Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

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Issue 4 2014 Édition 4 2014

Africa

Afrique

www.communicationsafrica.com

Fibre Collaborative approaches to international connectivity

Data Enterprise systems to create commercial values

Radio Transforming Southern Africa’s broadcasters with digital streaming

Marketing Des idées sur les sites web, et du développement commercial

Supporting ISPs in East Africa with low-cost, high-speed technologies Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50

FEATURES: ● Internet ● Mobile ● Infrastructure REGULAR REPORTS: ● Bulletin - Agenda ● Equipment - Équipement

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We all want options. This is especially true for your customers. Options — letting your customers interact with you the way they want to, when they want to, from wherever they want to. That’s where multichannel communications comes in.

Interactive Intelligence gives you the ability to route, monitor, record, and report on all media types – voice, email, web chat, fax, SMS, and social media. All-in-one. That way, your customers get choices and a consistent service experience across all channels, and you get a distinct advantage over your competition.

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CONTENTS

Issue 4 2014 Édition 4 2014

Afrique

Africa www.communicationsafrica.com

Fibre Collaborative approaches to international connectivity

Data Enterprise systems to create commercial values

Bulletin

4

Events

8

Agenda

10

Equipment

32

Radio Transforming Southern Africa’s broadcasters with digital streaming

Marketing Des idées sur les sites web, et du développement commercial

Supporting ISPs in East Africa with low-cost, high-speed technologies Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50

FEATURES: ● Internet ● Mobile ● Infrastructure REGULAR REPORTS: ● Bulletin - Agenda ● Equipment - Équipement

A note from the Editor THIS ISSUE OF Communications Africa/Afrique is centred around access to advanced mobile broadband and the dedicated provision of superior telecommunications services. So, from pages 16 and 18, there is analysis of data connection and revenue opportunities, with an assessments of backhaul infrastructure on page 20. Cybersecurity is an increasing concern, and this is addressed on page 22. Capacity management and facilities and strategies to gain and retain customer loyaltyare represented on pages 24 and 28. Digital radio broadcasting is also covered,w ith top-level initiatives aimed at improving commercial viability in emerging markets.

FEATURES Broadband

16

The social and economic benefits of increased mobile broadband deployment; and the value to enterprise of customer data gains from broadband connections

Backhaul

20

How local wireless infrastructure markets are maturing, and why they can be expected evolve into centralised, largescale open access and national networks

Data

22

Debating the attributes of the African Union’s stance on cybersecurity agains the risk to privacy and media freedoms

Fibre

24

Wholesale capacity for flexible market access and service delivery, to serve new network growth

Contact Centres

28

Multi-channel strategies that are geared towards greater customer satisfaction and retention

Broadcast

30

New movement in digital radio broadcasting, as advanced solutions become more affordable to emerging market players

Main Cover Image: Ericsson Inset: Volo Contents Page Image: MKH Marketing

Une note du rédacteur CETTE ÉDITION DE Communications Africa/Afrique représente l'explosion des menaces sur mobiles et les réseaux sociaux, et l'évolution dans le comportement des cybercriminels. Il y a aussi un article sur le développement commercial des entreprises et les idées courantes sur les sites web

ARTICLES Cybersécurité

19

L’augmentation des violations de données à grande échelle et des attaques ciblées montre une sophistication croissante des menaces envers les entreprises et les particuliers

Internet

28

Des idées fausses courantes sur les sites web, et le développement commercial des entreprise

Editor: Andrew Croft - andrew.croft@alaincharles.com

Audit Bureau of Circulations Business Magazines

Editorial and Design team: Bob Adams, Prashant AP, Hiriyti Bairu, Ranganath GS, Rhonita Patnaik, Zsa Tebbit, Nicky Valsamakis and Ben Watts Production: Nathanielle Kumar, Donatella Moranelli, Nick Salt and Sophia White Email: production@alaincharles.com Publisher: Nick Fordham Advertising Sales Director: Pallavi Pandey Magazine Sales Manager: Steve Thomas - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7834 7676, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 0076, Email: stephen.thomas@alaincharles.com Country China India Nigeria South Africa UAE USA

Representative Ying Matthieson Tanmay Mishra Bola Olowo Annabel Marx Camilla Capece Michael Tomashefsky

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www.communicationsafrica.com

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Email ying.matthieson@alaincharles.com tanmay.mishra@alaincharles.com bola.olowo@alaincharles.com annabel.marx@alaincharles.com camilla.capece@alaincharles.com michael.tomashefsky@alaincharles.com

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Subscriptions: circulation@alaincharles.com Chairman: Derek Fordham Printed by: Wyndeham Grange Ltd Communications Africa/Afrique is a bi-monthly magazine ISSN: 0962 3841

Serving the world of business

Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

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BULLETIN Volo helps ISPs delivering high-speed Internet access for the next billion A NEW FOR-PROFIT start-up, Volo, is accelerating high-quality broadband Internet access in emerging markets, utilising years of field experience to offer a cloudbased automation platform for Internet service providers (ISPs) to deploy fixed wireless broadband services using radically low-cost Volo’s first customer will launch a last-mile Wi-Fi networking new ISP in Northern Uganda to technologies; Volo investor and provide Silicon Valley quality, hightelecom entrepreneur Jim Forster speed broadband service for businesses and organizations in and explained, “Volo is enabling ISPs to around Gulu, Uganda use radically lower cost technologies to deliver high-speed fixed broadband, especially for small and medium enterprises, complementing mobile broadband for consumers.”

MTN selects CSG for comprehensive managed services programme CSG INTERNATIONAL, WHICH provides interactive transaction-driven solutions and services, has been chosen by MTN, one of the largest communication service providers in the world, for a long-term managed services engagement that will enable MTN South Africa to simplify and streamline its operations and focus its resources on core business lines; under the terms of the multiyear agreement, CSG will provide end-to-end management of the MTN wholesale billing and business services platform including the management of a variety of complex solutions, from CSG products and services such as “CSG is proud of its long-standing CSG Singleview, CSG Route, and business partnership with MTN CSG Interconnect, to home-grown South Africa.” - Alam Gill, senior vice MTN tools and systems from other president of international managed services at CSG third-party providers.

Presenting a roadmap to new digital experiences and business opportunities THE PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME at the 2014 NFC World Congress, set to be held in Marseille, France, 22-24 Septembe, addresses issues ranging from retail operations to smart cities to m-wallets and wearables, with particular coverage of the wholesale changes happening in the way we shop, spend money, travel, play, and connect. Aaround 60 speakers are scheduled in 15 thematic sessions over three days to discuss “mobile proximity”, the new ways consumers interact with the digital world using mobile proximity services to change behaviours and to challenge stakeholders - including mobile operators, banks, service providers and other verticals - to renew their business models around smart phones and smart connected devices.

Nokia buys Mesaplexx to improve compact radio systems specialism MOBILE BROADBAND FIRM Nokia has recently completed the acquisition of the Australian company Mesaplexx Pty Ltd in order to boost its radio capabilities in the networks business, to exploit Mesaplexx’s know-how in developing compact, high performance radio frequency (RF) filter technology for the mobile industry; Nokia is continually improving its

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Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

radio systems whilst making them smaller, lighter and more efficient, with the Nokia Flexi family of radio access base stations offering solutions that balance energy efficiency, power output and form factor.

MEF shows that the majority of the world’s mobile media users are downloading applications A GLOBAL COMMUNITY for mobile content and commerce, MEF has released the final report in its Global Consumer Insights Series, presenting data and analysis based on surveys of 10,000 respondents in 13 countries, including Kenya, examining trends in the global app economy; Rimma Perelmuter, CEO of MEF, commented, “MEF’s App Economy report highlights growth across all categories and engagement in growth markets that will continue to drive adoption worldwide to deliver new opportunities across new verticals such as money, education, health and productivity.”

Bango and Etisalat commit to operator billing partnership MOBILE PAYMENTS SPECIALIST Bango and telecoms firm Etisalat Group have entered into a partnership to deploy direct operator billing (DOB) across Etisalat’s markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa; Etisalat is the first operator to offer DOB for Google Play users in the Middle East, where subscribers can now enjoy frictionless one-click payment powered by Bango, paying on their phone bill, without the need to register personal details.

Tigo, Airtel and Zantel to enable mobile money payments between customers in Tanzania A PIONEERING AGREEMENT between Tigo, Airtel and Zantel allows the operators’ customers in Tanzania to send money to each other whether using Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money or EzyPesa on their mobile handsets; Diego Gutierrez, Tigo’s general manager for Tanzania, commented, “Just as we co-operate with our competitors on Tigo Tanzania general manager voice calls and text to help our Diego Gutierrez customers, so we hope to be able to do the same with mobile money and help make Tanzania a global pioneer in digital financial inclusion.”

Mobile internet usage to increase at twice the global rate in five years in Sub-Saharan Africa ACCORDING TO ERICSSON, the scale of Sub-Saharan Africa’s ongoing data revolution with traffic growth has doubled in the past year, with rapid growth set to continue; its June 2014 Sub-Saharan Africa Ericsson Mobility Report indicates that, in 2014 phone users accessed 76,000 TB (terabyte) of data per month, double the 2013 figure of 37,500 TB per month, with 2015 figures expected to be double again with mobile phone users accessing 147,000 TB per month.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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BULLETIN Orange lance un smartphone nouveau en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient

La 4e édition du Prix Orange de l’Entrepreneur Social en Afrique

APRÈS LE LANCEMENT très réussi de l’Alcatel OneTouch Pixi original d’Orange, qui s’est vendu à près de 250 000 exemplaires en 6 mois, Orange a mis à disposition de ses clients en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient l’un des smartphones les plus abordables du marché; le smartphone Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 2 est un smartphone riche en fonctionnalités à un prix abordable qui permettra aux consommateurs en Afrique et au MoyenOrient de bénéficier rapidement des avantages de l’Internet mobile.

FORT DU SUCCÈS des trois années passées, Orange lance l’édition 2014 du prix Orange de l’Entrepreneur Social en Afrique; cette 4ème édition s’enrichit d’un prix spécial « Orange Partner » récompensant un projet intégrant une application Orange.

« Orange continue à améliorer l’accessibilité d’Internet pour ses clients en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient en proposant les meilleurs téléphones et les meilleures tablettes, qui utilisent les réseaux les plus performants, avec des contenus et des services locaux, le tout à des prix abordables pour le plus grand nombre. » - Yves Maitre, Directeur en charge des objets connectés et des partenariats chez Orange SkyVision fournit à la Guinée des solutions de télécommunications de haut niveau L'UN DES PLUS importants fournisseurs mondiaux de télécommunications, SkyVision Global Networks Ltd a renforcé le marché télécom de Guinée grâce à l'inauguration de ses nouveaux services de liaison par fibre optique et sans fil SkyVision SkyFibre; le service de SkyVision se connecte via le câble sous-marin ACE à son réseau IP/MPLS afin d'offrir à ses clients des solutions innovantes en matière de traitement des données et de liaison télécom.

Des accords entre la France et la Tunisie, de la recherche scientifique et de la TIC SUR UN PLAN scientifique, la France et la Tunisie va renforcer les échanges de bonnes pratiques entre incubateurs tunisiens et français pour favoriser la création d'entreprises innovantes issues de la recherche; avec près de 12 000 étudiants tunisiens accueillis chaque année dans l'enseignement supérieur français, la Tunisie représente la quatrième communauté d'étudiants étrangers en France.

Autour de Microsoft, et l’acquisition de l’activité Devices et Services de Nokia L’ACQUISITION DE L’ACTIVITÉ Devices et Services de Nokia a été approuvée par les actionnaires de Nokia et par les autorités de régulation gouvernementales du monde entier; Stephen Elop, ancien Président et PDG de Nokia, est devenu Vice-Président exécutif de la division Microsoft Devices - et il reportera à Satya Nadella, PDG de Microsoft, comme la tête des activités Devices incluant les smartphones et tablettes Lumia, les téléphones Nokia, Xbox Hardware, Surface ainsi que les produits et accessoires Perceptive Pixel (PPI).

