Burkina Faso: Wi-Fi base stations enable connectivity
February 1: According to a Developing Telecoms article, a new high-speed Wi-Fi service is launching in Burkina Faso. Using base stations provided by Wavion – a subsidiary of Alvarion – the service, offered by GSM operator Telecel, will cover the capital city Ouagadougou.

Africa: UAE’s Etisalat to sell mobile towers
February 1: IT News Africa reports that United Arab Emirates’ telecom provider, Emirate’s Telecommunications, or Etisalat, said on Tuesday that it was looking to off-load mobile phone towers it currently owns in Africa. The goal of the selling is to collect upwards of $600 million, the company said.

Tanzania: Price war hurts smaller operators
February 1: A piece by Budde notes that, with four major operators – Vodacom, Bharti Airtel (formerly Zain), Tigo and Zantel – the mobile market broke the 50% penetration barrier at the end of 2010, but subscriber growth slowed to 20%. The year was characterised by a price war which inflicted heavy subscriber losses on the smaller operators in 2011.

Uganda: Bharti Airtel launches Airtel Money
February 1: According to the Economic Times, Bharti Airtel on Wednesday launched its mobile money platform, christened, 'Airtel Money' in Uganda. The service will provide Airtel customers in Uganda easy access to innovative financial services through mobile phones.

Africa: Transition Away From SMS
February 1: Balancing Act reports that at the end of 2011, there were the first signs of smartphone use on SMS: for the first time in some countries, rather than the volume of SMS growing inexorably, it declined for the first time. Russell Southwood looks at how wider use of mobile Internet may affect SMS volumes in Africa and at two of the new generation of interfaces designed to make it easier for Africans to use the mobile Internet.

Iran: MTN to continue business in Iran
January 31: According to a story from Global Telecoms Business, MTN has decided against withdrawing services from Iran, despite a US lobby group campaign urging it to exit its operations in the country, reported the Wall Street Journal. European countries and the US are currently strengthening their sanctions against Iran in response to the nation’s nuclear programme.

Mozambique gets a slice of SEACOM
January 31: IT News Africa reports that the Mozambican Ministry of Science and Technology has signed a 20 year agreement to access international broadband fibre connectivity on the SEACOM network. Beneficiaries of the newly acquired capacity include the Mozambique Research and Education Network (MoRENet) and the Government Electronic Network (GovNet), government-led projects to improve public service access and capability.

Next billion mobile users to come from developing rural areas
January 31: A Telecoms.com article notes that operators can expect to see the next billion mobile connections to come from rural areas in emerging markets, according to analyst  Ovum. The research house said although users in such areas typically do not have access to basic infrastructure or utilities, they are aware of the transformative potential of mobile phones and are eager to invest in a convenient device.

Mexico: Poor Regulation Costing Mexicans $25 Billion Per Year
January 31: According to Cellular-News, Mexico should quickly reform the laws and regulations governing its telecommunications sector to boost competition and investment and drive growth across the economy, according to a new OECD report. The report says that the lack of competition has led to extremely high prices for consumers and businesses and slowed the take-up of new services.

India: Telcos get approval to share spectrum but with conditions
January 31: The Economic Times reports that India's Telecom Commission, the apex decision-making body of the communications ministry, has decided to allow mobile phone companies to share spectrum, but has limited this facility to 2G airwaves alone. Second generation (2G) spectrum is largely used for offering vanilla voice services.

Kenya: Yu Gains 700,000 Subscribers on Free Calls Offer
January 30: According to the Nairobi Star, Essar Telecom Kenya has gained more than 700,000 subscribers in the last three months drawn by the day- long free calls tariff introduced in September. Madhur Taneja, yuMobile Country Manager said its customers now stand at 2.3 million.

South Africa: USAASA to get new board
January 30: ITWeb reports that the USAASA is beginning to find its feet, with business strategy and corporate governance systems having been put in place, says communications minister Dina Pule. The new board for the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) will be appointed by March.

