Bharti Airtel contemplates mobile service launch in South Africa and Cameroon (Africa)
India’s leading telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel may be planning to expand its network in South Africa and Cameroon, as learned through industry sources. Airtel is a dominant player in the mobile industry with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.
Mobile penetration has steadily been increasing in African countries, and with most of the global markets being saturated, emerging markets such as Africa provide mobile operators with new opportunities to increase their subscriber base and enhance their revenue.
Currently Airtel offers services in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. By adding South Africa and Cameroon, two of Africa’s fastest growing mobile economies to the list, Airtel aims to strengthen its position in Africa.
Airtel is the leading mobile operator in India and is well known for its innovative and competitive tariff pricing. The operator’s entry into these new markets is expected to take the mobile industry by storm and introduce an unprecedented level of competition.
Airtel presently offers services in 15 cities in India and with the population of one Indian city being similar to that of one African country, South Africa and Cameroon have the potential to be extremely lucrative for Bharti Airtel.
Further, sources claim that rival operators currently offering services in these economies such as MTN, Vodacom and Orange are already working on strategies to maintain their market share and offer stiff competition to Airtel.
ZTE preparing to head towards the exit door in DRC mobile joint venture
The China based ZTE is a major supplier of telecom gear in Africa; still, the firm is understood to be devising exit plans in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
ZTE is bracing up for the sale of its 51 percent stake in Congo China Telecom. The fourth largest telecom company telco in the DRC is partly owned by the government of DRC with 49 percent stakes in it.
Meanwhile, the DRC government is also mulling sale of its own stake in the telecom operator as part of a broader effort to divest some assets and transform more state-owned companies into private businesses.
ZTE facing operation problems is primarily attributed as the major cause for the company in the process of exiting the DRC mobile market.
Few international telecom operators have already shown interest to make forays into the DRC market, including South Africa’s MTN and France Telecom that see tremendous potential for growth in mobile phones; most of the towns and communities lack proper connectivity in terms of mobile communication.
The population in DRC stands at 70 million, with only 17 percent mobile penetration level.
MTN is looking at widening its geographical presence while France Telecom wants to establish itself in the DRC so as to cushion the impact of lower revenue in Europe, given that the DRC telecom market is by far less mature compared to other markets in African countries.
Meanwhile, France Telecom already operates in a number of African countries including Egypt, Cameroon, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Egypt. Apparently, France Telecom is the favorite to buy ZTE’s stake in China Congo Telecom whilst the company is expected to buy the government stake in the company to own it 100 percent. The combined transaction stands to run to close to $425 million.
Orange and Google join hands to offer Africa, related mobile services
France Telecom-Orange and Google have come together under the umbrella of a ratified partnership, looking to aid seamless access to Google’s services across the African continent, supported by Orange’s networks. Apparently, the companies are linked in a symbiotic relationship; users of mobile services offered by Orange stand to stay connected by way of Google services while a Google faithful can expand his network on the back of SMS-based services.
Senegal, Uganda and Kenya constitute the club of few countries that already enjoy the “Gmail SMS Chat” service. The Orange-Google partnership will see to the launch of the same service across Orange’s footprint in Africa as well as the Middle East. The launch in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Niger is slated for the coming months while Egypt (Mobinil) will witness the launch on a trial basis.
The companies are also considering encompassing other services as well, by way of their association.
Orange and Google are known to be building SMS-based services supported by all mobile networks while striving to augment the reach of a range of internet services to all Orange mobile customers that were previously limited to smartphone and broadband users.
Starcomms and its CEO part ways (Nigeria)
Starcomms is a CDMA network operator based in Nigeria. In an announcement, it said that Maher Qubain, its CEO/Managing Director is set to vacate his position in the company. Logan Pather who had come on board the company as Chief Operating Officer in February 2011, is also named by Starcomms as its Acting CEO and Managing Director.
According to Chairman Chief Maan Lababidi, Maher had joined Starcomms as early as 2002 when the company was still in its initial stages of development. The company was then operating as a fixed wireless operator in Lagos with 2,500 subscribers and 4 base stations. Since then the company has grown into a national telecommunication operator with a presence in 22 states, 31 cities, 175 towns, over 900 base stations and 1.6 million active subscribers.
On the other hand, Logan Pather, the Acting CEO had also held leadership positions since 1994, in the African telecoms market. He had rendered 5 years of service to Telkom South Africa, 3 years at Vodacom South Africa as Regional Manager. Eventually, he had joined MTN Cameroon as General Manager in 2001; later to become the CEO of Telecel in Zambia in 2004. In addition, he had served as Managing Director of Roamware Africa for the last 5 years.
