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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 379 Marching to a different drum – Africa enters the age of mobile contentNews Update concentrates all its coverage on what happens in Africa. But this week we have to describe events elsewhere because as all too often happens, key decisions that will affect the continent are happening elsewhere. Unless something fairly radical happens in the next 12-18 months, the development of mobile content revenues on the continent will be shaped by the “hand-me-down” attitudes and technologies of others. Russell Southwood seeks to explain. Last week saw two more salvoes fired in the war for mobile operating systems. American advertising and search engine company Google launched its Android operating system in partnership with the Open Handset Alliance and 30 mobile phone makers and interested parties like Qualcomm. But amongst the larger makers, it is working closely with no 2 player Samsung with whom it agreed a deal on mobile tools in January 2007. Google described Android as “all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation.” Meanwhile the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturer (Nokia) agreed with the world’s largest mobile phone operator (Vodafone) to launch an integrated suite of Vodafone services combined with Nokia Ovi services on a range of Nokia handsets. A number of these handsets will be exclusive to Vodafone. By all accounts, it improves access to the Nokia Music Store, although Vodafone has its own product, Omnifone MusicStation. Vodafone looks set to take over Vodacom in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile Symbian, which is already on 165 million handsets worldwide, was dismissive of the Google offering. John Forsyth, Symbian said:”… a mobile OS is a very specialised form of rocket science. It's not search rocket science." However this has not prevented one-time computer company Apple from showing it can deliver this kind of rocket science, so why not Google? Whoever gains dominance in this market and whether the approach is open or closed will affect how mobile content develops in Africa. And it is at this point two key issues coincide for those in Africa who want to develop mobile content revenues. Everyone knows that the mobile phone and not the computer is the continent’s device of choice but this rather masks the considerable variation in phone operating systems, web access availability and just plain old functionality. The average phone on the street is at the bottom end of the range and is really only fit for receiving SMS messages. This brings us to the hoop-la surrounding the launch of the iPhone today in the UK as I write. Leave aside the usual promotional hype and the sight of members of Cult Apple waiting overnight to buy their treasured object, this phone is different. From trying it on a recent US visit, it has an easy-to-use functionality that with adaptation has much to commend it in the African context. It’s intuitive and icon driven, allowing a lower level of functional literacy for users. (However, the iPhone will not be going to South Africa any time soon. See Telecoms News – In Brief) The barrier to this kind of device is cost and the discussion mirrors similar ones held about palm computers for Africa. The iPhone launch price in the UK is US$538 as it is being launched as a premium product with a monthly plan costing US$70. But give it 2-3 years and it will be down to $300 and be a mainstream product, not necessarily produced by Apple. But secondhand prices in Africa may take it down closer to $100-150. But even this lowered price will not breach the magic $100 level that Nicolas Negroponte set himself and failed to reach for a low-cost computer. Also the low price phones produced as part of the GSM Association initiative are stripped back in terms of overall functionality. But if Africa is to have access to web content on its mobiles, then it needs a cheaper phone device that can access web content with a screen that is bigger than two large postage stamps. Also whilst Africa’s mobile companies engage in the data upgrade arms race, little thought seems to have been given to battery life issues. The iPhone may not have 3G but it has an 8 hour battery life compared to the 3G compatible Nokia N95 which has only a 4 hour battery life. No-one seems yet to have thought through the energy implications of even a significant minority of Africans using 3G phones. Now I can hear you saying that all of this is fantasy stuff for Africa. But Vodacom in South Africa said in October 2007 that it had 139,000 HSDPA customers and 899,000 Vodafone Live! subscribers, the latter being the content service it markets from what is likely to become its parent company. It is also pioneering a mobile TV service to its 3G subscribers in South Africa. Numbers are modest but growing. Ah yes, but South Africa is different. Nevertheless jobs service in Kenya attracted 35,000 subscribers and other services elsewhere in Africa are attracting tens of thousands of people. With numbers on this scale, mobile phones are not just communications devices but media. Certain types of advertisers will be very interested in getting to the largely young demographic that uses these services. The sums will not be spectacular but they will help to fuel further growth. But the barriers to growth in mobile content revenues are significant. Last year we sat in on a seminar with mobile phone companies drawn from right across Africa. Every single person stressed how important content development was to their company and how they had a member of staff working on it. However, with few exceptions not one of them talked about a successful mobile content service that they were actually operating. Mobile companies were not set up to do content and the revenues are not yet large enough to gain real traction with operational managers. A number of mobile operators are owned by multinational owners who have sought to introduce content bundles that have been developed in Europe and the USA. But as one of the more honest managers for these companies admitted, there is only really on the most optimistic view a 50-60% fit with the African market. So there is a need for better and more compelling local mobile content. But this is where the complications start. The typical income split is 50% to the mobile operator, 10-20% to the mobile platform provider and 30-40% to the content provider. Anxious to drive up income from this source, the mobile operators are seeking to take a bigger share of the value in other countries. However, they need to be careful not to kill the goose that might lay the golden egg. They could easily give more generous deals as they benefit from the minutes these services add. Ideally there needs to be a new service every 4 weeks in some African country so that it’s possible to work out what works locally and the optimum price. Another difficulty is that mobile providers are insisting on exclusive deals. For example, if you want to launch your mobile content service with a particular mobile operator, you have to offer an exclusive deal for one year or more. The mobile operators still see content as a marketing device rather than revenue in its own right. The walled garden approach is very like the early days of the Internet where people like AOL tried to create their own content universe. Understandably, the mobile operators would like to control the development of content on their media and take a large part of the rewards. Apple’s approach to iTunes illustrates how lucrative this approach can be. The difficulty is that for mobile content to thrive in Africa, it has to be easier to get it to market and to as wider range of people as possible. At the moment, mobile content creators may have to re-version their services for as many as 3-5 different delivery platforms. The discussion parallels those that were had in the early days in Africa about interconnection between mobile operators. Many operators said they would not connect to other operators because it would be easier to retain subscribers and revenues if the stayed isolated. In the event, interconnection meant almost all operators benefited from there being a large and growing “critical mass” of users. The same would almost certainly be true for mobile content and perhaps the time is ripe for operators to talk to each other about how best to promote wider use of content, rather than simply tending their own back gardens. African Mobile Content Alliance anyone?
