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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 280 Knysna - Africa's first municipal wi-fi broadband network offers VOIP and internet accessThis week saw BMI-Techknowledge organise an event called Digital Cities in Johannesburg to look at the potential for municipal networks. Several South African municipalities are interested in installing metropolitan area networks, most notably Tshwane and Johannesburg. Tshwane last week announced three proof of concept projects with Storm. The impetus has been an acknowledgement that a connected city is likely to be more competitive and attractive to its businesses and residents. The role of the municipality is seen as being one of enabler with often a private sector contractor actually delivering the service. This may be the start of something big if municipalities outside of South Africa can demonstrate that they have both the ambition and the competence to carry through private-public developments of this kind. And it may not just be the big cities. The first practical example is a South African seaside town called Knysna just over 50,000 inhabitants. Russell Southwood spoke to David Jarvis of UniNet, the ISP that is delivering the service. The whole process started with what Jarvis describes as a “progressive IT Manager in the municipality who had gone over to open source and was already looking at wireless solutions. A company called RedLinx introduced to him and his Finance Manager believed that the local authority could look after communications for the region.” And as Mayor Dr Joy Cole said in announcing the service:”We firmly believe that this town can only grow and achieve success if we create an environment where we all grow together and have access to technology through which we can have information to grow business, empower ourselves and ultimately become proud citizens of Knysna with one vision.” Phase one was completed on 14 October and connected all municipal sites. It delivers 18 mbps to the each premises using Wi-Fi equipment operating on the 2.4 ghz spectrum. It has created a VPN that allows Council staff to access the Internet and operate municipal management systems across different sites whilst looking at the same information. Phase two will be completed shortly on 14 November and will open out the service to include VoIP, pre-paid internet and community internet centres. The implementation is presented as a municipal service and is promoted through Council leaflets to its ratepayers. The base package is free. All residents will have access to toll-free wireless payphone terminals that will allow them to connect directly to municipal offices. Residents within the coverage area are able to connect to 24-hour, always-on internet at a fixed monthly fee with no limits on downloads through fixed wireless equipment. UniNet claims to have reduced the cost of broadband internet by 50%. Its UniNet Home Packages vary from R250-R799 per month depending on the capacity chosen. No long-term contracts are required. Installation cost R1200 and activation R1250 and the installation amount is refundable if the service is terminated within 6 months. Predictably incumbent Telkom issued an outraged press release when the service was launched and this has played directly into UniNet’s hands, serving to publicise the service as the “plucky under-dog”. One commentator described it as Telkom’s “Waterloo”. Are others interested? Jarvis said:”There’s been a lot of demand from other municipalities. Also from regional services like Health.” But how does UniNet respond to the accusation that its municipal franchise cuts out other ISPs?:”Telkom has a similar problem. In future, we’d like to be an infrastructure provider but the business is currently an ISP. We would like to empower local ISPs to provide services over the network. And there are currently five reasonably sized ISPs.” STORM AND CITY OF TSHWANE TO CARRY OUT PROOF OF CONCEPT PROJECTSThe City of Tshwane has partnered with Storm to conduct three proof ofconcept projects to demonstrate that Tshwane can use its currentinfrastructure to bring down the costs of telephone and high-speed Internetaccess services for its citizens. After investing millions on its infrastructure, the City of Tshwane now has a robust metropolitan optic fibre network that has enough capacity to offer broadband connectivity within the city. While there is no legislation that stands in the way of the City of Tshwane offering services right now, regulations do prevent the municipality from offering these services directly to end-users. Storm will access this spare capacity and on-sell broadband voice and data connectivity within Tshwane. Dave Gale, business development director at Storm says, "Essentially Storm takes care of two elements of the project. Firstly, we provide the back-end connectivity and interconnection with other networks and secondly, we provide services such as Internet connectivity and voice calls over the various technologies Tshwane are deploying, such as Powerline Communications (PLC), Wireless and Fibre Optic/ Ethernet to end users in Tshwane. The pilot is being conducted in three simultaneous projects. Storm¹s initial focus is to complete the beta-tests using Fibre Optic/ Ethernet based connectivity and get some permanent sites up and running. Thereafter, Storm will move to complete the PLC best testing and then finally, finalise the Wi-Fi implementations. The fibre loops provide the backbone. Even if users connect using PLC or Wi-Fi for the "last mile", the voice or data traffic will ultimately travel along the fibre backbone network to Storm¹s node before interconnecting with other networks and spreading beyond the Tshwane region. The first pilot will be completed by early 2006 and from the progress we have made so far, it is looking really positive, says Gale. The PLC and WiFi technologies present some fundamental logistical questions as this will be the first time that Storm will offer services using these media. But, by the time City of Tshwane and Storm have proved the concept and are ready to launch a commercial service, these questions will have been answered. "The long term objective of this project has always been to drive telecommunications costs within Tshwane down to levels that the Government expects. This will achieve two goals, firstly, it will catalyse economic growth in the city and secondly, it will enable a greater sector of the community to access telephony and Internet services," concludes Gale.
