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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 315 EASSY members agree to hybrid SPV and KDN still going aheadThe trio of parties involved in getting the EASSy project of the ground – African Governments, external funders (DFIs in the jargon) and last but not least the EASSy consortium members have agreed that the project will go forward using a Hybrid Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). An exhausting 3-day all-stakeholder meeting in Nairobi produced the breakthrough but many of the difficult details have yet to be sorted out. But KDN’s Kai Wulff is going ahead with a rival project and looks like a man with more than one option should he choose to change his mind. Russell Southwood tries to make sense of the latest twists and turns in this East African fibre saga. The Nairobi meeting was the first time that all of the parties had sat down together to discuss substantive issues and although the going proved to be hard, when the Chair asked if anyone was against the hybrid SPV, answer came there none. The hybrid SPV model is being backed by the DFIs that include: the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, the African Development Bank, the Agence Française de Développement (and its private sector finance arm PROPARCO) and KfW Entwicklungsbank (German Development Bank). 
So what is the hybrid SPV? In essence there will be two sets of companies: 1. the EASSy SPV that will receive support from the World Bank that will in turn support what we might call the Higher SPV (H-SPV) 2. The Higher SPV that will receive investment from all those organisations investing directly and that will not be subject to the Open Access requirements placed upon the EASSy SPV. Since part of the EASSy SPV’s purpose is to offer the lowest possible prices, its decision on pricing will set the benchmark against which those not in the EASSy SPV will have to set their prices as setting a higher price will not be an option. The EASSy SPV will be open to all of the existing EASSy consortium signatories plus all of those parties that got left out in the formation of the original project. It should therefore include entities like UbuntuNet, the university bandwidth consortium. Everyone is still insisting that international licences will be required to participate and this may yet create a hurdle for some parties. The consensus on the hybrid SPV structure seems to have made everyone’s position much more fluid and according to Laurent Besancon, Senior Regulatory Specialist, Global ICT Department, World Bank who has been closely involved with the negotiations from the DFI side:”Quite a large number of companies will join the EASSy SPV and the more that join, the lower the financing costs will be and therefore the lower the final price of the bandwidth.” It has to be said that it is currently quite hard to see the incentive to remain outside of the EASSy SPV unless you are an organisation “forward-buying” extremely large amounts of bandwidth or that you imagine your presence on the Board of the H-SPV will grant you some form of control not otherwise available through the EASSy SPV. Because it has taken a long time to reach agreement on the hybrid SPV, none of the tricky details about corporate governance and pricing have yet been resolved. Obviously the EASSy SPV and the direct investors into the H-SPV will nominate representatives to the Board of the H-SPV but how this will be achieved and what level of representation is assured for each group has not yet been settled. The discussion to settle this issue will be tricky as the EASSy SPV needs to ensure that Open Access principles and low pricing are achieved and the private sector members will want to ensure that the entity is run commercially. And it would not be beyond the bounds of imagination that one or two of the direct investors outside of the EASSy SPV will try and undermine in subtle ways the consensus achieved on a “low price, high volume” approach. For example, will those with landing stations get a special position at the table as in the current EASSy structure? At present there are apparently 4-5 landing station parties in the EASSy SPV so the issue may not be clear cut. The EASSy SPV’s Open Access position is underwritten by the DFIs but what if one or more of them was to decide that their work was done after five years and to sell out to another external investor? None of the details of the financing package are clear and yet it will be the balance between grants, soft loan funding and commercial funding that will ultimately settle the outcome of the final price of the bandwidth. The DFI package is worth US$170 million. The last budget announced by NEPAD was US$280 million and this included $10 million working capital and $30-40 million to build or upgrade existing landing stations. The DFIs say they are working hard to clarify the funding package issues and to produce the funding to pay for the expertise to get the “i”s dotted and the “t”s crossed. There is still no clarity on pricing. The principle is that the bandwidth will be as cheap as possible and that there will be a “step-down” after the initial five-year period. It appears from what is known that the bandwidth will be in the range that has already been quoted by various people associated with the EASSy consortium (see previous News Updates). A Task Force has been set up representing the three main parties involved and it will be this group that will have to try and overcome “the devil in the details”. A certain frisson was caused last week by the news that several countries (including Burundi had signed the CNMA but we are assured that this was simply to allow the release of monies to get the equipment acquisition moving for the capital project ahead. According to the World Bank’s Besancon:”We’ve had reassurances that the CNMA will be amended to reflect the Task Force and EASSy SPV input. The signing of the CNMA helps keep the momentum moving forward from Nairobi.” Meanwhile KDN’s CEO Kai Wulff is still sounding bullish about its project to sign with Flag to connect Mombasa to a Yemen branch of the Falcon cable:”We are definitely going ahead. There are enough people willing to listen to a better and cheaper proposal. But whatever happens I will simply go with whatever is the cheapest option and I’m not going to be delayed by anything.” The company is believed to have a “let-out” clause on the Flag deal and could make the move back to EASSy if the price is right. Wulff stressed that whilst he would compete in all other arenas in the field of international bandwidth he was simply trying to make the cheapest bandwidth available to everybody:”KDN’s motivation is that we’re looking for the best and cheapest option that will help the development of the ICT sector in the region and through that the development of the whole region.” Regional press reports say that the company is in negotiations with Safaricom, Telkom and Celtel Kenya and ISPs.
