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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 405 Botswana and Cape Verde join the ranks of the real VoIP legalisersThe Agencia Nacional de Communicacoes of Cape Verde has signalled intention to legalise VoIP. It will licence international VoIP service providers offering cheap calling and offer two classes of numbering. It has also licensed another Triple Play operator which will take advantage of the change in regulation to offer IP-TV, Internet and voice services. It joins the last real legaliser Botswana’s BTA which also opened the door to international VoIP service providers at the end of last year. Russell Southwood caught up with these innovative regulators at ITU Telecom Africa 2008. Cape Verde’s Agencia Nacional de Communicacaoes (ANAC) has approved new regulation to legalise VoIP and will licence 2-3 international service operators. There will be new numbers offered for these services and they will come in two classes: fixed and mobile. The new operators will need a simple authorisation from ANAC to start offering service. PC to PC and PC to phone calling will be entirely without any form of regulation. Taking advantage of this change, European-backed Cabo Com will shortly launch a Triple Play offer with IP-TV, Voice and Internet. Its equipment has recently arrived in Cape Verde and the launch will happen shortly. It will compete with CV Multimedia, the IP-TV subsidiary of Portugal Telecom-owned subsidiary CV Telecom. It has struggled to get a foothold and by the end of last year had only reached 1,600 subscribers. However, it will shortly reduce the price of its broadband connection. ANAC is also setting the pace in the wireless area as next month it will start a public consultation on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) where it wants to split the spectrum into 4-5 blocks and then have a public tender based on the highest bidders. It believes this will be the most transparent way of dealing with increased demand for Wi-MAX related spectrum. ANAC is also considering a 3rd licence with 3G as part of the licence package. The islands were promoted to the middle-income country group in January this year and increased tourist trade is drawing operator interest. As part of its broader liberalisation process, the Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) legalised VoIP at the end of last year and there have been two international VoIP service providers, BBI and OPQ Net. Both offer international calling cards but have not yet made much impact on the market. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that BTA is also addressing Wi-MAX spectrum in two ranges 3.5-3.6 and 1785-1805 Ghz. It will be taking a slightly different approach to ANAC and will be offering spectrum at fixed prices on the basis of the business case presented. ITU Telecom Africa contained the usual number of regulators repeating the mantra:”VoIP is a technology, we are technology neutral and if you have a licence, you can do VoIP.” This is true as far as it goes but does not really open up the full disruptive market power of the technology. The questions become: how many international gateways have you licensed? And how many international VoIP service providers are there? If as in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, you have opened the range of people who have access to the international gateway function and international VoIP service providers can interconnect with other operators to offer cheap calling, then you can really say VoIP is legal. It will be the only way to drive down the cost of international calling and increase its volumes. If you’re not doing this, you’re missing the point….
Is it going to be an Asian or Middle East groom for South Africa’s MTN bride?Bharti Airtel is still definitely in, Etisalat has expressed a tentative interest, but Vodafone and China Mobile can be counted out in the guessing game of who is wooing MTN. Since Indian operator Bharti confirmed "exploratory talks" towards acquiring 51% of MTN, speculation has been rife about which other operators may decide to make a move. UK-based Vodafone said it had "no intention of pursuing a bid for MTN". Vodafone holds 50% of Vodacom, but that did not prevent speculation about a deal to sell its shares to Telkom, the other joint owner, and invest in MTN instead. Another theory was that Vodafone could hang on to its Vodacom stake , but buy MTN's networks in 20 other countries instead. But the thumb-sucking has been quashed with Vodafone spokesman Simon Gordon saying it was interested in owning more of Vodacom, not less. "We are committed to our shareholding in Vodacom. "If the opportunity presented itself to increase that, we would look at it, as we've said in the past." Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates is eyeing MTN as part of its expansion plans, its chairman Mohammed Omran said in Cairo. "We are always looking for expansion in Africa. We are evaluating MTN, among other companies." Within four years Omran wants Etisalat to earn at least a quarter of its revenue from Africa. It already serves 51-million users in 16 countries, and has spent $5bn over four years to launch in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and to buy into a Pakistani operator. In December, it said it would buy 16% of an Indonesian operator. In parallel, Batelco’s CEO announced that his company to acquire one of the leading telecom players in Africa in a deal worth around $2-4 billion, according to its chief executive. Peter Kaliaropoulos, CEO of the Bahrain-based operator, said it was in the process of finalising the deal, but he did not say which company Batelco was acquiring. However, he did say the deal would be concluded by the fourth quarter of this year and that it would go a long way into helping Batelco offset rising competition in the Middle East. China Mobile, the world's largest cellular operator by user numbers, said it is interested in South Africa, but not in MTN. Meanwhile Bharti is said to be raising its offer, which sources originally pegged at R165 a share. The Asian Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed source as saying it would now offer R175 a share, and that an official bid may come this week. Local investors in MTN have said they would not consider less than R200, although that positioning may change if a firm offer is made. Bharti has won the support of a major investor, Azmi Mikati, CEO of M1 Group, which also owns 9,82% of MTN. (Source: Business Day and ITP) Rwanda To Announce soon Tender For 3rd Telecom LicenseRwanda plans to launch a tender for the country's third telco license for mobile and fixed-line operations within four months, the country's telecommunications minister. "Probably maximum in a month we will announce it officially and the tender will take place three or four months after that," Romain Murenzi, minister in the president's office for information and communication technology, said on the sidelines of a Cairo conference. "Next year at this time the third operator will be in place," Murenzi told reporters at the International Telecommunication Union Africa Forum. The license will cover both fixed-line and mobile operations, Murenzi said. "It is neutral they can do both so it can be mobile, fixed, voice, date and video," he said. There are currently two operators in the country, MTN Rwanda and Rwandatel, which was purchased by Libya's state-owned Lapgreen at the end of 2007. Lapgreen paid $100 million for 80% of Rwandatel in October, with the remaining 20% owned by Rwanda's Social Security Fund. (Source: Down Jones Newswire) Who does control Guinea Telecom and Guinetel?The government of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa has taken management control of national fixed line operator Guinea Telecom and its mobile arm Guinetel, amid accusations that Portugal Telecom (PT) has effectively walked away from the two companies. In a statement the government said: ‘with the prolonged absence of PT and its refusal to call together the governing bodies of Guinea Telecom and Guinetel, abandonment has been confirmed.’ It went on to say that it had rejected a call from the Portuguese firm to sell its stake in the GSM operator to a buyer of its own choice. The Prime Minister, Martinho N’Dafa Cabi, has now instructed the Transport and Communication Ministry and the Ministry for Economy to find potential buyers for both telcos. Guinea Telecom and Guinetel are both majority-owned by the Guinean government and are experiencing serious technical and financial difficulties. Portugal Telecom Internacional (PTI) bought a stake in Guinea Telecom 1989, but its decision to leave the country in June 1998, at the outbreak of the civil war forced the state to retake control of the operator, leaving the Portuguese company's assets in limbo. As it stands, the government is understood to control 50% of the operator, PTI has 40% and the remaining 10% is held by employees. Later this week, Portuguese newspaper, Diario Economico, reported that PTI is willing to find a solution to stay in Guinea Bissau after the local government said it would step in and manage Guinea Telecom and Guinetel. (Source: Telegeography and Telegraph) NCC finally issues telecoms licence to NigComSatThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has finally granted a telecoms licence to Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), the government-owned satellite services provider in a move that may see the feuding government agencies bury their hatchet following the row sparked off by the latter’s plan to provide ‘last mile’ services to subscribers. Technology Times checks reveal that NigComSat, the government owned satellite service provider, which claims it could offer cheaper telephony at N10 a minute to bring down cost of telecoms services using its network to connect geographically dispersed locations nationwide was on March 1, this year granted an International Data Access (IDA) licence. The entry of NigComSat swells licensees in that category to eleven companies. NigComSat and another company, Omnes Communications (Nigeria) Limited, a subsidiary of oil services company, Schlumberger, were both issued the 10-year licence dated March 1, 2008 and expiring February 28, 2018, according to information obtained by Technology Times from the regulator’s site. Hitherto, other companies issued IDA licences include MTS First Wireless Limited, Accelon Nigeria Limited, Gilat Satcom Nigeria Limited, IwayAfrica Nigeria Limited, EM West Africa Limited, Information Connectivity Solutions Limited, Sub-Urban Telecoms Limited, Cobranet Limited and Interconnect Clearinghouse Nigeria Limited. According to NCC, “The scope of IDA licence shall include the right to provide voice and data services and full interconnection to Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN)”, seen by analysts as indications that NigComSat may soon realise its vision of providing last mile service. (Source: Technology Times) In brief:- Mohamed Benhamou, Head of the transports, communications and telecommunications commission at the Algerian Parliament said that a new bill on ICT will soon be submitted to provide for a more opening of the communication market to private investment but under specified conditions, while making it possible for the public sector to support its service networks in various areas. - Namibia’s mobile operators have established a co-operation agreement to blacklist all phones that are reported as stolen. The agreement between Cell One and MTC is aimed at ensuring that mobile operators share information about stolen handsets and prevent them from being used on the various networks. - The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has issued five licenses to different companies to enable them offer information and communications technology (ICT) solutions in the country. The companies are Midas Services (banking services and point of sales services), 2-mobile (multimedia services and VoIP), E-Life (short messages for examination results), Zanzibar Datacom (Internet services) and E-click (video conferencing and VoIP). - Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows Internet users to make phone calls to each other at no cost, is finally taking off among South African businesses, four years after it became legal to use it outside company networks. This is the key finding of the VoIP in South Africa 2008 study, released earlier this week by World Wide Worx. At the end of 2007, half of all corporations were making use of VoIP, and that usage level is expected to rise to 64% in 2008. The use of VoIP among SMEs for business purposes rose from 9% in 2006 to 18% in 2007, after rising from 2% in 2004 (before legalisation) to 4% in 2005. - Kenya's new government is considering a new law to require all mobile phone subscribers to register their identities with the network operators. The move, proposed in a private members bill by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo is reported to be in response to threats sent by SMS during the recent post-election violence in the country. - In Guinea (Conakry), the 5th mobile operator has launched its commercial operations this week. Cellcom Guinea’s MD Abraham Avi Zaïdenberg said that the company has already invested $100 million in this first phase. Cellcom already operates networks in Angola and Liberia and plans to launch soon in Sierra Leone. - Nigeria Communications Comission (NCC) has assured that it will not revoke license of any GSM operator for any offence. Chief Executive Officer, NCC, Mr Ernest Ndukwe gave the assurance yesterday in Cairo, Egypt while speaking with correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the 2008 International Telecoms Union (ITU) conference." Invalidating somebody's license is like committing murder. I think the first person to complain will be the subscribers," Ndukwe said. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- MTC Namibia will be launching a new service named CallMe. It is a USSD-based service whereby customers can send a USSD message which will result in a third party receiving an sms request to call that person back. The text string will be: *150* Cell Number # send button. - Uganda’s newest wireless network operator, Warid Telecom, has announced the launch of a new calling plan that allows customers to place calls to other Warid users and to only pay for the first two minutes of use, no matter how long the call. ‘Effective this month, the first two minutes of a phone call will be chargeable and the rest will be free,’ Zul Javaid, Warid's country general manager, told reporters. - Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (GT) has inaugurated a cell site at Senya Beraku in the Central Region as part of efforts to have a nationwide coverage, avoid congestion and also provide quality services.The cell site, which cost 220,000 dollars, constitutes part of the company's accelerated growth strategy to cover 95 per cent of all settlements in Ghana within the next 12 months.
