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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 406 Mobile Internet take-up is speeding the take-up of IPv6 in AfricaA few years ago Africa’s new Internet Numbers Registry, AfriNIC looked more of a dream and a prayer than a reality. But the take-up of IPv4 Internet addresses, which has almost reached 85% of those allocated, has shown that it can do its job and do it well. It’s now experiencing a second wave of growth as mobile companies buy IPv6 addresses to keep up with the expansion of mobile data services. Russell Southwood spoke to AfriNIC’s CEO Adiel Akplogan about what it all means. The process of preparing for the transition to IPv6 started in December 2005 when AfriNIC ran its first training course on the subject as part of its annual meeting. Back then, its adoption may have seemed less pressing and indeed maybe slightly irrelevant for Africa. But the dramatic take-up of AfriNIC’s IPv4 allocation has made this “it’s not for Africa” position dangerously outdated. Although AfriNIC’s latest study predicts that IPv4 addresses will run out in 2012, the pressure to consider IPv6 addresses as an alternative will grow stronger as time goes by. For since AfriNIC started, there has been a 100% growth in IPv4 allocations and this has increased dramatically again with the entry of 3G mobile data services. Overall, AfriNIC has allocated 16 million addresses, which means that somewhere out there on the continent there are 16 million devices that need an IP address to operate. These could be anything from a PC to a printer or a mobile phone. Last year it allocated 5 million addresses and a significant proportion of these were from mobile operators moving from private to public IPv4 addresses to meet data service demand. In three years time, it projects that the number of addresses allocated will have doubled to approximately 32 million. The tantalising but slightly elusive calculation is to wonder how many devices/addresses there are on average per person because out of that guesstimate it would be possible to say roughly how many people had access to an Internet ready device of some sort. In 2005 there were only four allocations of IPv6 addresses but now there are nearly 60 allocations so the transition point may well get closer as mobile companies transition first to IPv4 addresses (exhausting the existing allocation more quickly than the 2012 prediction) and switch to IPv6. As Adiel Akplogan notes:” This runs to billions of addresses.” AfriNIC is looking to make sure that IPv6 addresses are deployed in each African country. So what’s so good about IPv6? The cynics always believe that upgrades simply fiddle with what was once perfectly adequate and need whole new generations of fiddling to get them right. Akplogan says this will not be the case as IPv4 has drawn heavily on the experience of IPv4 and it contains features that are much easier to access, things that existed in IPv4 but which were not really necessarily widely used. And those features? Akplogan said:”Security is embedded in IPv6 and it’s possible to encrypt communications and there will be the development of apps around that as it will be possible to safely encypt on the fly.” But the key draw in terms of how Africa’s Internet markets are developing is IPv6 also has mobility embedded in it:”We’ll reach a point where IP addresses will become our identity. You can reach someone on any device on the same IP addresses.” “A number of organisations have recognized that these advantages are relevant to Africa and have imposed a rule that all new equipment is IPv6-ready.”
Government wants new mobile, fixed operators in South AfricaGovernment will license a fourth mobile operator and a third fixed-line operator in 2009. That's the word from ANC MP and member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications Khotso Khumalo, who made the announcements at an industry Seminar, in Johannesburg. In addition to the announcements on new operators, Khumalo also said government wanted VANS to be allowed to self-provide and that the frequency spectrum allocation would be made more efficient. “Things are changing and changing fundamentally,” said Khumalo. “As government, we need to look at better ways to liberalise the telecommunications market.” (Source: ITWeb) Etisalat Tanzania unit eyes 35 percent market shareEtisalat) Tanzania unit aims to raise its market share to as much as 35 percent by 2011 as it benefits from economic growth, a company official said on Wednesday. Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel), in which the Gulf's second-largest mobile operator has a 51 percent stake, has about 10 percent of the market, representing just over 1 million customers, Chief Financial Officer Arthur Hudson told Reuters on the sidelines of a telecom conference in Dubai. "In the next two to three years, the target is to reach 30 to 35 percent of mobile market share," Hudson said. "There is huge growth potential in Tanzania with only 20 percent market penetration." Hudson said the firm was likely to benefit from a growth in the agriculturally-dominated economy, spurred by the global rise in commodity prices. Zantel is halfway to completing a $100 million upgrade in its infrastructure that would cover up to 2.2 million customers by 2009, he said. "When this runs out we're looking to invest an amount in the same neighbourhood ... this will bring the capacity to 5 million customers," Hudson said. Other operators in the country of about 40 million people, are Vodacom Tanzania, jointly owned by Telkom and Britain's Vodafone, Celtel, a unit of Kuwait's Zain, and Mobitel. (Source: Reuters) Nigeria’s Transcorp Uncovers Billion Naira Fraud At NitelNitel owner Transcorp announced this week that it had discovered internal fraud on