CHINGUITEL SA GETS THIRD GSM LICENCE IN MAURITANIA FOR NEARLY US$100 MILLIONThe Mauritanian telecommunications regulator has announced that the third GSM licence has been granted to Chinguitel SA, a Mauritanian company, for an amount of 26,600,000,000 ouguiya (US$99 million). The financial offer made by Chinguitel SA is nearly four times higher than the price paid by MATTEL (Société Mauritano-tunisienne des Télécommunications) in 2000 to operate the first mobile network in Mauritania. Three other licences were also granted: Chinguitel SA was granted a licence for international calling on pre-paid cards and Orange Mauritanie SA and Chinguitel SA were granted local loop licences for local and national voice services and Internet. This international call for tender has still a court decision pending. MATTEL one of two existing mobile operators (the other mobile operator is Mauritel Mobile) has started legal proceedings against this tender arguing irregular procedures and potential damages caused to the existing operators with the entry of a third one. (SOURCE : Panapress ) ETHIOPIA’S ETC CHANGES FROM SATELLITE TO FIBREEthiopian incumbent ETC seems to have completed its link to Sudan via Gondar and begun shifting its international traffic from satellite to the new, nearly-all fibre route. Users were reporting that ping times from Addis Ababa to an international destination had gone down to 109 milliseconds. By Thursday they had gone up to 340 milliseconds but this is still much better than had been achieved with the satellite connection. No official announcement has yet been made. It is understood that there is a fibre optic link to Gondar that is now connected to the fibre network in the south-east of Sudan. There is still a stretch that uses microwave which was used to speed up the opening of the terrestrial link. NAMIBIAN 2ND MOBILE OPERATOR POWERCOM SAYS STILL GROWTH IN MOBILE TELEPHONE MARKETPowercom, which was recently awarded the second cellular phone licence, believes there is still room for growth in the Namibian mobile telephone market despite the strong performance by Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) in the last ten years. MTC claims to have 410,000 subscribers. This week, the executive chairman of Telecom Management Partners AS (TMP), Christian Erlandsen said the growth potential would benefit both Powercom and MTC. TMP through Telenor has a 39% stake in Powercom. Erlandsen said Powercom is planning to start operating early next year. "We are planning to start operations as soon as is practically possible," said Erlandsen in an interview. Powercom plans to invest more than N$500 million to start operations Erlandsen said. Erlandsen said Powercom was currently having talks with lenders and supplies to source the money and equipment to set up Powercom. He said the company will be providing services to the whole country including rural areas but added that the investment in urban areas will be important for Powercom to operator profitably. TMP plans to consolidate its activities in other African countries and this week it announced the appointment of former NamPower MD Dr Leake Hangala as its senior vice president, with effect from 1 June. Erlandsen said part of Hangala's portfolio would be to oversee the company's activities in Africa. TMP has cellular telephone operations in several other African countries including Ghana and Kenya. Erlandsen said TMP intends to expand its operations on the continent. (SOURCE: Namibia Economist) SOUTH AFRICAN CELLPHONE BANKING FACES THREAT FROM NEW LAWEfforts to increase access to financial services using cellphone technology could be dealt a blow once new surveillance legislation is enacted, say experts. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication Related Information (Rica) Amendment Bill was due to have been implemented this month. However, implementation was postponed pending amendments to the act. These are expected to be addressed when Parliament reconvenes next month. As it stands, the bill will require cellphone operators to identify and register more than 30-million customers within 12 months of implementation of the act. Those who cannot be identified will have their services suspended. The amendment bill is aimed at improving transparency in communications by monitoring cellular and fixed-line subscribers in an attempt to combat fraud and other crimes. With cellphone banking being punted as a cheap and practical means to bank the millions of South Africans who have no access to financial services, the implementation of the new law could prove an impediment to this. While the bill has been in the pipeline for a number of years, Prof Louis de Koker, director of the Centre for the Study of Economic Crime at the University of Johannesburg, said following a similar exercise among financial services companies, the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica), cellphone networks had realised only recently what a mammoth task lay ahead for them. The requirements of Rica were even more demanding than those of Fica as cellphone networks would have to obtain proof of identity and proof of residential and postal addresses from their users, while banks were required only to obtain proof of physical address from their customers, De Koker said. While the home affairs department says only 1,5-million South Africans are without identity documents, De Koker said the number could run as high as 19% of the population. "It's going to make it very difficult for those companies who are trying to increase access to financial services by using telecommunication services due to the barrier that is built into accessing these services," De Koker said. De Koker said the effect would be worst on rural communities who might have difficulty in obtaining identity documents. "Enacting it (Rica) would protect interests, but would drive out access to telephony, and there would be unintended consequences for other parties," said FinMark Trust executive director Jeremy Leach. These parties included financial institutions that used cellphones as the main source of communication with customers, Leach said. Leach said a significant percentage of prepaid cellphone users were from low-income groups, and might not have proof of address. In the case of Fica, he said those earning less than R5000 a month were exempt from producing proof of address in terms of section 17 of the act. No such exemption had yet been introduced to Rica. Charles Rowlinson, chairman of cellphone bank Wizzit, said while its customers had to have identity documents to open accounts under the Fica legislation, proving their addresses by producing utility bills could be a problem, particularly for customers in rural areas. Rowlinson said an exemption, such as the Fica exemption, would help as the vast majority of Wizzit's customers earned less than R5000 a month. "We are totally focused on that market," he said. A spokesman for MTN Banking said it was working with MTN to ensure customers would be Rica compliant. Johan de Ridder, executive director at African Bank Investments, which uses cellphones to communicate with its loan customers, said the bank did not expect any negative effect. “It's a very difficult thing to predict," De Ridder said. "Given our experience with Fica, customers who want the service and to keep their numbers will identify themselves. We don't expect a massive impact," he said. De Ridder said the bank also obtained work and home contact numbers from customers to ensure they could reach them. "The lapse rates of prepaid numbers are already very high so if we had to rely on (cellphones) it would not be very good for our business," De Ridder said. (SOURCE: Business Day) SA’S ESKOM TO CUT ITS LOSSES ON TELECOMSThe long-awaited announcement from South Africa’s power utility Eskom that it will get out of telecoms was made during the presentation of its financial results last week. It will sell its 15% interest in the SNO and its shareholding in the company that owns Lesotho’s incumbent telco. The