EASSy project enters the final lap with critics on all sides

The EASSy fibre cable project is entering the final lap before construction begins. But as the vital phase that decides key issues like pricing, access and governance  comes to a close, the volume of criticism is rising. The members of the existing private sector consortium that has brought the project to this point are unhappy. The initiative has slipped from their hands and is now in effect being controlled by NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission. Ostensibly frustrated by the pace of negotiations, the Kenyan Government has broken ranks and announced that it will build a Mombasa-Djibouti cable without any Government money, blaming a “South African Club” for obstruction along the way. As it goes down to the wire, all the parties involved are seeking to semaphore their positions in what is undoubtedly a complex negotiation. Russell Southwood tries to sort noise from signal about the current concerns being raised.

On 6-7 April NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission (headed by Dr Henry Chasia) called a 2-day meeting. On the first day it held discussions with EASSy consortium members and other stakeholders. On the second day, Government and regulatory representatives held discussions to decide on a way forward. NEPAD and the EASSy consortium have thus far worked extremely closely together, something acknowledged by both parties. But the consortium did not really expect to find themselves in a position where what they see as their project was in effect taken away from. After the meeting, NEPAD announced that its proposals “would be submitted for approval to a ministerial meeting to be held soon”. 

The parting of the ways has come over proposals developed by NEPAD and the insistence that the cable should be built in such a way that it avoided the high-price inducing monopoly found on the West African SAT3 cable. Parts of the private sector have perhaps only themselves to blame for the level of interest now being taken in the issue by policy-makers and regulators. Telkom South Africa has succeeded in angering the South African Government through its failure to deliver a full copy of its SAT3 agreement.

The negotiations to complete the EASSy cable are enormously complicated and very political in both senses of the word: they involve Government and they are the subject of a number of cross-currents and disagreements. There are three sets of parties involved: the EASSy Consortium members themselves, the DFIs (the World Bank and other similar institutions); and the Governments of the countries affected.

There are the 28 members of the Consortium itself, 16 of whom are owned privately. Public or private, many of the existing investors are incumbent telcos. In 12 out of the 18 countries, there is only a single investor, again in all cases the incumbent telco.

Some of these investors have their own money to invest, whilst others are relying on their Governments to come up with the money through assistance from the World Bank. Therefore whatever this group of financially embarrassed incumbents actually think, they are going along with the proposals from the World Bank. This has effectively divided the Consortium into several different groups from which it is difficult to generate a consensus about the way forward. But even some of those with their own money to invest have moved towards the idea of an SPV:” I’m a big supporter of the SPV within EASSy. Everybody buys at the same price at the landing point. I don’t want the management headache”.

The World Bank has indicated its willingness to put up money for a Special Purpose Vehicle in order to ensure that: prices on the fibre are kept as low as possible, access to capacity is as open as possible and governance is both transparent and commercially effective. It is in a position to underwrite its proposals financially with both soft loans and donor contributions. However because of its position it has stated clearly that it can only do this if the parties involved (particularly the Consortium members) want it to happen. The World Bank is one of several development funding institutions that have taken this position.

And outside of those directly involved is a much larger group: those who want to invest who are unclear whether they will be allowed to; ISPs and other operators who are anxious that things may be “stitched up” in ways that will disadvantage them; and civil society organisations that are worried that “the same old, same old” monopolists will once again make it hard for Africa to take its share of the benefits of the project.

The existence of so many parties has meant a complex and often slightly chaotic negotiation. As one person closely involved in the negotiations told us:”No-one’s in the driving seat. Everybody’s issuing orders from the back seat”.

Trust is something in short supply. Different parties are saying different things and a game of Chinese whispers has ensued. The difficulty is that none of the parties involved have communicated very clearly outside of closed-door meetings. All negotiations have their private and public moments but none of the parties have been very good at the public part. Governments have seen little or no need to communicate widely on the subject. The Consortium members have put little “on the table” in writing for discussion so it is often hard to know what they are proposing on key issues. Furthermore, positions have shifted considerably since the project started.

In this context, it is hard to read what the status of the Kenyan announcement is: a poker player’s gambit or a real proposal? Eme Essien of the IFC (the commercial finance arm of the World Bank) speaking on a panel on the subject at GSM Africa said that the announcement was a “credible threat”. Those close to Government in Kenya say that it is moving quickly to put the proposals together and is keen to see access to the cable transparently available. We had all better hope so for if it goes ahead successfully it controls the way north from countries to the south.

The Governments themselves under NEPAD have formed themselves into a body called Inter-Governmental Working Group that represents the 23 countries covered by EASSy. This grouping came into being at what one can only describe as “five minutes to midnight.” From the April 2006 meeting in Pretoria, it appointed a Sub-Committee to address what it sees as the outstanding issues:

a) Review the viability, functions and scope of a proposed Inter-Governmental Assembly (IGA), whose purpose will be to ensure that NEPAD principles and the policies of the Governments of the region are upheld by the SPV,

b) Define the scope and functions of the SPV,

c) Review recommendations on the policy aspects of the CTO report (see below), taking into account the additional work to be done by the CTO to incorporate the EASSy (undersea) cable,

d) Conclude dialogue with the EASSy parties and DFIs, including the development of a joint project promotion strategy,

e) Raise funding for the interim work leading up to having the SPV Management Team in place,

f) Produce the draft report (on all these issues) for the meeting of Minister, and

g) Take all actions necessary to move the project forward, including the registration process of the SPV.

The Sub-Committee is chaired by former Kenyan MP Shem Ochuodho representing Rwanda and other members include South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Lesotho. The Sub-Committeee has invited the EASSy Consortium members to a meeting on 26 May. It also hopes to meet the DFIs but no date has yet been set. Its draft report will go to a ministerial meeting  on 6-7 June. This meeting will mirror the first one held in Pretoria: the first day will include stakeholders and the second day will be a closed session.

There is also a informal consultation group created from each of three main groups: Operators: Telkom Kenya, MTN Uganda, UTL and Telkom SA); DFIs (World Bank and African Development Bank); and Government (all the people from the Sub-Committee). In addition, the EASSy consortium members and DFIs have formed a Working Group and already held two meetings, one in Lusaka and the other in Kampala. These meetings have involved looking at different versions of the SPV and seeking to negotiate differences.

Several things have already been approved by the sub-committee:

- It has agreed in principle to engage legal experts (which will happennext week). Member states invited to have their legal people look at legal protocol devised by CTO for fibre connections between states.

