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Issue 3 2013 Édition 3 2013
Africa
Afrique
www.communicationsafrica.com
Broadcast Developing convergence with the communications industry
Optimisation How to improve network operations and profitability
Banking Improving access to financial services
Fibre Le Secrétaire général de l’UIT, Hamadoun I Touré, parle de l’accès aux technologies à haut débit
Des câbles sous-marins
Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50
FEATURES: ● Internet ● Mobile ● Infrastructure REGULAR REPORTS: ● Bulletin - Agenda ● Equipment - Équipement
Brics en 2014
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CONTENTS
Issue 3 2013 Édition 3 2013
Afrique
Africa www.communicationsafrica.com
Broadcast Developing convergence with the communications industry
Optimisation How to improve network
Bulletin
4
Events
8
Agenda
10
Equipment
37
operations and profitability
Banking Improving access to financial services
Fibre Le Secrétaire général de l’UIT, Hamadoun I Touré, parle de l’accès aux technologies à haut débit
Des câbles sous-marins Brics en 2014
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
FEATURES Optimisation
18
How operators might drive down costs and monetise networks while delivering a more enriched customer experience
This issue examines how mobile money can boost financial inclusion, with reference to developments in rural Ghanaian communities, where mobile money helps address financial inclusion. Fibre optic broadband is assessed, too, with regard to costs, speeds and capacity. Communications developments increasingly mean that solutions and services for network deployment share commonalities with broadcast equivalents - in these pages, you will find analysis the ways in which broadcast and communications may soon become one industry.
Fibre
20
The gains to be made from considered investment in reliable fibre broadband, supported by a fully-managed service
Banking
22
The benefits that new mobile financial services offer, in terms of possible models for community inclusion
Revenue
27
New approaches to billing and customer relationship management
Broadcast
29
A comprehensive listing of the key broadcast players - and a report on product convergence
Main Cover Image: Comstock Inset: ITU Contents Page Image: CipherWare
Une note du rédacteur Ce numéro propose une analyse de l'évolution récente dans le déploiement de câbles sous-marins autour de l'Afrique, qui formeront une interconnexion avec les systèmes actifs qui servent à la transformation des télécommunications et de la diffusion d'informations sur les économies africaines. À cet égard, la question anticipe convergence africaine avec des entités économiques mondiales.
ARTICLES Fibre
21
Au sujet des nouveaux câbles sous-marins qui vont être activés en Afrique - qui consistent à interconnecter les hubs et des points de contact africains
Investissement
23
Le transformation de la gestion et la diffusion des données en Afrique
Économie
26
Comment la participation à l’économie globale dépend de plus en plus de la maîtrise des outils de navigation du monde numérique
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Audit Bureau of Circulations Business Magazines
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Production: Donatella Moranelli, Nathanielle Kumar, 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
Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
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BULLETIN MTN deploys LTE in Uganda
Imtradex concentrates on digital radio compatibility
MTN UGANDA HAS launched long term evolution (LTE) network technology in Uganda, making it the first to offer this protocol in East Africa; popularly known as 4G, LTE is a ‘standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals’ - providing mobile ultra-broadband Internet access.
THE PARTICULAR FOCUS for Imtradex, expressed at this year’s Critical Communications World event in Paris, France, is compatibility, in the sense that it has sought to be able to provide the respective required connector for all its products – from hand microphones to headsets and further accessories for the digital radio - meaning that the critical communications solutions from Imtradex can be used with a variety of devices; “Earlier, you could not adapt audio accessories for digital radios, to the specific needs of the user,” said Ralf Kudernak, member of the board of management of Imtradex
Vodafone Egypt tests Ericsson’s energy-saving solution ERICSSON HAS TESTED Psi-Coverage, an innovative energy-saving solution in the Vodafone Egypt Network, which is designed to provide end-users with mobile broadband (3G) coverage, while enabling considerable energy and cost savings for the operator; Tony Dolton, chief technology officer at Vodafone Egypt, said, "Psi-Coverage proved to be successful during testing; it reduced power consumption substantially and helped in saving OPEX/CAPEX costs." - while Anders Lindblad, president of region Middle East and Africa at Ericsson, said, "Psi-Coverage allows operators to reduce carbon footprint while maintaining quality Anders Lindblad, Ericsson president of region Middle East and Africa of services to their customers."
A global platform for new debate, knowledge-sharing and networking ITU TELECOM WORLD 2013 will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 November, bringing together a highly influential mix of leaders from across the public and private sectors; ministers, industry CEOs, UN agencies, regulators, academics, digital thought-leaders and media will explore the impact of the current transformation of the ICT industry under the theme ‘Embracing change in a digital world’.
Senegal can be a driver for African growth SAP HAS APPRAISED Senegal‘s superior ICT (information and communications technologies) skills as offering a significant pool of talent that could serve the entire continent; with around 90,000 welleducated students produced from tertiary institutions in Senegal, the country produces students with enviable ICT skills, which SAP recognises as a potential future workforce that could represent not only for Senegal, but other countries where such skills are in high demand.
A new approach to building wireless networks OOREDOO HAS COLLABORATED with CommScope to develop a new approach to building wireless networks, which will improve installation quality and on-going network performance and reduce deployment times, in an alliance that could have major benefits for operators around the world; the two companies have developed what is believed to be the world’s first factory-assembled tower tops for base station remote radios, which are pre-assembled according to a single global design standard.
Calibre UK extends reach into sub-Saharan Africa IMAGE-PROCESSING SOLUTION PROVIDER Calibre UK has appointed Johannesburg-based Prosound as its new distributor for sub-Saharan Africa. The deal will see distributor and rental firm Prosound add the HQView and FoveaHD ranges of image processors to its brand's portfolio. Pauline Brooksbank, managing director of Calibre UK said, “The market for high-quality image processing in sub-Saharan Africa is growing very fast, and we believe Prosound is perfectly positioned to offer our entire range to this market, including the HQView and FoveaHD ranges... we look forward to seeing more of our products being sold into all these sectors through the good auspices of the team at Prosound.”
ITU report predicts growth in data volumes, more globalised services, and new regulatory challenges THE 2013 EDITION of the International Telecommunication Union regulatory report, ‘Trends in Telecommunication Reform’, highlights the increasingly global nature of information and communication technology (ICT) regulation and the crucial link between effective regulation of the ICT sector and the range, quality and affordability of ICT services available to consumers and business users; new services and devices are creating new usage patterns and revenue models - with multiple players now operating in the same markets, under different regimes, such as traditional voice providers acting in competition not just with players in adjacent markets, such as ISPs and cable operators, but also with content and application providers, such as OTTs.
