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WEEKLY PUBLICATION DEADLINE: 12 pm GMT Sunday. ISSUE NO 480 13th November 2009 World Bank financing approved for Central African Backbone and completion date set for 2011With the arrival of the Glo One cable in Ghana and Nigeria, the two biggest bandwidth markets in West Africa, both countries will have two landing stations and by the end of 2011, a staggering 5 landing stations each.This plethora of landing stations and the bandwidth they bring will remain under-utilised and only be able to serve the coastal areas (including the majority of African capital cities in West Africa). The construction and strengthening of national and cross-border networks is the order of day of this massive amount of bandwidth is to be used. The recent decision of the World Bank to finance a network to connect Central Africa is an important step in this direction. Isabelle Gross spoke to Yann Burtin, Senior Operations Officer, Information and Communication Technologies Department of the World Bank about the proposed Central African Backbone. According to Yann Burtin, the project was born out of a request from the Chadian Government about using an existing fibre route along the length of the Komé-Kribi oil pipeline and of building extensions to their capital, N’Djamena and to the Central African Republic’s capital of Bangui. The existing fibre route is 1,000 kilometres with 18 fibre optic pairs, the use of which is shared between Chad and Cameroon. With the extension of the route to N’Djamena and Bangui, the network will be lengthened to somewhere between 1,800 to 2,000 kilometres. The project will also finance redundant routes and other extensions to Nigeria and Gabon. In other words, the project will allow both Chad and the Central African Republic access to international fibre bandwidth rather than being solely reliant on relatively expensive and not always reliable satellite bandwidth. It will also allow each country to maximise the use of the existing cable which thus far has not been widely used. The Board of the World Bank has approved total project funding of US$215 million, of which US$26.2 million will go towards the first phase of developing each country’s national backbones to give them access to the international landing station in Cameroon. The total cost of this part of the project will be US$40 million with the balance being financed by the two Governments, la Banque Africaine de développement (BAD), la Communauté économique et monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (CEMAC) and l’Union Africaine (UA). It is envisaged that an investment vehicle will be set up with a legal existence with the objectives of getting the infrastructure built and maximising private investment. In this way it is hoped to be able to balance the interests of the two Governments (and their telco incumbents) and the promotion of the principle of open access to the new fibre. In parallel with the creation of the structure to build the infrastructure, it will be necessary to put in place a regulatory framework in the three countries in question. New directives covering this aspect will be adopted by the regional body CEMAC and put into national law to give legal standing to the regional network between Chad, Central African Republic and Cameroon. This new access to international fibre will allow both Chad and Central African Republic to get cheaper wholesale prices and as a consequence be able to offer cheaper Internet prices to customers in each country. For Yann Burtin, the new fibre network will need several routes to different landing stations to ensure competitive prices, hence routes to landing stations in Gabon and Nigeria are part of the project. If project keeps to its implementation timetable, the completion milestones will be as follows : the financing transactions will be completed by mid-2010 and the installation of the routes and supporting equipment by 2011. If the timetable is met, the new route will be ready to connect to with the WACS and ACE landing stations in the same year. With abundant international fibre capacity, competition will at last be able play its part in lowering bandwidth prices in Central Africa.
Globacom gets mobile licence in Côte d'IvoireNigerian operator, Globacom has taken another major step towards its vision to be the biggest and best telecoms operator in Africa by obtaining an operating licence in Cote d'Ivoire. The approval was conveyed to Globacom by the Agence des Telecommunications de Cote d'Ivoire, the telecommunications regulatory authorities of the Francophone country. The licence will enable Globacom take advantage of its gigantic trans-Atlantic submarine cable, Glo 1, which will branch off to Cote d'Ivoire. Commenting on the new licence, Globacom's Group Executive Director, Paddy Adenuga, said it had given impetus to the network's desire to provide the needed opportunity for West African countries and the whole of Africa to leap forward economically through an excellent communication network and a cost-effective voice, data, video and e-commerce services. "In line with our vision, we are building a network that will provide the most comprehensive international communication services on the continent to bridge the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world," Adenuga stated. With the new licence, Glo will provide international carrier services for telecoms operators in Cote d'Ivoire, aggregate and carry voice and data traffic into and out of the country. Globacom is in Nigeria and Benin Republic as well as Ghana where it is geared to commercially launch its operations very soon. The telecoms giant is also in the process of securing more licences across the continent. The company which started operations in Nigeria in August, 2003 and in Benin Republic in June 2008 has connected over 28 million subscribers in both countries. (Source: This Day) Telkom Kenya Gets Nod to Resume Portable 'Fixed' Line ServiceThe telecoms regulator has given Telkom Kenya the go-ahead to reintroduce its portable "fixed" line service on a national scale, a move that is expected to breathe new life into the firm's CDMA platform. The lifting of the ban on a national CDMA service came after intense lobbying by Telkom. The move is of strategic importance to Telkom in terms of securing its current fixed line subscribers, consisting mainly of the corporate world and government offices. In addition, the move was likely to make the CDMA service more palatable to individual subscribers. "We are excited about our reintroduction of the nationwide CDMA service. We expect that people who had abandoned their CDMA mobiles will reactivate them since they can now access our network in any part of the country," said the company's Head of Corporate Communications, Angela Mumo. The service was launched in 2006, then called Telkom Wireless, to protect its client base that came under threat from the revolution of mobile telephony ushered into the country by the first two GSM service providers. Telkom Wireless offered lower mobile tariffs than its GSM rivals since it did not attract the 26 per cent tax that was charged on mobile calls. The move