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ISSUE NO 55 NEWS ROUND-UP & SNIPPETS

COTE D’IVOIRE GOVERNMENTS SEEKS TO PROHIBIT VOIP IN CYBERCAFES

The Cote D’Ivoire Agence des Telecommunications de Cote D’Ivoire is seeking to put an end to the use of VOIP. It has started by focusing its efforts on the use of VOIP in cybercafes. Acti says it will use the seven-year-old monopoly over international connections its gives to Ci-Telecom to deny service to those who break its monopoly in this way. Rather than look at creating competition for Ci-Telecom, Acti is maintaining a regulatory framework that means international calls cost Cote D’Ivoirians 58 CFA francs for 3 minutes. More via:
http://www.presseci.com/soirinfo/articles/2968-1957.html
http://www.presseci.com/linter/articles/3028-847.html

(source: Mike Jensen)

LONDON’S FT CRITICISES NIGERIAN TELECOMS SALE

The FT’s William Wallis writes:"The task of privatising Nitel is already proving immensely complicated. This, officials at the BPE fear, is a reflection of a wider conflict between market-minded reformers and a majority in favour of preserving a status quo in which state monopolies, partial controls and subsidies provide opportunities for corruption.The state has spent an estimated $8bn on communications over the years, yet Nigeria has only 450,000 active phone lines.

At least three state institutions and the World Bank are involved in trying to shift ownership to the private sector and, with it, responsibility for weeding out rogue tappers.Often these institutions appear to be working at cross-purposes. Just as the BPE invited expressions of foreign interest in Nitel, so the Nigerian Communications Commission, the sector regulator, announced it was offering a parallel opportunity to create a competing national carrier.

This, and moves - with alleged support from President Olusegun Obasanjo - by the Communications Ministry and Nitel management to advance the sale of 49 per cent of the nascent GSM mobile telephone business of Nitel’s subsidiary M-tel, could discourage investors during Tuesday’s downturn in global telecoms markets.Nigeria’s Supreme Court adjourned a hearing on Monday in a potentially explosive case in which the federal government is challenging moves by regional authorities to control revenues from the country’s mainstay oil exports, Reuters reports from Abuja.Lawyers for the state governments had challenged the jurisdiction of the court in the matter that some politicians say could lead to civil war".

(source: London’s Financial Times, 9 April 2000 via DigAfrica)

NO ENTHUSIASM IN SA FOR 3^RD GENERATION LICENCES

Cellular network operators MTN and Vodacom have no intention of investing heavily in third-generation licences, and say the technology is so unproven it will take many years to reach SA.

(source: http://www.digitalplanet.co.za/dp/news/red.asp?ID=11325 )

TANZANIA AHEAD IN PRIVATISATION STAKES

According to Boot, Tanzania a step ahead of South Africa in privatisation of telecoms infrastructure Tanzania is one step ahead of SA in privatisation of its telecoms infrastructure. This has resulted in a rush to upgrade data networks in a bid to stay competitive and offer continuous improvements in service to the end users. These end users are anyone from the private individuals who use the country’s extensive network of public-access internet facilities, to businesses of all sizes and the public sector.

(source: http://www.boot.co.za/news/apr01/networking9.asp )

MALAWI RESERVE BANK GIVES TENDERS TO NET1

The Reserve Bank of Malawi has awarded two national tenders to Net1 Investment Holdings, a subsidiary of Net1 Applied Technology Holdings.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2001/0104100842.asp)

EGYPT PLANS TO LIFT VOIP BAN FOR STATE TELCO

The Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information is planning to lift a ban on making Internet-based telephone calls. The ministry will allow Telecom Egypt, the national monopoly to provide voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services. Egypt Telecom is already offering the service on its web site, and users can download the software and instruction manual from the corporate site. Other companies will continue to be banned from offering the service, despite the difficulty in enforcing the ban.

The Egyptian government has been losing revenue to private companies that offer the service, which can be installed on home computers."I think that’s the best way to do it: if you can’t beat them, join them," said Ahmad Nassif, Egypt’s minister of communication and information technology.State-owned telecommunication companies have been fighting a losing battle to stop the increasing use of home computers to make long distance calls. Egypt Telecom relies heavily on the revenue that long distance phone calls bring into the company, close to $2.5 billion a year.

(source: Netimes via DigAfrica)

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