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ISSUE NO 202

For a copy of the document go to: http://www.delgi.gov.bf/ It is about to finalise its last round of consultation workshops before it becomes government policy. Many of the private sector providers are critical of the document saying that it is wordy, very general, not pragmatic and insufficiently focused on the real issues confronting the sector (see story on outage above). They are also sceptical about the independence of ARTEL, one going so far as to describe it as an "agence d’ARTEL". The regulator’s credibility is not helped by the fact that most of its staff have been recruited from ONATEL.

In terms of Government ICT policy, there seems to be a disconnect between two things. There is the rhetoric encouraging the private sector, entrepreneurship and the opening up of the market. And then there is the reality of a landscape in which Government continues to be both player (acting as an ISP) and policy-maker. Another example illustrates how there is one rule for the Government and another for the private sector. Despite the monopoly imposed on the private sector, SONAPOST, the state-owned post office is allowed to have its own VSAT connection to run a large cyber-café in the centre of Ouagadougou, not an area exactly under-provided with cyber-cafes. Several ISPs have a meeting with the Director-General of ARTEL to protest about this "anti-competitive" exception and are awaiting a response.

COMPUTING: MARKET IS CHAOTIC AND LARGELY INFORMAL

In hardware terms, CFAO reports that it is selling between 500-600 machines a year, largely from Dell and IBM. But the market is chaotic and largely informal with few large-players. On this basis total sales are likely to be in the low thousands.

In software terms, large organisations like the electricity company SONABEL, the Caisse National de Securite and the fuel supply company SONABI have all installed Oracle applications.

A-BUL ­ Association for Open Source held a workshop recently attended by 40-50 people but there is literally not more than a handful of programmers in the country. However the BFEAO, the Central bank for the CFA has decided to migrate to Open Source which is a significant first step for it gaining credibility in the market.

One of the biggest problems in persuading people to switch to Open Source will be the widespread corruption in government and private sector. There is nearly always a percentage put on the contract for the person awarding the contract. With free acquisition and lower maintenance costs, Open Source therefore faces a significant barrier to its adoption. Its best hope is that the Government ­ through La Delgi ­ will commit itself in whole or in part to Open Source on cost grounds. Whilst people may disagree with its policy, there is a widely held perception that it can be an "honest broker" in all senses of the term.

PEOPLE SPECIAL: AN INTERVIEW WITH SYLVESTRE OUEDRAOGO, YAM PUKRI

Sylvestre Ouedraogo is a man of many parts. He’s written a book about how ICT might be used to further development in Africa. He’s an academic who carries out interesting research projects, particularly looking at how ICT might be used by people. And he also set up and runs Yam Pukri, an NGO that has four centres that offer internet access, training and work experience for young people.

His book -L’ordinateur et le Djembé - Entre rêves et réalités (The computer and the Djembé - Between dreams and realities) is not one of those loft tomes fill of well-meaning phrases but a text written from the heart. It does not attempt to provide cut-and-dried answers to the questions it raises but wrestles with them on the page in front of your eyes.

Why did he decide to write the book?

"I believe that ICT will aid development in Africa and the world but I’m not happy with the way it’s used. The book looks at how it might be used with people. When I wrote it I was thinking hard about the best way to use it. You can have the best technology in the world and still do nothing with it."

"Imported technology is not the solution. It’s necessary to appropriate the technology. You need to work out how it meets your needs. These are not going to be the same needs it was designed for in the developed world. We have to ask the question: what’s the problem we’re trying to solve? The way donors put ICT into countries is through projects, often separated from broader activities. But the key problem is one of culture. You cannot encourage ICT if it doesn’t become part of the culture. At present, the majority of people in Africa work manually and have no experience of it."

What reactions have you had to the book?

"For the most part, reactions to the book have been very positive. People have liked the directness of the way it’s expressed. Some say yes, that’s all very well but what’s the solution? A small number have described it as naïve ("peu naïf") or simplistic".

What about your work as an academic?

I work at the University where I do research for peasant producer associations. I’m interested in "science appliqué". I have been ever since I was small when I used to take apart and put back together radios and other electronic appliances.

I do research projects with my students, you might describe them as "micro-projects". One of the latest is looking at telephony in a small village close to Ouagadougou. The six students involved are going out to ask a lot of questions about how the villagers communicate, how they do it and what they’re willing to pay.

In 2002 we carried out a major study of cyber-cafes, telecentres and other forms of access points, asking how many jobs had they created and how sustainable was this type of employment. At that point we found that between 2-5 persons were employed by each café, giving an overall total of about a thousand people in Burkina Faso. That figure is probably much larger now.

