Issue no 835 - 15th July 2016
Top Story
Facebook’s OpenCellular – Another disrupter in cracking Africa’s remote area nut?
Facebook’s OpenCellular project is designed to open up new ways of connecting the unconnected and designed to work with its other infrastructure initiatives, solar-powered aircraft Aquila and high-bandwidth laser beams. Russell Southwood looks at the barriers it might face in Africa. Facebook’s OpenCellular was announced by Mark Zuckerberg in – where else would it be? – a Facebook post earlier this month. The announcement had a tantalizing amount of detail but was light on some of the specifics required to assess it. For example, there were no projected unit costs. According to Zuckerberg:”We designed OpenCellular as an open system so…
Telecoms
MTN Cameroon disconnects unregistered users
MTN has suspended unregistered subscribers using its mobile network in Cameroon, a month after it agreed to pay a $1.7 billion fine in Nigeria over a similar issue. The move…
Telecoms
DRC Helios Towers secures US$105 million funding
Helios Towers DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) subsidiary of Helios Towers Africa Ltd, has announced the successful completion of a US$105 million upsizing of its syndicated term loan…
Telecoms
Benin: MTN and Glo Mobile forced to pay back users FCFA176.1 million
(Ecofin Agency) - In Benin, the post and telecommunication regulatory authority (ARCEP) sanctioned MTN and Glo to pay their users FCFA176,174,848. According to beninwebtv.com which reported the news, this sum…
Telecoms
Gabon’s ARCEP outlines new universal service plans
Gabon’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP) has finalised the latest phase of its universal service strategy, as it seeks to eliminate so-called mobile coverage ‘white spots’. Rules…
Telecoms
Kenya: ICT secretary disowns Bill seeking to have practitioners licensed
Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) secretary Joe Mucheru has disowned a Bill seeking to have all ICT practitioners licensed before being allowed to practice in Kenya. The ministry, in a…
Telecoms
Tigo Senegal to invest USD194m on 3G+ upgrade
Mobile operator Tigo Senegal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular (MIC), has revealed plans to invest XOF115 billion (USD194 million) in the modernisation and upgrade of its HSPA+…
Telecoms
Registration of subscribers: towards an encore in Benin?
(Ecofin Agency) – In Benin, mobile subscribers may need to re-register their numbers with operators. This is according to the website of the Broadcasting Authority and the Benin TV (ORTB)…
Internet
GSMA Launches New Tool to Measure Mobile Internet Connectivity Worldwide
The GSMA has launched a new online tool that measures the ability of more than 130 countries worldwide to connect offline citizens to the mobile internet. The GSMA Mobile Connectivity…
Internet
Camusat Connects for Its Client a Village of 5,000 Inhabitants in Madagascar Thanks to Its Low Cost Rural Solution
Camusat, one of the market leaders in developing telecom infrastructures, is pleased to reveal the results of the first site implemented in Madagascar using its rural solution. Installed and commissioned…
Internet
South Africa Opposed UN Resolution On Internet Access
South Africa recently opposed a human rights council resolution that calls on governments to ensure access to the Internet and recognizes that the right to freedom of expression extends online.…
Internet
Sparkle enhances GÉANT network connectivity between Europe and Algeria
Sparkle is to enhance GÉANT’s network connectivity with a 2.5Gbps circuit from Marseille, France, to Annaba in Algeria. The global operator has provided network solutions with the EU research and…
Internet
New ISP Comtal aiming to enter Algerian market
A new ISP, called Comtal, is reportedly aiming to enter the Algerian broadband market, domestic news source Algerie-focus.com reports. The Oran-based company will be majority-owned by fixed line incumbent Algerie…
Computing
Gilat Satcom, Total IT solutions provide voice and high speed data in Nigeria
Gilat Satcom announced that it is providing voice and high-speed data to ten villages in the states of Adamawa, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Oyo and Yobe in the North East of…
Money Transfer
Standard Bank Leads in Africa with Digital Innovations
Standard Bank is on a committed journey of rapid digitization across the continent, offering its customers more convenient ways to interact with their personal banking services. The latest innovation in…
Money Transfer
MFS Africa and Wari Announce Partnership for Digital Money Transfer in Africa
Dakar & Port-Louis, July 12th 2016 – Pan-African Fintech Company MFS Africa and Wari announced that Wari is the latest partner to join MFS Africa's remittance and payments hub. Wari’s services…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Vantage Mezzanine Fund III invests R200 million ($13.7 million) in a black industrialist business New GX, a leading 100% black-owned investment holding company in South Africa
Vantage Capital (www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it has provided a R200 million ($13.7 million) expansion capital facility to New GX Capital (www.NewGX.co.za), a 100% black…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results - In brief
PayPal launched in Zimbabwe in 2014, but users were only allowed to send funds or make payments. All that’s changed now and Zimbabwe citizens can both send and receive funds…
Digital Content
Cell C launches emergency services panic button
Cellfind and Cell C have partnered to deliver Cell C MiAssist, a mobile application which gives subscribers access to emergency services at the touch of a button. The service is…
Digital Content
Social Media Week comes to Kenya for first time in Sept
Kenya will host the Social Media Week for the first time in September, an event expected to enlighten entrepreneurs and firms on how they can use technology and media platforms…
Digital Content
Zimbabwe Shuts off Social Media
The Zimbabwe government has fallen to a new low. According to Techzim, WhatsApp appears to have been blocked on a number of networks including the incumbent fixed line carrier TelOne,…
Digital Content
Ethiopia Locks Down Digital Communications in Wake of #OromoProtests
Photo published on EthioTube page titled “Pictures from Oromo Protest – Winter 2015″. No attribution or further context appears on the site. When students in Ginchi, a small town 75…
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Opportunities
YorubaName is holding a webinar for developers on July 23 In the spirit of all things open source, YorubaName is holding a developer webinar at 4pm on July 23 (that’s…
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People
MTN Outlines Growth Ambitions with New Appointment in Nigeria MTN recruited Stephen van Coller to run its Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions unit, with the appointment designed to support its…