generated a lot of controversy, with the government being accused of favouring Telkom. The company at that time defended itself, saying Telkom Wireless was essentially a fixed line service that could not be interpreted as a mobile service. But the criticism mounted and last year Telkom launched its own GSM service while keeping the CDMA service. Analysts say despite rolling out its own GSM services, Telkom has retained its portable fixed line service with the express purpose of protecting its subscribers already using it. Currently, the firm has a total of 500,000 subscribers on both the dedicated fixed line and its portable version that is hinged on the CDMA mobile subscription. Tariff charges are the same for the fixed line and the mobile version. Top-up charges for the two platforms are integrated as well. Telkom's move to join its rivals on the GSM platform was still not good enough for its rivals who continued to pile pressure on the communications commission of Kenya (CCK), the industry's regulator, arguing that Telkom was running two mobile services under one licence. About a year ago, CCK directed the company to henceforth stop the nationwide CDMA service and instead implement a system whereby subscribers would only access the company's network within pre-specified geographical zones. Following the new rule, for instance, a subscriber in Nairobi was issued with a number having the prefix 020. Once out of Nairobi and its environs, the mobile went dead. The geographical capping of the service eroded their attraction, making users to shelve handsets and pick from the array of GSM offerings. (Source: Business Daily) MACRA awards ZAIN Malawi 3G licenceMACRA has awarded a 3G licence to Zain Malawi, which is expected to enhance high-speed wireless Internet access. Zain marketing director, Enwell Kadango confirmed that discussions that started between the company and MACRA since 2006 has finally borne fruit as its licence conditions have now been changed. “3G is the telecommunication hardware standard and general technology for the mobile networking superseding 2.5G system which will now allow speed in data processing,” said Kadango who added that Malawi is taking after most developing countries that are using this technology. Currently Zain Malawi is about to finish its equipment installation across the country which will be compatible with the new system which offers fast downloading speeds of between 2-8mbps. Malawi's Zain CEO Fayaz King said 3G would also allow users to watch mobile TV besides connecting to the Internet and making video calls. TNM Limited Zain's competitor in the market got the licence sometime back but it is only now that the company has been testing it. (Source: Biz Community) * MTN Nigeria cuts off transmission of FIFA U-17 matches because of unpaid bills A major crisis has hit the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup when MTN cut off the fibre connection which transmits television signals from the producers to the rest of the world. This was because of debt being owed to MTN by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the services it had provided since the championship started. It simply means that all the countries that receive signals through MTN's optic fibre will not receive TV signals from Nigeria and Fifa sees this as a scandal. It cannot link Nigeria to take signal of the semi-final matches and final billed for Sunday. MTN is being owed over N800m for their services since the championship started. This is among billions of naira debt the LOC is owing in spite of the N12 billion already released to them. FIFA were making frantic efforts to see how they could get MTN to restore services. (Source: Vanguard) In brief:- Zimbabwe’s telecoms operator, TelOne, has warned customers with outstanding bills that they risk losing their lines to those on the waiting list if they fail to settle their debts with the country's sole fixed telephone operator. All those who have not yet cleared their debts were given up to end of this month to pay up. In parallel TelOne announced that it is ‘at an advanced stage’ in its plans to expand its coverage of CDMA-based wireless in the local loop (WiLL) services countrywide, but can only proceed when the necessary funds become available. - Nigeria’s Information and Communications Minister Dora Akunyili has said the ministry will make recommendations to the Federal Executive Council to merge the two regulatory bodies of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), by the end of December. The minister said the move was designed to prevent overlap in the area of spectrum licensing. - The United Nations telecommunications agency has announced that it has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build a new museum that will focus on the impact of information communications technology (ICT) on people's lives. The new museum will be known as the ICT Exploratorium and will be housed at the headquarters of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva when it opens next year, the agency said in a press release.
Nigerian State and Zinox Disagree Over Internet ContractEnugu State Government and Zinox Technologies Limited have disagreed over the city wi-fi wireless Internet service for Enugu, the capital city. While the government has commenced court action against Zinox on allegation that the company failed to deliver, Zinox maintains that it did not fail according to the contract terms. Secretary to the State Government, Martin Ilo, according to a statement from the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Dan Nwomeh, accused the company of a shoddy job, saying it did not deliver what it promised after the sum of N200m was paid. But the Chief Operating Officer of Zinox, Theophilus Nweke said the company never received N200m from Enugu State Government . Ilo said instead of the cloud Internet coverage of four kilometres radius from the city centre involving the installation of many base stations as specified in the contract agreement, what the company implemented was merely hot spots which work only around the few available base stations. "There are two major issues. First, the range of the base stations is too short and very susceptible to obstacles, such that even where the mast exists, it works only within a limited range, best outside", he further explained. Nwomeh also said that the internet service is not uniformly available, a situation that has security implications as many youths now cluster around the few functioning masts with their laptops, causing anxiety in some peaceful neighbourhoods. "The venture has clearly failed, and that being the situation, we must have the money paid back into the state treasury. We can't tell our people, the people of Enugu State, that we expended such an amount of their money on a failed project, and are keeping quiet about it. We are not known for that", he said. However, Zinox in a statement made available to This Day last week said as far as their records show, the government paid only N157,000,000 as part of its 80% equity in a joint venture. The telecom company said that it contributed its 20% to the joint venture. "It was not a contract