latter will be given on a first refusal basis to Econet Wireless. Eskom said during the presentation of its 2005-6 financial results last week that it was in the process of selling the fibre-optic cables that it had deployed in preparation for its involvement in the second network operator (SNO). "The intended sale of the Eskom portion of the full service network is in progress," said Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe. He said delays in negotiating the asset sale had prompted the parastatal to take a conservative view and leave the full impairment provision of R760m against this investment. In 2003 Eskom said it had invested R748m in establishing a full service network infrastructure to prepare for its participation in the SNO. Delays in launching the SNO at the time led to Eskom impairing R649m on this investment. The sale of Eskom's network infrastructure follows shortly after Transnet announced that it had sold its fibre-optic cables to the SNO for R256m. Both Eskom and Transnet own 15% each of the second phone operator. Analysts said it was only a matter of time before the two companies sold their interests in the new Telkom rival. SNO MD Ajay Pandey, said recently that the availability of the fibre-optic network to the newcomer would facilitate the early roll out of enterprise and consumer services across the major cities, as contemplated. "We are in discussion with various potential customers and are now in advanced stages of readiness to deliver," Pandey said. The SNO, which was granted a 25-year operating licence last December, said it would roll out its services in phases. Corporate customers would be first in line to get the services of the new entrant, while domestic customers would be connected in the first quarter of next year. Investment bank Merrill Lynch has predicted that the second network operator could take about 2.5% of Telkom's market by next year. This was down from the 4% gain predicted earlier. Telkom estimated it could lose up to 15% of its market if government and some big companies chose to defect to the SNO. The Independent Communications Authority of SA said the licence conditions of the new phone operator would largely be the same as those of Telkom. But whereas Telkom's operating licence requires it to provide a service to "every person in SA who requests it", the second operator was obliged only to provide services to the 14 network service areas. These are the municipalities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Mangaung, Cape Town, Mogale City, Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Buffalo City, Mafikeng, Mbombela, Polokwane, Sol Plaatjie, Msunduzi and Ekurhuleni. The second operator was also required to ensure availability of services to 50% of the population within the 14 network areas in the next five years. It also had to ensure that 80% of the entire South African population could access its services after 10 years. Other licence conditions include providing high-speed internet connectivity to at least 2500 schools and 2500 rural clinics. (SOURCE: Business Day) MAURITIUS TELECOM LAUNCHES TRIPLE PLAY WITH IP-TVMauritius Telecom launched a triple-play service with IP-TV branded My.T last week. It offers broadband at 256 kbps download speed and international calls at cheap rates using VoIP. The IP-TV service uses a hybrid set top box that can receive 6 digital channels from TNT and the national broadcaster. It includes a Video on Demand with a choice of films, TV programme series, childrens’ programmes, educational programmes sport and music. Some programmes can be downloaded for free, whilst others are on a “pay-for” basis. Customer premises equipment is offered “free” at the point of delivery and includes: the hybrid Set Top Box MPEG2/4 with DVB-0T, ADSL Modem-Router with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth features (Livebox - as used by France Telecom). Installation is free. The service costs MR950 (US$30.79) which is relatively cheap alongside Maroc Telecom’s broadband only service at US$22. Website : http://www.myt.mu
IN BRIEF:- Following the call for tender for 3rd generation licences the Moroccan regulator, the ANRT, has granted three third generation mobile licences to respectively Maroc Connect, Itissalat Al-Maghreeb (Maroc Telecom) and Medi Telecom. There were only three licences to be granted and therefore Njema Telecom Maroc (Kuwaiti Group Wataniya International), the forth shortlisted company has been turned down in the final round. Each licencee will be asked to pay 360 millions dirhams (US$42 millions) and to provide a extra financial contribution in the spectrum reorganisation. - Lacom, the 2nd fixed national operator in Algeria has issued a statement in the local newspaper Liberté in which it announces that the company has to consult its stakeholders, namely Egypt Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding regarding the continuation of its activity in Algeria. According to Lacom the deployment of its network has constantly been hampered by Algerie Telecom, the national incumbent which Lacom accuses of setting up constant barriers to the new entrant and ignoring competition rules. - Transcorp, the potential new owners of NITEL were given 60 days extension period within which to make payments for the ailing national carrier. The grace period was to allow both BPE and Transcorp to sort out the final details of the share purchase structure and also to allow the banks to complete the due process for a loan of that magnitude. On the other hand Nitel has just announced receiving payments for debts from four Private Telecommunication Operators (PTOs), and an indigenous company. - The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) last Friday closed submissions from the public on the new telecom policy. Various stakeholders were given seven days from July 7 after a consultative workshop at Kampala's Grand Imperial Hotel to discuss the new licensing regime under the policy guidelines issued to UCC. Some of these submissions, if and when they are accepted and considered vital will be incorporated in the new policy. - Rwanda's two major telecom rivals, Terracom Communications and MTN Rwandacell have come to an agreement regarding their long-standing interconnection wrangles. Terracom’s mobile customers can now receive calls from MTN-Rwandacell customers. According to an interconnection agreement signed recently, interconnection charges are now Frw40 (US$7 cents) for a call from a fixed to mobile phone, while a call from a mobile to fixed phone will be Frw30 ($5cents). - The Kenyan regulator has shown its resolve to halve telecommunications costs by unveiling a 72mn Kenyan shillings (about $9.7mn) study to review tariffs and rates. The study would end in October this year and would provide insight in determining relevant cost elements. The commission would then use this to establish market retail and interconnection rates and tariffs. - The national union of Telecommunications of Burkina Faso (SYNATEL) has announced a 24 hours strike on 25th July. Employees of Onatel, the national incumbent oppose the government’s plan to privatise the company and sell 51% stake of the company to international strategic partner. In the meantime in Tanzania trade unions and opposition parties have united to oppose plans for Canada’s SaskTel International to take over the management of the country's sole fixed line operator, the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL). TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- The Mozambique firm Mcel launched last week a new service called emm – escritório movel mCel (mobile office mCel). emm is designed for commercial firms and business people. It offers the possibility to link up to personal emails, business contacts and also to update the computer outlook organiser wherever a person is and at any time of the day. - MTN Uganda has expanded its mobile coverage to the towns of Logiri, 40km from Arua in West Nile, Rackocko, 58km from Lira district in the north and Kasambya in Mubende, Kiwoko in Luweero, Kanoni, 28km from Mitala Maria along Masaka Road, all in the south and south west. In the meantime Uganda Telecom has announced plans to invest US$50 to expand its coverage throughout the country. - The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) is about to issue ANYPOL-Africaphonebooks, the first Official Telephone Directory of Ethiopia, in January 2007, in a bid to generate more income and create ample opportunity for the business community and also benefit its customers
