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ISSUE NO 365

Buyer beware: Maroc Telecom mired in fall-out from Gabon Telecom purchase

Vivendi-owned Maroc Telecom’s acquisition of Gabon Telecom highlights the pitfalls for any potential buyer of the current crop of African telco incumbents. When you open the cupboard, all of the skeletons come falling out: some you knew about when you bought the company and some you didn’t. Russell Southwood looks at Maroc Telecom’s current sea of troubles.

In February 2007 Maroc Telecom announced it was going to spend US$79 million buying Gabon Telecom. For some there were gasps of amazement as this is a privatisation process that dragged on for a number of years and the Government of Gabon seemed to have finally snagged a buyer

However if the past few weeks are anything to go by, it looks as though it will be a very long haul before the company gets back into a healthy state. At the point of its acquisition, the Chair of the Maroc Telecom board announced that:” Without waiting, we are going to implement a restructuring and development plan that will help this operator to become a jewel of the Gabonese economy and a model for the region, able to offer the best services at the best prices to the population and to companies of this country”.

Five months later it finds itself at the middle of a maelstrom of opposition to the privatisation that has culminated in a challenge to the whole privatisation process in the Constitutional Court. Maroc Telecom has become the subject of a campaign of denigration in the local press over its handling of the privatisation. All the same nationalist rhetoric is rolled out. One opposition politician went as far as to say that the purchase made Gabon a province of Morocco.

So far, so predictable. Privatisations that involve a lot of job cuts are never popular and always highly contested. The opposition to the privatisation is unlikely to succeed but it does make running the business more like fighting an election on an unpopular platform.

But beneath all this sound and fury, there emerges a more damaging tale for the purchaser, Maroc Telecom. Parent company Vivendi announced that it had bought a company that had 30,000 fixed line subscribers and 250,000 mobile subscribers (some 30% of the market). According to the company’s press release, Gabon Telecom and its mobile subsidiary Libertis were generating 137 million euros (US$189 million in revenues). All this was based on the information provided by the seller, the Government of Gabon.

However, the report of the Government’s public accounting body, “les commissaires aux comptes”, which is responsible for auditing Gabon Telecom’s accounts while under public ownership, paints a rather bleaker picture. Indeed it is refusing to sign off the 2006 accounts. It has said that the fixed line operator has lost FCFA50 billion (US$112 million) and its mobile arm, Libertis, has lost FCFA5 billion (US$ 10 million). Losing US$122 million on a claimed turnover of US$189 million is quite an achievement even when judged against the standards of incompetence set by the worst of Africa’s incumbents. Also losing money on a mobile operation of this scale requires a special skill not available in many other African countries.

Whilst the Government said Gabon Telecom had 30,000 fixed line subscribers, the audit body discovered that in fact there were only 22,900 subscribers.

Furthermore the auditors were scathing about the management of the company:”The examination of contracts shows that the majority have been entered into at an extremely high price compared to the market price. Furthermore, customers have been billed for services that have not been provided or only provided at a much lower level than promised.” And as usual, the past management spent money like water and has kept no clear records of what it spent it on, particularly for staff expenses, cars and petrol allocations.

As a result, the company’s outstanding loans have gone up from FCFA68.8 billion to FCFA79.2 billion and its debts have almost doubled from FCFA142 billion to FCFA221 billion. This financial pressure means that the company is, for example, no longer able to terminate calls to Senegal because it has not paid its bills from Sonatel.

On 8 June the new management, under D-G Mostapha Laarabi, called 800 of the company’s staff together to reassure that the company was not going into liquidation. According to Laarabi, it was in the process of winning back the rightful place it should have.

So did Maroc Telecom buy without conducting due diligence? No, it bought the company on the basis that it would accept the information provided on the company, subject to re-adjustment after the 2006 accounts were signed off. This does not appear to be something it made clear at the time of the acquisition. However, it paid FCFA40 billion as an initial purchase price, agreeing to a second payment once the accounts were completed, depending on what was established.

This was exactly the kind of agreement entered into by Celtel when it bought Tanzanian incumbent TTCL and it led to a lengthy dispute. The Tanzanian Government and its auditors maintained that long list of rather elderly “collectibles” represented potential income. Celtel begged to differ. After the lengthy dispute, Celtel relinquished control of the fixed line operation (keeping a shareholding) but walked away with the mobile operation.

The difference in the case of Gabon is that the Government audit body is acknowledging the financial mess the company is in. However, there may still yet be room for differences of opinion once the Government audit body reaches a decision on how to close the accounts for 2006. In the meantime though, Maroc Telecom is in the strange position of having committed to buying the company but the deal having not been finalised. And since there is no Gabonese equivalent of the USA’s Chapter 10 arrangements, it has to negotiate financially choppy waters without knowing what might or might not be investing in.

But even when it is clear that a telco incumbent is financially deeply troubled (like both Gabon Telecom and Nitel), there are nearly always buyers and they appear to pay heavily for what might otherwise be marginally profitable companies. The forthcoming privatisation of Ghana Telecom will almost certainly demonstrate that truth again. Why do they it?

As there are increasingly fewer opportunities to get new mobile licences or acquire mobile operations in Africa, buyers are paying a premium for the “goody” in the lucky dip bag, the mobile operation. African Governments privatising know this and always make sure that a mobile licence is part of the package. However, also taking on a management of change programme in a dodgy fixed line operator is a very high overhead to add to the sale price.

The other asset that Gabon Telecom has that is worth acquiring is its monopoly access to the international fibre SAT3. Gabon Telecom currently offers some of the most expensive bandwidth prices on SAT3 and has not sold as much capacity as others who have lowered their prices. However, it may well have the kind of short-term financial problems suffered by both Ghana Telecom and Nitel that prevented both for a short period of time getting access to more capacity. With a proper price strategy in place and a fibre backhaul network, it could be a convincing wholesale bandwidth provider.

If Gabon Telecom had a fixed line network worth its name, it might also be possible for Maroc Telecom to do the kind low price broadband offers that have kept it dominant in the Moroccan market.

But for now all that can be said is that this one will run and run.

Seacom’s undersea cable forges ahead while CCK announced Five Firms Qualified on Bid to Build Cable in Kenya

Kenya's telecoms regulator said that five telecoms firms had qualified to bid for the construction of a submarine fibre-optic cable linking Mombasa to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Government has already set aside one billion shillings ($14.85 million) for the $100 million project known as The East African Marine Systems (Teams) and has invited private East African operators to raise the remainder as partners in the project.

Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) announced that Alcaltel, Tyco Communications and Fujitsu Corporation were among the international manufacturers and contractors of optical fibre cables that have been invited to bid. Other firms pre-qualified are NEC Corporation of Japan and a consortium of China's Huawei Technologies and UK-based Global Marine Systems.

CCK said the winner of the bid will be known in September 2007, shortly after which they are expected to commence the work by the fourth quarter of the year.

The Government, through the Teams project and UAE's Etilsalat have been spearheading the establishment of the much-awaited submarine telecommunications Cable Project.

The Sh1 billion’s fund from the Government will finance building of the undersea fibre optic cable, whose completion by mid-next year is expected to provide cheaper and faster Internet connection with the rest of the world.

The undersea cable estimated at $110 million (Sh7.7 billion) will run from the Kenyan coast to Somalia, Eritrea and all the way to Port Sudan.

It will then link the whole of the East and Horn of Africa region to the global digital highway through a link-up with a Middle Eastern cable at Fujairah.

A joint venture between the Government and the private sector, the project will have 40 per cent Government shareholding, with Etisalat taking 20 per cent while the rest will go to regional telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and fund managers.

CCK said Teams Ltd has so far seen significant milestones in Kenya, including finalisation of the Marine Survey and the appointment of a financial adviser and lead arranger for securing financing from potential parties including Telkom Kenya.

The project is expected to be a key catalyst towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals as well as Kenya's Vision 2030.