a massive scale. Readers of News Update will not surprised by this revelation as in issue 209 in 2004 former CEO Rein Zwolsman revealed that there was a 30-40% loss of revenues from internal fraud and little that has happened since suggests that an old dog has learned how to behave differently. The fraud is very simple. Nitel employees allow organisations and individuals to use their phone service for a token sum paid to the company and pocket a bribe for the arrangement. The phone company loses significant billable revenues. The only unusual thing about this former public company is the scale on which this occurs. Apparently a team of Transcorp accountants performing a routine check on the books of Nitel, discovered the fraud. According to a report in This Day, several organisations and government agencies are said to use Nitel services without paying or paying a token (which translates as a bribe) to some "faceless" people instead of the coffers of the firm. The Corporate Communications Manager of Transcorp, Dayo Ojo, confirmed to This Day that some loopholes had been discovered in the accounting process of Nitel. He said a preliminary report by a group of accountants who were sent to check the books and accounting processes of Nitel uncovered a lot of leakages through which billions of naira could not be accounted for:” "The carrier had a lot of organisations actually connected to and using its services without paying for the services because the inflow was not commensurate with the services Nitel was rendering to them", he said. Meanwhile the employees of Nitel (who it should be noted are not all dishonest) have been on strike because they have not been paid their wages recently, although they recently agreed to go back to work. The strike has caused havoc to the country’s communications system as it closed the SAT3 landing station for periods and because the Nitel network is used for interconnection, has on occasions also bought this process to a standstill. The rather convenient sudden discovery of the fraud means that Transcorp is now saying that it will not put any more money into the company until the matter is resolved. The accountants have been given 30 days within which to come up with a plan or guidelines as to what needs to be done. The more cynical might say that perhaps Transcorp might have spotted this revenue leakage earlier and put in a management capable of dealing with it. The Group Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Transcorp, Tom Iseghohi, said Transcorp had invested over N5 billion in the firm's operational and personnel costs since it took over almost two years ago. Iseghohi stated that contrary to the view in some quarters that Transcorp was taking money out of Nitel, it was actually putting money in it so as to turn the fortunes of company around. There’s no doubt this is the case but any reasonable investor might ask itself what it is getting back on its investment. On current evidence, a significant proportion of its potential return is being distributed to the company’s phone users rather than its shareholder. (Source: This Day) Insiders Head List for CCK Job in KenyaTwo insiders are among the top three contenders to succeed John Waweru, as the head of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the media and telecoms regulatory body. The CCK board has presented the names of John Omo, Charles Njoroge and Nashon Awayo to Information minister Samuel Poghisio for appointment to the sensitive and strategic position in the public service. Njoroge is the director of Competition, Tariffs and Market Analysis at CCK where he has played a crucial role in overseeing the renegotiation of interconnection charges between rivals Telkom Kenya, Safaricom and Celtel. The renegotiation led to the setting of the maximum levy for a call across networks at Sh30 per minute late last year. He has worked with CCK since 1999 after leaving the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Company where was a senior economist. Omo is the Commission Secretary and Head of Legal affairs at CCK where he has been involved in developing the new licensing regime presently under discussion in the industry. The proposed structures have three broad licence categories, which include: network, services and content providers. Previously, the licensing regime was a hostage of the technology employed by the providers. The new regime is geared towards convergence of technologies and multimedia services. Owayo, an engineer by profession, is a former Telkom Kenya employee. The three were selected from a list of 47 candidates who had expressed interest in the job following the scheduled retirement of Waweru. Omo joined CCK from the Attorney- General Chambers in 2000. (Source: Business Daily) In brief:- Kuwait-based mobile operator Zain aims to enter the Malian telecoms market and could also seal agreements in two more African nations before the end of the year, its CEO has told magazine Arabian Business. "We are looking at Mali, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Rwanda and Mozambique,” Saad Al-Barrak said. “Mali is the closest to a deal, which we hope to seal before the end of the year, and then the others are on the same level. We are actively engaged in discussions and exploration. - Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) acting director general Mr Charles Sibanda told Herald Business that preliminary tests for 3G by all mobile service providers were "successfully" carried out. "We are now focusing on the legal aspect of the 3G service and this has taken much time than we had expected," said Mr Sibanda, adding that for the time being they were working on changing the existing framework. - The Kenyan Parliament has taken the first tentative step to enact legislation to outlaw the abuse