altech acquires

tt100 awards

Battle OF the BraNds

Technology Concepts- pg 25

Altech Receives JSE Accolade- pg 27

New Season of Motor Racing Adrenalin- pg 12

altech talks tOPaolo Cavalieri - Chairman of Etana Insurance Group

- pg 34

2009 • issue FourTHE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE ALTECH GROUP

altech acquires

tt100 awards

Battle OF the BraNds

Technology Concepts- pg 25

Altech Receives JSE Accolade- pg 27

New Season of Motor Racing Adrenalin- pg 12

altech talks tOPaolo Cavalieri - Chairman of Etana Insurance Group

- pg 34

4 Altech CEO TalksYes we can!

6 The Strategic Updateexponentiality

8 Tech TalkThe Problem with screens

10 Altech Netstar Conference Goes MAD

11 Caught Red Handed

12 Battle of the Brandsaltech GT challenge & altech Porsche club 924 challenge

14 Building South Africa’s Future Generation - The Marianhill crèche & community centre

16 Altech Autopage CellularOne In a Million sales conference

17 Arrow Altech Distribution Receives Kemet Award

18 Beachedaltech Radio Distributors Hosts Dealer network conference

20 The Altech Academy Spreads To East Africa

21 AAC’s Customers Are One In A Million

Read about all the motor racing adrenalin - pg 12 Altech Alcom Radio Distributors Dealer Conference - pg 18

2

2009 • issue Four

CONTENTS

22 The Altech Academy Hosts Bursary Student Breakfast

23 Digital Terrestrial Set-Top-BoxMore Than Just sharper Images

24 Triumphant Altech Finally Awarded Landmark Licences

25 Altech Acquires Technology Concepts

26 Altech UEC Supports Industry Partners at Moscow CSTB Exhibition

27 Altech Receives JSE Accolade at Top Technology 100 Awards

28 35 Years And Countingaltech Talk Interviews Philip Du Preez

31 Out & Aboutanyone For a savannah?

32 AAC Explores Mobile Technology In Barcelona

34 Altech Talks To Paolo Cavalierichairman Of etana Insurance Group

37 Altech Talk Trivia & Competition

38 Altech Siyabonga Awards

Meet Paolo Cavalieri, Chairman of Etana Insurance Group - pg 342008 TT100 Awards held in February 2009 - pg 27

3

Yes we caN!THE ALTECH CEO TALks

“With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come”. These are the words that the world ‘woke’ up to, on the 20th of January, which were to become one of the many powerful and meaningful statements, that the nations of the world would become familiar with, uttered by a true visionary, in the form of Barack Obama.

Altech finally received it’s much reported licences in mid-January having braved some of its own icy currents experienced last year, and so at Altech, like America and our own government, and the rest of the world, ‘we too have yet much work to do’ also, and accordingly I would like to share with our esteemed readers how the Group has already started this year, strongly focused on its objectives.

With 2008 now a distant memory, 2009 came ‘racing’ in, literally, as Altech sponsored another year of motor-racing with not one but two challenges, the Altech Porsche Club 924 Challenge and the new edition, the Altech GT Challenge, or Gran Turismo as it is known in Europe. Our motor-racing enthusiasts can read more about these exciting tours, in this issue of Altech Talk, which saw the first race taking place in Cape Town in March.

2009 also commenced by sending a number of ‘mixed messages’ for many, world wide, as global economies continued to plummet on one hand, and echoes of hope resonated on the other hand, as millions of Americans and the world welcomed its first black American president.

4

2009 • issue Four

craig VenterceO, altech Group

This issue of altech Talk also resonates with ‘election fever’, not following only on Barack Obama’s signing of office, but right here at home with south africa’s political parties debating their way to election day, promising the dawn of a better and more improved government, as millions of south africans make their way to the voting stations on the 22nd of april.

Immediately after, altech will release its results, on the 23rd of april, which will feature in the next issue of altech Talk, but I am happy to mention that this years results will certainly be positive and should please our shareholders, particularly in that the altech team has had to work twice as hard at achieving exceptional results during a year that was confronted with economic predicaments, both here and globally.

I referred to those wonderful ‘mixed messages’ earlier, when just as we thought we were in for another arduous year, more ‘taxing’ than the previous, Tito Mboweni made peace with our nation’s grumbling and struggling, consumers by offering some much needed relief, and dropped the interest rates more than once in the first quarter of this year. Having said that, I firmly believe that we still have a challenging year ahead, if not the next few years, consequential of the aftermath experienced from the global recession’s domino-effect.

I am pleased to say that it is not all doom and gloom, certainly not at altech anyway, as the Group commenced the new financial year with the announcement of the acquisition of Technology concepts, an internet service provider and information technology company. You can read more about this deal in detail, in this issue.

The members of the corporate Finance team have not been resting on their laurels, as they ‘tweak, spit and polish’ the last final, but crucial details, of a number of other acquisitions that altech will be announcing in the very near future. I am confident that the announcement of these acquisitions, has already secured pagination space in our magazine’s next issue due for release in early July.

corporate Finance is not the only team that started the year on a busy note, as our issue highlights. altech autopage cellular’s marketing team attended the world Mobile congress where they were exposed to some of the latest and most innovative mobile phones and accessories, soon to be available on the market.

On the subject of conferences, altech alcom Radio Distributors (aRD) whisked our top dealers on an incentive conference to marvelous Mauritius, where they awarded the largest sales contributors of aRD’s Motorola two-way radio products, for the year 2008.

Altech’s diversified businesses are all about synergy and so much so, that our featured guests in this issue, coincidentally share the same interests and past times, as well as having similar views on south africa’s current socio-economic state. Paolo cavalieri, the chairman of etana Insurance Group and Philip Du Preez, arrow altech Distribution’s Managing Director, give an insight into their careers and motor-racing passion, and both also talk candidly about the art of balancing work and family life, and being able to do both successfully.

The altech academy remains on the lookout for the incredible talent within the Group and its object is to develop and nurture the career development of its employees. Following on altech’s expansion into east Africa, the Altech Academy hosted its first training session in nairobi, Kenya, in March. altech Talk also seeks out the talent inside the altech Group, but not necessarily in its ‘halls of leaning’. This issue features someone who shares one of my passions, flying, but who takes it a step further and actually built his own airplane, displaying not only remarkable talent, but rigorous commitment, to complete such a remarkable project.

I personally believe that all of altech’s employees are talented in their own way but we unfortunately do not have enough pages in our magazine to feature each and every one. You can read about just some of these individuals and the operations that they work for, in this and subsequent issues, to find out just how they are ‘touching lives’ everyday, in the regular siyabonga awards feature.

To that end, altech remains steadfast in achieving all of its objectives in 2009. and to any potential skeptics out there who feel that we cannot reach our goals, during a ruthless economic spell, when extra financial prudence and caution must be exercised, I have only these famous words left to say….. “Yes we can!”

5

strategic updateby WEssIE vAN dER WEsTHUIzEN

AlTECh’S ChIEf STRATEGIC OffICER

the

6

2009 • issue Four

Following on the previous article I want to explore the principles of exponentiality further to set the scene for the principles of managing in an exponential environment.

Yet another view:

In the previous article I highlighted the exponential technological evolution we have seen if you condensed the last fifty thousand (50 000) years in to fifty (50) years. Ever wondered what that would look like if we superimposed the existence of the known universe in a single year?

If you accept the notion of evolution the following are a few highlights. The big bang took place more than 13 billion years ago, earliest life appeared on earth about 4 billion years ago, complex cellular organisms 2 billion years ago and the first multi-cellular organisms around a billion years ago.

Reptiles and dinosaurs started wandering on earth 300 million years ago, the first primates 40 million years ago and homo sapiens about 160 000 years ago. Man appeared around 40 000 years ago and civilization about 10 000 years ago.

expONeNtialitY

against this background, if we compressed the history into one year (thank you to carl sagan) this is what happened: the Big Bang happened on January 1, with very little happening in our corner of the universe until about august when the sun makes its appearance.

The earth itself only shows signs of complex life in november when multi-cellular organisms starts moving around. now for the scary part: Dinosaurs show up on christmas eve, at 10:15 am on December 31 apes appear, humans began walking upright at 9:24 pm, civilization appears at 11:59:20 pm, writing is invented at 11:59:35pm, Rome falls at 11:59:57 and the Renaissance happens one second before midnight. everything else, the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, cars, aircraft, the atom bomb, computers, landing a man on the moon, the internet, etc. is squeezed into the last second!

I do not think anybody can argue the exponentiality of progress on earth. This is the environment that we live in, where perceived linearity is now climbing the exponential curve and where in the technological space that we operate in, knowledge is doubling every second year. The traditional paradigms will not work anymore and we need to adapt.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

7

tech talkThink about all the electronic screens you look at. The three most ubiquitous, and in your face (so to speak) are your PC, TV, and mobile handset. Count the number of hours that you are looking at one of the screens in a given day, and you will realize how large they loom.