"The submarine cable will provide Kenya with high capacity international bandwidth at affordable cost, and strategically position the country as a lucrative investment destination," CCK stated.

Meanwhile private undersea cable operator Seacom has awarded Tyco Electronics the contract to build a 13 000km cable that will connect the Eastern African seaboard to the global telecommunications network.

The Seacom cable will have an initial operating capacity of 1 280 gigs and stretch from SA to Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, India, the Middle East and Europe. The Eassy cable, with a planned initial capacity of 340 gigs, is planned to follow a similar route, but will terminate in Sudan.

“East and South African demand, combined with Indian user demand for international bandwidth, has greatly surpassed the existing supply,” says Brian Herlihy, Seacom president

“Seacom will provide significant capacity at affordable prices through an extensive network solution, which stretches the entire length of East Africa to the Middle East, plus western India and westward to Europe.”

Seacom first publicly announced its intention in June, when it said it had chartered a ship from Tyco Electronics, the parent of Tyco Telecommunications, to survey the route.

A Seacom spokesman says construction of the cable is due to begin in September, once the marine survey is complete, and that commercial services will be launched during the first half of 2009.

Seacom is backed by The Blackstone Group, the world's largest private equity company, and it also has the backing of some African telecommunications operators, however, the spokesman refused to say who they are.

(Source: East African Standard & ITWeb)

Rwanda’s Government to buy back Terracom Communications

After months of uncertainty and blame game, the Rwandan cabinet has decided to buy-back its telecommunications company from controversial youthful American Tech entrepreneur Greg Wyler.

Essentially the highest political decision making body, cabinet in its weekly meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame instructed the Finance Ministry to sign a new agreement with Terracom Communications.

The Ministry was also authorized to buy-back all the shares that Terracom executives owned in the company. The name will also change to Rwandatel - making the final seal in changes that are noticeable. For months now, all Terracom offices and Kiosks have been painted pink with 'Rwandatel' inscription from the Dark Red.

"The cabinet meeting grants authority to MINECOFIN (Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning) to sign an agreement that allows Government to takeover Terracom as well as buy-back all the shares owned by the company", reads one of the resolutions of the meeting.

Government has had a very controversial relationship with its once enviable entrepreneur who in 2003 bought 99% shares of Rwandatel, the country's national telecommunications company for $20 million. Mr. Wyler, 37, was granted a contract 300 schools - especially primary and secondary - to the Internet.

The acquisition of the company included an antiquated fixed-line phone network, about 25,000 customers and 530 employees.

By end of 2004, Mr. Wyler was struggling replace a battered communications tower atop this 14,787-foot volcanic peak - famously now called the Kalisimbi project. He hired a South African mountain-rescue company to advise on navigating the steeper sections and soon a 1,300-pound transformer was in place.

Terracom has also been continuing to lay fiber optic cables to connect Rwanda to several other African countries, eliminating a need for phone calls and Internet traffic to be routed via European or American networks.

By mid this year according to Rwandan officials, only handful of schools has been minimally hired up. The project was supposed to be completed in 2006. But officials are bitter that four years down the road most of the promises and dreams he brought by have failed to materialize.

Instead Terracom moved into phone services. Government figures indicate that Terracom had 200.000 phone subscribers and only about 20.000 customers. This did not go down well with Government that wants to reorient the Rwanda economy into a knowledge-based one.

Interestingly back in 2003, when President Paul Kagame talked to Mr. Wyler about a $50-million government project to give schools Internet access via satellite. Mr. Wyler explained to The Wall Street Journal in August last year that he told the president the deal was overpriced and that satellite Internet access was slow and unreliable.

In July 2006 the rosy relationship was not about to continue. Terracom announced a share-swap deal with telecommunication giant GV Telecom Ltd, with reports indicating that after the swap - operations would switch from Terracom's unique CDMA system to GSM.

Hardly a week away, Energy and Communications State Minister Ing. Albert Butare declared the deal "null and void" - citing none compliance to contractual agreements. The Minister said Government was "not consulted". In the Wyler-Government deal, the authorities retained decisional authority over any undertakings by the company.

Mr. Butare accused Mr. Wyler of running Terracom from the United States, visiting Rwanda just a few weeks at a time. Mr. Wyler left day-to-day management to a poorly trained staff. This often left the customers complaining from the bad services.

A few weeks later, Mr. Wyler and Minister Butare agreed behind closed doors to have the former hand over recurrent management of the company to Mr. Christopher Lundh as new chief executive.

Mr. Lundh - a former executive of Gateway Communications in London who has worked in several African countries has also pointed fingers at Government saying it simply "over reacted" on several issues.

Last June, the government fined Terracom nearly $400,000 for failing to comply with its licensing obligations, failing to provide information about its operations and failing to pay several fees.

In a July 22 New York Times (NYT) article, Mr. Wyler said "Terracom has done everything it can, ". Adding: "Because of the technical challenges, the Internet service is as good as it's going to get. But given what we started from, I still think we have accomplished a lot. In the beginning there were a few people with Internet service; now there are thousands."

Mr. Wyler said though that he would not address the government's criticism, saying he did not want to be quoted as saying anything negative. But added there were some things he had not anticipated, particularly the technical challenges of linking Rwanda's Internet network to the rest of the world.

Cited in the same NYT article as well, Mr. Lundh who has been in the country fulltime said the Rwandan government is to blame for some of the delays.

"We would get to schools that don't even have electricity or computers," he said. "That is not our fault." In addition, he said that many of the complaints about the company concerned things beyond its ability to control. Getting adequate bandwidth remains a constant challenge.

"The contract signed between the two parties was very clear that no other black deals can be carried out on the sides; if anything is done the trap in the contract will catch whoever messes up," President Kagame told journalists in August 2006.

He went on; "There are the technical and financial offers that I believe are so crucial; we could have sold it (Rwandatel) and have money and we call that the end of the deal, but we also thought of the technical part in purposes of communication."

The President said the technical components include standards, increase of access to communications and affordability - maintaining that the technical components outweighed the financial gains.

"I would even have given it out free if only I was sure of the long term achievements," he asserted.

As the Terracom-Government debacle continued coupled with the methane gas drawbacks, Mr. Kagame recently said government would "throw out" non compliant investors "until the right one is found".

(Source: Rwanda News Agency)

Uganda Telecom Goes Borderless

In a surprising modesty uncharacteristic of Uganda's telecom industry, Uganda Telecom has pulled off a major one but refrained from pomp.

The company has struck an agreement with Kenya's telecommunications behemoth, Safaricom, to allow its customers to experience what it calls borderless roaming, a cousin of sorts to the well known borderless networks operated by Celtel and MTN.

With Keep it Ugandan as a marketing tagline, UTL's Communications Director, Mark Kaheru says the company's subscribers can go to Kenya and also keep their SIM cards, buy and load airtime, receive free calls, call at Ugandan rates and use all other cell phone functions as if they were at home.

Uganda Telecom Managing Director Abdulbasset Elazzabi (L) and Goal Technology Solutions (GTS) Ltd Executive Chairman-GTS Uganda Miko Rwayitare (R) sign an agreement recently. UTL has struck another deal with Safaricom for flat rates across the two countries. Photo by Eddie Chicco

It's unclear why UTL which has traditionally been spending immoderately - shoulder-to-shoulder with the two competitors - on publicity and promotions of product innovations, this time decided to travel a less familiar path.

Patently though, it would appear to stem from the fact that the company is playing catch-up, and would perhaps not want to unnecessarily draw attention to that fact by trumpeting a service that is now largely basic with most of cell phone users via Celtel's One Network and MTN's Home & Away.

In an interview, Mr Kaheru acknowledged that they were behind in the area of borderless networks, which have become the buzz in the regional telecoms industry. UTL was still using roaming, a hugely costly service where one pays to receive a call or SMS.

