Surging mobile internet demand straining African telecom networks

Telecom companies in the Middle East and Africa could face growing quality of service (QoS) issues in future because of a rise in internet usage fueled by more affordable smart mobile devices.

Mahmoud Samy -- area head Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan at Arbor Networks -- told the Trade Arabia publication that the Mideast and Africa could see a 31% traffic leap on consumer internet by 2017 from a 10% growth level in 2012.

Samy added that this could pile pressure on telecommunication companies on the continent to expand their networks and maintain quality services.

He said African telcos’ failure to improve QoS could result in service level agreement credits, damage to brand reputation and customer churn - all of which impact the bottom lines of their business

source: www.itwebafrica.com

Korea Telecom to review business projects in Africa

Korea Telecom(KT)  plans to review its business projects in Africa as its new CEO Hwang Chang-gyu wants to focus on bolstering the firm’s competitive edge in the domestic telecommunication business, said KT officials who are close to the matter, Thursday.

This means that the company will fold or scale down the company’s business in Rwanda and other countries on the continent, depending on the outcome of the review.

Under the leadership of outgoing Chairman Lee Suk-chae, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier signed an agreement in March 2013 to invest $140 million in the African country to build a fourth-generation (4G) mobile network that will serve 95 percent of the country’s population. 

After the signing of the agreement, the company has sought to expand business in other countries including Kenya and Uganda.

source:pctechmag.com

Korea Telecom may scale down Rwanda business

Korea Telecom CEO Hwang Chang-gyu has revealed plans to review the company’s projects across Africa and place greater focus on bolstering the firm’s competitive edge in its domestic telecommunication market.
According to a Korea Times report, this review will likely result in the scaling down or scrapping of the company’s activities in Rwanda and other countries on the continent.

Under the leadership of outgoing Chairman Lee Suk-chae, Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier signed an agreement in March 2013 to invest $140 million in Rwanda to build a fourth-generation (4G) mobile network that will serve 95 percent of the country’s population.

The investment, however, is being questioned as it takes quite a long time to generate profits. Since signing the agreement, the company has sought to expand its footprint in other countries including Kenya and Uganda.

“One of the key priorities for the upcoming CEO is to recover KT’s telecommunications-related business. Synergy will be maximized only after realizing business structures that can generate profit in a stable manner regardless of market situations,” one KT official told Korea Times, adding moves are already under way to realign its overseas business projects.

“The new CEO will re-examine our African business projects from a zero-base,” he said.

The review of the overseas projects comes on the back of KT officials feeling the pinch in its domestic market as its globalization efforts are seen to have sacrificed its competitiveness locally.

“The outgoing CEO was busy following ‘trendy business projects.’ KT should set short-term, mid-term and long-term targets if it wants to earn results from overseas business projects that the company is involved in,” said Chang Joon-hyuck, senior vice president at Atlas Research and Consulting.

source: www.itnewsafrica.com

Ethiopia: Paving the Way for Dubai 2020 Expo

Dubai has been climbing the ladder of economic prosperity during the past thirty or so years. Recently a small city in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) , Dubai, has secured the opportunity to host the upcoming World Expo in 2020.

In relation to the 2020 Expo, and eying more business ties, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry is joining hands to promote the expo. Last week, Hassan Al Hashemi, vice president of international relations for the chamber, was in Addis Ababa to confer with the East and Southern African countries' diplomats. In addition to improving business ties with the region, he has a mission to prepare Africa for the Dubai expo.

On that occasion, Al Hashemi sat down with Birhanu Fikade of The Reporter to discuss Dubai business community's interest in Ethiopia and its challenges. Excerpts: The Reporter: I understand that you [members of the Dubai Business community] are showing interest in Ethiopia's banking and telecom sectors. Did you approach the government in this respect?

