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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 471 11th September 2009 African mobile ARPUs set to fall up to 2013 in most countries except in those with mobile data potential, says new reportGood news for consumers is bad news for Africa’s mobile operators. As coverage areas widen and competition increases, ARPUs in many of their country markets will go into long-term decline up to 2013. However, this cloud comes with a silver lining for many African countries. Where there is mobile data potential, ARPUs will begin to rise again. Operators across the region are shifting their sole focus from subscriber growth to improving ARPU or at least stopping its decline, by streamlining their operations (not Zain’s round of redundancies earlier in the year) and by offering advanced services. The emergence of 3G mobile technologies, coupled with the often poor or virtually non-existing fixed-line telecommunications infrastructure in Africa offers an opportunity to do this by offering broadband Internet access and other multimedia and entertainment services. Published this week, a new report from Balancing Act called African Mobile ARPU, Subscriber and Market Size Forecasts (2009-2013) looks at how revenues will and decline in different markets as well as projecting subscriber levels and market size. The 24 countries chosen for this report reflect the full range of mobile country markets on the continent. Some are small in terms of subscribers numbers, others are large. They also reflect a full range of literacy levels, GDP growth and language groups. The report opens with a detailed section entitled Mobile ARPU: the key to stemming ARPU decline. This looks at use levels and revenues in different markets as well as identifying browser and content use. Of the 24 country markets examined in the report, 17 are set to experience declining ARPUs in the short to medium term. The remaining 7 countries will experience continued ARPU growth. ARPU is not always a reliable guide to net profitability but there is enough available data to allow it to be a useful proxy for overall business performance. Over the last 3-5 years, ARPUs in Africa have gone from the US$10-20 range to the US$5-8 or less range. In broad terms, there are two main reasons for this overall decline. Firstly, there have been far higher levels of competition in mobile markets and with competition has come price wars: good news for the consumer but far less good news for operators. For example, with the entry of two new operators into the Kenya market, bringing the total number of operators to four, Orange Kenya’s ARPU’s fell to just US$2.67 a month at the end of 2008 although they have risen subsequently. After its recent launch in Ghana, Zain announced similar ARPU levels. The second main reason for ARPU decline is that even as operators continue to expand their population coverage, they are reaching out to more and more less wealthy customers. Put simply, they are reaching the very edges of their addressable markets and as they increase the number of lower spending customers, the Average Revenue Per User falls. Of these 17 country markets showing declining ARPUs, 13 will by the end of the forecast period in 2013 have begun a steady haul upwards to increased ARPUs again. The key to these countries finding a way to increase ARPUs is that they have the potential to increase mobile data revenues: in definitional terms, these revenues include all SMS and mobile Internet revenues. The prize for mobile operators is not just mobile ARPUs but also taking market leadership in the broadband Internet market in Africa. For example, the challenger WANA in Morocco launched its mobile Internet offer in March 2007 and by mid 2008 it had seized 74% of this market from under the nose of its much better established competitor. In overall Internet market terms, it now has a 19% market share. Intelligent Networx, in association with Balancing Act has developed a model to forecast ARPU specifically for African mobile markets, taking into account consumer buying power, market maturity in terms of penetration, and the level of competition that exists or may exist in the future. Taking an ‘comparative empirical’ approach African Mobile ARPU, Subscriber and Market Size Forecasts 2009-2013 uses a model that has been “road-tested” for a couple years before being used. This shows that over the this period it performed with considerable accuracy. Coupled with GDP and subscriber growth forecasts for each market, it also delivers a prediction of the total mobile services market size in terms of revenue. This report contains forecasts of mobile subscriber base, ARPU and total market size for 24 African markets for the period 2009-2013, along with a market overview as well as subscriber and ARPU statistics for 2003-2008 for each country. In view of the uncertainty as to what extent the global economic crisis will affect the region, two forecast scenarios are presented for each country, a low growth one and a high growth one. This can assist readers in their selection of the most lucrative markets and in their business planning for investing in any of these mobile markets. African Mobile ARPU, Subscriber and Market Size Forecasts (2009-2013) covers the following 24 countries: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. This 180 page report contains 121 charts, 50 tables and detailed countries maps with most showing population densities, GSM coverage and networks. Details are available on: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/publications.html 
