Communications Africa 5 2013

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Issue 5 2013 Édition 5 2013

Africa

Afrique

www.communicationsafrica.com

Rural connectivity Network support for agricultural businesses

Capacity Submarine infrastructure for superior networks

Finance Extending access to mobile banking in Côte d’Ivoire

Télévision Des solutions pour répondre aux besoins d’accès à l’internet Managing the post-mobile data revolution 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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CONTENTS

Issue 5 2013 Édition 5 2013

Afrique

Africa www.communicationsafrica.com

Rural connectivity Network support for agricultural businesses

Bulletin

4

Events

8

Agenda

12

Equipment

37

Capacity Submarine infrastructure for superior networks

Finance Extending access to mobile banking in Côte d’Ivoire

Télévision Des solutions pour répondre aux besoins d’accès à l’internet Managing the post-mobile data revolution 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 examines the ways in which industry stakeholders can benefit from the rural enterprise connectivity. There is also an evaluation of the effectiveness of underwater infrastructure to support networks. Regarding satellite connectivity, this issue represents communication in energy industries. It offers, also, an assessment of initiatives to create the conditions for social inclusion in the mobile banking ecosystem in Ivory Coast.

On the issue of trade, the magazine focuses on the prospects for monetizing data connectivity. There is also an article on the challenges and opportunities highlighted with respect to capacity.

Finally, this review provides an understanding of how TV white spaces can travel over long distances at low cost.

FEATURES Mobile

22

How MNOs, NGOs and industry organisations can gain from rural business connectivity

Capacity

26

How submarine infrastructure supports network responsiveness, resilience and reliability

Satellite

28

Mobile communications to support energy sector operations

Finance

30

Societal inclusion in the mobile banking ecosystem in Côte d’Ivoire

Commerce

32

Meeting the African data challenge; and connectivity provision for key conferences

Events

34

Looking ahead to the key challenges and opportunities highlighted at Capacity Africa

ARTICLES

Main Cover Image: GSMA Mobile for Development Inset: Flexenclosure

Internet

36

Les espaces blancs de télévision peuvent transiter sur de longues distances et fournir une solution à faible coût pour répondre aux besoins d’accès à l’internet

Une note du rédacteur Cette édition examine les façons dont les intervenants de l'industrie peuvent bénéficier de la connectivité rurale pour les entreprises africaines. En outre, il s'agit d'une évaluation de l'efficacité de l'infrastructure sous-marin, à l'appui de l'exploitation des réseaux de télécommunications. En ce qui concerne la connectivité par satellite, ce magazine représente les communications dans les industries de l'énergie. Il offre, en outre, une évaluation des initiatives visant à créer les conditions d'inclusion sociale dans l'écosystème bancaire mobile en Côte d'Ivoire. Sur la question du commerce, le magazine offre des perspectives de monétisation de la connectivité des données. Il offre, également, un article sur les principaux opportunités mis en évidence lors de capacité. Enfin, cette étude permet de comprendre comment les espaces blancs de télévision peuvent soutenir la connectivité Internet à faible coût.

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

Audit Bureau of Circulations - Business Magazines

Editorial and Design team: Bob Adams, Prashant AP, Hiriyti Bairu, Lizzie Carroll, David Clancy, Ranganath GS, Kasturi Gupta, Rhonita Patnaik, Genaro Santos, Zsa Tebbit, Nicky Valsamakis and Ben Watts 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 Russia South Africa Qatar UAE USA

Representative Ying Matthieson Tanmay Mishra Bola Olowo Sergei Salov Annabel Marx Saida Hamad Camilla Capece Michael Tomashefsky

Telephone (86)10 8472 1899 (91) 80 656 84483 (234) 8034349299 (7495) 540 7564 (27) 218519017 (974) 55745780 (971) 4 448 9260 (1) 203 226 2882

www.communicationsafrica.com

Fax (86) 10 8472 1900 (91) 80 40600791 (7495) 540 7565 (27) 46 624 5931 (971) 4 448 9261 (1) 203 226 7447

Email ying.matthieson@alaincharles.com tanmay.mishra@alaincharles.com bola.olowo@alaincharles.com mne@acpmos.ru annabel.marx@alaincharles.com saida.hamad@alaincharles.com camilla.capece@alaincharles.com michael.tomashefsky@alaincharles.com

Head Office: Alain Charles Publishing Ltd University House 11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 20 7834 7676 Fax: +44 20 7973 0076

Middle East Regional Office: Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLC Office 215, Loft 2A PO Box 502207 Dubai Media City, UAE Telephone: +971 4 448 9260 Fax: +971 4 448 9261

Production: Nathanielle Kumar, Donatella Moranelli, Nick Salt and Sophia White Email: production@alaincharles.com Subscriptions: circulation@alaincharles.com Chairman: Derek Fordham Printed by: Wyndeham Grange Ltd Communications Africa/Afrique is bi-monthly magazine ISSN: 0962 3841

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BULLETIN How to drive mobile content for consumers ACCORDING TO THE information technology research firm Gartner, by 2014 the number of mobile customer relationship management (CRM) apps available for download from app stores will have grown by 500 per cent. More and more companies are looking for ways to engage their customers through the mobile platform.

“Samsung’s reputation as a builder of solid ecosystems in this category is the result of the company’s focus on anticipating and proactively meeting market needs. We invest a great deal of time and money into carefully researching the content and services that best satisfy our consumers. We are determined to make the user-experience as satisfying and wide-ranging as possible, and we feel we have achieved this objective with the enhanced lifestyle content site offering,” said Thabiet Allie, head of content and services at Samsung Electronics Africa.

Samsung has developed an integrated and high-end lifestyle content service for consumers. This content-rich, micro-site offers free games, weather, news, sports, music, entertainment, videos, animations, wallpapers, ringtones and much more. The lifestyle content facility is currently available in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. “However, we are cognisant of the fact that this value-added service has attracted attention

Samsung Electronics offered a foretaste of the future of connectivity recently in Cape Town

from other African countries and we are currently rolling out the offerings to Ghana and Angola. This will be followed by an identification of market needs and the launch of the lifestyle content micro-site in other African countries where relevant,” said Allie.

Designed and built for African audiences Samsung has partnered with various companies such as Universal Music Group as well as African and international music labels to launch a pan-African mobile music streaming service called the ‘Kleek’. The app is designed and built specifically for Africa, the Kleek will bring musiclovers closer to their favourite artists and also launch African artists to an international audience. To help bring better education to schools all over Africa Samsung has also partnered with various publishers to produce eBooks for rural schools. And sport fans all over Africa can look forward to learning more about their favourite sport from well known professionals through the Smart Trainer app. Samsung has partnered up with soccer and rugby legends to give consumers everyday advice on how to improve their skills on the field.

“Integrity and quality of content is critical to our consumers, so we are driven to seek and supply reliable services that will enhance the customer experience,” Allie concluded.

Zimkhitha Sulelo

In South Africa, marketing by messaging means much more than before SMS IS MORE relevant than ever as a marketing and communications channel in a world where customers are flooded with communications across a wide range of channels, from e-mail and social media to more

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Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

traditional media such as post and print. Brent Wantenaar, aggregation product manager at Cellfind, says that Internet penetration in South Africa is not yet high enough to make e-mail a viable replacement for SMS as a mechanism to communicate special offers, marketing offers and even bills and invoices.

At the same time, SMS is also more reliable and cost-effective than post, especially for low-income consumers who may not have a permanent address.

“SMS does reach a device the consumer always carries and almost never switches off,” says Wantenaar. “Even when a consumer’s landline number and fixed-address changes, they are likely to keep the same cellphone number.”

Making consumer communication more personal SMS messages are more likely to actually be received, read and acted on than email messages, he adds. Legitimate marketing messages often struggle to find their way through spam filters at internet service providers and on users’ computers, and even when they reach the inbox, they are often deleted without a second thought.

Most consumers still read each SMS because the cellphone is a trusted and personal channel, Wantenaar says. They’ll usually read each SMS as soon as the alert is delivered because the volumes of SMS messages most people receive are more manageable than the amount of emails received and because they get time-sensitive messages such as banking notifications by SMS. SMS is a particularly good channel for focused, call-to-action marketing.

Marketers are forced to hone their messages because of its 160-character limit, which means that the call to action can be sharp, precise and punchy. SMS is also bi-directional – customers can respond immediately with a request for more information by a return message. What’s more, an SMS marketing database can be segmented to ensure that messages are personalised to clients’ needs and interest. Companies can leverage their CRM databases to craft messages that directly appeal to their customers and interact with them directly wherever they are, he adds.

“Another benefit of SMS is its immediacy. It gives companies the flexibility to deliver personalised messages in a mass-scale at rapid speed – so they can quickly put together a campaign if they have a warehouse of goods they want to clear ahead of a shipment of new products, for example,” Wantenaar says.

They don’t need to worry about design or media placements – they can get a simple text message out almost immediately.

“SMS is one of the few marketing channels that cuts across demographics in South Africa,” says Wantenaar.

“It allows for simple automation of communications for users from the lowest to the highest LSMs.” Wantenaar says that SMS is one of the most effective forms of marketing, with a return on investment which outpaces most other forms of direct marketing. But to enjoy its full benefits, companies should follow best practices such as interacting only with people who are already customers or who have opted-in to receive SMS communications from them. They should make it easy for people to opt out, as well.

Companies should partner with bulk messaging partners who are members of WASPA – the organisation that regulates value-added mobile content and services in Africa – to be sure that their messaging partners adhere to best practices in how they manage customer databases for SMS marketing.

XDSL’s free hosted PBX solution LOCAL SOUTH AFRICAN Internet service provider XDSL is presenting mid- to large-sized organisations with a South African first: a hosted, fully managed, enterprise grade PABX running on a Diginet line, at a fraction of standard costs; users do not pay for the PBX platform or per extension, but may only pay for physical access - thereby achieving savings on infrastructure and call costs, as well as monthly operating costs.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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Energizing Facebook’s data center to power the next generation of social networking.

Follow the Charge When Facebook set out to be one of the most energy efficient data center operators in the world, we embraced their bold vision. The challenge of a world demanding more and more digital information combined with the power-hungry nature of data centers, truly inspired us.

Facebook’s new 300,000 square foot facility in Forest City, NC presented the opportunity to help power their ever-expanding network of over one billion users with critical reliability and exceptional efficiency.

Building on our prior success with Facebook, our expertise in energy efficiency and back-up power protection, we helped design a unique solution.

Facebook optimized their data center efficiency with our Power Xpert® 9395 and 9390 UPSs with Energy Saver System technology.

Today, Facebook commands a power usage effectiveness rating that’s well below the industry average of 1.83.

Next stop? Facebook’s Luleå, Sweden facility.

eaton.eu/followthecharge/m3 ©2013 Eaton. All rights reserved.

»

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BULLETIN Telecom Italia Sparkle sets world’s first LTE roaming peering with Tata Communications The implementation of the world’s first LTE roaming peering between two IPX providers has been confirmed by Tata Communications and Telecom Italia Sparkle, extending the global community of interconnected LTE-enabled mobile network operators (MNOs) as 4G adoption continues to grow; With 4G LTE revenues projected to exceed US$100bn globally in 2014, LTE roaming enablement is critical to maximising revenue growth - and this peering will enable the exchange of LTE roaming traffic between Tata Communications and Telecom Italia Sparkle’s networks, creating an interconnected infrastructure that combines the quality and security of the respective IPX networks.

Isenzo’s cloud digital signage Isenzo Broadcasting, which provides digital signage software in Southern Africa, has launched Piqomi, a cloud-based platform that integrates digital signage, customer engagement and retail analytics; "With the inclusion of audience measurement, customer behaviour tracking and information collaboration, we're bringing business intelligence to digital signage and closing the loop on retail communication," said Isenzo CEO, Peter Robson.

