News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 418 on 22 August 2008
Top Story
West African consumer broadband prices continue to tumble as OTI Telecom lowers its retail offer
West African consumer broadband prices continue to tumble as operators try to find the price point that will attract a wider public beyond the relatively small numbers of corporate customers. The most recent company to slash its broadband prices to create a retail offer is Benin’s ISP OTI Telecom. It is the latest francophone country to introduce this kind of offer but undoubtedly others will follow. However, the challenge remains the high cost of international bandwidth on SAT3 for most countries on the cable. Isabelle Gross looks at what’s happening to broadband prices in the sub-region. Benin’s leading ISP OTI…
Telecoms
Federal Government to Transfer 15 Percent of Nitel Shares to Nigcomsat
According to a report in the Vanguard newspaper, President Umaru Musa Yar Adua has agreed to the transfer of 15 per cent of the Federal Government shares in Nitel to…
Telecoms
Egypt’s Mobinil to Launch 3G Network in September
Egypt's Mobinil expects to finally launch its 3G network on the 1st Sept 2009. The company had expected to receive access to the radio spectrum on 17th January, but the…
Telecoms
Uganda’s Telcos worried about spectrum allocation
IDG News Service reports that Ugandan telcos have expressed concern about the way the industry regulator has allocated WiMAX broadband spectrum and possible looming increases in the costs of spectrum…
Telecoms
Vodacom withdraws ICASA interdict in South Africa
Vodacom confirms it has withdrawn legal papers served on the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), but will not state why. The mobile communications giant brought an urgent interdict against…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has commenced a review of the Rural Communication Development Fund (RCDF) policy, as well as the design of new technology projects to be completed…
Internet
Bandwidth for 2010 World Cup? Hold on, it’s coming, says SA’s DoC
South Africa currently does not have enough bandwidth to meet the 2010 guarantees but last week the Department of Communications went out of its way to reassure everyone hat the…
Internet
Nigcomsat finds it difficult to play in the big boys’ courtyard, says its CEO
NigComSat’s CEO Engr. T. Ahmed Rufai revealed that it was having difficulty penetrating its home market, Nigeria and reaching its wider African marketing goals. NigComSat’s initial feasibility research showed that…
Internet
WAEC Now Online in Sierra Leone
Regional examining body, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) last week launched its online result checking system for Sierra Leone called WAEC Direct Sierra Leone Online Service. The service, which…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- Cable company Seacom is ready to start laying its 15,000km 1.28Tbps cable along the African East Coast from next month. It is confident it will meet its self-imposed “go…
Computing
South Africa Promises to Buy More Local Software
Local software developers should have a greater chance of winning work from the government as the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has promised to procure more services locally to boost…
Computing
UN System contributes to the reinforcement of national information management capacities in Mauritania
28 Mauritanian institutions and 44 information professionals participated in the first training course on the documentary software “Win Isis” from 14 to 17 July 2008. The activity was organized by…
Computing
OSS a ‘good choice’ for SMEs
Open source software is a viable option for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses because of its flexibility and scalability. This is according to Synaq MD, Yossi Hasson. Hasson says that…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- Makerere University's Faculty of Computing and Information Technology (CIT) last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Computer Board of Mauritius and the country's investment authority, Invest…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)
- The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), said that there are now 53,332,149 million active lines on the network as at end of June 2008, adding that consequently, this figure has…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Telekom Malaysia Sells Guinea Investment for Just $1
Telekom Malaysia has agreed to sell its 60% stake in Guinea operator Sotelgui to the Guinea government. The government already holds 40 percent in the national operator and took over…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
LG Planning Mobile Phone Factory for Kenya
South Korea's LG Electronics has announced plans to establish a mobile phone factory in Kenya next year. The company is planning an investment of some Sh100 million (US$1.54 million) in…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Ghana recalls parliament to discuss Vodafone’s GT offer
Ghana recalled its parliament from its summer recess last week to debate the issue of Vodafone Group’s proposed USD900 million offer for a 70% stake in the country’s national PTO…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Telecom Egypt profit up 65%
Egypt's fixed-line telephone monopoly Telecom Egypt said its second-quarter net profit jumped 65%, beating analysts' forecasts. The company said it made 681.2 million Egyptian pounds ($127.8 million) in the three…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
On The Money - In Brief
- Mobile telephone operator Safaricom’s shares went below the Ksh5 price at which it sold during the initial public offering in May. The share price closed at an average of…
Digital Content
Getting Bank Statements By SMS in Rwanda
BCR customers will no longer have to spend time travelling to the bank to get information about their accounts. Instead, they can use their mobile phone or PC. According to…
Digital Content
Social networks booming in Africa
Social network users growing rapidly, Facebook tops list for first time The popularity of social networking sites is growing faster than ever, according to a new report by analysts Comscore.…
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People
* Gateway Communications has announced that Lanre Kolade has been promoted to the newly-created position of Managing Director for the Central Africa region.
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Events
* ITU REGIONAL CYBERSECURITY FORUM FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA 25-28 August 2008, Lusaka, Zambia The purpose of the forum is to identify the main challenges faced by countries in…
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Jobs and Opportunities
* EXPERTS FOR RICTSP PROJECT – COMESA REGION - Project title: A study on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the COMESA region Application deadline: Tuesday 19 August 2008 Contract duration:…
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Contracts
* Pinnacle Micro and HP – South Africa Pinnacle Micro, the broad-based ICT distributor, has signed a distribution agreement with HP's Personal Systems Group. According to Louis Fourie, head Pinnacle…
