Government Communications over Messaging Apps Not Being Archived Correctly:

Canada's Information Commissioner has warned that the use of wireless devices and messaging apps are putting the long term archiving of government communications.

"After investigating the use of wireless devices and instant messaging in 11 federal institutions, I have concluded that there is a real risk that information that should be accessible by Canadians is being irremediably deleted or lost," Suzanne Legault said.

There were approximately 98,000 BlackBerrys issued to government institutions. Instant messages sent and received on these devices are automatically deleted -- usually after 30 days -- making them generally unavailable for access to information purposes.

Of the 11 investigated institutions, only Foreign Affairs, Development and Trade Canada, and National Defence automatically back up at least some instant messages on servers.

Her report into the issue makes three specific recommendations, including that a government-wide policy be issued instructing institutions to disable instant messaging on all government-issued wireless devices, with few exceptions.

The President of the Treasury Board does not agree with the recommendations and has already declined to implement them. In fact, the Treasury Board Secretariat would prefer to allow instant messages to be auto-deleted after only three days.

"While technology is a powerful tool for innovation, its use must not infringe on the right of Canadians to know what government is doing and to hold it accountable for its decisions," Legault said.

Firefox OS Smartphones Go On Sale in More Countries:

Telenor has announced that their first Firefox OS phones went on sale in Hungary last week and sales begin in Serbia and Montenegro now. The mobile network operator also announced plans to bring Firefox OS phones to Asia in 2014.

Followed by a wave of launches in Latin America in October, Firefox OS phones have also launched in more European markets recently.

In the last few weeks, Deutsche Telekom started offering Firefox OS phones through Telekom in Hungary and Cosmote in Greece. Earlier this year, Deutsche Telekom launched Firefox OS phones through T-Mobile in Poland.

Firefox OS based smartphones are now available in 13 countries with more coming soon.

In related news, Geeksphone, a Firefox OS smartphone vendor appears to be working in a new handset that can support both Android and Firefox in the same phone.

Mobily Extends Takeover Talks for Local Landline Operator by Two Months

Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) is taking longer to complete a previously announced deal to buy the local landline operator, Etihad Atheeb.

The company announced back in August that it was to buy a majority stake in the landline network, and had set a deadline of the end of this month to secure the regulatory approvals and complete due diligence on the firm.

It has now extended the talks until the end of next January, and the talks are no longer exclusive, allowing a rival bidder to emerge. Bahrain's Batelco owns a 15% stake in the company, but has shied away from buying the entire company in the past.

Etihad Atheeb had itself previously expressed an interest in buying a stake in a mobile network operator, but has posted years of losses and was now seen as a likely target for a buyout by one of the country's mobile networks instead.

Etihad Atheeb Telecom is a joint venture of Atheeb Trading Company, Al-Nahla Trading Company, Bahrain's Batelco and Traco Company. Just under half its shares are listed on the stock exchange, where its shares have been suspended several times over the years due to its ongoing losses.

Thailand's True's Debt Ratings Downgraded on Weak Mobile Network Financials:

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to B3 from B2 the corporate family rating of True Corp, and the corporate family and senior unsecured bond ratings of its consolidated subsidiary, True Move.

Moody's has also placed all ratings under review for further downgrade.

"­The rating action reflects the prolonged character of True Corp's negative free cash flows (FCF), due to weak earnings from the mobile business and a high level of capital expenditures (capex). As a result, we expect its financial and liquidity profiles to remain under pressure in the coming 12-18 months," says Yoshio Takahashi, a Moody's Assistant Vice President.

True Corp's negative FCF rose to THB21 billion for the 12-month period ended September 2013 from about THB6 billion in 2011 and below Moody's expectation. Moody's estimates that its negative FCF will likely remain at a similar level in 2014, given large capital requirements for 3G and the potential for additional spectrum fee payments following the 1.8 GHz spectrum auction in 2014.

At the same time, True Corp's reported consolidated EBITDA margin is likely to stay weak. Its reported consolidated EBITDA margin in Q3 2013 further declined to 17.6% in Q3 2013 from 19.8% in Q1 2013 and 18.8% in Q2 2013.

While a reduction in revenue-sharing costs for expanding 3G revenue may help slightly improve its margins, Moody's expects its reported consolidated EBITDA margin will stay at around or below 20%, due to rapid declines in earnings from 2G services, as well as intensified competition in 3G services.

Digicel Switches on LTE Service in Cayman Islands:

Digicel has switched on its LTE network in the Cayman Islands, just 11 weeks after it was granted the necessary radio spectrum for the service.

With all current cell sites now upgraded, 99% of the population has the capability of LTE access across Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands.

From November 29th to December 5th Digicel will be providing exclusive access to the participants of their Early Adopter LTE Programme.

Digicel added that it has a full range of LTE compatible (CAT 3 and CAT 4) devices in store, ranging from entry-level smartphones such as the Alcatel or Sony SP, up to the latest LTE enabled Samsung S4. A range of tablets will also be available.

Entry-level post-paid data plans start from $25CI/month.

Smartphones Have Potential to Bridge Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Ericsson has released its first regional consumer insight report focusing on trends and analysis of the mobile ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report highlights how mobile phones create and promote connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa from the consumer perspective, covering topics regarding smartphones, the internet, financial services, and applications.

The mobile phone, more specifically the smartphone, has the potential to bridge the digital divide by providing universal access and connectivity to a wider scope of citizens, regardless of location or economic status.

