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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 456 29th May 2009 Kenya’s Pasha Centres initiative seeks a new way to reach out into un-serviced areasKenya’s ICT Board is in the throes of setting up what it has dubbed Pasha Centres as part of its preparations for the opening of the Seacom cable at the end of next month. Pasha Centres are designed to deliver voice and Internet services out into un-serviced rural areas. Unlike many other African Universal Service initiatives that are delivered by existing companies or donors, these will be set up by local entrepreneurs who will not necessarily have previous experience of ICT. Russell Southwood asks whether this is a brave or a foolhardy approach. Set up in February 2007, the Kenya ICT Board has a four-fold mandate that encompasses: marketing Kenya as a business process outsourcing destination; advising the Government on the development of the ICT sector in the country; providing skilled capacity for the achievement of ICT projects for development; and project managing anchor projects. One of its anchor projects is the creation of what it has dubbed Pasha Centres which are a combination of cyber-café and training centre. There are three levels of Pasha Centre - basic, standard and advanced - reflecting different levels of service and bandwidth available. The Basic level centre will have connectivity only to the Centre with 4-5 lap-tops and will probably be housed alongside a retail outlet as a subsidiary business. The Standard level centre will have 6 laptops and a Media room with multi-media equipment for audio-visual work. It will also have: an IT training room; an IT supplies outlet; offer VoIP calling services and be able to service Wi-Fi connections to places several kilometres beyond the centre. On top of all of the above, the Advanced level centre will have an Interview room, a coffee shop and a Health Pod. The centres are designed to reach rural areas which have not yet got connectivity. The services that will drive use are as follows: a Learning Centre (offering different types of training, some ICT related), video delivery (for example, watching downloaded programmes), IP phone services (giving cheap calling rates), a Media Centre (capable of knocking up posters, printing T-shirts and editing video) and Government e-services for day-to-day transactions. The Government applications that will drive use are: the payment of taxes online; the ability to search legal cases and the constitution; a digitalised land registry and vehicle licence registrations. These centres will be set up by entrepreneurs who will get soft loans over 3 years from the Government out of a revolving fund. There will also be a bandwidth support scheme. Paul Kakubo of the ICT Board says that the bandwidth support scheme is “to provide a quick-start approach to help the digital village entrepreneurs make the best use of time and resources available and see quick results.” In addition, they will get training to help them run the centre and there will be a maintenance scheme to help keep everything up-and-running. The number of planned Pasha centres is shown in the table below:
There are three keys that will ensure the success or otherwise of the Pasha Centres: the availability of local entrepreneurs; services that people might want to use; and a demand for those services. In terms of availability of local entrepreneurs, Kenya could not be a better place to start. Safaricom’s M-Money service, M-Pesa has 7,512 agents countrywide and a significant number of these are to be found in remote places. But whereas the M-Pesa agents have to risk their own money by putting up KS50,000-100,000, the Pasha Centre entrepreneurs get a free loan. Now obviously the scheme wanted to make the barriers to entry as low as possible but often what comes for free in Africa is not valued. The service bouquet offered by the Centres has a range of interesting possibilities. If it can get basic Government and utility services like paying bills and taxes right, then people will begin to see a time trade-off. But this may underestimate the attractions of a day spent in the nearest large town or of a trip to Nairobi. The calculation is both social as well as economic. There will be a national information portal and the initiative is partnered with Cisco, Google and Microsoft. Neverthless, Kakubo believes that there will be a high demand for computer based training in the rural areas and “it makes money and meets our objectives.” The bigger question is where does the training lead? If all goes well, it should lead on to people incorporating these services in their existing work or launching new businesses. What is less clear at this stage is the detail of those two things. It is hoped that e-commerce transactions will also form part of this mix. The “missing middle” at the moment is perhaps content. People will fight to get into the centres if there is something they want to watch or listen to. If there were football matches or films screened with a digital projector, then it is not hard to imagine a crowd gathering. Likewise, the right sort of online education courses will lead to people coming through the doors. For as Kakubo says:”Rural consumers want quality education.” Kakubo believes that:”Comsumers at the bottom of the pyramid will create their own reality. They will make the services work. We will lose some and gain some. They won’t be successful everywhere but there will be permanent successes.”