ETC Still Losing Millions from Illegal Call Terminations in EthiopiaEthiopia’s incumbent ETC is losing over 80 million Br (US$8.9 million) to grey market operators despite the periodic crackdowns and arrest of these operators. In other words, even under a system of the harshest enforcement possible, the operator is still losing 14% of its potential revenues. The sole telecom service provider gets more than 500 million Br per annum from incoming call terminations alone, which the Corporation delivers from the caller to the receiver. After ETC revised its telephone tariff in January 2005, it reached agreements with overseas telecom companies whereby the state monopoly charges US0.23 cents per minute for an incoming international call as soon as it enters the borders. In 2006/07, ETC collected nearly 600 million Br in revenue rendering service for over 316.9 million international calls. In other words, the company lost almost 17 per cent of its international revenues in the current year. The Corporation's total revenue from its services such as mobile, internet and landline was 2.7 billion Br, netting a profit of 777 million Br last fiscal year. However it is blaming the grey market for losses it made over the past two year. Amare Amsalu, chief executive officer (CEO) of ETC, admits that the interceptions are interfering with service provision. "We know about the fraud but tracking down the parties involved might take time and patience on our part," Amare told Fortune. "However, we are doing our level best." The CEO does not agree with the over 80 million Br annual loss. "It would not be possible for anyone to estimate the loss without having obtained the number of incoming calls being terminated before they reach us as well as the precise call durations," Amare countered. However, sources disclosed that ETC handles over 30 million of minutes of incoming calls each month and information about illegally terminated incoming calls can easily be obtained from one of the overseas telecom companies. These sources confirmed that telecom companies in neighbouring countries, particularly Somalia, have installed satellite technology to detect and intercept incoming calls. "We suspect the existence of individuals or companies that terminate calls both in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo," Amare said. Though individuals and telecom companies terminate incoming calls from ETC's satellite from bases outside the country, once the calls crossed into the border of Ethiopia, there are individuals that transfer to the receivers from within the country, according to ETC sources. Some experts in the telecom field believe that tracing the pilferages would not be a difficult task. However, the apprehension of those involved locally does not solve the problem until their international connections through which the illicit call termination business is based have been stopped, telecom experts explained. Another expert blames the illegal routing on the sector being monopolised. "The high prices due to lack of competition create incentives to find alternative means to make cheaper calls," this expert told Fortune, citing market liberalisation as the best solution. "International companies selling phone cards can reap higher profits by routing through illegal termination points." In 2003, ETC claimed to have lost 62 million Br as a result of the interference it faced from illegal termination of calls. At this time, a crackdown occurred on those allegedly applying V-Sats software to route calls. Members of the Federal Police Commission arrested 12 suspects following tips from ETC. An additional 14 employees of ETC were also arrested for alleged collaboration by technically assisting the process and providing many telephone lines used for termination. The Federal High Court acquitted these suspects, despite lawsuits filed against them following investigations by the commission. Abdurahim Ahmed, communications affairs division manager at ETC, said that the jurisdiction and responsibility of controlling or inspecting would be for the Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA). "However, due to the Agency's lack of capacity, the Corporation is in the process of tracing the source of the activities," Abdurahim told Fortune. Locally there is no discussion about ETC lowering its prices to compete with the grey market or that the company might be forced to compete in a liberalised market. The grey market is proxy competition and ETC is not doing very well in competing. (Source: Addis Fortune) Court Awards N14bn Damages Against NITEL in NigeriaNitel’s rather arbitrary attitude to service on SAT3 got its come-uppance in the Nigerian courts this week. The court ordered NITEL to pay N14 billion as damages to Interstella Communications Limited for breach of contract between the two parties. The court granted the claims of Interstella, as endorsed in the plaintiffs' statement of claim to wit the following, a declaration that the defendants' conduct is a breach of contract by failing, refusing or neglecting to provide the services contracted by the defendant when it leased out its 36 E1 switched ports, 9 E1 transmission links and half STM1 circuit on SAT 3 to the plaintiff. The court also ordered the defendant to immediately provide the plaintiff with half STM1 circuit on SAT3, which the plaintiff had paid for, since October 2006. It further ordered payment by the defendant to the plaintiff of N1.944 billion per annum as revenue accruable to the plaintiff per annum from its investments on the 36 E1 switch ports and 9 transmission E1 beginning from 2002 and continuing thereafter until the accumulated sum is paid in arrears. Other costs awarded by the court included the cost of medical treatment of the second plaintiff, the Chief Executive Officer of the first plaintiff amounting to $150,000, as well as payment by the defendant to the plaintiff US$2,480,000 per month from April 2007 till date until all accumulated arrears are paid, being the monthly revenue accruable to the plaintiffs' investment on half STM circuit on SAT3 since October 2006. NITEL was also ordered to pay Interstella N2 billion as exemplary damages inflicted on the plaintiffs' business, the corporate goodwill, image and integrity reputation, financial losses occasioned and flowing directly and being reasonably foreseeable as direct consequences of the defendants' conduct at a 30 per cent interest rate until judgment, and thereafter at 25 per cent until the liquidation of judgment debt and N250,000 being the cost of litigation in favour of plaintiff. Apart from the declaratory orders and the interest accruing to the judgment debt, the immediate financial implication of the judgment is that as at the 6th day of November 2007, NITEL is liable to pay N11.72 billion and $14,150,000 to Interstella. (Source: This Day) Thuraya and Inmarsat battle for satellite phone customers in KenyaThuraya now has some competition as Inmarsat seeks to enter the East and Central African markets. This is the first real competition for Thuraya, whose devices have enjoyed unrivalled acceptance in remote regions where several factors combine to make other options untenable. Over the last four years, Thuraya satellite phones have been communication gadgets of choice in unreachable or war torn areas, with Iridium satellite phone, the only competitor, being silenced through lower pricing. The sales and marketing manager for Indigo Telecoms, Peter Gacheru, says Thuraya has captured the market through affordable handsets. While