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ISSUE NO 246

To download Skype software: http://www.skype.com

TELKOM KENYA DISCONNECTS VoIP CALLING CARD SEMA AS IT PUTS HEAT ON ITS INTERNATIONAL REVENUES

Telkom Kenya has disconnected individuals and business using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling cards from making international calls.

Telkom whose exclusivity ended in June last year have done this by disconnecting a line they issued to ISP Kenya Limited through which Sema calling card holders were able to make international calls. Brian Longwe, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at ISP Kenya last week blamed Telkom Kenya for disconnecting the service that allowed Kenyans affordable international calls. Through the Sema calling card, a minute call to USA and Europe costs about Ksh 10.

Longwe said his company has a contractual agreement with Telkom over the service but the manner in which Telkom has behaved is a clear case of a breach of contract. “We met all the requirements to offer the services including paying Telkom Kenya in advance for the services they have now illegally cut-off”, said Longwe.

The Sema International calling card was introduced by ISP Kenya Limited in late January to overwhelming popularity throughout the country. It is a joint venture between ISP Kenya and Canadian based BMT North America. The Canadian company provides the technology backbone while ISP Kenya provides a back-end Internet link for the service and meets all the requirements to offer the service.

BMT’s Jay Shah expressed disappointment over the way Telkom Kenya has treated them and their customers. “We are disgusted with Telkom Kenya. We were providing a great telecommunications solutions – effective and cost-effective – and our customers were very happy”, Jay said.

“The customers were dialing a local number, for which we paid Telkom Kenya, then were switched automatically to ISP Kenya, for which we again paid Telkom Kenya, and an automated voice then asked for their PIN, authenticated the pin, read their balance, and then, when the destination number was entered, connected the call over VoIP,” lamented Jay while apologizing to customers for what he said is not their fault but Telkom’s.

Telkom’s action is like a case of hitting below the belt to turn away competition in the liberalized market. “They have delayed the introduction of their VoIP platform and in order to keep the market ready for them, they’ve taken an anti-competitive, heavy-handed approach, leveraging their muscle in an area where they feel only they should be the dominant player,” Longwe said. Longwe also say that his company has been overwhelmed with calls from unhappy customers wanting to know why Telkom Kenya disrupted the very popular and cost-effective service. “Now, instead of getting a low-cost international connection when customers use our Sema calling card, they hear a message telling them that the number they called is ‘no longer working‚ or disconnected’ ” said Longwe.

Telkom’s action also comes at a time when the telecommunications sector is experiencing major changes after the end of exclusivity and the door has opened for competition. Longwe said that in last September, the industry regulator Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) in the interest of providing affordable telecommunications in the country lifted all regulations and restrictions for VoIP. Then, in October, at the African VoIP Forum in Nairobi, CCK’s Director General Sammy Kirui said that three categories of VoIP calls would be allowed in Kenya. That is PC-to-PC calls, PC-to-phone calls, and phone-to-phone calls via VOIP. For phone-to-phone calls, CCK has said that it would be necessary to be a licensed provider, and further indicated that ISP licenses would be amended to facilitate Telkom’s post exclusivity development.

Within four weeks of Sema’s launch, the card has become popular all across the country with more than 20,000 sold in three denominations of Ksh 250, Ksh 500 and Ksh 1000.

BURKINA FASO'S ONATEL DEPLOYS USD4M IN ALVARION EQUIPMENT

Alvarion last week announced that ONATEL (Office Nationale des Telecommunications), the national exchange carrier of Burkina Faso, has deployed an additional $4 million worth of Alvarion equipment.

This is the second phase of a project begun in 2003 to provide a full range of toll-quality voice, fax and high-speed IP data services to new residential and multi-dwelling units (MDUs) and multi-tenant units (MTUs) customers. The network was deployed and operational by the close of 2004.

Alvarion's solution is based on its MGW and eMGW platforms for the 1.9GHz and 3.5GHz frequency bands. ONATEL will use the wireless networks as part of its efforts to increase the country's teledensity, especially targeted for areas without previous telecommunications infrastructure.

The most recent order represents a significant increase from the number of lines installed last year, bringing the total number of installation sites to four in densely populated, developing areas. In addition, the noteworthy upgrade in this network is the introduction of Alvarion's eMGW, providing high-speed, broadband services for the first time to the country of Burkina Faso.

"The modularity of our networks allows carriers to build out infrastructure as justified by demand, reducing the need for huge initial investments," said Tzvika Friedman, President of Alvarion. In addition, the fact that one advanced system can support toll-quality voice and fax as well as high-speed Internet access gives the carrier an economic way to address the full communications needs of its customers. We look forward to participating in the future phases of ONATEL's network deployment, and are proud that our technology is helping ONATEL increase opportunities in this developing region."

(SOURCE: http://new.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=886830&fid=942)

TANZANIAN MONPOLOY ENDS FOR TTCL AS ZANTEL HEADS FOR THE MAINLAND

The Tanzanian incumbent's monopoly ended on Tuesday last week as the country's industry regulator announced it was ready to hand over a licence to a competitor this week. Industry insiders said plans were ready to allow more players into the field. The Tanzania Telecommunication Company (TTCL) was granted exclusivity in the provision of fixed-line and international gateway services on mainland Tanzania in 2001, when the company was privatised.

"This new opportunity opens up the sector and we are ready to licence more operators if they meet the conditions," said John Nkoma, director general of the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

"We need credible and efficient operators and people with viable technical and business plans. We have quite a number of enquiries, but it would not be appropriate to name names."

He said the regulator would hand Zantel, a mobile and fixed-line service provider on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, a licence to operate on the mainland on Wednesday. "Zantel is operating a fixed and mobile service and the licence will now extend the geographic coverage to the mainland," he said.

The east African country's four mobile phone service providers had a combined 1.9 million subscribers by the end of 2003. The number of fixed-line customers dropped to 148,360 in 2003 from 199,110 the year before.

TCRA said four companies that had laid a network of optical fibre systems for internal communications would now be allowed to use them commercially once they receive a permit.

(SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502230882.html)

NIGERIA RURAL TELEPHONY PROJECT EQUIPMENT WORTH USD23M ARRIVES IN LAGOS

Equipment worth USD23m for the Nigerian Rural Telephony Project arrived in the port of Lagos from China.  The equipment ordered by contractors to the project, a Chinese consortium of Alcatel Shanghai Bell(ASB) and China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) arrived Lagos port on February 16 and were cleared for onward transportation to the various project sites scattered across 108 Local Government Areas of the country in which the Chinese consortium have responsibility under an existing contract to deliver rural telephony services to the people.

The equipment imported include switching system, transmission system and cables which officials of the company said are ready for installation.

"The arrival and safe off-load of equipment in Nigeria shows the ASB and CMEC consortium are dealing with the project sincerely and are ready to rapidly complete the project. The arrival of the equipment makes the possibility to commission the exchanges very soon," the firm said in a statement to THISDAY.

The NRTP being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Communications was initiated in August 2004 at Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the Minister, Mallam Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai at a colourful ceremony witnessed by the Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo. The factory inspection for manufacture of equipment was carried out last September , after which the equipment were manufactured within the following two months. Pre-shipment inspection done in China was subsequently done paving way for shipment last December to Nigeria. Under the contract terms, the Chinese contractor is required to provide design of project, manufacture, supply, install and commission equipment as well as train the personnel to handle the equipment after commissioning.

