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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 384 Living with confusion – African operators find themselves pulled in new directionsOnce it was simple. There was the Government incumbent and all the other operators were against it. Then the incumbents ceased to be the incumbents and some of the new mobile operators found themselves taking on that mantle. With new power comes new responsibilities. Or does it? Once it was all about voice. Now there’s all this fancy convergence talk and anything you can think of sending down a phone connection will be sent. Increasingly operators are being pulled in new directions. Russell Southwood looks at three issues that are tugging from the edges. Three news items this week touched on some of the things that are pulling operators into looking at where their company’s activities begin and end. The pull towards content provision: This week France Telecom signed a “multiyear agreement” with MGM to be allowed to offer the studio’s movies to its video-on-demand customers. According to the reports, Orange is counting on video-on-demand as a new source of income for its fixed line business as its calling revenues go down. Cote d’Ivoire Telecom became the next of Orange’s African subsidiaries to start rolling out its “livebox” product that offers voice, Internet and television. But all is not easy in the new world of telco as content provider. In Senegal, Orange had to reach a content agreement with the more-or-less monopoly supplier of French-language, satellite pay TV content. As a result, it has to peg the price of its offer to that of its satellite content provider. Mauritius Telecom, despite having 15,000 people sign up for its “livebox” service again found itself talking unsuccessfully to what will probably become its competitor about getting content. In this context, having a large parent company sign global content deals makes a great deal of sense. But what if you’re not part of a global company? How do you sort out content to stay in the game? Or do you simply say, we’ll sit out this one out and stick to what we know? Deals between Vodacom and DStv may be easy in the short-term on a reseller basis but when it goes beyond this, who ends up getting the lion’s share of the revenues? Content is beset with a whole new range of problems that no-one in the African telco business seems to have thought their way through. Rights holders like Hollywood are not known for their generosity and too many of the available rights are still being given on a monopoly or duopoly basis. The court battles in Senegal over whether a third TV channel had the right to show Prison Break illustrate how far the market still has to develop. The pull towards infrastructure: At least three African countries – Kenya, South Africa and Uganda – have Governments that are in the advanced stages of putting together public interest companies to roll out national fibre infrastructure. Although the mobile operators bandy about the size of sums they are going to invest in infrastructure, they haven’t really worked out whether as the new incumbents they should be building infrastructure or not. It is one thing for MTN and Vodacom to announce infrastructure build-outs in South Africa but are they really going to extend the same principle to all of the countries they operate in? Mmm…Maybe. MTN is certainly putting down fibre in Ghana in order to overcome the historic inadequacies of both the network it acquired and that provided by the incumbent Ghana Telecom. Nevertheless an exchange at a regulators meeting in West Africa exemplifies the problem. Two of the large mobile operators chains had representatives on a panel who were asked why were they not rolling out cross-border links, given their networks were almost touching each other in several countries. Their responses were almost identical: we don’t think there’s enough traffic to justify it and therefore it is the Government’s responsibility. Nobody had thought that the private sector might create its own “carriers’ carrier” to act as a trusted transit operator to solve this problem. However, if the private sector operators sit on the sidelines of this discussion, they can hardly complain when Government decides to take the initiative and start taking responsibility through public interest backbone companies. The international fibres which everyone has shouted long and hard for will be here in 2009 and without regional connectivity, their impact will be frittered way. So the private sector really has to find a way to “put up or shut up”. All of which makes even stranger the announcement by Namibia’s power utility Nampower that it has granted a large contract that will connect several different power grids in South Africa. The line will connect the electricity networks of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and South Africa to create an alternative route for power imports and exports to and from neighbouring countries. Slipped rather quietly into the announcement was the fact that the transmission line would be fitted with a fibre-optical ground wire which will, apart from providing essential transmission communication, “expand NamPower's communication capacity”. Is any private sector company talking to Nampower about using this capacity or indeed increasing this available capacity for private operator’s voice and data traffic? Not as far as we know….So are operators interested in solving these problems either individually or together? Mmmm…That’s a bit difficult to tell. The pull towards energy provision: Recently MTN revealed the scale of money it was spending on generator fuel in Nigeria. Taken over a year, it was US$65 million. Try to imagine that if that is calculated on the basis of 5,000 base stations for one country, what the total cost looks like for all mobile operators across the continent. Unlike the pull towards infrastructure described above, this is straightforwardly a short-term, bottom-line issue. If the operators could find a way of using generators just for redundancy, then the amount paid in this direction would drop substantially. So what can the operators do? Well, there’s the high road and the low road. The low road is finding base station equipment that will not eat as much fuel. This week Vodafone Germany announced that it was the first operator to put in Ericsson’s new BTS that will make “an important contribution to cutting carbon-dioxide emissions” by lowering energy use. Compatible with all its base stations since 1995, it claims to save between 10-20 per cent of energy consumption “depending on the network traffic pattern.” During periods of low network traffic, the feature effectively puts those parts of the network that are not being used in standby mode - overcoming the traditional practice of having radio equipment continually turned on, which can result in energy being wasted. The high road is self-provisioning power transmission, either through an operator consortium JV or by one operator taking the initiative. The energy industry takes a long-time to respond to demand, sometimes as long as 10-15 years. So why not set up a small-scale power generation and transmission company that can address those base stations nearest to each other? Small-scale providers can generate power at scale: 40% of Holland’s energy needs come from small-scale providers. Then it is a case of delivering this power and possibly distributing it to a small number of other paying customers. Is it in the immortal words of Telkom SA’s new CEO Reuben September (talking about his mobile strategy) is it a case of “everything that is feasible is desirable”? Where do you draw the line in terms of what a company needs to be able to do in order to thrive? For without addressing these kinds pulls on company time and resources, all of Africa’s operators will continue to operate below their full potential.
