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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 377 Congo-Brazzaville’s incumbent Sotelco on the verge of bankruptcyIf you thought Gabon Telecom was in a mess (see issue 365), you ain’t seen nothing yet. This week the troubles afflicting Congo-Brazzaville’s incumbent Sotelco came into public view. It has stopped paying salaries and is as a result in a dispute with its trades unions and is clearly on the verge of bankruptcy. The Government seems caught like ‘a rabbit in the headlights”. The unions have also criticised equipment choices and revealed low maintenance levels affecting key services. Russell Southwood lifts the lid. In early 2005, Sotelco’s Administrateur-General Blanchard Oba announced that despite the considerable financial and operational difficulties the company was experiencing, it was “on track” to overcome them. Oba clearly needed to be an optimist because when he made his announcement he revealed that the monthly salary bill was FCFA670 million against monthly revenues of just FCFA150 billion. Last week the company announced that it had suspended the payment of salaries to avoid complete financial meltdown. After this move, the company’s two main unions (of which there are four) Sylipostel et Sytratel called on the Government to find a lasting solution to the crisis and to intervene to protect the interests of its members. The unions also complained that since there had been no audited financial accounts since 2004, there was only a hazy picture of what was happening financially. That fateful announcement in 2005 by Blanchard Oba perhaps illustrate the scale of the problem. Remember, his monthly salary versus revenue numbers were FCFA670 million and FCFA150 million. The unions are claiming that the current position is a monthly salary bill of FCFA300 million against revenues of FCFA130 million. No staffing figures are currently available but it seems unlikely that the salary bill has been more than halved in two years. However, the fall in income, although relatively modest, clearly compounds the fundamental problem that that the company is employing too many people and without a plan will go bankrupt. Oba was bought in to address these issues but he has clearly been unable to get to grips with the problem. Meanwhile earlier in October, Jean Bernard Maloukat, the Sylipostel union rep, was complaining to the press that the company was buying the wrong equipment. Technicians believed that Siemens was preferable as they had already bought from the company. However, the company went ahead with purchases from Huawei. The most recent purchase was for a switch in Pointe Noire, to replace the rather old Siemens switch. The union technicians made the obvious point that the technicians knew the Siemens equipment. However, the clincher for company was probably that Huawei was will to underwrite equipment purchases with a FCFA2 billion loan. Maloukat also said that both the switches in Pointe Noir and the capital Brazzaville were showing what he called “weaknesses” because of lack of maintenance and that if this continued, the country ran the risk of being cut off from any international link when they ceased to function. In any other circumstances, you might take these kind of claims with a pinch of salt but in this context they have something of the ring of truth about them. The solution? The headline income and salary numbers make it clear that the company needs to reduce its staffing to fit its revenues and laying off a considerable number of staff is the stark reality that faces the Government. Telephone companies are not social enterprises or job creation schemes. Once the pain of sorting out these and other cuts has been carried through, the Government should privatise the company as quickly as possible so that a private investor will come in and run it profitably. Special offer to readers of Balancing Act’s New Update: Terrapinn would like to offer you, as a valued Balancing Act subscriber, a discount of R3199 on the full conference price to attend the African Media and Broadcasting Congress 2007. Running from the 29th of October to the 2nd of November 2007 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg South Africa, the event promises to be the African forum where you will get the opportunity to discuss the latest and greatest happenings in the industry. Relevant and exciting topics include: Competing and contrasting views of the future of digital media The future of traditional broadcasting Regulation, piracy and digital rights management Social media and user-generated content Mobile media Convergence: The broadband battleground Digital advertising – Rescuing revenue or threatening content? Contact Eveshnee Pillay on evashnee.pillay@terrapinn.co.za to make a booking.
Celtel Acquires Ghanaian Operator, Westel, for $120mThe Ministry of Communications has announced the conclusion by the Government of Ghana (GoG) of a sale and purchase agreement with Celtel International, a subsidiary of Kuwaiti company Zain (formerly named MTC) in respect of 75% of the shares of Western Telesystems (Ghana) Limited, (Westel). The GoG through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation holds the remaining 25%. Following extensive negotiations, a price offer of US$120 million has been agreed upon for 75% shareholding reducing to 70% within three years when Celtel will release 5% of its shares in addition to those to be released by GoG to be floated on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to benefit the Ghanaian public. The offer price of US$120 million includes an additional consideration of US$15 million outright payment to cover the penalty fee of US$25 million due to the National Communications Authority (NCA), an amount which will be paid over the eleven-year period of the licence's lifespan. Telkom Kenya to Lose Pricing Power as Wireless Sweetheart Deal Ends The rock bottom calling tariffs that consumers have been enjoying on Telkom Kenya's Wireless service since July last year may soon come to an end, it has emerged. This is because the legal technicality that allowed the national operator to subsidise the tariffs and upset its rivals is about to be removed, leaving it with little option other than upward adjustment of calling costs. Though initially a fixed line telecoms services provider, Telkom Kenya made a quiet entry into mobile telephony in July last year with the launch of a CDMA backed wireless service in Nairobi. From Nairobi, this service has over the past 12 months spread to nearly all corners of the country riding on a superior CDMA network built by China's Huwaei Company with a Sh20 billion government-backed Chinese loan. By the time mobile service providers Safaricom and Celtel realised that Telkom was actually making a foray into their market, the Wireless service had signed up more than 100,000 subscribers onto its network, threatening to force a mass migration with