Company News
Telkom to Transition Customers from Copper-based Internet to Fibre
Image sourced from My Broadband Telkom has announced that it is transitioning its South African customers from copper-based internet to new-generation fibre technology in all fibre-ready regions. The telecommunications provider says that it is currently hard at work upgrading its customers from copper ADSL internet to fibre-based internet. This migration applies to all customers residing in fibre-ready regions around the country where the current DSL infrastructure overlaps with the FTTH footprint. Telkom notes that fibre promises a significant improvement in users’ connectivity experience and assures customers that they will receive the support that they need to undergo the upgrade with minimal stress and disruption. “With technology advancing so rapidly, we want to help keep our customer...
Vodacom and Alipay Partner to Create a New Super-App
Vodacom and Alipay have partnered to create a super app that’ll allow South African consumers to manage their entire lives and business through their smartphone – which includes playing music, paying for morning coffees, listening to podcasts, sending money to family, paying utility bills, shopping online and ordering new stock for their businesses. According to the companies, the app will not only offer a stellar digital customer experience but will also bring to life a market place of goods and services tailored to the South African customer needs. This will be underpinned by a progressive digital payments ecosystem designed to serve both the banked and unbanked parts of the population. Customers and merchants will all find each other on one affordable platform, operated by Vodacom ...
Bolt Introduces New ‘Low-Cost’ Service in South Africa
Ride-hailing platform Bolt has launched a new low-cost category called Bolt Go – which is aiming to be the cheapest ride-hailing service in South Africa, with fares approximately 20% less than regular Bolt rides. The addition of the new low-cost category hopes to significantly lower the barriers to entry into the South African ride-hailing industry by empowering owners and drivers of hatchback cars to access the Bolt platform and earn an income. “Smaller hatchback cars are less expensive to purchase, have lower maintenance costs, and are more fuel-efficient to operate than Bolt’s regular larger sedan cars,” says Gareth Taylor, country manager for Bolt South Africa. “These lower operational costs also enable Bolt Go fares to be significantly more affordable.” The new more affordable service...
Uber Launches an Intercity Bus Service in Egypt
Uber has launched an intercity Bus service in Egypt – the first country globally to roll out this service – with the aim of connecting cities with the Uber app. The launch comes as part of Uber’s continuous efforts to adapt its technology to build a wide range of products that meet the needs of local markets. “We are honoured to witness another global product launch from Egypt, especially following the last few tense months across the country and the world. Egypt is an innovation hub and a fantastic environment for testing new products,” says Ahmed Khalil, GM of Uber Egypt. “By leveraging Uber’s technology, the new intercity service will introduce a convenient setting to move users between governorates. As we continue to invest in the Egyptian market, we remain committed to broadening...
SAP Appoints New Regional President of Africa
Image sourced from BCTech Report SAP has appointed Claudio Muruzabal as the new President for the EMEA south region that comprises of Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa – he replaces Steve Tzikakis. Prior to joining SAP, Muruzabal was CEO of NEORIS, a global management and IT consulting business. As a visionary in the role of technology-driven innovation in business, he has enjoyed great success in SAP’s Latin America region which he joined in 2015 as President of SAP Latin America and the Caribbean. A strong advocate of education, entrepreneurship and the promotion of diversity, Muruzabal has been recognized as one of the HITEC Top 50 Most Influential and Notable Hispanic Professionals in the IT Industry in Latin America and Spain and in 2019. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_495.td-a-rec...
IBM Appoints First Female Regional Head for Africa
Image sourced with Learn Bonds IBM has appointed Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh to Regional Head for North, East and West Africa – making her the first women to hold the position. According to technext, “Kyerematen-Jimoh served as the Chief of Staff to the Senior VP of Global Markets and Sales in IBM’s corporate headquarters in New York, prior to this appointment. She was also the first female Country Director in Africa, leading the company’s operations in Ghana”. “Angela takes up this position with a wealth of experience from 20 years of extensive working in the financial services and technology industries in Africa and Europe. She has worked in various top positions in banking including UBS Investment Bank, ABM AMRO in London and GTBank Ghana.” Kyerematen-Jimoh says “I’m humbled to be taki...
