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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 242 The great African telecoms equipment giveaway - who stands to benefit?Within the last month several African telecom incumbents have received sizable donations of telecommunications equipment from a number of foreign companies and governments. The most generous of these offerings have come from the Chinese giants Huawei and ZTE, while the Government of Iran recently signed a telecommunications agreement with Zimbabwe and TelOne. Many of the recipients are cash-strapped incumbents whose buying choices have become somewhat curtailed by their trading position. Mapara Syed looks at whether it is better to give or to receive. Equipment giveaways are the latest front in the fierce battle for dominance of Africa's telecommunications equipment market and none are fighting more fiercely than China's two contenders Huawei and ZTE. Both firms have gradually built their brand image as cutting-edge high-tech companies among African leading telecom operators, with its high-quality products, excellent service and customized solutions. But their key advantages have been a combination of low prices and soft loan support for buyers. Currently, Huawei has set up approximately 30 branch offices in Africa, and has deployed products in almost 40 African countries. Between Q4 2003 and Q4 2004 Huawei increased its revenues from sales of mobile equipment to Africa from USD 65 million to USD 250 million. In Q4 2004 it signed an USD 80 million contract with GSM operator V-Mobile in Nigeria and is supplying GSM equipment to companies across the continent. Huawei has also increased its sales of CDMA equipment to fixed-line and WLL operators in Africa. Huawei Technologies has recently won a series of contracts which amount to over USD 400 million from incumbent telcos in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in Africa. These sales cover a wide range of Huawei products and solutions including 3G, NGN, optical transmission, switches, routers and Intelligent Network. Earlier this month Nigerian National operator Nitel inaugurated a Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) project, an initiative launched by Huawei Technologies to boost Nitel’s transmission capacity and offer better services to Nigerians. The project (worth about USD2.7 million) is a donation of modern digital equipment to the incumbent by Huawei, and is expected to enhance fibre optic wide band transmission on the NITEL network, and increase/improve voice and data traffic along the Lagos, Enugu and Port Harcourt route, which represents a major lucrative market for NITEL and other service providers. Coming a few months after China and Nigeria signed a memorandum of mutual cooperation and understanding on the development of telecom infrastructure, Zeng Yong, DWDM Project Manager at Huawei’s Nigerian office, says that the donation is to “solve the problem that there is not enough bandwidth on backbone network.” “As an important and reliable partner of Nitel’s,” Huawei want to help the incumbent operator become a successful player in the industry with sustainable growth. However, he also stated that it was Huawei’s way of expressing appreciation to Nitel for awarding them a previous contract to build 250,000 digital lines through Lagos, which is projected to generate n1.5 Billion a month. This contract demonstrated for Huawei that they have become one of Nitel’s “main partners in building the communications” needed to improve services in the country, Yong went on to say. In supporting the healthy development of Nigeria's telecom market, Huawei has invested USD 7 million to establish a multi-product training centre in the Capital of Nigeria starting back to August 2004, and has trained over 150 professionals for Nigeria. Huawei's commitment to help Nigeria develop its telecom industry has been well appreciated by the Nigerian telecom operators and has led to Huawei winning a series of rewarding bids. For a company which has been operating in Nigeria since 1999, Huawei has received contracts totalling USD340 million from Nigeria last year alone. According to Huawei, the DWDM initiative serves a purpose of giving something back to Nigeria. Yet at what cost? Although Huawei are adamant that they expect nothing in return, the collaboration on effective transmission through the DWDM project will ultimately mean that they will “have a better relationship and cooperate with each other in the future,” said Yong. Although the Chinese have a reputation for discretion, this might reasonably be translated as a gift today is an incentive for a contract tomorrow. Another company that has profited from beneficial agreements is Chinese telecom firm ZTE who over the past few years, has established a predominant position in Africa's telecommunications markets, especially in North Africa: in 2003, ZTE was selected to build Africa's largest CDMA WLL project in Algeria; ZTE's GSM products have been used in large-scale applications in Nigeria and Ethiopia; and, in 2004, ZTE was selected by Egypt Telecom to construct a large-scale CDMA network covering the Nile River Delta. Like Huawei, ZTE has recently donated Sh144 million worth of communication equipment to Telkom Kenya. Last year, Telkom Kenya awarded the company a contract to install a total of 26,000 switching lines in Nairobi's Gigiri, Kabete, Ruaraka and Changamwe in Mombasa. "Award of the tender has enabled Telkom Kenya to boost its telecommunication services," said Ma Zhongxin, ZTE's President of the African Region. This latest offer, the largest that Telkom Kenya has received in two years, is again meant to help the company to expand its services countrywide and will be provided within the next two months. The equipment has been donated as a gift to “improve the quality of telecommunication in Kenya” says ZTE Kenya’s Chief Representative, Jianke Zhang, and to boost Kenya's economic recovery strategy for wealth and employment creation. The company has previously been involved in the installation of Telkom Kenya’s network and is an illustration of its ongoing commitment to Kenya. Similar to Huawei, ZTE “do not expect anything in return,” they just hope that the Kenyans “will have better standards of living” adds Zhang. However, they also hope that they can establish a “strategic partnership with Telkom Kenya” in which Telkom Kenya will be attracted to become a ZTE “shareholder in the future,” Zhang went on to say. On December 29 2004, ZTE became listed in the Hong Kong stock exchange and as a result ZTE are hoping that companies all over the world will invest in them and buy ZTE shares. ZTE clearly have a fine sense of irony as the near-bankrupt Telkom Kenya (see Telecom News below) are unlikely to be buying shares in anybody in the near future. Such is ZTE's determination to get contracts that it has sometimes acquired telco companies in order to be able to supply equipment. Some while back it announced an interest in acquiring licences and it now has three licences in two countries: Niger and DRC. But ZTE does not see itself becoming an operator. According to Dengming Feng, VP, ZTE International:”Our target is not operating companies. We are manufacturers. But it depends because there are some opportunities to get a licence which are linked to manufacturing and supplying equipment.” It is rumoured to be interested in acquiring a shareholding in Zamtel. The following table lists recent contracts Huawei and ZTE have won across the continent:
SENEGAL ANNOUNCES SNO AND UGANDA TNO AS OTHERS MOVE TO WIDER SERVICE COMPETITIONSenegal and Uganda have both announced that further competition will take the form of licences to vertically-integrated large-scale operators rather than opening competition across a wide range of markets. This in strong contrast to Kenya and South Africa where a much wider range of service companies will be licensed. The Senegalse Government announced that by the end-March this year it will choose a global telecommunications operator to compete with France Telecom's subsidiary Sonatel.Minister of Post and Telecommunications Joseph Ndong told reporters the winner would compete with Sonatel on long-distance and international fixed-line calls where the latter has until now had a monopoly in the West African nation. So the country will trade a monopoly for a duopoly in which Sonatel is almost certain to retain the upper hand. "The state has decided in the course of the first quarter 2005 to launch an international tender in order to choose an operator which will be granted a global licence to enable it to operate in all segments of the telecommunications market," Ndong said. Ndong added that Senegal would be open to further competition in sectors such as transmission of data and international calls "in order to promote a more dynamic and efficient sector". Last July, Senegal said it was opening all segments of its telecommunications market to competitors. Sonatel is 42.33 percent owned by France Telecom. The state has a 27.67 percent share, with the remainder held by institutional investors and the public. French-style attitudes to public ownership and dividends from this shareholding mean that the Government will continue to give Sonatel a privileged position in the market. Neither it nor the SNO are likely to challenge the de-facto monopolies it has in several key markets. Meanwhile the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is to license a third national telephone operator (a TNO) to provide both mobile and fixed communication services. International telephone companies MTN Uganda and the incumbent Uganda Telecommunications Limited (UTL) are currently providing Mobile and fixed lines. "We are proposing to license a national operator 12 months after the expiry of the MTN and UTL duopoly in June this year," said UCC'S technical manager, Mr Patrick Mwesigye. The new company will become operational after two years. He said since 51% of the shares of UTL are owned by the private sector, another national operator was needed to operate alongside the international companies. Given the rather slow timetable UCC may find itself losing its pre-eminent position as one of the continent's more daring regulators as others slip past with new, wider competition frameworks. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200501270740.html) KENYA TELKOM SEARCHES FOR COMPANY DOCTOR TO GIVE IT THE RIGHT MEDICINEKenya Telkom is looking for a consultant to carry out a 90 day assignment that will provide answers as to how the near-bankrupt company can be restructured. Cynics might argue that because the Government lacks the will to deal with this crisis, it would like someone else to deliver the bad news. Kenya Telkom MD John Waweru advised the Government at an early stage after he took over of the scale of redundancies required and it failed to take. The tender says:"the Government is now desirous to restructure Telkom Kenya Limited and prepare the company to operate in a competitive environment. In particular, the Government intends to put in place an accelerated restructuring programme that will enable the company not only to cope with the demands of a rapidly changing and dynamic sector but also ensure its long term sustainability in a competitive environment". With the competition framework almost in place, most would argue that this was rather late in day. The consultant would be tasked to investigate the following areas: * Carry out an investigative business analysis of the company taking into account the current and emerging regulatory environment.
The Lead Consultant is expected to provide the full range of expertise in-house or may associate with other suitably qualified firms to provide the required consultancy services in telecommunications, finance, valuation, legal, human resource management and organizational development. It is expected that the assignment will take 90 days to complete. Telkom South Africa has been rumoured to be an interested bidder if a successful restructuring can be carried out that will deal with the current massive over-staffing. For details, see: http://www.telkom.co.ke/Tender%20Notice.htm SA'S COMPETITION BATTLE HOTS UP: TELKOM & IS CLASH OVER VANS LICENCESLast week's hearings into the value-added network service (VANS) licences saw much argument over what a VANS provider should or should not be allowed to do, with Telkom leading the charge on one side, and Internet Solutions holding the fort on the other side of the table. According to Telkom's Graham Keet, it is the monopoly's contention that the ministerial determinations are part of a policy trajectory leading to managed liberalisation, and are not representative of a policy shift, but simply provide a date upon which such managed liberalisation shall occur. He told the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) that Telkom contests the idea that VANS be allowed to set themselves up as full-blown infrastructure providers; rather, the determinations simply allow them to use alternative infrastructure providers. “If ICASA is to allow such self-provisioning, the authority must give serious consideration to the issues of spectrum usage and access to land,” said Keet. “We are also of the opinion that VANS may only carry voice in the course of providing such value-added services and are not permitted to carry voice as a standalone service. The Telecommunications Act would have to be amended for this to be legal.” He said that unless the Act is revised, there exists no need to revise the interconnection guidelines, as these would only be affected if VANS were allowed to provide standalone voice services. One point that Telkom did, to an extent, agree with other players was in its contention that the licence fee is theoretically only there to cover the cost to the state of processing an application, so unless the cost recovery to the state was R30 000, then the proposed fee was too high. “It is our belief that ICASA should not license VANS to self provide now, as a new regulatory regime is coming in the form of the Convergence Bill, and it would be wrong to pre-empt it by trying to implement a licensing regime that does not yet exist,” said Keet. “We believe it would be in the country's best interests for the regulator to stay within the confines of the current Act and to be very careful, as it will be far harder to withdraw licences once they have already been awarded.” Mobile operator Vodacom stood behind Telkom during its submission to the authority, claiming it believes the ministerial determinations do not amend the Telecommunications Act or alter the market structure. It is Vodacom's contention that a VANS cannot operate as a basic telecoms service, but rather has to still add value, therefore it supports Telkom's view that a VANS provider carrying voice would have to do so in a value-added manner, since the determinations do not convert a VANS licence into a public switched telephone service licence. According to the company, it does not believe the minister's intention was to allow VANS to compete with voice carriers on a basic facilities level, as voice carriers have a facilities-based licence, whereas VANS licences are supposed to be service-based. However, the organisation's contentions were questioned by councillor Paris Mashile, who said ICASA felt the idea is to think outside of the ‘legal box', as up to now there had been too much falling back on the legal aspects of issues. “To quote Hamlet, we must ask whether it is better