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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 455 22nd May 2009 Strategies for shrinking former incumbents: double or quits in Togo, Gabon and Congo-BrazzavilleA significant number of Africa’s former incumbent telcos are in deep trouble as their fixed line network subscribers shrink and their mobile operations take a market share beating from larger operators (see issue 442). Their key shareholders - African governments - seem incapable of acting decisively to stop the rot. Russell Southwood look at three different companies - Togo Telecom, Gabon Telecom and Sotelco in Congo-Brazzaville - whose current situation neatly illustrates what’s happening. This week saw the Chinese Exim Bank extend a US$31 million loan to Togo telecom. The company said that it would use the money to develop its Illico product, the CDMA 2000 fixed voice and data solution (usually from Huawei) that has been able to turn around the steady decline of fixed voice customers in a number of markets. Most of Togo Telecom’s Internet subscribers are now using this product. However, there are a number of local blogs that illustrate that the quality of service delivered by Togo Telecom is at best variable and that it is costly to replace these handsets when they fail. Worse still, in the future when there is plentiful bandwidth from the four new international cables that will be operational by 2010, this equipment will be just too narrowband. CDMA 2000 has no upgrade path for these subscribers who probably imagine their handsets will be useful for at least three to five years. Since most Government incumbents will need to find anywhere between US$50-200 million in terms of capital investment every year, this Chinese financing must seem like a welcome relief. However, the idea with loans is that they are paid back. Togo Telecom’s gearing on a US$31 million loan is relatively modest but pity the management of Ethiopia’s ETC that has a loan of US$1.5 billion. Paying back loans depends on having an honest and competent management who are capable of calculating what will be required in revenue terms to service these kinds of indebtedness. It would be nice to think that indebtedness would make these state-owned companies act more efficiently but it seems unlikely. No African Government has ever addressed over-staffing at telcos except as it waves the company out the door to a new buyer. In February 2007 Maroc Telecom announced it was going to spend US$79 million buying Gabon Telecom. Parent company Vivendi announced that it had bought a company that had 30,000 fixed line subscribers and 250,000 mobile subscribers (some 30% of the market). According to the company’s press release, Gabon Telecom and its mobile subsidiary Libertis were generating 137 million euros (US$189 million in revenues). All this was based on the information provided by the seller, the Government of Gabon. However, the report of the Government’s public accounting body, “les commissaires aux comptes”, which is responsible for auditing Gabon Telecom’s accounts while under public ownership, subsequently painted a rather bleaker picture. Indeed it refused to sign off the 2006 accounts. It said that the fixed line operator has lost FCFA50 billion (US$112 million) and its mobile arm, Libertis, had lost FCFA5 billion (US$ 10 million). Losing US$122 million on a claimed turnover of US$189 million was quite an achievement even when judged against the standards of incompetence set by the worst of Africa’s incumbents. Also losing money on a mobile operation of this scale requires a special skill not available in many other African countries. Whilst the Government said Gabon Telecom had 30,000 fixed line subscribers, the audit body discovered that in fact there were only 22,900 subscribers. Furthermore the auditors were scathing about the management of the company:”The examination of contracts shows that the majority have been entered into at an extremely high price compared to the market price. Furthermore, customers have been billed for services that have not been provided or only provided at a much lower level than promised.” And as usual, the past management spent money like water and has kept no clear records of what it spent it on, particularly for staff expenses, cars and petrol allocations. As a result, the company’s outstanding loans had gone up from FCFA68.8 billion to FCFA79.2 billion and its debts have almost doubled from FCFA142 billion to FCFA221 billion. From this grim point, Maroc Telecom and Vivendi have been able to report much better news in their Q1, 2009 results. Turnover in the third quarter was FCFA17 billion, a 15.9% increase on the previous year. Its mobile arm now has 471,000 subscribers, an increase of 20% and almost a doubling from the position when the company was sold. It now has 35,000 fixed line subscribers, up 40%, and 19,000 Internet subscribers, an increase of 73%. All of which illustrates that private owners can actually turn some of the most chaotic and failing companies into something like efficient enterprises. However, we say this before the new owners of Nitel have been selected and take on that particularly demanding task. Meanwhile in Congo-Brazzaville, the Government’s loss-making telco incumbent Sotelco seems to be dithering its way into an uncertain future. The Minister of Post and Telecommunications Thierry Moungalla made a surprise visit this week to see how the « structurual measures » that the Government has been trying to put in place over the last several years have been taking effect. He was told about the long-standing problems and the dysfunctional central network system, the result of a number of years of civil war. Apparently the Minister was told that Sotelco’s engineers were awaiting the arrival of an expert who would help them to relaunch and get better equipment as they went along. In addition, “sensible administrative measures” (unspecified) were being put in place. However, there was limited cable capacity as the network was now saturated. The expert will apparently know the cost of getting the network back on its feet. This slow decay and collapse has been going on for more than a decade in what the local press in a sweep of understatement describe as a “difficult period.” Rather than acknowledging that the company requires investment that the Government does not have, the Government seems to be stumbling forward on a “make do and mend” basis. No country will attract serious investment if its phone system doesn’t work. The alternative, which the Government shows no sign of considering, is to sell the loss-making company for a token price. Result? No more losses being borne by the Government and investment capital to modernize the network. What’s not to like?