Hassan Al Hashemi: What we have been hearing from the business community in Dubai is that there is a lot of potential in Ethiopia. Surely, we can bring a lot of know-how to these sectors that you mentioned. But the banking sector needs to be opened to foreign investors. It's an important sector. I know from our members that they are very much interested to be able to set up representations in the banking industry. I know the telecommunication sector as well interests them . Our major telecom operator, Etisalat, is very much interested in the Ethiopian market. We understand the policy of the government; and we respect it. According to the our member businesses, there is a lot to improve in those industries like the retail trade, telecommunication, and banking. More specifically, Islamic banking modality is very important to the market.

source: www.allafrica.com

Latest Sub-Saharan Africa Telecoms Investment Opportunities – Business Monitor Release Brand New Whitepaper

Business Monitor has just released its latest analysis on Sub-Saharan Africa Telecoms Investment Opportunities in their new whitepaper ‘Sub-Saharan Investment Opportunities in Telecommunications: Risk/Reward Analysis’. The whitepaper includes Business Monitor’s country comparative risks and rewards ratings tables for the telecoms industry in each country, as well as specific analysis on three countries of interest within the region - Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa - including key data and the latest trends and developments.

After a wave of regulatory penalties, including fines and a ban on promotions, Nigeria's mobile operators have announced plans to expand and upgrade their networks to cope with strong subscriptions growth and increasing data usage. Business Monitor expects this trend to continue over the medium term as the market is forecast to add around 45mn new subscribers in the five years to 2017. Meanwhile, consolidation and, subsequently, transition to LTE technology appears to be a growing trend among tier two telecoms service providers in Nigeria. Business Monitor sees this as a positive development as, through consolidation, tier-two operators are able to gain scale for bigger network deployments while the transition to LTE should enable them to compete better with 3G HSPA+ offerings from the GSM operators.

Kenya's mobile operators will prioritise high value services over aggressive network expansion into underserved areas to improve their profit margins. 

source: www.prweb.com

Key Telecom Trends for Africa, Middle East Revealed in Upcoming Webinar

he Africa and Middle East region offers enormous potential for operators, vendors and investors alike as it reaches a new stage in its growth, according to Kerem Arsal, Africa and Middle East Manager and Presenter of Pyramid's upcoming webinar: Telecommunications in Africa and the Middle East: Unique Opportunities in Diverse Markets.

• Mobile Internet revenue will maintain an explosive growth rate in the AME region and it will double in size to represent a$25bn opportunity by 2018.
• Today, there are slightly more than 5 million households with FTTH broadband in AME. By 2018, this figure will have risen to more than 16 million.
• In 2018, one in every two subscriptions will be running either on LTE or on 3G networks. Today, it is one in every four subscriptions.
• Thanks to relatively liberal licensing regimes that partly offset the economic uncertainties of the region, commercial LTE services can be found in close to 10 sub-Saharan countries already.

source: www.prnewswire.com

Telecom Egypt To Provide Internet Services For Cairo Festival City Project

State-owned Telecom Egypt has reached an agreement to supply UAE-based Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Group with telecommunication services for its Cairo Festival City project.

“Telecom Egypt seeks to meet its clients’ needs in high-tech services at competitive prices,” said Mohamed El Nawawy, Telecom Egypt’s MD/CEO.

The project involves 300 retail shops, elegant administrative offices and a residential community comprising a large number of apartments and villas, worldwide hotels and international schools, all within a natural environment, Daily News Egypt reported.

The Egyptian company will provide services such as virtual private network (VPN), Dedicated Internet, data transfer and triple play, using advanced fibre optic technology that guarantees high quality voice output and provides users with access to fast internet, with speed reaching 10G per sec.

According to the MD, the agreement will propel the company towards achieving its vision of becoming the industry’s frontrunner by sponsoring key projects across the country’s telecom business sphere.

Its quest for market dominance was given a further boost today, after regulators disclosed plans to grant fixed-line and mobile operating licence in the coming weeks, which will allow Telecom Egypt provide mobile services to customers.

A detailed scan of the regional market was carried out to determine the most suited company to deliver quality services, The MD of Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Development, Dr Mohamed Al-Mekawy noted.

