The best route to the African consumer

Africa is ushering in positive indicators across the board. The challenge is how to reach this growing demand in a continent where not everyone has access to financial services, rural areas are still highly populated and the costs of expanding ATMs and bank branches to remote rural areas are prohibitive.

The best solution for Africa seems then to be mobile commerce. Mobile phone penetration in the continent is much higher than bank account penetration. According to a report by TA Telecom it reached 80% in December 2013 of which 63% was 2G, 26% was 2.5G (also called EDGE, adding low-speed data), and only 11% was 3G connections. This sets Africa for diverse payment methods, however the ultimate channel to reach the largest portion of African demand is by SMS (2G) through which M-banking, M-retail, and M-payments are made possible. Business Monitor International estimates that the value of mobile transactions on the continent will move from $12bn in 2011 to $85bn in 2016.

Mobile commerce has proved to be a winning formula in a number of African countries. In Kenya it is a true success story. M-pesa, the largest and most developed mobile money platform in the world, has 19.5m subscribers (cellphone users). The platform has also been adopted by 10 Kenyan banks. Central Bank of Kenya data shows that mobile payments in Kenya grew 21.8% to $13.9bn by the end of August 2013 compared to the same period last year. The government has also found the solution perfectly suited to fulfil its goals of financial inclusion, welfare disbursement and inward international transfer promotion.

source: www.howwemadeitafrica.com

ILIAD : free includes 4G in its c2 mobile plan

Free has once again enhanced its mobile offerings by including 3G/4G mobile internet

(50MB data volume) as well as MMS messaging in its €2 Plan.

In so doing, it is bringing superfast mobile internet within everyone's reach by giving them access to 4G through its still unbeatable €2 Plan.

Subscribers who exceed the 50MB included in their plan will continue to be able to access mobile internet at price of only €0.05 per additional MB.

For Freebox subscribers this 4G plan is available for €0/month.

Free is continuing to roll out its mobile network, which currently counts more than 800

4G sites.

For new subscribers this offer will be accessible as from Thursday, December 12. Existing subscribers to the €2 Plan will automatically access those new services as from their next billing month.

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About Free

Free is the inventor of the Freebox, the first multiservice box on ADSL. Free is behind numerous innovations in the broadband access segment (VoIP, IPTV, flat-rate calling plans to multiple destinations, etc.). Free provides straightforward and innovative offerings at the best prices. At the end of 2010, Free introduced the Freebox Revolution, the 6th generation of Freebox units that notably includes an NAS and a Blu-RayTM drive. Free was the first operator to include calls from landlines to mobile phones in its offerings and also calls to French overseas departments (DOM).

Since January 2012, Free has brought mobile phone usage within everyone's reach with straightforward, no- commitment offerings at very attractive prices. Free has over 5.5 million broadband subscribers and more than 7.4 million mobile subscribers (as at September 30, 2013).

Unlimited SMS and MMS messages excluding special, premium-rate and short numbers.
Prices as at December 10, 2013. Offer subject to conditions (see mobile.free.fr) and valid exclusively in Metropolitan France subject to network coverage and the use of a compatible mobile phone. SIM card free of charge subject to the following conditions: (i) on- line subscription to the €2 Plan with number portability, and (ii) activation of the SIM card within 15 days of its dispatch date. In other cases a charge of €10 applies. €0/month offer only for Freebox subscribers, for a maximum of one mobile subscription per household. Any Freebox subscriber who cancels their Freebox subscription will no longer be eligible for this €0/month offer. BlackBerryTM option available for €1/month

source: www.4-traders.com

African mobile penetration hits 80%

We tend to have certain paradigms about the “developed world” and the “developing world.” Including, of course, media-fed images of Africa as a place of almost irredeemable poverty, deprivation, and pain.

A new report on the African telecommunications market highlights that mobile penetration in Africa hit 80 percent in the first quarter of this year and is still growing at 4.2 percent annually. That’s faster than anywhere else in the world, the report says, and Africa is, after Asia, the world’s second-largest market.

Which means that today, more than eight in 10 Africans have a mobile phone.

In part, that’s driven by a massive reduction in the costs of owning a mobile phone: The average revenue per user for telecom companies has dropped 80 percent between 2001 and 2011. Economies of scale have taken hold now as the basic infrastructure has been built out, and more competition by independent (not state-owned) telecoms has driven down prices.

That’s good for Africans, of course, and good for the market in the long term as well. And there’s still a lot of room to grow.

Most mobile connections — 62.7 percent, or almost two thirds — are basic 2G voice and SMS services, the report says. Of the remaining third, about 27 percent have access to 2.5G for low-speed data, and just 11 percent have 3G access — never mind LTE.

As more and more infrastructure is built, however, data services and connection speeds are increasing. Data revenue for telecoms has grown 67 percent in the key African countries of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria in the past few years. And while smartphones are cost-prohibitive for some, current penetration is at 20 percent and is projected to grow fast — by almost 600 percent in Nigeria alone by 2017.

source: www.venturebeat.com

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.

Mcel introduces bulk Sms service

Mozambique operator Mcel has launched of Bulk SMS, a value added service for corporate clients. The tool allows users to sending bulk SMS (up to about 100 per minute) for a particular target group using an internet application. The following packages are available: Bulk 1000 For MZN 1180.00; Bulk 1500 for MZN 1680.00; Bulk 2000 for MZN 2080.00; Bulk 3000 for MZN 2880.00; Bulk 4000 for MZN 3380.00; Bulk 5000 for MZN 3930.00; Bulk 1000 for MZN 7180.00 and Bulk 15000 for MZN 9930.00. The price per additional SMS is MZN 0.80.