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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 363 Benin: Regulator plays poker with Moov and MTN by cutting networks over increased licence feesThe new Beninois Government decided to review all telecoms licensing arrangements when it came into office and tasked its newly independent regulator to carry out the task. It argued that the previous Government had out previous licences in an irregular fashion and that it was simply regularising the position. The same issue is also affecting both Liberia and Sierra Leone although in a less dramatic fashion. For events took a turn for the worse this week as the Beninois Government decided to cut off two networks – Moov and MTN – to impose the new level of licence fee it has chosen. Russell Southwood looks at a country where the regulator has cut off the two operators to convince them to pay up. Benin’s regulator told the two mobile companies that they would have to pay a substantially increased licence fee from that which had originally secured them their operation. In both cases the companies were under different management when they set up operation in Benin. When MTN bought Lebanese-owned Investcom, among its portfolio of operations was Areeba Benin. Likewise Atlantique Telecom bought a clutch of Telecel operations that included Benin. So in neither case were the current operators responsible for the original licensing arrangements that were made directly with the then Government. It was under this Government that someone close to the President took money from Titan Wireless to secure a contract and set up operations in the country. Nevertheless, for example, MTN is being asked to increase its licence fee payment from US$10 million to US$62 million, a 620% increase. On Monday the regulator suspended both operators’ licences, saying that they had changed their names without permission. It also threatened to cut off both networks if they did not submit documentation detailed the name changes, a threat it made good on by Thursday. Going to war over name changes smacks of being a heavy-handed negotiating gambit. But clearly one to be taken seriously as it now impossible to reach subscribers of each network. Whilst the Government has a point when it says it wants to correct the “irregular practices” of the previous Government, it is behaving in a way that can only drive international investors away from the country. The one thing that almost every survey of telecoms investors identifies is that they require “the rules of the game” to be clear and transparent and for them not to be applied in an arbitrary manner. MTN’s figures for the year to December show its Benin operation generated US$41.2m revenue and US$21.4m earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Its Benin subscribers have ARPUs of $21 a month, one of the highest user spending figures for its operations in 21 countries. With just over half a million subscribers, it claims a 40% market share. The suspension of Moov and MTN’s network operations can only be an unexpected bonus for the two other operators in the market, Bell Benin and Libercom, the mobile subsidiary of the financial disaster that is the incumbent telecom, Benin Telecom. And although the regulator has said that it will impose these increased fees on all operators, it is unclear how the financially embarrassed Benin Telecom will find this kind of money. Benin’s independent regulator has clearly forgotten that it has a dual set of responsibilities: to ensure that the industry grows and thrives and that Beninois consumers have their interests looked after. It is not clear how increasing the licence fee by over 600% serves either of these objectives.
Uganda’s MTN, UTL in Billing Disputes Over Calls to SudanMTN Uganda and rivals Uganda Telecom are locked in a bruising billing battle over telephone calls made to and from the Southern Sudan phone company, Gemtel. At the heart of the dispute, The EastAfrican has learnt, is a controversial deal that UTL struck with Gemtel allowing the Sudanese company to use Uganda's international dialling code, +256, to enable its customers make international calls while it sorted out access to Sudan's international gateway with the government in Khartoum. UTL officials say that since Gemtel is located outside Uganda, calls to the network from other networks, such as MTN, are international calls that should be billed as such. "The way the traffic is routed, although the code is +256, it is via satellite and is therefore an international call," Donald Nyakairu, UTL company secretary, told The EastAfrican. "We are charging the costs of terminating the call in Sudan." However, MTN chief commercial officer Erik Van Veen said that UTL's position was "illegal" according to International Telecommunications Union rules and that calls to the Gemtel network should be charged local rates as long as the prefix is Ugandan. "Think of it from a customer's position," Van Veen said. "If they call a number with a +256 prefix, how would they know that it is an international call?" The EastAfrican has learnt that UTL blocked MTN calls to Gemtel earlier this year as the billing dispute worsened. Industry sources say the blockade was lifted after a furious MTN wrote to UTL protesting the move. The matter was then reported to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the industry regulator, which has since failed to achieve a breakthrough. "The UCC have avoided the issue," Van Veen told The EastAfrican. "We wrote to them and asked them to intervene; we got a weak response to the effect that we must try to resolve it. "UCC have to date not resolved it," he added. "We are surprised and asking why they have not stepped in a dispute that is clearly within their ambit. It is a very clear-cut case." UCC officials declined to comment. UCC corporate affairs officer Fred Otunnu promised to give a response to The EastAfrican, but failed to do so despite several reminders. The UTL-Gemtel arrangement sparked controversy early this year when parliament demanded an investigation into the terms of the deal. It emerged at the time that the deal had been struck with the full knowledge and backing of the Ugandan government and that of the Government of Southern Sudan, and that Gemtel - whose chairman is listed as Augustus Caesar Mulenga, a Ugandan - was paying UTL $50,000 a month for the dialling code. Gemtel, whose operations are based in Yei in Southern Sudan, is reported to have about 12,000 mobile phone customers. Appearing before a parliamentary committee on January 29, UCC executive director Patrick Masambu said his organisation was responsible for licensing telecommunications operators in the country, not for monitoring the downstream operations of their dealers. "The Uganda Communications Commission is not under any obligation to know UTL's dealers outside Uganda," Masambu said. "Gemtel is a foreign company." The Libya African Portfolio owns 69 per cent of UTL while the government of Uganda owns 31 per cent. Although MPs called for an investigation into the UTL-Gemtel agreement, none has been carried out so far. However, MP Johnson Malinga, the vice chairman of the parliamentary state enterprises committee, told The EastAfrican last week that parliament plans to start the probe later in the year. "The concern of the committee is that Gemtel uses Uganda's dialling prefix," said Mr Malinga. "How is Uganda as a country benefiting from this deal? Where is the security of Uganda if other countries are using our country code?" UTL's Mr Nyakairu told The EastAfrican last week that ITU rules allowed countries to lend their dialling codes to others under certain circumstances. "Parliament just wanted to understand what arrangement we had with Gemtel, which is an interconnection agreement," Nyakairu said. "This is an arrangement between the government of Uganda and the Government of Southern Sudan on the use of the +256 code. You should look at the sensitivity of our country," Nyakairu added. "The government's main interest in this matter is to try and help Southern Sudan to communicate with the rest of the world." (Source: East African) Mobile companies complain that Telkom Kenya’s wireless service is really ‘mobile service’ for tax purposesThe reverberations of Telkom’s official launch of its wireless service last week has resurrected a growing dispute within the telecommunications industry. The war of words between telephone operators intensified this week as Celtel once again appealed for clarification on the role of the national operator, saying Telkom’s recently launched wireless service is acting in direct competition with its own. “All