“[The agreement was based] on a careful market study to determine the largest and most efficient service providers, not only in Egypt, but on a regional level,

source:www.ventures-africa.com

telecommunication electronics - global trends , estimates and forecasts

With a CAGR of 12.8%, global market value for Telecommunication Electronics Application sector is anticipated to be worth US$847.6 billion by 2018. On a global scale, Asia-Pacific accounts for more than 26.3% of the market share. While US accounts for the largest share of the global market value on a country basis, India surpasses the US in terms of growth rate anticipated in the near future. Among the application sectors, Mobile Phones account for the largest share of the entire market, driving a CAGR of 14.5% during the analysis period 2011-2018. Wireless LANs & WANs see as the fastest growing end-user with a forecast with a CAGR of approximately 20.9% by 2018. With the growing trend in network and mobile satellite terminal technologies (dual-mode GSM cellular/satellite, handset and broadband data) the future of telecommunication electronics industry suggests for a positive growth.

Report Focus: The report 'Telecommunication Electronics - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2011-2018' reviews the latest telecommunication electronics market trends with a perceptive attempt to disclose the near-future growth prospects. An in-depth analysis on a geographic basis provides strategic business intelligence for electronics sector investments. The study reveals profitable investment strategies for electronics companies, business executives, product marketing managers, new business investors and many more in preferred locations.

source: www.sacbee.com

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/17/6007657/telecommunication-electronics.html#storylink=cpy

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

watching television on mobile phones on the increase

Watching television on mobile phones is expected to become common soon as mobile operators increase value added services on their networks. The move is driven by the increasing attempt by various telecommunication companies to grow revenue streams across Sub-Saharan Africa. The growing number of smartphones in the market and deployment of faster networks by mobile operators are aiding the shift in consumption of TV content. Though delivery of TV content on mobile phone seems futuristic especially in Africa, telecommunications infrastructure firm Ericsson says there will be 913 million mobile connections in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2019. It adds that 65 per cent of these connections would be on the third generation (3G) network.

source: www.standardmedia.co

Africa well positioned for leap to 4G LTE

With its capacity for innovation, Africa’s mobile network sector is well positioned to drive the explosion in service offerings on the back of 4G LTE implementations.  This is the view of Sherry Zameer, Africa and Middle East Head of telecommunication solutions for Gemalto, world leader in digital security.   Zameer’s comments follow the AfricaCom conference held in Cape Town last week, which was attended by some 8000 delegates from over 100 different countries.

“Africa is largely unrestricted by legacy platforms and onerous regulations, and so has the capacity to leapfrog standard 3G migrations, to embrace LTE and all the benefits of better quality service and content possibilities that the next generation platform provides,” Zameer continued.

While LTE penetration stands at less than 0.003 percent of the market in Africa, Rwanda, for example, is poised to implement LTE from the get go.

“Successful LTE implementations in Africa will depend on how well the issue of spectrum is addressed and how well wireless services (radio) work with LTE to deliver the quality of service required,” Zameer added.

“Africa has a track record of innovation and being first to market in many instances (e.g. M-Pesa and dynamic tariffing) and I expect that the implementation of 4G LTE will be no different,” he said.

While the continent is poised to take telecoms growth to a whole new level, questions among attendees at the conference remain as to how generate profits on new service options, once LTE is deployed

source: www.biztechafrica.com

MTN Ghana to contract local app developers

The telecommunication giant will sign a contract with the winners before the end of the year 2013 for their applications to be featured on the MTN Apps store in January 2014, MTN Ghana Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Serame Taukobong said.

“The real partnership between MTN and the Apps developers begins,” he added.

Setriakor Kobla Nyomi’s Oware 3D game won the apps challenge while Wahib Farhat and Festus Nwobodo emerged first and second Runner Ups respectively with their apps – Ananse Fables and Ghost. In all, five winners were selected.

According to Taukobong, research findings have shown that the evolution of mobile applications was emerging as a new revolution in the telecommunications industry.