Egypt's Orascom Telecom appeals over Mobinil dealEgypt's Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) has filed a legal claim against France Telecom (FT), claiming that the French company has not abided by the terms of a recent ruling to buy OTH's stake in MobiNil, and that the ruling should be dismissed. The case, which has been filed before the Appeal Division of the Economical Court, North Cairo Circuit, is requesting, as its primary claim, a declaration that the share sale agreement arising out of the arbitration award issued on the March 10th, 2009 has been rescinded due to France Telecom's (and its subsidiaries') failure to pay the price of the shares by the time stipulated in the arbitration award, and related damages. The move came a few hours after the local stock market posted a brief note that FT had tendered an offer to buy the entire holding in ECMS, the holding company which owns the mobile network operator. The mobile phone network - which trades as MobiNil - is owned by a holding firm, ECMS - which is in turn owned by three parties, 20% directly by Orascom Telecom, 29% via the stock exchange and the remaining 51% is owned by a company, confusingly called MobiNil. This holding company is in turn 71.25% owned by France Telecom and 28.75% owned by Orascom Telecom. The court ruling is disputed with OTH saying it applies to the whole company, while FT says that it only applies to Orascom Telecom's 28.75% in the holding company. The company is the largest operator in the market, and according to figures from the Mobile World database, has a market share of around 48%. (Source: Mobile World) EFCC Quizzes Ndukwe Over 2008 Budget in NigeriaEconomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arrested Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Earnest Ndukwe, over allegations of flouting due process in the award of telecommunication licences by his commission. The NCC boss is also being quizzed for allegedly spending beyond the commission's budget in 2008. A competent source in the EFCC told Daily Independent in Abuja on Monday that Ndukwe's trouble centres around award of licences to three communication companies for broadband frequencies. One of the companies awarded the contract include Mobitel Nigeria Limited, which the source disclosed, was able to raise N1.368 billion for the licence in five days. The source stated that Ndukwe in October last year had granted Mobitel a waiver of N243 million out of N263 million indebtedness to the Federal Government. "That means that the communication company ended up paying only N3 million to the Federal Government," the source said. The source also alleged that Ndukwe misled the Federal Government in the award of contracts for Communication Information Centres across the country. "He had told authorities that lands for the centres had already been secured whereas in most of the South East states, land had not been secured and yet the contractors are expected to build and equip the centres before June 3, 2009," the source explained. EFCC's Head of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, when contacted confirmed that Ndukwe is answering questions from operatives investigating the matter but declined further comment. In its own reaction, the NCC said its boss was invited by the EFCC to give his response to a petition filed by the Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, who alleged that the Commission did not heed her directive to stop the process for the award of spectrum slot in the 2.3GHz Band. It was also alleged that a meeting of the Board of NCC on Monday chaired by its chairman, Ahmed Joda, was intended to ratify the result of the spectrum auction that Akunyili had already ordered to be stopped. The NCC said Ndukwe, who returned to his office about two hours after he left for the EFCC headqurters, assured his staff, the board chairman and other Commissioners, of the sanctity of the process of the 2.3GHz spectrum bidding which has been paid for by three companies. He said there must have been some misunderstanding about the process as the minister's directive has to do with stoppage of placement of further advertisement on the process and that the directive was given on May 8. At this time, the processes was already concluded, he said, and that the Commission had not placed any advertisement about the process till date. In another development, a petitioner has accused Ndukwe of causing NITEL to lose N500 billion. According to the petitioner, Solomon Ogunjide Ogundele, from Ibadan, Ndukwe had in 2001 revoked the interconnection agreement rate NITEL had with other telecom operators, and came up with a new rate that caused NITEL to loose N500 billion to other telecom operators from 2001 till date. Interconnect Agreement Rate (IAR), in technical parlance, is the rate at which a telecom operator pays another telecom operator for terminating calls on its network. If MTN subscriber, for instance, calls a Globacom subscriber, the call that was originated from MTN network, will eventually terminate on Globacom network. It therefore means that MTN has to pay Globacom certain amount of money since MTN bills its subscriber for making such call. The agreed mount paid by one operator to another, is called IAR, and it is the duty of NCC, the industry regulator, to fix the interconnect rate the operators. Relevant Links According to the petitioner, there was an interconnect rate before Ndukwe assumed office and that shortly after he resumed office, he (Ndukwe) decided to revoke the initial rate and came up with a new rate that caused NITEL to loose billions of naira. Worried by revocation of the then extant IAR and the huge loss to NITEL, Ogundele forwarded his petition indicting Ndukwe, to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Minister of Information and Communication; Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and copied President Umaru Yar A'dua, and Vice President Jonathan Goodluck, as well as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Source: The Daily Independent) Swaziland’s incumbent telco to cut call charges by halfIt’s good news for locals making international calls as Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) has announced a discount rate of up to 50%. International calls made from landlines in Swaziland to cellphones either to South Africa, or any other country in the world will also be discounted same as international calls made from one landline to another. The discount rates, which will range from 35% to 50% will come into effect from the 1st of July. Managing Director E. Nathi Dlamini made this announcement yesterday during the world telecommunication and information day, where he delivered his keynote address on the significance of this day in a press conference. Dlamini explained that call rates had been cut down to reduce the cost of burden on everyone, in the light of the global economic downturn. "We envisage that companies trading overseas and individuals with relatives overseas will benefit the most from this arrangement." Previously, it cost E2.50 per unit to make a call to South Africa during off peak hours, whilst for on-peak calls it cost E1.50. With the new arrangement, it will cost E2.00 per unit to make calls to South Africa on peak hours, whilst the off-peak rate will be E1.20. The managing director also announced that later in the year, SPTC will be introducing a different ring tone for all fixed line telephones. “We are going fixed-mobile and we are supremely confident of the future and honoured to be taking another huge leap, in the right direction.” Dlamini was optimistic that with this innovation, job opportunities within SPTC and in the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) sector will be created. In this regard, he indicated that projections show that this initiative would also create big business opportunities which