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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 425 Orun Energy’s low-cost base station achieves 60% energy savings in tests with Ghana’s KasapaAfrica now has its own home-grown low-cost base station producer. Long-time innovator Joe Jackson has teamed with Kwabenah Smith to push Orun Energy (Orun means sun in Yoruba) from promising start-up to successful company. By re-engineering the base station, it claims to be able to produce a 45% reduction in CAPEX and a 55% reduction in OPEX. Russell Southwood spoke to Joe Jackson about how it goes about achieving these savings. Established in 2005, Orun Energy has set out “to develop innovative off-grid power solutions for telecoms in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are aimed both at rural and urban locations for as Orun says its seeks solution to the “epileptic urban power distribution due to overloaded transformers.” Founder of SoftTribe Joe Jackson got involved because Kwabenah Smith had been a founding mentor for his company but left before it became successful. Smith was the originator of the idea and Jackson sees himself as the catalyst to move it along. As Jackson tells it:”The idea is very simple. The telecoms companies produce a lot of energy in their base stations. A company like MTN in its published accounts for 2006 identified that 21% of OPEX is spent on energy costs. The power supply is so poor that the question is: how do I reduce costs?” The design for the original GSM base station originated in Scandinavia and not much has changed since then. The equipment has to be kept at 22 degrees and as a result there is a tremendous amount of cooling in the African context. The equipment all runs on DC at 48V. There is a diesel generator which also powers an inverter which charges a battery. The equipment works off the battery and this approach is fairly ubiquitous across Africa. Orun has sought to address these issues by adopting a three-pronged approach: thermal management, hybrid power and oil and fuel management. The first of these approaches addresses the problem of cooling and how to reduce its costs. Orun insulates the base station container by using cold room technology. In addition, it uses ceramic paint (to absorb solar heat) and puts in Phase Change Material that equalizes the temperature by both absorbing and giving off heat when required. The base station usually uses AC standard room equipment. When it kicks in, there is a huge power spike at its start-up. Whereas a grid can accommodate this power surge, the diesel generator has to be big enough to accommodate it and this is a fairly inefficient way to run air conditioning. Orun has switched the AC to di-current cooling which avoids this start-up spike: the AC can also run off the battery. It is also designed as a sealed room to be run off a battery bank so that warm air can be drawn off the top and cool air inserted at the bottom. According to Jackson:”All the generator does is charge the battery. If the BTS is on the grid, these will power it until the grid resumes supply. The battery can run for eight hours then the diesel generator runs it for four hours whilst also recharging the battery, which can then run for another eight hours. It’s a balanced system.” It also has a system to keep the diesel fuel clean of water and bacteria to improve its efficiency. Orun has run a two week test with Ghana’s mobile operator Kasapa (now owned by Expresso). As Jackson tells it:”Bob Palitz, the CEO used to be an engineer and therefore understands our approach. There was a need to verify what we were doing and to see whether it would work operationally. He gave us a test site where we could put out equipment alongside existing equipment. It put equipment in our shelter.” The test ran for two weeks but what did Orun learn?:”Our solution works almost too well. The shelter was colder than expected and there were in excess of 60% savings. So it was both green and very efficient.” The company is not yet in the production phase but is negotiating a deal with a South African BEE venture capital company for US$10 million that should be finalised at the end of October 2008 that will allow it to produce units in both Ghana and South Africa. What about competitors?:”The real competitor is an Indian company called VNL. It’s the only one that really comes close to what we have and it’s doing fantastically well in India. We hope to replicate VNL’s success in Africa.” The Global Green Telecom Summit is being held 11-12 November 2008 at The Westin Grand Hotel, Berlin, Germany. http://www.greentelecomsummit.com
3rd mobile licence bidding in Rwanda marks the re-emergence of Orascom interest in Sub-Saharan AfricaFour telecommunications companies have emerged as serious contenders for the third national telecommunications operator license after presenting their bids to Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) on Tuesday. Larrycom for Investment, Millicom, Zain and Telecel Globe Ltd, had faced potential competition from thirteen other companies which bought bidding documents but did not submit their bids. Telecel Globe represents the interests of Orascom which had previously sold off most of its mobile assets in Sub-Saharan Africa and announced that it was no longer interested in the continent. Larrycom for Investment is a privately owned owned Sudanese Company with offshore offices in Dubai, Beirut, and Egypt. It owns a 15% share in MTN Sudan and a 5% share in the telco incumbent Sudatel that is now owned by Expresso. MTN Rwandacel and Rwandatel, the only players in Rwanda's mobile market are enjoying exclusive duopoly rights granted by cabinet in 2003. But their operational licenses expire at the end of the year. The government is liberalizing the telecommunication industry and allowing new players into the market and it is set to grant a 15-year fixed and mobile license to a third telecommunications company. Col. Diogène Mudenge, the Director General RURA, said that technical and financial evaluations for the bidders will be completed by the end of October and the licensing of the preferred bidder is in December 2008 after approval by Parliament. Prof. Romain Murenzi, the Minister in the President's Office in Charge of Science, Technology, Research and ICT said that government is strongly focusing on three areas of investment which include voice, data and video. Murenzi said that the preferred bidder should be able to boost the telecommunications sector in the country through the increase of bandwidth, storage capacity and capacity for analysis. Currently Rwanda's mobile penetration is estimated at one million subscribers, around 10 percent of the estimated total population of 10 million. Of this, MTN Rwandacel alone is said to have almost 600,000 subscribers. But Mudenge said that government is targeting at least two million subscribers for each company, a total of six million mobile users in the country by 2012. Other unsuccessful bidders were Smile Telecoms Ltd, Vitel Holdings Ltd, Africa Digital Investments, Forward Venture, Vivacell Africa Ltd, Easy Mobile Communication Ltd and Essar Communications Ltd. (Source: The New Times) Smile Communications gets Uganda licence but what will it do with it?The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has confirmed that it has awarded a telecommunications license to Smile Communications (Pty) Ltd of South Africa. Patrick Masambu, the executive director UCC said Smile Communications has been given a Public Infrastructure Provider (PIP) as well as a Public Service