House Committee Threatens to Revoke MTN's Licence in NigeriaHouse of Representatives Committee on Communication, last week in Abuja, threatened to recommend revocation of MTN's operational licence over poor service. Briefing newsmen, Jerry Mamwe, Chairman of the Committee, said MTN had been given three weeks within which to improve its services or have its licence revoked. Mamwe said the committee had directed MTN to suspend sales of its SIM cards to customers, pending when it improves its roll out capacity, adding that the decision was informed by its refusal to improve its services, in spite of the committee's several official and informal appeals. "While we must agree that GSM operators have enjoyed the benefit of time, the customers have continued to suffer poor services rendered by MTN to be specific," he said. According to him, MTN account for 85 per cent of poor telecommunication services to customers in the country, which was unacceptable to the committee. The committee also directed the National Communication Commission (NCC), to ensure compliance with the directives. He also said the issue of co-location among GSM service providers is a must, since the NCC Act made provision for it. (Source: This Day) Telkom Kenya Accused of Failing to Pay WorkersTelkom Kenya failed to honour a deal with 54 retrenched workers at the Gilgil Telecommunications Industry, the High court in Nakuru heard Tuesday. Benson Okwaro, the general-secretary of the Communications Workers Union of Kenya, said the workers were left with no option but to seek redress through the courts after their employer abandoned them "in their hour of need". He denied that the union had not assisted the retrenchees, forcing them to file the case in their individual capacities. Okwaro said the union could not stop the workers from demanding their rights and that was why they were in court. He said the union had entered into agreements with Telkom Kenya over the fate of retrenched employees at the Kenya College of Communications and Technology which were honoured. Okwaro was testifying before Mr Justice Luka Kimaru in a case in which the 54 retrenched workers have sued Telkom Kenya for compensation. He said that the union handled GTI as a department of Telkom Kenya and that was why it entered into agreements with the mother company. However, he said, the parastatal dishonoured the agreement between it and the union over the retrenchment of staff at GTI. At the time, GTI was a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya and the parent firm used to pay salaries for some of the employees at GTI. Another witness, Ezekiel Maisori, said about 200 retrenched workers had filed suits against Telkom in their individual capacities. During cross examination by Tom Ojienda, for the workers, Maisori who used to work as a personnel officer at GTI, said a number of circulars had been prepared by the firm in relation to the terms and services of the employees. "The circulars on salaries and housing allowances were however not implemented," he said. The case was adjourned to February 20. (Source: The Nation) M-Cel Plans to Cover 90 Per Cent of the Population in MozambiqueM-Cel, which is still 100 per cent publicly owned, intends to ensure that 90 per cent of the Mozambican population are within reach of its network by 2009. Speaking on Thursday night, at a reception to mark the 10th anniversary of the foundation of M-Cel, the chairman of its board of directors, Salvador Adriano, promised that M-Cel is working towards covering every single district, administrative post and locality in the country. The company, he said, would also consolidate its position as market leader in terms of number of clients and the quality of its services. Adriano said that M-Cel now has over two million clients, which is 70 per cent of the market (leaving its sole rival, the Mozambican branch of the South African company Vodacom, with the remaining 30 per cent). The M-Cel network already reaches 100 of Mozambique's 128 districts, through 550 antennae, said Adriano. Its revenue in 2006 reached US$166 million, while its operational profits grew by 29 per cent in comparison to the 2005 figure. Adriano said these results were achieved thanks to the use of modern mobile phone technology, allowing M-Cel to guarantee coverage of the territory 24 hours a day. (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) Algeria Reaches 25 Million Mobile Phone SubscribersAlgeria has 25 million mobile phone subscribers, compared with just 54,000 seven years ago, the Minister for Post and Telecommunication Services said Monday. The penetration rate has now reached 75% of the population, according to a tally compiled at the end of September by industry-sector firms. In 2000, before the liberalization of the state monopoly in the telecommunications sector, the figure stood at 0.26%. The blossoming of the industry is a result of fierce competition between the three operators in the country, which spent US$47 million promoting their products, according to the minister, Boudjemaa Hiachour. Those three competing operators are Mobilis, subsidiary of the former state operator Algeria-Telecom; Djezzy, subsidiary of the Egyptian conglomerate Orascom; and Nedjma, subsidiary of the Kuwaiti firm Watanya. Djezzy claims more than 12 million network subscribers, with Nedjma on around four million. Mobilis currently has 9.5 million users, its commercial and marketing director, Lounis Belharath, told AFP. Meanwhile, according to Hiachour, Algeria now has around three million fixed-line telephone subscribers, compared with 1.6 million in 2000. By the end of September nearly 120,000 Algerians had high-speed Internet connections, with a total of four million being connected to the Web. In a separate announcement reported by the local newspaper “La Tribune”, the Minister has said that the process leading to the opening of Algerie Telecom’s capital to private investors will definitely go ahead in 2008. The Spanish bank Santander has been chosen again to lead the project. (Source: AFP)
In brief:- The island nation of Cape Verde is due to get a second GSM network next week when T+ launches its services on the main island of Santiago - with national coverage due by the second half of 2008. The country currently has a monopoly operator, Cabo Verde Telecom. - The Court of Appeal of Kenya will decide on December 20th whether to stop the sale of Safaricom shares to the public or not. Judges will also decide whether to dismiss the case filed by the Orange Democratic Movement at the preliminary stage or allow it to go for full hearing. The Orange party is challenging the decision by High Court judge, Mr Justice Joseph Nyamu, to dismiss its plea to stop the government from selling the shares. - Nigerian SecureID Limited has announced plans to manufacture SIM cards for mobile operators by the beginning of 2008. They will be the first local producers of SIM cards for the GSM operators in Nigeria. - Upgrade of the network systems by Orange Botswana has been causing interruptions to services, but Orange Botswana spokesperson, Karabo Tlhabiwe, has assured that the problem would soon come to an end. - Nairobi-based mobile phone retailers have set up one of Kenya's first mobile phone recycling programmes.The retailers will establish drop-off points for old or unused mobile phones and components, for ultimate disposal by the phone manufacturers. - According to data published by the Senegalese telecoms regulator L’Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes (ARTP), the country had 3,434 million mobile subscribers at the end of September 2007, up from 3,319 million in last June. Orange had 2,442 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter while Tigo claimed 991,631 users, up from 918,830 in June. The mobile penetration rate has reached 32.5%. In contrast, the fixed line market has continued to decrease from 283,582 lines in June to 278,119. - Investments in Nigeria's telecommunications industry have jumped from NGN6 billion (USD50 million) in 2003 to NGN180 billion in 2007, according to Ernest Ndukwe, Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The country had also made NGN242 billion from spectrum licensing fees in the past five years. - Saudi Arabian mobile handset distributor i2 is planning to increase its distribution and retail business in Angola, as part of its expansion in Africa. The company intends to increase its retail network to reach all available points-of-sale for mobile phones in Angola. The company, which established its first retail outlets in Angola last month, intends to gain a foothold in most of the country's large cities within the next two years. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- Globacom, Nigeria's Second National Carrier, has introduced third generation mobile telephony. Globacom, in a statement issued by its Communication Department, listed Mobile Live TV, Video Calling, High Speed Internet and Video on Demand, as the four topmost services available to subscribers on its 3G High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), tagged 3G Plus. - Bruno Allassonnière, the DG of Orange in Central African Republic has announced that the commercial roll-out of their mobile network has started in the cities of Bangui, Bouar and Carnot in the West part of the country. The cities of Bossongoa, Berbérati, Nola and Sibut will follow as of next month, with a commitment to cover all districts throughout the country by the end of the first half of 2008. - Telkom Kenya's customers who are subscribed to the landline phone service could have them replaced by a wireless handset should they fall victim to vandalism. It is estimated that transfer of landline customers to the wireless service could enable Telkom to save up to Sh4 million a month in repair costs. - M-tel, one of Nigeria's four GSM operators, is introducing free on-net calls and SMS to it's subscribers as part of its brand refresh targeting residents of Abuja where the network has the bulk of its customers. - Comium Liberia has extended its services to four areas in less than one week. The areas include: Bong Mines, Kakata (re-launch), Totota and Zeinzue. - In Sierra-Leone, mobile operator Africell has launched its E- Voucher service. - In South Africa, Vox Telecom’s ADSL Phone VoIP service is enjoying fast take up with consumers snapping up the new service. Vox Telecom currently has 1,000 beta-phase subscribers on their network, and expects to see between 10,000 and 20,000 users towards the second quarter of 2008, after the service is officially launched and marketing is in full swing. - Côte d’Ivoire’s fourth mobile operator, Koz has reported more than half million subscribers, six month after the commercial launch of the service.
Undersea cable race is on in East AfricaThe race to complete East African undersea cables is officially on the way, with both Seacom and Eassy announcing that construction of their respective cables has commenced. This week, Seacom announced that its supplier, Tyco Telecommunications, had commenced construction of its 13 700km cable that will connect SA, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya with India and Egypt. Meanwhile Alcatel-Lucent announced that it had won the US$79 million turnkey contract to deploy a 4,900km undersea cable between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. The East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) consortium, which includes the Kenyan government and Etisalat of the UAE, plans to link Mombasa in Kenya with the port of Fujairah in the UAE. The 640Gbps cable is expected to go live by the end of the first quarter of 2009. At the end of November, the International Finance Corporation, the private investment arm of the World Bank, announced that it and several other development banks, the European Union and 25 telecommunications operators had finalised their financing arrangements, and construction of the EASSy (East African Submarine Cable System) cable was due to start this month. The EASSy cable will stretch about 10,000km and will essentially cover the same countries as Seacom. However, it will also include Dijibouti and Sudan. The Seacom cable is expected to cost about $650 million, while EASSy says its cable needs $440 million in funding. Both cables are to land at Mtunzini, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, with EASSy being able to use the established Telkom station. Second national operator Neotel will build a dedicated station there so it can land its leg of the Seacom cable. Seacom's cable is to have a capacity of 1.2Tb and the Eassy cable's initial capacity is supposed to be around 640Mb. Seacom has committed itself to an in-service date of the first quarter of 2009, while Eassy is expected to land its cable sometime thereafter. Both cables aim to be fully operational in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be played in SA. The Seacom cable is funded mainly from private equity companies, including Andile Ngcaba's Convergence Partners and Cyril Ramaphosa's Shanduka Group, Venfin Industrial Promotion Agency and Heracles Telecom. Eassy's major shareholders are telecommunications companies that include Telkom, MTN, and Vodacom. Both cable operations claim to be majority African-owned, with Eassy having a 51% South African ownership. On Wednesday, Gateway Communications, the largest private data and voice carrier on the continent, announced it had bought an STM-1 level (155Mbps) capacity from Seacom. This follows Seacom's win, with Neotel, of a deal that will see it get the Tertiary Education Network's (Tenet) business from its long-time supplier Telkom. The Tenet deal was secured with a price that was quoted as being 80% below Telkom's current prices. “Satellite communications is highly expensive and there is very little spare capacity there,” says Mike van den Berg, Gateway Communications COO. “While we have bought capacity on Seacom we are also looking at what EASSy will have to offer, because we do need redundancy.” (Source: ITWeb) New UN Internet Campaign Links African Rural Farmers to Food BloggersAn innovative United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) online fundraising campaign will connect farmers in rural Africa to food bloggers worldwide. Known as "Menu for Hope," the initiative -- now in its fourth year -- will be launched today on Chez Pim, one of the world's most popular food blogs. "It is difficult to imagine two worlds that are further apart -- the high-end culinary world and rural African farmers,"said WFP Director of Public Policy Strategy, Nancy Roman. "But by coming together, the global community of foodies can make a real difference to poor people who struggle daily with hunger and survival." The funds raised by the online raffle will support WFP'ss work in the tiny Southern African nation of Lesotho, where the agency has been helping rural communities by purchasing surplus grain from small-scale farmers. This grain in then used in programmes such as a scheme to supply school lunches to children in Lesotho. Conceived by food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit, who uses her popular site for the fundraising campaign, the raffle last year raised more than US$60,000 -- more than double its target -- for WFP programmes through the sale of US$10 tickets online that give purchasers a chance to win "foodie" items such as invitations to join world-famous chefs for personal cooking lessons, rare cooking books, opportunities to dine in