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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 217 GHANA TELECOM TRIES TO STRONG-ARM GISPA'S MEMBERS OUT OF THE MARKET WITH PREDATORY PRICINGIt all seemed to be going so well. The ministerial advisers had arranged for Ghana's Internet Association GISPA to negotiate cheaper prices with Ghana Telecom on SAT3 and some of the internet bosses were praising the new climate of conciliation. New cheap prices would then be passed on to the SSP's customers, making everyone a winner. Then the negotiations broke down as Ghana Telecom's senior management made a "take-it-or-leave-it" offer in which the final price of the bandwidth on offer was not to be revealed until GISPA signed up to a set of conditions. Although its own ISP is a GISPA member, it will not be signing up to the deal. The breakdown was followed by Ghana Telecom launching its long-awaited DSL service with prices so low that they can only be described as predatory. To make it worse, the DSL launch was laced with "level playing field" platitudes. Russell Southwood reports on a row that shows how hard it is for an incumbent to change its spots. On Wednesday 14 July GISPA members attended a meeting with Ghana Telecom's Bjorn Anderson (Ag. Manager Sales and Business). In advance of the meeting GISPA had been sent a list of special conditions which needed to be ment before any deal would be signed. According to Nana Yaa Owusu-Prempeh, President, GISPA:"Our intention was to negotiate with GT on those conditions and the price at this meeting but we met a strong stand from Bjorn Andersen. These were his exact words "this is a "special offer" with "special conditions" from Ghana Telecom to GISPA and it is not NEGOTIABLE so you either take the offer or LEAVE IT". According to him the meeting is to understand what the offer is and not to negotiate so he refused to listen to any issues we raised. First of all this is an unusual business practice that should not be accepted in this country. Business is negotiation". Andersen was offering GISPA's members a full circuit at a "special price" that he could not tell those present until they signed an agreement incorporating the 8 special conditions. Although it did say that it was at "heavily discounted fees". It is hard to imagine any industry or indeed any circumstances in which someone would buy something without knowing the price. Ghana Telecom sets its own prices for the Accra-Lisbon stretch (unless there is some deep small print in the SAT3 agreement we've not yet heard about) and therefore should be able to negotiate price as it has been to our knowledge with other customers. Those close to the negotiation say that the special conditions include: Ghana Telecom also made the offer dependent on the ISPs agreeing to stop VoIP calling but as GISPA observed this is the job of the regulator, not the incumbent. GISPA members asked at the meeting if Ghana Telecom's ISP Unit (also a member of GISPA) would be buying the same bandwidth deal and would be treated the same as all other GISPA members. Anderson's response was according to Owusu-Prempeh "we should not push that card as a requirement to take the deal and that GT ISP unit would not be part of the GISPA consortium". On Tuesday last wee Ghana Telecom launched its new ADSL Internet service "Broadband4U". Potential users and subscribers would pay 195 dollars, 295 dollars and 395 dollars for the broadband4U residential, school, and business and business plus respectively as installation fees. The Chief Executive Officer of GT, Oystein Bjorge said the company has now moved from the monopoly it had enjoyed for the past years into the competitive business market and would collaborate with the National Communication Authority (NCA) to ensure that there was fair play in the market. "GT believes that operating on a level playing field will greatly enhance the Internet service to the public. We welcome other competitors and partners into this market since we believe that healthy competition will create the most vibrant Internet services environment" But as GISPA pointed out the cost of the service is USD95 for home users and USD245 for businesses. AS Owusu-Prempeh put it: "This is cheaper than for example the same service offered by Internet Ghana, one of our members. GT is offering USD5 below Internet Ghana in both cases but offering more bandwidth. Though this is good, Internet Ghana is unable to compete considering the price at which it gets SAT 3 access capacity". In other words Ghana Telecom is engaging in predatory pricing designed to knock other ISPs out of the market. As a monopoly provider of the only international fibre access capacity, it can now corner its ISP tormenters and control the market. GISPA's Owusu-Prempheh demanded that the regulator, the NCA intervene:"For us the NCA must ensure that GT does not subsidize the broadband service and that it is treated in the same manner as all other ISP in bandwidth acquisition, access capacity, co-location, facility distribution etc". Ghana Telecom were contacted to comment on events but so far have not responded. Every story has two sides. Step forward, Ghana Telecom.
