Africa's ICT sector is in an exciting phase. Several governments around the continent have made commitments to the development of ICT in their country. Some countries are planning to build ICT Technology Parks to help carry out these commitments.

This thread can be used to post and discuss news in this rapidly growing sector! In the following posts, I will detail the plans that some countries have drawn-up.

I'll start the thread by posting the continent's current top 10 ICT leaders:

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Africa's ICT Leaders

1. Tunisia

2. South Africa

3. Mauritius

4. Botswana

5. Ghana

6. Egypt

7. Morocco

8. Namibia

9. Uganda

10. Tanzania

Data collected by the World Economic Forum and other economic organisations shows that Tunisia was Africa's information communication and technology leader.

Tunisia was afforded this based on the level of competition, number of fixed and mobile lines per 1000 people, mobile telephony coverage and cost for handsets, number of broadband and narrowband Internet users, and school connectivity rates.

Tunisia had 120 fixed lines, 373 mobile connections and 83 Internet users per 1000. Ninety-five percent of the population was covered with mobile telecoms with 25 percent of schools connected.

South Africa, which came in second, had 104 fixed lines, 471 mobile connections and 81 Internet users per 1000. Population and school connections were slightly higher at 96 percent and 27 percent respectively.

School connectivity should probably be higher in South Africa, but Telkom, the country's effective fixed line monopoly, has failed to provide school Internet connections at the required 50 percent discount. Similarly, high fixed line and broadband costs have slowed growth.

http://3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/e/3dflagsdotcom_egypt_2fawm.gif

http://www.smart-villages.com/

Prime Minister's Message

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/Minister.jpg

"We have taken long and steady steps towards achieving our goal of becoming an information society, but we feel that this is only the beginning. The IT sector in Egypt holds great promise for further growth and development. With the developed markets largely saturated and the rapid emergence of our domestic market, Egypt has become a goldmine for IT investment. Incentives and new investment laws are only some of the ways the country provides support to investors and their businesses. Creative professionals, a supportive government, and a healthy business enviroment have been the key to our current success, and they will continue to be fundamental to our future achievements."



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Smart Village
Egypt's ICT Park


Mission of Smart Village

Smart Village is the transition into a new definition of standards and value creation. Being a part of Smart Village is more than a business choice; it is a life-style choice.

The mission of Smart Village is to create a center of excellence, a technological park with state-of the-art infrastructure geared towards hi-tech businesses and to create a strategic base with a superior environment to enable businesses to gain the competitive advantage they seek.

Smart Village is situated in a lush environment that offers superior internet connections and a myriad of technological and administrative services, all designed to make the village an oasis for seamless I.T. business practices. The Smart Village was created with the overall vision of propelling the ICT sector investment in Egypt and hence capitalizing on the wealth of human resources available in Egypt.

Egypt is a pioneer in the field of IT and a pre-eminent business center through openness to new skills, practices, and the cultivation of an innovative business culture. We envision Smart Village as creating the best environment for information technology activities.


About Smart Village

Building great monuments in Egypt is not a thing of the past. An extraordinary example of Egypt’s high tech infrastructure, economic incentive packages and commitment to the future is the 450 - acres Smart Village project that provides a high tech environment for IT and Telecom companies.

Upon completion of all the phases there will be 67 office plots, accommodating approximately 30,000 employees.

The Village is comprised of 10% buildings and 90% green area, lakes and water streams.

Smart Village incorporates all the amenities needed by its prospective staff and visitors.

Smart Village's location is geographically central to all major destinations within Greater Cairo located just 20 minutes away from downtown Cairo, 10km from the pyramids. It is also easily accessible from Cairo International Airport.

Smart Village gives the opportunity for any firm operating in the IT sector to rent, lease or buy office space. Firms can also buy land and build their own offices abiding by the same architectual standards of the Village.


Schedule/Phases of Smart Village

Smart Village is well aware of the positive impact of investment on the Egyptian economy, and is dedicated to creating more investment opportunities. An eminent example is the build-own-operate (BOO) model that has been adopted in order to allow unprecedented services and profitability for each project. The project will be deployed in 3 phases, each phase will be fully operating separately.

Phase 1
Allows first occupancy, housing the main key players in Egypt and the region, such as Microsoft, Alcatel and Vodafone with all the needed services such as security, transportation, food court and property management.

Phase 2
Will accommodate main local players within the CIT sector in Egypt with all the remaining service buildings such as the hotel, recreational center and conference center.

Phase 3
Will consist of the remaining grouping of land plots, more office rental buildings.

In all the project phases, the highest quality infrastructure will be guaranteed for delivery within the requested time schedule, including: state-of-the-art fiber optic cable network, advanced fire fighting systems, two electricity sources (ensuring uninterrupted power supply), in addition to water, sewage, roads, central air-conditioning and state of the art communications network.

Smart Village Gallery

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/LayoutThumb.jpg

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/new/mic518-s.jpg

Pavillion:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8214/s1wx5.jpg

ADCOM / hp Invent:

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/7765/2swn9.jpg

Vodafone:

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/6335/3sfq7.jpg

Microsoft:

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/3845/4swr5.jpg

Cairo Stock Exchange:

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/9836/5svj1.jpg

Egypt Telecom Centre:

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/Gallery/Egypt%20Telecom%20Building.jpg

Business Centre (exterior):

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/Gallery/Business%20Center%20Outside.jpg

Business Centre (interior):

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/Gallery/Inside%20Business%20Center.jpg

Alcatel:

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9484/6skm0.jpg

Technological Incubators:

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/7476/7sxj7.jpg

Xceed Contact Centre:

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4720/8sos1.jpg

Mosque

http://www.smart-villages.com/images/Assets/Images/Gallery/Mosque.jpg

http://3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/m/3dflagsdotcom_maurs_2fawm.gif

http://www.e-cybercity.mu/
Mauritius' Cyber City Development - BBC

Mauritius, the paradise island of golden sand and five-star hotels in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is plunging head first into the high-tech world of information technology.

The volcanic rock, famous for the extinct dodo that once naively welcomed foreign visitors and paid the price, is now using its foreign contacts to build on two decades of development and wants to become a "cyber island".

And it's going the right way about it.

A few kilometres outside the capital, Port Louis, the sugar cane plantations, which were the foundations of the island's success, are being built upon and a "cyber city" is emerging amid the mountains.

"Technologically speaking the cyber city is a state-of-the-art facility," said Devendra Chaudhry, chief executive of Business Parks of Mauritius.

"It will provide a world-class telecommunications network, through both satellite and the fibre-optic cable that links Portugal and Malaysia via South Africa and Mauritius.

"It will provide computing on demand, an internet data centre to back up data and servers for web-hosting, e-commerce and financial transactions."

Creation

The centrepiece of the city is a 12-storey tower, which is being built in just over a year.

Then more than 30 other projects will follow - a hypermarket, conference centre, a cyber village for accommodation, and more high-tech office space.

Devendra Chaudhry is an Indian civil servant brought to Mauritius on sabbatical, to use the experience of high-tech cities in places like Bangalore or Hyderabad to create a new industry on the island.

And the majority of the workers on the site are Indian, brought in to build the infrastructure which the government of Mauritius hopes will catapult the island forward.

Upwardly mobile

But the expansion into the high-tech sector doesn't end with just infrastructure.

Huge investment is being put into education from primary level to university level, and even for those who haven't even seen a computer before.

The Cyber Caravan has been fitted out for the job, making its daily rounds visiting villages in the more remote parts of Mauritius.

The converted coach is now a computer studies class for housewives, children, unemployed people and the disabled.

"We use the caravan to conduct Information Communications Technology (ICT) awareness courses," said Vikash Heeralaul from the National Computer Board.

"We've got nine PCs in a network and we teach basic computing and word processing.

"Up to now we have been to 170 community centres to create ICT awareness among the people of Mauritius.

"Some people don't know how to use a computer, but we teach them the basics and then word processing."

Sweet dreams

It's quite a transformation for an island which based its development on money raised by sugar.

The sugar protocol still ensures high prices for European exports and remains important to the economy.

Then the textile industry came along and is still growing with the help of the special trade relationship with America under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).

But the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Paul Berenger is looking much further into the future.

"On the horizon the sugar protocol is threatened and textile exports to the European Union and the States are also under question by the World Trade Organisation's new rules, and by developing free trade agreements, so we are threatened from all sides," he said.

"This is where our idea is to make Mauritius a cyber island to rush ahead as a services economy."

Corporate interest

It's a promise that's being jumped upon by some big names - Microsoft has expressed an interest and Hewlett Packard is a partner in the cyber city.

One of the big advantages of the city is a "Disaster Recovery Service" for businesses around the world to transfer and store data, and even run their call centres from Mauritius if their computers are hit by a terrorist attack.

Lindsay Pointu, representative of Hewlett Packard in Mauritius, argues that it's a good place for big companies to have back-up systems in place because of its relative security and stability.

"I think the biggest benefit is that being a rock in the middle of the ocean you are isolated and in a way that is what you want.

"Putting it crudely the whole of Africa could be on fire and Mauritius would be protected.

"We can see that the cyber city will represent a land of opportunity for ICT business."

So as construction work continues, Mauritius is building a future for itself, accelerating ahead of the rest of the African continent.


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Ebene Cyber City
Mauritius' ICT Park

http://www.e-cybercity.mu/images/default_09.gif


Vision and Plans of the Cyber City

• The infrastructure is especially meant for the ITES sector. Redundancy of power supply and high bandwidth Fibre-to-the-Business telecommunication facilities are for instance key features of this Intelligent Building.
• The Cyber Tower is situated in the picturesque neighbourhood of the “Ebène Triangle” ideal for ITES activities
• There is no traffic jam to enter the CyberCity, contrary to Port-Louis.
• Pollution is practically inexistent in the area of the CyberCity
• Situated in a highly residential zone, the availability of nearby labour pool implies lower transport costs for the employees
• The CyberCity is an integrated project with shopping facilities, food courts, bank.
• The CyberCity is situated next to the motorway linking the airport to the north of the island.
• There are provisions for the Light Rail System through the CyberCity in the nearby future


Cyber City Overview

http://www.e-cybercity.mu/images/cybercity_3dmap.gif

http://www.e-cybercity.mu/images/cybercity_map.gif

Cyber Tower

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/06/images/2005040600460802.jpg

http://3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/g/3dflagsdotcom_ghana_2fawm.gif

http://www.ghanacybergroup.com/default.asp

Ghana Cyber Group Inc.

GCG was founded in 1999 to leverage advances in information technology to strengthen Ghana's economy. Between 2000 and 2003, six US-based firms invested hundreds of millions of dollars in BPO and call centers in Ghana. A modern technology infrastructure is needed to support the projected proliferation of IT firms in Ghana.

On September 25, 2003, GCG launched the Ghana Technology Park proposal in New York. The Ghana technology park, as conceived, is a medium term corporate entity that will make available infrastructure facilities to growing technology firms, both domestic and foreign, to provide business process outsourcing, call centers and other products for IT markets in United States, Africa and other emerging economies. The technology park venture will help Ghana fully tap into the global information technology market on a large scale.

The Ghana Technology Park will be a strategic base for companies targeting emerging markets in West Africa, a new frontier in the world of outsourcing, covering 250 million people. Ultimately, the Ghana Technology Park seeks to become West Africa's biggest IT infrastructure, with 100 companies expected to operate in 2006 with approximately 2,500 Knowledge Workers (programmers, database developers, business process staff).


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Ghana Tech Park
Ghana's ICT Village

Ghana Technology Park Limited will be incorporated in Accra in December 2005. The Company will develop and manage the Ghana Technology Park (GTP), an upscale business and innovation center to

(1) identify and develop early stage technology incubation opportunities
(2) assist client companies to commercialize their products, and
(3) broker contracts between buyers of outsourcing services (based primarily in Europe and North America) and IT and BPO providers stationed at the Park.

Equity partners of the Ghana Technology Park will comprise:
• Africa: Private companies led by Ghana Cyber Group, Inc. (30%)
• Europe: Commonwealth Business Council Technologies and partners (30%)
• USA: Venture capitalists and tech firms with global interest e.g. IBM, Microsoft (40%)

Ghana Technology Park will offer the following:
(i) Hardware & Business Office Rental
(ii) Start-up Incubation
(iii) Outsourcing Brokerage Business and
(iv) Information Technology Support Services.

The Company will position itself as the leader in promoting the IT and BPO industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the region competes for a niche market in the $550 billion offshore outsourcing market, which is expected to continue to grow nearly 20% annually through 2008. According to a 2005 McKinsey& Co. study, the information technology and enterprise solutions market in India alone is likely to reach $142 billion by 2009. By contrasts, companies in the United States currently spend $532 billion for these services .

The Ghana Technology Park will be established at the Accra-Tema Export Processing Zone, a special free zone area designated by the Ghanaian government for technology and industrial development with generous tax and other commercial incentives. The free zone is equipped with reliable utilities, including an on-site power sub-station to ensure uninterrupted energy supply, a large water reservoir and reliable but affordable telecommunication services.


Park Overview

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7893/gtpso0.jpg

http://3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/k/3dflagsdotcom_kenya_2fawm.gif

http://ictvillage.com/

http://www.ictpark.com/main/



Background to the ICT Technology Park Project

The Government has donated 1,000 acres of land on which a technology park will be built. This puts Kenya ahead of its East African peers in having such a facility, which is expected to attract investments and enhance the country’s Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sub-sector.

“Technology park” is a term used to describe a variety of efforts to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial, knowledge-based small and medium-sized enterprises within a particular zone. The park is usually linked to educational or research institutions and provides infrastructure and support services for businesses, mainly office space. It also performs technology transfer and economic development functions.

All core functions and support services take place in very close vicinity, making the technology park a mini-city of sorts. The term technology park has over 10 synonyms, with the most common being science park, research park and technopole.

Apart from donating land, located at Athi River, Kitengela area, the Government will put up the necessary infrastructure like water, electricity and roads as a first step in luring investors. But Mr Gikonyo Gitonga of CB Richard Ellis warns that it will have to do more to attract quality business enterprises.

Rival Africa's best

“Due to competition, the techno-park must have quality residential areas, entertainment spots, shopping malls, sport facilities like a golf course, among others, to make it an attractive place to work,” says Mr Gitonga.

He says the park must ensure people will not only set up businesses there, but also live in the neighbourhood as is the case in other countries. Information and Communication minister Mutahi Kagwe says the area will be equipped with modern technology to rival some of Africa’s best.

Countries that have embraced the concept with success include South Africa, Egypt and Mauritius. They boast parks that host companies dealing in services ranging from biotechnology, ICT and electronics to health care. South Africa, the continent’s economic powerhouse, is the most advanced in the sector, with five technology parks.

The ministry wants to target businesses that deal in outsourcing, which has grown into a billion-dollar business world-wide. Outsourcing is where an organisation transfers its non-core but critical business operations to an external enterprise. Many multinationals in the West are outsourcing some of their services to companies in developing countries to cut on production costs.

The three factors that companies look for before outsourcing operations are cost and quality of labour, ease of communication and stability. Mr Kagwe says Kenya has most of these qualities. “What we need to work on at the moment is improve our telecommunication sector to make it more attractive.”

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* Design of the Technology Park is in progress.

The main companies behind the Kenya Technology Park Project:

- Deloitte
- Hewlett Packard
- Kenya Airways
- Microsoft
- Oracle Africa
- Safaricom
- Telkom Kenya


Kenya's ICT Ambition:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8972/ictgq4.jpg


Kenya Fibre Optic Cable Network (under construction):

http://www.ictpark.com/main/images/Fibre%20Network.PNG

http://3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/g/3dflagsdotcom_ghana_2fawm.gif

http://www.ghanacybergroup.com/default.asp



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Ghana Tech Park
Ghana's ICT Village

Ghana Technology Park Limited will be incorporated in Accra in December 2005. The Company will develop and manage the Ghana Technology Park (GTP), an upscale business and innovation center to

(1) identify and develop early stage technology incubation opportunities
(2) assist client companies to commercialize their products, and
(3) broker contracts between buyers of outsourcing services (based primarily in Europe and North America) and IT and BPO providers stationed at the Park.

Equity partners of the Ghana Technology Park will comprise:
• Africa: Private companies led by Ghana Cyber Group, Inc. (30%)
• Europe: Commonwealth Business Council Technologies and partners (30%)
• USA: Venture capitalists and tech firms with global interest e.g. IBM, Microsoft (40%)

Ghana Technology Park will offer the following:
(i) Hardware & Business Office Rental
(ii) Start-up Incubation
(iii) Outsourcing Brokerage Business and
(iv) Information Technology Support Services.

The Company will position itself as the leader in promoting the IT and BPO industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the region competes for a niche market in the $550 billion offshore outsourcing market, which is expected to continue to grow nearly 20% annually through 2008. According to a 2005 McKinsey& Co. study, the information technology and enterprise solutions market in India alone is likely to reach $142 billion by 2009. By contrasts, companies in the United States currently spend $532 billion for these services .

The Ghana Technology Park will be established at the Accra-Tema Export Processing Zone, a special free zone area designated by the Ghanaian government for technology and industrial development with generous tax and other commercial incentives. The free zone is equipped with reliable utilities, including an on-site power sub-station to ensure uninterrupted energy supply, a large water reservoir and reliable but affordable telecommunication services.


Park Overview

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7893/gtpso0.jpg

i read a lot about this technology park thing several years back and to mine opinion this project never took place.

i heard some people complaining of have been defrauded by these group

sorry but why is nigeria not in the least we are a very good ict country and have a ict park in uyo nigeria

i have never believed in any rankings,its not fair with those rankings you are seeing,i don't think they know the country called nigeria.
some countries nigeria gave light to in ict technology are list above.
good!...but you forgot the origin.

No offense man but I am questioning the credibility of that list... Nigeria is a pretty big ICT naiton...

The ranking above should be old,for Nigeria is big ICT country in Africa.I think the Nation is also proposing a tech village in Abuja!Nigeria is among the top in Africa as at present though strategically.BBc is a testimony to that;

i have never believed in any rankings,its not fair with those rankings you are seeing,i don't think they know the country called nigeria.
some countries nigeria gave light to in ict technology are list above.
good!...but you forgot the origin.


you wrote "some countries nigeria gave light to in ict technology are list above"
if you meant Ghana then you must be mistaking because it was the first country in west Africa to get connected to the internet

Good stuff :applause:

I tell you, hands down, Somalia will be an African IT leader in the future. The foundations have been started. Phone lines, mobile and landline, are fast growing and are the cheapest in Africa. So is the Internet access.

They have started to teach IT classes in the universities there. IT as a whole is a good thing for a country to invest in, for the future. There will be a time when outscoring will come more into Africa (if not already).

Nigeria should be in that list, and I am not saying this because I'm from Nigeria.

Major Cell Phone Companies have set up Manufacturing Plants all over the country

Nigeria has the fastest Telecommunication industry in Africa, and in 5 years it will probably become the fastest in the world.

Nigeria and Uganda utilized CDMA Technology long before South Africa did, 3G has being suceesfully tested in Nigeria and willl be implemented in the weeks to come.

Celtel Nigeria (formerly Vmobile Nigeria) Celtel International GSM 900 / GPRS
glo mobile (glomobile nigeria) Globacom Nigeria Limited (not Globalcom) GSM 900 / GPRS
Intercellular Intercellular Nigeria Ltd. CDMA2000 1X
MTN Nigeria (mtn4u) MTN Communications Nigeria Limited GSM 900 / GPRS
MTS 1st Wireless MTS First Wireless CDMA2000 1x
Multi-Links Multi-links Telecommunications Ltd CDMA2000 1X
MTel Nigeria Nigerian Telecommunications Limited GSM 900 / GPRS
Reltel Nigeria Reliance Telecommunications Limited CDMA2000 1
Starcomms Starcomms Nigeria Ltd CDMA2000 1x RTT

Nigeria is one of few African Countries that Manufactures Personal Computers

Nigeria has State of the art Technological Institues Akutech has being completed and ATV is under construction

There is an ongoing project that will make Abuja the only city in Africa that has complete WiFi Coverage.

Uganda is rightfuly there, the Makerere University in Uganda is the first in East Africa to install new information and communication technology.

Ghana, Tunisia, Mauritius and S.A are also rightfully there. Nigeria may still not make it to the top Ten after all the things which I mentioned, but If Nigeria isn't in the Top 3 after ATV is completed, then something must be really wrong:lol: :lol:

The ranking above should be old,for Nigeria is big ICT country in Africa.I think the Nation is also proposing a tech village in Abuja!Nigeria is among the top in Africa as at present though strategically.BBc is a testimony to that;

The ranking is from June/July 2006.

Wireless internet to link up Kenyan schools
Wireless internet to link up Kenyan schools
Written by Okuttah Mark

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/guok7/bd-studentcomp.jpg18-May-2007: Kenya Data Networks, a lead provider of terrestrial fibre-optic cables that are being laid out across the country, plans to use wireless Internet technologies to connect schools in remote areas to the network.

As parts of southern and eastern Africa get ready to tap into the benefits of fibre optic cables, a key challenge remains of how to reach people living in remote areas, off the main cable grid.

There have been concerns that despite the roll-out of terrestrial fibre networks, and proposed marine cable links, residents of huge swathes of territory will remain left out and left behind by the technologies.

Eng. James Rege, the previous permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications, says if the infrastructure providers don’t address the issue quickly, achieving the universal access will be unattainable.

However, Vincent Wang’ombe, marketing manager of Kenya Data Networks (KDN) says that the problem can be addressed with wireless technologies such as WiFi and WiMax to reach areas where cables do not go.

Mr Wang’ombe says that in reaching those in remote areas, schools must be a major driver. “One has to think of connecting the schools first,” he said.

He said KDN is using WiMax technology to connect 15 schools across the country.

KDN has been engaged in laying out terrestrial fibre optic cables nationwide, including 250 km of cable in Nairobi, and a link between Mombasa and Nakuru. Paul Munnery, a leading European expert on wireless systems, says in a press statement that African communities should look to wireless connectivity to grow their economies.

When it comes to wireless community networks, “what seemed ambitious a few years ago has proven to be technically viable and is now a complete reality,” Mr Munnery says.

But Eng Rege however pointed out that although the region may soon realise the benefits of international linkages via undersea optic fibre, satellite technologies will remain relevance in their ability to reach any location that has a receiver.

An event organized by AITEC Africa an ICT conference organiser, early in June, will be addressing some of the concerns about connectivity and universal access.

The African Satellite & Wireless Broadband Conference and the African Voice Over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) forum as will host discussions on these issues, and emphasise connecting the first mile as well as the last mile.

you wrote "some countries nigeria gave light to in ict technology are list above"
if you meant Ghana then you must be mistaking because it was the first in west africa to get connected to the internet.
kwam,i'm a ghanian fan but i'm not sabotaging it,true or false that they are the first in west africa to get connected to internet,that was then when nigeria is under siege of abacha.
the list is old!

3g was first tested by mtn in nigeria,you could tell by that cos nigeria is not the only country mtn operates!

Nigeria is the only african country in the top ten growing mobile market, that has to count.. by the end of this year it would be the leading mobile market. Abuja would soon have total WiFi connection and Lagos is next...

Nigeria is the only african country in the top ten growing mobile market, that has to count.. by the end of this year it would be the leading mobile market. Abuja would soon have total WiFi connection and Lagos is next...

there is also a plan to cover the country in a total broadband blanket. Also with the launch of the communication satellite ict in the country will get a massive boost

ALGERIA CYBER PARK ,WIRELESS TRAIN ,WI FI NETWORK PIONNER

The technopole of Sidi Abdallah is situated at 30 km western south of Algiers. This site covers a surface of 1,870 hectares through the municipalities of Mahelma and Rahmania. It comprises three technology parks, which will be able to accommodate firms specialized in advanced technologies, and an industrial park:

Technopark El Boustène
Technopark Ibnou-Sina
Cyber Park
Park of Sidi Bennour
International cooperation

The World Bank has started in 2002 an ICT Development Support Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications with the aim of creating an enabling environment and improve access to efficient and affordable ICT services, facilitate private sector development growth in ICT sector; improve the competitiveness of local ICT companies; and foster the efficiency of government in delivery of services. Among these aims the project intends to support also the development of new ICT companies through the so-called "Net-enterprise" development program. The programme envisages support to the set-up of the CyberPark and an incubation facility, "Technobridge Incubator" with the technology park to support ICT R&D initiatives and/or start-up companies with innovative projects; to set a seed capital R&D grants mechanism to support IT start-ups and innovative SMEs and providing institutional development support to the Institut National des Telecommunications (INT) and to the Ecole Centrale des Postes et Telecommunications to renew its curricula and courses on ICT management and cyberentrepeneurship


LINK OFF CYBER PARK
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=387401


EMERGING ALGERIA
ALGERIA IS AND WILL BE TOP 5 AFRICAN COUNTRY IN ANY SECTOR THIS IS NOT A WILL BUT A FACT

Algeria becomes the Arab World’s WiMAX pioneer

Posted: 22-04-2006 , 07:43 GMT


WiMAX/IEEE 802.16 is a global standard-based technology for Broadband Wireless Access. WiMAX vendors state that WiMAX systems are able to cover a large geographical area, up to 50 km and to deliver significant bandwidth to end-users at up to 72 Mbps. According to the WiMAX forum, WiMAX provides coverage economically and combines both Line of Sight (LOS) and None Line of Sight (NLOS) coverage. With Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology, WiMAX has been optimized to provide NLOS coverage (up to 15 Km around the base station) and long-range transmission up to 50Km in Line of Sight conditions. WiMAX technology can be deployed as a Point Multi-Point in last mile connection and as part of the backhaul to the PSTN and Internet access points.



The first commercial deployment of WiMAX in the Arab World was in Algeria. Smart Link Communication (SLC) has deployed WiMAX to provide broadband wireless services in Algeria. The frequencies SLC uses for WiMAX are in the 3.5 GHz band and 5.8 GHz band. SLC’s goal is to build a wireless broadband backbone covering the national territory, to develop the metropolitan broadband networks, and to set up an independent new generation telecom infrastructure. On July 25, 2005, SLC launched the first national multi-services network. The deployment of this network makes it possible to develop services based on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), VoIP, Virtual Private Network (VPN-IP MPLS). Algeria’s tough and mountainous terrain makes it an ideal candidate for wireless connectivity solutions.



A new report, “WiMAX in the Arab World: Current status and regulations.” was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on April 13, 2006. The 20-page report, which has 9 detailed exhibits, investigates the availability of WiMAX regulations in 18 Arab countries, the frequencies used, entities that have tested WiMAX or pre-WiMAX services, and vendors for equipment. The report covers the following Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen.



“There are still no detailed regulations specific to WiMAX in Arab countries. Some Arab countries, however, have specified the type of license that needs to be obtained to provide WiMAX service. For example, in Algeria, the company should have a VOIP authorization and regulator has specified the 3.5 GHz band for WiMAX, while in Jordan, the company should have an individual license needed to use the frequency (a scare resource).” Ms. Serene Zawaydeh, a consultant at Arab Advisors Group wrote in the report.


FIRST WIRELES TRAIN IN AFRICA

Algerian trains speed to wireless network


“This contract is a result of Nortel’s long term commitment to the Algerian market and our role as a major telecoms player in Africa, with over 20 years in the region.” Ramin Attari, vice president, Middle East, Nortel.
Algerian railways operator Société Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires (SNTF) has begun deployment of a GSM-R-based wireless networking system, the first in Africa.

GSM for railways (GSM-R) is a communications technology developed for use by rail operators in Europe, based on the GSM mobile telecoms standard. SNTF’s system is being supplied by Nortel, one of the main providers of GSM-R equipment.

“The international GSM-R standard is a key component to upgrading the Algerian railway communication infrastructure. It is part of a much larger railway infrastructure project, including the construction of new conventional and high speed lines, upgrades of signalling systems and other railway infrastructure,” said Ali Leulmi, central director of infrastructures at SNTF.

”As a world leader in GSM-R, Nortel ensures for this first phase, along the El Gourzi – Touggourt line, that we are equipping our railway service with the most advanced communication technologies.”

The GSM-R technology allows railway operators to maintain constant contact with trains, crew and maintenance staff. Each train maintains constant contact with the control centres, via a dedicated data connection across the GSM-R network.

GSM-R also allows railway staff to communicate, with individual and group calling options available. GSM-R systems are designed to be very secure, with high levels of redundancy built in to the infrastructure.

“Nortel has been challenged by SNTF to provide this first phase of SNTF’s project with a solution that matches the growing need for communication in a fast expanding network,” said Ramin Attari, vice president for the Middle East at Nortel.

“This contract is a result of Nortel’s long term commitment to the Algerian market and our role as a major telecoms player in Africa, with over 20 years in the region.”

Nortel’s partner, SNEF, will work on the specific implementation.

“Our local channel partner, SNEF Algeria, will supply construction, installation and commissioning support. SNEF and Nortel share the same commitment to enhancing network quality and reducing the overall cost of operations,” said Vincent Pratlong, Algeria operations director, SNEF.

“Our local experts will work closely with the Algerian railway SNTF to realize the first GSM-R network on the continent.”

THAT S THE LINK BELOW
http://www.itp.net/news/details.php?id=21886

Omatek

In a modest neighbourhood on Kudirat Abiola Street in Ikeja, a suburb of Lagos, a great phenomenon is unfolding. The stage is being set for a historic social transformation in Nigeria and the rest of Africa; a transformation that could be likened to the renaissance era of yester-year.

The origin of Africa’s computer revolution began here around 1986 when Omatek Ventures Limited exploded onto the IT scene in that country.

The brain behind it all was an industrious woman, who had graduated from the University of Ife with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering.

“We started by offering IT training services for company executives before moving further to become a major seller for Microsoft, Compaq, IBM, Apple and other world recognized computer brands,” said Mrs. Florence Seriki, Managing Director/CEO.

The evolution process was complete when Omatek Ventures was transformed into Omatek Computers Ltd in 2000, in partnership with Zenith International Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank. Since then there had been no turning back for the MD and her hardworking team.

Omatek had become the pioneer and only factory in Africa that produced desk-top and lap-top computers, speakers and other accessories locally, with a turnover of 48,000 fully built computers per annum. Other Omatek products included Servers, DVD systems and flat screen monitors that could also be used as television screens.

The Company’s vision was “to become the clear leader in the African ICT industry by the year 2010,” and in the words of the CEO she held her sights on the global market ultimately.

Mrs Seriki attributed her Company’s phenomenal breakthrough to two important State interventions. The passage of the ‘Computers for All Nigerians Initiative (CANi)’ was one of them, the other being the exemption of Omatek from payment of duty for the importation of computer components, as well as the cancellation of VAT on the export of the Company’s products.

A government - private sector collaboration, CANi aimed at bridging the digital gap and promoting computer literacy in Nigerian society. Today, thanks to that bold step taken by the Government of Nigeria, and also owing to the unshaken sense of mission on the part of Omatek Computers, PCs were not only available locally at affordable prices, but there had also been a record rise in the number of Nigerians, who could boast of personal computers in their homes.

Of what relevance was all that to us in Ghana anyway, one might wonder. The “Jubilee news” was that Omatek Computers Ltd was opening a factory similar to the one in Lagos right here in Ghana. ‘Project E-Ghana’ as it was dubbed, aimed among other things to give the Ghanaian IT market an African product comparable to any of its kind anywhere in the world, and on affordable terms too.

According to Mrs Seriki, the formal launch of the Accra factory had been scheduled for the early part of 2007, to coincide with Ghana’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

To give the Ghanaian public an idea of what the Company did in Nigeria, Omatek organized a day’s facility tour of its Lagos factory last December. “Ghana has a lot to learn from the Omatek experience in our Government’s quest to popularize IT among our people,” said Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Deputy Minister of Communications, who led a Ghanaian delegation to the event. The Deputy Minister also pledged the Government's preparedness to collaborate fully with Omatek to ensure the success of the Company's operations in Ghana.

There is an unquestionable correlation between IT pervasiveness and the socio-economic advancement of a nation, so the benefits of Omatek’s move into Ghana are enormous. Human resource development, which is one of the ruling Government’s major policy targets, would certainly receive a boost similar to that witnessed in Nigeria in recent times.

Within two years of its implementation, the CANi project had empowered about half a million Nigerians with IT knowledge. It can be argued, therefore, that the proliferation of locally produced computers in Ghana would increase people's access to PCs and help to set the stage for the kind of knowledge-based society that would accelerate the nation's march towards socio-economic development.

It is worth noting that in addition to the exemption of Omatek from paying duty on the importation of computer components (as well as the cancellation of VAT on the Company’s exports) the Nigerian Government also issued a directive making it mandatory for State departments and agencies to purchase locally made computers. These steps by the Government provided the right environment for the enterprise to flourish, and from all indications the country’s policy makers have not regretted taking those decisions.

At a function in Lagos, President Olusegun Obasanjo is reported as having referred to Omatek Computers as "a company that has done Nigeria proud and put Africa on the world ICT map” by winning the prestigious Microsoft Best Systems Builder Award for East, Central and West Africa in 2005.

The award cited above is only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, one could fill a medium-sized jotter listing all the accolades earned by the Company under the able leadership of its hardworking MD.

A cupboard located in one of the side-rooms of the factory in Lagos is overflowing with many such trophies the Company has been awarded over the years for its outstanding performance.

They include the Digital Peers International Award of Excellence; 2005 Rare Gem Award; Dr Kwame Nkrumah Excellence in Enterprise Award; Frontier of Technology ICT Leadership Summit Award; Success Digest Enterprise Award; and the Special Award by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, among other awards. These accolades are a confirmation of Omatek’s pioneering status as a builder of high standard local computer brands, and a stamp of excellence on both the quality and volume of computers produced by the Company.

On the individual scale, Mrs Seriki's enterprising qualities have obviously not escaped notice, a fact demonstrated by her induction into the Obafemi Awolowo University's Faculty of Technology Hall of Fame in November 2005. This remarkable woman whom you can refer to as "Africa's Bill Gates in the Making" without any fear of contradiction, has also won the Nigeria-American Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurship Award; Best Woman IT of the Year (2003) Award conferred by the Nigeria Information Technology and Telecommunication (NITT) body; Africa International Role Model Leadership Gold Award for Excellence; Patriotic Achievers' Award and the Woman of Merit Gold Award, to mention but a few.

The “Social Watch Report” (2006) published by the International Secretariat of Social Watch in Montevideo, Uruguay, notes that the scientific and technological development of any given country depends to a large extent on Government decisions, and that indicators such as public spending on research and development could give a clear idea as to how governments are performing in this direction.

“…Access to personal computers is a prerequisite for access to new sources of information,” the Report asserts, adding that the prevailing unequal access to communication technologies globally (otherwise known as the digital gap) has given rise to new inequalities in terms of social development. “One of the main challenges facing the world in the new millennium is to narrow this gap, and State intervention is clearly a key factor,” declares the Report.

In the opinion of this writer who happened to be part of the team that attended the pre-launch tour of the Lagos factory a few weeks ago, Ghana and Ghanaians stand to gain immensely from the arrival of Omatek in the country, provided the Government is prepared to introduce policies that would help to create the right environment for the growth of the local IT industry.

An enlightened workforce, a technologically savvy generation with job opportunities would be the fallouts from the emergence of Project E-Ghana!

i thought their is other company that produces computers too in nigeria,i mean zinox computers.

computers is very cheap in nigeria!

HARAMBEE KENYA

se9 I THOUGHT I KNEW ALL THINGS KENYAN UNTILL I SAW YOUR POSTINGS ON THIS FORUM. I ADMIRE YOU PASSION FOR OUR MOTHER LAND KENYA.:applause: ARE YOU AN ARSENAL FAN???(you gotta be)

First Algerian laptop computers to hit market in November
02/10/2005

The first laptop computers produced in Algeria will hit the market in the beginning of November. The Zala line is produced by an assembly company founded by Algerian Internet service provider EEPAD as part of the Ourastic government programme, which is aimed at providing a computer for every Algerian household by 2010. The Zala is equipped with a 1.6 gigahertz Intel Pentium Centrino, a 60-gigabyte hard disk, a DVD reader and a Wi-Fi system for wireless Internet connection. EEPAD plans to sell the computers with an asymmetric digital subscriber line pack at a price of around 100,000 dinars. Initially, 300,000 computers will be produced annually, but the number is expected to reach 1 million in 2010. (El Watan)

link can see zala headquartes located (ANNABA ) 4 CITY ALGERIA

fyollandeskyblog.com

This factory, whose installation of the ingnauguration made by the president of the Republic, will see being born the first portable microcomputer compagny (EEPAD). Called Zala, the Berber diminutive of a female first name, this portable PC (laptop) will be based on a processor INTEL Pentium Centrino to 1,6 Ghz with a hard disk of 60 Go, a reader DVD and the system wifi, inter alia, for connection to Internet high flow without wire. the EEPAD, which cumulates a park of 148 000 active subscribers ADSL, hopes to market it in pack ADSL and laptop for 102 040 DA with the possibility of payment per bank credit going from 12 to 36 monthly payments for 9450 DA with 3600 DA and 3 months the ADSL free. This within the framework of linitiative governmental Ousratic, a PC by family in 2010 in which take part others Algerian manufacturing/assemby of microcomputers.
This one will be launched in October, just after the referendum "We have a clear vision for the industrie TIC in Algeria", affirms Nouar Harzallah which recalls that its factory is established in a site where all terrestrial means of transport, air and maritime are available, allowing thus export easy "raw materials" and a facility of exportation. This factory will produce 300 000 portable PC per annum, to reach the million about 2010. the EEPAD ambitionne to reach a rate of integration of 80% in 2006. It employs, in a first phase, some 200 people "We can even compete with the Chinese. The costs of our hand-work and our short distance to Europe enable to us to foresee beautiful prospects ", adds the chairman of lEEPAD. In terms of vision, Nouar Harzallah explains why its company started by allowing the accès Internet high flow before passing to telephony on Internet (VoIP) - Hatifnet - and finally the e-learning through the Click-forma platform. On this point, the EEPAD developed the school solution More and hopes to convince the ministry of national Education for adopting it after having launched the concept of the mobile class.

SOCIAL SECUTITY CARD ALGERIA
FIRST BIOMETRIC CARD IN AFRICA

LINK DOWN WITH PICTURE


http://www.gemalto.com/brochures/download-newsletters/public-sector_02.pdf


The launching of the smart card El Chiffa in Algeria as of April 2007, will allow a simplification and a faster treatment of the requests for refunding of the medical care, affirms the national Case of the Social Security (CNAS). Sunday December 10, 2006. This electronic chart will be obligatory in accordance with the law n°83/11 of July 2, 1983, modified and supplemented, relating to the Social Security which will envisage the installation of the smart card and its use by the policy-holders and the professionals of health. The operation controls will be launched, at the beginning, in five wilayas, and Médéa for the Center, Oum El-Bouaghi and Annaba for the East and Tlemcen for the West, before being generalized, at the end of 2007, through all Algeria. The objective is to control the refunded expenditure of health, to simplify and accelerate the procedures of refunding and to fight against the abuses and the frauds. All the people receiving benefits of care, doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and hospitals, public or private, will be officially agreed within the framework of the contractualisation in order to allow the good course of this operation. It is enough for the policy-holder holding an ordinary social chart or third paying to present its smart card at its practitionar attending after consultation to be refunded or to be able to profit from the exemption from payment of the care. Which is the procedure for obtaining this chart which will be launched next April to Algeria? It is the question which all the patients put who are unaware of still the operation of this new system. The priority will be given, initially, with the chronic patients who will be the first convened by the CNAS and will have to present themselves provided with a photograph and photocopy of the national chart to profit from this microprocessor card, whose body is in Study Bureau and who has one lifespan five years with an important memory of 32 KB. There are two types of charts: the family chart, containing data on the policy-holder and his having right, and the individual chart, which will be allotted to the people called to frequently use the chart or one having right not residing permanently with the policy-holder

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CMnctJ718K3a9gEQoAEYwgQyCPayOyeuN3hT&ai=BmkBGomJVRsLsCKLsaL650KgC0t7SIrarkeACwI23AZC_BRABGAEgtL2lBjAAOABQnobV8_z_____AWChApgBxPHWEaoBCjgwMjMxMjk3MjiyARR2aWRlb3MuYWZyaXZpbGxlLmNvbboBCjE2MHg2MDBfYXPIAQLaATVodHRwOi8vdmlkZW9zLmFmcml2aWxsZS5jb20vY2hhbm5lbF9kZXRhaWwucGhwP2NoaWQ9MuABAoACAagDAcgDBegDxwToA-AG6AMl9QMAAAAB
can you dig it!!:banana: :lol: :banana:

State awards R378m contract to Neotel

By Thabiso Mochiko, Business Report, 24 May 2007

Neotel, the second fixed-line telephone operator, has bagged its biggest contract to date after it won a R378 million deal to install an internet-based network for the government.


The State Information Technology Agency (Sita) would invest R454 million over five years to replace the redundant government network managed by Telkom, Sita said yesterday.

The next-generation network would create a platform for more efficient and cost-effective services, allowing the state to offer programmes like voice over internet and telemedicine, and to connect to multipurpose community centres on a single platform.

Neotel plans to offer high bandwidth capacity to link Sita's 25 sites in major cities and towns to about 3 000 government departments.

Public services minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said Neotel's bandwidth capacity translated into savings of about eight times the cost of the alternative offer for the contract.

The government has criticised Telkom for its high costs, which made it difficult to attract foreign investment into the country.

Yesterday Telkom said it had cut international bandwidth prices by 30 percent.

Last year, Telkom said it expected to lose about 9 percent of its government contracts to Neotel, as well as about 15 percent of total market share.

Telkom plans to spend R7 billion to install an internet-based network to diversify its offerings and compensate for shrinking voice revenue. It will also offer pay television through its high-speed internet lines.

Neotel plans to spend about R11 billion on infrastructure in the next five years. The group is already offering international bandwidth capacity to more than 12 clients.

The first leg of Sita's investment entails an upgrade of the government network backbone by Business Connexion, which will supply, install and support equipment supplied by Cisco over three years for R76 million.

The transition to the new network is expected to start in October.

The old and new networks will operate in parallel until all the departments have been connected.

http://mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=6513

Algerie Know How

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HB Technologies, Algerian company established in Rouiba, specialized in the production and personalization of all the range of intelligent charts: Chart SIM having a single mode of security for the authentification and identification of subscribes on the network and data storage Chart USIM with the same functions as those of the SIM but having a higher storage capacity Chart to be scraped highly protected for paid pre refill Chart of public telephony with chip memory or processor and charts to be scraped highly protected Concrete material Concrete Equipments Bulldozer & Grader Bulldozer & To grade Shovels & Chargers & Cranes Craniums & Excavators & Loaders Cranes Building Building Craniums Retrochargor Retroloader


http://www.hb-technologies.com.dz/

China > Internet Access

Huawei, Algeria Telecom launch EV-DO

04/06/2007 by Sourav Dutta



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Huawei Technologies and its Algerian partner Algeria Telecom have launched a CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO network in Alger, the capital of Algeria.