KDN TO UNVEIL SH2 BILLION PROJECTKai Wulff, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) managing director, said the first phase of the backbone would cost $30 million (about Sh2 billion). In a statement, Wulff said work on the Nairobi-Mombasa stretch was nearly complete and commercial services would begin next month. Mombasa residents have lately witnessed heavy digging of trenches and laying of cables. Several business premises, including banks had equally to contend with the awesome exercise as the workmen continued to dig and then re-fill the trenches after laying cables. Mombasa Town Clerk Shedd Simotwo confirmed that a telecommunications company was laying underground cables. "The trenches are as a result of laying of cables by a telecommunications company," Simotwo explained. Wulff said the project would result in better and cheaper telecommunications services in Kenya. The official said the total rollout plan for Kenya would cost a whopping US$ 330 million or Sh24 billion. "We are building the first national fiber backbone for Kenya between Mombasa and Busia. Later, we will extend to Mount Kenya region, Lunga Lunga, Namanga and Malindi," Wulff said. He said the firm would extend its network to Uganda by November this year while its total rollout in the region would be completed by the end of 2008. (SOURCE: The East African Standard) FIBRE-OPTIC LINK BETWEEN MOZAMBIQUE AND SOUTH AFRICA INAUGURATEDThe small gap in the fibre network between South Africa and Mozambique has now been closed. It will now be interesting to see whether Telkom SA offers rates that are sufficiently cheap to be competitive with satellite, something it has not offered Lesotho and Namibia’s incumbent telcos. At the opening on Friday Mozambique Minister of Transport and Communications, Antonio Mungwambe, said Mozamique regards telecommunications as a key factor in development and in the fight against poverty, which is why the government has priorised interconnecting the whole country through broad band infrastructure, declared the He was speaking at the border town of Ressano Garcia, at the inauguration of a fibre-optic communications. Mungwambe said that the national telecommunications programme, managed by the public telecoms company, TDM, was now in its second phase. By the time it was concluded, in late 2007 the country would have "modern technological platforms", that would "expand the capacity and improve the quality of fixed and mobile phone communications between the main urban centres in the south, centre and north of the country". This broadband infrastructure would also carry radio and television signals across the entire country, improve communications with neighbouring countries and facilitate access to the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The Chairman of the TDM Board of Directors, Joaquim de Carvalho, said that the fibre-optic link meant that communications between Mozambique and South Africa will now be quicker and more reliable, regardless of climatic conditions. "Mozambique and South Africa now have a broad band telecommunications infrastructure that not only allows direct access between the two countries, but also assists in the regional integration of the countries of SADC (Southern African Development Community)", he said. The new link, he said, was part of TDM's overall investment strategy, which is centred on completing the backbone of the National Transmission Network by extending fibre-optic connections to all provincial capitals. The new connection will existing satellite connections if competitive rates are offered by Telkom SA. Installing it cost around US$1.2 million. The fibre-optic link is taking a lift from the gas pipeline between the gas treatment plant at Timane in the southern province of Inhambane and the South African town of Secunda. That pipeline has a branch carrying gas to Matola, the city that is contiguous with Maputo. "Naturally it made good sense to take advantage of the building of the pipeline to extend the fibre optic cable from Maputo to the border with South Africa, and that is what happened", said Carvalho. "This undertaking", he added, "is an example of a successful partnership, where synergies were used to rationalise resources". (SOURCE: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) UGANDA ISPS JOIN FORCES TO PURCHASE CHEAPER BANDWIDTHFour of Uganda’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have consolidated their purchase of bandwidth in an effort to cut down Internet costs and make bandwidth affordable, writes Esther Nakkazi, Balancing Act’s Uganda correspondent. The ISPs move has seen a 75 percent reduction in the rates of bandwidth purchased from them by domestic, business and school users in the country which is expected to attract mass use by communities. The four ISPs Bushnet, SpaceNet, Africaonline and One2Net, all members of the Uganda ISP association, have consolidated the bandwidth to a single purchase which has led to a 25 percent reduction in costs. Each ISP has been procuring between 5-6 Meg per month at a cost of $ 5,000 -$6,000 charged for it to be landed in Uganda. But the four ISPs last month landed 50 Meg at a 25 percent reduction bought at a wholesale price. The price was reduced due to the bigger volume, purchase from a single link and the reduction in satellite space segment resulting from landing the bandwidth in bulk. The price is expected to further go down as more ISPs understand the concept and embrace it. Each Meg of bandwidth is carried through a space segment of 1.5 Mhz on the satellite dish, the consolidated purchase would reduce the space segment on the satellite and in turn reduce purchase prices. “Four ISPs have consolidated their purchases and bought the bandwidth from the same link at wholesale price. We can therefore charge reasonable rates and sell as much bandwidth as ones money can buy,” said Badru Ntege, the chairman Uganda ISPs Association. Ntege said at One2Net they were charging a flat rate of $600 per month for 64K for all users but after the consolidated purchase prices have been lowered to $150 and there is an advantage of bursting it to 512K at a download capacity of 2GB for given hours during the 24 hours of the day for domestic users. Business users pay $250 for 128K per month which can also be burst at given hours. According to the communications industry regulator, UCC there are 17 ISPs operating in Uganda. Ntege says only six of these are under the Uganda ISPs Association that is planning the move- Bushnet, Infocom, Afsat, Africaonline, One2Net and SpaceNet. The price of Internet in Uganda is still very high to everyday users at Shs.25 (14 cents) per minute limiting Internet use and growth basically affected by expensive bandwidth sold by a few ISPs, which say they too are buying capacity via satellite and it is very expensive. MWEB BUSINESS ENTERS SA WIRELESS BROADBAND MARKETIn line with the growth of the local high-speed Internet access market, MWEB Business has announced that it will be offering wireless broadband connectivity to SMEs. Initially a reseller of Vodacom’s 3G/3G HSDPA offering, MWEB Business plans to expand its range of broadband offerings by the end of this year. “Our research has revealed that there is still a great degree of uncertainty about broadband – among both small businesses and consumers. We will take into account a business’s particular broadband needs and propose the most suited solution. No jargon, small print, hassle, complication or hidden costs,” says Gary Hart, GM: marketing and products, MWEB Business. Local research house, BMI-TechKnowledge, recently revealed findings related to the local broadband market, and projected that the current base of broadband subscribers will grow to 870,000 by 2009. Of this figure, 56% of subscribers will use wireless broadband services. “MWEB Business’ strategy is to demystify and simplify the process of upgrading to either fixed or wireless broadband. Broadband is far more affordable than businesses tend to think, and we believe that it is the simplicity of having a single service provider that will appeal to users,” adds Hart. 3G/3G HSDPA is provided with the following bundled value-added services, the company says:
(SOURCE: ICT World) BURKINA FASO’S ONATEL STILL PLAGUED BY INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY PROBLEMSWord reaches us that in June Onatel again suffered near-outages on its international connections. In a message to Fasonet customers at the end of that month it apologised for temporary breakdowns on its international lines that had led to the quality of the Internet connection being degraded for several days. It said it was working hard with its overseas partners to solve the problem as quickly as possible. The problems were said to originate with its satellite supplier. Those with longer memories will recall the time in Spring 2004 when the Internet in Burkina Faso went down for three days because Onatel had problems that were according to the company caused by an upgrade to new Cisco routers which led to instability on its E1s. This latest near-outage is unfortunate for ONATEL as its service had seemed to have improved over the last few months. A meeting is being held next week to decide on pricing for leased lines and ADSL connections. The company has found low-end leased line customers jumping ship for ADSL connections and there has been some talk about bringing the two into closer price alignment. IN BRIEF:- The Angolan Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, has set up an Inter-Ministerial Commission for the Coordination of a Satellite Telecommunications Project, which will be tasked with preparing the implementation of the project, check its technical, economic and financial viability, besides other duties.
ETHIOPIAN FEDERAL AGENCY PLANS HIGH TECH HUB NEAR CMCThe Addis Abeba City Land Administration and Development Authority has granted a 200,000sqm plot for what federal government authorities hope will become Ethiopia's high tech hub, much like Hyderabad or Bangalore in India. The plot was given to the Ethiopian Information and Communication Technologies Development Agency (EICTDA), a federal agency responsible for the expansion of information and communications technology in Ethiopia, in the first week of May 2006, a source disclosed. The plot, taking up one third the area of the two designated industrial zones in Addis Abeba, is in the Bole Lemmi Industry Village located near the CMC area. The agency is the first government entity to be granted a plot in this village. EICTDA is to begin construction of the technology park within a year. Once completed, it is hoped to be the largest in East Africa. The agency, established in 2003 and managed by a Director General, Debretsion Gebremichael, will relocate to the park along with private investors, according to a EICTDA source. The park will host a number of IT investors such as software developers, and serve as an infrastructure base for international giants such as Microsoft and Cisco. Authorities hope that the completed technology park will attract multinationals and encourage local firms to build capacity. Fikre Y. Wendimu, public relations officer with the Ethiopian IT Professionals Association (EITPA), told Fortune that he hopes the government will build infrastructure such as roads, water, videoconference access and a high bandwidth telecommunications network. High bandwidth, he said, helps to save a huge amount of foreign currency flow from the country. Hosting web pages cost 300 dollars to over 100,000 dollars per year, depending on the quality and volume of works involved. "We can use our human capital to develop the web pages locally so that a huge amount of foreign currency will be generated if this park is established in Ethiopia," said Fikre. Established in 1998 with 50 founding members, the association organized a conference on Monday, July 10, 2006, at the United Nations Conference Centre under the title, "Harnessing the ICT Potential in Ethiopia". Tefera Walwa, minister of Capacity Building, spoke at the event and said that the government recognized information and communications technology as a key sector; an industry that can accelerate development and help democratisation in Ethiopia. "The Government will do its part mainly by creating a favourable environment for the development of the ICT sector," Tefera told participants. (SOURCE: Addis Fortune) OSN RELEASES FREE OPEN STANDARDS BOOKMany governments and organisations are moving towards open standards and frameworks. To assist users in understanding open standards the International Open Source Network (IOSN) has released FOSS: Open Standards, the latest in its series of "e-Primer" books. The free book, with a foreword by Peter J. Quinn, the former CIO of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, introduces readers to what open standards are and why they are important. It explains the standard- setting processes and provides examples of open standards policies, initiatives and formats. It also addresses the challenges faced in implementing open standards. Open standards ensure that products and services can inter-operate and work together, even though they may be from different parties or entities. Open standards ensure that the next purchase is not dictated by the last purchase, thus, increasing users' choices, access to products, information and services, and opportunities for sharing and collaboration. In addition to the advantage of increased competition for acquisition and the ongoing operational expense, governments, businesses and other entities can benefit from each others' efforts and share applications that each have built. The free publication is part of the International Open Source Network's Free/Open Source Software e-Primer Series. The FOSS e- Primer series is produced by the International Open Source Network www.iosn.net, an initiative of UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme www.apdip.net and supported by the International Development Research Center www.idrc.org, Canada. (SOURCE: Tectonic) IN BRIEF:- The world’s first ever free talking computer software, ‘Thunder’, is being launched this week to bring computers and the internet alive for blind and partially-sighted people across the world. The Thunder screenreader turns a normal PC into a talking computer by reading out loud what’s on screen. It will enable blind and partially-sighted people to listen to internet sites, shop online, hear their emails and, with the software reading out to them as they type, create letters and other documents with ease. -The Asterisk development team has announced new releases of Asterisk and Zaptel: Asterisk 1.2.10 and Zaptel 1.2.7. These releases incorporate a number of bug fixes, and the Asterisk release contains a new option to help avoid a potential denial of service vulnerability in the IAX2 channel driver. The Zaptel release also adds support for the TE407P and TE412P quad T1/E1 interface cards. The release files are available in the usual place (ftp.digium.com), as both tarballs and patch files relative to the last release. In addition, both the tarballs and the patch files have been signed using GPG keys of the release maintainers, so that you can ensure their authenticity. - The second-ever Africa developer roadshow, this time in West Africa, will be held in Ghana during August and organisers are looking for developers from across the region to attend. Workshops on the agenda include localisation and further development of the education-in-a-box project.