KENYA'S NEW MINISTER TUJU SAYS SNO BIDDING PROCESS NEEDS TO BE RERUNThe bidding process for the Kenyan SNO has been thrown into chaos after it was cancelled by the Minister Raphael Tuju. On Monday morning last week, the Kenyan regulator CCK sent a press release to newsrooms announcing that the ceremony would proceed as planned. Hours later, a second advisory was hurriedly sent to the press cancelling the event. It was not until Thursday that Tuju publicly admitted that he had indeed ordered the cancellation of the event, after receiving several representations alleging impropriety in the tendering process. One of the difficulties of the tendering process has been the stability of the consortia involved. Care had to be taken to obviate the problems which have bedevilled the Third Mobile operator, where the winners of the licence are yet to hit the road, mainly due to disagreements between members of the Consortium over the raising of agreed funds. It is understood that in the process of these enquiries, cases emerged where some key members of the consortium disowned their alleged partners. In turn, this created a great deal of anxiety among the competitors, because those whose bids had problems came to know about them in advance.Thus, the bidders who had disagreements with their fellow consortium members mounted a major campaign to have the announcement of the winner postponed. One of these consortium disagreements has already gone to court. Wildstream Communications Ltd wants Telecommunication Consultants of India stopped from taking part. It says that Telecommunication Consultants was its partner before it withdrew from the consortium and joined other partners contrary to an agreement signed last year. On Tuesday last week, Chacha Odera argued before High Court judge Onesmus Mutungi that the application filed by Wildstream Communications be dismissed because the plaintiff had not provided enough evidence to prove it would be damaged if it lost the international tender advertised by the Government. Odera informed the court that Wildstream Communications must provide a security of Sh200 million, which it had failed to do. The fact that the Treasury had reduced the reserve price for the licence from Sh3.8 billion to Sh2 billion dollars was turned into ammunition to shoot the process down. Having only been appointed to the ministry recently, and figuring that he needed more time to asses the complaints, Mr Tuju decided to act. (SOURCE: The Nation and various others)
NIGERIA'S TELCOS COUNT THE LOSSES FROM THE KILLER PHONE RUMOURSNigeria's telcos last week recounted the damage which the rumour that some phone calls could cause instant death has done to their business in the past two weeks since it broke. This is following the reported mob attack on the owner of one of the numbers peddled as a death number. Speaking at a press conference organised by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators (ALTON) yesterday, Ogugua Chioke, chairman of the Regulatory Committee of the association contended that the rumour was an indication that some people wanted to damage the investment of telecommunications operators in the country. He contended that the rumour had had adverse effect on the revenue of telecommunications operators even though he would not be specific on the level of revenue loss. Speaking on the rumour itself, Chioke said the rumour is false and should be condemned in strong terms. He explained that it was not possible for a phone call either from a GSM phone, Wireless phone or Wired handset to cause death just by answering a call. Said he: "We live in a world of science and such rumours are not explainable in the technology of telephony". We want to see an empirical evidence that it really happened," he challenged. He pleaded with Nigerians not to allow ignorance to destroy the telecom sector which is currently of much significance to the Nigerian economy. He contended that his association has undertaken thorough investigations into the issue and has not found substance in the rumour. He said that nobody has owned up to seeing anybody who died from receiving a death phone call. Speaking in the same vein, Reuben Muoka who heads ALTON's publicity committee said that in one of the cases investigated, a cassette seller in Mile 2 had got a call from a number which was not known to him and he raised an alarm calling on the blood of Jesus to save him from a death call which attracted a crowd. At the end, Reuben alleged, the man later found out that it was his friend who had just acquired a new line that called him. But a scene had been caused at Mile 2 bus stop. Chief Ezekiel Fatoye, Vice Chairman of ALTON said that most of the numbers paraded as death numbers were non existent in the numbering plans of the country's telecom industry and wondered how calls from such numbers can be passed to phone subscribers in the country. (SOURCE: Vanguard) SA'S ICASA HOLDS HEARINGS ON 1 800MHZ, 3GThe Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is moving forward in the process that will see mobile operators granted access to the 1800MHz and 3G spectrums. Last week, the regulator held hearings with the country's three cellular operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C on their applications for access to the spectrums. ICASA says in terms of Section 48 (2) of the Telecommunications Act 106 of 1996, as amended, this is a consultative process between the regulator and the operators, and as such the hearings were not open to the public. The hearings follow a ministerial determination on fees regarding access to the 1800MHz and 3G spectrums, and yesterday ICASA listened to proposed amendments to the parties' licences to ensure access to the two spectrums. Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri originally announced the opening of these two spectrums during her budget speech before Parliament last year. In return for access to the new spectrums, operators will be expected to supply fourmillion SIM cards over five years to disadvantaged South Africans, while the industry will also provide 250000 free phones and numbers to public emergency services in this time period. The operators will also have to provide Internet links to computers at schools, and public pay phones in accessible places in rural areas and multipurpose community centres. A spokesman for the regulator said ICASA would now correlate all the information received from the operators before deciding what the next phase of the process would entail. (SOURCE: IT Web) UGANDA'S UTL LAUNCHES SOLAR LANDLINEUganda Telecom has introduced solar-powered accessory for the newly introduced TelesaverPlus landline. This will especially be useful for rural populations, which have no access to regular electricity power. "This is in line with our goal to provide total communication solutions to everyone including those in the rural areas at rates suitable to them. Everybody has a right to communicate," Mr Hans Paulsen, UTL's Marketing Manager, said on Monday. He was speaking at the launch of the two products (TelesaverPlus and solar charger) in Mbarara town. The solar panel, which comes with a battery, costs Shs160,000 exclusive of the landline, which costs Shs240,000. More than 8,000 people have subscribed to TelesaverPlus since its launch a month ago. Faisal Ijaz Khan, UTL's Chief Commercial Officer, said UTL is in the process of upgrading its network to accommodate the increasing subscription. He said within six weeks Masaka, Ntungamo, Kabale, Bushenyi, Kasese, Soroti and Tororo will be connected on the TelesaverPlus. (SOURCE: The Monitor) ZIMBABWE'S POTRAZ WARNS ON "ILLEGAL" VOIP AND INTERNET TRAFFICThe Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz), in charge of licensing and regulating all telecommunications traffic in the country, has warned both public and private companies or organisations unlawfully operating telecommunication systems to immediately stop or face prosecution without further notice. In a notice on the operation of voice, data and internet telecommunications services within, into and from Zimbabwe, Potraz said in terms of the Postal and Telecommunications Act, no person was allowed to establish a public or private telecommunication system except in accordance with a licence issued by Potraz. "It has come to the attention of the authority that there are persons or organisations using several means such as television receive on (TVRO) satellite dishes and internet protocol (IP) based switches to receive and distribute voice, VOIP, data and internet traffic. The authority hereby declares that the illegal public or private telecommunication systems shall cease operations with immediate effect (as) the authority shall proceed to take legal action and prosecute all breaches without further notice," warned the regulatory body. (SOURCE: Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe) IN BRIEF- Nokia has launched a mobile phone and networking division in SA, although the cellular handset provider says the move will not affect local Nokia distributor, the RF Group. - Intec Telecom Systems has signed a contract with Kenya's leading mobile telephony provider, Safaricom. The agreement includes the purchase of Intec?s Inter-mediatE solution for mediation and Intec's Inter-activatE solution for flow through activation of mobile services. - The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has recognised Celtel, UTL and MTN for spearheading the use of Information Communication (ICT) Technology in the country. UCC's executive director Patrick Masambu gave out the awards at UCC's fifth anniversary dinner at Nile Hotel Gardens. * Nitel's mobile arm Mtel grew from 90,000 lines in December 2003 to 600,000 connected lines while the value of the company has also shot up within the period, from USD75million to USD500million. TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE* MTN Nigeria's Virtual Top Up is facing local press criticism. According to the Daily Champion, virtual credit vending depends on the literacy level of the subscribers and the Short Messaging Service (SMS) systems in place. As one subscriber told the paper, "at times when you load with recharge cards, it takes up to 48 hours to receive acknowledgement and at times less than that, but most often not immediately, especially on telecom networks, including the Fixed Wireless operators". To this end, it may take some time to convince such a person to pay for airtime and wait for it to be sent to him through SMS, some 48 hours later. Some SMS also get lost on transit, therefore, undelivered, thereby hindering the idea of sending loved ones airtime, mostly at emergency situations. - Millicom Sierra Leone will extend its cellular network to Makeni and Kono on the next few weeks. The Chief Operations Officer, Gareth Townley said further that, "these new coverage areas, and our soon to be introduced "Leone Top-Up" cards, shows that Millicom Sierra Leone Limited remains committed to providing the nation with the essential commodity of communication at the lowest cost for the people of Sierra Leone." - Telkom Kenya has announced plans to launch a wireless phone system in the South Coast. The company's chief marketing officer Bernard Rubia said the launch is set for next month to coincide with the Mombasa Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) show that takes place between August 24 and 29. Rubia said Telkom Kenya had lost millions of shillings to vandalism and the firm was responding to the menace through installation of the wireless phone system.
