| ||||||||||
 |
|
STUDY ABROAD OPTIONS
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 447 27th March 2009 Africa’s powerline pioneers look set to get traction over the next three yearsNext week will see the coming together of Africa’s powerline pioneers for an event in South Africa and an African Powerline Communications Forum has been set up under the ATU. The latter is chaired by the Telecoms Manager of Johannesburg City Council. After a number of false starts and several pilots, Russell Southwood asks whether this might be the point where powerline finally gets some traction? Powerline technology allows the transmission of data over electrical powerlines. Many people are familiar with this in homes and hotels but large scale deployments allow data to be sent over power lines to the home or business premises. The first large application in Africa was installed by GTS in November 2005 with 130 houses in Pretoria. It trialled a second generation powerline technology for Tshwane Municipality who wanted 4-6 mbps per home. But the company claimed it could deliver a 30 mbps connection and was set to carry IP-TV trials. It also had two other roll-outs, one in Durban and the other in Uganda. GTS was 66% owned by Miko Rwayitare’s company Telecel and therefore caught up in the fall-out from his untimely death. The family estate sold the company but there were delays. However, it is now back in the game with a new owner and has been rolling out the technology to gated communities in South Africa. It is also working with Johannesburg City Council to create a PPP to provide broadband (2 mbps connection) to households, of which powerline will be one of the technologies deployed. Meanwhile the Senegalese power utility Senelec has carried out a number of pilot projects to look at creating a “smart grid”. This would allow the company to use its own powerlines as a means of monitoring power consumption and fraud and for billing purposes. It would also allow dynamic tariffing for larger corporate customers. This application uses medium voltage power lines but was capable of looking at revenue loss from both medium and low voltage customers. It also carried out a pilot project 2 years ago in Cap des Biches to look at delivering Internet to the end user. Senelec has expressed an interest in looking at providing public Internet to customers in the future. The Moroccan power utility ONE has an agreement with the country’s regulator to study the value of using powerline technology to deliver broadband and is currently conducting a pilot that will lead to a feasibility study and business plan. It envisages using both low and medium voltage applications. Way back in 2005 the Electricity Corporation of Ghana was conducting powerline trials with Catel Communications. It is now asking for expressions of interest with a view to selecting an operator to provide powerline broadband and other services in the metropolitan area of Accra. Never let it be said that things move quickly in the public sector in Ghana…. Finally with EU funding, the power utility of the Seychelles PUC conducted a study in 2008 to look at the feasibility of deploying a powerline communications network. The results are not yet known. The last four years have seen powerline broadband make very little progress and it will be important for the technology’s credibility that some of the pilots described above translate into commercially operational applications. All those interested in powerline technology - including GTS and Senelec - will be gathering for a conference in Johannesburg from 2-3April: for full details see the Events column at the end of this issue.
Kenya's Orange says to invest $99 million this yearOrange Kenya plans to spend 8 billion shillings ($99 million) this year to develop its network, the company's deputy chief executive said on Friday. Orange, formerly state-owned Telkom Kenya, operates the sole fixed telephone network in the country. It also runs a mobile service and offers broadband to customers. France Telecom invested close to 10 billion shillings in infrastructure developments on the network in 2008, after taking over the company from the government. "We anticipate that in 2009 we will make a further investment in this line to the tune of approximately 8 billion shillings," Peter Reinartz told Reuters. The funds will be used in a range of investments, including optimisation of its CDMA and GSM networks and broadband. "We are investing in rebuilding our fixed network infrastructure countrywide, which was heavily plagued by vandalism," he said. Reinartz said the firm would borrow the money but declined to elaborate. Kenya's top mobile operator Safaricom, said on Friday it was planning to borrow up to 12 billion shillings to fund expansion. (Source: Reuters) ZTE’s stake in Congo Chine Telecom up for grabsFollowing a denial by MTN last month that it was close to sealing a deal to acquire ZTE’s 51% stake in Congolese cellco Congo Chine Telecom (CCT), a spokesperson for the Kinshasa-based network operator has confirmed that the South African giant is indeed among ‘several suitors’ vying for the stake. According to CCT’s Kang Linghua negotiations to sell the 51% stake, valued at about USD400 million, may stretch into 2010 because of the financial crisis. Morocco’s Maroc Telecom has also held talks about a possible purchase, Linghua said. CCT was established in 2000 as a 51/49 joint venture between ZTE and the state-owned local fixed line incumbent OCPT. The joint venture launched GSM-900/1800 services on 31 December 