E-RATE FOR AFRICAN SCHOOLS ­ HOW WOULD IT WORK AND WHO PAYS?

NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission has set ambitious targets for wiring up the continent’s primary and secondary schools. Even if these targets are only partly met, the education sector will become a major market for hardware and software suppliers. But getting connections and kit in place is really only half the story. Keeping school internet connections Œlive’ is a costly business. The creation of a special reduced rate for the education sector called e-rate is being put forward as one way of addressing this issue. SchoolNet Africa commissioned Daniel Espitia of Lesoba Consultant to look at how it might be done in Africa. Russell Southwood summarises the different approaches and looks at the tricky question of who pays for it.

Progress in connecting Africa’s schools has been slow. In places where they lack electricity and even basic text books it has been hard to make it a priority. In some countries ­ like Angola ­ civil war has destroyed electricity and telephone systems. There have been wider difficulties. The Education for All Assessment discovered that 60% of eligible children in Africa were not starting grade one at the official age.

Many countries still have local import tariffs that make computers prohibitively expensive. Even where an internet connection was put in place, the high cost of paying for it meant it was soon shut down: for example, Fransisco Manyanga High School in Maputo were paying US$270 a month before they shut down their connection.

Private-public partnership has in places helped to address this problem. Zambian ISP Zamnet provided cheaper access rates to SchoolNet members and Angola’s Ebonet agreed to link four schools to the internet using a special rate which was 30% less than the normal rate. However these kinds of agreements tend to be time-limited and only cover a limited number of schools.

In view of these difficulties, Daniel Espitia of Lesoba Consult concluded: "The strategic solution for SchoolNet Africa must address connectivity at its root, to solve the basic problem that leads to lack of connectivity, that is affordability of bandwidthŠSchoolNet’s solution (must be) the use of a combination of policy and regulatory tools and negotiation with stakeholders that will achieve affordability of connectivity."

Started in the USA, e-rate is at its simplest a nationally agreed discounted rate for internet access for schools: often this rate is enshrined in the relevant telecoms legislation at a national level and therefore the responsibility of the regulator. Brief descriptions of several approaches in Africa and elsewhere give a flavour of what it seeks to achieve:

USA: The US scheme is administered by a not-for-profit organisation that was established by the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Fund. The scheme has six different levels of discount in order to focus the maximum subsidy in poor and rural areas. The method used to measure poverty is the percentage of students eligible for the national school lunch programme that provides a free lunch to poor students. In its first two years, the e-rate programme connected one million classrooms. Whilst the multiple discount levels are admirable, they would probably work less well in Africa where need of this kind is more widely distributed.

Senegal: The Ministry of Education and Sonatel signed an agreement that establishes preferential terms for access to the internet to make it more affordable to learning institutions. Discounts vary depending on the type of connection but can go as high as 75%. Installation costs are also discounted. Sonatel is directly responsible for invoicing the schools. Sonatel and the Ministry of Education have appointed a co-ordinator for the programme.

South Africa: An amendment to the Telecom Act includes e-rate which it wants to introduce "to stimulate and facilitate Internet usage by public schools. The e-rate will allow public schools a 50% discount on calls to access the internet as well as internet access charges." Although the provision has been made in the Act, implementation of a national scheme has been slow although things are now beginning to move (See Jacob Zuma’s announcement in People below).

Two issues are probably vital for implementing an e-rate scheme in Africa: providing quality bandwidth and a fixed and predictable monthly cost for schools’ users. Without quality bandwidth, the experience of using the internet is likely to put off rather than encourage potential users. Also if as in the UK the scheme offers a fixed monthly ("always-on") cost for an agreed level of bandwidth school budgeting will be much easier.

The study makes the link between connectivity and content:"With connectivity the door to content opens; it begins with a passive access to content created by others, usually in English, to a more active role in developing local content in local languages, with applications that are more meaningful at the level of the community."

So who pays for this discounted access? There are three "usual suspects": international donors, governments and the private sector. International donors may "pump-prime" the process but are unlikely to have the scale of funds required to stay behind the process in the long-term. The line between donor and government spending is blurred in those countries where international donors provide a substantial part of funding for government programmes: for example Mozambique and Zambia.

Government’s money for these kinds of schemes will be raised by taxing the sector or "social agreements": for example, where a mobile company gets a profitable licence and in exchange forgoes a certain level of income to underwrite one of the Government’s social objectives. Increasingly these "one-off" deals are being consolidated through contributions to Universal Service or Access Funds. The private sector will only part with its money if it can be convinced that the scheme is well run, the schools can pay and it genuinely begins to expand the market. Ultimately Government will have to pay the majority of costs in one form or another and it will be important to make e-rate part of broader government commitments to providing quality universal education.

