The first word I NEVER THOUGHT I`d see the day that MTN and Vodacom (and Cell C) would be in the same room, eating the same food, breathing the same air, chummy as anything. But there they were last week, signing the Code of Good Practice that will regulate unsuitable content.

The sight of such serene coexistence reminded me of a conspiracy theory that once did the rounds, the one where Coca Cola and Pepsi are supposedly one and the same company, and the outcome of the Cola Wars is really academic.

Vodacom and MTN have me-too`d each other`s inventions countless times over the years, which, if you think about it, sounds more like a love-hate thing than pure, unadulterated competitive hatred. It`s a real with-or-without situation; quite sweet really.

But with news that Vodacom is still ahead of MTN in the subscriber stakes - presumably thanks to the former`s noise about 3G, MTN is pinning its hopes on Africa. Rumour has it that the operator is keen on Botswana and Egypt.

For Vodacom, by contrast, Africa has not been such a happy hunting ground (pulling out of Nigeria for the second time recently).

I had the pleasure of hearing Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig`s life story at the IT Personality Awards recently, and will, like many others, be watching fascinatedly as these South African giants duke it out for domination. As for Cell C, I was pleased to hear Richard Branson saying the joint venture with Cell C will be finalised by year-end. Roll on more competitive offerings!

But the news of the week was Standard Bank`s alacrity in shutting down some pesky phisher-folk in the Eastern Bloc. The mails in question fooled some clever, experienced people, so watch your back!

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