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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 428 No free pass: global financial crisis will impact Africa’s telecoms sectorIt’s early days but the conventional wisdom so far has been that Africa will avoid the worst of the backwash from the global financial crisis. Its banks are less over-committed as lenders and its relatively small number of consumers still struggle to find credit. However, as everything is connected globally, Africa is bound to take a hit like every other continent and that hit will impact directly on Africa’s telecom’s sector. Russell Southwood tries to read the tea leaves. Over the last five years about half of the countries on the continent have experienced above average economic growth. This growth amongst the “fast track” economies has fed through directly into wealth levels among the people affected. For example, the middle class in Kenya grew by 3% over the last three years: this is a small percentage of a big number so it affects several million people. The slower moving economies have often been those emerging from civil war so any growth has been a bonus compared to past years. A significant part of the economic growth of the “fast track” African countries has come from the giant emerging economies of China and India buying food and mineral resources. However, if people in developed economies buy less of the consumer goods that have fuelled the growth of China’s economy then it in turn will need less mineral resources from places like Africa. Less demand for mineral resources will mean lower prices for things like oil and copper. The only upside of the latter is that there may be less organised cable vandalism. But if China sneezes, Africa catches a cold. So how does this general economic analysis feed through into Africa’s telecoms sector and what’s it likely to mean for your business?: - If you’re trying to raise funds to invest in Africa, life has got significantly harder. Some of those who were in the process of doing this were talking deals with financial institutions that have now been rescued by the US Government. Sovereign wealth funds (largely from oil-based economies) may be more immune to the liquidity crisis but the fall in the price of oil will cut the scale of these funds over time. Africa’s local stock exchanges may still be good for some fundraising but the scale of funds available is modest alongside the size of past deals. The interesting one to watch is Nigeria where the banks still appear to be anxious to lend and open for business. Also, barring a major financial crisis, the Chinese Government (which has a considerable amount of US dollars) will continue to support its export drive by offering soft loans to Africa’s impoverished state-owned telco incumbents. Perhaps some mobile operators will join them in this queue? - Africa’s mobile opportunities have been seen as a licence to print money and even with proliferating competition, newcomers have been keen to enter the market, paying top dollar. However, it’s noticeable that some of the more opportunistic investors without a background in telecoms have decided to take money and run: for example, Hits Telecom has sold out to France Telecom (see news item below). Nevertheless, they probably passed coming in the other direction Orascom’s new Africa unit, Telecel Globe. The global tides of financial panic wash people in and out: remember Vivendi who quit Africa during the telecoms finance crisis but returned as things got better. The logic of the current global crisis dictates that less available money will mean lower prices and less contenders. But the number of opportunities for new mobile licences or market entry points through acquisition are limited. Therefore Africa will do what it’s always done best up till now and “sell shortage” at a premium. For there are not many places in the world where you can get an above average return on your money within eighteen months to two years and there’s still another 5-10% of the addressable market untouched. And investing in mobile telephony is probably a better bet than giving people 120% mortgages on their houses in the current climate. - Less investment means less money going into African economies means less growth. Again the specifics are that if a mobile operator invests US$200-400 million in a country operation, a large part of that goes into things like employing people, buying local services and advertising. In advertising terms, the mobile operators have been among the top 5 spenders in any country where tracking exists. With potential buyers of mobile services possibly having less money to spend, the competition for the market share they already have will intensify. There will be a lot of soothing talk about the importance of service and new features before price wars set in. The smaller, one-country or small number of country operations will feel this heat hardest and will come up for acquisition or may even go out of business if the heat gets too intense. - The glimmer of hope against this backdrop is that the African consumer (the person with a monthly salary and some disposable income) is largely not in debt to anything like the same level as his or her European or American counterpart. They will not splash out wildly in the current context but they will continue to spend. The poor who have not yet become consumers will continue to scrape by as ever. However, the level of remittances from relatives abroad may drop as they become affected by the downturn in developed economies. Last week South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel was telling people not to panic which is usually a prelude to people heading for the lifeboats. However, the worst that appears to be in store is a strong dose of wage inflation. Telkom’s failure to address its overstaffing may seem like a victory for its employees but if wages continue to rise above inflation, it will begin to squeeze the companies already pressured profits. Whatever the political pressures, hard times will demand drastic solutions. - Economic slowdown means that Government will have lower tax revenues and private companies less income. Both will impact on the replacement and purchase cycle for ICT equipment. SAP commented in its Q3 results that results from BRICs (the key grouping of developing countries) were mixed. And whilst Cisco reported a resurgence in emerging markets orders, bookings in Africa were very weak. Money spent on rescuing deserving causes like banks may also turn into money not spent on foreign aid. Since the latter supports a great deal of the ICT purchases by African Governments, this will also create a tightening in the market, particularly for the larger IT multinationals with a presence on the continent. All have put feet on the ground in the promise of business tomorrow and the more timid or financially windswept may pull back. - On a counter-cyclical basis, there are two key factors: the big change in the cost of international fibre capacity with the arrival of new cables and for South Africa, the World Cup in 2010. The first (in Q2,2009) will be a welcome boost as bandwidth prices will fall from US$5-6,000 a meg on the east coast to nearer to US$500-1,000 a meg. This will not be good news for those selling high-priced bandwidth as a way of making a living but will benefit those selling services and applications on top of the network. On the west coast, this fall will happen in Q2, 2010 and will be slightly less dramatic. The World Cup in 2010 will be a welcome boost to growth for South Africa and is allowing it to put in place key infrastructure. The only question is: will it be finished on time? - The hardest part to read is the sheer irrationality of financial markets: the kind of cold sweat fear that's been gripping the markets in the North does not always relate to fundamentals but it may convey itself South. Asia is already anticipating the worst. But this will probably only happen if the global crisis keeps extending and there is a feeling that Government money simply won’t contain the difficulties. Everything hangs on that difficult word confidence. So hang on to your hat because it may get bumpy…..