would in turn boost the Swazi economy. (Source: The Swazi Observer) Connecting Rural People Through Satellite Phones in ZambiaRural areas that have often been marginalised and cut off from the usage of telecommunication facilities are now getting connected and opening up, thanks to a new project that uses satellite antennas to pick a signal. The project, currently running on a pilot basis in Mumbwa and Kaoma districts, is being implemented by a South African organisation, Connect Africa. By providing satellite-networked phones, Connect Africa is empowering rural communities with cheaper communication alternatives which, in the long run, will enable poor communities to have a say in shaping poverty alleviation policies. According to Dean Mulozi, the national coordinator for Connect Africa in Zambia, the introduction of the new technology has been necessitated by the limited capacity of the three mobile service providers to cover the entire country. The technology has been concentrated only in the cities and communities along the railway line. "We still have so many people in this country who have no access to cheaper and affordable means of communication, especially in rural areas," Mr Mulozi said. It is estimated that only about four million of Zambia's over 11 million population are able to use cellular phones as a means of communication. In the two districts where the project is running, demand for the service has already outstripped supply with thousands of people having to walk over 10 kilometres to the nearest point to make a phone call. There are only six telephone handsets catering for an average of 4,000 people per phone. As a result, Connect Africa has had to increase the allocation of credit for some phones from US$50 per week which is often used up in less than a day to $135 for the same period. To make a call, the beneficiaries of the new technology pay K2,000 per minute for all local calls and double the amount for the same duration for an international call, but they reckon it is far better and cheaper than having to scribble a letter. Enock Kamwaya, 36, a peasant farmer at Kaoma's TBZ farm bloc, said: "This amount is nothing compared to how we used to communicate in the past. We would write letters that would take over two months to be replied to, or we would not even receive a reply. But a phone call gives you an answer immediately, so we don't write letters now." "We are benefitting from this programme. Now we can communicate with the outside world. As farmers, we connect with different organisations such as World Vision, Oxfam, and the World Wildlife Fund to help us with fertiliser or markets for our produce. For the 10,000 peasant farmers at the TBZ farm bloc, communication comes at a high price. In the absence of the satellite phones, people are forced to travel a distance of 70 kilometres to Kaoma town centre to communicate with the outside world. "Sometimes, when this phone is not working, and there is an emergency such as a funeral, we are forced to board a bus to Kaoma town. We pay K60,000 to go and make a call," disclosed 52-year-old Mildred Muwanei, who was found in a group of people standing in disorderly manner in front of a pigeon-hole window with small pieces of paper in their hands. According to sub-chieftainess Mulendema, a traditional leader in Mumbwa, the satellite phones could not have come at a better time. Her chiefdom is located along the highway connecting Western Province to Lusaka, and both towns on her end - Mumbwa and Kaoma - are connected to the national telecommunications grid under Zain, MTN, and Cell Z. At a time when the Government is striving to improve infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, sub-chieftainess Mulendema represents the plight of thousands of Zambians who are living within a reachable radius from the highways, yet are too far away from communication services. In commenting on the impact of the innovation on rural communities, Lotty Kakubo, spokesperson of the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ), said the Government's telecommunications regulatory body would soon issue a comprehensive statement after conducting a feasibility assessment of the installations. "CAZ supports the efforts by other institutions to contribute to the extension of services in unserviced areas," Mr Kakubo said. The pilot project for the rural service delivery network is expected to close this month end after which the CAZ will assess its impact in benefitting communities and determine whether it should be rolled out across the country. (Source: Times of Zambia) In brief:- Turkish cellco Turkcell has submitted a bid for a combined fixed line and 2G/3G mobile licence in Tunisia, in partnership with a number of local companies. - The sale of Nitel and its mobile arm, M-tel, will be concluded by September, Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Christopher Anyanwu, has said. Group Managing Director of Transcorp, Mr. Nick Okoro, assured prospective investors that the board and management of Transcorp would give maximum support to ensure quick and successful conclusion of the transaction. - Zimbabwe’s government has given the telecommunications sector until June to improve service delivery in line with its economic recovery programme targets spelt under Short Term Emergency recovery Porgramme. - Emirates Telecommunications is to bid for a stake in Morocco's Meditel as it looks to expand in the Middle East and Africa, reports The Financial Times. Emirates Telecom (Etisalat) will also continue to pursue the telecom licence in Iran it was stripped of last week. - The government of Rwanda, under the Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme - Rwanda (RCIPRWA), has received a $24 million grant from the World Bank to establish Rwanda's national capacity to provide broadband connectivity and access to low-cost international connectivity. This project, which will also facilitate the country's connection to global networks through the undersea fibre optic cables, will primarily be implemented and managed by Rwanda Development Board in Charge of ICT. - The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has replaced one of the three winners of its just concluded licensing of 20MHz in the 2.3 GHz frequency band, Galaxy Wireless, for Multilinks Telkom. Galaxy Wireless was one of the companies that was said to have scaled through, but the NCC said the firm was dropped because it did not meet the conditions for the offer of licence by not paying the full fixed price of N1, 368,000,000 for the slot. - Minister of Post and Information and Communication Technologies Hamid Bessalah indicated Monday in Algiers that amendment on telecommunications bill is under elaboration, adding that it will be submitted to the government before next fall. "Currently we have established think tanks, assigned to elaborate a bill on the Information Society as well as the amendment on bill on telecommunications. - Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) says it will spend more than US$1.7 billion dollars expanding its networks in Nigeria and Uganda this year. The planned investment in Nigeria and Uganda will help improve service quality. In Uganda, the company will spend $135 million on capacity, quality and systems improvement. - As mobile service provider Zain moves to reduce headcount in Africa and the Middle East, the Zambian government has forced the company to cut down the number of workers to be laid off. Zambian Minister of Labor and Social Security Austin Liato said the company has agreed to cut down its workforce in Zambia by only 58 positions, from almost 100 earlier announced by the company's CEO. - Zimbabwe's political leaders have endorsed the move by Mugabe to transfer a widely condemned piece of legislation to spy on Zimbabweans' to his party from the opposition, deputy prime minister, Arthur Mutambara said.