Though basic and feature phones still dominate the market, the research estimated that the smartphone will be key to enabling internet usage and an essential device in connecting personal and professional lives, as well as society at large. However, growth in the uptake of smartphones, which are presently seen as expensive, is expected to significantly increase, particularly with the anticipated introduction of a smartphone in the USD 50 price range.

While talking about the report, Shiletsi Makhofane, Head of Marketing, Strategy, Government and Industry Relations, Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa said "Our analysis shows that the entry of low-cost smartphone handsets in the market will allow people from different social classes to benefit from an integrated ecosystem. The smartphone will become key to accessing the internet, which we believe will change the regional status quo and enable a level of connectivity not seen before. Add to this the on-going installation of submarine cables and country/city fiber-optic networks across the continent, and we'll see a significant increase in the potential for connectivity and supporting infrastructure for greater data consumption."

Telkom Indonesia Denies Plans for Mobile Network IPO:

Indonesia's Telekomunikasi (Telkom) has refuted reports that it is planning a stock market listing for its mobile network subsidiary, Telkomsel.

The Jakarta Globe had suggested that Telkom was looking at a stock market listing for Telkomsel, which it owns a 65% stake in.

The landline operator said in a statement that "up to now we do not have plan to sell Telkomsel's shares".

The company did however confirm that it has plans to unlock some of its portfolio's value through either a partnership or IPO. The company is therefore looking at options for its tower business, Mitratel.

Telkom added that following the Mitratel deal, it will spin off some of Telkomsel's towers -- although it will need approval from Telkomsel's 35% shareholder, Singapore's Singtel.

CBNL Wins Nigerian 3G Network Upgrade Contract:

UK based Cambridge Broadband Networks (CBNL) has announced new contracts with MTN Nigeria to upgrade and expand capacity of the operator's 3G network.

The contracts will see CBNL undertake the supply, installation and commissioning of new VectaStar backhaul equipment to improve the quality of services for MTN Nigeria -- an operator with over 47 million subscribers.

In addition to backhauling cell sites throughout the country, CBNL will be working in partnership with MTN to provide programme management, deployment and support services to ensure delivery of the upgrade.

"We have seen a significant growth in subscribers accessing the internet via 3G over the past few years, and as a result will be modernising our network in order to expand capacity and continue delivering the customer experience and mobile access expected by our customer base," said Olusegun Salami, Senior Manager, Transmission Access Planning, MTN Nigeria.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

MTN Awards Managed Services Contracts to Ericsson and Huawei:

MTN Nigeria has announced that it has signed managed services agreement with both Ericsson and Huawei.

Under the terms of the contracts, Ericsson and Huawei will take over the management, optimisation and field maintenance of MTN's network infrastructure in all its operational regions in the country.

MTN will retain ownership and full control of its network assets and continue to have responsibility for strategic design and planning, as well as equipment purchasing decisions.

Financial terms, nor the duration of the contact were provided. The announcement was made by a note on the company's Facebook fan page.

African telecom landscape looks towards high speeds:

A number of factors have contributed to Africa’s increasing adoption of mobile phones for internet use over PCs — cost and lack of ethernet infrastructure for two. The cost of computers versus the lower prices of mobile phones in addition to the lack of physical internet cable implementation has spurred the growth of mobile devices in Africa — a trend that is now of global proportion. But Africa’s mobile scene presents unique challenges, and the recently reported interest in the continent’s digital communications from Mideast and European telcos has spun a larger conversation over the future of the continent’s growth.

MidEast telcos have been developing their presence in North Africa for a while. Etisalat — an Emirates-based telco — took over France’s Vivendi’s stake in Maroc Telecom in July, heightening its presence in West Africa. (Maroc Telecom was also Morocco’s largest operator, according to reports.) And European companies such as Orange have been increasing their investments in various countries to get a foothold in the developing markets. These growing investments from operators have accumulated throughout the year, and made for conversation at AfricaCom 2013 — a telecom conference held in Cape Town, South Africa earlier in November which calls together global technology leaders.

An executive from Gemalto — a digital security company — spoke after the conference and called for operators to take advantage of the unique communications landscape in Africa in order to bypass 3G implementation and escalate quickly to 4G. While attaining high speed wireless seems unlikely in regions that have barely reliable 2G, Sherry Zameer, head of Africa and Middle East telecommunications for the company, described the lack of regulation and restrictive platforms actually make Africa ripe for the buildout of 4G.

MTN to oppose Turkcell lawsuit:

MTN Group will vigorously defend the Turkcell lawsuit, the Turkish operator‘s fifth claim arising from the unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran.

In a statement, MTN said the latest attempt by Turkcell was issued out of the South Gauteng High Court this week. Like the four previous cases, this matter emanates from Turkcell’s alleged grievances arising from its unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran, and the award of that licence to Irancell.

While the summons has not yet been served on it, MTN understands that the claim is now made against MTN, its wholly owned subsidiary, MTN International (Mauritius) Limited (MTNI) and others, in which Turkcell claims an amount of some US$4.2 billion, plus interest and legal costs

By way of background, three of the suits brought by Turkcell and its subsidiary, East Asian Consortium (EAC) have already been dismissed, including one against MTN and MTNI.

In late 2005, EAC was unsuccessful in its bid before the Iranian Court to restrain the Iranian Ministry of Telecommunications from committing what the EAC alleged were breaches of certain statutory requirements and agreements.  This was followed by arbitration in 2008 against the Iran government under the Turkey-Iran Bilateral Investment Treaty, which has not yet been decided.