Reclaiming control of corporate e-mail on Android 3CX, developer of the Windows VoIP PBX 3CX phone system, offers 3CX Mobile Device Manager version 6.3, which allows administrators to remotely configure corporate e-mail, and retain control of the sensitive stored attachments and emails - and, with 3CX DroidDesktop integrated, the ability to remote control Android smartphones and tablets; "Up until now, Android has lacked the management features to control and secure email. Hampered by Android's inability to manage corporate email, that mantle has traditionally fallen to Blackberry," said Nick Galea, 3CX CEO.

FiberStore enhances DWDM solutions for new optical networks

Intersec rejoint la MMA! Intersec a fait partie de la Mobile Marketing Association! Ce nouveau partenariat permet à Intersec d'apporter son expertise dans le domaine du marketing mobile aux quelques 700 membres de l'association et de bénéficier du partage des ressources et connaissances de ce grand réseau.

Orange Tunisie lance un programme de fidélité Orange Tunisie a lancé son premier programme de fidélité convergent : mobile, fixe et internet; insi, l’opérateur offre des points cadeaux sur la consommation de tous les produits Orange : Mobile, Clé 3G, Flybox, ADSL et Livebox.

Xpress Money signe un protocole d'entente avec Money Express Xpress Money, l'une des marques de virements d'argent les plus fiables au monde, a signé un protocole d'entente avec Money Express en vue de lancer ses activités en Afrique occidentale et centrale dans un avenir proche; Xpress Money lancera ses services au Sénégal, en Côte d'Ivoire, au Bénin, au Togo, au Burkina Faso, au Mali et au Niger en Afrique occidentale, ainsi qu'au Cameroun, au Tchad, en République démocratique du Congo et au CongoBrazzaville en Afrique centrale.

Les médias traditionnels conservent une longueur d'avance sur les nouveaux médias La dernière édition de l'indice de viabilité des médias (MSI) pour l'Afrique publié par IREX a démontré que les médias traditionnels demeurent la principale source d'information; les nombreux avantages que représente l'utilisation des médias numériques ne sont toutefois pas encore à la portée de la plupart des citoyens des 42 pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne soumis à l'analyse.

Le redéploiement de satellites consécutif

FiberStore's 100G technology supports both 10G/40G Muxponder mode and 100G transponder mode on the same platform hardware, enabling smooth migration between 10G, 40G and 100G technologies while utilising a single device, making it possible for both 00G DWDM MUX DEMUX and new rare 50G DWDM technologies and operation modes to operate over existing 10G networks and seamlessly increase their capacity to 100G; managed networks services provider to global carriers and multinational companies Internet Solutons has chosen FiberStore for its new long-haul DWDM network across South Africa.

Inmarsat launches AlphaSat Inmarsat, which provides global mobile satellite communications services, has launched Alphasat - designated I-4A F4 - on an Ariane 5 ECA from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana; Rupert Pearce, CEO of Inmarsat, said, “The launch demonstrates Inmarsat’s long-term commitment to L-band services, and marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Inmarsat’s flagship satellite fleet, bringing new capabilities both in terms of performance and resource availability.”

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Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

With a US$350mn investment from Inmarsat, Alphasat complements the company’s award-winning Lband satellite fleet, which has been powering global broadband connectivity for government and commercial customers on land, sea and in the air since 2009

Le satellite Eutelsat 3D

Le satellite Eutelsat 3D est entré en service après le transfert du trafic exploité à cette position orbitale sur le satellite Eutelsat 3C; doté de 33 répéteurs opérationnels (32 en bande Ku dont 15 de 72 MHz et 1 en bande Ka de 108 MHz), Eutelsat 3D vient significativement accroître les ressources de la position 3° Est sur Europe et ouvrir une nouvelle zone de service sur l'Afrique afin de répondre à la demande des marchés vidéo, de données et de haut débit de ces régions.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Events 2013 OCTOBER 2-4

Contact West Africa

Accra, Ghana

www.exhibitionsafrica.com

15-17

Broadband World Forum

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

21-25

Internet Governance Forum

Bali, Indonesia

www.intgovforum.org

23-24

Southern Africa ICT Summit

Maputo, Mozambique

www.aitecafrica.com

27-28

East Africa ICT Summit

Nairobi, Kenya

www.aitecafrica.com

29-30

Big Data World Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

29-30

The Enterprise Technology Show Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

29-30

The Internet Show Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

29-30

Loyalty World Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

29-30

The Marketing Technology Show Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

29-30

The Mobile Show Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.terrapinn.com

4-6

MVNO Networking Congress

London, UK

12-14

Africa Com

Cape Town, South Africa

www.africa.comworldseries.com

12-14

Enterprise ICT Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

www.cloudworldseries.com

19-21

Med-IT

Casabanca, Morocco

26

TMT Finance & Investment East Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

www.tmtfinance.com

28-29

East Africa IT and Cyber Security Connvention

Nairobi, Kenya

www.cybersecurityafrica.com

www.broadbandworldforum.com

NOVEMBER www.mvnoevent.com

www.med-it.com

DR NII QUAYNOR, often referred to as the ‘Father of the Internet in Africa’, joined ICANN CEO and president Fadi Chehadé, Board Chair Dr Stephen Crocker, and vice president of Stakeholder Engagement for Africa Pierre Dandjinou to highlight a key concern represented at ICANN’s 47th public meeting in Durban, South Africa.

A recent inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame, Dr Quaynor has spent two decades promoting the Internet’s growth across the African continent. He answered questions about the expansion of the Internet in Africa and how increased online access is expanding business potential and information access across the region. Dr Quaynor, Mr Chehadé, Dr Crocker and Mr Dandjinou also addressed ICANN’s role in Internet growth and its increased efforts to internationalise the organisation - including the expansion of domain names to ICANN’s plans to increase its presence in Africa.

At the Durban meeting, the first group of Internet Registries and Registrars signed new agreements with ICANN, bringing new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) into the home stretch of going live online.

“This is a huge accomplishment,” said Fadi Chehadé. “We can see the last mile before the first new TLD is activated in the Internet’s root.”

Three companies signed the registry agreement (RA) while five others signed the registrar accreditation agreement (RAA) - including Registrars from Senegal, Australia, France and the USA. Registries operate Top-Level Domains. Registrars are the entities through which domain names are registered. The three registries applied for top-level domain Names using language characters in Arabic, Chinese and Cyrillic.

Chehadé also acknowledged Nelson Mandela, the renowned former South African leader who has been hospitalised. Chehadé said Mandela’s philosophies should act as guiding principles in the Internet ecosystem.

“We must realise we are inherently interdependent and thus must learn to be

8

Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Photograph: icannphotos

ICANN meeting highlights Internet growth in Africa

ICANN highlighted the growth of Internet in Africa at its Durban event

conciliatory and Africa defines that, as does Madiba [Mandela’s clan name],” said Chehadé. “We need to maintain that Madiba spirit.”

Dr Elham Ibrahim, the African Union’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, told the Durban attendees, “The Internet is one of the greatest public gifts of the 20th century. African domain names will bring financial, economic and sociocultural benefits to Africa.”

In referring to ICANN during a video address, Dr Hamadoun Touré, the secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, said there needs to be a “goal of working together by cultivating a relationship based on collaboration and cooperation”.

Dr Touré added, “In a fast moving, rapidly evolving environment there are not permanent or even long term solutions. What works today will not necessarily work tomorrow. We need open on-going dialogue.”

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Nomanini expands into East Africa THE MOST WIDELY traded virtual commodity in Africa is prepaid mobile service. By 2015 there will be one billion mobile subscribers in Africa each spending an average of over US$85 per year.

At present, prepaid distribution is achieved via trade in physical scratch cards because they are easy to use and relatively quick to distribute. However, their production is costly and they effectively exclude informal entrepreneurs from the process of sales and distribution. Nomanini works to transform the trade in scratch cards by making the process more efficient and cost effective, putting the informal entrepreneur at the heart of the process, enabling wider access to prepaid services for the unbanked masses.

Since being founded in 2011 Nomanini has developed and refined a prepaid vending platform which combines hardware, software and firmware to offer a unique solution to the problems inherent in trading prepaid via scratch cards. Nomanini's hardware enables traders in the informal economy to sell prepaid mobile services in their communities by utilising a portable point of sale terminal which is easy to use on the go, and which has been specifically designed for this African context.

Sitting behind the front end hardware however, the complexity of the solution resides in Nomanini's development of supporting software and firmware components. Nomanini builds its backend services using Google's Cloud based data services. In this way, Nomanini provides interfaces accessible via web portal to manage voucher procurement, distribution and credit management, providing all the tools necessary for local enterprises to manage their prepaid business.

In addition to using this technology to empower grassroots entrepreneurs in informal business, Nomanini enables local enterprises like Bambakenya to customise and operate its technology for their regions.

Like many African countries at the forefront of the mobile revolution, Kenya's mobile market is ripe for development.

According to the latest statistics published by the Communications Commission of Kenya in April 2013, Kenya has 30.7mn subscribers and has a 78 per cent mobile penetration.

Bambakenya is an innovator in the distribution of airtime in Kenya: Bambakenya's mission is to lead distribution of prepaid for the unbanked and underbanked in Kenya.

Nomanini and Bambakenya began discussions in January 2013 to provide Bambakenya with customised terminals and access to its software solutions. Bambakenya procured 20 terminals this month to be deployed as a pilot and plan to submit findings after 1.5 months of trading.

Bambakenya has been distributing airtime for nearly two years and is confident that partnering with Nomanini will provide access to the vital technology necessary to accelerate Bambakenya's impact.

In short, the union of grass roots expertise and high end technology, customised and operated by Nomanini, will facilitate the distribution of mobile services in an efficient and scalable way.

The scratchcard market in Africa is enormous and the latent demand to improve on it is clear. Nomanini has already capitalised on this by developing terminals that can be customised to meet the operational demands of local enterprises across the continent.

The partnership between Nomanini and Bambakenya marks the beginning of Nomanini's international expansion, providing its 'device as a service' solution to local enterprises which stand to benefit hugely from this technology. Discussions with providers in Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania suggest that from Kenya, African expansion will only accelerate.

GL’s enhanced voice quality testing solutions THE ENHANCED VOICE Quality Testing Software with Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Analysis (POLQA) standard, developed by GL Communications Inc, serves network testing operations across the globe. The company’s enhanced VQuad and stand-alone Voice Quality Testing (VQT) software both support advanced voice quality testing for fixed, mobile and IP-based networks using POLQA (Ref: ITU-T P.863).

The VQT supports other international standard voice quality test methods including PESQ (ITU-T P.862), PESQ LQ / LQO (P.862.1), PESQ WB (P.862.2), PAMS (ITU-T P.800), and PSQM/PSQM+ (ITU-T P.861). This is the first time Voice Quality (POLQA) is added directly to the VQuadTM as an option.

POLQA, Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Analysis, based on ITU standard, ITU-T P.863, is the successor of PESQ (ITU-T P.862) analysis.

POLQA supports the latest HD-quality speech coding and network transport technology with higher accuracy for 3G, 4G/LTE and VoIP networks.

Similar to PESQ, POLQA is a Full Reference (FR) algorithm that rates a degraded or processed speech signal in relation to the original (reference) signal. POLQA analyzes the degraded speech signal sample-by-sample after a temporal alignment of the reference test signal. Perceptual differences between both signals are scored as differences. The

12 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

perceptual psycho-acoustic model is based on similar models of human perception. Basically, the signals are analysed in the frequency domain (in critical bands) after applying masking functions. Unmasked differences between the two signal representations will be counted as distortions. Finally, the accumulated distortions in the speech file are mapped into a 1 to 5 quality scale in accordance with MOS (Mean Opinion Score) tests.

The VQuad can be configured to automatically transfer the recorded speech file to the VQT central location. The VQT software can be configured to automatically analyse the voice files while sending the results (POLQA, PESQ, PAMS, PSQM) to the central database. Results associated with the POLQA analysis include POLQA MOS, E-Model, Signal Level, SNR, and Jitter measurements.