8

2009 • issue Four2008 • issue three

They differ in both obvious and subtle ways. Pc/notebook screens (at least most of them these days) have more colour depth and individual pixels than TV. cathode ray TV screens are cheap, and are well suited to moving live pictures, via a technology called interlacing, and as an artifact of the way video camera capture images. Mobile screens are getting better fast, but have fewer pixels, less physical real estate, and often less colour depth than TVs and Pcs. Those engineers amongst us can argue long and hard about the differences, costs and appropriate usage, but I am coming my main point:

and it is that convergence is frustrated when it comes to the major visual output device, the screen.

Remember, convergence is driven mainly by leveling the playing field into globally agreed transport, addressing and delivery protocols for information, underpinned by the miracle of the Internet Protocol. The leveling of this playing field has had wonderful consequences, but when it comes to looking at the output of IP, usually displayed on one of these screens, the playing field is not level at all.

This starts to explain a whole bunch of things. For instance, how come video has started to encroach on the Internet (think YouTube), but the Internet has made no inroads whatsoever into the world of traditional TV. Or, as another for instance, how come mobile TV has been such a staggering flop (given how much it was hyped)?

Let’s look at TV for a moment. What absolutely defines the TV viewing experience is the viewing distance (2 – 3 meters), the size of the screen (large – 17-21” diagonally), and quite often, the sociability of TV viewing, where there might be a number of people watching simultaneously.

when you add this to the fact that there are not many pixels on the screen (about 720x486), and that screen

the prOBleM withscreeNs

display technology is generally analog, one begins to see that the screen device and associated viewing habits make it uniquely unsuited for Internet-type experiences. If you have ever tried to use one of those hotel room Internet interfaces on the TV you will know how quickly you start to miss your notebook computer.

add to this the reluctance of the volume TV manufacturers to add digital connectivity into the TVs (thereby requiring a set-top-box or similar for device any digital interaction with the TV screen), and you have a situation of surprising non-convergence.

a couple of things may happen to change this. Firstly, the global digital migration switchover, which will eventually result in the ce manufacturers developing low cost digital TVs, with built-in return paths (like ethernet). secondly, the chip manufacturers, like Intel are starting to develop product for inclusion into TVs. Thirdly, the powers that be, will eventually find their way through the licensing, digital rights and content protection jungle, de-encumbering the downloading of video content.

But for the moment – the TV set is just not part of the great IP revolution.

and then there is the lamented, aforementioned mobile TV collapse. Barely a successful trial or commercial rollout anywhere on the world, and lots of money down the tubes. at least so far. no question in my mind that the little screen is part of the problem. But this is a story for another day.

And the consequences for Altech?

wide ranging – but we are on top of these technological changes, and are nimble and fleet-footed and are well prepared for the scenarios that will unfold.

9

altech netstar’s annual sales conference was held from 8-10 March at alpine Heath in the Drakensberg. The conference theme was MaD – “Make a Difference” and the emphasis was on brainstorming and workshopping ways to get the great results (that altech netstar is famous for) in novel and innovative ways, in an economic climate that is challenging, to say the least.

Delegates from altech netstar branches and regional offices throughout Southern Africa enthusiastically debated and brainstormed ways of finding new revenue streams, maximising business from current customers, identifying untapped markets, and scaring the life out of competitors.

gOes Mad!altech netstar cOnFerence

From Left to right, Sandra Swanepoel and Berenice Giovanonni from the Gauteng Corporate Sales Team and Penny Soll and Mariaan Lubbe from the Gauteng Motor Dealer Sales Team, strut their stuff for the paparazzi!

The Beatles present Top Sales Achiever Award to Bloemfontein star. Back, from left to right Theo Claassen, Deon O’Neil, Hennie Van Vuuren and Dylan Du Plooy, Fleet Solutions Channel Sales Team. Front, Doreen Zwiegelaar, Sales Consultant, Altech Netstar Bloemfontein.

From left to right: Elton John (Wynand Stoltz, National Sales Manager); Zoro (Willie Theunissen, Sales Consultant: Brokers) and Tom Jones (Ross Backman, Sales Manager: Insurance) seen on the red carpet at the Grammy Awaards at Altech Netstar’s MAD conference!

Elton John (John Taylor, Regional Manager KZN) and Scary Spice (Harry Louw, International Business Development Director) were two of the celebrity presenters at the Grammy Awards

The level of involvement and teamwork from this dynamic and energetic group was impressive, and bodes well for a successful year where exceeding targets consistently is critical.

10

2009 • issue Four

On Thursday the 5th of February, residents of eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg, must have thought christmas had returned, when Bull Brand employees began selling beef hindquarters from the back of one of the company’s trucks for the bargain price of just R50. However, thanks to the efforts of the dedicated altech netstar team, their scheme came to a sticky end.

after a number of suspicious ‘hi-jacking’ incidents, during which the Vigil Fleet Management units had been tampered with, the altech netstar and Bull Brand teams had installed additional back-up units in suspected target vehicles in the refrigerated delivery fleet.

caught red haNdedThe altech netstar control room received tamper violation signals from the Vigil unit at 9am, and contacted Bull Brand’s Logistics Manager, andries De Bruyn, who confirmed that the supposedly traumatised delivery team had phoned in to say that they had been hijacked.

a ground recovery crew immediately responded, and in less than an hour, had located the truck, interrupted the offloading of some of the meat into the boot of a waiting car, and chased down and apprehended the three “rancid” employees.

The Bull Brand team “recovering” their stock.

The winning recipe – start with the Altech Netstar product, sales team and service. Add a proactive client. Leave to rest until activated, and then add a crack recovery team. Repeat as required. Suggestion: Serve ‘Well Done!’

11

National circuit racing fi nally returned to the track on the 21st of March as the Pro Tour hit cape Town’s Killarney circuit and the good money was on the supercars stealing the show. since 2006 the altech Porsche challenge has been the pinnacle event in the popular series and the brigade of high-end brands promised nothing less for 2009. altech has continued its support for local motorsport, but there is one signifi cant change for 2009 with the series name evolving to more accurately represent the exotic line up as altech GT challenge. The altech Porsche club 924 challenge, which is run on a handicap system, will also compete at all eight rounds of the Pro Tour.

Killarney’s fast and bumpy back straight made for spectacular viewing as over thirty altech GT challenge cars reached some of the highest speeds we’ve seen in a long time. If that was not enough to excite then the sound of the legendary Porsche fl at-six lump, wailing Ferraris and deceptively quiet Lotus’ provided a sensory overload. spearheading the class a way was Toby Venter’s brutal Porsche 993 GT2R, charl Jourbert’s supercharged Lotus exige and the Porsche 997 GT2 of Laurent Gross. But, just as there are no guarantees that the cape south easter won’t blow, drivers could not exclude the in-depth track knowledge that the local cape racers have.

with no less than seven Ferraris and a handful of Porsches, class B was the altech GT challenge’s largest class and the competition was frantic. Jeremy Pougnet, andrew Miller, Franco scribante, Nick Chapman and Rudi Botha fl ew the fl ag for the Tifosi, with a horde of glorious sounding Ferrari 360 challenges, while the Ferrari 430 challenge model was represented by christo Lindeque and Loris chiappa. Porsche aren’t left out of the game either but the Rod cole-edwards Porsche 993 RsR and Mike wilson Porsche 997 GT3 cup were also a hand full.

altech gt challeNge & altech pOrsche 924 challeNge

Battle OF the Brands

12

2009 • issue Four

Lotus brought two cars to the Class C fight with Wayne waldeck piloting an exige s and Dawie Joubert in a similar car – only the latter made use of an old BMw Touring car power supply. a host of 993 and 996 Porsches were on the pace but of special interest was the progress of the turbocharged 6-cylinder Porsche 917 replica driven by Ferdi van niekerk. This car replicates one of the most successful racing cars of all time, exactly forty years later.

Class D was filled exclusively by Porsche models. Dave Fourie, Ferdi van niekerk (Jnr) and Jochen weida represented the rear-engined brigade with a 911 RsR, 911 and 997 carrera s respectively, while Barry nel and charl arangies made use of some well balanced and nimble 944s. Pierre Martins also went the front-engined Porsche route in class e but substituted 4-cylinders for eight with a wide looking 928sR.

with vast speed differentials a common sight in the altech GT challenge, backmarkers and how quickly competitors sliced, determined the outcomes. Being decisive and steering clear of any trouble was a must for competitors, which made for spectacular action.

as the altech Porsche club 924 challenge suggests, this formula caters exclusively for Porsche 924 models. To determine starting positions drivers nominated a lap time they believed they would not exceed.

