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| Global Voice Group - An Apology In an article entitled; "Life in Africa's Slow Lane- Congo Telecom and Socatel Defend Their International Voice Monopolies, Disapora Callers Ask Why?" published in 491, readers of Balancing Act's News Update might have believed we were alleging Global Voice Group assisted in the commission of fraud by a group we described as "a mafia," adopts anti-competitive practices by taking over all the international phone traffic in Congo and encourages African Governments to impose taxes on incoming calls. We would like to make it clear that it was not our intention to suggest this. We accept that these allegations are false and apologize to Global Voice Data Group for any misunderstandings which may have arisen and any damage our publication may have caused. Geo-location – The what of the where is it begins to be the next apps wave in Africa Lost your way in Accra or Abidjan? Want to know where your friends are? Need to track your truck fleet or disease outbreaks? A wave of recent announcements look set to be come the first signs of a growing apps wave (both personal and professional) that will begin to transform how certain things are done in Africa. No longer will directions include "go left at the flower seller" but GPS and maps may allow you to pinpoint your intended destination. Sylvain Beletre looks at the many geo-location applications that are just hitting the continent.
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Geo-location – The what of the where is it begins to be the next apps wave in Africa
Lost your way in Accra or Abidjan? Want to know where your friends are? Need to track your truck fleet or disease outbreaks? A wave of recent announcements look set to be come the first signs of a growing apps wave (both personal and professional) that will begin to transform how certain things are done in Africa. No longer will directions include "go left at the flower seller" but GPS and maps may allow you to pinpoint your intended destination. Sylvain Beletre looks at the many geo-location applications that are just hitting the continent.
Geolocation services are potentially a huge market which might include Government, corporates and individuals, whether tourists or locals. Thomas Lefort of IPergeo told us: "We have been surprised to see that GPS is already used across several African countries to optimise truck fleets. Rich interactive Maps are invaluable for governments, NGOs, universities and entrepreneurs, who can visualise, plan and market the areas and projects that they work on.
" There are a wide range of areas where it could make life easier: it can help with things like security and protection, government stats, site management, agriculture, water, police/crime, financial audits, surveys, green issues, isolated/remote workers, tourism, games, finance, media, marketing, entertainment, social networking, music, sport, geo-disaster alerts, ad and e-commerce.
These can be categorised into four broad areas: Consumer to Consumer (for example, Friend finder" which alerts subscribers when one of their friends in their buddy list is in close proximity to their location); Businesss to Consumer (Location-based ads that alert users to a service like a restaurant, bar or shop nearby); Business to Business (Fleet truck management – see below); Organisation to Organisation (for example, geo-based feedback about diseases to alert health organisations dealing with them).
Smartphones are not yet widely used across Africa but iPhones are increasingly visible in the market. As Mocality CEO Stefan Magdalinski put it back in June 2010, "This is the Mocality reality: RIM, Android, Apple are 2% of usage." However, there are countries where the percentage is larger and over 2-3 years the figure could be 5-10% depending on the country involved.
Handset vendors like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola to name just a few have integrated GPS chips in their smartphones. Nokia continues investment in geolocation: it provides a map of South Africa and will include more African countries pretty soon. The inclusion of Google Maps Navigation into the iPhone, Motorola Droid, and Nokia's announcement of free Ovi Maps all suggest that these will be rapidly integrated into most mobile phones.
Global brands for GPS terminals are also available for sale in Africa, usually at the national airport: Garmin (the number one worldwide Personal Navigation Device - PND), TomTom (which bought TeleAtlas), Mio, etc. Since the start of July 2010, governments and enterprises can access TomTom's traffic database to enable precise infrastructural planning and road network analysis.
Geolocation goes together with GPS. In actual fact, "GPS and GSM technologies are the most used network means to enable geolocation" explained Daniel Auclair, export director at Deverywhere. GPS is already available in several African countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast or Mauritius, with and sometimes without a Government license. But these two technologies don't work very well indoors, so other techniques are used, including the web (IP addresses), Bluetooth, UWB, RFID and Wi-Fi. Technically, Africa is almost ready for the jump and many already use GPS to drive around in large cities. After South Africa and Nigeria, Ivory Coast launched GPS in 1st October 2009.
In terms of the underlying maps used, Google is very much the leading brand. As Jacqueline Rajuai, Geo Specialist - Google Kenya out it in the post announcing their arrival:" We've often been asked why we don't have driving directions on Google Maps in Africa like we do elsewhere in the world. Well, the wait is over - we've recently launched driving directions for maps in Africa! So the next time you are in Ghana driving from Kotoka International Airport to Hotel Novotel in Victoria Borg, Accra or you just want to drive from Nairobi to Kampala, visit Google Maps and allow us to help you get to your destination".
However informed insiders in the region confirmed that Google maps in Africa are not 100% up to date, and local users have reported that GPS, where available, does not sometimes work due to out of date maps, bandwidth and satellite signals' or software issues.
As Sharon Dahan, CTO of Cellcom Guinea told us: "The biggest problem with Location-Based Services in Africa is a lack of accurate maps, especially maps for rural areas. When we tried to launch our own LBS Service for fleet management, we found out the map's prices are huge, not cost effective and not available to all country areas. Google Maps are not accurate enough for commercial use.
" However, whatever the issues affecting geolocation services, there have been a number of recent deals done:
* Orange has launched iPhones with geolocation applications in all its African subsidiaries. However, the Orange strategy is to offer a wide choice of devices to its customers: symbian, android, and various other Smartphones, some of them equipped with GPS applications. Orange beleives that geolocation services will help grow the African market in the coming years. On the enterprise side, Orange Business Services has launched geo-location / M2M services in a few of its African markets: for example in Madagascar (car location services) and in Sénégal . The operator has two fleet management offers available: Fleet Performance and Fleet Live. The former has more features and is available in Cameroon and the latter is available in Madagascar, Botswana, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea
* 0-one is supplier of rich digital maps in Africa and is in beta test for mobile GPS applications with two operators from Côte d'Ivoire. 0-one has also signed with Navteq and claims this makes it a leading supplier of mapping data in the Western African region.