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Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Movirtu’s mobile identity solutions for BYO markets AN INNOVATOR IN identity solutions for mobile operators, Movirtu offers two new virtual SIM-based solutions that allow mobile operators to offer advanced mobile identity services to businesses and individuals who have embraced a Bring Your Own (BYO) model; the first solution, Movirtu WorkLife, solves the critical mobile phone number ownership problem of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), which is one of the most significant remaining barriers to widespread BYOD smartphone adoption - and the second solution, Movirtu ManyMe, can be used to add a ‘Bring Your Own Number’ capability to corporate mobile phones, so that employees of companies that adopt a COPE (corporate owned, personally enabled) mobility model can add their existing personal number, as a secondary number, to their corporate SIM card, removing the need to carry and maintain two devices.
Wireless backhaul specialist joins efforts to improve SDN standards and solutions CERAGON NETWORKS LTD. recently joined the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), a non-profit organisation, recognised throughout the networking industry for its dedication to improving the software-defined networking (SDN) standards and solutions that are transforming networking technology; as the first wireless backhaul specialist to become a member of ONF, Ceragon will bring its expertise to the network transport working group on new standards, frameworks and architectures.
Partners see growth in UC equipment sales “WE HAVE SEEN significant market penetration of our Switchvox UC solutions, particularly in Africa, as customers are looking for feature-rich, affordable alternatives for their business phone systems,” said Jim Butler, director of Digium worldwide channel sales; referring, also, to growth in sales of growth of its call centre business, Colin Fair, managing director at Clarotech, said, “This increase has come as a result of our collaboration with Digium’s compelling product portfolio and our own VoIP expertise and understanding of the unique communication needs that face businesses operating in Africa.”
www.communicationsafrica.com
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BULLETIN Tunisie Telecom and Alcatel-Lucent step toward superfast broadband speeds ALCATEL-LUCENT AND TUNISIE Telecom have completed the trial of superfast broadband services using advanced Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 vectoring technology; Faical Haffoudhi, Alcatel-Lucent country manager for Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania, said, “VDSL2 Vectoring is really delivering on its promise of providing high-speed broadband to subscribers as quickly as possible.”
centralisation of access to services where a third party, such as MTN, acts as the single point of contact for customers.
Atlantique Telecom selects Ericsson for network management ETISALAT GROUP SUBSIDIARY Atlantique Telecom has entered a five year multi-country managed services agreement with Ericsson to manage its entire mobile networks; Nagi Abboud, CEO of Atlantique Telecom said, "With the evolution of the competitive landscape in our markets, we need to adapt our operating model to provide a better service to our end users."
African activities expanded at Analysys Mason ANALYSYS MASON RECENTLY moved to further the success of its telecoms, media and technology (TMT) consultancy and research business by opening an office in Johannesburg, in South Africa; the move extends the company’s reach in Africa, and recognises the region's increasing importance in the global telecoms and technology landscape.
Le marché mondial des services de cyber-sécuritéx FACE À LA multiplication des attaques et à l’évolution des risques, les besoins de management et de gouvernance de la sécurité au sein des entreprises sont plus importants que jamais; fort de son expertise réseau, Orange Business Services propose « CyberRisk and Compliance Intelligence », une gamme de services pour évaluer le niveau de sécurité d’un système d’information et prendre les mesures appropriées afin de prévenir les risques.
Astellia intègre SAP Sybase IQ dans Nova Faical Haffoudhi, Alcatel-Lucent country manager for Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania
Ingenico and eMoney Solutions partner in the money transfer market INGENICO, GLOBAL PROVIDER of payment solutions, has launched a money transfer solution in partnership with eMoney Solutions, which specialises in the implementation of vertical market solutions, allowing under and unbanked populations access to financial services; Hervé Tairou, director of eMoney, stated, “We are thrilled to have partnered with Ingenico to make this money transfer service available to workers in Africa, who have until now lacked an affordable, secure and fast means to send part of their earnings to families back home.”
CET Teleport signs up for capacity on AfricaSat-1a CET TELEPORT GMBH Sdn Bhd has signed an agreement with MEASAT Satellite Systems to grant the company CET Teleport’s Cband capacity on the AfricaSat-1a satellite, supporting MEASAT Satellite Systems’ growing presence across Africa; Ken Armstrong, CEO of CET Teleport, said, “This capacity will greatly improve our Cband coverage of Africa, complementing the existing Ku-band coverage we have in the region to enable us to provide services to the whole continent.”
MTN goes live with the cloud A BOUQUET OF distinct cloud services has gone live at MTN, following a highly successful trial period in six of the operator’s major markets across Africa; the MTN Cloud pilot project, which targeted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa from December 2012 onwards, made MTN the first mobile network operator in Africa to adopt a cloud service brokerage model - which entails the
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Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
ASTELLIA, SPÉCIALISTE DES solutions de monitoring pour l'optimisation de la performance des réseaux de téléphonie mobile et de l'expérience des abonnés, a annoncé sa collaboration avec SAP, spécialiste mondial des applications d’entreprises; « Nous sommes convaincus que nous serons en mesure de fournir à nos clients opérateurs une disponibilité d’informations accrue et une capacité d'analyse unique», explique Julien Lecoeuvre, CTO chez Astellia.
Safaricom sélectionne une solution cloud de Gemalto SAFARICOM, OPÉRATEUR DE téléphonie mobile majeur en Afrique, avec plus de 18 millions de clients, utilise la solution de sauvegarde LinqUs Cloud Backup de Gemalto pour offrir à ses abonnés au Kenya un service de sauvegarde complet de leurs contacts téléphoniques; compatible avec la plupart des modèles de téléphone portable, la solution garantit aux clients de Safaricom une protection sécurisée en cas de vol, perte, dommage ou remplacement de leur téléphone, grâce à la sauvegarde automatique de leurs contacts via le service de stockage des données sur le cloud de l'opérateur de téléphonie mobile.