Uganda: UCC to discuss network failings with telecom chiefs
January 30: A TeleGeography article notes that the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) will meet with representatives from the nation’s telecoms operators to discuss deteriorating service quality. On the agenda are infrastructure-based issues such as service interruptions and network failures, as well as more customer-oriented problems, including ambiguous charges on bills and irregularities with mobile money services.

Chile: Mobile number portability set to shake up mobile market
January 30: Developing Telecoms writes that data published by Chile’s major telecoms operators and the national regulator, Subtel, show that after a surge in net additions in late 2010, mobile subscriber numbers continue to be buoyant. With year-on-year (y-o-y) growth at over 20% for the past three consecutive quarters, the capacity for Chile’s mobile market to grow has surprised many.

Belarus: Mobile Number Portability to Be Launched Imminently
January 30: Mobile number portability (MNP) is set to launch in Belarus on 1 February 2012, according to the Belarusian Ministry of Information and Communication, reports Telecompaper. MNP will increase competition in the mobile market, with smallest GSM player BeST set to be the biggest beneficiary.
Proprietary source: Factiva / IHS Global Insight

Who uses public access ICTs? First survey working paper released
January 27: Through the working paper, "Public access to ICTs: Sculpting the profile of users", the Global Impact Study offers insight into the users of public access ICTs. The study is based on a survey of public access ICT users in five countries. The preliminary analysis indicates that while a large proportion of public access ICT users are young (40% under 20 years old) students (44%) with at least secondary education (82%), there is a fair amount of diversity in user characteristics.

Brazil: Carlos Slim Takes Control Of Net Servicos
January 27: A company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has been handed control of Brazil's largest local cable-TV provider by revenue, Net Servicos de Comunicacao S.A. Brazil's telecommunications regulator Anatel late Thursday authorized the takeover. Slim-controlled Embratel Participacoes has been the de facto owner of Net Servicos for some time but has been prevented by foreign-ownership rules from running the company.
Proprietary source: Factiva / Dow Jones

Haiti: How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash
January 27: An article at Global Envision notes that two years after the earthquake, mobile money has taken off in Haiti. While the country has seen setbacks in many areas and continues to struggle, one bright spot is the transformation of the country’s traditional banking sector. Physical banks were wiped away by the quake and subsequent hurricane, and a mobile banking network that uses cell phones has grown up in their place.

China’s Connectivity Revolution
January 26: In a Project Syndicate op-ed, Stephen Roach writes that China is being brought together like never before by a new connectivity. Its Internet community is expanding at hyper speed, with profound implications for the Chinese economy, to say nothing of the country’s social norms and political system. This genie cannot be stuffed back in the bottle. Once connected, there is no turning back.

South Africa: Vodacom connecting community libraries to internet
January 26: According to IT News Africa, Vodacom has announced the successful implementation of Phase 1 of a libraries project for internet connectivity across three provinces – North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. When completed, almost 300 community libraries will be connected using VSAT and Vodacom ADSL services.

India: 3G bidding has taken sheen off telecom industry
January 26: The Economic Times reports that Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has said that bidding for 3G spectrum in "crazy numbers" has taken the sheen off the Indian telecom industry. Bharti Airtel is the country's largest telecom operator. "It is true that we bid such crazy numbers (for 3G spectrum)... There was no 2G spectrum being allotted for years and the only way to move forward was to have the spectrum of 3G at any cost. And that is what happened," Mittal said.

Zambia: Zesco to boost broadband
January 26: An ITWeb story notes that the Zambia Electricity Supply Company (Zesco) has started installing a fibre-optic network on a transmission line into Western Province, which is expected to deliver broadband services. The network will provide services to banks, hospitals, schools, government departments and the business community in the western part of the country, which has experienced poor services due to a lack of communications infrastructure.

Africa: New Research Reveals How Africa Tweets
January 26: Young people Tweeting from mobile devices are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa, according to How Africa Tweets. In the first attempt to map the use of Twitter in Africa, Portland Communications and Tweetminster analysed over 11.5 million geo-located Tweets originating in Africa during the last three months of 2011. This pan-African analysis of Twitter traffic was complemented by a survey of 500 of Africa's most active Tweeters.

