Extensia NewsWire

Kenya: CCK Accuses Safaricom of Promoting Monopolistic Market Practices

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:22:52 GMT

The Communications Commission of Kenya has accused Safaricom of advocating for a monopoly and killing smaller mobile players through its push for higher call termination rates.The regulator says Safaricom's call for a stop in any further reduction of Mobile Termination rates has nothing to do with protecting investments but to have a reason to highly price its tariffs for other networks and thus force consumers to stay on its network.

CCK said this even though it has not decided if to go ahead with the MTR glide path in July or wait until the result of a study being conducted on the cost model is concluded later in October.

MTR, which is the rate the callers operator pay the receiving one for connecting the call, has slid from Sh9 in 2006 to Sh2.21 by last year, it might be cut further to Sh1.44 this year and eventually to 88 cent.

According to Matano Ndaro, CCK director of competition tariffs and Market Analysis the markets biggest player is somehow abusing its leadership position by trying to kill the smaller players in the industry while reporting super profits. "A network that has many subscribers will always want high termination rates to keep most calls within its network , by pricing cross network call high to discourage subscribers moving and to avoid paying high for termination on other networks," Ndaro said yesterday during a media workshop.

He gave an example in the last quarter of 2011, CCK statistics on the termination business balances where only Safaricom has a ppositive report of Sh868 million compared to to Airtel with a negative of Sh544 million, Essar with -193 million and Telkom with -21 million. "The revenues from Mobile termination rates is not even a major revenue source for Safaricom , out of revenues of about Sh100 billion, only Sh4 billion is termination revenue, but they are aiming at the need to keep subscribers on that same network for other services like m-pesa, data".

Safaricom has been strongly opposed to further reduction in MTR and has also denied abusing its strong position in the market. Matano said the 'presidential directive' given by President Kibaki to hold reduction of MTR after much lobbying by Safaricom has no legal basis but just a political move.

Source: The Star

We’re ready to battle Glo mobile for subscribers - MTN

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:21:39 GMT

Telecom giant MTN has dismissed assertions that Glo mobile’s entry into the market poses a threat to its operations and position as Ghana’s number one telecom operator.

Expectant customers of Glo had waited endlessly for the company’s entry after years of postponements. Industry watchers contend Glo’s solid financial muscle and track record in Nigeria puts it in a firm position to later take over as the market leader.

However in an interview with Citi Business News, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Michael Ikpoki downplayed the assertions and indicated his company’s readiness to battle Glo head on for the market share.

He said “we’re in a competitive business. MTN in all our operations including Ghana, we provide compelling services, we excite our customers to be able to deliver our returns so the point is yes we’re competitors in the market.

“We’re still providing, we’re still doing what we need to do to make sure that we keep our subscribers and grow our subscriber base. What you see is we’ve grown our subscriber base by about 3% in the first quarter of this year so we’re on target in terms of where we set out for this year.”

Meanwhile MTN Ghana yesterday secured a loan of 410 Million Ghana cedis to help expand and improve its network in the country. The loan was raised by Stanbic Bank Ghana and Standard Bank South Africa through a syndication team of 16 local banks and 4 international banks who also raised an additional 60 million dollars for the operator.

Michael Ikpoki told Citi Business News the money is mainly to fund MTN’s capital expenditure for the years ahead.

Source: Ghana Web

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Gloves off in mobile price war

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:19:45 GMT

It’s no secret that despite having the longest-standing mobile networks on the continent, SA still has some of the highest mobile call rates in Africa. This week, Cell C went some way to correcting that when it announced it was cutting prepaid rates, and hinted that new post-paid pricing will follow soon, but there’s arguably still a long way to go.

On Wednesday, Cell C announced it was dropping prepaid call rates to 99c/minute regardless of the time of day or destination network. Within minutes, Vodacom responded with its own price cut, that appeared, at first glance, to match Cell C’s rate.

Vodacom’s offering, however, sees customers billed 99c for the first minute, and then in 30-second increments thereafter. Cell C’s new prepaid plan, on the other hand, is billed per second from the first second, making it much better priced and, more importantly, the more transparent of the two offerings.

Some of the reason Cell C was able to make the price cut is that it enjoys preferential mobile termination rates — the fees networks charge one another to field calls on their networks. Because Cell C has less than 20% market share, it pays a lower fee to Vodacom when receiving a call from a user on the latter’s network than the fee it has to pay when the reverse takes place.

Vodacom argues it’s sweetened the deal by offering customers who recharge with R12 or more an additional 60 minutes of talk-time between midnight and 5am. The problem is, these bonus minutes are only applicable to on-net calls — that is, calls to other Vodacom users.

While this may be of value to Vodacom users that have a long commute that requires them to rise before 5am, they still need to ensure that the person they’re calling is on the same network — and that they’re awake. With consumers having the ability to change networks and keep their number, it’s quite difficult to check if a call is, in fact, to a user on the same network — a number with a Vodacom prefix like 082 need not mean a Vodacom customer.

Compared to Cell C’s straightforward offering, Vodacom’s is still rather opaque. And the value-add of free minutes is of limited use to most customers. Moreover, on a per-second basis, it’s simply more expensive.

Cell C must be lauded for the simplicity of its new offering, preferential termination rates or not. Aside from the cheaper rates, it’s the lack of obfuscation that really sets the bar other operators should be aiming to match.

MTN, meanwhile, has said it won’t be drawn into the price war, claiming that its “MTN Zone” plans mean its rates are already the most affordable in the market because it offers customers “free calls” through its “Mahala Thursday, Mahala Nights, Mahala Weekends and Mahala Day” time-based rates.

That’s four separate pricing schemes with which consumers need to familiarise themselves if they’re to take advantage and save money. MTN’s pricing is arguably the most impenetrable of all the major players.

It’s precisely these convoluted pricing plans that confuse consumers and allow operators to capitalise on consumers’ inability, or lack of desire, to attempt to decode the jargon and minutiae that has long pervaded SA mobile services.

Consumers want simplicity and, in a market where disposable income and education levels span a gamut far broader than those of developed countries, the operator that can offer the most transparent and cheapest packages deserves the biggest market share.

Cell C’s CEO Alan Knott-Craig has hinted that contract subscribers can expect price cuts soon and hopefully these will be similarly simple to understand and force both Vodacom and MTN to react. If they start seeing customers churning over to Cell C, you can bet they’ll respond in kind.

Pricing of both voice and data needs to get to the level where operators are forced to compete on quality of service and unambiguous value-added services. With mobile termination rates set to fall again, and the Independent Communications Authority of SA having said it will continue to assess the rate beyond next year, retail price competition is going to intensify.

At the end of the day, price cuts are good for operators and consumers alike. Consumers save money and operators are forced to innovate. In a mobile landscape like SA’s, where the incumbents have been able to make huge profit margins on voice and data for a decade and a half, this price war hasn’t come a moment too soon.

Prices have a long way to fall, but at least someone’s made the first, crucial push to lower them.

Source: TechCentral

Smaller players back call for MTR cut

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:13:07 GMT

Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig suggested this week that mobile termination rates (MTRs) — the fees mobile operators charge other players to carry calls onto their networks — should be reduced further after they are cut to 40c/minute in March next year.

Knott-Craig told TechCentral in an interview this week that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) should cut MTRs to 25c/minute, and possibly even lower than that. He said this would allow for further retail price cuts and create a more competitive telecommunications industry in SA.

MTRs have come down dramatically in the past three years, falling from R1,25/minute to next March’s 40c. Icasa has already said it will review the rate once it reaches the 40c level.

Vox Telecom co-CEO Doug Reed agrees with Knott-Craig’s call for further reductions but believes there should be a single termination rate for both mobile and fixed voice services. “Why must we get 15c/minute from Vodacom but then have to pay them 56c with the same licence and while doing same job?”

Reed says mobile networks aren’t more expensive to operate than their fixed-line equivalents. “Copper’s just been around longer.”

He believes termination rates in mobile will continue falling. “Voice prices will come down by 20%/year or so for next five years. Fixed line is bottoming out already, but mobile is still going to take some time.”

Nashua ECN MD Andy Openshaw says he is “pleased consumers are eventually seeing the benefits of the hard-fought-for interconnect rate reductions”.

He says his company would like Icasa to reduce MTRs even further than Knott-Craig’s proposed 25c/minute. “A rate of 10-15c is what we’re seeing in Europe and internationally. There’s definitely room to move them down further, and this is one of the best ways to drive competition.”

Openshaw says asymmetrical MTRs, of the sort 8ta and Cell C enjoy – whereby they pay Vodacom and MTN lower rates than Vodacom and MTN pay in return — are another good driver of competition.

“I like [Knott-Craig’s] asymmetry comments,” says Openshaw. “We saw a 15% benefit last year, which will go down to 10% next year. Asymmetry creates competition and needs to be maintained to encourage new entrants to the market.”

Like Reed, Openshaw would like to see a single termination rate for both fixed and mobile operators. “Convergence is happening in the [telecoms] space. I think we need to see one interconnect rate because there’s really no difference between networks anymore — everyone is doing everything.”

John Holdsworth, founder of start-up mobile virtual network operator AppChat, says Knott-Craig is “quite right” to call for lower MTRs and that doing so “is a very positive and bold move”. Holdsworth, the founding CEO of ECN (with which his new company is embroiled in a legal dispute), has been one of the leading agitators for lower rates and has lobbied politicians on the issue in recent years.

He says Knott-Craig ought be “praised” for shaking up the mobile industry. “I certainly hope that consumers reward Cell C’s bravery and vision.”

Holdsworth says the issue for Cell C, or any new entrant, is the complexity of the different offerings from the big players and the “smoke and mirrors” around these. For example, he says, Vodacom’s new 99c/minute tariff is more expensive than Cell C’s because, unlike Cell C, Vodacom does not charge on a per-second basis.

Although the discrepancy between per-minute and per-second pricing is well known by those in the industry, Holdsworth says it trips up consumers who “don’t really understand the difference and aren’t able to quantify it”.

Holdsworth says Vodacom’s rate works out at closer to R1,40/minute if taken on a per second basis. “Someone needs to be able to debunk these things and challenge them. MTN says its core prices are less, but that’s complete nonsense. You can only benchmark against standard tariffs in normal hours.”

Over the next two to three years, Holdsworth says he expects further dramatic price reductions in mobile, both for voice and data. “There’s no doubt that consumers are going to see a major, well-deserved reduction in pricing.”

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Leading telecommunications player launches mobile network in Africa

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:37:37 GMT

On May 15, 2012, Viettel announced in in Maputo, Mozambique, the official launch of Movitel – the group’s first mobile network in Africa to join its already flourishing networks in Asia and Latin America.

Viettel, one of the world’s fastest growing telecom operators, launches its first African mobile network in Mozambique and is seeking opportunities to expand investment in other African countries.
In just over a year, Viettel has helped propel Mozambique onto the list of Sub-Saharan Africa’s top three countries in terms of fiber optic cable networks.
Viettel has become the largest mobile coverage network in Mozambique, right at the launch, doubling the coverage level required by the licensing body.
Viettel has been among the first corporations in the world providing free Internet access to all schools.

In just over a year since being licensed on January 10, 2011, Viettel has built 12,600 kilometres of fiber optic cable and 1,800 mobile stations in Mozambique. This network represents 70% of the total Mozambique’s fiber optic cable network and 50% of the country’s mobile stations. The system has helped triple the density of Mozambique’s telecom infrastructure (increasing the length of fiber optic cable network and number of mobile stations per one million inhabitants in Mozambique by 2-3 times), making it one of the world’s fastest growing telecommunications networks and placing the country among the top three nations in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of fiber optic cable systems.

With the country’s largest network right at the launch date, Viettel’s Movitel network is the first mobile network operator in Mozambique to have doubled the network coverage level committed in its proposal for the license. In addition to expanding the network, Viettel also recruits one to two local people to provide services door-to-door in their own localities.

At the launch ceremony, Viettel also officially announced its project of connecting and providing free internet for 4,200 schools as part of the group’s pledge to the Mozambican Government. At present, more than 500 schools have been connected thanks to this project.

“The Mozambican Government highly appreciates Viettel’s serious investment and commitment to social responsibility. This is the first time many areas will have had access to telecom services, so the company has made a major contribution to the implementation of Mozambique’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction strategy,” said Mozambican President Armano Emilio Guebuza.

Viettel has successfully developed and popularised telecom services in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Haiti, Mozambique, and Peru.

“Mozambique is Viettel’s first market in Africa. Viettel is seeking for new opportunities to expand its investment in other African countries.” a Viettel representative stressed.

On entering new markets Viettel companies have consistently become the leading telecommunications player within just two years, contributing from 1-2% to a country’s national GDP; increasing national telecom network coverage by between 50% to 80% and jointly increasing telecom network density by 3 to 3.5 times more than the international average.

Most local residents now have the opportunity to access telecom services, including 95% of people living in rural areas. Tens of thousands of jobs have been generated for rural people through the Viettel sales network. Free internet services are provided in all schools.

These efforts have helped narrow the digital gap between rural and urban areas, and rich and poor.

Source: Sierra Express Media

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

WACS ownership breakdown

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:35:59 GMT

As of last week (May 2012), the $650 million West Africa Cable System (WACS), linking Southern and Western Africa to Europe, is up and running for commercial use.

The 4-fibre pair system has a design capacity of 5.12 Tbps, of which about 500 Gigabits per second (Gbps) has been lit for the launch.

The ownership make-up of the 17,200km cable system is intriguing, in that it consists of a consortium of 14 telecoms operators including South Africa’s largest rivals Neotel (Tata Communications), Telkom, Broadband Infraco, MTN and Vodacom.

Additional owners include Angola Cables, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cabo Verde Telecom, Congo Telecom, Portugal Telecom, SCPT (DRC), Togo Telecom, Namibia / BTC, and Vodafone Spain.

WACS physically lands in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Portugal, and the UK.

At launch, the SA contingent of the consortium insisted that the cable will create further competition and improve broadband services in SA, despite co-ownership by all the country’s major operators.

Since the cable’s landing on SA soil at Yserfontein in April 2011, MTN has maintained that it is the largest investor in the project.

Indeed at its commercial launch on Friday (11 May), MTN’s Global Carrier Services’ Commercial Relations Lead for the WACS Consortium, Trevor Martins, said: “MTN is the largest investor in WACS, with commitments in excess of US$100 million, comprising US$90 million system capital contribution and additional capital investments towards the construction of cable landing facilities in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.”

As a tier one investor, MTN CTO, Kanagaratnam Lambotharan said that MTN’s investment in the cable amounts to 11%. This would put it behind Broadband Infraco.

“Broadband Infraco has invested at the highest possible level in WACS which is a Tier 1 investment, thereby entitling this company to a 11.4% of the total capacity on the WACS system,” the group said in a statement.

In an interview with BusinessTech, Kobus Stoeder, executive of global capacity at Vodacom, said that Vodacom had invested a 9.5% stake in WACS. He added that the investment differences between the various stakeholders had no bearing on the operating future of the cable.

Telkom said that most operators share was largely the same, adding that its investment amounted to ‘sub 10%’. “We are quite comfortable with the amount that we have invested,” said Johan Meyer, Telkom’s executive for global capacity business.

Source: Business Tech

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: NCC to Spend N2.2 Billion on Service Monitoring

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:34:22 GMT

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) will this year spend a sum of N2.2 billion on the monitoring of the quality of services rendered by telecommunication operators in the country.

NCC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Eugene Juwa, today disclosed this while defending before the Senate Committee on Communication, the commission's budget estimate of N48.8 billion for the 2012 fiscal year.

He noted that the commission could not sanction the operators last December owing to lack of an enabling regulation.

"The regulation we are using to sanction them was just gazette only towards the end of February. If you sanction the service providers, they would take you to court and the action will become null and void. So, we are on a very solid ground to sanction them now, and we are now waiting for them to pay us. They have written to us asking for a meeting, but the sanction still stays", he said.

A breakdown of the commission's budget shows capital and special projects of N17.9billion as well as other internal expenditures of N13.9 billion.

The commission is also to spend N7.1 billion on its emergency communication centres, and another N4.3million on its school support scheme; while it is targeting N6.5 billion revenue from spectrum fees and other charges.

The Senate committee, which earlier wondered why it took the NCC so long to fine the service providers, urged it (NCC) to recover the N1.17billion fine slashed on them (operators).

The chairman of the committee, Senator Gilbert Nnaji (PDP, Enugu East), said, "In spite of the various issues going on in our nation's telecommunication sector, the issue of worsening quality of services has become so endemic that one begins to have the impression that both the regulator and the operators have lost control"

"However, the sorry state of the prevailing telecoms quality of service leaves no one in doubt that the investment on telecom infrastructure such as the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative and the Wire Nigeria Project seem not to be yielding desired results," he added.

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom and KT: proceed with caution

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:31:27 GMT

Last week, Telkom announced to shareholders it was making good progress in talks with KT Corp, Korea’s incumbent fixed-line operator. Though the offer price has been cut by nearly a third — unsurprising, given the dismal performance of Telkom’s share price since talks began seven months ago — analysts are upbeat about the deal.

The view is that KT Corp was in a similar position to Telkom 10-15 years ago: the Korean telecommunications market was being liberalised, competition was flourishing and the operator had to reinvent itself for a radically different technological and commercial environment. In the intervening years, KT Corp has played a pivotal role in helping transform Korea into one of the world’s most connected countries.

In SA, too, the competitive landscape has changed dramatically. Telkom’s monopoly is being systematically dismantled: new undersea cable systems mean international bandwidth prices are tumbling and private sector-led investment in long-distance and metropolitan fibre networks is pushing down national costs. The last real remnant of Telkom’s monopoly, the fixed local loop into homes and businesses, will come under attack from next-generation wireless technologies and, to a more limited extent, regulatory interventions such as local-loop unbundling.

That Telkom is under pressure is putting it mildly. The company is being forced to retreat from its costly investments elsewhere in Africa. At home it is facing a growing list of challenges, among them a deflationary pricing environment; powerful and smart competitors; a bloated, inflexible and unionised workforce; ongoing fixed-to-mobile substitution; and huge start-up costs as it belatedly tries to enter a mature mobile market with 8ta.

Then there are the monopoly abuse investigations related to its market behaviour in the past 10 years, and the likelihood of punitive fines, not to mention other regulatory interventions that could crimp its margins.

In many respects, Telkom is facing a perfect storm. Selling a portion of its business to the Koreans, then, appears to be a smart move. Not only will it be able to draw on the management expertise of one of the world’s leading telecom operators, it will also have access to more of the technical skills it needs to build the next-generation broadband networks that will keep its rivals at bay.

It looks good on paper, but we must remember this is not the first time Telkom has had a foreign partner. In the late 1990s government sold 30% of the fixed-line operator to Thintana, a consortium made up of America’s SBC Communications (now AT&T) and Telekom Malaysia. Thintana was awarded a management contract at Telkom which meant top foreign executives filled key roles at the company. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear their mandate was to extract maximum profits from Telkom by hiking the cost of telephony. Thintana helped Telkom to become a more efficient operator by introducing management best practices at the company, but the cost to SA’s economy was high as it sought to extract maximum monopoly rents.

Now, KT Corp’s investment plans include what Telkom calls a five-year “co-source management services” agreement. Little of what this contract will entail has been disclosed but given the Thintana experience, it would be wise for government to interrogate it.

Certainly, the SA telecoms market is very different to the one of 15 years ago when the Americans and Malaysians invested. Beyond the fixed local loop, Telkom has little left of its monopoly that can be abused. And KT Corp will probably be good for Telkom.

But the deal still deserves careful scrutiny.

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

MTN won’t be drawn into price war

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:28:09 GMT

Cell C and Vodacom both slashed their prepaid rates on Wednesday, but MTN appears unwilling to be drawn into the unfolding price war, saying its rates are already the most affordable in the market, even compared to the latest cuts from its competitors.

Vodacom is offering calls at 99c/minute all day billed per minute for the first minute and in 30-second increments thereafter; Cell C is offering the same tariff, but at an effectively lower price because it bills per second from the first second.

MTN was widely expected to follow suit with price cuts of its own, but the operator’s chief marketing officer, Serame Taukobong, says that’s not going to happen.

Taukobong says the company’s “MTN Zone” price plan, which he says benefits 70% of its client base, offers customers “free calls” through its “Mahala Thursday, Mahala Nights, Mahala Weekends and Mahala Day” time-based rates.

“These offerings create real value by allowing customers to call at a zero rate for as long as the customer’s call lasts and not just one minute,” he says. “Through the MTN Zone Mahala offering, the most attractive rates are applicable at various times of the day, which allows customers flexibility for when they would like to call. Consequently, the new pricing announced by competitors would in fact be uncompetitive based on our customers’ current usage.”

However, Taukobong says MTN is continually reviewing its prices and packages. “Usage behaviour indicates that customers demand flexibility in the amount of time spent on a call,” he says, before adding what is clearly meant as a dig at Vodacom: “In this regard, price plans that charge a per-minute rate are not in the best interest of our customers as most calls last less than a minute. All of MTN’s price plans are true per-second billing, so customers do not have to pay for what they don’t use.”

There’s little doubt, though, that MTN will be watching customer churn figures carefully when the new Cell C and Vodacom rates take effect on Sunday. Expect it to react quickly if it starts losing market share.

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Gateway steps up terrestrial network initiative

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:25:53 GMT

Pan-African telecoms service supplier Gateway Communications has announced that it has brought additional capacity from submarine cable SAT-3 to landlocked Botswana via South Africa, under its Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative. Customers can now access high speed, reliable connectivity, which will help to improve Botswana’s economic sectors, including mining, tourism and agriculture. Gateway has also revealed that more routes are being added to the networks already created in Zambia and Malawi during the initial phase of its terrestrial network initiative. A new path, utilising both SAT-3 and SEACOM connectivity, has been developed to provide Zambia with a fully redundant path through Zimbabwe. During the next few months Gateway will be extending its terrestrial network by deploying another link into Malawi through the eastern border town of Mulanji. Under the next step of the project, Gateway aims to bring additional capacity to Mauritius by connecting the island via SAFE to a neutral data centre facility in South Africa and then onward to Europe via EASSy and SAT-3. This will connect Mauritius to Africa and will allow the country to connect internationally using Gateway’s pan-African MPLS network and international peering stations in London, UK. ‘Through this innovative project, we will make sure that the benefits of high speed services are available to everyone using our pan-African network,’ commented Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications, adding: ‘This brings us closer to our goal of ensuring that every country in Africa has access to cost-effective and reliable capacity.’

Source: TeleGeography

Mauritius - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Botswana - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

19 recommendations for spectrum management for mobile broadband revolution: GSMA

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:31:09 GMT

Mobile phones have become the main means for making voice calls in the world and have brought telecommunications access to many of the world's people for the first time. Now the industry is in the middle of another major transformation with rapidly growing take-up of mobile broadband services across both developed and emerging markets. Mobile data traffic is expected to increase 18-fold between 2011 and 2016 with growth rates being highest in emerging markets, including the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Spectrum is the lifeblood of the mobile industry. The amount of spectrum made available and the terms on which it is made available fundamentally drive the cost, range and availability of mobile services. Across the world, substantial new spectrum is needed to support ongoing growth in both traditional voice and new broadband mobile services. It is also critical that the rights to use the spectrum are provided in a way that enables the industry to deliver maximum benefits to consumers.

The rapid growth in demand for spectrum increases the importance and the difficulty of efficient spectrum management. The GSMA has commissioned this report to examine the experience with mobile spectrum licensing around the globe to date and draw out the lessons for policy. A key focus is on what works well in emerging markets and how the lessons can be applied to the additional spectrum to be allocated over the new few years. Choosing the correct spectrum policy will be particularly important in emerging markets where mobile services can be expected to provide the principal access to high-speed data, as they have with voice.

The countries that get their spectrum policy right will achieve widespread access to affordable and innovative mobile broadband services. Strong communications infrastructure, in turn, brings significant wider economic benefits including in boosting productivity and living standards.

Governments that currently face significant fiscal demands also stand to benefit both directly from licensing revenues as well as more generally through the higher economic growth generated by access to mobile broadband.

Achieving a flexible licensing framework to support substantial new investment Traditionally, many governments imposed highly prescriptive operating and spectrum licences that required operators to supply only certain services and/or use specific technology (although other countries have not had separate operating and spectrum licences). Given the rapid pace of technological and market developments, restrictive licensing requirements will limit operators' ability to make the best use of their networks to supply services and risk delaying the investment required to introduce new broadband services. Detailed spectrum licences that are specific to one operator, type of service, network or technology also risk distorting competition if operators supplying competing services face different licence conditions. While, in the past, operators have been subject to extensive restrictions, many licensing authorities provide little guidance on their own approaches to forthcoming spectrum issues. This increases regulatory risk and deters operators from making the large investments required to deploy new technologies and services.

Following are our key recommendations in relation to reforming the overall licensing framework:

Recommendation 1 - Licensing authorities should progressively remove restrictions that unduly restrict operators from determining which services they will provide and the technology that they will use. Restrictions that do not result in clear net benefits should be relaxed. Operating licences should be expanded to cover a greater range of services or, where appropriate, replaced altogether by simpler authorisations or class licences. Where restrictive operating licences are maintained they should be separated from licences for the use of spectrum. Spectrum licences should, in general, contain spectrum management provisions only or principally. This will assist changes in business activities and spectrum holdings and support the evolution of technologies and the different needs between radio spectrum management and other aspects of the licence. Operators offering similar services should be subject to the same terms and conditions.

Recommendation 2 - Spectrum should be managed to ensure that a country obtains maximum benefit from the use of its spectrum resources. Spectrum rights should be assigned to the services and the operators who can generate the greatest benefits to society from the use of that spectrum, i.e. to achieve the efficient use of spectrum. Market-based approaches represent a key means to ensure that spectrum is used to supply the services most in demand and operators are able to use the best available technology to deliver those services.

Recommendation 3 - Licensing authorities should ensure that the overall licensing framework offers stability and transparency to reduce regulatory risk and promote investment. Key principles should include:

- establishing and adequately resourcing an independent regulator with responsibility for operator and spectrum licensing among other matters;

- announcing in advance a long term plan for reform of the spectrum and operating licensing framework;

- facilitating international harmonisation so that equipment and devices use the same frequency bands to support international roaming and enable the realisation of scale economies in manufacture;

- publicly setting out the criteria and process to be followed in licensing decisions and including public written consultation in advance of key decisions being made with both consultation responses and the assessment of input in reaching final decision being published;

- clearly defined spectrum rights that are backed up by a robust compliance/enforcement regime;

- taking a holistic approach to licensing that ensures that the overall package enables the ongoing development of the mobile industry (including a process for the renewal of licences at their expiry); and

- taking into account investors' legitimate expectations and providing compensation mechanisms where decisions are made in conflict with those expectations.

Freeing up spectrum resources to meet growing demand

Licensing authorities can take a number of key steps to free up spectrum that is currently poorly utilized and use that spectrum to deliver higher valued services. In particular, authorities should both identify what spectrum rights are able to be assigned to provide additional spectrum capacity as well as enabling current spectrum assigned for mobile services to be used more effectively. Enabling flexible/technology neutral use of spectrum so that operators who currently use spectrum for 2G services have the ability to determine when the use of part or all of this spectrum should be changed for 3G and newer mobile technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) services. This is an important way to expand over time the services able to be carried with existing spectrum as well as facilitating lower cost services, expanded geographic coverage and better indoor coverage, depending on the bands considered.

Recommendation 4 - Current rights to use spectrum should be clearly specified and spectrum bands that are currently idle or being poorly utilised (including by public sector agencies) should be considered for re-allocation to services that could use the spectrum to generate greater benefits for society.

Recommendation 5 - Licensing authorities should publish a road map of the planned release of additional spectrum bands to maximise overall benefits from the use of spectrum including taking into account the benefits of international harmonisation. In doing so, aligning spectrum rights with the internationally harmonised mobile spectrum bands will ensure that operators and their customers can acquire competitively provided equipment and devices and that customers can readily access international roaming services.

Recommendation 6 - Licensing authorities should progressively remove service and technology restrictions in existing mobile spectrum usage rights to enable operators to choose when to deploy mobile technologies that can technically co-exist so as to increase spectral capacity, reduce cost of provision, extend coverage to rural areas and improve indoor coverage. Operators themselves are likely to be best placed to determine the speed of migration particularly recognising that 2G services are likely to remain important for the next 5 to 10 years.

Recommendation 7 - New spectrum usage rights within the mobile bands should be issued on a service and technology neutral basis subject to the use of technologies which can technically co-exist without intolerable interference.

Recommendation 8 - Licensing authorities should facilitate harmonisation of spectrum through allocating radio frequency bands in accordance with international agreements and by applying spectrum management approaches aligned with international best practice.

Assignment and renewal of licenses

A major forthcoming issue for many licensing authorities is to determine what should happen to spectrum rights as licences approach the end of their initial term. Uncertainty about the future rights to spectrum can lead to operators reducing or delaying investment in upgrading their networks and deploying new services. Securing funds for investment is difficult in the current economic environment even for established players. As such, authorities should be alert to the real danger that their investment incentives can be undermined by uncertainty over future rights. The loss of rights to spectrum currently being used for the supply of services also carries risks to customers in relation to the loss of service. Reflecting these risks, many authorities have established a presumption of licence renewal with only exceptional and well specified circumstances under which licences will not be renewed. More generally, where licences are to be re-assigned or assigned for the first time, authorities will need to determine whether market-based or administrative approaches will best promote efficient allocation of spectrum in the specific market context.

Recommendation 9 - Licensing authorities should clearly set out their approach to licence renewal in advance (a range between 2 to 4 years as a minimum should be adequate) of the expiry of the licence so as to avoid network investment being postponed. The authorities should publish the criteria that they will use to assess renewal as well as the terms and conditions that will apply to the renewed licence.

Recommendation 10 - There should be a presumption in favour of licence renewal for operating and spectrum licences to encourage long-term investment and minimise the risk of service disruption to customers. Reasons for not renewing licences should be limited to spectrum replanning, where there is little risk of stranding substantial investments, or where there has been a serious breach of licence conditions which should be evident in advance of the renewal time. Exceptionally, a licence may not be renewed in relation to the whole or part of the relevant spectrum so as to promote competition through reassignment of spectrum. However, before not renewing a licence for this reason, regulators should first (i) assess whether competition is already effective in the market; (ii) identify whether competition can be promoted by other means such as the release of alternative spectrum; and (iii) assess whether the expected competition benefits will exceed the potential costs such as in relation to spectrum replanning, customer migration and the risk of deterring investment.

Recommendation 11 - Re-auctioning spectrum at the end of the licence should be limited to situations where there has not been evidence of substantial investment and there is a reasonable prospect that spectrum will be re-assigned between operators (or where additional, alternative spectrum is being made available), or situations where an existing licensee decides to reject a licence renewal offer. In most cases, the existing operators would be expected to re-acquire the licence with the consequence that an auction only creates unnecessary uncertainty and costs.

Recommendation 12 - Where spectrum is to be re-assigned or assigned for the first time, licensing authorities should determine the approach or combination of approaches to assigning licences taking into account their particular objectives as well as the likely advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches in the particular market context drawing on both theory and practical experience. Licensing authorities should attach priority to ensuring effective competition in downstream markets for services to end-users.

Whether an auction or beauty contest is adopted, the detailed design of the approach is important. Open auctions are likely to be superior to sealed bid auctions for spectrum relevant to mobile broadband services in terms of promoting efficient spectrum use.

Efficient pricing of spectrum

The overall level of licence fees (including upfront and annual charges) can significantly impact market outcomes including the number of players that enter the market and, particularly where annual charges are levied, the prices for mobile services. There is a strong economic case to avoid the level of licence fees being determined on the basis of revenue maximising objectives. Rather, licence fees can be used to help recover the administrative costs of the licensing process and of managing spectrum and, in some circumstances, to encourage efficient spectrum use.

Following is our key recommendation in relation to spectrum pricing:

Recommendation 13 - Licence fees, if any, should generally be limited to recovering the administrative costs of the licensing process and associated regulatory costs (including spectrum management costs). However, where there is excess demand for spectrum, then an auction or administrative assignment of spectrum with a charge set in line with the Marginal Forward Looking Opportunity Cost (MFLOC) of spectrum should be considered.

Indexation or benchmarking may prove a practical means to estimate MFLOC in particular circumstances. The MFLOC should be estimated conservatively to reduce the risk that valuable spectrum will be left idle. It is also important that the estimated prices are set appropriately relative to spectrum prices in other bands. The relative merits of upfront licence fees versus annual charges should be considered with regard to the particularmarket circumstances.

Promoting competition

The approach to spectrum licensing can significantly impact competition in the mobile services markets. There is a case for regulators to ensure that national spectrum resources do not become excessively concentrated in the control of only one or two operators. However, there is also a danger if spectrum becomes too fragmented as mobile operators would be prevented from realizing scale economies so that service costs and prices are higher than otherwise. Generally, licensing authorities should ensure that operators are able to expand their access to spectrum if they are delivering value and attracting customers.

Recommendation 14 - Licensing authorities should aim to ensure effective competition in the downstream markets for mobile services. Many sector regulators and competition authorities have accepted that three to four national operators are likely to be sufficient to achieve effective competition.

Recommendation 15 - Specific measures to promote competition should only be imposed in markets where there is market failure and competition would otherwise be ineffective and where those measures are assessed as being likely to result in greater benefits than costs. Spectrum caps, spectrum set-asides, bidding credits, competition law enforcement and open access requirements carry advantages and disadvantages and should be assessed in relation to the specific market context.

Reviewing non-price terms and conditions

Efficiency can be promoted by licences that support operators making substantial investments that reflect fundamental market conditions rather than requirements imposed by regulators. Many governments have traditionally included a range of terms and conditions in licences which go beyond those necessary for the intrinsic purpose of the licence to authorise market access and/or manage the use of spectrum. However, licence conditions tend to be relatively inflexible and can create the risk of market distortions as competition develops in telecommunications markets. Alternative, targeted regulation is likely to better achieve particular goals such as the control of market power and promoting universal access.

Following are our key recommendations in relation to non-price terms and conditions:

Recommendation 16 - Licensing authorities should introduce licence terms for mobile operators that are at least in line with the expected payback period for the investments and should consider the introduction of indefinite licence terms (with a specified minimum term, i.e. 15 years).

Recommendation 17 - Licensing authorities should provide for national licences where customer demand and/or scale economies are likely to support national provision as being most efficient. Where regional licences are under consideration, the auction process itself could be used to determine whether regional or national licences are valued most highly.

Recommendation 18 - As an alternative to licence obligations, governments should achieve universal access and competition objectives through policies that help to change the underlying economics of extending access or entering the market or through alternative targeted regulation.

Recommendation 19 - Licensing authorities should enable voluntary spectrum trading between operators and facilitate trading through well specified spectrum rights, long licence terms and minimizing administrative costs. Such trading helps to ensure that spectrum remains efficiently assigned over time. Competition concerns should be assessed taking into account the specific circumstances of each trade, although certain safe harbours could be established such as where the operator acquiring the spectrum has a market share below a certain threshold and/or the spectrum represents a relatively small share of the overall spectrum available for those services.

Source: Telecom Lead

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts v

Malawi Regulator Ordered to Compensate Mobile Network for License Cancellation

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:16:59 GMT

Malawi's telecoms regulator, Macra has been ordered to make a payment of US$66 million to Malawi Mobile in compensation for cancelling its mobile license.

The court ordered payment was made after the regulator decided not to contest the claims being put forward by the former mobile network.

The mobile company had been asking for compensation for loss of expected profits between 2005 when its license was cancelled and 2017 when its license would have normally expired.

The regulator cancelled the license after it said that the company had not deployed its network within the allocated timeframe, but the mobile network disputed the wording of the license as requiring a rollout within 12 months of the network launch, not the license being granted.

As the network was never actually launched, it argued that it was not in breach of the license.

The company had asked for US$135 million in damaged, but the court settled on half.

Source: Cellular News

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

‘Smart regulation crucial to broadband roll-out’

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:23 GMT

While the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU), 2012 regulatory report released last week highlighted the vital importance of national regulatory framework in accelerating broadband roll-out and stimulating the development of new digital goods and services, participants at the just concluded West African Information and Communication Technology Congress, (WAFICT) 2012 rose up from the conference saying that except effective national regulatory frameworks were put in place by the African governments including Nigeria, achieving broadband roll-out may be far fetched.

For majority of the speakers at the event that ran side by side with exhibition series, broadband penetration in most African countries including Nigeria is still very low compared to what is obtainable in other parts of the world.

While voice gap is getting narrower on the continent, data gap, according to the speakers seems to be getting wider by the day, meaning that broadband roll-out has become a matter of necessity.

At the forum, speakers were able to harmonize views on how best to achieve broadband penetration through effective and smart regulations.

New policy frameworks

Meanwhile, according to the ITU new report, the huge volume of data generated by fixed and mobile broadband applications means that most countries are now facing a critical ICT infrastructure deficit. Given the importance of broadband to each country’s ongoing development, this deficit, the report say is fast becoming a major public policy issue requiring the formulation of new cross-sectoral broadband policy frameworks. Encouragingly, over 130 governments have today adopted or are planning to adopt a national policy, strategy or plan to promote broadband.

“Ensuring investment and innovation without stifling competition is the key challenge today’s ICT regulators face,” sITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré., said, adding that “In order for all citizens to benefit from the economic growth driven by broadband, huge and sustained investments in networks are needed. This report looks at how regulators could help, and what innovative regulatory measures might be able to achieve.”

Nigeria ripe for broadband

Earlier in his presentation, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian telecom regulatory agency, Dr. Eugene Juwah told the gathering that Nigeria was ripe for broadband. With more than 90 million active lines available for the population compared to 400,000 years back, this was a huge performance at 64.98% teledensity compared with some 0.44% in 2001.

“The world has taken voice telephony as basic while moving fast into the new world of data transmission that defines the speed with which businesses are conducted in the cyber space , the internet. . Broadband is simply characterized by the speed at which the internet highways transmit data from one end of the world to another or from one computer to another.” he explained.

Stable regulation, challenges

Although the regulatory environment in the country has remained stable and attractive to the global investment community, according to Juwah, there still remain a number of challenges.

One of the difficult challenges to wide scale broadband infratsructure deployment, according to him is the issue of right of way.

“State government could move away from the current practice of imposing one off charge for right of way based on distance to a new regime of periodic revenue steams from heir right of way assets” he said.

Strategy for broadband services

As a means of the Commission’s regulatory intervention, Juwah made case again for Open Access Model for broadband deployment.

“This is a model that provides a framework for sophisticated infrastructure sharing. Using this model, the broadband infrastructure market will be unbundled into three layers including the passive, the active and retail layers” he added.

For the DG, National Information Technology Development Agency, Prof. Cleaopas Angaye who was represented by Vincent O Olatunji, Deputy Director, Strategic Planning and Research at NITDA, developing countries still have a lot to do in bridging the existing digital divide.

According to him, lack of clear-cut broadband policy that could create the enabling environment and encourage private sector stakeholders to deliver the ‘last Mile” broadband access to homes and corporate organizations remains a major challenge.

Way forward

In order to bridge the digital divide in West Africa through broadband, he suggested that there was need to put in place and implement a comprehensive “Broadband Policy” with requisite strategic plan for implementation. This should be vigorously pursued with appropriate timeline/Milestones. A regional body like ECOWAS, he said can take this up and encourage all member nations to implement at their own pace.

“West African countries have embraced ICT as the new tool of achieving sustainable socio economic development. However, the cost of access is still very high in the sub region. Hence, necessary measures should be put in place to encourage broadband deployment in order to make this important component of ICT available to all in the sub region.

This can only be achieved through the concerted effort of all stakeholders in implementing a comprehensive policy and plan and sustain it as a drive of the knowledge economy revolution.

“For West Africa to fully benefit from the development and the opportunities of the emerging information age, it will depend on how we are able to reduce the digital divide to initiate, support and maintain our socio-economic development towards an information and knowledge economy” he explained.

Similarly, in the opinion of Engr. Lanre Ajayi, the President of Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON) told the gathering that economic development will continue to stagnate in Nigeria unless broadband deployment is given priority attention.

“It is sad that we do not have broadband policy. I strongly believe that broadband should be regarded as part of a country’s critical infrastructure with right policy. That is the only way Nigeria and the rest of African continent can bridge digital divide. This is the time now” he added.

Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, the Editor-in-Chief of IT & Telecoms Digest, Mr. Mkpe Abang had told the audience that it was time to declare broadband as national emergency.

Source: Vanguard

Mozambique: Third Mobile Phone Operator Officially Launched

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:11:01 GMT

Maputo — Mozambique's third mobile phone operator, Movitel, officially launched its services on Tuesday - although it has in fact been selling its pre-paid phone cards from shops across the country for the past three weeks.

Movitel is a consortium between the Vietnamese group Viettel (which is wholly owned by the Vietnamese Defence Ministry) and SPI, the holding company of Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party. Viettel owns 70 per cent of Movitel, SPI 20 per cent and Ivespar, an SPI subsidiary, the remaining one per cent.

The Movitel licence was awarded in November 2010 and cost the company 29 million US dollars.

Since then, Movitel claims to have installed a fibre-optic network covering 12,500 kilometres. This means that Movitel will not be dependent on the fibre-optic network of the public telecommunications company, TDM.

Speaking at a launch press conference in Maputo, the Movitel chairperson, Safura da Conceicao, said that Movitel now accounts for 70 per cent of all fibre-optic systems in the country.

The company also says it has erected 1,800 mobile phone base stations (2G and 3G), which is more than 50 per cent of all base stations existing in the country. To date Movitel has invested about 117 million US dollars.

Movitel said it has tripled fibre-optic density in Mozambique, from about 293 kilometres per million inhabitants to 787 kilometres per million. It has raised the number of base stations from 75 to more than 151 per million inhabitants.

Conceicao claims that Movitel now covers 105 of the country's 128 districts. Under the terms of its licence, it was only obliged to cover 72 by now. The company estimates that 43 per cent of the population can be reached by its signal.

Although it is a newcomer to the market, Movitel is already claiming the largest system of distribution for its products, with 50 shops and 25,000 agents and sales points throughout the country.

Conceicao also claimed that, in just three weeks of operation, Movitel already has 415,000 subscribers - all achieved without a single advertisement in the Mozambican press, radio or television.

When AIM expressed some skepticism at this figure, particular in the absence of any advertising campaign, Conceicao said "I know it seems incredible. But there is enormous demand at our shops".

Growth was much faster than the company had expected, she added, and Movitel now expected to reach break-even point in the third year of operation.

Investment would continue throughout 2012, Conceicao said, with the company aiming at a target of 3,200 base stations, and 20,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable.

As for the company's social responsibility programmes, she said that Movitel is committed to providing internet access free of charge to 4,200 schools. So far 500 schools are benefitting from this programme.

But how much does it cost to make a Movitel phone call? Initially, Conceicao talked vaguely of a variety of packages that would be offered, particularly to the low income strata. But when AIM asked her to put a figure on the price of using Movitel, she said calls cost between four and 4.4 meticais (about 15 US cents) a minute.

This compares to a flat rate of five meticais a minute charged by one of its competitors, Vodacam, for any call to any Mozambican phone whether mobile or fixed. The third company, M-Cel, claims the lowest prices on the market, of 4.5 meticais a minute during the day, and three meticais at night (but only within the M-Cel network).

Vodacom and M-Cel are well-established companies. Between they claim around seven million subscribers, out of a total Mozambican population of 23 million, over half of whom are children.

Source: Mozambique information agency

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vodacom to start selling insurance

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:08:40 GMT

Vodacom has received the go-ahead to enter the South African insurance market having been recently awarded a long term insurance licence by the Financial Services Board (FSB). This licence, along with the short term licence granted earlier this year, allows Vodacom to underwrite and sell insurance products.

Vodacom is able to leverage the direct links it has with its more than 30 million customers and dramatically reduce the costs traditionally associated with acquiring and serving customers.

“These savings enable Vodacom to extend greater value to its customers. Vodacom is also recognised as one of South Africa’s most trusted brands, which is likely to be a major benefit when it comes to attracting customers who are looking for insurance products,” Vodacom said in a press statement.

“Our insurance business proposition is simple; we are focused on providing Vodacom customers with unbeatable value. Our customers will benefit from the value and convenience that we are able to offer. The vision is to dissolve the barriers to entry for all South Africans previously unable to access insurance products,” said Mark Taylor, Managing Executive of Vodacom Financial Services.

As part of the strategic decision to enter the insurance market, Vodacom appointed FRANK.NET, which is owned and capitalized by Liberty Holdings, to provide administrative and claims support for its long term insurance offering.

“FRANK.NET is a good fit for us. The company has a proven track record in the long term insurance industry with the latest technology platforms and innovative ways to provide an excellent customer experience,” said Taylor.

Vodacom is looking at providing a full suite of insurance products relevant to its customers. Further details will be provided closer to the time of launch.

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Internet - UAE Company Launches Broadband Service

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:35:33 GMT

An Abu Dhabi -based satellite company, Al-Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has launched its new broadband satellite service in Nigeria, with a pledge to reduce the cost of internet by 10 per cent.

The company said in Abuja last week that it had brought its broadband satellite investment of $1.6bn to Nigeria to crash the cost of internet by 10 per cent and make the service available across Nigeria.

The new technology, according to Yahsat's Nigerian partner, Coolink, would "make internet available in all spots in the country and to all Nigerians wherever they may be in the country."

Speaking at the launch and resellers' forum in Abuja last week, the Regional Director of Yahsat, Mr Kevin Viret, said the broadband which is based on Ka-band satellite technology, would offer download speeds of up to 15Mega bits per second (Mpbs) and upload speeds of up to 3Mbps.

Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5-40 GHz. GHz stands for GigaHertz. Giga is approximately 1 billion and Hertz stands for cycles per Second.

According to Viret, while traditional satellite technology utilizes broad single beams covering entire continents and regions, YahClick Ka-band spot beams provide coverage over highly targeted areas which eliminate issues with spectrum availability.

He said Yahsat had selected Coolink as its first and preferred service partner in Nigeria to roll out the broadband offering to across Nigeria

According to him, Coolink would in turn sign on local resellers in all the 36 states and Abuja to make the service available in every nook and cranny in the country.

He said the service is already in Lagos, Abuja, PortHarcourt and would be launched in Kano very soon.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Operating Officer of Coolink, Mr Shanin Nouri said the YahClick Ka-band broadband service compliments Coolink's vision of providing the widest possible range of telecommunications products and services to consumers and businesses.

" While satellite is an obvious choice for areas that lack access to formal telecommunications and ICT services, Coollink's new range of satellite package will ensure that satellite is a viable alternative to any internet user in Nigeria", he said, promising that more people in the rural areas would now have internet access. It is much cheaper because the bandwidth and the equipment (smaller antennas) is N15,000 per month.

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Cell C takes a knife to broadband prices

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:29:40 GMT

Cell C has introduced new mobile broadband promotions, effectively cutting the cost of some of its products in half.

The new promotions, which will be available until the end of July, cut the prices of two post-paid data options and one prepaid data package.

For prepaid customers, Cell C is offering its 24GB Sim-only package (2GB/month for 12 months) for R1 299 once-off, down from R1 999. A version with a 21,6Mbit/s USB modem now costs R1 999, from R2 999 previously.

On the post-paid side, Cell C is offering a 500MB Sim-only package for R49/month, down from R109/month previously. With a 7,2Mbit/s modem included, the cost is R69/month.

A 2GB Sim-only post-paid offering will now cost R99/month, down from R279/month, or R119/month with a 7,2Mbit/s modem.

A 24-month contract must be signed for the post-paid options.

The out-of-bundle rate on all the promotional packages is 39c/MB.

“We promised better data prices, and this is our first shot at offering the consumer a much better deal,” says Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Uganda acknowledges white elephant in the room

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:20:22 GMT

Following an investigation into the status of Uganda’s national backbone infrastructure project prior to the third and fourth stages of the network’s rollout, the chairperson of the ICT Parliamentary Committee, Paula Turyahikayo has said that the government might be forced to re-invest in the project for the backbone to be functional. According to Bikyamasr, the report said that only 43% of the deployed cable was protected from damage, and 122 connection points of the 299 installed were safe. Turyahikayo said that ‘phase one is in such a sorry state…all contractors of this phase must be blacklisted,’ and went on to blame the condition of the network on poor workmanship and the lack of supervision. James Saaka, executive director of the National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (NITA-U), claimed that the problems with the project were not the fault of the NITA-U, as the body had not been created until 2008, whereas work began in 2006-2007, and as a result ‘the entire first phase…was run without supervision.’

As noted by TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the difficulties surrounding the backbone first surfaced in 2009, and an investigation was launched in July 2011. The UGX201 billion (USD106 million) project was funded by the Export and Import Bank of China, which recommended Huawei for the installation: it is not known whether Huawei’s involvement was a compulsory part of the loan, but no tender was held. Following the completion of the first phase of deployment in January 2009 – the project already far behind schedule – it emerged that Huawei had installed cable inferior to the preferred type, and only 24 cores, rather than the 96 specified by the Ugandan ICT ministry. To make matters worse, the government claimed that it had been significantly over-charged, comparing its own project to a similar one in Rwanda. Uganda paid USD61 million for the installation of 2,100km of the out-dated cable, whilst Rwanda paid USD38 million for 2,300km of the preferred cable type. Further, the ICT ministry reported that it believed the actual installation had been flawed, as confirmed by the recent investigation, with the majority of the cable deployed less than 15m from the centre of roads and buried less than 1.5m from the surface thereby leaving the infrastructure vulnerable to accidental damage, vandalism and theft. In mid-2011, the government feared that as a result of the shoddy workmanship, it would be left with infrastructure that was less than required, and would require constant repairs that Uganda can ill-afford.

Source: TeleGeography

Swaziland - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

SPTC finally ceases sale of Fixedfone, ONE offerings

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:15:30 GMT

The Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) has finally stopped selling its contentious fixed-wireless and mobile products, The Times of Swaziland reports. In March 2012 the SPTC reportedly made an offer to withdraw its ‘ONE’ mobile phone and fixed-wireless ‘Fixedfone’ services from the market, in a bid to end its bitter ongoing dispute with the country’s sole mobile operator, MTN Swaziland. The offer was made on the eve of a hearing at the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva which sought to put an end to the feud. The paper reports that the SPTC has already connected around 50,000 fixed-wireless customers, 14,000 mobile customers and around 10,000 users of mobile internet dongles. The uptake is regarded as a significant achievement for the SPTC, which has claimed just 44,000 wireline subscriptions for every year since 2006. Amon Dlamini the SPTC’s acting managing director told the newspaper that the company stopped the sale and promotion of these products about a month ago to smooth the ongoing negotiations with MTN. However, Dlamini has claimed that all existing subscribers will remain connected to its networks, a move which is sure to anger MTN.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, MTN Swaziland has long maintained that the SPTC’s dual offerings are in breach of the joint venture (JV) agreement signed between the two parties in 1997, which prohibited telecoms SPTC – which operates in the incongruous dual role of national telecoms regulator and fixed line incumbent – from offering services that directly competed with it. After finding its repeated attempts at launching a rival mobile network under the ‘ONE’ brand blocked by MTN in 2010/11, the SPTC promptly changed tack and launched fixed-wireless services under the Fixedfone brand in August 2011, offering limited mobility within each one of twelve designated zones: Big-Bend, Hlathikulu, Lavumisa, Luve, Mankayane, Manzini, Mbabane, Nhlangano, Pigg’s Peak, Simunye, Siphofaneni and Siteki. However, despite the considerable physical bulk of the Fixedfone handsets, it was reported that customers were driving them around in their cars and using them in different geographical regions to make use of the service’s cut-price calling tariffs; SPTC dismissed these occurrences as ‘anomalies’, claiming that the process of locking the Fixedfones to their designated zones was ongoing.

Source: TeleGeography

TCRA says MNP to start ‘soon’

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:11:23 GMT

Prof John Nkoma, the director general for the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), says that the government has approved regulations to allow mobile number portability (MNP) in the country. Further, he notes that the TCRA has already put in place the necessary regulations to implement MNP and that a system will hopefully go live within the next twelve months

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Etisalat Nigeria: lack of power, sabotage affects service

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:34:40 GMT

Etisalat Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and MTN Nigeria, a unit of South's Africa's MTN, were fined a total of 1.17 billion naira ($7.43 million), according to local media reports.

Etisalat Nigeria said fines averaged $2 million per operator for "non-compliance with the quality of service targets set by the regulator", according to an emailed statement.

"This year alone we are investing more than half a billion dollars in expansion of our network capabilities and capacity," Chief Executive Steven Evans said.

The company said capacity constraints alone where not to blame for poor service, citing roadworks, sabotage and a lack of electricity as industry challenges.

"Foremost among these is the absence of reliable power which necessitates that every one of our over 3,000 cell sites needs to be served by two generators which run 24 hours a day and need regular maintenance and provision of weekly supplies of diesel," it said.

Nigeria only provides its 167 million inhabitants with around a quarter of the amount of electricity used by New York City, leaving those who can afford it to use expensive diesel generators and those who cannot to live without any power.

The country's power ministry has said it is confident privatisation in the sector will be completed by October and current power output of under 4,000 megawatts can be boosted to 6,000 by the end of the year and 10,000 by the end of 2013.

UAE's Etisalat owns a 40-percent stake in Etisalat Nigeria, which launched services in 2008 and had 10.75 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2011, data from the regulator showed.

This gave it a mobile market share of 11.9 percent, behind MTN Nigeria's 46 percent and Globacom's 22 percent. Airtel, a subsidiary of India's Bharti Airtel, had a 19.9 percent share.

Etisalat's network covers 74 percent of Nigeria's population, according to its parent firm's 2011 annual report, up from 59 percent a year earlier. ($1 = 157.4500 Nigerian nairas)

Source: Reuters

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Poor Services - NCC Fines Four GSM Firms N1.2 Billion

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:32:23 GMT

For rendering poor services to their customers, four Global System for Mobile Communications operators have been ordered by the Nigerian Communications Commission to pay N1.2 billion fine.

The GSM operators-MTN, GLO, Airtel and Etisalat, reportedly failed to improve their services in the strategic assessment carried out by the NCC in the months of March and April this year and consequently incurred the regulator's wrath.

As a punitive measure, Airtel, MTN, Glo, and Etisalat are to pay NCC N270m, N360m, N180 and N360m respectively.

The sanctions were communicated to the mobile operators in a letter dated May 10, 2012 and jointly signed by U. Maska, Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement and Josephine Amuwa, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah.

The letter states in part, "The four GSM operators failed to keep up with the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as specified in Schedule 1 Table 2 of the Quality of Service Regulations 2012.

"The monitoring report indicated that your company had failed to meet the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance indicators (KPI's) as specified in Schedule 1 Table 2 of the Quality of Service Regulations 2012."

Airtel was fined a total of N270m. N15m and N2.5m was for each parameter for a service contravened throughout the months of March and April respectively.

NCC directed Airtel to pay the sum of N270 million to the commission on or before May 25, 2012 or attract further N2.5m per day as long as the contravention persists.

Glo on the other hand, was ordered to part with the sum of N180 million to the agency on or before May 25, 2012 or risk a daily fine of N2.5 million until it complies with the order.

Similarly, Etisalat and MTN were fined N360m each and given up to May 21 and May 25 respectively to pay the fine or cough out a fine of N2.5 daily until the amount is liquidated.

Source: Leadership

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Knott-Craig taps Vodacom for Cell C execs

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:30:44 GMT

Cell C, now headed by former Vodacom Group CEO Alan Knott-Craig, is hiring a number of past and present Vodacom executives to flesh out its management team. Three of Cell C’s top positions are to be filled in coming months.

Cell C has lured Vodacom Mozambique CEO Jose dos Santos to join it. Dos Santos has been with Vodacom since 2005 and resigned at the end of March.

Vodacom has confirmed that Dos Santos has resigned, but won’t comment on a rumoured restraint of trade that applies to him. He is said to be taking up the position of chief commercial officer at Cell C.

A Vodacom spokesman says a recruitment process to find a successor for Dos Santos is already underway and that Douglas Lubbe has been appointed to the Mozambique position on an interim basis until such time as the position can be filled permanently.

Lubbe formerly served as Vodacom Mozambique’s finance director but is currently based in Vodacom’s international office in SA.

Meanwhile, TechCentral understands that Cell C’s chief operating officer position is to be filled by Frikkie Vermeulen. Vermeulen had served in a similar role at Vodacom’s ill-fated Nigerian operation before the company was forced to leave the West African market.

Joe Brittz, who supplies services to Vodacom Mozambique as a contracted consultant, is said to be taking on the role of chief technical officer at Cell C.

Brittz has previously worked as a managing executive for Vodacom, the operator’s executive head of operations for its Gauteng and Eastern regions and in various engineering positions for the operator.

A Cell C spokesman confirms that all three are set to join the operator but cannot confirm their positions nor when they will start.

Source: Tech Central

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Infraco plans giant network overhaul

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:27:19 GMT

State-controlled Broadband Infraco is set to replace its Siemens-built legacy infrastructure over the next five years and has just closed the tender process for the project. The fibre operator and wholesaler says a decision on the winning bidder for the multibillion-rand project should be decided within the next 60 days.

Recently appointed CEO Puleng Sejanamane, who took the helm last month, says the company cannot reveal the extent of the project or the value of the tender because only once a full assessment is done of the existing network will the costs of the upgrade become clear. However, TechCentral understands it will probably run into billions of rand.

The first phase of the tender process closed this week. It was meant to close sooner but was extended to allow bidders more time to provide information about their suitability to provide the necessary infrastructure and services.

Sejanamane says the upgrade will have to be done in a “phased approach”, starting with 20% of the network. “We won’t replace everything at once; it’s not feasible,” she says. She expects the entire upgrade process to take about five years.

Broadband Infraco now has to go through the necessary Public Finance Management Act processes and approvals and seek permission from shareholders. That process will take about two months.

Sejanamane told TechCentral about the investment plan at the launch of the West African Cable System (Wacs) in Cape Town on Friday. She says Broadband Infraco’s involvement in Wacs is part of its short- rather than its long-term strategy. “Wacs was necessary for SA’s Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid.”

She says 70% of the company’s capacity on Wacs is “earmarked for projects of national interest” with only a small percentage intended for the retail market.

Asked what will happen to the capacity allocated to the SKA project should SA lose it’s bid to host the array of radio telescopes to rival bid nation Australia, Broadband Infraco’s executive manager for special projects, Vishen Maharaj, says it would be reallocated.

“There is a great deal of capacity required for other projects,” he says. “We would put any excess capacity into the market.”

He says SA will need increasing capacity in years to come and that there are three components to connectivity. “There’s an international component, a national component and local access networks.”

He says Broadband Infraco is involved in the international and national components, but doesn’t yet have an access component strategy in place. “As a wholesaler with a [network] licence we are hoping for market dynamics to take care of access networks. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t also considering a scheme to fast-track access.”

Broadband Infraco currently has capacity to provide backhaul to Johannesburg from Cape Town and is supplying this service to cellular operator Vodacom. MTN is trialling it. Maharaj says Infraco also intends to provide backhaul access for landlocked sub-Saharan African countries and is developing links to Botswana.

Source: Tech Central

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Helios Towers Africa appoints new COO

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:23:37 GMT

Helios Towers Africa a leading, independent, telecoms towers company in Africa, has announced the appointment of Kevin Koch as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Koch, 42, joins HTA from Millicom International Cellular S.A., a leading mobile operator in 13 markets across Africa and Latin America operating under the Tigo brand, where he has worked in a variety of senior roles since 2003.

His roles at Millicom have included: Chief Executive Officer of Senegal, Chief Operating Officer of Mauritius and Chief Operating Officer of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His most recent role at Millicom was the Head of Tigo Health in Dubai, a stand-alone business unit focusing on the delivery of mobile health solutions, telemedicine, insurance products and systems integration services.

Prior to this, between 1995 and 2001, Mr. Koch worked for Imperial Oil, Canada’s largest petroleum company and affiliate of ExxonMobil, as a Senior Business Analyst.

Mr. Koch also holds a MBA from the National University of Singapore.

Charles Green, Chief Executive Officer, of Helios Towers Africa said:

“We are delighted to have secured the appointment of Kevin Koch as Chief Operating Officer, which consolidates HTA’s executive management team further. Kevin is very experienced in emerging markets and Africa in particular and is a perfect addition to the team. He will work alongside other members of HTA’s executive team to continue to provide excellent operational performance and expand the company’s footprint into new markets.”

Source: ItNews

African Fixed-line and Fibre Telecoms Markets and Infrastructure

Kenya’s Yu Mobile Unveils Emergency Credit

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:59:15 GMT

Essar Telecom’s Yu Mobile has launched a new service ‘Credo4yu’, which is a pre-paid credit service that gives access to emergency airtime to its subscribers

Subscribers will get up to Ksh 20 ($0.23c) of emergency airtime credit when they need to make urgent calls. In addition to that, the services are available to those subscribers who have less than Ksh 2 of airtime and have been on the Yu network for a minimum of three months.

“Credo4yu has come about due to consumer demand. Our subscribers have always had the need to keep in touch all the time and this will enable them to get airtime in case of emergencies, which as part of life, tend to arise,” said Madhur Taneja, Country Manager for Essar Mobile.

For the YU subscribers to subscribe; send a blank SMS to 126 for a credit advance offer. Subscribers will be able to repay the advance during their next top up so that they can have access to more airtime on credit.

Yu Mobile is among one of the major telecommunications industries in Kenya, others include Bharti Airtel, Safaricom Kenya and Orange Kenya.

It established its market space locally November 2008 and it has since been in an arena of major titans although the company has been growing despite its competition.

Source : ITNews Africa

Kenya - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya: Mobile Termination Rates to Go Down in July

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:57:44 GMT

Nairobi — The Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) insists it is ready to lower the Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) by July this year.

The statement comes amid great opposition from the mobile operators, who feel the move by CCK would jeopardise their businesses.

Acting Director Francis Wangusi however argued that lowering termination rates would have no effect on the cost of doing business, saying it only means mobile providers would pay less to the competing networks.

"They are using those gymnastics of doing business, just to try and bring about issues that do not affect their business in any way. Like for example Safaricom, by the last quarter they had a revenue collection of Sh19 billion, and out of that, they are only paying Sh500 million as MTR, which is a very small percentage," said Wangusi.

Currently, the interconnection fees stand at Sh2.21, following a 50 percent reduction in July 2010 from Sh4.42. The rates were set to come further down in July last year to Shl.44, and follow a glide path that would see them stand at 0.93 cents in 2013.

This has since been frozen by the President through a directive in June last year following intense lobbying from Safaricom and Telkom Kenya.

Earlier on, CCK commissioned a study on termination rates, which is due in June this year to determine whether to lower or retain the rates.

"Our position hasn't changed on MTRs and as we continue to actively engage with CCK, we believe the right way to handle this issue is to have a cost study, and that position is not new," said Safaricom CEO as he announced the telecoms' 2012 results.

Wangusi was speaking during the launch of a web portal for Persons living With Disabilities, which is aimed at enhancing accessibility of information with the use of ICT. The web portal will be designed in a manner that the blind and deaf can be able to access information.

"I have been able to access information from the Internet for the last 12 years. I lost my eyesight at the age of one but I have been able to study just like any other. I finished my PhD last year at the University of Nairobi. This is a very good step by CCK. There are softwares which can help the disabled to access information from this portal, which have many good links, just like any other normal person," said Dr Reginold Oduro who is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi.

Wangusi has called on the media houses to invest in technologies that will help the disabled especially the blind and the deaf, to access information.

Source : ITNews Africa

Kenya - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Increased Tariffs Could Raise Safaricom Profits

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:56:11 GMT

Safaricom Limited has made a move to raise its calling charges in Kenya, that could see an increase in its second half performance.

The company recorded a drop in their net profit for the six months to September of 47.4% to stand at Sh4-billion ($47-million). This was caused by various

factors such as an increase in operating costs that were hugely influenced by the weakening shilling and a general decline in revenue brought in from voice calls.

As a counter, this has lead to Safaricom increasing its tariffs by an average of 25%. The move as commented on by analysts is expected to lift its second half performance.

Eric Musau, an analyst at Standard Investment Bank commented “The increase in tariffs will not completely reverse the drop but we expect to see the drop come down to between 20 and 15 per cent.”

Gregory Waweru, an analyst at Kestrel Capital commented on the issue saying, “We expect a range of between 18 and 23 per cent in the drop in profits which is an improvement from the first half year drop of 47.4% since earnings in the second half are more favourable,” said.

Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) places Safaricom market share at 77.86% in the quarter to December from 88.27 per cent in the 3 months to September.

Source : ITNews Africa

Kenya - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Zimbabwe’s Telecel Slashes Data Bundle Prices

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:54:08 GMT

Zimbabwe’s Telecel, which has become known for reducing the cost of mobile communication services, is slashing the cost of its data bundles, making them the cheapest on the market among telecommunications operators and competitive with internet service provider rates.

With effect from 14 May, Telecel subscribers will be able to purchase data bundles of 55Mb upwards at 50% discount in a promotion aimed at moderate and high-level data users.

The cost per megabyte will drop to less than 5 cents per megabyte for those purchasing the 55Mb bundle, and 2,5 cents for those buying the largest bundle, which is 3GB.

Telecel has invested a great deal in establishing 3G and 2G sites around the country, and is continuing to expand its network. It expects to double the number of 3G and 2G sites it has in the course of this year.

“We have become well known for providing our subscribers with value for money. We took the lead in slashing the price of SIM cards and mobile phone handsets in 2010 and followed this with a reduction in the cost of international calls to major international destinations,” said a spokesperson for Telecel.

As part of the same promotion, the amount of free data that purchasers of a Telecel dongle receive has been trebled from 55 to 165 megabytes. The dongle, which costs $45, can be plugged into a desk top or laptop computer, enabling the user to access the internet from the computer through the Telecel network.

“Now that our data network has become well established we have decided to slash the cost of data bundles in a promotion that is set to benefit subscribers who regularly access the internet from their mobile phone or through a Telecel dongle plugged into their laptop or desktop computer.

Giving best value for money is one of the brand values we announced when we rebranded in February. This promotion gives data users, we believe, unbeatable value for money.”

Source : ITNews Africa

Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Nigeria To Make N11-Million Internet Infrastructure Upgrade

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:18:52 GMT

The Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA) intends to upgrade the current Nigerian infrastructure to the tune of N11-million (R555 494) in order to achieve its goal of registering 250 000 .ng domain names by 2013.

Ope Odusan, chief operating Officer of NiRA, said that upgrading the equipment is crucial in order to reach the goal for improving the country’s Top Level Domain Name (TLD), .ng.

“With a vision to benchmark the .ng registry with world-class registries and maximise efforts to increase the uptake of the .ng domains to 250 000 within a short period, it has become paramount to make the technical infrastructure of the registry much more robust,” said Odusan.

He added that plans to make the N11 million upgrade are in advanced stages, and that it would “focus on network subsystem and server upgrade, power systems upgrade, getting redundant bandwidth provider and customer support system.”

NiRA also started a ‘Switchto.ng’ campaign, where they urge Nigerian website owners to register their website with the .ng suffix.

“Rather than registering our emails, website and other internet presence in foreign domain names, where our internet presence is hosted abroad, where our information could be tampered with, it would be more beneficial to us as individuals, businesses and as a nation to adopt the .ng domain names,”

Odusan stressed that the switch to .ng wasn’t just aimed at individual people or companies, but across all sectors. “Our target is to have 250 000 domain names registered in the .ng registry for government ministries, agencies and parastatals, businesses, educational institutions, and other individuals, especially the youth who use the internet on daily basis. This would contribute N250m annually to the economy.”

Source : ITNews Africa

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africa: USAID and Partners Announce New Collaboration to Promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:13:22 GMT

Today at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, African Development Bank, Microsoft, Nokia, infoDev, DEMO, and the World Economic Forum launched a new partnership to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.

The Liberalizing Innovation Opportunity Nations (LIONS@FRICA) partnership will mobilize the knowledge, expertise and resources of leading public and private institutions to encourage and enhance innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.

Planned activities for the LIONS@FRICA partnership include training in business development, promoting access to capital, venture capital roundtables to increase partnership opportunities, and startup-focused events in more than 20 African cities. Six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies over the past decade are in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, internet usage across Africa has grown faster than on any other continent in the world.

"Today many of the most transformative business models and technology solutions are coming from the African continent. But it's also one of the toughest places to find early stage risk capital," said Ben Hubbard, Director of USAID's Development Credit Authority. "USAID is excited to work with LIONS@FRICA to ensure the most promising African innovators can access the financing they need to become catalysts for growth and employment."

Source : AllAfrica

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Work starts on first Ghana ICT Park

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:40:20 GMT

Construction is starting on Ghana’s first ICT Park, aimed at developing the country’s ICT sector.

Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Communication Ministry officiated at the ceremonial sod turning to launch the project this week.

The ICT park at Tema, in the greater Accra region, will be modeled on successful ICT development hubs elsewhere in the world, and is expected to grow the local ICT sector and help create employment.

It will include access to the internet and PCs, as well as training facilities. Facilities will be developed to incubate high-tech start-ups, as well as to serve as a home for established ICT businesses.

The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, has said the government expected the park to promote ICT research and development. He said the project is expected to create about 10,000 jobs.

Source : BizTechAfrica

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Search Is On For Cable System To Connect BRICS

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:34:47 GMT

WASACE Cable Company has announced that it has begun the procurement process to select a cable system supplier for the construction of its undersea fiber optic cable system, which will create new and unique communication routes to support the communities around the Atlantic Basin.

WASACE will develop, operate and build a new network connecting Africa to the U.S., and connecting the two BRICS economies in the Southern Hemisphere, Brazil and South Africa, for the first time. WASACE’s new- submarine cable network will also connect the two largest economies in America, USA and Brazil, and will provide a full diverse route to the aging transatlantic cable systems between USA and Europe.

WASACE will deploy the latest “100G” technology to connect four (4) continents comprising: (i) “WASACE Americas” – connecting Brazil (Santos, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza) to the U.S. (Florida). WASACE Americas will also provide optional and on demand connectivity to Colombia, Panama and South Carolina; (ii) “WASACE Africa” – connecting Nigeria and South Africa to the USA. WASACE Africa also provides optional and on demand connectivity to Niger-Delta Oil and Gas region at Bonny Island and to Angola; (iii) “WASACE Europe” – connecting Florida to Virginia Beach and across the North Atlantic to San Sebastian in Spain.

WASACE has engaged the services of premier international telecommunications consultants, David Ross Group, to administer the procurement process and lead the development of the project. The comprehensive Invitation to Tender has been released to four of the major undersea telecommunications cable system suppliers and WASACE expects to select the cable system supplier(s) for its network in July 2012.

In addition, WASACE has retained two financial services companies including Aterios Capital as financial advisors to source funding for the project.

The Company’s plan is to develop the network in phases, beginning with the WASACE Americas and WASACE Africa cable systems, which are scheduled to be in service by the first quarter of 2014.

“The commencement of the selection process for the cable system supplier(s) for our network is a critical milestone in our plan to enable new, critical routes focused on enhancing connectivity for the populations in the Atlantic Basin,” said Ramón Gil-Roldán y Sansón, Chairman and CEO of WASACE Cable Company.

“The David Ross Group is pleased to take part in the development of this unique undersea cable system which will add critical new routes to the global telecommunications network,” said David Ross, President of the David Ross Group.

“We believe this project is timely and provides a unique opportunity for freeflow of information and data between the two largest economies in the Americas (USA & Brazil), Africa’s largest economy (South Africa) and Africa’s fastest growing economy (Nigeria) as well as with the rest of the world. It ties in with our focus on infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa and we are proud to be associated with it.” said Olabode Abikoye, CEO of Aterios Capital.

Source : ITNews Africa

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Egypt to offer MVNO concession within three months?

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:29:46 GMT

The introduction of a fourth player to Egypt’s wireless sector is reportedly closer to taking a step towards reality, with the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) indicating that it is preparing to accept tenders for a new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licensee. According to a report by Ahram Online, the watchdog aims to form a committee and define the necessary regulatory framework for the introduction of virtual operators within three months.

As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the odds of further competition being introduced to the country’s wireless sector in the form of a new network operator have been somewhat played down in recent years, with May 2011 seeing claims that in the wake of the country’s political upheaval the government would hold off on licensing a new player. Communications minister Magued Osman at that date noted: ‘There are a lot of changes in Egypt now and we are not sure whether launching a new licence at this moment is the right decision from the economic point of view.’ The prospect of opening up competition via the introduction of MVNO’s has, however, been seen as a possibility, and one of the most likely bidders for a concession is fixed line incumbent Telecom Egypt (TE). Indeed, reports in July 2011 cited the telco’s chairman Akil Beshir as saying that his company was continuing to discuss the possibility of acquiring an MVNO concession, with the executive cited as saying: ‘Many people do not expect this government to take a major decision like introducing an MVNO, but we keep working on it.’

Source : Telegeography

Egypt - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Intel Partners With Orange Uganda To Bolster IT Services

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:25:36 GMT

Intel Corporation has partnered with Orange Uganda with the aim of making broadband and PC’s more affordable and to propel their reach to customers by bridging the broadening gap in Internet access and broadband connectivity.

John Davies, Intel Vice-President for World Ahead Program commented: “Providing technology access and IT skills is a cornerstone for future innovation, economic growth and individual progress in the competitive marketplace.

Nations must equip their citizens with these critical skills in order to realize their potential in today’s knowledge economy.’’

Philippe Luxcey, CEO of Orange Uganda commented: “Within 3 years Orange has been able to transform the internet landscape in Uganda by availing world-class internet experience to its customers.

The partnership with Intel is yet another building block to Orange’s mission to empower Ugandans to embrace the digital revolution”

Technologies such as Internet are the key means of success as developing countries are greatly relying on it for everyday functions; however for Africa it is still a challenge about to become a full blown reality.

Regional companies are indulging in joint ventures with international companies to increase knowledge and awareness of the potential that ICT holds with key importance on taking advantage on the better broadband penetration available.

Source : ITNews Africa

Uganda - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Nass to Probe NCC Over N6.1 Billion SIM Card Registration Fund

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:20:12 GMT

Abuja — The National Assembly, yesterday, said it would probe Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on the N6.1 billion given by the Federal Government for SIM card registration.

Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Mr. Oyetunde Ojo, stated this when he led the committee members to pay oversight visit to NCC headquarters in Abuja.

He said considering the rate of drop calls in the country, telecoms operators were not performing to standard and called on the operators to ensure they improved on their services to Nigerians.

Ojo said: "The National Assembly will definitely probe the N6.1 billion that was given to NCC for SIM (card) registration. Nigerians would like to know how the money was disbursed to the telecoms operators.

"For now, I will score the operators low because they have not performed up to expectations. Regulators should ensure that operators justify what Nigerians are paying for. Even at NASS, you can't even make some calls in my office block."

Ojo noted that NASS was prepared to amend Nigerian Communications Act 2003, to meet world standard.

He said: "There will be an amendment of the Acts. When we are amending the Acts this time around, both our counterpart in environment will come together as one body.

"On the areas of drop calls and base stations, it is a critical issue we are looking at and that is why we are set to amend the Acts."

Source : AllAfrica.com

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Broadband - Key to Rapid GDP Growth - Johnson, Juwah

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:17:24 GMT

press release following the Nigeria Broadband Forum, an Extensia - Accenture initiative:

Considering that voice telephony has just become a basic service in many countries of the world today, while data transmission defines for them the speed which businesses are conducted in the new world order, Accenture, gathered technology experts and other industry stakeholders last week, in Lagos, to brainstorm on possible ways of promoting and sustaining broadband availability in Nigeria.

Johnson, Juwah on broadband Interestingly, Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson chaired the parley while the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah also made a powerful presentation on the way forward.

The event seemed to have revolved around these two, considering that the institutions they head are key to the success or otherwise of the country's broadband penetration efforts. While the ministry is expected to formulate and implement right policies to ensure growth, NCC is expected to sustain growth through focused regulation.

In her opening address, Mrs Johnson noted that on weekly basis, every event that holds in Nigeria, must have one segment or the other, where broadband access is discussed. For her, that is a strong point to begin to take the issue more seriously than before. This is more so, as she observed that some countries of the world have gone as far as defining access to broadband as a fundamental human right, just as access to water, electricity and healthcare.

Broadband for wealth

From every indication Johnson believes that for developing countries, declaring broadband a fundermental human right is the way to go. She said: "There are compelling and empirical statistics that tell us that every 10 percent increase in access to broadband in developing countries, results in a commensurate 1.38 percent increase in GDP. Therefore any country seeking growth, job and wealth creation, must address their minds to how it can increase access to broadband."

However, there seems to be a sore point in Nigeria's position to all these advantages that broadband access can bring about. This also seems to be giving the minister some sort of migraine. Her voice while highlighting the point, betrayed an urgent willingness to turn things around before her country plays the catch-up, forever.

"Despite the fact that we have internet penetration of about 28 percent which translates to about 45 million internet users, only nine per cent which is about 14.5 million people of the population are actually internet subscribers and broadband penetration is at a mere six percent.

"Although access through mobile broadband increases tremendously, that statistics only tell us that most Nigerians still access through public venues like cyber cafes and computer labs. This is not only for lack of broadband ubiquity but also the cost of access. Today, we have one of the highest costs of access in the world at approximately N8,000 to N10.000 for 5Mbs of data. This is even when the average speed of access is still low and in fact lowest in Africa," she lamented.

She however, highlighted on some policy directions and interventions her ministry was looking at, to turn the tide around. These included declaring broadband as critical ICT infrastructure, as a catalyst for economic growth, as a means for inclusive social development and as a means to achieve effective government and governance.

According to her success in these declarations, would ensure achievement, in 5 years, of one national network capable of delivering broadband speeds of not less than 50 percent of average speeds available worldwide. It will also ensure increase in ICT contribution to GDP by at least 1.5 percent by 2015, ensure the use of broadband as a driver of inclusive development especially in the health and education sectors and also ensure that government services are delivered through the internet, among others.

Facilitatiing broadband growth through regulation

However, when the NCC boss mounted the rostrum, he delivered his speech with confidence that indicates that all hope is not lost. "Let me start by refreshing our memories when we say that we have conquered voice telephony. Currently, more than 90 million active lines are available for the population compared to about 400,000 some ten years ago. This is why the growth of the last ten years has been variously described as a revolution.

"By the International Telecommunications Union standards, this is a huge performance at 64.98 % teledensity compared to some 0.44% in 2001. This is why Nigeria is adjudged one of the fastest growing telecommunications nations of the world, and indeed, the fastest in Africa".

Before participants could adjust and digest these facts, Juwah has taken to global aspirations for broadband and concluded that much as Nigeria needed this upgrade so desperately, it was not alone in the aspirations.

"It is not only Nigeria, or the developing world that aspires to enjoy the broadband revolution. President Barack Obama, on June 28, 2010, sent a memo to the Heads of the Executive Departments and Agencies in his administration titled: "Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution." One paragraph in that memo that has captured the thoughts of some of us who are dedicated to pursuing the broadband revolution reads:

"Expanded wireless broadband access will trigger the creation of innovative new businesses, provide cost-effective connections in rural areas, increase productivity, improve public safety, and allow for the development of mobile telemedicine, telework, distance learning, and other new applications that will transform Americans' lives. The statement above represents the veritable offerings available in any country that has pervasive broadband availability".

Economic impact

On the economic impact of broadband, Juwah made a quick calculation based on the World Bank position that in low and middle-income countries, every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration accelerate economic growth by 1.38 percentage points.

"In an alternative perspective, doubling the broadband speed for the economy increases its GDP by 0.3 percentage points. The above percentage points may appear small but if you apply them to the Nigerian GDP at 40 trillion Naira you obtain an increase of more than half a trillion naira in the first instance and N120 billion in the second."

Challenges

However, Juwah knew that all was not rosy and so highlighted some impediments that could slow the pace of progress. "While the regulatory environment in the country has remained stable and attractive to the global investment community, there still remain a number of challenges. One of the most difficult challenges to wide scale broadband infrastructure deployment is the issue of right of way. While this issue seems intractable, there are obvious solutions.

State Government could move away from the current practice of imposing one off charge for right of way, based on distance to a new regime of periodic revenue streams from their right of way assets.

One way to realize these stream is to contribute the assets as participation in the project. Alternatively, State government may choose to barter their right of way assets for a specialized service from infrastructure operator. For example, access to right of way can be traded for a security surveillance network provided from the infrastructure.

Another challenge comes from Government institutions themselves in form of multiple regulation and multiple taxation. A third challenge is vandalisation of infrastructure" he added.

At the end of the Accenture broadband forum, participants agreed that not only that the theme was apt but also the forum was necessary to wake Nigeria up to the need to join other countries of the world that hopes to use broadband access to accelerate economic growth.

Recently, the UK announced a 362m Pounds fund to improve broadband connections in 90 percent of hard-to-reach communities not catered for by the private sector. Also, the US congress recently awarded $2-5b in Recovery Act funding to help bring broadband services through fibre to rural unserved and under-served communities.

source Vanguard

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN and Expresso hit with QoS fines

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:55:49 GMT

The Ghanaian cellular operators MTN and Expresso have been fined by the regulator the National Communications Authority (NCA) for providing poor quality of service (QoS). MTN was fined GHS150,000 (USD79,700) and Expresso received a GHS100,000 fine, according to a report from Ghana Business News, though the Expresso penalty has been suspended on condition that it installs a mast to improve services in the Tarkwa area. The NCA monitors and analyses the performance of mobile operators in the country every month to assess mobile user experience. Last year all five of the country’s active cellcos were hit with penalties for failing to maintain QoS on their respective networks. The fines totalled GHS1.2 million in 2011.

Source : Tele Geography

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN Group subscriber total reaches 170.6m in 1Q12

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:53:37 GMT

South Africa-based MTN Group has reported that its consolidated subscriber base reached 170.57 million as at 31 March 2012, up 3.7% quarter-on-quarter. MTN’s local unit, MTN South Africa, contributed 13.3% of the group’s consolidated subscriber base in 1Q12, and ‘delivered a sound performance in a mature market’. As at end-March the South African cellco claimed 22.74 million subscribers, up 3.2% q-o-q, thanks to strong gains in the pre-paid segment, which contributed 18.73 million of the unit’s total. MTN credits the increased uptake to the continued success of the ‘MTN Zone’ promotion through ‘improved informal distribution channels’; the initiative allows subscribers access to a discounted call rate if they are in an area experiencing a low volume of MTN traffic. MTN South Africa remains the largest operation by subscribers in MTN’s South and East Africa (SEA) division.

Elsewhere, in MTN’s West and Central Africa (WECA) division, MTN Nigeria remains the group’s largest subsidiary in terms of customer numbers, claiming 42.90 million users in 1Q12, or 25.1% of the group’s consolidated base. Net connections of 1.26 million were negatively impacted by a nationwide trade union strike in January as well as by aggressive competition. MTN Nigeria has warned that slower net connections at the beginning of the year resulted in a marginal loss of market share, although corrective measures enabled it to increase network capacity and improve net connections later in the quarter. Although no clarity has yet been provided regarding the deadline for SIM registration in Nigeria, MTN says that the harmonising of MTN Nigeria’s customer database with that of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) is ‘in progress’. Meanwhile, MTN Irancell continues to lead the way in MTN’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with 36.83 million subscribers at end-March, or 21.6% of the group’s consolidated user base. In addition, MTN Irancell claimed a total of 213,000 WiMAX subscribers at the end of 1Q12.

MTN’s press statement concludes: ‘The group continues to prioritise key initiatives to better manage the business as consumer trends evolve and competition intensifies … Mobile Money has now been launched in 13 countries. At the end of March 2012 MTN had 6.2 million Mobile Money subscribers. Initiatives to optimise costs continue to be rolled out and the centralised procurement initiative is showing solid progress. Network quality and capacity remains a key imperative for the group. The majority of the operations continued to aggressively roll out network and achieved satisfactory progress for the quarter.

Source : Tele Geography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

TNM pledges USD100m investment

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:50:57 GMT

Telecoms Network Malawi (TNM) limited has unveiled plans to invest over USD100 million to expand its network coverage in the country.

“TNM's current budget is USD30 million, but the major challenge we are facing now is forex shortage,” said the company’s CEO, Willem Swart,at a meeting with members of Parliamentary Media Committee in the lakeshore town of Mangochi.

Swart however, said the company is confident that the country is doing the right thing and that forex will be available to firms like theirs so that they can continue growing.

He said the company briefed the Parliamentary Committee about its future plans and strategies to improve access to TNM's services across the country.

Swart said the company also briefed the Committee on the challenges they are currently facing to have the network available.

He said some sites relied heavily on power generators, costing around USD10,000 per month on diesel alone.

Parliamentary Media Committee chairperson Sam Ganda said government was already putting in place measures to resolves the fuel and forex shortages.

“We will continue to seek the best from telephone service providers," he Ganda.

TNM is listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) and as of Friday last week, its shares were trading at K1.85 each.

As one way of ensuring that forex is available and does not continue paralyzing operations of companies like telecommunication firms in the country, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) yesterday May 7, devalued the Malawi kwacha exchange rate from K168 to K250 per United States dollar.

RBM Governor Charles Chuka saidat K250 per dollar the Kwacha exchange rate is fully adjusted. “The Bank believes that the black market rate must be substantially undervalued given the extent of the scarcity of foreign exchange,” he said.

Chuka said in anticipation of this devaluation, the Bank has taken steps aimed at allowing the Kwacha exchange rate to be determined by market forces as well as improving the availability of foreign exchange in the market.

“In this respect, all United States dollars earned at the tobacco auction floors will now be transferred to the sellers’ commercial banks rather than to the Bank,” he said.

Chuka said the devaluation of the Kwacha and the liberalisation of foreign exchange market are expected to contribute to government’s efforts to reach early agreement with the IMF.

“Such an agreement is needed to unlock donor flows in the next few months,” he said.

He also said the currency adjustment is further expected to have the effect of reducing demand for imports of consumer goods in favour of domestically produced goods.

Telecommunication companies hailed the devaluation hoping to now to access forex which was hard to come by.

Source : BizTechAfrica

Malawi - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Department Of Communications Outlines Future ICT Plans

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:47:59 GMT

During the annual Budget Speech Vote made by South Africa’s Department of Communications, Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni called on network operators to work together in order to build an effective infrastructure to deliver quality service.

“Network operators must be encouraged to share infrastructure which, I believe, will enable them to make savings and maximise broadband deployment to the home and business as well as reduce the cost to communicate,” she said.

During her speech, which was themed ‘Building ICT infrastructure for South Africa’s advancement in the knowledge and digital economy’, she added that there shouldn’t be any boundaries when it comes to the advancement of technology. “It is my view that there are no limits in technology innovation. As a result we will construct univocal policies to further enhance market liberalisation, encourage investment in the economy, level the playing field by encouraging new entrants in the market, and indeed this will be done in the public interest.”

With everything the Department has planned, she said that they will remain committed to further development of ICT.

“We are committed to support research, development and innovation initiatives in the Information Communications Technologies (ICT’s), which aim to develop a strong base for information society and knowledge economy.”

Minister of Communications Dina Pule added that the Department has identified three key areas that will receive attention in the coming months.

“In this financial year, and for the medium term, we have prioritized three flagship programmes which are at the core of building a digital information and knowledge society. These include the acceleration of building a modern digital infrastructure as well as the policy reforms which position the country for an advanced knowledge economy in 2030.”

These three programmes highlighted by the Minister was developing a National Integrated ICT policy, rolling out a national broadband network, and implementing the digital broadcasting migration policy.

“These programmes are aligned to the Government’s goals of building a developmental state that will contribute to rural development, improving the quality of education and delivery of healthcare services and relentlessly fighting the scourge of crime and corruption that disadvantages the State in the delivery of services, especially to the masses who are both in rural and urban areas.”

The department will also be celebrating World Telecommunications on Information Society Day on 17 May 2012, and has adopted the theme of Women and Girls in ICT. “Together with the industry and in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government we have planned a festival of activities beginning from the 17 – 20 May 2012 to encourage and acknowledge the role of women in ICTs,” said Ndabeni.

The Minister added “We are focused on elevating the role played by women in the sector. In November 2012 we shall be hosting a “Women in ICT Conference” to celebrate the female trailblazers within the sector and also highlight the ICT career options that are available to our young women and girls. ICT has to be a career of choice for them too.”

Deputy Minister Ndabeni also highlighted the planned implementation of a rural ICT development program, which will focus on establishing new access centres in the 161 priority areas across the country. The program is due to get under way later this year.

“The strategy also affirms our commitment to connect all schools and health centres in the country. Due to the cross cutting nature of this project, we have established a dedicated Task Team comprising the Departments of Communications, Basic Education, Public Service and Administration, Rural Development and Land Reform, Health and Science and Technology.”

She also laid out plans to make radio more accessible to rural areas. “Our vision is to ensure that there is a community radio station in every municipality. We have begun a process to look at the impact of the community radio support programme since its inception in 1998. This review will assist us to develop and implement a comprehensive Community Radio Station Support Programme, focusing on content, capacity building, signal distribution and infrastructure.”

On the issue of more spectrum being made available, the Minister said that the process will be finalised to license more radio frequency spectrum.

“We are acutely aware of the interconnectedness of broadband and the licensing of radio frequency spectrum, which is a scarce natural resource. In this regard, we commit to finalizing the policy directions on high demand spectrum in order to facilitate the licensing of broadband applications in this current financial year.”

Source : ITNews Africa

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africa: Continent Calls for Harmonised Policies on Submarine Cables

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:43:43 GMT

Officials in charge of ICT from all over Africa have called for harmonised guidelines on how to access submarine cables that are anchored in various countries.

They made the remarks Monday at the opening of a workshop held in Kigali. The guidelines were developed by several organisations in conjunction with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the European Union. The forum organised by ITU, African Union Commission and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), brings together delegates from over 35 African countries and beyond.

The meeting will reflect on issues regarding access to landing stations and international capacity in real time and resolve bottlenecks and international capacity. Speaking to The New Times yesterday, Andrew Rugege, the Director of ITU regional office for Africa, said that the harmonised policies would ensure African countries have equal access to submarine cables at a reasonable cost.

"In Africa, we are connected to a number of submarine cables, it would be very vital for ITU member countries to have harmonised policies towards access to sub-marine cables in terms of price fixing, regulatory policies and internet bandwidth redundancy, "he said.

The undersea cables connected to African countries include the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine Systems (TEAMS), SEACOM, Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) and the West African Cable System (WACS) among others.

Rugege called upon operators, governments and the private sector to have a common understanding on how to access submarine cable interconnection.

He urged internet service providers and telecoms to make it an obligation of backing up each other in case one ISP is affected in an event of the submarine cable outage. According to Dr. Raphael Koffi, Head of ICT division at ECOWAS, bandwidth is the engine of the global economy.

Affordable international bandwidth is an essential component for any African country to remain competitive in a changing world. "Harmonised guidelines will help African nations most especially the regulators and operators to access affordable and quality international internet connection," Koffi noted.