The competitors were then sent off at calculated intervals, with the slowest nominated time going off first and the fastest last. In theory, if every competitor laps at their nominated time the entire field should cross the finish line at the same time – obviously this is unheard of. To negate any sandbagging, drivers would be disqualified for going quicker than their nominated lap times.

with Killarney not a local stomping ground for many altech 924 Porsche club challenge competitors, nominated lap times were bound to broken so that the winner could well not be the first across the line. This boded well for the championship as those that got to grips with the track the fastest, will now more than likely get their 2009 altech Porsche Club 924 Challenge season off to a flying start.

13

access to early childhood development facilities is still proving a challenge in south africa for rural communities and with over 1.3 million children being born every year there is an urgent need to address this situation. The Mariannhill crèche and community centre, which is opening on 13 March 2009, is focused on tackling this challenge with support and investment from altech autopage cellular, south africa’s largest independent provider of cellular telephony.

The investment in the centre by altech autopage cellular is part of the company’s corporate social investment programme which focuses on early childhood development. The company has formed a strong partnership with the Community Outreach Programme Trust, a public benefi t organisation that establishes and manages projects aimed at developing and improving disadvantaged communities.

The Mariannhill crèche and community centre will provide a safe, enriching environment for 60 children from the surrounding area between the ages of three and six

BuildiNg

FUTURE GENERATIONsOuth aFrica’s

14

2009 • issue Four

while the community centre will provide support services for families within the community. altech autopage cellular’s investment has made the building of the centre’s entire infrastructure possible including the classrooms, the procurement of all the land, teaching equipment and security measures. The company will also fund the first 12 months of the operating costs of the centre.

a report from the nelson Mandela Foundation Rural education Project Report shows that 75% of children under the age of five living in rural communities suffer from malnutrition and grow up in conditions of abject poverty and neglect. While figures from Department of education indicate that only 30% of african children and 11% of coloured children are enrolled in some form of early development education facilities. early development facilities in rural and informal settlements facilities tend to be less well resourced which means that large numbers of african children are in poorer-quality facilities.

“early childhood development is the bedrock of a child’s development. There is proven evidence which demonstrates that children who receive adequate pre-school education tend to integrate better into their ongoing schooling system

and the community at large. They are better equipped with social skills and have a greater intellectual capacity on which to build a future. By investing in children, we are investing in the very people who will one day grow up to become backbone of our economy.” says stephen Blewett, Managing Director for altech autopage cellular.

Bursaries will be offered to children whose family members are unable to afford the centre. The centre will also focus on providing support to families from the surrounding community offering food and adult education programmes. a special medical clinic day will also be organized.

with early childhood development being a key focus area for altech autopage cellular, the company has invested in other early childhood development centres, candu crèche in the eastern cape and the Lamontville crèche in Umlazi. “The children who have left these crèches are now attending local schools and are making good progress. The adults in the community have expressed regret that they didn’t have access to similar facilities when they were growing up as they could have benefited from the services we provide.” says Leah egginton from the community Outreach Programme Trust.

15

It is has been another spectacular event at the recent altech autopage cellular’s annual sales conference. The sales conference took place at Drakensberg sun Lifestyle Resort from the 01 – 03 March 2009. all delegates were welcomed with a “1in a Million” spirit by organisers as this theme was chosen to highlight and mark our proudest moment to date, the anticipation of achieving the milestone of signing up our millionth customer.

altech autOpage cellulara One in a milliOn sales cOnFerence

Keeping with the theme, we decided to do things differently, starting with having a ventriloquist as our conference facilitator and mc, conrad Koch and his friendly puppets. conrad kept the audience on their feet through out the conference and he was well received by all delegates. The agenda of the conference included insightful presentations by executives from Vodacom, MTn, cell c and neotel; the delegates also had an inspiring talk from alex Harris, climber of everest and the seven summits, who has been climbing mountains for fifteen years and has led more than 20 expeditions to some of the furthest corners of the planet.

MC - Conrad Koch

Delegates getting ready to race their rides

MC- Conrad Koch

Delegates getting ready to race their rides

as a sales conference tradition to bring a one mind one goal to the hearts of the sales team force, a teambuilding session was hosted. The day was sponsored by cell c and it was fun filled and highly competitive day on the race track, ordinary soap boxes was transformed into pimped out car.

At the first evening function the crowd was even more entertained by certain group and individual entries in the “so you think you can dance” competition. The opening act for the evening was done by the four finalists from the south african TV series, and we were honoured by one of the judges’ presence.

On the second evening everyone arrived at the venue looking exceptionally well dressed in their formal evening wear. The altech autopage cellular Directors added a special touch to the evening when they greeted each individual on their arrival. Recognition was awarded to well deserving sales staff, with awards including the spirit award, which was awarded to the Least cost Routing and the Best Performance award was scooped by the national Retentions team. The entertainment line up included Jamali and Denim, who energized the crowd and soon got everyone on the dance floor, and the sales conference certainly ended in a one in a million spirit.

2009 • issue Four

16

arrow altech Distribution (aaD) was recently awarded the International 2008 sales Growth award by Kemet corporation, an american company based in south carolina, which is the world leader in the manufacture of capacitors.

The award was handed over to andre du Preez, by the Kemet Management Team, during a review meeting held at the electronica exhibition held in Munich recently.

aaD achieved the highest sales growth out of all of Kemet’s official distributors for Europe, Africa and the Middle east. Kemet, together with its subsidiaries, offers the world’s most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum,

arrOw altech distriButiONreceives kemet award

electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. The company’s strategy is to be the preferred capacitor supplier at each of the world’s most successful electronics companies.

Kemet has manufacturing facilities in the United states, china, Mexico and Portugal, as well as distribution centers located in the United states, europe, Hong Kong, singapore, and Mexico.

Kemet capacitors are found in virtually all electronic applications and products used today, including those used in the computer, telecommunications, automotive, military and aerospace, medical, industrial/instrumentation (including lighting), and consumer market segments.

Kemet compared AAD’s 2007 sales figures to its 2008 sale figures and found that AAD’s sales had doubled - the highest of all their distributors!

Pictured from left is AAD’s Ashley Gounden (Internal Sales Manager), Andre du Preez (GM: Supplier Marketing & Business Development) & Sibs Tembo (Asset Manager)

17

Beachedwhile most of us were lamenting the prospect of another week in the unrelenting traffi c, it was fun in the sun on the picture-perfect Mauritian beaches for the top altech alcom Radio Distributor (aaRD) independent network dealers at the fi fteenth annual dealer conference held in March 2009 at the magnifi cent Le Victoria Hotel.

The country’s top radio men and women wriggled their toes in the sand at a gala award dinner on 28 March as craig Venter ceO of altech, paid tribute to their tireless contributions to the Group by consistently achieving record sales year on year in the two-way radio market.

“as the sole authorised Motorola government and enterprise distributor in south africa and non-exclusive in saDec, our dealers are instrumental in understanding the technical intricacies and advantages of new products released by our Principals, Motorola, and promoting and selling them to new and existing clients. with so many players vying for business, this in itself is no mean feat. customers and potential customers are informed and astute and seek more than good products, they want partnerships, support and assistance and the aaRD dealer network is delivering.

craig Venter went on to add that although at a time when fi nancial uncertainty looms large, it is rewarding and encouraging to see new dealers entering and succeeding in this highly competitive environment. He congratulated aaRD’s top dealers on another year of outstanding results. Venter added that the awards that the dealers received proved that nurturing long-standing relationships with clients, dogged dedication to supply appropriate radio solutions whilst providing signifi cant, appropriate and professional customer service certainly reaps rewards,” said Venter.

He concluded by thanking all the members of the dealer network for their dedication and exceptional work to meet targets, as well as the management and support staff of both Motorola and altech alcom Radio Distributors who ‘grease the wheels’ to make it all happen.

Johan van Zyl, managing director of aaRD, explained that delegates attending the company’s annual conferences met stringent sales criteria. Only Dealers with sales in excess of R1m for this fi nancial year where invited to attend this event. The aaRD top dealer for 2008 was La Radio with sales in excess of R10m.

18

2009 • issue Four

altech alcOM radiOTOP dEAlER AWARdS

Top South African Dealer 2009 (dual in 2009 due to same target achievement) Left to Right: Craig Venter (Altech CEO), Anthony Beale (Communication Services), Matthew Skey (LA Radio), Philip Hime (AARD)

Top International Dealer 2009Left to Right: Craig Venter (Altech CEO), David Cooke (The Exporter), Philip Hime (AARD)

Most Improved Dealer 2009Left to Right: Axel Rettig (Motorola), Silvano Fabri (Space Services LDA)

Most Improved New Dealer 2009

Left to Right: Axel Rettig (Motorola), Uwe Eisel (Radio Electronics)

19

the altech acadeMY sPreads tO east aFrica

Johan Klein, Director of Studies for The Altech Academy addresses the East Africa students

Prof. Roy Marcus, Chairman and lecturer, The Da Vinci Institute (far left), stands with the students in Nairobi, with Johan Klein (far right)

The team from the altech academy was proud to have held its first training session in Kenya, Nairobi. a total of twelve students from Infocom, swift Global and Kenya Data networks attended the Project Management Programme. delivered by The Da Vinci Institute.

