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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 271 Enablis gives ICT entrepreneurs much needed early-stage finance and supportSince the creation of the Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force) at the G8 Summit in 2000, many programmes and initiatives have emerged to address the digital divide and offer enormous opportunities to narrow social and economic inequities and support sustainable wealth creation through the use of ICT. One such development was the creation of the Canada Fund for Africa in 2002 to support new initiatives that have a major impact on sustainable development. The Canada Fund for Africa would provide the critical USD10 million in seed funding for the creation of a ground breaking private sector-led Non-Profit Organization that aims to help entrepreneurs in developing countries by leveraging the transformation power of ICT. This innovative private-public partnership, Enablis Entrepreneurial Network (Enablis), was founded in 2003 as a Montreal-based non-profit organization which focuses on driving measurable social and economic development by supporting entrepreneurs in the developing world who adopt ICT as a significant enabler of growth. Enablis’ private sector founding partners Accenture, Hewlett-Packard and Telesystem, provide substantial pro-bono services and equipment and have already secured funding of over USD25 million, primarily for the first regional operation in Southern Africa. Enablis was also able to successfully leverage its first USD10 million donation from the Canada Fund for Africa into an additional USD15 million from partners, sponsors, donors and social investors, which include in South Africa: Khula Enterprise Finance, First National Bank and KPMG. In 2004, Enablis SA became the first Enablis regional hub with offices located in Cape Town and Johannesburg. “We work directly with entrepreneurs to accelerate growth and improve sustainability through the application of ICT,” explained Enablis’ Regional CEO in Cape Town, Martin Feinstein, about the work they do. “Enablis is a membership based organization where our network of entrepreneurs receive our unique programme of business support services through which we have helped people like Nathaniel Sebolai of Johannesburg, whose start-up is recognized as the first black empowerment enterprise in the mobile telecom space.” At present Enablis has 80 members and by March 2006 this number is likely to increase to around 200 claimed Feinstein. “Members come to Enablis in three different ways. Through other organizations like the Black IT Forum. Through our Annual Business Plan competition, which has so far received 150 submissions this year, of which about half will become accredited members. And then through word of mouth of course.” Enablis accredit membership to entrepreneurs based on whether their products and services will have a wider social impact on their community. Within the ICT industry this can be achieved either through cheaper connectivity, business efficiency, employment opportunities, etc. Entrepreneurs outside the ICT industry need to demonstrate that they can use ICT to improve profitability and productivity. “We assess what we call their EQ which is their Entrepreneurship Quotient. We look at their potential as well as their integrity and commitment to succeed,” said Feinstein. Operating at the grassroots level, Enablis is dedicated to delivering to its member entrepreneurs all the networking, learning, mentoring and coaching that are of relevance to them and will contribute to their success. “We provide a suite of services and support activity ranging from seminars to workshops to forums and much more,” said Feinstein. Enablis recently created a unique funding vehicle for members with the R50 Million Enablis Khula Loan Fund, which offers a 90% bank guarantee above $20,000 that provides entrepreneurs with start-up and early-stage financing at favorable commercial rates. “This provides finance for entrepreneurs who would otherwise have difficulty in securing funding from financial institutions,” Feinstein added. Enablis is currently in the process of raising a R50 Million Equity Fund in South Africa to provide a second financing alternative. Other recent initiatives that Enablis have introduced include the Gateway Project in the Northern Cape to assist entrepreneurs in this less developed area and the e-circle peer-to-peer support programme where small groups of members can meet regularly to discuss any problems or issues. “The latter you could say is like Entrepreneurs Anonymous,” described Feinstein. Enablis is also collaborating with the Richard Branson School of Entrepreneurship in Johannesburg where they will be providing the ICT background and knowledge. “Students at this school will become student entrepreneurs at Enablis thorough a special category of membership that we are seeking to introduce,” Feinstein revealed. “When these students graduate and become entrepreneurs they will automatically become full members with us.” With its experience at building and managing a broad local and international public-private partnership, Enablis is ready to expand its operations to 10 new developing countries in Africa over five years. To achieve this objective, Enablis has created the USD100 Million Enablis Global Development Trust I (Trust) in order to raise the core expansion funding, which can be applied progressively to the growth of its network. Enablis will match the contributions to the Trust through a mix of international private sector donors, local partners and social investors who together will contribute more than USD100 Million over this period, bringing the total funding to over USD200 Million. Founding partner Accenture is currently preparing a screening model for country selection based upon strict Enablis readiness criteria.
