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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 215 NALEDI3D FACTORY - INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY COMPANY SURVIVES AGAINST THE ODDSIn April 2001 News Update carried a story on South African Naledi3D Factory which was just setting out to pioneer interactive virtual reality applications. One of company's founder's Dave Lockwood describes how the the company has survived and the kinds of applications that it has developed over the last three years. In 2001, News Update carried a story about a new company that was striving to use virtual reality (VR) to help developing communities in Africa and to help educate and empower the people of Africa . What's happened since then? Firstly, the good news is that the company is still around, in an environment where 85% of new companies close within three years! The vision still remains the same - to "use the visually interactive nature of VR to communicate ideas and concepts; and to visualise Africa 's rich heritage; to address the training needs of our diverse communities; to overcome literacy barriers and to hence help people to bridge the skills and knowledge divide". Whereas three years ago, most of what we were talking about was vision alone, there is now much that has been achieved in the field. While there are still a number of hurdles, the company, with its partners have had a number of successes and has begun to prove the case for the use of VR in community development. VR or "interactive visual simulation" can be defined as "a computer-generated environment where the user is able to view and also manipulate the contents of the environment" and allows for intuitive, real-time interaction in visually appealing and stimulating 3D worlds. Importantly, the brain is a visual organ and we now know that a large part of the brain is dedicated to visual stimuli. Current teaching methods do not fully exploit this important ability of the brain, whereas VR speaks to these visual abilities of the brain as no other technology can. VR can therefore play an important role in Africa where poor literacy skills and language barriers pose a huge challenge to learning. The intensely visual nature of VR overcomes literacy barriers by showing content as opposed to telling it which gives VR a very distinct and powerful advantage over more traditional text-based education. Some of Naledi3D Factory's VR projects include: One of the larger hurdles that the company has overcome was to find ways of getting this kind of content into target communities and the Naledi3d Factory are developing relationships with organisations such as UNESCO; IICBA (International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (Ethiopia); GCIS in South Africa with around 60 multi-purpose centres; WorldLinks Southern Africa (a Washington based global learning network that links teachers, through technology, with schools and multi-purpose centres) and the Open Knowledge Network. One of the most exciting aspects of the last three years’ work is that they are now beginning to get feedback on how their visual learning material is being used. The basic hygiene VR model, developed as a pilot with UNESCO for Nakaseke in Uganda (population - 36 000) was installed in the local Multi-Purpose Centre three years ago. MPC staff are now using the content in 24 primary schools and 4 secondary schools. Community and church leaders, as well as the local clinic refer to and use it. The "community" have also fed back to UNESCO that there has been a drop in dysentery and related disease in the community. MPC staff also use the VR model to entice locals into the Centre - "It (the model) has been shown to community members and schoolchildren, with the special approach of having users run it on their own. This has also been one way of encouraging locals that were originally intimidated by the MCT to participate and use the equipment at the MCT..." This (so called "pilot") basic hygiene model is also being used in Kampala (schools, universities and community centres), and more recently, in community medical centres in Kenya ; and soon also in Zambia . During 2003, surveys were also undertaken in Ugandan and South African schools and multi-purpose centres. The responses from "children" of all ages strongly supports that VR in community-based learning can make that difference. From the field study of over 330 people the responses of both teachers and students show that the learning process can be greatly enhanced by the use of visually interactive learning material. All teachers interviewed believed VR was a good teaching medium and they indicated that they could integrate VR into their lessons, assuming that they have access to computers; most students benefited from the visually interactive nature of the technology, leaving them more confident in the subjects concerned. For more information contact Dave Lockwood at the Naledi 3D Factory dlockwood@naledi3d.com or +27 12 349 0385 or www.naledi3d.com
IVORIAN SNO AROBASE TELECOM SET TO LAUNCH SHORTLYIn a few days time, Côte d'Ivoire 's second national operator will be operational. Last week the company presented its work and the new services it intends to offer Ivorian consumers. Its main ambition is "to endow Côte d'Ivoire with a telecoms infrastructure that is both cutting edge and high-quality." It intends to this using the fibre network that it has just completed laying. With this fibre which can both casrry large amounts of data and at great speed, it will soon be putting a great deal of new services into the market. Its D-G Assié Amany said that it would offer clusters of services (bouquets de communications) that would combine data, voice and image. Arobase Télécom was created in 2000 and is now owned by the Ivorian Banque Atlantique that also owns Afripa Telecom. It has now completed its planned 3 fibre rings in Abidjan which overran its original budget and cost Banque Atlantique's former French CEO his job. It has now deployed in 60 sites and employs 105 people. (SOURCE: Fraternité Matin) LIRE EN FRANCAIS: KENYAN SNO MINIMUM LICENCE PRICE SET AT USD2.5M - ANNOUNCEMENT SEPTTelkom Kenya 's rival in provision of the fixed telephone services will be known next week. This follows an announcement by the government of a Sh2 billion (USD2.5m) fixed reserve price for the licence, a necessity before the crucial financial bids are opened. Sources said Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua communicated the reserve price for the country's Second National Operator (SNO) to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) Director-General Sammy Kirui Last week. Kirui is in turn expected to kick-start the final leg of the licensing process early next week, after giving bidders time to assemble their representatives for opening of the financial bids. The three consortia bidding for the licence expected to be awarded by early September are Telenor