Telkom/BCX is a no go

The long awaited competition tribunal, looking into the Telkom / BCX merger, has finally made a decision. They have denied the merger between the telecoms provider and the outsourcing giant. According to BCX they believed they had a 50/50 chance, obviously the wrong 50 was chosen.

The findings show some hope for the IT and telecoms sector in this country. If the deal had gone through Telkom would further increase their monopoly on the IT sector. Unfortunately for Peter Watt, CEO of BCX, the golden handshake he was probably expecting never materialised.

Telkom did mention that if the deal did not go through they would look for an international IT acquisition. It will be interesting to see who they approach.

Cell C adopt bold strategy

Cell C have effectively captured the low LSM market for mobile phones. They have just announced that they will be offering free Cell C to Cell C calls over the weekend to subscribers who have topped up during the week.

The lower LSM market is a huge one to capture and if this new strategy, called ‘Woza Weekend’ pans out Cell C will be showing Vodacom and MTN how it is done. On the other hand this does show that they are struggling to break the hold of the two big players in the higher LSM market, which through increased data usage does provide increased revenue.

Google sidestepping SA

So Kenya is where it is all happening at the moment. Yes Google’s Sub-Saharan head office is going to be stationed in Kenya. Surely South Africa has the infrastructure and is better managed for one of the biggest global companies around?

No reason was sighted but I am sure that because of Google’s online nature it had something to do with the problems and dilemmas South Africa’s Internet users endure on a daily basis. One could argue that a 4MB ADSL line just won’t cut it.

Whatever Google’s reason is, the fact must strike the heart of all people wanting South Africa to succeed. To lose out on the potential investment Google would put into the country is appalling. And if the Internet regulation is to blame then something needs to be done. But then again we all know this, let’s just hope the people in charge could be as educated.

Cellphone mathematics

Education has just gone mobile. A South African technology training company, IT School Innovation has launched MOBI. This application allows users to learn mathematics while chatting to others. IT School innovation refer to it as mobile edutainment.

''Although the underlying technology provides the foundation for rolling-out mobile education programmes on just about any topic to any location for any organisation or community – the initial focus is on mobile mathematics (MOBI Maths) for grades 10 to 12, specifically tailored for the South African mathematics curriculum," says IT School Innovation's CEO, Lieb Liebenberg.

MOBI can be downloaded for free. Using a 3G connection the user can then connect to the server. This provides them access to MOBI Maths, MOBI Chat and MOBI Radio.

"Looking specifically at education, MOBI currently offers both mathematics education in the form of a five section structured educational approach and secure private chat rooms for learners to communicate with their friends. This is an ideal platform for cooperative learning events, or just socialising. Content preparation for other subjects such as physics and chemistry is in progress," says Liebenberg.

BPL gets the amber light

Broadband over power lines (BPL) is starting to pick up. Goal Technology Solutions (GTS) announced today that they are offering their services in all areas in which they are allowed. The problem being that municipalities seem to be holding back the process.

BPL, in short, allows for Internet connectivity over power lines. The benefits of this is that the infrastructure (the power lines) is already there and speeds are greatly increased from the more traditional access options. BPL means a great deal for rural areas where wireless hotspots and telephone cables are scarce to non-existent. Most of the country is covered by power lines and therefore these stand as a more ubiquitous form of Internet access.

The problem is that GTS has to get the permission of municipalities as they are using their power infrastructure to provide the service. Last year Intelligence Magazine featured the work of GTS and highlighted the importance of BPL, both for speed and access purposes. Let’s just hope the municipalities come to their senses.

Cellphones get MobileChoice

Vodacom has made their entry into the broadcasting and multi-media market a formal one. Today they announced an exclusive pay-television agreement with MultiChoice. The result of this agreement is that consumers can now watch a bouquet of channels on their mobile phones.

“For the first time, South Africans will be able to subscribe to satellite pay-TV for as little as R139 per month and choose one of the two DStv Select bouquets of channels they’d like to view. We expect to attract many customers who will enjoy the variety of more than four channels, but can now afford it for the first time,” said Alan Knott-Craig, CEO of the Vodacom Group.

With increasing cellphone penetration this is definitely a viable option in South Africa. It will be interesting to see the uptake figures though.

Samsung take the leap

At last, a local company has embraced blogging. Samsung recently launched The Samsung Blog which seems to deal mainly with their mobile offerings. Post are written by bloggers that have been given Samsung products to use, they simply write about using the products in every day life.

It is not clear yet whether the posts are shameless marketing or genuine reviewer opinion but one thing is for sure, the powers that be at Samsung South Africa obviously realise that traditional forms of advertising and marketing are not as effective on jaded audiences as they used to be. People are more likely to trust the opinion of a blogger than a paid actress on a television screen.

Lets hope this is the beginning of a corporate shift to increased online marketing.