And how sustainable do you think this type of employment is?

Well, there’s more cyber-cafes and costs have fallen but quality has also gone down. Most people running them now have little or no experience of running a business. Those with dial-up lines don’t have many customers. So many of them will not be very sustainable because of the low level of receipts. But some part of the employment created will be sustainable.

What about your role in setting up Yam Pukri?

It all started with my time at University where I had the freedom to criticise everything I saw. Out of this experience, I’ve become what you might call a social entrepreneur. I saw that young people were not able to get work without experience. But how could they get experience without first working? They were caught in a trap. So we set up Yam Pukri to give them that experience through offering access to computers, access to a cyber-café and offering a secretarial service ("secretaire publique").

Hugues Arsene Kouraogo of Hugo Tech, of the entrepreneurs who spoke at your workshop (ICT and Entrepreneurship ­ the art of making things happen) trained here. At present we have a young women who is filming marionettes and wants to make animated versions of traditional stories.

The young people are able who come here for work experience are able to say that they have worked for an NGO. It’s absolutely critical that they have ICT skills to get a job and they are able to say what have done and therefore what they can do.

For more information go to: http://burkina-ntic.org

Heartfelt thanks to Sylvain Zongos and Adama Traore of ZCP for all their help during my stay in Burkina Faso.

SA’S ORION HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH TELKOM OVER UNFAIR COMPETION

The complex legal drama that is currently taking place, where Orion Telecom has accused Telkom of abusing its monopoly position to unfairly target Orion’s clients and lure them away, has undergone a further twist.

The case initially came about after two of Orion’s major clients, Standard Bank and Edgars, chose not to renew their contracts, because Telkom "made them an offer which they could not refuse".

He says Telkom has clearly used its position as a public utility to gain the custom of Orion’s customers, as no other inducement would effectively preclude Orion from operating within the cellular telephony market.

While the investigation into anti-competitive behaviour by the Competition Commission is under way, Orion sought an interdict granting interim relief and requested copies of the deals Telkom signed with the clients as evidence, but the monopoly claimed these were confidential and - when the Competition Tribunal ordered it to hand over the documents - Telkom chose to appeal against this decision.

Tredoux says: "It is ironic that after 10 years of a new constitutional dispensation, a public utility still manages to keep contracts secret from the general public."

The date for the appeal has been set for 14 June, but Tredoux claims that Orion cannot afford to wait that long simply for an appeal to be heard.

"Thus, without prejudicing this particular process, we are moving ahead with the interdict in the meantime, and hope to have it heard within the next couple of weeks or so," he says. It is necessary to proceed in this manner, as Telkom appears to have been chasing seven or eight of our other major clients in the meantime. Thus we want the interdict heard as soon as possible, because all we are trying to say is that they cannot be allowed to pursue our customers in this manner while this process is still under way."

(SOURCE: IT Web)

COTE D’IVOIRE’S ORANGE BUYS INTEC BILLING SYSTEM

Ivorian mobile operator Orange has gone live with Intec’s InterconnecT solution. The successful implementation of Intec’s intercarrier billing system was made possible by an extended global partnership agreement with France Telecom.

The partnership deal enables the leading French operator to create a centralized InterconnecT bureau service in France which can support the intercarrier billing requirements for any of its Orange subsidiaries around the world. The latest country to become part of this complex settlement initiative is Cote d’Ivoire. Over one million call detail records (CDRs) are sent from Orange’s operations in the West African country to France Telecom’s central bureau in France, which relies on local service hardware to support Intec’s InterconnecT solution. The CDR information received from Orange’s Cote d’Ivoire operation is gathered by the French central bureau and then used to produce accurate intercarrier billing settlements for the African affiliate.

(SOURCE: Cellular News)

NAMIBIA’S MTC ATTRIBUTES POOR CELLULAR SERVICE TO GROWTH

Namibian Mobile Telecommunications Company has attributed its poor quality of cellphone reception to the rapid growth in the number of subscribers. MTC Managing Director, Bengt Strenge, said last week that during the last financial year, October 2002 to September 2003, the number of new customers increased by 56 per cent or 80,326. In October and November last year 29,000 new subscribers were added to the list.

Strenge said recent problems experienced with cellular connectivity, such as poor reception, could be attributed to the sudden sharp increase in clients. He said MTC had taken several strategic decisions to increase the capacity and coverage of the radio network, the pre-paid platform and other support systems.

