The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), in cooperation with Dubai Studio City (DSC), organized a seminar to mark the introduction of the latest generation of Badr satellites and highlight their impact on the regional broadcasting industry
Read more from the AME Press release
Summary Points of this Mike Jensen white paper
Over the last year, the cost of phoning from Africa to international destinations in Europe and North America has fallen dramatically under pressure from cheaper prices available in the grey market using Voice over IP (VoIP), according to a new report published by Balancing Act this month.
In 2005 almost all African telcos sampled in the report were charging US$1 or over per minute to the main international destinations. By 2006, only 19 were still charging over US$1 per minute for the same destinations. Just over half the carriers are now charging US25 cents for these calls. Carriers in countries as diverse as Algeria and Kenya are now offering call rates close to US25 cents a minute.
read the rest from Tectronics
Feb 7th, 2007
In this morning's Business Day there is an article that quotes the minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe Casaburri, saying that there is a need to "'twist the arm of the private sector to participate in unbundling the local loop now owned by Telkom" to bring down telecommunications costs in South Africa. The local loop is the final portion of the telecoms network that connects customers to the networks.
Read the rest from Alastair Otter at Tectronics
Information and Tourism Minister Patricia Kaliati on Wednesday accused the Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) of failing to roll out one year after its privatisation saying many people are still facing communication hiccups due to few telephone lines.
Speaking in Mangochi where she opened a five-day 33rd African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) Governing Council meeting, Kaliati said when MTL was privatised people expected change and that its services should expand to rural areas.
“We are still having problems because you have not yet rolled out. And we ask ourselves why have we privatised. They [MTL] should prove themselves and [if] you will not do it well we may come back and say why can’t we do it,” she said.
MTL head of information technology Ascot Maluwa said in an interview his company has not yet rolled out because it was working on a business plan which has now been approved. He added that when new management took over in February last year it embarked on a project to clean up inefficiencies and rooting out corruption. “What remains now is laying out strategies because we have already installed new equipment. We will meet our targets before four years,” he said without elaborating on the targets.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) acting director general Mike Kuntiya said his body was expected to meet MTL to explain how they have faired after a year and would certainly question their licence conditions and get data on their roll out targets. “If they have not [rolled out] they should give reasons to that,” he said. When MTL was privatised it was agreed that it will roll out lines both in urban and rural areas to improve communication. Failure to do so would attract a penalty.
From The Nation
Libya is planning to privatise its mobile phone sector next week as part of a programme of wider economic reforms, the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said Thursday.
The two mobile phone companies, Al-MadarAl-MadarAl Madar Telephone Company and LibyanaLibyanaLibyana Mobile Phone, will go private as of Tuesday," Seif al-Islam said during the inauguration of a national council for economic development.
read more from Ballancing Act-Africa
Celtel Kenya has won the first round of what is shaping up to be a bruising battle for subscribers with market leader Safaricom, with the regulatory Communications Commission of Kenya ruling in its favour to place a cap on interconnection rates and a ceiling of Ksh30 (43 US cents) per minute on call charges.
read the rest from AllAfrica.com
Oroginally poted February 13, 2007 Posted to the web February 17, 2007
Celtel Group's Founder and Chairman earns top industry accolade "For helping the world to hear Africa's voice"
The GSM Association Chairman's Award for 2007 is presented to a remarkably successful mobile entrepreneur, a pioneer of technical achievement and a driving force in the industry's efforts to connect the unconnected of Africa.
This highest annual award - in recognition of outstanding achievement in supporting the growth and vitality of the global mobile community, and the highlight of the Global Mobile Awards - was presented by GSMA Chairman Craig Ehrlich to Dr Mohamed 'Mo' Ibrahim, the founder and chairman of Celtel International, a fully owned subsidiary of MTC, which operates networks in 15 African countries.
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The CEO and Vice Chairman of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) Group Saad Al-Barrak has visited the country to familiarize himself with Celtel Uganda activities. MTC Group purchased Celtel International at $3.5 billion in 2005.
Dr. Saad has been visiting various Pan African Celtel operations. Two weeks ago, Dar-es-Salaam hosted 20 business executives from the Middle East and Africa to discuss the MTC Group's new growth strategy - ACE (Acceleration, Consolidation, Expansion).
Celtel Uganda PRO Justina Ntabgoba confirmed the visit.
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This is an Archive from July 2006 a
AllAfrica.com English Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Lagos, Jul 12, 2006 (This Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)
"The delay, controversy and uncertainty trailing the privatization of the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd, (NITEL) after four years of several failed attempts to privatize the company through the Bureau of Public Enterprise, (BPE), was finally brought to an end with the sale of NITEL to Transnational Corporation (TRANSCORP) for 750 million US dollars for 75 percent equity of NITEL in a negotiated deal."
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An enormous number of people, including taxi drivers and tradesmen, now rely on mobile phones to run their small businesses - well over 80% in Egypt and South Africa alone, according to a report by the UN's Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
The mobile phone boom has transformed ordinary people into micro-entrepreneurs.
read more from the BBC
As the mobile phone industry scrambles to put cellphones in the hands of billions of unconnected people in emerging markets, less-expensive, higher-speed WiMax is likely to be the technology of choice to connect them to the Internet.
read the rest from InfoWorld
Iridium Satellite LLC, the company that raised Motorola Inc.'s expensive space-based network from the ashes of bankruptcy, is now planning a new generation of satellites that may be able to continuously monitor the environment and take pictures of Earth.
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