The take-over of Ascend Communications by Lucent Technologies dominated the IT headlines last week, and is a move that is likely to spark off some other groupings in the networking/communications fields over the coming weeks.

The IT industry has changed considerably and is today driven by professionals who don't suffer fools gladly and enjoy the freedom of choosing who to work for. Now more than ever, leading a talented team at a modern IT organisation requires unobtrusive, covert management.

Local cell phone users could score if SA follows the UK's example and institutes cellular number portability. This would enable subscribers to keep their number when switching from one network to another

A look at the latest happenings in the IT world as businesses return to work and companies gear up for mergers, job cuts, listings and new appointments.

Freeware is the New Age way of getting consumers hooked on your products, but is there really value in just giving away the fruits of your labour?

Although I have over 35 years` experience in the information technology industry, 1998 has probably been one of the most eventful years in that time. I have tried to summarise, from both a local and international perspective, the business events that to me have had the most impact, and are likely to be the most significant.

This is the season for reflection and predictions, and for most of us, a well-deserved break. Needless to say, the world is crossing the threshold into the era of the Wired Marketplace, and events in 1998 have paved the way for this to happen.

This is the year`s last column. And quite a year it`s been: mergers, acquisitions, some new technologies... Oops. I`m catching myself out here. I almost named "new technologies" in the same breath as mergers and acquisitions. That`s not really true, is it?

'International Internet telephony' are words that seem to strike fear into fixed line operators, especially those enjoying a monopoly market. However, do these operators need to fear they are going to see a massive migration of their international traffic from their networks to the Internet? Alternatively, is there a defined window of opportunity in which international Internet voice traffic will grow?

Every IT and network professional appreciates that the network market is changing so rapidly that decisions made yesterday are often out of date by tomorrow.

The dilemma of every corporation and every individual is how to keep up with the continuous flow of information, knowledge, technologies, theories, business models, corporate information and processes, industry knowledge and all the stuff that just keeps on coming at us.

There is a fresh wave of cultural understanding and exchange that the Net is bringing about, through natural evolution rather than the forced mechanisms of inter-cultural exchange fostered by governments, twin cities or student exchange programmes.

We have seen tremendous development in wireless solutions for a host of applications ranging from wireless data through to wireless local loop. Telkom has awarded some R2 billion in WLL DECT tenders over the past year.