Issue no 590 3rd February 2012
Top Story
Taxing international inbound calls: Is there a middle way between fleecing consumers and monitoring international voice traffic transparently?
Many African regulators’ have introduced a tax on international inbound calls. It started with Côte d’Ivoire and then spread like a plague to Gabon, Ghana and Senegal, to name but a few. The latest country wanting to join the fold is Liberia and operators are seeking to persuade the regulator LTA not to go ahead. Isabelle Gross talks to Marzen Mroue, the CEO of Lonestar/MTN in Liberia and Richard Chisala, board member of Macra, the regulator in Malawi about this contentious subject.Back in August 2011, the LTA, the telecoms regulator in Liberia, issued a draft regulation on international traffic proposing…
Telecoms
Uganda: UCC, telecom firms set to meet over service quality
The Uganda Communication Commission will hold a meeting with telecom executives to discuss, among other things, the increasingly deteriorating service quality, according to Eng Godfrey Mutabazi the UCC Executive Director.…
Telecoms
Tunisia: Twitter Users React With Anger, Dismay At Twitter's Decision to Comply With Censorship Regimes
Tunisians reacted with anger after a new twitter policy was announced. The social network may now "re-actively withhold content from users in a specific country," so that Twitter can further…
Telecoms
MTN brought into Vodacom discussions; consultant awarded USD21 million by Kinshasa court
South Africa’s MTN Group is reportedly investigating options relating to the future of Vodacom’s Congolese operation, Vodacom Congo. According to local news source IT Web Business, a spokesperson for MTN,…
Telecoms
Rwandatel takeover : Lap Green out of the running
Libya’s LAP Green has lost the chance to reclaim the assets of its former troubled telco Rwandatel which are up for sale in the ongoing liquidation process, Rwandatel’s Administrator has…
Telecoms
South Africa's Vox Telecom Launches Uncapped ADSL Service
South Africa’s leading alternative telecommunications company, Vox Telecom Ltd., is planning to launch uncapped asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service, as well as exploring the idea of offering 3G service…
Telecoms
Nigeria: Number Portability To Begin By September - NCC
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the Number Portability (NP) service would begin by September.In an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, Dr. Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice…
Telecoms
Ghana - Glo hails number reservation a success but no launch date
Glo Ghana boss, George Andah has disclosed exclusively to Adom Business News that the 023-3 number reservation campaign has been successful, creating the opportunity to open up another block of…
Telecoms
Telecoms News - In Brief
-Essar Telecom Kenya has gained more than 700, 000 subscribers in the last three months drawn by the day- long free calls tariff introduced in September. Madhur Taneja, yu Mobile…
Internet
Seacom signs capacity agreement with Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology
The Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology has signed a 20 year agreement to access international broadband fibre connectivity on the SEACOM network to Europe and onwards to the rest…
Internet
South Africa: Young people in Ha-Masia connect to the world
Masia young people in the rural area of Ha-Masia, Limpopo will soon be connected to the rest of the world through the internet.This comes after Rural Development and Land Reform…
Internet
Google-Kenya boss exits as data scam purge takes toll
Google country manager Olga Arara-Kimani has left the firm days after the Internet giant said it had taken action against employees implicated in a recent data poaching scandal.Ms Arara-Kimani, who…
Internet
Zesco improves Zambian access
Zambia’s electricity parastatal, Zesco, is installing an advanced fibre optic infrastructure in the Western Province. The new network, being rolled out by China’s ZTE at a cost of around USD80…
Internet
The University of Namibia rolls out wireless internet
Unam’s public relations officer Utaara Hoveka told The Namibian that all students who have laptop computers equipped with wireless modems would have internet connectivity on campus.Hoveka said Telecom Namibia was…
Internet
Internet News - In Brief
- At a recent Press Conference The Deputy Executive of Forensic Science in Cote d’Ivoire announced the drafting of a new bill to help tackle the countries growing instances of…
Computing
New tablet designed in Congo-Brazzaville
Congo’s VMK Tech has unveiled its answer to tablet computing – the Way-C device.The tablet, which was launched this week, was designed locally but is assembled in China.It retails for…
Computing
MTN to invest R4m in rural schools
The MTN SA foundation has opened media centres with Internet connectivity in 10 schools in KwaZulu-Natal's Msinga district. MTN announced it would invest R4 million in rural KwaZulu-Natal schools to…
Computing
Computer News - In Brief
- The Ivory Coast will be this year's winners of the Africa Cup of Nations.That is the prediction of sports statistician Dr Robert Mastrodomenico's black box - a computer model…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage (briefs)
- Senegal operator Sonatel announced the launch of a mobile TV service. The Orange subsidiary offers 12 channels, including channels from Canal+ Afrique, 2STV and TFM. Available over the ¬3G…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Cellulant to run Barclays M-Banking services
Cellulant Kenya has sealed a deal to provide mobile banking services for Barclays Africa across its markets in the continent. In a venture dubbed, ‘One Africa’ Barclays Bank has entered…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria: Airtel to Appeal Verdict Ceding 5 Percent Share to Econet
Bharti Airtel has said it will appeal against a Nigerian High Court ruling which gave Econet Wireless 5 per cent share in Airtel Nigeria. A Federal High Court, last week,…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Ghana Parliament to amend business registeration laws for e-transactions
Parliament is set to amend various business registeration laws to provide for electronic transactions in line with government’s e-Governance project.The project aims at modernizing key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Kenya: TSF sets up Cash Transfer activities in the pastoral regions of the Marsabit South district.
On 15th October 2012, Télécoms Sans Frontières, in collaboration with Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany, launched the RAPID M-PESA pilot project, financed by GIZ, whose objective is to improve food security…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Telkom, KT to finalise potential JV findings in a few weeks
Talks between JSE-listed telecommunications group Telkom and Korea’s KT Corp appear to be progressing well. In an update to shareholders on Friday, Telkom says a “diagnostic review” is “well progressed”…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Money News - In Brief
- Swedish-based Ericsson says that telecoms operator MTN has extended its management services agreement for Ghana.- Indian-owned mobile phone operator Essar Telecom Kenya, which operates under the ‘yu’ brand name,…
Digital Content
Kenya: Chief Tweets His Way to Reducing Crime
Using 140 characters or less, Chief Francis Kariuki in Kenya, has tweeted his way to reducing crime in his and surrounding villages."I have brought crime and illicit brewing under control…
Digital Content
Twitter's role in revolutionary Egypt - isolation or connection?
The role of the internet and social media in the January 25 Revolution is undeniable; despite this, some observers believe that Twitter is isolated from the mainstream of Egyptian society…
Digital Content
South Africa: ICT Helps the Blind
A portable voice-based computer for the blind, developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been shortlisted in the South African Breweries (SAB) Foundation inaugural Innovation Awards.The…
