Issue no 584 9th December 2011

Determined to boost network quality, Airtel has said it had invested over $600 million- that is, N93 billion, in the past one year to expand network capacity and enhance quality of service (QoS) on its network. Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Airtel, Deepak Srivastava, who disclosed this during a visit to company's newly commissioned Green-Site at the weekend in Lekki, Lagos, said the Green-Site harboured its latest base stations that are powered by solar energy.

According to him, Airtel will roll out 250 solar energy base stations across the country in the first phase, from November 2011 to February 2012, with plans to roll out its second phase after February 2012. Srivastava explained that the new solar energy base stations, replaced the traditional base stations that are powered by generators.

He stated the new solar energy base station could accommodate 1,200 subscribers, receiving and making calls at the same time, thus reducing network congestion and enhancing network quality.

The new base stations come with batteries and solar panels. During the day, the solar panels absorb heat energy from sunlight, convert it to useable energy and store it in the battery. At night, the base station is powered from the stored energy in the battery in the absence of electricity.

It reduces carbon dioxide emission into the environment and cut off completely, the use of diesel and petrol. Briefing journalists after the media tour, Srivastava recalled that Airtel recently announced a landmark deal with Ericsson to upgrade 250 diesel powered stations in Nigeria to Green-sites, an initiative designed to enable the company harness solar energy to operate its base stations.

Srivastava explained that non-availability of regular grid power supply to sites across the country was responsible for over 70 percent of down time resulting in poor quality of service, adding that the Green-Site would go a long way in addressing the critical challenge. He hinted that the company was exploring other options including a partnership with the World Bank to address the issue of power supply especially to the remote communities.

He lamented that in some other countries, operators were concerned with managing customer experience rather than keeping the sites up as is the case in Nigeria, where power outages, fibre cut and community issues had combined to undermine the integrity of the network quality.

Srivastava, who was accompanied by Chief Technical Officer, Awadhesh Kumar Kalia; Regulatory Director, Osondu Nwokoro and Corporate Communications and CSR Director, Emeka Oparah, disclosed that Airtel had in the last one year, continued to make significant capital expenditure (CAPEX) investment towards improving network quality and has embarked on specific initiatives to expand its network coverage.

According to him, "Airtel has invested heavily on site rollout, power improvement projects, fibre roll-out, microwave replacement, technical engineering, network capacity enhancement and adaptive multiple rate". He added that Airtel had built over 500 additional sites in the last six months and intends to complete an additional 1000 sites by March 2012.

Commenting on the company's fibre rollout initiative, the Chief Operating Officer hinted that Airtel had commenced a drive to aggressively grow its existing 4500km of fibre by 1800km, giving a total of 6,300km by March 2012 to provide alternate and multipath redundancy and additional trunk capacity, hinting that it will reduce the impact of fibre cuts on network availability.

On microwave replacement, network capacity and technical engineering, Srivastava revealed that Airtel had embarked on several improvement initiatives and was replacing old microwave radio links with modern high capacity equipment and a total of 150 hubs are to be replaced by March 2012.

South Africa's telecoms regulator, ICASA has sent staff into the offices owned by steel giant, ArcellorMittal in Pretoria West for illegal use of radio frequency spectrum. The regulator says that it initiated an investigation into the company about three weeks ago and an inspection on 24 November 2011. During the inspection, the company failed to produce licences for the radio equipment (repeaters, simplexes and telemetry systems; and mobile hand-held radios) that are currently being used.

The company was given 7-days written notice to pay an estimated R2m in licence fees for using the spectrum without authorization, and the notice expired on 01 December 2011.

In executing a warrant issued by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, the Authority seized 5 repeaters and 6 mobile hand-held radios at the company's Pretoria West office and said that it will continue to visit other offices of the company in other parts of the country for continued seizure.

Zimbabwe’s fixed telephone operator, TelOne wants to increase its subscribers base to one million up from 350,000 once it completes the upgrading of its systems which is under way.

The upgrading exercise is being undertaken under a multi-million dollar deal with Huawei International and Alcatel Lucent.

Speaking at the sidelines of the Managing Director's Sports Gala held at Chaplin High School in Gweru, TelOne managing director, Hampton Mhlanga said the upgrading was being undertaken in phases and the first phase was expected to be completed at the end of this month.

The initial stages involved laying an optic fibre link connecting major cities and towns. It has already covered Harare-Mutare route and the southern part link is almost reaching Bulawayo. A $58 million deal with Huawei International is already on the cards to further expand ADSL to the rest of Zimbabwe. This is the work that will expand the subscribers' base to one million.