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Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

Les compétences numériques en métiers de la santé et l’expérience tunisienne L'UNIVERSITÉ VIRTUELLE DE Tunis et l'association e-OMED ont organisé le 19 et 20 juin un workshop sur les compétences numériques en métiers de la santé; plusieurs conférenciers et experts étrangers ont animé ce worckshop, qui a porté essentiellement sur les compétences numériques dans le domaine de la santé, les modalités d’évaluation des compétences numériques, les nouvelles pratiques de lecture numérique pour la formation médicale et L’expérience de l'université tunisienne en matière d’intégration des TICs.

Une transaction, une nouvelle étape dans la stratégie d’optimisation du portefeuille d’actifs d’Orange DANS LE CADRE de la revue régulière de son portefeuille d’actifs, le Groupe Orange a annoncé qu’il a conclu un accord avec Africell Holding portant sur la cession de sa participation majoritaire dans Orange Ouganda; la transaction est soumise à l’approbation des autorités compétentes, et elle permettra une continuité dans le développement de la société en Ouganda.

Orange poursuit sa stratégie de soutien à l’innovation en Afrique APRÈS L’INCUBATEUR CTIC au Sénégal et Ebène à l’Ile Maurice, Orange ont annoncé l’ouverture du 1er incubateur au Niger; Orange Niger et ses partenaires locaux - - ont contribué à la création du Centre Incubateur des PME au Niger (CIPMEN) pour favoriser l’émergence d’entreprises innovantes au Niger.

Premier déploiement NFV du contrôleur radio d’Alcatel-Lucent, pour l’opérateur saoudien Mobily ALCATEL-LUCENT ET Mobily Saudi Arabia ont annoncé le premier déploiement au monde du logiciel de réseau d’accès radio (RAN, radio access network) virtualisé du portefeuille de virtualisation des fonctions réseau (NFV, Network Function Virtualization) d’Alcatel-Lucent, lancé au Mobile World Congress 2014.

Mobily déploie le contrôleur radio 9771 WCE RNC (Wireless Cloud Element Radio Network Controller) d’Alcatel-Lucent pour accroître la performance, la fiabilité, l’évolutivité et l’efficacité opérationnelle de ses services. Avec plus de 51 millions d’abonnés mobiles dans un pays comptant 27,3 millions d’habitants, le marché des télécommunications d’Arabie saoudite est l’un des plus concurrentiels du Moyen-Orient.

Alaa Malki, directeur technique Ag. Mobile Network de Mobily, a déclaré : « Notre équipe a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec AlcatelLucent pour adopter de nouvelles technologies permettant d’optimiser l’efficacité du réseau, comme le veut notre stratégie, et d’utiliser sa solution de contrôle cloud. Notre clientèle est technologiquement très en pointe et nous devons rester à l’avant-garde de l’innovation pour lui offrir le niveau d’expérience qu’elle attend. À cet égard, nous avons atteint notre premier objectif et nous sommes impatients de bénéficier de la performance, de la fiabilité et de l’évolutivité améliorées du contrôleur RNC virtualisé. »

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Events/Événements 2014 AUGUST/AOÛT 4-8

International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Nicosia, Cyprus

16-18

Africa Telecoms Fraud, Revenue Assurance & Risk Management

Johannesburg, South Africa

iwcmc.org www.fbrevents.com

SEPTEMBER/SEPTEMBRE 10-11

Banking & Mobile Money COMESA

Nairobi, Kenya

www.aitecafrica.com

16-17

NigeriaCom

Lagos, Nigeria

www.nigeria.comworldseries.com

www.broadbandworldforum.com

OCTOBER/OCTOBRE 21-23

Broadband World Forum

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

22-23

East Africa ICT Summit

Nairobi, Kenya

28-29

FTTH Council Africa Conference

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.aitecafrica.com www.ftthcouncilafrica-conference.com

NOVEMBER/NOVEMBRE 18

TMT World Congress

London, UK

www.tmtfinance.com

Userful features new desktop virtualisation solution with HP at eLearning Africa in Kampala ELEARNING AFRICA, THE 9th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, took place in Kampala, Uganda, at the end of May 2014. The conference gathered ICT practitioners and professionals from all over the world coming together to teach and learn more about technologies for communciation and information. The goal of eLearning Africa was to share ICT knowledge and expertise in order to enhance the use of technology across education, business, and government in Africa.

Userful, along with HP, attended the event to exhibit its multiplatform desktop virtualisation software - a flexible, high performance, lowcost solution. Userful Multiplatform 7.1, the newest version of the software, provides an alternative solution to the traditional and costly one PC per seat solution by powering multiple desktops, digital signs, and even video walls with just one PC. Schools and services businesses can take advantage of the solution and its many options to drastically reduce computing costs and provide the best possible

computing experience. In several African countries, including Uganda, Cameroon, and Kenya, many schools and businesses are already working with Userful and HP on large projects. The goal is to deploy more computers with excellent value and low cost in order to bridge the digital divide and provide citizens with ICT tools and skills. One of the most successful projects that has recently launched has been with the Uganda Communications Commission and the Uganda Ministry of Education.

Bahrain welcomes top tech policy makers at UN regulatory gathering MORE THAN 650 high-level international delegates from the world’s Touré said the digital ecosystem has re-drawn the business boundaries information and communication technology (ICT) regulatory authorities and paved the way for a wealth of fresh and innovative ideas.

“In this new business landscape, how can we ensure that both recently spent a week in Bahrain, debating the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow’s increasingly interconnected digital consumers and businesses benefit from the opportunities of living in a digital society? How can we respond to their need for a environment. secure, reliable and trustworthy ecosystem, while fostering The world’s largest specialised gathering of ICT policy a positive investment climate that will ensure we can makers, ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) finance tomorrow’s infrastructure rollout?” he asked. aims to stimulate debate, knowledge sharing and Moderating a debate entitled ‘Redefining exchange of best practice among regulators, industry Responsibilities in a Data-Driven Digital World’, Brahima leaders, government policy analysts and other key ICT Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development stakeholders.

Bureau (BDT), which organises the symposium every year Hosted by the Government of Bahrain under the as a service to ITU’s public and private sector members, patronage of Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin said, “Users today increasingly have to deal with new Salman Al Khalifa, the event took place at the Gulf Hotel issues brought about by new technologies, new devices, Bahrain from 3-5 June. Discussions focused around ‘Capitalizing on the Potential of the Digital World’ - and Brahima Sanou, Director of new online services and applications which affect featured key topics including Big Data; consumer ITU’s Telecommunication consumer behaviour. In a globalised, interconnected and empowerment; strategies to stimulate ICT market Development Bureau (BDT) increasingly complex environment, consumer education and empowerment are critical for users to fully benefit from competition and meet growing demand for network capacity; emerging digital business models such as OTT and cloud the potential of the digital world.”

This year’s symposium comes at a time of enormous transition for services; and innovative radio spectrum management trends.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Bahrain the ICT sector. Sharp increases in data flows resulting from the rapid partnered with ITU to host the symposium, which was officially chaired development of new services and applications such as cloud

by TRA Chairman Dr Mohammed Ahmed Alamer. At the event, computing, coupled with always-on, ubiquitous ICT networks, are addressing GSR-14 delegates, ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun I. challenging traditional regulatory approaches.

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Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

www.communicationsafrica.com

VIS

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5TH ANNUAL

FR EE

FO RW RE OP EST EN GUL ERA AFRI TE AT TO CA R N Lim RPR OR S, B S, ite d s ISE AN pa ce AN KS sa vai D C , lab I O le s

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AGENDA

Gilat Satcom expands fibre network with new Tanzanian PoP Its MPLS network connects to SATELLITE AND FIBRE-BASED the West Africa Cable System connectivity services provider (WACS) as well as EASSy and Gilat Satcom has committed SEACOM via fibre local loops additional investment into its across Tanzania, Zambia, broadband network in East Malawi, Namibia and Africa with the establishment Mozambique. In addition, Gilat of a new point of presence Satcom’s pan-Africa satellite (PoP) in Dar Es Salaam, footprint allows its MPLS Tanzania.

The PoP is network to reach the most connected to both the Eastern remote areas of the continent.

Africa Submarine Cable The new PoP was System (EASSy) and SEACOM established to answer growing undersea cables, which enable demand from current and new Gilat Satcom to provide customers in East Africa to advanced services such as improve domestic and multiprotocol label switching international broadband (MPLS) with full redundancy. connectivity. Dan Zajicek, CEO Gilat Satcom has a growing of Gilat Satcom, said, “We range of fibre routes in coastal continue to invest heavily in and landlocked Africa and expanding our operations in provides telecommunications Africa on fibre to provide companies, Internet service complete MPLS services with providers (ISPs), governments Dan Zajicek, CEO of Gilat Satcom full redundancy. Our customer and businesses with fast and reliable broadband connectivity at a highly base is expanding rapidly because we have a competitive price. Gilat Satcom is amongst the first reputation for providing reliable high-quality companies in Africa to offer both non-stop East to extremely stable broadband services with West coast-to-coast and international connectivity. excellent QoS.”

ABS embarks on major expansion to complement satellite launches SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS COMANY ABS is preparing for a major business expansion with the launch of ABS-2A & ABS-3A in 2014/2015 and further satellites to be added to the fleet in the following two years. ABS launched its sixth satellite, ABS-2 in February 2014, covering 80 per cent of the world's population including the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). ABS offers a complete range of solutions to broadcast, data and telecommunications services providers, major enterprises and government organisations.

Growth through tech leadership ABS, established in 2006 as Asia Broadcast Satellite, has grown particularly rapidly, with an average annual revenue growth rate of over 30 per cent during the past six years. The company received Export-Import Bank’s ‘Deal of the Year’ award in April

10 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

2014. This was a result of ABS' purchase of three satellites built

by Space Systems/Loral and Boeing Satellite Systems, as well as two space launches provided

by SpaceX. ABS' established reputation as a technological leader was further strengthened following the order for two all-electric satellites from Boeing Satellite Systems in March 2012. These two satellites will be the first allelectric types in the world to enter service, with the launch of ABS-2A & ABS-3A into geostationary orbit in late 2014 and 2015.

"By providing technologically advanced and cost-effective solutions designed to offer our customers the best possible value, ABS has rapidly established itself as a reliable and trusted partner to a prestigious list of global customers and is now well positioned for major global expansion," said Tom Choi, CEO of ABS.

IT spending to slow ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide IT spending will increase by 4.1 per cent in constant currency this year, down from IDC’s previous forecast of 4.6 per cent and also down from last year’s growth of 4.5 per cent. According to the new report, IT spending has been volatile since the beginning of the year, with macroeconomic wild cards including the crisis in Ukraine and the slowdown in China adding to the general sense of uncertainty which continues to impact business confidence and investment.

Aside from macroeconomic wild cards, the other weak spot in the IT market since the previous quarter has been slowing growth in mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), due partly to price erosion and a more mature installed base.

Liquid Telecom completes East Africa Fibre Ring, increasing Internet reliability in the region An independent data, voice and IP provider, operating in eastern, central and southern Africa, Liquid Telecom has completed the build of the East Africa Fibre Ring - connecting Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and back into Kenya, and creating the first fully redundant regional fibre ring, connecting these countries to each other and the rest of the world.

The East Africa Fibre Ring ensures that Liquid Telecom customers will not be affected by fibre cuts, which have blighted users in Burundi, DRC, Uganda, and Rwanda up to now. Network outages will no longer cause long periods of down-time when businesses cannot connect to the internet.

For the first time, in the event of a fibre cut, internet traffic is automatically and instantly re-routed around the ring, giving consistently high speeds and continuous uptime for businesses and their customers, ensuring business continuity across the region.

The new East Africa Fibre Ring ensures more reliability and security of data connectivity, internet and business services than has ever been available, with Liquid Telecom showing measurable service improvements and superior SLAs to businesses.

Nic Rudnick, chief executive officer of the Liquid Telecom Group, said, “This is a historic service improvement for the people and businesses of east Africa, especially those in Rwanda, DRC, Burundi and Uganda, who will not have experienced such reliable internet previously. This pioneering achievement will add value to east African businesses and enable online trade within the East African community and globally, with reliable connectivity comparable to anywhere else in the world.”

This is an historic development for businesses in East Africa as the new regional fibre ring improves Internet resilience with previously unavailable routing options www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Emagine International delivers contextual marketing platform to Vodacom DRC VODACOM DRC HAS opted to use the Campaign Management Platform and Managed Marketing Operations services developed by real-time contextual customer marketing software and managed services provider Emagine International, to execute contextual marketing campaigns. For Emagine, this win represents the second Vodacom Group contract, following the success of its longterm engagement with Vodacom South Africa.

