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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 432 Liberian Government turns up the heat on Comium to Renegotiate AgreementThere are always political risks for operators but none more so than in countries where a successor Government decides to unpick the decisions of its predecessor. The mayhem that followed the Beninois Government’s decision to renegotiate licence fees last year has been the most recent example. But a much more low-profile case is the Liberian Government’s attempts to “standardize” the terms and conditions of its mobile operators. Shelby Grossman reports on the arm-wrestling contest between the Government and Comium. Comium is one of four GSM providers operating in Liberia, and has the most favorable licence conditions. Yet in recent months the company announced its willingness to renegotiate its licence. This decision is the result of sustained pressure and explicit threats from the Liberian government When former Liberian President Charles Taylor left office for exile in Nigeria in 2003, a transitional government took power. Gyude Bryant, a businessman, was picked to head this government. Bryant is widely credited with setting the stage for free and fair elections in 2005, and facilitating a peaceful transition of power to current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The United Nations Security Council and many human rights groups, however, have criticized Bryant's government for a lack of transparency in making deals with companies. The Comium-Liberia Act is "one of many bad deals" signed under Bryant, according to Othello Garblah, news editor at New Democrat, a Liberian newspaper. The Act gives Comium a twenty-year tax holiday and 100% duty-free import privileges. Competitor GSM providers have tax holidays about one-fifth as long and only have 90% duty-free import rights. Under Liberia's investment code, if a company's initial investment is greater than or equal to US$10 million, the contract between the company and the government must be ratified by the legislature. Comium says it has exceeded this investment level. In 2004 the Comium-Liberia Act was passed, making Comium the only cell phone company in the country to have its licence agreement enshrined in a specific piece of legislation. "Comium is the only one that has followed the law," said Alphonso Toweh, a media consultant with the GSM provider Comium. For the other companies, "the initial capital did not reach $10 million," according to Toweh. "Comium's investment was above that, so Comium decided to follow the law." Albert Bropleh, Chairman of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, however, says, "Comium would be hard pressed to show that their initial investment was $10 million. It was less than $5 million." There is debate as to whether Bryant had the authority to sign investment agreements. The mandate of the transitional government authorized him to implement the provisions in the peace agreement that ended the war, and perform "normal state functions." On the basis of doubts about the legal basis of agreements signed under Bryant, current President Sirleaf has renegotiated several contracts. Both Firestone Liberia Inc. and ArcelorMittal have renegotiated large concessions agreements. The new agreements provide greater tax revenue for the government and require the companies to provide more social services to employees and their families. The government's efforts to repeal the Comium-Liberia Act are part of this broad process and also the cornerstone of the regulator LTA's attempt to standardize the terms under which the mobile operators compete. Better licence conditions for one operator over another means unfair competition. "Comium is not against any standardization," Monie Captan, Executive Chairman of Comium-Liberia told The Analyst, a local paper, in 2007. "All we need is harmony in the industry. But if you go now and repeal our investment incentive and take it to zero, the others will be enjoying theirs which will be unfair to us." Toweh argued that if the government wants to cancel Comium's agreement, it would be bad for attracting other international investment. Bropleh disagrees: "If the government decides to kick Comium out it won't reflect badly on the government. This government is open to foreign investment. If a company does not abide by the rules, the government has no obligation to provide protection." Three times the government has sent to the legislature a bill to repeal the Act, and three times the legislature has sent the bill back to Sirleaf, asking for modifications. The current head of the Senate, Isaac Nyenabo, has been one of those rejecting the new bill. As of November, the bill is with Sirleaf and she is deciding how to proceed. "Comium has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the law on the books. Call it lobbying or bribery," said Bropleh. Editor of the New Democrat Garblah believes that Comium publicly expresses a willingness to renegotiate, but its heavy lobbying sends a different message. A Comium administration employee, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with journalists, appeared to support Garblah's assessment. "Comium has not yet agreed to renegotiate," the employee said, contradicting public statements by Captan. It remains to be seen whether the Comium-Liberia Act will be modified or repealed but the company's existence in the country is tenuous. "Comium decided to renegotiate because the LTA said if you don't allow the law to be repealed we will not reauthorize your license," said Bropleh. Another senior government official said the president explicitly threatened to expel Comium if it does not participate in the standardization process. Comium is a Lebanese-owned company with operations in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Its African mobile operations are all in West Africa and include: Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and Sierra Leone. Group Chairman Dr Nizar Dalloul is the son of former Lebanese Defence Minister Mohsen Dalloul was a close ally of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Shelby Grossman can be contacted at shelbygrossman@gmail.com. She blogs about Liberian politics from www.shelbygrossman.com.
