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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 203 NEW RESEARCH FINDINGS POINT TO HIGH RATES OF PHONE USE EVEN IN NO OR LOW SERVICE AREASTeledensity figures are probably no longer a useful guide to the number of people actually making use of phone services. New research carried out by Gamos looks at the different patterns of use amongst rural and urban users. It raises important questions for both operators and policy-makers. In a nutshell, rural inhabitants and poorer urban users value phone services but do not use them very often compared to relatively more affluent users. In these circumstances, how will coverage of these areas pay its way? It puts the focus firmly on the need for asymmetrical charging where the city dwellers pays more than those in rural areas. Nigel Scott of Gamos looks at what the evidence seems to be saying at this point. This article describes some characteristics of the use of telephones amongst rural and low income communities in a number of countries in Africa. Gamos Ltd and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) have recently completed a research project which was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). In you use teledensity as a measure, most countries in Africa are woefully served. For example, a teledensity figure of 33% in Botswana is highest of the three countries covered by this research ­ 3.7% and 2.3% for Ghana and Uganda respectively are much lower (2002 figures). Similar benchmarks in the developed world seem to show even more clearly the scale of the gap: 143% for the UK, or 113% for the USA. However, these comparisons are not very helpful in understanding the impact of telephones. You need to look at how many people actually use the limited number of phones that are available and why the calls are made. Results from household surveys conducted by Gamos’ research partners (national universities) in rural districts of the each of the three countries show that around 80% of people use telephones, which is surprisingly high, given the low teledensity figures. Equally surprising is the degree of consistency of use between the countries surveyed; for example, the proportion of people using phones in Uganda (78%) is more or less the same as in Botswana, where teledensity is an order of magnitude higher. However two other factors need to be entered into consideration: - what do we mean by ‘use’? People were asked how frequently they used phones in the last three months, so ‘regular use’ in this context simply means that people use phones at least once in three months; this does not reflect how often they use phones or how long they spend on the phone (which affect revenue). Nevertheless this is very similar yardstick to that used by some of the mobile operators themselves. - What types of ‘rural districts’ were surveyed? Two or three nodes (zones) were selected in each country on the basis that these would represent a reasonable geographic spread across the country, and samples were then drawn from across the spectrum of communities - from urban centres (with good telecommunications service coverage) to remote villages (beyond the reach of coverage). The aim was not to represent the entire population of the country, nor was it to investigate the poorest and most remote communities of a country ­ it was more to represent ‘typical’ rural districts, in which the largest part of a country’s population reside. Nevertheless, the fact that as much as 80% of people will make use of telephones where services are available has implications for operators, and for agencies concerned with rural and economic development. It has been argued that telephones are a positive force for reducing poverty because they facilitate and improve income generating activities. Although this may be true, little empirical evidence is currently available. However if the phone user primarily sees it as an economic development tool, you might expect people with least disposable income to ‘invest’ in a call if they expected to gain some material ‘dividend’ from the call. However, the evidence indicates that even in poor communities the greatest number of people use phones simply for chatting to friends and family. People were asked to indicate which types of calls they regularly make using phones ­ note that this does not reflect the actual number or frequency of calls made under each category. There are a number of aspects of communication with friends and family, such as urgent matters (e.g. funerals and festivals), financial matters (e.g. calling to family members working in cities to ask for money), and generally keeping in touch. Although the categories of calls were designed to try and identify the relative priorities of these issues, it is inevitable that all may come up at some point during a single conversation. Nevertheless, it is clear that chatting and keeping in touch is the most common use of phones. The perceived value of keeping in touch is reinforced by another finding. Those in the most remote district of Uganda (furthest from the capital) made the highest proportion of these "keeping-in touch" calls from phone booths. This is hardly surprising as 80% have family members living in the capital for most users this is the main destination for their calls. Logically the value of keeping in touch increases the further one is from the capital as travel costs become more costly. Whilst ‘keeping in touch’, ‘family well being’, and ‘chatting’ are clearly the most widespread use of phones in all three countries, second place is shared roughly equally between business and work related calls, and other family and friends categories e.g. financial matters. Taking a closer look at people making business calls, it is interesting to note that there is a gender bias in this category, with more men tending to use phones for business. However, when we look at the gender split on occupations, there are a greater number of women who are engaged as traders, and anecdotal evidence suggests that traders are a group whose activities stand to benefit greatly from improved communications. For example it is easier to keep track of your stock and search out cheaper prices. As the category of business calls covers not only traders but also salaried workers, the existing data is far from conclusive, but it would appear to suggest that local traders may not be using phones to their full potential. Trends in types of calls made can also be distinguished between frequent users and occasional phone users. For example, a greater proportion of frequent users in Ghana make calls to friends, and business related calls. This reflects the relative wealth of more frequent users ­ they have more disposable income to spend on non-essential calls (e.g. to friends), and tend to have more high powered jobs which require the use of phones. What is more interesting to note is that the proportion of people making calls relating to ‘family ­ financial matters’ does not change significantly with frequency of use of phones; in other words there appears to be a ‘base line’ of "basic" demand. In other words, there is a given proportion of the population who will use phones to meet high priority communication needs. The most urgent communication need given in all three countries was funerals. Families need to alert important family members and to disseminate details of the ceremony. Other social events mentioned include weddings and festivals ­ occasions on which families in rural districts want to summon friends and family to visit villages. Radio is often used to broadcast announcements on these matters, and whilst phones can be used to make arrangements, they now also play an intermediary role in getting messages to the local radio station. Radio still appears to be the most effective medium for transmitting information into rural areas, as over 80% of respondents regard it as an effective means of finding out information. However, when it comes to transmitting information from rural areas, letters and travelling in person were still the most common methods given. Calls relating to remittances fall into the ‘friends and family ­ financial’ category of high priority calls. Remittances tend to be thought of in international terms with a family member in the international diaspora sending money home. Indeed many families have members living abroad (responses range from 24% in Uganda to 58% in Ghana). However, it is clear that phones play an major role in arranging remittances ‘nationally’. This is evident in the high proportion of families with members living in other cities (responses range from 79% in Uganda to 96% in Ghana), and the number of people making calls in the ‘friends and family ­ financial’ category. It is not clear at this point whether the use of phones actually increases the value of remittances, or whether it simply improves the management of remittances. Calling to arrange for the payment of school fees is an example of this type of call. Families often struggle to pay fees when they are due, but they can use the phone to mobile funds from other family members, and those with children at boarding schools (which is much more common than in Europe) can phone the school to negotiate payment dates. On the teledensity vs usage issue, the research had some interesting findings. Of those sampled living in areas with little or no service coverage, the proportion of those who make use of phones is 75% (the average across all three countries), only marginally