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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 356 Transcorp looks at new carriers carrier strategy for“car wreck” NitelAlthough Transcorp succeeded in buying Nigeria’s incumbent Nitel, it does not have the necessary funds to invest in developing it. Despite conducting a fairly vigorous round of fundraising, both local and international investors have remained lukewarm about putting their money into this “car-wreck” of a company. Its new management has begun to face this reality this week as it presented its new strategy to its Board, the Transformation and Repositioning Initiative. Thus far Transcorp have not played their cards well. The attitude of its first set of managers managed to scare off BT (after sacking one its staff), which had been brought in to provide much needed external expertise. And this was the second time it had scared off a much-needed partner. Its technical and financial partner Etisalat walked away before the deal was finalised after Transcorp failed to come up with the share of the acquisition price it had originally agreed. The company has been in negotiations with Vodacom who want to buy its mobile subsidiary MTel but the negotiations seem stuck on whether the latter can assume majority control. The deal leaked to the press last week appears to be worth $480 million for a 42% share with an option for a further 9% within 3 years. Vodacom is understandably reluctant to pay this kind of money and invest more money in the network without majority control. In order to facilitate the sale, Nitel will demerge the company and clean up its balance sheet with a debt-for-equity conversion. Local company Alheri Engineering is said to have made a counter-offer but it looks like its presence as counter-bidder is designed to be part of a strategy by Nitel to keep Vodacom from backing away. Vodacom is the only one of the larger pan-continental mobile chains that has failed to get into Nigeria, one of the continent’s major mobile markets. Unable to raise external capital of any scale and uncertain about the MTel deal, the Board has now approved a strategy that will be used to try and box itself out of this tight corner. Nitel will largely withdraw from the retail sector, becoming a carrier’s carrier and working with retail partners. In order to improve the availability of its services and raise money, it will enter into vendor management and financing deals. It will go to its debtors and offer them a “write-down” on what they owe the company in exchange for speedy payment. It is not clear how this written down debt and the debts written off by demerging MTel will affect the overall balance sheet but the company must surely face a substantial level of accumulated losses. There have been rumours of imminent bankruptcy but given the “behind-the-scenes” political will to make things succeed for the new owners, this seems unlikely. A source at Nitel told This Day that the company was having a problem “managing the ailing network”. The likely approach would be that an equipment vendor like Huawei or ZTE would loan the company money to modernise its network and would subsequently manage the network (for an agreed fee) on their behalf. This is designed to address the network availability issues that have plagued the demoralised company over the last 12 months. It is not clear whether its SAT3 capacity would be hived off separately. But its current position with SAT3 clearly illustrates the company’s dilemma. It owes so much to the system’s managing agent Telkom South Africa that it is unable to ask for new capacity before it has paid off its past debts. The company also had a history of running up debts with other international voice minutes suppliers and then opening up new accounts with other companies once the original suppliers would no longer extend their credit. In addition, there has also been a long history of spectacular levels of internal revenue “leakage” which in Transcorp’s acknowledged absence of the ability to manage the network is unlikely to have diminished. According to the same report in This Day, Nitel has not fully restored its pre-paid platform which crashed two years ago. Transcorp is a company run by individuals close to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and despite its difficulty in meeting the first payment for the acquisition of the company, the deal was completed prior to his leaving office. It was seen as a way of Nigerian owners still retaining control of the company, rather than letting it slip into the hands of international bidders. However, since Transcorp has neither the capital nor the management resources to run Nitel, it is unclear what the company has brought to the deal. The new management must be on short notice to achieve something substantial within the next 6-12 months or the whole deal could turn sour. Much hangs on whether it will get some financial relief from the deal with Vodacom if it goes ahead.
MINISTER ADDS FOUR YEARS TO TELKOM'S LOCAL LOOP MONOPOLY IN SOUTH AFRICACommunications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has effectively handed Telkom another four years of monopoly in the landline telephony market, drawing criticism from analysts who say any further delays will hamper the government's drive to reduce the costs of doing business in SA. Matsepe-Casaburri told Parliament yesterday she was giving Telkom until November 1 2011 to unbundle the so-called "local loop", which links the national telecommunications network to individual homes and businesses. Although the minister said "the unbundling process in SA should be urgently implemented," the reality is that Telkom will have at least another four-and-a-half years to further entrench its market dominance. Telkom, 38%-owned by the government, has long resisted unbundling the local loop, arguing it was part of its infrastructure. Critics have complained about the lack of movement on unbundling and the resulting slow rate of rollout of fixed line telephone lines and broadband DSL accessibility. Matsepe-Casaburri is due to receive today the report and recommendations of the local loop unbundling committee, which proposes a way forward for the unbundling process. Analysts said the four-year completion target would give Telkom sufficient time to "establish its client base", limiting the potential for rival, second network operator Neotel, to take advantage of the unbundling. "It's positive for Telkom. It prevents Neotel from entering the retail area aggressively," said an analyst who did not want to be named. Neotel has said it would start rolling out in residential areas regardless of local loop unbundling, through wireless technology. However, the analyst said the decision would still give Telkom plenty of time to wrap up its customer base in the market. Irnest Kaplan, MD of Kaplan Equity Analysts, said it was mildly positive for consumers that the decision has finally been announced. Telkom would have been expecting the move and from Neotel's perspective it depended on what plans it had in terms of local loop. "Unbundling the local loop, is key to competition," said another analyst. "It will just provide Telkom with more monopolistic advantages," he said. Together with the creation of state-owned broadband infrastructure company Infraco, which would provide low-cost, long-distance telecommunications transmission between cities, the unbundling