Group/Telenor Management Partner AS, ZTE/CNC/Kensim Group (China) and the Pegrume Group Limited/ Telecommunications Consultants India/Premier Contracts Agency LLC. The eventual winner will be the consortium with the highest financial bid from among the technically qualified firms, subject to meeting the Government's fixed reserve price. To reach the current stage, the firms had to submit evidence of operating a minimum turnover of over Sh11.7 billion (US$ 150m) and managing network of 500,000 subscribers. Besides, they were supposed to show a financial history of the consortium members including annual reports covering the past three years and also meeting the Government stated policy of providing 30 per cent of equity to Kenyans. The announcement of the reserve price, which Treasury normally reaches in consultation with relevant Government departments, comes hot on the heels of the expiry of Telkom monopoly in provision of the fixed telephone lines on June 30. (SOURCE: The Eastern Standard) EUROPEAN COMMISSION FUNDS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK FOR S MOZAMBIQUEThe European Commission has signed a contract worth 500,000 Euros (about USD600,000) with the Mozambican government for the supervision of the supply and installation of equipment for the telecommunications networks in the southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane. According to a Thursday release from the European Commission office in Maputo , this is part of phase two of a telecommunications project which the Commission is financing to the tune of 10.8 million Euros. The project is to rehabilitate the rural telecommunications networks in Gaza and Inhambane, branching from the transmission centres in the towns of Xai-Xai, Chibuto, Vilanculos, Massinga, and Inhambane, and using radio to carry the messages to the rural areas. The new infrastructure is set to expand the transmissions to remote districts in both provinces, including Chicualacuala, Pafuri, Massingir, Mabalane, Mazivila, Mandlakazi, and Chigubo, in Gaza, and Vila Franca do Save, Machanga, Mapinhane, Mabote, and Pomene, in Inhambane. The rehabilitation is expected to start in early 2005, and to be completed by mid 2006. (SOURCE: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) ZAMBIAN REGULATOR CALLS ON ZAMTEL TO INSTALL VOIP TO REDUCE CALL COSTSThe Zambian regulator, the Communication Authority has suggested that the incumbent telco Zamtel install VoIP capacity to help it lower the cost of international calls. CA Acting Director-Frequency Management, Kephas Masiye said in an interview in Ndola last week at the Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) that once the VOIP were installed, tariffs on International calls would reduce. Mr Masiye said the CA had last week written to Zamtel suggesting it to install the VOIP. He said the move would enable voice traffic to be routed on internet circuits, hence reducing call charges. He said this would also help in reducing internet costs among service providers and users. (SOURCE: The Times Of Zambia ) NIGERIA 'S NCC WARNS OPERATORS TO PLAY BY THE RULESTelecommunications operators who flout provisions of the Communications Act 2003 may face the wrath of the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned. By the provisions of an enactment soon to be presented to the public, subscribers may be kings after all. The enactment dubbed "Enforcement Regulations 2004", empowers subscribers to petition in writing any operator whose services are less than satisfactory on the basis of which the NCC's enforcement unit, which could be made up of lawyers, law enforcement agents, the state security service will investigate and place sanctions accordingly. The NCC Enforcement Regulations 2004 grew out of Section 70 of the Communications Act 2003 which, among others, empowers the regulator to make regulations that will see the operations of the sector in line with other provisions of the Act, particularly on quality of service, fair competition and pricing. The commission shall pursuant to the Act and these regulations, monitor and enforce compliance by all persons who are subject to the Act. These persons include operators of telecoms services who are duly licensed by the NCC and subscribers to whom services are provided by the operators. According to the new enactment, the commission either "on its own initiative" or in response to a written enforcement report made by a person in a form for that purpose," shall investigate through the enforcement unit and place sanctions accordingly. These sanctions include but not limited to fines, closure of business offices of such operators or outright revocation of such operator's licence. Prior to exercising its monitoring and enforcement powers according to the reports made by persons and investigated by the enforcement unit, "the NCC shall first satisfy itself in the manner and on the issues specified in section 62 (2) of the Act after which the commission shall promptly respond to enforcement reports made by persons pursuant to provisions in the enforcement regulations before placing sanctions." The new rules, which will form the basis of public hearing very soon, according to the Communications Act, are likely to radically transform the sector significantly, a commissioner in the NCC told The Guardian at the weekend. The draft of the rules recently examined by the NCC board will also be published on the commission's website for the purpose of public participation after which the public can make inputs thereto. The new rules say the NCC shall be guided at all times by the principles of transparency, fairness and non-discrimination and in line with the licence provisions of licencees on "the need to provide modern, qualitative, affordable and available communications services in all parts of Nigeria ." The NCC will also be guided "by the need to promote fair competition and investment in the communications industry".The NCC shall impose administrative fines for enforcement purposes based among others on: "Attitude and conduct of the contravening person prior to and leading up to the act of contravention and consequent upon the contravention" will also form part of the NCC consideration before placing sanctions. Other considerations for sanctions include danger to life of such contravention, effect of contravention on service, financial gains of such persons (operators), degree of harm on consumers, size and yearly turnover of such operator (person) among others. The rules also listed possible mitigating circumstances including but not limited to: Whether or not the contravention was of a minor nature or whether the contravening person took immediate steps to remedy the contravention soon after knowing of the contravention. If the NCC places a fine on any contravening person, such fines must be paid within 14 days from the date of the notification of the contravention. The NCC may at any time revoke licences of