Uganda: France Telecom Acquires Hits TelecomThe long-awaited Hits telecom service in Uganda will finally arrive as Orange Uganda as France Telecom announced that it had bought the company. Hits Telecom, which was registered late last year and was expected to start operations as Uganda's fifth telephone company within the first four months of this year, failed to beat its deadlines, despite testing its call signal. Last week Jimmy Kiberu, Orange Uganda's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer said Orange Uganda has acquired a 53 per cent stake in Hits Telecom Uganda, making France Telecom the majority shareholder in the new partnership. "Hits Telecom Uganda provides Orange Uganda Limited with its national licence, the transfer of which has been approved by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)," said Kiberu in a statement. Fred Otunnu, UCC's Director of Communications and Consumer Affairs, confirmed the deal. "It is right and I am aware of it," he said in a telephone interview last week. The partnership will give Orange a starting point in which to expand and launch its services in Uganda, since Hits Telecom has already rolled out its GSM network within Kampala and neighbouring districts. Orange is expected to invest close to US$375 million and create at least 206 jobs in addition to Hits' $150 million and 400 direct jobs. "With a rapidly growing population of around 30 million people and a mobile penetration rate of less than 17 per cent by March 2008, Uganda offers major prospects for growth," Kiberu said in his statement. An August survey commissioned by Daily Monitor indicated that Uganda's four telecommunication operators including Zain, MTN, Uganda Telecom and Warid Telecom, have about eight million subscribers. Source: The Monitor (Kampala) PNN Executes N7 Billion Frame Agreement With ITL in Nigeria on tower sharingPan-African telecoms service provider, PNN limited has announced that it has reached another milestone in the telecommunications industry with the signing of a frame agreement with Independent Towers Limited (ITL), to deploy and operate 200 co-location sites in Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda as part of the first phase of the 750 sites being planned by ITL. Speaking at a media parley held in Lagos recently, Managing Director/CEO of PNN, Alhaji AbdulRahman Abiola-Odunowo, stated that PNN intends to deploy the sites innovatively to help reduce the capital and operational expenditure for these sites. He explained that "to achieve a reduction in the operational expenses of our client, ITL has approved that all the sites would be deployed utilizing alternative power solutions. We are very excited to be working with a forward thinking organisation like ITL because they have recognized the need to think out of the box by deploying their sites in a more energy efficient manner". He also added that 100 of these sites would be completed and brought to use before June 2009. Also at the media parley, Gbenga Owoeye, Head of Business Development, Independent Towers Limited (ITL), explained that ITL's main focus is to deliver a cost effective service across Africa and the deployment of the first 200 sites to Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana is as a result of our assessment of the current needs in these markets. "Our choice of PNN as our turnkey service provider is based on their understanding of ITL's aspirations in ensuring our operational cost is reduced significantly while also ensuring uptime on our sites is 100% at all times since they are the leading telecoms infrastructure operations and maintenance service company in Nigeria with over 700 sites under their management." Owoeye also confirmed that ITL intends to deploy over 750 sites in 6 African countries between now and June 2010. Source: Vanguard (Lagos) South Africa’s Neotel halves call fees to entice retail fixed line customers to install its phonesSecond network operator Neotel is going head-to-head with Telkom in the consumer market by undercutting call fees to entice customers to rip out their Telkom line and install a Neotel phone instead. The direct assault on Telkom's core territory is part of Neotel's aim to win up to 60,000 individual customers by early next year. But with Telkom serving about 4.5-million homes, the potential market is far larger than Neotel is initially chasing. Its attack is built around the home phone - it will be delivered within 48 hours and needs no installation as it runs on wireless technology (CDMA 2000). Making it even more attractive are call rates to landlines at about half the fee charged by Telkom, with local calls at 34c a minute or 17c off-peak. "For the first time ever there will be a clear alternative available in the marketplace," said CEO Ajay Pandey. "We are playing in the voice area now. This is for the common man." Neotel had "hit the nail on the head" by launching its new product during the economic downturn, said Mukul Sharma, its executive of consumer business. "Communicating will become more affordable for the consumer." The phone can also send SMSes and connect a computer to the Internet at average speeds of 50Kb to 100Kb a second. That made it ideal for people who mainly wanted voice calls but also needed basic Internet access, Sharma said. One option will see customers pay R599 for a phone and a monthly fee of R99. A second option does