Wireless Federation

Bharti Airtel contemplates mobile service launch in South Africa and Cameroon (Africa)

On 01.02.12, In Mobile, By Editor

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.

MTN Uganda and American Tower to form joint venture (Uganda)

On 12.09.11, In Mobile, By Editor

American Tower Corporation, a leading provider of wireless and broadcast towers worldwide, is reportedly planning to start a joint venture with MTN Uganda. According to reports, the joint venture titled ATC Uganda will acquire as many as 1,000 mobile data towers of MTM in Uganda at a price of US$ 175 million.

Further, sources suggest that American Tower is expected to have a 51 percent stake in the new venture with MTN controlling the remaining 49 percent stake. Reports reveal that Jim Taiclet, CEO and Chairman, American Tower has said that their strategy is to invest in select African markets with strong wireless growth potential and a positive investment climate. As per sources, the joint venture is expected to add 280 new towers for MTN Uganda in the next three years.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: American Tower Corporation • mobile tower • MTN Uganda • Uganda

Uganda government to renew licence based on Quality of Service (Africa)

On 11.22.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Uganda’s telecom companies have reportedly been issued a warning that the licence renewal applications will be considered on the basis of the quality of service (QoS) offered. According to reports, Nyombi Thembo, State Minister (Information Technology), has said that there is no way they will renew a licence for a player offering poor services. He added that the government’s aim is to guarantee value for money by driving improvements in the quality of the services offered to the customers.

As per sources, the report on QoS released by the Uganda Communication Commission last week reflected the poor performance of all the mobile network operators in the region wherein all six operators exceeded the maximum 2 percent rate of calls blocked or dropped. A blocked call is a failed call attempt due to network failure, where as a dropped call is one which gets connected successfully but is terminated ahead of time by the provider. MTN Uganda had the highest number of blocked at 11.1 percent while Airtel Uganda had the highest number of blocked calls at 15.2 percent.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Airtel • licence renewal • MTN • Nyombi Thembo • Quality of Service • Uganda • Uganda Telecom

MTN and Visa offer new m-payment services (Africa)

On 11.18.11, In Mobile, By Editor

South African operator MTN has reportedly tied up with Visa in order to provide m-payment services to unbanked users in emerging markets. According to reports, the service, known as Visa Mobile Prepaid, will be initially marketed in Nigeria and Uganda, as part of its existing mobile wallet service.

As per sources, Aletha Ling, COO, Fundamo (Visa) said that the service provides users with a new set of transaction options such as withdraw money from ATMs, transfer money, and pay bills as though they are using a typical card. She added that customers will not be able to use the product if there is no money in their mobile wallet, similar to a debit card, which is why Visa is describing it as ‘prepaid’.

Ling also said that they provide the solution to operators as well as the banks. Operators, in partnership with a bank, will be able to offer this feature as a value-added service under their brand.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: M-Payment • Mobile payment • MTN • Niger • Nigeria • South Africa • Uganda • Visa • Visa Mobile Prepaid

MTN Ghana, Yemen and Uganda implement International Airtime Transfers (Africa)

On 11.11.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Africa’s leading telecommunications operator, MTN Group has reportedly begun the implementation of its International Airtime Transfer (IAT) in partnership with TransferTo, a global airtime remittance hub that interconnects mobile operators’ prepaid systems, enabling the transfer of small amounts of value in the form of prepaid mobile credits.

According to reports, the partnership will provide MTN customers access to prepaid services so as to receive airtime transfers from the TransferTo IAT network around the world. Sources suggest that currently MTN’s companies in Uganda, Ghana and Yemen have integrated their operations with TransferTo, with other MTN operators expected to follow soon.

As per sources, the airtime services will enable all TransferTo partners along with the general public abroad, to send top-ups to MTN users in Ghana, Yemen and Uganda. Further, mobile users on partner networks will be able to use their handsets to send airtime to MTN prepaid customers, while those who haven’t yet subscribed to TransferTo can do the same via its website.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Ghana • International Airtime Transfer Service • MTN Ghana • Prepaid Service • TransferTo • Uganda • Yemen

Bharti Airtel signs deal with Nokia to expand 3G services in Africa

On 10.13.11, In Mobile, Mobile Operators, By Editor

Bharti Airtel, a leading telecom operator has signed a contract reportedly worth $ 700 million with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its 2G network and deploy and manage 3G services in Africa.

