Telecoms news from South Africa

Vodacom in Dispute with Regulator Over Licensing Fees

South Africa's Vodacom is denying that it owes R77.8 million (US$8.3 million) for overdue licensing fees to the telecoms regulator, and is willing to go to court if necessary. ...more.

Cell C Denies Owing Outstanding License Fees to Telecoms Regulator

South African mobile network operator, Cell C has denied claims that it owes money to the telecoms regulator for unpaid radio spectrum fees. ...more.

South African Police Arrest SIM-Swap Fraudster

South African police have arrested a man who is said to be one of the country's leading criminals in so-called SIM Swap identity fraud. ...more.

South African Regulator Publishes Networks QoS Report

South Africa's telecoms regulator, ICASA has released a report into the mobile networks quality of service and found that while Cell C had the best rate at setting up a call, MTN was the best at letting customers complete a call once it started. ...more.

Turkcell Drops $4.2 Billion Lawsuit Against MTN in the USA

Turkey based Turkcell has dropped a lawsuit it was filing in the USA claiming that South Africa's MTN used bribery to deprive it of its Iranian mobile network license. ...more.

Vodacom to Use Rain Water to Cool its Offices

South Africa's Vodacom has launched the country's largest rainwater harvesting project at its head office in Midrand. The rainwater harvest project is expected to harvest about 12 million litres per annum. ...more.

MoneyGram Launches Mobile Money Transfer Service in South Africa

MoneyGram and South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) have launched their first mobile money transfer service in Africa, ...more.

Vodacom Expands LTE Availability - Outlines Upgrade Plans

South Africa Vodacom has expanded the availability of its LTE services to all its customers -- both prepay and contract. ...more.

South Africa's Vodacom Starts Offering Mobile Heath Services

South Africa's Vodacom Business division has announced the launch of a number of mHealth initiatives together with its partner Mezzanineware. ...more.

South Africa's Telkom Relaunches its Mobile Network Subsdiary

South Africa's main landline network Telkom has relaunched its mobile network as Telkom Mobile. ...more.

MTN Group Posts 11% Rise in Full Year Revenues

South Africa based MTN Group has reported that its full year revenues rose by 10.9% to reach R135 billion, driven by rising mobile data revenues which were up by nearly 60%. ...more.

Vodacom Deploys South Africa's Largest Single-Building Solar Array

South Africa's Vodacom has unveiled the largest solar array of panels on a single building in Africa at its offices in Cape Town. ...more.

Confusion Over Rebranding Plans for South Africa's Smallest Mobile Network

South Africa's smallest mobile network, 8ta caused confusion over the weekend after it said it would be rebranding to adopt the name of its landline parent, Telkom SA, but later retracted part of the statement. ...more.

Ogilvy & Mather Buys South African Mobile Ad Agency

Advertising giant, Ogilvy & Mather says that it has bought a majority share in the South African mobile marketing company, Strike Media. ...more.

Vodacom Posts Modest Rise in 4th-Quarter Revenues

South Africa based Vodacom has reported that its fourth-quarter revenues rose by 1.7 percent to reach R18.3 billion. ...more.

MTN Says its Acquitted in Iran Bribery Allegations

South Africa based MTN Group has issued an independent report into the allegations that it used bribery to secure an operating license in Iran - and concluded that the company did not do what it was alleged to have done. ...more.

Saudi Telecom Profits Plunge by 79% on Overseas Writedowns

Saudi Arabia's Saudi Telecom (STC) has posted a sharp fall in its fourth-quarter profits as the company was hurt by write-downs of overseas subsidiaries and a one-off tax charge. ...more.

Higher Data Penetration Creates New Opportunities in South Africa

Cloud services, mobile advertising and mobile apps will be some of the highest growth segments in the South African market, contributing half a billion dollars in new revenue from 2012-2017, ...more.

Vodacom Deploys 500th LTE Enabled Base Station

South Africa's Vodacom says that it has expanded its LTE coverage from 70 to more than 500 base stations and the rollout has now reached Cape Town. ...more.

Bharti Airtel May Bid for South African Network

India's Bharti Airtel is reported to be making another attempt to buy a South African mobile network, and is said to be looking at acquiring either of the smallest networks, Cell C or 8ta. ...more.