Tanzania's ICT news

[bantugbro]

Originally Posted by Geza Ulole

Safi sana Eric....

[bantugbro]

Tanzania moves to end cargo loss at Dar es Salaam Port
Monday, 02 April 2012 07:18 Daniel Semberya


Containers at Dar es Salaam Port. It is hoped the new system will eliminate the risk of cargo in transit theft that has been rampant at the port.
(Photo Leonard Magomba)

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - In a bid to curb loss of cargos at the Dar es Salaam Port, the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has introduced a modern system which will monitor movement of cargos being transported to landlocked countries.

Speaking to East African Business Week during the launch of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) in Dar es Salaam recently, the TRA Commissioner General, Mr. Harry Kitillya, said the commencement of the project will mean that loss of cargos will no longer occur because the monitoring system of goods will be conducted from source to destination.

He said the U-track ECTS-1system is ideal for monitoring and managing any fleet size of tankers or cargo trucks operating anywhere around the World.

The ECTS-1 system which could be easily accessible online giving clients the edge since they can he/she needs to remain in control all the time.
"Simply tracking the cargo is not enough", Kitillya said and adding, "But knowing when its content is being tampered with, and/or knowing where it is, is more important," he insisted.

With this technology, he added, it will be possible for TRA to track and arrest truck drivers who tamper with cargos and reducing complaints of loss or fuel adulteration from the cargo owners.

"The system will enable us to avoid cheating from some cargo owners, who have been claiming that their cargos were in transit while in reality they are not," he noted and adding, "It will facilitate both TRA and truck, cargo owners to track their goods up to the destination and in case someone tampered with cargos along the way, the system will determine."

Elaborating on how it works, Mr. Kitillya added, the system will detect any such attempt, records the event and send an alert to the central data base which will be allocated at the TRA headquarters.
It will monitor the movement of goods under custom control up to the point of exit at the borders," he added.

The system will also enable the authority to work efficiently, remove some inconvenience roadblocks which had become a major problem to transporters, he added.

It will help to speed up the process of clearing cargos from the principal port, because it will facilitate faster movement of documents before even the arrival of the goods, he added.

"The aim of introducing the latest technology is to ensure that the documents wait for the cargo and not vice versa. This is one of the government efforts to remove non tariff barriers and cut down costs of doing business in Tanzania," the commissioner said.

The system will be on a three-month trial, he said. Kitillya appealed to stakeholders and the public to work with the authority to ensure that the technology works efficiently especially in the initial stages.

He said electronic tracking systems could be the most effective and relatively less costly option and one of the key strategies to be adopted by both public and private institutions in efforts to reduce loss as well as unnecessary expenditures.

The project operates under a self-financing arrangement where the tax agency shall acquire the ECTS software and cover communications costs while transporters acquire electronic seals and related equipment from approved hardware suppliers by purchase or leasing.
The tax agency has given transporters three months from April to acquire the gadgets after which they will be mandatory.

Statistics show that the country loses over $15.7 million monthly due to fuel adulteration, dumping and compensations of lost transit cargo.
According to Mr. Kitillya, all check points with corrupt practices in various routes to the neighbouring countries will be removed, increasing cargo turnaround.

Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi transporters may be the biggest beneficiary since they have suffered more losses. Recently Dar Port authorities announced the introduction of a berthing method where ships dock and offload/load on schedule.

Source:
http://www.busiweek.com/news/tanzani...es-salaam-port

[Geza Ulole]

Tanzania: TTCL Strikes 10.7 Billion Rwanda's Cyber Deal
By Masembe Tambwe, 4 April 2012

Comment

THE Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has won a 6.7 million US dollars (about 10.7bn/-) contract to supply 1.244 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda for 10 years.

TTCL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Said Amir Said, told the 'Daily News' shortly before signing the contract in Kigali that striking of the deal was testimony of the firm's growing international reputation.

"After all the problems that TTCL has had over the years, winning this contract shows that the management has turned around its image as well as proof that it has the capacity to compete in big tenders," he said.

Mr Said said under the contract, TTCL was expected to install, configure, test, commission and activate a temporary link with 155 megabytes bandwidth per second by the end of this month. He said the vision that the government has in transforming the country into Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hub for Africa is now within its grasp.

"This contract that we are about to sign is the biggest of its kind so far .. Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda have also expressed their interest to us to supply bandwidth to them," he revealed. Mr Said also revealed that Rwanda had also expressed interest in getting additional bandwidth.