AccessKenya Group Invests $3.5m to offer residential Internet services in KenyaAccessKenya Group announced that it has invested $3.5 million to build out the largest WiMax network in Kenya with an initial deployment of 35 base stations. This network will form the backbone of its Access@Home guaranteed high speed broadband residential service. “We have tested numerous different vendors including a number of WiMax equipment vendors over the last six months and selected Alvarion’s WiMax solution as our preferred supplier and technology. Alvarion is the world’s leading provider of WiMAX and wireless broadband solutions, with an impressive track record in Africa that includes leading telcos such as Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA and MTN Uganda. We are initially deploying a total of 35 base stations in Nairobi and Mombasa, making our WiMax network the largest in Nairobi and Mombasa. The benefit of such a large network is that we will be able to provide guaranteed high speed services to almost all potential customers in the main residential areas of both Nairobi and Mombasa. We are very excited about this new step in our Group’s expansion strategy as this decision is the culmination of over one year of work to find the right solution for residential users.” commented Jonathan Somen, Group Managing Director. We really believe the new service will offer a quality of internet connection in the home that has simply not been available in Kenya until now." Added Somen. “Following on from our special offer to our 30,000 shareholders, we are delighted to be able to offer the employees of all our corporate customers a ground breaking offer to use Access @ Home – completely free equipment and a 20% discount on the retail price of the solution – a rate of 6,000 shillings per month. We now have approximately 2,200 corporate leased line customers and it is only right that these customers and their employees should benefit from the most generous of offers in recognition of their support of, and loyalty to, AccessKenya over the years. We will also be offering our customers the opportunity to have high speed reliable Virtual Private Network connections to access their offices from home.” continued Somen. Johannesburg wireless ring goes liveWireless infrastructure provider, Amobia, completed the roll out if its first network ring in Johannesburg this week. Amobia's Johann Botha says that there has been a big demand from their clients for wireless last mile services in Johannesburg. With the addition of Amobia's JHB network many clients can now interconnect their branches. This first Johannesburg ring covers the following areas: Soweto, Northcliff, Randburg, Sandton, Gallo Manor, Midrand, Edenvale, Bedfordview, Linksfield, JHB CBD, Kensington, Rivonia, Riveria, Norwood, Randburg Waterfront, Bryanston. More coverage will be created based on demand from clients, says Botha. Botha says that Amobia is hoping to obtain an ECNS (electronic communications network services). The licence will allow Amobia to build national network infrastructure. Amobia is an outdoor fixed wireless infrastructure provider offering "last mile" access services including cost effective broadband, WiFi hotspots, and high-speed point-to-point links. (Source: MyBroadband) Egyptian Website Blocked As Country Hosts Africa's ITU ConferenceOn 12 May 2008, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information reported that the website of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( http://harakamasria.org ), or Kefaya, has been blocked for those who have Internet access through the T-Data Company. T-Data, the country's largest Internet service provider, has been under direct government oversight since May 4. Many visitors to the Kefaya website were surprised at their inability to browse the site in the run-up to the 4 May general strike, whether through T-Data or the Link company. While Link later stopped blocking the site, T-Data has continued blocking the site until now, leaving Internet users unable to access it. It is ironic that the time when the website of Egypt's most important political movement is blocked coincides with the hosting of the largest telecommunication conference in Africa, the Africa Telecoms Conference. Some of HRinfo's technicians attempted to browse the blocked website using different computers and from different locations, but all their attempts were in vain while using T-Data connections. The incident indicates clearly the Egyptian government's return to its practice of blocking Internet sites, which it had earlier abandoned. Said Samir Gad, editor-in-chief of the Kefaya website, said "The website is performing normally with other ISP companies, but the technical supervisor of the website informed us that the T-Data Co. blocked Kefaya through the IP address." Mohamed Ragab, director of HRinfo's technical unit, stated: "The decision to block T-Data customers from accessing Kefaya's website is ridiculous and the kind of action not practiced anymore except by the world's most dictatorial governments. Internet users will use a proxy to get around the block or simply transfer their accounts to other companies. The only loser from this decision is T-Data and the Egyptian government." (Source: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information ) In brief:- Namibia’s government has guaranteed funding of NAD240 million (USD32 million) to Telecom Namibia to connect the country to a new undersea cable that will provide greater broadband capacity for high speed internet, data and voice transmission between Africa and Europe. Cabinet has approved Namibia’s participation in the African West Coast Cable (AWCC) project, led by South Africa’s Broadband InfraCo, which aims to light the new submarine fibre route by May 2010. - In Nigeria, subscribers to the MTN network can now participate in the popular TV reality game show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? through the internet. The internet version is a replica of the TV experience and yet, has its unique features: Participants could choose whatever time or period they wish to play, anywhere and from their comfort using their mobile phones, computers or other internet enabled-hand held devices. - South Africa’s SNO, Neotel has announced that its WiMax trials are progressing well and customers can expect an offering soon. Neotel has previously indicated that they will launch various consumer offerings, including a “Fast Internet and Voice service” using CDMA and a true broadband offering using WiMax. - Algeria’s Minister of Postal Services and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) made a bold statement when he said that “the half-cut in the subscription rates to high speed internet, decided a few weeks ago, will continue till free of charge access". Is it a signal that ISPs have to start rethinking their revenue model for the future? - South Africa’s Mail & Guardian Online has launched the second in its series of Leader blogs at www.TechLeader.co.za . The new site aims to be a niche opinion platform for technology industry leaders, innovators and opinion leaders.