of the local loop will contribute significantly to a lowering of telecommunications costs. But as long as Telkom has a monopoly of the "last mile" it will not be possible to bring down the costs of telecommunications. Dave Gayle, director of business development at Storm, an internet service provider, said that the local loop could previously not be unbundled before other regulations opening up the sphere had been enacted. However, with other available or developing regulations being looked at by the regulator, local loop unbundling was becoming less pertinent for competition. Neotel would be piggybacking on Telkom's network while it rolled out its own network and would have the option of leasing the local loop at commercial rates from Telkom. A Neotel spokesman said the announcement did not affect its strategy as it continued to build its infrastructure network as planned. "However, the quicker local loop unbundling happens, the better for all South Africans." It has been speculated that unbundling the local loop may see that aspect of the network being housed in a separate entity and made available to other companies. The communications department said: "The unbundling of the local loop has been identified as crucial towards increasing innovation, increasing the quality and quantity of services, lowering the prices paid by the customers and increasing the number of available business opportunities". Matsepe-Casaburri said she recognised an urgent need for all operators to be licensed to have access to the local loop. (SOURCE: Business Day) CONFUSION OVER SIMILAR CALL IDENTITY NUMBERS IN BOSTWANABotswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) may find its decision conflicting with customer interest after it allocated Orange Botswana and Mascom Wireless numbers all start with the 74 number. Mascom started using these numbers last year while Orange Botswana is expected to start using them beginning 1st of June 2007. An Orange subscriber Florence Nanguba, who is also an airtime vendor said she finds it difficult to differentiate which number belongs to Mascom and which one is Orange. "These numbers should be in such a way that it is easy to differentiate which one is Mascom and Orange when you receive a call. Calling Mascom and Orange numbers may not be the same in monetary value. Customers have been used to clear distinction that the Mascom number starts with 71 and that of Orange starts with 72. It may result in problems of identification," she said. Aaron Nyelesi, the Public Relations Manager at Botswana Telecommunications Authority said they allocated Orange Botswana about 200,000 additional numbers ranging from 7430 0000 to 7449 999. "Mascom has been allocated numbers ranging from 7410 0000 to 7429 999. That is the difference." He said although the initial number allocation was such that Mascom was assigned the 71... and Orange the 72..., it was never the intention of BTA to differentiate mobile service providers through number allocation. "It should be understood that numbers are a finite resource and that they should be used prudently. Previously each of the mobile operators was allocated 1 million numbers in 71 and 72 range. Such allocation can no longer be sustained in a competitive market where the demand for resources such as numbers increases. Future allocations will be made in much small blocks, say 200,000 or less," he said. Nyelesi added that BTA envisages the introduction of number portability in the future and as such it would be proper to allocate numbers without branding them to a particular network. "This will ensure that as customers switch between networks, they do not necessarily have to change their numbers. The number should be identified more with the customer than the network operator," he explained. Asked on the procedure of allocating numbers, Nyelesi said BTA decision is informed by the operators' submission (application for numbers), which will include among others a demonstration of optimal usage of the current allocated batch of numbers. "Licensed operators require resources such as numbers to be able to provide a host of services to consumers of telecoms services. The BTA makes its decision based on the existing national numbering plan, which indicates allocations of numbers for the various service areas," said the PR Manager. He said such an allocation would urge the network operators to compete on the basis of service that they provide and not numbers. "It is incumbent upon network operators to distinguish themselves from competitors through various creative means and not necessarily through numbers allocated to them. Numbers are a national resource whose administration is the responsibility of the BTA and therefore they should not be used for branding and competition purposes," he stated. Odirile Motlhale, Mascom's Public Relations Officer said he had no problem with Orange numbers starting with 74. "Ours numbers start from 7410 0000 to 7429 999 and theirs are different from ours. I see no problem or confusion that may result from this," he said. (SOURCE: The Voice) NEW GSM OPERATOR TO LAUNCH IN GAMBIAPresident Yahya Jammeh, will tomorrow, officially inaugurate Comium a new GSM company in The Gambia and a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based but Lebanese-owned company. According to a Comium spokesperson:”Comium Gambia's mobile service is tailored specifically to meet the country's needs and will provide subscribers with the kind of world-class products they have so far lacked. It added that the group will also offer a wider range of advanced value-added services than those available at present and will be the first network to offer complete coverage of the whole country, bringing mobile telecommunications to all Gambians from day one”. It will offer a 2.5G network with Internet access. Amer Atwi, Managing Director of Comium Gambia said:"Entering the Gambian market as the third telecommunication operator will be a challenge but we welcome it. We will offer better coverage, better value and better services. Comium will also increase competition, forcing existing services to improve to catch up. It will also create new employment opportunities and all these are positive for The Gambia and Gambian subscribers," He assured that new networks, services and job opportunities will be created for Gambians. Dr Nizar Dalloul, Chairman of the Comium Group, said their strategy involves the acquisation of new licences across countries in West Africa and Central Africa, where mobile phone and Internet penetration is limited in order to ensure tangible and sustained value to subscribers. "The passion for creating a better future is someting that has long been and should continue to be a critical part of the Comium culture and values," he said. (SOURCE: The Daily Observer) IS UNVEILS TELCO AMBITION IN SOUTH AFRICAInternet Solutions (IS) is positioning itself to be the country's latest fully-fledged telecommunications operator, says CEO Angus MacRobert, following communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's budget vote speech last week. Matsepe-Casaburri said she had directed the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to urgently consider whether none, or only certain, of the existing value-added network services (VANS) licensees can be authorised to provide services and operate electronic communications facilities or networks. Essentially, this means ICASA