"For the two financial years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, MTC’s total investment in the network will amount to between N$250 million and N$300 million. The implementation for many strategic investments is between four and six months," Strenge said. MTC has implemented a new Intelligent Network platform to handle the pre-paid customers and is erecting 82 more base stations around the country.

To cope with Windhoek’s high demand, 180mhz transmission equipment is being installed to supplement the existing and new 90mhz base stations, he said. The higher frequency could handle more traffic and would benefit all dual-band cellphones which accounted for about 85 per cent of those circulating in the country, Strenge added. MTC’s main switch in Windhoek, which is the heart of the network, is being upgraded from an SR8 to an SR10.

(SOURCE: The Namibian)

IN BRIEF

- State-owned Angola Telecom is installing a fibre optic system in the southern region of Lubango. The work is being carried out by 15 Chinese technicians who also involved in the project of expansion of the optic fibre system to the provinces of Huila, Namibe and Cunene. Currently, at least 310 kilometres of cable have been installed underground, from Namibe port to Lubango city, leaving the completion of the stretch between Leba and Chibia, some 42 kilometres south of Lubango.

- Siemens has launched its SX1 mobile phone in Egypt. The new Smartphone offers users a host of functions such as a built in video player, camcorder, music player and FM radio, Series 60 or Java (J2ME)-supported multi-player games via Bluetooth, high-speed Internet access and a full complement of business applications comparable to a PDA.

TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE

- Mobile telephone network operator Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (Econet) has deferred a tariff increase that had been slated for this month, the company’s brand manager, Christian Mhlanga, has announced. Econet, which last made a tariff increase on January 8, did not give reasons for the development. The announcement is set bring relief to mobile phone users, who have lately had to bear with the frequent tariff increases as the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe has become more amenable to cellphone networks’ requests for regular tariff reviews.

- Telkom says the finding by telecoms consulting firm NUS Consulting that its international calls are the highest among 14 major economies is fundamentally flawed and overlooks a number of crucial factors. An NUS Consulting survey found that Telkom’s international rates are 63% higher than the next most expensive country surveyed Finland. The survey also shows that SA’s national call costs are the highest, moving from third to first place in 12 months. Other countries surveyed included the US, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands NUS Consulting MD George Rahr says the most noteworthy trend is that the cost of local calls in SA escalated from fifth to second highest in the survey, with only Belgium being more expensive. He said Telkom’s high charges "severely hamper South African organisations in their efforts to compete in the world’s major markets" a factor which will cost Telkom its corporate customers should a competitor be introduced soon.

But Telkom insists that its call rates are highly competitive and among the most affordable in the world. It says the latest research done by London-based telecoms consultancy firm Tarifica shows that Telkom’s international rates remain low despite lack of competition in the South African fixed-line market. Tarifica says Telkom’s rates are the lowest compared with its peers in the Middle East and the rest of the African continent.

- Celtel customers in Uganda will save up to 24% under a new single call rate to all networks introduced by the company recently. Under the new system dubbed ‘Uganda One’, the savings translate into sh110 for calls from Celtel to any other mobile phone network and sh20 for calls within the Celtel network. This applies to calls made to fixed lines as well. "In effect, you save up to 24% of your total call costs," Vivek Goyal, Celtel’s commercial director said in an interview last week.

- MTN Nigeria has introduced its current Easter bonanza package, reducing the price of its Prepaid package to about six thousand five hundred naira, between March 22 to April 6, 2004. However according to the Vanguard, accusations have already been made that the company is not issuing enough lines to keep up with the promotion and those selling are simplyputting up the prices. For example at Otigba computer market, an MTN pre paid line under the current Easter bonanza, goes for as much as N9600 while at Balogun Auto parts section of the Balogun market in Badagry Expressway, it is selling for as much as N10,000. MTN’s Public Manager probably got it right when he blamed the situation on mischievous people who are buying and hoarding the available lines, with the intention of selling them at premium after the bonanza.

SKYBAND BRINGS WIRELESS INTERNET TO MALAWI

Skyband Wireless, an offshoot of internet service provider Africa Online, announced on Monday last week the launch of what it described as a fast and efficient wireless communication set to provide subscribers with 24 hours access to the internet at lower rates than those using telephone lines without requiring any connections.

It will also be providing a wireless local area networks to reduce cords and wires in offices and also offer a broadband connection to the internet, communications to areas of Malawi with no telecommunications infrastructure and virtual private network connections to anywhere in the world.

Shaw said Skyband subscribers will be using a microwave modem which they can connect to either their laptop or office computers to access the internet from any place with Skyband’s access points without requiring a phone line.