The limited touting of the borderless roaming, is also most likely connected to its limited geographical coverage. It only works in Kenya which means that UTL subscribers would have to rely on the standard roaming whenever they travel to Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda - all being members of the East Africa Community.

Celtel's One Network, the largest of all, now covers six nations, a contiguous tropical belt that stretches from Kenya in the East through Congo jungles to Gabon on the West cost. MTN's Home and Away canopy, for now, rings the EAC borders but the company's CEO, Mr Noel Meier, told Business Power recently that Rwanda, where it has a presence, is soon joining.

Uganda's telecommunications sector - with three players and two launching soon - is having the most intense competition and constant innovation has become the best leverage to secure one's market share and an engine for growth.

And here Celtel has appeared to pace ahead of the trio with MTN, the market's Goliath, coming on its heels while UTL doesn't seem to marshal as enough energy as is necessary to cope with the sector's momentum.

Celtel's energetic push-a mix of creativity, overwhelming, big-budget marketing campaigns and nimbleness-has for instance reaped handsomely with the company's subscriber numbers soaring past UTL's, according to reports.

(Source: The Monitor)

Econet is finally Authorised to Launch Third Mobile Network in Kenya

The Kenyan government has announced that South Africa-based Econet Wireless has been cleared to proceed with the construction of the country's third mobile network.

Speaking on Kenyan television, the Kenyan Minister of Communications, Mutai Kagwe, said the licence which had been cancelled by his predecessor had been re-instated by the government, and Econet could now proceed with the construction of the network.

Econet Wireless executive director, Zachary Wazara confirmed that the licence has been fully re-instated and commended the Kenyan government for the manner in which the dispute had been resolved.

"We are very pleased with the professional and constructive manner in which this dispute has been resolved, and it gives us and anyone else who wished to invest in Kenya tremendous confidence. All we want to do now is to get down to the task of building the network, so that we can be in a position to offer the people of Kenya, the service for which they have waited patiently for," said Wazara.

He said Econet has already begun to mobilise its personnel as well as suppliers to resume work on the network which the company hopes will be able to offer service before the first quarter of 2008.

The dispute between the company and the Kenyan government began in 2003, when the then Kenyan Minister of Information and Communication Raphael Tuju, announced that the government had cancelled the licence because Econet had failed to accommodate a local group, the Kenyan National Federation of Co-operatives (KNFC) in its shareholding.

(Source: Zimbabwe Independent)

Namibia’s Communications Bill set to boost the Sector’s Growth

Prime Minister Nahas Angula says the Information Communications Bill is not designed to fulfil the expectations of only one institution, but the sector as a whole.

Addressing the opening of a workshop on the draft bill, Angula said the communication sector was in transition and was generating a great deal of dynamism.

"This of course denotes that a divergent course of views will exist. It is therefore key that we remain aloof from the petty matters which may be dealt with in detailed drafting, and use this platform as the opportunity to give insight into our positions, ultimately guiding and ultimately shaping Government policy," he said.

Those in the know said that the bill was drafted primarily to regulate the telecommunications sector, and that broadcasting was included as "a sort of afterthought".

According to the draft bill, the NCC, which issues television and radio licences, also grants licences in the telecommunications sector.

As soon as the new bill becomes law, Telecom Namibia must indicate within 90 days to the revamped NCC, which will then be called the Communications Authority, for which telecommunications services it requires a licence.

Under the new legislation, licence holders must be 51 per cent Namibian controlled.

The new communications authority will in future be able to force owners of ICT infrastructure to lease it to other companies to spur competition.

Radio licences will only be issued for five years and television licences for eight years, with the option of renewal.

The authority must also monitor all radio and TV stations to ensure that they report in a fair and neutral way and that advertisements do not exceed 20 per cent of daily broadcasting time.

However, these rules will not apply to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), which will be exempted.

Any licence holders operating outside the scope of their licences will be fined N$1 million or three years' imprisonment.

The three-day workshop will deal with role of the new authority, its powers, its funding and its relationship with the Ministries of Information and Works.

It will also deal with the regulation of competition in the information sector.

Angula said Government was committed to achieving liberalisation of the information sector.

"The creation of a commission is part of the process, and so is the issuance of a second mobile licence.

However, we need to concretise a policy attached to a portfolio minister, and hence the importance of the outcome of this process," he said.

(Source: The Namibian)

IN BRIEF:

- President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has signed into law the Liberia Telecommunications Act of 2007 which establishes separate regulatory and policy making agencies to standardize the Telecommunications sector in Liberia.

- Executive Director, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has confirmed that the organisation will no longer approve airing of promotion by Global Service Mobile (GSM) companies until call quality has improved.

- Hearing of a dispute on Telkom Kenya's multi-million shilling tender for Gilgil Telecommunication Industries (GTI) has been postponed until July 30. Muriga Holdings Ltd wants the tender cancelled on grounds that the winning company did not meet the requirements provided under procurement rules.

- Mobile network service providers in Zimbabwe face collapse due to sub-economic tariffs which were imposed by government three weeks ago, industry sources have said. "The sector is going to collapse soon if the charges are not revised because at the moment we have a scenario where we are having a lot of international calls from Zimbabwe to the Diaspora. This means network providers have to pay foreign currency for those calls yet very few international calls are coming in," said the sources.

- In Benin, the suspension of MTN and Moov mobile services has entered its third week and there are no signs of reaching an agreement between the government and the mobile operators on the issues of new licence fees and the dispute regarding the change of ownership of both companies.

TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE

- Ghana Telecom in partnership with Black Star TV says that it has launched a mobile TV service, the first on the Ghanaian market, with offerings of 6 TV channels, 4 Radio and 2 Data channels. Onetouch customers will need an appropriate handset - selected mobile phone models or any T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) handset and terminal to use the service.

- MTN Rwanda has expanded in an underserved part of the country with the launch of a Frw40 million base station in Rusumo, Eastern Province, near the country's boarder with Tanzanian. MTN has earmarked a $20 million, about Frw1 billion as a budget that will have about more 60 sites established countrywide.

- President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is among the African leaders expected to grace this year's Nigerian Telecom Awards next month.

- Home & Away, MTN's version of the borderless network that now covers Kenya and Tanzania, will soon be expanded to include Rwanda

New Wireless Internet Service gives wings to Tanzania

In three months Tanzania will be braced with one of the world's fastest, cheapest and most reliable communication technologies.

This comes after the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) granted an International and National Application Services license to a newly registered firm (wireless phone and internet Service Company) known as WBS (iBurst) Tanzania.

Granting the license to the new operators, Prof. John Nkoma, the Director General the TCRA said TCRA was determined to ensure that Tanzanians have a wider choice of mobile phone and internet services.

He said TCRA would ensure that operators provided quality services at affordable charges for the phone calls and internet services provided.

He commended WBS for introducing the high capacity multiple access communication technology to Tanzania.

Prof. Nkoma said every operator was required to comply with regulatory requirements provided under the regulations and rules issued under Acts and other laws in Tanzania.

He said the authority would always ensure that all operators operated under a level playing field and benefited from the good investment policy set by the government.

Receiving the license, WBS Tanzania Ltd managing director, Mr. Christian Pieters said his company would cooperate with other operators in the sector.

He assured Tanzanians of cheapest and most efficient communication services in form of voice and data, saying his firm was bringing in the latest, high capacity technology in the communications sector.

Ibusrt employs 4th Generation technology known as G4, the most current and of highest capacity.

Tanzanians will now be able to view various events like world cup broadcast on TVs on their cell-phones and laptops.

He said under the powerful wireless broadband (iBurst) with the Audio Streaming facility; clients will clearly listen to their favourite radio stations on the mobile phones, computers, laptops, view TV programmes through screens installed in cars even if cruising at the high speed.

Using the cheapest broadband, a client with a 1000MB can make downloads of up to 290MP3's, 200 video clips, 4.5 hours of video conferencing, 20,000 word documents @ 59KB per document and 300iCall Minutes (using the standard G729 Codes) among other packages.