Also in 2008, EAC commenced an arbitration under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) against Iran Electronic Development Company for alleged breach of a shareholder’s agreement concluded between the parties in 2004. The ICC Tribunal dismissed Turkcell’s claims in a final award in April 2012.

Turkcell filed a suit against MTN in the USA in March 2012, accusing the company of bribery and other acts of corruption that it said caused it to lose out on the license to operate a mobile network in Iran. 

Huawei to launch 4G service in Ethiopia:

Ethiopia's state-run Ethio Telecom said on Thursday it had picked Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's second largest telecom equipment maker, to roll out a high-speed 4G network across the capital Addis Ababa.

The introduction of the service is part of a $1.6 billion deal signed in July and August between the Ethiopian firm, Huawei and ZTE, China's second-biggest telecoms equipment maker, to expand mobile phone infrastructure throughout the Horn of Africa country.

Ethio Telecom's head of communications,Abdurahim Ahmed, said, "In terms of allocation, Huawei will be responsible for the expansion of 4G in Addis Ababa, including other mobile services - the 2G, 3G, IP and the like." 

Abdurahim said the allocation plan was finalised on Wednesday.

"It is expected to benefit more than 400,000 subscribers. Within an eight-month period, the expansion project of Addis Ababa, including 4G, will be completed."

The deal, signed by ZTE in August and Huawei a month before, will enable Ethiopia to double subscribers to more than 50 million by 2015 and expand 3G service throughout the country.

Both firms will split their work along 13 expansion areas.

The contract was awarded under a long-term loan package to be paid over a 13 year period with an interest rate of "less than 1 percent", Abdurahim said.

Africa's rapidly expanding telecoms industry has come to symbolize its economic growth, with subscribers across the continent totaling almost 650 million last year, up from just 25 million in 2001, according to the World Bank.

Ethio Telecom is the only mobile operator in the country of more than 80 million people, among the last remaining countries on the continent to maintain a state monopoly in telecoms.

The government has ruled out liberalizing its telecoms sector, saying the 6 billion birr it generates each year is being spent on railway projects. Ethiopia plans to build 5, 000 kilometre of railway lines by 2020.

Telecommunication - Nigeria Truly Giant of Africa - Juwah:

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.

Mideast operators join race for African telecoms:

Connecting another billion people to the internet is an ambition for many mobile operators, which see the relatively untapped markets of Africa as the next big opportunity for growth.

With a lack of fixed-line infrastructure in many parts of the continent, people have embraced smartphones as their means of connecting to the web, which has placed mobile operators among the main providers of internet services in Africa.

The number of broadband connections over cellular networks is expected to top 250m by the end of 2015. A fifth of internet traffic in Africa will be carried by mobile broadband by 2015, according to Informa Telecoms and Media, compared with 3 per cent globally.

Demand for telecoms services is high, as parts of the continent are becoming increasingly affluent. However, poorer areas also represent a good opportunity for telecoms operators that offer plans designed to get users connected to social networking sites using mobile devices.

Mobile is at the centre of life in Africa, where it has applications from sending vaccination reminders by text to credit lines for farmers. The M-Pesa mobile payment system is so successful that it acts as a quasi-currency.

Telecoms executives regard Africa as one of the most dynamic regions for an industry facing low growth in more mature markets where many people already have multiple mobile devices.

Pyramid Research Doubles Telecom Coverage in Africa/Middle East:

The 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 Pyramid Research, mobile Internet revenue will maintain an explosive growth rate in the AME region and it will double in size to represent a $25 billion 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.

"Given the market trends occurring in the region, we are anticipating the demands of our growing client base by now offering 33 countries in Africa spanning the fixed, mobile, media and devices sectors and tracking 150+ operators," says Arathoon. "In the Middle East, Pyramid now covers 11 countries and tracks 50+ operators, while having contacts with hundreds of regulators, operators and vendors across the region."

"Through our regional research and strategic consulting services, we help our clients enhance their knowledge of their industries, enabling them to create sustainable market-entry strategy and investment decisions while assessing true revenue-generating opportunities," Arathoon explains. "Our membership as well as our consulting services will become even more robust as a result of this continued commitment to one of the industry's most dynamic regions."

Namibia: Call costs cut -

Telecom Namibia (TN) has cut tariffs for 2013/2014, with effect from 1 December 2013, as part of its efforts to stimulate traffic to key international destinations, The New Era reported. Peak tariff for calls to South Africa will go down by 8 percent while off-peak mobile and fixed call charges will be unchanged. Peak calls to Angola, Germany, UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, France and Kenya will be cut by an average of 10 percent while off-peak tariffs to the same destinations will go down by an average of 8.5 percent for both fixed and mobile destinations. Call tariffs for the US and Rest of the World will be reduced by 9 percent for both mobile and fixed line destinations. Calls to Zimbabwe mobile will however increase to NAD 4.35 and NAD 5.15 per minute for post-paid and pre-paid, respectively.

Kenya: App awards -

Safaricom has awarded six early stage mobile technology start-ups with an aggregated cash prize of KES 3.7 million (USD 43,000) through the Safaricom AppWiz Developers' Challenge. It attracted 1,569 applications and 274 mobile-based ideas, 48 of which were shortlisted to attend a hackathon session from which the top 18 teams were selected to participate in a three month incubation process. 'Tichaa', an app that allows children to learn Swahili was awarded KES 1.7 million (USD 20,000) and won the education category and emerging top overall. Second was M-Ledger, an application that enables customers to manage their M-PESA transactions. Bud Doctor won the health category, the Maasai Moran App, which addresses the challenges faced by the Maasai boy, My Taxi App which won in the games category and Sokonect, an agricultural app.