The CEO said that with the East African Community and other regional integration efforts being increased, it went without saying that ICTs greatly enhanced the performance of a country and a catalyst to increased efficiency in different sectors of the economy.

According to a statement made available by TTCL, the bulk international broadband bandwidth has been procured through the World Bank grant under the Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme - Rwanda, a project that aims at lowering prices of internet capacity as well as extending the geographical reach of broadband networks.

"As a land-locked country, Rwanda faces significant challenges in getting access to low cost international connectivity. This purchase of bulk international capacity on regional and international networks will significantly boost our vision to make bandwidth available on the Rwandan market," the Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Gara said.

Mr Gara said that if broadband becomes a commodity on the Rwandan market, it would stimulate deployment of a wider and improved range of services to consumers at affordable prices. The permanent fibre optic link between TTCL's existing optic fibre within Tanzania and Rwanda's national backbone will be activated with a 1,244 gigabytes service by the end of October, this year.

"We are using government demand for bandwidth to drive down regional prices, to stimulate investment into regional network infrastructure and to ensure that these lower prices are made available to all market participants on an open-access basis," the Head of the ICT department of the board, Mr Patrick Nyirishema said.

Mr Nyirishema said that the World Bank funded project would go directly into the expansion of broadband connectivity through funding broadband connections to government institutions such as schools, health centres and local government offices and in the implementation of the eGovernment programme.

The National ICT Broadband Backbone Project (NICTBB) is already connected to two major submarine cables of SEACOM and EASSy, extending the connectivity to the neighbouring countries. The virtual landing station of the submarine cables through the project have been established at the respective cross border points of Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya.
http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php...a-s-cyber-deal

[Geza Ulole]

Fiber optic cable in Seychelles to boost tourism

Image via quora.com

By Apolinari Tairo, eTN Tanzania | May 09, 2012

(eTN) - Counting benefits from the just-landed fiber optic submarine cable, the mid-Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles expect to reap more from tourism through faster and affordable telecommunication services.

The Seychelles Minister for Natural Resources and Industry, Mr. Peter Sinon, said tourism is the mainstay of the island’s economy, with big numbers of tourists visiting the island each year.

“Every year we have a large number of tourists visiting our shores, more than twice our population. As the minister responsible for industry, it is my task to ensure that there is continued investment in Seychelles but it be from abroad or home grown,” Minister Sinon said.

He was optimistic that the arrival of the cable to the island would inspire job creation through tourist investment and other economic bases. Seychelles’ Tourism Ambassador in Tanzania, Maryvonne Pool, said she was encouraged by the cable, which would spur travel communications to the island.

The 2,000-kilometer-long cable from Tanzania’s capital of Dar es Salaam to Seychelles capital of Victoria would as well make easier Internet access, as well as other electronic communications.

Vastly enhanced communications is vital for the tourism sector, along with diversification of the economy, greater access to education, and improved computer literacy.

Rich in tourism, culture, and marine resources, the island state of Seychelles is set to host two major gatherings in two months time, after the carnival, which took place in early March this year, including the 7th Routes Africa 2012 Forum, set for July 8-10, 2012.
http://www.eturbonews.com/29197/fibe...-boost-tourism

[kiligoland]

$1m fibre-optic network for Tanzania cities

A one million-dollar fibre network is being set up in Tanzania to link the country’s major towns and improve connectivity between urban and rural areas.





The Metro Network, the brainchild of the Six Telecoms Data Company, targets the metropolitan areas of Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Moshi, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Dodoma, Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya and Mtwara.


According to David Ngara, the company’s chief technology officer, the project will be implemented in three phases. The first phase, which has already commenced in Dar es Salaam, will take six to eight months to complete.


The second phase will involve connecting capital cities to the fibre network, while the third phase will focus on connecting remote towns still using satellite technology.


Low Internet connectivity and high costs have been major hindrances to the government’s efforts to attract investments to the country.


Nick Odero, chief executive officer of Six Telecoms Data said connectivity problems have prevented businesses from communicating easily and conveniently.

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news...8/-/r7d6jxz/-/

[chamoto]

Kili wewe ni noma yani hata banner wewe ni halali yako.