restaurants around the world and a pizza tour of New York, among others. Michelin-starred restaurants and internationally renowned chefs, including Ferran Adria of Spain and Heston Blumenthal of the United Kingdom, are among those supporting the initiative. "This is the 4th year that I have run this campaign, but this is the first time that we have tried to make this direct connection between the money we raise and the people who need it in a place like Lesotho," Pim Techamuanvivit said. "The Internet is so much more powerful than other media in the way it can bring these diverse communities together." By purchasing food from small-scale farmers, WFP -- which buys three-quarters of the food for its operations in 70 developing countries -- is able to offer more direct financial support to them, while also lowering the cost of transporting food long distances to where it is urgently needed. MWeb applies for extension of trial WiMax licence in South AfricaMWeb has applied for an extension to its WiMax trial licence, in case the official licences are not awarded in the next few months. The trial licence awarded earlier this year expires in January 2008. Anton Gaylard, new business development manager of MWeb Connect, says the company is expecting the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to make a decision in the next three months. “We are confident that we will be successful, but, as a precaution to ensure our networks stay up-and-running, we have applied for an extension.” According to Gaylard, to fully deploy WiMax, MWeb needs two licences: an Electronic Communications Network Licence (ECNS), which entitles the company to build its own network; and a WiMax radio frequency spectrum licence. “We have the budget in place and are waiting on ICASA's decision. Based on the success of our trials, we are very positive about the future,” he explains. Gaylard says for the extent of the trial period, the company budgeted around R31 million for roll-out. The trial areas in Johannesburg include Randburg, Sandton City, Soweto, Boksburg, Midrand and Baragwanath. ICASA says it is busy with deliberations following hearings held with regard to the allocation of WiMax spectrum. It will release its final recommendations once the process has been concluded. MWeb is positioning itself as an independent telecommunications provider, and has recently expanded its brand into a traditionally under-serviced market. “There is strong latent demand for bandwidth in Soweto. The size of the trial, as well as the usage on the networks, is increasing,” says Gaylard. (Source: ITWeb) In brief:- According to online newspaper Arib, Burundi’s internet bandwidth was about 5 Mbps last year and catered for approximately 2,500 internet users across the country. - Axed Sowetan subeditor Llewellyn Kriel will appeal the findings of the disciplinary hearing that led to his dismissal and made him the first South African fired for blogging. Kriel was dismissed when he was found to have brought the company's name into disrepute through a blog posted on the Mail & Guardian's website. - The fibre link between Ethiopia and Djibouti will be completed in about three months time. - Uganda’s Stanbic Bank has launched Internet banking. with the new service, customers can make balance enquiries, view and download statements, conduct account transfers and effect third party payments like utility bills and notifications. The customers will be required to make a one-time payment of sh5,000 to sign onto the facility. - The Senegalese regulator, the ARTP, also reported that there were a total of 34,907 registered Internet users by the end of September, of which 33,584 were ADSL subscribers.
High Taxation Impedes Computer Assembly Trade in KenyaHigh duty on computer parts is hindering the development of a vibrant assembly industry. While tariff on finished computers is zero rated, most components and peripherals still attract high duty. LCD or LED panels, capacitors, resistors, and printed circuits attract a 15 per cent duty, while monitors are subject to a 25 per cent tariff. The tariff structure means that a local assembler cannot compete against a zero rated finished unit. Besides the tariff, the many applications that a component can be put to means enforcement is at the discretion of the customs official, making the process prone to abuse. Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, said the inconsistencies had slowed down an otherwise vibrant industry, limiting the opportunities to large and established companies. Dr Ndemo said that although the ministry had proposed to Treasury before this years Budget that computer tariffs be zero rated, the Comesa tariff rules prohibit the move. Policy changes and reversals have also sent mixed signals to investors, especially in Export Processing Zones, who have to pay a 2.5 per cent levy on assembled units sold in the domestic market. Mercer Computers, a South African firm which had been assembling computers in the export processing zone announced in mid 2004 that it would close its operations in Kenya because of the duty. Instead, it would be importing complete computers from South Africa, which does not charge duty on computer and computer parts. The growing demand for IT products and services has prompted the mushrooming of assemblers in computers and telecommunications equipment. It is estimated that 30 per cent of Kenya's computer requirements are locally assembled. (Source: Business Daily) Uganda to Get Cheap ComputersIn an effort to increase the use and distribution of computers in the country, the government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation are in talks to form a public-private partnership to set up a computer refurbishing plant that will substantially reduce the cost of a computer. "In a few months Ugandans will have access to PC at a cheaper target price of only US$100 (Shs170, 000) and some of these PCs have already reached in the country," Patrick Bitature, the chairman of Uganda Investments, said. He said the plant is expected to have a refurbishing capacity of 10,000 PCs per year. Bitature said if the project materialises it will be beneficial to all Ugandans including those in the rural area. "Information and Communication Technology is probably the single most important tool one can embrace other than education, for development. Poverty is rooted in ignorance," he said. One of the avenues is to see the price of a single computer go down to about $100 (Shs170, 000). Currently the market price of a brand new PC is rated at Shs1.5 million (US$882) and Shs800, 000 (US$470) depending on the type and durability. In Uganda there about with a population close to 30 million people, about 120,000 people can get access to a PC but only 25,000 are registered as subscribers with all the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Bitature said: "Uganda still has the opportunity to exploit the ICTs fully to reduce the over dependency on agriculture to at least 50 percent". The government recently scrapped off Value Added Tax on computer imports to increase computer availability in the country. (Source: The Monitor) The State of ICTs in the South African NGO SectorNon-governmental organisations (NGOs) have always been portrayed as operating on a shoestring budget, and being stuck in the dark ages of telecommunications. The reality, however, is that NGOs are heavily focused on efficiency, and information and communications technologies make up a critical element of that efficiency. This is the overriding conclusion of a study conducted by World Wide Worx in 2007, in cooperation with SANGONeT. The purpose of “The State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector” study was to establish how effectively South African NGOs