* Mobile operator Cellcom Guinea has set up a deal with a local fleet management company. It is using Cellcom SIM Cards only for GPRS Connectivity so that their GSM/GPRS/GPS modules installed in cars can transmit their GPS location to the main server. For this purpose, Cellcom has created special APN so that any GPRS access via this Module is directly routed to their main location server, and only to it. Cellcom is using the same solution to manage its own fleet.
* OpenStreetMap creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started to overcome legal or technical restrictions on the use of commercial maps. According to its creators,using "Crowdsourcing", open street map has been used and tagged by Nairobi inhabitants. http://www.openstreetmap.org/
* Naspers-owned Mocality is currently built for Nairobi businesses that don't have enough money (or value to gain) to advertise in a print directory. It claims to have produced an efficient crowd sourcing model which could be expanded across the African continent and even globally. Mocality sees its job as creating a free digital platform for end-users that makes it easy for them to find places and for business owners to promote and expand their businesses in Africa.
* French publishing house Editions Laure Kane specialises in the making of maps of Africa and provide bespoke maps to companies. It has built a free interactive map of Senegal (a big tourism destination for the French) based on Google Map with 600 Points of Interest so far, including cultural sites. Points of interest (POI) are updated daily by the company and its users. Companies can add their presence from 38 Euros/year (25000 Fcfa). With more than 250,000 visits/month, they have managed to monetize their service and the company will soon expand to all francophone Africa. Le Guide de Routard, a popular French travel guide says it plans on offering iPhone apps for African cities soon.
* From the beginning of 2010, Naviim has, in partnership with distributor Telecgsm and satellite navigation software house GeoLife, launched a GPS iPhone app available in Nigeria. It sells at about USD 85 and is also available for windows mobile and Nokia phones.
* French company Ipergeo will launch its enterprise geolocation solution this September after beta testing it in Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso and DRC. The solution will be used by African telcos and Governments. For consumers, there is IPergeo on the web and IPergeo Mobile (a piece of software to install to your Windows Mobile device) that allow you to keep in touch with where your friends are, among other things.
* Géorisgroup and Deveryware Africa based in Dakar, Senegal are offering custom B2B solutions to enable companies to track vehicles, mobile staff and events (opening doors, temperature changes, etc.) so that they get alerted and keep track of movements and changes on their territories. These companies are targeting West and Central Africa and have already won a large number of contracts. Deverywhere's multi-services platform - Geohub - provides complex custom solutions using most telecoms technologies via a Saas (software as a service) applications. Key References include companies like Total and Bolloré.
With this volume of services beginning to be marketed, it will be interesting to see what volume of usage develops. But whatever happens, it is the beginning of a newly mapped future for the continent.
| TELECOMS NEWS | |
Bharti Airtel Acquires Telecom Seychelles
Zain Kenya's new owners, Bharti Airtel, is determined to expand their footprint in Africa by acquiring Telecom Seychelles Ltd at a cost of Sh4.9 billion.
This means the Indian telecommunications firm is now in 16 African countries following its acquisition of Zain Africa's 15 operations, including Zain Kenya, for which the deal was closed in June for Sh856 billion.
Mr Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & Joint managing director, Bharti Airtel, said, "We are delighted at the addition of Seychelles to our Africa portfolio. These operations will benefit further by leveraging the efficiencies of scale of our African operations.
" When asked whether Bharti Airtel had presence in Seychelles, a company spokesperson clarified that the company never had any stake in Telecom Seychelles and it was only using its brand name. Now Bharti Airtel will acquire all stake from its promoters to make it part of African operations. Telecom Seychelles began operations in 1998 by launching mobile services. Today, it offers 3G mobile and integrated wireline services across the island nation under the Airtel brand and has over 57 per cent share of the mobile market. Bharti Airtel had over 183 million customers across its operations at the end of June 2010.
Bharti plans replicate its minute factory model combined with a low-cost structure in Africa. It will work on infrastructure sharing and forge contracts on a network utilisation-based model, much like it does in India to improve productivity at its Africa operations.
The company, facing tough competition in a crowded home market, is betting on opportunities in Africa where the mobile penetration level at 32 per cent is less than India's 50 per cent and there are fewer competitors. The Average Revenue Per User in the country remains low.
In India, subscribers on average use 500 calling minutes monthly while Kenya lays claim to 40 minutes. In addition to voice services, Airtel provides broadband internet and digital television in its home market of India. The acquisition of Zain was Bharti Airtel's third attempt to enter the largely untapped African market after twice failing in merger talks with South African telecom major MTN.
The firm recently appointed Ogilvy Africa BV to engineer its rebranding. It expects to launch its own brand in the 15 countries by end of October, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Source: Daily Nation)
Angola Telecom Fixed Network Digital System Inaugurated
The Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, José Carvalho da Rocha, Thursday in Sumbe, central Kwanza Sul province, inaugurated the digital system of Angola Telecom fixed network that will connect the eight districts' headquarters of the region.
He said the project will bring about much benefit to the population in general, and to students in particular, as broadband will be installed in public schools, helping them with research.
The 18 million Euros project was funded by the Italian Government with Angola Telecom's participation. On the occasion, José da Rocha praised the state of relations between Angola and Italy, saying it has been crucial for the implementation of the project (started in 2005) aiming at improving the telecommunication network in the province.
The project, it was said, will increase the number of telephone lines in the province from 2,000 to 10,000, connecting in its first phase the districts of Sumbe, Porto Amboim, Amboim, Conda, Cela, Seles, Kibala and Libolo.
(Source: Angola Press)
NetOne Intensifies Expansion in Zimbabwe
Incumbent NetOne has intensified its expansion drive in the past two months by installing base stations across the country, the company's Managing Director Reward Kangai has said. This will result in the operator easing congestion on its network.
