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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 370 The end of the beginning: DRC plans ambitious infrastructure developmentFor all the difficulties in Eastern Congo, the DRC has seen a number of recent developments that will form the beginning of a backbone development plan for the country. Canadian NGO Alternatives launched its extremely detailed feasibility study for a backbone plan and the Government has begun to look at some of the issues that will need to be addressed if it is to be implemented. Called Etude de faisibilite pour une dorsale Internet ouverte en RDC, the report estimates that US$233 million (without redundancy) will be needed to build the country a network backbone, a sum that seems modest given the size of the country. It envisages a country-wide backbone of 5,467 kilometres, the largest sections being in the following provinces: Katanga (1463 kms); Bas Congo (813 kms) and Sud-Kivu (652 kms). The report was launched in August at a meeting of 60-70 people, mainly drawn from Government. Michel Lambert from Alternatives told us he was “disappointed” that there were not more private sector attendees, particularly mobile operators but planned to have a meeting in September or October to take up the discussion specifically with them. There should be greater interest as the main mobile operators are both carrying large amounts of traffic between places like Kinshasa and Lubumbashi and paying extremely large amounts in satellite fees to backhaul it. Even on fairly “back-of-the-envelope” calculations, the current fees being paid by a single operator on this route would probably justify this sort of capital expenditure. Although the sum that needs to be raised to build the backbone seems large, the report suggests that it can built in phases, with each phase generating cash-flow to finance the next phase. A key phase would be the construction of a fibre to connect the country either to SAT3 amd/or WAFS or to EASSy on the other side of the continent, reducing the country’s overall connectivity bill. But as elsewhere in Africa, the report points to the need to combine the fibre plans of the power utility with wider national backbone plans. A fibre route could go along transmission lines from the Inga project, both to the capital Kinshasa and to the hydo-electric power stations close to the mining town of Kolwezi and to another one near Likazi. Similarly it would be possible to deploy along some of the existing railway lines, particularly in the south-east of the country. The Congolese power utility SNEL has plans to construct power transmission lines to the North and North East of the country with fibre pairs for management purposes and additional pairs could easily be added. The report also contains backing for the idea of a municipal network in Kinshasa. Interestingly one of the researchers on the project is the new Minister of Industry for Kinshasa province and is interested in seeing whether this project could be funded out of the Province’s own budget. Probably the biggest hurdle is who would implement such a plan. The report envisages that the network would be open access for all carriers. As with several countries coming out of civil wars (Liberia is a typical example), the incumbent OCPT is effectively a shell. It has fewer than 10,000 lines in Kinshasa, many of which do not function well. The Government has held talks with buyers in the past to try and find a strategic investor, even on occasions holding out a renewed monopoly (including the international gateway) as a carrot. However, when it came to the cheque-signing moment, there have been no takers. However, the Government is determined to revive OPCT as the minutes of the Governmental meeting between 6-18 August 2007 make clear. It calls for the restructuring of OCPT and Renatelsat (the state satellite agency) to give them the means to make them competitive. Hereby lies the flaw in the plan for if OCPT has responsibility for a publicly provided backbone then the sceptics will rightly mutter that it will never happen. Rumours are already circulating that contracts are on the point of being granted to “the Chinese” (for which read, Huawei and/or ZTE). But this does not really explain how OCPT can become the effective implementation agency for large financial project that will be trusted to supply reliable bandwidth by a competitive private sector. Perhaps only some form of public-private partnership can achieve that on a “carriers’ carrier” basis for the only alternative is for the large private sector players to build their own infrastructure. But even if they could each convince themselves to take on parts of this task (Kinshasa-Lubumbashi anyone?), it seems a tremendous waste of investment that could better be spent on rolling out to customers in more places if a backbone could both be financed and operated by others. It’s one thing mobile operators going into infrastructure in a plum market like South Africa but quite another facing both the physical challenges and political risks of DRC. So even if the Chinese build it on loan terms, there will need to be a body that can be trusted to both operate and deliver it effectively. Thus far, as in several other African countries, this remains the missing piece and can only be solved by more imaginative public-private approaches to the problem.