we ask for is fair play,” said David Murray, Celtel’s CEO. “Telkom Wireless is a mobile service and should be treated as such.” The launch of Telkom Wireless has brewed dissent amongst mobile telephone players who are protesting against what they term unfair business practice. Both Safaricom and Celtel have appealed to the industry regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), to clarify Telkom’s status. The firms say the national fixed line operator is now acting like a mobile service provider and has not paid for a license to operate. “It is a clear contravention of the regulations. They have a competitive advantage over us,” said Michael Joseph, Safaricom’s CEO. Celtel has now asked that Telkom either pay for a license to offer wireless services or be charged taxes like other mobile operators. Currently, mobile operators are taxed 16 per cent VAT and 10 per cent excise while Telkom just pays VAT. Mobile companies say they would be able to pass on lower calling costs to consumers if the taxes were lowered. But a fierce lobbying campaign started late last year by both providers failed to induce the government to reduce or remove the excise tax in this year’s budget. The mobile players hope to meet the Minister of Finance to revisit the tax issue and to ask for definitive action to be taken on Telkom’s status. The industry regulator has said that Telkom is merely leveraging existing technology to launch its wireless service, which it maintains is still a ‘fixed’ telephony product. CCK’s Director-General has maintained Telkom Wireless is the natural evolution of the national operator’s fixed line service and is the result of the operator upgrading its equipment. “CDMA will fuel the growth of this industry. Telkom is merely upgrading its Instafon service, which was fixed line service, to the CDMA platform, which is wireless product,” said CCK’s John Waweru. (Source: Business Daily) Mayor Orders Two Major Local Telephone Firms to Stop Operating in Mogadishu in SomaliaMayor of Mogadishu, Mohammed Dheere, announced last Sunday that two major local telephone companies, Hormood and Telecom Somalia, branches in Heliwa district, north of the Somali capital, could not operate from today forward. Dheere accused the firms of assisting insurgents battling with the transitional government and Ethiopian troops based in Mogadishu. The mayor has also pointed that a large collection of various weapons were seized in the government's latest house-to-house search operations in Shibis neighborhood, north of the capital, on Sunday. In decree issued from his office, the mayor said insurgents fired gunshot at the Somali troops while the shots were coming from Hormood building in Heliwa. It said large number of weaponries was confiscated from Telcom Somalia as the company only gave up four small guns when the government notified the company to surrender all of its arms. This was done after the troops searched Telecom Somalia. In news conference he held in Mogadishu after the decree, Dheere told journalists that 4 people were arrested by the government soldiers after were incarcerated while making impoverished explosives. "They will face the justice very soon," he said. Meanwhile one person was killed and at least ten were wounded in twin grenade explosions in Mogadishu's biggest market. Witnesses said most of the victims were hit by bullets fired by the government soldiers after the blasts. (Source: Shabelle Media Network) Top 10 mobile Markets in Mid-East and Africa: Kenya knocks out TunisiaTunisia has been in and out of the ranking of the top 10 MEA markets by customer base over the past year. It was pushed out by Iraq in Q2 2006, only to be reinstated three months later as Kenya failed to register any growth as a result of mass disconnections by Celtel. Having held its tenth place in December, a resurgent Kenya has once again ousted Tunisia, which falls to 11th place in the ranking for March 2007. In so doing, Kenya also bumps Israel down to tenth, a place which we expect Tunisia to take once more in the near future - in fact it is possible that it has already has with the end of Q2 2007 just over a week ago. For Q1 2007, at least, Israel's 7.8m customers marked the barrier for entry into the top 10. Kenya was a little way ahead with 8.4m and Iraq the same distance in front of Kenya with 9.0m customers. From eighth placed Iraq up to first placed South Africa the ranking remains as it was three months ago in the review for the fourth quarter of 2006, although the relative positioning of the occupants of the places has changed. At the head of the table, Nigeria is catching South Africa, reducing a deficit of 5.4m at the end of 2006 to only 3.4m customers at the end of Q1 2007. We expect Nigeria to become the Middle East & Africa's largest market by connections before the third quarter is out, although this does not necessarily signify that the number of real mobile users is higher. In fourth place, Saudi Arabia got to within 350k customers of Algeria and may well already have taken its third place, whilst fifth placed Egypt closed the gap on both of them. Morocco's sixth place is also under threat from Iran, which cut the gap by 80% from 1.68m to just 0.33m during Q1 2007. Three months ago, Mobile World looked at the size of the mobile markets in the ten largest countries in the MEA region, since four of this list are not in the current top ten ranking by customers shown in the chart above. The most likely member of this group to claim its rightful place is Tanzania, which lay in 12th place with 6.2m customers at the end of Q1 2007 but is in fact the continent's eighth most populous country. The most likely casualty will once again be Tunisia, which is likely to have taken back tenth place from Israel in the meantime. Next to enter the top ten could be either Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the larger country, with a population of 64.1m to Sudan's 42m, but it was Sudan which stood further ahead in the ranking by customer numbers, with a base of 5.6m to Congo's 5.1m at the end of Q1 2007. The fourth rightful member of the top 10 is Ethiopia, MEA's third largest country by population, although it will most likely be several years before this market enters the top 10, finishing Q1 2007 as it did with a customer base of 1.4m. In the long run, by implication, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq should all lose their top 10 places (in addition to the aforementioned Israel) although if penetration rates follow the European model - and there is no reason to believe they won't - the situation is unlikely to prove to be this simple. (Source: Mobile World)
IN BRIEF:- Djibouti Telecom has launched its new Evatis-Edge network which will enable the telco to offer MMS, internet mail browsing services. The new infrastructure can support 200,000 subscribers with expansion capabilities to 1.8 million. - Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has announced it is capable of offering 3G services but stated that a commercial launch has been delayed due to a lack of spectrum. The company remains confident that their application for the frequencies will be approved soon. - Makerere University's faculty of Computing and Information Technology (CIT) will spend a US$1million to set up a call centre that will provide national directory service in Uganda TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Telecom Namibia announced that it had expanded its wireless CDMA infrastructure to nine more towns and settlements in Namibia including Rehoboth, Mariental, Opuwo, Grootfontein, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Okakarara, Oshivelo and Onesi. - Celtel customers in Kenya are now able to send and receive images to or from Safaricom subscribers. This follows the signing of an interconnection agreement between Celtel and Safaricom. The multi-media message service is charged at Sh15. Messages larger than 50 kilobytes will be charged in blocks of 50 kilobytes at the same price of Sh15 a block. -Uganda telecom (utl) landline subscribers have increased by 20% in five months. Uganda telecom connected nearly 20,000 new landline users in the last few months to reach an all-time-high of over 115,000 landlines from below 96,000 at the end of last year. - Nigerian CDMA fixed-wireless operator Starcomms, one of the first recipients of a unified service licence in May 2006, has announced that in the next few weeks it will be launching services in the cities of Abuja, Onitsha, Aba, Asaba, Kaduna, Abeokuta and Zaria. The telco’s network is currently operational in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt, serving around 500,000 subscribers.