Kangai told the media last week that: "In the past two months we have extended our coverage to areas like Sandawana Mine south of Mberengwa, Mataga in the same area and Kenmaur in Matebeleland North. Other areas include Gwanda, Kadoma, Sadza, Turk Mine, Sengwa area in Gokwe North, Chabatabere near Chireya, Tengwe and various other sites in Harare and Bulawayo to ease congestion.
"There are areas in Bulawayo that were added like Saucetown, Magwegwe, Luveve, Raylton, Morningside, Tshabalala, Cowdry Park, Belmont and Nkulumane. "In Harare there is NRZ, Raylton Sports Club, Arcadia, Hogherty Hill, Strathaven, Newlands, Epworth, Rugare, Eaglesvale School and Lochinvar," he said.
NetOne had demarcated Zimbabwe into two sections with two Mobile Switching Centres (MSCs) one in Harare and another in Bulawayo. These two MSCs service the whole of the country in terms of network coverage. The Southern Region network is serviced by the Huawei Technologies MSC which is located in Bulawayo whilst the Northern Region is serviced by the Nokia-Siemens Networks MSC.
He said NetOne's expansion programme is well complemented by the availability of Easycall Xtra SIM cards, which have been made available on the market.
Kangai added that the expansion drive, which NetOne is pursuing, is tailored to bring solutions to the subscribers for convenient communications. "Most of the new base stations in the rural areas are solar powered. We have strategically positioned the solar powered base stations in areas where there is no nearby national electricity grid.
"These areas include Mutawatawa, Devedzo and Sadza among others. "We are currently opening more solar powered base stations because the power problems have heavily affected our rural subscribers and these are the worst hit areas. We had to tap into other energy resources so that our subscribers are able to be connected throughout the day," he said.
"Hybrid power solutions compromising solar and wind turbines are soon going to be deployed, given that our rural base stations are located on top of high mountains where there is sufficient wind power," he said. He added: "NetOne's network expansion programme is financed from own resources. We rely on our loyal customers who continuously invest in the business by buying airtime and using our products.
"The network has not received much funding from external sources as most financing is local and we would like to thank our customers for having trust in the brand. "NetOne will continue to support them by giving them value added services such as SMS Call Me Back, Home Zone Billing and now NetOne is the only network offering per second billing on own net calls."
He would not be drawn into revealing the subscriber numbers that NetOne currently has, saying what mattered most was the quality of service that the network provided.
(Source: The Herald)
MTN Seeks law to allow them to build critical national infrastructure
In order to secure telecommunications operations and infrastructure in the country, MTN Nigeria Limited has called on the National Assembly, to, as a matter of urgency, initiate laws that will help in securing the telecommunication industry in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Information Communication Technology/Nigerian Environment Conference held in Lagos, MTN's Regulatory Affairs Manager, Quasim Odunmbaku, suggested some of the laws to include those that will accord telecoms operators the legal status of critical national infrastructure and streamlining acquisition, ownership and retention of land for telecoms purposes.
Odunmbaku said the federal government should harmonise regulations and taxation in the telecoms sector. He called for the adoption of legislation that would discourage road construction companies from causing persistent damage to fibre networks. Speaking further, Odunmbaku suggested the implementation of a number of policies by government that would address the erection of telecoms masts and infrastructure, with particular regard to unambiguous local permit application processes.
According to him, "Operators and vendors are working on a number of initiatives to develop energy efficient networks and ensure that their customers use energy-efficient handsets."
The initiatives, he said, include the designing of low energy base station sites, deployment of base stations powered by renewable energy, implementation of infrastructure optimisation and sharing and reduction of mobile device life cycle emissions, through design and recycling.
According to him, "MTN has spent over N12bn in acquiring generators to provide power for its over 4,798 base stations nationwide. It also spends N500m monthly on diesel and generator maintenance." This situation, he said, was worrisome and called for an urgent solution.
"Recent degradation in national grid power supply has increased the pressure on generators, increased maintenance cost and outstripped local market capacity for supply of generators to operators," he said.
He further said that the theft of generators, parts and diesel as well as indiscriminate vandalisation of fibre optic cables and other network infrastructure were the causes of major network outages.
"An average of 50 sites are inaccessible per day on account of community issues, thereby making it difficult to address network maintenance needs.
(Source: Leadership)
telecoms briefs
- Malawi's third mobile operator licensee, G-Mobile, has started deploying infrastructure for a wireless network, reports local newspaper The Nation. The news follows a move by the country's regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), to fine the operator USD6.9 million in May in light of its failure to roll out a network. G-Mobile's director of administration Harold Myaba said that the company is negotiating the fine with Macra. 'A lot has been happening behind the scenes that people didn't see. It's now starting to show,' said Myaba.
- Arc Telecoms, a new telecoms company headed up by former iBurst Business CEO Steve Briggs, is gearing up for an official launch next month. The company is planning to shake up the SME market with a range of telecoms solutions suited to their needs.
| INTERNET NEWS | |
Kenya: ICT underpins a more transparent vote on the constitution
The technological revolution in Kenya's electoral process became abundantly clear as the final numbers came in from Wednesday's referendum. Analysts said the digital shift contributed to making the referendum a more transparent affair, with citizens emerging as a vital tool in ensuring the process remained free and fair.
The biggest beneficiary from the transformation is likely to be the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), that effectively received the mandate to fully digitise the elections process.
"We have learned that the use of technology has greatly enhanced the process and sped up the gathering of results," said Isaak Hassan, IIEC Chairman.
More than 27,000 GPRS-enabled mobile phones were used to send results from polling stations to the main tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi. "Using mobile phones, SMS and some software we got results securely checked into a central server, tallied and instantly relayed to the public ... this is eGovernance without the usual big budgets and failure that often accompanies ICT projects," said industry analyst John Walubengo, on an online forum.
