The Infrastructure Trust Fund for Africa created to Fund 4 Fiber Projects

Funding for all the Africa Fiber Projects appears to have been consolidated into one new organizations called The Infrastructure Trust Fund for Africa. It includes all four fiber projects.

I wonder if the fund will be used to try and control how and where it comes in first. It will be interesting to see if the African Monolpolies had a hand in this.

-Lee


Kenya's telecommunication sector will receive a boost as a result of Sh32 billion (347 million euros) financing mobilised for infrastructure development in Africa.

The European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and nine European countries have set up a fund to finance the continent's telecommunication infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Trust Fund for Africa will back New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) projects as such as the East Africa Submarine Cable System (known as Eassy).
Financing for each project and when the money will be released has not been decided.


The Rest @All Africa. com

SES (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) wholly owns three market-leading

SES (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) wholly owns three market-leadingsatellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in NorthAmerica, and SES NEW SKIES, which provide global coverage andconnectivity. The Company also holds strategic participations in SESSirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. SES providesoutstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 36satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe. Additional information on SES

The Rest

MTN Claims 40 Million Subscribers in 2006

HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2006
Group subscribers up 73% to 40 million
Revenue up 49% to R52 billion*
EBITDA up 53% to R22 billion*
EBITDA margin of 43.4%, up from 42.4%* driven by operational efficiency improvements
PAT of R12 billion up from R7 billion for the previous nine-month period
Adjusted HEPS of 584.7 cents from 338.2 cents for the previous nine-month period
Acquisition of Investcom LLC concluded, effective July 2006


Read the full report from Mobil Africa

Drive-by Internet Access for Rural Businesses

The vehicles can effectively send and receive emails from villagersBuses equipped with wi-fi are being used to deliver web content to remote rural villages in the developing world.

In rural India and parts of Rwanda, Cambodia and Paraguay, the vehicles offer web content to computers with no internet connection.
The buses and a fleet of motorcycles update their pages in cities before visiting the hard-to-reach communities.

As well as offering popular pages, the United Villages project also allows users to request specific information. The buses and a fleet of motorcycles update their pages in cities before visiting the hard-to-reach communities. Then a small box, with an antennae, on board the vehicle communicates with these rural computers.

Local business
In many parts of the developing world it is too expensive to lay the fibres and copper cable to deliver a standard internet connection. Wireless technologies also do not reach many remote places.

The founder of the United Villages initiative Amir Hassan said the company had been set up to give those people in these areas a slice of the web for a fee.

They want to know the cricket scores, they want to see the new Aishwarya Rai photos, and they want to hear a sample of the latest Bollywood tunes

Amir HassanUnited Villages "There's only 0.003% percent of the web that rural India cares about," he told BBC News. "They want to know the cricket scores, they want to see the new Aishwarya Rai photos, and they want to hear a sample of the latest Bollywood tunes." The village computer was often in the local store, he added. Every time the wi-fi bus rolled by the village - up to six times a day - the pages were updated, he said.

Britney requests
As well as this regular content users can make special requests for a few additional rupees.

Q&A: Wi-fi explained
For example, if there was no information about Britney Spears on the village computer, a fee could be paid to get hold of such information.
The bus would then go back to the city and communicate with an internet server.

The box on the bus would be updated with the requested information and, a few hours later, the bus would arrive back at the village to zap the Britney Spears pages to the computer. The wi-fi vehicles also deliver and collect e-mails from the villagers.

Product catalogue
The system also made it easier for villagers to buy essential products such as fertilisers, pesticides, books and medicines, Mr Hassan added.

"What we've done is created a catalogue of those products that they can order at the kiosk and get them delivered the next day via the bus," he said.
"We're bringing e-commerce to rural India." Right now, more and more people are asking me about what can be done on the PC and internet

Raj Kishor SwainSatasankha
Because many people in rural communities cannot read, and because the majority of the web is in English, villagers often rely on the person who operates the local computer to help them. Raj Kishor Swain, who runs the computer in the village of Satasankha, said he is now a popular man. "Right now, more and more people are asking me about what can be done on the PC and internet," he said.

"My objective is to show to the village youth that having a PC with connectivity is a viable business so that more and more unemployed youth can take up this as a self-employment opportunity."