MTN copies Zain’s free roaming schemeCompetitive pressure is forcing MTN to eliminate roaming fees for users travelling between different countries, in a move that could noticeably dent its profit . The cellular operator has not yet wiped out roaming fees across its networks, but has tested the feasibility of doing so in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria. Last week it said it would introduce free roaming across all 21 countries where it operates in the first half of next year . Benin will be the next country to benefit, joining the trio of pilot countries by the end of this month. Rival operator Zain demonstrated that free roaming is perfectly possible way back in September 2006 when it launched its "One Network" service, letting users cross between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda without paying high roaming fees. Nor do they pay to receive incoming calls when they travel -- another favourite way for operators to inflate their profits. Zain has now extended One Network into most of the 22 countries where it operates, and said the money lost in potential roaming fees was more than recouped by winning extra customers. Zain Africa CEO Chris Gabriel said last week other mobile operators were trying to emulate its innovative offerings but none had succeeded yet. "We seem to have the competitors frightened. They are attempting to imitate One Network and that's fantastic," he said. MTN is almost imitating the name too, dubbing its new service One World. Callers will only pay the local rate charged in the country they are visiting, and will not pay for incoming calls. MTN said the move "underscores our commitment to continuously providing service innovations that improve services to our growing subscriber base and meet our customers' needs". MTN's regional vice-president Tim Lowry said mobile operators had done themselves and their users a disservice for too long by following practices first devised by the fixed line phone industry. That included charging different rates for peak time and off-peak calls. (Source: Business Day) Nigcomsat Lost Forever, says company MD, but needs to be replaced by two more satellites costing US$500mIt has now been confirmed that the disintegrating N29.95 billion ($256 million) NigComSat-1 flown into orbit about a year ago by China Great Wall Industry Incorporation (CGWIC) is irreparably damaged and has been safely de-orbited to its eternal resting place in the heavens. This was confirmed last week by the Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Ahmed Rufai, while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology chaired by Usaq Akinlade. Rufai then pleaded that more money be appropriated for the construction of two new satellites, as the business viability of the communication satellites in Nigeria was not in doubt. He, however, said though the satellite had been lost forever, the underwriters had already agreed to replace it with a new one and negotiations over the 112 million Euros insurance policy was ongoing. According to Rufai, the loss of the highly publicised satellite was not due to a manufacture defect, but caused by solar flare, which also damaged the solar panels of six other similar satellites on that fateful 9 November, 2008 "The first incident occurred on April 17, 2008 when half of the power was lost from the South Solar Array due to a single event offset leaving the North Solar Array as the only source of power," he told the committee. "Unfortunately, a similar incident occurred on the Northern Solar Panel Array on November 9, 2008 at about 10:34 p.m Nigerian time during a non-eclipse position. The batteries are only supposed to discharge during eclipse and recharge when in non-eclipse position, while the solar array acts as the source of power to the satellite," he said. According to Rufai, Nigerian engineers monitoring the satellite noticed it immediately and communicated to the Chinese manufacturers, saying both team then worked tirelessly but, in vain to revive NigComsat - 1. "Regretfully, all effort to recover power supply to the power panel failed. The satellite was consequently de-orbited to avoid total loss of power and control which would result in damages to other satellites in orbit or even aircraft in flights," he said, adding: "The satellite has now been manoeuvred to the parking orbit and cannot be recovered for use again." On insurance, he said: "We wish to state unequivocally that NigComSat - 1 is fully insured to the tune of 112 million Euros in accordance with industry standards by renowned international underwriters with proven integrity. The ground segment including the Ground Station and equipment are necessarily insured under a separate policy by local underwriters." He then asked that the Committee help it convince the Federal Government to approve the commencement of the utilisation of a $500 million concessionary loan from the Chinese Expert Import Bank for the construction of NigComsat 2 and 3. More numerate readers will notice that the 112 million euros insurance money will not cover the apparent US$250 million price tag fir each of the new satellites. He also asked that the company be allowed to discuss with the Chinese government and the satellite manufacturer on reassigning of an emergency satellite with technical specification similar to the lost satellite in orbit or in an advanced stage of construction. (Source: Vanguard) Vodafone Vows to Make Ghana Telecom Market LeaderGhana Telecom’s new CEO David Venn continued its media blitz to convince people that the company will become a market leader. Its not-so secret weapon? Innovations, products and services offered by Vodafone. "Vodafone is here to change the telecomm market in Ghana. We will build and transform GT into a world class company. We are sure that with Vodafone, we will be on top because by far it is the biggest telecommunication provider in the world." Venn also told the local press that 800 staff have been trained in skills development programmes locally, while 45 have attended training programmes overseas since Vodafone took over the company two and half months ago. "I believe strongly in coaching people and training them to understand the environment within which they are working. We intend to do a lot more to brace the market and this is the start of greater things to come." Venn laid out Vodafone’s vertically integrated strategy:”The end result will be a company that provides fixed line, broadband and mobile services under one roof." He said that currently much work is on going to achieve vast improvement in network quality. (Source: Public Agenda) CCK to introduce number portability in 2009 in KenyaCCK has announced plans to introduce number portability in the country next year. According to a public notice carried in the local press last week, Service Provider Number Portability (SPNP) will be implemented in Kenya between March and September 2009. CCK has already developed a consultation paper on number portability and invited the public and stakeholders to forward their views and comments by December 15 this year. Number portability will enhance competition in the current multi-operator environment by providing consumers with the flexibility to choose the desired service provider in a seamless manner and without having to worry about the prospect of having to be out of contact with business associates, friends and family. This is the second time that CCK has had a run at introducing number portability. In 2004, the Commission initiated public consultation process on the subject. Arising from the consultation, it was felt that the market was not ready as there were only two licensed mobile operators in the country. It was therefore feared that introduction of number portability would have resulted in unnecessary churn. The number of mobile operators in the country is set to increase to four with the recent launch of services by Orange (Telkom Kenya) and the expected launch of Econet Wireless Kenya at the end of November 2008. The consultation document is available at www.cck.go.ke/current_consultations/ In brief:- Millicom International Cellular (MIC) has announced that it was won the race for Rwanda’s third national mobile licence, seeing off the challenge from three other bidders. The Luxembourg-incorporated company said in a press release that it will hold 87.5% of a newly created joint venture company with local outfit Marathon Corporation. The cost of the concession is USD60 million and is for 15 years. - France Telecom (FT) has announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of the West African state of Togo, opening up the way for exclusive negotiations with regards to ‘a new global operator licence’ under the Orange brand. Togo has six million inhabitants and a mobile penetration rate of around 25%. - Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned the telecoms operators laying their optic fibre transmission infrastructure to remember that they would in future share such infrastructures with new entrants in the business, adding that the commission would come heavily against operators who do not adhere to the infrastructure sharing option. - Operational since its 2005 licensing, Lacom, the second provider of fixed lines telephony in Algeria and a subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom, was forced to close its business. In 2005 Lacom acquired the necessary licence to become the second operator or ground-lines telephony in the North African country, after the state-owned company Algerie Telecom, for 65 million euros. Following its initial success due to innovative offers, especially with Internet services, in 2006 the company began to fall into decline, with its 650 employees dropping to 160 in 2007, according to El Watan. "They supported the national operator to the point of killing us," said Orascom director Naguib Sawiris at the end of last year. "Since we began, Algerie Telecom has lowered its prices to below that of the market, wiping out any gains. We complained but it proved all to be in vain." - Zamtel has lifted suspensions slapped on 68 workers who were suspected to have masterminded the recent three-week strike. - Telecom operators in Nigeria are warming up for an increase in telecommunication tariff across networks, a situation that is likely to cause a hike in cost of telecom services in the country. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) reported that he has received several complaints from operating companies on the practice by some state governments, local government and other government agencies in the imposition of indiscriminate levies and charges on telecommunication operators and their operations within their localities. - In partnership with General Post & Telecommunications Company, the incumbent in Libya, Thuraya has begun installing ThurayaIP terminals for user segments such government agencies, oil and gas companies, media, and international organizations operating in the country. - Following the acquisition of a mobile licence earlier this year, Glo Mobile Ghana has signed a service agreement with communications company Acision to offer value-added services straight from the launch of the network scheduled for 2009. - This webcast of the Global Dialogue Workshop on Enabling Mobile Transformation in Africa is now live! All information about this event, including the agenda and background materials, can be found at: http://go.worldbank.org/5043YV2400
Glo- One Submarine Cable will be ready for Launch in March 2009Nigeria's second national carrier, Globacom, has emphasised its readiness to launch its international submarine cable, Glo 1, touted as the solution to Nigeria and West Africa's bandwidth requirements, in March 2009. Globacom, in a statement last week, said the 9,500 kilometre state-of-the-art cable would enable it to have a clear distinction in providing quality services through multiple and high quality direct links to several countries across the globe. It added that the cable would enable it to interconnect with several international networks and leading traffic carriers all over the world. The firm's Group Chief Operating Officer, Mohamed Jameel, said the $150 million contract for the construction of the 8,300-kilometre long submarine cable was awarded to Alcatel Lucent. The project is expected to provide connectivity from Lagos to Bude in UK through fibre optic cable laid undersea. The cable’s capacity was described as up to 32 STM 64s. Jameel said in readiness for the launch, 4,400 kilometres of the undersea cable had already been laid from UK, through Portugal to Nouakchott in Mauritania. According to him, cable laying from Nouakchott to Nigeria had started, adding that the cable required to complete the laying of the facility to Nigeria was already on its way. Previously it was understood that the cable had been laid as far as Dakar but not landed. He said the cable, with a capacity of 640 Giga bytes, would have landing points in UK, Portugal, Ghana and Senegal as well as in Lagos and Bonny in Nigeria by February next year. Jameel added that landing points would also be extended to other West Africa countries by the fourth quarter of 2009. There will be 18 branching units along the route upon completion of the project. In addition to the Glo 1 project, Jameel said Alcatel would also provide one STM 64 submarine cable capacity from UK to New York to connect Nigeria to the United States (US) to provide crystal clear voice calls and high speed data/Internet transmission services. Globacom's international operation is backed by the four gateways it has deployed in Nigeria comprising two in Lagos, one in Abuja and one in Port Harcourt. (Source: This Day) ISPs to Sue Icasa If Licences Delayed Further in South AfricaThe telecoms industry regulator is on a collision course with companies that are ready to build their own networks, by instigating a long-winded process to issue licences that the high court has declared they are already entitled to. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has issued a document saying it is ready to convert now defunct telecoms licences, but it is calling for comments on the process, which will delay the issuing until next year. That has incensed the Electronic Communications Network (ECN), which is threatening Icasa with legal action if it does not hand over its licence immediately. Icasa has acted rapidly by declaring itself ready to issue the valuable licences, which will let hundreds of voice and data carriers, such as internet service providers, build their own facilities. The regulator is not waiting to see whether Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is planning to make one final effort to overturn the court decision that granted them that right. The minister has already been refused permission to challenge the high court verdict, but she could raise the stakes by petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal. Far from being pleased with Icasa's action, ECN's legal representative, Werksmans Attorneys, has written to the regulator, saying it will seek a court order forcing Icasa to hand over the licence now. Altech, the company that won the legal ruling, is also likely to put legal pressure on Icasa not to follow its proposed consultation process, especially since the court ordered Icasa to issue the licences speedily on November 7, when it refused the minister's application to appeal. "Our client, in the light of the growing prejudice that it faces as a result of Icasa's delay, sees no alternative other than to proceed to obtain an order compelling Icasa to immediately issue it with the licences to which it is entitled," Werksman s said in a letter to the regulator. Icasa is planning to convert the old licences into the new variety after inviting written representations from the industry on the conversion process. Icasa gives applicants until December 5 to make comments. Companies applying for a licence would then have to submit a plethora of details, making it far from a straight like-for-like swap. They are expected to give Icasa a technical plan, define the scale of their networks roll-out, give details of their efforts to boost social and economic development in the country, and state their black empowerment profile. (Source: Business Day) Fibre backhaul becomes single biggest cost element, says new WIOCC CEOLast week the Open Access to Fibre Conference took place in Malawi. Anders Comstedt attended and reports on some of the issues raised. Open access or shared telecom infrastructure has come a long ways in several countries as an idea but for some laggards, like Zambia , it just has not been accepted. Cross border connectivity is still a major problem. Regulations and policy making still have some way to go to relax and enable cross border links. SEACOM and EASSy, the later in the form of WIOCC (the SPV part of EASSy) were there to indicate their latest RFS dates; SEACOM June 2009 and EASSy June 2010. TEAMS had no representative at the Conference as key officers where in Fujairah for some final talks. Both SEACOM and WIOCC are now preoccupied with filling the pipes they are in the process of building. Chris Wood, the recently appointed CEO of WIOCC, expected backhaul availability and costs to be the major discussion ahead. "We will see aggressive pricing on sea cables. Now backhaul becomes the single biggest cost element for many." So the problem seems now to be shifting. Terrestrial backhaul fibre to the landings was also debated much in other sessions. Lots of initiatives were considered and some are even underway. Several participants pointed out the need for reasonable conditions on the few transmission cables available, and avoiding allowing them to become new “choke points” holding back ICTdevelopment. The grand old man of open access, Professor Bjorn Pehrson, argued in the Conference’s final statement for any grant money from donors to go into putting fibre on power lines with conditions that prevent prohibitive pricing and instead make the spare fibres available at cost to all ICT players, to stimulate the market. In brief:- The National Council of the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN) has addressed a letter to the President in which it asks the federal government to intervene in the current posture of Galaxy Backbone Plc monopoly as the exclusive provider of Internet Access services to its Ministries, Departments and Agencies,( MDAs). ITAN believes that setting up such a monopoly will not create a level playing field for all stake holders in the industry. - Europe Media Port (EMP) has announced that it is providing key services from its Greek teleport to Gateway Communications for its newly launched operations on AfricaSat-1 into Africa. EMP is a Cyprus-based global provider of transmissions services. - Algeria’s ISP, EEPAD, is planning to launch as from 1st December a pack composed of a laptop with high speed internet access and value added services for a monthly subscription of DZD 2,700 (US$40).