Vodafone Egypt and Telecom Egypt ink new international gateway contractVodafone Egypt has signed a new three-year contract to use Telecom Egypt's (TE’s) international gateway for its overseas traffic, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). Incumbent TE is expected to generate revenue of approximately EGP4 billion (USD723 million) under the arrangement, which is effective immediately. TE has a similar agreement in place with Vodafone rival MobiNil, while Egypt’s third mobile network operator, Etisalat Misr, acquired its own international gateway licence in October 2007, allowing it to bypass the TE network. In return for the concession Etisalat agreed to pay EGP100 per subscriber plus EGP20 per new subscriber added per year (up to a maximum of 6% of gross revenues). (source: Telegeography) Uganda: UTL Launches Solar-Powered PhoneUganda Telecom has launched the first solar-powered mobile phone in the market. The new phone, dubbed "Kasana," runs on solar-power after an initial charging on electricity grid power. Uganda telecom's chief marketing officer, Mona Lisa Brookshire, in a statement said, "uganda telecom together with ZTE has signed and agreed that we (at utl) are the only mobile operator in Uganda to deal in the solar-powered telephone." "This is going to help many of our customers save money as you do not need to depend on electricity to stay connected," she added. At the launch of the pilot Kasana phone in Arua, the mayor, Charles Asiki, said the introduction of the solar power phone will help the people of Arua especially at "this time when there is a power problem." Arua district has had an unreliable grid power supply, especially after the failure of the West Nile Rural Electrification Company to deliver power consistently. The solar handset is manufactured from recycled materials and has a built-in solar panel that charges the phone using the sun's rays. For just an hour of exposure to the sun, the solar phone provides up to 12 hours of talk-time. It can also be charged from a power outlet, and comes with a travel charger, making it convenient for even those in the rural areas. Uganda Communications Commission estimates mobile telephony penetration at only 30% out of the close to 30 million Ugandans. More than 80% of these live in the rural areas. Less than 10%of the country has access to the electricity grid. (source: New Vision) South Africa: Mobile operators agree to cut interconnect rates by February 2010The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) says mobile operators have agreed to drop the termination rates by the beginning of February 2010. According to a report released by the authority this afternoon, following an urgent meeting between it, the operators, and the Internet Service Providers Association this morning, operators have agreed to begin a process that will see lower interconnect rates. “After deliberations, the meeting resolved to embark on the industry-led process to reduce termination rates, with ICASA exercising an oversight responsibility,” the report explains. It is still unclear by how much the rate of interconnection will be cut, and the regulator did not indicate whether it had specifically quantified the rate drop. According to the report, the operators will have to start implementing a new way of negotiating interconnection rates. The new negotiations will have to also incorporate aspects of competition law. Operators have agreed to have the new contract agreements in place by the end of December, with full implementation of the new rates as soon as February next year. The high rate of interconnection has been hot on the agenda over the last few weeks, with local alternative telecommunications companies and parliamentarians calling on the regulator or the competition authorities to put a clamp on the costs. Last week’s announcement will be a boon for the smaller industry players that have much riding on ICASA's interconnect decisions. Some have argued that the current rates have made it impossible to compete effectively in a big business-dominated industry. Last week's meeting was also supposed to deal with the definition of market power, which the regulator says little about in its report. However, ICASA does say it will continue its mandate to regulate the industry under the Electronic Communications Act. “This process will entail the publication of the necessary regulatory framework pursuant to regulations defining the relevant market; evaluating the effectiveness of competition; a declaration of licensees with significant market power and the implementation of pro-competitive remedies,” it concludes. (source: ItWeb) Botswana: Government to separate out and retain wholesale operation during BTC privatisationBotswana’s Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, has announced that the government plans to exclude Botswana Telecommunications Corporation’s (BTC’s) nationwide backhaul from the incumbent telco’s privatisation process, according to local newspaper Mmegi. Instead, one option is to create an entity that will be responsible for the backhaul to service all of the country’s telecoms operators including BTC after it has been privatised. On its nationwide network, BTC currently services its wireless arm beMobile, as well as mobile operators Mascom Wireless and Orange Botswana. At present, BTC is reportedly looking for a strategic equity partner (SEP). Initial privatisation plans emerged in June 2006, envisaging the sale of between 40% and 49% of BTC to a strategic investor and a 5% share to BTC employees. The remaining shares would be retained by the government for a future stock market listing. The first stage of the privatisation began in January 2007, with a tender put out for 'advisory services'. In February 2008 the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) signed a contract with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to act as transactional advisor. During the first half of 2008 the duo began working on a draft bill to enable BTC to be sold off. The IFC completed due diligence in November that year and the following month the completed Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (Transition) Bill was passed to the committee stage of the parliamentary debate for the third reading. (source: Mmegi Online) In brief:- A committee set up by the government of Ghana to review last year’s sale of 70% of national PTO Ghana Telecom (GT) to the UK’s Vodafone Group has completed its report and handed its findings to the Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu. Although no details of the findings were divulged, the Minister told assembled reporters that the government would be guided by the recommendations of the report in its decision about the sale agreement. Iddrisu went on to say that whilst the state’s decision on the Vodafone sale would most likely have ‘major ramifications on foreign investment in the country’, the government felt compelled to place public interest above all other considerations in deciding future decisions concerning the sale.