such persons by giving a three-month notice in writing to the contravener. Generally, the NCC may issue directions in writing to any person and "may enlist and rely on the assistance of law enforcement agencies and other relevant departments and agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria." The NCC may also institute civil proceedings in court against any person for remedies that may include injunctive relief recovery of administrative fines, specific performance or pecuniary awards or damages. The Enforcement Regulations 2004 may have been a response to the barrage of criticisms by members of the public that the NCC had treated the operators with kid gloves despite the complaints of subscribers about the poor quality of service, high charges for calls made, drop calls, incomplete calls which are also paid for among others. It was also learnt that the NCC actions might not be unconnected with the criticisms of subscribers who confront the NCC on these and related issues at the monthly Consumer Parliament hosted by the NCC. "Now the consumers are being empowered by law SA'S TELKOM WILL BE READY FOR E-RATE ROLL-OUT IN 2005Telkom is partnering with the Department of Communications and the Department of Education to bring ICT to schools via the e-rate from February 2005. Public schools that are fully funded by the government will be entitled to a 50% discount on calls to the Internet. The e-rate, which materially reduces the cost of accessing the Internet, will greatly enhance the learners' educational growth through real-time access to information, via technology. The call to the Internet service provider (ISP) will be halved and ISPs will discount their access fees by 50%. For Telkom, the e-rate is a welcomed initiative. The company has been spearheading the penetration of technology into schools for many years, through the Telkom Foundation, the social responsibility arm of Telkom. In recent years, more than 1,400 schools have been touched by the Telkom Foundation, which promotes learning in mathematics, science and technology. The e-rate will enable accelerated learning in these areas. "The e-rate will lessen the education and skills gap that currently exists between private and public schools by allowing pupils from public schools an advantaged access to information. Telkom will be ready to effect the 50% discount on Internet calls from public schools by the start of the 2005 school year," says Nombulelo Moholi, Telkom's Chief Marketing and Sales officer. Moholi explained that there was still a lot of work to be done by February next year, especially for schools in rural areas, but that the deadline could be met. In order for the deadline to be met, there are a number of considerations to be taken into account, for example, the identification and application process for the schools to take advantage of the e-rate, the billing process, the infrastructural requirements and the connectivity agreements between schools and service providers. Moholi views the introduction of the e-rate as the mechanism to help bring our future generations into the information age. She says: "Telkom is proud to be involved in translating the e-rate into a practical reality and thus assisting the Department of Communications to bridge even further the digital divide." IN BRIEF- Telkom Kenya has approved Sh239.9 million tender to upgrade its telecommunication systems. A Chinese technology firm, Huawei Technical Investment Company, won the tender to supply the equipment, which will include an implementation for VoIP. - Subscribers of Nitel's mobile arm M-TEL in Birin Kudu in Nigeria 's Jigawa State have dragged the company before a High Court in the town for alleged breach of contract. Vitalis Zirra, a representative of the subscribers, who filed the case, is asking the court to pay N120,000 to them as damages for inefficient services provided by the company.
TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Celtel Burkina has extended its network to the département of Ténado, 30 kilometres from Koudougou, the capital of Boulkiemdé. LIRE EN FRANCAIS: - Since the end of June, Angola 's Malanje province is now connected to the Unitel GSM network. Unitel also covers Luanda , Cabinda , Huambo, Namibe, Benguela, Huila, Bengo, Cuene and Kwanza Sul. - Last week Uganda 's Celtel launched a booster station at Buskisukye village in Bungokho-Mutoto sub-county. - MTN subscribers in South Africa travelling internationally can now retrieve their voicemail using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). Donovan Smith, MTN consumer marketing GM, says in the past, users on roaming would have to dial 083 100 and their cellphone number, minus the 0. They would then be asked to enter a PIN before they could hear their messages."Now all they have to do is type in *111# and the call button. An SMS is then sent to the user acknowledging their request and informing them they will be receiving a call shortly. A call is then made to the user giving them direct access to their voicemail. - Thieves have again disrupted services to thousands of residents in Kensington, a suburb in the east of Johannesburg . This is the second theft this month. Earlier this month, cables were stolen that disrupted services to the suburb and Telkom began working around the clock to restore the lines. Just when the repairs were almost finalised and the majority of the residential lines restored, the thieves struck again last night. This time, a 1200 pair cable was stolen which results in a potential loss of service to 1200 residential customers. In both instances, the criminals broke into the manholes and stole meters of copper cable. Service was restored by the end of last week. In the last financial year, ending 31 March 2004, Telkom suffered 5372 incidents of cable theft and sabotage. The cost to the company is approximately R95.4 million to repair (including direct costs incurred to replace the cable such as transport and installation costs). - South African carrier Vodacom has announced that it will begin trialing 3G services in South Africa during July, becoming the first 3G carrier on the African continent. It has a temporary 3G license from the regulator ICASA. Rival MTN also plans to roll out 3G and EDGE services. - MTN Nigeria is set for the commercial launch of its virtual recharge service known as MTN Virtual Top Up (VTU), after what the company reported as a very successful three-week test run amongst a trial group of MTN subscribers and dealers. VTU is a new product that enables MTN subscribers to load credit on their phones without the use of physical recharge cards. Pre-paid subscribers of MTN Nigeria would also, with effect from July 10, start enjoying the services of per second billing on their network. MTN's intention to restart per second billing was made known in Lagos at the 10th edition of the telecom consumer parliament, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry watchdog.