should consider whether some licensed VANS can be granted electronic network service provider licences, in terms of the Electronic Communications Act. This would give IS, and other VANS that qualify, similar rights and privileges as Telkom and Neotel. MacRobert says the minister's policy directives show the department has realised liberalisation has not been as fast as it should have. He notes the policy directive, if it comes to fruition, allows IS to realise its ambition to become a “new age telco”. The Communications Users Association of SA (CUASA) has welcomed the minister's policy directives with caution. “This is great news, assuming something comes of it,” says CUASA spokesman Ray Webber. He says the directives provide clarity on the issue of whether VANS can self-provide. “We live in hope this matter will finally be resolved, thereby allowing some real competition for many telecoms services.” MacRobert and IS senior regulatory officer Siyabonga Madyibi believe the policy directives would not be a replay of the notorious 2004 ministerial determinations, which initially allowed VANS to self-provide, but were later withdrawn. Madyibi adds IS is confident ICASA would be able to justify why it, and possibly other large VANS, should be able to qualify for full electronic network service provider licences that would provide them with an international gateway. Such a finding would be based on objective criteria, and size and resources will be important, as infrastructure provision is a capital-intensive exercise, he notes. MacRobert says IS is well positioned to adopt an aggressive strategy, as once it is freed of the 126c interconnection rate, it could drop its per minute call charge to 17c per minute, while the mobile operators would still be at around 186c. He notes IS would be prepared to supply fixed-line and wireless voice solutions to the corporate and consumer markets. (SOURCE: ITWeb)
IN BRIEF:- Camtel, the national incumbent in Cameroon is struggling with mounting dissatisfactions among it temporary labour force. Several months ago, the company signed an agreement to resolve some of the temporary workers issues but so far it appears that the company has failed to implement any of the measures. - In a rare move, Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings Limited (NPTH) - the parent company of Telecom Namibia, MTC and Nampost - has advertised positions on its board of directors in local newspapers. NPTH Acting Company Secretary Stanley Shanapinda said this was an initiative taken by the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication to bring more transparency to the whole system. - The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation on Thursday launched a new phone directory prepared both on electronic and printed format in a bid to "be of much service to clients and meet international standards." The Corporation has spent a total of 3.9 million birr preparing of the directory. - Sasktel International of Canada which has been awarded a three-year contract by the government of Tanzania to assume management control of national PTO the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) will take over from 1 July 2007 and will be responsible for all the Tanzanian firm’s operations, maintenance and expansion in order to improve its financial, commercial and technical performance. - The World Bank (WB) is to release US$58 million to help Burundi to develop its rural infrastructure and the telecommunications sector, according to an agreement signed in Bujumbura by the country's Finance Minister Denise Sinankwa and the representative of the Bank, Alassan Sow TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Telecel Zimbabwe has signed additional roaming agreements with unnamed international operators as the mobile operator seeks to increase its share of the market as the country steps up preparations for the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa. - Etisalat Egypt plans to invest $1.41bn building infrastructure over the next three years in a bid to sign up 10m subscribers by 2010. The telco will also hold a public share float in 2009. - Econet Wireless Zimbabwe says it will launch 3G mobile network trials for a selected group of around 2,000 users, in order to fine-tune the service before it is offered on a wider commercial basis.
UGANDA’S MPS REJECT $2.12 MILLION INTEREST ON CHINESE LOAN FOR THE BUILDING OF A NETWORK BACKBONEA plan for Uganda to establish a National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Network backbone have hit a wall after Parliament rejected the "high" interest rate on the loan from China. While meeting the Minister of ICT, Dr Ham Muliira and that of Finance Dr Ezra Suruma, the Parliamentary Committee on the National Economy demanded that the government explains the rationale for a 2 per cent interest rate ($2.12 million) to be charged on the $106m for the national ICT backbone project over 20 years. They demanded to see the details of the agreement before sanctioning it. "We took this loan with good intentions but the rate is too high compared to other loans. We would have gone to the World Bank, which is at 0.75 per cent. We want to see the agreement before we can proceed with this request," Butambala MP Ibrahim Kadunabbi, the Committeee Chairperson said. The loan is meant to help government rollout ICT systems and services throughout the country. Through the project ICT facilities are expected to trickle down to the grassroots. But according to the committee the rate at which the Chinese lent Uganda was too high. But Dr Suruma defended the deal, saying that the 2 per cent rate is below market terms and that within the agreement there is a grant component. "It is not true that the 2 per cent is high. In any case we have other loan requests, which are far high than this ICT backbone loan. The Interest rate aspect should not be a problem," Mr Suruma said. However, the Committee reminded Dr Suruma that it is the National Economy that handles government loan requests and that they have handled requests with even 0.5 per cent rate. "We do not want to borrow today and fail to pay back tomorrow. If there are other Banks which can give us loans at a lower rate why do we insist on 2% which is high," Mr Kadunabbi asked. However, Dr Suruma defended the interest rates. "With a long grace period of 20 years, the 2 per cent is not so high. The best customer borrowing in dollar terms will borrow at 5 per cent but ours is cheaper," Mr Suruma said. The government wants Parliamentary approval to get a $106m loan from the Chinese Export-Import Bank to build the national backbone infrastructure. But Daily Monitor has learnt that a Chinese company, Huaiwei Technologies, has started out the job even before Parliament approves the loan request. Mulira said that the completion of the national ICT backbone would compete with the current link provided by the two national operators, MTN and Uganda Telecom. This would also help to expedite the institution of a national network for delivery of Internet through a network linking higher education and tertiary education institutions in the country. "With the completion of the project, commercial Internet Service Providers (IPS) in the country would find it cheaper to business in cost friendly manner which would in turn attract users. Our aim is to increase ICT usage in the country," Muliira said. The MPs said they hoped to