Nigeria: 2.3GHz Licensing Round Crisis DeepensThere seems to be no end to the crisis generated by the 2.3GHz licensing round. While the Ministry of Information and Communications is standing by the cancellation of the process citing lack of transparency, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) remains adamant, warning of far reaching consequences if the Ministry maintains its stand. While the dust has yet to settle, the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) charged with carrying out bulk trans-sectoral allocation of spectrum to authorised statutory bodies has officially released the 2.3GHz frequency spectrum to the NCC to pave the way for the commencement of a new licensing process. The NFMC, at a meeting held last week in Abuja, questioned the right of NCC to commence the sale of the 2.3GHz frequency without a formal official release by the council. At the meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of State, Alhaji Ikra Bilbis, and had representatives of NCC, DG of Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Aviation, Science and Technology and other relevant government agencies in attendance, the NFMC reiterated that the ratification and release of frequency by NFMC must be received before any processes could commence. ThisDay gathered that the NFMC had in an earlier meeting questioned the right of NCC to commence the sale of the 2.3GHz frequency without a formal official release by the Council. The meeting discussed the importance of ensuring that at all times the allocation and use of spectrum must be done properly in accordance with guidelines and laid down laws. NCC, reacting to the cancellation of the licensing round by the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili, strongly advised government against the cancellation. The NCC, in a statement, pointed out that "far-reaching consequences" might follow such an action, both from the legal and regulatory points of view. The statement, signed by the NCC spokesman, Rueben Muoka, confirmed that the regulator received a letter from the Ministry of Information and Communications informing the NCC of the cancellation. The cancellation of the process also elicited reaction from Mobitel Limited, one of the successful applicants of the licence. Mobitel, in a statement made available to ThisDay, also cleared the air on some "pertinent issues". It added that the management of the firm went through due process as published by the NCC to bid and pay for spectrum in the 2.3GHz band. Mobitel disclosed that though it stopped operations in 2005 after it went into receivership, it had been revived by a consortium led by Omni Ventures in 2008. According to the statement, the new management went through a process of negotiation with all creditors to whom the old Mobitel had been indebted, eventually paying off about N3.5 billion in accumulated debts in readiness for commencement of operations by the new owners of Mobitel. Denying allegations that the NCC granted Mobitel a waiver for N246,452,421.90, it said at the time the new management of Mobitel took over, it discovered what the old Mobitel owed the NCC was N500 million more than was alleged to the tune of N746,452,421.90, in licensing fees including the three years when Mobitel was out of operation. According to the statement, the new management cleared the debt in May 2008 by paying NCC N500 million and thereafter applied for a waiver for the remaining debts owed by the old Mobitel. The waiver request was granted in October 2008 in recognition of the fees that had accrued during the period that the old Mobitel was out of operation. It also denied having prior knowledge of the tender for the 2.3GHz spectrum band, adding that the firm had irrefutable proof that the funds were only sourced for after the invitation to tender was published by the NCC. It described the cancellation of the process as an infringement of the firm's rights and called for the upholding of the results from the tender process as previously announced by the commission. The sale of the 2.3GHz ran into trouble when Akunyili said she had discovered that the process of the sale was flawed. According to documents obtained by ThisDay, and signed by Permanent Secretary, the Ministry of Information, Dr. Abubakar Mohammed, the NCC should have waited to secure the release of the 2.3GHz Spectrum frequency band by NFMC which was a direct violation of the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 - Section 28, sub section E before going ahead with the licensing round. ThisDay learnt that the issue led to the convening of a meeting between the Communication Ministers and NCC, where it was agreed that the whole process should be conducted afresh after the Spectrum is officially released by the statutory body, NMFC, which was done yesterday. With the release of the Spectrum, the first step in the new sale process is set to commence. ThisDay gathered that at the meeting, Akunyili stated that the purpose of the meeting was on the controversy surrounding NCC's sale of the 2.3GHz radio frequency band to some Private Telecommunication Operators to provide Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Services, which was alleged not to have followed due process.She added that the meeting was also a follow-up to the President's directive that all the parties concerned should go back to the negotiating table. The Acting Director, Spectrum Management, Federal Ministry of Information and Communications, F. Y. N. Daudu, reportedly informed the meeting that on 20th January, 2009, the Ministry had written to the NCC and NBC to stay action on the controversial 2.3GHz and other similar radio frequency bands with a reminder on the 27th January, 2009, properly informing the NCC that the NFMC had not released the band. The Chairman of NCC, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, told the meeting that he had finally understood the true position of things and realised that due process was not followed in the release of the 2.3GHz radio frequency band to the NCC. He confirmed that the time given (five days) for the payment of the licence fee was short. He, however, requested that whatever decision the meeting was to take, it should have at the back of its mind that the process of sale had been concluded and information known to the public. In addition, payments had already been made. He said it might not be easy to cancel the sale at this time and in the event that the sale is now cancelled, there could be both financial and legal implications to the action. He appealed that the Minister of Communications should take the least line of resistance to rectify the issue and advised that any decision that was to be taken by the meeting must be done with caution. Akunyili then reportedly reiterated that since it had been established that due process and rule of law were not followed, the Minister of Finance would be directed to return the monies paid by the companies and that no judge knowing that rule of law and due process had not been followed would pass judgment in favour of the companies. She then made it clear to the meeting that she had no interest in any of the companies getting the bid for the spectrum and reiterated that there should be no difficulty in "retracing our steps to do the right thing". (Source: This Day) Sierra Leone lifts ban on additional mobile company licencesMinister of information and communications has said that the lifting of the temporary ban on the registration of mobile companies would see the registration of more GSM companies in the country. Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo told Concord Times that the government had earlier placed a temporary ban to allow the national telecommunications commission (NATCOM) to clean up the industry and allocate frequency to mobile companies. "We had placed a ban for NATCOM to restructure the whole telecom industry. We are not a government that operates on monopoly. The moratorium placed on mobile company registration is against the principles of liberal economy, that is why it was lifted," he said. According to Kargbo, the All People's Congress, APC government was determined to open the market so that more investors will come into the country and invest. He said the government was ready to promote the concept of a liberal economy but warned that mobile phone companies should operate within the realm of the law. "GSM companies are free to register as long as NATCOM thinks they are qualified. We are aware of the registration of two mobile companies in the country," he maintained. The information and communications minister noted that even before they announced the temporary ban on the registration of GSM companies, NATCOM, the body responsible for registering mobile companies has already issued licenses to two. (Source: Concord Times) Zimbabwe’s Powertel to roll-out CDMA service to BulawayoPowertel Communications - a unit of Zesa Holdings - is set to roll out its new CDMAservice in Bulawayo before the end of the year. Before, the service was only available in Harare. The Sunday Mail Business understands that the telecommunications company has already sourced two base stations that will form the backbone for the service in the country’s second biggest city. Presently setting up a base station in Zimbabwe costs between US$190,000 and US$270,000 depending on the equipment that is used. According to Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira, provision of the service is now viable because of the use of a stable currency. "We are working on the logistics, but we are working at introducing the CDMA service in Bulawayo as part of our national rollout project. We will definitely be expanding to other areas as well. "It must be considered that we have an obligation to provide these services to the public as a social responsibility and also to break even," explained Gwasira. Powertel is working to strategically position itself in the telecommunications industry and is leveraging its projects on a strategic relationship it has with Chinese vendor ZTE. In 2005, Powertel Communications signed a US$35 million deal with a Chinese manufacturer for the supply of equipment for its national fibre network roll-out programme. (Source: Sunday Mail Business) MTN reaches the 100 million subscriber milestoneThe MTN Group has reached the 100 million subscriber mark in its drive to become the world’s leading telecommunications service provider in emerging markets. With a telecommunications network that covers a population of approximately 500 million, the 100 million subscriber achievement means that 1 in 5 people in MTN’s 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East is an MTN subscriber. The Group recorded 98,203,000 subscribers at 31 March 2009 - up 8% from 31 December 2008 - touching the all-important 100 million mark in April this year as the telecoms operator signed up more customers. MTN Group President and CEO Phuthuma Nhleko says: “For a 15-year-old company operating amid increased competitive intensity in all its markets, this is a most satisfactory performance by MTN. This affirms our leadership position in many areas of our business”. “MTN’s success is also attributable to a business model that has included sound financial investment, strong corporate governance, effective management and corporate social responsibility,” explained Mr. Nhleko. He paid tribute to MTN’s culturally diverse staff of over 40 nationalities across the company’s markets, saying their “can-do” spirit and “innovative mindset” had placed the MTN Group in a strong competitive position. The analysis below is presented on a regional basis. The proportional subscriber contribution between the regions remains relatively unchanged with that at 31 December 2008. South and East Africa (SEA) region contributed 26% (December 2008: 27%) of the Group’s total subscribers while West and Central Africa (WECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) contributed 45% (December 2008: 44%) and 29% (December 2008: 29%), respectively. The SEA region increased its subscriber base by 4% for the quarter. The South African operation contributes 69% to the region’s subscribers, increasing 2% to 17,428,000 for the quarter ended 31 March 2009. The modest increase in subscribers was due to the mix of seasonal trends, weakening economic conditions and aggressive competition. Uganda increased its subscriber base by 13% due to the continued success of MTN Zone. The WECA region increased its subscriber base by 10% for the quarter. The strong growth in the region was primarily due to growth in Nigeria which contributes 59% to the region’s subscribers and recorded a 12% increase in its subscriber base to 25,908,000. This was mainly due to continued improvements in network quality and capacity with 173 base stations added in the quarter. Ghana increased its subscriber base by 5% despite fierce competition. Both Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire increased their subscriber bases by 7% to 3,824,000 and 3,810,000, respectively. The MENA region recorded a 9% increase in subscribers for the quarter. This was due to continued growth from the Iran operation, which contributes 63% to the region’s subscribers and increased its subscribers by 14% to 18,252,000. The disappointing slowdown of subscriber acquisitions in Sudan and Syria is mainly attributed to the economic downturn in the respective countries. Sudan increased its subscriber base to 2,658,000 while Syria experienced negative growth of 3% to 3,428,000 subscribers. ARPU: MTN South Africa’s blended ARPU decreased by 6%. This is as a result of increased penetration into lower market segments, seasonal trends and a slowdown in consumer spending. Iran’s ARPU remain relatively stable notwithstanding seasonal trends and increased penetration. The decline of many local currencies against the US$ has negatively affected ARPU trends. Larger operations including Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Syria and Sudan experienced significantly more resilience in local currency ARPU than reflected in the reported US$ number. In brief:- Angola’s minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology, José Carvalho da Rocha, assured that the government will create legal regulations to combat fraud in the field of Information Technologies and Communication (ITC). - I-Network, the IICD-supported national Information and Communication Network in Uganda assisted in forming a protection association for Ugandan Information and Communication Technology (ICT) consumers. The association was officially launched on March 20 in Kampala. - Following a feasibility study, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has concluded that mobile number portability (MNP) is not necessary until the wireless subscriber tally is higher. ‘At this stage, number portability is not something we see as a remedy in this market,’ Patrick Masambu, executive director of the UCC, said. ‘We carried out a study into this and we have the conclusion that there is a certain subscriber sum we need before we introduce number portability because of the costs involved.’ Masambu said that MNP will only make sense when there are ten million mobile subscribers in the country. At the time the UCC conducted the study Uganda had three million users, a figure which had jumped to 8.7 million by the end of 2008. - The Open Mobile Consortium has launched its global development community to help organizations working towards social good to better collaborate and share mobile phone-based technologies. The OMC’s open source software tools help organizations to better serve the health, humanitarian and development needs of the “bottom billion,” the poorest and most disenfranchised citizens of the world. For further information visit their website http://www.open-mobile.org The Kenyan government is not likely to lower taxes on mobile phone airtime, despite increasing calls from the mobile network operators for action. The country currently levies a 26 percent duty on airtime top-ups. "The duty paid is important to Treasury; if the government scraps the duty, the books will not balance," Uhuru Kenyatta, the minister in charge of finance told IDG News Service. - Reuters is reporting that Nigeria’s anti-corruption police have charged the head of local conglomerate Transcorp and two other employees with fraud for embezzling around USD110 million belonging to struggling former monopoly telco NITEL.