not charge for a phone but costs R199 a month. Users receive 1000 free minutes to other Neotel numbers, which Sharma admitted would only be useful as more customers joined its network. Neotel launched its first consumers' services in May, chasing wealthier residents who wanted Internet access first, with voice calls as a sideline. It attracted 30,000 inquiries, although Neotel will not say how many actually signed up. "The challenge wasn't the availability of customers, the challenge was to fulfil those requirements," said Pandey. Its constraint is that its network is still limited to major urban areas. Customers can sign up online, by phone or at Autopage shops, and the sales team was working to add more retailers. "My vision remains that as our coverage expands, people should be able to walk into Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Spars and pick up a phone," Pandey said. A change of shareholders for Neotel was still on track despite political upheaval that could see a swing to more left-wing policies. The government has already agreed to sell the 30% held by state-owned Eskom and Transnet to Tata, the Indian conglomerate that is Neotel's largest shareholder with 26%. Pandey said the company should be making "some tangible announcements" soon. Source: Business Day Minister, Icasa in Court Over self-provisioning Licence for JSE-listed AltechCommunications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is taking the industry regulator to court to prevent it issuing a telecoms licence to JSE-listed Altech. A court action pitting a minister against an industry regulator is thought to be unprecedented, and comes after a high court judge ruled that the minister had overstepped her powers and was running a flawed licensing process. The judge ruled that Altech and about 300 other voice and data carriers were automatically entitled to a licence giving them the right to build their own networks. Matsepe-Casaburri has applied for leave to appeal against the verdict, claiming it would throw her policy of managed liberalisation into chaos, but her appeal will be considered only on October 30. On Friday the minister took further action by applying for an urgent interdict to prevent the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) giving Altech an electronic communications network services (ECNS) licence. Icasa has played down the action, saying the minister is simply asking for clarity on whether the licensing process has been put in abeyance pending her intended appeal. "The minister is trying to get the court to clarify whether her appeal suspends the judgment that was issued. If the court says the appeal suspends the judgment it means we are not to do anything," an Icasa spokesman said. In a sense it was academic, as Icasa had already halted the licence conversions, he said. "If the judge says the appeal doesn't suspend the judgment it's something we would look at, but I can't say whether we would go ahead with the process." However, if the judge declares that the appeal does not suspend the ruling, Altech can press Icasa to issue a licence so it can begin to construct a network. The verdict that value added network services (Vans) licence holders were entitled to ECNS licences was a breakthrough for liberalising the industry, as companies would no longer have to lease their bandwidth from Telkom, Neotel or the cellular operators. Icasa prepared to issue the licences, but backtracked when the minister began her appeal. Altech then sent a letter of demand, saying Icasa would be in contempt of court if it refused to issue a licence that a court said it is entitled to have. In applying for an interdict, the minister said if every Vans operator gained an ECNS licence, it would devalue the licences of Telkom, the cellular networks and the R100m licence that Neotel bought in order to be the second national operator. (Source: Business Day) In brief:- Following repeated calls to tackle the international call failures that have blighted the country during 2008, incumbent Zambia Telecommunication (Zamtel) has confirmed that it has installed a new next generation international exchange, The operator has reportedly spent US$3 million on the new infrastructure, which is capable of handling up to one million calls at any one time, and it is expected that this will relieve the recent problems. - Old Mutual Kenya has signed a partnership deal with a mobile money transfer service provider as its move to penetrate the mass market gets into top gear. The partnership with Safaricom's M-Pesa service will enable investors to top-up their unit trust investment monthly contributions thus creating an ease of access and convenience. Old Mutual's Toboa is an investment plan targeting Kenyans who are ready to invest a minimum of Sh7,500 per month. Clients will be registered M-Pesa users. - Kenya’s Communication Workers Union is calling on members to reject proposals requesting voluntary redundancies at state-backed fixed line and mobile operator Orange Kenya. A report from Dow Jones cites a story in local newspaper Business Daily which says that the union’s secretary general, Benson Okwaro, is urging staff to oppose the plans for more layoffs. The telco, which is part-owned by France Telecom, is thought to be looking at reducing its workforce by several hundred staff via a voluntary redundancy programme, though exact figures have not been released. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Cellular provider, Econet Wireless is coasting towards the 1.2 million subscriber base target after the company reported a 41% increase in the number of subscribers for the six months to August, the company announced Tuesday.Releasing Econet's interim financial results, CEO Douglas Mboweni said the company now has a connected customer base of 910 047 maintaining its grip on the mobile market share with over 60% ahead of Net One and Telecel. - Mobile telephone operator, Safaricom, has adjusted call charges for its post paid customers to four shillings per minute within its network from a high of Sh7 per minute announced earlier in the week.This offer represents up to 43 per cent in savings for the customer in addition to the 30 per cent reduction earlier.Safaricom introduced a promotion dubbed 'Jibambie', which allows its pre-paid subscribers to make savings of between 20 per cent to 70 per cent on their calls depending on the choice of top-up scratch card. - Zain Nigeria has introduced a new Super Off-peak and weekend International Call regime that will enable its customers save up to 63% on international call rates; applicable to calls from Zain (Nigeria) network to fixed lines in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America, (USA) during off-peak periods on weekdays and weekends. - Nigeria has achieved about 80 per cent telephone penetration across its huge population spread after a critical appraisal of telecommunications and ICT infrastructure penetration among the Nigerian population and geography in the past eight years. - Vodacom has introduced a Short Voice Service (SVS) that enables customers to send a 30-second voice message to any other Vodacom subscriber. Customers do not need a special subscription or to be provisioned to utilise the new service. As an introductory offer, the SVS service will be free of charge until 9 November 2008. SVS messages will subsequently be charged at a flat rate of ZAR0.90 (USD0.08) and are available to all Vodacom contract, pre-paid and top-up customers.
Internet Costs set to reduce by 99 Percent in Rwanda when fibre arrivesCosts of Internet broadband in the country are expected to reduce from $3,000 to $25 for each Megabyte per second a government official has said. Nkubito Bakuramutsa the Director General of Rwanda Information Technology Agency (RITA) said that Rwandans will purchase much cheaper Internet bandwidth after the country's national Internet backbone is connected to the coastal submarine cables expected to be completed by 2010. The five year project got a boost on Monday after the official signing of the $24m (Frw13.2 billion) grant for a Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme Rwanda Project (RCIPRW) between the World Bank and government. Two of the submarine cables being targeted include the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) and The East African Marine System (TEAMS). The $24m is part of the World Bank's $424 million Regional Communication Infrastructure Program which is designed to improve the regional communications infrastructure and increase the deployment of e-government in Southern and Eastern Africa. Once the cables are complete, access to international bandwidth connected to Rwanda will increase more than three times and the price will fall by over 50 percent. Angolan Embassy in Belgium Launches Internet SiteThe Angolan Embassy in Belgium last Tuesday launched its Internet website with information on its diplomatic representation, community residing in that European country and on Angola. According to the Embassy of Angola in Belgium, Internet surfers can access the page through the site www.angolaembassy.eu. The bilingual website, Portuguese and French, has items such as the daily press magazine, declarations of the President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, Angolan music, videos and an online radio. Together with the Netherlands and Luxemburg, Belgium is part of Benelux, and ambassador Toko Diakenga Serão is the Angolan representative to this region. Source: Angola Press Agency Huawei adds Zambia’s Zamtel to its list of national fibre backbone roll-outsLast Chinese equipment vendor Huawei added Zambian national incumbent Zamtel to its of national fibre backbone roll-outs. According to Network World, Zambia Telecommunications (Zamtel) has inked a deal with Chinese equipment supplier Huawei Technologies for the latter to provide and build a national fibre-optic backbone; the new infrastructure is intended to extend the Lusaka Metropolitan fibre-optic project. The deal will see Huawei lay cables across more than ten routes across the country, and the total cost of both projects is believed to be US$48 million. In brief:- SADC Groundwater and Drought Management Project has announced launch of its website today, aimed at increasing awareness and sharing of information on groundwater and drought management issues in Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The website will also strengthen objective of Groundwater and Drought Management Project which is to develop consensus on a regional strategic approach to support and enhance capacity of SADC member states in the definition of drought management policies, specifically in relation to the role, availability (magnitude and recharge) and supply potential of groundwater resources.
