Issue no 546 17th March 2011
Top Story
Glo has ambition to become a major West African player for both mobile and fibre
Nigeria’s Globacom has slowly been building itself a West African regional position, seeking mobile licences and trying to find more country operators to connect to its Glo One cable branching units. Russell Southwood talked to Globacom's COO Mohamed Jameel about its ambitions, LTE testing, mobile TV and Triple Play. Q: What is the current state of the mobile market in Nigeria?A: It is almost close to saturation. Operators are now very aggressive to do what little customer acquisition is left over. It’s crucial to hold on to your existing subscriber base so there’s a lot of focus on retention. A number…
Telecoms
Zimbabwe: Telone Gets Mobile Phone Service Licence
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has issued state-owned incumbent TelOne with a mobile phone service licence. The fixed telecommunications operator will become the fourth company to…
Telecoms
National Lottery Authority sues Airtel Ghana over “illegal lottery”
The National Lotto Authority (NLA) has initiated moves to halt activities of telecommunications operators from promoting, conducting, running and advertising illegal lottery or games of chance disguised as marketing promotions.The…
Telecoms
Kenya: Heads to Roll At Safaricom Under New Structure
All senior managers at mobile phone firm Safaricom are this week expected to make fresh applications for their jobs following a restructuring exercise that is expected to see some big…
Telecoms
Uganda: UCC Report Ranks Telecoms Service Quality
The Uganda Communications Commission quality of service report conducted across the five major telecom service providers has ranked Warid Telecom and Airtel Uganda among the worst service providers. By contrast,…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
In Uganda, the government moved to stop MTN from shutting out Utl from routing its calls through its network. Aggrey Awori, the ministry of Information and Communications Technology, told Daily…
Internet
Unleashed ADSL changes the game in South Africa – Ninefold increase in use
It's a year since uncapped ADSL dropped on the Internet market, an event that caused a data usage explosion and an accelerated growth of broadband uptake. Internet service provider (ISP)…
Internet
Government Upbeat After Completion of Fibre Optic Cable Rollout in Rwanda
The Minister in Charge of ICT in the President's Office, Ignace Gatare, has told the Senate that the first phase of ICT project, named National Backbone, is complete, and it…
Internet
Nigeria: Facebook Introduces New Advertising for Local Brands
Facebook, the world's most visited social media platform, continues to conceive new and innovative advertising platforms, ensuring the best possible results for advertisers the world over, including Nigeria.Effective January 2011,…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
South Africa’s ISP, iBurst is currently trialing a new WiMax network which can easily be upgraded to LTE if needed. To date iBurst has been associated with the iBurst technology…
Computing
Ethiopia: Virtual ICT City Under Construction
Construction of Ethiopia's first Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Park, under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT), has begun.During the first phase, an IT business…
Computing
Nigeria: Govt Adopts GIS to Map Lagos
Lagos Geospatial information, previously in analogue form, has now been officially digitalised, following the formal unveiling last week of the state's Digital Mapping and Geographical Information System (GIS) project.The comprehensive…
Computing
Tanzania: University Gets Pro-Blind Software
Visually-impaired students will soon be able to learn without much assistance, following the introduction of a new technology at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), which is aimed at helping…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
Telecommunication operator, MTN, has commissioned a state of the art digital library at the University of Benin, Edo State in Nigeria as part of the education progrmmes of connecting the…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms Rates, Offers and Coverage
In Kenya, mobile operator Orange has entered into a strategic partnership with retail chain Nakumatt to sell the company's airtime at its 28 outlets countrywide. Customers will be able to…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria: Reserve bidder Omen invited to acquire Nitel
Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has invited Omen International Consortium, the reserve bidder for state-run incumbent telco Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL), to reregister its interest in buying the operator, after…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Kenya: Safaricom Spells Out Tough Measures for Dealers following fraud
Safaricom has completely severed links with three dealers whose services it terminated this week over fraud, CEO Bob Collymore said. Surviving dealers will now wait longer to receive their commissions…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
MTN Nigeria gets US$1B cash injection
Pan-African giant MTN has become the latest operator to inject cash into its subsidiary in Nigeria, Africa’s largest mobile market. South African-based MTN plans to invest US$1 billion in its…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Zambia minority shareholders sue against Bharti delisting
Minority shareholders in Bharti Airtel's Zambian unit have sued the company, seeking to block its planned delisting from the local bourse. India's Bharti Airtel said last month that it plans…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money – In Brief
Etisalat Nigeria has sealed agreements for a US$650 million syndicated loan with eight local banks to expand its mobile network across Africa's most populous nation. "The additional funds will be…
Digital Content
CBK rules out shared infrastructure in mobile money
The mobile banking regulator Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has spoken out against the proposed sharing of money systems between different service operators, saying it will kill innovation and competition…
Digital Content
Ghana-made software compared to iPhone application
A software application, Nandiclient, developed by Nandimobile Limited, a Ghanaian owned start-up has been compared to an iPhone application because of its ability to arm businesses with tools for delivering…
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People
Douglas Denoon Balharrie Band, an independent non-executive director of MTN, has tendered his resignation from the Board of Directors of the Company, with effect from the close of business on…
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Events
HR4ICT11 - Business Continuity Planning: Strategic and Organisational Imperatives in a Global Economy21st -23rd March 2011Hilton Nairobi, Nairobi KenyaThe Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation is holding its annual HR4ICT Forum in Kenya,…
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Jobs & Opportunities
Account Manager - South African candidates preferredLocal South African Candidates will take priority due to work permit issues and time restraints.If you wish to apply please send your CV, in…
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Contracts
Gateway Communications and Gilat - AfricaGateway Communications, the pan-African wholesale telecoms provider owned by Vodacom, has announced that Gilat Satellite Networks has been chosen as the company’s primary VSAT provider.…
