Issue no 586 6th January 2012

The long awaited liquidation process of Rwandatel's assets that are to be put up for sale in order to pay off its debts has attracted a number of big players from the market, including the firm's former majority share holders, LAP Green, a top official has disclosed.

A court decision, last year, that placed Rwandatel under liquidation, indicated that the process is set to commence this year. The firm's woes started when its GSM licence was revoked, early last year, by sector regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), following what RURA insisted was the failure by Rwandatel to comply with its operating obligation.

With the liquidation process which is very likely during the course of the first quarter, RURA Director General, Regis Gatarayiha, confirmed to Business Times, in a phone interview, that various "big telecom firms" are now keen to snap up Rwandatel's assets including LAP Green. "They approached us with a view of participating in the liquidation process and it is possible they (LAP Green) will participate like any other potential buyers," Gatarayiha noted, adding that,"LAP Green is not the only potential buyer that is attracted to Rwandatel assets, they are many others and the highest bidder is, thus, expected to take over the assets."

LAP Green is an investment arm that was started by the government of former Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and later killed last year, during an uprising in the African oil rich nation.

Asked whether it will be automatic for the winner of the liquidation process to be awarded a GSM license, Gatarayiha disclosed that RURA does not guarantee such a prospect. "Currently we have three licensed mobile operators, so we have to decide whether the country needs the fourth licence before the process of granting a new license can commence," he explained.

Recent figures from RURA indicate that active mobile subscribers have increased by 1.3 per cent, to 4,424,089 by November, last year, up from 4,370,145 in October last year. Rwanda's telecoms sector witnessed shifting dynamics following Rwandatel's loss of GSM license.

An immediate repercussion of changing landscape saw the market leader MTN Rwanda registering a comparatively lower rate of subscriber increment compared to its rival Tigo. MTN added 11,395 new users on to its network, from 2,888,869 in October, last year, to 2,900,264 subscribers in November, last year, representing a 0.4 per cent increment. On the other hand, Tigo recorded a 2.8 per cent increase on its network by having 1,523,825 users in November, last year, from 1,481,276 in October last year.

RURA's decision April last year, meant that Rwandatel's network connection for mobile and 3G data was switched off, a move that kick started a bitter duopoly race between MTN and Tigo.

 
RURA's decision, passed in accordance with article 57 of law no 44/2001 of 30/11/2001 governing telecommunications in Rwanda, states that once non-compliance has been reached and an operator is stripped of its license, regaining a new license by the affected operator can only occur upon government's decision to issue a new operating license.

Experts say that, with the current situation whereby there are three operators in the market after the entry of Bharti Airtel, there remains only a very slim chance for RURA to issue a new licence any time soon.

RURA says that as, a regulator, it is not responsible for the liquidation process, pointing out that the process is in the hands of an administrator, appointed by a court of law.

Zambia's second-largest mobile telecoms service provider, MTN Zambia, has launched its first solar green site in the country to provide efficient telecommunications services to people living in rural areas.

The site will cover a distance of 35 kilometres to the surrounding community in the Chisamba areas in the northern part of the country. Zambia, like many other countries in Africa, is facing erratic electric power supply due to low generating capacity, despite high power demand.

MTN chief marketing officer Ernst Fonternel said last week that the site is an initiative particularly meant for rural areas. The initiative will gradually reduce the dependency on this erratic electric power supply and diesel back-up power, which comes at a huge financial cost to the company, he said. “That is why we saw the need to introduce solar sites in order to reduce the high cost of maintenance.”

MTN has become the first mobile operator in Zambia to launch solar green sites for mobile telecommunications, as the company continues pushing for rural connectivity. Although the Zambian government has embarked on a rural electrification project aimed at connecting most rural areas to the national grid, the country is faced with a grid power shortage, with constant power outages negatively affecting most businesses.

MTN Zambia is putting up over 600 solar sites countrywide in 2012, because it feels it is important to address the amount of energy used to power the mobile network, according to Fonternel.

But the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Works, Supply, Communications and Transport, Kapembwa Simbao, said MTN must ensure all its solar sites are well maintained to avoid inconsistent power supply that may disturb communication, adding that the initiative will provide valuable solutions to the erratic power supply.

