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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 394 Convergence – Getting to grips with the contours of the new media landscape with real dataConvergence has been creeping up on the telecoms and Internet sectors in Africa. Orange has been quietly promoting its Livebox product in a widening range of countries and Telkom will shortly launch IP-TV services through Telkom Media. Gateway Communications set up GTV to compete with DStv in the satellite Pay TV market. However, up until now there has been little data to work out what any of this might mean. In a world in which telcos are becoming broadcasters and broadcasters may yet return the favour by offering voice and Internet services, telcos and ISPs need to know what their peers in the broadcast sector are doing. This week sees the publication of African Broadcast and Film Markets, a large 340+ page report packed with both industry and audience data. The report comes in two parts: part one covers industry trends and data and part two looks at audiences. There are seventeen country user surveys covering: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Each survey involved a large sample size, and was conducted through face-to-face interview, usually in the home of the respondent. The result is an unusually rich, single source for data on how Africans are interacting with traditional and emerging platforms, new technologies and modes of mass and inter-personal communication. It is sufficiently standardised to allow cross-comparison between countries and trend analysis across the timeframe data has been collected. In the industry trends part of the report, it covers: • Triple play and converged players: The report analyses the ten countries where there are converged operators (including cable) or telcos providing IP-TV. In each case, the size of the market is comparatively small but the numbers have continued to go upwards over the last 12 months: there are both subscriber numbers and bouquet breakdowns with rates. The report looks at those like Telkom Media and Egyptian operator PCN who are starting to enter the market. It examines Algerie Telecom’s Fibre-To-The Home roll-out and its ambitions with IP-TV. Triple play has been hampered by backward looking African regulation on VoIP in some countries and the high cost of international bandwidth but with the arrival of several new fibre projects in liberalised East Africa in 2009 all that will begin to change. • Rights and programming costs: One factor that has slowed down the converged operators is that they are entering a new area and have not fully understood the importance of rights and programming costs. This report gives a breakdown of regional production costs and the resources required to buy in international programming. In one section it looks at the battle over rights and their costs during the African Cup of Nations. • The great mobile TV experiment: The continent is the site of one of the most extensive set of roll-out plans for mobile TV. The report has a section that covers how it is being done, the initial numbers using the services and the technologies involved. Part 2 of the report focuses on audiences, with detailed robust survey data that tackles a range of questions including: • Affordability and the size of the middle class: Many of the new converged services assume that there is an affluent audience out there who can afford to pay for them. This report contains breakdowns of the size of the middle class in each country. Where there has been above average economic growth in countries, the middle classes have actual grown significantly: for example, the Kenyan middle class has grown by several percentage points. That may sound small but the numbers run into millions of people. The user surveys tackle both media equipment ownership (televisions, radios, PCs, mobiles, satellite dishes) and also the level of usage “yesterday”. On affordability, it asks respondents whether they can afford expensive goods like televisions and fridges. • The Internet and “critical mass”: The country surveys include both North and South Africa where there is now a clear “critical mass” emerging in terms of Internet use. For North Africa and some other countries, there is detailed data on: frequency of use, gender, age and web sites used. The report’s data identifies precisely the continuing gap between PC ownership and Internet access but this may be one gap that closes as access costs go down. • The Internet and Mobiles as media: The big surprise is the percentage of respondents using SMS as a key source of news. To reverse Marshall McLuhan’s well known phrase: the message is now the medium. There were 4.5 million downloads from Africa of material from the second series of Big Brother. Increasingly, SMS and the Internet are becoming media and will compete for advertising with the broadcast industry: there are shifting patterns for advertising in different media. Africa’s over-priced and ineffective newspapers are set to receive a shock over the next three years. Balancing Act’s African Broadcast and Film Markets, published in association with Intermedia, is over 340 pages long and has 132 charts, 41 tables of statistical data and 12 graphic maps. Don’t say that convergence is all hype until you know what the new landscape may actually look like. For details, go to: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/publications.html For an extract that contains a detailed table of contents with a full list of the charts, tables and maps, send an e-mail to: editorial@balancingact-africa.com The report is priced as follows: Full price (Africa) – GBP500/US$1,000; Full price (Rest of the World) – GBP750/US$1,500; Reduced price for universities and NGOs – GBP375/US$700. Click below to order:
Egypt to auction 2nd fixed-line licence on June 19Egypt's telecoms regulator said last Sunday it would auction a second fixed-line licence on June 19, bringing Egypt one step closer to ending state-run Telecom Egypt's fixed-line monopoly. In an announcement published in the financial daily al Alam al Youm, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said interested parties could obtain a booklet of conditions starting on March 13 after paying a fee of US$10,000. "The National Telecom Regulatory Authority announces the auction for the second fixed-line telephone licence in Egypt, and the Authority calls on consortiums of local and global companies to present their offers on Thursday, June 19, 2008," the announcement said. Telecom Egypt, currently the sole fixed-line operator in the most populous Arab country, will lose its monopoly once a second operator enters the market. Etisalat Egypt, a unit of the Emirates Telecommunications, has said it would bid for the licence. Etisalat led a group of investors that paid US$2.9 billion to become Egypt's third mobile operator in 2006, with the right to offer higher-bandwidth 3G technology. Egypt's Raya Technology and Communication said in December it was studying bidding for the licence through an alliance with an international operator. Raya works in mobile phone distribution, IT services and call centres business. Raya's chairman Medhat Khalil said a number of factors would decide whether his company entered the auction, including whether the licence would include international calls. Orascom Telecom and the Egyptian Post have also said they would bid for the licence. Companies planning to bid would also need to submit an auction guarantee of 10 million Egyptian pounds ($1.8 million), the NTRA announcement said. (Source: Reuters) Vodacom plans ZAR2.5 billion move into business market in South AfricaIt is not going to be easy taking on the likes of parent Telkom, but Vodacom believes it can restructure the connectivity market. The cellular operator revealed this weekend that it would spend R2.5 billion over the next five years on newly launched subsidiary Vodacom Business. This capital investment is in addition to the R700 million already spent. Group CEO Alan Knott-Craig explained this unit would be a next-generation network service provider delivering on the mobile and fixed voice, video and data requirements of businesses. “In a playing field that has quickly become crowded, we will differentiate ourselves with the services that are provided on top of the network infrastructure layer,” he said. However, Vodacom Business executive director of corporate and converged solutions Wally Beelders said the company was “under no illusions”. “We know it's not going to be easy, but we think we can restructure this market. As broadband becomes more available, at better costs, we can start to look at additional services. Somebody has to take the lead in challenging the market. I don't think the others in this space can do that; they're too locked into their revenue streams,” he said. Beelders contended that by 2010, the market would have consolidated down to three leading “new age telcos”. Vodacom Business would be one of these, he noted. “Real broadband is going to reshape the market and Telkom will have to change. Right now Telkom has around 400 000 ADSL customers; we have 350,000 on our 3G services alone. Telkom is also keeping the price of international bandwidth artificially high by locking down access to SAT-3, but that will change once the new undersea cables arrive,” he explained. Vodacom will begin offering services to business clients next month. Telkom leased lines, Internet service provision and MPLS-based virtual private networks will be the first offerings to go live during March. In April, the company will start offering Telkom ADSL lines, WiMax and microwave solutions and its own fibre solutions for those businesses in Gauteng. “We are almost finished rolling out our fibre ring between Sandton and Midrand. In those areas we are already installing overlays to service 22 customers who have said they will be interested in our services. Ultimately we will roll-out 11 fibre rings in the next few months,” said Beelders. Over and above these access facilities, Vodacom Business is to offer managed network services, converged application services and managed hosted services. “We intend to be class-leading in the hosting environment. In my opinion, the current players are not getting it 100% right. Our abilities in mobilising services will also help us in the future to get strong growth in the application space. The constant is our focus on service and quality offerings – that's how we will make our mark on the market,” Beelders revealed. While it may be “challenging” to overcome market perceptions that Vodacom is a mobile company, Vodacom COO Pieter Uys said the company has the right people on board. “This is why we appointed people with skills and fixed-line and business networking. If you look at Beelders and Johann Pretorius [managing executive of managed services], these people have decades of experience in their hands. Having the right skills makes a big difference to how effective you can be.” Uys also revealed that Vodacom's corporate clients would move to the new subsidiary. “We've always had corporate services within Vodacom, now we have a place that deals with all of our business offerings. We've done a lot of building in the last two months, what we are talking about is not vapourware. Everyone is putting fibre in the ground at the moment, but it will come down to who does it first and who does it best.” (Source: ITWeb) Rwandans Switch to Vodacom TanzaniaAs mobile telephone subscribers search for cheaper and affordable call tariffs, scores of people in the eastern province of Rwanda have subscribed to Vodacom Tanzania. The strong signals the company has and the free airtime the telecom company is offering to all its subscribers has lured some Rwandans near the Tanzania border to subscribe to Vodacom, abandoning their MTN lines. Vodacom has also lowered the calling rates to other networks to give its clients more freedom to talk, according to Kabayija, a 'Vodacom agent' in Kayonza district. Rwandans in districts of Nyagatare, Gatsibo, Kayonza and Rwamagana can now call for four minutes freely. Subscribers on pay standard spend Tzs200 (Frw93)-whereas MTN Rwandacell charges Frw100. Prices of smuggled Vodacom sim packs have also soared from Frw1,000 to Frw5,000. (about Tzs10,000) There are claims that MTN, with the largest coverage in eastern province is affected negativly, as sales of its products have dropped. "I no longer buy MTN airtime vouchers. Sim pack agents say sales have drastically dropped," a resident of Kabarole who was using a Vodacom line claimed." But The New Times was not able get comment from MTN officials as some could not answer their phones. However, a source close to MTN Rwanda management say Vodacom and MTN are about to enter a roaming deal, where subscribers on the two networks will not have to switch sim cards. In Kayonza and Rwamagana towns, dealers of Vodacom products were openly luring more Rwandans to get connected to the Tanzanian network. An official in Rwandatel said his company 'is not worried about the competition.' (Source: The New Times) Visafone has launched full commercial operations in NigeriaVisafone launched operations across Nigeria in 12 states and over 40 cities including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The