Open Source Software, Free at a priceDevelopers have released a beta, or test version, of the new OpenOffice.org, the most serious rival to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite. Version 3 has some compelling new features, and can’t be beaten at the price. So why isn’t the suite making headway? I’ve used OpenOffice.org on and off since it was released at the turn of the century. It has made significant progress in that time. Whereas versions 1.0 and 1.1 were unstable and lacked basic functionality, version 2.0, released three years ago, was a competent alternative to Office. OpenOffice runs on more platforms than Microsoft’s product and, best of all, it’s completely free of charge. Fact is, though, that the vast majority of computer users don’t actually need Office. OpenOffice provides all the tools they’d ever require, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager and database. So why don’t more people use the software? I think there are two main reasons: * They don’t know about it. One of the biggest problems with open-source initiatives is that they lack the marketing muscle of commercial software enterprises. Microsoft spends hundreds of millions of dollars advertising its products each year, but software projects such as OpenOffice, developed by volunteers, rely almost exclusively on word-of-mouth marketing. Take, for example, the Mozilla Firefox Web browser: despite Firefox being the superior product, rival Internet Explorer, which ships with Windows, still dominates the browser market. * But the biggest barrier to OpenOffice’s adoption is compatibility, or lack thereof, with Office. Because the world has standardised on Office, other productivity software simply has to interoperate seamlessly with it. That means the ability to save documents created in OpenOffice in a format that can be read in Office and the ability, similarly, to open Office documents in OpenOffice. That’s easier said than done. It is particularly difficult to ensure that a complex presentation, for example, retains its correct formatting when transferred between the two suites. Though the developers behind OpenOffice have done good work with their file conversion tools — converting simple documents works well — the software is still not great at handling complex documents. This is enough of a shortcoming for most people to stick to Office, despite its relatively high price. Unfortunately, the developers still seem to be struggling with this key aspect of the office suite. Version 3 includes support for Office Open XML, the new default file format that Microsoft uses in its latest version of Office, released last year. But it falls well short of the mark, making a hash of saving anything but the most basic documents to Open XML. Let’s hope the developers fix this before the final version ships in September. Without excellent interoperability, OpenOffice will struggle to make headway against Office, despite people not having to shell out a cent to use it. (Source: Financial Mail) Kenya Plans to Build Technology ParkThe Government is planning to build a 5,000 seat technology park at the export promotion zone by 2012, a move that is aimed at increasing the business process outsourcing resources in the country. The initiative which will be a private public partnership, is expected to lure big multinational IT investors into the country, said the ICT board chief executive, Mr Paul Kukubo. Currently, there is only one outsourcing company, KenCall, doing service export work at the zone. On completion, the park will link and provide infrastructure support to small and medium enterprises, educational and research institutions. Information technology export oriented businesses are also expected to benefit from the ICT park through tax incentives from the government. In order to attract private participation, the government is likely to offer concession on land to those willing to construct IT offices there and some tax incentives on utility services such as water and electricity. "The private developers should also be assured long term tenancy guarantee by the government, there should be a plan by the government that incase the private developer doesn't get tenancy for the property, the government will put into use the developed offices," Mr Kukubo said. Other than creating employment to the locals, the facilities will provide skill exchange to the employees. Some of the IT services that are expected in the proposed technology park are, software development, computer assembly and business processing outsourcing. Internationally, some of the countries that have managed to attract multinational investors in IT by building the technology parks are India and Mauritius. At the moment, the companies at the EPZ enjoy exemptions from corporate income tax, withholding tax, stamp duty, import duty and VAT. Other incentives include procedural incentives project approvals done within 30 days, facilitation of work permits and import logistics. Kenya's outsourcing industry has in the recent years attracted investors due to many skilled labourers in the market who are cheaper compared to other African outsourcing destinations such as South Africa and India. (Source: Business Daily) Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptopsMicrosoft is launching a program to promote the use of its Windows OS in ultra low-cost PCs, one effect of which will be to limit the hardware capabilities of this type of device, IDG News Service has learned. Microsoft plans to offer PC makers steep discounts on Windows XP Home Edition to encourage them to use that OS instead of Linux on ultra low-cost PCs (ULPCs). To be eligible, however, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot offer touch-screen PCs. The program is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service. The goal apparently is to limit the hardware capabilities of ULPCs so that they don't eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Windows Vista, something both Microsoft and the PC vendors would want to avoid. Imposing the limitations solves a number of problems for the PC industry, said industry analyst Roger Kay, president of EndPoint Technologies Associates. "It allows PC makers to offer a low-cost alternative, and it prevents eroding of pricing and margins in the mainstream OS market," he said. Microsoft declined to comment on the documents. "We don't speak publicly about our agreements with [PC makers]," the company said in a statement via its public relations agency. ULPCs are an emerging class of laptops that carry low price tags -- about $250 to $500. Early examples include the Asus Eee PC and One Laptop Per Child's XO machine. The systems already have limited hardware configurations. Microsoft's program appears