The project is one of the three being implemented by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Communications to cover over 300 Local Government Areas.

ASB, a member of the consortium is the first foreign invested company limited by shares in China's fast growing telecom industry which is leveraging Alcatel's Group international resources. Its multinational links places the company in a good position to play critical roles in Chinese telecom technology.

The other member of the consortium, CMEC, founded in 1978 is the first industrial design foreign trade corporation which deals mainly with contracting international engineering projects, import and export of machinery and electrical products while still engaging in foreign economic and technical cooperation.

(source: This Day)

EGYPT: GOVT SET TO PRIVATISE TELECOM EGYPT IN THE COMING YEAR

Throughout the economic downturn of the past five years, Egypt’s telecoms sector has been one of the few lucky ones not to suffer. Now, with the bad times seemingly behind the country, this history of survival has positioned the sector particularly well for a number of key changes ahead. During the downturn, although telecom operators did feel a slowdown in the growth of the market as consumers tightened their belts, it was during this time that Orascom Telecom, one of the country’s most prominent companies, established itself as an important regional player in Tunisia, Algeria and Pakistan.

The two local mobile companies, Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt, also consolidated their hold on the market by buying out a third licence from Telecom Egypt (TE). This put paid to an expected increase in competition – and reduced profit margins. Legacy operator TE became a partner in Vodafone Egypt in the deal over the third licence, acquiring a 25% stake.

Elsewhere, although TE privatisation efforts continued to flounder in the face of the global telecoms and dotcom downturn, TE revamped its infrastructure and put an end to the long waiting times for new lines that had plagued the country for decades. The company also improved its technology and services and diversified by investing in data telecommunications – through its subsidiary, TEData – and in call centres – through Xceed, the country’s largest. TE also issued its first corporate bond at the beginning of February – the country’s biggest ever at LE2bn (USD346.6m). The benefits of this will be used to restructure debt and make new investments.

Perhaps most importantly, it now seems that the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is set on finally privatising TE in the coming year. The success of the bond issue seems to have convinced Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel that the time is ripe to find an investor. Although there has been no official pronouncement on the identity of any such source, insiders in the telecoms industry note that TE Chairman Akil Beshir has been talking to several European companies in the past two years, although no final deal has emerged.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the sale of TE is that it makes it more likely that the company will eventually enter the mobile market. It had agreed to stay out of the mobile market at the end of 2003, when it made a deal with Mobinil and Vodafone to sell back its GSM licence. That move, which had been temporarily opposed by President Hosni Mubarak, was made because it seemed to Nazif and others that the market was not ready for a third operator. Another complicating factor was that the third operator would have had to make a considerable investment in mobile infrastructure with no real guarantee of returns.

In the current, much-improved economic climate, a third mobile licence does not seem so risky, particularly with the global mobile market making the transition from 2G GSM technology to more sophisticated 3G systems, which are now taking off in Europe and elsewhere. The advantage of these technologies is that they offer not only superior voice quality, but also much faster data transmission rates that would allow fast web browsing and video calls.

However, in the Egyptian market, 2.5G technology like GPRS has thus far attracted few customers because of the costs of the service and of the phones needed to use it. But in a few years time, things could be different. According to telecoms analysts, the Egyptian market has plenty of room for further growth. Currently there are 7.5m users in the country, or about a 9% penetration rate. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) estimates that the penetration rate will be at 12% in 2007 and 20% in 2012. Even though most consumers will probably continue to use regular voice services in the main, there will be a growing need for new technologies too. Although it has been rather coy about its plans, industry observers note that in the past year and a half, TE has made massive investments in a wireless CDMA network for its fixed-telephony services. Although the network, which is still under construction, is not being used for mobile communications, it is exactly the same technology that would be used for a new-generation mobile network. Furthermore, the deal keeping TE out of the mobile market concluded between the three telecoms operators at the end of 2003 will expire in 2007 – with a new mobile licence likely to be offered by the NTRA at that point. The CDMA network covering the entire country that is currently being built might then be put to dual use.

When it first started considering privatisation in 1999, it was clear to TE executives that having a mobile branch in the company would greatly increase its value. Mobile networks have consistently proven more profitable than fixed networks. At the same time, at the end of 2005 TE will begin to face competition in a previously protected part of the market, as fixed-line services become open to competition. Investing in mobile technology today could make the company much more attractive to international investors tomorrow – and bring a lot more cash into the state’s coffers when it is sold.

(SOURCE: Oxford Business Group)

PRIMUS ENTERS GHANAIAN MARKET WITH GSM SERVICE

Primus Mobiles has embarked on its global expansion with the launch of GCS™ (Global Communication Services) in Ghana. Supported by a considerable initial investment, the unique GCS™ service offers low cost international calls from Ghana to over 700 destinations worldwide. What’s more GCS™ can be used on SIM cards from any local service provider regardless of price plans.

Users in Ghana will benefit from low cost international calls by using the Primus P-Key™ which routes all calls via Primus’ global network ensuring low-cost rates. The P-Key™ is available on all Primus handsets including the new PTL898*; the PTL868** and the PTL888***. The handsets are competitively priced giving every Ghanaian the opportunity to take advantage of GCS™ and save money on their international calls.

Andrew Reid, Primus Mobiles Managing Director comments: “We plan to shake up the African telecoms market by introducing savings on outbound international calls and quality handsets. There is a distinct lack of choice and tariffs in Ghana which has led to major telecom market share and uncompetitive rates for international call traffic.”

The Primus Call Saver Service™ is designed to appeal to consumers who frequently call abroad to keep in touch with family and friends. Following the simple account activation process, all the caller has to do is dial the international number they wish to call and press the Primus P-key™ providing an instant connection to better value international calls.

IN BRIEF

- Incumbent operator Telecom Namibia has signed a three-year maintenance and support contract with DiData SA. The agreement, valued at approximately R14m, will see DiData providing maintenance and support to the Telecom Namibia network management centre. With more than 136 000 customers, Telecom Namibia operates the largest digital telecommunications network in Namibia.

- Kenyan regulator CCK has decided that the licensing of firms to offer communication services through a bidding process should be abolished. Applicants who meet the minimum standards set by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) will be licensed and market forces

will determine the saturation point. Bidding will only be allowed in areas which can only absorb a limited number of competitors, said CCK assistant director Christopher Kemei yesterday. He said there was no longer any need to subject applicants including those seeking to provide mobile phone services to the bidding process. In the long term, CCK intends to adopt a "unified and absolute technology neutral licensing framework."

- The Nigerian regulator NCC has announced its intention to allow other operators other than incumbent NITEL and the Second National Operator, Globacom, to carry third party international traffic. In a notice published on its web site, the NCC has given notice that other operators who have an international gateway licence (apart from the two national carriers) would be allowed to carry commercial traffic.

- Chinese equipment vendor ZTE Communications has announced plans to use Kenya as a launch pad to expand its operations into the entire east African region, including the countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Seychelles and Somalia. The company has already signed deals worth around USD10 million in Kenya; in 2002 it installed telecoms equipment in the cities of Thika, Gatundu and Ruiru, and two years later donated transmission equipment to Telkom Kenya.