2001 in Katanga in the east of the country. It has since rolled out services to Kinshasa, Bas-Congo, Bandundu and the two provinces of Kasai, giving it coverage of 40 cities. The CCT network has a capacity for 150,000 customers, with a single switch in Kinshasa. The company uses a Belgacom earth station for its international gateway. At the end of 2008 CCT was the smallest of DRC’s four wireless network operators, with just over 115,00 customers or 1% of the total subscriber base. It competes with Vodacom (with 47% market share at the same date), Zain (38%) and Millicom International Cellular’s Oasis (Tigo, 12%). At the end of December there were 8.5 million wireless subscribers in DRC, an increase of 37.3% year-on-year, translating into a wireless penetration rate of 13.6%. (Source: Telegeography) Starcomms’ Boss wants to boost service quality in NigeriaStarcomms, the largest CDMA2000 operator in Nigeria, has revealed that its new strategy is to limit its drive for expansion in subscriber number and to consolidate on increasing its profitability and the quality of service (QoS). Vice Chairman of Starcomms, Paul Edwards, gave the hint in Cape Town, South Africa last week, at the 2009 CDMA Forum, which ended Friday. According to Edwards, Starcomms had last year and the previous years, embarked on the drive for subscriber growth, which he said it achieved, by subsidising the cost of handsets for its mobile operations. According to him, prices of Starcomms' handsets fell and more subscribers were able to hook on to starcomms network, thus increasing the subscriber number to over 2.5 million as at last year. Edwards however said that since that feat has been achieved, the company's new strategy for this year is to increase its profitability and the quality of service. Starcomms, he said, will not chase numbers, but will rather concentrate on strengthening the quality of its service to its subscribers. The new strategy, he said, is to slow down on rollout and expansion and increase focus on profitability and quality of service. "We do not just want to be the operator with the largest number, but to become the leading CDMA operator in Nigeria, in terms of quality of service offering and innovative service," Edwards said. (Source: Daily Independent) MTN Ghana CEO complains about permit times for new base stations and says infrastructure sharing underwayBrett Goshen, CEO of MTN, Ghana, said last Tuesday the company had all the resources and expertise to deal adequately with network challenges. However, hesaid that the slow pace at which permits were delivered for the building of cell sites posed a challenge to the company's efforts. He told the Ghana News Agency that agencies in charge of issuing permits were too slow. Goshen explained that before a telecom operator could mount a cell site, they needed to obtain separate permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), District, Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies and the Ghana National Fire Service. He noted that the agencies had not been able to keep up with the fast rate at which the telecom industry was developing possibly because they were understaffed, saying, this partially accounted for the congestion particularly on the networks of huge operators like MTN. Goshen said "The rate of growth of the industry might have overwhelmed the staff of the permit agencies and for that they are not able to keep up with the pace in terms of the demand for permits by the various operators,". He said before MTN took over from Areeba, the latter used to install about 50 cell sites in a year but currently MTN was installing twice that number in a month and that could be overwhelming for the largely understaffed permit agencies. Goshen said one base transmitter station (BTS) could only take between 2,500 and 3,000 calls at a time, adding that with almost seven million subscribers, MTN required more base stations particularly within the densely populated communities to ensure quality call. "Hundreds of our requests for permits to mount cell sites to increase capacity and improve call quality are still outstanding and we are not alone. Other operators are facing similar challenges but the problem becomes bigger with MTN because of our relatively huge subscriber base," he said. Goshen said there was no reason why MTN equipment should be sitting in warehouses for months while permit agencies were taking a minimum of six months to issue a single permit. He noted that issues with residents of densely populated communities, particularly in the cities, were also a militating factor to operators' efforts at installing infrastructure to increase capacity and improve service delivery quality. Goshen said "The EPA, for instance, will not issue a permit even if an individual is opposed to the mounting of a cell site close to their house on grounds of health, noise and other concerns." He assured subscribers that MTN was working around the clock to provide the "highest call quality", saying that owing to challenges of obtaining permits in good time MTN was vigorously championing co-location deals with other operators to enable more than one network to share cell sites. "Co-location is very close to our hearts and we are getting on very well with the other operators in reaching co-location deals to enable us to provide better services to our teaming customers," Mr Goshen said. He said operators have so far agreed on hundreds of cell sites to co-locate their infrastructure. Mr Goshen said "MTN has provided the list of all its existing and