State-owned broadcasting signal distribution company Sentech has a little over two months to distribute and install 220,000 set-top boxes to qualifying indigent households before the new analogue television switch-off deadline of 31 March 2025.

The new deadline was set by communications minister Solly Malatsi in December, extending the switch-off by three months—in large part to allow more time for government-subsidised set-top boxes to be distributed.

According to Sentech, it is reliant on information from the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (Usaasa) to carry out the mandate.

“The stock is recorded on the USA’s balance sheet. Sentech is the appointed implementing agency responsible for the distribution of set-top boxes and providing project management services,” Sentech said in response to questions from TechCentral.

“The distribution of set-top boxes is dependent on the availability of the registration details of beneficiaries. After a beneficiary has been vetted, the details are forwarded to Sentech, which then appoints installers to undertake the installation.”

Despite Sentech’s involvement, an US spokeswoman has confirmed to TechCentral that the agency remains responsible for funding the project, including the procurement of set-top boxes as well as paying for their warehousing and installation.

Free-to-air threat

According to a statement by Malatsi in December, some 467 000 households have registered for the government’s set-top box subsidy programme. It is unclear whether the 220,000 units in Sentech’s possession represent the balance of the 467 000 households still requiring installation or whether there is a gap between the number of registered households and devices available.

Even if all 467 000 households registered are serviced in time, a larger problem exists: speaking at public hearings called by Icasa for the communications regulator’s inquiry into the review of the digital migration regulations of 2012 in Pretoria last June, eMedia Holdings CEO Khalik Sherrif said some 4.5 million South African households would still be reliant on analogue television to receive free-to-air channels after the analogue switch-off because they could not afford the hardware that would allow them to access digital broadcasts.

Read: Analogue TV switch-off ‘must not marginalise the poor

Sherrif said the loss of a sizeable portion of the TV viewership base would be harmful to the livelihoods of employees at both eMedia and the SABC. Media watchdogs Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the SOS Coalition echoed Sherrif’s sentiments, describing the situation as an “existential crisis” for the public broadcaster.

“To cut its audience in this context is basically taking away its only source of revenue. This will have consequences on the thousands of jobs at the SABC, and we are facing a possible extinction event for the public broadcaster,” said MMA executive director William Bird at the Icasa hearings.

The threat to the SABC comes as the public broadcaster faces a funding crisis. After withdrawing the contentious SABC Bill from parliament last November (now the subject of a feud between the Democratic Alliance and the ANC), Malatsi cited the bill’s weakness at addressing the SABC’s funding model as one of his reasons for doing so.

“We have to get the question around the funding model for the SABC right. There is broad acknowledgement that the bill as it stands does not answer that, so why proceed with it?” Malatsi said in an interview with TechCentral last November.

While some may see the distribution of set-top boxes as the major hurdle to the successful implementation of digital migration in South Africa, others, like eMedia’s Sherrif, believe the government’s delays in implementing digital broadcasting have put the country in a position where it may have to leapfrog the technology. © 2025 NewsCentral Media

Microsoft Azure SQL is a fully managed and scalable cloud database service—and its myriad benefits mean your company should be considering it if it isn’t already using it.

To unpack this in more detail, Preegan Chetty, Microsoft Azure product manager at First Distribution, and Silicon Overdrive Microsoft business executive Jody Roberts join TechCentral’s business technology show TCS+.

In the episode, they unpack:

• The relationship between First Distribution and Silicon Overdrive;
• Silicon Overdrive’s market focus;
• What Azure SQL is and how it’s helping companies with their digital transformation initiatives;
• Why many South African businesses run SQL Server databases, usually on-premises, and what the advantages are of moving these databases into the Microsoft Azure cloud;
• The cost advantages of shifting and what’s involved in doing so;
• The security considerations of shifting from on-premises SQL Server to Azure SQL;
• The features that make Azure SQL particularly secure;
• Use cases of businesses leveraging Azure SQL; and
• Azure SQL Database vs. SQL Managed Instance vs. SQL Service on Azure Virtual Machines: the differences between these options and why businesses should choose one over another.

Don’t miss the discussion.

Listen to this episode of TCS+

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The rise of Web3 business models prompts the dire need for most of the laws governing South Africa’s ICT sector to be scrapped and new laws formulated.

This is according to Andile Ngcaba, executive chairman and co-founder of Convergence Partners and president of Digital Council Africa.

Talking to ITWeb TV about SA’s ICT landscape, he said it’s shaped by a booming digital economy, a ripe telecoms sector and growing investments in connectivity infrastructure.

As SA embraces digital transformation, ICT laws need to be fundamentally changed, to respond to the current social, economic and technological evolution unfolding in the country, he stated.

Various laws − including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, Telecommunications Act of 1996 and South African Post Office Act of 2013 − have been outpaced by the expeditious evolution of technology, resulting in regulatory and enforcement challenges for government and local businesses, Ngcaba pointed out.

