News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 251 on 4 March 2005

AND THEY'RE OFF: AFRICA'S FIRST LEGAL VOIP SERVICES SET A CRACKING PACE

Legalised VoIP services are slowly creeping on to the mainland continent of Africa. South Africa has legalised them and Kenya was due to follow before the Kenyan Government sacked its regulator. Last week the Egyptian regulator, NTRA announced significant changes to its attitude to VOIP including legalising PC to PC telephony, a significant move in a country with many computer users. Until now VoIP services have existed in the grey margins but they will now have to compete in the cold light of public competition. Before February 1st, regulatory restrictions had prevented South African companies from reaping the benefits of…

SAT3/SAFE FIBRE MONOPOLY: NOW MAURITIUS TELECOM COMES UNDER FIRE

After brewing challenges to the SAT3/SAFE fibre monopoly in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, Mauritius Telecom is now being challenged to give up its stranglehold on the SAFE cable. The…

CAMTEL SET TO TAKE ON MTN AND ORANGE IN THE MOBILE MARKET

The new D-G of the beleagured Cameroonian incumbent Camtel David Nkoto Emane announced last week that it would fight back by setting up a mobile operation in competition with MTN…

TESPOK DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM KENYAN GOVT OVER CCK DEBACLE

The Kenya internet and telecoms sector lobby has written to the Secretary of the Cabinet of the Kenyan Government to ask what the Government proposes to do about its regulator…

NOKIA LOOKS TO INCREASE EARNINGS FROM AFRICA

Handset manufacturer Nokia says it remains committed to the African continent because it views it as one of the most critical, exciting and promising emerging markets, together with Asia and…

SA TELKOM'S TARIFFS STILL 'AMONGST THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD'

Last week, NUS Consulting released its latest survey, which says Telkom's high tariffs "continue to hamper South African organisations in their efforts to compete in the world's major markets". According…

INTERCONNECT EXCHANGE NIGERIA BEGINS OPERATION NEXT MONTH TO ADDRESS INTERCONNECT AND INTER-BILLING PROBLEMS

Inadequate interconnect capacity and inter-carrier billing are the main areas of dispute between Nigeria's telecom operators. This is because a new organisation, Interconnect Exchange Nigeria Limited (ICN), is to roll…

ORASCOM TO BUILD ALGERIA-MARSEILLES FIBRE LINK

Orascom Telecom Holding ("OTH") has formed two fully funded subsidiaries to build and operate undersea fiber optic cables to further expand its non-GSM Telecom Services segment. Telecom Services is an…

Telecoms News - In Brief

- Algeria Telecom (AT), the incumbent operator in Algeria, has officially announced that Huawei won the Algeria National CDMA Network contract. Under the contract, Huawei Technologies will provide AT with…

TELEGLOBE LAUNCHES PLATFORM TO ACCOMMODATE INTERNET GROWTH IN AFRICA

Teleglobe International has announced plans to launch a new Internet Digital Video Broadcast/Internet Protocol (DVB/IP) satellite platform covering the African continent to accommodate Internet traffic growth. Teleglobe already has a…

SITA SC ADDS AFRICA ONLINE TO LIST OF MANAGED LOCAL ISPS

SITA SC, the only global Communication Services Integrator committed to the travel and transportation industry (TTI), today announced that Africa Online has added its name to SITA's expanding list of…

SA'S HOTELS GET WIRED TO KEEP THE GUESTS SURFING

Major hotel groups are installing high-speed internet access points in rooms and public areas to deal with growing demand from business travellers for connectivity comparable to what is offered by…

CYBER-DISSIDENT REPORTEDLY ARRESTED IN LIBYA

Press freedom organisation RSF has called for the release of cyber-dissident Abdel Razak Al Mansouri, whose arrest on 12 January 2005 has just been reported. He criticised the Libyan government…

NIGERIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO GET BILL ON CYBER CRIME