- ZAMTEL lost an estimated K5 billion through acts of vandalism last year. ZAMTEL director of commercial services, Sandie Kandolo said cables worth K74 million were used to replace the vandalised ones and that a K5.8 billion loss was incurred through traffic losses. He said most cases occurred on the Copperbelt, especially in Kitwe and Chingola where big primary cables were repeatedly cut.

TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE

- SA's Thinta Thinta Telecoms (T3) and MTN have signed an agreement that will see T3 use the MTN network to provide telecommunications services in the Ugu region of KwaZulu-Natal. Mhlongo said T3 will be the first USAL recipient to launch its network in the Ugu District Municipality, providing access to mobile and fixed-line telephony. “T3 will roll-out in separate phases, with GSM going live in April and broadband later in the year. T3 will deploy its own network infrastructure in the next 36 months as part of its licence obligations.”

- Least-cost routing (LCR) company TelePassport has expanded its operations into Africa, following the recent opening of its Namibian operation in Windhoek. TelePassport Namibia's MD Phillip Stier says the company's primary aim is to use its Fixed Cellular LCR technology to reduce Namibian corporates' communication costs by routing local cellular-bound voice calls directly into the local Namibian GSM cellular network, MTC.

- Lifetree Convergence Limited (“Lifetree”) has announced that MTC Namibia, Africa’s Leading GSM Operator has successfully deployed Lifetree’s integrated customer care and billing system “@Billity”. In addition to @Billity for GSM and GPRS subscribers, MTC has also implemented Lifetree’s EBPP (“ZipBill”) and web self-care (“ZipCare”) products. Lifetree has completed deployment of the system and data migration from BSCS 6.0 and subscribers are now being billed on the new system. The Lifetree solution, which will cater to post paid subscribers, also includes mediation and provisioning solutions for GSM and GPRS services.

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SOUTH AFRICAN ISP CMC LAUNCHES NEW VOIP SERVICE

Gauteng-based Internet service provider (ISP) CMC Networks is now ‘voice-ready' following the launch of its voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology, VO-X (Voice over Xcellence). "We have comprehensively taken advantage of the deregulation that came into effect in February," says Grant Walker, CEO of CMC Networks. "Now, in addition to offering ISP and VANS services, we can offer our clients voice solutions." He adds that users will soon pay a lot less for local and international calls.

"Users will note immediate savings in call spend as they will no longer have to pay for usage if calls stay on the CMC virtual private network (VPN), as all between branch calls are covered by a flat monthly fee,” he says.

Walker adds that calls that break out to the public switched telephone network, which is based on off-network VPN calls, are competitively positioned against Telkom's standard rates. This will also result in savings on international calls. He believes there will be benefits for organisations that allow their ISP to manage and route their calls.

"South African business needs to understand the technology drivers behind VOIP solutions and in this regard we have set up a consultative approach to assist the business in conducting in-depth analysis of their current architecture and calculation of return on investment and total cost of ownership for the VO-X solutions we offer," says Anton Starling, sales manager for CMC Networks.

(SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2005/0502241059.asp?O=TE)

UNIVERSITY OF COCODY OPENS A STUDENT INTERNET ACCESS CENTRE

Thirty computers were connected to the internet with a broadband connection last Thursday for students of the University of Cocody in Abidjan to use. These computers form part of the University's larger internet resources centre. They have been installed as part of a partnership with the l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the incumbent telco Cote d'Ivoire Telecom. President of the University, Téa Gokou expressed her gratitude to the contributing partners. The AUF's representative at the opening ceremony expressed the wish that the new equipment would contribute to the creation of new online content.

(source: Fraternité Matin)

SA'S CUASA WANTS MORE BROADBAND COMPETITION AND WARNS AGAINST NEW OFFERINGS

While welcoming the new products and price reductions announced by Telkom, the Communications Users Association of SA (CUASA) has warned consumers to be cautious about adopting the new offerings. CUASA spokesman Ray Webber suggests the announcement has more to do with competition in the sector than a genuine interest in reducing the cost of its offerings. "Obviously, any kind of price reduction in SA's infamously expensive broadband arena is welcome news to local businesses and consumers," says Webber.

"However, Telkom's latest announcement surely has more to do with competitive wireless options than assisting their home and corporate users. But it proves our claims that competition in the local telecoms market is starting to reduce costs for users."

He says the minister's recent clarification on liberalisation in the sector, which included the proviso that value-added network service (VANS) providers could not provide their own infrastructure, means that it appears Telkom is still a de facto monopoly.

“We also urge consumers to be cautious of signing any 24-month contracts which include 'free' modems, as it is likely that competitors will offer counter products, and at increasingly competitive prices,” says Webber.

"On the face of it, the average businessperson and consumer should not really care which company wins in a competitive environment, just as long as they are able to obtain broadband offerings at internationally competitive rates.

“However, we seriously doubt if the monopoly would be in the least bit interested in reducing its fees for broadband offerings without the presence of new and significant competitors.”

He points out as an example the fact that Telkom's latest HomeDSL 512 price point is now exactly the same as that of one of its wireless competitors.

Webber also claims the market is seriously tilted in favour of the monopoly, as it is the only one entitled to provide most of the infrastructure necessary for broadband services, and unless the regulator can level the playing field, CUASA fears that new players will struggle to compete.

“If those new players are no longer capable of effectively competing, there won't be any prizes for guessing which incumbent operator will then increase its prices once more.

"Telkom's latest price reductions are nonetheless a welcome surprise, even though our local broadband options still lag behind those provided by other developing nations such as India and Egypt,” he says.

“It is simply depressing to compare Telkom's offerings and prices with those in many developed countries, but at least we are heading in the right direction.”

CUASA also claims that Telkom's new low-cost DSL option, HomeDSL 192, will offer hideously slow connectivity when compared to international broadband offerings.

“Few, if any, international broadband providers in truly competitive environments even bother providing such measly offerings as 192Kbps, as the same sort of money in those countries would buy you an unlimited 1MB or even a 2MB offering, with additional services thrown in.

"However, in spite of our negative comments, HomeDSL 192 offers a lot more than a regular dial-up connection at a price which at least some homes will start to consider seriously,” says Webber.

(SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/
2005/0502251200.asp?S=Telecoms&A=TEL&O=FRGN)

IN BRIEF

- According to a report by the Arab Advisors Group, the number of internet accounts in Egypt is expected to grow at an annual rate of 23.7% between 2003 and 2008 to around 1.9 million at the end of the period, translating to a penetration rate of 2.5%. The number of accounts stood at 647,000 at the end of 2004. The number of users, which currently stands at around 1.94 million is predicted to rise to 5.6 million by the end of 2008.

- South African fixed-line phone operator Telkom will cut prices for broadband Internet access from March 1 after winning more than 50,000 customers, the group said on Thursday. Telkom said it would reduce the monthly cost for BusinessDSL 512 to 699 rand a month from 800 rand and HomeDSL 512 to 599 rand from 680 rand. HomeDSL 384 remains unchanged at 449 rand. "We continually evaluate our costing and with the anticipated growth, we expect further price adjustments going forward," Telkom chief executive Sizwe Nxasana said in a statement. Telkom is under pressure to cut prices as the goverment opens South Africa's telecoms industry to rivals.

