In a tourist town on the Cape south coast, a campaign is afoot to overthrow the ICT establishment. It`s winning friends and influencing complacent officials. Telecoms upstart UniNet is not content to wait for eventual full liberalisation of the local ICT sector. It wants to be a major infrastructure player and it is not afraid of taking casualties for the cause. After all, the company has strong revolutionary credentials.Before rolling out a WiFi service to blanket Knysna, a town that consists of a mix of tourism, retirement wealth and poor neighbourhoods, UniNet was operating in the stormy environment of Mozambique. It helped the country open up its telecommunications market, but had to suffer the indignity of having its equipment confiscated by the South African authorities.

UniNet continues to push the regulatory boundaries. As a result, it unexpectedly finds itself well positioned in the new regime that is governed by the Electronic Communications Act (EC Act), which came into effect two months ago. Now, the counter-revolutionaries, among them Telkom, are actively courting the company, because it looks as though it was right all along.

Struggle cred

An impeccable struggle lineage comes with almost every UniNet shareholder. Its chief financial officer Mulweli Rebelo`s father was Mozambique`s Minister of Communications (in reality, its chief propagandist) and a former high-ranking member of that country`s Politburo.

Another shareholder, although not actively involved in the company, is Malengani Machel, the son of Samora Machel, Mozambique`s revolutionary leader until his tragic death in 1985. Malengani`s mother, Graca Machel, is now married to former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Fortunes rising: David Jarvis (front) and Mulweli Rebelo say that a year ago, nobody wanted to invest in UniNet. Now it`s the centre of a lot of interest.

Full Story: http://www.brainstormmag.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=800