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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 328 GSM>3G Africa 06: masters of the universe face a tougher climbFor the past ten years Africa’s mobile operators have walked on water. They have connected hundreds of millions of people incredibly quickly. They have extended coverage to places where there are no roads or power, making Africa’s telco incumbents look like flat-footed dinosaurs. They literally got Africa talking to itself. Almost everything they touched seemed to turn to gold. But as the growth curve tails off, these new African masters of the universe are facing some fairly serious challenges. At the end of the industry’s annual talk-fest GSM Africa > 3G Russell Southwood looks at the trouble ahead. The mobile operators have become masters of the universe in a short period of time and they dominate the “mind-space” of the continent. Their branding and media spend in most African cities means that few people can ignore them and it is a visible sign of their seeming invincibility. They have gone from being insurgent challengers to becoming the new incumbents. But new challengers are going to enter the market and want to take a pop at them. Although it’s difficult to generalise across a customer base in the millions, the African consumers on whom they rely are beginning to go from being deeply grateful for any service to becoming more demanding, particularly on price and quality of service: they are noticing the leads and lags in network investment. Maybe when the histories are written in ten years time, it will be this year that will be seen as the high water mark of the mobile operators’ success. If you listen carefully, you can identify a number of pressures that are beginning to crowd in on them. Whilst it would be foolish to think they won’t be able to respond to them, they certainly have a much tougher climb ahead of them. The challenges that they will have to get to grips with include: Low levels of competition on price: Although there are often three competitor companies in a country, there is usually only a very small percentage difference in price between the cheapest and the most expensive. In countries with two operators, the price difference is almost non-existent. For example in Botswana, you could not put a piece of paper between the rates offered by Mascom and Orange. All of this is obscured by a blizzard of tactical marketing offers. But to rework the famous phrase from the Godfather movie, this is a case of “make me an offer I can’t understand.” There is now a dawning awareness amongst key African regulators that they have a role to play in protecting the African consumer and that price and quality of service are two issues they will have to tackle. Some are using investigations into interconnect pricing as a proxy for achieving this aim. The mobile operators are increasingly seen as the well-resourced new incumbents who resist greater levels of competition and technological innovation. This shift in positions was crystallised for me by watching a year ago a senior regulatory staff member from a mobile operator browbeating a regulatory CEO about his desire to open up his country to competition. In the event, the mobile operator was not successful in resisting change but the point is that the major mobile operators are now in a defensive rather offensive mode in terms of competition. Price relative to income: African mobile prices mean that consumers spend a far higher percentage of their income on mobile communications than their developed world equivalents yet they earn so much less. This used to be a factor to marvel at: it just goes to show how important communications is to Africans, people used to say (including myself) in a sage sort of voice. But the truth is that high prices are actually blocking further market development. If you want your subscribers to spend money on other “value-added” services, then you have to free up that spending unless incomes grow much faster than at the current rate. If you want users to stop “beeping” and talk, rates have to come down. A survey in an informal settlement in Nairobi called Kibera (that has 0.75m people living there) found that a single mobile was shared by five people. Again we all marvelled at how Africans found a way in the face of adversity. But actually what this is saying is that the mobile operators have failed to reach some significant portion of a potential customer base. If those who live in Kibera sell their tin shacks to each other, there’s money in there but the mobile operators are not reaching it. The truth is that the mobile operators have not yet reached the bottom of the price elasticity curve. Rates need to come down to reach whole sections of Africa’s rural and urban populations. As we will see, the dilemma for the mobile operators is whether they will make the same from lower rates (as people talk more) or whether they can devise a way of lowering their rates for particular groups of people. Even the normally sober-minded Informa Principal Analyst Devine Kofiloto was moved to observe that there have been few benefits to consumers:”It’s largely the shareholders who are smiling.” Celtel’s CEO Martin Pieters was sufficiently stung by this to point out that his company had not paid shareholders a dividend for ten years. The other part of the pricing puzzle is the mobile fixed paradox. Once a mobile network is established and the CAPEX has largely been paid back, it’s much cheaper to connect a mobile subscriber than it is to connect a fixed line customer. Yet it is more expensive to use a mobile phone than it is a fixed phone. In the early days of mobile phones this could be justified by the fact that consumers were being charged a premium for mobility. However, when mobiles are the majority device for voice on the continent, it is significantly more difficult to sustain this argument. And fixed/ mobile convergence must surely mean that the two rates come together and disappear over time: rates based on technologies are certainly not technology-neutral. Falling growth and lower ARPUs: In his introduction to the conference, Informa’s James Barker told delegates that subscriber growth was slowing down: there had been two quarters with growth below 10%. Devine Kofiloto reinforced this gloomy message by showing projections that identified overall growth flattening in 2009. But in East Africa, growth flattens in 2008, which is only two years away. However, the picture is not all gloom and doom. For example, Nigeria will surpass South Africa as the largest market on the continent in 2007. Nevertheless operators now have to face a slowing pace of subscriber growth and the newer subscribers will also be more costly to acquire. ARPUs are falling as the hill gets steeper. A selection of pre-pay ARPUs from the second quarter of 2006 illustrate the point: Sonatel, Senegal ($15.42); Spacetel, Benin ($13.90); Vodafone Egypt ($10.41); UTL, Uganda ($9.07). Headline blended ARPUs often disguise this sharp-end reality. The lowest overall ARPUs are found in East and Central Africa and it is East Africa where the uphill growth road is running out fastest. The highest decline in ARPUs has occurred in West Africa from where some of our examples above are taken. Indian ARPUs have in some instances gone as low as $4-7 in some parts of the major networks and this is probably somewhat nearer the bottom of the pricing elasticity curve. But there are significant differences between India and Africa in terms of population densities: typically rural areas may have around 200 plus people per sq km against 100 or so people found in Africa’s uncovered areas. The question is really what operating profit margins operators can sustain. The case of Zantel is illustrative. In 2005, operating only on Zanzibar, its ARPU was $10. It now has 320,000 subscribers but Zantel’s CEO Noel Herrity refused to reveal current ARPUs. Like the dog that failed to bark in the Sherlock Holmes story, we can reasonably deduce that the current ARPU is lower than $10 or there would be a lot of barking about it. And this is achieved in part through a roaming agreement (leasing the network, if you will) with Vodacom on the mainland. If the margins are there to lower prices (and thus ARPUs) while leasing a network, what might the network operator Vodacom achieve in price terms if it were so minded? The more optimistic are looking to data to at least partly fill losses in income. However, whilst technology push is delivering ever more sophisticated services it is not clear how the majority of Africa’s hard-pressed mobile customers will afford these services. But for all the problems of literacy, SMS text messages remain the main driver of data revenue growth. And the story here is the same as for voice: where prices for SMS are low, as in Lesotho, usage goes up. African consumer communications spend may not be entirely a zero sum game (where one kind of spending will inevitably replace another) but there is little sign of a wave of rising incomes. Competition from low-cost, mobile VoIP operators: As African countries like Algeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya become more competitive, several of the continent’s hard-pressed ISPs are re-inventing themselves as VoIP service providers: sitting on the services and applications layer and offering voice services to their customers. A few have seen the light of day and more are in the wings. Initially they will offer fixed wireless services but even these services have a degree of in-built mobility: “locked to one cell” will become a largely negotiable space. Mobile operators would do well to remember the history of Reliance where it parlayed its fixed wireless presence across India into becoming one of continent low-cost mobile operators. And it is only a one to two year “skip, hop and a jump” to mobile VoIP. Jamal Ramadan, Group Vice President, Special Products, MTN recently gave the following rather revealing comment on low-cost operators:“Community phones using VoIP over fixed wireless Internet connections will have some negative impact but it can be managed through data pricing and interconnect.” The last five words can only mean of two things. Either we will work closely in partnership with these kinds of operators or we will fix data pricing and interconnect to their disadvantage. You do not need to be a cynic to imagine that the latter is more likely but the mobile operators may not be in a position to choose the interconnect. If in more competitive African countries, the telco incumbent’s network is used at a carefully established, cost plus price, why will it be any different for mobile operators? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. So mobile operators will either have to go to the edges of the market themselves or help others to do so. The operators rightly complain about the high level of Government taxes and how this prevents them from extending services and lowering prices. And Pieters of Celtel pointed out:”We expect (the roll-out) of power and roads to be in the interest of the Government but we see little happening there.” Of course, he’s right but this is a log-jam with blame-calling at high volume. Why not turn the problem into the solution? An alliance of leading operators could negotiate time-limited “tax-breaks” for serious roll-outs of integrated packages of roads, power and telephony. Such a programme would easily attract international support. The mobile operators could use their considerable reputation to insist that there were independent power operators and privately commissioned road contractors. Does any one of them have the courage to turn this problem into an opportunity? Falling international rates and roaming charges: International calling and roaming revenues are a minor but significant revenue stream for mobile operators. The small percentage of their post-paid customers contribute a disproportionate amount of high-margin revenue. Unfortunately this is beginning to change: see the story below in Telecom News - International calling price falls are spreading across East and Central Africa. The lower end of fixed and mobile operator international calling rates are now between 20-25 cents a minute down from previously much higher levels. Part of this reduction has been the liberation from monopoly international gateways but the rest is driven by VoIP service providers in competitive markets. However, there is a silver lining as lower rates mean that traffic goes up. But even with a considerable increase in traffic, you are probably back where you started in revenue terms. Good for bandwidth sales, less good for operator revenues. In addition, roaming charges will come down as operators follow Celtel’s lead in lowering them for its neighbouring countries in East Africa. MTN’s CTO Karel Pienaar said they would follow suit although he couldn’t quite bring himself to say the word follow. He pointed out that in West Africa MTN now has a series of contiguous countries with only a gap in Togo. He observed that if they could connect these then rates could come down because there would be no expensive sending of calls to the USA and Europe to connect with African neighbours. Given how relatively small Togo is to cross, this is again a political problem that must find a commercial solution. Increasing deal competition: Fierce deal competition will put considerable pressure on those who raise their money in the market rather than from petro-dollar rich Arab investors. Those loaning money or investing are typically looking for 12-15% return on their investment, higher if there are risks attached. Riding on the wave of relatively high oil prices, Arab investors are willing to look at lower returns and longer time scales. Celtel’s Pieters pointed out that the Dubai Investment Authority typically looked at 50 years:”The shareholders I’ve worked with would be very happy with 3 years.” These rather different assumptions about investment have driven up acquisition prices to stratospheric levels. In places as diverse as Egypt and Mauritania, Arab investors have paid “top-dollar” for licences: the price paid for the third mobile licence in Egypt was higher than the market cap of the number one operator. And as Celtel’s Pieters kept reminding his audience all this money “just for a piece of paper.” But financial markets behave in strange ways. The current ramp of mobile shareholder value is built on the expectation of increasing capital value: what happens when this ceases to be true? What happens when the steeper climb produces lowered expectations reflected in lower subscriber growth and ARPUs? What goes up, must come down. But the game’s not over yet as 57% of Africa’s operators remain outside the ownership of the big four: MTN – 15%, Vodacom – 14% , Celtel – 7%, and Orascom – 7%. Celtel’s Pieters foresaw a day when 4-5 players would control 60-70% of the business. But there are two potential challenges to this “onwards and upwards” narrative. If Arab investors have deep pockets, Celtel will do well but what about Vodacom that has already said acquisition prices are largely too high for it? And surely Arab investors will think about buying MTN? MTN’s Pienaar said he was “not aware of anything like that happening at the moment” More intriguingly the issue of whether Cell-C would be bought by Celtel was raised. Celtel’s Pieters said: “Jeff Hedberg and I go back a long way. It would work easily at a management level.” The other possibility is that someone will go round and gather up existing failing operators at relatively cheap prices and build themselves an entirely new brand. Unfortunately for the existing mobile operators any insurgent competitor will almost certainly challenge on price. But there are also a couple of CAPEX “down-steps” out there that may make this an even more difficult prospect. CDMA is cheaper than GSM particularly now as operators are putting in the full alphabet soup of data capability. What if someone had the nerve to bring together a group of CDMA networks? But beyond that, there is the ground zero option: a fully IP mobile operation. If you’re a unified licence operator starting from scratch, you will build yourself a largely IP-enabled network. This might be extended out into the mobile network as the elements come into focus over the next three years. A greenfield IP mobile operator might have real cost advantages over the slower moving mobile incumbents. And arguably until recently not all major mobile operators have been characterised by high levels of technology innovation. You take the high road, we’ll take the hot-spots: Except for sales reps and similar professions, most people spend only up to 10% of their time on the road. The new wireless challengers in the voice space – Wi-Fi and Wi-MAX – will have difficulty taking the road but may acquire an interesting share of everything but the road. And where would this leave the mobile operators? This was the implicit pitch being made by London-based South African Niall Murphy, CTO of the Cloud. Whilst apologising for bringing European experience, it was not too difficult to do the translation for Africa. The Cloud operates Wi-Fi hot-spots in 8,500 locations across Europe, with the majority in the UK. It has worked hard to make this network of coverage as seamless as possible for data users and has recently added IP voice to its service offerings. Its partners are a revealingly eclectic mix of new wave challengers and incumbents: Telenor, O2, Vonage, Skype, Nintendo, Vodafone, Bengo, Sprint, iPass, CredeCard, BT Open Zone. It is tapping into the growing wave of municipal networks and recently won the contract to wire the City of London, the capital’s financial centre. And this precisely because it allowed any device or service to connect and did not offer an “only our service” approach. And here lies the difficulty for the mobile operators. You can argue that MTN with its developing understanding of Wi-MAX might position itself in this market but how will mobile operators make sense of so many devices and services? His European argument is that increasingly people are acquiring wireless enabled devices (particularly laptops) they want to be able to use anywhere. He is not selling it as a premium product but offering packages for between 10-15 euros for users. A small but significant proportion of traffic by kilobits is now coming from voice. So let’s translate the proposition into African. There are two potentially different markets: the business or professional person who needs to be connected wherever they are and the person who might simply want a cheaper phone service. The latter might have to wait for Wi-Fi enabled phones but they will be here in volume before too long. The former is almost exactly a mirror-image of the European customer with a certain amount of price adjustment. Add in the roll-out of muni networks in African cities and the proposition slowly comes into focus. Speaking of which, the tender for doing this to Cape Town will be decided soon and there is already a study for a city-wide muni network north of the Limpopo. It is at this point one might utter the Chinese curse to mobile operators:”May you live in interesting times.” The only problem with this is when I actually talked to a Chinese person about this well-known saying, he gave me a blank look and told me no such curse exists. So maybe that’s a lucky sign for Africa’s Masters of the Universe.
