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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 368 Tourist destinations the latest places to join Egypt’s hot-spot roll-outThe tourist destinations of Sharm el-Sheikh and Luxor are the latest cities to get on board Egypt’s fast-moving roll-out of Wi-Fi hot-spots. Although prices in these places will be expensive, they are considerably cheaper than the current alternatives in local tourist hotels. Under a USAID-sponsored project, “While in Egypt Stay Connected,” tourist destinations in Sharm el-Sheikh and Luxor are serving as pilot cities for Wi-Fi deployments. In each city, sixteen Wi-Fi access points swathe tourist areas. Visitors purchase prepaid Internet access cards for about US$6.74 an hour. Although hotels in Cairo have been offering Wi-Fi, there has until this point been little in the other two tourist destinations. Cairo’s Marriott with its relaxing courtyard garden offers a 24 hour access card that lasts three months for US$30 and it is always full of people using laptops. What they might lose one way, they gain by users paying for their premium price drinks. In Luxor, Wi-Fi covers a 5 km stretch of the Nile Corniche, connecting users in outdoor cafes and on Nile cruise ships at 256K. Connectivity even extends into Luxor and Karnak temples, allowing the novelty of instant messaging while seated in a 4000-year-old monument. Also benefiting from Wi-Fi coverage, connected users can logon from pedestrian areas in Sharm el-Sheikh’s Naama Bay, or even a chaise longue along a beach promenade. Before this roll-out, there were only a very small number of hot-spots. The cost of rolling out the hot-spots has been paid for by different equipment vendors: SR Telecom in Luxor and Redline and Colubris in Sharm el-Sheikh. The Luxor hot-spots are run by Telecom Egypt’s ISP TE Data and the Sharm el-Sheik operation by local ISP Egynet. Both ISPs paid the equipment installation costs. There is no revenue split with site owners because the networks are outdoors and the ISPs have done all the aerial site leases themselves. However, they are selling the pre-paid scratch cards to vendors at a small discount. Connected tourists, who travel with laptops or other Wi-Fi devices, have greater income and are bigger spenders when on holiday. According to research carried out by the project, 15% of UK tourists take a laptop and 30% of Germans. This USAID project aims to boost tourism revenues by establishing Egypt as a “connected’ destination, with Wi-Fi and 3G Internet attracting visitors who prefer to visit a country with fast and easy data access. It is part of a wider initiative to persuade local hotel owners to accept credit cards and put in place online booking procedures. Hot-spots in these destinations will add to Egypt’s already burgeoning hot-spot culture. In Cairo there are a great deal of places offering free access including coffee shops, Macdonalds and a local chain called Cilantro. In each of these places, you will see a mix of tourists, expats and locals working away on their laptops. Interestingly, these include people using Skype with headsets as PC to PC calls are legal in Egypt. One local visitor reported that the bandwidth was of sufficiently high quality that he was able to use the SIP client on his Nokia N80 to call home for virtually nothing. Further south, with the exception of South Africa, public hot-spots are still a relatively exotic offering. However, both pay-for and free hot-spots in hotels can be found increasingly widely in a range of countries. Perhaps public hot-spots will become the next wave of growth in the coming year.
Senegal’s ARTP finally invites bids for a unified licence to compete with SonatelAfter a three year wait, Senegal’s regulator ARTP has finally announced the tender for bids for a unified licence to compete with the present incumbent, France Telecom-owned Sonatel. The incumbent currently has a de-facto monopoly in every sector it operates in with the exception of mobile, where it is simply the market leader. The new entrant will find that it will be a tough fight to gain entry into the Senegalese market as there is a close relationship between the current incumbent and the Government: for example, the President’s ICT adviser both sits on the board of the incumbent and was closely involved in the process of formulating the letting of the new licence. The major attraction of the licence is that it allows the winner to become the third mobile operator in the country alongside Sonatel’s Orange and Millicom’s Tigo brands. In addition, the bid winner will enjoy the rights to provide fixed line and Internet access services head-to-head with the incumbent. The latter has a fairly entrenched hold on the DSL market but has done little in the way of wireless roll-out. Although a de-facto private monopoly in most markets. Sonatel (now trading under the Orange brand) has been a price progressive and both retail and wholesale prices are at the lowest end of the spectrum of African pricing. This again will be a factor that will make gaining market share for the new entrant a tough game. In addition, a key issue will be the interconnect terms given to the new entrant both before and after it is able to roll-out any element of its own infrastructure. The Senegalese regulator, Agence de Regulation des Telecoms et Postes (ARTP), has set 31 August 2007 as the deadline for offers. The bidding process might take a second round in case more than one bidder has been received. Both Celtel and Vivendi-owned Maroc Telecom