Bharti and Reliance Jio announce comprehensive telecom infrastructure sharing arrangement:

Reliance Industries, set to launch 4G services into the highly competitive telecoms market, has signed a deal with the country's largest telecoms operator Bharti Airtel, to share telecom infrastructure.

The two companies will share inter and intra-city optic fibre network, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services.

The arrangement may be extended in future to roaming services on 2G, 3G and 4G platforms, and any other mutually benefiting areas relating to telecommunication, the two companies said.

"The cooperation is aimed at avoiding duplication of infrastructure, wherever possible, and to preserve capital and the environment," Bharti said in a statement.

The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, but an identical statement by both companies said the pricing would be at "arm's length, based on prevailing market rates".

Reliance Industries, controlled by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, plans to roll out a nationwide 4G network as part of its foray into telecoms. The company's unit Reliance Jio Infocomm won airwaves in 2010, but is yet to start commercial services.

Telecom Namibia cuts tariffs:

Telecom Namibia’s lower tariffs have come into effect.

From 1 December, the tariffs for international calls have dropped by an average of 9%, with local call costs down by up to 15%.

Telecom Namibia says in a statement: “We have made it our goal at Telecom Namibia to make telecommunication most affordable to consumers of our services and products.

It is a pleasure to announce the new reduced tariffs to our consumers for the 2013/14 financial year with effect from 1 December 2013. This is part of the company’s efforts to stimulate traffic to key international destinations and facilitate economic growth and development. It is also important to note that there have been reductions in international settlement rates over the past years and it is necessary to pass these savings to consumers in order to stimulate demand for international calling services.”

Peak tariff for calls to RSA mobile destinations have been slashed by 8% while the off-peak RSA mobile and RSA fixed call charges were kept unchanged.

Peak tariffs for calls to Angola, Germany, UK, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, France and Kenya have been cut by an average of 10% while off-peak tariffs to the same destinations will be lowered by average 8.5% for both fixed and mobile destinations.

Call tariffs for the USA and Rest of the World have been reduced by 9% both mobile and fixed line destinations.

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.

CCK, operators to decide use of Universal Service Fund:

Kenya is wrapping up plans to unveil the much-awaited Universal Service Fund, which aims to spread ICTs to the remote areas.

According to the Communications Commission of Kenya, already a bank account has been opened and Sh1billion deposited towards the fund.

"The council is meeting to determine where the funds will be used and to choose who will implement it,” CCK director-general Francis Wangusi said when he appeared before Kenya's Parliamentary committee on Energy, Communications and Information.

Wangusi said CCK and mobile phone companies will discuss and launch modalities that will guide the fund.

Already, Safaricom, Orange, yuMobile and Airtel, are meeting with the regulator under the Universal Service Advisory Council to iron out issues that had threatened to scuttle the fund’s administration.

The fund was set up almost five years ago to help step up telecommunication infrastructure in rural and remote areas, which are normally considered financially unviable. However a squabble between CCK and the mobile operators on how to run the fund has delayed its implementation which Parliament wants to unhinge.

The mobile firms had protested their exclusion from the fund’s board, resulting in the parliamentary committee summoning Wangusi to explain why the fund was still dormant almost half a decade since it was set up.

Telecoms: Ghana to increase levy on international calls

Ghana is seeking to amend its Communications Service Tax law passed in 2008 to increase levies on international calls and data transmission using internet

The Amendment Bill, which was initially thrown out of the country's parliament by members for lack adequate consultation, is also seeking to address revenue loss as a result of loopholes in that regulation.

Meanwhile, the legislators and telecommunication industry players are sharply divided over the move, calling for a truncation of the process because consumers would be hard hit.

The minority group in parliament had cautioned the government about the move, saying it may be breaching international regulations if it goes ahead to tax the public for receiving international calls.

The government seeks to charge six cents on every minute of calls originating from outside Ghana. 

It says it is losing close to Ghȼ45 million ($22.1 million) every month due to irregular and fraudulent activities in the sector.

Telecom operators in the country are to allow the government access to monitor the accruing revenues and if a company refuses to pay the tax after the first 30 days, it will attract a penalty of 5 percent of annual gross revenue of the last audited financial statement. 

The national communication authority can withdraw the licence of an operator who fails to pay the tax after 90 days.

Opare Ansah, a lawmaker and an IT expert speaking to a local FM station in Accra, said telecom companies had prevailed in a High Court ruling on inter-connectivity and therefore, passing a bill on an illegality could be declared null and void by the Supreme Court.

Somali telecom industry under global radar

The Somali Minister of Information, Posts, Telecommunication and Transport, HE Abdullahi E Hersi (Elmog) attended the Mobile World Congress summit in Barcelona on the 25 to 27th of Feb 2013. At this conference, he met many global telecom and ICT Industry leaders, including many Ministers and heads of International Organizations such as the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), ATU (African Telecommunication Union) and GSMA.

The Minister, HE Abdullahi E Hersi  accompanied by his advisor Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim had an informative discussion with the ITU Sec General and members of his staff where they spoke at length about the recent developments of the Somali telecommunication sector. They talked about how this it would greatly impact the rebuilding of Somalia and also of the legal implications it may have in this sector with regards to inter-connectivity, the Somali gateway, access to the Fibre networks, a national number plan, spectrum usage and provision of universal service for the whole Somali community in Somalia and not just major cities.

This was a follow-up meeting from the December WCIT 2012 event in Dubai where Somali has signed in the International Regulatory Treaty, which means as a signatory; the Somali government has both rights and obligations under the rules that govern international telecommunication. A subsequent meeting is scheduled next month in Geneva where the ITU and representatives from the Somali government will finalize and start implementing the action plans discussed in Dubai. The Somali Telecom Industry is now under the radar of the global telecom industry, as well as international laws and regulations that govern this industry.

Somalia has made huge strides in recent months with the start of its national newspaper, plans to begin Postal Services and now the newest milestone with the developments in the telecommunication sector. For the Somali people, this is welcoming news because it now gives them unprecedented access to a transparent system that governs the telecommunication sector; for the telecom operators, they are now bound and protected by the international rules and regulations.