WSIS special: World Bank offers East African fibre consortium EASSy funding

An estimated 20,000 plus people came together last week for the World Summit on the Information Society. Despite many passionate speeches and the usual turn from Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, not much actually happened. WSIS was always destined to disappoint. Its agenda and the accompanying rhetoric always obscured rather than clarified issues that would change the balance of the digital divide or indeed the balance of wealth in the world.

Even if internet governance had been changed according to the noisy demands of some developing countries, it would not have changed the circumstances of a single citizen in a poor country. The political fights over the digital solidarity fund were also on the basis that more money (rather than radical reform) was all that was needed. So the Summit ended with a bland declaration meaning all things to everyone and nothing to anyone. But at least the commas were in the right place. The follow-up vehicle for all these hopes? The UN Science and Technology Commission which meets on an annual basis and has not yet covered itself in glory in terms of delivering anything to anyone.

But despite this failure of the official agenda, WSIS did produce some surprises for those working on its fringes. Russell Southwood covers three of them: The World Bank offer of financing to EASSy; the creation of an African Universities bandwidth consortium; and the challenges to freedom of expression posed by holding the event in Tunisia, oner of the internet's gated communities.

WORLD BANK OFFERS EAST AFRICAN FIBRE CONSORTIUM EASSY FUNDING

At a meeting organised by NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission on Thursday morning last week, the World Bank’s Pierre Guislain outlined the financing offer the Bank has made to the East African fibre project EASSy. The offer has been under negotiation since November 2004 and this was the first public outing for the Bank’s proposal. The offer is conditional on consortium members accepting Open Access principles, an idea that seems to be gathering momentum with Africa’s Governments and regulators.

The consortium has a financing shortfall as a number of its incumbent members are unable to raise the required capital from their own resources. The offer has split the consortium members down the middle. The larger members who have the capital to make their contribution see the offer as “a diversion” that will prevent them from raising the rest of the money quickly. They maintain that the shortfall will be made up by other members like VSNL, the main shareholder in the South African SNO.

At which point, the smaller, less well-off members will either have to leave the consortium or their donor backers will have to accept the terms offered by the consortium. However this route undoubtedly contains a number of political dangers for the larger members as it may place them in conflict with their governments and regulators. The talk of landing stations as “essential facilities” has already quickened the pulse of some of those involved. The smaller members, particularly the landlocked countries, are keen to see this project built on a different basis to the club consortium route used to build SAT3. It is a game of poker whose outcome will probably only become clear in the spring of 2006.

The Bank’s offer forms part of its Africa Action Plan and is a joint IFC/World Bank programme to support NEPAD’s Africa ICT connectivity initiative. The World Bank’s Guislain started by describing to those attending the shortcomings of the “closed club consortium structure”. The club consortium route means that members have an exclusive right to capacity and that non-members pay “an excessive premium for access”. In each country it would create a monopoly or duopoly in terms of access. The result would be that the new fibre would have a limited impact on the high prices paid by Africa for international fibre access and thus on the wider development of the continent.

The Open Structure proposed by the Bank would be funded through a mixture of commercial debt (DFI’s, commercial banks) and equity (financial investors). Capacity would be accessible to all market players (including landlocked countries): fixed line operators, mobile operators, ISPs etc. Capacity pricing would be fair, the same for all and determined by market forces. Pricing would be set low to grow traffic as quickly as possible. As with oil pipeline special purpose vehicles, the profits will be made by those using the capacity, not the operating vehicle for the capacity. Guislain said he believed the Open Access SPV route made the project bankable because it controlled the assets and the capacity.

He said the IDA would be able to offer: credits for the development of national backbone and regional networks and capacity building technical assistance for supporting reforms. The IFC can offer debt, equity and mezzanine financing for the SPV and direct financing of private operators.

A lively debate followed a number of speeches but there were few voices raised in opposition to the proposal, which does not mean opposition does not exist. One voice opposing this route was consortium member Telkom Kenya’s General Manager Joseph Ogutu who said that the SPV would take too long to arrange and that landlocked countries could always use satellite if they were unhappy with the eventual fibre price. The last comment is perhaps the African telco equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s famous reported comment when told the French people were starving:”Let them eat cake.”

Political support is beginning to grow for the Open Access route. A meeting of SADC ICT Ministers held in Johannesburg on 7 November issued a communiqué that stated:

1. The urgent need to build broadband ICT infrastructure for terrestrial and submarine cable networks for East and Southern Africa.

2. The application of open, non-discriminatory and affordable access to these networks.

3. Acceptance that cross-border terrestrial and submarine cable segments of these networks can be developed, owned and maintained, as appropriate, by special purpose vehicles.

4. Agreement on the application of the principle of public private partnerships for these networks.

5. Governments should create regulatory and policy frameworks conducive to the development of these networks.

A plan of action was tabled that will lead to proposals and recommendations going to Ministers in the first quarter of 2006. Countries attending the meeting were: Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar and the DRC.

The larger members of the consortium appear already to be offering a number of concessions which they clearly hope will “buy off” the growing momentum for the Open Access approach. It says the club consortium route is more financially secure and it would make its prices transparent. Also in an effort to reassure the landlocked countries it is saying that transit to the landing station would be on the basis of a cost-based leased line. The wholesale price being discussed (in other words the price paid by club consortium members) would be just over US$1,000 per mbps per month.

AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES COME TOGETHER TO SET UP NRENS AND BUY INTERNATIONAL BANDWIDTH

Africa’s universities took a step nearer joining their developed world colleagues when a group of them decided that they would bid for international fibre capacity in the EASSy fibre project and that they would seek to encourage the setting up of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). This is the first time users have come together at this level in a bid to lower the price of their connectivity.The vision of delivering very high speed - gigabits per second (Gb/s) connectivity instead of the current kilobits per second (kb/s)between African Universities and Research Institutions is driving the Alliance forward at a rapid pace.

In February 2005, at the Association of African Universities Conference in Cape Town, two important events occurred: one was the identification of connectivity constraints as a major hindrance to rapid development of member universities. The second was the birth of SARUA, the Southern African Regional Universities Association, which is an association of Vice-Chancellors of all universities in the SADC region. The counterpart organisation for the east African region is IUCEA – the Inter-University Council of East Africa.

Historically, for various reasons, bandwidth to African Universities costs many times what Universities elsewhere expect to pay. As Professor Bjorn Pehrson of KTH, Sweden, says, “The Universities of Africa are now making an entirely reasonable appeal, namely to have same connectivity with global research networks and the Internet as is enjoyed by Universities in every other continent.”

By seeking to become an EASSy consortium member, the UbuntuNet Alliance is setting out to provide affordable intra-regional and international connectivity to enable its member NRENs to give universities and research institutions the ability to exchange content and collaborate on research and education activities both within the region and with world-wide partners. Access to EASSy will allow Alliance members to get access to the European NREN, Geant and to the Internet. The Alliance has the backing of several donors and it is seeking EU assistance for feasibility work on the setting up of the NRENs. The development of the Alliance has been facilitated by Canada’s IDRC and KTH.

The UbuntuNet Alliance will shortly be incorporated as a private, non-profit foundation whose Members are representatives nominated by established national NRENs) of countries in the eastern and southern regions of Africa.

African universities have along been the poor relation in their own countries, although they have often played a key role in producing the leaders and expertise needed. Cheap access to the internet and to learning materials available from other NRENs will not transform them overnight but it has a significant role to play in enhancing their future potential.

According to Americo Muchanga, Director of the Computer Centre, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane:"The connectivity obtained will allow us to exchange research between different countries and connect us to networks in other countries including: Geant (pan-European); Internet2 (North America); Tein2 (Asia); Ciara (Latin America) and EU Med (Europe, Middle East and 4 countries in North Africa). It will allow our member universities access to digital libraries containing research and publications as well as being able to offer distance learning materials effectively."

The founding members of the UbuntuNet Alliance are: Kenya (KENET), Malawi (MALICO/MAREN), Mozambique (Eduadro Mondlane University, Rwanda (National University of Rwanda) and South Africa (TENET). Discussions are under way with the following countries who may also join: DRC, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

FEAR AND LOATHING IN TUNIS - WELCOME TO FLIC CITY, THE GATED COMMUNITY OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

The security for WSIS and the ITU’s Global Symposium of Regulators follows the popular tradition of saturation policing that follows large-scale international events these days. It seemed almost as if no corner did not contain two or three police and the road to Hammamet (about an hour from Tunis) had them at regular intervals along the route. There were even horse-mounted police and helicopters around the WSIS perimeter. (Although the police and potential terrorists clearly keep regular hours as there were few police in evidence in the rainy, early hours of one morning.)

Plain clothes police were also much in evidence. There seemed also to be a virtual cordon as various people reported that their blogs and web-sites had been blocked. Some of this was self-reinforcing paranoia but there were enough instances to lend credence to these allegations (see also report below in Internet News).

More worrying were the difficulties encountered by those organising the Citizens Summit on the Information Society. The organising group had difficulty finding a room in Tunis but eventually found one and booked it ahead of the event. At the last minute they were informed that the room was closed for maintenance and that the hire fee had been refunded.

To overcome this difficulty the group were offered a room in the Goethe Institute. Some were able to enter but a large plain clothes police cordon informed others who arrived that they could not go in and that they must disperse. The plain clothes police then started pushing people forcefully off the pavement and seized a local journalist.

According to one eyewitness:”We followed to see where he was being taken and once they were round the corner, they started slapping him around the face. I remonstrated with them and this distracted them so he was able to slip way into the traffic and catch a taxi. Afterwards we went to a local café with the German Ambassador who was asking what had happened. While we were talking to him, the café owner approached us and said we had to leave or the police would close the café down.”

The next day there was a press conference called to protest at what had happened attended by around 200 people, including several ambassadors. This time about 30 plain clothes were stationed “unobtrusively” on a nearby corner. When approached by someone with a video camera, they fled off down the street. But as one person who attended said:”This feels like a small victory for freedom of expression but I don’t know what will happen to local people who participated.’

The organisers of the HIVOS meeting on Expression under Repression were first told that they must change the title of the meeting or it would be cancelled. The Tunisian authorities relented but arranged for a notice saying it had been cancelled to be posted. However, it went ahead as planned. Another participant told us that he had turned up for a meeting only to be told that it was full by the plain clothes police outside. When he insisted on going in, he found that there were only 10 people in the room.