designed to ensure that distinction is maintained and to prevent ULPCs from cannibalizing sales of higher-end systems, Kay said. Twenty or more other designs are expected to enter the market over the next six months, and Microsoft expects 10 million to 13 million of the devices to sell this year, according to the documents. IDC's forecast is more modest: On Thursday it said it expects ULPC sales to hit 9 million units by 2012, up from 500,00 last year. Microsoft notes that the OSes under consideration for the devices include Windows and Linux. Some PC makers have expressed a preference for Linux because it helps them keep down the cost of the devices. Microsoft says PC makers are keen to enter the market but want to keep ULPCs as a distinct category from "value" and mainstream PCs. The company's new program, scheduled to launch by the end of June, is designed to help make that happen. Microsoft plans to charge PC makers US$26 for Windows XP Home Edition for ULPCs sold in emerging markets such as China and India, and $32 for those sold in developed markets, the documents show. PC makers who are eligible for its Market Development Agreement, however, can get a discount of as much as $10 off those prices, the documents say. That's where the hardware limits come in. Besides limits on the screens and hard drives, to be eligible, the systems can have no more than 1G byte of RAM and a single-core processor running at no more than 1GHz. The program makes an allowance for some chips, including Via Technologies' C7-M processors, which run between 1.0GHz and 1.6GHz, and Intel's upcoming Atom N270. By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the program. "[Low-cost PC makers] have made some good inroads with open-source, and Microsoft wants to put a stop to it," the official said. The official did not seem opposed to the program. It should stimulate more competition between Windows and Linux in the ULPC market, and it could invigorate sales because consumers who want an easy-to-use PC are likely to prefer Windows, the official said. (Source: IDG) In brief:- Acer has taken the top slot for notebook in the EMEA region for the first quarter of this year. In the Middle East and Africa region (MEA), Acer was also ranked second, with 12% share of the desktop and notebook market, although it accounted for 22.9% of notebook shipments in the region, and was number one in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. - In South Africa, the City of Windhoek is to open an Information Technology (IT) Training Centre at the Oshetu Community Market, formerly Single Quarters, in Katutura. The IT Centre is part of a new administration and IT block which has been funded by the City of Windhoek at a cost of N$2 million, and is aimed at strengthening capacity building for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). - In line with Ingram Micro South Africa's long-term goal of offering the widest possible range of component brands to the local system builder and OEM channels, the company has announced the addition of Targus and Intel to the mix of products in its portfolio. - Microsoft will increase its focus on making mobile phones part of its strategy to spread IT to people in developing nations, based partly on a prototype already developed for the purpose called Fone+. - Easy to use, Fedora 9 has better broadband support and 3D desktop effects. Six months after the release of Fedora 8, version 9 of the Linux operating system has been released. Fedora, the Red Hat-backed Linux version, is an easy
Wholesale growth tempers profits slide at Telecom EgyptTelecom Egypt saw consolidate net profits slip 4.8% to EGP557 million ($104 million) in the first quarter of 2008, as the operator experiences greater competitive pressure on its voice revenues and retail segment. In the three months to 31st March, 2008, consolidated EBITDA before provisions amounted to EGP1.2 billion ($224 million), 11.8% down from the same period in 2007. Akil Beshir, chairman and CEO, Telecom Egypt, remained positive, saying the figures were in line with seasonal expectations for voice traffic. "Our business is seasonal and this has a notable bearing on both retail voice traffic, particularly in respect of international calls, and on revenues derived from new connections," Beshir said in a statement. "For this reason, comparisons with the fourth quarter of 2007 are misleading. Year-on-year comparisons show that, despite market pressures, total sales revenues were recorded at similar levels at EGP2.4 billion ($448 million). Total retail revenues slipped to EGP1.4 billion ($262 million) during the quarter, compared to EGP1.5 billion ($280 million) last year. The decline was attributed to the fall in total voice revenues and aggressive pricing campaigns by rival mobile operators. However, this was partly offset by positive growth was seen in its wholesale business, where - thanks to market liberalisation - revenues now comprise 40% of the group's total revenue base. Total wholesale revenues for the three-month period stood at EGP952 million ($178 million), compared to EGP852 million ($159 million) in 2007. Beshir added: "There is little doubt that the emphasis of our business during the first three months of the year was on expanding wholesale services to capitalise on the growing demand for telecommunication services in the domestic market. "Increased promotional activities by the mobile operators have rapidly accelerated the development of the mobile market in Egypt and heightened demand for access to our extensive, highly-modernised network. Total wholesale revenues have increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2007 and now comprise 40% of our total revenue base. This has offset the pressure we have experienced on voice revenues within our retail segment during the period." In terms of subscriber numbers, the number of fixed-line customers grew 3.3% year-on-year to 11.2 million, with net additions declining 71.1% from the year earlier. ARPU has also slipped 11% from 2007 to EGP49.2 ($9.20). ADSL accounts improved 133.9% to 259,713 subscribers, lifting Telecom Egypt's retail ADSL market share to 53.8%, compared to 46.5% last year. (Source: ITP) New Shareholder for Vodacom MozambiqueWhatana Investments, a company chaired by Mozambique's former first lady, Graca Machel, has taken a five per cent stake in Vodacom Mozambique (VM), one of the two mobile phone operators in the country. VM is the Mozambican subsidiary of the South African cell phone giant, Vodacom. When VM began operations in 2003, 98 per cent of its shares were held by Vodacom, and only two per cent by Mozambican investors. The local holding has now increased to 15 per cent, but Vodacom's 85 per cent stake ensures that VM is still an