the offer of rock bottom tariffs. While Safaricom and Celtel subscribers pay Sh12 in average off-peak rates for calls within their tariffs, Telkom Wireless has been charging its subscribers Sh5.50 for all calls within its network. The two mobile phone companies have argued that Telkom is only able to offer the service because it was spared the burden of paying billions of shillings in licence fees they were charged before being allowed to enter the local market. Safaricom paid Sh3.9 billion for its licence while Celtel's predecessor KenCell paid Sh3.8 billion in licence fees in 2001. Besides, Safaricom and Celtel point to the fact that Telkom has been illegally spared the burden of charging duty on its airtime allowing it to raid their market with cheap tariffs. But now it has emerged that a Kenya Gazette notice that the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) Director General John Waweru published two weeks ago could be the beginning of the end of Telkom's offer of cheap calls on its Wireless network. Waweru says the secret lies in legislation that restricts the levying of value added and excise tax on call tariffs to holders of mobile phone licences. Since its launch, Telkom has been offering the wireless service using a licence that does not qualify to be charged tax and used the head room to lure consumers with low tariffs. Now Waweru says that with a mobile phone licence, Telkom will qualify to be charged tax - a move that would force it to revisit its tariff structure. "The moment Telkom Kenya gets the licence it will have to pay tax since this is a legal requirement," said Mr Waweru. Should this happen, Telkom Kenya will have to increase its tariffs up by 26 per cent -after factoring in the 16 per cent as Value Added Tax (VAT) and 10 per cent as excise duty chargeable on mobile phone air tariffs. Such a revision should provide relief to Safaricom and Celtel who have demanded that the CCK levels the playing ground by making Telkom pay for its licence and pay tax on its tariffs. Waweru says Telkom Kenya has been offering the Wireless service using the Insta Phone licence that allows it to offer wireless telephone services within a restricted area. This Waweru says is a service that the company has been offering for a long time using bigger and cumbersome gadgets that users could not carry around. Telkom may have its mobile telephone licence as soon as the beginning of December, when the 60 days window given for rivals to lodge complaints against the award ends, signals that the days of Telkom Wireless low call tariffs are numbered. (Source: Business Daily) Lagos grants mast co-location licence to Helios TowersThe Lagos State Infrastructure Management and Regulatory Agency, (LASIMRA) has granted permit to Helios Towers for the construction, installation and erection of telecom masts in eight different locations in State . The permit, which has already taken immediate effect, is expected to allow telecommunication operators in the state, to co-locate infrastructure, and share telecom masts instead of each operator building its own masts. Announcing the new arrangement in Lagos at the weekend, Joe Igbokwe, LASIMRA General Manager stated that Helios Towers has been given permit to build eight model co-location masts in Lagos .The new arrangement, he said, will put an end to illegal and indiscriminate installation of telecom masts in Lagos . Igbowe who insisted that it is illegal for telecom operators to build and install any base stations in Lagos without the express permit of the Agency, passionately appealed to both the GSM and CDMA telecom operators to see the new arrangement as an opportunity to share facilities in order to make Lagos cleaner, safer and hazard-free. "With the arrangement in place, both operators and subscribers would be proud to live in Lagos , that would be free from any perceived health hazard from electromagnetic emission from multiple masts, Igbokwe said. Part of the permit letter from LASIMRA to Helios Towers , which was signed by the Agency's Secretary, and made available, reads in part. "I am directed to convey approval to your company to construct/install/erect 8 Nos telecom mast at the under-listed locations in the metropolis. The locations include Yaba, Akoka, Surulere, Isheri, Agege, Unilag Estate in Magodo, Akoka campus ofUnilag, and Obalende" The approval letter further reads that eight site-boards of the Agency shall be released to your company for display at the eight sites to stamp the Agency's authority on the projects. The site-boards shall be returned to the Agency immediately after the completion of the project. The agency, however, insists that excavation sites must be reinstated within five days upon the completion of the project. Igbokwe explained that Helios Towers has also gotten the approval of local government authorities and communities to carry out the project with any obstruction. Both LASIMRA and the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had been at loggerhead over mast regulation in the state. LASIMRA had insisted it will regulate telecom masts in the state, following refusal by ALTON to resist telecoms mast regulation. With the new arrangement, Helios Towers Nigeria Limited is to build, install and manage the telecom masts on behalf of the operators, thus allaying fears of sabotage, if the operators had to jointly manage such infrastructure. (Source: Vanguard) Mobile Phone Companies rush to Lower Their Charges in GuineaMobile phone companies operating in Guinea have, since last week, reduced their tariffs. As of last week, calls will be charged per second by the various operators, particularly 5 Guinean francs per second (US0.12 cents). This reduction results from the cut-throat competition between the three main operators, namely the Guinean Telecommunication Company (Sotelgui), Areeba, now owned by MTN, and the Intercel Company. Before the tariff reduction, the companies had respectively reduced the price of phone chips from an average of 60,000 (about 7500 CFA) to 15,000 (1,800 CFA) and 10,000 FG (1,250 CFA) for Intercel. Areeba now charges 400 FG (US10 cents) for a 1-min call, while Sotelgui and Intercel are charging 300 FG US7 cents) for the same time. "These successive reductions can be explained by the announcement of the oncoming operation of Orange, which should officially start off its activities by November", an official from the management of Sotelgui disclosed under the cover of anonymity. (Source: APA)