SOUTH AFRICA'S TELFREE TO OFFER SKYPE-STYLE OFFER

Ruan Mallan, CTO of Telfree portrays his company as a virtual VoIP company, offering free calls between Telfree users and cheap international calls over any type of internet connection (ADSL, Wireless, 3G, GPRS, Satellite, Dial up or Leased Line). The service is targeted at end users as well as small and medium businesses, which generate the bulk of calls in terms of revenue and volume in South Africa, writes Balancing Act's Isabelle Gross.

Is this just another VoIP offer entering the South African market following the deregulation of the telecommunication sector or is there more to it? Telfree’s VoIP solution is based on allocating a unique number to each of its customers, enabling them to make outbound calls but also to receive inbound calls using an IP phone, a gateway or a USB handset with their soft client. Alongside roaming capabilities Telfree offers voice mail facilities and call forwarding options for a small monthly fee.

For most end users, cheap or free calls are all they care about. They do not really care how these calls get connected. From the service provider’s point of view, interconnecting is a bit more complicated. There are two key aspects: it is about both local interconnection and international connection. Ruan Mallan reckons that interconnection for international destinations is easy. Telfree works with Tele2 and other tier 1 US carriers, with which it has signed agreements to carry inbound and outbound traffic. It is on the domestic side that matters are moving forward at a slower pace. Although the license and the underlying interconnect agreement have received the go-ahead from ICASA it seems that Telkom is slow at rolling out the interconnection with Telfree’s local infrastructure. Nevertheless Telfree is already running some business customers on demonstration.

Despite all these delays Ruan Mallan is confident that Telfree’s service will take off in South Africa. The company currently has 7,000 numbers available. In 12 months’ time Ruan plans to run 10-15,000 numbers on Telfree infrastructure and make the service a known brand in SA. He reckons that a good pricing strategy combined to an innovative service offer will be key to positioning the company in this market.

Telfree’s ambitions don’t stop in South Africa. Ruan explains that once the service has met with success in South Africa Telfree plans to expand in neighbouring countries and up North in Ghana and Nigeria through a partnership/joint ventures with local carriers and private entrepreneurs, whereby Telfree will provide the technical support and marketing experience. Telfree’s expansion plans are not only geographic; as the telephone service takes off they want to provide more value added services such as video conferencing and TV over broadband. This might be a good move for the future as call revenue is shrinking fast.

PRIVATISATION OF TUNISIE TELECOM HERALDS A NEW ERA OF GROWTH

The planned privatization of Tunisie Telecom will be a major event in Tunisia’s telecom history. That, along with the government’s liberalization plans, will usher in a new era of massive growth and potential in the Tunisian telecom sector.

Tunisie Telecom is the sole supplier of the fixed line services in Tunisia. The Ministry of Communication Technologies along with the National Telecommunication Commission (Instance Nationale des Télécommunication -INT) and the National Agency for Frequencies are responsible for the regulatory aspects. The ministry is in charge of licensing and not the INT. The INT is responsible for arbitration and solving disputes between the operators and is also responsible for regulating interconnection.

The telecom law, ratified by the parliament in January 2001, sets the regulatory framework for the entire telecommunications sector. The law enables the opening-up of the market to private companies by introducing a licensing regime for the supply of telecommunications services and networks.

A new report, “Tunisia Communications Projections Report 2005” was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on November 14, 2005. The report includes 5 year historical and 5 year projections on service uptake and revenues. The report also profiles all the telecom operators and provided a detailed picture on their market strategies. Please contact the Arab Advisors Group to get a copy of the reports Table of Contents.

“Tunisia is slated to have the biggest privatization process in its telecom history by early 2006. In accordance with its policy of opening the telecom sector to private investment, the Tunisian Government, through the Ministry of Communication Technologies, has offered strategic partners the opportunity to acquire, through an international tender, a 35% stake in Société Nationale des Télécommunications (Tunisie Télécom). The government aims at selling the 35% to a ‘strategic partner’, a major foreign telecom company or consortium of financiers in partnership with a major foreign telecom operator. It is seeking a partner with expertise, a sharp edge on technology and a strong ally that will back up the government in growing and developing further Tunisie Telecom.” Serene Zawaydeh, a Consultant at Arab Advisors Group, wrote in the report.

The Tunisian market is characterized by healthy growth in both the mainline fixed market and the cellular market. Mainlines grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.2% between 1999 and 2004, increasing from 850,069 in 1999, a penetration rate of 9% to reach 1,203,530 by end of 2004, a penetration rate of 12.1%. “More impressively, Tunisia’s cellular subscribers grew at a CAGR of 144% between 1999 and 2004, increasing from 43,320 subscribers by end of 1999, a penetration rate of 0.5% to reach 3,735,695 subscribers by end of 2004, a penetration rate of 37.6% with over 1.8 million subscribers added in 2004.” Ms. Zawaydeh added.

Competition in the mobile sector started towards the end of 2002, when the second mobile operator, Orascom Telecom Tunisia launched its services. By end of August 2005, the ministry initiated the procedure for liberalizing the fixed line market and for introducing further competition in the mobile market. The ministry is studying the options related to the upcoming fixed line and mobile licensing procedures, which underlines the ministry’s aim to liberalize the Tunisian telecom market.

