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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 444 6th March 2009 Jet Net’s new Jordanian investor plans voice and data challenge using WiMAXWiMAX-based ISP Jet Net has recently come together with the Jordanian Neu Group to pioneer a WiMAX voice and data challenge in one of Africa’s largest markets, Sudan. The regulatory and market challenges are considerable but the new investor has a successful track record both in mobile and WiMAX markets. Russell Southwood spoke recently to the company’s CEO Ahmad Jaghoub. The new investor in Jet Net is Michael Daghar’s Neu Group. Daghar successfully launched Umniah as Jordan’s most successful third mobile operator. He was subsequently bought out by Batelco for US$400 million and founded his new company in 2007. Jet Net’s business model is that it will initially target data and build infrastructure to make this viable. However, it will have in place IMS servers by Q3 this year and subject to get the relevant licensing and approvals will then move into the voice market. Installation is based on the WiMAX 16e standard that can support mobile voice. The company envisages using WiMAX-enabled handsets from companies like Samsung. Currently these phones are selling retail for between US$150-300 but they also plan to have a CPE (costing US$200-250) that will support a SIP phone. It plans to subsidise the cost of the CPE and persuade customers to share CPEs, in order to get more customers and coverage. It believes that its implementation will offer high quality, indoor coverage. In its first phase of expansion, it will install 50 base stations in the capital Khartoum and take 14 existing base stations and install them in the country’s second city, Port Sudan. In the second year, it plans to expand its network in Khartoum and upgrade its services, before starting to put in place coverage in the south and elsewhere. Its total investment in the first phase is between US$20-30 million: investment will initially come from the Neu Group but as it expands, it wants to diversify its sources of finance. The BTS equipment cost is around US$50,000 and the total BTS cost including civil works will be anything between US$130,000-250,000. Construction costs are three times those elsewhere in the Middle East because of the cost of imported construction materials. With Jordanian expertise from its new investor, the company is confident that it will make its WiMAX implementation work effectively. Its buying its equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei and it will operate it initially in the 3.5 ghz spectrum and later it hopes in 2.5 ghz. The company made the point that WiMAX base stations are very spectrum-intensive and that therefore they need to be able to use the higher capacities. GSM companies are already using an E1 to some base stations (particularly those used for data) and that it was only fair that it had similar access to transmission capacity. It plans to build its own microwave network for backhaul transmission. It has been forced to consider building its own network because of the very high transmission prices offered by the existing network operators, Canar and Sudatel. But as CEO Ahmad Jaghoub told us: “We’re willing to co-operate with others to improve penetration.” It has had the same challenge in getting reasonably priced international bandwidth. According to Jagoub, one company has taken three months to respond to its request and it still has had no reply:”The prices we’ve been offered are high compared to other countries. If need be, we’re willing to make our own gateway and build a fibre optic route to Port Sudan. It’s feasible to do it ourselves.” The data services will be targeted at corporate and residential clients, the latter being focused on Bahri, Omdurman and Khartoum. The 50 base stations installed will give sufficient capacity for 100,000 subscribers. It is has a target of 15,000 subscribers for its first year of operation, rising to 50-60,000 in the second year. The service will be priced competitively against existing market offers. Jet Net is keen to see the development of Sudanese content and wants to encourage people to build forums and create content that is focused on Sudan. It is trying to find ways of encourage uptake and as part of this it will give some CPEs to the education sector. As Jaghoub tells it:”We want to change the type of Internet that’s available in Sudan and have content for specific sectors like schools, universities and hospitals.” It wants to be able to offer an effective service to its growing list of bank customers and in time support call centre services. The investors in Jet Net are already looking for opportunities further afield from Sudan, including Ethiopia and Uganda. However, these will depend on licensing opportunities and for the moment, the team is highly focused on making the Sudan operation a success.
