News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 183 on 28 November 2003
Top Story
CYBER-CAFÉ USERS CANNOT FIND LOCAL CONTENT THEY WANT, SAYS CCOAK SURVEY
The greatest number of internet users in Africa are to be found in its rapidly burgeoning number of cyber-cafes but thus far information on what they do has largely been anecdotal. Research looking at cyber café user habits in the Kenyan capital Nairobi show that there is significant demand for local content, especially content in support of special interest groups. The research shows that cyber café users rarely find what they’re looking for. Marcel Werner and Francis Hook outline the conclusions of the survey. In August 2003 the research was carried out, using professional sampling methods with questionnaires and activity…
Telecoms
MALI'S SOTELMA SIGNS 1.5M EURO DEAL WITH INTEC
Malian incumbent SOTELMA has signed an agreement with Intec Telecom Systems for its InterconnecT(tm) ITU billing and Inter-mediatE(tm) real-time convergent mediation systems. Intec’s combined solutions will help to overcome the…
Telecoms
CCK SETS TENDER RULES FOR TELKOM KENYA’S RIVAL
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has commenced the process for licensing a second national fixed line telecommunications operator to rival Telkom Kenya .CCK kicked-off the exercise last week with…
Telecoms
VODACOM TO LAUNCH ITS MOZAMBIQUE OPERATION IN DECEMBER AS VM
The South African mobile phone company Vodacom has announced that it is to start operating in Mozambique in December, following a period of equipment tests during November. Initial roll-out will…
Telecoms
VOCALCOM’S MOROCCAN CALL CENTRE SIGNS UP RAD TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE
Vocalcom, a provider of solutions for international call centers, has deployed RAD Data Communications’ Vmux-2100 TDM over Internet Protocol (TDMoIP®) Voice Trunking Gateway in order to eliminate poor performance E1…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Mobile subscribers in Nigeria’s Gombe State have decried what they describe as "poor services" offered by Econet Wireless Nigeria. - Comverse and Angel.com have announced a joint venture to…
Telecoms
TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE
- Since October Chinese company Xangai Belt have been installing a new fibre optic-based phone system in Angola’s Namibe province, according to Government sources. - Nigeria’s Glo-Mobile has introduced the…
Internet
ETHIOPIA TO USE SATELLITE FOR RURAL EDUCATION
Hughes Network Systems (HNS) says that it will supply Ethiopia Telecommunications Corp (ETC) with a comprehensive DIRECWAY broadband satellite network. One of the first projects under this USD25 million contract…
Internet
TELKOM INTERNET WINS TWO YEAR CONTRACT WITH STANDARD BANK
Telkom Internet has won a two-year contract to provide Standard Bank, one of SA’s big four banking groups, with a cost-effective Internet access package for its 10 000-strong Internet banking…
Internet
MAURITIUS SEES FIRST WI-FI INTERNET OFFERING FROM ISP DCL
The official presentation of the first public wi-fi offering by ISP DCL took place last Thursday. This new wi-fi approach will compete directly with Mauritius Telecom who already offer corporate…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- The Gauteng branch of South Africa’s National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) is planning to give away 10000 e-mail address accounts to its existing and potential members after…
Computing
ASYST KENYA WINS OGILVY & MATHER ACCESS ACCOUNTS CONTRACT
ASYST International SA last week announced that its Kenyan subsidiary had won acontract for the purchase and installation of the Access Accounts Dimensions Lite’ product at Ogilvy & Mather in…
Computing
UNISYS AFRICA HELPS CURB RUNAWAY VOICE-OVER-DATA COSTS WITH NEW SERVICES
Unisys Africa is helping local companies take care of network performance issues when running voice over data, as well as keeping costs in line and maximising return on investment (ROI).…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- Eskom has signed a R1 billion outsourcing deal with arivia.kom, to address Eskom’s IT requirements to the end of 2005. - Gateway Communications has selected NexTone’s session controllers to perform…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
CORA - THE IVORIAN MOBILE SAGA DRAGS ON
It is now a month since the clients of the CI’s third mobile operator have said anything to its subscribers, writes Adediha Kokou, News Update’s CI correspondent. More than a…
Digital Content
SA WEB SITES START TO CHARGE FEES TO OVERSEAS USERS FOR PREMIUM CONTENT
Major news publishers News24 and Mail & Guardian Online have joined forces to charge foreign readers for access to premium areas of their websites. The M-Web initiative will provide video-on-demand…
Digital Content
FOLA ODUFUWA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ESHEKELS, ON THE TELECOMS WORLD CONGRESS 2003
According to Tim Kelly, Head of Strategy & Policy, ITU, Africa is the first region in the World where mobile phones outnumbered fixed lines. Several countries including Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroun…
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PEOPLE
* UUNET Zambia, which has been operating for two years, has recently appointed Rienzo Colpo as its general manager (GM) to further expand and entrench its business solutions on offer…
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EVENTS
Finance-IT East Africa Conference25-26 November 2003, Inter-Continental Hotel, Nairobi http://www.aitecafrica.com/events/2003/Finance-IT/index.htm The African IT Security Forum27-28 January 2004, School of Oriental & African Studies, London University International experts provide intensive briefings…
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JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
* The Request for Service that it is hoped will lay the basis for the African Internet Exchange "is to be circulated to all network operators who are interested in…