New mobile licenses to be auctioned in growing market (Cameroon)
Cameroon has long been home to only two major mobile network operators. However, an auction for two more mobile licenses are in the offing; scheduled for the end of 2011. It is expected to give the telecom sector a new direction, according to sources.
It was revealed by the government in June 2011 that two additional mobile licenses would be auctioned by the close of 2011.
Experts believe that a lot might depend on the 2011 Cameroonian presidential election going smooth, devoid of major disruptions with regard to government operations; which is why details of the auctioning process have not yet been announced. Eventually, both MTN and Orange are expected to be impacted by these new entries. Apparently, they are exploring options to make forays into rural areas in a bid to maintain their market shares.
According to sources, the Essar Group and Etisalat are expected to bid for the licenses.
The Essar Group had asserted their intention in late October 2010 in bringing their yu mobile services brand to Cameroon. In addition, Etisalat and its MOOV brand based in UAE were also reported in September 2010 to have been major contenders to play a big role in augmenting price cuts by increasing competition in the telecom market. It is also expected that Yemba, an MVNO operating in Cameroon, that had 5,000 subscriptions in 2010 to reach as high as 79,000 by 2015.
Entries of two new players in the telecom space are expected to acquire 12.78 percent of the mobile market share by 2015. MTN and Orange are seen to be impacted whose current market shares stand at 50.7 percent and 36.5 percent respectively.
MTN to offer music across Africa
Music is big in Africa, and so is MTN – Africa’s leading mobile operator.
To capitalize on this competitive strength, MTN will now offer a much wider variety of world-class calibre music to our customers via our www.mtnplay.com digital content portal.
This follows the signing of an agreement with Content Connect Africa (CCA), an aggregator and provider of on and off-portal content.
CCA has a substantial catalogue of African musical content by artists in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya – among others. It also has rights to exclusive video content featuring a host of popular African artists including Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti and Busi Mhlongo.
Christian de Faria, MTN’s Senior Vice President for Commercial and Innovation, says there is a growing demand for digital content in Africa.
“More and more people in Africa and in the developed world are going online for entertainment content. With Africa’s mobile penetration now at approximately 50% of the 1 billion population, MTN sees a huge opportunity in music content being delivered on people’s mobile handsets via our www.mtnplay.com digital content portal,” says De Faria.
He explains that the African consumer, with an estimated spending power of $1.4 trillion by 2020, has become highly aspirational with a taste for world-class goods and services over the last few years.
Through its deal with CCA, MTN will offer a wide selection of music content which will be available as full tracks and CallerTunez.
CCA’s vast catalogue includes recording labels such as AS Entertainment, Godfather (specializing in Nigerian content), Al Records (East and West Africa content) and Soulistic Music which features top DJs like Black Coffee.
“Connect Africa is passionate about music from our continent. We have always strived to be ahead of the pack when it comes to representing African music, offering our artists and labels a bouquet of services from content to marketing, sponsorship and digital management. We are delighted to work with MTN Play to deliver this content to the rest of Africa” says Antos Stella, Managing Director for Content Connect Africa.
4G Cameroon introduces operations (Africa)
4G Cameroon has introduced its operation in Cameroon under the brand name YooMee. The wireless network covers Douala. Yaounde will be operational during the summer. YooMee’s mission will be to offer affordable, reliable and state-of-the-art internet access in Cameroon.
YooMee services are designed for the residential and SME markets, as well as governmental entities. The product range includes various types of wireless broadband internet access.
According to CEO Dov Bar-Gera, the company offers a variety of services using either a mobile internet USB key, or a stationary desktop device. The service offering will start with CFA 1000 for monthly 90 minutes and goes up to an unlimited subscription. The download speed of YooMee is 640 kbps, compared to market offerings of 256 kbps or lower.
YooMee’s services are based on mobile Wimax (16E), upgradable to LTE, should it be necessary. 4G Africa AG, a private Swiss company, was founded in 2009 by a team of telecom entrepreneurs active in emerging countries for the last decade. The team includes the founders of a wireless broadband operator in Europe, which deployed over 200 base stations in Austria, Slovakia and Croatia, and acquired thousands of customers.
MTN teams up with MTV for youth documentary series (Africa)
MTN has joined forces with MTV Networks in a pan-African multimedia campaign designed to inspire African youth by connecting them with some of the world’s most influential personalities.