Nigeria’s Wireless subscribers total 62.9m in 2008, includes 6 million CDMA usersThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reported the country’s total wireless subscriber base increased by 55.9% in 2008, reaching 62.99 million at the end of the year. Fourth quarter net additions stood at 7.15 million, just shy of the national record of 7.38 million, set in Q2 2008. The NCC has released individual figures for the country’s operators for the first time; market leader MTN Nigeria ended 2008 with 23.08 million customers, Zain Nigeria (Celtel) recorded 17.2 million, overtaking Glo Mobile in Q3 due to the latter’s loss of 610,000 subscribers during the period, finishing 2008 with just over 16 million customers. In addition to the three main players, there are several relatively new networks, all but one of which use CDMA technology. With 2.21 million customers at the end of the year, Visafone became the country’s largest CDMA operator and the fourth largest network operator altogether. It added 980,000 customers in Q4, only its fourth quarter of commercial mobile service. Meanwhile, Multilinks added 510,000 customer to end the year with 1.99 million, Starcomms gained 360,000 during the quarter to total 1.16 million and Reliance added 70,000 to finish with 700,000 in its second quarter of operation. Recently launched GSM operator, Etisalat-managed Emerging Markets Telecommunications, performed well in its first quarter, gaining 400,000 customers. The NCC reported that as a whole, the CDMA sector totalled 6.05 million customers, more than 15 times higher than the year-earlier customer base of 380,000 and also recorded another 1.31 million fixed-wireless lines. (Source: Telegeography) Maroc Telecom Takes over Mali's SotelmaVivendi-owned Maroc Telecom said on Saturday it had acquired 51% of the Malian national telecommunication company (Sotelma) after making a €252 million bid. "The Malian government has declared Maroc Telecom the temporary winner of the 51% of the capital of its operator Sotelma”, a statement from the Moroccan company said. With 53% of the capital held by French Vivendi and the rest divided between the Moroccan government and private investors, Maroc Telecom offered €252 million against 110 million by Sudanese company Sudatel and only €80 million by Portugal Telecom. The Malian government will hold on to 20% of the Sotelma capital, the statement adds. Maroc Telecom is already the major shareholder (51%) in three other African telecommunication companies: Mauritel of Mauritania, Onatel of Burkina Faso and Gabon Telecom. The company increased its gross turnover of its African subsidiaries to 9.5 billion dirhams (US$1.2 billion), 18.5% higher than the previous year. Maroc Telecom’s mobile turnover increased by 9.7& to 21.16 billion dirhams, of which 875 million was from for Mauritel (+4.9%), 881 millions from Onatel (+22.5%) 692 million from Gabon Telecom (+18.7) and 18.5 billion dirhams from the group(s mobile activities in Morocco (+8.4%), where it has 75% market share. (Source: APA) Uganda’s Security Minister Defends Phone Tapping BillSecurity minister Amama Mbabazi last week defended the phone tapping Bill, saying it was intended to fight terrorism. All countries, Mbabazi argued, were making similar laws in the interest of national security. The draft law, called the Regulation of Interception of Communications Bill of 2007, provides for the interception and monitoring certain communication in the course of their transmission through telecommunication, postal or any related service or system, Mbabazi explained. Addressing the information and communication technology committee, Mbabazi said the Bill would also help curb crime. "Instead of hunting criminals through the gun, information can be legally tapped to stop crime," he said. Under the law, a communications monitoring centre would be established, Mbabazi stated. Although Mbabazi has tabled the Bill before the House for the first reading, it has not yet been debated. The proposed law has been criticised by human rights activists and some MPs. The latter said intercepting mail without the consent of the recipient was tantamount to an abuse of human rights. Rtd. Maj. Magulumaali Mugumya (Independent) said the Government might misuse the law to unjustifiably detain persons who send or receive electronic mail, radio and mobile telephone messages or postal parcels. Mugumya compared the powers which the Bill grants to the security minister to those which Luwuliza Kirunda, the former Obote II internal affairs minister, used to arrest, detain and deny suspects bail. He argued that the sale of mobile phone numbers is not well regulated. Under such circumstances, he said, a malicious person can buy phone numbers, call somebody and abandon them yet the recipient may be monitored. He wanted to know how the Government would protect such people. "How will the Government trace the sender and how will it establish whether it was not maliciously sent to implicate innocent recipients?" he asked. "Suppose in your postal mail box you find gun powder or bullets, how will the Government establish who sent them?" Mugumya went on. Mbabazi said the Government would detain suspected postal articles and examine them as evidence in the case of criminal prosecution. As the questions increased, committee chairperson Edward Baliddawa stopped the debate, saying the minister had simply introduced the Bill. He said the committee would invite stakeholders to scrutinise and contribute to the Bill after which the minister would be called to explain issues. The stakeholders include mobile phone service providers, security agencies like the Internal Security Organisation, External Security Organisation and ministries such as that for information and communication technology and defence. (Source: New Vision) South Africa: Post-Vodacom Telkom wants to become fifth mobile operator and focus on broadbandWith the prospect of losing 40% of its annual revenue after the sale of Vodacom, Telkom is slowly turning its mind to what it will do to replace the lost income. CEO Reuben September has already indicated that it wants to become the fifth mobile operator in South Africa, although how it will do this is much less clear. Telkom has been cagey about how it plans to offset its mobile revenue loss, as well as whether it has a concrete mobile strategy in place. In its financial results for 2008, Telkom reported Vodacom accounted for 42.8% (R24 billion) of group operating revenue and 42.9% (R6.2 billion) of group operating profit. While the company admits it is facing challenging times, it is not revealing specific details on how these income losses will be mitigated. In effect, Telkom claims it is looking to diversify its revenue streams, as well as product