Telefonica launches global wi-fi hotspot service with single sign-on in 110 countries

Telefonica has launched a new global wi-fi product, offering users single billing and sign-on for 1.3 million wireless hotspots across the world.

The new Telefonica hotspot service is aimed at globetrotting execs, and attempts to make it simpler for business travellers to buy minutes from public wi-fi connections across the world.

The service, called Universal Wi-Fi, supports iOS and Android mobile devices as well as Windows PCs and Macs, offering access to hotspots in 110 countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia.

It follows Telefonica's launch last year of its pan-European 3G plus hardware bundles in partnership with Dell. The packages give users access to Telefonica's 3G networks in 29 countries across Europe. Like Universal Wi-Fi, the NetReady services are pitched as making access, billing and expenses management simpler for businesses, but come with premium pricing.

Telefonica hasn't released any details of the cost of Universal Wi-Fi, but is promoting it as a flat rate service within its mobility portfolio, with single sign-on at various hotspots, which can be used across up to five devices.

source: www.zdnet.com

Gabon Wagers on High-Speed Internet

Gabon wants to be a player in the digital economy on the African continent and a regional hub hosting enterprises in the sector. The authorities of the middle-income African country have announced this goal in their quest to diversify Gabon’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.

At the TransformAfrica summit on new technologies held in Kigali, Rwanda, in late 2013, Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, declared that Gabon’s connection to the Central African high-speed fiber optic network by 2015 would mark the “first step of a journey toward digital independence.” The president stated, “If we want to change the lives of our citizens, we need to act quickly to make ICTs a top priority.”

According to ARCEP, Gabon’s Postal and Electronic Communications Regulatory Agency, out of a population of 1.6 million, Gabon had only 497,371 Internet subscribers (mobile and fixed) at the end of 2012, and high-speed 3G and 4G mobile connections were not yet available. Thus the country lags far behind its goal to increase Internet speed for the public. Development of high-speed mobile and fixed Internet in Gabon cannot be achieved without fiber optic infrastructure to facilitate high-quality, low-cost transmission of digital applications, services, and content to citizens and businesses across the country.

source: www.worldbank.org

The widest 3G network in South Africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

source:mybroadband.co

Simmtronics Enters India Smartphone Market

Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd has said it was foraying into the mobile phone segment with the launch of XPAD smartphones in India, after the successful launches of XPAD tablets. The XPAD range of smartphones would be across all segments starting from entry to high end and would be equipped processors ranging from single core to superior quad cores. The company has already launched these products in UAE market, during GITEX 2013 and says has got overwhelming response from Africa, Egypt, GCC and CIS countries. Simmtronics also claimed that it was the only company both in tablets and smartphone segments to be licensed by Ericsson, and have a licensed access to launch 2G, 3G, 4G LTE products across the globe. The company has also tied up with HCL Care for providing aftermarket services, said a Simmtronics release. Indrrajit Sabharwal, Managing Director, Simmtronics stated, “The smartphone usability is increasing day by day, we decided to foray into the smartphone segment with the launch of XPAD range of smartphones in affordable price range. This innovatively designed device’s is enriched with a high end technology.” Anticipating growth, the company is also gearing up for local production of the same, and is investing Rs 200 crore in the smartphone segment with a revenue target of Rs 500 crore by this financial year end. Currently at a turnover of Rs 550 crore, the company is targeting Rs 800 crore of revenue in the next fiscal.  The smartphone range comprises Fundroid, Amazoid and Smartdroid series of phones.

source: www.lightreading.in

Global Connected Car Market Report 2013-2018

The market presents direct revenue channel from applications, services, and content. Industry experts believe that if it is done right, software updates will become the major revenue generator since people are willing to pay for them if they are reasonably priced. Software can keep the car up-to-date even if it is not the latest model anymore and essentially tied to the regular maintenance of the vehicle.

The future remains to be seen and will depend on how much the automotive companies open up their systems for third party developers. However, car manufacturers need to standardize on common solutions to drive the market and open systems to create the necessary critical mass among app developers.