telecoms operator, which is the newest and wholly-owned Nigerian mobile phone company with MD/CEO of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia as founder and promoter. Speaking in Lagos at the formal launch of the network, the founder of Visafone, Ovia said Visafone aims to become one of the preferred telecom operators in Nigeria by offering seamless and efficient services that will ensure the best clarity and the widest coverage. "It will also offer an exciting bouquet of superior services that include the very best of Voice, High Speed Data 3G (EVDO) internet and other innovative Value Added Services to individual subscribers while also providing unequalled business solutions to large corporates as well as the Small & Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria", he promised. Also speaking on the company’s business plan and strategy Ninan Thomas, the Indian-American MD/CEO of Visafone, who brings to the company his experience at Reliance India as well as Motorola in the US, said that his company’s "overriding plan is to act as a spring board for Nigeria’s economic growth and development. To achieve this, the company will assist in fast tracking that growth and development through the provision of cutting edge communications infrastructure as well as seamless and efficient services that will ensure excellent customer service, unequalled clarity, the widest coverage and seamless connectivity." (Source: Daily Trust)
In brief:- The inhabitants of the Southern Red Sea region in Eritrea will get access to mobile phone services by the next month, according to Tesfaslasie Berhane, manager of Eritrean incumbent Eri-Tel. 16 towers have been installed along the area from around Gelalo to Assab. - Sudanese Internet firm M-Marsat Mobile has announced plans to launch mobile phone and Internet services in the southern Lakes State (Al Buhayrat). According to local paper The Sudan Tribune, infrastructure is in deployment and service testing has begun. Minister Adak further said that the mobile telephone network MTN is also constructing its tower in Rumbek. - Barclays Bank will soon launch a mobile banking service, through which Ugandans in rural areas will be able to open up accounts without going to the bank premises. Mr William Ssekabembe, the bank's regional manager for eastern, said the new service will see bank staff going over to meet rural people intending to open up accounts and not the other way round. - In Senegal, the employees of Sonatel, the telecoms incumbent have released a document where they express their views on the company’s future. This follows an earlier announcement by the Government of its intention to sell its stake in the company. The document can be downloaded at http://www.osiris.sn/IMG/pdf/MEMORANDUM - Egyptian telecommunications mogul Naguib Sawiris is under investigation for alleged corruption in a probe over the 2005 acquisition of Italian mobile phone operator Wind SpA, Italy's financial police said Thursday. Sawiris, who is also chairman of Orascom Telecom Holding, the Middle East's largest telecommunications operator by market capitalization, is the lead investor in the consortium, which bought control of Wind in 2005 for euro4.8 billion. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- Namibia is experiencing a cellphone war. MTC and Cell One are competing furiously and trying to outdo each other in giving best value to customers. Both companies are offering a number of similar promotions including the free SMS service every Friday, and the new call rate of 95 cents per minute during off-peak hours introduced this week by both companies. - According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the three main telecommunications companies in Uganda have built 743 masts without approval. NEMA executive director Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha told MPs on the technology committee that only 25 MTN masts were approved, 30 for Celtel, 29 Warid and one for Uganda Telecom. - Celtel Kenya will be rolling out a new promotion to provide incentives for retailers and authorised distributors. Just last week, the mobile service provider launched a mobile top-up service for its retailers and authorised distributors dubbed Jaza Jaza, a move aimed at eliminating physical scratch cards. Both initiatives indicate renewed efforts by the firm to extend its distribution and retail network- a key factor in recruiting new subscribers. - Nokia has launched a take-back and recycling initiative that offers Kenyan consumers a structured way to dispose of old mobile phones and accessories. - Senegal’s two incumbent mobile operators - Orange and Tigo Senegal added 688,725 new users in the fourth quarter of 2007 to boost the country mobile total to 4.123 million at the end of the year. According to the country’s telecoms regulator Agence de Regulation des Telecoms et Postes (ARTP), cellular penetration reached 38.97% by 31 December 2007, up from 28.19% the previous year. Orange Sonatel, part of the Paris-based Orange group, had 3.004 million users at the end of December 2007, up from 2.443 million in September. Meanwhile, Tigo had 1.118 million clients, from 991,631 three months earlier. An overwhelming 99.17% of all users are on pre-paid services, the regulator said. - Celtel Sierra Leone has announced its intention to launch GPRS services nationwide, according to local news source The Awareness Times. - The number of registered mobile phones in Ghana topped the seven million-mark by the end of 2007, according to new data published by the regulator, the National Communication Authority (NCA). The watchdog’s figures show that the country recorded quarterly net growth of 8.4% in the last three months of the year, boosting the country total to 7,604,053 by 31 December. Local industry watchers predict, however, that the sector could soon reach saturation levels, leaving the four main cellular operators to slug it out for market share. The NCA reports that MTN Ghana was the market leader by the start of 2008 with 4,016,132 subscribers, ahead of Millicom Ghana (Tigo) with 2,023,091, while GT-OneTouch and Kasapa Telecom took third and fourth place with 1,275,764 and 289,066 subscribers respectively. Tigo topped the list in terms of net subscriber additions in 4Q07, however, signing up a net 426,640 new users compared with 143,743 for MTN and 21,456 for Kasapa Telecom. Meanwhile, Ghana Telecom’s mobile arm OneTouch recorded a net loss of 4,493 users in the last three months of the year, with a proportion of the net decline being attributed to subscribers having their lines cut or deactivated from the network.