INTERNATIONAL CALLING PRICE FALLS SPREADING ACROSS EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICADramatic international pricing falls are beginning to sweep across the continent as the dam finally breaks. News Update has reported recently 16 cents a minute to the USA from Nigeria and 27 cents a minute last week from Uganda. Earlier in the year Kenyan operators went down to 20 cents a minute. But these falls are as nothing when compared to the 6-7 cents a minute that VoIP service providers in Tanzania are offering. Meanwhile Noel Herrity, CEO, Zantel at GSM Africa was saying that it was offering international calling rates at levels comparable to those found in the UK. Dressed in a vibrant lime-green polo shirt (the colour of Zantel’s new branding) he said that:”Our new international rates are as good as or better than UK international rates.” The net result has been that all of Tanzania’s fixed and mobile operators have bought their rates down to the 20-25 cents a minute range. However the impact has been that traffic levels have increased substantially as new customers use the service and existing customers talk for longer. Higher levels of legal competition – particularly from VoIP service providers – means that both fixed and mobile operators are having to bow to the inevitable and bring down rates. The price falls are beginning to fan out from East Africa. We spoke recently to a soon-to-be VoIP service provider in DRC who wants shortly to offer calls to the USA for 4 cents a minute and to Europe for 10-12 cents a minute. Transcorp TO INVEST US$1 BILLION IN NITEL AND MTELTransnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), new owners of Nigeria Teleco-mmunications (NITEL) and its GSM arm, Mobile Telecommunication (MTEL), has unveiled the strategies to be adopted in returning the companies to profitability. The company said it will inject N130 billion (an equivalent of $1billion ) into the operations of the moribund national carrier in the next two years. Transcorp at a meeting with journalists in Abuja, said it will optimize NITEL's assets; restructure the human capital; emphasize customer service and deploy cutting edge technology. Vice President and Head, Corporate Communications, Transcorp, Adedayo Ojo said, the fully-owned Nigerian mega company has chosen BT as its technical partner and said that the company will uplift NITEL from the doldrums. Transcorp had last July emerged the core investor for NITEL after buying 75 per cent of Federal Government's equity in the telecom company for $750 million through a "willing buyer, willing seller" approach adopted by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), after three failed attempts to sell the company. The remaining 25 per cent shares will be sold to Nigerians through a public offer by November. A month after, Transcorp paid $500 million (N63 billion) for 50 per cent of NITEL through a syndicated loan by five Nigerian banks and a formal hand over by the BPE, the company promised to turn it around and return it to profitability. According to Ojo, "we are going to take NITEL to the next level. Next level in terms of returning this company to profit making. Every body is seeing how the stock market has been doing and every body who invest can now make some money. The truth any way is, just like Hilton, the value of the assets in NITEL and MTEL up till now have not been optimized. "There are three things that we will be doing with NITEL; optimize the value of the asset of NITEL: take a look at where we have universities, colleges of education and other institutions. What is wrong, if in university campus, there is a telephone in every room. Because the more people have these facilities, the cheaper it becomes because of the sheer (size of the) population”. According to Ojo "The next thing is that we'll take a critical look at the human capital to ensure that the right people are in the right jobs and get me clear- for us, it is not the issue of laying off and whatever. We believe that between the government and the BPE, that will be taken care of. But one of the greatest assets of Nigerians is I can do attitude; is our sheer competence and intelligence. We recognize the intrinsic quality and characteristics of Nigerians and that's something we will be emphasizing. On how many people Transcorp will lay off , when it fully takes over NITEL, Ojo said: "I can't make a commitment as to the number of people we will retain but right now we have a team of people evaluating what is really on the ground”. In terms of how much we Transcorp will inject into NITEL, the vice president said: "we will invest about $1 billion over the next two years." For those who might be doubtful that Transcorp could raise a billion dollars, Ojo said:”… we have demonstrated… we do have access to capital”. (SOURCE: This Day) Billing System Failure Costs ETC WELL Over 14min BirrThe Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) last week disclosed that it had encountered serious problems with its billing system. Amare Amsalu, ETC's CEO, told journalists at a press conference held at its headquarters press conference that the corporations' customer care and billing system had failed in delivering proper service to customers. In September 2004, the corporation replaced its old billing system with a new one at a cost of 23 million birr. An Indian company, Yushacom, supplied and installed the new billing system. Amare said that the corporation replaced the old billing system without undertaking adequate preparatory work. "The corporation was not well prepared to do the job. When the new system was implemented it was not commissioned," Amare told journalists. Amare said that since September 2005 ETC has been facing serious problems related to the new billing system. Delays in issuing bills, incomplete bill receipts and other irregularities were some of the problems noted, Amare said adding the corporation had undertaken extensive efforts to solve the problems. However, last June, the new billing system completely failed, causing serious irregularities in the bills issued in July and August. To add to the problem, ETC lost its customers' database. Due to the disarray, customers were requested to pay inflated payments and some were asked to pay already settled bills. Both mobile and landline telephone subscribers were affected by the problem. In addition, some 34,000 customers were not charged for a year for the services ETC had provided. As a result the corporation imposed burdensome payment to clear the arrears. In the process, customers were mistreated and their telephone lines were disconnected without prior notice. It was not only customers who suffered. The situation cost the ETC dearly. Amare said though the total amount of the loss has not yet been determined, the corporation has lost over 14 million birr in revenue that it should have earned from roaming service. According to Amare, a backup system was supposed to be installed when the new billing system was implemented. Amare believes that the backup system could help in retrieving the lost database. "Instead of discarding the old billing system, it should have been kept for emergency purposes. We could have switched to the old billing system when the new one failed," he said. After reviewing the situation exhaustively, the management took measures against some of the executives of the corporation. Amare disclosed that the management had sacked five officials who, he said, were to blame for the problem. He said that the management will take action against employees who fail to discharge their responsibility. He also mentioned that there is the possibility that ERC could take the responsible persons to court. Regarding the supplier, Yushakom, Amare said that the management was trying to identify unfulfilled commitments of the company. "The company is still working with us. But based on our contractual agreement, we could lodge claims against the company," he said. Amare confirmed that ETC had not received the type of billing system it had anticipated it needed. Concerning the exaggerated payments customers were forced to pay, the management has decided to reimburse the extra payment. The management has also decided not to interrupt service to customers who have complaints regarding the billing system until their problem is solved. The management plans to restore the old billing system for future emergency needs. However it has further decided to acquire a new dependable billing system. The management is also preparing to establish modern call centers in Addis Ababa at a cost of 40 million birr. Retta Dessei, acting deputy CEO of the operations department, disclosed that the corporation would establish similar modern call centers in regional towns. He said this would enable the corporation to upgrade its service that it renders through its 997 telephone line. Outsiders still wonder why if ETC displays such a high level of incompetence, it is not privatised so that Ethiopia’s citizens can at last have the phone service they deserve. Ethiopia remains the only country with one GSM operator. The net result? Less than 1% penetration. (SOURCE: The Reporter) Red Tape Obstructs MTC's Growth in NamibiaBureaucratic red tape and long-winded approval procedures meant it took one and a half years for MTC to get the nod for a new base station in Katutura, which then took only two