ECONET NIGERIA WINS LEGAL BATTLE ON LOCAL ARBITRATIONThe Federal High Court of Nigeria has ruled that it has the jurisdiction to appoint arbitrators in the ongoing dispute between shareholders of Vee Mobile, formerly Econet Wireless Nigeria. In making its ruling, the court dismissed an application brought by 14 of the 22 shareholders who claimed that the court did not have jurisdiction and should refer the matter to the State High Courts. Nigeria is a Federation and has both Federal and State courts like the United States. The legal battle over which court had jurisdiction emerged after arbitrators appointed by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) had ruled after hearing the case that their appointment should have been made by a Nigerian court and not the ICA. The issue of jurisdiction has therefore been at the center of the arbitration battle which began after South African operator Vodacom offered to acquire 51% of Nigeria's second largest cellular operator, even though Econet, which is an existing shareholder in the company, wanted to exercise pre-emptive rights and buy the shares offered to Vodacom. Some of the local shareholders in the company refused to allow Econet to exercise pre-emption, arguing that such a provision was not in the shareholders agreement. Econet then invoked the provision for dispute resolution which called for arbitration under the rules of the United Nations Center for International Arbitration (UNCITRAL). The case has now been adjourned to 23rd November when the court will hear arguments from Econet's lawyers that the original team of international arbitrators that had been appointed by the ICA should be re-appointed so as to expedite the conclusion of the arbitration which started two years ago. Econet Wireless founder and Chief Executive Strive Masiyiwa called the Federal High Court ruling "a major break through". He said the issue of jurisdiction had been the key stumbling block in the legal battle from the beginning. "Now we can get the merits of our case resolved," he said. (SOURCE: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14654.php) LESOTHO REGULATOR LTA SET TO BECOME PART OF THE EASSY FIBRE CONSORTIUMWhen incumbent Telkom Lesotho said it would not be investing in the EASSy fibre consortium, the regulator of this land-locked country, realising the strategic importance of cheaper international bandwidth, stepped in and offered to represent Lesotho carriers. It is hoping for support from its own Government to invest US$2.5 million and the EASSy consortium members agreed that it would be a special “exception” to enable it to play this role as a regulator. All other consortium members are operators. However, it is likely that the Government would seek donor support to make the investment. If it raises the funds and makes its financial contribution, it would sell bandwidth to all of the country’s carriers. CELTEL TANZANIA TO LAY OFF 1,242 WORKERS WITH PACKAGE PAID BY TTCLCeltel Tanzania is to retrench 1,242 workers this week, four months after seperating from Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL). Those to be retrenched from a 3,480 workforce will be paid a total of Tsh18.029 billion ($18.029 million), which will come from TTCL itself. The move comes after the Industrial Court of Tanzania revised the retrenchment package and issued a higher award on October 13, paving the way for implementation of the long awaited job cut that was put on hold two years ago due to a civil suit by TTCL workers. The agreement, dated June 14, was signed on August 18 by the company's management, Telecommunications Workers Union of Tanzania (TEWUTA), and the Communications and Transport Workers Union of Tanzania (COTWU) after a two-day meeting held in Morogoro in August. However, the document - Addendum No.1 - has come into force after the employer and the trade unions had filed an application in form of settlement deed before the High Court to withdraw "and vacate all orders issued by the court in the proceedings or under any cases pending in the High Court." The new award is said to have a better package, which is three times higher than what the TTCL board had proposed to pay about 800 workers in 2003. Although the number of employees who will be sent home this time has increased by nearly half, the leadership of the workers' union is comfortable with the increased overall package. Only Tsh5.3 billion ($5 million) was earmarked to pay redundant workers in 2003. The Communications Workers' Union leaders, secretary general Junus Ndaro, and deputy secretary and legal counsel Chrysostom Agapiti, told The EastAfrican last week that the significant change in the latest agreement is reflected in the number of months per year which the employee will be paid as a handshake. In 2003, the TTCL management had proposed to retrench 2,700 workers. "We expect a good number of workers to volunteer for the retrenchment, because some of them have become redundant because of the new technology," Mr Ndaro said, adding that forms for voluntary retirement were being issued from last week. The Telecommunications workers' union leaders said, at its lowest, whereby the former agreement between the two unions' management had agreed to pay 457 workers in levels TG1, TG2 and TS1 half a month salary for every year worked, under the current agreement, staff of the same levels would be paid 2.5 months salary for every year they had worked. The largest group - comprising of 624 workers - of levels TSP2, TS2, TP2 and TSP3 had their package index raised to two months' payment for every year worked, up from the 0.8 months proposed in 2003. Staff under levels TM1, TP3, TSP4, TM2, TP4, TSP5, TM3 and TP5 totalling 161 will be paid between 1.2 and 1.5 months' salary for every year worked with TTCL. Mr Agapiti said the first retrenchment bid was blocked through the court because the party which purported to have represented workers in discussions prior to the exercise - COTWU - which formed a central joint industrial council, had assumed powers beyond its mandate, and failed to consider the workers' plight. Because the workers from the communication sector were not consulted, the proposed emoluments and general redundancy terms and conditions were poor. He said TEWUTA was then formed and was registered on November 24, 2004, when it sought to resolve the dispute by calling for a fair participation of all branches to the retrenchment discussion. Industrial experts say the TTCL dispute and its resolution is the first of its kind in