have been named as potential bidders. Over the years, Senegalese mobile market has recorded sharp increase. In March 2007, the number of mobile users in Senegal was estimated at over 3.37 million, compared to 1.94 and 1.73 millions in 1996 and 1995, respectively. In December 2006, the total number of residential and business provided by Sonatel reached 282,573. Meanwhile, with effective from 7 October this year, all telephone lines in Senegal will have two extra digits. Telecommunication officials said 33, 77 and 76 will be added to fix, Orange and Tigo lines, respectively. (Source: Afrol News) Exit Algeria’s SNO claiming unfair competition pushed it out – regulator ARPT denies the chargeAlgeria’s Post and Telecommunications Regulation Authority (ARPT) has denied accusations that it has helped cause heavy losses at the country’s second national fixed line licensee, Lacom. Lacom’s part-owner, Telecom Egypt, has said that unfair competition in Algeria has seen the unit rack up losses of US$45 million, El Khabar reports. A statement released by the regulator denies this, however, with the ARPT claiming that it supported Lacom by forcing the country’s dominant provider, Algerie Telecom, to stop offering WiLL phones for free when the offer was judged to be anti-competitive. The ARPT adds that it has taken ‘all the required measures that encourage fair competition in post and telecommunication markets’. Earlier reports from Algeria suggest that the country’s second national wireline licensee, Lacom, is planning to exit the market after sustaining heavy losses. Local press suggest that the firm’s management is looking for a way of folding up the company without incurring further losses as it is now facing bankruptcy. The Lacom consortium consisting of Egyptian telcos Orascom Telecom and Telecom Egypt won Algeria's second national fixed line licence in March 2005 when it was the only bidder for the 15-year US$65 million concession. Separately, Portugal Telecom has been linked as a prospective bidder in the part-privatisation of the country’s dominant telco, Algerie Telecom. The government is planning to offload between 35% and 51% of the PTO next year. Algerie Telecom has 2.8 million wireline customers and 7.4 million wireless subscribers. (Source: Telegeography) Rwanda’s Government is Looking for Buyers for RwandatelThe government of Rwanda is planning to sell 70 percent of its stake in the now state owned phone operator Rwandatel after taking back ownership from Terracom. "Privatisation Secretariat invites internationally recognised and reputable telecommunications operators or consortia to acquire the bidding documents and submit their bids for the acquisition of a majority stake up to 70 percent in Rwandatel/Terracom SA," a bid document by the Privatisation Secretariat reads. After months of uncertainty and blame game, cabinet on July 25 decided to buy-back its telecommunications company from controversial youthful American Tech entrepreneur Greg Wyler. The company was bought back for US$12 million. The Ministry of Finance and Economic planning was authorized to recover all the shares that Terracom executives owned in the company. The name also changed 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 previous dark red. The Government accused the American tech businessman and his CEO Christopher Lundh of poor management and failing to deliver on contractual obligations such as rolling out a new mobile network. But this was simply the most visible end of dissatisfactions over lack of investment and insufficient senior management time applied to the company. However, the most public point of conflict was when Terracom’s management sought to do a share swop with South African-based Rwandan entrepreneur Miko Rwayitare. The latter was one of the founders of the Telecel mobile group (subsequently sold to Orascom) and is currently building himself a new African ICT business. The share swop was subsequently cancelled. Interested bidders are required to offer both a technical and financial proposal by September 5 this year, according to the bid. The bidders are also required to have a clear commitment and strong financial muscle to implement a realistic plan to boost telecommunications in Rwanda. In 2003, Greg Wyler bought 99% shares of then Rwandatel, the country's national telecommunications company for US$20 million. Wyler, 37, was also granted a lucrative US$50-million government project to wire up 300 schools - especially primary and secondary - to the Internet via satellite. By June 2007, according to Rwandan officials, only a handful of schools have been wired up. The project was supposed to be completed in 2006. However, TERRACOM executives say the government did not fulfill its side of the bargain. "We would get to schools that don't even have electricity or computers," said former CEO Lundh. "That is not our fault." In addition, he said that many of the complaints about the company concerned things beyond its ability to control. Like all disputes of this kind (remember Westel in Ghana), there are always two sides to the argument and frequently the losing private sector party is in no mood to put its case. But there is undoubtedly another side to this story…. (Source: Rwanda News Agency) Lebanese-owned Spectrum invests in Gamtel and puts in Detecon to manageGambia’s Department of State for Communications and Information Technology has approved an investment in the country’s incumbent Gamtel and its mobile subsidiary Gamcel. Little is known about the Lebanese-owned Spectrum that is described