overwhelmingly South African company. The other two Mozambican shareholders, each with five per cent, are EMOTEK, headed by prominent business figure Hermenegildo Gamito, who is also a parliamentary deputy for the ruling Frelimo Party, and the Intelec group, which counts President Armando Guebuza as one of its shareholders Announcing the Whatana acquisition in Maputo on Monday, Gamito, who is chairperson of the VM board, said that the five per cent stake is worth 70 million rands (ten million US dollars). He did not say how much Whatana has paid upfront. "This growing involvement of Mozambican businesses will not end here", pledged Gamito. "We have plans to increase our shareholding so that Vodacam holds between 51 and 55 per cent, and we Mozambicans hold the rest". In South Africa, the Chief Executive Officer of the Vodacom Group, Alan Knott-Craig, said the deal was part of its strategy to "create a truly Mozambican company". "Vodacom Mozambique is pleased to welcome Whatana as a shareholder", he declared. "Together we will provide cutting-edge technology to Mozambicans and we look forward to the contribution that our new shareholder will make to Vodacom Mozambique." Whatana is managed by Graca Machel's son, Malenga Machel, who said "Whatana is very proud to become a shareholder of Vodacom Mozambique, a company that adds value to the lives of millions of Mozambicans by ensuring ease of communication. This not only has economic benefits for all the people of Mozambique, but ensures that everyone in this country is only a phone call away from each other. Whatana is committed to help materialise Vodacom's objectives in Mozambique." Whatana declares that its aim is to invest in mining, energy, logistics, telecommunications, tourism and finance. It is working with the international internet security company, WISeKey, with whom it signed an agreement in January to set up a WISeKey affiliate in South Africa in 2008. VM is competing against the pioneer in mobile phone technology in Mozambique, the publicly owned Mozambican company M-Cel. In its 2007 annual report, Vodacom claimed that VM had 35 per cent of the Mozambican market. VM is still running at a loss, and both VM and M-Cel spend large sums on saturation advertising. (Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) Emerging Markets Save Day for Didata and DatatecA couple of years ago, Dimension Data and Datatec would have liked their US operations to be larger. It was, after all, the centre of the IT universe. Now they are thankful that the US does not dominate their operations as its economy slumps and emerging markets roar ahead. Both companies issued results yesterday showing how well they are doing in emerging countries still hungry for IT. Investec analysts say Didata is benefiting from being underweight in the US and skewed towards thriving emerging markets. It grew its US revenue 25% in the past six months, yet that was outstripped by its growth in Asia, while Africa provided "terrific" growth, says CEO Brett Dawson. Frost & Sullivan analyst Spiwe Chireka says IT spending in Africa will not be badly hit by the global economic slowdown, as Africa is in a catch-up phase for networking and telecoms services. So the growing presence of Datatec and Didata in Africa should ensure their continued growth. Chireka also applauds Datatec's Latin America expansion, which offers exciting potential to protect its income. Datatec CEO Jens Montanana says the US economy "is muddling along" and now provides 42% of its revenue. A year ago it accounted for 51% of its revenue, and 57% the year before. It now earns 12% of its revenue in emerging markets thanks to acquisitions and organic growth, and should double that within two years. "We are not trying to engineer our business to reduce it in the US, but to increase it elsewhere," Montanana says. Gartner analysts say IT spending will represent 8,5% of the gross domestic product in emerging markets by 2011, compared with 4,3% in mature markets. "Vendors must consider emerging markets as a source of future opportunity," Gartner says. Datatec and Didata have been doing that already, and both are clearly benefiting from their foresight. (Source: Business Day) West Africa wants a slice of the lucrative Global Outsourcing marketWest African countries hoping to position themselves as future global IT hubs face an uphill struggle, according to new research from Yankee Group. Serious labour and infrastructure problems, plus a growing power shortage, need to be addressed if they are to succeed in this potentially lucrative market. Thanks to globalization, the outsourcing market has continued to grow worldwide as enterprises adopt IT and business process outsourcing, lifting the fortunes of the developing countries able to plug in and provide services. Having witnessed the outsourcing success of India, West Africa would like to get on-board too. Nigeria is making a big noise here at Telecom Africa, setting itself up as a prime outsource and offshoring location. “Outsourcing would have a huge impact on the ecomony,” says Tony Marson, Senior Research Analyst with Yankee Group. “Nigeria’s taken the first steps – it has achieved some stability in terms of government, and got rid of military intervention within government. But it must ensure things happening in the Delta region must stop (namely attacks on oil companies, and kidnappings of overseas workers), to ensure Western companies feel their staff are safe in Nigeria.” “Outsourcing provides good jobs,” adds Mindy Blodgett, Yankee Group Research Analyst. “It can lift the economy. These are jobs that people can take a lot of pride in and aspire to. Look what it has done for India; Tata and Infosys are now global powerhouses, thanks to outsourcing. So it’s smart that Nigeria aspires to attract this kind of work.” In contrast to the West African countries, Egypt could be better placed to benefit. During Sunday’s opening ceremony, Dr Tarek Kamel, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, underlined the importance his government was placing on attracting outsourcing companies, claiming that the business will double by 2010. “It’s a realistic goal,” commented Blodgett, “mainly because the market for outsourcing in Egypt is so small right now.” Marson echoed her comments, adding that an educated workforce was of paramount importance; “Egypt has a big opportunity, as they have taken care to extend the graduate pipeline. IT graduates account for about 30 per cent of the total graduates in Egypt and are of high quality, especially from the Nile University, and you also need multi-lingual students.” Yankee Group conducted research last year that showed language skills in Egypt are the best in Africa – thanks in main from the country having a good