proposed future cell sites to our competitors but some have still not reciprocated our gesture." He said MTN was pursuing co-location deals beyond just the sharing of cell sites to even agreements on how to share fibre routes, adding that talks were under way with the National Fibre Optics Backbone Company to agree on sharing fibre optics routes and paths. "It is our belief that the networks can come to an agreement on how our fibre routes can serve as backups for each other," Goshen said. He assured MTN subscribers that the company would go to every extent to ensure that they had good quality service, saying that this year alone MTN planned to spend half a billion dollars on network infrastructure. It was also reported that the mobile start-up of Globacom, Glo Mobile, said that the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is hampering its rollout programme by holding up its requests for permits to erect masts. (Source: GNA) In brief:- About 78 workers of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), including union leaders, were on issued redundancy notices by Transcorp, owners and operators of the corporation, following dwindling fortunes of the corporation. - Ghana’s Parliament has announced plans to advocate the passage of legislation to ban the use of mobile phones while driving. - Orange Telecom, the fifth mobile telephone operator in Uganda, has complained that the National Environmental Management Environment Authority (NEMA) takes long to approve mast constructions. Philippe Luxcey, the chief executive officer, told the parliamentary committee on information communications technologies that NEMA takes at least six months to approve the construction of one mast yet they had to erect masts countrywide. - The Egyptian government has sought to dispel rumours that a mobile phone text message "from unknown foreign quarters" is spreading around the country and killing those who receive it. The extraordinary move by Egypt's health and interior ministries follows press reports that an SMS containing a special combination of numbers killed a man in the town of Mallawi south of Cairo. - The Uganda Communications Commission has said the proposed phone tapping Bill contravenes the Constitution and the Uganda Communications Act.
Access Kenya signs Sh400m loan deal for Internet expansionWith a Sh1 billion war-chest, AccessKenya has announced it would be investing in three key projects aimed at cementing its position in the increasingly competitive Internet industry. It announced on Wednesday that it would be moving to consolidate its position as the primary Internet solutions provider for corporate firms even as it ramped up its presence in the home and infrastructure markets. “We have three key areas of investment: our metro fibre network, concluding payment on the TEAMs international fibre network and funding the second phase expansion of our Wi-Max network. We require about Sh800 million to ensure that we have broadly covered our key investments,” said Jonathan Somen, Group managing director. The Internet firm on Wednesday signed a loan agreement with NIC Bank for a six and a half year term facility for Sh400 million, pushing its total cash position to Sh1 billion given its Sh600 million cash reserves. The firm has a 1.25 per stake in the Sh8 billion TEAMs project and is expected to pay for its shares by June. The three investments will prove significant for the firm as it enters most competitive year yet following the entry of an increasing number of rivals. The money will be used to fund phrase two of the metro fibre network which is meant to commence on the second half of the year and will be more focused on the residential areas; that is the Access at Home service. Already phrase one is underway with the company hoping to lay about 130 to 150 kilometres of cable concentrating on Nairobi and expected to be completed by June this year. Last month, AccessKenya invested in Satori, a company that will market its Internet services targeting small firms and home offices. The latest acquisition follows a previous one where it acquired Openview Systems, an IT service solution company. (Source: Business Daily) Nigeria’s N11 Billion Free Internet Project under Representatives ScrutinityWorried about the non-completion of Nigeria's $86 million rural digitalization project being handled by Galaxy Backbone PLC two years after the contract was awarded with the whole amount paid up-front, the House of Representatives lat week summoned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed to appear before it. The House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs probing the matter, also summoned the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Abubakar Barkindo and the Director General of Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Engineer Emeka Eze. They are to explain why they authorised up-front payment "even though just 20% of the project has been completed". Galaxy Backbone PLC, supervised by the Presidency was mandated to establish 5000 VSAT terminals in rural areas across the country under the National Information Communication and Education Programme (NICEP) aimed at bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas. So far, it has only established 1012 such centres known as network operating centres (NOCs). When completed, NICEP would provide free Internet services nationwide with network nodes distributed in all the local government areas and offer VoIP services and chat rooms for government offices. However, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Gerald