[tanzan]

Originally Posted by kiligoland

$1m fibre-optic network for Tanzania cities

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news...8/-/r7d6jxz/-/

aiseee...hata mimi nilitaka kuweka hili banner

[kiligoland]

Originally Posted by chamoto

Kili wewe ni noma yani hata banner wewe ni halali yako.

kama kawa, tunatia msisitizo

[kiligoland]

[Geza Ulole]

Originally Posted by kiligoland

Number of Tanzania Internet users is 5m Send to a friend
Tuesday, 03 January 2012 21:10
digg
By Ludger Kasumuni
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania, with an estimate population of 42 million people, now has 11 per cent of Internet users, according to the latest report issued by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

The report shows that as of October 2010, around 4.8 million Tanzanians had access to the Internet up from 1.6 million users in 2005. Out of the current figure, 2,663,200 were institutional users, 1,932,816 were households or individual users and 260,280 Internet café users.

In East Africa, in terms of Internet usage, Kenya is ahead of the other member states with 10.2 million users as at 2010, while Uganda had 4.1 million users by the same year. This is according to the Kenya Communication Commission and Uganda Communication Commission data respectively.

According to a research funded by TCRA, the number of Tanzanians using the internet for communication purposes has been on the rise, particularly as wireless facilities get cheaper with incoming mobile phone handsets.

Currently, official figures of mobile phone subscribers stand at 19 million.
“Mobile wireless is leading by 45 per cent, followed by fixed wireless. The Internet usage is now becoming a popular means of communication option next to voice telephone for many people in Tanzania,” reads part of the report.

Figures released by TCRA show that the country has 2,206,480 mobile wireless internet users, 1,514,580 users of fixed wireless and 471,524 users of VSAT, 388,176 users of other broadband and 269,536 cable users.

The summary of TCRA findings indicates that out of 68 application services licencees only 46 (67 per cent) were found operating, 20 of them (30per cent) could not be traced and two or three per cent were not operating. Out of 46 operational licences, only 38 (83 per cent) of them provide internet services, the rest provide other services like voice network design, data (SMS and MMS), website hosting and website designing, according to the findings

http://thecitizen.co.tz/business/13-...ers-is-5m.html

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Tanzania mobile users up 22 pct in 2011
Thu May 17, 2012 3:02pm GMT

* Regulator to cut interconnection fees in 2013

* Telecoms is fastest-growing sector in Tanzania

* Number of internet users also increase

DAR ES SALAAM, May 17 (Reuters) - Tanzania's mobile phone subscribers rose 22 percent to 25.6 million last year, helped by lower tariffs, senior telecommunications officials said on Thursday.

Communications is the fastest-growing sector in east Africa's second biggest economy, with seven players in the local mobile telecoms industry fighting for market share, forcing tariffs lower.

Communications Minister Makame Mbarawa said this week that phone tariffs were halved in Tanzania over the past 10 years due to increased competition.

"There are now eight licensed mobile phone subscribers, with seven in service. Besides increasing consumer choice, the increase in the number of service providers has led to a 50 percent fall in mobile tariffs," he said in a statement.

Interconnection charges, the rate mobile phone operators charge each other for calls made across networks, fell to 7.16 U.S. cents in January this year from 7.83 U.S. cents in 2008, he said.

A new interconnection rate due to be put in place from January 2013 will be lower, Mbarawa said.

However, the decrease in interconnectivity charges, which should have trickled down to lower user tariffs, had been offset by a volatile local currency.

Mobile phone penetration in Tanzania stood at 47 percent last year, the regulator said.

Tanzania said the number of internet users rose to 6 million by May this year from 5.3 million at the end of last year.

Vodacom Tanzania, part of South Africa's Vodacom, is the market leader with a 43 percent market share followed by Bharti Airtel (28 percent), Millicom's subsidiary Tigo Tanzania (22 percent) and Zantel (6 percent).

Other smaller players are state-run telecoms firm TTCL, Sasatel and Benson, which have tiny market share. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by James Macharia)

© Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
http://af.reuters.com/articlePrint?a...8GHEQD20120517

MY TAKE

i won't be surprised if the number doubles in a course of one year

[bantugbro]

Tanzania Optic Fiber Network: National ICT Backbone (NICTBB)
image hosted on flickr


Laying of the NICTBB under Lake Victoria...
image hosted on flickr

[Geza Ulole]

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Tanzania mobile users up 22 pct in 2011
Thu May 17, 2012 3:02pm GMT

* Regulator to cut interconnection fees in 2013

* Telecoms is fastest-growing sector in Tanzania

* Number of internet users also increase

DAR ES SALAAM, May 17 (Reuters) - Tanzania's mobile phone subscribers rose 22 percent to 25.6 million last year, helped by lower tariffs, senior telecommunications officials said on Thursday.

