Issue no 724 19th September 2014
Top Story
A Detailed Snapshot of Africa’s emerging Internet and social media space – the users and what they are doing
In 2013 Balancing Act carried out a detailed market research study in seven Sub-Saharan countries in the vanguard of adopting the Internet and social media. The study has four parts – which are available for free as downloads – and looks at how the Internet and social media are changing Africa’s communications and media landscape. Russell Southwood highlights some of the key findings from the study.The study has three components: nationally representative face-to-face surveys; a survey of featurephone users and qualitative groups to explore issues in depth. One of the face-to-face surveys covers Northern Nigeria with a regionally representative sample.…
Telecoms
Mobile Network Infrastructure in Algeria: 4G paving the way forward Big growth in a short space of time
Algeria has certainly come a long way since the introduction of mobile communications to its shores. A country that has been riddled with political and social unrest in recent years…
Telecoms
Airtel launches 3G in Chad
Indian-backed cellco Airtel Chad has launched 3G services in Chad, the Economic Times reports. The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by Chad’s President Idriss Deby, and the heads…
Telecoms
Kenya: Able Wireless to Enter the Kenyan Voice Market
Kenya’s Able Wireless, an on-demand wireless streaming service provider is set to enter Kenya’s voice industry by harnessing VoIP services exclusively for its subscribers.Speaking to TechMoran about the development, Able…
Telecoms
Nigeria 7.69m inactive SIMs removed in June says NCC
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has released its Monthly Subscriber Data report, in which it said that the end of June saw total connected telephony lines on all networks stand…
Telecoms
Afrimax Group plots Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) networks in DRC, Malawi
Netherlands-based Afrimax Group, which was founded in 2013 by a trio of former Millicom International Cellular (MIC) executives, is planning to deploy Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) networks in the…
Telecoms
Telecoms – In Brief
Sierra Leone’s state-owned incumbent wireline operator Sierratel has upgraded its fixed line infrastucture to support ADSL, domestic newspaper Awareness Times reports. Following the upgrade, the operator now offers end-users broadband…
Internet
Mobile Internet Data Subscribers in Nigeria Reaches 65 Million Monthly
Mobile internet data subscribers in Nigeria have now reached 65 million, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission as at June 2014.The data from January to June 2014, which…
Internet
CST provides free internet to secondary schools in Sao Tome
Sao Tome's incumbent telco CST has been selected to provide high speed internet services to 26 secondary schools in the country. The win was part of a tender aimed at…
Internet
General Electric introduces Industrial Internet in Africa with Proficy app
General Electric intelligent platforms has launched the Proficy mobile app,a tool that will play an important role in introducing the relatively new concept of Industrial internet to Africa.Industrial internet basically…
Internet
Internet – In Brief
The management of Angola's internet domain .ao will switch from Portugal to Angola in 2015, according to legislation approved by the Angolan government, news agency Lusa reports. A joint decision…
Computing
An education tablet for schools in Cote d’Ivoire
Thierry N'Doufou's three eldest children tumble out of the car; the little one trips over her school bag as she tries to work out what to do with her break-time…
Money Transfer
Airtel Uganda gets IFC backing for mobile money services
Ugandan cellular operator Airtel has agreed a three-year advisory services deal with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, to develop mobile money services and strengthen financial…
Money Transfer
Tigo debuts m-wallet interest payments in Tanzania
Tigo Wekeza (‘Tigo Invests’), will allow over 3.5 million Tigo Pesa users to benefit from quarterly interest payments based on the balance held in their account.Tigo claimed a world first…
Money Transfer
Orange links with African banks to expand mobile money services
Orange has agreed partnerships with African banks to expand its mobile money services across the region to try to match the popularity of Vodafone’s M-Pesa.The French telecoms group has struck…
Money Transfer
E-Wallet Service, SimplePay, Introduces BitCoin Feature
SimplePay, Nigeria’s web and mobile-based wallet service, has introduced a feature that will allow its users to fund their wallets using their Bitcoin accounts.Speaking with HumanIPO, Rich Tanksley, Director of…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Nigeria’s Interswitch Transnational Acquires PesaPoint’s Parent Firm Paynet Group
Pesapoint Nigeria’s Interswitch Transnational, a pan-African integrated payments firm has acquired Kenya’s Paynet Group, East Africa’s leading multi-institutional payments provider in a move expected at widen to connect over 100…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
NetOne and TelOne secure loans from China
Zimbabwe’s state-owned mobile operator NetOne has secured a loan of USD290 million from China to help fund the ongoing expansion of its wireless networks. Meanwhile, NetOne’s fixed line sister company…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Huawei Wins Five-year Managed Services Contract with MTN Group
Huawei says it has been awarded a five year managed services contract with MTN Group.Under the terms of this contract, Huawei will now provide managed services for MTN Group in…
Digital Content
Egyptian police use dating sites to hunt down gay people
Though homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, police have been using social media and smartphone applications to hunt down and arrest gays and lesbians. Two gay Egyptians, who hide their…
Digital Content
West Africa: Online Volunteers Map Uncharted Ebola Zones to Help Save Lives
Donating to disasters used to mean writing a check to Oxfam or the Red Cross.These days in the Internet age, for the Ebola crisis, citizens from all over the world…
Digital Content
Oscar Pistorius’ Verdict Ends the Biggest Social Media Event in South African History
Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-leg amputee runner who shot his girlfriend last year, has been found guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter). Pistorius claims he thought his girlfriend was an…
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People
Holroyd to act as iBurst bossThami Mtshali has stepped down as CEO of iBurst parent Wireless Business Solutions (WBS), with financial director Clinton Holroyd being named acting CEO.WBS nonexecutive director…
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Events
The 7th edition of DCD Converged Johannesburg Monday, 13th October 2014Join us for this engaging learning opportunity and the chance to network with over 250 data center professionals.- IT &…
