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March 4, 2010
Brazil: Government to Study Joint Ventures for Broadband Program
Roll-out
According to a report from Business
News Americas, the government of Brazil may study the use of joint ventures
with telecommunications operators to implement the national broadband program. The
program is part of the government's plan to have 90 million broadband
connections by 2014.
Communications minister Hélio Costa said
that the program will be assessed next week by government officials. Costa says
the government will play an active role in extending telecommunications infrastructure
to unserved areas, while the operators could be responsible for selling services
to end-users.
The government is also considering a
different approach, led by the planning ministry's logistics and IT secretary
Rogério Santanna, which would see the government competing with
telecommunications operators.
March 1, 2010
Zimbabwe: Regulator Commits USD 3.0 Million from USF
The Sunday Mail
reports that the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe
(Potraz) has committed USD 3.0 million from the Universal Services Fund (USF) to
implement eight projects.
The USF is financed through a 2.0% levy on
the gross earnings of all licensed telecommunications operators. The funds are
to be used for expanding services in remote and under-serviced areas. Potraz
consults with operators and seeks their agreement on projects to be
implemented.
Potraz director-general Charles Sibanda
said, “eight projects were identified in each province. It is now left to the
operators to implement them”.
Sibanda said that the Ministry of
Information Communication Technology had already approved the projects.
“The first phase of the projects entails
expanding the networks to areas which were previously unserviced. If the areas
are now reachable, then we can move on to sponsor individual projects such as
internet cafes,” Sibanda added.
The hyperinflationary environment experienced
by Zimbabwe in recent years played a role in preventing the USF, which has existed
for over five years, from funding large projects. However, mobile operators,
such as Econet and Telecel, have already extended their networks significantly.
Econet aims to increase its subscriber base to over five million by mid-year, and
expects to add up to 200 base stations to its network.
February 19, 2010
Uganda: MTN and UCC Have 30 Days to
Resolve Dispute
According to a report
from The Monitor, Uganda's High Court gave MTN Uganda and the Uganda
Communication Commission (UCC) 30 days to resolve a dispute over interconnection
rates.
MTN filed suit against the UCC, challenging
the implementation of uniform interconnection tariffs for all operators. In late
2009, a court injunction barred the UCC from setting uniform interconnection
rates at USD 0.065 for mobile, USD 0.062 for fixed phones and USD 0.007 for SMS.
Currently, telecommunication companies charge each other between USD 0.05 and USD
0.089 for interconnection. In the existing system, rates are negotiated between
each operator and are not imposed by the UCC.
MTN claims that the UCC can only set rates
if there has been a dispute between operators, which it says has not happened. The
UCC says that, “there was evidence of difficulties” in interconnection
negotiations. The regulator claimed that the objective of establishing uniform
rates is to ensure fairness. The UCC also stated that MTN, using its own cost
model, says that the true cost of interconnection ranges from USD 0.067 and USD
0.068, but MTN still charges as much as USD 0.089.
February 15, 2010
Egypt: BNP Paribas hopes to secure mobile banking license by
mid-March
Reuters reports
that BNP Paribas expects to be awarded a mobile banking license in Egypt by mid-March.
"We are expecting by the end of the
month or the middle of March at a maximum, to have an authorisation to deal and
to set up a system of mobile banking," the head of BNP Paribas' Egyptian operation
Philippe Joannier said.
The bank applied for the mobile banking
license in partnership with Mobinil , which has the largest mobile market share.
Joannier said the product, M-Wallet, would extend the reach of banks to rural
areas by offering the ability to transfer money and pay bills via mobile phone.
M-Wallet accounts will not be fully integrated into the bank's system. Orascom
Telecom, a shareholder in Mobinil, launched a similar service in Pakistan in
2009.
"It (the central bank) has put the
responsibility clearly with the bank to control the system," Joannier
said.
Egypt has a population of around 78 million
people, over 55 million mobile subscribers and an estimated 10% of people have a
bank account.
February 12, 2010
Malawi: Government Launches Tender for Fourth Mobile Operator
According to Reuters,
the government of Malawi has launched a tender for a fourth mobile operator.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority
(MACRA) representative Zamuziko Makambo said the government hopes a fourth
operator would increase competition and improve services.
"Currently we have three operators,
namely Zain, TNM and Gmobile, but we want another operator to help reduce the
cost of doing business and improve the quality of telecommunication
services," Makambo said.
Zain is the market leader in Malawi with
over one million subscribers, followed by Telekoms Networks Malawi (TNM). Gmobile
is yet to roll out its mobile service after winning a license in 2009.
Last year, MACRA awarded two licenses, one to
La Cell and the other to Expresso Telecom. The government subsequently
suspended the licenses, saying the tenders had not been conducted properly.
February 9, 2010
Nigeria: Bureau of Public Enterprises to Open Nitel Bids on February
16
According to a report
from the Daily Independent, on February 16, Nigeria's Bureau of Public
Enterprises (BPE) will open the financial bids of six groups that met the submission
deadline for the privatisation of NITEL / M-Tel.
The six short-listed bidders are Brymedia Ltd,
AF21/ Spectrum Consortium, MTN Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria, Omen International
and New Generation Telecommunications (formerly the Telefonica Consortium). The
deadline for the submission of technical and financial proposals was February 5.
