TechCentral

This is the fourth episode of a new podcast series curated by TechCentral’s editorial team and generated by artificial intelligence tools. It’s an experiment that’s in beta for now, but if it works well, we’ll consider making it a regular feature by launching a season 1.

In this episode, we highlight some of the biggest technology news stories from South Africa and the world over the last week, as covered by TechCentral.

Note that even using the most accurate and reliable sources, AI can and will occasionally make mistakes.

In this episode, we look at:

• Takealot’s talks about hiring thousands of retrenched Post Office employees to support its e-commerce expansion plans;

• Why South Africans’ use of cash is costing the economy billions of rand a year, according to the Reserve Bank;

• City Power’s plan to roll out electric vehicle charging stations in Johannesburg;

• The Internet Service Providers’ Association’s view of communications minister Solly Malatsi’s plan to introduce equity equivalence in licensing in the ICT sector;

• Intel’s pivot to the “14A” manufacturing technology and what it means in its fight with TSMC for foundry customers;

• Bank Zero’s sale to Lesaka Technologies; and

• The mental health impact of AI chatbots.

Again, this podcast is experimental. We welcome your feedback. Would you like this podcast to become a regular feature? Is there anything you’d like us to improve? Is it too short or too long? Drop us a line at [email protected]. TechCentral

This is the fourth episode of a new podcast series curated by TechCentral’s editorial team and generated by artificial intelligence tools. It’s an experiment that’s in beta for now, but if it works well, we’ll consider making it a regular feature by launching a season 1.

In this episode, we highlight some of the biggest technology news stories from South Africa and the world over the last week, as covered by TechCentral.

Note that even using the most accurate and reliable sources, AI can and will occasionally make mistakes.

In this episode, we look at:

• Takealot’s talks about hiring thousands of retrenched Post Office employees to support its e-commerce expansion plans;

• Why South Africans’ use of cash is costing the economy billions of rand a year, according to the Reserve Bank;

• City Power’s plan to roll out electric vehicle charging stations in Johannesburg;

• The Internet Service Providers’ Association’s view of communications minister Solly Malatsi’s plan to introduce equity equivalence in licensing in the ICT sector;

• Intel’s pivot to the “14A” manufacturing technology and what it means in its fight with TSMC for foundry customers;

• Bank Zero’s sale to Lesaka Technologies; and

• The mental health impact of AI chatbots.

Again, this podcast is experimental. We welcome your feedback. Would you like this podcast to become a regular feature? Is there anything you’d like us to improve? Is it too short or too long? Drop us a line at [email protected].

Welcome to Watts & Wheels, a new motoring show from TechCentral that covers the latest in the world of new energy vehicles.

Hosted by William Kelly and Duncan McLeod, the show explores developments in electric cars and other electrified vehicles through a South African lens.

Season 0 of Watts & Wheels consists of three weekly episodes and is a pilot ahead of the likely launch of a longer first season of the show.

The pace of innovation in the cloud space is breathtaking. Gone are the days when the cloud was just about virtual machines and storage; today, it is a dynamic ecosystem, constantly introducing features that are fundamentally transforming how businesses operate, from the smallest start-ups to the largest enterprises.

Preegan Chetty, Azure product manager at First Distribution, returns to TechCentral’s TCS+ to discuss some of the latest and most exciting features available in the Azure cloud environment and how businesses are leveraging those capabilities to facilitate growth.

This is the third in a series of three episodes with Chetty and First Distribution. Episode one covered cloud cost optimisation in Azure and episode two looked at how businesses can manage the complexities of data residency in hybrid cloud environments.

In this episode, Chetty delves into:

• The benefits cloud-based IT environments offer over on-prem installations and how they help companies experiment and adopt new technologies faster;

• How businesses can ensure they are able to keep pace with new technologies so they are not left behind;

• How South African businesses are using the newest AI tools in Azure to build new products and services;

• How to approach responsible AI development in the cloud;

• How cloud AI tools can help with code modernisation;

• How small businesses can take advantage of cloud technology; and

• Emerging cloud technologies to keep an eye on.