Uganda delays decision on joining EASSyThe Eastern Africa submarine cable system kick-off may be delayed further after Uganda said it would not sign up until its concerns are addressed. "We are not ready to ratify the protocol. We are interested but we are also looking at other alternatives," Information and Communications Technology Minister Dr Ham-Mukasa Mulira told the parliamentary ICT committee last week. The chairman of the committee Edward Baliddawa (Kigulu North MP), said the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) programme has particularly lobbied Uganda to ratify the protocol to make up the number needed for the high-speed Internet venture to start but in vain. Seven countries have now ratified the Protocol, a majority, allowing it to be implemented. "A senior Ugandan official at Nepad, Dr Edmond Katiti, has been lobbying us to ratify the protocol. Once we ratify it, the project will go on," the MP said. However, Dr Mulira has objected to Nepad's requests, saying the project still requires a lot of groundwork for him to be convinced. (Source: The East African) Kenya’s Safaricom is testing HSDPASafaricom has completed a test run for an HSDPA service that it says will enable subscribers access the Internet faster. HSDPA will be used to deliver the service that will include mobile video conferencing and video phone. To get connected to the service a subscriber will require a special 3G enabled SIM card plugged into a computer modem. Safaricom chief executive officer, Michael Joseph, said the service would increase access to high speed Internet in the country. Initially, subscribers will be able to access their data at a speed of 3.6 megabytes per second but this, he said, will be upgraded to 7.2 megabytes per second. Dubbed 'Bambanet,' the service will be available on both prepaid and post paid basis. Through the post-paid system, a subscriber will have to pay Sh5,999 for the modem and a special 3G SIM card, and sign a contract of two years. There will also be a monthly access fee of Sh1, 999 for 700 megabytes and a subscriber will pay a charge of Sh12.60 per megabyte. On the prepaid mode, a subscriber will have to pay Sh12,500 for the 700 megabytes, receive free 700 megabytes for not more than a month, and pay Sh12.60. The costs could reduce when the company starts using fibre optic. Safaricom has spent US$20 million to roll out the service. So far it has built 75 third generation sites within Nairobi. The company intends to roll out the service first in Nairobi, followed by Mombasa by April then Kisumu. (Source: Business Daily) iBurst loses ground in South AfricaDespite almost doubling its broadband subscriber base from 35,000 to 60,000 in the past year, iBurst is losing ground in terms of market share, delegates heard at the Broadband Summit, held in Sandton, this week. iBurst head of product development Antony McKechnie said one of the challenges iBurst faced was that it did not deliver some of the services that customers want. People are looking for increased mobility, high bandwidth, content and ubiquity – elements which iBurst's current offering did not provide, he said. iBurst's growth was also hampered by its limited coverage, as the company only has coverage in major cities, and not every town in SA, McKechnie explained. The company, which to date has only offered services on its iBurst technology, is also hampered by the fact that the technology is not widely used, with the result that it takes longer for the company to get returns on its investments. This affects how fast new research is undertaken and the technology roadmapped, he said. South Africa has close to a million broadband subscribers, with iBurst having 60 000, Telkom 400 000, Vodacom's HSDPA 350,000 and MTN HSDPA an estimated 70 000, said MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller during his presentation. Sentech MyWireless has 2,500 subscribers, while wireless Internet service providers account for about 45,000 broadband subscribers, he said. McKechnie said iBurst was diversifying its offering and will offer ADSL services starting in April. The broadband provider will also offer GSM-based broadband, MetroNet and voice services, as well as online gaming, he said. It makes sense for iBurst to offer 3G-based broadband services, due to its partnership with Vodacom, he said. iBurst's MetroNet service, which is offered in partnership with subsidiary Broadlink, will be deployed in areas where iBurst does not have adequate coverage, he said. The company is also engaged in trials for iGame, an online gaming offering, said McKechnie. This is being done in partnership with gaming experts and the online game community. Meanwhile, iBurst has announced price cuts on its current broadband offerings, and will consolidate its product line from 12 to seven products with effect from 1 April. The new offerings will see the company retain its R49 per month Kickstart service, which allows for 40MB of monthly usage. It also offers subscribers 500MB, at R149 per month; 1 000MB, at R199 per month; 3 000MB, at R449 per month; and 5 000MB, at R599 per month. Pay-per-use eliminates the restrictions placed on subscribers by throttling and capping once their data quotas have been exhausted, says iBurst. (Source: ITWeb) In brief:- According to the Malawi Government Gazette (2964 :Vol XLV no.3 18 Jan 2008) the MAREN IGL (a university network) has been granted a licence for an international gateway until 17 Jan 2013. - The International Telecommunication Union's regional cybersecurity forum has adopted the Doha declaration on cybersecurity. - South