Key Take-Aways

• The total shipments of connected car in 2012 are expected to grow at an estimated CAGR of 41.2% from 2013 to 2018. This would account for more than 50.0% of total global car shipments by 2018.
• Various connectivity solutions such as LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, and HSPA are being bundled with OEM manufactured cars, apart from the existing traditional connectivity such as Bluetooth and 2G.
• North America and China would lead the way in LTE adoption, while 3G would get a boost from European countries andIndia.
• Middle East, North Africa, and emerging economies in countries such as Indonesia offer a better opportunity for traditional connectivity solutions.
• Automotive Semiconductor Industry to reach $18 billion by 2018
• The growth of end product market such as display and screen is directly linked to the OEM shipment of the connected car market.
• Aftermarket service is likely to witness the highest CAGR from 2013 to 2018.

source: www.prnewswire.com

Latest Sub-Saharan Africa Telecoms Investment Opportunities – Business Monitor Release Brand New Whitepaper

Business Monitor has just released its latest analysis on Sub-Saharan Africa Telecoms Investment Opportunities in their new whitepaper ‘Sub-Saharan Investment Opportunities in Telecommunications: Risk/Reward Analysis’. The whitepaper includes Business Monitor’s country comparative risks and rewards ratings tables for the telecoms industry in each country, as well as specific analysis on three countries of interest within the region - Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa - including key data and the latest trends and developments.

After a wave of regulatory penalties, including fines and a ban on promotions, Nigeria's mobile operators have announced plans to expand and upgrade their networks to cope with strong subscriptions growth and increasing data usage. Business Monitor expects this trend to continue over the medium term as the market is forecast to add around 45mn new subscribers in the five years to 2017. Meanwhile, consolidation and, subsequently, transition to LTE technology appears to be a growing trend among tier two telecoms service providers in Nigeria. Business Monitor sees this as a positive development as, through consolidation, tier-two operators are able to gain scale for bigger network deployments while the transition to LTE should enable them to compete better with 3G HSPA+ offerings from the GSM operators.

Kenya's mobile operators will prioritise high value services over aggressive network expansion into underserved areas to improve their profit margins. 

source: www.prweb.com

Africa’s GDP to hit $300bn on internet expansion, says Mckinsey

Considering the massive financial investment ploughed into the deployment of broadband infrastructure across the continent, the internet, though still in its infancy, could contribute some $300 billion to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, according to a recent report by Mckinsey & Company.

Over the last three years, estimates have shown that about $3.8 billion has been invested in submarine cables across Africa. The report said Internet’s contribution to Africa’s GDP remains low, at a meagre 1.1 percent – just over half the levels seen in other emerging markets and well below the average of 3.7 percent in developed economies.

This figure, analysts said, is a vivid indication that the wealth creation and revenue generation potentials of the internet remains immensely untapped across the African continent.

This figure however varies widely across individual countries, from 0.6 percent in Ethiopia to 3.3 percent in Senegal. According to the report entitled, ‘Lions go digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa’, the Internet is likely to take hold on a much larger scale in the coming decade, with previous research showing that its impact is magnified in emerging countries.

Mobile telephony has already had an outsized effect in Africa, connecting people who hitherto had little or no access to telecommunications due to the scarcity of fixed-line infrastructure. If the Internet matches or exceeds that level of impact, according to analysts at Mckinsey, the result could be a leap forward in Africa’s economic growth and development.

Following a decade of rapid urbanisation and strong economic growth, Africa is gradually transiting into a digital economy, according to Mckinsey. While just 16 percent of the continent’s 1 billion people are online, that picture is changing quite rapidly. This is evident in the rise of greater disposable income of consumers in major African cities.

More than half of them have Internet-capable devices, and 3G networks are up and running. Significant investments in network expansion initiatives has increased access to mobile broadband, fibre connection to households and businesses – combined with the rapid spread of low-cost smartphones and tablets, has enabled millions of Africans to connect to the cyberspace for the first time,

source: www.bussinessdayonline.com

Airtel invests Rs. 2bn in 3G

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the launch of the initial phase of a comprehensive network expansion exercise across 250 plus sites in urban, sub-urban and rural pockets across all districts of the island.

This project would thereby see Airtel Lanka increasing its 3G presence beyond 1,000 towers and 2G presence beyond 1,800 towers across the island. As part of this extensive expansion project that includes the expansion of transmission network, Airtel will continue to deploy robust and world-class network infrastructure and equipment to strengthen its customers’ high speed data connectivity and mobile internet experience.

Commenting on this latest milestone, Bharti Airtel Lanka’s Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director Suren Goonewardene stated, “At Airtel, it is our ethos of changing Sri Lanka’s telecom landscape and in which businesses operate in Sri Lanka. While we have changed the way mobile communications work in the country through the introduction of several innovative services which includes the concept of no hidden costs, we are now geared to change the language of the telecom business – from a mobile to a mobile internet organization. With this in mind, we have now invested heavily in our 3G network.”