weeks to build. These are among the constraints MTC has faced in its quest to bring 100% network coverage to Namibian consumers, according to the company's new Managing Director José Ferreira. Briefing the media last week, he said acquiring sites in some towns has proved to be a major hurdle in the company's quest to improve its network capacity and quality. "We continuously strive to deal with the issues of network congestion and capacity but the one-to-two-year delays in getting permission to build sites in some instances hamper progress," Ferreira noted. The company says it is however in contact with the administrations of all towns and villages in Namibia to make its case for speedier decision-making. Other constraints mentioned by Ferreira are the cost and amount of time it takes to obtain power supply for its base stations from NamPower or the Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs). "While our contractor might be able to complete the civil works on schedule, many remote areas will only see the newly completed sites being powered much later," he said. The company says that in some instances it has to invest in expensive solar alternatives to ensure it can provide coverage. Ferreira mentioned MTC's reliance on the transmission backbone of Telecom Namibia as a further problem the company has to contend with. The collaboration with Telecom Namibia is seen by the company as a necessary measure to avoid duplication of infrastructure and waste of resources. "The downside is that we again have to rely on the planning cycles of Telecom Namibia to realise our own ambitions. Where our schedules clash, we have to be willing to expect delays," he remarked. Since its inception 11 years ago, MTC says it has invested over N$700 million in its operations. In the last financial year, the company invested N$229 million, with another N$280 million budgeted for the current 2006/2007 financial year. By the end of September 2007, the company estimates, it would have invested in excess of N$12 billion in creating what it describes as a "world-class network". The company's figures show 88% population coverage, making Namibia the country with the third best coverage in Africa. By the end of this year MTC estimates network coverage will have risen to 95%. Similarly, network road coverage is 61% at present but the company aims at increasing this to 87% by the end of the year. MTC has rolled out 38 new base station sites countrywide since June and says it expects to commission another 49 by the end of this year, "if everything goes well". Ferreira confirmed MTC is making good progress towards keeping the December 2006 deadline for its 3G-network rollout. (SOURCE: New Era) MTN Signs Interconnect Agreement With Interconnect Clearinghouse NigeriaMTN Nigeria, has signed an interconnect agreement with Nigeria's first interconnect exchange, Interconnect Clearinghouse Nigeria Limited. At the signing ceremony which took place at MTN's Corporate Headquarters in Lagos, Admiral Madueke the Chairman of ICN assured MTN that ICN will add value and quality to the MTN network through the state-of-the-art technology adopted by ICN and its high level of manpower and technical competence. In his response, MTN’s CEO, Ahmed Farouk promised that MTN would make full use of interconnect exchanges to fulfil its obligations to telecom operators in Nigeria who desire to make full use of the clearinghouse. He noted that it is cost effective and efficient to deal with a clearinghouse than to run after forty operators on reconciliation and debt collection at the end of every month. He said the licensing by NCC of interconnect exchanges would enable MTN focus on providing quality service to its subscribers. With this development, ICN has now signed interconnect agreements with NITEL and all the GSM operators excluding Celtel. ICNL had earlier signed interconnect agreements with all the PTOs in Lagos including Multilinks, Starcomms, Intercellular, MTS 1st Wireless, 21st Century, VGC Communications, Reltel, Cellcom, ITN, GTE, Topcom, Peace Global, Webcom, Imperial Telecoms and Allied Bond. Oduatel in Ibadan and Rainbownet in Enugu, two PTOs outside Lagos, have also signed on with ICN. (SOURCE: This Day) Kenyan police seize stolen copper cable bound for ChinaDetectives investigating theft of telephone and electricity cables have impounded three containers with copper wires destined for China. The wires are suspected to have been stolen from Telkom Kenya and Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). Two containers with copper wires worth Sh14 million are being held at Kenya Ports Authority Inland depot at Embakasi in Nairobi. Another one is in Mombasa. The containers were being exported by a local company registered as a scrap metal dealer. Police raided a godown in Industrial Area, where the firm is based, and seized more cables at dawn last week. The theft syndicate has paralysed telephone and electricity services, particularly around Nairobi. Areas around Limuru and Muguga that were connected to the Kikuyu power substation had been without electricity for the past two weeks, said the KPLC Nairobi region manager, Joseph Njoroge. "Vandals steal transmission lines at night every time they are replaced," said Njoroge. Telkom loses Sh500 million each year as a result of telephone cable theft, said Managing Director Sammy Kirui. Last week's police action is a continuation of a massive operation launched last week and will be extended to other parts of the country. City businessman and politician Irshad Sumra has been charged in court with stealing telephone and power cables worth more than Sh10 million. He denied stealing 19.2 tonnes of Telkom Kenya cables valued at Sh9.6 million and was freed on a Sh1 million bond. Vijendra Kedia and Ajay Kumar Misra were also charged with stealing Telkom cables. Telkom Kenya has, in the recent past, reported an increase in cases of underground telephone cables being stolen in Nairobi and other parts of the country. About 5,000 telephone lines in the city have been rendered useless after the theft of cables last week. The hardest hit areas are Kasarani, Zimmerman, Ngong, Karen, Waithaka, Kawangware, Dagoretti and Embakasi. The investigations have revealed that some businessmen licensed to export copper buy cables from vandals at about Sh200 for a kilo then smelt the wires for export at about Sh7 million per container. The illegal trade, Kirui noted, had grounded Telkom's expansion programme because most of the employees have been deployed to restore services. This illegal trade has been encouraged by high copper prices brought on by China’s rapid economic expansion over the last three years/ (SOURCE: The Nation) Spectrum split ‘must be bolder’, says SiemensRegulatory bodies must make bolder decisions when allocating radio spectrum to cellular network operators to create a clearer path for evolution. Spectrum is fought over by cellular networks, television broadcasters, military and aeronautical users, and juggling their demands requires stronger regulation, says Siemens Communications vice-president Klaus Dieter Kohrt. Cellular networks have been granted only 5% of the “sweet spot” of 300MHz to 10GHz frequencies, but if spectrum was allocated according to the money generated by its use, they would gain a far larger slice. Since radio waves do not recognise national borders, global agreements are essential for worldwide interoperability, says Kohrt. “We can’t generate new spectrum so we need to optimise its use with co-ordination across geographic and political boundaries. Regulatory decisions in the next few years will affect the industry for many years to come.” Yet regulators are increasingly reluctant to help guide the technology choices, and would rather let rival factions slug it out to determine which systems win. That is wasting vast sums of money as some technologies fall by the wayside, says Kohrt. “Darwinian selection has its merits, but it has a lot of waste if you are not part of the winning team. “Politicians believe free market competition will benefit end users, but neither politics nor economics can change the laws of physics.” Spectrum fragmentation has a very negative effect on the economy, he says. Regulators should define a harmonised spectrum framework so the industry could channel its innovations towards those standards rather than come up with competing ideas. Locally, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) is facing problems as new services increase the demand for spectrum. The cellular operators are exploring mobile television using two different technologies. Metropolitan authorities want spectrum to set up wireless networks offering their citizens Internet access and cheap internet-based telephony. “Every one of the major municipalities in SA has serious plans to get into the telecoms space,” says Mike Brierley, the CEO of MTN Network Solutions . “That is about bringing internet services to the low end of the market. They haven’t been granted any spectrum yet but there’s a promise from the regulator they will get it.” Brierley doubts any one technology will emerge as a winner, so Icasa must allocate spectrum to variations that will co-exist for several years. Yet the mobile operators have had requests for extra spectrum refused, scuppering their plans to launch WiMax, a broadband technology that spans long distances. Internet service providers are annoyed that they are not getting any spectrum to cover the “last mile” to deliver services to homes or offices. That spectrum would free them from leasing Telkom’s copper wire connections. The telecoms industry will become competitive only if everyone is granted spectrum, Brierley says. “Telkom has more spectrum than anybody else. Icasa has been very generous with its allocation and Telkom has a lot of spectrum that is not used well. That has to be addressed.” Icasa is struggling with the scarce 2,6GHz frequency, which is unable to meet demand for digital television and broadband wireless internet hot spots. Icasa is also juggling the 800MHz band, and may divide it between television and telecoms players. The new operator, Neotel, and small, black companies offering voice and data services in rural areas, also want access to that band. (SOURCE: Business Day)