According to ITU, Africa has one of the fastest annualised growth rates in total international bandwidth. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for just 0.2 percent of total global international bandwidth, a share that has remained stable since 2004. Patrick Nyirishema, the of head of ICT at Rwanda Development Board (RDB), said harmonisation of guidelines to access submarine cable connectivity would result into a wide range of benefits.

"Having the same policies promises greater international internet bandwidth, faster internet access, more reliable connectivity and a reduction in prices for communication services," he said. Rwanda is connected to TEAMS, SEACOM and EASSy cables which land on the ports of Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam respectively

Source : ITNews Africa

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Airtel Africa Grows Annual Revenue By 15.9%

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:45:22 GMT

Telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel Limited recently released its audited consolidated IFRS results for the fourth quarter and year ending 31 March with overall customer base standing at 252 million, across 20 countries.

Highlights for the quarter showed that, total revenues at US$ 14 937 million, up by 20.0 per cent year-on-year; India and South Asia revenues at US$ 10 799 million, up by 11.6 per cent year-on-year; and Africa revenues at US$4 137 million, up by 43.7 per cent year-on-year. In Rupee terms, Africa revenue growth is 51.5 per cent.

The report revealed that despite the national strike which took place for nine days in Nigeria, Africa’s revenues continued its growth trend. “Consolidated EBITDA margin was sustained at a robust level of 33.3 per cent benefiting from scale and cost efficiencies.

Revenue growth for Africa improved to 26.5 per cent (FY 11: 21.9 per cent). The Consolidated Net Income for the year at US$ 890 million (FY 11: US$ 1,325 million) was impacted by higher costs on account of 3G license fee amortisation (US $135 Mn), 3G interest costs (US$ 95 million), forex fluctuation losses (US$ 87 Mn) and tax provisions (US$ 82 million). The Net Debt – Equity ratio is at 1.29 (FY11: 1.23) and Net Debt – EBITDA ratio improved to 2.56 (FY11: 2.95),” the company said in a statement.

Reacting to the financial statement, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, said: “I am pleased that the year has ended with the Company’s customer base crossing 250 million across twenty countries, the twentieth country being Rwanda”.

Source: ITNews Africa

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Tunisiana acquires 3G, fixed-line licences

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:29:25 GMT

Tunisiana has acquired its licences to operate 3G and fixed-line networks in Tunisia. The company will pay USD 132 million for the licences, which require the launch of 3G services by July 2012 and fixed-line services from early 2013. Tunisiana won the technical tender for the licences in March, but was forced to rethink its financial bid after the government rejected its initial offer. The successful offer is worth TND 204.5 million, versus an initial bid of TND 161 million.

Source : Telecompaper

Tunisia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Nigeria: Zoom Mobile Shuts Down Operations

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:16:25 GMT

Industry sources disclosed that in its desperate bid to halt the losses, the company on Friday effected the sack of some 200 skeletal staff in one fell swoop while its founder and chairman, Senator Annie Okonkwo, is said to be making frantic efforts to get new partners to resuscitate the telecom company.

The affected staff were said to be made up of those previously retained to provide skeletal services of running the company's switches and base stations nationwide after it started its cost cutting measures last year.

Zoom Mobile, at the peak of its operations four years ago, had over 1.5 million voice and 100,000 data subscribers but industry sources said yesterday that apart from its largely whittled down customer-base that has been left out in the cold by the current development, other categories of the company's business partners worried over the fate of the company are banks and creditors.

However, Okonkwo told THISDAY Saturday that what the company did was to partially suspend its operations in order to save cost.

He said the company ordered the staff to proceed on indefinite suspension because it had become unprofitable to run the business until new investors are brought on board to recapitalise the business.

According to him, the company which in recent times had been generating N9 million monthly was spending N150 million on its operations on a monthly basis, explaining that it did not make good business sense to continue to run the company at a loss.

Okonkwo, who insisted the company was still in business, said some categories of staff were still being retained to provide skeletal services.

The chairman confirmed the company's search for new investors, explaining that Zoom was already in discussions with some Chinese investors, who he said, will build a fibre network to enable Zoom compete favourably in the emerging business climate in Nigeria. Although he said the company was also looking at the possibility of bringing other investors apart from the Chinese into the company.

He described the company's action as an ongoing development, saying zones affected include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Owerri and Warri. "We are still servicing our customers, because ours is a national licence," he said.

The company's founder explained that by shutting down its operations, the company would be able to save up to N2 billion.

On its obligations to staff, banks and other creditors, Okonkwo said the company will meet its responsibilities and will not do anything to affect the assets of the company, having established its presence in about 21 states nationwide.

Zoom Mobile was incorporated on August 25, 1998, as Reliance Telecommunications Limited (Reltel Wireless), taking advantage of the deregulation of the telecommunication sector by the then Federal Government of Nigeria. The company subsequently obtained a national licence to provide fixed wireless telephone services in Nigeria.

Nortel Networks of USA deployed Zoom's first state-of-the-art CDMA network operating on 1900 MHz frequency, enabling it to commence full commercial operations in November 2001.

With the expiration of exclusivity period enjoyed by the GSM operators, Zoom Mobile successfully applied for the Unified Access Service License, enabling it to provide full roaming services in all of its areas of coverage.

source - ThisDay Online

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN whipped, but still a good buy

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:13:25 GMT

Given recent weakness in MTN's share price over concerns about Iran and the $4,2bn lawsuit from rival Turkcell, is it time to buy the cellphone group's shares?

MTN’s share price is likely to remain wobbly as jittery foreign investors face massive pressure from US authorities and lobby groups to quit their exposure in Africa’s R255bn cellphone giant because of its business activities in Iran.

The company is in danger of being smacked with US sanctions for allegedly providing the Iranian government with technology and spyware to perpetuate what US President Barack Obama claims are “grave” human rights abuses.

Foreign investors, nervous about possible US sanctions and an airstrike on Iran, have been dumping shares in the cellphone giant over the past month since Turkcell filed its explosive US$4,2bn lawsuit in the court for the District of Columbia in Washington DC.

Turkcell has implicated MTN in a bribery and weapons scandal and alleged that it influenced SA’s votes in the UN Security Council to favour Iran in exchange for a 49% stake in Irancell.

“MTN has already lost investors,” said Stephen Meintjies, head of research at local stockbrokers Imara SP Reid. “Although it has recovered a bit from the lows of early and mid-April, there are still risks and fears of sanctions. The share price is not discounting the larger risk of MTN losing its licence in other key jurisdictions if the [Lord Leonard] Hoffman inquiry was to find substance to some of Turkcell’s claims.”

Foreign-owned shares
About 55% of MTN’s shares are foreign owned and US investors hold about 15% of them. US lobby group United against Nuclear Iran has waged a war against MTN, calling on US investors to quit their exposure in the JSE-listed blue-chip stock, accusing it of providing the Iranian regime with the data necessary to commit human rights abuses.

The nervousness over MTN’s future performance is reflected in its share price over the past month. It has yo-yoed from R143,25 on 12 March (when details of the claims started to surface) to a 12-month low of R127,55 on 4 April (a few days after Turkcell’s court papers were filed), before slowly recovering to levels of around R135 now. A year ago, it was trading in the range of R150.

“We are concerned with the quantum of damages being sought and … advise shareholders to exercise caution until the allegations have been tested in [court],” said Meintjies. “With all the negative news still to come, the share price will definitely remain under pressure.”

One solution is for MTN to walk away from Iran. But looking at the numbers it becomes clear why the cellphone giant is reluctant to disinvest despite pressure from the US. Iran is a lucrative market and an important part of MTN’s Middle East portfolio and subscriber numbers grew by 16,6% last year to 35m. MTN’s total subscriber base is 164m.

Triple profits
Profits from MTN’s operations in the Islamic republic have more than tripled over the past four years. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were R3bn in 2008, R5,4bn in 2009, R7,7bn in 2010 and R9,5bn last year.

Iran contributed about 9% of the group’s total revenue of R121bn last year. Of the 6,3% rise in group revenue in 2011, the Iran operation was the biggest contributor with 20,1%, compared with SA (4,1%) and Nigeria (7,7%).

MTN can still repatriate cash from Iran, although its management is not keen on repatriating dividends. Even though the situation in Iran remains tense, the country is said to be in a position to retain its majority 51% share in Irancell.

If MTN was forced to withdraw from Iran, the company could only sell its stake to the Iranian government, or it would have to take the hit of huge write-downs as Turkcell, or any other company, might also be prohibited from bidding for the 49% stake in Irancell that MTN holds.

Despite all the uncertainty, now is the time to buy MTN shares, say fund managers. And if you have MTN shares, there is a sound investment case for holding on to them.

The company is operationally sound and has good growth prospects and attractive cash returns. The outlook from all ratings agencies is positive. The dividend payout ratio has been raised from 65% to 70% and management has hinted that there are chances of it increasing.

Local institutional investors such as Coronation and the Public Investment Corp, which holds an 18% stake in MTN, recognise the long-term value in the stock and are holding on until the Hoffman inquiry releases its findings on the corruption claims.

“A lot of value has already been wiped out of the share and it could still derate, but we believe the hit has already been taken,” said Coronation’s Pallavi Ambeker. “We’re investing in MTN with a long-term view of three to five years. The cash-flow generation is very strong and they are operating in markets that are still underpenetrated … [and] we believe profitability will continue.”

MTN is operating on a forward price-earnings ratio of 10,5 and looks set to enjoy healthy growth this year. “It has survived regulatory and competition challenges. It has good dividend yields and is in a good cash position,” said Meintjies. — Mail & Guardian

Global - Mobile Broadband Insights

Cloud Cover Bodes Well For Africa Telecoms

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:10:17 GMT

BT Global Services has a strategy in place to expand and enrich connectivity within Africa and strengthen ties between the continent and Europe.

Chris Pickles, Head of Industry Initiatives, Global Banking & Financial Markets, BT Global Services. (Image: BT Global Services)

This was confirmed by Chris Pickles, Head of Industry Initiatives, Global Banking and Financial Markets at BT Global, ahead of the company’s participation at a convention about cloud technology in Johannesburg.

The company, which, according to Pickles manages “the largest secure networked financial community globally”, recently invested in a multi-million Rand undersea “pipeline” project to connect Africa with Europe.

“South Africa is an important part of our overall strategy,” said Pickles. “It forms part of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) community. In terms of communication, there exists a domestic pull in South Africa and an external push from abroad to connect to South Africa.”

BT Global Services is pushing the relevance and nature of cloud services to the South African corporate landscape.

Pickles says there are patterns that have emerged within the global cloud environment that are pertinent to business development and it is important that decision makers to review their modus operandi to benefit from advances in technology.

“Our message to the market is that cloud is here and there are established cloud communities that are already using this resource. The vast majority of technology systems in place today are there to maintain operations, to ‘keep things working’. But, we are saying ‘don’t be phased by the change and lose focus’, why not use this resource to deliver customer service?,” he added.

Looking closer at the cloud, Pickles says there are various levels associated with this aspect of business – computing power-on-demand (cloud computing), hosting in the cloud and networking.

It is the last component that BT Global Services is primarily focused on.

The company currently engages the market via service providers and those who use the services. It concentrates on underlying technology and currently has 15 000 financial institutions and 160 000 corporate customers within its cloud community. It also has 16 million retail customers within its UK customer base.

Advanced payment systems and advent of cloud communities have been identified as key drivers behind the development and rollout of financial technology and architecture.

“There are traditionally seven layers to technology architecture, with presentation and look & feel representing the top layer and the wires, the bottom layer. Today, over time, the layers have begun to mesh and we now see convergence of presentation with core infrastructure,” said Pickles.

The challenge to businesses, particularly during the on-going credit crunch, has been to adapt business models but keep businesses profitable he continued.

Telecommunication and banking services are linked to any corporate growth and development strategy going forward.

By Chris Tredger ITNews Africa

Global - The Internet of Things (IoT)

Vodacom Tightens Noose On BlackBerry Users

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:07:20 GMT

South African mobile operator Vodacom has started the implementation of new measures that will prevent users from abusing BlackBerry’s fixed-fee unlimited internet browsing.

BIS users slowing down the network

It was revealed last year that 5% of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) users were circumventing preventative measures and used the service for excessive downloading – slowing down the network for legitimate surfers.

With the new Vodacom system in place and BlackBerry users moved over, priority traffic will be given to users who comply with the regulations during peak hours. It’s essentially a throttling mechanism, limiting the speed of big downloaders, resulting in less traffic being generated.

Although all BlackBerry users on the Vodacom network have been moved over to the newly-implemented system, there won’t be an impact in their surfing speeds.

“There is no impact on normal usage of the BlackBerry service,” said Richard Boorman, Vodacom’s Head of Corporate Affairs. He also added that the new system will function as an internet traffic monitoring service, which will keep track of users’ behaviour through a set of parameters. “These parameters can include applications, protocols, users, URLs and other criteria.”

When Vodacom noticed a sharp increase in the use of internet traffic through BlackBerry devices, the network’s investigation discovered that 50 000 was creating the same amount of internet traffic as the remaining 1.6-million BlackBerry subscribers. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys also revealed that only one user managed to download a shocking 332GB of data in a single month.

Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor ITNews Africa

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN Ghana Deactivates Thousands

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:02:37 GMT

Mobile operator MTN Ghana has deactivated over 21 000 of its subscribers as part of a drive to clean up the mobile network. Users who were selected for deactivation either did not register their invalidly-registered SIM cards, or was disconnected due to inactivity.

Haruna Idrissu, Ghana's Minister of Communication, supported the call for subscribers to register their SIM cards (image: Ghana News Link)

MTN Ghana said that the number of deactivated SIM cards only represented 2% of their entire subscriber network, which managed to increase by 2.3% at the end of the company’s Q1 results. This is not the first time that SIM cards after deactivated in Ghana.

In March this year, Ghana’s National Communication Authority (NCA) deactivated over 1.5-million SIM cards which were invalidly registered or have been inactive for three to six months. It is not clear how many of the 1.5-million SIM cards belonged to each of the five network operators in Ghana, as the NCA were reluctant to divulge such details.

During the NCA cut-offs, MTN Ghana revealed that they lost an estimated 21 000, which equates to around 1.3% of the total 1.5-million disconnected subscribers.

Despite the forced deactivation from the NCA, the MTN Group managed to increase their subscriber base by 3.7% to just over 6-million users in this year’s first quarter, compared to 164-million subscribers in December last year.

“MTN Ghana also reported that it maintained its market share in a competitive environment, due to attractive promotions as well as the implementation of a regional structure to better manage sales and marketing,” wrote Ghana Web.

Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor ITNews Africa

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Higher taxes drag on Vodacom earnings

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:32:13 GMT

Vodacom is expecting to turn in a solid financial performance for the financial year ended 31 March when it reports its results on 21 May. However, both basic and headline earnings per share have been dragged lower by a higher effective tax rate.

The company delivered an encouraging performance, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation expected to increase by about 10% for the year.

Basic and headline earnings were affected by a higher effective tax rate of 36%, mainly as a result of an increase in secondary tax on companies as a result of higher dividends payments to shareholders and the movement in net deferred tax assets “derecognised”.

Higher depreciation and amortisation from higher capital expenditure, including non-cash capital additions, have also impacted the numbers. Non-cash capital additions relate to the exchange on non-monetary assets for the radio access network renewal programmes as well as finance leases entered into for the self-provision of transmission infrastructure.

Headline earnings per share are expected to be between 5% and 10% higher than the prior year’s figure of R6,56. Basic earnings per share are expected to be between 20% and 25% higher than the previously reported 561c as a result of high impairment charges in the prior year’s figure.

In the past year, Vodacom’s share price has climbed by 34,6%.

Source: Tech Central

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

The inside story of the $1,5bn Brics Cable

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:30:27 GMT

The Brics Cable, a superfast broadband submarine network that will extend from the east of Russia to the US via SA, and which will cost as much as US$1,5bn to construct, is already at an advanced stage of planning and should be ready by mid to late 2014, according to Andrew Mthembu, the SA businessman behind the project.

The 12,8Tbit/s system will be the first contiguous submarine cable linking all of the so-called Brics nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) and a supply and construction agreement could be signed for the project as early as later this year.

The Brics Cable will extend from Vladivostok in Russia, south through China and on to Singapore. A spur will be built to India, with the main cable extending further southwestward through Mauritius, on to SA (landing north of Cape Town), across the South Atlantic to Fortaleza in Brazil and then northward to Jacksonville in the US state of Florida.

Mthembu, a former deputy group CEO at Vodacom and a former chairman of Broadband Infraco, was intimately involved in another recent submarine cable, the West African Cable System (Wacs), which will be launched officially next week at a ceremony in Cape Town. He hopes to take many of the learnings from Wacs — which was built, he says, in record time — and apply these to the Brics system.

SA, Mthembu explains, is at the forefront of the Brics Cable initiative and the project came about following suggestions at the March 2011 Brics summit in China that SA was punching above its weight as the smallest of the economies in the grouping. Questions were being asked about what value SA brought to the table. Mthembu put forward the idea of the cable system as a way of reducing reliance on links across Europe and the North Atlantic. The new system would provide a shorter, cheaper and potentially more secure route for traffic flowing between the Brics nations and the US.

Mthembu and his team contracted France’s Axiom and America’s Terabit Consulting to conduct a full feasibility study for the proposed project. They also asked Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks to investigate whether it made sense.

Axiom and Terabit then spent months analysing the business case, speaking to operators in the affected countries to ascertain their appetite for it as well as determining likely economic growth and conducting an analysis of likely network traffic and demand. Based on an 18-year lifespan and 20% annual price erosion, the consultants concluded the project could deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 24% assuming no debt was raised and an IRR of 38% with a 60-40 debt-to-equity split.

“That’s phenomenal,” Mthembu says, adding that demand will be driven to a large extent by China, which, he says, is likely to expand to become the leading destination for Internet traffic by about 2030.

“While the feasibility study was being done, I met with all the governments in the Brics countries, with their ministries of communications and foreign affairs as well as the Brics secretariats in all of these countries,” he says. “I have also been to see the individual operators and canvassed them and they have been very supportive.”

Invitations to express interest have now been issued to operators across the Brics nations and Mthembu says 60% of them have responded and not one of these responses has been negative.

To achieve its 12,8Tbit/s design capacity — that’s two-and-a-half times the capacity of Wacs — the Brics Cable will be a two-fibre-pair system using the latest 100Gbit/s per lambda optical technology. The project will cost between $1bn and $1,5bn, depending on the eventual route it takes and which countries it connects to along its 34 000km length.

The project will be based on a “consortium model”, similar to the one used for Wacs, where a dozen or so operators will provide equity financing to support it. The landing station is likely to be near to the Wacs facility at Yzerfontein north of Cape Town. It may even be located in the same building to facilitate easy interconnection with that system, Mthembu says.

A meeting will be called in the first week in June, probably either in SA or somewhere in the Middle East, to discuss the project further and to provide potential investors with a detailed plan so they can then conduct thorough due diligences of their own.

Once “tier-one” investors have signed irrevocable commitments to fund the project, a thorough route survey will be conducted and a construction and maintenance agreement drafted. This phase will probably take about six months, after which implementation will begin. If it goes quickly, there is the possibility that the cable will be ready for service in time for the 2014 soccer World Cup, though it’s more likely to come on stream only later that year, Mthembu says

Source: Tech Central

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Leo takeover gets conditional approval from comptroller

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:26:54 GMT

The Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) has issued a decision approving Telecom Namibia’s proposed takeover of cellular operator Powercom (trading as Leo) provided the buyer meets certain conditions aimed at ensuring fair competition in the market. The NaCC stipulated that the shareholding structure of Telecom Namibia and the country’s mobile market leader Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) must be ‘separate and independent’ within two years (by 24 April 2014). The state investment holding company Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings (NPTH) currently owns 100% of Telecom Namibia and a 66% stake in MTC, which is part-owned by Portugal Telecom; if the takeover of Leo goes ahead with existing ownership structures, the government will effectively control the entire mobile sector, in which Telecom is currently the third, and smallest, player. In addition, the NaCC said that no director or employee of Telecom Namibia may serve as a director of NPTH, and that the same applies in the case of MTC, ‘in the interest of preventing any collusive or coordinated behaviour that would undermine the free and spirited competition for all entities in that sector.’ As reported by AllAfrica, Telecom Namibia’s managing director, Frans Ndoroma, who is also the CEO of NPTH, must resign with immediate effect to comply with this condition, as must the head of legal services at Telecom Namibia, Patience Kangueehi-Kanalelo, who is also NPTH’s company secretary.

The proposed merger still requires approval from the telecoms watchdog, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN). Leo is currently owned by UK-registered, southern African investment fund Investec Asset Management and South African banking group Nedbank Group, which purchased the GSM/W-CDMA network operator from Orascom division Telecel Globe in June 2011 in a cashless deal involving the transfer of the cellco’s USD60 million of debt, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Lagos Creates New Regulatory Agency for Masts, Towers

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:25:00 GMT

Worried by the indiscriminate installation of communications masts and towers and the perceived danger they pose to environment, the Lagos State Government has established a new agency that will regulate masts installations in the state.

The new agency, known as Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU), was established through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, to regulate the activities of telecoms operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the area of masts and towers installations.

It will address anomalies created by persons and organisations who erect masts and towers indiscriminately without regard to the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010, and other regulations made in respect of the law.

UFRU is located in Agidingbi in Ikeja, and will be managed by Mr. Joe Ibokwe as head of the unit.

Lagos Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin Ayinde who gave the information in a statement in Lagos recently, said UFRU had been mandated to immediately commence its regulatory functions.

He called on the public, especially telecoms operators, ISPs and all organisations involved in the use and installations of masts and towers in the state, to take the agency seriously and comply with the regulations that would be released by UFRU soonest.

According to the Commissioner "UFRU does not regulate telecommunications activities in the state and as such cannot grant licences or allocate frequencies, but backed by law to regulate masts and towers installations in the state and ensure compliance with Lagos State Laws and Regulations on Physical Planning and Urban Development."

Part of the mandate given UFRU includes to regulate the placing of urban furniture, including telecommunications antennae, masts and towers on land and buildings in the state; approve and supervise the location, position, dimensions, appearance, display and manner in which urban furniture shall be affixed to land; implement the rates and fees chargeable for permits to erect all outdoor telecommunications infrastructure, including masts, towers, base stations and parabolic antennae, as may be prescribed by Commissioner in line with the provisions of the law setting up the ministry.

The Commissioner called on all telecommunications operators, ISPs, banks, masts builders and all users of masts and towers to take note of the functions of the new agency and identify with it accordingly.

"Owners, users and operators of masts and towers, including parabolic antennae like VSAT and other types of antennae and similar structure, should register with UFRU for the purpose of sanitising the environment, and UFRU will develop, maintain and update a database of all existing telecommunications masts and base stations and similar infrastructure erected throughout the state," Ayinde said.

He said that UFRU would among other things, monitor continuously, all parts of the state to ensure that infrastructure are of high quality materials conforming to international standards are maintained appropriately.

Source: This Day

Starcomms FY11 pre-tax loss widens

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:24:02 GMT

Nigerian CDMA operator Starcomms has said its pre-tax loss widened to NGN15.61 billion (USD99 million) in the year ended 31 December 2011, from NGN5.16 billion in 2010, news agency Reuters reports, citing a company statement made to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the fixed-wireless company’s revenue for full year 2011 fell to NGN20.10 billion from NGN29.03 billion the previous year. According to the latest statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Starcomms ended 2011 with 980,109 CDMA mobile subscribers (down from 1.24 million twelve months earlier), as well as 367,367 fixed-wireless customers, compared to 531,392 at the end of 2010.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Sonitel no longer looking for buyer

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:22:39 GMT

Niger’s parliament has voted to nationalise incumbent telecoms operator Sonitel, abandoning a renewed attempt to privatise the company launched last year, Reuters reports. ‘By this vote, the Niger Telecommunications Company [Sonitel] has been nationalised and the capital is wholly owned by the state,’ said Hama Amadou, president of the country’s National Assembly after the vote, adding that the move would allow the government to carry out investments in the company over the next five years. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, the government began looking for a new buyer for Sonitel and its mobile arm SahelCom in August 2011, after a deal to sell a stake in the company to Libya’s LAP Green Network for XAF31 billion (USD61.1 million) was scrapped the previous June. The state said it had decided to cancel the deal as the Libyan government investment vehicle had not been able to meet the terms of the transaction. The LAP Green deal was also heavily criticised by the country’s main telecoms union, which said that the firm’s investment would be no better than Sonitel’s previous owner, Dataport, a joint venture between China’s ZTE and the Libyan Arab African Investment Company which held a 51% stake in the operator. The deal was cancelled by Niger’s government in February 2009, due to poor management and failure to meet the terms of the privatisation.

Source: TeleGeography

African Fixed-line and Fibre Telecoms Markets and Infrastructure

Tanzania: Government's National Backbone Completes Second Phase and Lowers Prices

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:29:23 GMT

London — Tanzania is making big strides in rolling out its national backbone and connecting to all of its neighbours. Also at the beginning of April this year, it dropped its bandwidth prices and amended its multi-drop access to make it cheaper. Local operators are pleased about these developments but would like to see rates come down further. Russell Southwood spoke to Peter Nogota, Head, NICTBB about what's been happening.

When completed, NICTBB will represent a total investment of US$200 million, US$170 million of which will have come from a concessionary Chinese loan and US$30 million from the Tanzanian Government.

The project is being built in three phases: the first phase is the northern ring which connects Singida and Arusha and this has been completed. The second phase is completing the southern ring which will connect Mtware, where oil has been discovered. The third phase is building the western side of the western ring from Tunduma to Biharamulo. The second phase is completed and testing and will come on stream in the next 20 days.

In addition, the national backbone is so close to all its neighbours borders that it will add much need additional connections for those countries, giving them additional redundancy in event of cuts. Malawi is already connected at Kasumulo through MTN and Airtel. Zambia is connected at Tunduma by Zamtel and Burundi is connected at Kabanga through Ucom. Rwanda has completed a connection at Rusumo with RDB and Rwandatel.

The three not yet connected are Uganda, Kenya (three parts still to do) and Mozambique (where there are still 371 kms to complete). With the exception of a fibre link to Rwanda, all the other cross-border links above are microwave.

Overall performance on the network is acknowledged by the operators with whom we discussed it to be good. However, all sides concede that the usual problems of cuts due to road construction and vandalism exist and operators are concerned when there are cuts at the speed of repair.

Ngota says that it is investing in programmes to raise public awareness and sensitise them to the importance of not cutting the fibre because they think it's copper.

On its charges for STM1s-STM64's, it has since 1 April dropped its prices by 35% since 1 April this year. When we asked Ngota whether there would be further price cuts, he told us: "Let's see the market response. I'd like to do tariff revisions on IRUs. All operators want to increase their capacity on the basis of the new rates."

But what about the small operators who might not be able to afford an STM1? "We're looking at how best to accommodate the ISPs at the lower level. It should be possible to create a shared tariff between several ISPs on a single STM1." And what about the vexed question of the charges for multi-dropping along a route bought? "This will now cost, for example, 20% (per drop) of the STM1 you have bought."

There have been concerns expressed about the governance of NICTBB given its closeness to the former incumbent TTCL but Ngota is clear about its role: "The structure is working OK. There is 100% account separation.

TTCL is the overall manager but there is fair play and transparency with equal rights and access for all operators. TTCL has the expertise and the coverage and complements us on the last mile. Most operators are buying their last mile through TTCL."

The Government's overall e-strategy is to use the fibre backbone to get the population close to connectivity. The Universal Communications Access Fund will be used to implement connections to villages and connect the County offices. The e-Government agency is using the backbone to connect a number of Government organisations and offer them things like teleconferencing. NICTBB is also in discussions with broadcasters about how to use its capacity to deliver digital television across the country. Finally, the Government is looking at how best to address last mile connectivity.

In the private sector, there is a consortium between Tigo, Airtel and Zantel that is putting up metronets in the larger cities.

To get higher levels of take-up across the country - for individuals, corporates and the Government - the operators we spoke to are convinced prices need to come down more and that the multi-dropping charges need to be lower. As one told us: "It's amazing the backbone's there but we need to see the rates come down by at least half again, particularly if we are to get demand moving in a range of places across the country. It's our responsibility to figure how to get the take-up of the services but the wholesale has to be at the right price to make it work."

Source: Balancing Act

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Liberia: Lone Star Cell MTN Injects U.S.$30 Million in Economy

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:26:42 GMT

Lonestar Cell MTN as a good corporate citizen in Liberia has vowed to continue to invest in the country and contribute to the growth of the economy. A member of the MTN Group headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, Lonestar Cell MTN has over the years contributed immensely to Liberia's growth and development.

As the Leader in Converged Telecommunications in Liberia, Lonestar Cell MTN is a key private sector partner with the Liberian Government in many areas including getting the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine fiber optic cable to Liberia at an investment of over US$2.5 Million.

Today, Lonestar Cell announces that for 2011/2012, it is spending upwards of over US$ 30 Million approved by the Board of Directors as Capital Expenditure on Network Infrastructure to continue the expansion and implement advanced innovative and exciting products and services for the benefit of its subscribers and the entire Liberian nation.

Lonestar Cell MTN's investment in Liberia spans over 10 years of its existence and has reached from Education, to Health, to Sanitation, the Media, Sports among others.

The continuous investment by Lonestar Cell MTN in Liberia has enabled job creation, direct and indirect for more than 50,000 Liberians and largely contributed to the overall growth of the Liberian economy.

Lonestar Cell MTN's commitment to Liberia and Liberians is strong, driven and aligned with the government's vision for Liberia - seeking to build and develop the capacities of Liberians, strengthen the nation's economy and rebuild the infrastructure.

Lonestar Cell MTN's presence in Liberia and the various ways it has partnered with the government and people of Liberia have helped to restore health and wholeness by providing jobs, support in the medical area and educational and business opportunities to thousands of Liberians.

The investment of over US$30 Million for 2011/2012 will see a wider expansion of Lonestar Cell MTN's network, reaching to more villages, towns and cities. Lonestar Cell MTN now has over 1 Million subscribers across Liberia's 15 counties and as such must strengthen its coverage as the Leader in Converged Telecommunications.

Network extension and coverage are now being achieved in new geographical areas as well as being improved in areas where there had previously been network difficulties.

Another 20 different locations were covered in last 12 months bringing Lonestar Cell MTN's total coverage areas to more than 160 locations that now boast of improved network capacity and enabled quality access to Voice and Data services.

On April 3, the people of Grand Kru County celebrated as Lonestar Cell MTN's network and its coverage extended with the commissioning of a new Tower or Base Station in Barclayville, Grand Kru's Capitol City.

For Lonestar Cell MTN, consistently upgrading and optimizing the performance of its various towers/sites around the country is a promise made to the Liberian people that is being fulfilled.

The investment in Grand Kru has seen the site configured with voice over IP over satellite, using latest technology (DAMA solution) which will give Lonestar Cell MTN the ability to expand the site's capacity in the future with no need to acquire additional satellite bandwidth.

Additionally, with the new DAMA solution, Lonestar Cell MTN has been able to increase the speed of Edge throughout Barclayville and surrounding areas which gives customers the benefit of similar internet speed as it is in Monrovia.

For Lonestar Cell MTN, expanding connectivity and extending network coverage around the country is also a matter of security, for if residents in areas particularly near borders towns and cities are able to communicate and Customs, Border Patrol Officers, the Liberia National Police and other personnel can effectively communicate, it helps to protect the Liberian nation.

The Liberian government has consistently called upon the private sector to do more in providing jobs and supporting the overall development of the country.

Investing over US$30 Million for 2011/2012 will certainly produce jobs for Liberians from all walks of life, improve the telecom sector and support the overall development agenda of the Liberian government and indeed Vision 2030.

Source: The New Dawn

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

ICASA’s spectrum regulation blunder

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:24:46 GMT

ICASA’s deferral notice regarding the implementation of its new spectrum fees has been deemed illegal, and the regulator now faces the mountainous administrative task of rectifying its mistake – unless it can get the matter set aside.

The new licensing fee structure, initially planned for implementation on 1 April 2011, had been postponed by ICASA for a year, finally coming into effect on 1 April 2012. The delay was imposed due to ICASA’s inability to calculate the new fees at the time, and the impracticality and unavailability of a manual process.

The new pricing model moves away from a fixed price of R770 per MHz, per link, per annum, to one that takes into account different uses of spectrum, and the need to ensure that licensees occupy appropriate spectrum for these uses.

Unlawful delay

A deferral notice was issued by ICASA on 10 March 2011 to delay commencement of the new Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations until 1 April 2012.

However, in the final regulations, published on 31 March 2011, the implementation date was never appended and was legally bound as starting on 1 April 2011.

Through an exchange of letters between Vodacom, ICASA and third-party counsel over fees related to the delay – as laid out in an affidavit on ICASA’s site – it was found that ICASA’s deferral notice was actually unlawful.

“The Deferral Notice did not, in the council’s view, have the effect of delaying the commencement of the RF Fees Regulations,” the affidavit said.

“If ICASA had wanted to defer the commencement of the RF Fees Regulations this should have been done by way of a formal amendment to the RF Fees Regulations to amend the date.”

Administrative hurdle

In light of this new finding, ICASA are technically owed over R1 billion in restructured charges.

However, the administrative burden attached to implementing those fees is too large for the regulator to handle.

Should ICASA be forced to retrospectively rectify its billing, it would be faced with reversing all spectrum fees for the past year and re-billing licensees according to the new regulations.

“This administrative task would be an enormous challenge for ICASA given the number of licensees whose fees would need to be recalculated and whose payments would need to be reconciled,” the affidavit continued.

Faced with this hurdle, ICASA have initiated proceedings to have the unlawfulness of the deferral set aside.

Win-win, but at a cost

By having the whole issue effectively disregarded, ICASA may lose out on a R1 billion in retroactive payments, but saves itself from complicated, if not near-impossible administration.

In an information document stating ICASA’s case, the regulator said that it does not seek relief from any of the 48,500 respondents it has listed – unless they look to intervene in the case, in which event they’d be expected to incur the costs of such proceedings.

Source: Business Tech

Vodacom to retain lead in domestic mobile market: S&P

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:21:53 GMT

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says that mobile operator, Vodacom should retain a clear leading position in the local domestic mobile market over the next twelve months, with around 50% market share.

For the year ended March 2011, Vodacom customers increased 9.0% to 43.5 million across the group, with South Africa contributing 61.0% of the total base.

The rating agency says that Vodacom should continue to benefit from sound growth prospects, particularly in the mobile broadband segment.

S&P views the SA-based mobile telecommunications services provider’s business risk profile as “satisfactory” and its financial risk profile as “intermediate.”

“The ratings on Vodacom are supported by the group’s resilient and leading position in the maturing South African mobile telephony market. Rating strengths also include the group’s sustained solid free cash flow (FCF) generation and moderately leveraged balance sheet,” S&P said in a research summary.

However, it warns that expectations of increasing competition and adverse regulatory changes over the next few years in SA constrain its ratings. “Additional credit quality constraints include sizable infrastructure investment requirements and growing exposure to higher-than-average political, operational, and currency risks in the countries in which Vodacom operates outside South Africa,” it said.

It noted that on 30 September 2011, Vodacom reported gross consolidated financial debt of R11.7 billion (about $1.5 billion), of which about 87% was denominated in rand.

S&P also highlighted the increasingly challenging market conditions in SA for Vodacom.

“We expect higher competition in the coming year as Telkom and Cell C are rolling out or upgrading their networks and marketing aggressive pricing offers, in particular in data products,” the ratings group said.

“We believe that Vodacom will also be affected by the regulator’s planned cuts to mobile termination rates until 2013, as Vodacom is a net receiver of interconnections. However, partly mitigating these factors are the resulting lower tariffs, which we believe could lead to increased customer usage,” it continued.

Standard & Poor’s believes that Vodacom’s profitability is sound, “though lower than that of other leading operators in emerging markets”.

However, the firm does not foresee significant profitability improvement given the risk of an overall downward trend in average revenue per user (ARPU). “We expect Vodacom’s percentage EBITDA margin to move toward the low to-mid-30s range over the next two years, and that the group will carefully manage the various challenges of its international operations by adopting a prudent financial policy to mitigate country risk,” it said.

In July 2011, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned its South Africa national scale long-term rating of ‘zaAA-’ and short-term rating of ‘zaA-1′ to Vodacom Group.

Looking ahead, S&P says it expects Vodacom’s network investment to remain sizable, notably to facilitate the expansion of its transmission capacity and radio access networks in response to escalating data traffic.

“We view Vodacom’s maintenance of a conservative capital structure, including an adjusted gross debt-to-EBITDA ratio of below 2.0x, as likely to remain consistent with the current ‘zaAA-’ rating (South African national scale long-term). Given the group’s solid positive FOCF generation, it has some headroom to offset unexpected operating setbacks or future acquisitions, if appropriately timed and executed,” the firm stated.

S&P stressed that it could lower the rating if the group’s operating measures or business positions significantly weakened, or if the group introduced a more aggressive financial policy, which could lead to persistently weaker cash flow generation and credit measures.

“Additionally, we could consider a downgrade if Vodacom’s liquidity remained, over a lengthy period, below levels that we believe are adequate,” it continued.

“Given Vodacom’s business risk profile characteristics, which include a strong market position in a competitive, mature market and international operations with weak credit quality, we are unlikely to raise the ratings in the medium term,” S&P concluded.

At the end of play on Wednesday, shares in Vodacom had shed a rand to R107.10 on the JSE

Source: Business Tech

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

FibreCo launch window revealed

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:17:35 GMT

FibreCo Telecommunications, a partnership between Cell C, Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners, announced today (2 May 2012) that it plans to start offering services on selected routes from early 2013.

The company originally planned to launch a redundant core ring between Gauteng, Cape Town, and Durban by the end of 2012, but has said that it now expects its link between Johannesburg and Cape Town to start operating in the second half of 2013.

According to FibreCo, physical construction has begun on the first 2,000km of the network between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

FibreCo held a ground breaking ceremony in the Free State today in celebration of the commencement of national construction of the remainder of the network route.

“We are officially moving full-steam ahead with the physical construction of the network between Johannesburg and Cape Town, through Bloemfontein, Durban and East London,” FibreCo said.

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Wireless broadband deployment’ll be slow until 2015 – NCC

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:05:21 GMT

Accenture/Extensia Nigeria Broadband Forum:

The fastest way to transmit to the end users the huge broadband capacity brought into the country by the Main One submarine fibre cable and Glo 1 is through the wireless system, but the Nigerian Communications Commission has said that wireless broadband deployment will be slow in the country until 2015.

In a keynote address at the Accenture Nigeria Broadband Discussion Forum in Lagos on Monday, the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said, “Nothing much can happen in the wireless arena until 2015 when frequencies will be freed up.”

According to him, not much can be achieved in providing broadband access to Nigerians via wireless because the radio frequency spectrum required for such is not currently available.

Such frequency resources, he said, were being used by broadcasting stations and Code Division Multiple Access telecoms companies across the country.

As such, the EVC said he expected wireless broadband development to take off in full throttle in 2015, which is the deadline for migration from analogue to digital television. Some of the spectrum resources would have been freed up by broadcasting entities as a result of the analogue to digital migration.

The implication, according to experts, is that Nigerians will continue to pay very high prices for Internet access with slow speed.

The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, in her keynote address, lamented that despite Nigeria’s 28 per cent Internet penetration of 45 million Internet users, only nine per cent were actually Internet subscribers, while the country’s broadband penetration was merely six per cent.

She said though broadband access via mobile phone was increasing, statistics had showed that most Nigerians still access the Internet through public centres such as offices, cyber cafes and computer labs.

“Today, we have one of the highest costs of access in the world at approximately N8 to N10 for 5Mbs of data. The average speed of access is still very low. In fact, recent statistics that I looked at have us as one of the slowest speed in Africa,” Johnson said.

According to the minister, Nigeria is currently challenged in all areas of broadband access such as coverage, speed and cost.

In view of this, she said the main goal of the Ministry of Communications Technology was to achieve a national network capable of delivering broadband speed of not less than 50 per cent of the average speed available worldwide at the consumer end within the next five years.

Among other things, Johnson explained that the ministry would encourage and enforce the principle of open access/infrastructure sharing to already built transmission networks in order to facilitate an integrated national backbone.

It will also expand the build out of an integrated national backbone to achieve point of presence in all local government areas in the country.

Source: Punch Nigeria

Industry Analysis:

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

‘Broadband Internet not feasible until 2015’

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:01:28 GMT

Accenture/ Extensia Nigeria Broadband Forum:

The Nigerian Communica tions Commisison (NCC) has said it will take another three years, until 2015 when sufficient frequency spectrum is freed up from migration to digital broadcasting, before wireless broadband deployment would become a reality.

Presenting a keynote address at a broadband discussion forum in Lagos, yesterday, the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, said: "Nothing much can happen in the wireless arena until 2015 when broadcast frequencies are freed up."

He stated that not much can be achieved in providing broadband Internet access to Nigerians via wireless infrastructure, because the radio frequency spectrum required for such is not available.

Juwah said the frequency resources were being used by broadcasting entities and Code Division Multiple Acess (CDMA) operators, adding that repeated demand that the CDMA operators migrate to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, to free up required frequency spectrum for broadband services had been unsuccessful. He said the band occupied by the operators was a major frequency band for wireless broadband deployment.

He explained that wide scale extensive broadband development would not take place until 2015, the deadline for migration from analogue to digital broadcasting services.

Consequently, Nigerians will continue to be challenged in all areas of broadband access-coverage, speed and cost, according to industry stakeholders.

In her keynote address at the forum, Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, said despite having 45million Internet users in the country, only nine per cent (14.5million) are actual Internet subscribers, while broadband penetration is at a mere six per cent.

She said: "Even though access to broadband using smartphones is increasing thereby increasing the number of subscribers, what this statistics tell us is that most Nigerians still access the Internet through public venues, such as offices, cyber cafes and computer labs. This is as a result of not only the lack of ubiquity of the broadband network, but also the cost of access."

"Today, we have one of the highest costs of access in the world at approximately N8 to N10 for 5Mbs of data. The average speed of access is still very low. In fact, recent statistics that I looked at, have us as one of the lowest speeds in Africa," she said.

She assured that the ministry would achieve a ‘one national network’ capable of delivering broadband speeds of not less than 50 per cent of the average speeds available worldwide in the next five years.

source: The Nation

Industry Analysis:

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Ministry Targets 50% Broadband Speed In 5 Years

Wed, 02 May 2012 11:56:00 GMT

Accenture/Extensia Nigeria Broadband Forum:

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, on Monday said the ministry was working toward achieving 50 per cent of average broadband speed available worldwide.

Johnson, who made this known in Lagos at the “Nigeria Broadband Discussion Forum”, said that this would be achieved within the next five years.

Broadband refers to a telecommunications signal at a very high speed.

The forum was organised by Accenture Incorporated, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

The minister said that the average speed of broadband access in Nigeria was still very low and should be improved upon.

According to her, the current statistics available to the ministry showed that Nigeria’s broadband speed was the lowest in Africa.

She said that the ministry would facilitate the building of a national integrated network which would distribute massive capacity from undersea cables to increase the speed.

The minister said that the ministry would encourage infrastructure sharing to facilitate an integrated national backbone.

“All over the world, universal access to broadband is becoming a significant indicator of development and competitiveness amongst nations.

``There are compelling and empirical statistics that tell us that every 10 per cent increase in access to broadband in developing countries results in a commensurate 1.38 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

``Therefore, any country seeking growth, jobs and wealth creation must work toward increasing access to broadband,’’ she said.

Johnson said that the ministry would also ensure that the cost of accessing broadband was reduced to the barest minimum.

The minister said that in spite of Internet penetration of 28 per cent (45 million Internet users), only nine per cent (14.5 million people) of the population were Internet subscribers.

According to her, broadband penetration was at a mere six per cent and needed to be increased because of the economic implications.

Johnson said that currently, Nigeria had one of the highest costs of Internet access in the world.

She said that with strategies in place, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) would contribute at least, 1.5 per cent to the GDP by 2015.

Johnson said that with the broadband in place, the ministry would encourage local content development. (NAN)

source: Leadership

Industry Analysis:

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

NCC to adopt `Open Access Model’ for broadband deployment

Wed, 02 May 2012 11:02:23 GMT

Accenture/Extensia Nigeria Broadband Forum:

Dr. Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Monday said the commission would adopt ‘Open Access Model’ for broadband deployment.

Juwah said this in Lagos at “Nigeria Broadband Discussion Forum” organised by Accenture Incorporated, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

He said that the model would ensure provision of bandwidth by infrastructure providers who would sell to retail service providers on a fair and non-discriminatory basis.

``This is a model that provides a framework for sophisticated infrastructure sharing. ``Using this model, the broadband infrastructure market structure will be unbundled into three layers: passive, active and retail layers,’’ Juwah said.

He said that the open access model would ensure vibrancy in the market and prevent dominance of one company. According to him, no company would be allowed to play in more than two of the service layers and the equity participation in bidding for the licences would be controlled.

He said that the implementation of the model would bridge the gap in broadband deployment and eliminate last-mile issues. ``The implementation of the model will reduce the price of bandwidth for end users and unlock massive broadband usage in Nigeria,’’ Juwah said.

He said that the commission would offer financial incentives to the infrastructure providers to enable them operate profitably and at affordable prices for the end user.

Mr Stuart Orr, the Managing Director of Communications, Europe, Africa & Latin America (EALA) of Accenture, said that there was strong correlation between a country’s broadband penetration and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Orr said that most developing countries had good broadband policies, but added that those countries needed to implement the policies effectively. He called on NCC to ensure that broadband penetration reached the rural areas since those communities played major roles in determining broadband penetration.

Ms Funke Opeke, the Chief Operation Officer of Main One Cable Company, said that there was need to give incentives to infrastructure providers to reduce the cost of broadband provision.

Opeke said that the incentives would enhance service delivery at cheaper rates to the end users and would accelerate economic development.

source: Business Day

Industry Analysis:

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Nigeria: Number Portability - Networks Can't Charge Subscribers - NCC

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:44:36 GMT

AHEAD of the actualisation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country in the next few months, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has directed network operators to provide the service free to subscribers. Mobile Number Portability allows subscribers to migrate from one service provider to another and still retain their numbers.

Section 6 (3) of Nigeria Mobile Number Portabilty , Business Rules & Port Order Processes dated March 2012 and posted on the regulator's portal, states, inter alia:

"Neither recipient operators nor donor operators may make a charge to the customer for porting their number."

NCC issued the directive ahead of making MNP available to the public, after appointing a consortium of telcos to handle the service that for now excludes fixed wireless and fixed lines services.

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah had earlier hinted at the possibility of launching the MNP service by September during a parley with the media in Lagos, adding this would give mobile subscribers freedom to accept and reject their service providers at will while retaining their numbers.

Equal treatment

In the document cited above which develops the framework for number portability in Nigeria, NCC maintained that recipient operators must treat incoming subscribers from other networks same way it treats its existing subscribers.

Section 6 (1) and (2) says so:

1. A service provider is responsible for maintaining appropriate records to satisfy the billing and audit requirements of MNP (and of its operational licence).

2. Services and traffic terminated to ported numbers on an individual recipient operator's network must be charged the same as for traffic and services terminated to non-ported numbers of the same recipient operator.

The recipient operator is the service provider acquiring a new subscriber through number portability, and after completion of the porting process is providing service for the subscriber in question. Conversely, the donor operator is the network losing a subscriber through number portability.

Timelines

On the porting time scale, the regulator disclosed that the mobile service providers have agreed that post-paid single account customers will only be allowed to port within two working days during the working week, Monday to Saturday between 08.00 hrs and 22.00 hrs and Sunday between 11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs.

On the other hand, post-paid multiple account customers are expected to port within five working days during the working week, Monday to Saturday between 08.00 hrs and 22.00 hrs and Sunday between 11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs.

Also pre-paid customers can port within two working days during the working week, Monday to Saturday, between 08.00 hrs and 22.00 hrs and Sunday between 11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs.

NCC Boss, Juwah

"Pre-paid multiple porting requests must be processed as individual porting requests, since the multiple porting request relies on accounts being ported belonging to the same account hierarchy with the donor operator, which does not apply to pre-paid services," according to the document.

"Following the approval of the MNP framework, the commission began plans to develop the regulatory, legal and technical framework for the implementation of MNP in Nigeria as well as the process of selecting a suitable vendor to run the Number Portability Clearing House in Nigeria with the publication of an Request for Quotation document for the provision of services with regard to the administration of Number Portability Clearing House in Nigeria," the commission said.

Customer care

The regulator also spelt in clear terms the obligation of network operators as it concerns welfare of subscribers. Section 7 of the document cited above states as follows:

1. A customer who ports their number from one mobile service provider to another should be treated in the same way as a customer who ceases service with one mobile service provider and begins service with another.

2. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that a customer who chooses to export their number will be subject to the same processes of cease and final bill issue etc, as a ceasing customer.

3. Where a customer suffers a disruption to their mobile service, and it is unclear in which network the problem lies, the mobile service providers will cooperate in good faith to locate and resolve the problem.

Fraud prevention

Thinking ahead of subscribers who may opt to perpetrate fraud through number portability, the regulator, in Section 9 provided thus:

1. The mobile service providers have agreed to cooperate in good faith to prevent, wherever possible, instances of fraudulent or unauthorised activities.

2. If instances of fraud are detected then the mobile service providers will endeavour to cooperate to identify and pursue action against the perpetrators of the fraud.

3. All cooperative activities will be conducted accepting the prevailing data protection and privacy laws applicable to the situation, and any other company or business laws which may be appropriate.

Customer complaints

Envisaging dissatisfaction in one way or the other in the porting process, NCC stated as follows in Section 8:

1. Complaints specifically related to the porting process should be directed to, and be dealt with by the recipient operator who has submitted the porting transaction to the central order handling system, following their normal internal processes.

Otherwise, non-porting process related complaints that relate to the provision of services to the customer should be referred to the party that is providing the contracted service that is the subject of the customer's complaint.

2. In the case where it is unclear to whom the complaint should be directed e.g. where the cause of the complaint occurred during the porting process and the complainer is unclear who their contracted service provider was at the particular time the issue occurred, then the complaint should be directed to the recipient operator. However, the recipient and donor operators should cooperate in good faith to resolve the complaint between them and the complainer.

3. If the complaint cannot be resolved between the recipient and donor operators then the complaint should be escalated to the NCC for resolution.

4. Complaints received by the NCC should be passed to the relevant mobile service provider where this is appropriate. Complaints that are not in relation to a particular mobile service provider, but are made in relation to the MNP porting process as operated and managed within Nigeria, should be dealt with by the NCC where this is possible and/or appropriate.

Complaints received by the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria (CPC) should be passed to the relevant mobile service provider or the NCC where this is appropriate. Complaints that are not in relation to a particular mobile service provider, but are made in relation to the MNP porting process as operated and managed within Nigeria, should be dealt with by the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria (CPC) where this is possible and/or appropriate or passed to NCC for resolution.

5. The Complainant should be kept abreast of the progress of their complaint, through to resolution.

6. In the case where a complaint cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant, it is the responsibility of the operator to whom the complaint is addressed to inform the complainant of their rights in relation to appeals and/or escalations.

source: Vanguard

Industry analysis:

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ghana gets Glo with new arrival

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:39:19 GMT

Ghana finally has a new cellular operator following the launch on Sunday of Nigerian-owned firm Glo Mobile. Having received its concession back in 2008, Glo Ghana has faced criticism for its repeated failure to launch a commercial service, and only last month it was fined USD200,000 for missing a rollout deadline imposed by the National Communications Authority (NCA). The operator has now switched on its first services, offering coverage to around 85% of Ghana’s population, with 1,400 base stations in 974 cities and 10,000 villages, Adom News reports. Glo claims to have invested USD750 million on its network deployment and is targeting 2,300 base stations in service by the end of this year, which would make it the largest network in Ghana in terms of coverage. It is thought that around 1.5 million people have already reserved Glo numbers.

Glo joins the five existing wireless network operators in Ghana – MTN, Vodafone, Millicom/Tigo, Airtel and Expresso – which between them had more than 20.7 million subscribers at the end of 2011, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Source: Telegeography

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

WACS launch date revealed

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:12:46 GMT

The management committee of the West African Cable System (WACS) announced in a press statement today (30 April 2012) that it would hold a launch event for the new cable on 11 May 2012.

WACS is a 14,500km-long optical fibre submarine cable that aims to link Southern Africa, West Africa and Europe with landings in Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, with a point-of-presence in London.

According to WACS, it is the first cable to land in Namibia, Togo, the Republic of Congo and the DRC, and dramatically increases the international capacity in the other countries it touches.

WACS is a 4-fibre pair, 128-wavelength system, with a design capacity of 5.12Tbps and an open access policy.

The investors in the the $650 million WACS project are Angola Cables, Broadband Infraco, Cable and Wireless Worldwide, Cabo Verde Telecom, Congo Telecom, MTN Group, Portugal Telecom, SCPT (DRC), Tata Communications / Neotel, Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom, Vodacom Group and Vodafone Spain.

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Ghana: ADB Connects Customers to Visa International

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:10:55 GMT

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has formally launched its visa classic card service at a ceremony in Kumasi as part of its efforts at making banking more accessible and convenient to its teeming customers.

This follows the approval to issue visa cards obtained from Visa International, the global company which has the rights to the visa digital payments technology. By this approval, ADB is authorised to issue visa classic cards for use both locally and internationally.

The Managing Director of ADB, Mr. Stephen Kporzih, in his address, noted that the visa classic card service would make it possible for customers of ADB to access their accounts both locally and internationally.

"Locally, ADB visa classic cards can be used as an ATM card on all ATMs in Ghana which are visa compliant, and to make payments at merchant points directly from the holder's bank account with ADB. Internationally, ADB visa debit cards are acceptable on well over one million visa ATMs and by over 24 million merchants worldwide," he said.

Visa International is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, banks and governments in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to use digital currency instead of cash and cheques.

Visa has thereby built one of the world's most advanced processing networks, capable of handling more than 24,000 transactions per second, with reliability, convenience and security, including fraud protection, for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants.

Meanwhile, the occasion was also used to formally introduce to the public a host of electronic banking products, and an inward money remittance product which the bank has added to its range of products, in its bid to give its customers enhanced services.

Mr. Kporzih explained that key to the three-year strategic plan of ADB is the use of IT platform as a strategic tool for competitive advantage. Thus, this informed the need to transform the IT infrastructure of ADB through increased investment in technology, and also our eagerness to introduce new channels to bring more satisfaction to our cherished customers.

"ADB now offers a wide range of electronic banking products and services differentiated for specific needs, to provide ease and convenient for customers. A number of our products have signed on to use our range of e-banking products such as ABD quicalert, quicmail, quicstatemants, quicpay, electronic voucher, mobile phone payment, NLA fastpay, and bill payment products and also very soon, quicnet, ADB's version of internet banking," Mr Kporzih added.

On the money remittance front, in addition to its traditional Western Union and MoneyGram services, ADB has now made it possible for Ghanaian residents in the United States (US) to remit money through a new Sikacash money transfer service. Sikacash is a US-to-Ghana specific service. It is a low-priced and more culturally-service remittance service. Sikacash money transfer service is available at all ADB branches, but arrangements are underway to extend the service to other partner institutions.

The Managing Director of ADB also described the opening of 21 new branches and the relocation of three other branches in the last two years, operating longer banking hours including Saturday banking services at selected locations, and the setting up of a call centre to handle complaints, enquiries, requests and suggestions of customers and the general public, as concentrated efforts made to improve service quality to delight its customers.

Source: The Chronicle

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Cyber threats a concern for Tanzanian ICT sector

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:04:55 GMT

The Tanzanian ICT sector is rapidly expanding and has become a strong pillar for the country’s socio-economic development. This is according to Prof. Makame Mbarawa, Minister for Communication, Science and Technology in Tanzania.

As a result, one of the key aspects noted was that, despite the growth of the ICT sector in the Tanzania, issues such as cyber crime remain a key challenge that is currently facing many developing countries.

The minister emphasized on the need to come up with better and efficient strategies and techniques that will enable the country to combat issues such as cyber threats so as to prevent damage to economies of developing African countries.

“We need to build confidence in the use of ICT so as to ensure that governments and law enforcement officers remain ahead of existing and emerging cyber threats”, he said.

“The plan envisages achieving an average annual growth of eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the year 2015,” he added.

Amir Said, CEO of Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL), had projected the need to take in hand the issue of digital revolution that’s already a problem in developing economies.

“We cannot ignore any longer the actual and potential impact of the digital revolution on the economic and social development of our respective countries,” he said.

Source: ItNews

Regulator ordered to pay MML USD76 million

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:03:12 GMT

The Blantyre High Court’s Commercial Division has ordered the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to pay USD66.85 million to defunct wireless operator Malawi Mobile Limited (MML) for breach of contract, local newspaper The Nation reports. The case dates back to 2005, when the telecoms regulator stripped MML of its licence, stating the company failed to roll out its network on time. The cellco went on to contend the revocation of its licence in court, arguing that the move was a breach of contract, and said it would seek USD135 million in compensation. In the latest ruling on the matter, Justice Frank Kapanda said: ‘I find and conclude that the plaintiff [MML] is entitled to a loss of profits not as pleaded and assessed by the expert but to the sum of USD66.85 million. I so order this sum as the quantum of loss of profits payable to the claimant.’

Source: TeleGeography

Movicel expands LTE to capital

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:01:52 GMT

Angolan cellco Movicel has expanded its commercial 4G LTE mobile broadband network, which it launched earlier this month in oil-producing province Cabinda, to Angola’s capital city, Luanda. The wireless modem-based service, branded ‘Movinet 4G’, is based on a network which is being built out via contracts with Chinese equipment vendors ZTE and Huawei, under a plan to cover the country’s largest cities by the end of 2012 and offer nationwide services in three years.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania: ICT Growth Attracts More Investors

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:56:46 GMT

THE Tanzania's fast growth on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has attracted many investors into the sector, the Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa, said in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.

According to Professor Mbarawa, statistics show that the sector is growing at between 15 and 20 per cent annually which is the highest in the East African Community (EAC) region.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Charles Kitwanga, at the 32nd Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) held in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, Professor Mbarawa said ICT was one of the pillars for the country's socio-economic development.

The minister, however, noted that despite the growth of ICT in the country, cyber crime remains a major challenge currently facing many countries, stressing on the need to build capacities in dealing with cyber threats and cyber criminals in order to avoid irreparable damage to economies of African countries.

"We need to build confidence in the use of ICT so as to ensure that governments and law enforcement officers remain ahead of existing and emerging cyber threats", he said. The minister underscored the need to transform the Tanzanian economy into one with higher income and quality growth over the next decade with knowledge and innovation.

"The plan envisages achieving an average annual growth of eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the year 2015", noted the minister.

Earlier in his remarks, Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) Chief Executive Officer, Mr Said Amir Said, insisted on the need to address the digital revolution which is already a reality in the developed world and which is also affecting developing countries.

"We cannot ignore any longer the actual and potential impact of the digital revolution on the economic and social development of our respective countries," he said.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Tanzania: Government's National Backbone Completes Second Phase and Lowers Prices

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:55:33 GMT

When completed, NICTBB will represent a total investment of US$200 million, US$170 million of which will have come from a concessionary Chinese loan and US$30 million from the Tanzanian Government.

Ngota says that it is investing in programmes to raise public awareness and sensitise them to the importance of not cutting the fibre because they think it's copper.

In the private sector, there is a consortium between Tigo, Airtel and Zantel that is putting up metronets in the larger cities.

Source: Balancing Act

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Safaricom, Bharti Airtel in partnership to lay fiber network

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:53:16 GMT

Safaricom Kenya and Bharti Airtel are set to form an agreement that will enable the two giants to lay a fiber network. The move is designed to cut costs associated with the involvement of third parties whom they rely on for their internet.

Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, told the Business Daily that the company initiated talks with other mobile operators including Telkom Kenya and Essar, but only Airtel took up the bid.

About the fiber he added: “We are going to roll out the fibre in the coming financial year; it will involve partnering with other mobile operators.”

“Safaricom and Airtel have a long standing Tower Sharing Agreement and we have similar agreements with Telkom Kenya and Essar. Therefore, collaborating in fibre optic network deployment is an extension of this and will ensure that operators minimise costs while avoiding duplication.”

The increase in cheaper smart phones, such as IDEOS and other tablets, has resulted in a data surge, where users need wireless internet. As such Kenya’s Communications Commission (CCK) says that this has seen the mobile operators upgrade their networks to better and high-speed wireless services.

Collymore added, “We have mentioned in the past that the strategy remains one of “in filling” which means that we focus on building fibre in the areas that have no infrastructure whilst avoiding unnecessary duplication.”

Source: ItNews

Safaricom, Airtel unite for fibre-optic JV

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:50:56 GMT

According to Business Daily Africa, Kenyan telcos Safaricom and Airtel Kenya are poised to embark on a joint venture (JV), which will see them deploy an independent fibre-optic network in a bid to curtail their reliance on third parties for wholesale internet access. Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore told the website that the domestic telecoms giant initiated talks with a number of local operators, including Telkom Kenya and Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK, or ‘yu’) for the project, but only Airtel has expressed an interest thus far. Collymore commented: ‘We are going to roll out the fibre in the coming financial year, it will involve partnering with other mobile operators. Safaricom and Airtel have a long standing tower sharing agreement, and we have similar agreements with Telkom Kenya and Essar. Therefore, collaborating in fibre-optic network deployment is an extension of this, and will ensure that operators minimise costs while avoiding duplication’. The CEO said that the deployment will not affect its existing contract with wholesale providers such as Jamii Telecoms Ltd (JTL) and AccessKenya. The scope and price of the mooted infrastructure has yet to be disclosed.

Source: TeleGeography

Zimbabwe: Econet in U.S $300 Million Loan Talks

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:14:32 GMT

ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe is on the verge of concluding talks with a group of unnamed international banks for a US$307 million syndicated loan facility to finance capital projects.

Company executives told an analysts' briefing on Tuesday that the company was in the final stages of negotiations and would make an announcement in a few weeks' time.

Chief executive Mr Douglas Mboweni said most of the funds would be spent on network expansion and capacity upgrades to maintain a stranglehold of the mobile phone market.

With about 70 percent of the market, Econet Wireless is Zimbabwe's biggest mobile phone operator. It has seen subscribers increase from 1,2 million in 2009 to 6,4 million last year.

Funding from the banks would also go towards expansion of data services and introduction of innovative products to create more value, improve service quality and increase revenue.

Having sunk a whopping US$614 million over the last four years, Econet contends the foundation is now firmly in place. What remained was expansion and driving usage of services.

Mr Mboweni would not disclose the finer details on the terms of the loan such as its tenure and the cost at which it would be extended.

But finance director Mr Kris Chirairo said the loan includes facilities which have already been extended to l To Page B6

The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Prof Welshman Ncube, told the conference the recently launched Industrial Development Policy and the National Trade Policy were designed to create an enabling environment to lure investment and growth in the economy.

According to the Industrial Development Policy, Zimbabwe's economy is expected to grow by at least 7,1 percent by 2015, driven by exports.

He said exports were expected to increase from 20 to 30 percent while the manufacturing sector was also expected to grow from 16 to 30 percent.

"We are working towards addressing capacity utilisation and the two trade policies should be able to unlock investment and trade functions should be operational," said Prof Ncube.

During the same period export earnings were expected to grow by 20 percent from US$4 billion to US$11 billion.

Prof Ncube said Government was seeking to promote trade and protect trade through harmonisation of trade laws and enhancing trade negotiations between Zimbabwe and its trading partners.

"Government must also set up a sustainable infrastructure system. So we must re-examine the industry and improve the methods of production."

He added that more funds should be channelled towards value addition as 93 percent of the country's exports were in primary products.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe requires new investment and resuscitation of the old equipment in companies to increase capacity utilisation and value-add existing natural resources.

He said unlocking value in natural resources would help create employment and create wealth for Zimbabweans.

"We must also restore the collateral value of land, which has huge potential of financial leverage," said the Prime Minister.

He added that institutions should be accountable to enhance corporate governance and those operating outside the law should be dealt with ruthlessly.

He said political discord was harmful to investment and Zimbabweans should work towards confidence-building leveraging on the country's high investment opportunities.

Source: The Herald

Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Vodacom’s Congo fixer row reaches diplomatic pitch

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:12:05 GMT

Vodacom stands accused of using political and diplomatic pressure in its battle with a fixer who recently won a case against it in a Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) court, which ordered the company to pay him $21-million.

A lawyer representing Moto Mabanga, the South African-based fixer, has sent a letter to the general inspectorate of judicial council services in Kinshasa and the United Kingdom’s ambassador in the DRC stating that Vodacom is trying to place itself above the laws of the country.

His letter followed one sent by Vodacom to the inspectorate that was copied to the South African and British ambassadors in the Congo.

One of Mabanga’s lawyers, José Ilunga Kapanda, wrote to the inspectorate on April 4 this year stating that the body did not have the jurisdiction to prevent the execution of the judgement. Kapanda stated that he did not understand why Vodacom International copied its request for the suspension of the execution of the judgement to the British ambassador.

Diplomatic pressure?

Kapanda said everybody was equal before the law, including foreigners. He accused Vodacom of trying to use diplomatic pressure to put itself above the law.

Another of Mabanga’s lawyers, Emery Mukendi Wafwana, stated in another letter to the British ambassador that the latter should not interfere in the matter. He said the UK was a partner with the DRC in establishing an investment climate in the country and it should not interfere, unless it believed the DRC could interfere in legal disputes in the UK.

“To act otherwise would be to lead the United Kingdom into a great conflict in the engagements it has reached with the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Wafwana stated.

The Mail & Guardian reported on the dispute between Mabanga’s company, Namemco Energy, and Vodacom in August 2010. At the time, Mabanga, who acted as a consultant in the Congo for Vodacom, was suing the mobile conglomerate for R396-million in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. The amount was allegedly for work done between May 6 and July 31 2007 and between September 12 2007 and August 31 2008. The case was withdrawn and filed in Kinshasa.

Vodacom’s spokesperson, Richard Boorman, said it was ironic, given the string of extraordinary legal activity in the Congo, that Vodacom was being accused of using underhanded tactics to defend its business.

“There is zero legal justification for Mr Mabanga’s contractual claim and we challenge him to provide one shred of evidence to support it. We keep in regular touch with officials and embassies in all of the countries in which we operate.

“Both South African and the UK companies are major investors in the DRC and it’s a common-sense step to keep officials apprised of a situation that is already tarnishing the reputation of the DRC and has the potential to jeopardise further investment from both countries,” said Boorman.

“I would like to say very clearly that Vodacom honours its commitments. If Mr Mabanga could in any way justify his claim, why is he not doing so in South Africa, where the agreements were made and which he explicitly agreed would have contractual jurisdiction?

“The act of sending letters to diplomats in the DRC instructing them how to behave demonstrates a concern that Vodacom’s position is valid and that common sense will prevail.”

Source: My Broadband

Obama order puts screws on MTN

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:11:08 GMT

MTN, the R255bn Johannesburg-listed cellphone giant, is in danger of being whacked with sanctions by the US for its telecommunication activities in Iran and Syria.

US President Barack Obama issued an executive order this week that allows American authorities for the first time to impose sanctions on individuals or entities found to have used new technologies, including cellphone tracking and online monitoring, to perpetuate “grave” human rights abuses.

Although MTN is not named in the latest order, which specifically targets companies and individuals aiding the Iranian and Syrian governments, White House officials indicated in a statement that the sanctions list could be expanded to include other countries using technology to crack down on dissent.

The US order adds to MTN’s legal headaches and reputational risks. Africa’s largest mobile operator is being sued in US courts by rival mobile operator Turkcell for US$4,2bn in a claim centred on the bribery of Iranian government officials, a sophisticated weaponry scandal and vote peddling in the UN Security Council.

MTN told the Mail & Guardian this week that it had hired international advisers, who were closely scrutinising the order and the possibility of sanctions.

“We have noted President Obama’s statement and continue to monitor the situation,” said Paul Norman, MTN’s chief of human resources and corporate affairs. “MTN retains international legal counsel to advise us on the scope of UN, US, European Union and other relevant sanctions to assist us in remaining compliant with applicable sanctions.”

Standard Bank, with which MTN banks, said it had “no Iran exposure and will continue to monitor payments and comply with any sanctions legislation”.

Under the order, the new sanctions include a US visa ban and financial restrictions against Syrian and Iranian agencies and individuals. On the sanctions list is the Syrian general intelligence directorate, the Syriatel phone company and Ali Mamluk, the director of Syria’s general intelligence services.

It has not been established yet whether MTN has any links to these entities or persons.

In Iran, the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, the intelligence and security ministry, the law enforcement forces and Datak Telecom are on the sanctions list.

In addition to the list, the order targets any person or entity found to have:

– “Operated or directed the operation of information and communications technology that facilitates computer or network disruption, monitoring or tracking that could assist in or enable serious human rights abuses by or on behalf of the government of Iran or Syria.”

– “Sold, leased, or otherwise provided, directly or indirectly, goods, services, or technology to Iran or Syria likely to be used to facilitate computer or network disruption, monitoring, or tracking that could assist in or enable serious human rights abuses by or on behalf of the government of Iran or Syria.”

– “Materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the activities described above.”

– “To be owned and controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.”

A reading of the order by local attorneys suggests that MTN would be a target for sanctions. The company believes, however, it is “carrying out our operations in compliance with applicable sanctions regulations and laws”.

MTN owns 49% of MTN Irancell. It has been under immense pressure to exit the Islamic republic, which is under threat of being bombed by the US because of its nuclear weapons programme. Although MTN is refusing to withdraw from the lucrative market where it has 35m subscribers, it has been facing a political storm over claims that it helped the Iranian government to spy on local subscribers and assisted the regime in its brutal crackdown on protesters in 2009 and 2010.

The majority 51% shareholding in MTN Irancell is held by a state-linked consortium that is dominated by a subsidiary, owned by the defence ministry, known as Sairan or Iran Electronics Industries. Sairan is already subject to US and EU sanctions that target proliferators of “weapons of mass destruction”. Sairan also holds a share in the Arya Hamrah consortium, which owns and runs MTN Irancell’s data centre that houses the company’s servers and hardware.

In court papers lodged in the US at the end of March, Turkcell alleged that MTN told its Iranian military-linked partners it would allow the defence ministry to eavesdrop on subscribers.

The allegations in the court papers back claims by M&G sources close to MTN’s Iranian business, who described an Orwellian environment in the company’s Tehran headquarters where it allegedly gave military intelligence officials “open” access to subscribers’ details.

Sources claimed that because MTN Irancell and its data centre were part-owned by the Iranian military, subscriber data was shared “on a collegial basis” with the intelligence sector.

The M&G recently reported on a shadowy “second floor” in MTN’s Tehran building that was populated by military intelligence officials, the volunteer militia known as the Basij (“morality police”) and clerics, who allegedly approached data warehouse staff regularly demanding detailed records for certain individuals.

Although MTN has denied these claims and they still need to be proved in the US courts, US authorities are putting the screws on MTN and its financial backers by threatening sanctions.

The company previously told the M&G that the equipment it used in Iran was not intended to monitor dissidents “nor is there any evidence that the Iranian government has used the data collected to identify and locate citizens or dissidents”.

It said: “Whatever equipment MTN has acquired for Irancell was for normal business reasons. This is the same software we utilise at other MTN operations. To suggest that we acquired such equipment with the active purpose of enhancing the Iranian government’s capacity to monitor its citizens outside the law is simply outrageous.”

Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the department of international affairs & cooperation, said the SA government was “not in a position to respond to activities of private companies”. He also refused to comment on any talks between the government, US authorities and the Iranian government on the political situation in Iran.

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vodacom said to be eyeing IPTV

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:08:30 GMT

Vodacom has bought set-top boxes from Altech’s Durban-based UEC subsidiary that are capable of delivering both fixed-line and wireless Internet protocol television (IPTV) services to consumers, apparently as part of an internal trial.

Though Vodacom confirms it has bought two decoders for testing, company spokesman Nomsa Thusi says the operator “can’t comment on any other details at this stage”.

Evidence of Vodacom’s interest in IPTV emerged in an interview with Altech CEO Craig Venter on Wednesday. Venter tells TechCentral that Altech is working closely with Vodacom and that the operator has placed a “seed order” for the SA market and has “bigger plans” for the product.

The IP-based set-top box is the result of collaboration between UEC and American semiconductor giant Intel. Its investment business, Intel Capital, pumped $5m into Altech last year using a three-year debt instrument that can be converted into shares if approved by the JSE-listed company’s shareholders.

A big focus between Intel and Altech has been on developing the IP-based set-top box. “We have done a tremendous amount of investment and R&D with them globally and locally where we have developed an IP-based set-top box that is truly amazing,” Venter says. “It really is a very good product [and] we are in active negotiations with numerous clients here locally. Vodacom/Vodafone have partnered with us on a project.”

Venter explains that the new set-top box will offer applications on users’ televisions — “much like your iPhone” — and offer full video over the Internet in a “fully integrated” fashion.

“What’s important is that it’s not in development phase,” he says. “It’s been developed.”

He adds that Intel is working with the Altech group on a number of other initiatives. For example, at vehicle tracking and recovery company Altech Netstar, the two companies are working together to develop in-vehicle “infotainment” solutions.

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Onatel Q1 revenue climbs 16%

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:06:01 GMT

Office Nationale des Telecommunications (Onatel), Burkina Faso’s incumbent fixed line telecoms operator, has announced it generated net profit of XAF4.623 billion (USD9.1 million) in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 219% compared to the XAF1.450 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. The growth was driven by a 16% year-on-year increase in revenue from XAF24.002 billion in Q1 2011 to XAF27.898 billion twelve months later, the company said. At 31 March 2012 Onatel had a total of 31,614 internet customers (up 9% year-on-year) and 141,928 fixed line subscribers (a fall of 1%), while customers of its wholly owned mobile unit Telmob grew 23% from 2.692 million at the end of Q1 2011 to 3.303 million a year later.

Source: TeleGeography

Burkina Faso - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Omnitele Benchmarks the Quality of Service in Rwandan Mobile Networks

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:03:37 GMT

Omnitele Benchmarks the Quality of Service
in Rwandan Mobile Networks

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) and Omnitele Ltd, a Finnish telecommunications engineering and consulting company,
have signed a co-operation agreement on benchmarking the Quality of Service (QoS) in Rwandan mobile networks.

The agreement also includes Omnitele training RURA personnel to perform the QoS measurements themselves in mobile networks
on continuous basis to monitor that operators perform according to the license terms and conditions related to network QoS
Key Performance Indicators.

For more information, please contact:

Johanna Hurmerinta, Marketing and Communications Manager, Omnitele Ltd.

tel. +358 44 767 1387, email: johanna.hurmerinta@omnitele.com

Jean Babtiste Mutabazi, Head of Communication and Media Regulation Department

tel. + 250 788 505779, email: mutabazi@rura.gov.rw

Omnitele Ltd.

Omnitele is a Finnish telecommunications engineering and consulting company. Our services range from Technology Strategy to Network Design and Network Quality Improvement. Omnitele was founded in 1988 to setup the world’s first GSM operator. Since then, Omnitele has assisted telecom operators and regulators in over 1,000 projects in more than 80 countries. Our core values – Straightforward, Trusted and Intelligent – define the way we do business. www.omnitele.com

RURA

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) was created by law n° 39*2001 of 13th September 2001 and was published in the Government Gazette n° 20 of 15th October 2001 with the mission to regulate certain public Utilities including e.g. Telecommunications network and/or Telecommunications services. rura.gov.rw

Safaricom, Airtel in joint venture to lay fibre cable

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:04:18 GMT

Safaricom and Airtel will form a rare joint venture in the laying of a multi-million shilling fibre network to cut their reliance on third parties for wholesale internet and share the cost of building the inland network.

Both firms—which have been locked in the battle for control of Kenya’s telecom markets since 2000—are eyeing a larger share of the data market to grow profits and compensate for the flat revenues in the voice market.

This has called for the operators to invest in infrastructure such as fibre optics to offer faster and more efficient internet services at a moment when operators gear up to meet growing data demand from smartphone users and tablet computers.

The move by Airtel and Safaricom to lay own cable is set to hurt earnings of other carriers like Jamii Telecoms AccessKenya and Kenya Data Networks (KDN) that feed the two companies with wholesale internet.

Safaricom’s chief executive Bob Collymore told the Business Daily that it initiated talks with other operators including Telkom Kenya and Essar for the joint venture, but only Airtel took up the offer.

“We are going to roll out the fibre in the coming financial year, it will involve partnering with other mobile operators,” said Mr Collymore in a phone interview. “Safaricom and Airtel have a long standing Tower Sharing Agreement and we have similar agreements with Telkom Kenya and Essar.

Therefore, collaborating in fibre optic network deployment is an extension of this and will ensure that operators minimise costs while avoiding duplication, ” he said.

Airtel confirmed the joint venture, still at the discussion stage, but the two firms could not provide the length of the fibre, the cost of the network and what each firm will bring on the table as well as its management.
The connection of Kenya to the undersea cable in July 2009 has spawned outsized investments on inland fibre networks from companies such as Kenya Power, Wananchi Online, Access Kenya, Telkom Kenya and KDN.

KDN, Telkom Kenya and Jamii have fibre networks in major urban centres. KDN and Jamii sell bandwidth to the telecom operators while Telkom Kenya is both a consumer and wholesale internet provider.

Safaricom expects a surge in demand for data services in Kenya, thanks to an explosion of Internet-ready, hand-held devices, an increase in the number of relevant applications and content.

It also sees Kenya positioned as a possible information technology hub for the rest of African continent as internet penetration gathers pace. The number of internet users in Kenya rose 95.6 per cent year-on-year to 17.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, thanks to an increase in mobile phone subscriptions, says data from the Communication Commission of Kenya.

Mobile phones are the main mode of accessing the internet in Kenya, adds CCK, and this has seen the mobile operators upgrade their networks to support high-speed wireless services as consumers use tablet computers and smartphones to surf the web.

Telkom Kenya and Airtel are rolling out broadband 3G networks now, but Safaricom is already testing its 4G network.

Mr Collymore said that its own fibre optic networks will not significant impact on its existing contracts with providers such as Jamii Telecoms Ltd and AccessKenya.

“We have mentioned in the past that the strategy remains one of “in filling” which means that we focus on building fibre in the areas that have no infrastructure whilst avoiding unnecessary duplication,” said Mr Collymore.

Source: Business Daily

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: NCC, NESREA Fight Over MTN Base Station

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:56:37 GMT

Abuja — Two government agencies in Abuja, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and its counterpart, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, are locked in regulation tussle over one of MTN Nigeria's telecom facilities in Abuja.

NESREA two weeks ago sealed the base station facility located at EFAB Estate, Mbora District, Abuja over alleged non compliance with proper Environmental Impact Assessment.

However, NCC, Monday, unsealed the facility, claiming that MTN passed the regulator's stipulated standard of five metres away from residential building while deploying the facility.

But NESREA, yesterday, resealed the facility, claiming that NCC opened the facility without lawful authority.

Director, Inspection and Enforcement of NESREA, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, who led NESREA team of Inspection and Enforcement officials to reseal the premises, insisted that the base station should remain shut for allegedly violating environmental laws and falling short on its regulation of 10 metres set back from a residential area.

Soyombo said her agency had acted following numerous complaints from angry residents and its investigations which discovered that the facility was only 1.2 metres from the nearest house.

The agency also slammed a fine of N5 million on MTN on the alleged default, adding that there was also a daily fine of N50,000 for as long as the operator fails to comply.

According to her, "no one is bigger than the law. MTN must be made to operate by the rules and regulations. Besides the N5 million, we are going to press charges against MTN for acting outside the confines of the law and also for illegally removing a seal which was put by NESREA. That is a criminal offence against the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

Reopening of the station

While reopening the facility, Monday, Director, Public Affairs of the NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, had said the commission would henceforth frown at any government agency that interferes with the work of the commission.

He said the guidelines from the commission stated that a minimum of five metres distance is acceptable but NESREA Acts states 10 metres.

According to him, "NCC had to unseal the mast which was sealed two weeks ago by NESREA under the guise that the mast was less than 10 metres from buildings as stipulated in their guidelines.

"NCC is the regulator of the telecoms sector, our guidelines stated that it should be five metres setback but the MTN mast is 5.6 metres away from the surrounding structures, but without consulting us they sealed the bay station. NCC will not allow any contradicting regulator to close any base stations because the commission is working hard to see that the quality of services improve in the country."

Ojobo added that "operators should be allowed to do their jobs. We don't have any issue against any secondary regulator but they should come to us first to see how we can ensure compliance. We must maintain our standards and ensure consistency and investors must be sure of the rules and abide by it. No other agency should interfere or challenge our guidelines."

NCC warns

Also, NCC's Head of Compliance and Monitoring, Mr. Ephriam Nwokenneya corroborated Ojobo, saying Nesrea should focus more on environmental issues rather than making undue interference in the telecommunication sector.

NCC also warned the Agency to keep off telecom regulatory activities, reminding it that there is only one telecom regulatory agency in Nigeria, which is the NCC itself.

The NCC argued that NESREA had no regulatory power over telecom facilities.

NCC and NESREA have been at war over NESREA's harassment of operators they alleged did not carry out proper environmental impact assessment before deploying mast and towers.

The agency, in the last one year, hadsealed off facilities of many operators, aggravating the ailing service quality the operators have.

However, NCC top officials had at different times engaged the top officials of NESREA on discussion where after each visit, a picture of resolution is often painted

Source: Vanguard

MTN Rwanda drops data prices

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:55:25 GMT

MTN in Rwanda has announced that they will be reducing their pricing on data bundles – by almost half. The new pricing structure will come into effect for post-paid and top-up users, as it tries to compete with the entry of India’s Bharti Airtel into Rwanda late last month.

“We continued with our aggressive push for market penetration especially in rural areas,” MTN’s Chief Marketing Officer, Yvonne Makolo in an email to Business Times.

Under the new pricing, MTN’s 250Mb package will be reduced to Rwf3 000 (R38) from Rwf6 000 (R77), while the price on the 5GB will be reduced from Rwf30 000 (R380) to Rwf15 000. On the 500Mb package, the price dropped from Rwf10 000 to Rwf5 000.

The company also noted that the new prices will be available on MTN Internet (3.75G) and MTN Hotspot (Wi-Fi. “The expiry period for 250Mb, 500Mb and 1Gb is 30 days, 5Gb, 10Gb and 20Gb is 90 days. While the 5Mb and 50Mb packages were scraped off effective April 16th,” Makolo added.

“The Broadband and VPN packages have been revised; speed is faster with better quality of service and at very good rates,” the statement said.

Source: ItNews

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

South Africa: Mastercard Mobile Comes to Country

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:54:07 GMT

MasterCard has partnered with local mobile-centric financial services company Oltio to bring MasterCard Mobile to the South African market, expanding the platform for online shopping in the country.

MasterCard Mobile lets MasterCard and Maestro cardholders make online purchases using their mobile phones. Consumers can use the platform to make secure online purchases with their PIN-based debit, cheque or credit cards by linking these to their mobile phones.

"It's a convenient and cost-effective payment mechanism that doesn't require customers to open yet another bank account," Oltio CEO Terry Timson said in a statement last week.

To use the service, cardholders must select the MasterCard Mobile option on participating e-commerce sites. First-time users will be prompted to register their cards and their mobile phone numbers on a secure site.

Thereafter, the cardholder's mobile phone number is used to initiate payments, which the cardholder authorises by entering their PINs into their mobile phones.

Online shopping on the increase

According to the latest MasterCard Worldwide online shopping survey, released last week, online shopping has increased significantly in South Africa and continues to show potential for growth.

Fifty-eight percent of South Africans surveyed said they used the internet for shopping, with price, convenience and security being the key factors they considered when purchasing online.

The MasterCard Mobile solution "provides another secure and convenient payment platform for these consumers, and those who have previously been unable to use their Maestro debit card online," said Anna Jones, division president at MasterCard Worldwide in South Africa.

'Greater peace of mind'

Jones said the platform would give users peace of mind because they no longer needed to share their card details with online retailers. The information would be securely held by MasterCard Mobile, which would verify and conclude the consumer's payments.

"The MasterCard Mobile solution does not levy any additional fees to the cardholder and, unlike EFTs, the payment is made instantly," Jones added.

The company said MasterCard Mobile was currently being piloted, with a view to rolling the platform out to most local e-commerce sites in the near future. The platform is also being used for MTN airtime purchases.

The mobile solution can also enable person-to-person money transfers, and can be used at offline stores that are MasterCard Mobile-enabled, according to the company. However, this service is not yet available in South Africa.

Source: SouthAfrica.Info

Broadband Infraco gets new CEO

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:52:28 GMT

Puleng Sejanamane has been appointed CEO of the state-owned Broadband Infraco by Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba.

“[This] … is one of the final building blocks being put into place to re-establish the leadership team at Infraco, under the guidance of a re-vitalised and re-energised board,” Gigaba’s department said on Wednesday.

Sejanamane takes over from acting CEO Andrew Shaw, who headed up the company since March 2011.

“The minister also thanks the acting CEO, Mr Andrew Shaw, for stabilising Infraco during a difficult time.”

Infraco received a qualified audit in February last year due to irregular expenditure of R151 million, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R1.9 million.

The parastatal is meant to lower communication costs by making infrastructure available to competing private sector players.

Infraco received a tongue-lashing from Gigaba in September last year. This was after he studied the damning audit report and an anonymous letter sent to the presidency and the public protector. The letter alleged further rot at the company.

In October, the minister filled four vacancies on the company’s board and replaced three non-executive board members. Three of the 11 board members reportedly had shares in companies which were awarded contracts with the parastatal.

Sejanamane was chief marketing and sales officer at Infraco since December 2011. Before that she spent just over three years as general manager of carrier services at MTN South Africa.

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Econet Wireless sees 24% jump in FY sales

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:51:05 GMT

Zimbabwe telco Econet Wireless has reported a 24% increase in full-year revenues in its financial year to end-February 2012. Sales rose to USD611.1 million, up from USD493.5 million the previous year, driven by a 16% increase in subscriber numbers to 6.41 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed from USD242.7 million to USD290.9 million, while net profits were up 18% at USD165.7 million. Econet has confirmed that it is currently in the final stages of concluding a syndicated USD307 million loan from a group of international banks to help fund its continued network expansion and upgrade programme. The operator says it has invested USD614 million in its Zimbabwe operations over the last three years, including USD184 million in the most recent twelve-month period. Econet Wireless controls almost two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s mobile market, competing with Vimpelcom/Orascom subsidiary Telecel and state-owned firm NetOne.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Senate Halts NITEL/Mtel Liquidation

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:24:59 GMT

The Senate wielded the big stick yesterday when it ordered the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to halt further process of the guided liquidation of the Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) and its Mobile Telecommunication (Mtel).

The Senate's position complemented that of the House of Representatives, which had earlier directed the BPE and NCP to suspend the planned liquidation of the two companies until they conclude investigations in the matter.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, who nonetheless blamed the federal government over the unfortunate state of NITEL called on some government agencies who owed NITEL to pay their debt with immediate effect.

Speaking at the interactive session with the BPE and the NCP, Obadara said the lawmakers were surprised when it was reported in the newspapers that the NCP has embarked on guarded liquidation of NITEL.

Obadara expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of NCP for not carrying the lawmakers along in the guarded liquidation of NITEL and said NCP should be working harmoniously with the committee.

Senator Obadara said NCP and BPE were only telling Nigerians the liabilities of NITEL without saying the worth of the government owned telecommunication companies.

The decision to liquidate the companies was made earlier March by the National Council on Privatisation, headed by the country's vice president, Namadi Sambo.

However, the Chairman of Technical Committee, NCP, Peterside Atedo said the only way the NITEL/Mtel could be attractive is to liquidate it.

He said that the companies were dormant for three years and NITEL's market shares were almost zero.

Out of the NITEL/Mtel liability, he said equipment were valued at N65,207,865,515, bank claim- N81,711,197,330, government agencies N179,901,379,196 and others put at N24,387,499,625

Source: Leadership

Nigeria: UBA Grants Benin $50 Million for Power, Telecomms Projects

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:23:24 GMT

The United Bank for Africa, Benin Limited, a subsidiary of United Bank for Africa Plc, has facilitated the grant of $50 million syndicated loan towards economic development of Benin Republic, a statement from UBA said.

UBA Benin acted as lead arranger to the $18 million syndicated mid-term loan for the National Electricity Company of Benin Republic. The bank was also a co-arranger to the $32 million syndicated mid-term loan to MTN Benin, the statement issued by the UBA Head of Media Relations, Nasir Ramon, said.

The $18 million facility to the National Electricity Company has contributed to improved power distribution in Benin Republic with positive impacts on the economy.

"This milestone transaction makes UBA Benin to be referred to as the major energy financing Bank of the country. Similarly, the facility to MTN was to facilitate the acquisition of the Third Generation (3G) telecommunication license from the government," the statement said.

Managing Director of UBA Benin, Mrs. Gwen Abiola Oloke, said the transactions underscored UBA's commitment to supporting the growth and development of the economy of Benin Republic especially by financing large ticket transactions for corporate customers, thus stimulating economic activities.

She said: "UBA Benin has played key roles in project finance, innovative banking services and jobs creation," adding that it is the same commitment that we have in all counties in Africa where we have presence."

She said that UBA's landmark expansion drive across Africa is a testimony to its commitment to ensuring that the economy of Africa competes favourably with the rest of the world.

Commenting on the development, the Group Managing Director/CEO of UBA, Phillips Oduoza, assured of the bank's readiness in meeting the financial needs of African nations by bridging finance-project gaps through infrastructure financing, loans syndication, trade facilitation and investment promotions.

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Mobile base stations become palm-sized in Kenya

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:21:59 GMT

Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled palm-sized LightRadio technology that seeks to render the towering base transmission stations operated by many mobile operators out-dated.

The technology will result in benefits such as the reduction of costs associated with setting up and maintaining cell towers; it will simplify mobile networks; expand network capacity to rural areas and reduce energy consumption.

“This brand will free the mobile sector around the world from its dependence on antenna masts and mobile base stations (cell towers), which are generally the most energy-consuming components of the network, and also the most expensive and difficult to maintain.” said Tony Woods, CEO Alcatel Lucent.

Alcatel had tested the technology and it has been proven to reduce energy consumption of mobile networks, boost performance and coverage.

“Alcatel’s own research shows LightRadio reduces energy consumption of mobile networks by up to 50 percent. Mobile service providers have already expressed interest in the LightRadio technology and we are ready to roll them out,” said Wood.

As a result, the Kenya government and Alcatel-lucent are holding negotiations on rolling out an LTE network that provides better performance and one that is more dynamic than the 3G networks currently used by operators.

Source: ItNews

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Boosting fibre rollout in South Africa

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:20:01 GMT

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is well advanced with their rapid network deployment plan which will make it easier for telecommunications operators to deploy networks.

South African telecoms operators have long complained about the laborious and time consuming processes needed for them to follow before they can deploy fibre or radio network equipment.

The recent decision by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) to place a moratorium on all deployments of fibre illustrates the challenges that telecoms companies face in growing their coverage.

