News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 389 on 11 January 2008
Top Story
Nigeria’s Galaxy Backbone gears up to meet the needs of 1 million civil servants
African governments are one of the biggest buyers of ICT services in most markets and none comes bigger than the Nigerian Government. It employs a million civil servants. Galaxy Backbone was set up with the intention of providing a single cost effective service to Government bodies rather than see each build their own networks. Russell Southwood interviewed Galaxy Backbone CEO, Gerald Ilukwe this week in Abuja. Gerald Ilukwe, CEO, Galaxy Backbone PLC has worked for over 20 years in the IT sector before he was asked to run this new Government company, working for a string of well-known IT companies,…
Telecoms
NCC under pressure to agree a 3G licence for Nigcomsat
The Nigerian House of Representatives continues to try and strong-arm the Nigerian regulator NCC into giving the state communications satellite project a 3G licence. Why does a satellite bandwidth seller…
Telecoms
Zimbabwe Netone Buys Fibre Optic System to Ease interconnection Congestion
Mobile cellular phone service provider NetOne has bought a high capacity fibre optic system that is expected to help ease current network congestion. According to NetOne managing director Reward Kangai,…
Telecoms
Mobile Phone Factory to Be Set Up in Zambia
The Malaysia based handset design firm, M.Mobile is investing US$3 million in setting up a production factory in Zambia. Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati said in an interview…
Telecoms
Consumer rights to get mobile support in South Africa
Mobile technology company Clickatell is encouraging people to complain more often about bad service, in the hope of making money as incensed consumers air their gripes by SMS. Clickatell has…
Telecoms
READERS COMMENT:
In reference to your article in Issue 388, you published an article headed UCC Gets Sh6b for Rural Phones in Uganda. In this article you reported that: “Three mobile telephone…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- The Uganda Communication Commission has clarified that it has licenced five national telecommunications operators and not six as was reported by the media in the last few days. The…
Telecoms
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
- In order to improve service quality on its network, MTN Nigeria has announced that it would add 36 additional MSCs (mobile switching centre) to its network and 12 new…
Internet
Violence Slows Down High Speed Internet Project in Kenya
Consumers of Internet services will have to wait much longer for faster and cheaper access that was to come through the National Fibre Optic Backbone. Industry insiders said construction of…
Internet
Court orders Nitel to pay for non-delivery of SAT3 service to Interstella
The Court ordered Nitel to pay Interstella In a letter written to its lawyer Messrs. Ikechukwu Uzuegbu & Co, dated 3rd July, 2007 and signed by the company's secretary, Hadiza…
Internet
Telkom South Africa optimistic about ADSL growth
Telkom is on its way to meet its ADSL target of at least 700,000 subscribers by 2011 Current estimates indicate that Telkom is on its way to meeting its target…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- Mobily is expanding the reach of its national fiber-optic network regionally and globally as part of a consortium that includes Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates and Etisalat Misr…
Computing
Federal Government Plans Six Science Parks to Boost Technical Development in Nigeria
In a sustained effort to mainstream Nigeria as a technologically driven economy, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is to champion the establishment of Science parks in the six…
Computing
Mozambique agrees With China On Science And Technology cooperation
The Mozambican and Chinese Ministers of Science and Technology, Venancio Massingue and Wan Gang, on Monday signed an agreement to step up co-operation in scientific and technological matters. Under the…
Computing
Firefox add-on makes special characters easy
Do you ever find yourself frustrated by having to type in accented letters, international characters or symbols into Firefox? If so, the FireFox add-on abcTajpu may just make your life…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has expanded its automated trading floor system to the Ilorin branch in the Kwara state. - Algeria’s e-governance project, which aims at creating an electronic…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Oger Puts Spanner in Telkom's Works in South Africa
Telkom's future direction is once again uncertain after the Saudi operator Oger Telecom disclosed that it had bid for a stake in the business. Oger Telecom's parent company Saudi Oger…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Telecom Firms Grossed Over US$305m Last Year in Uganda
Annual gross revenues of telecom operators in Uganda have gone up by 33 per cent, with main players Celtel and MTN posting the biggest increases. The third player Uganda Telecom…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Maroc Telecom Q4 revenue jumps 30%
Maroc Telecom, Morocco's dominant telecoms company, reported a 30 percent gain in fourth-quarter revenue as promotions and special offers boosted growth at its mobile phone subsidiaries. Revenue in the three-month…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Proposed Talk-Time Tax to be changed in Ghana
Government said it was considering an ad valorem tax proposal by the telecom operators instead of a flat rate for the introduction of the air/talk time tax. Fred Opare-Ansah, Deputy…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- Market speculation has it that UK telecommunications giant BT is in discussion to acquire JSE-listed GijimaAst. ITWeb revealed that it has received a detailed tip that the local company…
Digital Content
Book Reading Gets Even More Mobile with Cape Town company Cellbook
CellBook, a Cape Town-based mobile applications developer, has recently developed technology enabling book publishers to publish and distribute books on mobile phone handsets. It is also in the process of…
Digital Content
South Africa’s Plea to Put Educational Tools Online
Internet entrepreneurs Mark Shuttleworth and Jimmy Wales launched a formal declaration yesterday urging governments and publishers to make publicly funded educational materials freely available on the internet, a move that…
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People
- Namibian mobile operator, Cell One has announced the reassignment of Lars Christian Iuel by Telenor. He will take up a new executive position at Telenor in South East Asia.…
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Events
* 3RD ANNUAL DIGITAL BROADCASTING SWITCHOVER FORUM 29 Jan – 1 Feb 2008, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Covering National Switchover Frameworks and Planning, the Digital Dividend, the Results of WRC…
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Jobs and Opportunities
* Technical advice for the setting up of a video- conference system in the IOC and its member states We are presently searching for individual experts or a team to…
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Contracts
* Striata and New Clicks Holdings – South Africa Secure e-mail and messaging specialist Striata has won, on open tender, an electronic communications service provision contract with the JSE-listed specialist…