Un forum africain sur l’appairage et l’interconnexion LE QUATRIÈME FORUM annuel africain sur l’appairage et l’interconnexion (AfPIF), organisé par l’Internet Society, se déroulera du 3 au 5 septembre 2013 à Casablanca, au Maroc; en tant que forum régional unique, l’AfPIF facilite les débats sur les enjeux relatifs à l’infrastructure d’Internet en Afrique, y compris sur les problèmes de transmission terrestre, le développement des points d’échange Internet (IXP) aux niveaux national et régional, l’élaboration des contenus locaux, les mesures destinées à réduire les coûts de connexion et l’appairage international.
www.communicationsafrica.com
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AGENDA
Events 2013 JUNE/JUIN 3-4
Telecoms Risk Management Forum
Dubai, UAE
www.tavess.com
4-6
Small Cells World Summit
London, UK
www.smallcellsworldsummit.com
11-12
Connecting West Africa
Dakar, Senegal
www.comworldseries.com
17-18
Africa Media & Business Exchange
Nairobi, Kenya
www.aitecafrica.com
20
TMT Finance & Investment Africa
London, UK
www.tmtfinance.com
26-27
Broadcast, Film & Music Africa
Nairobi, Kenya
www.aitecafrica.com
26-27
Cloud World Forum
London, UK
27
Africa Media & Business Exchange
Nairobi, Kenya
www.aitecafrica.comx
8-9
M2M for the Oil and Gas Industry
London, UK
www.smi-online.co.uk
9-10
LTE Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
www.africa.lteconference.com
17-19
Mediatech Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
www.mediatech.co.za
www.cloudwf.com
JULY/JUILLET
A healthy Note at a Hub SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS NOW offers the Galaxy Note S4 in Africa - and has become the first device manufacturer to provide its pan-African customers with a 24-month accidental damage from handling (ADH) warranty to cover screen and liquid damages to the device, at no extra charge. “This warranty is yet another way Samsung is showing its commitment to customer service by introducing it as standard on the Galaxy S4 and will be extended to other Samsung devices in the months to come, ” says George Ferreira, VP and COO of Samsung Electronics Africa. Samsung also launched the Samsung Hub, an integrated multimedia content store where users will have access to books, videos, games and learning content. Of particular interest, the Galaxy S4 will be able to keep the user up-to-date with health and wellbeing information using the new ‘S Health’ software. With the help of built-in sensors, the device automatically monitors a user’s health. Also, users can use the device to check their health conditions using the food diary, exercise diary and sleep monitor to stay fit and healthy.
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Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
GL introduces MAPS LTE for X2 interface emulator THE LATEST TESTING tool to be presented by GL Communications Inc is the Traffic Generation Software for Analog, TDM, IP and wireless networks. Speaking to reporters, Mr Vijay Kulkarni, CEO GL, said, “As traffic intensity increases, network elements (including switches and transmission) can impart various impairments such as errors, excessive delay, congestion, blocking, loss, and degraded quality. Simulating traffic can be valuable to characterize the impairment as a function of traffic intensity and traffic type (e.g. Voice, Fax, Data, Video).” GL's Protocol Emulator platform MAPS (message automation and protocol simulation) performs signalling and traffic generation for a vast array of communication protocols covering IP, analogue, TDM, and wireless networks. Examples include testing legacy networks (which use conventional signaling such as CAS, SS7, and ISDN), newer generation IP networks (using SIP, MGCP, MEGACO, SIGTRAN, and diameter), and wireless networks (using GSM, GPRS, UMTS, and LTE). Mr Kulkarni explained, “MAPS supports transmission, detection, and capture of various TDM and analogue traffic such as digits, voice files, single tones, dual tones, and fax after call establishment. The volume of calls can vary from one to hundreds of calls depending on the T1 E1 or analogue platform of choice. MAPS series products for TDM are: MAPS ISDN, MAPS SS7, MAPS GSM A, and MAPS CAS. “MAPS CAS includes FXO FXS, R1, MFC-R2, and other variations for both analog 2wire and T1 E1 – for hundreds of channels. Fax traffic over 2wire analog and T1 E1 is supported for all variations of fax, such as page size, resolution, min & max data rate, and codec type – including high speed fax such as V.34. For GSM, TRAU (Transcoder Rate Adapter Unit) traffic simulation is included with options to create, monitor, and terminate TRAU GSM traffic sessions
supporting Tx / Rx of DTMF digits, files, and tones after session establishment. “MAPS supports transmission and detection of various RTP traffic such as digits, voice files, single tone, and dual tones after call establishment. These features are applicable for GL’s MAPS series products: MAPS UMTS IuCS, MAPS UMTS IuH, MAPS GSM AoIP, MAPS SIP, MAPS SIP I, MAPS MEGACO, and MAPS MGCP, among others. Traffic actions include: loopback real-time voice traffic (all received traffic is retransmitted as sent traffic), “Play to Speaker” streams voice of a selected call to a speaker, talk using Microphone – allows the user to generate real-time traffic, transmit pre-recorded voice files on the specified RTP sessions and more. “The mobile traffic simulation module within MAPSTM supports user plane traffic simulation for LTE, UMTS and GPRS networks. Mobile Traffic Simulation is supported in MAPS LTE S1, MAPS LTE eGTP, MAPS UMTS Gn Gp, and MAPS IuPS and MAPS GPRS Gb applications. It includes following modules: packet traffic simulation, mobile traffic core - GTP, mobile traffic core - gateway, mobile traffic simulation - GPRS Gb. “MAPS supports sending and receiving SMS using the signalling channel simultaneous with other voice and data services over GSM or MAP interfaces. It has the ability to push/pull short messages over the network as if sent by thousands of mobile phones (short message mobile originated (SMS-MO)). “In addition to GUI operation, MAPS can also be operated through a command line interface (CLI). All the GUI-based functionalities can be controlled remotely. Traffic simulation on a local network as well as from a remote location is possible with the client interface. “Scripting provides the ability to create readyscripts for TDM and RTP traffic simulation. Various traffic events are applied during the course of a call.”
www.communicationsafrica.com
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AGENDA
Enabling ‘smart’ water management
Affecting the availibility of water resources Dr Hamadoun I Touré, Secretary-General, ITU said, “The importance of sufficient supplies of good quality water is recognised in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), one of which is to halve the number of people without safe access to water by 2015. One of the many ways in which ICT will be central to the post-2015 development agenda is through supporting greater agility and efficiency in water management frameworks.” Economic growth, climate change and rising populations are all affecting the availability of water resources. According to UN estimates, 85 per cent of the world’s population lives in the driest half of the planet; 783mn people do not have access to clean water; almost 2.5bn do not have access to adequate sanitation; and 6-8mn people die annually from the consequences of waterrelated disasters and diseases.