Globacom says that Glo 1 cable has landed in Lagos but not yet ready for businessGlobacom announced last weekend that its long-delayed cable Glo 1 had landed in Lagos. Globacom’s Group Executive Director, Paddy Adenuga, said in a statement to mark the landing of the cable that Glo 1 “will stimulate a new era of prosperity in the continent by offering cheap, fast and reliable international calls, unprecedented fast access to the internet and revolutionary data transfer”. The GED said the cumulative effect of the huge bandwidth and cheaper rates Glo 1 would bring to the continent “will empower Africans in the field of communications, education, agriculture, banking and health”. Enumerating the benefits of the cable to the society at large in detail, Glo 1 will have a capacity of 640 gigabit per second and an ultimate capacity of 2.5 terabit per second. Adenuga said Glo 1 would offer “99.9 per cent” up time reliability, distinctly clear long distance voice, video and data communication services to Africans, adding that the cable would support the large bandwidth requirements of direct consumers and other service providers. Representatives of Globacom, Alcatel, and the media witnessed the historic anchoring of the cable that runs from the United Kingdom to its Landing Station at Alpha Beach, Lekki, Lagos. Local journalists repeated the claim that it would connect 16 connects 16 West African countries as well as Mauritania and Morocco to the rest of the world and also talked of a phase two running to Angola and South Africa. However, with the exception of Ghana, there is little sign of the company having obtained licences in these countries. After connecting the cable to its landing station in Lagos, the Intrepid, the ship which brought the Glo 1 cable, has headed for Accra, Ghana, Dakar, Senegal and Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire. (sources: Vanguard and others) South Africa: iBurst giving away 40 Terabytes of free dataiBurst is giving all of its customers free data allowance in October, and doubles the allowance for email billing subscribers iBurst recently rolled out its Business and Operations Support Systems, named iBoss, a system which the company hopes will enhance its customer relationship management, product ordering, billing processes and financial management functions. iBurst encountered a number of glitches as the new system went live in August which impacted on the quality of service experienced by the company's subscribers. Says Jannie van Zyl, CEO at iBurst: "We have certainly had a rough few weeks with the launch of our new iBoss system. We'd like to thank customers that were affected by the glitches for helping to us work out all the kinks in the system and for sticking with us during the rollout.” iBurst has decided to give all its subscribers an extra 250MB of bandwidth for the month of October to ‘thank them for their loyalty throughout this time’. This is in addition to data usage which was typically written off when billing glitches hit. iBurst is also giving away an extra 250MB of data to customers that register to receive their bills electronically during October. According to iBurst around 80% of all subscribers opt to receive their billing electronically. This promotion means that iBurst will give away around 40 Terabytes of data in October. (source: MyBroadband.co.za) Gateway goes live on SeacomTwo years after committing to the SEACOM project, Gateway Communications is live on the submarine fibre optic cable connecting Africa to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. Gateway Communications was the first company to invest in Seacom, which is bringing 1.28 Tbit/s of capacity to the continent. As the foundation customer, Gateway says that its investment in SEACOM is another example of its ongoing commitment to infrastructure build in Africa, allowing more innovative products and ensuring that Gateway provides the highest level of quality, speed and reliability at the most competitive prices. Seacom, privately funded and three-quarters African owned, is expected to provide bandwidth on an open access basis, allowing all operators to have equal access to the cable. Seacom has created an artificial price ceiling to ensure wholesalers charge end-users the most attractive market rates available for their bandwidth. The landing of Seacom and other cables demonstrates that Africa’s information age is well underway. Expected to provide a high volume of bandwidth at a low cost, Seacom will continue to open people’s eyes to what ICT can deliver – to consumers and businesses. It will provide competition and connectivity into markets, which will drive demand for faster applications run over any available bandwidth, including satellite. In brief:- South African fixed line and WiMAX operator Neotel has announced that it plans to launch a range of WiMAX services aimed at the corporate and high-end consumer markets, reports mybroadband.co.za. The telco’s head of product management, Rajeev Sinha, revealed that the company is actively expanding its WiMAX network of 70 base stations in Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban. Sinha said: ‘Neotel will soon be reaching the 150 base stations mark.’ He also confirmed that the firm would be introducing an uncapped WiMAX service with peak download speeds of 2Mbps aimed at large and medium enterprises (LME). Sinha added: ‘Neotel is still looking at the pricing for this segment, however Neotel is confident it has an attractive price for the LME segment which will lower their costs.’ - Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) has agreed a deal to access the Seacom fibre-optic cable, as part of its ongoing quest to provide faster Internet services. UTL officials say the new arrangement will allow it to offer its customers higher Internet bandwidth at no extra cost. Existing UTL clients are to be shifted to the new broadband platform in the coming weeks. Reza says that existing customers will have their Internet bandwidth doubled from 64kbps to 128kbps automatically. - According to Technology Times, Nitel and Suburban may soon close a deal that will allow the latter to sell SAT3 capacity to Nitel’s customers. - UUNET Kenya is the latest ISP after AccessKenya to officially offer its clients connectivity to the undersea cable at a relatively lower rate by doubling of the internet capacity it provides to them. "We have given our customers double capacity at the current price. However, we shall in future review our pricing once Teams and EASSy come on board," says Tom Omariba, the managing director of UUNET Kenya.
