The week in review

Thursday, 08 March 2007 00:00 Written by Laura Franz-Kamissoko

AT HOME

TECHNOLOGY FIRM issued a cautionary notice advising shareholders it was in talks that could affect its share price. Mustek manufactures SA`s best-selling Mecer PC and imports arange of IT hardware. Media reports indicate it has been looking for an empowerment deal that will bring commercial benefits to the group.

MORE efficient factory operations and a relentless crime wave have helped vehicle-tracking technology company DigiCore enjoy a 41% rise in headline earnings a share from 11,3c to 15,9c. It posted a net profit of R34.8 million on revenue of R189 million for the six months to December, up from R26 million on a revenue of R145 million a year ago. - Business Day

SA`S SCIENTIFIC and technology community was a major beneficiary of the budget speech, with an additional R1.2 billion being allocated to this sector of the economy. Finance minister said that R500 million would go to support SA`s bid to host the - a series of enormous telescopes across the Northern Cape that will record radio waves to examine the origins of the universe. - ITWeb

ALT-X listed IFCA Technologies has overshot the profit targets it set when it joined the board last year, with maiden results showing a net profit of R3.6 million on revenue of R14.7 million. Its results cover ten months to December 31, when it clocked up headline earnings a share of 4c. That was 13% up from the 3.57c it predicted in its prelisting projections, while the profit of R3.6 million topped the predicted R2.5 million.

FIDENTIA subsidiary Software Futures is up for grabs after a High Court order placed aspects of its parent company under curatorship at the beginning of February. Forensic accountant, George Papadakis, who the court appointed as joint curator, said applications are being invited for firms to express their interest in buying the software company. - ITWeb

IN RESPONSE TO media reports that Communications Minister blamed the private sector for failing to "come to the party" on voice over IP, or VOIP, and self-provisioning during a recent parliamentary briefing, the Internet Service Providers` Association issued a call for "urgent clarity on the legality of self-provision".

THE CONSTITUTIONAL Court denied leave to appeal a ruling against the fixed-line operator, deciding in favour of US-based software company Telcordia. The dispute arose when Telkom accused Telcordia of breach of contract by not keeping to the agreed-upon specifications in the supply of a software solution to the fixed-line operator. Telcordia responded with a counter-claim. The Constitutional Court decision followed a last-gasp effort by Telkom to appeal against the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal`s ruling in November. This ruling stated Telkom must pay damages of upwards of R1 billion to Telcordia, based on the US firm`s claims. - ITWeb

CABINET reconfirmed a commitment to use more open source software in government departments to slash its technology running costs and increase the opportunities for local software developers.

INTO AFRICA

KENYA: The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) signed a two-year contract for the provision of Internet services by Safaricom. The contract is valued at Sh8.4 million, but payment could vary upward as the billing is based on usage. This comes six months after government intervened by appointing Safaricom to provide PCK with Internet connection in September, after Universal Satspace, which had secured a 10-year contract in 2002 to provide PCK with Internet, prematurely switched off the VSAT Internet connection, alleging non-payment fees. - The Nation

LESOTHO: Econet Wireless Group has accepted the offer from Eskom to buy it out of the Telecom Lesotho joint venture. Amicable negotiations and valuations are in progress, says Econet. Mountain Kingdom Communications, which holds 70% of Telecom Lesotho, is a joint venture between Eskom and Econet. - Business in Africa

EGYPT: An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years` prison for insulting Islam and the president. Abdel Kareem Soliman`s trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt. He had used his Web log to criticise the country`s top Islamic institution, al-Azhar University, and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator. - BBC News

ETHIOPIA: The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation is planning to lower its service tariffs for its mobile and Internet customers. To assess how much of a decrease, it has organised a committee, which is studying the issue. - Addis Fortune

KENYA: The laying of the East African Marine System marine cable from Mombasa to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates is at an advanced stage. Information and communications permanent secretary Dr said a marine survey is under way and will be completed this month. Its outcome will pave the way for evaluation of the project`s bids. - The East African Standard

NIGERIA: The planned $137 million deal to sell 51% of Intercellular to Telecel of South Africa has failed. One of the pioneer networks in the country, Intercellular resorted to the deal to get more funds to expand its network to other states, especially in the south-west and south-east of the country. - Vanguard

NIGERIA: Telecoms service provider O`net is making arrangements to acquire a national carrier licence by Q2 2007. CEO and MD of O`net, Madhavarao Kesavan, said its current licence restricts it operationally to the south-western states. "But before the second quarter we shall be going for the national carrier licence," he said, adding that the company`s plan is to capture the western states of the federation before moving to other areas. - Vanguard

PAN-AFRICA: A new, paid-for, pan-African satellite television channel called GTV will begin operating at mid-year, its owners said last week. GTV will provide local and international entertainment content, targeting customers who have previously been unable to afford subscription services and have been limited to national, free-to-air television stations. Countries to receive GTV include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. South Africans will, however, have to wait longer due to licensing wrangles. - Sapa

PAN-AFRICA: Celtel International has borrowed $1.6 billion (R11.3 billion) to repay existing loans and fund expansion. A group of 13 Nigerian banks will lend Africa`s third-biggest cellular firm 125 billion naira (R7.2 billion) and 11 foreign banks will lend $450 million over five years. - Bloomberg

ZIMBABWE: NETOne is seeking about US$10 million from the PTA Bank for the acquisition of equipment to set up mobile network infrastructure in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. NetOne has apparently already submitted a funding proposal to the Ministry of Transport and Communications for onward transmission to the PTA Bank. Part of the funds have been earmarked to revamp its international roaming service ahead of the 2010 World Cup. - The Herald

ABROAD

NINE GROUPS had submitted bids to operate Saudi Arabia`s third cellular licence, the country`s telecoms regulator said last weekend. Bidders included Orascom Telecom, Oger Telecom and Kingdom Turkcell, a joint venture between Turkey`s top cellular operator and Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the regulator said. Bids from Samawat-Bharti Group, SA`s Group, Kuwait`s MTC, Reliance-Al-Rajhi, Tawasul-Digicel and India`s MTNL were also accepted. - Bloomberg

TECHNOLOGY GROUP is expanding its activities in Europe with a R500 million deal to buy out a leading European distributor of products, NOXS Europe. The acquisition is taking place through Datatec`s largest subsidiary Westcon, a global distributor of technology equipment, which will gain additional offices in seven countries - France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy.

MICROSOFT was ordered by a federal jury to pay $1.52 billion in a patent dispute over the MP3 format, the technology at the heart of the digital music boom. If upheld on appeal, it would be the largest patent judgment on record. The ruling was a victory for Alcatel-Lucent, the big networking equipment company. Its forebears include Bell Laboratories, which was involved in the development of MP3. If the ruling stands, Apple and hundreds of other companies that make products that play MP3 files, could also face demands to pay royalties to Alcatel. - The New York Times



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