less that for the sample as a whole. This clearly shows that people are prepared to travel to access phones. In order to gauge the monetary value associated with this travel, respondents were asked how much they spend on travel to access phones. Figures indicate that many people pay as much on travel as they do for the call, meaning that rural people without access to a local phone can effectively pay twice as much for a call. So for example in Ghana 60% of those living in areas with no service coverage pay as much on travel as the cost of calls ­ the equivalent of 30 to 70 cents). Travelling to make a call obviously takes up money and time, but a further issue that was often raised was that of the risks associated with travel. No doubt this is one of the factors lying behind the strong gender differences in travel to access phones evident in Uganda ­ amongst rural residents, 53% of men pay to access services, but only 23% of women pay, demonstrating how a lack of local phones can provide a real barrier to access by women. So if local phones are most important to rural people, in what ways can they be made more readily available? A previous article for Balancing Act (www.balancingact-africa.com/news/ back/balancing-act_147.html) described how MTN devised a strategy that was tailored to meet the conditions they found in Uganda, under which they entered into agreements with local entrepreneurs who act as ‘attendants’ for public phone booths. The article told the story of how mixed incentives can have both positive and negative affects for local people in terms of service and cost of calls, and went on to compare booths with commercial public access points such as phone shops, and described ways in which they can meet consumer needs and help stimulate demand. Whilst phone booths have traditionally played an important role in universal access policy (especially in Europe), their role is likely to be more limited in remote communities in Africa, especially now that mobile technology is available. Whilst some policy makers are still weighing up the mobile versus fixed line arguments, and their implications on licensing policy, it appears that rural consumers have already decided. If we consider Uganda as an example, private providers are clearly the most common means of public access, used by 63% of respondents (compared with 46% and 28% for booths and private handsets respectively). However, this group comprised not only telephone shops, but also friends and family, place of work, and private individuals with private handsets. Over 40% of respondents used mobile phones through friends and family and individuals. Although a further 24% of people used mobile phones through teleshops, they were not benefiting from the ‘mobile’ bit of the technology ­ their choice is based on the tariff structure ­ calls to the same network are cheaper, and in Uganda most people are on the mobile network. It should be noted, however, that the dominance of mobile technology in Uganda probably reflects availability (the second national operator chose to use GSM) as much as a preference for mobile phones. Nevertheless, one of the features that the research shows is a strong driver in phone use is the ability to make and receive calls anywhere using a mobile phone. Beeping (also known as flicking, or flashing) is the practice of calling a number but hanging up before the call is answered in the hope that the other party will call back and shoulder the cost of the call ­ effectively using mobile phones as pagers. This is clearly an important mechanism for reducing the cost of communications amongst rural and low income communities, and is only commonly facilitated on mobile networks. However, the clearest indication of the preference for mobile phones can be seen in how people intend to use phones in the near future. People were asked how likely they were to use phones (and access points) within the next three months, and the proportion of respondents registering a positive intention to use phones was compared with the proportion of people actually using phones at present. The results from all three countries were quite striking and consistent, demonstrating a strong preference for mobile phones rather than fixed line phones, and a preference for private phones rather than public access points. Given this preference for mobile service, especially in rural areas, the challenge for regulators and operators is to devise innovative ways of increasing the number of handsets available in remote rural areas ­ if phones are available, the evidence shows that people will use them. One of the conclusions is that rural service provision would appear to be more profitable than has previously been thought, so there is probably less need for subsidies to be made available through universal access schemes than has previously been thought. But can rural telephony really be profitable? Whilst technology continues to evolve (e.g. the cost of base stations is decreasing) the research also makes a number of suggestions of ways in which demand in rural areas can be stimulated: - Network operators could conduct research into types of tariff packages that could be used to encourage high users of public access facilities to upgrade to personal phone ownership, thereby increasing the number of handsets available. - Network operators should develop segmented approaches to developing rural markets. The research indicates that whilst some groups, particularly the well educated, are already familiar with the technology and making good use of phones as they wish, there are others amongst whom actual use does not correspond with potential demand (e.g. those of over 40 years old, and those with low levels of education) i.e. unmet demand exists. - telephone shops provide an important point of public access, especially in communities where phones are not widespread. However, prices tend to be inflated in order to cover overheads and profits. Telecoms operators may find it beneficial to provide support to teleshops, for example through bulk discounts (provided these are passed on to end-users), business skills training, training in basic maintenance, etc. - Some telephone shop owners charge a fee for incoming calls, but others can refuse to accept incoming calls, on the basis that they can only make money from outgoing calls. Telecoms operators should consider ways of sharing the revenue from calls terminating in telephone shops with local proprietors in order to encourage them to permit ‘beeping’ and similar arrangements for calls to be received at public access facilities. - The research indicates that users are deterred by the need to queue, and a lack of privacy when using public access facilities; these are related not only to each other, but also to the presence of an attendant at booths and telephone shops. Service providers can take steps to make the calling environment more attractive by paying close attention to user preferences in the design of public access facilities e.g. number of phones, design of booths. - Adopting the use of phones into the culture can be accelerated by stimulating an understanding of telephony, its advantages and costs. For example, campaigns to promote the advantages of phones, explain how they work and how much they cost would increase use, particularly in rural areas and amongst people with low education, low ICT awareness and those that have never used phones. - Network operators should raise quality of service standards by taking action to improve network quality and call completion rates. Quality of service, particularly call failure, was cited as a barrier to use by respondents in all three countries. This may be a particular problem in rural areas, where networks may be less resilient However, it is clear that potential traffic volumes are low in poor communities, and it remains to be seen just how far the private sector can push service provision profitably. The regulatory commission in Uganda have plans in place for a universal access programme to provide services to those areas that will not be covered by the national operators. A pilot phase is currently under way, so some interesting results should be available shortly. As soon as any research on telecoms use is published, it is almost certain to be out of date, and this research upon which this article is based is no exception. For example, during field visits one of the operators was running a campaign targeting business users, but the analysis then identified social chatting as a more common use for phones; however, on the final country visit a poster campaign was running which showed two young women friends having a laugh with each other over the phone. This example shows how, given the right regulatory and commercial environment, operators can respond to consumers and local needs. Other examples include the arrangements for attended booths referred to earlier, and the emergence of text back information services. Local entrepreneurs have also proven themselves able to adapt to changing market conditions. This can be seen in the informal ‘attendants’ at booths in Kampala who can offer you phone card units or a selection of mobile handsets to give you the best rate (or to give them the best profit), depending on which network you are calling. In villages with no electricity supply, entrepreneurs in trading centres (with electricity) have added the charging of mobile phones to the services they offer. Ways in which the rural poor have themselves proven able to make the most of