- It has agreed in principle to get the services of a technical/business adviser, one person with both skills who has managed cross-border/undersea project and also legal advice.

- Finally it has agreed it is better to build on the momentum that operators and NEPAD have already created.

According to Sub-Committee Chair, Shem Ochuodho, there is a consensus on certain key issues:”One of the things agreed across the board by everyone is Open Access. But it means different things to different people. The operators have accepted the concept but that this project must also make commercial sense. The sooner things are concluded, the better”.

According to Ochudho, the Sub-Committee has worked its way through almost all the items it was set with only two remaining:  One is getting a revised report from the CTO to incorporate the additional work they have been briefed to do. Ochuodho says:”That is not a major piece of work”. The other is fundraising mobilisation. A budget has been put together by the sub-committee and that will go to the larger IGOV meeting.

Despite noisy criticisms from many quarters, Ochuodho is very upbeat:” Concluding the dialogue should take 2-3 meetings. It’s a negotiation effectively. By the end of 2008 the cable should be ready for use”. He is confident that all outstanding issues should be settled by the end of June or July at the latest:”I think the gap between the three different parties, particularly between the private sector and the Governments, is being overplayed”.

There are many outstanding issues that might be important but three are crucial: pricing, access and governance.

The first of these issues – pricing – is intimately related to how the cable is financed. Put simply, the more expensive the cost of the money raised, the higher the price for the end-user. There remains a lack of clarity over whether the Consortium is able to raise the slightly larger budget required to finance the project or not. Publicly, the Consortium maintains it does, perhaps eager not to upset any finance institution it may subsequently approach. Privately, some members are more sanguine and admit that without external funding (such as that from the World Bank) the project will not fly in anyone’s hands.

So what is being proposed by NEPAD? According to Dr Henry Chasia, speaking at a recent Knowledge for African Development Event, a Special Purpose Vehicle will be set up that raises 70% of the required budget through debt and 30% from equity. The World Bank’s presentation to the April meeting showed it covering 50% of the required budget for the project. The aim is that all purchasing capacity will receive it at the same price. It envisages a much wider group of shareholders for the equity, paying equal amounts each: 60 companies, with a rough spread of three companies per country. Shareholders’ ROI will be regulated.

Whilst the spread of shareholders is to be welcomed, the high level of debt may actually lead to higher rather than lower prices. Raising debt equity is an expensive process and the final cost of the money involved will inevitably be in the higher ranges of percentages above LIBOR. Although final pricing offers have not been fixed, the range that seems to be under discussion is $1500-1700, which is higher than the prices given earlier by a Consortium member. Issues remain as to what the final cost of the capacity will be as the final destinations are either Sudan or Djibouti, not in a competitive market in Europe.

The second area of concern is the selection of people to become shareholders of the Consortium. John Paul Bagiire, General Manager – Strategy, MTN Uganda said on a panel at GSM East Africa that the NEPAD proposals were taking Africa back in time to a point where Government decided everything. He said the private sector was unhappy with the idea of Government selecting who would be involved.

Shem Ochuodho, Chair of the IGOV Sub-Committee maintains that all existing Consortium members will be involved and that Government will only check the credentials of new Consortium members. According to Dr Henry Chasia, e-Africa Commission, governments are going to “authenticate” companies and Ministries will be asked to recognize that companies applying are legal entities.

In similar circumstances, the existing EASSy consortium went from admitting new members by a vote of all members to allowing people to join if they met a set of criteria (unpublished). Rather than hand back to Governments what are in effect regulatory functions, IGOV should examine how it can step back from these processes and where possible leave them in the hands of existing regulatory bodies after initial decisions are made. Criteria for entry should be made publicly available.

The requirement for an international licence continues to make a mockery of these processes. Take the case of Rwanda itself.  When it was the Government incumbent, Rwandatel signed the MOU because the Government said it needed to get involved. Government made a member commitment of US$10 million. When the company was privatised, the Government wanted to take back the MOU status and give the responsibility to its ICT development agency, RITA. But as Garry Clark, COO of Terracom, Rwandatel’s new owner told us:”It’s not got an international licence, hence I remain the MOU party. We have to agree with Government what we are both going to do. After the discussions with the World Bank, we’re asking is being an MOU partner really worth it now?”

Meanwhile Kenya is going through a process that will result in two more international licenes (for its mobile operators) and in current circumstances, it is hard to see how they might become investors if they wanted to do so. Vodacom has no international licence in South Africa so is making its investment via its Mozambique company where it does. What is needed is a greater degree of consistency and transparency that will allow the maximum number of investors to become involved if they have money to invest. For as a Consortium member told us:” The International gateway licence was just a filter to make sure the MOU group wasn’t too big”.

On governance, matters are far less clear. The SPV will have a Board but as yet it is not clear who will be on that Board or how it will operate. Since all shareholders are equal on the basis of the devised SPV, it is unclear who would therefore be elected to the Board. The suspicion remains in the private sector that Government will get involved and what might be a commercially-run organisation will turn into an Air-Afrique-style disaster.

It is perhaps worth remembering what everyone involved should be doing. Government (and bodies it appoints like regulators) have the task of creating a policy for the public interest and a competitive market that will attract investors and create low prices for users. They should not be tempted to run or play a part in running the cable once it is complete.

The private sector needs to get a reasonable rate of return on funds it deploys (discuss). Operators in the Consortium need to know that the managing agent of the Consortium is acting in their best interest and is relieving them of the burden of having to manage the cable. They need capacity at a price that: will enable them to bring new services to Africa, expand their customer base and help that make good profits at a national and regional level. Users want the lowest possible price that can be achieved without the cable becoming a financial white elephant. Therefore everyone needs to get this deal done…..

CAMTEL LAUNCHES NEW MOBILE NETWORK IN CAMEROON

The Cameroon Mobile Telecommunications S.A, a subsidiary of CAMTEL becomes the third mobile telephone operator in Cameroon. The Cameroon Mobile Telecommunications S.A,(C.M.T.S.A.) will have capital of CFA 600 million.

General Manager of CAMTEL, David Nkoto Emane, said the network will go operational almost immediately. He thanked government for making it possible for CAMTEL to put in place this product which is seriously awaited by everybody. He said, the new enterprise has as intension to pass to the third generation. "We will go very far with services that will be more efficient", he said. Nkoto Emane underscored the capacity of CAMTEL stating that many people are ignorant of what the corporation is capable of doing. He said, apart from fixed telephony and Internet, other products will be born, notably, cable television. Among the key share holders of the CMT SA, is the National Investment Corporation (SNI) which possesses 10 per cent of the shares.