As per the agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will manage all network operations as well as provide energy-efficient base stations for Airtel in seven African countries including Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Congo Brazzaville. In an attempt to increase its subscriber base, Airtel has been expanding its presence in Africa’s rural regions.

According to reports, Manoj Kohli Airtel’s CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director said that this partnership will further enable them to rapidly expand their network coverage and provide high-speed wireless internet connectivity to their customers. Further, Nokia Siemens Networks, Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri said that they look forward to working closely with Airtel to expand its network rapidly and deliver the right innovative products and services to help meet user demands.

Filed under:Mobile,Mobile Operators Tagged with: 3G • Africa • Bharti Airtel • Congo Brazzaville • Kenya • Madagascar • Malawi • Monaj Kohli • Nokia • Tanzania • Uganda • Zambia

Airtel plans to suspend communication agreement with UTL (Uganda)

On 09.01.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Bharti Airtel plans to terminate all calls made and received from UTL to its Uganda unit, owing to failure of repayment of debts. Uganda Telecom owes Airtel a sum of approximately $3.5 million in outstanding fees and court fines. Sources claim Mr Ruhakana Rugunda, the minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), summoned Airtel’s managing director Mr V.G Somasekhar, in an attempt to stop Airtel from terminating these calls.

Airtel had already filed three court cases against UTL in December last year. Reports suggest that Mr Joseph Kanyamunyu, Airtel’s spokesman said the Indian-owned firm will not lift the termination until UTL clears the debt. In the event that communication is suspended between Airtel and UTL, a subscriber base of at least 4.5 million users will be affected on both networks.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: Bharti Airtel • India • Uganda • UTL

Orange and Google join hands to offer Africa, related mobile services

On 07.28.11, In Mobile, By Editor

google-orange-logos

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.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Cameroon • Egypt • France • Kenya • Niger • operator • Senegal • Uganda

WiMAX networks names its new chief executive officer

On 06.30.11, In Mobile, By Editor

WiMAX networks are managed by Augere Holdings under the umbrella of the Qubee brand. Former Vodafone Ghana CEO, David Venn has been named its new chief executive officer. Previously, Sanjiv Ahuja was the CEO of the operator.

Sanjiv Ahuja keeps the executive chairman of Augere position. His primary role will now be chairman and CEO LightSquared, the LTE network based in the USA though.

David had also carried out responsibilities as CEO of Celtel Zambia prior to being appointed CEO of Vodafone Ghana.

Harbinger Capital, France Telecom, New Silk Route and Vedanta Opportunity Fund as well as its founder, Sanjiv Ahuja constitute the principal shareholders of Augere.

At the moment Augere holds spectrum access in Pakistan, Bangladesh, the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in India, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania while aggressively going after spectrum in Africa and Asia.

Under the Qubee brand, Augere had launched its first commercial wireless network in Pakistan in July 2009. Then the Bangladesh network had followed in October 2009. As of mid 2011, Augere operates widely reaching wireless networks. Its network is powered by more than 650 radio base stations and serves more than 100,000 broadband customers.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Bangladesh • France • Ghana • India • operator • Pakistan • Rwanda • Tanzania • Uganda • USA • Zambia

Airtel Africa donates $196,324 for schools

On 05.27.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Airtel Africa has announced that it has donated US$196,324 towards a supplementary feeding program in Kenya which aims to target 25,000 school children from drought-stricken parts of the country, over a period of six months.

The donation will be used by Red Cross Society to offer Unimix – a highly nutritious corn and soya blend – to students from over 250 schools. The evolving drought coupled with poor rainfall this season has resulted in drier than normal conditions, spreading hunger and sickness across many parts of the Kenya.

As a result, families have been forced to pull children out of school as they migrate in search of water and pasture. In fact, according to statistics from the United Nations, the drought has already forced some 10,000 Kenyan pastoralists and 30,000 livestock to cross the border to Uganda in the hope of finding food. In addition, parts of Samburu, Turkana and Pokot are experiencing heightened inter-community conflict – leading to increased school dropouts -because of the competition for the quickly dissipating resources. The donation will be spread evenly across the 10 target districts, covering approximately nine schools in each district.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Africa • Kenya • operator • Uganda