The call to action which encourages ITU to collaborate with policy makers, water authorities, and relevant international and regional organisations, to: Lead with vision in developing and fostering the adoption of international standards, best practices, and policies for smart water management that improve both water and energy footprints, taking into account life cycle assessments Evaluate countries’ water footprint, standard performance indicators, and industry best practices for smart water management and help countries to better utilise their water resources Standardise: the methodologies for estimating the impact of ICTs on water conservation to help reduce water consumption; the ICT applications and services for smart water management so as to ensure interoperability and benefit from economies of scale; the use of geographic 3D modelling of geospatial data for use in geographical information systems and on the Internet; an Open Data platform to enable interoperability of smart water solutions; and a common communication protocol. Think sustainable: bridge the gap between experts from the ICT, water, and energy sectors and policy makers, to encourage the integration of ICT into water and energy policies in order to improve knowledge on the state of water availability and consumption, increase environmental resilience, tackle climate change impacts, and enhance energy efficiency and water demand management. Promote the use of open data platforms in water management to empower innovation. Shape the global agenda by campaigning for the integration of ICT policies in the ongoing dialogue on smart water management in organisations such as UN Water, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
KDN extends its fibre network into Tanzania
IMS Industry Awards for Mavenir solutions
PARTICIPANTS AT A recent workshop held by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the benefit of government and privatesector technology leaders in Egypt’s Nile River Basin have agreed a call to action which charges ITU with mobilising its global membership to enable ‘smart’ water management. The ‘smart’ integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in water networks adds communication, monitoring, analysis and control capabilities, increasing efficiency and reliability in water supply, improving delivery of water to crucial sectors like agriculture and health, and reducing water consumption and waste. The ITU workshop - ‘ICT as an enabler for smart water management’ - was held in Luxor, Egypt, in mid-April 2013, and was hosted by Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The event was the first of its kind, and reflects the growing importance and acceleration of smart-water standardisation work in ITU’s Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T).
KENYA DATA NETWORKS (KDN) has extended its fibre network into Tanzania, connecting the East African capitals of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala and Kigali on a single fibre network. The 120km fibre link from Nairobi to Namanga is one of a number of improvements to increase capacity and reduce latency for KDN’s customers including ISPs, carriers, homes, government organisations and businesses of all sizes. KDN was recently acquired by Liquid Telecom, which has built Africa’s largest fibre network spanning over 13,000km from the north of Uganda to Cape Town in South Africa. This new section of the network carries the capacity of multiple STM 64s and will be operational and available to KDN and Liquid Telecom customers in August 2013. In March 2013 Liquid Telecom commissioned a gigabit circuit between Kenya and South Africa from Seacom and increased the advertisements of many East African IP address prefixes at the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX). The key benefit of these investments and the integration of the KDN and Liquid Telecom fibre
10 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
networks is that traffic between South Africa and East Africa no longer needs to be routed via Europe. KDN is also using this additional capacity to provide a fibre route between Dar es Salam and Mombasa to ensure that terrestrial connectivity can be maintained in the event of any future damage to the submarine cables serving East Africa. Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid Telecom, said, “We believe that technology should be for everyone and completion of the Namanga fibre will be another major milestone in consolidating Liquid’s fibre coverage as the widest in Africa and confirming our position as the leading pan-African communications connectivity provider.” Rudnick went on to say, “With the completion of the KDN’s Namanga fibre we will provide even more secure and reliable solutions to businesses in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. This fibre will improve business opportunities providing more capacity, more routes and higher speeds to fixed and mobile operators, as well as Africa’s leading companies.”
MAVENIR SYSTEMS, WHICH provides software-based networking solutions, has won two awards for its voice over LTE (VoLTE) and rich communication services (RCS) solutions. The company picked-up awards for ‘Most Innovative Service Launch by IMS’ and ‘Best VoLTE Product’ in the prestigious Informa Industry Awards held at the 2013 IMS World Forum in Barcelona, Spain. The world’s first launches of VoLTE and RCS 5 services with Mavenir’s suite of RCS 5 application servers were recognised as ‘Most Innovative Service Launch enabled by IMS’. Both launches were with MetroPCS including the VoLTE launch in August 2012 and the RCS 5 launch, only 90 days later, in October 2012. Mavenir’s ‘Best VoLTE Product’ award for the Convergence Telephony Application Server (TAS) that enables the transformation of mobile networks to all-IP LTE. As part of a highly integrated E2E solution, Mavenir’s TAS is uniquely equipped to offer service parity and synchronisation with the circuit switched network so operators can quickly and easily integrate new services while saving costs. It can be deployed in a standalone configuration with any 3rd party IMS core or bundled with Mavenir's IMS solutions to offer a cost-effective end-to-end IMS voice service. “As a next generation player, we are very pleased to win not one, but two awards, especially against the traditional vendors,” said Ian Maclean, Mavenir’s Vice President of Strategy and Marketing, who received the awards. “Mobile operators worldwide have selected Mavenir for our innovation and leadership in the market so it was an honor to be recognised in front of many of them.” Mavenir’s suite of application servers and recently announced Virtualised IMS solutions, including the Telephony Application Server, Presence Server, Content Server and Rich Messaging Server, are based on the mOne Convergence Platform and are specifically designed to simplify mobile operators’ network transformations.
www.communicationsafrica.com
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AGENDA
New core banking application enhance customer experience in conventional, Islamic and Internet banking MASHREQ BANK, AN Emirati financial institution, has replaced over 40 legacy systems with Oracle Flexcube Universal Banking and Oracle Flexcube Direct Banking solutions across Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain - with Egypt soon to follow.
“It is essential that financial institutions like Mashreq Bank are able to differentiate themselves by providing a personalised customer experience. Integral to this is the ability to see all information on a customer to provide the most relevant and appropriate products, offers or services at every touch-point. Oracle Flexcube Universal Banking provides a complete 360 degree view of customers, enabling banks such as Mashreq to make informed business decisions, and putting the customer at heart of everything it does.” - Chet Kamat, CEO and managing director at Oracle Financial Services Software
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With critical limitations in the bank’s legacy platform, Mashreq required a full transformation of its core banking to support growth and innovation, whilst complying with Basel II, Know Your Customer and other upcoming regulations. With Oracle Flexcube, Mashreq now operates on a centralised scalable platform, which provides a 360-degree view of all customer relationships. The bank is able to launch new products in well under half the time it took with their legacy environment.
An innovation in IInternet finance The deployment of Oracle Flexcube has helped the bank improve the response time for customers at ATMs, and enhance the experience on Internet banking. The bank has witnessed an increase in its sign-up rate of new customers for Internet banking as a result of the new technology, and bank’s marketing efforts. Customers have doubled their use of internet banking for some transactions, leading to enhanced customer service. The bank is now able to price various products & services based on the overall relationship a customer shares rather than the products being used. Efficiency in Flexcube End of Day process and automated profit management in Oracle Flexcube Islamic Banking has enabled the bank to reduce processing time, significantly improving the customer experience. Mashreq Bank selected Oracle Flexcube in 2010 after a competitive evaluation involving the incumbent for international operations, T24 from Temenos, as well as Finacle from Infosys and Intellect from Polaris. The bank first deployed Oracle Flexcube in Qatar in 2011, extending the platform to UAE in November 2012. The solution was successfully implemented in Kuwait and Bahrain in March 2013, and is on course to go-live in Egypt in second half of 2013.