According to economic forecast by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the number of subscribers for MTN and Orange should surpass 2,600,000 by the end of 2006.

(SOURCE: Cameroon Tribune)

SOUTH AFRICA GETS VOIP NUMBERS AND INTERCONNECT

Speaking at the AfrISPA Forum in Kenya, Mark Elkins, Managing Director of South African ISP Posix Systems described the progress being made on key VoIP issues. He said that the South African regulator was now issuing 087 numbers:”There were no forms so we made one up for them and now we’ve got our numbers.” They are non-geographical numbers and were formerly used as premium line numbers, many of which were used for phone porn. Elkins and others voiced suspicions that these numbers were allocated because these associations would help protect the incumbent’s existing business.

But commitments have been made by Telkom on interconnection. As Elkins told the AfrISPA AGM:”As dominant market player, Telkom cannot refuse interconnection. It has said that it will give SIP access and no SS7 will be required.”

UGANDA: GOVERNMENT PUTS AN END TO THE DUOPOLY

The ministry of Works, Housing and Communication has issued new telecommunication guidelines that bring a close to the duopoly of MTN Uganda and Uganda Telecom.

Under the new guidelines, other players in the telecom industry will be allowed to provide a wide range of products and services that have till recently been an exclusive right of MTN Uganda and Uganda Telecom.

The new guidelines also somewhat quell the debate, especially by players who did have the national operator license, that the Uganda Communications Commission opens the industry for equal participation by all interested parties.

INVEST MORE: Mr Nasasira

Mr John Nasasira, the Minister of Works, Housing and Communications said other players will, under the new guidelines, be free to apply for licenses to provide all telecommunication services like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), call centers, trunk capacity resale, and establishment of International Data Gateway (IDG) among others.

"The existing national operators no longer have a monopoly in the areas mentioned," Nasasira said while launching the new telecommunication guidelines at the Ministry of Works head office in Kampala on May 11.

Nasasira advised mobile phone service providers to invest in more than just mobile phones because the current three telecommunications service operators in Uganda had achieved the initial objective of telecommunication in Uganda to a great extent.

Celtel Uganda is the third telecom services provider.

Nasasira said telecom players should invest in more Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services now that telephone calls can be made in most parts of the country.

(source: The Monitor)

ICASA CHALLENGES HIGH LEVELS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MOBILE PRICING

Are you paying too much for your cellphone calls -- everywhere you go? That's the question the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) will be asking this week in what has become a long-running battle over cellular call prices in SA. The regulator is holding a public hearing to establish whether South African consumers are paying too much for their calls and whether Icasa should be doing more to regulate these prices down. For many consumers, there is probably no need for such an inquiry as their answer to both questions would be a resounding "Yes".

Yet regulators are bound to follow fair processes and so the hearing presents an opportunity for all sides to give their views.

Ideally this debate on prices could be settled by a close examination of the costs of the operators and comparing them to the prices charged. However, without the regulatory accounts that would give this information, we are restricted to drawing conclusions on whether prices are high or not from the profit levels of the operators, as well as international comparisons of prices.

It is precisely because of international comparisons that the debate has heated up in the past few months.Icasa released its international cellular-pricing comparison in a discussion document last year. This comparison suggested that South African cellular prices were, in fact, fairly high. However, as expected, the results of this study were hotly disputed by the cellular operators.

One argument was that the comparison countries were inappropriate. Icasa chose the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland and Spain as comparison countries, none of which are particularly similar to SA in terms of income per capita, physical geography, or other relevant factors. It was also argued that the data used by Icasa was riddled with errors.

In rebuttal, Vodacom produced its own international benchmark which, unsurprisingly, showed that South African prices were positively cheap by comparison. However, similar criticisms could also be levelled at this benchmarking exercise. While Vodacom included some more appropriate comparison countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Morocco and Brazil, it still kept Icasa's four inappropriate comparison countries in the sample. However, if the four inappropriate countries are excluded from the Vodacom survey, their own results put South African prices to-wards the expensive end of the international price range in many cases.

In other words, with a little adjustment, Vodacom's own research may also prove that their prices are on the high side. This demonstrates how sensitive the results of such benchmarking exercises are to the selection of countries.

It also alerts us that Vodacom's sample of comparison countries may change for each different call-rate comparison they do.

There is little likelihood of reaching agreement over the appropriate countries that should be included in a price benchmarking exercise. So where does this leave us? Well, one alternative would be to look at what our South African cellular companies charge consumers in other African countries where they are licensed to operate. This should at least tell us what prices our own cellular companies are capable of offering us.

A quick comparison of MTN and Vodacom prices was undertaken across their various African operations (Cell C does not have other licences). The same Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development cellular basket used in Vodacom's benchmarking exercise was used, but any upfront starter pack costs were excluded. After all, it is the monthly costs that ultimately matter.

The comparison focused on the low-usage basket given the low-income users that dominate the African landscape. Finally, given many different tariff plans, focus was placed on the cheapest national prepaid products only.

The results of this exercise were somewhat surprising. With one or two exceptions, both MTN and Vodacom seem to be offering our African neighbours a far better deal than they offer back home.

MTN subscribers in Uganda, Cameroon and Rwanda pay less for their cellular usage than MTN subscribers in SA. The difference is also not trivial. MTN subscribers in Uganda are paying 40% less for a bundle of call services and MTN subscribers in Cameroon 35% less. For example, for MTN prepaid subscribers to call another MTN subscriber in the peak period would cost R3,20 a minute in SA (Pay as you go) but only R1,45 per minute in Uganda (Paygo standard). Sending an SMS on your MTN network would cost you 75c in SA but only 37c in Uganda.

Similarly, across the border in Mozambique, Vodacom is offering consumers a bundle of prices that are around 30% cheaper than in SA. A prepaid Vodacom subscriber in Mozambique (per minute package) will pay R1,31 per minute for a call in the peak period while South African prepaid Vodacom subscribers (4U Prepaid) must fork out R2,99 per minute. The SMS will cost the Vodacom subscriber in Mozambique 39c while South Africans pay 80c.

The net effect is that South African subscribers face cellular prices that are higher, on average, than what subscribers pay in other countries served by our own companies.

Only our small immediate neighbours in Swaziland and Lesotho are worse off than us. There seems no easy explanation for this.

SA offers huge economies of scale compared with tiny markets such as Uganda or Rwanda.

In SA one doesn't need to equip base stations with their own diesel generator because of the lack of electricity outside urban areas.