to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take up arms against a sea of troubles. At some point, someone is going to have to bite the bullet, as it is extremely important to work together to try and alleviate poverty and improve the lot of all South Africans.” Internet Solutions (IS), one of the organisations that stands to gain from the liberalisation of the industry, took an alternative view to the existing voice providers, claiming it believes the minister was given the power by the Act to change the sector when the time was right for competition. “We do not believe there is anything else that needs to be done to stimulate competition, now that the minister has assigned the dates for the determinations,” said Siyabonga Madyibi, senior regulatory manager at IS. “It is our belief that there is no limitation in the ministerial determinations or the Act where it is implied that VANS can only obtain facilities from licensed providers – statements such as these are being made to distract ICASA from the overarching issues and are being made by players desperate to protect their own revenue streams. “It may be a bitter pill for Telkom to swallow, but the determinations give VANS the right to self-provide and anything else is simply smoke and mirrors,” he said. He also claimed there is nothing that suggests voice has to be carried as a VANS only, and not as a standalone service, as the only restriction on VANS was that they were not allowed to provide voice until a date determined by the minister. “It is also very important that ICASA studies the interconnection issue carefully, as preventing VANS from interconnecting could lead to the ridiculous situation where VANS are able to connect to anyone in the world except for those who live in our own country,” said Madyibi. “An absence of proper interconnection guidelines will see one of two things happening. Either the status quo will be maintained in the telecoms industry, or we will see VANS developing an alternative national network where all VANS providers connect to one another outside of the other operators' networks.” He said that while IS supports the idea of empowering historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs), the company believes such initiatives should be aligned with national and industry-wide schemes, such as the ICT charter. “It would be discriminatory to single out VANS providers for specific HDI targets that are not applicable to other licence-holders,” he said. This view was backed up by the Communication Users Association of SA (CUASA), which proposed that VANS providers should be party to the ICT charter, along with all other industry members. CUASA also aligned itself with the view of the Internet Service Providers' Association, saying the definitions of a VANS provider need clarity and the increased cost of a VANS licence was “impossible to justify and was a disincentive to smaller companies wishing to enter the VANS market”. Madyibi concluded by saying ICASA must put a lot of thought into the licensing process, as there is always a tendency by incumbent operators to interpret issues in a restrictive manner and to resist measures that affect their market share. “ICASA needs to be decisive in regard to stimulating competition and must look to create an environment which will allow for true competition and thus provide greater choice for consumers,” he said. (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2005/0501241210.asp?O=TE) VSAT HELPS WEST AFRICAN MOBILE OPERATORS GAIN NEW REVENUE-GENERATING SERVICESGhana's Spacefon and Spacetel-Benin will use NMS Communications' AccessGate wireless backhaul optimizer to reduce backhaul expense and bandwidth requirements. It is claimed only will AccessGate help Spacefon and Spacetel-Benin significantly reduce backhaul operating expenses, but, equally important, the product will enable them to cost effectively increase capacity in Ghana and Benin, two of Africa's fastest-growing nations. Network optimization in fast-growing markets such as Africa is critical, as African GSM networks are growing at an annual rate of 50 percent according to Mobile International Magazine, straining existing satellite and microwave links and causing delays for new service rollouts throughout the continent. With AccessGate, operators such as Spacetel-Benin and Spacefon are able to increase radio coverage and the revenue generated on these links without increasing the operational expense of the link. "With more than 40 million wireless subscribers in Africa and an annual growth rate of 50%, we have no choice but to increase capacity of our GSM networks as quickly and economically as possible," said Joseph Helayel, Technical Manager, Spacetel-Benin. (SOURCE: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/vsat-05e.html) SA's USALS FINALLY GET TO BE SHOWN THE MONEY WITH R5M BOOSTThe Minister of Communications, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, this morning attended a networking breakfast meeting with the members of the boards of the recently licensed Under-Serviced Areas Licensees (USALs), where the board of the Universal Service Agency (USA) donated R5m to each of the six operators. The six subsidised companies are Bokone Telecommunications from the Capricorn District in the Limpopo Province, Thinta Thinta Telecommunications from Ugu District, and Kingdom Communications from Zululand District in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, Ilizwi Telecommunications from the O R Tambo District in the Eastern Cape Province, Karabo from the Northwest District and Bokamoso from the Free State District. The Universal Service Agency says it is keeping with its mandate of bridging the digital divide, and is subsidising the USALs with an amount of R15m each over the next three years, of which the first instalment was paid today. According to the communications ministry the subsidy will give these BEE SMMEs a much-needed kick-start to begin the roll-out of infrastructure in the under-serviced areas. The USA says it views the subsidy as a major intervention in the second economy. This subsidy is expected to promote national and international investment in the development of the under-serviced areas through information and communications technology. According to the CEO of the USA, Dr Sam Gulube, the deployment of telecommunication services in these under-serviced areas will create jobs and alleviate poverty as part of the government's priority programmes of improving the quality of life of the people living in the rural and remote areas of SA. The breakfast meeting, says USA, also provided the minister with an opportunity to interact with the members of the boards of directors of the USALs, as well as discussing the mandates of the agency and the obligations of the USALs relating to increasing telecommunications infrastructure in the under-serviced areas of the country. The minister again called on SMMEs to apply for the second phase of the Under-Serviced Area Licences in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces, as per Government Gazette 27166 of 2005 on the 11th January. (SOURCE: http://www.ictworld.co.za/EditorialEdit.asp?EditorialID=21279) DUBIOUS DEAL SUSPECTED IN LIBERIAN TELECOM BIDDING PROCESSIt seems that the transparency and fair play previously assured in bidding process of the now dormant Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) has been undermined, according to a report in The News (Monrovia). According to credible sources, a dubious deal has been suspected owing to pressure from a very senior Government official (name withheld) who has influenced the extension in the date of the bidding process in order to allow a particular company to submit its bid. That company, according to our sources, did not meet