Shaw said a microwave modem costs about US$60 each while a typical installation is at USD1,200 while a monthly subscription will be less than US$100. But Shaw said his company plans to further cut down the cost of the service to ensure that individuals afford it. He said so far the company has about 100 customers, mostly corporate.

Skyband has also announced that it is the authorised D Link distributor for Malawi which it says will bring all benefits of the broadband technology to the country.

(SOURCE: The Nation)

NIGERIA’S FIRST BANK’S ONLINE REAL TIME LOCATIONS HIT 130

Nigeria’s First Bank has added another 20 real-time locations. This brings to 130 the number of the bank’s branches and locations linked together online, in real time. The bank claims it is the largest online, real time network in the West African financial market.

With the system, powered by the Financial Banking application software, customers can conduct banking transactions from any of the branches that are online, real time, thus reducing the risk and burden of carrying cash in transit. The 20 new sites, 12 of them full branches and eight agencies, were added in the last 90 day.

The 12 branches are: in Lagos - Murtala Muhammed Way, Isolo, Alausa, Surulere and Matori. Others are in Bodija and Apata in Ibadan, Oyo State; Osha-Owerri Road, Onitsha, in Anambra State; Uselu, Upper Sakponba, both in Benin City, Edo State; Wuse in Abuja and Rumukurishi in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state. The eight agencies include; PZ; Western Union Transfer Centre in Benin; NAHCO, FBN Merchant Bankers, Molony Street, Sura Market, AP Ijora in Lagos and Abubakar Rimi in Kano.

(SOURCE: This Day)

SA’S ABSA TO DEPLOY BANDWIDTH ENHANCER ACROSS SOUTHERN AFRICA

The Absa Group is deploying a new-generation bandwidth, enhancing technology in more than 45 locations in southern Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania as part of a programme to expand its legacy mainframe applications into the Web-centric era.

Facing the prospect of a R14m upgrade to support this programme, and associated growth in data traffic over its network, Absa says that it chose to implement Peribit Sequence Reducers, supplied locally by Source Consulting, to effectively triple the capacity of its existing telecommunications links.

Sequence Reducers, based on Molecular Sequence Reduction (MSR) technology, aim to identify and remove redundant data destined for wide area network (WAN) links - be they terrestrial or satellite.

"MSR uses DNA pattern-matching techniques to provide a low-cost, low-risk way for networks to instantly discover and recover previously wasted WAN capacity," says Alan Rehbock, GM of the Peribit Business Unit at Source Consulting.

According to Absa, its telecommunications costs in Africa are high - R10 000 per month for a single 64kbps satellite link from Mozambique to SA, and R14 000 per month for a 512kbps connection over limited distance. "In many locations, faster WAN links are not available, and, in others, the cost is prohibitive," says Neville Perry, group consultant in Absa’s network architecture group. "We needed a way to anticipate and manage growth on our backbone network, and buying larger capacity WAN links was not the answer." To justify the Peribit deployment, Perry’s group installed two systems and then used the data reduction results to project deployments at 45 sites over an 18-month period.

Although actual data reduction was said to range from 48% to 68%, the group conservatively assumed a 40% reduction rate, and compared Peribit’s pricing against the cost of network link upgrades. Based on this data, the Peribit equipment is expected to pay for itself in 11 months, and return double its value within 16 months.

"Peribit gave our network a significant capacity upgrade along with the ability to monitor traffic, so we can see exactly what kind of throughput we are getting," notes Perry.

Prior to the selection of Peribit, Perry’s team investigated router compression solutions, but rejected them because they introduced additional latency and affected router throughput. The group also looked at other bandwidth optimisation products, but found that one product would not honour router-based quality of service (QoS) settings, while another lacked centralised management of multiple remote links. Peribit’s plug-and-play installation was an important consideration. "Another compression vendor wanted us to go through a five-day training session on its product," adds Perry. "Peribit’s solution is easy to install, and was up and running in about fifteen minutes."

(SOURCE: ICT World)

IN BRIEF

The ‘mock election’ fun poll carried on SA provider M-Web’s site has attracted nearly 20,000 votes in under two weeks. Most of the votes were for minority parties, with the Freedom Front leading with 39.9% of the vote by yesterday, and the ANC trailing with 4% of the vote. Commenting on the vote, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said the poll could in no way be viewed as an accurate reflection of what is happening on the ground, or of which way M-Web subscribers may vote. However, the fact that the ANC was featuring so poorly in the poll showed the digital divide was still a big issue in SA. He pointed out the irony as it could be seen to imply the failure of the ANC’s universal Internet access philosophy.