are using information technology, whether it is making a difference in their ability to serve their constituencies, and whether they are adequately served by the IT industry. A total of 300 IT and financial decision-makers in NGOs across South Africa were interviewed, and the results were unexpected and startling. Only 1% of respondents did not have any PCs, while a further 6% had only one PC. One third of respondents had more than 10 PCs in the organisation. Even more unexpectedly, three quarters of respondents also used laptop computers, and 81% used servers in their organisations. These statistics are the first clue to the nature of the NGO environment: NGOs operate on a very similar basis to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and share many of the characteristics of SMEs in their IT-readiness. For example, two thirds of NGOs report their primary form of connection to the Internet being an ADSL line, and 16% use dial-up. In the 2007 SME Survey conducted by World Wide Worx, 55% of SMEs use ADSL, while 12% use dial-up. In other words, the two sectors are very similar in their connectivity needs and implementation. The same applies to operating systems: 95% of NGOs use one or other version of Windows, while for SMEs the figure is 90%. The most surprising aspect of the NGOs’ IT readiness was the extent to which they are networked. For 79% of the respondents, computers were networked. And of these, 30% use wireless networking. The reasons for both high ADSL take-up and wireless networking are simple: ADSL is far more cost-effective than dial-up, and wireless networking is far more efficient and, in the long run, more cost-effective than cable networking. Organisations were also asked to rate their own level of technology adoption. The results were again closely equivalent to those previously observed in measuring the rate of technology adoption among SMEs in South Africa: * Very basic 10% * Somewhat basic 24% * Average 39% * Somewhat advanced 20% * Very advanced 6% NGOs are clearly not shying away from technology, with a small proportion – only 21% - saying they are in a basic stage of technology adoption. However, a very high 39% regard themselves as Average, indicating tremendous potential for driving more advanced usage of technology among NGOs. This is emphasised by the fact that the vast majority - 86% - of respondents use some form of accounting software. As among SMEs, Pastel is the dominant accounting package, with 76% using it, followed by Accpac (7%) and Quickbooks (6%). Despite all these positive signs, when it comes to more advanced forms of software, NGOs rely on adapted versions of standard Office software. For example, while a quarter of respondents say they use Customer Relations Management software, most of these are using MS Access (40%), Excel (26%) and Outlook or Outlook Express (13%) for the purpose. Support for IT systems is largely outsourced, although a relatively high 30% manage this need internally. An even higher proportion, 38%, managed support of financial software internally, emphasising the importance of financial software and its management to NGOs: whereas almost two thirds outsource overall IT support, less than a fifth outsource support of financial software. This indicates that financial software tends to require substantially less support than IT systems in general. However, while NGOs seem to have their hardware and software needs in hand, there are many flies in the ointment. This emerged from questions regarding their satisfaction with the quality of Internet connection, hardware and software, and satisfaction with their cost. It emerged that the vast majority were satisfied with the quality of Office software (85%) and computer hardware (84%), while a smaller but still high proportion were satisfied with the quality of their Internet connection (73%) and networks (72%) However, when it came to the cost of these resources, satisfaction levels plummeted. Only 55% were satisfied with the cost of Office software, and 52% with computer hardware. For Internet connections, satisfaction with cost dropped to 39%, and for networking, 44%. Similar results are found in SME studies, indicating that the IT industry is meeting the needs of small organisations from a quality perspective, but is hamstringing them with the high cost of this quality. Possibly the most important question of all was that of what impact ICT had on these organisations’ abilities to meet their strategic objectives. The following represent the positive impact rating for each of these key areas: * Advance human rights 54% * Advance developmental initiatives 58% * Advance training and educational initiatives 59% * Advance capacity-building initiatives 50% These low proportions lead to the inescapable conclusion that IT investment by NGOs has been geared to the administrative running of the NGOs, rather than to achieving their goals and objectives as NGOs. This, in turn indicates the potential opportunity for the IT industry in more fully meeting the needs of NGOs. When combined with the clear indications that NGOs are at the same level of technological maturity as SMEs in general, it represent a call to action to the IT industry to address the NGO sector as a desirable and viable target market. - Arthur Goldstuck co-authored “The State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector” report with Steven Ambrose, Head of Strategy at World Wide Worx. For a copy of the full report, go to www.sangotech.org/ict-survey In brief:- The Rwanda Information and Technology Authority (RITA) has been put under the President's Office, and will now be reporting directly to the Minster in President's Office in charge of Science, Technology, Scientific Research and ICT, Prof. Romain Murenzi. - The government of Ethiopia is finalizing preparation to construct the first of its kind Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Park near the Bole International Airport. The assessment and "high-level" design of the project is being undertaken by one of India's giant ICT companies called Witro in collaboration with the US-based technology firm, Cisco. - The Nigerian Computer Society ( NCS) has concluded plans to organise an IT quiz competition for secondary schools. Explaining the reason for the quiz competition, Mr. Uwadia said that one of the challenges NCS faced was developing the youth and creating gender empowerment programmes as a way of ensuring a solid sustainable future for the IT industry in Nigeria. - In Burkina Faso, the Ministry of Economy and Finance is looking at ways to exempt micro-finance organisation from paying taxes on IT equipment purchases. - Tunisia’s Higher Council of Digital Economy met the first time this week to discuss the legal framework of digital economy. The organisation has been set up to co-ordinate between the parties concerned with the development of digital economy, and to think over means to speed up the pace of setting up appropriate enterprises in this field and increase their competitive capacity. The ICT sector generates at present 10% of the country’st GDP. The aim is to reach 13.5% in 2011. - This week, OpenLogic announced that it would be running a global census to collect and share quantitative data to count how many enterprise installations there are in the world for each open source software package. - Investment in Egypt's ICT sector is set too reach $960 million by the end of 2007, and $1.3 billion by 2011, according to a report from UK analysts, Business Monitor International (BMI). Much of the growth in Egypt's ICT sector is attributed to BPO, with the BMI report predicting that Egypt's IT service sector, which includes BPO, will reach $278 million by end of 2007, and will increase to $379 million in 2011.