Provider (PSP) licences. "All I can tell you is that Smile intends to provide service at low cost with new technology," Masambu said. This brings to 21 and 31 the number of PIPs and PSPs respectively in the Uganda sector but what is interesting to note that a lot of these companies hold licences but are not operational. It is not clear whether Smile, which is led by former MTN Group director, Irene Charnely, intend to launch a mobile phone service as part of its entry into Uganda. Earlier media reports have said the company plans to provide affordable communications to the poor. Smile's acquisition of the two licences in Uganda launches the company onto the continent as it plans to spread its influence outside South Africa. Smile has tested a tactic of giving customers their own telephone number and voice message boxes whether they own a handset or not. According to available information, Smile provides a customer with a secure PIN code to use on any Smile Communications phone. In its home market of South Africa, the company operates through agents, who provide mobile handsets in street kiosks, stalls and payphones. Once customers log in, they can make low-cost calls and operate a voice mailbox with free message retrieval. Having a personal number means the customer can be contacted directly, though the incoming caller will need to leave a voice message, unless the user logs on to a Smile phone at a pre-arranged time to answer the call. Customers' airtime balance is always visible and calls are charged per second with the fee deducted from their prepaid airtime balance. The customer can also set up a contact list of numbers, with recent calls shown first for fast dialing. The agents also sell handsets to customers who can afford them. Those phones can be shared by several people, with each user entering their PIN number to access their airtime. The system also benefits entrepreneurs in the communities by letting them start a new business using Smile's tools and training. The company is owned by a consortium of Saudi Arabian investors, Charnely and South Africans Paul Savage and Sharron Vanessa Naidoo. The three own 21% of the company, with 79% held by Al-Nahla Technology, a Saudi Arabian consortium owned by Al-Nahla Group and the Atheeb Group. (Source: East African Business Week) Sierratel trumpets its CDMA roll-out as the way to 3G servicesSierra Leone Government-owned incumbent telco trumpeted its roll-out of CDMA as something that will enable the company to offer 3G services. "It has a short roll-out period and is more economical in rural areas," said Julius Kamara, Sierratel's director of commercial services. "Compared to GSM, CDMA needs fewer cell sites and is more efficient in the use of the frequency spectrum." Sierratel's CDMA phones, which will be accessed through a wireless local loop network, operate through links rather than telephone wires, noted Sierratel Managing Director Alpha Sesay. According to Kamara, the CDMA system, called LeoneCell, will have a prepaid platform and this will be used to reduce Sierratel’s level of bad debts. Installation of the new CDMA facilities will be completed in Freetown on Tuesday and in the provinces by Oct. 19, according to Sesay. Service is set for a November launch in Freetown and 14 other locations, including Bo, Kenema, Koidu, Lungi, Lunsar, Magburaka, Makeni, Moyamba, Njala, Port Loko and Segbwema. LeoneCell is based CDMA 2000 EVDO 1X. (Source: IDG News Service) MTN acquires two major operators in Ivory CoastThe MTN Group chose this week to publicise its acquisition of Ivory Coast's second fixed-line operator, Arobase Telecom, and Afnet, an ISP. "The 100 percent acquisition of Arobase and Afnet reflects the progress MTN is making toward consolidating its business," said Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN president and CEO. "Afnet and Arobase will add value to MTN and support our strategy to ensure that the group is well-positioned to benefit from a rapidly converged technology market." Arobase Telecom was incorporated in 2001 and signed a concession agreement with the state of Côte d'Ivoire that allows it to offer data services using fiber-optic, wireless local loop and CDMA technologies, Nhleko noted. Established in 1997, Afnet is one of the leading ISPs in Ivory Coast and offers wireless broadband technology and data services to the public. With Afnet, MTN will benefit from a solid corporate subscriber base, Nhleko said. The acquisitions follow similar acquisitions by MTN in Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa. The expansion, Nhleko explained, is in line with MTN's strategy to provide integrated communications solutions in all of its markets. (Source: IDG News Service) In brief:- Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) has fined MTN-Rwandacell Frw70 million over poor network services. A statement signed on August 2008 by the chairperson of RURA Regulatory Board, Marie Claire Mukasine says the decision to penalise MTN was reached after realising that since November 2007, MTN has been providing poor quality services. According to RURA, MTN-Rwandacell proposed a plan to upgrade its network and solve the issues within six months from January but the telecommunication company was slow. - Equity Bank is hoping to use its cellphone banking solution, Eazzy 24/7, to leverage its expansion into Southern Sudan by the end of the year. The bank confirmed that it had already obtained approvals from the two industry regulators - the Central Bank of Kenya and the Bank of Southern Sudan. - MTN Rwanda is due to renew its licence to operate in the country. The company that was given a five year duopoly, after a cabinet decision in 2003 to operate as national operators together with another telecom operator Rwandatel, will have its operational licence expire by the end of the year. - The Federal Government of Nigeria has commenced civil action against telecommunications company, MTN, by demanding N500 million as damage and another N1 million for cost of the action for installing two 15KVA generators in densely populated areas of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The government, through its agency, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), filed a legal action before the Federal High Court in Abuja last Friday seeking to restrain MTN from further acts constituting dangers to human health and the environment. It is not yet known whether the Federal Government has promised to provide reliable power supply. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Telecom Namibia launched a wireless pre-paid 3G mobile high-speed data service at the end of last week. The package comes with free activation, 100 megabytes (MB) of free downloads with a usage tariff of N$1.30 per MB and a one-off pre-paid package costing N$1 749. - Etissalat, the newcomer in the Nigerian mobile market, announced the introduction of Homezone . This innovative feature will enable customers to choose and register any area of their choice nationwide in the launch cities, and in other cities subsequently, as their Homezone. Calls within the registered Homezone will attract discounted costs compared to calls made in other areas. - Kenya’s Mobile phone service provider, Safaricom, has unveiled lower calling rates for its subscribers. Both PrePay and PostPay subscribers will enjoy new lower calling rates at Sh5 from 10 pm to midnight, and Sh2.50 from midnight to 6 am everyday, including weekends. - Zain Uganda has revised its calling rates. Customers can now make calls as low as sh3 per second within its network.
