Datafree’s plan to make R1-billion/year from ‘free data’

Loading player...
Datafree Technologies, the company behind popular zero-rated messaging tool MoyaApp, has an ambitious plan to build a R1-billion/year business by tapping to the APN market provided by the mobile operators.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Datafree chief commercial officer Kruben Pillay tells Duncan McLeod about the company’s plan to build a software-as-a-service-based APN – or “access point name” – to sell to businesses. An APN is a gateway that allows a mobile device to connect to the network and the internet.
Datafree describes itself as a specialist in “mobile data optimisation” that “identified the opportunity to empower inclusive mobile connection by removing the data cost barrier to engage mobile audiences”.
To do this, it uses reverse-billing technology for data, not dissimilar to the way toll-free numbers work for phone calls.
Although many people use or are at least aware of MoyaApp, much less is known about Datafree. In this episode of TCS, Pillay tells McLeod more about the business. He also unpacks:
• His history in the telecommunications industry, including his time at Vodacom and Telkom;
• How MoyaApp is doing;
• Datafree’s R1-billion/year APN opportunity; and
• How APNs work, why companies use them (and why they sometimes run into issues) and Datafree’s APN services for business.
Don’t miss the interview!
4 Dec 1AM English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

Meet the team behind Matric Live, South Africa’s App of the Year

Matric Live is a study tool to help students in grades 10-12 supplement their in-class learning with additional exercises – and even get exam practice via a digital platform. And it recently won the FNB App of the Year award amid stiff competition from the likes of Checkers Sixty60 and…
18 Dec 5AM 27 min

Springboks rugby deal: the tech plan behind the audacious bid

Well-known South African technology entrepreneur Stafford Masie is one of the key backers behind an audacious bid to buy a stake of up to 40% in the South African Rugby Union (Saru)-owned entity that owns the commercial rights to the Springboks brand. Masie, who chairs JSE-listed Altvest Capital – a…
12 Dec 12PM 49 min

Reserve Bank’s big payments shake-up – an interview with Tim Masela

The South African Reserve Bank is working with its peers in the Southern African region to drive financial inclusion by digitising cash and making instant payments across borders an everyday reality. In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Tim Masela, head of the National Payments System department at the…
11 Dec 7AM 50 min

The story of Telviva, with David Meintjes and Rob Lith

The world of telephony might not be particularly sexy, but it is an industry that has changed fundamentally in the past 20 years. And David Meintjes and Rob Lith of Telviva, a South African company specialising in cloud-based unified communications solutions for businesses, has been at the forefront of the…
1 Nov 4AM 41 min

Andrew Middleton on the state of rooftop solar in South Africa

South Africa’s rooftop solar installation industry has a bright future and is on track for its second-best year on record, despite the suspension of load shedding in March. That’s according to Andrew Middleton, co-founder and CEO of GoSolr, one of South Africa’s largest rooftop solar installation companies, who spoke to…
31 Oct 4AM 27 min