Shareholders Approve Intercellular Deal in NigeriaShareholders of Intercellular Nigeria Plc have approved a 70 per cent majority acquisition stake from Sudatel, Sudan's incumbent operator. The shareholders according to a statement made available to THISDAY gave the approval after an Extra Ordinary General Meeting of the shareholders in Abuja. The approval of the deal will thus provide Intercellular with the much needed lifeline of about US$500 million dollars to implement its national network deployment as a Unified Access Service License Operator over the next five years. Company Managing Director/CEO, Arvid Knutsen described the agreement as "ground breaking" and commended all stakeholders for the patience and understanding. "I am particularly excited at the conclusion of agreements. The process has been long and sometimes stressful, but at the end everyone is happy. We believe that this deal holds a fresh start for the company and that it portends the right prospect for a new competitive company." The CEO contended that the drive to reclaim the initiative as a leading market player will not be easy but given the right attitude and commitment all goals are realizable. Vice Chairman/Corporate Adviser of Intercellular, Bashir Ahmad el-Rufai is optimistic that the Intercellular-Sudatel agreement would re-position Intercellular as a formidable brand that was once the pride of its darling customers. He acknowledged the difficult path the company has walked and reflected that "it is not so much about where we are coming from, but where we are going." "We seek a renewed commitment and right attitude among all stakeholders toward the growth of the company as a leading telecommunications brand of first choice. They (Sudatel) are not only providing the necessary financial support, they are professional operators who understand the business and that is quite unique in the decision by the Management through the Board to the shareholders to go with them ((Sudatel)," the former CEO remarked. (Source: This Day) MTN to shed R2.4bn Nigeria stake?Market speculation is that MTN could shed some of its MTN Nigeria shareholding, selling 3.5% of its shares to wealthy Nigerian nationals by January next year. MTN holds 82% of MTN Nigeria. A news report by Business Day Nigeria says a plan is in motion for the MTN Group to sell shares worth 121 billion naira (R2.24 billion) in a local empowerment deal. The report, which is detailed in terms of the transaction, says the deal is being handled by Nigerian financial institution IBTC Chartered Bank. “The new investors will have up till January 2008 to pay up.” Individuals who want to take part in the deal will have to acquire a minimum of US$5 million worth of shares, while a corporate body has to purchase US$10 million worth of shares, it says. The report says the IBTC Chartered Bank may also create a special purpose vehicle that will acquire a block amount of shares, and then resell these to Nigerians. Individuals would have to purchase a minimum of US$100,000 worth of shares, it says. MTN was unable to respond to a media enquiry at the time of going to publication. However, a local financial analyst says based on MTN Nigeria's market capitalisation of R80 billion, 3.5% shareholding is so small MTN does not have to make a stock exchange announcement. Last year, the MTN Group increased its shareholding in MTN Nigeria to 82.04%, in a US$349 million cash and shares transaction. MTN Group CEO Phuthuma Nhleko said the deal would enable minority shareholders to realise a portion of their investment in MTN Nigeria. The transaction is part of a process that is expected to enable a broader spectrum of Nigerians to participate in the company's performance, he said. MarketWorks business advisor Steve Edwards says the rumoured deal could represent MTN's capitulation to pressure of extortion at an economic and political level. “The continent is dominated by graft and corruption and it doesn't go away at that level. So it's entirely possible that MTN is under constant pressure of extortion, in which event, the Nigerian deal represents capitulation and the others will be queuing up soon.” (Source: ITWeb) How Vodafone Earns Millions of Dollars in Fees From SafaricomNew details have emerged showing how the UK's Vodafone Plc, which owns 40 per cent of mobile telephone company Safaricom Ltd, reaps millions of shillings every year in fees over and above what the transnational earns in dividends from the profitable business. According to disclosures contained in the draft prospectus that has been prepared for the initial public offer of Safaricom, in which the government will be offloading 25 per cent of the company's shares to the public, the fees are paid to Vodafone Marketing Sarl in Luxembourg. The fees are pegged on the company's revenues, implying that they are payable whether Safaricom makes profits or not. The current agreement was signed on October 1, 2006 and runs for three years. It stipulates that the company must pay a "participation fee" of 0.8 per cent of total revenues to Vodafone Marketing of Luxembourg in the year beginning April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008. The money is payable every six months. According to the financial data presented in the prospectus, the company's total revenues in the first six months of this year were Ksh28.65 billion ($447,656,250). At 0.8 per cent of total revenues, this works out at a participation fee of Ksh229.2 million ($3,581,250). In the second year of the contract - the period October 1, 2007 to March 3, 2008 - the participation fee is set at 0.5 per cent of revenue and capped at euro 1.05 million - Ksh97.5 million at current rates. For all other financial years during the term of the agreement, the company must pay Vodafone a participation fee of 0.5 per cent of total revenue as long as the amount does not go beyond euro 2.1 million (Ksh197,400,000). Under the agreement, total annual revenue is described as the total annual consolidation sales generated by the mobile operations of Safaricom and its subsidiaries. Apparently, the agreement has since been amended to stretch up to the year 2010. In addition to participation fees, Vodafone is to be paid a fee when it procures equipment on behalf of Safaricom. The fee is calculated at 6 per cent of the aggregate gross amount payable by the company to vendors in consideration of the procured products. Vodafone also has a five-year agreement to provide the mobile payment solution known by the name M-Pesa that enables users to complete simple financial transactions by mobile phones. As of September 30, M-Pesa had 635,761 total active customers, 712,000 total registered users and an average 6,774 new customers per day. Under the agreement, the service fee is computed as 32.5 per cent of the annual M-Pesa revenue payable in quarterly instalments in arrears. (Source: The East African) Millicom Ghana Gets Debt Financing to Expand NetworkThe second-largest mobile telephone operator in Ghana, Millicom Ghana, is to receive a finance package of US$140 million. DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft is providing together with other development finance institutions, including French Proparco, a tranche of US$80 million. While