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Top stories South Africa: Neotel to scoop bandwidth boon Access to internet highlighted by new global report South Africa: Acces boom full steam ahead Broadband "glut" predicted in Africa South Africa: Where to now with universal access? South Africa: Nothing new with Neotel TIGA awards for ICT and government delivery Google edges into Africa SAT-3 reinforces market monopolies in Africa - Study South Africa: Court rules on free networks South Africa: FOSS activists take on electoral commission South Africa: Space for WiMax on the cards South Africa: Courts could liberalise telecoms APC: Another take on piracy needed South Africa: Mozilla funds translation team

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 South Africa: Neotel to scoop bandwidth boon
18/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- The country's second national operator, Neotel, has become the anchor tenant on the broadband marine cable Seacom. The fledgling operator is now poised to deliver vast quantities of cheaper bandwidth to South Africa. |

 Access to internet highlighted by new global report
12/03/2009 (APC) -- How do we ensure access to the internet is a human right enjoyed by everyone? This is one of the critical questions asked by an annual publication that highlights the importance of people’s access to ICT infrastructure – and where and how countries are getting it right or wrong, and what can be done about it. |

 South Africa: Acces boom full steam ahead
11/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- South Africa is set for an access boom. That's according to industry analysts who suggest that last year’s court case between the Department of Communications and Altech, which allowed local network operators and smaller businesses to roll out their own networks, combined with the imminent landing of the SEACOM sub-marine cable on South Africa’s East Coast has set the scene for a major shift in the local access landscape. |

 Broadband "glut" predicted in Africa
16/02/2009 -- Industry pundits argue that it's unlikely that all the fibre-optic cables planned for Africa are going to succeed. And, perhaps for the first time, projections of a "capacity glut" are being made. |

 South Africa: Where to now with universal access?
01/11/2008 (SANGONeT) -- In recent weeks the CEOs of two national development agencies in South Africa, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), were fired or suspended for incompetence or misconduct. These incidents raise serious questions about the integrity and intent of the people entrusted with guiding development efforts in the country, writes SANGONeT Director David Barnard. |

 South Africa: Nothing new with Neotel
01/11/2008 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- Businesses are complaining that South Africa's second national operator is not promising much - at least right now. |

 TIGA awards for ICT and government delivery
30/09/2008 (UNECA) -- The Economic Commission for Africa and the the Canadian Fund for Africa have launched the Second Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) Awards. The awards aim to recognise the work of African governments in the effective use of ICTs for public service delivery. |

 Google edges into Africa
16/09/2008 (BBC) -- Google is helping develop a system to bring high-speed internet connections to three billion people in developing countries in Africa and elsewhere. The 03b Networks system aims to use satellites to provide broadband services at the same speeds as those on offer in rich countries. |

 SAT-3 reinforces market monopolies in Africa - Study
08/09/2008 (APC) -- An APC study examining the impact the SAT-3 fibre optic submarine cable has had on telecommunications in four African countries has found that the potential of the cable has not been properly exploited. Instead, ownership of the cable by telecoms incumbents in the countries researched has reinforced their market positions. |

 South Africa: Court rules on free networks
02/09/2008 (The Weekender) -- A landmark ruling set to shake up the telecommunications sector has been issued by a South African high court. The ruling effectively ends the incumbent Telkom’s lingering monopoly by decreeing that technology company Altech has the right to build its own network. |

 South Africa: FOSS activists take on electoral commission
02/09/2008 (Tectonic) -- The head of South Africa’s government open source working group, the chief technical officer of the State IT Agency and the Shuttleworth Foundation have laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the Independent Electoral Commission for excluding non-Internet Explorer users from it website. |

 South Africa: Space for WiMax on the cards
18/08/2008 (mybroadband.co.za) -- The South African government wants some of the scarce radio frequency spectrum that will be freed up through the country's impending move from analogue to digital terrestrial television to be made available to telecommunications operators wanting to provide wireless broadband services. |