its average phone costs Sh52,000, that for Iridium costs three times as much. Indigo Telecoms, a local satellite telephone provider, is currently Thuraya satellite phones service provider and has also struck a deal as the service provider for Inmarsat. Like Thuraya, Inmarsat competes on handset prices, with cheaper calling tariffs thrown into the bargain. Inmarsat's SAT 1 phone, for instance, will retail at US$650 dollars making it the cheapest satellite handheld phone in the region. While Thuraya charges US$0.60 for a call made within the same network and US$1.90 depending on the destination and US$1.49 for any calls made anywhere in the world, Inmarsat will charge a flat tariff of US$0.75 with worldwide connectivity. "The service is due for launch. There are some billing issues being worked on before it goes public," said Gacheru. The timing coincides with consumer murmurs over the latest Thuraya handsets released in the market. The smaller SO2510 offers more features than the bigger Hughes 7101 model it replaced, but has a lower battery longevity period. "We have heard complaints that the new model does not offer a battery standby support of up to 24 hours unlike the previous one. This is a critical factor for our clients who work in areas with no access to electricity," said Mr Gacheru. He said the weakness in the Thuraya battery had arisen from a technical fault, which has since been rectified. "The phone could continue consuming the battery even when switched off," he said. Besides Indigo, it is estimated that other nine satellite services providers offer their services within the region, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan, Somali and parts of North Eastern Kenya. On top of these providers, there are other brief case operators who buy satellite phones from the United Arab Emirates and sell them cheaply into the market, without paying duty. Satellite service providers like Indigo enter into deals with the operators to manage simcards, which basically offer billing services, loading the airtime and other technical issues that the handsets might have. (Source: Business Daily) Sky Vision launches new low cost “day-only” service aimed at telcosWhenever telcos plan their IP capacity requirements, they encounter a common problem: their customers' daytime usage is invariably far greater than their night-time capacity use. Based on this, many have to take capacity that accounts for this peak usage. The new SkyVision Day service is designed so that telcos no longer need pay for idle or unused night-time capacity – peak hours remain just that: peak hours. The traffic differential between high and low points over 24 hours is often as much as 5:1 and the difference between day and night is usually 3:1. According to SkyVision CEO Mark Gazit rates for the new service will be 20-30% cheaper than for full 24-hour bandwidth. SkyVision says that the idea for the service came from its customers who include ISPs, telco incumbents and mobile operators. Its advantage is that being a global operator it can make use of the night-time capacity in other parts of the world. C-Band capacity over Africa has been pretty tight over the last 12 months but SkyVision has 15 transponders on MS10. Formerly known as an inclined orbit satellite operator, 96% of SkyVision’s satellite capacity is now over conventional satellites. It will soon be adding additional capacity over Africa and as CEO Mark Gazit told us:”We’re trying to keep increases as low as possible for existing customers. We need to support our customers in difficult times and then they will support us when things are better. Prices are likely to go down in 2 years time.”
In brief:- Following Celtel and MTN, Orange has launched its borderless network in West Africa enabling customers to keep their phone number and harmonising calling rates when they travel in the following countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau and Senegal. - Safaricom and Telkom Kenya signed a short message service (SMS) interconnection agreement covering a six months. Things have been frosty between the two firms over the last one month as Telkom reported Safaricom to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), accused it of anti-competitive behaviour, and abuse of its dominant market position. - In Benin, mobile operator Moov (with majority shareholding belonging to Atlantique Telecom and Etissalat) has come under public administration following a court order that seeks to protect the minority shareholders (Telecel and Sarci) rights in the future of the company. - ICASA’s (says Independent Communications Authority of SA) Chairman Paris Mashile has declared that value-added network service (VANS) providers wishing to receive similar licences to those of the incumbent telcos during the licence conversion process will have to meet technical and financial criteria. - A Chinese owned firm, A-Link technologies has opened a mobile phone assembling plant in Rwanda with its eyes on the East African Community market. The parent company, China link (C-Link) has branches in Dubai, Hong Kong and Nairobi, Kenya. - South African-based company Evosat, which distributes Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service across Africa, has secured a major deal which will see satellite communication costs to provide simultaneous voice and. On the back of the dramatically revised cost structure that Evosat has negotiated with Inmarsat, Nashua Mobile is to become the first cellphone service provider to offer mobile satellite communication services to its client base, making it possible to cost-effectively access even the remotest parts of Africa. - Apple’s popular iPhone will not be coming to South Africa says local Apple distributor company Core. This is a decision from the USA and outside of Core’s control. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- Orange has launched its mobile network in Guinea. The first 11 towns to be covered includeLabé, Boké, Kamsar, N’Zérékoré, Kankan. - In Nigeria the presidency has asked mobile phone providers and other telecommunications outfit to immediately dismantle masts around airports across the country. "The Presidency wants masts removed from airports' area, be it masts installed by MTN, Celtel, Globacom and others because of the need to guarantee the safety of passengers," said Capt Iyal, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Aviation. - Telecommunication operators MTN and Uganda Telecom have announced generous reduction in charges on local and international calls (about 40% in some destinations). The reductions in tariffs come two weeks after the Uganda Communications Commission suspended free calls and extra airtime promotions. But existing operators are facing competition from Mo Telecom and Talk Telekom. - Telkom Kenya announced last week it will launch internet enabled payphones powered by the CDMA wireless technology, in a bid to phase out the current telephone booths, which rely on fixed copper lines. - In Zimbabwe, the prohibitive cost of handsets has slowed the uptake of 30 000 telephone lines introduced onto the market by fixed telecommunications service provider TelOne in June this year. TelOne has sold just over 8 000 Connect Easy lines. - MTC Namibia has reduced bundle data rates for GPRS/Edge and 3G/HSDPA by up to seventy five percent (75%). MTC customers now pay as little as N$1.00 per mega byte effectively as from the 5th of November 2007. - Orange Madagascar has launched per second billing across all of its offers.