In SA there are not the political and economic risks on the scale evident in other countries.

Could it be South Africans are charged more simply because our cellular companies think we can afford to pay more? And is that a fair basis for pricing?

At the end of the day, knowing that some poor subscriber in the Slovak Republic is paying more than us is cold comfort for the South African consumer. What we expect are fair prices. Our own cellular companies have shown us that they are capable of charging as much as 35% to 40% less than we are paying. Consumers shouldn't be content with just a few "happy hours" a day or being charged different prices "everywhere we go" in the region. Isn't it time the cellular companies started doing a little more for us and a little less "for themselves"?

(SOURCE: Business Day)

CCK IN KENYA SWEETENS ITS SNO LICENCE OFFER

The Government last week launched a second effort at licensing a competitor to Telkom Kenya under a modified mandate, that would allow the lucky firm to offer both mobile and fixed telephone services.

In re-advertising the search for a second national telecommunications operator, the Government talks of a "unified licence" for the services. A similar effort aborted in 2004 only offered the bidders a licence for fixed telephone services. Now the government appears to have recognised the limitations and opted to make its offer more attractive. The search also comes at a time when interest in fixed line systems is at a low as mobile communications continues to grow.

For a single licence, the second national operator will be allowed to offer voice, data, national cellular mobile, international voice gateway, commercial Vsat (very small aperture terminal) and internet backbone services. Mutua Muthusi, the head of communications and public relations at the industry's regulator, Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), said that in the near future, big operators like Telkom Kenya, Safaricom and Celtel, will be allowed to offer services using a single licence.

"We are in a transition period, after which, for instance, the mobile companies will be allowed to operate fixed line telephony among other services by being issued with a single licence," he told the Nation yesterday. Currently, CCK issues different licences for separate services to telecommunications companies, which the regulator say it will consolidate into a single licence.

The re-advertised tender might rankle Johannesburg-based Econet Wireless group, which won Kenya's third mobile licence in September 2003. After wining the licence, Econet found itself bogged down by a protracted dispute with its partners, prompting the Government to cancel its licence.

The offer closes on June 30, CCK said in the advertisement yesterday. The move is meant to further liberalise the communications market. The second national operator is expected to stimulate competition, and encourage expansion in the communications sector.

After the pre-qualification process, the winning firm should result be issued with a licence on January 2007.

Bidders are required to submit their financial history, including audited financial reports and statements for the last three years. If the applicant is a consortium of several parties, the bidder must submit the same for all participating members of the consortium.

Among other things, an applicant must also submit a network history, including the growth of subscribers in the last five years. Bidders must provide letters of compliance to licence conditions for the last three years issued by the regulatory body of country of network operation.

(SOURCE: The Nation)

ZANTEL SET TO ROLL OUT ITS OWN HYBRID GSM/CDMA NETWORK

Zantel is set to roll out its own network this year on the mainland, using a combination of GSM and CDMA. It wants to use the latter to offer fixed wireless and Internet and sees itself becoming “more than a mobile company”. Currently Zantel is using Vodacom’s network, effectively operating as an MVNO. According to George Chimalilo, Marketing Manager, Zantel speaking at GSM East Africa the average prepaid user can expect a 30% reduction on Vodacom’s prices. This must give some idea of the size of Vodacom’s current margins.

TCRA TO LICENSE NEW PHONE FIRM IN TANZANIA

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) is  expected to provide a landline telephone services licence to Benson Informatics Limited (BOL). BOL Managing Director Vinay Chondary told the ‘Daily News’ last week that TCRA would license them to provide both landline and cellular phone services. “We will start operating officially within the next three months after securing the licences,” Mr Chondary said.

He said Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma and Zanzibar would be the first area to be hooked to BOL, while Mwanza, Tabora, Shinyanga, Tanga, Morogoro, Kilimanjaro and Singida are to follow.

On mobile, Mr Chondary said, the services would start next January: “Our services would be provided using the new technology Code Division Multiple Access-CDMA—that also offered Internet Protocol services.” BOL currently providers of Internet wireless services and have about two million customers, projects to connect 50,000 customers in the first six-months.

(SOURCE: Tanzania Standard)

IN BRIEF:

-   MTN Rwanda is delivering data services using Wi-MAX. MTN Uganda is testing Wi-MAX to deliver broadband wireless and there is also a test network in South Africa. MTN Cameroon will also soon be implementing it. Celtel is carrying out a GPRS trial in Uganda and also in Kenya. It has now also transferred its Kenya operation on to Ericsson infrastructure to bring it in line with its other East African operations.

-   Lesotho has passed legislation saying that all decisions by the regulator must be approved by the Government. There is also talk of extending the incumbent’s monopoly by yet another year.

- Operators in Mauritius have had some relief on international fibre prices with a 20% reduction on SAFE/SAT3 prices to $4,700 per mbps per month.

- Revenue estimated at P1.5 million was not recorded at Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), the Auditor General has revealed. The report on the accounts of government released by the Auditor General for the financial year 2004/5, identified weaknesses in the billing and non-billing of leased lines that were installed by the BTC. "The finding is a significant cause for concern... the monetary value of the installations, has not yet been provided by management," reads the Auditor General's report in part. According to the Auditor General, there is a serious breakdown in internal controls and unrecorded revenue at BTC. The Auditor General also decried failure to follow laid down procedures by BTC management. The report findings also revealed problems with customer accounts in the database.

- Four telecommunications firms, Starcomms Limited, Multilinks, Intercellular and Prest Cable and Wire (Prestel) at the weekend received approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to commence unified licensing regime in the country. The companies are the first batch of new licencees under unified licensing arrangement where multiple services such as mobile telephony, fixed telephony, internet, broadband and long distance services can be made available by a single provider.

- The CCK has announced its intention to license the two mobile networks to operate their own international voice gateways in Kenya.  Barring delays, Safaricom and Celtel Kenya will be issued with the international voice gateway licences by mid this year.

TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE

- MTN Nigeria subscribers base is now approaching the 10 million mark following the announcement by the group in South Africa that the Nigeria subsidiary now has 9,036,000 subscribers on its network.

- The battle for Rwanda's telecom services market is just beginning to excite users. Just a week after MTN Rwanda announced its GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) internet on the phone, its rival, Terracom is unwrapping EVDO (Evolution Data Optimised Only), a fast wireless broadband internet access on its newly launched CDMA (Code Division Multiple Acess) mobile phone service (see next week’s Rwanda Special).