The results can be queried and displayed either in tabular or graphical format using the webbased WebViewer client.

Also, optionally POLQA can be added directly to VQuad software with support for automated testing within the VQuad script. In this scenario, the degraded voice files remain at the VQuad node for analysis and are displayed within the VQuad software. Results can still be sent to the central database where VQT WebViewer can query and display either in tabular or graphic format.

www.communicationsafrica.com

6836-Co

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Reliable broadband comes down to a simple equation. Intelsat has always been forward thinking when it comes to broadband. Our unrivaled satellite fleet combined with the IntelsatOneSM ground infrastructure already allows service providers to establish networks with ease and speed. And, now we’re introducing Intelsat EpicNG, our next generation satellite platform, which enables higher data rate applications and smaller terminals. Whether it’s providing the higher throughputs needed to support the backhaul of 3G/4G traffic or missioncritical corporate applications, Intelsat EpicNG unthrottles your network and provides for growth. In addition, Intelsat EpicNG enables cost-effective solutions that allow you to penetrate new markets and push the outer edge of your network. That’s intelligent design.

Good for your operations and your bottom line.

Meet with Intelsat during AfricaCom 2013 at Stand E08.

Learn how Intelsat can help expand your market opportunities.

Visit www.intelsat.com/ForwardThinking for details.

Designed for 2030. Launching in 2015.

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AGENDA

SES and Portugal Telecom set to serve African connectivity demands in Portuguese-speaking African countries TWO CAPACITY RENEWAL deals signed by SES and Portugal Telecom are intended to meet growing connectivity demands across the Archipelago of the Azores and the Portuguese-speaking African countries.

The agreements will see the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal utilise over 100 MHz of capacity aboard NSS-7 and SES-4 to connect the island communities of Flores and Corvo on the Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. It will also enable Portugal Telecom to improve its positioning as an integrated provider for connectivity to the African continent, meeting increasing demand for bandwidth and coverage for

“The utilisation of satellite capacity in Africa enables Portugal Telecom to respond promptly to the connectivity needs of corporations which need constant connectivity between Africa and Portugal” - Deepak Mathur, senior vice president for Asia, SES

SES-4 wil connect Portuguesespeaking communities

services such as mobile backhaul and corporate networks in African countries such as Angola, Mozambique, and São Tomé, amongst others.

“The latest renewals with Portugal Telecom illustrate our ongoing commitment to provide communication services in all corners of the world.

The utilisation of satellite capacity in Africa enables Portugal Telecom to respond promptly to the connectivity needs of corporations which need constant connectivity between Africa and Portugal,” said Deepak Mathur, senior vice president for Asia who is also responsible for European data and mobility services, at SES.

Siemon’s low loss plug-and-play fibre NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST Siemon has expanded its fibre connectivity offering with low loss versions of its standard loss plug-andplay cable assemblies and modules, designed to help data centre managers contend with shrinking optical loss budgets and to support multiple mated pairs for flexible 10, 40 and 100 gigabit applications.

The low loss plug-and-play fibre assemblies are available on Siemon MTP to MTP reels and extenders, LC to MTP, SC to MTP plug-and-play modules and LC to MTP trunks. Using Siemon’s XGLO OM3 and OM4 multimode optical fibre, they improve insertion loss to a maximum of 0.20 dB for MTP mated pairs and 0.15 dB for LC or SC mated pairs; below the industry standard of 0.75 dB per mated pair. Siemon’s low loss plug-and-play MTP to LC or SC modules now offer a combined loss of 0.35 dB and 0.20 dB for MTP to MTP pass-through adapter plates.

“As data centre applications migrate from 10 to 40 and 100 gigabit speeds, loss budgets for fibre channels have become tighter than ever before,” said Charlie Maynard, fibre optic product manager at Siemon. “At the

14 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

same time, data centre managers are looking for ways to flatten their architecture, whilst maintaining manageability and flexibility of fibre links. This often calls for the use of multiple mated pairs within the channel to support convenient patching areas that enable easier moves, adds and changes.

“With optical loss budgets being a top concern in today’s data centre environments, Siemon’s low loss plug and play fibre solutions can give data centre managers the loss headroom they need for complete peace of mind and flexibility when deploying the latest high speed applications,” concluded Maynard.

Using elite ferrule technology and Siemon’s manufacturing excellence, combined with the improved optical performance of the MTP connector, the new low loss plug-and-play solutions provide an easier migration to 40 and 100 gigabit applications.

They also offer flexible patching options over a wide range of distances and infrastructure configurations, plus true plug-andplay capability without the limitations of exceeding optical loss budgets.

Pricing fuels by app KSS FUELS OFFERS a mobile fuels pricing application, KSS Fuels Mobile, for download from the iTunes App Store and Google’s Play store.

KSS Fuels Mobile allows users to price retail fuel products easier, faster and smarter, in the office or on the road, in minutes.

Operating on any iOS or Android device, KSS Fuels Mobile can capture competitor prices and automatically generate new prices within seconds, allowing for rapid response to competitor moves.

“Recent market research highlights mobile pricing capabilities as a top priority for fuels retailers, which partly explains the overwhelming response we’ve received from our clients so far to the KSS Fuels Mobile application,” stated Bob Stein, president and CEO of KSS Fuels.

O3b moves closer to in orbit operation THE FIRST FOUR satellites launched for O3b Networks have successfully cleared in-orbit testing (IOT). The company has now taken over control and operation of the satellites from their manufacturer Thales Alenia Space.

The O3b system will combine the global reach of satellite with the speed of a fiber optic network providing billions of consumers and businesses in nearly 180 countries with low cost, high speed, low latency Internet and mobile connectivity. The Ka-band satellites are in a unique medium earth orbit of 8062km above the earth, in order to minimize latency. O3b is scheduled to launch its next four satellites on September 30. The company will formally launch its commercial service later in the year. A third four-satellite launch is planned for 2014.

“Performance of all four spacecraft has been outstanding with all link parameters at or above specification” - Brian Holz, O3b CTO

Jean Loic Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space, said, "We are very pleased to celebrate the in orbit acceptance of the first four O3b satellites. With the upcoming four additional satellites to be launched at the end of September, we wish great success to O3b Networks in the development of its business. This major milestone confirms our expertise in constellations and reinforces Thales Alenia Space's world leading position for telecom constellations in medium and low Earth orbit."

Brian Holz, O3b CTO, said, "The handover was successfully completed ahead of schedule. Performance of all four spacecraft has been outstanding with all link parameters at or above specification.

Thanks to the great work of the O3b and Thales teams, we can now look forward to our second launch with great confidence."

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

A new facility for news in Cairo ARABIC FREE-TO-AIR SATELLITE broadcasting company MBC Group, which operates 12 television channels, recently engaged Media Group International (MGI) to install a sophisticated news facility in Cairo, Egypt.

Raed Bacho, broadcast manager at MBC Group, said, “MGI’s reputation for delivering world-class broadcast solutions was a key factor in our decision to award the company the contract. Our Cairo news facility is a major investment and one that required careful planning. We were delighted by the efficiency and timely results.”

MGI’s brief was to provide MBC Group with an entire news facility consisting of a broadcast control room/gallery, a central apparatus room, an audio studio, a broadcast studio, a master control room, a newsroom and various editing and production facilities. The company was also responsible for the entire IT infrastructure and the installation of all power requirements.

“MBC’s on-air requirements meant that we were up against extremely tight deadlines,” says Paul Wallis, MGI’s sales director. “We also undertook this project during the recent political unrest, which created its own set of issues. On at least one occasion our team could not leave the facility overnight because

demonstrators were protesting outside.”

At a time when many companies are avoiding outlay in Egypt, MBC’s decision to build this new facility – and its equipment choices – reflect its determination to invest in the very latest technology in order to bring high quality news coverage to the people of Egypt.

“In consultation with MGI’s experienced technical team, MBC selected some of the latest ground breaking equipment, including cuttingedge Grass Valley LDX-80 studio cameras that adopt cmos technology as opposed to traditional CCD,” says Wallis. “At the heart of the system is a full Avid Newsvision production system, complemented by the latest Viztr on air graphics. Other technical highlights include a powerful Ross live production switcher, a Trilogy

Broadcast communications system, a state of the art video wall and a Studer All-In-One Vista audio mixing console, the first of its kind to be installed in Egypt.”

Wallis adds that the project was not without its challenges, but thanks to MGI’s excellent relationships with the various manufacturers involved, these were quickly overcome.

“We were faced with some tough technology changes that could have delayed the on-air deadline, but fortunately we had chosen manufacturers who helped us work around this problem and enabled us to keep our commitment to MBC,” he says.

MBC’s news facility in Cairo is now up and running, delivering news to the broadcaster’s Egyptian viewers.

Orange Money And MFS Africa enable international money transfer to Madagascar ORANGE MADAGASCAR AND MFS Africa have launched an online money transfer service - Orange Money Transfert International - whereby Orange customers in Madagascar can receive international remittances directly to their Orange Money accounts. Orange Money was launched in Madagascar in 2010 to facilitate domestic transfers and currently serves over one million customers.

International customers simply register on the website, proceed to pay with most major bank cards, and remit funds to Madagascar with seamless delivery within minutes to beneficiaries of Orange Money accounts at attractive price levels. The highly secure and convenient web portal is provided and operated by MFS Africa and is connected to the Orange Money platform in Madagascar. The international remittance service is a first step in a growing partnership between Orange Madagascar and MFS Africa to introduce simple and relevant financial services to Orange Money customers.

“Our intention with Orange Money Transfert International is to lower the cost of sending money back to Madagascar while making it more convenient for both senders and receivers. We believe this ultimately benefits Madagascar Diaspora members and their families back home” said Jean-Luc Bohe, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Madagascar. “Our partnership with MFS Africa gives us access to a pipeline of exciting services that we will be bringing to the Orange Money customers in the near future,” added Mr Bohe.

“The launch of Orange Money Transfert International today in Madagascar is a key milestone for MFS Africa in our journey to bring simple and relevant financial services to mobile users across Africa.

Orange Madagascar has been recognised internationally for the excellence of its Mobile Money service and it is only natural that we partner with them to add more value to their customers,” said Dare Okoudjou, CEO of MFS Africa.

ZUKU TV completes migration to SES-5 EAST AFRICAN PAY-TV broadcaster Zuku TV has completed its migration on the SES fleet and has committed to growth capacity on the new SES satellite, SES-5.

Zuku TV, part of Wananchi Group Holdings, is East Africa’s leading home entertainment operator, with a substantial and growing customer base in East Africa, principally Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The migration of Zuku TV from the SES satellite NSS-12 to the newer SES-5 began in February 2013.

SES-5 was launched last year and is positioned at 5° East, one of the company’s flagship orbital slots, which supports customers across the continent to

16 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

grow Africa’s Direct-to-Home and broadcast services. Wananchi Group has contracted seven transponders on SES-5; four have migrated to SES5 whilst three transponders are additional growth capacity.

“The demand of Wananchi clearly shows the attractiveness of SES-5 for African broadcasters,” says Ferdinand Kayser, chief commercial officer of SES. “With customers like Wananchi, we are able to create a high quality and high value DTH neighborhood on SES-5, applying our core competence in the Direct-to-Home (DTH) business to an important growth region.”

SES-5 was launched in July 2012

“We are extremely satisfied with the performance of SES-5,” says Richard Bell, CEO, Wananchi Group. “We depend on satellite capacity and services to ensure excellent service and picture quality for our viewers and to grow our business in the market.”

www.communicationsafrica.com

S04 CAF 5 2013 Agenda 2_Layout 1 23/08/2013 14:41 Page 17

PCCW Global Connected with your world Together PCCW Global and Gateway have combined their extensive sub-sea, terrestrial, and satellite capabilities to provide you with unrivalled African connectivity solutions.