As part of its modernisation plans, Algeria Telecom is focusing on the development of its broadband access network. The company chose Huawei's LiteFME solution for converging its PSTN, CDMA WLL network and ADSL network to deliver wired and wireless subscribers of Algeria Telecom services such as CRBT(Colour Ring Back tone), EV-DO data service, pre-paid portal for EV-DO service, video phone in fixed network and Integrated Centrex, a PBX-like service for enterprise users.

The CDMA network upgrade from 1X to EV-DO is expected to provide low-cost, wireless broadband access solution to users.

As partner for Algeria Telecom, Huawei is also working on the trial project of EV-DO Rev.A, which can reduce the customers' OPEX, CAPEX and user churn while increasing service revenue.

Kenya bids to host top IT conference

By Alari Alare

Kenya has submitted a bid to host the African round of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) meeting set for November next year.

The bid was submitted by the board of the Kenya Information Centre (Kenic) on behalf of the private sector and the Government.

Speaking during Kenic’s annual general meeting on Friday, chairman Anthony Mugambi, disclosed that a team comprising Government, private sector and the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) will be constituted to lobby for the bid.

As a trustee for the dot. ke country-code-top-level-domain, Kenic oversees the Kenyan Domain Name space by managing and administering the dot .ke in conformity with global Internet policies.

Icann, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on the other hand is responsible for managing and coordinating the global Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure each address is unique and that users of the Internet could find valid addresses. It does this by overseeing the distribution of unique IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and domain names.

"In an effort to expose Kenya’s vibrant ICT community to the rest of the world, the

Kenic Board has submitted a bid to host the African round of the Icann meeting in November next year in Nairobi, Kenya", said Mugambi.

"We are confident of winning the bid to host the event and we shall be seeking your support in hosting the event," said Mugambi.

During the meeting, a new board led by Mugambi was named to steer the Centre’s activities.

Offshore IT outsourcing center for Ethiopia

afrol News, 30 August - A Chicago-based IT consulting and outsourcing firm, eVentive, LLC has announced the opening of its offshore IT outsourcing center in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The center, the first of its kind in the region, became operational with the graduation of the first class of Ethiopian consultants from eVentive's exclusive training program.

Addis Ababa, a thriving metropolis of nearly 3 million, offers a large workforce of English-speaking IT professionals, and its major advantage over other outsourcing destinations is its 8 hour time difference with US Central time. eVentive officials said this provides a significant daily window for live communications.

The outsourcing came at a time when the Ethiopian government has targeted Information Technology and Communications (ICT)as one of its top 5 priorities for development, resulting to significant in ITC infrastructure.

As an emerging economy, Ethiopia offers cost advantages that cannot be matched by many countries that provide offshore IT outsourcing services, eVentive officials concurred, believing that its “outsourcing center is poised to contribute to the rapidly growing Ethiopian economy by offering IT consulting and outsourcing services to U.S. and Ethiopian companies.”

eVentive's BlueNile(TM) offshoring methodology ensures project success by combining U.S.-based project management with highly trained Ethiopian resources and that its Ethiopian consultants undergo a rigorous training program. The -week program, which has been adapted for Ethiopia, develops a balance of high-level technical and business skills.

With its local partner, United Systems Integrators, eVentive commenced Ethiopian operations with projects for both Ethiopian and US Fortune 500 customers. "eVentive's introduction of U.S.-style consulting and outsourcing services will be a key to technology growth in the region, as well as a great advantage to its US customers," said Michael Shebelle, President of United System Integrators in Ethiopia.

"eVentive's expertise in process and technology, coupled with the local talent, offers great value for US customers seeking the advantages of offshore outsourcing."

eVentive, LLC is an established consulting and outsourcing firm whose customers include McKesson, Volkswagen of America, and The Northern Trust Company. United Systems Integrators, Plc. is a highly-regarded hardware systems integrator in Addis Ababa, and has delivered hardware and networking products and services to some of the largest companies in the region.

By staff writer

© afrol News

It is an older article but worth casting a glance at....Mouha, can you please update us on Senegal´s outsourcing business? The article is three years old, something must have improved since then.

Friday, July 30, 2004

Outsourcing a' La Francaise: Senegal

What initially started out as primarily an Anglophone, English-speaking phenomenom has started lapping at the shores of continental Europe,outsourcing has reached France."...In an effort to copy India's success in the British and American markets, the Senegalese company(PCCI) sees the West African country as an ideal location for outsourcing work from French companies..."MoneyCentral"...European and US firms make the most of language skills and low labour costs among Africans who move with the times..."GhanaCyberGroup."... Senegal, a former French colony is luring outsourcing opportunities from the Francophone world. Senegal's stability, similar time zone, low wages and stock of young, educated employees, along with a fibreoptic cable running all the way from France is proving irresistible to French organisations...Today there are four call centres in Senegal: PCCI, Call Me, Access Value, Center Value, offering services mainly for French companies..." CallCenters.
Discuss

Labels: outsourcing



http://timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com/2004/07/outsourcing-la-francaise-senegal.html

Thomas Friedman wrote a great article a couple of months ago on Kenya's emerging I.T market and the outsourcing of jobs going there.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Architects, builders and automation experts have started work on a property in Lagos that would house Zinox’s new digital plant, already acclaimed as the largest digital assembly plant in Africa by its Japanese manufacturers.



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The property consists of a couple of warehouses and two gigantic blocks of offices, four floors each. The plant is expected to go live before the end of the first quarter of 2008.

Zinox, Microsoft’s OEM partner in West Africa and Intel Corporation’s biggest partner in sub-Saharan Africa, is embarking on the expansion in furtherance of its belief that only a properly structured and articulated enterprise can achieve a successful technology transfer to Nigeria and the rest of Africa; and stand the chance to rise up to the challenges posed by the potentials of the IT market on the continent.

These revelations were made at the weekend by Echika Ezuka, Head, Corporate Affairs, Zinox Computers, while speaking to journalists on his return from a working tour of Ghana.

Mr. Ezuka said that the new digital plant was a positioning statement that Zinox Computers was prepared to invest in, and grow the IT market. He said that Zinox Computers preferred to establish a legacy that would add value to the market and the operating environment rather than adopt the waiting game of opportunism.

The head of Corporate Affairs said that the pioneering experience of Zinox in the IT market has advised the hunch that despite the momentary setbacks to achieve IT penetration, the IT market would surge like a storm and only those who prepared sufficiently can keep pace with the surge.

He revealed that the new digital plant, which would be the largest in Africa on completion, would have an installed capacity for 3, 000 world-class systems daily. In his words, "Our expectation is that this plant would supply most of the PC needs of sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The Zinox dream is to provide Africa with a quality IT production platform so strong that no foreign interest can hold Africa to ransom in terms of technology."

Answering a question on the justification for the plant, Mr. Ezuka said that the plant would create thousands of jobs, help consolidate the premium quality of the Zinox brand and enhance our ability to satisfy demand.

He confirmed that the directors of Zinox Computers have expressed their faith in Nigeria by investing additional millions of dollars in this plant. He reported that construction work on the plant has reached advanced stages and hoped that the power supply in the country would improve considerably for this vision to succeed.

Zinox Computers was launched in October, 2001 with fanfare in Nigeria by the then vice president, Senate president, all ministers, governors and leading corporate CEOs in Nigeria. With the reputation of producing Nigeria’s first internationally certified branded computers, the company has left no one in doubt of its strong vision to provide a formidable representation for Africa in the area of domestication of technology.

Zinox, which started manufacturing armed with the Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) certification, among many other international certifications, earned within five years of operation, the ISO-9001:2000. This insistence on international quality processes and standards advised the standardization of Zinox Computers brand by big blue chip organizations including the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the National Communications Commission, NCC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Totalfina-Elf Petroleum, First Bank Plc, etc.

Rated as the second best selling computer in Nigeria within the first four years of operation, closely behind HP by the IDC (International Data Corporation), Zinox Computers recently saved the electoral process in Nigeria from total collapse by supplying, within two weeks, 13,000 integrated systems desperately needed for voters’ registration and verification.

Zinox has played similar roles in the area of corporate social responsibility, sponsoring the 8th All Africa Games (COJA), the African University Games (FASU) 2003, the Conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2004 and beating all-comers to provide total IT support for the 18th AU Summit in Banjul, Gambia 2006.

Good News for Nigeria

For the people complaining about the fact that nigeria isnt on the list. Maybe it has something to do with penetration rate, which is still extremely low in Nigeria. People saying Nigeria should be in that list, because the growth has been enormous: Nigeria has the largest population of Africa, so relatively growth hasnt been that good. In absolute numbers maybe yes...but with absolute numbers you cant compare countries.

To prove my point, i will use these figures from 30 September 2007. (with the following sources: Nielsen//NetRatings, ITU)

Lets see the top ten with these new ratings :

1. Tunesia has a penetration rate of 12,5%
2. South Africa has a penetration rate of 10,3%
3. Mauritius has a penetration rate of 23,2%
4. Botswana has a penetration rate of 3,2%
5. Ghana has a penetration rate of 2,8%
6. Egypt has a penetration rate of 8,3%
7. Morocco has a penetration rate of 20,0%
8. Namibia has a penetration rate of 3,9%
9. Uganda has a penetration rate of 2,6%
10. Tanzania has a penetration rate of 1,0%

Nigeria has a penetration rate of 4.9%

Growth rate (in penetration) between 2000 and 2007:

1. Tunesia: 1194.9 %
2. South Africa: 112.5 % (lagging way behind in growth rate)
3. Mauritius: 244.8 %
4. Botswana: 300.0 %
5. Ghana: 1932.7 %
6. Egypt: 1233.3 %
7. Morocco: 6000.0 %
8. Namibia: 168.7 %
9. Uganda: 1775.0 %
10 Tanzania: 234.2 %

Nigeria: 3900.0 % (nice compared to most in the list)

Muttie, the list leaves a few questions marks! Some important countries like Senegal are missing completely, it was one of the early initiators in ICT policy on the African continent and even Ivory Coast should figure in there, not to speak of Nigeria which is catching up.

Nigeria: CPN Completes Design on National IT Education Blueprint


Highway Africa News Agency (Grahamstown)

26 October 2007
Posted to the web 26 October 2007

Jonah Iboma

The Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria has completed the design of a national blueprint for Information Technology education in Nigeria.

Part of the blueprint includes syllabi for computer education in both primary and secondary schools, which is to be unveiled by the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Nwachukwu. The president of CPN, Mrs. Adenike Osofisan, who revealed this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, said the blueprint was necessary in view of the critical position that ICTs occupied in everyday life, where they have become a tool used by all.

CPN, she noted designed the blueprint as part of its oversight functions as the body set up by government Act to regulate the Nigerian IT industry. Osofisan noted that there was a need to look at reviewing the national IT education curriculum with the view to making it more relevant to current realities. She said IT education was one of the areas that needed to be reviewed due to its very volatile nature. Besides, she noted that the entire framework of the IT policy should be reviewed to make it more focused on achieving national IT development goals. Meanwhile, CPN is to work with various law-enforcement agencies towards a greater regulation of the IT sector. According to Osofisan, the need had become necessary in order to ensure greater professionalism in the industry. She said many individuals and organisations were involved in IT services today without going through the requisite training and that CPN wanted to check this trend. The CPN president also revealed that the organisation would hold a national IT assembly in order to foster greater compliance with the CPN Act and promote the achievements of the government's national economic development goals.

She said, "The need for the IT assembly became imperative because of the need for all the critical sectors of the economy to put their intellectual resources together and partner with government towards the realisation of the vision of making Nigeria a giant economy by year 2020."

According to her, the event, which starts on Thursday in Abuja, would be an annual event where topical issues would be discussed. Meanwhile, two new phones offering call-time tracking, multi-phonebooks and more have been introduced into the Nigerian market by Nokia. The firm said the phones were an answer to conditions in many developing markets around the world, where mobile phones were often shared among families and even entire villages. The phones, Nokia 1200 and Nokia 1208 have the industry's first call-time tracking application and multi-phonebooks to make phone sharing simpler and more efficient. The call-time tracking feature helps the consumers and village phone entrepreneurs to manage airtime costs by enabling them to pre-set a time limit on individual calls. The call automatically ends when the pre-set limit has been reached. The firm said the easy-to-use multi-phonebook allowed consumers to set up personal phonebooks unique to that user and save specific contacts to that user's phone book.

The Nokia 1200 and Nokia 1208 each come with five available phone books, making it possible for an entire family to share a phone, and for each of the family members to manage their own phone books.

The Area Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Fady Khatib, said, "The sharing of a mobile phone allows many consumers in entry markets to experience the benefits of mobility firsthand - an experience that might otherwise not be possible." The Nokia 1200 and Nokia 1208 also come equipped with additional features tailored to entry markets such as flashlights, localized languages that enable the setting of the user interface in either Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa and a teaching mode that allows non-experienced users to quickly learn how to master the phone. The seamless keypad protects the phone from dust, another reality of rural mobile phone use. The Nokia 1200 phone is offered with a monochrome screen, while the Nokia 1208 features a colour VGA screen. In another development, the United Kingdom based mobile phone manufacturer Meridien Mobile, has inaugurated its brand of GSM phones called
The head of the Meridien Mobile group in Nigeria, Mrs. Ajith Anirudhan, said at the entry of the brand into the Nigerian market was based on the growing demand for high quality phones with rich features. She said, 'Fly' was being launched with a variety of exclusive and differentiated mobile phones." The Nigerian market, she noted, needed to have feature-rich phones as users were getting more used to mobile phones and have been demanding better ones as replacement for the phones they used in the past.

She stated that a major emphasis of fly phones would be their affordability. The Fly phones initially inaugurated by the group in Russia in 2003, have been a great success and hves since expanded into East and Central Europe and India Anirudhan said having since emerged as a key player in the telecom field, the firm has carved a credible market in a short span of time. She added that the promising results thus achieved have encouraged the firm to pursue its growth strategy for Nigeria.

Jonah Iboma HANA correspondent in Lagos - Nigeria

Gabon goes WiMax


26 September 2007, ITWeb.co.za

Gabon-based communication provider International Business News (IBN) Corporate has begun rolling out a countrywide WiMax network.

The company hopes to cover most major cities and high-density areas with the WiMax network by 2010, says Michael Mockey, a spokesman for IBN Corporate.

The company launched WiMax services in the capital Libreville, in April, he says.

“Other major cities, like Port-Gentil, will receive WiMax services by 2008 and Franceville by 2009 and 2010.”

Tens of thousands of subscribers are utilising the WiMax technologies in Libreville already, most notably businesses and home users, says Mockey. Thousands more are expected to benefit from this solution, he adds.

US-based Redline Communications, in conjunction with French-based systems integrator Radiall Systems, will roll-out Redline Communications' WiMax solution, RedMAX.

Redline says its RedMAX system is the world's first WiMax Forum certified solution.

Simon Wilder, Redline Communications sales director for Europe and Africa, says Radiall is present in Gabon and will roll-out the technology. "Any technical issues will be serviced by this company."

Space to expand

The RedMAX products will allow IBN Corporate to expand its network over time and introduce new WiMax devices to its network. It will provide the open architecture required to effectively integrate WiMax with other communication technologies, according to a company press release.

“As WiMax solutions evolve, the company will be able to adapt, integrate and upgrade its platform, which will create a cost-effective investment,” explains Wilder.

Radiall Systems also incorporated Redline's RedCONNEX broadband wireless infrastructure products to provide backhaul connections to each of the RedMAX base stations.

The solution will create opportunity for IBN Corporate to realise return on its investment in the network through subscriber returns, adds Wilder.

Mockey notes that a progressive regulatory environment and government policies have created growth in Gabon's wireless broadband arena.

“The regulatory body and government are doing their best to open up spectrum licences to ISPs to bring broadband-based Internet to the country,” he says.

Nigeria: Country Makes Progress in ICT


Leadership (Abuja)

25 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October 2007

Abuja

The Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. John Odey, said Nigeria has made "progress" in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

A statement by the ministry in Abuja, quoted the minister as saying that Nigeria's achievements had been acknowledged globally.

According to the statement, the minister spoke at a radio communication conference in Geneva.

"We have, in place, a National Communications Act 2003 that has given legal backing for a strong independent regulator for the telecommunications industry," he said.

He said a frequency management council, which includes stakeholders in frequency spectrum utilisation, had been put in place.

"This council has developed a frequency spectrum management policy with necessary regulations for the country".

"An investor friendly environment has been established such that the investment to the industry has grown tremendously from 2002 to date," he said.

According to him, the market potentials had increased from 500,000 in 2002, to more than 40 million as at today.

He said Nigeria had been acclaimed as one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world.

"A disaster monitoring satellite, as well as a communications satellite, have been launched.

"We have embarked on a comprehensive Rural Telephony Scheme, to ensure that the under-served and unreached areas are included in the information society.

"A National Information, Communications and Education Project (NICEP) has also been embarked upon, " he said.

According to Odey, a national internet exchange Point was being established to improve Internet penetration, just as the Computer-for-All-Nigerians Initiative (CANI) was in place.

He said that an Africa regional office of the digital solidarity fund had been established in Abuja, in fulfillment of a pledge by Nigeria during the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process.

"Initiatives in e-health and tele-medicine are being encouraged, while Wire Nigeria (WIN) and State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) projects, to improve on broadband availability, are in place," he said.

He also said Nigeria, as a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), recognises the need to have an efficient and vibrant union, where member nations have equal rights and opportunities.

According to him, Nigeria believed that it was absolutely necessary for ITU to expand its mandate, to ensure that issues assigned to it were well covered.

Africa waiting for net revolution

More than a third of Africa's citizens should have access to broadband internet by 2012, a conference of technology leaders is set to hear.

Fewer than four out of 100 Africans currently use the internet, and broadband penetration is below 1%.

The barriers to broadband access are key talking points at the Connect Africa meeting in Kigali, in Rwanda.

Dr Hamadoun Toure, head of the International Telecommunication Union has called for "immediate action".

The conference features representations from organisations such as the World Bank, World Health Organization and United Nations, as well as high-profile technology leaders such as Intel's chairman Craig Barrett.

The attendees were all invited to make financial commitments to improving technology and telecoms in the continent. More than $3bn has been pledged so far.

Dr Toure said that despite the bleak picture of access issues in Africa there was plenty of opportunity.

He told the BBC News website: "If you have just 1% of broadband access today you have 99% of opportunity.

"The good news is that Africa has had the highest growth in mobile use globally - twice the global average over the past three years.

"For the first time economic indicators are positive from Africa."

In Rwanda, access to the net is limited and high-speed connections are rare, the BBC's Digital Planet programme was told by officials and users in the country.

"Not many students are able to connect to the internet at the same time," said Marie-Josee Ufitamahoro, a student at Kigali institute of technology.

"For example, a class of 40 students requires each pupil to be connected, so what we need is bigger bandwidth so we can share ideas with other students in other parts of the world."

Albert Butare, Rwanda's state minister for telecommunications and energy, said the issue of bandwidth was critical.

"It's what governs the speed of the internet, the quality of the connection, whether or not you can do video conferencing," he said.

"If you are talking about telemedicine or distance learning, you need images and clear audio."

Dr Toure said the conference needed to take action on regulatory issues in some African countries, which often tie down the roll-out of net access. "The heads of state present will give assurances to the private sector on the availability of competition and the creation of a proper regulatory environment for them in which to evolve," he said. "The private sector from outside Africa and inside will make fruitful partnerships."

One of the biggest problems facing internet development in Africa is a lack of interconnectivity. More than 70% of internet traffic within Africa is routed outside the continent, driving up costs for business and consumers.

"This is a serious problem and will be discussed," said Dr Toure.

But he said Africa should not be looking for special treatment from the technology private sector.

"Africa has to create the opportunities; Africa doesn't need charity," he said.

"We need to make sure we have a good environment that will attract private sector investment. There's nothing wrong with making profits in Africa."

The International Telecommunications Union says more than $8bn was invested in telecommunications infrastructure across Africa in 2005.

Dr Toure said the challenge for the ITU, technology leaders and companies was to help Africa meet its Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

In the technology sphere, that means easy access to information and communication technology for more than half of the continent's population within eight years.

By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41425000/jpg/_41425094_ghana203.jpg http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42267000/jpg/_42267954_net_use_growth_bbc203.jpg

Algeria: Country Explores Space to Meet ICT Needs

Algiers

Algeria has allocated 82 billions DZD ($1,10 billions) for its 2006-2020 space programme to develop satellite based techniques to combat desertification threats and limit climate change effects, announced Mr Boujemaa Haichour; the minister of posts and ICT.

For this purpose, 30 Algerian researchers are to be enrolled in Toulouse (France) for training on the Alsat2 project which will be launched in the end of 2008 and later in 2009.

Algeria, underlines Mr Azzedine Oussedik, the general manager of Algerian Space Agency, started in 2002 to invest in satellite technology. Alsat-1 was the first satellite. It was launched in 2002 in cooperation with the British Space Center at the University of Surrey and that cost $11 million.

In parallel, the Arzew Space Research Centre (in the west of Algeria) was set up to provide theoretical and practical courses. It is also the basis of the Alsat-2 project production platform dedicated to earth detection and climate change.

However, in the medium and long term, argues Mr Ouseddik, Algeria will explore the impact of communications and telecommunications satellite technologies and its possibilities following the huge explosion of mobile communications in the country.

It is generally noticed that the mobile telephony has dramatically increased with 23 million users for a population of 33 million, whereas land line telephony faces many difficulties to catch up. For this reason, Algérie Telecom; the public operator has concluded a partnership agreement with the Swedish Ericsson AB to modernise the land lines network.

The director general of Algérie Telecom, Mr Slimane Kheireddine, affirms that the accord enables Algeria to set up multiple national network services to reinforce and grow existing projects with Ericsson.
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According to Kheireddine, Ericsson has always been a reliable partner of Algeria in the communications field, and it has contributed in the development of Algeria's communications and telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country.

In another development, the Algerian Authority for posts and telecommunications is preparing to adopt a new number system with ten digits to face the numbers shortage and saturation status. The new plan that is being proposed by the French Arcom company, and is expected to increase the number of subscribers both for mobile phones and land line telephones.

The ten digit number system is expected to be implemented in February 2008 for mobile lines and in July 2009 for land lines and will operate until 2015 before reaching another peak of saturation, reveals the French Arcom company's study.

http://i18.servimg.com/u/f18/11/43/45/77/alsat110.jpg

Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 12/5/2007
Kenya has become the third African country to launch e-learning facilities in secondary schools.

The programme by Intel, and whose only other beneficiaries are South Africa and Nigeria, was launched at Kamiti Secondary School in the outskirts of Nairobi.

The programme enables students to be taught through information communication technology (ICT) and is a collaboration between the Ministry of Education and several local and multinational ICT companies.

In a speech read by permanent secretary Karega Mutahi, Education minister George Saitoti said the project was in line with the Government’s commitment to empowering Kenyans with ICT capabilities.

“With the realisation of the key role that ICT plays in national development, it has become necessary to integrate it in all sectors of the economy,” he said.
The project involves the use of computers and wireless connectivity for all types of class work.

Quality of education

The teacher uses a laptop to which the students connect from their low- cost laptops known as classmates.

In the new classroom, the blackboard has been replaced with a touch screen and students send their work to the teacher through wireless connectivity.

Prof Saitoti said the Government was committed to ensuring that the quality of education in the country was raised through the use of ICT.

He said the Government would continue to partner with the private sector and development partners to achieve this.

Prof Mutahi welcomed the initiative and asked the students and teachers to exploit it fully since it would be used as a model for future projects.

He, however, noted that lack of electricity in rural areas and high cost of ICT equipment had slowed down the development of the sector.

The initiative comes at a time when the Government has announced plans to set up digital villages in every constituency and boost the number of people with access to the Internet from 2.7 million to 6 million.

Huge IT potential in Morocco

DUBAI: Bahrain is positioned to be a major technology partner for Morocco with major reforms and increased opportunities for investments and partnerships.

Research group IDC has said the telecommunications sector in particular offers huge potential for suppliers and telecom operators as well as for local enterprises looking to outsource information technology.

"Morocco is increasingly positioning itself as a key telecommunication partner for companies across the region, providing both a strong Arabic-speaking outsourcing destination, as well as sustaining major growth and investment opportunities," Moroccan Federation of Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Offshoring (Apebi) chairman Bachir Rachdi said.

Globally the telecommunications sector almost quadrupled in value between 1998 and 2006, growing from $873 million to $3.23 billion last year.

Morocco has seen particularly strong infrastructure growth, currently supporting over 400,000 ADSL connections, making it the most connected broadband country in Africa, even ahead of South Africa.

"Morocco initiated market liberalisation relatively early which has created major benefits in the first phase for suppliers and telecommunication partners," IDC Middle East and Africa vice-president and regional managing director Jyoti Lalchandani said.

"We're now seeing that the results of this investment have created wider social and economic benefits, particularly as Morocco becomes a major outsourcing partner for companies in the GCC."

Morocco's strength as an information and communications technology (ICT) outsourcing centre stems from the rapid expansion of the industry and its use of advanced global networks.

The Moroccan IT market expanded from $403.88 million in 2001 to $638.69m last year, representing an average annual growth rate of 9.6 per cent.

With more than 1,500 ICT firms employing over 42,000 people, the country is now firmly established as one of the leading suppliers of IT services in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, IDC's meeting in at Emirates Towers Dubai yesterday on 'Agenda for a Shrinking Globe, Seizing Opportunities in a Connected World', brought together representatives from government, telecommunications, utility and transport companies to meet senior representatives from Apebi.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story...&IssueID=30260

Hey, we'll be calling soon
Ben Kelly Finweek

TELKOM MAY YET HAVE a rival in the home telephone services market early next year when Neotel finally launches its consumer voice and data services

TELKOM MAY YET HAVE a rival in the home telephone services market to contend with early next year when Neotel finally launches its consumer voice and data services.

Angus Hey, executive head of products and strategy at Neotel, speaking at the MyBroadband conference, said the company is actively piloting its consumer services and expects to begin offering them in Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban in first quarter 2008.

Pricing is a closely guarded secret, if you're wondering. However, consumers may soon see the fruits of a qualitatively superior and efficient service. Hey says that the company is already piloting two services, both having a voice and data component to them.

The basic service has a voice and a data component running at peak speeds of around 150Kbps. That makes it faster than dial-up but slower than any current broadband offering. Neotel's second offering that it's piloting is a high speed Internet and voice service, which will have peak speeds of between 2,4Mbps and 3,1Mbps, making it faster than most of the current broadband offerings.

Feedback from the pilots, says Hey, already shows the potential uptake when Neotel launches its products. Users were seeing average speeds in the 300Kbps to 700Kbps range. That's fast to you and me.

Both services will run off a CDMA EDVO RevA wireless system, a high-speed system similar to the 3G/HSDPA systems that cellular operators use. The advantage that Neotel will have over all other providers is that voice and data will be delivered across the same link. So there's no incremental cost to deliver data services.

That's a welcome and viable alternative to Telkom, which has monopolised market access and pricing for many years. With this service it seems that Neotel might be on the right wavelength.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/2141.html

Here is a good example of why deregulation is necessary for good ICT. This is the case of Ethiopia.






Internet in Ethiopia - Is Ethiopia Off-line or Wired to the Rim?

Samuel Kinde
November 2007

First Impressions - What Meets the Eyes

Few things in Ethiopia cause as much frustration and despair than the ongoing and deteriorating dismal state of Internet connectivity in the country. Given how the country continues to struggle with fundamental issues of development for its 80 million people, this lack of progress - and in some cases complete reversal of earlier growth - tests the hope of the most optimist observers and stake-holders.
In a test carried over 4 weeks time in July 2007, the average speed of Internet connectivity in the country had dropped to as low as 5 KBps. Photo: MediaETHIOPIA.

A case in point is the state of access to the web over the past several years through the numerous Internet cafes that have popped in most major parts of the country. In a test carried over 4 weeks time in July 2007, the average speed of Internet connectivity in the country had dropped to as low as 5 KBps. This is in par with the speed of most 4200 Baud modems the rest of the world was using in the early 90s - almost a century ago in Internet time. Even the handful of Internet cafes that billed their services as broadband of 128 KBps in the new business corridor of Bole Medhane Alem - Kazanchis Road could not manage connectivity speeds better than average of 7-8 KBps. In general, the only time the connectivity speed becomes bearable is usually after 8:00 PM when fewer people log-on lightning up the load on a strained and inadequate infrastructure. As of the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of individual and commercial Internet subscribers in the country stands at a dismal 15-20,000, with an estimated 300 or so Internet cafes serving a population of 80 million plus. This amounts to only 0.025% of the whole population having a regular Internet account. It has to be noted that there is virtually no growth of the individual and commercial subscriber base as these numbers are essentially the same as those dating as far back as the years 1999 and 2000. To add despair to frustration, Internet service is down as much as 10-20% of the time. In a test carried over the same period in July 2007, Internet service was down almost 20% of the time with typical blackout lasting 12-24 hours.


Further reading- http://www.ethiopians.com/Engineering/Internet_in_Ethiopia_November2007.htm


.

Absolutely true. My family had internet connection at home but they ended up removing it. It just wasn't worth it. It was VERY expensive with very little connection.
Something needs to happen fast. We could benefit so much from deregulation.

Living with confusion
Russell Southwood Balancingact-Africa

15 December, 2007
African operators find themselves pulled in new directions

Once it was simple. There was the Government incumbent and all the other operators were against it. Then the incumbents ceased to be the incumbents and some of the new mobile operators found themselves taking on that mantle. With new power comes new responsibilities. Or does it?

Once it was all about voice. Now there’s all this fancy convergence talk and anything you can think of sending down a phone connection will be sent. Increasingly operators are being pulled in new directions. Three news items this week touched on some of the things that are pulling operators into looking at where their company’s activities begin and end.

The pull towards content provision: This week France Telecom signed a “multiyear agreement” with MGM to be allowed to offer the studio’s movies to its video-on-demand customers. According to the reports, Orange is counting on video-on-demand as a new source of income for its fixed line business as its calling revenues go down.

Cote d’Ivoire Telecom became the next of Orange’s African subsidiaries to start rolling out its “livebox” product that offers voice, Internet and television. But all is not easy in the new world of telco as content provider. In Senegal, Orange had to reach a content agreement with the more-or-less monopoly supplier of French-language, satellite pay TV content. As a result, it has to peg the price of its offer to that of its satellite content provider. Mauritius Telecom, despite having 15,000 people sign up for its “livebox” service again found itself talking unsuccessfully to what will probably become its competitor about getting content.

In this context, having a large parent company sign global content deals makes a great deal of sense. But what if you’re not part of a global company? How do you sort out content to stay in the game? Or do you simply say, we’ll sit out this one out and stick to what we know? Deals between Vodacom and DStv may be easy in the short-term on a reseller basis but when it goes beyond this, who ends up getting the lion’s share of the revenues?

Content is beset with a whole new range of problems that no-one in the African telco business seems to have thought their way through. Rights holders like Hollywood are not known for their generosity and too many of the available rights are still being given on a monopoly or duopoly basis. The court battles in Senegal over whether a third TV channel had the right to show Prison Break illustrate how far the market still has to develop.

The pull towards infrastructure: At least three African countries – Kenya, South Africa and Uganda – have Governments that are in the advanced stages of putting together public interest companies to roll out national fibre infrastructure. Although the mobile operators bandy about the size of sums they are going to invest in infrastructure, they haven’t really worked out whether as the new incumbents they should be building infrastructure or not.

It is one thing for MTN and Vodacom to announce infrastructure build-outs in South Africa but are they really going to extend the same principle to all of the countries they operate in? Mmm…Maybe. MTN is certainly putting down fibre in Ghana in order to overcome the historic inadequacies of both the network it acquired and that provided by the incumbent Ghana Telecom.

Nevertheless an exchange at a regulators meeting in West Africa exemplifies the problem. Two of the large mobile operators chains had representatives on a panel who were asked why were they not rolling out cross-border links, given their networks were almost touching each other in several countries. Their responses were almost identical: we don’t think there’s enough traffic to justify it and therefore it is the Government’s responsibility. Nobody had thought that the private sector might create its own “carriers’ carrier” to act as a trusted transit operator to solve this problem.

However, if the private sector operators sit on the sidelines of this discussion, they can hardly complain when Government decides to take the initiative and start taking responsibility through public interest backbone companies. The international fibres which everyone has shouted long and hard for will be here in 2009 and without regional connectivity, their impact will be frittered way. So the private sector really has to find a way to “put up or shut up”.

All of which makes even stranger the announcement by Namibia’s power utility Nampower that it has granted a large contract that will connect several different power grids in South Africa. The line will connect the electricity networks of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and South Africa to create an alternative route for power imports and exports to and from neighbouring countries.

Slipped rather quietly into the announcement was the fact that the transmission line would be fitted with a fibre-optical ground wire which will, apart from providing essential transmission communication, “expand NamPower's communication capacity”.

Is any private sector company talking to Nampower about using this capacity or indeed increasing this available capacity for private operator’s voice and data traffic? Not as far as we know….So are operators interested in solving these problems either individually or together? Mmmm…That’s a bit difficult to tell.

The pull towards energy provision: Recently MTN revealed the scale of money it was spending on generator fuel in Nigeria. Taken over a year, it was US$65 million. Try to imagine that if that is calculated on the basis of 5,000 base stations for one country, what the total cost looks like for all mobile operators across the continent.

Unlike the pull towards infrastructure described above, this is straightforwardly a short-term, bottom-line issue. If the operators could find a way of using generators just for redundancy, then the amount paid in this direction would drop substantially.

So what can the operators do? Well, there’s the high road and the low road. The low road is finding base station equipment that will not eat as much fuel. This week Vodafone Germany announced that it was the first operator to put in Ericsson’s new BTS that will make “an important contribution to cutting carbon-dioxide emissions” by lowering energy use. Compatible with all its base stations since 1995, it claims to save between 10-20 per cent of energy consumption “depending on the network traffic pattern.”

During periods of low network traffic, the feature effectively puts those parts of the network that are not being used in standby mode - overcoming the traditional practice of having radio equipment continually turned on, which can result in energy being wasted.

The high road is self-provisioning power transmission, either through an operator consortium JV or by one operator taking the initiative. The energy industry takes a long-time to respond to demand, sometimes as long as 10-15 years. So why not set up a small-scale power generation and transmission company that can address those base stations nearest to each other? Small-scale providers can generate power at scale: 40% of Holland’s energy needs come from small-scale providers. Then it is a case of delivering this power and possibly distributing it to a small number of other paying customers.

Is it in the immortal words of Telkom SA’s new CEO Reuben September (talking about his mobile strategy) is it a case of “everything that is feasible is desirable”? Where do you draw the line in terms of what a company needs to be able to do in order to thrive? For without addressing these kinds pulls on company time and resources, all of Africa’s operators will continue to operate below their full potential.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/2248.html

The Wiki way of doing things
Adele Shevel Business Times

Information junkies can look forward to the launch this month of local versions of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was in South Africa in November to present a seminar to students at Cida City Campus on how to administer the website.

He is in the process of launching different language versions of the encyclopedia in developing countries.

All South Africa’s 11 official languages are Wiki projects — although most are modestly represented at this stage. Venda Wiki has 33 articles and Zulu has just passed 100. The intention is to get more people involved in the development and to raise awareness of the facility.

The Afrikaans website has 8000 articles.

Elsewhere, all the European languages are “going strong”, while Japanese is in the top five and Chinese is the 11th-biggest site.

The problems and challenges of Wiki include helping languages of the developing world, said Wales. In terms of people having access, in some places literacy is a big problem.

Wikipedia is available in more than 200 languages, and more than 150 of them have at least 1000 articles each.

Wales uses 1000 articles as a benchmark for a functioning active language website.

The English Wikipedia site has two million articles.

“There you’re dealing with a very large community trying to maintain the polite and kind and loving nature of the Wiki community.”

He described the Wikipedia process of inviting submissions and editing from the public as “somewhere between random anarchy and top-down hierarchy”.

The English site has more than 1000 administrators, who are elected by “the community”.

“If you are doing good work and people respect you and you are following the Wiki way of doing things, people will notice and you’ll eventually be nominated. We discourage people from self-nominating.”

Originally from the southern state of Alabama, Wales explained that southern US culture has an emphasis on friendliness and politeness.

Wales now lives in San Franc isco, though he travels frequently around the world.

It might be his “home-grown” attitude that drives his view that most people are basically decent. “Very few people are actually troublemakers and it’s not difficult to exclude them.”

Those who do follow the “Wiki way of doing things”, and are committed to the service, can get noticed and nominated to help administer it.

“The Wiki way is about quality writing, paying attention to sources, neutrality, mediating conflict and trying to find a middle ground.”

There’s a Wiki rule, for example, about assuming good faith. If you disagree with something someone has written, don’t jump to the worst conclusion. Assume they were trying to do good but misunderstood something.

“A lot of that makes for a good Wiki,” said Wales.

Wales is a great advocate of the Internet, which he sees as a very social environment .

The best Internet technology gets out of your way so you can talk to people, he said. In the beginning, however, the worst elements tended to dominate.

Imagine a bar where the owner has no ability to throw people out — it’s likely to become an ugly, raucous environment and “nice people” will leave, Wales explained.

There came the realisation that communities needed tools to police themselves, to remove inflammatory comments.

Wikipedia has its critics, and some professors and teachers warn against using it as a source. As do encyclopedia companies, many of which have been suffering declining sales for years.

While there might be those who reject the Wikipedia notion, Wales counters by saying that people once told others not to listen to rock ’n roll — to little effect.

Wikipedia gets its funding from donations — mainly from the US, but also from 50 other countries around the world.

Wales, who used to be a futures and options trader, has more projects on the agenda. The next is nothing less than a search engine to compete with Google.

Wikipedia has, like Google, become part of the vernacular.

Wales was recently in a slum in Delhi, where he ran into a young man who said he had used Wikipedia to help him pass his 11th grade exams. Another had used it to find good lines for picking up girls.

Where would you find that in an average encyclopedia?

A current headache is that Wikipedia has not freely been accessible in China for the past two years. Wales is planning talks with officials in China about the situation, but no meeting has yet been set.

“We won’t compromise on the censorship, and can’t. I’ve been very critical of Google for having accepted the censorship. I think it’s very similar to the arguments we had about what responsible companies needed to do about apartheid South Africa.

“I think reasonable people can differ. If a company says it will engage and be a positive force for change, that’s reasonable. But if a company says that, then we’ll put their feet to the fire and say: what are you doing to change things?”

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/General/2252.html

For those of you who don't know what Mxit is, here's some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mxit

Right Timing for NokNok
Stephen Whitford Intrinsic Media

19 December, 2007

MTN talks about their what the new IM client will offer and why NokNok will be able to take on Mxit

Brian Seligmann, MTN Senior Manager: Data Bearers, says it was the right time for MTN to launch its new instant messaging product (IM), NokNok as the technology was simply not able to provide an acceptable user experience for the mass market until now.

“Up until now we were not able to get a clean user interface, there was not enough handset penetration into the market and the packet data network was not ready,” he says.

MTN first began trialling IM services in August 2005, according to Seligmann, but felt that the average end user was not ready for the product back then. It was not a consumer friendly solution, he says.

So what can consumers expect from NokNok? NokNok was developed from a proprietary solution with ‘significant development’ on top of that. Error messages thrown up in early use of the product reference Colibra which means MTN is probably using a solution from IM vendor, Colibra.

NokNok has a PC suite and a client for the phone. The solution only offers chatting options on a one-to-one or group basis, although Seligmann says picture sharing will soon be on the cards.

“The product is in its infancy and we’re working on a lot of things. The user interface is significantly friendlier than other IM clients and the PC client is ‘clean’ and easy to use,” he says. “You can set up chat rooms on the PC client and if a user is not registered, they are sent an SMS to invite them to NokNok and any messages you send to them or offline users will be delivered by SMS. This will be free until 1 March 2008.”

Whether it will be free to use for the foreseeable future remains to be seen. Seligmann was cagey on this issue saying charging strategies could change. Until March it will be free. Vodacom has taken a similar stance on its IM client Meep, saying that it would be free until the end of January 2008. For now the two products are not interoperable. Seligmann could not comment on whether this would happen in future although various sources in both networks have confirmed it is something both parties are actively exploring.

“It will be competitively priced and the client will always be free,” he says. Whether that is ‘free to download’ or ‘without subscription’ remains to be seen.

Eleven handsets are currently certified for NokNok although others may operate as they use the same operating system. This will be scaled up to 30 handsets by the end of December. The first handsets are the Nokia 5200, 6230i, 6233, 6280, 6288, 6300, N73, N95, N80; Sony Ericsson W810i and the Motorola V360. see http://im.mtn.co.za/download.

“We’ve chosen the most popular handsets of our user base and this represents around 1.5 to 2 million subscribers or 15 percent of the total base. In addition, users with Wap 2.0 enabled phones can access it through the WAP site, opening it to a much larger base,” he says.

On the PC side, MTN is asking a lot of users as the client requires users to download a Dotnetfix which is 22.4 MB in size. The client itself on the PC is another 3.21 MB download.

Seligmann says MTN only sent out an MMS advertising NokNok to users who were identified as having MMS enabled phones and likely to use the service as a soft launch and thousands of people are signing up daily. However, he declined to give actual figures.

He claims that NokNok will not cannibalise SMS revenues saying they are different products. “SMS is a messaging product while IM allows you to have a conversation. They are used for different purposes. Furthermore, the SMS and IM user bases are different. IM does not cannibalise SMS revenue nearly as much as one might expect,” he says.

Logic would say otherwise as does a source at a competing network who has confirmed that IM has made significant inroads into SMS revenues for all the operators. Given that many younger users who were chatting on SMS prior to IM have now moved away from SMS and into IM, Seligmann’s argument is hardly water tight even if it does have some merit.

Commenting on why users may want to move away from Mxit, Seligmann only had praise for the small IM company from Stellenbosch. “Mxit had to educate the market on their own and has legitimised mobile IM. However, there is more to be done and more value that can be added,” he says.