phone services available to them is probably of more importance. Beeping is a good example of this. Although this practice was evident in other countries, it was only in Uganda that its importance was repeatedly raised in various focus groups, so only here that related questions were included in the survey. Over a third of respondents in Uganda regularly ‘beep’, and the success rate is remarkably high, at around 40% i.e. 4 out of 10 beeps will successfully result in a returned call. Beeping has become such a part of phone ‘culture’ in Uganda that it now appears to influence use of phones in general e.g. people who believe that beeping will allow them to communicate without being charged for a call will be more likely to use phones; similarly for those who believe that beeping enables people to get in touch in emergencies. Another example is the role of private individuals with mobile phones. When they provided the only means of access, people would pay a premium to make calls, but as soon as public phone booths were installed in the district (within travelling distance) and people could make calls at the nominal ‘rate’ the private mobile ‘market’ collapsed. It has been pointed out above that the use of private phones remains an important means of public access, but the difference is that this is no longer on a ‘for profit’ basis ­ it remains culturally acceptable to ask to use an individual’s mobile phone but this is now regarded more as a favour than a business transaction and the payment made by the user is only expected to cover the cost of the call. A recent example of consumer innovation is the use of air time as currency. Although this was not picked up by the research, it has since been reported that people are starting to use phone cards as a means of payment. Where people in different locations conduct a transaction, the purchaser can buy phone cards to the value of the transaction, and then pass the numbers in the scratch off panel to the vendor, who can punch them in and add the credit to his/her mobile. Findings from the research show what the poor have found out already ­ that telephones can be extremely useful. This is demonstrated by the remarkably high proportion of people who use of phones, even if only infrequently. It appears that infrequent users largely use phones for what can be termed ‘high priority’ calls, and whilst more intensive users also make these calls, the rest of their usage appears to be related to social (and business) matters. From a rural development point of view, even the ability to make occasional calls may have the potential to make a significant positive impact on many aspects of livelihoods. At the moment, however, this claim is largely based on anecdotal evidence; for example, financial management (both domestic and business) can be improved by mobilising funds e.g. from other members living in cities; access to education and health can be improved by mobilising funds when needed; social networks can be strengthened by ‘keeping in touch’; access to services can be improved e.g. phoning the vet; quality of infrastructure can be improved e.g. by reporting faults in electricity networks. Operating companies are aware of this potential, but it is unlikely that high priority calls alone would generate a commercial return on investment in service coverage. Donors and government ministries are aware of this potential, but decision makers repeatedly emphasised the need for further research to demonstrate the impact of telephones on rural poverty, and this is the subject of a current follow-up project, also being funded by the DFID. In the meantime, more and more of the poor will use phones as coverage continues to expand, and phones will become even more strongly embedded as part of local culture. The full range of reports and research documents are available on the project web site at: www.telafrica.org
VODACOM RENAMES ECONET NIGERIA AND SNAPS UP 51% OF DISTRIBUTOR SMARTCALLAs management contractor for Econet Wireless Nigeria, Vodacom is quickly putting its stamp on the operation. It has changed its name and bought control of one of the main pre-paid voucher channels it uses. Last week Vodacom announced that it had snapped up 51 percent of prepaid cellphone voucher distributor Smartcall for an undisclosed amount. Vodacom said the transaction had already been given a nod by the Competition Commission. "The acquisition is in line with our strategy to gain control of our distribution chain," said Mthobi Tyamzashe, Vodacom’s group executive of corporate affairs. Smartphone SP, which is trading as Smartcall, has 2.72 million registered prepaid subscribers. Tyamzashe would not comment on market talk that Vodacom was also acquiring Nashua Mobile, a subsidiary of Reunert. Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited, has officially become V-Network Nigeria Limited, trading under Vodacom International network brand and has registered the Vodacom trademark in the country. Apparently Vodacom Nigeria Limited could not be used in Nigeria by Vodacom because someone else had registered the name with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) sometime in 1990. This Day reportsthat the company is trying to negotiate with the registered owner of the Vodacom Nigeria Limited company but pending the outcome of the negotiations, the company remains V-Network Nigeria Limited. (SOURCES: Business Report, This Day, Odili) CELTEL INVESTS USD30 MILLION IN SIERRE LEONECeltel’s managing editor, David Hunter announced last week that it will be investing USD30 million in Sierre Leone. He also disclose that Celtel has now secured a licence to operate in neighbouring Liberia. The company in Sierre Leone will employ 150 Sierra Leoneans. 2.5 million users are connected to Celtel and Port Loko, Kambia , Lunsar and the Freetown peninsular will soon join that number. Hunter described the reasons for the change in the company’s logo. In order to give it what the officials describe as, " a pan Africanist" outlook, ‘Lets talk’ has been changed to, "Making life better" and the primary colours of red and yellow have replaced the white and blue that were first associated with the company. (SOURCE: Concord Times) NAMIBIA TELECOM BUYS CSG SYSTEMS BILLING TECHNOLOGYTelecom Namibia has chosen US based provider CSG Systems to supply its billing systems solution. Based on IBM eServer iSeries (AS400) platform, CSG® ICMS offers operators the choice of a multi-service (wireline, wireless, cable television, data services and internet services), or a single line business system. With pre-integrated modules that handle virtually every aspect of the customer care and billing process, operators can reduce cost of operations, capture new revenues faster and increase customer satisfaction. Telecom Namibia, which operates the largest digital telecommunication network in Namibia and has effectively used the ICMS platform since 1998, will use all of the modules within the ICMS platform to support its wireline, data and Internet subscribers. (SOURCE: Namibian Economy) SWAZILAND’S SPTC ACHIEVES 12% NET GROWTH IN CONNECTIONSThe Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications achieved a 12% net growth in connections compared to the 5.9% last year acorrding to SPTC MD Vusi Mkhumane . "The favourable growth rate is a result of high investment in the network as well as customer friendly credit policies adopted as part of the transformation process," said Mkhumane. In terms of the targeted connections of 7700 lines, Mkhumane stated that this represents an 83.6% achievement of target by the Corporation. According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors Busa Xaba, Telecommunication network rollout also saw an increase of 13.7% to 38 368 lines from the 33 739 lines recorded in the year 2002. (SOURCE: Liquid Africa) IN BRIEF- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has asked mobile network operators to install the software that will make stolen phones unusable once their loss has been reported. According to a report in Odili at present an average of 600 handsets are stolen daily. - Last week South Africa’s Competition Commission found there was insufficient evidence to support Orion Telecom’s allegations that Telkom has been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. The commission decided not to refer the matter to the Competition Tribunal. - The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has once again commissioned Telkom to provide a range of voice and data services for the 14 April general election. Nombulelo Moholi, Telkom’s chief sales and marketing officer, says Telkom has implemented a WAN to relay statistics from voting stations around the country to the IEC’s National Results Operations Centre in Gauteng. - Sun Microsystems has introduced key new products, programs and partnerships for operators, handset manufacturers, application developers and content providers to capitalise on the growing demand for advanced mobile data services. Sean O’Hare, Java Systems Engineer at Sun Microsystems SA notes that Java technology is making mobile data services happen. "From the data centre to the device to the latest mobile Java Web services, Java is the preferred platform for open and secure mobile services. Sun is providing solutions for the entire mobile ecosystem - infrastructure products, handset implementations and development platforms, enabling operators, device manufacturers and developers to securely connect everything and everyone on the planet to the network."
TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- An ITU study group meeting in Yaounde focused on how its members might collaborate with a view to fixing rates at the lowest level possible. Within this context, it is expected that experts who are meeting in Yaounde would address African problems related to calculation of cost and prices and make recommendations to telecommunication standardization sector. - City of Cape Town public servants are not evasive or bluntly ignoring phone calls. It’s just that their cellphones have gone silent. City Manager Wallace Mgoqi has confirmed that the big switch to the city’s new cellphone service provider, Cell C, was "in abeyance" after alleged irregularities in the tender award process came to light. This means that many officials and staff who had expected to switch to Cell C from April 1 have seen their phones go silent. But Mgoqi said there were contingency plans to keep officials in touch in emergency and disaster situations. While the city’s contract with Cell C was "still in place", pending the results of an investigation into the tender process, people’s individual contracts with their former service providers had ended. The investigation is expected to end within a few days. - Angolan mobile provider Movicel has launched promotional pre-paid cards of 125, 250 and 500 UTTs. If you buy a card of one value, you’re automatically entitled to a card of the same vale free. So for example if you buy a 500 UTT card, you get another 500 UTT card for free. This offer does not apply to the 125 UTT card value. - Some unscrupulous South African employees are defrauding companies by bypassing switchboard restrictions through Telkom’s 1023 AutoComplete service, according to Communications Users Association of SA (CUASA) spokesman, Ray Webber. - Uganda Telecom Limited (utl) has launched two new products aimed at cutting calling costs on its network, the commercial director, Hans Paulsen, said during a press conference last week. The two new profiles, mango jazz and mango Xtra, will trade under the new tag line ‘mango choices for your lifestyle.’ "The mango jazz seed pack will be available at all utl shops and chosen outlets countrywide and will cost sh15,000 and will be loaded with sh4,000 free juice and 40 free SMs," Paulsen said. He said all customers can ‘jazz’ for as low as sh180 during off-peak times.
BAD WEEK FOR 419b SCAMMERS: ONE JAILED IN UK AND THREE ON TRIAL IN LAGOSIt was a bad week for 419 scammers as three went on trial in Lagos and another (in an unrelated case) was jailed in the UK. The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned three persons for conspiracy and fraud related offences at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja Judicial Division. The trio, Edwin Obi, Kenneth Metu, and Kingsley Dike a.k.a. Solomon Jaja were last week at the Ikeja High Court, before Justice Olubunmi Oyewole; charged with conspiracy, contrary to Section 8 (a) and 13 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 13 of 1995 as amended by Act No. 62 of 1999. The three accused persons, according to Mr. Seidu Atte, prosecution counsel; had sometime in July, 2003, in Lagos, conspired to obtain from one Joseph Ani (complainant) the sum of one million and seventy thousand naira by false pretences. They were alleged to have, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,070,000 from Ani, between the months of July and October, 2003 in Lagos, by falsely representing to him that they were capable of producing United States dollars from a piece of paper by washing it with a chemical substance. Meanwhile the Chief prosecution witness in the USD254 million advance fee fraud, involving five Nigerians, namely Chief Emmanuel Nwude, Mrs. Amaka Anajemba, Chief Emmanuel Ofulue, Mr. Obum Osakwe and Chief Nzeribe Edeh Okoli, last week raised the alarm, alleging that hired killers were after his life. Dr. Obev Uke, who said he was the lead prosecution witness, having reported the financial crime against a Brazilian businessman to the police, stated on phone last night that he was in hiding, after he narrowly escaped being killed by gunmen, who stormed his Enugu home last Monday. A Nigerian based in Wales, United Kingdom has been jailed for 20 months by a Welsh court, for tricking people into handing over money and personal data in expectation of receiving a huge windfall. Peter Okoeguale, 33, who was arrested in Wales while in the process of committing one such advance fee fraud, ‘419’, scam, also faces deportation from the UK at the end of his sentence. When arrested, Okoeguale was found in possession of headed notepapers and forged documents, all created for the purposes of duping gullible victims and making them believe he was in charge of a large fortune which needed to be laundered through a Western bank account. (SOURCE: This day) CÔTE D’IVOIRE’S CNITG SIGNS DATA AGREEMENT WITH GSAMThe Secretary-General of Cote D’Ivoire’s CNITG signed a data agreement with GSAM Holdings that covers economic information that will be made available over the internet. There will be four different levels of usage going from free to pay-for usage. LIRE EN FRANCAIS APRES 15.00 GMT, 13 APRIL: SA’S INTERNET SOLUTIONS GOES MOBILE WITH MTNInternet Solutions (IS) has been appointed an MTN Wireless Data Provider (WDP) and Network Service Provider (NSP). The company says that this will allow it to offer cost-effective and secure services directly between the end-user and the corporate customer. Says Richard Vester, GM of the newly formed Mobility Solutions division at IS: "We have a great working relationship with MTN and they have supported us wholeheartedly in setting up this new service. We have formed a new business unit that can offer our customers a full range of mobility products and services. As we go forward, we’ll announce several new solutions that are tailored for our varying customer needs." The company states that it currently has point-of-sale (POS) solutions that allow retailers to directly deduct transactions via GPRS modems. Because data is transferred at rates around 44kbps and is "always on", charges incurred are considerably less than with traditional methods. GPRS and HSCSD are seen as the key drivers in mobile data communications, and IS has embraced these technologies as long-term strategies for Mobility Solutions. These technologies, the company says, enable full VPN and Internet functionality by allowing internetworking between VPN or the Internet and the new GSM networks. It notes that any service that is used - such as FTP, Web browsing, e-mail and application data transfer - is now available over the IS infrastructure, securely and cost-effectively, via GPRS. Stephen van der Merwe, GM of MTN Sales, says: "We see IS as an ideal partner. We have an excellent relationship with IS and hope to continue to work together to provide innovative and market-leading mobile solutions." (SOURCE: ICT World) IN BRIEF- The Burkina Faso international internet connection has returned to normal and all seems well for now.