(Source: East African Business Week)

Neotel’s Neolink off to a good start in South Africa

Neotel launched their Neolink leased line services earlier this year, and the initial market response has been positive the company says.

Neotel launched its National Private Leased Line services – called Neolink - in May this year. NeoLink provides companies with dedicated leased line services offering point-to-point connectivity.

NeoLink give symmetrical capacity with transmission speeds of 2, 34, 45 or 155 Mbit/s, and Neotel points out that clients have a choice of interfaces tailored to their needs.

Mala Suriah, spokesperson for Neotel, says that the response from businesses has been very positive. She pointed out that Neotel is currently following a ‘targeted approach’ with their Neolink products, engaging mainly with large businesses.

Suriah said that these businesses are very receptive towards their offerings, and that they currently have between 20 and 30 medium to large businesses utilizing their network in either a testing capacity or as full clients. Suriah points out that Neotel is also engaging with many more large businesses.

Neotel currently has next-generation DWDM and SDH-based optical fibre network links in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town and it plans to cover Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and East London in the near future.

Neotel has also expanded their initial Gauteng based presence and now have offices in Cape Town and Durban.

Their Cape Town office currently has 12 people – mainly on the networking side – while their Durban office has 10 employees.

Neotel’s full staff compliment has grown to 200 from around 40 people at the time of their launch in August last year.

Neotel is currently trialing their CDMA based high-speed-internet service and is further planning to launch a true broadband offering using WiMax at the end of this year.

(Source: MyBroadband)

Makerere University in Uganda in Sh900m Internet Debt

Uganda telecom has disconnected internet services at Makerere University over a sh900m debt. The university is indebted to three internet service providers.

An internal communication stated that due to unpaid debts, MTN and AVU, were transmitting a poor quality bandwidth that had led to the slow or lack of internet access at the university.

Francis Tusubira, the director of the information communication technology (ICT) directorate, on June 1 said they were negotiating with the service providers.

"The queues reduce at night as the server reduces the backlog of pending email. If you are travelling, it is recommended that you log on between 10:00pm and 10:00 am East African time, which are the off peak hours," he advised.

But Gilbert Kadilo, the university's public relations officer, denied knowledge of the arrears and poor internet services.

"It is not true that the whole university has been cut off. Probably some units have been affected but I am not aware," he said.

Tusubira explained that the university council had approved a 'technology fee' where each student would pay sh45,000 per year, amounting to sh1.35b per year, to settle the internet costs.

He noted that the fee would be introduced gradually.

Tusubira argued that the fee was justified since the university provided internet kiosks and computer rooms in the halls of residence.

"There is a similar plan to institute a wireless link all hostels close to Makerere. Since the decision has not been implemented, the university must look for adhoc sources to meet the cost of bandwidth," Tusubira stressed.

(Source: New Vision)

Botswana’s Musician Threatens to Sue for Copyright Violation through the Internet

Internet surfing led a Botswana musician to some interesting discovery. While surfing the net early this year, jazz/fusion musician Nick Ndaba found his album, Dawn of Bojazz on sale at the world's largest Internet shop, ebay.com.

He says he does not know how his music landed in the hands of ebay.com and he is convinced he can successfully sue for millions of pounds for copyright violation. Ndaba has decided to print the web pages that contain all the information that ebay.com carried.

In one corner of the web page is Indaba's album picture, with the words, " CD of African music from Botswana jazz/fusion written on top. It was item number 260076307196. According to the information on the page, the album was located in Oxford, United Kingdom, but it could be shipped worldwide. It was going for US $ 15.

" The sale of our music on the Internet without our approval is killing our efforts as local musicians. It is illegal for companies to earn a living through our music while we do not benefit as the makers of that music. I am pursuing this issue with my lawyers to set a trend for other local musicians whose music works are being exploited by unscrupulous traders," added Ndaba, who is working on his third jazz album this year.

Ndaba says the fact that an Internet case can a filed from anywhere in the world means that he will file his case from Gaborone.

During his Internet surfing, Ndaba also found that many local musicians have their music sold as full tracks and ring tones by South African web site, Musica.com. He had web pages printed out for Mmegi, showing some of the local artistes whose music could be downloaded as full tracks or ring tones. However when contacted by telephone in South Africa a Musica official said they get the products from a local mobile company called Exact mobile.

Its divisional manager Ryan Birkin was however surprised to learn that local musicians did not know about the arrangement. He said Exact mobile is today South Africa's largest online music shop, and that they have signed contracts with four major South African labels such as Sony BMG, EMI, Universal while in Botswana Exact mobile has a contract with a certain cellular phone company, which he named. Birkin said the Cellular phone company has given them all their local music to sell as tracks and ring tones.

" Today people seem to enjoy full tracks, as opposed to mono-phonic ring tones. We are selling well worldwide." He also said that the success of his company has been that it does not prescribe to the buyer what music to buy but gives the buyer the option to choose from a large volume of music.

He however said his company deals with licensed music and urged Batswana who feel aggrieved to get in touch, with proof, so he could process their royalties. " We are not here to cheat anyone, we are not the people to be paid their royalties," added Birkin.

(Source: Mmegi/The Reporter)

IN BRIEF:

- As of June 30th, Morocco counts 444,633 broadband connections, an increase of 10% over the last three months. The number of dial up connection carries on its decline to 4,348 subscribers as per the quarterly report published by the ANRT, the Moroccan regulator.

- According to Information and Communications Technology minister, Dr. Ham Mulira, Uganda’s 79 districts will be online by 2010. The development of the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure will be financed by the China government through a loan from the Exim Bank of China. "It will be implemented in three phases. Phase one to cost $30m has already been approved by Parliament," said the ICT minister, Dr. Ham Mulira.

- Algeria’s Internet service provider Djaweb launched a new broadband service "Anis ADSL", a "platform of 129,000 Internet access at a high bandwidth at affordable competitive prices. This broadband solution covering the country's 48 provinces offers three packs: 128, 256 and 512 KB per second for an unlimited connection.

- In South Africa, the old Vodacom/Vodafone 3G data cards have found their way back into the local market through Internet Solutions who have launched a R 99-00 per month 3G service. The price of R 99-00 for 250 MB of data is significantly less than any mobile provider, and IS said that it uses its own bandwidth to serve these 3G clients.

Raids in China to limit software piracy in Nigeria

The fight against computer software piracy in Nigeria has received a boost following raids and arrests made in southern China over the last two weeks – the result of the largest investigation of its kind in the world.

The Public Security Bureau (PSB) in China, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and hundreds of private companies and partners had been working together to crack a major software counterfeiting syndicate.

The syndicate was allegedly responsible for distributing US$2bn worth of counterfeit Microsoft software to 27 countries around the world, including Nigeria. Not only did this prevent software resellers from making legitimate revenues, it also exposed users to the risks associated with using pirated software.

The counterfeit goods seized in the raids comprised 13 of Microsoft’s most popular products, including Windows Vista, Office 2007, Office 2003, Windows XP and Windows Server.

“Microsoft Nigeria appreciates the work of China’s Public Security Bureau in taking such strong enforcement action with these arrests and raids in Southern China,” said John Okereke, Licensing and Compliance Manager at Microsoft Nigeria.

“This case should serve as a wake-up call to counterfeiters. Customers and other organisations around the world are turning you in, and decisive action will be taken to protect intellectual property.”

Microsoft software users and resellers around the world played a significant role in bringing the software pirates in China to book. Numerous customers identified counterfeit software utilising anti-piracy technologies like those used in conjunction with Windows Genuine Advantage. The software could be forensically linked to the syndicate in China.

Software piracy costs the international software market in the region of US$40bn every year. In the last 18 months, law enforcement agencies worldwide have seized almost one million units of counterfeit software and with the help and co-operation of private organisations, anti-piracy activities are intensifying.