He cites the network’s advantage of no bandwidth constraints, an intimate knowledge of its base, knowledge of all the handsets and the financial backing to do what it needs to make the product a success as key reasons why NokNok should become a large player in the IM space.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/2284.html

The pull towards energy provision: Recently MTN revealed the scale of money it was spending on generator fuel in Nigeria. Taken over a year, it was US$65 million. Try to imagine that if that is calculated on the basis of 5,000 base stations for one country, what the total cost looks like for all mobile operators across the continent.

Unlike the pull towards infrastructure described above, this is straightforwardly a short-term, bottom-line issue. If the operators could find a way of using generators just for redundancy, then the amount paid in this direction would drop substantially.



If MTN knows so well that's the condition over there is that bad it should pull out because I hate to hear about the wrong way SA takes issue with Nigeria on the ground to offend.

I think Nigeria has some good relationship with other better countries like the USA, UK other than the SA giving it the worse images even there are such. Africans find it hard to co-operate.

I don't understand what you're trying to say?

SA mobile users generate a startling 122m impressions in October.

South Africa is Admob’s (www.admob.com) third largest market globally, generating 122 032 699 page impressions in October 2007, according to a recently released report by the mobile advertising giant.

The figure is quite startling when you think that South Africa has over 40 million active SIM cards (and around 25 million subscribers) and was outstripped only by India with 188 587 985 impressions and the United States with 688 299 299 impressions.

Considering India has 160 million cellphone subscribers (six times more than SA) and there are well over 200 million cellphone subscribers in the United States (eight times more than SA), the figure is impressive. Western Europe, which has over 400 million subscribers, created 170 896 207 impressions, yet only the UK came close to SA’s stats with over 113 million impressions.

Admob’s stats reveal some further startling information. Of the 122 million plus impressions created by from South African users, Nokia phones produced 33.2 percent of the impressions followed by Samsung phones with 28.3 percent, Motorola (19.4 percent), Sony Ericsson (11.7 percent) and LG with (2 percent). Nokia has traditionally dominated the market in South Africa, but when it comes to consumers using their phones to access the mobile web, Nokia is far from dominant.

The Indian market, however, is clearly dominated by Nokia, with Nokia phones producing 65.8 percent of the impressions in that country. Motorola dominates the US market and surprisingly, Sony Ericson was by far the dominant phone in the UK.

The cellphone making the most impressions for Admob in South Africa? The Motorola V360. Not surprisingly, it’s currently MTN’s cheapest contract phone at R29 on a MyCall 100 contract package. Next is the Samsung E250, followed by the Nokia N70.

To get an idea of technology penetration of the phones that created impressions locally, 95.8 percent were capable of playing polyphonic ringtones, 43.2 percent supported video streaming, 70 percent could download video clips and 95.1 percent support WAP push messages.

This in contrast to the UK where only 70.3 percent of phones making the impressions were capable of playing polyphonic ringtones, while 57.1 percent supported video streaming, 73.9 percent were able to download video clips and only 78.3 percent supported WAP push messages.

Jason Spero, Admob Vice President of Marketing, says unfortunately Admob cannot release exactly how many unique users created the impressions. He also can’t reveal whether local users were looking at local sites or international sites. “While we have this data, it is not something we are tracking at the moment,” he says.

In terms of what content is most popular, Spero says community sites including including profiles, photo sharing, voting, chat play a big role. Sport is also popular with sites like CricInfo, ESPN, Goal.com getting good traffic. Weather sites are also popular, he adds.

Riaan Groenewald, Multimedia Solutions Operational Director, says the startling thing about the stats apart from how well South Africa performs is that the majority of companies in South Africa do not have Mobi websites.

“The mobi domain was launched in October last year launched for cellphones and has seen more than 600 000 registered domain names since its inception,” he says.

While a mobi domain is similar to the co.za, .com and .org domains, the intention behind their creation was to have customised websites for optimal viewing on a cellphone. A mobi site can also be viewed on a PC web browser.

And yet South African mobile web surfers may well be browsing on international sites given the lack of options from local sites, Groenewald says.

Spero sites low PC penetration, data plan simplicity and data rates as the key reasons for South Africa’ strong showing compared to other markets and the fact that cellphones like the V360 are so accessible to the average man on the street.

Admob’s November stats are expected to be released mid-December.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/2378.html

Mobile broadband users may not have to wait much longer for 3.6 Mbps HSDPA.

Commercial 3.6 Mbps HSDPA services are already available on 103 HSDPA networks worldwide, which translate into 62% of all 3G/HSDPA networks.

35 of these networks support speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. 51 operators have further committed to HSUPA – High Speed Uplink Packet Access - and 26 networks have commercially launched HSUPA services in 22 countries.

Unfortunately the lack of backhaul capacity in SA – currently supplied to both Vodacom and MTN by Telkom – has slowed the two mobile providers down.

Both mobile companies, which were of the first companies in the world to launch HSDPA, are however planning HSDPA offerings ‘soon’.

MTN already has a fully operational fiber network in the Rosebank and Sandton areas and is investing in further fixed line infrastructure to alleviate the problems it experiences with the current transmission network.

MTN has indicated that its current 3G network is fully 3.6 Mbps capable, and it is only waiting for adequate backhaul bandwidth before the service will officially be launched.

Vodacom is also laying fiber as part of its plans to serve its bandwidth needs and extend its current service offerings.

While Vodacom understandably did not want to reveal an exact launch date for 3.6 Mbps HSDPA, the company did say that consumers can expect it ‘soon’.

“Vodacom’s plans to offer a HSDPA 3.6 service to customers are on track and will be made available soon. The delay in offering HSDPA 3.6 and HSUPA as commercial services is primarily due to the availability of enough backhaul capacity required to offer high-speed data services,” Vodacom’s Dot Field said.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/2503.html

Maroc Telecom achieved USD 3.5Bn consolidated turnover in 2007


Rabat, Jan. 21 - Moroccan telephony operator "Maroc Telecom" achieved a consolidated turnover of around USD 3.51Bn in 2007, i.e. a 21.7% increase compared to 2006 thanks, mainly, to the continuing growth of mobile activities both in Morocco and in the subsidiaries in Mauritania (Mauritel), Burkina Faso (Onatel), Gabon (Gabon Telecom) and Mobisud (France, Belgium), revealed, here Monday, Maroc Telecom in a press release.

The group activities in Morocco achieved in 2007 a turnover exceeding USD 3.08Bn, i.e. an 11% increase compared to 2006, while its net result jumped 20.3% to stand USD 2.1Bn, thanks to the combined effect of the customer base huge growth and the limited decrease of average revenue per user (ARPU).

The customer base maintained a sustained growth and reached 13.3 Mn customers in 2007 (+24.5%), the company said, noting that that ARPU stood at MAD 108.3, that is a 4.1% decrease.

In 2007, Maroc Telecom also saw its sales achieve USD 1.21Bn for fixed-line and internet activities (-5.5%), the press release added, noting that, as for foreign operations, the company achieved a USD 106Mn gross turnover in Mauritania, a USD 175.5Mn net turnover in Burkina Faso and a net turnover of USD 128.1Mn in Gabon.

http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/last_...om_achiev/view

Massive growth for Wireless ISPs
MyBroadband

22 January, 2008

Wireless Internet Service Providers have shown massive growth over the last year.

The Wireless Access Providers Association of South Africa (WAPA) recently conducted a study into the wireless fixed access provider (WISP) market.

The WAPA study showed significant growth in subscriber numbers, revenue and job creation. According to the survey, WISPs showed an 80% growth in subscriber numbers. The WISP market is estimated to be made up of 40% residential customers and 60% business customers.

The 32 WAPA members who partook in the survey grew their revenue by 26% to R 53 Million in 2007. There was also a 41% growth in the number of staff employed which is a positive sign that job creation goes hand in hand with a more liberalized telecoms market.

WAPA members also increased their involvement in social responsibility projects, and the number of projects grew by 42% to 192 over the last year.

WAPA estimates the total number of subscribers served by WISPs is around 40 000.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/2591.html

Telkom optimistic about ADSL growth
MyBroadband

24 January, 2008
Telkom is on its way to meet its ADSL target of at least 700 000 subscribers by 2011

Current estimates indicate that Telkom is on its way to meeting its target of ADSL customers equating to 15-20% of Telkom’s fixed access lines by 2010/2011.

This view was expressed by Alphonzo Samuels, Group Executive for Wholesale Sales and Marketing Operations who said that in most developed countries, broadband penetration ranges from 25% to 50% of fixed lines.

Samuels continued: “Considering our current penetration of just over 7%, we are clearly still in the infancy stage of the broadband maturity curve, with plenty of room to grow.”

He said that his confidence is borne out by the latest demand trends in the marketplace, adding: “Our traditional ADSL customer base has been the high LSM groups. While the demand among these groups is still there, it is now also spreading to the middle to lower LSM levels.”

Samuels believes that the demand among these “non-traditional” customers is mainly influenced by both the growing use of the Internet in the education system and the value proposition that ADSL offers.

“With outcomes-based education, parents are forced to assist their children with research and, increasingly, schools expect the internet to be used as a research resource. This creates a momentum for ADSL,” said Samuels.

Growth is also expected to be stimulated by the commoditisation of ADSL, the Do Broadband offering, the Self-Install Option, ADSL port automation and wholesale services.

Added Samuels: “At this point, we are only selling high-speed internet and have yet to move into value-added services like IPTV, video-on-demand and interactive gaming - these services will stimulate demand for ADSL, especially in the younger market.”

He said that young people in particular fully understand the benefits of triple-play and they will be the ones who will push Telkom’s customer base to allow the Company to meet its targets.

He pointed out, however, that successfully climbing the ADSL growth curve is not without its challenges, saying that the main challenge is to try to build ahead of demand.

“Demand is starting to come from areas not historically pre-provisioned for ADSL, notably the traditional Black, Coloured and Indian ‘townships’. Although there has been some penetration in townships, this has mainly been around shopping centres and business parks,” explained Samuels.

The demand is also coming from the residential areas, where the Company does not have pre-existing infrastructure in place.

“An important step forward in matching supply with demand has been the creation of Telkom’s Broadband Register. Where there is demand but no infrastructure, the intelligence goes into the Broadband Register, which is fed into our build programme so that we are able to prioritise more effectively and efficiently,” said Samuels.

He explained that the build programme itself consists of two technology options. Where there is sufficient demand, we use fibre to the node, which puts an ADSL point of presence closer to customers. On the other hand, if there is sufficient demand but customers are outside the cable footprint, Telkom will deploy WiMAX technology.

“We will continue to seek various strategies aimed at increasing customer satisfaction in our efforts at seeking increased ADSL penetration,” concluded Samuels.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ADSL/2645.html

Wireless broadband for Limpopo
Gcina Ntsaluba Buanews
South Africa

24 January, 2008
The Limpopo government has undertaken a massive project to install the infrastructure for wireless broadband technology

The Limpopo government has undertaken a massive project to install the infrastructure for wireless broadband technology so residents can gain access to internet throughout the province.

The project, which is expected to be completed by March 2010, involves connecting about 6 000 sites around the province, including 4 400 schools and a number of clinics and hospitals situated in some of the more remote areas.

Lizel Bodenstein, an information and communication technology (ICT) service manager for the Department of Local and Provincial Government said so far they had shortlisted 13 companies to implement the project.

"This is a closed bid tender for the 13 companies that have been short-listed for the job," she said.

Ms Bodenstein said the winning company will be announced on 23 February.

This company will then be responsible for installing, designing, maintaining and strategically placing the provincially shared broadband network.

She said due to the skills shortage in the province, the winning company may have to bring in skilled labourers and technicians from elsewhere.

The current shortage of electricity may, however, hamper the project, Ms Bodenstein noted.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/2648.html

Rogue satellite TV group vows to defy Icasa
THOM MCLACHLAN Business Day

A TEAM of roguish space cowboys offering a free digital satellite service is planning to take on Icasa, claiming “they cannot do anything to stop us”.

Free2View, a UK-based satellite television service broadcasting from Paris into s ub- Saharan Africa is breaking the rules with wil ful abandon, raising questions about whether regulation can keep up with the pace of technology.

The company, which recently announced it had secured the rights to air US news channel MSNBC, plans to grow its list of channels to 36 over the next three years. But it does not hold a broadcast licence in SA, a move Icasa believes will cost them.

“We are bringing content to a continent that has been starved of it and we’re going to do it free, without having a piece of paper that (we) couldn’t acquire even if we tried,” said Free2View chief operating officer Elissa Wilding.

Icasa said it had a variety of options it could follow to stop Free2View from offering its service, including obtaining a court interdict to stop the illegal activity. The regulator said on Friday that Free2View would be acting in contravention of the Electronic Communications Act.

“Any entity that intends to provide a broadcasting service intended for receipt within the borders of SA requires a licence issued by Icasa. Any attempt to provide such a service constitutes a criminal offence … the authority has mechanisms in place to deal with such circumstances,” it said.

Free2View ’s chief technical director Malcolm Ramsay said : “What can they do to stop us, short of shooting a satellite out of the sky or arresting people who have a satellite dish and decoder?

“The constitution guarantees you can receive and impart information — we are merely imparting information. As to how and where people can receive free satellite transmissions … unless (Icasa) wants to go back to the apartheid era, there is nothing they can do.”

Free2View plans to make its income from advertising. However, if it is not legally able to operate in SA, it cannot actively sell airtime to advertisers here, Ramsay said. However, there is nothing stopping advertisers from buying ad-space from the group’s London offices.

Because the uplink site — where the signal is distributed to the Usat satellite — is based in Paris and the company is registered in the UK, Icasa may find it difficult to stop the pirate broadcasters.

Icasa spokesman Joel Sekgoela said the regulator was planning to start the free-to-air regulatory process next year , but until that had been completed, Free2View was operating illegally and could be stopped.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/2668.html

This applies to the whole of Southern Africa. I for one think it's awesome. 36 channels of goodness for free. ICASA are probably feeling as powerless as us consumers are feeling.

Thanks Lydon, its good to see you are interested in these developments.:)

It's np =)

SA ranked 5th in world connectivity score
Computing SA

31 January, 2008

The Connectivity Scorecard is intended to examine quality as well as quantity of ICT usage and infrastructure, as well as show the need for action by business and government.

Businesses and governments must make better use of their communications and computing infrastructure if they are to benefit from the full economic and social benefits of ICT, according to a breakthrough study by Professor Leonard Waverman of the London Business School and global economic consulting firm LECG. The Connectivity Scorecard analyses not only a nation’s ICT infrastructure but the effectiveness of its use.

According to the study, commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, even the world’s best connected countries are not exploiting communications technologies to their fullest potential, and, in many cases, policy and regulatory activity designed to promote connectivity is not having the impact intended.

The Connectivity Scorecard ranks the USA first in a group of 16 innovation-driven economies (as defined by the World Economic Forum), although its score is only 6,97 out of a possible 10. The differentiated nature of the scorecard compared to other rankings is illustrated by the fact that Korea, typically a high scorer on other indexes, is ranked 10th on the list, with a rating of just 4,78.

The Connectivity Scorecard measures the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies - the copper wires, fibre-optic lines, mobile phones and PCs that underpin today’s information economy - to enhance social and economic prosperity.

For each component of the scorecard, countries are benchmarked against the best in class in their tier; thus if a country was best in all dimensions, it would score a maximum of 10. Countries typically considered to be highly connected achieved only modest scores on the scorecard – the average score for a group of 16 countries that include the USA, Sweden and Korea was 5,05.

These results indicate an opportunity for countries to add hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefit by rethinking how they measure and enable connectivity, according to the study authors. The authors point to a well-known study by Crandall and Jackson that showed a $500bn long-term economic benefit to the US just from achieving near-universal broadband penetration. Given the room for improvement on multiple measures of connectivity, there is every reason to believe that the worldwide gain from improving connectivity would be several multiples higher.

Russia placed first among the nine nations that are classified in the study as resource- or efficiency-driven economies. The country’s high literacy rate, along with solid scores on several measures of usage and infrastructure, especially mobile usage, resulted in a rating of 6.11. Malaysia finished second, with 5,82, and SA fifth, with 4,11. India and Nigeria were placed 8th and 9th, with scores of 1,68 and 1.1 respectively.

---

Note, that these scores are adapted as mentioned in the articles, meaning countries of relatively the same economic power are compared to each other.

Vodacom goes first tier
MyBroadband

31 January, 2008

Vodacom is investing in their own international fiber links, national fixed line infrastructure and an extensive WiMax network.

Vodacom is set on becoming a major Internet player in South Africa. The mobile operator is currently the largest wireless provider in South Africa, but the company is not content to stay put, they are spreading their wings to become a true first tier ISP.

Through Vodacom Business – a new Vodacom division which will be launched officially in late February – the company is establishing itself as a big player in the ISP market, competing with the likes of Internet Solutions and Vox Telecom.

Speculation persists that Vodacom - along with other large IT players like Altech - is one of the major bidders for Verizon Business South Africa. Such an acquisition will definitely give Vodacom Business a jump start in the corporate market, but Verizon Business is rumored to have become very expensive which may make it less attractive than previously.

Vodacom COO Pieter Uys further pointed out that Vodacom has already invested hundreds of Millions of Rands in Vodacom Business, making a large acquisition less necessary.

Apart from its own physical fiber infrastructure in local cities, Vodacom is also investing in its own international fiber links to international destinations.

Vodacom currently purchases international bandwidth through the likes of SAIX and Internet Solutions, something which is holding the company back when developing and delivering services to corporate clients.

Uys said that Vodacom is also working closely with all new international submarine cable projects like EASSY, SEACOM and InfraCo to secure future bandwidth for the company.

In the case of failure of all of these projects Vodacom is willing to build their own international fiber infrastructure, but this, Uys said, is definitely a last resort as it makes more financial sense to pool resources with these international projects.

Futhermore Vodacom is progressing well with their 802.16e (mobile WiMax) network rollout. The WiMax offering will be designed an ADSL replacement service and also to serve the bandwidth needs of corporate clients.

While Uys would not elaborate on potential pricing models, he did say that WiMax will not be seen as an HSDPA related offering and added that the pricing models may well vary significantly.

Vodacom is planning to launch a commercial WiMax offering before April.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/2736.html

Nigeria leads Africa's Internet usage chart
03 March, 2008 12:00:00 Bill OKONEDO and Ben Uzor jr.
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Nigeria has scaled up from five million to eight million Internet users between December 2006 and December 2007 and currently has the highest number of Internet users on the African continent.
The Seychelles, which has just 29,000 Internet users, however leads in Internet density on the continent. The total population of the Seychelles is 81,895 and its Internet density is 35.4 percent.
This is according to data made available by Internet World Statistics, on its website.
The Seychelles which leads the continent in Internet density today had only 6,000 Internet users in 2000. Now, its share of the continent's Internet density is 0.1 percent and it has seen a growth rate of 383.3 percent in the seven years between 2000 and 2007.
Nigeria, for which the report recorded a population of 135 million, for 2007, had only 200,000 Internet users in the year 2000. With eight million Internet users today, the country's Internet density stands at 5.9 per cent. The country thus has 18.1 per cent of Africa's Internet user share.
Next to Nigeria as regards volume of Internet users, comes the North African nation of Morocco, which had 6.1 million users as at December 2007. Morocco's total population for the same period is given as 33.75 million and its 6.1 million users represent 18.1 percent of the country's population and 13.8 percent of the total Internet users in Africa.
After Morocco, comes the fellow North African nation of Egypt, which has six million Internet users, representing 7.5 percent of its population and 13.6 percent of Internet users on the continent. Egypt's' population is recorded on the chart as 80.33 million.
South Africa trails Egypt with 5.1 million Internet users. This figure represents 11.6 percent of that country's population and 11.5 percent of Africa's Internet users. South Africa's population is stated as 43.99 million.
Surprisingly, the war-torn nation of Sudan comes fifth on the continents Internet user table. Sudan, which has a total population of 39.3 million, is reported to have 3.5 million Internet users, representing 8.6 percent of its' population and 7.9 percent of the continents' Internet users.
After Sudan comes Kenya which has 2.8 million Internet users, representing 7.5 percent of its population and 6.3 percent of the continents' Internet users.
Algeria follows with 2.5 million Internet users. This figure represents 7.4 per cent of its' population and 5.6 percent of the continents' Internet users. The country's population is given as 33.33 million.
Tunisia trails Algeria with 1.6 million users, representing 15.7 percent of its population and 3.6 percent of the continents Internet users. Tunisia's population is 10.2 million.
Zimbabwe is ninth on the table, with 1.2 million Internet users, representing 9.9 percent of its' population and 2.8 percent of the continents' Internet users. Zimbabwe's population is 12.3 million.
Uganda ranks tenth on the table with 800,000 users, representing 2.5 percent of its' population and 1.7 percent of the continents Internet users.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including the Internet have long been identified as essential tools for the effective bridging of the knowledge and economic gap between the west and the countries of the African continent.
They sharpen decision support systems for public administrators focused on improving the planning and monitoring of development programmes.
ICTs and the Internet have also been identified as having the capacity to automate the process of delivering service to the citizenry and thereby bringing about transparency.
Some of the ways in which this is done, is by the collection of various payments which citizens need to make to government agencies.
The use of ICTs and the Internet can shorten queues at collection centres, improve accuracy in billing and accounts and provide immediate proof of payment to citizens.
Through the use of ICTs and the Internet, citizens can also obtain access to crucial information about markets, which can determine whether they turn a profit or make a loss.
ICTs and the Internet also facilitate distance learning, thus bridging the knowledge gap and creating better and more opportunities.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/thumbnail.php?file=Data_444_812492515.jpg&size=article_medium

i find morroco's position most interesting, especially in relation to South africa

Outsourcing moves away from India

China, Morocco and Hungary are the new locations of choice for offshore centres

Tom Young, Computing, 29 Feb 2008
A Chinese building
BT, EDS, IBM and TCS have all opened centres in China

China, Morocco and Hungary are the latest locations of choice for IT services suppliers looking for offshore outsourcing centres.

Of the 21 new facilities opened by the UK's 20 largest firms, four were set up in China, three in Eastern Europe and three in Morocco.

Outsourcers are now looking away from India – where only two centres were opened - because of the rising cost of the rupee and increasing staff wages.

"What we are seeing is vendors looking to reduce their reliability on India’s
heated labour market, while adding non-English language skills to support
clients in regions such as Central Europe," said Nick Mayes, senior consultant at Pierre Audoin Consultants.

BT Global Services, EDS, IBM and TCS have all opened sourcing facilities in China in the last 18 months due to lower costs and a growing market for IT outsourcing in the country.

Eastern Europe and Morocco are considered good locations for such centres because of high skill levels and low labour costs.

http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2210844/outsourcing-moves-away-india





India losing status as offshore king China and Morocco starting to shine…

India is losing its stranglehold as the offshoring destination of choice as China, Morocco and Hungary gain ground.

In February 2007 silicon.com's Steve Ranger visited the Indian tech hotspots of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Fewer global delivery centres were opened in India by the UK's 20 largest IT services suppliers than in each of the three countries over the last year.

The competitive Indian labour market is driving companies to alternative destinations, say Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) in its report.

The 20 largest UK companies analysed in the report included Accenture, BT Global Services, Capgemini, Capita, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, HP, IBM and Logica.

Of the 21 centres opened since January 2007 by the big 20, only two were in India, while four were in China, with three were Eastern Europe and Morocco respectively.

Nick Mayes, senior consultant at PAC, said there is no "serious threat" to India's outsourcing dominance in the short term but companies are looking to reduce their reliance on "India's heated labour market".

China's emergence as a global sourcing hub has traditionally been slow but the report found that BT Global Services, EDS, IBM and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have all opened sourcing facilities in the country in the last 18 months.

The two facilities launched in India were both outside the traditional hotspots of Bangalore and Mumbai - IBM's new centre in Noida and TCS's expansion site in Hyderabad.

silicon.com

The reason South Africa is so low down on the list is because of Telkom to put it simply. They are living proof of how a monopoly can truly stuff things up. Thankfully, Neotel has started competing with them, and a number of cellular networks and other companies have started building their own fibre rings.

Experts expect South Africa to reach 2 Million broadband users by 2010.

Broadband growth is accelerating in South Africa, a trend which has been witnessed worldwide. With decreasing prices and increased availability more consumers are dumping their dial-up connections in preference of ADSL or high speed wireless connections.

According to Vodacom Business’ Wally Beelders South Africa will have between 1.5 Million and 2 Million broadband subscribers by 2010.

This will be made up mostly by HSDPA customers from Vodacom and MTN. Some analysts predict around 1 Million 3G/HSDPA subscribers in 2010, with other wireless technologies like WiMax, WiFi, CDMA2000 and iBurst adding a few hundred thousand to the total.

ADSL will most likely be the second most popular broadband access technology behind 3G/HSDPA, with Telkom’s predictions falling in at around 800 000 ADSL subscribers by 2011.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/3058.html

Note: Broadband users, not internet users :)

Namibia hosts IT roadshow

afrol News, 7 March - A technology roadshow is taking place in the Namibian capital Windhoek on Friday.

Organised by information technology distributor [Comztek Namibia] and its vendor partners, the show entails several activities, including a technology showcase and presentations.

The show will provide Comztek resellers and their end users with up-to-the-minute information on the latest technologies, products and programmes. Adobe, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Nietshild, Symantec and 3Com would deliver vendor presentations.

“Comztek Namibia prides itself on being a one-stop shop for its resellers, by distributing a wide range of ICT products, solutions and services," said the Regional Manager of Comztek Namibia, Davel Botha.

"It is our pleasure to be hosting this technology roadshow for resellers, thereby providing up-to-date technology information in the specialist areas of networks, software infrastructure, security and storage, and consumer electronics.”

Comztek Namibia is a branch of its parent body in South Africa that started operation in May 2004. The parent company is believed to be the leading ICT systems and communications partner in South Africa.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Xbox 360 price cuts
MyBroadband

11 March, 2008

Microsoft will reduce the price of its Xbox 360 gaming consoles this Friday.

Microsoft announced that it is lowering the estimated retail price (ERP) for its Xbox 360 family of consoles in Europe and South Africa, with an entry-level price of R1999.00.

From Friday, 14th March, Xbox 360 Pro, which includes a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, will have an ERP of R2999.00, a saving of R700.00 on the current ERP.

The Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120GB hard drive enabling consumers to store huge quantities of content, such as their own music, will have an ERP of R3999.00, a saving of R600.00.

The Xbox 360 Arcade console will have an ERP of R1999.00, a saving of R700.00.

“Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe and South Africa,” said Chris Lewis, Vice President, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business in EMEA.

“We have reached and surpassed several key milestones that form part of our long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass in Europe and South Africa; and our portfolio now offers the kind of mainstream entertainment experiences that secure wider appeal for Xbox 360. These factors allow us to execute on our strategy to widen the market for Xbox 360, as planned.

“We continue to offer intense, immersive gaming experiences for gamers – but now we’re priced in a way that will allow new consumers to find out for themselves why Xbox 360 is the ultimate in high-definition entertainment.” said Lewis.

“History shows that R1999.00 is the price point where a console’s audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we’re ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world.”

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Gaming/3132.html

Morocco, Ghana and Egypt ride ICT global wave


03.12.08 11:05 am
The majority of computer chips, telephone handsets, laptops, TV screens, DVD players and other electronics and telecommunications products are now manufactured in developing countries, a new United Nations Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report reveals.
Developing nations´ share in exports of services related to information and communication technology (ICT) is also growing. However, this is primarily due to strong growth in the developing world´s two largest economies, China and India. China is the world´s largest exporter of ICT goods, and India leads in international sales of ICT services.
The Information Economy Report 2007-2008 details how the ICT industry is growing faster than many industries globally and is increasingly shifting to the developing world, mainly Asia. The ICT industry not only includes the assembly of hardware or consumer electronics, but also the delivery of ICT services, such as those related to software and IT consulting, telecommunication and call-centre activities. The latter particularly have grown in developing countries as they search for new market niches and job opportunities in the service industries. In such countries as Morocco, Ghana, and Egypt, government-devised development policies have spurred economic expansion of ICT business and employment.

http://www.corridornet.co.za/modules/articles/?Task=1&Irn=2138&CIrn=27

Mobile phone users in Morocco number rises to 20 million




The number of mobile phone users in Morocco passed 20 million at the end of 2007, according to the country's telecoms regulator.

http://www.meed.com/morocco/news/2008/02/mobile_phone_users_in_morocco_pass_20_million.html

GTI launches Africa's largest commercial WiMAX network in Algeria
Written by Michael Schwartz
Feb 15, 2008 at 05:19PM
Markets, WiMAX, Broadband Wireless, Algeria: Galaxia Telecom International PLC, the telecom integrator and operator specializing in the innovation and deployment of wireless broadband technologies, has announced the listing of the company's shares on the Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the launch of its first mass market WiMAX network in Algeria. Today's listing of the company's shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange offers investors the opportunity to invest both in wireless broadband technology and in emerging markets.

Galaxia Telecom is one of the few listed companies in the wireless WiMAX area with exposure to the potentially high growth rates for WiMAX services in emerging markets. The European listing for Galaxia Telecom International PLC comes at a turning point in demand for WiMAX services and provides investors with a route to access the growth of broadband wireless telecommunications solutions internationally, said Dr. Abdellah Hoummady, CEO of Galaxia Telecom International PLC.

WiMAX technology is the greatest hope in terms of bridging the digital divide in emerging markets at reasonable costs, while at the same time leapfrogging the traditionally slower development stages of the telecommunication infrastructure in developed markets.

By embracing WiMAX technology on such a large scale, Algeria has decided to make a big push to reduce the digital divide both within Algeria and with the rest of the world. "In our view, it is the optimal technology, reliable and cost effective for a large country such as Algeria, which needs to cover the needs of a sizeable but dispersed population of 33m people across a vast territory over 5 times the size of Germany", explains Dr. Hoummady. GTI is currently engaged in discussions with a number of other national operators and WiMAX related providers worldwide.

The deployment of WiMAX in Algeria, called Athir, is the first commercial application of WiMAX technology on a nationwide scale, and is the result of a groundbreaking agreement between Galaxia Telecom International (GTI) and Algerie Telecom (AT), the largest telecommunications service provider in Algeria. At a time when technological innovations are evolving at a fast pace and new technologies quickly become outdated, the launch of the WiMAX network is a concrete response to real concerns in addressing the need for widely available, fast and cheaper communication services in Algeria, thus bridging the digital divide, says His Excellency Dr. Boudjemaa Haichour, the Algerian Minister for Post, Information Technology and Communication. According to the contract, Algerie Telecom will provide existing infrastructure, access network, marketing and distribution, with Galaxia Telecom providing broadband equipment (base stations, CPEs), installation, BWA network backbone, platforms and training.

The Algerian WiMAX network has been undergoing testing in the last six months in all weather conditions. In the first phase of deployment, targeted customers will be businesses, government and organizations (B2B). The second phase, starting in September 2008, will be focused on consumers.

About Galaxia Telecom International PLC

Galaxia Telecom International PLC is a Canadian company with an international footprint specializing in the innovation and deployment of wireless broadband technologies, most specifically in WiMAX. Galaxia Telecom designs and integrates Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) end-to-end solutions and products and has extensive experience in modular solution design and manufacturing, rapid time-to-market and cost effective solutions, employing state-of-the-art and industry standard access technologies.

About Algeria's telecom market

Algeria has 33m inhabitants and has one of the largest young populations in the Middle East, with a median age of 25.2 years. The number of internet users in Algeria is estimated at 2.46 million. High speed internet access is very scarce at approximately only 200,000 users in the whole country (0.6% of the population) and is considered a luxury reserved for larger corporations and organisations. Access to the internet at present in Algeria is via DSL or Satellite High speed. Fixed-line penetration rate is still very low in the country, with approximately 7 per 100 persons having a main-line connection in 2004

Neotel consumer tariffs revealed
MyBroadband
24 April, 2008

Neotel unveils the price of its NeoConnect Prime consumer offering.

Neotel is slowly releasing its NeoConnect Prime offering into the consumer market and has revealed the product description and price.

NeoConnect Prime is Neotel’s first consumer and small business offering, providing subscribers with a converged voice, fast Internet and SMS service.

Pricing

NeoConnect Prime provides consumers with a CDMA voice & Internet device, a 2.4 Mbps Internet connection with 10 GB of monthly bandwidth, 1 000 free on-net voice minutes and 50 free on-net SMSs for R 599.00 per month.

There are no additional installation or activation charges, device rental or hidden costs. “It is a true all-in-one price…the only extra payment is for out-of-bundle usage,” said Neotel’s head of retail products and services, Maneesh Mittal.

Out of bundle bandwidth will cost 7 c per MB, and billing will be per MB precluding the need to purchase data bundles.

Text messages to other networks will be charged at 35c per SMS while out-of-bundle on-net SMSs cost 10 c each.

Out-of-bundle and off-net call rates will be the same as the recently published enterprise rates: Neotel call charges

This initial offering targets a specific segment of the market, but there will be many more flavours available soon Neotel pointed out. Mittal said that Neotel will launch a variety of new packages - some significantly cheaper while others will be more expensive – in May during its commercial launch which will be wider in scope.

Comparative pricing

Neotel’s price for its NeoConnect Prime offering stacks up well when compared with other similar offerings in the market.

The NeoConnect Prime service, with a peak speed of 2.4 Mbps, can be compared to iBurst’s Internet & iCall service, Telkom’s 4 Mbps ADSL service, MTN’s 1.8 Mbps HSDPA service and Vodacom’s 3.6 Mbps HSDPA offering.




All in all it works out to around at least half the price of similar offerings! :cheers:

Woot! I've been waiting for this...now I can finally pick one up knowing it will work :D

---

Vodacom to bring iPhone to SA
MyBroadband
06 May, 2008

The iPhone will soon be available in South Africa through Vodacom

Vodafone has announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe.

Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.

Vodacom has confirmed that it will provide the iPhone to its subscribers through the Vodafone agreement, but could not provide further details regarding potential pricing structures or time frames.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/3694.html

Emirates International Investment Company reveals ambitious Dhs1.8bn plan to establish six hi-tech cable factories globally
As part of its strategy to broaden its international presence and develop its business units, the Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) has announced ambitious plans to build six hi-tech factories in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Algeria, Romania and Vietnam, at a value of Dhs1.8bn


1. EIIC reveals $5bn Dounya Parc Algerian project
2. Emirates International Investment Company to establish Abu Dhabi’s first clinker-cement factory for Dhs1.5bn
3. EIIC begins construction of Dhs350m Electrocab Emarat cable factory in Algeria
EIIC’s decision to construct these factories in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Algeria, Romania and Vietnam comes at a time when the region is experiencing a great construction boom.

To satisfy market demand, EIIC is estimating production levels of 40,000 tonnes/year of copper and 7,000 tonnes/year of aluminium low, medium and high voltage cables, all of which will adhere to best international standards.

EIIC has already begun construction on two UAE-based factories in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi: the first manufacturing aluminium rods producing 100,000 tonnes/year, and the second manufacturing magnetic wires producing an estimated 25,000 tonnes/year.

Mr Omar Younis, General Manager of EIIC-owned Electrocab which is managing the factories, stated that the company plans to boost production of copper cables in its Algeria factory to 60,000 tonnes/year in order to meet demand in the Algerian and North African markets.

He confirmed that the KSA, Romania and Vietnam factory blueprints are completed and the sites have already been selected.

Mr. Younis insists quality is the priority for EIIC. “We have secured a team of specialised cable professionals who will ensure top-notch quality management for all our products and that they follow international requirements. First-class machinery has been sourced from Europe’s leading suppliers to outfit all of our factories”.

EIIC begins construction of Dhs350m Electrocab Emarat cable factory in Algeria
In line with their expansion strategy, Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) has announced the construction of a third wire and cable factory.

EIIC will invest Dhs350m in the wire and cable factory in Algiers, Algeria, with an expected completion date in 2009.

Mr. Omar Younis, Electrocab's General Manager, said “The factory is to meet the increasing demand for power and building wire cables in the Algerian and Western Arab markets. The Algerian wire and cable factory is a direct result of the success of the Abu Dhabi facility, which has also led us to construct the magnet wire factory in Industrial City, Abu Dhabi as well.”

Mr. Younis explained the product range will include low, medium and high voltage cables in copper and aluminum that adhere to best international standards.

The factory will be built on a 10 hectare site and will encompass manufacturing, distribution and management facilities. Production will commence in mid 2008 at a primary annual level of 40,000 tons of copper and 7,000 tons of aluminum, and increase in the future. Mr. Younis insists quality in all its aspects is the priority for EIIC and has created a team of experienced cable professionals with the responsibility to ensure that all finished products satisfy international requirements. Top quality machinery has been sourced from Europe’s leading suppliers.

EIIC owns investments in many sectors, including banking, industry and commerce which in a short time, has created many unique and innovative projects

New Google backed initiative to provide high-speed, low-cost Internet to Africa


O3b Networks today announced it will begin deployment of a new global communications infrastructure to provide high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity to emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

Backed with financial and operational support from Google, Liberty Global and HSBC Principal Investments, the new system will reduce bandwidth costs for telecommunications operators (telcos) and Internet service providers (ISPs) -- enabling cost-effective voice and broadband services at speeds equivalent to those enjoyed in the developed world.

Developed nations, particularly in the northern hemisphere, are well served by an extensive submarine fiber network. The deployment of a fiber network in many developing markets is not commercially viable or practical.

According to the O3b Networks the system will offer fiber performance over satellite, at prices comparable to fiber in developed regions.

“By allowing direct connection to core networks and 3G Cellular/WiMAX towers, the O3b Networks system will completely change the economics of telecommunications infrastructure in the world's fastest-growing markets for communications services.”

O3b said that the rapid growth of telecommunications services in emerging markets demonstrates the demand as well as the commercial and social benefits available. In O3b Networks' target markets, where the deployment of high-capacity bandwidth is restricted due to geographic, economic or political barriers, the Company's low-cost, low-latency Internet backhaul and 3G Cellular backhaul services will allow telcos and ISPs to offer affordable, high-speed Internet access services -- effectively bridging the digital divide between developed and emerging markets.

O3b Networks' operational and technical development is well underway. Production of the initial constellation of 16 satellites has begun. The system's 2,133 transponder equivalents will deliver low-latency Internet backhaul at speeds reaching 10 gigabits per second. Service activation is scheduled for late 2010.

The scalable nature of the system allows for additional satellites to increase capacity and meet growing demand.

O3b Networks was founded by successful high-technology entrepreneur Greg Wyler with a mission of making the Internet accessible and affordable for billions of people in emerging and developed markets.

Wyler, along with O3b Networks Chairman John W. Dick, recently helped pioneer the first commercial 3G mobile and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in Africa.

That experience revealed the urgent need in developing countries for low-latency, gigabit backhaul services that can power high-speed data and voice connectivity for consumers, businesses, schools and health care facilities.

"Access to the Internet backbone is still severely limited in emerging markets," Wyler said.

"Only when emerging markets achieve affordable and ubiquitous access to the rest of the world will we observe locally generated content, widespread e-learning, telemedicine and many more enablers to social and economic growth which reflect the true value of the Internet. O3b Networks will bring multi-gigabit Internet speeds directly to emerging markets, whether landlocked in Africa or isolated by water in the Pacific Islands."

Bringing together Google, Liberty Global and HSBC has created a team that is ideally suited to help bring this new service to market.

"O3b Networks' model empowers local entrepreneurs and companies to deliver Internet and mobile services to those in currently underserved or remote locations at speeds necessary to power rich web-based applications," said Larry Alder, Google Alternative Access Team Product Manager.

"We believe in O3b Networks' model and its goal of expanding the reach of the Internet to users who currently have limited and expensive connection options, as it complements our mission of organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful."

Liberty Global is the world's leading international cable operator, offering advanced video, telephone and broadband Internet services to 16.1 million customers across 15 countries.

Liberty Global CEO Michael Fries said, "Core transmission capacity is one of the most significant barriers to rolling out the high-speed telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a developing country and its economy. Using innovative modern satellite technology, O3b Networks will make fiber-quality connectivity available throughout most of the world, without having to lay any fiber."

Richard J Cole, HSBC Global Head of Principal Investments & Private Equity, said, "HSBC's Principal Investments business is pleased to invest in O3b Networks and support the company's enabling high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity in emerging markets. This investment is integral to HSBC Principal Investments' strategic focus of investing primarily in growing emerging markets."

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/5158.html

Google broadband initiative - give your views (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=134885)

^^ That is very good news for African nations especially landlocked ones.

Nigeria leads Africa's Internet usage chart
03 March, 2008 12:00:00 Bill OKONEDO and Ben Uzor jr.
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Nigeria has scaled up from five million to eight million Internet users between December 2006 and December 2007 and currently has the highest number of Internet users on the African continent.
The Seychelles, which has just 29,000 Internet users, however leads in Internet density on the continent. The total population of the Seychelles is 81,895 and its Internet density is 35.4 percent.
This is according to data made available by Internet World Statistics, on its website.
The Seychelles which leads the continent in Internet density today had only 6,000 Internet users in 2000. Now, its share of the continent's Internet density is 0.1 percent and it has seen a growth rate of 383.3 percent in the seven years between 2000 and 2007.
Nigeria, for which the report recorded a population of 135 million, for 2007, had only 200,000 Internet users in the year 2000. With eight million Internet users today, the country's Internet density stands at 5.9 per cent. The country thus has 18.1 per cent of Africa's Internet user share.
Next to Nigeria as regards volume of Internet users, comes the North African nation of Morocco, which had 6.1 million users as at December 2007. Morocco's total population for the same period is given as 33.75 million and its 6.1 million users represent 18.1 percent of the country's population and 13.8 percent of the total Internet users in Africa.
After Morocco, comes the fellow North African nation of Egypt, which has six million Internet users, representing 7.5 percent of its population and 13.6 percent of Internet users on the continent. Egypt's' population is recorded on the chart as 80.33 million.
South Africa trails Egypt with 5.1 million Internet users. This figure represents 11.6 percent of that country's population and 11.5 percent of Africa's Internet users. South Africa's population is stated as 43.99 million.
Surprisingly, the war-torn nation of Sudan comes fifth on the continents Internet user table. Sudan, which has a total population of 39.3 million, is reported to have 3.5 million Internet users, representing 8.6 percent of its' population and 7.9 percent of the continents' Internet users.
After Sudan comes Kenya which has 2.8 million Internet users, representing 7.5 percent of its population and 6.3 percent of the continents' Internet users.
Algeria follows with 2.5 million Internet users. This figure represents 7.4 per cent of its' population and 5.6 percent of the continents' Internet users. The country's population is given as 33.33 million.
Tunisia trails Algeria with 1.6 million users, representing 15.7 percent of its population and 3.6 percent of the continents Internet users. Tunisia's population is 10.2 million.
Zimbabwe is ninth on the table, with 1.2 million Internet users, representing 9.9 percent of its' population and 2.8 percent of the continents' Internet users. Zimbabwe's population is 12.3 million.
Uganda ranks tenth on the table with 800,000 users, representing 2.5 percent of its' population and 1.7 percent of the continents Internet users.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including the Internet have long been identified as essential tools for the effective bridging of the knowledge and economic gap between the west and the countries of the African continent.
They sharpen decision support systems for public administrators focused on improving the planning and monitoring of development programmes.
ICTs and the Internet have also been identified as having the capacity to automate the process of delivering service to the citizenry and thereby bringing about transparency.
Some of the ways in which this is done, is by the collection of various payments which citizens need to make to government agencies.
The use of ICTs and the Internet can shorten queues at collection centres, improve accuracy in billing and accounts and provide immediate proof of payment to citizens.
Through the use of ICTs and the Internet, citizens can also obtain access to crucial information about markets, which can determine whether they turn a profit or make a loss.
ICTs and the Internet also facilitate distance learning, thus bridging the knowledge gap and creating better and more opportunities.

the southafrican population is really 48 million.more so i f you count folks there who are not citizens,so itwill makethe over population there really close to 53 million . THE POPULATION OF NIGERIAIS AROUND 154 MILLION OR MORE AND ZIMBABWE IR MORELIKE 13 MILLION OR A BIT MORE.