DragonWave brings broadband to Burkina FasoDragonWave Inc, a Canadian supplier of packet microwave radio systems announced that Connecteo is deploying the Horizon Compact to deliver high capacity broadband services to its enterprise customers in Burkina Faso. Connecteo uses Horizon Compact to bypass traditional leased line infrastructure and provide cost efficient and scalable broadband IP services. Based in Dakar, Senegal, Connecteo has also established subsidiaries in Cameroon, Guinea, Bénin and Niger. The company is managed by Monaco Telecom, an affiliate in the international business unit of UK-based Cable & Wireless Group. “The Horizon Compact is a proven, highly scalable and software-upgradeable solution that enables us to quickly and cost-effectively introduce high-speed business broadband services,” said Felix Weyerstahl, Managing Director of Connecteo. “Our goal is to become the leader in provision of converged IP telecommunications services in West and Central Africa.” Initial deployments in Burkina Faso provide up to 50 Mbps broadband access to Connecteos’ enterprise customers with the option to scale to 400 Mbps over time. The Horizon Compact is perfectly suited to such access network applications. Physically it requires very little space and has low power consumption, characteristics that make it ideal for deployment in the enterprise. Also, because it is powered through the same Cat5 cable that delivers the broadband service it presents little disruption to in-building cable management and power systems. The Horizon Compact is mounted outdoors and has a proven track record for reliability and performance in some of the most challenging environments. Nigeria Takes Control of Internet Domain NameNigeria has finally assumed management and control of the Internet domain name with change of severs to .ng and the approval of the board re-delegation of the Nigerian ccTLD on the IANA website by the global Internet regulation body ICANN/IANA. The local management and control now resides with the Nigerian Internet Registration Asssociation (NIRA) A statement by the president of the NIRA, Ndukwe Kalu said the change of management was effected exactly by 4 pm May 13, 2009 by Verisign who made the ICCAN approved root server changes to the .ng ccTLD. Ndukwe said further that the task before NIRA is the full population of the .ng ccTLD, a task that is very daunting more so with the fact that all of the African ccTLDs put together cannot make the ccTLD Top 25. "For us we have set our Vision 2020 as Vision 2011 that is for Nigeria to make the ccTLD top 20 by year 2011", and "this is not just for the sake of making the top 20 but to positively impact the Nigerian economy. The .ng ccTLD journey started in 1995 with the first delegation to one Mrs Ibukun Odusote as the then admin contact. By 2004 with the intervention of the former president of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo the Nigerian Internet community represented by the G22 reached a consensus on a not for profit all inclusive body to manage the .ng ccTLD. With the formation and final election of the NIRA executive board in May 2007 the stage was then set for conclusion of the re-delegation process and fully localize the management of the ng ccTLD Ndukwe said that having over come the challenges of putting in place the required structure and infrastructure that would sustain the .ng ccTLD, the .ng ccTLD would now be offering its domains in the ccTLD with the most robust technical infrastructure in Africa. The .ng ccTLD is the only ccTLD with multiple any cast name servers offering local resolutions of .ng domain in over 40 cities in five continents with a 100% uptime guarantee. (Source: The Daily Independent) IS launches unified mobile broadband service in South AfricaInternet Solutions (IS) has launched a unified mobile broadband data bundle that integrates 3G, GPRS and HSPDA connectivity with IS Wi-Fi HotSpot access, enabling users to find the most cost effective and efficient mobile means of connecting to the internet. The network agnostic IS solution offers mobility customers an integrated rand-based bundle that is managed through a single unified account. “Whether IS customers roam via IS’ or partnered Wi-Fi networks, or utilise 3G/HSDPA via either the Vodacom or MTN network, all usage is depleted from a single data bundle” says Brett Steingo, Mobile Business Unit Manager at IS. Steingo says that the optimal cost benefits of using the solution are realised when mobile broadband and Wi-Fi access is integrated. “For IS users, per MB access through Wi-Fi HotSpots is half the cost of 3G access, and is available at major locations like airports, hotels and conference centres,” he says. “Users can also associate their mobile phones to their IS data bundle, which will significantly reduce the cost of accessing the internet via their handset.” IS currently owns 80% of major South African HotSpot sites, with more than 500 national locations. When combined with the Wi-Fi partner roaming networks IS mobility customers will have access to over 90% of all the major HotSpots available in South Africa. “In cases where connectivity is critical, a single user can carry both a MTN and Vodacom SIM card. Either SIM can be used to deplete data from a single bundle, so the user can use whichever network offers the best connection in their current location.” says Steingo. Additional functionality includes online account management, detailed invoicing online, a single log-in and password to access the easy-to-use user interface and the ability to manage SIM cards online. “A major benefit of online SIM management means that a SIM card can be deactivated within 90 seconds if lost, stolen or compromised, a process that would normally take 48 hours to do through the service provider,” says Steingo. “We can also restrict network and internet access, allowing users to only access the company network through a VPN tunnel. This allows corporates to control internet usage on the bundle, while ensuring that their mobile workforce has access to business critical applications when they are out of the office.” IS plans to further integrate this data bundle with fixed line DSL and provide access to international HotSpots, offering international internet access at reduced rates through the global IS Wi-Fi partner network. “With these additional connectivity methods coming online users will have the ability to access the internet from anywhere, through any connection, at the lowest possible cost. However, this first iteration of IS’ unified data bundle already provides companies with better quality mobile broadband at a lower cost,” concludes Steingo. (Source: MyBroadband) In brief:- East African submarine fibre-optic cable system SEACOM has announced that it is entering the final stages of construction. According to the SEACOM website, the 15,000km, 1.28Tbps cable system is due to launch operations in early July this year. - The Zambia Telecommunication Co.'s fiber-optic cable project is moving to connect six Southern African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Botswana and Malawi in an attempt to develop communications in the region. Zambia's first fiber-optic cables are being laid by Chinese firm Huawei Technologies on more than 10 routes across the country to the borders with neighboring countries. - The Director-General, Regional African Satellite Communications Organisation (RASCOM), Dr. Jones Kilimbe, has advocated for a closer collaboration between RASCOM and the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Ltd to create more interconnectivity in the Africa. He therefore calls on Nigeria to invest in the commercial arm of RASCOM as it was set to launch a replacement of its satellite in June next year with plans to launch more satellites as back-ups. - The MTN Group is reportedly investing in the USD700 million European-Indian Gateway (EIG) cable system. The fibre-optic submarine system will provide a central linking point for other cable systems already being deployed around Africa, such as the East African submarine cable system (Eassy) and the West African cable system (WACS). - From 21st and 22nd May Kigali will host an e-Tourism Seminar, to be attended by students and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operators. - Madagascar's ousted president, Marc Ravalomanana, may be down but he is not out. Now, in his latest move, Ravalomanana has posted an address to the international community on a YouTube account called "Madagascar Presidency". Speaking in separate French and English clips, he "demands" that "the illegitimate coup regime step aside and make way for the return of the democratically-elected government" and calls on the world community to withhold diplomatic recognition and avoid business dealings with Rajoelina's government. - As part of the Re-branding Nigeria Project, the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications (FMIC) recently launched a new website www.fmic.gov.ng <http://www.fmic.gov.ng> which will avail Nigerians and foreigners timely and important information about the people and government of Nigeria. - Mozambique Airlines (LAM) on Thursday launched its Direct Internet Sales, whereby passengers can make reservations and buy and receive LAM tickets on the Internet. - Ghana will soon introduce a Cyber Security Bill to check the growing menace of cyber crimes occurring in the country, said the Minister of Communication, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu. - South African companies are going to have to realise that Internet search giant Google will no longer protect their trademarks, and their competitors or others may bid for their brands, says Clicks2Customers director Jonathan Gluckman. An e-mail sent by Google's UK office to clients and advertising agencies says that from 4 June, it will no longer monitor or restrict keywords for adverts served to users in 80 countries, including SA. This will bring those countries in line with Google's current policy in operation in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland.