Kenya’s government won’t partner with Seacom on cable projectThe Americans had proposed a 'co-build' arrangement that permits each party to own individual fibre pairs on the desired routes. Kenya has turned down a proposal by American company Seacom - the conglomerate currently building a fibre-optic sea cable from South Africa to Europe, India and the Middle East - of a joint venture on the government-sponsored The East African Marine Cable System (TEAMS) project. It is understood that the Seacom had proposed what is known as a "co-build" arrangement - a solution that permits each party to own individual fibre pairs on the desired routes, allowing major savings in shared facilities such as repeaters, cable housing and power facilities. The EastAfrican has learnt that a top official of Seacom who visited Nairobi last week to sell the project to the government left the country in a huff after having failed to sell the proposal to the government. Four major undersea cable projects are currently engaged in a race to be the first to lay a fibre-optic link connecting the eastern seaboard of Africa to the rest of the world, with the most vicious competition centring on the connections to Europe, which is the destination for 85 per cent of international bandwidth traffic in Africa. The four projects are the East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy), Seacom, TEAMS and Flag Telecom. So far, Seacom appear to be way ahead of the pack, having reached the critical stages of signing the engineering procurement contract (EPC) and closure of financial arrangements for the project. In the event that they hit the finishing line first, the competitive field will have changed markedly, making it difficult for the other players to effectively compete with them, especially when it comes to pricing of services. Opinion is still divided as to whether a "co-build deal" between Kenya and Seacom was a better option for Kenya than the stand-alone deal represented by TEAMS, with Kenya reportedly taking the view that a "co-build" deal would see it cede control of this important facility to an American company. The opposite view is that in terms of the ordinary consumer in need of affordable bandwidth as quickly as possible, a " co-build" was the better route. The international submarine fibre-optic industry has been growing at an unprecedented pace. Since December last year, several cable projects have been launched. Currently, two cables are being constructed between China and the US, one between Australia and the US, while multiple cables are in various stages of completion between East Africa and India and two from the Caribbean to the US. Consequently, the availability of cable laying capacity will be a crucial factor in who completes their project first. The three companies that manufacture undersea cables and have the vessels to lay them, namely Alcatel, NEC and Tyco International. With too many projects on their hands currently, it is unlikely that the cable projects, which are yet to sign contracts with these vendors, will be able to commit these three vendors to complete their projects within next year. Yet, both TEAMS and EASSy have informed consumers that they will be able to give service by December 2008. Then there is the ill-fated Nepad project called the Nepad Broadband Infrastructure. Although structurally similar in some ways to EASSy, it puts overall control in the hands of an inter-Governmental committee and this for understandable reasons has been resisted by EASSy’s shareholders. To date, the protocol has been signed by 12 of the 23 participating countries but has not been ratified by any of the signatories. There is widespread unhappiness at the Governmental level with the Protocol and at the role of NEPAD’s e-Africa Commission that seems to be acting in an executive capacity. Kenya is not a signatory to the protocol. Seacom has signed a construction contract with Tyco Telecom to have the cable ready for service in the first quarter of 2008. (Source: East African Standard) Neotel expands it fibre network across South AfricaNeotel has quietly ramped up the deployment of optical fibre routes in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Neotel is quietly going about their business of expanding their network and signing up clients. “A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes at Neotel since its entry into the market with wholesale international services last August,” the second national operator said. Neotel currently carries international voice services for the mobile operators, and provides global Internet transit for major ISPs from its international POP in Johannesburg. The company has grown to around 170 people, with offices in Cape Town and Durban in addition to its Head Office and National Operations Centre in Johannesburg. “In acquiring Transtel Telecoms from Transnet, our reach is growing substantially, and we will have a presence at more than 100 places across the country, in addition to international VSAT capability,” Neotel said. The company’s initial focus will however remain on the major metros. With their 10,000 km national network up and running, Neotel has launched its flexible leased line service to select customers. Amongst these initial customers will be SITA, which recently awarded the contract for its national backbone to Neotel, citing value for money and bandwidth scalability as key to their decision. Neotel said that they have also received high bandwidth leased line orders from several other large customers. “Delivered using Neotel's Next Generation SDH platform, Neotel's leased line service offers the flexibility of various SDH or Ethernet interfaces, and scalability from 2 to 155 Mbps, within or between major metros in South Africa,” the company said. Neotel said that that their interfaces allow customers to select the bandwidth that best suits their requirements, rather than having to pay for the next largest bandwidth option. “It represents the first true network diversity available to operators and large enterprises in South Africa.” Neotel has been silently expanding their optical fibre routes in the four major metros namely Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. The new deployment augments the 1300 km of fibre routes purchased from Transnet last year, and allows the second national operator to reach deeper into the key business districts of those cities. “In lighting up these fibres, Neotel is creating the high bandwidth Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) that are needed to deliver basic transmission services and the broader set of next generation services for enterprises,” Neotel said. Siemens (with Juniper), Cisco, Huawei, Spescom (with ECI), Tellumat, and Dimension Data have all announced major supply contracts with Neotel. “Neotel's enterprise services will address the voice, data and Internet connectivity needs of enterprises, through a single, converged network that is already interconnected nationally to all the operators in South Africa, and globally via VSNL International to more than 400 operators,” the operator said. In the Internet space, Neotel will peer with the major ISPs in South Africa, whilst delivering international traffic from VSNL International's Tier 1 network. “With the latest