and service offerings in existing and new markets. The group last week reiterated one of its “core strategic focal areas” is its “defend and grow” strategy, which aims to protect its “current business and contain the loss of market share in an increasingly competitive and changing regulatory landscape”. “In addition, Telkom recently announced a new organisational structure, which aims to support and enable the company's future strategic direction. Part of the rationale behind the new structure is to bring a massive focus to broadband,” it says in a statement. It adds that, in the past, Telkom had communicated the target of 20% of fixed-line telephones in service to be broadband-enabled by 2011. However, going forward, this figure could be revised upwards. “Telkom will also achieve a greater broadband penetration by expanding our mobile 3G broadband network. “Growth and expansion, including outside of SA's borders, is another pillar in Telkom's future strategic focus. The company's recent corporate actions - such as the Vodacom-Vodafone deal, our 100% acquisition of MultiLinks (a Nigerian-based wireless network), Africa Online (which gives Telkom a widespread East African footprint) and the acquisitions of the African operations of MWeb, clearly reflect Telkom's intent.” On the sidelines of last year's financial results presentation, CEO Reuben September explained that Telkom plans to become SA's fifth cellular provider by the middle of this year, and was preparing to enter into talks with an existing mobile operator to roam on its network. The mobile plan, he said, would involve a strategy of “selective build” to add mobile capability to its existing infrastructure, rather than build and operate its own mobile network. To date, however, the company has not revealed whether it has actually entered into talks with any local or foreign mobile providers, or how advanced these negotiations might be. (Source: ITWeb) In brief:- Pensioners of the Nigerian incumbent Nitel and its mobile arm, Mtel, have cause to smile as the National Council on Privatization (NCP) has approved the initial payment of N8 billion out of the outstanding N17 billion of the five-year pension buy-out. - Zimbabwe’s consumers are up in arms over what they term is daylight robbery by the country's energy and telecommunications suppliers, following the dollarisation of invoices which has led to astronomical tariff hikes. - Indian company, Su-Kam has introduced a new power back-up product for telecoms operators. The company claims to have done 3,000 site installations for telecoms firms in India. To promote, the Su-Kam range of products in Uganda, the company offers to install the inverters at the different sites so telecom companies only pay a monthly rental charge before choosing to buy the product when satisfied. - Africa has the highest growth rate of mobile phone subscription, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has said. In its report, the agency said two thirds of the world's cell phone subscriptions are in developing nations and a quarter of the population is in Africa. The report noted that while just 1 in 50 Africans had a mobile in the year 2000, now 28 percent have a cellular subscription. - Nigeria’s Federal lawmakers are again shining the light on the multi-billion Naira contract award for rural telephony awarded to R. T. Communications, an Israeli company by the National Information Communication and Education Programme (NICEP). The contract was awarded during the last days of President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. It was learnt that the probe to be conducted by the House Committee on Inter-governmental Affairs under the Chairmanship of Leo Ogor, is to ascertain the level of implementation of the project and to authenticate the allegation that 50 percent of the total contract sum was released upon signing of the contract in 2007. - Following the freezing of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) accounts after allegations of mismanagement against Commissioner Albert Bropleh, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has said she is prepared to take further action, Presidential Press Secretary Wleh has disclosed.
TDM increases fibre coverage in MozambiqueThe residents of the city of Nampula, in Mozambique’s Nampula province, and the city of Pemba, in Cabo Delgado province, now have access to a fibre optic cable link between the cities, according to Mozambican newspaper Notícias. The Nampula-Pemba link is part of the project for construction of the “Backbone” of the National Transmission Network, which is one of the biggest and most important projects in the Mozambican telecommunications sector. The cable stretches across 422 kilometres, providing modern telecommunications services to the towns and villages along its route, including Namialo, Nacaroa, Namapa, Chiure and Metoro. The aim of this mega-project, according to Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM), is to interlink all the country’s provincial capital, via fibre optic cables, with a view to the country’s integration in the information and communication society. According to Mozambican news agency AIM, the arrival of the fibre optic cable in Pemba is the penultimate stage of the final aim, as during this year TDM plans to conclude the fibre optic cable extension in Lichinga, Niassa province, work on which is in its final stages. (Source: macauhub) Vodacom to join fibre network project in South AfricaVodacom's board has finally given the operator approval to go ahead and join a project with MTN and Neotel to build a 5,000km national fibre backbone. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys explained last night in a conference call to media that the company's joint shareholding had held it back from joining the project. He said the company's 50:50 ownership by SA's incumbent, Telkom, and UK-based telecoms giant Vodafone, had made a decision on the matter impossible. However, with Vodafone set to gain the majority ownership of Vodacom in the next few months, the company has made a decision on whether to join its competitors. “We received board approval to go ahead and join the consortium. We are looking through the documentation and will make an announcement on the partnership at the pertinent time,” said Uys. Mobile giant MTN and SA's second national operator, Neotel, signed a partnership agreement early this year to co-operatively build a national long-distance fibre-optic network that could cost between R1.7 billion and R2 billion. The telecoms companies agreed to share the costs of trenching and project-managing the 5,000km network; however, they are expected to provide their own fibre and transmission equipment. Almost all of the country's major