HI.GUYS.I NEED SOME HELP. I KNOW CERTAIN AFRICAN COUNTRIES MAKE MORE OF THEIR ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS THAN OTHERS BUT HOW INDEPENDANT THEY ARE?

AND I KNOW SOMEMAKE COMPUTERS BUT I HAVE A GUY HERE I AM DEBATING WITH WHO SAYS NO AFRICAN COUNTRY MAKE MAKE AFRICAN COMPUTERS OT ELECTRONIS AND I KEEP SAYING HE WRONG.PLEASE SOMONE PROVIDE ME WITH SOME ANSWERS WEBSITES,LINKS TO PROVE THAT AFRICA IS MOVING FORWARD.

IF I AM WRONG PLEASE TELL SO,BUT I BELIEVE I AM NOT

HERE ARE THE LINKS FOR OUT TALK AND LET ME KNOW IF I AM RIGHT OT NOT.

PLEASE REPLY.


http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=006226;p=2#000068

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=006226;p=1

South Africa has two of its own computer brands - Mecer and I think Proline is South African too. I'm using a Mecer at the moment :)

South Africa has two of its own computer brands - Mecer and I think Proline is South African too. I'm using a Mecer at the moment :)

HAVE YOU READ INSIDE LINKS I HAVE POST ABOVE?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE TALK IN THERE.
WHAT BOUT NIGERIA?AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES
DO THEY MAKE SEMI-CONDUCTORS,CHIPS ETC.I WOULDTHINK SOUTH AFRICA WOULD BE MORE OF A LEADER IN THIS FOR THE TIME BEING.

HOW INDEPENDENT CERTAIN AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE IN MAKING THIER OWN COMPONENTS IN 2008?

HERE IS WHAT SOMESAYS ABOUT THIS AS WELL.
posted 10 November, 2008 06:15 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voice Over IP (Internet Protocol) is not IC (Integrated Circuit) fabrication.
Africa vendors purchase chips and software from US, Europe, or Asia to build these things.

Africa makes no ICs for VOIP, WIFI or any other network protocol. Instead, they are 100% dependent on purchasing from Europe, Asian, or US vendors.

The VOIP SIP protocol is owned by AT&T.
The WIFI protocol is owned by IEEE and various US vendors.
Note the last sentence in your last post states the need for a second national LICENSE. This LICENSE is obtained by paying a fee for the use of the protocols and chips, and requires Africa PAY European, Asian, or US manufacturers for their use.
If Africa developed their own protocol and chips, they would no longer have to pay this fee, or be dependent on outside manufacturers.
This is the purpose of this thread, taking advantage of Open Source materials to kick start independent development.


HOW TRUE IS THIS?ANY ONE HAS ANY INFO?THANKS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YOU SAID South Africa has two of its own computer brands - Mecer and Proline is South African too. SEE I KNEW THEY MADE THESE THINGS BUT I DID NOT KNOW THE NAME.ANY OTHER NAMES?

AND NAMES IN NIGERIA OR ANYELSE IN AFRICA?


DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE NAMES OF COMPUTER MAKERS IN SOUTH AFRICA OR NIGERIA OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN AFRICA AND THE NAMES OF SEMI-CONDUCTORS MAKERS?CHIP MAKERS,HARDWARE,SOFTWARE ETC?OR OTHERS COMPANIES AND THOSE MAKERS IN AFRICA WHO HAVE A MORE COMPLETE COMPUTER OR ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY WITH OUT SIDE HELP OR NOT THAT MUCH OUTSIDE HELP.

AND PLEASE TELL ME IF WHAT THIS GUY IS SAYING IS
CORRECT.

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=006226;p=2#000068

....

Posted in Main on October 7th, 2008 by Pingdom

When you think about outsourcing (especially offshore outsourcing), usually India comes foremost to mind. The country has been the premier outsourcing destination for years, providing services such as software development and call centers to companies in the West. Though there are other countries gunning for the profitable outsourcing contracts as well, for example the Philippines, India is considered a dominant player.

Now it seems like a new threat to India’s dominance is rising on the African east coast. Kenya is about to get a significant boost to its Internet infrastructure, and since most people there speak English they have a good opportunity to set up for example call center operations. (Most of the population in Kenya is bilingual, the official languages being English and Swahili.)
High interest for outsourcing in Kenya

If you look at the regional interest for outsourcing in 2005, India’s dominance was clear. They were ahead of the game.
Regional interest for outsourcing, 2005, India is #1

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2920842939_d973dc7eac_o.png
Data from Google Insights for Search, red emphasis added by us.

However, in 2008, the regional interest for outsourcing in Kenya is actually higher than that of India.
Regional interest for outsourcing, 2008, Kenya is #1
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2920842987_5bd841d075_o.png

Data from Google Insights for Search, red emphasis added by us.

If nothing else, this shows that the interest to provide outsourcing services is extremely high in Kenya now.

What “regional interest” means: The regional interest as defined by Google is an indication of how likely it is that someone in a specific geographic region searches for a specific term (in this case “outsourcing”).
Infrastructure is key to Kenya’s outsourcing plans

For IT-related outsourcing, good and affordable Internet access is a must, and Kenya’s government has put a high priority on this.

We here at Pingdom have looked at the state of the Internet infrastructure in Africa before, and wrote an article about it back in April. For the time being, the capacity of the Internet in Africa is very limited.

Fortunately, there are developments that will greatly improve this situation both in Kenya and much of East Africa.

Kenya will get serious upgrades to its Internet connectivity via several high-capacity submarine cables that are set for 2009 and 2010 (TEAMS, EASSy and SEACOM), which will also lower the prices for Internet access. Once this happens, we expect that the development of the Internet in Kenya will accelerate rapidly.
What the business world is saying about Kenya’s outsourcing

We’re not the only ones who have noticed Kenya’s interest in becoming a new outsourcing powerhouse. For some added perspective, here are snippets from recent articles from the well-respected CIO Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor.

From an article about Kenya’s economic growth in CIO Magazine:

IDC projects that data centers, managed services, help desks, call centers, and application and hosting services will be key areas to watch in 2009.

The business process outsourcing sector is also expected to reap benefits, given that the government is fully supporting efforts to lower the cost of bandwidth.

From an article about outsourcing in Kenya in The Christian Science Monitor:

“People say to me, ‘Wow, this is happening in Kenya? We only think of you for athletics and wildlife,’ ” says Gilda Odera, managing director of Skyweb-Evans in the heart of the capital, Nairobi. “But people are getting really interested in us.”

Her call center and a dozen others are seeds of an industry that the government hopes will put the East African country on equal terms with India as an outsourcing destination.

The government is pumping millions of dollars into improving the country’s outdated telecom system in an effort to capitalize on Kenya’s large pool of English-speaking graduates.

Eventually it wants Kenya to be as well-known for its call centers as its lions, tea, and coffee.

A great opportunity for Kenya

If Kenya continues to aggressively improve its Internet infrastructure and market itself as a serious alternative to India, there really is no reason why Kenya wouldn’t be able to get a significant portion of the outsourcing cake in the coming years.

It looks like 2009 and 2010 will be key years for Kenya.

* Kenya will get serious upgrades to its Internet connectivity via high-capacity submarine cables.
* Low salary levels will make them highly competitive in the cost department.
* You could also speculate that since the time zone is only shifted by a couple of hours from central European time, European companies might in many cases favor Kenya over India. It would facilitate meetings and other daytime activities.

Of course, Kenya doesn’t have India’s 1+ billion population, but with an estimated population of 38 million there is still a pretty large pool to recruit from…

as i said in another thread, for a country that was supposed to be in civil chaos kenya is making great strides against some big odds. its a testament to the resillience of kenyans.

dont forget that kenya spearheaded TEAMs because because the african telecoms involved in EASSy could not agree but still keeps its membership in the EASSy, this means that kenyan and east african businesses will have TEAMs, EASSy, SEACOM to choose from. such a wide selection can only be a plus for kenya.

Nigeria: Mobile Internet Usage On the Rise
Emeka Aginam With Agency Report
1 December 2008

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Mobile internet use is growing while the number of people going online via a PC is slowing, analyst firm Nielsen Online has found.

Some 7.3m people, according to the analyst firm, accessed the net via their mobile phones, during the second and third quarters of 2008.
This, according to Nielsen Online, is an increase of 25% compared to a growth of just 3% for the PC-based net audience - now more than 35m.

It also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.

Searching news While Google remains the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, on mobile internet BBC News is the most visited site, with nearly a quarter of mobile internet consumers using it.

"This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this," said Kent Ferguson, a senior analyst with Nielsen Online. "The fact that weather, sports, news and e-mail sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites shows that mobile internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and e-commerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites," he added.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the mobile net audience is younger than its computer based counterpart.

A quarter of the mobile net audience is aged 15-24, compared to 16% for the PC.

While 23% of the desk-top based internet population is 55 or over, only 12% of mobile internet audience is.

There are several factors for the dramatic rise in mobile net use, thinks Mr Ferguson.

"The barriers are finally being lifted thanks to operators offering flat-rate tariffs for data and more user-friendly handsets and improved network technology," he said.

It is thought that mobile users spend about 10 minutes online per session with an average of around seven sessions per month.

Increasingly mobile firms are encouraging users to venture online via their handsets.

Increasingly buttons for Google and popular social networks are being incorporated on handsets.

Mobile phone firm 3 has recently launched a so-called Facebook phone, which integrates the networking site with the traditional functions of a mobile.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200812010431.html

Africell Targets U.S. $20 Million Expansion
Ibrahim Tarawallie

5 February 2009

Freetown — Africell Lintel Sierra Leone Limited has signed agreements with various international suppliers to the tune of US$20 million for the expansion and development of its network by the end of 2009.

Chief commercial officer, Joe Amara Bangali Jnr. told journalists at the Mamba Point Guest House in Freetown that the company would provide its subscribers with the latest state-of-the-art and most technologically advanced GSM network in the country.

"The US$20 million expansion agreement with the best international suppliers highlights the determination of the company to consolidate its uncontestable number one position in the country," he said.

Bangali disclosed another agreement the company has signed with Harris Stratex to upgrade and expand its backbone, which he explained as the infrastructure that connects Africell's entire network in Sierra Leone.

"The deal with Harris Stratex will enable Africell to develop a state-of-the-art national telecommunication backbone employing the latest technology. As a result of this, the Africell network will no longer experience downtime even during the most atrocious raining season and harmattan conditions," he said.

The chief commercial officer further confirmed plans by the company to deploy over 50 new sites by the end of 2009, thereby extending its coverage to 90% of the total population.

He said the agreement signed with Nokia Siemens (SNS) will upgrade Africell's switch (core network) to the latest switching generation, noting that it would also enable the company to provide the latest data and MMS services with lots of practical and fun applications.

All Africa (http://allafrica.com/stories/200902050690.html)

Country Overtakes South Africa in Telecoms Market
5 February 2009

Lagos — Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as Africa's largest telecom market with the highest subscriber base, Dr Ernest Ndukwe, Deputy Chairman, National Communication Commission, has said.

Ndukwe stated this on Tuesday at the "Investment in Africa Telecom Conference" in Johannesburg.

He said South Africa had maintained that lead up till January 2008.

Ndukwe's paper entitled: "Facilitating African Renaissance through Communications Infrastructure Development" was presented by Mr Abdullahi Maikano, Head Business Development at the NCC.

He said a recent report by Wireless Intelligence put the mobile subscriber base in Africa at 280 million users by the end of March 2008.

"The African continent has surpassed North America in terms of mobile subscribers with U.S. and Canada polling 277 million users," he said.

Ndukwe further said the report listed Africa as the world fastest growing mobile market today with 38 per cent growth in 2007, which put the continent ahead of the Middle East with 33 per cent and Asia Pacific 29 per cent.

He added that information and communication technology had been widely acknowledged as presenting opportunities for the creation of unprecedented economic growth in Africa.

"Most African governments have demonstrated the political will necessary to foster an environment conducive for investment in this sector," he said.

All Africa (http://allafrica.com/stories/200902050197.html)

Local Firm Develops New Mobile Directory, Softwares
Fikremariam Tesfaye

6 March 2009

Addis Abeba — A privately owned local mobile software solution company on Thursday announced it developed a new comprehensive mobile directory plus another 11 mobile softwares for use by Mobile users in Ethiopia.

The Super Page software provides information on any company in the country any mobile holder can easily access, apart from 11 other Ethiopic softwares produced to serve specific purposes, Bimyam Gebre Egziabher who developed the softwares told reporters at the Alpha University College, where he teaches technology.

The Ethiopian Calendar software-one of the Ethiopiac softwares, is an application that contains Ethiopian calendar with Ethiopian fonts with the intention of adding many features; Date Converter enables users to convert date from Gregorian to Ethiopian and vise versa.

Public holidays tells exactly on which date will Ethiopian public holidays (which are more than ten) will be celebrated, thereby avoiding confusion, Biniyam explained, adding this application works for more than 10,000 years.

According to Binyam the software also includes, Day of the Week this application takes Ethiopian day, month and year and tells whether that date is Monday, Tuesday etc; The Orthodox Holidays software is specially designed for Orthodox Christians in that it helps on which day a given orthodox holiday will be, or was, celebrated including the days fasting seasons will start/was started.

Sentence Construction is a game application especially for children with two main advantages- to teach children how to construct a sentence from the given Words.

Sentence helps children to know about their country historical places, cultures etc.

Embassies Information contains the phone and fax numbers of all embassies and foreign mission offices in Ethiopia; Dialing Codes contains the dialing codes to other countries of the world; Special Numbers helps users with call numbers for public services like the Police, Fire Fighters, and Hospitals. Thus 991 is for police-like in The US-940 for reporting cases of sexual harassment and 938 for traffic police and others.

What's more, Investment Opportunity software contains information about investment opportunities in Ethiopia as well as Know Ethiopia software introduces Ethiopia's tourism wealth, historical places, cultures to the world.

Binyam said his company has on preparation to bring to the market in affordable price soon.

All Africa (http://allafrica.com/stories/200902060033.html)

Major Boost for Country's ICT Industry
Daniel Nonor

6 February 2009

Accra - Ghana, Nigeria and the rest of Africa are set to experience a major boost in Internet access and a hefty reduction in tariffs with the commencement of the Main One Cable Project. The two faceted fibre projects are an ambitious under-sea fibre optic cabling project that will extend from Portugal to the West and Southern Coasts of Africa respectively.

The first phase of the project will span 6,900 kilometres, extending from Portugal to Ghana and Nigeria on the West Coast of Africa.

Whiles the second phase is expected to extend by another 6,000 kilometres to South Africa and Angola.

Using Dense Wave Multiplexing technology of 1.92 Terabits per second with two fibre pairs, the Main One cable is designed to deliver more capacity to the region than any of the other existing or proposed under-sea fibre projects.

Both projects are scheduled to be completed and operational in June 2010.

Ms. Funke Opeke, Chief Executive Officer of Main One said the project will provide open access to regional Telecom operators and Internet Service Providers at rates that are less than the current international bandwidth tariffs obtainable via SAT 3 or satellite service operators.

She said, the project was based on the most advanced and latest technology which will provide cutting edge technologies and direct international connectivity for West African countries to Europe and beyond.

She added that the system will ease the difficulties and reduce the cost of switching traffic between African countries without the need to go through Europe, as well as provide broadband capacity to expand Internet access in the sub-Saharan region, which currently stands at less than five percent.

The Main One project is also expected to drive job provision across the continent by encouraging local content development via skills transfer of critical networking technologies.

Thomas E Schaefer Jnr., Senior Engineer - Tyco Telecommunications and head of the team, in their visibility studies and soil testing at the landing site at Nungua in Accra told the paper that the team was so far satisfied with results from the testing and was optimistic that the project will be completed as scheduled.

Main One Cable system, a Nigerian firm with a Mauritius holding entity acquired the first submarine fibre optic cable landing license from the National Communications Authority (NCA) in November 2008, to land its intercontinental undersea fibre-optic cable in the country.

All Africa (http://allafrica.com/stories/200902060814.html)

"The African continent has surpassed North America in terms of mobile subscribers with U.S. and Canada polling 277 million users," he said.

It's incredible how fast the market has grown. Amazing! :shocked:

East Africa: Undersea Fibre-Optic Cable Nears East African Coast


Cedric Lumiti 7 February 2009

Nairobi — The wait for the landing of an undersea fibre-optic cable to boost communication in the region could be coming to fruition as indications point that one arm is almost at the East African coast.

Officials at SEACOM, an undersea cable partly funded by East African countries, have announced that the first portions of the cable are now resting on the seabed of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

The 15, 000-kilometre Sea Cable System (SEACOM) is valued at US$650 million.

The cable is 76 percent African owned and is expected to boost bandwidth and communication between the region and the rest of the world.

The cable has been laid from the edge of the South African waters to Mozambique and cable laying is also proceeding in the Red Sea from Egypt towards the coast of Yemen. A third ship is currently being loaded with the remainder of SEACOM's deepwater cable which will be deployed from India towards Africa, where these three cable segments will be joined.

In parallel to the marine installation, SEACOM has made significant strides in land-based construction. The high-performance optical transmission equipment which connects customers to inland terrestrial networks has been installed in the Maputo, Mumbai and Djibouti cable landing stations.

Construction of the cable station in Kenya will be complete early February followed shortly by the Tanzanian and South African stations. Equipment installation in these locations and in Egypt will be complete in April. At each station, SEACOM has taken special precautions to assure the construction April. At each station, SEACOM has taken special precautions to assure the construction activity is consistent with environmental policy and regulations. As an example, in South Africa, SEACOM recently transferred protected plant species from the cable station site to the Umlalazi National Park with the help of KwaZulu Natal Wildlife Rangers.

SEACOM has also been preparing to provide services to customers by June and recruited over ten experienced local telecommunications professionals from India, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania to operate and maintain the cable stations. They have already been trained at the SEACOM Network Operations Centre in India and are now participating in the testing of the system as it is being installed. A complementary set of personnel is being recruited and will start training in March. These teams will also work with the landing partners' operators in Egypt and Djibouti.

Brian Herlihy, SEACOM President, said: "We have made tremendous progress since our groundbreaking in Mozambique last November and we can now sense a real level of excitement for SEACOM's arrival. Through my travels, I continuously meet people who speak about the many ways they intend to exploit the world of broadband which is about to reach Africa.

http://www.busiweek.com/
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902091293.html

What is the difference between EASSy and SEACOM? They seem to occupy the same area.

They're owned by different people. AKA competition and cheaper prices for us all :)

Ahh, I see. That's the way it should be. :yes:

AccessKenya is diversifying its revenue model to entice more consumers to use the Internet for leisurely pursuits.

The listed ISP unveiled a Sh10 million information portal that it is banking on improving the quality of content and marks the introduction of a new division within the group to focus on creating value-added services.

Marketing manager, Petra Somen, will head the new content division, and develop the portal in conjunction with African Laughter, an ICT solution provider that focuses on developing Websites.

The Website, which offers reviews of local entertainment facilities as well as providing up-to-date information on events and news, is banking on revenues made from advertising to boost its development.

“We have deliberately scaled down our pricing to attract more businesses to the website. Our rates vary from Sh1,000 to Sh6,000,” said Jenny Luesby, director of African Laughter.

“We saw the need to increase the number of Kenyans going online was to provide them with content that they could relate to. We are confident this new portal will enhance our core business which is the provision of internet services,” said Jonathan Somen.

In developing its home.co.ke portal, AccessKenya is adopting a model first used in the ISP industry soon after the market was liberalised.

In the late ‘90s, as ISPs sought to attract Kenyans to the Internet, many built up information websites which consumers would use to navigate the web.

Despite early successes, most of those websites were phased out as users became more Internet-savvy and turned to more universal tools such as search engines to find the information.

The firm said it was developing the portal to take advantage of a second liberalisation period, which is expected to see larger numbers of Kenyans go online.

Much of the activity in the Internet sector is being spurred by the coming of international fibre optic cable projects which are expected to reduce the cost of communication by up to ten times.

Changing trends
Mr Somen said the information portal would be a test case for future projects along the same concept.

“Content is extremely important to the growth of the industry and while it may seem we are deviating from our core business, we are enhancing our offering in line with changing trends in the market place.

HI.GUYS.I NEED SOME HELP. I KNOW CERTAIN AFRICAN COUNTRIES MAKE MORE OF THEIR ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS THAN OTHERS BUT HOW INDEPENDANT THEY ARE?
^^
Kenya makes some computer products under the Starcom brand but I need confirmation on this.

Kenya: Undersea Fibre-Optic Cable Touches Mombasa

Nairobi — The long awaited SEACOM fibre-optic cable arrives at Mombasa today.

The arrival of the cable at Mombasa signals the onset of a whole new era in the telecommunications industry, especially the data services in the East African region.

The project cost is estimated at US$ 700m upon completion. Over-reliance on satellite based data solutions is blamed for the high cost of communication in the region.

Local companies that will buy bandwidth from SEACOM have already made groundwork to ensure they start business as soon as the cable becomes operational. These companies will resell the extended bandwidth to users both corporate and individual.

SEACOM senior vice president Jean Pierre de Leu confirmed to journalists in Naivasha that the cable that will provide broadband solutions, will be fully operational by July.

It is expected that telecommunications costs could go down by 60 percent as the cost of bandwidth will crush significantly. High speed data solutions, especially internet are expected with the increased bandwidth.

This will be the first undersea fibre-optic cable to land on Kenyan soil even as many players promise to come up with such cables.

SEACOM is a fully funded private sector project with most of the ownership in the hands of African entrepreneurs.

About 76 percent of the shareholding in the cable is African while the remaining 24 percent is owned by international stakeholders.

Of the African owners, Industrial Promotion Services has 26 percent; Venfin Limited controls 25 percent while Convergence Partners and Shanduka hold a 12.5 percent stake each.

The debt financing for the project is by Nedbank Capital and Investec Bank.

An increased demand for bandwidth catalyzed by the increased use of 3G mobile phone technology and WiMax has seen shortage in supply of internet and the cable is expected to make a major reprieve. Apart from regular use, the cable will enhance music sharing, video streaming and increased 3D internet.

The cable has been laid from the edge of the South African waters to Mozambique and is proceeding in the Red Sea from Egypt towards the coast of Yemen. A third arm of SEACOM's deepwater cable is deployed from India towards Africa, where these three cable segments will be joined.

In parallel to the marine installation, SEACOM has made significant strides in land-based construction. The high-performance optical transmission equipment, which connects customers to inland terrestrial networks, has been installed at the Maputo, Mumbai and Djibouti cable landing stations.

Construction of the cable station in Kenya is already complete. Similar stations have been erected in Tanzania and South Africa. Equipment installation in these locations and in Egypt, will be complete in April. At each site, SEACOM has taken special precautions to ensure the construction activity is consistent with environmental policy and regulations. As an example, in South Africa, SEACOM recently transferred protected plant species from the cable station site to the Umlalazi National Park with the help of the KwaZulu Natal Wildlife rangers.

SEACOM has also been preparing to provide services to customers by June and recruited over ten experienced local telecommunications professionals from India, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania to operate and maintain the cable stations. Many of these personnel have already been trained at the SEACOM Network Operations Centre in India and are now participating in the testing of the system. A complementary set of personnel is being recruited and will start training in March. These teams will also work with the landing partners' operators in Egypt and Djibouti.

Plentiful and readily available bandwidth will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors that will include the call centre and business process outsourcing industries. Other life-enhancing disciplines such as educational, clinical and scientific research which rely on the real-time sharing of data around the world will also become a reality for many Africans organizations.

The cable will promote competition in the ICT sector while at the same time encouraging research and development.

In South Africa, SEACOM will reduce international bandwidth for universities and research institutions by a whopping 5,000%. Wow!

Rwanda: Government in $100m ICT investment drive
Saturday, 7th March 2009

KIGALI - Government is expected to invest above $100 million in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry by end of this year according to the Minister of Science and Technology Prof. Romain Murenzi.

The big investment priorities include the laying of a fibre optic loop across the country which will take $66m and the purchase of 100,000 laptops estimated to cost $20 million.

About $13m that will be pooled from the $24m communication grant from World Bank will be allocated to connect local fibre to international bandwidth. The commitment from the government is driven by its vision to have a knowledge based economy by 2020.

This was mentioned during the recently ended International Conference on the Development of Equitable Information Society and the role of African Parliaments that took place from 4th to 5th March 2009.

According to Prof. Murenzi the funds are drawn from licence costs of telecommunication companies and allocations from the national budget.

The first phase of laying the cable was in Kigali and the second phase will cover all 30 districts in the country, which are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

It’s envisaged that when national backbone is connected across the country the prices for Internet provision and acquisition will fall, thus helping Rwanda in its transformation into knowledge based economy.

Patrick Nyirishema Deputy Executive Director of Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) highlighted the National Information Communication agenda and noted that currently in Rwanda, access to ICT facilities is not a privilege rather a right to every Rwandan.

RITA has since recently joined the Rwanda Development Board.

New Times (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13827&article=13976)

Kenya: TEAMS Alarmed By Arrival of Seacom
Cedric Lumiti

15 March 2009

Nairobi — With the arrival of a private undersea cable on the East African coast, the Kenyan government has moved to reassure stakeholders that The East Africa Marine Systems Cable (TEAMS) is still on course.

After months of a lull and seemingly no activity in the laying of the government fronted cable, news that the privately owned SEACOM cable had landed at the coastal town of Mombasa appear to have sent jitters in government circles prompting the reassurance.

Government last Tuesday issued an assurance that installation of The East African Marine System (TEAMS) fibre-optic cable by June was still on course.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Communications Dr. Bitange Ndemo said the project's technical and financial aspects were still intact. He however expressed fears the cable laying costs could shoot up with the increasing piracy threat along the coast.

Ndemo spoke during a signing ceremony with shareholders in Nairobi in efforts to privatise the cable so as to expedite its completion. The ceremony also saw the signing of a loan agreement for the same.

He said the Kenyan government had already submitted their funds for the cable just as Kenyan based mobile phone service provider Safaricom which holds a 20 percent stake in the cable also submitted their funds.

Most other firms that had applied for a stake in the project are yet to honour their financing obligations and the government called upon them to move with speed.

"The government has already paid Shs1.6 billion for its portion of shares. All shareholders will contribute a total of Shs10.4 billion," Ndemo said.

Ndemo said the TEAMS cable was expected on the East African coast by mid June given that the laying process will begin March 24.

The public-private partnership is 20 percent owned by the government of Kenya, Safaricom and Telkom Kenya take a 20 percent stake each, while Kenya Data Networks and Econet Wireless Kenya own 10 percent each.

Ndemo denied reports that the SEACOM cable had already landed at the Kenyan coast claiming all that was happening was preparing the ground for the expected landing. He audaciously said this had actually popped up from the Indian Ocean.

His denial was by and large taken as a face saving exercise since he is on record as having sworn that TEAMS would be the first undersea cable on the East African coast.

"Nobody should cheat you that any cable has landed on the coast; all that is happening at the shoreline is preparation for the laying of the cable because the ships cannot get there, they can only get to a particular distance," Ndemo claimed.

He allayed fears that three cables landing in the country would provide more capacity than the country could handle.

"We have capacity for up to 10 cables because our intention is to make this country a regional communication hub," he said.

Meanwhile the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance Joseph Kinyua has said the Attorney General has given all the necessary approval for the project.

"All the sub-systems have been fully manufactured and assembled. In effect, TEAMS is now a fully fledged company," Kinyua said.

Kinyua said the project would stimulate growth in terms of investment in the special economic zones to the tune of $10 billion in the next three years.

East African Business Week (http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1199&Itemid=1)

Nvm.

LOL, why can't they have both? Is having two underwater fiber-optic cables in an area that originally had none such a bad thing? :laugh:

This must be another public-private squabble or something.

Bunch of fools...the more bandwidth the better. Really now, demand will only increase over time o_O

Burundi: Country Gets New Telecom Operator
Walter Isenged

30 March 2009

Bujumbura — The wireless mobile telephony competition has heated up in Burundi after the entry of another operator into the market.

Econet Wireless, a South Africa based telecommunications operator has for the past year been setting up office, recruiting workers, installing masts and doing preliminary testing. Econet Wireless is now connecting clients in what it calls a one-month 'network testing.'

The public has received this new development with enthusiasm and excitement. For quite a while, potential clients were bombarding Econet offices on Avenue Uprona in the center of Bujumbura with requests as a result of the sometimes erratic connectivity of the existing service providers. "Will I get the same number as my previous one on the other network?" was the question one enthusiastic prospective client asked an Econet official.

In a press release, the Managing Director Econet Burundi, Darlington Mandivenga said:

"During these 30 days, customers will be connected to test the voice quality and coverage of the network as the technical team fine tunes everything," he said.

"We are humbled by the support we have received from the people of Burundi and right now we have hundreds of thousands on our waiting list," he added.

Currently, Telecel is the biggest player in the market using the trade name Ucom, with about 295,000 subscribers. The second largest is the state-run Onamob, part of the ONATEL network which has 79,000 subscribers. It is followed by Africell, which recently rebranded to the name TEMPO with 23,000 subscribers.

Yanick Mugisha, the Brand Manager Econet told East African Business Week the plan was to have over 100,000 subscribers in the first month.

Asked how he planned to do this, he said: "Econet is coming onto the market not to play price war games, but to provide first-class quality service."

Already, many clients say they are disenfranchised and are willing to hand in their simcards from other operators in exchange for the much awaited Econet mobile network.

The clincher for Econet might actually be the SMS compatibility agreement it has signed with the other operators. It has been impossible to do SMS communication from one mobile operator to the other. The network testing will avail the network in about 16 provinces where Econet has installed base stations. Econet hopes to cover 94% of the country by the time it launches its network in a month's time.

Other mobile operators have reacted to this entry with Ucom sending an SMS that East African Business Week received to the effect that they have slashed international call rates by over 50%.

One can now call Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania for only Bif400 (US$0.32) during the day and Bif367 ($0.29) after 6:00pm. This will be easily the cheapest call rate in the region. However, this promotion is slated to end on April 20, 2009.

Yannick Mugisha said the delay to launch Econet's mobile services has mainly been due to the extensive testing and installations which have necessitated a great deal of care.

East African Business Week (http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1276&Itemid=1)

Rwanda: High Expectations for Broadband
Gertrude Majyambere

30 March 2009

Kigali — Costs of Internet broadband in the country are expected to reduce from $3,000 to $25 for each Megabyte per second

Information Communication and Technology (ICT) can dramatically improve the quality and availability of public services, World Bank Country Manager Victoria Kwakwa said recently.

In her remarks Kwakwa, highlighted that nearly two-thirds of Africa's population now lives within the range of a mobile network from close to zero.

This was during last week's three-day '3rd annual African e-governance Forum 2009' that took place in Kigali from the 23rd to the 26th of March.

"Broadband is the key to the future of ICT in Africa," Kwakwa said. It's said that broadband in Africa is expensive and inaccessible, not available on a large scale anywhere in Africa.

This year the government of Rwanda committed to invest above $100 million in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

The big investment priorities include laying a national broadband backbone connecting to the coastal submarine cables expected to be completed by 2010.

Laying of the national backbone across the country will pave away for rural telecommunication development and increase the rate of telecommunication penetration in the country and bridge the telecommunication gap.

Two of the submarine cables being targeted include the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) and The East African Marine System (TEAMS). Costs of Internet broadband in the country are expected to reduce from $3,000 to $25 for each Mega byte per second.

Currently charges for bandwidth of 512 kilo bytes per second (512kbps/ 128kbps) costs Frw950,000 per month on wireless while on fiber connection its Frw360,000 for 256 Kilo bytes per second (256kbps/96kbps) per month.

Once the cables are complete, access to international bandwidth connected to Rwanda will increase more than three times and the price will fall by over 50 percent.

According to Diogene Mudenge, the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Agency (RURA) boss, the current Internet penetration is 5 percent from licensed Internet Service Providers (ISPs), MTN, Rwandatel and Artel which is a communications company that belongs to government.

The government is targeting 60 percent penetration by 2012. Currently, mobile phone subscribers in Rwanda are 1.5 million with 1.25 million subscribing with MTN.

About 250,000 subscribe with Rwandatel. The country is targeting 5 million subscribers by 2012.

The projection is based on the growth in mobile phone penetration with a 3rd mobile national operator expected to open office by the end of this year. With the help of New Artel, above 120 Megabytes per second (Mbps) of Internet connection have been provided to rural areas.

The move will help institutions in rural areas to be connected to their main branches for enhancements of services and thus meeting the customer's satisfaction.

Artel is currently equipped to deliver wholesale Internet access and Very Small Aperture Terminal's (VSAT) solutions across the country. It is also the largest supplier of Internet access in the country and the only licensed satellite operator.

VSAT are means of providing data and voice connectivity for remote localities. During the e-Gov forum, participants wanted to know how their respective countries can benefit from the World Bank to fund ICT projects, whereby the country manager believed that the Bank is dictated by national priorities.

Kwakwa hailed the government of Rwanda for having identified ICT as a crosscutting issue in the achievement of the MDG's set to be achieved by 2015.

The New Times (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13851&article=14626)

Telkom expected to invest about R40 billion in the next five years to upgrade its network in South Africa


Telkom expected to invest about R40 billion in the next five years to upgrade its network in South Africa as part of its survival strategy in an increasingly competitive environment, the fixed-line operator said yesterday.

The money would be used to upgrade its existing fixed-line network, expand its data centre operations and build a wireless network.

It had initially planned capital spending of R55 billion, but this was expected to be reduced to about R40 billion, including R10 billion from the proceeds of the Vodacom stake disposal.

Like many firms, Telkom is harmed by the economic downturn, with revenue remaining flat while costs rise.

The company is reinventing itself after selling its stake in Vodacom, which was its biggest contributor to profit.

It separated its business into three units - Telkom South Africa, to be headed by former Telkom executive Pinky Moholi; Telkom International; and Telkom Data Centre, which became operational yesterday.

Reuben September, the chief executive of the Telkom group, said: "Refocusing Telkom represents a positive, purposeful change towards a more accountable and competitive company. This change is a necessary part of Telkom's strategy to maintain and grow its market share in South Africa, while building a strong footprint on the continent."

He added that the process would take two years.

One of the major concerns for Telkom is to bring down costs. Peter Nelson, the chief financial officer, said Telkom was spending millions of rands in information technology and maintenance, and the group would look at ways to reduce these costs.

It would freeze recruitment and there would be no salary increase for executives.

Although Telkom has set its sights on becoming a strong player in Africa, its Nigerian unit, Multi-Links, which it bought in 2006, is facing tough competition in that country.

Nelson said Telkom had underestimated competition.

However, he expects the business to be profitable in the next two years. Multi-Links now has 1.7 million customers, compared with 262 431 in 2007.

The unit operates a fixed-wireless network and offers voice, internet and data services. Nigeria is one of the world's fastest-growing telecoms markets, with a penetration rate of about 30 percent.

Jan Meintjies, an analyst at Gryphon Asset Management, said Telkom's management structure was disappointing, as a lot of haphazard decisions had been taken previously, such as investment in Telkom Media.

"You need to get structures right to manage efficiency," said Meintjies. "It is disappointing that Nigeria was performing badly, because management indicated that it believed it had the right strategy to be competitive."

September said the firm expected growth in both its fixed and mobile services in South Africa.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Business/7568.html

Telkom's R 40bn network investment (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=165289) - give your views

Business Report

Rwanda: Broadband to Become Eassy
Sam Ruburika

2 April 2009

Kigali -- WIOCC is an African company set up as a vehicle for investment in the EASSy submarine cable. It is jointly funded by 12 African telecom operators and a number of global development financial institutions such as the World Bank.

For a country that has prioritized ICT as a tool to enhance development, there is a sigh of relief as the submarine cable will give Rwanda a cheaper broadband provider compared with broadband from satellite which is costly.

For instance, one Mbps (megabyte per second) of the satellite broadband costs Rwanda US$ 1900 a month. This results in a relatively high cost of internet services to the end users, with cyber cafés charging around Frw 600 per hour. Once EASSy is operational, the cost will reduce significantly to about US$ 500 per month for one Mbps.

"Our aim is to reduce the costs of bandwidth to the end user," says Christopher Wood, the CEO of WIOCC. He also points out that lower prices will enhance competition.

The 10,000 kilometer submarine cable system will connect about 20 East and Southern African countries, running across the East coast from South Africa to Sudan.

Despite the significant reduction in broadband costs, Rwanda will still face a higher charge due to it being far away from the sea coast. However, the optic fiber cables currently being laid by local telecommunications companies could lead to a further reduction in costs. The fiber backbone will be connected to Uganda's national backbone and up to the Kenyan coast at Mombasa.

"All telecom companies in East Africa are putting in place fiber optic which will be joined to access the submarine cable. Once this is complete the cost of bandwidth at the coast will be the same as Kigali which would be about US$100 per megabyte," Wood remarks, while warning that if the fiber connection from Kigali to the coast in not complete, broadband would not be significantly cheaper in Rwanda.

He points out that the EASSy network is fully scalable and can offer bandwidth options between 2Mbps up to 10Gbps with flexible contract terms from one month to about 25 years, which is typically the lifetime of the cable system itself.

Buying more bandwidth

Romain Murenzi, the Minister in the President's Office in charge of science & technology, remarks that once Rwanda has been connected to EASSy, it would acquire enough broadband to compete on the regional level and beyond. "Each year we pay more than six million dollars for internet, and with the reduction in costs we can purchase more bandwidth," Murenzi says.

He emphasizes Rwanda's efforts in laying the ICT infrastructure such as the 2300 kilometer national fiber optic backbone, which will fully come into use once the submarine cable was in place. "But we will need to progressively acquire the skills to maintain and run the application once it is in place," the Minister notes.

Meanwhile Rwanda's achievements in ICT have been hailed by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) of which Rwanda became a member two years ago.

According Samuel Fletcher, CTO's corporate communications and international events manager, Rwanda has in recent years distinguished itself in the ICT sector as being a leader in proactive ICT policy making, regulation, mobile and internet broadband growth as well as the recent expansion in connectivity to the remote areas of the nation. These achievements have convinced the council of CTO to organize the third African e-governance forum in Rwanda.

Focus Media (http://allafrica.com/stories/200904021001.html)

West Africa: Togo Telecom sign African undersea cable deal
9 April 2009

Lome -- A consortium of telecoms operators have signed a deal that would pave the way for the laying of South Africa's undersea cable around West Africa to Europe, local telecoms firm Telkom (TKGJ.J) said on Wednesday.

The $600 million West Africa Cable System would boost broadband capacity and could cut comparatively high Internet tariffs in Africa's biggest economy.

The 14,000 km long cable system, which is expected to move data at 3.8 terabits a second, would be supplied by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks and was expected to be completed by 2011, Telkom said in a statement.

Telecommunications companies that have signed the WACS Construction and Maintenance Agreement include Angola Telecom, Broadband Infraco, Cable & Wireless, MTN Group (MTNJ.J), Portugal Telecom (PTC.LS), Sotelco, Tata Communications (TATA.BO), Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom.

SEACOM, a Mauritius-registered private equity venture, has said it plans to launch a 15,000 km undersea cable that links east Africa to Europe and Asia in June this year. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Andrew Macdonald)

All Africa (http://allafrica.com/stories/200904090578.html)

Gabon : Port-Gentil fête l’Internet



A l’occasion de la fête de l’Internet dans le monde, l’agence Icom Gabon organise du 14 au 17 avril dans la capitale économique gabonaise des activités de sensibilisation, d’information et de formation aux nouvelles technologies sous le thème «le numérique pour tous». La première édition de cet événement vise à initier les populations locales à l’outil informatique et soutenir la création de clubs internet dans les établissements d’enseignement secondaires de Port-Gentil pour aider les jeunes à tirer profit des nouveaux outils d’information et de communication.



Port-Gentil célèbre cette année la fête de l’Internet à travers des activités de sensibilisation, d’information et de formation qui sont organisées du 14 au 17 avril prochain par l’agence Icom Gabon.

Placé sous le thème du «numérique pour tous», cet événement est destiné à sensibiliser et informer la société civile sur les enjeux et usages de l'outil Internet. Cette initiative se veut un moment de partage autour des nouvelles potentialités qu’ouvrent les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication.

A cette occasion, l’agence Icom Gabon permettra aux jeunes de la capitale économique gabonaise de participer au fonctionnement du site http://www.icomgabon.com afin de se familiariser avec l’entretien d’un site internet dans sa gestion technique et éditoriale.

«Le Numérique pour tous est donc une rencontre unique dans l’année pour réfléchir, sensibiliser, accompagner les uns et les autres dans l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies et de l’information qui révolutionnent l’existence de chacun depuis quelques années», déclarent les organisateurs de l’événement.

Durant quatre jours, l’agence Icom Gabon sensibilisera les jeunes à la création de clubs internet dans les établissements secondaires de Port-Gentil et proposera des initiations gratuites à l’outil informatique aux membres de ces clubs internet.

Les activités se dérouleront dans les lieux de forte fréquentation de Port-Gentil et seront retransmises en direct sur www.icomgabon.com dans le cadre des démonstrations des nouvelles potentialités qu’offre l’outil Internet.