Korea Telecom gets on with building national backbone in RwandaOfficials of South Korea's telecom giant Korea Telecom (KT) pledged to President Paul Kagame yesterday at Urugwiro Village to establish a reliable national backbone to carry forward the country's ICT aspirations. Addressing the press shortly after paying a courtesy call on the President, Soo-Ho Maeng, the Executive Vice President and head of Global Business of the telecom giant pledged the company's readiness to establish a quality and efficient Fibre-optic network to support the current and future connectivity demands of the country. "We look forward through our partnership with Rwanda, to set up the broadband services, the first of its kind in Africa. KT has personalised Wireless broadband construction and we are sure that Rwanda will soon have the best network in the region," Maeng said. The Korean firm which officially opened its offices in Rwanda on Thursday is contracted by the Rwandan government to construct a national backbone project worth US $40m. It also has, since 2008, a contract to establish a wireless broadband network known as the Kigali Metropolitan Area Network (Kigali MAN) accessible to 10,000 people in Kigali with both projects worth up to $70m in total as well as a contract to install the Kigali WiBro, a commercial wireless mobile broadband. "What we are targeting is to see over 4 million Rwandans gain access to high speed internet within the next two to three years. Government is also looking at increasing broadband availability linkage to more than 700 Rwandan institutions, including schools, health-care centres, army barracks and local government administrative centres" Romain Murenzi told journalists soon after the meeting with the President. The national backbone is expected to consist of a high-speed fibre-optic network that will link 36 main points in Rwanda's 30 districts, with a 2,300-kilometre cable running across the country and will also be linking Rwanda to the undersea cable of the cost of Mombasa. Murenzi said that the findings of recent tour to the Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa end points indicate that activities to connect to the undersea cable should kick off by July 2009. KT is a prominent South Korean integrated wired and wireless telecommunication service provider. It has developed an information & communications business for the last 25 years, and has the largest portion of the South Korean local telephone and high-speed Internet business. (Source: The New Times) Morocco invests in fibre optic line to Western Sahara and MauritaniaMaroc Telecom has secured a US$ 1.3 billion investment programme, mostly financed by the Moroccan government. The programme will see major improvement and modernisation of Morocco's fixed-line and mobile networks, but also a new fiber optic cable to France and through Western Sahara into Mauritania. This will Mauritania a competitive alternative to using SAT3 through Dakar. Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of Maroc Telecom, which is majority-owned by the French giant Vivendi, yesterday signed off an investment deal with the Moroccan government. The deal secures investments of dirham 10.5 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) into Morocco's telecom infrastructure. According to a statement issued by Maroc Telecom, "the investment programme will be devoted to the extension and modernisation of telecommunications infrastructure and will focus on three key thrusts." The first objective would be to "support capacity enhancement with the aim of ensuring optimal traffic management and service quality through the use of Next Generation Network (NGN) while also enabling the deployment, under optimal conditions, of convergence services in the Fixed-line and Mobile services segments in order to roll out unlimited call plans, IPTV and broadband internet" in Morocco proper. The second objective is more controversial and concerns Morocco's connections with the outside world. Maroc Telecom pledges to enhance its international transmission capacity via the Atlas Offshore submarine cable between Morocco and Europe. The cable, which was completed in 2007, connects the cities of Asilah in Morocco and Marseille in France, but with ever-increasing telecom traffic, Maroc Telecom sees a need to upgrade the cable already. Another fiber optic cable connection is planned southwards, to provide good connectivity for the hitherto poorly connected Moroccan-occupied territory of Western Sahara. Maroc Telecom plans an extension of the fiber optic line now reaching the Sahrawi capital El Aaiun, to go further southwards, passing Boujdour, Dakhla and Aousserd, and finally reaching the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. Reaching Mauritania, the Moroccan-controlled cable will become a second alternative for West Africa's enhanced connectivity, adding to the West African Cable System (WACS), which is being constructed along Africa's Atlantic coast from Europe to South Africa. Neither Mauritania nor Senegal have signed up to this competing project yet, and in both countries, Vivendi has a strong position. According to Maroc Telecom, the third objective of the giant investment scheme involves providing coverage across major rural areas and isolated mountain communities in Morocco as part of the Telecommunications Access Programme (PACTE). "An additional 7,300 rural areas will be served by the telecommunications network by 2011," the company announced. (Source: Afrol) Using fast Internet in Ghana without a getting into debt - the pre-pay wayAccording to development agency IICD, Internet connection is often unreliable, too slow and too expensive. An answer to this problem could be a high quality direct satellite connection but for most project partners, the monthly fees for such connections are too high. The Pay-As-You-Go system used in Ghana could be a solution for these problems. Pay-As-You-Go is an access model to Internet through satellite that’s already very well known all around the world. It can be found in airports, hotels or large shopping malls in western countries. People buy vouchers to log in to the internet for a certain amount of time or they can use a certain amount of data or time. They then type in the vouchers’ code on their laptop or at a PC on the location and get an indication of how long they can stay online until the card runs out. In Africa there is also a lot of experience with this prepaid model. Particularly in the mobile phone industry prepaid cards are sold frequently and in some cases even electrical companies offer the prepaid service. Benefits of the system compared to a regular internet connection is that there are no contracts or monthly bandwidth obligations. The users can determine how much they use the internet and pay accordingly. This means that there is no chance of getting into debts and being cut-off. If all the vouchers’ value runs out, it simply runs out. Another advantage is that there is a continuous direct high quality connection that you can use with a voucher. This satellite connection is also very fast because it is direct. The Pay-As-You-Go system offers speeds of up to 512 kilobits per second. IICD currently uses the Pay-As-You-Go system as a pilot in the Community Information