- Ericsson has opened a regional office in Nairobi to service the Eastern Africa markets. Ericsson Kenya is planning to service at least 20 key customers in nine countries, while using Kenya as its operation hub. Meanwhile Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications has also announced the opening of an office in Nairobi to reinforce its commercial operations in the African market. The office is aimed at serving the East African region which includes Kenya, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and other countries in the region.

- Celtel Uganda has signed an agreement with the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association to install pay phones in all commuter taxis. It will cover all taxi parks in the country but will be initially rolled in the Old and New taxi parks and later implemented throughout the country. The pay phones would use solar chargers to operate. Each local call will cost Shs200 per unit, calls to East Africa Shs400 per unit while calls to other international destinations will go for Shs450 per unit.

- Ghanaian mobile operator Kasapa Telecom, a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom, has extended the coverage of its CDMA network to Obuotabiri, and announced the launch of ‘Kasapa Voice Message’ services for its subscribers.

COMPETITION WILL ENCOURAGE INTERNET GROWTH IN SUDAN

Starting early 2006, the Internet market in Sudan started a journey of transformation. The 2nd telecom operator, CanarTel, initiated competition starting with its wireless Internet service. Moreover, Canar’s ADSL services will be launched in mid 2006. All those factors are expected to energize the market, specifically on the broadband front.

The Dialup Internet market is competitive in Sudan. All 15 ISPs offer Subscription Free Internet (SFI) via phone lines. Sudatel has revenue sharing agreements with all the ISPs (except for those who provide wireless Internet), being the only fixed line operator prior to the entrance of CanarTel. In January of 2006, CanarTel started offering its Internet service bundled in packages with voice services. As for the ADSL, the market is still a monopoly for Sudatel. This will change by mid of this year when CanarTel lauches its broadband services. In addition, the Datacomm market was liberalized with the entrance of CanarTel in early 2006.

Internet accounts in Sudan grew at a healthy CAGR of 56.7% over the period from 2001 to 2005. Despite this, Internet penetration in Sudan is still very low by absolute and relative standards. By end of 2005, the Internet accounts penetration rate stood at a mere 0.2% of the population, including subscription-free Internet, and ADSL.” Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors Senior Research Analyst wrote in the report. “With competition initiated in late January 2006 by CanarTel, the Arab Advisors Group projects that the absolute yearly additions into the market will increase to sum up to 150,000 accounts added over the next 5-year period (2006-2010). Furthermore, CanarTel’s launch of its ADSL service in mid 2006 is expected to energize the broadband uptake in the huge Arab-African country. The Arab Advisors Group forecasts a gradual growth in the broadband market size over the coming 5 years. ADSL accounts are projected to reach make up more than 10% of the total Internet market size by 2010.”  Snobar added.

  (SOURCE: Al Bawaba)

CHINA TO FINANCE GHANA’S NATIONAL FIBRE OPTIC BACKBONE PROJECT

The government of Ghana is sourcing a soft loan from the government of China to ensure adequate fibre optics connectivity throughout the country through the National Fibre Optic Backbone project and contract to that effect would be signed in June, this year.

Fibre Optics already exist in the southern portion of the country through Volta River Authority's Voltacom infrastructure, which stretches from Kumasi, Nkawkaw, Accra, Winneba, Cape Coast and to Obuasi.

With the agreement in place, a fibre optic link will be built to Kumasi and further to the north. This was revealed by the deputy minister of communications, Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, during the start of the tenth information and communication technology exhibition and conference in Accra organized by AITEC West Africa last week.

(SOURCE: Ghanaian Chronicle)

AFRICA ONLINE SET TO LAUNCH IBURST IN GHANA

Africa Online is set to launch Kyocera Corporation's iBurst powered wireless access solution in Ghana under the brand name of InfiNet, following successful trials of the service elsewhere in Africa. The technology's ability to deliver wireless solutions will enable Ghanaians to circumvent familiar bottlenecks, such as reliance on telephone lines. InfiNet will give its subscribers the ability to access services without having to own a fixed telephone lines. The introduction of InfiNet in Ghana will be Africa Online's second installation of the product in Africa, after Kenya - the result of partnership between AfOL and Kyocera Corporation.

NEWS IN BRIEF FROM THE AFRISPA FORUM

-   Never a country to do things by halves, Nigeria will have IXPs in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kanu and Maidugu with a NOC in Abuja. ISPAN has negotiated capacity on the SAT3 cable duplex for under $3,000 per mbps per month. GISPA is negotiating its capacity prices down to $5,000.

- Vodacom DRC is selling GPRS. CongoKorea has only deployed fibre in down town Kinshasa and seems not to have implemented its more ambitious plans. The Congolese regulator is working on new laws and regulations.

- Uganda’s ISP Association is considering letting PTO’s with ISPs join the association.

- In Tanzania the local ISPA and the regulator are setting up a company jointly to manage the national domain. IXPs are to be set up in Arusha and Mwanza.

- MISPA is the latest ISP association to join AfrISPA. It is setting up an IXP that may be located in the College of Medicine, which has 4 VSATs throughout the country. The wider issuing of VSAT licences is hurting the ISP business as most corporates and NGOs have their own licences now.

- Kenya’s Safaricom is now charging a flat rate for its GPRS data service and an IXP is being opened in Mombasa.

- The Algerian ISP association has joined AfrISPA as a member.

IN BRIEF:

- The Civil Aviation Authority of Rwanda offers free wi-fi access at Kigali airport.

- Edouard Etonde Ekotto, the Minister of Post and Telecommunications has announced that the work to lay the fibre cable alongside the pipeline to Chad has started. Douala, the economic capital of the country will be the landing point.

- The new schedule for the ICASA ADSL hearings, which will take place on the 24th and 25th of May, has been released. On the 24th of May eight presentations will be made, most notably from Internet Solutions, Vodacom, ISPA, ISOC and MWeb. On the 25th of May five presentations will be made from MyADSL, Cybersmart, Sentech, the SNO and Telkom.

- Uganda telecom Utl has started offering broadband internet connections with a minimum of 64kbps and a maximum of 256kbps available at present. The company plans to provide later connections up to 6 Megabytes per second. The monthly rates are $90, $170 and $300 for 64Kbps, 128Kbps and 256Kbps respectively.

- Namibia's' leading internet-based converged communications provider UUNET last week changed its name to Verizon Business Namibia. Verizon Business Namibia is a subsidiary of Verizon Business South Africa.