generation of optical transmission and IP technology across both the national backbone and metropolitan networks, and with access to capacity globally, Neotel is well positioned to address the bandwidth limitations in the South African market. We are pursuing various options to address the need for affordable international bandwidth, both through SAT-3/SAFE and new submarine fibre systems,” Neotel concluded. (Source: MyBroadband ) NIXP CEO RUDMAN ANNOUNCES LANDMARK SAT3 DEAL AT US$2800 PER MEGSpeaking last week on progress so far, NIXP CEO Muhammed Rudman announced the lowest price thus far negotiated on SAT3 and that seven members were now connected to the exchange. Rudman said that NIXP has negotiated a landmark agreement with NITEL to provide SAT-3 transit traffic at the rate ofUS $2,800 per Megabit duplex connection to all NIXP members, marking a major reduction from the previous price of US$6,300. He called on those still unconnected to NIXP to join the party:”We are also using this opportunity to invite all the major players in the industry to become transit providers for NIXP if they can provide same or lower rates than that provided by NITEL”. There are now seven ISPs connected to NIXP: Tara Systems, Linkserve, Netcom Africa, Cyberspace, 21 Century, MTS First Wireless and Medallion Communications. They were joined last week by the first PTO to become connected: Starcomms. Rudman noted:” By peering with other ISPs at the exchange point, it means all local internet traffic will remain local within those ISPs and Starcomms'. Hitherto, all ISPs within Nigeria were connected at foreign countries which meant that the data of say a JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculations Board) student within Lagos browsing the JAMB website located within an ISP in Lagos will travels first to Europe or the United States before getting back to the Nigeria. The scenario is just like going to Ibadan from Lagos via U.K. and U.S.A. It has been estimated that this use of international bandwidth for national data costs Nigeria over US$100 million each year”. “Today, Nigeria is one of only 11 of the 53 countries in Africa that have IXPs. However, this marginal IXP connectivity results in an inefficient exchange of African inter-country traffic through hubs located overseas mainly in the US and Europe. This means that Africa is paying overseas carriers to exchange "local" (continental) traffic on its behalf. This is costly and inefficient”. He said he believed that unnecessary international transit was costing Nigeria US$100 million a year. The minimum bandwidth for joining NIXP is 10/100 mbps but up to 1000 mbps is available. High bandwidth capacity will provide reliable web-enabled applications, ranging in scope from e-government, e-commerce and multicast services for Government and private sector. NIXP has now got an Interim Board in place and its members are: Chima Onyekwere, Linkserve; Zubaida M. Rasheed, Transcorp; Dr. Sylvanus A. Ehikioya, NCC;Engr Sam Adeleke, Digitek Teevee Consulting; Prof. K.R. Adeboye, FUT Minna; Aminu Tijjani, Multilinks; Yen Choi, Netcom; Chioke Ogugua, Celtel; Sunday Folayan, Skannet, Akinwale Goodluck, MTN and NIXP’s CEO Muhammed Rudman. CyberTrackers of the Kalahari take out their PDAs in BotswanaThat indispensable electronic tool of every rising young executive, the personal digital assistant (PDA), has been matched to the traditional knowledge of the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert to give Africa a new profession: digital wildlife tracker. The high-tech wildlife trackers have been used against poachers, in ecotourism, environmental education, research and monitoring. The free software that links up traditional knowledge to electronic data mapping has been applied around the world to social surveys, organic farming, integrated pest management and disaster relief. The new profession sprang from the work of Louis Liebenberg, a South African conservation scientist who learned tracking from bow-and-arrow hunters in Botswana. He recognized the importance of their skills and knowledge for conservation — and how little it was valued by protection authorities, partly because the Bushmen could not read or write. With former University of Cape Town computer scientist Justin Steventon, Liebenberg developed a hand-held computer and software to capture their knowledge. He called the system CyberTracker. The computer displays a palette of symbols representing more than 40 animal species, subspecies and plants. The icons also cover activities such as drinking, feeding, running, fighting, mating and sleeping. Pressing an icon records a sighting or other indications. Each screen allows the user to record increasingly detailed information. They found that one tracker might record up to 300 observations in a day. Connected to a satellite navigational system in 1996, the hand-held computer automatically recorded the details, time, date and exact location. This information was processed on a base-station computer to create maps and charts of animal movements and feeding habits. Today, all the data collection can be done on a PDA and worked on a personal computer. The free software used to turn a tracker into a digital wildlife tracker has now been downloaded over 25,000 times in more than 50 countries. When Liebenberg received a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his work with CyberTracker, the European Union funded work that enabled him to set up a non-governmental organization to develop and distribute the software as part of his effort to establish a worldwide network to monitor wildlife (http://www.cybertracker.org). Mr Liebenberg’s plan was to hand over management to someone else and go back to research exclusively, but so far that remains a dream, and he now also spends time evaluating trackers for certification. The scientist’s efforts had a social development goal from the start. “I set out to show that there is an alternative for the desperately downtrodden and impoverished Bushmen whose understanding of nature and its rhythms is unparalleled,” he says. The illiterate trackers who carried out the first project, a detailed study of the black rhinoceros, were able to publish their findings in a respected scientific journal with the aid of Liebenberg and Steventon. Certified trackers now run into the hundreds. Liebenberg runs tracker certificate programmes in South Africa at the Thorny Bush Nature Reserve, a private reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park, and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Others are now also organized in the United States. (Source: International Trade Centre) IN BRIEF:- Algeria’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research assigned Continuing Education University (UFC) to post on the Internet 30% of universities pedagogical materiel to provide “a data bank for those students who cannot attend lectures.” - South Africa’s ISP MWEB announced that it has successfully completed its WiMax rollout in Soweto. The rapid deployment of the technology was achieved with 100 residents being connected in seven days in various suburbs within Soweto. - Ghana Telecom has announced that its broadband service named Broadband 4U is now available in Wa in the Upper West Region of the country.