Omatek Computers denies owing bad debt to AfribankFollowing a Central Bank of Nigeria announcement, local computer assembler Omatek Computers has been forced to deny that its N1.6 billion loan from Afribank, one of the banks in the Nigerian banking sector shake-out, is a bad debt. The company was listed among bad debtors in the wake of the Central Bank’s cleansing of the banking sector kicked off by its new Governor, Lamido Sanusi. "In line with the recent newspaper advertorial by the Central Bank of Nigeria, we will like to state that we did not take any loan to the tune of N1,649,380,634.77 with Afribank that is a bad debt", said Managing Director Seriki in a statement made available to Technology Times. She also regretted the inclusion of the name of former Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Fola Adeola as a director of the company. The latter had stopped being a director of the Omatek since the computer company exited the SMEIS it went into in partnership with two banks, she said. According to Seriki, the 22-year old business she founded, "had facilities with the bank for over three years with very good turnover and good business relationship. With the completion of the underwriting, which resulted into their taking us to the stock market, most of these facilities were paid down together with all sums of monies required to be liquidated from the SMEIS exit". Seriki also said, "we naturally have an existing IFF/Restocking line for importing raw materials for the factory, which is a manufacturing concern. We opened Form Ms, Bills for collection etc with the bank to import raw materials. However, we have more than enough stock to match our exposure". She added that, "on the other hand, Omatek Ventures Distribution Limited (OVDL) had done a considerable amount of consumer business with Afribank through our Omatek e-Xpress factory initiative that had been launched in over eight states and several tertiary institutions". Seriki said that the scheme allowed civil servants, teachers, lecturers, among others to own computers and pay over 24 months. "This consumer scheme was even redesigned recently as one of the bank’s consumer products and it has been very successful thus far", she said further noting that, "on this consumer scheme, we do usually do have invoices due for payment by the bank; whilst the import finance facility was running on its own to bring in the raw materials". (source: Technology Times) South Africa: City of Johannesburg owes tech supplier millionsMasana Technologies is owed millions by the City of Johannesburg, after 1,200 invoices have not been paid, the liquidator says. Masana filed for provisional liquidation on 20 August, as it was unable to pay creditors the roughly R100 million they are owed. Liquidator Rubin Miller, from RMG Trust, says the company would have been able to continue running had the city paid it the R64 million that both parties agree is owed. He says Masana believes it is actually owed R90 million. In addition, a failed project for the city left the technology company carrying the can for R40 million a few months ago, he adds. “If they had been paid on time, they could have carried on and covered their losses.” According to Masana's Web site, it took over outsourcing of the city's IT in 2005. The SAP project was delivered in 2006 as was the human resources implementation. It was also involved in the SAP solution to collect revenue and put a customer relationship management system into place. The project was called Phakama, but has not yet gone live. Last week, the city denied it owed any outstanding money. Gabu Tugwana, director of communications at the city, stated: “We do not accept that the city has not been paying Masana.” He said the city pays its service providers. However, because the city has failed to pay in a timely fashion, staff will lose their jobs as the company will fold, says Miller. Masana's contract with the city was cancelled the day it filed for liquidation, which means there is no reason that it may be bought out, he adds. Miller adds that the company had a new management team in place, which was turning the company around. At the moment, the City is trying to put a stop gap solution into place, while it negotiates with another supplier, believed to be Dimension Data, to continue the contract for another year. The deal is worth R18.5 million a month, says Miller. Most of the IT staff, about 120 employees, are likely to move with the contract, but 26 sales and marketing staff have been retrenched. Some of the 20 administrative staff will retain their jobs as the books need to be sorted out, adds Miller. The matter returns to the South Gauteng High Court on 29 September and – if a final order is granted – the company will be wrapped up, says Miller. The city did not respond to queries about the liquidator's claims. (source: ItWeb) Cameroun: Douala City Council computerises its management systemsCommunauté urbaine de Douala (CUD) presented its new information and data management system (Siged) which cost FCFA 300 million to install. Fritz Ntonè Ntonè, the Government delegate at the launch spoke of “highways to a new vision of Government for CUD”. The new system is designed to help decentralization and has been implemented to help the growth of cities. Dubbed Siged, the system has three sub-systems: geographic information which is led by the Direction des etudes, urban planning and sustainable development. The public out put of these sub-systems will be a web site for the city of Douala (www.developingdouala.com) which will be completed by the end of the year. The system has its origins in an audit of the Communautés urbaines de Douala and de Yaoundé commandé one and a half years ago. 2AC which was in charge of the study concluded that there was: a lack of financial information; poor systems for the collection of monies owing; and an absence of data tools. Siged was co-financed by the City Council, AIMF and Coopération française. The system goes live next month and CUD is in the process of training staff to use it. (source: Cameroon Tribune) In brief- Lottotech, the new franchisee to run the Mauritius national lottery, was showing off its equipment line-up last week. Its American partners GTech bought the IBM equipment to the island and it is capable of handling an extremely large number of simultaneous transaction. The first phase of the roll-out involves 332 terminals and 600 modems. GTech is a pioneer of these systems and its American staff will be going to Mauritius next week to start the installation process. - South African company Connect Africa technology won the contract to install pre-payment meters for the Société Nationale d'Electricité which manage this business more efficiently. 5,000 will be installed in the capital Kinshasa and a further 2,000 in Lumumbashi.