awarded by Enugu state government to Zinox Telecomm”. “This was paid after the devaluation of the Naira for a partnership signed and sealed before the devaluation. Also, as at today, we are not in court with Enugu state government and have not been served any court summons for whatever reason. Enugu state government drafted the joint venture agreement and we believe they ought to know the process to follow", Nweke said in the statement. He continued, "What we implemented is Super Wifi and not hotspots and the network covers 4km radius and these can be confirmed but like is the global standard you need a subscriber unit to connect to the network. We recommended 500millwatts wifi USB adapters or 14dbi 400watts flat panels subscriber radios to connect. We felt violated with that publication and advise the government to investigate who received the difference". According to him, the partnership was not profit motivated but rather to add impetus to the lofty programmes of Governor Sullivan Chime by turning Enugu state into a technology driven state with the provision of cost effective internet connectivity at about N10,000 per year . He added, " As I speak the network is working and fully optimized and the government is using over 95% of the capacity and has not paid a kobo for the usage of this facility as defined by our partnership agreement. It is impossible to connect over 100,000 users in Enugu city on 2.5Meg bandwidth as expected by the SSG, this will freeze the network ". The company added that other challenges it had include electricity supply to the over 20 base stations deployed which is not part of our obligation. "We provided power backups like inverters and UPS as agreed. We had few political issues with location of mast to host our base stations and antennas etc." (Source: This Day) Kenya’s AccessKenya and UUNet Secure international routes for redundancyAccessKenya and UUNet have secured five international routes to guard against downtime due to fibre connectivity disruptions. Providing multiple paths for redundancy purposes means that their clients' links with the outside world will not be affected even if one of the cables is cut. The undersea cables are prone to shark attacks which may lead to losses if there are no other alternative routes to connect them to other parts of the world. While AccessKenya has secured three such alternative routes, UUNET on the other hand has secured two. Both companies offer internet services mostly to corporate organisations with either branches spread across the globe or doing business with partners all over. Before contracting any of these Internet service providers, most organisation usually demand a service level agreement which, among other things, outlines the uptimes. Failure to meet these agreed uptimes means that the ISPs will have to compensate for any business lost due to downtimes which may amount to millions of shillings. With the anticipated battle in the data segment due to the entry of big telecommunication players like Safaricom and Telkom's Kenya Orange, assurance of quality of service to customers thus becomes a key differentiating factor. AccessKenya managing director Jonathan Somen said their customers are now assured of international redundancy on fibre. AccessKenya has capacity in both the Seacom cable and Teams cables and has provided alternatives routes for both cables. "We believe this is a significant value proposition to the market and redundant service through these two fibre connections are now connected for all our clients, whether they connect to us via local fibre, wireless, copper or any other local technology," said Somen. This comes shortly after AccessKenya's announced they had been chosen by Tata to host their Tier 1 Point of Presence (PoP) in Kenya. With the commissioning of our TEAMS cable, AccessKenya now have three diverse paths to the public internet - it has capacity on Seacom landing in London, capacity on Seacom landing in Mumbai and capacity on TEAMS landing in Fujairah. By landing part of their capacity in Mumbai and interconnecting with Tata's global network there, AccessKenya has removed the issue of both Seacom and TEAMS using the SMW4 fibre cable to London. In the event that SMW4 has a problem, AccessKenya's customers will be operational through their connection in Mumbai. Last week, UUNET Kenya acquired a second international Point of Presence (POP) in London. The other international Point of Presence (PoP) that the company has had since 2005 is located in Fuchsstadt, Germany. The Managing Director, Tom Omariba, said the POP will reduce the number of hops (time loss) its corporate clients take to access the internet and their global corporate data networks. "In addition to our customers accessing the Internet faster, we will be able to offer additional new solutions like the international Private Line Circuits (IPLC) private network," said Omariba. The company recently migrated all its corporate customers from satellite powered internet to fibre optic cable, doubling their bandwidth and increasing internet speeds in the process. The migration of UUNET's clients to fibre came after the installation of an equipment purchased from US based Juniper Networks as part of its Sh750 million ($10 million) investment in system upgrading. (Source: Business Daily) East Africa’s Health Sector Goes Digital, With Next Epidemic Alert a Click AwayEast African Community member states are closer to having an integrated e-health regional information network to identify, confirm and respond rapidly to outbreaks of international ramifications. Following the Bujumbura Ministerial discussion in September to discuss the establishment of the network, the use of ICT in the health sector has been intensified to disseminate information on the outbreak of communicable diseases such as cholera, Rift Valley Fever and H1N1. Donald Charwe, acting Commissioner for Social Welfare in Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the country was now talking with other partner states of the Community about integrating of their respective national disease-information communications networks to ease the exchange of knowledge on deadly diseases with far reaching life and business implications. Charwe said that an electronic network, the "EAC Regional Integrated eHealth Management System" is being formulated as an outcome of the Bujumbura Ministerial discussion. "Partner states have been urged to develop and harmonise electronic early warning and rapid response systems for communicable disease outbreaks and fast-track the regional e-health system," he said. E-health is a relatively recent term for healthcare best practices, that are supported by electronic processes and communication. Dr Grace Saguti, a World Health Organisation official in Tanzania, said it is possible to interconnect the available national e-health networks in the region. Dr Saguti said the ministry responsible for health and livestock in the country already have operational e-health informatics networks that can be modified to become regional. According to Dr Saguti, the country's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare uses the Zain network to