Along with the commitment towards enhancing Airtel’s network presence across Sri Lanka and continuing to work towards new ways of delivering a seamless network experience to customers, Goonewardene further stated, “When it comes to Mobile Internet, Airtel will be the brand loved by all Sri Lankans whether they are prepaid or post-paid customers residing in any part of the country. We have launched customized internet packages and tailor-made handset bundle offers (HBOs), which all Sri Lankans will have the propensity to use. We have also started increasing the number of customer touch points thus giving our customer accessibility to the range of data services which is fresh, youthful, current and innovative”.

Bharti Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka on January 12, 2009, and was the fastest operator to reach one million customers in Sri Lanka.

source: www.nation.lk

2G, 3G & 4G Subscriptions, Deployments and Infrastructure Contracts Database Q4'2013

With over 250 commercial network launches and over a thousand LTE-enabled devices available in the market as of December 2013, LTE adoption has considerably gained momentum throughout the globe. Unique market and operator requirements have driven several early LTE launches. Driven by these early launches global LTE subscriptions reached nearly 130 Million in Q4'2013. From an operator viewpoint U.S. operators dominate the market with a 37% market share thanks to the tremendous coverage footprint of tier 1 operators Verizon Wireless & AT&T. The market share of U.S. operators is followed by Japanese and Korean operators NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank, LG Uplus, SK Telecom and KT which represent 38% of all LTE subscriptions worldwide. Going forward, the LTE market is set to grow at a CAGR of 56% over the next 7 years and will eventually represent more than 20% of all mobile connections by 2020. From an infrastructure manufacturer perspective Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent are leading the market and account for a combined market share of 85% of all LTE contracts. Ericsson is also leading the market from a technology neutral perspective with a 24% stake in all global 2G/3G/4G contracts.

Covering over 810 operators, 53 infrastructure vendors and 222 countries worldwide the "2G/3G/4G Subscriptions, Deployments and Infrastructure Contracts Database Q4'2013" tracks global cellular network deployments, infrastructure vendor contracts, and subscriptions by technology, data protocol, category (pre-paid, post paid), region, country, and operator.

The report includes: • Infrastructure contracts by technology, data protocol, region, country, vendor and operator • Infrastructure market share by equipment type, region, country and vendor • Network deployments by technology, data protocol, region, country and operator. • Number of cellular network subscriptions (as of Q4'2013) by air interface technology, data protocol, region, country and operator • Five-year subscriptions forecasts by air interface technology, data protocol, region, country and operator • Subscriptions market share data by air interface technology, data protocol, region, country and operator. • Penetration data by region and country • Population data by region and country

source: www.sacbee.com

Huawei, ZTE, Nokia Cleared in Patent Dispute With Interdigital

The U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled against InterDigital in a complaint that alleged Huawei, Nokia, ZTE had infringed the company's patents.

On Thursday, the ITC upheld a previous ruling in June that found Huawei, Nokia and ZTE had not infringed on the seven InterDigital patents named in the complaint. Filed in 2011, the InterDigital case had sought an import ban by the U.S. on older 3G phones from the three handset makers. InterDigital said it was disappointed with the ITC decision, and would appeal it.

It has another petition pending with the ITC that is targeting 3G and 4G products from Huawei, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung. The complaint, filed in January, accuses the four companies of infringing up to seven of its cellular-related patents. InterDigital asked for an import ban into the U.S. on Samsung's Galaxy S III, the Nokia Lumia 920, and other smartphones from the handset makers, which the ITC is authorized to impose in some cases of patent infringement.

InterDigital is a U.S.-based research company that develops wireless standards and holds 20,000 patents. The company, however, has drawn criticism for being a "patent troll," a claim InterDigital rejects, pointing to its 200 engineers that work on new technologies. Not all are convinced. The Chinese government in September launched an anti-monopoly investigation against InterDigital, which the company said was the result of its patent lawsuits targeting Huawei.

InterDigital now alleges that China is threatening to arrest its employees. This week, the company was scheduled to dispatch staff to the country for talks with China's National Development and Reform Commission. But on Friday, the government body said it could not guarantee the safety of employees sent to the country, according to InterDigital spokesman Patrick Van de Wille.

