Kenya

Telkom Kenya shifts focus for 2010 following net loss

On 03.10.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In an attempt to recover, following a net loss of KES10 billion (USD124.6 million) in 2009, Telkom Kenya has announced that it will shift its strategic focus in 2010. Revenue of KES11 billion was generated by the company but due to higher levels of competition it turned to net loss.

The profit level of the industry also plunged when the operators dropped their prices to gain market share.

According to Telkom Kenya CEO, Mickael Ghossein, the company had encountered severe conditions in the last trading year that had affected its ability to generate profits and so the company has turned its focus on providing quality services, innovating and providing value for money.

The company has also planned to move the market towards true broadband connectivity, offering speeds of up to 8Mbps.

Orange Kenya launches fixed-line redundancy service

On 03.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Orange Kenya’s fixed line users can now enjoy full service on the operators copper fixed line service as the operator’s fixed-line redundancy solution has gone live. The solution has been developed to ensure full service availability for Orange Fixed customers and has been unveiled as company’s aim to upgrade the network.

The move will ensure that full service is available for customers in case of copper cable cuts or any other form of service disruption. According to CEO Mickael Ghossein, with the new solution in place and in the event of any downtime on the Orange fixed service, all call traffic will be automatically rerouted to any working Orange Fixed line, Orange Fixed Plus or Orange Mobile lines ensuring business continuity.

Four alternate lines can now be provided by the company to which phone calls can be forwarded to if their normal line is not picked up within a reasonable time as a result of vandalism or an inadvertent service interruption. Postpaid customers will also be offered handsets.

Tagged with: Africa • Kenya • Launch • Orange • Orange Kenya

MWC2010: Zain wins ‘Mobile Money for the Unbanked Service’ award

On 02.18.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The inaugural GSMA’s 2010 ‘Mobile Money for the Unbanked Service’ award at the Mobile World Congress has been won by Zain, a leading mobile network operator in the Middle East and Africa. The Global Mobile Awards in this category has been given for Zain’s mobile commerce service called ‘Zap’.

To recognize innovative mobile banking around the world, the Mobile Money for the Unbanked Service has been established, pioneering the roll out of low-cost financial services to millions of people, in countries where traditional financial services are either not within easy reach or unavailable.

Launched exactly one year ago on February 16, 2009, Zap, is the biggest Mobile Commerce service in the world accessible to approximately 200 million potential customers in Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana. It provides the most comprehensive and accessible package of m-commerce features currently available anywhere in the world.

Tagged with: Africa • Ghana • GSM • GSMA • Kenya • Launched • Malawi • Middle East • Mobile Banking • Mobile World Congress • MWC2010 • Sierra Leone • Tanzania • Uganda • Zain

Vodacom South Africa to launch Mobile Money service

On 02.16.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The mobile money service, M-PESA will be introduced in South Africa by Vodacom and its South African banking partner. The new service will enable 26 million mobile phone subscribers in South Africa who have access to a mobile phone, but do not have or have only limited access to a bank account, to send and receive money via their mobile phones.

Vodafone developed the M-PESA service which has already been deployed by Safaricom in Kenya, Vodacom in Tanzania and Roshan in Afghanistan (branded M-Paisa).

According to Cenk Serdar, Director of Mobile Payments at Vodafone Group, the successful take-up of M-PESA in Kenya has clearly demonstrated the demand for easily accessible, secure payment services particularly in emerging markets and mobile technology in Africa has already improved the lives of millions simply by allowing them to communicate far beyond their immediate surroundings

Tagged with: Africa • Kenya • M-Pesa • mobile money • Mobile Money Service • Safaricom • Tanzania • Vodacom • Vodafone

Vodafone introduces ultra low cost handsets

On 02.16.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: To enable millions of people in the developing world to experience the connectivity a mobile phone can offer, two new ultra low cost handsets has been launched by Vodafone.

Vodafone 150 and the Vodafone 250 offer voice and SMS services, polyphonic ringtones, 2 integrated games, a vibrating alert, memory for up to 100 phonebook entries, a 500mAh battery (up to 400 hours standby and up to 5 hours talk time) and it will operate on GSM 900/1800.

The handsets will be launched in India, Turkey, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Qatar, South Africa and Tanzania at a price of US$15 and US$20 respectively.

According to Patrick Chomet, Vodafone’s Group Director of Terminals, the cost of mobile handsets can be one of the most significant barriers for people in accessing and benefiting from the growing number of socially valuable mobile services.