Ilukwe told the lawmakers that the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo approved the contract without appropriation and opted for it to be directly funded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He explained that completion of project was being delayed due to lack of security in most designated areas. "We have only been able to deploy to 1012 sites mostly at NIPOST facilities because we are not assured of the security of our equipment in other parts of the country. We don't want to install facilities that would be stolen as soon as we do so." According to Ilukwe, all the equipment have been procured and are only awaiting installation which would be completed in six months time. He assured the lawmakers that he would provide them with a scheduled date of completion of the remaining part of the contract. (Source: Daily Trust) South Africa’s Presidency Launches Children's WebsiteTwenty-four schoolchildren from schools around Gauteng and surrounding areas are on their way to the Union Buildings this morning to check out a new children's website. The website, which was unveiled by the Presidency last week, aims to educate young minds about government and encourage them to use the internet. "The children will have an informal meeting with the minister in her office where they will candidly chat with her and she will explain the work of the Presidency," a statement from the Presidency said. The website targets children between the ages of 6 - 13 years old. Computers will be set up to give them the opportunity to experiment and play around with the website. "Planning and development of the website has been going on for the past year and was designed in Flash to provide an animated and interactive experience for the end user," the Presidency said. Furthermore, the content was developed in consultation with the Department of Education to ensure that it is aligned to the school curriculum and edited by a children's language editor to ensure that it is easily understood by its target audience. (Source: BuaNews) In brief:- In Zimbabwe, TelOne is battling to secure US$700 000 to pay Global Connect that operates the satellite linking system that enables the country to enjoy Internet access. The US$700 000 is part of US$1 million that TelOne had incurred as payment for the linking system. TelOne as the custodian of the system had fallen behind in terms of payments. As a result of the arrears, Internet access within the country has been erratic. - For the first time in Ghana, people will be able to engage in online commerce and transfer money with their mobile phones and the internet, as well as pay bills using a mobile phone on the internet. The global electronic payments giant, eTranzact, will provide these services as it officially launches its products and activities this month. - According to an article on news.xinhuanet.com an agreement has been reached between China and Nigeria to replace faulty NIGCOMSAT-1 by 2011. The contract was signed in Beijing this week. - The first phase of the Johannesburg Broadband Network Project (JBNP) will begin next week. In late February the City of Johannesburg announced that Ericsson had been appointed as the successful service provider to partner the City in its broadband network project.
Omatek Signs MOU With Ogun State in NigeriaDetermined to make Ogun State an ICT hub in Nigeria, the government of the state through Gateway ICT Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with Omatek Ventures Distribution Limited as part of government strategy aimed at boosting the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the state. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abeokute last week, the Ogun State Head of ICT and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Daniel, Soji Akin-Bankole said the MOU with Omatek marks a turning point in ICT development in Ogun State. According to him, Omatek has already entrenched itself in Ogun State and is recognized already by virtue of its wide distribution system to engender easy and convenient Computer acquisition by all and sundry in the State. Akin Bankole said Omatek would bring to bear, its competence in quality production/after sales services, while GICT will act as the exclusive distributor of the co-branded Omatek-GICT Laptops, desktops as well as other Omatek products in Ogun State. According to him, about 1,000 teachers are already on the waiting list of beneficiaries, while there are plans to reach out to Local Governments in the State. The essence of the MOU he said, is to ensure the sustainability of the mutual relationship between Ogun State and Omatek, even after the expiration of the tenure of the current administration. In her remarks at the occasion, the Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki (MFR) thanked the government and people of Ogun State for believing in the Omatek Brand. She said the MOU with GICT will ultimately impact on more employment opportunities for Ogun State indigenes, as she foresees a factory eventually springing up from the new relationship. Apart from creating employment opportunities, the Omatek Boss noted that students also have the opportunity to have hands-on experience through the creation of Resource Centres to be cited in various locations within Ogun State to empower the youths, encourage technology transfer/know-how and bridge the digital divide. She said the partnership will also go a long way in creating window of opportunities for resellers and franchisee in Ogun State