as “a Company with investments in many industries throughout the region”. Spectrum and the Government have jointly appointed Detecon International, the consultancy arm of the German incumbent Deutsche Telecom, to run the company. According to the Government press release:”The government of The Gambia has approved a strategic partnership for Gamtel/Gamcel, in a bid to salvage the one time leading institution in the Gambia. It would be recalled that Gamtel over the last years had deteriorated in service provision, accessibility and quality of service. It is also experiencing stagnation in network expansion and subscriber base”. “Furthermore, Gamtel was near bankruptcy and is heavily indebted. The Government of The Gambia consequently has been reviewing various proposals for strategic partnership to give Gamtel the needed boost to enter into new business models, new technology with a view to providing high quality and affordable telecommunications services”. IN BRIEF:- In Kenya, the Government will introduce a rural access fund to speed up telecommunication growth. The percentage has not been decided yet but an IDRC study it was suggested that the operators be levied additional 0.5 per cent of their gross income making their total levies to one per cent. Meanwhile the Government announced the withdrawal of the contentious Kenya Communication Amendment Bill 2007 from the floor of Parliament for redrafting. Information and Communications minister Mutahi Kagwe said the Bill had omitted crucial issues that included cyber crime and penalties to be meted on those who damage fibre optic cables. - A group calling itself the Concerned Workers of the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) has asked the Liberian Senate to postpone the nomination of Nathaniel Kevin as member of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority Board of Commissioners. According to the redundant workers he has failed to pay their severance and economic benefits when government has made the money available in the 2007/2008 National Budget. - Zimbabweans who use the Telecel mobile phone network can breathe a sigh of relief for now, after the company was granted temporary relief by the High Court in Harare. This means Telecel Zimbabwe, whose license was cancelled by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz) last week, can continue operating for the time being. - A committee has been formed to advise on the possible entry of the Kenya Power and Lighting company into the telecommunications sector, using the fibres laid over its transmission grid. - Vodafone may be heading for the Nigerian telecoms market as indications have emerged that Mubadala Development Company of the United Arab Emirates, which was granted a US$400 million licence by Nigeria, is in talks with the UK's biggest mobile operator. This move would however contradict the recent agreement with the UK group’s South African partner Vodacom which allowed the latter to manage expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. - At a CTO conference on rural access, officials representing nine agencies, established by African Governments to manage Universal Service Obligations including Universal Service Funds relating to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) services, have decided to work towards forming an Association within one year in order to promote their common interests. - Workers at the local telco company Sotelco in Congo-Brazzaville have claimed that they have not received any salary for the last four months. The state owned company was set up in 2003 but it is facing major financial difficulties with unpaid bills reaching FCFA13 billion while the lack of infrastructure investments has laid to the closure of the Pointe-Noire exchange several months ago.
TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Uganda's subscriber base has grown by more than 1.5 million new contracts in the last one year reaching a total of 3, 575,263. "This is a net addition of 1.5 million customers between June 2006 and June 2007, representing an annual growth of 68 percent," said UCC commission's executive director Patrick Masambu. - Starcomms Limited, Nigeria's largest CDMA 3G Mobile network, has extended its activities to the East, Onitsha and Aba, the Delta State capital. - Uganda telecom has started offering night time free calls in a move to compete with its rivals, Celtel Uganda and MTN Uganda. Customers will have to load airtime of any value every day to enjoy the free calls. Uncertainty remains though since network jams have occurred in the past during occasions of traffic surges like Christmas. UTL's free calls start from 11 p.m. every night until 6 a.m. - The first signs of TransCorp’s efforts to revive Nitel’s telecommunication network across the country are concentrating on Mtel, Nitel’s mobile arm. The subsidiary announced that its network is now working at almost 100 per cent capacity in Abuja and rehabilitation work has already started at Enugu, Abuja, Iseghohi, Benin, Port Harcourt and Lagos. - Celtel-Sierra Leone has unveiled plans to offer internet services via mobile phones in a bid to catch with competitor, mobile operator Tigo which was first to offer mobile internet services in the country. The company also announced that its network coverage has reached 80% of the total population of 4.9 million. - Zimbabwe’s government has again announced increases in telecommunications tariffs that will see cellphone charges jumping from between Z$465 and Z$503 to between Z$5,419 and Z$7,200 per minute.