Communications is the fastest-growing sector in east Africa's second biggest economy, with seven players in the local mobile telecoms industry fighting for market share, forcing tariffs lower.

Communications Minister Makame Mbarawa said this week that phone tariffs were halved in Tanzania over the past 10 years due to increased competition.

"There are now eight licensed mobile phone subscribers, with seven in service. Besides increasing consumer choice, the increase in the number of service providers has led to a 50 percent fall in mobile tariffs," he said in a statement.

Interconnection charges, the rate mobile phone operators charge each other for calls made across networks, fell to 7.16 U.S. cents in January this year from 7.83 U.S. cents in 2008, he said.

A new interconnection rate due to be put in place from January 2013 will be lower, Mbarawa said.

However, the decrease in interconnectivity charges, which should have trickled down to lower user tariffs, had been offset by a volatile local currency.

Mobile phone penetration in Tanzania stood at 47 percent last year, the regulator said.

Tanzania said the number of internet users rose to 6 million by May this year from 5.3 million at the end of last year.

Vodacom Tanzania, part of South Africa's Vodacom, is the market leader with a 43 percent market share followed by Bharti Airtel (28 percent), Millicom's subsidiary Tigo Tanzania (22 percent) and Zantel (6 percent).

Other smaller players are state-run telecoms firm TTCL, Sasatel and Benson, which have tiny market share. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by James Macharia)

© Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
http://af.reuters.com/article/tanzan...8GHEQD20120517

[Geza Ulole]

Tanzania: TTCL Plans to Supply Bandwidth to Neighbouring Countries
By Orton Kiishweko, 24 July 2012

Comment

THE Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) is eyeing the inland countries with the view to sell internet bandwidth to markets of Burundi, Mozambique, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia.

In a comprehensive plan that seeks to take advantage of the resilience of Tanzania's National ICT Broadband Backbone, TTCL says it intends to sell more gigabytes of internet bandwidth as a commodity to the neighbouring countries.

The TTCL Marketing Manager, Mr Nicodemus Mngutu, has told 'Business Standard' that they are counting on the country network's guarantee on availability and reliability of 99.8 per cent as compared to the rest of the region which is below 70 per cent.

"Now that the NICTBB has reached all border points of the country, and that we have already illustrated capability by getting the 6.7 million US dollars (about 10.7bn/-) contract to supply 1.244 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda for 10 years, we are eyeing more markets of the inland countries which can take advantage of our complete network," he said in an interview.

He added: "As land-locked countries , they face significant challenges in getting access to low cost international connectivity. This purchase of bulk international capacity on regional and international networks will significantly boost our vision to make bandwidth available to such markets."

Mr Mngutu said that if broadband becomes a commodity on the inland markets, it would stimulate deployment of a wider and improved range of services to consumers at affordable prices.

In the TTCL Rwanda contract, TTCL was expected to install, configure, test, commission and activate a temporary link with 155 megabytes bandwidth per second.

He said that so far Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda have also expressed their interest to be supplied with bandwidth.Rwanda currently offers low internet penetration at 7 per cent though government is targeting to increase it to 12 per cent this year.

The cost of internet is also still relatively high with users spending on average approximately Rwf30 ($0.05) per mega byte.The Rwanda project aims at lowering prices of internet capacity as well as extending the geographical reach of broadband networks.

After Rwanda, Mozambique will be the next country to take advantage of NICTBB.The NICTBB Technical Coordinator Eng Anita Chingumbe said that Mozambique is in talks with Tanzania's National ICT Broadband Backbone with the view to have the NICTBB reach the country's border.

The NICTBB from Dar es Salaam reaches Mtwara but Movitel wants Tanzania to push it to the remaining distance towards the border so that the company can get its backup for its existing operations in Mozambique.

"The company is in talks with NICTBB on how Mozambique can be connected from the Umoja bridge Mtambaswala border with Tanzania. The talks may result into a deal," she said.

She said what triggered Movitel's interest was when TTCL closed the $6.7-million, 10-year deal to supply 1.244 gigabytes of internet bandwidth to Rwanda.

It made Tanzania the first East African Community member (EAC) to start selling internet bandwidth to other EAC states thanks to the laying of the international submarine fiber-optic cable systems Eassy and Seacom.

"They want to get resilience incase their network goes down. We have already done the feasibility study and we see it viable to take it to the border post from either Masasi or Mtwara," she said.