(SOURCE: Al Bawaba)

TANZANIAN INCUMBENT TTCL LOSES US$2.8M TO VANDALISM OVER 3 YEARS

TTCL is spending thousands of dollars in its fight against vandals. TTCL officials said in October alone, the state-owned company spent Tsh47.1 million ($44,857) to protect 38 of its installations in Dar es Salaam and Tsh6.3 million ($6,000) to reward those helping it fight vandalism.

The latest incident occured last week when vandals stole cables from the Lugalo Military Barracks of the Tanzania People's Defence Forces. The chief executive officer, George Mbowe, said that, over the past four years, the company had incurred a loss of Tsh3 billion ($2.8 million) due to vandalism, sabotage and thefts.

Mbowe said between January and September, the company had lost Tsh358 million ($340,952) to the vice. "Vandalism and thefts makes the whole country suffer because it also affects voice and data communications," he said. "Some of the cases are pure sabotage, considering that some of the copper wires they vandalise are too short to be sold anywhere. In other cases, the stolen wire is melted to make ornamental objects while some is sold abroad as scrap copper", said Mr Mbowe. He said the areas most hit by vandalism in Dar es Salaam are Pugu Road, Gongo la Mboto, Uwanja wa Ndege, Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam, Kinondoni, Mbezi, Masaki and Kimala.

(SOURCE: The East African)

EGYPT'S MOBILE CONNECTIONS OUTSTRIP THEIR FIXED-LINED COUNTERPARTS

Leading industry analyst and forecaster, BIS Shrapnel, has launched its Egypt Mobile Communications, 2005 report. The report explains that Egypt's cellular market is currently experiencing unprecedented growth, a phenomenon that the report's forecasts will result in the number of mobile subscribers in Egypt reaching 21.1 million by the end of 2008.

For the first time, total cellular subscribers at the third quarter of 2005 exceeded the fixed-line subscriber base, despite the relatively strong uptake of fixed line subscription in Egypt. By the end of September 2005, Egypt had 12 million mobile and 10.3 million fixed line subscribers. This compares to 9.9 million mobile and 9.7 million fixed line subscribers at the end of June 2005. Moving forward, Mr Francis expects the margin between Egypt’s mobile phone and fixed-line subscribers to continue to widen, reaching around 3 million by the end of 2006.

On the fixed-line front, in Egypt - unlike the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Morocco and Israel - the fixed-line subscriber base is not showing symptoms of stagnation. Rather, Egypt’s landline subscriber base has been growing rapidly, adding an average of 875,000 new fixed line subscribers every twelve months for the past four years (2000–2004). By the end of September 2005, research shows the network reached 10.3 million lines, bringing the penetration rate to approximately 14 per cent. This penetration rate, although ahead of Jordan, is behind Saudi Arabia and well below the UAE.

On the mobile front, rapid growth has become particularly evident since the third quarter of 2004. The number of mobile subscription adds during the 12 months (September 2004–September 2005) was unprecedented - more than 5.2 million mobile subscriptions were provisioned, according to BIS Shrapnel’s study. Putting this into perspective, the increase in the mobile subscriber base during that period is more than the total number of mobile subscribers at the end of 2002, and approximately three times the uptake for 2004.

This trend continued into 2005, with some 2.3 million new mobile subscribers added in the third quarter of 2005 alone. This represented a massive 400 per cent increase on the third quarter 2004 result, when there were only 459,000 new subscribers.

The consequence of competition, foreign investment and improvement in economic conditions are seen as the main factors that have driven growth in Egypt’s cellular market. Aggressive strategies adopted by the existing cellular operators have also contributed to growth, according to Mr Francis. Aside from the network expansion which gained momentum, especially following the slight appreciation of the Egyptian Pound, both operators introduced low tariff prepaid services that were bundled with low end mobile handsets. The latter strategy attracted lower spending customers, contributing to a noticeable decline in average revenue per subscriber (ARPU).

Moving forward, BIS forecasts current rates of growth to continue out to 2008. The number of cellular subscribers will exceed 13 million by the end of 2005. This will translate to 5.4 million mobile subscriber adds during 2005. This uptake matches closely only with that forecasted for Algeria and Turkey in the MENA region. Despite this aggressive growth, the mobile penetration rate in Egypt will remain as low as 18 per cent by the end of 2005.

Three notable changes will soon take place in Egypt’s telecommunications market, according to Mr Francis. Firstly, at least one further fixed line operator is likely to be licensed in 2006. Secondly, it is anticipated that a portion of the government’s stake in Egypt Telecom will be sold. Thirdly, a new mobile operator is expected to launch its service during the first quarter of 2007. Telecom Egypt will be allowed to enter the bidding with an international partner. Acquiring a mobile licence would make Telecom Egypt more attractive to potential investors.

While bidding for the third GSM licence is likely to take place in early 2006, it will be interesting to observe how this will unfold. The appointment of a ‘pro-reform’ cabinet in mid-2004, the appreciation of the Egyptian pound and an evolving mobile culture are factors which would support this development. Nevertheless, the operators’ declining ARPU, the previous unsuccessful attempts to sell a stake in Egypt Telecom, and even the recent (July 2005) Sharm el-Sheikh bombing, could undermine these positives, and deter potential investors from placing high bids. Moreover, the motives behind Egypt Telecom’s 2003 decision to abandon its plans to enter the mobile market will also play a role in moulding the outcome of this sale. Russia’s Sistema and China Mobile are among many foreign companies currently eyeing this deal.