Africa’s Conference Directory, incorporating Direct Access, has launched its new website at Meetings Africa 2008. The website has been designed with the industry in mind, and has all of the facilities and networking tools that Facebook has, with added extras. - A convention on the implementation of a geographic information system (GIS), based on satellite imagery for Housing and Urbanism sector has been signed in Algiers between the ministry and the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL). - The first preparatory meeting for the next Internet Governance Forum will be held in Geneva on 26 February 2008. APC prepared a document to feed into the discussions on access issues. A paper which identifies and documents the main areas of discussions and ‘recommendations’ that were generated under the Access theme at the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio De Janeiro, November 2007 is available for download at http://rights.apc.org/documents/IGF_AccessRecommendations_0208.pdf - Tunisie Telecom has signed a service agreement with the Education administration whereby the company will connect or upgrade existing internet connections to high speed broadband in 6,500 educational institutions. - Early this month, the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA) released some 14 policy-documents for comments by the Internet community. One of these was the NIRA complaints' policy, which tends to set the association's policy on handling of complaints made about domain names, registrars and resellers in the .ng second level domains. NiRA President, Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, while assuring that responses will be appropriately streamlined, advised Nigerians to make inputs on or before February 29 through sending hardcopy to NiRA office or electronically by email to: policy@nira.org.ng. - Vodacom South Africa is preparing to launch its first converged cellular/Wi-Fi product. The firm has sealed a partnership with local wireless LAN hotspot operator WirelessG which allows Vodacom customers to gain internet access via Wi-Fi hotspots. The cellco is set to introduce an integrated billing system which will allow its 3G and HSDPA customers to use a single account for cellular and Wi-Fi services. A report from MyBroadband says Vodacom mobile data customers will also be able to roam internationally on around 110,000 hotspots across the globe. - Morocco's largest telecom operator, Maroc Telecom, has recently pleaded for cutting Internet connection tariffs to enlarge the market before seeking benefits. According to MAP, the company's chief, Abdeslam Ahizoune who was presenting the operator's results for 2007, said the 476,000 ADSL connections and 6 million Internet users are "good for the business but not for Morocco." "That's little to me. The 21.7% growth is quite much for the business, but little for Morocco," Ahizoune said, adding that reducing Internet tariffs requires the approval of the authorities overseeing competitiveness and an agreement between the operators working in Morocco. These include. Maroc Telecom, Medi Telecom and Wana.
Nigeria’s Federal Government Shifts Attention to Children On Computer EducationThe federal government has announced plans to shift its attention to children on computer education, an official said The minister said the focus of this administration is to train children at their primary school age in order to have proper background in computer knowledge. Minister of State for Science and Technology, Alhassan Bako Zaku said his ministry has a plan that will be incorporated into President Umar Musa Yar adua's seven point agenda. He said the title of the new programme is 'Catch Them Young'. "We are just from Kaduna. We are trying to bring in state governments and private sectors to get involves". (Source: Daily Trust) East African Breweries Spends Billions On IT to Grow BusinessEast African Breweries has spent Sh1.6 billion on a SAP installation in its last budget year, and it also plans to spend an additional Sh600 million on more IT systems in coming months. "We have seen the need to use technology to analyse data and make informed decisions in day-to-day management and operation of the business," said Wamoni Mwangi, director of Information Systems at East African Breweries. "Companies are increasingly depending on technology to help streamline supply chain deliveries and inventories and are monitoring and realigning company resources to manage their inventories," said Mr Mwangi. The company, which is now utilising a state-of-the-art software installation to optimise its operations, says technology has become an important part of its business and that the realisation prompted the company to embark on an aggressive digitalisation plan aimed to streamline operations and bring down operating costs almost two years ago. The pay-off has been measurable in increased internal and external customer satisfaction. "ICT is seen as a strategic business enabler. All key processes - manufacturing, procurement, inter company transactions and HR - are IT driven," said Mwangi. In coming months, EABL will be sourcing for additional hardware, software and consultancy applications to streamline operations. In particular, the firm hopes to use technology to respond faster to customer demands, enhance product quality management and overcome physical geographical boundaries to operate its business seamlessly, with hopes of facilitating cross-country bench-marking. It will join other local companies who now reportedly spend at least half a billion a year on