Ghana: Huawei to build north-south fibre cableChinese vendor Huawei will build the first phase of Ghana’s planned national backbone. President John Agyekum Kufuor has officially commissioned the construction of phase One of Ghana's fibre optic backbone from the southern to the northern region of the country. It is anticipated that the completion of the installation of the cable would enhance greater access to information, communications and technology by the close of 2007 and can facilitate communications during the upcoming CAN 2008. The construction of the cable is also expected to serve as a platform for the implementation of the eGhana project and reduce the cost of bandwidth. China's Huawei Technologies Company is installing the cable from the capital, Accra to Tamale in the Northern region at a cost of 30 million dollars. The cost of constructing the cable across the whole country is estimated at 70 million dollars. The first phase would see the cable tapped from the Volta River Authority's (power generator and transmitter) Voltacom fibre optic cable in Accra through Cape Coast in the Central Region, Takoradi in the Western Region, Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region to Tamale in the Northern Region. The President expressed hope that the construction of the cable would improve internet and telephony services in the country and urged thieves to refrain from stealing the cables that has become rampant in the country in recent years. (Source: Highway Africa News Agency) Interstella sues NCC for breach of exclusive licence to operate Internet exchanges in NigeriaInterstella Communication Ltd. has sued the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), demanding N10 billion damages for allegedly interfering with its exclusive licence for Internet Exchange Gateway. The suit is before a Federal High Court in Abuja filed on Friday by Interstella's counsel, Chief Awa Solomon. The plaintiff is challenging the NCC for setting up a subsidiary, Nigeria Internet Exchange Point (NIEP), empowered to build, maintain and operate an Internet exchange. Solomon said his client was on Aug. 24, 2004, granted an Internet exchange licence by the NCC with an exclusivity clause. The licence, Solo-mon said, exclusively autho-rised the company to construct, maintain Internet exchange switches and exchange data traffic on behalf of Internet service providers. The company, he added, had secured loans from banks to build the exchange gateway because of the exclusivity clause, pointing out that his client has so far invested over 16 million dollars (N2.04 billion) in the project and that the conduct of the NCC in setting up NIEP abrogated the licence issued to it. The plaintiff thus sought the courts declaration that the "NCC lacks the power to establish NIEP and that its purported establishment is unlawful and a nullity". It also sought an of injunction restraining the Commission from interfering with the exclusive clause. Besides, the company is claiming N10 billion damages against the NCC for allegedly taking positive actions aimed at vitiating the exclusivity right. In a related development, Interstella has in a separate suit, asked the court to stop the NCC from its plans to auction a national Internet exchange facility frequency band. The frequency band is an infrastructure used to facilitate nationwide Internet exchange, rural telephony and check cyber crimes. The plaintiff contended that it applied for the use of the facility and it was granted by the federal government. Interstella said that it could not take immediate possession of the facility because it was under the care of security agencies. The company alleged that after the facility had been completely withdrawn from the security agencies, rather than hand it over, NCC offered it for public auction. The company is seeking an order declaring illegal the conduct of the NCC. Interstella also asked for a court order directing the NCC to allocate the said frequency to the company. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the case has not been assigned to any judge for hearing while the defendants are yet to file their defence.(NAN) (Source: Daily Trust) Namibia plans to link up to SAT3Namibia is considering broadband connectivity through Angola to cut the high cost of telecommunications. Cabinet this week announced that Government would enter into discussions with Botswana and Angola to secure a submarine cable landing point for Namibia to SAT-3 in the Angolan capital Luanda. Namibia, Botswana and Angola have had four rounds of discussions on the issue since July last year. Both Namibia and Botswana said the cost of telecommunications was too high and started considering an alternative international broadband connectivity route to the SAT-3. "The transit costs to route telecommunication calls through Cape Town to the SAT-3 have become unsustainable," acting Permanent Secretary of Information, Wilma Deetlefs, said in a statement yesterday. At the meeting in Luanda last month, the three countries considered an Angolan proposal that will use the Angolan Domestic Cable Network (ADONES) as the basis for SAT-3 connectivity at Luanda with an extension of the ADONES from Namibe in Angola to Swakopmund. The Namibian delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila, stated that the creation of an enabling framework will clarify the Namibian objectives and set the scene for further technical research on the Angolan proposal, as well as other options. "Namibia wants cost-effective and reliable broadband access to global ICT networks based on competitive rates, as well as reliable and predictable access," the Cabinet statement said. The three countries have already signed a memorandum of understanding that sets out the broad principles of co-operation. It includes terms of reference for multilateral co-operation that forms the basis for further negotiations. At its last meeting, Cabinet noted the progress report regarding co-operation on regional broadband connectivity and endorsed the memorandum signed by the three countries. (Source: The Namibian) IN BRIEF:- In South Africa, the department of communications is demanding that the international owners of Seacom, the $500 million (R3.6 billion) undersea fibreoptic cable project intended to link South Africa with Europe and Asia, sell equity to local companies before it can operate locally. - Speaking during the Second Annual Connecting Rural Communities Africa Forum at a Nairobi hotel, Information and Communication minister, Mr Mutahi Kagwe, said that the successful bidder to construct the East Africa Marine System (Teams) project will be known by the end of next September. The bidding application process will close on September 3rd. - According to the local paper the Daily Mirror, Cisco, was set to provide faster broadband services, free of charge, as part of efforts to curb and ameliorate the "broadband" internet connection service currently rendered by the Ethiopian telecommunication Corporation (ETC). - With the launch of www.icareug.com people living outside Uganda will be offered online shopping and delivery to send support to their loved ones in Uganda. A range of products like airtime, gifts, pay school fees are available and will be delivered direct to recipients with physical addresses or mobile phone numbers within 24 hours of receiving the order.