Ghana: Last-mile speed-up:

Swiss-based K3 Telecom is partnering with Media Ghana to launch Triple Play services in Ghana. A customised telecoms network will be created with a unique patented wireless technology, which will allow high Internet speeds, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and quality television content. Group Chief Executive Officer of K3Telecom, Uros Mlakar said the technology improves last mile fibre delivery. Mike Cooke, CEO of Media Ghana said the partnership will see the 'value lines of content and access become one'. K3 is to embark on a 5-year plan to drive and expand Internet and content access in Africa from headquarters in Ghana.

Expert predicts ‘doom’ for corporate Ghana:

A cybercrime expert is predicting ‘doom’ for corporate Ghana if efforts are not made to address the incessant cybercrimes which go undetected within corporate institutions in the country. He believes that businesses in the country will continue to suffer from cyber fraud and other cyber attacks because it is a profitable venture for cyber criminals.

Speaking exclusively to Biztechafrica at a workshop held on e-crime and counter measures in Accra, Albert Antwi Boasiako, who is also the founder and principal of the E-Crime Bureau, noted that cybercrime in Ghana will continue to swell because of the increase in migration onto electronic platforms and the adoption of e-commerce products and services by banks, financial institutions and other organisations including state institutions, who are most vulnerable.

According to him, perpetrators of these crimes will attack small businesses through e-mail related fraud and phishing attacks because of the low level of investment into IT security among SMEs hence their greater vulnerability to cyber fraud.

“Cybercrime will flourish because it is a low-risk crime but with high rewards. Detection rate is minimal because of the growing sophistication of the modus operandi of cyber criminals” he stressed.

Prescribing immediate solutions to deal with the challenges of electronic related crimes in Ghana, Boasiako stressed the need for training of employees of corporate institutions, thus creating the awareness and understanding of e-crimes. He further called for the creation of a National Cyber Security Policy framework to serve as a broader policy roadmap to guide corporate institutions to develop IT security policies and best practices.

MTN notes development in Turkcell case:

The MTN Group has noted reports that Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell Iletisim AS (Turkcell) has re-filed its lawsuit against MTN in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.

MTN said in a statement that it could not comment further at this stage, since it had not received or viewed the court papers.  “Although we don’t have details of the case, MTN continues to believe that there is no legal merit to Turkcell's claim and will accordingly oppose it,” the statement read.

Turkcell has alleged that MTN’s bid to participate in the second mobile phone network in Iran was corrupt.

Airtel to launch Opera Web Pass in Africa:

Opera Software and Airtel, a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, announced the launch of Opera Web Pass for customers in 17 countries across Africa. This allows subscribers to choose a data package that suits them - be it time-based or site-based.

With Opera Web Pass, mobile internet users on the Airtel networks will be able to make use of an affordable and simple pay-as-you-go service for their Airtel mobile phones. A user just needs to start Opera Mini on any mobile phone, click 1"Opera Web Pass" in the Speed Dial start page and choose from a list of web pass subscriptions, allowing Airtel mobile customers to purchase from a range of user-centric packages to suit their internet access needs.

Opera Web Pass leverages the existing capabilities of the Opera Mini platform and allows Airtel, in a flexible and cost-efficient way, to package time- or site-specific data offerings to their users. For example, if a person has a couple of hours to spend on a train or in a taxi, they can access and browse the web for a couple of hours during the trip. They can choose a specific period of time or website to access to facilitate this access.

Different packages can be changed frequently, allowing operators to see what works best in a given market or within targeted demographics. Opera Web Pass makes it even more compelling for subscribers to get online using their mobile phones and in a way that is tailored to their needs. For mobile subscribers without data plans, this is the easiest and most flexible solution for accessing the web. With the opportunity for users to choose an exact time period in which to access the web, rather than the amount of megabytes, Airtel’s browsing offer will be easier for users understand and access.

By breaking down one of the biggest barriers to entry for most users looking to go online with their phones, which is often a multi-step, time consuming and error prone process, Opera Web Pass liberates users, making access to the mobile internet a streamlined, easy-to-understand process where offers are presented when they are sought in a non-intrusive way.

Complex data-use MB plans, which require a significant monetary and time investment currently can now be replaced with time- or content-based, affordable and controllable Opera Web Pass packages - a straightforward process similar to how consumers buy apps.

Apps, data changing mobile:

Mobile voice revenue is declining fast, while data use is surging, driven by instant messaging and apps, say new reports on the state of mobility in South Africa.

The findings of two reports -The Mobile Consumer in SA 2014 and The Mobile Internet in SA 2014, were presented at a media briefing in Johannesburg, South Africa, this morning. The studies, by World Wide Worx in partnership with FNB and Dashboard Research, found that 65% of South Africans – around 13 million people – now have internet access. Around 29% - 5.8 million of them - access the internet using mobile devices only, while 32% - or 6.4 million – access the internet using mobile devices and laptops or PCs, and 4% -  under one million - access the internet using only laptops or PCs.

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, said voice usage is declining steadily, particularly among younger cellphone users, while data spend is surging. In the biggest data user group – people aged 19 – 24, only 56% of mobile budget is spent on voice (down from 66% last year), while data spend has increased from 17% last year to 24% currently. Overall, voice spend has dropped from 73% of mobile budget to 65%, while data has increased from 12% to 16%. At the beginning of 2010, voice stood at 77% and data at 8%. All ages are moving to increase dat

Liquid Telecom scoops Best African Wholesale Carrier Award:

It is the second year in succession Liquid Telecom has won the gong, beating off strong competition from WIOCC, Orange and PCCW Global.

