The internet market in SA suddenly seems a lot more crowded. The names are more high-profile, sites are being upgraded and the sums which the parties are said to be spending seemingly defy all logic. MNet will be launching MWeb, which used to be the CSIR's WorldNet Africa and which it brought for a reported R8-million, as part of a serious expansion into digital media.
Market insiders are agog at the amounts the parties are said to be spending.
Some say individual companies will be spending as much as R100 million to ensure that they are not out-internetted by their media rivals. These numbers are probably an exaggeration, but as the coming war hots up, whatever their budgets are now, they may find that the budgets increase many fold during the coming months and years. The rush to come market is suddenly unseemly. TML is advertising its NetAssets site which is live on the web, but apparently still in beta. I say this because after reading the ad in the Sunday papers I passed by to take a look.