communicate locally available information on infant mortality and pregnancy-related deaths and disorders from far flung areas to head offices in Dar es Salaam. "Receivers and senders of the information include district health officials, regional health officials and the head offices at Dar es Salaam.The network will use e-health experts to keep governments and the public in the region constantly alert to the threat of outbreaks and ready to respond. It will contribute towards regional health security by combating the cross-border spread of outbreaks, ensuring that appropriate technical assistance reaches affected areas rapidly, and contributing to long-term epidemic preparedness and capacity building. (Source: The East African) In brief:- Telkom Kenya has raised the competitive stakes in the home Internet market with a new service that allows access through existing landlines, saving users substantial money in installation costs. The Telkom Fixed Bundle priced at a most attractive and affordable cost of Sh2,000 which translates to Sh1 per minute, will enable customers make calls and browse the net from the comfort of their homes. - The roll out of wireless broadband (WiBro) that will ensure seamless internet access around Rwanda’s capital Kigali city is heading for completion, according to a new report. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector Performance Report 2008-2009 that was released last month revealed that detailed design and specification for the national backbone project is complete despite some challenges in getting enough machines and experienced engineers to conduct civil works on timely basis. - A new report that reveals how vulnerable the Internet as we know it is, has just been published by two global civil society organisations. The annual report, called Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch), was released by the Association for Progressive Communications and Dutch-funder Hivos. GISWatch 2009 is entitled Access to online information and knowledge – advancing human rights and democracy. 48 country reports –ten more than last year's report- analyse the status of access to online information and knowledge in countries as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt Mexico, Switzerland and Kazakhstan. The report will be launched at the Internet Goverance Forum in Egypt on Monday November 16.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives Shelves Electronic VotingThe House of Representatives said Nigeria cannot afford to adopt the electronic voting system now because of the high level of illiteracy amongst the electorate, the challenge of epileptic power as well as the huge cost implications inherent in the project. The House urged INEC to discard the use of ad-hoc staff in future elections as well as to employ not less than 3,000 graduates to man its polling units Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Musa Adar, disclosed this at the weekly media interaction with the parliamentary press corps. Adar, who acknowledged that the electronic voting system could enhance transparency in the country's electoral system, however, said the idea should be deferred till the next ten years when a reasonable percentage of the voting population would have acquired basic education and computer knowledge. Adar said that rather than jumping into electronic voting system, INEC should discard the use of ad-hoc staff in future elections and employ not less than 3,000 graduates to ensure that every polling unit was fully manned by competent and dedicated staff of the electoral body. According to Adar, adopting electronic voting system cannot be a priority for Nigeria now as even some advanced democracies were still conducting their election using the manual voting system. "Let us be honest to ourselves. We are not yet literate enough for electronic voting. You cannot expect to take it (voting machine) to my village where all the graduates are not more than 10 and expect it to be used for election. "Our committee believes that it is going to gulp too much money at this material time when we need constant power supply, abundant food production and good healthcare delivery. We believe that the issue of electronic voting should be differed until other time when we have solved these problems in the next five or 10 years," he said. Adar advised that before Nigeria could adopt the electronic voting system, the Independent National Electoral Commission must also build the capacity of its personnel in information technology for a number of years and conduct pilot schemes to ascertain the level of success in the proposed system. (Source: This Day) Milestone for Stop-Start Gauteng School Computer Lab ProjectAn eight-year-old project to install computer labs in all Gauteng schools has finally reached 1300 classrooms, after an initial R500m scheme was abandoned and a fresh R2bn tender issued. Gauteng Online is now being run by SMMT Online, which has ripped out much of the equipment installed by six consortiums that won parts of the original tender. Some equipment had been reused but most was no longer seen as appropriate, Chief Technology Officer James Ainslie said last week. As the overall project manager SMMT needed to correct past mistakes, he said, as the tactic of appointing several suppliers had failed. When Gauteng Online was revived, SMMT found fewer than 10% of 1200 computer labs were functionally intact, and only 61 had proper Internet access. "We have refreshed all those facilities," Ainslie said. "Over time hardware depreciates, so in all the classrooms where there were Gauteng Online labs we have replaced the old technology." The original tender wasted vast amounts of taxpayers' money and squandered the efforts of companies including Sun Microsystems, Acer, IBM, Mustek and Sahara. They each created labs in two dozen schools for their technologies to be evaluated. Then the contract was split among six consortiums, which installed labs in hundreds of schools. The project floundered under a lack of leadership from the Gauteng education department and many labs were vandalised or fell into disuse. As momentum faded, technical support dwindled and equipment was stolen . No content-filtering was imposed in schools with internet access, so access to pornography was rife. The project was then transferred to the Gauteng Shared Services Centre, and the initiative was rewritten, retendered and won by the relatively unknown SMMT. Mustek CEO David Kan said his consortium had equipped about 300 schools. Although it had been paid , Mustek did not want the reworked tender as it was designed for project managers, not technology suppliers. Of the 2042 schools involved in Gauteng Online, SMMT has installed computer labs in 1375. About 470 need to have prefab classrooms installed to house a laboratory, and 157 need structural repairs before they will be fit to receive the computers. Each lab has 24 workstations for pupils, a computer for the teacher, internet access and a printer. Up to 25 teachers will be trained in each school to use the computers in their lessons. (Source: Business Day) First Taste of Success for a Young Software Developer in RwandaA