IN BRIEF:- Emirates Telecommunications Corp (etisalat) has been given sole control of Benin's mobile licence after the government stripped Telecel of its licence for failing to pay a fee increase, reported Reuters. In September, Telecel had been ordered to pay a one-off operator, but it missed the early October deadline. Telecel is 51% owned by etisalat, with the rest held by a local company, Sarci-Benin. - Telecoms market regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya, has frozen plans to introduce number portability technology into the mobile phone market, leaving subscribers who want to change networks with the alternative of acquiring new numbers. - The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has posponed indefinitely the 40th edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament which should have taken place in Aba, Abia State. Although no reason was given for the postponment of the the monthly Telecom Consumer Parliament a statement however, from the Commission said a new date would be announced latter. - A total of 1,460 cell phones have been recently seized by the agents of the Algerian Customs’ regional directorate of the province of Tiaret (340 km west of Algiers), the body’s officials indicated. The cell phones accompanied by fake bills, were set to be resold in the province of Djelfa, are worth AD30 millions, the same source added. - An agreement on a wage increase between Telecom Namibia, Nampost, Telecom Holdings and the Namibia's Workers Union, (NAPWU) was last week signed in the capital. All Telecom employees will get a five percent wage increase across the board from October 1. - The Uganda Communications Commission has instructed the three mobile telephone operators to suspend their free airtime promotions by Wednesday in a move aimed largely at easing communication services ahead of the November Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, Chogm. A statement published by the telecommunications regulator yesterday said its decision "was based on concerns over the quality of service experienced on the networks during the time of the promotions." TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Ethiopia's state-owned monopoly mobile phone operator, Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) says that it plans to launch MMS within the country by the end of this calendar year. The service would be launched as a trial and details will be announced on the company's website shortly. It has only recently re-instated its SMS service. - Nigeria’s second national operator (SNO), Globacom Limited, has overtaken MTN South Africa in a new ranking of the Top 10 mobile network operators straddling the African and Middle Eastern telecoms market. Significantly, Globacom clinched the fifth place with subscriber numbers that peaked at 13.95 million and market share of 37.3 per cent at the end of the second quarter of 2007 to overtake the MTN South Africa, launched 13 years ago (June 1994) and which recorded the sixth position with 13.4 million subscribers within the period under review. However, Globacom is currently only operating in Nigeria but is shortly to launch in Benin. - Safaricom is set to outsource its customer care function to improve service delivery.. According to its CEO, Michael Joseph, his company was still grappling with satisfying the high subscriber base, saying that the customer care centre was among the areas which had not been addressed effectively. - Vodacom subscribers in Tanzania can now travel across Rwanda by roaming with MTN Rwanda. - Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) has changed its logo from a yellow background to blue.
Mweb Gets Internet Routing Licence in NamibiaThe Namibian Communication Commission (NCC) awarded MWEB a VSAT licence to provide an alternative Internet route in and out of the country, reducing its reliance on the national monopoly provider, Telecom Namibia and it intends to sell bandwidth to other providers. VSAT will be implemented within the next six to 12 weeks, as the company has to locate the satellite dish, make final assessments and order the technology. Training for a technical team to manage the technology also has to be completed. Announcing the news, MWEB Namibia's General Manager, Marc Gregan, said reliance on a single bandwidth provider has resulted in disruptions to browsing. "If the main source of bandwidth is disrupted, all Internet use is disrupted. With two conduits in use, MWEB Namibia can effectively switch to the alternative source of bandwidth if one is disrupted," said Gregan. He said the intention is to provide consistent, high-speed bandwidth. "When browsing and e-mail are disrupted, we are very aware that businesses lose operational capacity, and individuals are inconvenienced. Our sole aim for the past year has been to ensure consistency of Internet services. The VSAT licence is the result of our activities and initiatives," he said. The company also intends to make this capacity available to other IPSs and telecom operators. "By splitting bandwidth usage between the various sources, we are confident that line speeds will increase, particularly for users of wireless broadband. And with the reach of VSAT, we also expect to take the Internet to parts of Namibia where it has previously been difficult or impossible to access," Gregan said. Satellite bandwidth is usually more expensive than fibre. Monopoly provider Telecom Namibia has access to SAT3 fibre capacity. Whilst MWeb’s choice seems largely about reliability issues, this choice clearly indicates there can is none of the expected differential between fibre and satellite prices that you would expect in a competitive market. (Source: New Era) Telkom South African plans uncapped local bandwidthTelkom says it is planning to offer uncapped local bandwidth on its ADSL service, but there’s a catch. At the recent ICASA Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC) hearing, Telkom’s legal representative N Maritz, said that the company plans to only cap international bandwidth after users reach their monthly usage allowance. This is however not necessarily good news for consumers expecting unlimited local bandwidth, a stipulation that many people believe is set out in the ICASA ADSL Regulations. Maritz argues that “the cap which Telkom places on the bandwidth usage relates to Internet access and not to the ADSL service per se.” In its submission about capping Telkom separates the ADSL service from the actual Internet bandwidth usage of the service, saying that "the ADSL service which Telkom contracted to provide to the complainant is a telecommunications access service. It may be used to access a network or the Internet…” Maritz said that when a user has downloaded or uploaded 3 GB of data in any one month period, the service will be capped so that the user will only have access to South African based IP addresses. Current TelkomInternet subscribers are not immediately capped when reaching their monthly limit – typically 3 GB - but Maritz said that this will happen in future. “The cap would therefore be placed on international bandwidth usage and not on local bandwidth usage,” Telkom pointed out in its submission. Those looking for unmetered, free local bandwidth, similar to the ADSL service when it was launched in 2002, will be disappointed. Consumers will be charged for any local bandwidth usage after the service has been capped. This basically means that