* SA’s Internet Solutions (IS) has introduced the K2.net ASP licensed workflow solution, in response to today’s growing need for businesses to work faster and particularly smarter in order to stay ahead of the game. IS says spending more time on business drivers like customer satisfaction and innovation, and less time on micro management, is key in this demanding environment.The company says that its Business Gateway division partnered with SourceCode to offer the K2.net licence both on a more affordable ASP basis, as well as an additional offering on the .Net platform.

ITAN’S AYODELE WANTS 20% QUOTA FOR NIGERIAN SOFTWARE

Chief Olaide Ayodele, Chief Executive Officer of the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria called on the Federal Government to create a 20% quota for software deployed in Government organisations. He said that patronage of local software would also boost the use of locally assembled Personal Computers (PCs) in the country.

In a bizarre and unsubstantiated claim he claimed that the country had lost USD1 billion because imported software was bought and later abandoned by organisations. "Nigeria has lost more than USD1 billion to software that never worked," he said. Even in a market the size of Nigeria it is unlikely that there are has been sales of USD1 billion.

(SOURCE: Daily Champion)

ZAMBIA’S COMPUTER MISUSE AND CYBER CRIME BILL NOT MAKING IMPACT

Computer Society of Zambia (CSZ) President and IT Lecturer Milner Makuni last week told a meeting of E-Brain that far too few people were aware of the implications of the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crime Bill, writes News Update Zambian correspondent Timothy Kasolo.

He pointed out that the draft is divided into different parts namely the data protection, and the misuse of computers.

Under the data protection bill Makuni observed that a lot people take advantage of the computers by commiting different crimes and fraud.

"A lot of people take advantage of the of using computers and commit different types of crimes and fraud, therefore there is need to harmonise existing laws so that they do not conflict with the laws that comes into being," Makuni explained.

He said that the Data Protection Act would be an eye opener for the computer users in Zambia. The Bill specifies that access in relation to any computer system, means instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any of the resources of the computer system.

The drafted bill specifies a range of different offences. One of the offences is unauthorised access to computer data that any person who causes a computer system to perform a function, knowing that the access he intends to secure is unauthorized, shall commit an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding USD435 and to penal servitude not exceeding 5 years.

The second offence is that of Access with intent to commit offences where Any person who causes a computer system to perform any function for the purpose of securing access to any program or data held in any computer system, with intent to commit an offence under any other enactment, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding USD2300 and to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 20 years.

Unauthorized access to and interception of computer service, any person who, by any means, knowingly secures access to any computer system for the purpose of obtaining, directly or indirectly, any computer service;

Other offences include unauthorised modification of computer material, damaging or denying access to computer system, unlawful possession of devices and data Electronic fraud of which the above offences have it specific penalties.

Makuni in his presentation said that the last part of the draft covers investigation and production and procedures.

Early this year the government of Zambia (through the Ministry of Legal Affairs proposed that a Bill should be passed that will look at computer misuse and the protection of fraud from banks. Legal affairs Minister and Attorney General George Kunda said that the bill will be passed through parliament later this year.

GHANAIAN GOVERNMENT BECOMES LATEST TO SIGN WITH MICROSOFT

Earlier this month the government of Ghana signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft, aimed at creating a workforce that is literate in information and communications technology. Last month, Angola signed an agreement with Microsoft on financing Internet access for the government and training.

The agreement between the government of Ghana and Microsoft calls for a number of actions. These include Microsoft working out a National Educational Licensing Agreement with the government of Ghana for all schools using Microsoft desktop and server software.

Microsoft has also agreed to provide free upgrades to Windows XP Professional for all new PC’s purchased with Windows Home Edition and (to be negotiated) deeply discounted Office XP Professional under the Schools Agreement package in the Partners in Learning Programme.

Microsoft will in addition provide Windows 98 or Windows 2000 for re-installation on pre-used donated PCs (up to Pentium II machines) under the Access-Fresh Start for Donated PCs program, at no charge.

The pact also calls for Microsoft IT Academies to be available to all educational institutions in Ghana. To help kickstart this, Microsoft will assist the government of Ghana in establishing Microsoft IT Academies at four institutions, including the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT the first year.

In addition, Microsoft proposes to establish a state of the art .Net Laboratory at Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

The agreement between Angola and Microsoft on the other hand, will allow the country’s state-owned public television to broadcast courses by Microsoft technicians, and also calls for the financing of the installation of technology for government access to the Internet.