This discussion is not to be missed. TechCentral

The pace of innovation in the cloud space is breathtaking. Gone are the days when the cloud was just about virtual machines and storage; today, it is a dynamic ecosystem, constantly introducing features that are fundamentally transforming how businesses operate, from the smallest start-ups to the largest enterprises.

Preegan Chetty, Azure product manager at First Distribution, returns to TechCentral’s TCS+ to discuss some of the latest and most exciting features available in the Azure cloud environment and how businesses are leveraging those capabilities to facilitate growth.

This is the third in a series of three episodes with Chetty and First Distribution. Episode one covered cloud cost optimisation in Azure and episode two looked at how businesses can manage the complexities of data residency in hybrid cloud environments.

In this episode, Chetty delves into:

• The benefits cloud-based IT environments offer over on-prem installations and how they help companies experiment and adopt new technologies faster;

• How businesses can ensure they are able to keep pace with new technologies so they are not left behind;

• How South African businesses are using the newest AI tools in Azure to build new products and services;

• How to approach responsible AI development in the cloud;

• How cloud AI tools can help with code modernisation;

• How small businesses can take advantage of cloud technology; and

• Emerging cloud technologies to keep an eye on.

This discussion is not to be missed.

Data is the lifeblood of every organisation, driving innovation, enhancing customer experiences and influencing strategic decisions.

But managing this invaluable asset has never been more challenging. Hybrid IT environments – where some organisational data sits in the cloud other data resides in on-premises infrastructure – only adds to this complexity.

In this second episode in a series of three delving into the ins and outs of Azure cloud deployments, Preegan Chetty, Azure product manager at First Distribution, discusses the data governance procedures that ensure organisational data is stored in the most useful, cost-effective and compliant ways.

The first episode centred on effective cost management techniques for the Azure cloud environment. You can watch that episode here.

In this episode, Chetty delves into:

• Why the complexity of data governance increases when organisations migrate from on-premises to hybrid cloud environments;

• The factors organisations should consider when deciding which data they should keep where;

• What Dora legislation is and how it affects the hybrid data strategies of South African organisations;

• Other legislation impacting data governance in South Africa;

• The tools Azure provides to help data architects structure distributed data in ways that do not have a negative impact on performance;

• Data governance for disaster recovery; and

• The impact data governance decisions have on an organisation’s cloud costs.

Don’t miss an informative discussion! TechCentral

Data is the lifeblood of every organisation, driving innovation, enhancing customer experiences and influencing strategic decisions.

But managing this invaluable asset has never been more challenging. Hybrid IT environments – where some organisational data sits in the cloud other data resides in on-premises infrastructure – only adds to this complexity.

In this second episode in a series of three delving into the ins and outs of Azure cloud deployments, Preegan Chetty, Azure product manager at First Distribution, discusses the data governance procedures that ensure organisational data is stored in the most useful, cost-effective and compliant ways.

The first episode centred on effective cost management techniques for the Azure cloud environment. You can watch that episode here.

In this episode, Chetty delves into:

• Why the complexity of data governance increases when organisations migrate from on-premises to hybrid cloud environments;

• The factors organisations should consider when deciding which data they should keep where;

• What Dora legislation is and how it affects the hybrid data strategies of South African organisations;

• Other legislation impacting data governance in South Africa;

• The tools Azure provides to help data architects structure distributed data in ways that do not have a negative impact on performance;

• Data governance for disaster recovery; and

• The impact data governance decisions have on an organisation’s cloud costs.

Don’t miss an informative discussion!

Organisations are flocking to the cloud for its agility, scalability and innovation potential. But while the cloud promises big things, it also presents a set of financial challenges.

Many businesses find their cloud bills spiralling out of control, eroding the very benefits they sought in the first place.

