Briefs from issue dated 23 February 2012
Africa: Low-grade browsing - The East Africa Submarine System (EASSy), a submarine fibre cable system on the East Coast of Africa, has encountered problems since yesterday morning. Telkom said in a network notice that a failure between Rosebank and Amsterdam [on EASSy] started at 09:26 on Friday 17 February, causing degraded Internet browsing, which is though to be due to a cable cut on SMW3 in the Red Sea.
Algeria: Cross-channel talks - Improved telecoms co-operation between Algeria and Spain has featured in talks last week between the Minister of Post and Information Technology Information and Communication, Moussa Benhamadi, and the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria.
Algeria: Mobile motorway - A report on the sections of motorway not covered by the mobile phone network is to be submitted to the Regulatory Authority for Post and Telecommunications (ARPT) the Algerie Press Service reported. Minister of Post and Information Technology and Communication, Moussa Benhamadi said on Saturday that appropriate action would be taken.
Benin: Internet interrupted - Internet access has been denied to users on Benin Telecom’s fixed Broadband facility starting Tuesday 14 February, according to the La Nouvelle Tribune. The journal reports that there was a 10-day outage earlier in the year due to a fire at a SAT-3 facility.
Botswana: New look - Mascom Botswana has launched its ‘Closer to you’ marketing campaign. According to Mascom Chief Marketing Officer (CEO) Dzene Makhwade-Seboni, the campaign will be run nationally in Setswana and English, with a strong presence on poster hoardings. Mascom competes with Orange Botswana whilst Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) is expected to deploy mobile services. Mascom was granted a licence in 1998 and controls over 60 percent of the market.
DRC: Investments - The National Agency for Investment Promotion, which is part of the Portfolio Ministry, approved USD 962 million in telecommunications investments last year. The DRC approved more than USD 5.8 billion, about half of which came from the mining industry. Foreign direct investment accounted for about USD 2.96 billion of the total, Otton Oligo, the agency’s approval department manager, told Bloomberg.
Equatorial Guinea: All change - Carlos Nsing Esono Miko has been named as Director General of Posts and Telecommunications; and replaces Federico Ngomo Nvo, the Press and Information Office of Equatorial Guinea has reported. Maximilian Martin Meko Abeme was also named as Director General Body Management and Maintenance of Public Telecommunications Infrastructure (GITGE), while Andrew Mba Mokuy Edu is now the Deputy Director General of GITGE.
Egypt: Job done - Vimpelcom has completed the spin-off of certain assets of Orascom Telecom to Weather Investments II. The principal spin-off assets include Orascom Telecom's investments in ECMS and Mobinil in Egypt and Koryolink in North Korea.
Ghana: Detection - Airtel Ghana has introduced a short code to enable subscribers to report SIM Box numbers. SIM box fraud involves the routing of international calls through the Internet and terminating them using a local phone number to make it appear as if the call is local, and so avoid paying any charges that would normally be attracted to international calls. Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah said it had deployed the state-of-the-art system at ‘very high cost’.
Ghana: SMS hits the spot - Mobile aggregation and bulk SMS messaging company SMSGH has been ranked 17th in the February 2012 edition of Forbes Africa Magazine's list of the 'Top 20 Technology Start-Up Companies In Africa'. SMSGH (www. smsgh. com) launched in May 2005 and now processes over 6 million messages monthly generated by 3.5 million mobile subscribers. Other well-known names making it into the list include MXit and Yola of South Afirca, Ushahidi and PesaPal of Kenya and Ghanaian start-up Dropifi.
Iran: Satellite success - The Head of State Aerospace Organisation of Iran Hamid Fazeli said telemetry images from the Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Promise of Science and Industry) satellite had been received, the Iranian Students News Agency reported. He said on Monday that the satellite had performed beyond all expectations and all of its systems are working successfully. This follows the launch on Friday of the satellite, which has been designed and built by Iranian technicians.
Kenya: Cellco by-pass - Visa is expected to fuel competition in the mobile money transfer market with the launch of its cross-border mobile money platform. The platform will be available to all mobile users irrespective of their network, making it the first ‘open’ service in the country. According to Visa country manager for East and Central Africa, Victor Ndlovu, the product is now in the final pilot testing stages and will be launched in October 2012. Ndlovu noted that subscribers to the service would be able to send money across borders on its network, and so bypassing the mobile operators.
Kenya: New kid in town - Qualcomm has opened up its 186th office in Purshottam Place, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, and will serve as the hub for its business operations in the East and Central Africa. Billy Owino, Qualcomm's Director of Business Development in East Africa, said: "East Africa is continuing its rapid transition to 3G mobile broadband and consumers are reaping the benefits of enhanced services, competition and choice. "
Lebanon: Satellite snagged - Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui said last week that the jamming of Arabsat appeared to be originating from Ethiopia, the Daily Star reported. Sehnaoui said that a formal complaint had been made to the Ethiopian authorities. A number of Lebanese channels and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera have been jammed in the past year, and the frequencies of Arabsat and Nilesat network providers have been jammed since the pro-democracy uprisings and ensuing unrest in Libya and Egypt.