Iburst's Commercial Wimax Network Goes Live in South AfricaWireless broadband operator iBurst has switched on a commercial WiMax network following extensive trials. Some 120 WiMax base stations are already live in the major metropolitan areas (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) with plans to expand the network to 250 base stations by the end of 2009. iBurst WiMax is a next generation technology offering a wireless alternative to fixed line services such as leased line offerings. iBurst WiMAX provides high quality connectivity to small, medium and large businesses. The high-gain directional antennas used in the rollout of the WiMax network covers the major urban centres near potential corporate customers. The iBurst WiMax offerings include broadband solutions and guaranteed speed and quality connectivity products. Says Thami Mtshali, CEO of iBurst: "The arrival of the commercial WiMax service will help to spur competition in the South African telecoms environment by giving customers a viable alternative to leased-line and ADSL services. Whether customers deploy it as a replacement or as a back-up for a fixed-line service, they will be pleased by the speeds, cost and reliability that our WiMax service will give them." It is interesting that iBurst’s South African subsidiary (wjich is separately owned) has moved away from using the company’s proprietary Wi-Fi technology used by the company elsewhere in Africa. The iBurst WiMax Assured rate service offers performance and quality of service comparable to leased lines and is an ideal substitute or redundant back-up option for Telkom's Diginet leased line services. Users in areas that are plagued by frequent fixed-line cable theft are sure to welcome the availability of iBurst WiMax as an alternative. Included in the cost for the services is the internet access, line rental, WiMAX Modem, antenna and for assured product offerings a Cisco router and static IP address is also included to manage services and ensure quality. Following the trial period, iBurst has made a number of upgrades and enhancements to the WiMax solution. Included in these was a software upgrade for the WiMax device, reduction in size of the antenna's and network enhancements to ensure quality of service. iBurst was originally issued with WiMAX spectrum by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in July 2006. WiMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access, Inc.) is a family of technologies based on the IEEE 802.16 wireless standards. (Source: Biz-Community) Nairobi to Host E-Tourism ConferenceThe first international online tourism conference for East Africa would be held in Nairobi next month. The two-day conference starts on October 13 bringing together online and digital experts to discuss new technologies available as well as marketing and e-commerce solutions. "Over 70 per cent of young professionals rely on the internet to research and book their holidays," E-Tourism Africa managing director Damian Cook told reporters in Nairobi. "Up till now there has been very little information available on travel trade in Africa on how they can maximise their online presence," he said. E-Tourism Africa is a pan African initiative meant to assist Africa's tourism sector to understand the internet and the range of online marketing opportunities available. The conference will be held at Fox Cinema at Sarit Centre followed by three days of special training seminars starting October 15 at the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Centre in Langata, Nairobi. (Source: The Nation) Airtel to deploy WIMAX network for Camtel in CameroonSR Telecom, a supplier of WiMAX-based broadband wireless solutions, has announced that it will provide Airtel Telecom Group with equipment to deploy 100 base stations throughout Cameroon, allowing Camtel to offer premium triple-play services to enterprise and residential subscribers. The rollout is expected to begin in December 2008 with a targeted completion of July 2009. This move follows the award of a wireless broadband license to Airtel by Cameroon’s government officials and bypassing the country’s established phone companies in an effort to diversify the telecommunications market. In order to help Camtel, the state’s main national telecom player to become more competitive and to gain a bigger market share, a joint-venture agreement between Airtel and Camtel has been approved by the Cameroon Government officials. As a winner of this international tender, Airtel will invest up to 150 million CFA (US$35 million) in the first three years to roll out internet and IP services across the country. Airtel is expected to roll out the service to the rest of the population wherever the network is weak, starting with the rural areas which represent at least 70 per cent of the country. Airtel’s President and CEO, Jamal Boukouray, said it expects WiMAX services to be available to 20 percent of the targeted population by the end of 2009. The Government also expects that 50 per cent of the Cameroon population will have broadband access by 2012, and WiMAX is seen as the principal enabler. (Source: CBR) In brief:- The number of Internet users in Tunisia has increased by 39% between 2007 and 2008 with 2.3 million users at the end of August 2008. Hence, the number of ADSL subscribers reached 166,000 in August 2008, compared with only 83,000 in the same period of 2007. The number of subscribers having an internet connection of more than 512 kb reached 39.6% compared with only 12.2% in the same period of last year. Besides, subscribers having a connection higher than 1 MB reached 26,000 compared with 5150 in the same period of last year. The capacity of the country’s connection to the international internet network was doubled in 2008, reaching 5.1 GB/s compared with 2.4 GB/s in the same period of last year. - Internet radio is ready to move off your computer and into your living room. Radio fans will be pleased to hear that Tivoli Networks Radio will be launching its Internet radio music system in South Africa this month. Historically, Internet radio has been limited to listening with a computer or laptop, but the Tivoli NetWorks radio combines both traditional FM radio and Internet radio into one unit.