ICT experts challenged to protect Ghanaian made productsMs Dorothy Gordon, Director General of the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence (KACE), has challenged local ICT experts in Ghana to adopt systems that would protect their products against what she called “technology imperialism”. By technology imperialism, she meant a situation where the western world and other developed states tend to control the development of ICT and its products to the detriment of developing countries. Ms Gordon said this in Accra on Thursday at a day’s seminar organised by the KACE to educate players in the industry including the media on how the adoption of ICT could improve efficiency in health delivery under the NHIS. She said the NHIS computerisation system would create a lot of employment avenues for people and called on the media to help educate and create awareness on it. Ms Gordon said Ghanaians must be ready to learn and adopt international best practices in the ICT sector because Ghana happened to be the first country to automate its health system in the West African Sub-Region. She was optimistic that Ghana would be the first place other neighbouring countries would fall on to implement their health sector automation projects. Mr Ben Kusi, the ICT Director for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said the automation would help Ghanaians to access health care even at the remotest part of the country. He said it would also help to keep accurate patients’ medical history under one management where such data could be accessed for further medication at any hospital in Ghana. In additional, Mr Kusi said the old manual system where folders of patients were kept in achieves making retrieval difficult, would soon be over. “Because of these problems patients, who want to avoid the trauma of loosing their folders, take their folders home,” he noted. Mr Kusi also said it would reduce the problem of queuing and over crowding at the hospitals especially in the urban centres. He said the greatest challenge would be the lack of knowledge of ICT on the part of most medical personnel but indicated that currently training programmes were being run for them to upgrade their capacity. (Source: GNA) State IT Agency to host FOSS vendor day in South AfricaThe SA State IT Agency’s Free and Open Source Programme Office (FPO) is to host a workshop this coming Friday in which free and open source software (FOSS) vendors will have a chance to demonstrate their products to government officials. The day-long workshop will include representatives from companies that were selected, in a 2005 tender process, as government-approved open source vendors. More than three years on from the awarding of the tender some of the organisations selected either no longer exist or have closed down their open source programmes. The FOSS Vendor Day will take place on Friday May 22 at Sita’s Centurion Auditorium. Sita’s FOSS programme says that the workshop will give vendors an opportunity to “demonstrate solutions” that could be deployed by government. “There will be hands-on sessions where vendors will supply plans, architects and matrices, and products for use.” The workshop is expected to help the FOSS Programme Office “identify gaps and assess what is available in the market in order to bridge them. It will assess what is available in the market and make a thorough analysis and give a way forward. The FPO will also acquire solutions and possible ways to build the FOSS ecosystem.” Topics to be discussed at the workshop include open source migration risks, open source success stories from abroad, open standards, measuring FOSS implementation in government and Foss procurement. (Source: Tectonic) Electronic Trading to Start in June in UgandaUgandans who have invested on the stock market will hand in their paper share certificates starting next month as the stock exchange prepares to start electronic trading. This will be the first step as the Uganda Stock Exchange moves away from manual clearance and settlement of transactions to electronic settlements. Investors will then be issued with statements. The chief executive of Uganda Securities Exchange, Simon Rutega, explained to Business Vision that the bourse is only awaiting clearance of the rules, procedure from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). "By end of June, we will have automated clearing and settlement," said Rutega. Rutega said once the regulator provides a license for its operation, the application will be launched. Sources say President Yoweri Museveni assented to the central depository systems bill on January 9, 2009. The CDS bill provides the legal guidelines for operations of electronic clearance and trading. Rutega explained that there are two phases. The exchange will spend sometime on the clearing and settlement process. After this period, the public will not be allowed to trade with certificates. Rutega said brokerage firms will be licensed as agents to demobilise the certificates from investors and then issue investors with statements, just like bank statements that spell out the customers' bank transactions. After the dismantling of paper certificates, the bourse will then prepare to launch automated trading later in the year. Rutega also disclosed that the hardware and software for automated trading have been undergoing tests. "We are really in the last phase," said Rutega. (Source: New Vision) In Brief:- A partnership agreement was signed in Algiers between Internet services operator EEPAD Group and Chinese holding company China Great Wall Computer Shenzhen Co., for the manufacturing in Algeria of computer motherboards and accessories. - The spokesperson in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Lebogang Bok says the production of Botswana's first e-passports is progressing well and that they will be ready by next year as scheduled. -The Linux Professional Association of Kenya and ICT Consumers Association of Kenya will be hosting Kenya’s first-ever open source awards at the end of this month. The awards will be held at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi on 27 May 2009 and are intended to “appreciate with recognition Kenya open source contributors who have made an impact in the open source community both locally and globally with their innovative solutions,” says the LPA Kenya.