 South Africa: Courts could liberalise telecoms
05/08/2008 -- Pundits in South Africa are holding their breath ahead of a ruling that may mean the immediate liberalisation of the telecoms industry - and give value added network service providers the same rights as telecoms giants Telkom, Neotel and the country's cellular operators. |

 APC: Another take on piracy needed
05/08/2008 (APC) -- As new copyright laws attempt to keep pace with the shifting landscape of digital cultural production, legal restrictions on media use and distribution are being championed by heavyweights in the global media industry. This has led to the web of restrictions on media consumption becoming denser. APC hopes to re-shape the discourse surrounding piracy by providing a thoroughly researched, credible alternative to the industry’s data. |

 South Africa: Mozilla funds translation team
29/07/2008 (Tectonic) -- South Africa’s award-winning multilingual software developer, Translate.org.za, has been awarded a grant by the Mozilla Corporation to extend its translation tools. |

 SOUTH AFRICA: Internet providers lose out on licences
07/07/2008 (mybroadband.co.za) -- Technology companies hoping to win a licence to build their own voice and data networks have been snubbed by the regulatory authority - they will still be forced to lease their bandwidth from the incumbent telecoms operators. |

 SOUTH AFRICA: Internet back in big business
07/07/2008 (mybroadband.co.za) -- South Africa’s lack of internet and broadband penetration has, for a long time, held local online ventures at bay. But this is changing and larger companies are starting to invest in websites and e-commerce ventures again. |

 SOUTH AFRICA: Amazon Dot Gone
02/07/2008 (mybroadband.co.za) -- According to the most recent shipping guidelines on Amazon.com, South Africa is now the only country in Africa not able to receive standard or expedited shipping. It seems rampant theft has everything to do with it. |

 'Tow the line' APC tells Telkom
07/04/2008 -- APC has called on South Africa's regulator to take immediate action to counter the anti-competitive behaviour of Telkom, the country's fixed-line operator. “Telkom’s sole control of submarine fibre-optic cables such as the SAT3/WASC/SAFE undersea cable, the landing station at Melkbosstrand, as well as the land-based fibre optic cables has resulted in anti-competitive practices and consequent exploding telecommunication costs,” it said in a statement. |

 Kigali protocol pushed through
19/02/2008 -- The NEPAD e-Africa Commission says the protocol on the policy and regulatory framework for the NEPAD ICT Broadband Infrastructure Network, known as the Kigali protocol, is now in force. That's after Malawi became the seventh country to put pen to paper. |

 South Africa: Neotel to scoop bandwidth boon
18/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- The country's second national operator, Neotel, has become the anchor tenant on the broadband marine cable Seacom. The fledgling operator is now poised to deliver vast quantities of cheaper bandwidth to South Africa. |

 Access to internet highlighted by new global report
12/03/2009 (APC) -- How do we ensure access to the internet is a human right enjoyed by everyone? This is one of the critical questions asked by an annual publication that highlights the importance of people’s access to ICT infrastructure – and where and how countries are getting it right or wrong, and what can be done about it. |

 South Africa: National broadcast slammed again
11/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- THE SABC has again been criticised in a report on corporate governance prepared by Deloitte & Touche for Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. The report says there is a lack of accountability at the broadcaster. |

 South Africa: Acces boom full steam ahead
11/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- South Africa is set for an access boom. That's according to industry analysts who suggest that last year’s court case between the Department of Communications and Altech, which allowed local network operators and smaller businesses to roll out their own networks, combined with the imminent landing of the SEACOM sub-marine cable on South Africa’s East Coast has set the scene for a major shift in the local access landscape. |

 South Africa: Corporate governance and ICTs
11/03/2009 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- A draft of the Third King Report on Corporate Governance (King III) has been released for public comment. Unlike previous reports, King III deals with ICT governance in detail for the first time. However, some lawyers are not impressed. |

 South Africa: Icasa delays mobile TV policy
26/02/2009 (MyBroadband.co.za) -- The Independent Communications Authority (Icasa) unexpectedly withdrew an invitation to apply for mobile TV licences recently. |