Nigeria: HIIT Gets CPN's Accreditation As Training CentreOne of the frontline Information Technology (IT) Training and education Institute, HIIT institute last week got the nod from the country's computer registration council, CPN, to operate legally as study and training centre offering IT courses. HIIT, was among the seven pioneer study/training centres the council accredited last week in Abuja as it celebrated the annual Information Technology professionals assembly/Annual General Meeting at the Nicon Luxury Hotels Abuja. The event which assembled major stakeholders in IT industry in Nigeria was an opportunity for the council's president, Professor Adenike Osofisan, to express disappointment that IT training in Nigeria, particularly in the non-formal sub-sector, was becoming an all-comer's affair, devoid of coherent framework regarding the scope, content and quality. Osofisan said that consequent upon the proliferation of computer training outfits in every nook and cranny of the country, all sorts of certificates and programmes based on undefined philosophies, objectives and content curricula for relevant skill acquisition, were just being issued and bandied about. That unfortunate development she noted was a need to certify all IT practitioners in Nigeria, in order to design a specific framework for the restructuring and regulation of the formal and non-formal institutions of Information Technology in Nigeria, to ensure global standards. Osofisan's concerns touched the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, who lauded the role of CPN in setting standards for IT practitioners in Nigeria and assured that the Federal Government was committed towards providing enabling environment and infrastructure needed for effective IT education at all levels. He also announced that Federal Government has incorporated computer education into the school curricular and made computer education compulsory in all schools. After the accreditation, Chief Executive Officer of HIIT, Mr. Kayode Shobajo, described the licensing of his institute as a stamp of approval on a brand that is rendering world class, affordable IT training in Nigeria. According to him "the issuance of the license to HiiT attests to our capability, information technology know-how to provide excellent IT training in a conducive atmosphere for the empowerment of our students" Shobajo said that HiiT was poised by the singular repose of confidence of the regulatory authority to deliver on its corporate mission to eradicate IT illiteracy in Nigeria. HIIT is a wholly Nigerian brand. It began operation in 1996 with a mission to eradicate IT illiteracy by offering world class and affordable IT Training/Education in a customer centric manner to Nigerians. Source: Vanguard (Lagos) Sahara nets mobile prestige with latest netbook offering in South AfricaSahara Computers has launched a new 8-inch netbook to address the growing demand for a product within what analysts describe as a high-volume, burgeoning market segment. The company has expanded its product portfolio and continues to compete against global tier one mobile solution providers. The Linux-based solution runs on AMD LX 800 (500MHz) processor and features 512RAM, a 60GB hard disk drive, an 8-inch LCD widescreen and a built-in 1.3 megapixel Web cam. It is specifically targeted at the netbook market defined by low-cost, compact and lean function product. “As such, it holds appeal for the broader, entry-level consumer space,” says Gary Naidoo, deputy MD at Sahara. “The low-cost mobile and wireless market is growing. A number of media reports have stated that the netbook space will expand the global PC market. Vendors have to continue to position themselves accordingly and this means tailoring the product to suit conditions of use. First-time buyers of notebooks often fall into the trap of looking to immediately acquire all the bells and whistles of high-end mobile infrastructure, without due consideration of why they are investing in this technology in the first place. This is an important factor because it will determine the functionality required by the user, the price range and extent of use, battery life and other key aspects that will ultimately impact on the experience.” Sahara has focused on a number of key selling points to establish a vantage point for the product in this competitive segment of the market. The new Sahara netbook is competitively priced and offers a 60GB hard disk drive, which, says Naidoo, is outside the norm of products in this price category. “It has a powerful memory and storage capacity which allows the user to store and communicate large files, multimedia content and enjoy music, movie clips and other digital lifestyle-focused content,” says Naidoo. “There is also the benefit of a built-in Web cam which really makes the device highly functional, even at this price bracket. It can be used to interact and swap material, and certainly makes sense in terms of the growth of social networking and related Web sites,” Naidoo continues. The netbook ships with a Linux operating system but can be configured to include a Windows operating system. “The user has all the benefits of your typical work-focused programmes, such as word processing, presentations and spreadsheets, but also access to open source software. This versatility in application and access can only benefit the end-user,” adds Naidoo. EC-Council, New Horizons to Boost Cyber Security in NigeriaEC-Council, a United States (U.S.) based international certification body on information security and e-business, in collaboration with New Horizons, a Nigerian based knowledge provider on Information Technology (IT), is set to train Nigerians on cyber security issues. EC-Council, which currently trains staff of the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) in the United States of America, as well as staff of defense ministry from various countries of the world, will be