MAURITIUS TELECOM WANTS TO DROP SAFE PRICES BY 15%Mauritius Telecom has asked the Mauritian regulator ICTA whether it can drop its leased line prices on the SAFE international cable by 15%. The regulator is examining the impact on competition in the sector before giving approval. Mauritius is following the pattern found elsewhere in Africa in dropping the price of international connectivity. However, Mauritius Telecom remains the monopoly owner of access to the SAFE international cable. The Government announced late last year that it would conduct a study with a view to buying out Mauritius Telecom's remaining portion of its monopoly before it expires. (Source: L'Express) CAMEROON: CAMTEL LAUNCHES CDMA NETWORK TO COMPETE WITH EXISTING NETWORKSCAMTEL has started to operate CDMA-based elements within its mobile network. It believes that the much-vaunted cost savings and additional functionality will help it compete with Cameroon's other GSM-based operators. It is making much of the increased radius (30-50 kms) of antennae using CDMA and the ability to offer domestic subscribers a phone without needing the cost of putting in a copper connection. As incumbents using CDMA increasingly advance this kind of business strategy, it is clear that they hope to blur the differentiation between fixed and mobile lines and end up with more subscribers paying higher domestic rates. The almost ubiquitous Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei has been responsible for installing 20,000 lines in this first phase. In 2004, Camtel conducted an initial trial with 10,000 lines in Yaoundé et Douala. (source: Cameroon Tribune) EASSY FIBRE PROJECT HOLDS CRUCIAL FINANCE MEETING IN TANZANIAEASSY consortium members met last week in Dar es Salaam to discuss how the project will be financed and the progress the project has made so far. According to one consortium member (see Kai Wulff interview in People section below) the project now has completed raising its finance and will move forward. A number of inland sections of the project are already underway with KDN, MTN and UTL completing fibre connections to Kenya and KDN and Kenya Telkom both building Nairobi-Mombasa fibre routes. KDN is also planning to extend its network into Tanzania, which has also launched the first parts of what it claims will be a nationwide network. (SOURCE: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/30/content_3422533.htm) RASCOM PUSHES NEARER LAUNCH DATE AND SIGNS UP EQUATORIAL GUINEAAfrica is only 10 months away from launching its own communication satellite. Barring any hiccups, RASCOMstar will become operational June 2006 to provide footprint for the entire region and usher in a new era of self-sufficiency in communication for the continent of over 880 million people. The design of the satellite by technical partners Alcatel in France is complete. Most tests have been carried out and the stage for launch is set, RASCOM Director General Dr Jones Killimbe told IT Edge editorial crew in an exclusive media session last Monday in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Insurance for the satellite is being worked out and bids for companies to provide launch pad has been opened. The Chinese may grab this to provide launch pad for Africa’s first satellite communication in what would further cement China’s growing influence in Africa’s ICT sector. The Chinese are building Nigeria’s satellite communication tagged NIGCOM SAT-1. This is also billed for launch in 2006. 46 African countries with the new entry of Equatorial Guinea own RASCOM and there are now only seven countries left to join the rank of owner-countries. There are high hopes that another country would make the list before year-end even as RASCOM calls for fresh investment from signatory member countries and private hands in what was originally planned to be the continent’s first major attempt at public private partnership (PPP). The multi-million dollar initiative was conceived over 10 years ago to address the continent’s rising needs for international bandwidth and to reduce complete dependence on European traffic hubs. Calls between most African countries are still routed through European hubs in London and Paris 45 years after political independence was attained by more than 80% of the continent’s 53 countries. Over a decade ago, the African political leadership created the Regional African Satellite Communication (RASCOM) with headquarters in Abidjan to reduce the high cost of bandwidth access. Over $600 million, or more than the annual national fiscal budgets of half of the continent’s countries, is spent every year on international bandwidth to further reduce the continent foreign reserve. In Africa’s fast changing ICT sector no operator buys bandwidth in local currencies but in hard currency. With more than 20 million phone users talking on networks most of which were not in existence when RASCOM was created, and the burgeoning growth in the Internet sub-sector, market should expand faster than anticipated for the RASCOMstar. “RASCOMstar will connect African countries directly to themselves and integrate the rural communities or give access to rural areas at a much lower cost. The RASCOM satellite is a viable business because we are going to support a lot of businesses on the continent. Africa needs a lot of space, we are 800m people and more than 300m people would need to be active by getting connected to the information society. So what we are launching is something that is not only commercially viable but is long overdue,” said Killimbe inside RASCOM headquarters. (SOURCE: http://www.itedgenews.com/rascom1.htm) TELKOM PULLS FINANCIAL PLUG ON ZIMBABWE'S TELEONETelkom South Africa's decision to pull the financial plug on Zimbabwe's TeleOne look like leaving MD Wellington Makamure's turnaround plans in tatters. The company owes Telkom South Africa a staggering USD18 million (in part for financing a South Africa-Zimbabwe fibre link) and clearly has stopped making the payments. Tel*One spokesperson Phil Chingwaru confirmed Telkom had disconnected Zimbabwe for non-payment. "Currently, the company has had its connectivity to and through SA terminated as it has not honoured its debt to Telkom SA," he said. The deal with Telkom was that Tel*One, which was a net receiver of revenue from Telkom, would pay for the upgrade of its network by deducting its dues from the money going to Zimbabwe. However, traffic from South Africa to Zimbabwe has dramatically dwindled, leaving Tel*One in a deficit with Telkom. While South African callers can still dial directly to Harare, calls from that country to South Africa were being re-routed to Canada, through TeleGlobe's VoIP service. Telkom spokesperson Lulu Letlape declined to comment, except to say the parastatal did not discuss its clients with "third parties". "Zimbabwe's account [or that of any other customers] with Telkom is a private matter," she said. (SOURCE: http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business&articleid=249784) S.AFRICA'S CELL C EXPECTS VIRGIN VENTURE DEAL SOONSouth Africa's third-ranked mobile operator Cell C expects to unveil a joint venture with British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group before the end of the month, Cell C said on Thursday. Cell C said it was poised to unveil the tie-up with part of the Virgin empire, which would give the world-famous Virgin brand a long-coveted foothold in Africa's biggest market. "Discussions with Virgin to form a joint venture service provider in South Africa are progressing well and we expect to be able to make an announcement in this regard before the end of September," the company said in a statement. Analysts say the deal could pave the way for more foreign mobile firms to enter the South African market by piggybacking on existing operators, which could cut high call tariffs. "I think Virgin will try and leverage its brand rather than cutting prices aggressively, but this deal will open the way for more virtual operators, which will eventually cut prices," said Citigroup telecoms analyst Rhys Summerton. Cell C declined to say whether the Virgin service, called Virgin Mobile South Africa, would be cheaper than other operators, saying only that "brand helps a lot". South Africa's communications regulator is investigating high mobile tariffs and has said tighter regulation or more competition is crucial to ensure a cheaper service. Virgin pioneered the concept of a so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), under which it avoids hefty investment by piggybacking on partner networks and Branson has long angled for a foothold in South Africa's booming cell phone market. Unlisted Cell C said Virgin would act more like an enhanced service provider, since MVNOs were still illegal in South Africa's recently liberalised telecoms industry. Virgin was not immediately available for comment. Cell C Chief Executive Talaat Laham told a news conference the Saudi-backed firm had no immediate plans for a stock market listing but that it may be a possibility in two to three years. In results released to bond investors two days ago, Cell C said it increased its subscriber base to 2.49 million in the second quarter from 2.17 million and swung to a core profit. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) increased to 87.7 million rand ($13.48 million) in the quarter ended on June 30 from a loss of 3.5 million in the year-ago period. Company spokesman Jonathan Newman told Reuters revenue in the second half would exceed that of the first half, and said the company was aiming to increase EBITDA to 9-10 percent of sales the full year, versus a negative margin in 2004. Market share dipped to 10.5 percent from around 11 percent. One analyst who asked not to be named said he believed Cell C, which launched in 2002, should sacrifice profit in the short term and focus on market share. "I think they should have really invested to get market share up to 25 percent and stuck with a negative EBIDTA for longer," he said. Cell C last month sold a $270 million senior subordinated bond and 400 million euros of first priority high-yield notes. The company estimated it would probably spend less than its planned capital expenditure of 950 million rand this year and said it would not have to refinance again, but was finalising arrangements for a 50 million rand revolving loan facility with a local bank. (SOURCE: http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=telecomm&storyID=nL01198869) NCC SAYS GSM CELLCOS MUST REAPPLY FOR UNIFIED LICENCESThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has further angered the country’s GSM operators with its unified licensing scheme by suggesting that they will not automatically have their concessions renewed when the new system comes in next year. The licence scheme being introduced in February 2006 will allow CDMA service providers to compete head-to-head with GSM operators nationwide, instead of being limited to coverage of specific geographic areas only. This means they will be operating in direct competition to the GSM cellcos, whose call charges are on average six-times higher. The GSM operators’ claim that the new legislation will discourage investment in the sector and further weaken an industry blighted by outdated facilities and high taxes. The NCC has countered, however, by saying that the move will increase take-up of services. The regulator has now stipulated that all prospective operators – whether currently GSM or CDMA – must reapply for the new concessions. ‘Operators wishing to migrate to a unified licence will have to apply and meet the conditions specified in the licensing framework,’ said Ernest Ndukwe, head of the NCC. (SOURCE: http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=8801&email=text) IN BRIEF- Ethiopia is preparing to launch a ETB270 million project aimed at providing information communication technology (ICT) services to rural communities. The project will last five years and the government hopes it will assist farmers with selling their agricultural products. - Nigerian fixed line incumbent Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) has launched a pilot fixed wireless access (FWA) CDMA service to 5,000 users in Lagos, ahead of the rollout of 290,000 lines in the region by year end. Motorola is building the new network. TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE* Moroccan incumbent Maroc Télécom on Thursday announced cuts to all of its fixed line call tariffs, including a 5% reduction in the price of fixed-to-mobile calls. It also abolished connection fees for all fixed line customers, whilst raising monthly subscription fees by MAD10 (USD1.11). The company said the rebalancing is aimed at increasing fixed line telephony usage in both the residential and business sectors. * MTN Nigeria has launched GPRS services, including MMS, to its entire subscriber base. MTN is the last Nigerian operator to begin offering 2.5G services commercially and has much work to do to catch up with its rivals Globacom (Glo Mobile), NITEL GSM (M-Tel) and Vee Networks (V-Mobile). The cellco is also confident of launching the country’s first 3G mobile service, possibly as early as the first half of next year. Its South African parent, MTN Group, launched 3G services in its domestic market in July and says that Nigeria is next on its list. * Nigerian Telecommu-nications Limited (NITEL) has installed a new digital telephone exchange at Agbor in Delta State. The new exchange has an installed capacity of 3,000 lines and 900 trunks. The exchange, a primary centre was cut-over following a final acceptance test conducted by the telecommunications giant recently. Subscribers to NITEL's network in the town would now enjoy modern and efficient telecommunications services, including such value added services as direct dialing, abbreviated dialing, call blocking and caller identification. According to NITEL's Deputy General Manager Corporate Communications, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, the town's code number was 055 and all existing telephone numbers having 1 in the town remained unchanged. "More subscribers in Agbo and its environs can now be served using a new numbering range of 250000-252999, but existing subscribers in the exchange area will continue to use the 250000-25999,"Ekundayo said . yesterday He explained that the boost in the facilities at Agbor was in continuation of the company's efforts to modernise and expand its network nationwide, disclosing that cut-over of over 250,000 digital telephone lines would commence soon in several locations across the country to satisfy the yearning of the populace for more efficient telecommunication services. * Vodacom recently announced a tariff of R2,99 per minute for all pre-paid calls made during peak times from 7am to 8pm, based on per second billing. The new rates, approved by Icasa, represent a reduction of up to 17%, and will impact on 13 million Vodacom subscribers. This is applicable to Vodacom-to-Vodacom calls, as well as calls to Telkom and other cellular networks, and is effective from Monday. Commenting on the announcement, Alan Knott-Craig, Group CEO, Vodacom, says: “The Happy Hours rate, announced on Friday last week, of R1,49 (for all peak calls between 5pm and 8pm for Vodacom-to-Vodacom calls), represented a discount of up to 55% for pre-paid users, now with the new rate of R2,99 per minute, we will further extend the benefit in the peak call period. This represents hundreds of millions of Rands in savings to our customers. “We expect traffic to increase, thereby offsetting to some degree the cost of these significant price reductions. The industry is currently growing more rapidly than it ever has in its 11-year history with new gross connections exceeding a record 1,3m new customers in July this year alone.” Pre-paid customers already paying less than R2,99 per minute will continue to enjoy the existing lower rate. Vodacom also announced an increase in the off-peak pre-paid call rate of R1 per minute to R1,05 per minute which will only become effective on 1 October. The only other tariff adjustments this year, which are unrelated to the new pre-paid tariff of R2,99 minute, is an average increase in high end contract customer rates for Talk 500 of 1,5%, and an increase in the Talk 1000 package of 2,2%. These increases are also to be effective 1 October.