Indian firms do not confirm participation in Zain dealA proposed consortium made up of India’s Vavasi Group, regional telecom companies BSNL and MTNL and a Malaysian investor is yet to decide on a deal to buy a 46 percent stake in Kuwaiti telecom Zain. The Indian firms have issued an official clarification on the proposed deal after Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday and Wednesday that the sides had reached an agreement. In their clarification, the Indian companies claimed they are not part of any consortium. "MTNL & BSNL would like to clarify that no view has been taken regarding participation in the said consortium as reported in Reuters," the statement said. “However, MTNL & BSNL are always on the look out to explore all types of overseas business opportunities to expand their operations,” it added. (Source: Mena Report) Nigeria: Transcorp Loses Bid to Stop Resale of NitelA Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday refused the request by Transcorp to stop the resale of 51 per cent shares of Nitel and its mobile arm, Mtel. Transcorp had initially acquired the shares, but the government revoked the sale amid allegation of mismanagement of the incumbent telco. Defendants in the suit filed by Transcorp are the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), federal Attorney General, National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the Finance Ministry, and seven members of the interim board of Nitel. Justice Gabriel Kolawole said he is wary of issuing injunctions because some lawyers have abused the process. He stuck to his guns despite the argument by Transcorp counsel, Innocent Daa'gba, that he had no intention of abusing the motion ex-parte, which was why he filed the motion on notice and the ex-parte motion together. Daa'gba also disclosed that he had to rush to court because of the fear that NITEL may be sold at any time, even at a devalued rate. But Kolawole told him to serve all the defendants with the motion on notice, stressing that the resale of Nitel could still be reversed if Transcorp wins the case. He adjourned the matter to September 17 and ordered Transcorp to serve the defendants with the court processes today. (source: Daily Independent) South Africa: Tough Times Hurt Compu-ClearingSoftware developer Compu-Clearing has posted preliminary results showing a drop in profitability inflicted by difficult economic conditions for the year to June 30. As a supplier of freight- forwarding and customs- clearing software, its income is closely linked to import volumes, which have slumped 30% during the year. Yet its payroll fees shot up 17,6% to increase its staff and retain the skilled personnel it already employed. The higher staffing costs saw Compu- Clearing's operating costs rise 13,8% and the operating margin contract from 27,2% to a far smaller 16,3%. The overall result is a dip in attributable earnings to R6,5m, down from R10,9m, on an almost static revenue of R45m. Basic earning a share fell 41% from 27c to 15,8c. Chairman Arnold Garber said the company's cash generation continued to be strong and its cash balances remained healthy at R25m, despite dividend payments to its shareholders of R10,2m. It has declared a dividend of 25c for the year. While the economic slowdown dampened its performance, its customer base grew and mitigated the effect of the decline in import volumes. The fact that its revenue dropped just 1% compared with a 30% decrease in import volumes meant the group was in a strong position to benefit from a turnaround in the economy, Garber said. What will help it to grow on a lower cost base is its increasing use of the internet to distribute its software, expanding its reach without major distribution costs. Garber expects to see future growth for Stash, a warehousing software, and more new revenue should be generated by offering new products. (source: Business Day) UniBank joins Moneygram Transfer ServicesUniBank, financial services provider, has teamed up with Global Payment Services provider MoneyGram to offer money transfer service at the bank's 13 branch locations in the country. An agreement to that effect was signed on Thursday between the Management of uniBank and the West African office of MoneyGram International. There are currently 12 agents offering money transfer services across 1,600 locations in Ghana. "Our collaboration with MoneyGram Transfer Services represents a vast opportunity to deliver our commitment to provide safe and reliable Money Transfer Services to beneficiaries," Mr Clifford Mettle, General Manager Sales and Client Services, UniBank, told journalists at the launch of the initiative in Accra On Monday. Mr Mettle