News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 245 on 18 March 2005
Top Story
African international bandwidth set to grow by 81% to 2008 driven by mobile and broadband
The transmission capacity required to carry Africa’s international voice and data traffic increased by 91% in the three years to 5.09 Gbps 2002, will increase by at least 137% to 12.09 Gbps in the three years to 2005, and a further 81% to 21.9 Gbps in the three years to 2008 according to a new report published by Balancing Act this week. Underpinned by comprehensive underlying data on voice and internet traffic, the Balancing Act Voice and Data Bandwidth Forecasts (2005-2008) present five-year, country-by country forecasts for seven different streams of international voice and data/Internet traffic for 48 countries in…
Telecoms
GABON RESTARTS ITS PRIVATIZATION - ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
The Gabon government of Gabon are preparing to re-initiate the long awaited privatisation of the country’s telecommunications monopoly, Gabon Telecom, writes Mapara Syed. The precise terms of the privatisation strategy…
Telecoms
NIGERIAN SNO GLOBACOM SIGNS USD685 LAGOS-LONDON FIBRE CONTRACT
Nigerian SNO Globacom last week signed a contract with Alcatel to deploy deploy a 8,600km submarine cable for Globacom, connecting Nigeria to England. This cable will significantly expand Nigeria's international…
Telecoms
BOSS OF WINNING BIDDER FOR LTC A US BANKRUPT, SAYS LIBERIAN PAPER
Three companies - the United Telephone Exchange (UTE), Infotel Italia and a Chinese company, Huawei Technologies, were selected to bid for what remains of Liberia's incumbent telco, LTC. UTE was…
Telecoms
CUASA ATTACKS HIGH CELLPHONE COSTS - SOME INTERNATIONAL CALLS CHEAPER THAN LOCAL
SA's telecommunications sector got off to a grim start in 2005, with the realisation that it is now more expensive to call local cellular phones than some international destinations. This…
Telecoms
NIGERIA SET TO LIBERALISE VoIP WITH NEW GUIDELINES
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has published a notice of intention to issue guidelines on Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP applications. The Commission in recent newspaper adverts says it will…
Telecoms
AFRICAN MOBILE CARRIERS LAG BEHIND THE REST OF THE WORLD IN GENERATING INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALE TRAFFIC
African mobile carriers generate only 8% of the world's international wholesale revenues compared to 12% for Latin America and the Caribbean and 28% for Asia, according to TeleGeography 2005. With…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Alcatel has been selected by Orascom and its affiliate ARPU+ to supply Alcatel's Mobile Kiosk Service, which enables content aggregation and service delivery in a hosted-and-operated mode. The Mobile…
Telecoms
TELECOM RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE
* Celtel Kenya has introduced an interactive voice response system (IVR) at its Nairobi call centre. Gerhard May, the Chief Executive Officer, said the new facility would enable subscribers access…
Internet
TWO FRANCOPHONE INCUMBENTS ADOPT DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO COMBAT GREY MARKET VoIP
Two francophone incumbents are trying different strategies to squeeze out grey market voice traffic, according to a wholesale VoIP supplier who understandably wishes to remain anonymous. In Cote d'Ivoire, incumbent…
Internet
TEETHING PROBLEMS ANGER IBURST WIRELESS BROADBAND CUSTOMERS
A number of iBurst clients claim the new broadband Internet service is erratic and unstable. However, iBurst distributor Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) says it has received minimal complaints, adding that…
Internet
INTELSAT LAUNCHES GLOBALCONNEXSM NETWORK BROADBAND IN AFRICA
Intelsat announced the launch of GlobalConnexSM (GXS) Network Broadband, a cost-effective, last-mile broadband solution designed to provide enterprises, government agencies, Internet cafes and other closed user groups with reliable, high-speed…
Internet
SURVEY OF AFRICAN UNIVERSITY CONNECTIVITY FINDS BOTH CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Internet connectivity in tertiary institutions in Africa can be summarized in three ways – too little, too expensive and poorly managed. This is the conclusion of the World Bank sponsored…
Internet
NIGERIAN SENATE PASSES BILL TO STOP CYBER-CAFÉ 419 SCAMMERS
The Nigerian Senate last week finally passed the amendment to Advance Fee Fraud Act, which would check the use of cyber cafe facility to commit offences. The bill, when assented…
Internet
ALGERIA'S MOBILIS LAUNCHES GPRS-BASED MOBILE INTERNET ACCESS
The Algerian incumbent's mobile arm has launched a GPRS-based mobile internet access service. The service can be be set up remotely by making a phone call and set up is…
Computing
IVORIANS LAUNCH A MASTERCARD-BASED MONICASH FOR E-COMMERCE
From now on, Ivorians will be able to use a Mastercard-based card called Web Surfer to buy products and services on the web. This is the one of two products…
Computing
CORPORATE SOUTH AFRICA SEES LAPTOP AS KEY DEVICE, SAYS SURVEY
Corporate South Africa regards the laptop computer as the single most necessary mobile technology for deployment in business, edging out even the cellular phone, while emerging technologies like handheld computers…
Computing
NIGERIA'S SOFTWARE INDUSTRY WORTH N15BN
The Chairman of the Nigerian Software Develop-ment Initiative (NSDI) and Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, yesterday estimated the size of Nigeria's software industry to be over N15…
Computing
ACER RANKED SECOND IN SA PC NOTEBOOK SECTOR
With a year-on-year growth rate of 48.8% and a 17.4% market share in the notebook sector, IDC ranked Acer second among South Africa’s leading PC vendors for 2004. Preliminary data…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- Ugandan computer assembler Anupam Global Soft Uganda Limited, has started school campaigns to eliminate computer illiteracy. Anupam operates a USD600,000 computer assembly plant, the first of its kind in…
digtool
LG LAUNCHES PHONE FOR MOSLEMS
Global IT leader, LG Electronics, has launched a new mobile handset, the F7100 Qiblah phone, which caters to the prayer needs of Muslim faithfuls, in Nigeria. The new phone has…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
TATA TO INVEST ‘BILLIONS' IN SNO
Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri expects Tata to invest “billions” of rand in the second national operator (SNO). Earlier this week, the minister announced the SNO finally has a full complement…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- 3Com has announced that it has completed the acquisition of TippingPoint Technologies, Inc, located in Texas in the US. TippingPoint is a leading provider of intrusion prevention systems (IPS)…
Digital Content
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT GOES ONLINE
www.constitutionalcourt.org.za The site, developed by Vivid New Media in collaboration with Big Media, allows the public to access information on human rights, as well as link to legal organisations they…
Digital Content
CIPESA LAUNCHES COMMENTARY AND DISCUSSION SERIES ON INTERNATIONAL ICT POLICY FOR EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is launching a commentary and discussion series to spark thinking and dialogue on important issues in the field.…
Digital Content
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PEOPLE
- Cisco's service provider director Mark Baptiste says the recent announcement by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri regarding the legalisation of voice over IP (VOIP) leaves a lot of issues without…
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EVENTS
CTO PRESENTS: THE AFRICAN BROADBAND REVOLUTION 2005 Overcoming Technical and Financial Barriers to Broadband Deployment 6th – 8th April 2005 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Don’t miss out…
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JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
NETWORK DESIGN ENGINEER Technical authority in providing Solution Design to his/her assigned customers. Education, Knowledge, Training, Skills and experience required * Preferably with a MS degree/equivalent in Engineering applied to…