Both SchoolNet Africa and the e-Africa Commission will need to address how this relatively expensive set of facilities can be widely used at a community level, particularly in those areas that may not have any other form of connectivity. It will be important to create frameworks that allow "out-of-school-hours" uses for the facilities. Some teachers will need to become "social entrepreneurs" to ensure that there is good take-up outside school students for training and familiarisation work.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author except where otherwise stated. My thanks to Daniel Espitia and School Net Africa for access to the study.

MAURITANIA TO IMPROVE GSM COVERAGE WITH US$1.8 MILLION CONTRACT

interWAVE Communications has won a US$1.8 million GSM contract with Mauritel Mobiles in the northern African country of Mauritania. interWAVE is to supply a turnkey GSM solution to connect four remote GSM network extensions to the capital city, Nouakchott, via satellite. The four outlying municipalities include the city of Zouerate, a major economic center anchored by the mining industry. interWAVE is expected to replace a major wireless supplier in this region.

interWAVE’s turnkey solution for Mauritel Mobiles includes four remote GSM network extensions including radio, switching, satellite compression and microwave equipment. Each remote system is designed to interface with an Alcatel centralized Intelligent Network (IN) prepaid system based in Nouakchott. interWAVE’s GSM solution, integrated with advanced satellite compression capabilities, is anticipated to provide more than 50 percent satellite bandwidth savings compared to competing GSM solutions.

(source: Cellular News)

SA’S MOBILE OPERATORS DO FREE SIM CARDS DEAL WITH GOVT ON 1800 MHZ ACCESS

The Department of Communications has done a deal whereby disadvantaged South Africans will receive four million SIM cards over five years in exchange for the cellular industry gaining access to the 1800 MHZ frequency , writes Paul Vecciatto, ItWeb’s Cape Town Correspondent.

This came to light during the Department’s budget vote in Parliament last week. Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said in the debate following her budget speech that the Telecommunications Act provided for the 1800MHz spectrum, as well as the 2.4GHz-3G spectrum, to be issued to existing cellphone operators, the second national operator and "underserviced area operators".

The deal effectively ensures that the SA cellphone industry will grow at a guaranteed rate of 30% over the next five years from the current 12 million subscribers. SA already has one of the world’s highest cellphone user densities.

As part of the deal, the industry will provide 250,000 free phones and numbers to public emergency services over five years, as well as providing Internet links to computers at schools, and public pay phones in accessible places in rural areas and multipurpose community centres.

"A key element in this process is the determination of access fees and universal service obligations for the allocation of the frequency spectrum," said Matsepe-Casaburri. She said the distribution of the SIM cards will help economically disadvantaged people to gain access to the country’s economic life-line and gain access to emergency services.

Criteria for those who qualify for a free SIM card will be based on the previous Telkom programme of installing fixed-lines for the economically disadvantaged.

Regarding the second national fixed-line operator, Matsepe-Casaburri told MPs in the Assembly that she expected the licence to be issued in the third quarter of this year, and "the new player ought to be in operation soon thereafter".

VODAFONE EGYPT’S SUBSCRIBER BASE UP 31% TO 2.26 MILLION

Vodafone Egypt continued to grow strongly throughout the financial year, which ended March 31, 2003, with customer numbers increasing by over 31 percent to 2.263 million. This translated into 17 percent growth in turnover measured in local currency.

A focus on cost effectiveness in the operation lead to significant improvements in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin, which increased from 40 percent to 49 percent.

A Vodafone statement acknowledged that results for the Middle East and Africa region "have been adversely affected by the weakening of the Egyptian Pound and Kenyan Shilling over the period, although this was partially offset by a strengthening of the South African Rand."

In April 2003, French telecommunications giant Vivendi Universal has decided to sell its seven percent stake in Vodafone Egypt to British mobile operator Vodafone, for $48 million, pending the appropriate authorizations.

Vodafone Egypt (formerly branded Click GSM) initially launched mobile services in 1998 as Misrfone Telecommunications. The company is owned by an international consortium, with a team of over 1,900 employees and paid-in capital of 1.2 billion Egyptian Pounds.

(menareport.com)

GHANA TELECOM’S ONE-TOUCH MOBILE PROMISES 100,000 CAPACITY INCREASE

Ghana Telecom is set to increase its One-Touch Mobile lines by about 100,000 by the close of the year, according to Nana Kwakye Tanor, Ashanti Regional Director of the Company. He said funds for the expansion of the network were ready, adding, "we will certainly be back on the market, come the next three weeks".

Speaking to the media in Kumasi, he gave the assurance that the existing congestion and pressure that was making it difficult for customers to access the phone lines would soon be addressed as the Direct Exchange Lines were being expanded.