"There are not a lot of ways to perceive this positively," he said on Tuesday. "Even if the NDRC does back track and guarantees their safety, we don't even know if we would believe them.

source: www.allafrica.com

Bharti and Reliance Jio announce comprehensive telecom infrastructure sharing arrangement

Bharti Airtel Limited (“Bharti”) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“Reliance Jio”) today announced a comprehensive telecom infrastructure sharing arrangement under which they will share infrastructure created by both parties. This will include optic fibre network – inter and intra city, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services and other such opportunities identified in the future.

The cooperation is aimed at avoiding duplication of infrastructure, wherever possible, and to preserve capital and the environment. This will also provide redundancy in order to ensure seamless services to customers of the respective parties.

The arrangement could, in future, be extended to Roaming on 2G, 3G and 4G, and any other mutually benefiting areas relating to telecommunication, including but not limited to jointly laying optic fibre or other forms of infrastructure services. The pricing would be at ‘arm’s length’, based on the prevailing market rates.

Bharti Infratel awaiting stronger 3G signals

Expectation of a higher dividend, attractive valuations and growth prospects on the back of an uptick in 3G usage saw the Bharti Infratel stock jump 5% in trade today.  With the Bharti Infratel management clarifying that it will not pursue M&A activities in Africa and aggressive investments in 3G by incumbent operators saw the stock gain 13% over the past month. The recent uptick comes after underperformance over a one year period due to static tenancy ratios which could fall with consolidation and talks of 8% licence fee on tower revenues .

Given the company's stand on Africa acquisition, Goldman Sachs analysts believe that there is a low possibility of any big ticket acquisition, leaving room for Bharti Infratel to return money to shareholders. The research firm estimates that the company is likely to pay a special dividend of Rs 3.5 per share in the March quarter of FY14 taking the total dividend for FY14 to Rs 9 a share. Further, the analysts have increased earnings per share upwards on the back of an expected growth in data traffic. “At current FY14E multiples of 1.9 times its price to book value and return on equity of 7.7%, the risk-reward is balanced with upside potential largely driven by faster 3G deployment and better-than-expected dividend payout,” say Goldman Sachs analysts led by Sachin Salgaonkar.

While regulatory issues and M&A are likely to influence the stock, the key operational parameter would be the company's ability to improve its tenancies which have been stuck in the 1.91 times to 1.93 times range over the last five quarters. Every additional tenant substantially improves profitability as rentals improve with costs increasing only marginally. The major cost for telecom tower companies is power which is a pass through. One of the triggers for the same is the rapid expansion of 3G coverage by operators. 

source: www.bussiness-standard.com

SA's 3G world class , fixed broadband

Naspers CEO Koos Bekker said that while South Africa’s mobile broadband (3G) services are world class, fixed broadband access remains poor.

Speaking to Talk Radio 702’s Bruce Whitfield, Bekker said that South Africa’s Internet access diverges between mobile phones and PCs.

“Our 3G [mobile broadband] systems are as good as we get anywhere in the world,” said Bekker, adding that fixed broadband [used on a PC] has a problem with a lack of bandwidth.

The bandwidth restraints of fixed broadband access in SA, said Bekker, has a consequence on their pay-TV operations.

Bekker said in an interview with Moneyweb that they are forced to “fake the Internet” using their new DStv Explora decoder to make it possible for users to catch up on news or sporting events when it suits them.

“But we can fake the Internet a bit by putting it on satellite, loading it down into the PVR and then offering it to you as if it were the internet.”

source: www.mybroadband.co

airtel scoops 2013 African operator award

BHARTI Airtel, one of the country’s leading telecommunications service providers with operations in 20 countries across South Asia and Africa, has been recognised as the African Operator for 2013 at the CommsMEA Awards.
Airtel out-shined strong shortlisted contenders, among others the MTN Group, Vodacom and Nedjma, at the eighth edition of the event held at Jumeirah Emirates Tower in Dubai.
The event was attended by over 300 executives from the telecommunications sector, vendors, ministers and regulators.
The award recognises excellence within the telecommunications sector across the Middle East and Africa.
This is according to a statement released in Lusaka yesterday.
The winners were picked from a record number of nominations by a judging panel.
Bharti Airtel managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) (international), Manoj Kohli is elated by the achievement.
“We are humbled by this recognition and the trust that the international industry panel, consumers and other stakeholders have placed on Airtel since our entry into Africa in 2010,” he said.
Mr Kohli said in the past three years, the company has succeeded in serving more communities within countries it operates.
“We also hope to change their lives through not only the voice but also the data and mobile commerce services that we provide,” he said.
Airtel Africa is the largest third generation (3G) and mobile commerce country footprint in sub-Saharan Africa.
The telecommunications company provides 3G services in 14 African countries and Airtel Money services in 17 countries across the continent.
With coverage across Airtel Africa’s operations in the 17 countries, the mobile money platform is poised to serve more diverse communities than any other financial institution in Africa.
Currently leveraging a network of over 100,000 agent locations, Airtel Money facilitates access to financial services for the unbanked population.