international hard capping will be strictly enforced while local bandwidth charges will be levied on any additional usage after being capped. Many ISPs are already selling local bandwidth accounts, and consumers therefore do not stand to gain much from Telkom’s plans to fall in line with the ADSL regulations. Maritz further pointed out that this new system is dependant on technical developments on the company’s local and international IP Networks. The CCC hearings will continue at the ICASA offices until Friday, October 26. (Source: MyBroadband) NSA Intervenes in Row Over Nigeria’s Internet Exchange PointThe Office of the National Security Adviser has intervened to broker peace in another landmark row over control of Nigeria 's Internet space that has pitted Interstella Communications Limited, a licensee for Internet Exchange Point (IXP) against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms regulator, over the former's bid to be the exclusive carrier of Internet traffic in the country. Interstella is claiming N10 billion in a landmark suit filed against NCC and other government agencies including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Galaxy Backbone Plc over alleged breach of service exclusivity granted the company. Only recently, the nation's Internet community was able to successfully resolve a lengthy dispute over control of the Nigerian Internet domain name, the .ng, leading to the formation of the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA), a non-governmental organisation representing various public and private sector stakeholders that manages the national resource on behalf of the Nigerian Internet community. Chairman, Interstella, Obi Thomson who dropped hint of the brewing crisis in a chat with newsmen in Umuahia during a facility tour of the company's network says a meeting convened by the NSA was held September 6, this year to resolve the matter. Noting that he could not disclose specific details of measures underway by the nation's top security agency to resolve the dispute but only hinted that, "the office of the NSA which is a responsible government agency is addressing the issue right now." According to him, Nigeria today, despite its low Internet penetration has "a porous cyberspace where criminals around the world have found the Nigerian cyberspace a safe haven" because of the non-implementation of a proper IXP to be the clearing house for Internet traffic in the county. With the Interstella model underway, he adds that the company is poised to drive down the $20,000 currently charged by the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) on its leased circuit to $2,000 to service providers while it plans to charge only N2.30 per minute on international calls that will be transported via the Internet backbone rather than on the network of existing telecoms companies. However, with the brewing row, Thomson is fighting the setting up of the Nigeria Internet Exchange Point (NIXP), a government-backed initiative to keep internet local internet traffic within the country, alleging that its formation by NCC breaches service exclusivity provision of licence granted Interstella by the regulator. According to the Interstella chairman, NCC has admitted that the initial licence granting exclusive IXP right to Interstella, "was issued in error" when the regulator was confronted that the setting up of NIXP constituted a breach and significantly altered business plans undertaken based on this model, "which aims to assert the cyber sovereignty of Nigeria." Following Interstellla's disclosure Technology Times made efforts weekend to independently verify the claim that NCC admitted to issuing the licence "in error" but the mobile phone of the regulator's spokesman, Dave Imoko, was not answered. Additionally, Thomson disclosed that the issue hit a crisis point when an earlier meeting was convened by government after the obvious conflict of the NIXP creation was brought to the attention of the authorities. At the peace meeting, it was agreed that a compensation package totalling US$8 million, representing 50 per cent of theUS $16 million the company said it has sunk into the rollout of its network was to be refunded to Interstella while a public-private partnership (PPP) model was to be adopted, Thomson disclosed. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had directed the NCC to set up the NIXP following his attendance of the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis where the issue of IXPs as a panacea for cutting the huge international bandwidth cost spent by African nations on local Internet traffic that could have been kept within their national border through peering of local ISPs. Meanwhile, Thomson alleged that NCC carried out the directive of the ex-President was carried out without recourse to the fact that an "exclusive" licence had previously been issued Interstella, "upon which we made our investment plans." According to him, "what happened in Tunis is not that the former President did not say disregard what was already on ground" adding that, "everyone knows that the verbal wish of any President does not have the force of law." (Source: This Day) IN BRIEF:- Nigeria may have agreed to assist Venezuela Republic in the attempt to launch its satellite. This follows a request made by Venezuela to Nigeria about its on-going Satellite project scheduled to be launched next year in China. - According to General Manager Azzedine Oussedik of the Algerian Space Agency (ASA), the Algerian satellite Alsat-2A will be launched late 2008 while Alsat-2B launch is planned by late 2009. The Alsat-2 programme, "which is progressing well," contains the construction, in partnership with the ASA, of these two Earth watch high resolution satellites. - Nigerian carrier Globacom has announced that its Glo-1 submarine cable linking Nigeria to the United Kingdom is nearing completion. The submarine cable has been laid from the United Kingdom to Senegal and that now the final phase of the installation would begin. The installation will begin in Lagos, Nigeria, and proceed north to meet the cable in Senegal. - The Internet penetration level in the Maghreb is estimated at 2.5% according to an expert from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Internet penetration level is estimated at 5.33% in Algeria, 3.62% in Libya, 14.36% in Morocco, 3.46% in Tunisia and 0.47 % in Mauritania", asserted Dr Najat Rochdi at a communication on ICT development of the Maghreb region, presented in Algiers at the international conference on the training in ICT. - Angola Telecom has announced that it finished repairing its connection to the fibre cable SAT3 which was damaged a couple a week ago by a construction company. - 300 higher education institutions in Tunisia will see their Internet bandwidth increased in the next coming months. The total bandwidth will go up from the current 100 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps.
