Vodacom expects to sign up 10m M-Pesa mobile money users within three years. The telecommunications operator’s director in charge of the product’s launch, Romeo Kumalo, revealed the ambitious target during the product’s launch in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president Joseph Kabila has intervened in the ongoing dispute between Vodacom and Congolese Wireless Network (CWN), the junior partner in the JSE-listed cellular group’s operation in the troubled central African nation, to try to find a solution to a protracted dispute between the parties. Earlier this year Vodacom and CWN agreed to international arbitration proceedings in Brussels after relations between the two groups appeared to break down completely.
Vodacom will make a decision about what to do with its troubled business in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the end of this year, says the group’s CEO Pieter Uys. “The company is still running and there is a board meeting coming up soon,” Uys says. He doesn’t say what will be discussed at the meeting.
Mobile operators are appealing to the department of justice to extend the deadline of the Regulation of Interception and Communication Act (Rica), says Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys. The act requires that all telecommunications providers and Internet providers register customer details, including their ID numbers and physical addresses. The process has to be completed by January next year, after which unregistered customers have to be cut off from the networks.
In spite of a solid performance in mobile data, SA’s largest telecommunications operator, Vodacom, has reported flat group revenue growth of 3% in the first quarter of its 2011 financial year. The company released its trading statement for the three months ended 30 June 2010 on Thursday, saying that although international markets are stabilising, weaker African currencies and a strong rand hampered growth.
R5m. That’s how much Vodacom paid its former CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, to restrain him from working for or advising competitors in the telecommunications industry. He was paid this money after he retired. Included in the amount, which is disclosed in Vodacom’s 2010 annual financial report, released this week, is payment to Knott-Craig for any advice and assistance requested by his successor, Pieter Uys.
Vodacom has no plans to offer third-generation (3G) cellphone services in the 900MHz band, especially not in urban areas, because there is insufficient spectrum available. The operator confirmed earlier this month that it is testing 3G on half a dozen rural base stations. But it says it will be impossible to offer these services in [...]
A plan to auction off valuable radio frequency spectrum that can be used to provide wireless broadband services appeared to be hanging in the balance on Tuesday after communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda raised concerns over the process. The council of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) is meeting today (Tuesday) to discuss its response to the minister’s concerns. An Icasa insider says there is a possibility that an invitation
Vodacom is introducing a range of low-cost devices, including a US$40 smartphone, in an effort to broaden the market that has access to e-mail and the Web in SA. The smarphone, developed for Vodacom parent Vodafone and meant for use in emerging markets, has a Qwerty keyboard and a basic, 2,2-inch TFT display
JSE-listed cellphone giant Vodacom may abandon plans to bid for wireless broadband spectrum in the 2,6GHz frequency band if the rules of engagement are not changed, TechCentral has learnt exclusively. Group CEO Pieter Uys says the demands on potential bidders made by the Independent Communications
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