Centre (CIC) leveraging programme in Ghana. In this project 230 centres are built across the country where farmers but also other members of the rural community can access the internet. IICD supports ten of the Community Information Centres. The centre in Salaga, a city in the northern region of Ghana is the first of the CICs to use Pay-As-You-Go. Salaga’s Community Information Centre has a satellite dish that receives the signal for the internet connection. This signal is then spread out to six smaller centres of local organisations. The signal can also be received outside of the centres with a laptop. So if a user of a laptop has a voucher, he or she can also log in while sitting outside. The members of the organisations can buy vouchers at the CIC in Salaga. The CIC buys the vouchers from a internet company and sell them for a slightly higher price. Members of the smaller centres use the vouchers to log in to computers in their own centre or sometimes even on a laptop. With the voucher it is not only possible to surf websites and check and send emails. It is also very popular to use the vouchers for free-of-charge Internet phone programs such as Skype. There is a wide range of different vouchers available, starting from Internet for just half an hour up to Internet access for a year. The duration time of these cards is based on ‘normal’ data use. So if just emails are sent and websites are visited, the voucher will last as long as it says it will, but if websites are visited where videos have to be streamed or music or movies are downloaded, more megabytes are used and the card will last shorter. To give an idea: a one year voucher costs US$600 and has a data limit of 15,000 MB. With 1 MB one can send about 2 to 3 emails or look at about 10 web pages. Watching a video on YouTube will use about 2.25 MB per minute. Downloading a music CD though costs about 50 MB and a regular movie will cost at least 700 MB. This also makes clear, that if the CIC internet connection is used for downloading movies daily, then the one-year voucher will not even last one month. The advantage of a system that works with data use is that it ensures that users have a good sense of how much data they are using. Especially in a country with little access, it is crucial that people are aware of the costs of internet and how they use it. A disadvantage of the Pay-As-You-Go system is that a user can only see how much bandwidth he or she consumes and how many minutes are still on the card when logging in and out. This however counts for little compared to the advantage of not having to pay a monthly fee. Another issue to keep in mind is that it is quite expensive in the beginning to set up the pay-as-you-go system. It requires an expensive satellite, equipment and ICT support. When implemented correctly this does not have to be a problem though. The more locations participate in the system, the cheaper it gets because then also new customers will use the system. With the money that will be made eventually also someone can be hired for continuous ICT support. This saves the costs of constantly hiring external ICT specialists. The lack of capable ICT support locally is another challenge of this system. IICD has paid for at least a half a year worth of vouchers for the CIC in Salaga. IICD has bought 200 vouchers of 30 minutes and 180 vouchers of 60 minutes and one voucher of a year. The one year voucher was used by the CIC themselves for activities such as giving courses to teachers, providing information to the general public about governmental regulations and to sell farmer market price information. The Community Information Centre in Salaga has already bought a new batch of vouchers. The CIC uses the vouchers for their own Internet purposes as well as sell them against a higher price to the members of the local organisations. Since the centre in Salaga is an IICD pilot, it is closely monitored and could also be a solution to connectivity problems or high costs for some of IICD’s other partners. (Source: IICD) In brief:- Layer3 has commissioned its long haul fibre, linking Lagos to Abuja. This leased private managed line will be a solution for organizations, such as financial institutions, airlines and other corporate firms and telcos requiring a connection that carries important, secure and time-sensitive content. - Seacom has completed the critical portions of its 13,700km undersea cable and land-based infrastructure, meeting its deadline for the completion of this phase, and commencing with system testing. The company says testing is now under way and will cover the network's connections, interfaces and synchronous digital hierarchy systems. This will ensure optimum configuration and traffic flow are attained before customers go live. The entire system will be operated and controlled through Seacom's Network Operations Centre, which is based in Pune, India. - Suburban Telecom, a subsidiary of Suburban West Africa has completed the deployment of the first inland fibre optic cable network in West Africa that connects Nigeria to its Francophone neighbours, the Republic of Benin, Togo and as well as Ghana.
Rwanda to Host OLPC Learning Centre for AfricaRwanda is set to become home to the pilot learning centre for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project in Africa due to its outstanding progress in promoting the child user friendly computer on the continent. The centre to be located at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) to be known as the OLPC Learning Centre will be launched on June 9 and it is aimed at supporting Rwanda achieve its objectives of promoting ICT in Education but also act as a reach out centre for the whole of Africa. "Most countries in Africa and Latin America have started this programme of OLPC and the OLPC Group has agreed to start a learning centre to support the use of these computers in every continent," explained Richard Niyonkuru, the OLPC Coordinator at the Ministry of Education. "Rwanda was chosen on the African continent for its outstanding progress in the OLPC programmes and government's commitment to integrate the use of ICT in the 9 year basic education," said Niyonkuru in an interview with The New Times. Rwanda, ahead of the launch of the learning centre is also set to receive the 60 pioneer OLPC Corps, a group of students from different US Universities who have volunteered to teach children how the laptops are used. "The 60 Corps will be inducted in Rwanda to support the OLPC Project as their first stop but at a later stage a team of two volunteers will be dispatched to different African countries with 100 pieces to support OLPC activities," noted Niyonkuru. According to the State Minister of Education Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, Government has already ordered 100,000 units to be delivered in phases, worth about US $18.1m and the first shipment of 5,000 computers is expected in the country at the end of June while more 15,000 pieces will be shipped in by August. "We really want to encourage parents to buy these low cost laptops for their children because they are vital implements in their children's education, if they need to equip their children with the digital skills necessary in this era," said Mutsindashyaka. The laptops are acquired