WI-FI ROLLOUT INTEGRAL TO ADDRESSING AFRICA’S DIGITAL DIVIDE

Data released in June by Internet World Stats shows that 68.8% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population remain unconnected. Facebook and Eutelsat say Wi-Fi hotspot solutions play a vital role in the effort to address this.

The two companies presented their latest initiatives at AfricaCom 2017 in Cape Town.

Uche Ofodile, Africa Regional Head for Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi project says Wi-Fi’s role is key, particularly because many regions on the continent require the most affordable last mile solutions.

“As people’s appetite for data increases, we are definitely going to see a situation where customers want to have a seamless experience and I think Wi-Fi can play a role in that as well. In terms of helping people reach their potential through internet, Express Wi-Fi is an affordable alternative in the current ecosystem. We don’t see ourselves as competing – we see ourselves as complementary and enhancing the ecosystem, and that is what we have seen in countries where we have rolled this out and we are very excited about the future of the product.”

Ofodile says Express Wi-Fi has been rolled out in Nigeria through a partnership with Coolink, and is currently available in Tanzania through collaboration with a local partner Tizeti, as well as across a thousand hotspots in Kenya following an agreement with Kenyan ISP Surf.

Although she would not reveal the monetary value of the investment Facebook has made in all three countries, she says the company is happy with progress over the past year

“The big thing for us is around sustainability. We want to make sure that this is a programme that our partners will continue to drive forward because it needs to be a long term play. The other thing we look at is how many people that are new to the internet are coming on through Express Wi-Fi … we also look at data usage and many of our partners have seen data usage and adoption and usage increase significantly over the last year.”

Francois Boullete, Director of Marketing and Business Development at ‎Eutelsat’s Konnect Africa initiative, which launched its Smart Wi-Fi hotspot solution at AfricaCom, says their offering is community-based and makes it possible to connect remote areas through satellite.

“The beauty of satellite is that it is available everywhere and you do not need a fibre link etc. You can deploy the Wi-Fi anywhere in the country. We make it really affordable for people starting at 50 cents or a dollar for small packages. We have a variety of user plans and people can pay through their local operator or use mobile payments.”

Boullete adds companies or organisations or private individuals have the option to sponsor access on behalf of communities.

He adds that the hotspots also have local cloud or data storage capability that allows them to host educational content or training for free. The solution will be launched in the next few months in Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Boullete says a satellite launch planned for early next year will on-board Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin.

“We would like to connect as many people as possible. That is our aim. We want to be the best even though we may not be able to connect everyone. As our partners identity areas of need that is where we will go. Our target is for anyone who wants to have a SmartWiFi hotspot to be able to do so for their community.”

Source: IT Web Africa

TANZANIA: AIRTEL SETS FOR MASSIVE NETWORK TRANSFORMATION

AIRTEL Tanzania has launched massive network transformation programme, ‘U900 Project’ aimed at improving quality data network and delivering the best customer experience across the country.

Airtel Network Optimisation and Quality Manager Mr Emanuel Luanda said the project U900 is a major investment that enhances 3G coverage, data volume and improved data speeds using the 900 Mhz spectrum.

“The technology in particular improves the indoor 3G coverage and extends it by additional 50 per cent thus offering quality data transition across cell site without necessarily worrying about your location,” he said.

The recent Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) statistics shows that data services have tremendously increased from 34 per cent in 2015 to 40 per cent in 2016.

Airtel has invested in modernising its network with future proof technology to accommodate the increasing number of smartphone users and meet the demand of new services and applications.

“With our U- 900 state of the art technology our network now is modernised and enhanced with increased data speeds that will allow Airtel data users to have an overall better experience with Airtel modernised Network,” he said.

We have upgraded the sites in Dar-es-Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza with ongoing immediate deployment in Dodoma, Morogoro and other potential markets in Tanzania.

Airtel Marketing Manager Arnold Madale said understanding the market and customers’ need is important in this competitive business environment.

“We have managed to tailor made our products and services to suit our customers’ usage patterns and offer internet everywhere with our campaign message of ‘Internet Popote’.

There are customers who uses data only, but also those who just use voice services, we have designed innovative products and services that suit customers’ needs and wants, at all times.

“We are currently improving our 2G network so as to offer reliable, innovative services including mobile money for the unbanked population across the country and support the government agenda in financial inclusion,” he added.

Source: Tanzania Daily News

SOUTH AFRICA: ICASA TURNS ITS ATTENTION TO 5G

Communications regulator Icasa has concluded an inaugural forum on 5G technologies, ahead of their anticipated introduction in South Africa by the end of the decade.

