| Online banking under threat ahead of 2010 - 04/12/2007 |
Internet security breaches in Britain that have allowed financial information on thousands of bank clients to be put on sale online have reached alarming levels and South African experts warn that such hacking could be on the rise here. South African Internet banking will be under increasing threat as the 2010 WC approaches, according to specialists. Eghshaan Khan, the State Information Agency’s newly appointed chief information officer, said: ’One of the areas I will be focusing on here is security. The agency has strong security in its network but we need to improve awareness about the risks we might face.’
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Full report in The Times
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| Police invest in ICT ahead of 2010 - 01/12/2007 |
The police are investing in ICT to give them a ’competitive edge in combating crime’, their latest annual report says, but only a portion of the country’s cops have access to a desktop computer. Listed as a success is the boosting of access to information systems ’by approximately 120%, from 19 000 desktop work stations in 1995/6 to 42 000 by March 2007’. ITWeb reports that the police employ about 156 000 fulltime officers and 44 000 reservists. The fulltime number is expected to swell to about 193 000 by the time the 2010 WC.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Alcatel wins La Mercy airport contract - 30/11/2007 |
Alcatel-Lucent’s office in SA confirmed that the Paris-listed company had been contracted as the primary IT supplier for the La Mercy International Airport. Business Day reports that the € 34m contract, awarded by the Ilembe Consortium, was ’multi-year’, Alcatel-Lucent said. The airport itself is expected to be finished in time for the 2010 WC. Alcatel-Lucent project manager Hugh Wylie confirmed that the contract was for ’integrated communications, security and the IT system’ at the airport only.
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Full Business Day report
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| Satyam sings major Fifa deal – 24/11/2007 |
Software group Satyam has become Fifa’s first major sponsor from India after being appointed as their official IT services provider for the next seven years. Under an agreement, Satyam will join global
giants such as McDonalds and the US brewer Anheuser-Busch as one of six WC sponsors. According to a report on the IoL site, the Indian company will provide IT support for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups to be held in South Africa and Brazil respectively.
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Full report on the IoL site
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| HDTV for 2010 - 21/11/2007 |
The era of convergence is about to hit SA as consumer electronics and IT devices come together to make sophisticated new entertainment systems easy to manage and deploy. Bizcommunity.com reports that high-definition television (HDTV) is already a reality and SA viewers will soon be able to watch specially-filmed high-definition content as well. Certainly, by the time the WC rolls by in 2010, South Africans will be receiving high-definition content on their HDTVs.
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| Sea cable project lands big investor - 14/11/2007 |
An undersea cable promising cheap bandwidth for Africa finally named its backers, signing up enough well-connected local investors to guarantee its landing rights in SA. Business Day reports that investment heavyweight Venfin is sinking $75m into the project, taking a 25% stake in the 15000km cable linking SA to India and Europe. SA’s second network operator, Neotel is investing only in the local landing station, but its licence to operate in SA conferred on it the right to land a cable, said MD Ajay Pandey. Pandey believes Seacom will be the only new telecoms cable completed in time to give SA enough international bandwidth to successfully broadcast the 2010 WC.
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Full Business day report
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| Neotel and SEACOM prepare for 2010 - 13/11/2007 |
Neotel has invested R 20m in the SA segment of the SEACOM cable and they are confident of a 2009 launch date. SEACOM – which according to its role players has been structured to meet the policy objectives of Government and NEPAD - will connect SA to several East African countries, Europe and India giving the country access to up to 1.28 Tbps of new international bandwidth. MyADSL.co.za reports that the system is planned to be commissioned and ready for service during 2009. The targeted commissioning date will place SA in a much stronger position to support the 2010 WC whose demand for international bandwidth, and in particular the HDTV broadcast, will be unprecedented.
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Full MyADSL.co.za report
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| Interactive TV demand surges ahead of 2010 - 12/11/2007 |
Recent forecasts from independent market research firms confirm Ericsson’s own data and prediction that IPTV the delivery of personalised, interactive TV channels and ’shows’ using the same communications technologies as the Internet is taking off globally and that the number of IPTV subscribers is likely to grow substantially in the near future. ’Today, there are about 7m IPTV subscribers worldwide,’ said Ron Westfall, Research Director for market intelligence firm Current Analysis, ’and I don’t think 60m by the year 2010 is a far fetched projection.’ According to a MyDigitalLife.co.za report, this is in line with recent forecasts from international market research firms Parks Associates and the Multimedia Research Group, which both suggest that the global number of IPTV subscribers will pass the 60m mark by the end of 2011.