technology solutions, in what industry analysts believe is a signal that Kenya firms are at last warming up to technology use to manage key processes in the business. In a bid to capture a significant edge over their competitors, local analysts say companies are now spending more on ICT solutions than ever before, with budgets exponentially increasing - and in some industries such as the banking sector, doubling - every year. "Without doubt across the board, IT budgets are increasing. The trend is being driven by the need to embrace technology in all aspects of any business operation - irrespective of the nature and size of business. It is now increasingly difficult for a business to run and progress without IT," said Mr Mwangi. Private sector spending is likely to rise by 20 per cent this year, as the financial services and telecommunications sectors move towards the introduction of customer relations management systems. Other sectors plan to integrate existing systems to support expanded Internet services such as online transaction. But a survey by IT research firm All Covered found that small businesses are in danger of being left out of the shift towards embracing technology as a business enabler. Around the world, small businesses are investing more in IT systems, yet only half of the companies see IT as a competitive or strategic advantage. Of the companies that viewed technology as a source of competitive advantage for their business, most reported above average anticipated revenue growth. "Business owners and decision makers are familiar with how "tactical" solutions will work for their business, but for strategic solutions, they need to better understand how technology links to their strategic business objectives," said the All Covered report. "Businesses that have successfully utilised technology yielded higher results and a competitive edge over their competition." (Source: Business Daily) Third African FOSS conference heads to SenegalTime is running out to register for Idlelo 3, the third African Conference on Free and Open Source Software and the Digital Commons. The conference will be held in Dakar, Senegal between 16 and 20 March. Previous Idlelo conferences were held in South Africa and Kenya. Idlelo 3 will include senior government speakers from around the continent. From South Africa, public service and administration minister, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, will be participating, as will be Senegalese minister of education, Moustapha Sourang, and Senegal’s public service minister Innocence Ntap. The plenary and exhibition are to be hosted at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD II), while the workshops and hands-on trainings shall be at Campus Numérique de la Francophonie, Dakar, Senegal. To register for the conference go here (http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/idlelo/?q=node/11). To apply for a fellowship go here (http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/idlelo/?q=node/15) In brief:- Nigeria’s best Computer Brand of the Year 2007, Zinox Computers, will from April this year, commence daily commercial output of 5,000 personal computers from its new modern factory in Lagos. - Gauteng province in South Africa has announced that it will spend at least half a billion rand on ICT over the next three years. The bulk of the half a billion rand – R450 million – is going to the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) “to fund the implementation of the Gauteng online project”. - Chief Executive Officer of Omatek computers Ghana, Mrs. Florence Seriki, has appealed to government to commence implementation of a zero percent duty policy on 'Completely Knocked Down' (CKD) to engender competition in the production of computers locally. The Omatek boss drew a distinction between VAT charges in Ghana and neighbouring Nigeria, stressing that whilst Ghana currently charges 15%, Nigeria charges 5%. - The Abuja Geographic Information System, AGIS, has generated a whopping N15billion since its creation four years ago. AGIS was created by former minister, Malam Nasir el-Rufai under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to refocus land administration by computerising its operations and ensuring transparency in land allocations. - AMD and Architecture for Humanity challenge the creative world to develop sustainable technology centers for the AMD Open Architecture Challenge. Architecture for Humanity has launched the AMD Open Architecture Challenge, inviting architects, designers, students and others to participate in an open design competition to help bring connectivity and computing power to communities that lack access to the Internet. Participants are charged with designing technology facilities for up to three community organizations: the Kallari Association in Ecuador, SIDAREC in Kenya, and Nyaya Health in Nepal. For further information visit http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge - Acer Computers , the world's third largest IT vendor, has announced a 38.9% year-on-year growth in 2007 for sales in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, while the market growth was only 15.7%. In the EMEA region, Acer holds the number one position for notebooks with a market share of 20.9% and year-on-year growth of 45.3%. Acer is the number two IT vendor for EMEA with a market share of 12.8% up from 10.6% in 2006. - In South Africa, Allied Technologies (Altech) has been awarded the “2007 Minister’s Award for Overall Excellence” at the Technology Top 100 Awards that took place last week in Johannesburg.