TUNISIA HOSTS IPV6 AFRICA AND MID-EAST TASK FORCE EVENTLast week (20-22 July) saw Tunisia host the "Internet Protocol V6" organised by the ITU and the Tunisian regulator ATI. The event concluded with a press conference to describe the advantages of IPV6 and the work of a Task Force on the subject for the Middle East, Africa and other developing countries. A working group for the region was put together under the Presidency of Mme Férial Béji of Tunisia. It was charged with taking all necessary measures to encourage the take-up of IPV6 in the countries concerned. According to Latif Ladid at the press conference:"The action plan of the Task Force would allow Arab countries to interconnect and then African ones to create promote internet promotion programmes in these countries." (SOURCE: Tunisia Online) LIRE EN FRANCAIS: MALI: HOSPITAL AT DIMMBAL USES STAELLITE INTERNET FOR TELEMEDICINEIn the hospital at Dimbal situated some 750 kilometres from Mali's capital Bamako, patients can now benefit directly from the medical opinion of experts. How? Via a Geolink Access satellite which allows this small village to be connected to a world-wide network. Doctors from Geneva and Mali can ask each other questions in case of difficulties from a distance of 6,000 kms."The new infrastructure allows us to have access to a wide range of opinion," according to Ousmane Ly, the organiser of the telemedicine network. The hospital has only eight beds but serves a locality of 2,000 people in Dogon country. The network is an initiative for "la mission archéologique et ethnoarchéologique suisse en Afrique occidentale (Maesao). Dimbal is a pilot project. (SOURCE: Libération) LIRE EN FRANCAIS: SA'S INTERNET SOLUTIONS TO LAUNCH ADSL OFFERINGInternet Solutions (IS) is planning to introduce its own ADSL offering within two months, says CEO Angus McRobert. McRobert spoke to ITWeb during the company's Internetix conference held in Cape Town yesterday. He says the company is finalising negotiations with Telkom, and determining the pricing and exact specifications of the service. "We definitely will launch our ADSL offering by end-September. A lot will depend on whether Telkom will be able to hold up their end of the bargain, but we are working on that," McRobert says. A number of other Internet service providers have already introduced ADSL offerings, but all have to use Telkom's "last mile" service, because it is the only telecommunications company to have a full service licence. "Offering an ADSL service is an expensive exercise for an Internet service provider as we all have to depend on Telkom, and then the customers always want to use more bandwidth than they are entitled to," McRobert says. Government's delay in licensing the second national operator (SNO) came in for varying amounts of criticism throughout the conference. Andre Wills, managing partner of telecommunications consultancy Africa Analysis, says the delay in awarding the licence means the business case for the SNO will have to be re-examined. "Market conditions are continually evolving and so the business case that made sense two years ago when the licence should have been issued does not necessarily make sense now." Wills expects the SNO to aggressively target the corporate sector, as it will have to find the best way to make up for lost time and profits. McRobert notes that the high cost of telecommunications in this country has arrested Internet growth. The current base of about 1.2million dial-up users is not expected to grow significantly soon, he says. "Mobile services may offer a solution. However, while the potential there is huge, those services are still in their infancy and offerings are not quite where they should be." (SOURCE: IT Web) EUTELSAT'S SKYLOGIC SELECTED BY NETHOPE TO CONNECT WORLDWIDE OPSEutelsat, one of the world's leading satellite operators, announced today that it has been selected by NetHope as a supplier for 2-way satellite broadband connectivity for aid organisations in over 100 locations including Africa. NetHope is a collaborative organisation formed by the world's largest humanitarian aid organisations that provides IT equipment and solutions in countries where its members execute their programmes and projects. Skylogic, a 100 percent broadband affiliate of Eutelsat, based in Turin (Italy) will coordinate logistics, installations, operations, after-sales service, and QoS management for NetHope's participating member sites in more than 40 countries, from Paraguay to Nepal. From its location in Turin, Skylogic will provide a turnkey broadband access solution to NetHope members through the extensive coverage it can supply through Eutelsat's fleet of satellites. The network will use capacity on four satellites and coincides with the commercial entry into service of the African beam on Eutelsat's recently launched W3A satellite, which is operated through a new IP hub located at Skylogic's Turin premises. NetHope's member organisations will also benefit from commercial conditions pre-negotiated with Eutelsat/Skylogic, for broadband 2-way access deployment, as well as project management for the entire rollout and maintenance of their sites for a term of three years. Commenting on the agreement, Giuliano Berretta, Eutelsat CEO and President of Skylogic said: "Through this ground-breaking contract with NetHope, which necessitates the deployment of a uniform 2-way broadband access solution across four continents, Eutelsat is validating its objective to build one of the world's largest and most efficient satellite IP infrastructures at its Skylogic affiliate. NetHope members will be able to benefit from true one-stop-shop broadband access with no restrictions due to geography or distance from terrestrial communications. We welcome NetHope to our family of clients." Dipak Basu, Executive Director, NetHope commented: "Through this agreement we will establish the concept of a 'NetHope Store' with Eutelsat and Skylogic, where our members can avail themselves of pre-negotiated rates for a 2-way broadband equipment and services, regardless of where their sites are located. We believe demand for broadband Internet will grow strongly among our membership as Information and Communication Technologies become entrenched in their humanitarian work in developing countries. We are extremely pleased to count Eutelsat as a strategic partner in this important venture." "This agreement means more to Save the Children than just improving communications with our staff in some of the remotest areas of the world," said Save the Children's Chief Technology Officer, Edward Granger-Happ." It also means we are one step closer to creating real and lasting change for many children who now live in communities with little or no access to modern communications technologies." Save the Children, a founding member of NetHope, is a leading independent humanitarian organisation that works in 40 countries worldwide including the United States. Robert Feierbach, Executive Director, Skylogic explains: "Skylogic has built a successful business through its impressive multiple-satellite IP platform coverage from Turin, Italy, using the same economical D-Star system across a significant part of the Eutelsat satellite fleet. This unique IP hub configuration allows us to offer NetHope members a one-price, one-stop solution, where our company is responsible for the turnkey broadband service delivered to underserved areas worldwide." www.skylogic.com http://www.skylogic.com IN BRIEF- The RwandaIX project is completed and there will be an inaugeration in Kigali in the presence