Nigeria’s Federal Government Develops Framework for IT EducationThe Federal Government has packaged a new document, the National Information Technology Education Framework (NITEF) for the structuring and regulation of the formal and non-formal educational institutions of Information Technology in Nigeria. The document was developed was developed by the Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, to ensure compliance with global standards. President, Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN) Professor Adenike Osofisan disclosed this at the recent 14th Annual General Meeting of the Association in Abuja. She said that the framework was designed because, "We observed that in Nigeria, IT training particularly in the non-formal sub- sector has been an all- comers' affair devoid of a coherent framework regarding the scope, content and quality". "Consequently, there is a proliferation of computer training outfits in nooks and crannies of Nigeria, offering all sorts of certificates and programmes based on the curriculum that is defined in philosophy, objectives and content for relevant skill acquisition", she noted. According to her, the NITEF is a first attempt to provide a roadmap for the development of IT education in Nigeria. "It is targeted at ensuring that appropriate skills, competencies and attitudes are imparted to enable Nigeria take advantage of the global opportunities in Information Technology". "However, in recognition of the rapid rate of obsolescence in IT, the framework shall apply only on the shot and medium term of not more than three years." The meeting, which is an annual event, witnessed the induction of 240 new members as members, graduate members and affiliates into the Association. To the new inductees, Osofisan said: "Fellow professionals, you will agree with me that Information Technology is a critical sector that needs to be fully explored for the full realisation of the Vision 20 2020 objective". "We have a substantial contribution to make and this contribution is to grow the profession maximally so that it will impact positively on the economy, thereby facilitating the realisation of our vision." (Source: This Day) Central African IT Experts Meet in BrazzavilleA meeting of new information and communication technology (NTIC) experts of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), opened last Monday in Brazzaville ahead of the ministerial conference starting Thursday in the Congolese capital. On the occasion, CEMAC Commissioner for Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Bernard Zoba said the member countries are lagging behind in ICTs and should quickly bridge the divide with other African regions and parts of the world regarding digital infrastructure. "Underdevelopment and inadequate infrastructure in Africa have turned out to be the major obstacles that will continue to jeopardise the continent’s economic and social development and integration if not addressed," Zoba said. "Efforts must be made at sub-regional and continental levels to provide Africa with affordable, efficient and reliable infrastructure and related services capable of promoting integration and ensuring the continent’s participation in globalization," he added. The meetings, which were opened by Congolese Posts and Telecommunications minister Mougala Thiery will consider two major sub-regional projects – a planned Central African School of Telecommunications, and a Sub-regional telecommunications maintenance centre. (Source: APA) South African brewer chooses Red Hat LinuxLike many companies United National Breweries (UNB) took a decision some time ago to lease its IT equipment instead of buying it outright. In line with that decision UNB’s national IT manager Kevern Upton says that its primary IT suppliers for its financial systems were Unisys, who took responsibility for the server hardware and operating system, and Proteus, who took care of the financial system and the database that supports it. During the seven years UNB used Unisys services Upton says the company underwent a forced platform change from the original Unisys SR4 operating system to Sco Unix 8, which was essentially Caldera Linux. But, with the hardware beginning to show its age, UNB approached Unisys to provide a quote on upgrading the hardware and software. “Because seven years had passed since the signatures of the lease and support agreement, a great deal had changed. Unisys informed us that they no longer played in the SMB space and that it would be in our best interests to find an alternative,” he says. After consideration the company settled on Red Hat Linux for the server operating system, Stratus as its hardware provider and Obsidian Systems to provide the services. With vendor and service partners selected, UNB set aside time to thoroughly test the proposed solution and iron out any potential incompatibilities before rolling the changes through to their live system. “We ran a complete simulation - including the exact hardware, operating system and applications we would be using,” Upton says. “During that pilot, we encountered issues which required some kernel settings to be changed. Other than that we were extremely satisfied with the results.” Upton says that although the project team tested the functional elements of the system and the integrity of the database, it didn’t go so far as to test the printing. “When it came to the live switchover the only thing we hadn’t tested, namely the ability to print, was compromised. Since printing is a critical feature for us, this was serious and critical issue to solve. “As it turned out the client software we were using wasn’t compatible with Red Hat 10, resulting in our countrywide printing being broken,” Upton says. “As a band-aid solution our development team brought the Unisys server up as a print server. This solved the printing issue but only bought us time.” So shortly afterwards, when a replacement client application was found in WiNet, UNB commissioned Bytes Technology Group to roll it out countrywide. “The replacement application was Windows compatible, featured a GUI and most importantly didn’t require a static IP socket for printing. Bytes rolled it out for us, branch by branch, decommissioning the old solution as and when the new solution was implemented.” Upton says that the costs of the new system were in fact higher than the previous environment initially because of now having two support partners - Stratus and Obsidian - in place of Unisys which managed both hardware and software. He says that they also overcompensated on support costs because of concerns about migrating to Linux for the first time. But, Upton says, the performance of the environment has improved by a factor of between 6 and 10 depending on the application being used. He also says that after the initial six-months they were confident enough in the new environment to reduce their support requirements with Obsidian significantly, dropping support costs by 49% and bringing the new environment costs in line with the old system. (Source: Tectonic) In Brief:- President Paul Kagame, was this week presented with the 'Committed to Connecting the World Awards', at the 2008 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council High level segment, meeting, held in Geneva, in recognition of his support for ICT development in Rwanda. - Chip maker, ARM has announced that it will bring the full Linux based, Ubuntu Desktop operating system to the ARMv7 processor architecture, which will be used in small notebook computers.