Christian Mhlanga, senior manager of market and competition at ICASA, said that the regulator is working hard to alleviate the red tape associated with deploying telecoms networks in South Africa.

According to Mhlanga, they have already drafted a comprehensive plan to facilitate easier network deployments in SA, and are now in the process of finalizing the documentation which will then be sent to the Department of Communications (DoC).

The DoC will release a policy based on ICASA’s documentation which means that all municipalities in the country will follow the same “easy” procedures to allow companies to deploy telecoms networks.

Source: My Broadband

Government to launch probe into Tigo Tanzania’s ownership, paper says

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:18:32 GMT

A report in the East African Business Week says that the government of Tanzania is preparing to launch a probe into the ownership status of local mobile operator MIC Tanzania Limited (Tigo), following questions from members of parliament who want to know why it is wholly foreign-owned contrary to local law – and specifically the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (EPOCA) of 2010. Tigo Tanzania is a 100% owned subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular (MIC), which in January 2006 bought out the 15.6% stake owned by then non-controlling shareholder Ultimate Communications Limited for USD1.332 million, to assume full control. However, last week the Kigoma north member of parliament for the Chadema party, Mr Zitto Kabwe, said that Tigo’s wholly foreign-owned status is in direct contravention to the EPOCA Act, and also went on to question why it was that in 2005 the then government, which had held a stake in the operator, contentiously decided to cancel its call option on the business. The government has promised to review the details of the original sale and report back to the National Assembly in August.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

ICASA unveils five-year plan

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:08:10 GMT

South Africa’s telecoms regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), has unveiled its strategic plan for the next five years, reports technology news site mybroadband.co.za. The watchdog says its priorities for the period covering 2012-2013 include local loop unbundling (LLU), more choice for broadband access and fairer pricing, and the introduction of a wholesale network access product (bitstream) by November 2012. Meanwhile, the Department of Communications says it plans to give ICASA the green light in May 2012 to issue an invitation to apply for spectrum in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, often used for 4G LTE services.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:00:36 GMT

Visafone Communications Limited is set to play a more dominant role in the Central Bank Nigeria's (CBN) newly introduced mobile money initiative as well as in the mobile broadband where it has comparative advantage, its Chairman, Mr. Jim Ovia, said recently.

Ovia, who spoke through the Managing Director, Sailesh Iyer, at the company's Dealers' Meet recently, also informed them that "Visafone has been declared first having been adjudged Excellent in its 2011 Report released December 19, 2011 by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in the defined Parameters of Service namely: CSSR (Call Set up Success Rate) TCHCon (Traffic Channel Congestion) CCR (Call Completion Rate)."

He assured them that "We will continue to partner and engage with you very closely towards delivering a superlative mobile broadband experience to our customers and ensure we garner a significant market share of that pie leading to high returns for all of you."

Ovia stated that the company's strategic plan would guarantee that "exciting times are ahead of us with Mobile Money, Cashless Nigeria and Convergence slated to encompass our lives. Visafone and our perfect partner Family are getting ready to take leadership positions in all of these.

"We at Visafone shall aspire to pioneer innovative solutions in the market place with pocket friendly solutions and offerings. We are also set to introduce new and exciting devices through our network, including tablets and affordable smart phones."

Outlining a detailed 3-year roadmap for the company leading up to 2015, Ovia said "we are all set to embark on a new journey focused on the new paradigm of market dynamics by expanding our voice and data network on which we are investing billions of naira.

"I believe the aggressive Internet Penetration will lead to the economic growth of Nigeria and is the future and we will drive this by investing on the infrastructure ahead of time to reap the benefits," he added.

According to him, "It is estimated that by 2015, Nigerian would be using wireless broadband services worth N600 billion besides having 70 million Internet users.

"As our future growth strategy we will also be deploying the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Technology as soon as the infrastructure and other resources are available to keep us at par with the global competitive environment," he added.

Source: This Day

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Bharti Airtel sign new contract with Ericsson

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:57:30 GMT

Bharti Airtel and Ericsson have signed a new contract to upgrade diesel powered base stations in Nigeria with a new green energy solution known as E-site. Bharti Airtel is the owner of Airtel Zambia.

CEO and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, Manoj Kohli, said in a statement that the new E-site solution would enable Airtel to harness solar energy to power mobile base stations across Nigeria.

The solution was developed by Flexenclosure, a specialist provider of intelligent site power management solutions for off-grid base station sites. It has been tested for almost two years in Kenya, and has helped greatly reduce the diesel consumption and emissions of the diesel powered sites.

“We are happy to take the lead in deploying and rolling out state-of-the-art green power solutions and reducing dependency on diesel,” said Kohli. “This latest initiative will not only enable us to significantly reduce operating costs but also contribute to the reduction in the greenhouse effect.”

The E-site is powered mostly by renewable energy sources, and uses a battery bank to store energy. Wind turbines have also been modified to fit the bill.

Ericsson’s sub-Saharan Africa leader Lars Linden said “We are driving the implementation of this innovative solution in support of sustainability and development of the networked society. The new green and highly cost efficient base station solution makes nt only environmental sense but also financial sense for our customers enabling the efficient deployment of services to previously un-served or underserved areas.”

Source: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Huawei Reports FY11 Revenue of CNY 203.9 Billion, R&D Investment of CNY 23.7 Billion and embarks on business transformation

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:52:20 GMT

Increases investment in Innovation, Enterprise and Consumer Businesses

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has released its audited full-year 2011 financial results, recording sales revenues of CNY 203.9 billion, an 11.7% growth over the previous year. Huawei also reported net profits of CNY 11.6 billion. These results were in line with Huawei’s business revenue expectations.

Huawei’s 2011 business performance was buoyed by impressive growth achieved by the Consumer and Enterprise business groups. Huawei recorded sales revenues of CNY 44.6 billion in the consumer business, an increase of 44.3% over 2010.

In particular, the Consumer business group saw robust growth in the smart devices segment, shipping close to 150 million units last year. Huawei’sEnterprisebusiness group increased sales revenues by 57.1% year-on-year, generating CNY 9.2 billion in its first full year of operation as one of Huawei’s core business groups.

Huawei continued to grow and consolidate its market presence globally in 2011, generating sales revenues of CNY 65.57 billion, up 5.5%, from the domestic market; and recording sales revenues of CNY 138.4 billion, an increase of 14.9%, from overseas markets.

“In 2011, Huawei increased its investment in the enterprise and consumer business segments, and achieved all-around growth on the back of strong business momentum generated by the company’s successful transformation into a complete end-to-end ICT solutions provider,” said Mr. Ken Hu, Rotating and Acting CEO, Huawei. “We have made strategic investments, augmented our R&D capabilities and deployed resources globally, and implemented a future-oriented business architecture that puts Huawei in a confident position for sustained growth.”

Huawei boosted its investment in R&D to CNY 23.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 34.2%. The significant commitment to innovation, which represents 11.6% of total annual sales revenues, is a core pillar of Huawei’s business strategy, which sees the company positioning itself to leverage high-growth areas and industry growth fundamentals for continued success.

Looking ahead, Huawei will harness its business focus and visionary corporate governance structure to realize the opportunities presented by ICT convergence. The company will also increase its investment in its cloud-pipe-device strategy to deliver on Huawei’s promise of aligning operators, enterprises and consumers with the immense possibilities of a connected world.

Huawei’s full-year results were independently audited by international accounting firm KPMG, and are outlined in the company’s 2011 annual report. The report, which has been made publicly available, can be found at http://www.huawei.com/en/annualreport2011

Source: ItNews

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Glo Mobile at risk of losing Ghana licence

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:47:20 GMT

The National Communications Authority (NCA) in Ghana is threatening to revoke a cellular operating concession held by Nigerian-owned company Glo Mobile if it fails to launch commercial services this month local news portal Joy Online reports. Glo Mobile was awarded its wireless licence in Ghana in 2008 but has been forced to cancel several planned launches over the past few years. The regulator now says the firm has until the end of April to begin operations or it will lose its concession.

Separately, the regulator has revealed that the number of customers taking advantage of mobile number portability (MNP) had risen to 257,499 at the end of March 2012, up from 105,678 six months earlier. MNP came into effect in Ghana on 7 July 2011.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Lagos to mark International Girls in ICT Day

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:14:34 GMT

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Professor Cleopas Angaye, has urged ICT stakeholders to support the campaign to involve girls in the ICT profession.

Prof. Angaye made the statement ahead of the forthcoming International Girls in ICT Day event being organized by eBusiness Life Communications on April 26, 2012 in Lagos.

He committed to be part of this event with the theme: ‘Why leave ICT to Boys. Girls can do ICT too’.

According to the NITDA boss, “Although gender inequality is a global issue, Nigeria’s case is even more pronounced because even in other areas such as Information Technology utilization, the gap between male and female participation remains wide.”

Prof. Angaye strongly believes this will make a change in the annals of ICT development in Nigeria.

He further stated, “The divide is such that we have to consciously work to ensure that we narrow the gap. I believe it is a worthwhile effort to offer physical and financial support to female IT education and to ensure that our females are properly catered for in the digital era.”

Angaye is expected to launch the campaign at the International Girls in ICT Day celebration, alongside Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson; Chief Executive of Omatek Ventures, Florence Seriki, among others.

The event is part of an initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is meant to sensitise young girls and all stakeholders involved in moulding their career path, on the need to take up ICT as a profession.

Source: ItNews

China's ZTE to sell 100 million smartphones a year by 2015

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:10:31 GMT

China's ZTE Corp, which launched its first basic mobile phone in Africa little more than 10 years ago, said it could be shipping 100 million smartphones a year by 2015, as it looks up-market to reverse a decline in its handset margins.

ZTE, which sold 15 million smartphones last year and could sell up to 50 million this year, also said it would launch its first two phone-cum-tablet 'phablets' this year, hoping to branch out from China's fiercely competitive mobile mass market.

ZTE, the world's No.4 handset producer and fifth-ranked telecoms gear maker, has fared better than crosstown rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in mobile sales, but lags its local peer in its mainstay telecom equipment business.

Both have diversified into consumer gadgets, selling dongles, smartphones and tablets to drive revenue growth as the telecom equipment sector stagnates, and both have met stubborn resistance in the United States where cyber-security issues have kept the telecom equipment market largely off-limits.

ZTE, valued at $9.3 billion, has expanded its footprint in emerging markets and Europe, though it said last month it was scaling back operations in Iran due to sanctions over Tehran's nuclear development program.

A total of 472 million smartphones were sold around the world last year, according to research firm Gartner, and Credit Suisse has forecast sales will top 1 billion by 2014.

ZTE plans to focus on its Blade and Skate handphone models, upgrading them rather than unveiling new models, and expects to also double its tablet PC sales this year, executive director He Shiyou said on Monday.

"As handsets contribute more to overall revenue, it will affect our profit margins. In 2012, our aim is to increase handset margins," He told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual analyst conference in Shenzhen, where the company is based.

The gross profit margin at ZTE's consumer gadgets division, which comprises mainly handset sales, was 15.18 percent in 2011, down 3.81 percentage points from a year earlier.

"We spoke to components suppliers recently and it seems that handset makers such as ZTE won't be able to reduce their raw material costs," said Nomura Securities analyst Huang Leping. "For ZTE to improve its profit margins, they will have to raise their average selling prices and to do so will largely depend on their sales in the North American and Japanese markets."

Having cut its teeth making cheap-end smartphones for other operators to slap their brand names on, ZTE, founded in 1985 as Zhongxingxin Telecommunication Equipment Corp, is moving into the high-end market itself to take on Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy.

"We want to come up with the next generation of a Galaxy Note-type product - a combo product of handsets and tablets," Lv Qianhao, head of handset strategy at ZTE, told reporters.

But there are significant roadblocks, not least that it's a Chinese firm and the market it covets is brutal and expensive.

"The (higher) value part of the market is driven by brand and that's the part a company like ZTE needs to focus on," said Adam Leach, a London-based analyst at Ovum, noting that margins are much higher at the top-end of the market.

"People who buy Apple and Samsung have greater brand awareness so they might not take chances with a little-known brand, especially one from China," said Teck-Zhung Wong, a Beijing-based analyst for research firm IDC.

"No one really knows ZTE outside China."

BRANDING RULES

As a relative newcomer to smartphones, ZTE lacks the brand cachet that bigger global rivals enjoy.

"It's difficult to get that top slot in consumers' minds," said Ovum's Leach, estimating it takes 3-5 years of sustained spending on marketing, as well as investment in product design, to achieve strong branding. "ZTE is in a good position, but there's no guarantee of success," he said.

But there are some promising signs.

Gao Jinwen is a self-confessed smartphone addict and, after years of using foreign-branded models, the 28-year-old post-graduate student has ditched his sputtering Motorola and switched to a ZTE Blade that he bought for just 800 yuan ($130).

"It's much better than I expected," he said. "I reckon this could overturn the old stereotype of China-made smartphones."

Launched two years ago, the Blade has sold more than 8 million as ZTE pushed into the smartphone mass-market.

As a next great leap, ZTE caused a stir at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the launch of its Era smartphone, boasting technical specifications matching those of international rivals.

"With the Era ... and quad-core (processor) tablets, ZTE has very clearly decided to step out and move to high-spec, high-performance, high-profile phones," said IDC's Wong.

In February, ZTE launched its first tablet in the United States with partner Sprint Nextel. The Android-based Optik tablet, which has a unique rubberized grip to stop it slipping, can be bought for $100 with a contract and $350 without, making it far cheaper than the latest iPad that costs at least $499.

ZTE is expected to report its January-March earnings on Wednesday, with three analysts on average forecasting a 10 percent increase in net profit to 183 million yuan ($29 million) from 166 million yuan a year earlier.

"Our channel checks indicate supply chain optimization and robust growth in U.S. handset shipments, with higher margins, to positively impact handset margins from Q1 2012," Jefferies analyst Cynthia Meng said in a report dated April 19.

Unlisted Huawei, founded by CEO Ren Zhengfei in 1987, is due to release its 2011 earnings results later on Monday.

ZTE's Hong Kong-listed shares pared gains of more than 2 percent on Monday to trade flat by 0715 GMT, while the main Hang Seng Index was down 1.1 percent. ZTE shares touched a 7-month low last Thursday having lost more than a fifth of their value in 5 weeks, but the stock has now gained almost 6 percent in three straight sessions. Source: Reuters

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Rwanda: Local Government to Step Up Use of ICT

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:04:31 GMT

The local government intends to put more efforts in service delivery to local communities as new technologies spread across the country, Cyrille Turatsinze, the permanent secretary at the ministry of local government, has announced.

"We plan to map ICT infrastructure so that all people can get access to available facilities across the country," he said.

According to the official, many projects will be embraced with the use of new technologies so as to ensure fast and good service delivery to communities.

The initiative comes as the country enters the third phase of a 5-year ICT policy, the National Information and Communication program (NIC3) that is to focus on ICT in service delivery after that the first two phases concentrated on ICT literacy and infrastructure development.

So far, the new technology is already being used in some services such as land registration, e-health, Vision 2020 Umurenge and girinka programs as well as business delivery services like mobile money transfers. ATM cards and e-Soko are also being used to facilitate business transactions.

"In general, significant steps have already been made," Turatsinze said.

In the process of encouraging easy interaction between people and leaders, the PS said, ministries use websites and social media like Facebook and Twitter to interact with people as a way of reaching out to the public to improve transparency and accountability. For instance, the Minister of the Local Government, James Musoni has now a page on Facebook and a Twitter account.

Yet Musoni was not the first one among top leaders to embrace social media since President Kagame and the Health Minister Agnes Binagwaho have been using them already for some time.

Mailing groups too have been introduced. For instance, Isonga mailing group was created to facilitate communication between local authorities and central government.

In the same context, an electronic document system should be completed by the end of this year so as to ensure proper filing, Turatsinze said. In addition, the use of teleconferencing is to be stepped up.

The permanent secretary remarked that use of mobile telephone services will also be taken into account as handset penetration has reached 46% countrywide.

"Use of SMS has already brought great results," he said. "For instance, recently we could follow the whole evolution of the flood disaster in Northern Province and even get pictures by using smart phones."

In this respect, efforts are also being made to make smart phones widely available at cheaper prices.

Cell executives will be also trained in basics of ICT through special courses during their itorero session scheduled to start next week, Turatsinze said. An for the general public, an ICT awareness campaign is to be launched in May.

Source: Rwanda Focus

Safaricom CEO appointed to UN global board

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:03:04 GMT

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, announced the appointment of Safaricom’s CEO Bob Collymore to the UN Global Compact Board.

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative aimed at recognizing businesses committed to adopting sustainable and socially-responsible policies.

“As Safaricom, we feel it is important for companies to report on their operations from a holistic perspective and to report on their sustainability credentials. Corporate governance and ethics are a key factor that underpins a company’s reputation.” said Collymore

Last year, Collymore made a presentation on an initiative “Every Woman, Every Child,” before the UN General Assembly.

He highlighted Safaricom’s commitment to improve maternal health and reducing child mortality by mobile technology.

He added: “In Kenya we have one doctor for every 10,000 patients. Bearing in mind that we have more than 25 million mobile phones and less than 450 hospitals, it goes without saying that mobile technology should be used to create effective solutions for our healthcare challenges. We realize that as a telecommunications company, the use of mobile technology for health purposes can revolutionize society’s ability to deliver access and use health information to promote health, fight disease and respond to medical emergencies.”

Source: ItNews

Kenya sees increase in data usage

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:01:20 GMT

According to a Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) report, the number of mobile subscribers had increased by 5.99%, from 26.49 to 28.08 million subscriptions.

However, there was a sharp decrease in the number of users making calls. The decline could be as a result of increased mobile tariffs from the major operator, this later led to decline in on-net tariffs and on the larger scale it attributed to a general decline in mobile traffic.

“This decline could have been as a result of increased mobile tariffs by the major operator, Safaricom, during the period under review,” the report said.

“As a result, there were significant decline in the operators’ on-net traffic and consequently an overall decline in local mobile traffic,” the report added.

Also noted was the increase in data usage. CCK estimated the number of Internet users rose to 21.55% from 14.3 to 17.38 million users during the review period.

Reason could be the availability of low cost smart phones such as IDEOS and again many Kenyan’s prefer to communicate through social media networks such as Face book, Twitter, Google + and Skype rather than using voice calls.

Danson Njue, research analyst for Informa Telecoms and Media stated: “Kenya has four submarine cables, which have provided huge bandwidth to service providers, enabling them to introduce fast and reliable broadband services to customers, hence growing the data market.”

Source: ItNews

Safaricom to lay fibre for 'data tsunami'

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:59:14 GMT

Kenya's top telecoms operator Safaricom will lay a fibre-optic cable network to offer faster and more efficient Internet data services in expectation of a mobile "data tsunami", its chief executive said.

Safaricom, in which Britain's Vodafone has a 40 per cent stake, has a big lead over rivals such as the local unit of France Telecom, but its network has been struggling with fluctuating data speeds and dropped calls.

"The next set of investments is going to be around fibre because we have major dependency on fibre," Bob Collymore told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit.

"The data tsunami will come and it will come maybe 12 months or 18 months from now," he said.

Safaricom expects a surge in demand for data services in the east African nation of 40 million people, thanks to an explosion of Internet-ready, hand-held devices, an increase in the number of relevant applications and content.

It also sees Kenya positioned as a possible information technology hub for the entire continent.

Safaricom, which has 5 million data users and 17 million mobile phone subscribers, currently relies on other carriers that have their own fibre networks.

Speaking at the Reuters office in Nairobi, Collymore said the move would improve the firm's services as it will result in the replacement of old cables and those that have been spliced during road construction.

It will take two to three years and involve partnerships with other operators, Collymore said.

"The industry needs to work on sharing infrastructure. We are looking at what would be a sensible model for us so we can do it twice as quickly and at half the cost," he said.

Mobile money

Collymore said Safaricom was also seeking new opportunities for its pioneer mobile phone-based money transfer service, M-Pesa. Started in 2007, it now handles millions of dollars a day in transactions.

Safaricom is in discussions with the central bank to be able to offer more services after an upgrade to the system platform.

"We need to move into offering micro-saving, micro-lending and micro-insurance," he said.

Apart from transferring cash, M-Pesa users can also pay various bills or purchase airline tickets through the service.

Collymore, a Vodafone veteran who has previously worked in Japan and South Africa, said Kenya can attain its ambition of becoming a regional information technology hub, thanks to a well-educated workforce and investment by private firms.

"Kenya sits head and shoulders above. We just need to get a few things right, and these things are more environmental, and we can easily become the hub, not just of east Africa, but of sub-Saharan Africa," he said.

Among short-term uncertainties are elections due by March next year. Collymore also stressed the importance of corporate governance and integrity.

Collymore encountered corporate governance short-comings when he took over the helm of Safaricom in November 2010, having to fire workers and terminate contracts with dealers for fraud which ran into "a few million dollars".

"We are in a much better shape now than we were a year ago," he said of the experience of fraud at the company.

He added that last year's jump in fuel prices, high inflation and interest rates in Kenya were still affecting businesses.

The shilling fell steeply against the dollar last year, forcing policymakers to jerk up the policy rate to 18 percent from below 7 percent, within a span of three months.

"The price of fuel hasn't got better. That still remains volatile because you have the externalities as well as the local issues. If you look at interest rates, it is still running at 18 per cent, how long is that sustainable for?" Collymore said.

Source: Business Daily

Kenya: Yu Free Calls Offer Nets New 500, 000 Clients

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:55:10 GMT

FREE calls within the Yu mobile network helped the operator to add more than half a million customers between September and December last year.

The smallest mobile company in the country now has 2.2 million customers, a 36.8 per cent growth in the four months up from 1.6 million subscribers as at September.

This was the largest percentage jump in new subscriptions compared to the same period the previous year where the operator only attracted 46, 000 new subscribers.

Faced with severe voice competition, Yu in July 2011 launched free calls tariff between 6 am and 6 pm everyday and if the Communications Commission of Kenya statistics is anything to go by, the strategy seems to be working. By offering free calls, the company aims to grow its subscriber base which it hopes will make it profitable in the long run.

Safaricom, the biggest operator, gained 741, 000 new subscribers for the period between September and December 2011, a 4 percentage growth.

Orange gained 144, 000 new subscriptions from 16, 000 the previous period while Airtel attracted 100, 000 new subscriptions from 557, 000 in the previous period.

As a whole, CCK says there were 28.08 million mobile phone subscriptions in Kenya up from 26.4 million recorded during the previous period, a 6 per cent growth.

"The increase in mobile subscriptions is an indication of operators' determination to continue growing their subscriber base through tactful marketing approaches as a strategy towards customer acquisition," the report says.

The period saw Safaricom and Airtel lossing some market share. Safaricom's market share dropped to 66.6 per cent, down from 67.7 per cent while Airtel share dropped to 15.2 per cent down from 15.7 recorded during the previous period.Orange recorded 10.3 per cent from 10.4 per cent while Yu's share went up to 7.9 per cent up down from 6.2 per cent recorded during the previous period .

Source: The Star

Africa - Mobile Voice and Data Communications Statistics (tables only)

Nokia reports $1,7bn quarterly loss

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:53:56 GMT

The tough times continue for Finnish phone giant Nokia, which has struggled to keep up with Apple and Android in the smartphone era. On Thursday, the company announced its results for the first quarter of 2012. Net sales fell sharply year over year, from US$13,6bn to $9,7bn. The company took a $1,7bn loss on those sales, and Colin Giles, the head of sales, stepped down after 20 years at the company.

CEO Stephen Elop argued that much of that loss was due to one-time restructuring costs. It chalked up nearly three quarters of a billion in costs to the massive restructuring it did within its Nokia Siemens division, where it laid off 17 000 people earlier this year. Other big costs include axing 4 000 jobs as Nokia ditched its factories in Europe and South America to focus on production in Asia.

Nokia has been touting bullish sales figures for its new Lumia line, and Microsoft is also heavily invested in the company’s success. But Europe, traditionally Nokia’s stronghold, is no longer giving them a warm welcome. A recent report in Reuters quoted the major telecommunications operators saying that Nokia’s Lumia line isn’t good enough to compete with Apple and Android.

“No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows phone,” an anonymous European mobile executive told Reuters. “Nokia have given themselves a double challenge: to restore their credibility in terms of making hardware smartphones and succeed with the Microsoft Windows operating system, which lags in the market.”

Source: Tech Central

Pule promises action on spectrum

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:52:30 GMT

Communications minister Dina Pule hopes government will have a draft policy direction on spectrum ready sometime next month.

She says her department has not rushed the process because “whatever process we undertake must benefit all South Africans”.

“We don’t want to rush things.”

Telecommunications operators are desperate for access to the 2,6GHz band and frequencies below 850MHz so they can begin building next-generation mobile broadband networks. MTN, in particular, has expressed frustration at the time it is taking to award new spectrum licences.

Pule says there is “impatience” for the allocation of spectrum in “digital dividend” band around 800MHz that will become available when the move from analogue to digital broadcasting is complete.

But, she says: “The industry must be patient with us. We must satisfy everybody.”

She says the department of communications could perhaps have finalised its stance on spectrum allocation sooner than May, but it has been kept busy with the migration to digital broadcasting and this week’s policy colloquium, among other things.

Pule says there is no doubt that aspects of government policy need an overhaul, particularly when it comes to broadcasting and broadband, where she says policies are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with contemporary SA’s needs.

“We have to go back and review some of these policies and see if they’re still relevant and can take us to 2020 or 2030,” she says. “We have to look at whether these policies are actually empowering us as government to take these policies to rural areas.”

Pule says legislation is “very flimsy in some areas”.

“It’s important for us to help [the Independent Communication Authority of SA] regulate in a manner that will help us going forward … by bringing the cost to communicate down. To deal with this, we really have to overhaul the legislation.”

However, Pule says existing policies may have some valuable aspects that shouldn’t be disregarded. “We are not reinventing the wheel. We will keep those policies that are helpful.”

On the topic of local-loop unbundling, where operators and Internet service providers could eventually gain direct access to Telkom’s “last-mile” copper-cable network into homes and businesses, Pule says “the directive [to conduct the process] was given a long time ago. However, because of the load of work we have had to do we have not been able to go back and address the issues of [unbundling].”

She says that once this week’s colloquium, a forthcoming ICT indaba, and the start of the dual-illumination process — where digital broadcasting will begin and operate side-by-side with analogue technology – have been concluded, the department will “have a chance to come back” to local-loop unbundling.

Regarding government’s objective of providing 100% broadband coverage by 2020, Pule concedes this is a huge project and that it is not a goal government can achieve alone.

“To roll out 100% is not going to work if it’s only government forking out money. It has to be a partnership with the private sector. We don’t have enough money as government to roll out broadband alone.”

Pule says government is trying to create concrete guidelines to drive connectivity. “We have begun the process of drafting our own strategy for a broadband plan. We hope to have a first draft soon. Before the end of the year, we hope to have a national plan for government and industry.”

She says the department of communications has appointed “transactional advisors” to assist it with analysing the broadband situation in SA. “Once they can advise me, we can advise government,” says Pule.

Source: Tech Central

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

BRICS-US cable project gains Chinese, South African support

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:50:50 GMT

South African firms i3 Africa and Imphandze have received formal support from the governments of China and South Africa for a proposed 34,000km submarine cable linking the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to the US, it was announced at the BRICS Forum in New Delhi. BNamericas reported that the proposed 12.8Tbps BRICS Cable is expected to cost more than USD1 billion, and could be ready for service by the second half of 2014 if it attracts the necessary level of funding support. However, competition for investment funding is mounting, as there are currently three other large-scale cable projects involving South America to Africa undersea links which are in the proposal stages, namely the SAex system, the WASACE South Atlantic cable and Telebras’ mooted Brazil-Angola route.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Millicom sees strong emerging market smartphone uptake

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:16:48 GMT

Telecom operator Millicom International Cellular S.A. Wednesday said it's seeing a strong uptake of smartphones on emerging markets, as advanced mobile devices become increasingly cheap.

"The prices of smartphones on emerging markets has come down substantially the past year. The entry price of a decent smartphone is around $100 today, compared with $150 a year ago," said Francois-Xavier Roger, financial chief of Millicom, a Swedish-listed telecommunications firm that operates only in Africa and Latin America.

Roger added that the company is mainly selling the new family smartphones powered by Google Inc.'s popular Android operating system. Google makes its mobile software available to handset makers free of charge.

The popularity of Android comes at the expense of phones made by Finnish handset maker Nokia Oy --a traditional stalwart in emerging markets-- whose mid- and low-tier Series 40 devices are powered by Nokia's own in-house software.

The Finnish company issued a profit warning last week and Chief Executive Stephen Elop said he has been "surprised" by the rapid rollout of cheap Android smartphones in emerging markets. Nokia is adjusting its prices to compete, Elop added.

Millicom also noted that emerging market customers are becoming more savvy about branding.

"Even at these low price points, consumers are very conscious about brands," Roger said, adding that Android handset makers, such as China's Huawei Technologies Co., have been actively building awareness of their brands in emerging markets.

With traditional voice-only services under price pressure on many of its markets, the rapid uptake of smartphones with Internet connectivity is a welcome development for Millicom, Roger said. Traditional phone calls remain Millicom's largest revenue provider, but is contributing an increasingly small part of its growth.

Around 11% of Millicom's customers - some 4.7 million people --access the Internet via their mobile phones, and the number is growing fast. Customers who are downloading more than 250 kilobytes of mobile data every month rose 29% year on year in the first quarter of 2012.

The carrier is also seeing rising revenue from other services requiring mobile Internet connections, such as mobile financial services, entertainment and health services, it said.Telecom operator Millicom International Cellular S.A. Wednesday said it's seeing a strong uptake of smartphones on emerging markets, as advanced mobile devices become increasingly cheap.

"The prices of smartphones on emerging markets has come down substantially the past year. The entry price of a decent smartphone is around $100 today, compared with $150 a year ago," said Francois-Xavier Roger, financial chief of Millicom, a Swedish-listed telecommunications firm that operates only in Africa and Latin America.

Roger added that the company is mainly selling the new family smartphones powered by Google Inc.'s popular Android operating system. Google makes its mobile software available to handset makers free of charge.

The popularity of Android comes at the expense of phones made by Finnish handset maker Nokia Oy --a traditional stalwart in emerging markets-- whose mid- and low-tier Series 40 devices are powered by Nokia's own in-house software.

The Finnish company issued a profit warning last week and Chief Executive Stephen Elop said he has been "surprised" by the rapid rollout of cheap Android smartphones in emerging markets. Nokia is adjusting its prices to compete, Elop added.

Millicom also noted that emerging market customers are becoming more savvy about branding.

"Even at these low price points, consumers are very conscious about brands," Roger said, adding that Android handset makers, such as China's Huawei Technologies Co., have been actively building awareness of their brands in emerging markets.

With traditional voice-only services under price pressure on many of its markets, the rapid uptake of smartphones with Internet connectivity is a welcome development for Millicom, Roger said. Traditional phone calls remain Millicom's largest revenue provider, but is contributing an increasingly small part of its growth.

Around 11% of Millicom's customers - some 4.7 million people --access the Internet via their mobile phones, and the number is growing fast. Customers who are downloading more than 250 kilobytes of mobile data every month rose 29% year on year in the first quarter of 2012.

The carrier is also seeing rising revenue from other services requiring mobile Internet connections, such as mobile financial services, entertainment and health services, it said.

Source: Total Telecom

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya: Safaricom to End Unlimited Data

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:14:51 GMT

Mobile operator, Safaricom, has announced plans to stop selling unlimited data packages saying it is losing money on the pricing model.

The company blamed some data user of misusing the bundles by downloading too much, which also slows down lower consumption users.

Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore said there are some users who have been downloading data sizes of up to 35 gigabytes a week. On out-of- bundle price this would cost about Sh23, 000 but on the unlimited they just have to pay Sh200. "On unlimited we are losing money, so I will say as I said for voice, I will not sell data at loss," said Collymore while launching 42 Mega bytes per second speeds system on its 3G network.

Safaricom announced it has already started throttling on some of the existing bundles to control costs and improve surfing experience for all users. "I really do not think we should continue with the unlimited , everyone should pay for what they are using," said Collymore adding the firm is working on a new pricing model to be unveiled in a few weeks.

Safaricom which has 79.45 per cent of the data market share (according to latest CCK statistics) draws the huge market from unlimited data bundle users on mobile platforms( cell phones and modems).

This announcement to change pricing comes as its competitors revamp their unlimited offering in a bid to capture larger data subscriber numbers . Airtel Kenya ,which recently launched its 3.75G network, is currently offering unlimited data bundles of Sh750 for a week or Sh2999 for a month.

Telkom Orange, also planning to introduce 42Mpbs, has unlimited internet for Sh 990 weekly and and Sh 2990 on monthly basis on its 3G modems. Safaricom offers a weekly package for Sh1000 and Sh3000 monthly. "In one year I can bet even our competitors will not be giving unlimited, it it is not making sense to us (I) doubt it will to them," Collymore said.

Source: The Star

Kenya: Alcatel-Lucent Beats Cell Towers

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:13:52 GMT

Nairobi, Kenya — Global telecommunications corporation Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled a technology that could be the breakthrough in provision of wireless broadband, and potentially render antennae masts and cell towers obsolete.

Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadio technology, officially released in February last year, is set to replace the bulky, expensive and energy inefficient base stations operated by mobile companies in Kenya.

The lightRadio technology could be a game-changer for mobile operators in Africa as they incur substantial costs in setting up and maintaining cell towers. Operators often grapple with adverse weather conditions, unreliable power supply, theft and high cost of fuel.

LightRadio promises to bolster mobile service providers operations by improving capacity, coverage and performance just when they are needed most, at less than half the cost of conventional base stations. Alcatel's own research shows lightRadio reduces energy consumption of mobile networks by up to 50 percent.

Daniel Jaeger, Alcatel-Lucent's Vice-President for Africa says several mobile service providers have expressed interest in the lightRadio technology.

Jaeger adds Alcatel-Lucent has been working with four of the biggest telecommunications company in Europe, Asia and Middle East to deploy lightRadio. These include Orange Telecom, Etisalat, Telefonica and China Mobile - which is the biggest mobile operator by subscribers in the world.

"We have embarked in a co-creation program with the telecom players to push forward the realization of the vision of the next generation mobile access network on lightRadio," explains Jaeger.

Developed by Bell Labs, the new technology works by creating a new architecture where the base station, typically located at the base of each cell tower, is broken into its component elements and distributed through the network or 'carrier cloud'.

Additionally the various cell towers antennas are combined and shrunk into a single powerful multi frequency, multi standard (2G, 3G, LTE) device that can be mounted on poles, sides of building or anywhere else there is power and a broadband connection.

"LightRadio uses IP microwave which really helps because many parts in Africa have not been reached by the fibre cable," says Jaeger. "This technology will help in our vision - and the (Kenya's) government of bringing connectivity to the masses."

The government is holding discussions with several stakeholders, including Alcatel-lucent, on rolling out an LTE network which is faster and more dynamic than the current 3G network used by some operators.

It is expected operators will pass the cost savings to the end users as a result of cheaper and more efficient technology, enabling more people in Africa to access services and information through mobile broadband.

Source: Capital FM

Bharti Airtel announces Managing Director for Kenya

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:12:23 GMT

Bharti Airtel, a global telecom services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has announced the appointment of Shivan Bhargava as Managing Director for its Kenyan operation.

Bhargava was earlier the Chief Operating Officer and in his new role he will be responsible for leading Airtel’s aggressive growth plans in Kenya.

Announcing the appointment, Jayant Khosla, CEO (Airtel Africa Anglophone Region), said: “Kenya has always been a key market with great potential for growth within the region. Our leadership and management team in Kenya is made up of exceptionally talented, experienced, passionate and committed individuals. Shivan’s experience and qualifications will add value to the team and Airtel’s future plans to deliver innovative and best-in-class mobile services. I wish him success in his new assignment.”

Bhargava has been with Bharti Airtel since 2003 and has significantly contributed to growth of the business.

Bhargava has experience in both technical and marketing and has an Engineering degree specializing in telecommunications. Bhargava also has a post graduate qualification in Business Management, specialized in Marketing and has a proven track record in commercial operations for more than sixteen years with Coca-Cola and Airtel.

Source: ItNews

Aquiva Wireless launches VoIP in Zimbabwe

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:10:33 GMT

The Zimbabwean WiMAX operator Aquiva Wireless has launched its first commercial voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) services, allowing users to access voice services via a broadband internet connection. The firm has signed an interconnect agreement with mobile operator Econet Wireless, TechZim reports, and is seeking similar agreements with cellular operators Telecel and NetOne, plus fixed line incumbent TelOne. According to TechZim, the Zimbabwe telecoms regulator POTRAZ has approved VoIP tariffs of USD0.06 per minute for on-net calls (calls within the operator’s own network) and USD0.12 per minute for off-net calls; GSM operators NetOne, Econet and Telecel all charge a minimum of USD0.23 per minute.

TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that Aquiva operates under a ‘Class A’ IAP licence (permitting VoIP), and has rolled out a WiMAX wireless broadband network, which covered Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Kwekwe and Gweru by the end of 2011, following the network’s expansion to three additional cities over the preceding few months.

Source: TeleGeography

Cheaper broadband services expected in East Africa as new cable goes live

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:48:40 GMT

A further significant drop in broadband prices in the East African region is expected following the launch of the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION2) submarine cable in East Africa.

The cable, which went live last week, is expected to stiffen competition in the provision of broadband services in the region, which is already serviced by three undersea cables including Teams, Seacom and EASSY (East Africa Submarine Cable System).

Cheaper broadband services are expected to improve East Africa's telecom sector as more countries move to implement e-governance, e-learning and e-health programs, which have been hindered by the region's insufficient broadband infrastructure and capacity. Africa's voice market is still growing but the growth curve is beginning to flatten, forcing operators and service providers to compete more aggressively in the data market.

LION2 is operated by Telkom Kenya, a subsidiary of France Telecom Group. The cable will provide alternative connectivity from Kenya to Asia and Europe. LION2 extends from Mayotte, an island off the Indian Ocean coast, to Nyali in Mombasa, Kenya, and links the East African region to Madagascar, Mayotte and Reunion Islands.

In addition to improving Telkom Kenya services, the cable also provides an opportunity for increased international traffic through Kenya, Africa's third-largest telecom market after Nigeria and South Africa.

Telkom Kenya CEO Mickhael Ghossein said in a statement last week that "the company spent €57 million in laying the 2,700-km cable." The cable is an extension of the initial Lower Indian Ocean Network cable that connects Madagascar to the rest of the world.

The laying of the LION2 cable began in the fourth quarter of 2010, with key stakeholders including France Telecom (Orange), Telkom Kenya, Orange Madagascar and Mauritius Telecom. Currently, the cable has a maximum capacity of 1.28T bps, but this can be increased without additional submarine works as the cable uses wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology.

Stiff competition in Africa's broadband market sparked by undersea cables has already forced down telecommunication prices, with mobile-phone service providers and ISPs (Internet service providers) significantly reducing Internet service prices. As the cable companies bring down wholesale broadband pricing for mobile operators and ISPs, operators and service providers in turn have continued lowering prices to their own end users. In many cases, as in the case of Telkom Kenya, mobile operators and ISPs are investors in the cable systems.

"We expect so much fighting for customers among cable operators, which definitely translates into cheaper bandwidth and connectivity prices," said Amos Kalunga, telecom analyst at the Computer Society of Zambia.

In Zambia for example, 10MB of MTN broadband now costs as low as $1, and the cost is expected to decline further as competition in the broadband market heightens. MTN is an investor in EASSY and the West Africa Cable System (WACS).

AfriConnect Zambia, an ISP owned by U.K.'s Vodacom Business Africa, has promised to reduce broadband prices following the launch of its first-ever 4G WiMAX network in Zambia, and plans to increase its African data market share to 5 percent by 2016.

Vodacom Business Africa has a presence in 14 African countries including Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and recently launched a direct fiber link to South Africa to enhance Internet connectivity.

African governments have been pushing for further reductions in connectivity prices to allow more people to access the Internet.

Governments in the region hope to use the new broadband capacity to transform their economies even as land-based infrastructure is being laid to bring capacity in from the coast.

Source: PC Advisor

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: NSE Listing - Obstacles ICT Firms Must Overcome, By Johnson

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:45:29 GMT

Even with N70 billion budget appropriation for ICT in the current financial year, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson has said that Nigerian ICT companies will only be more attractive for listing in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, (NSE) if certain bottlenecks including double taxation, right of way, site approval for base stations, among others were resolved with immediate effect.

The Minister who spoke recently at the quarterly Chief Executive Officer's dinner at the NSE held recently in Lagos told the gathering that the Ministry was committed to making the Nigerian ICT firms more attractive for listing in the NSE through creation of enabling environment.

The overaching objective of the Ministry, she said was to increase the contribution of the ICT industry to GDP by 1 - 2 % by 2015, adding that there was need to stimulate demand of hardware, software and services through government procurement.

Short term approach

As part of short term goals, the Minister said that removing bottlenecks in the development of ICT infrastructure is a major condition for ICT firm to be listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

According to her, Government approvals (right of way, site approval for base stations, illegal taxes and levies, new spectrum allocations and more efficient use finite spectrum resources and critical national infrastructure bill specific to ICT must be given priority attention as way forward.

Looking at short to medium term approach, the Minister said that the Ministry was actively working to reduce the price of devices and make more affordabe to drive demand for both software and services, adding that the Ministry was working to making duty and other waivers to curb illegal smuggling.

Long term low interest rates for device assemblers and lower interest consumer finance for ICT devices , she noted were among short to medium term approach. Also, as part of short to medium term approach, she disclosed that the Ministry would focus on skills and capacity building to increase skills and capabilities of players within the industry.

At present, according to Johnson, promising indigenous technology companies may be more suitable for the NSE's secondary market, adding that this requires taking a longer term view for listing on the main board possibly 2015 - 2017.

Indian example

Government and capital market authorities in other countries, she said have provided incentives to encourage companies to offer their shares to the public, adding that as a developing country with an increasingly relevant and global ICT footprint, India is an insightful example.

Listing conditions

For companies in the Nigerian ICT space who do qualify for listing (i.e. Telecoms), she said that the growth in listings by ICT companies can be driven by a two-pronged approach including issues around control, disclosure, costs and market depth were given as key reasons for continued reluctance to list.

Incentives

These reasons, according to her can be addressed by an incentive programme that would encourage standardization and relaxation of regulatory requirements, adoption of international disclosure standards, flexible accounting standard requirements, fiscal Incentives among others.

Johnson also said that fiscal incentives such as offer of tax rebates and credits to listed firm will aid listing on the Exchange and structural Reform will be enabled by policies and programs that increase market depth thereby strengthening its viability.

Legislative requirements

In addition to legislative requirements that will support legislation which compels foreign companies which meet specified requirements to list on the national exchange.

She added that under the incentive program, key considerations should include Incentives to be made available to both foreign and local players across the industry to encourage specialisation and depth. She added that encouragement of investment by foreign players cannot be at expense of the growth of indigenous players.

Under the legislative considerations, Johnson stressed that specific focus on telecoms may incite feelings of being unfairly targeted, without the necessary incentives.

She added that there should be maintenance of a conducive business environment for telecomm companies to thrive.

"Given the current situation and the sector's increasing appetite for local debt, bond listings could serve as an alternative source of capital for the more established medium to large telecoms players" she said, adding that the this option, while contributing to broadening and deepening the market, would not afford the Nigerian public the opportunity to gain part ownership of these successful companies.

This option, while contributing to broadening and deepening the market, she explained would not afford the Nigerian public the opportunity to gain part ownership of these successful companies. However, by structuring and listing the bonds as retail bonds, a significant percentage of the general public is still able to invest, she added.

Source: VanGuard

Microsoft Africa Chairman named Mali Prime Minister

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:44:09 GMT

Cheick Modibo Diarra, Microsoft’s chairman for Africa, was named interim prime minister of Mali on Tuesday, according to a decree read out over public media.

“Interim president Dioncounda Traore names Cheick Modibo Diarra in the functions of prime minister,” read the decree nearly a month after the government of the impoverished Saharan state was overthrown in a coup.

Diarra, a former NASA astrophysicist, founded the Rally for Mali’s Development last year to stand in a now aborted presidential election.

Born in 1952 in the central region of Segou, Diarra attended universities in Paris and Washington, then worked in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before becoming chairman for Africa at Microsoft in 2006, according to a biography on Microsoft’s website.

His appointment comes after armed men rounded up several top political and military figures close to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure and took them to the junta’s headquarters in Kati, near Bamako.

Diarra’s aides said he had gone Tuesday morning to Kati to meet with the former junta who staged a coup on March 22. They said they had no details on the discussions.

A Malian security source said the overnight arrests would be explained “when the time comes.”

Observers said the raids appeared to be aimed at showing that the junta led by Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, which ceded power to Traore last week, does not intend to be sidelined by politicians.

An April 6 deal brokered by the regional Economic Community of West African States amnesties the coup leaders and gives the prime minister “full powers” at the head of a “national unity” government to include the military.

Diarra’s top priority will be to negotiate with Tuareg and Islamist rebels as well as various criminal groups who took advantage of the coup to overrun much of the country’s north.

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Vodacom’s Maseko takes COO role

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:42:45 GMT

Vodacom Group (VOD) has advised that the designation of Sipho Maseko, an executive director, has changed with immediate effect to Group Chief Operating Officer for Vodacom.

Maseko retains his role managing Vodacom South Africa, the group said.

The former BP Southern Africa CEO took over as MD of Vodacom South Africa in September 2011.

Source: Business Tech

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Government confirms 40% stake in Airtel Tanzania

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:41:27 GMT

The Citizen newspaper writes that the deputy minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Mr Charles Kitwanga, has told the National Assembly that the government holds a 40% stake in local mobile network operator Airtel Tanzania (formerly Zain Tanzania). He went on to say that the remaining 60% of shares belong to Celtel Tanzania BV – an affiliate of Zain Africa BV which was acquired by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) in November 2010. Explaining the situation, Kitwanga said that India-based Bharti Group did not acquire ‘government invested shares’ when it struck a deal to buy the cellco several years ago. Rather, it procured shares held by Celtel Tanzania BV, which was one of the shareholders in Zain Tanzania (held through Zain Africa BV). The deputy minister made the clarification in response to a parliamentary question on why Tanzanians are not allowed to buy Airtel Tanzania shares through the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Kitwange has explained that when the right conditions prevail, ‘Tanzanians will be mobilised to buy shares under special guidelines adhering to laws and principles to allow people’s participation in economic growth by purchasing shares in Airtel Tanzania’.

The question of Airtel Tanzania’s precise ownership structure has caused controversy in recent years. According to TeleGeography GlobalComms Database, although Bharti Airtel secured a deal to acquire the majority of Zain’s African assets in July 2010, the government of Tanzania subsequently claimed to have lost USD308 million by allowing the sale and in April 2011 the chairman of the Public Corporations Accounts Committee Zitto Kabwe said the government did not benefit from the transaction following the application of a weak structure that allowed Bharti Airtel to buy Zain Africa without considering shareholders in Tanzania. At the time of Bharti’s takeover of Zain’s asserts, the Tanzanian part of the transaction was delayed after the government disputed the move citing a previous agreement it had with Zain which would see it acquiring full control of the mobile operator. Although the Indian firm offered the government USD11 million in 2010 to buy out the state’s 40%, the Dar es Salaam government held firm and last December confirmed it has no plans to sell its 40% stake. At the time the Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mustafa Mkulo, said his administration would not unload the shares because of the inherent profitability of the service. ‘We have decided to continue with you until further notice because there is no risk of losing our tax payers money … We want to still maintaining our dividend,’ he said.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Wacs is on the way

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:53:15 GMT

Next month could see the beginning of an economic ascent, driven by increased broadband connectivity, with the launch of the 14 000km, 5.12Tbps subsea fibre-optic cable, the West African Cable System (Wacs).

In what industry observers say will mark an eventual drop in international broadband prices and could see significant economic impact in the long term, the first submarine cable along the west coast of Africa, since Telkom landed SAT3 in 2001, is set to launch officially next month.

The Wacs management committee says the cable is undergoing final acceptance from its supplier, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, and will be launched in Cape Town, one of its 14 landing points. “The commercial readiness of the cable system will be announced once [final acceptance from Alcatel-Lucent] is complete.”

Wacs will connect SA to the UK, with landings in Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, and Portugal. It is the first cable to land in Namibia, Togo, Congo Brazzaville and the DRC.

Funded by a consortium of 12 parties to the tune of $650 million (about R5.1 billion), Wacs will provide what the company refers to as “much needed diversity for large volume broadband traffic from various Southern and West African countries to Europe”. The cable system, says Wacs, will raise the continent's current international capacity by over 500Gbps when it goes live.

While the provision of capacity to the market is up to the individual investors, the system's commercial rollout is expected to follow the launch in May. Investing parties include Angola Cables, Broadband Infraco, Cable & Wireless, Congo Telecom, MTN, Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunications, Portugal Telecom/Cabo Verde Telecom, Neotel, Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom.

Economic implications

According to a World Bank report on broadband in developing countries, every 10% increase in broadband connection boosts economic growth by 1.38%. The Wacs cable is expected to increase connectivity by over 20%.

Wacs officially landed in Yzerfontein, near Cape Town, a year ago, becoming SA's third international fibre gateway. At the time, Neotel CTO and co-chairman of the Wacs management committee, Angus Hay, said the cable's design of four fibre pair and 128-wavelength technology made it the largest cable system to ever land in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“It will be capable of carrying the equivalent traffic of Seacom, Eassy and SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable systems combined. Wacs will meet the demand for capacity well into the first quarter of the 21st Century,” said Hay.

Two more fibre-optic cables are set to follow in Wacs' underwater trail along Africa's west coast. The Africa Coast to Europe cable, or ACE, will extend 17 000km and land in over 20 countries between France and SA, and is planned for launch during 2012. Also in the pipeline is the South Atlantic Express cable, or SAex, an eFive Telecommunications project that will link Angola, SA and Brazil – anticipated for 2013.

Source: ITWeb

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

South Sudan: Hua Wei Company Expresses Interest to Create Fixed Phone System

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:50:11 GMT

Beijing — Hua Wei Technologies Company Limited, a Chinese telecommunications company has expressed interest that it is ready to help in setting up of fixed phone system (landline Phone System) in South Sudan. This was according to Dev Zhang, the International Media Affairs Manager, Media Affairs Department.

He expressed this last Thursday when he met with the media delegation from South Sudan in Shanghai, China at Hua Wei Company Limited premises.

He further expounded that Hua Wei in fact has the best fixed phone system (Land line system). Adding that they have a standard quality of products which they provide to all their customers around the globe and to ensure that their goods are of high quality, they have established a quality testing laboratory, and said they would not miss an opportunity to serve their customers in South Sudan since it is a fast growing market.

In addition Dev said they would not miss the opportunity to serve their customers in South Sudan, commenting that it is a fast growing market.

According to Dev, they first started their business in South Sudan in the year 2006, and they serve according to what their customer demands, therefore not technology driven instead provide what the customer needs.

As a way of capacity building for inhabitants of the country they operate in, Dev explained that their overseas employees are mostly locals of a particular country they are investing in, at least seventy percent (70%) of the total.

Secondly, they have forty five (45) training centres in the world, among which six are based in Africa. Here they train their employees and ensure that they develop local talent.

Also, they hold joint innovative centres where they cooperate with the local operators to develop and discover new opportunities, saying that in Africa alone they have over 4000 employees.

Hua Wei is a private company with most of its shares belonging to its employees. Among those employees 44% of them are involved in research and development programs, and because of this the company has managed to progress at a very fast rate.

Source: The Citizen

Sudan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Nigeria: MEND Threat - NCC, MTN Want Tight Security for Telecoms Facilities

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:48:14 GMT

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and MTN Nigeria yesterday called on security agencies to prevent the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) from carrying out its threat to blow up the telecoms company's infrastructure in the Niger Delta.

MEND at the weekend threatened to destroy MTN Nigeria infrastructure in the Niger Delta because of alleged incarceration of its leader Henry Okah by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. MTN is a South African company.

Okah is standing trial in South Africa for the October 1, 2010 bomb blast which killed scores in Abuja.

MEND, in a statement signed by Jomo Gbomo, accused Zuma of colluding with Nigerian officials to deny Okah bail in South Africa.

Yesterday, MTN's spokeswoman, Funmi Omogbenigun, said the facilities built by MTN Nigeria and other telecommunication companies are key to the ICT revolution in Nigeria and the accelerated socio-economic development of our nation and damaging them would do more harm to the Nigerian people.

Responding to questions from Daily Trust, Omogbenigun said threats and matters related to national security and critical national infrastructure are the responsibility of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the security agencies, and urged that the MEND threat like others be given attention by government.

Also, NCC spokesman Reuben Mouka in response to our reporter's question said it is security agencies that are positioned to protect telecoms infrastructure in the country.

Segun Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had said the Federal Government needed to accord the status of national infrastructure on all telecoms infrastructure in the country.

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Neotel partners with wireless providers for broadband access

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:47:03 GMT

Neotel and the Wireless Access Providers’ Association of South Africa (WAPA) have partnered to extend Neotel’s last mile access footprint to provide companies and consumers with broadband services.

WAPA announced in a press statement that Neotel approached the organisation in 2010 to discuss the possibility of its members providing connectivity outside the reach of its fibre network.

A WAPA registered wireless provider was chosen in a proof-of-concept network, and the project is on track with links currently being tested by Neotel.

“This project holds great promise for the average South African business and consumer in that it is one of many that will bring even greater high quality broadband coverage to our country,” WAPA said in a press statement.

The wireless providers basically provide last mile access to end users using their wireless network, and then uses Neotel’s fibre network to backhaul traffic and provide telecoms and broadband services to subscribers.

Wireless providers currently cover large parts of South Africa using Wi-Fi technology, and this initiative can have a positive impact on broadband coverage in South Africa if it proves successful.

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Algiers values Djezzy at USD6.5 billion

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:45:35 GMT

The Algerian government has valued the country’s largest cellular operator Djezzy at USD6.5 billion according to local press reports, well above analyst estimates. El Khabar newspaper quoted Telecommunications Minister Moussa Benhamadi as saying that audit firm Shearman & Sterling had arrived at the valuation for the operator. Algiers is looking to acquire a 51% stake in Djezzy, but is still in talks with parent company Vimpelcom, which inherited the cellco last year as part of its USD6.6 billion acquisition of Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom. The negotiations are currently stalled, with Vimpelcom seeking international arbitration after the government hit Djezzy with a USD1.3 billion fine for alleged breaches of foreign exchange regulations several years ago.

Meanwhile, Benhamadi has said that 3G mobile licences will be issued once the situation regarding Djezzy’s ownership is settled. According to a report from Balancing Act Africa, he also told Algeria’s national radio broadcaster that there were no plans to issue a fourth mobile operating concession as part of the 3G licensing process, with existing operators Djezzy, Nedjma and Mobilis already covering the market of some 34.6 million subscribers.

Source: TeleGeography

Algeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Movicel launches LTE in Cabinda 45 days ahead of schedule

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:44:21 GMT

Angolan mobile operator Movicel has announced the commercial launch of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the oil-producing Cabinda province, providing mobile broadband services with a downlink speed of up to 100Mbps. Movicel had previously announced it would deploy the first commercial LTE FDD 1800MHz network in Africa by the end of May 2012, but it was launched 45 days ahead of schedule on 14 April, its technology partner Huawei reported in a press release. Under a plan to expand the advanced mobile broadband service across the entire country within three years, Movicel intends to roll out LTE coverage to major Angolan cities this year.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

FT-Orange announces the launch of commercial services on LION2 submarine cable

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:13:42 GMT

France Telecom-Orange and the other members of the Lower Indian Ocean Network 2 (LION2) consortium have announced the commercial launch of services on the submarine cable, providing the island of Mayotte with broadband connectivity for the first time and reinforcing international network connectivity for Kenya. The new cable link concludes the second phase of the group’s plans to extend broadband internet connectivity in the Indian Ocean, following the launch of the original Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) submarine cable at the end of 2009. The LION cable links Madagascar to the global internet via Reunion and Mauritius, and by dint of LION2, has now been extended to Kenya (with a landing station at Nyali) via Mayotte (landing at Kaweni). The group’s subsidiary partners are Mauritius Telecom, Orange Madagascar and Telkom Kenya, as well as two other operators, Emtel (Mauritius) and Societe Reunionnaise du Radiotelephone (SRR).

The 2,700km long fibre-optic cable uses wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, offering a maximum potential capacity of 1.28Tbps, to be increased without additional submarine upgrade work. The construction of the LION2 cable represents a total investment of around EUR57 million (USD74.9 million), of which approximately EUR38 million was provided by France Telecom-Orange and its subsidiaries.

Source: TeleGeography

Zimbabwe: Potraz Constructs U.S.$16 Million HQ

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:12:11 GMT

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has embarked on a US$16 million construction of its new headquarters (HQ) in the capital.

The telecommunications regulator says it has begun constructing its new HQ to be situated across its current Emarald Park offices in Mount Pleasant.

POTRAZ said the decision to move from its current offices had been necessitated by growth in the telecoms business which has resulted in the regulator creating more jobs.

"The total cost of this project is estimated to be US$16m. We trust this team will work hard to make sure that this project reflects the amount of money that has been committed. We also expect maximum professionalism and quality workmanship from the contractors. I am sorry to say our previous experience with some contractors was not pleasant," said POTRAZ director-general, Charles Sibanda.

"The project commences immediately and is expected to be completed in 20 months," he said.

"As some of you may be aware, the plan for POTRAZ to build and occupy its own home began over five years ago, the reason being that the postal and telecommunications industry has grown tremendously since the inception of POTRAZ in 2001. POTRAZ has seen rapid growth in terms of its staff complement to cater for the growth especially in the telecommunications sector. POTRAZ requires more office space. I am glad that the long and vigorous process that we all went through has finally come to this point."

POTRAZ was established in terms of the Postal and Tele-communications Act (Chapter 12:05).

Official figures project that the construction industry will this year register a marginal 1,5 percent growth on the back of improved mortgage financing.

The industry had suffered stagnation due to underfunding during the past decade.

Government, however, says challenges related to intermittent supply side bottlenecks of such critical inputs as cement and bricks, coupled with under-capitalisation of the major construction companies and liquidity constraints, all serve to limit the sector's capacity to seize on emerging green shoots of economic recovery.

The move by POTRAZ is also a clear indication that the movement of major firms to offices outside Harare's central business district (CBD) could be irreversible.

Experts say the take-up of office space in the CBD area has been sluggish for some time due to the scaling down of business operations as a result of the liquidity crisis in the economy.

Vacancy rates in the CBD have increased as demand has focused on suburban office parks.

Significant increases in prime office rents, in the order of 100 percent, have been noted since the introduction of multi-currency trading in February 2009, triggering the exodus of major companies from the CBD. Investment activity has been subdued due to the prevailing tight liquidity conditions and the absence of long term credit.

Source: Financial Gazette

Uganda: We Are Not Closing Down, Says UTL

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:10:01 GMT

UGANDA Telecom has refuted allegations that the company will be liquidated. Donald Nyakairu, the managing director, said in a statement on Thursday that he was perturbed by the lack of professionalism by some journalists who hang around lawyers' offices and courts to pick up confidential information for publishing.

He also acknowledged the sh22b debt his company owes MTN in interconnection fees, describing it as "a historical debt covering the period 2007 to 2010."

"Discussions have been ongoing on how this debt would be settled. Our shareholders have assured us that the debt will be paid," he said.

Nyakairu was confident the parties will come to an agreement. He pointed out that despite the UN Security Council sanctions on Libyan entities, Uganda Telecom has during this period managed to meet its interconnect obligations for 2011 and part of 2012, paying over sh14b.

Nyakairu noted that the threat by Airtel to disconnect Uganda Telecom will also be history as the interconnect debt "due to them has now been reduced from sh8b to sh1b, which we expect to extinguish by end of April."

"We urge our customers to continue being loyal and enjoy the services and other innovations we are coming up with soon. We will continue our lead in the data and internet market," he stated.

Nyakairu said with the end of the crisis in Libya and the reorganisation of their majority shareholder, UCOM, a subsidiary of LAP GreenN, Uganda Telecom had a solid backing.

"LAP GreenN, which has several telecom operations in Africa is committed to investing further in its subsidiaries and Uganda Telecom remains its flagship operation," he added.

Source: The New Vision

Namibia: Leo Appoints Interim CEO

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:08:37 GMT

Leo, the second mobile operator in Namibia, has appointed Stanley Similo, as the company's interim CEO with effect from 11 April.

Similo will lead Leo as the interim CEO together with a solid and sound senior management team with dedicated staff during the transition sales process into the next phase, Michael Meeser, chairman of Leo's board of directors, said in a statement.

Similo previously worked for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in various roles, the Road Fund Administration, the Skorpion Zinc Mine as well as for FNB Holdings Limited as group head of human resources and was successful in transforming the entity into one of Namibia's leading banks.

When Leo (then known as Cell One) came into being, Similo was appointed and served as the executive: Human Capital Management for Namibia's second cellular network and was tasked with setting up and managing the human resources elements of the business.

Before being appointed as interim CEO for Leo, his role was that of chief officer of HR, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. As an executive member of Leo, Similo has been exposed to all facets of the telecoms industry in Namibia for the past five years.

Gerhard May, the outgoing CEO has successfully managed to assist in making sure the sales process of Powercom is well on track and is now moving on to attend to other matters in his professional life.

"The appointment of Stanley Similo will ensure that Leo maintains the necessary continuity in order to bring communications to all Namibians," Meeser stated.

"The Board highly appreciates and acknowledges Gerhard May's indispensable efforts to make Leo a formidable business entity in Namibia. His excellent analytical and organisational skills have paved the way for the next phase of Leo's aggressive growth," he said.

"We are confident that under Similo's leadership, Leo will continue to enhance the cellular communications industry in Namibia," stated Meeser.

"I am very excited about the new challenge even though in an interim capacity and appreciate the confidence which the board of directors has shown in me. I have been a part of a dedicated executive management team which has built a strong foundation for the company. I am therefore assured that I will be able to continue with the same spirit of commitment and support moving into the future," said Similo.

Source: Namibia Ecocnomist

Rwanda: Youth, ICT Ministries Merged

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:06:51 GMT

President Paul Kagame has merged the ministries of Youth and ICT and appointed Jean Philbert Nsengimana as the minister.

Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, Protais Musoni, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, confirmed the changes.

"Constitutionally it's a prerogative of the president to make changes in the cabinet. I cannot tell you the reason why the two ministries have been merged, "he said.

"President Kagame sees ICT as a tool that can create wealth and employment for Rwandans. As you know the majority of Rwandans are youth, so this is a strong message that ICT should be used to uplift the livelihoods of the young people."

Dr. Ignace Gatare, the former Minister in the President's office in charge of ICT, is now the Director General of Information Technology Commission in the Office of the President.

Gatare has been heading the ministry since 2009.

Nsengimana had spent almost five months heading the Ministry of Youth, which was curved out of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

Reacting to his new position, Nsengimana told The New Times that the new ministry will not pose any serious challenge to him because of his professional experience in ICT.

"The merging of the ministries gives youth a better platform to embrace innovations, in terms of applying ICT tools, techniques across different sectors both social and economic," said the youthful minister.

"Since the youth are the ones who have substantially benefited from the training programmes that have been implemented so far in various academic institutions, this will make them transform the sectors using ICT."

He stated that during his tenure he will embark on championing ICT for the economic empowerment of the youth, mainly through job creation.

Nsengimana further said he would focus on putting in place a conducive ICT environment to attract the private sector.

A former student leader and lecturer at the National University of Rwanda (NUR), Nsengimana holds a Master's degree in Software Engineering from SP Jain Centre of Management (Singapore), Dubai campus.

He also holds an advanced degree in Project Management and once headed the Rwanda Development Gateway and represented Africa Gateway Networks.

More recently, he headed Voxiva, a US-based firm which specialises in health technology. He is married with two sons.

Source: The New Times

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

France Telecom closer to full Mobinil control

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:25:21 GMT

France Telecom has moved closer to assuming almost full control of its Egyptian mobile phone venture, Mobinil, after agreeing to buy out most of the shares owned by tycoon Naguib Sawiris and other minority shareholders.

The French telecommunications operator, eager to cement its position in the Arab world as it pulls out of mature European markets, said it would now seek approval for the deal, worth as much as €1.5bn, from Egypt’s market regulator.

Stéphane Richard, France Telecom’s chief executive, said the offer showed his “continued, strong commitment and belief in this business’s potential and in the Egyptian economy in general”.

France Telecom owns about 71 per cent of Mobinil, which in turn owns just over 50 per cent in a listed vehicle known as Egyptian Company for Mobile Services, which operates the brand.

If the deal is approved, France Telecom would raise its stake to 95 per cent of Mobinil, leaving 5 per in the hands of Mr Sawiris. He would retain a voting interest of 28.75 per cent to ease Egyptian worries about national ownership. Mr Richard said he also intended about 15 per cent of Mobinil to be held by Egyptian investors if conditions allowed.

Mr Sawiris is expected to sell down the remainder of his stake gradually over the next few years. A prominent Coptic Christian who belongs to one of the biggest business families in Egypt, Mr Sawiris has become increasingly involved in politics, with his secular views sometimes offending the country’s Muslim population.

Egypt is a crucial market for France Telecom, accounting for almost half its mobile customers in its expanding regional Africa and Middle East business.

Source: FT

Airtel bosses forgo salary increases

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:20:36 GMT

All Corporate Directors and CEO’s of Airtel operations in Africa and South-East Asia forwent their salary increase for the period March 31, 2011 to March 31, 2012 to save cost.

This meant MD of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah may have forfeited any pay rise for that fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2012, but a top official of Airtel Ghana said “we heard nothing about that so I can’t confirm whether Philip forfeited his salary increase or not.”

This followed Group Chief Sunil Bharti Mittal foregoing any pay hike over the same period.

The Bharti Airtel Group issued a statement to that effect saying “all Corporate Directors and Chief Executive Officers (Asia and Africa) of the company have volunteered for no increase in their remuneration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.”

"This is in line with the company's efforts to drive cost efficiencies," the telecom giant said in the statement.

The move was believed to have been triggered by the 27% dip in profits before tax, and 33% drop in profits after tax, even though the group recorded some 42% increase in revenue to reach US$11.7 billion for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Airtel’s annual results for 2011-2012 are yet to be published for shareholders and the public to know the impact of that forfeiture.

Meanwhile for the 2010/2011 period, the Group’s 21-member Board of Directors took home a total remuneration of 359,836,773 rupees (almost US$7 million) out of which Group Chief Mittal alone took 275,065,415, (US$5.34 million) representing an overwhelming 76.4% of the total.

Group CEO (International) and Joint MD, Manoj Kohli took 41,085,739 rupees, (US$797,038) representing 11.42%, and the remaining 19 board members took a total of 43,685,619 rupees, (US$847,474), representing only 12.1% of the total.

Mittal took home US3.52 million as performance linked incentives, while Kohli also got some US$260,000 for same, in spite of the heavy dip in profits.

Former Secretary-General of the OAU (now African Union), Salim Ahmed Salim, is a board member at Bharti Airtel, and he earned some US$44,085 for the whole year.

The annual result did not clearly state how much the other corporate directors and CEO’s across all of Airtel’s operations in Africa and Asia were paid.

Source: Ghana Web

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Operators Fret Over High Bandwidth Cost, Low Broadband

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:18:34 GMT

The continuous increase in the cost of bandwidth and the attendant low penetration of broadband across the country have become source of worry to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry operators.

Nigerians had in recent times, witnessed the landing of several submarine cables on the shores of the country, which include Main One, Glo 1, MTN's West African Cable System (WACS), among others, yet the expectation that the avalanche of sub-sea cables will drive down cost of bandwidth and deepen broadband rollout, is far from reality as Nigerians still groan under high cost of bandwidth.

Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable System, Mrs. Funke Opeke, who blamed the challenges on the absence of a national backbone for the country, called for the establishment of a national carrier that would play the role of the moribund Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

Opeke who spoke at recent stakeholders' forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos, said the absence of a national backbone was responsible for the high cost of bandwidth and the slow penetration of broadband across the country.

According to her, lack of national backbone infrastructure on an open-access basis, remained the major problem of transportation of capacity within Nigeria.

She said: "Providing broadband connectivity from Lagos to Port Harcourt or from Lagos to Kaduna was more expensive than connecting Nigeria to London, because there are insufficient fibre network to the Nigerian cities.

NITEL was supposed to be a national carrier, licensed to provide capacities through its national backbone, but because NITEL has become incapacitated, it cannot provide such service for the country, a situation that is adversely affecting broadband penetration in the country.

Addressing the issue low broadband penetration, Corporate Services Executive for MTN, Mr. Wale Goodluck in an interview with THISDAY, said "to provide the quality of broadband that will take Nigeria into the future, vital areas such as fibre availability, rights of way, and the protection of telecoms facilities, must be adequately addressed."

According to him, "Nigeria needs enough fibre cables, and government must speed up approval of rights of way for the installation of telecom facilities, while providing adequate protection for all installed telecoms facilities."

Opeke noted that in developed economies, the national backbone provided long distance services and carried broadband traffic from sea shores to hinterlands, from where it would supply capacities to access providers that are smaller operators.

"Through the process, access providers could hook on to the national carrier from various locations in the country at a cheaper rate, and provide broadband connectivity to end-users at affordable cost with high speed and reliability," she added.

Source: This Day

Nigeria to boost social technology

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:17:24 GMT

Nigeria’s first technology innovation hub, Co-Creation Hub, yesterday announced that it has partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).

The partnership is aimed at encouraging innovative ideas that could help transform the social technology space in the country.

It was disclosed that TEF will provide managed seed funding to 20 technological ideas/ventures targeted to tackle social challenges within Nigeria.

Co-Creation Hub will however, incubate these funded social technology ventures by means of business support resources.

According to the Co-Creation Hub, the fund aims to support the proper use of technology in several key areas of the economy.

The fund is currently supporting three social technology ventures:

Efiko – a mobile testing platform that provides access to learning resources for secondary school students.

OfficeMotion – a software company creating Tracelist, a web platform product that allows micro and small retailers to showcase their inventory online. It gives consumers direct access to their inventory from web browsers and mobile devices.

Varsoft – a product of Varsoft Technologies that enables content delivery without the use of the Internet.

Source: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN CEO responds to Irancell claims

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:15:20 GMT

Mobile operator MTN has been at the forefront of an on-going legal wrangle between itself and Turkcell, with the latter claiming that the mobile operator side-lined them in Iran in order to gain an operating license in the country.

MTN Group President and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa has released a media statement, in which he denies that MTN was responsible for Turkcell losing its operators license in Iran.

“MTN did not cause Turkcell to lose “its” licence in Iran, as Turkcell claims. The Turkcell consortium was never awarded the licence in Iran. In 2004, a consortium that included Turkcell was pre-selected through a bid process to be awarded the second mobile licence. However, certain conditions set by the Iranian government and the regulator needed to be fulfilled. Those conditions were never met,” he said in the statement.

Dabengwa went on to explain that it wasn’t MTN’s doings for the failed bid, and detailed the process that was followed in order to secure the license for MTN.

“It was Turkcell’s own failures to meet Iranian legal and commercial requirements that caused its exit from the licence process. In September 2005, the Ministry of ICT authorised the Iranian consortium partners to negotiate with MTN, the runner up in the bid process. As a result, a consortium that included MTN as the non-controlling shareholder was awarded the licence.”

He reiterated that Turkcell’s failure to obtain the licence as a result of any alleged corrupt or improper practices by MTN is simply unfounded. Dabengwa went on to say that it’s ludicrous to imply that MTN influenced South African foreign policy, a fact that has already been refused by the South African government.

“Of particular concern are the allegations that accuse MTN of complicity in human rights abuses in Iran. Such allegations are both false and offensive. MTN’s views on human rights are crystal clear. Civic and human rights are central to us as a company, and as individuals. We have clear ethical standards and we expect the people we do business with to abide by them. MTN has established an Ethics Committee with responsibility for guiding the company’s approach to such issues and ensuring that it follows best international practices.”

He also addressed the issue of technical equipment that was provided by MTN to Irancell, which factions have claimed will enhance Iran’s power to spy on subscribers.

“I can emphatically state that whatever equipment MTN has acquired for Irancell was for normal business reasons. This equipment is of identical specification to that used in our other MTN operations. To suggest that we intended to acquire such equipment with the purpose of enhancing the Iranian government’s capacity to monitor its citizens outside the law or restrict their access to services is offensive”.

“Our core belief is that people, irrespective of the governments they live under, gain from being participants in this technological revolution. Excluding them from the benefits of this new technology because of their government’s policy is no answer. My role is to drive forward our business for the benefit of customers, communities and shareholders. Nothing in the current media focus will distract us from pursuing the huge opportunities for the company to build on our past success, and reinforcing our position as the developing world’s leading telecoms company,” he concluded.

Source: ItNews

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Full review of SA’s ICT policies on the cards

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:07:58 GMT

Communications minister Dina Pule will host a national information and communications technology (ICT) policy colloquium later this month to review all of government’s policies governing the sector since 1994. It is being billed as the first comprehensive review of government ICT policy since the ANC took office in 1994.

The colloquium will be held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand on 19 and 20 April and is meant as the start of a process of reviewing all of government’s ICT policies.

News of the planned event comes just days after a new World Economic Forum report was published showing SA is performing particularly poorly as a connected nation, ranking behind Tunisia and Mauritius in Africa and placing 72nd in the world.

“The colloquium will also be a platform for all roleplayers to collectively develop policies that will build a world-class and competitive ICT industry in SA, which will create employment opportunities and increase access to ICT services as well as universal access and to boost the country’s technology capabilities, research, development and innovation,” the department of communications says in a statement.

The two-day colloquium will feature 10 “commissions” chaired by “ICT sector experts”. The panels are policy and regulation in broadcasting; policy and regulation in IT; policy and regulation in telecommunications; policy and regulation in postal services and the potential for ICT in this space; local digital content; digitising government; ICT investment; human capital; manufacturing; and convergence-based ICT solutions and services.

“It is the first time that the department is having a policy review of this magnitude since 1994, when the SA government adopted white papers on broadcasting, telecommunications and postal policies,” Pule says in the statement.

She says the forum will allow government to establish “how we can develop ICT policies that will benefit SA for the next 20 years”.

“The recommendations and decisions that come out of this colloquium will form a key component into the policy and development process for an integrated national ICT policy,” Pule says.

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Broadband - Phase Three Canvasses Interoperability of Backbones

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:06:30 GMT

Opinion

For Nigeria to achieve her vision of effective broadband services, the nation's transmission backbones must align to become interoperable.

This was the advice of the Chief Operating Officer of Phase3 Telecom, Mr. Olusola Teniola, while speaking at the eWorld Broadband Forum 2012 held in Lagos recently.

He noted that though Nigeria currently has three major optic fibre backbones, they were not designed with an open access architecture in mind, making it difficult for them to work together. This situation, he noted, was a drawback on the efforts by government to further broadband penetration in the country.

Teniola stated that Phase3 Telecom envisaged this challenge and subsequently decided to design an open access network in partnership with Dancom ( a subsidiary of The Dangote Group) right from inception, currently covering over 3,000Km nationwide, adding that it is the basis for the company's provision of services to all operators today in the Nigerian marketplace and beyond.

He added that the recent launch of 3.75G networks by some Mobile Network Operators in Nigeria suggested a mobile broadband eco-system was already in place adding that this might kick-start the development of other related services.

"With terrestrial networks already in place in a piece-meal form, these can provide the platform in ensuring speeds of 256Kbps and greater are available on devices that can support broadband applications. This eco-system is the beginning of a wider broadband eco-system that may transpire and include another range of broadband applications from the office desk or from our homes, which will complement the reach and presence of an always-on high speed internet access paradigm," Teniola said.

According to him, this development showed that the Nigerian telecom landscape is one driven by a mobile operator's choice of technology, innovation and investment as against the normal value chain that depicts a strong fixed line incumbent protected by a National Regulator and other licenced operators providing their services piggy-backed on a National Backbone facility.

He added that the drive to Long Term Evolution, one of the latest mobile services, demonstrates this when one considers that the broadband and next generation of the future is now demonstrating scenarios where consumers are hooked up with 100Mbps download speeds to the home.

He advised that the regulator and the entire industry must work together to define a proper programme that will show Nigeria the way, adding that Phase3 Telecom had already taken right steps with its open access fibre network.

"A broadband eco-system that relies purely on networks to evolve without careful planning is bound to fail both in terms of regulation and implementation," Teniola stated

According to him, some level of stability at the backbone layer is also mandatory to serve as a reminder of its being a critical asset within a broadband eco-system that is not subjected to multifaceted ideas and creates more complexity in an already complex environment.

Source: Leadership

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Proposed ownership regulation to apply to new Egyptian operators only?

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:05:18 GMT

Proposals for an amendment to current Egyptian law which would introduce a requirement for a percentage of shares in mobile network operators to be held by Egyptian entities will only apply to new licensees, Reuters reports, citing a communications ministry official. According to the report, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohamed Salem has claimed that draft alterations to the country’s telecoms law are needed due to the sensitive nature of the field in which telecoms businesses operate. As such, it is understood that preliminary discussions regarding ownership restrictions have focused on proposals that 20% of the shares in Egyptian operators should be domestically owned. An unnamed ministry official, however, was cited as claiming that, should such regulatory changes be introduced they would not apply to existing businesses. ‘The proposed amendments to the telecommunications regulatory law in parliament are limited to new licences and won’t be applied to existing operators,’ the official noted, adding, ‘They will be applied to the fourth operator in case it exists.’

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Telecom Egypt and STC discuss collaboration

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:03:54 GMT

The chief executives of Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Telecom Egypt have held talks in Riyadh aimed at developing a strategic partnership between the two firms. According to a report from Arab News, the two CEOs discussed ways of developing ‘a mutual collaborative relationship’, focussing in particular upon international landline traffic, capacity and undersea cabling.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Etisalat to boost network coverage

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:01:36 GMT

Etisalat Nigeria, the country’s fourth largest mobile operator by subscribers, plans to invest NGN30.6 billion (USD193.8 million) in the expansion of its wireless network, local newspaper BusinessDay quotes the company’s CEO Steve Evans as saying. The funds will be used to roll out an additional 1,000 base station transceivers (BTS) by the end of this year to widen network coverage and improve service quality across the country. As at December 2011 Etisalat Nigeria had a total of 3,000 cell sites in operation, according to Evans, who also revealed that the cellco currently has a mobile subscriber base of over twelve million.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

FNB Connect increases data packages

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:30:39 GMT

FNB Connect, the Internet Service Provider division of First National Bank, announced that they will be increasing the free monthly ADSL data for qualifying FNB cheque account customers from May this year.

Users of the free ADSL data package will now receive up to 5GB of data, which comes hot on the heels of an announcement by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in the reduction of wholesale IP connect (IPC) costs to Internet Service Providers (ISP’s).

“It made sense for us to pass on the benefit of the reduction in the IPC costs directly to our customers. With this offer, as well as our free website browsing offers, we are essentially providing free internet data to thousands of qualifying FNB Customers,” says Farren Roper, Head of Products and Markets at FNB Connect.

MyBroadband also added “in addition to obtaining up to 5GB of free monthly ADSL data, FNB Connect registered customers also get unmetered data access to any FNB websites like FNB Online, FNB Connect and eBucks. Browsing on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is also unmetered on ADSL between 7-11pm.”

Source: ItNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Nigeria: The Country to Consume N600 Billion Wireless Broadband Service By 2015 - Ovia

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:29:05 GMT

The founder of Visafone Communication Limited, Jim Ovia, has said that Nigerians will be expending wireless broadband services worth N600 billion come 2015 even as he said aggressive internet penetration was the future of the country for economy growth.

Jim Ovia, who was represented by the MD/CEO, Mr. SaileshIyer, said this in Abuja at the award ceremony for top Visafone partners. He said he would continue to collaborate with them closely towards delivering unmatched mobile broadband experience.

He also said that visafone was declared Nigeria's number one network, on the quality of service provided, by NCC for the year 2011 amongst all mobile networks. He hinted that though he relished the joy of the successes in the last four years, "they must also be prepared to strive harder to consolidate their position as they enter a critical phase of their journey.

"I believe that aggressive internet penetration will lead to economic growth in Nigeria and that it is the future and we will drive this by investing in the infrastructure ahead of time to reap the benefits.

"It is estimated that by 2015 Nigerians would be using wireless broadband services worth N600 billion besides having 70 million internet users.

"As our future growth strategy, we will also be deploying the long term evolution (LTE) technology as soon as the infrastructure and other resources are available to keep us at par with the global competitive environment.

"It is remarkable that Visafone has been declared first in the defined parameters of service namely; Call Set up Success Rate (CSSR), Traffic Channel Congestion (TCHCon), Call Completion Rate (CCR)," he stated.

Source: Leadership

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

East Africa: Vodacom Drops Charges

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:27:53 GMT

Vodacom has dropped charges from incoming calls and messages for its customers while roaming in Africa.

According to a press release issued by the company on Monday, customers in East and South Africa will enjoy free incoming calls while in other nine African countries will also get huge roaming savings.

Vodacom said customers would receive free incoming calls, free incoming SMS, lower calls and data rates while roaming on the Vodacom Lesotho and Vodacom Mozambique.

Others are Vodacom South Africa, Vodacom DRC, Vodafone Ghana and Safaricom Kenya, MTN Rwanda, MTN Uganda, UTL Uganda and UCOM Burundi networks.

Vodacom Tanzania Managing Director Rene Meza said they understand that people want to remain connected at an affordable rate and free from worries roaming bills 'whether they are at home or on holiday in various countries in Africa.'

"What we are launching today is a solution to give our customers peace of mind when travelling," Mr Meza said in the press statement. He said Vodacom subscribers, both post-paid and pre-paid will be able to receive free incoming calls, make calls and surf on the internet at affordable rates while visiting one of the African countries under the promotion.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Rwanda: Airtel Acquires Rwandatel's GSM Masts for $15.5million

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:25:27 GMT

Bharti Airtel, a new entrant in the Rwandan telecom sector, paid $15.5 million (Rwf9.3 billion) to acquire Rwandatel's GSM Masts, Rwandatel's administrator, Richard Mugisha, has disclosed to Business Times.

The Indian-based giant was granted the operating licence in September last year and has committed to invest US$100 million (Rwf59.5 billion) in three years.

The multi-million investment package included $30 million (Rwf17.8 billion) to purchase the operating licence. After the latest deal involving acquisition of Rwandatel's masts, Airtel brings its total investment in the country to $45 million in less than a year.

Rwandatel's assets are up for grabs after a court decision, last year, placed the beleaguered firm under liquidation.

"Other assets are still up for sale and we are still looking for potential buyers," Mugisha said.

Remaining assets include data and internet services infrastructure and fixed telephony infrastructure. Early this year, Mugisha disclosed that the former largest stakeholder in the telecom operator, Libya's LAP Green, lost the chance to reclaim the assets of the company.

Lap Green was among the bidders of Rwandatel's assets.

Rwandatel's woes began when its GSM licence was revoked, early last year, by sector regulator RURA, following what the regulator insisted was the failure by the telco to comply with its obligations.

The company was jointly owned by LAP Green Networks, a subsidiary of Libyan African Portfolio, and the former National Social Security Fund of Rwanda (NSSR), with 80 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

LAP Green is an investment arm mooted and started by the government of former Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and later killed in October last year, during an uprising in the oil rich North African nation.

Bharti Airtel became the third operator after MTN Rwanda, which has 2,892,827 subscribers and TIGO Rwanda with 1,553,367.

MTN Rwanda began operations in 1998, while Tigo, which is owned by Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular SA (MICC), started operations in 2009.

Source: The New Times

Rwanda: Telecom Companies Battle Shifts to Money Transfer

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:17:17 GMT

As telecoms carry on to explore avenues to beat competition in both subscription numbers and revenue volumes, the battle has been shifted to mobile money services.

Rwandan telecommunication operators have now locked horns in Mobile Money Transfer, as they try to cash in the rapidly changing sector. Competition among the country's telecom firms has been tense over the past year, with a price war waging.

TIGO Rwanda, a subsidiary of Luxembourg based Millicom International Cellular, began the mobile money payment platform mid-last year and has since registered over 260,000 subscribers with 700 agents operating across the country.

"With Tigo Cash, a customer can be able to send and receive money, buy airtime and also purchase cash power- the later (airtime and cash power) are absolutely free of charge," TIGO's Marketing Manager, Nina Ndabaneze said in an interview with Business Times.

According to official statistics published in the Central Bank's Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement, both operators have a combined 697,497 transactions, transferring Rwf7.9 billion for the first eleven months of 2011.

Recently, MTN, with operations in Africa and Middle East partnered with a global money transfer giant, Western Union, to enable mobile phone users to send or receive money across borders using their handsets.

However, the service is yet to be officially launched by the Rwandan operator.

Ndabaneze disclosed that Millicom, Tigo's parent company has also signed a global agreement with Western Union and the partnership has already been put to work in its Latin American Tigo operations.

Commenting on when the operator would unveil a similar service to its clients in the coutnry, Ndabaneze stated, "TIGO Rwanda doesn't have a timeline at this stage that they can share. We hope to be the first one to bring this service to Rwanda."

The new entrant Airtel Rwanda is set to launch its mobile money services in the first half of this year.

Bharti Airtel becomes the third operator after MTN Rwanda, which has 2,892,827 subscribers and TIGO Rwanda with 1,553,367.

About Rwf45 billion has been moved through the 'mobile money transfer facility since MTN Rwanda introduced the service.

Head of Mobile Money at MTN Rwanda, Albert Kinuma recently told Business Times that the telecom giant had made tremendous progress in its mobile money services.

Source: The New Times

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

SES to Provide Satellite Services to Ethiopian Telecom

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:15:36 GMT

SES, Luxemburg based company with a fleet of 50 satellites, is in negotiations to provide satellite services to back up the infrastructure of Ethiopia’s telecommunication provider, Ethio Telecom.

SES is planning to invest more than 1 billion euro in satellite infrastructure in Africa and expects to launch a satellite to best serve East Africa including Ethiopia said Ibrahima Guima-Saidou, African Representative for SES.

The company provides satellite services all over the world and has recently launched an initiative to enter Africa and to build long term partnerships with key players on the continent said Guima-Saidou explaining SES’s participation at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit held in Addis Ababa.

Ethio Telecom has shown progress in utilizing satellite service to complement the fiber optics system and is expected to continue increasing its satellite capacity to better support the existing fiber cable system explained Guima-Saidou.

SES is discussing with Ethio Telecom and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to negotiate means whereby satellite solutions support connectivity he said.

Representatives of Ethio Telecom and SES met for the latest rounds of talks two weeks ago during the week of the summit held at the Sheraton Addis.

Ethio Telecom has officially been seeking satellite service providers to back up its telecommunication infrastructure. It is expected that SES and

Ethio Telecom may come to an arrangement in the coming months.

Source: 2Merkato

NITDA reaffirms commitment to IT development

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:13:29 GMT

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Nigeria has renewed its commitment to support the development and growth of Information Technology (IT) in the country.

This was disclosed by Director-General, Prof. Cleopas Angaye at an interactive forum with journalists in Abuja on the activities of the agency.

He said they would achieve this through their three-pronged approach of human capital development, infrastructural development and institutional capacity building. He added that the approach would be supported by various initiatives.

Angaye explained that some of the initiatives of the agency include the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) e-school initiative, mobile Internet unit, Nigerian Cybercrime Working Group, Galaxy Backbone PLC, as well as the CANi project that has driven uptake and spread of computers in the country.

He added: “Other projects which the NITDA is driving include the Catch Them Young Policy, Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA), the Rural Information Technology Centers (RITC) spread across Nigeria, IT scholarship award, Cisco Regional Networking Academy, e-Government and Governance, IT Parks, Virtual Library and development of the Nigerian ICT4D plan, among others.”

The NITDA chief remarked that these projects are geared towards achieving an information-rich society where Nigeria will be rated among the first 20 leading economies of the world by 2020.

Source: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vodacom launches new roaming rates across Africa

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:11:29 GMT

South Africa’s Vodacom Group has unveiled substantial roaming discounts for Vodacom South Africa subscribers using their mobile phones in the four African countries where it operates, namely: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania. In addition, cut-price tariffs are also available in Kenya and Ghana, where Vodacom’s UK-based parent company Vodafone Group has subsidiaries in the shape of Safaricom (Kenya) and Vodafone Ghana. Data rates have been slashed by more than 70%, from ZAR17.50 (USD2.25) per MB to just ZAR5 per MB. In addition, roaming customers will also enjoy free incoming calls when they travel in these countries. Local voice call are now priced at ZAR2.90, with calls to South Africa or other international destinations priced at ZAR5.00. Incoming SMS are free of charge, with local and international messages priced at ZAR1.50 per SMS.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Mozambique: Technology Park May Be Inaugurated This Year

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:19:14 GMT

Maputo — Mozambique's Minister of Science and Technology, Venancio Massingue, told reporters on Tuesday that everything is being done to ensure that the country's first Science and Technology Park, under construction at Maluana, about 90 kilometres north of Maputo, will be inaugurated this year.

Meeting on Tuesday, the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) issued a decree formally creating the Park, though in fact the first stone in the building work was laid in February 2010.

"We are working at full speed on the final touches so that we can inaugurate this great undertaking during this year", said Massingue.

The Park is a complex aimed at the development of scientific research, the promotion of innovation, the generation of knowledge, and the development of human capital. Like other science parks throughout the world, it is intended to be a centre which produces knowledge that can drive the social and economic development of the country.

It also seeks to establish "incubators" of technology and business, aligned with the activities of higher education and research institutions, so as to generate enterprises based on technology, as well as products and services that can both be sold in Mozambique and exported.

Massingue said the Park will be managed by a public company that will be created for this purpose. That company will then establish partnerships with other service provision institutions.

"We hope that many Mozambican business people are preparing to be part of this initiative", the Minister added.

Source: Information of Mozambique

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom obliged to cut wholesale broadband prices by 30%; network overhaul halted by legal action

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:17:41 GMT

Telkom South Africa, the country’s fixed line incumbent, has been ordered to cut the price of the wholesale broadband product used by all of the nation’s internet service providers (ISPs) by 30%, Bloomberg reports. The order, which was implemented by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), took effect on 1 April, the regulator said. However, it remains unclear if the 30% figure will be reached via a glide path, or whether ISPs and end-users will see the full benefit passed on immediately. The cost of the wholesale product, branded ‘IPConnect’, is currently the single largest cost component facing competing ISPs. Sean Nourse, executive for connectivity at Internet Solutions, told TechCentral: ‘Hopefully it is good for everyone. We’ve long thought [IP Connect] is the crippler to getting the whole of South Africa connected. If you look at the Telkom user base, it hasn’t grown dramatically like those of the GSM providers and we’ve always felt it was because of the price. Now we can create competitive pricing, which should also help [Telkom] grow its subscriber base.’

