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MWEB

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mweb (Pty) Ltd
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedJanuary 1997[1]
HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
Key people
Lizette Loxton (CFO)[2]
ProductsADSL, WiFi, Fibre to the Home, LTE Advanced, Web Hosting, VoIP, Gaming and email services
ParentWebafrica[3]
Websitemweb.co.za

Mweb (Pty) Ltd is an Internet Service Provider based in South Africa since 1997.

Mweb is a subsidiary of Webafrica,[4] and is headquartered in Cape Town.

History

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As one of the first Internet Service Providers in South Africa, Mweb launched dial-up internet in South Africa with the Big Black Box, in 1997, which was issued with a copy of tech expert Arthur Goldstuck's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet,[5] the bestselling tech book in South Africa at the time. In 2004 it also launched Polka, a low cost ISP.[6] A year later, the South African division of Italian-owned ISP Tiscali was acquired by Mweb.[7]

In 2006 its 3G mobile data offerings were launched and the company resold products from two of SA's largest mobile networks.[8] The company was later first to launch Uncapped ADSL in South Africa, in 2010,[9] and brought the global Fon WiFi network[10][11][12] to South Africa in 2014.

Also in 2014, Mweb launched its first fiber-to-the-home packages.[13] In 2015, the company was restructured to focus mainly on the residential and small business market. In addition the company sold its Mweb Business, Optinet and core network assets divisions to Internet Solutions,[14] a division of Dimension Data.

In December 2016, Internet Solutions announced that it had entered an agreement with Naspers to acquire Mweb pending approval by the South African competition authorities.[15][16] On 9 May 2017, it was announced that the South African competition authorities approved the proposed acquisition of Mweb with 31 May 2017 being the effective date of the sale.[17][18]

In July 2017, Mweb launched a selection of LTE Advanced products in partnership with Rain, a fixed wireless broadband provider.[19][20]

Company structure

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Mweb is owned by Webafrica. The ISP operates nationally, with its headquarters in Cape Town.

Retail stores

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The company initially had five retail stores. The retail stores were closed at the end of March 2016, opting to move all of their sales online.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "MWEB Who We Are". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  2. ^ "MWEB".
  3. ^ "Webafrica to buy Mweb from Dimension Data". 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  4. ^ TechCentral (26 September 2023). "Webafrica to buy Mweb from Dimension Data". TechCentral. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Brand Journeys: MWeb – not quite 'just like that'". Marklives.com. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  6. ^ "MWEB". mweb.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. ^ "MWEB". mweb.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  8. ^ "MWEB". mweb.co.za. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. ^ http://www.saha.org.za/resources/docs/FreedomHouse.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  10. ^ "Fon global leader in managed WiFi, WiFi access worldwide". Fon. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Redirecting..." bdlive.co.za. Retrieved 30 August 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  12. ^ "Fon times ahead - Mweb partners with WiFi giant". Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  13. ^ "MWEB fibre-to-the-home prices announced". MyBroadband. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  14. ^ Staff Writer (11 December 2014). "MWEB-DiData merger deal gets approval". BusinessTech. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  15. ^ Staff Writer (2 December 2016). "Internet Solutions agrees to buy MWeb Connect". ITWeb. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  16. ^ MyBroadband (2 December 2016). "MWEB to be sold to Internet Solutions". BusinessTech. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  17. ^ Staff Writer (9 May 2017). "Commission approves MWeb sale to DiData". ITWeb. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  18. ^ Staff Writer (9 May 2017). "Competition Commission approves Internet Solutions' acquisition of MWEB". MyBroadband. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  19. ^ Staff Writer (22 June 2017). "MWEB launches Rain LTE-A products – Pricing and details". MyBroadband. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  20. ^ Staff Writer (6 June 2017). "MRain – "The future of fixed and mobile connectivity in South Africa"". MyBroadband. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  21. ^ Staff Reporter (1 February 2016). "MWEB to close its retail stores". TechCentral. Retrieved 6 December 2016.