Emagine places heavy emphasis on customer satisfaction, aiming to deliver insights, operational excellence and incremental revenue. This has translated into consistent delivery of results for Vodacom combined with operational excellence and a substantial increase in net incremental revenue.

Emagine’s Campaign Management Platform, a comprehensive real-time solution designed specifically for telecommunications operators, will deliver enhanced value to Vodacom DRC subscribers via smart analytics and personalised multi-channel marketing communications. For operators, it lowers

customer churn rates and stimulates additional incremental revenue, moving beyond pure acquisition and revenue generation campaigns to ensure the management of the existing customer base value together with the easy execution of up-sell, cross-sell and retention strategies.

Emagine’s onsite Managed Marketing Operations service integrates Emagine’s Customer Value Management experts directly into Vodacom DRC’s marketing team, allowing the operator to combine Emagine’s global marketing best practice and technology expertise with their own knowledge of their customers and the market in the DRC.

Emagine’s platform and people will ensure maximum ROI for Vodacom DRC on campaigns in the shortest possible timeframe The process will integrate seamlessly throughout Vodacom DRC’s entire network, blending with Vodacom’s strategy of complete Customer Value Management

across every aspect of their business. This unique combination of Emagine’s platform and people will ensure maximum ROI for Vodacom DRC on campaigns in the shortest possible timeframe.

“Emagine’s work with Vodacom South Africa has generated impressive results to date,” commented Marco Gagiano, managing executive of customer value management at Vodacom International.

“We are therefore looking forward to expanding our relationship with Emagine to the DRC. Working with their team of onsite technical and marketing experts, we will be able to deliver even more value to our customers in the DRC and we expect to see the benefits of that internally.”

“Customer satisfaction is hugely important to us and is one of our key differentiators. We’re really pleased that our work with Vodacom South Africa has resulted in a further contract with the Vodacom Group and look forward to working with Vodacom DRC to yield effective campaigns that rapidly generate increased customer engagement and yield sustained and significant revenues,” said David Peters, Emagine CEO and founder.

How Uganda gains from Volo’s new services A SILICON VALLEY start-up has chosen an unlikely venue in northern Uganda to announce its global operations - Gulu town has been at the centre of a conflict that lasted more than twenty years’ until the early 2000s. And the last time Gulu featured in global news was when the non-governmental organisation Invisible Children released the YouTube video Kony 2012 that Time magazine declared was the most viral video ever.

Perhaps hoping for the same success levels, Volo has positioned itself in Gulu to launch its cloud-based automation platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), promising “radically low-cost last-mile Wi-Fi networking technologies” that may make accessing internet connectivity in Uganda much cheaper than before.

According to Volo founder and chief executive officer, Mark Summer, his company will not determine Ugandan ISP end prices, but the Volo offerings will give them a competitive advantage through better pricing.

"By building systems and providing expertise that allow ISPs to use lower cost equipment and reduce operational expenses we help ISPs reduce their costs. We are also working with them as our clients to develop business plans that allow them to reduce end-user subscription costs. Obviously its up to the ISPs to decide on their own pricing,” Summer said.

Summer added that his company was taking advantage of existing high internet subscription costs and pricing based on megabytes or connection speeds.

“That has led to ISPs having to compete for a small number of customers who can afford these prices. Our model allows ISPs to reduce costs but as well to serve new markets that are otherwise economically challenging for them to reach. This increases the market size for service providers and provides better economic sustainability,” he said.

Volo uses a vendor-neutral platform to enable ISPs to deliver connectivity solutions that the company promises will be faster and cheaper to implement than existing ones.

According to a McKinsey study of Internet use in Africa, released on the same day (Friday), price anxiety hinders almost up to 25 per cent of consumers in African countries from accessing the internet. Other reasons the study cited were

12 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

affordability and ease of connection. However, according to the study that sampled 15,000 internet users in 19 cities across 12 African countries, “research shows that faster browsing is the most requested change among Internet users, as opposed to cheaper access. To deliver this, operators have several options, including…making selected investments to remove bottlenecks in the highestpotential regions, and encouraging the use of data compression and buffering technology to promote higher speeds."

Volo’s positioning for platform potential Volo investor and telecom entrepreneur, Jim Forster, said the new venture would offer ISPs higher revenue potentials because of higher bandwidth.

“Just like any other business in North America or Europe, businesses in Africa and other emerging markets want to be profitable, and provide the best products and services to their clients. While much of Africa has some internet access, what’s missing is reliable, fast internet connections so companies can use the high bandwidth products that make them more competitive,” he said.

Forster said Volo would enable ISPs to use radically lower cost technologies to deliver high-speed fixed broadband, especially for small and medium enterprises.

Volo promises that its cloud-based platform, yet to be released, will simplify the manner in which ISPs design and manage fixed wireless networks, set up and provision services, and serve and bill customers.

The firm plans to serve ISPs in 60 emerging markets ready for massive growth but lacking critical last-mile infrastructure outside of capital cities. Gulu, the location of the launch, is even more strategic for being located on the cusp of Southern Sudan and northern Uganda - both vast swathes recovering from years of civil war and offering up a burgeoning commercial population.

“Until recently, building infrastructure was expensive and time-consuming, making it hard for ISPs to scale, and leaving businesses in emerging markets stuck with glacially slow connection speeds,” Summer said.

Simon Kaheru

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Accor met ses collaborateurs dans le Cloud OPÉRATEUR HÔTELIER MONDIAL dans 92 pays, Accor fait un pas supplémentaire dans sa révolution digitale et la transformation de ses modes de collaboration avec le lancement d’un dispositif de communication interne 2.0 associant un intranet nouvelle génération, AccorLive, et un réseau social d’entreprise AccorLounge, proposé à ses 170 000 collaborateurs dans le monde.

Alors que l’expérience digitale est au cœur du parcours client dans les hôtels Accor, le groupe s’est engagé dans une évolution culturelle majeure en interne. Flux d’information ciblés et permanents, partage d’idées, échange et stockage de contenu multimédia, création de communautés collaboratives, consultation multicanal via un terminal professionnel ou personnel sont autant de leviers visant à créer de la valeur et à la partager.

Virginie Sido, Directrice de la marque corporate Accor, RSE & communication interne explique : «Collaboratif et personnalisable, ce dispositif est

particulièrement remarquable par son envergure internationale et son empreinte opérationnelle. Dans les sièges ou les hôtels, en filiale ou franchise, les directeurs, gouvernantes d’étage, réceptionnistes ou chefs de cuisine peuvent accéder à ces nouvelles solutions depuis un ordinateur professionnel ou personnel, une tablette ou un mobile. Notre ambition est de permettre au plus grand nombre d’échanger afin de favoriser l’efficacité, le dialogue et la créativité.»

Avec près de 60% de salariés de moins de 35 ans, le Groupe voit grandir la part d’une génération Y hyper connectée, à la recherche d’une plus grande proximité managériale et instantanéité dans la communication en entreprise. Grâce à ces nouveaux espaces d’expression et de collaboration, Accor, entend donner à ses équipes qui sont à 90% en contact direct avec la clientèle, la possibilité de partager leur savoir-faire et leur expérience de la relation clientèle pour accroître la

Mettre une identité derrière utilisateurs maliens LES PLUS HAUTES autorités du Mali ont exprimé de façon explicite leur détermination à utiliser les atouts fondamentaux des TIC, en vue d’en faire de véritables outils de développement dans tous les secteurs, afin de garantir la croissance démographique et la productivité économique à travers le pays donc, de l’atteinte des OMD. Mais aujourd’hui, le constat révèle que ces télécommunications/TIC dévient cet objectif de développement. Des actes et des scènes, à travers notamment des téléphones mobiles, des réseaux sociaux et internet en général, donnent une mauvaise image de l’utilisation faite des outils de télécommunication/TIC. Selon Me Mamadou Gaoussou Diarra, Ministre de la jeunesse et de la construction citoyenne, représentant son homologue de l’économie numérique, de l’information et de la communication, M Mahamadou Camara en déplacement ; la situation actuelle au Mali se traduit par un grand nombre d’utilisateurs, non identifiés, de services prépayés de téléphonie mobile. Environs 20 millions de lignes sont en service, avec pour conséquence, des infractions à la loi commises par certains de ces utilisateurs, a dit maitre Diarra.

14 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

« Les utilisateurs de téléphone mobile bénéficiant du service internet sont plus de 3 140 120 ; les clefs internet, avec plus de 167 982 utilisateurs, ne sont pas absolument identifiées. » a-til avancé ; tout en ajoutant que les cybercafés ne disposent d’aucune procédure d’ identification formelle.

Compte tenu de cette évolution, il est avéré impératif pour l’ état de réguler l’utilisation des services de télécommunications/TIC, afin de pouvoir mettre une identité derrière chaque utilisateur.

Il s’ agit pour le département de l’économie numérique, de l’information et de la communication, de disposer d’un instrument juridique, qui soumet à l’identification des tous les utilisateurs des services de télécommunications/tic. C’ est dans le cadre que l’Autorité Malienne de Régulation des Télécommunications/TIC et des Postes (AMRTP) avec l’ assistance de la Banque mondiale, a organisé un Atelier d’une journée sur " l`identification des abonnés à la téléphonie mobile" au Mali. La cérémonie d’ouverture a été accueilli sous l’égide du Ministère de l’économie numérique, de l’information et de la communication.

Fousseyni Sanogo

performance hôtelière et la qualité du service client.

Pour développer cette plateforme, le groupe a bénéficié de l’accompagnement de l’entité conseil d’Orange Business Services, depuis l’identification des besoins métiers jusqu’à la conduite du changement auprès des collaborateurs, ainsi que de l’expertise de Microsoft. Laurent Idrac, Directeur des Systèmes d'Information du groupe Accor, déclare : « cette nouvelle solution repose sur une architecture hybride inédite intégrant AccorLive, portail intranet hébergé par Accor sur SharePoint2013 et AccorLounge, réseau social intégré hébergé dans le Cloud avec Sharepoint online et Office365. Ce dispositif présente plusieurs avantages majeurs, comme celui de pouvoir se connecter depuis tout type de terminal professionnel et personnel, de bénéficier d’un large espace sécurisé de partage et de stockage de fichiers et d'une évolution permanente des fonctionnalités grâce au Cloud. »

Des TIC créatrices d’emplois pour les jeunes africains LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL de Microsoft pour l'Afrique, Fernando de Sousa, a indiqué l'importance de l'utilisation des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (TIC) pour créer la richesse et l'emploi, notamment en faveur des jeunes. C'était lors d'une interview accordée en marge des Assemblées annuelles 2014 de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD). S'exprimant au sujet du partenariat entre Microsoft et la BAD, de Sousa a expliqué que les actions menées à ce jour concernent notamment les domaines de l'éducation, de la santé et de l'agriculture. Microsoft a suggéré un ensemble de mesures qui devraient être adoptées par les gouvernements africains pour promouvoir l'utilisation des TIC chez les jeunes sans emploi. A travers ce partenariat, la BAD octroi un appui de 20 millions de dollars dans les technologies afin promouvoir l'accès des TIC aux populations africaines.

Les deux institutions développeront plusieurs types d'applications électroniques pour appuyer le renforcement des capacités institutionnelles et des entreprises du secteur privé. L'éducation à distance et l'amélioration de l'accès aux TIC à travers la distribution d'équipements figurent aussi en bonne place.

Toutefois, de Sousa a estimé qu'il y a encore de nombreux défis à relever en la matière, car tout nouveau projet a besoin d'une volonté politique pour atteindre ses objectifs.

Selon le patron de Microsoft, les grands défis auxquels doit faire face l'Afrique, sont entre autres la formulation d'une politique inclusive de régulation du marché et l'élaboration des dispositions légales. « Au nombre des grands défis, il y a que le continent africain fait toujours face à des pénuries d'électricité et que les infrastructures sont souvent peu adaptées dans certains pays », a déclaré de Sousa.

