Tengai, a new classifieds platform that is partly owned by Strive Masiyiwa, was hacked four days ago by net neutrality proponents. While the technical circumstances of the attack haven’t been made clear, the extended downtime isn’t what most would expect from the e-commerce platform.
In this episode of the podcast we discuss Tengai and its issues with net neutrality, the latest on mobile money service Nettcash, the regulation in mobile money in Zimbabwe, job cuts being effected in the telecoms sector thanks to a Supreme court ruling, as well as the crowdfunding campaign kicked off by a local startup,…
Local mobile subscribers have been receiving SMS alerts for voice messages or InstaVoice messages. These act as missed call alerts and voice messages that are accessible from any sort of mobile device, including feature phones and smart devices that do not have the InstaVoice app.
Local online classifieds platform tengai.co.zw is down. People who’ve been trying to access it have been met with a banner that says it’s being updated.
The inaugural edition of the Mobile Money and Digital Payments Conference and Awards drew the who-is-who of banking and telecoms. See the event in pictures below
As a people we don’t seem to see far enough to realise what is hurting the competition now (or just someone we don’t care about) will surely hurt us too eventually. We laugh that classifieds.co.zw is getting hit Econet and Stive while forgetting the same net-neutrality unfairness on us when they smell the blood.
A whole day of discussions around digital and mobile payments that brought together banks and mobile network operators, was concluded with the Awards Ceremony that recognised the best performing companies and products.
At the Broadband Forum, we learnt that POTRAZ will in the near future deploy Quality of Service monitoring equipment to ensure operators adhere to service agreements that ensure acceptable service standards. At the present moment, consumers are at the mercy of operators in the absence of regulations and in the wake of weak consumer protection.
Two of Africa’s largest mobile networks, Orange and Airtel, announced that they had entered into an exclusive agreement to explore the possible acquisition by Orange of Airtel’s subsidiaries in four countries, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone. Is this reflective of a tougher African telecoms environment?
The legal precedent that followed this decision is what has mattered to a lot of employed Zimbabweans. The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe has upheld a decision that says that companies can now terminate workers’ contracts at any time, without offering them packages by giving them three months notice.
Apple and Samsung are planning to kill the SIM card by introducing an embedded e SIM. This would allow phone users to switch between operators at any moment
TelOne, one of the more disruptive players this year, recently started a promotion for its WiFi service. The $1-for-100 MB service has been had one major change with an additional 250 MB thrown in for the $1 voucher.
According to the Minister of ICT, Supa Mandiwanzira, the various telecoms operators, including Econet Wireless, now have an understanding of what the government is trying to achieve through infrastructure sharing and they appreciate how this is something that they need in an ever-changing telecoms environment.
This morning, the ministry of ICT, through arrangements facilitated by the telecoms regulator POTRAZ, is holding a closed-door breakfast meeting with the heads of the various telecoms operators.
Telecel has introduced 10 franchise stores across Zimbabwe and this is part of the mobile operator’s multi-channel customer experience strategy to increase its footprint in the market. These stores will also be complemented by several kiosks throughout the country.
Now that the internet is available, there is need for startups to understand how the opportunities that come with it can be exploited successfully into profitable businesses. The Broadband Forum will provide a platform for aspiring startups to learn from testimonials of successes like Mark Essien’s Hotels.ng in tourism and Emma Kay bringing bozzi.mobi online.
There’s a pattern that is emerging in all of this – Liquid is striking a balance between the infrastructure and services, defining a clearer role for itself in value addition and not just focusing on fibre optic rollout.
Nettcash, the mobile money service, is set to launch a new product that will enhance its list of services and improve its current platform. We are not sure what the new product is, but there are some aspects of its current offering that it should consider improving on.
With all this talk on infrastructure sharing, we also need to consider the government’s viewpoint and possibly understand why it feels so strongly towards it. The government is obliged to ensure that consumers receive fair pricing for goods and services while it also protects the businesses in telecoms. These are the motivations behind this move…