Taukobong backed this fact quoting a report by Flurry Analytics in April 2013 which indicated that mobile applications as customer-centric technology is three times faster than social media in terms of connecting service providers to other end users.

He expressed satisfaction on the conclusion of the apps challenge stating that the objectives had, to a large extent, been met, having been able to successfully harness local talent in applications development and built a strong affinity with the developer community.

The MTN app store challenge which had a total number of 55 Applications received apps which included games, entertainment, cooking, health, education, sports and social media.

“We are impressed with the kind of applications we received during the period. A total of 55 Apps were received from individual and group developers. The Apps received covered various subject matter including games, entertainment, cooking, health, education, sports and social media Apps,” he said.

The challenge which was launched in Accra in August 2013 was introduced to encourage innovation and local App developers to develop applications that are locally relevant to their subscribers.

source: www.ventures-africa.com

Nigeria truly gaint of Africa

Telecommunication is adjudged one of the major drivers in the economic development of any nation. It plays a key role in the development of every sector of the economy. It is vital in the development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), health, agriculture, works, education, commerce, industry as well as science and technology sectors among others.

In driving telecommunications, Nigeria through the regulatory body in the sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has made giant strides which have set the country apart as truly the giant of Africa.

The executive vice chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, at a forum held recently in Abuja, declared that Nigeria would remain a telecom investment haven as long as foreign and local investments into the booming telecommunications sector were duly protected by existing telecom laws.

The country's telecom laws, he explained, had remained the strength of the sector in the past 12 years of its liberalisation. He noted that the Nigerian Communication Act (NCA) 2003 has been the major source of the industry's success.

The NCA is largely regarded as one of the most progressive laws in the country. It gives the regulator absolute power, devoid of government or other external interferences to regulate the industry according to best global practices as enunciated by the ITU and other regional telecoms regulatory bodies.

According to Juwah, the power of the NCA guarantees a safe market for investors such that they can bring their money into Nigeria and be sure that the law is there to protect their investment.

source: www. allafrica.com

telecom Egypt to provide internet services for Cairo festival city project

State-owned Telecom Egypt has reached an agreement to supply UAE-based Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Group with telecommunication services for its Cairo Festival City project.

“Telecom Egypt seeks to meet its clients’ needs in high-tech services at competitive prices,” said Mohamed El Nawawy, Telecom Egypt’s MD/CEO.

The project involves 300 retail shops, elegant administrative offices and a residential community comprising a large number of apartments and villas, worldwide hotels and international schools, all within a natural environment, Daily News Egypt reported.

The Egyptian company will provide services such as virtual private network (VPN), Dedicated Internet, data transfer and triple play, using advanced fibre optic technology that guarantees high quality voice output and provides users with access to fast internet, with speed reaching 10G per sec.

According to the MD, the agreement will propel the company towards achieving its vision of becoming the industry’s frontrunner by sponsoring key projects across the country’s telecom business sphere.

Its quest for market dominance was given a further boost today, after regulators disclosed plans to grant fixed-line and mobile operating licence in the coming weeks, which will allow Telecom Egypt provide mobile services to customers.

A detailed scan of the regional market was carried out to determine the most suited company to deliver quality services, The MD of Al-Futtaim’s Real Estate Development, Dr Mohamed Al-Mekawy noted.

“[The agreement was based] on a careful market study to determine the largest and most efficient service providers, not only in Egypt, but on a regional level,”

source: www.ventures-africa.com

LIBTECH launches private sector fiber optic window

The Liberia Telecommunication Corporation (LIBTECO) Tuesday opened the Lynch Street Sales Center and private sector fiber optic window for public subscription.

Speaking at the ceremony, the LIBTELCO Board Chairman Francis Horton said the fiber optic cable will put Liberia on the map for faster internet services.

He recalled that the Liberia Telecommunication Corporation, the predecessor of LIBTELCO, provided quality communication services to the Liberian people from the 1960s until the civil war which affected every fabric of the Liberian society.