senior-six student in Essa Nyarungunga, has made a name for himself by creating computer software that is already being used by some companies. Yves Kamanzi does not just study computer sciences, it is a passion which does not leave him when he gets out of the classroom. As a result, he has developed several administrative computer applications and despite fierce competition in the sector, he has been able to win over several companies. One program, which calculates employees' net salaries, has proven especially popular. "It helps accountants since they can monitor an employee's payment process without necessary going through files," Kamanzi explains. His success may in part due to the fact that the young entrepreneur does not simply develop and sell software, he also follows up on his clients with maintenance and can customize his programs according to a company's specific need. And the business-savvy youngster sees other opportunities - he is currently working on a program for hospital management. According to Kamanzi, health services have been undermined by poor management of patients and treatment facilities. "So the program will deal with key issues such as recording the patients' medical background, which will make it easier for doctors to find the required information." Another field is music - which also happens to be Kamanzi's hobby. He has already developed a program called Ray player which helps producers to record music and manage the studio business, yet he intends to expand it and turn it into a more effective tool that can be used by music makers throughout the whole recording and mixing process. When asked how he managed to do it, Kamanzi modestly replies that it is mainly due to one of his teachers, who in his spare time has helped him in developing his programming skills. And that relationship is unlikely to end when he finishes his studies. "We have plans to set up a software company together early next year," the student says. To make that come true, however, there is one last hurdle remaining: he must pass his exams. So at the moment, he has put his programming on the back burner. "I am currently fully concentrated on passing my exams, and only do software design in what little spare time I have," Kamanzi explains. Considering the young man's determination, there is little doubt that he will succeed and then be able to achieve his dream of opening his workshop - so far, he has been working from home. And he intends to offer a more complete service. "I will not only make software but also do computer repair and maintenance," he says. It seems that, once they set up the company, Kamanzi and his teacher will not be idle for long. Already, they are working on a computer program to help banks managing accounts. That will come in handy, especially to keep tag on Kamanzi's own rapidly growing bank account. (Source: Focus Media) In Brief:- Kebbi state in Nigeria will introduce e-payment system in order to fish out ghost workers in the government pay-roll. To achieve the set objective of the e-payment system, a five-man committee of retired and trusted civil servants were assigned by the Ministry to over look the computerisation of names, thumbprints and pictures of genuine serving staff.
Cellcom Goes Public in LiberiaCellcom Telecommunication Incorporated, the privately-owned American cell phone and Internet Company in Liberia is offering opportunities to Liberians, other residents and business houses to participate in profit-sharing rights of the company. This is the first time a profitable and privately-owned company is offering shares to the Liberian public. Cellcom is widely known for being first in the provision of upgraded services and promotions to its growing subscribers. The company's first-rate technology enables conference calls, voice messaging, email-to-phone, international roaming and no-rounding of minutes. According to T. Max Jlateh, Public Relations Officer of the Company, Cellcom will officially launch its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on today, Monday, November 9, at 6pm, at the Royal Hotel. PRO Jlateh explained that the IPO is a convertible debenture whose minimum price is US$10.00. Up to 500,000 debentures are being offered with a minimum of ten percent interest which will be payable semiannually. It can be recalled that exactly five years ago to the day, Cellcom broke the back of a monopoly in the telecommunication industry. Under the monopolized system, prices for SIM cards were as high as USD65.00 while the cost of local and international calls ranged from fifty cents to USD1.25. The minimum cost of cell phone was USD300.00. Coverage was restricted to Monrovia and its immediate environs. Today, all of Liberia can be reached by a click of the cell phone whose price is as low as USD19.00. The price per call is fifteen cents across the networks while the rate for international calls using the Cellcom service is ten cents per minute. Cellcom has also introduced office solutions to improve the work environment and enhance efficiency in the work place. (Source: The Analyst) Zain Pours Sh2 Billion Into Tanzania’s Government Coffers but forecasts flat revenue for 2009Mobile phone network operator Zain Tanzania has paid over Sh2 billion as its dividend to the Government for 2007. Speaking at a brief function where a symbolic cheque for Sh2.4 billion was presented to Finance and Economic Affairs Mustafa Mkulo in Dar es Salaam, Zain Tanzania managing director Khaled Muhtadi said this was a result of the approval of the company's 2008 accounts by its board of directors. "It is no surprise that the board approved Zain's accounts since we abide by principles of good corporate governance. "We have also contributed Sh96 billion to the Government's revenue in terms of corporate tax, VAT, Excise Duty, PAYE, Skills and Development Levy and Withholding tax in 2008," he said. Mkulo commended the company for paying their dividends, and encouraged other blue chip companies to follow suit. "When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses, it can either be re-invested in the business (called retained earnings), or it can be paid to the shareholders as a dividend. Paying dividends gives the Government the assurance that things are running smoothly," he said. Zain Tanzania is a pioneer in innovation in the country and it recently launched an m-commerce service Zap which allows Zain customers to receive incoming transfers from abroad directly to their mobile phones over Zap. "Now remittances from abroad can be sent from any financial institution to mobile phones in Tanzania. Remittance receivers can cash the received amount at a Zain shop or any of the 1800 Zap agents across the country," Mutahdi said. "In the very near future, we will introduce the integration with major banks which allows customers to use their phones to transfer funds from their bank accounts to their phones and vice versa." In a separate news, Zain’s Tanzanian mobile venture expects full-year turnover to be flat for 2009 on the back of a cut in consumer spending caused by the wider economic slowdown, although it also reports it hopes to continue to see strong gains in terms of subscribers