Icom Gabon est une micro agence de communication qui offre des services dans les domaines de la publicité, l’événementiel, la création de site web, la production, etc.
Publié le 16-04-2009

Telecom Challenges Shadow “Next Generation Network"



Sidewalks in most parts of Addis Abeba have, in the past couple of months, turned into digging sites as the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has been carrying out cable installations.


Theses installations are parts of the state telecom monopoly's nationwide work on multimedia transfer projects, including in rural villages and some of the remotest parts of the country using VSAT (very small aperture terminal), a satellite communications technology.


The project, which comes about at a time when there are a series of complaints about the quality of the services ETC provides, is on the list of the 1.5 billion dollars worth mega expansion projects the telecom has been undertaking for more than a year now; the new fibre optics is being installed by ZTE, a Chinese telecom company that has been awarded the mega vender financing project. It is to replace the current copper cable.


Dubbed Next Generation Network (NGN), the project will go on for the next two years, according to officials at ETC.

The fibre optics under installation will handle a package of telecom services: Broadband Internet and landline telephones; Global System for Mobile (GSM) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA); Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and fixed Next Generation Network (Fixed NGN).


With finalization of the project, the monopoly hopes to provide modern telecom services with much higher data transfer speeds to mobile and portable wireless devices that commonly include network cable supporting voice, data, and video connections.


CDMA technology is one of the wireless standards that is currently in the process of transition from second-generation (2G) to third generation (3G) wireless technology services. It is the standard that delivers the first of three 3G modes. It delivers raw data rates of up to 153 kilobits per second. CDMA includes 1xEV-DO (Evaluation Data Optimization), a new high speed transmission technique for data centric broadband network; it is portable, a flash disk size and can be plugged on any computer to bring up effective and speedy connection.


While ETC staff are busy with the fibre optics cable installation project, problems around mobile phone network complexity, including poor connection and signal of the 3G services seem to have been ignored. Subscribers of these services, particularly of the 3G mobile, have been fiercely complaining about the poor quality of the services, sources at the ETC told, Fortune.



"It has been more than six months since I started facing problems with the 3G mobile," Surafel Setotaw, subscriber of 3G technology, told Fortune.



Although the complaints from subscribers continue, authorities at ETC say that the problem would soon be solved.


"The reason why ETC has come up with NGN is to solve the slow connectivity problems," Anteneh Begashaw, supervisor of Corporate Technical Assistance Department at ETC, said.


The current Micro Wave based connectivity is indolent; but that does not mean the whole system of micro wave is to be left out, Anteneh explained.


After a century of telecom service in the country, the state telecom monopoly was restructured in 1996 and became Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), following which it launched satellite mobile services and a prepaid mobile system in 2003.



Recently, however, ETC seems embroiled in challenges. There are reports that it could not deliver on the landline customers' request. Especially those who want the service en masse, such as new buildings, who have had to wait for months to get just part of the number of lines they requested.

"We have not got the fixed lines we requested to furnish our building," the owner of a newly constructed 10-storey commercial centre told Fortune.


They had requested 500 land lines and were only given 70, the owner added.


"We were told that they [ETC] will give us additional lines in the near future."



Those who could not get any lines claim that they have been forced to provide their tenants with mobile phones.


ETC officials, nevertheless, deny that there is a shortage of land lines.


"We never have land line shortages," Abdurahim Ahmed, Corporate Communications general manager at ETC said. "We have plenty of wireless lines through which customers can access Internet connection and fax lines."


For Abdurahim, the compliant could have been relatively reasonable if it had come from customers out of the capital.http://addisfortune.com/Telecom%20Challenges%20Shadow%20-Next%20Generation%20Network.htm

They need to release their death grip on telecom!! :bash:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3425536138_53c24dd9ee_o.png

Impressive.

Maybe when Somalia calms down, they could put a connection through Seacom and TEAMs as well.

Either way, I am loving the massive change that the east coast is going from no lines to several. :okay:

Goodbye to snail-email in East Africa.:) I hope it will be cheaper too.:)

I should add the completion date for the map above

Name............Condition-Year Finished
SAT3/SAFE.....Finished - 2001
GLO-1............Finished - 2009
TEAMs..........Construction - 2009 - Q2
Seacom.........Construction - 2009 - Q2
EASSy..........Construction - 2010 - Q2
MaIn OnE.......Pre-Construction - 2010 - Q2
ACE..............Proposal - 2011
WACS...........Proposal - 2011

Angola: Angola Telecom to Invest US$1.2 billion in Country’s Fixed-Line Network
Lisbon, Portugal, 23 April – Angola Telecom plans to invest US$1.2 billion in its fixed line network and give priority to interlinking the country with fibre optics, the company’s chief executive said in Lisbon Wednesday.

Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa on the sidelines of the World Telecommunicatiosn Forum, which is taking place in Lisbon until Friday, João Avelino Manuel noted that the investment would be made in interlinking Angola’s 18 provinces with fibre optic cables, New Generation Networks and local wireless networks.

"We are interlinking the entire country, the 18 provinces, and working on a national basis. The priority is to interlink the whole country in order to distribute large amounts of traffic, not only from Angola Telecom, as the incumbent operators, but also to make it possible for other operators to have transmission available, such as mobiles, which is very difficult at the moment,” he said.

Manuel noted that the investment would make it possible for mobile operators “to expand more quickly and be able to cover national roads and municipalities, via their capacities from the fibre optic cable network.”

AngolaPress (http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=7279)

Good news for Angola. :)

Rwanda: RDB, Swedish Firm Sign U.S. $5 Million IT Deal
Edmund Kagire

30 April 2009

Gasabo — The Rwanda Development Board/Information and Communication Technology, Tuesday signed a deal worth US $5.2m with a Swedish ICT firm, Coromatic, to establish a National Data Centre (NDC) where all national data will be stored.

The ceremony which was attended by the Minister in the President's Office in charge of Science and ICT, Prof. Romain Murenzi, took place at Telecom House with the RDB/IT Deputy CEO Nkubito Bakuramutsa signing on behalf of the board and Maths Waxin, the CEO of Coromatic signing on behalf of the Swedish firm.

"This is a very special moment for IT in this country and the whole region, this is going to be one of the best and safest data centres in Africa and the world," said Bakuramutsa in reference to the national data centre which is set to become the first of its kind in the region and on the continent.

The signing follows months of negotiations between the Government body charged with promoting ICT in and the Swedish firm to construct a data centre where all government ministries, institutions and the private sector will have their important data stored.

Minister Murenzi said that the data centre is one of the two major orientations the government has put in place to transform the ICT Sector in the country to enable knowledge creation, transfer and sharing under the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI).

NICI is the national roadmap for ICT-led Socio-Economic Development spanning the 20 years required to realise the Vision 2020 and the National Data Centre is part of the NICI Plan 2005 that aims at building a robust and a modern infrastructure to accommodate a centralized system that would enhance the overall functioning of government entities and the Private Sector.

"This initiative is one of the many programmes the government has put in place as Rwanda positions itself as the region's ICT hub. We are going to be the first country in the region to have this type of data centre and we are also working around the clock to increase the bandwidth to address connectivity problems," said Murenzi.

He further noted that a project partly financed by proceeds from the privatisation of Rwandatel, the government and donors to establish a nationwide optic fibre linking the whole country at a cost of over $70m, is underway.

The World Bank has provided an additional $24m to facilitate the country's plans to connect to the SEACOM undersea cable.

Murenzi revealed that negotiations with SEACOM have come to a conclusion and an agreement will be signed in June 2009 and the whole country will be connected to the Optic fibre by December.

According to the CEO of Coromatic, the firm which has set up over 1,000 national databases in different countries on the globe, the National Data Centre will be a 'High Density Centre' (Tier 3 by International Standards) with the 'newest' and 'safest' technology.

Installation work begins in September and the centre that is expected to hold millions of data from the public and private sectors in the 'safest' way, will be handed over to the government in December and a contractor to manage the centre will be hired.

Bakuramutsa added that the whole programme to rollout and link the public and private sector countrywide to the centre, which will support and enable access to common applications such as SmartGov, Messaging & Collaboration, Unified Communication, travel approval systems, Human resource, payroll and many more will cost around $10m.

He added that the highly secure centre, whose chances of destruction will be very minimal, will connect and allow secure access to information from government offices, health, education sectors as well as the socio-economic data of the country.

He revealed that neighbouring countries could also consider backing up their data on the Rwandan system while a commercial area will be provided for companies and NGO's that would wish to back up their info.

The New Times (http://allafrica.com/stories/200904300343.html)

Telecom Namibia subsidiary to invest USD55m in Angola
Thursday, 30 April 2009 -- Angolan telecoms company Mundo Startel, part-owned by Telecom Namibia, plans to invest at least USD55 million to deploy 100,000 wireless in the local loop (WiLL) telephone lines providing voice, data and internet services in the capital and other areas as it expands across the country in the medium- to long-term. Mundo is building out a fixed-wireless network based on CDMA2000 access technology and NGN backbone infrastructure in partnership with Chinese equipment vendor ZTE. Angola Telecom and Movicel also provide CDMA2000-based services in Angola, based on WiLL and cellular technologies, respectively.

TeleGeography (http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=28204&email=html)

Another undersea cable for East Africa

The MTN Group is investing $700 million in a new submarine cable system, the European Indian Gateway (EIG).

The 15,000 kilometre high bandwidth optical-fibre to be built by Alcatel-Lucent beginning next month will link other planned cable systems in Africa to global telecommunications infrastructure via Asia and Europe.

MTN's cable is expected to increase interest in East Africa's Internet broadband sector, which is already gearing up for three major fibre-optic cables soon.

The EIG will provide a central linking point for cable systems including the East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy) and the West African Cable System (WACS), which MTN also has a stake in.

The EIG cable, equipped with upgradeable transmission facilities, is expected to reduce operating costs for broadband services, as well as increase efficiency, reports The East African.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3425536138_53c24dd9ee_o.png

Soyo is an nagola town. Not DRC. But there is already a Fiber Optic cable under Construction from the Atlantic coast to Kinshasa underway. . It will be 350 Km.

Bintel awarded fourth Gabon mobile telecom operator license


Bintel has announced that it has been awarded a 15-year mobile license from Artel, the telecommunications regulatory authority of Gabon, to become the 4th entrant into the country's highly competitive mobile telephony market.

United Arab Emirates: Thursday, February 19 - 2009 at 14:02

With this award, Bintel estimates its initial investment in 2009 in Gabon to be in excess of $50m. As per the terms of the agreement, the company is licensed to provide the latest voice and data services to customers in Gabon. These will include high speed data and video conferencing among many other services. Following the license acquisition, Bintel has appointed industry veteran Gilles Villenaut as General Manager for its Gabon operations.

'Bintel is committed to redefining Gabon's telecommunications landscape by building a state-of-the-art mobile communications network and providing customers the most advanced mobile services,'

'Bintel's entry into Gabon would further intensify competition in the highly liberalized domestic market, which would ultimately work to the advantage of end users who would have a wider portfolio of services to choose from and can also benefit from more competitive pricing.':cheers:

Gabon has an estimated mobile penetration of about 90%, which is estimated to grow to 120% by 2011. Celtel-Zain's market share stands at about 58%, Gabon Telecom at 34% and Moov at 8%. Bintel is targeting a 6 to 8% share of the Gabon market within its first 12 months and a 30% share within its first 10 years.

Gabon is one of the most economically advanced and politically stable countries in Africa that offers its investors a conducive business environment. Besides being committed to improving Gabon's telecommunications sphere, Bintel is committed to working closely with Gabon authorities to promote the excellent investment opportunities the country offers across diverse industry sectors.

'We consider Africa along with other emerging markets to be one of the most promising telecom markets in the decade to come,' Mr. Baroum said. 'Governments across Africa and other emerging markets are today seized of the importance of telecommunications in advancing economic growth and have been moving quickly to accelerate the development of mobile communications networks, which are more cost-effective to build than traditional fixed lines and also offer higher return on investment and greater consumer benefits.'

'As a company that focuses on emerging markets as its principal market, Bintel's business philosophy is underpinned by its commitment to contribute towards the social and economic development by bringing major investment and employment to the communities in which it operates. We put great emphasis on partnering with local firms and hiring personnel locally, and locals/nationals today constitute more than 80% of our operations resources,' Mr. Baroum added.

http://www.ameinfo.com/185530.html


Ghana outgrows telecoms report

By Daily Guide - Daily Guide
Business/Finance | 1 day ago




GHANA OFFICIALLY has outgrown the West and Central Africa telecommunications report, making it one of the five countries from Africa to be given its own individual country report for telecoms this quarter.

The departure of Ghana was necessitated by the arrival of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who was included in the report for the first time.

Although it is a challenging market, it is also an exciting prospect for operators, as it is already quite a large market, and yet has an extremely low penetration, giving the promise of massive growth in the future.

The difficulty is that the precarious state of the economy and the security situation means that investors may need to wait some time for this enormous growth to really take off.

A market data section for DRC was included, as well as making forecasts for its mobile market and adding it to the Business Environment Rankings, taking the total number of African countries assessed in the Rankings to 22.

DRC has slotted in very close to the bottom of the table, with its incredible low country risk score negating the potential of its telecoms market.

This quarter has seen some other changes take place in the structure of this report, with, among other things, a comprehensive summary of the economic situation of the included countries brought forward to the front of the report, to complement the analysis of the Business Environment Rankings.

As for the other countries of the report, few have seen major developments in this latest update.

The duopoly in Cameroun continues, with Orange making up for the poor 2008 second quarter it had with a strong performance in the third quarter, and the strong competition in Cote d'Ivoire continuing to encourage good investment, although network quality and dropped calls are still a problem, here and elsewhere in the region.

Change has also been limited in Mauritania and Senegal.

Mali and Gabon have seen the most significant developments. Mali, hardly a star of the region, has seen real developments in the long rumoured part privatisation of Sotelma, with Moroccan incumbent and regional investor taking a stake.

This is good progress for telecom liberalisation in Mali, and the report has altered its Business Environment Rating accordingly.

Meanwhile in Gabon, still standing out as the only really developed market in this region, a fourth mobile licence has been auctioned, won by a little known outfit from Bahrain, expanding its presence in Africa. Further competition should help to spice up Gabon's market, and one hopes to see some more inventive value added services coming from this country.

The stupid Somali pirates have been blamed for delaying SEACOM for a month.

I hope that their presence does not impact the development of EASSy and other undersea cables that happen to go near Somali waters.

Link: http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=13C3BAA0-1A64-6A71-CE4A930AECC06903


SEACOM delays cable plans because of Somali pirates
Rebecca Wanjiku
24.06.2009 kl 19:24 | IDG News Service

SEACOM has delayed its switching-on date by a month, after threats by Somali pirates along the Indian Ocean route from India disrupted the cable installation plans.

SEACOM was expected to light up at a fancy hyped party in the coastal city of Mombasa on June 27, but the party has been pushed to July 23. Increased pirate activity in April and May, in terms of intensity and geographical coverage, necessitated changes in cable installation plans.

"The planned route required the ship to transit an area of increased pirate activity where other ships had been attacked or seized," said Brian Herlihy, SEACOM CEO. "It was imperative that strong measures be put in place to guarantee the successful completion of the cable system and the safety of the ship and its crews."

The Somali pirates have terrorized ships along the Gulf of Aden and have out-muscled a combination of naval ships from NATO countries and the Kenyan navy, a weaker contingent compared to western forces.

The ship laying the cable from South Africa (Mtunzini landing station) to Kenya (Mombasa) docked at the port two months ago, and the cable has already undergone testing. SEACOM, which is hoping to be the first provider of fiber-optic connectivity in East Africa, pegged the lighting-up date as June 27, hoping to navigate the chaotic Somali waters in two months and test the whole cable system.

“This setback should, however, be seen against the herculean efforts made by the team to see this project come to fruition over an incredibly tight schedule of only 18 months. We remain extremely excited and look forward to witnessing the huge difference that affordable, high-quality and plentiful bandwidth will have throughout eastern and southern Africa," Herlihy said.

In the meantime, SEACOM is working with its contractor, Tyco Telecommunications, to find ways to accelerate the work that remains to be done and push up the service date to before July 23.

The East Africa Marine System ship laying cable from Fujaira in the Middle East to Mombasa docked two weeks ago, and the cable owners promised to fully deploy and test the cable and offer services by September.

While TEAMS is owned by a public-private partnership, SEACOM is privately funded and over three-quarters African-owned. The two cables are competing in their launch dates and provision to African retail carriers for equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth, removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting east and southern African economic growth.

SEACOM’s two fiber pairs will have capacity of 1.28TB/s, to enable high-definition TV, peer-to-peer networks, IPTV and surging Internet demand. Pricing will be significantly lower than current satellite.

Also found this, although a month old...


AfDB Supports Submarine Fiber Optic Cable for Western Africa
A Senior Loan of up to USD 66 million to finance the Main One Project

Tunis - 28 May 2009- The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved financing of USD 66 million towards the Main One Cable Company for developing a submarine fiber optic cable connection along the West African coast. With this investment, the Bank has further expanded its wide support for African ICT projects following investments in the East African "EaSSy" submarine cable and the two satellites Rascom and New Dawn.

The project totaling USD 240 million will involve the laying of 7,000 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cable between Seixal (a suburb of Lisbon) in Portugal, Accra in Ghana, and Lagos in Nigeria. The system will be based on a trunk-and-branch topology and include branching units to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire, as shown in the photo. The 1.92 Tbps of available bandwidth will be leased wholesale to telecom operators and internet service providers on an open access basis, thereby encouraging competitive pricing and a large customer base. The project has already attracted broad interest and MST, the Nigerian based sponsor, is in the process of securing long term contracts with a number of the largest operators in Nigeria and Ghana.

This investment comes at an opportune time to unlock the constrained West African telecommunications market and catalyze the economic potential of the region. A compelling opportunity exists to lower the restrictive cost of international telecommunications and significantly expand internet access via submarine cable, which will lead to greater efficiency and more competitive business. Main One is an important step towards realizing this opportunity.

The considerable increase in available bandwidth from the Main One cable will provide telecom operators with the additional capacity they require to expand networks and mobilize a broader range of services. The system will contribute to an immediate 50 percent drop in the price of bandwidth in Nigeria and Ghana, and continued price reduction is anticipated over time:

"The project's main positive outcomes stem from its strong infrastructure development effects. By dramatically lowering the cost of ICT services, annual cost savings to West African consumers will range from USD 30 million in the early years to USD 160 million within 10 years."
- Tim Turner, Private Sector Director.

The Main One project aligns closely with the Bank's infrastructure orientation and private sector development strategy, and the ICT Strategy for 2008-2010 in particular. Specifically, the project is congruent with the Bank's Country Strategy Papers (CSP) for Nigeria and Ghana which both underscore private sector intervention in the infrastructure space. In addition, Main One ties in with the Bank's role as a lead agency implementing the medium- to long-term strategic framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200906010879.html

Egypt signs $10 million deal with Google

CAIRO: Egypt signed a $10 million deal with Google to support domestic business and workforce development, a step forward in the government’s attempt to spur the nation’s budding IT industry.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) sought the internet giant’s support to provide an advertising platform for Egyptian products and services. As part of the deal, Google must invest 25 percent of payment back into the Egyptian economy.

The deal was announced on the tail end of MCIT Minister Tarek Kamel’s visit to the United States last week, during which he forecast that Egypt’s information technology and information technology enabled service exports to the US would increase to $1.1 billion by 2010.

Egypt’s information technology sector continues to grow, spurred by an overwhelmingly young population and an underdeveloped industry that has left room for plenty of expansion.

Total IT spending is expected to increase from $1.2 billion in 2008 to $1.9 billion by 2013 despite the global economic troubles that have reduced previous forecasts, according to a recent Business Monitor International report on the state of the Egyptian industry.

In a nation lagging behind in technological pervasiveness — only around 10 percent of 400,000 medium or large-sized companies have computers, according to one recent survey — computer penetration is expected to nearly double to 17 percent by 2013.

Despite a recent fall in sales, BMI projects a computer hardware industry worth $1.2 billion by 2013.

Local desktop producers serve a major percentage of the growing industry, with Egyptian companies such as Centra, Metra and Prosilab all occupying top-five places in the desktop market.

But Egypt’s growth has been dependant on cooperation with the international community.

With low costs and an accessible educated workforce, Egypt has emerged as a major destination for global outsourcing. It ranked sixth in AT Kearney’s 2009 Global Services Location Index, and first in the region.

Local indirect investment has also witnessed a recent spur in activity. Most notably, Google has made inroads into the Egyptian industry, led by the recent $10 million agreement.

Google also announced last week the winners of the Knol competition among several Egyptian universities, intended to encourage Arabic language submissions to the company’s information sharing website.

Various international corporations including Intel, Oracle, Cisco and IBM have also made recent large scale investments in the country, opening support centers serving Egypt and the international community.

IBM opened Egypt’s first Nanotechnology Research Center last week in collaboration with Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency.

The Egyptian government has taken an active role in supporting the underdeveloped industry. Tax and customs reforms — including halving the maximum corporate tax rate — have sought to encourage foreign investment, while the government has directly supported technological infrastructure, bandwidth capabilities and educational and telecommunications projects.

In August 2008, the ministry extended the “Computer for Every Home” initiative nationwide, offering low-cost computers in collaboration with private companies.

Egypt has similarly taken successful strides to reduce piracy, and was named the top reformer in 2007 by the World Bank.

Egypt sets goal of surpassing US$1.1 billion in information technology export revenues by 2010

EGYPT. The strength of the relations between the US and Egypt on a business level has never been better, and Egypt is primed to increase the volume of its IT/ITES exports to US$1.1 billion by 2010.


This was the message communicated by Dr Tarek Kamel, Egyptian Minister of Communications Information Technology at a special luncheon hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt), in Washington, DC. Also attending this luncheon were Aneesh Chopra, US Chief Technology Officer, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Richard Patterson, Vice President of Global Delivery, IBM.


During the visit to New York and Washington DC, Dr Kamel and Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) officials met with senior business executives from top Fortune 100 companies like Board Chairman and CEO of IBM Corp Samuel J Palmisano to discuss new business, technology innovation and future opportunities to collaborate in Egypt.

Egypt has been highly aggressive over the past decade in delivering on major infrastructure, bandwidth, educational and telecommunications projects to drive increased interest in companies looking to establish major global service delivery centers in the country.


"Egypt is now at the new crossroads for next stage in the IT revolution," said Dr Kamel. "With a long history of innovation, we are a young, energetic country with a population that grew up in the technology world, so we've keyed some of the specific goals as a nation around technology, being a hub for innovation and research, cyber security and cross-border collaboration.


"Egypt is located on the paths of most optical cables linking Africa and Asia with Europe and North America. Egypt has also developed fiber connectivity with its neighbours, which makes it a prime location for transient traffic to the region.

"With the only direct connection from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt is also strategically positioned to be a manufacturing, logistics and distribution hub for Europe and the Middle East.


"Many people do not realise that we are a multi-stakeholder country. English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Arabic are all common languages that are currently serviced out of Egypt.

"So many companies across Europe and the Middle East come to Egypt and are very comfortable with the language, culture and communications," Dr Kamel continued.

AT Kearney recently positioned Egypt as sixth on its 2009 Global Services Location Index, an improvement of seven ranks from 2007.

Cairo was also ranked in the seventh position amongst top 50 emerging outsourcing cities across the globe in a study prepared by Global Services-Tholons.

Currently, companies such as Microsoft, Vodafone, Teleperformance, Wipro, SQS, Valeo, and Alcatel all have offices in Egypt's Smart Village, a 600-acre technology business park in Cairo. In May of this year, Delta Rasmala relocated its own Egypt headquarters to Smart Village.


"Global IT and telecommunications companies find that our Egyptian market provides real opportunity and advantages for investment including competitive operational costs, political stability, and highly qualified human resources," Dr Kamel stated.

Egypt continues to make progress in combating software piracy as highlighted by its reduced software piracy rating in the sixth annual Business Software Alliance (BSA), IDC Global Software Piracy Study.

The report sees Egypt's 2008 rating drop a further one percent on the previous year, with levels reducing to 59%, and a total fall of 10% since 2003.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Egypt's piracy rates have fallen and these rates are well below other countries such as Morocco, the Philippines, and Bulgaria.


Egypt is primed for business growth driven by tax, customs and financial sector reforms. Egypt was named as leading global economic reformer by the World Bank in its 'Doing Business 2007' report.


Earlier this month, Cisco and ITIDA announced that Cisco was going to be adding a brand new customer service and support center in Egypt as a means to serve its customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with employees that could communicate in seven different languages.


Egypt is now, more than ever, at the crossroads of where technology, culture, innovation and business meet.

"Through the appropriate legal and regulatory reforms which can accommodate deregulation and development of the telecommunications sector, the government of Egypt has helped put laws in place around e-commerce, intellectual property and investment to help incoming companies truly maximise their profitability," said Dr Kamel.

New tax and customs reforms were implemented by the government, according to which the highest personal tax rate was cut from 32% to 20% and the corporate tax rate cut went from 42% to 20%.


"Much of Egypt is now connected by main roads, power generation has improved considerably and Egypt is enjoying a remarkable talent pool as investing in human capital is part and parcel of the government's plan," Dr Kamel continued.

"Egypt's human resources have always been one of its greatest assets, with its almost 330,000 college graduates yearly - 31,000 alone focused on engineering or science - enjoying excellent multilingual capabilities.


"Egyptian leadership is also focused on collaborating with companies to advance the penetration of the Internet in Egypt and to get the nation on the forefront of technological developments, while at the same time focused on protecting and supporting its youth in using the Internet as a means of creativity and innovation.


"The dreams of our generations are great and so are the challenges, stretching hands of cooperation and collaboration is the only way to envisage a better world. It is high time to put differences and discrimination aside, to bridge all the gaps by exchanging expertise with openness and maturity needed to push the technology forward, build on what was achieved and innovate for the future. As change is the wave of the age, innovation and creation is the future, and our role is to secure it for the coming generations."

^^ Good work.

East Africa: ICT Takes Centre Stage in EAC Development Plans
Bobi Odiko

There is no better way than applauding the impetus following recent developments at the EAC laying emphasis that Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is taking centre stage in the way of doing business at the EAC.

The best part of the arrangement in the bigger picture, concerns the laying down of the much- hyped- about fibre optic cables.

With the coming of the fibre optics, we anticipate that sooner than later, the entire region shall indeed be networked, enabling the efficient and easy tapping into of various e-connection interventions in the region.

Late last week, the East African Community moved a notch higher launching the EAC web portal at its Arusha headquarters, bringing together a number of resources that shall henceforth be available on-line.

According to a media dispatch from the Community, the web portal docked on www.eac.int provides links to fully-fledged stand alone websites created for the various sectors of the Community.

The launch took place hot on the heels of yet another launch of the first regional lawyers blog by the East Africa Law Society (EALS) in Bujumbura, Burundi and Kigali, Rwanda. Similar launches by EALS are expected in the rest of the Partner States shortly.

The blog whose feed address is www.blog.ealawsociety.org has been developed as part of the organisation's wider strategy to technologize the legal profession and enhance the networking of the profession in the EAC region.

The blog offers its membership a more approachable, informal information-environment in which the stakeholders and general public gets to exchange views and learn about achievements and innovations of EALS.

It also provides a forum where challenges that face the legal and civil society fraternity and the regional integration process in general, can and should be tackled.

The above momentum justifies the importance with which the use of ICTs is gaining ground in the region. Article 7 of the Treaty establishing the EAC, highlights the principles that govern practical achievement of the Community as inter alia, the provision and creation by Partner States of an adequate and enabling environment including putting in place conducive policies and basic infrastructure to enable integration.

Sound telecommunications, broadband and communication facilities form an important backbone of infrastructure.

In addition to the use of websites in disseminating information and communications, the region is also now embracing e-governance strategies all the way from the government sectors to the regulators, operators and the civil society.

Discussions at the regional level are on-going with the Partner States focusing on policy and regulatory issues, projects, institutions, harmonisation and governance including the processes for implementation.

The policy harmonisation framework originates from the potential impact of ICTs on economic growth and regional cooperation.

Considering that the EAC partner states are at different stages of ICT development in terms of penetration of ICT infrastructure, service provision and policy, processes of harmonisation becomes critical as we move towards the formation of the common market.

Ideally, there is significant room in the new discourse for regional co-operation and ICT policy harmonisation to meet the single market agenda of the EAC.

At the outset, the region is determined to strengthen its economic, social cultural and other ties for balanced and sustainable development through the customs union and common market as stages that shall lead to a monetary union and ultimately a political federation as intimated by the EAC Treaty. My take from the overarching scenario is the need to continuously make use of ICTs and particularly exchanges through the websites and blogs and to further spread the gospel in fast tracking regional integration.

The writer comments on socio-economic issues and is based in Arusha.


Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200907070683.html

Telecommunication: Over 150 km of optical fiber cables already laid.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of reconstruction, Emile Bongeli, and Minister of Posts, Telephones and Telecommunications, Louise MUNGA, traveled last week to Kisantu, Bas-Congo province, to ascertain the state of the National Network Blackbone project in DRC.


This is the transmission network by fiber optic cables for the OCPT whose work launching, executed by the Chinese company China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC), occurred on 26 February 2009.

In fact, since 4 March 2009, the company completed construction for laying fiber optic cables on more or less 150 km from Kinshasa. The work will extend to Moanda, 650 km from the capital. New transmission sites were selected.

In his circumstance words, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications said that, in addition to equipment, all materials and technical instruments of the project are pre-positioned at the sites under construction.

She also argued that "the transmission network by fiber optic is the basis of all communication networks and supports the construction of other networks. This allows economizing investment, enjoying the benefits of broadband, while ensuring confidentiality of data."
__________________

^^The goal is to lay 10,000 Kms of the Optical Fiber Cable all over DRC

United Arab Emirates to invest in the telecommunications sector. Monday 13th July 2009

A delegation of United Arab Emirates, led by Special Envoy of the Sultan of Oman, Ahmed bin Saif Rawatti stays in Kinshasa in order to explore investment opportunities in the DRC in the telecommunications sector.


The envoy of the Sultan of Oman has announced the news to the press after a meeting last Saturday with the Minister of Posts, Telephones and Telecommunications, Louise Munga.

After meeting with the Minister of PTT, the delegation made a clear idea of the sector in which their country plans to invest in the DRC, "said Ahmed bin Saif Rwatti, stating that during their brief stay in Kinshasa they met a very dynamic people.

African ICT ministers get organised
BY STAFF WRITER , ITWEB

[ Johannesburg, 17 July 2009 ] - The Department of Communications (DOC) is set to take part in meetings which will discuss the harmonisation of ICT policy and regulatory frameworks in Africa.

Deputy communications minister Dina Pule will take part in the bureau and steering committee meetings at the upcoming African Union (AU) Communications Information Technology Ministerial conference.

The meetings will take place from 20 to 21 July, in Addis Abba, Ethiopia, and reports will be sent to the country ministers responsible for ICT.

The meetings will identify priority ICT programmes and projects, which will be harmonised for implementation across the continent. They will also consider recommendations by the AU infrastructure development programme for Africa for ICT and the preparations for the 2010 January summit on ICT.

SA was one of two countries which served on the technical team that reviewed ICT policy and regulatory frameworks for the African continent. These committee meetings will also act as follow-up sessions, which will discuss the programme of action to implement the outcomes and recommendations of the study.

Some of the other countries that will also attend the meetings and participate in the workshop are Kenya, Uganda, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Tunisia.

The deputy minister will also travel with a delegation from the DOC, which includes deputy director-general Dr Keith Shongwe and chief directors Themba Phiri and Nonkqubela Jordan.

Talking it through

Representatives at the meetings will discuss issues relating to the work of the AU Commission. One of the key concerns will be the need to improve AU member states' national telecommunications and ICT policies. The committee will also look at ways of aligning national policies with those proposed by the AU Commission in its reference framework.

Postal policies will also be discussed. Member states and regional economic communities will be required to improve their national postal policy and align them with those proposals made by the African Union Commission. Of urgency will be the establishment of an autonomous regulator that standardises postal services in countries.

The need to mobilise resources to accelerate the implementation of the selected flagship projects will also feature on the agenda. Initiatives, such as the African Regional Action Plan for Knowledge Economy, are considered priority and are seen as key contributors to infrastructure and capacity building. The meeting will also discuss the establishment of an ICT fund to foster the implementation of these flagship projects.


Link: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2009/0907171032.asp?O=FPTOP&S=IT%20in%20Government&A=ITG

DR Congo: France Telecom plans to bring its expertise in telecommunications sector. Saturday 18th July 2009

A delegation of the French company "France Telecom", led by its Director for Africa and Middle East, Mr. Bruno Bourgur, met with the Minister of Posts, Telephones, Telecommunications (PTT), Louise Munga, on opportunities to bring his expertise in the development of telecommunications sector in the DRC.


Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mr. Bourgur stated they have discussed with the Minister, issues relating to the rehabilitation of the Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunications (OCPT) in its role as public operator and the possible granting of a license to France Telecom to operate in the DRC."

“We are interested to bring the best of our technology and our expertise to advance the market in the DRC”, he hammered, adding that his company is able, as a global operator to intervene successfully in the Congolese market.

The France Telecom group operates in at least 32 countries, including 16 countries in Africa and uses the brand "orange" as its trade identity in the countries where it operates.

‘SEACOM is turning on the switch for you to enjoy true broadband!’



The long awaited SEACOM cable is officially ready for service after eighteen months of feasibility studies and shareholder agreements, a nine month marine survey and a nineteen month cable construction period.

The $600-million, 17 000 km submarine fibre-optic cable system has a design capacity of 1.28 Tbps and will effectively link Cape Town and Johannesburg with London using Neotel as a partner.

“From today, the 1.28Tbps 15,000km undersea fibre-optic cable system will provide African retail carriers with equal and open access to affordable bandwidth, removing national backhaul and international infrastructure bottlenecks, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of east and southern African economies,” SEACOM said in its official blog.
Commenting on the finalisation of the Project, Brian Herlihy, SEACOM CEO, said: “Today is a historic day for Africa and marks the dawn of a new era for communications between the continent and the rest of the world. Our tireless efforts of the past 24 months have come to fruition, and we are proud to be the first to provide affordable, high quality broadband capacity and experience to east African economies. Turning the switch ‘on’ creates a huge anticipation but ultimately, SEACOM will be judged on the changes that take place on the continent over the coming years.”

In South Africa Neotel is SEACOM’s landing party, and will have a Johannesburg PoP and Cape Town PoP which are connected to the Mtunzini cable station where the SEACOM cable landed (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/8214.html) in late May.

To celebrate the launch of SEACOM, Neotel (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=169) and CISCO have invited stakeholders and the media to a live demonstration of the fibre optic cable. Delegates will also be given the opportunity to test drive the SEACOM cable through provided Internet connections.

“SEACOM is turning on the switch for you to enjoy true broadband!” the companies said in a joint statement.


SEACOM switch-on (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=183476) discussion

Great news. :cheer:

I can't wait for EASSy too.

East Africa fibre-optic will save 90 pct cost: Seacom
Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:12pm GMT

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Fibre-optic cables for internet service in East Africa are 90 percent cheaper than satellite and will underpin the region's economic development, a SEACOM executive said on Thursday.

The telecommunications firm last week launched services in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique using its undersea cable.

The 17,000 km cable, operated by a Mauritius-registered private equity venture, links Africa to Europe and Asia and provides broadband speeds of up to 1.28 terabits per second.

"We are providing economic growth to the region at a very affordable price. Submarine cables are 90 percent cheaper than satellite," SEACOM Senior Vice-President Jean-Pierre de Leu told a regional investment conference in Nairobi.

De Leu said it was important for the cable, which has been connected via ports along the East African coast, to be extended inland as quickly as possible.

"If we didn't bring the fibre-optic cable all the way inside the continent, it would be very difficult for those countries to develop a network," he said.

The company has said that Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be using the service within the next two months.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved


Link: http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE56T0CM20090730

Such heartwarming news.

I liked this article though some of what's said here is also stated in Xuseins link.


Written by EDRIS KISAMBIRA
Saturday, 25 July 2009
KAMPALA, UGANDA - The first of three under-sea fibre optic cables being laid on the eastern seaboard of Africa has gone live in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.

It is widely believed that the cheap bandwidth that the sea cable is coming with will open up opportunities for governments and business community to compete globally and drive economic growth.
The US$650 million, 1.28 terabytes per second (Tb/s) 1,700 kilometre cable system links southern and eastern Africa to global networks via India and Europe. Backhauls linking Johannesburg, Nairobi and Kampala with the coastal landing stations have been established and SEACOM is also working with its national partners to commission the final links to Kigali, Rwanda and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia shortly.

Brian Herlihy, the Chief Executive Officer SEACOM said the cable opens up unprecedented opportunities, at a fraction of the current cost. Today, one megabyte per second (Mbps) connection per month costs between $2,500 and $5,000 but SEACOM plans to sell a megabyte at between $50 and $150.

Today, supply of bandwidth is constricted - a factor that explains the slow Internet speeds and high prices, but SEACOM expects internet service providers (ISPs) to buy more bandwidth given the price will reduce by about 80% what a megabit costs today.

SEACOM management marked the launch of the cable with a 1G bps live international connection and live high-definition video feed over an IP network to interconnect the other member countries with the launch ceremony, which was held in Dar es Salaam.

But what does SEACOM going live mean to the ordinary East African? President Jakaya Kikwete who officially switched on the cable system couldn't have put it in a better way as he delivered the launch speech.

"With this technology in place, a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in New York will be able to supervise and direct a doctor at Muhimbili Hospital through a complex operation that today requires one to travel to the USA," Kikwete said.

With the broadband connection, Kikwete said, someone will be able to download an application form when they apply for a passport from any part of the country, fill it out and send it back to the immigration department.

Within a few days, they will pick up their passport from their local post office. "It will reduce unnecessary movement of people, contact with people and above all corruption," Kikwete said.

For rural Tanzania, Kikwete said, a farmer will be able to sell their beans as far as President Hugo Chavez's (Venezuela) kitchen easily when they link-up with a buyer on the other end.

Herlihy called the day historic for Africa as it marked the dawn of a new era for communications between the continent and the rest of the world.

The unprecedented capacity, quality of bandwidth and connectivity brought to Africa by the SEACOM network was demonstrated at simultaneous events in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique.

Mr. Fred Moturi, the SEACOM Uganda representative said the cable is intended to provide equal and open access to affordable bandwidth which encourages volume discounts and large bandwidth growth unlike the expensive satellite connections we currently rely on.

With this enormous capacity, the cable will enable high definition TV, peer networks, IPTV and surging internet demand.

"Plentiful and readily available bandwidth will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors that will include the call centre business process outsourcing industries," Moturi said.

Today, Uganda uses between 400 and 600 Mbps of bandwidth but according to Herlihy, when SEACOM launches, the Uganda market will have between two and three gigabytes of bandwidth.

SEACOM will provide some 80 gigabytes (10% of the cable's capacity) initially and that is expected to be sufficient.

Africa, like the rest of the world, is experiencing enormous growth in capacity demand due to the Internet's ability as a medium for communication, providing information and entertainment.

In an earlier meeting, Herlihy said SEACOM's business philosophy will be low cost, high volume supply of bandwidth.

There will be two options to purchase capacity from SEACOM including what is called the IRU (Indefeasible Right of Use) as well as lease of capacity.

IRU is an upfront direct payment for an STM1, the standard telecommunications unit for a 155 megabytes per second (Mbps) chunk of bandwidth, rising to STM-4, through to STM64, amounting to 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps).

Under this arrangement, the purchaser owns the allocated capacity for 20 years and can resell it to whoever they want. Operators will pay $3.5 million for an STM1, $11.6 million for an STM4 and $34.7 million for an STM16.

Currently, an STM1 (155 Mbps) lease from a satellite broadband provider costs $387,500 per month. Over 20 years (240 months), this amounts to $93 million.

The second arrangement is through lease and is more expensive. SEACOM will also allow small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to group together to buy capacity.

Herlihy said SEACOM has created an artificial ceiling that will work well to prevent wholesalers from charging the end-user high bandwidth fees.

SEACOM, privately funded and three-quarters African owned, is expected to provide bandwidth on an open access basis, allowing all operators to have equal access to the cable. African countries currently rely on expensive and slow satellite connection for telephones and the Internet.


http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1921&Itemid=2

President Banda launches the new Zain building in Lusaka

Republican President Rupiah Banda says government is determined to ensure that the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector performs well.

Mr. Banda said the contribution of the ICT sector to the national treasury has continued to grow over the years.

He said this in a speech read for him by Communications and Transport Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa when he officially launched the new US$ 8 million Zain Zambia building in Lusaka today.

The President said because of the ICT’s growth, government has developed a futuristic policy for the sector.

He said the sector has embarked on the development of an appropriate legal and regulatory framework.

Mr. Banda said parliament is currently discussing three ICT’s bills, namely the Electronic Communications Bill, the Transactions Bill and the Postal Services Bill.

He said the bills are designed to align the Zambian ICT sector with the regional, continental and global best practices.

He said the ICT sector has continued to remain resilient to the international financial shocks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Banda has said government will continue to engage the private sector in the development of the ICT sector in the country.

The President further said government appreciates the investment made by the private sector, which is resulting in the growth of the national treasury through tax and non-tax contributions.

He said these are some of the benefits the government is realizing from increased investment in the country.

President Banda also urged Zain Zambia not to down-size on its labour force, as that would negatively affect some of the company’s employees but instead to put in place measures that could make Zain’s operations more vibrant in the country.

He encouraged the Zain shareholders to focus on Zambia as the country is now among the top investment destinations in Africa.

Speaking earlier, Zain Zambia Managing Director David Holiday said Zain is determined to bring in innovative products and services that would help create a healthy business environment to make Zambia a more attractive investment destination.

Mr. Holiday further commended the government for granting Zain a license to operate in Zambia, through the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ).

New Africa broadband 'ready'
Rory Cellan-Jones
BBC technology correspondent

Almost two months after the first high-speed cable made landfall, the highest residential internet speed offered by Kenya's largest ISP remains capped at one megabit per second (Mbps).

That speed is available only at night and at weekends, for an annual cost of $1,440 (£860). The average Kenyan annual wage is about $800, the UN estimates.

Dongle dilemmas

Until late July, East African internet users were forced to pay for connections routed through expensive satellite connections.

Uptake was slowed by costs and business competitiveness was hampered by the delay in sending data from one point to another via satellite.

But with the imminent availability of the 1.28 terabits per second Teams connectivity, business figures, ISPs and the Kenyan government now insist that high-speed, low-cost internet is just around the corner.