The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, a foundation that advocates the development and use of open source software, has warned that such agreements between Microsoft and African countries will hurt their local software industries. Although Frank Agyekum, a spokesman of the Ghanaian government acknowledges that such agreements are not free of risk, he said the benefits are worth taking."Do we stay put till we fully develop our software base? On the other hand we can learn from that experience," Agyekum said.

(SOURCE: Ghana Web)

IN BRIEF

- A new Centre dedicated to increasing the capacity of East and Southern African stakeholders to participate in international information and communications technology (ICT) policy-making is being launched in Kampala, Uganda in April 2004. The Centre is being supported during its first two years by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and is currently looking to recruit members of staff. A second Centre, serving West and Central Africa will be launched later this year. The Centre is part of thebroader ‘Catalysing Access to Information and Communications Technologies in Africa’ (CATIA) programme which aims to enable poor people in Africa to gain the maximum benefit from the opportunities offered by technology and to act as a strong catalyst for reform. See, http://www.catia.ws.

- The Nigerian Federal Government is to introduce information technology into schools curriculum and make it compulsory. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette told the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.

GHANA WILL PAY USD50 MILLION TO BUY OUT TELEKOM MALAYSIA

According to a Reuters report, Telekom Malaysia announced that the Ghanaian government agreed to pay the Telekom USD50 million for its shareholding. "The government of Ghana has admitted it will soon have to pay USD50 million of its foreign currency reserves to satisfy its liability in respect of Telekom Malaysia’s investment in Ghana Telecom," Telekom Malaysia said.

Telekom Malaysia said it filed an international arbitration claim to force the Ghanaian government to repurchase Telekom’s share of Ghana Telecom and pay it an additional USD124 million.

Telekom has attempted to sell its stake in Ghana’s largest telecom operator to the Ghanaian government after its management contract expired. Telekom initially paid USD38 million for the stake in 1997. Telekom’s claim was filed with the arbitration court in The Hague in October 2003 and is expected to be resolved by July 2004.

(SOURCE: Intelecon Regulatory News)

TELECEL ZIMBABWE FINED Z374 MILLION FOR ILLEGAL CURRENCY DEALING

Telecel Zimbabwe was yesterday fined USD374.2 million, the Zimbabwe equivalent of the hard currency involved, by a Harare regional court for illegally dealing in foreign currency.

Telecel, represented by Anthony Carter in his capacity as a director of the cellular telephone service provider, becomes the latest company to be convicted of contravening the Exchange Control Act.

A number of Bulawayo companies were this week fined millions of dollars for illegally dealing in foreign currency.

Telecel was convicted on its own plea of guilt by regional magistrate Virginia Sithole on three counts of illegally dealing in foreign currency amounting to USD1.3 million, R1.,3 million and over 22,000 British pounds. Sithole fined Telecel on each count to a sum equal to the value of the foreign currency involved. The total fine added up to USD$374,251,198.

Soon after the sentence was handed down, Telecel’s lawyer, Advocate Chris Andersen, asked the court to grant the company time to pay the fine. Sithole said Telecel should have deposited the fine with the clerk of court by April 16 and if it defaulted, a warrant of execution of its property would be issued against the company.

Earlier, Adv Andersen had asked the court to reconsider the issue of special circumstances.

Adv Andersen said the court should again take into account the circumstances which led Telecel into dealing on the parallel market.

He said the situation had been caused by the State which cast a blind eye on the parallel market and also benefited heavily through revenue in the sum of ZD1 billion a month, which was being paid by Telecel.

"The State benefited the sum of ZD24 billion and after this is now asking for a mandatory sentence to be imposed. How can this be justified?" asked Adv Andersen.

He submitted that Telecel’s dealings on the parallel market were not because it was not aware of the law but arose from the shortage of foreign currency. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, Air Zimbabwe, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe and even the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had been obtaining foreign currency on the parallel market, he said.

People would have lost their jobs and there would have been all sorts of problems if companies had not obtained foreign currency from the parallel market.

Adv Andersen said the punishment meted out on all companies which dealt on the parallel market must be equal. He questioned the court how it could be moral to impose a mandatory sentence on Telecel while Noczim, Zesa and many other companies in both the public and private sectors were not being prosecuted.

SOURCE: The Herald

HACKERS BREAK INTO THE ANGOP WEBSITE

Angola’s Press Agency has a serious technical failure last week which it believes was caused by hackers, disturbing the posting and flow of information.

According to ANGOP:" Judging from the type of breakdown, there is reason to believe that the site was invaded by hackers who managed to insert porno photos in most of the news on the site.

