November 2011 Blog Posts (31)

Ericsson Gives West African developers a global stage



•          Ericsson and Sony Ericsson partner to run competition for application developers in West Africa



•          Local developers are invited to submit innovative ideas and mobile applications



•          Application entries will be automatically registered for the global competition with a chance to win a €15,000 cash prize.



Ericsson in partnership with Sony Ericsson has announced plans to run a…

Zain Sudan has spent $60 million splitting its operations in two following the succession of South Sudan, but has yet to agree a license fee with the newly independent country.



South Sudan seceded from the north in July, the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.



The fledgling country now has its own international dialing code, 211, which spurred Zain Sudan, a unit of Kuwait's Zain, to split its operations.



"Our network is completely…

IHS, an African telecoms infrastructure company, has approached investment groups to raise more than $200m to double the size of its business across western African states in the next year.

The company, which builds and rents out phone towers to mobile operators, has appointed Citibank to raise additional equity to expand outside Nigeria, where it is listed.



IHS already owns 850 mobile phone towers in Nigeria, but is planning to take its portfolio to more than 2,000 next…

Telecel Zimbabwe’s majority shareholder Orascom Telecom Holdings plans to invest about US$70 million in the local mobile phone operator to enable it to expand and upgrade its network and services. Responding to questions from businessdigest this week, Orascom Group African Cluster CEO Vincenzo Nesci said the company was convinced that there is huge potential for expanding mobile telecommunications services in Zimbabwe.

"The US$70 million investment is expected to cover…

Q-KON has rolled out a HotZONE (public broadband access network), facilitated through Wavion wireless network technology, to its Swaziland-based client, Nkosiphile Innovations. The project has been successful and plans are underway to integrate the HotZONE concept across several schools in the region.

Nkosiphile Innovations, located in Manzini, operates under the hotspot of local communications services provider, Bulemba.

The company has chosen to partner with…

The Integr8 Group, South Africa’s largest privately owned managed service provider, has entrenched its position as a frontrunner in the country’s managed ICT services space having again been formally acknowledged as a Technology Top 100 Company for 2011.

The TT100 programme, established by industry in conjunction with the Department of Science & Technology, acknowledges companies and individuals for being role models in the use or development of technology.

Integr8 first…

Wireless networking, also referred to as Wi-Fi, remains firmly positioned amongst the myriad of technologies available to digital lifestyle, connectivity-hungry consumers. It is gaining popularity as a cost-effective, easily integrated and reliable networking infrastructure in the home.

Home-based networking, or that which occurs within the LAN-based SoHo (Small Office Home Office) or broader WAN environment, continues to show growth. There is a general increase in end-user interest…

MTN Ghana today reiterated its commitment to increasing internet penetration in Ghana in order to bridge the digital gap in the country and Africa as a whole.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has said that internet penetration in Africa stood at 11.5%, and that of Ghana stood at 5.2%.

But MTN has reaffirmed its commitment to changing the status quo by driving internet access and data usage in the country through the provision of the best broadband services at…

Vodacom advises customers to be aware of fraudsters who employ smishing techniques to solicit personal or other confidential information through text messages.

‘Smishing' or SMS phishing is a technique used by fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting victims who either end up compromising their banking details or personal information. 

Portia Maurice, Chief Officer of Corporate Affairs at Vodacom says that although customers are becoming more aware of the activity, they should remain…

Keeping  mobile phones and other mobile devices alive no longer relies on a plug point as Blue Cellular introduces its range of Energizer® Energi To Go® portable chargers to the South African market.

 “We are excited to help consumers get the most from their devices through usage of Energizer® Energi To Go® power packs,” says Blue Cellular’s Sales Director David Taitz. “The extensive line of these small yet powerful chargers will help consumers stay connected, work and play longer by…

(FOXit) together with its partners, Microsoft, Nintex, PwC Exordia and Syntergy, have launched several technology firsts for South Africa, designed to enhance Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), consumerisation of ICT, mobility and User Experience.

The Centurion-based company and Microsoft Certified Gold Partner hosted C-level delegates at Microsoft in Bryanston recently to introduce fresh offerings including METROit, PIVOTit, PwC Exordia X-Connect and X-Link, as well as…

Three new phones with deep Facebook integration and dedicated ‘F’ key available in Africa and Europe from Q4 2011 – offering the widest portfolio of affordable phones with deep Facebook functionality launched by an operator to date.

Orange is bringing simple, affordable, social phones for under €100 to a broader range of customers in more than 15 countries.

The new range includes the ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 908F Android smartphone, one of the most affordable Android smartphones…

Blue Label Telecoms Limited on Tuesday announced a strategic acquisition and partnership with Mobilitrix (Pty) Limited to accelerate growth in loyalty and mobile couponing services and strengthen its customer retention and incentivisation capabilities.

Mark Levy, joint-CEO of Blue Label Telecoms, said "the mobile coupon segment is experiencing as much as eight-fold growth with redemption values expected to exceed $43 billion globally by 2016".

"Partnering with Mobilitrix…

Contact centre investors can dramatically reduce their start-up risk by using a combination of hosted technology and fully equipped and managed premises, says Bruce von Maltitz of 1Stream.

"The days of making large capital investments in equipment that needs a lot of skill, effort and money to maintain are over," says Von Maltitz. "The hosting model means you simply buy the services you need, when you need them. Applying that model to buildings as well as technology means you…

Safaricom has announced plans to build its own inland fibre optic network to get a larger share of the data market and reduce its reliance on the voice market that is faced with increased competition and shrinking margins. The firm Tuesday started the search for company that will build and maintain the inland network that is expected to cost nearly KES1bn to lay across the country.

This will support its new data offering including data storage, internet security services and sell of…

The executive chairman of Orascom Telecom, Khaled Bichara, will step down from his post at the end of 2011 and the board has yet to elect a new chairman, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Bichara, who said he planned to "pursue new business opportunities", will continue his responsibilitiies as executive chairman until the end of December.



"In due course, the board will elect the new chairman of the board," the company said without giving a…

Main One and SEACOM, the only two privately funded and open-access based African submarine fibre optic cable systems, were awarded “Best Pan African Initiative” at the AfricaCom Awards 2011 ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday 9 November 2011. The award recognises an initiative taken by an organisation or a group of organisations to improve telecommunications services at a regional or continental level.

Funke Opeke, Main One CEO, explained: “Through this…

Yesterday, Orange announced the three winners of the African Social Venture Prize during the AfricaCom Awards ceremony in Cape Town. The three winners will receive financial assistance along with management and technical support from Orange specialists.

Last June, Orange launched the African Social Venture Prize to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who use information and communication…

Columnist.

Zeenat Moorad.

Senior Financial Reporter at I-Net Bridge.

The Nielsen Company will ramp up its African presence in order to provide a greater understanding of the…

Africa could have its first commercial long-term evolution (LTE)or 4G network as early as next year, as wireless phone operators gear up to meet growing data demand from smartphone users, an Ericsson ERICb.ST executive said on Wednesday.



Mobile carriers worldwide are increasingly upgrading to LTE networks that support high-speed wireless services as consumers use tablet computers and smartphones to surf the web.



The technology will initially be rolled out in hot spots…