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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 429 Egypt tries to control the use of GPS by banning except with individual licencesNew technologies have again bumped up against the hard walls erected by the security state. Egypt has banned the use of GPS by its citizens on security grounds unless they individually apply for a licence. Egypt’s citizens seem to be taking matter largely in their stride by ignoring the ban but for businesses who have to operate inside the law it creates problems. The Russian Government has tried the same approach and eventually gave up as the modern world rolled past it using their satnav. Russell Southwood looks at why a ban of this kind would be bad for Africa. Egypt’s Telecoms Law 10/2003 outlaws the import of GPS-equipped mobile phones, and retailers found selling them could have their entire stock confiscated. The same applies to any kind of commercial use of GPS technology, which includes cars equipped with GPS devices. On this basis, mobile phones like the Nokia N95, N82 as well as iPhones and some 3G phones are banned in Egypt, leaving the market deprived of the latest technology and features that are fast becoming standard in the new generation of mobile phones. According to Sherif Guinena, vice chairman of the Egypt’s regulator speaking to the Daily News Egypt:“GPS is allowed in Egypt but you must have a license after getting approval from security authorities.” “No doubt this technology is very important, brand new service and a big advantage if it is allowed, but we have to abide to security laws; because when we give a license to any new communication device we need the approval of the board which represents all state agencies,” Guinena added. “There have been negotiations between us and the authorities to allow GPS commercial use but we didn’t reach anything yet,” he said GPS is a Global Navigation Satellite System which uses a constellation of between 24 and 32 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals that enable GPS receivers to determine their current location, the time and their velocity including direction. Originally developed for military purposes by the United States Department of Defense, it was authorized for civilian use in 1983. Today, only three countries in the world still ban the commercial use of GPS: Egypt, Syria and North Korea. But while GPS technology is prohibited in the country, millions of Egyptians use free software everyday to find locations and plan routes. Google Earth, for example, maps the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe and uses digital elevation model (DEM) data collected by NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Moreover, the ban on certain mobile phones may mean they are not easily found in the market, but they’re certainly not out of reach of users’ hands. Many of these models are smuggled into the country through airports or brought in by Egyptians living abroad. “I bought my mobile from outside Egypt and got it in through the backdoors,” said one N95 mobile owner who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is banned in Egypt, that is why I have to keep it secret,” he added. GPS devices are also commonly used in desert safaris. When 19 tourists were kidnapped in the desert between Sudan and Egypt earlier this month, they used their GPS devices to inform authorities of their exact location, which facilitated the rescue operation. “GPS is used in safari tours and the devices are mainly brought in from outside Egypt because we can’t use it officially,” Mohamed Hazem, who organizes safaris, told Daily News Egypt. “The GPS devices are separate device which can be bought from Egypt from Bernasious Gtationery but we have first to (get) a license from the Ministry of Interior or they are brought from outside into Egypt like any other device,” Hazem said Last June, Finnish manufacturer Nokia and the Egyptian government were in a row over the decision to ban GPS equipped phones from entering the country. “We negotiated with the Egyptian government a lot but they insisted on their position and we aren’t responsible for illegal smuggling of banned devices,” Eddy Rezq, Nokia regional manager, told Al-Masry Al-Youm at the time. Meanwhile, another business sector that has continued to suffer because of the ban is the mapping and geographical services sector. “We opened two years ago and since then we haven’t worked because of the ban on the commercial use of GPS in Egypt. Our business depends solely on GPS and we don’t have other activities,” Walid Ramadan, head of the maps department at GPS Egypt, told Daily News Egypt. “We are waiting. They constantly tell us that GPS will be allowed soon, but when this will happen, nobody knows,” Ramadan said GPS Egypt is a branch for Superbase Developers plc, a leading software company based in Cambridge, UK, offering services like GPS navigation software and hardware and GPS-based active and passive tracking for goods transportation. “Our future isn’t clear; we are waiting for the approval to start operating in Egypt,” Ramadan said. Dotmap is another company that works in the field of mapping and geographical information systems (GIS) and its business is also affected by the GPS ban. “Because GPS is illegal, we resort to genuine methods like deploying surveyors in the streets and using satellite images,” Walaa Hassan, head of the geo data department at Dotmap, told Daily News Egypt. “It would differ very much for our work if we were allowed to use GPS,” Hassan said This isn’t the first technology to be banned in Egypt. During the 1980s, Egyptians weren’t allowed to own satellite dishes. The ban was lifted in the early 90s, and it didn’t take long for rooftops to be dotted with these large white discs. GPS will be increasingly important for Africa because it will allow mapping of areas that were previously not accurately mapped and this will have a number of different uses including environmental protection and tourism: - Formed in 1999, Tracks4Africa (T4A for short) is a non-profit organisation run by ‘Environmental users’. Its core business is mapping Africa and it has generated a range of maps for eco-destinations in rural and remote Africa. It believes that:”Eco-mapping requirements are of utmost importance given the increase in human traffic to eco-destinations. Most of these destinations are outside the National Parks, Nature Reserves and Protected Areas, and as such, they don’t enjoy the relative benefits of research, legislation and access control. Moreover, many of these destinations are home to historical, cultural and religious heritage”. - Dr Jerome Lewis of University College London has been working with a group of pygmies in Cameroon called the Baka and has been using GPS with them to protect the forest they live in. Because the Baka are largely illiterate, the GPS device has symbols that allow them to record things. The UK-based software company Helveta and Forest People's Programme, along with the Cameroonian group Centre for Environment and Development (CED), are working with Dr Lewis to pioneer the use of hand-held computers among the Baka Pygmies. "Before, if somebody wanted to come in and chop down one of their trees there was no record, no proof that it ever existed on their lands. Now we have the proof," explains Dr Lewis. - Hundreds of villagers are helping to map parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo where thick forest and conflict have prevented effective mapping. So far about 190 villages have been found in one area of Bandundu province where old maps show only 30, UK-based charity The Rainforest Foundation says. Most maps are produced from satellite images taken from above, but this project is using handheld GPS units. "In one of the sectors of the territory that the groups are mapping at the moment, there are something like 190 villages but on the official map there are about 30," Cath Long of the Rainforest Foundation which is organising the project told the BBC's Network Africa.