offering courses on Master of Security Science in Nigeria, through the EC-Council University that is based in the U.S. President and Co-founder of EC-Council, Sanjay Bavisi, together with the Vice President, EC-Council University, Sean Lim spoke in Lagos at the weekend, when they visited Nigeria for the first time, on invitation by New Horizons. Bavisi explained that EC-Council train FBI staff on security management and that it regularly train organisations and staff from various departments in various countries, not in the U.S. alone. "We work with defense ministries in various countries to provide training on cyber security and we will like to work with the Nigerian Defense Ministry to provide training on cyber security as well," Bavisi said. According to him, what EC-Council does is to bring the same level of knowledge from the U.S. to other countries it offers training. Managing Director for New Horizons, Tim Akano, said he was happy to succeeded in bringing EC-Council to Nigeria, explaining that he took him close to three years to track Bavisi and Lim and bring them to Nigeria because they are ever busy people who always flying from one country to another on security training. Bank and telecom company executives present at the weekend gathering to learn from the EC-Council, indicated their interests to be part of the training on Master of Security Science, which kicks off in November next month in Lagos. The Master of Security Science (MSS) is part of a nested suite of programs, which includes an EC-Council certification, Post Graduate Diploma and a Master's degree in different entry points depending on previous academic studies. The program is intended for fresh and experienced graduates who wish to update their skills or change their area of specialization. It is concerned with the design, management and implementation of network security in corporations and public networks, or service provision to public and private networks. Speaking on the implications for mobile and hospital hacking that is currently in vogue, Bavisi said there are many implications in mobile and hospital hacking. Some companies he said, have no IT policy and people can bring in dangerous tools into the company that could affect its smooth operations. Mobile phones, he added, allow the use of any applications, but stressed the dander of allowing anybody to take in any mobile phone into a company, since e people could use mobile phones or digital devices to install malicious software and steal data. He said group of hackers hack for different purposes and that their actions should be checked. The whole purpose of EC-Councilis to reduce the rate of cyber warfare across countries. He however emphasized that a country must first recognise that there is a security gap before thinking of how to reduce the gap. A lot of countries, he said, feel that there is no need to beef up security against cyber attack, just because they have not been attacked. There are several attacks that are going on in some organisations and their computers that they are yet to be found out. On how safe is the idea of going international by some Nigerian financial institutions, considering online hacking, Bavisi said security protection is key to any nation and organisation. "I thing Nigerian financial institutions have not really branded themselves as information security institution. When this is lacking, they will be open to risk and online attacks. What Nigeria needs to do is to come with an agenda on cyber security, accept the agenda and ensure that the agenda is well implemented. All banks and stock market need information security,' he said. On how hacking could be controlled globally, Lim said there are several measures in which hacking could be checked globally. EC-Council according to him, is hosting an Asia-Specific roundtable gathering in November this year to brainstorm on cyber security globally. "We are partnering with the ministry of defense in most Asian countries. We will come out with a global solution on how to reduce crime rate in cyberspace. The National Security Agency of the United States for instance is coming up with global solution in the area of human capital. The reason is that without proper human capital development, there will be room for hacking. No matter how sophisticated technology equipment a nation or organisation may purchase, and no matter the huge investment on physical facilities without investing on the human capital development, will amount to mere waste of energy and resources. People that will handle the equipment must be trained and must be knowledgeable in information security management. Without human capital and without proper methodology in place, it will be difficult to control cyber attacks, Lim said. He said although much money has been lost to cyber attacks, it is pretty difficult to ascertain the exact amount in dollars and naira that has been lost by various organizations and individuals to cyber attacks. Some organizations, he said, have however come up with figures and put their losses to the tune of $3 billion in recent times. Asked which country is worst hit in cyber attacks, Lim said the U.S. seems to be the worst hit because they are transparent and provide details of security information to the public each time they notice any attack. He however said that not every country shows transparency in releasing information. Some countries, he said, have decided not to give information on cyber attacks, but stressed that such situation of secrecy does not imply that such counties are more security tight than others. They are even the worst hit, because they are afraid to report so that hackers may not attack them the more, he said. Source: Daily Independent (Lagos) In brief:- Tarsus Technologies has announced the extension of its distribution agreement with Cisco to encompass Linksys, the company's consumer- and small business-focused brand of networking solutions.