According to research firm, IDC, Nigeria’s 82% piracy rate is higher than the African average and amounts to millions of dollars of losses in the region.

“Microsoft invests a lot of time and money into protecting its legitimate customers and resellers from the threat of counterfeit software,” Okereke added.

“With initiatives such as Windows Genuine Advantage, we focus on education, engineering and enforcement as the key pillars in helping customers and resellers to fight the problem of software counterfeiting and piracy. The raids and arrests in China are a great boost in that fight.”

Computerisation of Land Documents Begins in Ghana

The out-going Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Prof. Dominic Fobih, has disclosed that the Ministry has embarked on the Land Administration Project [LAP] which is aimed at computerising land-processing services in all the Land Sector Agencies.

He said all these were being taken up by government to make land service delivery faster, simple and transparent and as such the Regions had established deed registries of which Koforidua was a benefice including even a customary land secretariat at Kyebi.

The Minister observed that the government agenda of property owning democracy and poverty reduction could only be achieved if the Lands Commission was able to play its role in providing efficient and effective land delivery service since all socio-economic activities were predicated on lands.

Prof. Fobih, asked the Commission to use tact, diplomacy and firmness to deal with protracted land disputes, which may be linked, to chieftaincy disputes.

He further disclosed that his Ministry and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture have put in place, a land bank committee whose primary duty would be to scout for land and make them available for investment purposes.

Spelling their roles for them, he charged the Board Members to facilitate the identification of landowners, establish rights and the registration of lands. "I expect you to put in place effective mechanisms that would ensure that land is used as a medium for increased food production, expanded housing stock and an enhanced production of goods and services all in a peaceful atmosphere", he charged.

The Board Chairman, Dr. Ebenezer M. Debrah, observed that service in the Lands Commission Secretariat calls for great integrity and honesty as they were often distressed by some of the stories of impropriety which goes around and by the bitter land litigations which take time.

But he assured that the Board would be an active part of the process of strengthening and consolidating the economy of the country in achieving middle-income status by 2015.

"Under our client service programme, we have prepared schedules which will enable the usual go come, go come to end. We are looking into it to disappear at the Lands Commission in Koforidua forever as only legal fees will be charged and paid for, no more, no less," he pledged.

(Source: Ghanaian Chronicle)

Pay-As-You-Go Microsoft Software for the Developing World

In South Africa, a legal copy of the Professional version of Microsoft Office can cost more than $700. That makes the software beyond the reach of many personal-computer users, and even small businesses. So Microsoft South Africa has launched a "Pre-Paid Edition" of Office that comes bundled with new computers. A buyer can choose to pay $30 for three months of usage, and then resubscribe to the service every three months after that.

"This is part of Bill Gates's vision to get more people around the world using computers," says Cyril Belikoff, a business group executive at Microsoft South Africa. "We're asking, 'How can we make technology affordable, so that the next one billion users of personal computers can be more productive and add value back into their local economies?'"

The company began piloting the prepaid program last year and, based on positive customer feedback, formally launched it this month.

Microsoft didn't have to look far for a business model for prepaid software. In South Africa, more than 90 percent of all mobile-phone users pay for their service this way. "It's a simple model to adopt," Belikoff says. "Explaining to customers what 'prepaid' means isn't really required."

Microsoft is also trying the prepaid approach with its Office software in Romania, another country where Microsoft feels that the cost of its software is beyond the reach of many potential customers. It's also a country where pay-as-you-go cell-phone use is popular.

Pay-as-you-go isn't Microsoft's only approach to tackling the difficult markets of the developing world. Microsoft's FlexGo program, which was launched last year, allows buyers in the developing world to purchase new computers, loaded with Microsoft software, on credit. Users then buy access to their own machines with either prepaid cards or a monthly subscription. Brazil, China, India, and Vietnam are among the countries where FlexGo has been rolled out.

"The concept of paying in small amounts for what you're going to use makes some sense, especially in South Africa, where Office is prohibitively expensive," says Jaxon Rice, a Web developer based in Johannesburg. "And the thing is, once you subscribe, it's hard to unsubscribe when all your documents are in that format."

Others are more pessimistic about whether South Africans will pay as they go for software. "I'm not sure South Africans will go back to the shop and buy a recharge voucher just to carry on using Office," says Alastair Otter, the editor of Tectonic, a website devoted to technology news out of South Africa. "People are more likely to spend their money on cell phones or other mobile devices, rather than on a piece of software."

Otter also points out that 35 percent of all software in South Africa is thought to be pirated. For comparison, China's piracy rate stands above 90 percent, while in the United States, the rate runs at around 22 percent. In South Africa, it can be hard to get people to shell out for software that they can get much cheaper, or even for free--that is, illegally. But Microsoft's Belikoff disagrees with Otter. "If you think about the end user, they don't want to pirate software. If they can afford it, they're happy to pay for it. We're offering a way for people to play the game legally."

There may also be another driving factor behind Microsoft's decision to test a pay-as-you-go model: the rise in popularity of open-source software. In February, the South African government affirmed that not only would it implement open-source software solutions whenever possible, but it would also attempt to replace current proprietary software with open source.

Numerous public and private efforts are under way to roll out open source in South African schools. One of the biggest of these projects is tuXlab, which has already installed open source in more than 200 schools around the country. "Over the past three years, Microsoft has been trying to get its mind around what strategies to put in place to maintain the market share they have in South Africa," says tuXlab founder Hilton Theunissen. He says that open source gives South Africans the opportunity to own and develop their own software, instead of relying on Microsoft.

The unissen points out that open-source software is quickly becoming widely available to the general public in South Africa. "We have these vending machines in five public malls where you can go and get open-source software," he says. "You simply take a blank CD, go to this unit, and pop in the disc. Five minutes later, you walk away with more than 890 applications. And it's yours. You can even make a copy for the whole street."

As the education program manager for Canonical, Richard Weideman works on the development of a Linux distribution called Edubuntu. Weideman, a South African, notes that "Microsoft's traditional business model is now under threat from the uptake of open-source software that's happening around the world. That's why they're exploring these service-based models."

Microsoft's Belikoff says that the company will evaluate the launch of its Pre-Paid edition of Office in a few months' time.

(Source: Technology Review)

Primary Schools Grapple With Digital Technology in Senegal

In the poor fishing neighbourhood of Guele Tapee in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, a small school sits wedged between a run-down cemetery and a craft market. Piles of rubbish line a sandy alleyway that leads to the school's front gate. The school walls are stained; desks are cracked and dusty.

Yet among the dirt and disorder of one classroom, six shiny flat-screen computers line one side. They are seemingly out of place.

At one computer ten-year-old Amadou Diallo is fighting off his classmates to be the one to turn it on.

Amadou is in grade 4, and had never used a computer until 10 appeared in his elementary school library. Now, he uses a computer five hours a week.

As more and more computers fill African schools, a debate has centred around the role technology should play in development. On the one hand, proponents argue information and communication technologies are necessary to help bring Africa into the 21st century and out of poverty. But critics say resources could be better spent elsewhere, especially given the costs of training, maintenance and disposal of the machines in an environmentally friendly way.

"Digital technology is the hope for Africa," Senegalese President Abbdoulaye Wade declared on 18 July, as he invited his people to consider the education system through the lens of "making the Senegal of tomorrow".

He said information and communication technologies facilitated the possibilities of innovation in education. The president said he hoped at least every student and every teacher could have access to a computer.

That process has already begun. Amadou's school, Serigne Amadou Aly Mbaye primary school, is conducting a unique pilot project with the Senegalese Ministry of Education. The Canadian government's International Research and Development Centre (IDRC) has funded the installation of 34 computers in four of the school's classrooms and in its library.

