M2M world allaince delivers first multi operator global solution

The M2M World Alliance, which is comprised of Etisalat, KPN, NTT DOCOMO, Rogers, SingTel, Telefonica, Telstra and VimpelCom, today officially unveiled its solution which aims to simplify and promote the adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications worldwide.

The unique solution will leverage the operators' combined global presence to benefit customers who are looking for regional or global M2M deployments. It allows companies to enjoy connectivity throughout the Alliance coverage area with in-market rates. Additional benefits include easier compliance with local market regulations and the potential for multinationals to provide global technical support from a single market.

The name "M2M World Alliance" has recently been created to identify the group's coordinated operations.  Its multi-coloured logo represents the Alliance's aspiration to coordinate the delivery of M2M services globally.

"We believe that our unique and seamless solution will drive rapid growth in the adoption of M2M communications worldwide by giving our customers the ability to operate connected devices globally at a reduced cost," said Angel David Garcia Barrio, Chairman of the M2M World Alliance. "With operations in more than 60 countries, the Alliance's global footprint presents multinational organizations with a seamless approach to deploying connected devices in multiple countries at one time."

M2M communications are used when machines - a broad term for equipment used in all sorts of industries, including consumer electronics, utilities, agriculture and construction - connect and exchange information with information technology infrastructure. It is considered by many as the latest stage in the internet's evolution: when cyberspace reaches beyond the traditional confines of computers to connect to any device with a microprocessor.

Major growth areas identified by the M2M World Alliance for its global solution include connected cars, fleet management, smart meters, consumer electronics, game consoles, wearable electronics, telehealth and security solutions.

"Access to a simple, seamless SIM solution on a global platform presents a significant growth opportunity for global businesses deploying connected devices," said Mansell Nelson, Vice President, M2M, Rogers Communications. "Our single SIM card makes it easier for businesses to deploy connected devices in multiple countries and will drive further growth for the machine-to-machine business at Rogers."

source: www.newswire.ca

eight regions to get fast ethernet services

AS Tanzania becomes the first country in Africa to roll out the high-speed 4th Generation (4G) internet services, the company behind this data-specific advanced coverage, intends to link six more regions within second quarter of 2014.

Speaking at the launch of the Smile Communications' 4G internet services in Arusha on the backbone of the Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ms Fiona McGloin, the company's country manager for Tanzania and Uganda said the firm will also offer free such services to public schools in each and every region under their coverage.

Before the Arusha launch, Smile Communications dished out a whopping 20 gigabytes of free data to the Arusha Secondary School's computer laboratory with promise to include a few more education institutions in their free service gifts listing.

After Dar-es-Salaam and Arusha, six more regions (those linked with fiber-optic cabling network) will be included in the Smile high-speed internet network before next June, thus making the number to reach eight and counting.

Speaking via LTE enabled 'Skype' from Dar-es-salaam, Mr Innocent Mungy, the communications manager with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said the country is proving to be a leader in innovative technology around the region and Smile's endeavors complements TCRA's ten years of achievements.

Official figures indicate that Arusha, the hub of Tanzania's tourism industry, ranks second after Nairobi when it comes to highest usage of internet services in East and Central African region, beating even Dar-es-Salaam and Kampala.

Arusha City was the first to offer its residents with email services back in 1994 when the concept was still a mystery to most parts of East Africa.

Before Smile Communications Tanzania (Smile) introduced Africa's first high-speed data in Dar-es-Salaam City, back in May, the country's fastest data offering fell back on the regular, but often limited, Third-Generation (3G or 3.5G) being offered by existing telecommunications' companies such as Airtel, Tigo and Vodacom whose data streams have to share with their respective voice channeling.

"But as far as Smile-4G is concerned we are specifically targeting data (internet) services only though in future we plan to roll-out trials for voice calling services," explained the firm's country manager, adding that, the LTE high speed connections will enable online business, video conferencing and faster downloading reaching 60 megabytes per second which is six-times faster 

source:www.alafrica.com

Ethiopia to get high speed 4G network

Ethiopia’s Ethio Telecom has revealed that Huawei Technologies Co Ltd as been contracted to launch a high-speed 4G network in the country, according to a report by Reuters.