Piracy 'Blame Game' Puts Businesses at Risk in South AfricaWhen asked why their business is using unlicensed software, the number one excuse given by business managers is "it is someone else's fault", the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has revealed earlier this week. IT managers and departments, employees and resellers are those most frequently blamed for businesses breaching software copyright legislation. The top five excuses for unlicensed software use given by management across EMEA were: It is someone else's fault and/or responsibility We expanded quickly, merged with, acquired another company and forgot to purchase more licences. We didn't know anything about it Licences are too expensive for us to buy. We were just testing the software and forgot to uninstall it. "It is the legal responsibility of the business owner, CEO or managing director to ensure that the software that is being used on company equipment is licensed and does not contravene copyright law, and business managers need to recognise this," explains Alastair de Wet, the new chairman of the BSA South Africa. However the BSA does not see software management as a purely legal issue, and encourages businesses to recognise it as a key component in optimising the performance of their IT networks. Software management not only assists businesses in ensuring the software they have is licensed, but also ensures that the maximum business value is extracted from the software assets invested in. "Software is an important business asset - along with the hardware components, the data they store and the staff that utilise such assets capabilities. IT is a critical business tool and as such ensuring it is being used effectively and efficiently should be a board level issue. No successful business would 'forget' to employ new staff during a period of expansion, so why 'forget' to invest in their software? The tendency to regard anything IT-related as a 'technical' issue rather than a business issue must change if companies want to ensure they are using their software efficiently, effectively and legally." The risks of ineffective software management can be serious. The BSA has investigated dozens of cases across South Africa already this year, and the financial implications of being caught are increasing. Recently a company had to pay damages of R130 000.00 on top of the cost of acquiring legal software to replace the unlicensed versions in use. Businesses that do not have a software and license inventory risk spending more than they need to by purchasing more licenses than they actually require, and fail to identify 'rogue' software downloaded from the Internet that may contain viruses or spyware. To help businesses develop effective software management processes, the BSA has also formed a strategic alliance with Investors in Software, a not-for-profit industry association, which is supporting the ISO international standard for SAM - ISO / IEC 19770-1. The standard gives businesses a road map to assist them in implementing software asset management strategies that deliver long term benefits and assurance to their business. "Having a software and Internet usage strategy in place is something all businesses should have, but they need to enforce the policies they put in place and to do this successfully it must be viewed as a management issue. A recent study by the BSA revealed that 94% of business managers consider IT to be important to their company's ability to operate successfully, so protecting and managing their IT investments efficiently should be a priority for senior management," de Wet concludes. (Source: Biz-Community) Teacher Gets US$400,000 to Establish ICT Centre At Damongo in GhanaA National Business plan competition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Believe Begin Become has awarded a 32 year old teacher of Damongo Secondary School (DASS), Prince Yakubu Tahiru an amount of US $400,000 to establish an ICT centre in Damongo, the West Gonja District capital of the Northern Region. Believe Begin Become (BBB) which is under the sponsorship of the Google Foundation designed and managed by Technoserve, and supported by local businesses and Professionals is aimed at inspiring innovation, providing skills and rewarding entrepreneurial drive as well as leading economic growth. At a ceremony held at Damongo to launch Toplink Netware Systems (TONETS), the ICT centre established by the award winner, the Northern Regional Manager of Technoserve who represented BBB, Amisum Anyoka said Prince Tahiru was one of ten (10) award winners who were screened from a total of 320 applicants in the 2006 Ghana National Business Plan Competition Organised by Technoserve. Anyoka also mentioned that Technoserve and Google Foundation have joined forces to promote entrepreneurship and private sector development in Ghana through a Business Plan Competition (BPC), and Entrepreneurship Development Programme aimed at helping business growth. According to Anyoka, Technoserve BPC is an effective, high-return model for identifying, monitoring and improving the environment for entrepreneurs who will grow new businesses, create jobs, revenue and wealth in a bid to eradicate poverty. He made it known that entrepreneurs with robust business concept will have the opportunity again this year to turn their ideas into viable businesses through training, technical assistance and network building. The District Chief Executive of West Gonja District Assembly Jambia Janet Alhassan, said the Assembly was ready with open arms to welcome development partners and private entrepreneurs in all fields of endeavours to help reduce poverty in the district. She explained the Government's policy in ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT 4 AD) which identifies community information centers (CICS) as one of the strategies to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas. The DCE also spoke of how the government supports private partnership such as TONETS' in promoting development. She, however, cautioned management of the centre to be extra vigilant on their clients who may abuse the facility by causing cyber frauds and other internet related crimes. Prince Tahiru who is the Chief Executive Officer of TONETS mentioned in his speech that the centre provides general secretarial services, software and hardware training, Internet services, Computer Programming and installation among others. According to Prince Tahiru, the establishment of the centre was been of enormous benefit to tourists and who come to Mole National Park and also to candidates who register online to write WEAC Examinations. People, he added hitherto had to travel all the way to Tamale for such services. He used the opportunity to appeal to people of Damongo to support the centre. (Source: Public Agenda) South Africa’s IQ to Recruit 150 Indian Software DevelopersPrivately owned IQ Business Group is planning to import 150 Indian software developers over the next 18 months and use them as mentors to train local recruits. The scheme will operate through a joint venture IQ has formed with the Indian software house Prodapt to address SA's severe shortage of technology professionals. The joint venture, ProdaptIQ, will fly in Indian software developers to carry out contracts that the IQ group has won from local organisations in the private and public sectors. The Indian workers will be "shadowed" by at least one trainee recruited locally so skills are passed on to a new generation. The mentoring will last for six to eight months, and some mentors could be shadowed by three or four local recruits. The trainees would probably be employed by the client company, which would keep them on the payroll when the training ended, said Craig Rodger of IQ, who is heading the new venture. The IQ Group has a turnover of R400m and 700 employees, and could handle more work if it had more staff. Critical projects were missing deadlines and running over budget because of the shortage, and this deal would let it tap into India's world-renowned technology skills, said Rodger. ProdaptIQ will also outsource some local software developments to Prodapt's