How to benefit from the big data opportunity AT THE POLICY Control & Data Pricing industry event in Berlin, Germany, held in mid April 2013, Comverse demonstrated how communication service providers (CSPs) can increase the benefit they derive from the rapidly growing demand for data. In a key session entitled ‘Marketing vs. IT: Building Bridges to Generate Revenue’, Comverse speaker Boaz Jaschek, product manager for data management and monetisation solutions at the firm, joined a panel of top industry experts focusing on the vital role of flexible marketing-oriented policy solutions in boosting data revenue generation and improving the quality of the user experience. Visitors to the Comverse stand observed how the Comverse Policy Studio solution, featuring an advanced marketing-friendly policy creation environment, tight BSS/PCRF integration and embedded analytics capabilities, is designed to enable CSPs to accelerate time to market and activate a broad range of monetisation scenarios.
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AGENDA
Mahindra Comviva evolves Africa’s mobile music ecosystem MAHINDRA COMVIVA IS rapidly expanding its mobile music offerings in Africa. Over the last 12 months, the company has become one of the largest music aggregators in the African continent, having collaborated with over 70 partners including local and international content providers/copyright bodies/local artists and production houses in the region. Currently, Mahindra Comviva owns music rights for 35,000 music assets spanning multiple popular genres - including: hip hop, pop, inspirational, rumba, hip life, football chants, gospel, jazz, rock, reggae and retro - in over 30 languages. Operators in Africa have seen a fourfold increase in their music services penetration and subscriber base, and a multifold increase in their music revenues, using Mahindra Comviva’s digital services. Mahindra Comviva manages an operator’s complete music and infotainment services portfolio bringing together content technology platform, discovery , analytics and recommendation tools, storefront management and business and marketing expertise to drive growth and usage. Recently the company launched its music and content recommendation engine, which enables operators to maximize VAS sales by matching music and content to customer preferences in real-time. The ability to cater to an audience has helped operators record a 50 per cent growth in sales. Atul Madan, Head of Digital Services, Mahindra
Comviva said, “We are committed to bringing world class digital services that enrich the lives of people across markets. We have focused on expanding the operator’s digital music and infotainment ecosystem by bringing local content application and partners in addition to recognised international labels.” To help operators retain a dominant position in the marketplace and counter the threat from over the top players, Mahindra Comviva has also added innovative offerings to its popular infotainment suite ‘Hi Life’ and ‘MyTV’, adding a wide range of digital apps – TV channels, news, health, recipes, astrology, delivered over multiple channels – video, voice and text, to subscribers over multiple channels including OBD, IVR, USSD, SMS, Star to Copy, Facebook, Customer Care and Web. Customers, for instance, can download the transcript whilst viewing a video of their favorite recipe. Likewise, customers can buy their favorite music as a downloadable video or a ring back tone from the same storefront. Leading operator groups in Africa have outsourced management of their music services portfolio to Mahindra Comviva. On an average, music services in Africa contribute 40 per cent to operators’ downloadable content revenues. To cater to fast evolving trends and sustain consumer engagement, the company is constantly introducing service features like Karaoke, user generated music content and social RBT.
Vodacom empowers youth with ICT skills training Through a Mobile education programme in partnership with Cisco and MICT-Seta, Vodacom is operating a youth development project at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The partnership aims to train unemployed youth in ICT skills and to further develop them into ICT entrepreneurs. Vodacom chief officer: corporate affairs, Maya Makanjee said, "This is Vodacom's contribution towards the development of skills and job creation opportunities for unemployed youth. It is premised on the concept that the more skilled the youth are, the greater the opportunity for employment.
Vodacom aims to empower youth with ICT skills training In a bid to help tackle skills development and job creation 14 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
"We know that Cisco technical skills are some of the most sought after skills in the ICT industry." The skills development will cover training in A+, N+ and 3G connectivity for a period of six months. The project will train and develop 15 ICT entrepreneurs in each of the nine Vodacom ICT resource centres situated in all the provinces. All participants' stipend and accommodation will be paid for by Vodacom. On entrepreneurial skills, the training is running for a period of six months, until September 2013, and is focused on empowering the youth with business skills. The Vodacom youth skills development project focuses in particular on helping nurture skills needed in the ICT industry, with the potential for beneficiaries to be offered practical experience that will include projects such as ICT installation in schools. Trainees are also being used in the technical support for the schools that are part of the Vodacom Mobile Education programme.
Ericsson chosen for Thuraya upgrade MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICES operator Thuraya has selected Ericsson as the sole vendor for its circuit-switched core network. Under the agreement, Ericsson will upgrade the Thuraya circuit-switched core network, implement an advanced billing mediation solution and provide support services for five years. Rafiah Ibrahim, executive vice president for Middle East and Africa at Ericsson, said, "The rapid expansion of Thuraya's satellite coverage demands a dynamic solution that will transform its existing infrastructure and maintain Thuraya's growing, marketleading footprint. Our services and solutions will equip Thuraya with the latest technology that will simplify operations and provide an unprecedented customer experience."
Net2Phone partners with SkyVision on voice services GLOBAL DISTRIBUTOR-BASED PROVIDER of VoIP solutions Net2Phone has undertaken expansion of its voice solution availability in Africa by establishing a strategic partnership with SkyVision, a global IP telecommunication service provider. Utilising Net2Phone solutions, SkyVision bundles its existing VSAT Internet access services with highquality, low-cost calling solutions to all areas of Africa, using the least amount of bandwidth. With an emphasis on its customers’ local or regional requirements, SkyVision will offer quality voice services, superior network connectivity, and an extensive suite of both customised solutions and industry-standard services. “Reliable connectivity is an integral and critical element of every customer's business,” said Itai Galmor, SkyVision VP of marketing. “For this reason, SkyVision provides a converged solution that ensures voice traffic prioritisation to achieve business grade quality. With the launch of our voice solutions, our customers can now access a low cost, highquality phone service with the versatile features and functionality that VoIP offers.” “At Net2Phone, we are increasingly seeing local and regional operators use VoIP to grow revenue and offer new services,” said Jonah Fink, senior vice president of Net2Phone. “Net2Phone provides these operators, such as SkyVision, with a high quality and internationally accessible VoIP solution while minimising the bandwidth requirement.” SkyVision’s service will offer corporate customers low cost calling plans and a global footprint with over 40 international virtual phone numbers. With a service covering all of Africa and a wide variety of calling plans, SkyVision customers are able to enhance their organisation’s operational effectiveness while substantially reducing costs. “We worked closely with SkyVision’s team to fully understand their customer’s needs in order to design the right set of calling plans that respond to their market requirements,” said Assaf Cohen, international sales manager of Net2Phone.