Kenya's Safaricom profit falls as price war hots upEast Africa's biggest mobile phone company, Safaricom, said on Thursday full-year profit fell by a quarter as it faced a price war in a crowded Kenyan home market that it expects to intensify further. The company, 40-percent owned by a consortium led by Britain's Vodafone ( VOD - news - people ), retained its leadership of the voice market at 79 percent but saw year to March earnings per share fall to 0.26 Kenyan shillings ($0.003), down from 0.35 previously and below a consensus forecast of 0.30. After what Chief Executive Michael Joseph described as 'probably our most challenging year in terms of operating environment,' Safaricom said future earnings growth would be driven by data traffic as more broadband capacity comes on line in a country where only one in ten are Internet users. The firm partly blamed the fall in earnings on higher costs and economic factors such as inflation that cut consumers' disposable incomes, while analysts said it reflected a year that saw a rise in competition with the entry of two new operators. 'The EPS number was on the light side. It was a fiercely competitive year, if you look at it in that context ... it was not a bad performance,' said Aly Khan Satchu, an independent Nairobi-based equities analyst. Safaricom has faced growing competition from three other mobile operators, Kuwait-listed Zain, Telkom Kenya's Orange and Essar's Yu. Pretax profit fell 23.2 percent to 15.3 billion shillings ($196 million), narrowly missing market estimates, while it doubled its dividend payout to 4 billion. Revenue rose 14.8 percent to 70.48 billion shillings and user numbers were up 31 percent to 13.36 million. But average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 22.9 percent to 475 shillings, and the firm said it expected this figure to decline further as more users in lower income rural areas come on board. Kenya was battered by post-election violence at the start of 2008, followed by high food and fuel prices and inflation. Safaricom's rivals have been slashing prices to attract users, and investors had been waiting to see if the firm would defend market share and maintain its ARPU. 'With the increased level of penetration into more rural areas where consumers' disposable income is lower, it is anticipated that voice ARPU will continue to decline,' the company said in a statement. 'However, with Internet penetration at less than 10 percent, there is a significant opportunity to compensate.' Industry executives expect increased broadband capacity to be the next big attraction and are positioning their firms for a slice of the data market in Kenya and neighbouring countries. Safaricom said users of data services leapt 158 percent over the year to 1.47 million in March 2009. It also said data traffic had jumped 89.3 percent in the six months to May 1. In the year to end-March, data services revenue increased 83 percent and represented 12.9 percent of total revenue. Safaricom expects to acquire a unified licence in the next month or two to enable it increase its services and products. 'This will turn us into a telecoms operator from (just) a mobile operator,' Joseph told investors. Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said the East African Marine Systems cable (TEAMS), in which Safaricom has a 20 percent stake, was due to reach Mombasa port in July. '(Soon) the problem of bandwidth capacity will be no more,' he said, referring to complaints by operators. Along with two other submarine cables, TEAMS is expected to unleash a broadband revolution in a region where telecoms are often hamstrung by expensive and slow satellite connections. Mobile operators already provide a wide range of services including money transfer and wireless Internet on 3G platforms. (Source: Reuters) Vodacom South Africa Hit By First Fall in 15 YearsMobile operator Vodacom has posted its first -ever dip in net profit for 15 years -- ironically just one day after its successful listing on the JSE. The timing will rattle investors who bought its shares in anticipation of ever-increasing growth, with exuberant trading on its listing day seeing stock worth R571m change hands. But results issued yesterday show that headline earnings per share have dived 21% from 528c to 417c. CEO Pieter Uys said new investors should not panic that its net profit of R6,19bn is down a severe 22% from R7,9bn a year ago. The fall demonstrates the high cost of black empowerment compliance, with the damage inflicted by R1,4bn of costs incurred by selling 6,25% of its local operations to ordinary black citizens, business partners and staff. The one-off transaction expenses include vesting rights granted to its staff, who own 1,56% of Vodacom SA. Another one-off cost denting its performance for the year to March was a R200m start-up fee for Vodacom Business, a new division offering a range of 28 services including data storage to corporate clients. Uys said the division's sales were building up nicely, although it may not make a profit in the current financial year. If those abnormal items were stripped out, the results demonstrated good growth, Uys said. It clocked up a 14,5% rise in revenue from R48,1bn to R55,1bn and now serves 39,6-million customers in five countries, up 16,5% from a year ago. But its operating profit margin dipped from 25,9% to 21,8% as it invested for expansion. Its dividend also fell to 349c from 399c. One country causing it grief is the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Vodacom would seriously consider pulling out if conditions deteriorated. Its international profits have plunged from R404m to just R75m this year because of the Congo, where its business has been slashed as 50 mines closed. The value of the currency almost halved, leaving customers with little money to spend on a service billed in dollars. Its tax concessions ended, rivals had introduced almost free call fees forcing Vodacom to respond, and along with political unrest it added up to a tough environment, Uys said. At the same time Vodacom is looking to enter other countries as the African arm of Vodafone, which became its majority shareholder this week with a 65% stake. Frost & Sullivan analyst Lindsey McDonald suspects potential acquisition targets will have been assessed and either bid for or rejected by more active African rivals. "Finding new targets will be tough. MTN and Zain are likely to have already considered good targets and there might not be much left for Vodacom," she said. Uys said there were still opportunities worth exploring, particularly as the global meltdown put some businesses into difficulties or slashed their value. Yet it must not lose focus on the operations it already had. "Acquisitions are very important but it's easy to just focus on them and in difficult times you can't continue with the recipe you have. You have to tighten your belt and do things differently." (Source: Business Day) ICT Sector Contributes 10 Percent of GDP in TunisiaFigures recently released by the Ministry of communication technologies show that the ICT sector in Tunisia has posted a growth of 17,8% in 2008. Its contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted to 10% in 2008 against only 3, 9% in 2001.It is