Senegal Government threatens to cut off Tigo’s 1.8 Million Mobile Phone Users in licence renegotiationSenegal's government has threatened to cut off Tigo’s 1.8 million customers by the end of the month if its licence renegotiation with the company is not settled in the way it wants. Tigo, which is the trading name of Sentel GSM is a wholy owned subsidiary of Luxembourg based Millicom International Cellular. Millicom says that the mobile network represents less than 5% of Millicom's world-wide revenues and less than 3% of its EBITDA for the nine months ended September 2008. Sentel's twenty year license was granted in 1998 by a prior administration, before the enactment in 2002 of Senegal's Telecommunications Act. Although the current Senegalese government has, since 2002, acknowledged the validity of Sentel's license, it has also requested that Sentel renegotiate the terms of the license. Sentel has indicated its willingness to negotiate only certain enhancements to the license, including allowing for the provision of 3G voice and data services and the extension of the duration of the license. Its competitor Sonatel (now branded Orange) has launched a trial HSDPA network in the capital city, Dakar. It has 3 million subscribers. Millicom said that it remains interested in negotiating an acceptable resolution and are hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached. At the same time, the company is reviewing legal options and may take legal action against the government of the Republic of Senegal if the situation is not resolved satisfactorily. Expresso is due to enter the market by the end of the year and the Government is clearly concerned that by then it will have sorted out service and spectrum issues. (Source: Cellular News) Neotel starts price war with Telkom South AfricaNeotel's new tariffs signal a willingness to compete vigorously with Telkom on price and may signal the beginning of a price war between the two companies. Telkom is vulnerable because although it clearly has too many staff, it has also had problems with the speed at which it delivers things like broadband connections. In the initial period of its existence, Neotel maintained it had no intention of starting a price war with Telkom. It now appears that was little more than a ruse to lull the incumbent into a false sense of security. It’s not a full-scale price war yet but Neotel’s latest salvo across Telkom’s bow is the surest sign yet that consumers will benefit from the new national operator’s entry into the market. Neotel’s new consumer-focused voice products come five months after it launched its first consumer offering. Unlike Telkom’s products, Neotel’s offerings are all wireless. For now, its network is available only in parts of Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban. The company’s new product suite, known as NeoConnect Lite, is aimed primarily at voice users rather than those needing broadband Internet access, and comes in four flavours. Two of the four products under the NeoConnect Lite brand are new, while the other two were previously available under another brand, launched in May. A new entry-level option costs R99/month while the top-end package, which includes the handset in the subscription fee, costs R469/month and offers uncapped Internet access. However, download speed is limited to 156Kbit/s, or about three times the speed of a dial-up connection. Call rates for all four products appear to be highly competitive: the tariff for local calls to Telkom lines is 34c/minute vs Telkom’s 39c for on-net (Telkom to Telkom) and a minimum charge of 65c. Telkom charges its customers 65c/minute to call Neotel numbers, nearly twice the cost of a call made in the opposite direction. Local on-net Neotel calls cost just 17c/minute and national on-net calls are 57c. Neotel’s rates for calling the mobile operators are R1.74/minute at peak times (Telkom is R1.89) and R1,09 off-peak (here, Telkom’s 94c is cheaper). There is no minimum charge per call — unlike Telkom, Neotel offers true per-second billing from the first second — and there are no peak or off-peak rates for on-net calls. The NeoConnect Lite packages are all restricted to data speeds of 156Kbit/s, which is reasonable for those used to dial-up; those already spoilt by broadband will find it slow. Data tariffs are comparatively cheap at just 8c/MB (R81.92/GB) and there’s no need to purchase a data bundle. That rate is just 4% of the out-of-bundle tariff of R2/MB charged by MTN and Vodacom and shows there is still plenty of scope for the mobile operators to cut their fees for Internet access. The NeoConnect Prime product, introduced in May and aimed at people who need both telephony and Internet access, will continue to be available, Neotel says. Prices for the Prime product remain unchanged. People who need broadband connectivity with no voice will be catered for with a new product to be launched by the end of the year. It will offer a Wi-Fi router with four Ethernet ports and will connect at high speed to Neotel’s wireless network — for technical readers, the network is built using a technology called CMDA2000 1 x EV-DO Rev A and is capable of theoretical downloads of 3,1 Mbit/s, though the company, being admirably honest, says real-world speeds will average between 450 Kbit/s and 900 Kbit/s. The new product will suit home users who have multiple machines. It should also prove popular for small businesses, especially if Neotel is able to offer uncapped bandwidth at a reasonable price. Uncapped and high-usage broadband solutions should become commonplace in the next few years. (Source: Financial Mail) Gambia’s Government issues 72 hour ultimatum to Spectrum Group to account for financesHaving made a less than transparent “back-door” sale of Gamtel (and its mobile subsidiary Gamcel) to a Lebanese company called Spectrum, the Gambian Government has issued a 72 hour ultimatum to the management of the group to report on its financial performance. In the light of the political furore stirred up by the sale and the lacklustre performance of the company thus far, the President has clearly decided to change horses and join the opposition to Spectrum: this is really a case of “having your cake and eating it”. According to a terse press release issued by the office of the President, the government's action was necessitated by 'the fact that the Spectrum Group has failed to live up to the terms and conditions of agreement that it had entered into with the Government of The Gambia'. The terms and conditions of the sale have never been made publicly available. The Spectrum Group is still being described as a telecommunications company by the local press although it seems to possess little management expertise in this field. It appointed Rein Zwolsman as CEO. He was formerly CEO of Nitel when it was managed by Pentascope and so is more than familiar with this kind of political “weather”. The sale was made in response to deteriorating financial performance which can in part be laid at the door of the previous management. Shortly after the sale, top officials of both Gamtel and Gamcel were subjected to a rigorous audit exercise, termination and arrest. Gamtel's managing director Omar Ndow was terminated in October of 2007. Abdoulie Sey and Cherry Mendy, both in the marketing department of the company were also arrested following a so-called in-house investigation into alleged 'fraud involving the sale of Scratch Cards', in which the management claimed losses amounting to D1.98 million (US$84,465). However, sums like this