Telkom South Africa’s Results Stress Need to RepositionTelkom's operating profit fell 9.3% in the first half to September, showing the financial imperative for the company to restructure and reposition itself. Profits came in at R6.6bn, down from R7.3bn, while its profit margin slid from 37.7% to 33,4%. The dip came despite a 9.8% growth in revenue to R29.8bn, showing the cash coming in is failing to reach the bottom line. Much of Telkom's revenue and profit comes from its half-share in mobile operator Vodacom, which saw a 13.1% rise in customers to 35.7-million, revenue up 14% to R26bn, and net profit up 3.2% to R3.8bn. That let Vodacom declare an interim dividend of R3bn for the six months to September. Telkom CEO Reuben September said he was pleased with revenue growth. The focus was now on the opportunities from data and higher-value services. Data streams were growing well, with a 96% rise in subscribers to its Do Broadband Internet service. Telkom's data revenue rose 12.2% to R4.4bn, despite cutting the cost of some of its data services to face new rivals. Those are expected to enter the market after a landmark court ruling that gave numerous companies including Internet service providers the right to build their own networks. Telkom revenue will diminish once those companies are no longer forced to lease their lines from Telkom. Its profit could be further eroded once consumers have a wider choice. As competition hots up, with Neotel finally beginning to have an effect, Telkom is also focusing on improving its customer service and streamlining its contact centre network to be more accessible to the public. It is also eyeing foreign expansion, largely based on its 75% stake in Nigeria's Multi-Links. So far Multi-Links is losing money but that should turn around as its subscribers grow, with nearly 1-million users added in the six-month period. Its other major acquisition Africa Online is also still loss-making. Telkom's renewed efforts to offer voice and data services in several African countries is seeing it pay $63m to buy into M-Web Africa and M-Web Namibia. (Source: Business Day) Nitel May Not Get Core Investor in Feb 2009Indications have emerged that Nigerian incumbent Nitel may not get a core investor in February 2009 after all. The Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) is said to have decided to stop the consultant to the deal, BNP Paribas, from working further on the search for a core investor for Nitel. Again this leaves the company stranded in terms of management and access to investment capital. ThisDay gathered that BPE might have taken this position because it had suddenly discovered that getting a core investor for Nitel in the current financial climate may not be viable. One reason is that the Federal Government which owns 49% of the shares in Nitel has whittled down its shareholding considerably by ceding 15% of the shares to the Nigerian Communications Satellite, NigComSat and 6.9% to IILL which had made part payment of $131 million to the Government in a bid to acquire Nitel in 2003, from the $1.3billion it offered to pay. The 6.9% represents the part payment paid already made. While the FG had also offered 4% share to NITEL workers. This translates to a shedding of 25.9%, leaving the Government with 24.1%. ThisDay further gathered that at a meeting held between officials of the BPE and Transcorp officials, the Bureau was said to have asked Transcorp's Group Managing Director, Tom Iseghohi, to cede its shares to the BPE for it to be offered to a core investor, a move which Iseghohi was said to have resisted, explaining that the request had to be tabled before the board before any decision could be made. ThisDay also gathered that BPE had allegedly sold off the headquarters of NITEL in Wuse Abuja for an undisclosed sum. The issue of the headquarters and other properties of NITEL had caused a dispute with Transcorp, owners of Nitel with 51% equity on whether the property should be classified as core assets or not. The slow speed with which the ownership of Nitel is being resolved leaves the company bleeding to death as its competitors will now have more time to attract away unhappy customers. The longer the BPE leaves the resolution of this problem, the less the asset will be worth. The only small ray of hope was that last week Vodafone expressed interest in entering the Nigerian market but would it buy Nitel? (Source: This Day) Few Cellular Operators in Africa 'Will Survive' says Zain Africa’s CEOConsolidation among cellular network operators in Africa will be so intense that no more than three to five will survive, predicts Zain Africa's CEO Chris Gabriel. As competition intensifies and profit margins begin to flag, Africa is likely to see its collection of more than 100 operators whittled down rapidly. Many regulators say three to five rivals are needed in each country to create a competitive environment, but Gabriel thinks the same handful of players will dominate in every country. Zain expects to be one of them, especially since it is sitting on $4.5bn raised in a recapitalisation scheme to fund its expansion. Zain operates in 22 countries and aims to finalise three or four more acquisitions in the next 12 months. "We are shopping. We are looking to grow our footprint across Africa and the Middle East," Gabriel said at the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town last week. In the global slump, the value of potential acquisitions had tumbled, and Zain had lowered its bids for some companies that it was already negotiating with. Deals were taking longer to conclude, since there was now a vast difference between the previous value, the current value, and the expectations of the sellers. SA has been on Zain's radar for years, and it is assessing opportunities to acquire a majority in a telecom or technology company. "We are exploring all potential opportunities in SA, be they acquisitions of existing players, mergers with existing players or acquisitions of greenfield licences. We are looking for a majority share of about 60% but a minimum of 51%," Gabriel said. (Source: Business Day) The fight for iTalk begins in South AfricaThe Competition Commission has announced that it has recommended that the proposed transaction by MTN to purchase the remaining 59% of iTalk Cellular be approved. "This announcement is purely the Commission's recommendation to the tribunal. It by no means implies a done deal for MTN," says Anton Potgieter, Executive Chairman of the Huge Group. "The legal processes and decisions that follow are of far greater interest and importance to us. We certainly plan to vehemently oppose this transaction and we can now apply to take our arguments before the Competition Tribunal and, if we have to, the Competition Appeal Court. Over