SENEGAL: AQUADEV IMPLEMENTS REAL-TIME MICRO-FINANCE SOFTWARE

Despite the importance of the sector, there are few micro-finance institutions with ICT systems capable of generating financial information in real time. NGO Aquadev has now developed such a piece of software called Adbanking and has been implementing it in the Louga region. Belgian-funded Aquadev has put the software into two micro-finance institutions covering four rural communities in Louga: MEC-BAS and MEZOP.

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IBM JOINS BLACK IT AWARENESS WEEK

IBM has joined the International Black Technology Awareness Campaign to promote the value of technology in black communities. This year's event, named Black Family Technology Awareness Week (BFTAW), will see IBM participate in the campaign for the first time. Dudu Nyamane, IBM SA HR director, says it is highly significant the event has been extended to SA for the first time after six years of operation.

“It couldn't have come at a better time, when BEE is at the centre of our country's economic transformation and it is our ultimate goal to bridge the digital divide,” says Nyamane. As part of IBM's contribution to the campaign, the company hosted 50 students and 135 managers from the Black Management Forum on a tour of its Sandton offices last week.The managers and students were introduced to a variety of technology-oriented careers and to the value of technology in how it is shaping the future.

Several of IBM SA's executives spoke to the students about different technologies as well as their careers, possible achievements and IBM's contribution to building the black community.“The focus was on sharing the miracle of technology, exhibiting exciting products and engaging with people on a personal level,” says Nyamane.

“BFTAW has played a significant role in helping to generate awareness about technology's potential; however, our task is nowhere near complete. To be successful we've got to reach those people who are standing on the sidelines and encourage them to become actively involved in an increasingly technological world.” The 2005 BFTAW campaign will include participants in Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, Toronto, Jamaica, West Indies and numerous cities across the US.

(SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2005/0502231100
.asp?S=Black%20Empowerment&A=BLE&O=FRGN)

MAC MINIS HIT SA SHELVES LAST WEEK

A limited number of Apple's entry-level mini desktop computer will go on sale in Johannesburg and Cape Town this weekend, says distributor Apple IMC Southern Africa. Announced over a month ago at MacWorld in San Francisco by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the "headless" Mac minis have created a stir among Apple fans as they are the first desktop computers sold by the company that do not include a keyboard and monitor.

"Demand for this incredible new product has been overwhelming in the US, but we have managed to secure an advance allocation for SA," says Rutger-Jan van Spaandonk, Apple IMC Southern Africa (formerly the Core Group) executive director.

"Although the Mac mini will be available in large quantities and in many stores throughout the country later in March, we wanted to do something special for our ardent Apple fans and the new converts that have switched to Apple because of the iPod," he says.

Cool Apple Buddy in Sandton and Project 3 and Digicape in Cape Town will open their doors early tomorrow to start selling the first Mac minis in the country. They are priced at R4,559 for the entry-level model.

As part of Apple's worldwide marketing strategy, the Apple Centres will be the first to receive shipments of the Mac minis and the new iPod Shuffle flash memory music players.

Digicape director Gaynor McArthur says her company has received about 21 Mac minis and 15 iPod Shuffles that will go on sale tomorrow.

"The first three people to purchase a Mac mini will receive monitors, keyboards and a mouse for free, and the following seven will receive keyboards and a mouse for free. Then we are placing almost every other item on sale and these will be limited to one item per customer," she says.

Van Spaandonk expects people to sleep outside the stores to ensure they get their hands on a Mac mini. "We will make sure refreshments and entertainment are on standby for these early birds," he says.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za)

IN BRIEF

- The Ministry of Mines in Zambia will implement a computerised system for the management of mining licensing information in 2005. The Technical Director of Spatial Dimension, a mineral services company based in South Africa, Bill Feast has said that a computerised workflow approach system would lead to the easy availability of all relevant mining information. He also said that there was also need for the Ministry of Mines to have a reliable database and know the history of all mining applications and this system will be the solution to all these issues. The system works on the Windows network with passwords which define user groups with appropriate rules and responsibilities, he added.

- Linuxchix Africa has launched an organization that will position African women within the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) movement. Linuxchix Africa was formed in 2004 by African women and for African women as a chapter in Africa affiliated to Linuxchix worldwide. The aim of the African chapter is to help toward building the critical mass of Linux skills among African women, and to advocate for the use of Free and Open Source Software for the many community development challenges being faced by Africans, especially African women. ICT is still male dominated, moreso the Open Source technical environment, so Linuxchix Africa will play a role as a catalyst that will demystify FOSS to the people who stand to benefit the most from it.

- Kenya is among eight African countries to benefit from a USD3.5 million project aimed at installing ICT facilities in parliaments. The Nairobi-based project will see eight African countries acquire new ICT facilities. The Italian government, through United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will fund the two-year project. The project's Chief Technical Advisor, Flavio Zeni has said that it will empower legislators to fulfil their democratic functions by providing them with easy access to high quality information.

- SA Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has launched a training centre in Mpumalanga to accelerate skills development in the province. The Walk-In Training centre will offer information technology (IT) training, as government has identified IT as key to improved service delivery in the public service. This is a joint venture between the public service and administration department, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the provincial government. SITA said Mpumalanga would see the first active IT training centre implemented, with further expansions to the other regions expected soon.

- Unisys Africa and Intelleca Voice & Mobile have inked a partnership agreement with the initial aim of providing an end-to-end, best-of-breed speech-enabled solution offering to the African marketplace. Unisys has global experience in delivering systems based on the VoiceGenie products, for which Intelleca holds exclusive rights in South Africa. "We had been discussing the partnership for some time while working on similar projects in the past," says Dean Baker, acting business unit head: Telecommunications at Unisys Africa. "The partnership allows us to officially combine our expertise and product to deliver a tightly coupled solution of services and technology." Immediate plans for the partnership include joint proposals to the ICT industry at large.

NITEL: 'PENTASCOPE SQUANDERED N105BN IN 20 MONTHS,' ACCORDING TO EX-NITEL MANAGER

The account below of a parliamentary committee hearing in Nigeria is a masterful attempt to shift all the blame for Nitel's current financial position on to the now-sacked Pentascope. Nevertheless it contains significant revelations about the incumbent telco's present financial position. Readers with good memories will remember that 30-40% of Nitel's revenues are lost to internal fraud.

Pentascope International within 20 months of the management of the Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) spent about N105 billion without installing even a single line, either fixed or mobile.

Davis Daramola, former Executive Director Mobile Communication, NITEL disclosed this yesterday while giving evidence at the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Communication probing the contract management agreement between the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Pentascope.

The committee, however, threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, BPE Director General at the time of the management agreement terminated early this month for not personally appearing at the hearing.

Daramola revealed that the Dutch firm deliberately deposited NITEL's over N1.4 billion in sick banks that later ended up in distress. Daramola said he refused to sign the ill-fated contract and was retired thereafter for disobeying the orders of the Vice President. He said his action delayed the effective date of the agreement from February to March.

He said he refused to sign because Pentascope and BPE did not show the management of NITEL a copy of the agreement. He further disclosed that their trip to Amsterdam showed that Pentascope was neither quoted on the country's stock exchange nor did it have any technical knowledge and competence to handle the management of NITEL.