Libya: LAP easing - The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) - owner of LAP Green Networks - will be able to access its assets overseas, Reuters has reported, after the United Nations (UN) informally eased sanctions against the entity. Some USD 170 billion of Libyan assets were frozen, although USD 100 million in cash was later released in December 2011 when the sanctions applying to Libya’s central bank were relaxed. The move is expected to be formalised on 16 March.
Morocco: Virtual network entrant - Poste Maroc, the state-owned postal service, is readying become the first MVNO in Morocco, according to La Vie Eco. Poste Maroc has not issued any comments on the matter, the journal reports Maroc Telecom, Meditel and Inwi having informal discussions on wholesale pricing deals. Poste Maroc is also reported to have been in talks with ANRT, the regulatory authority, regarding a licence.
Oman: Newsy Nawras - Nawras has launched two new SMS services. Reuters Breaking News service will provide international news, whilst the Asia News will deliver news from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The services are being offered on a monthly subscription basis to both pre- and post-paid subscribers. Reuters News is available in either English or Arabic at a monthly fee of OMR 1.500 (USD 3.88). The Asian service is in English for any of the three countries featured for OMR 0.700 per month, per country. Nawras already offers feeds from CNN, BBC, Koora Mobile, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
Rwanda: Poor show - Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) has said that it will investigate persistent failures of the MTN Rwanda mobile network. Director General of RURA, Regis Gatarayiha, told The New Times that complaints have been received from mobile users about the poor services from telcos. In 2007 RURA fined MTN some RWF 70 million (USD 114,000) for poor services following network failures and dropped calls. At the time MTN enjoyed a virtual monopoly.
Saudi Arabia: Good neighbours - Telecoms executives from Saudi Arabia and the Yemen met in Riyadh to promote bilateral relations, and the enhancement of mutual co-operation. CEE of STC Group Eng. Saud bin Majed Al-Daweesh met with the Director General of the Yemeni Public Telecommunications Corporation Ali Al-Nassari, Deputy Chairman of the Yemeni Company for International Communications (TeleYemen) at King Abdulaziz Telecom Complex in Riyadh.
South Africa: Fresh blood - Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, Nomavuso Mnxasana and Neo Dongwana have been appointed as independent non-executive directors the Telkom board as from 20 February 2012. Sibisi, CEO of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, has served on the boards of Murray & Roberts, Liberty Life and the Mapungubwe Institute. Mnxasana, is a chartered accountant and previously served as senior partner and member of the executive committee at SizweNtsaluba. Also a chartered accountant, Dongwana was an equities analyst at Sanlam, and a partner in the audit division at Deloitte. She currently holds non-executive director posts at AVI and Mpact, and is non-executive chair of the enterprise development fund of PPC.
South Sudan: Satellite serenade - Israeli-owned Spacecom hopes to sign South Sudan for its AMOS-5 satellite, which began commercial operations on 25 January, IT Web Africa reported. South Sudan's Telecommunications Ministry said officials have discussed potential future co-operation, and further meetings are planned with other Israeli telecoms, aerospace and technology companies.
Tanzania: Easy access - Etisalat subsidiary Zantel has re-branded its pre-paid Internet services as ‘ezyNet’, whilst simultaneously launching two new packages. Users can have a modem included in a bundle; or a modem with free CDMA airtime. Zantel Chief Commercial Officer Ahmed Mokhles said the offer was intended to increase Internet penetration and usage. In January Zantel launched 21 new CDMA sites in five different regions nationally.
Tunisia: 3G spreads - Tunisie Telecom announced on 10 February 2012 the expansion of its 3G network to the city of Kasserine. This follows earlier deployments in Grand Tunis, Beja, Zaghouan, Gabes, Bizerte, Kef, Sidi Bouzid, Siliana, Jendouba, Kebili, Gafsa, Medenine, Tataouine, Kairouan, Djerba and Zarzis. Further details are online at www.3gtt.tn.
Turkey: Mobile wallet muted - Turkcell subscribers with suitable smartphones can now make payments using the NFC facility. According to NFC World, Turkcell reckons to have some 300,000 NFC-capable T-Series phones in circulation, but Turkcell has clarified that not all are using Cep-T Cüzdan. Turkcell does not charge for joining the service, but users do need to exchange their SIM card for a new one. The NFC service, launched in May 2011, is now available to customers of three Turkish banks and users have the option of choosing from four different phones.
Turkey: Telco 2.0 for Turkcell - Telenity has announced that Turkcell has selected its Canvas CSP, Converged Services Platform components to be deployed in Turkcell’s Telco 2.0 Service Provider Gateway (SPGW). The upgraded SPGW and SCME enhance Turkcell’s Service Delivery Platform Architecture (SDPA) to support enabler catalogue management, capability exposure, and consumption
UAE: Cost cutting - Etisalat is minded to restructure its operations to cut costs. Competition and a drop in rates across the region have made it difficult for telcos to maintain revenue levels, especially in emerging markets. Etisalat has reported falling profits in seven of the past eight quarters as earnings from its foreign operations have failed to compensate for faltering domestic revenues. Group Chief Executive Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar claimed in statement that both Atlantique Telecom and Etisalat Misr had seen a 40 percent rise in subscriber numbers last year.
Zimbabwe: Setting the standard - A customer survey carried out by the Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC) has found Econet Wireless as providing the best customer service in Zimbabwe, with the operator attracting 11.2 percent of the votes. Briefs from issue dated 16 February 2012
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