WHATS IN THE NEWS – 6 May 2022

WHAT'S IN THE NEWS
6 May 2022

'No ulterior motive in ICASA linking biometrics to SIM cards'

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (ICASA’s) draft regulations to link people’s biometric data to their SIM cards are a step in the right direction in the fight against crime.

African telcos in OTT push amid stiff competition

Telco operators in the Sub-Saharan Africa region are upping the ante in offering over-the-top (OTT) services, as competition in the market heats up. Vodacom, MTN, Airtel, Globacom, Orange and Safaricom are all examples of telecommunication companies deciding to become full players in the video-streaming market in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by market research firm Dataxis.

Amazon sued over “confusing” subscription cancellations

Amazon Inc. makes it too hard and unnecessarily confusing to cancel subscriptions for services, some customers claimed in a lawsuit alleging the internet retailer is violating California’s rules on automatic renewal programs.

Webafrica is closing its offices and going fully virtual

Webafrica is pulling the plug on its physical offices, with its more than 500 employees to work completely remotely, making it one of the biggest companies in South Africa to do this.

The Internet service provider has already shut its Cape Town head office, with the Johannesburg office to follow by February 2023, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Vodacom promises to up spending on renewable energy

Vodacom South Africa will buy much more of the electricity it needs for its operations from renewable energy sources within the next three years, the telecommunications operator said on Thursday.

Big Cell C network outage — Mobile data and website offline

Numerous Cell C customers across South Africa have reported being unable to use the operator’s mobile or fibre networks from late Thursday morning.

Passwords aren't going away any time soon

As the world observes World Password Day today, cyber security experts warn that most South African citizens and firms still don’t take password management as seriously as they should, despite the rising number of security breaches.

Legal challenge against South Africa’s “eternal lockdown” Covid-19 rules

Labour union Solidarity has launched legal action against the new “limited” health regulations to contain the spread of Covid-19, which took effect on Thursday, 5 May 2022.

Solidarity contends the regulations are unlawful and irrational and has issued a legal letter to health minister Joe Phaahla, requesting that he explain how his department reached its decision on the rules.

This is why we’ll probably have to work longer than our parents did

China is moving ahead with a plan to raise its retirement age.

Many countries face similar issues and are also raising retirement ages.

The changes are in response to ageing populations and declining birth rates.

China’s plan to “gradually delay” the country’s legal retirement age has managed to unify a wide variety of people around a single sentiment: they don’t like it.

As a country looking for ways to address the fact that it may not have enough workers paying into its pension system to support an ageing population, however, China is far from alone.