The IIEC has indicated that it intends to spend $400 million on a step-by-step program that will eventually result in Kenyans using electronic voting in about 20,000 polling centres around the country, by 2012. As part of its reforms, the IIEC - which was set up to replace the Electoral Commission of Kenya after disputed presidential elections in 2007 - has outlined a raft of initiatives it would undertake in order to reform the electoral process and the management of elections in order to institutionalize free and fair elections.
Two of its immediate objectives were to conduct a fresh registration of voters and the create of a new voters' register as well as development a modern system for collection, collation, transmission, and tallying of electoral data.
Both objectives were largely completed in time for Wednesday's referendum, and will be improved upon as the country gears up for its next elections process. "We are exploring some of the best practices globally and locally. In future, a voter should be able to walk into a polling station and place the finger print on a machine and all his or her details are conjured up instantly. With improved connectivity country-wide, this is not a wild dream," said Andrew Limo of the IIEC.
But much of the gains from the use of technology were experience in the social media sphere, where citizen led initiatives promoting peaceful voting and provided near instant updates on events.
On Uchaguzi.co.ke, (uchaguzi is decision in Swahili), minute-by-minute updates of the process were sent by users with mobile phones from around the country. Uchaguzi is a spin-off of Ushahidi, a Kenyan born platform developed in the after-math of the disputed 2007 elections that has evolved to become a key tool for countries in crisis.
By Thursday morning, over 1,500 reports from around the country indicated that the reception to the results had been largely peaceful, with over 70 per cent of all reports verified by official sources. "There's a lot of tension in Ndeffo, Kihingo and Mauche. The two major communities are sending warnings against one another. Thanks," said one negative report. Events reported included acts of violence, looting, hate speech incidents as well as peace initiatives.
Citizens, media houses and observers turned to social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to provide updates, with Nation Media's web presence noting a spike in traffic over the last two days. According to internet analysts Alexa, Daily Nation status was upgraded from a 'medium' to 'high impact' website in its search analytics.
On Twitter, the tag #kenyadecides - which gathers all updates on the referendum - emerged as one of the most popular topics trending on the website globally.
(Source: Business Daily)
Africonnect Acquired by Vodacom Business Africa
AfriConnect Zambia announced that it has been acquired by Vodacom Business Africa (VBA) and thus becomes part of the Vodacom group of companies. Vodacom itself is majority-owned by Vodafone - the world's largest mobile phone and data company.
AfriConnect, with its core iConnect.zm high-speed wireless broadband product, and its iSpot widespread hotspot services, already delivers more Internet bandwidth into Zambia than any of its competitors. Under this strategic new ownership the Company is committed to major capital expenditure which will allow for upgrading of its network, increasing resilience and capacity, and reaching new towns and locations around the country. It will be taking advantage of Vodacom's high-capacity data infrastructure around Africa to bring in more bandwidth (both fibre and satellite based), as well as leveraging the skills base of the parent Company.
AfriConnect will continue to trade under its existing name (with its distinctive orange colour) and operate and improve its full range of existing products. All current management and staff will remain in place.
Mark Bennett, Managing Director of AfriConnect stated: "Since inception in 2005, AfriConnect has been committed to Zambia's development, promoting all the benefits that good connectivity and communications can bring to economic growth. We will continue to support education via the iSchool.zm eLearning project, as well as work in other development sectors such as health and rural growth".
Virgin Mobile SA to launch service over Cell C's HSPA+ network while Cell C announces HSPA+ tests
Virgin Mobile South Africa is planning to launch its own mobile broadband service using Cell C's HSPA+ network, Cell C has confirmed. Since launch, Virgin Mobile South Africa has been piggybacking on Cell C's network to provide voice and data services.
Virgin Mobile has not yet announced a launch date for its HSPA+ services which is dependent on Cell C's own commercial launch. Virgin Mobile South Africa is a joint-venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Cell C.
While Cell C has announced that tests for its new HSPA+ network are currently underway in six cities, and the results are 'very promising'. More than 1,300 base stations, located in six major cities, have already been converted to HSPA+ using the 900MHz frequency band, and CEO Kelly Reichelt has promised that Cell C will launch its new network on a city-by-city basis, rectifying any potential problem areas as it goes along. Cell C will eventually upgrade 5,200 bases stations to the new platform. Cell C expects to cover 34% of the South African population with its HSPA+ network by end-2010 and aims for 67% population coverage by mid-2011.
Although MTN has already launched a commercial 21Mbps HSPA+ service, Cell C aims to be the first South African operator to rollout HSPA+ across its entire network. It took Vodacom almost five years to achieve 50% 3G population coverage using the 2100MHz band, whilst Cell C's strategy to use the 900MHz frequency should make it easier for the cellco to reach rural customers. According to Reichelt a single HSPA+ 900MHz transmitter can cover a three to five times larger area than those using the higher band.
(Source: Telegeography)
Internet briefs
- South African telco Neotel has launched pre-paid broadband services on its network, it has reported. Branded 'NeoConnect Lite Pre-paid', the service incorporates voice telephony, SMS and basic internet connectivity. The service will be delivered over Neotel's fixed-wireless service. Utilising a NeoConnect Lite desktop phone, which doubles up as an internet access device, NeoConnect Lite Pre-paid supports peak data speeds of 156kbps, although Neotel have clarified that realistic speeds will be between 50kbps and 70kbps. The company confirmed that it is currently developing pre-paid services for its NeoConnect Prime and NeoFlex products.
- Zain Tanzania has slashed its internet tariffs by more than 50 per cent for its customers who wish to access the internet anywhere in the country.
- Rumours have begun circulating that Cell C, Dimension Data and Convergence Partners are in talks about building a national fibre-optic telecommunications network in South Africa, according to a report in Tech Central.
