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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 393 Vodacom set to take over Lap Green’s Rwanda and Uganda operationsReliable sources indicate that Vodacom is close to signing a deal with Libyan-owned Lap Green to take over its recently purchased operations in Rwanda and Uganda. A draft of the agreement clearly indicates that Vodacom would take over a majority stake and have technical control, whilst Lap Green would remain a significant minority shareholder. If the deal comes off, it would make sense of much that so far has not made much sense. Libya’s Lap Green clearly has not lacked for money but has so far only sent in a small number of its own management personnel. As one person in the ISP sector in Uganda observed:”Not much has happened on the practical side and there’s no sign of change yet.” From the Vodacom perspective, it would offer them two new territories after a long period of no new acquisitions. The mobile market in Uganda is clearly the larger prize with an estimated 4.5 million subscribers. Currently, utl is the smallest player after MTN with 1.25 million subscribers and Celtel with 1.2 million subscribers. The Celtel operation, which used to be in poor shape, is now powering ahead and becoming a serious challenger for market leadership. The latest entrant Warid seems to have acquired 20-30,000 subscribers in its two week existence but does not yet seem to have set the market alight. MTN introduced a pre-emptive 14% drop in its tariffs and Warid opened with slightly lower tariffs. Competitors acknowledge that it has good network coverage but that it has no particular local insight and only a narrow product range. Prices still seem set to fall further and there is the makings of a price war when the fifth operator HITS finally enters the market. Optimistically, this might be in May of this year. Meanwhile, Uganda is only the latest country to join the 3G arms race. Both Celtel and MTN are installing 3G, although the latter is only likely to have it in Kampala and around Entebbe Airport. MTN has 65,000 subscribers on a combination of its EDGE upgrade and its Wi-MAX fixed broadband locations in 51 Ugandan towns. Achieved download speeds on both are in the region of 250 kbps. It has found that introducing a 3G network has meant finding new sites to ensure sufficient coverage. As MTN’s CEO Erik van Veene told us:”We are really doing a couple of laps round the track before the fibre cable arrives.” It hopes to be able to offer cheaper local pricing so as to encourage local hosting and content. READER’S COMMENTS:Issue 383: Algeria Telecom becomes first operator to pioneer fibre to the home strategy In your leading article in issue 383 , an error was made about the equipment supplier. Algérie telecom signed on November 3, 2007 a partnership contract with SPEC-COM Canada for the deployment of the FTTH network in Algeria. Currently the only partner Algérie Telecom has for the deployment of the FTTH is SPEC-COM Canada which has installed, to date, 2000 accesses in Oran which will soon be marketed. SPEC-COM will be present also in Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Annaba, Setif and Hassi Méssaoud Sagem never was a partner of Algérie Telecom for the FTTH and never deployed the FTTH in Algeria. Malik Allel Hachelaf
Two other errors: The writer of the comment about OPLC in issue 392 was Ronald Wertlen and Mayotte is not a member of the Indian Island Commission.
Nigerian government nixes telecoms privatisation and will look for new strategic shareholderThe government of Nigeria has moved to annul the sale of Nitel, the country's incumbent and formerly state-owned telco to a consortium of private buyers headed by the country's ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo. It is now looking for a new strategic shareholder who will be give a majority stake in the company taken from both Transcorp and the Government. The repudiation and reversal of the deal was ordered by Obasanjo's successor, the current president Umara Yar'Adua. A government spokesman said the purchase had been cancelled because the new owners had failed to fulfil its pledge to improve the management and running of the national operator. Obasanjo effectively took control of the carrier in 2006 Transcorp was formed. Transcorp comprises an agglomeration of the former president's business associates and cronies and, whilst Obasanjo was still in power in Nigeria, the group bought a swathe of state-owned assets including the incumbent telecoms carrier and an oil refinery. Transcorp’s then financial backer Etisalat fell out of the deal before it was completed and Transcorp efforts to raise the required investment capital in London and Lagos failed miserably. For many weeks Nigeria was in the embarrassing position of having no new operational capacity on SAT3 because it was unable to clear Nitel’s unpaid bills with the consortium. Both Celtel and MTN also gave a massive vote of ‘no confidence’ in the company by signalling hat they would make major investments in national fibre infrastructure. Last week, the government announced that the search is on to find new controlling stakeholders for both businesses. The Information Minister, John Odey, says the administration has already started looking for new investors with "sufficient resources to improve Nitel". He added that the government has "for some time had concerns about the running of Nitel and Mtel by Transcorp" and pointed out that whilst the consortium had been given plenty of chances and considerable legal leeway to improve both Nitel and Mtel both businesses had declined under the group's tutelage. For its part, Transcorp responded by claiming that the government had pulled the rug out from under it just as the consortium was about to perform a miraculous turn-around in Nitel's fortunes. On the other hand Transcorp may initiate legal action against the government over the reversal. Transcorp said later in a statement that since the Federal Government placed premium on due process and rule of law, it too intended to follow that path. The organisation's statement was signed by its Vice-President, Communications, Adedayo Ojo. Later last week, shares in Transcorp were suspended by the Nigerian Stock Exchange at NGN4.42 (USD0.04) each. They may still be traded, but the price will not change. Transcorp is thought to have around 250,000 mainly Nigerian investors. (Source: TelecomTV and Leadership) Vodacom Tanzania takes TCRA to the Fair Competition Tribunal over interconnection ratesVodacom Tanzania has taken the regulator to the Fair Competition Tribunal over its introduction of a new