This announcement comes following a deal between Ethio Telecom and China’s Huawei and ZTE earlier in the year to expand and improve the country’s information technology (IT) infrastructure.

The Ethiopian government’s ability to monitor the online activities of its citizens and intercept their digital communications has grown more “sophisticated” in the past year despite the fact the Ethiopia has one of the lowest information technology penetration in the world, according to a recent Freedom House Report.

The annual report, which evaluates the state of internet and digital media around the world, revealed that the Ethiopian government’s hawk-eye inspection over its citizens internet usage “is made possible by the state’s monopoly over the country’s only telecom company, Ethio Telecom”.

With the support of the China, the Ethiopian government is reported to have increased its surveillance abilities to be able to censor online political and social content as well as block advanced applications which could enable anonymous online communication.

“Ethiopia is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa to implement nationwide internet filtering,” the report revealed, adding that the Ethiopian government’s censorship of online content intensified following speculative reports about the illness of the Late Prime Minster Meles Zenawi and Muslim protests in 2012 which was geared through the internet.

Mobile phones and internet were only introduced into Ethiopia during the twilight of the last decade. Despite several notable improvements in information technology (IT) across the world, the Ethiopian IT sector has grown at a slow pace. Currently, only an estimated 2.5% of the Ethiopian population are believed to have access to the internet. The Ethiopian government has noted that plans are underway to expand internet access to rural areas of the country where a majority of the nation’s population reside—thousands of kilometers of fiber-optic cables are reported to have been installed in the country and there are plans to connect Ethiopia to the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy).

source: www.zegabi.com

ooredoo wins best mobile operator at world communication award

10 Dec 2013 Ooredoo Wins "Best Mobile Operator" at World Communication Awards Ooredoo has seen incredible success in a week of award ceremonies in December, winning lead prizes at the "World Communication Awards" in London and the "CommsMEA Awards" in Dubai over two consecutive days.

Ooredoo received the "Best Mobile Operator" award at the 15th Annual World Communication Awards on Tuesday, beating international competition to receive the prestigious trophy.

Previous winners of the award include giants of the industry, demonstrating Ooredoo's rising profile on the international stage.

The following day, the company received "Best Marketing Campaign of the Year" and "Best CSR Initiative" at the CommsMEA Awards.

All three awards paid tribute to the diverse elements of Ooredoo's strategy for promoting human growth, and in particular the company's success in taking its operations to the next level and enhancing the customer experience in 2013.

Ooredoo received "Best Mobile Operator" award in recognition of the significant progress the company has achieved in 2013, in addition to its success in transforming its global operations into the Ooredoo brand during the year.

Ooredoo has become the leading provider of 4G services in the GCC, launching 4G mobile broadband networks in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait in 2013, as part of its network enhancement strategy. In addition, its operations in Tunisia have launched 3G services, and Ooredoo is set to launch 3G in Algeria before the end of the year.

In a packed and challenging entry field, Ooredoo was the only operator from the MENA region to be recognised at the World Communication Awards

source: www.4-traders.com

Tigo tanzania wins award

 Highly Commended Award of global mobile association - GSMA during the continent’s prestigious and largest annual communications Congress & Exhibition, Africa Com, held recently in Cape Town, South Africa. 

Tigo was short listed under the Best Network Improvement Category as the sole mobile operator in Africa in the category.

Commenting on the award, Tigo Tanzania’s Head of Operations, Mr. Deon Geyser, said that having won in this category is not only an honor for Tigo Tanzania but also a demonstration of its continuous commitment towards quality improvement in mobile services and solutions in the country.

source: www. newbusinessethopia.com

telkom to return legacy spectrum to ICASA

Telkom South Africa has confirmed that will return spectrum to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), as it migrates its legacy services to next generation technologies. Previously, in April this year the state-owned enterprise Sentech said it would return its 2600MHz and 3500MHz frequencies to the regulator as demand for spectrum escalates. BusinessTech.co.za quotes a Telkom representative as saying: ‘Telkom is continuously assessing the viability of legacy technologies which have reached their estimated useful life. In the case of wireless technologies, decisions in regard to the future use/or disposition of the frequency bands which they utilise is part of this process’.