Rwanda’s Government to Buy into the One Laptop per Child ProjectPresident Paul Kagame has indicated to the One-Laptop-Per-Child project that government will buy laptops from the new sales promotion scheme 'Give 1 and Get 1' (GIGI), RNA has learnt from a senior official behind the plan. Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child - the brain-child of American Prof. Nicholas Negroponte will be offering a 'Give 1 and Get 1' (G1G1) promotion. For US$399, a person in a developed country will be purchasing two XO laptops. One that will be sent to a child in a developing nation and one that will be sent to their child at home. According to John Visser from Nortel Networks - one of the major companies sponsoring the One-Laptop-Per-Child project (OLPC), the Rwandan government has promised that it will buy a second laptop for every laptop that will be brought to Rwanda. This means that there will be two laptops coming to Rwanda on every single consignment. "President Paul Kagame has indicated that his government will in fact convert this (G1G1) for Rwanda to a 'Give 2 and Get 1' because for everyone that is purchased for Rwanda, government will buy another to make 2", said Visser. President Kagame apparently made the commitment at a meeting in New York with Prof. Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of the OLPC group. Kagame was there for the UN General Assembly. It is planned that by the end of this year, five million of the laptops will be delivered to developing countries, in one of the most ambitious educational exercises ever undertaken. Visser said the promotion is "open-ended" with no specific dateline. "In fact as staff of Nortel Networks - we have already expressed interest in this project and are just waiting for the specifics so we can buy lots of them to help hundreds of children out there", said Visser. The XO's software that the green-white laptop uses has been designed to work specifically in an educational context. It has built-in wireless networking and video conferencing so that groups of children can work together. The project is also working to ensure that children using the laptop around the world can be in contact. Search engine giant Google will also help the children publish their work on the internet. Observers say the decision to open up the Give 1 Get 1 program in November reflects a public change in strategy for the OLPC project, which comes amidst some serious setbacks. The price of the US$100 laptop has now climbed to US$188, and many potential buyers are unwilling to commit to purchasing in bulk. Because lowering the price of the laptop is dependent on achieving significant scale with the project, OLPC is looking for a way to do two things: generate revenue, and move units. It is hoped that the US$399 price tag will do both, as consumers pay a slight premium for the bundle. (Source: Rwanda News Agency) Licrs Launches Computer Recycling in LiberiaLiberia Computer Rehabilitating Society, LICRS on Friday launched a nation wide computer recycling program with emphasis on free capacity building computer training for under privilege youth and kids. LICRS, an ICT base NGO operating in the country, wants Liberian to promote zero waste on junk computer thereby preventing land fill and environmental pollution. Speaking on a local radio talk, LICRS Executive Director, Ceasar R. Morris called on the government and international community to support this initiative. This initiative, he said will enable war affected youth and kids to become productive citizens thus making Liberia a vibrant society. Callers to the show expressed interest in attending the free computer program. He appealed to philanthropic organizations to support this initiative. (Source: The News) Microsoft Targets Cybercafes in Battle Against Fakes in KenyaSoftware vendor Microsoft East and Southern Africa has launched an ambitious campaign to eliminate counterfeit products from local cyber cafes. Advocates of the campaign want to convince cyber cafe owners and operators that genuine software was more cost-effective than the fakes sold cheaply. Kenya is among the world's top software piracy markets with a rating of 81 per cent according to Business Software Alliance (BSA) research. Microsoft has teamed up with Kenya Copyright Board to promote the use of genuine products in key outlets. A sample of 170 cyber cafés has been identified to help in convincing operators that use of licensed software not only enhances user-experience but also ensures information security. "Use of authentic software enables one to get free downloads and updates from Microsoft," said Abed Hlatshwayo, Microsoft's anti-piracy manager. Besides, a licensed user can upgrade to the latest versions at almost no cost. Hlatshwayo said the cyber cafes could particularly benefit from authentic software such as Steadystate that refreshes a computer after it has been used by a customer. The programme deletes any work that may have saved on the computer and reverts any settings changed by the last user. This software is known to extend the life-span of machines through watertight protection from viruses. Besides, Microsoft said, licensed software offers consumers a language conversion programme that can, for example, translate English to Kiswahili. Copyright Board state counsel, Edward Sigei, said they had embarked on the campaign in most of Nairobi's cyber cafés. "We have served 20 of them with a notice to comply by the end of this month," Sigei said. This latest effort to eliminate counterfeit software from the local market comes one year after Microsoft launched Windows Genuine Advantage to help consumers to validate the authenticity of their software online. The campaign was launched last week in Nairobi. (Source: Business Daily) IN BRIEF:- Computer Professionals (Registration) Council of Nigeria (CPN), the regulatory body of all Information Technology (IT) professionals in the country, has announced the opening of new offices in different zones in the country to make it easier for Nigerians in the six geo-political zones to deal directly with CPN. - The South African government announced the adoption of OpenDocument Format (ODF) as a standard for government communications. - Unilever Kenya has launched its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in education with a Sh620,000 donation towards the Computer for Schools programme. - Hewlett Packard, HP, has announced the launch of its integrated global marketing campaign, "What do you have to say?" in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with the aim of engaging customers in its Print 2.0 revolution. The consumer-focused campaign, fronted by singer/fashion designer, Gwen Stefani, enables users to personalise free exclusive content online. -As part of the 'Expanding What's Possible' world tour, Dr. Craig Barrett, Intel Chairman and CEO is set to visit Nigeria and Rwanda later this month. - Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, will be in South Africa next month to promote the growth of the online encyclopedia in the country's various local languages through the launch of two Wikipedia Academies.