According to the panel of judges: “Liquid Telecom has again shown great promise and ambitious plans for development in Africa. It has aggressively targeted expansion of its fibre footprint in the continent and is attempting to access a range of countries where infrastructure maintenance remains the most challenging in the world.”

The judges said Liquid Telecom’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy was a significant highlight to the company being recognised, with the firm having acquired four companies in 2013.

They also said the company commitment to serving the region’s communications sector was a key highlight, where Liquid Telecom has been diverting traffic as a result of multiple cuts to undersea cables to enable redundancy on a number of routes from Africa to Europe.

Nic Rudnick, Liquid Telecom’s chief executive officer (CEO), said: “At Liquid Telecom we celebrate the people who make it happen. This award is a real team effort and recognises our company’s drive and ambition to provide internet connectivity across the whole of Africa”.

It is the second week in a row Liquid Telecom has been recognised after it bagged Best Connectivity Solution in Africa at last week’s AfricaCom 2013, in Cape Town, for building the longest fibre links in Africa.

Organised by Capacity Magazine and now in its eighth year, the Global Carrier Awards have become the biggest and most prestigious awards event of the wholesale telecoms calendar.

HumanIPO reported last week Liquid Telecom had built the first fibre optic cable into Somalia, connecting the country to undersea cables by fibre for the first time.

“We are providing the people of Somalia with access to the global internet at higher speeds and with more capacity than ever before,” said Rudnick.

“Our goal is to connect every person and business in Africa to the internet and to each other.  We are an agile and entrepreneurial company which is investing heavily in building our pan-African fibre network.”

Nigeria internet providers call for telecoms masts deadline extension:

The Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN) in Lagos has appealed for an extension of a deadline to pull down telecommunications masts around the state.

The appeal comes amid threats issued by the state government last week that it plans to start enforcing the pulling down of ‘old, hollow pipe telecoms structures’.

Members of the public have previously sustained injuries after outdated masts collapsed during bad weather.

The Lagos State Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU) last week said the state was concerned that since a directive was issued two months ago, none of the owners of the masts have responded to the order to pull down the masts.

Joe Igbokwe, head of UFRU, warned that by December 31, the agency would start pulling down such masts across the state.

UFRU two months back, instructed banks, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), insurance companies and other firms to immediately replace old hollow pipe telecoms masts in the state and replace them with galvanised steel masts.

But reacting to the deadline, the president of ISPAN Sunday Folayan admitted that while there was a need for old masts to be pulled down, the owners needed more time to comply with the directive.

“We cannot continue to erect masts that are not in accordance to standards. Secondly, when government is making certain policies or giving directives, they should consider the economic impact on the stakeholders involved. Any programme that does not carry stakeholders along, obviously will affect them adversely. As law abiding citizens, we will adhere to the directives. All we are appealing for is time," he said.

Meanwhile, following a workshop in the state this past weekend, engineer Anthony Nwosu, who is the vice president of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), also the called for extension of the deadline set by the Lagos government.

Lagos argues that pulling down the masts could allow for more effective monitoring and control of telecoms infrastructure in the state.

Takeover Rumours are Back in South Africa:

Rumours of consolidation in the South African mobile market refuse to go away, with talk of a deal between MTN and Telkom returning.

Telkom set up a mobile network subsidiary in 2010, initially branded as 8ta, but the loss making division has struggled to sign up customers, even after it signed a national roaming agreement with MTN.

Now MTN is reported to be in talks with Telkom that could see it buying the struggling mobile network, which has around 1.6 million customers.

The move has been prompted in part by consolidation elsewhere that saw rival Vodacom start exclusive talks to buy Telkom rival, Neotel.

An MTN spokesperson said that "accordance with good governance MTN does not comment on market rumour and speculation,"

WIOCC, Dalkom Somalia to take fibre optic connectivity to Mogadishu:

Award-winning Africa’s carriers’ carrier, WIOCC, together with local shareholder Dalkom Somalia, has announced that it will launch connectivity to and from Somalia via the EASSy cable from Q1 2014, offering services directly from Mogadishu to the rest of the world. Capacity will be available from 2Mbps to 10Gbps and above!

Chris Wood, WIOCC CEO, commented, “Until now, Somalia has been served exclusively by satellite – with high costs and limited bandwidth severely restricting the rollout and uptake of internet access and advanced services. WIOCC and Dalkom will be the first into commercial operation with international fibre-optic connectivity direct into Mogadishu. The new services from WIOCC will reduce the cost of international bandwidth and drive significant improvements in performance. I anticipate huge benefits for telcos and internet service providers, local and international businesses, Embassies and other foreign Government facilities, and the academic and research community in Somalia. Improved access to the internet will also have a profound effect on the day-to-day lives of the people of Somalia. WIOCC’s partner, Dalkom Somalia, is building a 1,000 sq m state-of-the-art data centre to host equipment for all Mogadishu telcos and ISPs to facilitate direct connection into the international fibre network.”

Mohamed Ahmed Jama, CEO of Dalkom Somalia, added, “As has been seen in other African countries over recent years, access to affordable, high-speed, international connectivity has a significant impact on economic, political and social development… and improvements happen relatively quickly. To complement the new connectivity to EASSy, Dalkom Somalia is building a fibre-optic metropolitan area network that will extend connectivity to customers within Mogadishu.