interconnection framework in January 2008. The framework would have lowered the level of income from interconnection enjoyed by its four mobile operators. Consumers will now have to continue an anxious wait to see the cost-saving benefits of a new regime, since key operators face profitability declines with the new rates. This is the second time TCRA has tried to decrease interconnection rates. The communications regulator suggested a decrease of interconnection rates to a maximum of 7.6 US cents per minute from the current rate of more than 8 cents per minute. The new rates are set at 7.65 cents for two years, from January 2008 to December 2009, and then coming down to 7.32 cents for two years, and a further fall to 7.16 cents beginning January 2012. Despite a large and very expensive consultant’s report from Analysys (UK) Limited (which also did the Kenyan interconnection study), Vodacom Tanzania is maintaining that the TCRA alteration of interconnection charges was reached without sufficient evidence of its justification and that the operators were not themselves allowed to be heard during the inquiry. A determination panel in December found that the larger mobile operators like Vodacom and Celtel service providers were against the new price regime, whilst smaller companies like Benson Informatics, MIC (T) Ltd, Sixtelecoms Ltd, Zantel and TTCL were in favour of the proposed rates. Prof. John Nkoma, the TCRA director general said that the move targets making mobile telephone services more easily accessible to many people, particularly those living in rural areas. "The decrease in interconnection rates will automatically benefit the people, not only in urban centres, but also those who live in rural areas, who will get access to mobile telephone services more easily," he said. (Source: The Citizen) Liberia’s former incumbent LTC Signs MoUs A-Link and ZTEAs part of the slow-moving attempts to revive itself, Liberia’s incumbent LTC signed agreements with Chinese equipment manufacturer ZTE and Ivorian international wholesale carrier A-Link. The agreement has taken 20 months to negotiate. ZTE is expected now to provide network that will extend LTC’s operation beyond its current single switch in the down town of the capital Monrovia. A-Link will allow it to connect to the outside world, by providing interconnections with international operators. If the pattern in the sub-region is followed, the new regulator LTA can expect to come under pressure from the Government and the company to give it back its former monopoly over the international gateway. The justification will be that it can then generate much needed cash-flow to increase the value of the company for privatisation. (Source: The News) Vodacom Claims 40 Per Cent of Mobile Phone Market in MozambiqueVodacom-Mozambique (VM), the second cell phone operator in the country, lastTuesday claimed that it has increased its share of the mobile phone market to 40 per cent. Speaking at a lunch in Maputo with journalists, itschairman Hermenegildo Gamito said that by January of this year it had reached about 1.5 million subscribers - which is well over 40 per cent of the estimated 3.3 million cell phone users in the country. Vodacom's last published figures were the interim results for the six month period ending on 30 September 2007, and these showed a client base of slightly less than 1.1 million, which at the time was estimated to be 38 per cent of the markets. If Gamito's figures are accurate, the company has added an extra 400,000 clients in four months - a growth in the client base of 36 per cent. Gamito added that 3.3 million is only 16 per cent of the Mozambican population "from which we may readily conclude that the penetration of mobile telephony in Mozambique is still regarded as rather weak". (Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique)
In brief:- The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Côte d’Ivoire has launched an audit of Côte d’Ivoire Telecom activities over the last ten years. In 1996, France Telecom acquired a 49% stake of the operator’s capital. The launch of the investigation follows plans by CIT to put in place a single management structure at the top of CIT and Orange. - South Africa's fixed line incumbent Telkom has applied for spectrum in the 1800MHz band from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), reports ITWeb. Telkom, a 50% shareholder in Vodacom, the country’s leading cellco by subscribers, is potentially looking to become the fourth mobile operator, competing with Vodacom, MTN and Cell C. This also strengthens the view that Vodafone or another company will buy its stake in Vodacom. - In Zimbabwe, Netone subscribers using pre-paid services have since last week gone without airtime credits, as the recharge system is down. - Uganda’s parliament is probing the hasty erection of transmission masts by Warid Telecom, a new mobile telecommunications company that recently broke into Uganda's tightly controlled telecom industry. - A new research study by Jenny Aker, an independent PhD candidate at the University of California-Berkeley has looked at the impact of mobile phones on the prices of farm produce in the African country of Niger - which faced serious food shortages in 2005. In theory, the increasing use of mobile phones should have improved distribution efficiency and hence lower the variations in prices around the country. The study set out to see if that was the case. The full report (61 pages, pdf file) can be downloaded from the Center for Global Development website (http://www.cgdev.org/doc/events/2.12.08/Aker_Job_Market_Paper_15jan08_2.pdf) Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- The technical hitch on the Safaricom network has put the money transfer M-PESA service on hold. A short text message explanation from Safaricom to the dealers advised them not to carry out transaction until they (Dealers) are notified. - Orange Botswana launched its BlackBerry wireless solution last week which will enable customers to access email, browse the web, make phone calls, send and receive text and picture messages, as well as access thousands of applications. - Celtel Kenya launched a virtual airtime top up service. Dubbed Jaza Jaza, it will allow Celtel customers to buy virtual airtime vouchers with denominations from as low as Sh20, up to Sh10,000. - The GSA has published a new survey on 3G applications and services. The document is available for download at http://www.gsacom.com