The programme was customised to meet the needs of the students and the business. Lectures were held from the 17th – 20th March with further lectures scheduled to take place in May. students were welcomed onto the programme by Johan Klein, the altech academy’s Director of studies and altech’s executive: HR & IR, and Professor Roy Marcus from The Da Vinci Institute.

students on the programme are very enthusiastic as this is the first formal training programme they are undergoing and it’s been aligned with their career paths. In an opening address to the students, Professor Roy Marcus commented on how impressed he was, with the students’ intellectual capabilities, and added that he was looking forward to returning to Kenya.

20

2009 • issue Four

It will certainly be a momentous occasion for all at altech autopage cellular, when the company celebrates the signing of its millionth customer within the next few weeks! The altech autopage cellular Team felt that people had to know that the company is a force to be reckoned with and this was the primary driver for launching the vibrant and colourful campaign: One in a Million!

The campaign focuses on, and celebrates the individuality of altech autopage cellular’s current subscribers, future subscribers, business partners and employees alike. The campaign was launched firstly to the Altech Autopage cellular’s internal staff on the 9th of March, to ensure that every-one understood the vital role they play, in not only connecting altech autopage cellular’s millionth customer, but retaining those customers, that have already signed up.

altech aUtOPaGe cellUlar’s

cUstOmers are‘ONe iN a MilliON’

south africa celebrates many aspects of life, including the wonderful diversity of its people. This diversity makes it even clearer that each one of us is an individual, with our own thoughts, our own ideas, our own needs. Individuality is in itself cause for celebration, as it is one of the elements of south africa’s strength! This was the message that altech autopage cellular shouted out, at the launch of its recent ‘One In a Million’ advertising campaign.

“altech autopage cellular, places a great deal of emphasis on individuality, which is why we have developed the ability to meet the needs of one and all. Therein lies the secret of our company’s success. why else would we be approaching the figure of 1 000 000 subscribers, unless we offer our customers, what they need and want”, commented stephen Blewett, MD altech autopage cellular during his speech, at the launch.

The print advertising campaign was then launched in newspapers, nationwide the very next day, which will run until the end of May 2009. supported in store through retail promotions, the retail channel was supplied with promotional material to get customers excited about the campaign, but also to create more brand awareness, with items such as: t-shirts, caps, mugs, and tattoos being handed out.

stunning 40 page and 16 page catalogues, showcasing all of altech autopage cellular’s best offers on cellular, broadband, pre-paid and neotel, were handed out at national promotional events, as well as at robot drops and mail box drops. all of the altech autopage cellular stores were ‘dressed’ for the occasion with strong branding and hanging mobiles.

In addition to the press campaign, altech autopage cellular has had television and radio adverts going out over the airways, on all the major stations across the country, featuring the song: “One in Million” as its background theme tune.

altech autopage cellular has added an online element to its campaign, for the firsttime, with skyscrapers and buttons on some of the popular sites, such as news 24. This campaign is then finally complimented with some strategic billboards, citi-lites, street pole adverts and wraps, such as the one displayed on Johannesburg’s busy witkoppen Road.

Please look out for altech autopage cellular’s billboards and adverts and tell everyone you know about this awesome campaign...as we welcome in our 1 000 000th VeRY IMPORTanT cUsTOMeR!

altech acadeMYBursarY studeNt BreakFast

On the 23rd of January, the altech academy’s 21 bursary students attended a networking breakfast, hosted by the altech academy board, where the patron of the altech academy and altech’s ceO, craig Venter, did a presentation so that the students could gain a deeper insight into the altech Group.

The altech academy received over 200 applications in the latter part of 2008 from interested students. all applica-tions were screened and successful applicants underwent psychometric assessments followed by panel interviews. Thirteen students were selected from the gruelling and intense interview process, adding to the already 8 bursary students from early 2008.

all 21 students are studying at universities around the country and are presently studying in the Information Technology and Engineering fields.

The students will have an opportunity to interact with employees at the various altech Group companies, where they will be undertaking their vacation work during the July and December holidays.

Pictured here are the bursary students together with the Altech Executive Team.

22

2009 • issue Four

altech Uec was a Bronze sponsor of the commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation’s Fourth annual Digital Broadcasting switchover Forum held recently in sandton and presented a paper on the potential of the set-top box (sTB) to lead the Government’s initiative to bridge the so called Digital Divide. altech Uec also hosted a workshop that elaborated on the applications that the sTB could potentially support and demonstrated the interactive capabilities of the sTB.

Through its seat on the Digital Dzonga, an advisory council appointed by the Minister of communications to advise on and oversee the process of migrating south africa’s analogue broadcasting services to a new digital technology, altech Uec is intimately involved in helping shape Government’s thinking on how to maximise the full potential of the digital

...MuCh MORE ThAT JuST ShARPER IMAGES ANd ClEARER SOuNd

terrestrial television platform and how best to exploit the myriad opportunities that this programme will afford local industry. In addition, as the only manufacturer participating in the two digital terrestrial trials currently underway in south africa, altech Uec’s credentials as an expert in the industry are unrivalled in africa.

south africa is leading the african digital migration effort with much of the continent looking towards south africa for a blueprint that could be reproduced and implemented in their country’s own migration strategies. The switchover Forum was therefore the ideal platform for altech Uec and altech MediaVerge to showcase their capabilities to a highly focussed Pan-african audience.

altech Uec’s presentations focused on the sTB’s capacity to underwrite the south african Government’s vision for the delivery of e-Government services and of the broader ICT sector benefits that will flow from this vision.

digitalterrestrial set-tOP BOX

23

The year started on a positive note when altech finally reaped the fruit of its labour when electronic communications network service (I-ecns) and electronic communications service (I-ECS) licences were officially issued to altech autopage cellular on Friday, 16 January, by the Independent communications authority of south africa (Icasa).

Altech’s Chief Executive Officer, Craig Venter commented, “The issuance of the licences is not only a victory for altech, but also for the south african telecommunications industry as a whole. we eagerly look forward to participating in the new competitive environment that will result”.

The company’s triumph demanded much diligence and perseverance. altech began its regulatory challenge a year ago, and in august 2008 the Pretoria High court ruled in altech’s favour to the entitlement of having its existing Value added network services (Vans) licence converted into an I-ecns licence enabling the group’s telecommunications subsidiary to develop and operate its own telecommunications network.

communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-casaburri applied for leave to appeal this decision, but on 31 October the High court refused this application with costs. The Minister then lodged an urgent court interdict to halt issuance of the licence by Icasa, which was also overturned by the High court, at which time the perpetual dispute was concluded.

Altech’s Chief Technology Officer explained that the achievement was more than a simple regulatory victory for the industry. “The myriad new technologies that enable telecoms and IT convergence now will have a clear path to bring enriched services to corporate and residential consumers, and will finally allow South Africans unfettered access to the broadband service cornucopia enjoyed by the First world”, he said.

The final ruling specified that South African bylaw obliges Icasa to issue network provider licenses to all Vans licensees such as altech, not to only a handful of licensees as was the case. The ruling thus signifies that all qualifying Vans licence holders will be entitled to self-provide for their own needs insofar as telecommunications infrastructure is

laNdMark liceNcestriUmPhant altech Finally awarded

concerned. Many of the VANS that will benefit from this ruling are smaller players who will now be able to bring entrepreneurial innovation to smaller and rural challenges.

The larger Vans, like altech, will now have a level playing field on which to innovate and compete against the big incumbents, like Telkom and the mobile operators. all of this will certainly result in a value bonanza for the consumer.

“we are delighted to have spearheaded this process that liberated the industry. More than 300 companies, not to mention the final consumer, is set to benefit from the increased choice, additional competition and reduced costs that will occur from access to an increased base of potential providers,” said Venter.

“Strategies stemming from the issuance of the licences will be put in place which will significantly benefit the business and enhance shareholder value. We will announce details of these strategies in due course”, concluded Venter.

2009 • issue Four

24

On the 1st of april, altech announced the acquisition of 100% of the equity in and claims against Lateral Technology concepts (Pty) Ltd (Technology concepts), an internet service provider (IsP) and information technology company, subject to the fulfi llment of normal conditions precedent.

“we have been interested in purchasing an IsP for some time. as a result of the changed regulatory landscape, moving into internet service provision is a natural extension of altech’s existing business. Through the strong distribution footprint in altech and in particular altech autopage cellular, which has approximately one million corporate and retail clients, we are in a position to rapidly scale Technology concepts by introducing new internet services to these clients,” commented Altech’s Chief Executive Offi cer, Craig Venter.