South African firm joins race for Telkom KenyaThe Kenyan Government is talking up the sale of Telkom Kenya but has so far failed to deliver the difficult bit. Investors will not want to take on the political liability of a making redundant large numbers of the work force. They will expect Government to clear this piece of unfinished business before stepping in with new investment. Telkom’s performance data seen by the Business Daily shows the company incurred losses amounting to $100 million (Sh7 billion) between 2003 and last year. The losses, however, are unlikely to deter interest in the 51 per cent stake on offer because it is part of the data contained in the prospectus being presented to potential partners. The data shows that the operator, which has rattled the market with the competitive Telkom Wireless tariffs, made a loss of $27 million in 2003. The deficit rose to $32 million and $36 million in subsequent years before improving to $6 million last year. Interest in the strategic stake is, however, said to be growing with the roadshows being done by Treasury, Telkom and Information ministry officials. Telkom SA is the latest to be confirmed as an interested party. “They are very keen on Telkom Kenya. The South Africans believe the telecommunications market is very robust and still has more potential,” information and communications permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo said. The South African firm, with an annual turnover of $7.2 billion (Sh490 billion), has been on an acquisition spree having already taken over Africa Online in a bitterly fought war for the Internet service provider with Wananchi Online of Kenya. Libyan financiers (with BT as management contractors) are in the race for the strategic stake which has also attracted Indian mobile service providers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Holdings and Vtel communication of Kuwait. The strategic partner in Telkom Kenya was set to be announced in November but at the current pace it is unlikely the timetable will be met. Already a retrenchment programme that was to be done this month has been shelved to wait on the strategic investor to come on board and assess its establishment needs and technological preference. With the company having borrowed Sh5.8 billion from a a consortium of banks to help it reduce the number of employees, there is the risk of the loss growing bigger because of higher financing costs and continued payment of salaries. To mitigate the full impact of the policy shift, the company is now understood to be encouraging voluntary retirement. “Already we have had a good number of people volunteering to go. And since we have the money, there has not been a problem,” said Dr Ndemo. (Source: Business Daily) Comium’s GSM licence in trouble in LiberiaThe post-hoc standardisation of regulation governing mobile operators is causing a number of public rows in Liberia. The Liberian regulator, LTA had to deny this week that it was going to close down Comium’s operation. And the local Chair of Comium was making a plea for even-handed treatment before a parliamentary committee. It seems that licences entered into under previous Governments may become a big political risk for operators. The Executive Chairman of Comium Liberia, Monie R. Captan has said that he was happy for all GSM companies to be regulated, but this must be done in a fashion so that no one company is affected. Captan made the statement last week Friday when he appeared before the committees on Contract and Concession as well as Posts and Telecommunications at the National Investment Commission. There were later reports, denied by the regulator, that its operation was to be shut down. Recently the Executive Branch of the Liberian Government submitted an Act to Repeal the Comium Concession; saying the company's agreement was ratified by the House and would be difficult for the newly established Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) to regulate it. But the investment code of 2000 states that except through concession agreement for investment projects in the excess of US$10M and more, the qualifying investment projects shall be lodged with the National Investment Commission for evaluation and submission to the President of Liberia for approval and to the national legislature for ratification. This was done by Comium Liberia. Appearing before the House committees on Post and Telecommunications and Contract and Concession at the National Investment Commission last Friday, Mr. Captan said, Comium did the right thing legally by going through the house. In addition to that, the company was also granted license by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to operate as a GSM company. Captan said, there were two separate issues which were before the House. "One has to do with the investment incentives and the other is with the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry. I think each is different and there is no need for it to be put together. On investment, the NIC can deal with it and the licensing is squarely with the LTA." "Comium has no problem with regulation for all the GSM companies at all. We need to be careful so that in trying to seek equity, we should not create inequality. If you repeal mine now when there is nothing to protect me while the others remain, then, we have not created equity." But the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication has said in the past that Comium did not have any document to operate. To the disbelief of the lawmakers, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Jackson Doe, the Executive Chairman of Comium Liberia, Mr. Monie R. Captan, presented the original copy of its document, signed, probated and with all its legal work in place from the ministry and other relevant government institutions. Captan said, "Comium is not against any standardization. All we need is harmony in the industry. But if you go now and repeal our investment incentive and take us to zero, the others will be enjoying theirs which will be unfair to us. If you can put all of us on par at the same time, that will be good. We need fair competition in the market." All GSM companies in the country have specific duty free privilege. (Source: The Inquirer) MTN Calls for Calm As Callers Jam Network in UgandaUgandan MTN’s 50% airtime bonus promo proved what has been obvious to those who track rates for a long time. If prices comes down, use goes up enormously. Indeed so enormously did it go up that the network quickly became jammed. In the wake of the outage, MTN Uganda said its customers should exercise "self-discipline," and spread their calls so the company's network could function. Nothing about how the marketing department should have checked whether demand should be met or whether the company was upgrading its network. Since a 50 per cent bonus airtime promo started on August 13, there has been a vast surge in traffic on the network just after 10 pm when customers can utilise their extra airtime. At a press briefing last week, MTN's Chief Commercial Officer, Eric Van Veen said they expected customers to be more