This entire initiative will greatly benefit the growing number of international organisations and local business entrepreneurs there, as well as the people of Somalia. I expect it to drive lower cost internet and broadband, to boost mobile penetration from its current 60 per cent and to dramatically increase the development and use of internet-based services and applications – with all the associated benefits to my country and the international companies operating there. We operate an open access policy and encourage all local operators and ISPs to take advantage of the new infrastructure we are bringing to our country.”

Somalia has become one of the most competitive telecoms markets in Africa, with some of the lowest international call rates on the continent. However, access to the internet is very limited – in 2000, Somalia was one of the last countries in Africa to get connected. With speed and quality severely constrained and costs high, internet penetration rates are low, with only an estimated 1.3% of the 10-million population having any access.

Kenyan internet market records 28% growth:

The number of Kenyan internet subscribers increased by 28.4 per cent in the three months leading to June 30 this year to reach 12.4 million, up from 9.6 million recorded in the previous quarter.

According to the CCK Quarterly Sector Statistics Report for the fourth quarter of the 2012/2013 financial year (April to June 2013) released today, the growth is attributed to numerous promotions and special offers on Internet/data by the mobile operators. 

The report further states that the coming periods are likely to record similar positive trends as internet uptake increases stimulated by the on-going ICT for schools project and increased investment in fibre optic networks across the country.

During the same period, the number of broadband subscriptions grew by 36.9 per cent from the previous quarter to reach 1.39 million. Compared to the same period last year, the sector realised a 92.5 per cent growth from 726,802 subscriptions.

“This growth in broadband subscriptions is expected to continue increasing as it indicates that customers are not only demanding for internet connections but higher capacity connections,” stipulates the report.

During the same period, the mobile phone industry in the country regained lost ground with the number of subscribers jumping 2.3 per cent from 29.8 million to 30.5 million. This increase could be attributed to a combination of new subscribers and possible re-subscription by those whose phones had been deactivated during the subscriber registration campaign. The report adds that owing to ease of access, the pre-paid services have continued to dominate mobile subscription, accounting for 99.0 per cent of the total mobile subscriptions.

Mobile money transfer subscribers increased from 23.2 million the previous quarter to 24.8 million the quarter under review, recording a 6.8 per cent growth, consistent with the positive subscriber growth patterns. The number of mobile money transfer agents jumped significantly to 88,466 during the quarter, up from 74,216 agents during the previous quarter, a growth of 19.2 per cent. The number of agents has almost doubled compared to the same period last year, which was recorded at 49,079.

The number of FM radio stations in the country went up to 109 FM radio from 102 FM recorded during the previous quarter. On the other hand, the number of existing analogue TV channels which had activated their signal on the digital broadcasting platform stood at 13 out of the 14 existing analogue TV channels. 

The postal and courier sector continued to decline in relation to the number of letters sent and received both locally and internationally.

The fixed line market continued to slump during the quarter to post 216,469 subscribers down from 221,287 posted in the previous quarter.

Vodafone Ghana Awards its digital campaign winners:

The Vodafone Ghana has awarded winners of its maiden digital campaign dubbed DO More Gh campaign. At a ceremony held in Accra, Lorna Tetteh, Ricky Ansong and Percy Osei-Appiah received GHS 3,000 each and Vodafone souvenirs after sharing their dreams and aspirations on Vodafone Ghana’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Vodafone Ghana in July this year introduced an online campaign to empower young Ghanaians on social media platforms to achieve more with their lives. Themed #DoMoreGh, several people shared their aspirations and dreams on Vodafone Ghana’s social media pages.

Out of hundreds of entries 5 outstanding ambitions were shortlisted and put forward for Ghanaians to vote for the best 3.

Second runner up, Percy Osei-Appiah tweeted that he had written a ‘spoken word’ song on bridging the gap between online and offline communication and needed support to shoot the video.

Ricky Ansong, the first runner up posted on Facebook that he had written a book about children in James Town-Accra and needed support to publish the book so he could distribute to the children.

The ultimate winner Lorna Tetteh, posted on Facebook that she needed financial support for her orphanage ‘Give them Hope’, which she runs with a group of friends.

Speaking at ceremony held on the University of Ghana campus, the Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Uche Ofodile, reiterated Vodafone Ghana’s commitment in providing Ghanaians with a reliable network that empowers everyone to stay confidently connected. This according to her is done by offering the best experience on our network.

She stressed that #DoMoreGh campaign is one of such initiatives Vodafone Ghana  introduced as part of its campaign to empower Ghanaians to achieve more with their lives.” She then congratulated the winners for nurturing great aspirations which will impact positively on society.

There were performances by Stonebwoi, Joey B, T Phlow and Ryan - the winner of the Vodafone Icons - Street Edition.  According to socialbakers.com, Vodafone remains the most engaged company on social media in Ghana. In March 2012, Vodafone Ghana was acknowledged by Bloggers Ghana for having the Best Social Media presence. 

Airtel launches ‘Go For It’ youth campaign:

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.

Telecom Namibia: new billing system goes live

Telecom Namibia has gone live with a new customer billing system implemented in partnership with Huawei.

The telco said the system has been switched on at the weekend, and was intended to provide better customer service and experience through new and more exciting offers.

The New Generation Business Support System (NGBSS) solution was supplied by Huawei Technologies, a global provider of next generation telecommunications network solutions. Telecom Namibia said: “With this world-class NGBSS solution going live, Telecom Namibia  is now able to bill for its postpaid, prepaid and hybrid services in real-time, and in one single bill for all services. This provides Telecom Namibia with sustainable advantages of rapid time-to-market, cost efficiency, and enhanced customer experience in today’s competitive environment.