seem fairly trivial alongside the scale of losses claimed at the time of the sale. There are those who are asking how it’s possible to run a mobile company in Africa and lose money. More information will follow if it becomes available… (Source: Senegambianews.com) Poorer pre-paid subscribers in Namibia pay more because VAT makes their rates more expensiveMTC's pre-paid customers, who make up the majority of the mobile telephone company's clients, have no idea that they are paying more than their post-paid counterparts. Although having a post-paid service is seen as a status symbol, recent research by the Namibia Policy Research Institute (NEPRU) has revealed that pre-paid customers are in fact paying more for alling. NEPRU said the introduction of VAT has left MTC's pre-paid services more expensive when compared to its own post-paid products."This provides incentives for pre-paid customer to change to post-paid. However many Namibians cannot afford to enter into 24 months obligation due to little or irregular income. MTC would be well-advised to reduce the costs of its prepaid products," said Christoph Stork, a research associate at NEPRU. Stork said Telecom Namibia has the cheapest products on offer for the passive user compared to MTC and Cell One: "MTC is slightly cheaper for the high user basket and considerably cheaper for the international user basket than Cell One. Cell One on the other hand is cheaper for low, medium and passive user baskets. It appears that MTC targets the higher end of market and Cell One the bottom end," Stork said. Cell One's per second pre-paid is the cheapest. This is followed by MTC's Tango per second. "Interestingly, for someone who would only consider MTC, the price difference between pre-paid without a free handset and post-paid with a free mobile is marginal at below N$6 a month. MTC seems to have allowed the gap between post-paid and pre-paid to narrow due to the Ministry of Finance imposing VAT on pre-paid services," Stork said. According to Stork, Telecom Namibia's Switch products occupy four of the top five cheapest costs for the medium user basket the cheapest of them being N$132. Cell One's cheapest product for this usage basket, the per second pre-paid, is N$148.32. MTC's cheapest product is surprisingly a post-paid product, Connect 100, at N$170. "It is about 20% more expensive than Cell One's pre-paid and about 35.6% more expensive than Telecom's Switch time but it comes with a free handset in return," said Stork. (Source: Namibia Economist) In brief:- Morocco’s telecommunication regulator, L’Agence Nationale de Reglementation de Telecom (ANRT) has announced that it is launching a tender process for the country’s third GSM mobile network operating licence. Tender documents will be made available on 3 November, for a fee of MAD40,000 (USD4,650). According to the regulator’s press release the licence will be limited to 2nd generation mobile technology. The new entrant will compete with existing mobile operators Maroc Telecom and Meditel. - The management of Nigeria’s Nitel has said it has begun the repair of the SAT3 cable that was damaged on October 15. The company stated a cable ship, named CS Chamarel, in conjunction with SAT-3 Network Operations Centre (NOC) of South Africa and Alcatel Marine of France is coming to carry out the repair. It was also stated that the fault has been located to be at 46 kilometres into the sea and at the depth of over 1.3 kilometres. There was no news of a final repair date for Nitel’s long-suffering international customers. - Botswana incumbent BTC has announced the completion of the multi million Pula Trans-Kalahari fibre optic project covering approximately 2000 km. Officiating at the opening event, Vice President Lt Gen Mompati Merafhe said it was completed both on time and within budget, and this needs to be commended. Merafhe added now that the Trans Kalahari fibre optic project was complete, Botswana now can link to the planned EASSy (on the east coast) and WAFS (on the west coast) cables. - The roll out of a fibre cable between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali has been completed. The new link will provide an additional access to SAT3 for Malian telcos. Mali has already access to the SAT3 submarine cable via its link to the Sonatel in Senegal but there has been much debate about the pricing of capacity on this route. - The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated its commitment to control phone theft. It said it has almost concluded arrangements to commence registration of SIM cards and the registration of individual mobile phones, aimed at getting the data and profiles of all Nigerians who own and operate a mobile phone. - Chinese equipment vendor ZTE Corp, recently chosen as a strategic partner by the Angolan government, was due last week to take a management role in the state-owned mobile network operator Movicel, according to Angolan news agency Angop. The date was set in a contract signed a month ago between the cellco and the equipment vendor. Operational management of Movicel to date was the responsibility of Israeli firm Communico, part of the LR group. Under a state executive decree, the change in management is the first step in a partial privatisation process of Movicel, which will see 80% of the company sold off. Movicel launched services in 2003 as a subsidiary of Angola Telecom. - The fifth Nigerian mobile network, Etisalat Nigeria launched commercial operations in the Nigerian market. The launch followed the first official call on its network on March 13, 2008. Etisalat services will be progressively rolled out in seven Nigerian cities including Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Ogbomosho. - The NGO APC has released a report on wireless in rural Africa. The rationale for the report is featured in an APCNews article entitled "Rural communication: Is there still a need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones?" http://www.apc.org/en/news/wireless/all/ Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- During an interview with local newspaper, the East African, Yesse Oenga, the Uganda’s country manager of Zain mobile said that his company was about to launch a money transfer service that will see its customers send and receive money over the borderless network. Uganda currently has a steadily growing immigrant labour force in several countries of the Middle East -- where Zain's One Network is operational in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain among others -- and this could translate into a growth and revenue stream for the telecom giant. Oenga also said that Zain also wants to go into the growing data segment as well as cable TV. - Nigeria’s telco operator, Starcomms Plc has launched its network in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, bringing their total network coverage to over 20 cities across the nation. - In Uganda, Warid Telecom has now turned to giving additional airtime to subscribers on its network for receiving calls. Subscribers on the network now receive Shs50 worth of airtime per minute for each call they receive from other networks including; MTN, Zain Uganda, Uganda Telecom as well as incoming calls from abroad. The bonus airtime received can be used to make calls to Warid and other networks. - Zimbabwe’s mobile operator Econet Wireless has reported a 41 percent increase in the number of subscribers for the six months to August. It has a connected customer base of 910 047 maintaining its commanding 60 percent share of the mobile phone market.