responsible in placing calls around that time. "If you make a call and it's dropped, don't place again and again. Just be patient and call a little later and that helps everybody," he said. In other words, be prepared to expect less than the service you’ve paid for. To illustrate the depth of the traffic strain on the network stemming from extra airtime, Mr Van Veen said the company's network is designed to accommodate 24,000 voice calls at any single second. But when the clock hits 10 pm every weekday, almost a million of MTN's two million customers place calls simultaneously, prompting a snarl up. "No network in the world can have capacity to carry that level of traffic at a time," Eric said. According to traffic flow graphic models displayed at the briefing, interruptions are almost non-existent in the traditional peak hours - day time - but instantly shoot up at 10 o'clock and then drop again shortly there after. Said Francis Kazinduki, MTN's Chief Technical Officer, "It's just a 30-minute craziness. People just can't wait for even a few minutes." It’s hard to see why MTN management are so surprised by this. If you make people a good offer, they want to use it. It's unclear whether customers will heed the company's advice and spread out their calling time but Eric said they're also weighing an array of options that could be used to cutback on network jams. One of them, he said, is to get more off-peak hours in which customers can use their bonus airtime. Currently, Saturdays and Sundays, considered off-peak periods, are still excluded from the promo but Mr Van Veen suggested they might be considered for use of the extra airtime. (Source: The Monitor) Mobile VoIP set to slash telecoms costs in South Africa using Wi-Fi networksA few university graduates formed a mobile-based voice over internet protocol (VoIP) that will slash costs by up to 80 percent. While the telecoms regulator is still debating whether to intervene in South Africa's high mobile charges, a few university graduates took advantage of this gap to form a cellphone-based voice over internet protocol (VoIP) that will slash costs by up to 80 percent. The University of Cape Town graduates' company is called Yeigo, founded by chief executive Rapelang Rabana, Lungisa Matshoba and Wilter du Toit. The former classmates started the company in December 2005. It took them two years to complete software features and the system was commercially launched in February this year. Yeigo will use a mobile-based VoIP network that is similar to its land line counterpart. The network has been on the market for a few years, but it was mainly used by corporate and private clients who wanted to avoid calling at Telkom rates. The fixed-line VoIP is popular when calling international countries. The company's cellphone VoIP system not only offers cheap rates, it also gives callers free cellphone calls, provided they are registered on Yeigo. "Yeigo is easily accessible and will see businesses saving thousands of rands on their telecoms costs," said Ivan Ferrer, non-executive chairman of Yeigo and the founder of Pastel Software. According to Ferrer, many businesses have already implemented fixed-line VoIP. He sees cellphone VoIP as a natural extension that offers greater flexibility and bigger savings than fixed-line VoIP. Yeigo saves users money by directing their voice calls through the internet via wireless fidelity (wi-fi) hot spots or the operators' data networks, rather than over the voice network. The only cost incurred by a Yeigo user, when calling another Yeigo user anywhere in the world, is the data cost of connecting to the internet. Calls made through a wi-fi connection could be totally free to the user in a freely available hot spot. In addition, a Yeigo user who calls a non-Yeigo user will enjoy substantial savings on the cost of calls. Savings on calls to international destinations can be as high as 80 percent. The cost of sending an SMS through Yeigo is cheaper: only 35c during peak time to most destinations around the world, compared with 80c during peak time on the networks. Yeigo gives users the freedom to communicate across platforms such as cellphone- and internet-based technologies. Yeigo users can, for example, communicate via their cellphones with users on internet platforms such as GoogleTalk, MSN, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo and Jabber. But not all phones are able to receive the services. At the moment, cellphone handsets must have Windows Mobile or Symbian operating systems, and high-speed internet connectivity such as enhanced data rates for GSM evolution, 3G or high-speed downlink packet access, and wi-fi to be able to access the Yeigo system. (Source: Business Report)
IN BRIEF:- Mubadala Development , the investment vehicle owned by Abu Dhabi's government, will award the Nigerian mobile-phone licence it owns to one of five bidders by October. More than five "large operators" were short-listed for the licence, Mubadala said in an e-mailed statement. - Kenya’s telecoms players want the proposed universal access fund shelved as they claim that charging any levies to establish such a fund would only add to costs and slow down growth of subscriber base. Currently, operators in the mobile phones market pay 16 per cent in value added tax, 10 per cent excise duty and contribute 0.5 of their gross revenue to market regulator, the Communication Commission of Kenya. - The theft and vandalism of cables and other communication infrastructure has become so bad that Telecom Namibia is offering cash rewards of up to N$20 000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anybody responsible for vandalism or theft on the Telecom network. -In Guinea, the local newspaper, le Diplomate, has reported that the government is going to set up in independent telecommunication regulator. The project will be financed by the World Bank. - Cell phones could be banned from exam rooms as one measure to curb cheating, the Kenya National Examinations Council has said. - According to local newspaper Fraternité, MOOV, one of the two mobile operators suspended in Benin is likely to agree to pay the newly increased fee to keep its licence and resume operations. TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE- Algeria's first cell phone operator, Mobilis, has launched its the BlackBerry service. According to Mobilis' senior executives, BlackBerry allows to carry out and receive phone calls, surf the Internet and have access to Intranet while travelling. - The second quarter of 2007 saw no change to the ranking of the four Tanzanian operators in terms of customer numbers, with Vodacom remaining the dominant player followed by Celtel, Millicom and Zanzibar Telecom. The total customer base in Tanzania increased by 2.3 million in the year to Q2 2007 to reach 6.7 million at the end of the quarter, with penetration at 17.6%, a similar level to that of its neighbours Zambia and Mozambique. - The Sudanese operator, MobiTel, has implemented a SMS anti-spam solution from Tango Telecom in order to address the growing effects of spam and malware on their network and on their subscribers.
