MTN pushes cheap internet on feature phones

Mobile operator MTN is driving feature phone users to the internet at lower cost.

MTN on Wednesday introduced a SurferLite pilot project that aims to roll out internet access to phones that do not currently access data services.

"The MTN SurferLite application provides an introductory data service to the digital world to customers by delivering an affordable experience that allows non-internet-customers access to content that is otherwise only available on an internet enabled phone," said Peter Malebye, MTN SA general manager.

Feature phone users generally have a poorer internet experience than smartphone users as the devices with smaller displays are not easily able to display mobile web content.

However, some feature phones like the Nokia Asha range are able to produce reasonable access to the internet.

Spectrum

Also, the cost of smartphones continues to decline, especially at lower price points. The Huawei 858 retails for around R399 from an initial retail price of R799.

Samsung's upgraded Galaxy Pocket smartphone is available for around R1 000.

For many users, though, the cost of data remains a stumbling block and junior operator Cell C offers data at 15c per megabyte.

While the expansion of the internet would no doubt enhance the mobile experience for cellphone users, spectrum for true broadband continues to hurt the mobile economy.


source: www.news24.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

ooredoo wins two major international awards

Ooredoo recently won two major awards at the “World Communication Awards” in London and the “CommsMEA Awards” in Dubai.

Ooredoo received the “Best Mobile Operator” award at the 15th Annual World Communication Awards, 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.

In Dubai, 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 (Gulf Cooperation Council), launching 4G mobile broadband networks in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait in 2013, as part of its network enhancement strategy. In addition, the firm has launched 3G services Tunisia, and 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 (Middle East and North Africa) region to be recognised at the World Communication Awards.

CommsMEA’s best marketing campaign of the year award was achieved for the launch of the Ooredoo brand in Qatar in March 2013 and has since achieved 100% brand awareness in its home market. Since the Qatar launch, Ooredoo has also successfully transformed its operations in Algeria to support the new brand, and plans are in place to rebrand one Asian operation by the end of the year.

The award for best CSR initiative was presented for Tunisiana’s “Najjani employment” service, which has provided hundreds of thousands of young Tunisians with up-to-date mobile content about jobs, careers and employability skills. As an important next step, Ooredoo, Silatech and the Applied Innovation Institute have recently launched their first Arab Mobile App Challenge to support entrepreneurship and the development of Arabic applications.

source: www. gulf-times.com

Tigo Tanzania wins GSMA highly commended award in Africa

Tigo Tanzania  has won the Highly Commended Award under the Best Network Improvement category, awarded by global mobile association - GSMA during the continent's prestigious and largest annual communications Congress & Exhibition, Africa Com, held recently in Cape Town, SA.

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.

"We have invested heavily in the past year in network quality so that we make our services more accessible and reliable to our valuable customers. Tigo is now available everywhere in the country and at a better quality, therefore this award is a great celebration towards this achievement." he said.

According to Mr. Geyser, Tigo's improvement on network quality is a result of the management teams' turnaround strategy which started implementation in December 2012 across all Tigo operations. "This strategy has led to incredible results such as a 70% reduction in network outage time, 63% reduction in call drops and 300% increase in data throughput."

"Tigo has equally invested in coverage by reaching out to more rural areas and customers across all 30 regions in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. This nationwide presence allows our customers to enjoy calls with better voice enhancement, use data with better 3G internet connectivity and have more reliable Tigo Pesa services where now they can send and receive money with less inconveniences, thus giving them another big reason to smile," further stated Mr. Geysor.

Tigo Tanzania's Head of Planning and Optimization, Mrs. Halima Idd, further explained that the company successfully managed an extremely focused Quality Transformation Program and invested money and other resources into the right areas.

"During our surveys we got a lot of feedback from our customers that our network quality needed improvement, this for us meant urgent measures must be taken. We are a customer centric company and that is in the core of our operations where we develop products and services around key findings from consumer understanding and feedback," Mrs. Idd explained.

She continued, "The Quality Transformation Program that we started implementing in 2012 included; right investments into network resilience, coverage and capacity; controlled changes and project execution; as well as improved operational management. However, all this was complimented by a great team effort internally, a robust organizational structure and key strategic partnerships to achieve the results that were required."

In September, Tigo kicked off an activation caravan dubbed 'Tigo Smile tour' to celebrate the widespread network coverage and reach in rural Tanzania due to launch of more than 280 quality towers in all 30 regions this year.

source: www.zawya.com

ooredoo wins two major international awards

Ooredoo recently won two major awards at the “World Communication Awards” in London and the “CommsMEA Awards” in Dubai.

Ooredoo received the “Best Mobile Operator” award at the 15th Annual World Communication Awards, 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.

In Dubai, 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 (Gulf Cooperation Council), launching 4G mobile broadband networks in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait in 2013, as part of its network enhancement strategy. In addition, the firm has launched 3G services Tunisia, and 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 (Middle East and North Africa) region to be recognised at the World Communication Awards.

CommsMEA’s best marketing campaign of the year award was achieved for the launch of the Ooredoo brand in Qatar in March 2013 and has since achieved 100% brand awareness in its home market. Since the Qatar launch, Ooredoo has also successfully transformed its operations in Algeria to support the new brand, and plans are in place to rebrand one Asian operation by the end of the year.

The award for best CSR initiative was presented for Tunisiana’s “Najjani employment” service, which has provided hundreds of thousands of young Tunisians with up-to-date mobile content about jobs, careers and employability skills. As an important next step, Ooredoo, Silatech and the Applied Innovation Institute have recently launched their first Arab Mobile App Challenge to support entrepreneurship and the development of Arabic applications.