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: CONFERENCE TO PROMOTE THE USE OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARELast week there was an Open Source Conference in Cote D’Ivoire that was addressed by Christian Roland of Assic on the theme:"Les logiciels libres et les collectivités territoriales". Didier Kla of the l’Association Ivoirienne pour Linux et les Logiciels Libres (AI3L) argued that Open Source as a concept made a great deal of sense for developing countries. LIRE EN FRANCAIS APRES 15.00 GMT, 13 APRIL: KENYAN GOVT LOOKS TO GET RID OF OLD EQUIPMENT, SAYS CABINET ICT ADVISERThe Kenyan Government looks set to upgrade its computer equipment as part of an e-government strategy that will start in June this year, according to Peter Gakunu, ICT adviser to the Kenyan Cabinet. This is part of a four-year, three-phase project budgeted to cost Sh2.5 billion. However, according to a brief to information and communication industry players by the information and communication technology (ICT) adviser to the cabinet, Mr Peter Gakunu, skills in the government are inadequate for effective implementation of the strategy. "ICT skills in government are inadequate indicating serious capacity problems for effective roll-out of the E-government," Mr Gakunu says. Mr Gakunu, a career civil servant, was previously the economic secretary in the treasury before he moved to become the adviser to the cabinet on the roll-out of E-government. The first phase is intended to ensure that the infrastructure to implement the strategy is in place. The second phase is supposed to ensure that government ministries and departments are linked up through the internet by June 2007. By the end of the phase the state should be able to communicate within itself. Here it will be possible to manage the pay rolls and finances of the government using the system. The third phase will see the state open itself to the public and be able to provide services in what is referred as "government portal". An electronic voting and ID acquisition system is expected to be completed by the end of year 2007 when the next General Elections are due. The new system is supposed to ease service provision and bring about "digital democracy such as opinion polls, electronic voting, electronic voter register scrutiny and inter-government interaction," says Mr Gakunu. However, he laments that most computers in use in government offices have old processors, and most are older than Pentium III processors, that is, with processing speeds of below 800 MHz. "Most are not equipped with up to-date software." There is also the problem of procurement of computers. "Standards are not strictly adhered to in procuring computers and software," Mr Gakunu says of the constraints within which the state is being forced to work. In order to achieve the objectives of the project, the state intends to build consensus and have a common understanding across Government, hold sensitisation workshops with Permanent Secretaries and ministerial ICT Committees, hold a national Convention on E-Government, among other things. Just last week an ICT conference was held at Safari Park, where the participants expressed disappointment at the slow pace at which the government was moving with regard to putting an ICT policy in place. In order to roll out the programme, the Government has come up with a cabinet committee chaired by the Minister of State for Provincial Administration security, Chris Murungaru. The committee comprises the Ministers for Finance, Tourism and Information, Education, and Transport and Communication. It is charged with the work of overseeing the implementation of the E-Government strategy. There is also a committee of all Permanent Secretaries and accounting officers, which is supposed to coordinate the implementation of the E-government initiative. It also provides the institutional support and ownership needed to marshal resources and manpower to expedite the implementation of E-Government. A directorate of E-government has also been initiated to provide leadership, facilitate coordination and drive the E-Government process. Mr Gakunu says in the ICT brief that it "provides coordination and advises on issues pertaining to electronic business, telecommunications and technology; plans and develops strategies and directs government wide activities to support other agencies; and participates in the analysis, monitoring and evaluation of E-government issues, policies and legislation." The ministerial committees are supposed to review the various ICT policy initiatives in the Ministries supporting what is being referred to as "the Ministerial Policy Mandate" and identify technical and institutional gaps. It is further meant to undertake an audit of ICT capacity and recommend the ways of improving the situation. The institutional structure of achieving the E-government strategy is such that the cabinet committee is at the top and is advised by committees of permanent secretaries, who in turn technical receive advice from the Directorate of E-government that draws strength from the National Communications Services and the Government Information Technology Service. The directorate also works above individual ministerial ICT committees of which each has an ICT unit. Among the other objectives of the strategy is to enable electronic procurement of goods to enable suppliers to do transactions with the government over the internet and electronic registration of suppliers. Mr Gakunu says the strategy will see to the introduction of "e-talking to citizens, that is, providing citizens with details of public sector activities and information such as the Kenya Gazette, laws and regulations through websites; enhancing listening to citizens, that is, increasing the input of citizens into public sector decisions and actions." It will enhance E-policing so that a traffic policeman could access details of a car or driver in the event of an accident. E-voting is intended to ensure that there is no congestion at polling halls and that vote counting is done quickly. An electronic payment system for utility bills for water and electricity will also be part of the new strategy. However, in the brief the security issues are noted. It recognises that the way business is transacted, government operates, and national defence is conducted is increasingly relying on an interdependent network of information technology infrastructures ­ otherwise called cyberspace ­ where there are security risks of potential attacks from legitimate clients, government official users, and from hostile outsiders, criminals, terrorists and foreign spy agencies. (SOURCE: The Nation) SA’S DIREQLEARN LAUNCHES OPENLAB3-EDU FOR SCHOOLSDireqLearn has announced the South African release of the OpenLab3-edu computing solution at the Innovation in Education, Schools ICT Conference, held at SACS, Cape Town, 5-7 April 2004. OpenLab3 is a thin-client, diskless computer centre solution, based on Linux Terminal Server technology. The deployment follows two previous releases of DireqOpenLab, since 2002, deployed in over 80 sites throughout South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The system allows for the use of varied computer technologies, ranging from obsolete to state-of-the-art, in a diskless workstation configuration, designed specially to suit the education environment. The workstations boot off a pre-programmed network interface card, which circumvents the many technical problems such as corrupt file systems and failures typically associated with local hard disk drives in school computer labs. Computer facility security is a major problem that is overcome with this solution. All the workstations are diskless and therefore "softwareless". Should these workstations be stolen, they have low resale value on the black market. The functionality and power of this system resides almost completey on the server, a powerful yet well-priced PC, with enough RAM and hard drive space to meet user and workstation needs. Security requirements and cost are reduced because it is only the server that needs to be fully secured, as that is where all functionality resides. "You will be surprised at the new lease on life given to older PCs through this solution. Old PCs can perform as new, enabling schools with limited resources to bridge the Digital Divide", says Denis Brandjes, Group MD of DireqLearn. OpenLab has been developed as a comprehensive educational solution. The EduPack includes LearnThings, the award-winning educational software, covering most learning areas, across all grades; DireqPortal, which is a treasure-chest of educational content offerings; and DireqCafe, an Internet Cafe management systems, through which schools can offer Internet connectivity to the community, to assist towards sustainability. Brandjes adds, "The solution, based on the Open Source Software model, comes bundled with a range of relevant productivity applications including office applications software and more. OpenLab3 has a look and feel just like that of other graphical desktops. Server-based, browser-based, platform-independent, specialist educational software and a range of applications ensure that the tools are available for an effective and meaningful educational experience". DireqLearn offers a number of attractive OpenLab alternatives and can tailor the solution to the needs and budget of a particular school. The base distribution can be downloaded for free from the Internet, or purchased at the cost of distribution. The EduPack, Installation, Hardware and Training, and Annual Support can be purchased as stand-alone modules or as a complete solution. "It is, simply put, the most cost effective computer labs for schools, with no compromise on the quality" says Brandjes. For more information: www.direqlearn.org, or contact Juan Spies @ +27-11-339-4322 or juan@direqlearn.org IN BRIEF- NICE Systems, a provider of multimedia digital recording solutions, applications and related professional services for business interaction management, and Dimension Data, a leading global technology company providing solutions and services that optimise and manage the performance of IT infrastructures to enable business to build competitive advantage, last week announced they have signed a global distribution agreement. - AMF, a supplier of bakery systems in the US, has chosen Johannesburg-based Technology Concepts over other international suppliers to consult on the re-engineering of its systems supporting sales management and proposal generation. "We are delighted to have won the AMF deal against some of the top software vendors in the world," says Wayne de Nobrega, Technology Concepts MD. - Oracle SA will hold an Open Day to showcase the company’s business application software set, Oracle E-Business Suite, in Midrand on 6 May. The event is designed to give members of the business community a full view of all of Oracle’s business software. Attendance at the Open Day is free, and visitors can pre-register at http://www.oracle.com/start. The password is zaopenday. - Technology outsourcing company T-Systems will soon impose a round of redundancies in a campaign to slash R77m off its annual operating costs. Its 950 staff are all being evaluated, and although no number has been put on the likely job losses it will be substantial as the company aims to cut its salary bill by up to R55m. - The Uganda national ICT Association was inaugurated on April 5th and that for Tanzania on April on April 8th. These associations have been set up with the support of USAID through its IT Mentors Alliance (ITMA) Program (see the ITMA link on the CSK website http://www.csk-online.org ).