Chinese Firms to Lay US$60m Fibre Optic Cable in KenyaThree companies have been awarded tenders to construct the National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) terrestrial. Two companies are Chinese (Huawei and ZTE) and another French (Sagem). The companues are currently doing a survey to determine the route which the cable will follow and also determine how long it will take to link the respective towns they are supposed to cover. It is not yet clear how the network will be run. The laying of US$60 million cable has been split in three sections namely Western Kenya, Coast and North Eastern region and Central region which will be handled by each of the three companies. Sagem is expected to do the laying of cable in Coast and Northern part of the country, Huawei will handle Nairobi and central area while ZTE will handle Western Kenya which runs from the Tanzania boarder post of Namanga to Lokichoggio. According to the permanent secretary Ministry of Information Dr Bitange Ndemo laying of the cable will take over six months. NOFBI will enable deployment of digital arteries to reach the remotest areas in the country. The government led submarine optic fibre cable TEAMs is expected to land in the port of Mombasa by first quarter of 2008. (Source: Business Daily) Undersea cable plan tangled in acrimony in South AfricaThe sole active supporter of the NEPAD-backed Broadband Infrastructure Project that will never be built, the South African Government is trying to arm-twist EASSy because the project has slipped free of NEPAD control. This is the arrogant display of naked political power that those who have not signed the NEPAD political protocol feared would occur if the larger African brother failed to get its way. The 10,000km Eassy cable will be 27% owned by Telkom, Neotel and MTN, and is designed to provide desperately needed cheap bandwidth to 21 African countries. But SA’s communications department has taken umbrage at what it sees as the commercial nature of the enterprise, and intends to withhold landing rights. Instead, the government will use taxpayers’ money to roll out two rival cables heading east and west, jointly known as the Nepad Broadband Infrastructure Network. Denying landing rights to EASSy will be detrimental to the three local companies, which, they say, have had the foresight to invest in the project to slash bandwidth prices. It will also be anticompetitive if EASSy members are not allowed to sell bandwidth to other operators in SA, says Mohsen Khalil, a director with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). He also says the government’s hostility shows it has not understood a new commitment the consortium has made to open access. The IFC is part of the World Bank, and is investing $32,5m to help about 15 small operators participate in Eassy. Yet the director-general of the communications department, Lyndall Shope Mafole, remains vehemently opposed to the project. “Eassy is bad news for developing countries that are not at the level of SA,” she says. “We have many problems with it. The fact that you work for the World Bank makes you think you know what’s good for Africa even when you don’t live in Africa. I find that quite insulting.” Because Eassy’s biggest shareholders are giants like MTN and Telkom, their bulk buying power gives them an advantage over smaller operators also trying to buy and resell capacity to customers in each country, she says. “South African companies could use their dominance to compete unfairly in other countries. We have a responsibility as the government to ensure there is fair competition. We are not willing to look at something that is clearly discriminatory. We couldn’t rest with a clear conscience.” If the South African Government has this responsibility, why has it not exercised it over Telkom’s SAT3 prices? The Department of Communications talks the talk but does not walk the walk. A bigger issue threatening not only Eassy but also other foreign-backed cables is a demand that any cable landing in SA is partly owned by local companies. The minimum percentage of local ownership will be determined by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe Casaburri. The instant reaction is to question whether SA has the right to do that. It has, under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, Shope-Mafole says. The second reaction is to assume that foreign investors will be deterred. The government’s belligerent stance in an effort to promote local industries may backfire and deprive consumers of cheaper bandwidth if foreigners opt to bypass SA’s coastline. Nonsense, Shope-Mafole says. “There are millions of people who want to enter into arrangements and land in SA. We welcome anybody who wants to invest in submarine cables that land on South African soil, but we need South African companies to invest.” Although Eassy boasts 27% local ownership, that may not be enough. Seacom, another private cable already under construction, must also recruit local investors for the plans on its map to match reality. Seacom has signed a deal for SA’s second network operator, Neotel, to operate the local landing station, which does not impress the government. Shope-Mafole said the demand for local ownership in the entire cable linking India to Europe via SA was discussed with Seacom’s mostly US investors over a cup of coffee. “I don’t think they thought it was unreasonable. I wouldn’t say they loved it, but they didn’t throw their cups at us,” she says. (Source: Business Day) Spotting Darfur Atrocities From SpaceThose burning villages in Darfur can now be tracked closely by public satellite. Google’s project in Darfur uses its Google Earth project to identify and then illustrate where human rights abuses have been committed. Satellites first showed their potential as human rights watchdogs when the U.S. State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) started using images from free channels in 2004 to reveal the unfolding violence in Darfur. Before then, such images could only be tracked by military satellites. But now such tracking has become open to the public. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum teamed up with Google's mapping service in April to track violence in the region. The initiative called 'Crisis in Darfur' lets Internet users look at more than 1,600 destroyed villages and towns in northeast Africa, pictured before and after attacks, and hear testimonies collected by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and other groups along the Chad border. According to Google, the programme counts more than 200 million users. During the first phase of the conflict reports by relief agencies met denial by the government, and public scepticism. But now satellite images showing the true picture with dates leave no room for doubt. The images have amplified the highlight on Darfur, though they may not help prevent attacks since the information is not presented in real time. To track attacks as they happen, Amnesty International has launched its own web-based service in June called 'Eyes on Darfur', which uses satellite imagery to monitor 13 villages in Darfur and eastern Chad considered at risk. Users can zoom in on pictures of the villages and read accounts from residents who explain why they are at risk. "Watching these sites in real time will enable us to document atrocities as they occur," said Ariela Blätter, director of Amnesty International's Crisis Prevention and Response Centre. "Thanks to satellites," she says on the website, "human rights groups can now raise the alarm and mobilise millions of people even before governments admit that something worrying is occurring." Through this technology human rights organisations can extend their traditional role of monitoring violations to an unprecedented level, says Blätter. (Source: Inter Press Service) IN BRIEF:- Leased line prices have gone down in the SAFE fibre cable connecting Mauritius. A full circuit link of 2MB from Mauritius to Paris has been reduced by 20% from R260,900 (USD 7,900) to R 207 900 (USD 6,300). - South Africa’s mobile operator MTN which recently announced that it is investing in its own fiber network, has reported significant infrastructure development in Sandton and Rosebank. MTN’s associated product, MTN FibreConnect, will be employed in specific metro areas to provide clients with ‘high density coverage’. - Gabonese company IBN Corporate which specialises in real time distribution of economic and financial data across Africa has signed up with Redline Communications to provide infrastructure for the expansion of WiMAX services in Gabon. IBN Corporate launched WiMAX services for businesses and residents in Libreville in late April, and plans to extend its network to Port-Gentil and Franceville in October 2007 and January 2008 respectively. - The East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) undersea cable network has secured USD30 million of funding which completes its financing. The 27 member companies and seven international financial institutions which make up the EASSy project have committed USD205 million towards the projected overall cost of USD235 million. - The League for the Defence of the Consumer in Benin (LDCB) is happy to announce that its new website is now online. It is available on the address www.ldcb.org. The site has been realised after our collaboration with two French students from the INT (Institut National des Télécommunications). - The Mediterranean Federation of the Internet Associations has been created last week in Tunisia. The new organisation, based in Tunis will be headed by Aziz Hilali, the current President of the Internet Association in Morocco.
E-Agriculture for Togolese FarmersA 'Center for Commercial and Agricultural Information' (PICA) for the collection and the publication of price lists via the internet has been launched in Togo to enable farmers and traders to interact over prices and availability of products.of the products by ICT. The center is equipped with computer and Internet facilities with a web page with a strong integration of data and mobile technology. The center will allow producers and tradesmen to consult and compares across the ECOWAS region in real time. Farmers will also consult over business opportunities in the area -the availability of products and stocks - in short farmers and traders will be able to conclude commercial transactions with partners from West Africa and other destinations. The platform is also equipped with a system that makes it possible to send SMSees to producers, to salesmen and to purchasers. The center will also equip farmers with packages to receive free information on mobile phones on the prices of 400 agricultural producers of the regional markets in West Africa, that is Benign, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo. Dété Yachina, the webmaster of the www.tradenet.biz explained that in fact , people will know at home or their fields how much a product costs and where to get it if not available in one's country. "Via this facility, one will seek the market where one can find it and where one can better sell, by selling their products, one has enough money and that can contribute to the improvement of our living conditions" said Denis Mbadia chair regional Rooms of agriculture of Togo "The project has placed at our disposal an electronic facility to break down information concerning the agricultural produce and to seek markets abroad, we received formations on the use of the machines and the setting on line of information", said Akouété Foly chair grouping of the market-gardeners farmers of south Togo. This project is supported by the regional network of information systems of market and agricultural trade in West Africa (MISTOWA) www.mistowa.org and its aims are to increase regional agricultural trade and food security by improving and linking the existing regional efforts to generate, disseminate, and make commercial use of market information. (Source: Highway Africa News Agency) South Africa votes against Microsoft new document file formatLast weekend South Africa voted against a Microsoft proposal to have a new document file format adopted as an international standard. Whatever the outcome of the vote, the process has provided a fascinating insight into the threats facing Microsoft. If you’ve used Office 2007, the latest version of Microsoft’s hegemonic productivity suite, you’ll have noticed that it saves files in a new file format that is incompatible with previous versions of the software. Most users simply regard it as an inconvenience: to send documents to people using older versions of the software, Office 2007 users have to manually specify that documents be saved in Microsoft’s previous file format. Microsoft has spent hundreds of thousands of rand in the SA media in recent weeks extolling the virtues of the new format, known as Ecma Open XML, a 6 000-page document which it urgently wants ratified as an international standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It turns out it was wasting its money. At the weekend, SA voted against fast-tracking the file format through the ISO. [Microsoft subsequently has lost its bid to have Ecma Open XML fast-tracked