BBM to be preinstalled on LG smartphones

BBM will soon come preinstalled on the LG G Pro Lite from LG Electronics Inc. in markets around the world. BlackBerry announced a bundling agreement with LG Electronics involving both standard and virtual preloading (using the LG App Manager) and confirmed that BBM will also continue to be available as a free download from Android app stores, including Google Play.

“BBM is widely used throughout the Middle East, Africa and Indonesia where smartphone users tend to engage heavily in social networking,” said Kevin Shin, Vice President of Marketing for Asia, the Middle East and CIS countries of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “The LG G Pro Lite offers an optimized BBM experience with its large, high quality display and embedded Stylus Pen.”

“People across the globe are using BBM to connect with each other and the enthusiasm has been phenomenal,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry. “We’re extremely pleased that LG Electronics will help bring their customers a more seamless experience with BBM by preloading the app, starting with the G Pro Lite in key markets.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

Country focus: Ethiopia breaking new technology ground

Looking past the turbulent history of Ethiopia, one that has been impacted by famine, drought and war, there is evidence today which confirms that this East African region has fully embraced ICT to advance itself and establish a secure position amongst developing economies with high-growth potential.

However, challenges do remain – including slow response by government to mobile money adoption, infrastructure, connectivity, as well as the country’s repressive stance on digital freedoms, particularly social networking and the internet.

It was only at the beginning of 2013 when Ethiopia’s government approved mobile money in the country, allowing banks and micro-finance institutions to provide transaction-based banking online.

The 2013 Web Index, brought out by the World Wide Web Foundation, gave Ethiopia an overall ranking of 80^th position out of 81 countries (taking into account several sub-indexes including universal access, relevant content and impact & empowerment). The country also scored 12.9 in terms of freedom and openness, the criteria of which includes the degree to which users have rights to online information, their ability to express opinion, as well as safety and privacy.

The internet brimmed with information and reports in mid-2012 when news broke  of the Ethiopian government’s intention to ban Skype and other VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, as well as video chat platforms, for businesses.

source: www.itnewsafrica.com

Morocco gives strong regional performance for internet readiness

Morocco ranked second only to South Africa in terms of "internet readiness", an indicator of future growth potential, among the 14 countries compared in the report, which was published by the consultancy firm McKinsey & Company in November.

The findings come on the back of a drive under way in Morocco to increase broadband access nationwide by extending fibre-optic networks into more isolated regions of the country and to roll out a 4G network.

Preparations pay dividends

According to the McKinsey report, the internet contributed roughly $2.2bn to the Moroccan economy in 2012, or 2.3% of GDP. In percentage terms, this placed the country behind Senegal (3.3%) and Kenya (2.9%), although in absolute terms it exceeded Senegal's $470m and Kenya's $1.1bn.

In calculating the internet's contribution to GDP, McKinsey took into account private consumption (including revenues from mobile and fixed internet service, smart phone and computer purchases, and e-commerce), public expenditure, private investment and trade balance. Morocco's score was driven largely by the trade balance factor, thanks to the exports of its business processing outsourcing (BPO) sector, in addition to private consumption.

source: www.zawya.com

Nokia Opens Office In Libya

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has opened an office in Libya, to enhance mobile broadband service delivery by developing its infrastructure, as the North African country embarks on a robust redevelopment programme of its telecom industry.

“The opening of this modern office marks our readiness to deliver large-scale mobile broadband rollouts in Libya,” Igor Leprince, head of the Middle East and Africa business region at Nokia Solutions and Networks told Human IPO.

“As the world’s specialist in mobile broadband, NSN will help Libyan operators provide a superior mobile broadband experience for their customers.”

It was reported that following the civil war in 2011 that ousted long standing leader Muommar Gaddafi, over $1 billion in telecom infrastructure was lost, with more than 20 percent of cell sites destroyed.

Despite the destruction, Libya still boasts one of the most developed telecom industries within Africa.