The fourteen groups that were pre-qualified to bid for Nitel paid a
non-refundable fee of USD 25,000 for access to the data room and bidding
documents. The advertisement for expressions of interest from prospective
investors for the acquisition of at least 75% of NITEL was published in July
2009.
Prospective investors were invited to apply
to acquire either at least 75% equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate, or a
stake in one or several of its components: SAT-3, the domestic fixed line
telephony business, the national fibre-optic backbone, the CDMA network and/or
MTel's GSM business. Preference is being given to bidders seeking to acquire
NITEL's fixed line, transmission backbone, M-Tel and SAT-3 components together.
Groups bidding separately for M-Tel must be prepared to make the investments required
to separate M-Tel from the rest of NITEL's networks.
February 5, 2010
South Africa: Mobile Interconnection Rate Cut May Proceed
According to a Business
Day report, the proposed 29% reduction in mobile interconnection rates could
proceed as planned in March, Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys said. The reduction
requires that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa)
approves an amended proposal from operators.
Icasa rejected the initial proposal from Vodacom,
MTN and Cell C that would have cut peak interconnection rates from USD 0.16 to USD
0.12 per minute starting March 1. Icasa objected to the proposed three-year phased
introduction of the rate reduction, which would have forbidden Icasa from reviewing
mobile interconnection rates until March 1, 2013.
Uys said that Vodacom would consult with
the other operators to develop a new proposal that would not include a phased
introduction. The new operator agreement would maintain the commitment to a new
USD 0.12 peak rate, effective March 1.
"We have to sign agreements between
each of the operators, and once all of those are signed, we will submit the
proposal to Icasa. March 1 is not far away, so we have to do it as quickly as
possible - I would hope in the next five business days."
Icasa will release draft regulations on interconnection
fees next month, with final regulations to come in June. A spokesperson said
the new rates would be cost-based. Icasa has estimated that the cost of interconnecting
networks at USD 0.05 per minute.
"The best we can hope for is a
two-year glide path - for now they will want to keep their options open. An
overnight change to a business model is always difficult, but we've already
started working on it because we know it will come," Uys said.
MTN's Graham de Vries said that MTN had
decided on a voluntary reduction after mounting pressure from various
stakeholders.
Icasa representative Jubie Matlou said the
regulator might agree to the new proposal. "The only problem we had was
with the precondition... that meant we couldn't tamper with the rate for three
years."
February 1, 2010
Ghana: Ministry Bans New Masts
According to Ghana
Business News, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has
imposed a ban on building additional telecommunications masts or transmission
towers.
According to a January 12 letter to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ban will remain in place until
further notice. The letter also announced the establishment of a committee made
up of representatives from the EPA, the National Communications Authority
(NCA), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and National Security to
produce guidelines for the construction of communication towers. According to
the EPA, around 50% of communications masts were built by service providers who
did not obtain the required permit.
In a response to the letter, Bob Palitz, the
CEO of Kasapa Telecom, said that the action will affect expansion of mobile service
to rural areas. He added that it will also be difficult for GSM service
providers in cities if they require additional capacity. Palitz criticized the
Ministry of Science and Technology for acting unilaterally when there is already
a committee working to resolve the related issue of collocation.
Ghana has six mobile operators: MTN, Tigo, Vodafone,
Kasapa, Zain and Glo. Glo has not yet started operations. There are approximately
15 million mobile subscribers in Ghana.
January 26, 2010
Russia: Regulator Receives 13 Bids for WiMAX Spectrum
According to Prime-TASS
News, Russia’s Federal Service for Communications, IT, and Mass
Communication Oversight received 13 bids for its fourth WiMAX tender in the 2.3-2.4
gigahertz frequency range. The tender covers eight regions in the Siberian
Federal District and four regions in the Far East Federal District.
Bidders include Sibirtelecom and Far East
Telecom -- the largest fixed line operators in the Siberian and the Far East
federal districts -- Rostelecom, Prestige-Internet, MTS, Virgin affiliates Trivon
Networks and MediaLan, New Telephone Company, T-Service, New Telesystems and
three affiliates of Swedish operator Tele2.
WiMAX tenders for 40 Russian regions are
taking place in February and March. Scheduled for March 11, the Siberian / Far
East regions represent the final 2.3-2.4 GHz tender. The other three tenders
are scheduled for February 18, February 25 and March 4.
January 22, 2010
Jamaica: Digicel Loses Interconnection Case
Cellular-News
reports that Digicel Jamaica has lost a legal dispute over the regulatory
control of mobile interconnection rates.
Digicel argued that Jamaica's Office of
Utilities Regulation (OUR) did not have the authority to regulate mobile
interconnection rates. After losing a case in the Jamaican Court of Appeal,
Digicel filed an appeal with the UK's Privy Council, which acts as Jamaica's
highest court. The Privy Council upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling.
The Council's ruling agreed with the Court
that the law requires each operator to offer interconnection with other
networks, but that the lack of price regulation meant that an operator could effectively
block interconnection by imposing excessive interconnection charges. The OUR
will now be able to settle mobile interconnection disputes to ensure that
interconnection obligations are met.
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