Buokrom and Tanoso for example would have their lines increased from the present 500 to 5,000 lines each.Nana Tanor said the switches had been installed and that very soon they would become operations, adding that, the Company was eager to get over the present crisis situation as quickly as possible.

The Regional Director noted that apart from the damage to its public image, the crisis was having a telling effect on the finances of the Company and cited the sales of its pre-paid cards which got off well but had now slumped due to difficulty in accessing the lines. He said the Company envisaged the use of six digits in Kumasi as part of plans to improve the quality of its service delivery to customers in the area.

(source: gna)

ETHIOPIA’S ETC GIVES COOL RESPONSE TO AXEL TELECOM’S INVESTMENT OFFER

A Romanian private telecom entity, Axel Telecom and Security, last week offered investment capital worth US$25 million to the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) to provide high tech telecom equipment for the expansion of various telecom technologies the corporation is introducing.

Axel Telecom was one of the government and privately-owned companies who sent their business delegation to Ethiopia last week. Axel Telecom and Security is one of the main radio communications and electronic security companies in Romania, which designs and implements radio-communications networks, data communication networks, remote monitoring and dispatch systems and alarm and fire detection systems, among other things.

According to Mr. Alexandru, who contacted telecommunication officials upon his business visit here last week, he briefed officials about his company’s schedule to join the telecom system in Ethiopia with a full understanding of the monopoly of the ETC.

"I have briefed telecommunication officials about our plan considering non- competing areas of activities in partnership," he said, adding that there were, nonetheless, no response and/or "any sign of negative or positive response from officials".

Alexandru expressed his unhappiness that the response from the telecommunication officials was not "as satisfactory as expected." Axel Telecom will, however, be waiting to hear from Ethiopian officials though.

"The sign we got puts the procedure we have learnt from the Ethiopian Investment Authority and Privatization Agency in contradiction," Alxandru said, adding that ETC might also have other plans.

Following any response from the ETC, he said, Axel Telecom would come with letters of intention to express the company’s determination for further negotiation in establishing an investment scheme for utilization of private funds for the ETC market.

(source: Addis Tribune)

IN BRIEF

- The number of mobile telephone subscribers in Kenya almost doubled, to hit the one million mark last year. KenCell and Safaricom saw their subscriber roll jump from 630,000 at the beginning of the year to one million.

- Employees of Uganda Telecom that would be retrenched under the restructuring process have said they are not against the plan but want fair terms.

- Mobile operator, Econet Wireless, has opened a new one-stop customer service centre in Bulawayo that was refurbished at a cost of more than $40 million. Bulawayo is Econet’s second largest subscriber base in Zimbabwe.

MAROC TELECOM BACKS THE OPENING OF AN INTERNET GARDEN IN MARRAKECH

Maroc Telecom has agreed has agreed to refurbish Arsat Moulay Abdelssalam Park in exchange for the commercial rights to exploit part of the garden as a multimedia and cyber space exhibition area and an amphitheatre. It has committed 20 million DH to the project. The park is 9 hectares and for many years has been left deserted by Marrakechis. According to Omar El Jazouli, President of the Médina commune:"We had formulated a vision for the park whereby it would become an attractive space and open to new technology developments. Maroc Telecom responded to this vision by committing 20 million DH."

The agreement signed means that Maroc Telecom will refurbish the park in exchange for commercial exploitation rights for the promotion and exhibition of all forms of new technologies. It will offer ICT companies good access to the internet. The ICT zone will be sited towards the Koutoubia minaret which will have an amphitheatre for cultural events. In due course a second area will be developed covering cyber space activity. Marrakechis will continue to have free access to the park.

IN BRIEF

- South Africa’s I-Net Bridge has upgraded its business portal model with an offering that it says takes relevant Internet content to corporates while avoiding unnecessary Internet use by employees.

DIDATA INTRODUCES SPACE-SAVING FACILITIES CABINET

Dimension Data’s Advanced Infrastructure solutions group has introduced a Portable Facilities Cabinet (PFC), a versatile mobile solution that can be pre-packaged with servers, switches and storage devices prior to system installation to address lack of space issues in data centres and computer rooms.

According to Nic Shaw, Solutions Architect Manager at Dimension Data, the PFC is ideal for all technology environments. "From smaller companies to large enterprises, the modular cabinet provides a compact and fully configurable alternative. It’s essentially a computer room in a cabinet - instead of a cabinet in a computer room," he says.

Due to its portability, all client equipment can be pre-configured and testing can take place under controlled conditions before the module is dispatched to the remote location for ‘plugging in’. "As the cabinet is a self-contained environment, there is much less maintenance required after configuration," notes Shaw.