of the mobile phone whereby all mobile phone users will have to register their numbers using their identity cards or passports. This will put an end to the current situation where one can acquire a SIM card from a street seller without getting as much as a receipt. - In Morocco, the National Company of Radio and TV Broadcasting (French acronym SNRT) has rolled out a new mobile TV service that allows mobile phone users to watch five Moroccan TV channels Al Oula, 2M, Arryadia, Arrabiâ and Assadissa. Using the digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) system, this service is available the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, while eight other cities will be covered by the end of 2008. - The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has started advertising for a fourth mobile phone operator, even though a licence for the third cellco has still not been allocated. The country currently has two operational cellcos, Celtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM), and advertised for a third in March 2007. - For the past two months, Erongo's rural areas in Namibia have been without telephone services due to widespread copper theft, and it is uncertain how long this will continue. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage- Uganda telecom (utl) has completed a $150m (sh246b) project aimed at expanding and improving its network countrywide. Mark Kaheru, the communications manager, said the project, which established 94 new sites, involved doubling the number of base transmission stations. - Starcomms, Nigeria's 4th largest telecommunications operator has expanding its network based on CDMA- EVDO to cover Benin City. The company will launching its entire product category - Mobile, Talkie, Data, Tele-center Value Added Service. - Warid Telecom has launched its operations in Lira and Apac in the North of Uganda. The company has also reported 500,000 customers since its launch in January this year. - The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is testing 'Push to Talk on Cellular' (PoC) service as an early warning system to aid farmers living under the constant threat of elephants from Mount Kenya forest. - Celtel Kenya has lowered its rate and subscribers will enjoy longer off peak calling hours as well as reduced call charges. The subscribers will now call between 6pm and 6am every weekday and all weekend for Sh3 per minute. - Fixed line operator, Ghana Telecom (GT) has revealed plans to expand its network and services to northern parts of the Western Region to provide telecoms access and in turn stimulate socio-economic activity in the area. GT intends to invest USD50,000 to ‘hopefully cover considerable portions of the region’, said Emmanuel Adusei Essel, Western Regional Manager of GT.
South Africa parliament approves Internet gambling lawSouth Africa's parliament approved a new Internet gambling law to regulate an industry plagued by crime and vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing, parliamentary papers showed on Monday. A memorandum attached to the National Gambling Amendment Bill said the interactive gambling industry in Africa's biggest economy was currently unregulated and "generally plagued" by crime. "This situation has resulted in a considerable loss of revenue to the national fiscus and compromises the country's reputation as a responsible global citizen," it said. The new bill aims to address the negative socio-economic effects associated with gambling and deals specifically with issues of problem gambling, player protection, licensing, taxation and advertising. Every online player would need to be registered with a licensed interactive gambling provider and submit an affidavit to ensure they were older than 18 years. "The purpose of this Act is to ensure that all gambling activities are conducted responsibly, fairly and honestly (and to) protect minors and other vulnerable persons from the negative effects of gambling," it said. The bill also allowed for an electronic monitoring system to help root out potentially addictive behaviour and restrict credit extensions to players. President Thabo Mbeki must still sign the bill into law before it comes into effect. According to South Africa's National Gambling Board, which will enforce the country's new laws, revenues across all forms of gambling, excluding Internet, increased to 13.5 billion rand (924 million pounds) in 2006/07 from 6.2 billion rand in 2001/02. (Source: Reuters) Emperion Promises Improved Broadband Services in NigeriaAfrican bandwidth provider Emperion has put in place new management at its Danish parent company. Sandeep Jayaswal has assumed the position of the company's new Managing Director of Emperion West Africa. He was the founding MD of Direct-on-PC, a leading Nigerian ISP. The company has backing from Scandinavian venture capital firm, Anderson Advisory Group, headed by Michael Anderson and plans to provide more reliable internet broadband services for not only corporate organizations but also to also to move into the SME market at relatively low prices. Emperion designs, deploys, operates and maintains broadband IP communication solutions and services based on digital satellite (VSAT) and fixed wireless access (FWA) networks. The solutions are targeted at enterprise class customers and are deployed to a rapidly growing client portfolio in more than 30 countries in Europe , Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The company will add the video conferencing technology along with other known packages and solutions. Emperion currently services no fewer than six major banks and several blue chip and multinational companies. (Source: This Day) South Africa's Neotel targets 60,000 users in 9 monthsSouth Africa's second fixed-line operator, Neotel, said on