The new system enables the company to launch innovative and unique products and services to the market, reduce time to market for new products and more importantly address issues previously experienced by customers around billing.”

This solution suite, implemented based on applications of industry best practices, include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), IP Contact Centre (IPCC), Convergent Billing System (CBS), Partner Relationship Management (PRM), Mediation and Provisioning.

ITU Telecom World 2013 sets agenda for change in ICT sector:

ITU Telecom World 2013 wrapped up this week following a packed programme of networking, knowledge sharing and industry showcasing. The event featured an impressive global line up of showfloor participants, sponsors and partners, including Ooredoo, China Mobile, Huawei, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, ABS, AT&T, Microsoft Lync, NTT Group, AIS Group, True, DTAC, Telkom South Africa, Rohde & Schwarz & LS Telecom. 

Pavilions from around the world highlighted opportunities for dynamic ICT investments to a global audience, featuring Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, China, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Lao P.D.R, Malaysia,  Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand (including supporting partners MICT, NBTC and TCEB), Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

“We have enjoyed four busy days of conversations, showcasing and networking at ITU Telecom World 2013,” said ITU Secretary General, Dr Hamadoun Touré. “We welcomed the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, organizations at the cutting edge of our ICT ecosystem as well as young innovators who are already helping shape the future. It has been my privilege to join such a truly broad global debate. As we prepare to return home to different corners of the globe, my overarching hope is that we can take the lessons learnt from our debates here and apply them directly in our lives. Let’s become true agents of change, working to change the world for the better.”

Hosted by the Kingdom of Thailand, ITU Telecom World 2013 convened over 6000 participants from 153 countries worldwide.

“It has been an honour to host ITU Telecom World 2013 and welcome its global participants, showcasing our ICT industry to the world, via all our many activities within the Thai pavilion,” said Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand. “Utilizing the platform that ITU Telecom World 2013 provides has helped us demonstrate and strengthen Thailand’s position as an ICT hub in the ASEAN region.’’

Optical network spending falls in third quarter: Infonetics Research:

Operator spending on optical network equipment has fallen over the July-September period, despite an increase in spending on WDM equipment, according to a new study from Infonetics Research.

“In the third quarter of 2013, sales of WDM optical equipment are up 4% from a year ago and remain at elevated levels reached earlier in the year, but overall optical spending is down on a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis,” said Andrew Schmitt, a principal analyst at Infonetics.

“Looking ahead, we expect Tier 1 carriers to dial back spending,” added Schmitt. “Capex was so strong in the first and second quarters of 2013, it’s unreasonable to anticipate a big flush in the fourth quarter, especially in North America.”

Citing general weakness in the current market environment, Infonetics notes that spending in the optical network hardware market is down 7% compared with the second quarter of 2013, and 1% compared with the third quarter of 2012.

The bright spot is the WDM sector, which notched up its fifth consecutive quarter of growth for the third quarter of 2013.

Geographically, North America seems to be holding up relatively well, having seen a 13.4% year-on-year increase in optical spending in the third quarter, following an 11.4% increase in the second.

That was driven, says Infonetics, by aggressive 100G deployments by Tier 1 players.

In the EMEA region, by contrast, WDM spending declined on both a year-on-year and sequential basis in the third quarter, while Japan was responsible for dragging down the Asia-Pacific optical market.

The report also indicates that Huawei (Shenzhen, China), Ciena (Hanover, MD, USA) and Alcatel-Lucent (Paris, France) were the WDM market share leaders in the third quarter.

Newcomers miss out in Czech 4G mobile licence auction:

The three existing Czech mobile operators, Telefonica Czech Republic, T-Mobile and Vodafone, won an auction of radio spectrum for 4G high-speed mobile data networks, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday.

The regulator, CTU, said two newcomers, Revolution Mobile and Sazka Telecommunications, did not win any frequencies - a surprise given that auction conditions included setting aside space for a fourth operator.

The sale raised 8.5 billion crowns ($420.44 million) for the Czech state budget.
"They (new entrants) followed a strategy that did not earn them any frequency," CTU spokesman Martin Drtina said.

Governments across Europe are rushing to roll out networks based on 4G's LTE (long-term evolution) technology, which enables faster mobile broadband access.

"Given the operators have been experimenting with LTE already, I gather that customers will be able to use really fast Internet on a mobile or tablet in a large part of the Czech Republic within one year," CTU Chairman Jaromir Novak said in a statement.

Telefonica Czech Republic (Prague, Czech Republic), which already covers significant parts of the capital Prague and second city Brno with LTE networks, said it would start building a 4G network in new locations in the first half of 2014.

It paid 2.8 billion crowns for its received frequencies, including 2.4 billion for two blocks in the important 800 MHz band.

T-Mobile (Prague, Czech Republic) also won two blocks in that bandwidth, paying 2.2 billion and 2.6 billion overall. Vodafone (Prague, Czech Republic) received one block in the 800 MHz band for 2.7 billion, paying 3.1 billion overall for frequencies.

Rostelecom grows earnings on broadband, TV demand:

Russian telecoms incumbent Rostelecom has flagged growth in revenues and profits on the back of rising demand for broadband and pay-TV services.

The state-controlled operator reported a 12% increase in net profit for the three months ending September, to RUB10.5 billion ($319 million), and a 2% rise in revenues, to RUB78.2 billion, compared with the same period of 2012.