IN BRIEF:- Kenya has a growing shortage of qualified telecommunication engineers. Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said that the mobile phone operator has been forced to hire additional engineers from the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Last year, they recruited 59 engineers and 71 others will be recruited this year. - According to Business in Africa, Celtel International is looking to invest in Ghana and was currently conducting studies around the viability of constructing a network in the West African country. A company official said that Celtel was interested in "investing substantially" and hoped a network in Ghana would be operational within the coming months. - Kenya’s telecoms regulator says the winner of the tender to find the country’s second national operator (SNO) will be announced on 27 October. Three firms have been short-listed: Indian telcos MTNL and Reliance, plus Dubai-based Vtel. The SNO will receive a licence allowing it to offer a full range of fixed line, mobile and data services in competition with incumbent wireline operator Telkom Kenya and cellular service providers Safaricom and Celtel. The concession will be awarded on 1 January 2007. - DSTV’s DVB-H mobile trial in Gauteng and Cape Town involves 15 transmitters. It has also completed its IP-TV trial with Telkom SA but as Gerdes van Eeden of Multichoice rather carefully observed:”It is something that can work on a trial basis.” However he said the company believes that:” IP will become the ubiquitous bearer.” - Mali’s Ikatel now has an 82% share of the country’s mobile market and a 10% share of the fixed line market. - According to a source who should know, Telkom SA offered to finance the entire EASSy project but the South African Government said no. Perhaps this goes some way to explaining the Kenyan Government’s paranoia about South African influence. - Apparently Telkom SA has become much more forthcoming on the interconnect agreement and has now put on the table an IP as well as an SS7 option. Meanwhile Vox Telecom (see below) has become one of the first to sign to sign an SS7 agreement with Vodacom SA. TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Eritel, Eritrea mobile operator has announced the expansion of its coverage to the town of Nacfa Nacfa which lies 127 km North-east of Keren.. The company indicated that the newly introduced mobile phone service would play a significant role in facilitating information flow, in addition to easing the problem of telephone service the residents have been encountering. - Voice solutions provider, VoxTelecom, part of ALtX-listed DataPro Group, says that it has completed Signalling System 7 (SS7) interconnection with Vodacom SA. VoxTelecom claims that it can now offer voice services across several different technical platforms. - South Africa mobile operator CellC announced that it will reduce its weekend call rates by over 50% for CellC to CellC calls. - EconetWireless Holdings Limited in Zimbabwe has started preparations for the installation of a 3G network and the expansion of its subscriber base by around 80 percent to 800,000 before end of next year. The 3G system will be operational by February 2007.
ONLY TWO OUT OF SEVEN MOOTED COUNTRIES SIGN EASSY GOVT PROTOCOL IN LATEST ROUNDEarlier in the week 7 African Governments were meant to be in South Africa for a further signing ceremony for the NEPAD Government Protocol. Four failed to turn up for “logistical” reasons. As we all know, it’s difficult getting airfares to South Africa these days. And at the last moment Zambia decided it wasn’t ready to sign as the new Minister had only been in post for a few weeks after the recent election. However he expressed a willingness to sign. So in the event only a further two signed (Botswana and Zimbabwe) and NEPAD’s self-imposed deadline of the end of November is only 6 weeks away. After this the countries are supposed to ratify the protocol in June next year. Dr Matsepe-Casaburri said she was ”a bit disappointed but not unduly unhappy” at the failure to get the full seven signatures scheduled for last week’s ceremony, but expressed confidence that the EASSy cable would be completed by the second half of 2008. This seems unlikely if the current plague of “logistical problems” continues. And there remain serious disagreements between the Governments who have signed the Protocol and the operators’ consortium. These might have been negotiated away but it becomes increasingly difficult to “unsign” commitments made. This situation is not helped by NEPAD and the Governments involved with the protocol representing themselves as the sole owners of the project. (SOURCE: Guardian ) Additional IP range for ADSL users in south AfricaThe growth and demand for ADSL in South Africa has necessitated the introduction of an additional range of IP addresses by Telkom. “Telkom will introduce an additional range of IP addresses for ADSL users. The new IP addresses are needed as a result of the new ESRs (BRASs) which are being installed in the network - i.e. growth of the ADSL service,” said Lulu Letlape, Telkom’s Group Executive for Corporate Communication. Telkom is confident that the increase in available IP addresses will enable it to better structure the network and service deployment. “Through this process, Telkom wants to better utilise the available addresses. Some of the IP addresses will be reserved for new routers which will be installed in the future. Importantly, more IP’s will enable Telkom to better structure the network and service deployment,” said Letlape. Telkom explains its IP address policies: “Telkom uses IP’s as any other network resource and they need to be increased from time to time to deal with extra demand/service roll out. Telkom buys IP’s in blocks to do long-term planning based on design rules.” (SOURCE: MyADSL) ALGERIE TELECOM HOPES TO DOUBLE INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS TO SIX MILLION USING WIRELESS LOCAL LOOPAlgérie Télécom says it expects to double its internet subscriber base to six million by 2009 thanks to a new wireless in the local loop (WiLL) deployment and an expansion of its ADSL networks. In an interview with local newspaper La Tribune, the telco’s CEO Kheirdine Slimane said that the new WiLL system will cover 45 of the country’s 48 districts or ‘wilayas’. The firm is also expecting to have three million ADSL connections in service by 2009, up from the current level of around 100,000, and to have increased its mobile customer base to eight million from 6.5 million now. IN BRIEF:- Telecom Malagasy is testing Wi-MAX from Alvarion for data and looking forward to the day when it can use it for voice. Mike van den Bergh of Gateway says that it is looking at Wi-MAX as a backhaul technology. - According to Sandra Aluoch of the African Virtual University at the Intelsat Connections conference, a typical African university is paying US$1,000 a month for a 64 kbps leased line. - DRC’s Microcom is waiting approval before starting the country’s first Wi-Fi hotspot at the country’s Kinshasa airport. The first 30 minutes will be free. The company has also rolled out Wi-MAX coverage in all of the country’s main cities and has connected 16 betting shops in the country so that punters can watch French horse racing live. - The Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria approved a new initiative that will ensure all processes and payments for the issuance of international passports, visas and expatriate quotas are done online. The new plan would be managed through a private-public partnership arrangement involving the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) & Socket Works Nigeria Limited at the cost of N350 million. - The number of Ugandans using Internet has shot up by 1,150% to 500,000 in September, up from 40,000 in December 2000, according UNESCO statistics. However these figure should be treated with some caution as they are almost certainly based on a multiple of subscriber numbers. - Wireless broadband provider iBurst this week commissioned its 100th base station, in Boksburg, after its nationwide roll-out plan began in November 2004 with the commissioning of a base station in Sandton. “iBurst has already spent over R200m boosting coverage for the benefit of our 25 000 subscribers,” says Thami Mtshali, CEO of iBurst. iBurst says that it plans to roll-out base stations at an average rate of two per week, until it has covered 80% of the South African population by November next year.
