Last week ICASA published the ECF Leasing Regulations, hot on the heels of announcing that valuable wireless spectrum would go up for sale! Effectively, it means that anyone who controls any electronic communications facility, including cables, antennas, masts & even satellite transponders must share this with an ECNS licence holder that needs to use such facilities.

This is obviously pretty big news! If you’re in the industry, make sure you have a look at the Regulations, available from Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions - http://www.ellipsis.co.za/facilities-leasing-regulations/

I’ve also made a mindmap (incomplete) that outlines some of the pertinent points. I find a mindmap much easier to use for legal documents I find clauses like to refer to other clauses in the same document. With a mindmap I can quickly see the clauses being referred to without searching through pages. You can view (and download) the mindmap from http://www.xmind.net/share/geekrebel/electronic-communications-facilities-(ecf)-leasing-regulatio/ or use the embedded version below (click the PopOut arrow bottom right to view in Fullscreen mode)

 

 

 

Earlier today I was planning a Google Adwords campaign for a new wireless internet product Skyrove WiFi Hotspots will be launching soon. As some of you may know, Google Trends is a great way to see what people are searching for on the internet.

Unfortunately, Google Trends does not tell you exactly how many searches there are for a particular term. You can only compare terms with each other. One of the most commonly searched terms on Google, believe it or not, is ’sex’.

So to get some rough benchmark of how often people search for “internet” in SA, I thus decided to compare the ’sex’ with ‘internet’. This is what it looks like: Incredibly, more people in South Africa are now searching for “internet” than there are looking for “sex”!

I’m not sure what conclusions to make yet, but it’s certainly interesting! I also did some other searches on Trends, e.g. 2010, internet (2010 recently outranked internet in the US, but NOT in South Africa!).

(Post by Skyrove Founder Henk Kleynhans - You can also follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/geekrebel)

Established over 30 years ago, Gloria Jean’s Coffees has become a global Icon with stores in over 20 countries and has now identified South Africa as a growing market for their quality handmade coffee. Gloria Jean’s will bring their passion for coffee to South Africa in vibrant stores at prime locations all over the country. For their South African stores, Gloria Jean’s Coffees has chosen Skyrove as a partner to provide wireless internet to their customers as a value added service. We are in the process of rolling-out the stores. Warren Schmidt, operations manager at Gloria Jean’s says: “The partnership with Skyrove is based on integrity and trust. Our vision is a commitment to excellence and innovation in everything we do and we have thus chosen a partner that shares that vision.“ To find a Gloria Jean’s store close to you visit http://www.gloriajeanscoffees.com.au/pages/content.asp?pid=116 To find Skyrove Hotspots in South Africa and worldwide visit map.skyrove.com

Skyrove is glad to announce a partnership with Dial-A-Nerd, South Africa’s leading computer Support Company dedicated to homes and small businesses. Their qualified and friendly technicians will from now install Skyrove Hotspot at affordable rates. The Hotspot will be sold for R795 and venue owners will be paid 50% revenues share. For those who want to pick up a Skyrove Hotspot in one of Dial-A-Nerd’s six branches a technician will set it up for you in-store! The Hotspot can then be taken to its new destination and simply be plugged in. Dial-A-Nerd currently has 3 branches in Cape Town (Durbanville, Woodstock and Tokai) and 3 branches in Johannesburg (Bryanston, Parkhurst, Sunninghill). All branches are also Skyrove Hotspots that provide prepaid broadband internet to the surrounding shops, businesses and homes as well as to people on the move who want to get connected. Grayson Rainier, Marketing Manager at Dial-A-Nerd raves: “Skyrove offers the best wireless hotspot option as you pay for how much you download, not for how long you spend browsing. If you are in coffee shop you are able to maximise your wireless time whilst enjoying your coffee. With Skyrove you get more flexibility and greater value for your money.” To experience the ease of use of a Skyrove Hotspot, the convenience of prepaid per Megabyte billing and all the other benefits, just test the Skyrove Hotspot at a Dial-A-Nerd branch or at any of our 250 Hotspots in South Africa. Dial-A-Nerd: because Nerds know Hotspots! For more information on Dial-A-Nerd visit: www.dialanerd.co.za To find Skyrove Hotspots close to you and worldwide visit: map.skyrove.com

Skyrove and PostNet have partnered to provide wireless internet access at PostNet stores around South Africa. This will enable customers at the store to use their Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs and mobile phones to access the internet on the move. PostNet Southern Africa is the country’s largest privately-owned counter network in the document and parcel market, targeting mainly Small to Medium Enterprises. Each PostNet store is a Business Centre providing a range of innovative business solutions that now include Skyrove Wi-Fi internet access. PostNet personnel save their clients time by attending to their Connectivity, Courier, Digital, Document and Office Supplies needs, all in one easy stop. Vishal Chaggan, head of digital communications at PostNet is excited about the collaboration saying, “We are always looking for ways to add value to our customers and mobile communication is very important to them. Skyrove enables these customers to conveniently create an account and connect to the internet wirelessly on their own devices.” PostNet Southern Africa franchise-based business has over 200 Business Centres that can be found in every major city and larger town throughout South Africa. PostNet stores in the Western Cape have successfully been enabled with Skyrove hotspots and the roll-out will be continued in January 2008 with selected stores in Gauteng and Durban. Tino Mueller, business development manager at Skyrove says “The PostNet Business Centres will add value to our hotspot network, where users can easily roam between high profile venues with a single prepaid account.” To find a PostNet Business Centre nearest to you, simply click here To find any of the 250 existing Skyrove Hotspots in South Africa, visit: map.skyrove.com/

Skyrove has entered a partnership with the Pinelands Accommodation Network (PAN). The organization that grades and organizes accommodations in Pinelands, Cape Town (SA) has realized that wireless internet access is not a service that should be exclusive to hotels. Most of the over 30 B&Bs and guesthouses are now offering wireless internet through Skyrove’s fully managed solution as a contemporary and value adding service to their guests. Nicola Morris, owner of Pine Cottage B&B and member of Pinelands Accommodation Network raves: “Skyrove has proved a huge benefit to my business, allowing my guests internet access in the comfort of their rooms. It has also proved an asset to Pinelands Accommodation Network as guests can use Skyrove at lots of different establishments within our network keeping their remaining credit from one visit to use at their next. To find Skyrove enabled accommodations in Pinelands visit http://www.pinelandsonline.com/