News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 310 on 9 June 2006
Top Story
The African ISP is dead! Long live the African ISP!
The African ISP runs the risk of becoming an endangered species. Most of them are small, undercapitalised businesses that exist in the rather tight margin between greedy incumbents and price sensitive customers. The introduction of DSL broadband has shifted the power balance decisively against most ISPs and by the time regulators level the playing field again, there will be significant numbers of casualties. As if that were not enough, unified licences are encouraging the new incumbent – the mobile operators – to play in this space. Russell Southwood looks at what’s happening and how African ISPs can craft ways of…
Telecoms
ROW OVER MTC OWNERSHIP IN NAMIBIA
The Ministry of Works Transport and Communications supports the move by Telecom Namibia to own a 51 percent shareholding in MTC after the dismantling of Namibia Posts and Telecom Holding…
Telecoms
GSMA PUSHES "3G FOR ALL" PROGRAM
Following on its moves to create ultra low cost GSM handsets, the GSM Association is now embarking on a new program called "3G for all" designed to make 3G handsets…
Telecoms
MOROCCANS STILL PREFER PAYPHONES FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLS
While Morocco's GSM penetration exceeded 40% in 2005, some 80% of GSM users are still using payphones for national calls. A new Arab Advisors Group major survey of GSM users…
Telecoms
NIGERIA’S UNIFIED LICENCES: SMALLER PTOS AND NITEL UNLIKELY TO CHALLENGE BIGGER PLAYERS
A recent report by eShekels has identified the scale of the mountain the smaller unified licence players will have to climb if they are to meet their promises. To start…
Telecoms
2G WIRELESS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
2G and 2.5G wireless infrastructure is alive and well and living in the developing world. With most mobile telephone infrastructure markets in industrialized nations near or at saturation levels, wireless…
Telecoms
FREE PHONE SERVICE FOR CAMEROONIAN HIV/AIDS SUFFERERS
People living with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon can now dial a toll free telephone number to access information necessary for their support, according to SUNAIDS, the association that initiated this project.…
Telecoms
COTE D’IVOIRE’S ORANGE BECOMES LATEST TO IMPLEMENT GPRS
Orange in Cote d’Ivoire last week launched its GPRS upgrade. According to Orange’s Cote d’Ivoire D-G:”This enables us to overlay a new network that will allow us to offer all…
Telecoms
BOTSWANA’s BTC SET TO LAUNCH VOIP SERVICE
Botswana’s incumbent BTC is set to launch a VoIP service in the next few months. This is one of several developments designed to make the company more attractive when it…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Kenya’s latest fixed wireless operator EM Communications is looking for 20-30,000 subscribers. - The Senegalese subsidiary of Amitelo has signed a wholesale contract with " Sotelma, the Malian incumbent…
Internet
SA’S TELKOM ADSL STILL OVERPRICED
Telkom is cutting the cost of its high-speed ADSL internet access services by an average of 24% from August, but the service is still a massive 800% more expensive than…
Internet
SAFARICOM, WANANCHI IN PARTNERSHIP ACCORD
Wananchi Online last week signed a deal to use Safaricom's infrastructure to provide value added services. The partnership, signed by the Safaricom chief executive officer Michael Joseph and his Wananchi…
Internet
INTERNET SOLUTIONS CHOSEN TO HOST JINX IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (Ispa) has accepted Internet Solutions' proposal to host the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (Jinx). Jinx aims to enable Ispa members to interconnect networks and…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- Algerian company EEPAD has launched "Assila box" telephony via Internet. EEPAD's first official told a news conference held in Algiers that with this "new product, Algerian double play, will…
Computing
ANGOLA WINS SPAM AND SPYWARE WORLD CUP
Angola may have a better chance of beating Brazil in the World Cup than the bookies first thought, if research from McAfee SiteAdvisor is correct. An analysis of screensaver pages…
Computing
SOUTH AFRICAN PC USER BASE TO TOP 5 MILLION
The number of personal computers in use in South Africa will pass the 5 million mark for the first time this year, according to a new study released today. The…
Computing
INTEL AND AMD BATTLE FOR LOW-COST COMPUTER MARKET
Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) are taking their fierce rivalry to the Third World. At stake is an untapped emerging market of 3.8 billion people, whose purchasing…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- Kenya Airways says over 500,000 of its passengers flew on e-tickets over the past 12 months. The airline has so far rolled out 20 stations on e-ticketing within its…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
TELECOMS, RATES, OFFERS AND COVERAGE
- Kenya’s is Safaricom planning to roll-out 3G. It is also launching an international VoIP service that will be around 30% cheaper than current rates. The user just dials 880…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
SOUTH AFRICAN PINNACLE GETS WORKGROUP FOR R33M
Computer manufacturer Pinnacle Technology is spending R33,4m in a deal that will see it take over information technology distributor Workgroup. Workgroup is one of the divisions within Explix, which runs…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MTN TO RAISE R8 BILLION IN BONDS FOR ACQUISITION
MTN is planning to raise part of the $5,5bn it needs to take over the pan-African and Middle Eastern cellular operator Investcom by selling bonds worth up to R8bn. It…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- Telkom South Africa has cleared the second hurdle in its bid to take over Business Connexion, with 99,59% of shareholders voting in favour of its R2,4bn acquisition. Telkom bought…
Digital Content
JABBERAFRICA.ORG TO CLOSE DOWN
African instant messaging server JabberAfrica.org will be closing down at the end of June, three years after first opening the service. Jabber is an open source instant messaging platform that…
Web and Mobile Data_old
NIGERIA DELIVERS SLIM PICKINGS FOR MULTICHOICE
Pay-television operator MultiChoice says subscriber growth in Africa's most populous market, Nigeria, has been slow, at only 100,000 subscribers, despite its 12-year flirtation with the country of more than 130-million…
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PEOPLE
* Telecel Zimbabwe, the third largest cellular network in the country has confirmed Rex Chibesa, as MD. Chibesa had been acting intermittently as MD for close to two years. His…
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EVENTS
- HIGH SPEED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 20 - 22 June 2006, CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa Chimwemwe.kainja@iqpc.co.za - GLOBAL EVENT ON DOMAIN NAMES AND ADDRESS SYSTEMS ON THE INTERNET…
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JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
* ERICSSON CUSTOMER PROJECT MANAGER - TUNISIA The company is looking for a Ericsson Customer Project Manager (CPM). Ideally you will have experience in Core project management. It would be…
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CONTRACTS: WHO'S SELLING WHAT TO WHO?
* TELECOM EGYPT, NORTEL AND ZHONE - EGYPT Telecom Egypt (TE) has contracted Nortel Networks and Zhone Technologies to enable the launch of VoIP and advanced data services across various…