In other news, Reuters Africa reports that Telkom has been forced to halt a planned ZAR13 billion (USD1.69 billion) network overhaul, after infrastructure provider ZTE Mzansi won a court order on Friday to delay the project. ZTE Mzansi, a joint venture between China’s ZTE Corporation and a number of local black-owned companies, took Telkom to court after being disqualified from bidding for the project; ZTE Mzansi claimed that its elimination from the bidding process was unlawful. Pending the outcome of the dispute resolution process, Telkom is prevented from implementing the tender and concluding any service level agreement with the other bidders. MyBroadband.co.za reports that the telco is confident that it will win the legal battle, but has expressed concerned at the recent trend of challenging the award of key tenders in court. Telkom CEO Nombulelo Moholi commented: ‘This often has serious consequences for customers by stalling rollout plans unnecessarily. It is Telkom’s Procurement Policy and Procedures that are on trial here. I am confident that they will not be found wanting. Telkom is often considered to be fair game by losing bidders who may feel entitled to be awarded business by the company. We are often taken to court on review without any foundation whatsoever. Whilst one has rights to challenge administrative actions, unfortunately, the loser in this case is the end-user – our customers – who have to wait for months on end, and sometimes even years, to receive quality service. Meanwhile, Telkom will undoubtedly be accused of poor or late execution of network solutions to the advantage of our competitors.’

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vodacom reduces African roaming costs

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:16:01 GMT

Vodacom customers can expect huge roaming savings when travelling to six African countries where Vodacom and Vodafone operate.

These countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania. Vodacom is leveraging its presence and that of its parent company Vodafone in these African countries, to provide customers who travel to these countries with reduced rates applicable across the Vodacom and Vodafone networks.

The flat rates have resulted in roaming data rates being reduced by more than 70%, from R17,50/MB to only R5/MB. In addition, roaming customers will also enjoy free incoming calls when they travel in these countries.

Commenting on the new Africa roaming service, Romeo Kumalo, Chief Commercial Officer at Vodacom says, “We know that people want to remain connected whether they are at home or on holiday in Mozambique, and that nobody likes the headache of worrying about roaming bills. What we’re launching today is a solution to give our customers peace of mind when travelling. They now have one low roaming rate across our African family of networks and an especially aggressive data rate – just in time for the Easter holidays.”

These rates are only applicable when roaming on the Vodacom Lesotho, Vodacom Mozambique, Vodacom Tanzania, Vodacom DRC, Vodafone Ghana and Safaricom Kenya networks. The reduced rates will automatically apply to all customers who are roaming on the networks above. Standard roaming rates will apply if roaming on a non-Vodacom or Vodafone network in these countries.

For further information about international roaming customers can visit www.vodacom.co.za/roam or they can contact customer care on 111 from a Vodacom phone or 082 111 from any other phone, or e-mail customercare@vodacom.co.za

Source: ItNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Orascom Telecom Drops Most Since 2008 on Djezzy Price Report

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:14:19 GMT

Orascom Telecom Holding SAE (ORTE) headed for the biggest drop in more than three years after a report said it may take months for the Algerian government to conclude talks to buy the company’s local Djezzy unit.

Shares of North Africa’s biggest mobile phone company plunged 9.5 percent to 3.44 Egyptian pounds at 1:18 p.m. in Cairo, poised for the biggest daily decline since November 2008. The benchmark EGX 30 Index (EGX30) fell 1.1 percent.

The negotiations between Algeria and VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP), which merged with Orascom last year, may take many months because of a price disagreement, Al Bayan reported, citing Finance Minister Karim Djoudi. There is a “big disparity” between the price the government is willing to pay and that sought by the seller, the Dubai-based newspaper cited Djoudi as saying.

Source: Bloomberg

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Safaricom CEO to oversee marketing

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:12:42 GMT

Safaricom announced that its chief executive Bob Collymore will oversee the company’s marketing function as part of the firm’s reorganisation strategy, after the departure of Marketing Director Maurice Newa.

Newa, a Malawian, resigned last week as the company’s director of Customer Care and strategic marketing, just eight months after he took up the position in August 2011.

“Maurice has left for personal reasons. He used to report to Peter Arina (General Manager for the consumer business unit). But I will now take a more hands-on approach in the marketing arena,” CEO Bob Collymore told the Daily Nation in an interview during the Connected Kenya Summit 2012 in Mombasa.

Since he took charge, Collymore has been re-engineering top level management, merging some departments and creating others as he seeks to streamline the firm through an increasingly competitive environment.

Source: ItNews

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania: TTCL Strikes 10.7 Billion Rwanda's Cyber Deal

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:16:58 GMT

The Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has won a 6.7 million US dollars (about 10.7bn/-) contract to supply 1.244 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda for 10 years.

TTCL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Said Amir Said, told the 'Daily News' shortly before signing the contract in Kigali that striking of the deal was testimony of the firm's growing international reputation.

"After all the problems that TTCL has had over the years, winning this contract shows that the management has turned around its image as well as proof that it has the capacity to compete in big tenders," he said.

Mr Said said under the contract, TTCL was expected to install, configure, test, commission and activate a temporary link with 155 megabytes bandwidth per second by the end of this month. He said the vision that the government has in transforming the country into Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hub for Africa is now within its grasp.

"This contract that we are about to sign is the biggest of its kind so far .. Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda have also expressed their interest to us to supply bandwidth to them," he revealed. Mr Said also revealed that Rwanda had also expressed interest in getting additional bandwidth.

The CEO said that with the East African Community and other regional integration efforts being increased, it went without saying that ICTs greatly enhanced the performance of a country and a catalyst to increased efficiency in different sectors of the economy.

According to a statement made available by TTCL, the bulk international broadband bandwidth has been procured through the World Bank grant under the Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme - Rwanda, a project that aims at lowering prices of internet capacity as well as extending the geographical reach of broadband networks.

"As a land-locked country, Rwanda faces significant challenges in getting access to low cost international connectivity. This purchase of bulk international capacity on regional and international networks will significantly boost our vision to make bandwidth available on the Rwandan market," the Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Gara said.

Mr Gara said that if broadband becomes a commodity on the Rwandan market, it would stimulate deployment of a wider and improved range of services to consumers at affordable prices. The permanent fibre optic link between TTCL's existing optic fibre within Tanzania and Rwanda's national backbone will be activated with a 1,244 gigabytes service by the end of October, this year.

"We are using government demand for bandwidth to drive down regional prices, to stimulate investment into regional network infrastructure and to ensure that these lower prices are made available to all market participants on an open-access basis," the Head of the ICT department of the board, Mr Patrick Nyirishema said.

Mr Nyirishema said that the World Bank funded project would go directly into the expansion of broadband connectivity through funding broadband connections to government institutions such as schools, health centres and local government offices and in the implementation of the eGovernment programme.

The National ICT Broadband Backbone Project (NICTBB) is already connected to two major submarine cables of SEACOM and EASSy, extending the connectivity to the neighbouring countries. The virtual landing station of the submarine cables through the project have been established at the respective cross border points of Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Kenya: Nation Gets Four Billion Funding for ICT Growth

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:15:14 GMT

Nairobi — The government has secured an additional Sh4.57 billion ($55.1 million) from the World Bank to scale up digital inclusion, content development, e-government and shared services.

The new funding which will increase financing under the Kenya Transparency and Communications Infrastructure Project (KTCIP) to Sh14 billion ($169.5 million), will enable the country to consolidate the gains it has made in the ICT sector.

World Bank Country Director for Kenya Johannes Zutt said that through the grant, Kenya will expand technology-based platforms for transparency and accountability particularly as it rolls-out the new counties.

"Information technology has opened a path for achieving remarkable improvements in transparency and also in governance," Zutt observed.

The money will also be used to expand the Kenya Open Data Initiative and the Integrated Financial Management Information System with the end result being to increase opportunities for economic transformation and growth.

The Open Data portal which was launched in July 2011 is a revolutionary initiative by the government and private innovators who are using the information on the portal to develop new ICT applications.

"It will also increase the government's investment in cyber security and support investments to simply and improve immigration and population registry systems. The government and the bank will also explore a public-private partnership business model for e-government applications," the WB country director pointed out.

Since the year 2000, information technology has contributed on average one percent to Kenya's Gross Domestic Product rate and the number is projected to rise even higher with new innovations.

Kenya has put in place the second-fastest broadband on the continent - after Ghana - which has reduced the wholesale internet capacity prices by over 90 percent and increased Internet penetration from three percent to 37 percent of the population in the past decade.

Currently, about 90 percent of Kenyan adults have or have the use of a mobile phone.

Kenya is now widely recognised as a world leader in using ICT as a game changer and a global leader in IT applications.

These include the home grown mobile-money platforms like Safaricom's money transfer service M-PESA, which are enabling increasing numbers of poorer Kenyans to use their phones for financial transactions, bringing quasi-financial services to them for the very first time.

It is also widely recognised as a role model on using ICT for financial inclusion and inclusive development.

Besides, software developers like Ushahidi are developing world-wide reputations for leadership, such as in open-source mapping and geo-referencing, while incubators like the Bank-supported iHub and m-apps lab and the privately-funded iLabAfrica at Strathmore University are supporting a vibrant community of over 1,700 IT applications developers.

Source: Capital FM

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Telecom Roadmap - Stakeholders Seek Fair Tax Regime, Broadband Access Framework

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:13:40 GMT

Nigeria's attempt to become a digital economy may be realised sooner going by the plans of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to draw a five-year (2013-2017) Strategic Management Plan (SMP) that will guide the growth and development of the telecom sector by ensuring the spread of broadband services to rural areas, connection of the citizens to the digital world and eradication of the stumbling blocks to competition and investments.

At a national consultative forum in Lagos last weekend, on 'Harnessing Communications Technology as a catalyst for National Development, stakeholders brainstormed on the critical challenges affecting the industry and agreed that time has come for the new ways of addressing challenges in the sector.

Dr. Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, who set the ball rolling for a frank and open discussion, noted that the commission's corporate interests and intervention activities must be guided by an integrated planning methodology and performance management system that can quickly respond to sector challenges.

Ten years after mobile revolution, the sector is facing some challenges which need to be addressed in order to achieve pervasive service availability and ultimately improved quality of service.

Operators like MTN, Globacom, Etisalat, Airtel, and infrastructure solution providers such as Phase3 Telecom and Main One Cable Company made presentations seeking clear-cut regulatory frameworks on broadband access, incentives to extend broadband deployment to rural areas, rollout targets, a handshake between the operators and the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), 4G spectrum for wireless broadband service, etc.

For Ms. Funke Opeke, CEO, Main One Cable Company, ICT should be a catalyst for the economy affecting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), job creation, cashless policy, lifestyle, education, entertainment propelled by broadband services. She noted that the absence of a national backbone through NITEL has affected distribution to the hinterland; she called on the NCC to come up with framework on broadband access sharing with incentives to encourage non-discrimination and penalties for those not willing to share facilities.

Despite achieving over 95.8 million lines and a teledensity of 68.49 per cent, the telecom sector is burdened and dwarfed by worsening quality of service, multiple taxation, multiple regulation, deteriorating power supply, extraneous regulatory issues by other agencies of government and a host of other issues.

Juwah noted that "Some of these problems like multiple taxation is a global problem with the ITU Secretary -General, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, calling on governments not to kill telecoms industry with taxes, some of them are peculiar to us and they need to be tackled very urgently for quick resolution," adding that a robust SMP was not only imperative but highly expedient.

Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, represented by Mr. John Ayodele said that all the players in the telecom industry have a stake in the sector, adding that the SMP would place the NCC in a better position to achieve its strategic goal. He said that the information society demand a workforce that can use technology as a tool for productivity and efficiency.

Source: Leadership

NigComSat targets 40% broadband access

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:12:29 GMT

The Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited has targeted 40 percent broadband penetration in the country by the year 2015.

Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, the Managing Director and Chief Executive, made this statement in a paper presentation at the Convergence forum in Lagos, on Friday.

He lamented the low percentage of broadband access in the country revealing that only 28 percent of the population was connected to the Internet.

Ahmed-Rufai recalled that the International Telecommunications Union had set a target of 50 billion broadband connections by 2020 while proposing that 40 percent of households should be connected to broadband globally by 2015.

NigComSat shared the vision and would be in the forefront of ensuring that Nigeria met the target. This company will have huge impacts on the country’s ICT sector in terms of cheaper Internet access as well as improved e-Commerce, telemedicine and e-Learning, he said.

Ahmed-Rufai added, “Our strategic plan is centered on using our assets, the staff, the satellite and complementary ground infrastructure as an extraordinary vehicle to drive the National ICT revolution in pursuit of self-reliance and required skills for engineering and technology domestication of secured satellite bandwidth and telecommunication services for defense, security outfits and other strategic telecommunications and broadcast needs of the nation.”

The NigComSat boss said the government-owned satellite communication provider had partnered with Main One Cable Company. This is line with their objective to expand the coverage of the Main One Internet Protocol services via satellite and to achieve their goal.

ource: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN Group appoints new Operations Executive

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:10:36 GMT

MTN Group today announced the appointment of Themba Khumalo, currently MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer, as Operations Executive for the Group.

Khumalo’s appointment is part of MTN Group’s recent changes to the company’s organisational model to improve organisational effectiveness.

As Operations Executive, Khumalo will be responsible for managing 13 MTN operations in: Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Congo Brazzaville, Cyprus, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Yemen and Zambia.

Announcing the changes, MTN Group President & CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, said Khumalo’s successor in Uganda would be announced soon.

“We always look forward with hope and optimism, leaving behind a legacy of achievements in the way we do business. The enterprising spirit within MTN energises our efforts to do better in Uganda whilst sustaining our unwavering focus in customer service and our broad based corporate social responsibility,” he said.

Khumalo joined MTN South Africa in 1994 following a long career in fixed line telecommunications, and has operated in a number of senior positions in MTN, including being Chief Executive Officer in Swaziland, Rwanda and currently in Uganda.

A holder of a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa (USA), he has also served on a number of boards in Swaziland and MTN operations, including MTN Uganda. Khumalo has acquired over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry.

MTN Uganda Chairman, Charles Mbire, said Khumalo’s appointment would bolster the Group’s position as a leading telecommunications firm in Africa, and commended him for his steady management in Uganda over the last three years.

“We have been happy with Themba’s steady hand in the face of various challenges such as the global recession, as well as increasing local competition. MTN Uganda has continued to grow steadily in terms of subscriber numbers and market share,” Mbire said.

Since joining MTN Uganda in 2009, Khumalo has overseen a number of key successes. Key to note is the launch of the first ever Mobile Money service in Uganda; MTN Mobile Money has been an exceptional success with a significant impact on the lives of Ugandans. Also under his tenure, MTN Uganda has achieved close to 60% growth in subscribers, maintaining its leadership in a highly competitive market with intense price wars. There have also been a number of investments made towards network modification and enhancements – the introduction of the biggest 3G+ network in the market is key to note in this sphere.

The Operations Executive will report to the newly appointed Group Chief Operating Executive (GCOE), Ahmad Farroukh, formerly MTN Group Vice President for the West and Central Africa (WECA) Region.

Source: ItNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

New East Africa cable to go live in April

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:22:47 GMT

Following the recent broadband cable cut that affected much of East Africa’s connectivity, the new Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION2) is set to go live and active on 14 April, 2012.

The landing station in Mombassa has been completed, and will enable the lead investor in the project, Orange Kenya, to begin leasing broadband Internet services to potential service providers, the company said.

The cable was built by France Telecom at a cost of KES 6.2 billion. Orange Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein told Business Daily on Wednesday, adding that the LION2 cable “will provide a redundancy route to operators using the other three cables, the East African Marine System (TEAMS), Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and Seacom.”

He added that the cable will be going live mid-next month, “and Orange is targeting operators currently connected to the other cables but looking for affordable redundancy routes to the Middle East.”

The cable covers some 3,000 kilometers to Nyali, Mombasa via the island of Mayotte located in the northern Mozambique channel from Mauritius.

Source: ItNews

Lower broadband prices as soon as this week

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:20:21 GMT

News on Friday that the cost of IP Connect, the product Internet service providers have to buy from Telkom to access the fixed-line operator’s last-mile broadband network, was to fall by 30% from 1 April should lead to lower retail prices as early as this week.

However, service providers polled by TechCentral on Monday still want to understand the mechanics of the price reduction before committing to new products and services.
Internet Solutions MD Derek Wilcocks says Telkom has yet to publish its updated pricing schedule and it remains unclear whether the 30% figure will be reached via “a glide path” or if Internet service providers, and consumers in turn, will see the full benefit passed on.

Wilcocks says regardless of how the reduction happens, it should mean greater broadband penetration as the price of connectivity falls.

Although the wholesale price cuts are good news for consumers and service providers alike, they could also prove a boon for Telkom in the long run, Wilcocks believes. “It will be interesting to see what happens with Telkom’s demand for lines,” he says. He suggests that over time the lower rates could push up fixed-line broadband penetration rates.

Sean Nourse, executive for connectivity at Internet Solutions, says those who will feel the effects of the reduction first will be capped rather than uncapped Internet users. He says it’s unclear at this stage whether uncapped users will benefit through price reductions, added capacity or through improved service levels, but that there will definitely be benefits for all consumers.

“Hopefully it’s good for everyone,” says Nourse. “We’ve long thought [IP Connect] is the crippler to getting the whole of SA connected. If you look at the Telkom user base, it hasn’t grown dramatically like those of the GSM providers and we’ve always felt it was because of the price. Now we can create competitive pricing, which should also help [Telkom] grow its subscriber base.”

Nourse warns, however, that Telkom is still going to take a hit in the process as its subscriber base “isn’t suddenly going to increase”.

MWeb ISP CEO Derek Hershaw says MWeb is “pleased” with the reduction and believes Icasa deserves “some credit” for delivering on the commitments it made to the industry in November 2011 to reduce the rates.

“There’s undoubtedly room for Telkom to cut prices further, but at the same time the company needs to do a lot of work on its network and you need to leave some money on the table for it to do that,” Hershaw says. “A reduction in line rental costs or a bump in line speeds would certainly be well received – our entry level product in this market should at least be 1Mbit/s.”

Hershaw says MWeb has traditionally used the savings from price reductions to buy more capacity and that although it will look to do that in this instance it will also consider passing “something” back to its customers on some of its products.

Vox Telecom’s chief commercial officer, Murray Steyn, says the reductions should help make Internet service providers more competitive. “You’ll see all sorts of specials coming out of the service providers now,” he says. “We’re going to announce revised pricing as well. It should be finalised by the end of the week.”

Steyn echoes Dempers’ sentiments by saying Vox hopes this proves to be only the first in a number of price reductions from Telkom.

The business services arm of mobile operator MTN has weighed in on the reduction, too, with Edwin Thompson, GM of technology and infrastructure at MTN Business, saying it is “long overdue” and “needed in the market”.

He says the move “will go a long way in achieving more capacity, more accessibility and more cost effectiveness – essentially improving overall broadband solution offerings for the local consumer.”

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tech-neutral licences issued; MTC enters 4G negotiations with city council

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:18:26 GMT

Namibian cellco Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) has taken steps towards its planned 4G LTE network launch after the Windhoek City Council passed a resolution allowing the municipality to negotiate with the mobile operator on its proposal to install underground ducts for fibre-optic transmission infrastructure supporting its 4G base stations in the capital, local newspaper The Namibian reports. Also helping to bring a commercial LTE launch a stage nearer, on 30 March 2012 the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) converted the operating licences of MTC and other companies to technology- and service-neutral concessions, meaning that existing wireless frequencies can be utilised for any purpose, including re-using 2G or 3G spectrum for the launch of 4G services in the absence of new licence awards.

As previously reported by CommsUpdate, MTC has suffered delays in its LTE rollout partly due to stalled planning applications, while rival Telecom Namibia opposes MTC’s fibre-optic backhaul plan on the basis that it should use Telecom’s own existing transmission network as a wholesale customer instead. However, MTC’s managing director Miquel Geraldes has told the Windhoek council that Telecom had failed to make its fibre infrastructure in the capital available to MTC despite a wholesale access agreement being signed between them six months earlier. The Windhoek council’s latest decision permits the municipality and MTC to negotiate a technical agreement setting out the route of the underground pipe, timeframe, standards and quality control of the construction work.

CRAN last week issued service- and technology-neutral licences to MTC and two other telecoms licensees, AfricaOnline and Wireless Technologies Namibia (WTN). Miguel Geraldes told newspaper The Economist that, equipped with its new licence, MTC was considering future moves such as connecting users to direct fibre-optic triple-play broadband, telephony and TV services, in addition to its LTE plans. Barney Harmse, CEO of WTN – reportedly part of a group with operations in twelve African countries – said that his company was rolling out a ‘national 4G network’. According to CRAN’s website, WTN previously operated under three licences covering VoIP telephony (‘trial’), international data gateway (VSAT) and wireless broadband internet services. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that Telkom South Africa-owned AfricaOnline (including the former MWeb) operates internet/data services including VSAT in Namibia and also operates a fixed-wireless WiMAX-based broadband access network covering the Windhoek area.

The country’s second largest GSM provider, Powercom (Leo), had also applied for technology/service neutral licence conversion, but was not on the list of successful applicants announced by CRAN. Also reportedly failing to meet the regulator’s transitional deadline for licence conversion were two other operators, CTS and iBurst. CRAN said that all three of these applicants had so far failed to comply with necessary conditions due to ‘various financial, technical and procedural issues.’

In response to MTC’s previous complaints of slowness in allocating 4G frequencies, CRAN has assured the market that it will issue new 1800MHz bandwidth which will be earmarked for LTE. However, TeleGeography notes that the regulator has also stated technical issues must be ironed out before the ‘digital dividend’ 800MHz band is issued to cellcos for expanding 4G services, under its draft national frequency allocation plan, which is designed to take into account prospective new market entrants.

Source: Telegeography

MTN Liberia breaks one million subscriber barrier

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:13:16 GMT

MTN Liberia (formerly Lonestar Communications) has announced the signing of its one-millionth mobile customer, based on the audited reports of its parent group MTN’s full year 2011 results. Monrovia-based newspaper The New Dawn also notes that the MTN Group highlighted the Liberian operator as one of its strongest growth performers. South Africa-registered MTN had a total of 164 million customers in 22 countries at the end of December 2011, of which MTN Liberia had over one million. The cellco’s milestone comes at the end of more than ten years of activity in a country that it striving to overcome the devastating impact of civil war.

Source: TeleGeography

Airtel launches Rwanda’s third mobile network

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:12:05 GMT

India’s Bharti Airtel group has added to its pan-African footprint with the launch of its new network in Rwanda, marking its seventeenth operation in Africa. Airtel has joined MTN and Millicom (Tigo) in the Rwandan mobile market, and says it plans to invest USD100 million over the next three years to build a nationwide 2G/3G network. Airtel says it took just 83 days to build out its network from scratch, making it the fastest ever network rollout in sub-Saharan Africa. MTN and Millicom previously faced competition from another operator, Libyan-owned Rwandatel, but that company had its licence revoked in April 2011 after failing to meet the minimum network coverage obligations of its concession.

Source: TeleGeography

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Mobile Monday Chapter launched in Addis Ababa

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:25:34 GMT

Information and Communication Technology Association - Ethiopia (ICT-ET) announced yesterday that Addis Ababa has become the latest member of the Mobile Monday family during the Innovation Africa Digital Summit which was held in Addis Ababa from March 27 to 29. The Summit, which was hosted by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and Extensia LTD, brought together over 400 executives, regulators and ministers within the ICT industry across Africa.

Mobile Monday, also known as MoMo, founded by Finland’s mobile enthusiasts Vesku Paananen (“the father” of ringtones) and Peter Vesterbacka (marketing wizard of world’s all time biggest mobile game Angry Birds) in 2000 and internationalized by Jari Tammisto, is an international network of passionate mobile developers, influencers, and investors aiming to develop the mobile ecosystem locally and globally. There are currently over 140 chapters around the world and Addis Ababa is the newest chapter. 'We welcome Addis Ababa to the Mobile Monday family and look forward to continuing our collaboration with ICT-ET on this important initiative' said Jari Tammisto CEO and President of MobileMonday Global.

ICT-ET aims to expose, engage and enable the private sector within ICT in Ethiopia which includes Information Technology, Communication Technology and Broadcasting Technology. 'Our main goal currently is to expose Ethiopia's ICT sector to the world and vice versa. Our current efforts include various events we've facilitated such as the Diaspora Dialogue, Innovation Africa Digital Summit with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, and G-Ethiopia with Google. Joining the Mobile Monday family will now help put Ethiopia on the global ICT map which is also necessary to attract investors to the ICT Park in Addis Ababa.' added Seyoum Bereded, President of ICT-ET.

Q&A: MTN’s CEO Sifiso Dabengwa

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:17:49 GMT

During this year’s Innovation Africa Digital Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, several speakers from across the continent had the opportunity to brief the media on their future plans. ITNewsAfrica.com caught up with MTN’s CEO Sifiso Dabengwa to find out more about their African plans.

* This year’s Innovation Africa Digital Summit focuses on the need to create sustainable national and international ICT ecosystems. What role is MTN playing in supporting this objective?

It is fair to say it’s a complex task and it’s one that will take a number of initiatives in different forms in order to achieve it. But if we look at it from an MTN point of view, I think our real contribution is really around insuring that there is good solid infrastructure being developed. We have taken part in the majority of the undersea cables that have been installed around Africa. Actually our participation goes right around the African continent. So that is a critical part of the development of this ecosystem and if you think back to five years ago there was one cable, but now we have about eight.

* Looking at entering a new market, what is it that you think MTN can bring to the table that is not offered by your competitors?

A starting point is that we have significant experience working across the continent. But over and above that, our strategy is that whatever country we go into, we will make the required investments. We don’t build thin networks — we will always make sure that we will do the required investments to ensure that there is meaningful success, both from a business point of view and from an overall economic point of view. The fact that we have experience and have worked in a number of countries means we do have a better understanding of what are some of the more important things that we have to worry about — even before we get into a particular market.

* What do you see as the number one challenge facing the African ICT sector in terms of extending connectivity?

I think getting infrastructure into the ground is probably the biggest challenge that we face. This is to get backhaul from the cable systems — but there are also cross-border challenges. The cost of satellite and microwave-based communications has been quite high. So the whole issue of infrastructure across boundaries and linking to the submarine system is an important challenge that has to be addressed. We need businesses that are sustainable, that will be able to operate in this environment for a long period. That is part of the deal.

* Why is the African market so important to international mobile operators?

It’s like any other market — it’s important for us, because it is a market we believe we can serve well and it’s a market we know and understand. And it is also important in the sense that there are still opportunities for growth. The issue of growth is regardless of which operator can get into a specific pocket. At the end of the day, with the information revolution that is taking place, telecommunication infrastructure and companies will form the basis for increased access to information.

* Does MTN have any plans to expand further into Africa?

We are continuously looking for opportunities — mainly in Africa and in the Middle East, and it’s just a question of the availability of an opportunity that we believe we can execute effectively- and if it makes sense for us. So we are continuously looking for opportunities.

Source: ItNews

Q&A: Nigerian Communications Commission’s Dr Bashir Gwandu

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:15:26 GMT

During the Innovation Africa Digital Summit in Ethiopia, IT News Africa had the opportunity to talk to Dr Bashir Gwandu, Nigeria’s Communications Commission’s Executive Commissioner. Gwandu discussed the future of mobile devices in Nigeria, content creation and the country’s recent efforts to free up spectrum.

* Please elaborate on the need to free up spectrum in Nigeria?

What we realized is that we don’t have fiber on the ground; and that we don’t even have as much copper as we need. So we asked ourselves what infrastructure will allow for communication – and the only solution that we can have is wireless- and the most important resource to allow that communication is spectrum.

We have a growing requirement for data with a lot of content coming out of Nigeria. Going into the future, we will need a way of transmitting this content to the population and indeed other parts of the world. Now, if you don’t have fiber or copper underground, you have to have an alternative. If you go and ask for spectrum now, you won’t get it and we don’t have it. Every spectrum that is being identified by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) becomes harmonised around the world, making it lucrative – because infrastructure will be developed for it. So what we went to the ITU for, is to prepare for the future. Its not just about content, but the ability to actually use your mobile as a partner- to purchase products at a shop instead of using a debit or credit card.
To prepare for the future, we have to create infrastructure that will make that kind of thing available and one of them is spectrum. There are technologies around, for example improving spectral efficiency is one way to improve data speed – but there is only so much you can do because you can have LTE but that is still not enough. The second alternative is to go back to erecting more towers, but that is more costly and there is an environmental impact- so clearly that is not the best option for us. The third alternative is co-location of towers, but you can only use that to a degree because not every tower can be co-located. So by far, the most important and effective way to improve the potential of being able to accommodate the higher data demand, is to free up some spectrum.

* It has been reported that Nigeria creates the second largest amount of content in the world? Where does this content come from?

That is what has been mentioned, I hope that is correct. We have many movies that we have created in Nigeria; I think that is where this is coming from. We have more movie content, and future content will also be movies, videos and so on. I can agree that we are maybe the second or third largest content creator, because of the number of movies that are coming out of Nigeria.

Which content should we be focussing on?

Other content like software and development, we are not at the level at which I want to see. I want to see us better in terms of producing software, in terms of the evolution of hardware – we are not there yet. But in terms of the content that people can buy on the internet, yes Nigerians are very good at it – probably the number one player in Africa. To prepare for all of this is difficult, because if you want to download a movie in Nigeria today, you will be very frustrated because there internet speed is poor. So that is where we are, and you have to look ahead and have the vision to prepare for the future- and that is why we went to ask for the extra bandwidth spectrum.

* Is Near-Field Communication an option for Nigeria in the future?

This is a combination of so many things – we have RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology in Nigeria, which has to be built into the product. In the shops, they have RFID stickers that give customers information about products such as expiry date and price. What we are hoping to see is that phones will be designed in such a way that they actually read RFID. If the shelves are automated, it can group all your purchases together outside the shop. But naturally it will need to have short-range communication like Bluetooth. In the proposal that we have tabled with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union), we have asked for spectrum for these other improvement services. And that will include Wi-Fi for SRD (short-range devices).

* What is the future of mobile devices and usage in Nigeria?

The future of the mobile industry, I think, as more people get connected and our lives become more digital, we will have more efficient services. We will continue to rely on mobile as part-and-parcel of our lives, and we’ll one day see cars talking to each other using spectrum. In time, RFID technology will be part of our lives in such a way that you will know the location of many different things. These things are coming; it is just a matter of time. There is a very bright future ahead, and our lives will be managed more efficiently. We are thinking ahead – as regulators in Nigeria we are really among the people who think ahead, so that we give our people the best chance at making efficient use of their time and resources.

Source: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africans rally behind dotAfrica registry

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:12:30 GMT

African government ministers attending the recent Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week have pledged their support for the ZA Central Registry’s (ZACR) bid to become the dotAfrica Registry Operator.

The ZACR is a non-profit company based in South Africa, and is the administrator of the popular CO.ZA domain name space.

“The drive towards Africa’s very own Top Level Domain (TLD) continues to gather momentum and we need the support of all African governments and the broader community as that momentum gathers further steam,” said Koffi Fabrice Djossou, who presented the ZACR’s case for dotAfrica at the Summit.

He specifically called on all the delegates – which included key government ministers from Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda, as well as a variety of policy makers and regulators – to provide the African Union with their letters of support for the ZA Central Registry to apply for and administer the dotAfrica TLD.

Djossou is a member of the Registry Project Team, which works closely with the dotAfrica Steering Committee (Steercom), established to provide strategic and ethical oversight for the dotAfrica project. The multi-stakeholder SteerCom responsibilities include the development and establishment of the dotAfrica Foundation, which will play an important role in administering ICT related developmental projects and initiatives in Africa. Djossou pointed out that the goal is to promote an African identity for the continent, through African based administration and operation of the domain.

The IAD Summit is internationally recognised as one of the most important business meetings in the African ICT space. It seeks to address many important issues, including issues affecting the development of the telecoms and ICT landscape across Africa.

Djossou told the delegates that the administration of a continental domain name, as with any TLD, will present significant technical issues and challenges. The African Union was therefore only prepared to endorse an organisation that could demonstrate a strong technical ability and track record concerning the administration of a large domain name space.

Transparency, reliability, technical ability, financial stability and continental representation were all key considerations for the AU in deciding which organisation to endorse. For these reasons, says Djossou, the AU put forward the ZA Central Registry as its choice of Registry Operator.

He says that the AU and the ZA Central Registry have been working in partnership to prepare and submit the required application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This will be done before the April 2012 deadline. However, he added that since ICANN still has to make the final choice regarding the dotAfrica Registry Operator, additional demonstrations of support would be most useful.

In a show of African solidarity, the African government representatives present responded enthusiastically, with many pledging their support. The delegates clearly recognised the importance of having an African organisation administering the domain name, as this is what will be required to drive future African innovation and help Africans to rely on, and grow, their own resources.

Source: ItNews

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom network overhaul halted by court: paper

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:08:45 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Telkom has been forced to stop a planned 13 billion rand network overhaul after infrastructure provider ZTE Mzansi won a court order on Friday to halt the project, Business Day newspaper reported.

ZTE Mzansi, a joint venture between China's ZTE Corp and local black-owned companies, took Telkom to court after being disqualified from a bidding process related to the project, Business Day said on Monday.

Telkom said it was reviewing the court judgement.

Source: Reuters Africa

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN former CEO denies bribes to Iran, S.Africa

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:07:26 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The former chief executive of MTN Group denied on Sunday that he authorised bribes to Iranian and South African government officials in return for a cellular licence in Iran.

"I can state quite categorically that during my tenure as group CEO of MTN no bribes were authorised or paid by the MTN Group to any South African or Iranian government officials to secure the mobile licence in Iran," Phuthuma Nhleko said in a statement.

Turkish mobile operator Turkcell this week filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit against MTN in a U.S. federal court, accusing it of using bribery and other corrupt acts to win its licence in Iran in 2004.

Nhleko, who was then the CEO of MTN, is named in the suit, as well as current CEO Sifiso Dabengwa, who was then the chief operating officer.

The suit also charges that MTN lobbied the South African government to take a soft stance on Iran's nuclear programme and provide Tehran with military equipment in exchange for the licence, which was initially awarded to Turkcell.

MTN has said the case is without legal merit, while Pretoria has said its foreign policy is independent.

"MTN's conduct was not unlawful or corrupt and MTN was certainly not in a position where it could influence or fetter the decisions made by the South African government or any other sovereign state," Nhleko said.

MTN has set up an independent committee led by a UK legal scholar to investigate Turkcell's claims. It has said Turkcell has refused to cooperate with the investigation.

MTN has a 49 percent stake in Iranian unit Irancell, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of its annual revenue.

Source: Reuters Africa

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ericsson Completes Acquisition of BelAir Networks

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:05:54 GMT

Ericsson says that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of BelAir Networks, a North American Wi-Fi company.

The closing follows the announcement on February 21, 2012 that Ericsson had entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in BelAir Networks.

"We welcome BelAir Networks' 120 employees to Ericsson. Together we can deliver the industry's first integrated Wi-Fi cellular offering to Ericsson's global customer base in 180 countries, to enhance consumers' mobile broadband experience," said Johan Wibergh, Executive Vice President and head of business unit Networks, Ericsson.

The former BelAir Networks' staff will be integrated into the Ericsson group in business unit Networks over the coming months and will work under the Ericsson brand effective today.

Source: Cellular News

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Orange Kenya needs $120m bailout

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:10:50 GMT

Telecom operator Orange Kenya has asked the government for a KES 10 billion ($120 million) bailout, news reports revealed on Wednesday. The move comes as the company continues to incur massive debts following its 2007 buyout by France Telecom.

Orange made a record loss of KES 18.2 billion in 2011 and needs to raise KES 5.8 billion in order to repay bank loans by the end of the month.

According to documents published online, Orange Kenya’s management said it has hit a “brick wall”. They warn the Kenyan Treasury and France Telecom, that if the emergency cash injection failed to arrive, the operator would be unable to meet its immediate commitments (about KES 1.6 billion) to Standard Chartered Bank.

According to analysts this, “will trigger a chain reaction that could see bank loans worth KES 12.5 billion from Standard Chartered and KCB called in”.

The company added that they would only be able to cover basics like electricity, water, security and salaries.

Orange Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein said in a statement yesterday, that the total amount of shareholder loans being requested “was still under discussion”.

Source: ITNews

Uganda extends awards deadline

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:08:47 GMT

Uganda’s telecom regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), announced on Thursday that it was pushing back the deadline for entry submissions for the Annual Communications Innovation Awards (ACIA 2012).

The original deadline was this Friday, but the UCC has moved the closing date to March 30.

According to a statement from UCC’s Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi, the measure aims to attract more participants to the event.

Awards to be handed out at the event include: Rural e-Services Award, Green ICT Award, and e-Government Award, Local Content Award, Student Research Award, and The Communications Innovation Award.

“ACIA is a special initiative of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) aimed to create a channel for identifying, generating interest and recognition of various stakeholders in advancing availability and access to modern and innovative communications services in Uganda,” the UCC said.

“The awards also aim to stimulate further investment in the communications industry and other sectors specifically through promoting the deployment of appropriate communications technologies, applications and services. It also aims to promote accessibility to communications services for disabled people, and to encourage partnerships with the private sector so as to meet consumer needs,” the UCC concludes.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Samsung to offer free satellite TV to Africa

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:06:51 GMT

Korean eletronics giant Samsung will begin selling television sets in selected African markets that come bundled with a satellite tuner that will allow consumers to watch a free television bouquet of more than 60 channels provided by satellite operator SES.

The LED-backlit LCD flat-panel TVs, known as the Samsung LED TV Free Satellite, will be available to consumers in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon in the third quarter of this year.

A Samsung spokesman wasn’t immediately able to say when or even if the service will be available in SA.

The company says in a statement that it hopes to bring more channels to more African regions in 2013 with a new satellite from SES to be used for this project.

Through its agreement with SES, Samsung says it will provide approximately 30 English channels and more than 30 French channels to television viewers.

Christoph Limmer, SES’s senior director of marketing development and marketing in Africa, says the deal with Samsung will bring digital content to more African consumers and encourage African broadcasters to launch more free-to-air content in the region.

“In serving more than 40 African countries, we are well aware of the huge demand for greater services — both quality and quantity,” says Limmer.

Source: TechCentral

Stricken Telkom seeks KES10.9bn bailout to ease crippling debt

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:03:28 GMT

Telkom Kenya, which is co-owned by France Telecom-Orange (51%) and the Kenyan government (49%), has reportedly asked taxpayers to foot a KES10.9 billion (USD129.6 million) rescue package to help secure the company’s short-term future. The telco, which posted a record loss of KES18.2 billion in 2011, has around a week to raise KES5.8 billion to repay an outstanding bank loan that is due by the end of the month. The East African, citing ‘interviews with insiders and confidential documents prepared by management’, reports that the company is on the verge of a liquidity crisis that could see the firm default on its bank loans and other supplier debt. The emergency loan is required to repay two unsecured loans that Telkom Kenya took from Standard Chartered Bank, amounting to KES7.6 billion. It also owes Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) KES1.5 billion to cover an overdraft loan, which is due for renewal in August 2012, as well as a KES1 billion one-year loan due for renewal in November.

In related news, Business Daily Africa reports that FT-Orange has scrapped the most senior position held by a Kenyan national at the company, in a bid to firm up control of the ailing company. The restructuring has seen the exit of Jane Karuku who held one of the two deputy managing director positions. Telkom CEO Mickael Ghossein commented: ‘I have had two deputy CEOs; one has left and I am not going to replace her because we have scrapped that post. The second one will stay until 2013 or probably longer … The restructuring has nothing to do with what is appearing in the press [regarding the company’s financial position], but is meant to cut the level of reporting structure that we had’. Besides supervising the three heads of departments, Ms Karuku’s responsibilities also included supervising government relations, a job that Ghossein will now take responsibility for.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africa coming into focus for Neotel parent

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:35:19 GMT

India’s Tata Communications, which owns a controlling interest in local telecommunications operator Neotel, says SA is crucial to the company’s strategy of expanding into Southern Africa and into the continent more broadly.

To do this, Kumar says Tata Communications needs to deepen existing partnerships in the region and forge new ones. He won’t be drawn into acquisition plans, but says they are on the cards and will be done to bolster its network capabilities and brand recognition. They will “definitely be part of the company’s growth strategy,” he says.

In a company of 7 770 employees, SA is Tata’s second biggest market in terms of staff count, with 12% of the workforce accounted for by Neotel.

Kumar says one of the benefits of a large emerging markets base is that it “reduces risk from economic cycles and multiple markets help us de-risk and provides economies of scale”.

It’s clear Tata has global ambitions. The company said on Wednesday that its network of wholly owned submarine cables now encircles the globe.

Kumar says the cable network — which has cost the company in the region of US$800m to date — gives it the ability to route traffic either east or west should a problem occur somewhere on the submarine network, which consists of more than 63 000km of fibre.

The latest component of this network, and the one that completes it, is the TGN-EA Eurasia cable that runs from Mumbai in India to Marseilles in France. Kumar says it makes an already-resilient network even more stable and Tata now hopes to bolster it even further by expanding its cable network in the southern hemisphere.

Already, Tata has capacity on the high-capacity cables landing in SA, including the Eassy (the East Africa Submarine System) and Wacs (the West African Cable System).
With growing demand for connectivity in Latin America, Kumar says Tata wants to participate in various cable systems in that region. “We’re exploring a couple of opportunities to participate in cable systems to the area, but these probably will not be 100% owned [by Tata].”

Kumar says Tata’s strategy is underpinned by emerging-markets companies that are expanding into the global marketplace. “In 1995, only 20 of the Fortune 500 companies were from emerging markets; now that number is around 100.”

Submarine cables will play an ever expanding role in meeting the increased demand for data globally. “Tata’s submarine cable network means Tata now own 25% of the world’s lit, international capacity,” Kumar claims.

Tata’s network handles 73m voice calls each day, 3 200 petabits of data cross its Internet backbone each month, and it has 1m square feet of data centre and collocation space spanning 42 data centres.

Kumar says another motivation for growing its submarine cable network, along with its terrestrial networks, is so the company can position itself at the centre of three trends: emerging-markets growth, converged Internet protocol networks and managed services and industry applications.

Almost three-quarters of Tata Communications’ revenues are generated outside its Indian home base. The company has a presence in 31 countries and Kumar says that, of these, the emerging markets are showing strongest growth, with much of the developed market flat as a result of ongoing economic woes

Source: TechCentral

Nigerian President looks to technology for governance

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:34:01 GMT

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has instructed Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to connect to the new Nigerian Communications Satellite replacement, NigComSat-1R. This would ensure new technology helps governance to benefit Nigerians he said during a speech on Monday.

According to Jonathan, this marks the start of commercial satellite activities to benefit Nigerians and the world at large.

He added: “There is nothing to worry about as government has set in motion plans to launch NigComSat 2 and 3 as back-up to Nigcomsat-1R.”

He said the back-ups would provide insurance in case anything unexpected should happen.

Jonathan said during his speech: “I urge all ministries, department and agencies, MDAs, to hook up to NigComSat-1R to take the advantage of this new technology to quicken and expedite governance to the benefit of Nigerians.

“One of the critical objectives of this administration is the need to improve the living conditions of our people by creating economic emancipation and empowerment through ICT, which has remained a viable transformation vehicle for our economic stability, educational growth and social welfare.

“China has been one of our bigger trade partners with whom we have very robust bilateral relationship. That this satellite was replaced at no cost to Nigeria testified to the faith and confidence that country has in Nigeria.”

Source: ITNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya’s Safaricom upgrading mobile money service

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:32:24 GMT

Kenya’s leading telecom provider Safaricom announced on Tuesday that it was upgrading its mobile money platform M-PESA, hoping to make doing financial transactions wirelessly a bit easier.

According to the company, the new system “will enable users to make instant payments for corporate services”.

Other mobile service providers in the country have called on Safaricom to allow them access to the platform, and have repeatedly said they would be willing to pay royalties to the company. Safaricom has thus far refused.

“It will also save customers inconveniences such as disconnections that occur as the current platform reconciles the transactions,” the company continued, adding that the new service would reduce the time it takes to make bill payments.

“It takes 48 hours for payments made to Kenya Power for instance, to reflect on the electricity distributor’s systems, while those to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) take 76 hours,” the company added.

The new service will also provide users the ability to use the mobile money platform to pay for items online instantly, instead of having to be forced to wait until payments clear.

Safaricom also added that in order to reduce costs, part of the M-Pesa servers in Germany would be relocated to Kenya in order to improve “the reliability of the mobile money platform and cut down on overheads”.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Samsung reveals African plans for 2012

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:30:28 GMT

Samsung Electronics showcased an array of new products at the 2012 Samsung Africa Forum, held today (22 March 2012) in Cape Town.

Under its new “Built for Africa – inspire the future” branding, the Korean electronics giant revealed its plans to expand its African market, and deliver connectivity and content across multiple devices, including TVs, mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, cameras and home appliances.

“At our very first Africa Forum, in 2010, I announced the plan to grow our business in Africa to $10 billion by 2015, as measured by the sales of our partners – and today, I am pleased to announce that we are well on track to meet this objective,” said KK Park, CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa.

“This year, not only will we continue to maintain growth in key regions, but so too are focused on targeting growth of 100% in West, East and Southern Africa,” Park added.

Park said that, over the next 3–4 years, this growth will be underpinned by a focus on 3 key premises: built-for-Africa research and development; business-to-business and business-to-government partnerships; and growing and strengthening their partner network across Africa.

Source: My Broadband

Nigeria: How We're Tackling Issues Around Poor Quality of Service - Johnson

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:38:54 GMT

interview

The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson in this interaction with IT Journalists recently in Lagos spoke on what her ministry is doing to address the poor quality of service quality by the industry players. She also spoke on the draft ICT policy, insecurity, and need for a converged regulator among others. Excerpts:

Quality of service in Nigeria is getting worse by the day and Nigerians are getting frustrated. What is your ministry doing to address this issue?

I am not sure that there is a day that goes by, as the Minister of Communications Technology, that I don't receive a call, which, when it finally comes through, the caller is complaining about quality of service. Being a consumer myself, I am quite aware of the poor quality of service, which seems to be getting worse by the day. Quality of service is probably one of the biggest issues that the industry is dealing with right now and it is important that consumers understand what the issues are and what the ministry and NCC, the regulator, are doing about it.

Industry issues

At present the telecoms industry has issues with inadequate number of base stations, arbitrary costs and lengthy process of right of way acquisition, persistent interruptions as they try to lay cables even after obtaining right of way, willful and accidental damage to fibre optic cables and base stations and of course illegal taxes and levies by states and local governments, all of which work together to affect quality of service.

However, I have looked at the newly gazetted quality of service indicators and I believe that these challenges and problems are adequately built into these requirements. We are not asking for 99.9% network uptime or a 0% call drop rate or 100% successful call set up. For this reason I have asked the NCC to commence the process of not only publishing performance on QoS by operator per month but also to now impose meaningful penalties on operators that do not meet set targets.

Performance and penalties will be published on NCC websites on a monthly basis. In other words there shall now be consequences for network operators that do not meet this quality of service indicators. I don't believe that there is any self respecting company that wants to be constantly penalised by its regulator. However we are working assidously to resolve some of the issues on right of way, approval for base stations, and illegal taxes and levies.

Collaboration

We have been working in collaboration with the Ministry of Works and In the next couple of weeks we will be releasing new guidelines that will significantly reduce the bottle necks in the acquisition of right of way for the laying of fibre optic cables. The Ministry has put in motion the same collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and all indications are that we can , within a fairly short time reduce the time it takes to obtain approval to erect a base station.

There is an industry working committe on illegal taxes and levies that is putting together appropriate receommendations to curb illegal, punitive and unfair taxes on telecoms companies. Finally, we have started work on a critical ICT infratructure executive bill which should go to the National Assembly in the next few months after apprpriate consultation with stakeholders.

Because ICT is becoming so critical to development and commerce, one of the things this bill will do is to make it a criminal offense, punishable by law for any individual, company, local or state government to tamper with or cause willful damage to any infrastructure required to provide ICT services to individuals or companies.

I believe that these actions - penalties for not meeting QoS targets, punishment for willful damage and working to reduce bottlenecks in the build-out of telecoms infrastructure will result in some fairly significant improvements in QoS by the end of the year.

Insecurity is also getting worse and stakeholders have advocated the deployment of ICTs to tackle the menace of insecurity. Are there inputs from your ministry about this?

We are very much aware of the insecurity challenges facing the country. The current situation has made it necessary for civil and military services to collaboratively leverage the benefits of ICTs to meet contemporary security challenges that are confronting our nation. ICTs offer solutions that can help tackle the kind of security challenges we are facing.

Just last week, an agency under the ministry, Galaxy Backbone organised a forum on the need to leverage ICTs for national security in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and it was really great to see such collaborations because there is no doubt that the adoption of an integrated ICT strategy will help resolve some of the security challenges we face.

You once said you were in a hurry to advance technology development in Nigeria. What areas do you think the country is still lagging behind that needs quick acceleration in terms of technology development?

Short answer - broadband for data services, broadband that facilitates fast and cost effective access to the internet nationwide; broadband to leverage the internet and internet services to support development in healthcare, education, agriculture and of course financial inclusion.

When will Nigeria upgrade its pockets of technology events to a world class standard that will attract foreign ministers, presidents and heads of states?

First I think it is a case of how, not when. How can Nigeria make itself a destination for world class ICT events such as CeBit, Mobile World Congress, ITU Telecoms World, etc and how can domestic Nigerian events attract participation from local, regional and global companies. We need to have sufficient conferencing facilities in this country and I know that this is something the Minister of Tourism and Culture is very passionate about.

Conferencing and exhibition facilities that can accomodate hundreds of companies and thousands of visitors and of course side attractions that generate revenue for tourism. You must have seen the size of the Mobile World Congress and CeBIT. We also need to have a vibrant ICT industry from where we can begin the early steps of conferences, exhibitions that showcase our local capabilities.

You came up with the idea of harmonised ICT Policy for Nigeria. What actually motivated you into that?

Very simple - prior to the creation of the ministry, ICT was being supervised by two ministries and the Office of the SGF with little or no collaboration or interface between the two. Bringing all the agencies under one roof made the overlaps and duplications among agencies quite obvious.

Discrete policies to drive the industry therefore needed to be harmonised. Once we are done with the stakeholder consultations, I believe we will have a policy document that the ICT industry and government can jointly implement which should drive the development of the ICT industry in Nigeria.

The draft policy's call for a converged regulator has raised a lot of dust in the industry. Can you please shed more light on why a converged regulator is needed?

Technology is such that the same frequencies can now be used to broadcast and provide internet services unlike in the past where there were different frequencies for differents uses.Let me give you an example - today companies that are given broadcast frequencies and licenses have illegally provided more lucrative internet services to consumers - they do not have a licence from NCC - simply because new technology and equipment allows them to do so.

Individuals with smart phones can broadcast information or misinformation to thousands of people without having a television or radio license. The advent of new, leading edge technologies have forced convergence and we must face that fact and begin to look more seriously at the need to have more efficient regulatory regimes.

As I keep saying the process of convergence is not an easy one or an overnight one - laws and enabling acts must be amended, new institutions must be formed etc - but I have never seen a country make progress if she chooses to take the easy route and avoid challenges and problems.

Source: Vanguard

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Globacom installs broadband in another Nigerian city

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:36:46 GMT

Nigerian telecom operator Globacom, has taken fixed line services on its Broadaccess network to the nation’s third largest city Ibadan. The company aims to offer voice, data transmission and internet services. Globacom will also offer broadcast TV, call centre services, video conferencing, video-on-demand, games and video mail boxes.

Some customers are already connected to the Glo Broadaccess network in the city. Fixed line services currently cover residential, commercial and industrial areas, including Agodi, Federal Secretariat Road, Jericho, Cocoa House, Adamasingba, Fajuyi Road, Lebanon Street and Awolowo Way.

Globacom launched their Broadaccess network in Lagos recently, following a rollout of fibre rings across the country and infrastructure installation in major cities.

The statement also said, “The network which provides data communication technology that enables faster data transfers begins to operate immediately in high density traffic areas of Ibadan. But we plan to rapidly expand and bring the service to the doorsteps of all potential subscribers as soon as possible.”

Source: IT News

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ngcaba wants to build Africa’s Telehouse

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:34:21 GMT

Convergence Partners chairman Andile Ngcaba hinted strongly on Tuesday that he wants to build an African version of Telehouse Europe, the carrier-neutral colocation facility based in London’s Docklands that serves as the main hub of Internet traffic in the UK.

Speaking at an industry panel organised by Vodacom subsidiary Gateway Communications, Ngcaba said that far too much telecommunications traffic continues to be routed via London instead of remaining in Africa.

Convergence Partners is an investor in a range of telecoms infrastructure projects, including FibreCo, which recently began building a national fibre network, and Seacom, the undersea cable along Africa’s east coast. The company is also a shareholder in the Intelsat New Dawn satellite, which was launched last year to serve African markets.

Ngcaba said on Tuesday that most undersea and satellite providers still want to “terminate” their telecoms traffic in Europe. “Most satellite teleports, even for intra-Africa traffic, sit in Europe,” he said.

Convergence Partners, he said, wants to build a “big Telehouse” in Africa that will “interconnect all the cable and satellite operators so that intra-Africa traffic can be switched and peered within the African continent”.

“This is going to require cooperation between [industry] players because it is about cooperation rather than competing to put in this type of infrastructure,” Ngcaba said.

“There are some cases where, if traffic comes out of Johannesburg, via Cape Town, to Lagos, it has to go via London and then back to Lagos. We have to change this and the only way to do that is to cooperate … to build this mega teleport to bring together fibre players and satellite operators in one African location.”

He did not say where Convergence Partners planned to build the facility or how much it would cost. TechCentral was not immediately able to reach the company’s CEO, Brandon Doyle, for comment.

Ngcaba’s comments come just weeks after Convergence Partners revealed it wanted to build a multibillion-rand national wholesale mobile broadband network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology.

TechCentral broke the news earlier this month that the company wants to build the network to provide wholesale services to incumbent and emerging operators. Doyle said at the time that the proposed investment was part of Convergence Partners’ plans to build networks spanning a range of technologies.

Ngcaba said on Tuesday that he advocated “one common infrastructure” in telecoms to reduce costs, bring down prices for consumers and shorten the period needed for operators to get a return on investment.

He said if four or five operators were licensed to build LTE networks, they would be forced to cherry pick customers in the urban areas rather than focusing on more outlying areas that are not as economically feasible.

“We need to share infrastructure, both at the spectrum and fibre levels. People can still compete at another level.”

Asked whether having one player offering infrastructure would lead to monopoly pricing and anticompetitive abuses, Ngcaba said: “All these things get agreed upon beforehand and get regulated. Prices will be negotiated between operators.

“We need models to ensure universality in the provision of broadband and ensure prices are reasonable and that there is a level playing field that will allow incumbents and new entrants to operate in a fair and competitive environment. These things can be achieved at the commercial and regulatory level.”

Source: Tech Central

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

LAP Green lodges petition with high court over seizure of Zamtel stake

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:29:56 GMT

In a petition filed in the Lusaka High Court LAP Green Network, the Libyan Investment Authority’s international telecommunications arm, has challenged the Zambian Government’s action to seize its 75% share in local fixed line incumbent Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel). According to the Lusaka Times, LAP Green’s appeal has outlined its claims for financial compensation for the telco at the time of its seizure should it not be given back its shareholding, with the Libyan outfit calculating the value of its Zamtel stock at USD480 million. Further, LAP Green is also understood to be claiming for losses which it says are the result of the share seizure.

Wafik Al-Shater, LAP Green chairman, reportedly disputed that the Zambian government’s reclamation of the shares was a matter of public interest, with the executive contending that the move was illegal and unconstitutional. Pointing to his company’s successes while at the helm of Zamtel, Mr Al-Shater pointed to the fact that under LAP Green’s management Zamtel had registered a 600% increase in its total subscriber base, while also pointing to a 50% increase in turnover. The decision to launch legal proceedings, Al-Shater noted, was dictated by procedures set out under Zambian law, adding that LAP Green will consider any and all legal options open to it in seeking to reclaim its shareholding in the telco.

Source: TeleGeography

CCK reports sluggish uptake as MNP anniversary approaches; just 54,616 numbers ported in 2011

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:28:21 GMT

According to AllAfrica.com citing statistics from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), just 54,616 mobile subscribers made use of the country’s long-delayed mobile number portability (MNP) scheme during 2011. Further, porting figures also declined notably over the course of the year; when the service was launched in April 2011 15,569 subscribers moved their numbers, followed by 14,759 in May. However, December 2011 saw just 747 subscribers switch network providers, underlining the lack of enthusiasm for the initiative, which took almost six years to be introduced by the CCK. Madhur Taneja, manager of Essar Telecom Kenya (yu) commented: ‘Unfortunately, MNP has not been as hugely successful as was anticipated. It’s a good option for subscribers to have, but we have not seen great uptake as per the high expectations’.

As reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate last month, Taneja called on market leader Safaricom to open up its mobile money transfer service M-PESA to other networks, suggesting that Safaricom customers are unwilling to risk losing their access to the mobile banking solution, regardless of their network preferences; he said that the cellco would be willing to pay royalties to Safaricom, the country’s number one operator by subscribers, for the shared use of M-PESA.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Warid Telecom sells 400 towers

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:07:29 GMT

African tower company Eaton Towers, today announced they are in the process of expanding their investment in Uganda. According to a statement released by the company, Eaton Towers are set to acquire 400 towers from Warid Telecom Uganda.

This comes on the back of Eaton Towers’ acquisition of 300 towers from Orange Uganda last week. Warid will remain tenants despite Eaton Towers’ ownership.

Eaton Towers CEO Alan Harper said, “We now have a leading position in Uganda, combining the two complementary networks of Orange and Warid, which covers the majority of the population. Building on Eaton’s successful operation in Ghana, Eaton will offer the best service to the telecoms sector in Uganda to improve quality and extend coverage in a cost effective way.

Tower sharing consists of mobile operators placing more than one antenna on a tower to share and cut costs. Tower sharing is the way to go Harper believes.

“Tower sharing is now becoming an essential strategy for African mobile operators with a need to reduce operating costs, reduce capex and offer focus on their core business of providing service for their customers. Eaton will continue to implement our strategy of investing in attractive tower sharing opportunities across Africa.”

Source: ITNews

Africa - Mobile Voice and Data Communications Statistics (tables only)

Africa: Mobile Data Revenue - the Long Road Ahead for African Mobile Operators

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:05:36 GMT

London — Back in December 2011 Balancing Act published an article on mobile data revenue which highlighted that data revenues for mobile operators in Sub-Sahara Africa remain tiny in most countries with the exception of South Africa and to a lesser extent Kenya. In the last couple of years many African mobile operators have launched 3G networks and more rollouts are in the pipeline. These are high CAPEX investments at stake and as in a poker game, the player needs to have the right cards in its hand to win the hand. Isabelle Gross looks at what mobile operators already have in their hands and which cards are missing to make the most out of their 3G investments.

In its Q4-2012 report, Pieter Uys, Vodacom Group CEO, reported for South Africa that "demand for smartphones remains high, with 655,000 devices activated during the quarter. We now have 4.8 million active smartphones on the network, which as of 31 December 2011 accounted for 18.0% of all active devices". Undoubtedly, there are more and more smartphones making their way into Africa despite the high price tag of some of these smartphones.

Furthermore BlackBerry phones or Apple's iPhones are no longer only solely owned by the privileged high-ranking executives working in banks or for a foreign companies. Recently, on two occasions, I came across people owning an iPhone that didn't belong to the groups described above. Of course, this is not enough to get too hasty conclusions but these are interesting purchasing behaviours. The first owner of the iPhone was a guy exchanging currency on the street. He showed me proudly his iPhone which he took out from behind his stall which was not more than a couple of wooden planks nailed together. My second encounter with an unusual iPhone owner was with a policeman. Although the man didn't exactly do street policing, salaries in the public sector in Africa are not that high.

While Vodacom in South Africa has an impressive smartphone penetration of 18% across all the active devices on its network, this figure is still a kind of far-fetched dream for most mobile operators in Sub-Sahara Africa.

For the countries at the bottom of the list of the GDP per capita country list, smartphone penetration will be more around 1 to 2% of the total devices on a given mobile operator's network. Wealthier countries like Kenya will likely be around 10%. Nevertheless in wealthier or poorer African countries, there is a growing attraction for smartphones among mobile users and this has less to do with the notion of buying power than the desire to own a fashionable high-tech mobile phone.

By and large this is all good news for African mobile operators as they will have to push less on the marketing side to get smartphones in the market but the story doesn't stop here. African mobile operators still have to somehow get these owners of smartphones to use data services and this is where it gets a bit more challenging.

In low-end African countries in particular, the true is that most owners of smartphones don't use them for data services and mobile operators ought to ask themselves why so? Two primary explanations spring straight to mind. The first is that the data packages on offer are too expensive for the average smartphone owners. The second explanation is that most of the smartphone owners don't have a need for data services because they don't go on the Internet or check their emails or do anything else that would require a data connection.

A simple promotion targeted at smartphone owners offering free data services for a limited period of time should help to test the level of true of the first explanation. A while ago, a mobile operator based in West Africa just carried out such a promotion. Targeted smartphone owners ranged from Apple, HTC, Samsung, Nokia, LG, Huawei to ZTE. Each of them received an SMS offering free Internet on their smartphone as well as an invite to activate the service.

Around 9% of the smartphone owners targeted activated the service. In other words one in ten smartphone owners has an issue with the prices of the data service and will only use it on their smartphone if it is given away as a freebie. This issue can be addressed by a smarter pricing structure that takes more care of the customers' specific needs.

However what is more worrying is that the vast majority of the smartphone owners targeted (except for those one that had their smartphones switched off when the SMS was sent out) didn't bother. Obviously, they must be happy with using their smartphone for voice, SMS and some of the pre-installed applications that they have on their smartphones like the camera, the music player, the calendar, the alarm, the radio, the games, etc but what seems to be missing is this little tilting interest towards social networks, emails or the Internet at large.

It is clear that the task ahead for African mobile operators is to work out a way on how to get these smartphone owners on the online content ladder. What will work? Cheesy marketing campaigns like mobile operators are used to do for voice services or a more sustained educational effort? The latter option is more likely to yield positive results.

Source: Balancing Act

Communications minister reaffirms Tanzania ICT hub plan

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:04:09 GMT

Tanzania’s Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, has reaffirmed plans to establish the country as an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hub in the region by improving its international and domestic connectivity. Speaking at an international meeting between Tanzania and Malawi to discuss broadband fibre connectivity, Mbarawa said the government is working on a number of projects, including expansion of the national backbone, the deployment of more landing points for submarine cables, and other pro-ICT and human resource-related policies. The moves, the minister said, form a core part of the state’s plan to connect all regions and districts of Tanzania so that they have good access to the 10,000km national and regional broadband infrastructure, as well as to international cables. Prof Mbarawa added that Tanzania’s National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) already connected to two major submarine cables, SEACOM (July, 2009) and EASSY (April, 2010), thereby extending connectivity to neighbouring countries.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

NCC looks to free up 2.5GHz spectrum

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:02:53 GMT

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is seeking to reclaim unused spectrum in the 2.5GHz band from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), NCC executive commissioner Dr Bashir Gwandu told local newspaper THISDAY. ‘Both the 2.5GHz and the 700MHz are in the hands of NBC at present and we have to work to free the bands for efficient use. I do not believe any of such bands are being used efficiently as at today and the country cannot continue to wait,’ Gwandu said. In June 2008 the NCC said it planned to auction spectrum in the 2.5GHz band – held by the NBC – for broadband use, but since then little progress has been made. However, Gwandu revealed the minister of communications technology, Omobola Johnson, is now looking into the issue, and said that the NCC is confident that it will see some positive results on the matter in the near future.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Rwanda: Third Phase of ICT Dev't Plan Takes Off

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:01:50 GMT

The third phase of the National Information and Communication Infrastructure Policy (NICI Plan 3; 2011-2015) which will see the development and use of new services acquired during phases one and two, was unveiled yesterday.

In 2000, Rwanda launched the National ICT Plan (NICI I). It was formulated to take place over four, five year cycles. The first, from 2000 to 2005, focused on the creation of a fertile, enabling environment in Rwanda for ICTs initiatives to take hold.

The second, from 2006 to 2010, placed emphasis on the development of key ICT infrastructure such as the laying of fibre optic cables.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, the Minister in the President's office in charge of ICT, Dr Ignace Gatare, said the third phase has been broadly divided into five areas, ICT skills development, private sector development, ICT for community development, e-Government and cyber security.

"Under this plan we are looking at improving formal and non-formal education. With the use of fibre optic cable, we want to ensure that there is much of open distance learning in the country," said Gatare.

Under the private sector cluster in the NICI III, the government intends to roll out the use of electronic payment systems across the country and improve access to finance, among others.

"We also want to take the ICT facilities down to the people by digitalising all the government programmes, increase the tele-centres in the country as well as use of tele-medicine," Gatare added

For each of five pillars of NICI III, a cluster working group of diverse groups of planners and stakeholders has been created.

The clusters will set goals and develop projects to be undertaken in each area, as well as identify the greatest needs and points of intervention.

Through this system, NICI III will have a degree of creativity and flexibility absent from the previous two phases.

According to experts, e-Government, which focuses on the creation and use of ICTs for delivering government services, must work closely with cyber security to ensure confidentiality and safe-keeping of records.

"ICT for community development, while focused on awareness, availability and affordability of services, especially in remote areas, will work closely with private sector development, which includes entrepreneurial and business training for ICT providers in these areas," said Hon. Gatare.

While NICI-3 is a big step in Rwanda's ICT development, the newly created approach of cluster working groups brings a measure of cooperation and creativity to the project that was not there before.

Meanwhile, as he addressed journalists, the minister also unveiled the current state of technological usage in the country saying that since the introduction of NICI Plans, the market was automatically liberalised with key private players taking the lead.

"Following the establishment of the legal and regulatory frameworks, we now have eleven Internet Service Providers (ISPs) three telecom companies and 4.4 million voice subscribers. Rwanda brings in 1.12 gigabytes of bandwidth per second and there are 700,000 internet users in the country," said Gatare.

Regarding the financial status of the ICT sector, Gatare said ICT generates on average, revenues totalling to about Rwf100 billion, and attributed the development to the continuous development of the sector.

Source: The New Times

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

India, Africa aim for $90 billion trade in 3 years

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:12:06 GMT

NEW DELHI — Indian and African leaders on Sunday agreed to sharply increase bilateral trade to $90 billion by 2015 as the two sides discussed potential deals.

The South Asian country is aiming to boost its trade and diplomatic ties with Africa where China has already made major inroads by striking multiple deals, building infrastructure projects and offering soft loans.

The goal of achieving $90 billion in trade between India and China in three years "is a significant improvement, considering the fact that a decade ago the trade was $3 billion", Indian Commerce Secretary Anand Sharma said.

Sharma was speaking at the first day of a three-day India-Africa meeting in New Delhi where organisers said more than 250 projects worth close to $30 billion were being discussed.

Over 600 African delegates are participating in the India-Africa Forum Summit, organisers said, while over 500 Indian business delegates would also attend the meeting.

India has been turning to the one-billion-strong African continent as it looks to diversify its energy sources and reduce its dependency on the Middle East which supplies two-thirds of its energy imports.

Africa, despite being home to most of the world's poorest countries, is richly endowed with oil, minerals and other natural resources.

Last year, the two sides had set a target of $70 billion trade to be achieved by 2015. Bilateral trade totalled $62 billion in 2011.

At the meeting, the ministers launched the India-Africa Business Council to be co-chaired by Indian telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal, head of Bharti Group, and Dangote Group president Alhaji Aliko, known as Africa's "cement king".

The council will propose ways to increase economic and commercial ties between India and Africa.

While China prefers government-to-government deals, Indian investment has been mainly in the private sector, notably in telecom, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

In a major purchase, Bharti, India's biggest cellular operator by subscribers, acquired mobile operations in more than a dozen African countries in a $10.7-billion deal in June 2010.

India, which deployed its navy in 2008 as part of an international armada fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, is also ramping up its security links with Africa.

Source: Google

Kenya: Ndemo Wants Review of Fibre Cabling Plan

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:10:04 GMT

The ministry of information and communication PS, Bitange Ndemo, is proposing an adjustment to the way the fibre optic cable network in order to reduce incidences of outage when there is a cable cut.

The announcement comes even as the local internet service providers yesterday announced restoration of communication services though consumers continue to count financial losses and are raising concerns about reliability of internet services with the frequent cable cuts.

The latest disconnection was on Tuesday after major cable cuts on Kenya Data Network, Telkom Kenya and Kenya Power lines between Mombasa and Nairobi which provide connectivity to Seacom, TEAMs and Eassy submarine cables, nearly cutting off the entire country for two days. Ndemo said they are consulting with experts, planners and the networks to see if the fibre installation can be re-done using a ring method instead of the straight line that is is in use.

A ring network, lays the cable in circular repeating format and permits long transmission ranges. It thus offers optimum protection which can be self-healing and be used for backup. He spoke while signing a partnership with global technology firm, IBM , which will provide technology solutions to the problem of traffic jams in Nairobi.

IBM will offer expertise to the tune of $400 000 (Sh34 million) starting next month. "Initially we though everyone would behave , so we put all the cable in the one line format, this is what is causing the outages," said Ndemo adding with the ring method there can be no total internet outage. Jonathan Somen, AccessKenya managing director said two of the lines, KDN and Telkom, had been restored by yesterday morning .The third KPLC one, which is the back-up, was expected to be back by end of the day. Telkom Kenya's Michkael Ghossein also confirmed successful restoration of internet traffic to Mombasa enabling free flow of international traffic.

Experts say that the loss which cannot be immediately quantified runs into millions as it comes just over a week since another major disconnection occasioned by cut of the undersea TEAMs and Eassy cables. "Yesterday , Kenya lost a lot of money due to internet link disruptions. Banks were hard hit where currency dealers could carry out any business," said Gibson Amenya of Level Moja Capital, a financial services company.

Amenya said there is an urgent need for government to form an agency to manage internet fiber/ cabling in the country. Somen said the fact that all cuts occurred at the same time raises questions but industry players are waiting for authorities to investigate. Arrival of the fourth undersea cable, the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION2 ), might offer some relief for the region,to serve as a better backup. "LION cable will give us the best redundancy because it takes us away from the gulf route to further deeper in the Indian ocean, it has not had a fibre cut in 10 years," said Nzioka Waita, Safaricom director of corporate affairs on Tuesday.

Source: Nairobi Star

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: N10 Billion Multiple Taxes - Telcos Threatens to Shut Down Networks

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:08:14 GMT

Nigerian telecom operators have said that the over N10 billion annual multiple taxations levied them by local, state and federal governments and their agencies was threatening the survival of the telecom sector as investors may be pushed to divest from the sector which may in turn aggravate the quality on networks.

About eight states and their local governments have issued notices to telecom operators to pay taxes and levies exceeding N10 billion annually.

Speaking under the aegis of the Industry Working Group (IWG) on multiple taxations in the telecom industry, the operators and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday in Lagos said the survival of the industry now depends on all stakeholders, prevailing on the states and local governments to stop insisting on collecting taxes and levies on operators' infrastructures such as base stations and masts.

The chairman of the IWG and Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management at NCC, Mr. Okey Itanyi, said that multiple taxation portends a grave danger for the telecoms industry if not quickly addressed. "The country may lose the gains and confidence achieved so far in the last couple of years.

The industry still requires investments in network infrastructure to ensure full access across the country, and to guarantee good and acceptable quality of service which has become a major challenge," he said.

According to the vice chairman of the IWG, Mrs. Oyeronke Oyetunde, multiple taxation has been impeding telecoms growth in recent past.

She explained that a situation where a local government authority is demanding about N10million on each site from telecoms operators for building base stations in their vicinity, apart from other levies the operators have to contend with at the state and federal levels, would hinder operators in providing quality telecoms services to the generality of Nigerians, irrespective of their locations.

She noted that as a result of delay often experienced in infrastructure rollout, telecoms companies have only been able to deploy barely 20,000 base stations in the country, stressing that over 70, 000 base stations would be required in Nigeria, given its large size, to provide ubiquitous telecoms services.

"If you have a local government demanding N10m from an operator and you now multiply that by the number of Local Government Areas we have in the country, you would see that this is unsustainable in the long run for the operators.

It is either you kick the operators out of business or force them to pass the cost accrued to them through such illegal taxations their customers in form high tariff," she said.

The President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Chief Deolu Ogunbajo, noted that between 2006 and 2007, operators were charged about N10, 000 and N20, 000. "And more recently, the charges in form of multiple taxations and illegal demand of some frivolous levies, have run into millions of naira. This is unfavourable as operators may have to pass this cost to subscribers," he said.

A representative of the Association of Licenced Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and member of the IWG, Mr. Tobe Okigbo, said, "The operators may not have other choices than to push additional cost incurred to their subscribers rather than allow a telecom firm to totally shut down."

Okigbo gave the indication during the maiden media parley of the IWG on multiple taxation which was set up by the NCC to address ongoing cases of multiple taxation and its potential dangers on telecom growth in the country.

The group called for urgent action by the government at all levels to support the industry's stakeholders in nipping the incessant cases of multiple taxation and illegal and frivolous taxes in the bud to prevent operators passing the cost of the taxes on the over 96 million telecom subscribers on their various networks in form of increased tariff.

Source: Leadership

Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Broadband Project Impresses Malawi

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:05:20 GMT

TANZANIA has experienced a tremendous revolution in the communication sector, a situation that has led to a rapid growth in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) over the past decade.

This was said on Saturday by the Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa, at a meeting in Dar es Salaam on the International Broadband Fibre connectivity between Tanzania and Malawi.

The minister said that the communication improvement was prompted by the fast changing technology in the global ICT industry.

He cited the rapid changes in the mobile telephone technology as one of the biggest growths in the ICT industry. "With a limited ICT backbone infrastructure, mobile telephony has always been a technology of choice to both users and network operators."

He added that it has resulted in an increase of mobile phone users from less than 100,000 in the late 1990s to about 20 million in December 2010, which translates to around 50 per cent teledensity. This contributed about 25 per cent to the national GDP in 2009/2010 financial year. The minister was elaborating on the success to Malawi's Minister for Information and Civil Education, Mrs Patricia Kaliati.

The Malawi delegation envisages a link to international connectivity mainly to submarine cables. Minister Mbarawa said the government took a bold step to connect all its regions and districts so that they can have access to the 10,000-kilometre long national and regional broadband infrastructure.

"This technology is not only resilient to bad weathers, including rain, but it possesses better characteristics such as high bandwidth capacity, compactness, low transmission losses, high signal security, immunity to interference and system reliability. "It is also easy to maintain. These are among the most important qualities. The technology is also more efficient and reliable for communication over satellite-base communication," the minister said.

He added that the project's financial resources for the initial two phases come from three main sources -- 30 billion shillings from the government's development budget; 170 million US dollars being a concessional loan from the government of China and 100 million dollars generated from the project's operations.

"The government, through its ministry is encouraging partnership and collaboration with operators from Malawi, similar to Regional Communications Infrastructure project in Malawi (RCIP-Malawi). "Tanzania is also implementing a 100 million dollar project to deliver connectivity to local and central government departments such as e-government network," he pointed out.

Impressed by Tanzania's success, Minister Patricia Kaliati said that the main objective of their visit is to learn from Tanzanian experts since they hope to adapt the new technology. "Malawi uses satellite communication, which is very expensive. But this will change when we start using the fibre broadband," she said.

The National ICT Broadband Backbone Project (NICTBB) is already connected to two major submarine cables of SEACOM and EASSy, extending the connectivity to the neighbouring countries. The virtual landing station of the submarine cables through the NICTBB have been established at the respective cross-border points of Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

West and Central African telecom markets earn $1.2 billion revenue from broadband in 2010

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:14:21 GMT

West and Central African broadband markets covering Nigeria, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon have earned revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2010. The revenue is likely to reach $2.5 billion in 2017.
The low levels of broadband penetration in the four countries indicate that there are significant growth opportunities in the short-to-long term.

With the deployment of advanced technologies, such as 3G networks in DRC and Gabon, mobile broadband subscribers are expected to outpace fixed broadband connections in these two countries over the next 5 years.

"The availability of cost-effective mobile and wireless solutions will be a key market driver. At the same time, greater demand for access to social media platforms will emerge as the most important factor for market participants to formulate their strategy for this year," said Frost & Sullivan's Information and Communications Technologies Research Analyst Mervin Miemoukanda.

Increasing demand for broadband services in the region has helped reduce the cost of customer-premises equipment, as well as smartphones. Internet service providers (ISPs) have introduced affordable Chinese customer-premises equipment to render broadband services to consumers.

Broadband providers are expected to increase partnerships with equipment vendors to reduce the cost of customer-premises equipment. The impact of this driver is expected to be high throughout the forecast period, as mobile operators are shifting focus on growing their data offerings.

Emergence of social media platforms, coupled with computer-literate societies, has boosted demand for broadband connections.
The increase in broadband users has been because mobile operators have deployed advanced technology networks. As consumers are becoming more aware of the benefits of social media platforms, this driver is expected to remain high.

With decreased bandwidth costs in the region, the uptake of broadband services is expected to increase significantly. More and more households, and small and medium companies, are expected to sign up for broadband services. As voice revenues have been declining, mobile operators are expected to shift focus on broadband services to maintain profit margins.

Mobile operators are expected to improve the quality of services through continuous infrastructure investment, such as network capacity upgrade and deployments of new technologies; develop innovative solutions such as cyber cafÃ©s for broadband services targeting the mass market and focus on enterprise solutions.

Source: Telecom Lead

Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Industry wants less taxation to reward telco investment

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:12:13 GMT

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications is calling for tax incentives for the telecoms industry to avoid market stagnation in the face of declining revenues and growing operational costs. The chamber’s chief executive, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, is reported by GhanaWeb as saying that almost 40% of telcos’ annual revenues go into taxes and levies, and the operators reinvest another 40% in Ghana. He said that MTN alone has so far invested USD1.2 billion, Tigo has invested over USD1.5 billion over the last 20 years, Airtel has invested about USD700 million, while Vodafone bought Ghana Telecom for USD900 million and has since invested another USD500 million. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 10% of government income in 2010 came from the telecoms industry, and the sector accounted for 2% of GDP and 7% of investments in the country. Among the taxes under scrutiny is a 20% import levy on mobile SIM cards, which are categorised along with flash drives and blank CD/DVD discs as being media which could be used to infringe copyright laws and therefore taxed at a higher rate.

Source: TeleGeography

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

TCRA reports 25.83m fixed and mobile users at end-2011

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:02:55 GMT

Data just released by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) shows that the country was home to a total of 25.827 million fixed and mobile subscriptions at the end of 2011, up from 21.158 million a year earlier. Of the total subscriptions recorded at end-2011 25.666 million were cellular connections to one of the country’s leading mobile operators. Market leader Vodacom closed out 2011 with a total of 11.625 million mobile users (although around 19% are classed as inactive), while second-placed Airtel (formerly Zain) signed up a net 972,000 new users in the period for a total of 6.993 million. Third place operator Tigo boosted its base by 973,000 to 5.450 million by the end of 2011, and Zantel Mobile — once the nation’s fastest growing cellco — shed roughly 191,000 net customers during the period for a total of 1.524 million. Trailing far behind the big four, the mobile arm of fixed line operator Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) had just 96,000 subscribers and Benson Informatics Limited (BOL) had 1,558 data-only subscribers, down roughly 5,000 since the start of the year.

In the fixed line segment, TCRA reported 161,063 fixed lines in service as at 31 December 2011, down from 174,000 at the start of the year. National PSTN operator TTCL claimed the lion’s share with 159,364 lines at end-2011 (its December 2010 figure was 159,100) with Zanzibar Telecommunications’ (Zantel’s) fixed line division taking the remaining 1,699, down from around 15,000 previously

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN Uganda loses billions in scam

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:01:33 GMT

Ugandan police are currently investigating their first case of mobile money fraud.

According to a statement released by MTN Uganda on Wednesday, a scam has cost them billions of shillings.

The scam included at least two companies police said. Investigations are looking into how transactions were made, including loopholes which could have allowed criminals to use new services to steal from users and telecom operators.

However, police said customers finances remained untouched. Police said it could be an inside job as employees running the mobile money services could be involved in the scheme.

MTN Corporate Affairs Manager Justina Ntabgoba-Kayemba confirmed the ongoing investigation into the matter.

“MTN Uganda’s internal Money Laundering System recently detected incidents of internal fraud. The police were notified and are conducting investigations into the extent of the fraud, which restricts us from providing any specific details.”

Source: ITNews

Orange Uganda inks leaseback deal with Eaton

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:59:21 GMT

France Telecom (FT) subsidiary Orange Uganda has signed a 15 year leaseback deal with African towerco, Eaton Towers. Orange has agreed to sell its passive infrastructure and assets to Eaton for an undisclosed amount, outsourcing management, maintenance and network expansion to the towerco. The deal will help Orange, the second smallest cellco by subscribers in the Ugandan market of six operators, to reduce CAPEX and OPEX and allow it focus on services. The agreement is the first of its kind signed by FT and in Africa, and will be used to gauge the effectiveness of the initiative. Should it prove successful, the strategy will be rolled out across FT’s other African subsidiaries.

Philippe Luxcey, CEO of Orange Uganda said in the press release: ‘The partnership will enable us to expand our network and develop new multimedia services, in particular in rural areas, helping us achieve our ambition to provide the Ugandan population with the best network coverage and high-quality services. Through this agreement, we will be able to reduce our operational costs and, at the same time, prevent the proliferation of masts thereby reducing the environmental and visual impact of our network, especially in urban and ecologically-sensitive areas.’

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania: Airtel Launches Faster Internet Service

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:18:32 GMT

AIRTEL Tanzania yesterday launched 3.75G mobile platform, which promises to change how subscribers experience the web on internet-enabled cell phones.

"The 3.75G technology will give our customers the opportunity to interact with cellular technology in a different way," said Airtel Tanzania Managing Director, Mr Sam Elangalloor in Dar es Salaam at a press conference.

He added: "This is why Airtel doesn't see 3.75G as a product, but rather as a platform that enables our subscribers to experience data better." He said the improved technology will enhance multimedia functionality, high speed mobile broadband and internet access, allowing users to make video calls, watch live TV, send and receive emails and download music from the handheld devices.

Telecommunications is one of the continent's fastest growing industries with a rapidly expanding cellular phone market that now includes internet access, mobile banking and mobile commerce. Statistics by McKinsey & Co, a global research company, show that there are currently about 400 million mobile subscribers in Africa.

With this in mind, he said Airtel has remained committed to deepening its network coverage, bringing communication opportunities o rural populations that, until now, have been left out of the telecommunications revolution in Africa.

Mr Elangalloor said the expansion plan will work in tandem with the availability of 3.75G to ensure that Airtel can provide Tanzania with a level of internet access that can help bridge the digital divide.

He said although it is widely accepted and recognized that giving people access to basic telecommunications is critical for development, such move is still lacking by many on the continent. "Thus, communication should be a basic right, not a privilege because connecting the unconnected population - through telecommunications - will enhance social, cultural and commercial participation," he said, adding:

"The 3.75G platform will allow subscribers to combine the enormous potential of the internet with the convenience of cellular phones," said Mr Elangalloor. Depending on the device type of the user, once connected to the 3.75G network, the device will display 3.75G, HSDPA,WCDMA or HSPA, he said.

He said Airtel will be rolling out its data network across all its markets with the objective of building the largest 3.75G network across the continent and will continue to provide convenient and innovative services to all.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Safaricom Threatens to Pull Out of LTE Network Venture

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:16:47 GMT

Kenya's Safaricom has said that it will withdraw from plans to build a shared LTE network for all the mobile networks if the government insists that it operate in the 2.6Ghz spectrum band.

Safaricom wants the network to be built using the 700Mhz spectrum band as it requires far fewer base stations, especially in rural areas and is hence cheaper to deploy, at least initially.

"We would want to know the frequency band that will be used; if it is not the 700MHz then they (government) may consider our self out of it," Nzioka Waita, Safaricom's corporate affairs director told Business Daily Africa.

The government has been pushing for the networks to cooperate on a single shared network infrastructure as it says there will be cost saving for consumers if the networks do not build competing systems.

Source: Cellular News

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

France Telecom Moves to Cut Costs in Africa With Uganda Deal

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:13:42 GMT

France Telecom SA (FTE), the biggest French phone company, agreed to sell part of its wireless network in Uganda to Eaton Towers in a cost-cutting move the carrier said it would seek to replicate across Africa.

France’s former phone monopoly, which operates in 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has set a goal to double revenue in emerging markets to 7 billion euros ($9.1 billion) by 2015, is selling its towers, considered as passive network real-estate, to focus investment on equipment that can help it set itself apart from competitors, the Paris-based company said today.

“Orange Uganda’s towers initiative is the first of its kind and will be closely watched by subsidiaries in other markets across Africa,” Marc Rennard, the company’s head of Africa, Middle East and Asia, said in a statement.

France Telecom, which spent 5.8 billion euros last year on capital expenditure, is looking at site sharing as a way to streamline its cost structure in markets where competition has pushed prices down despite revenue growth, its head of strategy and development, Elie Girard, said last month in an interview.

In mature markets, operators are also choosing to share networks to cut costs in countries where they can’t merge. France Telecom is looking to go deeper into sharing networks and is seeking partners in new countries, Christian Luginbuhl, who heads network performance in Europe, said in an interview last month.

Source: Bloomberg

Ghana: Vodafone Starts Internet Usage Campaign

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:11:58 GMT

Vodafone Ghana, a subsidiary of the world's most valuable brand, yesterday introduced an integrated and engaging communications campaign with the tagline 'Limitless Possibilities', which is aimed at educating Ghanaians about the internet and empowering them to take advantage of the limitless possibilities it offers.

The telecommunications giant starts this campaign with an engaging video documentary on how the internet has transformed the dynamics of communication while educating the public on how the internet can enrich their lives. Vodafone Ghana has also produced a series of fun and interesting retro TV ads with compelling examples of how easy and simple life has become with the internet, while using vintage images to show how difficult and inconvenient life was without the internet.

Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone, Uche Ofodile reiterated that 'we are known for giving our customers the best customer experience and we are doing the same by giving them the fastest internet speeds, innovative devices and unbeatable value bundles.

"In 2011, we decided to do something different from what currently exists in the market, and as always, we started from the customer's point of view by introducing the browser, streamer and downloader packages. We knew people wanted to be able to get on their device without having to understand how that is achieved technically, we provided packages that made sense to people and suited their behaviours and preferences."

She added that 'we are going big on data this year because we believe this will be the differentiator between us and our competitors. We are leaders in introducing innovative products that enhances peoples' lives and make life much easier for them. Our products like the web box, Mi-Fi, Wi-Fi zones, Vodafone cafés, hi-speed dongles, tabs among others all serve one purpose - to make life much easier for the user.'

The campaign that begins today will continue Vodafone's revolution of the internet by building on the success of the initial steps taken in 2011 by educating Ghanaians on the impact of the internet on their lives, giving them access to the devices that are most suitable for their lifestyles and giving the best value for money when it comes to buying internet bundles.

By this engaging campaign, Vodafone hopes to enlighten Ghanaians on the ease of use of the internet and increase internet penetration in the country which is currently at 8.4%.

Source: The Chronicle

MTN Ghana targets 11m subs this year

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:10:50 GMT

Cellular operator MTN Ghana has announced plans to invest USD134 million this year to expand its infrastructure as it targets eleven million subscribers by year-end, up from the end-2011 total of 10.2 million. Michael Ikpoki, the chief executive officer of MTN Ghana, said the company has initiated key infrastructure investment to support voice quality, capacity and data growth, GhanaWeb reports. MTN recently saw its share of Ghana’s fiercely competitive wireless sector slip below 50% for the first time, with Vodafone, Tigo, Airtel and Expresso also fighting for market share.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania’s vandals cutting off internet access

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:06:52 GMT

Sabotage on Tanzania’s broadband fiber optic cables has left regions without internet on the country’s National Information Communications and Technology Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), the country’s communications ministry said on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said the NICTBB expected massive growth in recent months, including price drops on internet services, but vandalism has disrupted services.

Peter Phillip, assistant director of IT-Technological Systems Development and Services in the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology, said the government was looking into ways of increasing capacity despite the sabotage.

“In our recent survey we found that there are some people in Arusha and Mwanza, who have been excavating the fiber optic cable, which has been laid upward to their regions, because they think it is copper wire that could be sold to scrap metal dealers,” said Phillip.

Phillip also said that among the challenges, “which the new ICT technology is facing, include lack of knowledge”. Phillip and the ministry have appealed to the criminals to end their vandalism.

The fiber optic cable is a “dangerous product, because it is made of the smallest pieces of glass and when someone cuts it and unfortunately it enters their eyes, they will end up turning blind forever,” the ministry added.

Source: ITNews Africa

Vodacom Upgrading Customer Care Platform to Support Twitter and Facebook Enquiries

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:05:18 GMT

South Africa's Vodacom will be deploying Genesys Social Engagement to automate and integrate social media interactions with customers throughout their contact center and customer service operations.

Vodacom is one of the first companies to deploy the Genesys Social Engagement solution. To date, it had been using a manual approach to handling social media queries.

The Genesys Social Engagement lets Vodacom agents use existing routing, reporting and agent desktop technologies to handle equiries sent via Twitter and Facebook to customer care staff.

The automated capabilities of the Genesys Social Engagement Platform make it easier for Vodacom to scale when customer interactions are heavy. It also allows customers and agents to seamlessly switch from one mode of contact to another; if an interaction begins on a social media channel, agents can offer web call-back or email to deal directly with the customer, without losing context or data.

Vodacom worked with its partner, Dimension Data, in South Africa to define project requirements and implement the software upgrade.

Source: Cellular News

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN warns of second digital migration

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:04:00 GMT

MTN SA has told the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) that a second digital migration may be necessary once the move from analogue to digital television broadcasting has been completed because of the fragmentation of the spectrum that will be freed up when analogue signals are turned off.

The operator also doesn’t want set-top-boxes to be subsidised by the Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF).

MTN says that as the “digital dividend” — the spectrum to be freed up by the move from analogue to digital broadcasting — becomes available, “it will be in small blocks scattered throughout the upper broadcasting frequency bands and there has been no plan on how to deal with that”.

The company says this fragmentation may render the vacated spectrum “unusable for communication purposes” and that due to the “scattered nature of the digital dividend spectrum MTN is of the view that a second digital-to-digital migration may be necessary”.

It also wants to see Icasa implement a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to spectrum so that it is not stockpiled or squandered by operators or other entities.

According to MTN, prior to the Electronic Communications Act coming into force, broadcasters didn’t contribute to the USAF. It says the plan to use the fund to subsidise set-top boxes for as many as 5m SA homes is therefore misguided.

MTN says it has no problem with subsidising set top boxes, but it doesn’t want a telecommunications fund used for broadcasting activities. It says broadcasters predominantly contribute to the Media Development and Diversity Agency fund, and that the agency’s fund is “ring-fenced exclusively for broadcasting”.