Cyprian Chitundo, MD for the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco), a government-run power utility company, said erratic power supply will only come to an end next year, as the company is undertaking a number projects to improve power generation and supply. India's Tata Communication is one of the companies that has partnered with Zesco to develop hydro power stations in Itezhi Tezhi, in order to increase power generation by the end of 2014.

The registration of SIM cards countrywide commences on March 1 2012, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has revealed.

The registration follows the enactment of the Interception of Communication Act which provides for the registration of existing SIM cards.

According to UCC, all new and existing mobile phone numbers will have to be registered to be activated on a mobile network in Uganda. “The cutoff date for SIM card registration for existing mobile subscribers is 1st March 2013,” said Fred Otunnu, the UCC manager of communication and consumer affairs.

There are at least seven registered telecommunication service providers in Uganda; MTN, Airtel, Warid, Orange, utl, Smiles and I-telecom. Otunnu pointed out that the above service providers were under obligation to ensure smooth sim- card registration from various designated customer care service centers spread across the country.

“The bottom line is that the service provider is to make the registration less cumbersome by having many registration places,” he said. No multiple registrations will be accommodated.  “Those with multiple SIM-cards have to register all the lines by March 1 2013. Those who don’t will have breached the law and will have their phones deactivated,” he said.

Following the successful launch of NigComSat-1R into space on Monday, December 19, 2011, and its successful landing in its orbital position in space on Tuesday December 27, 2011, which was barely 168 hours after it was launched from the earth surface, the communications satellite will commence full commercial service February 6, 2012.

Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai who gave the hint during an interactive session with the media in Abuja at the weekend, said he was happy for the successful launch and landing of NigComSat-1R.

Amed-Rufai added that the communications satellite was currently undergoing test to ascertain its fitness after the launch. According to him, the test-run will last for five weeks (January ending), and thereafter, the satellite will commence full commercial service February 6.

"We are currently test-running the satellite to ensure that its entire systems are still in order and that they still retain their values after the satellite was launched. The result we are getting so far from the test is very good. At the end of the test, which NigComSat Engineers are currently carrying out in Nigeria under the tutelage of China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), builders of NigComSat-1R, it will be formally handed over to Nigeria, to take full control of the communications satellite. Testing is taking place at the two ground stations in Abuja, Nigeria, and we will go full commercial sales of transponders and channels to customers that are within and outside Nigeria," Ahmed-Rufai said.

Fielding questions from journalists on its marketing strategies, Executive Director, Marketing for NigComSat, Mrs. Abimbola Alale said NigComSat had before the launch in December, commenced pre-launch marketing with government and some private sector companies.

According to her, customers to NigComSat-1 are confident in NigComSat-1R because of the quality and cheap services rendered by NigComSat-1 before it was de-orbited, and new customers are already showing interest to hook on to NigComSat-1R as soon as it goes commercial.

The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Galaxy Television, have given us their words to return to NigComSat-1R, as soon as it goes commercial. Several other government agencies and the private sectors have also indicated interest to hook on to NigComSat-1R, and over 60 per cent of government agencies are ready to hook on to NigComSat-1R. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), customs, immigration, army police among others within the country, as well as customers outside Nigeria are al waiting for NigCoSat-1R, and we are pleased to share with the public, this development.

"As we speak, we have two requests from Ghana for the purchase of our transponders and our satellite covers over 40 African countries, and it is capable of delivering services to every customer in those countries, be it government or private," Alale said.

Reeling out the benefits of NigComSat-1R, Ahmed-Rufai said it would boost the country's educational system through multimedia education over television and the internet, increase broadband penetration, create additional jobs, boost security and enhance communications in the country among others.

Rwandatel's market leadership of the data segment is under severe test from its competitors such as Tigo as the latter woos clients with free offers of Internet connectivity at its various service centres during the ongoing festive season.

Tigo officials say that the firm aims to attract and eventually retain more clientele from Rwandatel which has the largest market share of 62 percent against Tigo's 54 percent and MTN's 21 percent while Altech Stream - an ISP (internet services provider) comes next with 13 percent, according to sector regulator, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA). The market is also gearing up for the arrival of Bharti Airtel that could see prices tumble after it was granted the green light to start operations last year.