telecoms companies have, individually, been frantically laying fibre cable in the metropolitan areas. This national network co-operation will be the first time the network operators work together to lay fibre. Neotel and MTN have high expectations on the timelines for the national backbone, hoping to have it completed over the next two years. This timeframe could be revised when Vodacom joins the mix. Without Vodacom, the first phase of the project, expected to begin in March, will be the national route from Johannesburg to Durban (including Pietermaritzburg), a total of 592km. This portion of the network will then be linked to Richards Bay, the landing point of many of the undersea cables. This segment is expected to take around seven months and will cost around R200 million. This will give MTN access to Neotel's landing point for Seacom, scheduled to land in SA by June, and later to Eassy - estimated to land by 2010. While the companies have not stipulated the timelines for the rest of the phases, they hope to begin a Johannesburg-Cape Town leg after that, which would reach 1 676km. Mobile operators are finding it harder to justify leasing the backhaul - or the ground-based technology that houses the wireless services - from Telkom. The laying of a national fibre network that each operator will control wipes out the need to lease infrastructure from the incumbent. A partnership with MTN and Neotel will give Vodacom freedom from Telkom's ownership, as well as its backbone. Vodacom has not released any of the details around the impending agreement, so it is not clear whether it will receive the same benefits afforded to its competitors in the deal. (Source: ITWeb) New Zimbabwean Prime Minister turns to web to promote transparencyMorgan Tsvangirai, newly appointed Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, plans to use the Internet to promote transparency and inform the country’s citizens of the activities and initiatives of the newly-created coalition government. The launch of the website coincides with Tsvangirai’s swearing in as a Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe’s House of Assembly. In his address to Parliament, Mr. Tsvangirai said: “… in this spirit of openness, today we are launching the Prime Minister’s website that will not only serve to keep the people informed about the activities of our government, but will also provide an interactive forum for the people to participate and contribute to the affairs of government. The address of this website is www.zimbabweprimeminister.org.” The website will be made interactive, and will encourage citizens to actively participate and share ideas and opinions. The site can be found at www.zimbabweprimeminister.org. (Source: IT News Africa) In brief:- The long awaited SEACOM fibre-optic cable has arrived at Mombasa in Kenya. SEACOM senior vice president, Jean Pierre de Leu, confirmed to journalists in Naivasha that the cable that will provide broadband solutions and will be fully operational by July. - O3b Networks the developer of a new fibre quality, satellite-based, global Internet backbone announced last week that Satconsult, Ltd. of Ghana has signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract for high speed, low latency IP trunking from O3b Networks. Using O3b Networks’ managed carrier service, Quick Start, Satconsult is will expand their services throughout East and West, sub-Saharan Africa. - Nigeria is set to launch another terrestrial satellite, NigeriaSat-2, by middle of this year according to Minister of Science and Technology, Alhassan Bako Zaku. - Algeria’s Justice Ministry has created an online legal service on its website. The virtual service is meant to provide instant answers to any citizen seeking legal information. The legal service is presented in the form of an electronic messaging system, permanently accessible on the Ministry website: www.mjustice.dz <http://www.mjustice.dz> to any citizen seeking for information, or to make an appointment with any department or with specialized unit. - South Africa’s ISP, OpenWeb launched the cheapest Unshaped ADSL accounts on the market. Starting at only R89 for a 1GB Unshaped ADSL account, clients can now access the World Wide Web without any port shaping, or port prioritisation. - Egyptian authorities have released an Internet activist who was arrested in his home near the capital Cairo. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said bloggers have become a major target of the Egyptian police, accusing the authorities of acting unlawfully and infringing the freedom of speech and association.
Pan-African E-Network Project Launched in RwandaThe Indian government on Thursday launched the Pan-African e-Network project which will serve as an extended support for African Union (AU) States. The launck took place at Kigali Institute of Education (K.I.E) in Kimironko in the presence of the Indian Ambassador to Rwanda Mr. Niraj Srivastava, and the Minister of Education, Daphrose Gahakwa. The Pan-African e-Network project provides citizens with adequate Educational facilities and affordable healthcare, which are the two prominent challenges encountered by many developing countries. India will fully finance the establishment of three centres for all AU States including; a learning centre for tele-education, patient-end for tele-medicine and VVIP centre which is a private communication network for all Heads of state. Gahakwa said that the Government of Rwanda signed up to be part of the Pan-African e-Network project and a team from Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) travelled to Kigali to start the project in May 2008. "The three project sites have been established in Rwanda. Telemedicine will be taken to King Faysal Hospital (KFH), tele-education at (KIE) and VVIP at the office of the President" said Gahakwa. The IT installation at all the three sites has been completed; the classroom at KIE has been prepared but for the patient -end at KFH,the medical equipment is not yet in place pending completion of construction works. She said that one engineer from India has arrived and will stay in Rwanda for one year to train local personnel, and ensure transfer of know-how in the maintenance and support for the system. "This engineer will work with RITA/RDB staff and one staff from new Artel and technical personnel from the various host institutions for transfer of knowledge", Gahakwa added. 