The operator wants subsidies to come from sources other than the USAF. “With planning, allocation of the digital dividend spectrum prior to switch-off could be used to subsidise set-top boxes.”

It also suggests that the 800MHz spectrum be auctioned off before the migration process is completed, with the proceeds used for subsidies.

Icasa councillor Nomvuyiso Batyi says MTN wants broadcasters to “vacate” spectrum because it is “extremely eager to get access to more spectrum”, but that in order to do so broadcasters will need to subsidise a large number of SA citizens’ set-top boxes. Yet, she says, MTN is suggesting it isn’t willing to contribute despite the obvious benefits of expediting the process.

MTN says subsidising set-top boxes is “noble and necessary” but urges Icasa to consider the “opportunity cost” of using the USAF and says “broadband access is a paramount objective of the department of communications, which will need subsidies for rural development of networks”. This will be far more difficult if the USAF is depleted. It adds that this might make the government’s goal of 100% wireless broadband penetration by 2020 unattainable.

MTN also says it wants a special spectrum advisory group expanded to include all network licensees and not just signal distributors because all players are affected. It wants to be included in digital migration processes, including trials and roll-outs because of its vested interest in the process.

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africa: Airtel Moves Towards 'Green Network'

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:01:44 GMT

Nairobi, Kenya — Bharti Airtel has announced significant milestones in its endeavour to build a 'green' environment friendly mobile network and reduce its carbon footprint in Africa.

As part of its commitment to the environment the company has undertaken a series of initiatives that are starting to deliver tangible results.

The company said that over last one year, it had reduced the number of telecom sites running solely on diesel by more than 50 percent by overcoming the challenge of lack of grid connectivity through use of innovative models such as Hybrid Battery Bank.

By 2013, the company aims to completely eradicate the constant use of diesel to power its network. This means no telecom site of the company will rely solely on diesel power 24 hours a day.

Hybrid Battery Banks collect the excess energy produced by the diesel powered generator in a battery that powers the site once the generator in switched off. This has helped reduce the use of diesel by up to 14 hours a day.

Close to 60 percent of Bharti Airtel's telecom sites in Africa are now powered using the Hybrid model resulting in major reduction in emissions and also operating costs for the company.

The Company is targeting over 70 percent of all its sites to be powered by the Hybrid model by end of 2013. It added that is also working on the use of solar and wind power to power its telecom sites.

Source: Capital FM

Kenya: Repairs On Cut Undersea Cable Start in 10 Days

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:30 GMT

Nairobi, Kenya — Repairs on The East African Marine System (TEAMS) fibre optic cable are set to commence in the next 10 days, about a month after it was accidentally cut off by a ship's anchor in Mombasa.

Safaricom Director of Corporate Affairs Nzioka Waita said the repairs are expected to take at least four days, under the supervision of eMarine, the contracted TEAMS cable maintenance company.

"eMarine have a ship in transit to Kenya. The repair work should start around the 22nd of March and so far there's nothing to suggest we're off track," he said.

Local data customers began experiencing service degradation after a ship docking four kilometres from the Mombasa landing station dragged its anchor on the cable, leading to the subsequent cut in late February.

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore said although the repairs have taken longer than the three-week time frame that was earlier anticipated, he expects the cable to go live within the next three weeks.

However, he added re-routing the firm's Internet traffic, now feeding from alternative capacity in the SEACOM and EASSy cables, has taken a financial toll on the company especially since retail pricing has remained the same.

Service is running properly now, it's just running expensively because we're having to route traffic on alternative routes or up on satellite; so it's costing us a lot more than it did before," Collymore revealed.

He spoke while engaging local journalists on the data market, which could face major expansion roadblocks if plans to migrate Kenya's broadcasting to a digital platform are not realised by July this year as targeted.

The recent admission by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) that the country will miss the June 30 digital migration deadline has mobile operators on edge, with concerns that the delay will hinder further data penetration in the country.

Data operators want broadcasters to migrate to a digital platform as the move would lead to an expanded frequency spectrum, which will in turn allow more data players into the market.

"The spectrum that is ideal for LTE is the 700 MHz spectrum which is currently held by broadcasters. As soon as broadcasters move from their analogue into digital this frees up almost 100MHz of this spectrum," Waita said.

The government invited the private sector to partner in Long Term Evolution (LTE) deployment last year, in a bid to benefit smaller ISPs (Internet service providers) and further reduce connectivity costs.

The partnership initiative calls for LTE deployment through an open-access model, where small and big operators will be able to use infrastructure without worrying about spectrum fees and high capital expenditures during rollout.

The government called on companies that had tier-one network operator status, 20 percent Kenyan ownership and capability of rolling out a countrywide network within a year.

Waita further commented that despite the delay in meeting the migration deadline, mobile operators would continue to lobby the communications regulator to fast track the process.

"We want the broadcasters out as quickly as possible and we want the policy from the regulator as to whether they will auction that spectrum, give it to us or go with the wholesale PPP model the Ministry (Information) is proposing," he said.

President Mwai Kibaki launched the digital broadcasting rollout in December 2009, with the ambitious target for the country to fully migrate by June 2012 ahead of the global deadline of 2015.

Data operators want broadcasters to migrate to a digital platform as the move would lead to an expanded frequency spectrum, which will in turn allow more data players into the market.

The government called on companies that had tier-one network operator status, 20 percent Kenyan ownership and capability of rolling out a countrywide network within a year.

Waita further commented that despite the delay in meeting the migration deadline, mobile operators would continue to lobby the communications regulator to fast track the process.

President Mwai Kibaki launched the digital broadcasting rollout in December 2009, with the ambitious target for the country to fully migrate by June 2012 ahead of the global deadline of 2015.

Source: Capital FM

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Telcos Eye Alternative Power, Spend N8.4 Billion Monthly On Diesel

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:20:11 GMT

MTN, with over 42 million subscribers, has over 7,000 base stations across the country, and burns about 15.5 million litres of diesel to power the sites every month, totalling N2.6 billion.

Globacom, with over 20 million subscribers, has over 6,000 base stations across the country, and burns about 14 million litres of diesel to power its base stations every month, totalling N2.4 billion.

Airtel, with over 18 million subscribers on its network, has over 5,000 base stations across the country, and burns about 10.5 million litres of diesel to power its sites every month, totalling N1.8 billion.

Etisalat, the newest entrant into the GSM market, has over 10 million subscribers on its network, with over 2,000 base stations across the country, and burns about 9.5 million litres of diesel to power its base stations every month, totalling N1.6 billion.

The figures on the number of litres of diesel expended monthly, which was calculated with the current price of diesel at N170 per litre, was provided by the telecoms operators.

Chief Technical Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mrs. Lynda Saint-Nwafor, who gave the figures for MTN's monthly expenditure on diesel alone, said the company was spending so much on diesel; a situation that forced it into alternative source of power called the Green Energy, which include Hybrid Power, Solar Energy, Gas Turbine and Wind Energy.

Reliable sources from Globacom and Airtel also gave their figures, but they however pleaded anonymity.

Explaining further, Saint-Nwafor said the Green Energy solution was adopted not only to reduce cost on diesel, but also to improve on quality of service, since Green Energy solution supplies steady and reliable sources of power to cell sites.

Meanwhile, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) recently said that only 42 per cent of electric power is connected to the national grid, which means that 58 per cent is using alternative source of power.

Describing how hybrid solution works, she said "It is a combination of generators and sets of batteries, such that the generator charges the batteries and when they are fully charged, the generator automatically switches off and the batteries automatically power the cell site.

"The generator comes up again, when the battery discharges to a certain level. The generator then powers the cell site and at the same time, powers the batteries. With the hybrid energy solution, less diesel is burnt," she explained, and added that MTN was already making plans to increase hybrid solution to more of its cell sites across the country.

Solar energy is a means of tapping energy from the sun during the day and using the accumulated energy to power cell sites, while the wind energy is a process of using energy generated from strong wind force to power cell sites. The gas turbine is hydro based, using energy generated from waterfalls to power cell sites.

Analysing the cost of setting up a telecoms base station, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said telecoms operators spend so much in building base stations and also spend so much on diesel in powering such base stations across the country.

He called on government to make permit for right of way free for telecoms operators, and grant quick approval to right of way, in installing telecoms cables and in building telecoms masts.

Adebayo equally called on government to protect telecoms facilities, especially base stations that are transmitting a lot of traffic, while blaming poor quality of service on incessant and wilful damages of telecoms facilities across the country.

Source: This Day

Nigeria: Paga Mobile Money Gets U.S.$2 Million Grant for E-Banking

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:19:06 GMT

Pagatech mobile money - a financial services platform said it had received a $2 million grant from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), to develop and deliver low cost financial products through its network nationwide.

EFInA is an independent, professional and non-profit organisation funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).

The Co-founder and Director of Sales and Business Development, Paga, Mr. Jay Alabraba, disclosed this while briefing the media in Lagos at the weekend. According to him, the Paga money transfer network, enables Nigerians to transfer money to anyone via their mobile phone, internet-connected device, or at any of its agents nationwide.

Alabraba said that the firm was given the grant, after a highly competitive and rigorous application process that spanned several months.

He also disclosed that the firm had concluded arrangement to introduce branchless financial services into the market very soon. According to him, the firm would collaborate with insurance firms, microfinance banks, commercial banks, public and private organisations, to ensure that the services gets across to their customers.

He explained: "Our low cost financial offerings delivered via our agents are yet another example of innovation at Paga - a Nigeria home-grown company. Through our banking, insurance and microfinance partners, we will bring savings, loans and insurance to those that need it the most in a manner that is both simple to use and easy to understand.

"Delivering more services at the agent point also improves the viability of the Paga agent network as it means additional revenue streams for our agents. Both EFInA and Paga, believe that to reach the un-banked or under-banked in Nigeria, innovative approaches with multiple stakeholders in the financial sector is the key to success and long term sustainability."

To the Executive Director and Managing Director, EFInA, Mrs. Modupe Ladipo, with over 59 million unbanked adults, finding new ways of reaching out to the market and bring low cost financial services is a major challenge that her organisation wants to address.

Ladipo added: "By bringing low cost services to every neighbourhood we believe we can help bring a large number of Nigerians out of poverty and improve living standards. We have chosen Paga for this grant because of the robustness of their plans and strength of their team. We are confident that by working together we can achieve our mutual goal of universal access to financial services for Nigerians."

Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Paga, Mr. Tayo Oviosu, listed Diamond Bank Plc, LAPO Micro-Finance Institution, ADIC and GTAssur, as some of the institutions that Paga had been working with, to develop and deliver low cost financial services.

Source: This Day

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Liberia: Lonestar Cell MTN Deploys Versatile Mobile Towers

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:16:57 GMT

Liberia's leader in converged telecommunications and partner of choice has again demonstrated a high level of ingenuity and innovation in the area of mobile telecommunications not just in Liberia, but on the continent of Africa by the invention and deployment of truly versatile Mobile BTS Sites for quick deployment in remote areas with challenging access. BTS is the internationally recognized abbreviation for Base Transmission Site which, in other words, is a complete GSM radio site.

Liberia's journey to sustainable development cannot be assured in the absence of technology and specifically in the absence of telecommunications, for every sector of the Liberian society depends on effective communications and the use of mobile telephones. Operating in Liberia for little over ten years now, Lonestar Cell MTN believes in providing effective support to the accomplishment of the vision of the Liberian government and its developmental agenda.

Mobile Base Transmission Sites revolutionizes and adopts a smarter and practical approach to react quickly to power outages on existing BTS sites, disaster areas where no GSM coverage exist and areas where the network becomes congested because of temporary events like campaigns, sporting events, etc. Lonestar Cell MTN's commitment is not to restate the challenges Liberia faces, but rather to advance solutions that would further the growth and development of the Liberian nation and provide excellent service to subscribers.

Mobile BTS consists of three separate mobile components - quick deployment mast, power house and fully equipped and configured Base Transmission Site. Many times power outages on BTS sites occur despite backup systems being installed. The Mobile power house provides a quick response time to restore power on the BTS site and shorten the length of time a site would be down and loss of communication to customers.

Another excellent advantage the Mobile BTS is its ability to provide additional capacity quickly when busy BTS sites show congestion. This is true when there is seasonal migration of customers to popular areas for holidays, like July 26, November 29, President Tubman's Birthday when the beaches are densely populated, soccer games or special events which many times can cause temporary congestion of BTS sites. The Mobile BTS offers a quick response and provides temporary action to add capacity to the BTS sites.

Currently the Liberia government has embarked upon the implementation of Liberia Rising: Vision 2030 and President Sirleaf is touring the nation, visiting towns, villages, clans, chiefdoms, cities and counties. In some of those places, network coverage may not be currently available or barely available. Because Lonestar Cell MTN sees itself as a good corporate citizen and a partner in assisting the Liberian Government advance its agenda for the Liberian people, the Mobile BTS is available to provide temporary coverage in certain areas in support of these special Campaigns, events or disasters in areas where normally no requirements exist for permanent coverage.

Liberia is indeed rising, roads are being built and infrastructure being improved. Yet, there are many areas that are yet to be reached because of bad road conditions. The deployment of the Mobile BTS by Lonestar Cell MTN is being done with the customer in mind, the advancement of the government's development agenda as critical and the overall advancement of the telecommunications sector foremost.

When Lonestar Cell - MTN entered the Liberian market, it made a commitment to provide to the public, innovative telecommunications services. It can be recalled that a few months ago, Lonestar Cell MTN welcomed the landing of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine fiber optic cable in Liberia. A Public-Private initiative of the Government of Liberia supported by licensed Operators in Liberia including Lonestar Cell MTN.

Over the last ten years of its existence, Lonestar Cell- MTN has not only continuously repeated that promise, but has also actively pursued initiatives that give meaning to that enduring promise like becoming a part of the Cable Consortium of Liberia and supporting the vision of the government of Liberia that would, in addition to other things, provide connectivity to public universities, hospitals and other institutions to promote e-initiatives for development.

Lonestar Cell MTN says that it is very pleased to be the company to introduce this significant development of technology in Liberia which would be an added support to the government's own efforts. According to Mr. Mazen Mroue, CEO of Lonestar Cell MTN, working to achieve goals and targets deemed advantageous by the government for the people of Liberia will remain part and parcel of what Lonestar Cell MTN will continue to do in Liberia while at the same time seeking to improve the lives of the Liberian people.

"Within Lonestar Cell, a Member of the MTN Group, our commitment is to always provide all our subscribers and the Liberian people exciting and innovative products and services that would for them, make their mobile telecommunications experience better. Our goal is to make Liberia Rising a true reality", says Mr. Mroue.

Speaking during an inspection of the Mobile BTS, a Liberian telecommunications engineer expressed great satisfaction that a Mobile BTS was finally in Liberia and noted that Lonestar Cell MTN had indeed exemplified itself as the Leader in converged telecommunications in Liberia with the introduction of the Mobile BTS in Liberia. He said such technology is practical and is being deployed with the Liberian people in mind, especially when such technology would provide quick responses and relief in the event of disasters, power outages, over- crowding at events that would cause network congestion, etc.

Lonestar Cell MTN currently has one of its Mobile BTS deployed in Yekepa, Nimba County which is providing coverage to the Yekepa Hospital and the surrounding cities, towns and villages. Although a permanent site for Yekepa is being built, the urgent need of the customers was addressed by Lonestar Cell MTN until the permanent site becomes operational.

Source: The New Dawn

USAID helps CCK develop broadband, universal service plans

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:15:04 GMT

The US government will extend technical assistance to Kenya in developing ICT strategies relating to broadband deployment and universal access, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has announced. According to an agreement signed between the CCK and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government will assist the Kenyan watchdog in developing strategies to stimulate universal access to ICT services in underserved and un-served areas of the country. Citing the CCK’s ‘ICT Access Gaps’ study undertaken last year, the watchdog’s director-general Francis W. Wangusi said that close to 1,120 sub-locations out of the 7,149 in the country have no access to basic communication services. This situation, he added, called for urgent regulatory intervention. The assistance, which will be provided through the USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations (GBI) initiative, will also assist the CCK in developing the management of its Universal Service Fund (USF). According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, at end-December 2011 Kenya’s fixed line broadband penetration stood at under 1%, with just 50,000 subscribers nationwide.

Source: TeleGeography

Econet gets a million mobile money users

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:13:31 GMT

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has revealed that it has signed up one million users to its EcoCash mobile money service, which launched in September last year. The cellco says the subscriber milestone ‘has been achieved in record time and [represents] the fastest growth of such a service in the world’. The bulk of users are thought to be using EcoCash for mobile airtime top-ups rather than for mobile payments or money transfers, a report from TechZim suggests. Econet Wireless is the largest cellular operator in Zimbabwe, with around 5.8 million subscribers and a 63% share of the overall mobile market at the end of 2011 according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: MTN Plans N214 Billion Investment Expansion

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:38:17 GMT

Lagos — MTN Nigeria has said it has earmarked N214 billion ($1.4 billion) for network expansion in Nigeria this year.

The company's Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Wale Goodluck, who spoke to journalists in Lagos, explained that a significant part of the money would be invested on expanding the MTN's core and radio networks as well as building a metropolitan fiber network and backhaul technology.

He noted that the investment represents 45 per cent of the total capital expenditure of the entire MTN Group for 2012.

According to him, the group was spending an enormous part of its resources in Nigeria because it contributed immensely to it (group's) revenue.

Goodluck said the MTN Group's yearly financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011 indicated that the company was doing well.

He said, "the group's revenue increased by 6.3 per cent to R121.8 million due to sound growth in Nigeria, South Africa and Iran of 4.1 per cent, 7.7 per cent and 20.1 per cent. On a constant currency basis, group revenue increased by 9.7 per cent. This is meaningfully higher and more reflective of the group's operating performance."

He also said Nigeria would enjoy substantial and better data services because the company's under water cable, West African Cable Services (WACS) had landed and would go live by end of April.

"It is expected to carry live traffic. MTN data strategy is hybrid and it will help in putting a Wifi cloud in almost every educational community, which will result in much improved experience.

Source: Daily Trust

Zimbabwe: Econet to Acquire 49 Percent of TN Bank

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:37:01 GMT

ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe, the country's largest mobile phone operator in terms of subscribers and coverage, is on the verge of concluding acquisition of 49% equity in TN Bank, businessdigest has established.

Sources close to the development said this week Econet had agreed to pay US$20 million for a 49% stake in TN Bank, a development that values the bank at around US$40 million.

The same sources said Econet's decision to buy into TN Bank was part of a wider plan to facilitate and broaden its EcoCash product, which the mobile phone operator launched in partnership with the bank.

Analysts said the deal would help create business synergies for the bank and Econet.

Ecocash is a mobile money transfer product. TN Bank was actively involved in the registration of EcoCash clients.

TN Financial Holdings (TNFH) CEO Tawanda Nyambirai would not be drawn to comment, citing confidentiality around the transaction. But a source close to the deal told businessdigest that Standard Bank Group, a leading South African bank, had done the valuation of the bank.

Nyambirai last week told our sister paper - NewsDay - that the investment would reposition TN Bank among the top four banks in the country.

This comes after the company announced in a cautionary statement two weeks ago that it was in talks for a possible investment.

Other sources say Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa could be diversifying into the banking sector after his relationship with Kingdom Bank founder Nigel Chanakira soured following the failed KFHL and Meikles merger. Econet held a considerable stake in KFHL and resultantly Kingdom Meikles Africa, which shares the company distributed to Econet shareholders as a dividend in specie last year.

Econet Wireless Ltd had not responded to businessdigest's enquiries at the time of going to print.

The mobile phone operator is in an acquisitive mood as evidenced by an acquisition earlier this year of ZOL -- a leading Internet Service Provider -- through its technical partner company Liquid Telecomms.

In the six months to June 30 2011, TN Bank's deposits more than doubled to US$49 million, from US$22 million during the same period in 2010. Early this month Nyambirai told businessdigest his group would go into retail and fast-food business.

TNFH's market capitalisation was US$36,04 million as at Tuesday.

The group also controls Pelhams, a leading furniture retailer in the country, TN Harlequin Luxaire, which became part of the TNFH.

Source: Independent

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom, KT Corp nearer to a deal

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:32:13 GMT

Telkom and KT Corp are inching closer to a deal. The SA fixed-line operator told shareholders on Friday that a diagnostic review has now been “substantially completed” that could result in the Korean company buying a significant minority stake in the company.

Telkom first announced the talks between the companies in October 2011 by way of a cautionary notice to shareholders, and has updated the cautionary several times since then as required by JSE regulations. The two companies are looking into “areas of mutual strategic and business cooperation”.

“The companies are cooperating to harmonise their respective findings and agree the terms of the potential strategic venture,” Telkom said on Friday.

“Discussions continue to be positive and collaborative, with both companies seeking to conclude a mutually beneficial transaction as soon as possible.”

The SA company said the proposed transaction will be presented to the boards of both Telkom and KT Corp for approval before finalising the transaction agreements, engaging with key stakeholders and presenting the terms of the proposed venture to Telkom shareholders for approval.

“Shareholders are once again advised that although discussions regarding the potential strategic venture are ongoing, there is still no certainty that a formal transaction will be proposed or concluded.”

In recent weeks, analysts have expressed concern that KT Corp might seek to renegotiate the terms of any deal because of a sharp decline in Telkom’s share price since the talks were first announced.

In its original cautionary related to the discussions, Telkom said it was looking at issuing new Telkom ordinary shares for cash at an issue price of R36,06 so that KT Corp could take a 20% equity position. However, on Friday morning, the share price was trading at R26,24. In recent weeks, it has traded as low as R24,80.

Source: Tech Central

Behind Vodacom’s coverage battle

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:30:36 GMT

Poor network coverage, dropped calls and lines that are constantly busy, are some of the things that Vodacom says it’s constantly working towards decreasing.

The cellphone operator has committed itself to upgrading its network. This year, Vodacom will spend R6bn in increasing its network coverage. In the past two weeks Vodacom has installed 53 new network towers across the country, comprising of both 2G and 3G sites – updates of which can be found on the company’s Facebook page.

But at times the company’s efforts to bring better connectivity to citizens is met with resistance from environmentalist groups who have health concerns regarding the electromagnetic frequency given off by these base stations.

At other times when it attempts to erect new base towers it receives tough opposition from “health groups”.

“The major issue is a lack of general understanding that the issues of EMF/health and that of network quality are inextricably linked,” said Richard Boorman, executive head of corporate communications at Vodacom.

“For each new site we install, we face calls to have other sites removed and face opposition to multiple other new sites. The main reason given for objecting to sites are health concerns. Often it’s a vocal minority that impacts the service for hundreds of other customers,” adds Boorman.

In response to this Vodacom has installed boosters at some of its stations, to extend its service to those areas where masts might have been removed.

“This most definitely isn’t a case of poor customer service – it’s evidence that we’re doing everything possible to deal with a situation that is often out of our hands,” said Boorman.

New Vodacom Towers that have been erected in the past two weeks

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Mobile Voice and Data Communications Statistics (tables only)

CST launches 3G network

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:28:22 GMT

Portugal Telecom’s subsidiary in Sao Tome and Principe, Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicacoes (CST), has announced the commercial launch of its third-generation network on the two islands, MacauHub reports. The launch follows a six-week test period of the 3G service, which began in February, and forms part of an initial investment of USD3 million. Subscribers are able to access new services such as mobile broadband and videocalling. Speaking at the launch ceremony, CST chairman Zeinal Bava said that in the future the maximum download speed would be increased to up to 14Mbps. ‘CST believes that broadband and internet on a mobile phone will be adopted on a mass basis when the [Africa Coast to Europe (ACE)] fibre-optic undersea cable starts operating in October,’ he added.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

South Africa telecom MTN: M&A still a priority

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:03:20 GMT

JOHANNESBURG--South African telecommunications company MTN Group Ltd. (MTN/JO) said Wednesday it continues to look for merger-and-acquisition opportunities, particularly in the Africa and Middle East regions where it already operates.

"It remains a priority for us," said Chief Executive Sifiso Dabengwa. "While we expect it's something that is more and more difficult, it's something we continue to look at."

Dabengwa said MTN would "aggressively" compete in Ethiopia if the government offered another license for a second operator in the country. Angola is also of interest, the executive said, and MTN would look at it if a third license was allowed or the sector privatized.

Dabengwa said MTN isn't interested in being in South America or the Pacific. He said discussions are ongoing with operators as potential M&A targets north of the Mahgreb.

Source: Market Watch

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

East Africa: Damaged EASSY Cable Repairs to Take 2 Weeks

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:01:11 GMT

The East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) which was recently damaged will be back on line in about two weeks, it has emerged.

It is suspected that on February 17, a cargo ship dragged its anchor over a distance of 150km in the Red Sea between Djibouti and Port Sudan, damaging three undersea cables; the EASSy; the South-East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3 (SMW3); and the Europe-India Gateway (EIG).

"The EASSy and EIG cables are likely to be repaired by March 20th. A cable ship has been secured to undertake the repair. Actual repair dates will depend on a variety of factors, including sea and weather conditions in the region," Chris Wood, the Chairman of the EASSy Management Committee, told The New Times in an email yesterday.

"The SMW3 cable is due to be repaired by March 12th; this will restore most of the affected traffic on a direct path to Europe," he added.

Wood stated that EASSy's "collapsed ring" protection mechanism minimised the impact of the damage. The only services interrupted by the cut cable were those either originating or terminating in Port Sudan, or those using Port Sudan to connect to other systems for transit to Europe.

"Most of the Africa to Europe traffic affected by damage to SMW3 and EIG has already been re-routed onto other systems, both in Djibouti and via South Africa - thus minimising the end user impact," Wood noted.

The cable disruptions, detected between Port Sudan and Djibouti which carries the majority of international Internet traffic (80 percent), also affected MTN Rwanda, the country's biggest telecom company by subscriber base.

"EASSY outage could have affected our clients if MTN hadn't invested in redundant routes. As a result, MTN didn't experience a total outage," MTN Rwanda's Chief Technical Officer, Maher Maarouf, revealed.

According to Maarouf, apart from EASSY, the company is also connected to TEAMS, SEACOM, Telecom-Italia, SEA-ME-WE-3 and New-Artel.

Speaking to The New Times, Jean Claude Munyangabo, the Director of Administration and Finance at New Artel, said that his company gets internet via Satellite and Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), a local infrastructure connected to EASSy cable.

"We were affected by the breakdown of EASSy but we have redundancy, we were backed up by Satellite connection which we are currently depending on for internet connection," he said.

Source: The New Times

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Nigeria: NCC, NBC Merger Will Transform ICT Industry

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:58:55 GMT

For the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry to contribute to the nation's GDP growth, the Federal Government must ensure that merger talks between the country's telecommunication regulator, the National Communication Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), which oversees radio and television broadcasts, are finalised soon, experts have said.

Efforts to bring the two together stalled under President Olusegun Obasanjo, but ICT Minister, Omobola Johnson, recently declared that streamlining the regulators would be a requisite to achieving the country's target of fully migrating to digital transmission by 2015.

The effort, she stated, would also open up frequencies for telecom operators to widen their offering of voice and data services and, consequently, increase penetration, especially in the country's rural areas.

The ICT industry is seen as increasingly important to Nigeria's development, with experts estimating it will provide an estimated $900 billion to GDP over the next nine years and will increase its current contribution of 3.5 per cent of GDP to 5 per cent by 2015.

Last July, the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology was established as part of President Goodluck Jonathan's wide-sweeping reform programme, with Johnson at the helm.

In a report made available to THISDAY, the Oxford Business Group (OBG), noted that the new draft National Policy, released in January, will bring together all of Nigeria's related technology policy under a single statute, "overhauling outdated regulations to better manage the country's dramatic growth in computer and internet usage over the past decade.

"Under the policy the government will create legal and institutional frameworks. The draft also targets improving access, investment, research and development, and plans legislation in cyber crime, ethical and moral conduct, privacy, copyright, intellectual property rights, piracy and e-transactions."

Johnson had last month announced plans to establish a professionally managed ICT innovation venture capital fund and create four software incubation centres by the third quarter of 2012.

She had previously noted that the country's ambition to emulate India's success in software development required the government to support sector growth.

According to Johnson, "About N750 million ($4.7 million) to N1 billion ($6.3 million) will be needed to establish the incubation centre. The centres will accelerate the development of a commercial software industry. The government, along with contributions from the private sector, will provide seed capital for the venture fund.

Observers have however, noted that sector development further depends on the availability of affordable broadband infrastructure access, promotion of local content development and cost effective public service delivery.

In February, CEO of MainOne, Funke Opeke, criticised the lack of a national backbone ICT infrastructure, as it impedes broadband services delivery.

"People want better access to the internet, they want it faster, cheaper, and they want to be able to drive new kinds of applications, as well as access to different types of content."

For the government's part, Johnson said at the opening of the youth ICT programme in Lagos that the government was working to double broadband penetration by the end of 2012 through aggressive expansion into both urban and rural areas.

"The ministry is working closely with the NCC to ensure rapid broadband deployment in urban and rural communities," she said, noting the NCC's state accelerated broadband initiative programme aimed to drive broadband penetration in rural communities," she said.

Source: This Day

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Africa: India Sets Aside U.S.$5 Billion for Continent's ICTs

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:53:11 GMT

ZIMBABWE'S science and technology sector is set to benefit from India following the positive outcome of the India-Africa Science and Technology Ministers Conference held in New Delhi early last week. The conference was attended by more than 40 African science ministers.

Speaking to journalists after attending the two-day conference, Science and Technology Minister Heneri Dzinotyiwei said India had set aside a US$5 billion facility for the development of science and technology in Africa.

Minister Dzinotyiwei said the money was going to be disbursed to African countries as loans and grants. He said the conference reaffirmed the need to identify small and medium scale technologies in selected areas where India could co-operate with Africa.

Zimbabwe had the potential to do better in science and technology if the sector was fully funded.

Source: The Herald

Uganda to return Libyan assets

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:50:07 GMT

The Ugandan government has announced that Libyan assets that were seized last year in line with UN sanctions against the North African state, are starting to be returned. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ugandan foreign affairs ministry announced that the process started following the lifting of sanctions in December last year, and that ‘all assets will be returned to the Libyan government in the next few months.’ Amongst the assets to be returned to Libya is a majority stake in Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL).

Source: TeleGeography

Tunisia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

North Africa: World Bank Announces Broadband Connectivity Initiative, New Focus On Citizen Participation in ICT Solutions

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:36:21 GMT

Doha — The World Bank today launched a regional initiative to improve broadband connectivity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by bringing utilities' fiber optic networks into broadband use. The Bank also announced a new focus on citizen participation in the creation of information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions to development problems, building on the success of the Cairo WaterHackathon.

Broadband Connectivity Initiative

The World Bank's broadband connectivity initiative will study the potential for developing regional broadband backbone networks in MENA and prepare the ground for new investments. It will use a new approach that leverages already-deployed infrastructure from other utilities, such as electricity, transport or oil and gas. The study is expected to tackle the main bottlenecks to broadband connectivity in the region, in particular providing redundancy (extra capacity) to existing international connectivity and opening alternative backbone networks in domestic markets.

"Worldwide, broadband is becoming an essential infrastructure for innovation, economic growth, and competitiveness," said Doyle Gallegos, Practice Leader, Connectivity Infrastructure, World Bank. "This World Bank initiative will help increase MENA countries' capacity to cope with the tremendous predicted increase in broadband traffic and to compete in the 21st century's global market."

The MENA region has been actively increasing broadband connections and, as of today, broadband connects over a quarter of MENA households. Broadband traffic in the region is predicted to grow over 100 percent in the next five years, making MENA the fastest growing region in the world with Sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Bank study will cover the region's international and domestic connectivity and will produce four country case studies focused on utility infrastructure use in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. In addition, the World Bank will look at broadband-based applications to increase operational efficiency and competitiveness of utilities, starting with a smart-grid pilot project in Jordan. Findings from these activities will be shared through regional workshops aimed at boosting investment in the region, particularly in utilities' fiber-optic networks.

The broadband connectivity initiative is part of the World Bank's Arab World Initiative and is supported by the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) and the Korean Government. Jointly with InfoDev, the World Bank has also produced the Broadband Strategies Handbook, a tool providing hands-on knowledge of broadband market, technology, and policy action.

Citizen Participation in ICT Solutions

Cairo hosted the first-ever WaterHackathon in October 2011 which brought together Egyptian technologists with water specialists to brainstorm innovative ICT solutions for Egypt's biggest water challenges. A hackathon in this context is a series of events that source problem statements from citizens, civil society, and development experts; build sectoral and digital literacy for technologists and development practitioners; and allow these partners to collectively identify technical pilot solutions.

"The Cairo WaterHackathon allowed the World Bank to 'do things differently' in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and engage local communities interested in shaping the future of their country," explained Carlo Rossotto, MENA Regional Coordinator, ICT, World Bank. "Based on this success, the World Bank will increasingly use citizen participation in the creation of ICT solutions as a mainstream tool to tackle development challenges."

The winning solutions at the Cairo WaterHackathon included:

A mobile and web-based application for more equitable water distribution, enabling farmers to remotely control irrigation (Salt & Rocks team)
An application for irrigation optimization and water saving in agricultural production, using smart mobile devices to enhance collection of field data (Abu Erdaan team)
A concept addressing water saving in industrial line production, using data visualization and SMS and web updates on water consumption (Run Time team)

The winning teams continue to develop their ideas. Team Abu Erdaan has managed to develop and beta-test its application and is now shortlisted among the top fifty competitors in Google's Business Competition in Egypt. As a follow-up, the World Bank is planning a Transport Hackathon in Cairo later this year.

The Cairo WaterHackathon was organized by the World Bank in close collaboration with local partners such as the American University in Cairo, the Desert Development Center, and the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.

Source: World Bank

MTN shakes up management structure

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:33:48 GMT

JSE-listed telecommunications group MTN has made sweeping changes to its top management structure, doing away with its regional vice-president positions and creating a new position of group chief operating executive, to be headed by Ahmad Farroukh.

Farroukh, a former CEO of MTN’s Nigerian operation who is currently vice-president of the West and Central Africa region, will take on the new role on 1 April. He joined MTN in 2006 following the acquisition of Investcom.

Under the new structure, seven operating company CEOs will report into Farroukh. They are the head of MTN Irancell and the leaders of MTN’s operations in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Afghanistan, Syria, Cameroon and Uganda. The CEOs of the SA and Nigerian businesses will report directly to MTN group president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa. They will also serve on the group executive committee as full members.

As part of the shake-up in reporting structures, a new operations executive role has been created, a position that must still be filled. The person who takes on this role will be responsible for the rest of MTN’s operations: Cyprus, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, Botswana, Rwanda, Benin, Congo-Brazzaville, Liberia, Sudan, Swaziland, Yemen and Zambia.

With the consolidation of the regional structures, current South East Africa vice-president Ignatius Sehoole will take on a new role in the group business risk management division.

Source: Tech Central

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

South Africa: Icasa Chair - Nation Not Lagging Behind On Spectrum Discussions

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:30:17 GMT

Speaking at a workshop hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to discuss its new spectrum fees with stakeholders, ICASA Chairman Stephen Mncube referred to the recently delayed process to assign capacity in high-demand bands.

During his recent trip to Geneva to meet with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Mybroadband.co.za reports, Mncube found that frequency spectrum issues were high on the ITU's agenda we well. "This is an indication that South Africa is not behind the rest of the world in its discussions around spectrum concerns," he said.

Speaking about the new spectrum fees ICASA will be charging from 1 April 2012, Mncube explained that this change in license fee structure was on the cards at ICASA since before even he came on board. His predecessors, he said, made an effort to understand the sociology of spectrum management and pricing. South Africa, Mncube reiterated, is a tale of two cities with "haves" and "have-nots." "Ours is to try and minimise that gap that exists in this industry."

Elsewhere, MyBroadband.co.za reported that ICASA postponed the licensing of high demand spectrum for broadband 'until further notice' after operators argue that ICASA's draft spectrum assignment plan was released prematurely. "This is to ensure that the Minister's policy direction on high demand spectrum is taken into consideration," ICASA said.

Source: Biz-Community

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

MTN FY11 revenues increase 6% to ZAR121.9bn; consolidated subscriber base reaches 164.5m

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:26:59 GMT

South Africa-based MTN Group has unveiled its financial results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2011, reporting that consolidated group revenues increased by 6% year-on-year to ZAR121.88 billion (USD16.0 billion). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9% y-o-y to ZAR53.57 billion and operational profit increased 8% to ZAR38.08 billion. Attributable profit has been stated at ZAR19.57 billion for full-year 2011, a rise of 13%. CAPEX for 2011 was down slightly, to ZAR17.72 billion.

In operational terms, MTN revealed that its consolidated subscriber base reached 164.5 million at 31 December 2011, up from 141.6 million in 2010. MTN’s domestic unit, MTN South Africa, continues to provide the bulk of subscribers in the South and East African (SEA) reporting region, increasing its customer base to 22.03 million in 2011, with around 5.50 million subscribers utilising 3G devices at that date. MTN credits the South African unit’s success to impressive growth in the pre-paid segment. Elsewhere, in the West and Central African (WECA) region, MTN Nigeria – the group’s largest operator – expanded its subscriber base to 41.64 million, including 1.70 million ‘data-active smartphones’. Meanwhile, in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, MTN saw sustained growth from its Iranian operation, MTN Irancell, which increased its customer base to 34.68 million during 2011. MTN credits the solid subscriber gains in Iran to improved distribution channels and sustained promotional activity.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Egypt’s telecoms minister says MVNO licence sale likely within four weeks

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:25:40 GMT

The Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohamed Salem, has reportedly indicated that the country will launch a tender for mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) concessions within the next month, Reuters reports. ‘We are finalising the format for the MVNO [licence] and hopefully we should expect (to issue the tender) in four weeks’ time,’ Mr Salem was cited as saying. It remains unclear, however, as to how many virtual operator licences the government is likely to make available, while the minister also declined to comment regarding pricing for the concessions, or indeed the money expected to be raised for the government by the auction process as a whole.

Mr Salem, meanwhile, was reported to have confirmed that the sale process for fourth-generation mobile licences was also currently being examined. ‘4G will be included in the broadband strategy … The broadband plan … will be issued by the end of June,’ the minister is reported to have said.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Liberia: Lonestar Cell MTN Launches Internet for Liberia

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:30:51 GMT

Lonestar Cell MTN has launched the Internet for Liberia Project, introducing a variety of internet services here. The Lonestar cell as the premier GSM Company in the country that drives mobile internet service it is ready to show the way to growth in internet penetration by helping to bring accessibility to Liberians.

The Internet for Liberia Project is aimed at getting devices into the hands of Liberians, getting Liberians to use the internet more, rewarding Liberians for using the internet and ultimately, increasing the efficiency of Liberians through the use of internet in every field of endeavor.

Chief Marketing Officer, Clement Ofori, who spoke at the launch Monday at the company's headquarters in Congo Town, said Lonestar Cell MTN is taking into consideration and recognize that its customers come from diverse backgrounds so everything was being done to tailor services based on needs.

Mr. Ofori explained that the EDGE Plus customers will during this period enjoy a 20% discount on their daily, weekly and monthly bundles. For customers, who choose not to buy bundles, but pay per use, he said they are extending happy hour to cover the internet. So they will enjoy Â½ prices for internet use between 12:30am to 5am every day.

According to him, the iConnect customers most of whom are corporate customers will receive 50% off their package for this month.

"We realize that all these great offers will not mean much to our customers if there is no device to use the internet on - that is why we have partnered with some device suppliers, notable amongst them, Samsung and Huawei to make devices available to our customers of various segments," said Ofori.

He said the company is particularly excited about the world's acclaimed solar powered laptop or net book, which Liberians can also own and use the internet on courtesy of Samsung and Lonestar Cell MTN.

Lonestar had led the way in bringing to Liberia the first 3G internet service when it launched the iConnect service last year. The company believes it's time to take it to the next level by getting more Liberians on the internet.

Ofori announced that Lonestar Cell MTN has just completed a major project that has significantly increased its bandwidth, adding that customers will from now progressively experience much better speeds, using the same devices they have been using.

"In the coming days and weeks", he said, "We will be rolling out several customer engagement activations around the use of the internet, which will no doubt touch every Liberian, including the farmer, the teacher, the doctor, the market woman, the student, the business person and indeed just about everybody no matter your profession."

According to the Chief marketing Officer, most of these activations will be in partnership with various bodies, including the media, educational institutions, government ministries and corporate institutions.

Earlier, Acting Chief Executive Officer S. Layola Fleming said the launch of the Internet for Liberia Project has demonstrated that indeed, Lonestar Cell MTN is the leader in the communication industry in Liberia. "We are moving the industry away from just voice to data", said CEO Fleming.

The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Dr. Fredrick Nokeh, who graced the launch, said the difference between the First World and the Third World is technology, adding "Internet is important because it improves efficiency and productivity."

Meanwhile, Lonestar Cell MTN lucky subscriber Miss Caroline M. Caranda, has been announced winner of one million Liberian dollars to climax the company's Text N Win promotion, which started last December. Miss Caranda won the grand prize Monday at the final draw of the Text N Win Promotion raffle.

The company over a period of three months, afforded subscribers the opportunity to walk away with huge sums of Liberian dollars in its Text N Win promotion launched during the Christmas and New Year Holidays. According to Lonestar Cell MTN, the "Text N Win" has given away a total L$10m in cash and airtime prizes during the three-month promotional period.

"Txt N Win" was a SMS based game that gives customers, who choose to play, an opportunity to win daily, weekly and monthly cash prizes and air time.

The first monthly winner emerged last December when his number appeared on Lonestar Cell MTN projector, declaring him a winner of LD$500,000. Monday's draw witnessed another subscriber, who has collected one million Liberian dollars, for texting messages to short code 3310 during the three months period.

Caroline in a joyous mood, praised the company for its good program. Caroline could not explain how she intends to the money because according to her, the amount was unexpected.

"I'm so glad to be chosen by machine amongst many subscribers, who use their resources to play in this draw. I am really blessed by God himself," she noted in excitement.

Caroline said she has been a Lonestar Cell MTB subscriber for 10 years, adding that it was good she was part of the process, something she said had made her a local millionaire.

Source: The New Dawn

Aptics launches WiMAX and VoIP in Zimbabwe

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:28:56 GMT

Zimbabwe has a new internet service provider (ISP) and voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony operator in the shape of Aptics. The firm was awarded an Internet Access Provider licence around two years ago and has been busy building out a WiMAX wireless broadband network; at launch Aptics is offering coverage of the whole of capital city Harare, around 70% of second city Bulawayo, plus a presence in Mutare, Gweru, Masvingo and Chitungwiza. According to a report from TechZim, the company is still finalising interconnection agreements with mobile operators and Zimbabwe’s sole fixed line operator, TelOne, but expects to have live and commercial interconnection with most of the major networks in the coming weeks. International connectivity should also be commercial soon. Aptics says it will focus on offering an affordable service to unserved and underserved areas of the residential market, although it will also have products aimed at business users.

Source: TeleGeography

UCC launches SIM registration scheme

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:26:50 GMT

Uganda’s telecoms watchdog, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has launched a SIM registration programme intended to reduce phone-based crime. Wireless subscribers have until 1 March 2013 to register their SIM cards with their operators. After that date, unregistered SIMs will be deactivated. The government made assurances that customers’ personal information provided during the registration process would be safe, hoping to assuage concerns that the gathered data might be misused.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Big mobile price cuts and quality improvements planned in SA

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:24:38 GMT

AppChat, a new mobile company founded and run by former ECN founder and CEO John Holdsworth, is planning to significantly reduce the price of mobile voice calls and drastically improve the quality of cellular calls in South Africa.

Holdsworth told MyBroadband that AppChat subscribers will be able to call any number in South Africa and internationally (both fixed line and mobile) at much lower costs and higher levels of quality than the current offerings from the cellular operators.

“The price of mobile voice calls will start to plummet in the next 24 months, just as we have seen with data,” said Holdsworth.

Holdsworth said that traditional GSM voice is nearing the end of its product life cycle and gradually will be replaced by 4th generation voice over IP (VoIP) technology.

Holdsworth said that AppChat will offer two options to consumers and businesses:

An AppChat SIM (where AppChat will be a virtual mobile network operator);
An AppChat application which will allow contract customers who cannot switch to AppChat to enjoy lower voice call prices.

AppChat will have products in both the prepaid and postpaid (contract) market, offering big savings when compared to current mobile voice rates.

Holdsworth is confident that AppChat will enjoy significant uptake, explaining that South Africans always appreciate a great value proposition particularly one that lives up to its promises.

It is however not only about price, and Holdsworth said that their service will offer excellent voice quality, which includes support for high definition voice.

AppChat is currently in negotiations with three major telecoms players, and Holdsworth expects to make a number of announcements soon.

Holdsworth expects to launch their first offerings within the next four to six months.

Source: My Broadband

ICASA bows to operator pressure; postpones 800MHz, 2.6GHz spectrum auction until further notice

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:22:41 GMT

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has postponed the licensing of spectrum suitable for Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile services, after the country’s main players successfully argued that its draft spectrum assignment plan was released prematurely. The brief press statement issued by the watchdog reads: ‘The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa hereby postpones the licensing of High Demand Spectrum until further notice. This is to ensure that the minister’s policy direction on high demand spectrum is taken into consideration. The Authority has received over 20 submissions and they will be made available from ICASA website and the library. The Authority would like to thank stakeholders for their submissions; and this will serve as valuable contribution to the process moving forward’.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in December 2011 ICASA proposed a framework for the licensing of mobile broadband spectrum in the 2.6GHz and 800MHz spectrum bands. The regulator aimed to avoid a traditional auction process, and instead sought to stage a comparative process, or ‘beauty contest’ procedure, taking into account factors including: business plan, technical plan, market innovation and network rollout. The closing date for applications was initially slated for 23 March 2012 and the authority aimed to finalise the process on 30 April 2012. The 2.6GHz band is already available for allocation, while the 800MHz ‘digital dividend’ band (790MHz-862MHz), suitable for rural network rollouts, will become available following the country’s move from analogue to digital broadcasting, which is scheduled to begin in April 2012.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

East African undersea cables remain unfixed

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:13:50 GMT

It has been three weeks since an underwater cable was damaged off the Kenyan cost, leaving East African companies and businesses frustrated as they await telecom services to return to normal.

Chris Wood, WIOCC Chief Executive, called the situation “very unusual”.

In Zimbabwe, internet users and ISPs served by the country’s fixed line operator, TelOne, have been experiencing intermittent internet service since the EASSy cable broke.

TelOne is part of the WIOCC consortium that has ownership in EASSy. Other internet providers using alterative international cables such as SEACOM have remained unaffected.

WIOCC and other cable operators said repairs are “taking place around the clock” and they hope “to return customers and users services to normal as soon as possible”.

Source: ITNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: PDP Asks Court to Revoke MTN's Licence

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:07:19 GMT

The Peoples Democratic Party has approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja for an order to compel the Nigerian Communications Commission to revoke the licence of MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd.

In the suit filed by the Osun and Ekiti Chapters of the party and the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, they alleged that NCC has failed to protect them from unfair practices of MTN.

They alleged that when asked to provide the National Judicial Council with call logs containing the alleged conversations between the suspended president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami to substantiate allegations that Justice Salami was influenced by some chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria to arrive at the decision that removed Oyinlola from office, MTN provided the council with an incomplete data.

In the statement of claim filed by the plaintiffs' lawyer, Adebisi Raimi, they claimed that, "MTN deliberately frustrated the work of the panel by providing inadequate and incomplete call data records and thus manipulated same.

"The action of MTN to deliberately frustrate the work of the NJC panel by providing inadequate and incomplete call data records constituted gross professional and ethical misconduct."

According to them, MTN forwarded to NJC call data records containing only the originating component and deliberately withheld the terminating components, which left the NJC with no option but to declare the call logs as lacking in evidentiary value.

They said: "MTN deliberately omitted the months of September, October and November 2010 from the call data records forwarded to the NJC panel, to effectively obliterate records of the period of communication between and among the following individuals: Justice Isa Ayo Salami (08034004887), Tunji Ijaiya (08034010700), Tunde Folawiyo Lagos State Governor (08034240000), Gbadegesin Ademola (08062240104), Moha-mmed Rufu Lai, (08034301111), Lagos State Government (08034020700; 08033235280; 08034301122), Kayode Fayemi (0805555655); thereby blanking out the period immediately preceding the judgements of the governorship election appeals in respect of Osun and Ekiti state."

They said that MTN deliberately omitted the months of September, October and November 2010 from the call data record, to mislead the NJC Panel and to pervert the course of justice.

They said that MTN action contravened the Nigerian Communications Commission Act.

They are also asking the court to order MTN to pay the sum of N150 Billion as general damages. In his evidence on oath which was attached to the statement of claim, the former Osun State governor Oyinlola said that if MTN had forwarded the authentic, adequate, complete and undistorted and bonafide call data records in respect of communication between and among the individuals mentioned above to the NJC panel, the report of the NJC Investigative Panel and the recommendations of the committee set up to review the report would have been different.

He said: "That if the recommendations of the panel and the committee had been different, necessary legal action and steps would have been taken to ensure that their candidates in the 2007 gubernatorial elections, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State and Chief Segun Oni of Ekiti state were reinstated.

"That because their candidates (PDP's Oyinlola and Oni) were not reinstated, they had suffered and are still suffering unimaginable integrity, prestige and image, financial and political loses."

Source: This Day

Rwanda makes internet sharing mandatory

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:03:50 GMT

As East African internet outages continue, the Rwandan government told telecommunications operators and ISPs on Monday to “provide seamless redundancy and diversity of internet bandwidth to guarantee service”.

This move will benefit users who have suffered over the past three weeks, since underwater fiber optic cables were clipped.

“This will allow automatic sharing of bandwidth between operators at pre-negotiated prices to avoid service interruptions in case of any breakdown,” the government said in a statement.

“The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) will institute a settlement system in the next few days to allow inter-operator bandwidth backup and seamless routing once any operator’s available bandwidth reduces to a pre-determined threshold,” it added.

The move comes as telecom operators struggle to provide services to customers since the EASSY cable was cut between Djibouti and Port Sudan on 17 February carrying around 80% of traffic.

Kenyan sources believe it could take up to three weeks before service is restored. Rwanda and Zimbabwe have been hit hardest, while in Kenya and Uganda other cables have carried traffic, albeit at slower speeds.

Source: ITNews

Rwanda: Project to Distribute 100,000 More Laptops

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:02:05 GMT

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project is set to receive 100,000 more laptops in a bid to ensure that all 416 administrative sectors in the country have an OLPC-enabled school.

The project that was launched in 2008 by President Paul Kagame has seen about 80,000 laptops distributed in 145 schools countrywide.

"We will receive an additional 100,000 laptops in May 2012," Nkubito Bakuramutsa, the OLPC Coordinator in the Ministry of Education told The New Times in an interview yesterday.

He explained that the first phase that covered five schools per district was soon coming to an end.

"We are targeting to complete the first phase by the end of March. Now that all districts are covered, we are moving to sectors. We want to ensure that all 416 sectors countrywide have an OLPC enabled school," he asserted.

Commenting on the rollout of electricity in schools where there is no power, Bakuramutsa said they had an approach that varied depending on the location of the school.

"For schools that are far from the grid, we are working closely with the project in charge of electricity rollout in the Ministry of Infrastructure to install solar energy. Closer to the grid, we are working with district officers and Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) to complete the connection of schools to the national grid," he explained.

"This is an ongoing process, but for the current phase, we should have all selected OLPC schools connected to power by June 2012. The sector level deployment will see schools connected faster given the experience we developed in the first phase.

Nkubito pointed out that the use of laptops on a daily basis in all schools was going to drastically increase with the current deployment of servers in schools. They will enable all lessons to be covered through digital courses.

OLPC Project has also trained 1,500 teachers and head of schools and is targeting a second round of training which will cover another 1,200.

Whereas government-supported schools are given the custom-made computers free of charge, there is also another arrangement where private schools buy them at a subsidised price of $200 (approx. 120,000).

Speaking to The New Times, Jeanne d'Arc Twambajemariya, the Director of Etoile Rubengera in Karongi District, Western Province, said OLPC had enabled students to learn with ease.

"Our school is not government owned and thus not among the beneficiaries. In partnership with parents, we have purchased 31 laptops," she said.

"The laptops have improved our pupils' knowledge in the use of ICT tools, but they are very few compared to the number of children we have. We have written to the OLPC project requesting them to assist us with more laptops if possible."

According to Theogene Sibomana, the Director of Camp Kigali School, children have learnt how to use various applications using laptops.

"They are interested in the use of laptops and this has led us to double the time kids spend on them in school," he noted.

Source: The New Times

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

MTN warns of ‘regulatory failure’

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:30:08 GMT

Cellular operator MTN has warned that the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) draft proposals for licensing of spectrum in high-demand spectrum bands have the “high risk” of leading to “regulatory failure”.

Efficient licensing of spectrum in the two bands in question — at 800MHz and 2,6GHz — is seen as crucial to ensuring operators are able to build next-generation wireless broadband networks and extend access outside the country’s urban centres. The bands are particularly well suited to building networks based on next-generation long-term evolution (LTE) technology.

In its submission to Icasa, MTN argues that the allocation of the spectrum is “probably the most important public policy decision and implementation of such policy in the sector since the liberalisation of the licensing regime”.

“Getting it right will mean the creation of thousands of jobs, billions of rand of growth and an increase in rural connectivity,” it says. “Of course, it means that getting it wrong will mean the opposite.”

But MTN says Icasa’s approach carries a high risk of regulatory failure for a number of reasons.

It says Icasa appears to be rewarding hoarders of spectrum with generous allocations, while preventing those who use their allocation to deliver “access for all” from bidding. “This appears to fly in the face of the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ principle and the objectives of the [Electronic Communications] Act.”

By trying to exclude incumbent operators like MTN from participating in building networks, the proposals could also “add costs and delays to the broadband-for-all objective as new networks will need to be built from scratch”.

Icasa wants to award additional spectrum in the bands to existing licensees, including state-owned Sentech, iBurst parent Wireless Business Solutions and second national network licensee Neotel. “Some recipients may not have the cash to build [networks] in a timely manner, or at all,” MTN says. “For example, for Sentech to roll out a national network will be a significant drain on [national] treasury funds, which could be diverted elsewhere.”

The operator argues that throughout the world regulators have found it difficult to pick the likely winners correctly and the “risk of regulatory failure is therefore high with the proposed allocation method and almost half of the spectrum being allocated is ‘at the stroke of a pen’”.

It says 40% of the spectrum has already been allocated to Sentech, WBS and Neotel without regard to prior performance. This raises “serious governance issues” and means some provisions in Icasa’s invitation to apply for access to spectrum could be seen as “discriminatory”. The proposed additional allocations to the three players come with none of the roll-out obligations that will be imposed on other operators, it adds.

Neotel, it says, will be migrated to the most valuable part of the 800MHz band, with its allocation doubled and no new obligations attached. “This could mean that hundreds of millions of rand are transferred from the SA public to the Neotel shareholders.”

As a principle, spectrum should be allocated to those are most likely to make best use of it, adding that the industry fragmentation that will result from issuing new licences could increase competition but could also result in “increased unit costs and broadband prices because economies of scale are being fragmented”.

International evidence suggests such fragmentation is likely to require consolidation to create the network and economies of scale to deliver broadband to everyone, it submits. “Current spectrum trading rules would substantially hamper this process and require revisiting if the authority is to press ahead with these plans.”

MTN has also taken issue with Icasa’s proposal to enforce a wholesale-only open-access model as a licence condition, arguing this would be “globally unique” and assumes wholesale capacity is easy to deploy by new operators. It says the “jury is still out as to whether commercial, wholesale-only models (such as Russia) are even viable”.

“Recent evidence from the US, where commercial 4G wholesalers Clearwire and Lightsquared appear to be heading for bankruptcy, suggest the proposed business model is not proven at all.”

MTN says that to protect against the risk of regulatory failure, Icasa must first create “more liquid downstream markets through carefully crafted spectrum trading rules”.

“Logic and fairness dictates that such rules should be published before asking potential bidders to put a value on spectrum in an auction.”

MTN argues that Icasa’s proposal for making spectrum available is contrary to the recommendations made by the National Planning Commission in its National Development Plan, which says, among other things, that spectrum should be fully tradable once allocated” and that “spectrum policy should favour competition but incumbents should not be excluded from gaining access to bands they need to build networks using new technologies”.

Icasa’s draft documents, on the other hand, “effectively exclude MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom from direct participation to the allocation process” in the 2,6GHz band. Icasa also makes no reference to the “critical” issue of spectrum trading.

Like its rival Cell C, MTN reckons Icasa’s process, which is running parallel to a process underway at the department of communications to develop policy directions, is “procedurally unfair”. It argues that the process should be “stayed until a holistic and carefully considered national debate takes place using the policy directions process”.

Like Cell C, it argues that process will be “tainted by administrative illegality and be subject to judicial review”. It says this could be avoided if the Icasa process was put on hold to allow for “administrative action that is ‘procedurally fair’”.

Icasa is expected to hold public hearings in the next few months to hear verbal submissions from the operators and other interested industry stakeholders.

Source: TechCentral

New national mobile network on the cards

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:26:13 GMT

Convergence Partners, the technology investment vehicle controlled by Dimension Data Africa chairman Andile Ngcaba, wants to work with partners to build a multibillion-rand national wholesale mobile broadband network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology.

TechCentral has learnt exclusively that Convergence Partners, which already has investments in a range of telecommunications infrastructure projects — including the Seacom subsea system and the FibreCo national backhaul network operator — wants to build the network to provide wholesale services to incumbent and emerging operators.

Convergence Partners CEO Brandon Doyle says the proposed investment is part of the company’s plans to build networks spanning a range of technologies. The company is also an investor in the Intelsat New Dawn satellite, which was launched last year.

However, Doyle cautions that it’s still early days in the process and a lot more clarity is still required from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) about how it plans to divvy up spectrum in the highly coveted 800MHz and 2,6GHz bands.

The two bands are seen as ideal for building next-generation LTE networks. LTE will pave the way to fourth-generation systems capable of delivering much speedier wireless connections to consumers.

“What Icasa is trying to do makes sense at the 10 000ft view, but there still needs to be [greater clarity] of how the model will work,” Doyle says, adding that the company has decided to participate in the process with the view to submitting a bid and building a network that will cost billions of rand.

He says spectrum is a scarce resource and Icasa needs to flesh out its plans in much greater detail.

Convergence Partners, he adds, wants to provide wholesale network access to existing operators and to new operators that will emerge in the next few years, including in rural parts of the country that are currently poorly served by the incumbent players.

If the company is successful in a bid for access to spectrum — it is likely to bid for access to both bands but will consider all its options — then it will provide wholesale access only. Doyle says Convergence Partners has no intention of providing retail services to end users and so won’t compete directly with retail operators.

He adds that it’s also too early to say which other parties Convergence Partners will work with, but, in response to a question from TechCentral, he says companies such as Internet Solutions (IS) and Cell C are “natural alliance partners”.

Cell C and IS, which is owned by Dimension Data, are co-shareholders in FibreCo, which is building a national fibre-optic backhaul network that will be crucial in providing high-speed links into LTE base stations. He confirms that Convergence Partners is involved in an “engagement process” with IS.

IS MD Derek Wilcocks says he is not yet in a position to reveal which partners his company is working with, but confirms it is eyeing a partnership model when it comes to spectrum. He promises to reveal more in the “next few weeks”.

“We are still very interested in the licensing process,” Wilcocks says. “How we take part will depend on what the final invitation to apply looks like.”

He adds that Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, which owns Dimension Data, is not playing an active role in the process.

Source: TechCentral

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Nigeria gives go-ahead for NITEL liquidation

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:22:06 GMT

The federal government of Nigeria has approved the adoption of a guided liquidation strategy for ailing fixed line incumbent Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile arm M-Tel. The move follows a series of failed attempts at selling the indebted state-owned telco. Local newspaper THISDAY reports that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the agency tasked with overseeing the privatisation of NITEL, has announced that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), during its first meeting for 2012, endorsed the recommendations that ‘guided liquidation’ should be adopted as the strategy for the privatisation of NITEL and its wireless arm, considering the large liabilities of both companies. The decision follows the cancellation of the latest attempt to privatise the firm in June 2011 when the reserve bidder, British Virgin Islands-based Omen International, failed to meet the deadline to pay its USD105 million bid security. Omen was invited to re-register its interest in buying NITEL in March 2011, as preferred buyer New Generation Telecommunications repeatedly missed the payment deadlines for its bid of USD2.5 billion. Omen offered USD956.9 million during the latest attempt to privatise the company, held in February 2010. The government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of M-Tel in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

OTMT shareholders vote to sell Mobinil stake to France Telecom

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:10:41 GMT

Shareholders of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) have voted in favour of selling the majority of the company’s stake in Egyptian cellco Mobinil to France Telecom (FT). The deal – which is expected to be worth around EGP6 billion (USD1 billion) – follows a non-binding offer made by FT in February. OTMT will keep a 5% stake in Mobinil and maintain 30% voting rights. The transaction is expected to be completed within a few weeks.

Source: TeleGeography

African Fixed-line and Fibre Telecoms Markets and Infrastructure

Airtel Africa extends Google’s African reach

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:25:37 GMT

Airtel Africa have enriched their partnership with Google, aiming to make internet products more accessible to African consumers.

The two companies have teamed up to launch Google+ and Chat SMS features across the 16 markets in which Airtel operates and plan to continue deepening the strategic relationship to increase affordable and ubiquitous access to the internet and Google products for its end users.

Users can now use Google+ Messenger and Google Chat to communicate between all mobile phones and platforms, even if they are offline or have a SMS and voice only phone.

With Google+ SMS notifications enabling you to post status updates via SMS, users are always connected with their circles.

“We are extremely excited about taking this mutually-beneficial relationship to the next level,” explains Andre Beyers, Airtel Africa’s Chief Marketing Officer.

“By extending our already existing relationship into the future, both Airtel and Google will work together to ensure that we can provide consumers with access to innovative products that will have a positive impact on how they experience the internet.”

Beyers goes on to say that the telecommunications company is in the process of building the largest 3G network across the continent. 3G will transform how subscribers experience the web on internet-enabled cell phones.

“Airtel has always been committed to providing consumers with relevant and innovative products and services,” says Willie Ellis, Airtel Africa’s Group Products & Innovations Director.

“Strategic partnerships will allow us to continue delivering mobile solutions that will improve our customers’ internet experience.”

There are currently about 400 million mobile subscribers in Africa, according to data from McKinsey & Co. Telecommunications is one of the continent’s fastest growing industries with a rapidly expanding cellular phone market that now includes internet access, mobile banking and mobile commerce.

With this in mind, the telecommunications company has remained committed to deepening its network coverage, bringing communication opportunities to rural populations that have been left out of the telecommunications boost. The telco will work in tandem with Google to provide consumers with internet solutions and products bridging the digital divide.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Google’s new privacy policy goes live despite criticism

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:23:55 GMT

Google Inc’s controversial new privacy policy went live Thursday, offering millions of Google users the advantage of more individualized service, but at the expense of yielding more personal information to the web giant.

Under the new policy Google will share the information it has about users between all its services. That means that YouTube might offer you video content based on the content of your emails, or that a term you use in Google Docs will appear higher in your search results.

Google is not offering users the option of opting out of the information sharing, and privacy advocates in the US and Europe have blasted the new policy, largely on the grounds that Google’s users became reliant on the services when they operated under separate privacy policies.

Millions of users are unable to ditch Google since they have mobile phone contracts for devices that run Android, Google’s operating system.

The French regulatory authority earlier this week said that the new policy was a violation of the European Union’s data protection rules, while in the US 36 attorneys general have criticized the changes as an invasion of privacy.

Google says that the move unifies the privacy policy of all its web properties and will result in better service for its customers. But US privacy advocate Consumer Watchdog blasted the new set of rules as a “spy policy” designed to allow the company to provide more targeted advertising and thus make more money.

“It’s really about spying on you and building those digital dossiers,” said John Simpson, the director of the organization’s Privacy Project. “Remember you’re not Google’s customer; you’re Google’s product.

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

New Dawn deal promises channels for Africa

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:20:40 GMT

Satellite service provider Intelsat, together with content management and delivery company GlobeCast, are launching a new media platform on the Intelsat New Dawn satellite, the companies said on Thursday.

The media platform will use New Dawn’s Ku-band satellite system. The satellite is a joint venture between Intelsat and SA’s Convergence Partners, controlled by businessman Andile Ngcaba.

The platform provides a solution for both regional and international programmers looking to expand their distribution to cable and direct-to-home (DTH) services across sub-Saharan Africa, according to the companies.

Intelsat says it currently carries more than 800 television channels in Africa.

GlobeCast will provide ground and uplink services for the platform from its facility in Johannesburg. Customers can contribute content to the platform from anywhere in the world, either via Intelsat’s global satellite fleet and the IntelsatOne network, or through the GlobeCast Backbone Network.

The Intelsat New Dawn media platform is Intelsat’s fourth such Ku-band system on the IntelsatOne network.

The platform is based on DVB-S2 modulation and Mpeg-4 compression technology and can be received with dishes smaller than 1m in much of the coverage area.

“One of the most exciting things about this new platform is that our broadcast customers can now uplink directly from Africa to a prime position for the DTH market in our region of the world,” says Alan Hird, CEO of GlobeCast Africa.

“With our global satellite capacities and fibre network, the content can easily come from anywhere worldwide to GlobeCast’s facility in Johannesburg. We expect this to quickly become a key neighborhood for broadcasters in Africa.”

Source: TechCentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Spectrum: use it or lose it in a clever way?

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:18:07 GMT

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) recently issued a notice to inform “all interested stakeholders” of a workshop on spectrum fees to be held on Monday, 5 March 2012.

According to the notice, ICASA has introduced an “Administrative Incentive Pricing (AIP) scheme” for electromagnetic spectrum which will take effect from 1 April 2012.

ICASA said that the scheme will cause significant changes in how the fees for spectrum licences are calculated and affect all spectrum licensees.

AIP was introduced by the Radio Frequency Spectrum Licence Fee Regulations of 2010 as the new basis for calculating radio frequency spectrum licence fees in South Africa.

Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions, a legal consultancy specialising in telecommunications and related industries, explained that AIP involves the stipulation of a specific formula for the calculation of fees for the following applications:

point-to-area
point-to-point
satellite hub ground stations
satellite VSAT subordinate ground stations.

Ellipsis said that the rationale behind the setting of the fees is that they should at least cover the administrative cost incurred by ICASA to regulate spectrum. The updated structure will hopefully serve to introduce greater efficiency into the use of spectrum in South Africa, Ellipsis said.

Another change to be introduced is that state-owned signal distributor Sentech will have to start paying spectrum license fees to ICASA, which it hasn’t had to do before.

SA’s spectrum licensing mess

Sentech is sitting on 50MHz of spectrum in the 2.6GHz band – prime real-estate for high speed mobile broadband services such as LTE. The company has yet to use the spectrum to roll out services.

ICASA will reduce and relocate Sentech’s assignment in the 2.6GHz band for the possible roll-out LTE, and will also give the state-owned signal distributor choice spectrum in the 800MHz “digital dividend” band.

Spectrum licensing in SA has also been in the spotlight recently with ICASA asserting that Wireless Business Solutions (WBS), which operates iBurst and Broadlink, has been running around 1,000 unlicensed wireless links that they have rolled out since 1 April 2010.

WBS has racked up a bill to the tune of R24 million in outstanding license fees, ICASA said.

In 2009, irregularities around the use of Sentech’s spectrum by Screamer telecoms to provide WiMAX services came to light. Screamer said that they had an agreement in place with Sentech, while Sentech denied Screamer’s claims.

A year later, former Sentech chairperson Quraysh Patel told parliament that Screamer was illegally using their spectrum. The new chairperson of the state-owned signal distributor, Logan Naidoo, reiterated this statement in 2011 and called on ICASA to act against Screamer.

The sub-licensing of spectrum is not allowed in South Africa, but many industry players have called for this regulation to be re-evaluated to address issues like the Screamer debacle and the risk posed by spectrum laying fallow

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Airtel Nigeria unveils DC-HSPA+ network

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:15:20 GMT

Airtel Nigeria, the local unit of Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel, has launched a Dual Carrier HSPA+ (DC-HSPA+) network, which supports mobile broadband services at download speeds of up to 42Mbps. Nigerian newspaper Vanguard cites the cellco’s chief executive officer and managing director, Rajan Swaroop, as saying that the new network is available in parts of all 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. Airtel Nigeria is the country’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers, with a total of 18.03 million customers at the end of 2011 (corresponding to a market share of 18.9%), according to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) latest statistics, behind market leader MTN Nigeria (43.8%) and second-placed Globacom (20.9%).

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Huawei, ZTE eye Ethiopian Telecom

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:34:56 GMT

Chinese mobile telecommunication firms are scrambling for a stake in the Ethiopia's mobile platform after the government of that country indicated that it would undertake a US$1.2 billion expansion project.

Huawei has already offered to partner the project, while ZTE is also eyeing a stake in the expansion.

ZTE has for the past few years been undertaking a number of telecommunication projects in Ethiopia and it believes this gives at an edge over competitors.

Huawei, on the other hand, has turned on its charm and on Tuesday it launched a Mobile Broadband road show in the capital, Addis Ababa, to show what it was capable of.

The company's chief executive officer, Pan Guoqiang said among the products on offer were 150 Mbps bandwidth LTE, optical backbone, packet core, software and application, security and storage, smart terminals and managed services solutions.

Ethiopia hopes to increase the number of customers on the mobile platform from the current 15 million to around 50 million in the next four to five years.

The network upgrade is also expected to span over a corresponding period.

Source: The Africa Report

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

France Telecom plans regional sales clusters

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:30:04 GMT

Barcelona: France Telecom, the biggest French phone company, seeks to bolster cooperation between units in Africa and the Middle East to improve networks and promote its Orange brand following acquisitions in Morocco, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"If we had units everywhere in a given zone, say west Africa, then we could launch the same phone package, maybe with the same price, across countries in that region," Elie Girard, the Paris-based company's head of strategy and development, said in an interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "We could get economies of scale on the cost side and synergies on the sales side."

Small acquisitions

France Telecom is considering small acquisitions in regions such as West Africa, where Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin are the few blank spots left in its footprint, he said. "We're not actively seeking targets, but we will look at specific opportunities."

France's former phone monopoly, which operates in 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East, has been shedding assets in Europe to tilt operations toward faster growing markets in Africa and the Middle East. Following recent deals to enter Morocco, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company faces several challenges in these markets, Girard said.

"In Morocco, we want to strengthen our marketing. In Iraq, it will be about rolling out a network outside of the current Kurdistan coverage. In Republic of Congo, we want to modernise our network and work on rebranding," he said.

To cut costs in its emerging markets, the company also plans to share towers. Girard has said France Tele-com is finalising a sharing deal of telecom masts and towers in one African country and will seek to replicate this type of deal elsewhere on the continent.

"We've got work to do to make sure value is created on the deals we've already made," he said.

Share in emerging markets

France Telecom has set a goal to double revenues in emerging markets between 2010 and 2015. The company has said it could reach this target by increasing its shares in its Moroccan, Tunisian and Iraqi units, where it holds minority positions alongside local partners.

In February, France Tele-com agreed to buy most of billionaire Naguib Sawiris' stake in their Egyptian mobile phone venture, increasing the French company's control.

Source: Business Telecoms

Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Minister wants understanding ahead of SIM termination

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:25:47 GMT

Haruna Idrissu, Ghana’s Minister of Communications, has given directives to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to engage telecom companies before the termination of all unregistered SIM cards this week.

Idrissu spoke at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, hoping the dialogue would enable them to address challenges regarding SIM cards validation without proper registration. These pronouncements are a result of fears by the telecommunication companies of a possible loss of more than 3.2 million customers should the NCA continue as planned.

“If the National Communications Authority engages with network operators, they can reach an understanding on how to deal with the challenges of those who have attempted to register or have registered but have had to wait for a validation to finalize the registration process,” Idrissu said.

Meanwhile, the NCA has said the minister’s directive that the termination is done with a human face plugs into the Authority’s practice. The Authority has already taken steps to ensure no subscriber is deprived his rights says Mawuko Zormell, NCA Deputy Director in Charge of Corporate and Consumer Affairs.

Source: ITNews

Ghana embarking on e-government projects

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:23:56 GMT

Eleven Ghanian government departments and agencies will commence with e-government projects to improve service to its citizens, the government said on Wednesday.

These agencies include Food and Drugs Board, National Communication Authority, Births and Death Registry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Passport Office, National Health Insurance Scheme, National Information Technology Agency, Minerals Commission and Registrar Generals Department.

William Tevie, National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Director General, disclosed this at the stakeholders’ meeting on e-payment system implementation on Tuesday in Accra.

He said the meeting aimed to tackle issues concerning the online payment for government e-service being deployed in the varying stages of the implementation process. The e-government project ensures the presence of important and relevant government information on the web be noted.

The e-services being developed are a Content Management System (CMS) for managing hosted content on the government portal, a payment gateway allowing portal applications to receive payments from customers, e-forms and a document management application. The project is expected to provide a free flow of information between department and agencies, service providers and the public.

He also stated that NITA played a central role in the government e-service such as the geGov currently being used by the Registrar Generals Department and the Ghana Revenue Authority, which was a Public Private Partnership. “An e-justice system, e-immigration, e-parliament, e-passport and e-Government Procurement system are envisaged,” he added.

Tevie urged the participants to use the meeting to deliberate and come out with recommendations that would help establish an effective online payment system that would be of benefit to the economy.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Mobile Voice and Data Communications Statistics (tables only)

Egypt mobile phone subscriptions up 18 pct in 2011

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:22:12 GMT

CAIRO (Reuters) - The number of mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt rose 18 percent to 83.43 million last year, shrugging off an economic crisis sparked by the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, government figures showed on Thursday.

In December 2010, Egypt's three mobile operators -- Etisalat Egypt, Mobinil and the Egyptian unit of Vodafone -- had 70.66 million subscriptions.

Vodafone and Mobinil -- controlled by Egypt's Sawiris family and France Telecom -- have been competing fiercely for market leadership.

Subscriptions now roughly equal the country's population and the companies are seeking to maintain revenue growth by encouraging customers to use more data services. Egypt is the Arab world's most populous country, with more than 80 million people.

Source: Reuters

Two East African undersea internet cables cut

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:18:59 GMT

East African internet users experienced reduced speeds on Tuesday after ships’ anchors severed the two undersea fiber optic cables off the coast. The companies involved on Tuesday said repairs could take up to two weeks.

The cables operated by Teams, a company partly owned by the Kenyan government, were cut on Saturday near the Kenyan port of Mombasa by a ship’s anchor. Eleven days earlier, another ship dragging its anchor cut the cables of Eassy, a consortium of telecommunications companies.

“Eassy suffered a cut on 17 February in the Red Sea,” Chris Wood, West Indian Ocean Cable Co CEO, the largest investor in Eassy, told reporters on Tuesday.

“That cut didn’t materially affect any traffic… however, in the same incident, two other cables were cut, and they carry a lot of traffic,” he added.

Wood said that most traffic had been re-routed through South Africa, and that ships were being mobilized to repair the cables. Repair time on the cables would be 15 to 20 days, he said. Local internet companies have re-routed their traffic through another cable operated by the privately owned Seacom, which said its services were operating normally.

Source: ITNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: MTN Links Shell With Largest IP Connectivity

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:17:10 GMT

MTN, the leading telecommunications company in Nigeria has deployed two independent 622MB data networks for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the largest capacity ever deployed for any corporate organisation in Nigeria.

The two independent links provide high bandwidth data connectivity between Shell's operations in Lagos and Port Harcourt; and Port Harcourt and Warri. Both links ride on MTN's nationwide fibre optic network providing both primary connectivity and redundancy to support voice, data and video traffic from Shell's advanced enterprise applications.

According to MTN's Chief Enterprise Solutions Officer, Babatunde Osho, reliable IP connectivity is the platform upon which large organisations can deploy collaborative solutions that make them more productive and efficient.

"These recent deployments in the Oil and Gas space confirm that organisations in Nigeria are gearing up for getting the most of what the latest technology has to offer.

With reliable IP connectivity, large multi-location organisations can collaborate better, greatly increasing the productivity of their workforce.

Source: Leadership

Kenya: Telcos Slash AD Budgets to Control Costs

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:15:44 GMT

Kenya's leading telecoms firms cut their advertising budgets by large margins last year to cut costs as vicious price wars ate into their earnings.

Data from Ipsos Media shows that Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya reduced their collective advertising spend to Sh7.5 billion from Sh9.1 billion in 2010.

This came as price wars introduced in August 2010 -- that saw call tariffs drop from Sh8 to Sh3 per minute -- continued to erode the telco's profitability.

Essar Kenya, the smallest telco by market share, bucked the cost-cutting trend by its large rivals as it nearly doubled its ad spend to Sh904.8 million from Sh527 million.

"We reduced our marketing budget by 20 per cent," Safaricom's chief executive Bob Collymore said in reference to the company's results for the first half ended September.

Safaricom, which controls 67.7 per cent of the market, cut its budget from to Sh5 billion from Sh5.7 billion with its close competitor Airtel dropping to Sh1 billion from Sh1.9 billion.

Telkom Kenya nearly halved cut its ad spend to Sh574.6 million from Sh1 billion, signalling the adverse impact the price wars is having on the firms that traditionally dominate Kenya's advertising spend.

The cutbacks are a departure from the overall communications industry whose ad spend rose by a fifth to Sh11.1 billion from Sh9.3 billion. Total ad spend -- excluding discounts -- grew by a third to Sh65.4 billion from Sh49.2 billion.

Safaricom remains the single biggest advertiser at Sh5 billion, followed by government agencies (Sh3.6 billion), healthcare firm PSI (Sh1.8 billion), Unilever (Sh1.5 billion), with Reckitt Benckiser and East African Breweries tying at Sh1.4 billion.

Safaricom was a major casualty of the price war which it broke away from in October last year with a 33 per cent or Sh1 increment to its voice charges.

The firm's net profit for the half-year ended September, for instance, dropped 47.4 per cent to stand at Sh4 billion from Sh7.6 billion the previous year. Its voice revenues shrank by 5.5 per cent to Sh31.4 billion from Sh33.3 billion in the review period.

For months, yu has been offering its data and voice services within its network for free in what is seen as the frim's bid to attract subscribers before picking on a pricing strategy to take on its large rivals.

Yu has the smallest market share at 6.2 per cent, trailing Telkom's 10.4 per cent and Airtel's 15.7 per cent.

Source: Business Daily

Kenya: Airtel Could Drop Low-Cost Strategy

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:14:01 GMT

Barcelona, Spain — Bharti Airtel is going back to the drawing board to chart a new strategy for the African market, following what it termed as an unexpected and surprising response to its low-cost model from the continent.

The Indian telecom company told participants at the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain, that it was surprised to find that the African market did not increase its talk-time, which was critical to supporting its low-cost model.

"Unlike India, we were surprised that in Africa, lower tariffs could not increase volumes. In Africa, subscribers use the money saved on lower-calling rates to buy food and not to talk more.

"This means that we have to think of a new model that works there," the firm's chairman and MD, Mr Sunil Mittal, said.

This vindicates data released by the Communications Commission of Kenya at the height of the price wars, which indicated that low calling rates failed to lift talk-time.

The announcement is a signal that the firm could opt out of the low-cost model, which has forced mobile operators across most of the 17 countries it operates in Africa to follow suit.

It will also be welcome relief to Safaricom and Telkom Orange, who have described the low-cost model as unsustainable.

The firm, however, said Africa remains critical to its future growth and hoped to transfer experiences and success in its business model to the developed markets.

Mr Mittal said Africa and other emerging markets need smartphones and tablets to be priced below $50 to allow the data evolution that is shaping up to turn into real growth.

"My suggestion is that countries can give a huge tender to a single phone maker to deliver the smartphones as long as they are below $50," he said.

Source: Daily Nation

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Djibouti Telecom, STC Group sign accord

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:10:52 GMT

National PTO Djibouti Telecom and Saudi-based STC Group have co-signed a partnership agreement to link their respective operations in the region with Europe and the rest of the world. The Saudi firm says that additionally, the pair will also be able to take advantage of improved direct high speed data links between the Kingdom, Djibouti and other African countries. The setting up of the international point of presence (PoP) in Djibouti is seen as a ‘significant step’ in the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s telecoms network, which is based on IP/MPLS protocol – spanning the Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, India, UK and Singapore. Commenting on the accord, Dr Homoud Mohammed Al Kusayer, STC vice president for wholesale, said the new VPN services provided via the PoP will help the region’s business sector to upgrade its enterprises and reach its future goals.

Source: TeleGeography

Huawei introduces the world’s fastest smartphone

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:40:21 GMT

Huawei, a global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, introduced the world’s fastest quad-core smartphone, the Huawei Ascend D quad at the ongoing Mobile World Congress over the weekend. Powered by the Huawei’s K3V2 quad-core 1.2GHz/1.5GHz processor and boasting the most compact design among 4.5-inch smartphones, the Ascend D quad sports an Android 4.0 operating system and Huawei’s proprietary power management system which provides up to 30% in energy savings.

“We’ve listened to people’s top demands from smartphones: speed, long-battery life, high quality visual and audio capabilities, and a compact, lightweight handset. The Huawei Ascend D quad exceeds these expectations,” said Richard Yu, Chairman of Huawei Device. “In January at the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas, we achieved a world record for the world’s slimmest smartphone with the Huawei Ascend P1 S. We are proud to once again introduce a world-first at the 2012 Mobile World Congress with the Ascend D quad, the fastest smartphone.”

The Ascend D quad is an entertainment hub with its 4.5-inch 720P high definition touchscreen, and the industry’s most powerful 32-bit true color graphic processor. Its PPI 330 screen providing crystal clear display even under direct sunlight, is complemented by its Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and Audience earSmart™ voice technology for an experience which excels across the senses. Its 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and 1080p full HD video-capture and playback capabilities enable you to record your special moments in clearer, richer detail.

The Ascend D quad comes with an 1800mAh battery, which lasts for one to two days with normal usage. The smartphone’s prowess is enhanced by Huawei Device’s proprietary power management technology which provides a longer battery life of up to 30% compared to industry average by adjusting power consumption according to usage needs. It also ensures higher chipset performance and efficiency by maintaining a low chip temperature.

Measuring 64mm narrow and 8.9mm slim, the Ascend D quad is proof that good things do come in small packages. With an ultra-thin frame, the lightweight and compact smartphone’s 4.5-inch touchscreen seems to vanish into the edge, creating an “infinity” feel and allowing an exceptionally narrow body.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

MTN boosts African Opera Mini users by 1665%

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:38:37 GMT

A special version of the Opera Mini mobile web browser, launched by MTN and Opera Software last year to MTN’s subscribers, has been met with great enthusiasm by MTN customers across the 15 markets where it is currently available.

In a mere twelve months, MTN subscribers have increased their use of Opera Mini by 1665%.

Opera Mini has seen phenomenal uptake since launch, with customers in South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cyprus, Liberia, Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Liberia, Zambia and Benin showing a healthy appetite for the smart tool. As of January 2012, MTN customers in Zambia averaged 772 webpages per month through Opera Mini – which is more than any other MTN market in Africa.

“Opera Mini has made my life much easier because it is fast and works across the country,” says Variety Marewa, a Rwandan entrepreneur. “I can check web mail, keep in touch and informed at less than 85% of what it used to cost me.”

The introduction of customised versions of Opera Mini strengthens MTN’s small-screen strategy to take customers’ mobile web experience to the next level. The collaboration with Opera Software also provides MTN subscribers with a more affordable, user-friendly and faster mobile web experience.

“This growth is awesome,” says Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. “Nigeria is particularly exciting for us; it now ranks fourth in the world among Opera Mini users. In January, our Nigerian MTN Opera Mini users alone accessed more than 766 million pages equaling 11.4 terabytes of data, which is compressed by up to 90% through our Opera servers. That’s a whole lot of love for the mobile web and, given the websites Nigerians visit most frequently, participation on a global level is something they value.”

Nigerians are most likely to visit global sites like Google, Facebook and BBC News on their phones, followed by local ones, with a soccer site being tremendously popular.

MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, Christian de Faria, says, “By using Opera Mini, our customers get the most out of the web, while getting one-click access to MTN content portals via their Opera Mini start page. This way, MTN subscribers can reach the content they want, with less frustration and less expense.”

Opera Mini has more than 160 million monthly users around the world, and is available on over 3,000 different phone models including basic non-smartphones. Opera Mini compresses webpages by up to 90% before they even reach the phone, saving consumers both time and money.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Kenya: Nokia to Roll Out APP Developed

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:36:47 GMT

Nairobi, Kenya — Handset maker Nokia is set to roll out its first mobile application that was produced by Kenyans in the local market.

Nokia's Research and Development Economist Moses Sitati says the application comes after months of research and pilot projects.

"This is a first for the Nokia Research Centre (NRC). We've had smaller ones which we have not rolled out. We could engage in a research activity that leads to a dead end, but on the other hand, other research could have positive results," Sitati said.

Sitati added that through the Nokia Research Centre, they are also working on other solutions that will be able to tap into the SME sector.

"Micro business is another area that we are looking into. We have around 99 percent of all new jobs in Africa coming out of small businesses. It's the informal sector which is not taxed. There is a large opportunity there. Many people use their mobile phones in their businesses, so that's a large potential for expanding into," he added.

East Africa is becoming the centre of entrepreneurial growth with consumers pioneering the use of mobile payment systems like M-PESA, Zap, yuCash, MTN Money and Orange Money, which together have an estimated 12 million subscribers.

To support the efforts of developers across Africa, Nokia plans to host boot camps, and networking and training events across the region.

Source: Capital FM

Sierra Leone - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

International liberalisation troubles Sierratel

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:35:00 GMT

The planned liberalisation of the international gateway in Sierra Leone could lead to serious financial difficulties for the state-owned telecoms operator Sierratel, its chairman has said. Tom Kargbo has told the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Information that opening up of the international gateway would see it losing around USD150,000 in revenue each month, a report from PC Advisor suggests. Sierratel currently holds a monopoly on international services and charges mobile operators Airtel, Africell and Comium, as well as the country’s internet service providers, for access. However, the World Bank is insisting that the international gateway be opened up to competition in order for Sierra Leone to be eligible to participate in a consortium to construct a 17,000km undersea cable, the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) system. The ACE cable, which will link France to South Africa and connect with around 20 West African countries, is expected to be commercial before the end of this year.

Source: TeleGeography

Movicel launching LTE on 1800MHz FDD spectrum – ‘first of its kind in Africa’

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:33:21 GMT

Angolan cellco Movicel has signed a contract to deploy a commercial 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband network with China’s Huawei Technologies. Under the deal, Huawei will deploy an 1800MHz frequency division duplex (FDD) LTE network initially covering oil-producing province Cabinda, with Movicel expecting to launch commercial services by the end of May 2012, claiming what it says will be a first-of-its-type network in Africa. Movicel is aiming to provide mobile broadband services with a downlink speed of up to 100Mbps across the entire country, with expansion of the network set to begin in dense urban areas including the capital Luanda, and expects keen demand for LTE especially from large companies initially.

Movicel will be using Huawei’s end-to-end SingleRAN convergent solution, including RAN (Radio Access Network), CN (Core Network), DBS (Distributed Base Station) and terminal devices. Using SDR (Software Defined Radio) technology, the cellco’s network will simultaneously provide voice and data services using different technologies (GSM/UMTS/LTE) sharing frequency bands.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Africa: Local Firm to Administer .africa Domain

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:12:55 GMT

A South African company has been selected to run dotAfrica, the upcoming top-level internet domain for Africa.

The African Union selected Uniforum SA as a preferred registry operator to administer the new dotAfrica Top level domain.

A top level domain is last segment in an internet address such as .com, .edu, .net; which helps to identify something about the website associated with it.

The dotAfrica domain is set to be a distinctive pan-African identification for regional online operations when it is opened up for registration.

"This is an important step for organisations and individuals interested in acquiring an African online identity, as dotAfrica will give added visibility and identity to operations in the region," said Neil Dundas, a UniForum SA director.

The endorsement of the South African company follows the evaluation of proposals submitted in December 2011, which attracted local and international registries interested in managing dotAfrica operations.

The African Union Commission will work with the appointed operator to establish ways to promote dotAfrica. According to AU representative Abulkhirat Esam, the focus will be to increase online content generation; establish regulations on registrations, intellectual property and dispute resolution as well as the promotion of ICT use in the region.

African Internet experts, country code managers, registrars and volunteers selected by the African Internet community are among those participating in steering the dotAfrica project, according to Mohamed El Bashir, Steering Committee Chair.

The dotAfrica domain will be used as a vehicle to promote the development of Africa's Internet services and ecosystem," he added.

The domain will be among the new generic top-level domains that are likely to be approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2013.

The dotAfrica project is sponsored by the African Union with support from Africa Top Level Domain organisation (AfTLD). The appointed registry operator will be submitting its application to ICANN prior to the deadline in April this year.

Source: Business Daily

Kenya: Airtel Stirs Market With Launch of 3G Network

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:10:34 GMT

Airtel Kenya yesterday launched its 3.75G network offering more flexible bundles that could spark another round of price wars, this time in the data market. The Indian-owned company rolled out the much awaited services which will initially be available in Nairobi ,North coast, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru with plans to roll out countrywide.

Airtel announced bundles of as low as Sh3 - 15 for daily bundles on speeds of up to 21Mbp on the to 3.75G network. "This is the only 3.75G, HSPSA plus with 21Mpbs network in Kenya, same as that being rolled out in Europe and USA,"said Shivan Bhargava, Airtel Kenyan Chief operating Officer. It will also have a sh150 for a day pack and a Sh750 weekly pack and other packages for different users. "Within nine months, we plan to cover up to 85 per cent of Kenya with the 3.75 Network,"he said.

According to the latest CCK statistics, by September, Airtel had 8.49 per cent of the internet subscriptions in the market. Safaricom had 79.45 per cent of the subscriptions while Telkom has 2.15 per cent. It remains to be seen if the second largest mobile operator will net more data consumers with the 3G offering.

Last month Orange introduced fresh bundles on its 3G modem for Sh 990 and sh 2990 on a weekly and monthly basis respectively. The Airtel launch comes a year after it first announced the plan. The company postponed the commercial roll-out of the high-speed network several times last year without much explanations. Both Airtel and Orange got their 3G spectrum licenses at the same time towards the end of 2010, Orange already rolled out its services in August 2011.

The two operators got the spectrum licenses at a reduced price of Sh750 million , lower than the $25 million (about Sh2 billion) that Safaricom had paid in 2007. This was after intense lobbying by the two who argued the need to create fair competition in the market. Safaricom has since sued CCK, seeking to get a refund of the US$15 million difference.

But the regulator argues that the later licenses are technically different and so the prices could be set at a lower rate to stimulate competition in the market since Safaricom had enjoyed monopoly of 3G services for years. The global company has signed various network companys in the upgrade to 3G including Huawei and Nokia Siemens, locally Airtel signed a deal with Kenya Data Network to upgrade its transmission network ahead of the 3G launch.