at a subsidised cost of US$100 a piece and the aim is to have all primary-going pupils acquire one. According to Niyonkuru, the OLPC Association has also donated 10,000 more laptops to add to the already 10,000 laptops that have been distributed across the country. "Our target is to have 70,000 laptops in circulation by 2012. Government has already paid 20 percent on the 100,000 units and a cabinet meeting has signed a letter of credit to secure the rest of the laptops," said the Minister. (Source: The News Time) Amharic Office Word Application Software Almost CompleteA project working on the localization of two software types is about a month away from finalization, knowledgeable sources disclosed. The joint ICT glossary project, currently in its finale stages, is under the strategic agreement of the Ethiopia Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EICTDA), the Addis Abeba University (AAU) and Microsoft. It is meant to translate terminologies used in the software from English to Amharic - Ethiopia's official language at federal level. IT experts from EICTDA, the AAU and Microsoft have been working on the project for over one year and expect to finish the translation work in the coming month; the translated software will be available to the public for free, according to Minasse Zewdu, citizenship manager at Microsoft East Africa Limited, Ethiopia Branch Office. The localized software will make it easy for the majority of Ethiopians to operate and work with them, as they are not expected to have knowledge of English to be able to use the software packages, Minasse, told Fortune. Under the supervision of EICTDA, in cooperation with the AAU, which is a consultant in the project, the idea of terminology translation from English to Amharic was initiated by Microsoft Company at a cost of about 100,000 dollars. The aim of this ICT electronic glossary project is to exclusively focus on interpreting office word-application software and vista-system operating software by encoding them into Amharic, an expert at the EICTDA, who requested anonymity, told Fortune. The localization requires prompt, effective and sustainable translation of new terms into the local language, with the aim of building clear and understandable terminologies. The need to have an information and communication technology e-glossary for terms translated from English into the county's official language is mainly because of the poor accessibility to digital information, according to Minasse. "If people cannot use ICT devices in their own language and cultural context, it causes a digital divide. The establishment of such standards plays a key role in bridging the digital divide and making friendly-ICT available to all citizens, Minasse explained This localization program provides people with an entry to technology in a language that is familiar and honors linguistic and cultural distinction, as well as provides an opportunity to grow in local IT economy. The Internet and other carriers of content and applications feature mainly the language and culture of the western country, primarily English, which contains no content customized to the needs of Ethiopians, for example. Education authorities claim that the objective of the Ethiopian government is to equip citizens with the means to apply ICT in their daily lives, and to increase opportunities for learning through the acquisition of knowledge and information. "At present, the absence of standardized ICT terminology for the country's' languages in general has created problems in the educational system, ICT sector and hindered the development of relevant digital content and application," Minasse told Fortune. (Source: Addis Fortune) Kenya bets on ICT sector to spur growthSpreading business opportunities in the Information Communication and Technology sector (ICTs) to small and medium enterprises could boost the country’s overall economy, says experts. Other than that, the quality and access to electrical power supply or alternative power source in most parts of the country is also a critical issue that needs to be addressed together with boosting innovative ICT solutions by encouraging or offering incentives to software developers. ICT is among the sectors that have been singled out to drive the country’s economy, but the impact of the post- election violence and high food prices have slowed down business performance in some of the key segments in this sector such as mobile telecommunication. The violence witnessed last year disrupted businesses in general and those in the ICT sector were not spared. On the other hand, high food prices has forced consumers to choose between spending on some of the ICT services or solutions and buying food especially at the lower bracket of the economy. Despite these happenings, experts are still optimistic that the sector will witness positive growths now that the telecommunication infrastructure hurdle that was making it expensive and uncompetitive for the local businesses is almost sorted out. The country expects to be connected to two undersea cables namely TEAMS and Seacom by the end of next month which will complement the satellite services which are not only expensive but has low quality of services compared to the fibre. The challenge is how to turn this pipe into a supermarket- an income generating venture. “By offering most of the ICT related business to the SMEs, the government would be opening up the sector and spreading its benefits across the country” said Owino Magana a regional IT consultant. Other than this, Owino says the government and the private sector can partner on some ICT related projects across the country not only to create employment opportunities but to economically empower the citizens. Some of the business opportunities that could be availed to the SMEs are transforming the government documents from the current hard copy to digital formats, making it possible for local software programmers to compete for government tenders on an equal platform with multinational companies and outsourcing of some of the non core government or private sector activities to third parties. Paul Kukubo, the chairman of ICT board of Kenya, says the growth of the sector will mostly be determined by the SMEs in IT sector who either provide services, hardware, software , infrastructure or support services. (Source: Business Daily) In Brief:- NComputing, a provider of ultra low-cost computing solutions, is partnering with the United Nations to provide computers for educational purposes to schools in developing countries. The program, under the direction of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) aims to bring 500,000 computers to primary and secondary schools in these countries by 2012. The program is being developed by the UNDESA Global Alliance for ICT Development (GAID), and enjoys strong support from UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon. The first pilot phase of the project was concluded in Burkina Faso, with additional projects in Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania scheduled for 2009. - The OpenDocument Format (ODF) Alliance says that “serious deficiencies” in Microsoft’s support for ODF need to be addressed to ensure greater interoperability with other ODF-supporting software.