MOROCCO TO FLOAT MAROC TELECOM STAKE IN 2004Morocco has launched an international tender to select an adviser for the flotation this year of a stake in state-controlled telecoms operator Maroc Telecom, a government minister said on Friday. "We want to float a stake of Maroc Telecom before the end of the year," Finance and Privatisation Minister Fathallah Oualalou said last week. He said no decision had been made yet on whether the flotation would be on the Casablanca bourse or elsewhere. Oualalou did not reveal the size of the stake involved in the initial public offering or at what stage of the year it would take place. The state plans to relinquish equity control over Maroc Telecom with the sale in the second half of 2004 of a 16 percent stake to France’s Vivendi Universal (EAUG.PA). Vivendi has said it would pay up to 700 million euros ($862 million) for the 16 percent. It bought 35 percent of Maroc Telecom in 2000 for USD2.2 billion. The transaction allowed it to hold 51 percent of voting rights and derive much-needed benefit from the company’s profits. Maroc Telecom posted a net profit of 4.0 billion dirhams in 2003, up 8.5 percent from 2002. Its capital stands at 8.8 billion dirhams. (SOURCE: Liquid Africa) GHANA’S KAN DAPAH SAYS GOVT STILL IN DISPUTE WITH TELEKOM MALAYSIAThe Ghanaian government is still locked in conflict with Telekom Malaysia. Although it has indicated its willingness to pay USD50 million for the 15% of shares the company wanted to purchase, it still cannot agree a price on the remaining 30%. In an interview with Public Agenda Last Friday, Minister Kan Dapah said the USD50 million was a loan and therefore it is fair to pay them back."We have not said we are not going to pay the 50 million, what we are in disagreement is the valuation of the 30 percent shares Telekom Malaysia is demanding." Kan Dapaah said the recent press release from Telekom Malaysia gives an erroneous impression that the government was in contention over the payment of the USD50 million to the company. The release also said that the government of Ghana owes a further USD124m (which includes interest on the USD50m). But Kan-Dapaah said this figure is unreasonable and not fair since it is too much. According to Telekom Malaysia, " efforts to reach an amicable solution have long been rebuffed by the GoG. As a result, Telekom Malaysia has been forced to pursue legal action, and is now seeking full compensation of USD174m for the dispossession of its investments and the losses it has incurred". Explaining the issues, the Minister said in the year 2000, the company gave USD50 million to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to buy an additional 15 percent shares, but the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government turned this offer down when it assumed office. He said later the company decided that the USD50 million should become a loan to Ghana and the two parties came to an agreement to sit down and sort out the terms of payment. Later Telekom Malaysia decided to sell its 30 percent shares in GT, which it had purchased at the price of USD38 million, and therefore went for a valuator by name ANZ to value the whole of GT. At the end of the day, the value arrived by ANZ was USD286 million, which meant that Telecom Malaysia claim in GT would be about USD86 million. Kan-Dapaah said that the government also took out a valuation using PriceWaterhouse who came out with a lower figure of USD106 million. Therefore the government asked the two advisors to come together and reconcile their figures. Upon which the Australian Company, ANZ reviewed it figure to USD120 million. He explained that Telekom Malaysia refused this new figure, sacked their valuator and sent the matter to international arbitration, which is to be resolved in The Hague, Netherlands in July 2004. So although the Ghanaian Government is ahead on points, legal action at the Hague is likely to be costly and there is no guarantee that it will get the result it wants. Telekom Malaysia is the richer party and can therefore afford to have its day in Court. (SOURCE: All Africa) IN BRIEF- ICT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix, has announced its annual financial results for the year ended 29 February 2004. The company says that revenue has decreased by 1% to R764-million, compared to the corresponding period, affecting EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and goodwill amortised), earnings and headline earnings per share, which are down 2%, 16% and 10% respectively. According to the company, net asset value per share has increased 17% to 97 cents, and tangible net asset value per share 27% to 81 cents compared to the corresponding period. Cash generated from operations was R28-million, resulting in R131-million cash on hand with no interest-bearing debt.
PINK AVIATION FIGHTS GHANAIAN AIR FORCE DEAL GONE BAD WITH A WEB SITEPink Aviation, a European skydiving company rues the day that it got involved in a deal with the Ghanaian Air Force over four scrapped Skyvans. It’s paid its money and not had its goods. This is precisely the kind of deal gone wrong that gives many parts of Africa a bad name in business. But Pink are not taking it lying down. They’ve launched a web site to let the world know what happened and cheekily described it as the official web site of the Ghanaian Air Force. The Website can be found on the link www.ghanaairforce.com, where Pink Aviation tells of near robbery of their investment while doing business in Ghana. A very high level European business group has already written to Mr. Thomas Lewetz, CEO of Pink Aviation, saying "you have lost a significant amount of money in what appears to be a business deal gone purposely bad in a third world country, a predicament I certainly did not expect from a country/government such as Ghana." The opening paragraph of the website states that, "This site has been established to protect aircraft buyers and us when dealing with the Ghana Armed Forces. Ghana Air Force does not own any more Short’s Skyvan SC7, they have been sold to Pink Aviation." According to the website, the Ghana Air Force grounded four of the Skyvans with tail numbers G450, G454 and G455 because of lack of maintenance and spare parts. "The Skyvans have not been flown since years, experiencing severe corrosion and lack of performed mandatory inspections and modification as well as maintenance and preservation. "The two airplanes have severe structural damage on the nose attachment bulkhead. Engines have been sitting on the floor in the hanger in Takoradi for years, unpreserved, unwrapped, with animals living inside," the company noted. Continuing, Pink Aviation said that the propellers were scrapped due to an airworthiness directive by the manufacturer Hartzell in 1996 and the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) (AD96-18-14), adding that most spare spares have been sitting in the stores since they were bought 30 years ago. On that website, Pink Aviation rightly stated that it was based on these conditions that Ghana Air Force decided to sell these airplanes as scrap and went ahead to put it on international public tender. "We, Pink Aviation Services operating Skyvans since 1998 placed a bid. The Ghana Air Force has accepted this bid including provisos, and they requested us to transfer the money to their account in Ghana. The money was transferred, the receipt acknowledged and a document from the Ghana Armed Forces was issued on February 4, 2004 confirming that the ownership had been transferred to Pink Aviation Services. "Following a notification of Wink’s win (of the bid), Pink Aviation Services proceeded with investments necessary to ferry the aircraft home; incurring large financial burdens for labor and heavy expenses associated with new parts and extensive engineering costs," Pink Aviation said. The Skydiving company confirmed that currently all the 4 Skyvans have been registered in Europe in the name of Pink Aviation with the tail numbers OE-FDP (SH1929), OE-FDL (SH1930) and OE-FDI (SH1932) and OE-FDX (SH1933). Continuing with the story on the website, Pink Aviation said they started maintenance work on SH1930 and SH1932 to make them ready for a ferry flight to Klatovy-Tunisia where further refurbishment was expected to take place, adding that as these two Skyvans became ready for