Mhlanga also bemoaned loss of skilled manpower which resulted in poor service and as such the company's subscribers' base fell to 350,000 from 450,000. Meanwhile, TelOne is owed over $250 million in outstanding bills by defaulting subscribers and the organisation has extended an olive branch to enable clearance of outstanding bills.

LG Electronics last Thursday introduced a high-end smart phone targeting Kenya's growing middle class in a bid to get a foothold in a market segment dominated by iPhone and Blackberry brands.

The phone, LG Optimus 3D, is said to be the first handset capable of capturing and viewing images in 3D. It will cost Sh65,000, marking entry of the Korean firm in Kenya's high-end market with a product it launched on the global scene in June. Presently, the lucrative but small high-end smartphone market is dominated by Apple through the iPhone, Samsung with the Galaxy phone, and Research in Motion's Blackberry.

Kamau Ngure, the mobile section sales manager at LG, said the company was diversifying business to include the high-end segment, adding that the market often upgrades handsets in line with global launches. The firm had initially opted to target the market with cheaper version of smart phones retailing at between Sh20,000 and Sh40,000.

"The price of the handset is high, but we are targeting users who are mainly keen on the functionality of their phones and who are currently being served by our rivals," said Mr Ngure. Rival phones like iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S11, Sonny Ericsson's Xperia and Blackberry Storm (2) retail at Sh75,000, Sh61,000, Sh56,000 and Sh57,000 respectively. On the other hand, firms such as Huawei, Nokia, and Samsung are racing for control of the mid-segment of the market served by entry level smart phones. The phones retail between Sh8,000 and Sh30,000.

Mobile telephony firms looking to capture the lucrative data market are aiding in penetration of smartphones by offering subsidies on the handsets. The data market has become a key profit driver for the operators who are facing lower margins in the voice business where prices have nearly halved since last August. Partnership with mobile phone operators is offering handset makers a key distribution channel. Huawei, Nokia, and Samsung are some of the firms that have increased their activities in the smart phone market.

Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA) has reiterated its commitment to improve business environment by introducing online registration that will further reduce the time needed for company and business name registrations.

This was said on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam by the BRELA's Intellectual Property (IP) registration officer Jubilate Muro as part of the commemoration of the 50 years of the independence anniversary held at the Mwalimu Nyerere Trade Fair Pavilion.

"Review of the Companies Act Cap. 212 is in the pipeline to enable recognition of online registration certificate issued by the BRELA," he said. Muro noted that the review will also reconsider checking of current registration fees.

Earlier, the BRELA Chief Executive Officer Esteriano Mahingila said the agency aims at improving and modernizing its services to enable it offer most of its services electronically by strengthening its Information and Communication Technology department.

Stating some of the successes BRELA has achieved by the 50th Anniversary of Independence marking, Mahingila noted that the agency is now capable of running its activities independently with exception of the Development activities funded by donor.

However he was confident that in the long run the agency will be able to fund its development projects on its own due to expansion of income collections from registration fees. Mahingila also talked about the change of service delivery procedures that has wiped out bureaucracy from an unspecific number of days to one to three days for business names registrations and three to five days for company registrations.

He noted that lack of coherent and clear step by step procedures to enable BRELA customers to access its services easily and in a friendly manner was one of the major handicaps for many potential entrepreneurs in the past but after mitigating the problem the agency now enjoys increased number of users of its services.

The Ugandan market is still a virgin area for investment compared to the saturated markets of Europe and Americas, an ICT expert has said. Bill Crawley, the Managing Director of Mara Ison Technologies observed that there is a focus on Africa by investors from around the world because of the growth potential the continent has.
      
 In an interview with Business Vision, Crawley said business people in Uganda are outward looking and in search of better ways of doing business, employing the latest technology while professionals are oozing with knowledge.
      
“Which is why I think there’s a lot of potential,” he said. “It’s not about what technology and business one can secure, but also looking at ways of applying it. There’s a lot of potential. People are progressive out here,” Crawley commented.
      
Crawley was in the country oversee the inauguration of his company’s investments. In the venture, Raps Uganda Limited in partnership with Ison Infotel of India have merged into Mara Ison Technologies. The firm with a global outlook supplies hardware and software and offers IT services for system integration projects. Its also engages in fibre laying and data center building and hosting at large scale.
      
The Mara boss noted that government officials, private businessmen and professionals he has met are oozing with knowledge and what remains is right application to set Uganda on a higher development pedestal. “I have no negatives here apart from the potholes,” he said.