Information And Communications Bill Validated in GambiaThe Department of State for Communications, Information and Information Technology (DoSCIIT), in collaboration with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), and other stakeholders in the telecommunications sector, yesterday, converged to review and validate the Information and Communications Bill 2008. Fatim Badjie-Janneh, the secretary of state for Communication, Information and Information Technology, described the validation workshop as a giant step in the development of the Information, Communication Technology (ICT) sector in The Gambia. She said her department recognises the need to formulate a holistic ICT bill inline with the provisions of the Information Society (WSIS) and the Ecowas community text for harmonisation of ICT legal instruments, to which The Gambia is committed. According to her, this information society compliant bill recognizes the need to bring together interdependent segments of ICT under a unified framework, in order to create the enabling environment for intercessions in the ICT industry. This draft legal instrument, she went on, also takes into account good governance in ICT, necessary to ensure appropriate laws and public policy as fundamental guiding principles in the fast growing and dynamic ICT sector. "We have decided to formulate an ICT bill so as to cater for convergence between telecommunication, broadcasting, internet and allied technologies and services," she said, and continued "the current telecommunication landscape as you are aware, is so interlinked with other sectors that it is apparent that a telecom bill cannot address all the issues of convergence hence the formulation of this ICT bill; therefore, it is a solution to diminish the overall insufficiencies of the Wireless and Telegraph Act of 1964, on which the legal administration of the ICT industry is dependent". The content of this draft bill, she went on, probes into substance and issues of licensing, access and interconnection, spectrum management and numbering, universal access/services, end user interests and rights and personal data privacy and protection. "Among other things, the bill contains information society issues such as computer misuse and cyber crime, electronic signatures and transactions, as well as elements of e-government and broadcasting," SoS Badjie noted. She stated her department of state's commitment to ensuring a vibrant ICT sector that is enhanced by appropriate policies and regulatory frame works, stressing that they will leave no stone unturned to see that they achieve that goal. (Source: The Daily Observer) Rwanda Launches One Laptop Per Child ProgrammePresident Paul Kagame has said that enabling all primary school children to own computers was the government's ultimate goal. This was during the official launch of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative. "Our goal is to continue finding means and ways to provide all primary school children in Rwanda with this important learning tool," Kagame said, adding that various schemes, including encouraging parents to participate in buying computers for their children, would be used. "We are going to turn the dream of all our children owning computers into reality - it is possible to achieve this," he said, amidst applause, calling on the vast gathering to reflect on the meaning of the exercise and the other numerous achievements in the education sector. Kagame reminded the assembly of the increased primary school enrolment from 900,000 to well over 2,000,000 in the past 14 years, in addition to the implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) since 2003. "We have also recently extended tuition-free status to the first three years of secondary school, making education a nine-year tuition-free arrangement," he added. Earlier, the President expressed gratitude to Professor Nicholas Negroponte, the OLPC Founder and Chairman, and his team. "Bringing durable, affordable and innovative computers to children worldwide is not only admirable but highly relevant and we congratulate you and your colleagues," he said. "It is embedded in our development strategy of using ICT as an enabler of other sectors, including learning, as well as building a dynamic information technology industry," the President said. The programme has been going on for sometime since government formed [a year and half ago] a partnership with OLPC to supply laptops to primary school children over a five-year period. Some 100 laptops were provided last year, and last month, 5, 000 more were distributed in three districts and more are yet to come as government gets ready to purchase 50,000 laptops early next year. "We pledge more resources to roll out this programme nation-wide," he said, noting that government commitment extended beyond the programme. (Source: The New Times) Liberia’s Minister Highlights Plan for ICTLiberia is making effort to develop information and communication technology (ICT) in the country, says deputy information minister, Gabriel I.H. Williams. Just as it is ongoing in Sierra Leone where a group of experts amongst whom are Internet Society (ISOC) Sierra Leone members, Liberia too has drafted a national ICT policy awaiting approval. "We have drafted Liberia's ICT for Development (LICT4D) policy last year and it has been presented before the national assembly for approval," he said adding that the policy was borne out of the outcome of an ICT conference held for Liberia with firms such as IBM, Microsoft etc sending their agents to identify the various areas of investment in the sector. "We are looking forward to the ICT Act being approved and passed into law by 2009 because there are so many bills before the house at the moment." One of the major content of the policy is the waiving of custom duties on imported ICT-related equipment so as to enable Liberians to have more access to them. Williams said though little positive changes have been experienced in the country's ICT sector so far, they are still planning to improve and ensure accountability and efficiency on the part of the government by capacitating the workforce through ICT-related trainings. "We've realized that the more training our younger ones get, the better for us. We have to invest in the human resources of our country. We can't allow anything to go bad for us again. In fact, one of the government's requirements to employ anyone these days is to have computer knowledge," he said. All government ministries activities are now being computerized and websites have been designed to ensure that most government policies are online. We are also encouraging newspapers to go online, Williams added. "We want to build on what we have. Presently, we've spent several millions of dollars on the building of a new university town where most departments of our university would be relocated. Upon completion, we hope to have a department devoted to the study of hi-tech including the engineering aspect. We even plan to start offering online courses. We are working on that too," he said. "We've realized here that for us to move forward as a nation, we need to be a part of the information age." On a possible joint effort as earlier stated by Sierra Leone's deputy information minister, Mohammed Koroma, Williams stressed that Liberia has a broad-based relationship with neighboring Sierra Leone through the Mano River Union (MRU) treaty and ICT development is not an exception in their joint efforts. "It (ICT) is one of the areas we are partnering on apart from technical, education and cultural exchanges." He however cited that the country has limited resources but depends on its international partners to execute some of these projects. "The more funds we get, the more plans we plan to execute in developing our ICT sector. No amount of money should be enough to be spent on ICT development in this country." (Source: Concord Times) In brief:- The International Air Transport Association has recognised the role played by Kenya Airways in promoting the uptake of e-ticketing by airlines within the region. Award plaque engraved "100 per cent ET is now a reality. IATA, the world's airline industry regulator gave the national carrier a Last Paper Award plaque engraved "100 per cent ET is now a reality. Thank you for helping us make history." - Students and educators in Rwanda can now access course materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States (US) through its Open Course Ware hosted online by the National University of Rwanda (NUR). - The Microsoft Corporation has formed an alliance with the USAID to provide the Ministry of Education with critical information and communication tools to help it gather more broad and accurate data in the education sector, to facilitate easy policy formulation and implementation. In the meantime, the Technology Support Centre (TSC) will collaborate with Intel Corporation, the largest semiconductor makers, to computerise learning in 200 Nigerian schools. - The Algerian Government is set to introduce a new national biometric identity card and a national electronic register of acts of civil status will be developed in the next five years. “All the financial, material and human resources will be provided to ensure the success of the initiative which will endow the country with a key-modern tool in the improvement of public service," President Bouteflika, the Head of State added. - The South Africa Department of Education has launched a new system aimed at tracking the movements of pupils from school to school. The national Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) will assign each pupil a unique tracking number that will remain with the pupil throughout his or her school career, giving school officials accurate learner enrollment data, said Minister of Education Naledi Pandor. - The National Agency for Computer Security (NACS) of Tunisia announced its adhesion to the United Nations' Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)'s Network of Centres of Excellence. - Omatek Computers Ghana in partnership with government has launched its e-xpress consumer initiative to make computer acquisition easy and affordable. Under the scheme, civil servants, corporate executives, organisations, educational institution and students would be able to acquire computers within 12 to 24 months through a structured payment plan with partnering banks.
