Comverse has announced a range of voice-activated solutions for cell phone subscribers.
Vodacom has signed a service provider agreement with B Clear and Simple.
Cell C has signed a roaming agreement with Vodacom that will see a one-way sharing of infrastructure for 15 years. Vodacom will profit from unused capacity while Cell C gets coverage and turns its sights on Telkom.
Comverse, CMG, Ericsson, Logica, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens have announced multimedia messaging services.
Mercury Interactive has announced new components and capabilities for its Topaz application performance management solution.
Telkom says it reduced lines by more than 500 000 during its last financial year due to customers` non-payment and fraud, and wrote off R945 million in bad debt. Group revenue is up 15%, but Vodacom revenue increased by 45%.
Vodacom has contracted Comverse to supply them with cellular Callback facilities.
Ericsson is heavily promoting its Engine network product in SA after losing out to Siemens in bidding for the multibillion-rand Cell C tender. With a strong relationship with M-Cell, the immediate goal is the second national operator (SNO).
Cell C has received its operational licence, but still requires spectrum to actually provide service. All players are quiet while roaming negotiations are underway, but the cost to MTN and Vodacom may run into billions of rands.
Storm, a voice and data communications provider, has introduced Storm SMS Mail, a product which will allow businesses to communicate with cellphone users via SMS, over their own networks.
AST has invested in the development of a system to assist telecommunications companies in combating fraud relating to subscriptions and prepaid cards.
First National Bank and eBucks.com have launched cellphone banking via Wireless Application Protocol and secure SMS.
ICASA this morning issued Cell C with its licence, which will allow the company to use the 084 prefix to offer a full range of cellular services. The licence conditions include a minimum allowed geographic coverage.