DEG acts as coordinator of this tranche, it is financing US$27.5 million of this amount itself. A pool of local banks will provide the remaining US$60 million. Millicom Ghana will invest these funds in developing and strengthening its mobile phone network in Ghana. Millicom Ghana, the operators of Tigo cellular phone network was able to almost double subscribers to 1.2 million last year. Besides expanding the present network, the pending investments are earmarked for installing a fibre optic ring to enable the use of more internet based applications. By financing this project in Ghana, DEG will contribute to upgrading the telecommunications sector, which currently accounts for six per cent of national aggregate value added. As a profitable company Millicom Ghana will continue to pay important taxes and customs duties contributing to the national budget. The sale of mobile phone cards will also generate additional employment opportunities in the whole country. As one of the largest European development finance institutions, DEG has already implemented a whole range of telecommunications projects in Africa. Most recently at the end of June, it financed investments by the mobile telephony operator Celtel International in Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to figures from the Mobile World, Millicom had just over 1.5 million customers at the end of September. The market leader is ScanCom, who ended the month with just under 3.9 million customers. The country population penetration level is around 27%. (Source: Ghanaian Chronicle) In brief:- National incumbent, Togo Telecom is raising 20 billion CFA francs funding (US$40 million) via an international loan backed West African Bank for development and the FAGACE. Subscriptions are open between December 10th and January 11th 2008. - South African-based company Orion Telecom has bought Namibia's private telecommunications company Telkom Ericsson. Since its establishment 36 years ago, the family-owned Telkom Ericsson has been Namibia's top selling reseller of Ericsson and various other products such as telephone management and voice mailbox systems. - In Algeria, the overall turnover generated by the activities of post and information and communication technologies sector reached nearly AD260 billion (US$3.9 billion) late September 2007, against AD29.3 billion (US$437 million) in 2000. - Indian software development outsourcer ZanSar says it will have a black economic empowerment (BEE) charter rating of 60 points by March 2008.
Dialing for Health in AfricaRoughly nine million people live in Rwanda, and nearly 200,000 of them are infected with HIV. Healthcare facilities often lack the appropriate supplies, reliable Internet connections, and have a limited ability to track patients or the spread of HIV across the country. With Phones-for-Health, though, cell phones could soon make it possible to track epidemics in this and other developing countries. The Phones-for-Health partnership - composed of the GSM Association's Development Fund, the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Accenture Development Partnerships, Motorola, MTN, and Voxiva - aims to use cell phones to enter medical data. Dawn Hartley, manager of the GSMA Development Fund, says, "Our role is primarily interfacing with our operator community, bringing operators onboard and supporting implementation from the mobile handset side." Motorola provides the phones, and Voxiva created the software that runs the entire system, which lets clinics communicate patient information, order medicine, and get treatment information. To make such a system work with cell phones, a country needs widespread cell signals. Hartley says that Phones-for-Health looks to work in countries with good coverage. "Good coverage" in developing parts of the world varies substantially from the meaning in other countries, where people get frustrated if a cell signal fades in any spot in their house. Perhaps surprisingly, that's not much of a problem in Rwanda, or even in Africa in general. Right now, about 60% of the population of Africa lives in areas with mobile-phone coverage. By 2010, that figure should rise to 85%. In Rwanda, for example, health officials could need to climb a nearby hill to get a cell-phone signal and upload data. Hartley and her colleagues expect that the system will eventually be used for more than just tracking the spread of HIV/AIDS to other major healthcare issues, such as diphtheria and malaria. Bob Mayes, senior informatics advisor for PEPFAR focuses on an even bigger goal, saying, "We're looking at this as supporting the development of a national health information system in these countries." Taking Phones-for-Health from a plan to a program, though, faces some obstacles. "There can be agreement at higher levels, but still be a struggle getting down to an implementable product," says Mayes. For example, Phones-for-Health officials must negotiate with local health officials and cell-phone carriers in every place that the system hopes to work. "By and large," says Hartley, "reception to the system has been extremely positive." Consequently, the plan is moving ahead. In September 2006, Phones-for-Health tested the system in Rwanda, but has yet to get the system up and running. The first wave of installation will include 100 Motorola handsets and scale up to a total of 500. That process is going on now. Once Rwanda's system works, Phones-for-Health will turn to Nigeria, where "we've begun the ramping up," says Mayes. "The goal, he says, is implementation in 10 countries in the next three years. "We're in the process of talking to about a dozen other countries ... to identify two more countries for 2007 to move to implementation," Phones-for-Health plans to add around six countries in 2008. "We've had a number of expressions of interest from countries already," Mayes says. Vietnam is a country where we do lots of work in PEPFAR, and that country could potentially participate in this type of program." With cell-phone coverage, software, and record keeping, Phones-for-Health might sound like a technology challenge, but it's not. "The technical challenges are quite addressable," says Mayes. "It's not like Field of Dreams where 'If you build it, they will come.' You have to build it and provide the support for people to begin to use it and perceive the value added." He goes on: "It takes a while for the value added to be apparent. You need to accumulate the data." To Mayes, the primary value of Phones-for-Health is "connecting millions of people to a broader world in looking at their health and the health of their children and their families." While never intended to mimic the US phone dialing of 911 that brings medical attention to the caller's door, Phones-for-Health should still benefit patients and governments. Looking ahead, Hartley says, "For patients, we expect to see faster and better interventions in receiving medical treatment, and governments will be able to respond to the size and scale of epidemics." (Source: The Scientist, LLC) New Website Aims to Help African Diaspora Find JobsA newly Africa-wide job search website will benefit Africans in the Diaspora find jobs in their home country or elsewhere in the continent, owners