Researchers from the Ministry of Education's Institut national d'étude et d'action pour le développement de l'éducation (INEADE - a government affiliated institute for the development of education) have been studying how information and communication technologies can be integrated into teaching - with proper support and monitoring. They will report back to the ministry later this year with the goal of spreading good technology-based teaching to primary schools across Senegal.

A less thorough examination is also being conducted in other schools in Senegal and across West Africa by the non profit association Educational Research Network for West And Central Africa (ROCARÉ) "to make information and communication technologies the principal tool used to improve the quality of education," according to regional coordinator Kathryn Toure.

While all signs point to more movement towards technology in African schools, some people both within and outside of Africa are questioning whether it is the right approach.

In 2005, at the launch of the UN-backed US$100 laptop - an innovation designed to be cheap, light, not reliant on mains electricity and distributable to poor African school-age children - critics argued the children had more pressing basic needs: that they would be better off with clean water and proper schools than computers.

"Is being able to type up a resume in Word really more crucial than being able to eat for a day or receive life-saving medicines? Will a sea of cheap laptops really make a difference in the world's poorest regions?" technology and policy writer Timothy Sprinkle wrote in a September 2006 World Politics Review article.

In Senegal, only 39 percent of people over 15 years old are literate; 38 percent of children are in school; and 63 percent of the population lives on under $2 dollars a day, according to the latest UN Human Development Index.

"The question is not so much 'Can computers make a difference?'" George Roter, co-founder of the Canadian organization Engineers Without Borders, told IRIN. "The bigger question is...'What are the bottlenecks to a child getting an education?' The natural answer is not that there aren't enough computers."

In rural African villages, barriers to education are "less sexy" issues, such as retention of quality teachers and malnutrition among children, Roter said, adding that resources should be prioritized accordingly.

Other concerns include the training of teachers, how computers would be disposed of, and the costs involved with maintenance.

A 2002 study by the World Bank Human Development Network and the UK Department for International Development (DfID) found that the total cost of ensuring effective computer learning in secondary schools in developing countries could well be around five times the cost of the computer equipment itself.

Even in its urban setting, the Serigne Amadou Aly Mbaye school faces challenges every day with its computer project.

Some of the older teachers are resistant to change and refuse to take part. Kids huddle around the computers, sitting two or three to a chair, as there is only one computer for every six children. Also, because of an unreliable power supply, every time all six computers are turned on at once, a loud beeping noise starts up and three of the computers often shut down.

"Sometimes", school director Cheikh Sylla told IRIN, "you prepare your lesson, with internet and video-projection, then the electricity cuts. You become totally disabled."

Still, those involved in the project say African students must not and need not allow poverty and underdevelopment to limit their options.

"There is little doubt that sub-Saharan Africa's underserved populations are missing out on the boons of information and communication technology," the Canadian sponsor IDRC wrote on its website.

"Even if they're poor, they have to evolve with the world," grade 3 teacher Ndickou Diop Ndaw said of her students. She questioned how students would conduct research at university level and how they would keep up with others if they did not know how to use computers.

"Being poor doesn't mean being poor in knowledge too."

There's no sense in waiting for the continent to develop further before embracing technology, added school director Sylla. In fact, he said, embracing technology will lead to more development.

"It can open doors," added researcher Papa Amadou Sène of INEADE. "It can pull people out of poverty."

Teachers at the Serigne Amadou Aly Mbaye school have been using computers in some classrooms since 2003 to do maths problems, French vocabulary exercises, research projects, and geometry tracing.

They say it allows students to instantly see their mistakes, and correct their work themselves, and also motivates students to work harder. Tools like video-projection create moving, life-size images that allow students to experience the feel and atmosphere of places they could only read about in books.

"The students invest themselves more because it's interesting for them," school director Sylla said. "There are things to discover."

Absences are down. Results are up. In the director's office sits a trophy the students won at a regional learning contest, where they made it to the semi-finals last year.

"It's thanks to the internet that the students have access to extraordinary resources that have hugely opened doors to knowledge," Sylla said.

Children already have access to computers through the scores of internet cafes that line the streets of Dakar. Sylla said it was important they use the machines in an educational setting as well.

"They'll listen to music, look at pornographic sites and chat," Sylla said. "Children who don't have the internet at school will think that that's all the internet is good for."

An increasing number of elementary schools in Senegal are seeing technology enter their classrooms. Of close to 7,000 elementary schools in Senegal, 231 declared having at least one computer in a survey of schools in Dakar, St. Louis and Thies, according to INEADE's Sène.

Sène said the government is in the process of distributing 30,000 computers to elementary schools, starting in Dakar. He added the government has already made 100,000 orders for the $100 laptop.

(Source: IRIN)

IN BRIEF:

- Companies looking to dispose of old PCs in an environmentally friendly but secure way can make use of a new charity backed by Microsoft which sends refurbished computers to the developing world. Digital Pipeline, launched in the UK, began life in 2004 and developed out of Microsoft's ICT-in-schools project, African Pathfinder. The organisation acts as an umbrella organization, bringing together charities that specialize in sending refurbished machines to Africa, such as the U.K.'s Computer Aid, with businesses that are looking to dispose of their old PCs. Digital Pipeline also helps to connect potential recipients of donated PCs with donor organizations.

- According to ITMag, an Algerian ICT magazine, imports of new computers will reach 200,000 units in 2007. Algeria has an estimated penetration rate of around 12%.

- Indian software house Satyam aims to increase its revenues in South Africa by more than 75% in the coming year, with a goal of becoming one of the top five suppliers of information technology services. With an earning of about $4m a year, this would boost revenue to $11m.

MTC/Celtel Sign $320m Financing Deal for expansion

Officials of MTC / Celtel and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) - the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, have signed a $320 million deal, the first largest ever financing deal in Sub-Saharan Africa. The $320 million package to five operations of Celtel International B.V. an MTC subsidiary is to help expand and upgrade its fast growing mobile networks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda. The investment according to the statement will result in better quality mobile access in countries with extremely limited telephone services, thus creating new opportunities for businesses and consumers across the economic spectrum.

The MTC Group is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications in the Middle East and on the African continent. The company was incorporated in 1983 in Kuwait as the region's first mobile operator and since the initiation of its "3x3x3" profitable expansion strategy in 2003, it has grown very rapidly .MTC is a leading mobile operator, now in 6 Middle Eastern (soon 7 with KSA) and 14 sub-Saharan African countries with over 13,000 employees, providing a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 32.145 million active individual and business customers (as of June 30, 2007).The company already operates in Kuwait and Bahrain as mtc-vodafone, in Jordan as Fastlink, in Iraq as mtc atheer, in Lebanon as mtc touch, in Sudan as Mobitel and in 14 sub-Saharan countries in Africa as Celtel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Initially announced at the World Economic Forum in South Africa on June 13, 2007 by Celtel Chairman Dr Mo Ibrahim, the IFC will provide a $160 million loan for its own account; it's largest to date in Sub-Saharan Africa. That loan is complemented by another $160 million in syndicated loans with participating commercial banks and parallel loans from bilateral financial institutions. The transaction also marks the first ever mobilization of IFC syndicated loans in Madagascar, Malawi and Sierra Leone, helping to bring long-term (7 year) commercial financing to markets at the frontier of private sector development. The syndication includes three South African banks that are participating in IFC's B-loan program for the first time.

Celtel, which was acquired by MTC of Kuwait in April 2005 according to the statement will use the funds to modernize and develop the mobile networks in countries with obsolete and inadequate fixed-line networks and very low telephone penetration rates, ranging from just over four phones for every 100 people in Malawi and Madagascar to about 10 per 100 people in Sierra Leone. Since the MTC's acquisition of Celtel it has invested $10 billion in African mobile telecom services.

(Source: This Day)

Vodacom Reports Positive Growth in South Africa

As at 30 June 2007, Vodacom Group recorded 32.4 million customers across its networks operating in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, reflecting a 7.5% increase in the three months since 31 March 2007.