South African Tech Lobby Urges Mpahlwa to Update Copyright ActSoftware and computer technology businesses have called on Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa to make changes to the "archaic and outdated" Copyright Act, which they claim has allowed software piracy to flourish. The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an organisation that represents the interests of software publishers and computer technology companies, called on Mpahlwa to speed up amendments to the act, which had been in the pipeline for about eight years. The organisation said SA's piracy rate stood at 36% of all products sold, representing more than R950m in lost revenue to the economy. Law firm Bowman Gilfillan, which acts for the BSA, said that government issued draft amendments in April 2000 that would have improved copyright protection for software. The firm said these amendments were withdrawn towards the end of 2000. No further amendments have been published since. In a letter to Mpahlwa the law firm states that the act is "seriously outdated" and does not conform with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips). SA is a signatory to the agreement -- an international treaty administered by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The agreement sets down minimum standards for most forms of intellectual property regulation within WTO member countries. Bowman Gilfillan said it had isolated specific areas of concern which would not only place copyright holders in a better position to protect their rights, but would also place SA in a position where it would be able to meet its obligations in terms of the WTO agreement. The BSA said areas of concern about the country's copyright legislation were, among others, criminal penalties for end users and penalties which would act as deterrents. "End-user piracy continues to be an escalating problem. Internationally, end-user piracy has been recognised as a criminal offence. By making South African companies and their managers criminally responsible for end-user copying, this would not only go a long way in assisting intellectual property right holders but would also conform with international standards and will promote good corporate governance," the letter read. The BSA said although civil damages were provided for in the act, they were often inadequate to serve as a deterrent. The business organisation proposed monetary penalties for piracy, such as civil damages of R10000 per illegal copy found. (SOURCE: Business Day) South Sudan Eyes Rwanda's ICT ExpertiseThe Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) is targeting Rwanda as a source expertise in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), its official has said. The Director of GOSS Investment Mission in Uganda, Sam Mpuga, told The New Times in Kampla last week that his government had identified Rwanda as an ICT resource centre. He said Southern Sudan would source potential investors from Rwanda to exploit opportunities available in the ICT industry in Southern Sudan. "Right now, computer use in South Sudan is very limited, and computer experts are almost none existent. The UN, USAID and DANIDA are coming in but there is no technology and no infrastructure," said Mpuga. "Rwanda's expertise in ICT would be of great importance to help us build our IT sector, which would help create a sustainable development for our country to take off." Rwanda is considered as a potential ICT hub in the region, thanks to the government's significant attention to the industry. Added the GOSS official: "The problem has been that East Africa has been a small market. South Sudan holds future opportunities for the region. We believe that even our Rwandan brothers should come and exploit the existing opportunities we have. We have oil and fuel, prices of fuel I believe are higher in both Rwanda and Uganda." Mpuga said the GOSS intends to open a liaison office in Rwanda, adding that Rwandan entrepreneurs were due to meet South Sudan prospective business partners at a gathering due to take place in a month's time. Mpuga is one of the directors of Alkebulan Investment and Promotions assigned by the Southern Sudanese Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Supplies, to woo investors from the region to invest in Southern Sudan." The GOSS is composed mainly of former members of the Sudanese Liberation Movement/ Army, which signed a comprehensive peace agreement with Khartoum nearly two years ago. (SOURCE: The New Times) Electronic Tickets to be tested in Luanda BusesAn electronic tickets system might be used in Luanda's public transport buses, with a view to a tighter control of revenues and reduction in evasions. Under the system, the passenger purchases a card, through a contract with the operators, to be used in equipments fitted in the buses. According to a note from the Luanda provincial department of transports, mail and communication, the use of the cards will be controlled through a unique and global network of transport involving the operators and run from a central. The project that is part of the process of modernisation in the transport sector, is an important factor in activating mobility in the Luanda metropolitan area. Five bus companies operate in Luanda's transport market. They are State-owned TCUL and private, MACON, TURA, Angoaustral and SGO. (SOURCE: Angola Press Agency) Shuttleworth backs KDE desktop environmentCelebrating its 10th birthday this past week the KDE project announced that Mark Shuttleworth was to be its first patron in a new financial support programme for the popular desktop environment. KDE.net reports that Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth is to be a financial sponsor of the popular KDE project. Announcing a new financial support programme last week the KDE team named Shuttleworth as its first patron. KDE representative Danny Allen wrote yesterday that traditional contributions [to KDE] have seen the fusion of code, artwork, translations and documentation that has come to define KDE. But, as the project celebrates its 10th anniversary, "for people and organisations who wish to contribute to KDE by providing financial support in an ongoing manner, the KDE e.V. now offers the new Supporting Members scheme." KDE e.V. has said it is both excited and proud to announce Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, as their first patron. Canonical is the company behind the wildly-successful Ubuntu family of GNU/Linux distributions, including the KDE-specialised Kubuntu. Shuttleworth said that "with the growing importance of Kubuntu within the Ubuntu family, the time is right to support the project that makes Kubuntu possible - KDE. For this and many other reasons, I am very proud to become the first of hopefully many patrons of KDE." Patrons of KDE can display the "Patron of KDE" logo on their website and any other material for as long as they are a patron of KDE and will be listed on the KDE e.V. website. This is the highest level of membership available within KDE e.V., and will allow KDE e.V. to continue its work supporting and maintaining the structures of development. (SOURCE: Tectonic) IN BRIEF:- President Olusegun Obasanjo said this week that the Federal Government of Nigeria would soon unfold the National e-Health Policy for the country. - The Government of Uganda has instituted a National Internet Governance Forum to spearhead the Information and Communication Technology agenda in the country. Uganda will send a delegation to the first Internet Governance Forum that is scheduled for Athens, Greece from October 30 to November 3.