Tanzania, where workers have successfully suspended a retrenchment bid to demand improved benefits. Currently, TTCL - whose monopoly in fixed line operations ended in February -provides voice and data communication services to about 150,000 customers, the bulk of it being in big towns. Earlier projections had targeted to have up to 800,000 customers. (SOURCE: The East African) BLURRED LINE BETWEEN FIXED MOBILE AND MOBILE ON TELKOM LESOTHO'S LEKOMO FLEXI SPARKS ROW WITH VODACOMThe thin line between fixed mobile and mobile in Lesotho serves to highlight the increasing absurdity of technologically-driven service definitions. Incumbent Telkom Lesotho launched a fixed mobile service which works with the network of its mobile subsidiary, Econet Ezi-Cel. But as Vodacom Lesotho’s Executive Head of Commercial told us:”Lekomo Flexi is not currently compliant and therefore it’s illegal. There are several grounds of non-compliance, including its mobility and the interconnect price. If we were able to offer interconnect at the same rate (as TL) we would. The playing field has to be level.” Telkom Lesotho has responded by promising to lock the handset to the Econet network and putting in a fix that will limit the handset to one mobile cell only. Lekomo Flexi rates are R57 a minute peak and R44 a minute which is slightly more expensive than its fixed line offer. It has sold the service to 10,000 people so far and expects to sell another 22,000. Thus far Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) has been R25 a month. It is a CDMA-based product that can work with a GSM network Whilst legal right on Vodacom’s side, it is the first to admit that the two technologies will increasingly become indistinguishable. So imagine if you will a future in which the mobile operators get some real competition from others operating fixed/mobile hybrid offers. BOTSWANA: YOUNG MAKING A LIVING SELLING AIRTIMEIn busy streets and malls, a new breed of vendors loudly announces the prices of its single commodity. The vendors carry the product sticking out of a 'purpose built' side of a carton box. The vendors of mobile phone airtime are increasingly becoming a very distinct and conspicuous group of traders around town. Their aggression and persistence is perhaps only second to Combi men and bus touts. A growing number of young people like Mpho Moitaodi are joining the trade. In 2003, he was a fresh-faced 17-year-old. He was restive but with no income. When he joined the trade, a good number of the players were graduates of the street, seeking to augment their earnings from other businesses like car washing and guarding in the car parking lots. When he ordered his first bundle of airtime at a Gaborone West point of sale, he had overcome the stigma that comes with the trade. By sunset, he had discovered an untapped potential. "There is money in the selling of airtime. The response is overwhelming. People, particularly elders are impressed by what I do," he says and adds that he is living his dream. "I have always wanted to be a businessman, I did business studies at school." With great care, he would look at every passer-by and attempt to strike a conversation. Some are not interested. He is not discouraged. Moitaodi lives at the low-income SHHA houses in Gaborone West. He sells airtime at Maruapula shopping complex. "I earn a living out of this business," he confesses as his eyes travelled upwards to where a group of people stood. His eyes stare intently at a man who walks towards him. "I can afford to pay rent and send some of my profits to mum at Kookane." Unlike most people who start business just to escape from poverty, Moitaodi says he has always been business minded. He has been inspired by his peers to venture into the airtime business. He has a burning desire to go back to school. This also inspires him. He hopes he will make money to go for further education. "I really want to go to school," he says adding that he will never abandon his airtime business. He is full of life. His busy day starts in the morning. He goes to queue at an airtime point of sale in Gaborone West before he heads to Maruapula shopping complex. "Everyone is my client here," he announces, perhaps to gain more inspiration as some people look down upon him with disdain. He has managed to make enough money to buy a pay phone. He says his turnover on a good day can be P1,400. "I must tell you that I never go home with less than P900," he says proudly and adds that he enjoys his business to a level that he even dreams about it at night. He is thrilled. "I can afford to save at least P200 per day. I like my business," he says. (SOURCE: The Reporter) TELKOM LESOTHO CEO ESTIMATES GREY MARKET VOIP IS 17% OF TOTAL MARKETEven in a small voice market like Lesotho, something like 500,000 minutes a month are sold via the grey market. The traffic is driven by the large diaspora populations of the country including the Indians, the Chinese, South Africans and indeed Basutos themselves, who frequently have family who move to neighbouring South Africa. Telkom Lesotho’s own minutes amount to 2.5 million a month. At least one company has one or two leased lines that it is using with a PABX. And there is a pre-paid calling card operation that reckons that it could easily land up to 800,000 minutes a month. The cause of this drift? Calls to South Africa cost R2.15 a minute peak rate and R1.50 off-peak. But wait for it…calls to the rest of the world cost a staggering R13.90 a minute peak and R9.73 off peak. TELECOM EGYPT CHOOSES ERICSSON AND CISCO TO TAKE ITS NETWORK IPTelecom Egypt has chosen Ericsson in cooperation with Cisco Systems, as one of the suppliers to upgrade its fixed network to a carrier-class, Internet Protocol (IP) Next Generation Network. According to the contract, Ericsson will upgrade parts of Telecom Egypt's core network of circuit-switched technology, based on AXE-10 exchanges, with a future-proof, IP Telephony Softswitch solution. The solution, based on the combination of Ericsson's Telephony Softswitch solution and Cisco's 12000 Series routers, allows Telecom Egypt to migrate its Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) to a Voice over IP network with minimal risk while building a platform for new IP-based services. Ericsson will provide end-to-end integration of the Ericsson-Cisco solution and related support services. With this contract, Telecom Egypt is taking the first step towards establishing a single IP core network, including interoperability between softswitches and the