tourist industry, and therefore lots of languages spoken. Yankee Group concludes that West African governments need to form closer partnerships with outsourcing service providers, power companies, universities and also each other. Education and worker training are key, and the outsourcing market will never grow in a country that does not have an adequately sized and educated workforce. Energy efficiency is a further factor. “For example, South Africa has a huge power shortfall,” says Marson. “There has been no investment in power supply infrastructure in the last 10 years, despite warnings. Eskom [the national power utility company] actually exports power to neighbouring countries, but it can’t get out of these long-term agreements and help its own industry. So there is now an opportunity for South Africa to become a world leader in power-reduction technologies, which is an attraction to firms looking at lowering the cost of their outsourcing.” (Source: Telecom TV) In brief:- Maroc Telecom, the largest mobile operator and only fixed-line operator in Morocco said first-quarter revenue rose 14%, helped by strong revenue growth at its Moroccan mobile division. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 increased to MAD6.97 billion Moroccan dirhams from MAD6.11 billion a year earlier. The Moroccan operator reported operating profit rose 9.1% to MAD3.1 billion from MAD2.84 billion. Maroc Telecom, which also has operations in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Gabon, is 53%-owned by entertainment and telecom company Vivendi - Vodafone is in talks with the Ghanaian government about acquiring a majority stake in the country's leading telecoms group as the UK group seeks to boost is presence in Africa. The news comes after Vodafone considered a bid for South Africa's MTN this weekend, but rejected the idea of a £19bn-plus takeover offer. Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin now plans to focus Vodafone's investments on a country-by-country basis. Ghana could be next.
Poor segmentation the bane of Nigerian Mobile MarketingI just got a promotional marketing SMS from my mobile operator asking me to sign on for daily live football scores via SMS. Great product but am I not signing. I am one of the odd young men in the age bracket of 25 – 40 years who do not like football. I have never been a football fan and my expectation of the operator is that by now, they should have studied my download patterns and send targeted adverts relating to my interest only. This is poor segmentation practices. Segmentation is the process of partioning markets into segments of potential customers with similar characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar purchase behavior. The objective of subscriber segmentation is to analyze markets, find a niche develop and capitalize on this superior competitive position. Poor segmentation of subscribers is the major reason for low level consumption of mobile value added services in Nigeria. Subscriber decision making process though objective but yet it is an emotional process whereby various factors influence the purchase decision. These factors are many and since the mobile operators have the subscribers download records, this should be used to form basis for marketing to that particular subscriber. Google mail (gmail) displays targeted adverts relating to the contents of your emails. If the patterns becomes consistent, then the user is profiled for detailed email marketing that matches the interest and lifestyle of the email user!!! I find that very interesting and useful. Some Nigerian Mobile operators had tried many strategies but most of them, though popular but without data collections. Youth marketing of MTN and Glo are commendable but it is not yielding any data of relevance to long term strategy and subscriber segmentation. The overall benefit to subscriber segmentation is to improve the mobile operator’s competitiveness and better serve the needs of the subscribers effectively and efficiently. Segmentation might be more expensive initially but it is more cost effective than mass marketing strategies in the long term. Mobile operators will be able to deploy products that meet the needs of the subscribers. Many of the value added services products do not meet the real life needs or even lifestyle of the subscribers but mobile operators in Nigeria may not really know this because the subscribers are on the high side and the numbers adequately cover up for the glaring imbalance in subscribers versus consumption ratio in the short term. It will also help in determining effective and cost efficient promotional strategies. I am of the opinion that mobile operators in Nigeria will save millions of Naira annually if they properly target subscribers against the present mass marketing which was why my 70 year old grandma was sent SMS marketing promotional of Michael Jackson “thriller” caller ring back tune to her phone. Poor targeting. (Source: Emmanuel Okoegwale, Mobile Marketing Specialist) Hackers Target the Financial Gazette Website in ZimbabweA new 'cyber-war' has been declared on Zimbabwean newspapers as hackers attacked the website of the Financial Gazette, barely two days after Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper's website was also hacked. The latest web edition of the website, www.fingaz.co.zw, had all the headlines replaced in exactly the same manner as The Herald headlines were replaced The hacker, who is the same 'person' that hacked the Herald website, is identified as simply "r4b00f". A redirection link was provided as a replacement to news items. The redirection pointed to the website of a civic action group called Sokwanele. According to The Herald, "The hackers, believed to be operating outside Zimbabwe, managed to get through security systems on both the server and database at the Internet service provider hosting the website and changed headlines on the front page." The same hacker seems to have hacked the Financial Gazette website in exactly the same way. The Financial Gazette is a weekly newspaper which focuses on business, finance, and politics throughout Southern Africa. It is owned independently by Zimbabwean investors, although international press rumours suggest that the paper is now controlled by the government of Zimbabwe. (Source: The Zimbabwe Guardian)