Chairman Horton lamented that LIBTELCO is today saddled with several problems, including financial constraints.He said with competition from communication companies in Liberia, LIBTELCO must strive to provide services that would gain the public trust and woo them back to it.

Before the Liberian civil conflict, LIBTELCO's predecessor Liberia Telecommunications Corporation had a monopoly of the telecommunication industry.

source: allafrica.com

Etisalat to buy Vivendi 53% stake in Maroc telecom

The cash transaction also includes 7.4 Moroccan dirhams per share paid by Maroc Telecom to the French company. The purchase will give the UAE telecom operator control over the largest carrier in Morocco.

“It is a perfect bit for etisalat and they are in the right direction. They can use their products and services which are highly acceptable in this part of the world. Africa is a prefect building ground for etisalat,” Bhanu Chaddha, senior telecom analyst at research firm International Data Corporation, told Gulf News.

Since the UAE market is getting saturated, he said etisalat needs to look at diversification. The international operations are now delivering the benefits for etisalat and that strategy is moving in the right direction.

Etisalat, which is present in 15 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, recorded a revenue of Dh699 million from its Africa cluster in the third quarter, up one per cent in comparison to the same period last year.

“Going forward, it is more important for etisalat. The recent regulatory changes in the UAE are expected to increase the competitive dynamics. But etisalat is more carefully evaluating the market,” Chaddha said.

“Closing of the acquisition of Vivendi’s stake in Maroc Telecom by etisalat is subject to a number of conditions,” etisalat said in an emailed statement.

These include, among others, the execution of a shareholders’ agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco regarding Maroc Telecom, securing competition and regulatory and approvals in the Kingdom of Morocco and certain other relevant jurisdictions in Maroc Telecom’s footprint.

Maroc has minority stakes in other African markets — Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.

These are emerging markets and there are “opportunities for expansion

local telecom industry abuzz with number of deals

The amount involved in the deal has not been revealed yet, but it is said to be between R5-billion and R10-billion. Another thing that has come into notice is that AT&T is quite interested in taking over Vodafone.

Experts were of the view that Vodafone has been trying hard to establish itself in Europe and they are getting successful as well in the task. If the deal takes place then Vodafone will not be able to achieve its goal.

Vodafone owns 65% of Vodacom, which will also be a massive deal. Speculations have already started, as per which, Orange is considered to be the most likely bidder for Vodacom. It has been said so as Vodacom's operations are well established in Botswana, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.

But when asked from Orange, they have affirmed that no discussion of such sort has taken place. Sebastien Crozier, CEO of Orange subsidiary Orange Horizons, has affirmed that a number of things depend on Vodacom's deal with Neotal.

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.

3G specifications

This is a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunication use services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. 3G finds application in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

Several telecommunications companies market wireless mobile Internet services as 3G, indicating that the advertised service is provided over a 3G wireless network. Services advertised as 3G are required to meet IMT-2000 technical standards, including standards for reliability and speed (data transfer rates). To meet the IMT-2000 standards, a system is required to provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s (about 0.2Mbit/s). However, many services advertised as 3G provide higher speed than the minimum technical requirements for a 3G service. Recent 3G releases, often denoted 3.5G and 3.75G, also provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers.

S.sudan to participate in global telecoms event

At the four-day event, South Sudan, led by its telecommunication and postal service minister, Rebecca Joshua Okwachi, will have the opportunity to highlight some of the investment potentials within its agricultural, forestry, mining and tourism sectors.

The conference will further avail the new nation a chance to tap partners willing to work with already existing players in the country’s information communication technology industry.

Started in 1865, the ITU is a United Nations agency whose purpose is to coordinate telecommunication operations and services throughout the world.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the union sets and publishes regulations and standards relevant to electronic communication and broadcasting technologies of all kinds including radio, television, satellite, telephone and the Internet.

A statement on the ITU website says its, “mission is to ensure the efficient and timely production of standards covering all fields of telecommunications on a worldwide basis, as well as defining tariff and accounting principles for international telecommunication services”.

source : sudantribune.com