consolidation of carrier-class services. LESOTHO TO LIBERALISE IN 2006 - MANAGED COMPETITION APPROACHThe Lesotho incumbent’s monopoly ends on 8 February 2006, barely three months away. However immediate change looks unlikely as the regulator favours a cautious approach. As Lesotho Telecommunications Agency’s Monehela Posholi told us:”We’re still going for the managed competition approach. We don’t believe that the ‘big bang’ approach is in the interests of the sector.” It hopes that BTL (see New Lesotho ISP Datacomm will challenge competitors on price in Internet News below) which has had several unsuccessful starts will offer international connectivity and voice via satellite post exclusivity. When it was originally given a licence, the intention was that it would supply bandwidth to ISPs using satellite and carry broadcast signals but post-monopoly there will be no technology restrictions. And what about the legalisation of VoIP. According to Poshodi, It’s a new but coming technology and everybody is looking to it to answer consumers’ concerns about call costs. It would be naïve for Lesotho not to embrace it but we have to do it in such a manner that we don’t cripple other operators. The need for network development is a strong factor and we don’t want any ‘cherry picking’.” IN BRIEF- The Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) organized a four-day seminar aimed at simplifying the existing communication regulations to attract various telecommunication operators to the country. Dr. Faustin Nteziryayo (pictured above), the RURA Director General stressed the importance of revising the existing regulations to attract more potential investors in the communication sector. "This seminar is very timely. It is very important because when there are many operators in the field, there is need to create a conducive environment to enable the operators, give their consumers the desired satisfaction," Nteziryayo said. He added that interconnection systems are really important to make sure that there is fair competition in the sector. "For our case, we have hired a competent consultancy firm, TERRACOM and Rwandacel, to study the tariff disparities in tariffs. It is from this study that we shall fix fair tariffs between the two companies and set tariffs for future investors in order to solve this problem of the telecommunication tariffs," he said."This study will also help to eradicate tendencies by the current operators to obstruct new operators ready to enter into the sector. If we set up a regulatory framework for interconnection, it will allow and permit new companies to work alongside the existing companies," Nteziryayo added. TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Safaricom, Kenya's biggest mobile phone firm, sees its subscriber base rising to four or five million by 2007. The company, 40 per cent owned by British mobile operator Vodafone and the rest by state-run Telkom Kenya, currently has just over three million subscribers in Kenya, east Africa's largest economy. Safaricom's target when it began trading in 2000 was three million subscribers by 2020, but by October 2004 it already had 2 million out of a total Kenyan population of 32 million. Safaricom recorded a 42.7 percent rise in annual revenues to 26.91 billion shillings ($365.6 million) in the year ended March 31. Net profit surged 69.8 per cent to 5.86 billion. Vodafone, the world's largest operator by revenue, has offered $100 million to raise its 40 per cent stake in Safaricom to 51 per cent, saying a controlling stake would make it easier for the company to borrow to fund further expansion. "The only comment I can make is that to date the government has not come back to respond to this offer," Joseph said. The Safaricom CEO also said the company had no plans for a local share listing and that its two shareholders had not raised the matter. "There has been no discussion of this amongst the shareholders. It would be a wonderful thing of course, but it's not a management decision," he said. - Liberia's mobile phone companies are extending services to residents in the 16 counties of Liberia. Lone Star Cell and Libercell now lead the extension of mobile phone services, even though CellCom and Comium are also in the business. Besides providing services in Montserrado County, Lone Star Cell and Libercell are providing mobile phone communication in Maryland, Grand Gedeh, Nimba, Bong, Lofa, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount Counties respectively. This mobile phone development in the counties can help rural farmers in knowing the market price for agriculture produce. Furthermore, the service extension in rural Liberia can lead to the rural communities and Monrovia doing more business. In fact, the mobile phone extension may be a welcome development for the return of more rural residents to their towns and villages after spending some years in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, which have sprawled around Monrovia and its environs because of the 14 years civil upheaval. - In Nigeria CitiServe Recharge, the telephone airtime distribution platform set up by Vigeo Holdings, now has a geographic spread that covers all 36 states of the federation. The coverage was influenced by the new partnership between CitiServe and three banks. In a statement issued by Mr. Akin Osuntoki, Executive Director, Vigeo Holdings, confirmed that the 'Orange Box', which is the CitiServe Recharge retail equipment, can now be loaded in the banks as well as other loading centres across the country. "CitiServe Network Partners (who own and operate Orange Boxes that print out airtime vouchers with PIN codes) now have easy access to loading points in all the 36 states of the federation, especially in the branches of our partner banks; namely Guaranty Trust, Wema and Chartered Banks as well as our loading centres around the country," he said. Osuntoki further explained that with its national business spread, CitiServe is presently perfecting the deployment of its network facilities to cover all local government areas within the country. He added that since the use of recharge cards is already being trailed by complaints of manufacturing faults, spurious pricing and artificial scarcity, the Orange Box is designed to remove such problems. "Right now we are in 36 states and have about 64 loading centres. But by the end of next year, we would have established offices and loading centres in the 720 local government areas across the country in cooperation with our partner-banks.
