers to connect to high-speed data services wirelessly. One would expect this to form the backbone of its planned network. The company said in June last year it planned to launch a voice service on WiMAX in the last quarter of this financial year (by March 2008), however this offering seems to have been delayed. Irnest Kaplan, MD of Kaplan Equity Analysts, says that he imagines the fixed-wireless deployment has "to do with using wireless to connect the last mile". Telkom is targeting the corporate market, townships and villages, gated communities and the youth/young adults with its wireless push. In its analyst presentation, the company says fixed-wireless solutions are cost-effective, scalable and a viable alternative when considering the effect of cable theft.
Telkom says that copper theft is responsible for 70% of the faults in its access network. This, the company says, causes "unacceptable delays in service provisioning, restoration" and "unacceptable contact centre queues and answer time". It says it will continue lobbying government to declare cable theft as sabotage and it will invest in the "alarming of cable routes and deploying armed response teams".
Its goal of investing in a mobile data network puts it head-to-head with 50% subsidiary Vodacom, which has spent billions on its 3G network. Data revenue from 3G and HSDPA services is still a small percentage of overall data revenue at mobile networks in South Africa, but this portion is growing. Neotel has also said it will offer fixed-wireless services. Telkom says it will offer a "3G interim service whilst ADSL is being installed". Telkom says it has access to GSM spectrum through the new Electronic Communications Act.
While the move may have surprised some, Kaplan says "the little players must never underestimate the incumbent's power". He adds that its obvious Telkom is "going to take the data side" of its business "more aggressively".
As to the mechanics of how Telkom aims to "selectively" roll out a fixed-wireless and a mobile network, it says it will consider existing co-location synergies and network sharing/roaming arrangements with mobile operators. One could naturally expect Telkom and Vodacom to work closely in this regard.
As to the future of its 50% stake in Vodacom, Telkom says the "disposal of Vodacom will be considered but only if compelling strategic rationale convinces" it to do so. It will measure all alternatives "against the full value of Vodacom". However, Telkom says it is pragmatic about its interest in Vodacom and that it has "identified a number of attractive alternative opportunities".
Telkom also said it will "substantially reduce its investment in Telkom Media". The company says peak funding of 100% of Telkom Media will now be R5,3bn. Telkom had planned to invest R7,5bn in Telkom Media.
After Telkom and MTN called off talks regarding a possible buyout in November 2007, Citigroup analysts suggested Telkom's "plan to enter the pay-TV market in South Africa should be scrapped because Naspers's Multichoice unit is well established". Other analysts were also opposed to the sizable investment in pay-TV which Telkom said it would make. Irnest Kaplan says this move comes because of "massive analyst criticism".
One analyst, who declined to be named, said that the changing economic environment in South Africa with higher interest rates and lower consumer demand could be one of the reasons for Telkom seemingly abandoning its pay-TV effort. Telkom, however, still maintains the Telkom Media "business model is sound". The analyst wondered whether with Telkom's reduced investment, the venture would be viable at all.
Telkom also offered guidance for its two African operations: Multi-Links in Nigeria and ISP-business Africa Online.
Multi-Links holds almost a quarter of the Nigerian CDMA market. It also has no restriction on the choice of technology used, plus the use of an international gateway. Telkom aims to invest heavily in marketing this operation (R105m in 2008/2009), and expects the number of CDMA subscribers to jump from around 800 000 to 3,5m. It also expects growth of in the leased line (data) as well as corporate and wholesale internet segments. Telkom also notes that the "data market in Nigeria is virtually green-fields". It will lay 3 100km fibre during 2008/09.
Telkom will build a landing station in 2008/09 financial year as well as a national network operations centre. When comparing this strategy to MTN's entry into the Nigerian market, the similarities are clear. MTN knew how to run a mobile network and it applied this knowledge to its entry. Telkom knows how to run a fixed-line network, especially a next generation network which it has been busy building in SA. It targets revenue of $1,5bn by 2010/11, with an EBITDA margin in excess of 20% (currently below 20%).
Africa Online, under the leadership of John Joseph, will double dial-up and wireless subscribers this year (15 000 to 34 000), and it will double that number again next year (to 67 400). This business is targeting revenue of $70m by 2009/2010 (currently slightly under $20m) and Telkom says Africa Online will be cash flow positive in the 2009/10 financial year.
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2008/0803141050.asp
[Johannesburg, 14 March 2008] - While Telkom expects to lose 10% to 15% of fixed-line market share in the medium-term, the telecommunications incumbent says it is rallying a defence against competition from new entrants.