Verizon Business up for grabs in South AfricaVerizon Business, one of the country’s largest telecommunications service providers, is up for sale. Several sources have confirmed that the black-empowered company, majority-owned by the US communications giant of the same name, is on the chopping block and that MTN, Altech and BT Group (formerly British Telecom) have all expressed interest in buying the business. Market talk is that the company, in which J&J Group holds a 30% stake, could be sold for between R1,3bn and R2bn. MTN and Altech are seen as the frontrunners. Verizon Business declines to confirm or deny the talk, saying only that it does not comment on market speculation. Formerly known as UUNet, the company provides telecom services, especially Internet access, to the corporate market. It is also a reseller of wholesale bandwidth to other service providers. Neither Altech nor MTN has warned shareholders that it is in talks, though the likely value of the deal in relation to MTN’s market capitalisation may not require it to issue a cautionary. Altech, on the other hand, would be required to warn shareholders if it were in serious talks with Verizon Business. The rumours of a sale come in the same week that Vodacom announced an aggressive move into the types of services traditionally supplied by companies such as Verizon Business and Dimension Data division Internet Solutions. It is understood that Vodacom held talks with Verizon Business but there was no progress because of concern that a deal would be blocked by the competition authorities, given the cellular group’s dominant position in its industry. Vodacom also held preliminary but unsuccessful talks with Didata about acquiring Internet Solutions, sources close to Vodacom say. Vodacom Group CEO Alan Knott-Craig has publicly lamented the fact that any large acquisitions the cellphone group might want to make would probably be blocked by regulators. (Source: Financial Mail) Nigerian Federal Government returns Transcorp's Nitel StakeThe Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) has announced that the Federal Government (FG) has returned the 51% share of incumbent telco Nigerian Telecom (NITEL) to it following a meeting on Friday, reports AllAfrica.com. Last week the government said it was reversing the 2006 sale of a majority stake in NITEL to Transcorp, in light of the telco’s lamentable performance. A statement from Transcorp said the following: ‘Our attention has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media, stating that Transcorp’s shares in NITEL [and its subsidiary cellco] M-Tel have been reduced to 10% This…is erroneous and totally misleading. Arising from the joint meeting between the FG and Transcorp, on 22 February 2008 in Abuja, it was agreed that both parties maintain the ownership structure and management of the companies. By this, Transcorp maintains its 51% ownership, while the FG holds 49%. In addition, Transcorp will continue to manage both companies under the leadership of the Board of Directors as presently constituted by Transcorp. This ownership structure will remain in place until both the FG and Transcorp secure a new core investor with the requisite focus, technical expertise, managerial experience and financial capacity to take controlling shares in NITEL/M-Tel. At that time, the FG and Transcorp will divest 24% and 27% respectively …to the new core investor in line with the initial December 2007 agreement.’ (Source: Telegeography) T-Systems in R1.8bn Mutual Outsource Deal in South AfricaTechnology outsourcing specialist T-Systems has won a R1,8bn deal with Old Mutual and Mutual & Federal, transforming it from a lowly 11th in SA's outsourcing market into the sixth-largest player. The deal comes at the expense of rival CSC, which has been ousted from its relationship with Old Mutual and will have to transfer 300 of its technicians over to T-Systems. T-Systems CEO Mardia van der Walt-Korsten said this was one of the largest outsourcing deals in the local financial services sector. "The goal of any good outsourcer is to renew contracts. It's also imperative to get new customers on board -- 40% of companies decide to change partners . "We have never been part of that statistic," she said. CSC's website still lists Old Mutual as its top client. The group took over Old Mutual's data centre and 420 staff and bought out most of its hardware and software assets for R130m in November 1999. CSC will now have to reorganise the facilities it uses to host information for some of its other clients, since it has been using the data centre in Old Mutual's premises. Its MD Martin Vergunst could not be reached for comment last week. The five-year deal is the largest T-Systems SA has clinched. It will supply and maintain many of the information and communications technologies used by Old Mutual SA and short-term insurer Mutual & Federal. The job includes identifying new technologies to boost their businesses, as well as providing hardware and software, and running the data centre, help desk and disaster-recovery services. Old Mutual SA MD Paul Hanratty said that outsourcing its IT services since 1999 had taken its technologies to a higher level and introduced cost efficiencies. When the existing contract expired, other suppliers had been assessed and CSC, IBM and T-Systems were short listed. After a rigorous evaluation, T-Systems had won, partly because its strong empowerment profile meant South African managers were serving South African customers, Hanratty said. "It was important that we were not dependent on IT professionals operating from abroad." He expected the new deal to generate more cost savings and improvements in its use of technology. Mutual & Federal's IT manager David Entwisle said the company had outsourced its mainframe management to CSC, but relying on those legacy systems was hampering its ability to compete in the market. Introducing newer technologies and letting T-Systems handle the complexities would produce far higher service levels at a lower cost, he said. (Source: Business Day) Toshiba bullish on AfricaDespite a general cash squeeze on the channel and difficult market conditions, Toshiba South Africa predicts 2008 sales will grow by 127%, with its South African market doubling in the year ahead. Reon Coetzee, marketing manager for Toshiba SA, says this will be achieved by shifting focus from retail to the channel, with a current 60:40 mix in favour of retail to possibly shift to the exact opposite by the end of the year. “The channel is a big pillar in our strategy – it has a lot of value to add,” he says. The African portfolio was added to Toshiba South Africa's mandate from the first quarter of 2008, with a target of being operational by the second quarter. Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa will come on board in the third quarter. Africa is expected to deliver the bulk of the targeted growth for Toshiba, with the South African market doubling its current growth rate of about 32%. To facilitate a boom in sales, the company will spend between 400% and 500% more on marketing in quarter one alone, with this figure set to increase even more in quarter two, says Coetzee. “We're here with a vengeance.” A lot of the marketing-spend is to go into the small and medium enterprise market, as Coetzee says this is where the bulk of the company's growth comes from. Toshiba has also launched a programme for the channel, where partners will receive cash bonuses, discounts on demo materials, and access to a marketing fund, depending on how much they sell. Channel partners are expected to deliver on Toshiba's service mandate, which Coetzee adds is in line with international market movements. “The trend is towards services – customers are no longer basing their buying decision purely on cost.” The new partnership initiative will be reassessed every two months. (Source: ITWeb) In brief:- Portugal Telecom's Chief Executive Henrique Granadeiro said Thursday the company plans to focus on its foreign operations, such as those in Brazil and Africa. Granadeiro was speaking at the company's earnings press conference, after PT revealed its fourth-quarter net profit had fallen almost 79% on the year to EUR71.8 million, hurt by curtailment costs, higher taxes and a EUR260 million reinforcement of its pension fund - Moroccan incumbent Maroc Telecom has reported a 19% rise in 2007 net profit, and forecast further profit growth for 2008. The telco reported other financial and operating results last month. Net profit rose to MAD8.033 billion (USD1.0 billion), while operating profit rose 21.8% to MAD12.2 billion (on revenues that climbed 21.7% to MAD27.53 billion). The company forecast operating profit growth of more than 9% in 2008 on revenue growth above 7%. - Business Connexion’s financial results have raised some concerns among South African business analysts. The company’s internal figures show that 2% of customers contribute a massive 61% of its revenue. Conversely, 88% of its clients generate only 13% of its revenue. Revenue rose 16% to R2bn from R1.7bn, but a net profit margin of just 2% saw its profit slump to R43m. Several rival companies are looking at Business Connexion for a potential acquisition, and Bytes Technology in particular will analyse its results with an eye to making a fresh takeover bid.