Resilient global network – 2,000 cities, 130 countries Advanced pan-African network – 40+ countries Extensive terrestrial links into landlocked countries MPLS coverage – 24+ African countries IPX compliant voice – 40+ direct routes On-the ground local support World-class SLAs

PCCW Global, your trusted partner for quality services into and out of Africa.

Contact us: Email: africa@pccwglobal.com

www.pccwglobal.com

S04 CAF 5 2013 Agenda 2_Layout 1 23/08/2013 14:41 Page 18

AGENDA

A second satellite from ABS, to serve emerging markets ASIA BROADCAST SATELLITE (ABS) has confirmed that ABS-2A, a multi-beam 48 transponder Ku- satellite, will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2015 to ABS’ prime 75°E location. ABS-2A - covering the growing markets of Russia, India, Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and the Indian Ocean region - is to follow ABS-2, the largest satellite to be launched over Asia, which itself is scheduled to launch late in 2013. With 2.6 GHz of Ku-band spectrum, ABS-2A nearly doubles the available Ku-band frequencies available at 75°E. Together with ABS-2, ABS-2A will deliver a total of 100 x 54MHz Ku-band capacity to 75°E to a growing list of premium DTH customers, VSAT operators and Maritime & Mobility customers.

ABS-2A with 7.5kW of payload power is the second of the four Boeing 702SP all electric satellites that ABS is purchasing from Boeing Satellite Systems International in partnership with Satmex. ABS-2A, along with ABS-3A, is part of the 702SP production line, an all electric propulsion satellite that minimizes the spacecraft’s mass and maximizes available payload. It will be dual launched with its copassenger Satmex-9, on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“We are very excited to confirm ABS-2A, our second 702SP Boeing satellite which carries the industry innovating, all-electric propulsion system. We are extremely pleased that we are able to partner again with

Mobile with Equity

ABS-2A will serve Russia, India, the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and the Indian Ocean

Satmex to launch ABS-2A along with Satmex-9 in the fourth quarter of 2015,” said Tom Choi, CEO of ABS. “The next three years will be very exciting for ABS as we are completing a US$750M satellite expansion programme delivering three new satellites over the next 36 months with ABS-2 to 75°E, ABS-3A to 3°W and ABS-2A to 75°E. ABS already has over US$800M of backlog and we anticipate this to grow over US$1 bn this year. When we deliver ABS-2A to orbit in 2015, we anticipate our annual revenue will more than triple from 2013. The majority of the customers who have confirmed contracts on ABS-2 have already committed to ABS-2A. It’s truly exciting and pleasing to see the boldness of our plans being matched by the commitment of our anchor customers.”

EQUITY BANK AND Airtel Kenya have entered into a partnership to offer mobile commerce solutions to their customers in Kenya, through Airtel Money.

The service enables customers from Airtel and Equity Bank to access mobile banking platforms, perform agency cash transactions and withdraw money at Equity Bank branches.

Airtel Money will also enable customers to pay their utility bills, receive bank transaction alerts, check account balance and receive mini statements, among other services. Equity Bank Group CEO Dr James Mwangi said, “We shall continue to strengthen our business model through innovation, enhanced use of technology, automation for a better customer experience and collaborations with industry stakeholders such as Airtel.”

Sudan Radio upgrades with automation software SUDAN RADIO HAS upgraded its operations to NETIA’s Radio-Assist 8.1 range of digital audio automation software. Sudan Radio first launched Radio-Assist in 2005, after working closely with NETIA to migrate its tape-based archives to digital. With this upgrade to version 8.1, the North African broadcaster will take advantage of the NETIA solution's newly enhanced tools for broadcasting, editing, and music scheduling.

"We chose to upgrade our current NETIA installation not only because we wish to remain at the forefront of new broadcast technology, but also because we have found the company's Radio-Assist software to be a reliable and efficient system," said Hassan Mostafa, IT and digital archive manager at Sudan Radio. "Staff members across Sudan Radio are already familiar with this NETIA solution, so it will take them very little time to get a grip on the new functionalities offered by the latest software release."

NETIA's Radio-Assist family of digital audio software programs covers each part of the production and broadcast workflow, allowing users to record, edit, or prepare a playlist. In addition to new browse and publishing tools for full multimedia functionality, the software features tools for acquisition, sound-file editing, commercial and music production, newsroom systems, scheduling, multicasting, and administration.

With the upgrade to Radio-Assist 8.1, Sudan Radio will enjoy the benefit of built-in music scheduling functionality. With music management tools integrated into the software's Feder-All playlist preparation module, users will be able to automate

18 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

NETIA’s Radio-Assist 8.1 Music Scheduling

playlist generation according to preset criteria, business policies, and a wide range of intelligent options for sequencing music. To ensure a smooth transition to the new software release, NETIA has trained Sudan Radio's 40 Radio-Assist users on the solution's enhanced AIR DDO broadcasting module.

"Sudan Radio is a longstanding NETIA client, and we share a history of collaboration in establishing highly efficient radio broadcast workflows," said Marc Bawol, MEA sales manager at NETIA. "We're pleased that through this relationship, we have been able to introduce further efficiencies."

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Small cells planned for ultra-broadband development ALCATEL-LUCENT AND QUALCOMM Technologies have begun planning for collaboration on the development of small cell base stations that enhance 3G, 4G and WiFi networks to improve wireless connectivity in residential and enterprise environments. This next generation of small cells would combine AlcatelLucent’s proven expertise and innovation in developing small cell solutions with Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile and networking technologies, to enable ultrabroadband wireless communications.

The planned collaboration brings the two industry leaders in wireless communications together in the development of small cells to enhance wireless network reception in environments such as urban areas, shopping malls and other enterprise venues.

With the growing popularity of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices using highbandwidth video and gaming applications, wireless network operators and service providers are looking to small cells to meet the rapidly expanding demand for mobile data capacity and network coverage. By working together, Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcomm Technologies intend to accelerate the adoption of small cells and alleviate the impact of mobile data on wireless networks.

To facilitate this acceleration, the two companies plan to jointly invest in a strategic R&D program to develop the next generation of Alcatel-Lucent

lightRadio Small Cell products featuring Qualcomm Technologies’ FSM9900 family of Small Cell chipsets.

The investment would be shared by Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcomm Technologies.

Commenting on the collaboration, Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes said, “This initiative perfectly illustrates The Shift Plan we announced last month, which will see Alcatel-Lucent focus on growth technologies, including those facilitating ultrabroadband access.

“We also said we would actively seek collaboration with key industry players. In working together with Qualcomm Technologies - a world leader in advanced wireless platform solutions such as its small cell chipsets - Alcatel-Lucent will continue to be positioned at the forefront of innovation in the small cells market.”

“Small cells greatly increase capacity by bringing the network closer to the user, thus enabling operators to serve the anticipated 1000x growth in mobile data traffic and dramatically improving the experience for wireless subscribers,” said Dr Paul E Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated.

“Working together with industry leaders like Alcatel-Lucent, we can accelerate the dense deployment of small cells globally, driving another significant leap in advanced wireless broadband technology and services.”

Inmarsat sets to work with RigNet on energy INMARSAT PLC, WHICH provides mobile satellite communications services, and RigNet, Inc, which provides managed remote communications solutions to the oil and gas industry, have committed to a strategic deal whereby RigNet distributes Inmarsat’s Global Xpress and L-band services to the energy sector, and by which Inmarsat’s retail energy business has been sold to RigNet. RigNet becomes a key Global Xpress distribution partner for the global energy sector and will offer Global Xpress and L-band services to RigNet’s growing customer base. In connection with the appointment, RigNet has entered into to a significant four-year Global Xpress capacity pre-purchase.

To enhance the strategic value of the partnership furthher, Inmarsat has agreed to sell to RigNet its retail energy operations, currently managed within the Inmarsat Solutions Enterprise business unit, for a total consideration of US$25mn. The sale will include Inmarsat’s microwave and WiMAX networks in the US Gulf of Mexico serving drillers, producers and energy vessel owners; its VSAT interests in Russia, the UK, the US and

20 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Canada, its telecommunications systems integration business operating worldwide, and its retail Lband energy satcoms business.

Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat’s chief executive officer, said, "RigNet is the perfect partner for Inmarsat, supporting a large customer base of oil and gas VSAT customers, whom we expect to be at the forefront of the transition to Global Xpress services.

We also welcome the opportunity to work with RigNet’s management team with its extensive knowledge of VSAT operations and customers. This partnership prepares the way for a fast and successful take up of Global Xpress services in the global energy sector.’’

Mark Slaughter, RigNet’s chief executive officer and president, said, “As the two companies came together for discussions over a number of months – with RigNet evaluating highthroughput satellite providers and Inmarsat seeking a strong distribution channel into the energy market for its Global Xpress offering – it quickly became clear that this deal represented the best path forward for both companies.”

NSN tests the cloud EXTREMELY COMPREHENSIVE TESTING of mobile voice core services running in the Telco Cloud shows that Nokia Siemens Networks cloud technology is on the brink of commercial deployment. The company successfully demonstrated an exhaustive set of use cases covering Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and other IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based services in the Telco Cloud.

During 2012, Nokia Siemens Networks demonstrated the reliability of core virtualisation in several ‘proof of concept’ projects.

These projects provided the technology foundation for core network element software running on top of a virtualised infrastructure. In addition, the projects helped identify telcospecific requirements for cloud computing.

Oxygen8 Group plans for East Africa THE OXYGEN8 GROUP plans to go global with the rollout of its mobile money transfer hub, the Bridge, which will help facilitate mobile transactions between Europe and other countries globally. The Bridge will connect even more mobile network operators to additional mobile wallet markets around the world. The rollout marks the beginning of a significant investment in 2013 that will drive the company further into the innovative mobile payments space.

“Our aim is to get solutions that work here with the resources available in this region. There are 500,000 transactions through Visa cards every day, compared with a million mobile money transactions a day in Kenya, said Brian Waluchio, CEO of Oxygen8 East Africa.

“The great thing about our product is that you do not need a bank account to transfer money. People in rural Kenya can send or receive money anytime” he added.

In East Africa, Oxygen8, in partnership with Safaricom, a leading mobile network operator in Kenya Payment Solutions enables consumers to pay for goods and services using their mobile phones.

Through M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer system, more people in Kenya can send and receive money more easily and faster without an internet connection. There are more than 10.5mn active MPesa active users and the number is growing. According to iHub Research Kenya has over 30mn mobile phone users, from a population of more than 44mn, compared to just over three million credit cards active in the market in Kenya.

“Credit card penetration in Kenya is very low and we do not see that number rising fast, and this is why mobile base technology is the best option. We want to be the go to guys when it comes to mobile money transactions and play a key role a key role in development of trade within East Africa, ” said Brian Waluchio.

Zimkhitha Sulelo

www.communicationsafrica.com

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AGENDA

Un partenariat pour distribuer d’argent dans des stations-service en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient ORANGE ET TOTAL ont signé un partenariat permettant aux clients d’Orange d’accéder aux services Orange Money dans toutes les stations-service Total des pays d’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient où les deux groupes sont présents et où Orange Money est disponible, soit 13 pays aujourd’hui - Botswana, Cameroun, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinée, Jordanie, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Maroc, Ile Maurice, Niger, Sénégal et Ouganda.

Ce premier volet du partenariat est déjà opérationnel au Sénégal et au Cameroun et le deviendra à partir du second semestre 2013, dans les 11 autres pays où les deux groupes sont présents, soit dans plus de 1 300 stations. Il sera suivi d’un second volet qui devrait permettre aux clients Orange Money de régler les achats réalisés dans les stations Total à l’aide de leur compte mobile.

Les besoins des clients Ce service est disponible Orange Money est le service de paiement et de transfert d’argent d’Orange en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient. Il permet aux clients d’Orange de transférer de l’argent de mobile à mobile, de régler des factures ou encore de retirer et de déposer de l’argent auprès d’un réseau d’agents agréés.