Tagged with: Africa • ASIA • Congo • ebook • Ghana • India • Kenya • Launch • Lesotho • Mozambique • North America • South Africa • Tanzania • ultra low cost handsets • Vodafone

Vodafone to supply low-Cost mobiles to its emerging markets

On 02.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A couple of low-cost mobile phones will be started by Vodafone that will retail, without a subsidy, for less than US$20 each. India, Turkey and 8 markets in Africa – The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Qatar, South Africa and Tanzania will receive the phones initially.

An extensive logistics infrastructure, reaching deep rural segments where mobile penetration typically remains low will support the launches in order to maximize the availability of the handsets across countries with sizeable and isolated rural populations.

According to Patrick Chomet, Vodafone’s Group Director of Terminals, the cost of mobile handsets can be one of the most significant barriers for people in accessing and benefiting from the growing number of socially valuable mobile services and the lives of the people will be changed and improved as they become part of the mobile society.

Tagged with: Africa • ASIA • Congo • Democratic Republic of Congo • Ghana • India • Kenya • Qatar • Tanzania • Turkey • Vodafone

Kenyan operators ask govt to lower 3G prices

On 02.10.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Due to the sustained pressure from the operators, Kenyan government is considering a reduction in the cost of 3G licenses.

Earlier on January 7, 2010 the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) had rejected calls from Telkom Kenya and Zain to lower the USD25 million fees on the grounds that Safaricom had already paid the full amount for a concession. The operators opposed the government decision on the grounds that that the current fee would prove prohibitive to the deployment of 3G services.

According to Ndemo, they will do everything possible to ensure that they have created the necessary competitive environment, even if it means that they revise the cost to reasonable levels and if they decide that they are lowering, they would have some mechanisms to ensure that Safaricom does not lose its money.

Tagged with: 3G • Africa • Kenya • Ndemo • operator • Safaricom • Telkom Kenya • Zain

Safaricom & KPLC sign fibre-optic cable deal

On 02.04.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Safaricom entered into a deal with Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) to lease fibre-optic cable capacity across its national network. With this deal, the company will come on a par with backbone operators such as Telkom and Kenya Data Networks.

Under the deal, a fibre-optic pair on KPLC’s 1,500km Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) system will be operated by Safaricom as built across the national power grid.

According to Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph, with this new fibre system, they are entering a new realm as a data carrier which will be a major complement to the massive investments made in the country’s main undersea cable ventures and will definitely be offering a better end-to-end data proposition to both retail and wholesale customers.

Tagged with: Africa • fibre-optic • Kenya • KPLC • operator • Safaricom

3G license fee remain US$25 million in Kenya

On 01.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Even after repeated requests from the mobile networks to lower the fees for 3G licenses, ¬Kenya’s telecoms regulator, the CCK, announced that the amount will remain Sh1.9 billion (US$25 million).

Even though Safaricom acquired a license in 2007 for the full fee of US$25 million in 2007, other operators feel that the price is too high for the market. If the new operators are offered the license at a lower price, Safaricom would seek a refund.

Mobile operator Zain has also applied for a license, planning a network launch in the first half of this year. Zain had 2.4 million subscribers in Kenya while Safaricom had 13.8 million subscribers at the end of June.

Tagged with: 3G • Africa • Kenya • North America • operator • Safaricom • U.S • Zain

Zain’s money transfer service reaches West Africa

On 01.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After a huge success of the concept of mobile money transfer in East Africa and particularly Kenya, Zain has announced to expand its mobile commerce service Zap to Niger, Sierra Leone and a full commercial pilot project in Malawi.

With this move, six African markets would be covered by the service with a combined population of 150 million people. The concept launched in February last year would complement the financial services sector in the continent as the mobile phone users will be able to send and receive money, pay for services as well as interact with their bank accounts using the service.

According Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group chief executive, the expansion of the service is an important step in pushing the boundaries of mobile communications and with the kind of impact the Zap had in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, similar impact is hoped by Zain in Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone, where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban hubs.

Zain has entered into a partnership with the National Bank of Malawi (NBM) and NBS Banks in Malawi, EcoBank in Niger and Zenith Bank in Sierra Leone besides working with Citibank and Standard Chartered in East Africa.

Tagged with: Africa • East Africa • Kenya • Malawi • mobile money • Mobile Money Transfer • Niger • Sierra Leone • Tanzania • Uganda • West Africa • Zain Group

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31