A report by telecom-focused research consultancy, BuddeComm confirmed the country’s mobile penetration stood at 109%, an unrivalled growth across the continent. It also showed that a 15-year investment budget of $10 billion has so far rolled out cutting edge technologies such as Africa’s first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP), expansion of DSL and WiMax broadband services and new international fibre connections and upgrades.

The new regime is keen on building on the existing strongholds and as well increasing private participation in the industry, with a plan to privatize one of the three state-owned mobile networks through an IPO listing this year already in its final stages.

source: www.ventures-africa.com

MTN Group - Traverse The Wilds Of Africa For 2014′s Best Stock

Investors have pretty well forgotten about emerging markets over the past three years. The "BRIC" countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China no longer excite. Nor do more exotic non-BRIC locales such as South Africa. The iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (EZA) is down by roughly 15% since the beginning of 2011, while the S&P 500 has gained nearly 45%.

I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a major Africa bull. It's the last major investment frontier, and the growth is very real. Per capita GDP has more than doubled in the past decade, and according to Deloitte, seven of the 10 fastest-growing countries in the world are in Africa. One sign of the booming middle class is Africa's surprisingly high cell phone penetration; by Ericsson's estimates, the continent already has 780 million mobile subscribers. Don't underestimate the significance of this. Africa has harsh geography, which makes building infrastructure very difficult and very expensive. But mobile technology allows large parts of Africa to essentially leapfrog over legacy technology infrastructure - such as copper phone wires - and into the modern world.

This is showing up in some interesting places. For example, mobile phones are giving millions of working and middle-class consumers access to basic banking services for the first time. According to Deloitte, "a 10% increase in mobile phone penetration in a poor country is linked to an increase in GDP of 1.2% due to the ensuing economic activity that people engage in as a result of being 'plugged in' and connected." For a part of the world that has been more or less in isolation since the dawn of time, this is a game-changer.

source: www.seekingalpha.com

SEACOM gears up for another year of expansion

Following a year of growth and progress in its business, pan-African telecommunications enabler SEACOM will be hunting for growth in new African territories in 2014, as well as continuing its evolution from a cable operator into an infrastructure provider that offers a range of IP solutions to its service provider and operator customers.

That’s according to SEACOM CEO Mark Simpson, who says he anticipates strong growth in the African telecom market as the impact of government and operator investments into national fibre links, last-kilometre connectivity, and local content continue to be felt across the continent.  With these essential pieces of the puzzle rapidly falling into place, SEACOM expects robust growth for its business in this year.

“During the past year, we have seen terrific progress. Our investments in West coast capacity, our African ring and meshed IP networks have started to come into their own – developments that have been really good for SEACOM’s customers. Terrestrial fibre penetration has also improved and we’re seeing continued and essential access network developments across our markets. These factors helped us to grow in 2013 and will continue to fuel our evolution in 2014,” says Simpson.

Looking ahead strategic plans include expanding into a number of new countries which it does not yet serve directly, including West coast countries. SEACOM will continue to invest in countries to ensure its drive to become a truly pan-African infrastructure provider is met.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

Another South African telecom firm waves goodbye to the Kenyan market.

South African fixed-line telecom operator, Telkom SA, last month made a dramatic retreat from the East African market, selling loss-making units iWayAfrica and Africa Online to Gondwana International Networks. Telkom SA’s sale highlights the competitive and difficult environment facing many telecom companies and Internet service providers as new technologies and better-funded competitors dominate the market and influence the pricing of products and services. Analysts expect the sale to set up the telecom market across Africa for mergers and acquisitions to consolidate market share. It also brings to the fore how a number of South African companies are struggling to penetrate the East African market. The financial details of the Telkom SA transaction were not disclosed, but the operator termed the companies an “immaterial part of the group”. “This transaction is one of many initiatives that will contribute to our own turnaround, allowing us to focus on our core South African fixed-line and mobile operations,” said Telkom SA CEO Sipho Maseko.


source: www.standardmedia.co