Millicom Q3 Profits Jump 77%Millicom International Cellular has reported a 77% jump in Q3 revenues to US$686 million, from US$388 million a year ago - along with a 60% rise in EBITDA to $296 million. Net profit for Q3 rose to US$138 million, compared to US$52 million a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer's Review Marc Beuls, Chief Executive Officer, comments: "Millicom continues to deliver excellent growth with a 77% increase in revenues year on year on the back of an acceleration of capex during the quarter to $347 million. This higher level of investment is reflected in the addition of 2 million customers during the quarter bringing the total to 20 million. Millicom is today increasing its capex forecast for the full year 2007 from $800m to over $1 billion as we continue to invest in future growth. We are expecting a similar level of capex for 2008”. "The most encouraging aspect of these results has been in Africa where we have taken the opportunity to increase the pace of our build-out through a substantial increase in capex. This steadily increasing level of investment is driving the rate of subscriber acquisition in Africa which was up 44% year on year, up an impressive 17% quarter on quarter and delivering year on year revenue growth for the quarter of 52%. In order to exploit the growth opportunity in our African markets we have accepted a somewhat lower margin of 28% in the third quarter, but we still believe that margins will move back to historical levels whilst we continue to invest as we build critical scale. In our two newest African markets, Chad and DRC, revenues were up by 117% and 150% respectively and, encouragingly, in our two largest African markets, Ghana and Tanzania, year on year revenue growth in Q3 of 43% and 51% respectively, showed the positive impact of the price cuts in Q2. Also in Senegal, growth in revenues of 38% demonstrated that the one-off issues from Q2 are behind us. We continue to be excited by the prospects in Africa but reiterate our view that the lack of infrastructure will continue to be a challenge and this will mean higher levels of operating expenditure than in our other markets for the time being”. “Overall, we see opportunities in all our markets to continue investing aggressively in order to increase our market share and to exploit the general growth in the market as penetration rates continue to rise across our markets. In Africa and Asia penetration is only just starting to move into this exciting high growth phase”. (Source: Cellular News) Etisalat increases Zantel stake to 51%Etisalat has acquired an additional 17% of Tanzania’s Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel) to raise its stake in the firm to 51%, the company said in a statement. No financial details were disclosed. Second national operator (SNO) Zantel began offering services solely on the island of Zanzibar in September 1999. Its fixed and mobile networks cover more than 90% of the main island of Unguja and about 70% of Pemba. In February 2005, Zantel was awarded a fixed and mobile concession allowing it expand to mainland Tanzania, launching commercial wireless operations there in July. It has since received new licences under the Converged Licensing Framework. Zantel also operates an international gateway and has established a reputation as an international calls service hub. (Source: Telegeography) Final talks before Safaricom’s sale in KenyaIn the final stages of the talks between the Treasury and Safaricom over the sale of the mobile phone company, the negotiations are closing in a classic trade off. The Britain headquartered global telecom will retain the right to appoint the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer and in exchange drop its demand to acquire an additional nine per cent stake that would have pushed its shareholding to 49 per cent, giving the firm close to unchallenged control. While the Cabinet had earlier rejected Vodafone's proposal to acquire more shares in exchange for dropping its first right of refusal, or pre-emption rights, were the government to sell Safaricom, the concession by the Treasury hits a political nerve. Two years ago, the Treasury and Vodafone were at loggerheads over the contract renewal for Michael Joseph, Safaricom's highly successful CEO. Under the shareholders' agreement, both the government and Vodafone were to pick the CEO candidates on a five-year rolling rota. Vodafone got its first pick, Joseph in 2000, but when it came to the government's turn, the British firm insisted on a second chance. After weeks of tense negotiations over CEO succession, the Treasury caved in and agreed to renew the contract for two years. Now, with Joseph's contract coming to an end in the first quarter of 2008 and either the current or a new government in place, picking the CEO of Kenya's most valuable and successful company would appear as a big political concession that any regime would like to lose. But Joseph has been an asset to the firm, which has not put in place a well thought out and well publicized succession plan. The risk of losing a successful manager at a time when the company is preparing to go public would have made investors skittish. Safaricom owes a syndicate of banks Sh12 billion and with the fast growth that the company is experiencing, it still needs the ability to tap both the equity and debt market for cash. Though the government can technically appoint both the CEO and CFO, in the new shareholder pact, Vodafone will have the right to choose who occupies the position of managing director and financial director, the critical positions in the top hierarchy of the most profitable firm across East and Central Africa. In the trade off, however, Vodafone will drop its quest to be given preferential treatment to grow its holding to 49 per cent over five years. Though the British firm had earlier dropped this condition, sources at the ministry of information and communication say its had not put its signature to this agreement. The quest to have Vodafone sign up to the deal comes high on the agenda of the Government team that is London to finalise the pact. The Business Daily has established that Finance Minister Amos Kimunya, his communication