Thursday it plans to sign-up about 60,000 customers over the next nine months as it steps up its challenge to former monopoly Telkom. Neotel Managing Director Ajay Pandey said the company was aiming for 50,000 to 60,000 customers for its first consumer product -- NeoConnect Prime - over the next six to nine months. Customers will sign a two-year contract for a wireless desk phone which acts as an integrated device to provide voice calls, Internet access, an email account and the ability to receive and send text messages. It is likely to compete head on with similar products being offered by mobile operators, such as mobile internet connect cards. An integrated device and a 24-month NeoConnect Prime contract will cost 89 rand per month in rental fees. Neotel, which aims to snatch 15 percent of former monopoly Telkom's fixed-line revenue in three to four years, launched its telephone and Internet services to corporate customers in March last year. Five different NeoConnect Prime packages, ranging from entry level product offering 2.5 giga-bytes to a package for unlimited Internet access, will be offered in Johannesburg and Pretoria. (Source: Reuters) In brief:- The Algerian ISP Icosnet has contracted Aperto Networks to deploy a WiMAX network which will be used to provide high speed wireless internet services to business users. Deployments have already begun in northern Algeria and Icosnet plans expansions to other regions. - Mauritius mobile operator Emtel is planning to launch a broadband service aimed at the residential market. The company which is completing the first phase of a fibre network across the island envisages to offer connections up to 8MB at Rs1,000 (US$36). - Senegal’s public administration has launched its governmental intranet portal project which will see all major regional administrative cities (Dakar, Saint-Louis, Thiès, Louga, Kaolack and Fatick) linked via a high speed 700 km fibre cable. - South African regulator ICASA continues to grapple with its process to assign WiMax spectrum to new players. However, operators that already have spectrum have begun unveiling their WiMax solutions. Neotel's WiMax solutions are to be deployed as last mile access in areas where the second national operator already has a fibre network. WiMax solutions will initially be available in the Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban metropolitan areas, with increased availability as Neotel continues to roll-out its fibre network, he says.
Draft law will make ICT expensive in South AfricaThe Consumer Protection Bill, currently making its way through the National Council of Provinces, will have a “significant” impact on the way ICT companies operate, says industry lawyer Mike Silber. The Bill was approved by Cabinet in December and was recently introduced into the upper chamber of Parliament for adoption. It will then go to the National Assembly before being signed into law by president Thabo Mbeki or his successor. Silber says the draft law will have a significant impact across the board. “It is going to bring about a lot of changes in the way hardware and accessories are sold in this country. It may also lead to increases in price, because of the liability insurance everyone will require under this law. That industry [insurers] will benefit substantially.” Silber says the law for the first time introduces “strict liability”, which will have an “immense, considerable and significant impact” on the way ICT goods and services are marketed and sold, and on the way warranties and guarantees are worded and enforced. Section 68 of the Bill will make strict liability part of South African law and will hold every producer, distributor or supplier strictly liable for “any damage caused wholly or partly as a consequence of a product failure, defect or hazard in a good or as a result of inadequate instructions or warnings provided to the consumer pertaining to any hazard”. This, says Silber, means ICT vendors can be held liable not only for a person's death or injury – however improbable – but also for a loss or damage to property and for an economic loss. “This is fantastic for consumers,” notes Silber, but less so for vendors or their channel partners. He explains that “economic loss” means the loss of income or profit suffered by a business or an individual as a result of ICT equipment malfunctioning. “It is a lovely concept, very pro-consumer, and a first in SA, but very expensive,” as it will require businesses to heavily insure themselves against such lawsuits and damages, and that cost will be passed on to consumers. “Everybody knows electronic equipment is subject to breakdown. There is a risk in using machinery and you take the necessary precautions, such as keeping spares or having in place a service level agreement with the vendor. What you don't do is sue,” he says. World Wide Worx director Steven Ambrose agrees the Bill is veering the country to a nanny state. “The Bill is comprehensive and tries to cover all known technologies and situations. The basic protection of those who are vulnerable is laudable, as [is] the entrenchment of these rights in law. It will reduce the ‘consumer beware' attitude of many retailers, for example with cellphone contracts.” But the law is attempting the impossible, says Ambrose, and will, therefore, prove “somewhat ineffective” when enacted as the march of technology is inexorable and exponential, and because the law cannot anticipate emerging technology or how that technology will be utilised. “The potential to exploit these technologies for reasons not related to fair use, such as spam, cannot simply be legislated,” Ambrose warns. “The provisions of the Bill are also fairly difficult to police. Proving and taking those who ignore the provisions to court will be far too costly and drawn out