The telco noted that it is currently licensed to use the 2400MHz band to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) services, chiefly in rural areas, and commented: ‘Whereas Telkom has identified these technologies for migration, such migration is complex due to, amongst others, lack of suitable sub-1GHz spectrum to be used in the rural areas. A portion of the 2400Mz band has been re-farmed for Telkom’s 2300MHz LTE network. Some parts of the 2400MHz band could eventually be returned to ICASA once migration has been completed’. Telkom added that migrating WiMAX from the 3500MHz band was a business decision, ‘and these services will be replaced with 3G/LTE or satellite’. Meanwhile, the telco stressed that it will not return spectrum in 1800MHz band.

source: www.telegeography.com

Telkom to release spectrum

Telkom has confirmed that will return spectrum to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa, as it migrates its legacy services to next generation technologies.

South Africa is currently embroiled in a escalating battle for spectrum, as dominant and minor operators claw at Icasa for a piece of the frequency pie – as demand for data and expanding networks push currently-help spectrum capabilities to their limits.

In April, state-owned enterprise Sentech said it would return its 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz spectrum to the regulator for the South African communications sector.

Sentech CEO, Setumo Mohapi, said that fact that the cost of spectrum had grown tenfold was a big consideration in returning the spectrum to Icasa. The telco noted that it is licensed to use the 2.4 GHz band (i.e. 2.3-2.5 GHz) and is using this band to provide FWA services, in particular in rural areas.

“Whereas Telkom has identified these technologies for migration (due also to the negative effect of harmful interference in the ISM band (i.e. 2.4-2.5 GHz)), such migration is complex due to, amongst others, lack of suitable sub-1 GHz spectrum to be used in the rural areas.”

source: www.bussinesstech.co

BT Global services focuses on what works for multinational customers

Solving complex communications problems for large multinational corporations is a challenge that Bas Burger, president, US & Canada, BT Global Services (NYSE: BT), knows how to tackle. Before taking the helm of North American operations, Burger was president of the Global Commerce vertical market unit and Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America, where he was responsible for BT's business customers in these regions. Sean Buckley, senior editor of FierceTelecom, speaks with Burger about BT Global's role in providing services to multinational corporations, what differentiates it from other players, and key issues.

FierceTelecom: You were appointed as the new President of BT Global Americas earlier this year. Talk about your initial days on the job and what you have learned thus far.

Bas Burger: I have actually been on the job for six months so the first 90 days have come and gone. Before this I was responsible for Middle East, Africa and Latin America and I ran global commerce. I still run the global vertical, but my geographic focus over the past six months has switched to the U.S. and Canada. For me, the only switch we have seen is the geography. For us, the U.S. is an extremely important market because we have invested in many areas of the world and many particular capabilities with the sole purpose of supporting multinational clients around the globe with their communications needs. Many of the clients that we're focused on are headquartered out of the U.S. In Western Europe, we're the challenger. In some of these countries we have an extended access network. In the U.S. we are a challenger. There's a lot to gain and there are a lot of moving parts that are very strong. My last six months has been spent focusing our attention and investments on making sure that we are addressing these opportunities.

source : fiercetelecom.com

2013 - a connection telecom retrospective

2013 was the year of sharp fibre price cuts, causing a spike in fibre-to-the-building installations that will cause a steep rise in the number of businesses – big and small – with access to true symmetrical high-performance broadband.

A 1 Mbps service can cost as little as R1500 for installation and R 1500 in monthly subscription fees, and is available from providers including Internet Solutions and Neotel.

Having fibre makes a company’s transition to voice over IP infinitely easier, as the speed and other performance improvements remove much of the hassle of engineering VoIP.

