At Home

Jason Njoku, iROKOtv

Telkom Mobile has unveiled its “Prepaid SIM Only Internet Starter Pack” data offer, which comes with a SIM card and 2.4GB of data – provided in 12 tranches of 200MB – for R49, once off. The SIM-only starter pack can be used on most devices including tablets and smartphones, or it can be inserted into a data modem to be used on a laptop or desktop. – ITWeb

South African book lovers now have access to hundreds of thousands of books on the South African version of the Google Play store. In a statement released by Google recently, the company says books, including bestsellers and classics, from hundreds of publishers, are now available on the Google Play store. – ITWeb

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is looking at ways to better secure its social grant system, after a worrying number of fraud and corruption cases were registered with the agency in the past year. According to SASSA CEO, Virginia Petersen, the agency has plans in place to biometrically enrol its staff in order to clamp down on corruption and mismanagement of SASSA business and grants. – ITWeb

Telkom has announced further Internet speed upgrades for existing consumer and business customers following ADSL speed increases for all Internet service providers implemented by the company in September. Manelisa Mavuso, MD of consumer services and retail at Telkom, said the improved speeds will greatly enhance the end-user’s broadband experience from Telkom Internet. – ITWeb

Alcatel One Touch – one of the companies behind emerging market smartphones – is making a comeback under its own brand with the launch of a range of low- to high-end devices, which it hopes will plug a gap in the local market. Three new highend smartphones – Alcatel Idols Ultra, Alcatel Idols Mini and Alcatel Hero – will be available within the next few months. – ITWeb

Another big technology company has launched an education venture in South Africa. Chipmaker Intel announced the launch of its Intel Explore and Learn Marketplace that provides access to a repository of free and low-cost digital textbooks and interactive learning materials for students from grade 0 to adults completing their MBAs. Intel says its content for its learning offering matches the South African education curriculum. – ITWeb Africa

Computer distributor Mustek has partnered with cabling firm m2fx to open a new optical fibre pre-termination facility to help speed up the network installation process in southern Africa. The facility, which is located in South Africa’s business capital, Johannesburg, is expected to enable Mustek to supply operators and installers with complete solutions built on m2fx’s innovative Miniflex fibre cable, microduct and protection tube range. – ITWeb Africa

Global software giant Microsoft has launched an online hub to provide South African small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to free products and services from the company. Microsoft COO Kevin Turner unveiled the Web site, Southafrica. biz4afrika.com, at the software firm’s offices in Johannesburg. The hub is expected to help connect SMEs with existing online commercial marketplaces through which they can sell their own products or services. – ITWeb Africa

Into Africa

Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, Safaricom, says completion of an upgraded system geared at speeding up M-Pesa mobile payments has been delayed until the first half of 2015. Amid high adoption of M-Pesa in the East African nation, the mobile money system has come under pressure at 250 transactions per second, resulting in occasional shutdowns and maintenance. – ITWeb Africa

Global technology firm Oracle plans to open an office in Abuja, Nigeria in 2014. An Oracle spokesperson told ITWeb Africa that its Abuja office is planned to have sales and pre-sales resources and is expected to cater to the company’s “several large customers” in the Nigerian capital city. Oracle has not revealed how many staff members it could have at its Abuja office. – ITWeb Africa

According to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) ICT sector fourth quarter report for the financial year 2012/13, Kenya’s number of cellphone subscribers, text messages, mobile money transactions and data users are all growing. The report cited that Kenya’s number of mobile subscriptions has grown 2.3% from the previous quarter to hit 30.5 million, resulting in the country having a 77.3% penetration rate. – ITWeb Africa

Tanzania television service provider Azam Media has signed on satellite operator Eutelsat Communications in a bid to expand its broadcasting footprint across Africa. Azam Media says it plans to use 108MHz of capacity connected to the satellite’s African footprint as part of its move to broadcast its yet-to-be-launched pay-TV venture, AzamTV, from its Tanzanian base into sub-Saharan Africa. – ITWeb Africa

More viewers of Nigerian Nollywood movie Internet streaming service iROKOtv are in the UK city of London than in the West African nation of Nigeria, which has a population of 170 million. This was revealed in a CNBC Africa interview with iROKO Partners CEO Jason Njoku, who said the continent’s content distribution outlets have a long way to go. – ITWeb Africa

Fibre protection products maker m2fx has appointed Simon Roberts as its regional sales director for its Middle East and Africa operations. According to a press statement, Roberts’ appointment is part of a major expansion of the sales structure at m2fx, following a successful $3 million funding round earlier in 2013. Roberts previously held the position of director of global sales at microwave technology vendor, Bluwan. – ITWeb Africa

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has appealed to state governments to desist from excavating and destroying underground telecommunication cables during road construction. Speaking at a consumer sensitisation forum in Uyo in the Akwa Ibom State, NCC’s director of technical standards and network integrity, Babalarabe Sani, said the commission had recorded more than 1 200 cases of fibre cuts owing to road constructions in the last few months. – ITWeb Africa

South Korean telecoms firm KT Corporation plans to help establish an LTE (4G) network in Kenya, while also pairing with the African country’s government to set up an IT services joint-venture. KT’s chairman Lee Seok-Chae met with Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta at the Transform Africa Summit 2013, held in Rwanda recently, to discuss how to apply the Rwanda-KT business model in Kenya. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

Carl Bass, Autodesk

Twitter shares jumped 73% in a frenzied trading debut that drove the seven-year-old company’s market value to around $25 billion and evoked the heady days of the dot-com bubble. The stock closed its first day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange at $44.90 a share after hitting a session-high of $50, nearly double the initial public offering price of $26 set. – Reuters

Telecom Italia will sell its Argentina unit and other assets while issuing a convertible bond, aiming to raise around 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion) to stave off a credit rating downgrade and strengthen operations in Italy and Brazil. Argentine newspapers Clarin and La Nacion said the buyer would be investment fund Fintech, which already holds shares in Telecom Italia’s Argentine unit. – Reuters

Autodesk, a maker of computer-aided design software, said it would buy Britain’s Delcam for 172.5 million pounds ($277 million), in a deal to expand the US company’s software offerings in the manufacturing sector. “Together, Autodesk and Delcam will help further the development and implementation of technology for digital manufacturing,” Autodesk CEO Carl Bass said in a statement. – Reuters