for the rest of the year. The unit’s managing director Khaled Muhtadi told Reuters he expected customer numbers to keep growing but anticipates ‘flat revenue growth’ in 2009. ‘We see 5.2 million customers by the end of this year, up from 4.8 million currently, and aim to reach six million at the end of next year,’ Muhtadi said in an interview. (Source: The Citizen) Tower sharing offers opportunities for emerging marketsWhile the large operators in Western Europe like Telefonica or Vodafone have instigated advanced active infrastructure sharing and outsourcing, telecom operators in developing markets are now beginning to look into alliances that would help relieve them of heavy costs and speed their expansion into rural areas. Network infrastructure sharing and outsourcing is finding strong acceptance with mobile operators around the world as an effective way to cut down coverage costs, while reducing the time-to-market. These initiatives have already seen significant traction in India, and are poised to make their impact felt in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Operators across the world, especially those in developing markets, face challenges in sustaining margins with declining ARPU. Population distribution patterns in developing markets complicate the situation since access to telecom services varies significantly between urban and rural areas leaving operators in these countries to balance the cost of operations in congested and saturated urban setups with the costs of new network rollouts in other areas. In this context, tower sharing offers a compelling proposition. In a whitepaper entitled Mobile Tower Sharing and Outsourcing: Benefits and Challenges for Developing Market Operators, Romain Delavenne, director of Capgemini’s telecoms, media and entertainment consulting practice in the Middle East, reveals that towers constitute almost 50 per cent of the total capital expenditure (CAPEX) for an operator. Yet while many operators in developed markets have moved on to sharing both active and passive network elements to save costs, in emerging markets with low penetration levels, operators are faced with the dual challenge of maintaining margins, while ensuring rapid rollout to keep pace with the growth in subscriber numbers. Capgemini’s estimates indicate that tower sharing could help operators in India and the Middle East achieve total savings of $4bn and $8b respectively in the next five years, with such savings resulting from the benefits of having reduced CAPEX and operating expenditure (OPEX). Tower sharing has largely been an operator-led initiative in most developing markets, however regulators have also played a significant part in ensuring uptake of tower sharing initiatives. Tower sharing prevents the proliferation of masts thereby reducing the environmental and visual impact of operator networks especially in urban and ecologically sensitive areas. Tower sharing also helps in spurring competition due to a reduction of entry barrier for new operators. More importantly, from a regulatory perspective the pooling of tower infrastructure helps operators expand into rural markets achieving the objectives of universal coverage, while ensuring that operators do not incur significant CAPEX in doing so. Operating costs associated with the running and maintenance of tower infrastructure, like diesel generators, air-conditioning equipment, and security and site rentals, form a significant portion (nearly 60 per cent) of operator OPEX. These costs are compounded in rural areas due to limited infrastructure facilities such as roads and a steady supply of electricity. For instance, in India the operational costs per tower have been estimated by analysts to increase by up to 20 per cent in remote inaccessible terrain. For incumbent operators, sharing their existing tower assets helps in reducing the cost of network operations significantly. For instance, in the MEA region, it is estimated that tower sharing with a tenancy ratio of two would enable operators to achieve an annual tower OPEX reduction of 12-15 per cent resulting in savings of $1bn. In most developing markets, incumbents continue to expand their networks to reach out to rural areas and improve coverage in dense urban pockets. Tower sharing benefits operators in achieving cost effective market coverage by helping reduce cost duplication. For example, in MEA, it has been estimated that an additional 100,000 towers would be required to extend reach in the next five years, a growth of over 50 per cent from current figures. Tower sharing could achieve potential savings of $8bn in that period. Establishing a separate tower company helps incumbents to unlock the inherent value of their physical infrastructure. Forming independent tower companies that attract additional tenants can aid operators to generate additional revenues, thereby creating value from an otherwise depreciating asset. With incremental operating costs being low, additional tenants on towers lead to very high margins. In developing markets the tenancy ratio per tower ranges between 1.1 and 1.3 compared to 2.2 -3.0 in developed markets such as the US12. Capgemini’s estimates indicate that a typical breakeven tenancy ratio per tower site in developing markets of Asia, Middle East and Africa is 1.5. For new entrants the installation of cell sites is an expensive, complicated and labour-intensive process as there are a number of municipal clearances and government approvals required. For greenfield operators, partnerships in the form of joint ventures and sharing agreements with incumbent operators and tower companies are particularly attractive as they help reduce time to market significantly. For a mobile operator, more than 60 per cent of the total network rollout cost is accounted for by towers and accompanying infrastructure. For a new entrant, this translates into a significant financial burden which tower sharing and outsourcing helps to alleviate. According to analyst estimates, tower sharing can reduce overall cost of ownership after accounting for the tower lease costs, by 16 to 23 per cent. Capgemini concludes that tower sharing and outsourcing have a significant role to play in developing markets in order to promote universal telecommunication access and especially so, given the background of the global economic turmoil which has affected investment pipelines. For incumbents, new entrants and regulators in developing markets, tower sharing and outsourcing models offer growth paths to service expansion and enhanced subscriber penetration. However, tower sharing brings in its wake numerous challenges. Operators and independent tower companies need to clearly identify the path most suitable to their needs to avoid the pitfalls and realize the potential benefits. (Source: Total Telecom) Vodacom hurt by Gateway acquisitionSince becoming a subsidiary of the Vodafone group in May this year, Vodacom has undertaken a number of initiatives to boost profitability. Through leveraging Vodafone's international presence and experience, the group secured solid revenue growth despite tougher operating conditions. Vodacom released results for the six months