SOUTH AFRICA’S INTERNET SOLUTIONS BUYS KENYAN ISP INTERCONNECTSouth Africa’s Internet Solutions has acquired a controlling stake in Kenyan ISP Interconnect. The company will be renamed Internet Solutions Kenya. In the deal, IS will inject Sh300million in fresh capital. Part of the capital, Sh100 million, has been set aside to upgrade systems. ISK managing director, Tej Bedi, said the company would roll-out new technologies and services such as multi protocol label switching, which is designed to offer a cost effective virtual private network to organisations. The acquisition is part of the IS growth strategy to gain a footprint in the local and the greater Eastern and Central African market. "We will ensure the product mix is right for the Kenyan market, by deploying our proven services in Kenya," IS business development director Ermano Quartero said on Tuesday evening, at a function to announce the deal. The company is a leading converged communications service provider in South Africa boasting a client base of over 4,500 companies, including 80 per cent of South Africa's top 250 listed companies. (SOURCE: The East African Standard) NASPERS LAUNCHES THE BIGGEST ONLINE BUSINESS IN AFRICAMedia24 has merged its digital arm with MWEB Studios, the division responsible for the development of web-based services, to create 24.com creating what could become one of the biggest online businesses on the continent. Headed-up by Chief Executive Officer, Kim Reid, 24.com is the result of a Naspers drive to fuse complimentary digital properties creating a destination on the Internet where Africans can go to for the latest news and information. The new property will capture 60 percent of the local online audience. The joint venture forms part of Naspers’ long-term growth strategy to ensure sustainable development across its print, television and online communication platforms. 24.com aims to dominate the digital arena in Africa and have a team of more than 300 experts who will be trying to do just that. In addition to carrying content from the existing 24.com niche interest sites, the portal will boast a smorgasbord of new tools and services, including locally relevant web search technology, free web-based email, instant messaging, photo albums, blogs, other social networking tools and online shopping powered by Kalahari.net. Noteworthy developments for prolonged brand growth include the launch of a dedicated Mobile Division, responsible for developing a platform for the delivery of 24.com content to handheld devices, as well as an Africa Division, responsible for expansion into Africa. “By combining the audience of South Africa’s two top digital publishing audiences, 24.com will be reaching an astounding 60 percent of the entire online universe in South Africa. This provides us with a healthy and completely unrivalled launch platform,” stated Arrie Rossouw, editorial director for 24.com. Russell Hanly, chief executive of the commercial branch at 24.com, explains that 24.com is the culmination of varied, wide-ranging online and digital initiatives during the past nine years within Naspers. According to Hanly the timely arrival of affordable broadband Internet connectivity in South Africa is increasing adoption figures exponentially and will be central in catapulting the Internet into mainstream consumer behaviour. “With the roll-out of affordable broadband in South Africa, local digital and online businesses are entering a new era. In The US 60 to 65 percent of US households are connected to the Internet. These encouraging figures bode exceedingly well for the growth of 24.com.” This new era of always-on Internet is supported by significant advertising growth and exciting new products and functions that enrich the lives of online users and create new business opportunities. 24.com is perhaps the first in a wave of African businesses to explore the value of online businesses. Ventures of this nature look set to grow as broadband penetration increases and the economic pay-offs for the continent as a whole look to be good as Africa enters the broadband era. It is encouraging to see big businesses like Naspers on the digital bandwagon. (SOURCE: MyADSL) DIALOGUE AIMS FOR R40 MILLION IN ALTX DEBUTCall-centre operator Dialogue Group is planning to raise about R40m to grow its business by listing on the AltX in September. The company says it can more than double in size within a year by opening a new call centre in Johannesburg to handle foreign contracts. Listing would provide clearer corporate governance, which international clients expected when they entrusted their call-centre operations to a foreign company, said CEO Jason Drew. "Most of our clients are listed in London or on the JSE and more visible governance will reassure them," he said. "Our clients have also asked to buy a stake in our business because they outsource vital services to us." Dialogue is SA's largest privately owned call centre operator, with 1000 staff in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Funds raised in the listing will also help it grow by acquiring the in-house call centres that it runs for some of its clients, and leasing the services back to them. The number of shares to be listed and the asking price will be finalised within three weeks, after the company collates its latest financial results. The first step will be a private placing with institutional investors and some clients next month, with an AltX debut on September 12. Dialogue has been privately funded until now. It was growing too big for that funding to be sufficient, Drew said. A larger shareholder base would help raise capital in the future when growth opportunities were spotted. "We have a great deal of business in the pipeline because SA is really becoming a destination for serving offshore clients. "We started three years ago with 20-30 agents and now we have more than 1000. "We have the management structure and processes in place to double before next year. There is an insatiable demand for professional call-centre activities." Local clients include MTN, Absa and Edgars, and international clients include Pfizer, Shell and British American Tobacco. The JSE's GM for marketing and business development, Noah Greenhill, said Dialogue had one of the most comprehensive and promising business plans the AltX committee had seen. Dialogue is rated a BBB empowerment company by EmpowerDex; 80% of its managers are black. It has a subsidiary called Interaction Call Centres that is 40% held by black-owned Tlhalefang Placements. (SOURCE: Business Day) IN BRIEF:- South African mobile phone operator MTN Group said it has paid $3.6 billion for its first settlement in its takeover of international mobile phone company Investcom. MTN confirmed that it has now received acceptances from 99.5% of Investcom's shareholders. This takeover represents one of the largest ever payments by a South African company for international assets, MTN said in a statement. - Vodafone Egypt has posted a 57% rise in its fiscal first quarter net profit in the three months to the end of June. Net profit reached EGP525 million (USD91.2 million), on revenues up 37% to EGP1.74 billion, whilst EBITDA rose by 39% to EGP948 million. The company's mobile customer base rose by 57% year-on-year to 7.1 million, including 6.9 million active customers. Pre-paid users grew by 66% to 6.43 million, accounting for 91% of the total, whilst contract customers increased by just 3% to 655,000. Twelve-month blended ARPU, excluding visitors, fell by 17%, mainly due to a larger proportion of pre-paid customers; pre-paid ARPU fell by 5% and post-paid ARPU rose by 8%. Total voice minutes for the quarter increased by 45% to reach 2.9 billion minutes.