She said they have finished a feasibility study at border post with Mozambique, adding that Tanzania is safer because it has rings through regions and districts which makes it resilient even if one line were to be cut off.

In the region's context, she said, Tanzania's network also has guarantee on availability and reliability of 99.8 per cent as compared to the region which is below 70 per cent.

"This technology is not only resilient to bad weather, including rain, but it possesses better characteristics such as high bandwidth capacity, compactness, low transmission losses, high signal security, immunity to interference and system reliability." she said.

To target potential markets of all the surrounding countries, she said already, border posts where the cable are reached include Manyovu (to serve Burundi), Rusumo border post (to serve Rwanda), Mutukula (to serve Uganda),Sirali,Namanga and Horohoro border posts to serve Kenya.

Tunduma border point for Zambia and Kasumulo border post for Malawi.Other landlocked countries, she said, may express interest to use the newly built national ICT backbone so as they can get international links via the submarine cables that landed at the Indian Ocean shores recently.

Such countries include Zambia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi. She added that it has resulted in an increase of mobile phone users from less than 100,000 in the late 1990s to about 20 million in December 2010, which translates to around 50 per cent teledensity. This contributed about 25 per cent to the national GDP in 2009/2010 financial year.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201207240101.html

[Geza Ulole]

Tanzania: New Cable to Lower Telecoms Cost
By Sosthenes Mwita, 26 July 2012

Comment

Dodoma — CONSTRUCTION of the initial two phases of the National Optic Fibre Cable has covered 7,650 kilometres linking all Mainland regions. The project is divided into five phases.

The cable has also linked some districts mainly those close to regional headquarters, a move that is expected to reduce telecoms charges significantly. This was said in the National Assembly by the Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, when moving his ministry's budget estimates for the 2012/2013 financial year.

A write-up directing implementation of the third phase, which links all districts and data centres is ready and would facilitate much easier and cheaper communication. He said efforts to secure funds for the project are underway.

The Fourth Phase will involve construction of cable linkages in cities, municipalities and townships, the minister said. The linkages, also known as metro networks, are already in place in the city of Dar es Salaam where investors in communication facilities helped out.

The fifth and final phase of the National Optic Fibre Cable will take in any other beneficiaries or Last Mile Broadband Connectivity. Preparations for this phase of the project are also underway. Minister Mbarawa said that the completion of the initial two phases facilitates communication in the Northern Ring and Southern Ring. If one part of the cable is faulty the remaining portions continue working efficiently, the minister said.

He told the Parliamentarians that the National Optic Fibre Cable has been connected to international cables that are laid in the sea. These include SEACOM, EASSY and SEAS. The cable will link Tanzania to Seychelles. Other countries that will benefit from the international optic fibre cable projects include Rwanda (through Rusumo); Burundi (through Kabanga and Manyovu); Zambia (through Tunduma) and Malawi (through Kasumulo).

Other countries are Kenya (through Namanga, Sirari and Horohoro) and Uganda (through Mutukula). Until last month five local communication companies (telecom operators) had been connected to the National Optic Fibre Cable. These are TTCL, Airtel, Tigo, Zantel and Simbanet. Foreign companies including MTL of Malawi, UCOM of Burundi; MTN of Rwanda and MTN and Airtel of Zambia use the National Optic Fibre Cable for international communication.

The minister also said that the presence of the optic fibre cable has brought down the costs of making telephone calls and other forms of communication. "The costs will drop even much further as time rolls on," the minister said. Giving an example, the minister said in 2009 (before installation of the cable) the services of Broadband 2 Giga Byte for small-scale users was 100,000/-. The price has now come down to 30,000/-, the minister said.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201207260199.html

[Geza Ulole]

Tigo in Network Expansion Drive
Tagged: Business, Company, East Africa, ICT, Tanzania
BY LEONARD MAGOMBA, 13 AUGUST 2012
Comment
Dar es Salaam — As one of its expansion plan, Tigo Tanzania is expected to spend over $100m to expand its network coverage and capacity.

According to an expert this move will create stiff competition among the mobile phone operators in the country.

The expert said that competition has already forced mobile phone operators to lower their tariffs as well as increase promotional campaign aimed at acquiring more subscribers which according to Business Monitor International (BMI) is expected to grow to over 36 million by 2015.

In Tanzania, the number of mobile phone users rose by 22% last year to reach 25.6 subscribers largely due to lower tariffs.

According to senior government officials, this has increased mobile phone penetration to reach 47% in 2011.