KENYA 'S SAFARICOM CHASES INTERNET USERS WITH GPRSKenya 's leading mobile company Safaricom says it is going to introduce GPRS With the intention of going after customers who want to use their mobile to access e-mail and the Internet. It is adding another 125 base stations in Nairobi to strengthen its network and another 200 units are to be added in the rest of the country. It intends to employ some Sh8 billion in capital expenditure in the year. The firm is targeting a massive 2.5 million subscribers by early next year. The new funds will go into network upgrading and new services. He spoke as Safaricom launched a high-speed data transmitting technology in the Kenyan market.The firm said the new technology which allows customers to access data through mobile phones and computers would be extended to roaming services in two months. The internet protocol data transmission will done through the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). It allows users to access e-mail and internet services while in the field. It has a speed of 53.4 kilo bytes per second. Kenya joins South Africa and Egypt in adopting the technology.Dubbed Safaricom Mobile Office, it will initially to be available to postpaid clients. Besides the outstanding GPRS charges, new customers will pay Sh1,000 for connection while it is free for existing customers. There will be a monthly access fee of Sh500 and it is to cost 40 cents per kilobyte to download or upload. "With the capacity to provide higher speed internet access, GPRS provides a solution to the problem of a lack of internet access," said Mr Joseph. (SOURCE: The Nation) ALGERIAN REGULATOR ENDS TRIAL PERIOD FOR VoIP THROUGH ISPSAlgerian 24 ISPs have been waiting to see whether the country's regulator ARPT would extend the temporary permission they have had to offer VoIP. This was offered on the basis that they they did not commercialise the service. Unfortunately the Algerian regulator ARPT has decided to suspend their permission to do this. The temporary licences was granted in July 2002 and were revoked earlier this year despite the widely expressed hope that the regulator would make these temporary licences permanent. Earlier this month the Ministry of Post, Technology and Information organised a workshop called "Vois sur IP" with speakers from those offering this type of service. According to Ouarets Brahim, a member of the Governing Council of ARPT there was an absence clarity about the regulatory framework when compared to that governing mobile licences. (SOURCE: La Tribune) LIRE EN FRANCAIS: WI-FI HOTSPOTS BLOSSOM IN KENYAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN AIRPORTSThis week saw two announcements for wi-fi hotspots in airports in Kenya and South Africa . Internet Solutions, M-Web and the Airports Company SA (Acsa) last week announced a joint venture that will see the companies developing Wi-Fi hotspots at major, high-traffic retail and hospitality venues throughout the country. With SA lagging far behind the world’s hotspot leaders, with less than 100 public hotspots, the successful piloting of Acsa’s Wi-Fi hotspot programme at Johannesburg , Cape Town and Durban International airports over the past two years confirmed exceptional demand for the service, the partners say. The subsequent benefit derived from well-established systems, and its strategic role in the travel and retail industry has positioned the joint venture well to take advantage of this growth opportunity. Acsa therefore went in search of suitable business partners through an open tender process that ran last month. "Internet Solutions and M-Web’s collective ability to bring to the joint venture in excess of one million users, world-class infrastructure support systems, industry experience and marketing capability made them the perfect choice. Furthermore, their reputation for reliability and service quality is highly regarded. Together we are capable of satisfying the needs of a substantial local consumer base," says Nico Pretorius, Acsa manager: network infrastructure. "We are delighted to be partnering with Acsa and Internet Solutions on this project to deliver a reliable and affordable service," says M-Web GM, Russell Dreisenstock. "M-Web is known for its ability to embrace the real advantages made possible by new technology and deliver it to its members in a user-friendly, cost-effective manner; Wi-Fi is a perfect example of this." Internet Solutions director, Hillel Shrock, is equally excited about the partnership. "We have put considerable effort and resources into our move into the mobility space," he says, "forming a new business unit earlier this year which is focusing on all aspects of mobility requirements. Taking on Wi-Fi at this level provides our own customers with additional services, regardless of their location as they move around the country. No doubt we see the provision of Wi-Fi hotspots as a value-add to our existing corporate services." Meanwhile Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has installed its first 'hotspot'. It will allow travellers wireless internet access at designated areas within the airport. The airport becomes the first in East Africa to have the wireless link that allows travellers to use personal laptop computers or other hand-held cordless devices to communicate through the internet. Kenya becomes the second country in Africa after South Africa to have hotspots at their international airports. Dutch company, PicoPoint, which is based in Amsterdam , will supply Ericonet with a centrally managed back-office and roaming solution providing essential authorisation, authentication, accounting, billing and settlement services that will enable Ericonet to offer carrier-grade wi-fi network at the Kenyan airports. (SOURCES: ICT World and Nation Media) ZAMBIA 'S POWER COMPANY ZESCO TO SEND BILLS BY E-MAILThe Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) is to embark on a project that would allow electricity bills to be sent by e-mail, writes Balancing Act's Zambian correspondent Timothy Kasolo. Speaking at the Zambia International Trade Fair, ZESCO Managing Director Rhonei Sisala said his organisation also wanted its customers to be able to access their bills by logging onto the ZESCO website. He explained that this will be useful to customers who are not near a payment point. The director also added that the facility will be launched in mid July this year and it will also be made available to most parts of the county. IN BRIEF - An appeal court has upheld what local and international observers say are "unjustified sentences" handed down to young web users, picked up in a raid on a web café in the Tunisian city of Zarzis as they browsed Islamist websites . For them the case is just more evidence of the country's intransigence on the issue of free expression and the internet and calls into question the UN's plans to host the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in late 2005. - Tanzanian company Benson Informatics Limited last week announced that it will introduce new wireless broadband Internet service in Dar es Salaam . The connection will be made through the installation of the Rip-wave modem that provides nomadic/mobile anytime and anywhere
SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANY SELLS MOBILE GAMES SOFTWARE TO CHINAClockspeed Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stellenbosch-based Swist Group Technologies, has concluded a deal with China Mobile for distribution of its mobile games in China . Clockspeed is an originator and developer of a broad range of mobile entertainment products, including interactive and multi-player community games. "We decided two years ago to start investing in mobile entertainment with the focus on the international arena. This investment complements our existing telecommunications offering of billing, fraud and other support software for mobile carriers. Although we have already signed contracts with carriers in other parts of the world, the China Mobile contract is by far the most exciting and challenging of them all," says Herman Heunis, Swist Group's chairman. China Mobile, with a subscriber base of more than 240m, is the largest mobile carrier in the world, growing at a pace of around two million subscribers a month. It has roaming services with more than 200 mobile carriers in 116 countries and regions. Fifteen games were short-listed from various suppliers all over the world, of which only five were accepted for use on China Mobile's M-Box platform. Three of these are Clockspeed games, which were launched on this platform in June, with more games being planned for July and August. Says Gerhard Gibbs, GM of ClockSpeed Mobile: " Mobile gaming has become a huge industry, with revenues currently around R4bn per year. The games, Leonardo da Monkey, Mbuni and Kalahari Kung Fu, are being released in SA this month, through ExactMobile, our local distributor. Contracts are being negotiated at present for distribution in Europe, the Middle East, as well as other countries in Asia ." Gibbs continues: "All the games we submitted to China Mobile passed its stringent screening processes first time round; and, although the language translations were challenging, we provided them with high-quality products." Swist Group Technologies specialises in providing telecommunication and information technology solutions; and incubates and invests in innovative technology start-ups. (SOURCE: ICT World) TWO SA TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES SELL FLEET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TO BRAZILTwo South African technology companies have joined forces to introduce local technology to the South American market.The listed company Digicore Technologies and DexData Technologies are entering the fleet management market in Brazil . Digicore, a leader in the field of fleet management systems in South Africa , has concluded a distribution agreement with DexData Technologies. DEX has been actively involved in risk management and technology in Brazil for more than ten years. The first prototypes have already been installed and tested and agreements have been concluded with service providers. " The technology is specifically designed to enable fleet owners to control the costs and risks associated with the maintenance and movement of their vehicles. The DEX team in Brazil consists of trained Brazilians who know and understand the local market, language and culture. After more than ten years in Brazil , the DEX working model has proved its ability to deploy new technology from South Africa in the South American market , " says the Managing Director of DexData, Jans Wessels. "Most organisations in Brazil are sceptical towards new companies trying to palm off technology on this fast-developing economy. They consider a proven track record of success and expertise as critical qualifiers." The successes that DEX has achieved in the field of inter alia technology for the medical, insurance and security sectors, were decisive for South America," says Wessels.DEX will market, sell, install and fully support the Digicore systems in Brazil . The DEX team in South Africa will handle all communications and acquisitions by Digicore SA. DEX SA will then monitor and manage the Brazilian team and strategy. The systems utilize GPS satellite technology to determine position and the GSM network to communicate to a central point. The position of each individual unit can be monitored. The technology has furthermore the ability to monitor and report on various other parameters. These include speed, engine revolutions, opening and closing of freight doors, hitching or unhitching of trailers, prohibited areas, speed limits, engine temperature as well as oil and water pressure. The system connects the driver with the control room in various ways. One of the distinguishing aspects of the technology, is the ability of the unit to communicate only selected information to the control room. This way, communication costs are limited and operators can concentrate on matters that require attention. Market analysis by DEX has indicated a remarkable resemblance between road transport systems in Brazil and South Africa . Both are geographically wide-spread and utilized mainly by private fleet operators. And like South Africa , Brazil also battles with an enormous problem of theft of goods and vehicles, in addition to extremely high vehicle maintenance costs. "The difference lies in the fact that the Brazilian market is ten times bigger than the South African market, which makes it that much more attractive," Wessels says. WIRELESS USED TO SPEED UP POINT-OF-SALE TRANSACTIONSInternet Solutions (IS) says that consumers are all too familiar with long queues at the cash registers, and with the shake of the head that accompanies those fateful words from the check-out person - "The system is slow/busy today". But, the company adds, users in SA can now deliver faster, more reliable and cost-effective customer service at points of sale through a wireless-based electronic funds transfer (EFT) system. The company notes that the system was developed by Nomad Information Systems, in partnership with IS. "The existing electronic fund transfer (EFT) network for a credit/debit card transaction typically takes some 15 seconds to authorise," says Richard Vester, GM of mobility solutions at IS. "The solution, developed by Nomad and IS, uses a GPRS network over MTN’s cellular infrastructure, and cuts the transaction time by more than half. Viewed in isolation, this may not seem substantial, but, if you consider the volume of EFT transactions that takes place every hour, the numbers really add up," says Vester. The IS GPRS solution, known as PoS Connect, provides a continuous connection to the Internet via the GSM network, the company says. "Apart from lower costs and faster turnaround times, the system has higher bandwidth capacity, which permits us to carry real-time private data to and from the store," says Thomas Budge, CEO of Nomad. "The system allows a far wider reach in terms of national coverage, as access to the system is possible wherever cellular network coverage is available," he continues. IS believes that speed and cost are crucial to retailers who are looking to provide less expensive and more superior services to their shoppers. It says that to retailers, time is money. "What we have done," adds Vester, "is to front-end the EFT clearing on an Internet Protocol (IP) platform, making the service independent of underlying communications technology. This means that the service can be extended to operate over any Internet connection, including GSM networks. This change allows for the delivery of other services, such as stock updating and back office systems communications, to run alongside EFT clearing, using a single communications medium." According to the company, the pilot phase, which has already been completed at several major retailers, has proved highly successful. "Combining speed, lower cost and greater geographical reach, means that merchants can deploy this solution to all their stores across the country," concludes Vester. (SOURCE: ICT World) IN BRIEF- Zebra Technologies says it has launched a new desktop Radio Frequency Identification (RFID or 'smart-ID') printer/encoder. Zebra, which deals with on-demand printing and speciality label printing solutions for business improvement, says, after presenting the first RFID printer/encoder four years ago, it has now enhanced its RFID portfolio with the new 13,56MHz R2844-Z model.