(SOURCE: Al Bawaba)

NIGERIA: OPERATORS STILL AT ODDS OVER INTERCONNECT RATE

Despite locking themselves away in a separate room during the Telecom Summit in Abuja, Nigeria's operators were unable to reach agreement on interconnection rates. After so much argument, with each speaker citing authorities and telecom experience to prove his case, no decision was reached. There were two broad market positions. The GSM operators who are the reigning champions, and the private telecom operators, the PTOs, who are challenging the status quo. Standing as umpire was the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

At the end of debate, the NCC asked the parties to go back and decide on what they wanted. They must reach a consensus, otherwise the NCC would have no option but to make a declaration. In other words, impose a settlement on the fractious parties.

The existing rates favour the GSM operators who take N11.52 from fixed networks for any call originating from the networks and terminating on the GSM network. If the calls were originated by the GSM operator and it terminated on the fixed network, the former only needed to pay the latter N5.52. When these rates were first decreed by the NCC, the GSM operators contested them at the courts and lost.

The PTOs are however not at ease with the situation anymore. They made several representations to the regulator who had earlier promised that the rates are subject to periodic review. Now with the Unified licencing regime round the corner, they can wait no more.

A senior official of a fixed wireless operator told THISDAY that PTOs would not take anything less than what they pay to the GSM operators. According to him, in other countries where telecommunications has had deep roots, the dominant operator is the one who subsidises the small operator. Not so in Nigeria, the small operators subsidises the big boys so they can live the expensive lifestyle they are used to. This had always been the case right from the time of NITEL on one hand and Multi-Links and Intercelluar on the other.

But shouldn't there be a definition of who a dominant operator is? No such definition exists yet. NITEL used to be. Now, it should be MTN, Vmobile, Globacom and Mtel. However, that has not become official. And so these companies continue to dodge the responsibilities associated with being a "dominant market player".

Now, the PTOs are saying that if they cannot get subsidy from the dominant operators, at lease they should not subsidise the operators. So, at the minimum, they would settle for equal rates for originating and for terminating.

There is a way in which the inability to arrive at a consensus would affect the unified licencing regime expected from February/March next year. The first has to do with the definition of mobility. From that time, operators would no longer be classified according to the technology they use in deploying service. There won't be a GSM operator or a CDMA operator. An operator would be an operator. If it is GSM the guy uses to deploy his mobile, all well and good. If it is CDMA, that is just as fine. So who is a mobile operator from then? That list would certainly include MTN, Vmobile, Glo Mobile and Mtel. That same list would include Multi-links, Starcomms, EMIS, Reltel, Intercellular, Cellcom, MTS and many others. So, if it is a matter of terminating mobile to fixed, then there may not be any operator really to fall into that definition of fixed, depending on what 21st Century Technologies and VGC have in mind. Note that at the time, there won't be any such thing as limited mobility.

This would mean that at the very minimum, EMIS, for instance would get from MTN what MTN is paying Vmobile per minute for interconnection.

Inability to arrive at a uniform rate would also encourage all operators to offer all the services available under the unified licencing regime. Although chairman of Independent Telephone Network, Chief Bayo Akande, told THISDAY that under UL, an operator need not provide all the services, providing all the services is really they might just do, especially if that puts them on the same interconnect pedestal as the GSM operators.

It is clear as anything would ever be by now that many operators are just waiting for the post-exclusivity to come to an end in February before they roll out mobile services more aggressively.

But that competition would also have a rub-on effect on the infrastructure segment. Many more would want to build transmission infrastructure to accommodate their expanding deployment. But competition in the infrastructure market, as Roger Britton, the Managing Director of Unitel Consulting Limited said, is not a good thing for the industry.

According to Britton who presented a paper at the just-concluded telecom Summit, this is because competition in this sector leads to price pressure; price pressure reduces the revenue streams of the competing operators and therefore reduces the resource that would be available to fund network expansion, leading to business failure and consolidation, a situation of survival of the fittest. Already there are signs that infrastructure are being duplicated on the popular routes, like the Lagos - Abuja or even Lagos - Ibadan road. On the latter route, there is MTN, Globacom, Vmobile, and Multi-Links. Others are just getting ready to dig the ground to bury their fibre optic cable.

Britton further said that for a company to be successful, it needs to be single focussed. It needs to operate in a specific business segment. "Companies that try to do everything rarely succeed. A cellular company or a fixed line local operator should focus on what it does well and buy the services that it needs to support its activities, such as long distance connectivity from others who specialise in those areas," he said. A lopsided interconnect rate would not allow people take his advice.

But as he himself also pointed out, what he was advising demands a stable, predictable and well-regulated environment. "Leasing capacity from a competitor may be a risky and uncertain strategy unless there is adequate protection from the regulator." He said it may be risky and uncertain strategy. In Nigeria it is surely a risky and costly strategy.

A private telecom operator conducting round his new switch in Abuja said he had to buy the whole premises before installing his switch lest after a few years the landlord decides to increase his rent astronomically. That explains why the next race would be the infrastructure race in Nigeria. You bet everybody will also go for fibre optic. Then the ensuing redundancies would litter the whole place.