have cheaper and faster connectivity all over the country for voice, data and video. "As MPs we want our people to appreciate ICT," they said. (SOURCE: The Monitor) WEST AFRICA SCHOLARS CALL FOR CHEAPER BANDWIDTH ON SAT3The Association of African Universities has called for African leaders to use the end of a monopoly on a submarine communications cable to provide cheaper Internet access for students. The SAT-3 submarine communications cable -- which runs from Europe down Africa's west coast -- is currently monopolised by a consortium of state-owned and private telecommunications providers in different countries, and pricing structures have been the subject of criticism. That monopoly ends in June, which could open up internet access for west African nations. Information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives in African universities are suffering due to expensive, slow and limited connectivity, says Akilagpa Sawyer, the executive secretary of the Ghana-based Association of African Universities (AAU). "In our universities you've got 18,000 students and 1,000 teachers using the same amount of bandwidth as an American household," said Sawyer at a conference on African development at the UK-based Open University last week (16-17 May). "The more people that use it, the slower it works. And because of the monopoly pricing in Africa, that university will pay 50 times more per unit than the American household." Sawyer says the association needs to persuade governments that ICT programmes will not work without connectivity and effective networks between universities. Rather than looking at expensive satellite Internet services as a solution, West African universities should be accessing the SAT-3 cable, he says. "The monopolies run out in June and it is very important that before our governments renew their licenses we persuade them that these companies could give away a portion of their lines at a discounted rate to us," Sawyer said. "We need those who are making the choices at higher levels to realise that it would cost them quite little and make a difference." He said the AAU is keen to work with other African organisations to lobby governments to this end. But lobbying governments to make access to the SAT-3 communications cable cheaper may not necessarily make the Internet more readily available, says Adebayo Ore, a systems analyst at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Ore told Scidev.Net their current network is limited because not all sections of the university have enough computers to connect to the network. Also, Internet access is only available to the heads of departments and to researchers, not to students. Sunday Akinseloye, also a systems analyst at the University of Lagos, says the launch of the Nigeria communication satellite, NIGCOMSAT-1 (see Satellite launches boost African communications), may be another option for cheap Internet access. (SOURCE: SciDev.Net) SOUTH AFRICA’S STATE DEPARTMENTS GET R454M IP NETWORK FROM NEOTELThe government would invest R454m over the next five years in a new network to improve service delivery by offering faster access to more than 3000 departments, and reduce costs nearly 8%, said Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi last week. The previous system, introduced in 2002, had become largely redundant and was unable to keep up with the demands placed on it, she said. The Next Generation Network, which would replace the single network infrastructure, had nearly twice the bandwidth and would make the national government's vision of a single public service a reality through interoperability and seamless service delivery. Neotel, the country's second national telecommunications operator, beat Telkom for the job of providing national backbone transmission services to support the new network. The transaction is worth R378m over five years. Business Connexion will supply, install and support the network equipment on the Next Generation Network for three years, which is worth R76m excluding maintenance. "In utilising Neotel, Sita (the State Information Technology Agency) is ensuring that cheaper telecommunications for government can become a reality," Fraser-Moleketi said. "As a new player in the South African telecommunications space, Neotel is able to bring to the market the latest technology and greater flexibility. This means that Sita, on behalf of government, can access additional capacity as and when required, at a significantly reduced cost." Fraser-Moleketi said the new system would be operational by October. The government and Sita had learnt a lot from the problems surrounding the installation of the eNatis traffic information system and had assisted Transport Minister Jeff Radebe's office in tackling the problem. "A number of lessons were learnt with the installation of the eNatis system and let's just say that the limitations of the system have been identified," she said. "We are confident that Sita has the right partners on board to ensure that during this transitional phase we straddle both old and new worlds of telecommunications with confidence." Fraser-Moleleti said the new system would help the government provide services in support of e-government strategy by: offering a stable communication platform for all departments dealing with the public; through e-education offered on the FET Colleges Virtual Private Network Project; through telemedicine via the e-Health projects with access to clinics and connectivity to multipurpose community centres, which would benefit those in rural and urban areas. (SOURCE: Business Day) WIMAX TO BE DEPLOYED IN THREE CITIES IN NIGERIANigerian ISP ipNX Nigeria Ltd has announced that US vendor SOMA Networks is to install next-generation wireless broadband systems in the major cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. SOMA will be deploying its ‘FlexMAX’ WiMAX equipment in the cities to help ipNX expand beyond its current commercial and banking customer base and target the residential market. It is hoping that within three years over 250,000 customers will be using the new network. The project is in line with the Nigerian government’s State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI), which is designed to aggressively expand broadband access to all major commercial cities in Nigeria. (SOURCE: Telegeography) IN BRIEF:- iBurst South Africa has passed the 40,000 subscriber mark, cementing SA's position as the world's biggest market for iBurst wireless broadband. - The Ethiopian Population Census Commission will purchase satellite imagery equipment worth four million pounds 69 million Br, which will be financed by a donation from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The satellite equipment will be used for the Somali Regional State population census as part of the upcoming national census. - Kenya and the World Bank signed here a $85 million loan agreement to finance the country's two Internet broadband connectivity projects that are expected to lower the cost of communication and internet services in the country. - Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi government's strategic investment and development vehicle, has announced today that it has selected a consortium of EADS Astrium, Thales and Alenia Space as the preferred bidder to build a AED 5 billion plus dual satellite communications system to cover the Middle East, Africa, Southern Europe and South East Asia.