NEW LESOTHO ISP DATACOMM WILL CHALLENGE COMPETITORS ON PRICELesotho ISP Datacomm was only launched three weeks ago but it has already attracted 25 dial-up subscribers and four corporate clients. This may not sound a lot but in a small market, it’s clearly a good start. It offers dial-up subscription rates that are 40% of the current market price. A 56k monthly dial-subscription from Datacomm costs R65 a month against the R80-160 a month charged by others. How is this possible? According to Datacomm’s Mohato Seleke:”We believe this to be a fair price and it reflects our cost base.” Cost base is really the only way of changing price as all ISPs have to obtain their bandwidth from incumbent Telkom Lesotho which has a monopoly on international connectivity until February 2006. Currently iLesotho is buying 1 meg at around R2200 a month excluding line rental but as one of the largest ISPs it clearly gets a volume discount. Telkom Lesotho (currently owned by Eskom) is connected to its neighbour South Africa by fibre with Telkom South Africa. But it has chosen to make extensive use of satellite for international connectivity on what can only be price grounds. The local monopoly has to deal with a South African monopoly supplier. But things may change when the SNO is set up in South Africa as it also fibre. Local ISPs are sceptical that the end of the incumbent’s monopoly will produce change. Obviously ISPs will be allowed to shop around for alternatives but because it is a small market, it’s not clear who these alternative providers will be. BTL was set up by the former head of the regulatory agency with British and South African investment and was give a data providers licence. However, its existence is being challenged legally by the incumbent and it is still in the process of trying to secure an agreement with Telkom South Africa to enable it to carry traffic out of the country. Industry insiders say that between them the four existing ISPs have around 3-4,000 dial-up subscribers. The larger players are: Leo (1000); Comnet’s iLesotho (700-1000); Adelfang (500) and incumbent Telkom Lesotho (500). ILesotho probably has the largest number of leased lines, mainly from Government ministries as Government is one of the country’s largest customers. 95%+ of all internet demand is in the capital Maseru which is in the country’s populous Western lowlands. The rest of the country is the sparsely populated, mountain areas in the eastern side of the country. With liberalisation in prospect, Datacomm is considering offering VoIP service. As Seleke told us:”International calls are very expensive and we’re thinking about how we can add value for our customers. VoIP will have a dramatic impact on costs. We will have to see which of the two tier one providers (Telkom Lesotho and BTL) will support the development of VoIP.” SOUTH AFRICA: INTERNET BANKING OPERATION 20TWENTY ON THE BRINK AGAINStandard Chartered Bank has decided to pull out of the local online banking sector, meaning the eventual death of 20Twenty, the local Internet bank that survived the demise of its original parent. The local subsidiary of the British-owned global banking group originally bought 20Twenty two years ago for about R10 million from the curators of the defunct Saambou bank that went belly up 18 months before that. However, a loyal customer base, representing about 40 000 account-holders, actively supported the retention of 20Twenty, despite it only having one product at the time. The bank was seen as an alternative to the staid major commercial banks. “This is a very bad move by Standard Chartered. They will lose a lot of goodwill in the market. Many of these account-holders were extremely young and loyal, and they represent the decision-makers of tomorrow,” says Alan Levin, chairman of the Internet Society of SA and 20Twenty account-holder. Standard Chartered SA corporate affairs manager Lauren Callie says 20Twenty ceased to exist as a separate operating entity earlier this year and had been absorbed into the bank's consumer division. “We took a review of our operations here and have come to the decision to play to our strengths. In this case it means the mortgage market. For instance, Standard Chartered is the largest mortgage lender in Asia (not counting Japan),” she says. Callie says one of the options is to sell the online service to another financial services firm. She says about 100 staff will be affected and will be given the option of severance packages above the statutory requirements, or possible redeployment locally and abroad. “We really appreciate the loyalty of our customer base and we will let them know as soon as possible about the outcome,” she says. (SOURCE: http://www.itweb.co.za) TELKOM KENYA LAUNCHES ITS OWN INTERNET SUBSIDIARYJambo Telkom, a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya, has announced its entry into the market as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The company will compete with other ISPs in offering Internet services to end-users. Telkom Kenya Managing Director Sammy Kirui said his company had invested over US$2 million in the subsidiary. "The launch of Jambo Telkom by Telkom Kenya as a separate entity is to differentiate Telkom Kenya from the traditional services it offers", said Kirui. Information and Communication Permanent Secretary James Rege said the entry of Jambo Telkom in the market would stimulate competition in the ISP industry. Jambo Telkom's General Manager Hellen Kinoti said individuals and business wishing to use the services of the company will only need to have a Telkom Kenya landline, a computer and a modem to hook on the Internet. She said charges would be based on normal local call rates.Jambo Telkom will initially retail three Internet services - Jambo Dial Up, Jambo ADSL and Jambo Mail. "You access Jambo Dial up by dialing 9444, then enter your username and password. All calls will be charged at local call rates," said Kinoti. (source: The East African Standard) NEW SIERRE LEONE ISP LIME LINE WILL OFFER A BROADBAND SERVICE AND VOIPA new ISP Lime Line will start in early November in Sierre Leone, according to Country Director Martin Small in a press conference last Monday. It wants to become the fastest and cheapest ISP in the country. Small, an ex-British military officer says he is very confident in the business atmosphere in the country after doing extensive feasibility studies. The Country Director says Lime Line is a revolutionary Internet service that offers access at speeds up to two megabits per second. "These speeds are guaranteed," he stresses. Small says the services would be provided at a very small monthly cost after signing up and paying the initial service charge.The Country Director says when once one has placed in an order, an engineer is given the task to visit the client's premises within two days and the installation takes not more than an hour. Lime Line offers two levels of services: Lime Express (1MB download/512kb upload) that costs $ 195 or equivalent in Leones per month; and Lime Superfast (2MB download/1mb upload), which costs $295 per month. "All payments are in advance and we give discounts of 15% if you pay upfront," Small states. The Country Director assured that there is no charge for the subscriber unit as the company supplies one modem per subscription, which remains the property of Lime Line. Asked what other services Lime Line offers, Small says they would also be offering ultra low cost telephone calls that gives access to international calls to USA and Europe. "The software is free and you just pay for the calls at just a few US cents," Small says. (SOURCE: Concord Times) IN BRIEF- Telkom Lesotho offers a wireless “broadband” service where customers can get a contended (probably at least 60:1) 64K download speed from between R2400-2800 a month. ISPs buy the same service from the incumbent for R1800 a month. The wi-fi equipment costs the user R5,800. The service is not stable and has been the subject of constant complaints but does not appear to be improving. The independent ISPs seem to have stopped selling it. There are probably around 100 unlucky subscribers, 60-70 of which are with Telkom Lesotho. - Standard Bank and Microsoft SA have partnered to promote online safety and protect the bank's customers from potential security threats such as Internet-based worms and viruses, denial-of-service attacks and malicious spy ware. From November, Standard Bank customers will be able to authenticate their Microsoft software through a link on the Standard Bank Web site that will validate users’ software as genuine or not. “If you are using software that is not genuine – even if you are not aware of it – you are at much greater risk for malicious code such as worms, viruses or spy ware,” says Herman Singh, director: technology engineering at Standard Bank. “These users have no warranty protection, upgrade options, or access to technical support that comes with using genuine software.” In the event of unlawful software being detected via the site, Microsoft will provide options and facilities for customers to legalise their software. In addition, customers will also be able to download the most recent software updates (also known as patches) by accessing the Microsoft Web site through the link provided on the Standard Bank Web site.
