Issue no 675 4th October 2013
Top Story
Nigeria: ipNX offers Fibre-To-The-Home and guarantees a 4 mbps connection as a minimum
This month has been one for announcements of Fibre-To-The-Home roll-outs. What was once considered exceptional will soon become normal as bandwidth delivery ramps up in Africa’s key markets. Russell Southwood looks at who is doing what and casts an eye over ipNX’s latest launch in Nigeria.Standing around chatting at an AfricaCom party last year, I was amused to hear colleagues from Jamii Telecom telling me that they had just spoken to some South Africans who could not believe there was Fibre-To-The-Home in Kenya. This disbelief reflects the deep caution with which one of the continent’s largest markets approaches these kinds…
Telecoms
Zamir expands to Africa via partnership with Nigeria's Exchange Telecom
Zamir Telecom has announced the signing of a partnership agreement with Nigerian interconnect exchange carrier Exchange Telecom, signalling the expansion of the firm's wholesale VoIP business into the African market.…
Telecoms
BICS Expands African Footprint
BICS, a global wholesale carrier for voice, mobile data and capacity services, has announced that it has opened three new offices – in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa to ensure…
Telecoms
Tigo Signs Up 250,000 Customers in Eastern DRC
Tigo announced this week that it has acquired more than 250,000 new customers in less than three months following its return to two troubled eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic…
Telecoms
South Africa to develop African smartphone
Seemahale Telecoms and CZ Electronics have entered into a partnership to manufacture smartphones and tablets in South Africa.“This project is a first in Africa as far as I am aware.…
Telecoms
Orange Business Services helps Russian multinational Nordgold improve communication between sites in Russia and West Africa
Orange Business Services is providing secure satellite VPN services to improve communication between the Russian headquarters of Nordgold and the company’s Lefa mine in Guinea and the Bissa and Taparko…
Telecoms
Telecoms - In Brief
- XON has cemented a partnership agreement with Procera Networks, the global Internet intelligence company, to distribute, implement, and support the OEM vendor’s intelligent policy enforcement (IPE) PacketLogic products that…
Internet
Global content on our doorstep as Akamai finds a home in Africa
Teraco Data Environments, Africa’s first provider of vendor neutral data centres, has teamed up with local company Vox Telecom to bring Akamai’s global content to Africa’s doorstep.Akamai Technologies is a…
Internet
Airtel launches ‘Africa Connect’ to enhance connectivity in Africa
Airtel has announced the launch of its Africa Connect network aimed at enhancing Africa’s connectivity with the rest of the world and add to the data carriage capacity in the…
Internet
Intel launches programme to expand digital literacy
Intel has announced She Will Connect, a new programme aimed at expanding digital literacy skills to young women in developing countries. Intel will begin the initiative in Africa, where the…
Computing
IS accelerates cloud adoption with EMC powered technology
Internet Solutions (IS) has announced that it has extended its partnership with EMC Corporation by joining the EMC Velocity Service Provider Program as a Gold Partner. Furthermore, IS will deliver…
Computing
Computing - In Brief
- Durban-Data Imports, the official importer and distributor of Olivetti's range of colour and mono digital photocopiers, is partnering with Huge Telecom by adding GSM-based telephony solutions to its product…
Telecoms, Rates, Offers and Coverage
Telecoms Rates, Offers & Coverage
MTN South Africa has launched a promotion for PayAsYouGo and MTN Zone TopUp customers to pay ZAR 0.75 per minute to call the UK, US and 10 other countries. The…
Money Transfer
Paga processes N26.8b transactions, develops solution for bank deposits
Paga has announced its latest service offering, providing Nigerians access to their cash anywhere and anytime.The firm also announced that it had so far processed over 2.4 million transactions worth…
Money Transfer
Afrocoin brings mobile money transfer services to Africa
Mobile money transfer services provider Afrocoin Mobile Money has launched its services in Africa. Afrocoin Mobile Money will provide online money remittance services to customers who do not have access…
Money Transfer
Uganda: URA targets mobile money agents commission for tax
Uganda Revenue Authority has started registering mobile money agents so as to tax their business, The Observer has learnt.Cyprian Chillanyang, URA’s commissioner for Domestic Taxes, says the response from the…
Money Transfer
Zimbabwe’s EcoCash user numbers hit 3 million
Three million Zimbabweans are using EcoCash, a mobile money system on offer from local telecom firm Econet Wireless.Econet Wireless says the number of users for its mobile money service has…
Money Transfer
Airtel to Offer M-Banking Across Africa with Ecobank
Bharti Airtel has entered into a partnership with Africa's Ecobank Transnational to deliver Airtel Money across nine African countries where Airtel also has operations.The partnership between Airtel and Ecobank is…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Samsung continues to dominate African smartphone market
Samsung is continuing its dominance of Africa's smartphone market with BlackBerry, Sony and Nokia gaining ground, as mobile phone usage on the continent continues to skyrocket.IDC's quarterly mobile phone tracker…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Wireless body opposes Vodacom’s Neotel bid
South African mobile operator Vodacom’s bid to acquire fixed line telco Neotel has been met with resistance from the country’s Wireless Access Providers’ Association (WAPA).WAPA, which acts as a collective…
Digital Content
African videogames level up
New Nigerian companies are setting thumbs twitching across the continent with experiences that are uniquely African.On a hot day in central Lagos, there's only one way to cut through the…
Digital Content
World’s first digital laser unveiled in South Africa
Researchers at South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have unveiled the world's first digital laser.The innovation is regarded as a milestone in laser technology and could spur…
Digital Content
Zimbabwe: Government Legalises Spying on Zim Citizens
A government spy program will now monitor phone calls, text, email and the details will be kept in a national database for use on demand by the state security agencies.Under…
Digital Content
Africa: Ericsson to Unveil New Mobile Radio Technology, Radio Dot System
With at least 75% of households in Africa having access to radio both in urban and rural areas, Ericsson is set to launch a cellular radio that is small enough…
Digital Content
Zim startup launches mobile money management desktop app, Capu
A local startup has launched a desktop based mobile money management tool called Capu (short for Cash Application: Universal). Universal in that the tool can be used to manage transactions…
Digital Content
Senegal: Water Shortage? There is an app for that!
The city of Dakar, Senegal, has been devoid of water for the past two weeks, after a pipe has burst.While the government has been busy trying to fix the issue,…
Digital Content
How to map wealth in Africa using nothing but mobile-phone minutes
A group of Belgian researchers has come up with a novel way of mapping the distribution of wealth in Côte d’Ivoire—by looking at purchases of mobile airtime minutes. After combing…
Digital Content
Zain launches multimedia drive in South Sudan
Dubbed, ‘I am’, the campaign reportedly conjures up the sense of optimism and hope that many of the older and younger generation in the country hold for their future, with…
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People
Former CEO Michael Jordaan’s first job since leaving First National Bank (FNB) is to be the chairman of Mxit, the Stellenbosch-based social network.Jordaan, who eschewed the traditional image of a…
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Events
The Social Media Week Lagos Team is excited to announce that our official schedule is now LIVE and registration is open! At present we have 84 events scheduled and will…