This acquisition by altech enhances the ability of altech autopage cellular to provide data services to its voice cellular subscribers, recognising the developing convergence of voice and data in the telecoms arena and the increasing demand for bundled services.

altech will utilise its cash reserves to fund the maximum purchase price of R45 million. an amount of R7.5 million will be paid initially, and the remaining maximum R37.5 million, will be released to Technology concepts shareholders in terms of an earn-out mechanism over two years based on after tax profi t targets for years ending February 2010 and 2011 being achieved. If all profi t warranties are met, the effective (PaT) Pe multiple to be paid by altech will be 5.23.

“about 64% of Technology concepts’ business is annuity based and, although it is within a competitive market, is showing high profi t growth. The acquisition thus ensures a regular and consistent income stream for altech which will positively affect our headline earnings per share,” said Venter

Founded in 1999, by wayne de nobrega, Technology concepts, an established internet technology services business and corporate internet service provider, offers a full range of IsP products, services and solutions which are developed and managed in-house. The company has built its own hosting infrastructure and with a client base of 270 customers, consisting mainly of sMe’s and corporate customers, it was a natural selection for altech’s strategic diversifi cation plans. Although Technology Concepts’ focus

has been primarily on high margin and high average revenue per user (aRPU) customers, they also have the expertise to drive a retail offering.

The company consists of two divisions, namely IsP and support services and web software Development. The IsP and support services Division generates annuity income from the provision of internet access, MPLs networks, managed fi rewall services, hosted and archived email, data centre hosting and automated off-site backups. The web software Development division offers development expertise in internet, intranet and web based applications. In addition to these two divisions the company sells hardware, software and technical services that are needed to support these various activities.

Technology concepts’ distinguishing product is its channel Bonding technology which was launched 20 months ago and which combines multiple aDsL’s to create a single, virtual high speed connection, enabling customers to have high bandwidth at a fraction of the normal cost associated with a leased line solution. The deal ensures that altech acquires full Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) through Technology concepts.

To preserve current effi ciencies and standards, Altech will retain existing Technology concepts management and staff whilst it will provide supporting administration services and strategic direction to the company.

The acquisition is a part of altech’s overall data strategy, taking into account its recent attainment of an I-ecns license and the imminent landing of the seacOM submarine cable in south africa and then continuing up the african east coast. It complements altech’s extensive data network and ISP operations in East Africa and is a refl ection of altech’s expectation that there will be explosive growth in the demand for data services in africa.

“acquiring Technology concepts allows altech to obtain signifi cant experience in ISP and data management. We will also have the ability to export the systems imbedded in Technology concepts e.g. the billing platform to other geographies where altech is present, like east africa. This transaction forms part of an overall solution to bring data connectivity to the end customer via copper solutions, fi bre and wireless network links,” said Venter.

techNOlOgY cONceptsaltech acQUires

25

The 11th International csTB exhibition and conference was held in Moscow from 2 to 5 February 2009 and for the second consecutive year, altech Uec was present providing marketing and technical support to our Industry partners. csTB features over 18000 m² of exhibition space and represents the latest technologies and trends in digital television and telecommunications. The exhibition is supported by over 350 exhibitors from 25 countries and is held in conjunction with an Industry-specific conference.

The Irdeto stand at CSTB

Pokrovsky Cathederal in Moscow’s Red Square

in mOscOwat cstB exhiBitiONaltech Uec sUPPOrts indUstry Partners

eastern europe represents one of the fastest growing Pay-TV markets in the world and altech Uec is currently engaged in negotiations with several Operators in the region. Product Manager Paulo caldeira was on hand to promote altech Uec’s extensive range of products and services and our latest entry-level, high-definition personal video recorder, the DsR4611, was displayed on the Irdeto stand. Our visit to Moscow was followed up with subsequent visits to two prospective clients in the Ukraine.

Paulo Caldeira outside the Kremlin in sub zero temperatures

A typically busy exhibition schedule did not allow for much time out but a visit to Red Square is a must for any visitor to Moscow, even if it is 10 below outside!

26

2009 • issue Four

From left to right: Dr Bill Venter, Non-Executive Chairman of Altron and joint recipient of the TT100 Lifetime Achiever Award, stands with Craig Venter, Altech’s CEO, Minister Mosibudi Mangena, Minister of Science and Technology and Robbie Venter, Altron’s CEO.

The annual Technology Top 100 awards (TT100) for 2008 was hosted at the historic Victory Theatre, in Orange Grove, in February, with ‘MGM’ movies as a theme. In fact the Victory Theatre was a cinema built in 1929, long before it was converted for live stage performances.

jse accOladealtech receives

at tOP technOlOGy 100 awards

Guest of honour, the Minister of science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena stated in his speech, that the TT100 adjudication panel had an even more challenging task year since the Department of science and Technology decided to award emerging companies in the IcT sector, in every category, which was previously awarded only to established companies. He also encouraged aspiring engineers to take up the challenge and enter the annual awards event, which would see their companies having excellent networking opportunities for future growth and development.

The Minister further encouraged the established sector, requesting that it does not ‘rest on its laurels’, by continuing to re-enter every year, demonstrating their new innovations and achievements, as a way of promoting and sustaining their businesses and the sector as a whole.

altech has been entering the TT100 awards for several years, and this prestigious event, owned and managed by the The Da Vinci Institute, has been around for over 18 years now. altech has proudly been nominated in various categories and has won several awards over the years, including the Minister’s Overall award for the Management of Technology and Innovation, on more than one occasion.

This year was no different, when altech received the ‘2008 TT100 Johannesburg stock exchange Limited award for excellence in the Management of Technology, Innovation and People’. The Group was also nominated in two other categories.

The highlight of this year’s event, which was evidently filled with surprises, was undoubtedly the inaugural joint Lifetime achiever award presented to Dr Bill Venter, the altron Group’s non-executive chairman, as well as to Mr Irvine Bell, chairman of Bell equipment company. The two inaugural Lifetime achiever award recipients shared many similarities in that both recipients were pioneers in their respective industries and founders of their family businesses, with both companies being run by the founders’ sons, as Chief Executive Officers of their companies.

Dr Bill Venter addressed a captive audience with an invaluable and inspirational speech, detailing both the challenges and highlights of his long career as the founder of the altron Group.

Altech’s Chief Executive Officer, Craig Venter, was present at the ceremony to accept altech’s TT100 award, on behalf of the altech Group, presented to him by Minister Mangena.

“South Africa’s showcase for technological initiative and the measurement of achievements against the best of the best. The Technology Top 100 Awards are recognised as the premier business excellence awards in South Africa. This celebration of excellence is also a celebration of truly South African innovation.”- Mosibudi Mangena, Minister of science and Technology.

27

35 Years aNd cOuNtiNg

philip du preeZan in-hOUse interview with...

Philip Du Preez, Managing Director of Arrow Altech Distribution, who joined the Altech Group shortly after he completed his studies. Phillip stated that he has never had a curriculum vitae drawn up although he does have quite an extensive resume, since he has only worked for the Altech Group his entire life.

Philip, tells us a bit about your growing up years.I was brought up in a farm on the east Rand, Bapsfontein way. My parents also had farms out towards Rustenburg, which we would often visit over weekends and the school holidays. we were based for the greater part on the farm in the east Rand.

I come from a very large family, and I am one of eight brothers, I am one of the middle siblings with some brothers older and younger than me.

I did my schooling at noord Oos Rand school, which is a farm school also out on the east Rand.

Where did you go onto to studying?I completed a Diploma in electronics at the Technikon of Pretoria, in 1973 before joining standard Telephones and cables (sTc), which was based in Boksburg, on the 9th of January, 1974.

My first job was in the Materials Control department where I worked for about one and a half years reporting to Janie wehmeyer and then I went onto becoming a Technical Buyer looking after special projects. I was at sTc from 1974 to 1980.

I was then approached to move onto bigger and better things. Interestingly enough, in terms of my career, I have never applied for a job with the altech Group or elsewhere, as I was always approached to do something else within the Group. I actually don’t have a cV since I have worked for the altech Group my whole life.

Impressive, so you never had to do the ‘job hunting’ but you were instead ‘hunted’. So what was your next move within the Group?Liberty electronics which was also wholly owned by altech at the time and Liberty was one of a number of distribution companies that belonged to altech – at one time there were 9 distribution companies that focused on electronic components. I was appointed as sales Manager at Liberty electronics and I worked there from 1980 to 1985.

Derrick Jarvis and nico Hemis were duly responsible for all of the distribution companies at the time, and they asked me whether I would be interested in heading Marketing for a company that altron had recently acquired, african capacitors.

african capacitors was in fact a division of asia, which was owned by altron. at this time, altron was not sure where African Capacitors should really fit and it was not doing all that well at the time. nico Hemis then requested to head the company in an attempt to turn african capacitors around, positively, and that’s when he approached me.