TEAMS looks set to confirm financing and start operations in June 2009Although the wrangling is not yet over, the Kenyan Government’s international fibre project looks set to get its financing and is promising a May or June 2009 start date, more or less identical to its rival Seacom (see story below). Despite the arguments over where the money will come from, it looks as if it will be able to come up with the financial guarantee asked for by the main contractor Alcatel Lucent. The project costs are expected to be US$130 million for a system with an initial capacity of 120 Gbps although this can, with additional annual payments, be upgraded to 1.28 Tbps. Currently shareholding is split between three categories: anchor shareholders, other larger shareholders and the smaller shareholders. The anchor shareholders are the Government of Kenya (20%) and Safaricom (30%). Given that the Kenyan Government still owns a majority in the latter, it is effectively the majority shareholder. The other larger shareholders had to pass a three part test: they needed to be currently licensed operators, have operations in Kenya and put forward expressions of interest in shareholdings of no less than 10%. The remaining smaller shareholders will split the remaining capacity. The larger shareholders, each getting 10%, are: Econet (who are under threat of having their licence removed if they do not meet a deadline later this year to start operations); Sameer Group-owned “carriers’ carrier” KDN; France-telecom owned former incumbent Telkom Kenya; and ISP Wananchi. Each will have to come up with their share of the deposit in early March. Other smaller investors, each offered 1.25% were Kenyan owned but South African based investment company Powertel, Gilat, Access Kenya, Vtel and Jamii. Powertel and Vtel are believed to have pulled out although the former is still pursuing discussions. There is some continuing discussion as to whether Safaricom should give up a further 10% of its allocation to accommodate a shareholder anxious to have a much larger stake in the business. A five person Board will be set up to run the company probably based on representation from two rather than three sets of shareholders, the Kenyan Government and Safaricom and the others. Etisalat is likely to be appointed to manage and run the cable. A local row blew up over the Kenyan Government’s method of financing its share of the deposit via the regulator CCK. Not surprisingly, several of its Board members asked why it was the regulator that was acting as the finance vehicle for an international cable project. Nevertheless, Board agreement was reached to provide the 12% down-payment of US$9 million to Alcatel Lucent through CitiBank and the Government has increased CCK’s budget to make the transaction possible. (Source: The East African) Seacom promises international bandwidth at 'fraction of today's cost'The price of international bandwidth will plummet 80% when the Seacom undersea cable goes live on June 17 2009, more or less the same date as the TEAMS cable in Kenya. Construction has already started and Seacom president Brian Herlihy said the project was on track for a "dead-certain delivery date". Its bandwidth will cost as little as R267 a month per 1MB, compared to between R3,500 and R11,000 to use Telkom's bandwidth on the existing Sat-3 cable, or a punishing R231,000 for satellite connectivity. "It's going to flood international bandwidth into the markets and drop the international component of prices dramatically," Herlihy said. Herlihy refused to be drawn into "mud-slinging" about the likelihood of a plan materialising for African governments to roll out rival cables heading east and west. That project, the Nepad Broadband Infrastructure Network, was dreamed up when SA's government scrapped plans to support yet another cable, the US$235m Eassy project. Herlihy diplomatically said his consortium was "keeping dialogue open" with the government. It agreed that more pan-African cables were needed and might get involved if they made economic sense. (Source: Business Day) South Africa May Follow UK Bill on DownloadsSouth Africa may follow the UK government's intention to pass a law curbing illegal content downloads by requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to crack down on users' illegal activities, local industry leaders say. The UK hopes to deter users from downloading copyright content illegally, saving related businesses an estimated £1bn annual loss to illegal file-sharing and related practices. If the law is passed it would require British ISP s to boot off their networks those who do not comply with international copyright laws. They would be required to track their users' activities and suspend their contracts after three warnings. UK newspaper the Guardian reported last week that major UK ISP s had agreed to assist the government if it was required, and France may be looking at a similar initiative, according to a BBC news interview. The BBC reported that at certain times 95% of online traffic was taken up by users illegally sharing files. Nathier Kasu, head of products at MWEB, SA's largest ISP, said the law was a bit like "asking Toyota not to manufacture a car that could be hijacked", but that if it was passed in the UK, it could well be passed in SA . "Laws like that in the UK will probably become a reality here too. At some point we will have to become aligned with international laws. But (SA ) is still very much in the developing-world infrastructure phase, compared to the UK, which is more developed (in terms of its telecoms industry)." Kasu said that while ISP s played a role in educating their users against illegal file-sharing and downloads, there could be other tricky issues to deal with, such as privacy. "Illegal downloading is the bane of anyone trying to make a living through the sale of copyright content and ISP s are responsible for educating users about this. But I think there is an element to the UK law that would be an invasion of privacy." MWEB Home GM Natalie Thayer said MWEB believed in the privacy of its 350,000 subscribers and regarded this as a priority. "MWEB has in the past and will continue to work within the framework of government's regulation on information. If the government follows the example of the UK, we would suggest a consultative approach with us and other ISP s," Thayer said. Kasu said the government could already give ISP s the necessary permission to monitor certain users "on behalf of the government" if they were suspected of terrorism activities. However, there were complications in the local environment. He said in SA the broadband infrastructure was managed by Telkom through its South African Internet Exchange System (SAIX). "As ISP s we have the permission to buy and repackage access to SAIX on behalf of our users, but we do not have direct access and