the deadline set for the submission of bids. It is apparently an "interest" of a top government official. The sources hinted that the LTC Board Chairman Francis Karpeh was called on the evening of January 16, allegedly by this senior government official to extend the date from January 17 to the 24th. But when contacted Wednesday last week, Karpeh, a former Minister of Finance, denied any interference by a senior official of government in the process as claimed by our sources. According to Karpeh, the date for the submission of bids was extended because of "technical and organizational" reasons and that the transparency and fair play earlier assured by Government was still assured. The LTC Board Chairman disclosed how the Chairman of the bidding Committee, Francis Nyenpan, was out of the country and up to the evening of January 16, they as Board members were not sure that Nyenpan was in town. "This is why we had to extend the submission ceremony," Mr. Karpeh said. He could not say whether or not the extension of the ceremony was published in line with the Interim Public Procurement Policy and Procedures document. Article 24 of the document under the sub-title, "Submission of Bids" states that "the procuring entity shall, at least in ten days before the bid, give notice of an extension of the deadline by a publication in the same media used to publish invitation for bids, fax, e-mail or any other expedited written means of communication to each supplier or contractor to whom the Procuring Entity provided the bid document or to any new prospective bidders." At the same time, investigation conducted by this paper indicates that a group presently bidding to take over Telecom is reportedly on record for defrauding the Liberian Government in the mid 1980s. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200501270548.html) IN BRIEF- The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS) claims it will challenge the country’s four main GSM operators over mounting dissatisfaction with the poor service received by subscribers. President of the association, Deolu Ogunbanjo, says that complaints relating to network performance are increasing as a result of wireless operators apparently signing up too many customers for the existing capacity of their networks. Mr Ogunbanjo added that he felt the companies concerned - MTN, Globacom, Nitel and V-Mobile – were concentrating on their own financial gains and not on building enough capacity to provide an adequate service. - Nigeria’s regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the number of telephone lines in the country has reached an all time high of ten million, up from just 400,000 deployed by Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 1999. As a result, overall teledensity in the country is estimated to have risen to 6.5%. - Egyptian cellco MobiNil announced last week that it has signed up over four million subscribers to its GSM service. The company, which has now built nearly 2,000 base stations in the country, increased its customer base by around 500,000 since the end of September 2004. - South Africa’s electricity utilities have expressed an interest in using their networks to offer telecoms services to rural communities. The electricity network reaches around 98% of the South African population, far higher than Telkom’s PSTN, and in some cases has spare capacity of up to 80%, which could be used to carry broadband voice and data traffic. City Power, one of the country’s largest electricity companies, is reported to have already held discussions with the SNO to discuss sharing its capacity. - Kenyan companies are set to get a major communications boost as the country prepares for the launch of a new instant messaging solution (IM). The solution dubbed Jabber/XXMP is an open and extensive real time IM platform that offers similar functionality to Legacy IM systems. - Madagascar's Orange has reached the 169,000 subscriber mark. TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Nigeria's Second National Operator, Globacom, has commenced commercial deployment of its fibre network in Nigeria. The first route to come on is the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano axis. The Lagos - Epe - Ijebu /Ode - Ore - Benin; the Lagos-Sagamu- Abeo-kuta-Owode- Ibadan rings are yet to come on and the Ibadan - Ilorin - Minna-Abuja-Makurdi- Port-Harcourt-Owerri-Enugu- Onitsha - Benin routes would be completed later in the year. - Telkom Kenya has introduced a wireless telephone connection system in Nairobi and Diani area of Mombasa. The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) does not require cable wiring but uses radio frequencies that are similar to those used by mobile phones. "It is a digital wireless transmission technique that allows multiple frequencies to be used simultaneously," CDMA brand manager Charles Waitikwa said. He also said of the service; "It filters out background noise, cross-talk and interference so you can enjoy crystal-clear voice quality, greater privacy and enhanced call quality." He said that Telkom Kenya had laid out plans for heavy deployment of the service in Nairobi its environs and will be installing more base stations in the next couple of months. CDMA has the capability of handling both voice and data and can therefore be used for Internet connection. Clients will be hooked to the system at a cost of Sh15,394. This is broken down into Sh10,000 equipment deposit, an activation fee of Sh3,394 and an initial talk time charge of Sh2,000. The service will be billed at the rate of Sh8.30 per three minutes for post-paid and 39 cents per six seconds for pre-paid customers. "It is designed as a pre-paid service but one can convert to post-paid and vice verse," Waitikwa said. - Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has contracted Nokia for the expansion of its GSM/GPRS network, as an extension to an agreement signed between the two companies last August. Under the terms of the new deal, which is worth around USD30 million, Nokia will supply and deploy an expansion of ETC’s core and radio networks to boost capacity and expand coverage. The capital Addis Ababa and the eastern city of Awash will be the focus areas for the network expansion, with the roads leading from Awash to the national border with Dijibouti also being covered. - Nigerian mobile operator, Mtel,has concluded plans to start GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) in March this year. It would be the second mobile operator to offer the service after Glo Mobile. The first phase of the launch which is what would be launched in March would accommodate about 300 subscribers. There would be more capacity for the service in subsequent phases. Momife who said the operator was not in a hurry to sell too many lines so as to allow for effective GPRS service said space was being reserved for the GPRS subscribers to make sure that there was no complaints when the service takes off. - Celtel Kenya has launched a prepaid electronic airtime top-up system that is aimed at strengthening its distribution network.Gilles Atayi, the firm's Chief Marketing Officer said the new facility would complement the existing physical re-charge voucher system through the use of scratch cards. - Cell phone users in N'djamena, the Chadian capital, complained of lack of service from Tuesday - Gabon's mobile phone operator, Libertis, announced on Friday that it would effect reduced Sunday charges starting from 8 January until the end of March 2005, an official source said in Libreville. Gabonese company Freecom, a communication company has set up kiosks with mobile phone sets for the handicapped under a loan scheme worth 450,000 francs CFA per unit, an official of the local association of handicapped said Wednesday.