SOUTH AFRICA’S RESEACHERS GAIN ACCESS TO SUPERCOMPUTINGSouth African researchers now have the advantage of using massive computing power in their quest for new knowledge and applications. This is as a result of a joint initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and its partners in creating the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), which is the first of its kind in the country. The CHPC is hosted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) and managed by the Meraka Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Minister of Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena, officially opened the facility in Cape Town last Tuesday. "The CHPC represents an important step in the modernisation of our South African science infrastructure," the minister said. "I am confident that this will ensure that we have the requisite capacity to generate new knowledge and cement South Africa's position as an attractive destination for science and technology endeavours." The centre, which started operating early this year, is already being used to carry out three projects research projects. One such project focuses on climate change, undertaken by UCT Professors Bruce Hewitson and Frank Shillington. North-West University Professor Marius Potgieter is using the CHPC for his research into cosmology, while University of Limpopo Professor Phuti Ngoepe is conducting a study into enhancing the cost effectiveness and energy efficiency of high-energy density, solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Other typical commercial applications for the CHPC are in the pharmaceutical, chemical and petroleum, software development, mining, automobile and financial and commerce industries. The high speed computational infrastructure comprises of 160 compute nodes (640 processors) in a clustered architecture. It is rated to have a peak performance of around 2.5 terraflops, or , in other words, 2.5 million million mathematical operations every second. It is complemented by 50 terrabytes of storage space. It compares with the performance of a few thousand standard desktop personal computers. (SOURCE: BuaNews) SUN PARTNERS CBC TO MARKET OPEN SOURCE IN NIGERIAIn a bid to popularise the use and adoption of Open Source technology in Nigeria, Sun Microsystems, a leading global information technology firm, has entered into partnership with City Business Computers (CBC), a Nigerian IT firm. Mahamat Guiagousssou, Senior Customer Engineer, Sun Micro-system, disclosed that he had been dreaming of Open Source for Nigeria since his first visit to the country about two years ago. Guiagousssou stated that the Sun OpenCDS product enables wireless delivery of multiple content types (video, audio, text, images etc) through unique distributed download architecture. It allows users to go on their cell phones and download any content for educational, information and health purposes. "Not everybody in Nigeria has a computer; not everybody has Internet connection; but almost everybody has a cell phone and I am telling Nigerians that this is an opportunity to push valuable content which generates huge amount of money for people in United States and many other parts of the world," Guiagousssou stated. He described Open Source software as a perfect substitution for Microsoft Windows, which he noted is not affordable to most Nigerians. This according to him has led to the high level of piracy in the country as those who cannot afford to buy a copy results to pirating it. Reiterating the position of Sun Microsystems, he stated that "Sun believes that instead of copying and pirating these products, it is better to be part of the game than being given a bad name," he said. "Take the source code, install it, experience it and if it is okay by you, turn it into a big business," he added. (SOURCE: This Day) UGANDA STANBIC BANK GETS NEW PAYMENT SOFTWAREStanbic Bank has introduced software to ease payments of large volumes of money by Electronic File Transfer (EFT) or Real time Gross Settlement (RTGS). The new system comes only days before the June 30 deadline set by Bank of Uganda to stop using cheques with a face value of Shs20 million or more. The software solution dubbed, Customer Access Terminal System (CATS) enables clients to transfer funds in bulk and allows bulk payments in the shortest period of time without the use of cheques. Speaking at a meeting with key customers recently, the bank's Regional Director and Head of Investment Banking, Ms Anne Aliker said the system was meant to enable corporate and individuals to easily adopt to the electronic means of making payments through EFT or RTGS. "Our electronic banking solution allows customers to view statement information, money transfers, inter-account transfers, Third party payments, international payments and payments to other local banks and any other Stanbic clients," she said. (SOURCE: The Monitor) FUTUREX FEELS THE ABSENCE OF THE 'BIG GUYS'Walking down the aisles at the Futurex trade show last week was an unsettling experience. You didn't bump into other people and jostle for space as you do at some international trade fairs. Exhibitors on some of the stands looked bored or were working on their laptops, not even glancing up at the occasional passer-by. The 211 stands in the Sandton Convention Centre were attractive and professional, but there was a sense that the effort had gone to waste for too few admirers. Organiser Sandra Galbraith of Exhibitions For Africa readily admits that Futurex failed to draw the expected 10,000 visitors. But this is not a sign of exhibition fatigue, she says. In the classic response to low numbers, Galbraith insists it is not the quantity of the crowd that counts but the quality. "There is definitely a place for IT shows, but Futurex has to become more exciting and someone will have to increase the visitors next year. Everybody says the internet means you can do all your shopping online, but business owners want to touch, see and feel what they buy and you can't do that on the internet." One problem with the show is that it does not attract major local players such as Sahara, manufacturer of computers and laptops. "We don't have the support of those big guys and that's something we need to work on," Galbraith says. "This is a partnership between Exhibitions for Africa and our exhibitors. If we support the industry, we need the industry to support us as well." Sahara no longer exhibits because of a combination of cost and target audience, says its deputy