to adoption as a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)] The US company clearly believes that if it is not successful in having Open XML made an ISO standard, Office will lose market share to OpenOffice.org and other open-source software rivals that have embraced a competing standard known as the OpenDocument format (ODF). Governments are increasingly insisting that their documents be stored in formats that comply with open standards. They don’t want to keep their information in proprietary formats that are controlled by companies that may or may not be around in a decade or two. But instead of embracing ODF, already an ISO standard, Microsoft has produced a rival in Open XML. Open-source advocates argue that Microsoft is trying to ram through a file format that contains proprietary components. The war of words between the open-source community and Microsoft escalated dramatically in the run-up to the weekend vote. The company has been accused of using its financial muscle to influence voting. In Sweden, it has been accused of “ballot stuffing” by the Free Software Foundation. And in other countries, the foundation has accused it of recruiting its business partners into national standards bodies. SA Linux pioneer Mark Shuttleworth also recently weighed in on the subject, calling for Open XML to be rejected by the ISO. In a post to his blog, he said it was important to send a “firm message to Microsoft that the world wants a single, unified standard”. “Imagine what would happen if there were multiple, incompatible Web document standards? You couldn’t go to any website and just expect it to work. You would need to know which format they used. The fact that there is one Web document standard — HTML — is the key driver of the efficiency of the Web as a repository of information. The Web is a clear example of why ODF is the preferred structure for a public standard.” It’s little surprise that Open XML is being treated with suspicion. Microsoft has long attempted to “embrace and extend” open standards. Its Internet Explorer Web browser makes extensive use of proprietary extensions — websites that use these proprietary “hooks” don’t load properly in rival browsers. Thankfully, the company was not successful in its efforts to forge a proprietary Web where users would have been forced to use its software. (Source: Financial Mail) Uganda’s Makerere University to Charge ICT FeeMakerere University will charge an ICT fee for both private and government-sponsored students. Each undergraduate will have to pay sh50,000 and post-graduates will pay sh80,000 per academic year. The decision was taken in a meeting held last week, according to the university senior public relations officer, Gilbert Kadilo. He said the money would be used to boost the university's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme. "The university is moving towards internationalising its academic programmes and this requires investment in ICT," Kadilo explained last week. He added that the policy was aimed at facilitating the publication of university research on the internet so as to improve the international ranking of the university. (Source: New Vision) IN BRIEF:- The Seychelles' public sector ICT workforce will shrink considerably as a result of the current restructuring being undertaken by the government. In a recent interview the minister responsible for Information and Communication Technology, Jacquelin Dugasse said his ministry intends to outsource most projects to the private sector. "This is an opportune moment for our young professionals to apply their trade in the private sector or even set up their own businesses," says Dugasse. - Ghana signed a master franchise agreement with a South African company for the introduction of educational information communication and technology computer for kids. Ghana, represented by E-toys & More, Children's Education and Skills Development Company, would promote the Computers 4 Kids, a renowned Educational ICT Company based in South Africa, branded as the exclusive marketer and franchisee in Ghana in addition to the comprehensive Schools Solutions it already offers. - KnowledgeTree, the Cape Town-based open source document management company, has partnered with Novell to offer their system to SUSE Linux Enterprise customers. -Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc has implemented a robust Enterprise Network Security Solution using Cisco's suite of security products. The security enhancement which was uploaded by Resourcery Limited promises safer and more secure service channels for the bank's customers. - The open source instant messaging (IM) program Pidgin is now available in Afrikaans, thanks to the efforts of Translate.org.za.
Simeka's Take over of Sahara is Off in South AfricaThe ambitious R867m takeover of computer manufacturer Sahara by the far smaller technology group Simeka BSG has been scrapped, only four days after the pair announced the deal. Simeka CEO Mohammed Varachia would not give the exact reason for the U-turn, but said issues uncovered during due diligence investigations made the Simeka board decide not to proceed. "In the process of finalising all the terms of the agreement with the lawyers and the commencement of due diligence, some material issues started to emerge," he said. "Running this kind of process has huge cost implications and our view was that it was best to step away. It would have cost R2m-R3m to continue and I'm glad we were able to pick up these material issues right at the start," he said. "Had we continued it would have been prejudicial to our shareholders." Simeka, with revenue of R447m a year, had intended to buy the R1bn-a-year-generating Sahara, one of the largest hardware resellers in southern Africa. When they announced the deal, Sahara and Simeka spoke of growing their businesses faster as a merged entity . About 70% of Sahara's revenue comes from assembling and distributing notebook computers, with the rest earned by reselling imported computers and printers. (Source: Business Day) Booming Mobile Sector Attracts $75 Million in New Investment in UgandaA year ago, the government ended the duopoly that had given exclusive rights to MTN Uganda and Uganda Telecom Ltd. Barbara Among reports the Uganda communications sector attracted over Ush127.7 billion ($75 million) in investment last year, according to the latest investment report by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). This figure is an increase of 47 per cent from the previous financial year. It excludes capital investment by the newly licensed service providers, which is estimated