Pour de Sousa, la mise en œuvre des projets nécessite également le renforcement des capacités locales. Il faut aussi veiller à ce que l'approche partenariat public-privé soit l'aboutissement de projets générateurs de revenus et créateurs d'emplois. « L'environnement est favorable pour encourager les jeunes à profiter de ces opportunités technologiques mises à leur disposition. Cela contribuera à réduire les inégalités déplorables dans certains pays à travers le continent », a déclaré de Sousa.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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ICT

Informa

Prepping for better communication Will Nigeria live up to its potential as leading ICT hub of Africa?

S

OME SAY IT is already there, but however you measure it, the facts are compelling. Nigeria is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world, complementing the country’s recent designation as Africa’s largest economy in GDP terms. The ICT sector has contributed significantly to this GDP re-calculation; of which telecom is said to be the fourth largest contributor to the economy. Since liberalising the telecom market, huge amounts of foreign investment have entered to provide several types of telecom and value-added services (VAS).

It is this level of competition that has seen triple digit growth rates in the mobile space hold strong for over a decade. Within this time, over 63 million Nigerians got connected to the Internet.

Challenges still remain however; the Internet and broadband sector is certainly underdeveloped compared to the country’s scale of industries and population.

Meanwhile, this sector continues to develop with several market players operating under a unified licensing scheme, the country’s 3G and 4G capabilities along with wireless broadband services are receiving a much desired boost.

After some significant progress, the question now seems to be – how can regulators and multi-stakeholders improve Internet governance and infrastructure roll out to allow this economic growth to continue to flourish? There is no silver bullet for overcoming quality of service issues and infrastructure challenges. But, there is a

www.communicationsafrica.com

compelling business case to make sure you are present at NigeriaCom 2014, which will take place at the Lagos Oriental Hotel on 16 and 17 September, 2014.

NigeriaCom features many new elements this year to support the key developments in the industry. A high level two-day conference pays significant attention to the National Broadband Plan roll out, new business strategies for operators amid the digital migration, chief regulatory debates and showcasing LTE/4G technologies. In

Several market players are operating under a unified licensing scheme giving the country’s 3G and 4G capabilities a boost

addition, mobile money challenges will be tackled by high level speakers from the Central Bank and financial institutions.

In addition, the CIO Forum — a stream for all Nigerian businesses to learn how to transform into an efficient digital enterprises, will be presented at the event. It is a must-attend forum for CIOs, heads of technology and ICT leaders at enterprises and corporations in Nigeria. The forum covers key discussions from leading CIOs about how they manage businesses across mobile, social, big data and cloud.

Within the exhibition, the Affordable Tech Hub will be featured, which is a new experiential showcase of the latest technologies and handsets changing the market for the customer. As a hands-on showcase of the most innovative and affordable wireless technologies, there are plenty of handset, software and device manufacturers to keep you up-to-date on influential tech developments.

Eugene Nyagahene, CEO of Tele10 – a pay-tv provider and ISP, has emphasised on the importance of speedy networks to support expansion plans. “The appetite for video content on the move is eroding the fixed screen viewership, especially for teenagers.” However, Nyagahene felt that more investments are required to enhance the speed of Internet connections as present 3G networks are unable to handle video content needs. With new players such as Korea Telecom investing in 4G networks in East Africa Com, this would probably call for a "positive reaction from dominant players" like MTN and Airtel. ✆

Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

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MOBILE

Broadband

Why mobile broadband is the single greatest opportunity There have been unprecedented opportunities to drive social and economic development through increased access to advanced connectivity, services and content

A

SKED AT ITU Telecom World 2013 what single technology or development will bring the greatest change, ministers, regulators and industry leaders answered almost with one voice: mobile.

"It's got to be the smartphone," said Omobola Johnson, Nigeria's minister for information and communication technology.

"That's because as the price gets cheaper and cheaper, more people have access, and you can do anything you imagine with it, education, health, anything."

In the words of Jon Frederik Baksaas, CEO of leading international operator Telenor: "The smartphone has provided a lot of change in the last years. Now it is about to reach its full potential, throwing it out to the huge number of people still not connected."

And, for Saf Yeboah-Amankwah, senior partner at McKinsey and Company, the answer is equally clear: "The fifty dollar smartphone whose battery can last almost a week without recharging. This will make the internet affordable to the 250 million people in Africa who live in rural areas but don't have access to electricity."

Mobile is particularly suited to connecting the unconnected in emerging markets where often remote and rural areas remain all but unreachable for meaningful fixed line deployment. The distances are too great, the geographies too extreme, the potential customer base too unpromising from an ARPU point of view.

Access to the Internet and its applications, services and products is, after all, what broadband is all about. As consumer demand has shifted radically over the past decade from voice to data services, so has the preference for mobile rather than fixed delivery - and all around the world, across developed and developing nations alike. And it's a trend that will continue, with huge potential impact on emerging markets in particular: "Of all the broadband devices in the world, in five years time the vast majority will be mobile and will be used in low-income countries rather than highincome countries", according to David Lewin, director of Plum Consulting.

So mobile broadband is clearly where the future is - and a huge opportunity for individual consumers, companies, markets and nations throughout Africa and the emerging world. But there is considerable uncertainty as to which direction mobile broadband will take. Its growth is explosive and unpredictable, shaped by the swift turnover in new apps, devices, content and market players. Mobile cloud networks and the fusion of mobile and internet herald further disruption. New business models, new markets, new value chains - the whole mobile broadband ecosystem is in flux.

Uncertainty and challenges, for sure, but above all else, the mobile broadband revolution brings unprecedented opportunities to level the playing field and drive social and economic development. In mobile content, for example, the barrier to entry is low in terms of capital expenditure, and the impact potentially enormous.

There is no universally agreed definition of broadband: it is a complex mix of technologies, devices, infrastructure and speed that is increasingly seen as a critical national utility. In order to move as far as possible towards universal deployment, broadband needs to be differentiated to reflect the local context, perhaps at lower speeds, with lower cost technologies or with an holistic mix of satellite, wifi, mobile and fixed networks. In the longer term, mobile and fixed broadband will need to work together to guarantee customer experience, offloading on to fixed or wifi networks.

However local broadband is delivered, government involvement in some form of public private partnership is vital.

Governments need to bring money and determination, resolve the energy divide, stimulate demand, facilitate international investment and connectivity. It's a long shopping list, and one we will discuss in depth with international experts from across the ICT ecosystem at ITU Telecom World 2014 in Doha this December.

Mobile broadband is the future. Keeping it local is the key to growth, to the leapfrog effect, to fast-forwarded development. It's the single greatest opportunity for this generation. ✆

ITU Telecom World 2014 will be held in Doha, Qatar, from 7-10 December - www.itu.int

The scale of change Mobile telephony has already proved the great facilitating technology in many areas, bringing real change, creating economic ecosystems on a local scale, enabling emerging markets to leapfrog developmental stages. Tales abounded at ITU Telecom World of villages where mobile telephony arrived long before electricity (or where the grid has still not arrived); of how more citizens worldwide have access to a mobile phone than to a toothbrush; of how for many people, popular social media sites such as Facebook not only represent, but are, the Internet.

16 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

Meeting needs in local markets The key is keeping it local. Meeting the needs of local markets is paramount. This means locally-relevant devices, content and apps, matching local consumer spending power (such as through prepaid SIM cards or shared use models) and providing niche broadband products firmly based in the context of local communities.

Social media and public sector services are the central building blocks of mobile broadband, but it's local content that will truly drive demand.

Blaise Judja-Sato, executive manager, ITU Telecom

www.communicationsafrica.com

7044-Ce

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Epic Flexibility, Endless Connectivity Reliable, five-bar connectivity for service providers in emerging markets With EpicNG, Intelsat’s next-generation, high-throughput, backhaul solution, delivering future connectivity in Africa just got easier. Intelsat EpicNG is engineered for mobile operators that need to serve remote customers, across any terrain, regardless of conditions. Best of all, EpicNG works with your existing infrastructure, making it the most cost-effective and reliable solution for your network.

Only Intelsat, a company with 50 years of technical and operational expertise, a global fleet of 50+ satellites, and the next generation satellite platform can promise you epic flexibility and endless connectivity.

www.intelsat.com/broadband

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MOBILE

Broadband

Using data to create commercial value The potential for unlocking real value from enterprise systems, by using corporate knowledge of customers in more sophisticated ways

A

S MOBILITY, BIG data and mobile broadband continue to grow in significance, they are changing the personal and enterprise computing landscape. At the same time, data monetisation is emerging as a major topic of discussion, because each of these trends has potential to provide extraordinary value for businesses.

Smart businesses – large or small – are already doing it and making money. In South Africa, we are seeing growing interest in the potential for unlocking the real valuein our enterprise data.

We’re becoming aware that we have this gold mine we haven’t tapped into well enough.

Data monetisation means simply, gaining tangible value directly from the data an organisation has access to – either in analysed or raw form. This value could be in identifying a potential new customer, learning of a cross-sell or up-sell opportunity, or perhaps identifying a chance to save on costs. Businesses can transform information into income by predicting customer behaviour patterns and developing the best ways to satisfy customer needs. In the telecommunications space, this could mean extracting more revenue per user as voice and SMS revenues drop. It could mean identifying customer churn before it happens, and retaining or attracting high value customers.

This can be done by examining your data to establish the probability of a specific reaction.

For example, as the owner of a takeaway food store, you may identify that 60 percent of the time when a customer buys a burger, they also purchase chips. This statistic can then be related back to service levels, such as linking the times you run out of chips or potatoes.

Then combine the two to rectify the issue and maintain higher levels of customer satisfaction

and up-sell availability. Identifying particular customer triggers can also establish more defined sales cycles and drive revenue. For example, mobile users who frequently make calls to friends in another network and also complain about their mobile services on social media can be identified by collating and analysing data from various sources. The operator can then offer suitable services and specials designed to retain the customer.

In fact, these concepts can be scaled out to any level.

Information and opportunities The true value of your customer data comes when you have access to third-party information to combine and cross-reference with your own, and enrich the information you already have.

Mobile phone carriers for instance, have unparalleled amounts of customer and network data, yet they’re still working out effective ways to use it for greater benefit and true revenue generation. There are many untapped opportunities for enterprises across industry verticals to collaborate and share data on a common platform in ways that benefit them all.

Selling that data is a possible starting point (compliant with current privacy laws of course).

For example, a telco may decide to make available to local retail businesses general demographic information such as age groups in a certain neighbourhood. This in turn allows local retailers to tailor their sales and marketing approach and potentially create new revenue streams based on that third-party data.

The telecommunications industry is a persistent example of where data with a high value to third parties exists and is continually updated. While it usually comes at a price,

mobile service providers have intimate knowledge of customers which is not readily available to other sectors such as retail, banking or health care.

The emergence of mobile location-based services continues to have a significant impact on advertising and marketing for these providers and their chosen partners because they have a clear image of the customer’s digital footprint.

For example, telecommunications services are being bundled with tailored online banking services in some countries. Such partnerships allow each enterprise to constantly tap into the other’s behaviour as a secondary influencer of marketing goods and services and identifying new customers. It’s an effective, clean way to gain a deeper understanding of the customer.

Even without the impact of data from a third party, working your own business’s data is a clear way to help define new revenue streams, identify broader sales opportunities, more effectively predict customer behaviour and drive customer satisfaction levels. The analysis can be as simple or as complex as you allow, but some form of analysis is essential as we move further into a business environment where personal and business data are increasingly detailed. In the face of a new Federal government, the instability of the international economy, and rising business operating costs, a clear and all-inclusive view of your customer will be a significant contributor to the next stage in your business operations. The key to success is to work the data. If you’re not, your competition is. ✆

Ayanda Dlamini, business development manager at LGR Telecommunications

Looking ahead to the 5G network revolution A RECENT SCIENTIFIC networking initiative, held in June 2014 by the IMDEA Networks Institute has studied the forthcoming 5G revolution, which promises substantial advancements - such as 1,000x higher wireless area capacity for 8+ billion people and 7 trillion objects, 90 per cent energy savings per service provided, and the creation of a secure and reliable Internet. Members of IMDEA's Scientific Council, representatives of industry and prominent researchers met to address the huge explosion in mobile data of our hyperconnected society.

It is forecasted that, by 2020, network infrastructure 18 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

will be capable of embracing trillions of devices according to a plethora of application-specific requirements in a flexible and truly mobile way. 5G will allow for real agile network setup, and will support dynamic management and coordination of very dense and heterogeneous deployments.