would not be able to monitor users without Telkom's help." (Source: Business Day) In brief:- Malawian President Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika has signed the protocol on policy and regulatory framework for the NEPAD Broadband Infrastructure Network, meaning the protocol came into force immediately, RNA reports. The other only six countries that had already ratified the protocol are: Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. However, cynics are observing that as this is a piece of legislation for a project that does not exist, it is largely irrelevant. - The project for the realization of an Algiers-Abuja optical fibre link was on the agenda of a meeting held Monday in Algiers between Postal Services and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Minister Boudjemaa and his counterparts from Nigeria, Ibrahim Dasuki, and from Niger Abdelkarim Soumaila. The technical committee’s representatives, including delegations from 'Algeria, Nigeria and Niger for the realization of Algiers-Abuja optical fibre over 4,500 km, also attended the meeting, indicated the Post and ICT Ministry’s statement. - A co-operation agreement between Tunisia and Mali on ICTs has been signed last week. The agreement aims to boost co-operation and partnership within the framework of an openness approach in which the public and private sectors' establishments operating in this field take part. - South Africa’s state-owned broadcasting network owner and telco Sentech has said it plans to phase out its MyWireless and Biznet wireless internet services over the medium term as it moves towards WiMAX technology. - Cameroon is looking to develop an Internet Exchange Point following a five-day training workshop for internet service providers (ISPs) and economic actors from the Central and West African sub-regions. - Nigerian ISP Interweb Satcom Limited has partnered with Alvarion to introduce new converged solutions that combines Wi-Fi functionality with both WiMAX and pre-WiMAX products. Interweb maintains 2,500 VSAT sites providing data services for leading organizations, such as health care providers, national lottery and sport betting agencies, oil and gas companies, universities and education service providers, financial and insurance institutions, military and security service, mining and energy conglomerate - The Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development of Namibia expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the Decentralization Network Expansion Project. The project, which will allow all the 13 regional councils in the country access to the Internet service, is funded by the French Support Programme for N$3 million. It was initiated in October 2006 with the aim to provide all staff members of the regional councils 24-hour access to Internet and email. - Kenya Data Networks has embarked on a major countrywide roll out of its internet connectivity linking both the Kenya Red Cross Society offices with centers for the internally displaced persons at a total cost of more than Ksh 3million. Of that Ksh 2million which is one-off cost, will cover the installation and equipment costs while the rest Ksh 1.3million will be used to buy bandwidth and to maintain the link and the equipment installed. - MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. announced that SkyVision Global Networks LLC a global provider of Internet services over satellite and terrestrial fibre optic systems, has signed an agreement for C-Band capacity on the AFRICASAT-1. Under the agreement, SkyVision will lease C-band space segment capacity on the Africasat-1 satellite starting as from 1 April 2008. - Diamond Marketing Consultants (DMC) recently launched its website, www.dmc.com.na, giving information about the work of the Government diamond valuators.
Zimbabwe’s Governement to Promote Solar Energy for ComputersIn the absence of a reliable supply of other energy sources, the Zimbawean Government has launched a programme to promote the use of solar energy as an alternative source of energy for computers in schools around the country, in conjunction with Mukonitronics Private Limited. The programme to be spread to all the country's provinces is also being implemented with the Zimbabwe Academic Research Network. Officially launching the programme at Dzivaresekwa 2 High School yesterday, the provincial education director for Harare, Tomax Doba said the launch was in line with the ministry's efforts to make sure that all graduates from the education system were computer literate. "We are moving in to promote the use of solar power as an alternative to hydro electricity supply that has been erratic in the country. The ministry feels there should be no excuse for schools not to take lessons in computers because of power outages when we can harness solar energy”. Doba said his ministry had started a programme to train more computer teachers so as to curb the current shortages that has hit the country. "Government has also made it a policy that all graduates leaving teachers' colleges are computer literate. Now that the teachers are coming I want to appeal to school development authorities, parents and school heads to secure more computers so that all pupils have a chance to interact with the machines," he said. (Source: The Herald) The Abuja Technology Village Will Become a RealityThe Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, has stated that one of the main challenges of his administration is to ensure that the Abuja Technology Village becomes a reality. According to a statement from the office of the Media Assistant to the FCT Minister, Josephine Lohor, the Minister who disclosed this during an on-the spot assessment tour of the site located along the Airport road in Abuja, also promised that the project that has been on the drawing board for sometime will indeed take off as it would put Abuja and Nigeria on the path of a revolution in the world of technology. Speaking immediately after the tour, Modibbo declared " I am highly excited because this is a project that has been on the drawing board and when we came in we accelerated it. The Abuja Technology Village is a project we are putting high premium on, under leadership of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. We want to see that we accomplish so that it brings prosperity to our people. Right now, Government is developing basic infrastructure. If we continue to put in more energy for a couple of years, this project would indeed become a reality." Speaking further on the financial aspect of the project, the FCT Minister stated that "we are getting the private sector involved. We released funds to the