NEARLY 50% OF HOUSEHOLDS IN CAIRO USE THE INTERNETThe Arab Advisors Group conducted a major comprehensive survey of the media and telecom usage habits of the population of Greater Cairo between November 2004 and Jan 2005. On the TV front, despite the relatively wide adoption of Sat TV, terrestrial TV is still alive and kicking with a full 91% of households in Cairo tuning in to Egypt's terrestrial TV channels. Of the Sat TV viewers, 68.3% tune in to news channels. Al Jazeera news channels is the most widely watched (88.4% of households with Sat TV watched it), followed by Al Arabiya (35.1%), Nile News (8.9%), CNN (6.6%), Al Hurra (4.6%), Al Ekhbaryia (3.9%), BBC (3.1%), ANN, Euronews and Manar (each with 0.4%). The survey also probed the channels the households watched in the categories of: Music Channels, Entertainment Channels, Sport Channels and Religion Channels. On the GSM front, the survey revealed that some 71% of households in Cairo have a GSM line. The survey is a multi client project of Arab Advisors custom research and consulting service. The study was not commissioned by any party and is available for all companies and interested parties. The full results of the survey (including detailed statistical analysis and relevant cross tabulations) are available in two major reports "Cairo Households Telecom Survey 2005" and "Cairo Households Media Survey 2005". Each report comes with the filled survey questionnaires in electronic format sorted both by question and by respondent. SA's IS READY TO ‘PUNCH ABOVE ITS WEIGHT' IN NEW COMPETITION ERAAlthough the issue of value-added network service (VANS) licences remains in the regulator's hands, some players are nonetheless ready to capitalise on the deregulation that will come into effect at the start of next month. Internet Solutions (IS), a VANS player, claims it will be ready to begin delivering voice services as of 1 February. “We have come a long way since 1993, when we were a pure Internet service provider, and we will be a voice provider too, as of next week, thanks to a project we call VOIS – voice over Internet Solutions,” says Hillel Shrock, IS's executive for new business development. “IS will be ready to offer services immediately, although we have nonetheless taken a long-term view and are hoping to play a role in changing a market that has historically been dominated by the monopoly.” Schrock says although there is still a lot of uncertainty over a number of issues, IS has built a business plan for VOIS that takes into account a number of possible outcomes in regard to the pending regulatory issues such as interconnection, the numbering plan and self-provisioning of facilities. According to the company's COO, Johann Pretorius, IS feels like it's been given a brand new box of toys. “Now we are really looking forward to playing with it,” he says. “We are investing some R30 million over the next eight months in voice platforms, as well as a total of R100 million in voice call management and R40 million in a new billing engine over the next 24 months, so that shows our dedication to the task at hand,” he says. Greg Hatfield, VOIS product manager, says while IS will offer services from 1 February, it will not be an all-encompassing ‘bells and whistles' launch, rather the company will focus on an incremental development, allowing IS to change and grow as the industry itself does. “We will begin offering certain services immediately though, such as international inbound calls for the contact centre market based in SA, inter branch voice traffic for large corporates and outbound enterprise voice traffic, which will be available to all 4 000 of our corporate clients.” He says the organisation has interim plans for national voice calls in the absence of interconnect agreements, but these will fall away the moment such agreements come into play. “We are looking at other elements to VOIS too, such as the VOIS Community, which will allow our clients to talk to one another over IS's voice network, and VOIS Community Plus, which could see us partner with other VANS providers to arrange our own interconnect agreements within the VANS community. “The final step will be VOIS Unlimited, which will occur when we do have interconnect agreements with the other voice operators and can then run any calls for our customers over the IS network.” According to Schrock, IS believes it is capable of providing real competition in the voice market. “We have traditionally punched above our weight, so we are quite prepared to fight for our share of what will be a very dynamic market,” he says. “However, we do not have any intention of replicating Telkom in terms of the voice services we provide, rather we feel that in a converging world we can bring new and innovative solutions to the market.” (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2005/0501261104.asp?S=Internet&A=INT&O=FRGN) LAGOS JUDICIARY CONNECTS COURTS TO INTERNETFOR greater efficiency and productivity, the Lagos State Judiciary has connected its courts to the internet through Court Automated Information System (CAIS). Through this development, lawyers, litigants and the entire public can now reach the state High Courts via www.lagosjudiciary.gov.ng. The initiative is one of the programmes of the state judiciary under the leadership of Justice Augustine Adetola Alabi. Speaking with journalists late last year, Justice Ade-Alabi listed other programmes of his administration as prison decongestion, improving the lot of retired judges and improving the administration of justice system in the state especially in the Magistrate's Court through the constitution of Magistrate's Court Revival Project (MCRP). He said: "The British Council and the Lagos State government have almost completed the computerisation of the Lagos State High Courts. "As such, all divisions can be contacted without having to go there physically or through telephone, that is, when the project is completed, you can have contact with every department of the judiciary from wherever you are sitting including Ikorodu and Badagry judicial divisions". Determined to actualise this vision, Justice Ade-Alabi set up a body, Judicial Process Automation Committee, headed by Justice A.E. Ayo. From a statement recently by the committee, The Guardian learnt that the state judiciary had since a few days ago, been fully connected to the world via internet services under CAIS. On its formation, the statement read: "The Court Automated Information Management System (in a broad sense) includes three sub-systems that accommodate three different groups of target audience: - court automated information system (CAIS), a secure, password-protected, closed information network for authorised court personnel (intranet); - electronic access gateway for lawyers (EAGL), a secure, password protected information network that provides limited access to certain sections of the case-related information for registered legal practitioners and other external users (extranet); - public information portal, Lagos State Judiciary website that provides open, non-restricted access to certain information made public by the judiciary". According to the statement, the features of the CAIS intranet include contract directory, case in an agreement system, court fee calculation system, performance reporting system and the secure document management system. Others are legal research gateway, internal messaging system for all intranet users, internet mail (for judges and senior officials) and system administration module. The address path for the CAIS intranet is http://served01/intranet for Ikeja judicial division and domain, http://server02/intranet for Lagos judicial division and domain. The Badagry judicial division shares the Lagos domain while the Ikorodu judicial division shares Ikeja domain. EAGL extranet include components like case search, schedule of hearings (cause list), case archive, message and alerts, court forms and templates, court fee calculator, request for service, electronic claims/process submission tool, legal research module and personal file manager. The site is accessible from the judiciary website. And for the Lagos State Judiciary public website www.lagosjudiciary.gov.ng, it was said to be empowered by a content management system and provides information about the court, directory of judges and legal practitioners and legal news and announcements. Others are High Court of Lagos State (civil procedure) rules and other legislation, court calendar and hearings schedule "cause list, annual reports, guides for litigants and tools for collecting public feedback. (SOURCE: http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article27) NIGERIAN