The fifth-generation cellular networks event brought together international experts, allowing participants to exchange technical ideas and experiences, improve their understanding of the challenges involved and home in on the most promising future approaches. www.communicationsafrica.com

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MOBILE

Cybersécurité

Les menaces de sécurité Internet L’augmentation des violations de données à grande échelle et des attaques ciblées montre une sophistication croissante des menaces envers les entreprises et les particuliers

R

ESTÉS DANS L'OMBRE pendant les dix premiers mois de l'année 2013, les cybercriminels ont ensuite lancé les attaques les plus violentes de l'histoire. La 19e édition du rapport ISTR de Symantec (Internet Security Threat Report) qui analyse l’ensemble des menaces de sécurité Internet, montre une véritable évolution dans le comportement des cybercriminels : au lieu de lancer de petites attaques peu lucratives, ils préfèrent désormais conspirer de longs mois avant de passer à l'action. Le rapport montre par ailleurs une sophistication croissante des menaces, une forte augmentation du nombre de vulnérabilités, des attaques web et des attaques ciblées, générant des risques qu’entreprises et particuliers doivent assumer et gérer. « Une attaque de grande envergure peut rapporter autant que 50 petites », déclare Laurent Heslault, Directeur des stratégies de sécurité de Symantec. « Alors que le niveau de sophistication continue de croître parmi les attaquants, ceux-ci se montrent beaucoup plus patients et frappent lorsque cela en vaut vraiment la peine.»

En 2013, le nombre de violations de données a augmenté de 62 % par rapport à l'année précédente, avec 253 cas recensés et plus de 552 millions d'identités exposées, ce qui prouve que la cybercriminalité reste une véritable menace pour les particuliers et les entreprises. « Les incidents correctement gérés peuvent améliorer la perception qu'ont les clients d'une société, mais si cette dernière peine à les maîtriser, les conséquences peuvent être désastreuses », confie Ed Ferrara, VP et analyste en chef chez Forrester Research. « Les clients qui n'ont plus confiance dans la gestion de leurs données personnelles et confidentielles n'hésitent pas à se tourner vers quelqu'un d'autre. » 1

Il est plus difficile de se défendre que d'attaquer La taille et la portée des attaques est telle qu'elle met à mal la réputation des entreprises et entame la confiance des

www.communicationsafrica.com

clients dont les données personnelles (numéros de cartes de crédit, mots de passe, dossiers médicaux, comptes bancaires, etc.) sont de plus en plus compromises.

Chacune des huit attaques de grande ampleur perpétrées en 2013 a causé la perte de dizaines de millions d'enregistrements de données. En 2012, une seule attaque avait pris les mêmes proportions. « Le succès appelle le succès et surtout pour les cybercriminels », explique Laurent Heslault. « Vu les gains potentiels, les attaques d'envergure vont s’inscrire dans la durée. Les entreprises de toutes tailles doivent réexaminer, repenser, voire redéfinir leur politique de sécurité. »

Une explosion des menaces sur mobiles et les réseaux sociaux Pour les particuliers, la multiplication par 5 du nombre de « ransomwares », ces maliciels qui bloquent l’ordinateur de l’utilisateur et le rançonne pour qu’il retrouve l’accès à ses données, est le principal fait marquant de 2013. Ces maliciels, particulièrement lucratifs et violents, ont pu générer plusieurs dizaines de millions de dollars pour les cybercriminels et ont connu une mutation en « cryptolocker », chiffrant désormais les données de l’utilisateur, les rendant irrécupérables.

Selon le rapport ISTR de Symantec, le nombre de violations de données de grande ampleur est passé d’une en 2012 à huit en 2013, avec 552 millions d’identités exposées Les menaces sur mobile, tous types confondus, deviennent également plus sophistiquées. Plutôt que d’en inventer des nouveaux, les cybercriminels préfèrent perfectionner les maliciels existant, comme l’indique l’augmentation de leur nombre de variantes. Ces nouvelles menaces ont avant

tout pour objectif de suivre l’utilisateur (pour 33 % d’entre eux) et de collecter des données personnelles (20 %).

Sur les réseaux sociaux, ce sont les « fausses offres » qui prospèrent, représentant désormais 81 % des maliciels sur ce type de média (ils n’étaient « que » 56 % en 2012). Le cocktail « social + mobile » peut se révéler explosif, surtout dans la course aux « Likes » ou « Unlikes » qui accroissent encore la viralité de ce type de menaces.

Des menaces à la sophistication accrue Les attaques ciblées ont progressé de 91 % (contre + 42 % entre 2011 et 2012) et duré en moyenne trois fois plus longtemps qu'en 2012. Elles se caractérisent également par un nombre d’emails et de personnes ciblées moindre, se révélant ainsi plus précises et plus sophistiquées. Ces attaques ciblées touchent essentiellement les administrations, les services et l’industrie manufacturière, concernent en premier lieu les organisations de plus de 2 500 employés (39 %) et les PME (30 %) et, au sein de celles-ci, les fonctions les plus exposées aux emails extérieurs sont les assistants et les départements relations publiques, qui permettent ensuite un accès aux différents cadres dirigeants.

Les attaques web ont également cru de 25 % avec quelques 568 700 d’entre elles bloquées quotidiennement, même si, il est vrai, leur nombre tend à diminuer depuis octobre. Celles-ci ont par ailleurs de plus en plus pour objectif les campagnes de « malvertising » (ou « publicité à mauvais escient »).

Le développement inédit d’attaques Linux, la forte augmentation du nombre de vulnérabilités zero-day découvertes en 2013 (23, soit + 61 % sur un an), et plus largement le nombre de failles découvertes en 2013, montrent véritablement une sophistication accrue des menaces et des attaques. Par ailleurs, l’accroissement des vulnérabilités découvertes sur les sites Internet légitimes, dont 1/8 présente des vulnérabilités critiques non-patchées, vient amplifier une tendance contre laquelle entreprises et particuliers peuvent lutter. ✆

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COMMUNICATIONS

Wireless backhaul

Africa is ready for the Wi-Fi era Local wireless infrastructure markets are maturing in the continent, and will be soon ready to bear centralised, large-scale open access and national networks

D

AWIE DE WET, CEO of engineering group and systems integrator Q-KON, believes that the local wireless infrastructure market has matured to the point that it is ready to facilitate the cultivation of a centralised, largescale open access and national network. The philosophy behind the scenario is a resource co-owned/operated by several stakeholders to offer end-users the opportunity to accumulate and utilise data on demand.

Dr de Wet presented the idea at the Global Wi-Fi Offload Summit Africa 2014 hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May — the first time Africa has hosted the event. Dr de Wet attended in his capacity also as chairman of the group comprising Q-KON Africa, Q-KON South Africa and SkyeVine. He was joined by Juan Prinsloo, senior executive: specialist products and solutions at Q-KON. He attended with partners from Ruckus Wireless and Aptilo Networksy: Christian Jonsson, director sales, Middle East and Africa at Aptilo Networks; and Bryan Goldberg, global carrier solutions at Ruckus Wireless.

Q-KON, which co-sponsored the event, has a successful track record in the provision of wireless services which dates back to the midnineties. Its value proposition is based on servicing connectivity for offgrid edge locations in terms of telecommunications network and its focus is the edge that defines the place where technology meets markets and business.

Executive leadership at Q-KON asked delegates to consider the provision of seamless Wi-Fi offload services and carrier networks outside of what convention dictates and whether or not this should be the

Q-KON said that 80 per cent of South Africa’s population is still positioned off ‘the grid’, meaning that from a usage point of view, they are not at the epicentre of wireless service coverage and rollout

exclusive domain of major telecommunication companies. “We don’t have an issue with telecommunication service providers handling Wi-Fi offload… we just question whether this is the only ‘box’ of value that the market should view in terms of available wireless services. What if the government could offer medical aid or pension payment and broadband services? What if you could earn megabytes simply by going to the gym?

Or what if an employer could offer car or cellphone allowances as well as broadband access? What we envisage is a large-scale Wi-Fi opportunity for all, including system integrators, mobile operators and local service providers,” Dr de Wet added.

Seamless integration and satellite Q-KON said that 80 per cent of South Africa’s population is still positioned off ‘the grid’, meaning that from a usage point of view, they are not at the epicentre of wireless service coverage and rollout.

Seamless integration, sufficient broadband, latency and access point installation influence the successful delivery of Wi-Fi service and provision of large-scale access.

Dr de Wet added that the market should not scoff at the idea of satellite to help sustain the establishment of a centralised, open and allaccessible Wi-Fi network of the future.

“Despite what some may perceive, satellite is not old technology… it has merely been abused to do what fibre was always supposed to. Today there is separation of the technology and each will do what they were designed to do. Satellite is competitive with 3G and will compete with fibre in terms of being an access medium… not right away, but in few years time, most certainly,” Dr de Wet explained.

The picture the company has in mind, particularly given the market’s return to the engineering component of wireless infrastructure development and service delivery, is a network resource that provides national satellite access or ADSL or 3G, with the registration of thousands of Wi-Fi access points at the core. Link up will be to a single network.

While Dr de Wet acknowledged that major operators would naturally be hesitant to endorse such a scheme and ‘lose ground’, the benefit of this arrangement is wider access to broadband services and improved network grid expansion.

Steps to a brighter Wi-Fi future

Access to Internet is a fundamental requirement for transforming Africa’s education sector

20 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

Q-KON proposes that in order for this vision to be realised, there are several steps that need to be in place in order for this vision to be realised.

Dr de Wet said that the core must be right and cloud subscriber management has to be installed in order to ensure that the many access points begin behaving like a single network. “The reality of this service level is that anyone with a number can be issued with megabytes,” he said.

The question of who foots the bill and how much is involved for an open access, integrated Wi-Fi network was also raised as a topic for debate.

Although this and other questions had to be discussed in more detail, Q-KON advised that a single core network endorsed by multiparties and operated independently and access available to all providers can lead to the enhancement of community driven projects and industry leaders in hospitality and retail. ✆

www.communicationsafrica.com

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SECURITY

Data

What does the AU stand on cybersecurity?

After several delays due to stiff opposition, in May 2014 the African Union (AU) adopted the Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection, a controversial policy which some claim will contravene the right to privacy and damage freedom of expression

O

N A CONTINENT where cybercrime is costing economies billions of dollars, there is a general consensus that stricter legislation is needed, but does the new bill provide the answer?

The convention was adopted by the Conference of AU Ministers of Justice at the Headquarters of the AU Commission in Addis Ababa following a thorough review of the policy by the ministers. Following the approval, the AU Heads of States are expected to sign off on the policy and prepare for its implementation in their member countries.

In 2009, amid explosive growth of the internet in Africa, the Oliver Tambo Declaration, a policy designed to regulate the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), was signed off in Johannesburg by Ministers in charge of ICTs. Ever since, the AU has strived to create a comprehensive policy intended to tighten cybersecurity, particularly in the wake of an alarming rise in incidents of cybercrime across the continent.

A draft African Union Convention on the Confidence and Security in Cyberspace (AUCC) was released for comment in 2013, but met with considerable resistance from leading internet policy specialists, civil society organisations and privacy advocates.

An online debate led by the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) and moderated by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) highlighted several concerns associated with the bill.

“According to the AU, telecom and ICT experts were involved in the drafting process and discussions. However, it is unclear who these experts were, what sectors they came from, or how they were chosen,” said Ephraim Kenyanito, an author for African digital freedom group AccessNow, which participated in the debate.

“The AUCC was supported by some government stakeholders and regional multilateral entities, but many in the internet community opposed it, as the treaty contained a number of provisions that could violate user privacy, chill online expression, and endanger other rights,” Kenyanito explained.

In particular, Kenyanito highlights articles in the draft which allow African states to process personal and sensitive data without the owner’s consent for the purpose of state 22 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

The African Union has adopted the Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection

security and the public interest.

“Furthermore, the government doesn’t have to go before a judge to get approval to violate user privacy in this way, leaving the door open for abuse,” he said.

The draft further states that “the investigating judge use appropriate technical means to gather or register in real time the data in respect of the content of specific communications in its territory, transmitted by means of a computer system.”

“The provision empowers judges to assume the role of the prosecutor in both common law and civil law African countries and does not provide checks and balances to ensure a separate investigation and adjudication process,” he said.