Chinese firm to set up Phone Assembly Plant in RwandaA-Link Technologies from China has set up a $500,000 phone assembling plant in Rwanda that is producing 200 mobile phones a day. The company's president, Edward Yin, told The EastAfrican that it has a capacity to assemble about 600 mobile phones a day. Yin said the firm will invest $2 million more by the end of the year and added there are plans to establish a radio assembling plant as well. A-Link Technologies, a digital and technology subsidiary of ChinaLink in Beijing, started operations in May and is assembling five different kinds of Rwandan branded mobile phones. The relatively cheap mobile phones are assembled from imported materials. Rwanda becomes the first country in the East African region to set up a mobile phone handset-assembling plant. Early this month, South Korean electronic goods manufacturer LG said it was planning to establish a Ksh100 million ($1.4 million) mobile phone handset assembly plant in Kenya by next year. LG said the Nairobi-based company would lead to a reduction in the prices of mobile handsets in Kenya by 15 per cent. A-Link Technologies has set up its assembly plant at Communications House (ICT Park) in Kacyiru. It was registered in July last year by the Rwanda's Investment and Export Promotions Agency with a tax exemption on all imported materials. The company produces a phone brand called Alira. The phone is compatible with GSM technology, which uses replaceable SIM cards. A-Links mobile phones are also the first to be programmed in the local Kinyarwanda language. Kinyarwanda, French and English are the official languages of Rwanda. "We took the phone's software to our sister company in China called Research & Development and we re-programmed it to suit the local consumer," Yin said. The phone, which costs about $39. There is a huge demand for low-cost mobile phones in the country, and Nokia and Motorola phones are priced as low as $40 while the cheapest, the MTN branded ZTE phone costs just $25. Mr Yin dismissed any worries of competition, saying, "The Rwandan market is limited. We need a marketing strategy and advertising. We are thinking about entering other neighbouring markets like Eastern Congo, Uganda and Tanzania." In Mozambique, the Malaysian company M-mobile is investing more than $3 million in setting up a mobile-phone handset manufacturing plant with a capacity to assemble between 50,000 and 70,000 mobile phones a month. Last month, ZTE Corp, another Chinese telecommunications company, announced that it would start assembling mobile phones in Ethiopia after signing a $5.2 million deal with the Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara. However, ZTE failed to make an impact in West Africa when its only mobile phone assembly plant in Africa was closed, in Abuja, Nigeria this year. The plant was set up in 2005 to ease the distribution of ZTE handsets in Africa. (Source: The East African) Vox Telecom Reels From Fall of Dealstream in South AfricaVOX Telecom, the AltX-listed voice and data company, had more than R200m wiped off its market capitalisation yesterday as fearful investors continued to sell after the collapse of Vox's stockbroker, Dealstream. Vox had invested R30m in Dealstream Securities, but the telecommunications company, in its interim results to February , made a profit after tax of just R43,2m. It may have to wave most of that goodbye if it is unable to recover the cash that was with Dealstream. Vox said earlier in the week that the "recoverability" of the cash had been "materially prejudiced". Dealstream is an online stockbroker dealing primarily in single stock futures and contracts for difference (CFDs). Single stock futures are traded on the JSE's platform and are cleared, settled and guaranteed. Rand Merchant Bank acted as Dealstream's clearing member for its trade in single stock futures. Dealstream's CFDs, however, were traded over the counter and not captured by the JSE. They were not cleared or guaranteed by a large and sustainable counterparty. Dealstream has not been answering its phones since the end of last week but it seems that problems with its trade in CFDs led to Dealstream running out of cash. This left Dealstream unable to keep enough cash in its account with RMB to honour the trades it was putting through the market. RMB, the JSE and the Financial Services Board (FSB) began to investigate on Monday, and stopped any new contracts being opened with Dealstream. But Charles Savage, CE of Global Trader, another large local provider of CFDs, said yesterday that Dealstream's problems were not specific to the CFD products offered "but more than likely attributable to a failure in risk management and/or questionable management practices". While Savage moved to protect his own company's livelihood, he raised a point about regulation that many investors have talked about this week. "A greater degree of regulatory oversight would have helped," Savage said. "I am not advocating that the blame be passed from Dealstream, who may have misled their clients and acted inappropriately, to be placed at the door of the JSE or the prime broking community. "Instead I am rebutting assertions that the CFD industry should be held accountable. This kind of business failure has nothing to do with the products but rather the lack of appropriate risk management. We all need a higher degree of risk management and to establish a stronger regulatory framework." But a stronger regulatory framework was put in place with Securities Services Act of 2004. It allowed market regulators to take faster and tougher action against financial institutions. Allan Thomson, head of derivatives trading at the JSE, has said this week that no liability lies with the JSE. "It is true the JSE regulates listed companies. But the South African Futures Exchange can use its power to set appropriate contract margin rates and constantly evaluate them," Savage said. Further, investors have been asking where the FSB was. Although it appears the FSB was aware of Dealstream's misleading statements about CFDs being guaranteed, the FSB did not step in to protect investors until it was too late. (Source; Business Day) Delta Partners looks for telecoms investment opportunities in AfricaSpecialised telecoms and media investment and advisory company Delta Partners has opened an office in South Africa and is actively looking for investment opportunities in the African telecoms sector. The company typically will invest around US$8-15 million for a minority or majority position and will look to exit after 4-5 years, although its maximum investment period is seven years. In broad terms it is looking at network build companies, tower management companies and specialist retail service providers. Exit would usually be through an IPO or sale to another