News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no. 871 – 7 April 2017
Top Story
Kenya: Surf wants to provide cheap Wi-Fi broadband for the “average consumer” in places where people will be throughout the day
7 April 2017
Mark Summer and Kristin Peterson left Inveneo in September 2013 to set up a more commercially oriented version of what they had been doing: rolling out networks to unconnected communities and giving them access to communications. They started by offering the equivalent of an ISP in a box. The last time I spoke to them in August 2014 they were working providing support and services for a new ISP in Gulu, Northern Uganda: So I asked Summer how they got to their current operational model?:” A lot has happened since we were in Northern Uganda but the goal and vision…
Telecoms
Tecno brings PhonePad 3 Phablet to Nigeria
7 April 2017
Committed to facilitating business communications and productivity for its users on-the-go, Chinese handset vendor Tecno has released its premium PhonePad 3 phablet to the Nigerian market. Tagged ‘Do business, stay…
Telecoms
Sudani Launches 4G Network in Sudan
7 April 2017
April 2017: Sudani has announced that its 4G network in Sudan is now live.
Telecoms
Malian government gives nod to begin search for fourth MNO licensee
7 April 2017
Mountaga Tall, Mali’s Minister of the Digital Economy and Communication, has reportedly received authorisation from the government to begin the process of awarding the country’s fourth mobile network operator (MNO)…
Internet
SA's ICT sector likely to suffer from cabinet reshuffle
7 April 2017
South African president Jacob Zuma's overnight cabinet reshuffle has been characterised as regressive for the country's ICT sector by one industry analyst. The changes include the appointment of Ayanda Dlodlo…
Internet
South African Team Runner Up in Mozilla’s Equal Rating Innovation Challenge
7 April 2017
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 4, 2017/ -- Afri-Fi: Free Public WiFi has been announced as the “Runner-Up” in Mozilla’s Equal Rating Innovation Challenge (www.EqualRating.com) with a funding award of…
Internet
YouTube unveils India mobile app for spotty Internet signals
7 April 2017
Alphabet Inc's Google said on Tuesday it would roll out a mobile YouTube application designed for India, boosting the search company's presence in a burgeoning market with spotty Internet access.…
Internet
Sao Tome and Principe: CST doubles fibre network speeds to 200Mbps
7 April 2017
Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicacoes (CST), the incumbent provider of fixed, mobile and data services in Sao Tome and Principe, has doubled the maximum speed available across its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network…
Computing
Internet Solutions launches CloudWAN with NTT, Intel
7 April 2017
The NTT Innovation Institute (NTTi3) and African telecom service provider Internet Solutions announced that they are collaborating with Intel on the delivery of the CloudWAN service for businesses. CloudWAN enables…
Computing
Kenya creates online system to monitor rural sanitation
7 April 2017
NAIROBI] Kenya has launched an online monitoring, evaluation and reporting system to improve capturing data on sanitation and hygiene status, a conference has heard. According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health,…
Money Transfer
Kenya:Banks mobile money platform signs up two million users
7 April 2017
Two million customers have signed up for PesaLink less than two months after the digital bank-to-bank payments platform was launched by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA). Integrated Payment Services Ltd…
Money Transfer
MTN partners Uber to offer free ride to subcribers
7 April 2017
Ghana’s leading telecommunications service provider, MTN, has announced a partnership agreement with Uber Ghana to offer free rides for MTN customers. Through this partnership, MTN subscribers will enjoy two free…
Money Transfer
Kenya: Equitel Money rises to take a fifth of mobile cash transfers
7 April 2017
Equity Bank’s mobile banking platform Equitel accounted for over a fifth of mobile money transfers in the latest sector statistics by Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). The platform, officially launched…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Safaricom extends lead in Kenya mobile market
7 April 2017
The mobile sector in Kenya registered positive growth in the three months to December, reaching 38.9 million active subscriptions, up from 38.5 million three months earlier, according to the latest…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
In brief
7 April 2017
Telkom South Africa is considering plans to spin off its telecom tower and real estate assets into a separate company, which could then be listed on the stock market, local…
Digital Content
CA and ITU hold workshop on Kenya’s National Digital Innovation
7 April 2017
The Authority and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) this morning held a validation workshop to present to ICT stakeholders preliminary findings on Kenya’s National Digital Innovation ecosystem. The workshop comes…
Digital Content
These Techies Want Your Phone to Speak to You in Swahili
7 April 2017
With an estimated 100 million speakers, Swahili is the second-most-widely-used language on the African continent, after Arabic. Yet services such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) aren’t commercially available in this…
Digital Content
Nigeria: Group Launches Gospel Music APP
7 April 2017
ETranzact group has launched a gospel music application known as the Minstrel with a focus to improve the gospel industry in Nigeria and make the content exclusively available to all…
Digital Content
Toyota launches social media live-streaming campaign
7 April 2017
If you want to connect with Millennials, then you've got to speak their language - and that language is music. So, that's what Toyota is doing with its ground-breaking online…
Digital Content
Hashtags fly as South Africans vent over cabinet reshuffle
7 April 2017
The emotional rollercoaster experienced by South Africans over the past week following the hiring and firing of the country's ministers and their deputies has been aggregated through a report on…
Digital Content
#FemmeInPublic Is an Assertion of Trans, Femme Identity in Cape Town
7 April 2017
#FemmeInPublic is a Cape-Town based movement exploring trans, femme identity in South Africa. Creative director, Gary Mikey Collins and artist Alok Vaid-Menon teamed up to document a “live fashion protest,”…
Digital Content
In brief
7 April 2017
The past few days in South Africa have been tumultuous to say the least. We haven’t seen protests or mass mobilisation from the public (at least not yet anyway), but…
More
People
7 April 2017
Mars-bound Marais appointed SAP Head of Innovation JOHANNESBURG - SAP Africa, the software giant, has appointed prominent astronaut and multiple award winner, Dr Adriana Marais, as Head of Innovation. Based…
More
Opportunities
7 April 2017
WEF seeks Africa’s top female tech innovators The World Economic Forum (WEF) is looking for the top female tech innovators in Africa, who will be invited to share their experiences…
More
Events
7 April 2017
Building Rural LTE Networks - a Webinar from WTL May 11, 2017 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM BST Would you like to learn how to extend LTE coverage to remote…