to 30 September today, revealing a 9.9% growth in revenue over the comparable period in 2008. Group EBITDA increased by 8.0%, but earnings per share fell by 94.4% to 4 cents. This was mainly due to impairment charges of R3.2 billion, most of which related to Gateway in Nigeria. The group's operating profit decreased by 45.0% to R3,535 million due to a combination of the impairment charges and a 16.8% increase in depreciation and amortisation. During the period, Vodacom did however solidify its position as the market leader in South Africa's broadband market, increasing its customer base by 53.5% to just over 964 000. The group's mobile data revenue grew by 30.1%. Vodacom also noted that while South African mobile operators are under considerable pressure to reduce tariffs, the group is working with the authorities to ensure that the reduction in the termination rate is dealt with "responsibly" and will not impact too severely on profitability. In its international operations, Vodacom has introduced price reductions in both Tanzania and the DRC due to falling revenues in those regions. This has been due to fierce competition, weak economic conditions and higher excise duties. (Source: Frost & Sullivan) In brief:- The debt of ailing Nigerian incumbent operator Nitel will be shared between the telco’s new buyer and the federal government according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Sylvester Anyanwu. The chairman also revealed that the winning bidder of a 75% stake in Nitel will be declared by the end of November, and that interested parties have already been shortlisted. 14 companies have reportedly expressed an interest in Nitel, including Etisalat Nigeria, MTNL of India, Globacom, MTN Nigeria, Telefonica of Spain and MetroPCS Communications. - Huge Group is pleased to announce that its dispute with the JSE has ended after the JSE announced it had imposed a public censure on the company relating to the purchase of derivatives contracts in October 2008. Huge Group is also pleased that no fine was imposed on the company. There will be no costs to the company relating to the fines imposed on directors Anton Potgieter and James Herbst in their personal capacities, nor will there be any costs to the company should Potgieter and Herbst take these penalties on appeal. - EppixComm, an end-to-end customer care and billing solution provider, last week announced a partnership with Business Logic Systems, a specialist in customer intelligence, marketing automation and customer loyalty solutions for mobile network operators. Working together the two companies will help African mobile operators turn their prepaid customer data into a powerful marketing tool that can help increase retention and loyalty. - A new World Bank report says that regional integration will help lower infrastructure costs. The report dubbed "Africa's Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation" from a study conducted in 24 African economies including Rwanda, indicates that the high cost of infrastructure services in the region is partly attributable to disconnected national boundaries. - BCX released results for the past 15 months having moved its financial year end from 31 May to 31 August. Normalised operating profit margins were at 4.0% for the period, up from 3,6% for the year to May 2008, and gross profit was marginally higher at 26,6% of revenue. Headline earnings per share however dropped to 37.5 cents. "Customers have become increasingly price sensitive due to the economic slowdown," says Frost & Sullivan ICT analyst Mpho Moyo. "IT infrastructure spend has declined and investment decisions have been deferred, which has impacted on the local ICT market." Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)- The fifth Global System for Mobile communications operator in Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria in collaboration with the Research In Motion (RIM), have launched the BlackBerry solution into the nation's market. - MTN Ghana has launched its 3.5G technology in Takoradi and its environs. The mobile operator’s 3.5G services are now available to over seven million valued customers in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and now Takoradi and Cape Coast. - Tanzania’s telecom operator Zantel has launched a free SMS service on its mobile network. Customers who buy Sh15,000 airtime will instantly get 1,000 free SMSs. They will get more free SMSs with every call they make on the Zantel network or other networks. - Telecom Namibia announced that it has extended its 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO mobile data service to six additional localities: Katima Mulilo, Oshikango, Ondangwa, Okahandja, Henties Bay and Long Beach (near Swakopmund). Meanwhile, the company reports that it is currently installing new EV-DO base stations in Windhoek to complement the existing eleven base stations in the capital city. - Sudan Telecom (Sudatel) has officially inaugurated a HSDPA network under the Sudani One banner, local daily Sudan Vision reports. The company’s executive manager, Emanuel Hams, noted that current investment in Sudan has exceeded USD200 million, adding that Sudatel’s wireless subscriber base exceeds four million. - FNB eMoney Product House CEO Yolande van Wyk today announced the launch of Send Money - an instant solution for FNB customers to transfer money to anyone with a South African cellphone. According to FinScope, 3.8 million people send money to family and friends living within South Africa annually.
South African Government Using SMS to Distribute Free Electricity VouchersSybase 365 says that it is providing the messaging platform for an SMS based electricity voucher scheme being rolled out in South Africa. The initial service provides real-time electricity pre-pay meter recharge for Eskom (the South African electricity public utility) and various municipalities using a mobile wallet developed by MoPay. A key element of the service is to facilitate the distribution of Free Basic Electricity tokens (tokens distributed by the government to low-income households), sent by SMS to registered meter owners. "It is very rewarding to be at the forefront of a project which can really make a profound difference to the lives of people in South Africa. So many people are faced with a half day round trip to reach services that they can now access using a network independent, ubiquitous mCommerce service. It would be difficult for a farmer to give up a day tending his farm to go to visit his bank," said Cobus Potgieter, CEO, MoPay. "Our partnership with Sybase 365 enables us to extend mobile-based service offerings to many more diverse, under-privileged and remote communities." As well as providing this payment mechanism, MoPay also facilitates other services vital to thriving villages and communities, such as free communications, free SMS between schools and parents and free content for schools and students. (Source: Cellular News) Google Earth Comes to UgandaGoogle Earth, a software application that enables people and organisations to map their own surroundings and to beam to the world issues that affect them has been launched in Uganda. The software