Fibre’s superior response times further contribute to VoIP’s attraction. Analogue access lines have an inherent delay in the modulation-demodulation process. For their part, digital circuits have latency delays in the low hundreds of milliseconds, while fibre is orders of magnitude faster, with latency as low as 1.5 to 2ms.

Reflecting this trend, we are noticing a rise in a new kind of niche network provider that specialises in pulling fibre from the kerb into business premises. Communications service providers will have to work out pricing models that allow this development to flourish.

Another important trend relating to fibre costs is the launch of a number of new north-south fibre services. FibreCo Telecommunications, for example, completed its fibre-optic network in November, interconnecting Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, East London and Cape Town and providing more cost effective open-access fibre.

Together, these two events will dismantle one of the biggest inhibitors to adopting fibre connectivity – cost – heralding great benefit for communications in this country.

source: www.itnewsafrica.com

LTE opens up African telecom markets

The introduction of long-term evolution (LTE), a next generation high-speed technology in telecommunications, has brought many new entrants into the market, which are expected to create additional pressure for existing cellular network operators, according to Daniel Jaeger, the vice-president for Alcatel-Lucent in Africa.

“The only difference is that they are not trying to be a full mobile operator. They are merely data players,” Jaeger said, adding: “It’s going to be a tough competition. The new operators focus specifically on the data niche.”

Existing wireless operators that include local telecoms giants Vodacom and MTN are shifting attention to monetising data traffic as voice revenues dwindle.

Jaeger was speaking on the sidelines of the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town, which started on Tuesday and ends today. The event is an aggregation of the communications and technology industry in Africa.

Alcatel-Lucent is currently rolling out LTE, which succeeds third-generation, or 3G technology, in partnership with operators on the continent. Yesterday, the global French telecoms equipment firm announced a new partnership with YooMee Africa, formerly 4G Africa, a privately held Swiss company that provides wireless broadband access in Cameroon.

YooMee holds licences in several countries on the continent and will use Alcatel-Lucent equipment as its main partner when it expands over the next six months.

According to Jaeger, the roll-out of LTE across the continent is, however, scattered. In South Africa, Vodacom was the first to launch LTE solutions for consumers last year. It was followed by MTN.

Cell C, Telkom Mobile and Neotel are also currently expanding their LTE sites.

LTE had become “a fundamental part of growth in Africa where there is no copper infrastructure” similar to Telkom’s in South Africa.

source: www.iol.co

Capacity demands in Africa: an opportunities for satellite

Africa is served by several satellites and undersea fiber operators – the availability of capacity for communications over the continent is tremendous. This abundance of capacity leads to the creation of a whole new industry for high-speed connectivity from call centers to growing Internet. But most of the capacity available is limited to the capitals, coastal areas and major cities in the countries. There are cities, undeveloped and rural areas still in the dark not only in terms of utilities and infrastructure but also in terms of telecommunications as well. This market presents challenges as well as opportunities for satellite to play an important role; the potential for growth is enormous.

In Africa, the liberalization of the telecom sector, the arrival of multinational conglomerates from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas coupled with the competition in this sector are contributing to the growth of the demand and opportunities.Today, Africa is served by several satellites and undersea fiber operators – the availability of capacity for communications over the continent is tremendous. This abundance of capacity leads to the creation of a whole new industry for high-speed connectivity from call centers to growing Internet. But most of the capacity available is limited to the capitals, coastal areas and major cities in the countries. There are cities, undeveloped and rural areas still in the dark not only in terms of utilities and infrastructure but also in terms of telecommunications as well. This market presents challenges as well as opportunities for satellite to play an important role; the potential for growth is enormous.