He said that it was no surprise that the fortunes of NITEL plummeted immediately after, throwing the formerly viable organisation into huge debts, notwithstanding over N50 billion was in the coffers of NITEL the time he was retired.

The former Executive Director said that prior to the entrance of Pentascope, NITEL never borrowed either for investment or payment of salaries but that few months after the Dutch company took over, the fortunes of the national carrier changed and it started borrowing to pay.

He said Pentascope may not have acted alone as there were indications that some powerful Nigerians collaborated with them. He advised against the privatization of NITEL now because the new buyers will buy it as scrap.

Daramola observed that although there was a Due Process office within the Board of NITEL, payments were made without passing through audit department, hence the spending of N75 billion on recurrent and another N73.5 billion on infrastructure without any changes or improvement.

"The National Assembly should look more critically into circumstances and how Pentascope International inherited over N50 billion in NITEL account (excluding MTEL), generated and collected over N60 billion, expended over N100 billion within 20 months, left a debt of over N10billion in commitments without any or addition of any one line into the system", he said.

Also giving evidence, Dr. Edwin Omorogbe said money was paid out from the domiciliary account of NITEL with Central Bank without the approval and knowledge of the board such that from April 2003 to December 2004, Pentascope expended N1, 045,175,991.87 and even took over payment for local expenses where they made NITEL to bear the cost of N21, 551,991.87.

According to Omoregbe, Pentascope paid itself $21,000, an equivalent of N2, 789,640.00 as penalty against NITEL for the alleged late payment of third quarter fees, which was stopped during pre-payment audit.

He said that Pentascope was yet to refund N12, 085,605.00 being money used to buy cars from mobilization fees in contravention of the use of such fees. He said the Dutch firm should be made to account for $2 million and called for the recovery of $1,650,000.00 unaccounted sum from the money.

He said that Pentascope, contrary to the practice in taxation, refused to remit withholding tax of $135,000.00 or N17, 309,700.00 and asked that it should be deducted from payments to them in 2005.

He gave a graphic account of how cash position, FGN Treasury Bills and letters of credit suffered a steady decline.

Omoregbe said that despite the lodgment of N549 million in a distressed bank, another N520, 947,232.55 realised from revenue drafts from various collecting banks was lodged in Afex Bank, with the company forced to borrow money to pay salaries subsequently.

As at December 2004, NITEL had overdrawn its account with Zenith International Bank Plc, Abuja by N1, 908,507,678.77, Guaranty Trust Bank N864, 684,197.22 and Platinum Bank Limited by N46, 797,529.79.

He further complained that foreign payments and some local payments were not passed through the Audit

Department including N108, 112,186 to Messers Dare Omosebi & Co, N1, 410,000.00 to DNC business center and mobilisation fee of $2 million to Pentascope. He called for recovery of the sums.

Others are the payment of N37, 026,075.00 to KPN which has dissociated itself from the NITEL contract or any relationship with Pentascope, payment of N436, 933,456.36 customs duties said to have been inflated to the tune of N6 million and N18, 239,188.00 15 percent down-payment to telephone cable Nigeria Limited.

Local contracts awarded in foreign currencies include $166,000 for provision of consultancy support for the expansion of Multi-Exchange Area 250,000 lines plus $48,753.33 as reimbursable; $1,031,890.90 to Computer Warehouse Group for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of hardware for mediation and International Settlement Activation System, and another $241,941.97 to the same company for Interconnection billing system.

Messrs. Foundry Networks was paid $230,244.00 for supply of equipment for phase 1 of IP wholesale project, KPMG received $112,000.00 for forensic investigation while

Management Information System Co. Ltd received $10,784.29 to supply software for anti-virus programmes.

He reported duplicated payments, which were discovered and stopped valued at N1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the committee threatened to order the arrest of Minister el-Rufai, for shunning the committee's earlier summons to appear before it to explain his role(s) in the management contract.

El-Rufai reportedly turned down the lawmakers' invitations because he had said all there was to be said on the issue. He, however, sent a representaive who was rejected by the committee.

However when the Committee Chairman, Hon Yemi Arokodare, heard that the minister attended the budget defence of FCT, a room away from the venue of the public hearing, he threatened sanctions on all who refused to appear.

Arokodare said that the House leadership has asked him to give El-Rufai another chance to appear before the Committee Thursday next week failure of which the entire House would issue a bench warrant on him.

Others affected by the order to appear next week or be arrested include Akintola Williams and Co., a firm of chartered accountants and auditors; Pentascope Chairman and PricewaterhouseCooper which advised advice the BPE to give the contract to Pentascope.

Also asked to appear that day are Anthony Achimogu and former Board Chairman of NITEL, Chief Vincent Maduka, who was described by members of the committee as "the Nigerian version of Pentascope in the deal."

When confronted by newsmen on his departure from the House, el-Rufai said, "I will come when there is time.

Well, as you can see, I just appeared before one Committee. Maybe I did not get the invitation. The way my office works, when there is an invitation and I cannot come somebody else would come", he said.

(source: This Day)

ECONET TO USE BOTSWANA AS GLOBAL LAUNCHING PAD

  International telecommunications company, Econet Wireless International (EWI) has injected US$140 million (P616 million) into the Botswana-headquartered Econet Wireless Global (EWG) in a development that will see the company launching a global onslaught through the investment.

EWI announced its ambitions to use Botswana as the springboard of its international investments, in a statement last week. The statement explained that this decision to make Botswana the launching pad of an international investment drive was reached after noting the special tax concessions offered by the country.

"We have set up a Botswana-based company, Econet Wireless Global (EWG) that will be in charge of our telecommunications operations in Africa, Europe and the Asia Pacific Rim. We chose Botswana so as to take advantage of the attractive incentives that are offered by their government," said the statement.

The communique, released in Harare, added that the new highly capitalised global company was also expected to spearhead the consolidation under one roof of the company's telecommunications interests in 10 countries.

The Econet spokesman added that the Botswana company would be in charge of telecommunications operations in the core areas of cellular, satellite and fixed networks, and with offices and operations in such countries as Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

In Botswana, EWG has a 40 percent interest in Mascom Wireless, together with a Batswana investor group, Citizens Investments, which will also have shares in EWG. Mascom Wireless, operates Botswana's largest mobile network with a subscriber base of nearly 300,000 customers.

In the UK, EWG owns Econet Satellite Services (ESS), a satellite operation with links which moves international voice and data traffic to 61 countries worldwide, networked through at least 400 networks around the globe.

Econet also has other telecommunications interests in Lesotho, Nigeria, New Zealand and Kenya.

Econet Wireless Holdings (EWH) also recently sealed a multibillion dollar transaction in which it acquired a 10 percent stake in the Zimbabwe-registered and diversified financial services entity, Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited (KFHL), to become the third largest institutional investor after Meikles Africa, which controls a 24.73 stake and Old Mutual, with a 10.18 percent interest.

(source: Mmegi/The Reporter)

WINNING BIDDER FOR LIBERIA'S LTC REVEALED TO BE INVOLVED IN "FORGERY, TAX EVASION AND FRAUD"

The man at the center of the controversy over the privatization of the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation, James S. Yarclay, was once allegedly embroiled in forgery, tax evasion, fraud, and an unsuccessful attempt to dupe a major international humanitarian organization, the Daily Observer has learned.