ferrying, the Ghana Armed Forces issued a letter stating that the sale of the four Skyvans was cancelled and may be put again on tender. This, according to Pink Aviation, is not even acceptable even under Ghanaian law. They added that beside the money they paid to the Ghana Armed Forces, as purchase price for the cost of scraps, they invested close to $80,000 directly into the aircraft, adding, "We purchased parts such as propellers and engines worth $750,000 which had already been paid. "Pink Aviation lawyers in Ghana replied by a letter dated February 27, 2004 that the cancellation is not acceptable. The Ghana Air Force did not reply to this and neither paid back any money for the maintenance work done by Pink Aviation on the airplanes, nor the money paid for the airplanes. Pink Aviation noted that the Ghana Armed Forces was trying to reverse a completed process made under terms and again, place the exact same aircraft under a new tender without consideration or compensation to Pink Aviation. "Our Ghanaian lawyer as well as the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice told us that, that this was not lawful," Pink Aviation said. The Chronicle has not confirmed this with the Justice Ministry. Meanwhile, speaking in an interview with The Chronicle last week, the Minister of Defence, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, said he only got to know of the deal at a certain stage and that as the Minister, he thought he should have been fully informed about the transaction. According to the Minister, concerns had been raised that the aircrafts had been sold cheaper than they should have been, so he had ordered an investigation into the matter. In a separate interview with the Airforce Commander AVM E.A. Mantey, he said the Skyvans were bought about 32 years ago until they were grounded by the Air Force some years back because of "uneconomical maintainable costs" and also the fact that they had become old and were breaking down frequently. He added that spare parts for the Skyvans were hard to come by due to budgetary constraints. The Chronicle has learnt that Shorts, manufacturers of spare parts for Skyvans are no longer in operation. AVM Mantey said the Ghana Airforce declared the four aircraft "unserviceable" so a board of survey was convened in September 2002 to start the process of boarding the aircraft. Based on the recommendations of the board, the Ghana Armed Forces advertised internationally for the sale of the aircraft in December 2003 by auction in-situ. According to the Air Force commander, Pink Aviation won the bid at an auction price of USD42,000 but it was later realized that the valuation carried out by the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces Logistics Unit was not properly done because the auction price did not include the cost of the spares available. But all the GAF documents regarding the sale of the aircrafts indicated the scraps were being sold with spare parts and unserviceable engines. The Air Force Commander said in that circumstance, the scraps were revalued at USD240,000, adding that the boarded aircraft were to be consigned out of the country as scrap and not refurbished aircraft to be flown out of the country. Following this development, Wing Commander Mantey said the winner of the bid was called for renegotiations of the contract price. Meanwhile, Pink Aviation has refused the renegotiation offer from GAF, saying that after 18 years of being in the aviation industry, they are honestly convinced that the price they offered for the scrap was very reasonable and that if the Ghana Armed Forces can sell the aircraft to anybody at the price they are quoting, then they got an idiot. GAF has since prevented Pink Aviation from gaining access to the aircraft, but the fact remains that the aircraft has been legally sold to Pink Aviation and registration of the aircrafts is currently in the name of Pink Aviation. (SOURCE: Ghanaian Chronicle) SA’S CYBERHOST GHOST TO WOO INVESTORSThe ghost of Cyberhost seems set to rise from the grave. The once-defunct Internet service provider (ISP) today applied for the lifting of the suspension of its JSE shares and claims to be ready to trade again. However, Cybersmart, the current owner of Cyberhost’s domain name and which bought part of its client base and servers in February 2002, is not so sure it can make the comeback it wants to. The current resurrection of Cyberhost began last weeek, when its results were published on the JSE’s Stock Exchange News Service. The results state it has reached a compromise with its largest creditor to whom it owed about R2.6 million. The list of creditors included Telkom and Internet Solutions. It was this debt that broke Cyberhost’s back more than two years ago after it became entangled in a number of failed projects that included pay-per-use Internet kiosks and a buying spree of a number of small ISPs. Cyberhost’s shares were suspended after the company became insolvent and its customer database and other assets were seized via a court order. They were eventually sold to Cybersmart for a consideration of about R400 000 in a deal brokered by a former Cyberhost director. The results statement published on Tuesday covers three years from December 2001 to December 2003. During this period the company was not trading, but it states that due to the compromise agreement with the creditors, it has managed to "earn" R2.6 million in terms of Section 311 of the Companies Act. Cyberhost CEO Mark Weetman says the company plans to allow another software company to reverse list. "The one thing we have is an assessed tax loss that we don’t want to lose as it is very useful." Meanwhile, Cybersmart’s owners are not amused. "I just hope people don’t confuse us with Cyberhost. We have built up a good business over the past three years and we don’t want that compromised. I am hoping that Cyberhost will consider its future actions very carefully," says Cybersmart senior partner Laurie Fialkov. (SOURCE: IT Web) IN BRIEF- South African online retailer Kalahari.net has teamed up with international model Minkie van der Westhuizen and You/Huisgenoot magazines to allow people to donate books to needy schools online.The campaign is in support of World Book Day on 23 April and aims to provide much-needed books to schools, institutions and libraries that cannot afford to buy their own. - Tunisia’s l’Institut National de Normalisation et de Propriété Intellectuelle (Innorpi) launched its web site in three different languages last week. - The Science and Developments Network (SciDev.Net)’s latest edition of their sub-Saharan newsletter is now available (http://www.scidev.net/africanewsletter/apr04.pdf). The newsletter includes news from SciDev.Net’s network in Africa and a piece on NEPAD’s efforts in central Africa (‘Can science heal the scars of war’). The newsletter also gives details of useful networking opportunities and lists events in the region. There is also the chance to win a Freeplay wind-up radio with our photography competition. (See http://www.scidev.net/africanewsletter/apr04.pdf.) For more information or to receive print copies of the newsletter, contact marketing@scidev.net