The fixed-line operator says it will increase capacity on its national core bandwidth by 1 000% and its metro layer core bandwidth by 1 600% in two years.
Earlier this week, MTN Network Solutions CEO Mike Brierley predicted Telkom would lose fixed-line market share in 2008 due to competition from MTN, Vodacom and Neotel. He also noted competition in metro fibre networks is strong.
Value-added network service providers, which will motivate to the Independent Communications Authority of SA next week to be allowed to roll-out national infrastructure, will add another layer to Telkom's competition in that arena.
MarketWorks business advisor Steve Edwards says: “I could give you practically any figure by way of prediction of Telkom's market haemorrhage over any particular period. But I think you can expect it to be large, given the company's own perception of threat, to the extent of trying to reinvent itself as an ICT company.”
Telkom's interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 September outline its potential threats and its “defend and grow strategy”.
It reveals that during that period, Telkom's national network increased by 167 nodes, with a bandwidth potential to increase by 17%. Moves were also under way to add more nodes and increase bandwidth potential by 47% for the next 12 months and 52 Metro Ethernet sites were rolled out in Western Cape and Gauteng to carry traffic, it says.
These activities were part of Telkom's move to build a next-generation network, the report says.
Own fault
However, Edwards blames Telkom for putting itself in a position where it could lose out to fixed-line challengers.
“Even if the cellular operators and their cohorts had stayed out of the fixed-line voice and data spaces, Telkom would continue to lose market share,” he says.
“Thanks to Telkom's internal inefficiencies, coupled with their mandatory social service obligations, they are not as light on their feet as any of their competitors. Also, having set pricing so high in their halcyon days of total monopoly, they have enabled their competitors to make relatively easy money out of even new, expensive infrastructure – however much the competitors like to squeal about anticompetitive behaviour.”
Telkom's “anticompetitive abuse” of its fixed-line infrastructure monopoly also set market expectations for data services as slow and expensive, he says. The result is that just about anything its competitors do looks like a service improvement or cost reduction and wins them credibility points, he adds.
“It's ironic, really, because Telkom's ADSL offering remains the most reliable, consistent and, effectively, the cheapest in that particular segment. That is, when you can find an exchange that can provide it, or a lackey that understands the importance of getting it installed really quickly,” he says.
Winners and losers
While Vodacom Business will not make a significant impact in the first part of this year, there will be activity from the company in the latter part of 2008, says Brierley.
“Vodacom is a significant company with significant resources. We obviously can't ignore them. But we're certainly not going to lie down and play dead.”
Edwards sees MTN winning Telkom's lost market share because it already holds significant market share, is aggressive enough, and has better service delivery and operational performance when compared to Vodacom.
“If they can just work some pricing magic, the day will be theirs. Neotel is too sleepy to make much of the opportunity in the short-term, though they and Vodacom will add to Telkom's misery once MTN has cleaned up,” says Edwards.
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2008/0803181040.asp
[Johannesburg, 18 March 2008] - The development of SA's five-year broadband strategy, which was to help the country come out of its broadband doldrums and drive strong penetration levels, was not included in the Department of Communications' 2008/9 priority list.
This is despite the DOC saying last year that the strategy would be finalised by 2008.
In its presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications, earlier this month, the DOC announced plans to implement phase one of its wireless broadband infrastructure roll-out through Sentech, providing connectivity for 233 Dinaledi schools.
The department also prioritises the construction of the Uhurunet/Infraco government-supported submarine cable, and developing a programme of action to benchmark telecommunications costs, quality, availability, accessibility and usage in SA against Brazil, Chile, India, Malaysia and South Korea.
Other broadband priorities include developing radio frequency spectrum usage policies in line with World Radio Conference 2007, and increasing universal access to government information and services through building Thusong Post Offices in 100 communities. The Thusong project is to be led by the South African Post Office.
However, the finalisation of the comprehensive plan that communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri initially said in 2006 would provide clear guidelines as to how SA planned to increase broadband penetration levels in a five-year period, is not included in the report.
DOC spokesman Albi Modise was unable to provide input about the fate of that process at the time of publication.
Local task team
In her May 2006 budget vote speech, Matsepe-Casaburri announced the formation of the Broadband Advisory Council to oversee the drawing up of this strategy.
The council was to be chaired by Dr Victor Lawrance, from Ghana, and include Dr Henry Chasia, executive deputy chairman of the Nepad e-Africa Commission. A deadline for the council's report was set for the end of 2006.