SOUTH AFRICA FINES ITS FIRST SOFTWARE PIRATEA Ukrainian sailor convicted of pirating computer programs is the first person to be convicted of software piracy in South Africa. Andrei Goncharko, 48, who was fined R5 000 and given six months' imprisonment suspended for five years, may apply for leave to appeal against his sentence in the Cape Town Regional Court tomorrow. Passing judgment yesterday, magistrate Jan van Zyl said he was indebted to State prosecutor Conrad Heydenrych and defence advocate Christo Bischoff for the manner in which they had handled the "unprecedented" copyright infringement criminal case. Goncharko, who had pleaded not guilty to a charge of contravening the Copyright Act, was arrested in 2001 after making copies of Microsoft software in his Sea Point flat. Two witnesses testified that he charged them between R150 and R200 for programs. Goncharko had argued that he knew nothing about the Copyright Act and had merely charged clients for the time, the CD and internet services. (SOURCE: Cape Argus) AFRICAN DEVELOPERS BUILD PHARMACY MANAGEMENT TOOLAfrican free software developers have released early versions of a free hospital pharmacy management system. The developers that initiated the project were part of a three week-long developer workshop at the University of the Western Cape(UWC) recently. Free Software Innovation Unit(FSIU) manager Paul Scott says the idea to develop the system came from a request at a previous workshop held at the university. Scott says Mohammed Sonday, chief pharmacist at the GF Jooste Healthcare Project, approached the FSIU at UWC in September last year to ask if the FSIU could create a system to replace the outdated Microsoft Access system that they were using to run their pharmacy operations. The project was scoped and specifications designed during the workshop, and the software was developed by the workshop participants. Scott says the software is almost complete, with only a few things remaining to be done. The development of KHospPharm is part of the Kinky application framework being actively developed by developers at UWC. The completed software will be available for download from the AVOIR website at http://avoir.uwc.ac.za/ as soon as it has been tested. (SOURCE: http://avoir.uwc.ac.za) LINUX TRAINING HITS THE ROAD TO REACH SMALL TOWNSLinux Holdings is planning to take open source training to smaller towns in South Africa and even beyond the country's borders with its "Academy on Wheels". Instead of setting up training academies in small towns, Linux Holdings have decided to take its existing academy to towns around the country. Transport and accommodation costs are often prohibitive for small town students who have to travel to a training centre, says Linux Holdings MD, Kin Le Roux. "We believe bringing the training to the student will not just save the student time and money but also give the student a reason why he or she should get Linux trained right now," he says. Le Roux says starting a training academy in a small town does not make business sense. "Setting up a whole training academy is quite expensive. You need to train quite a few students each month to keep the academy profitable. Small towns just do not have enough [prospective] customers to keep the academies profitable," says Le Roux. "Although Linux training is taking off it still is not as big a market as other IT training," he adds. So Linux Holdings packs its computer equipment and takes its trainers on the road, hitting small towns that are otherwise left in the cold with regards to open source training. The courses offered on the road trip will include Linux GUI and Linux essentials courses for intermediate users. Advanced Linux command line courses, based on LPI certification, can also be arranged on road trips, says Le Roux. Linux Holdings plans to offer courses in Nelspruit next, with Swaziland and possibly Lesotho also on the roadmap. (SOURCE: http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=676) INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO HELP LAUNCH PAN-AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE NETWORK PROJECTIn a move to connect 53 African countries, the government of India took the initiative of providing the African Union with Information technology (IT) facilities, the Embassy of India in Ethiopia announced. This initiative was first announced during Indian President's address to the PAN-African Parliament in South Africa on 16th September, 2004, during which he expressed India's willingness to undertake the electronic and knowledge connectivity mission for connecting the 53 African countries. From Oct. 25-29, a 6-member AU delegation led by Dr. Bernard Zoba, Commissioner of the African Union visited India following which a Memorandum of Association was signed between India and the AU. "At the imitative of the President of India" said a press release issued from the Prime Minister's office October 26, 2005, New Delhi, "the government of India is taking up a project to bridge the digital tele-education and tele-medicine, across 53 member countries of the African Union." To be called The Pan African Network Project (PANP), this initiative will enable India "to share its expertise in the diverse areas of information and satellite technology, education and health care and demonstrate the benefit of tele-education and tele-medicine to the people of Africa," the press release said. The PANP will also put in place a communications network that will provide state-of-the art communication facilities and connectivity to all Heads of Stated/Government, in the African Union, including video-conferencing facilities, according to the press release. IN BRIEF- President Olusegun Obasanjo directed two federal ministries, - Education and Finance as well as State House to create full-fledged information technology (IT) departments/units within the next three months. He also mandated the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to assist the establishments in setting up the IT units which would serve as a pilot scheme. Receiving the report of the inter-ministerial committee of the Nigeria Software Development Initiative (NSDI) at the State House, Abuja, he said creating awareness about available Nigerian software products was very crucial. He also assured that government would do everything necessary to encourage the development and patronage of indigenous software. - In Uganda tobacco farmers in Arua, Koboko and Yumbe have embraced agricultural technology three months after British American Tobacco (BATU) adopted the Central Purchasing Points (CPP) for rural farmers. The computerised registry and automatic payment system is increasing farmers' incomes and efficiency, and assuring global importers of quality products. With the old buying system, BATU used to collect tobacco from 152 markets in West Nile, Middle North (Lango sub-region), Bunyoro, Mubende, and Rukungiri. This led to many inefficiencies like depreciation of quality because of the logistics involved and many levels of handling the crop. This year, BATU launched the CPP, creating only three regional buying points out of the original 152.