said the bank would leverage on its branch expansion programme and the relationship with Ghana Post Company to scale the competition and meet the expectations of customers. He said UniBank was using the expansion in the money transfer service as key growth strategies to enable it grow its non-funded business. Mettle assured all users of the service of good and quality customer care, saying that the bank would deliver on its core values of flexibility, caring, vibrant and teamwork. Ms Funmi Omitowoju, Regional Director MoneyGram International (Anglophone West Africa), said uniBank's impressive performance was a major strength in the collaboration. She said MoneyGram had put together English-Speaking countries in West Africa to enable it address peculiar needs of the people in the region and to also build strong relationship. Ms Omitowoju said despite the global financial meltdown, the money transfer business was still robust and doing well and lauded Ghana as one of the dominant forces in the business. She pledged MoneyGram's continuous support to uniBank in meeting the goals of the collaboration for the mutual benefit of the two institutions. MoneyGram is present in 190 countries with over 18,000 agents. (Source: GNA) In brief:- O3b Networks has announced that Coface, the export credit agency acting on behalf of the French government, has agreed to provide cover in support of a proposed USD465 million buyer credit facility, itself part of a total USD525 million debt package to be extended by a syndicate of banks to O3b Networks. Coface has advised O3b Networks that it intends to provide long-term credit insurance to facilitate the proposed credit facility. O3b intends to use the buyer credit for the manufacture of gigabit speed satellites from Thales Alenia Space. The debt financing would also be used to fund certain long-lead items connected with the accelerated delivery of the company's next-generation satellites and the completion of O3b Networks teleports. - Internet service providers in Ghana have called on Government to reduce or completely eliminate taxes incurred by broadband suppliers to make the service available and affordable to all no matter where they live. They have argued that by reducing the cost element of the service facility, the country will be on course to achieving 50 per cent broadband penetration by 2015 since the service will become cheap and be affordable. - The Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) yesterday said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has cleared the former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, over the sale of the state's shares to Vmobile around 2007. Also cleared by the anti-graft agency in respect of the same deal, according to Aondoakaa, are former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu and his former AkwaIbom State counterpart, Obong Victor Attah. Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- CNN International and Skype have signed an exclusive advertising partnership around the network’s nightly programme ‘Connect the World’. Skype will advertise around the show’s ‘Connector of the Day' feature segment and will have exclusive advertising presence within the show’s website and dedicated mobile WAP site. - Zain Ghana, Emitac Mobile Solutions (EMS) and Research in Motion (RIM) have introduced the world's first clickable touch screen smartphone known as the Blackberry solution in Ghana. The Blackberry solution brings together smartphones, software, and services to allow easy wireless access to E-mail, phone, calendar, web, multimedia and other business and lifestyle applications. - Libyan Airline will be the first African airline to offer in-flight mobile phone calls and internet access, when it new A320 aircraft are delivered in 2010.The airline has ordered for a new fleet of Airbus A320s, which will be installed with Mobile OnAir technology to allow passengers to make and receive phone-calls, send and receive text messages and emails, and access the internet, using mobile phones and PDAs. The seven new A320 aircraft, due to start flying next year will serves routes to Europe and the Middle East, with the exact destinations yet to be announced. - Zain Kenya has unveiled two flat rate internet access packages for the prepaid market segment to increase uptake of data services days after hooking up to Seacom's undersea fibre optic. Customers will pay a minimum flat rate of Sh250 to gain unlimited access to the Internet for one day. This package can also be subscribed to for a maximum of 30 days at a cost of Sh3,250. Alternatively customers will be required to subscribe to the bundled offer at Sh100 for 25 MB.