to retail and distribute Omatek products. (Source: Daily Trust) New ICT Programme to Address South Africa's Tech Skills ShortageThe Department of Communications has launched a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme to address the country's ICT skills shortage. The National e-Skills Dialogue Initiative (Ne-SDI) which will be implemented by the Meraka e-Skills Institute (Me-SI) will produce workplace-ready ICT graduates. Speaking at the launch on Monday, the department's Acting Director-General Greda Grabe said the Ne-SDI will provide and promote leadership in the area of e-skills development in the country. "It will directly impact on the quality of teaching at the institute as well as the workplace readiness of students." The programme will focus on different categories of e-skills such as ICT practitioner skills, ICT user skills, e-business skills and e-literacy, with a special focus on the social appropriation of ICTs. The Ne-SDI will eventually become a faculty within the institute that will collaborate with all the role-players to ensure ICT skills training are aligned with market expectations. It will also focus on development skills certification, matching workers with jobs, support for career learning and skills frameworks and definitions. The institutes' Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Harold Wasso said through the Ne-SDI, the institute will provide diversified, unique e-Skills education and training programmes. "It will play a leading role by orchestrating the various existing and new initiatives concerned with e-Skills and undertaking an advocacy role," he said. To address the ICT skills challenges in the country, Me-SI formerly known as the African Advanced Institute of ICT was created under the auspices of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Department of Science and Technology. In South Africa, although there is disagreement on the actual numbers, there is unanimous agreement that there are skills shortages within the ICT sector. The Government's Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) is focused on fast tracking the cultivation of 11 sets of priority skills, including the ICT skills, and has identified a number of bottlenecks in the skills pipeline, which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency (Source: BuaNews) South Africa: HP Has No Regrets About BEEHewlett-Packard (HP) remains the only multinational technology player granted government exemption from selling its shares to black empowerment partners, and the company says it does not regret that early move despite many global rivals still failing to transform their operations. HP earned exemption from selling 30% of its local business to black investors in August 2007, by pledging to invest R150m in training for its black staff and for graduates keen to enter the sector. This week Francesco Serafini, vice-president for HP Europe, Middle East and Africa, said there were no regrets about its early commitment, although in retrospect it could have procrastinated like many other multinationals. "Part of the agreement we have for black empowerment is to invest in training to help the long-term development of the country," he said. "When we made the agreement for equity equivalents we were the first and are still the only multinational to have received approval." The Department of Trade and Industry was now assessing eight other applications, he said. "We feel we have done the right thing," said Oliver Fortuin, its MD in SA. "We were an early adopter because there's a transformation happening in the country and we were very supportive of that." The availability of skills was a problem in SA and since HP wanted to grow its presence it needed to develop its resources, said Serafini. Its commitment includes working with universities to recruit graduates then training them internally. So far it is hiring only about 20 graduates a year, despite promising that its Business Institute will train 1800 people over seven years. "This year we will only take 20 in the current market situation but we certainly plan to absorb more as the economy picks up. "We also need to develop managers inside the company and look at opportunities for people to experience different management jobs around the globe," Fortuin said. Africa was a potentially huge market for HP since the population presented a vast target market for its consumer products, but that advantage was offset by very low income levels. (Source: Business Day) In Brief:- Botswana’s Ministry of Education (MoE) has received 731 computers with printers from the Indian High Commission in Gaborone. The computers will be distributed to schools in the country. - A shortage of computers is hampering the disarmament program in Burundi. South Africa has been asked to assist in the program and it is hoped that the initiative will be completed this month. - Techton IT Solutions, a new information technology service in Gambia was officially launched. It is hoping to become The Gambia's leading provider in information technology solution services, by giving innovative solutions to their customers such as Microsoft account engagement and access to a broad global network. Speaking at the occasion, Chris Ward, the Techton IT business process consultant, highlighted the importance of the Microsoft partner program which is designed for all partners to develop technical service for the Microsoft system. He said that this partnership will help them use tools and resources by extending market reach and reduce operating cost.