The growth in the customer base is a result of high gross customer connections of 4.4 million for the quarter. The group's non-South African operations comprised 7.8 million customers, or 24.1% of the total customer base.

Year on year revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2007 increased by 18.6%, while total group customers increased by 28.4% since June 30, 2006.

South Africa increased its customer base by 6.9% since 31 March 2007 to 24.6 million customers in an increasingly competitive market. South Africa's customer base comprises 3.2 million contract customers and 21.3 million prepaid customers, reflecting increases of 7.5% and 6.9% since March 31, 2007, respectively.

Vodacom South Africa claims it has retained its leadership in a highly competitive South African mobile communications market with an estimated market share of 59% at June 30, 2007. The SIM card penetration of the cellular industry in South Africa is now an estimated 89% of the population.

Vodacom's non-SA operations increased their total customer base by 9.3% since 31 March to 7.8 million customers. The group reports satisfactory customer growth achieved in all non-South African operations, most notably DRC, with a 13.3% increase in its customer base.

(Source: Biz-Community)

Maroc Telecom’s revenue up by 19.5% and Meditel reaches 6 millions subscribers

Morocco's second phone operator, Méditel, reached, up to the end of the first half of 2007, six million subscribers.

The company's CEO, Inigo Serrano, noted that the Moroccan mobile phone market have reacted positively to the society's services, adding that over 30,000 connections of companies and phone stores were carried out in fixed telephony in the same period through various access technologies.

He pointed out that the company is ready to offer all services in terms of voice and data for all types of companies.

The company had earlier announced having achieved a USD 54.5Mn net earning in 2006, i.e. a 266% increase compared to 2005.

The turnover of the company, present in Morocco since 1999, moved from USD 500Mn in 2005 to USD 560Mn in 2006, i.e. a 9% increase.

Meanwhile, Maroc Telecom has achieved, during the first half of 2007, a 19.5% sales increase in revenue, i.e. USD1.6Bn, due to growth in its domestic mobile and internet services as well as expansion of foreign subsidiaries, reported, on Monday, the Moroccan telephony operator in a press release.

Up to July 2007, mobile revenue rose 17.1% to stand at USD 971.3Mn while, in fixed-lined and Internet activities, gross sales increased 3.9% to reach USD 581.8Mn.

The company said its fixed-line customer base reached, up1.28Mn lines, that is a net increase of nearly 14,000 lines over the half-year while ADSL internet subscribers grew by 54,000, increasing by 34.8% compared to the same period in 2006.

As the GSM customer base, it reached 11.7Mn customers by the end of June (+31.3%), the same source added.

Outside Morocco, Mauritel in Mauritania recorded, during the first half of 2007, a gross turnover of USD 71.9Mn, that is +3.8% for fixed–line services and +26.1% for mobile services while Onatel in Burkina Faso achieved a USD 90.7Mn gross turnover over the same period.

Cheap MTN Shares Offer Opens in South Africa

The application period of the National Empowerment Fund's (NEF's) Asonge share scheme for MTN shares, which is intended to bring more black South Africans into the economic mainstream, officially opened yesterday.

The NEF is selling about 11,7-million, or 0,6%, of MTN's shares to black individuals (Africans, coloureds and Indians) and investment groups under the Asonge share scheme. The shares will be sold at R79,61 each, which is a 20% discount compared with Friday's closing price of R99,51. The offer closes on August 16.

Victor Mabuza, executive for asset management at the NEF, said yesterday the offer was aimed at the lower and middle classes rather than the very poor, who did not have the means to buy shares.

The shares were originally bought for R171m at R28,52 a share in 2002.

Investors in the NEF Asonge share scheme are locked in for a minimum of 12 months.

The NEF said that in order to encourage investors in the scheme to hold their MTN shares after expiry of the lock-up period, investors would receive an extra share for every 10 held if they kept their shares for the next 12 months.

NEF communications manager Moemise Motsepe said allocations would be 50% to individuals, with 50% of this being focused on women, and the other 50% allocated to black savings or investment groups. Figures on how many people had subscribed would be released.

(Source: Business Day)

IN BRIEF:

- The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (ADB) approved a US $ 50-million senior loan under its private sector window in support of a Regional African Satellite Communications Organization Members (RASCOM) Telecommunications Project. The RASCOM project involves the construction and launch of an earth-orbiting satellite system to provide point to multi-point telecommunications services throughout Africa.

- Togo Telecom has secured a 6 billion CFA francs (US$12 million) guaranty from the FAGACE (Fonds Africain de Garantie et de Cooperation Economique) in order to raise a further US$48 million on the regional stock exchange. The money will be used to finance the telco’s expansion plans.

- Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN), new owners of the Areeba mobile network in Ghana, will soon launch a Foundation to streamline its corporate social responsibility activities in the country.

Africa is attractive for mobile banking

Cellphone banking in Africa is seeing faster uptake rates than those experienced in South Africa (SA).

This is according to First National Bank (FNB) cellphone banking CEO Len Pienaar, who says growth rates in countries such as Botswana and Namibia are exceeding those experienced at home. In addition, 80% of those registering for cellphone banking in these countries are actually transacting through the mobile channel, “which is more than double what we see in SA”.

After less than a year of offering mobile banking in Botswana and Namibia, FNB has already registered more than 10 000 cellphone banking customers in these countries. “These are very small economies and we won't see the kind of numbers we do in SA, but the growth has been faster than what we saw here,” says Pienaar.

The First Rand Group is the only South African-based company to have branched into mobile banking services in adjoining countries so far. The group's 10 000-plus cellphone customers in Namibia and Botswana translate to about 5% of FNB's clients in these countries. Pienaar says penetration in SA has reached about 8%, “and we will want the [foreign] subsidiaries' penetration to match and eventually even exceed that reached in SA”.

Pienaar says mobile banking platforms are particularly attractive in parts of Africa that are sparsely inhabited. “In SA, we have a high density of banking options, such as ATMs, card-accepting devices, and even branches. In Namibia, for example, this is much lower and you have a huge rural population,” explains Pienaar.

He says the bank's approach to cellphone banking has adapted to the needs of different countries, with customers in Namibia and Botswana having to register for mobile banking in-branch so they can be shown exactly how to use the technology.

“Mobile networks are well-established in most of the countries we are in, and the technology, such as SMSes, is well-known,” says Pienaar.

Having just bought an 80% shareholding in Mozambique's Maputo-based MDC bank, FNB is now present in five African countries other than SA, namely: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, and Mozambique. Pienaar says the bank plans to develop each country's business model independently and is using open source software extensively in a bid to reduce the cost of mobile channel banking.

However, it still remains to be seen when mobile banking will be launched in countries such as Lesotho and Swaziland, as “these countries are so small we are still trying to find ways to make it affordable to roll out mobile banking there”.

(Source: ITWeb)

Nashua Mobile helps Stats SA to dispense R1.2m of prepaid airtime to field workers

Nashua Mobile helped Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) to ensure that the Community Survey 2007 ran smoothly by providing the organisation with a solution that allowed it to dispense prepaid cellular airtime worth R1.2 million to 5,600 census officers in an efficient way.

The Community Survey 2007, carried out in February, sought to gain a representative sample of the community to determine how much the population demographics have changed since the last full census that was conducted in 2001.

The idea of the survey was to gather statistically meaningful population information at a lower cost than conducting a full census. These community surveys will be conducted regularly, cutting down the frequency at which Stats SA needs to conduct a full census.

Stats SA's officers, who had prepaid services from all three network’s providers (Vodacom, MTN and Cell C), needed to stay in touch with the organisation. The organisation could not supply the officers with physical recharge vouchers because of the costs and risks involved in distributing such a high volume of vouchers to people spread throughout the country. Reimbursing the officers for their airtime costs would have been an administrative nightmare, and was also rejected as an option.