These and several other clauses in the draft sparked controversy, and the AU Commission agreed to review the policy and postponed it from being passed by the set deadline of January 2014. The convention was renamed the Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection and was passed on 15 May 2014, but Kenyanito said that the amended draft was never released for comment.

“The final outcome of the AUCC has not yet been released and we cannot confirm whether the concerns raised with the previous draft were addressed. We can only hope that the change of name is an indication of a shift in focus to Personal Data Protection and that the human rights concerns are addressed.

However, given the opacity of the process, it’s hard to know,” he explains.

What is certain is that if 15 or more African states approve the policy, the convention will

be passed into law.

Grace Githaiga, a KICTANet Associate, agrees that new legislation is needed to guard against cybercrime, but the AUCC does not hold the key.“Although African countries need legal framework on cybercrime, the current proposals need numerous amendments. The discussions also noted a need for the African Union Commission to engage with civil society to draw up progressive and enforceable laws,” Githaiga said.

Although statistics for Africa are not concrete, countries across the continent have recorded losses worth billions of dollars due to cybercrime, prompting them to develop their own cybersecurity bills.

Estimates put Nigeria's total economic loss as a result of cybercrimes in 2012 to be over US$13.5bn. Kenya lost approximately US$23mn in 2013, while South Africa’s total loss last year was approximately US$260mn, according to Norton’s Cybercrime Report.

The report, which saw experts interviewing 13,000 respondents across 24 countries, found that approximately 73 per cent of respondents in South Africa said they had been a victim of cybercrime. On a global scale, the report found that 378mn people fell victim to cybercrime.

According to Camino Kavanagh, senior advisor for the National Committee on American Foreign Projects (NCAFP), cybercriminals are finding a wonderland of possibilities in developing countries, making Africa one of the fastest growing cybercrime hotspots in the world. ✆

Dale Hes www.communicationsafrica.com

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TRANSMISSION

GL Communications

Finding the right connection Direct T1 E1 Analysis on Channelised OC-3/STM-1 Lines

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ONET SDH TECHNOLOGY forms the transmission backbone for TDM, IP, and Wireless networks. STM-1 and OC-3 optical transmission rates (155.52 Mbps) are the most common of the various dense pipes (in SDH SONET) carrying E1, T1, E3, T3, and Ethernet multiplexed signals. Typical examples are: • 2G Wireless infrastructure connectivity – BTS to BSC to MSC carrying mobile to/from PSTN traffic • Real Node B to MSC or SGSN connectivity carrying voice to the PSTN and data to the IP network • High density SS7 signalling links on E1 T1 circuits within OC-3 /STM-1 Using channelised SONET SDH technology, service providers can provision various bandwidths and configurations dynamically per customer requirements — from fractional T1s/E1s, n x T1/E1s, T3/E3 and full STM-1c, typically to support voice and data services.

To access and analyse channelised lines within OC-3 STM-1 can require specific and costly mux/demux hardware (perhaps at several layers) and unique test equipment. Direct access to any channel and traffic type within OC-3 STM-1 would negate the need for such additional bulky hardware and greatly simplify testing, monitoring, measurement, and analysis cost effectively. GL’s LightSpeed1000™ in Channelised Mode provides such simplicity, permitting direct access to hundreds of T1s and E1s, and in the near future all the E3s and T3s constituting the OC-3 and STM-1. This platform with its unique architecture eliminates the requirement for external multiplexing hardware and hundreds of cables and connectors. Multiple T1 E1 streams of any user-defined capacity can be generated internally, analysed, and monitored in real-time. GL’s LightSpeed1000™ is also capable of unchannelised or concatenated mode, permitting access to PPP, ATM, and UMTS networks. Thus, one platform can perform any processing from DS0 (64 kbps – voice channel) up to unchannelised PPP or ATM at 155.52 Mbps and everything in between on optical lines.

Some of the applications of GL’s LightSpeed1000™ in Channelised Mode are – • Monitoring GSM Abis link over channelised OC-3/STM-1 for monitoring RF information, Roaming, SMS, Location update, and more

• Testing voice and data services on hybrid networks (such as ATM to SDH) • Non-intrusive protocol analysis and monitoring (Ex: Monitor tens to hundreds of SS7 links for signalling and bearer channels)

Some of LightSpeed1000 features are – • 2 Channelised OC-3/STM-1 SONET/SDH interfaces per Lightspeed1000™ card – for monitoring both directions • 2 Unchannelised OC-3/STM-1 OC-12/STM-4 interfaces per Lightspeed1000™ card – for monitoring both directions • Channelised ports act as terminal multiplexers and demultiplexers • Supports any combination of DS0/64 kbps, fractional T1/E1, and N x T1/E1 definitions (a total of 126 E1s or 168 T1s – each port supporting 84 T1s or 63 E1s), • Future support for direct access to all E3s and T3s without hardware modification – software revision only • Supported SONET Mappings o STS-3/OC-3 --> STS-1 --> VT-Group --> VT2 --> E1 o STS-3/OC-3 --> STS-1 --> VT-Group --> VT1.5 --> T1 • Supported SDH Mappings– o STM-1 --> AU-3 --> TUG-2 --> TU-12 --> E1 o STM-1 --> AU-4 --> TUG-3 --> TUG-2 --> TU-12 --> E1 o STM-1 --> AU-3 --> TUG-2 --> TU-11 --> T1 o STM-1 --> AU-4 --> TUG-3 --> TUG-2 --> TU-11 --> T1 • Single-mode (SM), and Multi-mode (MM) fiber optic non-intrusive tap • Key T1 / E1 specific features – o Error and alarm detection: CRC, framing, loss of frame, AIS, Remote Alarm Indication, and more o Comprehensive protocol analysis and emulation – HDLC, SS7, ISDN, CAS, PPP, Frame Relay, and more o Loopback capabilities

www.communicationsafrica.com

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NETWORK

Fibre

Collaborative approaches to international connectivity How forging a partnership with an African one-stop-shop network capacity wholesaler provides flexibility and valuable local market knowledge

I

MPROVED INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY, enhanced ICT infrastructure, more affordable high-performance handsets and prodigious growth in mobile, Internet and data services are transforming how businesses in Africa operate, changing the way many individuals go about their daily lives and also having a marked, positive impact upon many African economies.

For businesses, these advances have helped improve efficiency and productivity, opened up previously inaccessible markets and led to the formation of many new companies. At an individual level, greater access to mobile broadband has revolutionised how information is accessed, how money is handled and transferred, and led to phenomenal growth in popular Internetenabled applications such as social networking, online gaming and the streaming of music, films and video.

To meet the burgeoning demand for reliable, high-bandwidth international connectivity, the number, capacity and reliability of submarine cable systems and terrestrial fibre networks serving Africa has grown dramatically in recent years. At the beginning of 2009, just two international cables served sub-Saharan

“As a supplier of sub-sea capacity, WIOCC add value by putting together a complete solution of multiple sections of cable and present it as a onestop-shop supplier.”

- Liquid Telecom Africa. Now there are 16. The theoretical design capacity of all the new and upgraded submarine cables that currently land in subSaharan Africa exceeds a staggering 30Tbps, and three of the more recently-deployed cables - EASSy, WACS and EIG - will all soon be upgraded to meet ongoing customer demand.

Significant investments are also being made in new and enhanced terrestrial networks, so many more people and businesses within Africa can also enjoy access to affordable international connectivity. According to Hamilton Research, at the end of March 2014 there was 546,006km of operational fibre in Africa - 24 per cent more than 12 months

previously. With a further 87,035km of fibre under construction, 102,619km planned and 47,570km more already proposed, terrestrial connectivity within Africa will continue to improve significantly.

The pace and scope of change are so rapid on both the connectivity supply and bandwidth demand sides, that the challenge of maintaining an appropriate and cost-effective balance of network capacity, diversity and reach requires not only continual review, but also an up-to-date insight into what is happening locally regarding network reach, capacity and performance.

Partnering with a pan-African one-stop-shop An increasingly popular option for carriers, telcos and ISPs looking to optimise their service offerings in Africa is to partner with a local one-stop-shop, network capacity wholesaler, such as Africa’s carriers’ carrier WIOCC. Not only does this give access to WIOCC’s technical expertise and unique 55,000km African terrestrial fibre network, which is seamlessly linked to more than 40,000km of submarine cable; it also provides the flexibility to quickly and easily scale up capacity to meet rising customer demand.

WIOCC’s Network Operations Centre in Nairobi

24 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

www.communicationsafrica.com

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NETWORK

Fibre

Other valuable benefits of partnering with a customer-focused capacity wholesaler such as WIOCC include removing the need to negotiate multiple contractual and commercial agreements with every operator along the desired traffic route, and having 24x7x365 access to a team of customer service, technical and network management experts. With WIOCC as a partner, it is also simple for carrier and ISP customers to quickly and easily scale their networks to meet the dynamic needs of their own customers over time.

“WIOCC are very accommodating and willing, with a primary goal of building long and mutuallybeneficial business relationships.”

- Skyband Comprising more than 50 countries and home to an estimated 1billion people, the world’s second largest continent is very diverse. Local knowledge, experience and expertise are invaluable to the reliable and cost-effective delivery of high-quality, international connectivity in Africa. So for African telcos looking to expand their service offering outside of their domestic markets, and for international carriers seeking to take advantage of the growing capacity market into, out of and within Africa, the advantages of partnering with an established and trusted local organisation are significant.

Tailored solutions Each organisation’s connectivity requirements – in terms of bandwidth, routing, traffic management, service continuity and flexibility - will all be different, and will continue to evolve over time.

In order to be able to put together a connectivity solution that precisely meets a customer’s current needs, while also taking into account their future plans, a potential supplier must first invest the time to fully understand their customer’s/partner’s needs. Only then is it possible to put together a bespoke solution which precisely meets the specific requirements of that customer.

Once a customer, always a customer Delivering uncompromisingly high levels of customer service and satisfaction remains

www.communicationsafrica.com

WIOCC’s core submarine cable and terrestrial fibre network into, out of and within Africa

a cornerstone of WIOCC’s offering. As well as its sizeable investments in securing additional network capacity to meet the growing demands of an expanding customer base, WIOCC has also invested heavily in its Customer Service operations.

Employee numbers have risen by 40 per cent over the past 12 months and the Network Operations Centre in Nairobi, where its team of Customer Champions provide 24x7x365 service and support to customers, recently almost doubled in size.

Connecting the unconnected Through its unique network of 40,000km of submarine cable linked to more than 55,000km of terrestrial fibre, WIOCC offers partners a unique, diversity-rich pan-African network through which they can provide direct international connectivity to more than 500 locations in 30 African countries.

This network is helping to bring affordable, high-capacity international connectivity to landlocked countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana,

Burundi and Lesotho. Previously reliant upon expensive, low-capacity satellite connectivity, bandwidth prices in Lesotho fell by 67 percent when WIOCC used its unique terrestrial network to connect the kingdom to reliable high-capacity international connectivity available via submarine cable systems.

Opportunity Africa As businesses and individuals throughout Africa become increasingly used to and dependent upon ever-more data-rich applications, demand for reliable, affordable, high-capacity international connectivity into, out of and within the continent will continue to rise.

Africa is a complex and diverse continent with many different markets, regulatory systems and operating environments.

However, with the right partner, the business opportunities for carriers and ISPs are well worth the effort. ✆

Chris Wood, CEO at WIOCC

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INTERNET

Marketing

Les clients, le marketing, et votre société Des idées fausses courantes sur les sites web, et le développement commercial des entreprises

Photos: MKH Marketing (mkhmarketing.wordpress.com)

I

L EXISTE DE nombreuses désinformations concernant le marketing des sites Web. De nombreuses petites entreprises éprouvent des difficultés à faire la différence entre le battage publicitaire et la réalité. La clé consiste à déterminer si le Web est ce dont vous avez besoin, et ensuite à utiliser les méthodes appropriées pour exploiter son pouvoir de marketing. Quelques exemples d’idées fausses courantes sur le World Wide Web sont exposés ci-dessous, avec quelques conseils pratiques sur la façon de réussir votre programme de marketing en ligne.