'Competition is Good for the Internet Market' in RwandaAn interview in Focus with ISPA’s Peter Maridadi gives some idea of the slow pace of market development, although the new entrant is providing a VoIP service which is an interesting market innovation. How do you assess the status of the internet in Rwanda today? Internet access in Rwanda is still low. As of September this year, according to International Telecommunication Union (ITU) statistics, 0.7% of the Rwandan population had internet access. It's still a virgin market, so it is very promising to any entrepreneur who would like to exploit the potential. After one year in the market, how is ISPA performing? It has been going quite well. As a strategic approach, we decided not to go out to campaign and advertise; we first wanted to consolidate ourselves before rolling out. Yet we are ready now, and we want to move out of Kigali as we currently have clients outside the city. We are about to start vigorous marketing and attract new customers. We certainly thank our current clients because they have been doing our marketing for us; given their satisfaction with our services, they go and tell others to try us. This has given us more confidence, and now we are ready to get out and advertise. What, in your opinion, is the role of the government in developing ICT in Rwanda? The government has taken huge steps in advocating ICT as an engine for development, and we appreciate the efforts. Currently, there is a project called National Infrastructure Sharing, in which the government acquires bandwidth. This is a good idea, as it has been the biggest impediment for internet users until now. At this moment, we are testing the link and we hope that very soon the prices might go down. Is ISPA expensive compared to other internet service providers, as some people have claimed? There was indeed a newspaper article claiming that ISPA is expensive, but I want to categorically state that this is not the case. All the customers we have today were subscribers to other operators before, yet they decided to join us. That should be a clear indication that the services we provide are not expensive. As a matter of fact, when we came into the market the cost of Internet was twice the current price. It has given us confidence, since it shows that these new customers are happy with our services and our prices as well. Do you encourage competition in the internet business? Competition is good and healthy. First of all, when you are marketing and advertising internet, you never know who is going to become your client. So competition is good, because it indicated your strong and weak points. Therefore, competition should be encouraged, not only in the internet business but in the entire telecommunication industry, just like in any other sector. Apart from internet services, what else do you have to offer? Apart from internet services, we have a variety of other services that we offer such as a cheap voice over IP (VOIP), which means telephone calls through the internet. This is very cheap, especially for the international callers. We are soon launching the services, which we hope will benefit specifically the business community, because it cuts the costs of international calls. (Source: Focus Media) Warid Telecom Internet Deployment Started in Uganda"Initial deployment, which is progressing rapidly, is due for completion by the end of this year, enabling residential and enterprise voice and data connectivity services such as voice over IP (VOIP) and virtual private network (VPN)," the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Zul Javaid, told a recent meeting with Motorola Inc officials. Last month, the company, Uganda's fifth telecommunication operator to be licensed, selected Motorola to design and deploy its WiMax network in Uganda. "In selecting the country's first 802.16e WiMax network for our broadband services, we remove the limitations that come with deploying fixed infrastructure and have a more cost-effective solution for reaching more subscribers across all market segments," said Javaid. (Source: The Monitor) Wifi/WiMAX metropolitan network launched in Sierra-Leone’s capitalSierra Leonean operator FGC Wireless claims to have launched the first metropolitan Wi-Fi/Wi-MAX network in Africa. FGC Wireless was established about a year ago as a mobile/fixed broadband internet and wireless telephony service provider. The company has been doing what they referred to as 'topographic deployment' within this period in order to achieve this feat. The internet service provider, FGC wireless operates flexible internet delivery packages designed to provide easy access to all categories of users. FGC Wireless website is www.fgcwireless.com An IT specialist working at the company says with this latest development, the capital Freetown can now boast of being the third city in the world to have a city-wide unrestricted wifi/wimax network after Philadelphia in the USA and Taipei in Taiwan. " One of the leading local newspapers, the Independent Observer’s editor, Sorie Sudan Sesay told HANA that this technology has come in very handy and timely. "We are now able to easily access internet services in our offices; something we woefully lacked in the recent past. This is a wonderful and most welcome development in the newspaper industry in post war Sierra Leone where reliable information dissemination means everything to the continued peace and stability in the country; a sine qua non for development anywhere", Sudan stated (Source: Highway Africa News Agency) In brief:- A large part of Cameroon has been cut from the Internet for more than seven days since following a major failure at the SAT3 landing station. Camtel which owns and manage this international link has not yet announced when the situation will resume normal. - According to Rwanda’s Press Agency, US firm 5-P Holdings LLC has won the bid to be part of the implementation plan of the $2 billion submarine fibre cable project EASSy. 5-P Holdings, LLC is a Delaware - US registered company formed in 2006 to develop, finance, construct and operate a submarine fiber optic network. A MOU was signed between Mr Mool Singhi of 5-P Holdings and Dr Henry Chasia, Executive Deputy Chairperson of NEPAD e-Africa Commission. - Algeria has allocated 82 billions DZD ($1,10 billions) for its 2006-2020 space programme to develop satellite based techniques to combat desertification threats and limit climate change effects, announced Mr Boujemaa Haichour; the minister of posts and ICT. - Multichoice’s long awaited DStv Broadband Web TV service is now available to subscribers. The new DStv Web TV service from Multichoice, hosted at http://www.dstvbroadband.co.za/, is now available to all DStv Premium subscribers. - The South African wireless internet operator iBurst says it plans to introduce IP-based voice telephony services later this month and will offer new customers a free VoIP handset in a bid to improve take-up. Its existing 55,000 subscribers will be able to buy the phone for ZAR200 (USD30), while all customers will be allocated a new phone number for their internet phone line, ITWeb reports.
