Issue no 556 27th May 2011
Top Story
Targeting different groups of pre-pay customers - Business Logic wants to help African mobile operators get smarter
Africa’s mobile operators have been used to splashing about money on blanket advertising and using headline grabbing tactical price offers. But as an increasing number of African mobile markets move towards saturation whilst also experiencing greater competition, this is simply a recipe for lower ARPUs. Operators have to move from thinking about “mass” pre-pay markets to finding the different groups of “niche” pre-pay users. Richard Lewis, Chief Sales Officer - Europe, Middle East and Africa at Business Logic has a marketing software InTelestage that helps operators do this. Isabelle Gross spoke to him about how operators can use it to…
Telecoms
Vodacom chief advocates ‘open access’ rural network in South Africa
In an interview with Tech Central, Vodacom group CEO Pieter Uys has urged South African telecoms regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to consider using the 800MHz…
Telecoms
Liberia: Interconnect war breaks out between Cellcom and MTN’s Lonestar
LoneStar Communications, the MTN subsidiary in Liberia, apparently screwed its cellular circuit sending the customers of its archrival, Cellcom, crawling for signals for connectivity. But when two elephants fight, it…
Telecoms
Kenya: Consumers Sue Safaricom Over Number Transfers
Seven customers have sued Safaricom, claiming damages for delayed processing of their mobile number portability requests.The case sets the stage for class action suits against service providers as consumers begin…
Telecoms
Nigeria: NCC Orders Telecom Operators to Suspend Promotions
The Nigerian Communications Commission has ordered the suspension of all promotions by telecommunication operators except where adequate capacity is provided on the network to carry the volume of traffic generated…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- South Africa's MTN has started deploying a trial LTE network comprising of 100 base stations. MTN's Managing Director, Karel Pienaar told Engineering News Online that it would be some…
Internet
Telkom South Africa confirms broadband speed upgrades
Telkom has finally confirmed officially that it’s in the process of upgrading most of its 512kbit/s asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) users to 1Mbit/s.The telecommunications operator says it began upgrading…
Internet
Nigeria: VConnect - Bridging Information Gap Between Sme's And Consumers
Nigeria's largest local search engine, VConnect has continued to bridge the information gap between information seekers and suppliers, using the online platform in connecting and growing several businesses in the…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- The Information Technology Association of The Gambia (ITAG), in collaboration with Google held a two-day business forum targeted at local institutions and how they can use Google products and…
Computing
Kenya: Computer Imports Up 76 Percent
Personal computer shipments into the East African market expanded by 76 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 even as the worldwide market shrunk.A recent report by market research…
Computing
Tanzania: Microsoft Kiswahili Interface Pack Launched
Kiswahili speakers can now use Microsoft windows 7 in their language thanks to Windows 7 Kiswahili interface pack launched this week in Dar es Salaam.The Windows 7 users may switch…
Computing
Nigeria: CWG Canvasses Unity Among it Groups
Group Managing Director of Computer Warehouse Group, Austen Okere has challenged the various IT associations in Nigeria to form one single body to address the myriads of challenges facing the…
Computing
Microsoft to expand empowerment programme in South Africa
Microsoft SA is about to embark on a second phase of its R475m black economic empowerment “equity equivalence” investment programme and is looking for as many as five black-owned independent…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- During the ministerial meeting of the Second Africa-India held on 23 May, 2011, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr. Jean Ping and India’s Minister of External…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms Rates, Offers and Coverage
- Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR), the country's leading bank by branch network spent Rwf30m in a promotion dubbed 'Use 'n' win'. to award clients using its mobile banking service.…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
East Africa: Wananchi Group Raises U.S.$58 Million From Venture Funds
The region's satellite television market is set for a new wave of competition as new players enter the market.Last week, Kenyan-based Wananchi Group announced it had received a $57.5 million…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Helios Towers Suing Nigerian CDMA Network Over Contract Breaches
The sale earlier this year by South Africa's dominant landline operator, Telkom of its Nigerian subsidiary, the CDMA network, Multi-Links to another Nigerian network, Visafone may have been illegal, local…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Orascom 1Q11 net profit boosted by Tunisian unit sale
Egyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom Holding saw a surge in first-quarter profits following the sale of its stake in Orascom Tunisia Holding and Carthage Consortium, through which it held 50%…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
South Africa’s mobile advertising to top R1bn in 2012
Mobile marketing and advertising spend in SA will reach R1bn/year by 2012, according to a new study. Mobile advertising revenues were about R500m in the past year. Year-on-year growth trends…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money – In Brief
- Telkom Kenya's Orange has entered into a partnership with Equity Bank to use the bank's 2,300 agencies across the country for its money transfer service as it seeks to…
Digital Content
Most popular mobile phones and websites in South Africa in April 2011
Opera's State of the Mobile Web for April 2011 report revealed interesting results about social media website usage in South AfricaOpera releases their State of the Mobile Web report every…
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People
- Communications minister Roy Padayachie has finally moved to fill the vacant director-generalship at the department of communications. He has appointed Rosey Sekese as DG for five years, with effect…
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Events
SatCom 2011 Africa Conference30 May - 2 June 2011,Venue, Sandton Convention Centre, JohannesburgFor more information visit here: West & Central Africa Com 15-16 June 2011, Venue, Dakar, SenegalFor more information…
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Contracts
Bharti Airtel and Comviva - AfricaBharti Airtel has announced a deal for Managed Value Added Services with Comviva for its Africa operations. As part of the five-year deal, Comviva will…
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Jobs & Opportunities
Core Site Engineer – South Africa- Experience with Site Reports and Documentations - Experience in SE related activities or relevant experience in an engineering or installation environment. - Be familiar…