After failing to meet the deadline, the DOC said the strategy was put on hold pending the finalisation of the terms of reference that would guide the advisory council. It was also noted that the DOC would appoint a local task team that included ICT sector stakeholders.
Losing focus
IDC programme manager for communications in Africa Richard Hurst says it is concerning that the DOC is not keeping an eye on the ball with regard to medium-term broadband planning.
However, the lack of clear guidance will not have a major impact on the overall scheme of things. It will simply “cast a cloud” on the sector, he says.
However, MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller sees the absence of the strategy having a greater impact on SA's broadband penetration levels.
It fails to provide strong deadlines for licensing and spectrum allocation, and thus, hinders competition, he argues.
Muller notes that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) simply implements legal directives and policies from the DOC.
If the DOC provided specific deadlines as part of the broadband strategy, ICASA would have to meet them, he says.
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2008/0803201100.asp
[Johannesburg, 20 March 2008] - The integration of Transtel into Neotel begins on 1 April, following yesterday's approval of the R230 million transaction by the Competition Tribunal, says Neotel spokesman Fani Zulu.
Neotel first announced its plans to acquire Transtel as a going concern in April last year. The acquisition allows Neotel to compete more aggressively with Telkom in the enterprise space.
“Neotel views the acquisition of Transtel as a strategic move to address a broader enterprise market. Transtel, with over 100 locations nationwide, will enable Neotel to deliver and support telecommunications services to address this market sooner than otherwise possible,” says Neotel MD and CEO Ajay Pandey in a media statement.
The acquisition also gives Neotel faster entry into the enterprise markets, and provides it with a platform to introduce its next-generation services for businesses, he says.
Transtel also brings an existing customer base, which is said to generate in excess of R600 million per annum, he adds.
One of the customers is Transtel's former holding company Transnet, which has told the Competition Tribunal that it intends to appoint Neotel as the sole and exclusive provider of electronic communications services to Transnet for a period of five years.
Integration roadmap
Pandey says Neotel will, over the next month, contact Transtel customers, suppliers and other associates directly to communicate how the transaction affects them.
Zulu says one of the major tasks will be to integrate Transtel's network into Neotel's next-generation network (NGN).
This includes “some level of investment” to upgrade the Transtel network and enable smooth and efficient connectivity with the NGN, he says.
It is unlikely that Transtel customers will be heavily impacted by the transaction, as the company will remain a subsidiary of Neotel, and not be swallowed up as part of the integration process, he says.
“Transtel customers will remain clients of that company, with the added benefit of gaining access to Neotel's NGN,” he says.
There will be no job losses as a result of the alignment of the companies' business processes, as some of the 550 Transtel employees have scarce skills that Neotel needs, he says.
“Neotel currently employs 20 to 30 new people per month and there is work to be done.”
Gaining traction
Zulu notes that Neotel has become a significant player in the enterprise market since it launched its offering in November last year.
Neotel has signed a number of blue-chip companies, and is seeing a lot of repeat business and clients taking on additional services, he says. Business revenue is also growing and new solutions are being added, he says.
The company is also moving at a brisk pace with its fibre roll-out, having already covered Sandton, Rosebank, downtown Johannesburg, downtown Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Companies that want fibre can effectively get it within 72 hours, he says.
“Those fibre roll-out plans that you usually see on PowerPoint presentations have become reality for Neotel,” he adds.
[ITWeb - Johannesburg, 5 March 2008] - This issue of why value added network services (VANS) were not being granted class electronic communications network service (ECNS) licences was brought up before communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri yesterday.
Matsepe-Casaburri had completed her presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications when Dene Smuts, the Democratic Alliance's communications spokesperson asked the question.
“I don't understand why these small companies are being frustrated. The original intention of the ECA (Electronic Communications Act), when it was drafted, was that these VANS and municipalities would simply let ICASA (the telecommunications regulator) know what they were doing and no permission was needed,” she said.
Smuts referred to Matsepe-Casaburri's 2007 budget speech, where she said that ICASA had been issued with a policy directive to consider urgently whether none, or only certain, of the existing VANS licensees can be authorised to provide services, as well as to provide and operate electronic communications facilities or networks to ensure that such licensees are issued ECNS licences in addition to other licenses specified in the relevant section of the ECA.
An ECNS licence is broadly similar to that of a fully-fledged telecommunications operator in terms of the old Telecommunications Act. VANS, so far, are allowed only electronic communications service licences, which do not allow them to build and operate their own networks.
“As far as I am concerned, the minister should draft a new set of policy directives to create a multiple class of licensees to be treated as an organically grown layer,” Smuts said.