for most of us.” (Source: ITWeb) University Students to Get Cheap Computers in UgandaThe Government will help students in tertiary institutions get laptop computers. Alintuma Nsambu, the information communication technology (ICT) state minister, said the students would acquire the computers at a cost of $400 (about sh680,000), which is below the selling price on the local market. "In the next five weeks, every university student will have access to a laptop computer," Nsambu said at the opening of the Uganda telecom Government ICT Expo 2008 at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Friday. He said students would be required to pay part of the money each semester. Nsambu noted that 60,000 public servants would also get computers through a loan scheme managed by the Stanbic Bank. The bank offers the loans for the purchase of the laptops in four repayment packages of either, 12 and 24 months, or 36-months time. The 48-months package is for civil servants who have accounts with the bank and are servicing other loans with the same bank. The civil servants, however, must be earning a salary of over sh120,000 to qualify for the offer. They also have to deposit sh50,000 at the collection of the laptop to cover internal handling, transport, insurance and storage. (Source: New Vision) Ultraportable Ubuntu version out next monthCanonical head and Ubuntu founder, Mark Shuttleworth, says that Ubuntu will be releasing an ultraportable version of Ubuntu next month. In an interview today with the Guardian, Shuttleworth said: “We’re announcing it in the first week of June. It’s called the Netbook Remix. We’re working with Intel, which produces chips custom-made for this sector.” Asked whether he expected Linux to make a breakthrough on the desktop, Shuttleworth said that “if people continue to define a desktop as the thing that they run Microsoft Word on, then Windows will retain its position. My sense, though, is that people are increasingly defining the desktop as the thing that they get access to the internet from. In that case, there’s a real possibility that we’re able to shift people onto different platforms. (Source: Tectonic) In brief:- Only 89% of African airlines subscribing to the International Air Transport Association's Billing Settlement Programme (BSP) are ready for the change to e-ticketing at the end of this month. This compares with the global average of 95%. Africa has numerous airlines, but only 34 are accredited with IATA, which is phasing out paper plane tickets on 31 May and will only transact electronically from 1 June. - Ecobank International Technology and Shared Service Centre was opened in Accra, Ghana. The US$40 million International Technology and Shared Service Centre is part of the bank's long-term plan of developing the centre into a leading ICT Park in Africa. - The "Polygeek" team of the National Polytechnic School will represent Algeria at the "2008-Imagine Cup World Finals," a yearly competition sponsored by the world’s software leader Microsoft. - From early 2009 Microsoft's Office productivity suite will include support for editing and saving files in the open source Open Document Format (ODF). The move comes as Microsoft announces plans to expand its collaboration with the open source community.
Bharti, MTN Deal Could Hit Legal HurdleThe Indian telecoms watchdog has threatened legal action if the proposed deal between Bharti Airtel and MTN breaches India's foreign-ownership rules. But MTN's suitor is reportedly teaming up with its Singaporean partner to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to avoid the anticipated legal hump. MTN and Bharti are holding talks that might see Bharti acquire Africa's largest cellphone company in a cash and stock transaction that could be worth more than US$45bn. But the Financial Times said last week that the Indian Telecom Watchdog claimed that the proposed stock element of the deal, in its present form, would increase Bharti's foreign ownership above the 74% limit allowed under Indian law. The watchdog threatened legal action if this limit was breached. "We are happy if (Bharti) buys 51% of MTN," Telecom Watchdog secretary Anil Kumar said. " But in case of a share swap, they will definitely breach the FDI (foreign direct investment) cap. We will oppose it. If the deal is hung in court, who will suffer? SA will suffer," said Kumar. The Delhi-based organisation is involved in legal action over Vodafone's US$10.9bn deal to take control of Hutchison Essar, India's fourth-largest cell phone group. Telecom Watchdog had, in a letter to MTN chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, raised the prospect of similar court action over any Bharti-MTN tie-up. It said: "In case of a merger we have apprehensions of a possible breach of Indian regulatory norms related to foreign investment. In case of any regulatory breach, we will not hesitate in going to the Indian courts for a legal recourse to stop any illegalities." Meanwhile, India's Business Standard newspaper last week quoted unidentified sources as saying Bharti and its partner Singapore Telecommunications would avoid the legal hurdle by forming an SPV that would acquire MTN in a cash and stock deal. This would avoid offering MTN a stake directly in Bharti, which would effectively push foreign ownership in the Indian firm beyond the permitted limit under Indian laws. The SPV, which would be a subsidiary of Bharti Telecom, would raise funds, including bridge loans, to fund the acquisition and would also explore the option of selling American depository receipts or global depository receipts to repay the bridge loan. Both MTN and Bharti have refused to comment on the speculation about the deal, with MTN limiting its public comment to the cautionary published in SA on May 5, in which it merely confirmed