NEWER OPERATORS WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM SHAREHOLDING IN EASSY FIBRESpeaking at an EASSY project summit held in Kampala last week, Kenya Telkom's MD John Waweru said:"We want commitment from the Telecom companies that they are going to buy traffic. The signing of the MOU shows that the 14 Telecoms are committed and it also entitles them to 10 percent shares in the EASSy project," said Waweru, who is also the Managing Director, Telekom Kenya. Financiers of the project will retain the remaining 90 percent shares of the EASSy project, writes Esther Nakkazi. The Telecom companies that signed under the project include-Telkom South Africa, TDM of Mozambique, Botswana Telecom, Telecom Madagascar, Zanzibar Telecom, Malawi Telecom, Uganda Telecom, MTN Uganda, RwandaTel, Sudan Telecom, Ethiopian Telecom, Sentech South Africa, Djibouti Telecom and Telecom Kenya. According to officials from the EASSy project non-national operators cannot be allowed to join at this stage but they can join the project after the cable is installed in 2006. National telecommunications operators are spearheading the EASSy project. "The non-national operators have nothing to lose for joining later they will pay for broadband access and other services at the same amount as national operators but these will have an edge over them because they will be partners with EASSy," said Waweru. For example, Celtel is not able to sign the MOU because it is not a national operator. With the exception of Sentech (which has an international gateway licence), newer operators like Transtel and the current new generation of SNOs will not be able to participate in the equity of what will become a vital piece of international infrastructure. The EASSy summit also heard presentations from five potential suppliers of fibre optic cable and equipment that made presentation on the various aspects of the project. The five international providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions will be included in the tendering process-Tyco Electronics- USA , Alcatel-France, Siemens- Germany , NEC Corporation-Japan and Fugitsu. The World Bank and the development Bank of South Africa through the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) have contributed up to $420,000 for a feasibility study to develop a submarine optical fibre cable on the eastern seaboard of the African continent. A working group has also been set up to specifically address the development of the backhaul links in the region to ensure that they are ready to carry the voice and data traffic to the submarine cable. The project is expected to go live by 2006. The links will be in Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania , Mogadishu-Somalia, Mtunzini-South Africa, Maputo-Mozambique, Mahajanga- Madagascar , Zanzibar and Mombasa-Kenya. "The study will give us details on the easiest route to get connectivity into the region, prepare cable specifications, estimate how much traffic capacity it can hold and give us the best financial model," said Mr. John Waweru, Chairman of the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) project. "The EASSy is one of the projects that we look forward to- its implementation will solve the critical issues of backbone infrastructure," said the Minister of Works, Housing and Communications, Engineer John Nasasira. Nasasira said this at the EASSy project summit held in Kampala last week, where 14 Telekom operators in the region signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a submarine cable system along the East African coast. Benefits of this project to respective economies will be in terms of reduced unit costs for global connectivity, expansion in inter-Africa trade facilitated by better communication in the region and reduced payments to foreign telecommunications (satellite) facility providers when the cable becomes operational. The eastern Africa coast is the only one that relies on satellite as a sole medium for the international connectivity in the transmission of voice and data traffic. The 8,840 km undersea cable that will run from Djibouti to South Africa will cost over $200 million, but its operation and maintenance will require funds that EASSy project officials say will be generated from voice and data traffic generated by telecom operators in the region. KENYAN CO-OP MOVEMENT GIVING CONTINUING TROUBLES TO ECONET FUNDRAISINGIntense squabbles over the shareholding structure for Econet Wireless Kenya is again threatening the setting up of the company, according to a report in Kenya 's Sunday Standard. In the initial agreement, Econet would get 10%, the Kenyan National Federation of Co-operatives 81% and Rapsel Ltd, associated with Kenya Association of Manufacturers Chairman Manga Mugwe, and Peter Kibiriti's Corporate Africa got 4.5 per cent a piece. Rapsel's Mugwe put his finger on the nature of the problem. He accused the KNFC of failing to meet its financial obligations to the investment and therefore it can no longer be trusted to be in the driving seat as the majority shareholder. "The co-operative movement failed to meet some minimum financial obligations agreed on last year. How can they be trusted on much weightier issues?" he posed. "We had agreed that they should replace the bid bond that was paid to the Communications Commission Kenya (CCK) last year, but they have not done that up to date."In plain words, a majority shareholder that cannot come up with the money for its majority shareholding is not a majority shareholder. Charles Muchiri, KNFC's national vice-chairman, however contends that the speed with which their partners in the consortium are making decisions raises eyebrows and called for caution on the part of KNFC. He said that unless there is a hidden agenda, the other shareholders should understand and appreciate the uniqueness of the co-operative movement. "The co-operative movement is not a small company where decisions are made overnight. We need more time to organise ourselves to come up with the funds," he told Intelligence in an interview. Muchiri said that the movement has assets and cash in excess of Sh80 billion and raising Sh3 billion is not a problem. However whilst all this is true, it needs a decision from KNFC's many members to commit the funds and this has not been forthcoming. But the story took a new twist when the KNFC discovered with a rude