Its robust construction and IP 55-rated weatherproof enclosure makes the PFC suitable for most environments, while 360° access allows for easy maintenance. The device includes internationally proven monitoring, fire-suppression, UPS and cooling equipment. The PFC is locally manufactured in South Africa and is supplied with a two-year swap-out warranty.

IN BRIEF

- Telkom’s Centres of Excellence laboratories and MTN’s science centres, designed to make technology fascinating for children, are among the finalists in the fifth annual Science and Technology Awards.

- Entrenched accounting software suppliers are in for fierce competition from Microsoft, which entered this market two years ago with the acquisition of Great Plains and more recently Navision."Our strategy in making these acquisitions was to develop these products further to ensure that we are a strong player in this market," says Thomas Hansen, director of small and mid-market solutions and partner groups at Microsoft SA. Eventually these products will be consolidated into a suite of products that will include extensive web enablement and mobile access through Microsoft’s .NET technology framework.

SOFTLINE DELISTING MAY BE UNFAIR TO INVESTORS, SAYS KPMG

KPMG Services, the independent advisor to Softline minority shareholders, says Softline’s delisting offer may be unfair to long-term investors, writes Iain Scott of ItWeb.

Softline has issued a detailed notice about the terms of its intention to delist and offer shareholders an advance liquidation dividend of 130c a share.

The accounting, payroll and tax software group is being bought by a consortium made up of Investec Bank, members of Softline’s senior management and non-executive directors, Ellerine Bros, Gerald Rubenstein and a consortium comprising the South African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union, Jonathan Copelyn and Marcel Golding.

KPMG Services says the proposed terms are "reasonable, as a material premium to the average traded share price prior to the issue of the cautionary on Wednesday, 5 February 2003".

However, it says the deal "may not be fair to a long-term investor as the consideration does not reflect the fundamental value of Softline" based on KPMG’s independent valuation of the company.

An independent committee of Softline directors says it agrees with KPMG’s conclusion but says that, taking into consideration that the offer is reasonable, recommends that shareholders "seriously consider voting in favour of the proposed transactions".

The total aggregate purchase price for Softline has been set at R607 million. Softline says it will use R228 million to repay an existing loan from Softline Holdings. The remaining proceeds and existing cash on hand, totalling R510 million, will be distributed to shareholders by way of an advance liquidation dividend.

Institutional investors Old Mutual Asset Management and Metropolitan Asset Management have already rejected the offer as being too low. Several brokerages are understood to be advising their clients not to accept the offer.

IN BRIEF

- Market commentators are increasingly bullish on the MTN Group in the run-up to its year-end to March results being released next month. Investec fund manager Clyde Roussouw said on South Africa’s Classic Business on Friday there was no reason to expect any disappointment in terms of its profits. "On a longer-term view it certainly is one in which, in a really uncertain environment, there is certainty of earnings growth. And I think that that is certainly something which investors are looking for " said Roussouw.

- IT-invested private equity fund Trematon Capital Investments incurred a R20.33 million net loss in the six months to 28 February after a fall in the share price of its biggest asset, Intec Telecoms.

ANTI-MUGABE HACK ON CHRONICLE’S WEBSITE

Management at the government’s Chronicle newspaper has ordered Internet service provider, M-Web, to investigate how a hacker broke into its website and posted ‘unpalatable’ stories that denigrated or criticised President Robert Mugabe. Stories critical of Mugabe were posted in Tuesday’s online edition of The Chronicle after a hacker gained access to its website

Some of the stories published online read ‘Mbeki too soft with Mugabe’, ‘Mugabe lives large in South Africa’-in reference to the Zimbabwean leader’s last trip to South Africa where he attended the burial of veteran South African nationalist, Walter Sisulu

The other story headlines read ‘Mugabe’s future under scrutiny’, ‘Indefinite mass job stay away on the cards’, ‘Writing on the wall for Mugabe’, while the lead online story was entitled ‘Mugabe must go’.

All the stories that were used in the website were lifted from The Standard, The Daily News, Financial Gazette, South Africa’s Sunday Times and some international news agencies. The Chronicle, in its Friday issue, stated that M-Web had said the origin of the hacker was tracked to the United Kingdom. It has also emerged that the paper’s former sub-editors are now under investigation

M-Web said the hacker first tampered with the paper’s website at about 11.00am on Tuesday and allegedly used a foreign web browser and an Internet protocol address masking programme to conceal his identity

However sources at Zimpapers said senior management wanted former sub-editors and other senior editorial staff also to be put under investigation. "The person who inserted the stories into our website is someone who has the website’s passwords and access codes. Former sub-editors should be placed under investigation also because they know the password and the access codes to the website," said an insider at The Chronicle. (source: Zimbabwe Standard)

IN BRIEF