of the Prime Minister tomorrow, Monday July 26. All six ISPs in Rwanda is connected and the website will be up and running any day now. All information about the RwandaIX project is available at http://csd.ssvl.kth.se/~csd2004-team21 - Teleglobe International Holdings (which recently purchased ITXC) announced that Skype, the global Internet telephony company, has connected to Teleglobe's global VoIPLink(tm) Service for global call termination. Under the agreement, Skype will use Teleglobe VoIPLink to support Skype's first commercial service, SkypeOut, a soon-to-be-launched pre-pay feature that allows Skype users to call traditional phones worldwide from their Skype application. - The South African Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) expects the regulator's decision on its interpretation of the laws governing value-added network service (VANS) providers to be "unusual" when it is announced. - Absa's Internet banking customers will receive another year of free antivirus software. The Group has extended its offer of the award winning Trend Micro PC-cillin software, which is locally distributed by SecureData. Absa has been providing customers with free PC-cillin 2003 software since August 2003. This software offers advanced virus detection and cleaning with an integrated firewall to safeguard protect home users' PCs from hackers and malicious code threats. - Sentech, the commercially operated, state-owned enterprise, has announced measures which it says will improve the service on its broadband MyWireless product range. Says Marcel Raath, Sentech's executive for sales and marketing: "Part of this process is setting up a platform to monitor excessive usage and downloading on the network. The past three months has shown that there are a small number of customers whose usage can be termed as 'network abuse' in terms of the paragraph headed 'Excess utilisation of network resources' in our acceptable use policy (AUP). All users have accepted, and agreed to abide by, this policy, and non-compliance is resulting in degradation, creating a knock-on effect for all MyWireless users. - MWeb Business last week announced the launch of Business Server, a managed Internet solution aimed at the small-to-medium enterprise (SME) market. Developed in response to the increasing Internet requirements of small businesses, Business Server is an Internet solution designed to include connectivity, e-mail management, bandwidth management, security services and reporting functionality.
32 AND 40-INCH LCDS FROM SAMSUNG NOW AVAILABLE IN SOUTH AFRICATarsus Technologies has announced the local availability of the Samsung Syncmaster 323T and 403T LCD monitors, designed for use as information boards, presentation displays or virtually anywhere a large display is required in the business space. "With 32-inch and 40-inch viewable areas respectively and a maximum resolution of 1280 x 768 on both units, these new monitors offer customers both a more cost-effective and higher-performance alternative to a gas-plasma display," says Darryl Squara, Business Manager, Acer, Samsung and General Products at Tarsus Technologies. "And because the 323T and 403T are based on LCD technology, customers also gain more life from using this alternative." This means that an LCD display used for 24 hours, 365 days a year would last customers in the region of seven years, where a gas plasma display panel would last in the region of 3 years. The two new LCD monitors have also been designed to offer excellent performance in the display of both text and graphics. "This allows the monitors to be used in a myriad of environments and broadens the usability of large format displays. The units also feature a far lower power consumption than competitive products, ensuring that less heat is generated and air-conditioning to compensate for the consequent rise in room temperature is less of an issue," Squara adds. In terms of additional functionality, the 323T and 403T both offer a Picture in Picture display function, allowing for streaming video, or a television signal to be displayed in a portion of the display area. The monitors can also be rotated through 90-degrees, allowing for more flexible use and functionality that suits the customer's requirements. "In environments where multiple monitors need to be used and controlled from a central point, Samsung once again has the answer. Using the RS-232C communication port on these units, multiple monitors can be chained together and be controlled from a central PC, running Samsung's monitor control software. "While we're on the topic of interfaces, the 323T and 403T, can receive a picture signal from virtually any source in the book. For connectivity to a PC, the LCD monitors can make use of any combination of S-VGA, DVI (Digital Video Interface) or composite input signals. From a multimedia perspective, the monitors can accept any combination of component (RCA), BNC (coaxial), or S-Video input signals," concludes Squara. Numerous mounting options are available to users, including the ability to use a desktop stand, or wall-mount attachment, as well as attach multi-media speakers for a more feature-rich experience. NIGERIA'S EXPERTEDGE LAUNCHES ORACLE XPREMIUMExpertedge, the Software arm of Nigeria's Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), is set to launch an Oracle Support Service Consultancy called Oracle Xpremium Support Services. This service is targeted at her value added Oracle customers as well as any other organization that runs Oracle database. According to the Assistant General Manager, Business Development, Simon Agi, there is noticeable dearth of experienced Oracle DBA's in the corporate market. Moreover, from experience, we have discovered that most organization that run Oracle do not exactly know the status or the health level of their Database, as such, there is always database failures and crashes which brings downtime to their operations and subsequent loss of customer confidence and resources. Thus we intend to offer free Oracle Health or Sanity Check to these organizations which will allow them to be proactive and know in advance the status of their database against failure or crash. Detailed report of the result of the check and recommendations will be given to the organization after which Support services (Xpremium) will commence. According to Mr. Agi, Oracle Xpremium Support Services is when an organization contracts Expertedge to manage its database. This will include total monthly or quarterly check on their database as well as a 24x7 support services assistance and up to date patches deployment. Based on this, Expertedge is organizing a one day interactive workshop where the details of the Xpremium Services will be made clearer to the participants. The workshop will be for Directors and Heads of IT in organizations as well as Professional and certified Oracle DBA's. The target market includes all the organizations that run large databases which includes all financial institutions, Telecom companies, Oil and Gas companies, Manufacturing and Government. Smaller organization are considered also as we intend to offer total satisfaction and relief to everyone. Furthermore, he explained that Expertedge has the necessary resources both in staff strength, infrastructure and certified experienced Oracle personnel's to deliver this valued added services to the Nigerian Corporate market. Agi further explains that Xpremium product services includes; Constant Sanity Checks, Performance Tunings, Backup and Recovery and Training etc. He further stated that to further