I was at african capacitors from 1980 to 1999 where I joined as Marketing Manager and later was promoted to sales and Marketing Director. In 1993 I was made Managing Director of african capacitors which was a specialist

Phillip Du Preez (right) stands with two of his seven brothers who have raced with him in the Argus Cycle Tour.

28

2009 • issue Four

manufacturing business. That was my first exposure to the manufacturing business.

we were successful in growing the market share from 30% to a respectable 90%. so we really dominated that market.

I then also acquired a competitor, supracorp, and then merged the two companies together.anton de wet, altech’s Group Financial Manager, was the Financial Director at the time when I headed african capacitors.

That is truly amazing as today’s ‘Generation X’ can barely remain in the same company for more than 5 years, before moving on elsewhere. Then again, there are great opportunities for growth within this Group.Definitely. In fact in July of 1999, Craig Venter approached me and asked if I would consider heading up the arrow altech Distribution joint venture, which had been formed around 1998. However there were four companies trading independently at the time. I was asked to oversee the merger of the four companies: Fairmont electronics; Pace electronics; electronic Building elements and allied electronic components.

The present arrow altech Distribution facility was built where it is today, in Jet Park, Boksburg. In December of 1999 no one took leave as we used this move to move all the equipment, sort out all of the logistics and get all the staff settled in.

So you started the ‘new millennium’ with a new company, new premises and more staff?That’s right – we started operating on the 4th of January, 2000 as arrow altech Distribution, which came about from them merger of the aforementioned four companies.

I continued to head arrow altech Distribution up until March of 2006 when craig approached me again, asking whether I was willing to tackle a challenge. That is when I moved to altech namITech in Linbro Park, on the 1st of april, 2006.

when I joined altech namITech, the company was involved in various areas including the manufacturing of retail cards, information security and end-to-end solutions in supplying chip based products.

I took the business and re-positioned it. The company has also been involved in cheque book manufacturing which had not been lucrative. so we decided to close a number of non-core divisions, and I then basically rationalised and centralised all of the manufacturing plants under one roof, at the facility in Linbro Park.

at the same time I was responsible for the set-up in nigeria, where altech namITech west africa is based.

That must have been quite a task, would you care to elaborate?Yes, I had to redeploy production equipment to nigeria to increase production capacity, which was itself challenging but also very rewarding, as the company went onto grow significantly quite quickly, and it became a major contributor to the altech Group.

Mike Hooper reported to me as one of the General Managers and continues to head altech namITech west africa. The company continues to produce steady results but it has recently become a little more challenging since the nigerian government recently imposed a punitive duty on the revenue line.

Altech NamITech West Africa certainly grew significantly both in revenue and profitability during the time that I was involved.

In the meantime altech namITech in Linbro Park was re-organised and repositioned in 2007. we also brought altech cardtronics into altech namITech which worked quite well and created good economies of scale, so that integration worked quite well.

In 2008, we were then approached by a French company, Gemalto, which was interested in purchasing the business. Gemalto sold 1.5 billion chip cards last year worldwide and we felt that they had a solid understanding of the business and that is when we decided to sell in December of last year.

Rodger Warren headed Arrow Altech Distribution (AAD) when you were heading Altech NamITech before you returned to AAD this year and Rodger went on to head Altech UEC in Durban.That’s correct. Rodger warren was actually my understudy when I was at aaD and his brother Marc warren reported to me when I was at altech namITech.

How does it feel to be back at ‘home’?I worked at aaD for 7 years and then went onto work at altech namITech for 3 years. when I returned to my same old office earlier this year, it took me just a day or two to settle in and it felt like I had never actually been away but rather went on a short vacation. It really is good to be back here.

Philip, there is a sense of camaraderie and a family-like atmosphere at Arrow Altech Distribution, which is one of the first things I noticed when I popped in for my first visit, over 2 years ago. You also seem to be a strong family man, what would you say your management style is, that makes your team at AAD operate like a family?I always say that you get two types of managers – a referee and a coach. The referee approaches his staff with a yellow card or a red card during a challenging time or issue.

29

The coach is a mentor who guides his team’s players steadily towards the goal posts, and tries to prevent them from making mistakes through nurturing and support. I do believe a manager needs to be firm but also fair. I am more comfortable with this sort of approach in my environment.

Tell our readers a little about your personal life, are you married and do you have any children?Yes I am happily married, for 33 years now, and you could say I’ve been married almost for as long as I have worked for altech. I have one son, Jacque who is also in IT.

Jacques had a successful small IT business for about five years and he was approached by MWeb last year who were interested in his business. Jacques just sold his company to Mweb and he is currently working for them for industry restraint and handover reasons.

I warned Jacques that it would be very different and perhaps a little difficult going from an environment where one works for himself, and then goes onto reporting into others in, a corporate environment. He is 32 years old, so he can still easily adapt to a new environment and he seems happy.

I also became the proud grandfather of a little girl, angelique, 8 months ago, who is very special to me.

What does Philip do in his spare time to relax, any special interests or hobbies?I have enjoyed cycling for some 12 years now and in those 12 years I have raced in 8 argus races. I also have collected about 120 medals from my cycle races. I had to hold back from cycling, for a while for health reasons.

What advice would you give executives with regards to managing stress which often is a major contributor to ill health? This issue will be distributed around in April, around the time of the ‘Breast Cancer’ Awareness week and our country also had the ‘Cancer Shave-a-thon’ awareness campaign recently, which was held at shopping malls and media offices, nationwide, in support of cancer victims.sometimes it’s the luck of the draw, in my case, I always lead a healthy lifestyle by trying to stay fit, not smoking and so on. To me one of the most important things in life is ‘balance’. One has to know to balance work pressures and one’s personal life. as you get on in life you realize that it is important to foster one’s relationships with family and friends. Quality time with family is very important to me. One of my younger brothers, my son and I are more like best friends apart from being family. we cycle together and spend time together often as ‘friends’.

Any other interests or hobbies?I also enjoy motor-racing, you could say it is one of my passions.

Philip goes onto showing me a picture that he had saved on his laptop, of him racing in a classic Porsche, just one of his motor-racing passions, as he also races motorcycles.

Now this is an uncanny coincidence, I also interviewed Paolo Cavalieri, the Chairman of the Etana Insurance Group, a few weeks ago for this issue of Altech Talk, and his passion is motor-racing and he also cycles as a way of staying fit. He also made quite a strong point of being a family-man first and foremost before being a successful businessman. It is interesting to see the similarities.

As this issue echoes the current election fever that our country is faced with at present, Philip, do you have any comments on the future of South Africa?I am a born optimist and also see the ‘glass as half full as opposed to half empty’. Having said that I am quite bullish about south africa’s future and I am quite positive that whoever takes the presidency will know how to keep this country on track for future growth.

we have a natural born desire to succeed as south africans so I remain optimistic regardless of who wins the elections. when I speak to people who talk about wanting to leave south africa, I always warn them that the ‘grass is not always greener on the other side’. Yes we have the crime which is still a major challenge that government must deal with, but apart from that we have a wonderful country.

Philip, in closing, do you have any advise or comments that you would like to share with our readers and perhaps aspiring executives in the Altech Group since you have had a ‘marriage’ with the company?The Altech Group is quite diversified to some degree but it is very focused in its strategy. I don’t think that I would have been working for this Group for 35 years if I didn’t believe in the leadership and continued future growth of this organization.

I have also made some true life-long friends in this Group and stay in contact with some of the colleagues, who remain my friends, even though they are no longer with the company.30

2009 • issue Four

aNYONe FOr aThe purpose of Out and about is to showcase altech employees who have interesting news to share with our readers but especially to scout for some of the incredibly talented folk we have in our Group.

One of these talented individuals is Ian wylde, who is responsible for technical operations at altech autopage cellular. Ian not only has a passion for flying aircraft – he actually built his own aircraft! It took Ian, the equivalent of 2 years worth of weekends to build his own savannah, which is a bush type aircraft.

This extraordinary achievement won Ian, the ‘experimental aircraft association’s Grand champion’ trophy for kit built aircraft, last year. Ian’s savannah airplane, (just in case some our readers are still confusing the name with the premium dry cider), now gives Ian many hours of flying fun, which Ian says, effectively releases the stresses of a week of hard work.

Anyone for a Savannah? Its home-made - but you can fly it!

OUt & aBOUt

savannah?