Stats SA, which had an existing relationship with Nashua Mobile, turned to the independent service provider for help. Nashua Mobile suggested that Stats SA use the Click-to-Recharge product as a solution.

Click-to-Recharge allows Corporate clients to recharge their mobile workforce's airtime using an Internet application. The costs of the recharges are billed to the client's Nashua Mobile account and are settled at the end of each month.

Once a mobile phone is selected by the client for recharge, an SMS is sent to the prepaid number with the denomination of the recharge, the voucher pin code, and instruction on how to perform the recharge.

Nashua Mobile developed a bulk upload facility that would allow a number of cellphone numbers on an Excel spreadsheet to be loaded for recharge accurately and quickly to meet Stats SA's need for a high-volume solution.

During the month that the survey was conducted, recharges were uploaded on a daily basis. Over the entire period, 16,656 recharges were successfully made for 5,598 statistical officers.

Says Mark Taylor, managing director at Nashua Mobile: "One of the traditional problems with the prepaid system was that companies found it difficult to track usage and expenditure, and to efficiently manage the vouchering process. Our Click-to-Recharge solution allows companies to pay for business calls on behalf of staff who either don't want or can't afford a contract with one of the networks, extending the benefits of cellular communications to a larger audience."

ISSUE NO 365 PEOPLE, EVENTS, JOBS, CONTRACTS

INDEX

PEOPLE

- Novell’s South Africa’s country manager Stafford Masie has resigned in order to establish and head up the local operation of Google.

- The Computerise Nigeria Project (CNP) has appointed a new Board with Professor O. Ibidapo-Obe, as the Chairman. Other members of the Board include - Bashir Shehu Galadanci, Chris Uwaje, Adenike Oyinlola Osofisan. Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox Computers, who initiated the Computerize Nigeria Project, CNP, and Mrs. Abii, CEO-CNP were also announced as automatic members of the CNP Board.

- Marc Neile has been appointment as the new Sales and Marketing Director for EMEA operations at American Fibertek, Inc, a supplier of fiber optic transmission systems for security applications.

EVENTS

- TELECOMS WORLD AFRICA

31st July - 2nd August 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa

Key decision-makers in South Africa and leading international players will share their expertise and forge invaluable business relationships in a highly interactive environment.

For further information visit www.terrapinn.com/2007/telecomza

- 2ND ANNUAL CONNECTING CONNECTING RURAL COMMUNITIES AFRICA FORUM 2007

21st-24th August 2007, Nairobi, Kenya

This international event will bring together African government officials, senior figures from African regulatory authorities and international ICT experts who are leading the private sector connectivity drive. At this forum you have the opportunity to discuss and analyse best practices, share case studies and debate crucial topics

If you would like to register as a delegate, please contact Marco by email: m.dekock@cto.int or telephone: 0044 208834 1577

- WI-WORLD AFRICA 2007

27 - 30 August 2007, Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In Africa, fixed-line infrastructure is lacking and there is a major problem with copper wire theft. Wireless communication is therefore a great alternative.

For further information visit www.terrapinn.com/2007/telecomza

- GSM>3G MIDDLE EAST AND GULF

2-3 September 2007, Dubai International Convention Centre, UAE

This 12th event features a 6 streamed agenda of 90 visionary speakers delivering crucial insights on: WiMAX, In-Building, FMC, Content, Interconnection and Pricing.

Early booking discounts apply so contact us today to secure your place www.gsm-3gworldseries.com/meg

- IIR's AFRICAN TELECOMS BILLING AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT FORUM

03 Sep-07 Sep 2007, International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Join us this September in Cape Town and benefit from an event offering 5 focused days of conference and seminar sessions addressing. The event will bring together leading operators and service providers to address the specific Revenue Management and Billing challenges currently being faced by African Telecoms Operators and Service

For further information visit www.iir-conferences.com/atbra

- IWEEK CONFERENCE

5-7 September 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa

ISPA and UniForum SA are proud to state that this is the 6th year that they have been hosting and running iWeek, the Internet industry's premier conference.

Registration is now open at http://www.ispa.org.za/iweek/2007/apply.shtml

- CAPACITY AFRICA 2007

10 - 11 September, Cape Town, South Africa

Capacity Africa 2007 provides a forum for providers from across Africa, along with the international carriers and service providers to meet and discuss the new business opportunities in the liberalising African markets including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana. With an extensively researched programme providing high quality content, senior level speakers and attendees, and lucrative networking opportunities, Capacity Africa 2007 is the premier pan-African wholesale telecommunications congress.

For more details contact rachel.helyer@capacitymedia.com . Visit the Conference web site at www.capacitymedia.com

-SATWIBB AFRICA: AFRICAN SATELLITE & WIRELESS BROADBAND CONFERENCE & VOIP FORUM 

West Africa: Muson Centre, Lagos, 21-23 August 2007

Theme: Broadband bridges across Africa: First and last mile solutions

Local and international industry leaders will make presentations on the following topics:
Efficient bandwidth delivery mechanisms
Next Generation Networks: Selecting the right migration path
Building wireless communities
Fiber optic vs. satellite-based connectivity: Do they compete or do they complete?
DVBS2: Its role in trunking
Rural Wireless: The role of WiMAX, WiFi, CDMA and hybrid technologies
VoIP survival strategies for telcos, ISPs and cyber cafes
Build vs. buy: VoIP solutions for Africa
Providing a VoIP service over a WiMAX network
Maximising international VoIP services

The event also includes a Masterclass on Building Wireless Communities by Paul Munnery, CEO, Wireless Digital Cities, UK

To request full details, email info@aitecafrica.com or log on to www.aitecafrica.com

- ICT AFRICA 2007

October 1-5, 2007, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

ICT Africa is an annual continental information and communications technology conference addressing all aspects of ICT development in Africa. The conference is convened by NEPAD council in collaboration with the NEPAD Kenya secretariat. The 2007 event will be organized by Global Conferences, Cape Town, South Africa.

For further information contact rjacobs@globalconf.co.za

- INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT (IPAD) CENTRAL AFRICA

3rd - 5th October, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

iPAD Central Africa 2006 provides an opportunity to network directly with key partners. The event aims to facilitate regional planning and collaborations under one roof between government, the public sector and business. iPAD Central Africa 2006 is a one-stop-shop for investigating investment opportunities in DRC and the Central African region as a whole.

For further information visit http://www.spintelligent-events.com/ipad-central2006/en/

JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Transmission implementation engineer - Uganda

The company is looking for a transmission implementation engineer.

The engineer will supervise the installation of the outdoor and indoor units, configuration, panning and traffic routing. He/she will also be involved in IP addressing of the system as per the provided design and integration to other transmission systems. The engineer will work with other project teams, management and sub contractors in a delivering of project objectives.

The candidate needs excellent knowledge of the configuration and troubleshooting of Ericsson transmission network elements (PDH & SDH) as well as strong experience and skills in commissioning of Mini-link TN and High Capacity. Integration of the system into multivendor transmission systems.

For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com

CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?

CBA and Temenos AG – South Africa

Commercial Bank of Africa Limited (CBA) has signed a Sh309.5 million agreement with banking software company, Temenos AG, of Switzerland. The software dealer will supply CBA with a new core banking system dubbed Temenos T24 to support the bank's business needs in Kenya and the region.

KPC telecommunication upgrade - Kenya

The Kenya Pipeline Company is upgrading its telecommunication systems at a cost of Sh316 million. This will help the company in monitoring leaks in its pipeline network and the interlinking of its stations with fibre-optic cables to facilitate faster communication. Five companies will undertake the upgrading job to ensure efficiency. They are Telvent of Canada, Socabelec of Belgium, Goldrock of Nairobi, Rosemount Tank Gauging of Sweden and Huawei Technologies.

Moroccan Government and Percall - Morocco

The Moroccan government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the offshoring sector with the French company Percall, which will launch its activities in Rabat Technopolis in a bid to meet the needs of its European and American customers.

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