At Home

Three Pretoria suburbs were left without telephone services due to copper theft. According to Telkom, customers in Danville, Elandspoort and Phillip Nel Park experienced service disruptions due to an incident of copper theft at one of the telco’s exchanges in the area. While about 650 residential and business customers (exchange code 238) were affected, Telkom said no hospitals or other essential services were affected. – ITWeb

Though the South African IT security landscape is more advanced than in the rest of Africa, Check Point Software Technologies sees huge opportunities in the market and intends to channel more investment into it. Amnon Bar-Lev, president of Check Point, said in an exclusive interview with ITWeb: “We intend to continue growing our presence in the South African market.” – ITWeb

The Open Group, represented locally by Real IRM, has approved the Exploration and Mining Business Reference Model (EM Model) as an Open Group technical standard. Overseen by The Open Group SA, the development of the EM Model is the first step towards establishing a blueprint for organisations in the natural resources industry, providing standard operating practices and support for vendors delivering technical and business solutions to the industry. – ITWeb

JSE-listed Poynting, which makes antennas and telecommunication products, says it has “made several breakthrough inventions” in terms of set-top boxes, installation of digital television systems, and antennas and antenna manufacturing. The company said it has filed various patents and designs, and has developed some new software and systems to enable successful roll-out of digital TV to consumers. – ITWeb

Parrot Asteroid has unveiled the Mini, Tablet and Smart range of GPS devices, which the company says are set to take driving to the next level. Speaking at the launch event in Johannesburg recently, sales manager, Middle East, Africa and India, Francois-Xavier Charbonnel, said: “When we were developing the software for the devices, we were looking at convenience and innovation.” – ITWeb

Software AG has unveiled In-Genius, a platform that aims to scale big data into real-time information within microseconds. Speaking during the unveiling in Johannesburg, Mike Allen, VP for product management at Terracotta, a Software AG company, made note of how In-Genius is powered by Big Memory 4.0 and how the software delivers real-time insights from any big data to any type of device. – ITWeb

Warren Weertman, BSA

South African companies caught using pirated software spent more than R5 million in 2012 in settlement and legal fees, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The BSA works with companies using a process of self-auditing to conduct investigations into whether or not they are using pirated software, says Warren Weertman, manager – legal affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa, BSA. – ITWeb Africa

Scientists for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project plan to develop high-powered ‘microservers’ capable of handling harsh desert conditions. SKA is a global science and engineering project to build the world’s largest radio telescope, comprising 3 000 dish antennas in South Africa and Australia. – ITWeb Africa

Into Africa

Western and Central African mobile operator Atlantique Telecom has inked a five-year multi-country deal with communications equipment fi rm Ericsson to manage all its networks. Atlantique Telecom, which is part of the United Arab Emirates headquartered Etisalat Group, said the contract covers network operations, field maintenance and network optimisation. – ITWeb Africa

Kenyan Internet service provider AccessKenya posted a 62% rise in profit, helped by a rise in corporate customers attracted by its high-speed fibre network, the company said. Internet service providers and telecoms companies such as Safaricom have embarked on significant infrastructure development in East Africa’s biggest economy to keep up with growing demand. – ITWeb Africa

Broadband wholesale provider Seacom has inked a deal with US network specialist Ciena for the upgrade of its submarine network across the Southern and Eastern African coastlines. Seacom officials say they plan to use Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform and OneControl Unified Management System in a bid to meet “growing capacity demands of its customers.” – ITWeb Africa

More women are enrolling in networking firm Cisco’s academy programme in Africa as compared to the global average. This is according to the MD of Cisco Africa, David Meads, who says 30% of an estimated 80 000 students across its academies on the continent are women. This figure is higher than that of Cisco’s global average, which comprises 20%. – ITWeb Africa

Mozambique’s electronics customs clearance project, aimed at fast-tracking cross-border trade, is set to enter its second phase. Dubbed the ‘Single Electronic Window’ project, the system is an electronic trade facilitation that intends to reduce customs clearance times and costs. Data required for imports and exports is submitted only once using the system and then electronically distributed to the relevant government agencies. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

STMicroElectronics and Ericsson will close down their mobile chip joint venture, ST-Ericsson, by dividing up certain product lines and employees and shutting others. Sweden’s Ericsson, which manufactures telecoms network gear, will keep 1 800 employees from the venture, mostly in Sweden, Germany, India and China, and a product line of thin 4G mobile chips. – Reuters

Alan Eustace, Google

Google’s mapping and commerce chief is stepping down, in the latest senior management reshuffle after Android architect Andy Rubin moved on to a still-undefined role at the company. Google will split its Maps/Geo and Commerce group into two separate units. The Maps/Geo group will be folded into Google’s search division, formerly called Knowledge, and led by senior VP Alan Eustace. – Reuters

Video web site Hulu said content chief Andy Forssell will lead the company as acting CEO, while owners Walt Disney Co and News Corp decide on the future of the streaming video service. Forssell, currently senior VP of content, will take over after CEO Jason Kilar departs, according to a post by Kilar on the Hulu blog. – Reuters