MD, Gary Naidoo. "Over the years, Futurex has changed its outlook, and we felt if we needed to target specific customers we would conduct our own road shows and hold an annual convention and bring in customers from Africa. "That works much better for us because we target our resellers and share road maps with them." Naidoo says he disagrees with a change of strategy by Futurex to ban students and focus on business visitors. "In this country there are a lot of people who are not exposed to technology and a show as big as this should definitely try to attract a broader audience." Naidoo also thinks trade fairs are too expensive for technology distributors, which are working with paper-thin profit margins. "The cost in terms of what you get wasn't providing adequate returns," he says. Galbraith took over the management of Futurex last year, and says other staff changes within Exhibitions For Africa also disrupted its organisation. Fresh elements designed to put more fun into Futurex did not work as well as expected, she says, although the lessons learnt should make them better next year. One new angle was a hacking contest that hackers failed to attend, with only four out of an expected 40 arriving. "That was a great pity, but we will run it again next year and start planning earlier so they take time off work." Also new was an e-waste disposal area, where people could tip broken or obsolete electronic goods for environmentally friendly recycling. Galbraith says she really had expected people to arrive with comatose computers and dead monitors. "Green issues are highly topical, so we had porters with trolleys so people could offload their goods. I was hoping to build a mountain of e-waste. Next year we'll start promoting it earlier." Overall, however, the figure of 211 exhibitors was up from the 206 last year, and international participation doubled. Exhibition space costs R1400/m' for the four-day show. To help exhibitors make the most of it, Galbraith ran training sessions on how to make their stands attractive, how to greet visitors and draw them in, and goals to set such as lead generation. "If a company successfully works its stand, they could have leads for the rest of the year," she says. Despite manning a lonely looking stand at the back of hall two, Anil Ramnarain of Ghandi Technology was happy with his debut appearance. Ramnarain imports business process software from India and the US. "The first day was pretty quiet but the second day turned around for us and we had some pretty good leads. I met about 10 people, of which five had particular requirements for this kind of software." Even if the leads do not turn into direct business, being at Futurex was a good way to promote his company, he says. His big complaint was that the organisers did not supply a list of pre-registered visitors or a visitor roll from last year so he could contact potential customers. "With a list of people who were coming through we could have contacted them with a view to setting up meetings with the financial services and insurance industries and send out invites." About 40 Indian companies set up stands this year, aided by India's Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council. "Some companies have been getting good business and we have had some good inquiries," said Sharad Damodar, assistant manager of software developer Satyam. "There's definitely enough business to make them come back." Satyam has had a presence in SA for two years and attends Futurex to give its brand further exposure, he says. A small cluster of companies from the Czech Republic were also exhibiting, with financial aid from their industry and trade ministry. "We are trying to find new contacts here to sell our products," said Pavel Pospichal, head of technical support for Optokon, which develops components for optical networks. "I know that our products are very specific so I don't expect a lot of people to be interested. We are looking for specialist distributors and installers and telecoms companies." Pospichal met about 40 potential buyers, and will be glad if five or 10 turn into solid deals. (SOURCE: Business Day) ACER ACHIEVES BIGGEST EAST AFRICAN PC DEAL IN ETHIOPIAAcer Computer, a worldwide supplier of notebook and desktop computers has announced the completion of a deal to supply the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MOE) with high-end Acer computers. The deal involves the supply of 5,500 units of Intel-based desktops, and with an estimated value of AED 12.6 million (USD 3.5 million) it is the biggest such PC deal in East Africa. As part of the deal, Acer Computers will also provide technical support to more than 16 universities across the country who have benefited from Acer Computer ‘s deal with the Ethiopian MOE. "The education sector across the region is looking increasingly at the IT industry for support. It's not just about supply and demand anymore, it's about promoting the development and growth of the country's education sector," added Kachroo. (SOURCE: Zawya) IN BRIEF:- The Global Information Society Watch 2007 report - the first in a series of annual reports- looks at state of the field of information and communication technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels and particularly how policy impacts on the lives of people living in developing countries. The report is available for download via http://www.globaliswatch.org/. - A memorandum of understanding in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) field was signed between Tunisia and Hungary. The two sides agreed to boost co-operation between companies and organisations operating in the ICTs field in the two countries. They underscored the need to take into account the results of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Tunis Agenda's commitments. - The South African home affairs department is promising to make it quicker and easier to get an identity document (ID) by introducing track-and-trace technology. This will streamline its present systems. - In Nigeria, the Federal Government has set up a company, Galaxy Backbone Plc, to provide the required ICT infrastructure to support its reform programme. Galaxy has two major focus areas, the National Datacenter which is the first of its kind in Nigeria and the Abuja Metropolitan Network. - Canadian NGO, OPEG is setting up a computer programme in Guinea. Over 800 second-hand computers are going to be refurbished and donated to schools, universities and community centres across the West Africa country.