South Africa Nedbank empowers small businesses through mobile technologyNedbank has developed a mobile, cell phone-based, payment software solution that aims to allow merchants to process credit card payments without needing a point of sale (POS) terminal. The product can be used with any network, and costs less than POS terminals, Nedbank adds. "Small businesses will be able to process credit card transactions via their cellphones without changing networks or compromising the safety of transactions. Hand in hand with this offering is a manual imprinter that enables the merchant to show proof of purchase," says Sydney Gericke, MD of Nedbank Card. The technology, Nedbank iMPi, is aimed primarily at enterprises that have a low volume of transactions, and those which require mobility in their day-to-day business activities. Nedbank's target market includes Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs), passenger transfer businesses, and mobile service providers, such as plumbers, electricians, courier companies and small medical practices, such as speech therapists. "Nedbank iMPi is a highly cost-effective and convenient solution for small businesses - they can use their existing cellphone and they do not need to change networks. The technology is easy to use and can be used with GPRS, SMS or simple voice commands. Clients will experience seamless credit card transactions as the POS will be brought to them, thus limiting the need for cash or cheques on hand," says Gericke. (SOURCE: ICT World) Orascom Egypt wants control of HTILEgypt’s Orascom Telecom wants to take control of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL), according to a Reuters interview with Orascom chairman Naguib Sawiris. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Orascom took a 19.3% stake in HTIL for USD1.3 billion in December 2005. HTIL holds stakes in fixed line operations in Hong Kong and mobile businesses in India, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Israel, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Indonesia and Vietnam. The combined footprint of Orascom and HTIL operations includes important adjoining markets such as Orascom's operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and HTIL's businesses in India and Sri Lanka. On a combined basis, the pair control wireless operations in 15 countries covering two billion people, approximately a third of the world's population. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Orascom is currently seeking approvals in each of HTIL's constituent countries to raise its stake in HTIL by 3.7% to 23%, and Sawiris has previously signalled his intent to increase that stake further. As part of the original deal the two companies agreed a two-year standstill period after which both will have right of first refusal on any sale. Orascom also has first call if Hutchison Whampoa chooses to sell more than 10% in HTIL. When asked by Reuters what sized stake he wanted to purchase, the Orascom chairman said simply: ‘All of it,’ before adding that he wanted a controlling stake at the very least. He declined to provide a timeline or indicate how much he would be willing to pay for the shares, but revealed that he was in ‘constant talks’ regarding the price, and looking ‘to come to a price that is fair to both parties’. (SOURCE: Telegeography) Datatec's London Listing Falls ShortTechnology group Datatec has raised less than half the cash it hoped to generate through a secondary listing in London, with institutional investors pumping in only £13,9m of the targeted £29m. Just 7,2-million of the 16,3-million new shares made available were taken up ahead of yesterday's listing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), despite carrying a 10% discount to their price on the JSE. Several potential acquisitions are under negotiation, and the London loot was earmarked for funding those deals. Datatec’s CEO wins the “optimist of the year award” after claiming that he was not in the least disappointed as the listing was about raising Datatec's profile as much as raising cash. "We are absolutely happy with what we raised," he said. In any company listing, not raising the sum announced is regarded as a failure. The take-up was lower than expected because Datatec's share rose from R24 to R30 just before the listing. That meant the price potential buyers had expected to pay rose quite substantially in a matter of days, he said. The new shares were issued at 192p each, or R26,64, and with 154,4-million in issue Datatec reached a market capitalisation of R4,6bn, or £332m. Its shares lost R1 to trade at R29 on the JSE yesterday. Montanana said the final result was a compromise between the wishes of existing shareholders and those of new institutional investors. "South African shareholders wanted us to sell as little as possible to avoid dilution," he said. "Originally we asked for approval to list 15%, but our South African shareholders said that was too much. They knocked it back to 10%, and wouldn't let us give more than 10% discount on the price." Although less than 5% of its shares were released in the new floatation, Datatec has won approval from the Reserve Bank and both exchanges for all its shares to trade freely between the two. That will enable it to raise as much as it needs from foreign investors without any bottlenecks caused by having too few shares available to trade internationally. "All the shares in Johannesburg are available in London and vice versa. If a shareholder finds it hasn't got enough shares in London it can buy from the JSE and trade them in London. That's why we weren't so bothered about how much we raised," Montanana said. Datatec already held more than $70m in cash before the listing, and now holds close to $100m. "We have a road map of $70m to $90m in acquisitions in the pipeline over the next six months," Montanana said. Potential acquisitions now being discussed include moves to strengthen its network security offerings and to grow its presence in the UK. Further moves next year would grow the group's international footprint. "We are underweight in developing markets. We obviously want to be careful and selective and we are looking to do something in Turkey," Montanana said. (SOURCE: Business Day) IN BRIEF:- South African private operators may soon be competing for a multimillion-rand tender to take over government's national telecommunications networks to make them more efficient and cheaper to run. Telkom, the second network operator, Neotel, and Dimension Data are expected to vie for the business as the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) considers handing over its network to a private player. - Efforts by the debt recovery committee floated by management of NITEL a few months ago has led to the recovery of over N3 billion from its debtors mostly Private Telecom Operators (PTOs), based in Lagos. - Vodacom has announced plans to launch its own branded credit card next month. The cellular operator said that it would offer the Vodacom credit card to its qualifying contract and top-up customers. The card will be issued under FirstRand Bank's licence and backed by Visa.
Launch of Online News Service in ZimbabweVeteran Zimbabwean journalist, Geoffrey Nyarota, has announced the launch of the country's newest Internet publication, The Zimbabwe Times.com, which goes online tomorrow. Nyarota, the founder and editor of the banned Daily News since its inception in 1999 until January 2003, said The Zimbabwe Times.com is an initiative driven by Zimbabwean media practitioners in Zimbabwe, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, where he is currently based. Nyarota is the online publication's managing editor. "The project is driven by a passionate and patriotic desire to expand media space in a country where press freedom has been methodically curtailed by a government committed to keeping mainstream media under effective control, while denying the public full access to information. "The population of Zimbabwe has, therefore, become increasingly starved of meaningful information of interest and relevance. We are elated that we are able to join and to complement the effort of the growing family of independent Internet-based Zimbabwean publications, all contributing in their own way to the crusade to keep Zimbabweans well informed, as is their democratic right. "We seek to provide a vibrant, quality, reliable and credible medium for the dissemination of news and information for the benefit of a readership based in as well as outside Zimbabwe, in the vast Diaspora," Nyarota said. He said that a team of competent and well-respected journalists and writers will contribute to the news site. "Relying on in-depth investigation into issues and analysis of events, as well as trail-blazing and courageous journalism, The Zimbabwe Times will publish without fear or favour. Quality, fairness, independence, public and national interest, as well as relevance will be the keystone of editorial policy. "The Zimbabwe Times will not, in any way, be beholden to any sectoral interests, whether, political, business, social, religious, ethnic or racial. An innovative feature of The Zimbabwe Times will be a special column where all political parties and independent politicians are invited to have their say, as and when they wish, while also addressing questions from members of the public." The news site is accessible through the link thezimbabwetimes.com. (SOURCE: Financial Gazette) High Website Costs Hurt Organic Dealers in UgandaExorbitant charges levied by local firms that build websites have limited marketing of local produce globally, organic products dealers have said. The dealers said this during a workshop on the Internet and marketing of organic products at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. They said owning websites was still a nightmare to many because of the high costs. The information technology manager of Greenfield Uganda, James Mutyaba, said they had changed their website three times because the local firms were not allowing them to update information. Mutyaba said foreign firms offer free website training and maintenance because of their excellent training tools that require no supervision, yet local firms levy extra charges for training and maintenance. The workshop was organised by the International Trade Centre and the National Organic Movement of Uganda. (SOURCE: New Vision) Cellicium implements Sonatel Mobiles’ USSD browsing solutionCellicium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Switzerland-based Esmertec, says it has successfully implemented its Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Browsing solution for Senegalese mobile operator Sonatel Mobiles (Alizé). The new service, which is being marketed under the ‘Magik portal’ banner, has attracted over seven million sessions from Sonatel Mobiles’ one million-strong subscriber base, in the month since it was launched. Sonatel Mobiles’ Products and Services Manager Laurent-Marie Kiba said: ‘This has significantly increased user traffic of our value added services (VAS) and created strong mobile user stickiness, distinguishing Sonatel Mobiles from its competitors.’ Customers dial a simple access code to access Magic Portal in return for services such as email access over USSD, news, infotainment, logo and ringtone downloads, etc. Pre-paid and contract users can browse the menu for free and are only charged for the VAS they download and use. (SOURCE: Telegeography)
MTN's South African network announced the launch of its mobile TV serviceThe move is the first DVB-H deployment in Africa and the first mobile TV service on the continent. MTN was the first African operator to launch 3G and the first to move on to HSDPA. It is now the first to introduce a handset with both 3G and DVB-H, Samsung's P910. MTN claims that its service is being aimed at subscribers who may not have a TV set, as well as those who want to watch TV whilst commuting. Security specialist Gemalto is providing a security management function as well as specialised SIM cards for the service, with a personalised user interface and remote management capability. The signal is encrypted to protect MTN's revenue from the service. Ashraff Paruk, General Manager, Strategy, Product and Innovation at MTN, said: "MTN is delighted to offer the first commercially available 3G/DVB-H cellphone in the South African market. We are happy that Gemalto's encryption technology gives MTN a competitive edge in the local marketplace. Together with our partners we have enabled customers to get their hands on live TV." As well as the phone, there are also data cards available. During the first trial period, two channels will be available. These are CNN and Fashion TV, currently leading with a "Kate Moss catwalk disaster". MTN is a major sponsor of the 2010 World Cup, which it is banking on to make a success of mobile TV. Mobile TV is currently embroiled in a standards war, with contending European (DVB-H), South Korean (DMB, in both satellite and terrestrial flavours), North American (Qualcomm's MediaFLO), and proprietary (IPWireless's TDTV and the DAB-IP adaptation of digital radio broadcasting) options. The MTN deployment is a major success for the DVB-H standard, supported by Nokia and Alcatel, which despite heavy support from major vendors has struggled to reach the market. DMB, in both its flavours, has live deployments in Korea, and DAB-IP is being deployed by BT and Virgin Mobile in the UK. DVB-H, though, has remained in small-scale trials in most markets.