the past months we have accumulated and prepared extensive evidence supporting the fact that MTN's bid is highly anti-competitive, and will have the effect of a substantial lessening of competition by removing an effective competitor from the market." Potgieter believes that this is a typical example of 'the 800lb gorilla' trying to assume control of the market by force. "MTN has clearly come to the realisation that as a competitor Huge could lower prices to the consumer, forcing the rest of the market to follow suit. Our involvement means we would be moving value away from MTN and into the hands of the consumer, which is why they are now looking to prevent this regardless of the cost." According to Potgieter, the fact that the Competition Commission took more than 85 days to come to this recommendation is a good indication that there is substantial evidence that may prevent MTN being successful in its bid for iTalk. "It is clear that our opposing argument has been given careful consideration and perhaps the Competition Commission is unsure on how it should rule which is why it has left it up to the Tribunal to decide." Huge Group submitted an application to the Competition Commission earlier this year to purchase the 59% of iTalk under dispute. Huge's application was approved unconditionally. Shortly after this approval was given, MTN decided to act on its right to purchase these shares. "The fact that MTN originally waived their pre-emptive rights and then did a u-turn on that decision, shows that they subsequently realised the impact a new, customer-orientated competitor with control of iTalk could make in the currently, highly inert and oligopolistic GSM handset market," he says. "MTN have already delayed the transaction by 15 months and we believe that they will continue to try and delay it even further in a bid to prejudice the business." According to Potgieter, MTN is paying more than double the price of any other transaction of this nature - an amount of around R363-million cash, which pushes iTalk's enterprise value to roughly R615-million. Considering the number of current subscribers in the iTalk database this equates to around R4,700 per subscriber. "MTN is paying more than 100% premium over past transactions to purportedly gain the iTalk subscriber base. Taking into account their growth rates in places like Iran, and the organic cost of that growth, it seems implausible that they are purchasing iTalk for any other reason than to prevent the introduction of a potential competitor, in the form of Huge Group, by removing one of only three remaining service provider licences from the market," says Potgieter. "Paying this price for an acquisition in an economic downturn certainly casts reasonable doubt on their published reason for wanting control of iTalk," he adds. Should MTN acquire iTalk, it would mean that there are only two service providers left in the market, Nashua and Autopage. MTN already owns 40% of the mobile market and acquiring iTalk will increase this market share and its dominance, thereby overwhelmingly and irrevocably tipping the market in favour of MTN versus its service providers. "MTN's strategy has been to purchase companies with 3% and 4% market shares over a period of time. However, if you buy this market share repeatedly you will end up with a majority market share, without ever having concluded any 'significant' transactions under current competition analysis," explains Potgieter. "If MTN is allowed to continue with this strategy it will ultimately substantially reduce competition and allow them to continue to take advantage of the consumer - and in fact, iTalk is very possibly the last hurdle to them gaining an unstoppable monopoly," he says. "If MTN's bid is approved, it will indeed be a very sad day for the South African consumer," says Potgieter. "Less competition means less choice for the consumer, and essentially the service providers will be allowed to continue to charge exorbitant rates for their 'services' unhindered. We will continue to stand firm in our arguments and are confident that the Tribunal will agree with our reasoning and will block MTN's bid," he concludes. Vox Telecom Charges Dealstream With Theft in South AfricaVox Telecom, the AltX-listed telecoms service provider, last week became the first company to announce it was laying charges of theft against failed brokerage Dealstream and its directors after Vox had to write off R60.8m in related losses. Since Dealstream fell apart at the end of September 2008, the brokerage has been placed under provisional curatorship and was briefly placed under provisional liquidation. The liquidation order came to an end in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. Although Bernard Levenstein, the curator, said he would consider pressing criminal charges once his investigation was complete, only Vox has taken this step so far. Many other companies, such as Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Investec, the Industrial Development Corporation, Ernst & Young, Worldwide African Investments, the JSE and Control Instruments, have been harmed, either through reputational damage or the loss of money, following the collapse of Dealstream. But laying criminal charges against Dealstream and its former CE, Russell Leigh, who has fled the country, is not likely to yield results for Vox. Mike von Holdt, chief financial officer of Vox, said last weekit looked as if Vox shares had been "fraudulently misappropriated" by Dealstream and that it was unlikely Vox would be able to recover any of the money owing to itself or to staff. Investigations have also shown that Dealstream's liabilities outweigh its assets and, at most, there is R16m left in Dealstream's accounts. Nonetheless, Tony van Marken, executive chairman of Vox, believed the company had to take action against Dealstream in order to protect the rights of his company and its staff. Four of Vox's directors lost a significant portion of their holdings in the company while two directors had all of their holdings wiped out. (Source: Business Day) In brief:- Sudatel has announced a year-on-year fall of 52% in third-quarter net income after auditors required the telco to write off the cost of acquiring customers over a three-year period rather than five, reports Meed. Net income came in at USD43 million on the back of a 14% climb in revenue to USD186 million. Sales were boosted by a 23% increase in wireless subscribers after a carefully targeted campaign to sign up former MTN Sudan customers. - Starcomms Plc, the first telecommunications company to be listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and one of the Nigeria's leading CDMA, full service telecommunications operator has recorded an 84 per cent consolidated revenue growth from N14.7 billion to N27.133 billion for the nine month period ended September 2008. - South African cellular operator Vodacom has upped its interest in wireless broadband firm WBS to 24.9%, exercising an option to acquire an additional 14.9% stake at a price of ZAR119.2 million (USD11.6 million). WBS operates 2.5GHz WiMAX networks in South Africa under the name iBurst and Vodacom is known to be keen to expand its own mobile broadband offerings using WiMAX technology. - Egyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom has revealed results for the three months ended 30 September 2008, reporting a drop of 28% in net profit year-on-year to USD90.5 million, with the company attributing the fall to poor revenue performance from its operations in Pakistan. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Ethiopia Telecommunications Corp (ETC) plans to boost mobile subscribers to 15 million in two years, from 2.2 million now, using $1.5 billion from China's ZTE Corp, the Ethiopian firm said. Industry sources say ZTE will also set up a CDMA network with capacity for 2.4 million Ethiopian subscribers. - Safaricom, Kenya’s largest cellular operator by subscribers, has opened a new operating division called Safaricom Business which will market high speed mobile data services to corporate customers. A report from IDG News Service says that a suite of new mobile data products will be launched under the brand ONEConnect. Services will run over Safaricom’s EDGE and UMTS networks, which the cellco plans to deploy in all major urban centres. - Zain Malawi has introduced GPRS and is heavily marketing the service to users. - Ericsson anticipates 20 percent growth of its cell phone usage in Africa by 2009, its South Africa head said. The Swedish company's Managing Director Jan Embro said Friday its market anticipates seeing 50-60 million new cell subscribers especially in West Africa's populous country of Nigeria. - MTN Uganda has confirmed that it is testing its Mobile Money transfer service with agents and hundreds of customers nationwide in anticipation of the service's launch.
NCC Approves Africa's First Smart PhoneThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has accredited and approved the first customised Smart phones designed and manufactured for Africa. The Professional Series, which comes in ranges from PS 100s up to PS 200s, is being manufactured and distributed by the latest entry into the telecommunications industry, Anabel Mobile. "Anabel Mobile is a global brand created by Nigerians and which has chosen first to start with Nigeria giving Nigerians the respect and focus that many international brands have failed to do," the company told ThisDay last week. The company said the Smart Phones run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1. "This makes it compatible with any Personal Computer anywhere in the world. The Anabel Professional Series allows you to synchronise your Anabel Smart Phone with your PC, all your data, emails, presentations etc and since it is running on windows you can also prepare your power point, excel or word presentations while on the move in your car in traffic or waiting for a flight at the airport," the statement said. NCC has also granted Anabel Mobile a licence to operate within the Nigerian territory for sales of its full range of products. Anabel is expected to provide the users of its smart phones such value added services as push and pull email which has been the hallmark of the Blackberry device in Nigeria. The company said: "Nigerians who attended the last NCC people's parliament in Abuja said they were excited that finally a brand that is focused on Africa is coming and is starting with Nigeria. They commended the NCC for encouraging the entrepreneurship that gave rise to Anabel." NCC is said to be excited that Anabel devices will be the first hand held devices or phones to carry the NCC accreditation and approval stamped on its devices, "demonstrating that Nigeria is indeed now part of the global community". Anabel is an integrated mobile device and telecoms content company with a primary focus on serving the professional and SME markets by providing them with the mobile tools to get their work done on the move wherever they may be. Anabel Mobile devices are equally designed to meet the needs of high end students who are running sophisticated graduate or senior programmes and need advanced mobile devices for data analysis, communicating and reporting, and for sharing large files be they data, voice, music or Video. The company is expected to be launched next month in Lagos. (Source: This Day) Google Aims to Stop 'Agency Fraud' in South AfricaMyth and misunderstanding is leading to digital mayhem in the industry, whereby agencies are being accused by digital behemoth Google of committing fraud or, at the very least, irresponsible accounting with their clients cash online. As a result, Google announced today, Friday, 14 November 2008, that it would be 'Google certifying' five key agencies leading this space in 2009. Google South Africa country manager Stafford Masie addressed a media/client roundtable this morning in Johannesburg and explained his horror at the way some media and advertising agencies were bamboozling their clients as to the cost of online Google campaigns, "adding on 17 - 37% markups" in some cases and not allowing clients to see the true value or results of their Google adwords campaigns, "because they were too complicated for the client to understand". "The agencies are getting away with murder," said Masie, admitting that he knew his comments were provocative. "We are aiming to be disruptive. Marketers are being taken for a ride." Google therefore intends to level the playing field a bit by introducing 'Google certified agencies' in 2009 to work hand-in-hand strategically with clients, due to the financial "killing some agencies are making off ill-informed clients". "There won't be more than five of them (agencies), to build necessary capability and understanding, so when they go to clients, they position digital correctly." Masie said the lack of cohesion and understanding in the media and marketing industry, and among the bigger and medium sized ad agencies of the digital ecosystem, was causing confusion and not helping with the understanding of digital in SA. "Agencies are worried about us. We are being disruptive... but they go in, they bill clients incorrectly. There is fraud happening. What really peeves me, is they say: 'Give us R100 000 and we'll sort it out... trust me'. They will not disclose to clients what their Google campaigns entail." When Bizcommunity.com blogged and tweeted the above news feed live from the event this morning, Twitter flamed with immediate comment. One tweet asked: "Another