Mara Ison has built a strong presence in Africa and is currently involved in projects in; Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, Congo and Zambia. “We have aggressive investments plans for the market in Africa,” Crawley remarked.  “Africa is still the only growth market available in the world,” he emphasised.
      
Crawley said in areas where technology is evolving like Africa, there’s a stet-by-step progression but Uganda seems to have leapt and skipped some stages. “We are at a start of a journey in Africa in the way technology is being used to do business. I have found a lot of openness among the government and private sector people I have met. In starting a journey, there are people who should lead. Uganda should provide that light,” Crawley stated.
      
Mara Ison is part of the Mara Group which is a billion dollar enterprise has headquarters in Dubai and subsidiaries in India and 18 African countries. “Multinationals don’t move into one country; they move into several,” he added. Mara Ison’s business worth in Africa stand at over $15m (sh42b).
      
It has 300 employees in the country and expect to recruits to over 1000 employees as the business expands. The company, according to the MD, uses local human resource which it blends with expertise from abroad. “We need to identify professionals to work with,” he stated.
      
Crawley explained that Mara Ison has not come to compete with small companies for small projects but huge ones that leverage linkages in the region and continental level. The firm has acquired Raps Uganda Limited which has been a local player and transitioned into Mara Ison which has a global presence.
      
 “Small projects for small market, is not what we are looking for. That needs small players. We are looking for large, complex, highly technical projects which need specialized expertise. They are the ones that interest us,” Crawley explained.
      
Some of Mara Ison’s projects include; IT component for banks, network for mobile telephone companies and databases for governments including national ID projects.  The Mara Ison chief executive noted that although some skills might not be available, connectivity will lead to many innovations.
      
Crawley said the new business model Mara Ison brings on the market is provision of IT solutions to large corporate organisations and they concentrate on what they can do best. He said gone are the days when companies maintained large IT departments to support the work they are specialized in doing.
      
“A communication company should be able to let in your calls but should not worry about the network. Similarly, a bank should be able to let you access your money but should not be worried about its ATM machines. They look at companies like Mara Ison for solutions,” Crawley said.
      
“That brings in efficiency because we have specialists. That’s an area where there is a lot of opportunity in Uganda. It’s a move from wanting to do everything yourself,” he elaborated.

USA based American Tower and South Africa's MTN Group have set up a joint venture tower company in Uganda, which will acquire all of the existing tower sites from MTN Uganda, numbering approximately 1,000, for an agreed upon purchase price of up to approximately US$175 million.

ATC Uganda will be managed by American Tower, and will be controlled by a holding company of which American Tower will hold a 51% stake and Mtn Group will hold a 49% stake. American Tower will pay approximately $89 million for its stake in the new holding company. MTN Uganda will be the anchor tenant, on commercial terms, on each of the towers being purchased.

American Tower also expects that ATC Uganda will build approximately 280 tower sites for MTN Uganda over the next three years, as well as pursue opportunities to build tower sites for other wireless operators in Uganda.

Upon the close of the transaction, ATC Uganda will be the largest owner and operator of tower sites in Uganda.

"We are pleased to announce the launch of our operations in Uganda, again in partnership with MTN, Africa's largest mobile operator," said Jim Taiclet, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Tower. "Our strategy is to invest in select African markets with strong wireless growth potential and a positive investment climate. Our investment in Uganda is further evidence of our execution of this strategy. In addition, we are building upon our successful partnership with MTN in Ghana where our tower expertise, operational excellence and a focus on delivering growth and value from the asset portfolio, are highly complemented by MTN's regional operational experience."

The FCT Administration (FCTA) has unveiled plans to digitalise the database of FCT Archives. FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday during the celebration of FCT Archives and History Bureau, which was tagged "Impact of Archives in Modern Day Public Sector Activities."

The minister, represented by the FCT Director of Establishment, Mr. Nuru Ahmed, explained that the documentation of data would make the FCT archives more robust and functional.

He said the FCT archives was created with the mandate to collect, preserve and manage important records and documents of the administration, adding that all secretariats, departments, agencies and area councils of the FCT are primary sources for information and would be empowered to serve as key stakeholders in the process of digitisation.

"Approval has been given for the six area councils to own mini archives to be manned by liaison officers of the FCT archives and we enjoin the management of area councils to cooperate with the liaison officers by making all necessary information available to ensure the success of the initiative," he said.

In his remark, Director, FCT Archives and History Bureau, Mr. Abubakar Yabo, said the celebration is to sensitise the public on the functions of the archives bureau from inception to date.