The legal and institutional framework underpinning South Africa’s universal service obligations in telecommunications is no longer fit for purpose, industry leaders have warned. The levy paid by licence holders increasingly resembles a general tax rather than a ring-fenced contribution to closing the country’s connectivity gaps, they said. Telecoms licensees pay 0.2% of their licensed revenue…
Telecommunications infrastructure theft and power outages continue to hold back connectivity in South Africa, with the cost burden on mobile and fibre operators more than doubling in a year. According to communications regulator Icasa’s latest State of the ICT Sector report, published last week, the rate of telecoms equipment theft grew significantly between 2024 and…
Shortages of chipsets and RAM caused by the AI data centre boom are beginning to affect the telecommunications sector, according to MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita. Responding to a question from TechCentral at MTN Group’s presentation of its annual results to 31 December 2025 on Monday, Mupita said MTN has seen the cost of computing…
Absa Group has made several strategic executive appointments. (Image: 123RF) Absa has made several executive appointments to strengthen leadership capability across the group, bringing onboard tech and telecoms sector leaders. Among the appointees are M-Pesa Africa MD and Safaricom chief financial services officer Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, and former EOH chief risk officer Fatima Newman. They are…
ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi Mobile industry lobby group the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) has filed an application with the high court in Pretoria to have regulations introduced by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber, in which he hiked the fee for accessing the national population register database by as much as 6 500%, overturned. ACT…
Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix, Microsoft and Amazon will not face heavy-handed regulations in Europe’s digital rule overhaul despite calls from telecommunications companies, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. A slew of new tech rules adopted in recent years by the European Commission sparked criticism from the US, which says it targets…
Minister of communications and digital technologies, Solly Malatsi. (Graphic: Nicola Mawson.) The year 2025 came to an end without the resolution of an apparent conflict over extending Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) into the telecoms sector – a policy shift that could see billions in additional foreign direct investment and the creation of thousands of…
ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi Telecommunications industry body the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) has called for greater transparency of equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) should sector regulator Icasa choose to implement last week’s ministerial policy directive on black economic empowerment. Speaking to TechCentral on Wednesday, ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi said EEIPs in other sectors…
The “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” is charting a course into the digital future. From the lush, green coastlines of sugarcane fields, to the bustling financial centre of Port Louis, Mauritius, the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” is charting a bold course into the digital future. As Africa’s most competitive, high-income economy, this multicultural island nation,…
Adapt IT Telecoms’ Matthew Seabrook Modern communication service providers (CSPs) face a growing problem: complexity. Operational complexity driven by years of layered legacy systems, multiple vendors and siloed value-added service (VAS) environments. Sound familiar? If so, you are not alone. These systems are often fragmented and siloed, making it harder to innovate and more expensive…