CSCS SET TO PROMOTE E-BUSINESS AND E-GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA

Nigeria has recorded yet another milestone with the recent establishment of the CSCS Digital Centre. According to the Managing Director of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Limited Mr. Onyewuchi Asinobi, the CSCS Digital Centre is set to revolutionize the way Business Organizations and Government Institutions keep, store and retrieve their prized documents and data in Nigeria.

The CSCS Digital Centre is modeled after reputable Digital Storage and Retrieval banks in Europe and America. It provides an off-site, online solution for the organizations to convert their paper documents into secure electronic format, Digital Document Storage with seamless retrieval utilizing robust web solution, implementing disaster recovery policy and records management.

The centre will free up spaces in office, as paper documents need not be kept anymore and retrieval will be within seconds or a few minutes rather than the endless hours it takes to retrieves paper documents. Sensitive documents will no longer be destroyed by rodents, cockroaches, moisture or fire. Conversely the CSCS Digital Centre will serve as an effective off-site, online computer generated data bank. Thus, in the event of fire outbreak, earthquakes, computer crash and so on, each subscriber-company can retrieve its respective data in its complete form at the touch of a button from the CSCS Digital Centre. The Centre has an on-demand enterprise storage system which is highly scalable, while all storage media have storage retention capacity of lifecycle of at least 50 years. CSCS' professionally deployed storage facility is platform independent.

Onyewuchi Asinobi notes that the CSCS Digital Centre is the brainchild of Nigeria's capital market icon Dr Mrs. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke OON, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and Apostile Hayford I. Alike, Chairman CSCS Board of Directors. CSCS as subsidiary of the NSE, has for nearly one decide operated a computerized depository, clearing, settlement and delivery system for transactions in shares in the Nigerian Stock Market. It has thus far conducted its operations to world acclaim.

Its operation of a digital centre is a natural next-step in its area of core competence. Asinobi recalls that it became compelling for his organisations to put up its world-class digital centre when it realised that by year 2005, storage consumed 13% to 17% by 2006/07. The figure he says will be much higher in a developing country like Nigeria.

With the CSCS Digital Centre, the incessant fire outbreaks in public buildings as well as hazards of power fluctuation will no longer pose a threat to the seamless continuity of business. The services of the company has since been subscribed to by some major organizations with more commencing discussions for enlistment.

(SOURCE: This Day)

CONSTRUCTION OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE CENTRE IN UGANDA

President Yoweri Museveni has endorsed the establishment of a $10 million  computer centre by the African Christian Development Trust (ACIDT) in Kampala.

According to a letter dated April 26, 2006, Museveni asked the Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority, Ms Maggie Kigozi, to get in touch with the ACIDT and start working on the required modalities for the construction of the industry. The Principal Private Secretary to the President, Ms Amelia Kyambadde, signed the letter.

ACIDT is a charity Anglican founded organisation funded by Global Net Work (USA), Computer Aid International Ltd (UK) and Inveneo International Organisation (San Francisco). The firm will produce computer software with a training centre in information and communication technology.

According to the letter, the computers will be able to use solar energy. The establishment of the firm will ease Uganda's software needs.

(SOURCE: The Monitor)

OPEN SOURCE ‘HELPS YOU AND HELPS SA’

South African companies are being urged to adopt open source software so they can not only cut their running costs but also contribute to job creation and boost the national economy.

  Software veteran Jon “Mad Dog” Hall is in SA this week, telling companies that helping themselves will also help the country.

“My main message is about jobs in SA,” Hall said at the LinuxWorld conference in Johannesburg. “Last year, R3bn left SA in software royalties. Open source creates an opportunity to move a lot of that money back into SA by employing people to develop software tailored to meet the needs of the industry.”

Open source advocates usually focused on the benefits of being able to adapt the software to meet a user’s individual needs. “We haven’t really emphasised the effect on jobs before,” Hall said.

He is a director of Linux International, an organisation that promotes the Linux open source operating system. Linux is gaining ground as a free-to-use, free-to-adapt operating system to rival systems including Windows. Hall expects Linux to gradually gain a 30% share of the Microsoft dominated desktop market, where it now holds 5%-7%.

Open source is also shaking up other sections of the industry as a wide variety of industry- specific applications are developed to rival the traditional fee bearing, brand-name versions.

Companies that bought proprietary software were slaves to the supplier because they could not change the software to suit the way they worked, Hall said. They might not even be able to switch to a rival package easily, if the documents they had created in the initial software were not compatible with a different program.

It had recently become apparent that commercial suppliers were concentrating on having their developments carried out for the lowest possible cost — often outsourcing to India and China — and were not focusing on meeting their customers’ needs. The number of users had overwhelmed their ability to respond to individual needs.

Hall believes that no software company will make money from licence fees. Instead, they will sell their services and support. Database vendors, for example, could let users access their database over the internet and guarantee to protect, back up and archive information for a small monthly fee.

But far from putting companies out of business, open source had the potential to create many more jobs, he said.

“When people finally understand that they can change the software to fit their needs, there will be an explosion of companies wanting to have the software tailored, and that will generate jobs for programmers.”

Microsoft might use 500 programmers in Redmond to develop an office package for the entire world, Hall said. “If it created an open source version and everybody said: it’s good but I’d like a little change, they would bring in developers to make the change. That’s local jobs for local people in SA, not in Redmond.”

(SOURCE: Business Day)

ECOWAS MINISTERS VALIDATE ICT COMMON MARKET

Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, Secretary of State for Communication Information and Technology, has returned from Abuja, Niegeria, where she joined the experts preparatory meeting to the sixth meeting of the Ecowas ministers of Telecommunications, and ICT for the establishment of the Common Market for ICT in West Africa.

Secretary of State Macdouall-Gaye was accompanied to the 14 Ecowas member-state attended meeting by Kumba Conateh, acting Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Communication Information and Technology, and Pa Modou Gassama, Director of Planning and Development at Gamtel, from last week.

Convened by the Ecowas Executive Secretariat, in collaboration with the government of Niegria, and the International Telecommunications Union, the meeting validated the legislative and regulatory texts for the establisment of the Common Market for ICT in the sub-region.

According to reports, the sub-regional ministerial meeting adopted a string of draft decisions that were sourced from the guidelines relating to the legeslative and regulatory framework of the Telecommunications in the Ecowas-UEMOA in order to achieve a common liberalised ICT market.

Accordingly, the meeting considered the Lome declaration of Ecowas Meeting on Regional Policy on ICT in Togo held in Febuary, this year to define the framework of regional ICT policy.