laboratory in India. Prodapt has been operating in SA for three years, and one of its main contracts is to handle online billing services for Telkom. "We realised there is a huge opportunity in SA in building software for organisations and the demand far outstrips the supply of personnel," said its chief operating officer, Ragu Raghuraman. "Companies are running into serious skills shortages and that's hurting the South African economy because they are not able to take on large technology automation projects. We will bring software skills from India into SA and use that knowledge to train local people." The partners would not say how much they were investing in the joint venture. At a later stage, ProdaptIQ might also set up a business process outsourcing centre, which could create more jobs, Raghuraman said. (Source: Business Day) 10,000 subscribe to Botswana’s First National Bank’s electronic serviceBanking giant First National Bank (FNBB) is reaping the benefits of introducing the unique electronic banking service in the country. The bank says its electronic banking service is so far being subscribed for by over 10,000 clients, including individuals and corporate institutions. "For our individual Internet Banking, we have in excess of 5 500 using the service, for business-held accounts, we have in excess of 1 000, and with the recently introduced Cellphone Banking which was introduced in November of 2006, we have in excess of 3900 customers using the service," says Oratile Moremong of FNBB's publicity and marketing department in response to a questionnaire. "We have seen quite a number of customers attracted by our Electronic Banking products opening accounts as they feel that they are very efficient and provide effective management of accounts held with FNBB." However, Moremong says pessimistic views persist in some sections of society, perhaps because the unique service came a bit too early for the ordinary person who does not have a computer at home. "That may be the case as Internet usage in Botswana remains very low as a result of the high cost to access it, the high cost of computer hardware and generally low levels of Internet awareness," she says. "However, this is no excuse for Botswana to remain on the wrong side of the digital divide with little access to development and innovation. The idea has always been to provide our customers with banking convenience, and we are beginning to see that bearing fruit across all the different segments of the clients that we service, from the under-banked upwards. "The benefits of the various electronic solutions that we provide in comparison to conventional banking are that it costs less than conventional banking; it is convenient in that one can have access to their account information from the comfort of either their home or office 24/7; it means less queuing in that you can make payments or pay bills using any of the electronic solutions 24/7; it facilitates an easy and efficient management of your accounts held with FNBB 24/7." (Source: Mmegi/The Reporter) Uganda’s ICT Minister Nsambu promotes solar power for PCsIn an interview with eLearning Africa, ICT State Minister for Uganda John Chrysostom Alintuma Nsambu talked about how solar and battery power should be used for PCs in the African context. Q: Uganda’s PC users, for instance, face many difficulties due to electrical blackouts. From your point of view, what should be done to improve the situation? A: To improve the power generation situation nationwide will take some time. Hydro-electric dams are not built over night. But in the mean time, a number of things that can be done that will have positive impacts. These include reducing power consumption when power is available by using low-power-consuming electrical devices like energy-efficient lighting, introducing low-power computers that do not require cooling and use less power, and undertaking various other energy-saving activities. When power is conserved, more power becomes available when the power grid is available. It also becomes much more economical to install backup power and solar solutions to support the operations of computers that use less power. One of the reasons solar power is used so infrequently is that the cost of the solar panels and batteries required to run a standard computer is very high. However, if we can reduce power consumption to one-tenth of current usage, the cost for the solar system and batteries is reduced by ninety percent as well. This is what frequently makes new, power-efficient computers cheaper than refurbished ones when taking the total cost of ownership into account. Q: You are also acting as an ICT entrepreneur in order to better conditions in rural Uganda. Could you please tell us a bit about your personal solar-PC activities? A: Generally, I see myself as an agent of change in the way we do things in Africa. In other words, I am the agent who tells Ugandans that a PC meant for Americans cannot be meant for our people because they do not have power problems like we do. Consequently, as Africans we have to decide between buying "Hummers" - if PCs were cars - and Toyota Coronas. I would go for a metaphoric Toyota as long as we know that our basic problem is to learn how to utilize PCs properly. Today, most people in Uganda and Africa in general buy PCs that are too expensive to run and maintain, and, in fact, they are simply a replacement of the old typewriters in their offices. Since this is the case, why not buy a simple, efficient low-power computer? Through my aggressive promotion of solar or battery PCs, I want to challenge the big boys in the industry to manufacture applied technology that meets our specific needs. Once this happens, I am a good agent for the people of Uganda and Africa. Q: I’ve read that Inveneo is among your partners in your ICT projects. What is their role? A: Inveneo, a non-profit social enterprise based in San Francisco, California, designs ICT solutions for rural and remote areas, especially in Africa. Inveneo has worked in Uganda for two-and-a-half years, piloting and deploying low-power ICT equipment in rural areas. The experience gained during this time has led to the development and release of the current computer, the Inveneo Computing Station. Requirements were gathered from NGOs, education facilities, small businesses, and last but not least the Ministry of ICT. Q: What does their PC solution look like, and how does it work? A: The Inveneo solution is a very tiny computer that can run for three days without recharging, assuming the user works for eight hours per day. Its central processing unit is half the size of an ordinary Bible. It is Internet-ready with wireless capabilities and has a solar panel, the size of a palm, for recharging the battery within fifteen minutes. The main advantage, however, is that six Inveneo computers use the same amount of electricity as a single conventional computer. Moreover, the cost is much lower than that of a common PC: about US$400. Personally, I see solutions like this as a very important step towards overall access for all the students in our country and on this continent Q: Do you have any plans for further development or do you see any major breakthroughs in the near future? A: Once our call for appropriate applied technology - using available resources and providing IT access for our children – is answered, we will move to the next step of building computers in Uganda ourselves, based on our needs and affordability. We also want to make strong IT content for those PCs so that our children learn to be innovative and creative. We also want to use ICT as an industry to generate wealth. The first step for all of these aspirations is to teach young generations how to use the keyboard and to hold the mouse. (SOURCE: eLearning Africa) IN BRIEF:- An early version of the Linux-based OpenMoko NEO 1973 has been released to allow developers to begin writing applications and device drivers. Although dubbed by some as an iPhone killer, without the same multi million dollar hype, it is unlikely to leave the iPhone completely dead in the water. But it may just earn the title of the iPhone 'injurer'.