Secondary Schools to Be Networked in BostwanaAbout 100 secondary schools will at the beginning of next term be linked together through the computerised school Internet connectivity project. This was revealed through a Savingram circulated to all the 235 secondary schools Head teachers in the country. Director of Secondary Education, Bore Kgokgwe, stated in the Savingram that some preparatory work of provision of requisite communications infrastructure by Botswana Telecommunication Corporation (BTC) was completed in July this year. The Savingram stated that the tendering process for the connectivity project covering all the 235 secondary schools was now complete. The tender according to Kgokgwe, has been awarded to Dimension Data Botswana and only the first 100 priority schools were expected to commence at the beginning of term 3 in September and be completed this December. The connection of the remaining 135 schools, including the new Goodhope Senior Secondary School and Kauxwi Secondary School, was expected to be completed by July next year. "Now that the tender for the supply of internet connectivity has been awarded to Dimension Data, its staff has become part of our School Connectivity Project Implementation Team together with Computer Lab Administrators at every schools and the Ministry of Education" said Kgokgwe, further revealing that "from next month until completion of the project the two lab administrators in a school are expected to work cooperatively with the rest of the team to facilitate successful implementation of the project at the school, including training." The last deliverable for the project was on-site training on functionality of the newly supplied connectivity hardware. The hands-on training session with a Training Manual, he said, would be provided by Dimension Data staff to two lab administrators and two other relevant staff members of the school's choice. He said the choice should be made paying attention to localisation and gender balance policies. The school heads were urged to insist on using their computer Lab Logbooks to keep track of other service providers and the rest of the team members from outside the school. School's supplies officers have also been urged to be involved at all times to keep an up to date inventory of computer lab supplies. He said after installation, Dimension Data would provide 12-month service and maintenance of all their Internet connection equipment in the computer labs, including the aircons and equipment in the server room. "This is done to ensure that connectivity equipment is fully functional before the supplier leaves the site." On security and satellite dishes, Kgokgwe said the equipment supplied during this project implementation comprises the latest attractive technology in the IT market, and hence it deserved a good measure of security. "It is needful to provide security alarm, burglar bars and window blinds around the lab premises. For those schools with connection via ground installed satellite dishes, there is need for provision of security fence around the dish with a lockable gate and sealed with chicken mesh on top." Each of the 110 secondary schools would receive two computers. The remaining 125 schools would be provided with PCs, hopefully before the end of October 2007. The IT unit is currently involved in the data cabling for administration blocks in these schools and the process is also at the tendering stage. (Source: The Voice) Five Nigerian universities selected to compete in Microsoft’s finals for the “Imagine Cup”Microsoft Nigeria has launched its global software development contest in the country, known as Imagine Cup. Imagine Cup was designed by Microsoft to encourage students to apply their imagination, passion, and creativity to develop technology innovations that can make a difference in the world. According to the company, the five year-old global competition, has more than 100,000 students from 100 countries competing at the global level. Company sources informed that this year, the global competition had nine categories set up under three main groups, technology solutions, skills challenge and digital arts. While 'Imagine Cup Nigeria' has students competing in three categories, namely software design, embedded development and web development. Microsoft Nigeria office sources also said that in the software development category the students are required to demonstrate innovation on Microsoft?s products, such as the NET Framework and Microsoft Windows platform, while the Embedded Development competition challenged students to go beyond the desktop, to build a complete hardware and software solution using Windows CE. The web development category on the other hand, called on students to use the web to create innovative educational sites for their peers using ASP .NET. Five teams have been selected to compete in the finals from entries sent by students in universities across the country, which include EasyLaw Academy, Remote Lecturing System (RLS), Smart Allocator, IntelligiAC and ThinkGP. EasyLaw Academy presented a web based e-learning application for law students, Smart Allocator developed a solution to simplify bed allocation in hostels, IntelligiAC created an artificial intelligence system to help student affairs departments in universities calculate student 'Grade Point Aggregates' more efficiently. The winning entry was a remote lecturing system, which will enable lecturers to broadcast their lectures from any location developed by Team RLS. The software will enable students to participate in the lectures by logging on to a wireless LAN. The second prize went to IntelligiAC while ThinkGP won the prize for the most innovative entry. The panel of Judges was drawn from Microsoft, Intel, HP and the Computer Professionals of Nigeria. (Source: Highway Africa News Agency) Durban's citizen-friendly, OSS siteThe official website for Durban, otherwise known as the Ethekweni municipality, has undergone a facelift. The site, which switched from Microsoft to Plone roughly two years ago, has had some improvements to its design. Tectonic spoke to the site's webmaster, Angela Spencer, to find out more. Spencer explained that the site utilised various Python-based modules for Plone. These underwent some customisation for the site, which was carried out by Durban based BEE company, Adapt IT. "All work was done locally in order to promote local economic development," said Spencer. Examples of features on the site include the ability for residents to enter their account number and check their current water, lights and rates balances. An exciting new feature currently being worked on is the integration of blogging functionality. Spencer said this would be up and running by the end of the year. She said they wanted to get people talking about Durban and to interact with their local government rather than merely being passive citizens. After jokingly mentioning to her it was lucky Durban was so laid back and that such a tool would probably see much abuse hurled at government if set up in Joburg, Spencer said: "That might happen, but it is a part of democracy." (Source: Tectonic) IN BRIEF:- In Cameroon, the Ministry of Justice has signed up for the roll out of the Integrated Computer System for the Management of State Personnel and Pay Roll (SIGIPES). The project is in line with government's policy to decentralise management of state workers and it epitomises the will of the authorities to improve the career and pay roll of every state worker. This also permits every administration to permanently master its personnel and pay roll. - Niamey, the capital of Niger will host its first ICT exhibition next October. - The Debian project last week issued fixes for the stable Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, codenamed Etch. The update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustment to serious problems.