BANKS BOOST CRM WITH UNISERVER SMSOrion Telecom’s Uniserver SMS product, a solution aimed at the insurance and financial services sectors, is being adopted by several players in these fields, including Nedbank. The Uniserver SMS offering is an extension of customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives, allowing targeted messages that provide accurate and relevant information directly to clients. "Uniserver SMS delivers SMS messages directly to GSM networks from the originator’s premises without having to connect to a central bureau system - providing improved security for sensitive customer information," says Ian Purves, business development manager at Orion. "With a built-in Web-server and database where all records are stored and from where all reports are generated, the solution gives businesses complete control of their SMS marketing and communication campaigns." He says that while e-mail solutions may work for clients who have PCs, they effectively ignore the far larger market of mobile users. Purves states that effective SMS communication must not fall into the bracket of spam, but must rather add value in the corporate communication mix as an integral component of a customer relationship management strategy. Nedbank’s Treasury Division has begun enhancing its communications with clients by implementing the Uniserver SMS solution. "Uniserver SMS will become an invaluable additional communication channel, allowing us to provide an improved service to our clients," says Moss Brickman, head of international derivatives at Nedbank’s Treasury Division. "The trading environment often depends on split-second timing. With this product we will be able to notify clients immediately when certain levels are reached or breached, while we will also be able to inform clients by beeping them if a particular customer system is down." He says Nedbank also plans to expand its use of the service to send clients important financial information, such as indices at the end of the trading day and notification of successful trades. South African life assurance company, Clientèle Life, has also used Orion’s service to streamline the operation of its systems. As the company provides its services to the entry-level of the insurance market, keeping costs to a minimum is key to its ability to provide affordable services, it says. "Clientèle uses Uniserver SMS to advise clients when their debit orders are due, allowing them to ensure that sufficient funds are available in their accounts, which increases our collections, as well as saving the client money by avoiding returned debit orders," says Fergus McCloskey, executive director at Optimise IT, the company’s in-house technology department. "Furthermore, the system allows Clientèle to notify clients of updates or changes to policy details, and advise clients of new products or services, and has done a great deal to assist in keeping costs down. "SMS communication has surpassed e-mail, voice and traditional mail as the channel of choice for millions of South Africans, and Uniserver SMS equips businesses to take advantage of the enormous potential of this medium to keep in contact with clients and employees, says Purves. (SOURCE: IT Web)
PEOPLE * The Director-General of ART, the Senegalese regulator said in Mutations at the end of March:"The liberalisation of the telecoms sector has already been launched. And it’s not an option for the Government to prolong the monopoly of SONATEL. It put a time on this monopoly finishing and we’re going to be making more precise (what this means) in the days to come." The date? 19 July 2004. Already there are signs that SONATEL is lobbying for an extension of its monopoly. * John Musajjakawa, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) in-charge of information, communication and technology (ICT), said last week that ICT is one of the ways the Government is planning to curb corruption."If the new system is developed, you fill passport forms on-line and pensioners will get their pay on-line. It will be hard to ask for a bribe," he said. * "Softstart enables software entrepreneurs to get the most of their partnership with Oracle, a relationship which Softstart facilitates," says Ben Zaaiman, CEO of Softstart. "It gives them an introduction to the enterprise space in particular." Oracle has announced its sponsorship of Softstart, the technology and business incubator designed to enable small, micro and medium enterprises in the South African ICT sector to develop their technology innovations to full commercial potential. Softstart helps software entrepreneurs grow sustainable businesses. Through its partnership with Oracle, it offers entrepreneurs exposure to a range of resources and contacts in the industry. For more information, please contact Ben Zaaiman, CEO of Softstart, on (012) 349 2355.
EVENTSA LOW COST SOLUTION TO INTERNET IN AFRICA? (ITU TELECOM AFRICA EVENT) Special Workshop on National and Pan-African IXPs Sending emails from one address in Africa to another usually involves a trip to Europe or North America before the message is delivered, adding costs and limiting quality. African countries are now establishing national Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) to keep local Internet traffic local. What lessons have been learned from the first national IXPs on the continent? What if the idea were expanded to connect national IXPs into a regional African IXP? Would a pan-African IXP further reduce costs? This workshop unites the key stakeholders that have been involved both in national and regional African IXPs. Could your country be the next to join this cost-saving trend? Chairman/Moderator Mr. Russell Southwood, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Balancing Act, United Kingdom Presentations: MAURITIUS CYBERCITY SELECTED AS VENUE FOR ACT 2004 (7-9 SEPTEMBER) The sixth annual African Computing & Telecommunications Summit (ACT 2004) is to be held at the impressive new CyberTower being constructed in Mauritius as the key element of the island state’s drive to become an ICT development hub for Africa and the Indian Ocean. AITEC has been invited by the Act ICT Industry Alliance of Mauritius to hold the next ACT Summit in Mauritius due to the attendance it will attract from ICT professionals and managers from throughout Africa, as well as other international participation, thus promoting the country’s position as a supplier of ICT services and expertise. The theme of the Summit will be "Developing Partnerships to Mainstream Africa’s ICT Industry." Welcoming AITEC’s decision to hold the Summit in Mauritius, Viv Padayatchy, Chairman of the Association of Internet Service Providers (FAIR) and Secretary of the Mauritius ICT Alliance, called on industry counterparts across Africa to use the Summit as an opportunity to pool knowledge and experience to promote the continent on the international stage. "Although some of us may land up competing for the same outsourcing work, the potential market is huge and expanding. We will all benefit from increased skills levels across the region, as well as improved perceptions of the continent’s ICT capacity. I’m confident that companies attending ACT 2003 will find that co-operation and alliances, rather than competition, will be the order of the day." AITEC will hold the event in partnership with Publi-Promo, the leading exhibition company in Mauritius. The following will be the key streams within the Summit: Ø Business Process Outsourcing Forum The ACT Summit has been held in the UK, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria in previous years. Over 2,000 African ICT professionals, managers, resellers, innovators and policy-makers have benefited from the Summit’s intensive knowledge-sharing platform. For further details of ACT 2004, contact: AFRINIC’S FIRST PUBLIC POLICY MEETING (23-24 MAY 2004, DAKAR) As you know, AfriNIC is organizing its first public policy meeting, AfriNIC-I in Dakar (Senegal) on 23rd & 24th May 2004. This meeting intends to provide a public forum to the African Internet community to discuss different issues related to the registry setup, IP address allocation policies in Africa, and the transition plan from the operating Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). During the meeting AfriNIC members will also receive updates from RIRs on activities in their region and their interaction with African Local Internet Registries. The meeting is organised back-to-back with the AfNOG V event and will convene most of the Internet key players of the continent. The venue is NGOR hotel. For any information about travel arrangements or Visa; please contact AfriNIC secretariat at afrinic-admin@afrinic.org or AfNOG secretariat at admin@afnog.org. You can also find more information by visiting www.afrinic.net.
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES- SA’s Telkom has launched a series of learnerships designed to plug the gap between the skills in demand and skills available in SA’s ICT industry. According to the company, the learnerships are formal learning programmes that combine theoretical learning and structured workplace experience to prepare employees, and those outside of work, with the skills and knowledge needed to perform in a career which has a clear demand in the economy. The focus of these learnerhips will be on accelerating the development of technical and business skills among women and historically disadvantaged people.
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