Mexico: For most Mexicans, the digital age is still out of reach
January 25: Physorg.com reports that Mexicans have access to first-world infrastructure and high-velocity Internet speeds in Mexico City, in pockets along the border with Texas, and in business centers like Monterrey and Guadalajara, but the vast majority of Mexicans live beyond the reach of the digital age. About 82 million people - 70 percent of Mexicans - have no access to a computer or the Internet, according to the Mexican Internet Association, or AMIPCI.

ASEAN: Public sector ICT in ASEAN: a tale of five cities
January 25: According to Futuregov, there’s a big difference between someone who is nominally, as opposed to functionally, the CIO of the organisation. This has a huge impact on an agency’s ability to digest and contextualise its technology options. Those countries with a pan-government CIO have a more mature approach to ICT deployment. For now nominal CIOs with other ‘primary’ job responsibilities remain in the majority.

Uganda: New Investors to Take Over Broadband
January 25: An article from the Daily Monitor, the Uganda Broadband Company, an ISP which was liquidated last month, will resume business after it was bought by a team of local and international investors. Although information regarding the matter is yet to be made officially available, a reliable source told this newspaper that TMP Uganda, which traded as Broadband Uganda, was bought by a team of local and foreign investors.

Pakistan: PM approves USF projects in Sindh, Balochistan
January 25: The Universal Service Fund (USF) board, chaired by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, approved programmes to provide basic telephony and data services in Mastung Lot (Balochistan), broadband services in Southern Telecom Region-V (Sindh) and a decision to initiate more projects in Balochistan.
Proprietary source: Factiva / Flare

Argentina: Number portability to be introduced in March
January 24: TeleGeography reports that by the end of the first quarter of the year, mobile subscribers in Argentina will be able to retain their number if they change service provider. Newspaper La Nacion cites a website announcement from wireless operator Telecom Personal as saying that it will introduce mobile number portability for its pre- and post-paid subscribers in March 2012.

Belarus to regulate interconnection rates from February
January 24: According to an article from Telecompaper, interconnection rates of the Belarusian mobile operators will become regulated from 1 February. The relevant decision of the Ministry of Economy enters into force then.

Burkina Faso: Alvarion to Provide Wavion Wi-Fi Solution to Telecel
January 24: Alvarion, a provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced that recently acquired Wavion, a maker of carrier grade Wi-Fi solutions, is supplying base stations for a high speed Wi-Fi service of Telecel, a GSM operator in Burkina Faso with over a million customers.

South Sudan: Emergency communications terminals deployed
January 24: A Developing Telecoms story notes that a new communications service for disaster relief has been deployed in operational field service for the first time. SES and emergency.lu have installed the service in Bentiu and Maban, South Sudan. Emergency.lu is a rapid communications solution for global disaster relief and humanitarian missions, developed and implemented as a public-private partnership by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg.

Zambia dissolves board of Libya-owned Zamtel
January 24: Reuters reports that the government of Zambia has dissolved the board of Libya-controlled Zamtel and appointed a new acting CEO, the government said on Tuesday, a day after it announced plans to seize 75 percent in the fixed-line operator from owner LAP Green Networks. The government said in a statement it would restructure the ownership of Zamtel to ensure Zambians owned the bulk of the company.

Ghana: NCA sets new interconnection rates covering 2012-2014
January 23: TeleGeography reports that the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana has set new telecoms interconnect termination rates to replace the existing regime, which was set up in 2008 and expired on 31 December 2011. The watchdog says the new framework, which entered into effect on 1 January this year, was decided upon following consultation with operators and as a result of the NCA’s own assessment of market conditions there.

Cuba cuts mobile telephony charges
January 23: According to TeleGeography, mobile telephony services in Cuba are set to become more affordable following an announcement from the island’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) that the cost of calls and SMS will be reduced from 1 February 2012.

