South Africa has a new (virtual) mobile network operator in Standard Bank. The financial services provider today confirmed that it will ply its trade in the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space with Standard Bank Mobile. The network will be supported by Cell C, which also platforms rival offering FNB Connect. While Cell C and MTN will do the heavy lifting, as an MVNO, Standard Bank Mobile offers packages on its network favouring its own banking clientele. Users who don't have a Standard Bank account cannot use the network. The network's base subscription fee is R39 per month, while voice calls are...
An internet connection has become a basic requirement for billions of people across the world. But what happens when a wireless connection isn't available, either because it's unfeasible or constrained by other factors? Researchers from the UK's UCL and Northumbria University are turning their eyes, and data transmission hopes, to the light. And quite literally too. Dubbed LiFi, the successor to radiowave-based WiFi will use light produced by special LEDs that will send and receive data to and from devices. "The LEDs we are developing are plastic, flexible devices which are cheap to make and which are already appearing in high-end mobile phones,...
Get ready to hear about 5G a lot more in the coming months. The latest company to make use of the term is data-only network Rain. The company today announced that it will launch a 5G wireless network in South Africa, this after it launched its 4G data service to consumers in June. 5G is a blanket term to describe the fifth generation of mobile communications, and includes lower latency, faster transfer speeds, and the ability to "differentiate between fixed and mobile devices" and adjust internet connection requirements accordingly. The service, which will demonstrate its network in Cape Town in November, will...
Vodacom launched VoLTE (Voice over LTE) a little over three years ago now. Today, it announced that it's further tuning this offering. The company is replacing the old AMR codec, with the higher bandwidth EVS codec, or Enhanced Voice Services. While AMR has a relatively limited audio bandwidth of up to 7kHz, EVS allows for bandwidth of up to 20kHz, increasing the overall quality of the service. This, Vodacom claims, brings CD-like audio quality to its VoLTE offering. "Vodacom is always looking to improve the experience customers have on our network," said Siyabonga Zulu, Vodacom's exec for radio network engineering. "Deploying Enhanced Voice...
Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with having invented the World Wide Web, says he plans to reinvent the internet -- by helping users to regain ownership of their private internet data, through his new startup Inrupt and its Solid platform. Speaking at the 38th Gitex Technology Week in Dubai yesterday, Berners-Lee said the initial dream of the World Wide Web as a tool that would fuel democracy had now faded and been replaced instead by a place full of click-bait articles and fake news. "A lot of people are finding that they're not so happy about it," he added. But above all, privacy has become a major concern, with the...
Instagram this week introduced new features to help fight online bullying in its community of users. In an announcement yesterday, new man-in-charge Adam Mosseri revealed the anti-bullying tools, saying that “there is no place for bullying on Instagram”. “That’s why today we’re announcing our latest tools to help combat bullying, including a new way to identify and report bullying in photos,” he explained. By using machine learning Instagram will now be able to detect harmful content in pictures and captions so that they can be removed accordingly. “This change will help us identify and remove significantly more bullying — and it’s a crucial next step...
If you've been wondering what happened to the ANC's official website, well, it's down. You can check for yourself here, but any attempts to visit the site are greeted with "no input file specified" error. When visiting specific pages, we were met with a "the server is currently undergoing maintenance" message. The website has been down for at least two days, users online report. According to a Business Live report, it's because the ruling party in South Africa hasn't paid its bills on time, service provider bills that amount to R32.5-million. Although the ANC denies these claims, suggesting that no money is owed...
Make sure you have data on your account this evening, because MTN's free Twitter service is coming to an abrupt end at midnight tonight. "It’s been over four years. #FreeTwitter will be laid to rest on Tuesday midnight, 25 September," the company tweeted on Saturday, suggesting that its Free Twitter service was becoming unfeasible. "Its last wishes were for you to make the most of it this weekend. May its soul live forever in your memes and GIFs." It’s been over four years. #FreeTwitter will be laid to rest on Tuesday midnight, 25 September. Its last wishes were for you to make...
Cell C has today announced MediaPlay, a contract offering that lumps its communications and Black entertainment offering into unified bundles. MediaPlay, which Cell C's calling a "a revolutionary new, first-to-market solution", lumps voice, data and entertainment offering Black into a single "converged" contract. "MediaPlay empowers consumers to plan and budget for their connectivity and entertainment needs through one contract. This transformation contract gives customers all access connectivity and entertainment in one plan," the company explains in a release. MediaPlay's offerings are also divided into three pricing segments covering various data requirements and technologies: MediaPlay Fibre, MediaPlay LTE or MediaPlay Mobile. Fibre -- the...
Vodacom's first commercial 5G network is not in South Africa, but its next door neighbour Lesotho. The company on Saturday announced that the service will initially be used to provide fixed broadband internet to two business clients in the mountainous nation. It's also the continent's first 5G network, the telecoms giant claims. "The immediate benefit of 5G technology for Vodacom subscribers in Lesotho includes the quickerdeployment of broadband services with fibre-like speeds," the company notes in a press release. The company hopes that the introduction of the technology will speed up "digital transformation" in the country. South Africans have to wait a little longer...
Despite our best efforts, our protestations through the #DataMustFall movement, and government's promise to cheapen the cost of data, those megabytes remain as expensive as ever. Sure, now telecommunications companies are offering users service-only deals, making accessing WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook slightly cheaper. But what if you do more on your phone than stalk your friends or bitch about the last episode of Final Space? Don't worry, because there are ways to monitor, restrict and use your data more intelligently on Android. Here are our tips. Disable automatic app updates Google Play Store has a nasty habit of updating apps automatically. For those using...
While no industry is immune to digital transformation, telecommunications has long been viewed as a sector that would, and will continue to, experience massive disruption. After the initial decades of dizzying growth and exponential profits, network operators and downstream providers must reinvent their core business to capture a larger slice of today’s digital consumer lifestyle. In the African context, the situation is especially fluid, with new players and technologies threatening the old order. For both disruptive upstarts and established network operators, staying competitive in this environment means taking a digital-first approach. Underlining the importance of this approach is a Gartner prediction that digital...
We're seeing more and more brands coyly attack one another on social media. A good example was Netflix's swipe at Multichoice's DStv, and Huawei's recent dig at Samsung after the Korean firm's Note 9 was unveiled. This week however it was two South African companies who stepped into the ring: Cell C and Rain. The former dragged its new data-only rival through the mud on Monday with an advertisement posted to YouTube. Rain has come under pressure from users for "teething problems" and spotty coverage across South Africa's major cities. It seems that Cell C was keen to highlight these issues. We're blown...
Cell C this week announced tweaks to its WhatsApp data bundles -- now dubbed ShoutOut bundles -- which previously only allowed access to the social chat app. The tweaks come in two forms: the company now allows users to also access Facebook with the bundles, while changes to the data bundle size and price has also been announced. The company's offering three bundles, namely: 80MB with 1 day access for R4 1200MB with 30 day access for R17 4GB with 30 days access for R49 Notably, that middle bundle was previously priced at R15 and offered 600MB. Cell C explains that its R4/80MB...
In April 2018, MTN launched its new social media bundles aimed specifically at WhatsApp users. Those purchasing the network's WhatsApp Bundle would be charged R10 for 1GB on the service. But this is about to change for some. According to a statement issued by the company on Monday, MTN will increase the price of the bundle to R30. The reason? To protect its 3G network quality. "Social media usage remains a dynamic and ever-changing environment. Our commitment remains to continue driving down the cost of data with a strong focus on alleviating pressure on the most vulnerable in our society," explains Mapula...
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