The companies are partnering to produce MTV Base Meets…with MTN, an eight-part TV series that creates a dialogue between young people and political, business and cultural leaders.
The documentary series will allow Africa’s young minds to put probing questions to influential, inspirational and sometimes controversial individuals.
Among the people who will feature in the series are Liberian President Madame Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Africa’s first and only elected female head of state), Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and South African politician Julius Malema (President of the ANC Youth League).
A diverse panel of young people representing different youth interests will be assembled from across the African continent, with participants coming from Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, among others.
African youth will be encouraged to nominate influencers and submit their proposed questions for the programme via a dedicated MTV base Meets…with MTN website or via their mobile handsets.
MTN Q1 subscriber base grows by 4% (South Africa)
MTN Group has recored 147.3 million subscribers at 31 March, an increase of 4% from 141.6 million subscribers on 31 December 2010.
The group continued to perform well despite aggressive competition and heightened political unrest in certain countries in the Middle East and West Africa, MTN said in a trading update. Data, including SMS, continued its strong growth trajectory.
In South Africa, smartphones account now account for 11 percent of the postpaid and 1.5 percent of the prepaid base. Mobile money subscribers also increased by 5 percent to 4.6 million when compared to December 2010. The service is now active in 12 MTN markets, of which five are in pilot phase. In Uganda, mobile money revenues contributed more than 3.5 percent of total country revenue for the quarter.
According to the company, the South and East Africa region increased its subscriber base by 3.2 percent in the quarter. South Africa contributed 58 percent to the region’s subscribers, increasing by 1.9 percent to 19.197 million customers at the end of March.
It added that the growth was slower than expected as a result of higher prepaid disconnections due mainly to seasonality, although some distribution difficulties also contributed. Uganda increased its subscriber base by 6.9 percent to 6.908 million, maintaining its leadership position in an increasingly competitive market.
The West and Central Africa region increased its subscriber base by 3.4 percent for the quarter. Nigeria recorded a 4 percent increase in its subscriber base to 40.2 million as competitor campaigns and promotions stepped up.
MTN responded by introducing new segmented tariff plans and bundled offerings in late January.
Ghana also increased its subscriber base by 4 percent to 9.07 million, maintaining its market share as competition intensified. This was due to competitive offers in the market, improved churn management as well as the introduction of attractive data packages.
Cameroon recorded a loss of 203,000 customers following a regulatory requirement to disconnect 306,000 unregistered subscribers at the end of March. Cote d’Ivoire increased its subscriber base only marginally to 5.406 million, mainly as a result of the political and social instability.
Following a dispute relating to fees allegedly owed to the authorities in Guinea Conakry, a presidential decree has placed the company and its assets under the administration of the regulator. MTN stated that its operations in Guinea Conakry, Areeba, are negotiating in good faith with the government, and the company is confident it will reach an amicable solution.
The MENA region recorded a 5.5 percent increase in subscribers for the quarter. The growth within the region was largely attributable to Iran which contributes 66 percent to the region’s subscribers and which increased its subscribers by 5.5 percent to 31.4 million.
Syria increased its subscribers by less than 1 percent to 4.9 million.
Orange offers two SMS-based e-health projects in Africa
Orange has launched two SMS-based e-health operations in Cameroon, which it intends to spread throughout its footpring on the continent and in the Middle East.
The first, with Dutch NGO Text To Change, uses text messaging to raise awareness and provide an alert system on child exploitation.
Orange and Text to Change will launch a survey on child trafficking and sexual exploitation by sending SMS messages containing facts and questions to around 200,000 Orange subscribers in western Cameroon.
Feedback from the survey will then be used by the International Circle for the protection of creation (CIPCRE) to broadcast a series of educational radio programmes on the issue aimed at challenging taboos surrounding this widespread problem.
In parallel, a free SMS reporting system will be set-up, allowing people to report cases of child abuse anonymously. This initiative, which is awaiting regulatory approval, is due to start up in May 2011.
The second initiative, in partnership with mPedigree and launching in both Cameroon and Kenya, intends to develop an SMS system enabling people to verify the authenticity of their medicines.
MPedigree is a pan-African organisation operating through partnerships in the telecom, pharmaceutical and computing industries. The project involves printing a unique verification code, which is hidden behind a scratchable surface layer, on each packet or bottle of medicine.
Patients can then submit this code via SMS in order to automatically check the authenticity of the drug against a database managed in Europe by mPedigree’s partners.