Source: Nairobi Star

Kenyan undersea cable goes live in April

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:09:22 GMT

The Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION2), Kenya’s fourth submarine cable, will become fully operational in April this year, the local telecommunications ministry revealed on Thursday.

The LION2 cable is a 3000 km line extending from Nyali, via the island of Mayotte, located in the northern Mozambique Channel from Mauritius and is set to significantly boost the nation’s bandwidth. Kenya already enjoys connectivity through The East African Marine System (TEAMS), the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and SEACOM.

Orange Kenya, involved with laying cables via its parent company, France Telecom, confirmed the schedule, adding that the cable arrived in Mombasa in December last year and is awaiting connection. Work continues to finish the cable’s connection at the Mombasa landing station, the company said.

Angela Ng’ang’a-Mumo, Orange Kenya’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, told reporters that progress on LION 2 “is on target”. Orange said the construction of the 1.28 Tbps cable “is expected to cost approximately KES 6.2 billion.”

According to reports, the cable is part of a bigger project by France Telecom and 12 members of the Lower Indian Ocean Network to build a submarine cable linking Madagascar to the rest of the world via Reunion Island and Mauritius.

Samuel Poghisio, Kenyan Information Minister, said he was confident that “once it is switched on, LION2 will intensify competition in the industry and help further lower Internet connectivity charges”.

Source: ITNews

Termination charges appeal rejected in Kenya

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:07:49 GMT

Safaricom and Telkom Kenya’s appeals for increased termination charges have been rejected by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). The termination charges are the amount operators have to pay rivals when subscribers phone across networks.

“The regulator says the appeals by the two firms will hinder competition in the mobile telephony market, a position that was supported by Airtel and Essar, opening a new battlefront in the voice segment,” wrote Business Daily.

Francis Wangusi, the acting director-general of the CCK said that the commission won’t be negotiating the rates. “We are not going to negotiate with any operator to have the rates revised upwards or conduct another study. As a commission we want the rate to go as low as zero shillings so as to increase competition in the sector.”

Wangusi added that operators are simply looking for a reason to increase their tariffs. “The interconnection rate does not affect what they charge their subscribers, they can raise the retail tariffs if they want but they fear a rebuttal from their subscribers who can opt for other affordable networks, to me they are simply looking for a reason to justify an increase.”

But Safaricom doesn’t agree with the ruling. “We believe CCK’s rigid implementation of an extremely low MTR that does not reflect market costs could cripple the industry,” said Nzioka Waita, corporate affairs director at Safaricom.

“Artificially low termination rates do not allow operators to fully recover the cost of receiving and terminating calls received from other networks and this significantly impacts the network receiving the largest number of cross-network calls such as Safaricom,” he added.

Source: ITNews

Mali - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

SOTELMA to launch on BRVM by mid-2012

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:04:07 GMT

Malian fixed line incumbent Societe des Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) is expected to begin trading on the Abidjan-based West African regional bourse by the end of June 2012, following a share sale to be conducted in April this year, Reuters claims. Jean-Paul Gillet, head of the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM), the regional stock exchange serving the west African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, said that SOTELMA hopes to raise around XAF100 billion (USD198 million) from the listing, which will see around 20% of the telco sold into public hands, with a further 9% reserved for staff.

Source: TeleGeography

Kenya: Telcoms Regulator Signs Deal With ITU On Cyber Security

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:37:46 GMT

Kenya has entered into a deal with a United Nations agency to create a central desk to handle cyber crimes.

The Kenya National Computer Incident Response Team Co-ordination Centre will be in charge of advising and co-ordinating responses to Internet security incidents.

The acting Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) director general Francis Wangusi and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) secretary-general Hamadoum Touré signed the Sh36.2 million project in Geneva last week.

The project would create a team to deal with online crimes from a central desk.

Currently, each ministry handles its computer or Internet security separately, which has exposed them to cyber attacks, ranging from defacement to hacking of government websites.

Security

Within the past year, more than 2,000 websites have been hacked.

"CCK will discharge its mandate of putting in place an enabling online environment for individual Internet users, the government organisations and private businesses," said Mr Wangusi.

He added that the commission will meet 70 per cent of the project cost and work closely with the ITU to implement it.

The UN agency will fund about 30 per cent of the total cost.

Initially, ITU will train staff to manage the project and oversee the overall implementation, supervision, monitoring, co-ordination and evaluation of the initiative, after which the agency would hand it over to CCK.

This will last for about six months.

The regulator will also liaise with the local Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRT) to gather and disseminate technical information on computer security, conduct research and facilitate the development of public key infrastructure and training on cyber security.

Dr Touré, lauded Kenya for its deep information technology penetration and for taking the lead to ensure confidence in online transactions through chairing the EACO Cybersecurity Taskforce, and now in partnering with the ITU, to implement a sound cybersecurity management framework.

The centre would be established according to the Kenya Information and Communications Act, and guided by the ITU national CIRT country readiness assessment report adopted during the 2010 EACO Congress.

Crimes

The ITU is supporting Kenya under the Global Cybersecurity Agenda aimed at enhancing confidence and security in the information society.

The Global Cybersecurity Agenda builds upon five pillars including legal measures, technical and procedural guidelines, organisational structures, capacity building and international cooperation.

The UN agency says the nature of online threats have evolved over time from simple virus attacks in the 1980s to sophisticated and organised cyber crimes aimed at financial gains including fraud, identity or trade-secret theft.

Source: Business Daily

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Mobile Money Operations - Why CBN Opted for Banks, Not Telecoms Operators

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:36:00 GMT

Facts have emerged as to why the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), preferred to register banks, instead of telecommunications operators (Telcos), for the operation of mobile money scheme in the country.

CBN had last year, registered banks and other financial institutions to operate mobile money, leaving out the telecommunications operators, that supposedly have the largest customer base of over 90 million subscribers, compared to the 20 million bank accounts in the country.

CBN director, Mr. George Shamsa who dropped the hint at the 66th Telecoms Consumer Parliament (TCP) held in Lagos at the weekend, said CBN was aware of the huge potentials of telecommunication operators in driving mobile money, but opted to licence banks and other financial institutions to avoid clash of interest between banks and telecommunications operators.

He said the CBN research revealed that although telecoms operators have more subscribers and wider network area for the penetration of mobile money, the banks have the financial strength to drive the process much better, adding that the apex bank came to the conclusion that telecommunications operators could partner with licensed banks and other financial and non-financial institutions in driving the scheme, since they have the platform on which mobile money transactions will thrive.

Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in charge of Stakeholders' Management, Mr. Okey Itanyi, assured telecoms subscribers of maximum protection, even when telecoms operators were not directly involved in driving the mobile money scheme.

"NCC will rely on forum like the TCP to protect consumers' interests and ensure integrity and reliability in all financial transactions, using the mobile phone," Itanyi said, adding that NCC is interested in seamless interconnection between network operators, to make the mobile money scheme a huge success.

CBN, last year, concluded all arrangements on its cash policy initiative, by licensing 11 mobile money operators to commence a pilot scheme on cash-lite, beginning with Lagos, the commercial nerve of Nigeria.

The cash-lite initiative is to help drive usage of alternative electronic products and channels for financial transactions. According to CBN, "the electronic channels and products are secure, convenient, fast and reliable and do not have the short comings of cash such as bulkiness, slow transaction speed, cost of handling cash and risk of carrying cash."

Highlights of CBN's policy on cash-lite, include the implementation of the policy on cash-lite in Lagos from January 1st 2012. Only licensed Cash-in-Transit (CIT) companies shall be allowed to provide cash pick-up services. Banks will cease cash in transit lodgement services rendered to merchant-customers in Lagos from December 31st 2011.

Third 3rd party cheques above N150, 000 shall not be eligible for encashment over the counter. Any cheque issued with a value above N150,000 to a third party can only be deposited into an account as such cheques cannot be cashed.

Commencing from March 30, 2012, a daily cumulative limit of N150,000 and N1,000,000 on free cash withdrawals and lodgements by individual and corporate customers respectively shall be imposed. To this end, individuals and corporate organisations that make cash transactions above the limits will be charged a processing fee of N100/thousand and N200/thousand respectively for amounts above the cumulative limits.

Source: This Day

Ubiquitous African mobile money transfers by October — Visa

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:34:36 GMT

Visa International, electronic banking leader, announced on Wednesday plans to launch cross-border mobile money payments platform to ease banking in East Africa.

New services will be open to users of any mobile network and “with its extensive international network, will be a strong competitor to telecommunications’ firms mobile money operations”.

Victor Ndlovu, Visa’s East and Central Africa manager, said the platform is “in the final pilot testing stages and will be introduced in October”.

This moves comes as Kenya and East African countries continue to push mobile money into their respective countries, hit hard by price wars last year, and hope this platform will spur business in the region.

The World Bank estimates that Africa receives some $40 billion in remittances annually from abroad. It also estimates Kenyans receive about KES 140 billion annually, but the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) puts the figure at KES 76 billion for 2011. Visa’s new platform will increase access so expect these numbers to increase.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Africa: Southern African News Features Sanf 12 No 7, February 2012

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:31:33 GMT

Africa's quest for greater connectivity and improved intra-regional trade could soon become a reality after the continent's leaders agreed to increase public spending on infrastructure and set in motion a programme to create a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by 2017.

The recent 18th summit of the African Union noted that the continent's regional integration agenda was presently affected by low-level connectivity of infrastructure networks and poor access to energy and information services.

In response to these challenges, the summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia adopted a series of agreements on the continent's economic, political and security issues.

These included a resolution to speed up Africa's infrastructure development, which is regarded as one of the pillars of the continent's economic integration agenda.

According to the Declaration on the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa issued at the end of the summit, African leaders recognized "the vital role of infrastructure and related services in the political and social-economic development, and physical integration of the continent".

They resolved to increase public financing of infrastructure, implement major power projects such as hydroelectricity, oil refinery and gas pipelines, accelerate the construction of missing links and modernization of railways, and increase the capacity of ports.

The African leaders committed themselves to developing new and renewable energy resources to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy as well as nuclear energy for peaceful use.

The continent will require about US$60 billion over the next 10 years to meet its infrastructure needs.

This would require the support of international institutions such as the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

The summit also recognized the importance of intra-African trade, and the declaration said Africa will target the establishment of a free trade area by 2017.

"The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) should be operationalized by the indicative date of 2017, and enhanced intra-African trade and deepened market integration can contribute significantly to sustainable economic growth, employment generation, poverty reduction, inflow of foreign direct investment, industrial development and better integration of the continent into the global economy," the declaration said.

The AU agreed on a three-step plan to prepare for the launch of the CFTA. The first step is to finalize the tripartite agreement among the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and SADC by 2014.

The second is to urge other trade blocs to follow the experience of the tripartite agreement and reach a parallel agreement between 2012 and 2014.

The third is to consolidate the tripartite and other regional free trade areas into the CFTA initiative between 2015 and 2016.

The summit also witnessed the launch of the new AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, consisting of three conference centres, a helipad and office space for 700 people.

In front of the building stands a bronze statue of the former Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah, who was one of the founding fathers of African independence and a respected Pan-African leader.

Towering above the Ethiopian capital's skyline, the 99.9 metre-tall building was funded by the Chinese government at a cost of US$200 million.

Construction lasted for three years during which a team of up to 1,200 Chinese and Ethiopian workers worked around the clock in shifts to finish it on schedule.

The building was inaugurated by the African Heads of State and Government attending the Summit, together with Jia Qinglin, chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of China.

The new AU headquarters is a bold symbol of China's rapidly changing role in Africa, and suggests a shift from mainly bilateral relations to strengthen multilateral links, already established since 2000 through the Forum on China Africa Cooperation.

Source: Southern Africa News Features

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya: Digitising Health Sector Key to Attaining Vision 2030

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:36:52 GMT

opinion

Last week, a major milestone was reached in the local health industry.

The joint Health ministries, in partnership with the Vision 2030 directorate, detailed an ambitious project aimed at digitising the industry's data systems.

The project, whose pilot phase has already begun, will also rope in Kenyatta National Hospital.

The aim is to make up to date data available to users and reduce the wastage and largesse associated with paperwork.

Two things stood out: the involvement of the Vision 2030 directorate, and the final acceptance of the ministries that paperwork is killing efficiency and productivity.

It is estimated that up to Sh1 billion goes into paperwork and associated administrative and storage expenses annually.

This amount could be better spent elsewhere.

For us in the health industry, Vision 2030 objectives can be grouped mainly into two projects; public and private.

The former entails strengthening, reforming and improving the public healthcare system, training and retaining more doctors locally etc.

The latter is by creating a good environment to foster and spur private investors' participation.

Hopefully, 18 years down the road we will not see patients sleeping on hospital floors or sharing beds; we will not have non functional and obsolete equipment in our hospitals; and we will not endure staff shortage due to lack of motivation.

Of course some of these objectives come through the ongoing public service reforms.

These include the recent pay increase for healthcare workers, recruitment of doctors and the pending implementation of the agreed return to work formula, and improvement of hospital facilities.

The recent launch of family planning programmes shows that the Vision 2030 directorate has finally awakened to the population growth time bomb.

However, some of us feel the measures have fallen short of expectations.

The second component acknowledges the important role played by the private sector in the healthcare delivery system.

It is hoped that the vibrant and improved private sector will take care of gaps not covered by the government. Already, we boast of a vibrant private healthcare system.

Indeed, only a handful of countries on the African continent rival the private sector's offering. With increasing participation of private investors, the sector is set to grow rapidly.

Towards this end is the proposed Health City metropolis which will host the best healthcare facilities both in the country and the continent.

The metropolis will also host pharmaceutical industries, bio-technology research and development companies, as well as medical equipment manufacturers.

The titanium and other minerals being exploited in the county will come in handy when manufacturing plants that make titanium-based medical devices and implants are set up.

Realign programmes

However, attaining this is a long shot indeed. Eighteen years is a short time for setting up projects of this magnitude.

We risk suffering the fate of the Millennium Development Goals, some of which are yet to be met.

In contrast to the Ministry of Information and Communication whose drivers have been aggressive in pushing for setting up a metropolis, we are yet to start.

The fact that land has been set aside for Konza city is proof of their hard work.

Few of us in the healthcare sector have read what the Vision 2030 document has in store for us.

This is why policy makers at our twin health ministries need to start reading the document and realign their programmes with it.

Source: Business Daily

Angola - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:35:02 GMT

Saurimo — The country's 18 provinces will be interlinked by optical fibre, meant to expand and improve telephone and internet services, says the minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, José Rocha de Carvalho.

The official said so while speaking at a Conference on Information Technologies, as an instrument at the service of development, held under the 10th edition of the National University Students Holiday Camping (Canfeu), that is to last until February 25.

"It is a project that has various phases and we are near the end, we are close to having the 18 capital cities linked by optical fibre", said the minister.

The programme will comprise about 10.000 kilometres of optical fibre until its conclusion, being that later it will include the link between municipalities and communes to provide more services in matters of information and communication technology, in any part of the Angolan territory.

The Angolan satellite may be operational in the coming three to four years, under a project that is worth 320 million US dollars.

Source: Angola Press

Econet cable plans cause confusion

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:33:30 GMT

Communications ministers in Zimbabwe are heading for a clash over plans by Econet Wireless to deploy a fibre-optic cable to Mozambique to link with international undersea cable systems which land there. Transport and Communication Minister Nicholas Goche is blocking Econet’s plans, on the basis that state-owned operator TelOne has already deployed a cable to Mozambique, and that government policy does not permit competition on the provision of [fixed] infrastructure, only on the provision of services. Meanwhile, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Nelson Chamisa is keen to see the Econet cable given the green light, and disagrees with Goche’s interpretation of state policy, arguing instead that policies are aimed at speeding up the deployment of additional international links. Chamisa indicated that he and Goche were yet to discuss the matter.

Source: TeleGeography

MTN Rwanda plans CAPEX cut in 2012

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:30:55 GMT

Cellular operator MTN Rwanda is reporting revenues for 2011 of RWF80 billion (USD132 million), up from RWF73.6 billion a year earlier. The company says it is targeting sales of RWF96 billion in 2012, while capital expenditure (CAPEX) will be cut from USD35 million in 2011 to USD30 million this year, Bloomberg reports. MTN is the largest of Rwanda’s two mobile network operators, with almost three-quarters of the overall market of around four million users.

Source: TeleGeography

Zambian minister calls for Airtel to reduce call costs

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:19:39 GMT

Zambia’s Transport, Works, Supply and Communication Minister Yamfwa Mukanga has called on the country’s largest cellco by subscribers, Airtel Zambia, to consider reducing calls costs in order that subscribers might use their services for business purposes. According to the Lusaka Times, the minister has claimed that Airtel should be looking to offer services at a low enough price point that would allow mobile connections to be used for business, and is understood to have suggested that the cellco should be looking to invest more in technology in order to reduce end-user costs.

Arguing that the government has played its part in reducing the cost of doing business in Zambia, Mr Mukanga said he expects service providers to do likewise, with a view to ensuring the benefits of lower call rates are enjoyed by as many Zambians as possible. The report, meanwhile, cites Airtel Zambia managing director Fayaz King as saying that his company has made advances in improving service quality, while he also added that the cellco would continue investing in ICT and working closely with the state to improve people’s lives.

Source: TeleGeography

France Telecom Kenyan Unit Targets 500,000 Users, CEO Says

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:06:13 GMT

France Telecom SA’s Kenyan unit plans to add 500,000 users to its network by the end of 2012 and wants the regulator to double rates operators can charge to carry each others’ voice calls, Chief Executive Officer Mickael Ghossein said.

Telkom Kenya is targeting 3.3 million customers, or 11.2 percent market share, from 2.8 million users now, Ghossein told reporters today in the capital, Nairobi. The company wants Kenya’s telecommunications regulator to raise termination rates to 4.42 shillings ($0.05) a minute to help it recover costs, he said.

“It is good to protect the consumer; it is also good to protect the investors,” he said.

In August 2010 the Communications Commission of Kenya halved the rates that operators charge each other to connect phone calls across networks to 2.21 shillings per minute, triggering a round of cuts in call costs by companies.

In June 2011 President Mwai Kibaki ordered a halt to further cuts in the interconnection fees after companies including Safaricom Ltd., East Africa’s biggest mobile-network operator, and Telkom Kenya opposed the reductions on the grounds they were losing money.

The number of people using mobile phones in Kenya rose to 26.5 million in September, up from 25.2 million in June, the Communications Commission of Kenya said last month.

Safaricom maintained its lead with a 68 percent share of the market. It was followed by Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd., controlled by Delhi-based Bharti Airtel Ltd., with 16 percent.

Telkom added 16,683 new customers and has a market share of 10 percent, while Essar Telecom Kenya Ltd., a unit of Essar Group of India, had 46,742 new customers, giving it 6.2 percent of the market, the report said without providing data for the previous quarter.

Source: Bloomerang

Rwanda: MTN Warns of Internet Disruptions

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:03:35 GMT

Following the EASSy cable disruptions detected between Djibouti and Port Sudan, which carries the majority of international Internet traffic, MTN Rwanda warns that Internet subscribers might face some inconsistency with Internet speed.

Over 21 per cent of Internet users on the MTN Rwanda connection are experiencing internet glitches of which the operator has attributed to EASSy's cable breakdown.

In a statement issued Monday, MTN said, "Due to these cuts, especially on routes undersea and in remote areas, we are facing challenges in offering bandwidth to full capacity."

Eighty percent of MTN's traffic is through the EASSy undersea cable that is linked through Tanzania.

"We are also currently working with other providers to see how the service can be restored as soon as possible. We are looking at alternative solutions with other providers to offer subscribers with uninterrupted Internet connection," the statement said.

MTN&rsquo

We have currently channelled all our traffic through an alternative route through Uganda. The company managing the EASSy cable has dispatched a vessel to fix the problem

;s Chief Marketing Officer, Yvonne Manzi Makolo explained that the impact is substantial as they are remaining with 20 percent of their capacity.

"We have currently channelled all our traffic through an alternative route through Uganda. The company managing the EASSy cable has dispatched a vessel to fix the problem."

The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries of eastern Africa to the rest of the world.

EASSy runs from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan in Sudan, with landing points in nine countries. It is connected to at least ten landlocked countries-which will no longer have to rely on satellite Internet access to carry voice and data services.

The project, partially funded by the World Bank, was initiated on January 2003, when selected companies studied its feasibility. The cable entered service on July, 16, 2010 with commercial service starting on July 30, 2010.

MTN Group is among the owners of the cable, making MTN Rwanda an automatic user.

Source: The New Times

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

BT expands SA telecoms network

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:01:09 GMT

BT Group (formerly British Telecom) is expanding its presence in sub-Saharan Africa, including in SA, doubling the number of people it employs across the Middle East and Africa and investing in fibre-optic telecommunications infrastructure, the company said on Tuesday.

The new investments are meant to double the size of BT’s operations in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. The investment follows similar programmes in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets.

The company intends hiring 100 new professionals in its sub-Saharan Africa office, based in Johannesburg, and will add 170 employees across the region. The plan is to introduce BT’s full portfolio of services in the region in the next 18 months.

The company cautions that it has no intention of playing in the consumer telecoms market and competing with Telkom for retail customers. Rather, its focus will remain on corporate and government clients in the region.

It is also investing in fibre infrastructure that will connect Gauteng to sub-sea cables that come ashore in the Western Cape. It has bought access to bandwidth on the FibreCo network between Johannesburg and Cape Town, construction of which must still be completed. FibreCo is a joint venture between Cell C, Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions and investment company Convergence Partners.

BT has already established a co-location network facility at Melkbosstrand, where the Sat-3 cable lands on SA’s west coast, and has acquired space in a Teraco data centre in Cape Town, from where it will provide onward connectivity to Johannesburg once the FibreCo link is completed.

It is also eyeing a link to Yzerfontein, north of Melkbosstrand, where the new, higher-capacity West African Cable System (Wacs) has come ashore. Wacs is expected to be available for commercial service in the first half of 2012.

Keith Matthews, BT’s GM for sub-Saharan Africa, says the company has acquired a “number of pairs of fibre” on the FibreCo network, which he says makes it “completely scaleable”. “We won’t have any shortage [of bandwidth], even in the distant future, in terms of what we can deliver on that infrastructure,” Matthews says.

Interconnection agreements with local partners, including Internet Solutions, will extend BT’s network reach into sub-Saharan Africa, the company says.

Source: Tech Central

7.5 million mobile users in danger of deactivation

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:59:24 GMT

Ghana’s telecoms regulator the National Communication Authority (NCA) has revealed that more than 7.5 million mobile phone accounts are still in danger of being de-activated for failing to have their SIM cards registered. The regulator has set 3 March 2012 as the date by which all mobile SIM cards must be registered. It says that by 6 February over 5.58 million registration applications had been turned down because of invalid identity documents, while a further 1.46 million registrations are still awaiting verification from agencies such as the passport office and the electoral commission. In addition, more than 460,000 accounts – around 2% of the overall user base of 23 million – have provided no form of registration application at all.

Although the country’s cellular operators are complaining that thousands of legitimate users are facing deactivation through no fault of their own, the NCA is refusing to extend the deadline beyond 3 March, and is still hopeful that all pending applications can be processed by that date.

Source: TeleGeography

Zimbabwe: Telecel Says Massive Expansion On Cards

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:41:46 GMT

interview

TELECEL Zimbabwe says it has big plans for expansion and increasing market coverage this year. This follows the company's recent re-branding exercise. Standardbusiness reporter Kudzai Chimhangwa (KC) speaks to Telecel company's managing director John Swaim (JS) about the company's plans.

Telecel's network continues to comprise some sections, particularly in rural areas, that do not have any data coverage within the 3G areas. Why has there not been sufficient investment in this area?

We have been affected like anyone else in this economy by the lack of liquidity for real investment. However, plans have been put in place now to ensure we consolidate in this area.

Economic and financial considerations mandated that we tackle the coverage issue based on real business prospects and market potential first, but our current investment programme places a high priority on improving coverage and service offering outside the major urban centres and in rural areas. It's a matter of using our cash flow optimally.

What strategy do you intend to pursue in order to revamp the company's operations?

Following the Orascom Telecom Holdings merger with Vimplecom, we are now in a very good position to leverage the local operation on many purchasing decisions as we take advantage of group supply management frameworks.

We have been able to acquire so much more for what appears like minimal investment. Thus going forward, we will make heavy use of these group supply management agreements, especially on big vendors, focusing on the immediate gains provided by the parent holding company.

Some critics have argued that Telecel's service is poor compared to other local telecommunications companies saying network congestion is a perennial challenge. This is in light of the current dollar for two lines marketing craze that has hit the streets. What is your comment on this and does Telecel have the capacity to handle the increased data traffic?Independent research and feedback from our own subscribers have indicated that we actually have the best quality network in the country. Obviously, this tends to differ across the country, but we have set very high standards for ourselves and this is our guiding principle.

Our current push to acquire more subscribers has been prefixed with the necessary upgrading on systems to ensure we have the necessary capacity to carry the additional load. The activity you see on the sales on SIM cards is actually based on one of our values that we provide value for money for everyone.

Many vendors and dealers have actually started running their own sales campaigns to take advantage of the popularity of our SIM cards.

Most of the sellers you see are some of these vendors and dealers who have realised the opportunity and are doing their own campaigns to increase their sales revenues.

3G coverage is about 50% of the network and the rest is GPRS, according to Telecel. How much is the company willing to invest in further network expansion, and any plans for the introduction of Voice Over Internet Protocol?

As indicated, we have firm plans to cover all outstanding small towns and rural services centres. We believe there is still a lot of potential in basic GSM voice telephony and we are not considering VoIP at the moment. Our decision is also based on the low PC penetration rate in the country at the moment. We prefer to create value for the majority of the citizens.What is the present situation concerning boardroom squabbles over ownership and control of the company, have these issues been amicably resolved and put to rest?First, let me note that from inception, Telecel Zimbabwe has had two and only two shareholders, Empowerment Corporation and Telecel International. We've known each other a long time, and we have excellent relations.

I find this frequent question rather amusing in that I've never heard of any family that never had some squabbles.

A lot is going on behind the scenes to ensure that issues are resolved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. We are in contact with the appropriate regulatory and governmental authorities that have a direct interest in this. Suffice to say, our shareholders are fully committed to meeting all licence and legal requirements, and everything is being done to do so.

A 55 megabytes bundle is priced at US$5 roughly 9 cents per megabyte while the largest 3 gigabytes bundle is going for US$150. In between is the 550MB and 1,25GB bundles priced at US$45 and US$85 respectively. How keenly has the market taken up this product at its present price and how justified is the pricing model?

We have had a very good uptake of the data bundles. One thing that is apparent, though, is that many of our subscribers are struggling with disposable incomes.

Uptake has been very good on the low end bundles but rather thin on the high end ones, despite the good value offered.

We believe there is scope to refine the pricing but the biggest issue has been the landed price of bandwidth. As that comes down, which we believe it will, the price of the service will also come down in proportion.

Telecel to spread wings to rural areas, promises more base stations

How much has the company set aside for expenditure in upgrade of infrastructure, specifically in rural areas?

We have plans to roll out about 300 base stations countrywide this year alone, covering all the outstanding rural service centres and small towns.

We have also identified shops in selected towns which will be opened as corporate offices to ensure that there is customer convenience when they are looking for direct service.

We believe we have done reasonably well in most urban centres and now our focus is shifting to the rural areas to provide them with wider choice from what they have experienced from the other operators. We have also been putting up ancillary power via back-up generators to mitigate erratic commercial power availability to ensure consistent network availability.Source: The Standard

Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Africa: Shoden Acquisition - Japanese Giant Hitachi Focuses On Data Centres to Expand Its It Footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:40:11 GMT

Shoden Data Systems is a long-time South African provider of data centre technology both in its home country and into Sub-Saharan Africa and it has been working for many years with Hitachi Data System. Shoden Data Systems designs, provisions, deploys and supports products and technologies that simplify and optimise data centres used by banks, telecommunication companies and retail companies. Its offering includes data storage solutions including solid state disks (SSD) for faster access to information, software to assist and improve server virtualisation and data protection solutions. Shoden Data Systems has a good market share in South Africa and has managed to expanded its footprint further in Sub-Sahara Africa by supporting its existing customer base's roll out of services in other African countries.

According to Tony Reid, the two companies have become very close business partners over the years to the extent that 75% of Shoden Data Systems' activities are Hitachi related. As the partnership between the two companies was getting stronger, it was a logical step forward to tie the knot between the two of them. Hitachi Data System will carry on providing equipment and resources while Shoden with its good understanding of the Southern African markets (South Africa and other countries in Southern Africa) will provide the routes to market. Shoden and Hitachi have also expanded their activities into Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and other SADC countries and the plan is to continue developing their activities in these countries.

The acquisition of Shoden is a first in Africa for Hitachi Data System. For the large conglomerate with a global footprint, this acquisition represent a rather small drop in the sea but as Tony Read explains Hitachi has been investing for a while in emerging markets like China and Brazil and as time goes by they have been seeing good growth potential in South Africa and some other Sub-Sahara African countries.

He is confident that the acquisition will be a success and will further strengthen Hitachi's footprint in the region. When asked if Hitachi has any plans to move directly in the data centre business, Tony Read replies that this is not on the roadmap in the short term. He believes that going into this segment requires some other core qualities and he adds further that as African countries' economies developed they will be more large organisations that will be looking for "in-house" data centre facilities rather then outsourcing the service.

In Tony Read's opinion, the data centre market in Africa has a good future. There are emerging solutions like cloud services that could make IT services more readily available to use by businesses. In Africa, enterprises are less well equipped when it comes to IT hardware and software and a business model based on a pay per use basis to access software and IT services would actually make sense and drive further the penetration of ICT services.

Sooner rather than later, more telecoms operators will offer clouds services too and this is where Hitachi/Shoden will come in with the backend solutions and support. He believes that Africa has been pretty innovative in particular in the way that mobile telephones are used to carry out banking, transfer and payment services for example and so more innovations of this kind can be expected to develop.

Of course the expected growth in the data centre business will not easily materialise if some nagging bottleneck issues are not dealt with. Tony Reid reckons that power as well as network bandwidth are still causing problems. There is also still a skill gap but it is shrinking fast in some countries and in particular in South Africa.

For now Shoden will carry on trading under the Shoden brand name in South Africa and in the other African countries where the company is doing business and depending on how things move forward it might later rebrand as Hitachi. As foreign investors are seeing potential growth opportunities in Africa more and more attractive compared to developed markets, it can be expected that more acquisitions of this nature will take place in Africa as the ICT market gets more mature and more diversified.

Source: Balancing Act

UN panel ends LAP Green ‘asset freeze’

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:33:36 GMT

Companies falling under the remit of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) are no longer subject to a freeze on their assets abroad Reuters reports, highlighting an informal easing of United Nations (UN) sanctions targeting the regime of late leader Muammar Gaddafi. During 2011 the UN Security Council opted to freeze around USD170 billion worth of Libyan assets, although USD100 million in cash was later released in December 2011 when the UN lifted sanctions applying to the country’s central bank. A member of the UN panel told Reuters: ‘Subsidiaries [of the LIA] are no longer covered by the asset freeze. Any state asking us is being told these subsidiaries are no longer listed. It is not a formal delisting.’

The announcement, which is not expected to become official until the final report is issued on 16 March, was made at an event held at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland last week. The eight-man panel travelled to 17 countries – including five visits to Libya itself – during the past eight months, as it sought to evaluate the financial assets and properties held by the Gaddafi family and its associates. One of the LIA’s most prominent units was LAP Green Network, its telecoms arm, which has invested heavily across Africa since its inception in 2006. In November 2011 LIA chairman Wafik Shater confirmed that he had sought the expertise of an international lawyer to lift the UN sanctions as LAP Green had defaulted with a number of creditors, leading its telecoms assets to be frozen in certain countries.

However, the lifting of economic sanctions is likely to prove too little, too late for LAP Green’s controversial interest in Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel); last month the Zambian government seized control of Zamtel, reversing the hotly-debated June 2010 sale of the telco to LAP Green. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in November 2011 the country’s president, Michael Sata, who assumed office just two months earlier, announced that the sale of Zamtel to LAP Green could be reversed following an inquiry which found that the telco was illegally sold. The Libyan company acquired 75% of Zamtel in June 2010 for USD257 million amidst widespread criticism that the transaction was not transparent. Sata had pledged in his electoral campaign to investigate the deal, saying that the sale was carried out for the benefit of officials in the previous government. Prior to the seizure of Zamtel, the company’s bank accounts were frozen as part of a money-laundering investigation, leading LAP Green representatives to admit that the company was ‘deeply worried’ by the turn of events. The Libyan company has firmly rejected all allegations of corruption regarding its purchase of Zamtel, stating: ‘Our acquisition was made through an open, transparent and competitive bidding process … Under our ownership, Zamtel has moved from a state of near insolvency to become a national success story.’

Source: TeleGeography

Libya - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Global Telesat, RascomStar project aims to expand ‘affordable’ internet coverage

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:29:56 GMT

Satellite providers Global Telesat and RascomStar have entered into a joint venture to offer satellite-based internet access throughout Africa, beginning with Angola. The venture, using capacity on the Rascom-QAF1R satellite in the C- and Ku-band frequencies, is aimed at extending connectivity to a range of customers including SMEs, large corporations, telecoms operators and ISPs, and extending high speed internet coverage in rural areas at ‘competitive prices’

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Vodacom adds four million users in 2011; plans USD94m CAPEX

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:28:33 GMT

Vodacom Tanzania, a unit of South Africa-based Vodacom Group, says it expanded its customer base by roughly a third to twelve million users last year, and plans to spend USD94 million in the next twelve to 18 months to improve its network coverage and data capabilities. According to Rene Meza, managing director of the Tanzanian operation, the sharp increase in subscribers was driven by people signing up to its mobile money transfer service M-PESA, which has a claimed 85% share of total e-mobile commerce transactions in the country. TeleGeography notes however, that around 18% of Vodacom Tanzania’s mobile users are classed as ‘inactive’ bringing the total number of revenue generating users down to around 9.4 million. Nevertheless, Vodacom’s subsidiary is the largest player in the Tanzanian wireless sector, thanks in part to an investment of TZS1 trillion (USD625 million) over the past ten years, Meza said.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Zimbabwe: Struggling Netone Seeks Strategic Partner

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:51:01 GMT

interview

LAST week Transport and Communications minister Nicholas Goche told the Zimbabwe Independent the national flag carrier Air Zimbabwe would be unbundled into two entities - Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd and the National Handling Services (Pvt) Ltd. This week Goche speaks to our Senior Political Editor Faith Zaba about cellular networks and the state of the country's roads, among other issues.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

FZ: We gather NetOne recently approached government seeking US$40 million for its expansion programme. This is despite having got US$45 million from China. What is happening at the company and why is it continuously seeking finance from government?

NG: NetOne did not approach government for loans. However, NetOne sought approval from government to borrow from the financial market. The reason for the borrowing was basically for the expansion and upgrading exercise currently being carried out by NetOne. Recent technological advances have helped to transform the industry in many countries. The communications sector is in continuous expansion worldwide, thus the need to continuously expand the operations of NetOne.

FZ: What is being done to revamp NetOne operations which are very poor?

NG: The term of office for the board is coming to an end; thus the new board will have a mandate to look into NetOne's capacity in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human resource. NetOne is currently on an expansion drive which will see it advancing in terms of technology and service provision. As a government institution, NetOne has lower rates than its competitors. The competitors are basically profit geared hence they charge higher rates.

FZ: What happened to the proposed MTN strategic partnership deal with NetOne?

NG: In order to realise the full potential of the network through further expansion, NetOne is currently scouting for a strategic partner to increase its capitalisation. This will enable NetOne to expand its network to all areas of Zimbabwe and beyond and also introduce new services. The MTN possible strategic partnership deal is still under discussion. Government is also in discussions with other possible strategic partners so as to have a comparative schedule of the offers before settling for one.

FZ: Still with cellular phone companies, why did the ministry block Econet's installation of fibre optic cable to Mozambique?

NG: Government policy is that service providers must not compete for the provision of infrastructure but on the provision of services. It is also government policy that the public sector must provide infrastructure such as national backbone and mobile cellular companies ride on the infrastructure. That service is already being provided by TelOne which is connected to the undersea cable in Mozambique. Therefore it would not have made business sense to have another company providing the same service.

FZ: What are your views on cellular companies competing in putting infrastructure such as base stations to ensure expansion before they could guarantee good service delivery?

NG: Telecoms companies in our country are in a position to share the current infrastructure and the regulations provide for them to voluntarily agree on rentals. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The companies are competing on infrastructural development at the expense of service provision. As alluded to earlier, government policy is that companies should share the infrastructure so that they can enhance the provision of services. We are already persuading these service providers to share infrastructure through the universal services fund. Cellular companies should compete on service provision rather than on infrastructure.

FZ: Your ministry is also in charge of the country's roads. People are complaining about the bad roads countrywide. What are you doing about the problem?

NG: It pains me that our roads are in a bad state as I am also a frequent road-user. The reason for this so many years we have failed to maintain them as we should due to lack of funds. As you know we have been greatly affected as a nation through sanctions for the past 12 years. A road's design lifespan is normally 20 years but our roads have exceeded that but we still drive day and night on the same strained roads and this means more damage to them. Roads need huge capital injection if you are to maintain them in a trafficable state. Now our roads are in such bad condition and have become more expensive to maintain.

Money collected on the country's toll gates is used on the maintenance of trunk roads which are the state highways. We have about 18 400km of road that needs rehabilitation. The same money is used for routine maintenance on the same state highways. Furthermore, current tolling stations need maintenance and it is the same money used for that. So the money is just not enough, which is why we have decided to go to the Public/Private Partnership Programme as a route of sourcing funds.

I would say, through Zinara and the critical role it continues to play in the sector, we will continue to be steadfast with this route until all our roads reach the international levels we always talk about. For instance, in 2011 Zinara disbursed funds to road authorities for routine and periodic maintenance as follows;

Department of Roads US$13 million; District Development Fund US$2 651 645; Urban Councils US$5 970 739; Rural District Councils US$20 611 359; Harare $2 650 000. The total was US$45 833 743.

FZ: The roads in Harare are really in a bad state and have potholes all over. What support is Zinara giving to city councils on road maintenance?

NG: Harare City Council as a road authority receives funds from Zinara for the maintenance of its road network. Of all urban councils, Harare receives the highest allocation. For the year 2011, Zinara disbursed US$3,6 million to Harare City Council and this year Zinara has allocated US$5 million for Harare City Council. Therefore, government, through Zinara, is giving a lot of support to urban councils in general, and Harare in particular.

FZ: Your ministry has also embarked on several road projects which seem to have stalled. Please brief us on what is happening to the dualisation projects, for example Harare-Bulawayo, Harare-Masvingo, Bulawayo-Beitbridge and also the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road. Why have these projects stalled?

Through funds being provided by the Ministry of Finance through PSIP some projects should be complete in three months. This includes Mukuvisi Bridge on the Harare-Masvingo road and Manyame Bridge on the Harare-Bulawayo road. We also have other projects like Wedza-Sadza road construction; and bridge construction projects on Little Sebakwe, Nyahodi, and Munyati. There are also bridges under tendering for Birchenough, Runde and Tuli. Diminishing .... have forced us to shelve some projects for now.

LAST week Transport and Communications minister Nicholas Goche (NG) told the Zimbabwe Independent the national flag carrier Air Zimbabwe would be unbundled into two entities - Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd and the National Handling Services (Pvt) Ltd. This week Goche speaks to our Senior Political Editor Faith Zaba (FZ) about cellular networks and the state of the country's roads, among other issues. Below are excerpts from the interview:

We gather NetOne recently approached government seeking US$40 million for its expansion programme. This is despite having got US$45 million from China. What is happening at the company and why is it continuously seeking finance from government?

NetOne did not approach government for loans. However, NetOne sought approval from government to borrow from the financial market. The reason for the borrowing was basically for the expansion and upgrading exercise currently being carried out by NetOne. Recent technological advances have helped to transform the industry in many countries. The communications sector is in continuous expansion worldwide, thus the need to continuously expand the operations of NetOne.

What is being done to revamp NetOne operations which are very poor?

The term of office for the board is coming to an end; thus the new board will have a mandate to look into NetOne's capacity in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human resource. NetOne is currently on an expansion drive which will see it advancing in terms of technology and service provision. As a government institution, NetOne has lower rates than its competitors. The competitors are basically profit geared hence they charge higher rates.

What happened to the proposed MTN strategic partnership deal with NetOne?

In order to realise the full potential of the network through further expansion, NetOne is currently scouting for a strategic partner to increase its capitalisation. This will enable NetOne to expand its network to all areas of Zimbabwe and beyond and also introduce new services. The MTN possible strategic partnership deal is still under discussion. Government is also in discussions with other possible strategic partners so as to have a comparative schedule of the offers before settling for one.

Still with cellular phone companies, why did the ministry block Econet's installation of fibre optic cable to Mozambique?

Government policy is that service providers must not compete for the provision of infrastructure but on the provision of services. It is also government policy that the public sector must provide infrastructure such as national backbone and mobile cellular companies ride on the infrastructure. That service is already being provided by TelOne which is connected to the undersea cable in Mozambique. Therefore it would not have made business sense to have another company providing the same service.

What are your views on cellular companies competing in putting infrastructure such as base stations to ensure expansion before they could guarantee good service delivery?

Telecoms companies in our country are in a position to share the current infrastructure and the regulations provide for them to voluntarily agree on rentals. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The companies are competing on infrastructural development at the expense of service provision. As alluded to earlier, government policy is that companies should share the infrastructure so that they can enhance the provision of services. We are already persuading these service providers to share infrastructure through the universal services fund. Cellular companies should compete on service provision rather than on infrastructure.

Your ministry is also in charge of the country's roads. People are complaining about the bad roads countrywide. What are you doing about the problem?

It pains me that our roads are in a bad state as I am also a frequent road-user. The reason for this so many years we have failed to maintain them as we should due to lack of funds. As you know we have been greatly affected as a nation through sanctions for the past 12 years. A road's design lifespan is normally 20 years but our roads have exceeded that but we still drive day and night on the same strained roads and this means more damage to them. Roads need huge capital injection if you are to maintain them in a trafficable state. Now our roads are in such bad condition and have become more expensive to maintain.

Department of Roads US$13 million; District Development Fund US$2 651 645; Urban Councils US$5 970 739; Rural District Councils US$20 611 359; Harare $2 650 000. The total was US$45 833 743.

The roads in Harare are really in a bad state and have potholes all over. What support is Zinara giving to city councils on road maintenance?

Harare City Council as a road authority receives funds from Zinara for the maintenance of its road network. Of all urban councils, Harare receives the highest allocation. For the year 2011, Zinara disbursed US$3,6 million to Harare City Council and this year Zinara has allocated US$5 million for Harare City Council. Therefore, government, through Zinara, is giving a lot of support to urban councils in general, and Harare in particular.

Your ministry has also embarked on several road projects which seem to have stalled. Please brief us on what is happening to the dualisation projects, for example Harare-Bulawayo, Harare-Masvingo, Bulawayo-Beitbridge and also the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road. Why have these projects stalled?

The Harare-Masvingo and Harare-Bulawayo dualisation pro-jects started a long time ago during the Zim-dollar era. Due to financial challenges no meaningful progress was made. In 2009 my ministry decided that since government accepted the policy of PPP's, the projects should be completed up to Skyline and Norton respectively. If partners were found they would then complete the projects. Through funds being provided by the Ministry of Finance through PSIP some projects should be complete in three months. This includes Mukuvisi Bridge on the Harare-Masvingo road and Manyame Bridge on the Harare-Bulawayo road. We also have other projects like Wedza-Sadza road construction; and bridge construction projects on Little Sebakwe, Nyahodi, and Munyati. There are also bridges under tendering for Birchenough, Runde and Tuli. Diminishing .... have forced us to shelve some projects for now.

Source: Zimbabwe Independent

Uganda: Embrace ICTs to Enhance Service Delivery in Health System

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:49:18 GMT

opinion

The world today is experiencing massive advancement in technology in various spheres.

However, not many of us are ready to move at the pace with which technology is changing despite numerous advantages that come along with it. In Uganda, for instance, it is no longer news that infrastructure such as the transportation system, the education system, and the health service sector, among others, is very much wanting.

Taking an example of Mulago National Referral Hospital, Uganda's biggest referral hospital, which receives an overwhelming number of patients daily - ranging from accident victims to malaria patients, among others. A fundamental improvement to enhance service delivery at the hospital would require the adaptation of new technologies. New technology could go a long way in reducing the long queues by patients, data retrieval, prescription of drugs and unnecessary loss of data and movements.

After a research done by a team of Makerere University ICT students in 2006, it was discovered that many hurdles experienced in the health sector is as a result of using the existing system of manual delivering of services in the sector. The ICT students came up with a study entitled 'Basic Prescription Support System'. This is a system which enables physicians to make swift prescriptions and retrieve patients' data easily with zero or minimum error.

The study revealed that a manual system in place was characterised by several errors hence making retrieval of patients' data extremely difficult leading to delays to both the physicians and their patients. It was also discovered that a decision to write a prescription was based on the patients' history, physical examination carried out by the doctor and laboratory findings. The flow of information from department to department was time consuming and was prone to loss of data.

Many will testify to the inefficient service delivery at Mulago Hospital. This is especially true for the ordinary person who cannot afford private health services. And poor record keeping, among other things, is contributary factor to this. It is important to note that in most cases, patients with similar ailments do appear at the same health units for diagnosis. One wonders why a new technology which can retrieve such with much ease cannot be installed. It is also important to note that Uganda's population is rising tremendously and with the current estimate of 34.5 million, there is urgent need for action to ensure a healthy population.

According to Anthony J. McMichael and Colin D. Butler in their article, Emerging health issues: The Widening Challenge for Population Health Promotion, published in an Oxford journal titled, Health Promotion International, we are informed that 'many infectious diseases have emerged - some have unexpectedly reappeared for reasons such as crowding in urban areas, environmental changes and altered sexual relations.' It is therefore clear that as a result of population growth, health workers are experiencing an overwhelming number of patients, which calls for huge amount of data being generated, processed, moved, stored and retained for longer periods of time.

The fundamental role of storage is to preserve, protect and serve data in a safe, secure and cost-effective manner. The focus of data protection is to ensure the integrity, availability and accessibility of both active and inactive data. It is important to note that data storage and data protection has become more critical today than ever before. It is therefore imperative that health units today should embrace ICT systems more than ever before. It is vital that the government introduces ICT programmes among the health workers, build awareness, enact laws, establish policy laws, increase funding of ICT projects and emphasise stakeholder involvement.

Lastly, all hospitals countrywide should automate their prescription system fully to reduce the time wasting spent by physicians, patients, and pharmacists. Important information about patients and their diagnosis would also be stored for future reference and for research purposes.

Source: The monitor

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Orange enables Facebook on non-internet phones

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:47:37 GMT

Mobile operator Orange has made the popular social network Facebook available to its African customers through USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data).

“Facebook via USSD allows Orange customers to access the service, regardless of the phone they are using. Even users with older or very basic handsets without an internet connection or data plan will be able to stay in touch with their family and friends on Facebook through a simple and affordable text-based service,” Orange said in a statement.

Xavier Perret, Orange Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, said Facebook plays a big role in how people communicate. “Social networks such as Facebook have completely changed how people stay in contact with their family and friends, and it is important our customers, regardless of the phone they have, are able to access and participate in these services.

“We feel it is our role to help our customers enjoy a digitally rich, connected life and services such as Facebook via USSD this possible,” he said.

To enable this service, customers should enter a specific code on their phones to open a Facebook session via USSD session, then enter a PIN code to access the service securely. No special applications are required.

Source: ITNews

Warid Congo launches Mobicash

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:46:04 GMT

Warid Congo, a telecommunication operator in Congo, announced the launch of Warid Mobicash across its network. This offer is based on the Mobile Money technology from Mobicash.

Warid MobiCash solution offers an approach to mobile payment that overcomes the challenges of cashless payment by using multi-factor authentication mechanisms (NSDT, fingerprint, NFC and Voice biometric) technology. The resulting mobile payment platform provides a powerful set of tools for efficient, effective, secure, and accessible mobile payment services.

Warid MobiCash customers can make secure cashless transactions. All phones can make payments using Warid MobiCash no matter what phone model or network operator. Due to its simplicity, Warid MobiCash mobile payment has wide appeal, is easy to deploy and open to everyone and there are no complicated software downloads necessary and no restrictions to enrolment.

P2P transfers alone, which typically end with a recipient converting e-money back to cash, are not enough to deliver on the vision of a cash-free ecosystem. Instead, Warid MobiCash position itself as “Much more than Money Transfer” and typically promote some combination of various services such as money transfer, airtime top-up, bill payments, and merchant payments.

By doing so, Warid MobiCash provides consumers with options to use their electronic money rather than instantly converting it back into cash and can be termed as a “national payment instrument”.

Michel Elame, CEO of Warid Congo S.A, commenting on the launch says, “The launch of Warid Mobicash is a true revolution on the Congolese market; we believed in it, and we did it! This new service is open to all Congolese and accessible through any local mobile network operator. The launch of Warid Mobicash confirms yet again, the status of Warid Congo as an innovator. We believe that this new born will strengthen our brand as well as our position on the market. So, “Make it happen” will not just remain as a simple slogan, but a true vision of our company striving to satisfy the users by always offering them exciting innovative services”.

Source: ITNews

Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

ICT minister urges ‘joined at the hip’ MTN, SPTC to cease hostilities

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:44:03 GMT

Swaziland’s minister of ICT Winnie Magagula has publicly called for an end to the ongoing hostilities between national telecoms regulator the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (SPTC) and the country’s sole wireless operator MTN Swaziland. According to the Times of Swaziland, Magagula said that she hopes that the dispute – which relates to SPTC’s attempts to launch fixed-wireless services under the ‘ONE’ brand name – can be solved in the boardroom rather than the courtroom, arguing that the two entities cannot do without one another as they are ‘joined at the hip’. MTN believes that ONE contravenes the long-standing Joint Venture Agreement that forbids SPTC from competing with it, but SPTC maintains that it faces financial collapse if it abandoned the fixed-wireless initiative, on account of the substantial sum already invested in it.

During a tour of MTN’s facilities this week, Magagula told board members and staff: ‘I have to see to it that there is harmony between the two companies. There is no way that the government can sit back and watch the fight. Swazi MTN is a child of SPTC and therefore there is no way you can run away from each other. You are a creature of statutes. You are stuck together. I also told SPTC the same thing. I urge you to harmonise your relationship. We have to move out of court corridors and to the boardroom. I urge MTN and SPTC to rekindle the relationship that existed from 1997. Once you harmonise you will give cheaper services to citizens’.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Kenya: Microsoft Rides to Rescue Nokia As It Struggles to Crash Smartphone Party

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:57:52 GMT

opinion

For decades, Nokia was in the enviable and near-unassailable position of global cellphone maker. Its domination was near total; market presence, volume of handsets shipped, marketshare, user-friendliness and user loyalty. And the vital statistics bore testament too. In 2008, it was ranked 8th largest/most valuable by Brandirectory with an equity of $33,116m.

Today, 4 years later, the Brandirectory report card makes for a grim read. Nokia is ranked 94th. And valued at $9658m; a fall of 71 per cent.

Pick any measure and it attests to the slide from the dizzying heights. The share price has halved and the latest round of culling swept 4,000 staff. In Q4 of 2011, from net sales of EUR 10,005bn, losses hit EUR 954m. By contrast Samsung banked £3bn profits.

The new entrants, notably Apple and Samsung - snapped up Nokia's marketshare; from 40 per cent in 2009 it stands at 25per cent today, the lowest for 13 years. Though Nokia leads in global shipment volumes - low-end Symbian phones that only fetch a fraction of the price of a smartphone; a market in which it ranked 3rd in Q2 2011 with 16.7m behind Apple at 20.3m and Samsung with 19.2m.

It is running a genuine risk of playing also-ran, as the two swap leader and runners-up in the smartphone market whilst ZTE, HTC and LG make strides and threaten its now unfamiliar no.3 position. Back to the brand league, Apple has filled Nokia's 8th position and Samsung has risen 18th from 23th.

Where once it enjoyed a virtual monopoly and dictated the pace and nature of change, Nokia now operates in an unfamiliar market landscape whose only constant is ever evolving innovation in short sharp product cycles driven by new competitors.Nokia has become a follower.

The Nokia Lumia, its most serious match yet to the iPhone and Galaxy, was launched in late 2011. By then pioneers had leapt to second generation smartphones; Apple with the iPhone 4, and 4S, and Samsung boasted its portfolio of Galaxy Ace S, SII; quick upgrades to preserve their pole positions. The frontier was further reconfigured as they shifted battle to the tablet market. Besides the technology lag, Nokia had an impregnable brand loyalty to claw back.

At critical points Nokia was found wanting. This was the import of the new CEO's infamous burning platform memo. While the game changed, its then CEO was accused of being asleep at the helm, failing to adjudge threat posed by competitors as they rolled out the smartphones with gusto. Yet it was not for lack of innovation; it felt aggrieved and sued Apple for patent violation over voice recognition, wireless and encryption. Instead, it was inertia and tardiness in translating concepts into prototypes and compelling products in record time. Case in point, it was 3 years late in launching dual-sim handsets; long after rivals had been there, done that.

While the market leaders took a software-centric model and pitched in two camps; Google's Android and IOS from Apple, Nokia was isolated with its in-house limited and inferior software Symbian. Worse is the apparent indecision over a preferred operating system? Nokia has cavorted between Symbian, Meego, Microsoft Windows and lately has acquired Meltemi. The Apple and Android hold will be difficult to breach.

While Nokia's users' vocabulary was limited to talk and text, smartphone lexicon was littered with apps, tether, pinch, tap, browse, download, touch screen, HD, slide - all vogue functions unfamiliar to Nokia. Competitors grasped early on that a successful future was in handheld connectivity by way of a rich ecosystem. This is the interdependence of technology gadgets and content specific to a brand to give users a 'fuller' experience.

A famous cowboy quote warns of the risks of changing riders midstream. But with looming challenges, the Nokia horse needed a new rider and a new course; exit Olli-PekkaKallasvuo enter Stephen Elop - ex Microsoft and fabled for instigating change. The appointment was symbolic. As Nokia's first non-Finnish CEO, was Nokia now outward looking and refocusing on software not handsets? Could Microsoft be Nokia's knight? Could the appointment be a precursor to eventual Nokia-Microsoft nuptials? Given that Elop at Macromedia drove forth Adobe flash's tie-up with Nokia.

The mooted partnership seems to make synergy sense; Nokia with its cellphone market experience married with Microsoft's widely used and available software. At a stroke, Nokia would have a ready-made ecosystem sans the requisite high costs of building one. At its disposal would be access to Microsoft bouquet of applications, Microsoft Windows, Internet explorer browser, XBox, Kinetic and Zune.

The natural progression into the tablet arena must be a serious consideration. Nokia may not develop an ipad-killer, but a Nokia tablet may appeal to users while adding another node in its new ecosystem. With its books in the red, Nokia could rest easy with Microsoft's deep pockets now available should the need arise.

The new Lumia has hardly dented the iPhone and Samsung marketshare. It may be a question of time until Symbian is shed as sales of Symbian products are declining faster than sales of Windows-driven gadgets. Taking a pessimistic stance, the last such partnership, Sony Ericsson, spanned 10 years and was rocky. Its professed aim of blending Sony's brand with Ericsson's technology, failed to pay dividends. Sales fell and Sony, sensing a raw deal, reportedly lined up a severance offer of $1.7bn to Ericsson.

The web offers two variations as to the origin of the word Nokia; soot and unbreakable. Both translations underline targets for Nokia - strong books and brand.

Source: Business Daily

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Apple well on its way to killing SMS

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:56:11 GMT

In addition to the announcements about Apple’s next operating system Mac OS X Mountain Lion, the company rolled out a beta edition of its iMessages chat app on Thursday.

Apple previously launched its iMessages for the iPhone and iPad as an answer to Research in Motion’s popular BlackBerry Messenger service. The app lets you send text, pictures, contacts, and video over 3G and Wi-Fi connections to anyone with an Apple ID or one of the other third-party messaging services. One big perk to using Messages is that it doesn’t charge you for each individual message, similar to the way wireless carriers do with SMS. Now, Apple wants to bring this functionality to the desktop in an effort to bridge the gap between conversations on mobile devices.

The new Messages beta replaces Apple’s native OS X instant message client iChat, which aggregates the IM functionality from several third-party services (Google Chat, AIM, Yahoo Messenger and Jabber accounts) into a sole location. Personally, I prefer using other IM applications (such as the open-source Adium) so I never paid much attention to iChat anyway, which I’m guessing the majority of other Mac users did as well. That said, I might actually use the new Messages app in addition to my preferred IM desktop client.

Unlike iChat, the Messages app doesn’t just focus on communicating with people who appear online at the same time that you do. Both the new desktop app as well as the iMessages iPhone/iPad counterpart emphasise short back-and-forth responses similar to SMS conversations. The app still has a buddy list of contacts, but the chat window looks nearly identical to the iMessages iOS apps.

People who never use instant messenger but frequently send texts will probably end up using this app. It’s also likely that far fewer SMS messages will get sent over the course of time, especially if you consider the rising cost of texting plans. That’s a good thing for Apple and a very bad thing for wireless carriers, which draw a large amount of revenue through texting services.

The Messages beta app is available now via Apple’s official site, with the full release due out with the launch of OS X Mountain Lion.

Source: Tech Central

Sony buys out Ericsson’s 50% stake in Sony Ericsson

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:54:52 GMT

Sony has completed the buyout of its joint venture Sony Ericsson.

The subsidiary is set to be known as Sony Mobile Communications. This comes despite a tough financial period for Sony.

In October 2011, the company announced it would pay Ericsson $810 million for its half of the venture.

Sony Ericsson was a joint venture of two ailing phone makers back in 2001. Sony’s leverage allowed them to harness products such as the Walkman and Cybershot in their phones.

Earlier this month Sony said it expects a $3 billion loss due to its ailing TV business. In January, Sony Ericsson announced a net loss of $207 million during Q4 of 2011. The new subsidiary will be based in London with around 8 000 employees.

Source: ITNews

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Uganda: Airtel Launches SMS Alerts

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:51:24 GMT

Telecom companies in Uganda have taken the competition beyond the voice calls platform to other Value Added Services (VAS) like Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Mobile money and data services.

The cut-throat competition has now shifted from providing the lowest call rates to more innovative services. Just a few days after launching its mobile money service, Airtel money, Airtel unveiled an innovative sms platform, promising to take customer interaction to a whole new level.

Airtel customers can now receive alerts which include voice astrology, jokes, cooking tips, education tips, love messages among others directly to their phone after subscribing to the 'Get tips 189' alerts. The service also includes instant alerts on breaking news anywhere in the country. The service is available in English and will subsequently be available in other local languages.

Speaking at the launch, V. G Somasekhar, Airtel's managing director, assured the customers of a reliable service. "Our platform has undergone months of upgrading and testing so our customers are assured of smooth operations without any mishaps," he said.

Somasekhar further noted that mobile penetration is growing every day and sms services like these help to connect people quickly and in convenient ways. "Unlimited and timely sms updates on news, recommendations, and market actions can quickly equip a business person with enabling knowledge to make quick decisions," he said.

He added that the company has plans to add more local content like commodity prices so as to make the service even more relevant to the users. Get Tips 189 can be activated via sms by dialing *189# or subscribe by sending a sms e.g Subject (LOVE) for love tips to 189. The customer once subscribed will be charged 100/= per day, 1,000/= per week and 3,000/= per month.

Source: The Observer

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Telkom pleads for leniency in competition case

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:40:16 GMT

In a new submission to the Competition Tribunal at hearings into alleged anticompetitive behaviour by Telkom, the Competition Commission has recommended to the tribunal that it impose a fine of nearly R1,2bn against the company.

This is less than the maximum R3,5bn fine analysts said it could have asked the tribunal to impose, but Telkom legal counsel on Wednesday argued that the proposed penalty was still “jaw-droppingly inappropriate”. The tribunal hearings wrapped up on Wednesday.

If it’s found guilty by the tribunal, Telkom wants a fine of only R20,5m imposed on it, which equates to less than 2% of the penalty the commission wants.

The case dates back more than eight years and relates to complaints brought to the commission by Telkom rivals, which accused the company of a range of market abuses in the early part of last decade.

Speaking for Telkom at the hearings on Wednesday, Adv Willem van der Linde said that by the commission’s own admission it had not wanted a “swingeing” punishment. But that this was exactly what its proposed R1,2bn fine amounted to.

In its submission, the commission has argued that Telkom should be fined for the full five years that the alleged abuses took place. “The conduct impacted directly on the market for [leased-line] Diginet services and indirectly on the [virtual private network, or VPN] and Internet access markets,” it said. “Therefore, the penalty should be based on the combination of the revenues earned by Telkom.”

Furthermore, the commission wants a factor of 10% applied to the affected turnover. “Applying these principles, a penalty of R1 168 549 735 is appropriate,” it said.

It added that Telkom’s prior arguments that imposing a large fine on the company would be “catastrophic” for the company and “irretrievably jeopardise its viability” were “over-exaggerated”. It said that in cases where a substantial penalty was imposed, this could be paid off over time. The commission also said the recent decline in net profit at Telkom — which the company has used to try to convince the tribunal not to impose a large fine — was mainly the result of investment in cellular operator 8ta and not problems in its main business.

Telkom argued the commission’s figure was arrived at in error by looking at the company’s turnover from Diginet lines, Internet access and VPN services. Diginet revenues should not be factored into the calculation at all, it argued.

Senior counsel Alfred Cockrell, speaking for Telkom, said the penalty should be calculated using Telkom’s “affected” turnover only, rather than total revenue. He said the aim of the tribunal was to mete out “appropriate” penalties and that the calculations suggested by the commission would result in punishment that was not appropriate or proportionate.

Furthermore, he said the commission was calling for the fine on the basis that the alleged infringements took place over five years. Rather than using the turnover figures for each year, it had opted to take the figure for the year ended 31 March 2004 — which he said was the highest amount — and multiplied that by five.

“This approach is neither mandated by the law nor does it have any regard to the constitutional principle of proportionality,” Cockrell argued.

“It gives rise to a penalty which is excessive in the extreme and not justified by any norm of reasonableness,” he says. “Should such a penalty be imposed on Telkom, it may well lead to its financial demise. This will have a catastrophic impact on the SA economy as a whole.”

Telkom said that although it believes revenue arising from Diginet lines should be wholly excluded from the calculation, if the tribunal felt otherwise, the only appropriate portion of Diginet revenue that should be considered was that which came from VPN services to value-added network services (Vans) providers to connect these companies to network points of presence.

Cockrell also argued that if Telkom was found guilty of the excessive pricing complaint, rather than the additional complaint of withholding essential services, this amounted to “a margin squeeze or price discrimination”, neither of which qualified for a fine “in the case of a first time offender”.

Speaking again to the issue of “proportionality”, Cockrell said an administrative penalty was not intended to be punitive but that the commission was “seeking a fine that is nakedly punitive” and that in doing so it created “a rod to its own back” because such a penalty would be “blatantly swingeing”, something the commission had said it opposed.

Telkom also argued that the proposed penalty was excessive against previous fines imposed by the tribunal. The commission’s proposed fine was “hopelessly out of kilter” with what the tribunal had imposed in the past, Cockrell said.

Telkom said the tribunal was not obliged to impose a penalty at all but that if it felt a penalty was fitting “it should be nominal or symbolic”.

The tribunal said Telkom had only supplied information about what shouldn’t be considered and asked the company to supply what it deemed an appropriate figure. In reply, it said an appropriate figure, if it was deemed to have engaged in excessive pricing, was 5% of the figure of R410m, which is the sum of VPN and Internet access revenues for 2004. That amounted to R20,5m.

It said that should it be found to have restricted access to essential services, the penalty should be a third of the fine for excessive pricing, or roughly R6,8m.

It’s not known when the tribunal will decide on the matter.

Source: TechCentral

Kenya: CCK Declines Fresh Audit Appeal On Rates

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:37:02 GMT

The row over mobile interconnection charges, which has divided Kenya's top telecoms into two, took a new twist after the regulator refused to conduct a fresh audit to advise on the direction of the rates.

In response to a letter by Safaricom requesting the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to conduct a fresh network study seen by the Nation, the regulator maintains that it does not see it necessary to conduct another cost study at the moment.

"This matter was sufficiently addressed during the costing exercise (in both face-face operator sessions and in communication between the consultants and licensees), stakeholder consultations and written elaborations by the commission," reads the CCK letter dated February 8, 2012 in part.

On January 30, Safaricom wrote to the regulator requesting a fresh study on grounds that the current interconnection charges (fees that operators levy calls ending on their networks from competitors) did not factor in the costs of receiving and completing off-net calls.

"We feel that the current mobile termination rates are destructive to the sector and responsible for the drop in earnings recorded by operators last year," Safaricom's head of regulatory and public policy Stephen Chege said.

Safaricom and Telkom Orange were hoping that the new study would vindicate their quest to increase current rates. But Airtel and yu say the rates are too high and should be scrapped.

CCK says subscribers on any network should bear the costs arising from inflation and devaluation of the shilling as opposed to passing on the costs to other operators.

CCK conducted the first interconnection cost study in 2006, which informed the first phase of the review that started in July 2010 with a 50 per cent cut from Sh4.42 to Sh2.21.

Source: Daily Nation

Morocco - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Moroccan telecom prices dropped by a third

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:34:46 GMT

Moroccan telecoms regulator ANRT’s latest annual report (Agence National de Réglementation des Télécommunications) found telecommunication service prices dropped by 34% between 2008 to 2011.

“Mobile service prices, including pre- and post-paid, came down by nearly 37% over four years, following a series of successive price cuts, notably since 2010,” the report revealed.

The country’s users saw a “perennial double and triple top-up credits from some operators, the alignment of off-net prices to on-net prices, per-second billing and lower international call tariffs”.

ANRT reported fixed voice calls prices dropped by 24% during this period, “due to a regular fall in international tariffs, higher top-up bonuses on capped services, and the offers of new generation fixed network operators”.

ADSL broadband prices dropped by 56% as bandwidth capacity increased.

“The business broadband segment saw its prices fall by 56% and the business fixed voice segment by around 45% over the same period.”

Source: ITNews

Orange Tunisia introduces uncapped internet

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:32:38 GMT

The youngest telecom operator in Tunisia, Orange Tunisia, rolled out uncapped mobile internet access for all their ‘Internet Everywhere’ customers.

Currently users receive a monthly 7.5GB cap on their 3G network.

Now once the limit is reached, internet speed will slow down to 128kb/s, sufficient for internet browsing.

Customers will be alerted once their bandwidth limit is reached the company said in a statement.

Orange Tunisia was launched in 2010 by the local Mabrouk group and France Telecom.

Source: ITNews

Tunisia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Digital switchover to be completed in 2014

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:30:46 GMT

Under a timeline approved by the Ghanaian cabinet, the country is targeting a migration from analogue to digital TV by the end of 2014. The National Communications Authority (NCA) is preparing to start the process of switching to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), reports The Daily Guide. The migration should provide frequencies to be re-utilised in the cellular mobile sector for 4G broadband services.

Source: TeleGeography

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ethiopia telecom, France telecom at Loggerheads over service delivery

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:31:17 GMT

Mobile telecommunications customers are riled at what they describe as poor service delivery and have demanded an immediate improvement from Ethio-Telecom and France Telecom, which took over management of the Ethiopian firm a year ago.

However, Ethio-Telecom has implied that the problem was the French company, amidst reports that the two sides are said to be renegotiation their contract agreement.

In November 2010, Ethiopia awarded France telecom a 30 million Euro two year contract to manage Ethio-Telecom. But the past few weeks have seen Ethio-Telecom customers launch massive complaints over the company's poor service.

Many say the company's mobile phone credit cards are defective.

"It took me two days to enter the number on my scratch card. I don't really understand why this company can't improve its service. We heard that France Telecom took over the management, but we are yet to see any improvement," Tesema Belay, an irate customer, said.

Like Belay, many customers are expressing their bitter dissatisfaction over the company's mobile, and internet services saying that "it is easier to win a lottery than to recharge your credit".

"While telephone services in Ethiopia are the most expensive in Africa, we are not as lucky to get the desired service" Belay continued.

Back to fax machines

Customers have also complained at the price of SIM cards, which were lowered from US$10 last year to a little over US$2 recently, saying they still remained too expensive.

International companies and business organisations that depend on the state owned telecommunications company's services, have also expressed their dissatisfaction over the poor services.

Officials of the Ethiopian commodities exchange (ECE), one of the affected companies, say they are unable to receive or send information on their daily business activities.

"Not only has it affected the daily monetary transaction. We wonder when the service will be improved," Eleni Mekuria, CEO of the commodity exchange, said.

He complained that services which would usually take a few minutes now take up to four or five days as a result of poor internet and telecommunications connectivity.

Mekuria also indicated that the ECE had been forced to resort to using fax machines to convey messages to and from other branches as only 41 per cent of the exchange's branches were networked to the main office due to poor service.

Officials at Ethio-Telecom have admitted that there were problems with their services.

Debretsion Gebremichael, Minister for Communication and Information Technology and Ethio-Telecom board chairman, said while the poor delivery was as a result of France Telecom's implementation weaknesses, not all service problems were to be blamed on the French firm.

Gebremichael said the problem with the credit recharge vouchers were because of a lack of preparedness by France Telecom.

Source: The Africa Report

Nigeria: FG Sets 12 Percent Broadband Target for Telecom Operators

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:21:36 GMT

The federal government has set a 12 per cent broadband penetration target for the mobile service providers and fibre optic operators which would help take broadband to the rural communities around the nation.

LEADERSHIP learnt that Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology has communicated the directive to the Nigerian Communications Commission for onward transmission to all the telecommunications companies in the country.

The directive is in line with the minister's mandate to ensure that Nigeria meets the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Broadband Commission For Digital Development demand that at least half the developing nation's population and 40 per cent of households in developing countries use broadband Internet by 2015.

Johnson said: "We set a target to double our broadband penetration from six per cent to 12 per cent in the next three years. The ministry and the NCC are working to develop the intervention areas that will be critical to do this." She said broadband was about getting fast internet all over Nigeria in both urban, semi urban and rural areas.

According to her: "We have decided within the ministry that this country is really underserved when it comes to broadband. There is nobody that was properly served in this country as far as internet is concerned. Broadband penetration is really one of the things that the ministry will be focusing on going forward. "We are working to enable fibre optic deployment, complemented by Microwave and Satellite to enable access to core underserved areas."

The ITU had called on governments to make broadband policy universal and to develop the enabling policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure that the industry has a stable regulatory space in which to operate, flourish and harness broadband for sustainable human development.

Source: Leadership

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom warns of financial ‘catastrophe’

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:19:37 GMT

If the Competition Tribunal imposes a large fine on Telkom for anticompetitive behaviour, it will be “catastrophic” for the company and will “irretrievably jeopardise its viability”, leading to “disastrous consequences for the SA economy and for government”.

This is the stark warning the fixed-line telecommunications operator has sent to the tribunal in the wake of a recommendation by the Competition Commission that Telkom be fined up to 10% of its 2003 revenues, or R3,5bn, for alleged monopolistic behaviour dating back to early last decade.

The tribunal, which hasn’t imposed the maximum fine in other cases, is hearing closing statements in the case in Pretoria this week.

Telkom stands accused of anticompetitive behaviour dating back to complaints lodged with the commission in 2004 by a number of value-added network service (Vans) providers.

The commission found Telkom abused its dominance by charging excessive prices, engaging in price discrimination and refusing to allow other operators access to its “last-mile” infrastructure, which would have allowed these third parties to provide a broader range of services to customers.

Telkom claims that if a large fine were imposed, it could cripple the company, impede its ability to maintain existing infrastructure and services, and could have drastic effects on SA companies that rely on its services.

“It is no secret that Telkom’s financial performance has been under extreme pressure over the past few financial years,” Telkom says in its submission to the tribunal. “A penalty of the magnitude sought by the commission will … exceed the company’s profit by 56%. This will be catastrophic for Telkom.”

The company’s submission says: “Since Telkom is still the largest supplier of fixed-line communication networks upon which banks, financial institutions, government departments, the defence force, police and industry rely, a fine of this magnitude will have disastrous consequences for the SA economy and government.”

Telkom argues that not only was it entitled to behave in the way it did, but that it was obliged to in order to meet its roll-out obligations to government after it was partially privatised. It says if it had not limited rivals’ ability to compete, it would have been obliged to meet its burdens without the financial protection it was promised as part of its exclusivity rights granted in 1997.

The company has also argued that the behaviour of which it stands accused no longer occurs and that the case is less relevant on account of the amount of time that has elapsed since the complaint was first brought. However, Telkom was itself responsible for the bulk of the delays, having questioned the tribunal’s authority in the matter at the supreme court of appeal (it lost).The Competition Commission argues that Telkom was able to divert business away from its Vans rivals, particularly when customers wished to expand their services and Vans providers were unable to meet these requirements. Though Telkom had allowed Vans companies to provide certain services to customers, it prevented them from expanding their offerings once it saw that it risked being made redundant by the Vans.

Telkom’s legal team has expended a great deal of energy on the minutiae surrounding the case, but the commission advocate, Martin Brassey, says the tribunal must remember that the case does not concern “abstract abstruse concepts” but is only interested in “the facts”.

There are two charges that could result in punitive measures being applied against Telkom. The first concerns the accusations that the company engaged in excessive pricing practices; the second relates to the withholding of essential services from Vans providers.

If Telkom is found guilty on both fronts, the commission will push for a sizeable fine, but says it will pursue a lesser penalty if Telkom is found only to have withheld essential services.

“Telkom has behaved very badly. That needs to be corrected and it needs to be corrected emphatically,” says Brassey. “Telkom had a monopoly and it abused that monopoly. [It] must feel the full impact of its anticompetitive conduct.”

But Telkom argues that if a penalty is imposed it should be “nominal or symbolic in nature”, particularly because no evidence was presented during the hearings that suggest it profited substantially from its alleged contraventions.

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

American Tower to build own base stations

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:15:29 GMT

American Tower Corporation (ATC), the company that acquired Cell C’s base station infrastructure last year in a R430m deal, has begun building its own mobile telecommunications towers from scratch in areas where operators have poor coverage.

ATC SA CEO Pieter Nel says the company has just completed its first site in Bisho in the Eastern Cape and has already signed three tenants that want to erect radio communications infrastructure on the tower.

Nel says ATC has plans to build “hundreds” of new towers across the country, but admits that securing the right permits and environmental approvals can take a long time. “It doesn’t take less than nine months to get a new site properly permitted,” he says. “We’ll build as many of them as we can.”

He says the company will focus specifically on areas where there are coverage gaps. “We are proving the concept with our partners, and it will build momentum over the next two or three years.”

Rural sites have become more attractive than they were in the past, and with new spectrum in the 800MHz and 2,6GHz bands to be allocated by industry regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), in coming years, Nel believes there is a big opportunity for independent tower operators like ATC to build and acquire tower infrastructure.

“We are also interested in buying more towers from existing players and building our own,” he says. “We are just very impatient about the spectrum issues because we are so well positioned for the new broadband players that will get licensed. We have a good proposition and we are hungry for that business.”

ATC now operates all of Cell C’s 1 364 base stations countrywide. The next phase of the project will involve the purchase and transfer of new sites that the mobile operator is constructing with its Chinese infrastructure partners. As many as 1 800 additional towers will be built in the next three years in both metropolitan and rural areas.

The company’s clients include MTN and Vodacom and recent reports suggested the company was also in talks with Telkom’s 8ta about a deal.

“I think it’s fair to say that the industry is changing and the bigger players are seriously considering options to extract value. Would Telkom, MTN and Vodacom offload their towers? I’m not sure they’d do it outright, but they are all exploring ways of extracting value.”

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

CST pilots 3G network; commercial services to follow in March

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:13:14 GMT

Portugal Telecom’s subsidiary in Sao Tome and Principe, Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicacoes (CST), has launched a pilot of its third-generation network, reports Cellular-News. Testing of the network will last approximately six weeks, followed by a commercial launch of 3G services, scheduled to take place on the two islands in March.Portugal Telecom’s subsidiary in Sao Tome and Principe, Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicacoes (CST), has launched a pilot of its third-generation network, reports Cellular-News. Testing of the network will last approximately six weeks, followed by a commercial launch of 3G services, scheduled to take place on the two islands in March.

Source: TeleGeography

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Vodacom Tanzania reduces M-Pesa rates

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:17:08 GMT

In a drive to ease mobile money transactions and give more powers to its customers, Vodacom Tanzania took the decision to reduce mobile money transfer fees by as much as 75%.

When customers use the M-pesa service, they will now be charged only Sh50 (approx. US 3c) when making a transaction.

“This is our key focus this year and beyond. We are fully committed to ensuring that our customers are happy and empowered while using M-pesa. We will keep improving our system and the services we offer through M-pesa to ensure relevance to the daily lives of our customers,” said Vodacom Tanzania managing director Rene Meza.

“Vodacom customers are also set to benefit from other services including sending as little as Sh500 through M-pesa, which will enable more Tanzanians regardless of their economic status to send and receive money easily,” The Citizen in Tanzania added.

Source: ITNews

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Airtel Unveils New Package for SMEs

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:15:13 GMT

Lagos — Airtel Nigeria has introduced Club Business, a package aimed at boosting business productivity and profitability for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

According to Aitel Nigeria, the Club Business offering will enable owners of SMEs to form a club of 20 members with their employees and thereby benefit from specialized discounts including free calls for the for first 100 minutes and subsequent charge of 20k/sec for Airtel to Airtel calls, while SMS to club members will be at N1.

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Airtel Nigeria, Deepak Srivastava said the Airtel Club Business is specially designed to address the prevailing business environment in Nigeria, providing opportunities for small business owners to adopt creative and strategic initiatives to survive the harsh business climate.

He said the company considers the SME sector as vital to the growth of the nation's economy and as a result committed to creating products and services that will boost profitability and productivity in the sector, ensuring return on investments and economic growth.

The Airtel Club Business allows a minimum of five users and a maximum of 20 Airtel customers. Club members, calls to Airtel numbers are billed at 20k/sec, while calls to other network will be at 30k/sec after the first minute at 60k/sec. International call charges remain at the prevailing rates.

Furthermore, SMS to other Airtel lines outside the club will be at N5, while SMS to other networks and international lines will be N9 and N15 respectively.

Also, a monthly Access Fee of N500 would be charged while a monthly minimum recharge of N500 on the Master Line would be required to enjoy the special business solution package.

Under the offer, the Master Line would be responsible for paying access fees and monthly commitment for all other lines in the Club. The first 20 number additions that make up a club would be free while subsequent reviews would be charged at N50.

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

ICASA must reduce telecoms charges quickly: Minister

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:13:48 GMT

Communications minister Dina Pule says that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) must make sure that telephony and communications must be reduced ‘very quickly’. Pule added that they are re-assessing the ICASA structure to ensure better regulation in the ICT sector.

Speaking to CNBC, the minister said that the Department of Communications (DoC) is currently looking at the structure of ICASA and questioning whether ICASA’s current structure suits South Africa’s telecoms regulatory needs.

“We are beginning to want to look at the structure of ICASA,” said Pule. “We must ask ourselves whether the structure that we have is assisting us and the industry to regulate. Is it right that we have the nine councilors? Do we need the nine councilors or do we need less?”

“We have begun to discuss these issues, and ICASA has brought the first draft of their recommendations of what they want us [the DoC] to do,” said Pule.

Pule added that she will meet with ICASA next week to discuss their recommendations.

Expectation from ICASA

The communications minister said that she expects ICASA to bring consumers and businesses lower telephony and communication costs.

“People have been crying to me and saying ‘minister when are you going to help us to reduce the cost of telephony and the cost to communicate’. ICASA must really come very quick there,” said Pule.

Pule said that lower interconnect rates (wholesale voice termination rates) have helped to lower prices, but added that a lot more needs to be done.

“We need to monitor if the operators are indeed implementing the agreements which we have with them,” said Pule.

Pule said that she has been meeting with operators, trying to find out what stops them from reducing prices and rolling out services in rural areas.

According to Pule the operators told her that they can do more, and offered to do more in the rural areas.

“After I finalized my meetings with all of them [the operators] I will then be able to tell you where we are heading to,” said Pule.

Source: My Broadband

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

SIM registration deadline set for 3 March

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:11:43 GMT

Ghana’s telecoms regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), has announced that 3 March 2012 will be the deadline for the de-activation of unregistered mobile SIM cards. The SIM card registration scheme initially came into effect in July 2010 and was due to run until the end of June the following year, at which time all mobile users would be required to have registered their SIM card. However, by the deadline a large number of users had still to register, leading the regulator to extend the registration period. Ghana’s parliament has now adopted the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations 2011 (L.I. 2006), which states that any card not registered by 3 March must be de-activated, while all new SIM card purchases must be accompanied by a user registration. Ghana had a total of 21.17 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2011, according to NCA statistics, with largest operator MTN Ghana claiming around 48% of the overall market.

Source: TeleGeography

Burkina Faso - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Trio fined for poor service quality

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:09:55 GMT

Burkina Faso’s telecoms regulator, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications (ARCE), has announced it has issued fines totaling XOF2.706 billion (USD5.3 million) to the country’s three wireless telephony operators for failure to fulfill quality of service commitments. The watchdog said it has fined Telmob, a wholly owned subsidiary of Burkinabe national PTO Onatel, itself owned by Maroc Telecom, around XOF1.086 billion, while Airtel Burkina Faso has received a penalty of XOF894.7 million and Telecel around XOF724.8 million. President of ARCE, Mathurin Bako, said the trio would be subject to further quality control checks to ensure they had improved service provision.

Source: TeleGeography

Warid Telecom launches sales portal

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:32:41 GMT

Mobile telecommunications company Warid Telecom announced the launch of their Warid Tijarat portal today. Providing service in Congo, Pakistan and Uganda, Warid’s new website enables users to buy and sell various items via their mobile phones.

“Warid Tijarat helps bridge the gap between people with similar interests by allowing them to trade their goods and services with someone in the same city. One can sell/buy property, cars, mobile phones, electronics, find jobs and join book clubs and even buy tickets for local events and concerts through this portal,” the company said in a statement.

Available through SMS, WAP and the waridtijarat.waridtel.com websites, users have three options available. There’s the Basic, Premium and Business packages.

“The Basic Package is a weekly subscription based package with charges of Rs. 10+tax. Users will be allowed to sell up to three goods and services at one time, while they can buy unlimited goods and services, depending on their choice. The Business Package is Rs. 60, and to cater to Businesses and Retailers especially, while users will be allowed to buy and sell unlimited amounts of goods and services.”

Source: ITNews

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Orascom Confirms Talks with France Telecom over Future of Mobinil

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:31:05 GMT

Orascom Telecom has confirmed rumours that it is in talks with France Telecom over the future of their Egyptian mobile network joint-venture, Mobinil.

Responding to queries from the Egyptian Stock Exchange regarding rumours of talks, Orascom Telecom Media And Technology Holding confirmed in a brief statement that it is "in an advanced stage of negotiations with France Telecom concerning Mobinil."

A further statement from both companies is expected tomorrow morning.

The company holdings are slightly complex.

The Egyptian mobile network is owned by a holding company - called ECMS - which is in turn 29% listed on the stock exchange, 20% owned by Orascom Telecom and the remaining 51% is owned by another holding company - confusingly also called Mobinil.

Following a legal dispute that was settled in 2009, the holding company is wholly owned by France Telecom, giving it 51% of the company and effective control of the mobile network.

It was reported last year that France Telecom could trigger a put-option to buy Orascom Telecom's 20% stake in ECMS if certain conditions were not met as part of the parent group's sale to Russia's Vimplecom.

If that put-option is exercised, then France Telecom could theoretically increase its stake to 71%. It's not clear yet if the statement tomorrow will be about the put-option transaction or a different issue.

Source: Cellular - News

Africa - Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics (tables only)

Kenya: M-PESA Set for Features Upgrade

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:28:17 GMT

Safaricom's mobile financial service M-PESA will close for six hours starting midnight Saturday night to allow the addition of new features.

The company said the service will not be available from Saturday midnight to Sunday 6AM. During the upgrade, new features are expected to be added to the service which has evolved from a simple money transfer service to a banking and payment system.

The company opted to keep the new servings close to its chest to avoid tipping off competitors. "We wish to thank our customers for their continued support and understanding and assure them that this upgrade is necessary in order to grow the M-PESA service menu and improve overall customer experience," CEO Bob Collymore said of the planned upgrade.

Safaricom reports that the service has 14.8million subscribers. Estimates indicate that about 4million transactions are carried out on the service daily more than Western Union does globally. The company envisages it eventually becoming a mobile wallet where payments that are nowadays carried out informally such as paying for a beer or for a taxi will become the norm.

Source: Nairobi Star

Govt sets end-June deadline for nationwide fibre connectivity scheme

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:26:57 GMT

The Kenyan government intends to connect all 47 counties in the country to its ‘in-deployment’ fibre-optic cable by the end of June, Business Daily Africa reports. Although a total of 37 counties have been hooked up to the infrastructure to date, the government has reportedly formed a new committee – with members drawn from the Ministry of Information, the e-government Secretariat and the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) – to oversee the remainder of the initiative, and map out a connectivity plan for the unconnected regions. Previously, each of the state departments had been granted a separate budget to roll out infrastructure, leading to a slow rollout pace and a duplication of resources. Following the completion of the inter-county deployment, private sector telcos will be invited to provide last mile connectivity to end-users, using the broadband platform of their choice.

Source: TeleGeography

UCC to introduce new penalty schedule

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:23:43 GMT

Uganda’s telecoms watchdog the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has begun consultation with stakeholders regarding the introduction of a new series of penalties for telcos that fail to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements. According to the Daily Monitor, the new punitive measures are expected to hasten compliance with telco’s QoS obligations, and were driven by a ‘public outcry regarding the deteriorating QoS’. The UCC communications and consumer affairs manager Fred Ottunu said: ‘We are in consultations with all telecoms [providers] to come up with a detailed report indicating how much to be fined for which offense. The law allows us fines of up to 10% in comparison to gross income.’

Source: TeleGeography

Airtel given extension on local ownership requirement

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:32:40 GMT

Airtel Kenya has received a second reprieve from meeting local foreign ownership regulations, reports Business Daily Africa. The cellco’s parent, India’s Bharti Airtel, currently owns 95% of the company, transgressing local legislation capping foreign ownership at 80%. In 2009 Zain, the previous owners of the cellco, were given a three-year grace period to increase local ownership in the company to 20% after Kenyan businessman Naushad Merali reduced his stake from 20% to 5%. Upon taking over the company in June 2010, Bharti inherited the obligation, effectively granting it until 2012 to dilute its stake. However, Bharti has been given an extension to the grace-period, reportedly on the basis that the Kenyan provider is still running at a loss. The duration of the reprieve was not made public, but it is believed that Bharti will have until 2015 to meet regulations.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: NITDA to Provide Wide Internet Access to Varsity Students

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:31:21 GMT

THE National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it will soon provide wide Internet access to students in universities across the country.

Prof. Cleopas Angaye, the Director-General of the agency, said this in an interview with newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

'We are looking at situation whereby we can provide wide internet service to universities, at least, get a pilot scheme to look at maybe two or four; how we can provide internet access to 20,000 students simultaneously.

'That will actually be breakout of the traditional system in which Internet is only provided between maybe 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., during day light hours.

'But if we can do that wide area Internet network for universities, students can use this Internet access 24 hours. We are looking for ways of doing that.

'Like I said, it depends on whether it will be approved in the budget. If it is, we will provide more research, more computing and more interaction among students in universities.'

He said the project would fast-track economic development through the use of Information and Communication Technology (CIT).

Angaye stated that the project, if approved, would commence with a pilot scheme with few universities and would be extended to other universities.

He reiterated the determination of the agency towards the transformation of the economy through the deployment of series of Information Technologies that would benefit Nigerians.

Source: The Moment

Zambia: Zamtel Launches 3G Mobile Internet

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:29:11 GMT

ZAMTEL yesterday launched the Third Generation (3G) mobile broadband internet on the mobile network, with a declaration to expand its market-share from the current 10, to at least 16 per cent by the end of this year.

Speaking in Lusaka yesterday, Zamtel chief commercial officer Amon Jere said the soft-launch was a way of showing the firm's commitment to be a market leader in both mobile and fixed land line services.

Mr Jere said the launching of the 3G on the network, which already has 250 base stations dotted around the country, was a culmination of plans and action that started 18 months ago through re-capitalisation.

He said Zamtel would continue to initiate more innovative products which included cheaper internet services so that it could better its growth over the last one year for both mobile and land line as well as internet services.

"Our efforts so far have resulted in the growth of the mobile market share from 3.5 per cent and going down to 11 per cent and by 3,000 per cent growth for fixed broadband customers.

"Growth prospects remain promising and we are forecasting to finish the year at 16 per cent mobile market share," said Mr Jere, whose company last month hit the landmark one million subscribers.

He said the 3G network on the Zamtel mobile would help overcome the ugly statistics of Zambia having less than 10 per cent internet penetration and that the new service would offer the fastest internet speed on mobile phones and dongles in the country.

To show the fast internet services on the 3G broadband service, Zamtel had a demonstration for both video call and fast multimedia download witnessed by Communications Minister Yamfwa Mukanga and his counterpart at Information and Labour Fackson Shamenda.

Mr Mukanga said with the current developments in the country, it was important that the ITC sector took centre stage in the booming economy and the moves made by Zamtel to go 3G was a milestone event.

"As a Government we are committed to growth of Zamtel and when it makes such progress as moving with the times, makes us feel they are rightly taking their place as being the centre of our economic development," he said.

The added advancements in the telecommunications sector have seen the emerging of services like e-banking, e-learning and e-health among others, were just helping to make the managing of such developments easier than previously.

He said Government now wanted to see that access to phones and internet no longer remained a luxury by a matter of choice by all Zambians and urged Zamtel to take the leading role in the ITC sector.

"As Government, we are ready to partner with all players in the telecommunications sector so that we deliver cheaper internet. To Zamtel, I urge you to sustain high quality service delivery," he said.

Source: Times of Zambia

Telecel Zimbabwe launches emergency credit facility

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:27:45 GMT

Telecel Zimbabwe has introduced an emergency credit facility for active pre-paid customers, so that if they run out of airtime and have no access to an airtime card or voucher, they can still use their phone.

A Telecel spokesperson said the credit facility has come about due to consumer demand. This service falls in line with two new brand anchors providing innovation and value for money to subscribers.

If you are a Telecel subscriber and you run out of airtime, dial *143# to obtain a dollar’s airtime on credit. Once you recharge the dollar and a 10c charge is deducted. Intended for emergencies, once users have spend their bottom dollar they cannot receive another dime on credit until they repay their debt. To qualify, the subscriber must have been an active subscriber for at least 90 continuous days.