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AGENDA
L’exploitation des tours en Côte d’Ivoire et au Cameroun CÔTE D’IVOIRE TELECOM, Orange Côte d’Ivoire et Orange Cameroun, filiales du groupe France Télécom-Orange ont signé un accord avec IHS, un opérateur majeur d’infrastructuresmobiles en Afrique, portant sur l’exploitation de l’intégralité des tours des filiales en Côte d’Ivoire et au Cameroun, permettant d’améliorer la couverture des réseaux mobiles dans les deux pays. Selon les termes de cet accord, qui concerne plus de 2000 sites en Côte d’Ivoire et au Cameroun-, les tours resteront la propriété des filiales d’Orange. IHS exploitera les tours au nom d’Orange pour une période de 15 ans, apportant son expertise et sa capacité à améliorer l’expérience client tout en réduisant les coûts d’Orange. Les efforts d’IHS sur les infrastructures passives permettront ainsi d’accélérer la modernisation du réseau, en le rendant plus efficace et moins énergivore, et grâce au recours croissant aux énergies renouvelables pour l’alimenter. Par ce modèle de partage, IHS pourra commercialiser les emplacements disponibles à d’autres opérateurs, tandis que les filiales d’Orange pourront bénéficier d’un accès aux emplacements disponibles sur les tours qu’IHS possède actuellement dans ces deux pays. Afin d’étendre davantage le réseau et répondre à la demande locale, IHS s’est engagé à construire de nouveaux sites hybrides, combinant énergie solaire et générateurs, réduisant ainsi la consommation de diesel jusqu’à 70%. Les sites alimentés à l’énergie solaires sont privilégiés dans les zones rurales, où les livraisons de diesel sont plus onéreuses. Marc Rennard, Directeur exécutif en charge de la zone Afrique, Moyen-Orient et Asie pour le groupe Orange, a déclaré : « Le partage d’infrastructures passives est une vraie opportunité pour Orange d’aller toujours plus loin vers un meilleur service pour ses clients en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient. Il permet aussi aux opérateurs de réduire leurs coûts et de mieux faire face aux difficultés particulières des marchés émergents (coût de l’énergie, accessibilité des sites…). Par ces accords, nous ouvrons une opportunité que nous pourrons étudier sur la plupart des filiales d’Orange en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient. » « Confier la gestion des infrastructures télécom à des opérateurs spécialisés dans l’exploitation de tours est bénéfique tant pour les consommateurs, que pour les entreprises, les économies locales ou les opérateurs euxmêmes», dit Issam Darwish, Président et fondateur d’IHS. « Nos 12 années d’expérience de ce marché, associées aux bonnes relations que nous entretenons avec les opérateurs de réseaux mobiles et les équipementiers nous permettent d’apporter des améliorations à travers toute la chaîne de valeur. En nous appuyant sur l’innovation et notre expérience en ingénierie, nous sommes également en mesure d’offrir des avantages sur le plan environnemental en Côte d’Ivoire et au Cameroun grâce à un mix énergétique plus efficace, combinant énergie solaire et équipements modernes. »
Le contrôle aux frontières au Ghana GEMALTO A ÉTÉ retenu comme maitre d’œuvre par les Services d’Immigration du Ghana (GIS) pour fournir une solution clé en main, de gestion électronique des visas et des contrôles aux frontières hautement sécurisée. Cette initiative s’inscrit dans le projet ambitieux eGhana, qui bénéficie de l’appui de la Banque mondiale. Avec une population de 24 millions d’habitants, la République du Ghana connait une croissance rapide des déplacements transfrontaliers. Reconnaissant le besoin de renforcer la sécurité et l’efficacité de ses procédures existantes, le service d’immigration du pays s’est tourné vers Gemalto pour mettre en place un système électronique national basé sur l’authentification biométrique.
eID : l’identité du futur ASSURER L’IDENTITÉ D’UNE personne qui accède à des services en ligne est devenu un véritable enjeu. Pour autant, la sécurisation n’est pas synonyme de complexité. C’est dans cet esprit que Morpho conçoit des solutions qui feront demain partie de notre quotidien. « L’idée d’une identité électronique est née avec le besoin de disposer d’un contrôle d’accès personnalisé aux systèmes informatiques. Peu à peu, les usages se sont étendus aux services commerciaux ou institutionnels en ligne », analyse Cédric Huet, Marketing Strategy Manager chez Morpho. « L’eID est donc une solution d’identité numérique qui représente un utilisateur précis. Elle est composée de multiples attributs de sécurité, incluant des données biométriques ainsi qu’une clef numérique qui vont permettre une identification forte de l’utilisateur. » Avec plus de 3 milliards de dollars de pertes dues aux fraudes rien que pour le marché nordaméricain, le commerce en ligne est demandeur de ces solutions, capables de garantir tant à l’utilisateur qu’au prestataire de service qu’il n’y a pas de tentative d’usurpation d’identité. L’enrôlement : un moment privilégié Aujourd’hui, une banque ou un commerçant vérifient l’identité d’une personne en faisant généralement un contrôle visuel de son document d’identité. Sans moyen de vérifier l’authenticité du document ou des informations produites, les
16 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Photo: Adrien Deneu
services en ligne qu’ils vont proposer à l’utilisateur seront donc limités en raison de leur process de management des risques. « Pour résoudre ce problème, Morpho préconise de faire un enrôlement « fort », prolongeant l’utilisation d’un document d’identité régalien grâce à un lecteur biométrique de type « mach-on-card ». L’identité de l’usager peut alors être vérifiée localement, sans avoir besoin d’accéder à un serveur distant pour comparer les données biométriques. Cette méthode permet de valider l’identité de l’utilisateur sur la base d’une information unique, tout en respectant les législations en vigueur », explique Cédric Huet. « Le commerçant ou la banque peut alors attribuer une eID dérivée à son client, en se reposant sur des informations publiques, inclues dans le document d’identité d’origine, que sont par exemple son nom et sa photo. »
Sécurité, mobilité et simplicité Avec un potentiel de 4 milliards de personnes connectées à internet via leur mobile contre seulement un milliard en passant par l’ADSL, les opérateurs de téléphonie mobile sont devenus des acteurs clés du commerce virtuel. « Comme ils rencontrent leurs clients lors de l’ouverture de leur ligne, c’est le moment idéal pour leur proposer la création d’une eID, qui sera enregistrée dans l’espace sécurisé de leur carte SIM. Pour l’utilisateur du mobile, l’intérêt est immédiat : il va pouvoir effectuer des transactions avec son téléphone de façon sûre et rapide, en associant un code à quatre chiffres, par exemple, pouvant suffire à valider son paiement en ligne. Sans fournir d’autres informations personnelles, il est en mesure via son eID de simplifier l’envoi d’un achat à son domicile », analyse Cédric Huet. « Quant à l’opérateur, il ajoute un service à valeur ajoutée à son offre, évitant ainsi d’être réduit au simple rôle de fournisseur d’accès à l’internet mobile. » Grâce à son savoir-faire en matière de biométrie et de documents d’identité sécurisés avec des cartes à puce, Morpho dispose déjà de l’expertise nécessaire à la diffusion de l’eID. Les premiers projets sont déjà lancés. L’un d’entre eux autorisera des médecins en déplacement chez leurs patients à avoir accès via leur mobile à des informations confidentielles, comme le dossier de santé ou encore de transmettre en ligne l’ordonnance à la sécurité sociale.