The standards for 5G networks are still being bedded down internationally, but Icasa said it felt the time was right to convene a forum in South Africa to debate the issues.

The event, which took place in Sandton on Wednesday and Thursday, will be used as the starting point for an intensified collaboration between government, institutions of higher learning, research institutions and industry players on 5G, Icasa said in a statement.

The move could be seen as a little ironic given that South Africa still hasn’t formally issued spectrum licences for 4G, with operators reallocating 2G and 3G spectrum to deploy 4G networks.

“The forum aims to support the policy makers and the authority in making meaningful contributions to and participating in International Telecommunication Union processes for the development of regulations and standards” for 5G, it said.

“5G generally refers to technologies that provide services with extremely low latency of less than 1ms, download data speeds of more than 10Gbit/s, vast connectivity, high mobility and extremely low energy consumption,” said Icasa councillor Peter Zimri in the statement.

Icasa said it is confident that the inaugural meeting will “go a long way in bringing all parties together and sharing information that would see a proper and effective regulatory framework put in place”.

Source: NewsCentral Media

NIGERIA: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AGREE TO BOOST CONNECTIVITY, INFRASTRUCTURE

The Abuja Declaration adopted by developing countries states that they have agreed to scale up investment in connectivity and infrastructure in order to launch themselves into the centre of the global economy.

The declaration, adopted during the recent high-level trade and investment facilitation forum held in Abuja, stated that developing countries, particularly African countries, need to scale up connectivity of ports, transport corridors, and telecommunications networks.

The Federal Government and the Commission of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), in partnership with the WTO Friends of Investment Facilitation for Development (FIFD), co-hosted the forum.

The countries also reaffirmed that trade and investment are inseparable and remain indispensable twin engines for economic growth, modernization, and development in Africa as in the wider global economy.

The declaration noted that expanding this required investment – and the global networks, know-how, and technologies that accompany it – required complementary polices, institutions, and best practices, domestically, and regional and international cooperation.

Source: Daily Trust

SAFARICOM’S BOB COLLYMORE STEPS DOWN

Safaricom’s CEO Bob Collymore has taken leave on medical grounds and will be away from the company for an unspecified time.

A statement from the company said: “Safaricom today announces that its CEO Bob Collymore, has started medical leave to receive specialised treatment for a number of months. During this time, Sateesh Kamath, the current Chief Financial Officer for Safaricom who is also Mr. Collymore’s alternate on the Board, will take a primary role.”

The company says it has confidence in Kamath’s 20 years’ experience in mature and emerging markets.

He also has a background in strategic performance management and building robust operation across telecoms, FMCG and manufacturing.

Joseph Ogutu, current Director, Strategy and Innovation at the company, will support Kamath and will be in charge of the day-to-day operations.

“On behalf of the board, management and the entire Safaricom community, I wish Bob quick recovery and look forward to him resuming his duties as soon as doctors allow him to do so,” said Nicholas Ng’ang’a, Safaricom chairman.

Bob Collymore joined Safaricom in 2010 taking over from pioneer CEO Michael Joseph and has steered the company in expanding products including the mobile money payment, M-Pesa.

In May this year, the company extended his contract for a further two years.

Source: IT Web Africa

ZAMTEL ANNOUNCES US$280M TO EXPAND ITS RURAL NETWORK

The Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) has invested US$280 million in an upgrade and expansion of its network, as well as new equipment, according to CEO Sydney Mupeta.

Mupeta said Zamtel has started its expansion in 100 of the 1009 sites spread across many rural areas of the country where mobile phone communication remains a problem.

The investment will ensure speeds of up to 240Mbps on the 4.5G network for fixed customers and on the 4G network for mobile based customers, according to Mupeta.

Until recently only MTN Zambia has a 4G network in the Southern African country.

“The future of Zamtel is very bright. We are on course with our US$280 million investment that will give us the best network coverage, best-in-class customers experience and best-in-class quality of service,” Mupeta said.

He added that the company is on schedule to close 2017 with approximately 2.5 million subscribers after having recently crossed the 2 million subscriber mark.

Zamtel is involved in an aggressive subscriber acquisition drive and has developed a tariff plan that allows subscribers to call across networks at the same rate.

The company is the country’s smallest operator while MTN Zambia is the largest with close to 6 million subscribers followed by Airtel Zambia with about 4 million customers.

Source; IT Web Africa