PEOPLECell-C’s Jeffrey Hedberg explained to the GSM Africa 06 delegates how when he arrived in the company he explained the developing world experience he had had elsewhere. And his words, they told him:”Your experience (elsewhere) doesn’t matter. This is Africa! It’s not for sissies. Make it happen!” He said 84% of Cell-C’s traffic was now carried on its own network with the balance carried by Vodacom through a roaming agreement. In the same event, Stanley Subramoney, of PwC Southern Africa revealed that he had been told that the SAT3 fibre project had paid back its capital in a mere 18 months. Dr Dorothy Okello, a Makerere University lecturer, has been appointed to head the Interim committeee for internet governance, which was launched by the State Minister for ICT, Mr Alintuma Nsambu. Okello is also the Coordinator of the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET). Blaise Etoa Tsanga has recently joined Orange Cameroon, Communications Department leaving its job at the Ministry of Culture. François de Grivel has been elected President of the ACT, an association representing the interests of private telecommunications companies in Mauritius. EVENTS- ACHIEVING BEST VALUE IN HUMAN RESOURCE AND SKILLS MANAGEMENT USING INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) 23rd-24th October 2006, Johannesburg South Africa. ICT enables Human Resource Practitioners in Africa access to information, best practices, concepts and processes such as streamlining their recruitment and selection process which is of added value in building and retaining skills in Africa, it also drives down the cost of HR services delivery. For further details visit www.africarecruit.com - WEST AFRICAN SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SUMMIT 31 October - 2 November 2006, Le Meridien Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria The summit is dedicated to the deployment of satellite and satellite hybrid-based communications solutions across the region of West Africa and will provide an unparalleled networking opportunity for global and regional satellite communications providers to meet with ever-expanding communities of vertical market communications end-users. For further information visit http://www.gvf.org/gvf/events/index.cfm - GSM-3G WORLD SERIES - NORTH AFRICA 8-9 November 2006, Sheraton Tunis Hotel, Tunis, Tunisia "What are the market impacts of additional competition and 3G licensing in North Africa? How can you attract new users to drive forward penetration? And more importantly what plans do your suppliers, clients and competitors have for this region? The 5th GSM>3G North Africa is the one forum in the region vital to manufacturers, application developers, operators and regulators who are active, or seeking to be active, in the North African market. For further information visit www.gsm-3gworldseries.com/northafrica" - 1ST INTERNATIONAL ICT INVESTMENT CONFERENCE FOR AFRICA 14th – 15th November 2006, Tunis, Tunisia. Under the auspices of Secretary General United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) Regarding sponsorship or delegate attendance, please contact Dan Morrissy in London on +44 207 2871326 or at dmorrissy@i-ep.com - SMB ROADSHOW 2007 - MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 26th March 2007, Nile Hilton, Cairo, Egypt. IDC's SMB Roadshow provides a comprehensive and trustworthy platform for discussing strategic IT issues directly impacting the SMB sector. Debate led by recognised experts and based on best practices and sound technology analysis provide objective and critical insights required by leaders in this sector. This event will target IT decision makers - by vertical industry sector - within SMBs across the region. For further information visit http://www.idc-cema.com/events/smbeg07 - eLEARNING AFRICA 2007 28-30th May 2007, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya The subject is Building Infrastructures and Capacities to Reach out to the Whole of Africa, reflecting the significant efforts of African countries to set up their national and regional ICT infrastructures to create access to education, training and services for all. For further information visit www.icwe.net or call +49-30-327 6140 JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESERP Consultants – South africa Mincom Africa is currently looking for three ERP consultants. They must be bilingual (French & English). Previous experience as a consultant on an ERP system (SAP/Ellipse/Oracle) will be considered and/or a formal I.T. related qualification. The three positions are permanent jobs. ne will be permanently based in Johannesburg. The other two will require travelling to Congo DRC but they will be Johannesburg based. For further information please contact freek.lotz@mincom.com CALL FOR SUBMISSION OF VIDEO PODCAST - UNESCO Within the framework of its international project, (Harnessing ICTs for the audiovisual industry and public service broadcasting in developing countries), UNESCO is launching a call for submissions of video podcast proposals for a series of production grants. For further information contact creativecontent@unesco.org ACCESS TO LEARNING AWARD We invite you to apply for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annualAccess to Learning Award.This award recognizes excellence in providing access toinformation by utilizing new information and communication technologies in an innovative way,at no cost to the user. The recipient will receive an award of up to US $1 million. The award is administered by the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). Completed applications should be sent to INASP and must be postmarked or emailed by 31 December 2006. A PDF version of the application will be available for downloading to your computer from www.inasp.info/ldp/awards. CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?TELECOM NAMIBIA AND ECTEL ECtel Ltd. a provider of Integrated Revenue Management™ (IRM™) solutions announced it has been awarded a project for the implementation of FraudView®, its fraud detection and prevention solution, from Telecom Namibia Limited. The contract totals $1.2 Million, and followed a successful pilot on live traffic. Uganda telecom and redback Redback Networks Inc a provider of next-generation broadband networking systems, announced that Uganda Telecom, the national incumbent telecommunications provider of Uganda, has deployed Redback’s SmartEdge® Multi-Service Edge Router to support broadband services for business and residential customers.
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