Atcon Plans Summit On Local Content in NigeriaAssociation of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), would in the coming weeks host stakeholders to a summit on local content. President, ATCON, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem gave this indication while briefing the press recently in Lagos. He also said that the one-day stakeholders summit on Local Content Development in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, is a focus to examine the challenges faced in developing local contents in the sector. The summit will equally enable stakeholders to develop a position paper for a policy framework on local content development in the nation. Dr. Ekuwem pointed out that ATCON feels strongly that local ICT infrastructure providers require some measure of protection against their multinational counterparts whose corporate strength could extinguish the local players. Local hardware and software developers, he noted, must be given some kind of support to enable them grow, expand and continue to provide employment to millions of Nigerians. "Thus helping to eradicate poverty in our land. It is envisaged that if government and other relevant institutions, like the financial institutions, do not provide adequate protection and support to our local ICT industrialists, they would be heading towards economic doom," he warned. In addition, he said that the summit would devise ways of encouraging the building of local database that would form the Nigerian content in the global ICT circuit. "It has been established that Nigerians talk more than they write and this contributes to the low level of Nigerian content in the global cyberspace," he noted. Dr. Ekuwem who also is the executive vice chairman, Teledom Group International said that the trend has to change if the nation must take its rightful place in the world's ICT reckoning. He emphasized that highly intellectual speakers have been contacted to make presentations and contribute to discussions at the summit slated for end of March 2008. ATCON, he said, is partnering with leading hardware and software providers as well as frontline banks and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in hosting the event. ATCON has also announced preparations for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) holding in April 2008, while top on the agenda at the forthcoming AGM would be the presentation of Annual Reports and 2007 Audited Accounts as well as election of officers into the National Executive Council (NEC). Just as the current NEC tenure is due to expire in April shortly before the proposed date for the election. (Source: Daily Champion) iBurst takes aim at online gaming in South AfricaiBurst recently launched its own online gaming portal and says that they see a lot of potential in this market. iBurst recently launched its iGame online gaming platform in partnership with iStorm, a group of gaming experts. The aim was to provide iBurst subscribers with an on-net gaming platform that would provide low latency and an enhanced gaming experience. Antony McKechnie, head of product development at iBurst, said that iBurst gamers currently experience latencies of between 80 ms and 150 ms, a big improvement on what they experience when playing games hosted on other networks. The service was launched in Beta phase with only a handful of titles earlier this year, but has grown significantly since then to over 16 titles. McKechnie said that the company plans to have between 80 and 100 titles in the near future. There are currently around 1000 online gamers making use of the iGame platform, and the company predicts steady future growth. iBurst is planning two separate online gaming services: a free, open platform and a subscription based service with quality of service guarantees. The company is confident that a high quality service will bring value to the online gaming community and justify a subscription fee. (Source: MyBroadband)
People- South Africa’s Simeka Business Solutions Group has lost the services of deputy CEO Bradley Hopkinson. - Open Text, provider of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions announced the appointment of Rob Shaw as Channel (Country) Manager for Southern Africa. Events* 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* CPM - Customer Project Manager – Southern Africa As a proven CPM, you will be responsible for: Project Integration Management, Value Management, Project Scope Management, Performance Quality Management in Projects, Project Time Management, Project Finance Management, Human Resource Management in Projects, Communication Management in Projects, Risk Management in Projects Resource Procurement in Projects. As the Core Network CPM, your experience should include the following: 3 years experience in customer project management, and/or related functional role in a project environment for a communication systems company, some of which should be deploying ERICSSON networks. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* HP and Unilever – Africa Hewlett Packard and Unilever have announced an extension of their relationship with the signing of a seven-year outsourcing contract for the management of Unilever technology infrastructure in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Turkey and Middle East. * Celtel and Jinny Software - Nigeria Mobile operator, Celtel Nigeria, has sealed a deal with Dublin-based Jinny Software Limited to deliver ringback tones and Voice Short Messaging Services (VSMS) to its subscribers.
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