At Home

The Independent Communications Authority of SA says the high cost of IP Connect (IPC) could be a barrier to competition in SA’s fixed-line Internet sector. This comes in response to the Internet Service Providers’ Association’s urgent call for the authority to step in and do something about the steep costs involved in ISPs providing connectivity to end-users. – ITWeb

SMEs that are vulnerable to attacks and that lack resources to secure cash on premises could find a solution in mobile point-of-sale (mPOS). mPOS, a cashless system that uses near-field communication technology to complete transactions, could lower the risks of armed robberies, which could, in turn, lower the cost of fidelity insurance, notes Robert Boccia, executive: IT at Lion of Africa Insurance. – ITWeb

The prepaid price war that broke out over the past month has become a war of three, as MTN joins the fray with the launch of a new starter pack, offering a range of free perks. Following in the aggressive footsteps of rivals Vodacom and Cell C earlier this month, MTN unveiled a new prepaid product, the MTN Mahala starter pack. – ITWeb

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Carel van der Merwe, WirelessG" />WirelessG has entered a strategic agreement with a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium, amid a legal battle with Vodacom, which currently has a 26% stake in the wireless access provider. WirelessG CEO Carel van der Merwe says Mightycare Mosegedi, a BEE consortium of telecommunications companies, has made an offer to acquire a 26% share in WirelessG’s holding company G-Mobile Holdings – at a discounted rate – amounting to R48.5 million. – ITWeb

The City of Johannesburg has conceded it is unlikely to be able to collect more than two-thirds of the R18 billion owed to it by consumer debtors, and has impaired its debtors’ book by R13 billion. The impairments come at the same time as the auditorgeneral found the city could not back up income due to it being based on estimated readings. – ITWeb

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has reprimanded TopTV for its renewed application to include 24-hour pornography in its satellite television offering, saying it flies in the face of an agreement the union had with the pay-TV operator. This comes a year after the union called on the investment company to stop TopTV’s pornography drive. Cosatu is linked to TopTV through its investment arm Kopano Ke Matla. – ITWeb

First National Bank (FNB) has taken a step towards an open banking ecosystem and contactless payments, with the linking of its open mobile payments service to the FNB Banking App. FNB’s banking app is now available for use by non-FNB customers, following the addition of eWallet to the application’s suite of services. – ITWeb

TopTV’s dark cloud has finally seen a silver lining, with the acquisition of rights to screen the global lifestyle channel Fashion One’s new African extension. Ian Woodrow, VP of channels at TopTV, says Fashion One is the first international channel globally to cover major African fashion events and Afrocentric style. – ITWeb

Into Africa

Kenyan emergency prepaid airtime payments start-up, Mobile Decisioning (MoDe), has been named the ‘IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year’. “Being named the IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year is a tremendous honour and will accelerate our ability to create new markets,” said Julian Kyula, CEO and co-founder of MoDe. – ITWeb Africa

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Jeremy Waterman, Sage ERP Africa" />Provider of business management software Sage has opened an office in Lagos, Nigeria, following what the firm says is strong demand for its offerings in that region. This is according to the MD of Sage ERP Africa, Jeremy Waterman, speaking to ITWeb Africa on the sidelines of the Sage Insights 2013 Conference, taking place just outside Johannesburg. – ITWeb Africa

Kenyan video on-demand (VOD) service Buni TV has partnered with Senegal’s AfricaFilms.tv to share and provide their audience members with diverse video content. According to the two organisations, the partnership is the first of its kind, and means that their viewers are planned to have access to both the English and French catalogues of the two providers. – ITWeb Africa

Telecommunications firm Orange says its number of mobile money users has increased to 5.6 million in Africa. Orange operates in almost 20 countries in the Middle East and Africa. The operator’s mobile money offering is called ‘Orange Money’. And the company had previously said, in September last year, that it had 4.8 million Orange Money customers. – ITWeb Africa

Mocality, comprising business directory and daily deals Web sites targeting Nigeria and Kenya, is to be shut down by its South African owner Naspers at the end of February. Mocality claimed last year it is Africa’s largest mobile and Web-based business directory, having “given a mobile and Internet presence to over 250 000 Nigerian businesses. – ITWeb Africa

Fixed-line operator Telkom Kenya plans to replace all its copper cables with fibre in a bid to curb rising vandalism and cuts that are costing the company over $6 million per year in losses. The company, which enjoys a monopoly of operating fixed-lines in Kenya, plans to spend about $50 million in the exercise. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

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Meg Whitman, HP" />Hewlett-Packard quarterly revenue and forecasts beat Wall Street expectations as it continued to cut costs under CEO Meg Whitman’s turnaround plan, sending the personal computer maker’s shares up over 5%. She said the company’s efforts were gaining traction, but “there’s still a lot of work to do to generate the kind of growth we want to see.” – Reuters

PayPal launched a European version of its PayPal Here mobile payments service for small merchants, as the online payments division of eBay steps up competition with rivals, including Square. PayPal unveiled a new device, about the size of a smartphone, which allows small merchants to accept credit and debit cards under a more stringent and complex system in Europe known as Chip and PIN. – Reuters

Sony said it will launch its nextgeneration PlayStation this year, hoping its first videogame console in
seven years will give it a much-needed head start over the next version of Microsoft’s Xbox, and help revive its stumbling electronics business. Its new controller, dubbed DualShock 4, will have a touchpad and a camera that can sense the depth of the environment in front of it. – Reuters