Vuma Expands ‘Free Fibre to Schools’ Programme in South Africa
Vuma has officially launched its Fibre to Schools programme in Limpopo, South Africa. As part of the initiative, primary and high schools located along Vuma’s existing fibre deployment route in Polokwane are provided with a free 1Gbps fibre line. Laerskool Pietersburg-Oos in Bendor has already benefited from the initiative, along with Adsum Academy, which received its fibre installations and connection with Capricom. Vuma says that it plans to connect more schools in the coming months. The launch follows the recent arrival of Vuma fibre-to-the-home services in Polokwane, with fibre connections already active in Bendor, Welgelegen, Fauna Park, Flora Park, Sterpark and Annadale with more areas to be added soon. “Fast fibre Internet is the key to ensuring uninterrupted, efficient e-learning e...
Networks Unlimited Africa Makes a Generous Donation to a School in Tembisa
“South African businesses have an ethical responsibility towards educating the country’s less-privileged children and should not lose this commitment when times are economically and socially difficult. It is even more important during these tough times to continue supporting the educational needs of society’s most vulnerable.” So says Anton Jacobsz, CEO at Networks Unlimited Africa, a leading value-added distributor within the Sub-Saharan Africa market. He was commenting after a recent donation of nearly R130,000 from the company’s annual golf day was made to its chosen beneficiary, Nokuphila School, in support of early childhood development. The 2020 golf day took place earlier this year, prior to the lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an annual event which bring...
Vodacom Partners with Cloudflare to Enhance Cyber Resilience
The global cybercrime pandemic triggered by COVID-19 may be here to stay making it critical for businesses to ensure they are protected. News reports of the recent local attack of a critical healthcare organisation earlier this month indicate that South African businesses are not exempt, with South Africa seeing a 33% increase in the volume of cyber-attacks since March. To continue to support and protect customers, Vodacom Business has announced that it is partnering with Cloudflare to provide businesses of all sizes, faster, more secure and reliable website services. Cybersecurity has become a major concern for organisations of all sizes as protecting devices, networks, client data and apps is an essential component of doing business in today’s digital world. According to the World Econom...
Teraco Welcomes Routed to the Africa Cloud Exchange
Sourced from InfoWorld. Vendor-neutral data centre, Teraco has welcomed cloud infrastructure provider, Routed to the African Cloud Exchange (ACX). Created to improve enterprise hybrid and multi-cloud performance through direct interconnection, Teraco’s ACX is said to provide secure, direct, flexible network connections to a wide range of local and global cloud service providers. As Africa’s first VMware Cloud Verified partner, Routed now offers a VMWare cloud platform for clients seeking access to multiple cloud environments. Routed has also recorded four years of 100% uptime and has achieved notable market share within the ISP sector. Andrew Cruise, MD of Routed, says that the company is also the only African provider of Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) within VMware’s vSphere 7 cli...
Google and Telkom Launch Balloon-Powered Internet Service in Kenya
Image sourced from MIT Technology Review Google’s Loon Project and Telkom Kenya have announced that it’s balloon-powered mobile Internet service is now available and covers more than 50,000 sq.km of the country with a fleet of 35 balloons – specific areas include Iten, Eldoret, Baringo, Nakuru, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Bomet, Kericho and Narok. According to the companies, this is the first balloon-powered internet to launch in Africa and the first non-emergency commercial deployment in the world. The Loon service will work by beaming Internet connectivity from ground stations to balloons 20 km overhead. The balloons (floating base stations) are linked to the ground stations that have been connected to Telkom’s network. These ground stations utilise millimeter wave spectrum to send connecti...
WHO Partners with Facebook to Provide Data-Free COVID-19 Info
The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with Facebook and South African based Praekelt.org to provide data-free information on the COVID-19 pandemic to vulnerable communities across the globe. This is said to add a vital element to the organisation’s work to fight misinformation – and ensure everyone has access to accurate health information and resources on COVID-19. In announcing this partnership, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Through this collaboration, we will reach some of the most vulnerable people who will be able to access lifesaving health information without any data charges in more than 50 countries”. The collaboration makes use of Free Basics and Discover by Facebook which provides people with access to useful services on their mobile phon...