Matsepe-Casaburri replied: “You have the democratic right to ask and I have the democratic right to say no. I cannot answer questions on spectrum allocation.”
Johannesburg - Megawatt Park was without MegaWatts on Monday when Eskom load-shedded itself.
The power company could not even access its own website to check which areas were without electricity - the server was down, said an official who asked not want to be named.
The Eskom head office in Sunninghill, northern Johannesburg, was without power from 10:00 until at least 12:30.
However, it had already switched off the pumps to its water features on Friday, when it became apparent that the power supply was tight.
Staff had to resort to actually climbing the escalators when they were switched off along with the geysers and the air-conditioning systems last week.
Each Eskom facility throughout the country had a designated official tasked with ensuring - when it became apparent that load shedding might be in the offing - that it was energy efficient.
"Naturally, all Eskom facilities have to be energy efficient," the unnamed spokesperson said.
There were rolling blackouts across the country on Monday when Eskom tried to shed between 1000 and 1500MW.
Apart from maintenance problems, a shortage of diesel was affecting the back-up gas turbines used to generate power in the Western Cape, said Eskom's general manager of demand-side management Andrew Etzinger.
A fixed load-shedding schedule was available on www.eskom.co.za and customers could direct other queries to Eskom's call-centre on 08600 37566.
The call centre was centrally located and was not affected by the power outage at Megawatt Park, Eskom said.
Johannesburg - Thousands of Facebook users have changed into "Facebokke" over the weekend.
Facebook groups supporting the Springbok rugby team on the social network scene are popping up by the hundreds if one types in keywords such as Bokke, Springbok, or rugby.
One of the biggest fan groups titled "Rugby World Cup 2007: I support South Africa", had more than 24 000 members by Sunday afternoon.
"Well done, Boks! We're proud of you. Jake, thanks for holding on through it all. We are the champions!" wrote Stacy Nortje, one of the members of the group.
Some of the groups that were formed before Saturdays final match had names such as "My blood is green!" "South Africa to stuff the Poms" and "Bokke gaan gatskop die naweek" (The Boks are going to kick butt this weekend).
Other groups sang the praises of the Boks after the game, with headings such as "The World Cup comes home", or taunted the English with questions such as "Dear Mr Englishman: Who's your daddyyyyyyyyy??!!?"
Quite a few of the Facebook groups were dedicated to rugby hero Bryan Habana, among them : "Give the ball to Bryan Habana" and "Habana for President".
One user even created a profile for the Webb Ellis Trophy, with a photo of the Cup, and just like other users, Webb Ellis has a birthday, religious views, hobbies, interests, favourite TV programmes and friends.
His favourite song, according to the profile, is Shosoloza, favourite pastime, "looking good in the SARU offices" and his favourite quote is "On da udder hand".
Other groups were taking bets, or accepting challenges, in support of the Boks.
Some of these groups included one that promised to stop smoking if the Boks won (more than 100 members) one that grew their beards for the Boks (99 members) and a group that promised to shave their heads if the Boks won (with 69 members).
[itweb]
[Johannesburg, 4 October 2007] - Internet Solutions (IS) will upgrade its international bandwidth to 2Gbps to cater for growing capacity demand.
Alan Bacher, business unit manager of access solutions at IS, says: “We are showing growth in the amount of bandwidth customers are using, as well as in the number of clients we have.”
He says IS's client base in the DSL space has grown from around 22 000 to 40 000 clients, an increase of just under 50% over the last financial year.
“Having increased our international bandwidth by 843Mbps over the last 12 months, and with current bandwidth at over 1.7Gbps, we need to keep ahead of demand.”
According to Bacher, the increased capacity should reach the 2Gbps mark by the end of November.
Bacher says the company is looking at various tenders that will see it connecting to several other international backbone links over the next few months.
“This will up the capacity even more, which is an ongoing process for IS.”
Broadband boom
MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller says there has been a significant increase in the number of broadband users across the country. “We are currently looking at around 600 000 broadband users in SA. I predict this number to grow to 700 000 over the next few months.”
He says increases in international bandwidth should be and are continuous for all providers.
To accommodate the increase, IS has started to upgrade its international transit links to 1Gbps, and its links between London and New York to 4 x 155Mbps, says Bacher.
IS uses the undersea SAT3, SAT2 and SAFE cables, together with satellite access mediums, to connect to its international points of presence.
“We are looking at buying into a new undersea cable. All ISPs [Internet service providers] will need to in order to compete fairly with Telkom,” he notes.