INTERNET 419 SCAM: SENIOR FBI AGENT TESTIFIES ON CREDIT-CARD FRAUDAn Ikeja High Court judge, Justice Morenike Obadina, was yesterday told how an Advanced Fee Fraud a.k.a. 419 scam allegedly involving Internet-based payment for some cameras, using bad credit cards, led a United States company to the verge of bankruptcy. Matter was however adjourned by the trial judge till February 4 & 7 to allow EFCC produce other witnesses in the fresh case. Above information was disclosed by Mr. Dale Miskell, Supervisor Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States of America (USA), while giving evidence in a trial involving Hassan Abiodun (alias Tina Linda) for his role alongside one Oladele Dickson in the alleged scam. Abiodun (said to be an under-graduate of Lagos State University) was arraigned before Justice Obadina by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 2-count charge of conspiracy to obtain goods by false pretence and obtaining goods by false pretence, contrary to Sections 8(a) and 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act of 1995. He was alleged to have fraudulently obtained a parcel containing three cameras worth $500 from Daves Cameras, California USA, on April 22, 2004, by placing order through Internet and paying for such order with a bad credit card. The parcel was said to be the sixth package ordered from Daves Cameras and delivered to Abiodun under the pseudonym 'Tina Linda' at his Forsythe Street, Lagos Island address, by the United Parcel Service (UPS). (source: This Day) IN BRIEF- The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the US National Library of Medicine have committed five million Swedish Kronor (sh1.2b) to link malaria research centres in Africa on the Internet. In Uganda, Mulago hospital has been selected for the Internet link, with other malaria research centres in Zambia, Congo Brazzaville and Nigeria to join the electronic malaria research network in the world. The project team will move to Uganda in February to do the physical assessment. Swedish Professor Bjorn Pearson is heading the team. - Kenyan network operator Kenya Data Networks (KDN) has selected Siemens Communications to roll out a fibre-optic network in the capital Nairobi. The installation will be completed by March or April this year at which date the MAN will cover approximately 35km. Siemens is equipping the system with its Carrier Ethernet technology offering data transmission of up to 100Mbps via Fast Ethernet. - Peribit Networks, the global vendor of bandwidth optimisation products, has announced a partnership agreement with Network Appliance, the US-based unified data storage and security solutions provider for data-intensive, enterprise-wide applications. In terms of the agreement, Peribit and Network Appliance will work together to address WAN and distributed application performance problems, and will help to identify a 'best practice' architectural approach to addressing them. Alan Rehbock, GM of the Peribit division at Source Consulting - the SA distributor of Peribit products - says "the Peribit and Network Appliance partnership will provide an architectural approach that addresses all the technology constraints in an integrated manner, and quickly delivers a return on investment.”
PC POWERS UP ON DAY-LONG BATTERIES FOR NO ELECTRICITY ENVIRONMENTSA South African information access solutions company, ez-IT, has launched a battery-powered PC to take Internet access to environments where there is no electricity. "The EZ-Power solution is underpinned by the ability of our EZgo micro computing devices, monitors and other accessories to operate from either a 220-volt AC or a 12-volt DC power source," says ez-IT marketing director Geoff Norman. "The PC was invented locally by Greg Barnard, who is one of ez-IT's directors. It is manufactured for us under licence in Taiwan, and we have sole distribution rights for the EZgo PC in Africa," says Norman. The PCs run for 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size of battery used, and the batteries can be recharged using a generator or a motor vehicle, he says. He adds that the EZ-Power battery solution has a built-in regulator and a charger that could be plugged into a 220-volt AC permanently but only draw on the AC when it needs recharging. Battery powered PC, EZ-Power is able to provide information access solutions driven from a standard 220-volt AC or 12-volt DC power source. Norman says the PCs are available at standard PC prices (about R6 000) and the EZ-Power battery solution costs R16 000. "The application of EZ-Power battery solutions is of vital importance on the African continent. The solution has been developed with rural education in mind where unreliable, non-existent power is the norm," says Norman. "We believe this solution could be the answer to the big problems we have in South African rural schools, and the rest of Africa where there are thousands of schools that do not have power," he says. "We want to encourage corporate clients to consider investing in our EZ-Power solutions. Ez-IT is kicking off a campaign, 'Using technology and knowledge to educate and heal', which will soon be available on the www.ez-online.com Web site," says Norman. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200501260444.html) UDI OPENS DEDICATED SOFTWARE FACILITY IN MAURITIUSUDI Group (Pty) Ltd, the holding company for Ulwazi Digital Information, has expanded its network into the Indian Ocean Islands with a dedicated software development facility in Mauritius called UDI Mauritius. This will be the start of our presence in the Indian Ocean Islands, says Group MD Derek Naidoo. UDI Mauritius, which is a partnership with the UDI Group and Tamak Technologies Ltd, will offer focused opportunities to the provision of business solutions both in Mauritius, SA and future growth into the Indian Ocean Islands, says Frederick Tsang Mang Kin, MD of UDI Mauritius. UDI has been involved in the design, development and engineering of specific technology in the training, content management and ERP fields. The Mauritian outfit will initially focus on ERP customisation, development and online support to local customers. The high level of skills availability in Mauritius and the cost thereof has ensured savings to clients. Tamak Technologies has been involved in ERP design and development focusing on Java, J2EE, Struts and Oracle. The skills that have been developed over the past years will greatly enhance the existing offering by UDI group and visa versa. Our intention of building a dedicated ERP skills base will address the requirements of clients both locally and internationally, and ensure the growth of the businesses. ERP solutions have grown over the past years in Africa and the cost of implementation has grown likewise. For our economies to grow into world-class economies, we need to ensure we utilise local resources and skills that will keep the revenue generated within the continent. UDI has already implemented its ERP solution OpenERP in a number of sites including Africa Heritage Investments Group of companies. (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2005/0501250849.asp?S=Software%20Development&A=APD&O=FRGN) LARGEST MULTI-COUNTRYT ICT EDUCATION PROJECT LAUNCHED BY NEPADNepad's e-Schools initiative, described as the largest multi-country ICT education project attempted in Africa, has been launched in Pretoria. The Nepad e-Schools Initiative comes after the World Economic Forum's Africa Economic Summit in 2003, and is aimed at bridging the digital divide in Africa. It will equip schools with ICT labs and the tools students need to be able to use ICT. Representatives from various countries, including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda and Mozambique, are attending the launch and workshop. Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said in her keynote address this morning that to date, 15 governments in the first phase of the programme had selected six secondary schools each to be included in the demo project. The guidelines for selection were provided by the e-Africa Commission, she added. The demo project will help to determine best practice and working models for the large-scale implementation of the Nepad e-Schools initiative. “It will be the largest multi-country ICT education project attempted anywhere in the world in terms of its scope, extent, variety and government participation in partnership with corporate sector and civil society organisations,” said the minister. (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2005/0501241201.asp?O=TE) IN BRIEF- Ethiopia's Admas College was inaugurated last Wednesday as a Cisco Systems local academy.