Source: IT News

Sierra Leone - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Airtel launches 3G network in main cities

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:26:06 GMT

Airtel Sierra Leone, a unit of Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel, has announced the commercial launch of its HSPA network, enabling subscribers to enjoy new services such as videocalling, videostreaming and mobile broadband at maximum speeds of 14.4Mbps downstream and 5.7Mbps upstream. Services are currently available in the country’s main towns and cities, including Freetown, Makeni, Bo, Koidu, Kenema and Waterloo, via a network of 20 base stations. Airtel plans to increase the number of 3G cell sites to over 40 in the near future. The cellco – then known as Celtel Sierra Leone – launched services over a GSM-900 network in April 2000. It adopted the Zain brand in August 2008 before undergoing another name change to Airtel in late 2010, after Bharti Airtel finalised the acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait-based Zain Group in June 2010, in a deal valued at USD10.7 billion. Airtel is Sierra Leone’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers behind Lintel Sierra Leone (Africell) and Comium Sierra Leone, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, with an estimated 644,000 subscribers at the end of September 2011, giving it a market share of 23.7%.

Source: TeleGeography

Sawiris ‘seeks expansion in Europe, Africa’

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:38:51 GMT

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is looking at some businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa after selling a major portion of his telecoms assets to VimpelCom. Last year the telecoms magnate divested assets including Italy’s Wind and Algerian unit Djezzy, to VimpelCom for $6 billion.
In an interview with Reuters, Sawiris said that he looks to sell non-core units that are left after the asset sale and use his company Orascom Telecom Media and Technology to acquire some mobile operations and also obtain network licences.
Sawiris told Reuters: “I want to dispose of assets not aligned with the mobile business ... and then make it a mobile company that will go out and seek what's left of operations, including managing existing operations.”
He said he hopes to double the number of subscribers in his monopoly North Korean market to 2 million by the start of 2013, adding that he expects to continue in the country after a second network permit comes up for offer later in 2012, Reuters reported.
He also said that he is considering opportunities in Libya and Syria. Sawiris said if the Bashar al-Assad-led Syrian government falls, new authorities will hold tenders to sell networks currently controlled by Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf. Sawiris told Reuters: “Then you have fourth-generation licences coming, and Africa where there are still assets left over.”
He also sees acquisition opportunities in Europe where several major firms are divesting assets in regions where further growth prospects are difficult.
He added that the 20.1% stake in Telekom Austria held in partnership with Austrian investor Ronny Pecik is “an investment of influence”. He told Reuters: “That means we would like sooner or later with the Austrian government to raise the value of this asset.”
He also said that his $1.5 billion bid for Orange Switzerland has better chances than private equity firm Apax Partners’ $1.6 billion offer. He said: “Why would private equity be able to go and buy Orange in Switzerland and do a better job than a mobile management company that has money?” GTB

Source: Global Telecoms Business

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Vodacom Smart Tab launched

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:32:35 GMT

Vodacom’s hushed launch of their Vodacom-branded tablet will only be available via the mobile operator.

Available in 7 and 10 inch screens, the Vodacom Smart Tab runs Android Honeycomb 3.2, featuring built-in 3G and Wi-Fi, 16GB, microSD card, 5MP rear- and 2MP front camera, driven by a Snapdragon S3 – 1.2GHz dual-core processor.

“The Smart Tab comes with preloaded content and apps that allow you to keep in touch with your world on the go with text and instant messaging, email access and Twitter. In addition to the standard Android apps, it also has QuickOffice Pro, which allows you to view, create and modify documents, spreadsheets and presentations,” Vodacom said on the tablet’s page.

The tablet is only available at selected Vodacom outlets, and users can purchase the device on contract or pre-paid. On a MyGig 1 contract, the Smart Tab 7″ will set users back R249 pm, while the Smart Tab 10″ will be R299 pm. For pre-paid users, the Smart Tab 7″ will be R3 699, while the Smart Tab 10″ will cost you R4 699.

Source: IT News

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Uganda: Airtel and NWSC Enter Into E-Water Partnership

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:28:48 GMT

Airtel money e-payment solution is to make it easy for customers to pay their water bills. Airtel in partnership with National Water and Sewerage Corporation [NWSC] launched the e-payment solution on 7 February.

The Airtel Managing Director V.G Somasekhar launched the system with the NWSC Managing Director Eng. Alex Gisara at the Airtel headquarters on Wampewo Avenue.

The e-water system simplifies the method of paying water bills through subscriber's mobile phones and the payments are immediately reflected on the NWSC systems.

The Airtel Managing Director, Mr V.G Somasekhar, said that the partnership with Uganda's NWSC is proof of Airtel's commitment to provide their customers with convenient access to affordable and innovative financial services through their mobile phones. This service also allows you to access bank accounts and withdraw Airtel money across all interswitch ATMS countrywide.

He also noted that this solution would be extremely useful to the unbanked rural population who access water services but may find it hard to pay through banks.

NWSC M.D Eng. Alex Gisara also stated that it is a real time payment solution and what it adds to the e-water payment solution is the ability to even access one's bank account withdraw money and pay one's water bill at their own convenience.

Source: The Independent

Namibia: Cran Probes Frequency Interference After 4G Trials

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:24:14 GMT

The Communication Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) says it is investigating alleged interference with the band spectrum frequencies of another licensee after MTC launched its trial 4G (fourth generation) technology on February 1.

Cran said since the start of the MTC trial it has received reports of alleged frequency interference in the vicinity where this trial was conducted and demonstrated.

Cran said the possible complaint that may ensue demonstrates the need for a proper frequency audit prior to issuing spectrum use licences.

"Further to the provision of telecommunications services, spectrum licences are crucial. Spectrum is a scarce resource and in high demand, especially the portion of the spectrum which MTC applied," Cran said in statement issued this week.

Cran said it is drafting a national frequency band plan which will take into account changes in telecommunications, such as new entrants in the market.

"Spectrum that is high in demand must be efficiently managed by Cran and cannot simply be issued at an ad hoc, first-come first-served basis. It should be defined by a well-supported and well-defined allocation and assignment strategy," the regulator said.

Cran was rapped over the knuckles by the MTC and Prime Minister Nahas Angula last week.

Angula said if the authority did not issue the licence there would soon be a 5G or 6G technology.

The biggest benefit of 4G is that it will be 10 times faster than the current 3G network speeds and will enable cellphones and wireless data connection users to do things faster and enjoy quality media such video and audio on internet protocols.

MTC spokesperson Tim Ekandjo said when the company made an investment of N$225 million in the West Coast Cable System (WACS) it was based on the educated assumption that the current telecommunications licence gives it the right to develop its own telecommunications infrastructure as far as deploying fibre-optic cables is concerned.

MTC used the current telecommunications/cellular licence for its 3G technology, which does not have the frequency needed to roll out 4G.

Source: The Namibian

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vodacom Profits Rise As Customer Base Passes 50 Million Mark

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:21:53 GMT

South Africa's Vodacom Group has reported that its fourth-quarter revenues rose by 12.2% to reach R$18 billion.

The company doesn't report quarterly profit figures.

The company added 5 million customers across all its operations, which it said was a record growth number, and ended 2011 with 52.9 million customers.

Pieter Uys, Vodacom Group CEO commented: "The South African business defied the somewhat gloomy economic conditions and achieved a 25% increase in customers, ending the quarter at 32 million customers."

"Our International operations maintained the positive momentum and accounted for more than 40% of the increase in our total customers."

Outlook

The company said that while it is " encouraged by the strong revenue growth in the quarter, we remain focused on tackling the increased competition in all our geographies and also remain alert to fragile global economic conditions. Therefore our medium-term service revenue guidance of "low single digit" remains unchanged."

Source: Cellular - News

Analysts remain positive on Bharti Airtel after disappointing results

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:24 GMT

Shares of Bharti Airtel slipped 5% in trade on Wednesday after the country's largest telecom operator reported a 22 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,011 crore for the October- December quarter.

"The quarterly earnings of telecom major Bharti Airtel came below expectations. The net profit for Q3FY12 was Rs 1011 crore, down by 2% QoQ mainly on account of increase in amortization led by 3G licences and higher tax provision," said a KR Choksey report.

Bharti Airtel said the roll-out of its 3G network resulted in a higher amortisation cost of Rs 164 crore for the quarter, while its net interest cost rose to Rs 116 crore during the reporting period.

At 12:30 p.m., shares of the company were trading 5.2% lower at Rs 359. The stock hit a low of Rs 354.60 and a high of Rs 368.80.

"It appears the telecom major has lost revenue market share unlike its competitors such as Idea. Even data as % of revenues increased by 50 bps q-o-q for Idea, but declined by 20 bps q-o-q for Bharti," Goldman Sach said in a report.

"The worst is probably over as far as the telecom pack is concerned. And, I say that because of a combination of events which have happened over the last few months," said Sanjay Sinha, Founder of Citrus Advisors.

"With reference to Bharti in particular, I would say that the fact that their foray into African market at this point of time does raise some concern, but overall it is a company that would be one of the leading participants in the telecom pack," added Sanjay.

Bharti ventured into African operations in 2010 by acquiring most of the African operations of Kuwait's Zain in a $9 billion debt-funded deal. The company had net debt of Rs 67763 cr at end-December on its balance sheet.

Bharti, the world's fifth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers, reported strong revenue growth in Africa.

Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said the company has "crossed the 50 million customer milestone"' in Africa, where revenues rose by 16.1 percent year-on-year to $1.05 billion during the quarter.

"The third quarter African revenues stood at about $1.06 billion and there has been a loss in Africa operations to the tune of almost Rs 260 crore. The revenues are pretty much in line for Africa, but we need to look at details first on the margin level," said Bhavesh Gandhi, Research Analyst, IIFL.

Analyst Calls:

Goldman Sachs:

Although the results are disappointing, but we reiterate our 'Buy' rating on Bharti Airtel as we expect the company to benefit from declining competition and easing regulatory environment.

Our 12-month target price and estimates are under review pending the earnings call later today.

KR Choksey

The brokerage has a 'Buy' recommendation on the stock and will review its target price post detailed analysis of the result. EBITDA for the telecom major stood at Rs 5958 cr, growth of 2% QoQ while operating margins declined by 150bps due to sharp increase in networking cost and sales and marketing expenses.

By Rajesh Manial, AVP-technical research (retail desk), GEPL Capital

Bharti Airtel has corrected sharply in the past couple of sessions after making a failed attempt to cross its 200 day EMA. Momentum studies indicate further decline from the current levels. The stock may trade with a downside bias as long as it is below the level of Rs 390.

However it has a support placed at Rs 340. Till the time Rs 340 remains intact, the downsides may remain contained. Else we may see further decline which may take it down till Rs 320 and even lower.

We recommend a sell in the stock preferably on a bounce till Rs 368-375 range with a stop loss of Rs 392. The stock may slide till Rs 340 and lower.

Ashwani Gujral of ahwanigujral. com

The stock is trading broadly in a range of about Rs 300 to about Rs 400. It has just touched the higher end of that range. It is a flat stock. It becomes a good buy, if it gets closer to levels around Rs 320-325.

Bhavesh Gandhi, Research Analyst, IIFL

Revenues are pretty much in line with our expectations at about 18,500 crore odd, but both the margin as well as the profit number looks below our expectations. Bharti Airtel is a good buy post results with a target price of Rs 424 on the counter.

Source: New Dehli

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Kenya: Corporates Line Up for ICT City

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:53:54 GMT

Local corporates are increasingly showing interest to invest in the proposed ICT city, Konza, whose ground breaking is expected by April this year.

The companies eying to lease part of the 5000 acres land for development include mobile operator Safaricom, IT solutions providers Seven Seas Technologies (SST) ,Express Automation,Computer Pride, mortgage financier Housing Finance and Chandaria Group of companies.

Other orgarnisations that have expressed intention to set up are Tea Board of Kenya, Nairobi Hospital, University Of Nairobi and The South Eastern University College (SEUCO). The ministry of Information and Communication has embarked on an awareness campaign to get more local and international companies and investment groups on board the Konza City development.

The concept masterplan for the Sh2 trillion project has already been finalised by IFC and it is now sourcing for a master delivery partner. "Commercial development, starting with BPO uses, would be funded by private sector investment. This would be accompanied by the provision of finalized limited housing and social infrastructure supported by GoK," says the report. The treasury allocated Sh600 million to the Vision 2030 project and is expected to allocate the same amount this year out of the Sh2.25 billion resource requirement ,the deficit to come from the private sector.

The site for the Technology City is in public ownership, having been acquired by the ministry of Information to lease out to developers. There will be a Central Business District (CBD) occupying 237 acres with space for commercial offices, retail and leisure uses, hotels, a convention centre, a district hospital, and other related uses. In the plan, a BPO Technopark has been allocated 390acres targeted to deliver almost 82,000 jobs and 52 acres for a university campus. "We envisage that this could be a campus related to one of the existing universities serving Nairobi, rather than a brand new university," reads the final report by IFC. The information PS, Bitange Ndemo says the Special Economic Zones model being applied in Konza is the best for development as economic and commercial as policies will be more liberal than in the rest of the country.

Source: Nairobi Star

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria to Licence 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz Spectra

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:52:20 GMT

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it would auction digital licence in the 2.3GigaHertz (GHz) and 2.6GHz spectra to increase broadband access and make internet pervasive across the country in 20112.

Dr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC disclosed that the Commission would auction the remainder of the 2.3GHz that it started auctioning in 2010. Currently, the telecom regulator is conducting an audit of all spectra within its jurisdiction.

Juwah revealed that NCC was "Constrained to auction some of the slots that are remaining in the 2.3 gigahertz. We have a plan about the Digital Dividend where maybe some of the incumbents that are there now will gain. We are also looking at the 2.6GHz frequency which today is not in the custody of the NCC, but the NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) and we are discussing with the National Frequency Management Council on these frequencies.

Juwah added "We believe that by the time we conclude all these discussions there would be enough frequency to licence, to be able to add to fibre development to create a good broadband development in Nigeria."

He stated that modern fixed telephony was deployed through broadband and is part of NCC's broadband project to ensure that as the Commission is empowering the private sector, providing incentive to the private sector to create broadband centres in Nigeria, this will go in hand with the restoration of fixed telephony to complement the mobile networks that we have.

"We cannot start giving out fixed line licences when we have not deployed our broadband project. So, we are about to start deploying and creating an infrastructure sector in the Nigerian telecoms industry, that will be able to create the opportunity for us to issue fixed wire licences to revive the fixed line telephony that has been in comatose in Nigeria," he added.

In May 2010, NCC licenced Mobitel and Spectranet to operate on the 2.3GHz spectrum and provide broadband services using worldwide interoperability for mobile access (WiMax) technology to cloud the cities of operation.Source: Leadership

Sonatel 2011 net income drops 16% as tax exemption changes bite

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:49:06 GMT

Senegalese telecommunications group Sonatel has published its full year financial results for 2011 showing that EBITDA climbed 3% year-on-year to XOF334.91 billion (USD668 million) and revenue rose 6.5% to XOF635.36 billion. However, FY11 net profit dropped 16% in the same period to XOF154.37 billion, from XOF184.76 billion in FY10, following the removal of a corporate tax exemption it once enjoyed in Mali. Further, the Senegal-based telco bemoaned an unhelpful regulatory and tax climate – particularly in its home market – but that it hopes its margins will remain strong despite the unfavourable conditions. The group’s consolidated EBITDA margin dipped by one percentage point to 53% in FY2011, but the carrier is optimistic it can keep its margin above 50% in fiscal 2012.

In a statement Sonatel, which operates in four west African markets, said: ‘The end of the corporate tax exemption in Mali confirmed the decline in the group’s net income but it did not end our ability to generate cash and maintain a good dividend policy’. The statement went on to note that growth in terms of incoming traffic was put under pressure as a result of a surtax on incoming calls to Guinea and Senegal. Sonatel, part-owned by France Telecom-Orange, said it has a total market share of 61% in Senegal, up by 1% y-o-y; 30% in Guinea, up by two percentage points; and 37% in Guinea-Bissau, up by 6%. However, stiff competition saw its market share slump 9% in Mali.

Source: TeleGeography

Senegal, Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband

Airtel Zambia executive details cell site deployments, network coverage

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:46:58 GMT

Airtel Zambia’s network is now reportedly comprised of more than 1,000 cell sites across the country, according to the Times of Zambia. The local press source cites a statement by Airtel’s head of corporate communications and government relations, Chabuka Kawesha, confirming the number of sites that have been deployed, with the executive noting that the greatest number (277) were located in the capital and largest city, Lusaka. The Copperbelt, meanwhile, has the second-largest number of base stations – 160 – followed by the Southern province (108), Northern Province and Muchinga (107), Central Province (87), Eastern Province (77) and North-Western Province (69). Rounding out its coverage across the country, Airtel Zambia also has 64 cell sites in Luapala, while the Western Province has a further 51. In total, the 1,000 sites provide coverage of around 70% of Zambia’s population, and around 38% of the country’s geographical landmass.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Broadband speed to stay 256kbps in SA

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:24:13 GMT

The Department of Communications (DoC) is not discussing the revision of the definition of broadband in South Africa, deputy director-general Themba Phiri recently revealed in an interview.

This is an about-face from previous statements made by the DoC at a press briefing held last year (2011) where they said they are looking at increasing the minimum download speed a connection must have to qualify as “broadband.”

In South Africa an Internet connection must have a download speed of at least 256 kilobits per second (kbps) to qualify as broadband, according to the National Broadband Policy.

This speed specification comes from the guidelines set by the International Telecommunications Union’s Development Sector.

However, the 256kbps minimum attracted criticism from industry and analysts when it was placed in the context of the DoC’s statement last year (2011) that it aims to deliver 100% broadband coverage in South Africa by 2020.

Questioned about this, Phiri emphasised that 256kbps was the minimum, and that speeds would vary from service to service.

“We understand the issues, they actually came up during the consultations,” Phiri said.

Source: My Broadband

Vodacom slashes data prices

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:22:36 GMT

Vodacom is cutting their data prices with a new promotional contract customers, including Top Up. The Broadband Standard MyGig 1 and MyGig 2 data contract promotion running from 7 February to 6 May this year is the latest in a series of data promotions from the cellular giant.

Vodacom is breaking the R100 price point on big data bundles. Customers will fork out only R99 for 1GB.

“Our previous data promotions proved to be so successful that we decided to do it again. This time we’re giving savings of up to 60% to our customers. It is just the value proposition our customers are looking for at the beginning of the year. And as with all our data products, these promotional contracts will use Vodacom’s high speed data network with the broadest coverage across South Africa,” says Chris Ross, Vodacom Managing Executive for Commercial Development.

The Broadband Standard MyGig 1, 24 month contract has been reduced from R249 per month to R99 per month, giving customers a 60% saving. The MyGig 2, 24 month contract will go down from R349 per month to R149.

Contracts are renewable after the 24 month period. Otherwise users will continue from a month to month basis at the prevailing rate of the bundle size. This promotion includes a free modem and normal out of bundle prices apply. No restrictions apply as bundles can be used day and night.

“We recently offered our prepaid customers a 20GB promotion that offered them great value and now we are offering our contract and Top Up customers great value,” adds Ross.

Customers can visit their nearest service provider to sign up for a promotional Broadband Standard MyGig 1 or MyGig 2, 24 month data contract or Top Up data contract.

Source: ItNews

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Africa: Project That Bundles Together Africa's Entire Fibre Dreams

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:20:26 GMT

Africa has gone from having hardly any cables in 2000 to having no less than 9 cables that will now connect almost all African countries by 2012. Eritrea's the exception but they've always been the exception.

However, despite the arrival of terabytes worth of capacity, there still exists "below-the-radar" a small but significant number of projects to build more international capacity to and from Africa. Interestingly the WASACE map of routes consolidates several of these dreams into a single project.

The key part of the project is a link to the US via Brazil, which offers an alternative routing to North America that does not need to travel via Europe and the North Atlantic. The idea is that south-south trade is increasing and one pole of that is the growth of trade between Brazil and Angola. Indeed, WASACE's launch motto is - "WASACE: Because the world is changing".

Other more long-term aspirations expressed include three continent-crossing terrestrial routes linking east and west coast countries: the Algeria-Nigeria link (at least three projects have had a run at that one); Tanzania to Congo-B via DRC (no takers for that one previously); and Djibouti via Sudan and Chad to Nigeria (something France Telecom talks wistfully about).

WASACE claims to be the first trans-Atlantic system to deploy the next-generation "100G" technology, with ten times the capacity of previous systems. Its promoters say that it will represent a total investment of billions of US dollars from investors on four continents (which must be the US, Brazil, Africa and Europe), including the international private equity investment firm VIP Must, represented by CEO Patrick Perrin, and the African Development Bank, represented by COO Raymond Zoupko, as well as Brazilian and other investors. VIP Must was established to invest in major global development projects. Angola has enough money to have talked of putting up its own satellite so why not a fibre link?

The project is headed by WASACE Cable Company Worldwide Holding a multinational development company represented by CEO Ramon Gil-Roldan of Spain. Project development will be managed by the David Ross Group, represented by CEO David Ross of the US. Ross is a well-respected consultant and project manager who has had experience working on the continent before.

The key initial route connecting Brazil and Africa would have to rely on three different types of traffic:

direct traffic based on trade between Angola and Brazil
Latin American carriers seeking a new route to the Far East
those wanting redundancy for blockages on other international routes.

Does all this traffic add up to a business case? Probably not in the short to medium term but maybe, just maybe if you take a very optimistic long-term view. But all of those things will only work if those participating in the cable offer North Atlantic level prices. This means a major shift in attitudes from some of the coastal monopoly telcos that still remain in "high price, low volume" model, most notably Angola Telecom.

In the meantime, a bigger set of issues remains to be addressed. The cheap wholesale prices are at the landing station but in most places they have yet to be passed on to the end user, whether a consumer or a corporate.

Bandwidth is over-priced on national fibre networks and local access is still nowhere near as prevalent as it should be. Mobile operators and ISPs are still hunting the corporate customers in great numbers but have yet to really engage with the idea of "at home" broadband Internet consumers.

There's a thirst for online content but not always enough bandwidth to access it. Operators are still acting as if bandwidth is in short supply. Once the back of these problems has been broken perhaps a rosier view can be taken of international fibre prospects beyond the existing terabytes.

The Citizen

Africa - Fixed-line Telecoms and Infrastructure Statistics (tables only)

Partnership deal bolsters Nigerian broadband

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:17:57 GMT

Nigerian carrier services provider Phase3 Telecom and Dancom Technologies have announced their partnership deal boosting broadband services in the country.

They said in a joint press statement they would upgrade their respective networks in order to “provide robust transmission services to deliver reliable broadband services to individual end-users and businesses.”

Stanley Jegede, Phase3 Telecom chief executive officer, said both firms “have made extensive investment to deliver transmission services that will enhance and ensure that high-quality broadband services are available to all users and businesses in line with global realities of today.”

Telecom experts are excited about the IT and telecom infrastructure boost in Nigeria. They believe the partnership will lead to others pushing for similar endeavours.

“We realise that there is an increasing requirement for broadband services in Nigeria in line with global development and we at Phase3 Telecom are ready to facilitate the effective delivery of (the) same to businesses and all other users using our reliable aerial fiber optic network. This informs our partnership with Dancom Technologies which has resulted in the development of one of the most robust and extensive fiber optic network coverage in the country. We are ready to lead the broadband revolution and ensure that we help Nigerians enjoy the benefits and comfort of broadband connection,” Jegede said.

Boye Olusanya, Dancom Technologies chief executive officer, stated the companies installed some of the most advanced technologies in their networks to meet customers’ expectations.

“Our aim has always been to provide quality service to our customers. In driving this, we have invested significantly in the latest technologies that can deliver required services to our customers. This investment, coupled with our use of aerial fibre as well as our partnership with Phase3, allows us to meet and surpass the quality threshold we set for ourselves,” he said.

Source: ItNews

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Third mobile licence attracts Bharti Airtel, Viettel, among others

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:15:43 GMT

A number of international telecoms companies are in talks with Cameroon’s telecommunications ministry to purchase the country’s third mobile operator licence, Dow Jones reports, citing an interview with telecommunications minister Jean Pierre Biyiti bi Essam in local newspaper Cameroon Tribune. Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel, Monaco Telecom and Vietnamese military-owned operator Viettel are among the firm’s interested in acquiring the Cameroon concession, according to the report. Essam revealed that the Ministere des Postes et des Telecommunications was in the final phase of negotiations with interested parties, but declined to confirm when the winning bidder would be chosen. The winning bidder will join two established companies in the mobile market – South Africa-based MTN Cameroon and France’s Orange Cameroon – which between them claimed around 9.97 million wireless customers at the end of September 2011, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database. Alongside the pair of network operators, around 60 other licensees are authorised to resell telephone traffic for Cameroon’s existing mobile network operators under their own brands.

Source: TeleGeography

Cameroon - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

The Government of Benin grants ISOCEL Telecoms an Internet Service Provider license for 10 years

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:37:05 GMT

For the first time since its creation in 2007, the Benin regulator (ATRPT) has issued five new Internet Service Provider licenses. ISOCEL Telecoms was among the companies that were selected, which makes the leading ISP of Benin get an official license for a period of 10 years.

Sold for a total cost of $ 400,000, the specifications of this license implies the recipients to cover the whole territory within the next 4 years, while allowing them to build their access networks on any existing national infrastructure and to get their international bandwidth capacity from the supplier of their choice.

Joined on the phone yesterday, Robert Aouad, the CEO of Isocel Telecoms has expressed his satisfaction: "Now we can proceed with our investments because we operate within a regulatory framework that aims to make the Internet market in Benin healthier, you know we have come a long way especially after the fire that has damaged over 90 % of the landing station of SAT3 submarine cable on the 7th of January”.

In fact, that was the only cable that connects Benin to the rest of the world. Few other landlocked countries like Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo were also severely affected by these damages.

For this reason, the Government of Benin has asked the World Bank to help finance the landing of ACE submarine cable on its shores. ACE is expected to be operational by the end of 2012.

“It will be a similar business model to the one adopted in other west African countries such as Liberia and Mauritania”, adds Aouad.

The five private Internet Service Providers and three mobile operators will create a public-private consortium, which will also include the state owned incumbent, to operate the landing station of ACE submarine cable.

It is clear that this second cable will allow Benin to have redundancy and avoid total black outs of its international connections because over the last two years the country has suffered this kind of situation three times.

NEPAD signs €1.3m Grant Facility Agreement for ICT infrastructure

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:22:11 GMT

The NEPAD Agency Thursday, February 2, 2012, signed a Grant Facility Agreement (GFA) with French Development Agency (AFD), a French public institution, towards the financing of the NEPAD ICT broadband infrastructure network for West, Central and North Africa project.

The grant of one million three hundred and fifty thousand Euros (EUR 1,350,000,00), was made available to NEPAD Agency by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-ITF), a European donor coordinated fund, through the AFD.

A press statement from the NEPAD Agency announcing this, said the project is part of Umojanet, a terrestrial network that will link every African country to its neighbours and will connect to Uhurunet, to realise the dream of the cross-border continental NEPAD Network.

According to the statement issued Friday, February 3, 2012 from Midrand South Africa, the grant completes the initial funds of 850 000 Euros granted by the AFD to the NEPAD secretary to support the initiative.

Commenting on the grant during the signing ceremony at the NEPAD Agency offices, Midrand, South Africa, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NEPAD Agency, said, “This is an opportune moment for us both, AFD and NEPAD, to focus on ICT as a crucial element in developing infrastructure in Africa and we welcome this support to NPCA as the development Agency of the African Union”.

For his part, Mr. Yves Boudot, Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Department of AFD, expressed his satisfaction to proceed with the signature and noted that “as the case with AFD support to NEPAD ICT continental infrastructure developments, AFD is ready to discuss and widen the scope of collaboration to address other continental infrastructure development challenges”.

The AFD, a specialised development financial institution, funds sustainable development projects carried by government local authorities, public companies, and the private and associative sectors on five continents – with primacy given to Africa.

Source: Ghana Business News

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya’s Cellulant and Barclays partner for digital services

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:20:46 GMT

Kenyan mobile services provider Cellulant has inked a deal with UK’s Barclays Bank in order to provide digital services across the African continent.

According to the deal, the two companies will partner on a new platform aimed at connecting banks with third-parties, including mobile network operators to boost the efficacy of mobile money services across the continent.

“Cellulant’s platform will be deployed in stages in Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Seychelles, Botswana and Kenya,” the companies said.

Cellulant’s chief business officer, Paul Ndichu, said in a press release that “we have built a mobile commerce network connected to different platforms across different value chains in Africa such as [mobile] wallets, banks, merchant bill payment gateways and content delivery channels to deliver a transformational experience on mobile.”

According to John Gachora, Barclays Africa’s corporate banking MD, the digital drive is part of Barclay’s One Africa strategy to increase channel access for both retail customers and corporate clients.

“For corporate clients, this offers an efficient and cost-effective channel to bill and receive payments from their customers,” he added.

Source: ItNews

Kenya: Let's Nurture Innovation for Growth

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:18:37 GMT

The iHub is a network and meeting place that enables Kenya's innovators to bring their ideas to fruition.

Through iHub, the technology community, industry, academia, investors and venture capitalists can meet, share ideas and collaborate.

The centre is the first of its kind to operate in Kenya. It allows technologies to progress from the ideas stage to becoming real products and the key to its effectiveness is open innovation -- the process of combining internal and external ideas, as well as internal and external paths to market, to advance the development of new technologies.

iHub has embraced the principles of open innovation by nurturing an enabling environment and a collaborative space where a community of technology entrepreneurs can grow and share ideas.

This process can change the working culture of any technology hub and stimulate its capacity to create innovative products.

iHubs work by embracing principles of open innovation.

They are driven by members who work together on common interests.

Through the space provided by iHub, members develop the skills they need to turn their ideas into actions: they build a vivid vision, a team and a business plan, with help from an in-house business unit.

Membership is open and free to those who work in programming, design or research. Internet connectivity is often a core part of supporting start-up development.

At an individual level, iHub members strive to improve their skills and knowledge about relevant issues or current trends by engaging with the resources available through the open innovation space, such as education events and mentorship from experts within the community.

Several innovations have arisen out of the iHub model of collaboration.

M-Farm was invented by young Kenyan Jamila Abass.

It is a mobile-phone service that delivers real-time information to farmers on current market prices, weather alerts and agro-supplies in their area. It also brings farmers together to buy or sell their products in groups, helping them to gain access to larger markets.

M-Farm enables farmers to carry out a cost-benefit analysis before deciding where to sell their products.

The analysis is based on the profile of their business, as well as market prices in different countries.

It also answers their queries through the interactive voice response function, with voice controls in both English and Swahili.

Another mobile phone application, iCow, helps in the management of herds by allowing farmers to receive tailored information, for example, about cattle prices and veterinary care.

Innovations such as the eLimu tablet computer are helping Kenyan primary school students to improve their test scores and IT literacy.

This is intended to boost their engagement in learning and promote responsible citizenship for sustainable development through education in environmental conservation, applied science, agriculture and human rights.

The accounting package Uhasibu helps small and medium-sized enterprises to work within Kenya's legislation and procedures.

For a small subscription fee, the online application can be used to generate VAT reports, monitor petty cash and keep track of payments without buying expensive financial management software.

Linda is a software developer at Ushahidi, a non-profit technology company, based in Nairobi

Source: Business Daily

Zimbabwe: Telecel Targets 60 Percent Growth

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:12:57 GMT

TELECEL Zimbabwe is targeting 60 percent growth in subscribers this year in line with its planned US$70 million network expansion and upgrade programme. But newly appointed managing director Mr John Swaim said the emphasis was on the value capacity expansion and network upgrade.

Mr Swaim was speaking at a Press briefing to officially announce the rebranding of Telecel's corporate colours from blue to red and white.

This follows the coming in of global mobile group Vimpelcom, which acquired Telecel Zimbabwe's parent firm, Egyptian telecommunications giant Orascom, which owns Telecel International.

The country's second largest mobile phone operator will this year establish upwards of 300 new base stations across the country.

Mr Swaim said the expansion would also target capacity upgrades as the mobile phone operator mulls new value added products and services.

Capacity expansion and upgrade will allow Telecel to spread its footprint across the country with current focus on unconnected areas.

Further, the company will seek to entrench its 3G efficiency and coverage as it intensifies provision of voice and data services.

Currently, just about 50 percent of Telecel's network has efficient high speed processing capacity for 3G-related data services.

"What we are going to spend is equally important as what you (customers) are going to get out of the (expenditure)," said Mr Swaim.

He pointed out that Zimbabwe presented an exciting prospect for business in telecommunications with its high literacy rate.

Said Telecel marketing director Mr Obert Mandimika: "We intend to increase subscribers by 60 percent. We are looking at 85 percent coverage of the whole country," said Mr Mandimika.

Mr Mandimika said the rebranding of Telecel follows the rebranding of other operations in the Orascom African operations.

He said the new look was not just change in colours, but represented change in the way the company operates. He said it demonstrated Telecel's commitment on investing in Zimba- bwe.

"It is about making a statement on our future in this market and we feel we will approach it to ensure that this country holds its own . . . against regional and international operators," he said.

He said the mobile firm would in the next few weeks "launch new services that are both relevant and value adding to our customers".

The second largest mobile operator in Zimbabwe after Econet Wireless, Telecel now wears a red colour and uses a "t" logo in white or red background.

Source: The Herald

Liberia: Taxing International Inbound Calls - Is There a Middle Way?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:10:50 GMT

Many African regulators' have introduced a tax on international inbound calls. It started with Côte d'Ivoire and then spread like a plague to Gabon, Ghana and Senegal, to name but a few. The latest country wanting to join the fold is Liberia and operators are seeking to persuade the regulator LTA not to go ahead. Isabelle Gross talks to Marzen Mroue, the CEO of Lonestar/MTN in Liberia and Richard Chisala, board member of Macra, the regulator in Malawi about this contentious subject.

Back in August 2011, the LTA, the telecoms regulator in Liberia, issued a draft regulation on international traffic proposing that "all international inbound calls terminating to subscriber number with country code +231 incur a minimum regulatory fee of US$0.15 per minute (on top of the US$0.12 per minute wholesale price) and shall be collected by the terminating service provider on behalf of LTA".

If implemented, this would mean that the wholesale cost of calling Liberia from abroad would more than double. Inevitably, this increase would rapidly trickle down to the retail level and the Liberian diaspora would soon notice that the price for calling home had drastically increased.

According to Marzen Mroue, MTN's experience from other African countries that have implemented such a tax points to a decrease in volume of traffic which would translate into a decrease in revenue and finally a decrease in tax revenues.

Mroue is also worried that any tax on international inbound calls would have a broader socio-economic impact, causing the diaspora to have less money available to send back to their families in Liberia.

The disproportionate nature of the proposed tax appears all the more stark when one considers that 80% of Liberia's international voice traffic is with the USA - one of the lowest priced telecoms wholesale markets on earth.

While US carriers charge a couple of US cents to terminate a minute in their country, they will need to pay 27 cents to terminate a minute in Liberia: an imbalance that seems unfair and ultimately unsustainable. MTN's CEO is of the view that US carriers will respond to this disparity by increasing the current termination rate to the USA. As a result, Liberians will need to pay more to call their family and friends in the USA.

As we have suggested in earlier articles, some African regulators are not looking beyond the short term in terms of taxes on inbound calls, preferring to treat the consumer as a cash cow, rather than looking at the bigger picture including the impact on their people, and the negative effects on their country's international image as a business-friendly environment. Marzen Mroue says that his company remains optimistic about solving this issue with LTA. Based on best practices in other markets, he is sure that alternative solutions are workable that will raise income for the Government of Liberia without stifling the growth and innovation that taxed international voice connectivity will bring.

In East Africa, Malawi's regulator MACRA tried to introduce a similar monitoring system on international and national traffic. A lack of communication between the regulator, the telecoms operators and the press ended with Airtel launching a campaign against what it labelled the "spy machine".

According to Richard Chisala, member of MACRA's board, Malawi is not actually going to monitor calls but will rather create an independent platform for call traffic analysis. The core requirements are QoS, revenue assurance, fraud and spectrum management.

Initially, Malawi was not far from implementing a similar monitoring system to those in Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville or Guinea. These of course are limited to monitoring international inbound voice traffic and are intended to generate considerable revenue by applying a hefty levy, tax or fee or whatever inventive term regulators could come up with on the price of international inbound calls.

Visits by MACRA to the monitoring providers in these countries gave the regulator second thoughts and encouraged it to look for alternative providers. Richard Chisala explains that he went to the USA to meet with Agilis International, a company specialised in revenue management and fraud detection.

Their services and offerings come with few strings attached: a CAPEX layout to acquire the system and a small maintenance, fee which MACRA will recoup on voice call traffic.

For the telecoms operators this represents a levy of between 4-5% on voice traffic, which is considerably cheaper than what the initial monitoring service provider had asked for.

It is important to understand what is at stake here. The issue is not the enforcement of regulatory requirements in itself, but rather ensuring that this is done in a way that does not excessively reward the monitoring provider or that it imposes inefficient tax burdens. To some extent what one may term "the Malawi solution" might offer an acceptable midway course.

It fulfills the regulator's aim of having more transparency on the volume of international and national voice traffic, while at the same time it is more cost-effective and less likely to penalise African citizens and business.Source: Balancing Act

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania: Airtel Plans Cash Transfers Across East Africa

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:28:54 GMT

Nairobi — Bharti Airtel has unveiled a mobile money platform in Uganda, which now completes the technical process of linking its Tanzanian and Kenyan outfits and set the stage for cross-border money transfer.

Mr Michael Okwiri, the vice president for Corporate Communication at Airtel Africa, said this week that the firm was in the process of creating a seamless money transfer service across Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

"We have applied to the relevant authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and are awaiting for regulatory approvals," said Mr Okwiri.

The mobile telephony firm - which has operations in 16 African countries -is seeking to reap from increased trade in the region, following the formation of the East Africa common market.

Airtel this week upgraded its Ugandan money transfer service following a revamp of its Tanzania service last December, setting the stage for a seamless regional network. There are already mobile money transfer services in the region such as M-Pesa, MTN money, Essar's yu Money and Orange Money, but all operate within the individual countries only.

This has led to some unscrupulous traders to offer the service and charge consumers heavily. Money transfers have not only brought the unbanked into the financial scene, but are a source of revenue for mobile firms.

Meanwhile, in Dar es Salaam, Airtel Tanzania conducted a workshop to stakeholders as part of its efforts to increase customer awareness on Airtel Money, the firm's mobile money payment service. On Wednesday Airtel gathered stakeholders to a meeting and explained to them the benefits of its mobile-payment product.

Source: The Citizen

Telecel Zimbabwe seeing red

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:27:12 GMT

Telecel Zimbabwe has officially launched its rebranded image, changing its corporate colours to red and white and simplifying its logo. This brings its visual branding in line with that of other Telecel affiliates in Africa under the African cluster of businesses in Orascom Telecom that have already rebranded.

Telecel branches began displaying the rebranded colours and logo about two weeks ago in the build up to Thursday’s official launch of the new brand.

Other Telecel companies have already rebranded, with the most recent rebranding being that of Telecel Central African Republic, which completed its rebranding towards the end of last year.

The rebranded companies all now use red and white as their corporate colour. They have also adopted common fonts and styles when it comes to their logos, though there are variations in the design of the logo itself.

The new Telecel Zimbabwe logo is designed to give the company a modern look and feel that reflects the way the company intends to operate in this market.

“The new look reflects a change in the way we operate,” Telecel Zimbabwe marketing director Obert Mandimika said.

“It also demonstrates the commitment of the Telecel holding company to investing in Telecel Zimbabwe and getting this country to take its rightful place as measured against regional and international operators on service and technology provision.”

The simplified Telecel logo, which is a small letter ‘t’ in a circle, reflects one of the new brand values, which is simplicity and clarity in all the company’s communications and product offerings.

Mandimika said full implementation of the branding would take place gradually. While some aspects of the rebranding, such as changing the visual appearance of some branches, was already complete, the replacement of old stock items, such as letterheads and airtime cards, would happen more gradually, as rebranded stock replaced old.

Telecel International, which is owned by Orascom Telecom, is investing more than $70 million in Telecel Zimbabwe’s expansion and upgrading programme in this year alone with more plan in the immediate future.

Source: ItNews

LAP Green decides against Rwandatel assets bid

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:21:43 GMT

Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green has reportedly failed to submit a bid to reclaim the assets of its former Rwandan unit Rwandatel. ‘LAP Green was given an opportunity to submit a bid like any other player, but they didn’t submit any, now I can declare them out of the running,’ local newspaper The New Times cites Rwandatel’s administrator, Richard Mugisha, as saying. Last year the commercial court in Nyarungenge ordered the liquidation of Rwandatel in a move aimed at raising funds to pay off the firm’s debts. The operator’s mobile licence was revoked in April 2011, due to its failure to meet licence obligations, but its fixed telephony and internet service provider (ISP) services remain operational as the two services are provided under a separate concession. ‘Because assets will be sold in parts, we have received some bids from successful bidders and are about to close them but we are still evaluating others, causing the delay to the selling date,’ Mugisha said, adding that the process is now expected to be completed by the end of next month.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Regulator sees September launch of NP

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:20:12 GMT

The introduction of number portability (NP) in Nigeria is now expected to begin from September this year, Leadership Nigeria cites Dr. Eugene Juwah, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as saying. Last October the regulator announced it had selected a consortium of three companies – Interconnect, Saab Grintek and Telcordia – to manage the implementation of NP, which enables subscribers to retain their phone numbers when they switch service provider. According to Juwah, the consortium will receive its licence this month; within six months of this date it is required to set up and introduce the NP platform, ahead of a two-month testing period. ‘So we expect that most likely the NP service will start in September this year,’ he said. The NCC chief also said that the regulator was looking to auction spectrum in the 2.6GHz band. ‘We believe that by the time we conclude [the spectrum sale], there will be enough frequency to be able to add towards the fibre development to create a good broadband deployment in Nigeria,’ Juwah said.

Source: TeleGeography

Glo boss claims success for number reservation plan, but still no launch date

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:14:25 GMT

The head of Ghana’s latest would-be cellular services provider Glo Mobile Ghana, George Andah, has claimed success for the firm’s ‘023-3’ number reservation campaign, but has stopped short of giving a date for the newcomer’s long overdue launch. Andah told journalists that the popularity of its scheme means it is opening up another block of numbers beginning with the prefix ‘023-5’ to enable more Ghanaians to reserve a number ahead of launch. Glo Mobile’s ‘Reserve Your Number Campaign’ reportedly allowed up to a million people to text a special number beginning with 023-3 to reserve a ‘special number’ ready for when the cellco’s commercial service gets underway.

Earlier this month Andah went on record as saying that Glo Mobile, which is the sixth player to enter the country’s saturated mobile market, has spent more than USD750 million to build a network comprising a broadband next generation network (NGN); over 1,600 base transceiver stations (BTS); four advanced switches with capacity for up to ten million lines; 18 base switching centres; 800 3G Node B-enabled cell sites; a state-of-the-art call centre and 25 retail (GloWorld) outlets.

Source: TeleGeography

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

UAE’s Etisalat to sell African mobile towers

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:29:19 GMT

United Arab Emirates’ telecom provider, Emirate’s Telecommunications, or Etisalat, revealed on Tuesday that it was looking to off-load mobile phone towers it currently owns in Africa. The sale could generate upwards of $600 million, the company said in comments to the Wall Street Journal.

The move is likely to see the company use the money to invest in other areas in Africa, including bidding on a number of mobile phone licenses across the continent, sources close to the company told the Journal.

In Cairo, where Etisalat is the third mobile operator, officials close to the company told our reporter that the move was part of the company’s efforts to increase liquidity and push for greater investment in the region and in Africa.

Source: ITNews

CCK rejects appeals to cut monthly licence fees early

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:27:20 GMT

Kenya’s telecoms operators will continue paying their monthly licence fees at the current rate until July 2012, the Communications Commission of Kenya’s (CCK) board has confirmed. Last year the regulator lowered monthly licence fees by 41% and the annual operating fee from 0.5% to 0.45% of gross annual turnover, but stipulated that the new rates would not actually apply until 1 July 2012. Kenyan daily The Nation reports that the decision to preserve the original timeline was made during a CCK board meeting, with the watchdog’s representatives voting decisively against having the fees reduced with immediate effect. Acting director general Francis Wangusi commented: ‘The CCK board has declined the appeal by telecommunication companies since it risks crippling the organisation’s operations by cutting a significant part of its revenue. The board was convinced that there are no major reasons to call for such a radical decision. They will enjoy subsidised rates when we invoice them in July’. It is believed that Information Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo sided with the operators, after coming under pressure from the country’s leading telcos, with Ndemo blaming the CCK for ‘halting an already late decision’.

Source: TeleGeography

yu calls on Safaricom to open up M-PESA service to rivals

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:25:54 GMT

Indian-owned mobile phone operator Essar Telecom Kenya, which operates under the ‘yu’ brand name, has called on market leader Safaricom to open up its mobile money transfer service M-PESA to other networks. yu manager Madhur Taneja said that the cellco would be willing to pay royalties to Safaricom, the country’s number one operator by subscribers, for the shared use of M-PESA, and blamed the underwhelming impact of mobile number portability (MNP) on the fact that Safaricom customers are unwilling to risk losing their access to the mobile banking solution, regardless of their network preferences.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Safaricom introduced M-PESA in February 2007 in conjunction with part-owner Vodafone. The service allows customers without bank accounts to deposit and withdraw cash, transfer money to another person’s account via SMS, and top up their pre-paid airtime. Cash is paid in and withdrawn at specified M-PESA agents, which are typically Safaricom dealerships, but which also include other retail outlets such as supermarkets, shops and petrol stations. In December 2008 then-finance minister John Michuki ordered an audit of the service in an effort to allay concerns about the safety of users’ money. Safaricom’s chief executive Michael Joseph welcomed the audit, saying it would prove that M-PESA is a reliable money transfer service. No irregularities were found, and at the time of writing M-PESA reported in excess of 15 million users.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: Minister Raises Hope on Converged ICT Regulator

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:24:28 GMT

Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson has assured Nigerians, especially stakeholders of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, that the dream to have a converged ICT regulator is still alive.

The minister was in Lagos to declare open, the Youth Empowerment & ICT Foundation training programme organised by Jim Ovia Foundation in collaboration with Google, IBM, Visafone and Microsoft.

Addressing the issue of convergence in the telecoms and broadcast sectors in an interactive session with the minister, she said "the issue of converged regulator in the telecoms and broadcast industries is a necessity that must be addressed and that it is currently being looked into by the Federal Government. We are working towards it and in no distant time, government will make its position public."

According to her, the world is a global village and the world of technology is converging with the introduction of communication tools designed to do both broadcasting and communications from a single device.

Although ICT stakeholders have agreed on convergence in technology applications, there were however fears as to who regulates the industry after convergence. The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) is currently the regulator of all telecoms activities in the country, while the National Broadcast Commission (NBC) regulates the broadcast industry.

Both regulators had refused to be submerged and controlled by the other, even though the duo accepted convergence as a necessary move to strengthen the ICT industry and to align with other countries of the world.

NCC believes it should be the regulator after convergence, but NBC differs in its thoughts.

Currently both NCC and NBC are operating as regulators in their yet to be converged sectors, and NCC is busy issuing spectrum licences of operation, while NBC is busy selling frequencies to the same operators who go to NCC to obtain licence of operation.

Stakeholders see this trend as ugly and it amounts to dissipation of energy and resources, hence the long cry for a converged ICT regulator.

Asked if it was possible to have a converged regulator in the present day structure of the Ministry of Communications Technology, where NCC is among the five government agencies under the direct supervision of the ministry, and NBC is not, the minister insisted that a converged regulator will soon be announced by government.

Commending Jim Ovia Foundation for its initiative on youth empowerment, Johnson said: "With the right training and capacity building, youths in Nigeria will not only be able to develop the necessary skills that will enable them innovate and create software applications to be reckoned with, but it will also enable them establish Information Technology (IT) businesses that can thrive and make a difference."

According to the minister, developing a vibrant software industry does more than reduce the heavy import bill. It creates jobs especially in the young population, and it will serve the unique and peculiar needs of Nigeria and Nigerians and if well nurtured and developed Nigeria could well be the country that is exporting software to other countries.

Developing skills and empowering young Nigerians to be software entrepreneurs is an important part of building a vibrant, commercially successful and socially useful software industry but there are still many other factors that are required to make the aspiration a reality, she said.

The Youth Empowerment and ICT Foundation programme, has 350 youths pencilled for training, with the intention of producing software application developers that will change the face software industry in the country.

Source: This Day

MTN teams up with Qualcomm to boost 3G network performance

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:22:49 GMT

MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has teamed up with Qualcomm to improve the performance of its 3G network, BusinessTech reports. Qualcomm will provide technical and engineering support to help MTN Nigeria benchmark and audit its 3G network to identify potential areas for increased efficiency. An upgrade of its 3G network would enable the wireless operator to provide seamless and reliable voice calling, as well as faster 3G data speeds. ‘As our subscriber base continues to grow, having an efficient and reliable network is essential to providing our customers with a best-in-class mobile experience,’ commented Lynda Saint-Nwafor, CTO of MTN Nigeria, adding: ‘Qualcomm’s comprehensive network services and strong expertise in 3G and 4G technologies make them the ideal partner to help us improve the quality of our network.’ MTN Nigeria had a total of 41.1 million mobile subscribers at the end of September 2011, giving it a market share of 45.4%, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Tanzania: 'High Spending on Phone Calls Reflects Income'

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:26:52 GMT

The monthly telephone subscribers' expenditure has increased significantly, thanks to technology advancement that has made it easy to send money through mobile phones.

Economists have it that mobile banking is behind the increase of the monthly spending on voice services as it is common for a subscriber to call before and after sending monies.

The Tanzania Communications regulatory Authority (TCRA) first quarter data (July -September 2011) shows that average spending per user on voice has gone up from 4,645/-in the previous quarter to 5,283/- in the quarter under review. Total monthly spending by 23,979,870 subscribers reached 126.69 billion.

A University of Dar es Salaam economist, Dr Haji Semboja, said the technology development coupled with increased quality of services have pushed up spending on mobile phones. "Quality of life and earnings of people have increased, pushing up the demand for money as it's easier to send money upcountry than before," Dr Semboja told the 'Daily News' on Monday, adding:

"Because one can now send and another receive money at the same time, people are easily borrowing their Tuesday's consumption and therefore spending more."

Source: Tanzania Daily News

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: FG to Inject N1 Billion in ICT Incubation Centre

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:25:15 GMT

The Federal Government is to invest about N1 billion to establish an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Incubation Centre.

Mrs Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos at a software training programme organised by the Youth Empowerment and ICT Foundation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the training was "Developing Nigeria's Next Generation of ICT Entrepreneurs".

"About N750 million to N1 billion will be needed to establish the incubation centre," she said.

Johnson said that the setting up of the centre would help to accelerate the development of commercial software in the industry.

She said that the ministry would partner with private investors to create an enabling environment for youths that have passion for software development.

"This plan will ensure that private sectors invest their money in this IT innovation fund, in order to fund our local software entrepreneurs.

"We are investing in them because this local entrepreneurs may not have collaterals to pay up their loans," she said.

The minister said that a committee had been set up to ensure that the incubation centre would provide the necessary funding towards empowering the youth.

She urged Nigerian youths to be self-empowered in the ICT world in order to compete favourably with the rest of the world.

Johnson also said that the ministry had commenced moves to ensure that technology would be used to reduce the cost of governance and increase transparency in governance.

"The ministry is working with Galaxy Backbone and other relevant agencies to really look very carefully on government IT stands and look for opportunities where we can implement cost reduction, especially in the area of application hosting and data services.

"These are applications that can be shared among ministries, departments and agencies to bring down the cost of governance," she said. NAN

Source: Daily Trust

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Qatar to take control of Cell C?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:23:21 GMT

Qatar has made an offer to buy Saudi Oger’s 55% stake in Oger Telecom, Cell C’s parent company, according to a report from wire service Reuters, which quotes unnamed sources reportedly familiar with the matter.

The deal, if it happens, will give Qatar control of Turkey’s Turk Telecom and Cell C. Saudi Oger is controlled by the family of late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Reuters reckons the value of the Turk Telecom stake alone is at least US$8,6bn.

The news wire says that Qatar, through its sovereign wealth fund, has “emerged as one of the world’s most aggressive investors, snapping up stakes in high-profile names such as German car makers Porsche and Volkswagen and has bought positions in banks and high-end property in major markets”.

Qatar Telecom is not involved in the talks but may do so if the deal is concluded, Reuters says.

Source: TechCentral

Africa - Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Mozambique gets a slice of SEACOM

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:21:27 GMT

The Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology has signed a 20 year agreement to access international broadband fibre connectivity on the SEACOM network to Europe and onwards to the rest of the world.

Beneficiaries of the newly acquired capacity include the Mozambique Research and Education Network (MoRENet) and the Government Electronic Network (GovNet), which are government-led projects established to improve online public service access and capability.

The bandwidth will help MoRENet to deliver reliable and cost-effective, high-speed internet traffic to member institutions whilst creating the platform to share education and research content with other Nationwide Research Education Networks (NRENs) around the world.

Similarly, GovNet will be able to better support its mandate to improve eGovernment performance. GovNet currently interconnects government institutions at both central and provincial levels, with an aim to connect all state and government institutions through a single private data communications network.

SEACOM CEO, Mark Simpson, said: “SEACOM is the ideal partner to provide the international connectivity that will complement Mozambique’s extensive broadband data communications networks initiatives. Over the past three years, we have witnessed how the availability of true broadband at lower prices can accelerate educational initiatives and economic development across the region and we look forward to working with the Mozambican government to help Build a truly African Internet.”

Both MoRENet and GovNet form an important part of the Mozambican government’s ICT Policy Implementation Strategy. The policy covers all major areas of Mozambique’s economy and society; tasked with creating an enabling environment for societal upliftment, improved performance of both public and private sectors and most importantly the ultimate eradication of poverty in the country.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Evaristo Baquete, said: “The Mozambican government views affordable and high quality data networks as a vital tool to achieve the country’s various developmental goals. SEACOM brought cheaper and faster international connectivity to this country and we believe that they are the partner of choice to continue to bring about positive changes to the country and its people.”

SEACOM believes in a world where the African internet experience is characterised by abundant local content, minimal latency, fast download and streaming speeds, and interconnected African markets. Today, over a dozen countries across the African continent have access to SEACOM’s low cost products and services via its extended network.

Source: ItNews

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Egypt IT sector sees dramatic increase

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:19:16 GMT

Despite ongoing political turmoil, an uprising that ousted the former regime and violence throughout 2011, Egypt’s information technology market grew at a surprising double-digit rate, a new report said.Despite ongoing political turmoil, an uprising that ousted the former regime and violence throughout 2011, Egypt’s information technology market grew at a surprising double-digit rate, a new report said.

According to Business Monitor International (BMI), in their “Egypt Information Technology Report Q1 2012”, Egypt’s success in boosting its IT market was a direct result of the recovery following the January uprising in the country, and the increase in citizens purchasing personal computers for their use.

“In spite of a range of obstacles and a suboptimal distribution network outside Cairo, Egypt is most likely to benefit from youthful demographics and improving information as well as communication technology (ICT) infrastructure,” a statement from BMI said in launching their latest report on the Egyptian IT sector.

“The Egyptian market is one of the most resilient in the Middle East & Africa region, but long-drawn instability could pose a danger to the country’s outsourcing sector,” it added.

The study delivers a comprehensive overview of the country, including its IT market, telecommunications sector, political and economic as well as business environment SWOT analyses.

Independent analysts have also likened the telecom industry’s success to the direct result of the important factor online communications had during the final days of the uprising and the massive influx of users who wanted to “be connected.”

Source: ITNews

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Kenya: New Entrant Raids Telkom Stronghold in Fixed Line Niche

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:19:51 GMT

MTN Business has launched its Internet Protocol (IP) Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) service in Kisumu, hoping to gain a foothold in the fixed line market that is currently dominated by Telkom Kenya.

MTN Business managing director Tom Omariba said the new service aims at providing seamless connectivity across all platforms at affordable costs.

"The MTN-managed IP PABX service can do voice, data, mobile. It is ideal for corporates and SMEs who are looking for new solutions to their communication needs," Mr Omariba said during a presentation to clients at the Imperial Hotel on Friday last week.

The launch of the service is expected to revive competition in the fixed line market that is experiencing continued decline in the number of subscribers.

According to the latest data from the Communications Commission of Kenya, CCK the number of fixed line subscribers reduced to 355,493 from 374,942 in the period ending September 2011.

This represented a decline of 5.19 per cent during the period and a drop of 3.91 per cent relative to the same quarter of the previous year.

MTN is, however, leveraging on cost to enhance market penetration of its new offering and also claw some market share from Telkom Kenya.

"The fact that MTN's IP PABX is fully hosted by us means that our clients do not have to worry about maintenance and installation. That means they get to save on capex and operating costs," said MTN's Yusra Abdallah.

PABX is a software-based telephone exchange service that encompasses the traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) in business environments and a digital interface that can be accessed by PCs, and portable devices.

"We shall be offering it at four shillings to all GSM lines and Sh3.50 for fixed lines and all that the clients need is an Internet connection or a 3G connection in their offices," said Ms Abdallah. "Already the reception we received from our launch in Nairobi last year has been very encouraging and we are moving to launch the same in Mombasa."

The new solution allows users to roam freely and work remotely in any part of the country.

According to CCK, the voice minutes on roaming out-voice traffic increased by 9.8 per cent from 33.7 million recorded in the previous year to 37 million in 2011.

MTN is banking on the increasing roaming traffic to chalk up more subscribers.

Source: Business Daily

Zambia: MTN Invests K1.2 Billion On Service Centre

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:17:50 GMT

MTN Zambia has invested US$250,000 (K1.2 billion) in the transformation of its service centre into a global brand.

The upgrading of the service centre will provide quality services to meet the demand of the growing customer base.

MTN chief executive officer Abdul Ismail said the state-of-the-art service centre was renovated at a cost of $250,000 to give the customers an experience that lets them know they have been connected to a global brand that strives to bring world- class services closer to them.

Mr Ismail said the idea to renovate the service centre was prompted by the need to establish a centre that was synonymous with world class, quality, trust, ethics and excellent customer service.

Speaking in Lusaka during the official opening of the service centre at theweekend, Mr Ismail said Lusaka city was growing in-leaps-and-bounds and the upgrading of the Service Centre was a clear indication that the company wants to grow with the city and customers.

" Our vision for the service centres is to provide a service which is customer-friendly, flexible and experiential in nature.

This is a service centre unlike any you have seen on the market," he said.

" It is our sincere hope that opening of this service centre here at head office, will be able to meet the demands of a growing customer base which is currently sitting at more than 2.7 million representing a growth of 42 per cent ," Mr Ismail said.

He said they have over the last couple of years focused on ensuring that customers get nothing but the best customer experience at every point of interaction with us.

The feature allows for customers to be served on a 'first come first serve' basis and gives them liberty to select the service that they need before they approach the counter.

The system automatically issues a ticket number and puts the customer in queue according to the service required.

Source: Times of Zambia

yu adds 700,000 subscribers following ‘free calls’ tariff

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:15:53 GMT

Essar Telecom Kenya, which operates under the ‘yu’ brand name, reportedly gained more than 700,000 subscribers in the three month period ended 31 December 2011. Madhur Taneja, manager of Essar’s Kenyan unit, told The Star that the company’s customer base exceeded 2.3 million at end-2011, largely thanks to its unparalleled ‘free calls from 6am to 6pm’ offer, which replicated an earlier, limited promotion on a permanent basis. The 6am to 6pm offer – during which subscribers only pay for the first minute of each call – was introduced by yu in September 2011, in a belated attempt to rejuvenate its stagnating subscriber base; the move was widely perceived by industry insiders as the last throw of the dice for the ailing cellco, which was dogged with takeover rumours during mid-2011. According to the latest data published by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), yu claimed 1.629 million customers at end-September 2011, equivalent to a 6.6% market share, making the cellco Kenya’s third largest player in terms of subscribers.Essar Telecom Kenya, which operates under the ‘yu’ brand name, reportedly gained more than 700,000 subscribers in the three month period ended 31 December 2011. Madhur Taneja, manager of Essar’s Kenyan unit, told The Star that the company’s customer base exceeded 2.3 million at end-2011, largely thanks to its unparalleled ‘free calls from 6am to 6pm’ offer, which replicated an earlier, limited promotion on a permanent basis. The 6am to 6pm offer – during which subscribers only pay for the first minute of each call – was introduced by yu in September 2011, in a belated attempt to rejuvenate its stagnating subscriber base; the move was widely perceived by industry insiders as the last throw of the dice for the ailing cellco, which was dogged with takeover rumours during mid-2011. According to the latest data published by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), yu claimed 1.629 million customers at end-September 2011, equivalent to a 6.6% market share, making the cellco Kenya’s third largest player in terms of subscribers.

Source: TeleGeography

Tigo losing ground to Vodafone in Ghana

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:14:08 GMT

The National Communication Authority (NCA) of Ghana has published its market update for the end of December 2011, showing that mobile operator Vodafone Ghana has consolidated its second place in the sector ahead of former number two player Millicom Ghana (Tigo). By the start of this year Vodafone’s local subsidiary claimed more than 4.275 million customers, putting it behind market leader MTN Ghana with 10.156 million, but clear of Tigo which it initially overtook in October 2011. Vodafone added a net 96,697 subscribers in December while Tigo shed 108,995 users to close out the year with 3.921 million mobile phones on its network – down from 3.998 million three months earlier. Ghana’s fourth largest cellco, Airtel Ghana, continues to advance though: it added a net 192,869 in the last three months of the year – and 43,763 in December alone – for a year end total of 2.625 million. Meanwhile the smallest operator, Expresso (formerly Kasapa Telecom) continues to lose customers. Its base dropped from 191,779 in November to 186,751 a month later, representing just 0.88% of the total market.

In the fixed line arena, the NCA said that Vodafone Ghana had a chequered 2011. Having started the year at 266,045 PSTN lines (end-January), the total climbed to 282,842 by May, before falling back to 269,335 two months later, spiking again at 285,364 in August, and then falling steadily to 274,607 by 31 December 2011. Its only rival, Airtel Ghana, recorded 10,114 fixed lines by end-December, a marginal decrease from 10,763 at end-January.

Source: TeleGeography

UCC to discuss network failings with telecom chiefs

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:11:57 GMT

The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) will meet with representatives from the nation’s telecoms operators to discuss deteriorating service quality, reports local news source Daily Monitor. On the agenda are infrastructure-based issues such as service interruptions and network failures, as well as more customer-oriented problems, including ambiguous charges on bills and irregularities with mobile money services.

UCC executive director, Eng Godfrey Mutabazi commented: ‘Telecoms [companies] have grown their subscription[s] but have not cared to grow their capacity so as not to interrupt customer services. Unless telecoms [companies] work on expanding their capacity to meet the growing subscriber numbers, communication might in the near future become worse.’

As previously reported by CommsUpdate, a UCC quality of service (QoS) survey carried out between May and September last year showed that of the five cellcos examined, all dropped more than 2% of calls, and three – MTN Uganda, Airtel Uganda and Uganda Telecom – blocked more than 10% of calls: a blocked call is a failed call attempt due to network failure, whilst dropped calls are those which have connected successfully but are terminated prematurely by the provider. During the UCC’s previous QoS survey, in December 2010, Warid Telecom performed the worst of all the country’s telcos; the most recent analysis indicated significant improvement from the UAE-backed company, reducing the proportion of blocked calls from 25.8% to 8.8% whilst dropped calls were reduced from 8.0% to 4.2%. Warid’s progress was the result of improvements to capacity and coverage carried out by Chinese vendor Huawei in June 2011, lending credence to Mutabazi’s assertion that infrastructure developments are the answer to Uganda’s service woes.

Source: TeleGeography

New Research Reveals How Africa Tweets

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:32:37 GMT

The key role of Twitter in the people's revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia a year ago is well documented. Young people embraced the immediacy and freedom of the new social networking system to escape the constraints of censorship and the security apparatus, to organise and communicate.

The vital part that Twitter played in bringing down these autocratic regimes is already being widely studied. But it has rather obscured the explosion in its use across the rest of Africa.

For Twitter is, by no means, the exclusive tool of political activists in North Africa. It has been adopted enthusiastically by young people right across the continent who are adapting it for their own far more varied daily needs.

These are the findings of the first ever attempt to map comprehensively Twitter traffic across Africa. They are part of a revolution which poses challenges not just for Governments who want a dialogue with their citizens or for businesses who want to talk to their consumers but to everyone for whom communication is important.

Relevant Links

New Research Reveals How Africa Tweets

Citizens Second Top Tweeters in Africa

Twitter, which started in the United States, may have been in existence for less than six years but it has swept the globe. Over 300 million people took the opportunity last year to use their smart phones or computers to post and read short messages or "Tweets" every day. One in three does so every day, sending over 250 million Tweets - a number increasingly daily.

But despite the importance attached to Twitter in the democratic revolutions in North Africa, the continent as a whole is often totally ignored when global surveys are done about its adoption. They are much more likely to focus on the fact that Lady Gaga has the greatest number of people who have signed up to read her messages - at 18 million no less than six million more followers than US President Barack Obama, who is in second place.

As a new survey specially commissioned by Portland Communications reveals, this is a mistake. By examining only those Tweets which made clear their authors were living in Africa - which is only a part of the total volume - it found that well over 11 million were posted in the last three months in 2011 from right across the continent.

Nor are they limited to just a few countries. The major economies of South Africa, which tops the league tables with over 5 million Tweets during the study period, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt are well represented. But it also includes countries as diverse as Niger, Mali, Algeria and Sudan.

The study also found interesting differences with the use of Twitter from Europe and North America. While in the West, it is used largely by older adults in their thirties, in Africa its adoption has been driven here by a younger audience with 60% of those posting messages in their twenties. That's certainly the case with my friends in Nairobi and back home in Uganda.

African Tweeters also are far more likely to use their mobile phones, rather than computers, to post and read messages. Given the explosion in mobile usage across the continent, and the increasingly availability and falling price of internet-ready devices, this makes it all the more likely that the Twitter revolution has only just begun.

Another contrast is that while it is the celebrities who make most of the running in North America and Europe using it to communicate with their fans, in Africa Twitter is seen as largely a way of keeping in touch with friends. Twitter is, of course, used here as well to keep up with entertainment with over two out of three users saying they like it for celebrity gossip. But even more use it to access international news and nearly as many to keep up to date with domestic news.

Given its growing up-take and importance, what is surprising is how few senior figures - in either the political and business world - are yet to take up Twitter as a means of two-way dialogue with the population. Rwanda's President Kagame has attracted over 44,000 followers for his regular Tweets. Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore, who has over 38,000 followers, uses it to keep customers up to date with the company's activities, as well as hearing directly from them.

It is clear, however, that the Twitter revolution is just beginning and that few can afford to stay out a space where dialogue will increasingly take place. We can expect it to be used increasingly by citizens and consumers to swap information and views about governments and firms, which can only help improve transparency and accountability. With Twitter, you no longer need to own a newspaper or radio station to have your views heard. And for Africa - as for the rest of the world - that can only be good.

Beatrice Karanja is the head of Portland Nairobi. Portland is a strategic communications consultancy with a specialism in pan-African campaigns. How Africa Tweets can be downloaded from www.portland-communications.com

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Govt Launches Web Portal to Enhance Transparency and Accountability of Governance

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:17:08 GMT

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has launched a web portal known as Transparency Sierra Leone Portal (http://www.transparency.gov.sl/) aimed at enhancing the transparency and accountability of his government.

The portal, established by the Commonwealth Secretariat for the Government of Sierra Leone, was unveiled in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 24 January 2012. It aims to build on the Open Government Initiative in promoting good governance and democracy.

President Koroma commended the Commonwealth for its support of the project, saying it was important for the government to effectively communicate its programmes to all citizens.

"We advocate an open and transparent government in which we are accountable for the delivery of service," said Mr Koroma. "This portal is a gigantic step in ensuring that our people have adequate information about all government projects across the country."

He added that real progress can be achieved only through innovative solutions borne of open collaboration and dialogue with citizens.

The portal provides a gateway to information on government development projects and data that will be made public. It is managed by the Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) in the Office of the President.

Anthony Ming, Informatics Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, expressed confidence in the portal's success.

"Democracy and transparency are key elements in the core values of the Commonwealth, and this web portal is an initiative that embodies those values. The government of Sierra Leone should be applauded for its efforts at greater openness by promoting interactive communications between the citizens and the government as their opinions are valued in the formulation of public policy," said Mr Ming.

The portal offers access to three key sites: Government Project Registry for data on poverty reduction projects; Development Partner Registry for information on funding and disbursements for various sectors; and Join the Transformation which is an interactive platform for debate on the government's poverty reduction strategy.

The President's Chief of Staff, Dr Kaifala Marah said: "Transformation requires the aggressive collaboration and co-operation of many individuals, so as citizens, we all share the duty to transform Sierra Leone. This web portal will help foster public trust while establishing a system of accountability, engagement and collaboration."

Source: Commonwealth News and Information Service

Sierra Leone - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Zantel Re-Launches Mobile Cash Service As Competition Toughens

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:13:54 GMT

Dar es Salaam — Zantel Tanzania has re-branded its Z-Pesa service, a mobile payment service, in a bid to offer better services and withstand competition in the market.

Re-launching the service in the city on Wednesday Zantel CEO Ali Bin Jarsh said the new payment service, to be known as Ezy Pesa, has been upgraded and comes with new payment services including enabling employers to pay salaries using the service.

The mobile payment service also offers a micro insurance option that allows customers to purchase daily or monthly insurance premiums that cover them for accidental death and/or permanent disability due to accidents.

With a daily premium of Sh150 and a monthly premium of Sh4,500 a policy holder is covered for up to Sh3 million. The insurance service, known as Farijika insurance, is provided in partnership with the National Insurance Corporation Tanzania Limited.

Customers can also access their CRDB bank accounts using mobile phones.

"In 2008 Zantel was the first mobile network provider in the country to introduce mobile payment services. Our vision for this product has not changed but we have worked to improve it so it serves you better," Bin Jarsh said.

The company has decided to re-launch its payment service because of the underperformance of Z-Pesa. Despite being the first payment service, it did not do well, outperformed by new comers. In all four years of its presence Z-Pesa had 23,000 registered customers but only about 500 active customers. With the new service, Zantel plans to process about 1000 in the next few weeks with a target of one million customers by the end of this year.

Mobile phone payment service is taking Tanzania by storm as all the major mobile phone firms offer it. M-Pesa of Vodacom Tanzania, Tigo Pesa by MIC Tanzania, Airtel Money by Airtel Tanzania and now Ezy Pesa by Zantel are competing.

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Zesco rolling out broadband-capable fibre in Western Province

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:09:07 GMT

The Zambia Electricity Supply Company (Zesco) has reportedly begun the installation of a fibre-optic network in the country’s Western Province, with the link expected to deliver broadband services once it is operational. According to ITWeb.co.za, the fibre infrastructure will bring high speed internet connectivity to banks, schools, government departments and businesses in the western region, which at present have little access to such services due to a lack of infrastructure. It is understood that Chinese vendor ZTE has been selected to install the fibre cables. Presently around 100km of cabling has been laid, stretching from Sesheke, to the Zambezi River at the Kalongola pontoon crossing, en route to Senanga. The report also notes that Zesco’s network installation in Sesheke follows on from the company completing the rollout of another fibre link in the Northern Province last week.

Source Telegeography

Zambia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Telkom, KT Corp inch closer to a deal

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:15:58 GMT

Talks between JSE-listed telecommunications group Telkom and Korea’s KT Corp appear to be progressing well. In an update to shareholders on Friday, Telkom says a “diagnostic review” is “well progressed” and the two companies expect to finalise their finding within the next few weeks.

KT Corp has expressed an interest in acquiring 20% of Telkom’s equity, a move widely praised by analysts and opposed by trade unions. In terms of the potential deal, Telkom will issue new ordinary shares at an issue price of R36,06/share, diluting government’s shareholding in Telkom from nearly 40% to about 32%.

In December, Telkom entered into a memorandum of understanding with KT Corp in terms of which they agreed to a period of exclusive engagement and information exchange to share areas of mutual strategic and business cooperation.

Following completion of these talks, the companies will present the findings to their respective boards and “engage with key stakeholders before finalising the transaction agreements and presenting the transaction to Telkom shareholders for approval”.

“Shareholders are advised that discussions regarding the potential strategic venture are ongoing and there is still no certainty that a formal transaction will be proposed or concluded.”

Source:Techcentral

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Microsoft to bridge digital divide through African school partnership

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:11:51 GMT

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it had partnered with the British Council in Africa to deliver their Africa Digital Schools Project aimed at assisting in “bridging the digital divide”, in six African countries.

Called “BADILIKO,” the Swahili word for change, the project aims to bring new technology to African schools in a bid to boost education through Microsoft’s technology.

According to a statement, each company contributed $1-million as well as technical expertise to accelerate the implementation of this innovative project that seeks to embed ICT in learning.

Microsoft and the British Council stressed that the Africa Digital Schools Project will “enrich e-learning while improving ICT skills among teachers and students to boost their competitiveness in a global village.”

The $2-million seed money made available by Microsoft and the British Council will be spent on the establishment of eighty digital hubs across six sub-Saharan countries.

It is hoped that 100,000 learners will be provided with digital tools which they will utilize to boost academic work and social skills that benefit the wider community.

Mark Matunga, the Microsoft Regional Education Manager, East and Southern Africa, says that greater uptake of ICT in learning dovetails with the software giant’s vision of bridging digital divide in Africa.

”Educators should embrace technology to pass knowledge to students and boost their aptitude in relevant areas of study. We are encouraging more teachers to be trained in ICT skills.”

Source:IT News Africa

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Vodacom connecting community libraries to internet

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:55:28 GMT

Vodacom has announced the successful implementation of Phase 1 of a libraries project for internet connectivity across three provinces – North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
When completed, almost 300 community libraries will be connected using VSAT and Vodacom ADSL services.
The National Department of Arts and Culture multi-million Rand project is managed and driven by the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) and is being successfully implemented due to tight co-operation and communication between the service provider and Provincial Libraries.
“This project started when we were implementing the SITA/ NLSA open source Library Information Management System (LIMS),” says Lesiba Ledwaba, CIO National Library of South Africa and head of project.
“There’s a need for all our libraries countrywide to communicate with each other and have access to one another’s collections. Before the roll-out of LIMS, it was noted that there were many libraries without connectivity, so connectivity for LIMS became a priority.
“The next logical step was to extend internet connectivity services to local communities. With so many schools, especially those in rural areas, without libraries or connectivity of their own, it became clear we could really start to make a difference in the education and life-style of these rural communities. We started with the rural areas first, and have also ensured all libraries have ‘reasonable’ internet capacity,” says Ledwaba.
“We partnered with Meso ICT Solutions to implement the project across the first three provinces,” says Chris Lazarus, Managing Executive Vodacom Business Services, “and can report that they were able to bring the libraries online very quickly and efficiently.”
“Vodacom was chosen as the carrier for the system due to them being able to offer both fixed line and satellite connectivity,” says Thibedi Mogoba – CEO Meso Group. “Additionally they provide second tier support from dedicated lines to the Vodacom Call Centre, with us providing first line support. We monitor the performance and usage and thus can be proactive with any issues that might arise.”
With an average of 14 workstations per library and with free access for citizens, the resources provided by this project are invaluable. The project meets the stated national objective to enable all levels of South African society to gain access to knowledge and information that will improve their socio-economic condition. Libraries are already seeing use extending to users searching for jobs, learners researching school projects, and SMEs utilising the many tools available to them on the internet.
“A 1 Mb pipe was implemented for each library,” says Mogoba, “and we have measured optimal use at almost all sites since switch on.”
The North West now has 64 libraries on VSAT and 36 on ADSL; Mpumalanga has 86 on VSAT and 8 on ADSL; with Limpopo having 50 on VSAT and 18 on ADSL.
As the project is running in parallel across all three provinces, over 150 sites are already up and running.
“Meso have done a great job – they have met all our deadlines and provided a very professional service. Their communication with the NLSA has been a key success factor, as has the co-operation of all the provinces,” says Ledwaba.
Lazarus concludes; “Connectivity is so much more than access to the internet – it provides every citizen with information, knowledge and resources that can literally change their lives. The fact that they can now access the wealth of information available globally, for free, brings the outside world that much closer to their everyday lives. This project is a milestone in our education and social services sectors and brings information to the remotest rural communities.”

Source:IT News Africa

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Econet Wireless launches VoIP

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:34:31 GMT

Zimbabwe’s largest cellco and wireless internet provider Econet Wireless today launched voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) telephony services under its Econet Broadband division, targeting businesses and home internet users, with two respective packages, ‘VoIP at Work’ and ‘VoIP at Home’. Local news site TechZim reported from the launch event in Harare this morning that the fixed VoIP service will provide phone numbers with the ‘07720’ prefix (as opposed to Econet’s ‘077’ mobile prefix) and offer call rates lower than the company’s mobile GSM voice plans, with tariffs similar to Zimbabwe’s existing IP-based call providers such as Africom, Broadacom, Telco and Gigatel. At the launch, Econet’s commercial director George Barbaressos explained the cellco’s reasoning for introducing VoIP technology – which has been considered disruptive to mobile operators’ revenues – by saying that the service will provide customers with the ‘convenience and flexibility’ that they demand. Econet has stopped short of rolling out a VoIP-over-cellular platform, however, and is instead targeting users of PSTN incumbent TelOne’s fixed voice services, chiefly looking to generate new revenue streams in the corporate and long-distance calling sectors. Econet’s VoIP licence is held via its ISP division Ecoweb, a brand name which has been largely replaced by its Econet Broadband banner under which it offers its 3G mobile and WiMAX high speed wireless services. Econet Wireless Group’s long-distance fibre network operating unit Liquid Telecom earlier this month agreed to acquire another nationwide Zimbabwean ISP, Zimbabwe Online (ZOL).

Source:Telegeography

Trends and developments in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications market.

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Visafone invests in upgrade, expansion of data networks

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:28:31 GMT

To cope with surging demand for data services, Nigerian CDMA operator Visafone Communications plans to spend ‘billions of naira’ on the upgrade and expansion of its network, Bloomberg cites the company’s CEO Sailesh Iyer as saying. Work will begin with a USD20 million expansion of Visafone’s broadband infrastructure in Lagos, to be carried out by China’s Huawei Technologies. Iyer said that the company plans to upgrade networks in other parts of the country later this year. As well as the upgrade of its infrastructure, Visafone plans to expand its services from 26 to 36 states and hopes to increase subscribers ‘to ten million from 3.5 million within three years, with the cost of expansion running into billions of naira,’ Iyer said, without stating exactly how much the full upgrade would cost.

Source:Telegeography

Trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market.

Orange Telecom, Wikipedia team up to make service free for MENA

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:03:30 GMT

CAIRO: Orange Telecom is partnering with Wikipedia in an effort to deliver the online encyclopedia free of all data charges to mobile users in the Middle East and Africa. The move has users excited about being able to use the digital library on a daily basis without charge.

“It’s really exciting, but we’ll see if it will work and be implemented,” Tanya, a Kenyan user, told Bikyamasr.com

The mobile phone operator said in a statement on Tuesday that the partnership is the first of its kind in world, has 70 million customers across Africa and the Middle East.

However, the ability to access the Internet, and websites such as Wikipedia, is currently limited to about 10 million Orange customers who have mobile devices with 2G or 3G capability.

Sue Gardner, a senior director at Wikipedia, said that the digital encyclopaedia.

“Wikipedia is an important service, a public good, and so we want people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what device they’re using,” said Sue Gardner, a senior director at Wikipedia. “This partnership with Orange will enable millions of people to read Wikipedia who previously couldn’t.”

The free service will be launched in 20 markets across 2012, with a spokesman from Orange saying that the aim is to increase the proportion of 2G and 3G phones to 50% of customers by 2015.

source Bikyamasr

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Uganda Telecom to pay back taxes

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:39 GMT

Uganda Telecom (UTL) said on Tuesday that it would ensure that all back taxes to the Uganda Revenue Authority would be paid in full and cleared in order to push forward on its plans for expansion in the country.

Uganda Telecom will ensure that all back taxes are to be paid

UTL said in a published statement on its website that it is “fully committed” to clearing the matter of back taxes up with the revenue authority in the “very near” future.

The Uganda Revenue Authority said the company is yet to pay over UGX 2 billion in taxes, which partly contributed to the tax body’s half-year collection shortfalls.

Moses Kajubi, URA’s Deputy Commissioner General, said talk time taxes had partly been affected by the financial difficulties experienced by an operator.

He said the “telecommunication company had accumulated UGX 2.15 billion in tax arrears between August and November,” adding that efforts to recover the amount in question were underway through the agency notices.

According to the Daily Monitor, UTL has since acknowledged the tax arrears, although it has not stated publicly how much they believe they owe.

UTL public relations officer Emmy Olaki said it is not unusual for a company to have tax arrears; “the important thing is the commitment to clear.”

Andrew Matapare

Source ITNews

View Uganda market analysis on our 'Analys Reports' page

Telecom Egypt’s Senior V.P to retire

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:57:18 GMT

Telecom Egypt announced today that Mohamed Sayad Al Dessouky, the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer will retire on Thursday, in line with the telecom giant’s corporate policies which mandate that executives retire at a certain age.

Telecom Egypt announced the retirement of Mohamed Sayad Al Dessouky

His replacement is yet to be announced, according to the company’s statement. Tarek Abou Alam last week took over as the company’s new chief executive and managing director.

The moves come as TE workers have repeatedly demanded a change in leadership, following a series of strikes last year over their frustration with the company’s board.

They accused the company of rampant corruption, which led to financial losses, demanded higher salaries for the workers, and a revision of the current salaries for the top officials.

Despite the strike, services of the predominantly landline operation were largely unaffected.

Telecom Egypt is also looking to enter the mobile phone market and hopes to bid on the 4th mobile license in the country, which is to be launched later this year.

Source ITNews Africa

View Egypt market analysis in on our Analyst Reports page

Telkom looking for new Telkom Mobile MD

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:53:28 GMT

Telkom confirms that it has embarked on a recruitment process to appoint a Managing Director for Telkom Mobile

MyBroadband BusinessTech yesterday reported that Telkom is searching for a new Telkom Mobile Managing Director.

At the time Telkom was not willing to comment on the issue, saying that they will not be in a position to give feedback until Telkom has completed all the administrative and corporate steps required of them, including informing their employees.

The company has now confirmed the report, saying that it has embarked on a recruitment process to appoint a Managing Director that will be an Exco member of the Telkom Group.

“It is of great importance that we keep the momentum going. In fact, delivery on our mobile investment features very high on the corporate agenda. It is an appropriate time to reconfigure the Telkom Mobile top leadership team,” said Telkom Group CEO, Nombulelo (Pinky) Moholi.

Until the Telkom Mobile MD appointment has been made, the Telkom Mobile executive team will report to the Chief Financial Officer, Jacques Schindehütte.

Amith Maharaj will continue to head up Telkom Mobile Operations. His position has been upgraded to that of Senior Managing Executive (SME).

“This is in recognition of the sterling work he has done to bring Telkom Mobile to where it is today. I would like to congratulate Amith on a position well deserved,” said Moholi.

In his role as SME: Telkom Mobile Operations, Maharaj will be responsible for Mobile IT and Networks as well as Mobile Marketing, including product development, the go-to-market strategy and convergence services.

Source My Broadband.co.za

South Africa market analysis available on our 'Analyst Reports' page

State-backed cellco launches in Equatorial Guinea

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:49:42 GMT

A third wireless operator has launched in Equatorial Guinea, joining Orange Guinee Equatoriale (GETESA), and HiTS Equatorial Guinea, reports PR Newswires. The new cellco, dubbed Guinea Ecuatorial Comunicaciones (GECOM) is a joint venture between the governments of Equatorial Guinea (51%) and China (49%).

Celebrating the launch, the director of the new company, Maria del Mar Bindang Eneme, said that the telecommunications company’s main goal was to improve the quality of, and guarantee access to, mobile telecommunications and internet services. President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo said that he hoped the company would bolster the sector, adding: ‘GECOM is a great addition to Equatorial Guinea’s telecommunications sector as we have experienced some shortcomings. It will expand and improve our communications’ reach and take us to a new level.’

Source Telegeography

Drive on to reach the poor – Pule

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:34:44 GMT

The drive is on to give the poor in rural areas access to communication services, communications minister Dina Pule said on Tuesday.

“Our aim is to bridge the rural-urban divide by 2020 with the help of the state-owned enterprises, such as [state-owned signal distributor] Sentech and the Universal Service & Access Agency of SA,” Pule said in Pretoria. “Communications is a human right and it also facilitates development.”

She said 161 “priority areas” across the country had been identified. “We intend to establish 400 access centres, including community post offices and outlets, for rural people to access communication services.”

To this end, Pule said the SA Post Office Act, signed by President Jacob Zuma in December last year, sought to improve governance at post offices.

The commercialisation of the Postbank, which was aimed at increasing access to bank services, was progressing well, and it was expected to be licensed next year.

“We are working to ensure that the Postbank is registered as a fully fledged bank that will provide affordable and accessible financial services and products.”

The department was in talks with national treasury on investment, borrowing, and lending policies, as required by the Postbank Act of 2010.

Pule also acknowledged reports of fraud within the Postbank, and two of its executives had been seconded to investigate.

Turning to the SABC, Pule said work had been done to make sure the turnaround strategy was progressing. “The SABC remains high on my list of priorities. SA needs a well-functioning SABC which discharges its public broadcasting mandate effectively. We have prioritised that all vacant executive positions be filled as a matter of urgency.”

Source:Techcentral

Vodacom unveils Africa’s greenest building

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:27:34 GMT

Vodacom today unveiled the completed Vodafone Site Solutions Innovation Centre, the first ever 6-star Green Star SA rated building in South Africa, at its head office in Midrand. The Green Building Council of South Africa rating validates the centre as the greenest building in Africa.

Speaking at the official launch of the building, Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys highlighted the opportunity for companies to use their own sector technology and expertise to find solutions to meet critical social, environmental and governance challenges.

The centre is a carbon neutral building that will house a team of 12 experts who will look at technological ways to reduce the company’s carbon footprint across the globe as well as reduce the cost of rolling out and maintaining cellular networks.

The concept started with an idea to create a centre to speed up the development of Vodafone’s sustainability goals to meet the group’s target of reducing global CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020, and to achieve a 20% carbon intensity reduction target for emerging markets by March 2015.

Vodafone chose to create this Innovation Centre in South Africa because it is, in many respects, both an emerging and developed economy. This particular location would help the group achieve its targets in a more consolidated and focused manner.

“Our objectives really address two core strategic deliverables; one being our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and the other to reduce operational costs while increasing enterprise value across the company. We firmly believe that the Vodafone Site Solutions Innovation Centre will drive the delivery of these objectives, not only for Vodacom in South Africa, but also for the broader global group,” says Uys.

What makes this building so environmentally ahead of the curve are the following elements:

Recycling: Wherever possible, demolition material from the site has been reused or recycled.

Structure of building: The project reduced the amount of concrete used in the foundations and sub structure by 34%.

Energy efficiency: Usage of the Solyndra photovoltaic panels reduced the wind load, absolute weight and ultimately the total amount of wood and structural material required for the roof.

Water efficiency: Efficient water fixtures and fittings have been installed resulting in significant savings in water consumption.

Indoor environmental quality: The mechanical air conditioning, heating and ventilation system is designed to deliver 2 500 litres/second of fresh air to the office during normal operations, and 1 250 litres/second of fresh air in heating mode.

Emissions: The chiller uses Lithium Bromide as the refrigerant which has both a zero Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) and a zero Greenhouse Warming Potential. All thermal insulants have an Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) of zero.

As a proof point of its commitment to developing sustainable technology that remains at the forefront of the mobile industry, Vodafone and its local partner Vodacom, have already started making some significant inroads.

In November last year, they developed an environmentally focused hybrid cell tower that uses a combination of solar, wind and fuel cell technology. This cell tower was used to connect delegates at COP17 in Durban late last year.

A community power programme was also launched that showed how mobile operators can bridge the energy divide in communities without power, by oversupplying base stations in that area with renewable energy which can be diverted to critical points within the community.

The community power initiative could become a game changer for rural areas that have no access to power. As power is being supplied to the community high school, it also increases the quality of education in an area.

Both projects are a good example of how a sustainable approach can reduce both environmental impact and operational costs while increasing the tangible and intangible value of a company.

Source:IT News Africa

Zambian Government Nationalises Local Mobile Network

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:06:58 GMT

The Zambian government has confirmed expectations and will renationalise the local mobile network, Zamtel, which is 75% owned by Lybia's Lap Green Networks.

The government has also dissolved the board of directors and appointed its own interim CEO.

Zamtel's bank accounts were also frozen last week in an allegedly unrelated investigation into money laundering claims, which the company denies.

The previous government sold the 75% stake in Zamtel to Lap Green Networks in 2010 for US$257 million - a figure which the then-opposition claimed was substantially below the book value for the company.

An inquiry last November commissioned by the new government ruled the transaction illegal.

In a statement, Lap Green Networks said "Over the last few weeks, we have made numerous attempts to find an amicable solution that satisfies all the parties involved and secures the best possible outcome for our employees and subscribers."

"We regret that the Zambian Government has not given us an opportunity to meet and discuss this matter."

Source:Cellular News

Econet’s Liquid swallows ISP ZOL

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:24:33 GMT

ISP Zimbabwe Online (ZOL) has been acquired by southern African fibre backbone network operator Liquid Telecommunications, part of Zimbabwean-owned Econet Wireless Group, reports local ICT news site TechZim, adding that ZOL will remain an independent company in terms of branding and operations for the time being. ZOL is one of Zimbabwe’s biggest ISPs offering fibre, VSAT and wireless internet services around the country. Liquid is currently deploying a fibre network spanning Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while it also owns satellite operations in the UK, Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Somalia, Burundi, Niger and Kenya.

Source:Telegeography

Trends and developments in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications market.

Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

TCRA to announce new telecoms rules soon, paper says

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:17:44 GMT

An unconfirmed report in the Tanzania Daily News says that the industry regulator, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), will soon implement new rules requiring mobile operators to inform their customers of the roaming rates they are charged for making calls outside of Tanzania’s national borders. The paper reports that new resolutions passed by the East African Communications Organizations (EACO) will oblige bodies such as the TCRA to usher in clearer rules and regulations showing what East Africans will be charged when using their phones outside their home countries. Under the current regime domestic operator are not required to inform subscribers of such charges, often resulting in bills that consumers were not expecting. The new rules will be aimed at lowering roaming charges and empowering consumers, and will mean that Vodacom Tanzania, Tigo and Airtel Tanzania will have to provide their subscribers with roaming rates agreed on with other regional operators such as Safaricom, MTN or Orange.

Source:Telegeography

trends and developments in Tanzania’s trends and developments in Tanzania’s telecommunications market.

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Zambia reassures investors over telecom sale reversal

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:23:32 GMT

Zambia’s President Michael Sata spoke out in an effort to reassure foreign investors over the country’s possible reversal of a sale of the state-owned telecom operator Zamtel to Libya.