 South Africa: Mobile penetration increases steadily
17/02/2009 (MyBroadband.co.za) -- Cellphone penetration in South Africa has gone up, but average spending has continued to dwindle as a result of various pressures on consumers. According to the latest figures from the South African Advertising Research Foundation, 67% of adults in the country have cellphones. This was up from the previous survey, which showed that 60.5% of South Africa had cellphones. |

 Broadband "glut" predicted in Africa
16/02/2009 -- Industry pundits argue that it's unlikely that all the fibre-optic cables planned for Africa are going to succeed. And, perhaps for the first time, projections of a "capacity glut" are being made. |

 Senegal: Linking up through technology
12/02/2009 (APC) -- Seven women and thirteen men from Anglophone and Francophone Africa and the Caribbean met during the last days of September in Gorée Island, Senegal. They have many things in common, but one in particular is their ability to make innovative connections between gender, agriculture and ICTs. This ability has led them to be finalists of the Gender, Agricultural and Rural Development in the Information Society (GenARDIS) small grants fund... |

 Mobile(ising) Africa
12/02/2009 (Balancing Act) -- Three hundred and eighty people gathered from all over the world in Johannesburg recently to discuss how mobile phones might be used for social and political purposes in developing countries. The topic clearly touched a nerve, writes Russell Southwood. |

 IGF gets under way in India
12/01/2009 (KICTANeT) -- The First East African Internet Governance Forum was inspired by the realization that there was a need to address the limited participation of African stakeholders in global internet governance debates. That's according to KICTANeT's Alice Wanjira, who was speaking at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) currently taking place in India. |

 East Africa prepares for global IGF
26/12/2008 (Computerworld) -- Representatives from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have gathered in Nairobi to discuss common issues regarding internet governance, in preparation for next month's global Internet Governance Forum (IGF). |

 South Africa: Nothing new with Neotel
01/11/2008 (Mybroadband.co.za) -- Businesses are complaining that South Africa's second national operator is not promising much - at least right now. |

 South Africa: Where to now with universal access?
01/11/2008 (SANGONeT) -- In recent weeks the CEOs of two national development agencies in South Africa, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), were fired or suspended for incompetence or misconduct. These incidents raise serious questions about the integrity and intent of the people entrusted with guiding development efforts in the country, writes SANGONeT Director David Barnard. |

 Nepad e-schools on the blink
30/10/2008 (MyBroadband.co.za) -- The e-schools satellite learning programme, run by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), has linked less than 100 schools in Africa to the internet. That's after promising to connect some 600,000 schools on the continent in 2003.
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 TIGA awards for ICT and government delivery
30/09/2008 (UNECA) -- The Economic Commission for Africa and the the Canadian Fund for Africa have launched the Second Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) Awards. The awards aim to recognise the work of African governments in the effective use of ICTs for public service delivery. |

 South Africa: Citizen journalism under the spotlight
16/09/2008 (Highway Africa) -- More than 700 journalists from over 40 African countries were expected to attend the 12th Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, South Africa. The conference is the world's biggest gathering for African journalists and took place on 8 - 10 September. This year's theme was citizen journalism. |

 Google edges into Africa
16/09/2008 (BBC) -- Google is helping develop a system to bring high-speed internet connections to three billion people in developing countries in Africa and elsewhere. The 03b Networks system aims to use satellites to provide broadband services at the same speeds as those on offer in rich countries. |

 SAT-3 reinforces market monopolies in Africa - Study
08/09/2008 (APC) -- An APC study examining the impact the SAT-3 fibre optic submarine cable has had on telecommunications in four African countries has found that the potential of the cable has not been properly exploited. Instead, ownership of the cable by telecoms incumbents in the countries researched has reinforced their market positions. |

 South Africa: Court rules on free networks
02/09/2008 (The Weekender) -- A landmark ruling set to shake up the telecommunications sector has been issued by a South African high court. The ruling effectively ends the incumbent Telkom’s lingering monopoly by decreeing that technology company Altech has the right to build its own network. |

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