Dr. William T. Morris, president and CEO of Global 2000 (20100 ) International, has given this newspaper a first hand account of how he and his organization fell prey to Mr. Yarclay's alleged tricks.

According to Dr. Morris, Yarclay was "practically homeless just about two years ago." "At the time I operated an international humanitarian organization called Global 2000(2010) International. We are registered with the United Nations and the Federal Government of the United States to promote the aims and objectives of the United Nations." (See web site http://global2000int.tripod.com).

Dr. Morris said he was contacted by Yarclay, who offered the organization his services in the operational matters relating to the organization. However, Dr. Morris recalled that after he had traveled to East Africa to seek assistance for a UN AIDS project, Yarclay "stole the organization's Tax Exempt Document and forged his name as the owner of the organization." As a fellow Liberian I felt sorry for him and volunteered to help him," Dr. Morris said. "While I was in Tanzania, Yarclay took my organization's document, and tried to sell my organization's equipment. Yarclay told people I was not coming back into the country," Dr. Morris said.

He indicated that he had no idea that Yarclay had been in jail before. As a result, Dr. Morris said he had to hire a lawyer. Yarclay used the medical equipment as collateral to get a USD5M contract from an international organization. "People started writing to me telling me that my equipment had been used as a lien for a collateral.

Dr. Morris said Yarclay also forged documents and pre-coded them to make arrangement to sell three million dollars worth of medical equipments belonging to the organization while he was still outside of the United States. "The only reason this deal backfired was because Yarclay had just scammed a group of Doctors in Arizona out of USD5 million dollars and was using my Medical Equipments as collateral," said Dr. Morris. When he returned to Texas from Tanzania, he was then informed of the scam because at that time, the authorities werelooking for Yarclay.

"The question at hand here is, how can a man like Yarclay who had been living in the U.S. for all these years without a dime to his name come up with papers that this UTE Company has been in existence for up to twenty years, and of which he claims to be the president and CEO?" "I think they were registered and operating in Fantasy Land."

In a letter to the Observer on Thursday, a friend of Mr. Yarclay, James Dougba who resides in California. said Yarclay has been engaged in several businesses, that all failed and that he had suffered a number of evictions from office buildings due to failure to pay rent.

Mr. Dougba wrote that Yarclay ventured with UTE about 3 years ago, with the intention of providing prepaid calling cards but that did not last long. Cards were printed and sold with no services provided. Several retailers around the Dallas area are still looking for Yarclay to collect refund for the prepaid cards he sold to them.

Yarclay was reportedly employed as a sales clerk with an aviation company in Dallas, Texas after moving from Minnesota. He started a Tax business in the early 1990's and ended up in jail for tax fraud.

This record is available with the Dallas County and Tarrant County (both in Texas) and in the Texas State Attorney General's office. Back from jail after serving his term, Mr. Yaclay filed for bankruptcy when he could not pay his creditors. He later worked as a car sales man in the Dallas area in the late 1990s.

In a recent interview with the Daily Observer, Yarclay admitted that he did file for bankruptcy: "It is true that I filed a Chapter 7 in 1999 because I had some problem with the IRS and I did so to protect my assets from them. The matter has long since been resolved. The filing was personal and had nothing to do with Universal Telephone Exchange, Inc.(UTE)., my current company."

Dougba said he is 100% for the privatization but warned that it must be done very carefully, with the right investor with a proven world wide track record. He said he has known Mr. Yaclay for a long time, in Minnesota, USA, and he is a good friend. But for him to take up such a venture after failing almost every project he has undertaken in the United States "leaves me to wonder what he is going to contribute, what did he show to pre qualify for a bid for LTC? Was he the only bidder? Is this the reward for the visit he paid to Mr. Bryant while he was visiting the US? Yes Yarclay does have a track record of failures and that is all he can show," Mr. Dougba. .

Mr. Yarclay said that UTE was not in existence when the bankruptcy incident took place and therefore has no effect on his financial circumstances today.

Yarclay was taken aback by claims by the Liberian Ambassador to the U.S., Charles A. Minor, who told the Daily Observer that he did not know Yarclay. "It is unfortunate that he (Minor) does not remember me when in fact the two met during Bryant's visit to Texas for his son's graduation last year".

Yarclay's meeting with Chariman Bryant in Texas is bound to raise ethical questions in some quarters as to whether the bidding process for Telecom was a mere formality after all, considering the fact that Bryant had already come in contact with one of the key bidders, UTEI, a year ago during his Texas visit.

(source: Liberian Observer)

PIC, ELEPHANT IN TALKS ON TELKOM TRANSFER

The state pension funds administrator Public Investment Commissioners (PIC) yesterday said it was still in talks with Elephant Consortium in a bid to determine how the black economic empowerment consortium would acquire the 15,1% Telkom stake that PIC was warehousing for them.

In November, PIC acquired the stake formerly owned by Telkom's foreign strategic partner Thintana Communications for R6,6bn.

Although the agency paid for the shares, they belong to Elephant Consortium because the group won the right to purchase the stake from Thintana.

The consortium has apparently failed to raise enough cash to acquire the shares on its own.

PIC, which manages nearly R400bn in government employee pension money, bought the shares on behalf of Elephant Consortium and agreed to warehouse them for six months. Any dividend paid during this period will go to PIC.

Elephant Consortium, led by former communications department director-general Andile Ngcaba, is expected to develop a financing structure in the remaining three months to buy the stake from PIC. PIC spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga yesterday said negotiations between the two parties were continuing, but declined to give details. He said, however, that both parties were working hard to finalise the matter within the stipulated time frame. The PIC has already appointed three directors to the board of Telkom following the acquisition of the stake in the fixed-line phone operator. The three board members replaced the Thintana directors.

PIC head Brian Molefe said recently that the agency would "negotiate in good faith" to facilitate the transfer of shares to Elephant Consortium. Elephant could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ngcaba said in December that the consortium was in discussions with a number of possible funders.

(source: Business Day)

IN BRIEF

- China's ZTE Corporation International, a firm linked to telecommunications sector, will finance about USD 400 million for Angola, a press release issued by the Cabinet Council announced. From this amount, according to the source of the Cabinet Council's meeting, presided over by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, at least 300 million dollars will be used in the construction of Angola Telecom's network and the remaining goes to the military telecommunications system, the building of a mobile-phones factory and the creation of a telecommunications institute for the training of Angolan staff. The surplus will also be invested in the creation of a telecommunication laboratory for researching activities of this sector.

- Though alleged to be inefficient, an independent investigation into the activities of Sierratel has however proved that the government owes this institution the sum of 21 billion leones, of which there is no sign that the government is ready to pay the said amount. Officials of the institution expressed concern over the ailing condition of the institution adding that with even a quarter of the amount paid by the government would help to turn the company around to improve its services and establish more lines. The institution, they noted, need money to keep their lines in operation as they have to pay bills and also keep generators working in certain areas for as long as eighteen hours per day to keep the lines in operation. The company cannot provide a befitting network when such an amount is owed it by government and other customers are not paying their bills regularly.