Kano State in Nigeria Plans Multi-Million Naira IT ParkThe Kano State Government says it is set to establish a multi-million naira information technology (IT) park to boost e-learning. "We are in the process of putting in place a world-class IT park in Kano metropolis to boost knowledge and promote information and communication technology in Nigeria," an official said last week in Milwaukee, U.SA. Dr Bashir Galadanchi, special adviser to the Kano State governor on education and IT, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the park, which will be a 12-storey edifice in the city centre, will be named after the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero. He said it would be executed under a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement. "Basically, the IT park is part of the implementation of the Kano development agenda, which also intends to promote an IT policy in collaboration with the private sector both in Nigeria and from Malaysia," he said. The adviser said that government had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian government through its Multi-Media Development Corporation (MDEC), to develop the park. According to him: "The park will have about 100 IT companies both foreign and local, engaged in a wide-range of IT-related disciplines". Galadanchi said the park would also serve as IT incubation centre for hardware and software development, as well as web site design and posting. He said that the park would also be involved in telecommunications manufacturing, and outsourcing of professional services. (Source: Leadership) Pinnacle Forces Rewrite of College Tender for computers in South AfricaLocal computer manufacturer Pinnacle Technology has had another tender overturned after objecting that it was biased in favour of a particular brand. A R20m tender issued by the Tshwane South College has been rewritten after Gauteng's education department ordered the college to withdraw the tender and reissue it with no brand names. Pinnacle has a successful track record of challenging tenders excluding its brand of Proline PCs, and has gone on to win some of those contracts. Its past complaints have involved tenders calling specifically for big international brand names such as IBM and HP. Pinnacle has often protested, in partnership with Mustek, another domestic manufacturer producing SA's best-selling Mecer PCs. This time Pinnacle protested alone, as the college was asking bidders to supply it with 289 computers, and asked specifically for the local Mecer brand. Pinnacle director Takalani Tshivhase said last week he appreciated that the college had demanded a locally produced technology, but the tender had serious flaws that could not be allowed to go unchallenged. By being brand-specific instead of being based on technical specifications for the equipment it needed, the contract excluded all other players in this field and "totally destroys the very definition of tender," he said. That made the tender discriminatory and unfair to SA's IT industry as a whole, Tshivhase said in a letter of protest to the college and to the education department. Good tenders should be open, transparent, fair and above board, and the college tender fell short in those principles, he said . Pinnacle and Sahara, a third SA-based manufacturer, would now be able to vie for the tender as well as resellers who import international brands of computers. (Source: Business Day) Computer Point Launch Disaster Recovery System in UgandaComputer Point has launched outsourced disaster recovery and business continuity services in Uganda with NetApp, the world's leading storage platform. At the event launch at the Serena Hotel last Thursday, the MD Computer Point, Anil Kuruvilla said, "Computer Point can manage all the necessary backups and instantly recover the data of a company in the event of a disaster." The launch was attended by over 80 corporate clients. He said companies do not have to re-duplicate their resources and investment. "If they use us, they can focus on their real business instead of diverting money and time to building and maintaining their own disaster site," he said. Eran Brown, NetApp Systems Engineer, explained, "NetApp has mastered a snapshot technology of data recovery that allows data to be restored instantly rather than in hours from unstable media like magnetic tape, which was the traditional unreliable method of backup." Kuruvilla said his company was introducing the disaster recovery managed services to the East Africa region, but especially to Uganda. "Disaster recovery can now be paid for as you would a utility like water or electricity. You can pay for it on a monthly fee basis which is much affordable depending on your needs," said Kuruvilla. Computer Point has implemented disaster recovery solutions for clients in Uganda like DFCU, Celtel and World Food Progamme. Mr Gurunath, the Celtel IT Director, said, " Outsourcing our DR requirements has allowed Celtel to powerfully concentrate on widening and deepening the range of our services to the public instead of worrying about our own disaster recovery infrastructure and engineers. (Source: The Monitor) In brief:- The first pictures of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) coming off the production line at the Quantas factory in China have been released this week. - A new project has been launched to develop software solutions to market farmers' produce and promote use of new technology. This follows the signing of a pact between the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Government of Uganda and Microsoft, whose aim is to set up a software development centre. - The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) exam fees for South Africa have been drastically reduced in a bid to promote local certification. -Intel in collaboration with the Education Trust Fund (ETF) will invest $10.1million towards the development of a digital curriculum content for Nigerian secondary schools under the e-school initiative. - Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communications, Mr John Odey, has said the Federal Government is ready to collaborate with Microsoft to network its offices. Odey said this in his office at the weekend, when Vice President of Microsoft, Mr Michael Rawding, expressed his company's commitment to enhancing governance in Nigeria. - Alfresco, the open source enterprise content management company, has announced its first South African partnership for both support and training, with i-Kno Knowledge Solutions. - Acer has reclaimed the third position of the worldwide PC market, with a market share of 8.1%. The analyst firm Gartner recorded a global PC market growth of 14.4% on a yearly basis. In particular, the Asia/Pacific and the EMEA markets were the liveliest geographical areas, with a growth of 23.4 and 16.4% respectively.