According to ANGOP technical director, Daniel Jorge (Samy), that was a hackers invasion that affected the agency’s internet service, but all is now being done to restore the normal signal. "We are working with the firm "Nexus" to remove the viruses and restore the signal in the coming hours," he emphasised. The site has its own security but the hackers seem to have found their way round it.

(SOURCE: Angola Press Agency)

IN BRIEF

- Access to government information and services in the Western Cape has been made easier, with the launch last week of a trilingual web portal. This means that residents in the province will now be able to obtain such services and information in the province’s three official languages: Xhosa, English and Afrikaans.Finance and Economic Development MEC Ebrahim Rasool said the residents would now be able to hold government accountable by either calling, surfing the net or simply walking-in into its offices."To the best of our knowledge we have created the first isiXhosa web portal in the world, this is an important milestone for the Western Cape." He said the web portal was written in jargon-free language and would also be used for publishing provincial tenders online. The trilingual web portal address is: http://www.capegateway.gov.za/

MECER LAUNCHES MECER NET

Mecer has joined with local ISP Branded Internet to launch Mecer Net, a Branded ISP (BISP) that targets Mecer dealers and end-users.Lance Terner, CEO of Branded Internet, says the BISP model enables Mecer to have its own ISP using branded internet’s infrastructure and therefore avoid the costs of setting up a new ISP.

"We are levelling the playing fields for our dealers by giving them the opportunity to compete with the major retailers," says Mecer MD Dean Barkhuizen.

"Where retailers receive rebates from other ISPs, Mecer is now offering not only an enhanced product range and an additional value-added service, but also an opportunity for Mecer dealers to obtain similar rebates," he says.

Terner says the deal empowers Mecer dealers, giving them an incentive to work closer with Mecer and gives Mecer another tool for marketing its products.

He says Branded Internet’s connection software with its automatic self-repairing diagnostics will result in significantly fewer support calls being generated by the end-user.

Branded Internet will also provide Mecer Net with a Customer Service Portal (CSP), giving customers access to an online organiser and enabling them to manage their own internet accounts, Terner says.

The CSP will also enable Mecer dealers to view live statistics on customers they have signed up, support histories and up to date internet technology articles, he adds.

Mecer Net’s initial product offering is comprised of premium 56kb analogue and 64kb isdn dial service, which include free unlimited 24-hour customer support, connection software to the Mecer Net CSP, five e-mail addresses, virus and junk mail scanning, webmail, 10mb of personal web space and a web disk to store files.

Terner says Mercer is not the only company to launch its own BISP. "Branded Internet has allowed computer stores, dealers, internet cafés and even a retail clothing chain to launch their own ISP under their name without having to pay the costs of setting up an ISP.

"Instead of having to pass customers onto other ISPs, companies can now bundle the internet with their products and keep the customers," he says.

To become a BISP, companies can register online and upload their logo, becoming a BISP within two days. Terner says companies pay a signup fee of R575 and a subscription fee of R275 a month, and can choose how much to charge customers for internet access.

"Companies can then choose their own rates for providing their customers with internet access. branded internet provides the infrastructure and takes care of all the billing at the BISP’s chosen rate.

"Debit order payments for customer internet service fees are charged at the beginning of the month and at the end of that month we process a payment to the BISP. this is made up of all of their customers’ payments less our service fees. in other words, we pay them to do business with us," he says.

While BISPs do create another player in the value chain, Terner says Branded Internet is able to keep the cost to the end-user down because of its infrastructure and high degree of automation.

"Our DNA (Digital Neural Architecture) customer management system allows BISPs to manage their customers while our Connection Manager with its built-in diagnostics checks for internet and e-mail settings and fixes them, taking the frustration element for the user out of the equation and lowering support call costs," he says.

(Source: ItWeb)

PEOPLE

* Ericsson’s Vice President will visit Econet Wireless Nigeria to have talks about how to improve the operators services. The visit iss a follow-up to the signing of a USD110 million network expansion deal with the Swedish company last month. Currently, Ericsson is implementing the first phase of the expansion deal with Econet, while shipments for the second phase of the multi- million-dollar deal will commence soon. "When completed, the expansion will result in greater geographical coverage for the operator to double its network capacity," said Ericsson’s spokesman.

* MMS phones are very popular with Burkina Faso’s digerati even though there is not yet a service. But perhaps a positive sign for the future of these services?

* At the "Entrepreneurship and ICT: the art of making things happen" workshop, all three local entrepreneurs ­ Issa Campaore of Institut Superieur Technologies, Hughes Arsene of Hugo Tech; and Sylvain Zongos of ZCP ­ reported that they had difficulties with their parents and families when they decided to set up their businesses. In the time-honoured fashion of parents the world over they wanted to know why their offspring didn’t choose a nice safe office job like the rest of their contemporaries. The workshop was presented by ZCP, Balancing Act and IICD.