CÔTE D'IVOIRE TELECOM GOES LARGE WITH ADSL OFFER - EXTRA LARGE IS "2 MÉGA""Côte d'Ivoire Telecom wants to make the Internet accessible to everyone. The objective of our latest action is to allow the internet user to connect without fear. Whatever time they spend connected, from now on they will pay less," according to Bruno Koné, the company's D-G. This follows from the launch of ADSL Extra Large on 24 August. This service is currently available in the capital Abidjan but this month will become available in San Pédro et Yamoussoukro. The new service has an upload speed of 128 kbps but a download speed of 2 kbps. This level of bandwidth will encourage users to download things like music if there is no cap on the service and obviously permits users to make free VoIP calls using services like Skype. The service is targeted at professionals. In a usual uncompetitive twist, Koné said that this new service was incompatible with the service provided by Fidelis de Côte d'Ivoire, no doubt seeking to put off potential consumers from any offer that company might make. (source: Le Patriote) RADIO BOTSWANA JOINS THE INTERNET AGERadio Botswana has joined the digital age all thanks to the University of Botswana computer science staff, who are using modern technology to record Radio Botswana's daily programmes and then channel them via the Internet. If your computer is connected to the Internet, RB1 programming is just a mouse click away, though it is two hours behind the normal RB1 schedule. If you miss out on a programme, the Internet service enables you to visit the archives and listen to the programme. The service also allows you to shuffle through the programming with ease. You can listen to the six o'clock news, the seven o'clock news, or go back to the midnight shows and catch up with the goings at the station. The Internet version is truly representative of the national radio's programming, as they do not leave out any details, from music, to studio calls, interviews and news. However, strangely, Radio Botswana itself has not been able to come up with this kind of service. The website that runs the RB1 programming, www.tsebeegole.bw, is not in any way associated with the government Radio Station. It is an independent, non-profit making website with the mission to serve Botswana citizens in far away places. The website also conducts listeners survey of the RB1's Internet programming. Their recent survey reveals that 83 percent of the listeners tune to four or less programmes, while 78 percent listen to over seven programmes. The site also communicates solely in Setswana. Even instructions on how to use the website are in Setswana and that gives it the true original RB1 feel. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010204.html) NAMIBIA: DISTANCE LEARNING CAN REACH ALLOpen Distance Learning (ODL) has the inherent potential to ensure that all people have access to life-long learning. This was said by Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, at the opening of the first ODL Conference of the Namibian Open Learning Network (NOLNet) Trust on Wednesday. She said it is estimated that over 36 000 Namibians are studying through open and distance learning with the NOLNet Trust partner institutions alone, and if the assessment is correct, then, it is a much bigger number than any of the local conventional institutions have individually or jointly enrolled. "If this is something to go by, how much more needs to be addressed through a lack of the right methods and courses and/or even knowledge regarding the possibilities that exist," she stated. She said ODL was ideal as it operates on the principles of economy of scale and was therefore an affordable way to learn and to keep on learning. "Distance education especially in Namibia was, is, should and shall remain the key to the main door to education and thus to national development," stressed the former university lecturer and a product of ODL, and a graduate in Distance Education of the Institute of Education of the University of London, Ndjoze-Ojo. She said given the socio-political history of Namibia, whereby the majority of the Namibian people were deliberately deprived of education, distance education is the bridge. "With specific reference to the central theme of this conference, we as distance education practitioners must strive to positively influence public perception of the indispensable role of ODL in national development," she said, urging participants not to relent in using distance education as the bridge between. As projected by its theme, 'Towards Education for All: The Critical Role of Open and Distance Learning in National Development', the goal of the two-day conference is to positively influence public perception of the role of ODL in national development. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010388.html) ANTI-MUBARAK CAMPAIGN GOES TO INTERNETBaheyya is Egyptian, pillories President Hosni Mubarak and heaps scorn on his regime daily. But this fiery dissident who says aloud what others don't dare to think has no face: Baheyya is a blog. In an Egyptian presidential campaign that has failed to generate much enthusiasm, one of the hottest debates is taking place in the country's burgeoning political blogosphere. "In every normal election, people have their eyes trained on the result: who wins, who loses, and how things will change. In this election, however, we all know Hosni Mubarak is going to 'win' barring some miraculous dues ex machina," writes Baheyya (http://baheyya.blogspot.com/). She comments on a quaint picture of the "new Mubarak" sharing afternoon tea with a peasant woman in the Nile Delta during a carefully choreographed stop of his campaign last week. "Mubarak and his handlers sordid efforts to negate 24 years of his well-known aloofness and indifference to ordinary Egyptians have surpassed all decency," she says. Her identity is shrouded in mystery and the subject of much speculation among the blogging community but her diatribes have earned a cult albeit restricted following. In a country where most major newspapers are state-owned or affiliated to a party, the Internet is offering an unprecedented freedom and platform for an increasingly bold opposition to the regime. On a blog calling itself "The wordmonger", 36-year-old artist and blogger Abdo indulges in a satirical ode to "Mubarak, Prince of the believers", a title which usually refers to the Prophet Mohammed. "God must love him so much: the more we curse him, the longer his reign lasts," he remarks. Another Egyptian blogger explains he is posting his comments "so that future generations cannot accuse us of having remained silent when there was a need to speak out." Accustomed to an autocratic regime that has severely restricted freedom of expression in the past, many Egyptians in the street are still keeping a lid on their exasperation, but bloggers are now letting off steam on the Internet. "Wanderer of the big wide open" heckles his president directly: "Who are you Hosni? Are you not an Egyptian like all other Egyptians? Are you of holy ancestry?" "What if he just vanished in the haze," he