26 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

Idée Fausse 1: Chaque petite entreprise a besoin d’un site web Bien que de nombreuses petites entreprises puissent tirer avantage du développement et du maintien de leurs propres sites Web, il faut

Il est important que vous disposiez d’un message cohérent dans tous les supports que vous utilisez

savoir que cette forme de marketing ne convient pas à tout le monde. Vous devriez envisager d’utiliser un site Web si:

Vos clients sont en ligne.

Si votre clientèle achète des produits ou obtient des renseignements par le biais du Web, il est nécessaire que vous y apparaissiez.

Par contre, s’ils obtiennent leurs renseignements d’autres sources (que ce soit les Pages Jaunes, les journaux et magazines, les salons professionnels, ou autres véhicules de marketing), vous pouvez alors concentrer vos efforts dans ces domaines-là.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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INTERNET

Marketing

Vous voulez atteindre une clientèle nationale ou internationale de manière efficace.

Le Web n’est pas une forme de marketing "local". De par sa nature, il a une vaste portée, il faut par conséquent vous préparer à en tirer profit. Par exemple, un fournisseur local basé dans les banlieues de New York ne pourra peut-être pas profiter complètement d’un site Web car il dessert un public très ciblé. Un grossiste de bonbons offrant le transport au niveau national serait mieux placé pour tirer profit de la vaste portée du Web.

posséder votre propre nom de domaine. Une adresse Web telle que "www.yourcompanyname.com" est plus facile à trouver et offre une meilleure image professionnelle que l’utilisation d’une adresse secondaire de votre Fournisseur d’Accès Internet ou service en ligne (www.yourISP.com/~yourcompany). Le coût d’inscription de votre domaine est minime, et de nombreux FAI accueilleront votre site sous ce nom en échange d’une petite contribution mensuelle. Contactez votre FAI pour connaître la façon de procéder.

Inscrivez votre site Web sur tous les moteurs de recherche majeurs tels que Yahoo!, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos et Hotbot. Il existe un certain nombre de services de référencement qui inscriront votre adresse URL sur de multiples moteurs de recherche et annuaires en échange d’une petite somme -- l'un de ces services populaires est Submit It. Faites attention, toutefois, au fait que bien que ces services vont référencer votre site vous perdrez le contrôle sur la manière dont vous souhaitez décrire votre site.

Echangez des liens ou des bannières

Un site Web soutient vos objectifs et votre budget de Marketing.

Il est nécessaire que votre site Web fasse partie intégrante d’un plan et d’un budget de marketing. Il est important que vous disposiez d’un message cohérent dans tous les supports que vous utilisez.

Le Web peut remplacer, ou être plus efficace, que d’autres options de marketing.

Le Web peut offrir à vos clients un accès immédiat aux renseignements pour lesquels ils auraient pu autrement passer des jours, voire des semaines à chercher. Par exemple, un photographe publicitaire qui dispose de son portefeuille sur le Web peut diriger des clients éventuels vers son site, au lieu d’engager des dépenses pour envoyer son portefeuille pour chaque travail.

Votre site devient votre responsabilité Un site Web nécessite une attention constante.

Etes-vous prêt(e) à l’actualiser ? Pouvez-vous vous engager à y ajouter des nouveautés chaque mois ? Avez-vous le temps et le budget pour le soutenir de façon adéquate ? Si vous n’êtes pas prêt(e) à vous charger de tout cela, vous devez employer quelqu’un qui le fera pour vous. Autrement, vos efforts quant au Web seront vains.

Idée Fausse 2: Un site web équilibre automatiquement le terrain de jeu entre ma petite entreprise et mes concurrents plus grands Oui, un site Web d’apparence professionnelle peut faire paraître votre petite entreprise plus grande qu’elle ne l’est réellement. Cependant, sans une mise en place et un plan efficaces, votre site Web peut vous faire paraître moins professionnel que vous ne l’êtes, et vous placer à un niveau de désavantage concurrentiel.

Utilisez le Web pour mettre en valeur votre expertise. En offrant vos connaissances, vous pouvez vous placer dans la position d’un expert et attirer des clients, et les intéresser à vos produits ou services.

L’une des façons d’apparaître plus grand que vous ne l’êtes en réalité consiste à

www.communicationsafrica.com

Photo: Rich Brooks:

Un autre piège à éviter consiste à utiliser une technologie pour le plaisir d’utiliser une technologie. Utiliser des accessoires fantaisie simplement parce qu’ils semblent "cool" peut vous être néfaste. Voici un exemple : la page d’accueil d’une société de conseils dispose d’un "compteur de visites" qui vous informe du nombre de visiteurs qui sont venus visionner cette page. Malheureusement, il annonce peu de visites , et par conséquent vous force à vous demander si les renseignements que vous y recevez sont précis ou convaincants. Sans le compteur, vous auriez peut-être lu le contenu sans vous poser cette question.

Idée Fausse 3: Mettez en place un site web et les clients viendront en masse vers votre société Ne vous attendez pas à ce que les gens trouvent votre site Web par leurs propres moyens. Vous devrez encourager la circulation par le biais d’une publicité active à la fois sur l’Internet et dans vos documentations de marketing traditionnelles. Voici quelques méthodes courantes:

publicitaires avec des non-concurrents qui disposent de services ou produits complémentaires. Envoyez un e-mail au gestionnaire Web du site avec lequel vous désirez vous lier, et offrez un accord de lien réciproque. Assurez-vous de souligner dans votre message les avantages mutuels de la création de ce lien. Des services tels que Link Exchange vous permet d’échanger des liens avec d’autres entreprises, vous offrant des bannières publicitaires directement proportionnelles à ce que vous mettrez sur votre site Web. Assurez-vous d’insister sur votre adresse URL tout au long de votre brochure de marketing. Placez votre adresse Web dans toutes les annonces, dans les brochures de vos produits, et sur vos cartes et en-têtes de lettres professionnels. Mettez-la dans le fichier signature de vos e-mails, afin que les clients puissent passer automatiquement de votre message à votre site Web. ✆

Adapté du contenu issu de l’American Express OPEN Small Business Network

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NETWORK

Contact Centres

Multiple codes of communication With customer relationships as being viewed as prized assets, multichannel service is soon becoming a much-needed strategy in the corporate domain

T

HE WORLD OF multichannel contact centres that incorporate social media, instant messaging (IM) and video chats as methods of communication to mention a few, is becoming extremely complicated. But behind the countless, often confusing new technologies, lie some fundamental benefits to evolving one’s contact centre beyond traditional voice and email alone. These benefits include – increased agent productivity, better customer service, increased relevance to all customer segments, new cross-sell and upsell opportunities, and staying ahead of competitors.

Organisations are increasingly looking to customer service as a key competitive differentiator, and are treating customer relationships as a prized corporate asset. In this new era, the importance of a strong multichannel strategy becomes clear.

Clear channels for customer service So what is multichannel? Most broadly, it describes an organisation that is available to customers via whatever channel of communication they prefer. Traditional voice and e-mail channels are augmented with things like web-based instant messaging, video chat, SMS, ‘call me back’ buttons, and social media interactions.

Image source: Google

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Ensuring all of the channels are fully joinedtogether allows customers to move fluidly between any of them at any point in an interaction. Customers are able to use the communication platform with which they are most comfortable, which is most convenient for them at that time.

Ensuring all channels are fully joined together allows customers to move fluidly between any of them at any point in an interaction For this to happen, new channels need to be opened up as part of a long-term, strategic roadmap strongly connected to the organisation’s core business operations.

Building out a contact centre in an ad hoc manner, not underpinned by a singular workflow system can cause disunity between the channels – and an inconsistent, frustrating customer experience.

In South Africa, there has been limited adoption of true multichannel contact centres – many local companies have successfully added one or two new channels, but few are

seeing the benefits of a fully integrated multichannel customer proposition. Apart from the obvious problems of costly bandwidth, it is also often difficult to properly articulate business value (particularly in today’s business environment where most firms are looking to cut costs). In order to ‘sell’ the concept of multichannel to business executives, contact centre managers have to deftly forecast the benefits in the areas of – • Negating revenue threats and market share losses to competitors with a better level of customer interaction.

• Saving on payroll costs by increasing agent productivity and automating certain customer interactions.

• Increased opportunities for upselling and cross-selling to customers.

• The ability to appeal to a broader base of consumers across all demographics, geographies, age groups, and communication preferences.

• The tools to create richer customer profiles to personalise interactions and target special offers and promotions.

Technologies to disrupt today's businesses While these are usually the fundamental areas on which a multichannel business case is built, added to this list is the fact that an organisation embracing multichannel (in the right way) is now able to capitalise on new technological innovations in future. Voice biometrics, for example, is emerging as a new disruptive technology that may forever change the way customers are authenticated into conversations with their bank, insurance providers, mobile operators, credit card issuers, or any other customer interaction dealing with sensitive data.

This technology holds the potential to replace the laborious process of answering a set of questions or confirming certain personal details – it simply recognises the customer’s voice as they repeat a pre-determined sentence, and validates the caller’s identity.

Perhaps the most critical technological advancements in the contact centre space will be on the back-end – the new systems that will scan the vast swathes of phone calls, e-mails, web chats, messaging interactions, tweets and Instagram photos – to create detailed customer profiles. Where this information starts to become very powerful is when it is used to www.communicationsafrica.com

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NETWORK

Contact Centres

Voice biometrics is emerging as new disruptive technology that may forever change the way customers are authenticated into conversations

present customers with a tailored shopping experience the next time they interact with an organisation. Imagine a sales clerk armed with a roaming tablet or a smartphone device, drawing on a central database of customer information. This is a fundamental shift where data gathered for ‘reactive’ reasons (during a customer service issue at the contact centre, for instance) is used to create more informed, more

Data gathered for reactive reasons is used to create a more informed, personalised and proactive interaction, which is likely to result in a sale personalised, ‘proactive’ interactions that are more likely to result in a sale.

Essentially, developing a first-rate multichannel contact centre strategy is the first step towards becoming a multichannel company in general – one which leverages every possible touch point as a sales channel.

This could well be the strongest business case for multichannel.

So as an organisation begins on this transformative journey, it is essential that the technology partner selected is able to provide the higher-value consultancy required to design a long-term, integrated multichannel solution.

This partnership approach not only opens doors to more fruitful customer interactions, but sets the organisation on course to become a truly multichannel business. ✆

Traditional voice and e-mail channels are augmented with such things like social media interactions (Image: Google)

Paul Fick, CTO at the Jasco Group

Boosting customer care for MTN South Africa MTN GROUP’S CUSTOMER service representatives (CSRs) now have full access to WDS Agent Expert. The solution provides CSRs with the knowledge they need to deliver accurate and effective support to resolve mobile device issues first time.

WDS has been working with the MTN Group since 2012 to implement a multichannel programme that supports MTN’s increasingly intelligent device portfolio.

Since the implementation of this tool, MTN has increased satisfaction, protected the loyalty of high-value customers and improved customer experience. This is reflected by improvements across MTN call centre metrics. These include:

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• • • • •

Call closure rate decreased by 35 percentage points.

The number of delighted customers increased by 21 percentage points.

The call escalation rates decreased by 11 percentage points.

Contributed to an overall 10 per cent reduction in AHT. Reduced CSR training from days to just hours.

“We are working very hard on the soft skills of our customer-facing people, but unless we resolve customer issues first time, every time, we consider ourselves to have failed,” said Eddie Moyce, chief customer experience officer, MTN SA.

Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

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NETWORK

Contact Centres

Top ten contact centre strategies Corporate customer engagement should incorporate best practices, the right staff and tools to achieve contact centre success

W

ITH A NEW breed of consumer making new demands on business, contact centres are having to radically change their approach to operations.

Interactive Intelligence recently discussed Top Ten Contact Centre Strategies via a series of webinars, based on extensive experience in global contact centre technologies and strategies. The top strategies of successful contact centres rest on two key themes – the right staffing approach and the right tools.

The top ten strategic moves to improve contact centre performance are:

1

Audit your system

The top factor in improving contact centre operations is to start with an audit of the existing system and processes. Contact centre management should assess whether the contact centre meets the current and future needs of the business, whether systems and processes are fast enough, whether unfixed errors are costing in terms of time, efficiency or morale. They need to determine whether the systems are optimising the benefits of innovation such as cloud, speech analytics and interactive recording.

2

Full review of recruitment practices

With staff key to contact centre success, it is important that the right staff are appointed at the outset, that their induction and training is carried out effectively, and that career and personal growth is supported.