infrastructure contractors, Gilmor Engineering, on December 4, 2007 and before the end of 2008, hopefully we will get additional money for them independent from what is in the budget. I think by the time the work commences and you see the major boulevards, it would be a holistic community. This would be a town within a city because it would encompass necessary amenity within a town." The Managing Director of the Abuja Technology village, Hauwa Yabani, on her part, assured that with the commitment shown by the FCT Minister, the project will definitely not end up as a white elephant project. "We anticipate 4-year period for the development of infrastructure on the site and in terms of real estate development and the rest, we rely on the ability to attract investment. At the moment, we will provide infrastructure and hope it would go along with other developments. (Source: Daily Trust) Mobile tops Ubuntu goals for Intrepid IbexUbuntu training Canonical chief executive, Mark Shuttleworth, announced plans for the October release of Ubuntu Linux. The release, due out in October this year, is to be called Intrepid Ibex and will focus heavily on mobile computing. In his email Shuttleworth writes: “A particular focus for us will be pervasive internet access, the ability to tap into bandwidth whenever and wherever you happen to be. No longer will you need to be a tethered, domesticated animal - you’ll be able to roam (and goats do roam!) the wild lands and access the web through a variety of wireless technologies. We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way” . Intrepid Ibex will be the next release of Ubuntu after Hardy Heron (08.04) due out in April this year. Ubuntu releases new versions every six months. Ubuntu 8.10, or Intrepid Ibex, will be the ninth releas of Ubuntu since 4.10 released in October 2004. On the upcoming Hardy Heron, Shuttleworth writes: “Hardy is our best development cycle yet, delivering on our promise of reliability and stability for the Heron. We must stay focused on that goal. To the extent that you have a brilliant idea for the future, you now have a peg to hang it on - the Intrepid Ibex. When the Hardy Heron has taken flight we will engage fully with the Ibex. Give it horns!” (Source: Tectonic) In brief:- South African technology company Dimension Data hopes to capitalise on the twin pressures of climate change and electricity shortages by advising companies on the more energy efficient use of technology. - SaveMyContacts, the mobile phone book back up provider is set to sponsor 1,000 Nigerian graduates through a comprehensive ICT programme that will lead to the, internationally recognized ICDL certification, over the next 10 years. - SONANGOL willinstall an information technology system linked to the Internet in Andulo district, 130 kilometres to the north of Kuito city, central Bié province. - Following complaints trailing delays associated with public offers and the issue of share transfer in the capital market, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has inaugurated a committee that will assist registrars in upgrading their Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. - The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has teamed up with Stanbic Bank, Hi tech Telecom and Tropix Technology to provide personal computers to civil servants in Uganda. - The 21 February is International Mother Tongue Day. Translate.org.za are celebrating with its new 'Dictory' initiative. http://www.translate.org.za/press-releases/ - The WNDW has announced the release of Wireless Networking in the Developing World, Second Edition. This is the first major update to the WNDW book since its initial release in 2006. This revised and expanded 425 pages book includes over 170 pages of new material, including new chapters on solar power and economic planning, several new case studies, and much more. The Wireless Networking in the Developing World book is just one part of the WNDW project. You can find several translations of the book (including Spanish, French, Italian, and soon Arabic and Portuguese), community forums, training workshops, and additional material on our newly redesigned website, http://wndw.net/.
Government Suspends Sale of Shares in Ghana TelecomThe Ghanaian Government seems cursed when it comes to the sale of its telecoms assets. The Head of Corporate Communication and Customer Care of Ghana Telecom, Major Albert B. Don-Chebe, has revealed that the government of Ghana has suspended the off-loading of 66% of its shares, in the state-owned Ghana Telecom (GT), to strategic investors owing to low bidding. Speaking in Accra on Friday, Don-Chebe said France Telecom offered US$520 million, but was rejected because the Government believed the assets of Ghana Telecom was worth much more than that. Don-Chebe said Spanish and Portuguese telecommunications companies also put in bids, but they were all considered below the expectations of the government. He, however, said the government was ready to re-open the bid to any bidder, who would satisfy its minimum expectations. Pitching Ghana Telecom’s case, Don-Chebe said it had over 1.4 million mobile phone subscribers, indicating that the company had more fixed lines than any other telecommunication company in Ghana. Meanwhile, SingTel, Southeast Asia's largest phone company, has dropped its bid for GT. "We decided not to proceed, due to issues arising from the process," Lim Chuan Poh, CEO of SingTel's international operations, was quoted by the Reuters report as saying. "Even if we had proceeded, they did not complete the process, so we did not waste our time... our decision not to proceed was the right one." SingTel posted a 9.6 % rise in quarterly underlying profits to S$931 million last week, as robust Asian mobile growth offset a margin squeeze at its Australian Unit Optus, the Reuters report further said. Vodacom was touted as another possible bidder (undoubtedly by “government sources”) but it too has already dropped out of the race. Perhaps the Ghana Government should face the harsh reality that something is only worth what buyers are willing to pay. (Source: Ghanaian Chronicle) AccessKenya Group Breaks K Shs 1 billion revenue target one year early; profit rises over 300% to K Shs 150 millionAccessKenya Group, Kenya’s only publicly listed ICT company, last week announced its results for the year ending December, 2007, breaking the K Shs 1 billion barrier one year early and reporting a significant increase in profit after tax from K Shs 47 million in 2006 to K Shs 150 million in 2007. The Group closed the year with 1,950 corporate broadband customers and Earnings per share for 2007 stand at 