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Full MyDigitalLife.co.za report
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| Single emergency numbers by 2010? - 12/11/2007 |
South Africans could have a single number to dial on mobile phones and landlines in case of all emergencies, by 2010, if planning by the Department of Communications (DOC) comes to fruition. ITWeb reports that the DOC has been tinkering with the concept since 2002 and established a pilot contact centre at the Strand, near Somerset West, in 2004. It currently handles ambulance calls for the Cape metropole. Meanwhile, Fifa says a 112 single emergency number and contact centre infrastructure is ’not per se a Fifa requirement, but would for sure be a helpful and appreciated initiative by the SA Government’. Departmental spokesperson Albi Modise says that a feasibility study was done on the Somerset West experiment and revisited earlier this year. In the meantime, the management and operations of the pilot centre are outsourced to Equal Access, a private company.
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Full ITWeb report
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| SA addresses growing need for improved broadband - 10/11/2007 |
Emerging converged telecoms operator Neotel indicated that it would press ahead with a $550m submarine fibreoptic cable up Africa’s East Coast and that it was confident of coming to terms with the South African authorities on landing rights. South Africa’s Department of Communications has objected to a ’foreign owned’ cable landing in SA and has suggested that landing rights should only be extended to schemes where the shareholding was overwhelmingly local. Engineering News reports that Neotel MD Ajay Pandey said that the decision to press ahead was aligned to SA’s growing need for improved broadband infrastructure, and was particularly important in light of the broadband demands associated with the 2010 World Cup.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Sita retains acting CE’s services - 07/11/2007 |
The State IT Agency (Sita) has retained the services of acting CE Peter Pedlar so he can complete efforts to improve corporate governance and accountability that are restoring the organisation’s credibility. Business Day reports that Pedlar has been given a two-year contract and will work alongside newly appointed CE Llewellyn Jones, who won the confidence of Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and the Cabinet. Sita is responsible for supplying IT services to the government and for adjudicating tenders — a crucial role since the state is the country’s largest spender on technology. The Home Affairs Department formally named technology company GijimaAst the winner of a R2bn tender to transform numerous state department systems. The tender is almost a year behind schedule. Part of the work needs to be completed in time for immigration services to handle soccer fans arriving for the 2010 World Cup.
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Full Business Day report
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| GijimaAst wins R2bn contract - 06/11/2007 |
JSE-listed technology group GijimaAst is confident that its R2bn contract to implement a new technology system to register and administer the population will improve efficiency at the ailing department of home affairs. According to Business Report, GijimaAst announced that it had been awarded a contract aimed at reducing the waiting period for identity documents (IDs) and passports as well as work permits, which are processed manually at present. GijimaAst will install technology that provides information on every person who enters and leaves the country, as well as local citizens. A single view will be available to immigration officials, the SA Police Service, national health, emergency services, transport and revenue services. ’With the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup coming, it is estimated that over half a million people will enter the country for each event,’ noted Robert Gumede, the executive chairman of GijimaAst. ’This is over and above the normal flow of people to and from South Africa.’
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Full story in Business Report
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| IT infrastructure needed to support 2010 - 05/11/2007 |
With the IT market consolidating and convergence forcing previously disparate areas of technology to come together, resellers are finding that markets they previously dominated are becoming more diluted as new competitors come on board. As such, many resellers have had to move outside of their traditional comfort zones by generalising their focus and upskilling their technical resources in new areas of expertise. ITWeb reports that this trend is driving networking as one of the most sought after new areas of focus, since communications of all kinds are intrinsic in SA’s vision of transformation and more specifically, are providing the infrastructure needed to support the upcoming 2010 World Cup.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Home Affairs prepares for 2010 - 05/11/2007 |
GijimaAst faces a ’tough delivery schedule’ to deliver a complete IT overhaul to the Department of Home Affairs, one of the most technology-deficient and dysfunctional organs of the SA government. ITWeb reports that the company won what is said to be a R2bn-plus tender to implement an integrated citizen-centric documentation system called ’Who am I online (I am I said)’, which gives the state a ’single view of the citizen’ and visitors. ’With both the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup coming to SA, it is estimated that over half a million people will enter the country for each of the events,’ says GijimaAst executive chairman Robert Gumede. ’This is over and above the normal flow of people…’ Home Affairs director-general Mavuso Msimang says his department ’will play a critical role in the smooth running of the World Cup 2010’ and is ’working to a tough delivery schedule’.