10,000 students in Africa will be trained in the courses over a period of five years. "This project was funded by the Government of India and the budgeted cost is 5429 million Rupees, equivalent to over US $125 million. It will be implemented in a phased manner in all 53 African nations over 18 months", Srivastava added. Of the 53 member states of the AU, 33 have signed up for the Pan-African e-Network. (Source: The New Times) Tele Atlas expands its African mapping serviceTele Atlas, a global provider of digital maps and location based content, is already responsible for approximately 99% of mapping content accessed through personal navigation devices in South Africa, according to the Gfk Group. Now the company aims to expand their offering on the continent with navigable databases for eight additional African countries. Companies using Tele Atlas navigation content (such as Google and TomTom), will now be able to offer navigation and location services to customers in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. According to Peter Davie, Tele Atlas’ Global Product Manager, “The addition of navigable map coverage across the continent significantly strengthens Tele Atlas’ position in the emerging African market and ensures we are able to deliver the coverage our customers’ end users seek.” The company’s Africa databases now cover roughly 1.1 million kilometers and more than 290,000 points of interest throughout Northern, Southern and Eastern Africa. It also plans to introduce various additional products on the continent in the near future, including additional street network coverage, 3D landmark mapping and more detailed city maps. (Source: IT News Africa) Mozambique manufactures low-cost laptopsWhile other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are relying on foreign-manufactured computers for schools, Mozambique, working with Portugal Telecom, has started manufacturing and distributing computers to schools throughout the country. Mozambique becomes the first country in the region to manufacture school computers that will be connected to the Internet in order to promote e-Learning. Although most African countries are moving to using computers in schools, there are seemingly no efforts currently being made to start manufacturing their own computers. Most countries including Rwanda, South Africa and Ethiopia are getting their school computers under the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative being promoted by Nicholas Negroponte. The Mozambique laptops, dubbed Magalhael, are jointly being manufactured by the Portuguese telecommunication company Portugal Telecom's Mozambique facilities and the Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology. The computers, about the size of a book, are being distributed to schools in Mozambique. The laptops offer a 60GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM, and will be using the Caixa Magica distribution of Linux. Minister of Science and Technology Venancio Massingue said the Mozambican government's interest is to ensure mass access to ICT. "In addition to using computers in schools, the government will open centers where people can enjoy the benefit of communication technologies," Massingue said. It is still unclear how the Mozambican government will provide Web access to schools in rural areas that lack an Internet connection and are not connected to the national electric grid. But the Mozambican government is aiming to equip children with computer skills in order to promote critical thinking and innovation. Over 20 centers have already been opened across Mozambique so that as many people as possible can have access to the Internet. (Source: Computerworld Africa) In Brief:- The Ministry of Education of Rwanda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Intel for the training of 5,000 secondary school teachers in ICT. The Minister also revealed that Intel was going to help in revamping the Rwanda Computer Centre (RCC), a local computer assembling company to enable it to assemble computers for a larger market. - French provider of software solutions dedicated to IT governance "Metrixware” has open a branch in Algeria,. According to his CEO, Rachid Boumaza, the objective of this new site was "to acquire a dominant share of market of the software solutions for management of legacy applications in the region and to position itself as a reference in this field. - South African Linux specialist Obsidian Systems has finalised a reseller agreement with open source backup specialists Zmanda. The deal adds Amanda Enterprise, Zmanda Recovery Manager for MySQL and Zmanda Internet Backup to Obsidian’s growing portfolio of products.
Transcorp Relinquishes 51 Percent Equity Share in Nitel/MtelTwo days after workers of NITEL and MTel called off their industrial action, the board of directors of the Transnational Corporation Plc has agreed to relinquish its 51 per cent equity holding in NITEL and Mtel. The workers have embarked on strike action to protest non-payment of their pension buyout and salary arrears owed them by government. The strike saw the closure of the SAT3 landing station run by Nitel. The board of Transcorp, which is headed by Prof. Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike, took the decision at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the organization, which took place last week at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The decision of the board to relinquish its equity holding in the two telecommunication firms was to offset the company's indebtedness. Describing it as a difficult decision to make, Okereke-Onyiuke said it became necessary in the best interest of the company in view of the huge challenge Transcorp has faced since the company was floated. Lamenting the stiff opposition faced from government agencies due to negative propaganda that the company was funded by former president Olusegun Obansanjo, Okereke-Onyiuke said, "We have been cheated, made to look like aliens in our own country. Opposition has come from the very people we thought would nurture and protect us. They have placed every conceivable obstacle on our way." She disclosed that the company was started with a N22 billion IPO as against sponsored media reports of government funding. Speaking further, she said, "In spite of the strong efforts made to take NITEL/Mtel from the company while leaving us with the debt, take the oil blocks and the hotel and finally force the company into bankruptcy and liquidation, the company has survived because of our belief in protecting our 250,000 shareholders". While fielding questions from journalists, the GMD/CEO of Transcorp, Tom Iseghohi, stated that the purpose of the EGM was for a strategic review of the company's affairs and determines a way forward. On the need to sell its 51 per cent share in NITEL/Mtel, Iseghohi said the company's effort to reposition NITEL since 2006 when it took legal possession of NITEL has been truncated by hostile government agencies, a situation he described as a huge distraction for the company as it has spent over 80 percent of its time on the NITEL issue, rather than explore other potentially viable investment areas. In 2006, Transcorp acquired 51 per cent equity shares of NITEL/Mtel after several attempts to privatise the embattled companies failed at the cost of $500 million, with Federal Government retaining 41 per cent share. Upon taking over the company in 2006, Okere-Onyiuke promised that her organisation would inject $2 billion to revive the embattled company, but it has not put the money in. As a result, its customer base has shrunk to 300,000 subscribers, down from 500,000. (Source: Leadership) Zain announces record financial results for 2008Zain, the mobile telecommunication operator in the Middle East and Africa present in 22 countries, announced this week its consolidated annual financial results. For the year 2008, Zain Group recorded all time high consolidated revenues of US$ 7.44 billion, an increase of 26% compared to 2007. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 15% for the same period to reach US$ 2.78 billion. Consolidated net profits reached US$ 1.2 billion, an increase of 6% on 2007. The earnings per share was US$0.33 and the shareholders equity was up 36% to US $8.69 billion. Year on year customer growth across the two continents in which Zain operates was 50% with the Zain Group serving 63.54 million managed active customers at 31 December, 2008. Chief Executive Officer of Zain, Dr Saad Al Barrak commented: “I am delighted that for the first time we are announcing our financial results under the umbrella of one brand, following the successful rebranding of all our Africa operations to Zain and the successful launch of commercial operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ghana.” Ancillary to this Dr Al Barrak said, “Despite a very challenging environment on many fronts and huge investments in network expansion, the Group was able to achieve appealing and realistic levels of profitability during 2008, a testament to the sound management practices and excellent operational performance of all 22 operations in the Middle East and Africa.” He added, “During the year Zain committed over US$ 3 billion in network upgrades and expansion primarily in vast and viable markets such as Ghana, Iraq, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Sudan all resulting in robust customer acquisition and revenues. These markets will continue to grow and we expect to further reap further rewards in the years ahead especially since they are all part of our ground-breaking and customer alluring ‘One Network’.” On this point, Dr Al Barrak noted, “Overall, due to our massive network investment across all operations, we expect and are targeting a 30% increase on many of our financial indicators in 2009.” On the successful capital increase that raised US$ 4.49 billion in September 2008 whereby 99% of all shareholders subscribed, Dr Al Barrak noted, “this unanimous vote of confidence by our shareholders in Zain's management and strategy will assist the company in meeting financial commitments and support our expansion plans of being a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011.” Further to this he added, “I am pleased to announce that Zain has recently paid back a Murahaba facility of US$ 1.2 billion as well as the first instalment of US$ 525 million for the purchase of Iraqna and several other financial obligations. Also we confidently expect to announce our entry into the Palestinian, and at least one other market, in the very near future.” Referring to the global financial crisis and volatility that has affected many equity markets, commodities and currencies, Dr Al Barrak said, “Despite the fact that company had to endure higher borrowing rates in the second half of the year and a currency exchange cost of US$ 138 million which was predominantly in Africa, it still performed admirably. Without this currency fluctuation we would have added another 12% to the net profit figure.” Dr Al Barrak added that, "Zain views this crisis as an opportunity to make further acquisitions given valuations of many prime telecom assets are considerably lower than they were just six months ago and we are actively pursuing such prospects. Going forward in the current economic climate, Zain will adapt its strategy where it makes commercial sense and where it is economically viable to take up an attractive opportunity. This includes share swapping with and acquiring minority stake deals in other telecom operations.” South Africa’s Blue Label Telecoms on a Roll Despite DownturnTechnology and telecoms company Blue Label said it would continue pursuing the growth of its global footprint as it rolled out its expanding range of secure electronic tokens. The group, which last week posted solid results for the six months to November, said that in spite of the global economic meltdown, the products and services it provided remained appealing to its clients. Blue Label, which distributes cellular airtime and other electronic services via point-of-sales terminals, cellphones and the internet said its transactional point of sale (POS), mobile systems and products and services were being integrated into Microsoft's mobile and advertising service platforms. The group said that during the course of this year these services would be rolled out into emerging and developing markets through Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group and its global partners, utilising POS and mobile channels. "This in future will translate into the monetisation of mobile and POS advertising in these markets." Revenues increased 23% to R7.6bn from R5.8bn, while profit increased to R199.7m from R40.7m. Headline earnings per share came in at 26.06c from 3.79c previously, while cash flow from operating activities was R421m. The group had grown its community-based channels for the distribution of its products, including starter packs. The intention was to capitalise on the distribution base both organically and through the introduction of new channels, it said. A strategic relationship had been established with First Data Corporation, a global transactional-switching service provider, in terms of which cross-pollination of relative networks was being explored. Africa Prepaid Services, a subsidiary of the group, concluded an agreement with Multilinks Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Telkom in Nigeria, in terms of which it has been granted a service provider licence in Nigeria. Blue Label had also acquired an effective 50,1% stake in Virtual Prepaid Network through its newly formed wholly owned subsidiary, BLT USA, for an undisclosed amount. The group said the joint venture with Oxigen Services in India continued to incur losses, as anticipated in line with the cost of rolling out point of sale devices over a widespread area. But, it said it remained confident about the prospects of the operation. (Source: Business Day) Zambian mobile phone manufacturing company launchedAfrica's regional markets are bracing for new mobile phone handsets manufactured in Zambia by Mmobile Telecommunication Zambian, a local mobile-phone manufacturing company. The newly manufactured handsets will be on the market March 11, after the company successfully managed to produce over 5,000 handsets. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa markets with over 21 countries are to be supplied with the handsets. Company chairman Mohammed Seedat said the plant became operational last month and added that the handsets will be sold for between US$40 to US$45. Mmobile invested $3 million to set up the first-ever mobile-phone handsets manufacturing plant in Zambia. The plant has a capacity to produce between 50,000 and 70,000 mobile handsets per month. "The phones, just like many other mobile phones, have features including FM radio, alarm, phone book calendar and games," said Seedat. Manufacturing experts were bought in from Hong Kong, Malaysia and China, and the machinery came from Malaysia. The Zambian government has increased customs duty on all foreign manufactured phones to 15 percent from 5 percent to encourage local production of phones and save the company from competition. Mobile service providers and dealers in Zambia were selling foreign imported handsets from as low $16. (Source: Computer World Africa) In brief:- South African cellular operator Vodacom says it will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 5 May as current 50% shareholder Telkom South Africa distributes a 35% stake to its own shareholders. The other 15% is being sold to Telkom’s partner in the venture, Vodafone of the UK, taking Vodafone’s stake to 65%. The transactions still have to be approved by Telkom shareholders, with a general meeting scheduled for 26 March. - Bloemfontein in South Africa will host an international business process outsourcing and off-shoring (BPO&O) hub in the next five months.The Mangaung Local Municipality has entered into a partnership with Fujitsu Services, UniNet Communications, Cisco and Microsoft to implement the project. The municipality says these partners will initially invest R50 million in the development of the hub. - South Africa’s information and communications technology group GijimaAst managed to deliver positive interim results yesterday, increasing revenue 25% despite mixed signals on the industry's stability in the economic slowdown. The group acknowledged that spending on information technology was being affected by worsening economic conditions, particularly in such sectors as mining, which were already cutting down on capital expenditure. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Bank of Uganda Governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, has approved MTN Mobile Money transfer services. It is estimated that more than 80% of the entire Ugandan population of about 29 million is unbanked due to the considerable amount of paper work, illiteracy, and time consuming identification processes associated with formal banking. - MTN Sudan has inaugurated a new Mobile Switching Center (MSC) that will serve MTN’s network in the Southern Sudan region. The network currently covers five cities in the region and is expanding its network to five more this year. - Presenting the government’s budget statement to parliament yesterday, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said the country had 10,522,240 fixed line and mobile users at the end of 2008, with growth attributed to the cellular sector. The total mobile base has increased from 383,000 in 2002 to 10,242,916 at the end of last year he said, whilst the fixed line total dropped from 389,483 to 279,324. Dr Duffuor attributed the fall to the removal of 'dormant' subscribers from Ghana Telecom’s fixed line network, and said that cellular growth was the result of ‘the creation of an enabling environment and the positive sustenance of competition in the sector’.
Mi-Pay, Isys launch mobile remittances service in SudanUK-based provider of mobile payments services Mi-Pay has partnered with Kuwait-based provider of services for MNOs and financial institutions Isys to launch a mobile money transfer service in Sudan. Called Saraf-Mobile, the new platform delivers payments capabilities to companies and individuals using their mobile phones. The service allows users to send money to family and friends as well as make payments for various services. Sudan is the first phase in a planned roll-out which will cover 22 countries from the Middle East and North Africa. Under the terms of the agreement, Mi-Pay is due to supply the open-system technical infrastructure including transaction clearance and settlement interface and also manage the regulatory framework, among others. Isys will commercialise Mi-Pay services and will provide local management and first line technical support as well as deal with local regulatory approvals. Isys currently has branch offices in Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and Nigeria. The deal comes soon after Mi-Pay recently opened its office in Dubai in a move to expand on the Middle East market. (Source: The Paypers) Handicapped women in Congo find success on EbayIn one of Africa’s most war-torn regions, the Eastern Congo, a group of handicapped women have managed to create a sustainable business by selling their crafts on the auction site Ebay. The women have found a willing buying market through the online portal over the last eight months, despite not having any funding to start the venture. The company, Shona Crafts, was started with the assistance of Dawn Hurley, an American whose aim it was to promote self-reliance among the women in the troubled region. Says Hurley of the venture:” The women of SHONA have found an enthusiastic market in the United States and have made over 100 sales on Ebay alone, and have earned 100 percent positive feedback.” The women sell a range of handmade craft items through the online site, with interest growing among their newly found global customer base. Hurley praised the response of customers, saying: “The only way we have gotten this far has been through the incredible response of our customers. They return again and again, and they spread the word. On both sides of the ocean, we are truly a grass roots organisation, working through one person at a time.” (Source: Digital & New Media)