Autour de proximité et de confort d‘utilisation Ce partenariat entre Orange et Total permettra d’étendre le réseau de distribution d’Orange Money à l’ensemble des stations Total dans les 13 pays où ce service est disponible, afin d’améliorer encore le service proposé aux clients des deux groupes tant en termes de proximité que de confort d‘utilisation. Ceux-ci bénéficieront en effet de la densité du réseau de distribution Total, dont les stations sont ouvertes sur une large amplitude horaire 7 jours sur 7 : ils pourront y ouvrir un compte Orange Money et effectuer des opérations de versement et de retrait d’argent sur leur compte.

Marc Rennard, directeur exécutif en charge de la zone Afrique et Moyen-Orient d’Orange, a déclaré : « Nous sommes fiers de présenter ce partenariat avec Total : il permet de créer des synergies entre deux grands groupes présents en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient au bénéfice des consommateurs. Cet accord va donner une toute nouvelle envergure au réseau de distribution Orange Money. » « Je me réjouis de ce partenariat qui permet à Total d’élargir encore la gamme des produits et services que nous proposons dans tout notre réseau de distribution. C’est un nouvel exemple de notre capacité à innover et à anticiper les besoins de nos clients, » a pour sa part déclaré Momar Nguer, directeur Afrique/Moyen-Orient de la branche Marketing & Services de Total. « Aujourd’hui, notre objectif est très clairement de devenir l’un des leaders de la distribution du paiement mobile en Afrique », a-t-il ajouté.

Le premier gestionnaire de fichiers pour le monde post-PC PEARLTREES, UNE BIBLIOTHÈQUE visuelle et collaborative qui permet à chacun d’avoir tout ce qu’il aime sous la main, annonce aujourd’hui le lancement de son application pour Android.

Pearltrees profite au maximum des capacités d’Android et devient maintenant accessible sur le web et sur les principales plateformes pour smartphones et tablettes.

Patrice Lamothe, PDG et co-fondateur de Pearltrees, précise : « Nous sommes fiers de permettre aux utilisateurs d’Android d’avoir toute la puissance de Pearltrees dans leur poche, où qu’ils soient. Cette appli Android est remarquable parce qu’il s’agit d’un véritable gestionnaire de fichiers développé pour le monde post-PC. Le design visuel permet aux contributeurs d’organiser et de r e t r o u v e r

www.communicationsafrica.com

naturellement tout ce qu’ils ajoutent, tout en offrant une expérience identique sur toutes les plateformes. Et bien sûr, chaque utilisateur peut profiter de la puissance de toute la communauté Pearltrees.»

Cette nouvelle version est un puissant gestionnaire de fichiers pour Android.

Construite pour tirer parti de la capacité de communication, de navigation et de déplacement d’infomations inter apps d’Android, cette nouvelle app simplifie l’organisation de contenu et la navigation entre les applications. Cette fonctionnalité clé fait de Pearltrees l’une des applis les plus complètes et polyvalentes de la plateforme Android.

Pour compléter ces fonctionnalités, Pearltrees propose un magnifique design universel, qui s’adapte au comportement de chaque contributeur. L’application est belle et facile à utiliser ; avec des fonctionnalités qui ne s’affichent que lorsqu’elles sont utiles.

Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

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MOBILE

An application of agricultural merit There is a wonderful opportunity for MNOs, NGOs and industry organisations to explore a range of mobile agriculture initiatives that will support, benefit and further the aspirations of rural businesses – whilst profiting service providers

Photo: GSMA Mobile for Development

J

effrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at New York’s Columbia University, has described the mobile phone as the ‘single most transformative tool for development’, and in the realm of agriculture in developing regions this statement is now being borne out in abundance. Future food security is a critical issue, globally, and is a challenge being addressed in many ways across the world, often through the use of new technologies. It should come as no surprise, then, that in the digital age the mobile phone is set to play a major role in the future of the developing world’s agricultural productivity. It’s actually something we are already seeing, with increasingly rapid uptake of mobile agriculture information services by rural farmers and their communities in emerging markets. Previously, with no timely, up-todate information, smallholder farmers have fallen victim to adverse weather and perils such as uncontrolled pests, plant diseases and fluctuating prices at market.

One study looking at the potential of mobile agriculture initiatives in emerging regions was conducted by management consultants, Accenture, in 2011, on behalf of Vodafone, (almost two years after the GSM Association had already begun its own mFarmer/mAgri initiative). With an impassioned plea, Vittorio Colao, Vodafone Group CEO impressed on the mobile and agricultural sectors that with 22 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

‘one third of humanity’ fed as a result of the efforts of an estimated 500 million smallholder farms, focus was needed on this group to improve their productivity and ensure their success and why the company had commissioned the study.

Along with the likes of the GSMA, Oxfam, USAID and others, Vodafone sees mobile communications playing a critical part in helping to feed the world by the middle of the century.

With its vast mobile footprint across much of Africa, and its communications services already provided to a wide range of major agricultural businesses, it made sense for Vodafone to set Accenture the task of researching the potential for mobile technology to improve agricultural efficiency and productivity. In general, what the study found was that by giving farmers access to basic agri-information and market services, supported, importantly, by relevant mobile financial services, it would lead to farmers improving their crops and yields, securing improved prices for their crops and making higher returns on their investments. As a result of ever improving incomes, harvestby-harvest, they would also be able to invest in better seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and agro-chemicals to facilitate a process of ongoing improvement – and acquire more disposable income with which to use additional mobile services.

Indeed, the study actually said that

financial payment services and access to agricultural information via mobile, would together account for ‘75 per cent of the total increase in agricultural income’ for these farmers.

Not only will mobile comms benefit the farmer, but also those involved in the farming/food supply chain such as: food growers, buyers, distributors and exporters, enabling them to trade more easily and efficiently with each other, and help them track the movements of agricultural inputs and food items, and improve transport efficiency.

One of the most important benefits, the report suggested, that could be achieved through the use of mobile and the delivery and uptake of widespread mobile agricultural services is the potential major saving on water consumption for agricultural purposes. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mozambique For its part, agricultural development is one of the largest initiatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has so far dedicated over US$2 billion to such efforts, with Sub-Saharan Africa one of the regions of chief focus. The Foundation sees mobile and emerging digital technologies as crucial in empowering small hold farmers with the latest information to help them make informed decisions about their agricultural practices, hence its active partnerships with USAID and the GSMA’s mAgri programme.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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S05 CAF 5 2013 Report - AA AB AC_Layout 1 23/08/2013 14:39 Page 24

MOBILE

and Lesotho were all said to have the potential of achieving over 10% water savings as a result of effective mobile weather information services by 2020, preventing such things as unnecessary irrigation when rains are predicted.

The GSMA’s mAgri programme Started back in 2009, the association’s mFarmer Initiative and its mAgri programme have nurtured the growing use of commercially viable mobile services to improve the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers in the developing world – effectively the exact same target group recognised by Vodafone in the Accenture research.

Growing mobile penetration in emerging countries, now more than 70 per cent, shows mobile to be the overarching technology that can make a real difference and the GSMA is confident this growth will underpin the delivery and uptake of mobile services by Africa’s small-hold farmers, helping them to make better decisions about how, what and when they farm, in order to maximise their returns.

Its mFarmer initiative involves the GSMA’s mAgri programme team working with the development community, mobile operators, and agricultural organisations, as well as leading NGOs like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (*see box 1) and government aid agencies, such as USAID, in order to create what it says need to be ‘scalable, replicable and commercially sustainable’ mobile agri-information and advisory services, such as weather reports and forecasts.

Fiona Smith, mAgri Director at the GSMA, said in Q1 2013 at the Mobile World Congress that overall, 40% of people in developing countries are involved in agriculture in one form or another, equating to some one billion people the world over. By 2050, she added, the world will need 20 per cent more food to sustain an ever growing global population than is currently produced. Smith told an audience of mobile industry professionals that if the viability of a farmer’s business can be improved through mobile agriVAS (Value Added Services) then farmers are more likely, in turn, to spend more on additional mobile services that will add further to their improving situation, that of their communities, and wider food security.

In Q1 this year, the GSMA’s mFarmer Initiative supported four projects, three of which are in Africa. These are: Tigo Tanzania, Airtel Kenya, and Orange Mali, services, which use SMS, USSD and/or voice to give small-hold farmers access to weather forecasts, market prices,

24 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Agriculture

agronomy tips and pest/disease advice. A helpline so they can speak person-toperson with an agricultural expert is also available to them.

But, as the GSMA’s Smith said that this year’s MWC, these were certainly not the only mobile agriculture projects ongoing and that more than 100 mAgri services were now available and in use across the developing world. She said that the Association was now gaining greater insight into how farmers use their phones and what kind of information they want to help them in their farming practices. For example, last year, 70 per cent of farmers in developing regions wanted more information about pest and disease control than other kinds of information and the services on offer need to be fluid enough to respond to that kind of analysis and provide that kind of information if it is not already readily available.

Speaking on the same platform at the 2013 MWC, the GSMA’s Business Development Manager for the mAgri Programme, Natalie Pshenichinaya, referenced mobile operator Tigo’s Kilimo (meaning agriculture in Swahili) service, which uses USSD/SMS, IVR and a helpline to deliver weather, agronomy and market price information services to farmers in Tanzania. She said it provides both male and female farmers with accessibility to these services and aims to reach half a million users by early 2014.

The Tigo service started by offering information on five basic crops, but once certain issues and challenges were identified by analyzing, in detail, farmer interaction with the service, changes and tweaks were made to improve it. One factor

It was reported earlier this year that the Nigerian Government was donating some 10 million phones to farmers across the country in a ‘bid to boost agricultural production in the country’. Those with handsets would have access to agricultural information on such things as farming seasons, fertilisers and prices. that has been highlighted by both Tigo Kilimo and other such services around the world is the importance of education as a factor in not only determining what information to disseminate but also in what form to disseminate it. Indeed, even the basic use of standard mobile handsets has needed to be part of a general education programme. However, in most developing regions the experience has been that once farmers are shown how to use a handset they are comfortable doing so early on. Tigo actually trains its distributors to train the end user, which has met with good success.

Registration and subscription to Tigo’s Kilimo service is free, as is access to the Tigo Kilimo menu, which is done using a simple dialing code *148*14#. It’s also an interactive service in that customer feedback is encouraged with the only stipulations Tigo makes being that anyone wanting to access and sign up to the Kilimo service ‘must have a sufficient balance on their main account’, and if that’s in place then it will cost a user 100Tsh per item of content (approx 4 UK pence or six US cents) to access information on the service.

One of the important issues highlighted by both the GSMA and operator studies like the Vodafone Accenture study, as well as recognition by regional operators like Tigo,

www.communicationsafrica.com

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MOBILE

Agriculture

is the need to support effective mobile agricultural services with the availability of mobile financial services as without these people on the ground will be unable to trade and exchange monies, effectively.

Tigo Tanzania is expected to be the first, later this year, to include location-based services to its Kilimo service using cell ID to provide subscribing farmers with very localised details.

Nokia Life In 2010, Nokia Life came to Nigeria following its trial launch in India in 2009.

Primarily a phone-based push service sending info to users on a daily basis, Nokia Life Agriculture, just one of many Nokia Life services (others include health and education), sends agriculture information on local weather, general agriculture and crop advice, as well as latest market pricing via SMS to farmers using any of Nokia’s Series 30 or 40 phones, as well as its Asha smartphones.

The application is already pre-loaded when a handset is purchased, and by selecting agriculture from the Nokia Life menu the user can personalise the service to meet their specific needs by entering their details and farming activities. From specific regional languages to farm location, such details enable the service to deliver relevant information to each user, as well as enabling them to be billed appropriately, which in Nigeria will cost NGN250 a month (approximately US$1.5).