revenue stream for Google - how much will those five certified agencies have to cough up for the privilege?" When the question was put live to Masie during the roundtable debate, he answered: "We are not only going to work with these agencies, we won't be a cartel... The certification will cost nothing. People get us wrong. This is not about making money - this is to ensure that we will build referential agencies - so there is a model in the industry that people can follow. We will have experts out there to enable various Google tools... we will provide training on all the tools. We want to broadly empower the industry." He said the intention was not to incur additional revenue. "The objective is the following: the industry is very fragmented. We are going to educate the industry, share our tools and knowledge with the industry. But to bring the two together, we are going to take the first step." The fact is that the continued digital divide is costing clients cold hard cash, and as FNB media director Gisele Wertheim-Aymes, who participated in the debate, pointed out, the onus is on marketers to upskill themselves in order to brief their agencies correctly - and keep them in check. "Clients get involved in digital very little. They leave it up to the agencies. There is a huge challenge in digital. Major media buying companies are not geared up at all for digital, let alone Google. They are outsourcing to smaller agencies who can do it - but it adds additional steps to the process. It delays the response to opportunities online." She pointed out that SA users were transacting heavily on banking websites, using search heavily. FNB has in fact shifted ad spend from banner advertising into search (which is unfortunately not tracked by Adindex). "The big challenge for the industry and for clients is to get their head around this and take it seriously and know how Google works and have people inside your organisation that can make it work. There is not a model that lends itself to it. The whole media model has changed online. Clients have to start treating this digital space far more seriously. When things happen quickly, in now time, real time, you can't wait 10 days for a plan. You have to be agile to capitalise on opportunities online." As Masie points out, big agencies don't have strong digital competencies inhouse and the big and medium agencies don't have the agility needed to act on opportunities as they happen. Marketers are asking questions around who do they target, where do they start? And this is why Google will be empowering key agencies in this space, he says, as well as training marketers and agencies in general going forward on the various Google tools, search engine optimisation (SEO) and key search word advertising. "Agencies are making money out of this innuendo and mystery in the digital space. Google is trying to fix this with education," he emphasised. Wertheim-Aymes, denying she is only 'Googleyed', remarked that Google was a catalyst in the industry and had created a consciousness of what is going around out there in the digital space. "Look at how people use the internet. Digital has to be put on the agenda - spend is below global levels. If you are a good marketer you will put digital on the agenda along with face-to-face promotional events in kraals in rural areas if that is what your brand requires. The responsibility rests with marketers. Technology is changing the world. It is not just up to the agencies. Technology changed the US Presidential election. This is a changing world. Understanding digital and how Google enables that will give a clever marketer the edge. We cannot escape it." (Source: Biz-Community)
People* Phoday Sisay has been appointed the new acting chief executive officer of the Gambia Telecommunications Company (Gamtel) and the Gambia Cellular GSM Company (Gamcel). * Pierre Obeid, CTO at South Africa’s mobile operator Cell C, has resigned. * Mobile-XL has announced that Alieu Conteh, Chairman of Vodacom Congo, has agreed to join the Board of Advisors of Mobile-XL. Events* 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 * INVESTING IN ICT SECTOR IN EMERGING MARKETS 11-12 December 2008, London, UK Organised by the CTO, the conference aims at emerging Markets in Asia, Africa and the Americas present unique opportunities for Telecommunications and ICT Firms, but also Banks, Infrastructure Providers, Private Equity Firms, Technology and Solution Providers, Legal Advisors and other Financial Intermediaries to enhance their business development goals and succeed where the market is. For further information visit www.cto.int Jobs and Opportunities* Senior Rnd Engineer – Kenya The person should be able to lead a team of radio network design engineers to perform initial radio network design, radio frequency including a site survey with coverage prediction plots for approved site locations, prioritized site locations, prepare a frequency plan and initial Radio Network Design report and Preparation of CDD For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* MTN and Central Bank - Nigeria Mobile operator MTN Nigeria, has signed an agreement for the provision of wide Area Network(WAN) solutions to support 21 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branches across the country. "The wide area network solution provided by MTN should assist the CBN for effective and efficient communication infrastructure, real time connectivity and as part of achieving CBN financial system strategy (FSS)2020," it said. * EMTS and Alcatel-Lucent - Nigeria Alcatel-Lucent has revealed that it has signed a deal with Emerging Market Telecom Services (EMTS) for the deployment of turnkey, nationwide GSM/EDGE/W-CDMA/HSPA network in the western region of Nigeria, including Lagos. * Clickatell and New Heights Microfinance Bank Ltd - Nigeria Clickatell, a provider of mobile messaging solutions announces that New Heights Microfinance Bank Ltd Nigeria has chosen Clickatell to deploy mobile messaging services to its customers. * TTCL and FTS - Tanzania FTS, a provider of billing, CRM and business control solutions for telecoms operators and content service providers, has announced that Tanzanian incumbent Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has successfully deployed the vendor’s end-to-end billing solution. * mCel and Aircom – Mozambique The UK-based network planning and optimisation consultancy Aircom International has signed a USD1 million deal with Mozambique’s largest cellular operator by subscribers, mCel, which will see Aircom working with the cellco on its 3G network rollout. mCel will deploy Aircom’s network planning and optimisation tools, Asset and Optima, to plan and manage its new 3G UMTS network.
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