Burkina Faso’s Onatel Raises US$60 million in IPOThe Burkinabé government has raised 29 billion CFA francs (US$59.6 million) from the sale of a 20% stake in fixed-line incumbent Onatel through an initial public offering (IPO), according to Reuters. The IPO closed on 31 January 2009 and shares are due to be listed on the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (BRVM), the regional stock exchange in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), on 1 May 2009. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank, announced that it plans to purchase up to a 5% stake in Onatel by buying any shares not subscribed to in the offering. The IFC says that its participation is designed to not displace any private investors. If all 20% is sold, then the government plans to sell an additional 3% stake to the IFC at the offer price. This follows the government's sale of a 51% stake in Onatel to Maroc Telecom in January 2008 for 220 million euro, which gave Maroc Telecom some 400,000 mobile users (39% of the market) and over 100,000 fixed-line customers at the time. The government has been looking to privatise the operator since at least 2003. (Source: Reuters) UBA, Citibank Give MTN Côte d'Ivoire $150 Million FacilityUnited Bank for Africa Group (UBA) and a host of other financial services institutions, led by Citibank, are providing a $151 million five-year loan facility to MTN Cote d'Ivoire, in a move that underscores capacity of the major African banks to fund big ticket transactions across Africa. The institutions, which also include Bank of Africa CI, BIAO CI, Omnifinance-Nigeria, SocGen's SGBCI, Societe Ivoirienne de Banque (SIB), Groupe Credit Agricole, Standard Chartered CI and regional banking group Ecobank, according to a statement made available to THISDAY in Lagos, yesterday, will provide MTN with 76.1 billion CFA francs ($151 million) to restructure its debts and fund investments in the West African country, a statement from MTN noted. In securing a loan facility of this magnitude, MTN Cote d'Ivoire has defied the strict credit conditions prevalent in the current economic clime. This also shows the commitment by these institutions to support viable African businesses, given the lack of interest from global financial institutions in the developed world. Deputy General Manager, UBA Cote Dí Ivoire, Liby Guillaume, said UBA Cote d'Ivoire's participation in the transaction demonstrates its capacity to propel change and development in Cote d'Ivoire. (Source: This Day) Millicom purchases remaining shares of Chad ventureMillicom International Cellular S.A has purchased the remaining shares in two joint ventures, Navega in Central America and its business in Chad, for a proportional total of $60 million. Millicom has also reached agreement on the purchase of the remaining 12.5% in its joint venture in Chad. This business had 541,000 subscribers at Q4, 2008 and is today the number two operator in Chad with a 45% market share in a country with a mobile penetration of only 12% but a population of 10 million. Mikael Grahne, Chief Executive, commented: “I am pleased that we have finalized these two purchases which we have been working on for some time. We continue to buy out the shareholdings of our partners in our operations when it brings incremental value to our own shareholders to do so.” (Source: Business Wire) Telkom South Africa Delays Outsourcing Over Concern About World Cup Service DeliveryTelkom's goal of saving up to R1.3bn a year by hiring another company to run its core networks has been put on hold, with the Solidarity union saying Telkom fears the move may jeopardise its service delivery for the Soccer World Cup. The huge outsourcing project has been controversial from the start, inflaming unions by potentially affecting 19,000 of the 26,000 employees. Last year, Telkom agreed to postpone the outsourcing until next month , but it looks unlikely to go ahead then given Telkom's need to be operationally perfect for the World Cup. Outsourcing had been put on hold for the time being, Solidarity said yesterday, after the managers met the trade unions last week to conclude an agreement. "In terms of the agreement, there will be no retrenchments and no redundancy in Telkom," Solidarity said. "Reportedly, it was decided to put the process on hold due to concern about Telkom's service delivery for the Soccer World Cup." Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said in the past year a storm had erupted over the outsourcing. "This has led to tremendous uncertainty for most Telkom employees. Now employees are being placated with a further agreement that the restructuring plans have been postponed for the time being." The exact state of play is uncertain, however, with Solidarity unsure of what Telkom is planning to do, and Telkom declining to comment. Solidarity said it wanted to meet the managers again to thrash out crucial details regarding the duration of the postponement, whether or not the agreement might include voluntary severance or early retirement packages, and whether it would be valid only for employees in SA. The plan to outsource the running of its networks and information technology processes to external parties was initially delayed after Solidarity and the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) threatened to strike. The tenders attracted various bidders, but controversy raged again when insiders claimed Amdocs, HP and Ericsson would win due to corruption in the processes. The CWU demanded an investigation, claiming to have evidence that officials altered documents to influence who won. In February, Telkom fired its chief of operations, Motlatsi Nzeku, for behaviour damaging to its reputation, but refused to say if his dismissal related to the allegations. (Source: Business Day) In brief:- Brett Goschen, CEO of MTN Ghana, has said the telecom market leader in Ghana would float shares in the near future to enable Ghanaians to own part of and share in the success of the company. He told journalists that the only stumbling block to the floating of shares was the