HBD Ventures US$5.1 million On Fundamo Growth in South AfricaHBD Venture Capital has invested US$5.1 million in technology developer Fundamo to help it tap into foreign markets with its mobile banking and payment software. HBD is the venture capital fund set up by Cape Town internet billionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Fundamo is another Cape-based enterprise, which now aims to expand elsewhere in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the US. It is already one of the top global players in its niche, and won the international Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership award last year . Its software is used for the cellphone banking services offered by MTN, and is also used by cellphone operators, banks and financial services firms to manage banking and account payments over cellphones . HBD CEO Julia Long said yesterday that Fundamo had exceptional potential, and because it did not have any strong competition locally, there were good opportunities at home and abroad. "This is a very interesting company, not only because they spotted the gap in this market long before the rest of the world, but because they have consistently improved their product to the world-class standard it is today," she said. The venture capital fund usually invested in immature companies yet to make a profit, Long said. "It is a more mature company than our usual investments. However, it still fits many of our investment criteria." (Source: Business Day) South Africa’s Infraco to be open to private investmentThe department of public enterprises has called on the public to comment on a new bill that will govern Infrastructure Company (Infraco), the state-owned broadband firm tasked with rolling out affordable, high-speed internet services. The call comes ahead of the public hearings to be held early next month. The bill seeks to create flexibility around the funding of Infraco and private sector involvement in the company. Infraco will be converted into a public company after the bill becomes an act. It will have to obtain a licence from the Independent Communications Authority of SA. The department called for the formation of Infraco last year, after the government backtracked on earlier plans to transfer the telecoms assets of parastatals Eskom and Transtel into the second fixed-line operator Neotel. Eskom and Transtel own a combined 30 percent in Neotel. It is understood that the government reviewed its decision, as it believed that Neotel would not be able to offer lower-priced telecoms services as expected, if it had to fund the acquisition of those assets. Telkom, which until recently had the monopoly in fixed-line telephony, has been criticised for charging high tariffs that make it difficult for underprivileged people to access a wide array of telecoms services. According to the department, connectivity providers other than Telkom have a cost structure where up to 80 percent of charges comprise costs attributable to national backbone connectivity and international connectivity, both of which are supplied by Telkom. "The logical conclusion was to intervene to address the national backbone and international connectivity cost structures," said the department. "This is based on the assumption that if these costs are addressed, Tier 2 [the local metropolitan area network and last mile] connectivity providers would quickly pass this on to the market as a result of competitive pressure." Neotel will get exclusivity to Infraco's infrastructure at a cost. Other operators will also get access, but at a later stage. Vodacom, Internet Solutions, Universal Services Access Agency of SA and other internet service providers are expected to make presentations and submit their comments by July 25, ahead of the hearings that will be held on August 1 and 2. (Source: Business Report) Nigeria: Nigcomsat-1 Market Projected a N128 Trillion by 2010The Nigeria Communication Satellite (NigComSat-1) has been projected to reap benefits from the telecom market worth N128.2 trillion ($1.2 trillion) by the 2010. President Musa Yar'Adua made this observation over the weekend in Abuja at the ceremony marking the switching on of the satellite to paying customers and delivery of its in-orbit to NIGCOMSAT Limited "Nigeria will start generating income from the space industry, which was hitherto restricted to the techno-logically developed countries. The project has trans-formed Nigeria from a consumer of bandwidth to a provider" said Yar 'Adua. Yar'Adua who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babagana Kingibe, said with the successful launch of NigComSat-1, Nigeria had signalled its determination to be a significant player in today's fast globalizing knowledge and techno-logy-driven world. He said "NigComSat Limited as an important component of the nation's leveraging on the federal government's commitment to projecting and promoting the private sector as the engine of the nation's economic growth". Yar'Adua said that "NigComSat-1, which is the first Pan African communications satellite is a testament to this determination and the nation's recognition of the critical role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the achievement of the national development goals". According to him, the hugely profitable business opportunities that abound in the country can only be optimized through effective Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). Throwing his weight behind the ability of the project to turn around the economy, he said, "NigComSat ltd is thus an important component of our leveraging on the federal government's commitment to projecting and promoting the private sector as the engine of Nigeria's economic growth". "Our faith in PPP is demonstrated by our commitment to the liberalization of the economy, enactment of enabling laws to facilitate investment, creation of relevant institutions and platforms to facilitate and fast-track investments processes, formulation of an investor-friendly monetary policy, and several other incentives aimed at facilitating the diversification of our economic base," he said. (Source: Daily Trust) IN BRIEF:- In a report entitled the Transformational Potential of M-Transactions, Vodafone argues for new rules to ease money transfers by mobile phones in Kenya. Kenya's Safaricom, in which Vodafone has a 40 per cent share, was the first mobile service provider in the world to introduce money transfer services under the M-Pesa brand. In just three months, the service reportedly managed to help clients transfer Ksh500 million ($7.4 million), mostly in amounts of less than $75 per transaction, across the length and breadth of the country. CORRECTIONSIssue 361: Power to the base stations – a modest proposition The data on unspent universal service access fees came from the GSM Association, not the World Bank. We should perhaps also have mentioned the new, lower energy, lower cost Femtocells and added that MIT is working on sending electrical power by wireless! Issue 361: Kinz Telecom’s bid for Westel implodes – Where was Etisalat? Sources close to Kinz Telecom say that it actually bid US$95.15 million against Celtel’s bid of US$80 million. According to those close to Kinz, after the Government had declared it the winner, it then turned round and asked for US$250 million. Issue 359: One laptop per child starting pilots in South Africa and Nigeria It would cost US$43.75 million to provide all schoolchildren in South Africa with One Laptop Per Child machines, not the US$4,375,000 stated in the article.
