South African IT Billionaire and founder of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth, has won his court battle against the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb). Shuttleworth has been awarded R250m by the court of appeal.

The court battle began when Shuttleworth attempted to take R2.5 billion of his funds overseas. According to Shuttleworth, he emigrated in order to free up funds to invest outside South Africa. He claimed that he emigrated due to the system of exchange control in South Africa, which he asserted was severely restrictive and rendered investments outside our borders prohibitive. That claim was contested by Sarb.

Sarb taxed Shuttleworth 10 percent as an exit tax of the funds. Shuttleworth protested and claimed that the SARB regulation that stipulated taxation was allowed was not approved by national legislation. The 10 percent tax added up to a staggering R250m, which has now been awarded back to Shuttleworth; however, the Supreme Court of Appeal has ordered Sarb to pay interest on that amount at 15.5 percent per annum from April 2012.

University students int Zimbabwe will now have a swell time accessing internet services in their electronic library as Econet has now opened sale of the Econet Wireless which will be selling for $35. This initiative is part of the telecom giant’s EcoSchool offering, which is being rolled out for all universities in Zimbabwe.

The company says it ran a pilot test for the project over a period of six months. “When a student uses their own devices (tablets and smartphones) it costs $2 a month. When they use the EcoSchool tablet, it costs $6 a month for 24 months,” said Teresa Mbagaya, the head of EcoSchool.

The EcoSchool offering also comes with a chatroom that helps students communicate with their peers as well as interact with lecturers on educational issues.

Darlington Mandivenga, the Econet Services CEO, said: “the system enables students to learn in their own environment as they no longer have to visit “brick and mortar libraries” to access educational content.”

He added that there are plans to expand the EcoSchool system into the rest of the world, adding that the offering is expected to include primary and high school content.

Etihad Airways has deployed mobile and internet connectivity across its entire fleet of 24 Boeing 777 passenger aircraft. This milestone comes only months before the airline’s entire fleet of 89 passenger aircraft is connected, which will make Etihad Airways the first in the region and one of the few airlines in the world, to offer mobile and internet connectivity services on every aircraft. The passenger fleet includes 28 Airbus A320s, 26 A330s, 11 A340s and 24 Boeing 777 family aircraft.

The full suite of inflight connectivity services on the fleet includes Wi-Fi, mobile services and Live TV. The services combine the “Etihad Wi-Fly” solution, powered by the Panasonic Avionics Global Communications Suite, and OnAir’s inflight connectivity solution.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are a global market leader in terms of onboard connectivity solutions. We believe that onboard connectivity is an important competitive differentiator for our guests and are continuously introducing new communications technology to enhance their travel experience. The roll out of our state-of-the-art connectivity solution will give our modern connected guests a seamless, robust experience at 35,000 feet, similar to what they expect at home or work.”

Guests will be able to enjoy high-speed broadband services on Wi-Fi enabled devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops, allowing them to surf the internet, update social media, purchase gifts, upgrade seats, change travel plans and much more, all from the comfort of their seat.

The mobile connectivity service can be accessed by guests using their mobile phones and smartphones to make and receive phone-calls, send and receive text messages and emails, and use mobile data services.

The Live TV onboard service allows guests to watch live news and major sporting events on seven popular television channels including BBC World News, CNBC, CNN, euronews, Japan’s NHK World Premium, Sky News Arabia, and Sport 24.

Cabin crew and flight deck operations can also utilise Wi-Fi connections to handle medical emergencies. The crew is empowered to manage inflight guest issues by phone or email in real-time with the airline’s ground teams based in Abu Dhabi. Connectivity is also paving the way for the airline to enhance the guest experience through increased onboard retail opportunities, with the added benefit of real-time credit card transactions.

Packages to access the internet start at US$5 and can be purchased using credit cards, PayPal and a range of other convenient payment methods. Mobile telephone usage will be billed by the guest’s mobile service providers based on the international roaming rates levied by the service providers.

Using a small VSAT equipment and dish worth Ksh43,000 ($500) SatADSL, a Belgium firm has partnered with Indigo Telecom in Kenya and Uganda’s Maisha Network promises to enable banks and microfinance institutions to install Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as provide money transfer services.

The firm’s satellite tech will power financial and school broadcasting services in East Africa’s remote areas begining in Kenya and Uganda then later Tanzania and Ethiopia.

“VSAT equipment linked to the satellite will increase financial services penetration by being connected to ATMs in rural areas in Kenya and Uganda. This will be expanded to Tanzania and Ethiopia soon,” SatADSL’s Business Development Director Michel Dothey said.

East Africa has limited terrestrial telecommunications coverage outside of urban areas where the population is less dense. Telecommunication links where available may not be as reliable as needed by professional users therefore most users have turned to mobile money and mobile banking putting pressure on banks to embrace technology or miss out on the rural clientel.

The VSAT equipment will be configured for ATM, corporate networks connectivity, money transfer and virtual private networks applications in areas not served by the national electricity grid.

“VSAT equipment powered by a small solar panel provides real-time ATM and money transfer transactions on real-time basis by running less than 30 watts of electricity. A laptop consumes about 70 watts of power,” he said.

Banks in Ghana, Cameroon and Zambia have used VSAT to deploy ATMs in remote areas. The equipment can be used to avail internet connectivity by creating low cost hot spots with 100 megabits sold for about $ 1.

“The VSAT equipment in a position to offer various options and become a one-stop-shop for customers for services ranging from low-cost transaction based or back-up to unlimited services,” said Mr Dothey.

The equipment is expected provide high quality communications and internet connectivity to corporate offices, bank agencies as well as mining sites in locations where terrestrial services are either are unreliable or not available.

Telkom South Africa is ready to start installing the LTE Advance (LTE-A) connectivity in more than 50 suburbs across the country come the end of the year.

LTE-A can potentially offer speeds of up to 3Gbps and that is why is id considered as the next evolution of high speed wireless connectivity. Telkom has already started  upgrading its network to offer customers peak speeds of over 200Mbps, with a view to developing its network to ultimately deliver LTE-A peak speeds of 3Gbps.

Telkom chief operating officer, Dr Brian Armstrong, said: “LTE-A is an integral part of Telkom’s high speed broadband strategy. We believe that, in the coming years, LTE-A will become the de facto mobile data standard.

“Our LTE-A platform runs on the 2.3GHz spectrum, which is unique to Telkom. The spectrum allows us to offer efficient, high quality and stable LTE-A technology, to our customers. The speeds offered on this technology are comparable to those offered over fibre connections, therefore offering an unparalleled wireless Internet experience.”

Dr Armstrong says Telkom aims to have the first areas connected during the course of December. “We anticipate the initial roll-out will be complete by March 2015. The precise LTE-A product offerings and prices are still to be announced, but we can confirm we will offer bigger bundles and greater speeds for an enhanced wireless connectivity experience.”

The initial LTE-A roll-out will enable peak connectivity speeds of over 200Mbps to selected suburbs identified in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.