- The Angolan airline, TAAG, is now providing an online check-in service to all destinations of the company, One of its managers told ANGOP. See: www.taag.com
- Lagos — The Federal Government on Monday in Abuja said a total of 4.42Tbits (terabit per second) of broadband capacity would come on stream this year. Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili noted that in spite of the challenges of infrastructure, Africa deserved one of the lowest tariffs and that sharing of infrastructure could definitely reduce operational cost and drive down tariff. "There is no way we can be talking about new inter-continental fibre optic cables without a reduction in the cost of broadband access. There is no reason why the new board (of NCC) should not be gearing up with excitement for increased activities in the broadband segment of the market.
| COMPUTER NEWS | |
Intel to Introduce Ghanaian Farmers to ICT
Computer micro-processor manufacturing giant Intel Corporation has announced a number of initiatives to further develop ICT in Ghana.
The company, which has already established a local presence, is pledging to assist the country with the needed expertise and technology to grow it into an IT hub in the region. Corporate Affairs Manager of Group Intel, Olubunmi Ekundare explained to Joy Business some of the projects.
"We have been able to help programmes that make it possible for teachers to have access to PC's to buy their own PC. We are looking within the next one year to bring ICTs to the fore front in terms of education and small businesses," he said. He added farmers will also be introduced to the use of ICT to inform them on which pesticides and other things to use in order to boost their production.
Intel worldwide has been operating in Ghana since 2006. It is already working in partnership with both the Ministry of Education and Communication to offer awareness and training in ICT.
(Source: Accra Daily Mail)
Ericsson Raises the Stakes With New E-Learning Academy
Thousands of youths who have been locked out of IT institutions due to a lack of fees can now gain the skills they want free of charge thanks to an online academy run by Ericsson and Harvard University.
The academy, which was previously only available to the Swedish telco's employees, features content developed by the firm and online lectures from renowned professors of Harvard Business School.
Through Ericsson Academy, users can access online courses, lectures and tutorials via interactive webinars created by Ericsson experts and learn more about ICT at no cost. Expected to suffer from the initiative are local institutions that have been offering some of these courses at a fee. With the current stable telecommunication network in the country, experts say many students with basic IT skills will most likely opt for Ericsson's offer.
On average, most institutions charge between Sh10,000 and Sh20,000 for a course module which lasts a month. Corporate organisations pay up to Sh50,000 for a two day training.
The initiative will avail the courses, most of which local institutions have been offering on a modular basis and are currently in high demand due to the competitiveness created by the fast growing ICT sector.
"This new approach to learning, leveraging on the use of technology to bring development initiatives closer to users across Africa, is received with much enthusiasm and will greatly aid Ericsson's drive towards improving competence on the continent" says Tade Oyinlola, Head of Ericsson Academy for Sub-Saharan Africa.
By availing its expertise and learning opportunities, Ericsson aims to inspire people and organizations throughout the industry to collaborate, exchange ideas and stimulate innovative thinking.
The online project comprises more than 1000 courses covering different technology systems and service areas. For easy navigation, they are grouped into predefined training packages within a certain area and participants receive a printable course certificate upon successful completion.
Among the courses on offer are Long Term Evolution Radio Access Network, Messaging over IP (MoIP) 6.1, Microwave Networks, Mobile Packet Backbone Network and Mobile Service Delivery Platform.
With the extensive collection of online and instructor-led training packages made available through the academy and education centres around the world, Ericsson hopes to provide strong and flexible education.
In a world of rapidly evolving technology the Ericsson Academy allows the world to tap into one of the richest sources of technology and business expertise. It is a new entry point for Ericssons' expertise and knowledge on managing talent during rapid technology shifts. This is being achieved by providing competence-related support and learning opportunities.
(Source: Business Daily)
National University of Rwanda (NUR) Staff Train in IT
Cisco, in partnership with the National University of Rwanda (NUR) regional academy, has awarded certificates to 24 university staff who completed training in computer hardware and software management.
Speaking to The New Times after the ceremony in Huye District, Evode Mukama, the Director of Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), commended the trainees for successfully completing the course which lasted for a couple of months. He revealed that this is an ongoing programme to facilitate staff get basic skills in software management and maintenance.
Addressing the participants, Mukama, explained that NUR regional academy plans to extend the program to more people. "We are committed to extend such knowledge across the institution, undoubtedly it will play a noticeable role in their daily work," has said.
Gabriel Mugabe, a lecturer and networking academy instructor, said CISCO has made a positive impact at the university. "Before the university became self-sufficient to take over, we used to receive American instructors to fill the gap a lot has been achieved in IT training," Mugabe stated.
Claude Kabanda, a staff librarian and one of the trainees, said the knowledge they acquired from the training will help them improve their work. "It was inconveniencing to get out of the office just to seek help for a minor glitch which could easily be fixed," he said.
(Source: The New Times)
Computer briefs
- Kampala — The Uganda Communications Commission has called for laws to ensure cyber security in East Africa. "As a region, we need to adopt appropriate legislation against the misuse of ICTs for criminal purposes," Patrick Mwesigwa, the executive director, said."The benefits of ICTs are being undermined by unscrupulous and criminal elements exploiting its capabilities to the detriment of others." He was speaking ahead of the East African Internet governance forum on cyber security that starts today in Kampala. The forum will discuss the need to have robust laws on cyber security in the region. It has been organised by the Government on behalf of the East African communications bodies and the global telecom union.
- Entrepreneurs and software developers in Uganda's information and technology sector are set to acquire on-line business skills from Google, the world's top online search engine. Technology and software skills will be passed on to at least 600 participants in Uganda during a two-day web and mobile conference for tech savvy entrepreneurs and developers will be held in Kampala between September 1 and 2. It will specifically target network engineers, product managers, entrepreneurs, students and web developers. Participants are expected to discuss the future of web application development, besides receiving training on Google's product lines and online business skills.
| ON THE MONEY | |
Business Connexion Group in Deal to Boost BEE Status
Technology company Business Connexion Group said last week it would sell a 30% stake to black investors at a group level to enhance its empowerment status. The group said the deal would help it meet the minimum requirements of black ownership that is needed to win contracts in the public and private sectors. It was crucial to improve the ownership and other sections of its broad-based black economic empowerment scorecard, it said. A 30% empowerment shareholding would enable it "to take full advantage of these opportunities".