SOUTH AFRICA: VODAFONE PAYS R16BN TO ACQUIRE VENFIN STAKE IN VODACOMIn the second-largest foreign direct investment in post-apartheid SA, British-based cellular group Vodafone has made an offer to buy Venfin's 15% stake in Vodacom for R15,6bn to boost its holding in the company to 50%. The offer comes just months after another British group, Barclays Bank, bought a majority stake in SA's biggest retail bank, Absa, for nearly R28bn. But it is the lengths Vodafone is prepared to go to acquire the 15% that fascinated most analysts. Yesterday it announced it intended to acquire the entire issued shareholding in Venfin -- owners of a 25% stake in Alexander Forbes, 33% in e.tv and convertible bonds in Dimension Data -- among others. Vodafone said it was in negotiations with Venfin controlling shareholder, Rembrandt Trust Limited, about the acquisition of 35,5-million "B" ordinary shares at R47,25 a share. Thereafter, the UK cellular operator intends making an offer to remaining shareholders to acquire their ordinary shares at the same amount. The offer represents a 41% premium to the 30-day average trading price. Fifty-five percent of Venfin shareholders have agreed to the offer. If the offer is accepted, the British cellular operator intends shedding all Venfin's interests, including the stakes in Alexander Forbes, e.tv and Dimension Data to a new company, Newco, for R5bn, although the assets are worth about R7,1bn, according to analysts at Imara SP Reid. The analysts said Vodacom was the prize asset for Venfin, which will end up with a portfolio dominated by cash. Vodafone owns a 35% stake in Vodacom. Telkom owns the remaining 50%.With the purchase, Vodacom could be poised for massive growth in the coming months thanks to a deal to end a restrictive shareholding structure that thwarted its growth ambitions.Once Vodafone owns 50% of Vodacom, the British operator will have a vested interest in giving Vodacom a free rein to expand its operations and earn fresh revenue to boost shareholder value. Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig has long complained about the stifling shareholding and a related agreement that bans Vodacom from entering any country north of the equator. That agreement was demanded by Vodafone, so it could tackle Europe, the Middle East and Africa without competing against its partly owned offshoot.However, no country below the equator offers any significant growth opportunity, and Vodacom has watched in frustration as its rival MTN romped ahead by entering far more lucrative countries. News of the potential deal sent Venfin's shares soaring as much as 28% yesterday. Knott-Craig has often said the Middle East holds far more potential than African countries, where consumers are poor and geographically dispersed. Vodacom managed to win permission from Vodafone to try to enter Nigeria, but was ordered to back out of a consortium it was putting together to bid for a licence in Iran.If the deal goes ahead, Vodacom will probably make a play in Egypt, where the government is expected to offer a third cellular licence Metropolitan Asset Management portfolio manager Alida Jordaan said an increased stake in Vodacom was in line with Vodafone's desire to increase its exposure to Africa's growth markets, as the European market was saturated. The increased stake in Vodacom will give the UK operator a higher exposure to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Lesotho and Mozambique. (SOURCE: Business Day) ECONET WIRELESS GROUP TO SEEK UK STOCK MARKET LISTINGEconet Wireless Group has announced plans to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) through an initial public offering that the company estimates will raise between US$400 million and US$500 million. Econet Group Chief Executive Strive Masiyiwa confirmed this week plans to seek a London listing saying the group is confident of success because of the immense interest in Econet which operates in Africa, UK and the East Asia Pacific Rim in particular, and telecommunications sector in Africa in general. "There is tremendous interest in our company and we have decided to go for public equity as opposed to private equity funding because there many investors who want to participate in the growth of our company. In addition, there is also renewed interest in telecommunications business in Africa in general," he said. "We have therefore decided to seek a listing in the UK to raise funds to retire debt and also expand our existing operations spread across several continents. The amount to be raised however excludes funding that we need to acquire additional shares in Vee Mobile in Nigeria when we have resolved the current shareholder issue," Masiyiwa said. Masiyiwa said financial advisors have already been appointed to work on the proposed listing and he is confident this will be achieved by May next year if everything goes according to plan. "It could be later but our original target right now is around May next year," he said. Masiyiwa said the UK had less stringent foreign exchange regulations compared to South Africa where the group had originally considered to list. He also said Econet is about to finalize at least two significant acquisitions in the telecommunications sector and he expects an announcement to be made before the end of the year. "Naturally for strategic and competitive reasons we can't say more at present," Masiyiwa said.Meanwhile, Masiyiwa announced that Econet will early next year start building a new 3G mobile network in New Zealand and said supplier contracts are being finalized and should be signed before the end of this year. (SOURCE: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14688.php) TELKOM LESOTHO TO BE SOLD OFF BY ESKOM - ECONET HAS FIRST OPTION TO BUYEskom has announced that it will sell its interest in Mountain Communications, the consortium (with Econet) that owns Telkom Lesotho. Econet has a first option to buy out its consortium partner and the timetable for the sale will depend on how long it takes to negotiate an agreed price. If a price cannot be agreed between the parties, then the consortium’s conditions include provision for a valuation to be sought. Eskom has the majority of the shares in the consortium and has made a board level strategic decision to focus on its power business. Its South African fibre assets will be folded into the SNO when it is launched. So why would Econet Wireless International buy a fixed line operation? Well obviously to secure its interest in the company’s mobile subsidiary. But to the subsidiary’s CEO Elvis Gwanzura:”Econet sees itself as being in the communications area: mobile, fixed, internet and