RACIST RINGTONE URGES VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICAA derogatory and racist cellphone ring tone is being passed around Cape Town, vocally depicting violent actions against black people. The lyrics of the song describe how one should tie a "k****r" to the back of a bakkie and drag him around while driving. It is reminiscent of the murder of a farm hand, Jotham Mandlaz, who died while being dragged alongside his employer's bakkie in 2004. However, rather than being disgusted, many people have expressed amusement at the song, which has a distinctly Afrikaans tone, and have been passing it from cellphone to cellphone via Bluetooth wireless technology. The ring tone was reported to the Cape Argus by a reader, Patrick Vermeulen of Macassar, after a colleague played it to him at work. "I was very disgusted that certain people in our society can still think that way, and listen to things like that," said Vermeulen. The chorus has a blatantly racist tone to it, as someone sings "Sleep hom bietjie hier, sleep hom bietjie daar. Sleep daai f***** k***** sommer deurmekaar" (drag him here, drag him there, drag the f****** k***** all over the place) and ends with an instruction to put dogs after the "k*****". Responding to the lyrics of the tune, Dr Lionel Louw, chief of staff for the Office of the Premier in the Western Cape and representative of the Moral Regeneration Movement, said: "The Office of the Premier roundly condemns this ring tone that is circulating. "The form of behaviour reflected in the ring tone is criminal and its perpetrators will feel the full might of the law." However, he said, it was in circumstances like these that modern technology counted against investigators, as the Bluetooth application used to pass the ring tone along made it virtually impossible to trace the perpetrators, similar to a chain e-mail. "With today's phones being able to play MP3 music files and almost any media type, it's possible for anybody with a computer to make any type of ring tone or wallpaper," said Yolanda Meyer from Designi, which specialises in cellular applications. "And if the file was spread using Bluetooth, it will be impossible to trace unless you can get hold of a phone that received the file," Meyer said. "Usually, some phones do keep a log of incoming and outgoing Bluetooth activity, but these logs can be cleared." Despite technology allowing material like this to run unchecked, Louw insisted: "It is a minority who participate in promoting this, and such views are not the reflection of the majority." (SOURCE: Cape Argus) ONLINE ICT SHOP OPENS IN UGANDAAn online shop for Information and Communication Technologies has been opened in Uganda by Comtel Integrators Africa, an ICT firm, to improve service delivery. This is the first of its kind in Uganda and they are the pioneers in the whole of East Africa. Vikash Kanapetradu, the Director of Comtel Integrators Africa announced this last week at a press conference. "In Europe people use plastic money, we come up with a mid way where people can easily shop online, see the price and order for it," he said. Kanapetradu said goods could be received within 24 hours within Kampala and in two weeks in other places. He said the shop targets all Ugandans since they want to design solutions that suit their business entities including banking, agriculture, and enterprises among others. "We want partnerships with banks to provide them with solutions to their needs since we have the technical people," Kanapetradu added (SOURCE: The Monitor) IN BRIEF:- An international development agency launched an online game to highlight the tough transport challenges faced by health workers delivering medical supplies to remote African villages. Players of the Transaid Challenge have to tackle hazardous terrain and avoid potholes, abandoned cars, and overloaded trucks along the way, making as many deliveries as possible before damaging their vehicle beyond repair or running out of fuel. - Standard Bank in South Africa has rolled out speech banking. According to the bank, customers can now do hands-free banking over the telephone, thanks to an intelligent speech recognition system. This means that Standard Bank accountholders will be able to transfer funds, make payments, do prepaid airtime recharges and access statement enquiries by responding to automatic voice prompts after phoning the bank’s automated telephone banking service, the bank says.
