South Africa’s telecom sector has introduced its latest innovation with a new Black-owned mobile network operator. According to Independent Online, South African entrepreneur and investor Joel Mafenya is making waves in the telecommunications market after launching what is said to be the country’s first fully Black-owned cellular network operator — Taxicom Mobile. Taxicom Mobile officially launched in Johannesburg on Dec. 9, as reported by NOW in SA, and claims to usher in a new era for the telecom industry even as companies around the world grapple with the effects of COVID-19. As stated by founder Mafenya, his company aims to “accelerate access to inclusive mobile telecommunications services to the underserviced and excluded,” Independent Online shares. “This will be done through an introduction of a different model of meaningful ownership – with preference given to subscribers, distributors and its agents,” he said. Taxicom Mobile itself is a lifestyle virtual mobile network...

Mozilla, Google, Facebook, Vimeo, advocacy groups, and others headed to court last Friday to protest a recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The companies are spearheading an appeal in the fight for net neutrality, or the right to maintain an open Internet, without broadband provider manipulation of content. Provider manipulation could include restricting Internet access to unpopular points of view, charging providers of specific sites more to show their content, or changing the connection speed when displaying certain material. Those against net neutrality believe that it negatively impacts competitive corporate investment in Internet services . The October ruling by the D.C. Circuit supported the 2017 decision of the Federal Communications Commission under Trump appointee Ajit Pai to do away with net neutrality protections put in place during the Obama administration. Pai’s repeal also prevented states from determining their own net...