“Efforts taken to strengthen our market positions in key segments and improve on our internal efficiency led to positive results during the quarter,” said Sergey Kalugin, Rostelecom’s (Moscow, Russia) president. “Not only do we continue to grow our broadband and pay-TV subscriber base, but we also increased our net income during the quarter.”

“Furthermore, all the necessary corporate procedures associated with the reogranisation of Rostelecom have been successfully executed, with Svyazinvest and a range of subsidiaries now merged with Rostelecom,” added Kalugin.

Rostelecom completed its reorganization on 1 October 2013, merging Svyazinvest and various other companies it controlled either directly or indirectly with OJSC Rostelecom, the operator’s parent company.

The company said its base of broadband customers grew by 10% between September 2012 and September 2013, to about 9.8 million customers, while the number of pay-TV customer it serves rose by the same percentage, to 7 million customers, over the same period.

Rostelecom also reported a 4% increase in the number of mobile customers it serves, to 14.1 million.

SAP and China Telecom to promote cloud services in China:

German software giant SAP has announced plans to expand its strategic partnership with China Telecom into the field of cloud computing.

Under the agreement, China Datacom – a joint venture between SAP and China Telecom subsidiary China Communication Services (CCS) – will offer SAP’s cloud services to businesses in China.

According to SAP’s statement, CCS will also become the first local customer of SAP’s cloud services.

SAP (Walldorf, Germany) and China Telecom (Beijing, China) originally teamed up in 2011 and have worked largely on promoting mobile development and device management.

They say the first cloud solutions they will make available will include a suite of “human capital management” (HCM) solutions from SuccessFactors, an SAP subsidiary, which would make SAP the first international software vendor to provide integrated cloud HCM offerings in China.

“Through the cooperation with China Telecom and CCS, we are now able to provide world-class cloud solutions from SAP to our customers in China, from a data center in China,” said Bill McDermott, SAP’s co-chief executive. “This is a significant milestone in our ‘Innovation in China for China’ strategy and our long-term commitment to the Chinese market.”

China Telecom described the strategic arrangement as a “win-win” that would allow each company to take advantage of the other’s resources and speed up the introduction of cloud services by Chinese enterprises.

“Currently, China Telecom has two major cloud bases in Inner-Mongolia and Guizhou Province, four data centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, as well as the end-to-end data capability covering Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania,” said Yang Jie, China Telecom’s president. “China Telecom’s high-quality and reliable cloud infrastructure and IaaS service will help ensure that the value of cloud solutions from SAP is fully demonstrated, which will support more Chinese enterprises in their technical transformation and business innovation with the market-leading, end-to-end cloud service.”

According to CCID Consulting, the move gives SAP the potential to become a “heavyweight” in the Chinese SaaS market.

“After nearly three years of market cultivation, China’s cloud computing market has moved from a speculative concept to becoming a real business opportunity,” said He Jian Ying, CCID Consulting’s vice president. “The cloud-based applications market in China is expected to grow at 34.6% and exceed RMB80 billion ($13.1 billion) by the end of 2013.”

Govt plans to defer spectrum auction in 900 MHz band:

The government plans to defer the auction of mobile phone spectrum in the 900 MHz band with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) finally veering around to the defence ministry's view that refarming of these premium airwaves would hit the communication network of the armed forces.

The wireless adviser in DoT has told representatives of the defence ministry that "though Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has recommended refarming of 900 MHz band, there are no plans of DoT to immediately adopt it", according to the minutes of the inter-ministerial meeting held in September.

Representatives of the defence forces have also conveyed that the proposed move to allow wider use of 800 MHz by GSM operators "is not agreeable as it will infringe on the defence band". Currently, this band is used only by CDMA players.

A DoT official said that the defence ministry fears that any change in the current set-up in 900 MHz or 800 MHz band would cause trouble in its communications network.

"They have asked for more time from us so that they can adjust their network accordingly," a telecom ministry official said.

The official explained that refarming or auctioning of 900 MHz or changing the natural composition of 800 MHz spectrum band for GSM could affect the communication network of the armed forces.

As there is no demand for 800 MHz band from CDMA operators, Trai has recommended that this band should also be offered to GSM players. This would increase competition and result in a higher price in the auction. However, owing to the protest by CDMA operators such as Russia's SSTL, the Centre is avoiding the issue and wants the next government to take a call.

Vodafone offers to pay Rs 4,000 cr for extension of licences:

Nation's second-largest telecom firm Vodafone India has offered to pay Rs 4,000 crore and a spectrum usage charge of 3 per cent for extension of permits for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas for 20 years.

At Rs 4,000 crore, Vodafone is offering about one fourth of TRAI's suggested price for the premium mobile airwaves.

Vodafone's three permits held for Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai are due to expire in the last quarter of 2014.

As per a decision taken by the government earlier, the company will have to buy spectrum afresh which it holds through these permits to continue operations.

The company has written a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who also heads the Empowered Group of Ministers on Telecom, to accept telecom regulator TRAI's recommendation of levying annual spectrum fee of 3 per cent on all operators.

"Vodafone had made an offer of Rs 4,000 crores to DoT at 3 per cent SUC (spectrum usage charges) for extension of its existing licences for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas for 20 years," Vodafone said in its letter to the Minister.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in September recommended about 62 per cent reduction in the price of premium 900 Mhz spectrum band held by Vodafone and others.

As per the telecom regulator's suggestions, spectrum should be sold at a base price of Rs 650 crore per megahertz.

Vodafone, which holds 23.8 Mhz spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas, has to pay Rs 15,470 crore at TRAI's suggested base price to continue operations in the three metros.