Having up-to-date price information on their phones was something, illustrated during the pilot, which farmers said gave them more confidence in price negotiation and reduced the need for them to rely on information from agents.

www.communicationsafrica.com

Mobile services are being developed to serve millions of agricultural entrepreneurs across Africa (Photo: GSMA Mobile for Development)

Some 18 mobile operators in four major markets (China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria - see box text), with a potential to reach some 1.5bn subscribers across all these markets are cooperating with Nokia to bring its solution and vision to life, to deliver essential information services to the most in-need segments of the population in these developing markets.

Small hold farmers are just one segment of this overall total but a segment standing to benefit hugely from Nokia Life Agriculture services.

The future Fiona Smith, mAgri Director at the GSMA, told Communications Africa/Afrique that, “Since February 2013 we have seen the launch of ‘Sauti ya Mkulima’, a mobile information and advisory service developed by Airtel Kenya in partnership with CABI and Kilimo Media.” She added that Orange was getting ready to launch a pilot of their mobile information and advisory service for farmers in Mali in late July, and that both these services are being actively supported by the GSMA mAgri

team through the mFarmer Initiative.

Of the near future, Smith said that the UK Government will be joining USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GSMA to expand the mFarmer Initiative to more countries in Africa and South Asia.

“The initiative will develop mobile services targeted at two million small holders across six to seven countries and we’ll announce this publicly in October 2013,” Smith told Communications Africa/Afrique, adding that the best practice and lessons from the current mFarmer projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and India will continue to be shared with the mAgri industry. ✆

Tim Guest One very important side benefit of mobile agriculture solutions is that they are set to have a major impact on the lives of women, who, in some of these emerging markets account for up to 70% of all those involved in agriculture. By making their lives easier and more efficient it will free millions of women up to participate in a wider range of family and other activities.

Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

25

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NETWORK

Capacity

Meeting the demand for 24/7 connectivity Chris Wood, CEO at WIOCC, explains how international capacity purchasing has evolved to meet the heightened expectations of business and domestic customers

T

HE WAYS IN which businesses operate and many Africans go about their daily lives have been transformed by recent dramatic increases in the availability, reach and affordability of high-speed international connectivity into, out of and within Africa.

The submarine cable landscape has changed dramatically since the beginning of 2009, when only one international cable served sub-Saharan Africa – the SAT3/SAFE cable, which went live in 2003.

Since then the total design capacity of international submarine cables into and out of sub-Saharan Africa has jumped to more than 22 Tbps, as a result of no less than nine new cables coming on stream with landing points in the region.

Apart from price, telcos typically take into account three major considerations in purchasing high-quality international connectivity:

Cable reliability The reliability of the cable itself is key, both in terms of where it is laid and also how well protected it is against accidental cuts.

The 10,000km EASSy cable, for example, which runs the length of Africa’s eastern seaboard, has a very good performance history with comparatively few instances of service interruption. This is due, in part, to an end-to-end network design that is unique to Africa and based on a ‘collapsed ring’ structure, which provides automatic protection against the most common types of cuts and equipment failures.

Network diversity Resilience and reliability are clearly important considerations when comparing individual cables, but purchasing capacity on a single route leaves a carrier extremely vulnerable to an extended service interruption in the event of an outage affecting their only route.

In the most competitive markets, the discussion within an operator purchasing capacity is no longer simply about whether or not to invest in diversity. The focus now is on ensuring that they have sufficient capacity and enough diversity across the right networks - those that will best serve them and their customers in terms of service continuity, network resilience and network management.

Buying capacity on multiple systems Partly as a result of improving communications infrastructure, Africa was home to six of the world’s 10 fastest growing global economies during 2001 to 2010. The recent significant improvements in Africa’s international connectivity referred to earlier will also contribute to the expected rise in this figure for the period 2011 to 2015, when it is predicted that no less than seven of the world’s ten fastest growing countries will be in Africa.

The financial rewards available to those businesses able to meet the burgeoning demand associated with such rapidly growing economies are high, and unsurprisingly, purchasing thinking and practice continues to evolve in Africa’s international capacity market.

26 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC

ISPs, telcos and carriers wishing to implement an international network that is truly capable of supporting the current and future demands of Africa’s consumers and businesses need to purchase increasing amounts of capacity on multiple systems and networks.

Simplifying the complexities of multiple system capacity The good news is that it is possible to achieve high levels of reliability through multiple submarine cable systems and terrestrial networks, whilst minimising the complexities associated with such a solution.

At WIOCC we offer a one-stop-shop, managed end-to-end service, taking care of all aspects of procurement, commissioning and operational management - from conducting multiple pricing negotiations and circuit commissioning, through to managing connections on multiple networks and all the related relationship, service and network management challenges. Importantly, we can also quickly and efficiently manage any necessary re-routing in the event of a service interruption.

Securing success through service continuity As the end-user market becomes increasingly sophisticated, demanding and competitive, the potential rewards for successful operators are high. Building highly reliable, diverse networks that deliver the highest levels of service continuity comes at a price, but those who choose to ignore the requirements of an increasingly sophisticated and demanding customer base may end up paying the ultimate price, business failure. ✆ www.communicationsafrica.com

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SATELLITE

Energy

Giving green-field sites the green light How the latest advances in mobile satellite communications can help the energy sector realise the development value of green-field sites more quickly

W

HILE OIL, GAS and other hydrocarbons continue as the mainstays of the world’s energy market, all are becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to exploit as many of the world’s proven, untapped reserves lie in remote and inaccessible regions.

Despite the growing popularity of alternative energy sources,

demand for crude oil and natural gas has never been greater and whether onshore or offshore, new field developments bring their own set of challenges, and equally, opportunities.

As the search for new finds drives operators into ever more remote conditions, companies seeking to develop these fields must overcome the many

technical and logistical problems presented by local geography and climate, and none more so than the pressing need for reliable communications.

Within the energy sector, satellite communications continues to meet the needs for data connectivity across multidisciplinary teams.

Meeting this challenge, mobile

Inmarsat’s services have been deployed by many oil and gas companies in order to bring oil and gas fields on-stream faster and at a lower cost

28 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

www.communicationsafrica.com

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SATELLITE

Energy

satellite services lend themselves to use in areas where traditional fixed line or GSM telecoms infrastructure is either ‘thin on the ground’ or non-existent, particularly on green-field exploration sites.

In new ventures, it is often the case that infrastructure must be created from scratch and, with limited support, this requires meticulous planning and a high degree of onsite co-ordination Rapid deployment Mobile satellite services have long been an established part of the communications mix for energy sector personnel operating in areas that are remote from fixed-line and wireless networks. From exploration through to development and production, new solutions are required to help them work more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Supporting large-scale field operations, Inmarsat’s services have been deployed by many oil and gas companies in order to bring oil and gas fields on-stream faster and at a lower cost. With many green-field operations typically found in remote and inhospitable regions – from swamps to equatorial forests and deserts to deepwater fields – and in all sorts of climate, the equipment needs to be not only lightweight and portable, but rugged too.

In new ventures, it is often the case that infrastructure must be created from scratch and, with limited support, this requires meticulous planning and a high degree of onsite co-ordination. Difficulties with terrain, climate and communications can often lead to delays and over-runs, putting pressure on budgets and schedules, but today’s mobile satellite equipment and services can make communicating from a remote site comparable to that of a modern office. For those personnel who are ‘first on the scene’, mobile satellite services are the ideal solution as no specialist training is required and broadband data and voice connectivity can be up and running in minutes. This is particularly important when there is significant pressure to establish communications with colleagues at head office, which can be half a world away.

Mobile satellite communications technology – providing not only phone

www.communicationsafrica.com

services but broadband data connectivity – now fits into a backpack and weighs less than two kilos; which is below that of many laptops.

Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) is an example of a robust and highly affordable system that can be set up in minutes by exploration teams with little or no experience of communications equipment, while providing a guaranteed broadband data capability. Compact and lightweight, the all-in-one voice and high-speed IP data terminal provides immediate connectivity during field and site exploration and first-phase construction.

It can be configured as a mobile office at base camps, with support for most standard office applications, or interfaced with third-party hardware and software as part of a tailored solution for the energy sector. The combination of real-time communications, portability and office applications ensures test results can be reported immediately for reducing ‘find time’ and helping decision making and contingency response, all of which contributes towards reduced capital and operating costs.

Satcom on the move Highly versatile, the BGAN platform can be extended to tsupport operations as new sites develop. A system variant can provide broadband services that can send and receive larger amounts of real-time critical data from a fixed location.

Designed specifically for those working in

remote areas for sustained periods of time, and who require high volumes of standard IP data, the system can transmit field data in a low-cost, low-powered and low-maintenance system to rival VSAT (an alternative system which can often take a week or two to set up by technical specialists). As exploration teams cover great distances, a push-to-talk system

Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) is an example of a robust and highly affordable system that can be set up in minutes provides a rugged PTT capability for voice dispatch and communications in support vehicles. A vehicular-based BGAN can be used with a roof-mounted antenna, base station and hand-held microphone in the cabin. The IP-based, voice and data PTT communication system can replace VHF/UHF-based trunk radio systems commonly in use in the oil and gas sector.

Inmarsat’s network routes both voice and data traffic, providing communication between base camp, remote drill sites, crew vehicles, HQ and any site in the world, at the touch of a button. ✆

Gerbrand Schalkwijk, vice president of enterprise energy at Inmarsat

Inmarsat's headquarters are based in London, UK

Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

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FINANCE

Côte d’Ivoire

Putting the money in Ivoirian hands Promoting mobile financial services in Côte d’Ivoire to support efforts aimed at developing an inclusive society

I

NTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, and The MasterCard Foundation recently convened key financial industry players to build further momentum for mobile financial services in Côte d’Ivoire. The event recognised the market’s enormous potential, especially for increasing access to finance for low income households, small scale businesses and in hard-toreach areas.

Mobile phone penetration in Côte d’Ivoire is more than 90 per cent, while only 14 per cent of Ivoirians have access to financial services.

Mobile network operators have registered more than two million mobile financial services customers in the past three years. The Ivorian market for mobile financial services is the largest and the most dynamic in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region.

Photograph: Ken Banks

Mobile phone penetration in Côte d’Ivoire is more than 90 per cent, while only 14 per cent of Ivoirians have access to financial services

The Ivorian market for mobile financial services is the largest and the most dynamic in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region

Cassandra Colbert, IFC resident representative in Côte d’Ivoire, said, “Improving access to finance is important for supporting shared prosperity in Côte d’Ivoire. IFC and The MasterCard Foundation want to help local financial institutions realise the opportunity in the country for the development of agent banking and mobile

financial services that will accelerate the reach of financial services to those currently without banking services.”

At the seminar in Abidjan, IFC highlighted the business case for engaging in mobile financial services in Côte d’Ivoire. The workshop marked the beginning of the implementation of a fouryear programme by IFC and The

MasterCard Foundation to contribute to the development and expansion of mobile financial services in the country.

IFC and The MasterCard Foundation consider access to financial services a key tool in poverty alleviation that can dramatically change the lives of the economically marginalised. ✆

IFC and MasterCard support microfinance expansion in DR Congo IFC, in collaboration with MasterCard Foundation, has taken up the task of providing advisory services to help microfinance institution FINCA DRC expand low-cost financial services in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The cost of the project is US$1.8mn.

Both organisations will work with FINCA DRC, a non-banking financial institution, to expand financial services to low-income individuals and smaller businesses in the country, which has one of the lowest rates of access to financial services in the world.

FINCA DRC focuses on providing financial services to the small-

30 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

scale entrepreneurs. IFC is likely to provide advisory services for three years to assist FINCA DRC develop branchless banking channels and new products so it can increase reach and mobilize savings.