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MOBILE
Optimisation
Deliver in real time, across different customer segments How different solutions can enable communications service providers to optimise their investments, profit from data connectivity and drive greater customer value
T
HE NOW FACTORY’S customer experience solutions have recently been placed under the spotlight in Africa, with its services selected by both Vodafone Ghana and Vodacom South Africa to serve millions of their subscribers. Oliver Finn, vice-president of marketing at The Now Factory said: “We are seeing a lot of traction with African network operators for the customer experience solutions we offer. Mobile broadband and data services are becoming a primary driver of growth for many network operators in the region.” As the volume of data traffic grows due to the increased adoption of smart devices, operators require greater insight into how customers use services so they can deliver the best possible customer experience and at the same time drive down costs and increase profitability.
Optimising customer experience Vodafone Ghana selected The Now Factory’s Mobile Moments customer experience management (CEM) solution to provide in-depth visibility on how their customers used mobile data services, allowing the company to optimise customer experience for its 4.3mn subscribers in real-time as well as reduce operational costs and drive new revenue streams, The Now Factory said. Finn explained, “A key differentiator for The Now Factory and one of the key reasons Vodafone Ghana selected us is our real-time and multidimensional view of mobile data usage, measuring the cumulative effect of different devices, applications and network locations on the individual customer experience. “As an example, what level of performance is a customer receiving accessing YouTube on an Android device in a certain location at a certain time? This granular information enables the operator to plan network capacity more effectively in addition to optimising network performance and delivering the best possible customer experience,” he added. Meanwhile, Vodacom selected the company’s CEM solution for both their 3G and LTE networks to get the most accurate measurement of customer experience for their 31mn subscribers and drive greater costefficiencies across their network, The Now Factory claimed. “In countries like South Africa and Tanzania, many operators have already turned on their LTE networks while others in Egypt and Kenya plan to do so this year. In choosing our solutions, network operators are looking to both drive down costs and monetise their networks while delivering on the promise of a more enriched customer experience,” Finn said. This requires the organisation to plan network capacity; monitor and troubleshoot network issues; improve first call resolutions for customer care; and offer more engaging content and offers via marketing. Mobile e-commerce has taken off in many African countries due to the prevalence of mobile devices. Operators are therefore looking to understand how they can tailor offers more effectively to their customers while looking at new ways to build new business models with third parties.
Serving a range of business models CEM solutions should however be flexible enough to serve a variety of operations and business models. 18 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Vodafone Ghana selected The Now Factory’s Mobile Moments customer experience management (CEM) solution for its 4.3mn subscribers.
“In choosing our solutions, network operators are looking to both drive down costs and monetise their networks while delivering on the promise of a more enriched customer experience” - Oliver Finn, vice-president of marketing at The Now Factory “Operators in many… emerging countries are making the strategic decision to put mobile data at the heart of their growth strategy and want to make the necessary technology and operational investments now to leverage the opportunity as it grows, hence the demand for the solutions we offer,” Finn claimed. There are many variations in the standard and technologies used across different countries in the region; there can also be significant difference among operators in the same country as to what they require, he added. Finn continued: “As a company we focus very much on the issues facing operators today and deliver the solutions that help them address these quickly and the most cost-effective way possible. “In terms of filtering, we focus on those regions where mobile data is seen as a priority for growth and where operators are actively making investments to make that happen. There are certainly markets today that are more mature than others in terms of mobile data usage. “However, we expect the growth opportunity to be huge for mobile data over the coming two to three years as the penetration of smart devices rapidly increases across the entire region. And with that growth, will come greater demand for our solutions,” he concluded. ✆
www.communicationsafrica.com
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INTERNET
Fibre
Fibre optic broadband access expansion in South Africa Falling costs and increasing flexibility, allied to faster speeds and increased capacity, mean fibre is highly viable for corporate entities
C
OMPLETE VIRTUALISATION IS at the top of the agenda for many CIOs and IT executives in 2013. Cloud computing is set to quadruple from 2011 to 2016, according to a Global Cloud Index by Cisco, and will no longer even need a name, it will be so integral to the way business is done. The ‘cloud readiness’ of different countries and regions is part of the index projections and FTTP services are becoming critical to the sustainability of the virtualisation of business. Fibre broadband access in South Africa is expected to grow at an unprecedented rate in 2013. CipherWave, a niche specialist IT company based in the country, is introducing fibre broadband connectivity to the premises (FTTP) with the lowest contentions and prices currently available on the local market. The offering is a bold move as it provides high value to business at a time when cloud computing is putting an ever-growing strain on internal networks and Internet access in the country.
access, downloads and uploads, VOIP, video conferencing and even unified communications with three or more of these capabilities being used simultaneously. There is a huge need for ultra-fast, stable connectivity and fibre can deliver broadband to a business better than any other medium," said Jonathan Mason, managing director of CipherWave. Not all fibre broadband is made equal and FTTP is the most attractive of all the possible infrastructure set-ups. Fibre optic technology differs from wireless or DSL (copper-wired) broadband in that tiny fibre optic glass cables convert data carried by electrical signals into light and transport this fibre data at accelerated speeds. The ultimate capability of the technology far outweighs what copper or wireless cables could achieve. "High speed broadband is already a necessity, and as businesses can only upgrade their DSL lines or networks a finite number of times, it's become an IT risk," comments Mason. "I maintain that fibre broadband is essential infrastructure for any business.”