Nigerian Internet Forum seeks to address country’s capacity problemsSuburban Telecom’s Bruce Ayonote told the first Nigerian Internet Service Providers Forum which took place at the Eko Hotel last week that:"The objective of the Forum is to make the internet as accessible in Nigeria as it is anywhere else on the globe, in terms of quality, speed, price and availability”. He noted that his own company had opened up a 10 gbps connection to Benin. The key to achieving this objective is to create a culture of collaboration between service providers that will be sustained for long term benefit. Internet Service Providers, as a gateway between the Internet and the people, have a critical role to play in the socio-economic development of Nigeria. The internet is increasingly becoming a necessity in this present information age and Nigerians should have the opportunity to positively leverage this resource to our optimal benefit." For him, Cisco was the obvious choice for a technology partner in executing this novel internet development strategy as eighty percent of internet traffic runs on Cisco technology. He added that Cisco have the expertise and technical know-how to add value to the collaborative effort as well as provide unequivocal business support that would be invaluable to all stakeholders. (Source: Vanguard) Kenya’s power distributor KPLC seeks to enter data transmission marketPower distributor, Kenya Power and Lighting Company has applied for a licence to enter the commercial data transmission market. It has applied for a network facilities provider licence from the regulator, Communications Commission of Kenya as it looks for a number of Information Technology personnel in readiness for the venture. The move is expected to heighten the battle for key telecommunication staff especially the engineers, whom the current operators are fiercely competing for. It will also offer alternative options for those who want to share or buy extra bandwidth capacity. To KPLC investors, this would translate into additional shareholder value from the company making optimal use of its current transmission system, which boasts thousands of kilometres of fibre cable. (Source: Business Daily) Two more Bloggers Arrested in EgyptOn 28 October 2008, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) announced that the Egyptian security forces have arrested two more bloggers. The arrests of Abd Altawab Mahmoud, who runs the blog "Alhayat Alsa'ida" ( http://ragabhpl.blogspot.com ), and Khalifa Ebaid, who runs the blog "Ana Mathoon" in Fayoum city, have increased the numbers of bloggers currently in custody to three. Another blogger has been expelled from his university campus. Though investigations of bloggers have never been even-handed, it was expected that these bloggers would be arrested because of their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood group. But the bloggers were unexpectedly charged with "taking advantage of the prevailing atmosphere of democracy to overthrow the regime." ANHRI believes that this is yet another accusation to add to the lengthy list used by the Egyptian government against their opponents. This new accusation is the most ridiculous of all, since no government official would reasonably dare to claim that there is any atmosphere of democracy to be enjoyed by these young bloggers or anyone else, concludes ANHRI. The Legal Aid Unit for Freedom of Expression at ANHRI issued the following statement: "Some bloggers have been detained for their involvement in the relief caravans to the Gaza Strip, and others for their solidarity with people who had already been arrested. Both these excuses are unlawful, but, despite this, the bloggers were arrested and detained and their human rights were violated while in detention at the Snoures police station in Fayoum. ANHRI believes that if there has been any crime committed in this case, it is by the officer who issued the arrest warrant and carried out the abuse." (Source: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information) In brief:- Censorship on online journalism is spreading in other countries in Africa. The Journaliste Tunisien blog (http://journaliste-tunisien.blogspot.com) has been blocked when it posted the Reporters Without Borders 2008 press freedom index (http://journaliste-tunisien.blogspot.com/2008/10/ - BT Global Services recently extended its Global Media Network (GMN) to South Africa. The country is now connected via undersea cable and fixed line networks to 16 production centres and media hubs, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Mumbai and Hong Kong, which account for 85% of the world's film and TV production. The GMN extends to more than 70 locations in 10 countries. - Internet Technologies Namibia (ITN) has commissioned their second satellite dish to provide another direct international broadband link. The second earth station connects Namibia to Europe and ITN has Aflenz in Austria as its connection point. - Telkom South Africa has published pricing for its HSDPA broadband service. Telkom has undercut Vodacom and MTN by between 10% and 25%, depending on the type of package. While the in-bundle pricing is cheaper than both MTN and Vodacom, it is not as aggressive as many industry observers expected. Telkom’s out-of-bundle rate of 30c per MB is, however, significantly cheaper than both MTN and Vodacom where out-of-bundle data rates vary from R1.20 per MB to R2 per MB. - Microsoft Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Western Union and the African Development Bank today announced the formation of a coalition to raise global awareness among consumers of the threat posed by lottery hoax e-mails. Through this collaborative effort, the coalition members will educate Internet users so they are better able to protect themselves against fraudulent activities online.