Contact centre management needs to ensure that it is fully involved in the recruitment process, asking the right customer service questions at interviews, and ensuring a comprehensive and appropriate induction programme.

3

Measurement tools

The customer’s experience is the contact centre’s most important measure of success, so counting call volumes and simple yes/no customer surveys are no longer enough to gain a full understanding of the customer experience. The successful contact centre assesses whether its traditional KPIs and

30 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

other measurements are still appropriate to meet the objectives set. To enhance quality measurement, the contact centre needs to define its objectives, and ensure that the staff fully understand what is being measured and why.

4

Maximise customer feedback

Consider whether your customer survey questions need to be reviewed to more accurately reflect customer views as opposed to addressing cosmetic issues. Assess whether other departments need to be involved in the survey to ensure their needs are covered too; or whether another department carry out surveys without your input.

5

Maximising staff feedback

Improving contact centre operations depends to a large degree on getting feedback from the contact centre team, and acting on it.

To do so, hold regular review/focus groups with staff and colleagues, where participants are encouraged to share their views, make suggestions, and collaborate in carrying out improvements.

6

Performance

7

Bang the drum internally

Today, the question is not how many calls were answered, but how well the contact centre supports the business’ goals. Today’s successful contact centre needs to benchmark itself against those of other organisations, especially those in different market sectors; it needs to maximise performance through good communication with other departments in the organisation, especially marketing and sales.

Too often, the critical role of the contact centre in growing and retaining the customer base is overlooked. To improve contact centre staff job satisfaction, and ensure access to adequate resources, it’s important to ‘bang the drum’ internally, ensuring that the enterprise is made aware of the contact centre’s contribution to business, as well as its achievements.

8

Self/staff development

9

Do ALL channels well

The staff are the heart of the contact centre. Career and personal development are crucial to job satisfaction and reduced staff turnover, as well as boosting customer service. To ensure that the contact centre performs optimally, staff training and personal development need to be addressed on an ongoing basis.

You may have excellent voice interaction, but unless you deliver the same level of service via other channels, your contact centre is dropping the ball. The consumer of today expects uniform service levels across multiple channels. Contact centres need to know which channels are preferred by which customers, and must have the ability to respond using the customer’s preferred channel. Ensure that phone, web chat, email, text, social media, mobile and letter interactions are equally efficient and integrated.

10

Fun, and morale

Your contact centre staff are the face of your business. Working by the book is not enough to ensure customer satisfaction – your staff need to be motivated to deliver good service. They need job satisfaction and a positive attitude, which will reflect in their interactions with customers. Assess whether you and your staff look forward to coming to work and ask ‘why/why not?’ Consider whether you have any silly rules to "control" staff that should be dropped. Ask - does performance vary due to mood over the day/week/month – and if so, do you know why? And are any of the “fun” things you do becoming stale?

Martina Knappe, head of EMEA marketing at Interactive Intelligence See Interactive Intelligence’s webinar at: http://www.callcentrehelper.com/freewebinar-top-5-contact-centre-strategies52333.htm

www.communicationsafrica.com

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BROADCAST

IPTV

Set top boxes for African homes

T

HE BROADCAST INDUSTRY was introduced, at last year's AfricaCast exhibition of TV technologies and equipment in Cape Town, South Africa, to a Ukrainian equipment supplier called Infomir.

In a dedicated zone for IPTV, Infomir’s booth was co-located together with several other companies. Traditionally, the company has demonstrated a series of provider-class set top boxes (STBs) for IPTV-based services and the proprietary Stalker Middleware for STB network provisioning and managing. Visitors to AfricaCast learned more about the MAG250 Micro entry-level model, and its modernised version MAG255 Micro with a more powerful media processor, additional RAM and the HDMI 1.4a interface. Other technologies and solutions were exhibited, too.

Direct communication with African broadcast market players at the event and since have revealed that they are even more interested in developing local infrastructure, which is taking its first steps: cable laying,

www.communicationsafrica.com

satellite TV, satellite Internet, etc. From talks with other exhibition participants and exponents, it became clear that the country welcomes its first investment projects of major telecom operators. The projects are aimed at deployment of high quality broadband networks with solid architecture which will offer affordable rates for web access across the country. For now, affordable rates can be found only in Kenya. And they are about twice as high for the rest of Africa.

Hybrid solutions for integrated services Many companies presenting to the African telecommunications market are interested in hybrid solutions (DVB-T/T2). Traditional STBs for IPTV services are not so popular here due to the lack of solid broadband infrastructure.

Infomir has a stake in this area, and its involvement is clear for the region: the company is committed to satisfying the demand for hybrid solutions in a flexible and reliable way. And Infomir’s contacts have also

been interested in free proprietary middleware successfully used by providers all over the world. It has had significant discussions with a system integrator deploying a ready-made comprehensive solution for providing IPTV services. The local company proposed to integrate MAG STBs into its future projects.

Infomir's prospective customers have also been positively impressed by the company’s long history, its experience in the telecoms industry, and its global reputation as a high quality manufacturer and a reliable partner.

The regional telecom market switched from pure off-site interest in broadband technologies to some practical steps for their implementation in Africa. Experts predict a boom of modern content distribution technologies here with further interactive TV uprise in two years or so.

Infomir is committed to bringing its technologies and solutions to future-oriented regional operators now, to support market growth. It regards Africa as the most promising region for the next few years. ✆

Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

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BROADCASTING

Radio

Developing Southern Africa’s digital streams DRM technology is expected to transform Southern Africa's digital streams allowing broadcasters to modify the system to best meet the needs of the region

D

igital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is the universal digital broadcasting system for all broadcasting frequencies with its purpose being that its a high quality digital replacement for current analogue radio broadcasting in the AM and FM/VHF bands, therefore meaning it can be operated with the same channelling and spectrum allocations as currently employed.

The DRM Consortium is further extending its activities with the roll out of a new DRM Platform in Southern Africa. The main purpose of the DRM Consortium’s Southern Africa DRM Platform, a voluntary group without financial motives, are to manage the numerous industry stakeholders in the countries of Southern Africa interested in DRM, to roll out DRM broadcasts and to demonstrate a business case for producing and selling DRM radio sets or auxiliary devices.

The DRM standard The DRM standard consists of two major configurations: ‘DRM30′ intended for broadcasts on short, medium and long wave up to 30 MHz and providing large coverage areas and low power consumption. The configuration for the VHF bands above 30 MHz is called ‘DRM+’, designed for local and regional coverage with broadcaster-controlled transmissions.

According to Ruxandra Obreja, DRM chairman, “The DRM global standard can be used in all radio frequency bands and is ideal for the large countries of Southern Africa.

“From national networks and regional stations to smaller commercial and community stations, all would be able to broadcast their digital radio programmes with enhanced content and in excellent sound quality to everyone in their respective countries. DRM is an ideal African digital solution and we have high hopes of the activity of the newly created DRM Southern Africa Platform, now open to all those interested.”

Unlinke the DRM standard, other global standards cannot be used in all radio frequency bands, which is what makes it suited to the large countries of Southern Africa. From national networks and regional stations to smaller commercial and community stations, everyone can broadcast their digital radio

32 Communications Africa Issue 4 2014

Digital Radio Mondiale was recently launched in South Africa

programmes with enhanced content and in excellent sound quality to everyone in their respective countries.

An advantage of the DRM system is that it has been designed to enable suitable analogue transmitters to be changed to switch easily between digital and analogue broadcasts. This can reduce the initial investment cost for a broadcaster.

The DRM Consortium is further extending its activities with the roll out of a new DRM Platform in Southern Africa DRM technology launches in South Africa The DRM Platform in Southern Africa will join forces with the Indian, Brazilian, German and other DRM national platforms working together with the DRM Consortium but using national knowledge and expertise.

Dr Roelf Petersen of Radio Pulpit, the chairman of the new Platform says: “My role

will be to coordinate the strength of all the African parties involved, in order to ensure that the great potential of the DRM technology becomes a practical reality for serving the peoples of Southern Africa.”

DRM's Emergency Warning Features The Emergency Warning Features (EWF) of the DRM system will be featured in a special broadcast included in the IRDR Trial in time with the Media Summit on Climate Change which will be held 4-6 June 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The DRM radio programme offers an explanation as to what the emergency feature of DRM is and how alarm signals given off by the authorities can override running programmes and carry the emergency message instantly to large numbers of people. A preview of the broadcast is now available.

“During emergencies and times of crisis, most of the services fail”, says Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium chairman, “radio is the last line of communication and the obvious solution for bringing information to the people.

We are very excited to have our first radio broadcast on the in-built emergency disaster functionality of DRM.” ✆

www.communicationsafrica.com

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EQUIPEMENT

Le portefeuille Motive de solutions OSS, pour aider les fournisseurs de services à libérer le potentiel des technologies NFV et SDN ALCATEL-LUCENT A lancé un nouveau portefeuille de solutions Motive pour les systèmes OSS (Operations Support Systems) au sein du portefeuille global de solutions Motive au service de l’expérience clients. L’objectif de ce nouveau portefeuille de solutions est d’exploiter pleinement les atouts des technologies cloud, de réduire les coûts et d’améliorer les services proposés grâce à une approche radicalement nouvelle, qui permet aux fournisseurs de services d’automatiser leurs opérations réseau.

Le portefeuille Motive Dynamic Operations ouvre la voie de la virtualisation et offre aux fournisseurs de services la possibilité de migrer dans le cloud, en rendant l’infrastructure d’exploitation aussi agile que le sont les réseaux virtualisés et les data centers. C’est un portefeuille innovant, qui repose sur trois volets uniques : une nouvelle fondation capable d’identifier et de suivre de façon dynamique toutes les ressources réseau, un système OSS entièrement automatisé et programmable afin d’exécuter des commandes et d’assurer des services, et un environnement d’ « autoréparation » qui repose sur des fonctions d’analyse de la datamasse (Big Data), pour une restauration automatisée etune gestion prévisionnelle du réseau.

L’environnement OSS actuel est très fragmenté, et majoritairement géré de façon manuelle ; son entretien coûte cher, ce qui en fait un obstacle important à la livraison dynamique de services cloud.

Le nouveau portefeuille Motive Dynamic Operations d’Alcatel-Lucent, qui sera lancé dans le courant de l’année, permettra aux opérateurs de concrétiser les promesses des réseaux virtualisés, grâce aux technologies NFV (Network Function Virtualization) et SDN (Software Defined Networking).

LES SYSTÈMES OSS font référence aux systèmes utilisés par les opérateurs pour gérer leurs réseaux, exécuter des services, en proposer de nouveaux et apporter l’assurance d’un fonctionnement réseau adéquat. Si les fournisseurs de services ont rapidement opté pour des innovations portant sur les réseaux IP, les technologies cloud et la virtualisation des fonctions réseau, les innovations en matière de systèmes OSS tardent à émerger.

Andrew McDonald, directeur de la division Plateformes IP d’AlcatelLucent, a déclaré : « Il est impératif de changer radicalement d’approche en matière de systèmes OSS, avant que les opérateurs soient en mesure de concrétiser les promesses des technologies NFV et SDN. Après le lancement à la fois de CloudBand, la première plateforme NFV du secteur, de la première solution SDN avec Nuage Networks et de solutions de cœur de réseau en mode paquet virtualisées, IMS et fonctions réseau mobiles, Alcatel-Lucent innove aussi dans le domaine des systèmes OSS avec le lancement du portefeuille de solutions Motive Dynamic Operation, en vue d’apporter aux systèmes OSS l’agilité requise pour la virtualisation des réseaux dans le cloud. » www.alcatel-lucent.

Movius raises US$13mn for messaging and mobile MOBILE IDENTITIES AND converged messaging solutions provider Movius Interactive Corporation has completed a US$13mn financing round led by PointGuard Ventures. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Anschutz Investments also participated in this round. Proceeds will be used to fulfill and accelerate the company’s growth plans associated with its next generation mobile applications platform known as CAFÉ (Communication Applications Framework Engine).

“The successful closing of this financing round reflects the continued success and enthusiastic market response we have seen regarding our CAFÉ platform and its market leading applications,” said Dominic Gomez, CEO of Movius, who added that the company is now positioned to capitalise on the “convergence of messaging and the need for personalising distinct lifestyles securely and easily.”

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