- The Government is to off-load 11 per cent of Telkom Kenya's shares in mobile phone company, Safaricom. In a Physical Infrastructure Sector Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) report, the State is also planning to sell part of Telkom to a strategic investor. The move by the Government is seen as a way for Telkom to raise funds for capital expenditure, redundancy payments and part of its debt. Telkom and Vodafone are joint partners in Safaricom, but Telkom is the majority shareholder with a 60 per cent stake.

PHONE IN FOR FREE ELECTRICITY

Prism Holdings has piloted a project that allows prepaid electricity consumers to access their free basic electricity entitlement using a mobile phone. The pilot was carried out in Atlantis in the Western Cape, in conjunction with Eskom and an unnamed cellular network operator, says PayPoint Solutions director Andrew Turpin.

Free basic electricity is part of an Eskom tariff-based system providing free basic services (20KW of electricity a month) in terms of government's poverty tariff.

The pilot saw consumers send their meter number via cellphone. The information was rerouted to Prism TSS, which then validated the user on the Eskom database to verify the user qualified. A R20 token was then generated and a unique 20-digit number was sent via SMS. The user entered this number into his meter.

Turpin says the pilot involved about 100 people initially and expanded to 190 through word of mouth by the end of the five-month project.

He says in the current system people have to go to a vendor to receive a prepaid electricity token, which is inconvenient and costly, especially in remote areas. The system is also open to exploitation because many vending points operate in an offline environment. The mobile solution allows users to get tokens without having to leave home.

Turpin says although the project was a technical success, there are still some barriers to overcome before the project can be rolled out nationally.

The main one is getting the partners – Prism TSS, Eskom and the cellular operator – to finalise a commercial model for the project, since there are costs involved, not only in terms of infrastructure and support, but every malformed request also costs the system.

However, Turpin says the project has proved there is a degree of consumer readiness for this kind of transaction, that the technology is able to provide the right platform, and that the network operators are ready to take part in such projects.

(SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2005/0502230612.asp?S=Cellular&A=CEL&O=FRGN)

NOW TOURISTS CAN SURF THE CAPE

Cape Town tourist guide magazine, The Other Guide, has launched an Internet tourism portal to provide visitors to SA with helpful information. The Other Guide is an independent publication launched in November 2003 and is provided to visitors arriving at Cape Town International Airport. The portal, www.otherguide.co.za, will complement the print version of the magazine and provide visitors and holidaymakers with information when they are still in the planning phase of their holidays.

"The Other Guide sees this as an integral addition of value for advertisers, extending the reach of their information, products and services," says Barry Tyson, founder and editor of The Other Guide.

The site aims to extend its content later, to include information on the whole country, he says. Tyson also plans to add booking and feedback pages to the site.

"We've recommended a selection of things to do including accommodation, activities, places to visit and restaurants," says Tyson.

"We've tried to add quirky places that we've been to and recommend to visitors. Editorial content on the Internet has very much retained the light-hearted but informative style of the print version. It will provide detailed information on destinations, outdoor activities, eating, drinking and accommodation."

"With the current tourist season in full swing, we have been swept off our feet with demand for the magazine. The airport is definitely busier than last year and we are seeing international flights arriving not just in the morning but throughout the day," says Tyson.

(SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502221156.html)

GLO BEGINS MOBILE BANKING WITH 23 BANKS

Subscribers of Glo-mobile will from February 28 benefit from electronic banking as the telephone company commences trials of its mobile banking service which will network with 23 banks. This service will provide all Glo Mobile customers easy access to their bank accounts from their mobile phones within the Glo coverage area.

Globacom's Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohammed Jameel said subscribers can check their bank account balances, view the last five transactions on the account, transfer funds from one account to the other in the same bank and recharge a Glo prepaid line directly from their Glo Mobile phones. "Globacom subscribers can do virtually all banking transactions with their mobile phones. This is the first time in Nigeria that one single application will provide a uniform interface to a multitude of banks," he added.

Within the next couple of weeks, Jameel revealed that Globacom would to go a step further in its M- banking with the commencement of inter-bank funds transfer before making its service available for utility bills and micro payments to mention but a few.

Offered in collaboration with Interswitch, Nigeria's premier e-payment switch, Glo M-Banking offers subscribers access to real-time personal banking information and saves time and money as the subscriber is able to do much of his banking transactions from the comfort of his house, office, on the road or anywhere he chooses.

To access the service, the subscriber is required to register at any of the participating banks that hold the account of the subscriber. Presently the service is available in 16 banks. The other seven banks, which will also soon go live are said to be at the implementation stage.

A subscriber can request for the service by filling up the Glo M-Banking request form. Upon successful activation of the service, he/she will receive a welcome SMS on the mobile phone informing him/her that the M-Banking service has now been activated. To access this service, subscribers need the Personal Identification Number (PIN) issued by the bank. If he already has a debit card, the debit card PIN automatically serves as the PIN required to access the M-Banking service.

To use the facility, the subscriber is required to select "check balance" on the Magic Plus menu, enter the bank code and select the account he wants to check. For security reasons, the subscriber is required to enter his PIN number. To use this facility, subscribers will be charged N40 each for each transaction except recharge for Glo Prepaid account, which is free. All transactions are charged on "a per request" bases.

Although some banks currently run SMS based mobile banking services, the present offering by Glo Mobile has many advantages over what is currently available. Glo M-Banking is not only menu driven, which makes it user friendly, it is more secure than any other before it. To enhance its security, the service is tied to phone number and PIN and ensures due to the end security on all transactions.

(SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502240175.html)

IN BRIEF

- Zanet Internet Service who registered and hosts AfrISPA.org have enhanced their website with more features and content, which can be seen at www.afrispa.org. On the resource section of the site visitors can find the recent collection of information on ISPs, IXPs and ISPAs in a database that can queried. There are plans also to provide a Francophone version of the site so that it is in dual mode. Visitors are invited to take a tour of the site and make any comments, constructive criticism and suggestions to webmaster@afrispa.org.

- SANGONeT Technology Services have developed a database-driven website with a content management system for Agenda, a Durban-based feminist media project. The website is based on robust open source technology and features interactive polls and subscription-based access. The website can be viewed at http://www.agenda.org.za.

ISSUE NO 246 IN SEARCH OF THE BUSINESS MODEL

INDEX

PHOENIX INTRODUCES MAXIMUM MP3 FOR MUSIC LOVERS

According to software republisher, Phoenix Global Software, music lovers in SA will shortly have access to the PC industry's most comprehensive music management software suite, with the local release of Maximum MP3.

Produced by German software maker, Data Becker, Maximum MP3 aims to give users the ability to easily record, rip, edit, organise, encode, burn and play music in all popular formats.

  Says Simon Campbell-Young, Phoenix CEO: "Maximum MP3 also gives access to an almost unlimited number of MP3s online, legally and for free. Users can also save Internet Radio streams to the hard disk, with functionality to split the files automatically by the song names." Dubbed Streamweaver, this function is claimed to allow the recording of multiple radio streams directly, as MP3 files with radio presets, automatic song recognition and splitting as well as black and white filters. Maximum MP3 provides cross conversion for all popular file formats, including WMA/WAV, MP3 and OGG Vorbis, he adds.

  "Advanced functionality allows enthusiasts to bring their music collections into the digital world, as old vinyl records and cassettes can be converted to MP3, while songs can also be imported from protected audio CDs with line-in recording in real time," continues Campbell-Young. The software creates ID3 tags manually or automatically with various options and tools, and allows files to be renamed according to individually created templates or automatically, he adds.