Links are being completed to other East African nations, "digital villages" are being built in rural areas, and the speeds on offer are increasing, albeit slowly.

"The cable is here, it is functional, and they are selling capacity," Bitange Ndemo told the BBC.

However, some in Nairobi feel that the cables themselves were over-hyped.

"I thought the cable would land and the next week we would have fast internet at home," said Ken Kasima, a developer for the successful crowdsourcing service Ushahidi.

Speaking at a cafe in the basement of a Nairobi shopping centre where fellow developers and programmers meet to use a free wi-fi connection, Mr Kasima said the price of his 512kbps internet connection was preventing him working effectively at home.

Rory Cellan-Jones visits St Charles Lwanga Secondary in Mombasa which cannot afford a web connection.

His connection, like much of Kenya's personal internet in a country without a significant landline telephone network, is delivered by a mobile phone operator via a 3G dongle connected by USB. A top-up card gives him 1GB of data use for a fee of 2,500 Kenyan shillings (£20; $33).

At that price, Mr Kasima insists he needs to carefully control what he does online in an effort not to waste his credit and his money. Even if the connection allowed it - which it barely does - listening to music or watching video online is not sensible.

"When you take it in comparison to what you're doing, it's a lot (of money), trust me. It's like spending a million to buy a wheelbarrow," Mr Kasima said.

Slow process

Perhaps surprisingly, the managing director of one of Kenya's most prominent ISPs agrees with part of Mr Kasima's analysis.

Jonathan Somen of Access Kenya told the BBC that some in the communications industry were guilty of making unwise pronouncements before the cables landed.

Kenyans talk about their hopes for high speed broadband

But Mr Somen - whose company is a shareholder in Teams - freely admitted that his products were aimed at business users and "high-end" residential customers, pointing out that Kenya needs major and costly investment to build a modern telecoms infrastructure.

"A lot of companies, ourselves included, have made significant investments in international and local infrastructure to deliver the new bandwidth," Mr Somen said.

"The more people get connected the more the economies of scale will kick in and prices will come down, but you can't expect fibre to land and that's the answer to all of our prayers.

"You have got to go through the stages to build up the infrastructure and the content."

His attitude is at odds with the approach of Bitange Ndemo, who called for those companies with investments to pay off to lower their prices to attract new customers.

"In Africa the argument is always that there are fewer customers so there is a need to charge a high premium," he said.

"That is what annoys me, because you need to have low prices to get more people."

Market forces

On the outskirts of Nairobi, though, one place where prices have fallen is KenCall, an outsourcing company which says data costs have shrunk by 90% since Seacom went online.

Where the company previously paid $3,000 for a one megabit per second (Mbps) connection via satellite, it now pays just $300, operations director Eric Nesbitt said.

As a firm which routinely deals with foreign clients and tries to offer Africa as a viable business alternative to clients in Europe, the US and beyond, that cost reduction is critical.

"We are now on equal terms with the rest of the world," Mr Nesbitt said, predicting that Kenya would now be just three years behind a country like the UK in adopting the latest technology.

Adverts around Nairobi seem to back Mr Nesbitt's analysis. Billboards promoting digital TV packages and internet bundles loom large over the city. Internet TV is on the way.

For Bitange Ndemo, the opportunities offered by the new connections are virtually unlimited.

"We have just opened our market from 37 million to six billion," he said. "We can become players if we work with a purpose. Africa can only succeed if we think that way."


Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8257038.stm

Riding the digital express
VIEWPOINT
By Calestous Juma

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46382000/jpg/_46382452_-40.jpg

The first undersea fibre optic cable, Seacom, reached the east African coast in July 2009.

This "Digital Express" is the most important infrastructure investment in eastern Africa since the construction of the Uganda Railway which integrate colonial east Africa into the British Empire.

Unlike the railway, dubbed the "Lunatic Express" by its critics, the Seacom network will integrate the region with the rest of the world and provide a crucial gateway to the global knowledge economy.

The $700m (£426m) project - largely funded by African investors - will reduce business costs, create an e-commerce sector and open up the region to foreign direct investment.

New industries will emerge to create content and software, new markets for access devices will grow, and research centres will flourish. Its impact will be unparalleled in contemporary African economic history.

The closest comparison is Africa's runaway adoption of mobile telephony but at scale previously unimaginable.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46382000/gif/_46382888_com_growth_afr_466.gif

Speaking at Seacom's launch on 23 July, Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete visualised a future in which Africans would truly become part of the global economy.

They could find markets for their beans in Mexico; overcome shortage of science teachers through distant learning; improve access to health care by using telemedicine; reduce corruption by enhanced transparency; and foster regional cooperation through terrestrial fibre optic cables that are currently being laid in the region, he said.

But all these benefits will not be realised without a strong combination of entrepreneurship, education, policy and investment in regional networks.

Infrastructure projects such as this have never been easy. The region has a complex mix of countries including warring and failed states.

This has been complicated by costs. A decade ago it cost over $5,000 (£3,000) to per one kilometre of standard fibre optic cable, now it is just $300. There are some advantages to being a latecomer.

As a result, the necessary infrastructure is beginning to be rolled out. Rwanda and Uganda are now linked through Kenya, and are poised to take advantage of the digital express.

But to do this fully, their governments must be grander in their aims. Much of the work has so far focused on adopting policies to attract outsourced businesses in basic areas such as data processing and call centres. These developments are just a small proportion of what is possible.

Africa could benefit from this new infrastructure if it can focus on four critical areas: lowering the cost of access to bandwidth; expanding training opportunities in multimedia technology; stimulating enterprise development and liberalizing the market for devices to access the net.

This last point will need careful attention. African governments will be tempted to see the rise in demand for access devices as a source of tax revenue.


White elephants

However, such taxes will most likely dampen the prospects of benefiting from the fibre optic infrastructure. Liberalising the market for access devices and removing all types of duty would serve as a major stimulus for the growth of new industries.

In addition, governments should think twice before seeking to assemble conventional desktops and laptops locally. If they do, they will make the same mistakes that were made by countries hoping to assemble mobile handsets in the early days of the cell phone revolution.

Those factories will quickly become white elephants as the rest of the world goes mobile through new generations of access devices.

Instead, governments should instead adopt policies that encourage the use of netbooks and the creation of cloud computing industries.

Under this new regime, software and data will be stored on large-scale servers leaving users to work from smaller, less-powerful computers.

Education

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46383000/jpg/_46383165_007881383-1.jpg
Use of netbooks should be encouraged

However, in order for these changes to take place, the cost of bandwidth must decline.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are already offering more bandwidth for the same cost. For example, MTN Business in South Africa has cut the cost of bandwidth by up to 50%.

In east Africa, the arrival of other cables over the coming months is expected to create competition that will help to keep down prices and provide the critical redundancy needed to maintain reliable access.

Governments could also help expand economic opportunities by underwriting the costs of access, especially for start-up firms and universities.

And it is in these institutions that the government should focus. The most critical limiting factor in the expansion of digital industries may be education.

Countries such as Egypt, Kenya and Ghana are leading the way in meeting this challenge by creating universities that are dedicated to training young people in telecoms-related fields.

East Africa must do more. The newly-created Victoria Institute of Science and Technology (VIST) in Kisumu, on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria, is one such project of which I am a part.

Instead of preparing students to go look for jobs, VIST seeks to train young people to create enterprises. It will mentor young innovators and connect them to its network of investors. This should help to foster the creation of technology venture capital industry in the region.

Digital light
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46383000/jpg/_46383133_007813321-1.jpg
Safaricom's M-Pesa service was a radical innovation

Yet, the drivers of change are not just government. Firms such as Seacom have an opportunity to help complement their infrastructure investment by nurturing business incubators.

One way to do this is to give prizes and awards to young innovators that have found creative ways to use broadband internet to foster economic growth.

Kenyans have already shown that they can innovate on the mobile phone networks. The triumph of Safaricom's M-Pesa service - a radically new way of transmitting money by phone - is a harbinger of great prospects that lie ahead of the arrival of broadband Internet in Africa.

Seacom's investment is challenging Africa's youth to demonstrate their creativity and the leaders to provide a vision on the role of infrastructure in economic transformation.

Fibre optic cables are poised to impact Africans in the 21st century in more positive ways than colonial railroads did the continent in the 20th century.

For a continent that has been in economic darkness for so long, finally there is digital light at the end of the tunnel.

Calestous Juma teaches at Harvard Kennedy School and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. He is a co-founder of the Victoria Institute of Science and Technology (VIST) in Kenya.


Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8256940.stm

Interesting maps of the global growth of broadband. Look at how much the map has changed in ten years.

See the other years here. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8255695.stm)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_sliders/09/broadband_cable_sequence/img/99.gif

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_sliders/09/broadband_cable_sequence/img/09.gif

...and the future.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_sliders/09/broadband_cable_sequence/img/planned.gif

Here is also a map of Africa's network by 2011 or so.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46386000/gif/_46386948_africa_cables_466_v2.gif

Tip of the iceberg, my friends! :cheers:


$8 Billion Invested in Africa's ICT in 2008

Chibuzor Emejor
14 September 2009

Abuja — SECRETARY-General of International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, said at the weekend that $8 billion was invested in the development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Africa in 2008.

Toure disclosed this at a world press conference to mark the end of the African Telecom Development Summit 2009 held in Abuja.

He commended the giant strides made in the telecommunications industry in the last decade, adding that there are currently about 250 million subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to him, "It has been an extra-ordinary decade for Africa and it gives me great personal pleasure to see how the continent has taken huge steps forward in bringing connectivity to African people.

"Just ten years ago, virtually nobody in Africa had a mobile phone; today across the continent mobile cellular subscription teledensity has reached 32.6 per cent, with some 250 million subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He noted that Nigeria is currently the continent's largest market, with over a quarter of all subscriptions.

Toure, who is the first African elected as the Secretary-General of ITU, said Africa has equally made appreciable progress in the internet access when compared with "a tiny handful of wealthy people who used internet about ten years ago."

He added that more than 30 million people in Africa now have access to the web, adding that between 2000 to 2008, Nigeria alone has added 11million new internet users, a figure which represents 40 per cent of the total additions in Africa.

However, Toure stated that the continent still lags behind in broad band access, adding that there are only 635,000 fixed broadband subscribers in Africa.

He called for policy and regulatory framework as well as political will on the part of African Governments to promote the roll-out of ICTs.

The Secretary-General further stated that ITU, which is the umbrella body of more than 700 telecommunications organisations in the world, is to embark on "harmonisation of ICT polices in Sub-Saharan Africa," aimed at developing and promoting harmonised policies and guidelines for the ICT market, as well as building human and institutional capacity in the field of ICT through a range of targeted training and knowledge-sharing measures.

Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200909140463.html

I believe that the # of broadband suscriptions will multiply by several times in the next 2-3 years as more undersea cables are implemented, which will make costs plummet further.

Kenya hosts first East African fibre-optic technology summit

Updated 10 hr(s) 3 min(s) ago
By Fredrick Obura

Nairobi will be the venue of the first East African Fibre Summit starting today.

The two day summit to be addressed by Information and Communication PS Dr Bitange Ndemo comes on the eve of communication revolution to be witnessed in the region as a result of the landing of undersea cable.

"The East African Fibre Summit will provide a platform for all stakeholders to assess the exciting developments, the impact they will have on their organizations and the optimum technical implementation strategies to gain maximum benefit from the opportunities they represent," said Grace Gathoni of AITEC East Africa.

The undersea cable is expected to spur different developments in region once it goes live currently different Internet Service Providers are involved in testing the faster Internet and laying cables within different towns.

Governments and corporate users in the region need to prepare for the transition from a predominantly satellite-based communications infrastructure to a fibre cable-based communications infrastructure.

"By providing a platform for regulators, policy-makers, vendors, service providers and users to network and share knowledge, the Conference will act as a catalyst to stimulate take-up of the right technologies to multiply connectivity across East Africa," she noted.

There is also an urgent need for new approaches to financing and building out information and communication infrastructure.

The event is sponsored by among other organizations Kenya’s ICT board and communications regulator CCK. The event has attracted IT experts from across the world.



Seacom enters into partnership with Uganda Telecom, Rwandatel SA

Published on 26/08/2009
By John Oyuke

Seacom, a submarine fibre-optic cable operator has entered into partnership with operators in Uganda and Rwanda to extend its reach across Eastern Africa.

The firm said Uganda Telecom and Rwandatel SA, have both purchased international broadband capacity from it.

In turn, it said, it has struck a deal to make use of the two regional players’ terrestrial networks between Kampala, Uganda and Kigali, Rwanda.

Seacom Chief Executive Brian Herlihy said under the terms of the partnership, both entities would have immediate access to the Seacom network. He said while Uganda has been connected to the Seacom network since its commercial launch on July 23, the agreement means Rwanda will benefit from the newly available broadband capacity as soon as next month.

Firm’s objective

"From the outset of this project, we realised the importance of connecting inland countries to our international network," Herlihy, noted in a statement.

He said the development is in line with Seacom’s objective to provide connectivity solutions to landlocked countries across the east and southern Africa.

Many countries had deployed massive terrestrial networks in anticipation of the arrival of affordable international bandwidth connectivity.





:cheers::cheers:

^^ Great news. This year alone has been a monumental one when it comes to East African ICT. :cheer:

^^So true!:cheers:

ECP invests Sh1.9bn in Kenyan ISP Wananchi

Posted Tuesday, September 22 2009 at 17:44

U.S.based private equity group Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) said on Tuesday it had invested Sh1.87 billion in East African telecommunications and media firm Wananchi to expand its network infrastructure.

ECP, which has already invested heavily in Africa's fast-growing telecoms sector, said the upgrade would allow the firm to offer digital pay television, high-speed Internet and Internet telephony services.

Unquoted Wananchi is one of the region's larger Internet companies, offering retail and commercial web services in Kenya and Tanzania. It is thought to be lining up a stock market listing.

"Following on the tremendous growth in African mobile penetration over the last 10 years, we view broadband and related services as the next 'game changer' in African telecoms," ECP chief executive Tom Gibian said in a statement.

The capital injection should allow Wananchi to compete with bigger rivals such as Telkom Kenya, a unit of France Telecom, and Safaricom.

Altech increases stake in Kenya's KDN

Posted Tuesday, September 22 2009 at 12:02

South Africa's technology group Allied Technologies (Altech) said on Tuesday it would increase its economic stake in its East Africa unit, Kenya Data Networks (KDN), to 60.8 per cent from 51 per cent.

Altech, one of Africa's biggest connectivity providers, added that it would invest a further $39.5 million to build KDN's fibre optic network.

Altech, which expects 500 million rand cash flow by year-end, said it would invest a further $7.5 million in KDN to build a data centre in Nairobi, Kenya, with its co-shareholder in KDN, the Sameer Group.

The group said the data centre would offer disaster recovery, virtual application hosting, data and application backup, and an ethical hacking centre and data archiving facility to clients in the areas that will be connected by the planned undersea cables.

"KDN is central to our strategy and our gateway to East Africa. Our further investment in this business, is evidence of our confidence that the continent and in particular East Africa is poised for massive growth," Altech's CEO Craig Venter said.

Altech's East Africa operations made about 114 million rand and about 20 per cent of group earnings in the year to end February 2008.

Shares in Altech were 1.55 per cent lower at 63.05 rand by 0808 GMT, lagging a firmer JSE All-share index.



http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/543970/highRes/56226/-/maxw/600/-/7ept70z/-/biz+sub+2+pix.jpg
Workers lay a KDN fibre optic cable in Nairobi. The firm has a 3,000km network in the city.

Soliton secures Sh4bn cable deal

By NATION Reporter

Soliton Telmec, a fibre optic design company has secured a Sh4 billion contract with Kenya Data Networks (KDN) to lay backup cables.

KDN has also reduced its fibre optic network connection fee from Sh480,000 to Sh40,000.

KDN undertook the first fibre optic project in 2005 at a cost of Sh27 billion that covered most of Nairobi's office premises, universities, colleges and residential areas.

The backup cable laying slated for completion by year-end will cover Mombasa, Garissa, Thika, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu, Malaba and Busia.

It is the second time that KDN has contracted Soliton Telmec, which successfully completed the first 3,000 kilometre cable laying.

Soliton’s chief executive, Eng. Abdirahman Omar Sheikh observed: “This is yet another vote of confidence in our capacity to deliver and support large scale optical fiber projects, having built major networks in the country for the past five years’’

KDN managing director, Kai Wulff said the firm intends to provide low cost bandwidth that will guarantee affordable and reliable high speed broadband service in the region and Africa as a whole.

“We want to improve education and healthcare but also realise that the price of bandwidth is a significant barrier to such improvements not only in the country but the region as a whole’’, observed Mr. Wulff.

Kenya is among countries with one of the highest internet and phone costs regimes in the world.

Phone calls to South Africa or Rwanda from Kenya have to be routed through Europe via satellite making it expensive for consumers.

Dell opens big business center in Morocco, who will profide jobs for 2000 people in 2010:


The project of Dell in Morocco is the most important of the world at this moment for Dell”, Olivier Verger and Otmane Serraj, which share the head office of Dell Morocco. , Casanearshore Park accomodates the greatest center in the world for this American firm. Thus, one of the pioneers of the offshoring in Morocco, “the Dell site of Casablanca takes, according to its management, a true world scale”. Such sign that it ensures the coordination of the performances of service The center, which asserts the second place in Morocco behind HP, thus seeks to show a greater commercial aggressiveness. One speaks about some 2.000 places, that is to say as much of occupied employment. By type of profile, one quotes hundreds the commercial ones, technicians, the financial ones, managers of orders… The company is determined to support more than ever the internal development and mobility. The whole on bottom of productivity, performance and effectiveness of the first blow. On the whole, the personnel of Dell Morocco counts more than 17 nationalities different with a rate from feminization of more than 45%. “This year, we intend to recruit more than 400 people, in all the fields”, announces one near the head office. The ambitions of Dell Morocco are not limited to manpower. The availability of space to answer the growth of its personnel, the considerations related to notoriety as well as the quality of the infrastructures justify the important investments of the new business center. The HQ will have to also translate the appetites of the subsidiary company, the standards of seats and the ecological values: “We want to do of this building one of greenest of Dell in the world”, announces management. Moreover, of many solutions of operation and energy saving to solar energy were adopted. Thus, lightings of the Dell building are natural thanks to 8 patios. The building also has a showroom for the products Dell high-tech, sports a hall, a staff canteen to the standards of the firm… “We work with the persons in charge of Casanearshore to concretize the project of crib, as well as projects plus long run of residences on site










Dell s’offre son plus grand business center au Maroc



· Plus de 2.000 emplois dès 2010

«LE projet de Dell au Maroc est le plus important du monde à l’heure actuelle», confient à L’Economiste Olivier Verger et Otmane Serraj, qui se partagent la direction générale de Dell Maroc. En effet, le Casanearshore Park accueille le plus grand centre au monde de la firme américaine.
Ainsi, l’un des pionniers de l’offshoring au Maroc, «le site Dell de Casablanca prend, selon son management, une véritable envergure mondiale». A telle enseigne qu’il assure la coordination des prestations de services, désormais centralisée à Casablanca pour le monde entier. D’ailleurs, sans préciser le montant exact, le management affirme que plusieurs millions de dollars ont été investis dans les installations de Casablanca. Une décision qui vise à renforcer la stratégie de développement du groupe au Maroc.
A l’origine de cet intérêt pour la filiale marocaine, «les positionnements horaire GMT et géographique de Casablanca qui en font un atout important pour les activités mondiales. Le site est idéal en termes de décalage horaire pour travailler aussi bien avec le continent américain que les pays asiatiques», précisent les deux DG, basés à Casablanca. D’ailleurs, les activités de support au Canada se développent fortement. «Les prestations délivrées par la capitale économique étant de qualité exceptionnelle», poursuit le management.
Autre argument de taille invoqué: «la qualité des ressources humaines et des infrastructures télécoms à Casablanca, l’accessibilité à l’aéroport, le rapport qualité/coûts…». Le Maroc devient ainsi le marché où le groupe possède le plus grand nombre de partenaires. Dell affirme y avoir triplé son chiffre d’affaires en deux ans de présence sans en divulguer le montant. Au niveau international, le groupe a réalisé 50 milliards de dollars lors du dernier exercice fiscal.
Pour booster les activités du site de Casablanca qui s’étend sur 20.000 m2, Dell Maroc renforce ses équipes. Le centre, qui revendique la deuxième place au Maroc derrière HP, cherche ainsi à faire preuve d’une plus grande agressivité commerciale.
L’on parle de quelque 2.000 places, soit autant d’emplois occupés. Par type de profil, l’on cite des centaines de commerciaux, de techniciens, de financiers, de gestionnaires de commandes… L’entreprise est résolue à favoriser plus que jamais le développement interne et la mobilité. Le tout sur fond de productivité, performance et efficacité du premier coup.
Au total, le personnel de Dell Maroc compte plus de 17 nationalités différentes avec un taux de féminisation de plus de 45%. «Cette année, nous comptons recruter plus de 400 personnes, dans tous les domaines», signale-t-on auprès de la direction générale.
Les ambitions de Dell Maroc ne se limitent pas aux effectifs. La disponibilité d’espace pour répondre à la croissance de son personnel, les considérations liées à la notoriété ainsi que la qualité des infrastructures motivent les importants investissements du nouveau business center.
Le QG devra aussi traduire les appétits de la filiale, des standards de sièges et des valeurs écologiques: «Nous voulons faire de ce building l’un des plus verts de Dell au monde», annonce le management. D’ailleurs, de nombreuses solutions d’économie d’énergie et de fonctionnement à l’énergie solaire ont été adoptées. Ainsi, les éclairages du bâtiment Dell sont naturels grâce à 8 patios. Le building dispose également d’un showroom pour les produits Dell high-tech, une salle de sport, un restaurant d’entreprise aux standards de la firme…
«Nous travaillons avec les responsables de Casanearshore pour concrétiser le projet de crèche, ainsi que des projets plus long terme de logements sur site ou à proximité», termine le management.




Source: L'Économiste

Orange in wireless internet market

Walter Wafula

Kampala

Orange Uganda has introduced mobile internet services in the market.
The telecommunications firm is expected to officially unveil its wireless broadband and mobile internet services to customers today at the Uganda Manufactures Association (UMA) Show Ground in Kampala.

Orange will introduce the service powered by its Third Generation (3G) platform and a wireless mobile modem for Shs350, 000. The modem will come in handy with three months of unlimited internet access, according to information from Terp, the firm’s external communications partner.

Customers who opt for the telecom’s “Data Only Sim Card” will be charged Shs250,000, which will enable them to access three months of unlimited Internet access.

Currently, MTN Uganda offers the most affordable mobile broadband option for first time consumers. Its new second generation (2G) modem retails for Shs180,000 with a monthly charge of Shs90,000.

Warid Telecom’s wireless internet device costs Shs238,000 with a monthly charge of Shs85, 000 while Uganda Telecom’s 3G modem goes for Shs250,000 at start with a monthly charge of Shs130, 000.

But as more players - including newly launched I-Telecom - join the market, prices of internet services are expected to dive.

“Orange is billed as the number one provider of broadband internet services in Europe and is out to replicate its success in Africa,” Mr Phillipe Luxcey, the company’s chief executive, last month told the Daily Monitor in an interview.

Besides the mobile broadband offer, some of its 200,000 subscribers will also be able to surf the internet via mobile phones with 3G and EDGE enhancements.


........................................................................................................

With abundant capacity, Internet firms now in fierce market battle

Published on 15/09/2009
Related Stories
Undersea cables open new opportunities for online firms
Instaconnect hooks to Seacom but Internet costs unchanged
Seacom enters into partnership with Uganda Telecom, Rwandatel SA
ISPs uneasy with pricing of fibre-optic
Internet providers say they have more to offer users than low prices
By James Anyanzwa

Stiff competition is taking shape in the Internet market with service providers re-positioning to control the corporate segment, while extending tentacles to the residential broadband niche.

Internet business and access in the country had been a corporate affair for many years with 80 per cent of the three million users concentrated in Nairobi.

A few Internet Service Providers such as AccessKenya, Kenya Data Network (KDN) and Wananchi Online are making huge inroads into the residential Internet market but their presence is yet to be felt.

"Residential broadband is a profitable segment for our business. There is a great potential for growth because the segment is under penetrated," said Mr Jonathan Somen, group managing director, AccessKenya.


Workers haul part of the Teams fibre optic cable onto the Mombasa shoreline in June. The country’s connection to the global undersea cables ushers in competition among Internet service providers. Photo: File

AccessKenya says it has connected 2,000 residential customers in addition to its corporate clients.

Mobile phone operators — Safaricom, Telkom Kenya and Zain Kenya — are also eyeing the same market niche.

"The market has been receptive. We have seen a lot of interest," says Ms Angela Mumo, head of corporate communications at Telkom Kenya.

Telkom Kenya says it is connecting between 150 and 200 cus tomers every week. Instaconnect is another entrant into the Internet market with plans of consolidating its position in the corporate market.

The company expects to give its peers a run for their money by hooking corporates on the Internet via the fibre optic within the next three months.

Various buildings

"We are planning to start rolling out a fibre optic network to connect various buildings in Nairobi," Mr Amirali Merali, the company’s Chief Operating Officer told Financial Journal Last week.

The company says the move is part of its strategy aimed at creating value addition to clients and allowing increased usage of bandwidth owing to excess capacity in the market. Instaconnect specialises in providing customised solutions, which help improve corporate efficiency.

The entry of the undersea fibre optic cables—Teams, Seacom and Eassy— is expected to increase the number of Internet users to more than 10 million in the next five years.

The cables will link Kenya to the rest of the world at cheaper rates compared to the current satellite connectivity.

Bandwith speeds

Instaconnect has signed up to Seacom cable enabling it offer its customers a 300 per cent increase in bandwidth speeds at the same price. AccessKenya has bought 2,500mb of capacity on the Seacom fibre optic cable together with a similar capacity on the Teams cable.

"Our clients will be offered 128kbps to 2mb business class link capacity," said Merali.

The country uses just 1,200mb of satellite capacity. Instaconnect hopes to buy enough capacity from both Teams and Seacom with a view of offering high-speed and reliable Internet connectivity to its clients.

Broadband and Internet penetration and availability of bandwidth is still very low in Kenya mainly due to lack of infrastructure and relevant local content.

Telecom Investment in Nigeria Hits $18bn

Chinwe Ochu

10 October 2009

Abuja — Within the last eight years, telecom investments in Nigeria have exceeded, the $18 billion mark "on account of a predictive regulatory environment and supportive government for a deregulated telecom industry."

A statement made available to THISDAY by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the chief executive of the Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, disclosed this at the ongoing ITU World 2009 Forum and Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to the statement, the country is keen on attracting more investments so as to expand the needed services in the areas of Internet and broadband services across the country, having made a remarkable inroad into voice telephony services."

It quoted Ndukwe as saying that the current investment figure was made up of about US$12 billon from foreign direct investments while the balance was from investments made from and within the country since 2001.

According to him, the Federal Government's invitation to the private sector for participation in the industry has paid handsomely and led to the current success indices in the sector. "This tells me that the decision by government to liberalise was a very good one," he said, indicating that this was why the current 68 million active subscriber lines recorded in the industry over just eight years in Nigeria have been variously described as a revolution.
Relevant Links

* West Africa
* Investment
* Nigeria
* Capital Flows
* Sustainable Development
* Business

Ndukwe said that the decision by Nigeria to implement a technologically neutral regulation has resulted in investments in both the GSM and CDMA based services and made diverse services available in Nigeria with investors attacking services from different points thereby providing choices for the Nigerian consumer.

The statement stated that Ndukwe also told the world that Nigeria is shifting regulatory emphasis from licensing operators to monitoring and improving quality of services and attending to the needs of the consumer. Henceforth, issues of quality of service and affordability, and the like are becoming the focus of the regulator in line with the dynamics of the market and we are trying to refocus on this in terms of structural repositioning of the regulator to deliver within the dictates of these dynamicsî, he said.

Nigeria’s Telecommunications Market has Overtaken South Africa’s, According to Research and Markets Report (Nigeria – Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband, and Forecasts)

Research and MarketsResearch and Markets has announced the addition of the “Nigeria – Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts” report to their offering.

Nigeria has overtaken South Africa to become the continent’s largest mobile market with over 65 million subscribers, and yet market penetration stood at only around 45% in mid-2009. Far reaching regulatory reform has led to hundreds of companies providing virtually all kinds of telecom and value-added services in an independently regulated market. Billions of US dollars are being invested in network infrastructure each year.

Competition has increased under a new unified licensing regime, and declining average revenue per user levels are forcing the operators to streamline their businesses, introduce new services, and transform themselves into converged broadband service providers in order to maintain market share.

Mobile PhoneSignificant consolidation has already occurred in Nigeria’s Internet and broadband sector, from over 400 ISPs two years ago to around 150. Powerful new players from the fixed-wireless and mobile network operator camps have entered the market with third generation mobile and advanced wireless broadband services such as WiMAX. Mergers and acquisitions, which have attracted record prices in recent years, are expected to continue.

The arrival of two new international submarine fibre optic cables in 2009 will break the current monopoly in this sub-sector and revolutionize the market by reducing the cost of bandwidth by up to 90%. Several national fibre backbone networks are being rolled out to transport this bandwidth to the end-users.

However, due to the vast expanse of the country and decades of neglect of infrastructure prior to market liberalization, satellite-based services will continue to play an important role in Nigeria’s telecoms sector.

After failing three times in the past, privatization of the incumbent national telco NITEL is scheduled to be finally completed in 2009. The government is looking for a new strategic investor and new business models to turn the ailing company around.

Report Highlights:
- Forecasts for fixed-line, mobile, and Internet markets to 2010 and 2015
- CDMA-based 3G networks are outpacing their GSM rivals with triple digit growth rates
- Profiles of major players, including financial results
- Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is expected to continue falling before turning around on the back of broadband services
- Competition in international fibre bandwidth set to arrive in 2009 will revolutionize the market
- IP-based next-generation networks are enabling converged voice, data, and video services
- Sub-Saharan Africa’s first Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) network rollout
- privatization of NITEL scheduled for 2009 after three unsuccessful attempts in the past

Telkom in plans to revamp landline

http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/672326/highRes/107545/-/maxw/600/-/nnk2p6/-/ghos.jpg Telkom Kenya chief executive, Mickael Ghossein. Photo/FILE
By JEVANS NYABIAGEPosted Wednesday, October 14 2009 at 18:15

Telkom Kenya is planning to launch a triple play service that supports voice, data and television, as it repositions itself in the increasingly competitive telecoms environment.

With this, subscribers will be able to access internet, make calls and watch television all from the same platform .

To revamp its landline network, which has in the past faced vandalism for its copper wires and dwindling subscriber numbers, the firm puts its hopes on the converged platform.

Ms Angela Ng’ang’a-Mumo, head of corporate communications, Telkom Kenya says, “We will be rolling out a revamped Telkom fixed service that will enable residential and small SME customers have access to voice, data and internet without interruptions. The platform will also allow for other services among them cable TV,” she told the Daily Nation on Wednesday.

As its launching pad, the company rolled out a double-play service, broadband Nyumbani, earlier in the year and will now upgrade it to triple play and thereafter quadruple play that will include video.

Wananchi Group has a similar product under the brand name Zuku.

Broadband Nyumbani’s ADSL technology uses the unused capacity in copper wires by receiving data through a different frequency than that of voice or fax, making it the ultimate choice in data transfer and processing.

The product’s equipment known as Livebox comes fitted with a Wi-Fi component that allows wireless internet access within 100 metres of the access point, commonly known as hot spots.

With this, customers can set up multiple computers or other Wi-Fi enabled devices in their homes, enabling them to connect to the internet simultaneously without blocking the phone line for voice calls.

The offer promotes the use of landlines by waiving the application fee of Telkom fixed line costs of Sh3,395 on application of the service within 30 days from payment of the fixed line.

The firm says it has a consolidated 1.8 million subscribers on the network and targets to meet and supersede 2 million subscribers on its GSM network by the end of the year.

Kenya Power and Lighting also has a diverse copper cable network and has recently announced that it will be joining the data market, while leasing part of its capacity to interested cable operators at the same time.
http://multimedia.marsgroupkenya.org/?StoryID=269772

Toshiba, a world leader in high technology, has appointed Mitsumi as the official distributor of its products in the East African region.

The partnership seeks to enhance after-sales backup and support for Toshiba customers in the region.

The company has set up a sales and support office in Nairobi to run its operations in the region and improve market presence.

The partnership will also enable Mitsumi to have direct access to official Toshiba stock that is air freighted from Germany and South Africa, which will cut down on the waiting time between placing an order and having it delivered to retailers.

Toshiba says it settled on Mitsumi due to its large retail network and expects to net Ksh1.5 billion ($19 million) in sales per year.

In Africa, Toshiba operates in South Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Nigeria. “Territories outside of South Africa are relatively green markets for Toshiba,” said Donovan Scheepers, the business manager for Toshiba in Africa.

“To this extent, we are focussing a lot of our strength in establishing distribution channels in this new region. This is why the appointment of Mitsumi is so important — it will give us a solid base to begin distribution of products and delivering services to businesses and consumers across the country,” Mr Scheepers said.

Africa’s challenges and particularly Kenya is high competition as a number of resellers will enter the new market segment with cheap and quick imports from places like Dubai and the Far East.

According to Mr Scheepers, many of these grey marketers resort to selling illegal or unlicensed copies of popular software applications because they do not have access to official channels that sell and support these products thus aggravating the problem.

This is less than ideal because many of these products were not intended for the Kenyan market, which means that resellers would have a hard time ordering and keeping stock of spares in cases where products needed to be repaired,” said Mitesh Shah, Mitsumi’s sales director.

“In the past, even official Toshiba products that were brought in from Europe took a long time to reach retail shelves because resellers would have to wait up to four months while stock was sent via ship and then await Customs clearance after arrival in Kenya,” Mr Shah said.


http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/busi...z/-/index.html

Initial phase of over $12 Million for new infrastructure project to connect Kenya with high-speed broadband using 802.16e WiMAX (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29) technology, leveraging the new maritime fiber optic cable

Tel-Aviv, Israel, October 6, 2009 — Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALVR), the world’s leading provider of WiMAX™ and wireless broadband solutions, today announced it was selected by leading Kenyan mobile services provider Safaricom for a three-year turnkey WiMAX project to deploy high-speed broadband services throughout Kenya. Using Alvarion’s BreezeMAX® solution at 3.5 GHz frequency (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29) band, the WiMAX network, will enable wireless broadband for residential and corporate users, rural areas, municipalities, banks, schools and universities.

Safaricom, the largest mobile carrier in Kenya and East Africa, provides integrated data and voice communication solutions. The Safaricom WiMAX project will augment the Kenyan undersea fiber optic cable that now connects East Africa to international communications networks. The buildout of this fiber network is aimed at improving the broadband infrastructure in the country. Safaricom is also among several companies participating in this government initiative to bring fiber connectivity to Kenya.
With the commercial implementation of WiMAX, Safaricom will be able to expand into new markets and offer enhanced broadband wireless services to enterprises, residential subscribers, community broadband initiatives, local government connectivity, and a multitude of other value added applications.

Alvarion’s WiMAX solution will give Safaricom the reach and network capacity to grow its subscriber base by connecting all of Kenya. Alvarion’s radio base stations are built with unique innovations in radios and power amplifiers that enable better coverage and capacity and provide significant reduction in power consumption while creating an environmentally friendly network.

“Our new WiMAX broadband network will enable us to offer high quality broadband services to our customers throughout the country, connecting all of Kenya, and creating new opportunities for business growth for multiple segments,” said Michael Joseph, CEO of Safaricom. “We will rely on Alvarion’s proven WiMAX solutions and unparalleled experience in deploying advanced wireless broadband networks of this kind to help us build the network that will establish Safaricom as a broadband leader in the country.”
Safaricom’s WiMAX network will be rolled out in both urban and rural markets throughout the country to provide equal opportunity to people by enabling various types of data applications including e-learning and e-government initiatives.

“We are proud to partner with Safaricom, one of the most advanced and innovative operators in East Africa. We look forward to create a state of the art network with Safaricom to bring new innovative services to Kenya,” said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO of Alvarion. “Our WiMAX solutions are customized for emerging markets with capabilities that can help reduce operating costs and boost network capacity, and help deliver advanced voice and data services for a variety of applications.”

Alvarion has a strong presence in Africa and has deployed over 60 WiMAX networks in the continent.

http://www.alvarion.com/index.php/en/news-a-events/1799-alvarionr-wins-a-project-with-safaricom-to-deploy-a-nationwide-wimax-network-in-kenya-

(Abuja)
Nigeria: World Bank Partners The Country On Devt of IT Parks

Jacob

15 October 2009

Abuja — Prof. Pater Materu, a Senior Education Specialist with World Bank, has said that the organisation would partner the Ministry of Science and Technology to establish Information Technology parks in Nigeria.

Materu disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday when the delegation of the World Bank Education Sector Mission paid a courtesy visit on the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Alhassan Zaku.

The specialist said the organisation would fund the project within the limits of available resources to promote initial activities in the area of IT development.

He said that the idea of IT research and education network for post-basic science and technology parks, would enable the stakeholders to share information better and have access to a rich data base globally.

Materu added that the project would support some Nigerian institutions to become centres of excellence.

Also speaking, the Sector Manager of the Africa Regional Education of the Mission, Dr Chris Thomas, described science and technology as an important element for developing linkages in the education system.

He said that it would lead to the development of technology and its commercialisation to effectively drive economic growth..



Thomas said that during the second phase of the science and technology education programme, all the linkages between institutions, education and other parts of the economy would be captured.

Receiving the delegation, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr.Alhassan Bako Zaku,commended the organisation for its intervention projects, saying that the country had achieved a lot from the assistance.

He called for more assistance in the area of incubation.

"We have various incubation centres in various parts of the country, which now take up these products and link up with small-scale industrialists to ensure that the products are used," he said. NAN.

This is why I've left FB
SA tweets its way to tenth place in world

South Africa has become the 10th largest user of Twitter in the world, while the country has the most Facebook users on the continent, even surpassing Egypt.

The figures speak for themselves. Research company Sysmos claims that South African Twitter users make up 0.85 percent of total online Twitter interaction.

Twitter receives about 55 million visits a month, generating a whopping 467 500 visits a month. In visited site terms, next best is SABCnews.com (60 730).


Research data processing organisation Startup Africa states that there are 1.4 million Facebook users in South Africa, the highest number on the continent.

MXit has 20 million visits - 35 000 messages sent a second in peak times - 15 million users.

But as people continue to flock to them (a recent report found nearly one in four Britons uses Facebook for an average of six hours a month, up four hours from this time last year, while Twitter has gone from 100 000 users to 2.6 million in the past year) and as most corporate websites are akin to brochures with a library attached, it's little wonder social networking sites are increasingly being seen as the bread and butter of customer relations management.

Gurus go so far as to predict they will have superseded corporate websites in terms of influence and power in two years' time.

"Businesses should be using social media because their customers are all using it," says Nancy Williams, managing director of the social media marketing consultancy Tiger Two.

"More and more people are going online to converse, be entertained and research purchases. The fact is, conversations are already happening online about their business or product, so they need to be involved with that."

Because social media is a conversation rather than a broadcast, it's a hugely effective marketing tool, she says - and what's more, it's free.

"Most people will respond more positively to a two-way conversation with a brand instead of being shouted at with yet another marketing message."

The result can be your supporters evangelising your brand in their own communities and thus delivering the holy grail of personal endorsement.

"Social media also provides brands with the ultimate focus group," says Gavin Sheppard, development director at the communications charity Media Trust, who believes the rise of social media is taking businesses by surprise just as much as the internet did a decade ago.

"Social networking enables companies to discover not just the answers to their questions, but the answers to questions they'd never thought of asking."

Virtually any kind of business can benefit, insists Robert Epstein, head of small and medium businesses at Microsoft.

"Take a restaurant, for example. They could use YouTube or MySpace to take customers behind the scenes visually. They could use Twitter to provide regular updates and Facebook and LinkedIn to enable people to post electronic versions of their CVs and to connect to other people to get ideas about how to improve."

Matt Rhodes, head of client services at social media experts FreshNetworks, says the starting point for any business is ensuring you know what you want to achieve - increased brand awareness, customer retention, a feedback mechanism and so on.

"Next, establish who you want to engage - new or existing customers, a certain part of your customer group or more general. Then work out where these people congregate and what will engage them best."

Rhodes also encourages brands to create their own online communities. "Ask people to upload their memories of a particular experience with a brand or to work with you to develop a product."

Always facilitate genuine dialogue. A survey by the Global Web Index found people think better of brands that provide a page on a social network where you can ask questions.

Audi recently used this to its advantage by using Facebook to help gather views as part of its product development cycle.

Don't forget the power of social networking for recruitment, adds Lucie Bickerdike, account executive at the Hoffman Agency.

"I was recruited exclusively through Twitter. My line manager was searching profiles for people looking for PR jobs, and my profile matched the criteria. We set up a meeting through Twitter, and I was offered the job." - The Independent

source : http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=5207669#

<--- Proudly twittering nonsensically every day :D

Twitter is dull to me, still good news.

AccessKenya beats target for home Internet connections

http://www.sheffield-printing.com/images/accesskenya.jpg

Published on 08/11/2009
By Macharia Kamau

Increase demand for data services has seen Access Kenya achieve its target for the year, two months ahead of its deadline.

The company’s Managing Director, Jonathan Somen, said the data services provider had signed up 3,000 customers on its residential broadband service, Access@Home, and contracted over 3,100 customers on its corporate broadband service, Broadband Max.

"Growth in customer numbers have been spurred on by, among other factors, the increased speeds following the arrival of the international fibre optic cables, Seacom and the East African Marine System (Teams)," he said.

"We have now broken the 3,000 residential customer barrier, ahead of our target of 2,800 residential customers, and moved past 3,100 corporate customers, our original target for this year."

Resilience and flexibility

He added that the company would connect to the Tata point of presence (POP) in Kenya, in the course of this month.

Tata Communications is setting up a POP, which is expected to give service providers further resilience and flexibility, as well as more efficient speeds and routings around the world.

It is configured to automatically offer redundant paths for Internet traffic going north towards Europe and southwards to South Africa well as to Asia and India.

Somen said there is a strong uptake in services from the different categories of customers, and noted that the market has a lot of potential, given that only 3.6 million of the country’s 40 million population had access to Internet services.

East Africa Microsoft dealers can now negotiate for credit terms directly from distributors following the relocation of Impact from Namibia to Nairobi.