expected to reach 13% by 2011. The number of subscribers to both fixed and mobile lines has reached 9,84 million and the ratio of fixed and mobile telephone lines for 100 inhabitants is 94,6 lines. The figures also show that the number of PC's as of January 2009 has grown to some 1,015 580 units against 767,500 units end of 2007. The number of Internet users has also increased to 2, 83 million in March 2009, posting a growth of 62% in comparison with 2008. The country's international internet bandwidth has increased from 5 Gb/s end of Mars 2008 to 11,25 Gb/s in March 2009. Internet domain names increased by 10,5% in March 2009 in comparison with 2008, amounting to 11,751. On another level, the amount of electronic money transactions reached 421 million dinars in March 2009 against 240 million during the same period last year. There are now 73 ICT companies operating at the El Ghazala technological park, an increase of more than 37% in comparison with 2008. The sector of call centres has also witnessed a major growth with 210 operating call centres in 2009, an increase of 31, 5 % in comparison with 2008. The El Ghazala technological park, which specializes in ICT research and development, hosts a number of multinational companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Microsoft, Actielec, Krombert and Schubert, IGE-XAE, and Stonesoft. (Source: Tunisia Online) Dimension Data Reports Strong Financial Performance for African activitiesLondon and JSE-listed Dimension Data Holdings announced its results for the six months ended 31 March 2009. Dimension Data delivered a strong first half FY2009 performance with improved metrics across the majority of the business. The performance is particularly pleasing in light of the challenging trading conditions experienced in many of its key markets. In constant currency, revenue grew by 8.1% to $1.950 billion while the operating margin improved by 0.7 of a percent to 4.6% driving a 37.4% increase in operating profit to $88.8 million. Commenting on the results, CEO Brett Dawson said, “The Group’s first half performance has been particularly pleasing in light of the challenging trading conditions we’re experiencing in some of our key markets. Excellent execution in our Services business led our overall revenue and profitability growth in the period. Total Services revenues increased 21.1% and were driven by strong growth of 25.2% in Managed Services.” The Group’s regional performances were strong, with the exception of the Americas. Australia, Europe, and Middle East and Africa delivered excellent performances. Internet Solutions’ revenue grew by 37.4% over H1 2008 while gross margin declined as a result of increased competitive pressure in the South African market, as well as the impact on input costs of the stronger US Dollar. Plessey revenues were up 57.5% for the period, although gross margins were lower. Revenue growth was supported by orders for site construction in Africa (in particular Uganda and South Africa) and by growth in fibre rollout projects in South Africa. In brief:- China, through its financial institution, "China Exim Bank", has granted Togotelecom 200 million Yuans (about US$ 30 million or CFA F 15 billion) for the modernization of its facilities and network improvement. With this money, Togotelecom will acquire, install and use telecommunication equipment via the local radio (last mile wireless) called "Illico". It will also enable the Togotelecom to extend its network in a bid to facilitate access by customers. - In Zimbabwe, EconetWireless founder Strive Masiyiwa has struck a voting pool agreement with John Moxon which is likely to result in the termination of a two-year long marriage between the Nigel Chanakira founded Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited (KFHL) and Meikles Africa Limited that culminated in the formation of Kingdom Meikles Africa Limited (KMAL) in November 2007. - Working smarter by finding more efficient ways to operate has allowed telecoms company TeleMasters to post a rise in all its most important figures for the six months to March. Revenue of R113m was up 38% from R82m and it retained R6,7m of that in net profit, up a healthy 43% from R4,7m a year ago. The rise in revenue was partly due to acquisitions made during the past few months, with further growth coming from concerted efforts to enhance its operating abilities. - Moroccan fixed-wireless and 3G mobile operator Wana’s parent group, Casablanca-based diversified conglomerate ONA, reported that revenues from its telecoms services climbed 93% year-on-year to MAD578.8 million (USD70.6 million) in the first quarter of 2009 as voice traffic soared and internet sales grew 18%. Wana's turnover is set to leap when it launches GSM services later this year under a 2G licence it won in February. - Kenya's mobile operator Safaricom has picked Barclays Capital, Absa Bank and Kenya's CFC Stanbic to arrange a 9-12 billion shillings ($116-$155 million) bond, the company said on Thursday. East Africa's biggest mobile phone firm wants to increase its debt to finance expansion and invest in data services. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- Zimbabwe, mobile operator Telecel is to release about 100 000 new lines on the market this week, an official said on Monday. Public relations officer Monica Malunda told New Ziana the release would increase subscriber base to about 350 000. Currently, Econet commands the largest percentage share of subscriber base at 60 percent,followed by NetOne. - The Angolan mobile-phone operator Unitel plans to expand its services until the end of the current year to 150 districts of the country (almost 90 per cent of national territory). - Telkom Kenya has announced that its mobile arm Orange Mobile has connected a million customers in its first eight months of operation. The company has invested over KES10 billion (USD134 million) in its network infrastructure and attributes its customer growth to its ‘value driven tariffs’. - In a press release France Telecom (FT) says that from 18 May 2009, Orange will be launching a pan-African brand campaign across the majority of African countries where the brand is present unveiling its new international vision: ‘together we can do more’. Nokia has launched three new phones which it says are aimed at emerging markets and come preloaded with a range of Nokia's mobile internet services. The Nokia 2730 classic, Nokia 2720 fold and Nokia 7020 each come Internet-ready, and work with Nokia's range of emerging market services such as Nokia Life Tools and Ovi Mail. Prices range between EUR 55 (US$74) and EUR 90 (US$122). - Growth in the Egyptian mobile telecoms market is expected to slow by a third this year, an analyst with EFG-Hermes has predicted. Marise Ananian, head of telecoms research at EFG-Hermes says that the country will add around 8 million new subscribers during 2009, compared to the 12 million in 2008. "We assume market saturation in Egypt will be at 80 to 85 percent (of the population). - Zain, Africa's second-largest mobile service provider, has launched cross-border data services across East Africa and the Middle East on its One Network Platform in a bid to offer travelling customers fast and easy access to the Internet.