“We need new policies in the ICT sector – not for them to be amended. These existing laws are moribund and old, and they need to be shredded, put in the dustbin, and new laws need to be written.

“If you look at the current laws, most of these were done in the period between 1994 and 2003. Remember, there was the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act and Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) Act, which were then combined to establish ICASA and the State Information Technology Agency. 25 years later, you can’t even amend these laws; you need to create new laws.

“If you take, for example, artificial intelligence, data and applications, blockchain and technologies relating to submarine cables, non-terrestrial networks, low- and high-altitude platforms, you cannot use existing laws to govern them – which we as government wrote, pioneered and championed as the first democratically-elected government of SA, together with the public sector.”

Communications minister Solly Malatsi previously told ITWeb about plans to engage the ICT sector and amend some of the existing laws, in order to create a conducive environment for efficiency and ensure policy is inclusive of all the key players.

As the ministry responsible for policy development for the ICT sector, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has several policy interventions in the pipeline. These include the gazetting of the National Data and Cloud Policy, as well as the National AI Policy Framework.

 

 

 

Andile Ngcaba, executive chairman and co-founder of Convergence Partners and president of Digital Council Africa.

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Ngcaba is a technologist and has been actively involved in ICT public policy development nationally, throughout the continent and globally, for more than 40 years.

He was appointed as the first communications director-general of the democratically-elected government in 1994. Ngcaba was part of the team that established the Centre for Development of Information and Telecommunications Policy, which was instrumental in training and skills development of historically-disadvantaged South Africans in the ICT sector.

He left government in 2003, to pursue a career in the private sector.

Ngcaba noted the process of drafting and approving a new law often takes between one year and 18 months.

“[Government] could run consultation processes with the entire ecosystem and create new legislation. Look at some of the laws today; data for instance, the legislations around AI, and the way in which connectivity is defined. You can’t define connectivity by technology, the way current laws have done.

“Look at modern applications and issues of cyber security, quantum computing-related technologies. You can’t expect the laws written in the late 1990s and early 2000s to be practical in 2025; it’s just not going to work.”

He noted his investment management firm, Convergence Partners, which is often involved in acquisition deals, frequently has to wait 180 days for a deal to be approved by the Competition Commission and Competition Tribunal.

“You can’t do that today. Looking at the speed of transactions and acquisitions, you can’t run an industry with those types of [lengthy] decision-making processes. These laws need fundamental changes; they don’t need adjustments here and there.”

When Ngcaba and his team within the communications department took over in 1994, many laws had to be formulated from scratch, he commented. These included the Post Office Act of 1958, Broadcasting Act of 1976, Radio Act of 1952, and Cable and Wireless Workers Transfer Act of 1947.

“These were the laws governing the old system that we had to scrap and write new legislations that are more inclusive of everybody and would also introduce industry competition in order for us not to continue with the same monopoly model we had before.

“We introduced competition in a variety of services, including value-added network services and competition, to allow for new original equipment manufacturers to come into the country. So, the market was then opened for new investors.”

The SABC was transformed from a state broadcaster into a public broadcaster, then there was the introduction of community radio and the issuing of radio licences, he added.

“The market was opened for dynamism. There was a lot that happened in that first five to 10 years after 1994, changing the past but also preparing for the future.

“SA really needs to think strategically about where it wants to be in 2050 and define that objective in AI and other technologies, and let the legislation and policies of the country be designed towards that objective.”

As AI spreads across the globe, it has introduced new capabilities and also threats and challenges, leading to a regulatory quagmire.

According to Ngcaba, AI has become the centre of geopolitics, in the same way there was the nuclear arms race. The race we see today is the debate between major powers around what AI supremacy is going to look like and who’s going to be number one.

“The fear that a lot of countries have is the weaponisation of AI – how it will be used, either in the military, in defence or embedded in weaponised systems that are used for war, or for a variety of other reasons.

“AI can also be used for good. SA cannot let this global race happen, and sit and fold our arms; we need to invest in research as the public and private sectors. We need to build AI factories and AI infrastructure, such as data centres, where we will run these new AI models.

“We need to make sure law enforcement can use AI to fight crime and ensure our defence is able to build modern, sophisticated ways of new theatres of war that will make us understand what the future of conflict will look like, using AI.

“It’s not just an ICT or tech industry issue; this cuts across various sectors, including health, education, defence and security.”

Elon Musk-owned satellite broadband internet service provider Starlink will begin beta-testing its direct-to-mobile service on Monday for a project that could shake up the global telecommunications industry.

Direct-to-mobile connectivity allows satellites to act like cellphone towers in space, allowing users in even the most remote areas to connect to broadband internet services from the sky and make telephone calls, all without terrestrial coverage.

“Starlink direct from satellite to cellphone internet connection starts beta test in 3 days,” Musk said in an X post on Friday.