Read From the BBC

TELECOM Fiji managing director Joe Mar Resigns

TELECOM Fiji managing director Joe Mar has resigned from his position, citing personal reasons.

Mr Mar said he had wanted to resign some time ago.
"Two years ago I was going to do that, try and spend time with my family," he said.

"The board of ATH (Amalgamated Telecom Holdings) and TFL asked me to conduct the changes that were needed here. "I'm extremely sad that I will leave this organisation but it's the choice I've made."I want to go and spend more time with my family. They've suffered."

Read the Rest from the Fiji Times

Telecom Intrigue in BA, Fiji

This is a bit old but interesting: From August 2006

What should have been a simple and straightforward process of either refusing or awarding mobile telephony licences to interested operators instead turned out to be an intricate web of backhanded politics, clandestine lobbying and propaganda against Ba Holdings Ltd and its mobile operator partner, Digicel (Fiji) Ltd, the local subsidiary of Jamaica-based Digicel.

This running game of furtive manoeuvres has its roots in the now lucrative mobile telephony market within which reigns Vodafone Fiji Ltd, the joint venture between Telecom Fiji Ltd (TFL) and the European-based Vodafone International Holding BV.

Read more from Pierport

The Use of Phones by Microentrepreneurs

Here is a terrific white Paper by Jonathan Donner of Microsoft Research India. It shows how microentrpreneuers in Rwanda and India are using wireless phones to do business. If you are using telecom to support small business and economic development, you have to read this.
It is posted by MIT Press Journals

Posted originally January 27th, 2007

The cost of acquiring international gateway licenses by private mobile service providers in Africa is likely to come down following the intervention by the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), according to senior government officials....
.....
UNCTAD has also instructed Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Gabon, and Niger to immediately begin reviewing international gateway license fees, saying that the current fees prohibit the development of African information and communication technologies. >>>>>

Read the rest from Infoworld

This is a week old, but here it is for the record:
-Lee

LIBYA Africa Portfolio's (LAP) Green Com has acquired majority shares in Uganda Telecom (utl).

Sources revealed that the company, the investment arm of the Libyan government, acquired 51% shareholding in utl after buying out UCOM.

UCOM is the consortium that owned a 51% stake in utl. The remaining shares are owned by the government of Uganda.
"The deal is done. LAP Green Com has bought into utl. The process is being finalised and once concluded, it will be announced," a source explained.


more @ allAfrica.com

African Cell phone Growth Rate to Exceed 22% a year for The Next 5 Years

According to statistics recently published by Informa Telecoms & Media, the African cellular market´s annual growth rate over the next five years will exceed 22%, the highest of any world region.

The forecast for markets in East and Central Africa combined will be 27% over the same period. The region´s market now represents 15% of the continent´s mobile users and has grown by 58% over the past year to reach nearly 18 million subscriptions.

By the end of 2006, the East and Central Africa region will include 6 countries among the 15 largest African markets, with Kenya, DR Congo and Tanzania among the top ten.

Read the rest from Mobil Africa

Telecom is an Economic Force-multiplier in Africa

Telecom is a major power for transformation in Africa.

In the military, there are certain weapons systems that make every other weapon system better, and can help a unit of one size operate as if it were much bigger than it really is. These systems are called force multipliers. fighter aircraft and attack helicopters are examples.

At this time in Africa, telecom is a force-multiplier for economic development in Africa because:

• The current hard wire structure is largely inadequate and of poor quality
• Tribal communities are "high communication" cultures, with social processes and institutions which are already highly inter-dependant, inclusive, and communication intense.
• There is opportunity to leapfrog past western small business practices

This is in fact already happening. You can see it when you look at the Kiva small business plans.

How does it work?

With mobil communications with internet in a low infrastructure environment, micro enterprise and small business business can:

• Conduct most banking transactions
• Order from vendors
• Receive orders
• Schedule deliveries
• Maintain mentoring relationships

All this can leverage economic growth.

-Lee

What follows is a summary from Telecom Magazine

Souheil Marine, the manager of the digital bridge project at Alcatel, believes that investing in telecom in Africa will help create wealth, rather than diverting limited funds from more valuable projects - though he did add that the African situation is quite different to that seen in, say, Europe.

He argues that networks should only be built when there is a clear demand for a relevant service. He also believes that new technologies such as WiMAX will allow many African countries to leapfrog the use of legacy infrastructure.

Read the rest