MTN Mobile TV on its wayMultiChoice believes ICASA will issue a broadcast licence before the end of 2009 MultiChoice and MTN last week expanded on their plans to release a mobile television offering in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana in time for next year’s FIFA World Cup. Earlier this year the two companies announced that they would be launching a DVB-H service, which could potentially feature up to 16 channels and stream digital mobile television to MTN subscribers. MTN also revealed that it will have various Digital Video Broadcast services for Handhelds (DVB-H) for FIFA’s 2010 World Cup, including a personalised TV bouquet, a dedicated highlights channel, a dedicated blitz channel, interactive capabilities, SuperSport3, SuperSport5 & supporting soccer channels, video-on-demand, pay per use and a results channel. Despite testing services since 2005, MultiChoice is still awaiting issuance of a license for the service from communications and broadcast regulator ICASA. Mutlichoice CEO for DStv Mobile Mark Rayner believes that it is simply an unfortunate time to be launching such a service in South Africa in relation to licensing issues. “The launch of mobile TV has come at an inopportune time due to the roll out of digital migration. ICASA has to perform an exhaustive and thorough sequence of events before it can issue licenses. The country still needs to finalise a national frequency plan, until this is cleared up the service cannot proceed.” Rayner says the service experienced a “false start” in December due to e-TV’s petition to halt ICASA’s issuance of the required broadcast license. The channel was simply looking out for its own interests in this regard says Rayner, who explained that DStv has since dealt with e-TV “behind the scenes in this matter”. Until a mobile television licence is issued DStv cannot give solid details regarding subscription prices for the service. Rayner did however confirm that the service would be launched at a subscription cost “comfortably under R100” and revealed that MTN’s official handset partner Sony Ericsson would be launching DVB-H ready devices for roughly R2 000 during the 2010 World Cup – a move which would make the service widely accessible. DStv is currently concentrating on building a strong user base for the service. According to Rayner the service will be “subsidized or will operate at a very low profit margin to get the environment going”. When this has been achieved more bouquets and subscriber options will be released. In terms of geographical availability Rayner assured interested subscribers that the service will be available in all major metropolitan areas for the FIFA 2010 tournament. “ICASA licensing indicates that we will roll out the service in each of the world cup host cities. Second tier cities such as East London will be rolled out at a later stage.” Test licenses have already been issued for the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban regions. DStv, says Rayner, is currently ready to launch the service and all factors indicate that official licensing should take place “before the end of the calendar year”. “If licensing is left to second quarter next year, you’ve missed the boat,” believes Rayner. (source: Mybroadband.co.za) South Africa: Ring Tone Firms Given Ultimatum to Pay RoyaltiesSouth Africa’s largest association of music publishers and composers is giving reticent ring tone suppliers an ultimatum to pay royalties or face the music. Musicians are resentful that they receive no benefit from the commercial use of their music for cellphone ring tones. John Fishlock, a director of the National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music in Southern Africa , said last week: "We're not here to take people to court but it's been a three-year-long battle to get digital service providers on board legitimately." The organisation's members include most of the country's major and independent music publishers, such as Universal, EMI, Sony/ATV and Gallo, and composers including David Kramer, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Hugh Masekela and Springbok Nude Girls. The organisation had instructed commercial law firm Werksmans to issue a letter to the body representing digital services providers, the Wirelesses Applications Service Providers Association (Waspa). Fishlock said their organisation had requested Waspa to forward correspondence to all its members to whom they had sent download agreements. If they had not signed before the end of last month, they would not enjoy a standard discounted rate. Further, if they failed to sign, they must cease use of the works and delete them from all media and storage facilities. Janine Hollesen, the lawyer representing the reproduction rights organisation , said although a number of Waspa members had signed the agreement, there were some who were unenthusiastic about giving composers their due. Hollesen said the Copyright Act made it a criminal offence to knowingly use copyrighted works without authorisation. Gavin Penkin, Waspa management committee member, said Waspa had forwarded the rights group's proposal and contracts to all its members and had advised its members to make contact with them. "Waspa wishes to stress, however, that it does not negotiate contracts on behalf of its members ," Penkin said. (souce: Business Day)
PeopleSouth Africa’s M-IT has appointed Zunaid Mayet as Managing Director. With more than 20 years experience in the ICT sector, Mayet has worked around the globe, establishing and running businesses in Europe and Asia. In a surprise move, the President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade at a Council of Ministers meeting removed Daniel Goumalo Seck as D-G of the regulator ARTP and replaced him with Ndongo Diao who comes from the state broadcaster RTS. Events* 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 * MOZAMBIQUE NATIONAL ICT CONGRESS 17-18 September 2009, Centro Internacional de Conferencia Joaquim Chissano, Maputo Held under the auspices of the Mozambique Ministry of Science & Technology, this is the annual gathering of Mozambique’s rapidly growing ICT community, with a two-day conference and industry expo. Users and vendors of ICT systems and solutions will be sharing problems, knowledge and ideas in the stimulating conference programme, with high-level local and international speakers. There is simultaneous translation between English and Portuguese to facilitate international participation. The recent commissioning of the Seacom undersea cable link to Maputo will be a major focus of the conference, which has the theme “Optimising network managements and creating content for the fibre era”. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.com) * EAST AFRICAN FIBRE SUMMIT 22-23 September 2009, Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi With the landing of East Africa’s first undersea fibre cables, the region is on the eve on a communications revolution - the transition from a predominantly satellite-based communications infrastructure to one that is fibre cable-based. There is also an urgent need for new approaches to financing and building out information and communication infrastructure to address large unmet demand for information and communication services. The East African Fibre Summit will provide a platform for all stakeholders to assess these exciting developments, the impact they will have on their organizations and the optimum technical implementation strategies to gain maximum benefit from the opportunities they represent. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.com) * BROADBAND AFRICA SUMMIT 28-29 September 2009, Dakar, Senegal Broadband Africa is the leading conference and exhibition for the entire broadband ecosystem in Africa. This must attend event will bring the industry together to define the future of both fixed and mobile broadband. The comprehensively researched agenda will cover the most topical and timely issues, and will serve as a platform for discussion and debate at the highest level. For more information visit the conference’s website http://www.broadbandglobalsummit.com/africa/home/home * 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 MOBILE WEB AFRICA 13-14 October 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa Coverage of one of the most important technological advances of the 21st century and the exceptionally interactive roundtable format promises to make Mobile Web Africa one of the leading events of 2009 in Africa. Attend Mobile Web Africa and help understand how the mobile web and mobile applications can contribute to the evolution of the continent. With capacity limited to just under 200, register your interest in attending this exclusive conference immediately. Join the unrivalled speaker faculty as well as a delegation with representation from the entire ecosystem. For further information visit http://www.mobilewebafrica.com/ * AITEC GHANA 2009 22-24 October 2009, International Conference Centre, Accra In its 14th year as Ghana’s leading ICT event, AITEC Ghana this year will have the theme, “The expanding interface between technology and your lifestyle”, focusing on how subliminal technology in our daily work and home environment can benefit our lifestyles. This year’s expo will feature an ICT Learning Hub where Ghana’s ICT training institutions, along with suppliers of educational videos, distance learning, educational software, books, recruitment agencies and other training support products will be on show. The event will include the annual AITEC Ghana conference covering the following themes: Developing Outsourcing Service Excellence; Banking & Mobile Payments; The Impact of Fibre on West Africa’s Communications Sector; and ICT for the Oil & Gas Sector. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.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 ComBIT AFRICA 2-4 November 2009, Lagoon Conference Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos AITEC has been commissioned to organise this leading annual ICT expo hosted by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON). This year’s theme is “Setting the Pace for Africa’s ICT Transformation” ComBIT Africa has it roots in Nigeria’s burgeoning telecommunications sector, having been the showcase for the industry since it was launched by ATCON 14 years ago (previously called NICOMM and changed to ComBIT Africa in 2008). The event has grown to be the country’s premier ICT event. In light of Nigeria’s leading regional role and to the era of rapid convergence, the event has been expanded to be Africa-wide in perspective, as well as covering the full spectrum of ICT technologies and strategies. It is ATCON’s mission to develop the event as the continent’s premier ICT industry event. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.com) OUTSOURCING & CONTACT CENTRES EAST AFRICA 11-12 November 2009, Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi Now in its fourth year, this is East Africa’s leading BPO conference, gathering international outsourcing companies and buyers of outsourced services with local service providers to explore partnerships and business opportunities. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.com) CUSTOMER SERVICE & CONTACT CENTRE WEST AFRICA 24-25 November 2009, Oriental Hotel, Lagos This year’s theme is “Achieving excellence in Customer Service & Increasing Market Share during an Economic Downturn”, it is aimed at organisations in the region with established contact centres – and those planning to set up centres – to learn about world trends and latest developments in contact centre technologies and management strategies. Telecom operators, banks and other financial service companies, outsourcing operators, oil companies, public utilities and government departments will be the key target sectors. For the full programme visit Aitec Africa’s website (www.aitecafrica.com) Jobs and OpportunitiesAlcatel Lucent 3G Optimisation Engineer is needed by a major client.You will have very good technical experience of 3G Optimisation working Alcatel Lucent equipment.The successful candidate will carry out 3G/2G neighbouring planning for all sites and will have knowledge of scrambling code definition and creation of RNO procedures. For further information click on the following link http://www.cellular-news.com/recruitment/list_job.php?uid=9113 ContractsZain, and Harris Stratex Networks US wireless solutions provider Harris Stratex Networks has announced it has partnered with mobile operator Zain Nigeria to build a new network operations centre (NOC) in the Nigerian capital Lagos. The NOC was first commissioned by Kuwait-based Zain in July and forms part of a full, turnkey project completed by the vendor. The new facility is designed to monitor and manage multi-vendor, multi-protocol network infrastructure, including subscriber access, 4G/WiMAX access, IP backhaul and core network technologies. It also monitors Zain Nigeria's networks to identify problems before they impact business functions or productivity, and seeks to resolve issues remotely from the NOC or by dispatching technicians to network infrastructure sites. ‘Our customers are our number one priority, and we have an ongoing commitment to offer an increasingly compelling experience, particularly as our customer base and network traffic grows,’ said Khaled Khorshid, Zain Nigeria's CEO, adding, ‘The end result will drive us towards our goal of achieving 100% network visibility, so we can proactively maintain quality of service and improve our overall operational efficiency.’
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