of the website announced on Monday. The announcement was made at a launching of the job search engine set to avail a range of employment opportunities for Ethiopians and the African Diaspora. The website, named www.zebrajobs.com is a result of partnership between the Info Mind Solutions, an Ethiopian owned human resource development company and the US-based Danya International Inc. The joint venture is meant to be a platform for employers and job seekers alike to meet and exchange job related information through the Internet The company hopes the board, which targets Africans in Diaspora would add opportunities for those who want to come home and be part of nation building efforts but do not know how. "Significant number of human capital had left the continent for many reasons. Now the continent is growing and has compatible posts for them (the Diaspora) do not necessarily know from where to begin," Yussuf Reja, Owner and Managing Director of Info Mind Solutions told a joint press conference with a senior representative of the US company after the two parties signed the agreement at the Global Hotel. The www.zebrajobs.com would be more than a job site where it enhances the capacity building of Africa's greatest asset, its human capital by providing career information, internship and education opportunities, as well as information on skills upgrading trainings" he added. Jeff Hoffman, CEO and President of Danya International, said on his part that there are some 10,000 aggregate posts for which they expect over one million job seekers to register. "Finding a good job is one of the most important steps in a person's life. If this investment can help people in Africa to find good jobs, we will have made an important contribution," the CEO said. The officials also noted that job seekers will not be charged for registering on the web site. They will not be charged any fees even after landing on a job, either, they said. But companies who are now posting their vacant positions free of charge would be paying in the future, according to the officials. Most of the income would be from advertisers on the site. Info Mind solutions, the parent company of Talent Search and Ethiojobs.net, the premier human resource solution provider in Ethiopia has so far assisted over 250 national and multinational organizations in recruitment since its establishment 2004. Ethiojobs.com has so far registered over 70,000 candidates of which 3,000- 4,000 recruitments are being made annually via the search engine,according to Yussuf. Founded in 1996, Danya International is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia providing services in the areas of public health communication, research and evaluation, information technology, education and training, program management support, and health product development. Many see the launch of the website would prove instrumental in retaining and pulling skilled man power to Africa, a continent stricken by brain drain, particularly in medical professions. According to a resent estimate, some 20,000 doctors, university lecturers, engineers and other professionals desert the continent annually since 1990. Over 300,000 highly qualified Africans currently are said to be in Diaspora, of whom 30,000 have PhDs. (Source: The Daily Monitor)
People* HP South Africa has appointed Hansjoerg Walz to lead its services division. Walz joins the local operations from HP Western Europe, where he was services delivery operations director. * El Hachemi Belhambi, the CEO of Algerie Telecom mobile arm, Mobilis has resigned from its position. Events- 3RD ANNUAL DIGITAL BROADCASTING SWITCHOVER FORUM 29 Jan – 1 Feb 2008, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Covering National Switchover Frameworks and Planning, the Digital Dividend, the Results of WRC 07, Dual Illumination, the Broadcasting Skills Shortage, African Content Production as well as a host of other critical issues that were raised in the 2007 event. For more information please contact Mr Matthew Dawes through m.dawes@cto.int or visit the website at www.cto.int. - E-TISSAL EXPO 2008 6-8 February 2008, International Congress and Expo Center of the Exchange Office of Casablanca, Morocco. e-Tissal is organized by the media and communication professionals for every professional that creates, uses, delivers or services media and communication in the Mediterranean, African and Middle East Region, the third most active media market in the world. For further information visit http://www.e-tissal.com/ - ICT AFRICA 13-15 February 2008, 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/ - THE AFRICAN BANKING TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 19 -21 February 2008, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya The conference theme is “sharing knowledge and best practices in banking across Africa”. For further information click on www.aitecafrica.com - 2nd ANNUAL CALL CENTRE CONFERENCE 20-21 February 2008, Birchwood Executive Hotel & Conference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa This annual conference twill give you the ideas and insights you need to achieve outstanding service in South Africa’s most challenging work environment. For more info contact Neliswa Duma on +27 11 880 8540 or by email at neliswa@knowres.co.za Jobs and Opportunities* SALES AND ADMIN EXECUTIVE – UK London-based Balancing Act is looking to recruit a Sales and Admin Executive to support the growth of the company. The position is divided into 80% sales and 20% admin work. The sales role involves selling advertising spaces in Balancing Act’s electronic newsletters and its website as well as Balancing Act’s paid for reports. The sales function is 75% business development (leads generation and qualification, sales pitch to potential advertisers and closing deals) and 25% account management. The admin role includes document filing (invoices, expenses, statements), processing report orders, supporting the publication of the e-letters and any other admin tasks. Previous sales and admin experience is a plus. Experience of either telecoms or broadcast and a business qualification helpful. Must have appropriate work status for the United Kingdom. After a trial period, the position is permanent and full-time. Annual Salary: To be negotiated. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* Egypt Telecom and Alcatel: Egypt Alcatel Lucent announced that it has been awarded by Telecom Egypt, the Egyptian sole fixed line operator a contract for the assessment, reengineering, and modernization of its operations and maintenance processes in order to improve its customers satisfaction, its commitment on SLAs, and make optimal use of the existing resources. * East African Alliance of Mobile Operators and Redknee Solutions: East Africa Redknee Solutions has announced that an East African alliance of mobile operators, led by Kenya's Safaricom, has chosen its Mobile Money Services for its international prepaid roaming top-up service. The alliance, consisting of six East African operators including Safaricom, MTN Uganda, Vodacom Tanzania, MTN Rwanda, UCOM (Burandi) and Uganda Telecom, together serve an estimated 13 million subscribers.
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