Maroc Telecom announced strong positive results for Q3 2007Maroc Telecom’s Q3 results show that its latest acquisition, the troubled Gabon Telecom, lost US$2.2 million over nine months. However, this was the only dark spot in an otherwise “good news” presentation. Within the first nine months of 2007, Maroc Telecom group consolidated revenues amounted to MAD 20,326 million, up 19.0% compared to 2006 (+9.0% on a comparable(2) basis) and the consolidated operating income amounted to MAD 9,509 million, up 25.2% (+25.9% on a comparable basis). This performance is due to the strong growth of customer bases, especially Mobile, both in Morocco and our subsidiaries. Excluding exceptional provisions allocated in 2006 and released in 2007, the consolidated operating income increased by 19.9% on a comparable basis. In 2007 third quarter, Maroc Telecom group consolidated revenues amounted to MAD 7,320 million, up 18.2% (+7.2% on a comparable basis(2)), and consolidated operating income to MAD 3,510 million, up 13% (+13.6% on a comparable basis) Nine first months Mobile gross(3)(4) revenues in Morocco increased by 16.9% to MAD 12,622 million. The customer base(5) still experienced a strong growth and reached 12.838 million of customers, a growth of 22.3% compared to September 2006, and a net increase of 1.1 million customers during the quarter, that enhances Maroc Telecom market share by 0.5 point to 66.9% (source ANRT). Nine first months Fixed-line and internet gross(3)(4) revenues amounted to MAD 7,104 million, down 5.0%. At end of September, the Fixed-line customer base reached 1.279 million of lines, up 0.9% compared to 2006. The voice average monthly invoice, mainly impacted by the competition on the public telephony segment, is down 3.7%. The ADSL customer base continues its growth trend and reached 443,000 lines, up 36.3% compared to September 2006, which allows Maroc Telecom to maintain its leadership with a stable market share compared to June 2007 (98%). Mauritel : During the first nine months of 2007, gross revenues of all business activities in Mauritania amounted to MAD 873 million, up 18.3% (+24.0% on a comparable basis), thanks to the performance of the Mobile activities and a customer base of nearly 843,000 customers, up 51.1% compared to September 2006. Onatel: During the first nine months of 2007, gross(3) revenues of all business activities in Burkina Faso amounted to MAD 1,091 million, up 9.8%(2). The Onatel group customer bases show a strong increase, both in Mobile (+48.9%) and Fixed-line (+13.1%), but the level of consumption slows down in the 3rd quarter due to a seasonality effect. For the full year 2006, the Onatel group achieved revenues of MAD 1,192 million and operating income of MAD 85 million. Gabon Télécom: Since March 1, 2007, date of Gabon Télécom consolidation, gross revenues of all businesses in Gabon amounted to MAD 728 million, down 1.2% on a comparable basis. The Mobile customer base increased by more than 33% since the beginning of the year, stimulated by substantial price cuts made in June 2007. For the full year 2006, the Gabon Télécom group achieved revenues of MAD 929 million and operating income of MAD 912 million. Shareholders Back AccessKenya, OpenView DealShareholders of listed technology firm, AccessKenya, have approved the management's decision to buy 70 per cent of OpenView Business Systems Limited. The approval was delivered during an extraordinary general meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in the City. AccessKenya Group managing director, Jonathan Somen said the firm's revenues are expected to grow five times to Sh1 billion by next year. "The projections are based on AccessKenya's half year turnover of Sh400 million and OpenView Business Services Limited's half year turnover of over Sh200 million," he said. The firm is converging its internet and telephone solutions, to offer customers a 'one-stop-shop' for information and communication services. This is in line with its expansion plans, after raising Sh800 million in a successful initial public offering (IPO) in June this year. The firm wants to become an integrated company offering Internet and Information Technology (IT) support services. "With the approval, AccessKenya can now concentrate on growing the company in accordance with our pre-IPO pledge to be a one-stop-shop," said Somen. The acquisition of OpenView will enable AccessKenya to expand its client base to include leading banks, insurance companies and parastatals. OpenView directors, Henry Njoroge and Lucy Muthoni will have 4.5 million yet-to-be-issued ordinary shares, valued at Sh1 each, reserved for them as part of the transaction. AccessKenya bought OpenView in September, and the deal was approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in October. The nod from the shareholders completes the process. (Source: The Nation) Microsoft Gives South Africa’s Blue Label Huge Confidence VoteMicrosoft has given a huge vote of confidence to SA's Blue Label Telecoms ahead of its JSE listing by subscribing to 12% of its shares in a deal worth at least R560m. As well as taking a stake in the company, Microsoft will collaborate with Blue Label to sell products and services in developing countries and jointly explore new business opportunities. Blue Label will list on November 14 after privately placing 30% of its shares with institutions. It said yesterday that the world's largest software company was taking a hefty slice of that. Its shares would be placed at 575c-675c each. Blue Label expected to clear R1,4bn. Imara SP Reid analyst Steve Meintjes said it was difficult to calculate how much Microsoft's 12% would cost as the listing price was still a moving target. "It's a coup for Blue Label, and with Microsoft behind them it means we can take their comments in the prelisting statement much more seriously. It obviously lends a lot of weight to their intentions to operate in developing