deliver these services, Expertedge Software and System which is currently the only Oracle First Line Support Partner in Nigeria that has implemented and deployed Oracle Applications and business Solutions in all the sectors of the economy has set up a central email: system,xpremium.oracle @cwlgroup.net and a dedicated Hotline for this services as well as putting in place necessary infrastructure which includes two heavy duty standby power system, web enabled Helpdesk system where calls are logged, effective transportation system for their technical gurus and 24x7 personnel's availability. Agi maintained that escalation of critical issues within Expertedge is a priority, thus they have partnered with the biggest and leading Oracle Advantage Partner in North Africa who understands the African terrain and her business needs. Moreover, CWG being the largest supplier of Storage and Server systems has garnered enough experience to manage the entire system. It is a one stop solution to all database system; little wonder most of our customers are the big organizations in the market today. CWG has won so many awards and is known for strict adherence to global standards, procedures and processes, little wonder they are ISO 9001:2000 certified, ITIL certified and are partners to Global premium vendors known for premium solutions which includes Oracle (For Complete Business Solution), Infosys (For Finacle Banking Software, Symphony (For Hospital Management System), STL (Human Resources Management System and Pension Management System), Gilat, Sun Microsystems, Dell, Avaya etc Concluding, he said that with the wide spread of their offices and branches across the three major geographic region of the nation (Akwa Ibom, PH, Abuja and 5 offices in Lagos) as well as an office in Ghana and with an effective WAN infrastructure, healthy financial background, organizations will be rest assured of their ROI and prompt service delivery which CWG is known for. Organizations are advised to make use of this first ever service delivery system to be able to cut cost and operational time and focus more on other administrative needs. In his words, "Expertedge operates a 24x7 software support centre in Lagos with extensions in our offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja. We are an authorized Oracle First Line Support partner. Our support services are delivered by Oracle certified personnel who are also ITIL certified for service management. The support available from the support centre is back-ended with Oracle Global Support. Our support services also cover communications and hardware". (SOURCE: Daily Champion) AST GETS COMPUTER MANAGEMENT CONTRACT FOR PHARMACEUTICALS IN MOZAMBIQUEAST has been awarded a contract by John Snow to work for the Central de Medicamentos e Artigos Medicos (CMAM) of the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Mozambique with funding from the USAID in Mozambique (USAID/Mozambique). The contract is to supply and implement a computerised integrated management information system, for the supply and distribution of pharmaceutical and medical Supplies. Phase one of the contract is worth in excess of USD636 500. The computerised integrated management information system will improve CMAM's ability to identify requirements, procure, and distribute medicines and other medical supplies through the MOH's supply chain within Mozambique. In addition, the system will provide CMAM with an integrated management information system, which will allow the organisation to monitor and account for all medical supplies purchased and supplied through CMAM. With its industry focus on healthcare, AST is able to provide focused healthcare ICT solutions based on domain knowledge and products with extensive functionality. "This approach aims to ensure the creation of long-term beneficial business relationships with our clients," explains Doug Seager of AIS, the AST business unit responsible for the development and integration of the solution in Mozambique. SAHARA COMPUTERS SUPPLIES PC POWER FOR CYBER-GAMERSCyber warriors in Gauteng battled it out at Eastgate last weekend during a regional qualifying event to secure a place in the finals of the South African leg of the World Cyber Games taking place in September. All PC equipment was supplied by Sahara Computers. The World Cyber Games is a global competition to sift out the toughest, most skilled and versatile computer gamers throughout the world. Aside from organising and hosting the annual tournament, the body also organises a conference for game industry leaders and exhibitors to encourage growth and development of the industry at large. Regional qualifying events involve games such as Unreal Tournament 2004, WarCraft III and Condition Zero, and take place in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. All finalists will proceed to the South African finals to be held at Sandton City in September. Sahara Computers has been involved in the competition since last year and the company has made its AMD-based Powerhouse PC range available to gamers. "The AMD range is built with quality graphics and sound, as well as a host of other features for optimum performance and a lifelike gaming experience. Our participation in this international event has given us the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of our offering and expose users to the quality and performance of the infrastructure that we continue to produce and supply," says Atul Gupta, MD of Sahara Computers. According to Gupta, the company will continue to supply the competition with PCs as finalists engage each other in the run up to the global final which takes place in San Francisco in October. (SOURCE: ITWeb, http://www.itweb.co.za) IN BRIEF- SA-based Value Logistics has outsourced its entire wide area network (WAN) to Bidvest's network solutions company, I-Fusion. With 74 branches and sub-depots countrywide, Value Logistics required a comprehensive contract, which includes network management, line management and stringent quality of service spanning the entire network. This includes all server and application hosting, as well as monitoring of all servers, back up and redundancy. - Alcatel's Digital Bridge Initiative (DBI), already under way in Tunisia and Senegal, is expected to launch in rural SA in spring. The DBI forms part of Alcatel's sustainable development programme, which operates in line with decisions taken at the World Summit on Information Society held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December last year. - The Kenya schools ICT trust fund is an innitiative by private and public companies. The new Minister announced that Microsoft had established a state-of-the art computer refurbishment centre in Nairobi to serve the East and Central African region. The centre has the capacity to re-install programmes on 4,000 computers per month which would then subsequently be distributed to the schools. - Nigeria loses a whopping USD1billion dollars annually, through importation of various softwares, according to a report just published by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP). - Fujitsu Siemens Computers figures for EMEA for the second quarter of 2004 (Q2CY04) show that overall shipments of desktop PC hardware in the EMEA PC market outgrew the same period for 2003 by 16,7%, whereas those of Fujitsu Siemens Computers grew by 25,2%. The company continues to outperform in the notebook area, with the strongest growth in the industry reaching 100% growth across the EMEA region year on year, in comparison to a market growth of 29,3%.