Uganda Raises Revenue Bar for Continent With E-Tax System
January 23: An AllAfrica.com article notes that Uganda has introduced an electronic tax collection system that could cut evasion and help boost revenue collection. The country's revenue collection equivalent to 12.5% of GDP is below average for the East African Community and sub-Saharan Africa. The eTax system is a web-based solution with enhanced computer functionality designed to reduce cumbersome manual processes within the domestic tax business.

Bangladesh: State-run telco owes regulator Tk 1,280cr
January 23: The Daily Star reports that the telecom regulator says state-owned mobile operator BTCL has failed to pay Tk 1,280.88 crore in revenue that the company was supposed to share with the government in the last three years. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the company did not pay the money even after several reminders.

Thailand: NBTC to collect USO fees for last year shortly
January 23: The Thai telecommunications regulator plans to retroactively collect the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fee for last year. The fees total THB 500 million and are to be paid by type-2 and type-3 licence holders, The Nation writes citing NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit.
Proprietary source: Factiva / Telecompaper Asia

India: SC's Vodafone tax verdict good for investment
January 20: The Economic Times reports that the Supreme Court's verdict in the tax case against Vodafone is likely to boost the foreign investor sentiment in India and give respite to other litigants in similar type of cases, believe experts. The court said the I-T Department has no jurisdiction to levy tax on overseas transactions between companies incorporated outside India and ruled that Vodafone is not liable for taxes and penalties worth USD 4.4 billion.

Jamaica: Minister sets two week deadline to solve competition crisis
January 20: According to TeleGeography, Jamaica’s ICT minister Phillip Paulwell has announced that over the next two weeks he aims to have found a solution to protect competition in the telecoms sector, following the controversial acquisition of Claro Jamaica by Digicel Jamaica. Following the completion of the merger, the combined company will have a total market share of approximately 77%.

East Africa Apps4Africa winners announced
January 20: An IT News Africa article notes that the East African winners of the Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge have been announced. The contest addresses local climate change challenges through the development of web and mobile applications. First place was awarded to The Grainy Bunch, developed in Tanzania. The app features a national grain supply chain management system that monitors the purchase, storage, distribution, and consumption of grain.

Nigeria: Minister Inaugurates New NCC Board
January 20: The role of ICT in enhancing economic development in the country was re-emphasised by the Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson. Johnson reiterated the resolve of the ministry to leverage ICT for social and economic development of the nation, while inaugurating the Board of the Universal Service Provision Fund, (USPF) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Proprietary source: Factiva / This Day

Zambia freezes Libyan phone firm's bank accounts
January 20: According to Reuters, Zambia's government has seized bank accounts belonging to telecoms group Zamtel, majority-owned by Libya's LAP Green Networks, as part of a money-laundering investigation, the company said on Friday. It denied any wrongdoing.

Uganda: Mobile Phone Technology Improving Farmers Fortunes
January 19: AllAfrica.com reports that in a world becoming increasingly tech savvy, even rural farmers in a remote, mountainous and hard to reach area such as Kabale can use technology to solve their immediate farm needs. Apollo Kaboroga, the chairman of the Farmers Forum in Bufundi sub-county says he has been working with Life Long Learning for Farmers (L3F Uganda), a project run by Makerere University's Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo since 2009.

Nigeria: Proposed ICT Policy Will Boost National Development
January 19: According to This Day, industry stakeholders continue to express their views of the draft National ICT Policy. Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said that the plan by the Communications Technology Ministry to come up with harmonised ICT Policy will address the collective interest of all stakeholders in the ICT sector, as well as boost national development in the country.

India makes government services mobile-friendly
January 19: A Telecoms.com article notes that the Indian government has announced plans for all of its departments and agencies to develop and deploy mobile applications to provide all of their public services through mobile devices, to the extent that is feasible on mobile platforms. The country’s Department of IT stated that the ultimate objective of its new National e-Governance Plan is to make public services more accessible to the public.

