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/ 12 May 2006

USA loses its head

Critics have called for a restructuring of the Universal Service Agency (USA) following the resignation of CEO Sam Gulube this week, citing the Department of Communications parastatal’s inability to deliver affordable communication to under-serviced areas.

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/ 4 May 2006

Muzzling gas guzzlers

The Government is set to kick gas-guzzling cars into touch with widespread reforms aimed at promoting fuel economy and reducing emissions. The new measures are in line with international best practice where fuel economy and emissions labelling on every car is compulsory.

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/ 3 May 2006

Ringing in the changes at Cell C

It is a long way from a tiny Lebanese mountain village of 5 000 people to a boardroom in Johannesburg, but that is the story of Cell C CEO Talaat Laham. Laham heads a company in flux. Having captured a 10% market share in the South African mobile sector in the past four years, Cell C is positioning itself to take full advantage of the regulatory and technological changes that are set to shake up the sector in the next three years.

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/ 2 May 2006

Fly Taxpayer Express

South African Airways’s cost structure, twice that of budget airlines, prevents it from competing against low-cost carriers, meaning that its stated intent of entering this market will ultimately be at the taxpayer’s expense. SAA will enter the budget market, which has grown 44% in four years, by year-end.

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/ 28 April 2006

SABC imperils ’76 doccies

Black filmmakers and producers have complained that administrative bungling by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is driving them to financial ruin.
Disgruntled filmmakers say a lack of coordination between the creative hub of the SABC and the financial and legal departments was preventing them from receiving payment for commissioned work.

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/ 21 April 2006

Mbeki bounces Icasa Bill

President Thabo Mbeki has bounced the Icasa Amendment Bill back to Parliament, striking a blow in support of the independence of South Africa’s telecommunications regulator. The Bill was the subject of heated debate after amendments that stakeholders accused of undermining the regulator’s independence were passed by the National Council of Provinces.

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/ 21 April 2006

Banks make 50% profit off charges

Up to 50% of the South African banking industry’s revenue comes from bank charges carried by consumers, some of the highest in the world, the Competition Commission has found in a groundbreaking report. The report, called <i>The National Payment System and Competition in the Banking Sector</i>, was released on Thursday.

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/ 21 April 2006

A SNO-ball’s chance in hell

Attempts by industry regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to bring more competition to the telecommunications market, by making radio spectrum available for low-cost mobile phones, are being resisted by state-owned telecoms company Sentech.

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/ 7 April 2006

In the financial laundry

The charge sheet implicating five businessmen in a R213-million pension-fund fraud details an elaborate scheme aimed at profiteering from surplus money generated by the funds. Four businessmen were arrested last month in a criminal case relating to that being brought against Australian Peter Ghavalas, who was arrested in September last year.

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/ 31 March 2006

(Broad)banding together

African universities have banded together to challenge high Internet bandwidth access costs by investing in the development of the new undersea cable on the east coast of Africa. Last August, universities from Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa formed a collaborative regional body, in an attempt to lobby governments and gain access to low-cost bandwidth on the EASSy cable.

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/ 27 March 2006

Dial interconnect for rip-off

The government’s war against excessive pricing moved into the area of telephone call charges recently, with regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) putting the spotlight on how so-called interconnect fees raise both landline and mobile costs. Mobile call costs could be slashed by 30% if Icasa wins its battle with landline and mobile operators, according to an independent expert.

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/ 17 March 2006

Sledging and other online pleasures

It was the greatest one-day cricket game ever, with Internet blogs capturing the see-saw match that had the South Africans counted out even before they picked up a bat. But some Australian cricket fans may be wishing they had waited till after South Africa had batted on Sunday before they made their pronouncements about their side’s record score and South Africa’s dismal bowling.

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/ 17 March 2006

Not so EASSy

The good news is that excessively high international bandwidth prices in Africa, caused by the monopolisation of the SAT-3 undersea cable, are to be challenged by the establishment of a new submarine cable on the east coast of Africa. The 9 900km EASSy cable is set to run from Port Sudan in the north to Durban, and will complete the fibre loop surrounding Africa.

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/ 15 March 2006

Tracking the markup

Global positioning systems units in South Africa are retailing for twice as much as they sell for in the United States, bringing into question the markup on the latest technologies that are imported into South Africa. A Garmin E-trex Yellow GPS unit retails in the US for about $100 (R617).