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Full ITWeb report
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| SA exceeds bandwidth requirements - 01/11/2007 |
Fifa’s bandwidth requirements for the 2010 World Cup can be easily satisfied by SA, says the Department of Communications (DOC). Deputy director-general Rosey Sekese says the government bandwidth required by Fifa is much less than initially anticipated. ’I am confident that we can provide bandwidth capacity that we require from SAT-3 if we negotiate with the other partners.’ ITWeb reports that Sekese says Fifa has signed off the document outlining its technology specifications. ’We wanted to allow Fifa time to commit to the equipment it wants, and to make sure they sign off before we order equipment and cables.’ The document sets a framework whereby Fifa requirements are met, and the processes that are followed if the specifications change, she says. This will guide the entire roll-out of the 2010 ICT infrastructure.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Undersea cable uncertainty a threat to 2010 - 01/11/2007 |
Uncertainty surrounding government’s position on undersea cables threatens to sink the country’s hopes for a successful 2010 World Cup. The uncertainty surrounding aspects of the SA Government’s position on undersea cables is damaging and threatens to sink the country’s hopes for a successful 2010 World Cup. This is according to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA (ISPA) which is particularly concerned about the troubling about-turn in the Minister Ivy Matsepe Casaburri’s policy regarding the ending of the exclusivity on SAT-3 from November 2007. Equally confusing is that while the minister has mandated ICASA to ensure there is no unfair competition relating to the use of undersea cables, she has also made it clear that any undersea cable landing in South Africa must be majority South African-owned. MyADSL.co.za reports that this is especially confusing because a cable usually has two ends. That the Minister’s ownership comments are unfortunate is highlighted by the fact that Seacom’s quoted prices for its March 2009 launch are some fifteen times cheaper than Telkom’s current pricing for International Private Leased Circuits. Much attention has been given to the fact that the new cable system will eventually have a 3.8 terabit per second capacity without any mention of exactly how much capacity will be ready for 2010.
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Full MyADSL.co.za report
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| New challenges ahead of 2010 - 31/10/2007 |
As the 2010 World Cup draws inexorably nearer, SA again is presented with an opportunity to demonstrate its ability to host a world-class sporting event. ITWeb reports that building on the proven and recognised successes of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the country has established its capability to successfully stage premier international sports spectaculars. However, as the biggest live event in the world, the Fifa World Cup brings with it new challenges of scale which must also be handled in the context of emerging technologies for broadcasting. According to Andy Brauer, CTO of Business Connexion, the country’s premier provider of information and communication technology solutions, the sheer enormity of the event which is the World Cup is the basis for the intense media interest in SA’s ability to handle the tournament. ’2010 is an opportunity for SA to win. It is a unique chance to show more people in the world than ever before who we are, what we are and what we are capable of,’ says Brauer.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Sentech overlooked yet again - 31/10/2007 |
State-owned signal carrier Sentech has again been overlooked in financial handouts Sentech has been hanging on for months in the hope that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will allocate it more cash so it can afford to build the national broadband network that the communications department expects of it. Yet Manuel made no mention of Sentech in his medium-term budget policy statement. According to a MyADSL.co.za report, Sentech’s public relations manager, Hulisani Rasivhaga, said the company was still expecting more money, but had not been expecting any mention in the budget statement. Earlier this month its executive for digital services, Frans Lindeque, said it was on track to meet the digital switch on deadline of November 2008 and the analogue switch-off date of November 2011. So far it has been promised sufficient cash to cover the main metropolitan areas and then to ensure that 80% of the population is covered in time to watch the 2010 World Cup in digital format.