shock that the former CEO allegedly secretly signed an agreement that was sent to the CCK saying that Econet Wireless International had increased its shares from 10 to 51 per cent. It is the new agreement that led to a major fallout that nearly saw CCK cancel the licence last month. The KNFC sacked the former chief executive officer, Apollo Kariuki, for this because the board of directors believed that other shareholders compromised him into signing an agreement that would see KNFC giving part of its shares to Econet. Sunday Standard reports that that crisis meetings between representatives of the major shareholders in the consortium early in the year failed to agree on the reconstitution of the shareholding. KNFC said that they had Westlands-based Dominion Limited consultants advise them on the best way of raising the funds. KNFC asked for more time, but refused to accede to demands by Econet Wireless International to have Masiwiya as the chairman of the Kenyan company arguing that it would make no sense to have a minority shareholder in such a position. Speaking on the license fee Muchiri said: "How much money does the co- operatives movement give out to parents each year to pay school fees? That sum is only an indicator that given time, we can pay off all our commitments," he said. Muchiri insisted that the co-operative movement would not back down on the issue of giving up any part of its 81 per cent shareholding in the company. "We have only one position on that, either we are in the driving seat or we quit," he said. Muchiri said that KNFC recently wrote to the CCK to clear the air on the issue of the reconstitution of the company, but are yet to receive any response. CCK"s director-general could not confirm the report as he is out of the country. CCK Public Relations Officer Christopher Wambua said that he is privy to information that the consortium is being reconstituted in line with an agreement between its members. However, he said, the Commission is yet to receive any communication on the new shareholding structure. Mugwe, on the other hand, said that the other shareholders -- Econet Wireless International, Rapsel Limited and Corporate Africa -- would have set up the new structure. He said negotiations between CCK and Econet Wireless International would be concluded in the next two weeks, after which the licence fee will have to be paid in 60 days. Mugwe said that a company could not be run on the basis of promises and pledges, but on hard cash. "We will then create a window through which the co-operative movement can subscribe and participate in the company." (SOURCE: Various) IN BRIEF- Telecom Egypt issued its FY03 audited results in which net income soared 37.5% to LE1,087 million versus LE791 million realized in FY02. Revenues increased 15% to LE7.2 billion, while the COGS/Revenue ratio improved to 30.0% compared to 31.1% last year. The non-operating item loss, including net interest, capital gains and FX losses, contracted a cumulative 21% to LE390.6 million in FY03 versus a LE492.7 million loss in FY02.
DFID-FUNDED E-GOVERNMENT PROJECT COMPLETEDThe DFID-funded eGovernment for Development Information Exchange project has recently been completed. This provides practitioner-oriented online materials on various aspects of e-government in developing/transitional economies, available at: www.egov4dev.org Four selected topics have online case studies (including a number from South Africa ), practitioner guidance materials and training guides: Success and Failure of eGovernment Projects; ICTs and Government Transparency/Corruption; ICTs and Public Sector Health; Mobile Government (SMS, mobile phone, etc). The "eGovernment for Development Information Exchange" project is coordinated by the University of Manchester 's Institute for Development Policy and Management. The project was funded and managed by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation as part of the UK Department for International Development's "Building Digital Opportunities" programme. FOUNDER OF SA'S WEBNET SELLS HIS STAKE TO WOMEN, INCLUDING NIECESaths Moodley, a co-founder of Webnet, had decided to empower women in information and communications technology (ICT) by selling his 45 percent stake in the company for an undisclosed amount, he said. Webnet, an ICT solutions company, was started five years ago by Moodley, Granny Seape and Thembi Tambo. The two women and new shareholder Natasha Moodley, his niece, will acquire 100 percent ownership of Webnet. Saths Moodley said the sector was dominated by men and it took courage to take the big step in awarding women ownership of an ICT company. The decision to give up his stake was not difficult, he said, because women at Webnet had contributed more to the company than men since its inception. "I voted with my head and used my ideological meanings. Men hold on to power for too long and we need to give way for new blood. That is how companies grow," he said. The firm, which recorded a R22 million turnover last year, is a managed partner of Hewlett-Packard, which is Webnet's biggest international supplier. Moodley said the company was forecast to grow between 25 percent and 30 percent this year. He would continue to lead the company as managing director. Moodley said that he had been given a mandate to look at a number of projects, including a plan to acquire a stake in a small IT firm. This deal would be finalised in the next two weeks. He would also manage a new government project and oversee an internal training and skills development programme. Moodley said the company would not be listing at the JSE Securities Exchange any time soon. "As a private company we've done well and retained control." The company has a permanent staff of 15 and its clients include government departments, Total South Africa, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cell C and some of the government education and training sectors. Earlier this year Webnet lost a tender worth about R24 million with the SA Revenue Service to Comparex Africa. Moodley said he felt Webnet should have won the tender but "through the process we have learned a lot". (SOURCE: Business Report) IN BRIEF- Ugandan web site WOUGNET had a total of 4,041 unique visitors. The Top Ten Visitor Countries were: United States , Great Britain , Uganda , Canada , Belgium , Kenya , South Africa , India , Germany and Netherlands .
