growing internet use in Africa to lift contribution to economies

internet services have experienced exponential growth in Africa, thanks to the significant investments made in building backbone infrastructure and the roll-out of 3G networks. This has allowed millions of Africans to connect to the internet for the first time.

McKinsey said the continent was now in a better position in terms of international bandwidth, as capacity had been added faster than peak demand had grown.

According to the report, only 16% of the continent’s 1-billion people are online, but the take-up is rising rapidly as mobile networks are built and as the cost of internet-capable devices continues to fall.

More than 720-million Africans have cellphones, about 167-million already use the internet and 52-million are on Facebook.

"The internet is a catalyst for economic growth," said McKinsey director and co-author of the report Saf Yeboah-Amankwah. "In China, India and Brazil, it has contributed more than 10% of total GDP growth over the past five years.

"Its impact in Africa to date has been much smaller, but is likely to accelerate in the coming decade and could have a transformative effect on the continent’s development."

source: www.bdlive.co

African leaders told to adopt open access for broadband deployment

Technology experts have advised African leaders to adopt the 'Open Access' method in order to drive and sustain broadband deployment on the continent.

The experts spoke at a panel session on the second day of the Africa Com conference and exhibition holding in South Africa, and explained the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is a an evolving technology in Africa that would boost broadband spread on the continent, but expressed worries that different regulatory authorities in different African countries adopt different measures that may likely slow the widespread deployment of broadband.

With Open Access model, regulator authorities will be able to open up the market and give operators free hand to rollout broadband, using the LTE technology, the panel said.

Group Chief Executive Officer of Smile Telecoms, Mrs. Irene Charnley, who insisted that customer focus is key to broadband deployment, said: "What the customer needs is content at high speed and LTE is the right technology to achieve such speed."

LTE, she said, provided high capacity network for voice and data and it would continue to evolve in the next 10 years, since it is the future technology for the globe.

The Group Chief Operating Officer of Smile Telecoms, Mr. Tom Allen, said his company introduced LTE in some African counties in 2012, and that the technology was introduced to address the lapses of 3G technology, which he said was unable to provide unlimited access to operators who need the technology.

Given the Tanzania experience, Chief Operating Officer, Millicom International Network, also known as Trigo Network of Tanzania, Mr. Deon Geyser said the Tanzania experience remained high, with increased penetration level in LTE technology, even though the company is not targeting the mass market for now, based on demand. Addressing the importance of LTE technology in driving broadband deployment on the African continent, Managing Director, Service Provider Mobility for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Cisco, Mr. Jim Scott said it would provide high speed video conferencing, high speed internet service, better connectivity for Skype, fast download and upload, among others.

source: allafrica.com

Growing use of internet in Africa due to 3G services

Internet services have experienced exponential growth in Africa, thanks to the significant investments made in building backbone infrastructure and the roll-out of 3G networks. This has allowed millions of Africans to connect to the internet for the first time.

McKinsey said the continent was now in a better position in terms of international bandwidth, as capacity had been added faster than peak demand had grown.

only 16% of the continent’s 1-billion people are online, but the take-up is rising rapidly as mobile networks are built and as the cost of internet-capable devices continues to fall.

More than 720-million Africans have cellphones, about 167-million already use the internet and 52-million are on Facebook.

"The internet is a catalyst for economic growth," said McKinsey director and co-author of the report Saf Yeboah-Amankwah. "In China, India and Brazil, it has contributed more than 10% of total GDP growth over the past five years.

"Its impact in Africa to date has been much smaller, but is likely to accelerate in the coming decade and could have a transformative effect on the continent’s development."

Governments have placed internet-driven economic growth firmly on the agenda, with several countries pursuing ambitious plans to expand broadband access.

source : bdlive.co.za

Mideast operators join race for African telecoms

Connecting another billion people to the internet is an ambition for many mobile operators, which see the relatively untapped markets of Africa as the next big opportunity for growth.

With a lack of fixed-line infrastructure in many parts of the continent, people have embraced smartphones as their means of connecting to the web, which has placed mobile operators among the main providers of internet services in Africa.

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The number of broadband connections over cellular networks is expected to top 250m by the end of 2015. A fifth of internet traffic in Africa will be carried by mobile broadband by 2015, according to Informa Telecoms and Media, compared with 3 per cent globally.

Demand for telecoms services is high, as parts of the continent are becoming increasingly affluent. However, poorer areas also represent a good opportunity for telecoms operators that offer plans designed to get users connected to social networking sites using mobile devices.

Mobile is at the centre of life in Africa, where it has applications from sending vaccination reminders by text to credit lines for farmers. The M-Pesa mobile payment system is so successful that it acts as a quasi-currency.

the IP multimedia subsystem

The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services. It was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), as a part of the vision for evolving mobile networks beyond GSM. Its original formulation (3GPP Rel-5) represented an approach to delivering "Internet services" over GPRS. This vision was later updated by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and ETSI TISPAN by requiring support of networks other than GPRS, such as Wireless LAN, CDMA2000 and fixed lines.

IMS was originally defined by an industry forum called 3 G. IP formed in 1999. 3G ip developed the initial IMS architecture which was brought to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), as part of their standardization work for 3G mobile phone systems in UMTSnetworks. It first appeared in Release 5 (evolution from 2G to 3G networks), when SIP-based multimedia was added. Support for the older GSM and GPRS networks was also provided.

·         3GPP2 (a different organization from 3GPP) based their CDMA2000 Multimedia Domain (MMD) on 3GPP IMS, adding support forCDMA 2000.

·         3GPP release 6 added interworking with WLAN, inter-operability between IMS using different IP-connectivity networks, routing group identities, multiple registration and forking, presence, speech recognition and speech-enabled services (Push to talk).

·         3GPP release 7 added support for fixed networks by working together with TISPAN release R1.1, the function of AGCF (access gateway control function) and PES (PSTN emulation service) are introduced to the wire-line network for the sake of inheritance of services which can be provided in PSTN network. AGCF works as a bridge interconnecting the IMS networks and the Megaco/H.248 networks. Megaco/H.248 networks offers the possibility to connect terminals of the old legacy networks to the new generation of networks based on IP networks. AGCF acts a SIP User agent towards the IMS and performs the role of P-CSCF. SIP User Agent functionality is included in the AGCF, and not on the customer device but in the network itself.

Airtel launches " Go for it " youth compaign

Airtel Networks Zambia Plc, Zambia’s leading Telecommunication Company has launched  the much awaited for youth targeted initiative dubbed “Go for It”.

The launch of the campaign comes against the background of Airtel’s vision of enriching the lives of millions of Zambia’s youths and empowering them with the relevant tools and initiatives for deepening data usage and knowledge.

Airtel has made major upgrades to its 3.75 G network to deliver a world class mobile internet service. Airtel has also upgraded the billing system which will see build on the numerous innovative services that are launched.  

Airtel  Managing Director Ms.  Charity Lumpa said  “ The Airtel “Go for it” Campaign  is offering the youth an exciting, very affordable high-speed Internet service which  allows them to make video calls, have quick and easy access to social sites, email; download music quickly and  even originate and participate in video blogs.”

She further explained that “Airtel has launched the campaign to motivate the youth so to work towards achieving their dreams and using the world class mobile internet platform as a means of generating  revenue generating activities as emerging entrepreneurs.

Airtel customers can subscribe to tailor-made data bundles and make exciting savings by dialing *575# and just “Go for it” she added.

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.