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Full MyADSL.co.za report
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| Developments to support the 2010 WC - 31/10/2007 |
With the IT market consolidating and convergence forcing previously disparate areas of technology to come together, resellers are finding that markets they previously dominated are becoming more diluted as new competitors come on board. As such, many resellers have had to move outside of their traditional comfort zones by generalising their focus and upskilling their technical resources in new areas of expertise. IT-Online reports that this trend is driving networking as one of the most sought after new areas of focus, since communications of all kinds are intrinsic in SA’s vision of transformation and more specifically, are providing the infrastructure needed to support the upcoming 2010 World Cup. ’The great news is that besides the opportunity that exists in the networking market, the barriers to entry have been lowered to such an extent that there literally hasn’t been a better time to get into this market,’ says Alan Hawkins, sales manager at Tarsus Technologies.
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Full IT-Online report
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| Sentech DTT infrastructure on track - 29/10/2007 |
Sentech is on track to meet its deadlines for the roll-out of South Africa’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) - but the project could still go off-course if all players don’t reach an agreement on set-top boxes. A multi-party, multi-factor engagement can lead to market confusion regarding the responsibilities of various players in the process, says Frans Lindeque, Executive Digital Services at Sentech. Regarding the digital switch-on, the first phase will cover the country’s main metropolitan areas while the second phase will ensure coverage of 80% of the population by 2010, enabling people to view the 2010 World Cup games in digital format. The success of the digital migration process is also based on financial commitment by government, says Lindeque.
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Full IT-Online report
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| Mobile and digital to rule by 2010 - 26/10/2007 |
The world-class international broadcasting centre (IBC) planned for Nasrec will be one of the defining features that will make South Africa’s World Cup a truly global event. It is expected that almost four billion spectators will rely on this technology to see the games in 2010. Planning for the IBC started in July, when the cabinet approved Johannesburg’s bid to host the international centre. And the City’s 2010 project office reported on progress on the IBC during an ordinary mayoral committee meeting on 18 October. The City of Johannesburg is finalising the lease agreement for the IBC with Fifa, the international football governing body, confirmed Sibongile Mazibuko, the City’s 2010 executive director. ’We are waiting for the final Fifa green light. The Cabinet has given us its blessing.’
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Full press release
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| $2bn for submarine cable approved - 26/10/2007 |
Ministers responsible for ICTs from Eastern and Southern African countries have endorsed a $2bn submarine cable project to connect Africa. The ministers meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa called for its speedy implementation. The New Times reports that the 50 000 km cable with a capacity of 3.84 Terrabits/sec is designed to provide telecommunications connectivity to Africa and connect the continent to the Americas, India, and Europe. It is expected that completion of this project will greatly contribute to reduction of telecommunications costs that have been a hindrance to doing business in Africa. It is expected that the cable will be completed before the 2010 World Cup.
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Full report in The New Times
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| Major technology leap for Kenya- 25/10/2007 |
Mobile phone owners are set to have a new addition to their menu following the launch by a digital broadcaster of a service that will stream television content to their handsets. The Business Daily reports that the service could see up to 11m mobile phone subscribers access television content on their phones leapfrogging Kenya into the cutting edge technological era where the TV and the phone have converged. Kenya is among a handful of countries that MultiChoice has picked for trials of the new technology known as DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld). SA has been keen to commercialize the technology ahead of its 2010 hosting of the World Cup, hoping to increase broadcast revenues from a myriad of channels. ’It is my expectation that by 2010 every South African will have access to telecommunications; will have access to high speed broadband data; will have access to television on their phones,’ said Alan Knott-Craig, CE of Vodacom.
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Full Business Daily report
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| New initiatives to conserve electricity - 22/10/2007 |
With the looming energy crisis, many regions in the world are turning to solar energy, with Namibia and South Africa leading in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Namibia plans to build a 100MW power plant, entirely powered by the sun. According to Saffron’s Chief Executive Officer Neville de Silva, ’electricity supply from the Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB) is at the mercy of Eskom (the South African company that sells power to SEB). We are going to be hit harder in power cuts than the South Africans, as ESKOM will have to keep them in light before the dependent neighbouring states benefit.’ He added that the much-anticipated 2010 Fifa World Cup was another major power guzzler with tourists, increased illuminations in football fields, parking areas, hotels and entertainment areas.