application was invented by several engineers at Silicon Valley, the world's top technology hub. The application provides a parallel way of searching the earth instead of typing in text online, you fly virtually into that place. Rebecca Moore, the manager of Google Earth Outreach explained to Business Vision that the product is the most realistic virtual global search available today. The application is a high resolution satellite energy that provides map data images like roads and other salient features on earth. "Organisations are now using Google Earth to raise awareness. One of the features is that anybody can contribute to Google earth by posting images," said Moore. The most realistic application that Uganda can adapt is the use of Google Earth to promote her tourism as it is done in New Zealand and Egypt where the application is used to beam tourist sites. It can also be used to raise awareness about endangered habitats and species. The United Nations Environment Programme has for instance posted an atlas on Google earth tours of the social and political pressures on Mabira forest, one of the few surviving natural forests in central Uganda. Google Earth was launched in Uganda recently at the Speke Resort Munyonyo at the premier Africa Geographic Information Systems, a premier mapping conference for Africa. (Source: New Vision)
EventsCUSTOMER 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) ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2009 2-4 December 2009, Berlin, Germany Innovate, Share, Succeed – is the theme of OEB 2009. This year’s agenda will be about your learning innovations, your expertise and the great ideas that will lead your organisation, company or school to success. For the full programme visit the organiser’s website TANCon AFRICA 2009 4-6 December 2009, Taia Resort, Freetown, Sierra Leone This years conference will explore the theme "Virgin Territories: A New Market for Innovative Investment" through the use of case studies on Sierra Leone and other liberalizing African markets. TANCon Africa is hosted by TAN a global non-profit organization that fosters entrepreneurship and technology among people of African descent. TAN was founded in Silicon Valley, California in 2004 to provide a support structure and network for entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, and community leaders worldwide. This year, the TAN Africa conference is held in collaboration with the Internet Society of Sierra Leone and supported by the Ministry of Trade & Industry and Sierra Leone Import Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA). TANCon Africa 2009 will attract over 250 local and international attendees from the United States of America, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Ghana and the rest of the world. Conference participants will range from industry leaders and key decision makers of global financial institutions, fortune 500 companies in ICT, Finance, Agriculture, Tourism, Infrastructure, Social Entrepreneurship and Renewable Energy. For more information on the conference, see the conference Web page at: TELECOMFINANCE 2010 26th – 27th January 2010, Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel, London TelecomFinance 2010 will bring together the key individuals and companies that will shape the telecoms industry in what is set to be another challenging year ahead. After a subdued year of deal activity the panel sessions will explore the changing focus in global M&A, the hottest regions for deals and fresh ideas on operational efficiency and maximising new technologies. Don't miss this opportunity to network, share knowledge and do business with operators, financiers and dealmakers from across the global telecom finance community. For further information please visit www.telecomfinance.com/2010 Jobs and Opportunities* Tender for long-distance trenches for nationwide fibre cable project - Zimbabwe Aquiva Wireless (Private) Limited, a newly licensed telecoms services provider in Zimbabwe, has invited companies to tender for the construction of long-distance trenches for its nationwide fibre-optic transmission cable project. Aquiva’s chief operating officer, Artwell Mataranyika, added that the newcomer is set to roll out its services ‘soon’; interested parties can contact the COO at artwellmt@gmail.com (+263(0)4 2916973). * Pre-incubation phase pogramme to assist early stage entrepreneurs – South Africa CITI and the Bandwidth Barn will be running a new pre-incubation phase programme called Velociti Y with the aim of assisting early stage entrepreneurs to evaluate the viability/feasibility of their existing business concepts, ideas, products, services, technologies, etc. from November 2009 through March 2010. We will consider the first 40 applications of which 20 will be selected to receive professional consulting regarding the further development and commercialisation of their business ideas/concepts. Selection criteria - preference will be given to the following: 1. Pre-revenue/early-stage start-ups 2. Existing business concept/idea/product/service/technology 3. The capacity to execute business plan once completed (background qualifications, knowledge, skills, etc.) For further information visit the Bandwidth Barn’s website http://bandwidthbarn.org/ Contracts* BTC and Ceragon Networks - Botswana Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) has selected wireless backhaul solutions provider Ceragon Networks to upgrade its nationwide wireless backbone and the backhaul network of mobile unit beMobile. Ceragon’s FibeAir solutions will enable the operator to meet its service expansion plans and support rapid subscriber growth. The deployments will help BTC work towards completing the Botswana Telecommunications Authority’s (BTA’s) Rural Services Improvement and Expansion project, network deployments for which are expected to be finished by year-end. * TNM and Aircom - Malawi Network planning and optimization firm AIRCOM International, has been selected by TNM (Telekom Networks Malawi) to provide network performance, optimisation and management services for its multi-vendor network. The vendor will deploy three solutions – ASSET to plan and design its 2G radio network, CONNECT for microwave backhaul planning, and OPTIMA for performance management – within two months. * Bechtel and Alcatel-Lucent - Angola Alcatel-Lucent has secured a USD12 million contract with engineering firm Bechtel for the deployment of integrated telecoms infrastructure to support a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Angola. Under the contract, the French-US supplier will design and implement a fibre-optic cable network, satellite communications, data and voice LAN supporting VoIP telephony, UHF radio and VHF marine radio systems for the onshore and offshore operations of Angola LNG Limited’s new plant, scheduled for launch in early 2012. * Leo and Nokia Siemens Networks - Namibia Namibian mobile operator Leo, part of Orascom Telecom's subsidiary group Telecel Globe and previously known as Cell One, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to upgrade its 2G and 3G networks.
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