fantasises. "Imagine if the same face you've seen for 24 years on television screens and newspaper front pages suddenly disappeared.." "Manal and Alaa" is a more militant blog written in both Arabic and English which lashes out at the regime's repression of opposition demonstrations by what they brand the state's "terrorist karate units". Manal Hassan and Alaa Abdel Fattah, both aged 23, are among the few bloggers who accept to reveal their identity. "This corrupt regime has reached its sell-by date and its stench has become unbearable," says Alaa, a young activist with a thick mane of long curly black hair and whose blog serves a bulletin board for announcing rallies and protests. The year 2005 has seen anti-Mubarak street protests which were unimaginable even a year ago, but most of the country's 300-odd political bloggers are anonymous. "They disguise their identities and it gives them a platform to say things they can't say in public," explains Joshua Stacker, a Cairo-based American political researcher. "If the state wanted to go after them they could, but it's only the elite who reads them," he adds. Mohammed, who runs a blog entitled "From Cairo With Love", is equally realistic on the impact of Internet dissent. "What I don't believe, is that blogs and the Internet will reform the Arab world and make the people rise up. I think it could be used as a tool for better connection and dissemination of information," he says. Amid a climate of heavy suspicion over the transparency of the upcoming poll, many bloggers see themselves as election monitors. "We are not players, we are observers," says Alaa Abdel Fattah. (SOURCE: http://195.224.230.11/english/?id=14396) IN BRIEF- Ethiopian cellco, the Ethiopia Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has revealed plans to launch an ADSL services in October. The service will be the first of its kind in the country. - Nigerian IPS Linkserve has introduced a pre-paid internet access card. The card, which comes in six options, namely: three hours Internet access cost N300; five hours at the cost of N500; 10 hours at the cost of N850; 15 hours at the cost of N1200; 20 hours at the cost of N1500 and 60 hours at the cost N2000, are currently the most affordable means of payment for dialup Internet access in the country.
WITFOR ATTRACTS 800 PARTICIPANTS TO DISCUSS HOW ICT CAN IMPROVE LIVESThe new Information Age has provided Africa with an opportunity to increase and accelerate development for the benefit of its people. Addressing a World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR) conference on Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Namibia Nahas Angula said through the utilisation of information and communication technology (ICT), the continent has been able to improve the lives of its people. Around 800 participants attended. He stated that ICTs have enabled them to participate in the global economy and in electronic commerce. In this regard, Africa should work tirelessly towards creating an enabling environment for the growth and rapid expansion of ICTs on the continent, he said. Angula said Africans must put in place policies, guidelines and strategies to effectively utilise ICT applications and services to ensure efficient decision-making, better service delivery and improvement in all government processes. With information technology, the continent should tackle key development challenges such as development of basic infrastructure and services, generate sufficient economic growth, and create employment opportunities to improve the welfare of its people. The use of ICT in all stages of education, training and human resources development should be pursued vigorously in Africa, the Prime Minister said. He called for a sound ICT policy in the education sector as it would go a long way in ensuring a roadmap for the development of ICT teaching and learning programmes for the continents institutions of learning. We should also consider establishing computer refurbishment centres in our countries in order to reduce the cost of acquiring computers for education and training purposes, Angula said, adding that would enable more schools to acquire computers so that learners can obtain computer literacy from an early age. Youth need to be trained to empower them to acquire new knowledge and create business opportunities, thereby enabling them to generate income for themselves and their families. Targeting the youth will eventually create a population which is conversant with IT, and hopefully reliant on it, so as to create the necessary market needed for IT to become an essential industry in our countries, he said. Prime Minister Angula says since the ICT revolution has the potential to leave out the population outside the mainstream of national development, there was a need for measures to be undertaken in order to bridge the digital gap between communities. The rural poor, the marginalised urban populations and the youth, will need our urgent attention. Since Africa has limited financial and technical resources, Angula said the continent should explore a phased and targeted implementation strategy for the rapid spread of ICTs on the continent. Government should lead the first phase as it publishes information on the Internet with the view to promoting transparency and democracy. The second phase should be about government initiating interaction and exchanging data with the public through various applications such as e-mail, search engines and the downloading of basic forms, the Prime Minister said. Prime Minister Angula said the collaboration between private and civil sectors in the provision of equal access and skills training in ICT applications and services would aid governments efforts in narrowing the digital divide between individuals and also between communities. Governments, private and civil society should collaborate and set up community information centres to deliver speedy, efficient and effective electronic services to the public, provide increased access to information, and to serve as outposts for knowledge dispersal, effective learning and promote information technology literacy among the population. He called for the use of ICT to meet key development goals especially those set forth in the UN Millennium Development Declaration and World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be achieved by 2015. The challenge is for all of Africa to stand up and become equal partners with the rest of the world in this IT venture, Angula said. (SOURCE: http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20050901&i=Technology_helps_Africa_improve_lives) FIRM LAUNCHES SINGLE SOURCE DATA SOFTWARE IN UGANDAConsumer Insight, a market research agency, has launched Target Group Index (TGI), a single source database on products, brand and media usage, lifestyles and attitudes across sections of consumers. Under TGI, a company can easily understand their target audience to guide their brand building. Speaking at the launch on August 25, at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, the General Manager of Consumer Insight, Mr Manwa Magona, said TGI enables one to have the power to flex their brand-building muscle with more precise, Knowledge-based marketing, advertising and sales planning. Manwa said TGI is not only the most comprehensive single source database ever, but also the most statistically significant. He said the East African version has, for instance, a sample size of 16,000. It is installed in a subscriber's computer along with Choices 3 software, which enables cross tabulation of various parts of a survey with any other part and does multivariate analysis. TGI's has a wide range of target definitions, coverage of brand consumption and penetration with and unique analysis techniques. Its data covers the widest possible range of sectors, so subscribers can take their pick or buy them all. Developed in Britain over 30 years ago, TGI is represented in over 50 countries around the globe by selected local partners. In East Africa, It is represented by Consumer Insight. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200508290138.html) NIGERIA: SYMANTEC NAMES BI-TRAXAXXENT PARTNERBi-TraxAxxent Company Limited, a leader in Information Technology solutions and services has been appointed an enterprise security partner by Symantec Corporation. This unique achievement is one in which no other company in Nigeria has. The potency of this development can best be appreciated on the background that the IT security environment has become fragmentized with people who have little or false claims to know-how coming into the market to offer this technically involving expertise. This however, is about to change. A statement by Bi-TraxAxxent Managing Director, Mrs. Bunmi Afolabi said Symantec is the global leader in information security providing a broad range of software, appliances and services designed to help individuals, small and mid-sized businesses and large enterprises secure and manage their IT infrastructure. She explained that Bi-TraxAxxent is a Veritas Certified Elite Partner and Cisco Security/VPN Certified Premier Partner for about half a decade now. The addition of Symantec data security solutions allows us to now offer our customers a complete solution for their data security and protection needs. "We are now in a position to help secure your data from Internet threats using both hardware and software solutions from Symantec. In addition, we provide data protection based on our Veritas solutions making us a solution provider in the whole gamut of Information Integrity". "These achievements reaffirm our commitment to providing quality services, first time, every time! A fact that has been noticed worldwide leading to the Business Initiative Directions (BID) International Quality crown award in the platinum category. As we all know, BID quality crown award is based on principles of the TQM, currently utilized in companies from over 100 countries. Mrs. Afolabi said that this means organizations can now rely on Bi-TraxAxxent for consulting, design, implementation and support and sales of Internet Security Solutions based on Symantec leading solutions. Symantec security solutions are ISO 9000 compliant, they ensure that you are able to protect yourself from Spyware, web based intrusion, viruses and worms and other web based information compromising activities. This means you are able to centralize control while proactively managing change - a must in this information age. Veritas backup represents the ultimate in today business in the area of data protection. It is cost effective and simple enough for the novice user to administer, yet flexible to protect large windows environments, remote office (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010016.html) NETWORK SECURITY THINK-TANK LAUNCHED IN SAA Think-tank to improve network security was launched in SA last week to conduct research and share knowledge for the benefit of all computer users. The forum was devised by T-Systems and is supported by Cisco, IBM and the universities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Bearing the unwieldy title of The South African Laboratory for Network Security Products and Services, it will conduct research and experiments by drawing on the wide range of skills and experience of those academics, service providers and technology vendors. The research and development will lead to prototypes of security products and services, although it will not develop commercial products. The results of its work will instead be made available to the benefit of the industry and country as a whole. The overall aim is to help with the development of security tools that can be used by technology vendors to improve network security in SA and Africa. Another goal is to improve the research skills of post-graduate students by involving them in hi-tech network security projects, to help develop skilled individuals who can make a better contribution to the industry. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010114.html)
ECONET BUYS S.AFRICA'S ALTECH OUT OF JOINT VENTUREEconet Wireless Group has agreed to buy South African IT firm Allied Technologies out of the companies' joint venture for $87.5 million, Altech said on Wednesday. Altech said the two companies had also agreed to settle all disputes between them by waiving any claims they had against each other, and said it would look for other acquisition opportunities in Africa and elsewhere. Shares in Altech rose as much as 4.9 percent before slipping back to trade up 2.6 percent at 44.00 rand by 0941 GMT, as shareholders breathed a sigh of relief the company's spat with Econet had been settled. Altech, which has interests in telecoms, electronics and other technology ventures, earlier this month said it had applied to wind up its joint venture with Econet or sell its stake to them for $100 million, after the two firms fell out. Altech blamed "irretrievable differences" between the two companies on different management cultures, while Econet Chief Executive Strive Masiyiwa says they fell out over a court case involving comments by an Altech executive. Altech invested $70 million on December 24 to form the Altech Econet Wireless (AEW) venture. Altech said on Wednesday it would get the $87.5 million in three tranches, with the final payment on October 29. IN BRIEF- Intelsat has revealed it will buy PanAmSat for USD3.2 billion in cash, creating the world’s largest satellite broadcaster. The pair announced the merger on Monday after receiving approval from their respective boards at the weekend. The combination will create a company able to provide competitive communications and video services to consumers and businesses. Both companies have substantial business portfolios in Africa. The move is part of an overall consolidation of the satellite sector which saw IP Planet merge with Gilat. - Egypt-based operator Orascom Telecom yesterday announced that net income for 1H05 increased 49% year on year to E£1.7 billion (US$296 million), while revenues increased 69% year on year to E£9.2 billion end-June. Proportionate subscribers reached 14.8 million with MobiNil in Egypt providing 3.29 million and Mobilink in Pakistan contributing 2.8 million total subscribers.