MTN, Bharti resume merger talksMerger talks between India’s largest carrier, Bharti Airtel, and pan-MEA operator MTN have been restarted a year after they were last abandoned. The news comes in the wake of the carriers each announcing that they have broken the 100 million subscriber barrier. MTN, which also held abortive merger talks with India’s number two carrier Reliance last summer, has agreed to negotiate exclusively with Bharti until the end of July this year. Bharti is the third largest single-market operator in the world, after China Mobile and China Unicom, while South Africa-headquartered MTN is one of the MEA region’s strongest players, with operations in 22 countries. Combined, the two carriers would rank third in the world in subscriber terms, behind China Mobile and Vodafone. The proposed deal would see Bharti acquire 49 per cent of MTN and MTN acquire 36 per cent of Bharti, of which 25 per cent would be held by MTN with the remainder held directly by MTN shareholders, Bharti said in a statement. MTN would pay some US$2.9 billion in cash and newly issued shares for its stake in Bharti, while the Indian firm would acquire approximately 36% of the currently issued share capital of MTN for ZAR 86.00 in cash plus 0.5 newly issued Bharti shares (per MTN share). This acquisition would push Bharti’s holding in MTN to 49 per cent. “We are delighted at the prospect of developing a partnership with MTN to create an emerging market telecom powerhouse,” said Bharti chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal. “Both companies would stand to gain significant benefits from sharing each other’s best practices in addition to savings emanating from enhanced scale. We see real power in the combination and we will work hard to unleash it for all our shareholders. This opportunity also represents a first of its kind in developing an Indian-African initiative that would serve as a shining example of South-South cooperation,” he added. (Source: Telecoms.com) Orascom Egypt reports 66% plunge in net profit resulting from foreign exchange devaluationEgyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom has reported its fiscal results for the three-month period ended 31 March 2008, revealing a steeper than expected decline in net profit. Orascom posted a 66% drop in net profit for the first quarter, down to USD72 million from USD210 million a year earlier. The operator said that currency devaluation against the US dollar was a major factor in the drop, noting that it been impacted by unrealised foreign exchange losses of approximately USD62 million in the quarter. Net revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period were also down to USD1.197 billion and USD526 million respectively, drops of 4% and 9% compared to end-March 2008; again Orascom said both drops were a direct result of foreign exchange fluctuations. Orascom singled out Algeria’s Djezzy as one of the group’s weaker performing subsidiaries, noting results were below expectations as a result of a slower approval process for promotions by the local regulator. It also said that its Pakistan-based operations were feeling the impact of both political and economic turmoil. Commenting on the results Naguib Sawiris, Orascom chairman and CEO, said: ‘The first quarter of 2009 confirmed our expectation that economic growth would slow further leading to a more challenging operating environment.’ The group also reported that at the end of March 2009 it had a total of 80.37 million subscribers across all of its units, up 9% against the previous year. Egypt’s MobiNil and Banglalink in Bangladesh led the way, adding 3.95 million and 2.02 million subscribers respectively, and helping to offset a decline of 3.29 million at Mobilink Pakistan. (Source: Telegeography) Vodafone, Vodacom alliance explore Nigeria market stakes through local subsidiary, Gateway CommunicationsWorld’s largest mobile phone company, Vodafone of UK and South Africa’s mobile phone company that it controls, Vodacom, are jointly intensifying their search for stakes in the Nigerian telecoms market which they hope to realise through their local subsidiary, Gateway Communications. CEO, Vodacom, Pieter Uys, has hinted that the duo are looking into telecoms market stakes in Nigeria, particularly WiMAX services in an ambitious bid stepped up by Vodafone to use the South African Vodacom Group as inroad into the African market through acquisitions. Both companies have made futile bid to enter the Nigerian market through acquisition of stakes in local operators, the most celebrated being Vodacom’s deal with Econet (now Zain Nigeria). It pulled out of the deal under controversial circumstances citing corporate governance issues with its local partners. Last December, the Vodacom Group announced the acquisition of acquisition of the carrier services and business network solutions subsidiaries of Gateway, Africa’s largest independent provider of interconnection services via satellite and terrestrial network infrastructures for both African and intercontinental telecoms companies. Gateway also provides an extensive range of high quality, end-to-end connectivity solutions to multinational corporations operating across Africa. Vodacom had said that acquisition of Gateway, which has solid footprint in Nigeria, offers multiple strategic benefits, among others, of accelerating its international expansion and, "broadens Vodacom’s international presence in key markets throughout Africa, especially Nigeria, and creates a platform for future expansion." “If you look at the world there aren’t many growth opportunities around; Africa is one of them,” Uys said. “All markets in Africa offer potential for consolidation.” Vodafone “has committed to use us” to enlarge its sub-Saharan business and “support us” on potential acquisitions, Uys said in an interview with Bloomberg. Growth continues to be sustained in the Nigerian telecoms market which has crossed a threshold 67million lines and market watchers are hedging their bets that opportunities are opening up for WiMAX and other technologies delivering wireless broadband and data services just as the Vodacom top shot says the duo are now keener to do business in Nigeria. “We were never exposed to growth in Nigeria,” Uys said. “It is competitive there but through Gateway at least we are doing business,” there and “we understand the market, so when that opportunity presents itself, in whatever form, we are already there. We can act,” he said. Gateway will allow Vodacom to bid for licences for WiMAX, he said, adding that if there’s a WiMax license for sale, “we will grab it.” Uys said the new Vodafone control is good for Vodacom adding that, “if you asked me 12 months ago I would have been more hesitant,” Uys said of his enthusiasm to be CEO of a listed subsidiary of Vodafone. “But I really like the management that is there now.” Uys said he has known Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao for 10 years. Discussions between the two companies on procurement and co-branding in new markets are underway, and Vodacom would “consider” re-branding itself, he said. “If it makes sense, yes we will do it.” Newbury, England-based Vodafone has sought assets in emerging markets, making acquisitions in India, Turkey and Qatar to make up for slumping demand in its main European markets. In November, it agreed to buy an additional 15 percent stake in Vodacom from Telkom South Africa Ltd. for 22.5 billion rand ($2.66 billion), ending a 50-50 partnership and raising its stake to 65 percent. Telkom South Africa’s remaining 35 percent stake was sold to investors and shares in Vodacom started trading in Johannesburg on May 18. Vodacom has operations in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho and Mozambique. Through its Gateway Communications Ltd. purchase in August, it offers satellite services in 40 African countries. (Source: Technology Times) Kenya to adopt regulatory mobile phone banking legislationKenya is set to adopt a series of laws aiming to regulate new areas of its financial sector, and particularly mobile banking. The new legislative package includes a project aiming to safeguard the integrity of electronic information and which officially recognizes the expanding electronic payments market. Another initiative dubbed Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering is currently being examined by the Kenyan parliament and deals with AML prevention and other payments-related crimes. Representatives of the Kenyan authorities have indicated that mobile banking is one among a range of similar technologies which has the potential to help low-revenue underbanked and unbanked Kenyans living in marginalised areas of the country. Out of Kenya’s 36 million population, only around 6.3 million individuals own traditional bank accounts, thus creating a significant market for mobile operators which provide mobile banking and payments services. (Source: The Paypers) In brief:- All telecom operators in Uganda could be required to list a given percentage of their shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). "Subsequent to the proposed review, the issue of Ugandans owning shares in the companies that operate in this market will be talked about because there is real concern," Mr. Patrick Masambu, the Executive Director UCC, told a stakeholders' meeting recently. - The Capital Market Authority (CMA), Egypt's stock market regulator, has once again rejected a bid by France Telecom (FT) to acquire the outstanding shares in cellco MobiNil. The CMA once again said that it had rejected the purchase offer on the grounds that it was unfair to the various shareholders; the regulator rebuffed FT’s initial bid in April 2009 for the same reason. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs) - Huawei says that it has launched a 2G base station (BTS) designed for use in rural communities in developing markets. The “EasyGSM BTS” is an All IP-based compact BTS, and was co-designed and developed in collaboration with Vodafone in the two firms’ joint Radio Mobile Innovation Centre based in Madrid, Spain. Huawei’s BTS has recently been tested with Vodacom in South Africa using only solar power.