This will mean that Tigo's expansion plan would enable them to boost its subscriber base as well as increase competition with other mobile phone operators such as Airtel and Vodacom who are also looking to to boost number of their subscribers so as to get a shre of the available market.

A recently released report from the World Bank and infoDev, its technology entrepreneurship and innovation programme estimated that the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide, both pre-paid and post-paid, is expected to grow from fewer than one billion in 2000 to over six billion this year.

Out of these, nearly five billion are in developing countries, states the report on development released last month.

It also states that ownership of multiple subscriptions is becoming increasingly common, suggesting that their numbers will soon exceed that of the human population.

"More than 30 billion mobile applications, or 'apps,' were downloaded in 2011 - software that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile wallets, navigational aids or price comparison tools," the bank notes in the Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile report.

Speaking to the East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, the General Manager of the mobile phone operator, Mr Diego Gutierrez said that Tigo engaged in a network expansion program to increase its network capacity and ease connectivity among its subscribers.

"As part of our strategy, we are planning to invest about $100m this year to upgrade our services as well as installing new base stations nationwide," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said that the investment will increase network capacity, improve coverage and enhance users' experience.

"Access to the internet will be more widely available in the country and our customers will experience faster connection speeds," he said.

The expansion, which is expected to be completed by end of this year, will spread to all 26 regions including, Lake Zone region, Northern and Southern regions, Mtwara, Iringa and Pwani, giving Tigo the largest footprint coverage in the country.

"This investment demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality communication standards," he said and added "As a consumer-centric organization, we want our customers to benefit from the most extensive network coverage and the possible quality of service."

With this investment, more people across the country will have access to traditional mobile services but also to more innovative services such as Tigo Pesa and Tigo internet, he said.

The mobile phone operator, started operations in 1994 as the first cellular network in Tanzania. For the time being, covers 26 regions in Tanzania and Zanzibar.

It strives to be among the most innovative mobile phone operators in the country which are offering services ranging from affordable mobile voice communications to high speed Internet access and mobile financial services.

Tigo is part of Millicom International Cellular S.A (MIC) which provides affordable, widely accessible and readily available cellular telephony services to more than 43 million customers in 13 emerging markets in Africa and Latin America.
http://www.busiweek.com/science-a-te...xpansion-drive

Tanzania: Tigo to Upgrade Network
Tagged: Business, Company, East Africa, ICT, Tanzania
10 AUGUST 2012
Comment
TIGO plans to invest 100 million US dollars this year in upgrading its network and install new base stations in various parts of the country.

"This material investment will increase network capacity, improve coverage and enhance users' experience," Tigo said in a press release issued in Dar es Salaam.

"Access to the Internet will be more widely available in the country and our customers will experience faster connection speeds," the firm added.

Tigo General Manager Diego Gutierrez says the expansion, which is expected to be completed by end of this year, will spread to all 26 regions including, Lake Zone region, Northern and Southern regions, Mtwara, Iringa and Coast, giving Tigo the largest coverage footprint in the country.

"This investment demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality communications standards," said Mr Gutierrez.

"As a consumer-centric organisation, we want our customers, wherever they may be, to benefit from the most extensive network coverage and the highest possible quality of service. With this investment, more people across the country will have access to traditional mobile services but also to more innovative services such as Tigo Pesa and Tigo Internet," he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php...pgrade-network

[kiligoland]

Tanzania top Africa mobile money user

http://www.ippmedia.com/

Tanzania is leading in m-commerce (mobile money services) across the Sub Saharan African markets, beating South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria and even Uganda, according to a research released in August this year by Ericcson.

Presenting the findings here on Thursday, a senior advisor with the Swedish company, Anders Elarndsen said according to the research, titled Consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa Ready for Next Step in M-Commerce, Tanzania is leading by 67 per cent in the mobile money services market against Ghana (9) and South Africa (24).
Tanzania also leads in mobile payments — airtime top ups, merchants, bills and salary payments -- by 60 percent, followed by South Africa 19 percent and Ghana by 6 percent.
In mobile money transfers — both domestic and international —Tanzania is also the leader with 42 percent followed by South Africa (4) and Ghana (1).

Even in mobile banking -- balance enquiry, withdrawals, deposits and credit services — Tanzanian subscribers comprise 19 percent followed by South Africa (13) and Ghana (3).
Tanzanians also lead in the region with more subscribers having more than two simcards — 35 percent, two simcards and 11 percent more than two.