0.97. In addition to the strong results, the Group has made significant progress on all its key IPO pledges. “We are delighted to announce that revenues for the year ending December 2007 have broken the barrier of one billion shillings a year early – an increase of nearly 75% from our 2006 revenues of K Shs 578 million. Profit after tax is exactly in line with our IPO projections of K Shs 150 million – an increase of over 300% from the 2006 profit after tax of K Shs 47 million. We have increased our broadband corporate customers from 1,250 to 1,950 during the course of the year and at the same time further increased the value for money of our offering and opened up an even bigger difference with our competition through our quadruple downlink “Broadband Max 2” solution.” commented Jonathan Somen, Group Managing Director. Somen continued, “We are also delighted to announce the payment of our first post IPO dividend as pledged in our prospectus of 40% of our profit after tax or K Shs 0.30 per share. After payment of the dividend, we will still have approximately K Shs 600 million in cash and unutilised bank facilities to fund our expansion strategy and in particular the launches of our key new services - Outsource IT, our new managed IT service for corporate customers, and our new residential broadband service, Access @ Home.” The AccessKenya Group has made significant progress with respect to its main IPO pledges, in particular • To aggressively increase market share in the core corporate internet sector, where the Group closed the year with 1,950 leased lines – ahead of the IPO projections of 1,720 – and with an estimated market share of about 40% • To enter the IT services market with the acquisition of Openview Business Systems in 2007 and the forthcoming launch of Outsource IT • To launch a residential broadband service in 2008 for which technology and marketing plans are complete. This will be a tremendous opportunity for the Group to extend their high levels of broadband service and speed from corporate to residential customers. South African Sentech Receives R500m BoostSouth Africa is the only country on the continent where the Government has made investments in three entirely separate companies in the telecoms sector: Infraco, Sentech and Telkom. State-owned signal carrier Sentech has received a Valentine's Day windfall of R500m to begin funding a broadband wireless network. The capital boost will help it carry out orders from the communications department to build a high-speed network that will take voice and data services to areas that are not commercially appealing to the private sector. Sentech has been cold-shouldered by the treasury for years, leaving it unable to make any progress. The cash was finally promised in September 2007. In a note circulated to staff on Monday, Sentech said R500m was transferred into its account on February 14 as a contribution to roll out a national broadband wireless infrastructure. "The board is still in discussions with the minister (Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri) and the communications department to agree on the business model that Sentech will implement ," Sentech executives said . Money would remain a sticking point, however, since chief financial officer Siddique Cassim previously estimated that more than R3bn was needed to create an effective infrastructure. A source close to the company said last week that the signal carrier might also lack the skills to execute the plan, after more than 100 resignations and an acrimonious restructuring process destroyed much of its talent last year. The executive of technology who quit was not replaced, and restructuring eliminated the executive of project management and quality assurance, who had co-ordinated new roll-out plans. The main purpose of the new network is to take telephony and internet services to hospitals, schools and rural communities. The plans have been watered down since Matsepe-Casaburri originally instructed Sentech to take high-speed internet access to businesses and consumers. Now it will focus on community services rather than commercial services. It is unclear if Sentech will receive more money in today's budget. (Source: Business Day) Safaricom Sale Date Awaits New Privatisation Chief in KenyaThe release of a timetable for the sale of a part of Safaricom is awaiting the appointment of a new chair to the privatisation commission, Treasury officials said. Plans to sell part of the government's shareholding in the mobile telephone company began late last year but have remained in limbo since the disputed outcome of the December 27 elections that threw Kenya into its worst political crisis since Independence. There has been uncertainty over the management of the privatisation process which began before the commission was established amid protest from the opposition party Orange Democratic Movement. The commission assumed the mandate of managing privatisation of state enterprises on January 2 - a date determined by the Minister for Finance through a gazette notice. Its operations have, however, been hamstrung by the lack of a chairperson to oversee its operations. Seven members of the commission - including its chairperson were picked last November last after protracted battle in and outside the courts. The process, however, suffered a major setback when the chairman designate John Bunyasi resigned to contest the Nambale parliamentary seat on a Narc ticket. He lost. Sources say he has since been appointed to the board of KenGen. The Business Daily has learnt that the commission is due to meet officials from Treasury's privatisation unit to draw a timetable for the Safaricom Initial Public Offering. (Source: Business Daily) In brief:- South Africa’s Blue Label Telecoms announced promising results since the company got listed at the stock exchange. Blue Label activities are based on electronic transactions and began with the sale of cellphone airtime through150,000 terminals. It is now using that distribution base to expand into prepaid electricity, water and insurance policies, the sale of bus and train tickets, and bill payments. Blue Label is 12% owned by Microsoft, which has also bought 38.85% of Oxigen Services India, the company that gave Blue Label its entry point into India. Blue Label has R1,7bn in cash for future acquisitions. - Mobile phone service provider, Safaricom, is set to introduce its electronic money transfer service, M-Pesa, between Kenya and UK, the company's chief executive has said. “A number of options are being considered for the service, including use of a banking channel or setting up an M-Pesa service in UK," Michael Joseph said.