TSC Unveils Text Message Service for Teachers in KenyaTeachers will no longer be required to travel to Nairobi over job-related matters. The Teachers Service Commission has unveiled a new mobile phone short text message (SMS) service, through which its employees countrywide would obtain services from its Nairobi headquarters. The new service is expected to significantly reduce the number of teachers who flock head office for various services and enquiries. An estimated 7,000 teachers visit the offices every month on job-related issues, according to TSC chief executive Gabriel Lengoiboni. The situation, he said, indicates lack of efficient communication between the commission and its customers. Teachers can now receive information regarding latest development and changes at commission through the new service. Lengoiboni said the strategy was part of the commission's efforts geared at improving its corporate image. It is also anchored on the government's Rapid Results Initiative, he explained. "The commission has put in place relevant infrastructure, which includes provision of enough computers to ensure that the strategy is well implemented," he assured. The service which is seen as a breakthrough in efforts to bring about efficient communication at the largest employer of public servants, will enable teachers make enquiries through their cell phones by sending text messages to TSC. To access the service, the client will be required to create a text message; TSC, give the TSC number, district, school make an enquiry and send to 5556, not exceeding 160 characters. The teachers will receive an auto response message saying the commission will respond within one day and not more than seven days. Service users will pay Sh5 above the normal rate. In addition, teachers can also inquire about services offered by the Commission through the Interactive Voice Response. To access this service, a teacher/client will be required to dial 0900881100. (Source: The Nation) Local Government Services to Go Online in RwandaThe Ministry of Local Government has unveiled a plan to have all its documented information, service delivery and conference proceedings online. Minister Protais Musoni said the online facility of e-document, teleconference and tax-payers' database has provoked ministry to redesign its website for easy regular upload with updated data. Musoni didn't specify on when the new site is going to be up but he is hopeful it will enhance better service delivery. "The use of e-document system will help us to quickly trace whereabouts of a certain file in the ministry," Musoni said on Friday. The introduction of tax payers' database will store significant information about them. Teleconference will enable upcountry local leaders follow events while in their offices on regular national meeting proceedings in Kigali City. Musoni said that ministry staff is being trained on how to handle e-document, database and video conference. Government's effort to setup tele-centres in the districts countrywide is a feasible means to attain the anticipated online service delivery system. Musoni disclosed that one of his ministry's priorities this year is to extend Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to large number of citizens. He explained that a wider ICT distribution will boost the ongoing sensitisation of citizens about the use of new electronic national identity cards. He further disclosed that registration of citizens to get electronic IDs is due to start in the near future. The Local Government ministry's online service comes in the wake of Rwanda's ambitious target to transform the society into ICT driven by 2020. Already, the Ministry of Health's telemedicine service and New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) sponsored e-school programme have been a major success. (Source: New Times)
PEOPLEThierry Boulanger has been appointed as head of HP imaging and printing for South Africa EVENTS- SATWIBB AFRICA: AFRICAN SATELLITE & WIRELESS BROADBAND CONFERENCE & VOIP FORUM West Africa: Muson Centre, Lagos, 21-23 August 2007 Theme: ”Broadband bridges across Africa: First and last mile solutions” Local and international industry leaders will make presentations on the following topics:
The event also includes a Masterclass on Building Wireless Communities by Paul Munnery, CEO, Wireless Digital Cities, UK To request full details, email info@aitecafrica.com or log on to www.aitecafrica.com ICT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY 17-18 July, Wanderers Club, Johannesburg, South Africa The theme of this year's event is "Applications for the Development Sector". The event coincides with SANGONeT's twentieth anniversary, and will reflect on the progress that South African NGOs have made over the past 20 years in adopting and integrating ICTs in their work. For further information visit http://www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007 - TELECOMS WORLD AFRICA 31st July - 2nd August 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa Key decision-makers in South Africa and leading international players will share their expertise and forge invaluable business relationships in a highly interactive environment. For further information visit www.terrapinn.com/2007/telecomza - WI-WORLD AFRICA 2007 27 – 30 August 2007, Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. In Africa, fixed-line infrastructure is lacking and there is a major problem with copper wire theft. Wireless communication is therefore a great alternative. For further information visit www.terrapinn.com/2007/telecomza - IWEEK CONFERENCE 5-7 September 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa ISPA and UniForum SA are proud to state that this is the 6th year that they have been hosting and running iWeek, the Internet industry's premier conference. Registration is now open at http://www.ispa.org.za/iweek/2007/apply.shtml - ICT AFRICA 2007 October 1-5, 2007, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya ICT Africa is an annual continental information and communications technology conference addressing all aspects of ICT development in Africa. The conference is convened by NEPAD council in collaboration with the NEPAD Kenya secretariat. The 2007 event will be organized by Global Conferences, Cape Town, South Africa. For further information contact rjacobs@globalconf.co.za - INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT (IPAD) CENTRAL AFRICA 3rd - 5th October, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo iPAD Central Africa 2006 provides an opportunity to network directly with key partners. The event aims to facilitate regional planning and collaborations under one roof between government, the public sector and business. iPAD Central Africa 2006 is a one-stop-shop for investigating investment opportunities in DRC and the Central African region as a whole. For further information visit http://www.spintelligent-events.com/ipad-central2006/en/ JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESField Switching Engineer – Uganda The company is looking for a field switching engineer, who will participate in the installation and commissioning of BSCs in Uganda, BSC integration and commissioning, BSS Operations and Maintenance with the ability to undertake interfacing tests in a multivendor environment. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?The Post, Telecommunications & Information Technology Company and Alcatel-Lucent – Libya French equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by the Libyan Post Telecommunications & Information Technology Company to supply a nationwide fibre-optic backbone network, in a deal estimated to be worth EUR90 million (USD123.7 million). Under the deal, Alcatel-Lucent will roll out a 4,400km fibre-optic network linking all major cities and towns, to serve as the backbone network for Libya's telecoms infrastructure. Uganda Telecom and huawei – Uganda Uganda Telecom says that it has signed a US$50 million agreement with Huawei to expand its existing GSM network. The agreement stipulates that Huawei will provide and install an additional 200 Base Transmission Stations (BTS) to supplement the existing 220. This is the first phase in a planned US$85 million expansion plan that will see the network expanded to cover 70% of Uganda's population. The rollout will include a network upgrade that will see an expansion on the existing Intelligent Network and MSC switches. The rollout plan is scheduled to be concluded by end of November 2007.
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