ChamsCity claims it will deliver World's Largest Cyber Centre in LagosChamsCity, a new subsidiary of Chams Plc, a Nigerian information technology firm with a specialisation in identity management and related solutions, has set up what it claims will become the biggest cyber centre in the world. Located in Lagos, the cyber centre is one of several digital malls that are being built across the country by Chams as the firm continues its aggressive rollout strategy to play a more prominent role in the Nigerian IT sector . The General Manager of ChamsCity, Sola Bickersteth, said the Lagos centre would be equipped with over 1000 computers. He added that this number was higher than that of a cyber centre in New York, which boasts of about 850 computers, a figure acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. He added that representatives from the Guinness Book of Records were billed to arrive in Nigeria very soon for an assessment of the facility. ChamsCity also plans to set up digital mall facilities in all the states of the federation. Already, the Abuja facility has been completed, while the remaining facilities located in several parts of the country are in various stages of completion. Bickersteth said the centres were to provide a number of services including digital identity management, video conferencing and electronic payment solutions. He added that among other services, ChamsCity would help provide the right location for job recruitment, electronic learning and data processing. (Source: Vanguard) South Africa’s Shuttleworth Sticks With His Free Ubuntu SoftwareSouth African internet billionaire Mark Shuttleworth has enough cash to pump into his software company, Canonical, saying he is being careful with his pennies but is willing to continue supporting a good investment. Shuttleworth founded Canonical in 2004 to develop free software for companies and private users around the world. He committed an initial $10m, despite admitting he was not sure whether giving away its software could ever be commercially viable. This week, Shuttleworth held a press conference confirming that Canonical was still not profitable, but making it clear that he was happy to keep supporting it as a philanthropic venture. His private resources come from the $575m that he earned in 1999 by selling Thawte, the Cape-based digital security company he founded. Canonical develops the Ubuntu operating system using open-source technology, allowing anyone to modify it or translate it into different languages. That makes it particularly appealing to emerging nations which find the licence fees for big-brand software packages prohibitive. Reporting on the conference, the online news site The Register quoted Shuttleworth as saying: "We continue to require investment. I can continue to be careful with my pennies as I make what I consider to be a good investment." Canonical has more than 200 employees in Europe, the US and Taiwan but has not yet recorded a positive cash flow even though about 8-million people use its software. Asked for an accurate figure on how many people use it, Shuttleworth replied: "We actually have no idea." Research house IDC ran a survey last year showing that 20% of large US companies had Ubuntu installed, and IDC estimates that Ubuntu holds a 3% share of the market for server operating systems. Canonical turns over "several million dollars" a year from selling support and related services for Ubuntu, but Shuttleworth said he had no objection to funding it for the next three to five years. The company could become cash-positive in two years, but it would probably take longer as more investment was needed to make Ubuntu more pervasive. Asked whether anyone could make money from supplying free software, Shuttleworth said they could not, "and that is a good thing". The company gives away the software and makes money from technical support. (Source: Business Day) Computer Aid Extends its programme to CameroonFrancophone Africa Programme Officer for Computer Aid International, Tito Wambua, told The Post; "I'm in Cameroon to create more awareness about our organisation, to give detailed information to the Cameroonian audience, institutions what we do, information about Computer Aid, how they can benefit from Computer Aid and what we offer." Though Computer Aid International is a non-profit supplier of computers to the developing countries, the end-users pay for transportation and handling fees so that the computers can be sent to them from London. From the institutions the Computer Aid team in Cameroon are visiting, Wambua has these expectations; "They should take advantage of the offers we have; of providing high-quality, high-specification computers at a very affordable cost. We are talking of Pentium IVs, going for about FCFA 100,000 a piece, these are refurbished machines with a lifespan of about four to six years and will meet the developmental needs of institutions that we work with and they have a tight budget when it comes to purchasing new machines," he noted. Wambua saw the use of computers as a must in contemporary African society. "That is the most important issue, when it comes to development today. The whole world is going ICT and we in Africa are lagging behind because of some of the cost of acquiring of these technology. Here is Computer Aid coming to say we have this technology for you, you don't need to lag behind. It costs a third of the original price for same thing. We would like to see Africa bridge the digital divide and get at par with the rest of the world," he said. (Source: The Post) In Brief:- A World Bank ICT and Education Community of Interest Discussion (EduTech), in collaboration with the World Bank e-Development Thematic Group, infoDev and the Technology Salon has scheduled a seminar/live webcast on How much does it really cost to introduce and sustain computers in schools? Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): A Study of Models of Affordable Computing for Schools in Developing Countries The webcast will take place at 11am - 12:30pm (Washington DC time) on 6 November 2008. The seminar will be streamed live and recorded for on demand viewing at http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment/live - The Council of Government of Algeria adopted an executive decree on the setting up of a database of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), said Communication Minister Abderrachid Boukerzaza. At his weekly press briefing, the minister said the database aims to "enlighten the public authorities about decision making with regard to the development of SME sector, which has experienced for many years an exceptional economic vibrancy." This database is "an important vehicle for the dissemination of economic information. It will pave the way for a better SME assessment through a statistics system to be put in place for this purpose," he added. - According to official numbers, OpenOffice.org 3.0 was downloaded more than three million times in the first week of release. And those are the number of downloads through the official bouncer sites. With many more people downloading over the Bittorrent network, from other mirrors or simply though shared disks, the actual number is no doubt a lot higher.