markets," he said. Institutions that have already bid for shares have been asked to resubmit their bids, showing how confident Blue Label is that it will hit the top end of the target range. A source close to the company said Microsoft's 12% would probably cost closer to R600m. Imara SP Reid previously described 575c-675c a share as fully valued, and yesterday Meintjes agreed Microsoft's endorsement would help push the shares to the higher end of that scale. "I think some people will resubmit their bids because this lends more credibility to the operations and the prospects. It's probably worth a punt," he said. But the chance of potential investors being allocated a tranche had diminished with Microsoft taking such a large stake and its investment triggering more interest in the offer, Meintjes said. Blue Label's activities include distributing cellphone starter packs and airtime for mobile operators and Telkom. It sells prepaid airtime in Africa and in India, where it owns 35% of a company running 40000 point-of-sale terminals. The deal with Microsoft will see the software giant sell products, services and advertising through Blue Label's growing network of point-of-sale devices and other distribution outlets in emerging markets, with the companies sharing the revenue that generates. Last month Microsoft signed a similar deal with the hugely popular Facebook website, paying $240m for a minority stake in the business. Microsoft has sold display adverts on Facebook's US site for a year, and now has the right to sell on Facebook's international sites. Microsoft believes Facebook will sign up at least 200-million users in the near future, making it a major source of eyeballs on the internet. Microsoft expects the market for online advertising to reach $80bn in two or three years, up from $40bn today. Blue Label turned over R9bn to May last year with net profit of R89m, and expects revenue of R10,9bn and net profit of R167,8m to next May. That scale makes it a leading distributor of prepaid airtime in SA. Now it aims to be a leading player selling secure electronic tokens and handling electronic financial transactions in emerging markets. (Source: Business Day) EU to give 9.1 Billion Euros for Euro-Africa ICT PartnershipThe European Union has set aside a total sum of 9.1 billion Euros for funding of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based research on the continent through the EuroAfrica-ICT Strategic Partnership. The partnership, which is part of the Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP7) is a project that would last till 2010 and is driven by activities of the European Commission, Directorate General of Information Society and Media and is aimed at exploring the potential for a deeper and broader Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation on ICT between EU and the sub-Saharan Africa region. The research projects developed on the African continent would strengthen S & T cooperation between the EU and sub-Saharan Africa on ICT related work. Equally, Experts also say that this could efficiently contribute to the implementation of the new EU-African Union Joint Strategy. "It is therefore not surprising that one of the expected deliverables of the Lisbon EU-AU summit is the approval of a specific partnership on Science, Information Society, and Space," part of the manifesto read. Investigations revealed that the current FP7 work programme for the ICT theme, covering 2007-2008, paid a very limited attention to the continent when compared to other regions of the world. There is indeed a true inconsistent gap between on one hand, the political vision and roadmap and the determination of European and African organisations to cooperate among them the ones endorsing the present EuroAfrica-ICT manifesto, and on the other hand, the opportunities offered by the FP7 ICT work programme. According to the manifesto the strategic nature of the EUAfrica cooperation would be duly taken into account so that an increased participation of sub-Saharan African organisations in FP7 proposals could be fully understood during the evaluation process of the proposals. (Source: Highway Africa News Agency) In brief:- The Egyptian telco Orascom says negotiations over the sale of its Algerian venture Lacom have already begun. Lacom, which is a 50:50 venture between Orascom and Telecom Egypt, was licensed as Algeria’s second national wireline operator in March 2005, going on to launch in February the following year, but it has been unable to make an impression on the market as it faces stiff competition from state-owned incumbent operator Algerie Telecom. Orascom chairman Naguib Sawiris claims the country’s regulator, the ARPT, is stifling competition and allowing Algerie Telecom to dominate the market, Reuters reports. He adds that this could deter Lacom’s potential buyers. ‘They [the ARPT] supported the state-owned firm to the extent that they killed us,’ Sawiris says. ‘Once we started, it [Algerie Telecom] slashed prices to below cost. We complained that this would bring monopoly back, to no avail.’ Orascom says Telecom Egypt is leading the negotiations with the potential buyer, which has not been named. - Ericsson has announced the creation of a new broad base black economic empowerment initiative by outsourcing the former Marconi Communication South Africa warehousing activities to their former employees. Metswedi Logistic Services is not only a warehousing and logistics business, but it is also a value-added service provider that carries out quality assurance (quality control, repairs and spare parts management) of telecommunication equipment for Ericsson according to SABS standards. - Four different transactions have seen communications solutions provider Vox Telecoms' black economic empowerment (BEE) shareholding rise to 41.5%. All of the BEE deals are subject to Vox's acquisitions of Storm Telecoms and Absa Internet Access going through.