SH2.1 BILLION REFUNDS FOR ACCESSKENYA IPO INVESTORSThe majority of the over 26,000 retail investors who applied for AccessKenya Initial Public Offer (IPO) are set to receive a meagre 900 shares. These are applicants who applied for a minimum 5,000 shares for Sh50,000. They are likely to end up getting Sh41,000 as refunds. Announcing the results on Thursday, AccessKenya Group Executive Director, David Somen, said company received over 290 million applications for the 80 million shares floated for its IPO, which translated into an oversubscription rate of 262.5 per cent. He said the company now has 27,500 shareholders in its register after all its four application pools got oversubscriptions. The employees' pool got an oversubscription rate of 29 per cent, retail investors 494 per cent (166 million shares), high net worth investors 248 per cent and qualified institutional investors 47 per cent. Under the allocation criteria used, the retail investors would each get a minimum allocation of 100 shares plus 16 per cent of any shares applied for in excess of 100 shares. This translates to 900 shares in the case of the bulk of retail investors who had applied for 5,000. But for those who had applied for above the 5,000 shares, they stand a better chance of getting extra shares, thanks to the 16 per cent rule. The offer is expected to realise Sh800 million, but attracted a staggering Sh2.9 billion capital. The company said it would refund Sh2.1 billion to investors owing to the oversubscription. Employees who applied for up to 10,000 shares will get full allocation plus 75 per cent of any excess shares applied for, while high net worth investors would get a minimum of 10,000 shares plus 75 per cent of any excess shares applied for. Institutional investors would get a minimum of 100,000 shares plus 54 per cent of any shares applied for in excess of 100,000 shares. About 1.5 per cent of total applications from 428 applicants were rejected for various irregularities, notably lack of signatures, identification card numbers and agent stamps. "Allocation letters advising applicants on the number of shares allocated together with their refund cheques will be dispatched through their respective agents for collection on or before May 28, while applicants with CDS accounts will have their allocated shares credited to their CDS accounts by the same date," the statement by the company read in part. The AccessKenya shares are expected start trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) on June 4. Somen said that over Sh400 million raised through the IPO would be used to finance the firm's expansion. Group chairman, Michael Somen, paid tribute to the AccessKenya staff who have contributed to the firm's growth in its ten years of existence, saying that the high oversubscription rate was a vote of confidence from Kenyans in the company's management. The firm is set to become the only Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company to be listed at the NSE. (SOURCE: East African Standard) EGYPT WELL-PLACED AS THE NEXT HOT SPOT FOR IT OUTSOURCINGYankee Group says that it thinks Egypt could soon become the India of the Middle East as it seeks to develop its share of the global outsourcing market. As this market continues to grow, with India holding 60% of the market share, more multinational companies are using IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing as tools to transform their organizations into global operations, becoming what Yankee Group calls the Anywhere Enterprise. Global companies such as Cisco, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and Orange Business Services are already exploiting Egypt's IT talent pool. Egypt faces some significant hurdles. But it possesses unique advantages as well, which could enable Egypt to reap the economic benefits of outsourcing opportunities. The Egyptian government has set an ambitious target for the country to reach $1.1 billion of the global outsourcing market by 2010, quadrupling from its 2005 revenue. According to a Yankee Group Report, although interest in Egypt as a location for outsourcing services is growing rapidly, there are number of structural and perceptual problems the Egyptian government must address to facilitate the ascendance of this market. "Egypt has a number of the required ingredients in-place to become a major hub for IT outsourcing in the Middle East," said Tony Marson, Yankee Group senior analyst and report co-author. "In an anywhere environment, where time and place are irrelevant, IT outsourcing will continue to be a strong and resilient revenue opportunity for those regions that successfully enter it. For Egypt, the government will have to steer the development of the ICT industry cautiously through the next 5 years." Mindy Blodgett, Yankee Group analyst and report co-author, adds, "Anywhere enterprises interested in outsourcing are demanding options for locating the work in many regions -- and Egypt could become a favored outsourcing location if they meet the many challenges." (SOURCE: Cellular News) AFRICA CELLULAR TOWERS GAINS ON DEALS IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICATelecommunications infrastructure and support systems supply group Africa Cellular Towers has continued to benefit from trading conditions. The company, which listed on AltX in November last year, increased net profit 48.7% for the year ending February, it said when releasing results last week. Revenue increased 52.4% to R197.3m from R129,4m the previous year. This was attributed to contracts secured by the company in Nigeria, Ghana and the Republic of Congo. Gross profit grew 28.4% to R61.6m from R47.9m, but the gross profit margin fell to 31.2% from 37% due to greater competition and rising steel prices. Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased 49.3% to R43.8m from R29.3m. MD Chris Kruger said last year was characterised by "supply-only" contracts as opposed to the year ended February, which saw more "supply and install" contracts. As a result, Ebitda margins dropped to 22.2% from 22.7%. Actual revenue for the period exceeded the forecast by 25.5%, ebitda by 23.7% and profit after taxation by 22.9%. Diluted headline earnings a share of 15.8c were achieved, which exceeded the forecast by 21.5%, he said. The company was working on a contract for Huawei, which was supplying a cellular operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which brought in R10,3m this financial year. Because of the volatile situation in that country, the company took a very conservative view on the contract, leaving no gross profit on the contract, he said. "We are still happy with these levels of gross profit and ebitda margins, which can be maintained or even improved." The company's balance sheet was strengthened by the private share placement prior to listing, where it raised R50m. Kruger said the capital raised enabled the company to buy more raw materials to ensure higher work in process. "The reason for the high increase in work in process is that during January and February 2006, two big projects in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo were completed. These projects were invoiced in the 2006 year-end." The company also had further roll-outs of contracts in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which started this year, he said. In February, the company announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase JK Shelters for R40m, based on a profit after tax of R8m. (SOURCE: Business Day) IN BRIEF - Australian business solutions Hardcat Pty Ltd has partnered with Kenyan ICT player Techbiz Software Solutions Ltd to market its fixed asset management software and solutions across Africa. - Openview Business Systems, a local Kenyan IT services company has joined the Oracle Partner Network.