Zain Group Posts $327 Million Net ProfitZain Group's net profit rose by seven per cent to $327 million in the third quarter with its subscriber base reaching 56.3 million customers. During the similar period last year' the company's net profit was about $305.2 million. Its chief executive officer Saad Al'Barrak said the group's target was to have 150 million customers and $6 billion earnings before interest' taxes' depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 2011. "Year-on-year customer growth across the two continents where Zain operates was 54 per cent with the Zain Group serving 56.3 million managed active customers at September 30, 2008," the company said in a statement. The group raised capital of $4.5 billion, launched services in Saudi Arabia, rebranded African operations and expanded the 'One Network' service to link the two continents in the last quarter. During the same period $1.887 billion revenues were generated, 25 per cent more than the third quarter last year. The company's consolidated EBITDA increased by 20 per cent for the same period to reach $763.6 million. "This quarter has been both the most challenging and most rewarding in Zain's corporate history since the launch of our profitable expansion strategy in 2003, laying the foundation for our 2011 targets of being a top-ten global telecommunications company," Dr Al-Barrak noted in the statement. "Despite financial turmoil across the globe, we are delighted to have succeeded in raising $4.5 billion through our capital increase. He said the 'One Network' service was playing a pivotal role in attracting customers. He said Zain had been warmly received across the African continent since its launch on August 1 this year. The Ghana operation will start before the end of this year. "In East Africa, our Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda operations focus on customer acquisition is paying off, all three recording impressive results. We expect our revamped Kenyan operation to follow suit as the new management team is now totally geared to the challenges ahead with concerted Zain Group support on all fronts," he said. (Source: The Citizen) Helios Towers to Invest $300 Million in Infrastructure Development in NigeriaWith the spate of collapsed masts affecting the Nigerian telecoms landscape, particularly Lagos State, something actually needed to be done. Site solution provider, Helios Towers set up a few years ago and since their arrival, the company has built international standard site and towers for telecom operators across the country. It is now set to inject about $300 million into telecom infrastructure in Nigeria. Last week Vanguard’s Assistant Online Editor Emeka Aginam interviewed CEO, Engr Fazal Husain: Q: When did Helios Towers actually started operation in Nigeria ? A: We started operations in Nigeria in 2006.The company is actually a wholly owned Nigerian company. We have spent sometime trying to learn and understand the Nigerian market and how to do business in Nigeria which has a lot of potentials..We employ majority of local people in the regions. We train people in providing basically state-of-art sites for telecoms operators in the country for the massive launch we did at the beginning of this year. We have built a thousand sites. We are planning to build more in the next couple of months. We have a very big ambition for the Nigerian market , we have been around for a while doing quality work. Full in-house site management, uptime of 99.00%, improved customer satisfaction, increased average revenue per user (ARPU) and reduced churn are our major commitment to the operators. While the operators focus on serving their consumers, we are busy managing the sites. It is important to note that 99.9% uptime is guaranteed. Q: How has it been? What have been the challenges? Many, many challenges. One of the things we are very proud of is quality service we provide to operators. And this include all the major operators, GSM, CDMA, WIMAX, Internet Service Providers, Banks and basically, every operator. We guarantee 99.9 percent uptime. One of the major challenges in Nigeria is power. You have to service the generators when they break down. We provide a secured environment where the equipment is kept with 24/7 security. we have back-up battery for power support. We have people that are there all the times to ensure that the power does not go down. And that is guaranteed. Q: What are the value-added services you give to the operators? A: Basically, we build sites and lease it to the operators .If we do not do this, every operator will have to build sites of their own. So, if every operator has to build site, it is a waste of capital. By providing a single site, we are helping the operators not to reduce capital. expenditure. It is capital efficiency. So instead of spending money building sites, they can actually spend time rolling out their networks. We provide the services of managing sites for operators. Nigeria is very challenging market .We make sure that the sites are maintained and secured. by providing services to many operators, we can do it very efficiency and these make operating expenses is lower. The cost is necessarily lower because we share the cost among the operators. So from the operators point of view, it is capital efficiency and operating efficiency. So what we basically do is to build sites and lease it to the operators, manage the sites so that the operators just concentrate in sales and marketing activities . By doing this, the operator can operate efficiently and the cost of operations becomes lower. So that the society can enjoy a better telecomms services.In CAPEX reduction, it is estimated that you can save over $200,000 in CAPEX by co-locating on one of our towers. This CAPEX would be better deployed to expanding your network, gaining market share and generating revenue. Similarly, in OPEX reduction, you can save up to 20% in OPEX by co-locating on our state-of-art sites. All our sites are built to the highest standard with adequate security , in-house maintenance and the latest telemetry Q: How many operators are you currently servicing? A: Basically, we are providing service to all the operators both GSM, 3G, CDMA and Wimax. Right now, we have Wimax players coming along. We are building hundreds of sites because they now have a nation wide coverage. The HTN site portfolio is about 1,000 across Nigeria's 6 geopolitical zones with strong presence in key markets including Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Warri, Onitsha and Ibadan. At Helios Towers , our strategy is to focus on our core business- Passive infrastructure sharing, and being the largest player in Nigeria . Q: How many sites would have built by end of 2008? Our target is 1,000 sites in 2008 and from the presence position, we will surpass that target. That is what our plan is Q: What is the distribution of your site across the 6 geographical zones of the federation? A: At the moment, we have sites in most of the major urban areas- Lagos , Abuja , Kano, Port Harcourt , Benin . So we are in the major cities. We are national already and will continue to build more sites. For example, in Abuja , we have 60 Sites. Our plans is 150 sites. In Lagos , our plan is to have 300 sites. At the moment, we have over 130 sites running and the rest is being built.. We will continue to build more. So basically, we started with Lagos where our plan is to have 300 sites by the end of the year We are taking about 80 sites in Kano , 80 sites in Port Harcourt . We have 1,000 sites but around 700 sites are active and the remaining are been completed and the next couple of weeks shall be up and running. And again, we add 100 sites every month. We are investing $300 million in the next 12 months in building sites across the federation Q: Any plans to