In Africa, the liberalization of the telecom sector, the arrival of multinational conglomerates from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas coupled with the competition in this sector are contributing to the growth of the demand and opportunities. There may be more than 600 million mobile phones in Africa today but this is still a relatively small percentage to the total population of Africa, which now surpasses 1 billion. Africa’s booming mobile phone market is forecast to almost quadruple in size from a value of $60 billion in 2013 to $234 billion by 2020, according to researchers. With smartphones getting more and more popular, there is a growing demand for data to connect these bandwidth-intensive applications. Mobile operators are in a situation to expand their networks from 3G to 4G and LTE to support the bandwidth-hungry subscribers, which has resulted in more undersea fiber and satellite capacities. Still, satellite is very common and reliable means of backhauling domestic voice traffic in Africa. M-commerce is another area of growth in the region, which demands more bandwidth, be it fiber or satellite.

source: satellitetoday.com

cellcomm launches tower of justice

The company named by the National Excellence Award as the best GSM Company in Liberia - Cellcom Telecommunications, Inc., has once more demonstrated its long standing goal to provide affordable and quality telecommunications to all Liberians.

Over the course of the past month, Cellcom erected and began operating a new tower in Konobo District, Grand Gedeh County, through an innovative partnership with the US based health group Tiyatian Health.

Through the partnership, which is endorsed by the Clinton Global Initiative, the new tower will allow frontline health workers of Tiyatian Health to use mobile telecommunications devices to provide lifesaving health care to thousands of mothers in very remote parts of Grand Gedeh County.

The tower is also the first telecommunications network in the area for close to a decade and is providing much needed communications service to thousands of residents who have been cut off from the rest of Liberia and the world.

Making the announcement at a joint press conference held at the Cellcom Headquarters in Monrovia executives from Cellcom and Tiyatian termed the venture "a tower of justice" and referred to the partnership as a "golden triangle" because it brought together a private company, a civil society NGO and the Government.

Tiyatian Health Executive Director, Dr. Raj Panjabi, reflected that many deaths had happened in Konobo because front line workers had no way to communicate with referral hospitals to call for doctors or ambulances.

He noted that with the establishment of the new tower, mothers and their children would no longer have to die because of the lack of communications.

He noted the challenges of getting this project off the ground, "the challenge was huge... .this was not a place that was a natural place for a Telecom company to go to.

It took courage and it took risk to go there. And Cellcom, under Avishai Marziano's leadership and the leadership of the executive team, really stepped up in trying to help solve this gap.

source: allafrica.com

telecoms industry an investment haven

The Broadband Commission (a joint initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) postulates that the Internet and other Information Communications Technology (ICT) platforms now constitute critical modern resources and are vital prerequisites for participation in today’s growing digital economy.

Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman of NCC, had said the contribution of the Information and Communication Technology sector to the GDP was anticipated to rise to about 15 percent by 2015. He said this would be achieved by the government’s structured investment and regulatory intervention.

Since the introduction of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in Nigeria, it has significantly impacted the economy in a variety of ways, enhanced personal and corporate communications and generally improved the quality of life across the country.

Nigeria’s teledensity

Latest data by regulator of the nation’s telecommunications industry says tele-density has increased from less than 63.11 percent by end of year 2010 to 85.25 percent in June 2013, which represents a 22.14 percent increase. In addition, active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria has grown to over 120 million in the last 12 years.

Teledensity is the percentage of connected lines in relation to the population in a given period of time, and its growth is proportional to the growth in telephone subscriber base.

The Commission said active telecoms subscriber base in the country peaked at 114.1 million as at the end of January 2013, an increase of 18.3 million lines or 19.1 percent, compared with the figure in the correspondent period of last year. According to the NCC, in 2012, the industry ended the year with combined subscriber base of 113.1 million up from 95.8 million in January, 2012.

Highlights of the latest industry data also reveals that telecoms firms continue to spend more on network upgrades to accommodate more subscribers and reduce teething challenges associated with quality of service.

Growing FDI

New Pyramid Research Report on Nigeria taking a five-year look at the country’s communications sector believes the fast-paced growth and the huge population, which exceeds 170.1million, will continue to make the country one of the most attractive markets in Africa and the Middle East.

The study, ‘Pyramid Perspective 2013: Top Trends in the Global Communications Industry’ provides information on top trends in telecoms landscape in Africa and Middle East (AME), Asian Pacific, Europe and Americas.

