Issue no 572 16th September 2011
Top Story
Achieving a high-speed Africa: Closing the gap between the potential promise and current reality
Africa’s long road to high-speed broadband is being made in leaps and bounds. Every week brings news of another piece of the jigsaw fitting into place. This week it’s the completion of the national fibre backbone in one of Africa’s larger markets. However, there’s still remains a yawning gap between the promise of ubiquitous, cheap bandwidth and the current realities of the continent. Russell Southwood runs his fingers over the blockages that still remain.It’s hard not to be excited by the news that Angola (and its usually rather ponderous incumbent Angola Telecom) have completed 10,000 kms of national fibre backbone…
Telecoms
Kenya: Airtel Kenya Unveils New Online Payment System: Virtual Credit Card
Airtel's PayOnlineInKenya is touted to be the world's first virtual card that operates off a wallet and residing on a mobile phone. The new system is in partnership with MasterCard…
Telecoms
Liberia: Lone Star Cell MTN, Ecobank Launch Mobile Money
The Star Cell MTN Communication Company in collaboration with Ecobank- Liberia Friday, September 9, 2011 formally launched the Mobile Money Product in the country.The Mobile Money Product is the newest…
Telecoms
Vodacom feels BlackBerry backlash as it throttles bandwidth for browsing and streaming above 100 MB
Vodacom is facing the wrath of its subscribers, following an announcement that the mobile operator would throttle the connection speeds of BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) users who exceed 100MB per…
Telecoms
Mali Seeks Bids for 3rd Telecommunications License, L’Essor Says
Mali’s government is inviting bids for a third telecommunications license and is expected to make a decision within two months, state-owned L’Essor newspaper reported, without saying where it got the…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
- Mobile TV, the company planning to introduce mobile television services in South Africa using Korea’s digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) standard, says it could be ready to start broadcasting commercially…
Internet
Rwanda: Internet Not Affecting Our Business - Post Office
Maintaining communication with friends and family is no doubt top priority for everyone, especially those living out of the country. It is therefore no surprise that many people opt for…
Internet
South Africa: Internet Could Be Magic Bullet for Life Insurance
It is indisputably the era of the consumer. Yet in two centuries there have only been two major innovations in the way life insurance products are sold to consumers. The…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- Two Kenyans beat out 29 other computer programmers to scoop two out of three Google Application Developer Challenge, Google announced last week. David Lemaiyan and Gerald Kibugi were yesterday…
Computing
Intel demonstrates ultra low-power processor
Intel demonstrated a CPU at their IDF conference that can run on the energy generated by a small solar cellDuring the opening keynote at this year’s (2011) Intel Developer Forum…
Computing
South Africa Submits Bid to Host the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope
The National Research Foundation has submitted on 15 September 2011 the documents supporting the African bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Radio Telescope. The documents are South Africa's…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- The Federal Executive Council, FEC, Wednesday, approved the provision of Information Communication Technology, ICT, centres in 387 secondary schools, across the country, for over N6.4 billion.Minister of Information, Labaran…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
- Ghana’s telecoms watchdog the National Communication Authority (NCA) is looking to crack down on mobile network operators if they fail to tackle the chronic problem of poor quality services.…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Ethio Telecom reveals financial results, subscriber data for most recent financial year
Ethiopian incumbent telco Ethio Telecom (formerly Ethiopian Telecom Corporation) has revealed that it missed its revenue target of ETB9.8 billion (USD565 million) for the year ended 7 July 2011 by…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Telekom Networks Malawi Says In Talks With New Investor
Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) says that the company has received an expression of interest from and entered into discussions, with a potential -- unnamed -- strategic equity partner.In a brief…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Datatec Limited - Interim Earnings up more than 33% and Interim Capital Distribution to be Paid
Datatec, ("Datatec" or the "Group", JSE and LSE: DTC), the international Information and Communications Technology (ICT) group, is currently finalizing its results for the six months ended 31 August 2011…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Call tariff report raises demand for Safaricom
Safaricom share price has got a boost from the planned increase in calling tariffs, rising by 6.9 per cent in one week as investors anticipate growth in the mobile provider’s…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money News - In Brief
- Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last week informed the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee that she was not part of the team that conceived and approved the alleged…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Events
Nigeria Com20 - 21 September, 2011, Lagos, NigeriaThe 2nd annual Nigeria Com returns to Lagos. Gain unique market perspectives and insights from a 40 strong speaker-line up including 25+ Operator…
Digital Content
AIRTEL GH, Rancard deliver new innovations in Managed VAS Services
Airtel Ghana last week announced a deal for managed Value Added Services (VAS) with mobile software company, Rancard Solutions. Under the terms of this agreement, Airtel Ghana will use Rancard’s…
Digital Content
Deutsche Welle and Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. offer “Learning by Ear” for mobiles
Deutsche Welle continues to expand its services in Tanzania by cooperating with Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. – the largest mobile provider in the country. Starting September 9, 2011, DW’s popular radionovela…
Digital Content
Google Announces Winners for the Android Developer Challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa
Google has announced the winners of the Android Developer Challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa, a competition that was announced back in April, set up to encourage the development of exciting, high…
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People
Airtel has hired Willie Ellis who previously worked for Vodacom South Africa to become its Product and Innovation Director.
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Jobs & Opportunities
Reference Number: AJS0011342Job Category: IT- Account ManagementPreferred Degree: Bachelors DegreeJob Type: Permanent/Full TimeJob Country: RwandaJob Location: Kigali-RwandaExperience (Years): 2-4Job Description MTN RWANDACELL is a GSM Telecommunications Company based in Rwanda…