the existence of "exploratory" talks with Bharti. (Source: Business Day) Call centres sector yields over USD 270Mn per annum in MoroccoCall centres sector in Morocco, which did not exist 8 years ago, generates a turnover of more than USD 270.3 Mn par annum, King's Advisor, André Azoulay said. Speaking at a press conference at the opening of the 5th International exhibition of call centres in Morocco (French acronym SICCAM), he underlined the North African Kingdom's leading position vis-à-vis emerging countries in this sector (Romania, Poland, Tunisia, Senegal…). This sector now employs more than 20,000 people and 250 jobs are created every week, he said ascribing the consolidation of Call centres activity Morocco to the "strategy of quality, added-value and optimized human resources which are the kingdom's major asset in all telephony and Internet-related jobs." Quoting the findings of a recent study by U.S. Group Dell -a major player in call centres sector worldwide, Azoulay noted that Morocco is among the first three best locations worldwide as regards expertise, quality of service and problem-solving abilities. Dell, which employs nearly 2,000 people at its Morocco-based call centers is willing to further increase the number of its positions in Morocco, boost added-value, and move towards most sophisticated market segments, he went on to say. On Morocco's policy to create incentives to boost offshoring, Azoulay said this sector has achieved a Euro 4Bn business volume in 2007, mainly in telecommunications businesses, information technology and computing added-value. (Source: MAP) Celtel Nigeria offers base station franchises for rural areasCeltel Nigeria has launched a new local entrepreneur-ship project, Celtel Rural Acquisition Initiative (RAI), aimed at boosting rural business and connecting rural areas to the rest of the world. According to the Chief Executive of Celtel, Bayo Ligali, Celtel RAI is designed to boost rural business, rural employment, entrepreneurship, empower rural dwellers, and increase the level of community participation in telecom business by offering rural entrepreneurs micro-franchises. He said under the RAI programme, the mobile operator will franchise base stations in rural and poorest parts of Nigeria where about 70 per cent of Nigerians live and work. About 500 rural base stations are expected to be franchised by the end of 2008, creating 5,000 jobs in process. The national rollout of the programme was launched by the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, at a ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, April 30, 2008. The new Celtel rural route to market is expected to help the company serve poorer consumers in rural areas — a very massive but still a hugely under-tapped market. The programme is both an entrepreneurship development and a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the company said last week. Making a presentation, Ligali said the rural areas were still largely underserved, adding that analysts forecast that 80% of new net subscriptions in the Nigerian market over the period 2008-12 will come from rural areas, with a potential rural subscriber base of some 40 million people spread across some 35,000 rural villages. He explained that Celtel will utilize rural entrepreneurs as trade partners or Associate Distributors (ADs) or local entrepreneurs who will be the company’s exclusive representatives in their communities. He said the ADs would be offered a relevant Celtel products and services portfolio including specifically introduced low denomination recharge cards or vouchers. The ADs ,according to him,would be responsible for level one Base Station maintenance and security of Celtel equipment in their localities as well as operate on a revenue sharing basis, supervised by larger distributors or Trade Partners. ADs would be given a Start up pack including Stand Alone branded shelter (Kiosk), In store point of sale and merchandising materials, tailored rural brand communication , materials for outdoor, a manned payphone and brand new scooter or motorcycle. Celtel commenced RAI, first as a pilot project, in mid 2007, with the aim of profitably reaching about 50% of Nigerian population that reside and work in rural areas. (Source: Daily Trust) Blue Label Defaulters Make Amends in South AfricaThe directors of Blue Label Telecoms and their wives, who were censured by the JSE for not authorising nor reporting their share trading timeously, said last week they gave the money made on those trades to charity. The money made by the directors in question, Sean Kaplan and Selwyn Diamond of subsidiary The Prepaid Company, and their wives, amounted to R800,000 after costs. Mark Levy, joint CE of Blue Label, said it was spent on two ambulances and an orphanage for 17 babies who were born with HIV/AIDS. Blue Label, which listed in November, threw in an extra R600,000 to make it happen. Brett Levy, the other joint CE of the company which focuses on providing prepaid services, said: "You couldn't believe the hurt they (Kaplan and Diamond) felt in letting the team down," but said that the crisis had spun out a couple of positives for the company. "Sometimes you need a klap and to slow things down a bit," he said. He said it was easy to be loyal when the going was good, but that real inspiration came when the chips were down. The story first emerged in March . It became clear that Diamond, his wife, Kaplan's wife and another Prepaid director, Graham Prosser, all traded shares in contravention of the JSE's listings requirements. These require that a director receives authorisation from the company to trade and that those trades are reported to the JSE within two days. The JSE conducted an investigation while Blue Label set up a committee of nonexecutive directors to examine