The shares will be sold to existing empowerment partner Gadlex, which owns 20.01% in the group's subsidiary Business Connexion, community upliftment organisations including Community Outreach Program Trust, and Ditikeni Investment Company, a non profit organisation that works in more than 200 poor black communities.
Freewheel Trade and Invest 36, a women's group whose shareholders include Felleng Sekha, an independent non executive director of the group, and YWCA Dube Charitable Trust, which is involved in projects targeting women, would also be allocated shares. Moreover, the group would also set aside shares for top executives and senior management of the group in a bid to retain them. It also said allocation of shares to management would encourage employees to "drive growth and profitability within the company".
The participating employees would qualify regardless of race or gender. However, the majority of the beneficiaries within the group's Management "A" Share Trust would be black people as defined in the Department of Trade and Industry codes, the group said.
The transaction would be funded by the group and investors locked in for five years. The deal involves the acquisition of Gadlex shares in the group for R237.5m in cash and shares. The group would issue 41,1m shares to Gadlex at R5.78 a share. Gadlex, which is partly owned by the group's CEO Benjamin Mophatlane and his brother Isaac, has been Business Connexion 's business partner since 2003.
(Source: Business Day)
Vimpelcom considering share-swap deal for stakes in Orascom, Wind
Reuters, quoting Russian newspaper Kommersant, reports that Russian cellco Vimpelcom is considering a potential deal to purchase 51% of Egyptian cellular group Orascom Telecom as well as take control of Italian full-service telco Wind Telecomunicazioni by buying out the two companies' mutual holding company Weather Investments, itself controlled by Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris.
The Kommersant report, which did not name its sources, said Vimpelcom could pay for the deal with cash and shares, with Sawiris and his partners getting approximately 20%-23% of voting rights in Vimpelcom, which currently has a market value of USD22.6 billion.
The potential deal, worth an estimated USD6.5 billion without debt, would reduce the stakes of Russia's Alfa Group and Norway's Telenor in Vimpelcom to around 35% and 27% respectively, from 44.65% and 36.03% at present, following the Russian firm's merger earlier in the year with Ukraine's Kyivstar. Elsewhere, Wind's Greek sister telco Wind Hellas is currently receiving offers from potential new investors as it aims to restructure its capital.
(Source: Telegeography)
Altech backs Technology Concepts to become a Tier One provider
JSE-listed technology group Altech is putting its muscle behind its Internet business, Technology Concepts, with plans to turn it into a tier-one service provider.
Altech bought Technology Concepts last April, before it signed a deal with undersea cable operator Seacom. Technology Concepts CEO Wayne de Nobrega says Altech has now given it the go-ahead to pursue a plan to become a tier-one provider, rivalling the likes of other tier-one providers such as MTN and Dimension Data's Internet Solutions.
De Nobegra says Technology Concepts will begin by opening up its own facilities in Teraco's data centres and it will start building its own networks.
The first data-centre facility will be opened in Johannesburg, and Technology Concepts will eventually extend its reach to the other big SA cities.
He won't say how much Technology Concepts is investing as part of the expansion plan.
"We are working with Cisco to create a next-generation backbone network," says De Nobrega. He says Technology Concepts will build links where it makes sense, and will lease links in other cases.
As a group, Altech owns capacity on Seacom. However, the company is not using its Seacom capacity in SA yet. "We are buying Sat-3 capacity as part of our network to ensure redundancy on our international connectivity," says De Nobrega.
However, he says Technology Concepts will start to bring some of the capacity to SA shores. "We can scale up how much capacity is coming in as we need it," he says.
The next step for Technology Concepts will be to provide managed services over the network it is building. One of these services will be a voice-over-Internet Protocol solution.
The company will make a more concerted effort to attract retail consumers. It will also target its regular corporate customer base, but will add services and products targeting the small business market.
Like many network providers, Technology Concepts will also start providing wholesale services. "We will include a partner programme, selling white-labelled products," he says.
(Source: Techcentral)
Investment in Telecoms Sector Now $12 Billion, Says Nigerian President Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan last week said the liberalisation of telecommunication operations in the country has harvested a massive inflow of investment in the sector from $50 million in 2000 to over $12 billion in the last ten years.
The President in a speech presented on his behalf by Vice President Namadi Sambo to declare open the 3rd Ordinary Session of the African Union of Communication and Information Technologies Ministerial conference in Abuja, said there was no doubt that appreciable progress had been made by Africa in telecommunication development with the achievement of over 350 million mobile phone users and 86 million internet users in the last five years.
"In Nigeria, telecom liberalisation has allowed for massive inflow of investment in the sector from $50 million in 2000 to over $12 billion as at present. The total tele-density has risen phenomenally to 56.32 per 100 inhabitants
"Appreciable progress has been made in our continent in this regard with the achievement of over 350 million mobile phone users and internet users in the last five years," he said.
However despite this remarkable feat, Jonathan said there was still a lot the continent needs to do to bridge the knowledge and technology gap between it and the rest of the developed world if it must achieve rapid and sustained economic, social and human development .
"Our information and communication technology strategies and policies as well as regulatory frameworks still need to be harmonised to enable us reap the full benefits of this development," he said.
He told the gathering comprising delegates from African Union member countries that the next focus must be the development and application of broadband and improvement in internet services to accelerate development in areas of national security, e-governance, tele-medicine, public safety and education.
Speaking on the progress recorded by Nigeria in the telecommunication development, the President said the sector has witnessed phenomenal growth and expansion and has generated employment for million of Nigerians while promoting businesses and services with improved efficiency and productivity.
Apart from the establishment of software development centres and information technology parks which is being piloted by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), he said federal government has also set up internet exchange point project to ensure broader internet penetration to all parts of Nigeria.
According to Jonathan, federal government is completed plans to re-launch the country's communication satellite , NIGCOMSAT -1 in January next year, having corrected the technical problem experienced in the first launch.