The Presidency will next week present to the National Assembly, a Bill seeking to curb financial crimes involving the use of information and communication technology. Co-ordinator of the National Cyber…

Internet News - In Brief

- Ghana Telecom is currently not sending bills out to its ADSL customers as the service has not proved itself very stable yet. One customer reports that the service went…

INTERNATIONALLY BRANDED PCS EVERY BIT AS LOCAL AS LOCALLY BRANDED PCS, SAYS TARSUS

There has been some controversy in the South African ICT market surrounding the investment, skills development and overall economic impact international computer brands have on the South African market and…

EGYPT'S FORWARD-MINDED ICT STRATEGY 'SHOWING RESULTS' CLAIMS INTEL CEO

Focusing on Egypt's burgeoning technology evolution, Intel Corporation Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett recognized the country's efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth and be competitive in the emerging digital economy.…

CHANNEL DATA INTRODUCES THIRD-GENERATION TAPE TECHNOLOGY

South Africa's Channel Data has announced that it will, with immediate effect, offer its customers third-generation LTO-3 Ultrium tape drive technology within its Quantum branded data backup tape library and…

DATACENTRIX DEMONSTRATES COMMITMENT TO SMME DEVELOPMENT IN BLOEM

IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix, recently joined forces with Free State-based SMME, Africa Business Solutions (ABS), to fulfil a server roll-out to the Department of Education. The project forms…

Computer News - In Brief

- Co-ordinator of Angola's Comissão Nacional de Tecnologias de Informação Pedro Teta announced that it will buy recycled computers costing around USD100 from Canada for use in Government - Uganda's…

KUWAIT'S MTC BUYS AFRICAN CELTEL FOR USD3.3 BILLION

Kuwaiti mobile phone operator MTC said on Tuesday it has snapped up Celtel, the African cell phone group that had been poised for a London flotation, for about USD3.32 billion…

ADC LISTS ON JSE

Alliance Data Corporation (ADC), an open source software developer focused on the mining industry, debuted on the JSE's AltX exchange on Wednesday and was trading at 120c by late morning,…

On The Money - In Brief

- South African shares nudged north on Tuesday as a weaker rand buoyed mining and industrial stocks and cell phone company MTN rose amid speculation it could become a takeover…

ALCATEL TO STRENGTHEN ITS MOBILE TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS IN AFRICA

The Wi-Fi Technology Forum/- Alcatel has announced the signature of a 3-year MOU with Manobi, the leading operator of Mobile and Internet services dedicated to the rural sector of developing…

REGION SCIENTISTS LAUNCH WEBSITE

Women scientists, engineers and technologists from different African countries have launched a website to help them network. The networking was facilitated by Gender Advisory Board (GAB) East Africa sub-region. The…

ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT DIGITAL EDITION GOES LIVE

In a landmark achievement in the media industry and a first in Zimbabwe , The Zimbabwe Independent's digital version system has taken the lead and now gone live and is…

RAIN: A NEW AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION INITIATIVE GETS OFF THE GROUND

Operational since 2003, the Regional Agricultural Information Network (RAIN) is one of the 17 regional network programmes and projects (NPPs) operating under the umbrella of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural…

Web And Mobile Data News - In Brief

www.electionsethiopia.org www.iog.dj - Senegal's DGCNET has launched a new website - Senjob - for those seeking work. The site has an interesting array of jobs and will be a useful…

EVENTS

ICT FOR NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

Organizers: AITEC Date: 6 - 8, April 2005 Venue: Grand Regency Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya For more information, visit www.aitecafrica.com THIRD INTERNATIONAL OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE Organizers: SIDA, UNICTTF and ICTH Date:…

JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES

DIRECTOR OF COMPUTER CENTRE - NIGERIA

The University of Abuja, Abuja is seeking for a suitable candidate to fill the position of Director, Computer Centre of the University. The candidate must possess higher university degree in…