South Africa’s minister of communications Mrs Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has published the government’s draft proposals for trading of cellular frequency spectrum in the country. The new proposals, which have been discussed for years, are contained in a draft ‘next-generation radio frequency spectrum’ policy document, which was published for public comment. Linked to the suggestions are proposed […]
TestTree, Video QoS & QoE solutions by 24/7 monitoring for the studio, broadband IPTV/OTT/CATV and broadcast DTTV/DTH networks, is pleased to announce the deployment of its StreamProbe and EdgeProbe products by Globecast in South Africa.Globecast provides a wide range of media services, including distribution, from the studio down to the final customer through satellite and […]
South African pay-TV operator DStv is to add NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Universal+, to its portfolio from October 14th. The service will be free for DStv subscribers and available throughout sub-Saharan Africa. DStv subscribers will be able to stream thousands of hours of entertainment, including the Safta award-winning Celebrity Game Night, by visiting ‘Catch Up’ on […]
Independent South African broadcaster e.tv is accusing the nation’s regulator ICASA of permitting the State-owned transmission company Sentech to abuse it monopoly. The row emerged during a public meeting organised by ICASA and where e-tv’s and eMedia executives severely criticised the ICASA regulator of ignoring for the past 12 years to correctly manage the situation […]
The Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has announced the appointment of Nkhetheleni Norman Gidi as its Acting Chief Executive Officer, effective from September 1st to November 30th 2022, or until a permanent appointment has been made. The appointment of Gidi follows the announcement of the end of term of office […]
ICASA, South Africa’s communications regulator, has started the process to make more spectrum available for the nation’s broadband demands. Specifically, ICASA has published an “information memorandum” in the Government’s official gazette setting out its plans to initiate a “second phase” of spectrum licensing in the so-called “low and mid radio frequency bands”. These radio bands, […]
The CEO of South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA, Willington Ngwepe, is stepping down and says he will not be available at the end of his current term in office. Ngwepe will leave on October 15th. His departure follows on from that of ICASA’s chairman, Keabetswe Modimoeng, who also stepped aside earlier than expected. “Ngwepe has […]
There are a number of complaints coming from public and private broadcasters that Sentech, the provider of TV signals around South Africa, is overcharging and using anti-competitive behaviour. Public broadcaster SABC, itself financially challenged, has argued to the media regulator ICASA that publicly-owned Sentech, as a monopoly, is guilty of excessive pricing. Private broadcaster E-tv’s […]
Standard Bank Group has successfully finalised a R5 billion (€0.29bn) debt finance package for MetroFibre Networx, supporting its continued fibreoptic data network rollout across South Africa. The financing will be used to expand MetroFibre’s world-class fibre connectivity into homes and businesses in underserviced communities across South Africa and is set to contribute to increasing Metrofibre’s […]
Google is facing examination by South Africa’s Competition Commission (CC) with allegations that the search engine occupies a near-monopolistic position in the country, especially on the nation’s users of smartphones. Moreover, the CC says that Google does not make sufficiently clear that its top recommendations are often the result of ‘paid for’ advertising. Google has […]