This is a fulfillment of our commitments for customer service excellence this year amidst anticipated competition in the sector," Sandra Kaganzi, Tigo's customer operations manager said during the opening of the 11th service centre at the new KCT Towers in Kigali.

The idea behind the free Internet connection offer is seen as a way of boosting traffic to Tigo's new plans of opening additional service centres even as the country's Internet penetration increased to seven percent by September last year up from 5 percent by June the same year.

Kaganzi further told Business Times that Tigo has finalised plans to establish additional point of sales (POS) outlets countrywide this year to help its subscribers to use their Tigo-cash product to carry out transactions without necessarily carrying cash.

The central bank mid- last year launched the Rwanda Integrated Payment Processing System-RIPPS to facilitate electronic payment will usher in a new era of cashless-economy.

Dominique Nkurunziza, the customer sales and service manager at Tigo notes that the new centre at KCT Towers which will open throughout the week will help decongest other centres in the city centre.

"The service centre will be an interactive area where Tigo customers will have a hands-on experience on a variety of handsets and tablets," he said.

Emmanuel Turamye, a businessman said that Tigo initiatives to open up more centres will help its customers to access services round the clock. "With the increase in number of Tigo customers, it has been hard for us to quickly get services in other centres," he lamented.

Starting next term, all students at A-level will be taught either information and communications technology (ICT) or mathematics. Grace Baguma, the deputy director of the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), made the announcement recently at a workshop on the 'Policy Dialogue on Pedagogical Integration of ICT in Uganda's Education System' at Makerere University. The dialogue was assessing the performance of the Pan-African Research Agenda for the Pedagogical Integration of ICT (PanAf) whose phase II closed last month.

Baguma said starting this year, all S.5 students will either take ICT or mathematics as a subsidiary subject. This means, Baguma said, all A-level students will henceforth do two subsidiary subjects. Currently, they take only one - General Paper.

"This is a directive from Cabinet and we have been told it's a must. We are working around the clock to be ready with the ICT syllabus for first term by January.

"We will then later formulate the syllabus for second and third term. Right now, there are some teachers undergoing training at Kololo; they will become trainers of trainers," Baguma said.

The idea is to make ICT compulsory. For the start, it will be optional because some schools do not have the necessary facilities. In addition, starting this term, students at A-level will sit for only three principal subjects down from four. Baguma explained that the four principal subjects had brought about a wide range of problems.

The ministry will also lower the number of subjects in lower secondary and empower teachers to integrate ICT skills in the learning process. The participants, however, had reservations about the cabinet directive, saying it is being hurried. Baguma conceded there would be hurdles: "I can foresee that most schools will have to opt for subsidiary mathematics for obvious reasons. ICT may become compulsory after three or so years."

Another query: Would ICT be delivered as a subject on its own or as a methodology? It was noted that there is no capacity to teach pedagogical ICT at A-level and if it is to be integrated as a teaching methodology, teachers would need regular refresher courses.

"The subsidiary ICT we are introducing will be functional; it will help you to learn to be employable," Baguma explained.

Dr Yusuf Nsubuga, the director of Basic and Secondary Education at the ministry told The Observer that several schools have acquired computer labs and got computers through the Uganda Communications Commission.

"In a resource-poor country like ours, you can't wait to be at 100% to start anything. Besides shortage of hardware, we know there are issues of connectivity. Our policy is building the boat as we sail," Nsubuga said.

With the introduction of 'mobile banking', mobile phone users can now do more than exchange information on their handheld devices: they can also perform financial transactions. The new mobile service has transformed the lives of many Ivorians and raised concerns among others.

After punching in a few digits on the keypad of his mobile phone, Félix Soro reveals: "In a few moments, my mother, who remained in Korhogo (in northern Ivory Coast, 650km away from Abidjan), will receive a code with which she will be able to withdraw money from the nearest 'mobile banking' branch".

Since the introduction of the 'mobile banking' service by mobile operators, Soro has travelled less and less between Abidjan and Korhogo to give money to his mother. "A few months ago, it used to take me a whole weekend to get to Korhogo to give money to my mother. That's not the case anymore! I travel less and it saves me time. It works", he adds.