Rwandan Govt, World Bank Pen $24 Million ICT DealThe World Bank last week signed the recently approved $24m (approx. Frw13Bn) infrastructural grant with the Government of Rwanda. The grant will finance the availing of broadband infrastructure to different institutions in the country. At the signing ceremony, World Bank Resident Representative, Victoria Kwakwa, said that the reason the World Bank chose to finance this project was because of the country's demonstration of a strong commitment to promoting Information Communication Technology (ICT). "The government of Rwanda has a strong commitment to ICT which it has set as the driver towards the accomplishment of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy," she said. The Rwanda project is part of the $424m World Bank's Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme (RCIP). Licensed operators and Internet Service Providers chosen through competitive bidding are expected to implement the project's activities. Finance and Economic Planning Minister James Musoni lauded the speed at which the finances were approved adding that this will have a significant impact on the project's implementation. "We also pledge our commitment to maintain the speed with which you worked throughout this process," he said. He added that this project will solve some of the hitches that the government has been going through in its various developmental programmes. "This project stands to address some of the impediments we have been encountering, an example of which is the implementation of the NICI plan for our development agenda," said Musoni. NICI plan is the National Information and Communications Infrastructure, the national ICT policy. Kwakwa said that the World Bank will be closely monitoring and evaluating the project's implementation. According to a World Bank news release, this project will see at least 700 institutions such as schools, health centres and administrative units of local government, availed with broadband connection. "The project will also increase availability of international bandwidth to the country by ensuring that Rwanda is connected to the East coast submarine fibre-optic cables," says the release. One of the projects to tap this bandwidth is the East African Submarine System (EASSy) which according to Nkubito Bakuramutsa, the Rwanda Development Board Deputy CEO in charge of ICT, has gone beyond concept level and is now at the implementation phase. Source: The New Times (Kigali) Local shareholders looking to sell their Vodacom Tanzania stakeTanzanian shareholders holding a 35% stake in domestic mobile operator Vodacom Tanzania have reportedly approached the regulator, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), seeking permission to sell their shares to foreign investors, reports daily newspaper This Day citing ‘well-placed industry sources’ as saying. The unit, currently 65%-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom Group and Mirambo Limited of Tanzania (35%), is the nation’s largest player in terms of subscribers with a market share of 44.86% at 30 June 2008, writes TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database. Mirambo contacted the watchdog in April this year to confirm it had acquired the 19% and 16% equity stakes held by Caspian Construction and Planetel Communications respectively. However, it has since become embroiled in a dispute with the TCRA over who it is allowed to sell the shares to. Although Mirambo is petitioning for the right to offload the asset to foreign investors, local legislation (under the Tanzania Communications Licensing Regulations of 2005) requires that telecoms companies operating in the country must have at least one local shareholder with a minimum 35% stake in order to become eligible for a telecommunication licence. Mirambo argues that the 35% local ownership stipulation is merely a condition for winning a licence and that there is no ongoing obligation to retain local ownership once this has been awarded. This Day goes on to say that local shareholders feel the unfair restrictions are making it difficult for them to access funding from international financial institutions and their growing impatience is making them more aggressive in terms of challenging the TCRA’s position. The matter is being discussed at government level while most recently, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday asserted that any move to allow Mirambo to sell to a foreign investor ‘would not be in the best interests’ of the country. (Source: Telegeography) Vodafone Egypt expects revenue growth slowdown in 2008Wireless operator Vodafone Egypt expects revenue growth to slow to between 18%-20% in 2008, Reuters is reporting, with the cellco claiming that the increased competition and market penetration in the country will play a role in the slowdown. Richard Daly, Vodafone Egypt’s CEO, said, ‘Last year growth was well over 30%. There is a natural curve in our growth and we are in a three-player market.’ According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Etisalat Misr was awarded Egypt’s third mobile licence in July 2006, launching commercial services in May 2007. Vodafone Egypt is currently the second largest cellco by subscribers in Egypt, with MobiNil currently the market leader. However, both operators have lost market share since Etisalat launched, with MobiNil dropping from 52.5% in March 2007 to 46.6% at the end of June 2008, while Vodafone’s share fell from 47.5% to 40.4% during the same period. Source: Telegeography Guine Telecom to receive USD50m in Chinese investmentChina is to invest USD50 million to develop telecommunications facilities in Guinea Bissau’s national PTO Guine Telecom under the terms of a bilateral agreement between the two countries. Guine Telecom is technically 49%-owned by Portugal Telecom, but the Portuguese firm recently relinquished its management control due to a EUR30 million (USD67 million) debt owed by the Guinean government. The deal with China includes the installation of a fibre-optic network to span the entire country, from the border with Senegal in the north to Guinea in the south. In brief:-Western Union and Orascom Telecom have teamed up to introduce mobile remittance services across some of Orascom's markets in the developing world. The idea is to offer a 'low-principal, high-frequency remittance service' to its customers. This follows in the wake of the success of Safaricom’s M-Pesa service and shows that for Western Union, it’s case of “if you can’t beat them, join ‘em”.
