Local loop unbundling in sight

A handful of acquisitions, including ones by Ericsson and IBM, was the main news from the international ICT market last week. At home, the local loop news from Telkom was the main local story of a very quiet week.

* Satisfactory year-end figures from Pinnacle Holdings, with revenue up 11.7% and profit up 2.7%.
* A positive trading update from ISA.
* The suspension of CompuClearing shares on the JSE.
* Alaris Holdings terminated the merger agreement with Antenna Research.
* Telkom is to begin the long-awaited process of local loop unbundling.
* Newly-founded Web and mobile development agency, We Are Monsters, entered into a partnership with technology investor Silvertree Internet Holdings.
* A renewed JSE cautionary by Huge Group.
* The appointment of Jessica Knight as CEO of UCS Solutions.

* Kenya and South Sudan are to be connected via a new high-speed fibre-optic cable that will be started in May 2016.
* Smile Telecoms, the wireless broadband communications company founded by former MTN executive Irene Charnley, raised US$365 million in new debt and equity financing to expand its coverage in Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria, and to establish its first presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
* Zarnet, a Zimbabwean wholly state-owned ICT firm, is to buy software and network systems company Portnet, further entrenching the government's interests in the telecommunications and technology sector.

This week, watch out for further news re the proposed Vodacom/Neotel deal.

* Ericsson acquired Envivio, a provider of software-based video processing and delivery solutions.
* Equinix bought Tokyo-based Bit-isle, a move that will accelerate Equinix's cloud and enterprise ecosystem growth as well as create significant cross-selling opportunities.
* Flex (Flextronics International) purchased NEXTracker, a provider of smart solar tracking solutions.
* IBM acquired StrongLoop, a software provider that helps developers connect enterprise applications to mobile, Internet of things and Web applications in the cloud.
* MediaTek purchased up to 51% of Richtek Technology, with the aim of ultimately looking to buy 100% of the fellow Taiwan-based fabless IC firm.
* The $2.34 billion acquisition by Media General of Meredith, a combination of two large media companies that include TV operations.
* The $42 million investment by KKR in Israel's Optimal+, a big data analytics company that provides insights to the semiconductor industry.
* AMD effectively split its graphics chip unit into a separate business internally called Radeon Technology Group, nine years after it bought its way into the graphics processor business with the purchase of ATI. It seems likely AMD is trying to prepare for some kind of internal spin-out of its graphics business, which would be led by Raja Koduri.
* John McAfee, the original founder of McAfee, is to run as the US presidential candidate for his new Cyber Party.
* Satisfactory quarterly results from The Descartes Systems Group.
* Mediocre quarterly results from Finisar.
* Mixed quarterly figures from TiVo, with revenue up but profit down.
* Quarterly losses from Box, Palo Alto Networks and Volt Information Sciences.
* Full-year losses from Monitise and Toshiba.
* The appointment of Jerry Rawl as CEO of Finisar (also chairman).
* The resignations of Elizabeth Buze, CEO of Monitise; and, Eitan Gertel, CEO of Finisar.

South Africa:
* According to Frost & Sullivan, the total ICT spend in the South African retail sector was $484.1 million last year and is estimated to reach $572.6 million in 2019 at a compound annual growth rate of 3.4%.

EMEA/Africa:
* According to IDC, the EMEA server market saw an end to the continued growth of the last four quarters, with vendor revenue at $3.1 billion and 525 059 units shipped, a year-on-year decline of 2.5% and 4.5% respectively. For the first half of 2015, vendor revenue was $6.2 billion and one million server units were shipped, showing marginal growth on the first half of 2014 at 2.3% and 0.7% respectively.
* The external storage systems market in EMEA declined 11% year-over-year to $1.63 billion in Q215, says IDC. While high-end storage systems fell 33% year-on-year in the region, flash storage systems recorded double-digit growth propelled especially by all-flash arrays, which grew 113% year-on-year in user value. The total storage capacity in the region grew 2% year-on-year to 2.8 exabytes in the second quarter.
* According to IDC, the EMEA thin client market faced its third consecutive quarter of negative growth in Q2 2015, reaching the lowest volume in five years. Shipments contracted 17.7% year on year to 385 000 units.

* JSE All share index: Down 0.4%
* Nasdaq: Up 3%
* NYSE (Dow): Up 2.1%
* S&P 500: Up 2.1%
* FTSE100: Up 1.2%
* Nikkei225: Up 2.7%
* Hang Seng: Up 3.2%
* Shanghai: Up 1.3%
* Top SA share movements: Amecor (+12.2%), Labat Africa (+10.7%), Net 1 UEPS Technologies (-7%), Prescient (-6.2%), Stella Capital Partners (+9.6%) and Telkom SA (+10%)

International:
* The sell-off by insurance claims processing software maker Solera Holdings to private equity firms such as Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners.
* A possible sell-off by 3M of its healthcare data and software business.

South Africa:
* Further news re the proposed Vodacom/Neotel deal.

Inc magazine recently published its rankings of the fastest growing private companies in the US. From a technology perspective, companies included in the top 50 are:
* 1 Ultra Mobile, an MVNO
* 2 TRYFACTA, an IT services company
* 7 StartApp, a software company that provides a mobile advertising platform
* 10 Company.com, a social network platform
* 23 Vantage Point, a seller of computer hardware, software and services
* 25 Acordis International, an IT services company
* 48 Gainsight, a business productivity software company
* 50 ReVamp Electronics, a wholesale distributor of smartphone and tablet repair parts