investor. Puelinckz says it opened an office in South Africa "to be closer to both financial and investment opportunities." It has a fund of US$80 million and expects to set up a second fund shortly. Media is a smaller part of its focus than telecoms but it expects to invest about 70-80% of its funds in telecoms-related businesses with the balance going into media. But as Puelinckz observes "there's a lot of covergence." So what's it looking for? "We want companies with a track record, strong management, cash flow and a presence in more than 2-3 countries." On its advisory side it can provide strong support through a network of over 100 people. Cellphone Firms Under Scrutiny Over Tax Planning in TanzaniaMobile phone operators in Tanzania are among large taxpayers that have come under the spotlight as the Tanzania Revenue Authority moves to plug loopholes in the regulations in order to reduce the room for "tax planning." Tax planning, or tax avoidance, is the term for manoeuvres to minimise tax liability that are legal under the Income Tax Act of 2004, whereby a firm deducts capital allowance from gross profit with the aim of attaining a taxable net profit, which is legally accepted. But a taxpayer may well arrange for the figures in the net profit docket to appear as a net loss, thus paying minimal or no tax at all. Now the TRA says it wants to embark on an exercise to determine whether large taxpayers in Tanzania, including mobile telephones companies, are planning tax to minimise their liability. The official list of large taxpayers now amounts to 370 companies. Placidus Luoga, Deputy Commissioner General of TRA, told The EastAfrican in an interview last week that while mobile firms in Tanzania have actually been paying taxes above the taxman's target, the TRA nevertheless wishes to check on the possible existence of tax planning. Between July 2007 and June this year, mobile phone firms in the large taxpayers' category -- among them Vodacom Tanzania, Tigo, Zain and Zantel -- had paid excise duty to the government amounting to Tsh40.2 billion ($36.2 million) whereas the TRA target was to collect Tsh39.2 billion ($37.3 million), a performance of 102 per cent. The deputy commissioner said value added tax (VAT) for all telecommunication forms, including the fixed line ones, had amounted to Tsh105.5 billion ($100 million), against the targeted Tsh81.8 billion ($77.9 million), a performance of 129 per cent. "But as there is a problem with the income tax law, which provides for an avenue to minimise tax to be paid," he said, "TRA without discrimination or malice, under the law, is moving to check how the taxpayers have reached the figures of tax to be paid." However, he said, since tax avoidance is legal, TRA is currently studying a prudent mechanism that would compel its taxpayers into paying a fair tax amount. "What is illegal is tax evasion, which we are increasing our capacity to fight," he added. However, analysts say that even with such a move, to get the best from taxpayers, it is the end user who gets to pay the most due to contradictory tax structures. They point out that Tanzania has the highest rate of tax in East Africa when it comes to mobile phone services. With effect from July this year, the government raised excise duty on mobile phone airtime from 7 to 10 per cent. Finance Minister Mustafa Mkullo said when presenting the national budget that mobile phone tax had been increased to adjust for inflation, which now stands at 9.5 per cent. "But this is a generally acceptable range," said Luoga. Acceptable to whom is not made clear. However, with over 15 million mobile phone users subscribing to six service providers, the Tanzanian market may well be yielding revenues of over Tsh273.7 billion ($260.6 million) per annum, a large portion of which may be going unnoticed due to the current tax structure, analysts say. Critics further say the current tax structure -- with value added tax levied for service users -- allows firms to get away with unclaimed VAT for users who are exempted from VAT. This leaves Tanzania's mobile services 11 to 15 per cent more expensive than in India, and 9 to 11 per cent more expensive than in the US. According to a new study undertaken by Deloitte for the GSM Association, usage of mobile communications is a powerful economic growth engine, which governments can fuel by lowering taxes on mobile services and handsets. (Source: The East African) In brief:- South Africa’s Allied Technologies Limited (Altech) announced remarkable half-year results for the period ended 31 August 2008. Revenue increased by 13% to R4.5 billion, the company’s operating profit increased by 34% to R409 million and headline earnings per share was up by 19% to 261 cents. Altech Chief Executive Officer, Craig Venter commented that the company’s continued strong balance sheet and net asset value of 1 974 cents underpinned the group’s expansion strategy, with notable progress in several areas having been made during the half-year, particularly in Africa. - The Zain Group, which operates mobile telephone services in 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East, has raised US$4.49 billion in new capital with 99% of all shareholders subscribing. The $4.49 billion exceeds all expectations, given the gloomy trends that have recently dominated local and international markets and resulted in sharp declines in the prices of oil and financial markets. - Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings (NPTH) Group paid out dividends of more than N$36 million to the Government for the financial year 2006/7. - Black investors have applied for three times the number of shares that Vodacom has earmarked for them in a public offer that forms part of its R7.5bn empowerment deal. About 100000 people applied for the 14,4-million shares on offer. That was double the 50000 individuals outgoing CEO Alan Knott-Craig hoped to attract. - Jobs have grown by 30 Percent in Western Cape Call Centres. These are the results of an industry survey by Calling the Cape, the province's contact centre and business processing outsourcing (BPO) development agency, and Deloitte. The economic effect of the sector in the province was estimated at R2.5bn and employment in the industry had risen from 6500 in 2003 to more than 27000. More than 30% of this growth in jobs had come from 30 new investment deals to the value of more than R750m including investments from companies like Barclays, Shell, the Dialogue group, Australian technology company iiNet and major US-based global outsourcing company Teletech. - IT solutions and services provider Dimension Data has acquired a 51% stake in Sistemas Redes e Communicações (SRC), an Angolan-based IT solutions company. The acquisition marks the launch of Dimension Data Angola, with its offices based in Luanda.