  Additional functions are said to include:

* Create play list;

* MP3 and WAV Editor;

* MP3 player with shuffling, repeating etc;

* Powerful search including formats and tag fields;

* Supports WAV, WMA and OGG Vorbis file format.

  Pricing and availability: Maximum MP3 will be available from March 1 from Incredible Connection stores countrywide, for R199, inc. VAT.

(SOURCE: http://www.ictworld.co.za/EditorialEdit.asp?EditorialID=21666)

PEOPLE

- VICE President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has lamented over the poor Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in Africa, saying that Africa has only 2.5% of the world’s telephone lines penetration despite having about 13% of the world population. He then revealed that African governments, aimed at accelerating ICT development in Africa, have established an e-Africa Commission.

The Vice President who was speaking at the Opening ceremony of Afrinet (Africa Internet Summit and Exhibition) 2005, in Abuja told the gathering of Africa ICT family that the poor telephony problem of Africa means that telephone lines penetration is roughly 3 per 1000 inhabitants. "The ratio contrast with roughly 12, 35 and 37 for Asia, North America and Europe respectively," he observed.

Speaking on e-Africa Commission, Abubakar said that the commission would provide a submarine Fibre Optic linking East African countries and a Broadband Fibre Optic links from landlocked countries to Submarine Cable landing stations to connect all 54 African countries with the rest of the world. "The commission would also develop a rationale system of terrestrial Fibre Optic cables that provide an economical, robust network and establish an e-Learning project.

The e-Learning Project according to him is in association with African Virtual University which would result in the transformation of all primary and secondary schools in Africa into e-Schools by 20015. He described the e-Schools Initiative as being the most vital as it would produce generations of Africans well equipped to face the demand of the global Information Society.

According to the Vice President, a Digital Solidarity Fund would also be established for Africa for the Mobilisation of resources to support cash-strapped African Countries.

- AMD today announced the appointment of Tarek Heiba as GM for Middle East and Africa (MEA). Tarek is based at AMD's Dubai Internet City offices, and is dedicated to strengthening strategic relationships and serving the requirements of AMD's customers, channel partners, and commercial users throughout the region.

  - Realyst, the South African leader in the provision of contract lifecycle management solutions, today announced the appointment of Peter Trickey as its CEO...Isabel Chaka Chaka is to become CEO of Gestetner Tshwane.

- David Nkoto Emane has been named as the new D-G of the financially troubled Cameroonian incumbent Camtel. He was previously employed by INTELCAM and France Telecom.

EVENTS

NEWCOM AFRICA GENERATES HIGH LEVELS OF INDUSTRY SUPPORT

Increasing demand for sustainable African telecommunications has driven private- and public-sector collaboration and innovation to unprecedented levels, a trend that will take centre stage here during NewCom Africa 2005. The high-level summit and exhibition will provide key players in the provision of African telecommunications development with an opportunity to mobilise essential systems and services throughout the Continent.

NewCom Africa 2005 will focus on regulatory, technology, investment & business partnerships that have proven effective for the rapid roll-out of telecom services in Africa. The event, which will be held over 15-17 March 2005 at London’s Chelsea Village, is being held under the auspices of the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), the non-profit association of the global satellite communications sector. AITEC Africa and UK Event Management Associates are the event organisers.

The event has sponsorship support from the following key telecommunications industry players:

∑ Eutelsat
∑ ViaSat
∑ Plenexis
∑ IP Planet
∑ Thuraya
∑ Gilat Satellite
∑ Hughes Network Systems

Confirmed speakers include representatives of:

AfSat
Cable & Wireless
British Telecom
Hughes Network Systems
HP
Inmarsat
Intelsat
IP Planet
NewSkies
Oracle
Telenor
Telkom
UUNet
ViaSat

Over 16 African telecommunication operators who have confirmed their participation

“Africa may be the most under-served telecommunications market in the world, but improving market-access conditions, combined with the availability of new telecommunications tools – including hybrid satellite-based GSM, WiFi/WiMax and fibre optic – have set the stage for all stakeholders to realise unprecedented gains,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF.

“The African telecommunication sector has borne witness to major successes… and failures,” said Sean Moroney, Chaiman of AITEC. “NewCom Africa 2005 will provide delegates with an opportunity to draw upon that experience, as well as obtain up-to-date market intelligence, network with suppliers, establish business partnerships, identify financial resources, and understand the latest regulatory approaches applied in the region.”

Exhibition: Partnership Showcase
The event will include a focused Partnership Showcase exhibition area (also for the African-Europe Business Partnership Forum over the following two days), providing an opportunity for operators and suppliers to meet, consult and network.

Exhibition rates: £180/sq metre with shell scheme.

Sponsorship Opportunities
A range of sponsorship opportunities are available for suppliers wanting to take advantage of the branding and promotional profile offered by this unique event.

For exhibition and sponsorship enquiries, contact: Paul Stahl, pauls@aitecafrica.com Tel: +44 (0)208 954 2081

Top register as a delegate, log on to: www.aitecafrica.com

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (WSIS): CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION AND ISSUES

4th March 2005, 09:30 - 17:00
Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JS

This event will focus on systematic and critical case studies of initiatives designed to narrow 'digital divides' - within developing countries and between developing and developed countries - relating to the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs). Where possible, contributions will offer individual or comparative case studies providing insight into the most significant divides and how they can be closed, or which question the significance of digital divides.

The final session of the day between 4 and 4.30pm will be webcast, for those of you not able to make it in person. To view the webcast, please visit: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/webcast

For further information on this event, including speakers' papers, please visit: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/collaboration/?rq=seminars/20050304

VOIP STRATEGIES

Africa 11-13 April

INTERCONNECT IN FIXED AND MOBILE NETWORKS

Africa 13-15 April

For more information visit www.iir-conferences.com/africa/voipint 

WEST AFRICA 2005

EU/ACP Investment- and Partner Promotion Meeting for the Development of the ICT Sector in West Africa

12 - 14  April, 2005 - Hotel Méridien Président, Dakar, Senegal

WEST AFRICA 2005 will bring together the main stakeholders of the West African ICT sector from the private and public sector, including individual ICT professionals, representatives of small, medium and large enterprises, regulatory bodies, donor and development agencies, West African Ministers of information and communication, members of the scientific community, educational institutions, telecom operators and various ICT associations. A total of 500 visitors are expected to attend the meeting, making it the largest of its kind. 

Participation to WEST AFRICA 2005 is free of charge.

The event is coordinated by Spintrack and sponsored by EU's Centre for Development of Enterprise (CDE) together with PRO€INVEST which is EU's partnership programme for investment promotion and North-South partnership agreements.

 Registration and more information

To register as a delegate or find more detailed information please visit the the website of the event www.optic.sn, hosted by the Association of Senegalese ICT Professionals (OPTIC).

For exhibition and sponsorship enquires contact Alioune Ba, aliouneba76@yahoo.fr Tel: +221 8428138

For general enquires or enquiries related to the forum, the head-to-head business meetings or the catalogue, contact Martin Sjögren, martin.sjogren@spintrack.com Tel: +46 528 00 310.  It