the matter internally. Blue Label concluded that the directors had not deliberately acted in contravention of the JSE's rules and the JSE appeared to concur. A fine and some form of private censure were meted out. Diamond faced the most severe censure -- he was fined R100,000, but R60,000 of the fine was suspended over 12 months. The Levy brothers said last week the R40,000 fine would come out of Diamond's pocket . (Source: Business Day) In brief:- MTN said last week it was selling 50% of its stake in Areeba, which trades as MTN Cyprus, for an undisclosed sum to local investors Amaracos Holding. - The Mozambican government is planing to sell shares in its mobile operator Mocambique Celular (mCel). The operator is currently 100% state-owned company via Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique (TDM) and a holding company Instituto de Gestao de Participacoes do Estado (IGEPE). A date has not been set for the initial public offering (IPO), nor has the proportion of the company that will be made available to investors been revealed, but it is expected to be at least 20%. - Reuters reports that UAE incumbent Etisalat has bought an additional 12% of Atlantique Telecom, which manages operators in the seven West African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Togo, Central African Republic and Cote D'Ivoire. The deal, for which no financial details were revealed, brings Etisalat’s interest in Atlantique to 82%. Etisalat operates Atlantique through a ten-year management contract ending in April 2015. - South Africa’s listed ICT group Spescom announced revenue growth of 11.7%, to R162 million, for the six months ended 31 March. Operating profit increased to R4.9 million, compared to breakeven in the comparable period, while headline earnings increased by 6.5%, to R3.1 million, during the interim period. - Econet Wireless has bought out the shareholding of Eskom Enterprises in Telecom Lesotho. Econet bought the stake after Eskom Enterprises, the investment arm of Eskom, decided last year to sell its shareholding as part of its strategy to exit non-power businesses.
Wunderman Kenya Bags Google Online Advertising Account in KenyaWunderman Kenya, a direct and digital marketing agency division of Ayton Young and Rubicam (AY&R) Group has signed an advertising deal with Google that will see the company place local advertising information on the online Google search engine. The deal comes at a time when advertisers are embracing digital and online advertising, besides the traditional print and electronic media. The Wunderman global network spans 55 countries with over 130 offices, and Wunderman Kenya's general manager, Colin Azavedo, says the deal opens a new marketing opportunity in the region. "The deal makes Wunderman the first mainstream agency to have such capabilities in East Africa, and gives our clients an opportunity to use Google to market their products online through the leading search engine on the internet," said Mr Azavedo. Mr Joe Mucheru of Google East Africa said that Google offers a variety of products that could revolutionise advertising and marketing in the region. "Google is opening a whole range of previously unexplored marketing opportunities on the continent," said Mr Mucheru. "The partnership with Wunderman is a first and is set to revolutionise how we view marketing and advertising." Some of these products include the Google Adwords, which is Google's flagship advertising product that offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner adverts for local, national, and international distribution. The Google AdSense, on the other hand, is an advertisement serving programme to which website owners can enrol to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These adverts are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. The other product, Google Analytics, is a service that generates detailed statistics about visitors to a website. Through it a webmaster can optimise AdWords advertisement and marketing campaigns by using GA's analysis of where the visitors came from, how long they stayed on the website and their geographical position. "This application allows us to efficiently define and track sales, lead generation, the number of times a page has been viewed and downloads of a particular file. Marketers can also determine which adverts are performing, and which are not, as well as find unexpected sources of quality visitors," says Mr Azavedo. (Source: Business Daily) Marketing Potential in Social Online Media in South AfricaSocial-oriented internet media present "massive" opportunities for brands, advertisers and marketers if embraced properly, says Universal McCann Europe, Middle East and Africa's third comparative study on social media trends. Social media describes activities that integrate technology and social interaction on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, blogs and webcasts. The research study, titled Wave 3, collected information on the latest trends of social media from about 7000 internet users in 29 countries. Mike Stopforth, MD of SA's only dedicated social media agency, Cerebra, said his impression was that except for technical factors such as limited broadband connectivity, consumers in SA still had not got out of the mindset of simply being spoken to and they did no t know how to be proactive with the brands they used. Nevertheless, a small community of bloggers already had "a lot of brands paying social media a whole lot more attention in SA", he said. Since Wave 1, Univeral McCann's research has created insights on patterns of usage, such as China having more bloggers than the US, emerging markets leading take-up and Japan shunning photo sharing. Universal McCann SA's MD, Nazeer Suliman, said: "This is not about targeted advertising. Brands