According to the study, eco nomic growth in emerging markets is expected to nearly quadruple the economic growth in developed markets. Telecom service revenue in emerging markets will increase five times faster than in developed markets.

The report sees massive growth and opportunities in the country’s telecom sector, particularly with the 2012 end subscription base of 113.1 million, which places Nigeria ahead of Egypt’s 95.5 million; and South Africa’s 71.8 million. Giving credence to the report’s assertion, the latest data published by the NCC puts the telecom subscriber base at over 120 million.

source: businesstodayonline.com

liquid telecom builds somalia's first cross- border fiber link

Wholesale African fibre optic supplier Liquid Telecom has built the first fibre optic link into Somalia, the company announced at AfricaCom in Cape Town.

The network connects the country to neighbouring countries, the rest of the world and even undersea cables by fibre for the first time in the country.

Specifically, the fibre link connects across the Kenya-Somalia border and then directly to the fibre network of Hormuud Telecom Somalia (Hortel) for local termination.

Hortel is a private telecommunications firm in Somailia that has over two million subscribers. The company offers a variety of telecommunication services such as GSM voice and text services, 3G, fixed line and data services.

Meanwhile, Hortel’s fibre network is planned to provide Liquid Telecom’s customers with robust connectivity in southern and central Somalia.

These customers, in turn, include the likes of fixed and mobile operators, wholesale carriers and enterprises.

“We will be providing the people of Somalia with access to the global internet at higher speeds and with more capacity available than ever before,” said Nic Rudnick, chief executive officer of the Liquid Telecom Group.

Hormuud Telecom chairman and chief executive officer, Ahmed Yuusuf, said, "The connection of the HORTEL network to Liquid Telecom's international fibre network is a landmark for Somalia and will provide our customers with the fastest and most cost effective communications speeds available. This is a significant accomplishment for both companies.”

Liquid Telecom’s pan-African fibre network spans more than 17,000 km across Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

It also provides connectivity into the five main subsea cable systems landing in Africa: the West African Cable System (WACS), the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (Eassy), SEACOM, SAT3 and the East African Marine System (TEAMs).

source : www.allafrica.com

Zambia makes progress on access mobile and internet services

The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) director general, Margaret Mudenda, says Zambia has made tremendous progress in ensuring that every citizen has access to telephone and internet services.

“Everywhere you go it is most likely that you will see use of those ICTs,” Mudenda said. 

On the other hand, however, she said the security and safety of such technologies, especially for the young is still work in progress.

She added: “It is undeniable that the ills and cyber threats that accompany an Information and Digital Society are around us now”.

ZICTA, the telecom sector regulator, has gone into partnership with UNICEF on child online protection and other cyber security matters.

Through the partnership, a joint work plan will be developed by the signatories to advance areas of collaboration that will ensure ZICTA ICT policies (or updates to existing policies) have a child-focus; are child friendly and incorporate children’s voices; and are informed by  research relating to children’s use of ICTs.

The partnership will further establish a group of partners from government, private sector, and NGOs, who will meet regularly to exchange updates on activities and identify collaboration activities in the field of ICT and children’s rights; partner on mass media outreach to children, young people, parents, and caregivers about responsible and safe use of ICTs.

Mudenda said to initiate the partnership, a joint symposium with private partners and the Ministry of Education Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, and other stakeholders was taking place this week at the New Government Complex.

Ghana's deputy minister of communications fired

The Government has officially terminated the appointment of Ms.Victoria Hammah as the Deputy Minister of Communications.

This follows a leaked tape on which a voice, alleged to be that of Deputy Communications Minister Victoria Hammah, is heard telling an unidentified female friend how the minister of gender, children and social welfare, Mrs. Oye Lithur, played an influential role during the supreme court petition verdict in Ghana and went on to insist that she will not quit politics until she makes at least US$1m during her tenure as the deputy minister.

The minister of information and media relations, Mahama Ayariga confirmed this to the media in Accra this morning and stated that the government will soon make a statement regarding  some of the comments purported to have been made by Ms. Hammah.

source : www.biztechafrica.com