Combating the Full Threat Lifecycle of the InternetBeing connected to the Internet brings risks -- computers are at risk of infection, data is at risk of theft, employees are at risk of having their identities stolen, and the business is at risk of paying for bandwidth being wasted by hackers, spam, and unproductive websites. These problems are observed very frequently by our experts who visit organisations to review their IT security and recommend solutions. One such case was with a major corporate company in Tanzania whose network had literally come to a halt due to viral attacks, SPAM and uncontrolled usage of P2P. Combating these risks is not solely the responsibility of IT. Business owners and executives in Africa need to understand the threats to their business and the options available to them to mitigate these risks. In the security industry, experts often discuss "blended threats," which is a fancy way of saying that being connected to the Internet puts a business at risk in an almost infinite combination of ways. Any machine or network connected to the Internet is under constant attack from many different directions. One of the most prevalent and successful attacks today involves a series of steps that we call the Bot Threat Cycle. The Bot Threat Cycle almost always starts with an email. The email's entire reason for existence is to get people to click on the link inside. Almost everyone has seen examples of these sorts of emails -- some pretend to be from PayPal or eBay, others tease unbelievable headlines about celebrities, politicians, or natural disasters. All of them point to websites that may look trustworthy, but are in fact controlled by a malicious person or group trying to install software on the computers of trusting and under-protected people. In Tanzania, and in many places in Africa, this is a very common problem where users receive emails purpoting to be coming from their bank asking unsuspecting users to verify their e-mail. National Bank of Commerce, which is one of the leading bank in Tanzania have put a fraud warning on their website which can be seen at http://www.nbctz.com/fraude.htm. Many banks all over the world have such notices on their websites. The visited website will use a number of "exploits" -- mini-programs designed to take advantage of thousands of security flaws on individual computers -- to get the user's computer to download and install a bit of stealthy software that is a form of computer virus with remote control capabilities. This software, called a bot, can steal information off the local computer, capture passwords, or just be used as part of a global network of computers controlled by groups of attackers. What do the hackers do with these computers they have control over? They attack other computers, use them to spread the installed software or take down websites. Recent examples of this type of use include the complete shutdown of the country of Georgia's public websites presumably by Russia or Russian mafia groups. Other uses include hosting illegal files and sending spam including spam designed to infect more users. Thus the cycle is complete and the newly infected computer is part of the bot network sending out spam to new users trying to expand the size of the bot network. “There is no single answer to stopping this sort of threat, but it must be detected and stopped at every step of the process” says Gulam Chagani, the MD of Ebiz Solutions Ltd. His company based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is a systems integrator and has been recently appointed distributor of eSoft, a leading provider of network security appliances. According to Mr. Chagani, EBiz Solutions takes an approach that is comprehensive and effective at stopping these threats that can happen today to any African companies. eSoft detects and tracks bot networks in real-time and refuses to accept mail coming from known bots. Using eSoft's Email ThreatPak, phishing, spam, and other malicious emails are stopped in their tracks. However, if the email gets to the user anyway, for example when it arrives in their personal account, then if the user clicks on the link in the message, eSoft's Web ThreatPak blocks access to the malicious website. A typical African business would expect to receive not less than fifty such emails daily which would approximate to about a thousand such emails per month. Gulam Chagani explains further that “the Distributed Intelligence Architecture (DIA) of eSoft, updates appliances in real-time as new malicious websites come online. Next, even if web filtering is off or the user is the first person to view the malicious website, eSoft's Intrusion Prevention (part of the Web and Email ThreatPaks) detects common web browser exploits and blocks them. And if the attacker is using a new and never-before seen exploit? Then eSoft's gateway anti-virus (part of the Web ThreatPak) will detect any downloaded viruses including new variants and suspicious files. At EBiz, Gulam Chagani recently had the case of a customer that got infected when using his laptop on the road and then brought that laptop into the office. With eSoft's Intrusion Prevention that would not have been possible as it watches internal traffic for signs of infection as well as watching external traffic. This means that administrators can be alerted to infected machines and bots on their network immediately before that machine can do any damage. According to a recent report by CA Internet Business Security, they have forecasted the following to be the major threats for 2008, though this is a general prediction but applies to African countries as much as it applies to any other country in the world. 1. Bots will dominate 2008: The number of computers infected by botnets will increase sharply in 2008. In an effort to become harderto detect, bot-herders are changing their tactics and decentralizing via peer-to-peer architectures. They are increasingly using instant messaging as their main vehicle for spreading botnets. 2. Smarter malware: There are new levels of sophistication in malware. Malware will target virtualized computers, and increasing use of obfuscation techniques to hide in plain sight, including steganography and encryptions, will help criminals conceal their activities. 3. Gamers under fire: Gamers already are a prized target, and stealing their account credentials continues to be a primary objective of online criminals. Gamers historically are more concerned with optimizing their PCs for high performance rather than for tight security. In 2008, virtual assets will equal real world money for Internet criminals. 4. Social networking sites in the crosshairs: Social networking sites will become increasingly popular and, as a result, more vulnerable. The large number of aggregated potential victims and relatively small concern for computer security make these sites a windfall for cyber thieves. 5. Web 2.0 services and sites will come under targeted attacks: While it is relatively easy to implement Web 2.0 services, it can be quite challenging to configure them to be totally secure. Therefore, many Internet sites using these services are easy targets with little outward indication that a site is compromised. 6. Windows Vista at risk: As businesses and consumers buy new computers, Vista's market share will grow. Although it is designed as Microsoft's most secure operating system, 20 vulnerabilities were reported in 2007, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As more people use it, the more attackers will target it. 7. Mobile devices will still be safe: Mobile devices are still safe, despite rumors of mobile malware. Smartphones and other mobile devices will not be a real opportunity for criminals in 2008. Proof-of-concept malware for mobile devices has not yet translated into any meaningful attacks. Mweb Business Launches New Online Campaign in South AfricaMWeb Business has broken new ground with an online advertising campaign using video banners in the style of the well-known TV series, "The Office". The brainchild of Ogilvy Cape Town, the campaign consists of five video banners - which are a relatively new format for online advertising - developed to demonstrate fairly complicated business products in an entertaining way. According to Selwyn Newman, general sales manager at MWeb Business the brief to Ogilvy was a simple one. "We wanted to do something where MWeb Business could dominate within our chosen market and found that the Internet was one platform where we could easily do that. Ogilvy has used the medium an innovative way that sets our campaign apart from other online adverts." Ryan Laubscher, account director at Ogilvy Cape Town says, "MWeb Business products are targeted at IT managers, so our scenarios needed to leverage off the age-old human truths that exist in the dynamic between 'IT guys' and 'management'. Hugely successful television programmes such as "The Office" have demonstrated that there is an amazing amount of humour at play between suit-wearing office-bearers and 'the guys in the basement', and our video executions take their tongue-in-cheek lead from this battle between ties and techies." MWEB Business has