* Dimension Data last week confirmed its appointment of Andile Ngcaba, ex-DG of the Department of Communications, as chairman designate of Dimension Data SA (DDSA). Ngcaba will lead a BEE consortium that is in the process of acquiring a 25% stake in the company, and is also tasked with expanding the company’s presence in Africa. His appointment as chairman designate will be confirmed once the BEE transaction has been finalised, the company says. Ngcaba will take over as chairman within 12 months of the appointment. The BEE consortium is said to include prominent participants in the local ICT industry as well as broad-based empowerment parties. The company could not specify a time frame for the conclusion of the transaction, but Corporate Finance Director, Patrick Quarmby, did note that the year specified for the handover has no bearing on when the formalities of the BEE deal would be concluded. Rather, he says, the year will be spent in familiarising Ngcaba with every aspect of the business, its customers and employees, and ensuring that a smooth handover takes place.

* WorldSpace Corporation has appointed Hamza Farooqui as Managing Director for WorldSpace South Africa. He began his career as the Chairman & CEO of Convergence Group (Pty) Ltd, owners of Cricketer.com which was created as a portal for real time cricket scores, play by play, news and exclusive content from international media and sporting team partners.

* The Skyband launch in Malawi (see Internet News)will be graced with the presence of ex-Big Brother Africa housemates Abby from South Africa,Alex from Kenya,Gaetano from Uganda,Mwisho of Tanzania, Warona of Botswana and host Zein who previously worked for Africa Online.

EVENTS

FUTUREX 2004: THE CONFERENCE
18 to 20 May 2004, Sandton Convention Centre, Gauteng

Conference themes

The overall theme of the three-day conference is: Where ICTE and Business Connect
Each of the three days will focus on the following topics:

Day 1: Tuesday, 18 May
Transformation, regulation, legislation

Day 2: Wednesday, 19 May
Where business and IT connect

Day 3: Thursday, 20 May
Telecommunications: The new landscape

For more details, go to
http://www.itweb.co.za/events/Futurexconference/2004/default.asp

Early bird rates

One Day
Early bird rate
R1 100 + VAT (14%) = R1 254.00

Two Days
Early bird rate
R1 980 + VAT (14%) = R2 257.20

Three Days
Early bird rate
R2 640 + VAT (14%) = R3 009.60

Contact:
Denise Breytenbach
E-mail: denise@itweb.co.za
Tel: +27 11 807-3294

To register online:
http://www.itweb.co.za/events/Futurexconference/2004/onlineregistration.asp

JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES

- AfriNIC is a non-for profit Organization registered in Mauritius and it intends to be the fifth Regional Internet Number Registry serving Africa (www.afrinic.net for more information). AfriNIC will also be in charge of in-addr.arpa zone (reverse delegation) for IP blocks it allocates in the region. The other registries are: APNIC(www.apnic.net - Asia Pacific), ARIN (www.arin.net - North America), LACNIC (www.lacnic.net - Latin America) and RIPE NCC (www.ripe.net - Europe).

AfriNIC is now planning to choose a logo for its identification and will welcome any contribution from graphic designers willing to help. The Logo should be simple and easy to reproduce in any kind of medium (paper -letter head, business card -, web pages, t-shirt, shirt. etc). Preferably, at least 4 different colors should be used. It may reflect some key characters of Internet numbers such as uniqueness and globalism.

The proposal may be presented in two versions: one long (complete: visual+text) and one short (visual only). Proposals should be sent to afrinic-admin@afrinic.org before May 1^st 2004. The selected logo will be presented at the AfriNIC-I meeting in Dakar (May 24^th 2004).

- i002, a UK developer of anti-money laundering software, will be exhibiting at Futurex, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg 18-21 May 2004. The company says that it hopes to source a local partner for its product, which is aimed at small to medium-sized banks, building societies, bond facilitators, credit agencies and co-operative banks. According to i002 the software is its latest tool on offer to prevent money laundering activities, comprising integrated anti-money laundering functionality with core banking functionality. It says that the software performs all the daily accounting functions in multi-currency mode, taking care of Reserve Bank rules, for example. It is also said to have ‘photo-signature’ features, as well as front office features and to cater to back office activities, such as producing daily routine reports.For further information, contact i002_s Vipin Duggal on tel: 0944 7714 90 90 99 or e-mail: i002click@aol.com, or visit www.i002.com.

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