South African consumers lead in the region with more subscribers holding one simcard (95 percent), while Ghana follows with 66 percent.

Responding to the question why most Tanzanians subscribers go for two or more cards, he said in Tanzania most people do not use conventional banking, adding that they have more trust in the phone as their wallet.

Elerndsen said South Africa prefers to use conventional banking to mobile phone money system because they trust the former most.

He said the most interesting thing about m-commerce is that women play a very important role, sometimes more often than men.

He said according to Ericcson Consumer Laboratory, where reliable infrastructure is lacking in Africa, new technologies have stepped in and transformed the situation, with data showing that the population is ready for any technological transformation in m-commerce.

According to Finscope Gallup, 30 million people in the three countries remain unbanked and without phones, while 40 million are banked and have mobile phones, he said.

At least 50 million people are unbanked mobile phone users, he said adding that these are the targets of banks and mobile network providers.

Ericcson is a leading provider of communications technology and services operating in more than 180 countries with more than 40 percent of world’s mobile traffic going through its network and supporting more than 2.5 billion subscribers.

Its net sales for last year was USD35bn.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

[Geza Ulole]

16th September 12
Safari Yetu youth innovator to travel to Silicon Valley
Beatrice Philemon
Arnold Minde from Safari Yetu Company has emerged the overall winner among 50 entries in the ICT/technology innovations competition organized by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Dar Teknohama Business Incubator in collaboration with Start-up World from the United States.

Dr Hassan Mshinda, director general of COSTECH made the announcement on Friday that Minde emerged the overall winner for designing best innovative ICT solutions that people can use to buy bus tickets online.

Minde will represent Tanzania in a Silicon Valley event, the hub of US creativity and business start up in the field of information technology. He will join other winners from different countries around the world in the US to show-case his innovative ICT solutions. He will compete in the Start-up World Competition at the grand finale that will take place in the Silicon Valley to select the world’s best start-up ICT company.

The judges have selected him by looking for the latest innovative and disruptive technology solutions being developed by start-up companies in Tanzania.

Other criteria in reaching the decision was how innovative/disruptive the idea is, how scalable the technology is, how innovative the pitch is, its lobal reach and human impact.

During the event, the award was presented to him by Deputy Minister January Makamba of the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, the COSTECH chief noted, saying that the winner will obtain financial award and incubation support from international venture capital and other sources.

The competition that attracted hundreds of applicants across the country saw nine start-ups nominated for the final pitching to find one start up to represent the country at the Silicon Valley grand finale.

Nine companies that were selected to enter into the later stages of the competition include Magilatech, Victor Technosolve, Empresa, Morogoro Centre for Food Processing Training, TMT Technologies, Blackmark Corporation, Harusi Yangu, Book by Book and Rosello Company, talking from Dubai.

“As COSTECH and DTBI (the business incubator project) we normally promote start-up ICT companies, help them to grow, create job opportunities for them,” he said, noting that right now the commission has one year old supporting start-up ICT companies to help them realize their dreams.

Deputy Minister Makamba said that as Government the ministry will continue to support creativity and innovation and is committed to supporting young people like the ones presenting their innovations in the awarding ceremony.

Dar Technohama Business Incubator (DTBI) is among several avenues set up to support start-up SMEs, company SMEs and youths with novel technological innovations and ideas.

“As a country we are now looking beyond our current market and strategizing to tap into the greater East African market,” the deputy minister observed, urging innovators and entrepreneurs to start thinking beyond Tanzania and build ICT solutions that can solve problems in the greater East African market and beyond.

He paid gratitude to Start-up World from the US for accepting to bring the competition to Tanzania to help local start-up companies show-case what they have in terms of ICT technology.

Right now Tanzania is emerging as one among bright spots of growth in ICT entrepreneurship in Africa, he said, referring to an issue of The Economist, an influential UK business weekly in a special write up last year, indicating that the country was ranked no.5 among the top 10 high growth countries in Africa.
He said this performance was due to a number of factors that include political stability since independence, a uniquely unified population (unified by a single language and culture), as well the recent national fiber backbone, the deep sea ports among other factors.

“To add on, recent statistics indicate that mobile penetration in the country has grown from fewer than five per cent in 2000 to 15 per cent in 2005, 50 per cent in 2010 and currently stands at a whopping 70-80 per cent ,” he said.

Estimations predict mobile adoption above 90 per cent by 2014, the deputy minister further explained, noting that the massive market that it opens up is only now starting to be tapped in terms of pick-up of technological innovations.