31

BarcelONaeXPlOres mOBile technOlOGy in

altech aUtOPaGe cellUlar

altech autopage cellular attended the Mobile world congress (Mwc) held in February, which is one of the most anticipated global mobile events, wherein GsM engineering firms, handset manufacturers and other telecommunications players converge in Barcelona, spain to sample, experience and share strategies for the year ahead. alongside the various handset devices, application software and new mobile gadgets are on exhibition, and several keynote addresses are made by industry leaders and iconic visionaries within the telecommunications arena, which make this event an ideal location for networking and deal-making across each value chain.

2009 • issue Four

The altech autopage cellular Team attended the conference with the intention of obtaining a variety of products which would add value to altech autopage cellular’s current product offering, as well as to gather foresight on the market leaders and trends, which could be implemented in the business. The team also attended various meetings with handset manufacturers and were able to obtain key insight into the latest product ranges, market trends and mobile enhancements which the company could deliver seamlessly to its customers.

some products were truly impressive including the HTc product range, samsung, and the Garmin asus nüvifone which only due for release much later this year, which represents the best example of converged technologies.

The GD910 – watch Phone was revealed. It is the world’s fi rst wireless 3G VT service and GSM quadband network enabled watch phone and boasts simple and easy connectivity within its miniaturized watch based GsM device. The device is user-friendly, stylish and makes for a trendy wearable gadget.

This year’s world Mobile congress wasn’t only about the hardware as the excitement clustered around applications and services and convergence was once again a key point for hardware manufactures alike.

One of the Industry’s focal point is to have a “universal charger” by 2012, by creating an industry-wide mobile charging device, which will hopefully reduce energy and equipment wastage and naturally please all consumers alike. On the “greener” side of the coin, by reducing the amount of duplicate charging devices we will be one step closer in cleaning up decades of plastic waste in our eco-system.

The altech autopage cellular Team found an incredible all-in-one projector phone, which is not much bigger than the current smartphones and has an integrated data projector. You can quite literally beam presentations and videos onto a white screen from your phone. The handset is due for release at the end of this year and will defi nitely appeal to those who have to have something unique.

The nokia range for 2009 might had a condensed and very focused strategy for each range and model and the improved touch screen and audio capability for devices in the “expressMusic” range were certainly worth noting.

although not a big player in the sa handset market as yet, LG had some tantalizing products to show. notably the most attractive and unusual device in this range is the GD900 which is the worlds fi rst transparent design.

Pictured here from left to right is Justin Hume, Altech Autopage Cellular’s Marketing Director, Deryck Gwambe from Nokia, Stephen Blewett, Altech Autopage Cellular’s Managing Director and Mathia Nalappan also from Nokia.

33

altech talks tO...PAoLo CAVALieRiCHAIRmAN OF ETANA INsURANCE ANd FORmER CHIEF ExECUTIvE OFFICER OF HOLLARd INsURANCE GROUP.

Paula? Ciao! In walks Paolo Guido cavalieri and the room lights up with Italian flair. I stand to greet him and I am advised immediately to address Paolo by his first name or the interview will be over in 3 seconds flat, followed with an instant, “what will you be having”? The warm and charming Mediterranean hospitality is now even more evident.

Formalities are brushed aside as we chat casually over a couple of mineral waters before I start asking the questions…

Paolo, I take it that you were born here in South Africa?I was born here - in Johannesburg, and I turned 50, in november of last year. My parents came over to south africa from Italy, many years ago. I also have a brother who is a very successful insurance broker. My father was also in insurance and came over from egypt, on a transfer.

That’s amazing, so you definitely come from a strong insurance background?absolutely, in fact I am third generation in insurance. My late grand father was also in insurance. My dad worked for Italy’s largest insurance group, Generali, a multinational company, where he headed the office in Egypt, and was transferred here as I had said earlier, to head Generali’s office in South Africa. My dad actually introduced me to the exciting world of insurance.

Most people think that insurance is boring, but actually it’s the contrary. It is an exciting and magical industry to be in. Insurance has the perception of having lengthy contracts with lots of fine print and we supposedly ‘never pay claims’ and so on, which occasionally might be true. The reality is, if we did not have insurance, we would be living very different lives right now, both in our business environment and privately.

Paolo picks up an Altech Talk magazine that I had given him earlier, and flips through the pages adding…

Insurance is all around us, and in fact I can attach an insurance product to every topic in each and every page of your altech Talk magazine, as it ‘touches so

After all the rain this city has been experiencing of late, it is finally a warm and sunny afternoon in Joburg. I’m asked by the friendly receptionist, to wait for my esteemed interviewee, in the contemporary building’s restaurant. The room, retro-chic in style, was abuzz with beautiful people, employees of course, engrossed in their meetings over lattes and cappuccinos, in a magnificent glass enclose, offering magnificent 180 degree views of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. This immediately set the mood for the interesting and relaxed meeting I was about to have, with this dynamic and charismatic captain of the insurance world.

2009 • issue Four

34

PAoLo CAVALieRimany lives’ (adeptly referring to altech’s brand slogan). It is however, an industry that doesn’t market itself very well, and that is maybe where the negative perceptions stem from.

Paolo goes onto saying that the insurance industry employs people in so many careers, as opposed to the actual insurance administration.

Insurance offers so many professions and career opportunities. How many other industries do you know has medical doctors, lawyers, engineers, investment professionals, marketing people, HR people, and actuaries, just to name a few professions, all under one industry umbrella? It is truly an exhilarating industry which is exposed to everything and anything, worldwide.

You are obviously passionate about your industry, had you always known that you wanted to be in the insurance game?no, actually, I wanted to become the next Michael schumacher when I left school. That failed, so to ‘cure’ me from motor racing, my dad got me a job in insurance at Generali, in Italy.

In fact I started my first four years, after finishing my studies, in insurance and in marriage. I had been at Generali in Italy, in 1985 for one year, when they (employers) approached me and asked whether I spoke French. I replied “no”, of course being honest since all insurance people are honest, and I soon found myself in Paris for 4 years and so I had to learn to speak French.

I actually came back to South Africa after my first year at Generali Italy, to marry my university sweetheart, before moving to France, where we spent our first few years of married life in Paris, which felt like we were on a 4 year honeymoon, from 1985 to 1988.

France is a very dynamic country and a very important economy in the context of europe. It is a country of innovators. alcatel was our largest client, while I was at Generali in France.

Paolo added that his business relationship with Alcatel as his customer, while in France, was to become the platform of his future relationship with Altech, in years to follow, through Glenrand MIB Brokers.

Paolo went on to work for Generali in Belgium in 1989 before returning to South Africa in 1990 where he was to head Hollard Insurance Group as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, until 2007.

Paolo recognized the need for change within the Hollard Group, as in the industry, as South Africa was changing rapidly and gave some insight into the formation of Etana Insurance, where he was recently appointed as Chairman.

Paolo added…change was necessary for both Hollard and me and I am

proud to say that Hollard is a company which is famous for backing its people. Hollard recognized the need for transformation in our industry, in an exciting and new south africa, and the group then created the country’s first black empowered insurance company, with it focus on business insurance.

The journey of transformation and Bee has been a bumpy ride but we are certainly operating in a far more nomalised and leveled environment than we were some 15 years ago.

Etana Insurance, was originally formed by the collaboration of three specialist insurance entities, namely Hollard Commercial and General, Fidelity Guarantee Acceptances and Zimisele Underwriting Managers, which was formed in 1995 as Hollard’s first black-owned managing agency. The deal represented a first, in terms of Black Economic Empowerment in the insurance industry. Zimisele brings its portfolio of state-owned enterprise clients to the Etana business portfolio.

Paolo, in light of ‘election fever’ at present, coupled with the global economic turmoil, and South Africa’s somewhat attempted resilience in all of this commotion, what is your personal outlook on South Africa’s future?I think it is difficult to predict anything these days beyond 3 years, but I do feel that the next 3 years are certainly going to be the most challenging. as far as the elections are concerned, south africans are faced with a different african national congress. Our country requires strong leadership and I am not convinced that the level of leadership in this last term has been adequate. The next leader is going to inherent some very difficult challenges.

I also feel that south africa has failed Zimbabwe and some of its other neighbours, assisting and addressing real practical issues.

You referred to Obama earlier; he is an inspirational man who delivers a message of hope for america and the world. we need some of that very inspiration and message of hope from our future leader, right here at home.

35

I had discussed the look and feel of this issue with Paolo, following on election fever, given our countries current election campaign, Zimbabwe’s on-going power sharing struggle, and Obama’s recent victory and awe-inspiring presidential acceptance speech.

Paolo continues, poised yet full of conviction, as if delivering a presidential speech himself …white south africans remain extremely pessimistic. I urge you to read a book by Max Du Preez which is basically a compilation of short stories highlighting some of our issues in the past. Our issues today are not all that different to that of our forefathers. I believe that government has not embraced a common goal at a time of its turbulent economy.

I also feel that 2010 couldn’t have come at a better time. It is a fantastic opportunity for our country, which will serve as a platform for the world to recognize our strengths.