AccessKenya Gets the Nod to Bid for Rival Company in KenyaInternet Service Provider AccessKenya has received the regulator's nod for its first takeover bid for a rival firm since it was listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange. AccessKenya wants to acquire the leased line business of Today's Online, an Internet Service Provider, and had sought the approval of the Commissioner of Monopolies for the acquisition. "This approval and migration of customers onto our network completes the acquisition and integration of Today's Online customer base with that of Accesskenya," said Mr Jonathan Somen, the managing director. Analysts said the merger was the latest signal that AccessKenya was ready to start spending some of the money it raised from the initial public offering two months ago. During the offer, AccessKenya had revealed that it had identified smaller ISPs for acquisition as part of the larger plan to grow its business. Acquisition of Today's Online is being seen as a precedent-setting move that tightens AccessKenya's grip on the corporate ISP market. But some analysts fear the acquisition may enable the ISP to build enough muscle to elbow competitors out of favourable agreements with suppliers and infrastructure partners. A recent report by a finance journal, Africa Analysis, says that AccessKenya controls more than 32 per cent of the corporate market. Acquisiton of Today's Online by AccessKenya has several implications for both companies. Today's says it is already benefitting from the association with the larger ISP in terms of new business, having signed up a few big customers. "An integral part of the acquisition was also the appointment of senior personnel from Today's Online as selling agents for AccessKenya. Since June, they have brought a number of customers to the business, including a high profile bank and a government ministry," said Mr Somen. His company is hoping to rope in 200 more new customers to meet a set target of 1,700 by December. Most of Today's customers have already been migrated on o the Group's network. Although official figures were not released on the value of the hand-over, estimates place the increased revenue from 200 customers on a leased line to be in the region of Sh3 million in monthly charges. Access Kenya's revenues for the first half of the year rose to Sh387 million , with profit before tax standing at Sh92 million for the same half year period. This compares to profit before tax for the entire 2006 of Sh70 million . The company's share recorded a flurry of increased activity at the bourse last week, as corporate entities jostled to get a piece of the ISP ahead of the announcement of its half year results. "Institutional investors are warming up to the ICT industry due to its vast potential and the positive changes to policies governing the sector," said Mr Chris Munene, an industry analyst at Bob Mathews, a local stock broker. "The company recorded beautiful profits and is now seen as a good investment prospect for long term investors." (Source: Business Daily) Celtel Goes for 80 Percent of Westel in GhanaInformation gathered by the Business Chronicle from a source at the Ministry of Communications indicates that the Government of Ghana and Celtel Communication based in The Netherlands have agreed on $125 million for 80% of Western Telesystems Limited (Westel) shares. This is above the 66.34% that the Telecom Company originally wanted to buy. The government of Ghana started negotiating with Celtel after negotiations between Ghana Government and the United Arab Emirates-based Kinz Telecom Group, over the sale of 66.34% stake in the second national fixed line operator, Western Telesystems Limited (WESTEL) broken down. Negotiations took a different turn when the government team managed to increase the price from US$95million to US$250million, and Kinz Telecom was required to pay up within 45 days but they could not. Kinz Telecom was also to pay US$25 million in penalty owed by WESTEL to the National Telecommunications Authority, (NCA), the industry regulator and additional US$13.5 million for the mobile licence to the NCA. This prompted the government to look at the offer from Celtel, which placed second in the selection process. In a chart with the Group Marketing and Communications Manager of Celtel, Mr. Mwambu Wanendeya over the internet to confirm the negotiations, he said his outfit does not discuss details of their business development efforts in the open 'but we continue to be keen to enter Ghana's thriving telecoms market and support its growing economy'. Celtel is the most successful pan-African mobile network, offering telecommunications services to more people in Africa than any other network. The company is one of the best-known branded businesses in Africa with mobile licenses covering more than 400 million people, close to half of Africa's population. Under the brand promise of 'Making Life Better', the company is committed to achieving sustainable development of telecommunications in Africa. Celtel has more than 17 million customers and operates mobile cellular operations in 14 countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Celtel was founded by Dr Ibrahim who hails from Sudan and was Technical Director of UK mobile operator BT Cellnet before founding MSI Cellular (Celtel's parent company) in 1998. (Source: Ghanaian Chronicle) Netcom Buys Rival ISP, Accelon in NigeriaNetcom Africa Limited has acquired rival Internet Service Provider (ISP), Accelon Africa Limited, in a deal sealed at an unconfirmed price as the Internet services sector comes under severe competition from traditional phone companies. Both parties have concluded the deal that will make Accelon a wholly-owned company of Netcom, Technology Times checks revealed. South Africa's Dimension Data also made an unsuccessful bid to buy Accelon but was beaten to the purchase by Netcom Africa promoted by Chinese investors. Ahead of sealing