long-distance satellite.” Its announced share HUAWEI SELLS STAKE TO BEE CONSORTIUMTelecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies has sold a 31% stake in its South African operations for R6,3m to Nulane Investments. The move will make the Chinese company fully compliant with the requirements of the hi-tech sector's empowerment charter. It should also help Huawei to recruit and retain more black technicians, as it has committed to setting up a small training centre in SA. The newly created venture will trade as Huawei Technologies Africa, although the deal does not include the company's activities in other African nations, including its growing presence in Nigeria. Nulane director Lester Peteni has been appointed as chairman of the venture. Although Nulane has only four direct shareholders, including Yusof Surtee, a familiar face in the industry, Peteni insists that it is a broad-based consortiums. He said the beneficiaries beneath him included the Disadvantaged Persons' Trust, with about 700 stakeholders. The deal sees R5m paid to Huawei in cash for the 31% stake, funded by the Standard Bank, with Peteni contributing some business operations in Angola in lieu of another R1,3m.Huawei had a revenue of $5,5bn last year, of which $486m came from Africa. Kevin Tao, the president of Huawei sub-Saharan Africa, said they had been looking for an empowerment partner since the beginning of the year. (SOURCE: Business Day) NIGERIA'S VGC COMM BOUGHT FOR US$100M, ADEBAYO RESIGNSVGC Communications Limited, a wireline Private Telephone Operator in the Ikoyi and Victoria Island axis with a recent entry into Port Harcourt, has changed ownership. It has been bought over by Chief Jimoh Ibrahim, an oil magnate and owner of Global Fleet. The change in ownership has brought about the resignation of the erstwhile General Manager/ CEO of the Company, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo.Sources close to the deal said the Communication firm was acquired for $100 million. Sources close to the Company reveal that there has been high level negotiations between the Parent Company of VGCCL and Global Fleet Group, an indigenous Oil and Gas Company to acquire the Company. Owned by the HFP Engineering, VGC Comm is one of the few wired line operators operating in the company. Ibrahim had earlier in the year bought over Meidan Hotels, located in VGC owned by the same owners as the telecom firms. Adebayo could not be immediately reached for comments Tuesday as he was said to be out of the country.Discussions were said to have been on for sometime but agreement was reached last Saturday. Under a management team led by Mr. Gbenga Adebayo VGCCL was transformed within five years from a Community Service provider for Victoria Garden City to national wireline operator with activities in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The Company has already started laying fibre optic cables from the Island to Ikeja, in Lagos. VGCCL under Adebayo and the former owners last year acquired the assets of Virgin Technologies Limited, an international gateway licensee which was to enable it carry out international gateway operations. (SOURCE: This Day) IN BRIEF- There’s a rumour circulating that MTN will buy Econet’s Botswana operation Mascom Wireless. But as a reader, you will know that you should never believe rumours. - The Spanish telco Telefónica has withdrawn from the race to buy a 35% stake in Tunisia’s dominant operator Tunisie Télécom. Telefónica was one of 14 groups to have submitted a bid in the partial privatization of the Tunisian firm but it has now pulled out of the auction following its recent GBP17.7 million takeover offer for UK-based mobile operator O2.
WEBSITE FOR KENYA'S BANANA CAMPAIGN FOR YES VOTE ON CONSTITUTIONThe Yes team on the Kenyan constitutional changes launched its website, www.visionyes.com.The launch came two weeks after the No team started its campaign website, www.orangenocampaign.com . Last week's new web site gives voters the chance to compare the proposed Constitution, the Bomas Draft and the current Constitution. "The website is designed to give Kenyans a 360 degree view of all the issues in the current and the proposed constitutions, and enables a candid, fair and equitable discussion of the issues therein," said Mr Kamau Mbugua, an official of the Vision Yes lobby group. Banana team leaders, Information minister Raphael Tuju, assistant minister Danson Mungatana and MPs Njoki Ndung'u, Jayne Kihara and Kalembe Ndile attended the inauguration of the website at Serena Hotel in Nairobi. Mr Tuju said the web site was the brainchild of youthful professionals and businesspeople who formed Vision Yes lobby last month."People will now be able to read and compare the (three sets of laws). They have been filled with lies by the Orange team," he said.On the home page of the website, is the question: "Where is the truth?" The website also enables an e-mail debate between the public and the Yes secretariat to take place and posts analytical articles about the proposed law. (SOURCE: The Nation) IN BRIEF- South Africa's three cellular network operators have signed a code of conduct to protect users from junk mail on their cellphones and to try to prevent children from accessing pornography on their handsets. Vodacom, MTN and Cell C signed the code yesterday, although they admit that there are no technologies available to prevent inquisitive youngsters from accessing adult material by using a cellphone to browse the internet. The code is just a first step to protect the reputation of the industry. The operators said that by committing themselves to the code, they would be taking "reasonable steps" to govern content delivery.
PEOPLE* Ndi Towo, Arrivia.Kom’s Managing Executive Africa is setting out to win contracts in Africa. The South African state-owned company still gets 70% of its income from running networks for other state-owned corporations (like Eskom and Transtel) but set out to diversify its business base in 2003. Towo’s arrival signals a desire to step up this search for new contracts and the company is targeting francophone Africa, East Africa and Nigeria. As Towo told us last week” Our expansion strategy is based on trying to secure contracts directly but partnering locally to deliver the solution. We are interested in the bigger markets including Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, DRC, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia”. EVENTS- AfNOG and AfriNIC Joint Announcement: - Women to promote open source in Africa - The Government Technology World Africa Expo
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