Google Sees Cellphone As Ticket Into AfricaGoogle, the world's most popular search engine, had to tailor its offerings to work better on cellphones if it was to make real headway in Africa, the group said last week. In a continent with a dearth of computers, the cellphone is the only way most people can get online. And as only 22% of cellphone users have computers, even in relatively wealthy SA, Google's local branch is making mobile search technologies its priority. Google set up an office in SA last year, poaching Stafford Masie from networking company Novell as its country manager. Yesterday it held its first local media briefing, and was big on promises if thin on figures. Masie would not say how many people it employed in SA, although "a lot" were South Africans who had worked abroad for Google and had come home to launch the local branch. Most of the staff are sales people out to convince advertisers to switch some of their adspend from TV and radio to online. "We are seeing an increase in advertisers in SA since we announced our presence here. We are building capacity because there's a need for direct interaction," Masie said. "Our goal is to hire as many really brilliant people as we can," said Google's vice-president of engineering, Douglas Merrill. Google was launched in the 1990s with the ambitious aim of organising all the information in the world and making it universally accessible. Considering that 80% of information is still not online, it has a long way to go. But the information already online had to be made available to everybody, and in Africa that meant via cellphones, Merrill said."The majority of people coming online will be doing it through mobile. We have to find better ways to conduct a search over a mobile phone." That could involve entering key search words by SMS or speaking into the phone to tell the search engine what you are looking for. Users should also be able to consult maps on their phones and have the directions sent to them via SMS. "We have a lot of work still to do on mobiles," Merrill said. The race to migrate traditional internet services to the far more densely populated cellphone market has already seen rival player Yahoo declare that more people would soon use its services via cellphones than through computers. So far, 600-million people have downloaded Yahoo's oneSearch software so they can search for internet content via their cellphones. (Source: Business Day) Mother Tongue Interference On the InternetIn a continent where almost all languages are absent in cyber space, 23-year-old Kiganira Deogracious Kijambu has a dream that one day he will access the Internet in Lusoga, his mother tongue. So far, he has managed to build his e-commerce agricultural business from a humble Ush200,000 ($117) in 2003 to Ush600,000 ($352) today despite all the obstacles facing rural communication. He is optimistic that if all his clients, agents and suppliers were able to communicate in Lusoga, a language used in his home region in Mayuge District about 100 kilometres east of Kampala, his business would boom. Mayuge is one of the seven districts in Busoga region with a population of close to 400,000 people. Lusoga is spoken by the Basoga, a Bantu ethnic group that occupies the region between Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. They grow crops such as cotton, coffee, bananas, potatoes and cassava, fruits and vegetables. "My wish is to access the Internet in Lusoga," said Kijambu, a trained accountant. He uses the Batud ICT Training Centre in Mayuge to access the Internet for his e-commerce trade. "If we had the Internet in Lusoga, it would link many people in my area since very few of us understand English," Kijambu said. "Although some people have acquired computer skills, language is still a problem." Kijambu acknowledges that although the Internet has brought about prosperity for some enterprises, further growth is being hindered by the dominance of English. "My business is only limited to those few who understand and use English. I would have had more customers if the Internet was in Lusoga," he said. Kijambu buys maize and coffee in his home area, searches for the current prices on the Internet and then posts the quantity of the products ordered by his clients who are mostly schools. The people of Uganda belong to three distinct ethnic groups (Nilo-Hamites, Nilotics and Bantu) that can be broken into more than 50 ethnic nationalities, each identified by its own vernacular language. The manager of Batud ICT Training Centre, Paul Bamwesige, said lack of local African languages on the Internet is a big challenge. "We download information and translate it for our users. Because these people do not speak English, we face the problem of translating jargons, concepts and explanations hence creating a communication gap," he said. The Batud ICT project is the only one of its kind in Uganda. It downloads information and translates it for its users upon request into Lusoga. Like all other facilities in the country, it faces the challenge of unreliable power supply. It also has to contend with high Internet tariffs and an unreliable service by the providers. "If we had the Internet in local languages, there would be effective application of ICTs in the communities because mother tongue remains paramount to our everyday life, thus supplementing government social-economic programmes," Bamwesige said. (Source: The East African)
