SOUTH AFRICA - MTN has announced that they are going to spend over R620m in Free State, Northern Cape in network expansion and 5G drive [TechAfrica News, August 2022]

Title:

MTN Commits R620M for 5G Network Expansion in Northern Cape

 

Author:

Sunette Els

General Manager: Regional Operations, MTN

Published:

TechAfrica News, 22 August 2022

https://techafricanews.com/2022/03/29/mtn-commits-r620m-for-5g-network-expansion-in-northern-cape/

From the article:

Focused on improving network availability, expediting battery resilience and maintaining throughput excellence across the Free State and Northern Cape , MTN will invest R412m in the Free State and R215m in the Northern Cape in 2022.

 

Kenya - Alphabet’s Loon launches its balloon-powered Kenyan internet service

Title:
Alphabet’s Loon launches its balloon-powered Kenyan internet service

Author:
Darrell Etherington

Published:
TechCrunch, 7 July 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/07/alphabets-loon-launches-its-balloon-powered-kenyan-internet-service/

From the article:
Alphabet’s Loon  has officially begun operating its commercial internet service in Kenya. This is the first large-scale commercial offering that makes use of Loon’s high-altitude balloons, which essentially work as cell service towers that drift on currents in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The #KeepItOn report on internet shutdowns in 2019

Title:
Targeted, cut off, and left in the dark: The #KeepItOn report on internet shutdowns in 2019

Author:
Berhan Taye

Published:
Access Now for the KeepItOn coalition, February 2020

Note on the KeepItOn data:
This #KeepItOn report looks at incidents of internet shutdowns in 2019. While we try to be comprehensive, our data relies on technical measurement as well as contextual information, such as news reports or personal accounts. The constraints of our methodology mean that there may be cases of internet shutdowns that have gone unnoticed or unreported, and numbers are likely to change if and when new information becomes available.

To read this report:
https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/02/KeepItOn-2019-report-1.pdf

SOUTH AFRICA: Damaged Wacs cable only likely to be fixed on 8 February - TechCentral

Title:
Damaged Wacs cable only  likely to be fixed on 8 February

Author:
Duncan McLeod

Published:
TechCentral, 27 January 2020

From the article:
"The Wacs cable, one of two cable systems damaged earlier this month due to a suspected undersea earthquake, will probably only be fixed on 8 February."

To read this article:
https://techcentral.co.za/damaged-wacs-cable-only-likely-to-be-fixed-on-8-february/95452/

Not good news for South African internet users 

as this is one of the cables connecting South Africa to Europe 

via the west coast of Africa!

For more information, see also:
African Undersea Cables & South Africa: Slow internet could last another two weeks, published on 24 January 2020

Short Article: How the price of bandwidth can be cut in African countries

Title:
How the price of bandwidth can be cut in African countries

Author:
Clement Prince Addo

Published:
TechXplore, 18 December 2019

From the article:
"African countries are listed among those with the lowest internet speed yet with the most expensive communication and internet cost in the world.

Africa is on record to have had the fastest growing mobile telecommunication market over the years. But the continent still has the lowest mobile penetration. And developments in Africa's telecommunications sector happen in cities and urban centers. Service providers argue that it's not economically feasible to roll out a network to cover an entire country.

But various advanced technologies are emerging to reduce the cost of internet provision and to increase accessibility."

To read more:
https://techxplore.com/news/2019-12-price-bandwidth-african-countries.html