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Full report in The Observer
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| Maredi focused on 2010 - 17/10/2007 |
In a bid to provide telecommunication and broadcasting technology for the 2010 World Cup, Maredi Telecom & Broadcasting has partnered with Media Links, a Japanese-based provider of high-definition (HD) video transport solutions. According to the agreement, Maredi will supply Media Links’ entire product portfolio, which it hopes it can market to SA’s newly-licensed pay-TV service providers, as well as existing players. ’We started discussions with Media Links when SA was awarded the Soccer World Cup. We knew that broadcasters and telecoms companies would be looking at new technologies for the event,’ says Lance Manala, chairman of Maredi Telecom & Broadcasting. ITWeb reports that he says Media Links has extensive experience in the events environment, with both the 2006 World Cup, in Germany, and the 2006 Doha Asian Games on its resume. The company is now in a good position to provide innovative technology and communications infrastructure to broadcasters, Manala states. According to the company, the agreement will be worth several million rand in capital expenditure, while commercial and emerging broadcasters prepare for 2010 over the next two years.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Undersea cable ready by 2010 - 16/10/2007 |
The Nepad e-Africa Commission plans a mega undersea cable broadband project it says will be ready for 2010. It wants the other prospective cable operators including Seacom and Infraco to join forces with it. Speaking for the first time on its proposed cable since the breakaway with the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), Nepad said the planned cable project would cost of the order of $2bn and no longer only run down the continent’s East coast. Instead, it would span the East and West Coasts of Africa - with links to island countries like Madagascar and Mauritius as well a terrestrial network including landlocked countries - connecting Africa with Brazil, as well as Europe, India and the Middle East. FIN24 reports that although Nepad could not say exactly how much cheaper, the capacity would be than current prices, it said this would be roughly one tenth, or less, of prevailing prices.
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Full FIN24 report
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| Masana signs multimillion-rand agreement - 16/10/2007 |
Masana Technologies has signed a multimillion-rand agreement with CA, whereby Masana will use CA’s IT management software to grow its outsourced contract base. ITWeb reports that CA will enable Masana to optimally manage services and improve service levels, ensure alignment of IT investments with business objectives, and reduce risks and costs for its clients. According to a report released by Gartner in 2006, the global outsourcing market will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5%. However, Hugo Knoetze, chief operating officer for Masana Technologies, believes that as SA gears up for 2010 and government continues to bolster service delivery, the market for outsourcing in SA far surpasses Gartner’s outlook.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Smartcards for 2010? - 09/10/2007 |
A pilot project launched recently that allows Sowetans to pay their Putco bus fares with a smartcard might grow into an integrated, nationwide public transport system in time for the 2010 World Cup. The Times reports that the managing director of Putco, Franco Pisapia, said: ’Smartcards reduce the risk for customers who would otherwise have to carry cash to purchase fare tokens. Smartcards can be recharged on a weekly, monthly or season ticket level.’ The smartcard system was devised by Questek Transit Technologies. It was installed on 350 buses for the pilot programme. Putco plans to extend the use of the system to its entire 1700-bus fleet. The system will provide on-bus revenue management and record data such as passenger behaviour, popular routes and types of ticket purchased. It will also provide vehicle tracking data.
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Full report in The Times
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| CT network to add R211bn to GDP - 04/10/2007 |
The roll-out of a fibre optic network by the City of Cape Town could contribute a cumulative amount of at least R211bn to the GDP over its 20-year life cycle. This is according to the draft results of an economic impact assessment commissioned by the city as part of its business case for the fibre network. According to an ITWeb report, The city plans to lay fibre around its municipal environs to connect its buildings, such as libraries and clinics, and then allow the private sector to use the spare capacity to resell commercial services. Speaking at the third annual BMI-TechKnowledge Digital Cities Forum, in Midrand, Cape Town CIO Nirvesh Sooful said the impact study was conducted by the same economic consultants who performed assessments on the Cape Town International Convention Centre and 2010 World Cup stadium.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Navigation datasets on the cards for 2010 - 02/10/2007 |
Visitors to the 2010 World Cup need not worry about getting lost in SA’s busy streets, as Business Connexion’s geographical information systems (GIS) division has its eye on providing stable, custom-built products for the event. According to an eePublishers.co.za report, these will include 2010-specific navigation datasets, which will identify stadiums, accommodation, retail and banking facilities, and popular attractions and routes. The 2010 version of the company’s navigation product will be released in October 2007 and will not only pinpoint locations of interest to tourists, but will also cover considerably more of SA, and Africa’s, roads. The 2010 version will cover 560 000 km in SA alone.
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Full eePublishers.co.za report
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