His comments come after the country said it was looking into cancelling the deal with Libya’s LAP Green over its connections to the former Muammar Gaddafi regime in the North African country.

“Investors who are here and those planning to invest in our country are assured Zambia is a reliable investment destination,” he said in a statement.

Sata launched a probe into the 2010 sale of a 75% stake in Zamtel to LAP Green for $257 million, alleging that the deal was marred by corruption.

On Sunday he indicated that the sale could be reversed but told Zamtel employees that they did not need to worry as the company remained viable.

He said that LAP Green had failed to meet three key conditions for the sale.

LAP Green, part of the Libyan government’s foreign investment operation, denies any wrongdoing in its takeover of the fixed-line operator.

His comments come after the country said it was looking into cancelling the deal with Libya’s LAP Green over its connections to the former Muammar Gaddafi regime in the North African country.

Investors who are here and those planning to invest in our country are assured Zambia is a reliable investment destination,” he said in a statement.

Sata launched a probe into the 2010 sale of a 75% stake in Zamtel to LAP Green for $257 million, alleging that the deal was marred by corruption.

On Sunday he indicated that the sale could be reversed but told Zamtel employees that they did not need to worry as the company remained viable.

He said that LAP Green had failed to meet three key conditions for the sale.

LAP Green, part of the Libyan government’s foreign investment operation, denies any wrongdoing in its takeover of the fixed-line operator.

Source: ItNews

Nigeria: DStv Introduces Mobile TV Device

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:20:40 GMT

Lagos — DStv Mobile last week introduced the Walka into the Nigerian market, a DVB-H handheld TV device which will enable DSTV subscribers to watch television on the move.

Speaking during the launch of the product in Lagos, General Manager of Digital Mobile Television (Nigeria) (DMTV) Limited, Mayo Okunola said the Walka follows a long line of technology innovations associated with the DSTV brand - including the Drifta, DSTV Mobile (access to DSTV channels via mobile phone), High Definition PVR decoders and integrated customer service tools.

Lagos — DStv Mobile last week introduced the Walka into the Nigerian market, a DVB-H handheld TV device which will enable DSTV subscribers to watch television on the move.

According to him, with the new Walka device, subscribers within DSTV Mobile network coverage areas in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, Benin, Onitsha, Aba and Asaba will now have access to the channels on the DSTV Mobile DVB-H network.According to him, with the new Walka device, subscribers within DSTV Mobile network coverage areas in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, Benin, Onitsha, Aba and Asaba will now have access to the channels on the DSTV Mobile DVB-H network.

Source: Daily Trust

SA to postpone launch of digital TV

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:18:23 GMT

Government will not meet its self-imposed deadline of April 2012 to switch on digital terrestrial television, says communications minister Dina Pule, who now expects services will be only be launched commercially in the third quarter of the year.

Pule was speaking at her first media briefing since being appointed by President Jacob Zuma to the post late last year, replacing Roy Padayachie in the key portfolio.

Pule says the department and ministry have been hard at work for the past three months trying to ensure the April deadline is met, but this now appears impossible given how much must still be done before services can be launched.

The department of communications must still publish a set-top box manufacturing policy for the decoders it will subsidise for poor households, after which a tender will be issued. The SA Bureau of Standards must also finalise the specification for the set-top boxes, and this is only expected next month. Manufacturers can’t begin building decoders until these processes are finalised.

“Indications are we can only launch in the third quarter of the year,” Pule says.

She warns the delay could affect the December 2013 deadline for switching off analogue broadcasters, which will be of great concern to telecommunications operators that are desperate to get access to the spectrum that will be freed up through the process. Mobile operators want access to the so-called “digital dividend bands” below 900MHz to provide next-generation broadband services.

Pule says the department will try its best to meet the original deadline for the switch-off of analogue services, but says it’s unlikely it will be met. “However, we will work with industry so even if the date is affected, it doesn’t go way beyond the expected date,” she says. “We want to ensure we do our best, but that can only happen if we work together with the [information and communications technology] industry.”

Government will not meet its self-imposed deadline of April 2012 to switch on digital terrestrial television, says communications minister Dina Pule, who now expects services will be only be launched commercially in the third quarter of the year.

Pule was speaking at her first media briefing since being appointed by President Jacob Zuma to the post late last year, replacing Roy Padayachie in the key portfolio.

“Indications are we can only launch in the third quarter of the year,” Pule says.

Source: TechCentral

NCA sets new interconnection rates covering 2012-2014

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:16:01 GMT

The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana has announced the setting of new telecoms interconnect termination rates to replace the existing regime, which was set up in 2008 and expired on 31 December 2011. The watchdog says the new framework, which entered into effect on 1 January this year, was decided upon following consultation with operators and as a result of the NCA’s own assessment of market conditions there. In its statement the regulator confirmed that from the start of this year:

• A single 24-hour interconnection rate shall be applicable;

• The interconnect termination rates for voice calls originating from fixed and mobile networks in Ghana shall be charged at GHS0.05 (USD0.03) for 2012, and will glide to GHS0.045 and GHS0.04 in 2013 and 2014 respectively;

• The interconnect termination rate for SMS on all mobile networks in Ghana will cost GHS0.007 for 2012, and glide to GHS0.006 and GHS0.005 in 2013 and 2014 respectively;

• The incoming international transit interconnect termination rate for all calls shall be maintained at its current rate in accordance with the Electronic Communications (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act 786).

The NCA’s statement goes on to say: ‘Furthermore, after further consideration of industry dynamics, the NCA hereby implements asymmetric interconnect termination rate for voice calls as a catalyst to further deepen competition in the market. This asymmetric interconnect termination rate regime applies to new entrants as well as operators with less than 5% of subscriber market share.’

‘Consequently, asymmetric interconnect termination rate regime has been considered for Glo Mobile and Espresso (formerly Kasapa Telecom) at GHS0.04 for a period of 24 months. This takes effect from 1 January 2012 … Notwithstanding the above condition, should either of the two Operators attain a subscriber market share of 5% before the expiry of the 24-month stipulated period that operator shall cease to enjoy this consideration,’ it added.

Source: TeleGeography

Internet Solutions enlists NTT as it seeks Asian expansion

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:14:18 GMT

Internet Solutions (IS), Telkom South Africa’s principal rival in the country’s wholesale broadband market, is reportedly investigating the option of moving into Asia, with the help of its parent company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). The Japanese group acquired IS’s then-parent Dimension Data in July 2010, in a takeover deal valued at USD3.2 billion. For its part, IS first signified its intentions to broaden its horizons in November 2011, when it formed a new overseas division branded ‘IS International’. According to the company website, IS International already has ‘significant investments’ in both East Africa (Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Mauritius and Tanzania) and West Africa (Nigeria, Angola and Ghana), with future investments planned in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

IT News Africa quotes Derek Wilcocks, managing director of IS, as saying: ‘There are a number of exciting prospects on the horizon for IS International. We have taken a number of existing businesses and consolidated them as we plan to move deeper into Africa, which we are extremely excited about due to the sheer number of possibilities on the continent. We are also working closely with our parent company, NTT, as we expand into Asia. We have already moved our Asia point of presence (PoP) into NTT’s data centre, which was a major step in ensuring that all our sub-Saharan African clients have connectivity anywhere in the world when they travel or look to expand. We are on a steady expansion drive in terms of building out our fibre and last mile networks, as well as our data centre network. We will also be spending to realise our investment into WACS and also realise our other business objectives’.

Source: TeleGeography

Ghana: Airtel Upgrades 3.5g Service to 3.75g

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:58:17 GMT

Airtel, Ghana's fastest growing network with the most innovative products has upgraded its 3.5G service to 3.75G. The upgraded service aims at offering world class third generation experience to Ghanaians.Airtel, Ghana's fastest growing network with the most innovative products has upgraded its 3.5G service to 3.75G. The upgraded service aims at offering world class third generation experience to Ghanaians.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, the Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah added that: "the 3.75G technology will give our customers the opportunity to interact with data in a different way. This why Airtel does not see 3.75G as a product but a platform that enables the community expand its social and commercial horizons, alongside the rest of the world".

According to him, Airtel has introduced several data bundles that address the needs of the youth, the homemaker or family person, and the career person.

Mr Sowah explained that Airtel consistently monitors the network to ensure that their customers experience the best quality in the network.

Throwing more light on the 3.75G service, the Head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs of Airtel Ghana, Donald Gwira said the expertise and experience of global technology leaders, Ericson ensures that Airtel delivers the best customer experience in Ghana.

He noted that: "the 3.75G platform will allow subscribers to combine the enormous potential of the internet with the convenience of cellular phones and other devices.

According to him, Airtel has introduced several data bundles that address the needs of the youth, the homemaker or family person, and the career person.

Mr Sowah explained that Airtel consistently monitors the network to ensure that their customers experience the best quality in the network.

He noted that: "the 3.75G platform will allow subscribers to combine the enormous potential of the internet with the convenience of cellular phones and other devices.

According to him, among the enormous advantages of the 3.75G service is that it will liberate the potential of the youth through enabling fast access to the internet for learning, sharing, social networking, creating and accessing content like music.

"For the small and medium business, it will enable the entrepreneur to embrace a highly mobile way of working with high speed access to email and internet and it will allow large companies to increase productivity through vastly enhanced mobile internet speeds and access to record and allow for communication via video calls on handsets", he stressed.

The Country Manager of Main One Cable, Joseph Odoi was happy to say that: "In our line of business, having a telecommunication provider who promises and delivers speed is very important to us. I do know that Airtel's 3.75G is indeed fast and it is an improvement over the 3.5G service they launched first Ghana".

Source: The Chronicle

Kuwait’s Hits Telecom expanding into Tanzania

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:56:29 GMT

Kuwait’s Hits Telecom announced on Thursday it was looking to boost its presence in Africa and noted it was currently holding discussions with service providers in both Liberia and Tanzania to share towers. It also said it would launch nationwide services in both countries later this year.

In the statement to Reuters news agency, Chief Executive Par Eriksson said that the company also wanted to purchase another African operator during the year to increase its presence on the continent.

The company plans to invest some $100 million in Tanzania and another $40 million in Liberia, two countries where it has operational structures in place in the major cities.

Eriksson said of the tower-sharing talks: “Liberia is a small number, something like 25 sites, but in Tanzania it will be hundreds of sites”.

Hits has four African mobile licenses in the Democratic Republic of Congo where a launch is expected later this year, Equatorial Guinea where it has major coverage, and Liberia and Tanzania.

“In Equatorial Guinea we are more or less done. By February, we will have 96 or 97 percent coverage of the population,” Eriksson said.

“(So,) during the last half year, we have ensured we have enough funding to roll out two new operations in Liberia and then Tanzania.”

“We have one license left, DRC, which is a big country. So, this is a little bit late and we will not complete that network until 2013,” Eriksson said.

In the statement to Reuters news agency, Chief Executive Par Eriksson said that the company also wanted to purchase another African operator during the year to increase its presence on the continent.

The company plans to invest some $100 million in Tanzania and another $40 million in Liberia, two countries where it has operational structures in place in the major cities.

Eriksson said of the tower-sharing talks: “Liberia is a small number, something like 25 sites, but in Tanzania it will be hundreds of sites”.

Hits has four African mobile licenses in the Democratic Republic of Congo where a launch is expected later this year, Equatorial Guinea where it has major coverage, and Liberia and Tanzania.

“In Equatorial Guinea we are more or less done. By February, we will have 96 or 97 percent coverage of the population,” Eriksson said.

“(So,) during the last half year, we have ensured we have enough funding to roll out two new operations in Liberia and then Tanzania.”

“We have one license left, DRC, which is a big country. So, this is a little bit late and we will not complete that network until 2013,” Eriksson said.

Source: ItNews

Glo Mobile Ghana kicks off launch plan with ‘Number Reservation Campaign’

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:54:18 GMT

Ghanaian mobile start-up Glo Mobile has kicked off its launch programme by unveiling a ‘Number Reservation Campaign’, giving new users the chance to reserve a ‘023-3’ number on its fledgling network by sending a code number via SMS. The newcomer had promised to launch the network commercially yesterday, but in a press conference in Accra, its chief operating officer George Andah said only that the reservation programme marked the first in a raft of launch activities it is planning. ‘In accordance with National Communications Authority (NCA) guidelines on number registration, no single individual subscriber shall be permitted to reserve more than five Glo Mobile numbers and the numbers will be activated upon the commencement of commercial operation,’ he said. No confirmation on when that will be was given though. The COO did say however, that users would start seeing the ‘full experience’ the new network can offer once its number reservation campaign had reached ‘the desired threshold’.

Andah went on to say that Glo Mobile, which is the sixth player to enter the country’s saturated mobile market, has spent more than USD750 million to build a network comprising a broadband next generation network (NGN); over 1,600 base transceiver stations (BTS); four advanced switches with capacity for up to ten million lines; 18 base switching centres; 800 3G Node B-enabled cell sites; a state-of-the-art call centre and 25 retail (GloWorld) outlets.

Source: TeleGeography

Zamtel Mobile passes the one million subscriber mark ‘in record time’

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:53:20 GMT

Zamtel Mobile, the wireless operating arm of national fixed line operator Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Zamtel), has announced that it has passed the one million subscriber mark. According to ZambiaWatchdog.com, Zamtel chief commercial officer Amon Jere claims that the cellco has raised its subscriber base from ‘less than 100,000 to a million customers, an achievement previously considered impossible to [meet] within record time of less than twelve months’. Jere attributed its success to ‘diligent leadership with an abated focus on investment’; during 2011 Zamtel Mobile increased GSM coverage from 261 cell sites to more than 400, whilst deploying over 250 new 3G base stations in key cities across Zambia.

According to TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the cellco was the last of the country’s three operators to launch when it introduced its commercial service in August 2003 – more than four years later than either of its rivals Airtel or MTN. That delay gifted the by-then well established rivals a considerable head start, a fact that has ultimately cost both Zamtel Mobile and its parent company dearly. However, the cellular unit’s fortunes have improved dramatically following Zamtel’s July 2010 privatisation, which saw 75% of the company divested to Libya-based LAP Green Network, a firm that has built a solid reputation by breathing new life into ailing state-owned telcos in recent years.

Source: TeleGeography

Benin is disconnected from the Internet

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:50:48 GMT

Black-out in businesses leads the economy of Benin to be deeply disrupted

For nearly two weeks, Benin is totally cut off from the global village. The Internet circuits does not work. It is therefore impossible to navigate and access any information on the web.

According to officials of the technical team of Benin Telecom, approached yesterday, the cause of this failure experienced in Benin for weeks, the burning of the gearbox. A situation that has adverse consequences on the people and the economy of the country.

Many of the equipment that allow the spread of Internet communication placed in the international transmission site were destroyed in a fire that occurred two weeks ago.

Consequently, Benin is completely cut off from the Internet. According to the explanations of the technical staff of Benin Telecom SA, international calls and access to the Internet, before arriving in Benin, are going through a processing device installed at Cotonou’s SAT3 landing station.

Around 17:00 PM on the 7th January, the room that houses the facility caught fire. This fire would have left an air conditioner placed in the room.

Electronic modules that allow the spread of Internet communication and international calls were severely damaged by the fire, creating a general cut-off of all the Internet circuits in Benin. According to these officials, this also affects Togo, Niger, and Burkina Faso also linked to the international circuits of Benin.

A situation that could last

According to what has been entrusted agents of Benin Telecom SA, the country does not have at the moment, spare parts to restore the connection.

“We therefore need time to get these parts”. Finding a temporary solution is therefore essential. And that's one reason why Benin has started days ago negotiations with Nigeria and Ivory Coast in order to connect the international circuits to one of them. What can adjust a little bit the problem before replacing parts.

However, it seems that things have improved, because since the 14th of January, the connection, albeit slowly, took over and it is reasonable to think that the steps put forward to the satisfaction of end users.

A brake on banks and money transfer shops

They are not spared. In almost all the banks in the city of Cotonou, access to the Internet is impossible. The customer cannot be satisfied in any way. It is very difficult for him to send or receive money in his bank account.

At the agency of Western Union in Godomey district, no more customers because there is simply no access to the Internet. A situation that favors neither the customer nor the staff.

An officer of this financial institution that has been approached tells us "Since one week, we have no Internet. And that causes us a lot of trouble because without the connection, there is no validation of any transaction”. That same situation prevails at the agency of Ecobank on the campus of the university of Abomey Calavi. Many customers, with desolation on their faces, say "We do not understand how it would be so difficult to recover its own money”. “In what country are we living ?" launches a client. It is obvious that in front of this failure of the Internet, people are helpless. So Benin Telecom is urged to find in the coming days a way to quickly resolve this sad situation.

This also weakens the turnover of cybercafés

"It's very difficult for us to work under these conditions. Since the Internet is allowing us to achieve a good turnover, " said a manager of cybercafé located in Abomey Calavi. So it must be recognized that this taints also the business world. A lot of cyber know busiest. Internet users have deserted the place, only the typists work. Most people interviewed in some cyber disapprove this malfunction. "Since the Internet is broken, I see my interests fallen. It's as if I was cut off from the world and that nothing goes in my life ", according to a regular Internet user. For Penelope, head of one advertizing agency in Cotonou, thanks to the Internet she can communicate with partners and find markets for her company. But since this connection problem arises, she met many difficulties in her business. It is clear that for each other, the disconnection of the Internet cause many annoyances.

Robert AOUAD, CEO of ISOCEL Telecoms, the leading ISP in Benin, confirmed that his company has made every effort to avoid having to suffer the consequences of such circumstances once more.

Indeed, ISOCEL decided to install its own international links by interconnecting its network with existing submarine cables landing in in Nigeria. “We will start with Main One and as soon as WACS will be operational, we have the ability to get additional capacity on this submarine cable too”. This will take place in Q2 2012. But in the meantime, the initial capacity on Main One will be available within two weeks.

Apart from this, ISOCEL is about to install a VSAT link with a capacity of 100 Mbps to serve as backup in case a failure occur on the main links which are built on terrestrial fiber. “It will be bandwidth on demand which we will use to ensure a permanent uptime to our customer until the primary link is restored”.

Robert Aouad. CEO ISOCEL Telecoms

LAP GreenN response to unsubstantiated media reports

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:49:28 GMT

In response to continued unsubstantiated news reports appearing in the Zambian media regarding LAP GreenN’s purchase of its 75% stake in Zamtel, the newly appointed Chairman of LAP GreenN, Wafik Alshater, says:

“LAP GreenN is being subjected to a concerted campaign of misinformation via the Zambian media. The wilful misrepresentation of LAP GreenN has forced the company to explore legal options to protect its reputation.

“LAP GreenN categorically rejects any allegations of wrong-doing during the acquisition of its 75% stake in Zamtel. At all times LAP GreenN followed due process, facilitated by a consortium of internationally renowned professional service companies, including Standard Bank, Denton Wilde Sapte and KPMG South Africa. The open and competitive bid process was overseen by the Zambian Development Agency and included the direct involvement of the Attorney General and international legal advisers, Simmons and Simmons.

“The 75% stake sold to LAP GreenN in June 2010 for $257 million (ZK1.37 trillion) constituted the highest amount ever paid for a privatisation in Zambia and was at the time one of the higher valuations for a telecoms asset in Africa. Accusations that Zamtel was undervalued at the point of sale are completely baseless.

“Zamtel is a successful turnaround story and we remain very keen to cooperate with our partners in Zambia to ensure the continued growth and success of the company.”

LAP GreenN is the telecommunications investment arm of Libyan African Portfolio (LAP), focusing on the telecommunications sector in emerging markets. It operates mobile, fixed and ISP telecommunications businesses in Uganda, Zambia, Ivory Coast and South Sudan and has licenses to operate in an additional five countries. LAP GreenN is actively seeking to increase its footprint across Africa and the Middle East.

Source: UKZAMBIANS

Zambia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Hedberg joins management exodus from Altech

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:46:57 GMT

Jeffrey Hedberg has resigned as Altech’s chief operating officer less than nine months after joining the JSE-listed technology group, adding to a growing exodus of top management.

Hedberg, a US national who was previously acting group CEO at Telkom, was appointed to Altech last April amid much fanfare from CEO Craig Venter. He was also named as a director of the board and was chairman of Altech Netstar and Altech Radio Holdings.

In a terse statement to shareholders on Thursday, Venter says Hedberg has “decided to pursue his career outside the Altech Group”. “Jeffrey and I had a discussion and he indicated that he wanted to pursue his career opportunities elsewhere,” Venter says.

“During his time with us, Jeffrey brought a great deal of experience into the Altech Group and we are sorry to see him go, but understand his motivation for leaving. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

In a carefully worded statement, Hedberg says: “I came into the Altech Group to work with Craig on his vision to take Altech to the next level. I enjoyed working with the Altech team and believe that Altech’s operations are on the right track to securing their market leadership in the telecommunications, multimedia and IT sectors. I wish them continued success.”

Hedberg’s responsibilities will be managed by Venter and divisional executives until such time as a decision is made on a successor.

Altech has lost a string of top executives in the past 18 months, including former chief operating officer Andy Baker, telecommunications head James Rutherfoord and chief technology officer Ashraff Paruk, with insiders saying many of those who have left clashed with Venter over his apparently abrasive management style.

All Hedberg will tell TechCentral about his resignation is: “I can’t comment.”

At the time of Hedberg’s appointment in April last year, Venter said there would be a “powerful alliance” between the two men. Venter told TechCentral at the time of Hedberg’s appointment that “we will look at taking Altech into a much more global business. We’re going to be highly acquisitive in the next 12 months”.

By the time of publication, Venter had not returned calls from TechCentral seeking comment.

Hedberg, who has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, first came to SA in 2006 when he was hired to lead a turnaround at SA’s third mobile operator, Cell C. He later left Cell C before being appointed by Telkom to try to save the telecommunications operator’s troubled Multi-Links subsidiary in Nigeria.

He returned to SA as Telkom’s acting group CEO following the resignation of Reuben September (Telkom’s board said it would not renew September’s contract). Hedberg resigned from Telkom in 2011, with the job ultimately going to Nombulelo Moholi.

Jeffrey Hedberg has resigned as Altech’s chief operating officer less than nine months after joining the JSE-listed technology group, adding to a growing exodus of top management.

Hedberg’s responsibilities will be managed by Venter and divisional executives until such time as a decision is made on a successor.

All Hedberg will tell TechCentral about his resignation is: “I can’t comment.”

By the time of publication, Venter had not returned calls from TechCentral seeking comment.

Source: Tech Central

African Mobile Broadband, Data and Mobile Media Market

Nigeria: Proposed ICT Policy Will Boost National Development

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:43:53 GMT

Industry stakeholders have continued to express their views over the recently released draft National Information and Communications Technology ICT Policy, which seeks to harmonise all existing ICT Policies into a single policy for the technology sector of the economy.Industry stakeholders have continued to express their views over the recently released draft National Information and Communications Technology ICT Policy, which seeks to harmonise all existing ICT Policies into a single policy for the technology sector of the economy.

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY that the plan by the Communications Technology Ministry to come up with harmonised ICT Policy, was a welcomed development, explaining that the policy document, if well implemented, will address the collective interest of all stakeholders in the ICT sector, as well as boost national development in the country.

Adebayo who said he had taken enough time out of his busy schedule to thoroughly read and digest the draft copy of the policy as released by the Communications Technology Ministry, commended the committee that put up the document together, adding that it was a good job that was properly done with the interests of all stakeholders in mind.

He said the ICT Policy was capable of addressing contemporary issues in the ICT industry, since the existing ICT policies put together, had become obsolete, when compared with modern day realities.

Adebayo who commended the efforts of the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, for the action taken thus far, said the minister was out to take the ICT industry to the next level.

Communications Technology Ministry had on Monday January 9, 2012, released a draft national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy for the country, and called on all stakeholders of the ministry and members of the public to review the draft policy and make their contributions.

The draft National ICT policy, which was posted on the Ministry's website, is expected to be there for two weeks to allow for inputs before it is presented to the Federal Executive Council.

The harmonised ICT policy, when implemented, is expected to address appropriate policies, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks as well as a converged ICT regulatory agency. It will also address affordable and reliable access to ICT, investment in ICT, research and development in ICT, legislations in cybercrimes, ethical and moral conduct, privacy, copyrights, intellectual property rights, piracy and e-transactions.

The draft National ICT policy, which was posted on the Ministry's website, is expected to be there for two weeks to allow for inputs before it is presented to the Federal Executive Council.

Johnson had on August 25, 2011, set up a nine-man ad-hoc committee to harmonise all the various policies for the different sectors in the ICT industry, which includes Telecommunications, Broadcasting, Information Technology and Postal Services.

The harmonisation of the various ICT policies marks the first step in the restructuring of the industry for the overall development of the ICT sector.

The committee, chaired by the President of Digital Bridge Institute, Prof. Raymond Akwule, was given six weeks time- frame to conclude the harmonisation of all ICT policies into a single ICT policy. The committee had since completed its task and submitted its report to the ministry ,which took time to study it before releasing it for public consumption and input.

The harmonisation of the various ICT policies marks the first step in the restructuring of the industry for the overall development of the ICT sector.

Source: This Day

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Alan Knott-Craig joins Cell C as CEO

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:40:14 GMT

South Africa’s third mobile operator Cell C, has confirmed that former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig will be joining Cell C as CEO as from 1 April. Cell C added that they decided on Knott-Craig after “a comprehensive search both domestically and internationally”.

Cell C’s interim CEO Simon Duffy, a non-executive chairperson, added that Knott-Craig is a great choice and that he will bring a lot of value to the brand.

“Alan is one of the most capable and experienced leaders in the industry and I am confident that his appointment will significantly enhance Cell C’s ability to provide an excellent service to its customers and to compete even more effectively for their business.”

Knott-Craig also commented on his appointment, saying that it’s an interesting industry to be in. “After a break from the telecommunications industry, I am looking forward to being at the helm of Cell C. The mobile telecommunications sector is a highly innovative and disruptive industry, and I am excited about the challenge of making Cell C a more effective competitor to the dominant players.”

Cell C’s interim CEO Simon Duffy, a non-executive chairperson, added that Knott-Craig is a great choice and that he will bring a lot of value to the brand.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in South Africa’s telecommunications market

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Kenya: AccessKenya Takes On Its Rivals With Sh30 Million Data Centre Upgrade

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:25:26 GMT

AccessKenya is upgrading its data centre at a cost of Sh30 million to expand its capacity and bring it at par with its rivals such as Safaricom.

Jonathan Somen, the company's chief executive officer, said yesterday the move is part of a progressive plan to optimise functions of the data facility.

"With these upgrades, we will now be at par with Tier One Service Providers around the world and this gives our clients confidence that their data is safe with us," said Mr Somen.

"We have invested heavily in building the right infrastructure so that we can incessantly support the critical services on our network and give our customers a better experience."

The firm is also banking on offering services such as video conferencing to improve its profitability that has been on a downward trend.

This has mainly been due to stiff competition from new entrants in the data market like mobile service providers, who are not only targeting its core clients like banks and parastatals with data storage facilities but have also started offering other outsourced services such as software development.

To remain competitive AccessKenya has in the recent years expanded its product portfolio to include a wide range of information technology services such as data backup, disaster recovery, remote assistance and inter-branch connectivity.

The company has also adopted a new data authentication system to protect Internet users on its network from imminent threats posed by cyber crime that have become rampant in the recent years.

The system, which is a set of extensions to the Domain Name System (DNS), is dubbed Domain Name System Security Extension and will protect the firm's DNS infrastructure against cache poisoning, spoofed updates, corrupt data and what is commonly referred to as "man-in-the-middle attack".

DNS is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.

It associates assorted information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities.

"This technology allows for digitally signed answers. This means that a client will be able to discern the authenticity of information received and the information on the authoritative DNS server," he explained.

Source: Business Daily

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Kenya: Telkom Takes Aim On Safaricom With New Internet Deal

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:22:31 GMT

Telkom Kenya has introduced a cheaper unlimited Internet access tariff in an effort to curb the growing dominance of Safaricom in the mobile data market.

The firm said yesterday it would charge its mobile Internet subscribers based on the period of use rather than data capacity with consumers paying Sh39 daily, Sh249 weekly and Sh990 monthly on their mobile phone.

Those using 3G modems would be charged Sh990 and Sh2,990 weekly and monthly respectively.

The review of pricing structure targets heavy Internet users.

This has put Telkom Kenya in the same breath as Safaricom, which has used the unlimited pricing structure to gain marketshare.

It charges Sh1,000 a week and Sh3,000 monthly for unlimited Internet access.

"We are positioning ourselves for subscribers who would like to use applications that require heavy Internet capacity such as e-commerce and e-health," said Telkom Kenya chief executive officer Mickael Ghossein.

He added that the current trend shows that mobile Internet is the future and heavy users prefer unlimited packages.

Previously, it charged its subscribers on mobile phones Sh100 for 50MB and Sh750 for 1GB while those on 3G modem were paying Sh100 for 50MBS and Sh7,990 for 20GB.

The Internet market is becoming important for the mobile telephony firms that have seen a vicious price war cut earnings in the voice segment.

The cost of airtime has more than halved since August 2010 and this has seen consumers call budget fall by a similar margin.

As a result, the operators are increasingly looking to the data market for growth, sparking a price war in this segment of the telecoms business.

Data from the Communications Commission of Kenya show that 14.3 million Kenyans had access of the Internet in the period to September up from 8.6 million in September 2010 -- pushing Internet penetration to 36.3 per cent from 22.1 per cent.

However, subscribers accessing Internet through mobile phones stood at 5.3 million in September.

The unlimited tariff along with Safaricom's wide subscriber base has seen it tighten its grip of the mobile Internet market akin to its dominance in the voice segment.

Of the 5.3 million mobile subscribers, Safaricom controls 4.3 million users or 88 per cent of the market while its rivals Airtel and Telkom Kenya have a nine and two per cent stakes respectively.

Presently, Safaricom controls 88.7 per cent market share of voice traffic--a pointer that the price war, which halved airtime cost by half since August 2010, has not shifted the players' stakes significantly. Airtel's share stood at 6.55 per cent.

On subscribers, Safaricom remains dominant with 67.7 per cent of the market. Airtel has 15.7 per cent, Orange 10.4 per cent while Yu trails with 6.2 per cent, according to the CCK data.

Source: Business Daily

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Vodacom deadlock nearing end

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:18:14 GMT

A spokesperson for Vodacom has announced that the company is close to resolving a dispute that has prevented major investment in the telco’s Congolese operation since 2009, reports Bloomberg. South Africa-based Vodacom Group, 51% stake holder of Vodacom Congo, has been involved in a quarrel with its local partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congolese Wireless Networks (CWN) over the South African company’s plan to inject USD484 million of capital into the joint venture. CWN moved to block the investment, claiming that it would dilute CWN’s 49% share in the company, as its shareholders would not be able to finance their half of the funding. The case was referred to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Brussels for arbitration in March 2010, though the matter has yet to be put to the court. Vodacom announced in May last year that it was exploring options, including withdrawing from DRC by selling its stake in Vodacom Congo: following that announcement, fellow South Africans MTN expressed an interest in purchasing the stake, as did Angola’s Unitel.

Kinshasa’s Supreme Court ruled in October last year that CWN’s chairman and founder, Alieu Conteh was to be suspended, after trying to prevent Vodacom from selling its stake. The decision was overturned, however, and Conteh is still involved in the talks. Johan Dennelind, Vodacom’s head of international operations said: ‘We’re making good progress and getting closer to a solution.’ Dennelind did not clarify his statement, leaving it unclear whether or not the ‘solution’ was a resolution of the structuring and financing dispute, or an agreement regarding terms for the sale of Vodacom’s share in the telco.

Source: TeleGeography

Vox targets rural subscribers with satellite broadband

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:16:01 GMT

According to BusinessDay, South African broadband provider Vox Telecom plans to launch a ‘low-cost satellite internet broadband’ service in June, and expects to sign up around 40,000 subscribers during its first three years of operation. The announcement follows Vox’s agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Yahsat, which is poised to launch its YahClick ‘Y1B’ satellite next month. Vox product manager Jacques Visser commented: ‘YahClick is a perfect broadband option for those who can’t get ADSL service, or who need a backup service in case of outages. Satellite has traditionally been seen as an expensive option that’s only suitable for remote sites of large enterprises, but the technology has changed so much in recent years that it’s a real option as a primary broadband connection’. Vox will reportedly target farms, clinics, game lodges and schools in remote areas.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in South Africa’s telecommunications market

South Africa - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Ethio Telecom drops fixed call rates to boost traffic, subscriber numbers

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:12:19 GMT

Ethiopian fixed line incumbent Ethio Telecom has slashed the cost of calls for its fixed line voice customers in response to a lower-than-expected increase in subscribers and revenue in 2011. According to AllAfrica, the operator has announced that with a view to encouraging uptake rates for calls made at peak times (7am to 9pm) have been reduced by 66.3% to ETB0.83 (USD0.05) per minute, while off-peak rates have been cut even further, plunging by some 228% to just ETB0.035 per minute. Commenting on the development, Abdurahim Ahmed, head of public communications for Ethio Telecom, said: ‘This [move] is to encourage subscribers to use [the fixed line service] more frequently than they used to, which, in turn, increases the revenues of the company … The traffic from subscribers making calls is the way to generate more revenue.’

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Ethiopia’s telecommunications market

Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts v

Uganda’s Warid hopeful on mobile money

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:10:16 GMT

With Uganda’s mobile money taking off in recent months, Warid Telecom is confident that they are able to make a push into the market currently dominated by MTN.

According to local figures, MTN Uganda currently controls at least 75 percent of all mobile money endeavours, making newer entries into the sector difficult, but this has not stopped Warid from pushing forward.

“We believe our offerings are on par or better than the competitors out there and we know that through some effort, we can be successful in entering the electronic money to pay for goods and services,” Shailendra Naidu, Warid Uganda’s Chief Commericial Officer, said.

“We enable users an easy, hassle free way to pay for items via their mobile phone and it is already gaining traction,” she added.

Already, the company has begun aggressively marketing their new service through strategic points across the country, including small kiosks as well as larger telecom centres, with the hope of creating awareness among all their clientele.

For users, it seems to be working, although slowly. In less well-off areas of the country, Ugandans are able to use these new services to purchase goods that would otherwise have taken days to do through the more traditional banking strategies. Even paying for school is an option now.

“I think they are all doing a decent job, but it will take time for people here in these parts to really get on to the idea,” said one villager outside Kampala.

Warid’s strategy is more grassroots and Naidu’s hope is that through the use of the technology it can begin to build bridges from rural areas to the city.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in Uganda’s telecommunications market

Uganda - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecastsv

Nigeria looks to unified ICT regulator

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:07:53 GMT

Nigeria’s National Draft Policy within the Information and Communications Technology sector of the communications ministry said on Monday that it would like to see a unified regulator for the ICT sector as a whole in the country.

The move has left some wondering how the ministry would be able to cover and monitor all segments of the ICT sector.

Marketing manager at MTN Nigeria David Ognebayo told IT News Africa that he felt the move would limit the ability of the existing regulators to move forward with efforts to understand the sector on a minute level.

“What could happen is that too many loop holes would appear and enable operators to take advantage of low oversight,” he said.

The draft policy on the ministry’s website said it wants to “harmonize the disparate policies governing the ICT industry in Nigeria.”

The goal of the document is to make it as the guiding paper and platform “for the overall development of the ICT industry and will facilitate the creation of a digital, knowledge based economy.”

The draft document is proposing a government institutional structure whereby the ministry is responsible for communications and information technology while a converged ICT regulator would oversee telecommunications, broadcasting, postal and IT sectors.

According to the draft document, the converged ICT regulator would consist of departments including telecommunications, broadcasting, postal and IT each of which “shall be headed by an executive commissioner.”

This would mean the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the regulator of the telecommunications sector, the National Broadcasting Commission (NCC), regulating broadcasting, Nigerian Postal Service (Nipost) and National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) would become departments with executive commissioners in the proposed draft policy.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecastsv

Tanzania to boost its internet connectivity

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:04:30 GMT

Tanzania will be boosting the access of the internet and lowering the cost of connectivity in the country when it plans to fork out over $189 million on laying the national fibre optic network.

The project will be jointly financed by China and Tanzania, while the Minister for Communication Science and Technology Professor Makame Mbarawa confirmed that China will invest $170 million, while the host country will pay $18 million.

Mbarawa added that the project aims to connect all the regions of the country, and should be completed by the end of 2012. “Over 10,000km will be connected by March this year and the government plans to expand to all regions in the country,” he said.

“ICT development and advancement have a positive correlation.

Where there is ICT infrastructure, established structures and unconditional and reliable accessibility then automatically there is social, cultural and economic development.

ICT can therefore be a tool for achieving sustainable development, which comprises economic development, social development and environmental protection,” the East African wrote.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in Tanzania’s telecommunications market

Tanzania - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts v

MTN gives 20% back to contract customers

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:59:37 GMT

With festive spending having left many consumers feeling more cost-sensitive, MTN is giving its contract customers a more cost-effective way to spend on airtime. The network is rewarding each customer with 20% of their recharge value as free airtime.

“Due to the success of the Topup 20% Give Back Promotion last year, we decided to bring this promotion back so that contract customers know that we are responsive to their needs” says Serame Taukobong, MTN South Africa Chief Marketing Officer.

“At a time when many contract customers are looking for ways to control their spending, MTN is offering an antidote by ensuring that contract customers can stay connected, whilst also getting something back from their spending at the same time,” Serame adds.

This promotion runs until 31 March 2012 and is limited to customers on MTN Anytime TopUp and MTN Off Peak TopUp, (including Zone TopUp).

According to Serame, “MTN believes that contract customers should have the flexibility to control their spending, especially at a time when their purse strings are a little tighter. This promotion is a direct response to these anxieties, as well as a reward for staying with the Ayoba network”.

Customers will receive 20% of the value of their recharge value as free airtime when they recharge from all recharge channels, “This means that there are no strings attached. Customers can recharge at an ATM, via internet banking, mobile banking, or using Eazi Recharge, Physical and logical airtime vouchers and virtual airtime”, Serame explains.

“The Topup 20% Give Back Promotion shows that the Ayoba network rewards its customers and also understands their constraints. We want to enable contract customers to have the lifestyle they want by giving them control over their monthly spending limit”, Serame adds. The Ayoba network is all about giving its customers flexibility.

Source: ItNews

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecastsv

Aircom finally ready for network launch after twelve-year delay?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:57:01 GMT

According to local media reports, Cote d’Ivoire mobile licensee Aircom is poised to launch commercial services this month – almost twelve years after receiving its original concession. Aircom, which was first awarded a licence on 2 August 2000, found its progress halted indefinitely by unspecified regulatory issues, and was widely dismissed as a telecoms footnote, alongside ill-fated operators such as Warid Telecom and Cora de Comstar, both of which endured a torrid time at the hands of the Ivorian government.

The press reports, which quote Aircom boss Niamoutie Kouao, indicate that the cellco has met ‘all administrative requirements’ and will become the sixth mobile operator active within the country, alongside MTN Cote d’Ivoire, Orange Cote d’Ivoire, Moov, Comium (Koz) and GreenN Cote d’Ivoire. Aircom’s network will initially go live in eight cities, including: Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Abengourou, Daloa, Gagnoa and San Pedro, with connectivity gradually extended to the remainder of the country. Services will be offered under the ‘Mobile Cafe’ brand.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Cote d’Ivoire’s telecommunications market

Cote d Ivoire (Ivory Coast) - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband v

Nigeria: Airtel Announces N1 SMS Offer

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:04:51 GMT

Airtel Nigeria has announced a special SMS offer to help its customers connect with their family members, friends, and business associates during the difficult period.

Under the terms of the offer announced last week, Airtel customers can send SMS for only N1 per SMS to other Airtel lines within Nigeria.

Current SMS rates are N5 per SMS to Airtel lines, N9 per SMS to other networks and N15 to international numbers.

With the offer, Airtel customers will be able to make a lot of savings on phone usage by sending SMS to the Airtel numbers of their contacts. The SMS rates to other networks and international numbers will however remain the same during the offer, the company said.

Source: Daily Trust

trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Samsung plans R334 billion investment in 2012

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:04:24 GMT

Samsung Group, which includes Samsung Electronics Co, said on Tuesday it is raising its 2012 investment to a record $41.4 billion, as the South Korean conglomerate seeks to consolidate its leading position in mobile chips and flat screens.

Best known for making massive investments in new technologies ahead of rivals, Samsung is now banking on logic chips and OLED displays to repeat its roaring success in flash chips, computer memory chips and LCD flat-screens, even as a gloomy global economic and IT spending outlook make its peers stick to conservative plans.

Samsung Group, South Korea’s biggest business group, did not provide a breakdown of the 47.8 trillion won investment. But analysts have widely expected it to raise investment in mobile chips and next-generation OLED (organic light emitting diode) flat-screen displays.

“Samsung’s got strong cash flow to make bold bets in new technologies. No other IT company can beat it in terms of investment and that’s how Samsung finds new revenue sources ahead of rivals and widen its gap,” Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

Of the total investment, capital spending will amount to 31 trillion won, up 11 percent from a year ago, Samsung said in a statement.

Analysts expect some 25 trillion won, or 80 percent of the capital spending, will be from Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest technology firm by revenue, and its display unit, mainly to boost capacity of system chips and OLEDs.

Investment in system chips such as mobile processors and sensors used in smartphones, tablets, and cameras is likely to exceed spending on its bread-and-butter memory chips for the first time, reaching 7.5 trillion won, or some 1 trillion won higher than investment in memory chips, according to analysts.

Investment in OLED is likely to rise to 7 trillion won from last year’s some 5 trillion won, and the rest will be spent on LCDs, rechargeable batteries and LEDs, analysts said.

Samsung Electronics makes mobile processors to power Apple’s iPhone and iPad as well as its own Galaxy line of mobile products. Its display unit, Samsung Mobile Display, is also a near monopolistic supplier of OLED displays, which are mainly used in high-end mobile gadgets and are set to become dominant in TV screens to replace LCD.

OLED display revenues are expected to exceed $20 billion by 2018 to account for 16 percent of the total display industry, up from the current 4 percent, according to research firm DisplaySearch.

DIVERGES FROM KEY RIVAL

The record spending, which is up 12 percent from last year’s 42.8 trillion won, comes as its key home rival, LG Group, which owns LG Electronics Inc and LG Display, cuts its 2012 investment by some $3 billion amid uncertain global business outlook.

Samsung is South Korea’s biggest business conglomerate and has around 80 companies. Its total revenues account for some 20 percent of South Korea’s annual gross domestic product which is valued at 1,200 trillion won.

With this year’s investment, Samsung’s spending since 2009 will total 148 trillion won ($128.2 billion).

By 0230 GMT, shares in Samsung Electronics, Asia’s biggest technology firm by market value, rose 0.6 percent, lagging a 1.4 percent rise in the broader market. Samsung Elec has a market value of about $144 billion.

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Telecom Egypt Names New Chief Executive Officer

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:03:55 GMT

Telecom Egypt has named Eng. Tarek Aboualam as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director with effect from 19 January 2012.

Telecom Egypt's current CEO, Eng. Mohammed Abdel Rehim Hassanein is stepping down when he reaches the age of retirement, in line with TE's corporate policy.

The new CEO, Eng. Tarek Aboualam joined Telecom Egypt in May 2009 as Vice President, International & Wholesale and was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President in June 2011.

A replacement for the role of Vice President, International & Wholesale will be announced in due course.

Telecom Egypt owns 44% of Vodafone Egypt.

Source: Cellular-News

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Jamii dodges competition with fibre upgradeJamii dodges competition with fibre upgrade

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:03:25 GMT

Kenyan broadband provider Jamii Telecommunications Ltd (JTL) intends to spend around KES261 million (USD2.9 million) on a comprehensive upgrade of its entire fibre-optic network, with a view to situating itself in pole position for government tenders to bring internet connectivity to the country’s rural counties. According to Business Daily Africa, the upgrade will see JTL’s existing Ethernet network upgraded to the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard, giving it more security than rivals Kenya Data Networks (KDN) and Telkom Kenya as it seeks to formulate working relationships with banks and other financial institutions perceived to be increasingly susceptible to cyber-crime.

Joshua Chepkwony, chairman of JTL, said that the upgrade – which is scheduled to commence next week – is expected to be completed by end-March; it will cover Nairobi, Mombasa, Naivasha, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kitale, Bugoma, Busia, Kakamega, Thika, Kisii and Kericho. Chepkwony added: ‘The upgrade will give us a head start over our rivals, especially in the counties where banks and government will require secure internet connections due to the sensitivity of the information they handle’. The cost of the project – for which equipment will be provided by Israel-based supplier ECI Telecom – will be met through vendor financing, with JTL fulfilling its credit obligations in a series of instalments.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Delayed Airtel 3G network promised by end-March

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:02:53 GMT

Airtel Kenya chief operating officer Shivan Bhargava has responded to questions over the year-long delay surrounding its 3G network launch by promising that the belated service will be operational by end-March 2012. In an email to Kenyan daily newspaper The Star, Bhargava confirmed: ‘We will continue to offer more innovative products and services, including the increased depth of [mobile wallet service] Airtel Money, and the introduction of our world-class 3G HSPA [network] this quarter’.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in June 2010 Airtel was awarded a 3G licence by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) for a fee of USD10 million, with the CCK cutting the price from USD25 million earlier that month in order to encourage operator take-up. In January 2011 Airtel announced that it intended to launch its long-awaited 3G network in March, after the completion of its KES25 billion rollout. Although the date passed without launch, March 2011 did see Airtel sign a five-year deal with broadband provider Kenya Data Networks (KDN) to utilise its fibre-optic network for backhaul purposes ahead of the planned launch. Under the terms of the partnership, KDN was due to connect Airtel’s 500 mobile base stations using its 6,500km countrywide fibre-optic network. Despite unconfirmed reports of field tests during the summer of 2011, the Indian-owned operator remained tight-lipped over its plans. Worryingly for the cellco, rival Telkom Kenya – which secured a 3G licence a full five months after Airtel – went on to launch its UMTS network in August 2011, albeit on a limited basis, meaning that Airtel is already playing catch-up in the wireless broadband sector.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Namibia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadbandv

Telecel investing USD70m this year in network

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:02:16 GMT

Telecel Zimbabwe has announced plans to invest USD70 million this year to expand and upgrade its GSM and fledgling 3G mobile networks, including a fibre-optic backbone infrastructure project. Telecel intends to roll out 300 new base stations in total and to enhance its 3G coverage and capacity in all main cities of Zimbabwe, it said. Last year it deployed 127 new 2G and 3G base stations. The company also announced that it will be upgrading switching capacity to cope with an expected rise in subscribers from the 1.24 million it reported in September 2011 to more than 2.5 million by the end of 2012. This week the Zimbabwean regulator POTRAZ reported that Telecel’s user base had surpassed 1.8 million at the end of 2011, although the watchdog’s figures have tended to differ from those reported by the cellco, which indicated that it currently has roughly 1.5 million active customers.

Source: TeleGeography

Tanzania: Rene Meza Poaches Two Airtel Executives to Vodacom Tanzania

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:01:44 GMT

Rene Meza, the immediate former CEO of Airtel, has scored a major coup on his previous employer after poaching two executives to Vodacom Tanzania, highlighting the talent challenges in the region's telecom companies.

He has tapped Luis Fedriani, Airtel IT director and Hassan Saleh, sales director, to the Tanzanian unit owned by Bharti Airtel's rival Vodafone UK, which also poached Mr Meza in September.

This has forced Airtel back to the talent market at a moment when local mobile telephony firms are finding it difficult to fill top sales and technical positions with local labour force, prompting them to turn to expensive expatriates.

"I can confirm that the two (Mr Fedrian and Mr Saleh) will be joining Vodacom Tanzania from February 1 in executive positions," said Mr Meza in a telephone interview.

Mr Fedrian is from Paraguay while Mr Saleh is from Uganda and they will hold the positions of head of sales and IT departments respectively at Vodacom.

This is the second time Mr Meza is tapping Mr Saleh whom he served with in Tigo Tanzania--a mobile telephony firm--before being appointed CEO of Airtel in 2008.

Vodafone UK also owns 40 per cent of Kenya's market leader, Safaricom.

On Thursday, Airtel put fresh adverts for the two positions along with that of head of its money transfer service, whose holder Sieka Gatabaki has been promoted to Bharti Airtel's Nairobi-based Africa office.

The appointments effectively brings to fruition an operating structure that Airtel has been working on since it took over the company last year and picked Nairobi to host its Africa office.

It has downgraded the position of sales and distribution director, which was until December manned by Mr Saleh, to that of head of sales Kenya whose leader will report to the commercial director, Leo Suares who joined the firm in July.

The Indian firm that took control of Kenya's second-largest telecoms operator last year has eliminated the position of chief executive when Mr Meza quit, choosing instead to leave the firm in the hands of a chief operating officer.

"Going forward, we will focus on attracting and growing the best Kenyan talent to complement our existing high performing talent as we intensify changing the game in the market," said Shivan Bhargava, chief operating officer, Airtel Kenya.

It remains to be seen whether Airtel will fill the twin position with local talent, a feat that Safaricom found difficult.

Quest for innovators

Safaricom has appointed Thibaud Rerolle as the technical director from Orange Dominican, making him the third expatriate to be appointed by the company since August in its quest for new ideas to ride Kenya's competitive telecom's market.

Besides Mr Rerolle, 41, Safaricom tapped John Tombleson in November as the chief financial officer from Vodafone Qatar where he was the acting CEO and appointed Maurice Newa as director customer service from MTC Namibia where he was chief operating officer.

In Kenya's cutthroat telecoms business, companies are developing good ideas that are being copied with speed, forcing employers to be constantly on the lookout for innovators.

Source: Business Daily

Sierra Leone: Country Releases Timeline to Liberalize Gateway

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:58 GMT

To demonstrate its commitment to key regulatory and policy changes, the government of Sierra Leone has released a summarized road map and activities leading to the full liberalization of the international gateway and the revision of the country's telecom law.

The government stated that the liberalization will safeguard open competition in the distribution of access to the Africa Coast to Europe ACE capacity, which is expected to be operational before the end of 2012.

The ACE system is a 17,000-km-long cable that will serve 23 countries between France and South Africa and be the first submarine cable to land in The Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sao Tomé & Principe, and Sierra Leone. It will connect via terrestrial fiber networks the landlocked countries of Mali and Niger.

"Towards this end, the GoSL intends to liberalize the international gateway before the cable is commercialized," government stated.

"The GoSL also intends to revise the existing Telecommunications Act to reverse the monopoly of Sierratel over the GoSL international telecommunications and internet gateway."

Till date, the gateway has been monopolized by the national carrier Sierratel giving it a strong financial footing as it provides services to other telcos such as Sierra Leone's three major GSM providers Airtel, Africell and Comium and internet service providers.

According to the action plan and timeline released, legislation to amend the Telecommunications Act of 2006 by repealing applicable provisions and replacing them with those that end international gateway monopoly, would be introduced by February 15. The legislation with indicative completion date and effective date not later than July 5 should be passed in parliament and signed by the president by March 5.

A consultant that would review and revise the Act "to bring it into conformity with international best practices" would be selected by April 15 and an initial draft of the revised Act would be submitted to the government and other stakeholders by July 15.

There would be public consultations on the draft till July 30, final recommendation for the act would be submitted to the government by August 5 and approval of the final recommendation would be obtained by August 15.

Finally, a legislation to replace the Telecommunication Act of 2006 with the final revised act would be introduced by September 15.

For years, telcos have called for the liberalization of the international gateway in Sierra Leone. After they launched the Sierra Leone GSM Operators Association SLGSMOA in 2008, the telcos called for a transparent examination of its allocation.

Also, while landing the ACE fibre cable in Freetown last year, President Ernest Koroma cited the liberalization of the gateway as one of the challenges to complete the implementation of the fiber optic system in Sierra Leone.

However, with this timeline, it is likely that the liberalization of Sierra Leone's gateway would be achieved this year. And with the government's plan to divest at least 50% of its interest in the

ACE consortium to the private sector before commencement of commercial operations, the debate over its allocation would be put to rest.

Yesterday, at a workshop organized by the project implementation unit of the ministry of information and communications, some of the reasons for which the fibre optic cable which landed in Freetown last October has not become operational were discussed at length.

In his statement, deputy information minister, Sheka Tarawallie, said so much has been done to land the cable and a lot more has to be done to get it working. "As I said earlier, the cable landed in October 2011. A lot of work went into it before that happened.

From then till now much has been accomplished. But there remains a lot more to do before the cable becomes operational. It is therefore necessary to adequately inform the public as to what still has to be done and when they can start using it,"he said.

According to Julius Kamara, the Project Coordinator for the West Africa Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme WARCIP-SL, a key factor delaying the operation of the submarine cable is procurement. He explained that the project has many procurement implications which must follow Sierra Leone's as well as the World Bank's policies.

Each stage of the process, he says, takes time. Other steps include the connection of VPN for key ministries and MDAs, establishment of the Sierra Leone Internet Exchange SLIX, establishment of the emergency national communication network, revision of Sierra Leone's telecom laws, liberalization of the international gateway and ensuring that NATCOM, the telecom regulatory body in Sierra Leone, is capable of monitoring the sector effectively just to name but few.

Kamara however disclosed that the Africa Coast to Europe ACE submarine cable would be operational by the third quarter of this year, which is between September and December.

A study by the GSM Association in February 2007, citing Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt as case studies, showed that competition in the international gateways market can reduce call prices by up to 90 percent and double call volumes.

Since Nigeria liberalized its telecom sector in 2001, its market has been opened up to private investment and huge progress has been recorded in the industry. The Nigerian telecom industry witnessed an average growth rate of about 8 million lines per year and by the end of October 2008, the country had attained about 59 million lines with a teledensity figure of 42 lines per 100 inhabitants.

Some observers say the liberalization of the international gateway will be a big stride for Sierra Leone's ICT development.

Source: Concord Times

Zimbabwe: AAG Opposes Telecel Appointment

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:21 GMT

THE Affirmative Action Group is opposed to the appointment of another foreign managing director at Telecel Zimbabwe at the expense of locals and has called on Government to deny the expatriate a work permit.

Telecel Zimbabwe appointed US-born Swiss citizen Mr John Swaim last December to replace Rwandese and Canadian citizen Mr Aimable Mpore who left after the expiry of his two-year permit in April last year.

AAG, the vociferous black empowerment advocacy group, said foreign executives often undermined local interests.

The organisation said the appointment of a foreign managing director to replace another expatriate was tantamount to underestimating indigenous capabilities.

AAG chief executive Dr Davison Gomo urged the Government to deny Mr Swaim a work permit as that would be contrary to the spirit of indigenisation and empowerment.

"We are very concerned that Telecel Zimbabwe has demonstrably failed to understand the need to comply with the current drive towards the empowerment of the indigenous people," he said.

Mr Swaim this week said he would hold the influential position at the firm on an interim basis pending the appointment of a Zimbabwean.

But AAG said controlling shareholders of the group should have identified a local person to assume the reins during Mr Mpore's time.

In fact, Mr Mpore's contract had the option of extension subject to the renewal of his two-year work permit.

"The outgoing MD was in Zimbabwe for two years and during that time, more than one person should have been prepared to take over. We cannot carry on appeasing foreigners, even on jobs that local people can do."

AAG said Telecel needed to give a good reason for appointing foreigners to positions of influence when Zimbabwe had many capable minds.

"The underlying problem is that appointing a foreign national (once again) to the position of managing director could be construed as a vote of no confidence in the abilities and capabilities of our indigenous people," said Dr Gomo.

"However, what is even more critical is that foreigners have a tendency of awarding major contracts to their foreign friends, leaving Zimbabweans to scramble for subcontracts that pay less."

Dr Gomo said, based on the complaints "that we get from our members, foreign-led companies spend a lot of money unnecessarily on goods that can be sourced locally often claiming that Zimbabwean goods are inferior".

Orascom makes the executive appointments at Telecel Zimbabwe through its subsidiary Telecel International. The Egyptian firm was last year acquired by worldwide mobile telecommunications group Vimpelcom.

Telecel international owns 60 percent of Telecel Zimbabwe.

AAG said many countries across the world protected their policy space and Zimbabwe was not asking too much in advocating the empowerment of locals.

Source: The Herald

Egypt: Communications Minister to Enhance Cooperation With Ethiopia

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:59:45 GMT

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Mohamed Salem said in a press release on 11/01/2012 that he will head a delegation of high-ranking leaders of the ministry to visit Addis Ababa on 18/1/2012.

The visit will enhance means of cooperation between Egypt and Ethiopia and activate partnership initiatives with the African Union and United Nations Economic Commission concerning Africa.

Salem said that the visit will include the signing of agreement with the Ethiopian side, under the umbrella of the Egyptian-Ethiopian initiative, which aims to develop areas of cooperation in the telecommunications sector and information technology.

Source: Egypt State Information Servicev

Namibia: Leo Buyout Premature

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:40:03 GMT

THE Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) is yet to receive an application from Telecom Namibia for the acquisition of Powercom, which trades as mobile operator Leo, despite reports that Telecom has taken over the management of the mobile operator.

Cran and the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) yesterday released a joint statement in response to a report in The Namibian that Leo has been under Telecom control from the beginning of the year.

Mergers and acquisitions of telecommunications service providers require the approval of both authorities.

While the application for the merger between Telecom and Powercom has been submitted to the NaCC, no such application has reached Cran, the statement reads.

According to the agreement between Cran and the NaCC, once such applications are submitted to the two regulatory bodies, each then makes an independent determination on the matter.

The Namibian reported yesterday that Leo staff were informed in December that they would be under Telecom management from January 1.

Telecom Namibia spokesperson Oiva Angula yesterday issued a press statement, saying that reports of the completed takeover are "entirely baseless and wrong".

"As matters are, Telecom Namibia is in no way involved in Leo," reads Angula's statement.

However, when asked to confirm the management takeover of Leo on Monday, Angula would neither confirm nor deny the speculation.

On Monday, Cran board chairperson Lazarus Jacobs said the takeover had not been concluded, as there were still legal and regulatory issues that needed to be sorted out.

Jacobs said if Telecom bought Leo it would do so with a telecommunications service licence, adding that certain requirements must be met in order for Cran to issue such a licence.

In order to comply with the Communication Act, a service provider must have majority Namibian ownership.

Since its establishment last year, Cran has begun transferring all telecommunications service licences to a new regulatory regime, but has not yet done so for Leo, as the mobile operator is 100 per cent foreign owned, effectively stopping the takeover in its tracks.

Cran has also expressed concern over the takeover due to the potential it has for creating a monopoly, and has warned that the deal would not be approved in its current form.

A Telecom buyout of Leo would place all mobile and fixed-line telecommunications services in the hands of Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings (NPTH). NPTH owns 100 per cent of Telecom Namibia and 60 per cent of shares in MTC.

Angula has said that while Telecom Namibia has submitted its bid for the purchase of shares in Leo, the parties are still negotiating, and has added that "a change of ownership and control of Leo is subject to regulatory approvals under the Communications and Competition Acts."

Source: The Namibian

trends and developments in Namibia’s telecommunications market

Zambia: ZICTA Warns Airtel Over Customer Care Number

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:35:40 GMT

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has directed Airtel Zambia to immediately stop blocking numbers that contact the call centre more than three times, failure to which stern action will be taken against the operator.

ZICTA acting public relations manager Chisha Shimungalu said it had come to the attention of the authority that Airtel Zambia had an automated call blocking system at its call centre which is programmed to bar all numbers that call the centre more than three times in any particular day.

ZICTA is the regulator of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and has the mandate to take legal action on any service provider found wanting through invoking the provisions of the Act.

In a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Shimungalu said the authority would take stern action against the operator if it failed adhere to the directive.

Ms Shimungalu also urged the other two mobile phone operators to refrain from the practice.

The authority further advises consumers and the general public to report to ZICTA non-adherence to the directive by the concerned operator.

Source: Times Of Zambia

trends and developments in Zambia’s telecommunications market

Zambia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecastsv

Eaton Towers secures $30m loan for expansion

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:33:22 GMT

Tower management company Eaton Towers has secured a US$30m debt facility from Standard Bank, via Stanbic Bank Ghana and Standard Bank in SA, to expand its portfolio of telecommunications towers in Ghana.

Eaton Towers is one of several companies taking a keen interest in towering sharing opportunities in Africa as operators look to cut costs as margins are squeezed. Tower sharing involves placing antennas for multiple operators on the same tower and is seen as a way of reducing operational and capital expenditure and is particularly useful in remote areas where duplication of infrastructure is both impractical and economically ineffective.

This is Eaton’s first bank debt financing. Last September, Capital International Private Equity Funds made a $150m equity investment in the company.

Eaton says the debt facility and equity investment will allow it to add scale to its business of selling tower co-location and shared-infrastructure facilities to mobile operators.

In particular, the debt facility will be used to fund operational maintenance of existing towers that Eaton manages for Vodafone Ghana as well as the construction of new towers in Ghana.

Last October, Eaton Towers signed a 10-year contract to take over the operations and co-location management of 750 of Vodafone Ghana’s towers. The company says it plans to extend its operations across other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: Tech Central

trends and developments in Ghana’s telecommunications market

Ghana - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts v

Nigeria’s Central Bank to issue more mobile money licenses

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:29:10 GMT

Nigeria’s Central Bank has announced it will issue more mobile money licenses in an effort to streamline the process and deliver more options to Nigerians.

The Deputy Director of Domestic Payment Division of the Central Bank of Nigeria Emmanual Obaigbona, said that the move is to assist banks in their ability to move the program forward, which officially began on 1 January.

Obaigbona added in a statement that the aim is to broaden the overall participation in mobile money system, in general, and the cash-less policy in particular.

He added that “the apex bank has already licensed 11 mobile operators who successfully passed the pilot studies conducted for them last year.

“The 11 licensed operators are not the end of the list. The CBN intends to license more operators to meet the set standards for operating mobile money services in the country,” Obaigbona said.

He continued to say that the apex bank’s decision to issue the mobile money license “was to reduce the unbanked population to the barest minimum and subsequently develop the economy.”

Still the move has many analysts worried that it could create too many restrictions in the country, especially after the central bank barred telecom operators from promoting any specific mobile money product.

“I am a bit concerned that this will open the market up too wide and destroy companies and peoples’ ability to understand what they are participating in right now,” said Asamoa Hiran, a telecom and banking specialist in Lagos.

He told IT News Africa that there is “too much confusion right now to really understand what is going on, so we are all waiting to see what the future will hold.”

The launch of mobile money banking hopes to move Nigeria, which has the largest population not using banks, into the financial system.

Source: It News

trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts v

Zimbabwe: Fibre Optic Project Misses Target

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:24:12 GMT

Logistical challenges have held back work on the fibre optic cable linking Harare and Beitbridge through Bulawayo to the undersea cable in South Africa which was supposed to be completed in December last year, a Cabinet minister has said.

When complete, the fibre optic cable, whose installation commenced in May last year, is expected to bolster service provision by state-owned telecommunications companies NetOne and TelOne.

Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa said that workers laying the cable had now reached Bulawayo.

"Our contractor ran into a number of logistical problems that hindered progress," he said.

"All that has been resolved now and we expect to reach Beitbridge by mid-year."

Minister Chamisa said all the necessary funding to complete the project was available.

"The money is there. We have instructed the contractor to move with speed because we are behind time.

"It is vital that we complete this link on time because everyday that we go without being connected is a big loss for the country and the economy," he said.

In 2009, the Government completed installation of the Harare Mozambique link at a total cost of US$6,3 million. The Government embarked on the fibre optic projects to improve broadband services as the existing Mazowe earth satellite link proved to be expensive and had limited Internet services capacity.

On completion, the fibre optic link will enable faster Internet and telephone connection, transmission of data as well as multimedia facilities.

Source: The Herald

trends and developments in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications market

Zimbabwe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband v

Telkom’s 8ta in new broadband push

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:30:42 GMT

Telkom’s consumer mobile operator, 8ta, said on Wednesday it is offering a once-off data bundle consisting of 60GB of data for anytime use and 60GB for use between 12am and 5am. The bundle costs R1 800 and is valid for 12 months.

The announcement follows price reductions across 8ta’s range of prepaid and postpaid data offerings earlier this week. 8ta has not stipulated how long the promotion will run but says it will give consumers sufficient warning before the promotion ends.

Amith Maharaj, managing executive of Telkom Mobile, says the new bundle comes on the back of requests from 8ta subscribers for larger bundles with longer validity periods.

Though the data is valid for 12 months, those who deplete it before then can — as with other prepaid offerings — purchase another bundle.

The promotion is only applicable to 8ta’s own network and users will not be able to use the data while roaming on MTN, with which it has a roaming agreement. Consumers are advised to check coverage for the areas in which they are likely to use the data by referring to 8ta’s network coverage map.

The bundle does not include a modem and users will have to use an existing device or purchase one separately.

Source: Tech Central

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Uganda: National Information Technology Authority Gets New Board

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:26:41 GMT

ICT minister Dr.Ruhakana Rugunda has asked the new board of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) to expedite the implementation of e-government policy aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of government services.

E-Government will enable government ministries and departments to communicate easily while implementing government programmes.

Rugunda also wants NITA to ensure the commercialization of the National Backbone infrastructure (NBI) which has taken too long to be actualized.

"NITA should come up with specific areas of action with regard to implementation of e-government. What people want are the affordable services and a catalyst to improve their businesses hence making the life of Ugandans easier," said Rugunda.

NITA-U is a semi autonomous corporate body established in 2009 to coordinate and regulate information technology services in both government and the nation at large.

According to Rugunda, the commercialization of the national backbone infrastructure will generate resources that will sustain NITA as it expands its activities.

He made the remarks while ushering in the new board members of NITA, headed by Dr.Francis Fredrick Tusubira, CEO UbuntuNet Alliance, at the ICT ministry. Other members on the board are Beatrice Amongin Lagada and Kenneth Mugambe, commissioner Budget Policy and Evaluation department in the ministry of finance.

The incoming board chairman, Dr.Francis Fredrick Tusubira said that they are committed to helping government deliver better services for human development.

Source: The New Vision

trends and developments in Uganda’s telecommunications market

Sierra Leone - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Sierratel’s monopoly on international gateway set to end

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:20:52 GMT

The government of Sierra Leone has published a timeline outlining a series of steps towards the revision of the country’s telecommunications legislation and liberalisation of the international gateway, PC Advisor reports. The government has committed to breaking state-owned telco Sierratel’s monopoly on the international gateway after the arrival of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, which landed in Freetown in October 2011. The World Bank is providing USD30 million to fund Sierra Leone’s connection to the 17,000km cable system, which is expected to become operational during the second half of 2012. ‘Towards this end, the government of Sierra Leone intends to liberalise the international gateway before the cable is commercialised,’ the government announced in a statement, adding: ‘The government of Sierra Leone also intends to revise the existing Telecommunications Act to reverse the monopoly of Sierratel over international telecommunications and the internet gateway.’ Under the current timeline, the government aims to introduce an amendment to the Telecommunication Act of 2006 which would break the monopoly on the international gateway by 15 September. The report also adds that the government aims to divest at least 50% of its interest in the ACE consortium to the private sector before the cable system launches commercial operations.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Sierra Leone’s telecommunications market

Movitel achieves launch deadline on ‘an experimental basis’

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:17:13 GMT

Mozambique’s third mobile phone operator, Movitel, has confirmed the official launch of its operations throughout the country, albeit on ‘an experimental basis’. According to a press release distributed to the local media, the company has rolled out a combined 2G/3G network consisting of 1,000 base stations, with 5,500km of fibre-optic cable deployed for backhaul capacity. The cellco claims that this network allows it to cover all eleven Mozambican provinces, and all 23 of the country’s urban areas that are generally classified as cities. Last month, TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate reported that the start-up’s network was poised to go live on 8 January 2012, following a ‘soft launch’ in October 2011 which took place to ensure that the operator adhered to the initial deadline attached to the concession.

Movitel, which will operate with the prefix ‘86’, will compete with two established operators in the wireless sector: state-owned mCel and Vodacom Mozambique, which is owned by its South African namesake. The new cellco is a joint venture between Vietnamese military-run GSM network operator Viettel (70%), SPI, the holding company belonging to Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party (29%), and local investor Invespark (1%). Under the terms of the Mozambican licence tender, bidders were required to have at least two million clients in the countries where they already operate, and be able to provide evidence of revenue in excess of USD50 million a year.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Mozambique’s telecommunications market

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Qtel meets with Tunisian PM to discuss investment

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:13:39 GMT

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has met with Qtel’s chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bin Saud al-Thani to discuss further investment from the Qatar based company in its Tunisian holdings, reports Tunisia Live. Qtel currently owns a 75% stake in wireless operator Tunisiana, whilst the remaining 25% is held by the state, having reclaimed the asset from Sakhr el-Matri, the son-in-law of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisiana, which competes in the mobile sector with French-backed Orange Tunisia and state-owned Tunicell, is expected to receive a 3G licence soon, nearly a year after the end of Orange’s exclusivity period. It is believed that Qtel’s investment plans include increasing its stake in Tunisiana, and the future development of 3G and 4G platforms.

Source: TeleGeography

Trends and developments in Tunisia’s telecommunications market

Tunisia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Kenya: Safaricom Taps Technical Head From France Telecom

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:59:25 GMT

Safaricom has appointed a new head for its technical division from rival France Telecom, completing the reorganisation plan that saw the firm trim its management to cut reporting layers and increase efficiency.

The firm said it had appointed Thibaud Rerolle as the technical director from Orange Dominican, making him the third expatriate to be appointed by Safaricom since August in its quest for new ideas to ride Kenya's competitive telecom's market.

Orange Dominican is fully owned by France Telecom which owns 49 per cent of France Telecom.

Besides Mr Rerolle, 49, Safaricom tapped John Tombleson in November as the chief financial officer from Vodafone Qatar where he was the acting chief executive and appointed Maurice Newa as director customer service from MTC Namibia where he was the chief operating officer.

The position of technical director remained with a permanent executive for eight months after the exit of long-serving John Barorot following the restructuring of Safaricom's executive team that saw it trim its C-suite (managers whose titles begin with the word "chief") to 10-strong from the previous 13.

Bob Collymore, the CEO said the new appointments will sharpen the company's competitive edge in the voice and data market as well as its entry into new business.

"With this appointment, we have tapped into a resource with global experience on key elements like managed services, technical evolution in the telecoms field and ensuring network quality on both voice and data offerings," said Mr Collymore on Monday in reference to Mr Rerolle's appointment.

The firm also did away with the title "chief" for senior managers, turning them into directors in the culmination of a business review aimed at a lean executive team with fewer reporting layers that can support the company's growth in a competitive market.

However, it faced difficulties recruiting the head of technical division locally, prompting it to turn to the international markets and outside the UK-based Vodafone, which owns 40 per cent of Safaricom.

The position was held temporarily by Mr John Logan who had been seconded from Vodafone - which also has the right to appoint the CEO and CFO.

"Mr Logan, who has been on a six month assignment as the acting director for the division, will stay on until the end of January 2012 to allow for a smooth transition," said Mr Collymore in a memo to Safaricom employees.

The position of technical director is critical for Safaricom at a moment when network quality is becoming an arsenal for marketshare growth in a business environment characterised by fast-evolving technology.

The firm's aggressive pursuit of the data market and the mobile money transfer services has also catapulted the technical position to prominence.

"We redefined the chief technical officer's role and added more responsibilities," said Mr Collymore in an interview in April last year.

A recent report by the industry regulator on quality of network indicates that all the four operators Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom Kenya and Essar failed to meet the seven out of eight threshold mark. Safaricom, Airtel and Yu meet six out of the eight requirements while Orange managed only four.

Operators have been experiencing difficulty in sourcing local talent to fill the senior technical positions that require lots of experience to match the growing needs of the market. This has either forced them to look outside the country or outsource the services to international firms.

Airtel, for example has handed its network to Nokia Siemens which is in charge of the maintenance and upgrade.

This reflects the failure of local universities to churn out graduates with hands-on knowledge on emerging trends, setting the stage for employers to increasingly rely on expatriates to drive their technical desks.

Mr Rerolle brings 17 years experience on technical matters gained from France Telecom in Europe, South America, Africa and the Caribbean.

He holds a master's degree in Telecommunications with specialisation in Networks from the prestigious Telecom Paris Tech, said Mr Collymore.

Safaricom's half-year profit after tax declined 47.4 per cent to stand at Sh4 billion inspired by the weak shilling and reduced revenues from voice calls compared to Sh7.6 billion recorded in 2010 half-year profit.

Its voice revenue shrunk 5.5 per cent, from Sh33.3 billion to Sh31.4 billion due to what Safaricom partly attributed to falling consumer purchasing power as a result of higher food and fuel prices besides an 80 per cent average voice tariffs decrease.

Source: Business Daily

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Mozambique - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Mozambique: Movitel Claims Start of Operations

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:59:01 GMT

Maputo — Mozambique's third mobile phone operator, Movitel, has announced the official start of its operations, throughout the country, on an experimental basis.

According to a press release from Movitel, the company has set up a network consisting of 1,000 base stations, using second and third generation (G2 and G3) technology, and 5,500 kilometres of fibre-optic cable.

Movitel claims that this network allows it to cover all 11 provinces and all 23 of the urban areas classified as cities.

Movitel is a joint venture between Viettel, a telecommunications company owned by the Vietnamese Defence Ministry, and SPI, the holding company of Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party.

The Movitel licence was awarded in November 2010, and cost the company 29 million US dollars.

"Movitel will continue to invest in its network in order to increase coverage, and, with resort to state-of-the-art technology, provide services of better quality and at accessible prices to all Mozambicans", the release promised.

As acts of corporate social responsibility, Movitel says it has provided free internet access to 100 schools, and intends eventually to push this figure up to 4,500 schools. It has also offered the Mozambican armed forces (FADM) a video-conference system that can link up all the country's provinces.

Movitel has promised to invest more than 400 million dollars over the next five years, so that its network will cover 85 per cent of the population.

But Movitel is entering a highly competitive market. The two existing operators, M-Cel and Vodacom, have around seven million clients between them (out of a total population of 23 million, over half of whom are children). Most people who can afford a mobile phone have already bought one, particularly in the cities.

A price war is already under way between M-Cel and Vodacom, and to build up any significant client base, Movitel will have to offer even cheaper rates, which may threaten its economic viability.

Source: Maputo

trends and developments in Mozambique’s telecommunications market

Rudi Jansen leaving MWEB

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:58:33 GMT

Rudi Jansen, Group CEO of MWEB, has resigned after 15 years of working at the company.

He will be leaving MWEB at the end of February 2012, after which he will be pursuing new business interests outside the ISP sector.

Francois Theron, CEO of DSTV Mobile, has been appointed to take over from Jansen.

Theron has more than 15 years experience in the pay television and telecommunications industries. He has served as CEO for MultiChoice Middle East and Egypt, M-Tel, as well as the United Broadcasting Corporation in Thailand. He also served on the main board of the Asian Cable and Satellite Association.

Jansen says: “We have achieved most of what we set out to accomplish with Uncapped Internet and it has really transformed MWEB and the South African Internet landscape.”

“The MWEB business is in great shape and while there are still many challenges ahead in the local ISP industry, I know that Francois’s experience locally and internationally will bring immense value to the business. It is time for me to move on to new challenges.”

Jansen was one of MWEB’s first employees, joining the company as head of finance in 1997, before rising to CEO in 2005.

During this time, Jansen has led MWEB to become one of South Africa’s biggest ISPs. In 2010, MyBroadband named him Broadband Maverick of the Year for launching Uncapped ADSL and pushing for free and open peering.

Source: My Broadband

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

LAP Green to contest any challenge to ownership of Zamtel stake

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:58:07 GMT

Amid continued debate over the sale of Zambian fixed line incumbent of Zamtel to LAP Green Networks (LAP Green) of Libya, the latter is reported to be deeply concerned regarding suggestions that the Zambian government could reverse the sale. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in November 2011 Zambia’s new president Michael Sata claimed that the sale of 75% stake to the Libyan company could be overturned after the USD257 million purchase was deemed illegal.

In the most recent development allAfrica cites newly appointed chairman of LAP Green, Wafik Alshater, as saying: ‘LAP Green is now under new leadership as part of broader changes in Libya. The new management is determined to safeguard its legally acquired assets which ultimately belong to the Libyan people, who fought a bitter war of liberation in 2011. We will pursue all options and do everything possible to retain our stake in Zamtel – a highly prestigious part of our pan-African network … We hope these reports are untrue, as this situation will not only be damaging to the telecoms industry in Zambia but would also send the wrong signal to those looking to invest in this country. LAP Green looks forward to continuing to develop Zamtel into a leading telecoms company, working with its partner in this investment, the Zambian Government.’ The executive also highlighted the success achieved by his company since taking charge of the operator, noting that Zamtel had attracted more than 400,000 new customers since LAP Green acquired it, while also adding that the Libyan investment company had committed to investing some USD129 million in Zamtel over two years.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Zambia’s telecommunications market

Swaziland - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Lack of bandwidth causes problems for MTN 3G network

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:57:15 GMT

MTN Swaziland has admitted that users of its long-delayed 3G network are experiencing problems with the service due to a lack of bandwidth. Corporate affairs manager Mpumelelo Makhubu told the Times of Swaziland that the South African-owned cellco has applied for additional spectrum from the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC), but has yet to receive a response from the regulator. Although Makhubu declined to elaborate on the precise details of the technical issues, the newspaper claims that the ‘network is still sluggish because there is an acute shortage of bandwidth’.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, MTN’s 3G network finally launched in October 2011, following a lengthy war of words between the cellco and the SPTC, which saw the latter accuse MTN of making unreasonable demands regarding 3G exclusivity. During the launch event, chief marketing officer Phillip Besiimire confirmed that the cellco had invested nearly SZL300 million (USD37.2 million) on the network, of which SZL37 million went on the long-denied 3G licence. Besiimire added that the company is also obliged to pay the SPTC a percentage of its profits as part of the agreement.

Source: TeleGeography

Nigeria: MTN Launches International Telepresence

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:48:04 GMT

Lagos — MTN Nigeria has launched the international version of its teleconferencing solution, aimed at bringing effective collaborations among businesses and individuals by reducing costs of travelling and doing business.

According to the company, the solution, MTN International e-Presence, will make it possible for users to do business beyond borders in a cost-effective manner

Speaking at the launch in Lagos, MTN's Chief Enterprise Officer, Babatunde Osho, explained that with the solution, organisations would be able to set up meetings with international business partners and colleagues, have medical consultations and hold training sessions with people in locations across the world just as they would, in the same room.

He announced that MTN is offering the service in partnership with its partners, Cisco, Resourcery and TATA Communications that owns TelePresence public rooms in major cities across the world such as China, New York, London, Dubai and India.

Source: Daily Trust

trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Nigeria: FG Releases Draft On National ICT Policy

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:47:35 GMT

The Ministry of Communications Technology has released a draft of the national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy for the country as it called on all stakeholders of the Ministry and members of the public to review the draft policy and make contributions.

The draft national ICT policy was posted on the Ministry's website on yesterday, and it is expected to be there for two weeks to allow for inputs before it is presented to the Federal Executive Council (FCC).

The policy document is the harmonisation of the disparate policies governing the ICT industry, and will serve as the general guide and platform for the overall development of the ICT industry that would facilitate the creation of a digital knowledge based economy.

Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, had on August 25, 2011, set up an adhoc committee to harmonise all the various policies for the different sectors in the ICT industry, which includes Telecommunications, Broadcasting, Information Technology and Postal Services.

The harmonisation of the various ICT policies marks the first step in the restructuring of the industry for the overall development of the ICT sector.

The nine-man committee, chaired by the President of Digital Bridge Institute, Prof. Raymond Akwule, was given six weeks time frame to conclude the harmonisation of all ICT policies into a single policy.

The committee had since completed its task and submitted its report to the Ministry which took time to study it before releasing it for public input.

The terms of reference of the committee was to harmonise all existing policies in the ICT sector into a single ICT policy.

The objective of the national ICT policy as contained in the draft policy, include to reflect convergence by de-emphasising the differences between Information Technology (IT), broadcasting, telecommunications and postal sectors; to bring all ICT related activities under a single ministry so as to give policy guidance to the converged industry; and to enact new ICT Act that would ensure a competitive and converged industry as well as provide an appropriate legal framework.

to develop and enhance indigenous capacity in ICT technologies and software development; to establish an administrative and legal framework for the transition to digital broadcasting and ensure a smooth switchover in accordance with the International Telecoms Union (ITU) guidelines; to establish the framework for the implementation of community radio in Nigeria, among others.

The harmonised ICT policy, when implemented, is expected to address appropriate policies, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks as well as a converged ICT regulatory agency. It will address affordable and reliable access to ICT, investment in ICT, research and development in ICT, legislations in cybercrimes, ethical and moral conduct, privacy, copyrights, intellectual property rights, piracy and e-transactions.

The draft policy spelt out the roles of all five agencies under the Ministry of Communications Technology, which include the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST), Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), and Galaxy Backbone.

The draft policy looked at the proposed government institutional structure, the roles of government, Ministry, the converged regulator, ICT development agency, national frequency management council, public postal operator, as well as their policy focus areas in ICT development.

Source: This Day

trends and developments in Nigeria’s telecommunications market

Nigeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Analysts expect bigger Safaricom gains

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:47:07 GMT

Kenya’s largest mobile-phone operator, Safaricom, continues to show robust movement on the country’s stock market, leaving analysts expecting continued growth.

The boosts are the longest winning streak for the company since mid-December and come as the company’s earnings are to be released in the near future. The stock was trading nearly 20 percent higher on Monday and had gained nearly 3.3 percent.

“Increased trading on Safaricom is expected as investors react to the regulator’s released statistics,” Nairobi-based Kestrel Capital East Africa Ltd. said in an emailed note to clients. “The counter closed with pent up demand at the 3 shilling level on Friday.”

Mobile subscribers in the east African nation increased 4.8 percent to 25.3 million in the quarter ended September, Kestrel said.

During the quarter, Safaricom – which is 40 percent owned by Vodafone Plc - recorded the highest number of new customers at 593 177, followed by Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd., controlled by Delhi-based Bharti Airtel Ltd., with 557 567 new subscriptions, the Communications Commission of Kenya said in a statement.

Essar Telecom Kenya Ltd., a unit of Essar Group of India, added 46 742 new customers while Telkom Kenya Ltd., a unit of France Telecom SA, added 16 683.

Analysts are hopeful that positive reporting will continue to see growth in the country’s largest mobile operator.

“I think if we look at it from a long-term perspective, Safaricom has really shown strength in developing their public status and are creating a push forward this year and we don’t expect it to stop in the near future,” Nairobi-based stock and telecom analyst John Thakeb told IT News Africa.

“We should be confident that this is a great time for mobile and technology in Kenya and Safaricom is making it happen,” he concluded.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in Kenya’s telecommunications market

Zambia reneges on Libya’s LAP Green Network deal

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:46:43 GMT

The Zambian government has said it would reverse the sale of the country’s Zambia Telecommunication Company, or Zamtel, after there were allegations of corruption and fraud during the previous government.

The news is yet another knock for LAP Green after a number of deals fell through as a result of the Libyan Civil War last year that saw the country’s former leader Muammar Gadaffi ousted from power.

Lap Green Networks became the majority shareholder in Zamtel, with 75 percent of total shares in 2010, after the then ruling party, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) – under the leadership of President Rupiah Banda – decided to privatize the service provider.

The company was sold at the time for a total cost of $394 million, despite several attempts, including litigation, to block the sale of the company by citizens and shareholders.

The Zambian government then claimed the move was aimed at saving the company from closing, after plans to add funding to the failing company were unsuccessful.

In 2009, the Zambian government, through the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), announced the sale of Zamtel, and chose RP Capitals of the UK as financial advisor to the deal.

Primary bids were received from India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Angola’s Unitel, Russia’s Vimpel Communications, together with Altiomo Holdings, and Lap Green Networks. After months of scrutinising, Lap Green Networks emerged the successful bidder.

Source: ItNews

trends and developments in Zambia’s telecommunications market

Algeria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Vimpelcom signs MoU over sale of OTA

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:46:00 GMT

Vimpelcom and Algeria’s Ministry of Finance have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the sale of a majority stake in Orascom Telecom Algerie (OTA) by the Russian company to the state. The cellco – currently 96.81% owned by Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) which in turn is 51.7% owned by Vimpelcom – has been the subject of an ownership dispute ever since the Algerian government expressed a desire to nationalise the company, despite Vimpelcom’s acquisition of OTH’s assets in early 2011. The terms and conditions of the sale are yet to be finalised, but Vimpelcom is believed to be seeking to retain management control over OTA, as well as permission to continue to consolidate the operator under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Algeria’s telecommunications market

Research In Motion May License BlackBerry Platform to Competitors

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:58:49 GMT

Research In Motion is reportedly exploring the possibility of licensing its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 platform to competitors such as HTC and Samsung, Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek has said.

"We think some of this has already been started with RIM likely agreeing to license Blackberry 10 to Samsung, HTC, and possibly others," Misek told InformationWeek.

"This would help create a critical mass for the ecosystem and maintain RIM's monthly service revenue; however, it puts more pressure on the hardware business in the short term. Longer term, it possibly gets people hooked on the RIM ecosystem and may in fact allow them to sell more BB 10 handsets (if they are able to create compelling handsets)."

However, the company makes the bulk of its revenues from selling hardware, not licensing software, and the company would need its software to be provided in a vast array of competing handsets to recover the loss of income that migrating to a software firm would entail.

Source: Cellular News

Africa - Fixed and Wireless Broadband and Internet Markets and Forecasts

Gambia: PAC/PEC Adopts Gamtel/Gamcel Report

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:57:40 GMT

The Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Select Committees of the National Assembly on Wednesday unanimously adopted and considered the activity reports and financial statements of Gambia Telecommunications Company Limited and The Gambia Telecommunications Cellular Company Limited (Gamtel/Gamcel) in the year ended 31st December 2010.

Delivering the activity report, Baboucarr J. Sanyang, the managing director of Gamtel said his institution was established as a public enterprise in 1984 by an Act of Parliament with the mandate to provide efficient and affordable telecommunications and related service to the nation at large.

According to him, the challenge for Gamtel during this period was exacerbated by its aging network infrastructure and near obsolete equipment. He said as a result, Gamtel embarked on some capital intensive projects with the aim of upgrading, expanding and introducing new telecoms services in response to the growing challenges posed by the competition with the increasing demand of customers for more efficient service delivery.

He added that during the year under review, the cross river Gambia project jointly funded by Gamtel and Sonatel of Senegal was commissioned whilst this project provided a fibre link from Dakar through the sea at Barra via Banjul to Southern Casamance to provide wider internet capacity bandwidth for the carrying of increased traffic.

MD Sanyang noted that Gamtel reported total revenue of D1.4 billion as at 31st December 2010 compared to D1.3 billion in 2009 and this represents an increase of D0.1 billion representing 8% increase with a gross profit margin of 37% while the increase in revenue is attributed to increase in international and interconnection revenues by D90 and D22 million respectively.

"The total cost of sales for the year amounted to D877 million and of this amount D432 million relates to payments of interconnection charges to GSM operators for calls terminated on to their network while D377 million relates to payments to foreign carriers for carrying and termination of international traffic into the country," he concluded.

The National Assembly members and subject matter specialists also raised concerns, suggestions, questions and recommendations before adopting the Gamtel activity report and financial statement for the year ended 31st December 2010.

Similarly, the Joint Session of the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Select Committees also on Wednesday unanimously adopted and considered Gambia Telecommunications Cellular Company Limited (Gamcel) activity report and financial statement for the year ended 31st December 2010.

Baboucarr J Sanyang, managing director for Gamtel said that Gamcel was established as a subsidiary of Gamtel in the year 2001 to build and operate cellular services. However, a study was conducted prior to the launch, which indicated a projection of a customer base of 15,000 to commence operations with.

He disclosed that some of the challenges the company continues to face include network expansion, deployment of the value-added services, capacity building and financial constraints. He said that to overcome these challenges, management continues to ensure the sustainability, viability, and profitability of the company through investing in expansion projects, other value-added services and aggressive market activities.

Sanyang revealed that the free bonus cost was D192.768 million in 2010; no amount was reported in 2009 and this cost represent 39% of the cost sales while the company incurred material cost of D86.946 million in 2010 compared to D94.733 million in 2009. He added that this reduction is mainly attributed to the drop in dealers commission because of the introduction of electronic voucher (NOPAL) sales.

The National Assembly members and subject matter specialists also raised concerns, suggestions, questions and recommendations before adopting the Gamcel activity report and financial statement for the year ended 31st December 2010.

Source: The Daily Observer

trends and developments in Gambia’s telecommunications market

Gambia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Vodafone leapfrogs Tigo to claim second place in mobile race

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:56:48 GMT

According to the latest statistics from the National Communications Authority (NCA), Vodafone Ghana has overtaken Millicom International Cellular’s Tigo Ghana unit as the country’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers. Having narrowed the gap in the first half of 2011, the NCA reports that Vodafone gained more net additions than its rival in the September-November period to close the month with 4.179 million connections, compared to 4.030 million for Tigo.

MTN Ghana continues to lead the way with 10.053 million total subscriptions at end-November, up from 9.894 million in September, while Airtel Ghana (formerly Zain) continued to gain customers, but maintained fourth place with around 2.5 million subscribers. Expresso (formerly Kasapa) continued to lose market share and subscribers, ending the period under review with 191,779 users.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Ghana’s telecommunications market

Celcom confident of meeting launch deadline

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:55:57 GMT

Malawian telecoms company Celcom Limited, which was awarded a dual fixed and mobile telephony licence by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) in May 2011, has said it expects to start providing services before the October 2012 launch deadline set by the regulator. Local newspaper The Daily Times cites the company’s managing director Ted Sauti Phiri as saying that Celcom is currently deploying network infrastructure through an initial investment of USD270 million. ‘The project is going on well. However, the progress which is being made is technical in nature and we know the public is interested in the commercial aspect of it, so we will update them accordingly soon,’ commented Sauti Phiri, adding: ‘Everyone should be assured that we will definitely roll out our services come this October.’ Locally-owned Celcom fought off competition from three companies – Zambezi Africa Telecom, C-Mobile Holdings Limited and Smart Telecom Limited – for Malawi’s first technology-neutral licence in May last year; the firm aims to bring affordable wireless services to consumers, particularly in rural areas of the country.

TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database states that the country is currently home to two operational wireless operators; market leader Airtel Malawi (formerly known as Zain), which is owned by India’s Bharti Airtel, and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM), a subsidiary of fixed line incumbent Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL). A third mobile operator, Global Advanced Integrated Networks (G-Mobile), was licensed in July 2008, but the company has not yet launched services and has failed to meet network rollout deadlines. Meanwhile, MTL and newcomer Access Communications Limited (ACL), which launched fixed telephony services in January 2010, are currently the only two players in the wireline arena. In a move designed to enhance competition and improve the quality of service in the telecoms sector, the country’s five established telecoms companies received new technology-neutral operating licences in October 2011 under a new converged licensing regime.

Source: TeleGeography

trends and developments in Malawi’s telecommunications market