Kingdom Customers to Buy Shares Online in ZimbabweKingdom Financial Holdings Limited's information technology department in conjunction with eTranzact has developed a system that enables its customers to buy shares online, using either the Internet or mobile phones. The development is set to make Zimbabwe Stock Exchange transactions easier and quicker. Kingdom Stockbrokers managing director Mr Itayi Munyeza said his organisation revolutionised the purchasing of shares out of the appreciation that investors' time is more profitably spent elsewhere. The process thus saves time and offers flexibility as it can be done anywhere as long as there is Internet accessibility. "To be able to transact on the Internet, a customer would need to log onto their eBanKing account. On the bill payment section, one would have to select Kingdom Stockbrokers then proceed with payment on the Pay button. "The system is foolproof in that it requires clients to enter specific details such as account to be paid and the amount; this eliminates any errors on recording transactions. "Confirmation of payment is again required at the end of this process to capture the amount one wishes paid and once payment has been made a receipt will appear," said Mr Munyeza. An email confirmation is sent simultaneously, to the stockbrokers who then contact the customer to get instructions on which counters to buy or which account to settle. The KFHL innovation comes as Zimbabwe's financial institutions strive to keep abreast with the dynamic technological changes characterising the market. (Source: The Herald) Rbs Launches EAC Quality Web PortalThe Germany Institute of Metrology has designed and established a quality web portal to help the East African Community (EAC) member states to access and share information easily. A web portal acts as an entry point to an array of resources or services. While a website is a collection of web pages, images, videos or other digital assets hosted on one or several web server(s). The web portal is to help in the sensitisation of the general public about standardisation of activities in the region. It is hoped, this would harmonise regional activities and build a client oriented infrastructure, complying with international standards among EAC member states. "Without a well-functioning quality infrastructure, the economic and social development of a country is not conceivable," Rwanda Bureau of Standards's Anastase Kimonyo said. He said this during the launch of the web portal at Hotel Des Mille Collines on Monday. Rwanda now becomes the third East African State to launch a web portal after Tanzania and Uganda. Christian Clagues, the Germany ambassador to Rwanda was optimistic the web would help EAC states in metrology, standardisation and testing of quality management and evaluation of certificates and accreditation of EAC member state's activities. "If properly managed and utilised, the web portal will contribute much in disseminating information on matters of standardisation, quality assurance, metrology and testing and help build a quality culture in the region," he explained. Products displaying the quality will more readily find market due to consumer confidence. The Kenyan ambassador to Rwanda Alex A. Ketter requested the RBS to coordinate with other East African Bureaus to speed-up the harmonisation of standards. (Source: The New Times)
People* The State IT Agency (Sita) has retained the services of acting CEO Peter Pedlar. Pedlar has been given a two-year contract and will work alongside newly appointed CEO Llewellyn Jones. * Third mobile operator Cell C has confirmed two executives have resigned. Chief Commercial Officer Clifford Sampson will leave at the end of November, while Executive Head of Sales Craig Kidson will leave in mid-December. Events- USING ICT FOR EFFECTIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT - AFRICA FORUM 2007 13th - 15th November 2007, Dar es Salaam International Conference Centre, Tanzania The use of ICTs in disaster management is one of the CTO's core areas of expertise. Following successful events in Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, we are delighted to deliver our fourth regional ICTs for Effective Disaster Management Forum in Tanzania. There is no admission fee and we hope that all disaster management stakeholders will be able to attend and contribute to this event's success. With the Ministry of Communications and the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority as hosts, as well as the potential of a half-day workshop conducted by the ITU, this event has already attracted a huge amount of interest. For further information contact Mr. Salim Binbrek at the CTO on Tel: +44 208 834 1592 or Email: s.binbrek@cto.int. For more information please see the CTO website http://www.cto.int - 5th OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE 2007: HOW SOCIETIES BENEFIT FROM OPEN ACCESS TO ICT 14th - 16th November 2007, Bagamoyo Tanzania Resource persons and delegates from all around the world will meet in Bagamoyo to discuss best practice in ICT following the trend and advancement in the use of ICT in general such as mobile phones, multipurpose tele-centres and the like. The conference will address ICT in its entirety with demonstrations and presentations. Focus areas include: ICT infrastructures, Strategic ICT Leadership, ICT in Education, Universal Access, Applications, Policy and Social Implications; ICT with business and M-Applications. For further information contact Mr. Amos Nungu on Tel: +255 787 716778 or Email: amnungu@kth.se. For more information please see the conference website http://www.wideopenaccess.net/ - 3RD AFRICAN OUTSOURCING & CONTACT CENTRE CONFERENCE 27th – 28th November 2007, Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya This conference and exhibition provides a business networking platform for the entire regions outsourcing industry. This is a unique opportunity for companies looking for outsourced services to meet operators in this emerging outsource destination as well as for local operators to learn about international trends, best practices and business opportunities. For further information visit www.aitecafrica.com - 3rd WEST AFRICA SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SUMMIT (WASCS3) 20-21 November 2007, Protea Hotel, Oakwood Park, Lagos, Nigeria WASCS3 will focus-in on the latest developments in the evolutionary deployment of satellite broadband networking to serve the leading commercial and enterprise verticals of the region. The Summit programme focuses on such leading regional verticals as the oil & gas industry, the banking & wider financial sector, and distribution & enterprise, both the Summit discussions – and the provision of practical VSAT installation training – will be supportive of the these wider national, regional and continental satellite connectivity requirements. For further information visit www.gvf.org or contact martin.jarrold@gvf.org in the UK office. - ICT AFRICA 13-15 February 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia CT Africa 2008 offers: A Plenary session featuring policy makers, Business leaders and key ICT research leaders High quality, peer reviewed technical presentations Technical tutorials on emerging ICT technologies Workshops on ongoing projects Industry exhibition For further information contact visit http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org/ Jobs and Opportunities* Ericsson 3g Radio Optimizer – Southern Africa The company is looking for a world-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and related services to mobile and fixed network operators globally. Qualification: Very sound knowledge of Ericsson CDD parameters and their implications on overall network wide KPIs. Very sound knowledge of Ericsson STS counters and Business Object. Very sound knowledge of tools like CTR, GPEH, RES etc. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* MTN, Radwin and GALint – South Africa Radwin says that it was chosen by an MTN Group company in Africa for a major cellular backhaul project. Radwin worked in cooperation with GALint, a turnkey solutions provider and Radwin's partner, to deliver on the project. The company did not name the country where the contract work was carried out. * Syngenta and UUNET - Kenya UUNET ha deployed an IP telephony system for farm inputs company Syngenta for a total investment cost of Sh2.3 million.
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