David Crush, IFC manager for Access to Finance Advisory Services in sub-Saharan Africa, said, “Microfinance helps low income clients build assets, increase income and reduce their vulnerability. IFC aims to help rebuild and strengthen one of the most fragile economies in sub-Saharan Africa.”

www.communicationsafrica.com

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SAUDI ARABIA

UAE

Musca att

Jeddah Port o Sudan

OMAN

SUDAN

GHANA

Accra A Lome e Cotonou Cot nou u Lagos gos o

Ab bidjan an

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SOMALIA

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ANGOLA

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MOZAMBIQUE Massangula

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Harare rare Tete T Bulawayo Mutare

Other WIOCC network (Inc. TEAMS, SMW3, SEACOM and SAFE)

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Terrestrial network

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COMMERCE

Data

Preparing for the African data boom Meeting the African data challenge will need the continent to direct its data management actions in the right direction. Here is a look at possible solutions

It is no great secret that the next big step for Africa is the post-mobile data revolution; however, it is difficult to predict when and how fast it will happen Africa is the next market for a data boom It is no great secret that the next big step for Africa is the post-mobile data revolution. The penetration of data in African markets is still low, even in South Africa, while prices are still high. And, even if everybody agrees that data will take off in a big way, it is difficult to predict when and how fast it will happen. There are of course a number of challenges to this situation. How can you best prepare to quickly respond to the anticipated demand without investing too much too early?

The biggest challenge is infrastructure. High quality, efficient data centres are essential.

They house and power all the equipment needed for transmission of data which is both 32 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Photograph: Flexenclosure/Facebook

A

FRICA HAS SHOWN great affinity to cellphones. The unexpected speed at which cellphone usage took off in the continent is phenomenal. It substituted for the lack of fixed-line networks and other key infrastructure.

Despite myriad challenges like lack of infrastructure, political uncertainty, regulatory issues, challenging environments, sparsely populated geographical areas, unreliable energy supplies and poorer target groups, mobile operators and other telecom companies in the continent were able to generate adequate customer base.

The unique challenges offered by Africa have been overcome with ingenuity and perseverance. For example, prepaid cards are sold at cheaper rates in numerous mobile booths to give consumers easy access. Again, off-grid base stations have started using green power solutions, almost completely replacing the use of expensive diesel. Roaming costs are often lower than in the developed world, enabling communities separated by colonial borders to communicate. M-PESA and other mobile money systems have revolutionised the way money is transferred, making it possible for almost everybody to use basic banking services.

The Flexenclosure team celebrates after completion of the modular data centre project; Flexenclosure was assigned the responsibility to set up the centre for Vodacom Mozambique

the heart and brain of any network. But, traditional builds for data centres take a lot of time to plan, co-ordinate and construct.

Furthermore, challenging environments add a lot of risk to a data centre project, often resulting in delays and budget over-runs.

Buildings for data centres are often not purpose built to be used as technical facilities, often with water leaks and other problems.

Pre-fabricated modular data centres The solution is pre-fabricated modular data centres. They are quicker to deploy and will in most cases save considerable time and money compared to traditional brick and mortar buildings.

The facility will always be the right size since its modular structure makes it easy to quickly expand in response to changing needs. More efficient power and cooling will make a pre-fabricated data centre more cost effective to run. And quality, budget and the time plan can more easily be ensured for prefabricated purpose built facilities, bringing predictability to the project.

A pre-fabricated solution also makes it much easier to customise the data centre for specific needs and it can be deployed anywhere. Let us take a look at a live example: Vodacom in Mozambique (a subsidiary of Vodafone) recently decided to deploy a

modular data centre (the eCentre) on top of a six-storey parking garage next to its corporate headquarters in central Maputo.

The roof top turn-key deployment is a 126 square metres (sq m) open space data centre. Vodacom needed to put the facility in place quickly, efficiently, and on time.

The pre-fabricated build reduced the project risk significantly because the construction work was all done in ten weeks in a clean environment (in Sweden) and the installation work needed on site was completed in only eight days, in total a fraction of what a similar local brick and mortar project would have taken.

Speed and predictability in challenging environments are critical issues in Africa considering it is the fastest growing mobile market in the world and the take off for data could be right around the corner.

Pre-fabricated, modular and customdesigned data centres that can be deployed very quickly, and easily re-deployed if needed, is yet another innovative solution to an African problem.

It is a solution that will allow data centre owners – internet service providers, hosting companies, mobile operators and banks – in Africa to act quickly and confidently towards a demand for data that might be stronger than any of us expect. ✆ www.communicationsafrica.com

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COMMERCE

Network

Fibre networking for UN tourism meet Examining Liquid Telecom’s role as the principal connectivity provider for the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly

Liquid has laid new fibre to connect all major hotels and international airports in Lusaka, Livingstone and Victoria Falls to its existing fibre network in preparation for the meet

T

he fibre networking industry in Zambia and Zimbabwe is abuzz with activity with the Liquid Telecom Group being chosen as the connectivity provider for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly. The Assembly, which promotes responsible and sustainable tourism, will be hosted by the governments of both Zambia and Zimbabwe from 24-29 August 2013 in Livingstone, Zambia, and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Opening up access Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe and CEC Liquid Telecom Zambia have laid new fibre to connect all major hotels and international airports in Lusaka, Livingstone and Victoria Falls to its existing fibre network. In addition, Liquid has installed Wi-Fi throughout the hotels and airports.

The Liquid Telecom Group has built Africa’s largest single fibre network which runs from the north of Uganda to Cape Town, South Africa on a single thread. In total, its award-winning, open access pan-African fibre network spans more than 13,000 km across Botswana, DR Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is the first fibre network to cross country borders and covers Africa’s fastest-growing economies where no fixed network has existed before.

Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe’s pioneering www.communicationsafrica.com

The Liquid Telecom Group has built Africa’s largest single fibre network which runs from the north of Uganda to Cape Town, South Africa on a single thread. In total, its award-winning, open access pan-African fibre network spans more than 13,000 km across Botswana, DR Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe work in developing Africa’s longest single span fibre links was recently named the Best Fixed Network Infrastructure Innovation at this year’s Global Telecoms Business (GTB) Innovation awards. These prestigious awards, organised by the much-respected GTB magazine, celebrated innovative projects that better serve the telecom industry’s end customers.

Liquid Telecom Group CEO Nic Rudnick said, “We are delighted to have been asked to provide high-speed, high-quality broadband for this very important meet. Zambia and

Zimbabwe are fabulous tourist destinations.

Visitors must have access to reliable communications, as should businesses and the people who live there.

“Our fibre network is essential to the success of Africa’s Digital Future. We believe in the power of connectivity to transform lives and our goal is to connect as many people in Africa as possible.’’

Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe has built the largest fibre network in Zimbabwe providing broadband voice and data in all the major cities and towns. It is an IAP as well as an ISP in Zimbabwe and as such provides services for homes, SMEs, large enterprise customers as well as other operators. Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe network has redundancy from five different sea cables – WACS, EASSY, SEACOM, SAT3 and TEAMs – ensuring high availability.

Liquid Telecom Zambia is a joint venture between the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), a Zambian power company, and Liquid Telecom. It has built a fibre network across Zambia and offers wholesale capacity as well as being an operator with customers from all sectors. It is the first fully-redundant network in the country and, because CEC Liquid Telecom has end-to-end ownership of the network, it is able to provide Service Level Agreements at a level not previously experienced in Zambia. ✆

Nawa Mutumweno Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

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EVENTS

Capacity Africa

Uniting key players from the telecoms sector What influential industry figures will consider at Capacity Africa, one of this year’s key international carrier events

T

HE CAPACITY AFRICA 2013 conference will take place from 17-18 September in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, uniting more than 460 decision-makers, speakers and delegates from across Africa and the international carrier markets.

According to organisers Capacity Media, the conference, which is now in its seventh year, will highlight the most relevant issues for existing and potential operators in the African market and bring together leading executives from the continent’s fixed-line and mobile wholesale ecosystem.

Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company, commented, “Capacity Africa attracts the international and African players in the African capacity market. The event provides a unique opportunity to focus on the issues affecting our market with active players.”

The event offers visitors more than 10 hours’ worth of networking opportunities with

Capacity Africa attracts the international and African players in the African capacity market. The event provides a unique opportunity to focus on the issues affecting our market with active players."

- Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company

Schedule

Ms Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company

operators from across the continent as well as international providers. This year, the organisers are also giving visitors the chance to contact registered delegates two weeks before the conference through its online Meeting Planner.

Speakers at the event will include January Makampa, Tanzania’s deputy minister of communications, science and technology; David Easum, CEO of Burundi Backbone System; Antonio Nunes, CEO of Angola Cables; Mokgethi Nyatseng, general manager wholesale at Telecom Botswana; Isabelle Lorin de Reure, vice-president of marketing at Orange; and Mohammed Bouhelal, director - wholesale and carrier relations at Etisalat Nigeria. ✆

The event provides a unique opportunity to focus on the issues affecting our market with active players” - Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company 34 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

Day One - 17 September 08:20 - Registration and networking breakfast 09:30 - Keynote address from January Makampa, Tanzania’s deputy minister of communications, science and technology 09:45 - Keynote panel discussion: Driving capacity distribution to landlocked countries; commercial strategies, technological solutions and government intervention 10:45 - Morning coffee break and networking opportunity sponsored by Liquid Telecom 11:45 - Panel discussion: Re-examining Africa’s role in global telecom development 12:30 - Presentation: Investment initiatives and development strategies; what are the next opportunities?

12:50 - Lunch and networking opportunity sponsored by PCCW Global 14:00 - Capacity Africa 2013 Networking Exchange 15:00 - Extended afternoon networking session and coffee break sponsored

by SEACOM 16:30 - Panel discussion: Building reliable infrastructure and capitalising on infrastructure efficiency 17:30 - Drinks reception and charity raffle sponsored by WIOCC Day Two - 18 September 09:00 - Networking breakfast 10:00 - African regulators roundtable: Developing regulatory frameworks that foster growth in the telecommunications sector 10:45 - Morning coffee break and networking opportunity sponsored by CMC Networks 11:40 - Analyst presentation: Assessing the current status of mobile broadband connectivity and pinpointing regional growth markets 12:00 - Panel discussion: monetising LTE deployment and achieving superior regional coverage through broadband technologies 12:45 - Lunch and networking opportunity sponsored by Internet Solutions 13:40 - Extended afternoon networking session 14:00 - Close www.communicationsafrica.com

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INTERNET

Radiodiffusion

L’utilisation du spectre radioélectrique Les nouvelles technologies sans fil permettent la coexistence de l’internet et de la radiodiffusion sur les ondes

D

ES DÉCIDEURS ET des experts des TIC de 35 pays ont appris ici la semaine dernière que la télédiffusion et le haut débit peuvent partager le même spectre radioélectrique pour remédier aux problèmes de connectivité de l’Afrique. Le Forum Afrique sur les Espaces blancs de télévision et le Spectre dynamique, qui a eu lieu à Dakar, a réuni plus de 100 personnes, notamment des régulateurs des TIC, des fournisseurs de services internet, des fabricants d‘équipements, des universitaires et des organisations de la société civile qui cherchent des moyens novateurs d’améliorer l’accès à l’internet sur le continent. Cet événement a été organisé par Google, Microsoft, l’Association pour le progrès des communications (APC), AfriNIC et ISOC Sénégal.

Des succès africains De nouveaux systèmes de communication sans fil permettent de détecter les interférences et d’acheminer les fréquences vers des bandes inutilisées, rendant ainsi l’utilisation du spectre radioélectrique disponible beaucoup plus efficace. Les résultats d’enquêtes qui ont été présentés lors du Forum montrent que de grandes parties des bandes de fréquences plus basses attribuées à la radiodiffusion en Afrique sont presque entièrement inutilisées. Ces bandes de fréquence, appelées espaces blancs de télévision, peuvent transiter sur de longues distances et fournir une solution à faible coût pour répondre aux besoins d’accès à l’internet des personnes qui vivent dans les zones rurales et éloignées actuellement coupés de la révolution numérique. Malgré la croissance des services mobiles et de l’accès à la large bande dans de nombreuses parties du continent, l’accès internet prend du retard, et l’accès au dernier kilomètre est l’un des plus grands défis à relever pour améliorer l’accès dans ces régions.