BOTSWANA TELCO INCUMBENT HOPES FOR SELL-OFF PLAN APPROVALBotswana's state-owned telephone monopoly hopes the southern African country will approve plans next month to privatise the business, which could happen within three years, its head said on Thursday. Vincent Seretse, head of Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, said he hoped the government would approve plans to privatise the company and sketch out a timeline for the sell-off in next month's budget. "I hope the master-plan for privatisation will be approved," he told a telecoms conference in Johannesburg. Consultants employed by Botswana's telecoms regulator had said in a provisional report that the state expected to privatise the fixed-line monopoly within three years, Seretse said. "One of my mandates is to ready the company for privatisation ... The 36-months estimate is not official, but I don't see it as being that far off." Seretse has spearheaded a cost-cutting strategy to turn around Botswana's loss-making phone company, which has struggled since the onset of competition from mobile companies. He yanked the company back to an operating profit last financial year. It was not possible to say whether the government would keep a controlling stake in the phone firm after a sale, or whether it would link up with foreign investors, Seretse said. IN BRIEF- JSE-listed Spescom says the unpredictability of the telecommunications sector is likely to cause it to incur a headline loss of between R10 million and R14 million for the six months to March. - Dissolution of an existing Board Management Committee, restructuring of both Board and Management, injection of more equity, and expansion of shareholders base are the strategies which MTS Firstwireless has embarked upon in its quest to expand its subscriber base to 350,000 lines. The company says it is embarking on such restructuring in response to various private and institutional investors who desire to invest in the company. - JSE-listed Spescom says the unpredictability of the telecommunications sector is likely to cause it to incur a headline loss of between R10 million and R14 million for the six months to March. The loss represents at least a R30.6 million swing from the same period last year, when Spescom achieved headline earnings of R20.6 million. The group says in a trading update that the telecommunications business is fragmented by nature with trading heavily dependent on large deals and a small customer base. At the same time, the liberalisation of the market has not yet taken place and the impact of deregulation announcements still remains largely unknown, particularly regarding the second national operator. It also cites delays in the finalisation of long-term contracts and the awarding of new contracts. - The long-running saga in which one of two bidders will be awarded a controlling interest in the long-delayed second network operator (SNO) will be announced ‘sometime in 2005’, according to a spokesperson from telecoms regulator ICASA. The pair of bidders for the 26% stake – Old Mutual Asset Managers and Tata Africa – registered their interest back in October, and had hoped that the regulator would make a speedy decision. The long delays have, some argue, given Telkom the opportunity to sign long-running contracts with many of its best corporate contracts. The SNO’s business case has been harmed further by ICASA’s decision to liberalise the telecoms markets from 1 February. - Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) has signed agreements to acquire additional stakes in its Algerian and Tunisian operations. Under the terms of the deal OTH will buy an additional 2.38% stake in its Algerian cellco (to take its holding to 62.14%) while in Tunisia its stake will rise from 20.47% to 22.47%. The purchases will cost OTH USD39.3 million.
MEDICATION REMINDERS VIA SMSCape Town-based company SIMpill and telecoms partner Tellumat Communications have developed a solution for the wireless monitoring and support of patients on chronic medication. With 60% of South African patients forgetting to take their medication, leading to high hospitalisation costs, “the SIMpill incorporates wireless technology to monitor and remind patients with chronic conditions to take their medication as prescribed, as well as enable health organisations to be more efficient and cost-effective in their patient care,” says SIMpill inventor Dr David Green. “When a pill bottle is opened, it delivers an SMS to the central server. Immediately the server receives the incoming SMS, and if this is within the appointed time tolerance set for the patient, this message is stored for statistical purposes. “Should no message be received, the server can produce a number of responses such as sending a reminder to the patient's handset, a family member, or a healthcare professional.” Green says current compliance monitoring systems only alert caregivers to non-compliance, while SIMpill alerts all necessary parties to non-compliance as it happens, enabling real-time support and care for patients. Green says the SIMpill solution will cost a patient R1 800 a year compared to a non-compliant patient who will spend approximately R7 000 a year on unnecessary treatment and possible ambulance and hospitalisation costs. (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2005/0501241215.asp?O=TE) 3FIFTEEN GOES LIVE WITH LEGIT3fifteen - the Microsoft applications solutions division in the Dimension Data group - developed a funky Web site that effectively reflects the positioning of Legit - the latest brand in the Discount Divisions stable. Discount Divisions of the Edcon group, comprise the retail brands such as Jet, Jet shoes, Jet Mart and Legit. Legit is geared at the young and young-at-heart, fashion- and budget-conscious women. This project marks the latest extension of the ongoing relationship between Edcon and 3fifteen that commenced last year with the development, roll-out and ongoing maintenance of the Edgars B2C and B2B portals (www.edgars.co.za). According to Jimi Lutz, Development Director at 3fifteen, the new Web site - www.legit.co.za - was set up on the platform 3fifteen had already developed for the Edgars site. "Our brief was to develop a site as rapidly as possible to reflect the new brand's positioning as funky and affordable - the type of place teenagers and young adults would want to hang out. The site is initially designed and positioned to become the 'home' of growing a Legit community," he explains. SA GOVT CREATES EDUCATION PORTALEducation minister Naledi Pandor has officially launched the government's new education portal, www.thutong.org.za. The minister launched the site during a tour of schools in the George area yesterday. She said Thutong, which means “place of learning” in seTswana, was intended to serve as a starting point for teachers and learners to find free information for use in lessons and projects. It also provides administration and management tools for use by schools and general education news. Pandor said the Thutong portal had been developed in response to a commitment in the e-Education White Paper, launched in 2004, to support the school curriculum in the general and further education phases through the provision of