This means they can now access training and negotiate their credit terms faster.

The Impact distribution East Africa director, Ms Wanja Muriithi, said that under the deal the company will supply products and train resellers.

“Our role as one of the two Microsoft prime distributors will be to support Microsoft and its channel partners in timely acquisition of licenses, securing credit lines to support the growing business as well as extending credit terms required by partners,” said Ms Muriithi.

The company intends to invest Sh280 million in building their operational capacity, accounting and logistics systems, capacity building initiatives, and human resource development in East Africa.

Microsoft has a two-level distributorship of its services that involves prime distributors who buy products from them directly and pass them on to resellers who deal directly with the end users.

Distribution rights

The move follows Impact’s being awarded Microsoft distribution rights for the region that covers seven countries which include Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tanzania.

The relocation of its head office to Nairobi is in line with Microsoft’s decision to locate its regional head office for East and Southern Africa in Kenya.

Impact targets $20 million sales in the East Africa region.

The company says it will rely on its valued network of associate distributors and resellers to support not only the penetration of Microsoft products and solutions, but also those of its other vendors including Adobe systems, Kapersky anti-virus, CorelDraw, and Symantec into East and Southern Africa.

Impact chief executive officer Glen Matswetu said their entrance into the region is not meant to create competition with existing associate distributors.

Rather, it will ensure more face to face relationship that will speed up the process of obtaining pricing, product delivery and information, and technical advice.

“Kenya’s market growth potential and highly skilled partners ecosystem played a crucial role in choosing the country as our hub,” said Mr Matswetu.

http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/687360/highRes/113658/-/maxw/600/-/f4hd5l/-/Seacom.jpg A user connects to the Internet via the Seacom fibre optic cable during its commissioning in July, 2009. Photo/FILE
By NATION ReporterPosted Tuesday, November 17 2009 at 15:11

Seacom, a privately funded submarine fibre optic cable system, has been named Best Pan African Initiative at the AfricaCom Awards 2009 ceremony held in South Africa.

The award recognises an initiative taken by an organisation or a group of firms to improve telecommunications services at a regional or continental level.

“Seacom is honoured to have been recognised for its effort in bringing much needed bandwidth connectivity to East and Southern Africa,” said the firm’s CEO Brian Herlihy.

“With more countries getting connected to the rest of the world via the Seacom system, it is only a matter of time before we see the direct socio-economic benefits that cheap and readily available bandwidth will have on the region,” he added.

From inception to the final launch of its services, the optic cable has demonstrated that given an enabling environment, the private sector can efficiently mobilise the resources required to deliver complex and expansive projects for the benefit of all African people, added Mr Herlihy.

The event in Cape Town forms part of the AfricaCom Congress, a yearly two day pan-African communications event attended by leading African operators, service providers, ministries, regulators and equipment and solutions providers in Africa.


http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/687356/-/iekkkbz/-/index.html

KDN, Family Bank deal to avail free Internet access

Updated 23 hr(s) 39 min(s) ago
By Standard Reporter

A local telecommunications network firm has partnered with a bank to increase access to the Internet.

The joint venture between Kenya Data Networks (KDN) and Family Bank Limited, will allow the bank’s customers, and the members of the public, to use the free Wi-Fi connections to the internet, within a radius of one kilometre of each of the bank’s 50 branches.

Wi-Fi, wireless fidelity in full, allows computers and handheld devices, like mobile phones, MP3 players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), to connect to a wireless network.

The devices must be Wi-Fi enabled, and within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The interconnected access points for the Wi-Fi network are called hotspots.

Family Bank will also finance entrepreneurs, as well as groups and organisations that wish to set up Internet and data related services or businesses, KDN and Family Bank said in a statement to newsrooms.

The joint venture follows the recent revision of industry regulations by the regulator, Central Bank of Kenya.

"With the amendment of the Banking Act to allow Agency Banking, banks can appoint agents to conduct banking business, partnerships on product technology, and connectivity, which is crucial in making banking services available at the grassroots," said Family Bank CEO Peter Kinyanjui.

Credit facilities

Family Bank will offer credit facilities to entrepreneurs and communities to set up digital villages and Internet hotspots in areas covered by the bank’s network. KDN recently announced the quadrupling of bandwidth for all its new and existing clients.

"Our commitment to serve our customers better remains unchallenged," says Family Bank CEO Peter Kinyanjui.

"We are enabling Kenyans at large to access information at their convenience, without incurring any extra cost," he added.

"The demand for increased bandwidth is being driven by our customers, who have started to embrace the broadband culture," said Kai Wulff, CEO of Kenya Data Networks.

The joint venture will boost KDN’s broadband reach, made possible by the landing of undersea fibre optic cables that substantially increased the available bandwidth for wireless Internet services.

Digital TV a reality in Kenya

http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/820034/highRes/118324/-/maxw/600/-/1411787z/-/baks.jpg President Kibaki unveils a plaque during the launching of the Digital TV at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in Nairobi, December 9th, 2009. He is with Assistant minister for Information George Khaniri. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI
By LUCAS BARASAPosted Wednesday, December 9 2009 at 13:40

Kenya became only the second African country to switch to digital television on Wednesday.

President Kibaki led the country in migrating from analogue to the digital terrestrial television broadcasting signal.

"We have now moved to another world," said the President during the launch at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

"In Africa, only South Africa has fully embarked on the transition, which is partly driven by the Fifa World Cup.

"The International Telecommunications Union requires all countries to move to digital by 2015. However, Kenya will fully migrate by 2012, " said President Kibaki.

The Communications Commission of Kenya had said that KBC, the licensed signal distributor, has completed installing equipment.

Digital Television provides better picture and sound quality as opposed to analogue. It also offers multiple programming called multi casting, and interactive capabilities.

Under multi casting, while a station broadcasting in analogue on, say channel 7, can only offer viewers one programme, a station broadcasting in digital can air a digital programme on channel 7-1, a second digital programme on channel 7-2, a third one on channel 7-3. This means more programming choices for viewers.

Viewers with analogue TV sets will connect an inexpensive receiver (a converter box) to receive digital signals.

KBC has been licensed to relay digital signals starting Wednesday for Nairobi, while the target for a full switch over will be June 2012, three years earlier than the worldwide deadline of 2015.

Some Sh152 million has been set aside to kick-start the migration to digital.

Before the 2010 World Cup, Kenyans in Webuye, Nyeri, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Meru, Kisii and Malindi will be able to watch the games on digital channels.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/819994/-/vnlh64/-/index.html

Zain unveils Internet offer

Published on 09/12/2009
By Standard Reporter

Zain Kenya has introduced two Internet packages for prepaid customers following a recent high increase in demand for data services.

Customers will be able to download up to 500MB for Sh1,250, while a 1 GB download will cost Sh1,750.

The two bundles will be accessible using a new slimmer and sleeker modem.

Other prepaid bundles include 25MB, 70MB and 150MB which attract charges of Sh100, Sh250 and Sh500 respectively.

In a statement, Zain Kenya Managing Director Rene Meza said since the arrival of the fibre optic cable in Kenya, there has been a sharp increase in awareness of data opportunities.

"Zain Kenya has recognised this demand and is offering Kenyans a wide variety of flexible mobile data products to choose from" he said.

New data products have largely centred around the prepaid sector which comprises almost 90 per cent of Kenya’s telecommunications subscribers.

Zain Kenya is holding discussions with the Communications Commission of Kenya with a view of launching 3G next year.

South Africa’s Telkom snaps up Kenyan ISP

By James Anyanzwa

The local Internet scene could be headed for major realignments as South Africa’s largest fixed-line phone operator, Telkom, silently sneaks into a territory it has long been yearning for.

A complex web of share-purchase transactions among telecom operators in Africa’s richest nation, has ended up with the acquisition of a local satellite data transmission services company, Afsat Communications Limited.

After failing to secure a 51 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya late 2007, Telkom SA Ltd opted to court an Internet Service Provider, MWEB Africa, a subsidiary of South African media and communications conglomerate Naspers for a take-over bid.

Interestingly, the deal was successfully concluded in April this year, with the firm paying a massive $63 million (Sh4.7 billion) for 100 per cent and 75 per cent shareholding in MWEB and MWEB Namibia respectively.

The value of the transaction, which ostensibly excluded the South Africa’s MWEB unit, has since been kept underwraps.

Incidentally, MWEB, the Internet solutions arm of Naspers — the company that also owns Multichoice Africa and popular magazine arm Media 24 — had bought Afsat Communications, including its subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Zambia in October 2007.

This implies the local Internet firm, Afsat Communications, is now part and parcel of Telkom South Africa.

"AFSAT is now fully part of Telkom South Africa," Mr Job Ndege, General Manager, Afsat Services Ltd told The Financial Journal Last week.

"This is an implied acquisition," he said. So far, South African Telkom owns Nigeria's Multi-Links and Kenya's Africa Online, with plans to aggressively fund both units.

The latest acquisition is part of the company’s strategy aimed at reducing dependence on domestic revenues, while expanding further into Africa to offset dwindling profits at home.

It is widely argued that the acquisition, together with the company's investment in Africa Online will increase the value proposition of its product and service offerings to all customer segments in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The acquisition gives Telkom South Africa a foothold in 28 African countries, making it the biggest satellite-based ISP on the African continent.

Value preposition

"We think our value preposition is so powerful that the current terrestrial services cannot match," says Ndege.

He says the value prepositions of the company’s products and services include reliability, consistency, speed, availability, cost effectiveness and strong support.

Afsat Communications offers direct satellite access services to its clients by utilising all communications requirements such as backbone access, backhole access and last mile access.

In Kenya, Afsat is known for its satellite Internet connectivity solutions to residential and business customers.

It also supplies corporate and state owned customers with reliable and secure corporate data network solutions. This service is provided through VSAT connectivity using the popular iWay brand, which has its regional headquarters in Nairobi.

"The response in the market for our products has been very good. We have had an unprecedented growth," says Ndege.

Amongst the company’s main competitors and who are hoping to utilise the fibre optic cables to provide international Internet connectivity include Access Kenya Ltd, Kenya Data Network and UUNET Kenya.

"The fibre optic will provide much capacity. The demand for capacity is growing, but there have not been enough satellite capacity to provide international connectivity," says Ndege.

Satellite bandwith

Kenya’s average Internet usage grew by 230 per cent to 700MB last year from the previous years 304 MB. The fibre optic networks are expected to supplement satellite in boosting the capacity, since satellite bandwidth demand in Africa far outstrips the supply from the highly consolidated satellite fleet operator industry.

Indeed, Afsat Communications has announced a five-year (2010-2014) strategic pan aimed at improving and expanding its infrastructure within East Africa, with a view of ensuring steady and reliable supply of its products and services. The next phase of the company’s growth will involve setting up additional hub infrastructure to cover the region of the Sub-Saharan Africa between 2011 and 2015. Already, the company has built five satellite hubs in Africa.

Afsat serves Kenya through a distributor network of ISP's such as Callkey Networks and Virtualsat, by providing last mile connectivity to remote locations such as Lokichoggio, Mandera, Lamu, Homa Bay, Garissa, Dadaab, Wajir and Namanga.

Network size

The company also has a large number of VSATs in Nairobi.

There are over 485 iWay VSAT terminals in Kenya. iWay services are available in 28 countries in Africa, and its partnership network consists of 32 distributors, with four subsidiaries in East Africa and Nigeria. Afsat Communications was formed in 1992 to offer communication solutions to corporates in East Africa.

In 2001, the company changed its focus with the re-launch of iWay Brand targeting the whole Sub-Saharan Africa.

Telkom SA Limited aims to become a Pan-African integrated service provider that offers international communications and Internet connectivity, hosting and managed data services, as well as wireless voice and mobile broadband solutions.

Strong growth

Over the long term, it plan to provide international data connectivity to major cities in Africa through regional hubs. It also seek to position Telkom as a wholesale facilities and infrastructure enabler for regional incumbents.

With regards to existing subsidiaries, Tekom SA is focusing on achieving strong growth through both organic and acquisitive business development strategies, as well as by leveraging synergies across the Group.

For Africa Online, this includes leveraging its available international capacity to deploy satellite based Internet access, and using Africa Online as the main vehicle in which Telkom will deliver Internet services outside of South Africa.

My condolences.

Rwanda: SA Provincial Leaders Hail Country on ICT
Ivan R Mugisha, 18 December 2009

Kigali — A visiting team from the South African Province of Limpopo has applauded Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) for its successful implementation of policies and projects aimed at achieving vision 2020.

The delegation headed by the Director General of Limpopo Province Hlamalani Nelly, Manzini, toured the ICT Park, KIST and other data centres like Kigali Wireless Network and the SMART-GOV application centre.

"In the rural areas we were fascinated by the ICT bus that delivers internet services to people who have never seen a computer. The sight of a child deep in a village manipulating a computer inside a bus cheered me very much," Manzini said in an interview on Thursday.

She said the South African team came to Kigali as a follow up visit triggered by a forum that was held in Maputo in 2007 that discussed how ICT could be used to enhance public sector performance in Eastern and Southern Africa.

"We visited Rwanda in particular because it shares a great similarity with Limpopo in that, the central town Kigali is surrounded by mainly rural areas, just like Limpopo." she added.

"Therefore we want to analyze the policies that Rwanda has used to launch ICT facilities to the villages so that we can implement the same policies in our province."

Manzini further stated how she was impressed by the pilot projects such as "One-laptop-per-child" that enable children to develop computer knowledge and skills from a tender age.

She praised the government for creating a central coordination of workable plans through RDB-IT as the implementing agency that guides the programmes.

"If this trend can be sustained with improvement and still be accorded the same attention in the future, then Rwanda will indubitably achieve its 2020 ICT goals revolution." Manzini added.


Link (http://allafrica.com/stories/200912180036.html).

My condolences.

Yeah! Given the way you guys complain about telkom SA, Im not so optimistic.

Link (http://allafrica.com/stories/200912180036.html).

^^i don't know if we are copying from Rwanda:colgate: but the buses and digital villages are being roll out in every constituency in Kenya. they one million computer or laptop campaign is also ongoing:) what i like development in Africa is that if one initiates projects others feel the pressure and they copy:lol: call it healthy competition:lol:

Yeah it's great to see that the politicians can be motivated by what is being done in neighboring countries.

Each year the International Telecommunications Union puts out statistics on the state of mobile and internet data around the world. Here are some key takeaways - Without North Africa (probably classed under Middle East N.Africa)

By the end of 2008, Africa had 246 million mobile subscriptions and mobile penetration has risen from just five per cent in 2003 to well over 30 per cent today. The high ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines and the high mobile cellular growth rate suggest that Africa has taken the lead in the shift from fixed to mobile telephony, a trend that can be observed worldwide. The number of Internet users has also grown faster than in other regions.”

http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mobil-subscriptions-africa-by-country.png

http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/internet-growth-country-africa.png

http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/internet-users-by-country-africa.png

http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mobile-subscriptions-by-country-africa.png

Source: http://www.itu.int/publ/D-IND-RPM.AF-2009/en

I have different statistics here.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2aa0m4l.png

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm

I have different statistics here.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2aa0m4l.png

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm

yeah... that's better... it includes North Africa :cheers:

It still amazes me how back in 2007 already only 0.2% of South Africa wasn't covered by mobile networks :lol:

Kenya home to seven per cent of region’s mobile phone subscribers

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/623670/highRes/87861/-/maxw/600/-/2apkht/-/CCK.jpg

Published on 31/12/2009
By Macharia Kamau

Kenya’s mobile telephony industry now accounts for seven per cent of mobile phone subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report, released last week, says Kenya has the third highest number of subscribers, after Nigeria and South Africa that respectively account for 26 per cent and 19 per cent of mobile cellular subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kenya had 17.4 million mobile phone subscribers by end of June this year, translating to 45.7 per cent penetration.

Tanzania and Ghana have also contributed a significant share of subscribers, with five per cent each, and Cote d’Ivoire joins the fray with four per cent.

The report titled ‘Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009 – Africa,’ otes that the average annual growth rate of 47 per cent in Africa’s ICT sector has boosted the distribution in usage of ICT services. At the turn of the decade, South Africa alone accounted for 74 per cent of the mobile phones on the continent.

"Growth in Nigeria has been very strong. Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire have also accounted for the change in distribution of mobile connections," said the report.

The report, by the United Nation’s telecoms arm, also notes mobile telephony growth over the last five years has defied all predictions and lauds Africa as the region with the highest mobile growth rate.

Take the lead

"By the end of 2008, Africa had 246 million mobile subscriptions. Mobile penetration has risen from just five per cent in 2003 to well over 30 per cent today," said the report.

"The high ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines and the high mobile cellular growth rate suggest that Africa has taken the lead in the shift from fixed to mobile telephony, a trend that can be observed worldwide."

Despite rapid growth, however, Africa’s ICT penetration levels in 2009 are still far behind the rest of the world, and very few African countries reach ICT levels comparable to global averages. According to ITU, less than five per cent of Africans use the Internet, and fixed and mobile broadband penetration levels are negligible.

Both end-users and industry players still face significant challenges in increasing ICT uptake levels.

"These include the lack of full liberalisation of markets and the limited availability of infrastructure. In addition, prices for ICT services remain very high, compared to income levels, and broadband Internet services are out of the reach of most Africans," said ITU in the report.

BPO operators forecast robust activity after landing of fibre

By JEVANS NYABIAGE
Posted Thursday, January 7 2010 at 18:00

The outsourcing sector in Kenya will see exponential growth this year, players in the sector have said.

Ms Peres Were, managing director Cascade Global, says landing of the fibre optic cables last year has provided the sector with capacity to provide mission-critical IT-enabled services (ITES) from Kenya.

“In previous years, the business processing and outsourcing (BPO) sector in Kenya has suffered many challenges, because most serious international outsourcing companies were not willing to give the country a chance, unless we had fibre optic capacity,” she says.

However, since the cables landed last year, the sector has witnessed a lot of interest from top international companies that want to either outsource to Kenya or set-up call centres in the country.

For instance, she says, Cascade Global has entered into a Strategic Alliance Partnership with a USA-based firm, a provider of data infrastructure, technology and outsourcing services.

The firm having seen the potential in Kenya with the fibre optic cable, will now be providing its hosted call centre technology to Kenyan call centres through Cascade Global, she adds.

“Our partner is also currently acquiring three onshore call centres in USA, which have annual BPO projects worth $35 million, and looking at outsourcing some of these contracts to Kenya. The contracts will include areas of customer service, IT outsourcing, finance and accounting among others, to provide a blended solution of both onshore and offshore services,” Ms Were says.

Many Kenyan entrepreneurs hope that with the fibre optic cable in place, plus cheap labour, clear accents, and customer fatigue with Indian call centres, the country could hook into the burgeoning call centre and outsourcing industry, worth $130 billion worldwide.

India still dominates the global BPO market at 55 per cent. In the five years to 2008, the country had a cumulative total of 241 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in customer contact centres and shared services centres.

^^:cheers:

Microcom, the largest ISP in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has signed a multi-year...

Date: Monday, January 12 2009

* O3b Networks to provide low-latency fibre quality Internet backhaul to the DRC

ST. JOHN, Jersey, Channel Islands -- O3b Networks, the developer of a new fibre quality, global Internet backbone, announced today that Microcom DRC has signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract for O3b

Networks's Quick Start service. O3b's Quick Start carrier managed service provides high-bandwidth, low-latency Internet access directly to Microcom. Once connected, Microcom will offer more affordable, high speed Internet access to its customers.

O3b Networks, funded by Google Inc., Liberty Global, Inc. and HSBC Principal Investments, is building the world's first ultra-low-latency, fibre-speed satellite network. The network is designed to improve Internet access for the millions of consumers and businesses in emerging and developing markets. Activation is scheduled for late 2010.

"As the largest wireless ISP in the DRC, we have successfully addressed customer access to our network; for us, the challenge is to provide a low-latency connection back to the global Internet," said Leon Ntale, CEO Microcom. "With O3b's Quick Start service, we have access to a fibre quality service without the overhead of a fibre network. With the O3b backbone, we look forward to providing high speed Internet access to the 60 million people of the DRC."

"Microcom, like many emerging market operators, has significant opportunities to provide new data services," said John Finney, EVP Sales and Marketing for O3b Networks, Ltd. "In most markets,the reliable low latency backhaul does not exist. This is where O3b comes in. Our solutions allow operators to provide an Internet experience similar to developed markets."


Microcom, founded in 1982, is the leading Wireless Internet Access service provider (WISP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville . From its establishment, Microcom has gathered experience in telecommunications with the deployment of its private satellite network in twelve cities in DRC. In each city, Internet access is provided by a Wimax broadband wireless access network designed for providing high speed-data to the Internet users. Microcom built the first African WiMax network. Today, they have more than 5000 CPE'S installed. In 2009 and 2010, Microcom will expand its fixed network to provide a new Mobile Wimax Network and use the capacity from O3b Networks to provide a low-latency connection to the Internet.

Zambians get faster internet thanks to fibre-optic link.
Zambia’s internet service provision is set to enter a new era as the country will now be using a fiber-optic link with Namibia to improve access to the web.
According to media reports, Zamnet Communications System, a Zambian ISP, has set up an Internet gateway to Europe using a fiber-optic link from Zambia to Namibia.
Computerworld said, the link was set up in partnership with the Zambia Electricity Supply Corp. (Zesco), a power utility company, Namibian Telecom and the South Atlantic West Africa Submarine (SAT3) cable that runs under the Indian Ocean on the West Coast of Africa to Europe.
Zamnet Communications System acting Managing Director Raphael Maseka said at a media briefing in Lusaka, Zambia, that the end-to-end optic connection from Zamnet’s server room to Europe was the first such link and will revolutionize Internet service provision in Zambia.
Zesco is a government-run power utility company that has installed its power lines across the country. The Zesco fiber cables that will be connected to networks in Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) provide Internet coverage and digital transmission for radio and television communication operators in Zambia.
Zamnet leveraged on Zesco’s fiber-optic infrastructure and cross-border interconnections with Telecom Namibia at the Katima Mulilo border. This will be the first time that Zambia is hooked to the outside world through a fiber-optic cable connection.
The Zambian government is planning to have 5, 000 kilometers of fiber cable by 2010 to ensure coverage throughout Zambia and it’s nearby countries.

Zambia gets new mobile manufacturing plant.
Zambian President, Rupiah Banda urged his countrymen to invest in local businesses, in order to boost the country’s economy, and encourage foreign investment.

President Banda made the comments at the opening of manufacturing plant for mobile handsets. M Mobile Telecommunications, a wholly owned Zambian company, invested US$10 million in the new plant. Banda said: “This is what Zambians should be doing to attract foreign investors. Zambians should themselves lead the way by investing in their country,”

The president also said that the new investment would lead the way to earning much needed foreign currency, as well as supply mobile handsets for the local Zambian market.

The plant, situated in Lusaka, will also employ about 200 local people, including engineers and technicians, and will produce a wide range of handsets from entry-level to state-of-the-art.




:cheers::cheers: to the SADC brothers. lets flex the muscles in tech world.

WHATEVER!!!!!!!........The leaders know themselves.
;-)

WHATEVER!!!!!!!........The leaders know themselves.
;-) @ BUTEMBO

WHATEVER!!!!!!!........The leaders know themselves.
;-) @ BUTEMBO

and leaders are?

The leaders are:
The SADC muscle flexing bros...lol!!!

The leaders are:
The SADC muscle flexing bros...lol!!!

yeap. if you don't flex your muscles here, your screwed.

BUTEMBO
Such a funny dude.
Do you sleep online??????

BUTEMBO
Such a funny dude.
Do you sleep online??????

lol, no,The internet is just to fast. but internet is everywhere i step. not my fault.

The DRC is connected to the FIBER OPTIC .

The Democratic Republic of Congo is already connected to fiber optic network between the local LAN Moanda and Kinshasa. This new technology involves the dissemination of information at high speed and large quantity. It is therefore replace the walrus, fiber to copper, telegraphs and telegrams.

"The advantage of this fiber is to exchange lots of information in a time much smaller around the world. The optical fiber has many benefits for the Congolese people, "said the ADG of OCPT.

In an interview granted to Radio Okapi, Mr. Jean Pierre Mongo said that fiber optics has advantages in the field of images, the Internet and multimedia ... This new mode of transportation information, emphasizes he gives the possibility to have a broadband information. "It also allows the DRC to connect to the world, to establish a national network that provides redundancy or lining of information transport by satellite across the country," he added.

In addition, information ADG of OCPT with fiber optics, there is cost reduction. This decline, he said, promotes access to a large number of people in this fiber optic network. This facilitates the use of the Internet even in the remotest corners of the DRC. "With Internet services, the DRC will benefit from investments by firms and modern companies. But these firms can operate normally with the new information technologies and communication.

ADG also informs that the work of installing this new technology are progressing normally. The first phase has just been completed. This phase, he said, was to liaise with the world via the Atlantic Ocean. "Here in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this connection is made from Moanda in the province of Bas Congo. It is the main route of entry and exit, but there are others who are in the East. Meanwhile the junction which will probably next August, the ideal would be to draw the connection to Kinshasa to profitability, "informs he.

According to him, the DRC is already connected to fiber-optic local network between Moanda and Kinshasa. It only remains to launch the signal so that the telephone operators and customers can use it. And the official mission of the OCPT is asking the public network for the general interest of the Congolese people. For price advantages, said the ADG of OCPT, Internet providers will not have to use only the satellites for their traffic, because with the optical fiber, it is still possible. Mobile operators and potential customers and Internet users will also benefit from this new technology. In one case as in the other, the fiber gives benefits in terms of price, access, speed, quantity and time.


Let the game begin.

Vodacom South Africa 21 Mbps HSPA+ network live
Vodacom will upgrade all their customers to 7.2 Mbps at the end of March; 21 Mbps HSPA+ network already live

Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys today announced that Vodacom has made significant progress in the upgrade of its mobile data network, and is set to bump up all their subscribers to 7.2 Mbps at the end of March. To date ‘Vodacom Advanced’ customers had access to speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, with the rest of the customer base seeing downlink speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps.

Uys further announced that Vodacom has switched on its HSPA+ network in Midrand, offering speeds of up to 21 Mbps – the first live HSPA+ network in Africa. This service will however not be available immediately, but Uys said that 21 Mbps HSPA+ will be available in areas like the World Cup stadiums and airports “where it makes sense”.

Uys added that the full Vodacom network will be 14.4 Mbps capable by the time the 2010 World Cup kicks off. Good news for Vodacom subscribers is that they will get access to 14.4 Mbps HSPA from the end of March, but Uys highlighted that only around 100 sites will be 14.4 Mbps enabled at the time.

Cell C announced in January (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/11280.html) that it is planning to roll out its 4G network this year, and launch 21 Mbps HSPA+ services in 2010.

Vodacom HSPA+ network (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?214720-Vodacom-21-Mbps-HSPA-network-goes-live-in-Midrand) - comments and views

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/11340.html

Africa Union: We must take ICT seriously

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Bingu_wa_Mutharika.jpg
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi

Bingu wa Mutharika, the African Union (AU) chairperson, has called upon member countries to take information and communication technologies seriously.

Speaking at the end of the 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of AU in Ethiopia on Tuesday, wa Mutharika said, giving ICT special attention would play an important part in the development agenda of the union.

He said “no child should die of hunger and malnutrition”, elaborating on the summit theme: “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development”.

Wa Mutharika also outlined the priority areas to be considered as an immediate plan of action for the next three months. These included the putting in place of food security programs to alleviate poverty in the next five years, the need to develop transport and telecommunications and connect countries through ICT and the development of energy.

by Ahmed Haile

Link (http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=4531)

AU summit on ICT could be yet another talk shop

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/854832/highRes/133178/-/maxw/600/-/t7acciz/-/Cyber.jpg

Posted Thursday, February 4 2010 at 00:00

Reports from Addis Ababa, where the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) sits and the hosts for the AU Summit on ICT indicate that things are going as scripted — make as many declarations as possible so that the world knows that Africa is moving.

Several initiatives have been launched since the meetings started last weekend, and more initiatives will be launched before the official communiqué is delivered today.

But what happens after all the flashy presentations and the flights back home is a sorry state of still born initiatives and duplication of efforts, leading to the perpetual waste scarce of resources.

In October 2007, Rwanda under the stewardship of her tech-savvy President Paul Kagame, hosted a high profile conference, dubbed Connect Africa Summit.

The primary aim of the Summit was to mobilise the human, financial and technical resources required to bridge major gaps in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure across the continent.

The driver being; support for affordable connectivity and applications and services to stimulate economic growth, employment and development throughout Africa.

Some of the specific goals were interconnecting with ICT broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012; Connect African villages to broadband ICT services by 2015 and implement shared access initiatives such as community tele-centres and village phones.

Commitments to support these initiatives poured from the usual suspects led by the World Bank.

Millions of dollars were committed to see the implementation of these initiatives.

Fast-forward to February 2010, it’s the 14th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) on the theme: “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Development” a similar conference, different venue, almost same participants and new initiatives being launched.

So I ask, have we successfully implemented the initiatives mooted in the last conference?

Did someone even take a stock of the activities that were agreed on and done a flashy power point presentation of the status?

I cannot answer any of these question for sure, but what I see coming out of Addis cannot confirm either of the situations.

Grand announcement and multi-million dollar initiatives crafted at high-level meetings in Africa do not result in progress.

Despite having mega bucks behind them, they end up in concept notes and consultancy opportunities for the lenders and their cronies.

A lot of the progress we have seen in the sector has been driven from the demand side by mostly the private sector.

So don’t hold your breath waiting for the Addis Communiqué to change the ICT landscape in the continent.

Hare is a director at the African eDevelopment Resource Centre based in Nairobi. Follow him on Twitter@hareharry


Link (http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539444/854982/-/t2cl0a/-/)

Africa telecom investment to exceed $70 bln by '12

http://af.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20100201&t=2&i=53947857&w=450&r=2010-02-01T083709Z_01_AJOE6100NXZ00_RTROPTP_0_OZABS-AFRICA-TELECOMS-20100201

Mon Feb 1, 2010 8:35am GMT

By Duncan Miriri

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Africa's telecom sector will have private investments of more $70 billion by 2012, surpassing the $55 billion promised by investors at a U.N.-backed meeting in 2007, the head of the U.N. telecoms agency said.

Keen on getting a piece of the action in one of the continent's fastest growing sectors, investors at a U.N.-backed African telecoms meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, in late 2007 had committed to put $55 billion into the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector.

"In the first two years we had $21 billion, which makes me believe by the end of the five years we will surpass very easily 70 billion," Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

Toure was speaking on the sidelines of the annual African Union summit in Addis Ababa, where leaders are devoting much of their time to discussions on how to boost telecommunications on the continent.

"We will go beyond the $55 billion that was pledged," he said late on Sunday.

The ITU brings together governments, regulators, academic institutions and businesses from around the world.

At the Kigali meeting, African countries also pledged to construct national fibre-optic networks with the goal of linking all cities and major towns by 2012.

Toure said all regions, with the exception of central Africa, had made progress in fibre-optic networking, and governments with proper regulations and ICT policies were guaranteed private sector capital because the business was growing rapidly.

Companies active in Africa include Britain's Vodacom, France Telecom, Kuwait's Zain Kenya's Safaricom, and South Africa's MTN.

INTERCONTINENTAL ISSUES

"What the private sector is looking for is predictable regulatory environment where the rules of the game are clear and ... are not changing during the game," he said.

"There are over 45 countries with a good regulatory authority today. The challenge is to bring them together, to work together on issues that are intercontinental."

Mobile penetration in Africa stands at 42 percent, while only 8 percent of the people have access to internet connections, in a continent of 1 billion people.

But as Africa ramps up its cyber-credentials, Toure said it needed to be aware of the risk of cyber-conflicts, which could be more devastating "than a tsunami".

He said sabotaging ICT systems could interfere with aviation navigation systems, shut down electricity grids and lead to the loss of lives if medical systems were attacked.

Toure said states needed to set policies which criminalised misdemeanours in cyberspace and to establish response teams that had the technical capacity to deal with such attacks.

He said the cost of setting up systems to protect telecommunications was not high, but the hurdle was countries did not yet appreciate the risk.

"There is not enough awareness about it (cyber attacks). They may not see it as a threat," Toure said. "There is a lot of work to be done."

Link (http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE61007J20100201)

Ethiopia gets Microsoft software in Amharic

(AFP) – 15 hours ago

ADDIS ABABA — US software giant Microsoft has launched Windows Vista in Amharic, the first operating system in the national language of Ethiopia, the official news agency said Saturday.

"Launching the Amharic version software is a major step forward for Amharic to be a language of technology," Director of the Ethiopian ICT Development Agency, Debretsion Gebremichael was quoted as saying by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).

He said 40 scholars from the Addis Ababa University had taken part in the translation of the software and added that plans were being drafted for translation into some of the nation's other languages.

"Ethiopia as a country of over 80 million people, has its own language and alphabet, and it is Microsoft?s desire to let this huge country use its Amharic service pack," ENA quoted Microsoft's Africa boss Cheick Modibo Diarra as saying.http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jdVabWXWy0yN8JfammU1GAOo0dnA

:) woot

EASSy cable promises bandwidth price cuts


The long awaited 1.4 Tbps East African Submarine Cable System will land in SA tomorrow; ready for commercial service from August 2010

The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) – one of the nine undersea telecommunications cables that will connect various parts of Sub-Saharan Africa to the rest of the world by 2011 – will land at Mtunzini, on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coastline, tomorrow.

Telkom is the South African landing partner for EASSy. In all, there are nine EASSy landing stations in Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa, with shore-end landings already having occurred in Mozambique and Sudan.

“EASSy is one of the elements of Telkom’s cable investment strategy and is a key step towards the process of establishing a Telkom fibre ring capability around Africa,” said Alphonzo Samuels, Telkom’s Managing Executive for Wholesale Services.

He added: “EASSy further increases the robustness of Telkom’s international bandwidth offerings and portfolio. Together with other undersea cables and/or land based fibre routes, EASSy creates redundant fibre access prospects into East Africa.”

EASSy is a 10 000 km undersea cable system currently being constructed along the east African coastline. Its 1.4 Tbps system design capacity, coupled with its two fibre-pair configuration, equips EASSy with the highest capacity of all undersea cable systems along the east coast of Africa.
Interconnection with various other undersea international cable systems will enable traffic on EASSy to connect to Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia, thereby enhancing the east coast of Africa’s connectivity into the global telecommunications network.

“EASSy is routed from South Africa to Sudan, linking the coastal countries of East Africa. An extensive backhaul system linking landlocked countries to the coastal countries has been developed and is at various stages of completion,” stated Samuels, adding that EASSy is scheduled to be ready for commercial service from August this year.

Samuels explained that submarine cables held many benefits such as superior transmission quality, considerably lesser delays compared to satellite, high transmission capacity, access to the global optical fibre network, lower unit costs (compared to satellite), no electromagnetic interference and higher resistance against adverse weather conditions.
“However, activities such as fishing and anchoring, ocean drilling, fish bites and earthquakes constituted some of the commonly known submarine cable hazards,” cautioned Samuels.

Various initiatives were nevertheless undertaken to protect submarine cables. These included conducting ocean bed surveys to select the safest undersea routes; burying cable in sand where possible, especially at the shallow end; avoiding heavy shipping lanes when approaching landing points; selecting safe beaches, bearing in mind that later beach erosion could expose cables; designing the shortest land cable route for maximum security; and, manufacturing cables to exceed the 25 year design life of the cable system.

“Redundancy, protection and – where necessary – restoration are also key considerations,” said Samuels.

He explained: “Redundancy means that we have duplicated equipment at the cable stations, duplicated power converters, generators, etc. Therefore, if a single piece of equipment should fail, we have another piece of equipment standing by to take its place.”

Protection ensures that a fully duplicated amount of capacity is available to re-route traffic on the same cable in the event of an internal failure impacting only one path or fibre. Protection therefore implies that for everything that is duplicated, automated switching takes place.
Samuels added that restoration required traffic to be routed onto other cable systems via completely different traffic paths and even different routes. “This usually happens when a complete failure of a cable system occurs, usually via an external influence such as a ship’s anchor breaking a cable, to the extent that ‘in-system’ protection on the same system is not possible.”

He also explained that customers have a choice between the regular international private lease circuits that includes restoration for their bandwidth or a product that excludes restoration, which would be termed non-restorable bandwidth or traffic.

“It must be emphasised, though, that in the event of submarine cable service interruptions, every attempt is always made to expedite customer services,” emphasised Samuels.

Although EASSy will not be commercially active by the time this year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in June, Samuels stated that “Telkom’s undersea capacity has been significantly upgraded”. “For example, by end-October last year, SAT-3 and SAFE were upgraded to at least three times their former capacity.”

He added that SAT3 provided the shortest route to Europe while SAFE was the shortest link to Asia. From an undersea capacity perspective, therefore, it’s all systems go for the World Cup,” emphasised Samuels.
As its investment in EASSy highlighted, Samuels said that Telkom had a robust strategy with regard to undersea cable investments. The Company’s cable investments included COLUMBUS3, SEA-ME-WE3 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe), SAT3/WASC/SAFE (South Atlantic Telecommunications / West Africa Submarine Cable /South Africa Far East), EASSy, EIG (Europe India Gateway) and WACS (West Africa Cable System).

“Our investments are geared by the participation of other operators and we firmly believe that investment sharing translates to better unit costs and improved customer prices,” he added.

“Ultimately, we believe that EASSy will also go a long way towards increasing Africa’s bandwidth capacity, affordability and create increased diversity and fibre redundancy between SA and Europe as well as within East Africa” concluded Samuels.

EASSy cable in SA << discussion
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/11469.html

Ethiopia: SEACOM connects ETC with international broadband


SEACOM, the privately funded and over three quarter African-owned submarine fibre optic cable system, has been awarded an agreement to supply Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) with international broadband fibre connectivity via a backhaul link through Djibouti.

Lower costs, more opportunities

The available bandwidth should result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors of the Ethiopian economy including ICT industries, educational, clinical and scientific applications which rely on the real-time sharing of data. SEACOM can also enable new technologies such as high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand at lower prices.

Commenting on the international capacity agreement, Amare Amsalu, ETC CEO, said: "SEACOM is ideally suited to provide international connectivity that will complement ETC's extensive national initiative to link the country's businesses and end-users with fibre broadband connectivity. The availability of high quality broadband at lower prices will accelerate economic development and educational initiatives that will enhance lives and will also establish Ethiopia as an important commercial centre for Africa and as a regional transit point for other service providers."

Improving telecommunications infrastructure

Ethiopia's government is said to be actively rolling out a US$1.5 billion national initiative to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure. Amongst other projects relating to landline and mobile telecommunications services, the national fibre optic network is set to be expanded significantly to allow the implementation of its ICT vision.

Brian Herlihy, SEACOM CEO, said: "SEACOM is honoured to have been selected by ETC to provide this important international broadband connectivity element to Ethiopia. As we have seen in other countries that gained access to SEACOM, it is only a matter of time before the direct socio-economic benefits created by cheap and readily available bandwidth begin to manifest in Ethiopia and the region."

SEACOM is a 17,000km submarine fibre optic cable enabling eastern and southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world via India and Europe and the first such cable to connect the east African coast. This deal marks a growing number of African landlocked countries to be connected to the SEACOM network since its launch in July 2009.
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/414/16/45904.html

Huge increase in broadband capacity in three weeks


The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has made a surprise announcement that on April 8 it will increase the capacity of broadband internet in Ethiopia by 445 percent. Currently, a trial of the international broadband fibre connection through Djibouti is being conducted. The connection is owned by Seacom, a Mauritian company.

Although it had been known that negotiations between ETC and Seacom had been ongoing for over two years, it was not expected that an agreement would result in the extra capacity being delivered within such a short space of time.

Amare Amsalu, CEO of ETC, stated confidently that a new IT chapter for Ethiopia is about to begin, as the enhancement of international connection capacity is expected to support fast, reliable and high bandwidth connectivity.

At the signing ceremony held last Thursday, March 18 between ETC and Seacom for the procurement of international fibre optic bandwidth connectivity through submarine fibre communication, Amare told journalists that the corporation will provide a 20 STM-1 (3,100 megabytes per second [mbps] ) internet service for the public as of April 8. The existing capacity delivered by ETC from optical fibre, microwave and satellite is only 897.1 mbps.

An anonymous expert at ETC corroborated the view of his CEO, saying that the new international connection will provide the capacity for many extra users to access the internet at much higher speeds than have been available up until now. He added that the development will also make international communication via the internet a far easier task.

Over the last few years, the state monopoly telecoms provider, ETC, has laid about 10,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable across the country for the access of international gateways via Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya. "We have also finalised fibre optic cable extending about 70km from the Somaliland border," Amare said. Four years ago, optical fibre connected Ethiopia and Sudan via the northern border town of Metema with a capacity of 537 mbps.

From the new capacity, 16 STM-1(2,480 mbps) will be utilised for commercial purposes, while the remaining 4 STM-1(620 mbps) will be used for e-government programs.
ETC currently has a capacity of 897.4 mbps, which breaks down as 537 mbps of optical fibre, 342.4 mbps of satellite and 18 mbps from microwave via Djibouti for international links. The new connectivity will enable the corporation to raise the current 537 mbps capacity of fibre communication of the country to 3,637 mbps, or increased it by 677.28 percent, and to increase the total 897.4 mbps capacity currently used via microwave, satellite and fibre by 445.44 percent.

The new connectivity comes at a total cost of 47 million dollars (634.5 million birr) and has the capacity to provide for 20 million customers. Currently there are tens of thousands of Ethiopian internet subscribers, with Addis Ababa having the major share.
It is hoped that plentiful and readily available bandwidth will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors of the Ethiopian economy, including ICT industries, but also educational, clinical, and scientific projects that rely on the real-time sharing of data around the world at fast speeds. It will also enable new technologies, such as high definition TV and peer to peer networks.
Amare said that Seacom offered the lowest price out of the companies that bid to implement the scheme. He also stated that Seacom has agreed to provide a reduced charge for e-government services. School net, woreda net, revenue net, telemedicine and agrinet are some of the existing e-government programs.

The contract will last from seven to 20 years, according to Abdurahim Ahmed, Head of Corporate Communications at ETC.

Currently, out of total internet usage, data downloading takes an 85 per cent share, which shows that a high bandwidth service will save time and expense, Abdurahim explained at the ceremony.

Seacom, the privately-funded and over three-quarter African-owned submarine fibre optic cable firm, has a total capacity of 1.28 terabytes per second. It owns 17 000km of submarine fibre optic cable enabling eastern and southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world via India and Europe. It is the first such cable to connect to the east African coast.