to be close to $70 million in the previous year. The report, A Review of the Postal and Telecommunications Sector, June 2006 - June 2007, says revenue generated from the sector was estimated to be $360 million, an increase of 20 per cent from the previous financial year. The industry profit after all costs including taxes stood at $30 million. The communications sector grew by 33.3 per cent for financial year 2006/07, a reversal of the trend of the previous three financial years when the sector had started to slow down. The peak was reached in 2003/04 when the sector grew more than 50 per cent. The report said there are 3.7 million phone subscribers in the country, of whom 3.6 million own mobile phones - a growth of 33.3 per cent. "This is a net addition of 1.5 million customers between June 2006 and June 2007. It represents a 68 per cent annual growth rate," says the report "Competition and the surge in investment expenditure have contributed to this growth. Increased government usage and investment by the new operators is projected to push the growth further in the 2007/08 financial year," says the report. Reduced start-up cost where, for instance, a new handset costs Ush65,000 ($39), a sim pack Ush3,000 ($2) and aggressive marketing account for the growth. However, the surge in growth may also have led to a decline in quality of service. Operators are yet to increase their switching capacity, which currently stands at 4.2 million subscribers. The report says 14 per cent of Uganda's population of 28 million people owns a phone; over 40 per cent use public payphones while tele-density (measure of the percentage of population owning a fixed/mobile phone) is 13.3 per cent, up from 8 per cent last year. The report says there has been an increase in innovative services and pricing schemes, steep reductions in connection charges, removal of subscription charges and emergence of international calling cards. (Source: East African) Telkom Fee Cut to boost BPO activities in South AfricaThe trade and industry department has delivered on one of the first targets in its industrial policy framework, clinching discounted telecommunications prices from Telkom to lure business services to SA, and in the process securing investments from three foreign companies. Trade and industry deputy director-general Lionel October said one of the firms would set up a large centre, comprising a few thousand seats, while the other two firms would set up operations for between 500 and 600 seats. The value of these investments is about R400m and the number of jobs created could be as many as 10000, as a "seat" in the call centre industry provides between one and three jobs, depending on whether a firm operates shifts. October said the communications department this week finally issued Telkom with an instruction to drop its prices for business process outsourcing (BPO) operations, to bring the cost of telecommunications in line with other BPO destinations. Telkom has declined to release details of the pricing arrangement. Negotiations between Telkom and the state over cheaper prices have been going on for months and the trade and industry department in its industrial policy set the end of August as the deadline to reach an agreement with Telkom on a development pricing model for the BPO and offshoring sector. High telecommunications prices are seen as a key constraint to attracting foreign companies to set up call centres in the country and deals with the three foreign companies have been hinging on more competitive telecommunication prices. A number of local companies have applied for special incentives to set up call centres, but the trade and industry department counts the three applications it received from one U.S. and two European firms to bring call centre operations to SA as a major victory. The BPO sector is one of the sectors earmarked for intervention by the department in terms of its industrial policy to attract foreign direct investment and create jobs. The government has set aside R1bn in investment incentives over the next five years to achieve this. The incentives are on a par with a global benchmark to provide grants equal to half of the salary of each job created and a skill-training grant. "These companies will now get the incentives from government plus the special telecommunication prices," October said. SA has had some success with call centres, with the subsector growing 8% a year over the past four years and now employing 54,000 call centre agents. (Source: Business Day) Cisco surprises with all-share equity deal in South AfricaNasdaq-listed networking giant Cisco Systems has become the first US hi-tech company to sell shares in its business to local black investors. Cisco has shunned the route of equity equivalents, which lets multinationals avoid selling any shares by pumping cash into social development schemes. Instead, Cisco is selling shares in its parent company to the local Lereko consortium, led by Valli Moosa and Popo Molefe. The price Lereko will pay for its shares has already been fixed, but will be whittled down if the political and business clout of its members opens doors and grows the local subsidiaries above some preset targets. Moosa is a former environmental affairs and tourism minister, while Molefe is a former premier of the North West province and provincial chairman of the African National Congress. A second portion of the deal has a broad-based component, as free shares will be given to Cisco SA’s previously disadvantaged staff. A third tranche will go to a new education trust, where the beneficiaries include students granted scholarships to attend the African Leadership Academy. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but must run into more than R100m. Last month the US computer company HP announced an equity equivalent deal that pushed its total investments in empowerment compliance to R150m. IN BRIEF:- Egypt's Orascom Telecom and Kurdish operator Korek Telecom have agreed to a $2.2 billion joint venture that would provide immediate access to the northern region of Iraq and four million subscribers. Orascom will hold 70% of the venture and Korek 30%, according the report which cited Orascom as its source. The move would give the joint venture a 40% market share. - Egyptian telecoms holding company Orascom Telecom has announced that its first half net income tripled year-on-year to USD995 million, boosted by the sale of its stake in Hutchison Essar, which generated a USD708 million one-off gain. Total subscribers exceeded 61 million, up 51% on June 2006, while proportionate subscribers rose 64% to 51 million.