People* Former Chief Executive Officer of MTS First, Danmole Oyesiku, has been employed as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Limited (EMTS) popularly known in Nigeria as 'Mubadala'. * Jean-Pierre Kabanda is joining SES New Skies' newly created Market Development team as the new Vice President in charge of Africa Development. * The Ethipoian Federal Ethics and Anticorruption Commission (FEACC) requested the Federal High Court to freeze properties belonging to former CEO of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), Tesfaye Birru, and 26 management members that were under his supervision. “The executives have exposed the Corporation to a loss of 1.54 billion Br,” reads the request tabled on January 2. “Therefore, residences, automobiles and bank accounts with the name of the accused should be frozen.” Tesfaye, who earlier was a lecturer at Addis Abeba University (AAU), was appointed as the Corporation’s CEO in 2003. Including the agreement he signed with the Chinese ZTE for the installation of Ethiopian’s first prepaid network, he had reportedly approved other huge procurements and signed agreements on behalf of ETC. Events* CAPACITY MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA 2008 25th – 26th February 2008, Dubai Now in its 3rd successful year Capacity Middle East & North Africa 2008 provides the leading high-level, important meeting point for executives from international telecommunications companies and companies in the GCC and North Africa to discuss strategic domestic and international wholesale telecommunications market opportunities. Capacity Middle East & North Africa 2008 provides attendees with the optimum networking forum to forge business partnerships and execute business deals. Offering high-level content in the form of interactive panel discussions and presentations, this event is not to be missed! To register please contact Clare Heath on Tel: +44 208 481 3460 or Email: clare.heath@capacitymedia.com or for more information please visit www.capacitymedia.com/conferences-events.asp * TECHNOLOGY TIMES OUTLOUK 2008 27th February 2008, MUSON Centre, Onikan Lagos. Nigeria Technology Times Outlook 2008 is a Business Summit that will attract technology sector decision makers, thought leaders and analysts to appraise developments in various segments of the Nigerian ICT industry that will shape and define the Nigerian economy in 2008 and beyond. For further information visit http://www.technologytimesng.com/page/about-the-conference * THE AFRICAN BANKING TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE – “New dates” 28th March – 4th April 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 * MED-IT@ALGER 2008 22- 23 April 2008, Algier, Algeria The fifth edition of this B2B exhibition will provide plenty of opportunities to develop contacts and relationship with local companies in the IT and Telecoms sectors. The exhibition main topics are: new mobile services, call centre solutions and equipment, VoIP, IT security, banking software, CRM, ERP and storage solutions. For further information please http://www.medit.eu.org/2008/algerie/presentation.htm * AFRICA MOBILE MARKETING FORUM 23-24th April 2008, Lagos, Nigeria Up until recently the only mechanism for delivering advertising messages to mobile devices was via SMS and WAP Push. However, now that 3G phones, with their multimedia capabilities, are reaching critical mass, the opportunities for advertising and brand extension, primarily via mobile video, are greatly increased. For further information visit http://www.mobilemarketingafrica.com/ * ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008 12 - 15 May, Cairo, Egypt, Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Centre (CICC) Comprising a high-calibre Exhibition, a Forum and a whole lot more, ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008 will provide a major networking platform for Africa's top ICT names to come together to focus on the core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region. For further information visit http://www.itu.int/AFRICA2008/?050707 * TELECOMS FRAUD AFRICA 2008 26-29 May 2008, Cape Town, South Africa IIR's Telecoms Fraud Africa conference 2008 brings you case studies, networking, advice and analysis from expects in detecting and managing telecoms fraud. With special attention to roaming frauds and internal frauds, operational issues and the impact of new technologies. For more information please visit, http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=11306 * E-LEARNING AFRICA 29-30 May 2008, Accra, Ghana eLearning Africa 2008 is a conference organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif that focuses on ICT for development, education and training in Africa. The event establishes and links a Pan-African network of decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation. For further visit www.eLearning-Africa.com * SEMINAR ON E-GOVERNMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT: STRATEGIES AND POLICIES 13-27 June 2008, Washington DC, USA This intensive face-to-face seminar includes lectures, panel discussions, and interactive workshops presented by leading e-Government experts from USAID, USTTI Board member corporations, private sector firms, universities, NGOs, and multinational organizations. For additional information about the content of the course, how to apply, as well as funding, visit the USTTI website at http://ustti.org * UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL IMPAC August 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa he fourth annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” conference and exhibition will be held in August 2008 in Johannesburg. This year’s event will be co-hosted with MobileActive.org and branded as “MobileActive08”. For further information visit www.sangonet.org.za Jobs and Opportunities* SOLUTION MANAGER VAS – CONGO DRC The company is looking for a skilled Solution manager with experience in VAS. Responsibilities include: discuss end-to end solution with customer; support scoping of new solutions; interface to senior technical manager at the company. For further information contact us. Contracts* Etisalat Misr and Ericsson - Egypt Swedish vendor Ericsson has signed a contract with Egyptian cellco Etisalat Misr to expand its GSM/W-CDMA/HSPA network, bringing Misr’s total investments with the vendor to nearly USD300 million since it won Egypt's third mobile concession in July 2006. Under the latest deal, Ericsson will supply 2G and 3G radio equipment, microwave transmission links and core software, as well as handling site acquisition, civil works, installation, testing and integration. Etisalat Misr launched services in May 2007. * GPTC and Prysmian Cables & Systems - Libya Libya’s General Post and Telecommunications Company (GPTC) has awarded a EUR35 million (USD51 million) contract to Prysmian Cables & Systems of Italy for the supply of a wide range of telecoms cables. The underground and aerial infrastructure will be used as part of GPTC’s national network expansion. Under an earlier contract, Prysmian delivered more than 6,000km of cables to Libya’s monopoly wireline operator.
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