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.
WiMAX networks names its new chief executive officer
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.
Airtel Africa donates $196,324 for schools
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.
Foris Telecom Operates Alvarion® 4G Network in Uganda and Mozambique (US)
Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALVR), the world’s leading provider of 4G networks in the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) market, today announced that Foris Telecom, a mobile broadband Internet and applications service provider, has successfully launched its 4G network in Mozambique and Kampala, Uganda. The network, operating in the 2.5 GHz frequency range, is the first 4G deployment in Uganda and Mozambique.
“Alvarion’s best-of-breed solution allows us to meet the specific demands of the African market”
“Alvarion’s best-of-breed solution allows us to meet the specific demands of the African market,” said Dov Slook, CEO and Chairman of Foris Telecom. “Given the countries’ struggle to connect to the Maritime cable, Alvarion’s cost-effective solutions enable us to offer our existing and new customers 4G broadband services at very competitive rates.”
The network will provide broadband connectivity to residential and business users as well as local municipalities. This deployment will contribute to the economic growth of the region and help bridge the digital divide.
“We are pleased to join forces with Foris Telecom to provide 4G wireless broadband services in Uganda and Mozambique,” said Eran Gorev, president and CEO of Alvarion. “With more than 70 commercial 4G deployments across Africa, we have strong experience enabling broadband services in the region. We are committed to supporting Foris Telecom in building a future-proof network that will deliver high speed data services to the market.”
About Foris Telecom Group Ltd.
Foris Telecom, a global applications provider over its own wireless mobile broadband network, provides broadband access at dramatically reduced prices, bringing the benefits of high-speed internet services and applications to mass populations in its target markets. Partnering with global players such as banks, surveillance companies, content companies (TV content) in emerging markets to foster their transition to information societies and knowledge economies, Foris Telecom is a leader in promoting digital inclusion in these regions.
About Alvarion
Alvarion (NASDAQ:ALVR) is a global 4G communications leader with the industry’s most extensive customer base, including hundreds of commercial 4G deployments. Alvarion’s industry leading network solutions for broadband wireless technologies WiMAX, TD-LTE and WiFi, enable broadband applications for service providers and enterprises covering a variety of industries such as mobile broadband, residential and business broadband, utilities, municipalities and public safety agencies. Through an open network strategy, superior IP and OFDMA know-how, and ability to deploy large scale end-to-end turnkey networks, Alvarion is delivering the true 4G broadband experience today (www.alvarion.com)
Samsung to open regional headquarters in Kenya
Samsung is planning to set up its regional headquarters in Nairobi before the end of August as it seeks to capture this market and grow its revenues.
Once in place, the regional headquarters will serve East and Central Africa. The firm has an office in Kenya that oversees operations in Uganda and Tanzania but it is not autonomous and still has to get its budget and targets from the global headquarters.
This will change with the setting up of a full subsidiary headquarters with the mandate to set targets and raise its own budgets. The move is also expected to reduce decision-making time and build closer ties by providing faster support services to partners in the region, to culminate with a new assembly plant in the near future.
Currently, Samsung operations in East and Central Africa are worth USD 250 million but the company wants to increase this to USD 2 billion by 2015.
According to Robert Ngeru, Samsung’s East Africa business leader, the company will increase its workforce by 30 percent to a total of 100 employees when it puts up the regional headquarters.
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.
GreenNet launch delayed (Libya)
If reports are to be believed, the planned launch of GreenNet Sierra Leone,has been delayed by the ongoing crisis in Libya.
According to Sierra Leone’s minister of information and communication, Ibrahim Kargbo, GreenNet, which is 100 percent owned by Libyan government-owned investment vehicle Libyan Africa Portfolio (LAP), has temporarily suspended its operations due to the unrest in Libya.
The company had planned to launch GSM services in Sierra Leone by 27 April, having made the first official call over its GSM network in February.
LAP holds telecoms licences in six other African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Niger, Cote D’Ivoire and Togo.
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.
Uganda Telecom intends to appeal court ruling over MTN fees
Uganda Telecom (UTL) has announced its intention to appeal the court ruling ordering it to pay UGX 5 billion in fees and interest to MTN Uganda.
According to Stanley Henning, the deputy MD, the company is very disappointed with the ruling made by the High Court, and it’s contemplating lodging an appeal very soon.
UTL plans to file its appeal to the High Court within the 14 days in which it was ordered to pay the money. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire on 27 April ordered UTL to make the payment as part of the money owed to MTN in interconnect fees for 2008 and 2009.
UTL ordered to pay MTN $2.1 bn (Uganda)
A Uganda court has ordered Uganda Telecom to pay MTN US$2.10billion as part of interconnect fees owed for the period 2008-2009.
Head of the Commercial Court, Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire ruled against UTL in the principal sum of US$1.47 billion, with interest up to October 2008 amounting to US$631,500, and additional interest of 19% on the full amount until payment is made in full.
As per reports, the court also awarded MTN Uganda damages of US$42,100. MTN last month issued a public notice against Uganda Telecom over US$8.42 million in unpaid interconnect fees collected from subscribers but not remitted to MTN as per their contract.
MTN sued for US$1.46 and claimed interest at a rate of 19% per annum, which as of October 2008 stood at US$631,500.
MTN also sought general damages of UGX 500 million. UTL in its defence said it did not owe any money as the traffic was deemed to be international traffic charged at a different rate, but in his ruling Justice Kiryabwire said traffic originating from MTN to UTL code +256477xxx is local traffic and not international.
MTN meanwhile has another case in court against UTL for the sum of US$3.03 million, and the court noted that the contentious issues in the second case are the same as those in the first case.
Kirywabwire advised both parties to enter into a consent judgement on the grounds that the issues in contention are similar to the ones in the case just concluded in MTN’s favour. He then ordered both parties to do a reconciliation of the figures in question out of court and report back on 23 May for hearing.
