Social Networking: A Quantative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use

Social Networking: A Quantative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use

Tags: internet, report, research, social networking, Web 2.0

South Africa: Telecoms ‘Gold Rush’ Leaves Nothing for Masses - ICASA

This press release was widely distributed online and appeared on Allafrica.com amongst others, from where I reproduce it, with full credits intact. This of course ties in with my previous posts regarding the fragile socio-political dynamics of the South African internet/web 2.0/technology sector and the many challenges faced by all who hope to make a meaningful contribution in this space.

Telecoms ‘Gold Rush’ Leaves Nothing for Masses - ICASA
Business Day (Johannesburg)
NEWS
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008

By Lesley Stones
Johannesburg

THE telecommunications sector is becoming a new gold rush where large white-owned companies pocket the wealth and leave nothing for the masses, says the chairman of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa).

The lowest rungs of society would be alienated if the regulator did not actively demand a greater role for black people in the industry, said chairman Paris Mashile. That is why Icasa would insist new licences for scarce spectrum went to companies that were 51% black-owned.

Speaking during a conference staged by Internet Solutions this week, Mashile defended Icasa’s decision to make empowerment a more important criterion than skills or cash to build a telecoms network,

Demanding 51% black ownership “isn’t outside the law” and the aim was to empower black people to start their own businesses rather than just take a stake in a successful white operator. White firms that sold equity to black people without relinquishing control were merely performing “empowerment gimmicks”, he said.

The high black profile is a condition for six new licences to use a high-speed wireless technology called WiMax, and each licence will allocate 20MHz of spectrum. That decision has also angered the industry, with many voice and data carriers saying 30MHz is needed to build a cost-effective network.

Telkom’s chief technical officer Thami Msimango said giving licences to one-man shows would not benefit the country. “People who can afford to roll out infrastructure should be given that spectrum,” he said.

Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig said true empowerment would be achieved by giving everyone access to affordable telephony and internet services, not by favouring operators owned by the previously disadvantaged. Vodacom could extend its network for two-thirds of the current cost if it had more spectrum, and it would pass the savings on to consumers by cutting the cost of calls, he said.

Mashile said there were ways of using 20MHz of spectrum efficiently, and operators just wanted as much as they could get simply to deprive other companies of that resource.

The unwelcome licensing criteria were set out after Icasa distilled a wide range of comments from the industry. It has repeatedly said the conditions are final, but has called for another round of comments.

Mashile said he would be happy to see companies build their own network infrastructure, as long as they were aware of the risks. ” We will open up for whoever wants to burn his money in this market - it’s up to them to take on the big guys and live with the consequences.”

Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)

Tags: access, africa, BEE, black economic empowerment, competition, culture, empowerment, ICT, infrastructure, internet, politics, resources, south africa, telecommunications

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners

This is a very nice post over at doshdosh.com. I always find it difficult to try and convey to people the benefits of using a certain tool. I think it comes mostly from the fact that there is already thousands of posts on the subject floating around there in the echo-chamber we have come to know and love/hate as the blogosphere.

So there is always a chance that you could be wrong about something, just because of the sheer impossibility of keeping up with millions of blog posts and press releases and product updates all over the world, every day. that has to be monitored and mined for little juicy nuggets to enhance your own content offering.

It is therefore always a pleasure to come upon someone else who has overcome these fears and succeeded in putting up a very nice introductory “manual” of a service or product that makes it easier for others to learn about it and start using it immediately with the minimum amount of obstacles.

It is with these thoughts in mind that I offer the link above, both because I have become totally addicted to Twitterland and the many thought leaders and A-list bloggers I have befriended and from whom I learn an amazing amount just by following their “lifestreams”.

Tags: blogging, communication, IM, internet, microblogging, tools, twitter