PEOPLE* MTN Nigeria announced the appointment of Ahmad Farroukh as managing director and chief executive officer. He resumed duty immediately. He took over from Sifiso Dabengwa, who has run the Nigeria operation since September 2004. Mr. Dabengwa has returned to South Africa to focus on his role as Chief Operating Officer (COO). * Uganda's candidate for directorship at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has scored a first victory. The executive director at Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), Eng. Patrick Masambu beat two other candidates from Algeria and Morocco for the African Union endorsement. Four top posts, including the director for telecommunications development for which Masambu, 52, is contesting, are up for grabs at the ITU plenipotentiary conference slated for Turkey in November 2006. * DataPro Group has appointed Anthony Peter van Marken to its board. Van Marken, who graduated with a BSc in computer science from the University of Cape Town in 1984, has been appointed with effect from 7 July. * Dell SA has recently appointed Doug Downing as its enterprise brand manager. In this new role, Downing will focus on driving the enterprise offering at Dell South Africa. EVENTS- THIRD ANNUAL AFRICAN VOIP FORUM 21-23 August 2006, Muson Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria The event offers a high-powered educational opportunity for Africa’s ISPs, telecom operators and corporate VoIP users. The following is a sample of the rich content: The impact of VoIP on African voice markets; Maximising international connectivity via a virtual service provider; TDMoIP vs VoIP: Which technology is better for your network? Successful revenue generating VoIP deployments in high-growth markets - Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan
- 10TH ANNUAL CONTACT CENTRES WORLD AFRICA 28th - 31st August 2006, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
- THE 4TH ANNUAL CTO FORUM 2006 4th – 6th September 2006, London
- IWEEK 2006 4 - 7 September 2006, Castle, Kyalami in Midrand, Gauteng
- TELECOMS WORLD AFRICA 2006 4 - 8 September 2006, Cape Town, South Africa
- DIGITAL WORLD CONFERENCE 2006 12-13 September 2006, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria
- AFRICAN BILLING & TELECOMS REVENUE ASSURANCE FORUM 11th - 15th September 2006m, Southern Sun, Cape Town, South Africa Five focused days of conference and seminar sessions addressing the specific Revenue Management challenges currently being faced by African Telecoms Operators and Service Providers. This forum presents an invaluable opportunity to hear real-world experiences in a series of cutting-edge case studies and workshops led by African, European and American Operators. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=2246 - REGIONAL SEMINAR ON BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS FOR RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS IN AFRICA 18th-21st September 2006, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- 2ND INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT (IPAD) CENTRAL AFRICA 3rd-5th October 2006, Grand Hotel, Kinshasa, Congo Democratic Republic
- 1ST INTERNATIONAL ICT INVESTMENT CONFERENCE FOR AFRICA 14th – 15th November 2006, Tunis, Tunisia.
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES* TRANSMISSION CONSULTANT – SOUTH AFRICA The TND/NPI Consultant in Network Consulting group is responsible for competitive and customer focused transmission network solutions, sales support of Ericsson transmission network products and solutions. The TND/NPI Consultant will, according to the Network Consulting process, perform: sales/marketing support of transmission equipment and solution, sales and tender support and transmission systems performance enhancement
* SALES/MARKETING EXECUTIVE – KENYA EMC Corporate Overview Emerging Markets Communications, Inc. (EMC) is a premier provider of global satellite communications. Utilizing a high quality, fully managed network, EMC offers maritime services, teleport services, and private, end-to-end satellite networks in more than 140 countries.
* MELLON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES AWARDS FOR OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has announced a Call for Nominations for the 2006 Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration. These awards, to be bestowed for the first time at an international technology conference in the fall of 2006, will recognize nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in the collaborative development of open-source software through the contribution of substantial, self-funded organizational resources to the open-source project for which they are nominated. MATC awards will be made at two levels -- $25,000 and $100,000 -- for significant contributions to collaborative, open-source software development that serves one of the foundation's traditional constituencies. The level of the award will depend on the scale and significance of the nominated project. For more information, visit http://rit.mellon.org/awards/. Deadline: August 15, 2006. * CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR US$100,000 DEVELOPMENT GATEWAY AWARD The Development Gateway Foundation is calling for nominations for its US$100,000 prize for outstanding achievement in the use of information and communication technologies to improve lives in developing countries. Sponsored in part by Intel Corporation, this year’s Development Gateway Award is focusing on initiatives that empower or improve the conditions of youth.
* GSM ACADEMY - BSS O&M TRAINING FOR AFRICAN PROFESSIONALS Starting October 2, 2006, TOP will provide a GSM curriculum for Expert Training on BSS Operation & Maintenance. The boot camp includes 3 months of lectures and hands-on labs and is completed by 6 months of apprenticeship at a European GSM network operator. This heavily sponsored program targets on African engineers / technicians to improve their job possibilities in their home countries.
CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHO?* RELIANCE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND CERILLION – NIGERIA Cerillion Technologies has announced a new contract with Reliance Telecommunications (Reltelwireless) to implement a complete mediation solution for their CDMA network in Nigeria. Cerillion will deliver their Mediator product and provide integration with network switches from Huawei. The system will be used to improve revenue assurance in Reltelwireless, securing revenue generation from a full range of corporate and residential services. Mediator's intuitive configuration tools and rules-based processing engine will support their time-to-market demands, whilst providing a complete audit trail and CDR traceability. * WATANIYA TELECOM AND ERICSSON – ALGERIA Ericsson has been selected by Algerian operator Wataniya Telecom to provide the Ericsson Mobile Organizer (EMO), Ericsson's solution for push e-mail. EMO allows Wataniya's business customers to access e-mail, contacts and calendar conveniently while on the move. Wataniya Telecom is one the first operators in Africa to introduce Ericsson's push e-mail solution. Under the agreement Ericsson will provide Wataniya with a complete push e-mail solution including both hardware and application software. * MTN AND CAMBRIDGE BROADBAND – CAMEROON MTN is chosen Cambridge Broadband's VectaStar wireless transmission solution to backhaul its cellular GSM network in Cameroon. Commercial operation will commence in two of the country's main cities, Douala and Youande, using the licensed 10.5GHz spectrum band. These towns will be covered by four fully redundant VectaStar base stations, which consolidate traffic from the VectaStar subscriber units located at MTN's cellular base stations. * INTERNET SOLUTIONS/LAYERONE AND KPMG – AFRICA Internet Solutions (IS), a leading converged communications services provider, and IS subsidiary, LayerOne, the African distributor for Nokia’s Intellisync products, have rolled out the largest mobile e-mail deal in Africa on behalf of the South African office of global accounting and advisory firm KPMG. This implementation enables more than 2000 of KPMG’s professional employees to connect to e-mail and access corporate information from anywhere, at anytime.
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