Country focus: Ethiopia breaking new technology ground

Looking past the turbulent history of Ethiopia, one that has been impacted by famine, drought and war, there is evidence today which confirms that this East African region has fully embraced ICT to advance itself and establish a secure position amongst developing economies with high-growth potential.

However, challenges do remain – including slow response by government to mobile money adoption, infrastructure, connectivity, as well as the country’s repressive stance on digital freedoms, particularly social networking and the internet.

It was only at the beginning of 2013 when Ethiopia’s government approved mobile money in the country, allowing banks and micro-finance institutions to provide transaction-based banking online.

The 2013 Web Index, brought out by the World Wide Web Foundation, gave Ethiopia an overall ranking of 80^th position out of 81 countries (taking into account several sub-indexes including universal access, relevant content and impact & empowerment). The country also scored 12.9 in terms of freedom and openness, the criteria of which includes the degree to which users have rights to online information, their ability to express opinion, as well as safety and privacy.

The internet brimmed with information and reports in mid-2012 when news broke  of the Ethiopian government’s intention to ban Skype and other VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, as well as video chat platforms, for businesses.

source: www.itnewsafrica.com

African mobile subscribers to number 930 million by 2019

The number of mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa could hit 930 million by the end of 2019, says international provider of communications technology and services Ericsson.

Ericsson unveiled the forecasts in its Mobility Report released earlier this week.

Mobile subscriptions in the region currently stand at 560 million, according to sub-Saharan Africa region head at Ericsson, Fredrik Jejdling.

The report is a summary of historical data subscriptions and traffic forecasts from various sources and validated with Ericsson internal data including extensive measurements in customer networks, revealed the company.

The forecasts are estimated based on macro-economic trends, user trends (researched by the Ericsson ConsumerLab), market maturity and technology development expectations.

“The mobile phone is the main device for voice communication and internet access in sub-Saharan Africa. This is primarily driven by the lack of fixed infrastructure in the region, and the device’s relatively low cost,” the report reads.

Also stated in the report is that in Africa there is expected to be 17 times more growth in mobile data traffic between 2013 and 2019.

Youth in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are also expected to be the primary drivers of social networking activity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Furthermore, the report found that although the Middle East and Africa had 80% of 2G subscriptions this year, the same figure would be for 3G/4G subscriptions in the year 2019.

The company’s mobility report also predicts that global mobile subscriptions are to reach 9.3 billion by 2019, with 5.6 billion being smartphone subscriptions.

source: itwebafrica.com

The internet as a catalyst for change in YEMEN

The economy is suffering, illiteracy levels are among the highest in the world, most of high school and university graduates are struggling to find jobs, and most devastating of all, the security situation has worsened as assassinations, kidnappings, and other violent activities continue unabated. That is the state of Yemen. But is it all that bad? Perhaps not. To characterize Yemen this way is unfair to a part of the community that is trying to reverse the country’s trajectory: the youth. My theory that the youngest generations of Yemenis are the country’s greatest asset and that they will help the country get back on its feet, relies heavily on the role of the Internet as a major catalyst for development.

For those young people who are searching for new ways to find jobs, engage with one another, do research and take a break from life’s daily hardships, the Internet has provided some sort of relief and hope mainly through the rich social networking experience it provides.

If the official launch of the Yemen chapter of the Internet Society ( IS O C) is any sign, I believe there is a reason to be hopeful. More than 200 people attended the Society’s launching ceremony that took place in a remote part of the capital Sana’a. Given the extra effort one had to take to arrive at the event on time made me optimistic about the strong desire Yemenis, particularly the youth, have for a stronger, more resilient and more accessible Internet.


source; www.yementimes.com

telecom firms draw battle lines as race for subscribers hit again

The battle lines for subscribers have been drawn by local telecom services providers as the race for clients hits fever pitch. Innovation and offering cheap services seem to be part of the winning chip.

According to Ebenezer Asante, the MTN Rwanda chief executive officer, deploying low cost infrastructure could help boost these figures, especially attracting the rural folks to own phones "as services will be cheaper since telecoms will incur low costs," he said.

Asante, however, noted that though Rwanda has the lowest call rates in the region and Africa generally, the local telecom sector faces a big challenge in attracting the 'small' subscribers.

"We need creative solutions, innovative network deployment and different business models to be able to serve these customers (those in the lower bracket). It is important to understand that the same solutions that were used to serve the first two thirds may not be attractive to this group of customers," he explained.

October statistics from Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) show that the subscription rate is improving, with 63.7 per cent of the population having access to a mobile phone.

The figures, accounting for subscription recorded from January up to end of September, show that mobile telephone penetration increased from 5.9 million subscribers (55.1 per cent) in January to 6.7m or 63.7 per cent in September.

Pioneer telecom firm MTN still leads with 3,636,976 subscribers followed by Tigo at 2,099,807 subscribers, while Airtel had 973,000 subscribers.

But all the three telecom firms are upbeat that they will attract more subscribers. They argue that a new wave of applications and 'mash-ups' of services, driven by high-speed networks, social networking, online crowd sourcing and innovation, will help them achieve this target. Mobile phones are increasingly being used to carry out financial services, which has transformed the lives of the rural masses. They are also using different client-targeted promotions to entice subscribers.

source: allafrica.com