Issue no 231
Top Story
Guinea-Bissau: Eguitel defends its license and moves ahead with VOIP telecentres
In August of this year Guinea Bissau's Eguitel fell foul of a sudden withdrawal of licence by the country's regulator when it started offering international VoIP services within the terms of that licence. Pressure seems to have been bought by the incumbent GuineTel. Since then Eguitel has fought to retain its licence and has gone ahead with expanding its VoIP services. Miguel Reise reports on what's happened to date. In October 2003 the Guinea-Bissau regulator ICGB granted Eguitel Communications a license for unrestricted use of VOIP. The license was the final piece needed for the company to legally provide of…
Telecoms
EGYPT LAUNCHES FIBRE OPTIC CABLE CONNECTION WITH SUDAN
Egypt launched on Tuesday last week a fibre optic cable connection with Sudan to boost communications and the high-speed internet services between the two countries, said Egyptian Minister of Telecommunications…
Telecoms
VODACOM DECIDES NOT TO GO INTO ZAMBIA AS FOURTH MOBILE OPERATOR
The Vodacom Group has confirmed that it will not proceed with the licence negotiations for Zambia’s fourth mobile service provider. Vodacom Group chief communications manager Mthobi Tyamzashe confirmed yesterday that…
Telecoms
ZTE CORPORATION OPENS MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN ALGERIA
ZTE Corporation is to strengthen its position as a market leader in North Africa and the Middle East by opening a manufacturing facility in Algeria. In an agreement with well-established…
Telecoms
ACCRA COURT ORDERS PRINCE KOFI KUDJESON TO REPAY USD67,000 FOR DEFRAUDING KASAPA (FORMERLY CELTEL)
The Accra Fast Track Court ordered Prince Kofi Kudjeson to pay a USD67,000 back to Kasapa (formerly Celtel). Formerly a director of the company, Kudjeson was responsible for defrauding it…
Telecoms
GATEWAY SIGNS INTERCONNECT AGREEMENT WITH ZANZIBAR TELECOM
Gateway Communications last week announced that it has concluded an interconnection agreement with Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel), the second national operator (SNO) and licensed GSM carrier in Tanzania. The new service…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Scancom Limited, operators of Spacefon cellular phone network, topped Ghana's top 100 companies in 2002 and 2003 and received plaque awards, with other distinguished companies, from Vice President Aliu…
Telecoms
TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE
* The Ashanti regional office of the Ghana Telecom (GT) has embarked on an outreach programme to attract more customers to its fixed-line telephone services in the Kumasi metropolis. The…
Internet
TUNISIE TELECOM CREATING NATIONWIDE BROADBAND NETWORK FOR ADSL BROADBAND ACCESS
Redback Networks Inc., a leading provider of next-generation broadband networking systems, and Huawei Technologies Company Ltd, a global telecom infrastructure supplier, Tuesday announced that Tunisie Telecom is creating a nationwide…
Internet
KENYA'S REGULATOR CCK DE-REGISTERS 9 ISPS
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has de-registered nine Internet Service Providers (ISPs).CCK Director-General Sammy Kirui said the de-registration of the nine ISPs which became effective from October 7, 2004…
Internet
.ZA LOOKS SET TO BE REDELEGATED TO NEW BODY
The .za Domain Name Authority is in the process of applying to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for the re-delegation of responsibility for the South African…
Computing
NAMIBIAN COMPUTERIZED VOTERS' REGISTER TO BE LAUNCHED
The Director of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) Phillemon Kanime yesterday revealed that the ECN will soon launch the first computerized voters', for 300 polling stations countrywide. The computerized…
Computing
INTEL WIRELESS GOES ON SAFARI IN SOUTHERN AFRICA TO PITCH ANYWHERE ACCESS
Technology company Intel says its wireless safari is proving wireless technology can be effectively and securely used regardless of a user's geographical location. Intel's 12-day test began last Saturday when…
Computing
E-BANKING COULD REDUCE ZIM BANK NOTE SHORTAGE, SAY CYBERPLEX'S STEINER
Zimbabwe is currently facing a critical shortage of bank notes that could be greatly reduced were bank clients not averse to electronic banking. “It would allow them to carry out…
Computing
IBM LAUNCHES LAUNCHES DOMINO EXPRESS IN KENYA
Leading computer firm IBM has introduced Kenyans to its latest version of the software, Lotus Dominos Express. The software offers traditional users a Lotus-like interface, without having to make significant…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- The University of the Western Cape (UWC) announced today that it had received a R3.7 million grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada for the establishment…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
VMOBILE ASKS COURT TO LIQUIDATE NITEL
Nigerian mobile operator, Vmobile, has launched legal proceedings for the liquidation of the first national carrier, NITEL for its indebtedness to it. This is coming barely two weeks after MTN,…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- South African international information technology and networking services group Datatec (DTC) edged into profitability in the six months to end August, reporting headline earnings per share of 0.1…
Digital Content
BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA BRINGS AN SMS REVENUE BONANZA
The use of SMS to make broadcasting more interactive is growing, generating millions in revenue, say industry players. South Africans are fast adopting premium SMS to interact with TV and…
Digital Content
Web And Mobile Data News - In Brief
- President George W Bush's re-election campaign said on Wednesday it had cut its website, www.georgewbush.com, off from access from certain foreign countries, "for security reasons," including South Africa. -…
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PEOPLE
* SA's Telkom has reshuffled its management to help it compete effectively in the changing telecommunications marketplace. Telkom CEO Sizwe Nxasana said in announcing the changes late last week: “The…
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EVENTS
- CECS is now conducting specialised 1-day workshops to equip individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge to set up a computer network with two or more computers in Windows…
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JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
- A Tunisian company is looking for an Ericsson 1st Line Support Engineer You should have a good knowledge of Ericsson NSS including MSC, APG, BSC. Experience in O&M and…