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/ 13 March 2006

Road kill

The trucking industry is being allowed to ride roughshod over the South African motorist. Truckers pay more in toll fees, but very low amounts considering they are responsible for 10&nbsp;000 times the damage to roads. Toll fees for heavy-duty trucks travelling on the N3 between Jo’burg and Durban add up R408. Motorists travelling in light passenger cars pay R110 for the same trip.

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/ 24 February 2006

Hamba Uhambo

Gauteng motorists will be amazed to learn that a price war has been taking place at the fuel pumps, it’s just that discounts have not been passed on to the consumer. The Competition Tribunal on Thursday blocked the proposed R12-billion merger of Sasol and Engen’s liquid fuels businesses into a new entity to be called Uhambo.

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/ 24 February 2006

Ready, steady, wait

An anchor government growth project designed to reduce the country’s crippling communication costs and boost jobs will be delayed — probably by a year — because a government department did not submit the project’s budget in time. The project, envisages parastatal Sentech rolling out a wireless broadband network countrywide.

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/ 21 February 2006

Freeing your books

After almost four years in Perth, Australia, my stay was nearing its end and I had a problem. Being an avid second-hand book shopper, my collection was fairly impressive and I was well aware that exorbitant shipping costs were going to restrict the number of parcels I could send home.

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/ 17 February 2006

Telkom’s costly Réunion

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is extremely generous to its problem child Telkom compared with French and Mauritian regulators, which also set prices on South Africa’s key Internet link to the rest of the world, the SAT-3 undersea cable.

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/ 16 February 2006

Big breaks for small business

The government finally appears to be noticing small business, tabling a range of tax breaks and benefits in the Budget to stimulate the second economy. Don Moody, a spokesperson for Cofesa, a body that supports small business, says the tax breaks and benefits are a step in the right direction.

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/ 13 February 2006

Phumzile tackles Telkom

The government talks the talk; Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in a briefing at Parliament announced that cheaper broadband was a pillar of its growth strategy. But it is walking the walk too; soon-to-be promulgated legislation taking on Telkom’s SAT-3 monopoly will declare any exclusivity provision contained in licence agreements invalid.

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/ 3 February 2006

What is your house worth?

South African homeowners are rushing to get a free property evaluation courtesy of a new online automated valuation website.Jose Rodrigues, MD of Cerno Cubed, the company behind the website, says the Real Estate Evaluation Portal is one of the most popular websites in South Africa.

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/ 2 February 2006

Hard cash from software

The head of one of the most innovative companies in South Africa’s information and communication technology sector and the recent recipient of the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur Award for 2005, Brandon Leigh, followed his ideas through bankruptcy and on to riches.

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/ 27 January 2006

BEE scorecards now available online

Small business owners can stop fretting over the costs of compliance with complex codes of black economic empowerment thanks to an innovative Web-based scorecard solution. Dijon de Jager, a qualified chartered accountant, launched Mpower Ratings in 2004 in an attempt to cater for small, medium and micro-enterprises.

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/ 27 January 2006

JSE eyes slimmer, sexier Anglo

Anglo American has seen its value rise by 10,4% — R30-billion — since its big R90-billion sale plans were announced last October. Anglo’s market cap has risen from R290-billion to R320-billion in the three months since Anglo announced its intent to restructure, said a JSE official.

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/ 20 January 2006

Onstage love

<b>BIOPIC OF THE WEEK</b>: Any attempt to capture the spirit of the Man in Black was always going to be a tall order and the new Johnny Cash biopic, <i>Walk the Line</i>, stands up to the challenge, writes Lloyd Gedye.

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/ 9 January 2006

Powering a fuel-cell future

A local high-tech company has scooped a $14-million deal to import 400 fuel-cell units, a revolutionary technology that could change the face of power supply in South Africa. The United States-manufactured units use a chemical reaction between hydrogen, oxygen and a catalyst to create energy with water as a by-product.

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/ 15 December 2005

How to spend R20-billion

The Cabinet approved the Gautrain Rapid Rail last week amid sharp criticism over its costs and viability. The R20-billion earmarked for its construction could move a whole lot more people in different ways, a few simple calculations reveal. It could deliver 6 250km of rail — or 80 times the distance — if it was used for regular rail infrastructure.

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/ 15 December 2005

Denel’s R500m garage sale

South African arms manufacturer Denel expects to realise R500-million in the sale of its non-core assets, which forms part of the government’s policy to streamline parastatals and raise much-needed capital. Denel’s non-core assets include shopping malls, office parks, an electrical products company, a soya processing plant and IT companies.