Nigeria joins international online B2B communityThis week sees Nigerian companies joining global online business community as it reaches out to international markets to expand exports while improving efficiencies at home through eProcurement. Nigeria has become the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to join Tejari.com. Tejari, the leading B2B online marketplace in the emerging markets signed an agreement with MIS Nigeria Limited, a Nigerian systems integrator. Tejari Nigeria will provide a platform for businesses across the country to do business online, significantly improving commercial opportunities and trade leads for sellers while helping large, enterprise organizations improve procurement efficiencies and extensively reduce procurement costs. "I am pleased to announce this partnership with MIS to launch Tejari Nigeria , a move that will bring stronger commercial ties and opportunities between Nigerian organizations and others on the 100,000-strong Tejari network," said Omar Hijazi, CEO of Tejari. "Tejari Nigeria will enable public and private sector organizations to come together in safe, secure and transparent business environment where buyers and sellers have the opportunity to transact locally and across Tejari 's international network. Today, Nigeria enjoys approximately US$ 250 Million in trade between North Africa and the Gulf, and we believe Tejari Nigeria will undoubtedly boost commercial activity for Nigerian goods and services abroad. " Tejari operates the largest online B2B marketplace in the emerging markets, with over 100,000 member companies across 14 countries in the Middle East, Asia and now Africa. MIS has over 25 years experience in technology solutions and services and is the distributor and authorized service center for HP. Its customers include the Central Bank of Nigeria, Shell, Nigeria International Bank, Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel), State Water Board, Proctor & Gamble and National Power Authority. With the launch of Tejari Nigeria , MIS now provides an online platform for eProcurement, tender, bid and trade lead publishing as well as business across Nigeria. "MIS works with some of the largest organizations in the public and private sector in Nigeria, and there is a growing demand among them, enabled by advanced telecommunications infrastructure, to harness the power of e-business," said Etim Amana, CEO of MIS's e-procurement solutions allow companies to move their purchasing processes online, creating cost savings and making processes faster, more efficient and more transparent." "Supplier companies are able to offer their products to a wider range of customers in new markets, while buyers are able to leverage better pricing and to source products from many new suppliers. Tejari Nigeria intends to bring all of these benefits to our members, and to build new and profitable trading relations between Nigeria, Africa, the Middle East and emerging markets around the world," he added. Tejari, part of Dubai World holding company, has been in operation since 2000, and now has direct operations in 14 countries in the region. With over 7 years experience and over US$ 4 Billion in online transactions, Tejari serves as the online eBusiness platform for numerous government organizations, blue-chip multinational organizations and global Non-Government Organizations. Meditel launches real time mobile multimedia in MoroccoCustomer care is increasingly important in the booming Moroccan mobile market and Meditel recognised the need to deliver its clients with the best possible end-user experience and customer service. Indeed, the Mobile market in Morocco has witnessed a tremendous increase over the last few years. By March 2007, the Moroccan market had gained 5 million users compared to the same period in 2006, increasing from 12 million to 17 million. Advanced services such as push-to-talk, picture messaging and internet browsing are steadily gaining popularity in Morocco and users increasingly expect that their mobile device to be as user-friendly as possible, with all of the technology options of a PC. Remote configurations and updates are a key factor in achieving this. Sicap’s DMC provides a cost-effective and easy-to-deploy tool for customer care, enabling Meditel to deliver GPRS updates directly to the client’s handset following a client enquiry to the customer care centre, remotely configuring it for the optimised use of multimedia services. In addition to reducing the time spent on customer care configuration queries with this DMC upgrade, Meditel will be able to increase customer satisfaction, encourage usage of services and reduce churn. Swapcom, the mobile middleware architect specialist which Sicap acquired in 2006, provided Meditel with the original version of the DMC in 2004. This latest DMC upgrade, which is fully hosted by Sicap, provides Meditel with an ideal platform to introduce automatic device detection and management features, also available as part of the DMC solution, at a later stage.
PEOPLEHaj Klai has been charged to head the Ministry of Communications and Technology in Tunisia José Antonio Ferreira has resigned from its job of CEO of MTC Namibia. The board of directors of Gamtel and Gamcel in Gambia has been dissolved as the new owner Lebanese company Spectrum Group takes over. JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIESCUSTOMER PROJECT MANAGER - ANGOLA The company is looking for a customer project manager with skills of Total CPM and experience in network rollout, MSS and 3G knowledge. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com EVENTS- CAPACITY AFRICA 2007 10-11 September, Cape Town, South Africa Capacity Africa 2007 provides a forum for providers from across Africa, along with the international carriers and service providers to meet and discuss the new business opportunities in the liberalising African markets including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana. With an extensively researched programme providing high quality content, senior level speakers and attendees, and lucrative networking opportunities, Capacity Africa 2007 is the premier pan-African wholesale telecommunications congress. For more details contact rachel.helyer@capacitymedia.com . Visit the Conference web site at www.capacitymedia.com -SATWIBB AFRICA: AFRICAN SATELLITE & WIRELESS BROADBAND CONFERENCE & VOIP FORUM West Africa: Muson Centre, Lagos, 17-18 September 2007 Theme: "Broadband bridges across Africa: First and last mile solutions" Local and international industry leaders will make presentations on the following topics: Efficient bandwidth delivery mechanisms
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 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/ CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHOM?SAFARICOM AND ZTE - KENYA Mobile phone services provider, Safaricom has signed an agreement with China's ZTE Corporation for supply of low cost handsets. The new handsets with black and white screen will retail from Sh2,000 for a monochrome display to Sh2,500 for a phone with a full colour screen. HITS TELECOM AND ALCATEL - UGANDA Hits Telecom has signed a $100 million contract with Alcatel-Lucent to build turnkey GSM network and managed services that it plans to roll out in less than two months. In a joint statement, the two companies said deployment of the network would enable Hits Telecom to start operations in Uganda in time for the November Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit that will take place in Kampala. MOBINIL AND HUAWEI - EGYPT Egypt's Mobinil has awarded a contract to China's Huawei for mobile softswitches for its core network. Mobinil has been joining efforts with Huawei since 2005, where they started to work on Soft switch trials in Egypt and finished the first call on this trial mobile network during this period. Mobinil signed the commercial contract with Huawei in 2006 to expand the network capacity to include more than additional five million customers.
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