ECONET UNFOLDS PLANS TO TAKE OVER VMOBILE READY WITH USD230M BID FOR MAJORITY SHAREEconet Wireless Interna-tional says it is now ready to take up and fully pay for a 50 per cent plus one majority shareholding of cash-strapped Vmobile Nigeria, months after it had its management contract terminated. In an exclusive interview with This Day in Johannesburg, South Africa last week, the Group Chief Executive of EWI, Strive Masiyiwa, said that EWI is believes that the international tribunal will rule in its favour. After the ruling of the tribunal, Masiyiwa said that EWI will then exercise its right of pre-emption over the failed Vodacom offer for the Nigerian company and it would then pay for the 50 plus one per cent shareholding offered to Vodacom. He disclosed that before the board of directors of the Nigerian mobile company severed relationship with EWI, the plan by the Zimbabwean firm to buy 33 per cent of Vmobile which was on offer then at USD150 million, had been approved by the shareholders. But rather than proceed with the EWI offer, he added that some members of EWN's board decided to severe relationship with EWI and offer a 50 per cent plus 1 share of the company to Vodacom and "we have since taken the case to arbitration." "In fact, we now want to exercise our right of pre-emption on the Vodacom offer. We are before the arbitration saying we have right of pre-emption over the offer made by Vodacom. Never mind our original offer, we have rights of preemption. "Because the board and the shareholders met to accept the offer from Vodacom, we have right of pre-emption over that offer. That offer was for 51 per cent. If the tribunal rules that we have right of preemption, we are going to be given 30 days to pay. And if we have USD230 million, that day money has to speak or forever hold its peace. "That, interestingly is the irony of this whole thing. We set out only to buy 33 per cent with USD150 million. These guys (Vodacom) put up an offer. We are now claiming right of pre-emption over this offer. And we cannot claim rights of pre-emption over part of the offer, we have to claim rights of pre-emption over the entire offer. "Now I have been quiet, the legal stuff is for the lawyers while I have only been interested in one thing: making sure my money is there should we win. We are only going to have 30 days. That money is there and I am just making sure it goes nowhere", he told This Day. Masiyiwa who welcomed the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) investigations into Vmobile and the Vodacom transaction lamented that "this issue should never have got to this. I am so grateful when I heard about this EFCC stuff, I said thank God, at last, the Nigerian government at least is now paying attention." The EWI Group Chief Executive said he was very happy when the EFCC wrote to EWI to request "our own side of the story. We are very happy that an agency of government is interested in the whole issue and we are confident that the truth would soon come out and we would be vindicated." Masiyiwa said that telecoms business is a public business but "some of my colleagues think it is a private business. No, we are not running a fish and chip shop. There are stakeholders in this business who have a bigger say than even us which is the general public. In this particular case, over a million people sit on this network. They deserve better services not this confusion of waking up one morning you are called Econet, now you are called Vodacom and then you have V whatever." The Board of Directors of EWN, now Vmobile, had sacked Masiyiwa, its founding partner, as a director of the company November 10, 2003 for what was described as "abuse of his fiduciary rights by disclosing confidential company information and leaking confidential company documents to a third party." According to the company, other reasons for Masiyiwa removal were his "refusal to take cognizance of the business interest of the company in considering the investment offers, but only thought about himself and his company" and "persistent embarrassment of the company by mounting pernicious media propaganda against the interest of the company, the staff and the shareholders". "Please note that your seat on the Board of the company is hereby consequentially deemed as vacated with immediate effect and you are therefore not entitled henceforth, howsoever, to any of the rights and privileges that attach to the office of a director of the company neither do you have the attendant responsibilities, duties and functions thereof", the company's letter to him read in part. The shareholdings structure of EWN (Vmobile) had been restructured few months after it got its licence in 2001 with the parent company, EWI, holding 5 per cent. Before the restructuring exercise, the shareholding ratio of the company had EWI holding 40 per cent, First Independent Limited, a consortium of Nigerian investors, 40 per cent and First Bank of Nigeria 20 per cent . The Nigerian consortium picked up the balance of EWI's shares, bringing its shareholding to over 60 per cent as a result of the alleged inability of Masiyiwa to remit funds to cover his shareholdings. EWN's Board of Directors later at a meeting unanimously allotted 40 million shares out of a total of 120 million shares of the company to Vodacom, representing 33.3 per cent. According to the company, the value of the shares is USD150 million, which is the equity required. The Board also resolved that all existing shareholders will sell off part of their shares on a pro rata basis to Vodacom to enable the company come up to 50 per cent plus one share. Masiyiwa had opposed Vodacom's bid to take over the company accusing EWN's board of breaching contractual agreemtents. There had been a dispute between EWI and EWN when EWN board invited Orascom of Egypt and Vodacom to carry out due diligence on the Nigerian firm which resulted in EWI's filing for arbitration in a Lagos court. EWI in its request said that the Board of EWN contravened a board resolution on November 29, 2002 which states "that the company is hereby authorized to raise additional equity as required by its business plan by private placement (targeted at existing shareholders, high networth individuals and institutional investors) subject to the proviso that the existing shareholders shall be given full allotment for the amount they applied for". But Vodacom has since pulled out after taking over and entering into a management agreement with the Nigerian company. Vodacom pulled out because of a payment it said breached good corporate governance and trusts. This decision prompted the EFCC investigations. (SOURCE: This Day) IN BRIEF- South African cellular operator Cell C announced last week it had turned EBITDA (earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation) positive on a monthly basis at the end of May 2004. Cell C said this development has boosted expectations that it was poised to go cash positive in 2005, a move that would ease pressure on funding for future growth.While optimistic to continue being EBITDA positive on a monthly basis for the balance of 2004, the group said it expects short-term growth in active subscribers to slow while medium-term value indicators improve. READERS WRITEISSUE 216: CSIRT: A ROUTE TO COMBATING AFRICA'S POSITION AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S CYBER-BADLANDS There is now a CSIRT in Algeria set up with USAID funding. Jonathan Metzger