I4D DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONSBOTSWANA TELEMEDICINE - NEED TO BE "IDEALISTIC AND REALISTIC" If Telemedicine technology is properly implemented in Botswana medical services will be better accessible to the public, a Canadian expert in telehealth, Dr Rod Elford said last week. Elford who was speaking during the second phase of the Telemedicine Stakeholders Consultative Conference last week said that before implementation there was a need to have a clear vision, be idealistic and realistic. Telemedicine is the use of information and communications technology to deliver health services and exchange health information when distance separates the participants. However, Elford said that there were still tremendous health needs, including limited number and uneven distribution of health professionals. Elford said the geography of land and population distribution presents challenges for the provision of health care services in Botswana . He said there was a shortage of health professionals, adding that there were 3 physicians per 10,000 patients, 28 nurses per 10,000 and 7 family welfare educators per 10,000. He said there was uneven distribution of health professionals as most people work in urban facilities. Elford said 288 facilities under the Ministry of Local Government have a telephone while 187 communicate by radio. Power is available at 206 facilities while 107 use solar power. Local Government oversees clinics, health posts and health stops and the Ministry of Health oversees the hospitals and nurse training. He said other constraints were limited resources in the rural health facilities, and limited power and telecommunication in those areas. Elford said there were also other issues such as limited telehealth experience. He said the government plans to provide health for all by 2016, stating 'access to preventative, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services by the year 2016.' He said for a National Telemedicine Centre to succeed there was a need for telemedicine professionals; physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, computer technicians, network technicians, software developers, programmers, web masters, educators, economists, public relations officers and researchers. It would be located in a single facility. For proper sustenance of telehealth, there is a need for the right conditions, reliable electricity, telecommunications, computer experience, telehealth education and training. Audio-conferencing would also be an advantage as a number of professionals would be able to connect at the same time for an educational talk, discuss a patient and for administrative meetings. Other facilities needed are a telephone, television, video-conferencing, telemetry and internet. (SOURCE: Mmegi)
PEOPLE* Three new councillors have been nominated to the board of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA). The councillors were announced at a dinner last week celebrating ICASA's fourth anniversary last week and will replace three outgoing councillors. The new members of the ICASA board are Paris Mashile, Zolisa Masiza and Dr Tracy Cohen, who will take over from Julia Hope, Mbulelo Ncetezo and Gerhard Petrick. The regulator also announced that its new CEO, Jacqueline Boitumelo Manche who joined ICASA from the Department of Provincial and Local Government, where she served as deputy director-general would take office as of the beginning of July. * Operators at the 4th GSM Consultative Forum in Abuja, the operators said they were concerned that, "imposing additional levies on the operators would translate in increasing costs, constrict rapid network roll-out especially in rural areas, compromise operators' ability to provide affordable mobile services to the populace and send wrong signals to financial quarters considering the cost of doing business in Nigeria." Senior executives attended the Forum hosted by M-Tel from MTN, V-Mobile, Glo Mobile as well as hosts M-Tel. * Interviewed by the BBC last week Celtel's Chairman Mo Ibrahim describes his company's customers as mainly professionals and business people in urban areas, where much of Celtel's mobile coverage is concentrated. But he adds: "Many of our users are also street traders and people running farms. If a farmer wants to sell his courgettes, he doesn't have to sell to the first person. He can find out what the prices are in the next town. People are getting better informed about their trade and business." Dr Ibrahim, who was born in northern Sudan but has worked in Britain for 30 years, says the decision to base the company outside Africa reflects the difficulties facing a pan-African operator - such as poor cross-border transport links. "Unfortunately, travelling in Africa is not convenient. If we put our headquarters in west Africa, we would have to come back to Europe to travel to east Africa ." * On the move: Ndi Towo, formerly with ITXC is now consulting with EADS/Multicom...3Com Country Manager Chris Van NieKerk is joining McAfee and will be replacing by Christopher Bray. 3Com will look to replace Van Niekerk with a BEE appointment. Maurizio Zussa, current new business development manager at 3Com, will take the position of acting country manager when Van Niekerk leaves this week, until a suitable candidate has been appointed. EVENTSiWEEK 2004 ONLINE REGISTRATION OPENS THIS WEEK iWeek 2004 online registration is now open. The form can be found at: http://iweek.ispa.org.za iWeek 2004 will focus on the current state of the Internet industry in South Africa , and on key players' vision of the Internet market for 2007. Other topics covered in this year's programme include spam, future technologies, domain names and IP address numbers, with participation from the .ZA Domain Name Authority and AfriNIC. Refer to preliminary program: http://iweek.ispa.org.za/program.html or follow the link on the registration form. If you need more information,please contact Elaine Zinn. Details are as follows: JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES- A Nigerian company is looking for a Senior Billing Manager with experience of the ADC Billing System to define ADC Billing System strategy and lead the implementation and design of this system. Details from Imran Malik, Glotel +44 (0) 207 484 3019 Contact e-mail: imcv@glotel.com
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