People* Abdellahi Ould Ely Ould Bennane has been appointed as the new ICT Minister in Mauritania following a reshuffling of the Government. * In Algeria, Moussa Benhamadi has been appointed as the new DG of Algerie Telecom and Zohra Boumâzza Derdouri takes the head of the ARPT, the Algerian Telecoms regulator. * François Lucas has resigned from its position of Acting CEO at Tunisie Telecom. Events* ITU REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM 2008 "Bridging the ICT standardization gap in developing countries" for the African Region 26-28 May 2008, Accra, Ghana The Forums are intended for executives from National Regulatory Bodies, Telecommunication Operators and Service Providers in the regions who need to be kept abreast of the latest development in telecommunications and who need to be familiar with the future challenges ITU is facing and, therefore, be able to draw up strategies to achieve greater participation in ITU activities, in particular ITU Study Group activities. For further information visit http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/tech/indexDevelopmentForum.html * 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 * FORUM ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS/ICT PARTNERSHIP IN AFRICA 4-6 June 2008, Dakar, Senegal After consultation with the Steering Committee of the African Telecommunications Regulators' Network, it proved more efficient to combine the Public and Private Sector Partnership Forums (PPPF) and the Forum on Telecommunication Regulation in Africa (FTRA) into a single forum referred to as the Forum on Telecom/ICT Regulation and Partnership in Africa (FTRA), which will be held for three days. For further information visit http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/AFR * 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 * WEST CENTRA AFRICA COM 18-19 June, Abuja, Nigeria Reflecting the region's existing economic and cultural ties, this event will bring together the Western and Central regions of Africa. With over 20 countries represented, West & Central Africa Com will give all participants an opportunity to create and develop partnerships with over 100 operators and service providers in the region. For further information visit http://www.comworldseries.com/newt/l/gsm/events/westafrica * FRAUD PREVENTION AND REVENUE ASSURANCE MENA 1-2 July 2008,Dubai UAE ViB events’ Fraud Prevention and Revenue Assurance MENA will bring together telecoms operators and industry experts to discuss the critical issues, which are faced by revenue assurance and fraud personnel today. For further information visit website http://www.revenueassurance.info/mena2008/index.html * 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 * THE AFRICAN NETWORK (TAN) CONFERENCE 16th August 2008, Accra, Ghana The theme for TANCon Ghana 2008 is “Next Frontier in Business: Propelling Africa to New Heights”, to reflect the growing number of African entrepreneurs in business today, and to showcase to the world Africa's limitless intellectual and economic capital. This year’s attendees will include seasoned, as well as first-time entrepreneurs, business leaders, public policy leaders, venture capitalists and investment bankers interested in learning first-hand how to successfully invest in technology and in Africa. The topics that would be covered at this year’s conference will include Social Entrepreneurship, Women in African Business, Raising Capital, Entrepreneurship in Informal Sector, Infrastructure Development and Creative Partnership Strategies. Attendees will network with the big wigs in entrepreneurship, business, government policy makers and politicians. For further information visit http://www.theafricannetwork.org/tancon/africa/ * CAPACITY AFRICA 2008 14-15 Oct 2008, Cape Town, South Africa This unique event features a business-driven agenda that will address the latest market developments and opportunities and equip delegates with strategic information to enable them to grow their businesses. Dedicated networking opportunities throughout the programme will provide you with the optimum opportunity to build profitable partnerships and execute business deals. For additional information visit http://www.capacitymedia.com/conferences-events.asp Jobs and Opportunities* HR Director – West Africa A mobile operator is looking for an HR director to design, Implement , lead, manage and drive the HR strategy, responsible for overall Hr activities including employee engagement, compensation and benefit, recruitment, training and development, performance management, careers management, employee relations, payroll For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com * Expert for the development of ICT bill for the Government of Zimbabwe The primary objective is to assist the Ministry of Science and Technology Development to draft a comprehensive ICT Bill and give prime and general recommendations in a preliminary draft for a comprehensive national ICT bill for the Government of Zimbabwe so that national legislative bodies can elaborate the final bill proposition in accordance with the law of Zimbabwe. The application deadline is Monday 26 May 2008. For further information visit http://www.danishmanagement.dk/ Contracts* Globacom and Alcatel-Lucent – Nigeria French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent has announced the inking of a contract with Nigerian second national operator (SNO) Globacom to increase the capacity and performance of its mobile and fixed networks. The project is part of the operator’s move to an all-IP network, enabling the provision of triple-play services, and includes improvements to the core fixed and mobile infrastructures as well as radio access and microwave backhaul systems. No dates or financial details have yet been publicised. * Moov and Intec – Côte d’Ivoire Intec, a global provider of business and operations systems (BSS/OSS), today announced that it has signed a major deal with Moov Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of Atlantique Telecom, one of the fastest growing GSM operators in West and Central Africa. Under the terms of the agreement, Intec has supplied and successfully installed its market leading Intec Interconnect billing solution at Moov Côte d’Ivoire with a network of over 1 million subscribers. Moov is the mobile brand name of Atlantique Telecom whose minority shareholder is Banque Atlantique of Côte d’Ivoire and the majority shareholder Etisalat, one of the biggest telecommunications services providers in the Middle. * Africell and Alcatel-Lucent - Burundi Alcatel-Lucent announced that it has been awarded a three-year USD20 million frame contract by Africa Cellulaire (Africell) Burundi, majority owned by VTEL Holdings, for the delivery and installation of a nation-wide GSM/EDGE network. Under the deal Alca-Lu wil will install and deploy an end-to-end GSM/EDGE network, including base station sub-systems (BSSs), next generation Mobile Switching Centres (MSCs), Intelligent Network (IN) applications and service platforms, as well as radio optimisation design, consulting services and network maintenance.
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