ZENITH BANK'S WEB SITE RATED BEST IN NIGERIAZenith Bank has been adjudged the overall winner of the web jurist award, an annual rating of bank sites in Nigeria, conducted by Phillips Consulting. The bank achieved the feat which was its second in two years, clinching first in all six categories. The bank won in aesthetics, technical, operational, e-finance, content and on the basis of being the most informed site. The organisers also commended the site for being the most stable. Overall, Zenith Bank scored 96 percent. This was an improvement on last year's performance when the bank scored 87 percent. Web Jurist in arriving at the rating, used a common combination of experienced e-business consultants and a rigorous and comprehensive rating methodology. They assessed web sites in four categories namely, user experience and accessibility, content and on-line service quality. User experience referred to the quality of the users interface from a functional and aesthetics point of view, while accessibility refered to the ease with which all types of users including those with physical or visual impairment could locate the site. The jurist also assess the quality of the sites content in terms of spelling grammar and case consistency while it also assess the transactional capability of the site as well as product quality and extent of value added services. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010463.html) IN BRIEF- A new Internet site in South Africa offers HIV singles the chance to share secrets and become a couple again. Johannesburg has the greater percentage of members on Positive Connection, the country's first online-dating service for HIV-positive singles. Ben Sassman, founder of the site, said he was "thrilled" that HIV-positive singles had taken to the concept. Sassman said he believed the non-profit site also promoted safety by encouraging singles to be honest about their status. Sassman said this month the site registered its first official love match, between a Bloemfontein politics staffer and an East London fundraiser. He said two members, "Tabita", 38, and "Thami", 38, proved the site's value when they told him this month that they were in love. - At a touch of a button, Kenyans will now be able to access information about how much of tax-payers' money is spent on their constituencies. They will be able to establish the composition of their CDF committees as well as which projects will benefit them following the launch of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) website on Monday. The website address is www.cdf.go.ke
SA'S EASYPAY AIMS TO KNOCK A HOLE IN THE MOBILE PRE-PAID CARD MARKETEasypay could revolutionise the way cellular airtime is sold by recruiting thousands of roaming entrepreneurs armed with a kit to transfer talk time instantly to end users. The entrepreneurs will buy a starter pack containing a special sim card that lets them buy discounted bulk airtime and sell it to end users via SMS. Customers can pay for as little as R12 of airtime in cash, and will instantly receive an SMS telling them they have been topped up. The voucherless top up system threatens to destroy the market for prepaid airtime cards, which are costly to produce and distribute, subject to theft and require the customer to visit a physical retail outlet. To ensure the scheme wins grassroots support, EasyPay has teamed up with the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC), which holds 17% of its parent company Prism. MIC will recruit thousands of retrenched or disabled miners as the first distributors. All they will need will be a cellphone with the special sim card, giving them a low-entry business that should grow in direct proportion to the effort they make. Roaming airtime entrepreneurs using EasyPay's technology could go from house to house, stand on a street corner, or sell to fellow passengers in a taxi, says Prism's operations director, Mike Serrao. They will be able to distribute airtime from all three operators using one cellphone, if technology issues can be resolved so one sim card can handle the different networks. EasyPay and MIC will set up a new company to train the entrepreneurs and to buy airtime from the networks. The networks give a profit margin of 10%-14% to their distributors, and EasyPay will keep only a fraction of that so the entrepreneurs can take the bulk. EasyPay first launched the voucherless top up system in a pilot with Smartcom, a cellular operator in the Philippines. "The success has been phenomenal. Smartcom does an average of 4-million recharges each day through 600000 informal vendors," says Serrao. Then it teamed up with MTN in Nigeria, and 100000 distributors signed up in the first year. MTN now plans to replicate the system in Cameroon and Swaziland as well as in SA. The new service could create 9000 jobs for every 500000 prepaid users. With at least 15-million prepaid users in SA, that could create 270000 new jobs. The scheme should be launched early next year, once EasyPay has finalised distribution deals with the operators. At the moment prepaid airtime is sold through scratch cards, ATMs and point-of-sale devices. "Scratch cards are a pain for the operators, so they want secure electronic distribution so they can phase out scratch cards altogether," says Serrao. Other companies in the airtime distribution market have asked EasyPay to allow them to use handset-based vending to expand their reach. Without that, they risk losing their business to informal vendors if the scheme is as successful as EasyPay expects. EasyPay had spent a "substantial" amount on developing the Sim card, the server technology to handle the transactions and security software to eliminate the risk of fraud. Now it is talking to a major international supplier of networking equipment to see if its technology can be built into the equipment for global sales. EasyPay already supplies prepaid airtime for point-of-sale terminals in supermarkets, and supplies the technologies to process credit card transactions and to pay utility bills at the check-out counter. (SOURCE: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509010141.html)