He said government is also deploying ICT to boost Postal service operations in conformity to International Postal and Financial Systems, adding that the postal service sector would liberalized to open it up to private participation and inflow of capital and innovative ideas.
The African Union Commission which was represented by the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr. Elham M. A. Ibrahim, said underdevelopment and insufficiency of infrastructure in the continent are found as major problems and barriers for economic and social development in most countries of Africa.
She noted that efficient telecommunications, postal and broadcasting systems and services are the pre-requisites and essential ingredients needed to attain development objectives in all sectors of activities.
She said the conference will focus on the evaluation of most of the items contained in the framework adopted at the last meeting of the Ministers in Cairo, Egypt in 2008 which sought for the harmonization of ICT policies and regulations in Africa.
According to AU, the continent would in the next two years be focusing on the implementation of the programme of transition from analog to digital in the broadcasting sector.
Earlier, the Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili while welcoming the African Ministers to the event, said Nigeria along with Kenya ,Zambia, Chad and Egypt was mandated in 2008 by the conference to implement a harmonized ICT policies and regulatory frameworks to address the developmental challenges and promote accelerated development of telecom infrastructure in the continent.
(Source: This Day)
On the Money briefs
- According to an unconfirmed report from the online journal Trade Finance, Standard Chartered Bank has signed a telecoms equipment deal with Ghanaian cellco Zain backed by Sweden's credit agency EKN. It is understood the value of the contract is USD77 million and will be used to provide telecoms equipment to support the cellco's network expansion in the country. Zain Ghana had approximately 1.375 million mobile users at 30 June 2010 up from 1.293 million at the start of the year, a market share of 8.4%. Its networks covered an estimated 53% of the population.
- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe says it will strengthen its mobile network in the capital Harare under a new USD60 million loan from Swedish export credit agency EKN, adding to existing credit lines with China and the Egyptian-based African Export-Import Bank. CEO of Econet, Douglas Mboweni, said the entire facility would be channelled into buying infrastructure for Harare to meet rising demand, adding that engineers from Swedish technology partner Ericsson had already arrived to install the equipment.
- Abuja — As the controversy over the N74 billion estimated by Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to conduct 2011 election continued, the Nigeria Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), last week announced that at least 25 per cent of the total amount could be saved using the smart card developed by the agency. Rufai, stated that instead of going for 120,000 unites of the Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDC) as proposed by INEC, NICOMSAT can solve the problem with only 5,000 units of smart card, adding that his agency can also provide the DDC using Zinox as an indigenous technology to get the software installed in a computer.
| MORE | |
- Telecoms, Rates, Offers And Coverage
- Web and Mobile Data news
- People
- Events
- Jobs and opportunities
- Contracts
Telecoms Rates, Offers and Coverage
* Dar Es Salaam — Zantel has introduced a new product which will allow its customers to make off-net calls at 1.99/- per second, the existing rate of 5.5/- per second representing a 68 per cent price cut compared to other operators. The product 'Twanga Kote Kote' gives the company's customers freedom to make calls to any network in Tanzania for only 1.99/- per second for 24 hours a day.
*Freetown — Sierra Leone's Africell has unveiled a new tariff for calls being made to different mobile companies. Subscribers now have the opportunity to make calls at 15 units per minute flat rate to any mobile company.
* Samsung has introduced its latest smartphone brand in Kenya, aiming for a piece of the rapidly growing top-end mobile market that has witnessed increased activity over the past three months. It is teaming up with Safaricom to sell the phone, S8500, and becomes the second firm after Huawei to ride on the back of the company's 16.2 million subscribers to grow their unit sales.
* Telecommunications company Neotel has unveiled its first prepaid offering, announcing on Wednesday that it would charge 20c/minute for ad-hoc prepaid data and 50c/minute for calls to Telkom and other Neotel numbers. Neotel's new prepaid product, which is only available in R100 vouchers for now, offers fixed-line calls (Neotel to Neotel and Neotel to Telkom) for 50c/minute, regardless of distance and time of day. Calls to mobile operators cost R1.50/minute in peak times and R1,20/minute in off-peak periods. SMSes cost 20c each. Consumers will still need to purchase a CDMA-compatible handset at a cost of R599.
Web and Mobile Data News
* New Technology finds Landmines in Angola Using Digital Photography
Luanda — A new Israeli technology that allows the location of anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines through digital photography of the land has been used in the demining process in Angola since June 2010.
"We have developed cameras that placed in suspected areas with landmine can accurately indicate the location of where the mines either anti-personnel of anti-tank are, announced on Monday in Luanda the general director of the Israeli company Geomine LTD, Avi Buzaglo Yoresh.
Speaking to Angop on the fringes of the first National Summit of Landmines Action which runs from Monday to Tuesday in the Conference Centre of Belas, the official said that his company works in Malanje and Lunda-Norte.
The source said that through these pictures decrease the work of operators because the interventions are practical since the mines are located. This technology, he said, was completed in 2009 and is being used in Israel, Thailand and Azerbaijan and can inspect 100,000 kilometres per day using aircrafts and satellites.
The works of the summit is chaired by the chairperson of CNIDAH, Santana André Pitra "Petroff".
(Source: Angola Press)
*UNN Adopts Electronic Board for Teaching
Enugu — Traditional blackboards would soon be replaced by electronic boards in classrooms and laboratories at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), as the institution prepares for full implementation of its information and communication technology infrastructure.
Vice Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Bartho Okolo, disclosed this in Enugu.
He said the institution has already commenced the shift by training staff on the new equipment and processes. Okolo disclosed, "Hitachi has completed training in the university on how to use e-boards such as smart white boards for electronic-teaching and student learning in our classrooms and teaching laboratories."
He said that in addition, Google Inc has finalised plans to train 2,000 faculty and academic leadership on using Google applications and Moodle to enhance administrative efficiency, teaching, learning and research.
His words: "I want to assure you that the University of Nigeria will in the next few years be transformed to what is obtainable in the best universities in Europe and North America. My leadership team is dedicated to the vision of a 21st century learning institution and we are determined to demonstrate that Africa can house one of the best universities in the world.
