News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 270 on 19 August 2005
Top Story
Digital television introduced to Africa - Mauritius and Senegal early adopters
Five years ago the idea of digital television in Africa would have seemed absurd. The continent was 'sucking information through a narrow straw'. Now two countries have announced their intention to offer digital television. Senegal seems to have been first into the game, launching a pilot at the end of last year with 200 trial subscribers. Mauritius is trialling now and will launch in 2006. South Africa is headed in that direction but is only trialling video on demand this month. Access to proper broadband connections means the major players will all soon be scrambling to offer "triple play": a…
Telecoms
CELTEL AND TTCL COMPLETE DIVORCE: THE MOTHER WALKS OFF WITH CUSTODY OF THE MOBILE CHILD
Tanzanian fixed line incumbent the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) and Celtel Tanzania have legally separated, allowing each to administer its own financial and business operations. The government of Tanzania…
Telecoms
NIGERIA CLAIMS TO HAVE SAVED USD6 MILLION WITH TELECOMS PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT
Not less than six million US dollars (N850m) has been saved in terms of foreign exchange with Federal Government’s effort to develop manpower in the telecommunications sector within the last…
Telecoms
BURKINA FASO: PROTEST MOVEMENT GATHERS AFTER ARREST OF YOUNG PHONE CARD SELLERS
Young pre-pay phone card sellers gathered for a demonstration on avenue Kadiogo in Ouga, demanding to know why their colleagues had been arrested by the CRS. Although the demonstration was…
Telecoms
MALAWI GOVT'S CANCELLATION OF PRIVATISATION THREATENS CREDIBILITY OF PRIVATISATION COMMISSION
The cancellation of the sale of the country's telecommunications giant, Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) has thrown the whole privatisation process in disarray with the Privatisation Commission (PC) unsure of the…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Wataniya Telecom Kuwait reported last week that its Algerian mobile arm has signed up a million GSM users, achieving its end-year target more than four months early. Wataniya Telecom…
Telecoms
TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE
* MTN Uganda has announced that it has installed its 2,000th public phone under its Village Phone scheme. The programme is aimed at extending telephony services to rural communities across…
Internet
TERRAMARK PLANS TO SET UP AFRICAN NETWORK ACCESS POINT IN TENERIFE
The government of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, off the northwestern coast of Africa, and U.S. information technolog company Terremark Worldwide, Inc. (Terremark) plan to set a Network Access…
Internet
KENYAN FIRM TO START NEW WIRELESS TELEPHONES
A US-based Kenyan firm will spend Sh150 million in the next six months to provide broadband Internet and telephones services through Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) - that is, wireless…
Internet
STORM BREWING OVER KNYSNA MUNICIPAL WIFI: TELKOM GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH UNINET
Telkom and wireless Internet service provider (WISP) UniNet are squaring off over UniNet's implementation of a WiFi solution within the Knysna municipal area. UniNet is installing the first of 40…
Internet
EGYPT'S BLOGGERS PROVIDE OPPOSITION DISSENT WITH A VOICE
With unkempt black locks and a laptop tucked under his arm, Alaa Fattah has a voice that carries further than those of other antigovernment activists. Fattah, just 23, is one…
Internet
NON-PROFIT CYCLES WIFI AND VOIP INTO THIRD WORLD PHONES
After the tech bust, Mark Summer burned out on working in the technology industry. But he didn't give up on the hope that the networking technology he had helped develop…
Internet
INTERNET SOLUTIONS IS SA GOVERNMENT'S ISP
Internet Solutions (IS) has been awarded a State IT Agency (SITA) contract to provide national and provincial governments with Internet services. SITA will become a first tier Internet service provider…
Internet
AFRINET HELPS FREETOWN'S CYBER-CAFES STAY ONLINE WITH ITS SERVER
With most of the Internet Cafes within the Freetown Municipality down for the past week, Afrinet, a newly established company with affiliations in Ghana, has taken the lead by providing…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- Tecnocom Telecomunicaciones y Energia SA and Cactel Communications said they have introduced the Power Line Communications (PLC) broadband internet technology in Accra, Ghana. In a statement, Tecnocom said the…
Computing
SMILE, YOU'RE ON CAMERA: CCTV SYSTEM FOR NAIROBI
During investigations into last month's London bombings, images from surveillance cameras swiftly identified the attackers. Similar images led to the arrest of another group suspected of being responsible for a…
Computing
FUJITSU SIEMENS JOINS NEPAD E-SCHOOLS PROJECT
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) has joined forces with the Nepad e-Schools Initiative in order to promote the growth and development of IT on the African continent. The Nepad e-Schools Initiative…
Computing
SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY PREPARES STATEMENT FOR WSIS PHASE II IN TUNIS
As the world starts preparing for the second phase of the ground breaking United Nations World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) to be held from 16-18 November 2005, South African…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
UNISYS CONCLUDES BEE TRANSACTION WITH CKS
Unisys Africa, a subsidiary of Unisys Corporation, completed a BEE transaction on Tuesday, by selling 30% of its shares to Cyberknowledge Systems (CKS), a black-owned consultancy company. “This transaction has…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
SA IT FIRM BUSINESS CONNEXION BUYS INTO CORPORATE INTERNET RACE
Technology group Business Connexion has acted on its goal of becoming an internet service provider for the corporate market by acquiring Bidvest Network Solutions, a money-losing division of the Bidvest…
Digital Content
CELLPHONE WEATHER DATA COULD AID S.AFRICA'S FARMERS
Cellphones telling African farmers when to irrigate their crops could help them boost production and save water, South African sugar growers say, as a pilot project helps small emerging farmers.…
Digital Content
WEBSITES BECOME LUCRATIVE IN SA
Some South African websites are finally becoming an effective way of generating revenue for a business by attracting enough local and international consumers to make them viable. The latest internet…
Digital Content
WEBSITE TO PROVIDE TRANSPORT ON-LINE
Freight Africa.com is an internet-based freight matching service designed to improve the efficiencies and therefore increase viability for the Third World transport services. The site will provide a competitive environment…
Digital Content
Web And Mobile Data News - In Brief
- Vodacom, South Africa’s largest cellco by subscribers, has signed a three-year deal with Openwave Systems for the management and maintenance of its mobile access gateway, MMS services centre and…
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Africa's a Mobile Phone Oasis, But You Can't Live on Water Alone
...The Africa-as-mobile-phone-oasis story is hardly new, but it's important nonetheless. African countries generally have some of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the world, so mobile phone growth raises the…
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PEOPLE
-Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MTN Nigeria Limited, Afam Edozie has served notice to quit Nigeria's largest Mobile operator, to concentrate on a new project. Edozie, one of the most…
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EVENTS
OPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA ACHIEVING AFFORDABLE BANDWIDTH: A WORKSHOP ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND OPENING UP OF ICT INFRASTRUCTURE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA 26-28 October 2005, Dakar, Senegal…