source: www.daily-mail.co

vodacom must withdraw 3G speed chain

Vodacom has to withdraw claims that it has South Africa’s “fastest” and “widest” 3G network as these have not been substantiated and are therefore in breach of the code of advertising practice.

These are the findings of the Advertising Standards Authority, which has instructed Vodacom to desist from making the claims until it is able to verify them “unequivocally”. The rulings follow complaints by rival MTN.

A third complaint against Vodacom by MTN — protesting against Vodacom’s claim that it has the “fastest network for smartphones” — was not upheld. The authority found that this claim by Vodacom was substantiated.

In a complaint dated 7 November, Webber Wentzel attorneys, on behalf of MTN, lodged a complaint against a Vodacom television advertisement that includes a voice-over that claims Vodacom has the “fastest 3G network” and the “widest 3G network”.

MTN argued that although there could be regions in South Africa where Vodacom has the fastest 3G speeds, this is not necessarily true for the country in general. According to MTN, tests done by Ericsson, using Ookla, showed that in Gauteng MTN had faster 3G downlink and throughput speeds than Vodacom in certain periods.

In the Western Cape, MTN was faster than Vodacom during January 2013, and had been faster since August 2013 to the end of the reflected period. In KwaZulu-Natal, MTN outperformed Vodacom during November 2012, and was on par with Vodacom during February 2013. MTN also had lower latency in many instances.

The Advertising Standards Authority said that MTN went to great lengths to explain why and how speed tests and results can be manipulated, and why Vodacom would not be able to substantiate its claim of having the fastest 3G network in general.

Vodacom, through ad agency Ireland-Davenport, argued, among other things, that the nature of the Ookla tests ensures that any variable that could affect the test results is inherently included. “MTN is incorrect in alleging that ‘too many variables are at play’,” it said. “In addition, the magnitude and nature of Ookla tests negate any possible attempt at manipulation. Finally, the Ookla results are derived from random sampling as well, which further negates any effort to manipulate the results in the manner that MTN suggests.”

source: www.techcentral.co

the widest 3G network in south africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

The ASA said that, for a claim of having the widest 3G network to be substantiated, Vodacom needs to show that:

1. It is correct to include all sites that transmit at -100dBm in its “3G” calculations;
2. It is true that Vodacom has more of these sites than any of its competitors; and
3. That these sites are spread wider and more comprehensively across the country than any of its competitors.

“At best, the information shows that Vodacom has more sites transmitting at -100dBm than MTN, but this is as far as it goes,