that approach social media in this way are on the wrong foot from the outset." It was about identifying opportunities that created meaningful engagement and sustained relationships between the brand and communities, which went beyond advertising . The study showed that the blogosphere -- or network of blogs -- rivalled any mass media in terms of reach, time spent and wider cultural, social and political effect. Globally, about 73% of internet users were reading blogs. The study also debunked a view that social networking was slowing. Wave 3 indicated usage had risen 21% and the number of estimated users worldwide had reached 272-million people. The research on brand penetration showed MySpace was still number one among a broad collection of international networks, with a 32% weekly reach. Its position had been maintained by its focus on music and commercial content, rather than on connecting friends. Facebook was not far behind, on 22,5% weekly reach, and was number one in many markets. The global pattern was mixed and it was far from a two-horse race. In Asia QQ, Cyworld and Mixi dominated in home markets. (Source: Business Day)
People* The Minister of Information and Communications of Nigeria, John Odey, has just been elected the chairman of African ICT Ministers. * Patrick Pisal Hamida has been appointed as the new CEO of telecommunication operator Telma in Madagascar. * The Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (Usaasa) has suspended Keith Keyes after an internal audit "brought to light certain findings of financial irregularities and mismanagement". * Four new board appointments, as well as one secondment to the position of deputy chairman, have brought the State IT Agency's (SITA's) board close to full capacity. Parliament recently approved the appointments of the following individuals as non-executive directors of the SITA board: Saleem Badat, Mthunzi Luthuli, Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane, Colette Clark and Nosipho Malope. Michelle Williams, who had already been serving on the board, was seconded to the position of deputy chairman. 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 * EURO-AFRICA ICT AWARENSS WORKSHOP 17 & 18 June 2008, Premier Hotel - 573, Church Street Acadia, Pretoria, South Africa The workshop aims at supporting the involvement of sub-Saharan African organisations in the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for Research (under the ICT theme). This workshop is organised by the Meraka Institute of CSIR, South Africa (http://www.meraka.org.za/). Participation is free but pre-registrations are compulsory. More information is available at the following link: http://euroafricaict.org/events/awareness_workshops.php * 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 MEA 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
* 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/ * MOBILEACTIVE08 SUMMIT 13-15 October 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa SANGONeT and MobileActive.org are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the MobileActive08 Summit. The theme of the event is “Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social Impact”. More information about the event is available on the MobileActive08 Summit website at http://www.mobileactive08.org * 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* Expert for feasibility study for deploying a power line communications (PLC) network in Seychelles he study is to design a PLC network using PUC’s electricity network, recommend the appropriate equipment for it implementation, indicated the relevant costs involved and finally show how this facility could be run commercially, from a financial point of view. Should funds be available, a small scale test of high speed Internet access on PUC’s electricity network would demonstrate that PLC is practicable. The application deadline is Tuesday 27 May 2008. For further information contact the Danish Management A/S at http://www.danishmanagement.dk/ * Gsm Roll Out Manager – Sudan The company is looking for an individual with a bachelor degree in Civil engineering or equivalent discipline with a minimum 8 years experience in GSM Roll Out field, PMP or MBA is a plus. Arabic native speaking is a must. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com * Call for proposals SANGONeT and MobileActive.org are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the MobileActive08 Summit. The theme of the event is “Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social Impact”. SANGONeT and MobileActive.org are therefore inviting practitioners, researchers and technologists to submit proposals for workshops and short talks on the topic of mobile technology for social impact, as well as to showcase products and services in the interactive SIMplace and SIMlabs - interactive marketplaces for applications and products. The deadline for submissions is the end of June 2008. Please see the Call for Expertise at http://www.mobileactive08.org/call-for-expertise for information on how to submit applications for sessions and exhibitions. Contracts* Telkom and Alcatel-Lucent - Kenya Telkom Kenya is edging closer to a full roll-out of its GSM network as it has signed a deal with Alcatel-Lucent, to provide it with a system to manage subscriber information. * Government and Thales - Angola According to Thomson Financial, French defence electronics and security group Thales is close to winning a contract from the government of Angola to supply a secure telecoms network. Citing French state officials, Reuters said the deal, worth approximately EUR140 million (USD218 million), is amongst a slew of Angolan contracts won by French firms in various sectors expected to be announced tomorrow.
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