Pule in about-turn on digital TV
Communications minister Dina Pule surprised parliament on Tuesday, announcing that she’s decided to review the policy on the set-top box control system for digital terrestrial television so that its inclusion would no longer be mandatory. The issue of set-top box control has delayed
Talk of SOE shake-up welcomed
Minister in the presidency Collins Chabane is next week expected to announce the findings of the long-awaited presidential review of state-owned enterprises and speculation is mounting that communications minister Dina Pule will be the big loser in
Pule may lose Telkom, Sentech oversight
With a potential repositioning of some of the country’s most significant parastatals in the offing, a number of ministers could lose out as key entities are placed under the ever-extending wing of public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba. Not least of these
Police agree to investigate Pule
The South African Police Service has agreed to begin an investigation into alleged corruption involving appointments by communications minister Dina Pule and her alleged romantic partner Phosane Mngqibisa at the department of communications and state-owned entities in the sector. The Democratic Alliance requested
New revelations in Pule drama
Soccer boss Jomo Sono is at the centre of an alleged blackmail campaign against communications minister Dina Pule, City Press reported on Sunday. The newspaper alleged Sono’s company, Jomo Sono Investments, was one of 36 companies in the running for a R2,5bn tender to be awarded by Pule’s department
Policy indecision stalling 4G in SA
Policy direction remains a stumbling block for telecommunications giants such as MTN and Vodacom in the race to fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) technology. Wireless Business Solutions has a notable head start
Pule points finger at e.tv, SABC
Communications minister Dina Pule says she is still waiting for e.tv and the SABC to finalise the set-top box access control mechanism, and that this is holding up the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television. Pule made the comments at a breakfast
A failed minister
Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests has begun a behind-closed-doors probe into allegations that the communications minister’s alleged boyfriend, Phosane Mngqibisa, benefited financially from the sponsorship of 2012’s ICT Indaba in Cape Town. The committee
Sentech to trial mobile TV
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has given the go-ahead to Sentech, the state-owned company responsible for building the country’s digital television broadcasting network, to run a pilot this year of a new technology “profile”, called DVB-T2-Lite, for delivering TV broadcasts
Sentech gives up crucial spectrum
In a move that is likely to be widely welcomed in the telecommunications industry, state-owned broadcasting signal distributor Sentech has decided to return its full allocation of radio frequency spectrum in the 2,6GHz and 3,5GHz bands, says CEO Setumo Mohapi. The 2,6GHz band, in particular