counterpart Mutahi Kagwe and the Investment Secretary Esther Koimett are in London to conclude the deal. Joseph confirmed that a new shareholders pact was in place, but refused to give details. "I am sorry I cannot tell you." Earlier, Vodafone, as a condition for the IPO to take off, had demanded that the government's nine per cent holding be transferred to a special purpose vehicle with the British firm being given pre-emptive rights to acquire the shares after the five year period. It was to buy the shares at the market price at which it will be trading at the NSE. Vodafone has 40 per cent holding in the mobile firm and Government, through the state owned Telkom Kenya has a 60 per cent stake. However, Treasury is seeking to sell 25 per cent of its 60 per cent stake in Safaricom to the public through the NSE in a transaction expected to net at least Sh34 billion and billed as the largest sale ever in the Kenyan capital market. The new pact brings to an end spats between the two shareholders following the decision by Treasury to list Safaricom. Besides reaching a deal on management positions, the twin shareholders are also said to have agreed on future shareholding structure of the mobile telephony firm and the transfer of the entire 60 per cent stake held by Telkom Kenya to Treasury. But the Cabinet refused to buy the proposals, arguing that the British conglomerate would still retain a majority holding in the mobile firm after the IPO. However, one issue that remains unresolved is the transfer of the entire stake held by Telkom Kenya in Safaricom to Treasury. But a source close to the negotiations said Treasury had promised to transfer the entire stake held by TelKom Kenya in Safaricom ahead of the sale of a 25 per cent stake in the mobile firm to the public through the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). The transfer of the shares, which had been slated for August, has been delayed as Telkom Kenya and Treasury are yet to conclude talks on how a Sh68.8 billion debt will be settled. Under the deal, the government had committed to support the funding and swapping of various debts held by Telkom Kenya in return for it "acquiring" the 60 per cent stake. Vodafone is said to have been wary of a position where another big shareholder might end up in Safaricom's shareholders roll by moving into Telkom Kenya as a strategic investor. Already, a number of investor including British Telkom, France Telkom and South Africa Telkom have lined up to purchase a 51 per cent stake Telkom Kenya in deal worth Sh5.6 billion. The stake is set to be transferred to the winning bidder on November 26th. (Source: Business Daily) Nigeria’s ICT company Chams Excites Shareholders With a Promise to Go PublicNigerian IT solutions firm, Chams Nigeria Limited, Wednesday in Lagos held its 24th Annual General Meeting with a decision to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The IT solutions providers, which is the foremost identification and payment solutions provider, would however precede the public listing with a private placement to raise N5 billion. At an event that took place at Muson Centre in Lagos, shareholders heard the results for the 2006 financial year and the six months of 2007 presented by the Chairman of Chams, Prof. Adebayo Akinde. He said the firm's turnover for the year ended December, 2006 was N1.095 billion, with a profit of N399m as against N136 million and profit after tax of N21.7m recorded in 2005. He said Chams performance was however very impressive in the current year, where it had recorded a turnover of N3.079 and a profit after tax of N965.9 between January and June 2007. Based on the company's performance, the Chams Board of Directors proposed a dividend of 70 kobo per share. In addition, a bonus share issue of four new shares for every share held will be given to all existing shareholders on the company's register as at close of work on October 24th 2007. "Such shares shall rank pari pasu in all respects with the existing share of the company." This largesse was received with great applause and commendation by members of the company. Akinde and the Chief Executive Officer of Chams Nigeria Limited, Demola Aladekomo, sought and obtained approval of the members to embark on a private placement shortly. He said shareholders fund increased to N897.6m after the last private placement that it carried out in 2006. The funds, to be raised, he said would be used to fund nationwide deployment of ChamsAccess Service terminals. ChamsAccess are multi application terminals used for telephony, recharge voucher vending, internet access, bill payment, advert, games etc. The terminals have been accepted as a means of payment and transactions, after the proof of concept done in selected locations in Lagos, Abuja, Igbinedion University in Edo State and OAU in Osun State. In addition, Aladekomo said, the firm would also set up an electronic payment/transaction switch in the country. Aladekomo added that part of the success recorded by the company in the past year, include the successful printing of 70m INEC voters ID card within a period of 12 weeks. (Source: Vanguard) IN BRIEF:- Nokia, the Finnish mobile giant has reported a hefty 85 per cent increase in net profit for the third quarter of 2007, with income leaping from 845m Euro a year ago to 1.56bn Euro. Net sales for the quarter jumped 28 per cent year on year to 12.9bn Euro. Despite these positive results, CEO Kallasvuo warned of a decrease in average selling prices due to the impact of selling low end handset emerging markets. - According to local paper the Monitor, the newly established Financial Markets Development Committee (FMDC) of Uganda will investigate the introduction of SMS-based payment in order to develop low-cost, non-cash payment network in rural areas is critical and will increase rural spending and close the rural-urban wealth gap. - Reuters reports that French media and communications group Vivendi has acquired an additional 2% of Morocco’s incumbent telco, Maroc Telecom, bringing its total stake to 53%. Vivendi said the acquisition was a share exchange with the Moroccan Caisse de Depot et de Gestion Group (CDG), which would acquire a 0.6% holding in Vivendi.