extend to other African region? Yes, we have the plans to expand our operations to other African regions. We will go African wide. At the moment, we are very focused in completing our work in Nigeria and when we have completed at least, 2000 sites in Nigeria, I think that there will be the time to look at other markets. So right now, there are so many opportunities in Nigeria. (Source: Vanguard) MTN-Verizon Deal Clears First Hurdle in South AfricaA controversial bid by MTN to pay an estimated R1.4bn to absorb networking company Verizon SA has won approval from the Competition Commission, the first hurdle in a two-part process needed for the deal to go ahead. Now the Competition Tribunal will look at the deal. It is not clear how much opposition the attempted acquisition faces when it reaches the higher authority. MTN will become SA's third-largest internet service provider (ISP) for corporate clients if it buys Verizon's local operations, giving it a market share of 10%-12%. But one previously fierce opponent, Internet Solutions, has virtually pulled out of the fight to block the bid. CEO Angus McRobert said previously his company had prepared evidence to fight the takeover, and would prove MTN engaged in anti-competitive behaviour in negotiating interconnection fees and mobile data deals with other ISPs. McRobert said last week Internet Solutions had submitted evidence on market share and lodged an objection, but "we didn't actively try to stop it. I believe Altech did, so we decided not to. Our team felt there were more important things to worry about so we let Altech do the big fight. We opposed it but not aggressively. We put down our concerns, and said it shouldn't happen, but we didn't do a lot of work around it." McRobert said he thought the takeover was "a done deal" so opposing it would have wasted time and money. It could not be vetoed on the grounds that MTN would be too dominant in the internet arena as Verizon did not have a large market share. Altech CEO Craig Venter could not be reached for comment, but Altech is expected to fight the deal at the tribunal, partly as Altech was short-listed as a potential buyer before MTN trumped its offer. "I don't think Craig will take this lying down," one source said. Altech had been optimistic about winning the bid for Verizon as Venter doubted MTN would win approval from the authorities. Yet when the deal was announced, MTN SA MD Tim Lowry said the cellular operator would not be going to all this trouble if its lawyers did not think it would win approval. Last week, his only comment was that MTN would keep its stakeholders posted as the deal progressed through the tribunal. The commission's consent will have surprised another large ISP's boss, who expected a veto. "You have one of the top corporate ISPs buying another top corporate ISP. With MTN's voice infrastructure they can cross-subsidise and use unfair cutthroat pricing," he said. Verizon SA is a subsidiary of New York-listed Verizon, with 25% of its shares held by local empowerment partner J&J. It has annual revenue of about R400m in Africa, supplying voice and data services to businesses and governments in SA, Zambia, Namibia, Kenya and Botswana. MTN will fold the business into its internet division, Network Solutions, gaining 140 staff to augment Network Solutions' 90 staff. It will inherit Verizon customers but not gain networking infrastructure, as Verizon runs its operations on leased Telkom bandwidth. Network Solutions is roughly half the size of Verizon by revenue at R200m a year. MTN wants to absorb Verizon to expand its pan-African reach and boost its business in SA. (Source: Business Day) South Africa’s state to bolster ICT spendSpending by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on ICT at a compound annual growth rate of 11.3%, to reach R11.2 billion in 2012/13, will bolster the ICT industry during the coming economic downswing, says research house BMI-TechKnowledge. However, at least one industry veteran, Philip Savides, says the report may be a bit optimistic. He notes that most of the spending is being driven in preparation for the 2010 World Soccer Cup and no new tenders are coming out of government for post-2010 implementation. “We have only recently seen the R100 million SA National Research Network tender that was won by Business Connexion (BCX) and very little calling for more infrastructure spend since then,” he says. Savides, who was until recently the head of BCX's Western Cape operations, says the country seems to be almost overly committed to 2010. “One must ask: 'what are the commitments for after 2010?' because once the infrastructure is built then they need to use it.” Savides says a big project, such as the Square Kilometre Array, the international tender to build a large radio telescope that SA hopes will be located in the Karoo, has been in the pipeline for some years and there is no guarantee it will come through. In its latest report on SOEs, BMI-TechKnowledge says consumer spending and enterprise profits have decreased significantly due to the higher energy costs and increased oil prices. However, SOEs, particularly Eskom and Transnet, spend more during this time and are not affected by energy costs. “Therefore, it hasn't all been doom and gloom since the current economic downturn will not have an impact on SOE capex plans and their ICT spend,” the report says. SOE roles have changed and developed over the years. They are key in the growth of the economy and are essential in the development of important South African sectors that include energy, transport, telecommunications and manufacturing. Lesley-Ann Dos Santos, BMI-TechKnowledge analyst, says SOE ICT expenditure is expected to increase as transportation and utility companies (Transnet and Eskom) expand and gear up to deliver on SA's infrastructure requirements. SOEs are currently focusing on the high-profile projects associated with the 2010 World Cup which will also drive ICT expenditure. In the report, BMI-TechKnowledge profiled 11 SOEs. These are: Eskom, Transnet, SAPO, SAA, SITA, GSSC, SABC, SARS, SA Reserve Bank, Acsa and Armcor. According to the research, the 11 SOEs spent R6.6 billion on hardware, software, IT services and communications in the 2007/8 financial year. SOEs in SA are starting to form partnerships with the private sector, as well as other state-owned enterprises. The goal of this strategy is to maximise the enterprise and national interest, as well as to alleviate the ICT skills shortage that is still a major concern for both government and private companies. Dos Santos says SOEs are under strain to increase SA's competitive advantage, as well as to understand and be receptive to consumer needs. The trend of using business intelligence (BI) to get closer to consumers is growing since the use of BI not only allows for better control but also improved decision-making. She says many SOEs and other organisations working closely with government are slowly implementing open source software (OSS), with a handful of companies only currently implementing small pockets of OSS. However, enterprises haven't realised the full potential of implementing and using OSS, and are still extremely hesitant to fully implement OSS. (Source: ITWeb) In brief:- In South Africa, Vox Telecom has signed Neotel as its preferred supplier in R250m long term contract. The deal is aimed at servicing its enterprise customers which include South Africa’s top 250 companies as well as a large number of medium-sized and smaller companies. - Dell, a global systems and services company is investing Sh40 million in Kenya to enable it offer after sales services for its range of products locally. The project involves investing in spare parts that will be available in Kenya and on site services through the company's authorised services partners.