SpaceX in 2024 used a number of its low-Earth-orbit satellite launches to prepare its constellation for a direct-to-mobile offering. Thirteen of the 20 satellites SpaceX launched into into orbit in June 2024, for example, had direct-to-mobile capability. Ten days later, another 20 satellites were added to the constellation with 13 of those also able to connect to mobile phones directly.

According to Starlink, which is still not available in South Africa, satellites with direct-to-mobile support have an advanced eNodeB modem that acts like a cellular tower in space, allowing network integration similar to the way a standard roaming partner would connect to a cellular network.

Still in its infancy, direct-to-mobile technology will cover low-bandwidth use cases like text messaging for emergencies in its early stages. Higher-bandwidth applications such as voice and video calling are expected to come later as the technology matures. Starlink also plans to introduce a satellite-based internet-of-things service this year.

Competitors

Competitors in the direct-to-mobile space include frontrunner Lynk Global, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile, a Texas-based satellite provider that is 5% owned by Vodacom Group parent Vodafone Group. Partnerships between terrestrial mobile operators and satellite-based broadband companies are becoming commonplace.

Mobile operators benefit by getting the ability to expand their networks in remote and rural areas, where infrastructure roll-out is more expensive and less profitable. Satellite service providers like Starlink, on the other hand, benefit by expanding their reach around the world without having to invest in customer-facing systems. Partnering also helps them avoid the regulatory overheads mobile operators are often subjected to.

Read: Direct-to-mobile will outpace broadband satellite: experts

Direct from satellite to mobile capability, however, threatens a shake-up in the global telecoms landscape: if satellite broadband providers purchased their own spectrum, they could, in theory, compete directly with terrestrial mobile operators.

 Speaking to journalists last November, MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said MTN was “very aware” of the challenges of having to compete as a fixed and wireless operator with LEO satellites.

“LEO operators should be treated the same as terrestrial operators such as ourselves: [they should be] subjected to the same regulatory requirements, whether it’s around data privacy, data transport, localisation or access to spectrum,” Mupita said. “Our ask is that there just be a level playing ground.”  — © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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The CEO of Yellow Card Financial, a pan-African-focused digital assets exchange, says he has received increased interest from traditional banks and expects regulators to act quicker on establishing rules for the sector following the inauguration of crypto-friendly US President Donald Trump.

“With the US moving this way, I think that you’ll see a lot more speed from various governments around Africa in terms of getting to a point of regulatory clarity,” CEO Chris Maurice said in an interview on Wednesday. “This gives us more confidence that over the next year or so, you’re going to see sweeping regulatory change across the African continent.”

His remarks came hours after the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it will launch a cryptocurrency-focused task force to come up with ways to regulate the market, part of Trump’s plan for the sector. Despite widespread adoption of crypto assets by young Africans and businesses hedging against unstable currencies, many nations on the continent still lack the required legislation for the use of digital assets in the financial markets.

Crypto trading is still illegal in most African nations, and trading activities are closely monitored by central banks concerned that investors will use stablecoins to transfer their assets abroad, causing capital flight. The arrest and trial of an executive of the Binance exchange in Nigeria last year, accused by authorities of currency manipulation—which he denied—are a pointer to how far governments can go.

Maurice, though, said he has witnessed a change in sentiment since Trump’s victory in November, with the industry taking off in ways that he didn’t think were possible even just a couple of months before. The company, which has several backers, including from Jack Dorsey’s Block, Valar Ventures, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel, and Coinbase Ventures, has received several offers of acquisition, Maurice said.

Sign up for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter for the latest business and economic news from the continent.

Trump effect

“We’re having conversations with banks and other major financial institutions that a couple of months ago, they didn’t want to hear about crypto; they didn’t want to talk about it,” Maurice said. “Now these guys are calling us; they’re interested. They want to understand how they get into the space. I think obviously part of it is the Trump effect.”

Yellow Card, which has expanded to 20 African countries, traded more than US$3 billion worth of crypto last year and is encouraged by ongoing conversions in places like Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana to regulate the crypto market, which will give companies in the industry the “confidence to invest, hire more, and to grow the team,” he said.

“Nigeria’s number one on Earth for stablecoin adoption; it’s number two on all crypto adoption,” Maurice said. “You have South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana, which are all in the top 20 on Earth for adoption of this technology.”

Yellow Card missed out on the so-called accelerated regulatory incubation programme rolled out by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission to two crypto exchanges last year, but Maurice is hopeful that his firm will receive a permanent operational licence this year.

International remittances using cryptocurrencies are popular among Africans in the diaspora and relatives on the continent, and their adoption is also growing among small and medium-sized companies that are turning to stablecoins for transactions. Maurice said the question now is if the continent can maintain the momentum and keep its lead in the crypto market.

“Over the last two years, the regulatory landscape has gotten so much better on the continent. Now this added pressure from Trump, I think, it will just continue to grow,” he said. — Nduka Orjinmo, Anthony Osae-Brown and Emele Onu, (c) 2025 Bloomberg LP

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