At the meeting, reports from two private investment groups on the "intra-regional roaming project" were considered by the 11th ministerial gathering, while a group of investors, including those based in the UK, made presentations on the "internal connectivity project" for the West African countries.

Speaking at the meeting, SoS Macdouall-Gaye commended the Nigerian Government for hosting the meeting at a time, when the world is working towards the ICT revolution. She also thanked Nigeria for the training assistance being offered to Ecowas members and urged her collegues to remain responsive to it.

She acknowledged Africa's resolve to bridge the digital divide, and then exemplified the recent meeting of ministers of ICT in Dona, and the AU Cairo meeting as positive strides.

The Communication, Information and Technology Secretary Macdouall-Gaye urged her counterparts to utilised the opportunities technology provides, and then implored them to desist from relying on meetings of such nature to communicate.

Preceeded by the experts meeting of the Ecowas ministers, the sub-regional meeting was also attended by officials of the International Telecommunication Union, Regional African Satellite Communication, and the West African Telecommunications Regulatory Association.

(SOURCE: The Daily Observer)

IN BRIEF

- An information, communication and telecommunications (ICT) board will be set up in Kenya. The board's priority will be to make the country an ICT hub, by attracting investments in information technology and facilitating business.

- The Portuguese business group "Solbi" will build this year in Luanda, the capital of Angola, a City Desk computers assembling plant. "Solbi", a computers manufacturer and distributor of computing and electronic security equipment, has branches in Brazil, North Africa, Spain and South America. It exports to countries of the African Portuguese Speaking Community (PALOP).

ECONET INVESTS IN BURUNDI’S THIRD MOBILE OPERATOR

South Africa-based Econet Wireless has bought a 65 percent stake in Burundi's ST Cellular S.A..

ST Cellular is Burundi's third biggest cellular network and Econet plans to increase subscribers four-fold within two years. Burundi has four GSM operators.

While not willing to indicate how much the purchase cost and how much it would spend to achieve its goals, Econet on Thursday said that "the planned network expansion will probably be one of the single largest foreign direct investments in Burundi".

ST Cellular has a customer base of under 50,000. Econet spokesman Sure Kamhunga said that the company hopes this would be close to 200,000 within 18 to 24 months.

Burundi, with a penetration rate of 2.2 percent, offers mobile operators with a lot of potential for growth. The country has 160.000 subscribers. Africa's average penetration sits around 15 percent and it is no surprise that operators from Africa and the rest of the world are trying to increase their presence on the continent.

(SOURCE: Business in Africa)

UCS BOASTS SOLID ALL-ROUND SHOWING

Software company UCS has issued solid results likely to please its new empowerment partner, which is buying into the business at a generous discount to its trading price.

Shares in UCS gained 5c to R2,10 after its results were issued yesterday, and the black partner, Tactical Software Systems, is buying some shares for 179c.

Tactical is folding some operations into UCS in exchange for a 25,1% stake in main subsidiary UCS Solutions.

The deal should generate further critical mass and give UCS the credentials to win more business, particularly in the government sector, where Tactical focuses, said CEO John Bright.

"It's taken us a long time to come to the party but I think it's been worth the wait," Bright said.

"We have almost exclusively focused on the retail market and Tactical is focused on government work."

The merger would give UCS about 150 engineers skilled in SAP software, which was necessary as UCS often ran up to 50 SAP projects at a time.

Results for the six months to March 31 showed revenue of R356m, up 43% from R249m a year ago. Net profit of R21,8m was up from R12,8m and headline earnings a share of 8,2c were up 52% from 5,4c. Current liabilities stand at R141m, and its R35,5m in cash will be dipped into for an interim dividend of 3c a share.

Bright said most of its units had achieved or exceeded their profit targets.

A major project for UCS has been a two-year investment to create a software manufacturing facility. That had hit the balance sheet again in this period, with depreciation and amortisation costs of R20,9m, but it should start to generate revenues for the first time this year, Bright said.

At the same time its research and development spending has dropped 6% as duplication was done away with.

"We have been working hard for a few years to get our software businesses in order by merging six entities into one and setting up a manufacturing facility.

"We have been through two years of investments and this is the first period where we hope to generate some revenue," he said.

All the intellectual property obtained through its acquisitions had been harnessed in the new facility to create a stock of ready-made software components. They would be used as core building blocks for specific software applications for customers, so that programs could be developed more quickly and cheaply.

Bright said he expected the factory to begin winning international business from retailers needing sophisticated functions that packaged software was unable to provide.

(SOURCE: Business Day)

MTN STUMBLES ON INVESTCOM SUMS

MTN's share price took a dive yesterday as the cellular operator spelled out exactly how dilutionary its $5.5bn acquisition of Investcom would be initially. Beirut-listed Investcom serves 4.9-million customers in eight African and Middle Eastern countries, and holds licences to roll out networks in two more. Last week MTN issued figures showing the financial effects of the proposed deal based on the two company's results for the nine months to December 31.

Although MTN said the figures did not in any way constitute a profit forecast or an indication of its future earnings, it shed 250c, or 4,5%, to trade at R56.50. The figures show that if the deal had been concluded last year, MTN's actual headline earnings a share of 359.8c would have been 22% lower at 280,6c.

The net asset value a share of R11.83 would have been a massive 43% higher at R16.93. But the net tangible asset value a share of R8.18 would have plunged to a negative value of R3,29 after issuing another 204-million shares, giving Investcom's sellers a stake of about11% in MTN. The figures are based on an assumption that investors accept $2,08 in cash and 0,18 new MTN shares for each Investcom share.

MTN stressed that simply adding their historical earnings together did not do justice to the prospects of the combined entities. Investcom had experienced growth of more than 40% over the past two years, and some of its networks were yet to contribute to the profits as they only went live last year. Investcom had also recently increased its shareholdings in Yemen and in Sudan to capitalise on the "exceptional growth currently being experienced in the cellular industry in emerging markets", MTN said.

Analyst Meloy Horn of Merrill Lynch said the fee of $5,5bn was "high but not excessive", and could be justified by the scarcity of quality assets and to reduce the risk of a counter-bid by rival operators.

The fee reflects a historic price:earnings multiple of 26.5 times, compared with MTN's multiple of 12,6 times, so it was initially a dilutive deal. However, Investcom was an attractive target due to the low cellphone penetration rates in the countries where it operates, Horn said in a Merrill Lynch report.

The move should enhance MTN's growth profile as Investcom's licences cover a population of 147-million, of which only 9% have a cellphone. Horn sees the biggest potential in Sudan, with 34-million people and a penetration rate of 7%.