A new just and acceptable interconnect rate would breathe fresh air in the system. It would enable operators move toward the UL regime with encouragement. It is one thing that would enable the PTOs get the much - needed international funding. No investor is ready to invest in a network that makes money and pay it into the bank account of GSM operators as a result of a lopsided interconnect rates.

With this hinderance out of the way, even the NCC would not be able to believe what would happen in the next few months. There would be an explosion of service, of technology and a sure tariff crash. An operator like EMIS, on the verge of signing a multi-million dollar investment deal would do probably what no other operator had ever done in this industry in Nigeria. With the experience of being the first PTO to rely on, the company definitely would be one of the operators to watch out for. It has a robust technology, expert hands, the right equipment supplier, an excellent business plan and a perfect strategy. And quite contrary to earlier reports that it may be having operational difficulties, new information shows that it is one of the few investment destination for international finance.

For a company which continues to received rare industry commendation for the transparency that attends its dealings, EMIS is a company many believe would take the industry by surprise.

But how fast the likes of EMIS improve the lot of Nigerian subscribers and indeed how successful the UL regime turns out would depend on how fast the industry tackles the albatross: the lopsided interconnect rates.

(SOURCE: This Day)

IN BRIEF

- The recently-concluded 4th Nigerian Telecom Summit has advocated the merger of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Inforamation Technology Development Agency (NITDA). In a communique issued at the end of the two-day gathering of telecom stakeholders in Abuja, the participants declared, "With Convergence already upon us regulations by NBC, NCC and possibly NITDA are increasingly overlapping. Under such a situation, regulations may have to be merged into a converged law and regulatory platform."

- Lebanese wireless holding company InvestCom has awarded Ericsson a USD31 million contract for the expansion and upgrade of its networks in Ghana and Benin as well as the construction of a new network in Guinea. In Ghana, Ericsson will supply UMTS based equipment, which will be used to complement the operator’s EDGE capable network, which operates under the Areeba brand. Meanwhile, in Benin the deal will see the existing network being extended to have a capacity for 400,000 customers. Ericsson will also supply the infrastructure and services that will underpin a new 300,000-capacity network in the Republic of Guinea.

- Telecommunications equipment and network solutions provider ZTE last week announced that it is now trialling three of the most advanced telecommunications systems in the world in Tunisia - with the potential to bring Tunisian telecommunications up to global standards. The latest trial, conducted in association with COSMSI and Tunisia Telecom, involves the first African deployment of ZTE's 3G-based GoTa digital trunking network in Tunis and Hammamet, Tunisia. The other trials currently under way are two 3G data communications systems - a CDMA2000 1x EV-DO system in Tunis and Hammamet, which enables high speed wireless internet access and business communications, and a UMTS trail system in Sousse and Monatir which enables mobile subscribers to enjoy 3G services of the same quality as in Europe.

- Incumbent Ghana Telecom has seen stunted growth recently and is struggling with a debt of over ¢203 billion to other GSM providers. The company is currently trading accusation with the national regulator, National Communications Authority, NCA, on the causes of its problems. GT owes inyerconnect debts of about ¢194 billion to Scancom, ¢9 billion to Millicom, operators of Buzz and ¢300 million monthly to Kasapa.

TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE

- MTN Uganda will invest USD7.5 million by the end of the year in boosting its GSM network coverage, the company said in a statement. Since April, MTN has extended its network to 12 additional towns across Uganda, taking the total to 152, including all 38 district capitals.

- Nigeria's One Number has launched an SMS directory service with MTN. The subscriber sends the name of the company he or she is looking for as an SMS t0 125 on the MTN network and the details of that company including telephone numbers, physical address, fax numbers and website addresses are automatically sent back to the subscriber's phone.The service will soon be launched on other networks.

- Incumbent Ghana Telecom has launched its latest brand of prepaid cards, the "gt eazytalk". The "gt eazytalk" is the branded form of the old Ghana Telecom prepaid calling card with additional features to give freedom and convenient services to customers. At the launch of the product in Accra, Joseph Wireko, General Manager, Marketing Communication said, the new prepaid card is an "account attached to the card and not the telephone", and could be used on any fixed line and payphone.

"It can be used in a hotel, at home on fixed line, payphones, for faxes and accessing the internet," he said. In addition to the English language, "gt eazytalk" offers the choice of French and six local languages: Nzema, Ga, Twi, Hausa, Ewe and Dagbani.

The gt eazytalk cards come in three different prices; 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000. The card number which has 11-digits instead of the old 12-digit would be known as "authentication number".

SOUTH AFRICAN USERS NOW PAYING 1000% MORE THAN OTHER COUNTRIES AFTER WHOLESALE PRICING RESTRUCTURE

High-speed internet users in SA will pay 1000% more for their bandwidth than users in other countries after Telkom restructured its wholesale fees for internet service providers (ISPs).

Telkom's new ADSL price structure, introduced on November 1, means subscribers will face fees even more punitive than in the past, says online forum MyADSL. Its wholesale rate is now R3940 a month to transfer 30GB of data at a speed of 1MB a second. Once ISPs add their mark-up, consumers will pay at least R 4000, says MyADSL.

A superior service from BT Yahoo gives British users a 40GB package at 2MB a second for the equivalent of R350.