the purchase, when Netcom was asked last month to confirm reports that it was bidding to buy Accelon, the company officially denied holding ongoing talks. According to Netcom's spokesperson at the time, Lolade Sonubi, "Netcom is always continuously looking for ways to expand and when any of those plans materialise, our partners in the press will be the first to know." Meanwhile, it has now been established that with the acquisition, which will be announced soon, Netcom which entered the Nigerian communications market in 2003 may be having a firmer foothold. ISPs have come under pressure from traditional phone companies that now bundle Internet access alongside their basic voice service to survive amid the exponentially growing uptake of the services of GSM operators. Frontline ISP, Linkserve Limited, had gone the same route to strengthen its foothold in the Internet market a few years ago when it acquired rival company, Infoweb Limited in a N30 million transaction. According to industry sources, Accelon, which was originally set up with about $28 million is a subsidiary of Accelon Pty, of South Africa was conceived in 2002 by Africa Venture Partner (AVP), a South African investment company. Accelon which does a major share of its business in the Nigerian market is owned 43 per cent by SCS Global, a major operator of satellites while another 43 per cent is owned by venture capital company, IDC of South Africa. 3 per cent is owned by IDC. The ISP has operations in Nigeria and Ghana. (Source: This Day) Mali’s Sotelma reports loss for 2006 and fails to hit half year revenue targetsSotelma, Mali’s telco incumbent has reported a loss of 5 billion CFA francs (US$10 million) for the year 2006. As of June 30th , the company has generated 34 billion CFA francs revenue (US$68 million) towards its annual target of 76 billion CFA francs (US$152 million). At only 45% of its revenue target so far, the company has little chance of meeting the target in the balance of the year. The privatisation of Sotelma was supposed to be announced in 2006 after several years delay. But at this rate there will be considerably less to privatise as the incumbent is rapidly losing market share (particularly in the mobile market) to Orange Mali. IN BRIEF:- Egypt's Orascom Telecom is likely to sell its Iraqi subsidiary, Iraqna, following its failure to secure one of three 15 year mobile licences being offered last week by the war-torn country's government, reported Reuters. Orascom felt the asking price of more than $1.2bn and the requirement to give the government 18% of revenue were unattractive. Orascom has invested around $300m in Iraqna and the firm has generated 11% of its revenue. - After a listing on AltX just two weeks ago, the Huge Group Ltd has announced that it will merge its operating subsidiaries TelePassport (Pty) Ltd and newly acquired Centracell (Pty) Ltd. According to CEO, Anton Potgieter “This will create a new mega-managed telecoms player in the regional market”. - In the first quarter of 2007, Tunisia has attracted 12 new call centres including Research, HP call centres and Nova System International. So far 102 call centres have relocated their activities in Tunisia which targets 130 centres by the end of this year.
Online Newspaper Editor's Libel Trial Turning Into Farce After Second Postponement in TunisiaReporters Without Borders said the trial of Omar Mestiri, the editor of the online newspaper "Kalima", for libel was turning into a "farce" after a Tunis criminal court on 16 August 2007 postponed it for a second time, until 28 August, at the request of the plaintiff's lawyers. It had already been postponed for two weeks at the plaintiff's request on 2 August. A Reporters Without Borders representative who attended the hearing on 16 August said there was considerable tension between the plaintiff's and Mestiri's lawyers as they left the courtroom. Mestiri's lawyers had been told to come at 9:00 a.m. (local time), but the hearing did not start until 5:00 p.m. The plaintiff's lawyers did not have to provide the court with any information in order to obtain this second postponement. "This trial is fresh evidence of how the Tunisian authorities use the judicial system to punish an independent publication," Reporters Without Borders said. "Our fears are heightened by the fact that this case has been entrusted to the same judge who imposed a three and a half year prison sentence on lawyer and cyber-dissident Mohammed Abbou in a sham trial in April 2005." The suit against Mestiri was brought by Tunisian lawyer Mohammed Baccar in March of 2007 over an article published on 5 September 2006 in which Mestiri condemned a decision allowing Baccar to resume practising law. Baccar had previously been disbarred for "fraud and forgery." Mestiri's lawyers are challenging the suit's legality on two grounds. Firstly, under Tunisian law, a libel action must be brought within three months of an article's publication and Baccar let more than six months go by before filing his suit. Secondly, they point out that access to the "Kalima" website is blocked in Tunisia so no one could have seen the article there. "Kalima" reporter Sihem Bensedrine said Tunisian and international observers were barred from the courtroom during the first hearing in violation of one of the criteria of a fair trial, which is openness. Mestiri has been "Kalima"'s editor since 2004. The authorities prevented production of a printed version of "Kalima" but the newspaper has existed in electronic form since 2000. However, access to the website, which is hosted on a server in France, has been blocked in Tunisia ever since its launch. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who has been Tunisia's president since 1987, is on the Reporters Without Borders list of the world's 34 "press freedom predators". The regime is also one of the most repressive in the world as regards the circulation of news and information online. It is therefore classified by Reporters Without Borders as one of the world's "Internet enemies," alongside countries such as Belarus and North Korea. (Source: Reporters sans Frontières) Website for Job Seekers Launched in GhanaA state of the art online career website that will offer millions of jobseekers around the world an equal opportunity to search for jobs in Ghana, has been launched in Accra. Thewebsite,"www. jobsinghana.com", is an online recruiting tool that is in the system of charge to jobseekers, especially the youth, to have access to, but employers will have to pay a fee to advertise vacancies or search for candidates. Mr. Richard Baffoe, CEO and brain behind jobsinghana.com said there are many challenges that employers and job seekers experience such as the decision to outsource staff and find the qualified candidates for a position. Jobsinghana.com was therefore to help save people the burden of going around looking for jobs and especially, save HR Managers the hassle of opening envelopes and shifting through applications letters. This, he believed, will make HR management practices in Ghana more efficient and cost-effective and elevate it to International HR standards. He also took the opportunity to advise job seekers to visit the website, click on a job category or on the jobs link at the top of any webpage to view all the listed job vacancies. He/She could then submit his/her CV directly to the employer, if the posting had an "apply online" indicator. The Hon. Minister of Communications, Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, said ICT holds immense promise, as its development is rapidly changing and opening avenues of relationships between citizens, the government and those in the civic life. He was therefore happy that another innovative online website had been introduced to complement Government's efforts of recruitment and employment through digital processes. The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Mr. Ernest Adade, believed the website would increase the 104 jobs already created for the youth and help cut down the already 6,000 graduate-unemployment which had been cut down, thanks to the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP). He therefore advised the youth on the streets to visit the website and search for jobs in order to have a more decent means of livelihood. (Source: Ghanaian Chronicle)
PEOPLE- Technology services company EDS has appointed Kam Chetty as its new local MD to replace its current American head, amid fresh plans to revitalise its local business. He will leave its job as CEO of the Cape Winelands municipal authority at the end of this month. - According the Financial Gazette, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) director-general Cuthbert Chidoori has resigned from the regulatory authority.. - NamibiaPost and Telecom Holdings has announced its new Board of Directors. New members of the Telecom Namibia board are Joseph Iita, Frans Ndoroma (MD), Feitjie Veldskoen, Roger Gertze and Michael Mukete. Outgoing Telecom board directors were Harold Pupkewitz, Titus Haimbili, Rosa Nakale and Sylvester Black. - Microsoft Corporation announced the appointment of Ali Faramawy as Vice President of Microsoft International, with executive responsibilities in business strategy development and business operations for Middle East and Africa. Microsoft also announced new organizational structure for the region as seven countries - Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan and Tunisia - will report to one subsidiary office team, led by Sherif Seddik as Regional Director. - State owned telecoms operator InfraCo has appointed Mark Shuttleworth to its board. JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESCALL FOR NEW PAYROLL SYSTEM FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE MINISTRY - UGANDA The public service ministry wants a payroll system that will be used for all public enterprises, a website has shown. The ministry therefore, wants to pre-qualify potential suppliers of an Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS) Companies will be pre-qualified for the supply, installation, implementation and commissioning of the IPPS. Further information can be obtained from the ministry's Procurement and Disposal Unit on the ground floor at Nakasero, Kampala. Pre-qualification documents cost sh200,000. Completed documents should reach the ministry's Procurement and Disposal Unit by August 31. CALL FOR EXPERTS FOR THE REDESIGN OF THE COMESA’S WEBSITE The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has since 1998 run a website (www.comesa.int). The web site was initially composed of static pages with a rigid structure which was very difficult to update. We are presently searching for individual web-experts as Web Developers; Graphic Designers and Database Developers;. The proposed start-date is expected to be in September 2007. For further information visit http://www.comesa.int/ict/ or http://comesa.assure.danishictmanagement.dk CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?MTN AND SITA – SOUTH AFRICA A partnership signed yesterday between MTN Business and SITA will offer secure mobile and network solutions to government departments. Buckley McGrath, Executive of MTN Business, stated that the partnership between the public agency and Africa’s leading telecommunications company, has created an opportunity to provide a secure mobile customized solution through an innovative product called MOBiGOV, to the government and its departments. MOBINIL AND DITECH - EGYPT Egypt's Mobinil has ordered a voice quality improvement package from Ditech Networks to improve voice quality for its subscribers. Ditech's VQA solution enables Mobinil to reduce background noise, enhance speech, control echo and equalize the volume on both ends of the call, giving Mobinil subscribers a highly consistent call experience.
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