CÔTE D'IVOIRE: FRATMAT.NET, SHOP SITE LAUNCHESThe Ivorian group Fraternité Matin has identified a number of areas of web information that it thinks are "saleable". Its "shopping without shops" (commerces sans boutique) uses special coupons and a targeted mailing list to lead clients to the products of the physical shop itself for customers from home. It sees itself as a trusted intermediary that can offer micro-payments. Judge for yourself how successful they've been. ewww.fratmat.net claims 1,600,000 users. Contact them on the number below if you want your business to be featured. (SOURCE: Fraternité Matin) LIRE EN FRANCAIS: IN BRIEF- Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its 2004 report on obstacles to the free flow of information on the Web. The French organization noted that attitudes towards the Internet had become more rigid both in countries where the media is muzzled as a matter of course but also in countries -- and this is a new development -- with a strong democratic tradition. In the countries of the North, the obstacles to online freedom are, most often, dictated by the war against terrorism -- which has itself on occasion given rise to abuses of freedom. The report makes specific mention of a number of sub-Saharan countries where there are obstacles to digital freedom. The situation varies from the more or less satisfactory (Senegal) to the catastrophic (Zimbabwe). The low number of Internet users in countries such as Burundi does not really encourage the authorities to wield the cyber baton. A number of countries are not mentioned at all in the report; it can be assumed that some of these, like Benin, have little to reproach themselves in this regard. Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 6/2004 http://www.rsf.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=432 I4D DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONSAFRICA MOBILE PHONE USERS RALLY FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS Campaigning organisation Fahamu is using SMS text messages to collect support for the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. All you have to do is send a message with the word "petition" and your name in the message to +27832933934. You will only be charged the cost set by your network provider for sending an international SMS. According to Firoze Manji of Fahamu: "Mobile phone users in Africa and across the world can now send SMS's from their mobile phones to sign an online petition in support of a campaign urging African governments to ratify the African Union's Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which was adopted by the African Union on 11 July 2003. The Protocol offers significant protection for the rights of women in Africa, but has yet to receive the required number of country ratifications to come into force". "To our knowledge, this is the first time that SMS technologies will have been used on a mass scale on the African continent in support of human rights," said Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu, a human rights organisation that developed the facility. "The facility enables those with poor on non-existent internet access to sign the online petition and takes advantage of the fact that there are nearly eight times more mobile phone users compared to email users in Africa." Initial testing of the SMS function indicates that it will be possible for mobile phone users to send SMS's from many countries and mobile phone networks in Africa. "We cannot be certain that people in every country will be able to use this facility, but we think most should be able to," said Manji. HOW TO DO IT Send a text message from your mobile/cell phone to: +27-832-933-934 with the message: petition your name HOW TO SUPPORT THE SMS PETITION Send text messages to your colleagues and friends alerting them to the petition and informing them how to sign by SMS. You can also use email and word of mouth to help spread the word. Distribute leaflets about this initiative. We want to reach people with mobile phones who might not have internet access. If you work in a human rights or social justice organisation in Africa, why not volunteer to distribute leaflets for us about the petition to your networks and contacts. Send your details to sms-support@pambazuka.org and we will post you pamphlets to distribute. You can also sign up for the petition online at: The initiative has been supported by IDRC and Oxfam.
PEOPLE* Kenya's new Information and Communications Minister Raphael Tuju last week punched holes into the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy paper describing it as flawed. "The draft policy lacks vision," said Tuju adding "it is a badly done cut and paste thing that will have to be reviewed." The review will centre on integration of education, taxation, information among things to enable Kenya modernize on an ICT platform. "We have to decide whether we want to be a country that embraces ICT or consign ourselves to backwardness," the minister said. Tuju was supported by AITEC, a leading ICT group whose chairman Sean Moroney said the policy paper had no input from the private sector. The minister was speaking at a Nairobi hotel during the official launch of ICT Trust Fund. * The Commonwealth of Learning has appointed Professor Peter Kinyanjui an Honorary Fellow of the organisation. Kinyanjui is Commissioner of Human Development in the e-Africa Commission of the New Partnership in Africa's Development (NEPAD), consultant in open and distance learning for development and former senior staff member of the Commonwealth of Learning, Nairobi, Kenya. * Long-time Telkom senior specialist, media relations, Andrew Weldrick, has been found dead at his home in Centurion, Pretoria. Telkom spokesman Andrew Weldrick was found dead at his home last week. Weldrick (38) grew up in the Eastern Cape and studied journalism at Rhodes University, and has worked at Telkom for over 10 years. Our condolences to his wife and three children. * The ICT sector will see modest, but more sustained growth in the future compared to the "boom-to-bust" cycles of the 1990s and early 2000s, says Dimension Data SA chairman designate Andile Ngcaba. Ngcaba spoke at DiData subsidiary Internet Solutions' annual Internetix last week in Cape Town. He said the ICT sector will have to return to business basics, but the exciting times have not passed by yet."A bright future awaits those willing to innovate and accept the challenges presented." Ngcaba was director-general of the Department of Communications until January, before moving across to his present position at DiData. He will become chairman at the end of the year. * The Kenyan House was stunned to hear that Transport minister John Michuki was part of a team from Telkom Kenya that went to China as a lucrative tender was pending before him. Maoka Maore (Ntonyiri, Kanu) claimed that he had evidence that the minister and the delegation met the Huawei Company management. The MP demanded that the minister, Raphael Tuju, in whose docket Telkom falls, clarify the matter. Said he: "Can we be told whether the tender had been opened or not by the time Mr Michuki's team arrived in China?" Tuju responding to a question from the MP from Makadara, who had sought to know the criterion used to award the tender for the supply of engineering, survey, installation, testing, commissioning and commercialisation of the Next Generation Voice Network Over Internet Protocol project at Telkom. He wanted to know also why Huawei had offered a 65 per cent discount on its products, and why the Telkom bosses visited the firm in China before the tender as awarded. Mr Tuju said the company was rated the best in the technical and commercial examinations, and was declared the overall winner by the tender committee, using the normal procedures."The bid price offered by the company at the tender opening was already a discounted amount. The evaluated price was therefore based on the bid price," he added. He said the Telkom management visited the Chinese firm as part of a Government delegation, led by Mr Michuki, who had been invited by the Chinese government.