People- Vodacom will see several changes to its board of directors after its listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) in May. The company will gain several new board members, including a new chairman, Peter Moyo, who will replace outgoing chairman, Andrew Mabandla. Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, ICT veteran and former MD of Hewlett-Packard SA, is another new addition to the executive team. - Stafford Masie, Chief Executive of Google South Africa has resigned from his position at the company. Masie, who joined Google in 2007 after a stint as South African country manager of Novell, cited personal reasons for the split from the global tech giant. Events* 2009 3G CDMA MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 18-20 March 2009, Pavilion Centre, Cape Town, South Africa Under the theme “Empowering Communities with 3G CDMA", operators will be talking about their challenges and success. One will present a case study on enabling mobile payments, another on tapping into Africa's broadband backhaul network, one on ways to increase ARPU with EV-DO Rev. A broadband services and another on monetizing (the economics of) low-ARPU 1X subscribers, amongst other. On the Friday there is a course on Backhaul Dimensioning and one on Lessons learned from EV-DO deployments in the Middle East and Africa See the full agenda on www.3gafrica.org and register at http://www.3gafrica.org/graphical/CDMA-Evolution-in-Africa-Registration.asp * TELECOMS FRAUD AND RISK 23rd-26th March 2009 Hilton London Tower Bridge, London, UK Telecoms Fraud & Risk is the perfect place to learn about the developments in fraud prevention from the leading operators and solutions suppliers across Europe and beyond. Gain a greater understanding about how to manage the risks that the migration to NGNs is having, thereby securing your network and minimising fraud. Examine the enclosed brochure to see how attending Telecoms Fraud & Risk will enable you to cost-effectively enhance your fraud management strategy and make a measurable impact on your networks and service revenues. For further info http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=17135 * 3RD ANNUAL AFRICAN E-GOV FORUM 24-26 March 2009, Kigali, Rwanda The CTO is honoured that this year the Ministry of Science and Technology, Rwanda will be hosting the 3rd Annual African e-Gov Forum. Join key ICT stakeholders in the region, including Ministers of technology, heads of e-Gov projects, civil society leaders and representatives from IT organisations; mobile operators; infrastructure providers; foundations; development and donor agencies to discuss current issues and witness success stories on e-Gov in Africa. For further information visit www.cto.int * 1ST EURO-AFRICA COOPERATION FORUM ON ICT RESEARCH 25-26 March 2009, Brussels, Belgium For the first time in Europe, sub-Saharan African and European policy-makers and research organisations are being brought together to address the development of research collaborative projects in the ICT field. This 2-day event is co-organised by the European Commission (EC Directorate-General Information Society and Media) and the African Union Commission (AUC) with the support of the EuroAfriCa-ICT project, a FP7 coordination and support action aiming at enhancing ICT research cooperation between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. More information visit http://euroafrica-ict.org/events/forum.php or email at forum@euroafrica-ict.org * THE WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM 1-2 April 2009, Maputo, Mozambique Africa Perspective on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development. Hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of Mozambique. For further information please visit: http://www.w3.org/2008/10/MW4D_WS/ * AFTLD ANNUAL EVENT 13-17 April 2009, Arusha, Tanzania Under the theme "Securing Africa’s Internet Infrastructure”, the AfTLD annual African ccTLD event for 2009 will include a detailed three (3) day technical training workshop on Attack/Disaster Contingency and Recovery Planning(A/DCRP) for technical managers and staff of ccTLDs. AfTLD. The event is jointly organized and generously hosted by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and the Tanzania Network Information Centre (.tzNIC). For further information visit http://www.aftld.org Jobs and OpportunitiesMarconi Engineer O&M - Southern Africa Marconi Engineers with operation & maintainence experience are needed for a large project based in Africa . The successful Marconi Engineers will have a minimum of 5 years Marconi operation & maintainence in MDRS 155 , SDH , Radio experience. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com ContractsGlobacom and Alcatel-Lucent - Nigeria Globacom has signed an expansion contract with telecommunications vendor, Alcatel-Lucent. The project will expand the telecoms operator's capacity from the existing 30 million to 45 million subscribers. The expansion deal also includes the linkage of 2G and 3G facilities and the provision of 3,000 additional BTS. UTL and Redknee - Uganda Uganda telecom (utl) has signed a contract with Redknee Solutions Inc, to provide mobile money solutions. Redknee's newly introduced Mobile Money 2.0 Solution enables subscribers to store and transfer funds through their mobile handset, providing an ideal service for developing countries that may have poor or limited banking resources. Johannesburg city and Ericsson - South Africa Ericsson has announced that it has been chosen by the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to help establish a city-wide, high-speed broadband network, worth 1 billion rand. The first phase of the ‘Joburg Broadband Network Project’ (JBNP), the rolling out of the network’s fibre core, which will take around three years to complete, will begin in earnest on 01 April 2009. Africell and Nokia-Siemens - Sierra Leone and Gambia After expanding its radio and core mobile network by using Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) equipment, Africell is to deploy NSN's state-of-the art 3GPP mobile softswitching solution. With market share of 67% in Gambia and 45% in Sierra Leone, Africell state that it is deploying NSN's softswitching solution in order to meet subscribers' growing demands and to contribute to the networks' efficiency. BBCOM and Intec - Benin Intec has announced a contract to provide InterconnecT bureau services for BBCOM, one of Benin’s leading mobile operators. BBCOM is one of five operators in the highly competitive Benin market where interconnection, while representing a key source of potential revenues, is also a significant cost factor for emerging market players The Intec Service Bureau, run by experienced local partner Ibex, will give BBCOM essential competitive edge by delivering accurate invoices, vastly improved interconnection costs, the ability to easily solve existing billing disputes while delivering immediate ROI.
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