effective and engaging software, electronic content and online learning resources. “The Thutong portal represents a first sustained opportunity to pull together the online educational experience for South African educational communities. It is the realisation of a key objective of the Department of Education's 2001 strategy for information and communications technology in education. “The Thutong portal is an ambitious project, at once daunting and enormously exciting. Its success rests on partnership with those already engaged in successful initiatives in the educational field, and participation by the full range of South African educational stakeholders and role-players,” she said. IN BRIEF- Macromedia's Contribute underpins the operational success of the Web portal of the Botswana government's Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) (www.finance.gov.bw). Contribute, available through Macromedia distributor, Dax Data, enables anyone to easily update and publish content to existing Web sites in minutes without knowing HTML, while offering Web professionals the control they need to lock down site design, layout and code. "Departmental information is more organised and streamlined and we are very happy with the end result. We have received positive feedback from the public and organisations accessing the site on a regular basis," says Felix Kabwe, IT manager at MFDP - The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) had announced the launch of a new service on the CCA website, which will offer the companies easy access to resources and funding opportunities to initiate and strengthen private sector HIV/AIDS initiatives in Africa. CCA President, Stephen Hayes had said that the U.S. corporations invested in Africa must play an integral role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS initiative taken by the CCA on the website named www.africacncl.org will permit their team to be more effective in assisting members to develop and implement effective HIV/AIDS business plans. - Esite consultancy firm has unveiled an Internet-based website. The site, www.businessexchange.co.ke is designed to offer business information to dealers in the small and medium scale retail sector. "We want to deliver great value and superior service to the middle-market, which is either underserved or overcharged," Mr Erick Igambi, the firm's CEO said in a statement recently. "We aim to have a low cost structure and pass on these advantages to customers, day in and out, with better pricing." Igambi said the new development is meant to refine the quality of services the firm offers to its clients. - New online bookstore Loot.co.za says it is showing rapid growth, with a satisfactory fourth quarter in 2004. Loot.co.za recorded its best sales month in November since its launch a little over a year ago. Michael van Rooyen, founder of Loot.co.za, says his company's sales were double the normal level in October and November, outstripping the industry growth of around 30% during the festive season. "People are slowly getting to know that we exist. With our catalogue now approaching 1.5 million titles we expect strong growth to continue in 2005."
PEOPLEThe President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Prince Kofi Kludjeson, has been banned by an Accra High Court, presided over by His Lordship Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, from being a director of any company for a period of 4 years. This followed a finding of the court in a case brought against him by Kasapa Telecom Limited (formerly known as Celltel), that he was involved in the theft of nearly USD500,000 from the company. The judge in making the disqualification order against Kludjeson, described him as being “very greedy and at worst fraudulent”. In making the 4-year disqualification order the court noted that Kludjeson was a well-respected member of the business community, blatantly breached his fiduciary duties to the company and that such behaviour should be met with legal sanctions. According to legal sources, this means that for a period of 4 years Kludjeson cannot serve as a director or manager of any company in Ghana, and, probably, his presidency of the AGI. (SOURCE: http://www.myjoyonline.com/frontarts.asp?p=3&a=11276) Jacques Van Schalkwyk, Intel's new regional manager, says although he is relatively new to the region, he is bullish about the prospects for both him and the company in the year ahead. Van Schalkwyk was appointed to the position in December after Steve Nossel announced plans to move on. There is no major shake up in the pipeline, says Van Scalkwyk. Instead he will build on the "solid foundation" his predecessor established for the brand in the region. EVENTSAWARDS CEREMONY OF DIGITAL PEERS INTERNATIONAL Tuesday, February 1 2005, 11:00am
There will also be launch of a 20-mins documentary that summarises DIGITEST 2004 and unveil the theme for DIGITEST 2005 For more information pastor_ibk@yahoo.com IIR LONDON TO HOST VOIP CONFERENCES VOIP strategies – Africa: 11 to 12 April 2005, Cape Town
IIR London, renowned for its high quality telecoms conferences in the European market, has responded to the current boom in African telecoms with the first portfolio of conferences that specifically address the needs of the African market. Designed to include case studies from African, as well as international operators, they provide the unique opportunity to evaluate the new developments in telecoms in an African context. The two events, plus a choice of interactive workshops, represent five days of focused conference sessions including over 38 presentations for international and African operators, regulators and ISPs. For more information visit www.iir-conferences.com/africa JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESCOMMUNITY WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA The workshop is aimed at non-profit and public sector workers, as well as people from small businesses running community-style telecentre ventures. It is a priority of the workshop that participants should find opportunities for participating in the global wireless networking community, and for taking project ideas further in their communities. The workshop will take place in Mtoni, Zanzibar, 21st - 25th March 2005. Participants are not expected to have advanced technical skills, but should have at least a basic knowledge of computer networking. The workshop has space for 35 participants. The cost of travel, accommodation and meals will be covered for successful applicants. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 4 February 2005. If you would like to apply, please send a plain text e-mail message, with no attachments, with subject line "Wireless Workshop", and the following information to Anna Feldman anna@gn.apc.org: Provided we receive your application by the deadline above, you will be told whether your application has been successful by 14 February 2005. This workshop is supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Open Society Institute (OSI). For more information and general enquiries contact Ann Tothill or Alberto Escudero in Dar es Salaam (Tel: +255 745 8840 04, email: aep@it46.se).
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