Canal+ and MultiChoice have announced that all conditions to Canal+’s 35 billion rand (€1.72bn) takeover offer for the South African TV broadcaster have been fulfilled following the completion of all necessary regulatory conditions, thus making the deal unconditional. Canal+ owned 46 per cent of MultiChoice as of September 19th, with another 2.2 per cent of […]
Lynk Global, a satellite-to-cellular operator which has SES as a major shareholder, has asked the FCC for a 60-day temporary authority to operate feeder links in the S-Band as part of a South African trial of its technology, with an unnamed local mobile operator (probably MTN), aimed at testing direct-to-device (D2D) voice calling. The test […]
South Africa Broadcasting has been under financial pressures and severe monetary constraints for some years. Local reports say that pressure is mounting on communications minister Solly Malatsi to act to rescue the SABC as it struggles to pay its escalating bills. September 8th saw reports that State-owned signal distributor Sentech, whose primary client is SABC, […]
South Africa’s department of communications & digital technologies has stepped in with an effort to solve the long-running dispute between public broadcaster SAB and transmission company Sentech. The move has seen the government publish a tender document in an attempt to solve the dilemma between two state-backed entities. “There has been an ongoing tariffs dispute […]
Clear Angle Studios, the 3D capture and processing company for the film and TV industries, has announced a strategic partnership with Robot Air, a specialist scanning company based in Cape Town. This collaboration marks Clear Angle Studios’ expansion into Southern Africa, providing additional training for local talent, and establishing a dedicated hub to serve the […]
South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA has issued a draft set of digital terrestrial broadcasting regulations. ICASA has set out the frequencies which will be allocated for public broadcasting, commercial free-to-view, subscription and community broadcasting. The new rules, when implemented, will replace older legislation in place for more than 10 years although largely ignored because analogue […]
Elon Musk’s plans to start Starlink broadband services in South Africa are currently stymied. But he is reportedly planning an ambitious work-around with a 2 billion Rand (€96m) overall investment in the Southern Africa region to get around local Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) regulations. South Africa’s Business Day reports that Musk will use the investment […]
Starlink is unlikely to gain permission to operate in South Africa any time soon, according to a local communications sector expert. Dominic Cull, a regulatory expert at communications sector legal advisory firm Ellipsis, said it will be at least two years before new regulations will be in place to allow for equity equivalents – and […]
MultiChoice Group has reported that it “demonstrated resilient operational performance” for the year ended March 2024, delivering a 26 per cent trading profit margin in South Africa, while increasing trading profit in the Rest of Africa by 48 per cent, despite a challenging macro-economic conditions. Clear strategic milestones were reached, with the group successfully launching […]
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system is not authorised or licensed by South Africa. Recent discussions between SpaceX and South Africa’s licensing authorities could see this prohibition lifted. However, there are reportedly thousands of Starlink users in South Africa. The users have imported equipment from neighbouring states where Starlink is authorised and have accessed Starlink via its […]