Issue no 567 12th August 2011
Top Story
Starfish Mobile sees mobile Internet and smarpthones’ growth in Africa as an opportunity for value added services
A month ago, Balancing Act released its latest report on mobile apps for Africa: strategies to make sense of free and paid apps, and since then news have carried on coming on more African mobile operators launching 3G services bundled or not with data packages and Internet enabled handsets (see below Africell in Sierra Leone and Tunisie Telecom in the telecoms section). The handset makes landscape in Africa is set to change too and this will have an impact on the content that African mobile users will look for. Isabelle Gross speaks to Sean Pashley, Chief Executive Officer and Jonathan…
Telecoms
Sierra Leone: Africell stays top with 3G launch
Africell has once again showed its supremacy in the telecommunications industry by launching another innovative service for subscribers and the general public as a whole.Africell's Chief Executive Officer, Shadi Al-Gerjawi…
Telecoms
Tunisie Telecom rolls-out blazing 3G mobile services
Tunisie Telecom is rolling out new 3G mobile services in the region. The new service will provide faster data transmission speeds and advanced multimedia access. The new 3G services will…
Telecoms
MTN pledges USD1bn network investment in Nigeria
Mobile network, MTN Nigeria says it will invest an additional $1 billion in the current financial year, for network expansion and improvement of quality of service.Speaking at the company’s colourful…
Telecoms
South Africa: Cell C grows customers to 8,2m
Cell C grew its subscriber base by 12% to 8,2m at the end of 2010, SA’s third-largest cellular operator said. It was also on track to turn its first net…
Telecoms
Telecom In Brief
- National regulator the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has issued a licence to Helios Towers Africa, enabling the UK-based firm to run mobile phone towers in the east African…
Internet
Cameroon Assesses CAB Project
Cameroon now counts close to six thousand kilometres of active optical fibre planted across the national territory, thanks to the Central African Backbone (CAB) project which went underway in 2010.…
Internet
Airtel Ghana lays underground fibre optic cables
Airtel Ghana is currently digging the ground around the country to lay underground cables to connect fibre optics to its network, ghanabusinessnews.com has seen.The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Airtel…
Internet
Kenya: Schools to Share Textbooks Online
A computer-based system that will enable teachers and students to share textbooks online was launched in Nairobi. Connecting 1,050 schools to a data centre at the Kenya Science Teachers campus…
Internet
Internet In Brief
- The Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMMA)’s traffic measurement partner Effective Measure recently released their July 2011 website statistics. The Effective Measure statistics rank websites according to South African…
Computing
South Africa’s Revenue Service reacts to computer monitor tax furore
The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has come out in strong defence of a new ad valorem duty on computer monitors, saying it’s meant to protect the television industry, despite strong…
Computing
Ghana among top 10 countries to rule Africa’s ICT sector in next five years says new survey
Ghana is set to be a major player in the African ICT sector in the next five years, a survey conducted by the Africa Business Panel (ABP) shows.The survey ranks…
Computing
Ethiopia to host 10th Annual Innovation Africa Digital Summit
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCTI) of Ethiopia partnered with Extensia Limited to bring the 10th Annual Innovation Africa Digital Summit to Ethiopia.The summit to be held in…
Computing
Computer In Brief
- Morocco is among the 15 countries taking part in the 7th competition of the best Arab technological plan, held annually by the Arab Foundation for Science and Technology (ASTF).…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
- Mobile subscribers in Morocco increased by 4.8% in the second quarter of 2011 to 35 million, telecoms regulator the ANRT reports, adding that Maroc Telecom’s share of the market…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Uganda: Chinese loan for digital migration project blocked amidst overpricing fears
The Ugandan government has halted a USD74 million loan from the Import and Export Bank of China (EXIM) that was to be used to fund a digital migration project. Although…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria: Brymedia Offers $900m for NITEL
Brymedia Consortium, the third place bid winner in the recently terminated privatisation process of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) has offered to pay $900 million for the acquisition of the…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
National Lottery Authority sues Vodafone Ghana, Gaming Commission
The National Lotteries Authority (NLA) has filed a suit against Vodafone Ghana seeking an injunction to restrain Vodafone from carrying on with its “More Money” game.The NLA is also seeking…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, cautions BoT on phone money transactions
The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) in Mbeya region has cautioned the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) to device a system that could guard people’s money transacted through…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money In Brief
- In Nigeria, CDMA operator Visafone Communications and infrastructure provider IHS Nigeria have agreed a long-term partnership involving the sale and leaseback of the tower assets of Visafone. The deal,…
Digital Content
Tech Firm Pulls Down Cost of E-Commerce With New APP
A Kenyan technology firm has built a new e-commerce platform that is promising to change the way consumers will bank, buy goods and settle bills using their mobile phones.Known as…
Digital Content
Nokia smartphones users get free traffic service in South Africa
A live traffic service is coming to South African Nokia smartphone users with the latest Nokia Maps updateNokia South Africa has launched the latest update to Nokia Maps which includes…
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Events
Mobile Entertainment Africa23 -24 August, 2011, Cape Town, South AfricaFrom the team behind the Mobile Web in Africa series of events comes Mobile Entertainment Africa. Aiming to create a fantastic…
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People
In Kenya, the High Court has nullified the appointment of Communications Commission of Kenya Director General Charles Njoroge. Issuing the temporary orders Wednesday, High Court judge Justice David Maraga also…
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Contracts
'TE North' LaunchedEgyptian fixed line incumbent Telecom Egypt (TE) in partnership with French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent has reportedly launched its Mediterranean cable, dubbed ‘TE North’, with the latter noting that the…
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Jobs & Opportunities
BE A PARTNER IN WORLD 2011’s “IDEAS CONNECT THE WORLD” The opportunity: An open innovation competitionTechnology can do amazing things: It can change the way we live, how we do business,…