" The vice chancellor stated that UNN was developing 'productive collaborations' with various organisations, institutions and corporate bodies in pursuit of vision of re-structuring the school and turning it into a global centre of learning.
According to him, notable recent successes include construction of a wireless network infrastructure project to deliver 50 mbps of internet bandwidth by a consortium led by Google Inc at a cost of about N3 billion.
He also expressed the commitment of the university to the construction and equipping of a Centre for Environmental Management and Control by the Shell Petroleum Development Company and admission of UNN into the New York Academy of Sciences.
He assured that the current management would create a functional, globally competitive and research-focused University of Nigeria, which is not just an ivory tower but responsive to the needs of the society while delivering world class education and knowledge.
(Source: Daily Independent)
People
*Brahima Sanou's candidacy to become the Head of the ITU's BDT Department has been endorsed by the 15th Assembly of Heads of the State of the Government of 53 countries of the African Union held in Kampala in July 2010.The ITU elections will be held on or about October 7 during the Plenipotentiary Conference of ITU.
*Harold Wesso,has been installed as the acting director general at South Africa Department of Communications until a permanent replacement can be found.
*Following a request from the Namibian Government, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has seconded Lisa Thornton, a legal expert in the field of telecommunications, to work with the Transformation Project Team (TPT).TPT is attached to the Ministry of Information Communication Technology (MICT).
*Public protector Thulisile Mandonsela has cleared the South African Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyandaof any misconduct.
Events
*MOBIFEST 2010 NIGERIA
Nigeria's first and largest mobile application event will be in Lagos less than two weeks and a key focus for this inaugural event is not surprisingly – Mobile applications in a leading market in Africa where mobile subscription level has surpassed the 50% mark and still counting. The event is targeted at the M-Generation which are upwardly mobile and are ready to go. The conference and exhibition will Cover mobile financial services,Mobile Insurance, entertainment, enterprise solutions, mobile govt,tracking services, Health,informational,who will showcase their latest mobile applications and solutions to a ready and willing segment. There will also be Showcase highlights sessions from leading sponsors and also connect young innovative developers in touch with industry experts and decision makers.
More information: http://mobilemoneyafrica.com/mobifest2010
Speaking and exhibition: emmanuel@mobilemoneyafrica.com
*VOICE SA
8th September 2010, Johannesburg SA
VoiceSA, a free industry conference and networking event provides a platform for industry players to meet in the interest of ensuring a positive future for the SA telecoms industry. This event is for the SA telecoms industry and will address pertinent questions raised by the emergence of this telecoms landscape. The event will feature presentations by local and international industry experts, including: Douglas Reed (Vox Telecom) Steve Song (Shuttleworth Foundation) Wayne Speechly (IS) Rob Lith (Connection Telecom) Frederic Dickey (Sangoma) For further information, please visit the company website http://www.voicesa.co.za
*AITEC EAST AFRICAN SUMMIT
7-8 September-Nairobi,Kenya
An ICT Conference and Exhibition in East Africa at The Kenyatta International Conference Centre to cover challenges with current routes,traffic diversion in the event of outagesimproving network resilience and route diversity.
For further information visit AITEC website www.aitecafrica.com Contact: seanm@aitecafrica.com
UK Tel: +44(0)1480-880774
UK Fax: +44(0)1480-880765
UK Mobile: +44(0)7973-499224
Kenya Mobile: +254(0)721-845674
Mozambique Mobile: +258-82-6181618
Nigeria Mobile: +234(0)802-0571766
SA Mobile: +27(0)724-577887
*CAPACITY AFRICA 2010
21-22 October 2010, Nairobi, Kenya
The most comprehensive African wholesale telecoms conference bringing together local and regional fixed-line and mobile operators from across the continent For further information visit Capacity Media's website (http://www.capacitymedia.com/conferences-events.asp?id=66&cat=&subcat=&start=0)
Jobs and Opportunities
* Certified Linux Engineer (12 month contract)
Kelly in Johannesburg This is a CONTRACT position, please indicate your rate p/h in your application.
Certified RHCT/E Enterprise 5 Experience on SUSE/Fedora/CENTOS
Knowledge of other Operating Systems including AIX, HPUX and Solaris VMWARE VSphere4 Certified and/or Virtualiron
High Availability Clustering preferably HP Polyserve
GFS filesystem implementation
Bash/Perl Scripting
SAN knowledge/ImplementationHP EVA, EMC, HDS
Storage Multipathing Software preferably EMC Power Path and HDLM
Oracle Real Application Cluster knowledge and Deployment
ZXTM Traffic manager and Load balancer
JBOSS and Apache
MySQL database
Understanding of Networking
ITIL knowledge
Linux Security Administration including ISeC documentation, System hardening, Patch management, etc
Understanding of Tivoli Product suite, TSM, ITM, SCM, TPM, etc
Contracts
*Last Talks Over the Disputed Contract of Gijima and Govt – South Africa
JSE-listed technology services group Gijima is still in talks with government to resolve a dispute over the validity of the R2,5bn "Who Am I Online" contract. However, the company may head to court if discussions remain deadlocked. The contract involves a modernisation of home affairs's IT systems. It's Gijima's largest deal with government and makes up 15% of the group's annual revenue. The project has been riddled with controversy since its inception in 2007 and has faced spiralling costs from the start. The original bid was valued at R1,9bn.
Since April, Gijima has maintained that the contract is valid and has consulted legal advice on the matter. Government has never indicated why the contract was declared invalid.
Gijima says it has "fulfilled its obligations and continues to perform in terms of the contract with an extensive and experienced team dedicated full-time to the project". The group can approach the high court for a declaratory order to confirm the validity of the contract. Gijima indicated previously that it would consider all available options to keep the contract alive.
Gijima is working with international companies, including IBM, Siemens and identity management specialist Daon, to provide services to home affairs. The group's share price was trading down 2,2% at lunchtime on Tuesday.
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