EVENTSICT CONFERENCE - "UNIVERSITIES: TAKING A LEADING ROLE IN ICT-ENABLED HUMAN DEVELOPMENT" The Directorate of ICT Support, Makerere University, is organising a conference under the theme Universities: Taking a Leading Role in ICT-enabled Human Development, to facilitate the sharing of experiences, lessons, and ideas. ACT 2004 UPDATE, 16 JULY 2004 The Summit is now going to be held at le Meridien Hotel, north of Port Louis, because the CyberTower cannot guarantee completion on time. The advantage of basing the event at a hotel is that with delegates having accommodation at the Summit venue, there will be more networking opportunities and less time will be spent travelling each day to the event venue. Le Meridien is spectacular and has all the facilities you would expect from a five-star beach resort. Full details are available on the AITEC web site. IP Planet is offering a special ACT discount deal for telecom operators and ISPS: All bandwidth contracts signed at ACT will have a 30% discount during the first two months of operation. Sophos will be providing a security training workshop at the Summit. Over 40 speakers have confirmed presentations in the Summit Forums Intelsat's Gala Night will now be held on the first night of the Summit (7 September) and this is set to be a spectacular event in the tradition of previous ACTs. The African ISP Association (AfrISPA) is holding its annual general meeting during ACT. CATIA (UK) and Connectivity Africa (Canada) are holding their Advisory Committee meeting to coincide with ACT. ACT 2004 is attracting a wide range of stakeholders across the African ICT sector, making it a great networking opportunity – where numerous business and development partnerships will be developed. For full details and to register as a delegate, log on to http://www.aitecafrica.com/ FIRST ANNUAL SANGONET "ICTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY" CONFERENCE The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) is pleased to announce that it will be organising its first annual "ICTs and Civil Society" conference that is to take place from 2-4 March 2005 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Although many local conferences these days focus on ICT-related issues, very little dedicated attention is given to the relevance of ICTs to the civil society organisation (CSO) sector. During the last few years the Southern African CSO sector has experienced dramatic changes. The funding and related crises experienced by CSOs in the early 1990s have been well documented. Many CSOs were forced to close down because of a lack of funding and related organisational problems. As a result, the critical challenge facing many CSOs today relates to their capacity to make a fundamental contribution to finding longterm and sustainable solutions to Southern Africa's development problems. The strengthening of CSOs' capacity for service delivery increasingly requires that attention be given to their ability to use, manage and implement ICTs. Although many Southern African CSOs are already active users of ICTs, much more needs to be done to build their capacity. CSOs face numerous challenges in keeping up with rapidly changing ICT developments. These include developing internal organisational and educational processes, making technology investments, developing and implementing electronic communication strategies, and staying abreast of a wide range of ICT policy issues impacting on the sector. The conference will therefore focus specifically on these ICT challenges facing the CSO sector, highlighting and promoting practical benefits, opportunities and lessons learned to date. It will provide an opportunity to both CSOs that are ICT-enabled, as well as those organisations which are considering introducting ICT solutions to their work, to discuss critical issues of common concern and learn from one another's experiences. Specific attention will also be given to the activities and initiatives of various local and international CSOs involved in ICT issues. The conference will also include an exhibition where CSOs, as well as a wide range of ICT service providers, will be able to showcase their products and services. This conference is aimed at leadership staff and technical employees in CSOs, and individuals who work with these organisations, including donor agencies, the private sector and the government. Additional information on the conference will also be posted on the SANGONeT website - www.sangonet.org.za FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRESERVING AFRICAN LANGUAGES NOVEMBER 4-7, 2004 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE AFRICAN LANGUAGE RESEARCH PROJECT At UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE, PRINCESS ANNE, MARYLAND and CLARION RESORT AND FOUNTAINEBLEAU HOTEL, OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND Topics include: African languages and politics, African languages and terrorism, annotation algorithms for selected African languages, automated language processing, African languages and technology, cross-dialectal communication, machine translation of African languages, language and telemedicine, African language cartography/demographics, XML language management systems, teaching technologies and recommended pedagogies, building lexicons, publishing newspaper readers, automating emergency medical language, software development for annotation and translation, the lingua franca of trade and economies, web survey and analysis tools for African studies programs. Deadline for one page abstracts is August 16, 2004. Send short bio and abstract in word format to Dr. Chester Hedgepeth at cmhedgepeth@umes.edu. Individuals whose abstracts are accepted must register for full conference. Registration materials online at one of the websites: Graduate students are invited to participate. Must send support letter from dissertation advisor. For additional information contact Dr. Chester Hedgepeth, Director, African Language Research Project, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD. at cmhedgepeth@umes.edu. JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES* An Rf Planner is being sought in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The job will include general radio planning tasks and the person employed will act as a Trainer - ATOLL tools - for the locals. For details go to: http://www.delconsulting.com Job reference RF04.co
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