Public enterprises minister Alec Erwin shed some light on the new government entity known as Infraco in Parliament early this week. He said the inception of Infraco, using the long-distance assets deployed by Eskom and Transnet, is a direct intervention to rapidly reduce the cost of broadband, in a medium-term plan supposed to begin next year.
One of its projects
On Wednesday, ITWeb brought the news that Infraco would be involved in the establishment of another submarine cable, bringing clarity to Erwin`s announcement. Intended to cover the western coastline (rather than the eastern one, as Eassy is supposed to), the developing story of this new cable is sure to generate a lot of interest.
Funding
Yesterday, ITWeb reported Infraco would receive almost R650 million in funding from the state. In finance minister Trevor Manuel`s medium-term budget policy statement, presented in Parliament on Wednesday, he said Infraco and the pebble-bed modular reactor demonstration unit would receive combined funding of R1.4 billion - and it is understood R647 million of that is earmarked for Infraco.
So now it`s all a little clearer.
Vodacom allowed to roam
One wonders whether it`s a bit late, as MTN has already bought into some of the more attractive nations.
Dave Glazier, journalist, ITWeb
Vodafone, one of Vodacom`s parents (the other being Telkom), will allow Vodacom to expand into other African regions, as it agrees in principle to amend the shareholder agreement. Vodacom`s long-time excuse for not keeping up with the explosive African growth of MTN seems to have gone - but one wonders whether it`s a bit late, as MTN has already bought into some of the more attractive nations.
Landmark in e-identity system
Home affairs said this week it is ready to move forward with the integration of its database and the population register, getting closer to the electronic ID system we`ve all been eagerly anticipating. The department celebrated the conclusion of the process of digitising 29.6 million fingerprints - a necessary first step on the road to e-IDs.
SITA`s 'irregular` processes revealed
On the "scandal front" this week, ITWeb brought news that the Department of Trade and Industry is investigating the State IT Agency (SITA) for alleged tender irregularities. SITA`s 2006 annual report cites irregular expenditure of over R130 million relating to five contracts not awarded according to due process.
IT Personality named
On a lighter note, the annual Computer Society of SA IT Personality of the Year awards were presented on Wednesday evening, with Axis`s head man Anthony Fitzhenry walking away with the IT Personality of the Year title. Sentech boss Dr Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane won the ICT Leadership Award.
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