Orange announces ‘new vision and brand campaign’ in Africa - Project « Galilée »Orange-France Telecom (FT) announced 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. To better compete with other African players such as MTN, Zain, Tigo ou moov, Orange will unveil its new international vision: ‘together we can do more’. The telco, and content provider and distributor -including TV programmes via the Orange Livebox- outlines that this is the first time it has rolled out a single brand campaign across so many markets. Countries involved are: Senegal, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Botswana and Kenya. The first round will reach Mali, Guinea and Botswana. This campaign is being coordinated by the Publicis group, and is based on a TV publicity film shot in South Africa to be shown in all the relevant countries, as well as press and posters. FT says its new pan-African launch is a step in the global deployment of Orange’s new vision, which was rolled out across Europe throughout the second half of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, covering 123 million Orange customers in more than 30 countries. Five communication agencies present in Africa have been involved: Leo Burnett, Mc Cann, Saatchi & Saatchi, Voodoo, DFA . In Senegal for example, the advertising will be broadcasted via RTS, WalfTV and 2STV, as well as on radio and posters. It is being carried out during a year when the Orange brand, ranked as the 53rd global brand in Millward Brown’s latest research, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Another objective of this campaign is to reconciliate locals with the brand and better communicate towards Fifa World Cup to be help in SA next year. Globacom Nigeria under new fake website treatA few months after Globacom detected a fake website developed by fraudsters and alerted subscribers, another fake website had been developed by fraudsters who are out to rip off people’s hard earned money. The website, www.online.glopromo.org, is being used by the fraudsters, in an attempt to lure unsuspecting subscribers and trick them to part with information on their bank accounts. Already, many subscribers have been receiving text messages to inform them that they have won N1 million and a brand new car in the Glo promo. They are then referred to the website to verify their prize. The snag, however, is that anyone who enters his numbers on the website is automatically routed to the next page where a congratulatory message is displayed. "Congrats!... You're lucky winner of N1,000,000 and a brand new Kia Rio in the Glo Double Awurf (sic) Pomo. Please enter the required information below to claim your winning:" After the personal data page, the subscriber is then taken to another page where banking information is requested on the pretext that it "will be used in transferring Your Winning fund." The fourth page is where the account details, including Account Name, Account Number, Type, Bank, ATM Card Number, ATM Pin Number are requested. All the 25 banks in the country are listed on the page. If a wrong account detail is entered, the system automatically detects and returns an error message, prompting the subscriber to check and correct the alleged error. Globacom, in a statement, expressed worries over the growing sophistication of the fraudsters and the uncommon boldness in attempting to perpetrate crime across the platforms of the telecommunications company and the 25 banks. (Source: This Day)
People- The African Network Operators Group (AfNOG) has awarded Internet engineer Adiel A. Akplogan the first Network Information Infrastructure (Nii) Service Award for 2009 for his contribution in establishing the very successful African Internet Numbers Registry, AfriNIC, and for his leadership and service to the African technical community. Events:* 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 * INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT - EAST AFRICA 11-13 August 2009, Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania The 11th East African Power Industry Convention, as part of iPAD East Africa, aims to address crucial issues within the regional power sector and find solutions to enhance growth, productivity and profitability for business as the need for a stable power supply for industry, business and mining is pivotal to the overall development of the economy of Tanzania and the EAC. Visit: www.ipad-africa.com/east or email: nicole.smith@spintelligent.com * 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/ * INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT - CONGO DRC 6-8 October 2009, Grand Hotel, Kinshasa, Congo DRC The Infrastructure Partnerships for African Development (iPAD) DRC 2009 conference and exhibition is a platform for sound investment and collaboration in the reconstruction of the DRC - under one roof between governments, the public sector and business. iPAD DRC 2009 is a one-stop-shop for investigating investment opportunities in the DRC and the region, opening up a previously inaccessible but lucrative market. Visit: www.ipad-africa.com/drc or email: nicole.smith@spintelligent.com * 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 OpportunitiesData Center Solutions Consultant - West Africa The ideal candidate needs at least 10 years of previous experience of Telco Data Center Audit as well as: site Audit at Customer Site in West Africa, collection of data, analysis and technical proposal, preferably previous experience of working in Africa, Huawei experience preferred, good Presentation skills and fluent English. For further information or to apply click on the following link
ContractsZOOMobile and Cerillion Technologies - Nigeria Nigerian private telecoms operator, ZOOMmobile is upgrading its interconnect billing and settlements systems. The new system means the operator can process 25 million interconnect call detail records (CDRs) per hour in one of the world’s most complex interconnect markets. It has recently gone live with a new Interconnect Manager from convergent billing and interconnect specialist, Cerillion Technologies. The implementation marks an extension of the existing relationship between the two companies, which began in 2006 with the successful delivery of Cerillion’s Mediator product on ZOOMmobile’s CDMA network.
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