South African Everest expedition now “live” on InternetUsing technology to stay in touch with friends and relatives on the other side of the world is nothing new. But South African mountaineers Robby Kojetin and John Black are literally taking blogging and email to new heights: they’re keeping in touch with friends and family from Mount Everest, where they hope to summit in the next week. While acclimatising back in base camp after their climbing sessions up the mountain, Kojetin and Black are using modern communications technology to share their experiences with fans back home via an online blog post - complete with stunning photo updates. The team left for Mount Everest on 28 March 2009 after two and a half years of planning, and has been using Microsoft’s Windows 7 and Windows Live platforms to share their experiences ‘live’ from the face of the mountain --- a first for Everest. “Sometime this month, Robbie and I will attempt to add our names to the very brief list of South Africans who have managed to summit Everest,” says Black. “We wish to thank supporters back home for their daily posts on our web site and hope to be back home safely soon.” Black has climbed Kilimanjaro seven times already via various routes and has summited Africa’s Mount Kenya three times. He has scaled the highest peak in the Andes (Argentina’s Cerro Aconcagua), the highest peak in Europe (Russia’s Mt Elbrus), the highest peak in the Alps (France’s Mont Blanc), and in between fitted in other adventures such as glacier trekking in Iceland and completing the Ironman event. Kojetin, who has climbed three of the world's seven summits, is dubbing his Everest expedition the Climb of Hope, which has already raised more than R120 000 for CANSA and nearly a million rand in support to date. Colin Erasmus, who heads the Windows business at Microsoft SA, and his technical team compiled the communication system for the Everest team. “I have been in regular conversation with John and Robby, and it is a pleasure to see how the technology has put their experience at Everest on a broader, interactive public platform.” It takes in the region of 10 weeks to attempt to summit Mount Everest and a good portion of that time is spent 6000 meters above sea level, which is higher than Mount Kilimanjaro’s peak. Time is spent climbing up and down the mountain to acclimatise and allow red blood cells to build up in the body, which will allow for normal functioning in thin air environments. People interested in following their progress and sharing comments with them can do so at their website <http://mounteverestsouthafrica.spaces.live.com/> 2010 boosts mobile TV in AfricaFIFA, world soccer’s governing body, predicts a cumulative global TV audience of 26.3 billion people for the 2010 World Cup, and for the first time live coverage specially produced for mobile phones will be offered. More than 10 mobile TV broadcasting networks will be opened in Africa in time for the soccer world championships to be held in South Africa during June and July next year, according to Nokia Siemens Networks. Stefan Schneiders, the head of business development for mobile TV at Nokia Siemens, said he expects many African countries to shortly follow Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Namibia in launching DVB-H mobile TV broadcasts. The World Cup, one of the world's most closely followed sports events, will be held in South Africa in June and July of 2010. (Source: Screen Africa)
People- Zain Nigeria has announced key appointments in the company’s Commercial and Operations Groups and Human Resources Directorate. The newly appointed officials are Khaled Khorshid, Shamel Mohamed Hanafi and Jubril Saba. Khorshid will take charge of the Operations Group, formerly headed by Lars Stork, a Dane, while Hanafi and Saba will have responsibility for the Commercial Group and Human Resources Directorate respectively. - At the 75th Information Technology Association (ITA) annual general meeting, held in Midrand last week, Chose Choeu, Director for Corporate Affairs at Microsoft South Africa, was appointed as President for the 2009/10 term. Events:* Elearning AFRICA 2009 4th International Conference on ICT for Development 27-29 May 2009, Dakar, Senegal eLearning Africa 2009 will welcome nearly 300 speakers from 50 countries to Dakar, Senegal. The programme, which is now available on the eLA website, will feature state-of-the-art presentations and interactive workshops, together with practical demonstrations and cutting-edge debates on key issues in the field of eLearning for the African continent. A range of new initiatives will also be presented. For further information visit <http://www.elearning-africa.com/> *Salvo Global: Telecoms Pricing Masterclass* 8th - 9th June, Johannesburg, South Africa The course is designed to give participants a clear understanding of Pricing evolution and objectives, Influences on pricing strategy options, Pricing options & Bundling options. Participants will work themselves on a case study on price management that incorporates all steps in the pricing process. By the end of the two day course packed with real life case studies, participants will be able to learn techniques to deliver distinctive and profitable price models and develop strategies for their customers and businesses. Interested to participate, please go to www.salvoglobal.com/telecomspricing.asp * Mobile Banking & Financial Services Africa 20-22 July 2009, Southern Sun Grayston Hotel, Johannesburg Building on the highly successful inaugural event last year, the conference will again deliver timely insights into the key business, technical and security considerations that all players in the mobile banking and payments industry in Africa must address. For more information and to book your place now, call +44 (0)20 7017 7483 or e-mail your registration to us at registrations@iir-telecoms.com or book online at http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=19296 * Telecoms World Africa 31 August - 4 September 2009, Cape Town international Convention Centre - Cape Town Telecoms World Africa is an established forum for the communications sector in Africa. The only one of its kind, this event provides a platform for key stakeholders to discover the opportunities for growth in Africa, and establish themselves as market leaders… For more information visit website: http://www.terrapinn.com/2009/telecomza/ or email: katia.selibas@terrapinn.co.za * MMT 09 - Mobile Money Transfer 26-27 October2009, Dubai. MMT 09 is a 'must attend' event for anyone who is serious about remittances. Over 350 mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, money transfer networks, banks and technology providers will converge at MMT 09 to discuss the best ways to make money from mobile money transfer. Nowhere else in the world will you find so many MMT project leaders all gathered in one place. For more information visit www.mobile-money-transfer.com or email harpreet.sohanpal@clarionevents.com Jobs and Opportunities* Head Of Sales - West Africa The company is looking for a Head of Sales who has extensive experience working with mobile vendors selling equipment to customers and will remain a hands on customer facing role with responsibility for executing major deals. Required Skills and Background: - Wide knowledge of telecoms industry with focus on mobile operators. - Experienced in sales and marketing of telecoms products and solutions - Excellent communications and leadership skills - Great drive and initiative - Good Team spirit and interpersonal relationship - Ability to work under pressure and tight timelines For further information on the job or to post your application, click on the following link http://www.cellular-news.com/recruitment/list_job.php?uid=7310 Contracts* ipNX and Helios Towers - Nigeria Nigerian WiMAX operator ipNX has inked a deal with network infrastructure and managed services provider Helios Towers to expand the telecoms company’s network nationwide. Under the agreement, Helios will provide end-to-end co-location services, including maintenance, backhaul and managed services, and will allow ipNX to lease over 300 of its 1,000 tower sites to increase network capacity.
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