main one supports Ngren initiatives

MainOne, the leading communications service company and first private undersea cable company to land in Nigeria and Ghana, has identified National Research and Education Networks (NREN) services as a factor for the increment of knowledge development in Nigeria.

MainOne CEO Funke Opeke, represented by Gbenga Osinoiki, the head, public sector sales,  said this in a presentation titled “Sustainable National Development through Research and Education Networks: The MainOne advantage” at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Research Education Network (REN) held at the ICT Centre in Software Engineering in Ile-Ife.

Opeke said the Research and Education Network was a transformation vehicle, innovation incubator, an economic development engine and an essential global platform for national and educational development.

She commended the efforts of the UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking schemes across Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa and eight other NRENs, and noted that though they are successful, there is still need for the provision of high speed internet connectivity to universities at even lower costs.

She also acknowledged efforts by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVC) for their support of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), noting that the Network service would be beneficial for the development of e-education and social networking.

MainOne’s contribution to the propagation of ICT development in education and tertiary institutions form a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility tripod of Education, Information and Communications Technology, in addition to mentoring of the girl child.

MainOne is also leading sponsor of the annual Software Competition organised by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, the Girls-In-ICT Day, TENT as well as supports ideation and innovation clubs, such as the Co-Creation Hub, among others.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

tn mobile rolls out 4G LTE prepaid

tn mobile, the mobile division of Telecom Namibia, reports that it is the first operator in Namibia to offer 4G LTE prepaid broadband service to consumers.

This follows the launch of tn mobile’s superfast 4G LTE network and services by the minister of ICT Joel Kaapanda last week. With the tn mobile Prepaid 4G LTE, users can now enjoy faster data access on their laptops and PCs on tn mobile’s 4G LTE network, with theoretical download speeds of up to 100Mbps.

tn mobile Prepaid 4G LTE is available at N$298 and comes with a Dongle bundled with free 500 MB data. The out of bundle rate is 95 cents per MB.

The service is currently available in Windhoek, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Henties Bay, Ondangwa, Oshakati, Ongwediva, Ohangwena and Oshikango.

Telecom Namibia reports that outside the 4G LTE coverage area, users will be served by tn mobile’s 3G HSPA+ network with theoretical download speeds of up to 21Mbps and upload of 5.76Mbps, which makes it the fastest 3G service in the country.

“Where the 3G/HSPA+ network is not available our 2G network will do the job. So we always have you covered,” explains Chris Keeping, Chief Mobile Officer at Telecom Namibia.

“We will continue to enhance and expand our 4G LTE network coverage to key towns around the country,” Keeping added.

"Leveraging on our new 4G LTE network, we are glad to offer the country's first 4G LTE prepaid broadband service. Our prepaid users are now able to enjoy ultra-fast 4G LTE data access and an enhanced mobile experience," says Oiva Angula, senior manager for corporate communications and public relations at Telecom Namibia.

source: www.biztech-africa.com

Bharti Airtel bucks trend after brokerage upgrade

 the BSE Sensex was down 135.85 points, or 0.65%, to 20,789.76.

On BSE, so far 77,000 shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 3.61 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 329.50 and a low of Rs 324.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 373.50 on 1 November 2013. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 266.95 on 5 April 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 12 December 2013, sliding 4.15% compared with the Sensex's 3.17% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 1.67% as against Sensex's 5.78% rise.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 1998.70 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

The foreign brokerage also raised its target price on the stock to Rs 375 per share. According to the brokerage house, risk reward in case of Bharti Airtel (Airtel) has turned favourable, India pricing pressures have abated, data ramp-up is at inflection point and Africa operations have stabilised.

Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm (Reliance Jio) on 10 December 2013, announced a comprehensive telecom infrastructure sharing arrangement under which they will share infrastructure created by both parties. This will include optic fibre network - inter and intra city, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services and other such opportunities identified in the future. The cooperation is aimed at avoiding duplication of infrastructure, wherever possible, and to preserve capital and the environment. This will also provide redundancy in order to ensure seamless services to customers of the respective parties.

On 9 December 2011, the company announced partnership with Government of Punjab to expand high speed 4G LTE services across the state. The company will invest over Rs 4000 crore in the Indian State of Punjab over the next 5 years to expand services and contribute to the Government of Punjab's digital inclusion agenda. Airtel and the Government of Punjab signed an agreement on the sidelines of the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit, under which Airtel will take its high speed 4G LTE services to all towns and villages across Punjab.

source: www.business-standard.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

T-Mobile's Deal With Facebook Is an Important Test

In Facebook's second-quarter conference call, Mark Zuckerberg outlined three main goals for the company going forward. The first was to connect everyone. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) shares this goal with Facebook, and the advertising rivals might end up helping each other.