PEOPLEKAI WULFF, CEO OF KDN ON ITS PLANS AS A "CARRIERS' CARRIER" AND ITS INVOLVEMENT IN THE EASSY FIBRE PROJECT What is KDN’s strategy? We want to be a “carriers’ carrier. We’re a member of the Sameer Group and it believes in building infrastructure to fire up the economy. We’re not an ISP and we’re not providing minutes. We believe that if we provide infrastructure, everything else will follow. What are your expansion plans? We started as a pure public data network operator but we had no international licence. We obtained our international licence in January 2005 and also a local loop licence. With the local loop, we wanted to be “first-to-market” with Wi-Max, using Alvarion’s BreezeMax solution. It works well both in urban and remote areas. We’ve rolled out fibre in Nairobi and Mombasa. We’re in the process of laying fibre between Nairobi and Mombasa which will be completed by the first quarter of 2006. We’re likely to be ahead of Telkom Kenya. We’re also building a link to Uganda that will be completed by the third quarter of 2006. It will go as far as the border and connect with both MTN and UTL. We’re also building to Namanga in Tanzania and are interested in expanding into Tanzania to provide backbone facilities. We’re in the final stages of negotiation with a Somali operator for a link to Somalia using VSAT and microwave. We also have interests in Southern Sudan linking some VSATs there and want to grow the market. Within Kenya, we want to connect the other Kenyan centres but not necessarily on fibre but also with microwave connections. The total investment will be USD330 million. Who are your customers? Anyone who wants to buy bandwidth but we will only sell to those who have licences. What’s your current level of traffic? 75% is outbound traffic and that is 70 mbps. Inbound is less than outbound and we’re selling a maximum of 1:1. After 95% of capacity is sold, we keep the rest for redundancy. What’s the current price of a Nairobi-London link? A duplex link of 1 mbps costs USD6500 and that is managed and uncontended. Our profit margin is USD200 per mbps because it’s not our business to fill the international link. Domestic is our core business. If international was our business, we’d be competing at the wrong level. We are an MOU partner in the EASSy fibre project with a two digit dollar investment. There was a meeting in Cape Town and the consortium established that it had all the required investment. There’s 20 MOU partners, most of which are parastatals (government-owned companies). The private sector involvement is ourselves, MTN (who are the largest investor), Dalkom and a Tanzanian company. What impact do you think it will have on current pricing? It may lead to a 20% reduction in current pricing. The consortium still hasn’t sorted out its interconnection to Flag and Falcon. Djibouti may be the chosen interconnection point. We will provide backhaul for EASSy to landlocked countries. We are rolling out telephone infrastructure which will allow terminations to whoever has a licence for voice. We plan to install capacity for 2 million mixed telephone/broadband lines. Most of that capacity will be here in Kenya. Fixed lines are a good anabolic to speed up the growth of the economy. How is Telehouse doing? There were many sceptics when it first launched. It’s still there and it has 50 clients. Some have only one router, whilst others have a full cage or multiple cages. People have understood the concept of interconnecting. The Sameer Group has an interest in power supply. Will it be wanting to buy Kenya Power and Light Company (KPLC – the Government-owned power utility) to use its lines for fibre routing? It’s unlikely. The power company is a separate part of the group and is interested in power generation. Who’s the Sameer Group and who’s behind it? It’s one of the largest investment groups in East Africa. The main investor is its Chairman Mr Naushad Merali. The group contributes 3% of the GDP of the region. What’s your own background? I had an IT Company in Germany and I came to Kenya 7 years ago to run the largest tourism company here. I started with KDN in April of 2004. EVENTSOPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA ACHIEVING AFFORDABLE BANDWIDTH: A WORKSHOP ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND OPENING UP OF ICT INFRASTRUCTURE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA 26-28 October 2005, Dakar, Senegal Background Creating ICT infrastructure that is affordable and can deliver a range of different services is a key challenge for the sub-region. As with the rest of the continent, the sub-region is caught in a vicious cycle. Current prices are too high (although falling) and therefore the market will not expand rapidly. Without rapid expansion of the market it is hard to justify investment in this kind of infrastructure. This vicious cycle comes about because of a number of quite challenging policy and regulatory obstacles that are both the legacy of the existing SAT3 fibre project and more widely, the difficulties of creating inter-connections between different countries. Breaking out of this vicious cycle requires a clear vision and consensus between Governments, regulators, the private sector and civil society. Rationale The vision would have to chart a clear and implementable path on the areas of public policy, regulatory structures, infrastructure development and last mile access. It is important that stakeholders understand the impact of SAT3 on the availability of bandwidth to support their information society aspirations and that there is a consensus on the need to both influence its prices in the short term and to provide competition to it in the medium-term. This event seeks to bring all of the stakeholders together to look for ways of creating a vision for ICT infrastructure that will offer all potential users lower prices and access on fair and transparent terms. The purpose of the event is to identify those who wish to move beyond the current stalemate by pioneering new approaches. Approaches that ensure commonality and widespread usage of ICTs and adoption of same in the rural areas to spur entrepreneurial and SME activities. This would ensure sustained economic development and innovation at the edges of the network infrastructure. Platform Drawing on the work already carried out by NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission, the event will combine: information-giving plenary sessions; plenary discussion sessions and working groups that will look at four key issues: 1. An overall vision for why affordable bandwidth is needed. 2. User requirements and reaching less well-serviced areas (terms of access to the network; pricing; and innovative low-cost extensions to the backbone). 3. Policy and regulatory environment required with suggested new pioneering approaches. 4. Investment in the network (transparency; who gets to invest and access for future investors) To tackle these issues, participants will break down into small working groups that will meet in break-out sessions that will draft short, written contributions that can then be made into a short roadmap document. Audience ∑ The event would have several key audiences: ∑ NGOs/civil society organisations involved with connectivity. ∑ Public Policy-makers ∑ ISPs and Telecoms Operators ∑ Regulators ∑ Ministers and Communication and Information Technology Topics The workshop will address but not limited to these topics: ∑ Collective vision to create affordable infrastructure ∑ Overview of existing infrastructure and projects proposed ∑ Obstacles to achieving affordable infrastructure and the consequences of not having it ICT infrastructure development – Meeting the needs of users ∑ SAT 3 in Focus; structural build-out, financing, consortium ownership and access ∑ New models for investment in infrastructure – creating a wider range of returns The event is by invitation only but if you would like to be invited, write for further details to:
Email: ictprogram@osiwa.org ACT 2005: ICT PARTNERSHIPS FOR GROWTH (JOHANNESBURG) To get a programme brochure with speakers:
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