These latest honours join a string of major international awards received by the company in recent months.

source: www.gulftimes.com

MTN announces Bloemfontein LTE service

 Mobile operator MTN announced on Tuesday that it had launched higher speed Long Term Evolution in Bloemfontein as part of a national rollout.

Data consumption in SA has emerged as a key driver of revenue for operators and LTE is expected to significantly improve the user experience of mobile internet.

"Data traffic continues to grow exponentially, led by video and users want to be connected to content and friends, everywhere and always, expecting perfect quality, zero latency, and limitless speed with zero costs," said Eben Albertyn, chief technology officer at MTN SA.

Vodacom and MTN were first to launch LTE services in SA, and though there is a shortage of spectrum, the strategy of recycling spectrum has seen penetration in some areas.

Generally, LTE is available in the metropolitan areas of the country, and the GSMA has urged the government to accelerate the allocation of spectrum.

One of the hurdles in the provision of LTE spectrum has been the delay in SA moving toward Digital Terrestrial Television. Analogue free to air TV occupies some of the frequency required for LTE to become universally available.

"There're policy makers and there're politicians. Politicians love to say things like 'South Africa will have the analogue digital transition by 2012'. They love to make these pronouncements - ambitious terms - but not necessarily backed up by reality," Peter Lyons GSMA director for spectrum policy in Africa and the Middle East told News24 recently.

In developed markets like Japan, the smartphone penetration of 76% has resulted in a mobile internet revolution that has seen operators like NTT Docomo being able to offer a range of rich media services and mobile payment solutions on mobile devices.

Japan eliminated 2G networks in 2011, and LTE connections already make up nearly a quarter of national coverage.

source: www.news24.com

orange seeks 3G licence for Iraqi affiliate korex

Orange is preparing for 3G at its affiliate in Irak, Korek Telecom, a regional mobile operator in which it holds a 20 percents stake. The group's executive director for Africa, the Near East and Asia, Marc Rennard, told Reuters on the margins of a conference in Cape Town that Korek signed its 5 millionth customer at the start of the month and that the operator's next step would be to obtain a 3G licence. Irak has 33 million inhabitants and a 78 percent mobile penetration rate, but only 2 percent have broadband internet access, according to analysts. Currently, most people depend on 2G mobile or on costly and unreliable fixed-line internet connectivity. Of the 3G licence, Rennard said, "This will depend on the government and regulatory authorities, but we hope that it will be in early 2014".

source: www.telecompaper.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

Uganda readies for new telecom operator

A new mobile operator is setting the stage for the launch of its operations in Uganda and a number of other East African companies. With no name disclosed so far, the upcoming “innovative, socially responsible and maverick telecom operator” is offering internet users the opportunity to participate in the naming process with a campaign dubbed “Give Us a Name”.

With a promise being to raise the bar for subscribers, the new telecom, launching simultaneously in Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi with a creative “Give Us a Name” online and SMS campaign is giving East Africa the opportunity to nominate and vote for the best name.

The first phase of the “Give us a Name” campaign will run up to 4^th-December-2013, on-line, via SMS and on Facebook. In this phase, East Africa is being asked to propose names they would like the new telecom that is a real catalyst of change, a partner of the people and invest in communities to better their lives, to be called.

Uganda : Airtel to buy warid congo

The deal, still subject to regulatory and statutory approval, will make Airtel the largest mobile operator in Congo, ahead of MTN. "This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy of strengthening our market position through in-country acquisitions, as and when suitable opportunities come along, "said Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (International) Manoj Kohli in a news release.

Having acquired Warid Uganda in May, Airtel hopes that the acquisition will strengthen its 2G and 3G networks. So far no financial terms have been released by the two telecom companies.

Bharti Airtel which is 32 per cent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, has since June 2010 bought several firms in Africa.

source : allafrica.com

MTN Cameroon now counts 8.2 million subscribers

MTN Cameroon now counts 8.2 million subscribers in the country, for a market share of 58.1%. This was announced by the President and CEO of the MTN Group, Sifiso Dabengwa, while reporting the financial results of the Group for the third quarter of the year. Dabengwa revealed that MTN, the leading emerging market mobile operator, has increased its subscriber base by 1.1% to 203.8 million subscribers in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East, thus confirming its position at the forefront of global technological changes, delivering a bold, new Digital World to its customers.

Amongst the 22 countries, MTN Cameroon delivered a particularly encouraging performance, increasing its subscriber base 7,0% to 8,2 million subscribers and maintained its market share of 58,1%. This was attributable to a wide range of bonus offers and effective dormancy management. An improved distribution channel also contributed to the operation’s performance. During the same period, MTN Cameroon also registered a 30.9% growth of Mobile Money subscribers.

Since the beginning of the year, MTN Cameroon’s distribution network of products and services has been enriched with five new proximity Service Centres located in the towns of KOUSSERI, YAOUNDE and DOUALA, increasing its number of customer touch points nationwide to 15, with the most recent inaugurated on 17 October in BONAMOUSSADI, DOUALA. This is in addition to the thousand sales points of the chain of partners of its distribution network.

Since the year 2000, MTN Cameroon says it has invested over 500 billion francs CFA to build in Cameroon, a state-of-the-art, reliable, robust and an extended telecommunications network, to contribute to the development of the country. In 2012, the company reached the symbolic number of 1000 BTS sites, thus being the first company to reach this technological milestone in its market. The MTN network now covers all the 10 Regions of Cameroon including Divisions and Districts, and provides communication services to 90% of the national population, allowing it to strengthen the links between Cameroonians and the rest of the world.