In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Preegan Chetty, Microsoft Azure product manager at First Distribution, discusses the tools Azure provides for effective cost management and how businesses can take advantage of them to get the most out their cloud deployments without breaking the bank.

Chetty delves into:

• Some of the common pitfalls or hidden costs that organisations encounter when moving their workloads into the cloud and how to mitigate against these;

• The different pricing models available in Azure and how organisations can leverage them;

• What FinOps is and how businesses can benefit from it;

• How organisational KPIs can be leveraged to manage cloud spending effectively;

• How tagging can aid in cost centre management;

• How to manage costs in more complex hybrid cloud environments; and

• The AI tools Azure offers to aid businesses in managing their costs.

This episode is not to be missed. TechCentral

Organisations are flocking to the cloud for its agility, scalability and innovation potential. But while the cloud promises big things, it also presents a set of financial challenges.

Many businesses find their cloud bills spiralling out of control, eroding the very benefits they sought in the first place.

In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Preegan Chetty, Microsoft Azure product manager at First Distribution, discusses the tools Azure provides for effective cost management and how businesses can take advantage of them to get the most out their cloud deployments without breaking the bank.

Chetty delves into:

• Some of the common pitfalls or hidden costs that organisations encounter when moving their workloads into the cloud and how to mitigate against these;

• The different pricing models available in Azure and how organisations can leverage them;

• What FinOps is and how businesses can benefit from it;

• How organisational KPIs can be leveraged to manage cloud spending effectively;

• How tagging can aid in cost centre management;

• How to manage costs in more complex hybrid cloud environments; and

• The AI tools Azure offers to aid businesses in managing their costs.

This episode is not to be missed.

It’s many months late, but the Competition Tribunal has finally released its reasons document – or at least, a non-confidential version – outlining why it decided to block Vodacom’s acquisition of a co-controlling stake in fibre operator Maziv.

The tribunal last October shocked the merging parties – and the telecommunications industry – when it announced it had agreed with the Competition Commission’s recommendation that the proposed multibillion-rand acquisition of Maziv, which owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, be blocked on competition grounds.

Vodacom, which has appealed the decision at the competition appeal court, had made an offer to buy 30% of Maziv – and possibly up to 40% of the business – to become a co-controlling shareholder alongside Remgro-controlled CIVH. The transaction was strongly opposed by a range of stakeholders, including internet service providers, which fretted about the impact on competition in South Africa’s internet access industry.

Key reasons cited by the tribunal for seeking to kill the deal include:

• Elimination of a competitive threat: Vodacom was identified as a potential future competitor to Maziv in fibre. Its entry would have forced Maziv to respond on price and value, benefiting consumers.

• Vertical foreclosure: Dark Fibre Africa holds a dominant position in the upstream dark fibre market (estimated 80-90% national market share for metropolitan dark fibre). The tribunal found that the merged entity would have both the ability and incentive to foreclose Vodacom’s mobile rivals by offering preferential terms, raising prices or degrading service quality.

• Anti-competitive bundling: The merger would create opportunities for Vodacom to bundle mobile and fibre services, leveraging its large subscriber base and Maziv’s fibre infrastructure, potentially entrenching dominance and hindering competition.

Regarding public interest, the tribunal found that most claimed benefits, such as accelerated fibre roll-out and 5G deployment, were not merger-specific and would likely occur without the transaction due to Vodacom’s existing licensing obligations and market dynamics.

The tribunal concluded, too, that the tendered remedies, including a divestiture for fibre overlaps and behavioural conditions for open access and non-discrimination, were insufficient, inadequate and incapable of effective monitoring and enforcement.

TechCentral journalists will be unpacking the findings document in the coming days. In the meantime, the above AI-generated podcast overview of the nearly 400-page document provides insight into some of the key findings. Please be aware that because it is generated by AI, there may be an occasional error of fact in the discussion as AI tools are still prone to “hallucinations”. TechCentral