ongoing legal tussle over the ownership of the company, where two individuals have taken MTN to court claiming to be shareholders. - Orange Uganda has reported a $150m (about sh300b) investment for the year 2008/2009. While the $100m was the initial investment, $50m is invested annually for expanding the network coverage. The coming of Orange has created direct employment of 180 Ugandans and indirect employment for more than 1,000 others. - The Gambian leader, Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, last week, received in audience officials of the Batigroupe consortium, an investment firm based in Dakar, Senegal. Nigerian Batigroupe consortium, is said to have reached an advanced stage in its discussions with the Gambian leader for possible investment in the country's communication and technology sector. - Mobile banking services provider Monitise and East African organisation Made in Africa have partnered to create a joint venture called Monitise East Africa. The service will be launched initially in Uganda this autumn, followed by Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia. The venture plans to create a mobile money multi-bank and multi-operator ‘ecosystem' across the region. Aimed at both the banked and unbanked, the service will enable consumers to manage their money and make payments using financial accounts. - Mark Shuttleworth's venture capital company (VC), Here Be Dragons (HBD), is looking to make an investment of between R10 million and R25 million in an early stage business this year. The VC is searching for companies with innovative ideas, which can be expanded internationally. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- An NGO based in Ghana has come down heavily on MTN for being the "worse culprit" in the poor delivery of telephony services to the people of the three northern regions of the country. - Tunisie Telecom has announced the launch of the BlackBerry solution in Tunisia. The company's customers will be able to benefit from a number of functions including emailing, real time agenda management, updating of client portfolio and messaging. They will also have access to a wide range of BlackBerry smartphones. Tunisie Telecom which has 4, 3 million customers throughout the country, shares the market with Tunisiana, an Orascom company. - The Angolan Telecommunications and Information Technologies minister, José Carvalho da Rocha, announced, that his sector is expected to expand the telecommunications network in the northern Bengo Province. - With a target of 600,000 subscribers by June and a double by end of the year, Rwandatel is getting ready for post-paid clients. The new platform will be launched in April and is targeted at the business segment of the market who need continuous communication. - Vodacom Lesotho, the country’s largest wireless operator by subscribers, has formed a partnership with one of the world's leading mobile telecoms companies, Vodafone. The deal will help with the provision of more affordable and better quality services in the country, and will allow roaming in over 27 countries. Vodacom Lesotho had a wireless subscriber base of 489,000 at the end of 2008, representing a market share of 80%. - Millicom Ghana, operators of Tigo, in collaboration with Google and the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday launched a value added service to provide subscribers with internet-based information through text messaging. - The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) ordered service providers to slash telephone tariffs by between 25 and 40 percent pending the completion of an ongoing review of the charges. The review is intended to balance the affordability of services by consumers and the viability of operators. - Mobile phone service provider Zain announced that it has achieved record financial results for the year 2008 and more than a million extra customers in Tanzania.
Google Kenya launches SMS search service for phone usersInternet firm Google Kenya has launched an SMS search service, hoping to cash in on the rising number of mobile phone users. Google SMS Search gives access to information through a mobile phone without Internet access. “You simply create an SMS message about what you are looking for and send it to the Google SMS short code (4664 or “GOOG”) and wait for a response via SMS. The service is free from Google, but carrier charges apply,” said Joseph Mucheru, Google Kenya’s Office Lead in a statement on the firm’s website. The development follows other strategic offerings that Google has launched to increase its brand presence among mobile phone users in the local market. It has entered into an agreement with Safaricom, allowing subscribers to own unique Google mail addresses linked to their mobile phone numbers. With the launch of the search facility, Google is banking on the rapid growth of the local mobile Internet market to drive increased use of its search portal for local content. “Typing a query to Google’s SMS Search works a little differently from searching on Google from your computer: for SMS Search, you need to indicate what topic you would like information for and then what you want to know,” said Mr Mucheru. Mobile phones are expected to be the primary tool for many Kenyan and users in emerging markets, who will use them to go online. With just three million Internet subscribers and over 14 million mobile subscribers, analysts say the potential for growth in the data market is high. (Source: Business Daily) Defeating Drug Counterfeiters With SMS in GhanaPharmaceutical drug counterfeiters can foil even the most sophisticated technology if consumers cannot personally verify their medication's safety, according to Ghanaian entrepreneurs who will soon introduce in West Africa verification via cell phone text. Consumers who purchase certain medications will be able to send the label code via free cell phone text message and within seconds receive a text response from the drug manufacturer of whether the drug is legitimate and comes from a safe batch. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 30 percent of pharmaceutical drugs sold in developing countries are fake. Co-founder of the anti-counterfeit technology company mPedigree, Bright Simons, told IRIN that until now anti-counterfeit tactics have not empowered the consumer. "Consumers are the final decision-makers as to what medication they take, but they have not had a way to verify their medication's safety." He said existing nano-particle tags, ultraviolet-sensitive labels and holograms do little to enable consumers to protect their health because counterfeiters can reproduce them. "But if you have more consumer vigilance," said Simons, "That will be harder to get around." Simons co-founded mPedigree, which was named a 2009 Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum, with Ashifi Gogo in 2007. Working with anti-counterfeit experts, mPedigree recruited a local drug manufacturer in Ghana to label 3,500 boxes of its anti-malarial medication. According to the Ministry of Health, 40 percent of the medication in Ghana is locally manufactured and 65 percent of patient consultations are for malaria. From January to March 2008, some 3,000 customers sent text messages to check their medication. Within an average of three seconds, they received an "OK, quality assured, genuine product" message on their cell phones, said Simons. Asked whether Africa's mobile networks would be able to handle the increased text traffic, Simons said the infrastructure is sound. "It is the voice band that is overloaded. Data services are more efficient." He said there are 10 million cell phone subscribers in Ghana of an estimated population of 23 million, according to the 2006 government census. Simons added that popular reality shows in Ghana have accustomed viewers to sending text messages, with one show receiving some 250,000 messages a month. Over the past year, mPedigree has worked with the governments of Nigeria and Ghana to launch the technology with more medications in the coming months. Simons told IRIN drug manufacturers have responded positively to the promise of recruiting millions of watchdog consumers. "Counterfeiters can match law enforcement in terms of money and numbers. But they cannot beat back millions of consumers [trained] to watch out for themselves." Participating manufacturers would cover the cost of texting and drug labelling. Simons said each medication package will come with a unique code; once a code has been entered, no second drug label bearing that code will return an "OK" message. "Counterfeiters' income declines, drug manufacturers' income increases and prices come down for consumers." Simons dismissed Ghanaian health authorities' concerns that counterfeiters will be able to create a parallel phone number that provides false information to consumers. Likening mPedigree to the widely-used information internet product, Wikipedia - whose founder is advising mPedigree - in which readers upload content and check others' submissions for accuracy, Simons told IRIN messaging has the potential to defeat counterfeiters. "The ability of so many people to keep an eye on the system- there will literally be millions of consumers banding together- is what makes this system work." (Source: IRIN)
People- Nombulelo Moholi has been appointed as the new managing director of Telkom’s South African business unit, Telkom SA. The appointment o Moholi follows a major organisational restructuring exercise. Under the new structure, the Telkom Group is divided into three business units: the Telkom SA business unit, Telkom International and Telkom Data Centre Operations. - In parallel, Telkom South Africa has confirmed it has suspended its group executive for network provisioning, Marius Mostert, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. Events* EAST AFRICA COM FORUM 1-2 April 2009, Nairobi, Kenya Promoting new models and services for the broadband era in East Africa: The only telecoms event to serve the East African region - promoting new models and services for the broadband era. 600+ attendees, 40 + speakers, 40+ exhibitors - the whole telecoms ecosystem represented. For further information visit www.comworldseries.com/eafrica *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/ * INTERNATIONNAL EXPERT SEMINAR ON POWERLINE COMMUNICATION 2-3 April 2009, Misty Hills Conference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa PLC is being recognised as of strategic value for African players within telecoms. PLC has gained a high level of maturity and reliability, its versatility enables to design various business models in the broadband arena, but also related to innovative applications and smart grid. ATU wishes to address the various aspects of a PLC implementation within the African context, gathering significant players of the industry, showing successful commercial projects, identifiying current innovations and enabling to exchange directly with involved operators, utilities, regulators and integrators. For further information visit http://www.atu-uat.org/# *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 OpportunitiesGPRS AND 0&M ENGINEER - MALAWI The company urgently requires the services of a GPRS O&M Engineer with Alcatel experience, SGSN/GGSN. Minimum 4 years experience & able to start immediately. For further information contact advertising@balancingact-africa.com Contracts* Bintel and Redknee Solutions - Gabon Redknee Solutions has announced that Bintel, a Bahrain holding firm which is rolling out services in Gabon, will deploy its Turnkey Converged Billing and Mobile Money solutions. Bintel, which was awarded a 15-year license in Gabon last month is targeting a 6 to 8% share of the local market within its first 12 months and a 30% share within its first 10 years.
If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have
factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them
in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write
and let us know. |
|
   
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
This page last updated on April 06 2009.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