Des essais de la technologie, présentés au Forum, ont déjà eu lieu avec succès en Afrique du Sud et au Kenya (ainsi qu’aux États-Unis et au Royaume-Uni), d’autres sont prévus au Nigeria, au Malawi et probablement au Sénégal. Les participants ont également appris que la société civile et le milieu universitaire 36 Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

ont été à l’avant-garde de la sensibilisation à ces technologies, y compris aux États-Unis, où des groupes d’intérêt public ont formé une alliance pour pousser le régulateur (la FCC) à permettre une utilisation dynamique partagée du spectre de télévision. L’Association pour le progrès des communications (APC) a coorganisé en 2011 un atelier de sensibilisation aux espaces blancs de télévision en Afrique du Sud qui a contribué à encourager les essais en Afrique du Sud et au Kenya. « J’ai été particulièrement impressionné au Forum par un sentiment de cause commune entre les participants pour un meilleur usage du spectre radioélectrique et

Les espaces blancs de télévision peuvent transiter sur de longues distances et fournir une solution à faible coût pour répondre aux besoins d’accès à l’internet des personnes qui vivent dans les zones rurales et éloignées actuellement coupés de la révolution numérique

le grand intérêt suscité par la mise au jour d’une telle quantité de spectre utilisée sur le continent », a déclaré Mike Jensen, spécialiste de l’accès à l’internet d’APC . « C’est une remise en cause de l’opinion courante selon laquelle le spectre radioélectrique est une ressource rare. Le Forum a permis également de montrer des exemples réels en Afrique où une utilisation plus novatrice de nos ressources du spectre peut répondre à certains des besoins immédiats de connectivité, en particulier dans les zones rurales. Outre l’utilisation de ces technologies dans les fréquences de télévision, le modèle peut servir dans d’autres bandes de fréquences pour mieux utiliser toutes les ressources de notre spectre – un bien public qui doit être pleinement exploité pour répondre aux besoins des membres marginalisés de nos sociétés ».

Le fait que Google et Microsoft ont été les principaux artisans de l‘événement et collaborent dans ce domaine souligne le potentiel que présente le spectre dynamique pour perturber les marchés des opérateurs historiques fixes et mobiles. Il est intéressant de noter que l’équipement utilisé pour les espaces blancs de télévision vient de petits fabricants indépendants, alors que les grands fabricants, qui sont les principaux fournisseurs des grands opérateurs, ne se sont pas encore intéressés à la technologie. ✆

Des principales conclusions qui se sont dégagées du Forum • Les espaces blancs de télévision sont disponibles et sous-utilisés.

Grâce à sa base de données sur le spectre, Google a montré une carte de l’espace libre disponible au Sénégal.

• Les essais montrent que la technologie fonctionne concrètement.

Des essais au Kenya, au Malawi, à Singapour, en Afrique du Sud, au Royaume-Uni et aux ÉtatsUnis ont montré que les fournisseurs de haut débit peuvent coexister avec les détenteurs de spectre sous licence et fournir des services à large bande.

• Une politique sur les espaces blancs de la télévision est en préparation ICASA, le régulateur sud-africain des TIC, prévoit d’utiliser les résultats de l’essai pour évaluer d‘éventuelles règles sur l’utilisation des espaces blancs de télévision.

• Les radios abaissent les obstacles à l’internet Les fabricants de radios ont expliqué comment les radios qui utilisent les espaces blancs de télévision peuvent parler à une base de données qui leur indique les canaux disponibles dans une zone donnée.

www.communicationsafrica.com

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EQUIPMENT

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor for Samsung’s LTE smartphone QUALCOMM INCORPORATED HAS announced that Qualcomm Technologies will use Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor to power the world’s first LTE-Advanced smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A. The new Galaxy S4 LTE-A will be the first smartphone to utilise LTE carrier aggregation for data rates up to 150Mbps, double what current LTE speeds offer.

Qualcom has claimed that the Snapdragon 800 processor is Qualcomm Technologies’ most advanced and powerful mobile processor to date.

Qualcom Technologies executive vice president and co-president of Qualcomm mobile and computing Murthy Renduchintala said, “Snapdragon 800 processors with LTE Advanced are designed to deliver maximum performance and connectivity to users who want the fastest and best mobile experiences, from watching high-definition video to playing the latest mobile games.

“LTE-Advanced represents a significant improvement over current standards and will only enhance these experiences on the Galaxy S4 and other future devices worldwide.”

LTE carrier aggregation is an important new technology and a foundational feature of the standard that combines radio channels within and across bands to increase user data rates and reduce latency.

While current LTE mobile devices support several LTE radio channels, they can only download on one channel at a time. LTE carrier aggregation, however, allows for simultaneous download on two or more LTE radio channels, effectively enabling full use of the nominal chipset LTE data rate category.

Snapdragon 800 processors feature an integrated multimode 3G/4G LTE modem and are designed to support LTE carrier aggregation without sacrificing battery life, allowing operators to increase both peak and average data rates for their consumers and device manufacturers to build sleeker devices with differentiated applications for their customers.

Qualcomm Technologies is currently shipping its third generation multimode LTE solutions.

Technology for instantly estimating internet and mobile network NEC CORPORATION HAS developed a new technology that estimates the transmission speed of internet and mobile network communications (3G and LTE), enabling the provision of high quality services based on transmission speeds.

Internet and mobile network services have increased their high capacity data communications, such as streaming video and rich content.

However, since transmission speeds change from one moment to the next, mobile terminal users must often wait before viewing rich content and the quality of IP phone connections can be difficult to maintain.

In order to provide quality services for users, content providers and network carriers are required to maintain detailed control of data transmission and adjust traffic volumes based on the transmission speeds measured just before data distribution. However, conventional methods for measuring transmission speeds require high capacity data

www.communicationsafrica.com

transmission, take a long time and place a heavy load on the network.

NEC Corporation Cloud System Research Laboratories general manager Motoo Nishihara said, “This new technology estimates transmission speeds in less than one second using just ten kilobytes of data. As a result, companies can monitor variations in communications speeds in order to optimize the size of their transmission data, enabling the delivery of uninterrupted, stable video and high-quality IP phone services.

“Moreover, telecommunications carriers and content providers can provide these technologies as an application, enabling mobile users to view variations in communications speed in real-time.”

Going forward, NEC will continue to promote the adoption of this technology by network monitoring systems and servers as part of contributing to the improvement of video distribution and IP phone services.

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A

Touch screen for any surface MICROSOFT HAS LAUNCHED a technology that can turn any surface, a wall, table, or floor, into an interactive touch screen.

Once just a prototype created by startup firm Ubi, with a Microsoft Kinect for Windows sensor, this technology is now out of beta and on sale for consumers. Microsoft announced in August that Ubi has worked to develop the software with more than 50 organisations and is now accepting orders for purchase.

Ubi co-founder and CEO Anup Chathoth said, “We want human collaboration and information to be just one finger touch away, no matter where you are.

“By making it possible to turn any surface into a touch screen, we eliminate the need for screen hardware and thereby reduce the cost and extend the possibilities of enabling interactive displays in places where they were not previously feasible, such as on walls in public spaces.”

A Kinect sensor on the other side is used to track the movements of the user, allowing them to interact with the image using touch, in exactly the same way someone would with a tablet or smartphone.

The Kinect system works natively with the Windows touchscreen interface, meaning the icons can be clicked by touch and photos can be zoomed in and out of using multi-touch gestures.

Because of the 3D mapping of Kinect, the system is able to tell when users have made a full click, rather than just hovering their fingers above the screen.

This allows users to flick through pages or scroll around, without selecting items with each movement. To get the system to work, users need a computer running the Ubi software, a projector, and the Kinect for Windows sensor.

Communications Africa Issue 5 2013

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ÉQUIPEMENT

Orange Business Services anticipe les évolutions de l’espace de travail de l’utilisateur Le poste de travail de l’utilisateur est en pleine mutation sous l’effet de deux vagues technologiques simultanées : le Cloud Computing et le développement des terminaux mobiles sous l’influence des métiers au sein de l’entreprise et des utilisateurs eux-mêmes (BYOD). D'ici à 2015, le marché mondial des tablettes devrait être plus important que celui des ordinateurs classiques et atteindre 236,3mn d'unités en 2014 contre 210,8 millions pour les ordinateurs.

Le poste de travail devient mobile et multiple : les collaborateurs se connectent à leur environnement de travail aussi bien en mobilité -depuis leur smartphone ou tablettequ’au bureau ou à domicile. Plus qu’un poste de travail, l’enjeu pour l’entreprise aujourd’hui est de mettre à disposition de l’utilisateur un véritable espace de travail qui lui permette de retrouver toutes ses données et ses applications sans avoir à se soucier du terminal utilisé.

En anticipant l’évolution des usages, Orange accompagne les entreprises dans ce mouvement de fond du « nouvel espace de travail », un axe de son plan stratégique Conquêtes 2015.

Nous avons la conviction que pour saisir au mieux les opportunités offertes par ce nouvel environnement de travail qui devient toujours plus mobile, plus collaboratif et plus flexible, les entreprises ont besoin, sur un marché fragmenté, de s’appuyer sur un partenaire global. Un acteur capable de maitriser à la fois les réseaux, les terminaux et les applications mais également d’anticiper les usages. Pour accompagner les entreprises dans la transformation de ce que nous concevons comme l’espace de travail numérique de l’utilisateur, nous nous appuyons à la fois sur notre savoir-faire d’opérateur et d’intégrateur de solutions fixes et mobiles et sur notre expertise dans le cloud et la virtualisation », déclare Thierry Bonhomme, directeur exécutif d’Orange business services, qui poursuit son développement en matière de gestion de flottes de terminaux et s’associe à MobileIron, acteur mondial reconnu dans le domaine des solutions de gestion à distance des terminaux mobiles (tablettes et smartphones).

Device Management Premium, l’offre de gestion des terminaux mobiles, s’appuie désormais sur les technologies MobileIron.

Device Management Premium avec MobileIron

est disponible en deux versions. La version standard offre toutes les fonctionnalités « classiques » de la gestion de flottes mobiles : administration des profils utilisateurs et des équipements, application des politiques de sécurité, configuration des applications embarquées, personnalisation du mobile. Une version avancée et hautement sécurisée de la solution est également proposée. Cette dernière intègre la gestion : Des applications : il est possible de créer une étanchéité entre les applications et les données professionnelles et personnelles et/ou de limiter l’accès à certaines applications depuis les terminaux personnels ; Des documents : depuis leur tablette ou smartphone, les collaborateurs pourront selon leur profil consulter et/ou enregistrer des documents dans un « conteneur » isolé, ajoutant ainsi un niveau de sécurité.

Proposée en mode cloud et hébergée dans les infrastructures d'Orange Business Services, l'offre Device Management Premium est également disponible en mode « managé à distance » pour les entreprises qui souhaitent héberger la solution sur leurs infrastructures. www.orange-business.com

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S09 CAF 5 2013 Equipment F NEW_Layout 1 23/08/2013 17:55 Page 39

S09 CAF 5 2013 Equipment F NEW_Layout 1 23/08/2013 17:55 Page 40

Testimony to the in-built excellence of Kirloskar Green Gensets is provided by the fact, that there are over 85,000 of them helping keep telecom towers across India up and running round-the-clock. Tried, tested and proven in one of the largest mobile telephony markets in the world, there are another 4,000+ gensets deployed in similar applications across Asia, Middle East and Africa Obviously, when it comes to reliably keeping people connected around the world, Kirloskar Green Gensets have few equals.

Advantage user • Largest selling genset brand in the 5 to 625kVA range • Reliable and complete power solution • Sales, spares and service network across Africa • High powered performance • Unmatched fuel economy • Easy and low maintenance • Long lasting • Low noise and vibration levels