Emerging Markets: Emerging markets turn to Tata
January 19: Developing Telecoms points out that the strongest growth in the telecoms sector has come from emerging markets for some time now, so it’s not surprising that companies which are originally from these areas are overtaking their counterparts from the developed world. To find out more about the importance – and the benefits – of an emerging market corporate identity, DT editor James Barton spoke to Tata Communications’ head of MPLS & Ethernet, James Walker.

Kenya: Technology Firm Woos Farmers With Records Automation
January 19: According to a Business Daily story, technology firm Mobipay has launched a system that it says will elevate farmers' record-keeping and improve access to credit. Agrilife targets the rural farmer who has no access to banking services and aims at automation of transactions, which it says will help users go past the barrier of poor records. Thin records have been a hurdle for many small-scale farmers when applying for funds for expansion.

VeriSign to award winners of Infrastructure Grant programme
January 18: Telecompaper reports that VeriSign has expanded a grant programme designed to promote research into improving the internet's global infrastructure. The programme will focus on infrastructure improvements that support secure internet access, especially in the developing world. Verisign will award two USD 200,000 grants to researchers who submit proposals focused on infrastructure and access challenges, especially in the developing world.

Google signs mapping deal with World Bank
January 18: According to Telecompaper, the World Bank and Google said they have signed an agreement to help developing countries monitor public services better and improve disaster relief and humanitarian efforts by giving them access to online mapping. Google will provide the World Bank and its partner organizations with access to Google Map Maker's underlying geospatial data, which include maps of over 150 countries.

South Africa: USAASA still headless
January 18: An ITWeb article notes that the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) remains headless, with CEO Phineas Moleele still on suspension. Minister of Communications Dina Pule says the forensic investigation into the agency will be concluded by mid-February and a decision on Moleele will be made pending the outcome. In the meantime, Pule appointed two executive caretakers from the department to steer the organisation.

Indian state extends local e-service delivery
January 18: Futuregov reports that the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has decided to extend its e-District project, successfully piloted in six districts, to the remaining 26 districts. The e-District project is one of the key initiatives under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) by the central government. The project identifies high volume services and computerises their backend to enable delivery of these services through Common Service Centres.

Thailand Opens 20,000 Free Wifi Spots in Bangkok
January 18: According to a Futuregov story, in an effort to bridge the digital divide, the Thai Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has introduced 20,000 free wifi hotspots in Bangkok. The project is a collaboration with Thai telecom companies and is the government’s new-year gift to its people.

Tax and Revenue Management: A government’s lifeblood
January 17: According to a Futuregov article, in a bid to improve taxpayer services, the Philippines tax department is planning to move all its business processes online. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Deputy Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares says the agency wants to make it smooth for those who want to register as taxpayers, and prevent identity fraud, by creating a database of biometric identities of each such individual.

South Atlantic Express cable’s finance talks “well advanced”
January 17: An IT News Africa story states that the newly appointed CEO at eFive Telecoms confirmed that the financial discussions for the 10,000-kilometre South Atlantic Express (SAex) cable are in advanced stages. The cable will connect South Africa with Brazil, and is said to cost around R3 billion.

Nigeria looks to unified ICT regulator
January 17: IT News Africa reports that Nigeria’s National Draft Policy within the Information and Communications Technology sector of the communications ministry said on Monday that it would like to see a unified regulator for the ICT sector as a whole in the country. The move has left some wondering how the ministry would be able to cover and monitor all segments of the ICT sector.

Iraq: GBI lands undersea cable
January 17: According to ITP.net, Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has announced that it has landed a cable in Iraq, the first subsea cable to connect the country. The cable was landed at the Al Faw area, and will connect to The Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC). GBI says that the cable network, which has a design capacity of 40G, will help to improve broadband penetration in Iraq, which currently is just 3%.

Zambia: Bharti Airtel launches 3.75G platform
January 17: The Economic Times reports that Bharti Airtel Tuesday launched its 3.75G platform in Zambia. The company said the technology used to usher in 3.75G was the fastest available and will be enormously beneficial for a variety of users, which include large corporates, small or medium businesses and the youth. It offers speeds up to 21 megabytes per second (mbps) and is similar to those being rolled out in Europe and the US.

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