African countries connected to the Seacom system to date include South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Three of these countries, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, are landlocked countries unable to link directly with the international fibre optic cable. Ethiopia has been trying to link with the international line due to a lack of agreement with neighbouring countries about cable extending procedures and related issues, including sovereignty- and security-related matters.

The Ethiopian Government is actively rolling out a 1.5 billion dollar national initiative to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure. The current project is one of the nine Next Generation Network projects the corporation is undertaking.
http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?view=article&id=12523%3Ahuge-increase-in-broadband-capacity-in-three-weeks&option=com_content&Itemid=4

:banana:

Unbelievable what these undersea cables are doing and will continue to do for African countries.

ETC, France Telecom Sign Management Contract


Signed deal awaits nod from the Council of Ministers

The management of the state owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has now officially been handed over to a foreign firm, 102 years after Emperor Menelik decided that such a vital communications network ought to be managed by a native.

The transfer of management from one of the founders of Ethiopia’s telecom industry, Michel Chefneux, who had run the embryonic telecommunications network for a decade beginning 1897, to Lij Beyene Yimar, in 1907, is considered as one of the crucial milestones in the history of the Corporation.

Last week, managers at the state owned telecom monopoly signed a deal with senior officers of France Telecom, thereby putting the management of ETC in the hands of a European firm, reliable sources disclosed.

The deal was signed on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, with a business team of about 10, led by Stéphane Richard, the newly appointed boss of France Telecom, according to these sources.

France Telecom, a.k.a the Orange Company, will manage ETC on behalf of the Ethiopian government for up to three years. The European company had been in a bid against South African and Indian firms to win the contract.

France Telecom-Orange will be paid an annual management fee, although there is a possibility of revenues sharing from enhanced services, according to these sources.

Nonetheless, details of the deal remain undisclosed, although France Telecom’s experts are planning to conduct inventory of staff and resources in the next seven months, before beginning to implement their plans, according to these sources.

However, the deal signed last week has not been sent to the Council of Ministers for an approval, sources disclosed.

If approved, ETC will join companies in 32 countries where the European telecom operator exist, serving a combined number of 193 million subscribers.

France Telecom has the task of ensuring the federal government’s ambitious plan of expanding telecom services across the country. The government wants to see access to telecom services become available within a radius of five kilometres to 100pc of the population by the end of this year, as opposed to 13pc in 2001.

It is investing over two billion dollars to expand the telecom infrastructure, in order to increase telecom point of presence from 1,900 four years ago to 17,000 at the end of the year, while it wants to see landlines increase from 1.1 million to four million and mobile from 1.2 million to 8.5 million subscribers.
http://addisfortune.com/ETC,%20France%20Telecom%20Sign%20Management%20Contract.htm

This has the potential to transform mobile telephony in Ethiopia.

News from TZ...


Tanzania: Locals to Enjoy Cheap Telecommunication Services (http://allafrica.com/stories/201003300730.html)

Dar Es Salaam — Telecommunications cable to connect Sub-Saharan Africa with the rest of the world by 2011 will make landfalls in Tanzania mid this year, with promises of cheap telecommunications and internet connections.

The connection is Tanzania's second undersea cable after SEACOM, the first undersea connection linking East Africa to the rest of the world.

Seacom's efforts would be complemented by yet another important project, the almost 10,000-kilometre East Africa Submarine (EASSy), the undersea cable which is set to run from Port Sudan in the North to Durban, thus completing the fibre loop surrounding Africa.

EASSy is the most advanced of all the sea cables proposed for the East and Southern African region and it will cost 248 million US dollars (over 300bn/-). Upon the project completion, projected in the last quarter of 2010, it will, for the first time, bring faster and affordable internet to about 250 million people in the region.

With East African Sub Marine cable system becoming available for use in Tanzania next July, the cost of international telecommunications and internet connectivity is expected to drop significantly.

Zantel is the Tanzanian landing partner for EASSy. In all, there are nine EASSy landing stations in Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa, with shore-end landings already having occurred in Mozambique and Sudan.

"EASSy is one of the elements of Zantel's cable investment strategy and is a key step towards the process of establishing a fibre ring capability around Africa," says Zantel's Business Development Director Michael Magambo.

He adds that EASSy further increases the robustness of Zantel's international bandwidth offerings and portfolio.

Together with other undersea cables or land based fibre routes, EASSy creates redundant fibre access prospects into East Africa.

Eassy reduces reliance on the existing SAT3/SAFE cable, which has had several recent outages on the West Coast of Africa and it will provide the first opportunity for clients of the SEACOM cable to achieve redundancy along the East Coast of Africa.

It may over time drive SEACOM access prices further down, which will in turn bring down the costs on the other cables and it will further provide real competition for Internet access services for all countries on the East Coast of Africa.

Mr Magambo says increasing connectivity among various cable systems means lower latency -- the time it takes for data to pass through a network and for information to return -- and increasing connectivity means greater opportunities for online collaboration between companies operating across Africa.

EASSy, which is currently under construction along the East African coastline, has 1.4 Tbps system design capacity, coupled with its two fibre-pair configuration.

These give EASSy the highest capacity of all undersea cable systems along the east coast of Africa. The SEACOM cable has a capacity of 1.2Tbps.

Interconnection with other undersea international cable systems will enable traffic on EASSy to seamlessly connect to Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia, thereby enhancing the east coast of Africa's connectivity into the global telecommunications network.

Specifically, the project aims at improving the region's global connectivity, by providing the last link of the high capacity optic fibre submarine cable encircling, and connecting the continent of Africa to the global high capacity optic fibre system, he said.

"The project is aimed at providing infrastructure to increase the inter-regional and global information and communication technology (ICT) connectivity," says Mr Magambo.

"EASSy is routed from South Africa to Sudan, linking the coastal countries of East Africa. An extensive backhaul system linking landlocked countries to the coastal countries has been developed and is at various stages of completion," he said.

Zantel Chief commercial officer Mr Norman Moyo explains that submarine cables have many benefits --superior transmission quality, considerably lesser delays compared to satellite, high transmission capacity, access to the global optical fibre network and lower unit costs than satellite.

He however cautions: "But, activities such as fishing and anchoring, ocean drilling, fish bites and earthquakes constituted some of the commonly known submarine cable hazards." Various initiatives were nevertheless undertaken to protect submarine cables.

They include conducting ocean bed surveys to select the safest undersea routes; burying cable in sand where possible, especially at the shallow end; avoiding heavy shipping lanes when approaching landing points; and selecting safe beaches, bearing in mind that later beach erosion could expose cables.

The designs of the shortest land cable route for maximum security; and, manufacturing cables to exceed the 25-year design life of the cable system are also some of the precaution measures.

Zantel will have two fibre links which will consist of SEACOM and EASY and that this will allow the company to have assurance to its customers in case of breakdowns, says Mr Moyo.

The project, he says, will involve providing a high capacity optic fibre sub-marine cable running the total length of eastern coast of Africa connecting to the rest of the world.

http://www.a24media.com/index.php/business/1226-first-solar-powered-rural-internet-kiosk-installed-in-kenya

By Phares Mutembe
Kenyahttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/InsidePage.php?id=2000006834&cid=14&story=E-learning%20to%20solidify%20Kenya%E2%80%99s%20position%20as%20the%20ICT%20hub#) is gearing towards deepening the provision of technology-backed learning in both its public and private institutions, as well as playing a more prominent role in increasing the uptake of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the region.
The process of integrating ICT into its education system through e-learning is expected to entrench the country’s position as an ICT hub in the region, with a planned replication of what is happening in Kenya in close to 20 other countries in the region. The region is expected to start implementation of a regional strategy on e-learning, which is to be spearheaded by Kenya.
This follows a recent nomination of Kenya as the COMESA e-Learning hub. The country is expected to coordinate development and implementation of a COMESA-Wide e–Learning program targeting the 19 African countries.
The United Nationshttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/InsidePage.php?id=2000006834&cid=14&story=E-learning%20to%20solidify%20Kenya%E2%80%99s%20position%20as%20the%20ICT%20hub#) Environmental Programme (UNEP) has also nominated Kenya as a sub-regional e-Learning Center of excellence for the East and central Africa region. The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment held in South Africa last year saw the ministers adopt a decision on environmental education and technology-supported learning in the continent.
Already a reference point for many countries on the continent due to inroads made in ICT infrastructure development, Kenya has also made milestones in e-Learning development and implementation, in part due to the commitment by the Government to ICTs as an engine for growth.
"Through e-Learning, we will consolidate our position as the ICT hub in Africa, opening opportunities for the growth of the knowledge process outsourcing industry through development of animations labs and other value added e-services," said Mr Andrew Gakiria, the National Coordinator of the Kenya Institute of Education-based Kenya e-Learning centre.
"There is no reason why young Kenyan professionals cannot coach or tutor learners and business people in other parts of Africa and the world online. We are known for our deep pool of specialised knowledge and skills, and these cab be made available to those in need through Knowledge process outsourcing."
The Kenya e-Learning centre (KeLC), an initiative under e-Government to adopt e-learning in the training of civil servants, has been key in growth of e-learning.
It was established in a bid to harmonise and consolidate all Government training programmes under one umbrella. Its is also expected to provide e-Learning infrastructure and training expertise for the Government online training programmes.
One of the biggest beneficiaries so far of the KeLC programmes has been the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), which has established its own environmental e-Learning centre in an initiative to implement the African ministers’ plans for dissemination of environmental education and technology-supported learning.
Nema’s e-Learning centre offers online environmental education for the provincial and district environmental committees and others, with an aim of advancing the state of the country’s environment. The centre also offers education and skills to bolster the stakeholders’ capacity to conserve ecosystems, with emphasis on environmental policies and laws in Kenya.
It is supposed to offer a platform for different organisation expected to incorporate e-learning in their training programmes.
"It makes no economic or business sense for every organisation to have its own e-Learning platform. This can be shared in a Multi-stakeholder e-Learning center, enabling coordination, harmonisation and secure sharing of critical infrastructure and resources," said Gakiria.
Some of the Government’s institutions that have moved towards adoption of e-Learning in their training programs include KWS, KIE, KMTC, KEMRI, University of Nairobi and KIA. Already, the e-learning centre is actively involved in developing e-learning initiatives in the environment sector.
The Centre has a cooperation agreement with InWEnt, German Capacity Building international to offer InWEnt’s e-Learning programs in Africa through a blended approach. Since 2007, a total of 600 technical staff from over 10 African countries have been trained in e-Learning didactics and technology. The same model will be used to roll out the proposed COMESA e-Learning program coordinated by KeLC and partners.
Gakiria however noted that lack of a national policy on e-learning might stand in the way of further developments in embedding ICT in education sector.
"Without a national policy and strategy, it would be impossible to have a working e-Learning program in the country," he said.


http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/InsidePage.php?id=2000006834&cid=14&story=E-learning%20to%20solidify%20Kenya%E2%80%99s%20position%20as%20the%20ICT%20hub

International bandwidth boom: SEACOM, EASSy, Main One, WACS
Staff Writer MyBroadband; 04 May, 2010

Main One and SEACOM team up to bring more international bandwidth to South Africa

Less than one year ago South Africa’s international bandwidth needs were only served by one cable system: the Telkom controlled SAT-3/SAFE.
In July 2009 SEACOM broke Telkom’s monopoly on international bandwidth, and it was not long before consumers saw the benefits of competition filtering down to them in the form of lower broadband pricing and higher usage limits.

SEACOM’s landing was however only the beginning. EASSy is set to become operational in July 2010, with WACS following in 2011.

Main One joins the club

Good news is that Main One, SEACOM and eFive Telecoms have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a submarine cable from SA to Nigeria. This forms part of a plan to launch a project to develop a Pan-African fibre ring solution.

The Main One and SEACOM networks will be extended to create a system that offers redundancy and additional capacity on both the east and west routes around Africa.

The new addition would follow the completion of the first phase of the Main One cable project which connects Nigeria to London, by June 2010. The SEACOM cable, which became operational in July 2009, currently runs from South Africa along the east coast of Africa and onwards to the rest of the world via India and Europe.

Funke Opeke, Main One CEO, explained: “Main One’s plan in 2008 included building in two phases with phase one connecting London and Nigeria through a 7,000Km cable. Phase two will connect Nigeria to South Africa once the right partnership with the right level of funding is secured.
With the first phase scheduled to be completed on time and on budget in June 2010, we believe that the proposed partnership with SEACOM and eFive telecoms is the best way forward.”

Massive international bandwidth growth

In early 2009 SAT-3/SAFE had a capacity of 120 Gbps, but this was ‘tripled’ to 340 Gbps in late 2009. This additional capacity on the SAT-3/SAFE upgrade is however only a drop in the bucket of the overall increase which can be expected with the new cable systems.
SEACOM has a design capacity of 1.27 Tbps of which 90 Gbps has been lit to date. EASSy will add a theoretical 1.4 Tbps to the mix while WACS will bring an additional 3.84 Tbps to the country.

If one adds Main One’s 1.92 Tbps the theoretical total amount of international bandwidth coming into the country is set to be 8.77 Tbps – a massive jump from the previous 120 Gbps in the SAT-3/SAFE era.

International bandwidth in SA (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?229446-SEACOM-EASSy-Main-One-WACS-International-bandwidth-boom-in-South-Africa) << comments and views
(http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables/)

^^nice :cheers:

ACE fibre-optic cable on its way
Staff Writer Sapa-AFP | 08 June, 2010

France Telecom and 19 partners will invest 700 million dollars to bring high-speed Internet to 20 countries in western Africa, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) fibre-optic cable will stretch 17,000 kilometres (10,500 miles) underwater from France to South Africa, and is slated to be completed in 2012.

It will connect 23 countries en route, including Spain and Portugal and countries along the western coast of Africa including Mauritania, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Landlocked Mali and Niger will be connected by an overland cable.

France Telecom will contribute 250 million of the 700-million-dollar (585-million-euro) cost of the project, according to the agreement.

"By signing this agreement, France Telecom-Orange is reinforcing its presence on the African continent and helping to reduce the digital divide in the region," the company said in the statement.

Source (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/12953-ACE-fibre-optic-cable-its-way.html)

Vodacom South Africa 150 Mbps trial LTE network live

Vodacom has switched on its Long Term Evolution (LTE) trial network in Midrand, with live testing showing promising results

Vodacom has today demonstrated its live LTE network at a media event in Midrand, one of the first live LTE networks in the world and the first in Africa.

Unlike many test networks the Vodacom LTE network - which uses Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) gear - is fully integrated with its current 3G/HSDPA network and uses the same spectrum.

The Vodacom trial LTE network has a theoretical downlink speed of 150 Mbps and a theoretical uplink speed of 100 Mbps, but Vodacom CTO Andries Delport pointed out that the actual speed which people experience on their wireless networks will be reliant on factors like the distance from the base station.

The demo LTE dongle, provided by Samsung, proved to be a further bottleneck, only providing maximum downlink speeds of 100 Mbps and a maximum uplink speed of 50 Mbps.

In live testing peak downlink speeds of over 70 Mbps were achieved, while uplink speeds of around 30 Mbps were seen.

Standard international Speedtest.net web based speed tests provided downlink speeds of just over 10 Mbps while uplink speeds came close to 10 Mbps.

Good news for gamers and other Internet users looking for low latency, is that ping times of around 14 ms were achieved. This is significantly lower than what current HSPA and HSPA+ networks offer.

Full HD Youtube videos streamed without any buffering, even with simultaneous use with speedtests and other downloads.

While Vodacom demonstrated that they are close to ready to launch LTE, it is understood that spectrum is a big restraining factor in rolling out a full LTE network.

Source: MyBroadband (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/13134-Vodacom-150-Mbps-trial-LTE-network-live.html)

was watching a nigerian ad on tv advertising main one under glo telecoms guess its gone live in west africa

EASSy bandwidth here within weeks

Rudolph Muller MyBroadband | 13 July, 2010

http://ca.mybroadband.co.za/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=10&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=ae16cc68 (http://ca.mybroadband.co.za/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ae16cc68&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE)

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EASSy nearly completed with testing phase; commercial services here within the next few weeks
The 10,500 km Eastern African Submarine Cable System, better known as EASSy, will provide South Africa with more international bandwidth within the next few weeks.
EASSy, which is one of the nine undersea telecommunications cables that will connect various parts of Sub-Saharan Africa to the rest of the world by 2011, landed at Mtunzini (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/11456.html) on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coastline in February.
Testing started soon after the cable landing, and in May the WIOCC announced that EASSy’s stand alone testing, where all the equipment in each of the landing stations is tested, has been completed.
Further encouraging news is that the second phase of testing, where every segment of the submarine cable is put through its paces, has also been completed successfully.
Testing the entire system end-to-end is currently under way, and it is likely that this testing will be completed within the next two weeks.
Trevor Martins, MTN Group’s EASSy Project Manager, told MyBroadband that they are likely to take ownership of the EASSy cable within the next two weeks after which they will start with live testing with clients.
This process, Martins said, is expected to take a few weeks after which commercial services will become available using EASSy. Martins expects an official commercial launch in late August.
EASSy has a design capacity of 1.4 Tbps and will be of great value to provide redundancy for the 1.27 Tbps SEACOM cable.
EASSy bandwidth in Africa (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/249468-EASSy-bandwidth-here-next-month) << comments and view

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/13704-EASSy-bandwidth-here-within-weeks.html

Fantastic.:)

EASSy live on Friday

EASSy set to go live on Friday, offering 1.4 Tbps capacity and terminating at nine points
MyBroadband recently reported that the 10,500 km Eastern African Submarine Cable System, better known as EASSy, will provide South Africa with more international bandwidth (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/13704-EASSy-bandwidth-here-within-weeks.html) within the next few weeks. The actual launch of EASSy will in fact happen sooner than expected.
WIOCC CEO Chris Wood announced on Wednesday that the cable will go live on Friday. This launch, Wood said, will be a full commercial launch after three successful testing phases.
Wood said that that the testing started on 19 April, including end-to-end testing of the entire EASSy system, has been completed successfully and that Alcatel which constructed the cable will hand over the cable on Friday afternoon.
EASSy will initially light up 30 Gbps (three 10 Gbps wavelengths), with another 80+ Gbps upgrade planned within the next six to twelve months. Wood added that they are also investigating lighting up 40 Gbps wavelengths in future which will significantly bring down the bandwidth cost on the cable.
In a presentation in Sandton, Wood highlighted the robust design of the EASSy system which safeguards it against a single cable break bringing down the whole system. The physical cable itself also has a more robust casing than many of the other submarine cable systems to guard against possible cable breaks.
EASSY will not only provide additional capacity to South Africa, but also provide redundancy to cable systems like SEACOM and SAT-3/SAFE.
EASSy live on Friday (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/250012-EASSy-goes-live-on-Friday) << comments and views

-MyBroadband (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/13760-EASSy-live-Friday.html)

A new report by Pyramid Research claims that new undersea cables will drive the growth of total broadband users in Africa from 40 million in 2010 to 92 million in 2015 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18 percent.

A Main One cable landingDriven by improvements in the terrestrial backbones and last-mile networks, the new undersea cables surrounding Africa will boost the broadband penetration rate from 3.2 percent in 2010 to 6.8 percent in 2015, according to the report.
Kerem Arsal, an analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report, says that revenue will increase at a CAGR of 16 percent in the same period to US$20 billion. During the forecast period, WiMax will take center stage in the coverage for the last-mile access and its access lines.

"We predict that WiMax will grow at a CAGR of 30 percent between 2010 and 2015; we also foresee similar trends in mobile broadband, particularly in the data cards/modems," says Arsal.

"Many African telecom markets have the potential to improve their poor broadband penetration rates and limited revenues and transform their competitive structures," Arsal claims, "however, there is still much work to be done by the players across the telecom value chain if they wish to take full advantage of this opportunity."

Tiered pricing strategies designed by undersea cable operators for smaller capacities and shorter durations, such as that announced by EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System), will improve competitiveness in Africa and the Middle East. Growing broadband access will also need end-user devices that can exploit the available bandwidth.

The Pyramid Research report, "New Undersea Cables Help Boost Africa's Broadband Prospects" analyzes the factors related to the new undersea cables that will be instrumental in the growth of broadband adoption and revenue in Africa, specifically how variations in the state of domestic terrestrial networks in the regions where these cables land can impact potential operator revenue and broadband penetration rates among end users.
http://www.africagoodnews.com/ict/africa-broadband-users-to-reach-92-million-in-2015.html

As the world celebrates this month's signing up of the five-billionth mobile phone subscriber, Africa is stepping forward to claim credit as one of the regions that have driven the phenomenal growth over the past decade.

This has been accompanied by economic growth with experts foreseeing even greater development in different sectors, buoyed by the mobile phone technology over the next decade.
From only 16 million subscribers in 2000, the continent now boasts about half a billion subscribers, according to telecommunications firm Ericsson.

The mobile phone has also evolved to take up more roles beyond just making calls and exchanging text messages.

Studies have shown that mobile phone companies are raking in more revenue through data services than voice calls.
The increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook is cited as a contributing factor.
According to a December 2009 study by Ericsson, though the use of data services has grown by 280 per cent over the past two years, the figure is projected to double annually over the next five years.
With the addition of a billion new subscribers in just 18 months, resulting in four out of five people being connected, Ericsson is now forecasting an even rapid growth over the next decade. This time it is not just mobile phones but also other devices such as computers.Phenomenal increase

Coupled with the development in mobile phone technology such as the 3G network which will enable deployment of advanced applications such as video conferencing, mobile TV services and tele-medicine that require high speed connections, the uptake of mobile phone technology is expected to increase exponentially.
Ericsson expects the number of connected devices to hit the 50 billion mark over the next decade.

According to Ericsson country manager Craig Hosken, mobile broadband subscriptions will stand at more than 3.4 billion by 2015, with over 100 million coming from sub-Saharan Africa -- an almost tenfold increase of the 360 million recorded in 2009.
This is expected to increase even further, considering up to 80 per cent of people accessing the Internet will be doing so using their mobile devices.

"This is already the case in Africa," Mr Hosken said, adding that machine-to-machine communications, also referred to as M2M, will be a key component in the future growth of the mobile industry.
M2M includes medical applications such as remote medical diagnostics which would facilitate the collection, monitoring, and analysis of patient data from rural or isolated locations; or energy companies using smart meters that increase business efficiency and cut operational expenses.
Other beneficiaries

The technological advancement will see the transport sector enjoy tracking solutions that would improve route optimisation and safety for vehicles on the road.Other applications include digital signs that can be updated remotely, cameras that can send pictures halfway around the world are other examples that machine-to-machine technologies make possible.All this increased deployment of information and communications technology (ICT) is expected to contribute significantly towards the economic development of the continent.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201007250020.html

Thank you Telkom!

SA left out as Kenya gets fibre to the home

http://www.techcentral.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Zuku.jpg
Kenya and Tanzania are to get high-speed fibre-to-the-home connections offering a triple-play bundle of broadband, telephony and cable television thanks to a US$200m investment from the private sector.
The company behind the project, Wananchi — which is backed by Cisco Capital and East Africa Capital Partners — says it would love to do the same in SA, but the regulatory environment here precludes it from doing so.
The company enjoys the backing of Kenya Data Networks founder Richard Bell and Mark Schneider, the founder of US-based Liberty Global, an $8,7bn-revenue triple-play service provider.
Wananchi is extending a backhaul and last-mile fibre network across Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It’s also building a WiMax wireless network in to provide uncapped Internet access in the cities and smaller urban centres in Kenya.
The cost of the services, marketed under the Zuku brand, start at about R137/month for an uncapped, 256kbit/s Internet service. The top-end package costs about R500/month and offers an uncapped 1Mbit/s service and more than 100 English-language television channels.
Wananchi is also partnering with a local television production house to develop programming specific to the Kenyan market.
Scheinder, who chairs Wananchi’s board, says the company expect to have an annual operating income of between $150m and $200m within the next five to six years.
He says the company is supplementing its WiMax and fibre offerings with Vsat (satellite) services for small and medium businesses, especially those in remote locations in East Africa. But the plan, eventually, is to take fibre to even the small towns in the region.
Wananchi’s investment comes on the back of three new submarine cable systems that have been deployed in the region in the past year.
Wananchi and Cisco executives say the cost of international bandwidth in the region — thanks to Eassy, Seacom and Teams — is now as cheap as it is anywhere in the world. This is driving big investment in telecommunications infrastructure and services.
“It’s Africa’s turn to get this type of technology,” says Schneider. “The wireless business has become a powerful driver but there are lots of things it can’t do that we want to bring to Africa [like] video entertainment, [which] needs very high-speed broadband connectivity.”
He says Wananchi plans to offer residential consumers in Kenya access speeds of up to 150Mbit/s over time. Businesses will be offered even higher-speed connections. “We will reach hundreds of thousands of homes in Kenya with fibre.”
The company says it is keen to develop a network in SA, too, but East Africa Capital Partners’ Bell says the problem is “SA is still a very closed and regulated market”.
“East Africa has leapfrogged ahead of SA,” Bell says. “If we could get a licence to build a cable network in SA, we’d be there in a second.” — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

Kenya and Tanzania are to get high-speed fibre-to-the-home connections offering a triple-play bundle of broadband, telephony and cable television thanks to a US$200m investment from the private sector.
The company behind the project, Wananchi — which is backed by Cisco Capital and East Africa Capital Partners — says it would love to do the same in SA, but the regulatory environment here precludes it from doing so.
The company enjoys the backing of Kenya Data Networks founder Richard Bell and Mark Schneider, the founder of US-based Liberty Global, an $8,7bn-revenue triple-play service provider.
Wananchi is extending a backhaul and last-mile fibre network across Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It’s also building a WiMax wireless network in to provide uncapped Internet access in the cities and smaller urban centres in Kenya.
The cost of the services, marketed under the Zuku brand, start at about R137/month for an uncapped, 256kbit/s Internet service. The top-end package costs about R500/month and offers an uncapped 1Mbit/s :lol: service and more than 100 English-language television channels.
Wananchi is also partnering with a local television production house to develop programming specific to the Kenyan market.
Scheinder, who chairs Wananchi’s board, says the company expect to have an annual operating income of between $150m and $200m within the next five to six years.
He says the company is supplementing its WiMax and fibre offerings with Vsat (satellite) services for small and medium businesses, especially those in remote locations in East Africa. But the plan, eventually, is to take fibre to even the small towns in the region.
Wananchi’s investment comes on the back of three new submarine cable systems that have been deployed in the region in the past year.
Wananchi and Cisco executives say the cost of international bandwidth in the region — thanks to Eassy, Seacom and Teams — is now as cheap as it is anywhere in the world. This is driving big investment in telecommunications infrastructure and services.
“It’s Africa’s turn to get this type of technology,” says Schneider. “The wireless business has become a powerful driver but there are lots of things it can’t do that we want to bring to Africa [like] video entertainment, [which] needs very high-speed broadband connectivity.”
He says Wananchi plans to offer residential consumers in Kenya access speeds of up to 150Mbit/s over time. Businesses will be offered even higher-speed connections. “We will reach hundreds of thousands of homes in Kenya with fibre.”
The company says it is keen to develop a network in SA, too, but East Africa Capital Partners’ Bell says the problem is “SA is still a very closed and regulated market”.
“East Africa has leapfrogged ahead of SA,” Bell says. “If we could get a licence to build a cable network in SA, we’d be there in a second.” — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

TechCentral (http://www.techcentral.co.za/sa-left-out-as-kenya-gets-fibre-to-the-home/15957/)

The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) has signed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines (IBM) that aims at helping Tanzania realize the vision of building a centre of excellence on information and communication technologies (ICT) at the University of Dodoma.

This was revealed in Dar es Salaam on Saturday when the firm announced the appointment of David Sawe, who will serve as its business development manager for its Tanzania office. The idea to set up the centre has been copied from IBM’s Silicon Valley in the US.

Based in the country, Sawe will also head the firm's regional operations in Tanzania. He has over 28 years experience in the Information Technology industry, having worked with a wide variety of organizations.

He was the government's first director responsible for e-government affairs at the Public Service Management, and was until recently among top officials of the Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre.

As part of the signed agreement, the firm will facilitate collaboration with US universities on research projects in the area of smarter cities, cloud computing and business analytics.

It will also support the ministry in developing and implementing better access to technology and educational resources for country's universities and secondary schools, especially in remote areas of the country where access to power and IT services is too limited.

It is hoped that the agreement will help to enhance the local educational and Information technology environment and promote a culture of entrepreneurship.

With an extensive footprint in the country, the company has recently been awarded several projects including notably a recently signed agreement with a local Tanzania's bank with the most extensive branch network.

Last December, IBM started working with Malaria Partnership to use information and communication technologies to improve the availability of anti-malaria drugs in remote areas of the country.

The project, dubbed SMS for Life, is an initiative using a combination of mobile phones, SMS technologies and intuitive web sites to track and manage the supply of anti-malaria drugs to health facilities

Kenya pumps Sh230m in building a software hub

http://blog.ushahidi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ihub-graphic-500x182.jpg

By JEVANS NYABIAGE, jnyabiange@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, September 20 2010 at 15:37
In Summary

TECH FIRM TO BUILD CAMPUS IN NAIROBI SAGE ACCPAC

Makers of world renowned accounting and management software, Sage ACCPAC, through their local partners Accfin East Africa, have announced plans to build a software campus in Nairobi.
The project estimated to cost Sh120 million will see ACCFIN (E.A) put up a dedicated Sage ACCPAC development and support centre in the city that will service the East African market. ACCFIN says the centre will develop new software. “Unlike in other markets where card and bank payment systems are common, in Africa the remarkable growth of mobile transactions has presented a unique customisation need,” says CEO Raymond Cheruiyot.

The outlook for technology and innovation in Kenya looks bright. As the country positions itself to ride the wave of web and mobile products and services, an merging group of talented software developers, made up of fresh IT graduates and tech entrepreneurs, is opening a new growth area using technology.

In a country where mobile phones are accessible to more than 50 per cent of households, high uptake of the technology is pushing more software developers to create solutions to tap into this global growth.

Inspiration is coming from a number of successful software companies in Kenya, such as Craft Silicon and Software Technologies, two of the software pioneers in Kenya. University curricula are being updated with specialist courses.

Big opportunities lie in the opening up of data, which will see more value-added services that will address emerging consumer needs.

Mr Moses Kemibaro, co-founder of Dotsavvy Ltd, a digital services provider, says although Kenya has a number of local software development firms and entrepreneurs doing everything from building Sacco applications, mobile and web applications, it still lags behind.

“We have a long way to get to where India is today,” Mr Kemibaro says.

India is the capital of software development and outsourcing in a global market estimated at $303.8 billion in 2008, an increase of 6.5 per cent from the previous year, according to market researcher DataMonitor, which forecasts that in 2013, the global software market will be $ 457 billion, an increase of 50.5 per cent from since 2008.

Its software industry, mostly based in Bangalore, generated four million jobs, which accounts for 7 per cent of India’s total GDP, in the year 2008. India exports software and services to over 95 countries.

It is these kind of stories that have the Kenyan government smitten with the tech industry. It has created a Sh320 million ($4 million) content generation grant for developers.

“We have seen the number grow,” says Communication and Information minister Mr Samuel Poghisio. “It is a clear indicator that Kenya is rife with innovative talent and with requisite investment. It is expected that content will transform the way Kenyans live, work and play.”

This wave has given rise to hubs and labs to nurture innovation. One of them is Nairobi-based iHub, shorthand for Innovation Hub, founded by tech nerds and blogging enthusiasts, which seeks to link technologists, innovators and investors.

Nailab, also based in Nairobi, incubates space for ICT-based start-ups. Nokia has also been active, with its Research and Sub-contracting Lab and User Experience Unit at the University of Nairobi.

On its application store Ovi, Nokia is promoting two local applications – Afro Hot and Wazzup – developed by two students at the University of Nairobi.

Afro Hot is a vanity application that rates how hot you are while Wazzup gives tracks what is happening in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.

The world’s leading mobile handsets maker, Nokia, awarded a Virtual City, a Kenyan IT company, Sh80 million in a global competition for innovative applications.

Tech giants and telecoms players are vying to win software developer mindshare to add value to their devices and networks. No wonder Nairobi is home to tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Nokia, HP.

Last week, Google launched Android Market in Kenya, a distribution platform, to help developers sell applications developed for use on Android-powered cell phones. Recently, Safaricom unveiled Safaricom Academy at Strathmore University build IT talent for its business.

Software developers have formed Skunkworks, a group that hosts online discussions with occasional real-life meetings.

Probably one of the Kenya’s biggest software innovation success stories is Ushahidi. The open-source platform was developed in the aftermath of the disputed General Election of 2007 and was used with Google Maps to identify hotspots of ethnic tension.

It uses the concept of crowdsourcing, which involves outsourcing tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

Ushahidi received global recognition after it was used extensively during rescue operations in the Haitian earthquake. Recently during the referendum, the solution came in handy and even Computer Aid uses it to map out its activities in Africa.

One of the founders, Erica Hagen, and Mikel Maran have used Ushahidi to map Kibera slum using GPS-enabled devices.

Mr Eric Hersman, one of the founders of Ushahidi and iHub says: “We’ve learned that technology does overcome inefficiencies, but that it still takes people to make it happen. We’ve learned that Africans can build world-class software. Ushahidi is now very successful and the adoption is high.”

Ushahidi funds the iHub. “Nairobi is quickly becoming a tech hub in Africa and we wanted to get a place where those who aspire to develop their skills can meet,” he said.

Wananchi, through Zuku, has wired the iHub with fibre optic to provide internet, Google organises brings experts to train innovators and provides Android phones to assist in developing mobile applications. Microsoft donated a server while Nokia sponsors the developers’ day.

At the iHub recently, located on Ngong Road, Smart Company met with a number of software developers/innovators.

Mr Will Mworia runs africanpixel.com, which is a software application for high-end mobile phones, such as the iPhones, Androids, high-end Nokia and Samsung.

He also manages Afrinnovator, a content website, which he says celebrates start-ups in Africa.

On iHub, he notes: “Here internet is free, working area is free. This is a good place for developers and this solves the disconnect that existed before.”

Mr Oscar Njuguna, a co-founder of Zege Technologies, is also a beneficiary of iHub. Zege is developing software that integrates bank accounts with M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile money transfer service. Mr Njuguna says the biggest challenge for Kenyan innovators is gaining recognition.

Charles Kithika and Joshua Musau are part of the group of innovators aiming to build the tech movers of tomorrow. Mr Kithika has developed a software for human resources to manage employees, payroll and time, currently on trial in a number of firms.

Mr Musau is working on a solution that will enable media houses link directly with advertisers and another software for hospitals to manage data storage.

Payment solutions
The iHub manager, Ms Jessica Colaco, is a huge proponent of the mobile web. She says users and developers need to get together to scale ideas into projects that can be fine-tuned to meet the growing demand for information in Kenya.

Ms Colaco has worked as the principal researcher at Strathmore Research and Consultancy Centre. As an undergraduate Computer Science student, she developed a mobile application known as Wireless Map Service (WMS), which received great accolades at the 10th annual IEEE Engineering Students Exhibition in September 2007.

She organised the first Nairobi Facebook Developer Garage and Mobile Boot Camp in Kenya in March 2008 and November 2008 respectively to spur innovation within the country.

Kenya has been gaining a competitive advantage in mobile payment, in which M-Pesa leads.

The service has 12 million users. By end of July, it had transferred Sh525.84 billion since its inception in 2007.

There’s huge value in mobile transactions and most innovators are working on applications that can integrate mobile payment systems.

Pay.Zunguka, a payment gateway and aggregator, for instance, allows merchants, developers and content providers to monetise their work. The platform was developed by Mr Mbugua Njihia of Symbiotic Media, a mobile/software development company based in Nairobi.

“We are seeing technology rise as a force to reckon with in job and wealth creation,” says Mr Njihia, who has developed a number of applications.

As the world moves to a knowledge-based economy, markets are adapting and entrepreneurs are using technology to create profitable businesses in information management.

Mr Agosta Liko developed PesaPal, an internet-based mobile payment gateway, three years after relocating to Nairobi from the US and starting Verviant. PesaPal is bridging the mobile and electronic payment divide, and recently Mr Liko launched SchoolPay, which enables payment of school fees using Safaricom’s M-Pesa or Zain’s Zap.

Mr Liko says software outsourcing is growing locally. “I would not say they are challenges – it’s just that it takes time,” he said.

“Look at Craft Silicon and Software Technologies, they are approximately 10 and 20 years old. So it takes time to build a solid company.”

Another Kenyan innovator, Mr David Kagiri has developed Zynde, a payment gateway based on the SaaS (software as a service) model. Saas is deployed over the internet and/or is deployed to run behind a firewall on a local area network or personal computer.

It is normally licensed on demand, through a subscription, in a “pay-as-you-go” model.

It targets small businesses seeking to track their finances and can’t afford expensive software.

It not only stores and tracks money but gives insightful analysis on how it moves. He has also created an online payslip generator and tax calculator.

Mr Kagiri says the software market in Kenya is still young and growth will depend on the cost of data services.

As the costs comes down, techpreneurs will be able to create and deliver more products and services.

Changing perceptions
Developers who repackage solutions to take advantage of this market, Mr Kagiri says, will emerge winners because of the enormous cost savings in this model because it removes the headache of maintaining and updating multiple implementations.

“Be warned, however, that having data in the cloud will get people asking about security and make your solution a tough sell,” he adds.

Behind all of the excitement, challenges remain. Developers are compelled to price very competitively to gain customers. This though is expected to change as perception changes.

Mr Kemibaro says software development in Kenya is yet to be appreciated in tune with global standards, meaning software is often under-priced making it hard for entrepreneurs.

This requires setting standards and ensuring ICT offerings conform to global best practices.

The good news is that there are universities, colleges and other establishments that are improving software development and ensuring that students are trained to global standards.

Mr Kagiri says local developers are yet to learn the business aspect of innovation and focus on applications that people need as opposed to just creating hype.

“Creating sustainable solutions is quite a challenge and taking up programs such as SITT of Strathmore will go a long way in enlightening them on this aspect,” he adds.

“As the founder of zynde.com a simple financial suite I have learned this the hard way and I’m repackaging my product to make it viable and sustainable.”

11 ICT Trends for Emerging Continent [opinion]
Jan 17, 2011 (Biz-Community/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Source (News - Alert): Sylvain Béletre and Russell Southwood, Balancing Act ---

The ICT sector is one of the fastest growing on the African continent. Fueled by heavy investments, telecommunication infrastructures have improved drastically. Over the past five years, Africans have embraced ICT innovations fast especially in the mobile telecommunications and in the IT segments.

The next wave that is about to hit the continent will include new infrastructures such as broadband fibre optic cables and data centres, telecoms added value services and IT innovations. Here is a review of 2010 and key trends to prepare for 2011.

1. Africa now officially a new emerging market thanks to ICT demand Over the past 12 months, there has been continued activity and interest in Africa despite increasing competition, particularly in mobile markets. For example, Orange (News - Alert) has officially announced that Africa has become an important market for the future and MTN keeps investing everywhere on the continent. Two Indian carriers, Bharti Airtel (News - Alert) and Essar have made key acquisitions in the mobile sector.

ICT growth - particularly within the mobile sector - has focused interest on the continent as a place with interesting emerging markets in North and sub-Saharan Africa (particularly South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and Ghana).

The telecoms and internet sectors in Africa have come out of 2010 with greater confidence but there's that nagging feeling that things will never be the same as they were in the earlier golden years.

2. More telecoms infrastructure investments 2011 will see renewed telecoms infrastructure investments, not only in mobile and satellite but also in fixed infrastructure including national fibre backbones and local data centres to meet growing demand.

Since going live in July 2010, capacity sales on EASSy, the 10,000km high speed fibre-optic cable connecting southern and eastern Africa, have outstripped initial forecasts. As a result, WIOCC, the largest shareholder in the cable, has announced that the system will be upgraded in 2011 to more than double its current capacity. Operators such as Econet Wireless Zimbabwe will invest additional money on expanding and upgrading their networks.

Operators of all kinds ramped up their bandwidth requirements considerably in 2009, some by as much as ten times as they finally got their hands on even cheaper bandwidth on Africa's east coast. So, for those selling international bandwidth, 2010 was inevitably a somewhat quieter year. The steady downward cascade of retail internet prices was slower than might have been anticipated but it's begun to happen.

Africa, too big to dominate Coming out of dealing with over-staffed and unreliable incumbents, it was hardly surprising that mobile operators did not trust others to do things like provide network infrastructure for them. So a number of mobile operators have poured money into acquisitions and fibre network roll-out. But 2010 will probably go down as the year when many companies realised that it was not possible to dominate the national or international fibre space in Africa: it's just too big and will cost too much.

Year 2010 saw the arrival of the EASSy and Main One cables. Main One looks set to extend itself to South Africa.

O3B will not start its service until the first half of 2013, well after all the remaining international cables (WACS and ACE) are finished. Prices for international fibre keep coming down, although it's happening more quickly on the east rather than the west coast of Africa. With some exceptions, satellite operators and resellers are either reporting some degree of revenue loss or through gritted teeth saying things are 'holding steady.' MWeb has landed SAT-3 cable capacity in its Cape Town node, after the internet service provider was affected by Seacom's downtime in July and announced that it would source additional capacity. It says this forms part of its ongoing bandwidth capacity upgrades and brings a degree of resilience to its network.

Read Satellite to fibre - Africa's big change is really under way, says new report and The imminent arrival of 'fibre heaven' in Africa spoiled by a number of nagging questions on www.balancingact-africa.com.

3. New race for spectrum ownership Another trend to watch is the start of a potential war for spectrum. Several telecoms licences need to be renewed and ICT regulators will start to call for bids. However, the market has become much more competitive, margins have dropped and we hope that licence fees will reflect this difficult context. Particular pressure is coming from both the introduction of WiMAX and before too long LTE (News - Alert) (Kenya's Safaricom is testing it and Vodacom says it's on their road map).

Kenya's regulator CCK may yet be a trend-setter in saying that it will review downwards licensing and spectrum fees for a commitment from operators to extend coverage to rural areas. However, spectrum will be auctioned so we await the outcome with interest.

4. More mergers and acquisition and partnerships 2010 saw some interesting deals including Bharti's acquisition of Zain's (News - Alert) assets in Africa back in March 2010 for US$9bn. African operators have remained focused on cost control which has driven some cost sharing examples.

At Africacom, there was much talk of Bharti Airtel's focus on its OPEX (News - Alert) costs through outsourcing and its ambitious plans to make an impact on several different parts of the industry outside of their own opera