positioned itself as "The IT department behind your IT department" demonstrating its ability to provide professional, valuable and practical IT solutions and support. Ogilvy created video banners for five MWEB Business products/services including Hosted Exchange, VPN's, Hosting (Database / Server / Website) and VoIP. They were created to give consumers and potential customers a visual and tangible reference for MWEB Business' products and services with the intention of positioning MWEB as a leading provider of business solutions in the corporate IT space. Laubscher says that because of the growth of broadband Internet, South Africans are consuming more video online than ever before, as can be seen by the proliferation of video viral clips flooding inboxes, the global success of YouTube and the growth of local video sites such as Zoopy.com. "Whilst Americans have been using video in banners for the last couple of years, local bandwidth concerns have prevented us from considering video banners prior to this campaign," he says. Video banners have a number of benefits right now. Firstly, as video banners are still unusual in South Africa, they can still incite curiosity, which encourages interaction. They can also deliver complex messages and scenarios that would be almost impossible in other mediums," Laubscher continues. The banners link through to individual microsites (which will go live soon) that outline the details of each of the products or services being showcased. This online campaign also includes a comprehensive pay-per-click (PPC) campaign and these banners form the visual aspect. (Source: Biz-Community)
People* Former Orange Botswana Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Thapelo Lippe, has been appointed as the new CEO of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC). * Nashua office automation MD Chris Scoble is taking over from former Nashua Mobile MD Mark Taylor, after he resigned from the cellular provider to join Vodacom. * At Vodacom, Morten Lundal, currently CEO Middle East & Africa in EMAPA, will be appointed CEO of the Central Europe & Africa Region which will comprise Vodafone’s interests in the Czech Republic, Ghana, Hungary, Kenya, Poland, Romania, Turkey and Vodacom Group in South Africa. Events* COMMONWEALTH ICT SUMMIT 6-8 October 2008, Abuja, Nigeria If you are a telecom or satellite operator, equipment supplier, software developer, solution provider, a consultant, or any other stakeholder in the Telecommunications and ICT industry, and are seeking opportunities to expand in emerging markets, or are seeking the platform to meet policymaking and regulatory authorities, donor agencies and financiers to champion your business development goals, the Commonwealth ICT Summit is the event to attend. For further information visit http://www.events.cto.int/ictsummit08 * 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 * NORTH AFRICA COM 14-15 October 2008, Cairo, Egypt North AfricaCom is the largest telecommunication event specifically designed for operators and telecoms professionals. With 35 expert speakers, 700 communications professionals and a 50-stand exhibition in 2007, this event is the best opportunity for you to learn from your colleagues' experiences in other countries and find out the latest solutions that can improve your business. For further information visit http://www.comworldseries.com/newt/l/gsm/events/northafrica * MOBILEFEST FOR THE WEST AFRICAS 16-18 October 2008, Lagos Airport Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria Mobilefest Africa is the first Expo in Western Africa to offer manufacturers and resellers of mobile hardware to showcase their products and services to consumers. It is also an opportunity for other companies in the mobile ecosystem to increase their brand awareness. The Expo aims to position itself as the No 1 annual Marketplace for Mobile phone devices, trends and innovations in the booming and energized West African Market. For further information visit http://www.mobilefestafrica.com/ * THE MOZAMBIQUE ICT CONVENTION 2008-08-14 15-16 November 2008, Maputo, Mozambique The Mozambique ICT Exhibition has been initiated by the Ministry of Science & Technology to provide an educational platform for all government ministries, departments and organisations, as well as all major private sector enterprises and SMEs. They will meet together over two days to share knowledge, learn form local and international experts and network with each other in both the conference and the exhibition. For further information contact AITEC Africa, +44(0)1480-880774; info@aitecafrica.com * TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND CONSUMERS RIGHTS IN WEST AFRICA 22-24 October 2008, Cotonou, Benin The conference aims at impulsing a new dynamics to the telecommunications sector through taking into account the concerns of consumers regarding quality and services rates at the national and regional level. The conference will also deal with all the aspects related to the regional regulation in term of telecommunication, the settlement of the West African ICT Consumer Associations Network as well as the advocacy techniques to be used during the campaign which will be conducted towards sub-regional institutions. The conference is funded and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) For further information contact the League for the Consumers Defence in Benin on +229 21 35 24 58 or visit their website at www.ldcb.org * TECHNOLOGY: A PLATFORM FOR DEVELOPMENT? 30 - 31 October 2008, Chatham House, London, UK Technology is now recognized as having the potential to transform the lives of millions in the developing world. This major international conference will seek to identify best practice for achieving the successful implementation of new technology. For further information visit http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/conferences/view/-/id/127/ * UBUNTUNET CONNECT 2008 AND OPEN ACCESS 2008 11-14 November 2008, Lilongwe, Malawi For further information on the 1st UbuntuNet Alliance Annual Conference, visit http://www.ubuntunet.net/ For further information on the 6th International Conference on Open Access, visit http://www.wideopenaccess.net/ * ngNOG 16 – 26 November 2008, Lagos, Nigeria For further information on the 3rd Edition of the Nigerian Network Operators Group Workshops and Meetings, visit http://www.forum.org.ng/ * AFRINIC 9 22 – 28 November 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia For further information on the 9th AfriNIC Open Policy Meeting, visit http://www.afrinic.net/ *TELECOMS COST ALLOCATION AND PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS CONFERENCE 1st – 5th December 2008 Hesperia Hotel, London - UK Over the five day conference delegates will learn & develop techniques to over come the latest developments in European regulatory and management accounting, address vital issues such as NGNs, IP-interconnection, regulatory evolution, convergent services, customer profitability analysis and cost control functions. Learning through a wide range of different formats you will learn how to increase your understanding and benchmark activities through; keynotes, panels, roundtables, workshops, seminars, interviews and open discussion. The formats are tailored to the subject and change the pace each day, helping you to maintain concentration and boost memory of the event. To register call our Customer Service Team: +44 (0)20 7017 7483 or Email: registrations@iir-telecoms.com. Our website is constantly being updated, so please visit www.iir-conferences.com/costprof for the latest information. Jobs and OpportunitiesEricsson Data Warehouse (dws) Consultant – East Africa The company is looking for consultant with Ericsson DWS ( Data warehouse) experience to start a new project in East African country. The candidate needs to have good Ericsson DWS and CDRS experiences. He will be responsible for the following: - Support on all the operations for Ericsson Mediation and Data warehouse (DWS) and all CDR’s databases (Engineering, O&M, revenues analysis and reporting) - Ensure availability of 99.97% for all Mediation systems and Ericsson Data Warehouse - Develop and manage the CDR processing and loading in Relational Databases (Oracle). - Ensure regular systems performances report and analyze - Help Revenue Management to detect and determine root cause of fraud from CDR and Databases analysis. - Send CDR files to Clearing House (EDCH) and receive Tape files from EDCH. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* Divona and Juniper Networks - Tunisia Juniper Networks has announced that Divona Telecom has selected its MX-series Ethernet services routers to create a high speed backhaul network to meet growing demand for its wireless broadband services in Tunisia. * One Commmunications and Airspan Networks – Kenya Kenya’s ISP One Communications (OneCom) has contracted Airspan Networks to provide equipment for a WiMAX wireless broadband rollout. OneCom, in which cellular operator Safaricom has a 51% stake, will deploy a nationwide WiMAX network to target both business and residential users.
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