24.com Launches South Africa’s Blog SurveyWhat is intended to be the most comprehensive survey of South Africa's blogger community has been launched today by 24.com, in association with blog aggregators Afrigator.com and Amatomu.com and online DVD rental company PushPlay.co.za. The goal is to demonstrate the diversity and sophistication of South Africa's portion of the global blogosphere. "South Africa is the continent's largest blogging community, yet very little is known about the individuals who blog and what inspires them to share their thoughts, observations and experiences with the world," says Matthew Buckland, GM of online publishing and social media at 24.com. "Although African bloggers make up less than one percent of the global blogosphere, we have a vibrant local online community, with some exciting growth in the number of those contributing and reading blogs." For those who complete the survey, Speak Up!, at http://blogs.24.com/blogsurvey/start.htm, three lucky participants will stand the chance to have their blog profiled on the 24.com network, as well as be eligible for one of three prizes offered by PushPlay. All South African-based bloggers are welcome to participate. "Bloggers are a broad range of people from different walks of life and a wide spectrum of opinions, interests and experiences. With this survey, we hope to get a good snapshot of how bloggers make the 'net work for them," adds Buckland. The highly collaborative survey was developed with input from luminaries across the local blogosphere, including Arthur Goldstuck, Vincent Maher, Nic Haralambos, Mike Stopforth, Charl Norman, Justin Hartman, Rob Stokes and Tertia Albertyn. The deadline to complete the survey is 23.59pm on 7 November 2008. (Source: Biz-Community) Bandwidth subsidy to boost BPOs in KenyaBusiness process outsourcing and call centre operators will enjoy a 20 per cent saving on their operational costs — thanks to a government subsidy on bandwidth. According to the Kenya ICT board executive officer, Paul Kukubo, the need to subsidise the bandwidth costs is mainly to make the country competitive in the sector. While most countries pay $300 per megabyte per month, Kenya operators are paying ten times more making it hard for the operators to compete globally. “Increasing Kenya’s competitiveness in the global BPO sphere is vital for our country’s economic growth performance. This bandwidth support will help us build a competitive BPO industry and thus put Kenya on the global outsourcing map. This will go along way in advancing the performance of BPO operators in Kenya, through reducing the costs,” said Mr Kukubo. The government through the Kenya ICT board has availed $7 million which will be used to subsidise the prices of the satellite bandwidth capacity. The grant is part of the $ 114.4 million credit received from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of Transparency and Communication Infrastructure Project (TCIP). (Source: Business Daily)
People* The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Africa Online has died. John Joseph, who was appointed to the position in March 2007, died in a boating accident on Friday while on holiday in Mombasa. He was 47 years old. * Ghana Telecommunications Company has appointed David Venn as the company's new Chief Executive Officer. David Venn took over from Mr Dickson Oduro-Nyaning who worked with the company for over 35 years. * Peter Watt has cut all ties to Business Connexion (BCX), after he resigned as non-executive director on its board last week. Watt served as CEO of BCX since early 2003 and resigned last year, handing the reins to Benjamin Mophatlane, who was at the time deputy CEO. Events* OUTSOURCING & CONTACT CENTRE – EAST AFRICA 4 – 5 November 2008, Nairobi, Kenya For further information visit www.aitecafrica.com * 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/ * CUSTOMER SERVICE & CONTACT CENTRE 19 – 20 November 2008, Nairobi, Kenya For further information visit www.aitecafrica.com * MIGRATION TOWARDS ALL-IP CONFERENCE 10-12 November 2008, Fun Valley Conference Centre Johannesburg, South Africa The conference has been organized by the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) in partnership with Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). The key objectives of this conference are to: - Deepen the understanding of NGNs in CRASA members, operators and other ICT stakeholders in SADC region; - Deepen the understanding of the impact of NGNs on various policy and regulatory frameworks in the region; - Enhance the quality of policy-making and regulations for the ICT market in SADC region; and - Facilitate a smooth migration of SADC ICT operators to All-IP Networks and facilitate rapid economic growth of the region. The conference will be of interest to Government Policy Makers, senior executives and strategists of ICT regulators, operators, vendors, researchers and innovators. Bridget Linzie and Judith Simukanga are our contacts at CRASA Secretariat, Telephone: +267 3158468315846831584683158468 EMAIL: crasa@it.bw or blinzie@it.bw * THE MOZAMBIQUE ICT CONVENTION 2008 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 * 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* SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT MASTERS COURSE Eight scholarships are being made available to applicants from India, Brazil, Egypt and China wishing to study on the University of Strathclyde's one-year Masters degree in Communications Management (MCM). Two scholarships are available for each country covering fees and stipend. Scholarships will be filled competitively. Applicants should possess a good undergraduate degree (1st or 2/1) and at least four years of work experience in the telecommunications industry. Applications must have applied, received and accepted a formal offer by 28 November 2008 to be considered. Further details of these programmes can be found at: http://www.commsmanagement.org/mcm/ * CALL FOR PAPERS – CTO The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) will be organising its inaugural Investing in ICTs in Emerging Markets 2008 conference in London this December. CTO’s "Investing in the ICT Sector in Emerging Markets" conference, London 11th- 12th December 2008, is your opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in front of an international delegation consisting of ministers, regulators, funding agencies, operators and infrastructure providers. If you would like to deliver a presentation then please submit your topic proposal (title and four bullet points) to the Conference Producer, Samuel Fletcher on +44 208 834 1578 or email s.fletcher@cto.int Topics in Focus: - Investing in ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Markets - Opportunities and Risks in Investing in ICTs in Emerging Markets - Facilitating new channels using new resources - Enhancing development while achieving financial goals in Emerging economies - Managing risks and guaranteeing ROI in less politically stable economies - How policies and regulatory frameworks are changing the landscapes in favour of business opportunities in emerging markets Contracts* CHINGUITEL AND ZTE - MAURITANIA Chinese equipment vendor ZTE Corporation has announced that it has clinched an exclusive contract from Mauritanian telco Chinguitel, part of the Expresso Telecom Group (ETG), to build a 2.5GHz mobile WiMAX network. Under the agreement, ZTE will provide core network equipment, wireless access devices, as well as various communication terminals for indoor and outdoor use. * TUNISAIR AND SITA - TUNISIA SITA, the specialist provider of IT solutions to airlines and airports worldwide, recently announced the establishment of a joint venture with TunisairTunisair and local partner, MEDSOFT, for the complete outsourcing of the national carrier's IT needs for the next ten years.
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