SOUTH AFRICAN MP DE LILLE URGES ACTION ON BLOGS, MXITID leader Patricia de Lille has urged the government to regulate internet blog sites and the popular Mxit text message service. De Lille also indicated that the ID will ask the National Intelligence Agency to try to track down the author of allegedly defamatory statements about the party's Simon Grindrod on an internet blog. She said blogs allowed anonymous individuals to post defamatory comments without the legal consequences they would face in mainstream media. She cited a blog which had attacked Grindrod. "He reported this matter to the Caledon Square police and they are currently investigating it," she said. "Because ... we couldn't trace the author of the defamatory statements, we will also ask the NIA to investigate. "The only way to put a stop to this is to use every legal option to hold not only the website, but also the perpetrator, responsible. This kind of thing must not go unchallenged." She said she was also concerned about "a surge in activity among young children on Mxit, which makes them vulnerable to sexual predators and paedophiles". "This has gone too far and it is time for government to intervene to protect our most vulnerable. The right to freedom of expression is not absolute," De Lille said. Last year, concerns were raised by school principals and parents battling to cope with children who seemed addicted to the messaging service. Some schools had reportedly banned cellphones, and some parents were monitoring their children's use of Mxit, which charges only 2c per message. (SOURCE: Cape Argus) MOBILE PHONES REVOLUTIONIZE AFRICAN BANKINGMobile phone banking is expanding across the region from South Africa to Kenya and is putting the poor directly in control of their own finances like never before. In Africa, traditional banking is not a viable option for many of the poor and those living in rural areas. High fees, low education and literacy, as well as long distances between banking facilities get in the way of simple transactions. According to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an estimated 80 percent of those living in the United Nations-designated least developed countries (LDCs) are unbanked. However, technologies like mobile phone banking are contributing to overcoming these constraints. Only 1 billion of the world`s 6.5 billion people have bank accounts, according to CGAP, yet about 3 billion have mobile phones. CGAP figures these new technologies will open the door to more than 2 billion people worldwide who currently do not have access to banking services. Thanks to a $26 million partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched in February, CGAP hopes to discover how to best use technology to deliver banking services to the poor around the world and "make it possible for people anywhere, anytime, to have access to all kinds of financial services," says Elizabeth Littlefield, chief executive officer of CGAP. "Poor people are very willing to use mobile phones as a basis for moving money around. In places like the Congo, mobile phones are used to transfer money around the country, circumventing the banking system as well as the more traditional money transfer," she said. According to Gautam Ivatury, a microfinance specialist and manager of the CGAP technology program, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, there are an estimated 3 million mobile phones yet only 20,000 bank accounts, indicating a huge potential for mobile banking. The bottleneck in delivering microfinance services such as savings accounts, money transfers, and loans to the poor has been the cost of "making tiny little transactions" in sometimes rural areas using traditional banking practices. Yet mobile phones and other technology can cut the cost of such transactions and make widespread microfinance economically feasible. (SOURCE: AGOP) IN BRIEF:- Information on government services is now available in all 11 official languages, from Afrikaans to isiZulu on www.services.gov.za . - In line with other African countries, Gabon’s administration has started to offer online services. The Home office directorate has set up a website at www.dgdi.ga which provides information and application forms for passport, visa ,etc.
PEOPLEPeter Watt has resigned from his position of CEO of Business Connexion. Deputy CEO Benjamin Mophatlane will take over. Two Algerian journalists, Tarak Hafid (Le Soir d’Algerie) and Mourad Slimani (El Watan), have been won awards as part of The Euromed Heritage Journalistic Award 2007. These were given on Tuesday by the European Commission, cooperation office EuropAid, with the cooperation of UNESCO, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and the special participation of AnsaMed. EVENTS- GVF OIL & GAS COMMUNICATIONS: NORTH AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST CONFERENCE 2007 - eLEARNING AFRICA 2007 -USING MOBILE PHONES FOR HRO IN AFRICA - ICTS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE June 2007 – South Africa HIGH SPEED ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE - TELECOMS WORLD AFRICA - WI-WORLD AFRICA 2007 - ICT AFRICA 2007 - INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT (IPAD) CENTRAL AFRICA JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESPROJECT MANAGER – ERICSSON - ALGERIA The company seeks and experienced Telecom Project Manager. Applicants will have at least 5 years experience as PM in telecom Projects. Experience in running Fixed Network project with emphasis on the Core Network. Other preferred technical knowledge will include: Telephony Server/MGW, IP Networks, transmission networks, and recent experience and knowledge of Ericsson processes. Applicants will be dynamic with a high level of communication and planning with the ability to define and drive the project independently. A high sense of quality and workmanship, a hard worker, trouble shooter and team builder. You will be fluent in French and English. CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?TELMA AND LANDPARK - MADAGASCAR WANA AND COMPTEL - MOROCCO Morroco’s fixed and mobile operator Wana (Maroc Connect) has contracted Comptel to provide mediation and identifier management solutions for their next-generation network (NGN). Integrated by Bull in the global Information System of the customer, these solutions are being deployed in the context of Wana's strategy of incremental deployment of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem).
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