Tiscali, which once ran an internet service in SA, offers British users unlimited downloads at 1MB a second for R188. That makes Telkom's ADSL service more than 2000% dearer than superior UK offerings.

MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller says that in Japan users can get unlimited downloads at 50MB a second for less than R250 -- 50 times faster at 6% of the price.

Telkom's new fees are still being assessed by some ISPs, Muller says, and most will simply decide not to offer 30GB packages. "The only way to ensure this situation is remedied is for Telkom to implement dramatic price reductions coupled with improvements in the service levels of its ADSL offerings," he says.

What may force a change is a court case instigated by a small ISP, Dotco. MD Johan Ferreira claims Telkom's new structure contravenes the Telecommunications Act. The Cape High Court has issued an order preventing Telkom from charging Dotco the new fees, pending a hearing on December 5.

If Dotco proves the fees are anticompetitive, other ISPs will use the verdict to overturn the new regime.

Telkom argues the change was necessary as some ISPs bought 3GB accounts from Telkom and resold them as 30GB accounts, duping users. ISPs also needed to buy a 3GB account for each customer, even if only 1GB was used.

Now they can buy bandwidth packages from 2GB to 30GB and must cap each user individually. ISPs should be able to cut the cost of ADSL by up to 50% if they calculate how many people use more than 1GB a month and charge them for that, says Telkom corporate communications executive Lulu Letlape.

One company not objecting the new fees is DataPro, which has reworked its ADSL packages. "We've introduced flexible solutions with the right balance between performance and cost. In most cases this will ensure savings and better performance," says MD Douglas Reed.

DataPro is asking users to decide how much bandwidth they want and what they are willing to spend. Its basic package offers 3GB a month for R200, plus the line rental. Anyone who exceeds 3GB will be charged R75 for every 1GB of extra data, until they reach their budget.

M-Web's largest consumer package offers 6GB at a speed of 192KB a second for R809 a month, including R270 to pay Telkom for the line.

Sentech joined the pay-per-usage model this week with MyWireless flexi. Its packages start with 200MB of data for R199 a month, up to 10GB

The cost of international bandwidth accounts for more than 60% of the fees, and Telkom's control over those prices makes it too expensive to offer a fuller capacity right now, says Winston Smith, its manager of broadband wireless. The average person needs 200MB-300MB a month, Smith says.

(SOURCE: Business Day)

MOZAMBIQUE'S TDM TO INTRODUCE 512k BROADBAND

Mozambican incumbent TDM is set to introduce 512k download speed ADSL broadband. Like a lot of operators it is tiering its pricing by introducing 512k and only offering the full 2 meg capacity if customers ask for it.

The infrastructure needed to deliver this broadband offer across the country is proceeding apace with 8 out of the country’s 10 provinces connected. The contract to fibre up the last two will be signed shortly.

Meanwhile it has applications in for spectrum allocations in the 4.5 and 800 mghz frequencies in order to roll out its now piloted fixed mobile CDMA product. Apparently 800 mghz works better in urban areas as it can go through buildings. Base stations cost between US$60,000-160,000 depending on the number of subscribers.

The new Government has decided not to privatise TDM but informed sources say that this is simply the beginning of the political cycle and that the issue will come back “on the table” once the Government has got to grips with the issues. The halt on privatisations applies across the board to all state entities, not just telecoms.

ONLINE CENSORSHIP PERSISTS IN NORTH AFRICA

A report released by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed the prevalence of online censorship in several North African countries.

The 140 page report titled "False Freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa" was presented at a press conference at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, in Tunis. It is based on in-depth research in selected countries where censorship of electronic content is widespread.

Over the past years, stringent measures relating information and communication technologies have been imposed on the country's citizens. The report cited a portrait of Tunisian President, Zein El Abidine Ben Ali located in western Tunis, with the caption: "Opening disk drives is strictly forbidden. It is forbidden to access prohibited sites. Thank you."

Eric Goldstein, director for the Middle East and North Africa division of HRW pointed out that whilst there had been improvements in the access to information in Tunisia "there is still surveillance and certain internet sites are still prohibited or blocked."

"This year, online journalist and father of three, Mohamed Abou, was sentenced to three years in prison for publishing an article on a banned website comparing President Zein El Abidine Ben Ali to Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," said Goldstein. HRW are currently lobbying for support at the Summit, encouraging an end to such censorship.

(SOURCE: Highway Africa News Agency)

SIERRA LEONE:FIDELITY COMMUNICATIONS SPREADS INTERNET TO SCHOOLS

Fidelis Asielue, Managing Director of the newly opened multi-purpose high-tech communications company, Fidelity Global Communications probably the fastest internet service in the country Tuesday disclosed that his company has taken the initiative to provide internet services to schools in the country.

He says the pilot project which started with the JF Kennedy Secondary School, Towel Hill is now gaining momentum as other schools are now rushing to be part the project.

He said the 'Internet for schools' programme would take the computer training from primary schools to university level so that the internet could be used for self learning.

Asielue revealed that his company is introducing other programmes for journalists, photographers and traders this month.

Memunatu Sesay of JF Kennedy said Fidelity Global Communications has opened their eyes to computers as they can now study online, play high-tech games and access news programmes at ease.

(SOURCE: Concord Times)

IN BRIEF

- The Nigerian ISP association ISPAN has signed a deal with telco incumbent Nitel for all its members. The price? US$3,500 per mbps per month. The Lagos IXP is still not yet operational.