Hermann N'Da also uses the mobile banking service. "Subscription to this service is hassle free. One ID document is sufficient and there is no need to open a bank account. Those who are not subscribed to the service can still receive money. I use the service every month to send money to my little brother, who goes to high school in another city inland. With this service, you have your money in your phone, inside your pocket and you take it with you everywhere, and it's discreet", he says.

Today, more and more people are using mobile banking services as well as other electronic methods payment to pay their phone, water and electricity bills. However, many Ivorians are less keen on using banking services offered by mobile operators and electronic payment agencies citing concerns of piracy and identity theft.

"Since they do not carry large amounts of money, mobile banking subscribers may be safe from the numerous robberies that have targeted populations in recent days. However, they are not safe from piracy or identity theft on their cellphones. Even the Pentagon in the United States, with its great IT experts, was victim of cyber-terrorism. So I don't trust this new service", says Georges Konan, who is reluctant to use mobile banking services.

Séraphin Kabran, who is an IT engineer in a local company, is happy to learn that mobile banking services are in fashion in the Ivory Coast but deplores the fact that very few of these financial institutions use reliable and secure software. "The IT world is a jungle. Therefore, one has to be prepared for an eventual attack on one's system; something many electronic payment agencies and mobile operators are unfortunately not doing", he says.

While some hail this new technological advance, others focus on its negative impact. Marina Kacou, a Sociology student at the University of Cocody in Abidjan, believes that the introduction of money transfer through the mobile phone will lead to the disintegration of social relations. "When someone travels hundreds of kilometres to visit a relative in a village or in another city and give him/her money, the relative is happy not only to receive the money but also to see the person who sends the money. With the mobile banking services, the physical presence of the sender is no longer required. Yet, it is the physical presence of relatives that sets Africans apart".

Nigeria’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, MTN Nigeria, has confirmed it plans to invest USD1 billion in its wireless network during 2012 to improve the quality of services, citing MTN spokesman Akinwale Goodluck. ‘The investment will relieve congestion and improve the quality of the network,’ Goodluck said, adding that the funds will be spent on 2G and 3G technologies, MTN’s core network and power generators to run transmission stations.

The announcement follows demands for the country’s mobile operators to improve the quality of services made by telecoms regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last year. In October 2011 the watchdog warned the three largest mobile operators by subscribers – MTN, Globacom and Airtel Nigeria – that they would face fines and would also be prevented from signing up new subscribers if they failed to improve mobile service quality.

Warid telecom has launched its own money transfer service, adding to the revolution of transacting money in Uganda. The mobile firm launched its WaridPesa product, and, unlike its competitors’, customers can send and receive money from any network. Speaking during the launch, minister for ICT Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, stressed the importance of technology advancement towards economic development.

“The technology revolution is transforming Uganda’s population in a profound way and this is leading to economic development,” he said.  He encouraged the telecom companies to continue being innovative with their services in order to provide even better services to their customers.

Customers have recently had issues with mobile money transactions, and this was noted by UCC’s chairman in his speech, read by the director broadcasting, Suzan Wegoye. “As UCC, [we] expect Warid to provide a good quality service so as to put an end to discomforts Ugandans have had in transacting across different networks,” reports The Observer.

Warid has partnered with Equity bank, which, according to the bank’s Executive Director Apollo Njoroge, has regional experience in money transfers. Equity has partnerships with Kenya-based telecom firms Telkom Kenya and Safaricom.

Njoroge described the partnership as an opportunity for financial inclusion by reaching the unbanked population, which is one of the bank’s key targets. Warid’s Chief Commercial Officer Shailendra Naidu expressed optimism that the introduction of WaridPesa will enhance development and growth in all sectors because it will be easier for customers to instantly move money to their business associates, friends and family.

“Not only will it provide another choice, it is an easy, convenient and quick money transfer service across all networks,” he said. He added that Warid’s platform has the capacity to serve over three million customers.

To register, customers have to visit a WaridPesa outlet with a passport photo and a copy of their identity card. The activation of the account is instant and the client can make transactions immediately.