Kenya’s Mobile Firms Set to Transfer Cash AbroadMobile phone operators in Africa have entered into a partnership agreement with Western Union to facilitate electronic transfer of money transfer across the national borders by mid next year. The partnership paves the way for the development of a commercial and technical framework to be used by mobile operators to facilitate high frequency money transfers using mobile phones. Initial roll-out of the service is expected to kick off in the second quarter of 2008. If successful, Kenya's two mobile operators Safaricom and Celtel will be able to expand their reach to Kenyans in the diaspora with the electronic money transfer services. Safaricom in partnership with Vodafone was the first to roll out mobile phone based electronic money transfer services that have proved to be a success especially among the un banked. Safaricom operates M-pesa while Celtel has Sokotele. Both networks are working on modalities of expanding their services beyond the national borders. Since its launch early this year, M-pesa has attracted 700,000 users and handled Sh3 billion worth of transactions. The new system combines key elements of both Western Union's electronic money transfer system and the GSMA's money transfer programme. Electronic services have transformed the money transfer services making it simple, quick and affordable for more users sending small amounts of money. (Source: Business Daily) Movicel Engaged in Angola's Cultural ProgressThe CEO of the mobile phone company "Movicel", Michael Roubick Tuesday here said that his firm will continue participating in the development of the Angolan culture, especially in music. Michael Roubick made this consideration at the press conference of presenting the preparations of the "1st Movicel Live" International Music Festival, to happen next Saturday at Cidadela Sports Stadium. Michael Roubick stressed that this event, expected to continue, intends to show that Movicel is a modern company that is accompanying the society's growth with innovative proposals. He added that in the future Movicel will strengthen its development policies of social sectors, such as of health and education. In her turn, Movicel's marketing director, Cláudia Gazar guaranteed that everything is ready for the 1st Movicel Live Fest, which will be attended by Angolan musicians like Dji Tafinha, Yuri da Cunha, Os Lambas and Paulo Flores, as well as foreign musicians Alpha Blondy (Cotê d'Ivoire), Nelson Freitas (Cape Verde), Banda Calypso (Brazil) and Fally Ipupa (DR Congo). Tickets for the show are priced at 1,500 and 2,000 Angolan Kwanzas (around 20 to 25 US dollars). (Source: Angola Press Agency) Liberia’s TRC launches new websiteLiberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has launched a new, interactive, and expanded website at: http://www.trcofliberia.org At the new website you can Read information from the Commission, follow TRC activities, and soon watch hearing videos; Confidentially offer your formal statement to the Commission or request an in-person statement taking; Engage in public discussion fora, contribute photos and memorial materials, and actively participate in Liberia's truth and reconciliation process. This expanded website is the outcome of an international collaboration aimed to advance the truth and reconciliation process through the use of new media technologies. Technical contributions have been provided by the Georgia Institute of Technology with support from the MacArthur Foundation; for both their support we are eternally grateful.
PEOPLECeltel Nigeria has announced the appointment John Earley as its new Chief Technical Officer. Previously, John Earley worked with Wataniya Telecom in the Maldives and Millicom (now Tigo) in the Democratic Republic of Congo both as CTO and prior to that as Regional General Manager West Africa for Alan Dick. Kaushik Patel, Telkom South Africa chief financial officer has resigned. Rumours have circulated that his resignation might be in relation with an investigation into possible insider trading being conducted by the Financial Services Board (FSB). Peter Zimmer has been appointed as head of commercial division at Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL). JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESTelecom Contract/commercial Manager - Nigeria The company is looking for a contract/ commercial manager which skills for both main and sub contract negotiation and a solid knowledge of change management and risk reduction. The CM will work closely with the client project team on issues related to the Contract and its interpretation, and will, when required, assist project members in meetings with the Client on contractual issues. The CM will propose and assist the client project team in establishing systems and processes to monitor Client activities that may have impact on the progress and implementation of the project and which may give cause for possible claims from Client for time delays, extra costs, variation orders, and similar. The CM will implement and monitor the cost management to decrease risks and losses as well as to assure and improve the project profitability. The CM will similarly propose and assist the client's project team in setting up systems and processes to monitor client’s own activities to avoid claims against them. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com EVENTS- USING ICT FOR EFFECTIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT - AFRICA FORUM 2007 13th - 15th November 2007, Dar es Salaam International Conference Centre, Tanzania The use of ICTs in disaster management is one of the CTO's core areas of expertise. Following successful events in Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, we are delighted to deliver our fourth regional ICTs for Effective Disaster Management Forum in Tanzania. There is no admission fee and we hope that all disaster management stakeholders will be able to attend and contribute to this event's success. With the Ministry of Communications and the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority as hosts, as well as the potential of a half-day workshop conducted by the ITU, this event has already attracted a huge amount of interest. For further information contact Mr. Salim Binbrek at the CTO on Tel: +44 208 834 1592 or Email: s.binbrek@cto.int. For more information please see the CTO website http://www.cto.int - 5th OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE 2007: HOW SOCIETIES BENEFIT FROM OPEN ACCESS TO ICT 14th - 16th November 2007, Bagamoyo Tanzania Resource persons and delegates from all around the world will meet in Bagamoyo to discuss best practice in ICT following the trend and advancement in the use of ICT in general such as mobile phones, multipurpose tele-centres and the like. The conference will address ICT in its entirety with demonstrations and presentations. Focus areas include: ICT infrastructures, Strategic ICT Leadership, ICT in Education, Universal Access, Applications, Policy and Social Implications; ICT with business and M-Applications. For further information contact Mr. Amos Nungu on Tel: +255 787 716778 or Email: amnungu@kth.se. For more information please see the conference website http://www.wideopenaccess.net/ - 3RD African Outsourcing & Contact Centre Conference 27th – 28th November 2007, Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya This conference and exhibition provides a business networking platform for the entire regions outsourcing industry. This is a unique opportunity for companies looking for outsourced services to meet operators in this emerging outsource destination as well as for local operators to learn about international trends, best practices and business opportunities. For further information visit www.aitecafrica.com CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?Orascom and Alcatel-Lucent - Egypt Alcatel-Lucent has signed a turnkey contract with Orascom Telecom to lay the Mediterranean Sea segment of a new 3,850 km submarine cable network, named Middle East North Africa (MENA). MENA will link Egypt, Italy and Saudi Arabia, delivering an ultimate capacity of 5.76 Tbit/s that will greatly increase international and regional connectivity. The project is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2009.
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