Paolo looks away as if in deep thought, and a subtle smile illuminates his face, as if radiating that very ray of hope he speaks about, so openly. I break the silence and ask questions about his personal life and interests.

Who is Paolo, outside of the office I mean? I’m aware of your passion for Ferraris and motor-racing in general. First, above all else, I am a dad and a husband. I have an 8 year old son and my daughter is 11. I met my wife in university as I indicated earlier.

I did rowing when I was at university and I was in the team that represented south africa at the 1992 Olympics, in Barcelona. I’m still involved in rowing today but at an administrative level. I also enjoy cycling as a way of staying in shape.

Motor racing has been a passion of mine since I was 4 years old when I watched David Piper in the winning Ferrari at Kyalami that year. It was a privilege to race with him in that very same car. He has true British sporting spirit and is an encyclopedia of racing history.

Last year I raced a Ferrari 430 owned by Rosso Motors, in the altech Porsche challenge. I also raced Ferraris and BMw in the historic racing category, together with Tony Viana.

Who is your favourite Formula 1 racing driver?I would have to say ayrton senna.

Do you remember his black and gold JPS Lotus in his early days? Do I remember? My wife gave me a painting, which she painted herself, of me sitting inside that black and gold JPs Lotus. But, at heart I am truly a Team Ferrari man. Felipe Massa is probably my favourite at present but he has been let down by his team.

Do you have any other interests besides motor-racing?I love Italian food of course and I must say I am very spoilt by my wife and mom. The time I spend with my children is a magical experience. Paolo is there any closing comment you would like to share with our readers?The most important issue in life is to do as much as possible, that one is blessed to be able to do!

Inspirational words in deed.

Paolo Cavalieri (left) with Olympic Rowing Team mates, Shaun Keeling (middle) and Ramon Di Clemente (right), taken in Barcelona.

Paolo Cavalieri has donated 5 copies of ‘Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats’. Readers must send an email to carel@etana.co.za saying ‘Why South Africa is the best place to live in’.

The best and most original 5 winners will receive a copy of this awesome book, by author Max Du Preez. Please remember to include your contact details in your correspondence.

Pictured above are Paolo’s children, Cristiana, his daughter and Stefano, his son.

2009 • issue Four

36

37

COMPETITIONOne lucky winner will receive a set of 2 MotorolaT5622 Talk about 2-way radios, kindly sponsored by altech alcom Matomo.

These wonderful devices are really handy to stay in touch when on family outings at crowded venues, schooling and sporting events. The Motorola T5622 Talk about, distributed by altech alcom Radio Distributors, is licence and contract free, and can be used in a radius of up to 8km.

Question for this issue is:Which Altech Group company is the sole distributor of the Motorola T5622 Talk About, in South Africa?

In our previous issue of altech Talk (Issue Three – 2008), altech namITech had a R 500.00 woolworths gift voucher on offer. The lucky winner of this prize was Rose Mashele, a buyer at arrow altech Distribution.

AlTECh TAlktrivia1. Who invented the radio? a) nikola Tesla b) Heinrich Hertz c) Guglielmo Marconi?

2. In what year was the first truly two-way radio developed? a) 1954 b) 1923 c) 1965

3. In what country was the first two-way radio developed? a) Germany b) canada c) australia

4. Which brand of two-way radio, was the first radio transponder to relay the very first words from the moon to Earth in July 1969 aboard the Apollo 11?

a) Motorola b) Midland c) siemens

5. In what year was the Motorola Company first founded, originally named, the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation?

a) 1928 b) 1967 c) 1974

6. In which South African city did Altech Alcom Matomo build the first Terrestrial Trunked Radio (Tetra) digital public radio system in Africa, in 2002?

a) Durban b) Johannesburg c) cape Town

7. What numbers became the chosen common two-way radio affirmation?

a) 9-0 b) 10-4 c) 7-11

8. What is the two-way radio transceiver more commonly known as? a) Mobile phone b) Pager c) walkie-Talkie

9. For what purpose were two-way radios originally developed? a) Military b) Public safety c) children’s Toys

10. For which public services unit in Gauteng did Altech Alcom Matomo build a Tetra Network system, launched in November of 2007 to the value of over R 600 million?

a) Health services b) s.a.P.s. c) Department of communications

Answers: 1a 2b 3c 4a 5a 6c 7b 8c 9a 10b

37

38

2009 • issue Four

The word ‘siyabonga’ is from the Zulu language and translates into ‘we thank you’ i.e. many people thanking one person. The Altech ‘Siyabonga Awards’ recognise exceptional service by an individual within the Altech Group. This award is given to the individual for their dedication to their respective job by going beyond the call of duty, and setting a professional example that others can aspire to.

Each month the name of an employee from each subsidiary company, along with a brief motivation, is sent to Altech Head Office by the respective Managing Directors. From this list, one person is chosen each month that the Altech CEO and HR department feel is most deserving of this accolade. The winner receives a cheque of R1000 and a certificate that is handed over by Altech’s CEO, Craig Venter.

For the month of December 2008, Craig Venter congratulates...

Devan Chetty from Altech UEC in DurbanDevan is the surface-Mount Department (sMT) Foreman who showed remarkable initiative, when the manufacturing plant started producing the DsD1110 set-Top-Box for Multi-choice. The surface-mount assembly which accounts for 80% of the product cost, had a ‘pick and place’ machine cycle-time during production start-up, of 35 seconds. Devan took it upon himself to have this time reduced by a staggering 6.2 seconds. This incredible saving resulted in over 700 additional sMT machine hours, enabling his department to produce over R1 million of additional recoveries.

For the month of January 2009, Craig Venter congratulates...

Mias du Toit from Altech IsisMias is the team leader for africa’s support team and is responsible for supervising the support effort, to ensure operational availability of the icaP application in three african countries - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. after a drastic reduction in testing resources for the african countries in late 2008, Mias realized the impact this would have on delivery and decided to assist the Quality assurance team with testing, in order to get releases out on schedule. He often assists the africa standby team after hours, including weekends. One of Mias’ trademarks is his customer orientation, where he always endeavours to sort out a customer’s problem, in the quickest time possible.

For the month of February 2009, Craig Venter congratulates…

Abednigo Mathebula from Arrow Altech DistributionAbednigo is a Receiving Clerk who filled in as an Administration clerk on short notice, to cover for an employee who had gone on maternity leave. He demonstrated great determination and talent by mastering the necessary tasks on the company’s eRP system, proving to be of tremendous value to the Operations administrator. Abednigo interacts well with his colleagues who find him extremely friendly and polite at all times. abednigo has also taken it upon himself to further his education by completing a tertiary qualification in Inventory Management, through UnIsa, over and above his already busy work schedule.

2009 • issue Four

38

39

For the month of March 2009, Craig Venter congratulates...

Nicholas Cooper, IT Technician from Altech Isis in Cape TownIn February 2009, the senior member of the IT team resigned and from the beginning of March 2009, for a number of weeks, nicholas single headedly kept the IT department at altech Isis operational. In addition to normal working hours, he worked weekends and evenings to provide after hours support and assistance to the 24x7 application support team and the development team during software upgrades.

nicholas showed a willingness to take responsibility and determination to do whatever necessary to keep the altech Isis IT infrastructure running. at end March 2009, an IT technician was appointed to assist him, so in addition to his usual duties, he has also been taking the time to show a new person ‘the ropes’.

Despite existing on minimum sleep and maximum stress, nicholas has managed to maintain a positive and helpful attitude at all times.

For the month of April 2009, Craig Venter congratulates...

Itumeleng Mothobi, Corporate Finance Advisor from Altech Management ServicesItumeleng joined the group in september 2008, where upon he was tasked with the execution of his first deal, amongst others, Technology Concepts. The deal was executed expediently and efficiently and its successful completion is through the fantastic efforts and management of Itumeleng. It is pleasing to note his competent management of the transaction that resulted in the closing of a R45 million acquisition within a four-month time frame. Itumeleng often worked late hours, came in early and worked over the weekends to meet the required deadline to close the deal.

For the month of May 2009, Craig Venter congratulates…

Michelle Bowes, Credit Control Corporate from Altech Autopage CellularMichelle initiated the movement of 5,000 clients from the consumer account to corporate high usage account (users whose accounts have more than 4 active lines or billing of more than R2,000 per month) without any outstanding queries. Prior to Michelle initiating the move, there had been more than 180 queries (first time invoice problems, GPRs queries, incorrect information loaded). all the queries had been resolved, which is highly time consuming and Michelle realized that in order to give the customers service satisfaction, she needed to put in the overtime, without asking for any remuneration or time off, starting at 7 in the morning and over weekends. Her relationship with these clients is outstanding and she has put in major unpaid overtime to sort this out. Many of these customers have requested to keep Michelle on their accounts due to her excellent manner in dealing with her clients.

39