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD BECOMES A CLOSER REALITY

"Inspiring in many ways" said Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, describing the 'US$100 laptop' which was officially unveiled at a press-conference held during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Wednesday evening.

The project is the brainchild of Professor Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab. His esteemed team of inventors includes Allan Kay who invented the first laptop in 1968.

"This is an educational project, not a laptop project," declared Negroponte who expressed delight at being part of improving access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries, especially for children. "We believe we can make hundreds of billions of these machines which will drive costs further down," he added.

The UN is supporting the initiative which Secretary General Kofi Annan believes is a step towards "protecting the greatest natural resource - our children." Funding for the project came from One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), an independent non-governmental organisation aimed at providing a portable internet-ready computer to every child in the developing world.

The cost of the laptop which will start at around US$100, is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2006. It will be distributed through local government ministries. Governments will however, not be allowed to sell them to end-users.

MIT is currently in talks with five computer companies to licence production of the laptop and make it commercially available to governments.

The first batch of machines will go to six larger countries from developing nations. Nigeria and Egypt are likely to be the first beneficiaries of the scheme in Africa, with smaller countries to follow within a year.

Dubbed the 'green machine' by the MIT team, the laptop has a 500 MHz chipset, 128MB Dram, 8" SVGA display, extended WiFi, manual crank powered battery and a 1Gig flash memory hard drive. It will run on an open-source operating system such as Linux.

(SOURCE: Highway Africa News Agency)

UGANDA - STOCK MARKET READY FOR COMPUTERISED TRADING

The stock exchange in Kampala is to end issuing of paper certificates to investors in the capital market late this year by introducing electronic accounts.

The electronic accounts will be held under what is termed; the Central Depositary System (CDS), a computerised system that facilitates faster and easier processing of transactions for shares and bonds.

CDS attracts both local and international market participants. CDS account holders have up-date-information on their holdings and the convenience of electronic securities transfers to facilitate trade settlement.

Japheth Katto, the chief executive officer Capital Market Authority, told Daily Monitor on November 11, at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel that the CDS electronic system will replace the practice of holding and moving physical scrip of quoted shares with an efficient and dependable computerised book entry system.

"Consideration has been given to linking payment systems in the East African Community to the CDS system to form an integrated payment, clearing and settlement frame, automated trading system," Katto said.

He said in the medium term priorities, the proposed CDS system would focus on broker-to-exchange-to-depository linkages and broker-to-customer linkages as well as a virtual communication network among the three exchanges namely; the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange and the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange.

While presenting a paper titled: "Performance of Capital Market in East Africa" Katto said the markets in East Africa should be linked to more developed markets in Africa and beyond.

The Central Depository System (CDS) Act was passed by Parliament in July 2000 in Kenya and since then, the liquidity in its market capital, according to Katto, has more than doubled because its flexible to the investor as they do not have to wait to be issued with paper certificates that may take weeks.

Holders of CDS enjoy the benefits of reduced cost and risks associated with the environment where holding and moving physical scrip has been the norm.

Observers say the success of regional integration will depend on finding solutions to key country- level problems. This implies that consistent and assured political backing of the EAC authorities will be crucial for capital market integration to materialise.

"The observed diversity in the three could be a source of regional strength as they can capitalise on complementarities," said Kato.

The size of stock and bond markets in Kenya amounts to $6,083.00m, Uganda has $1,895.00m and Tanzania has $2,316m, while South Africa has $442, 526m. Kenya equity listings is the biggest with 48 companies in its 48 years of existence, Tanzania has eight companies in nine years and Uganda has seven over the last nine years.

(SOURCE: The Monitor)

OPEN OFFICE NOW AVAILABLE IN 11 SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES

After 75 000 translated words and many months of hard work, Translate.org.za is scheduled to release OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 in all 11 official South African languages later this month.

Translate.org.za director, Dwayne Bailey, says that 20 people - academics, translators and reviewers - were involved in the translations, most of whom are language practitioners in their respective fields.

“Seventy days is the quickest time we can translate in, but if you have to check for consistency or common errors, it can probably take as long as six months to do translations,” says Bailey. “We don't want to be translating old products when new products come out, but luckily we were on time with the latest translations.”

Translations of Web browser Firefox and mail client Thunderbird are also due to be released later this month.

The release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 last month contained updates of Afrikaans, Zulu and Northern Sotho and also included new translations in Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele. Translations of Venda, Swati and an updated Tswana translation are expected to be completed later this month, in time for the release of OpenOffice.org 2.01.

Bailey said one of the most significant challenges in translating the applications is that the text is broken up into snippets. “Translating a novel is simple because you already have an idea of the plot, but for these applications it was harder because certain words can have different meanings,” says Bailey.

Bailey says an important part of translate.org.za's mission is eliminating the idea that certain languages are inferior to others because they aren't represented. “The most significant thing it challenges is people's notion of whether their language is a modern language. We challenged this notion that certain languages are inferior,” says Bailey.

Bailey hopes the project will spawn similar work in South Africa. “I'll be excited if commercial companies started translating everything into all the official languages,” he says. “Tomorrow we're having a major launch in Pretoria, to celebrate all the contributions people have made towards the project."