The move would also strengthen MTN's management capacities in the Middle East, helping with its current roll out of a network in Iran. Economies of scale achieved by covering 21 countries should also benefit the bottom line, Horn said.

Last week MTN announced a 55% year-on-year growth in subscribers for the three months to March 31. Its networks now serve 24,1-million users. In SA its subscribers of 10,2-million were up 27% from a year ago. The figure was down by 36000 from the previous quarter.

(SOURCE: Business Day)

IN BRIEF:

- The consolidated earnings from operations of Maroc Telecom stood at MAD 2.32Bn, USD 270Mn, in the end of the first quarter of 2006, i.e. 12.2% more in comparison to the same period of last year. Revenue increase comes from a growth  of 27.8% in the number of mobile consumers and plus 225% of ADSL subscribers compared to the same period of 2005.

- The Sotelma, Mali’s national incumbant has announced a loss of 4 billions CFA for  the year 2005. This negative result comes after a 28 billions CFA profit in 2004. Employees of the company said that this situation is partly due to a lack of initiatives and investments in the past year.

- Telkom Kenya would sell its two subsidiaries, the Gilgil Technical Institute (GTI) and the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT), as part of its ongoing restructuring programme.

- South African electronics and engineering company Reunert will close the chapter on its underperforming Reutech group for defence businesses, saying last week that it would dispose of the operations. Reunert would invest heavily in expanding its non-defence businesses that were already growing on the back of rising government, business and consumer spending, it said after releasing record profits.

WEB SITE LAUNCHES NIGERIA'S FIRST CYBER PAGEANT

A new web site, eNowNow.com, has launched a cyber pageant on its site to help aspiring models and students gain international exposure and earn extra income.

Editor/Content Manager of eNowNow.com, Biodun Durojaiye, in a statement explained that the cyber pageant is open to all Nigerian girls above the age of 18 years.

According to him, "the way it works is that visitors to our site vote for one of two contestants whose photos are served on our home page on a daily basis. Whichever of the two is voted the 'hotter' contestant emerges winner for that day, and now faces a new 'challenger' the next day.

"A contestant who wins 10 days in a row, emerges the 'queen', and wins the sum of N20,000 and a modelling contract with Modela Modelling Agency, h e said."

Durojaiye said girls wishing to participate should send their photos to the designated email address on the eNowNow.com site.

The cyber pageant, the first of its kind by any Nigerian site, is the latest innovation by eNowNow, and comes about two months after the web portal introduced its Celebrity Internet chat series.

The Celebrity Internet chat series was introduced on March 17, 2006 and entails bringing Nigerian newsmakers and celebrities to the eNowNow.com chatroom as guests to answer questions by Nigerians from all over the world. The series aims, among other objectives, to deepen public discourse and helping young people find inspiration through interaction with their role models.

Some of those who have featured in the eNowNow.com guest chat series include Nollywood star personalities, Stephanie Okereke, Rita Dominic, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Richard Mofe-Damijo

(SOURCE: This Day)

LAWS ON-LINE IN BOTSWANA

The Botswana government recently posted the laws of Botswana, including the Constitution of the Republic, on the internet. This is great news for anyone with a legal problem who is handy with a computer, or knows someone who can negotiate the web. All the laws can be found at online through the official Botswana Government website.

Everything is there: salaries for public servants, witchcraft, maintenance order enforcement, laws of inheritance for people subject to customary law. You name it; it's there. You can also check on the mandates for public corporations such as Air Botswana, BHC, Telecoms, WUC and BMC. There are 16 pages to the table of contents so you will need a bit of time and you will also need the Adobe Acrobat computer programme to read the files.

Of course the laws are not written in plain English, so you may still need to seek legal help after you have read the relevant material, but it seems likely many people will now be able to determine for themselves where they stand in the eyes of the law before deciding if it is worth employing a lawyer.

(SOURCE: The Voice)

A NEW NAMIBIAN DIGITAL CABLE TV ON HORIZON

A new pay cable TV company, Digital Cable Television (DCTE), is poised to start broadcasting shortly, following the awarding of a broadcasting licence in June last year by the Namibian Communications Commission.

The man behind the multi-million-dollar new television venture is Windhoek businessman Lucky Masabane, the former owner of another privately owned free-to-air station, Desert Television.

"Pay television is the ultimate answer for Namibia taking into account the local market and there is enough room for such private initiative. That's exactly what my company intends doing," Masabane spoke passionately about his new venture in a New Era interview.

According to Masabane, DCTE has conducted extensive research to test different technologies that will lead the station to the "next best thing".

"We have invited our business partners, who will be part of Digital Cable Television's international team that will lead the station with multiple channel choices aimed at the Namibian masses beyond the borders of this country," he said.

He was quick to add that the new television company does not aim to oppose similar companies already operating as pay channels.

"We will neither reinvent the wheel nor piggybag on other companies regarding infrastructure already existing and available with so many satellite channels set up all over the country. Our approach is three-pronged: accessibility, scalability and affordability. We are already negotiating with providers in the industry and are confident that we will reach amicable agreements," Masabane said.

In his view, DCTE will be an interactive communications medium that will also focus on local content.

"Namibia is an ideal and perfect test ground to export such technology to neigh-bouring countries and the rest of the continent. The station will primarily focus on entertainment, sports, news and current affairs. We intend availing a daily life slot for educational purposes to the Ministry of Education. Learners will at any given time be able to be tutored in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and others from a central point right in their classrooms. Health issues will also be focused on," he said of the revolutionary educational advantages of the venture.

DCTE also intends availing one of its 500 channels for State House, through which announcements of national importance can instantly and directly be broadcast.

"Subscribers will be able to tune in for a mere N$99 per month once we are operative and access will be by way of a decoder to be handed to subscribers for free," he promised.

A television education expert from New York and a property copyright lawyer are part of the management team, primarily consisting of top South African business people.

(SOURCE: New Era)

IN BRIEF:

- Cellular operator Vodacom has been awarded a test digital video broadcasting via handheld (DVB-H) licence from the Independent Communication Authority of SA to trial the technology in partnership with MultiChoice.

PEOPLE

* Mobile operator Cell C is switching CEO by appointing Jeffrey Hedberg, the former chairman and CEO of Deutsche Telekom's US subsidiary. He takes over from Talaat Laham, who has run SA's smallest cellular operator since its inception six years ago. Laham will become non-executive chairman with a focus on strategic issues.

EVENTS

- ELA E-LEARNING AFRICA 2006 -