With a growing number of users accessing Facebook through mobile devices, the company wants to ensure that anyone can access its services. In February, Facebook announced partnerships with 18 carriers in 14 different countries to allow subscribers free or discounted access to Facebook.

The best part about these deals for Facebook is that it isn't footing the bill for data usage.It has helped out with marketing and promotion, but considering its access to one of the largest advertising platforms is all but free, that isn't too much of a burden for the company.

Although the terms of the arrangement with GoSmart were not disclosed, it's likely Facebook has come to similar terms. Considering Facebook's saturation level in the U.S. and the average price per ad in the country, T-Mobile is getting just as good of a deal as Facebook.

Google, on the other hand, is unlikely to make similar deals with carriers. The company's service, by its very nature, sends people to other parts of the web. Instead, Google has taken to setting up free WiFi networks all over the world, including plans for a potential network of balloons or blimps over Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, which could connect an additional 1 billion people.

Google can benefit from Facebook's deals with carriers, however, as more people sign up for data plans once they get a taste of the mobile web. This is what T-Mobile and GoSmart are banking on.

source: www.fool.com

OnMobile bets on 3G boom for VAS push in India

OnMobile Global, one of the world’s largest mobile value-added services (VAS) companies with operations across 55 countries, had taken a beating in India after its CEO Arvind Rao was expelled last year. However, under Mouli Ramanan, its co-founder and managing director, the company has been able to rise again. Ramanan tells Beryl Menezes about OnMobile’s journey ahead. Excerpts from the interview:

OnMobile has been aggressively targeting emerging markets, including India. What is happening on this front?
While caller tunes, which contribute about 70% to our overall revenues, are primary focus, we are now in the process of rolling out other services in the areas of music and sports as well. For example, we acquired Livewire, which offers high quality, personalised service at low cost, in the US in July. We also recently won a large deal with MTN, the largest operator in Middle East and Africa, with 200 million users, and we have a contract to roll out services in 22 countries where MTN is present. Latin America and Africa contributes 26% to revenues, and , in the last 1-1.5 years, besides emerging markets, we are also focusing on rolling out VAS services in Europe and North America.

How do you see growth in India in the coming years?
Out of 120 million users globally, we have 45 million in India. While in the last 1-1.5 years, OnMobile has witnessed a de-growth of 20-22% in India, due to regulatory intervention for promotional services and the downturn in the telecom and VAS industry, this does not reflect the opportunities that lie ahead. With 800 million mobile users in the country, a lot of them first time mobile internet users, we are seeing a lot of demand for VAS services on the mobile in local languages. There are also enough developers who want to provide services to these customers.

The ecosystem being developed for anybody who wants to provide these services. In the next 2-3 years, we will see a lot more services on mobile.

source: www.dnaindia.com

the Asia - Africa link is IT

Only 16 percent of Africa’s population of over a billion is online. But as Internet and mobile phone connectivity grows rapidly, the continent wants to join forces with Asian powerhouses to change its digital landscape.

While offering its vast market, Africa hopes to leverage Asia’s information and communication technology (ICT) prowess to develop sectors as diverse as banking, telemedicine, education and cyber security.

“There is a lot of opportunity for collaboration,” says Safroadu Yeboah-Amankwah, director and leader, McKinsey’s Business Technology Practice, South Africa.

lot of the talent, skill and technology available (in Asia) may be of great use,” the Ghanaian engineer-turned-telecom strategist told IPS.

He was here to attend Telecom World 2013 organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) last month.

A large contingent of African countries led by Nigeria mounted a big roadshow at the event, both to display their growing mobile and broadband communication-oriented economies and to attract Asian investment.

“North America, to be honest, is not relevant to our markets. There are very interesting opportunities in terms of South-South collaboration, especially around banking, education and so forth, where collaborations will allow for bigger markets and therefore more innovation availability,” Yeboah-Amankwah said.

“Larger Asian and African e-commerce players could collaborate to make the opportunities even bigger. For us, integration between large African and Asian players is an exciting idea,” he added.

According to ITU statistics, more than 720 million Africans have mobile phones and some 167 million already use the Internet. And the figures are rising fast as mobile networks are built up and the cost of Internet-enabled devices falls.

soure:ipsnews.com