News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 417 on 15 August 2008
Top Story
VoIP wars – The battle moves closer to the mobile operators
Grey market voice operators have been feeling the heat in the last twelve months as operators have dropped their international calling prices. Also increasingly, mainstream operators like MWeb are taking advantage of VoIP liberalisation to offer cheaper calling rates. This week it announced this service in five countries over its VSAT platform. However, new software for making IP calls from mobile phones (currently only on Nokia) threatens to rip a large gash in the hull of the major mobile operators. Russell Southwood looks at how the VoIP wars are changing as rates come down. A number of changes have been…
Telecoms
Globacom Receives Licence Offers From the Gambia And Liberia
Information reaching the paper indicates that Globacom Telecommunication Service has received offers from The Gambia and Liberia to move its operations there. Head of Glo Gateway, Charles Odiase, disclosed that…
Telecoms
Comium to renegotiate deal with government in Liberia
Beleaguered Liberian GSM mobile operator Comium Liberia, owned by Comium Africa Limited and LibanCell, has revealed it is prepared to renegotiate the terms of its contract with the government, but…
Telecoms
Telecom Namibia campaigns for unified licence
Telecom Namibia wants an all-inclusive licence across the whole spectrum of telecommunications and information technology, which should be included in the new draft legislation, its Managing Director Frans Ndoroma said…
Telecoms
Telecom Egypt to invest US$285 million into its network
According to Telecom Egypt's Chairman Akil Beshir, the company allocated a total of LE 1.5 billion (US$285 million) for network investments in fiscal year 08. He expects that by August…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Zain Group has announced that it has rebranded its entire African operations from Celtel to Zain. The move coincides with the linking of the world’s first borderless mobile service…
Internet
WFN Strategies set to supervise ADONES cable installation in Angola
Angola’s slow moving fibre roll-out took another step forward with the appointment of WFN Strategies to provide business and engineering support for the ADONES coastal cable project. It will go…
Internet
3G broadband growth accelerates while ADSL stalls in Morocco
Moroccan regulator Agence Nationale de Reglementation de Telecom (ANRT) has released its statistical report for the second quarter of 2008. According to the watchdog’s figures, total mobile telephony subscribers increased…
Internet
Internet Service Suspended in Eight Regional Towns in Ethiopia
Ethiopian incumbent ETC continues to provide evidence of why Government-owned telcos are incapable of providing effective roll-out and consistent service. It has suspended Internet services in the seven towns of…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- On 29 July 2008, ANHRI denounced the Sudanese government's decision to block the YouTube website ( http://www.youtube.com ). Since 22 July, Internet users in Sudan have been unable to…
Computing
Greenpeace lashes rising e-waste in Africa
Greenpeace called on the world's electronics companies Tuesday to eliminate hazardous chemicals from their products, saying toxic waste from wealthy nations' gadgets ends up being dumped in poor countries despite…
Computing
ICT teachers improve their skills in Cameroon
Close to a 100 teachers from Government secondary and high schools in the Southwest Province of Cameroon have been drilled on new developments in Information and Communication Technology, ICT, and…
Computing
Uganda’s University develops Firefox web browser in local language
Makerere University Faculty of Computing and Information Technology [CIT] has created a Luganda version of Firefox Mozilla Internet browser which will now be accessed by more millions of people who…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- The government of Mauritius is negotiating with Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD). for the provision of low-cost personal computers. The Mauritian government's objective is to bring the price of…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)
- Nigeria's lead in Africa's telecom growth rate continued on the rise as statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission showed that the nation recorded 53,332,149 Million Active Lines on the…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Setback for Zambia Handset Factory as M.Mobile pulls out
Plans to set up a mobile phone manufacturing factory in Zambia faced a set back after the Malaysian backer, M.Mobile pulled out of the joint venture. The factory is due…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MTN's R1bn MNP pay-off in South Africa
MTN Business expects 30% of its entire revenue to come from government spend in the near future, and is looking to mobile number portability (MNP) as a way to achieve…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Mozambique Telecoms Seeks Chinese Funding
Mozambique’s state-run telecommunications company, TDM, said on Friday it was negotiating a US$25 million loan from China for its expansion programme to the country’s rural areas. TDM chief executive officer…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria’s Action Congress Seeks Probe of Nitel Sale
The Action Congress (AC) has called for a thorough investigation into the sale of Nitel to Transcorp, in the wake of fresh revelations concerning the acquisition of 51 per cent…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- BNP Paribas Consortium emerged as the highest bidder to become adviser to the National Council for Privatisation (NCP) on the privatisation of the Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile…
Digital Content
BCR Brings Online, SMS Banking to Rwanda
Banking with Commercial Bank of Rwanda (bcr) has been made easier with the introduction of Internet and Short Message Service (SMS) banking facilities. SMS banking is a service that allows…
Digital Content
Global Campaigners Against HIV Increasingly Turning to Digital Media
The 17th International AIDS Conference this week highlighted a host of innovative ways that digital media is being used to get the attention of young people and help protect them…
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People
* Charles J. K. Njoroge has been appointed as the new General Director of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). * Nikki Popoola has joined Tata Communications as its new…
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Events
* 1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-COMMERCE AND INTERNET SECURITY IN EAST AFRICA 13-15th August 2008, Kenyatta international Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya Information and Communication Technology has been recognised as the…
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Jobs and Opportunities
* VeloCITI is Calling on all start-up ICT Entrepreneurs! VELOCITI is aimed at young IT entrepreneurs who are running a business where the true potential is yet to be fully…
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Contracts
* Telkom and Absa – South Africa Telkom has won a R1,7bn five-year deal to provide networking technologies to connect 2,548 Absa sites across South Africa. The deal is one…