source: www.mybroadband.co

NSN zain partnership shows leadership

Nokia Solutions and Networks and Zain Group have successfully partnered for nearly two decades with one sole objective - ensuring world-class service experience for Zain's customers. Marking this fruitful partnership, NSN demonstrated its advanced mobile broadband solutions at the Zain Technology Conference (ZTC) 2013 on Dec 1-3, 2013 in Dubai, UAE. NSN has been a main infrastructure supplier to buildZain Group's GSM, 3G and 4G network. Over the years NSN has evolved as the world's specialist in mobile broadband and continues to provide its superior mobile broadband infrastructure including its Customer Experience Management (CEM) and services to Zain Group. NSN's solutions demonstrated at the conference include its Liquid Applications, Active Antenna Systems, Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Congestion Aware Packet Core, CEM, NetAct, Service Quality Manager (SQM), Operations on Demand, and intelligent Self-Organizing Networks (iSON). In the longstanding partnership from 1994, when Zain's first GSM network in Kuwait was built, NSN continues to support Zain Group to be a market leader in the Middle East region. Throughout the long and successful partnership, NSN delivered its superior mobile broadband technologies to transform Zain Group's network cost-efficiently to ensure the best service experience for its customers. Among other important deployments, these technologies include the first CEM deployment for Zain Kuwait in 2011, unique operations support systems (OSS) portfolio deployed for touch Lebanon in 2013, for both of which NSN was awarded the prestigious Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards 2013, and LTE network deployed for Zain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) in 2012. Also, for the last five years, NSN has been providing its Special Event Support Services (SESS) to Zain KSA's GSM, 3G, and 4G network during the Hajj event. NSN's SESS helps Zain KSA meet the increased demand for network capacity and avoid any degradation in network performance during the exceptional traffic and load conditions during the yearly mega event. "NSN has been one of the main pillars of our success stories in the region," saidScott Gegenheimer, CEO of Zain Group. "NSN has provided its superior mobile broadband network including radio and core networks to build a reliable GSM, 3G, and 4G network for us in the region. It's CEM platform is one of its innovative technologies that helped us transform the service experience of our customers cost-efficiently." "We are committed to helping Zain Group satisfy its customers and be a market leader by providing the best voice and data services and," Igor Leprince, Senior Vice-President, Middle East and Africa, NSN. "NSN will continue to support the operator with our latest mobile broadband innovations for radio and core network such as core virtualization including telco cloud innovations and enhanced voice call continuity for VoLTE. With our focus on innovations

source: www.hispanicbusiness.com

Africa well positioned for leap to 4G LTE

With its capacity for innovation, Africa’s mobile network sector is well positioned to drive the explosion in service offerings on the back of 4G LTE implementations.  This is the view of Sherry Zameer, Africa and Middle East Head of telecommunication solutions for Gemalto, world leader in digital security.   Zameer’s comments follow the AfricaCom conference held in Cape Town last week, which was attended by some 8000 delegates from over 100 different countries.

“Africa is largely unrestricted by legacy platforms and onerous regulations, and so has the capacity to leapfrog standard 3G migrations, to embrace LTE and all the benefits of better quality service and content possibilities that the next generation platform provides,” Zameer continued.

While LTE penetration stands at less than 0.003 percent of the market in Africa, Rwanda, for example, is poised to implement LTE from the get go.

“Successful LTE implementations in Africa will depend on how well the issue of spectrum is addressed and how well wireless services (radio) work with LTE to deliver the quality of service required,” Zameer added.

“Africa has a track record of innovation and being first to market in many instances (e.g. M-Pesa and dynamic tariffing) and I expect that the implementation of 4G LTE will be no different,” he said.

While the continent is poised to take telecoms growth to a whole new level, questions among attendees at the conference remain as to how generate profits on new service options, once LTE is deployed

source: www.biztechafrica.com

the widest 3G network in South Africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

source: www.mybroadband.co

Qualcomm cooperates with Egyptian mobile operators

Qualcomm, provider of the processors for many notable mobile brands, tablets and smart-devices as well as developer of internet wireless network in Egypt, attended the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) conference to launch their latest project and showcase their support for the Egyptian technology and communication industry.

The Daily News Egypt spoke with Moheb Ramsis Senior Director of Business Development for Qualcomm in North Africa in order  to discuss Qualcomm’s latest projects in Egypt, their cooperation with mobile operators as well as plans for investment in the future.

Our strategy in Egypt is focused on a variety of things. Qualcomm in has a major interest in two particular things. One is the processors and this is the main business for Qualcomm. Many of the mobiles today are using Qualcomm chips.

Secondly we focus on licensing, for the 3G and 4G technology.  We played a key role in the development of the 3G and 4G networks and as a result earn royalties on these licenses. This is a major revenue stream for Qualcomm.

Egypt specifically is a market that is very price and brand sensitive. At the high-tier of smartphones today, most of the big names are using our chips. These include Samsung, LG, HTC and Song. We are focusing on Smartphones and tablets, which are connected to Egyptian 3G networks. Our strategy has two main focuses. The first strategy is concerned with enabling and empowering more entry level Smartphones, using the 3G network. This is done through the marketing of popular brands to the user. In this effort we are attempting to bring Smartphones to the lowest price possible while maintaining quality.

For example Etisalat recently released a tablet which uses a Qualcomm processor and which draws on a “Qualcomm reference design”. Which is the name of our initiative and it basically concerns selling supplier the chips cells and designs which will save the supplier money, time and resources. Allowing manufacturers to develop design and focus more on user interface and differentiating their technologies. This allows manufacturers to develop products of optimal quality and price.

source: www.dailynewsegypt.com