Technologies like mobile banking are still very young, but the room for innovation in this and other ICT space is enormous, he asserted, advising the youths present that now is the time to be a technology entrepreneur in Tanzania in particular and Africa in general. “Right now there is a new, giant, untapped market in Tanzania just waiting to be served,” he declared.

“Economic and social benefits will be tremendous, and those spearheading this wave of innovation are and will be the people and organizations in this room,” he added.

GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/fun...le.php?l=45884

[Geza Ulole]

Broadband market gets new player
Wednesday, 31 October 2012 23:28

By Polycarp Machira
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. As the government is struggling to build thousands of miles of fibre-optic cable and committed to link even the most remote communities to a super-fast connection system, another broadband company has entered the market.

Infinity Africa Network Limited, one of the internet companies in Tanzania, has partnered with Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC (Yahsat), a private joint stock company fully owned by Mubadala, an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi to provide faster services in the country.
The partnership will offer local businesses and consumers cost effective, high performance, wide reaching, and reliable internet connectivity through its YahClick Service. The YahClick service is designed to provide broadband satellite internet to everyone and is set to open new business opportunities and connectivity to a wide range of industries, NGOs, government, and education organisations throughout the country.

“Infinity Africa’s move towards broadband satellite internet via the YahClick service is set to provide Tanzania with cost effective, high performance, wide reaching, and reliable internet connectivity via aerial infrastructure that utilises the Ka-Band frequency,” said Mr Hussein Dharsee, founder and director of Infinity Africa Network Limited.

He noted that the most significant feature of satellite technology is its ability to provide internet services in both urban and remote areas within the borders. YahClick’s advanced technology, according to the director will enable residents and corporate in Tanzania to bridge the digital divide of the country’s interior; providing the prospect for businesses to grow.

With YahClick you can instantly connect to the Internet from anywhere by using a small satellite dish and satellite modem. YahClick satellite coverage will bring fast and efficient communication to many regions throughout Tanzania, all of which are currently without Internet including everyday telephony connections. Users can access Internet services without having to wait for terrestrial systems to roll out and without having to pay for expensive fibre or copper lines, or even suffer service cuts.
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/business...ets-new-player

[Rain Drops]

Vodacom Tanzania has inaugurated a trial of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the Msasani Peninsula area of Dar es Salaam, using equipment supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). The carrier’s managing director Rene Meza is quoted as saying that the cellco is currently holding talks with the national regulator, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), concerning the allocation of spectrum suitable for a commercial LTE launch countrywide. It is understood that Meza is interested in a combination of 800MHz and 1800MHz spectrum, as the experience of other markets shows that such frequencies offer the widest coverage possibilities and most cost-efficient deployment of LTE, coupled with the widest available of supported devices.

Under the trial, NSN has supplied Vodacom Tanzania with its single RAN platform, based on the flexi multiradio base station. The supplied equipment also comprises its evolved packet core platform, including the flexi network server and network gateway and liquid core-based serving GPRS support node. The supplied system allows LTE smartphones to fall back to GSM and 3G networks where 4G coverage is unavailable.
http://www.telegeography.com/product...dar-es-salaam/

[Rain Drops]

Financial operations - More Tanzanians living in rural areas will now have access to banking services, starting next month from FINCA Tanzania.


FINCA Tanzania has received a banking licence from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), making it the first microfinance institution to transform itself from a non-regulated entity into a microfinance company regulated by the central bank. FINCA Tanzania Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Tom Koscis said the licence allows the financial institution to start offering savings products to the public.

'The licence by the central bank, allows us to accept deposits from the public and to carry out banking services as a microfinance institution, making this a historic event in Tanzania's financial sector,' he explained. This is an important step toward financial inclusion as FINCA brings over 73,000 clients, mainly from rural areas of the country who do not have access to banking services.

'We are launching savings products that are easy to access, easy to operate and at no fee at all. We are also making it easy for our clients to open an account with minimal paper requirements and procedures they are only required to carry the IDs to our branches,' Mr Koscis noted.

In addition to the current 25 branches countrywide, FINCA Tanzania is making progress with integrating mobile technology into the company's operations to improve access to services and efficiency.

'Over 20,000 of repayments transaction each month are cashless, using mobile money and development of alternative delivery channels will continue and extend to other areas, to make banking more accessible and affordable,' he added.

By Rose Athumani

http://www.afriquejet.com/2013022827...perations.html