E-Tranzact to Launch ATM Mobile Cardless in NigeriaA simple, but high level technology that is new in the world and patented only to E-Tranzact, a switching payment company in Nigeria, is due for launch in October 28, 2008 in Lagos. Announcing the new ATM mobile cardless known as E-Tranzact ATM CardlexCash, Mr. Valentine Obi, Chief Executive of the switching payment company said the product allows customer to withdraw money from any ATM machine whose banks are on the E-Tranzact platform, without the use of an ATM card. It is designed to ease customers of the need of carrying too many ATM cards, and in the case of one forgetting his ATM card at home, and he is in dare need to cash money from the ATM machine around him or his office, the Cardlexcash will address the situation. The new technology allows all of these, Obi said. According to him, it is a product designed for E-Tranzact global payment network that provides a solution which allows a transferor to transfer funds from his mobile phone to the mobile phone of the transferee, who then collects the funds at any ATM without the use of ATM cards. What the transferee need do is to enter the access code and the card PIN into the ATM and the withdrawal is made with ease. Obi explained that the revolutionary product, which leverages on a subscriber's mobile phone, the E-Tranzact platform and the ATM processor of partner banks to make funds transfer and collection convenient for the end-users, will bring smiles to the faces of the numerous unbanked persons in the country and beyond. He said "The E-Tranzact ATM Cardlexcash proposes a faster and convenient process of money transfer that eliminates going to bank or using an ATM card." He said the practical demonstration on how the new product works will be demonstrated at the launch on October 28. Source: Daily Independent (Lagos) Rwandatel's Upgraded GSM to Support E-BettingRwandatel is to provide the infrastructure that will enable Lotto Rwanda sell lottery tickets using a mobile handset. The agreement signed between Rwandatel, Lotto Rwanda, and Tilia Games will also pave way for subscribers to participate in on-line betting and on-line predictions for international games including soccer. The agreement signed on Tuesday at Rwandatel Head Office comes after the successfully completion of Rwandatel's GSM network. Patrick Kalinigufu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rwandatel said the company is in final stages of completely switching to GSM technology. The company has built 60 base station antennas countrywide in less than a year, positioning Rwandatel to smoothly migrate from CDMA technology to GSM. Lap Green, a Libyan consortium that partly owns a stake in Rwandatel has invested $56m (Frw30.8b) in equipment and training to prepare staff for the new GSM technology that has many features. The investment is part of the $87 million (Frw47.8 billion) that Lap Green pledged to invest within one year of acquiring majority stake in Rwandatel. Kariningufu said the deal is part of the value addition programme promised to Rwandans. Lotto Rwanda announced that the first jackpot will be held on 12th December, with minimum of Frw30 million to be won. Phillip Brizoua, Director General Lotto Rwanda said the partnership with Rwandatel is part of his company's contribution to support government in the use of ICT to fight poverty. "Cost centre will also become a revenue center for people," he said. This means that instead of spending on airtime, many Rwandans will be able to generate revenue through betting by usage of a mobile phone. Source: The New Times (Kigali)
People* HP has named Steen Lomholt-Thomsen as VP and GM of HP Software's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Events* 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 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. For further information visit www.iir-conferences.com/costprof Jobs and Opportunities* RIM announces developer tools for the Blackberry Research In Motion (RIM) last week announced new versions of various BlackBerry developer tools that further support innovative, streamlined mobile application development for BlackBerry smartphones. The developer tool updates include a new public beta of the BlackBerry JDE Plug-in for Eclipse, as well as new releases of the BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio, BlackBerry MDS Studio, and Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit for the BlackBerry platform. Contracts*Aircom and MobiNil -Egypt Network planning company Aircom International has announced that it has been chosen by MobiNil, Egypt’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, to help plan and implement 3G technologies into the operators existing 2G infrastructure. Under the deal, MobiNil has purchased the UMTS+HSPA module of Aircom’s ASSET network planning tool, and the agreement will also see Aircom deliver 3G technology courses, training and a range of consultancy services to the cellco. *Intec and Atlantique Telecom Intec, a global provider of business and operations support systems (BSS/OSS), announced a contract extension with Atlantique Telecom, one of the fastest growing GSM operators in West and Central Africa. Under the terms of the agreement Intec will supply its market-leading InterconnecT software to Atlantique mobile subsidiaries throughout French-speaking Africa from a single centralized platform deployment. The implementation makes Intec the undisputed leader in the African wholesale billing market with close to 40 operators now using Intec technology.
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