What defines fibre deployment? “Companies are increasingly reliant on data sharing, bandwidth-intensive applications, surfing, cloud
"Fibre broadband is essential infrastructure for any business" - Jonathan Mason, managing director of CipherWave
Fibre broadband access in South Africa is expected to grow at an unprecedented rate in 2013.
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Investing in installation, investing in provision The cost of fibre broadband fell dramatically last year so providers in South Africa will be coming onto the scene in 2013 with various offerings. Watch out for high contentions and relatively low speeds due to fibrewith-copper offerings as well as 'fibre broadband’ that does not actually offer Internet services. The term 'broadband' has been loosely adopted to mean Internet, but if it doesn't say Internet, it isn't. "Depending on your business needs, CipherWave offers an uncapped fibre broadband service with the lowest contention ratios on the market, as well as a soft-capped service with no contention and dedicated Internet access. "We are focused on innovation and this is an aggressive move, but we intend to make a statement with our fibre broadband service. We are offering 99.9 per cent uptime, higher than any other provider," explained Mason. Although these kinds of services are still relatively new to the South African market, a little competition has proven to be a good thing, with CipherWave offering the fastest fibre broadband lines around (they have a limit of up to 600 Mbps on request, but standard packages on offer include a 20 Mbps line). Consider also the investment cost of installation. There is no doubt that fibre broadband is the best you can get so if you can, take advantage of the specials available and invest with a decent provider who will give you a fully managed service and a financially backed SLA, with 99.5 per cent uptime. ✆ www.communicationsafrica.com
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INTERNET
Fibre
Des câbles sous-marins à fibre optique en 2014
D
E NOMBREUX CÂBLES sous-marins longent désormais les côtes africaines. Objectif, permettre aux pays africains d’avoir accès aux services de télécommunications de qualité. En plus des acquis qui songent déjà à se consolider, de nouveaux câbles seront bientôt actifs sur le continent.
De nouveaux câbles En 2014, de nouveaux câbles sous-marins vont être activés en Afrique. Parmi eux, on peut citer le câble sous-marin Wasace qui envisage de relier l’Afrique, l’Amérique du Nord, l’Amérique du Sud et l’Europe. D’après ses promoteurs, il s’agit du plus important projet de câble dans l’océan Atlantique, dont « la longueur totale des fibres équivaudra à sept fois la circonférence de la terre ». Ses pays cibles sont le Maroc, le Nigeria, l’Angola et l’Afrique du Sud. Les investisseurs de quatre continents participent au projet, dont la firme VIP Must et la Banque africaine de développement. Wasace sera mis en œuvre par
www.communicationsafrica.com
le groupe David Ross, un consultant, spécialisé dans la réalisation de réseaux de communication. Ses promoteurs veulent utiliser la technologie dite « 100G ». Ses capacités seraient dix fois plus importantes que celles des systèmes actuels.
Câble sous-marin Brics On ne saurait oublier le nouveau câble sousmarin Brics annoncé en juin 2012 et qui va connecter les pays du Brics (Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine et Afrique du Sud) avec les EtatsUnis. Le câble aura une capacité de 12,8 terabit/s et sera relié aux câbles WACS (West Africa Cable System), EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarin System) et SEACOM. Ce qui permettra aux cinq pays initiateurs du câble d’avoir un accès direct à 21 pays africains. Autre câble sous-marin qui sera mis en service en 2014, la South Atlantic Express (SAex). Ce câble devrait connecter Cape Town, en Afrique du Sud, Luanda en Angola et Fortaleza au Brésil. Ces projets et bien d’autres permettront à l’Afrique d’avoir une bande
passante toujours plus intéressante. « Maintenant que les façades maritimes du continent africain sont toutes couvertes de l’Ouest à l’Est et du Nord au Sud par des câbles sous-marins, le nouveau challenge consiste à interconnecter les hubs et des points de contact entre eux », observait Philippe Dumont, le président de l'activité réseaux sous-marins d'Alcatel-Lucent dans les colonnes de RTN. ✆
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FINANCE
Banking
Mobile money can boost financial inclusion A study in Ghana’s rural communities demonstrates how new services can help encourage savings rates and address financial exclusion
T
HE WEST AFRICAN nation is showing slow but steady acceptance of mobile money services, which can help its rural population save money as well as increase financial security. Research funded by the SWIFT Institute, a messaging provider for more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries and regions, and carried out by US-based Tufts University in northern Ghana’s rural communities, demonstrates that mobile money can help to promote financial inclusion and boost savings rates.
“The findings suggest that mobile money offers a possible model for extending benefits of financial services to a wider section of the community” — Millison Narh, second deputy governor of Bank of Ghana
The research showed that takeup of mobile money in the region, which has little access to financial services, can be easily promoted and the use can help encourage a savings culture. A month into the project, the data showed that 10 per cent of participants had used the service solely for money transfer. Two and a half months later, the mobile money usage increased to 26 per cent in the Ghananian households, with 86 per cent of users receiving money transfers and 70 per cent of users saving money on their mobile phones. These results could help provide the policy makers with a model to improve financial inclusion and offer a solution to a problem like limited access to financial institutes that hinder economic development.
Limited contact with monetary institutions In remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa, less than 20 per cent of the population has access to a formal financial institution such as a bank, micro-finance institution or cooperative society. Ghana has an upper hand in this respect with about 29 per cent of the population in contact with financial institutes, according to the World Bank. Millison Narh, second deputy governor, Bank of Ghana, said, “The findings of this research suggest that mobile money offers a possible model for extending the benefits of financial services to a much wider section of the community.”
Photograph: ColaLife/Flickr
Increasing access to financial services
The use of mobile money services can help encourage a savings culture.
22 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Typically, households in Ghananian rural areas save money at home or with local collectors (also called “susu”), and often rely on remittances from migrants to urban areas. While these strategies are risk-sharing mechanisms, they are also vulnerable to risks, including theft, restricted access to funds,
high fees, or high transaction costs. The study demonstrates that mobile money offers a new potential mechanism for increasing the financial inclusion of the world’s poor. First, since it can reduce the cost and increase the security of money transfers, mobile money can improve households’ ability to share risk. Mobile money can also be used to create a secure ‘pseudo-savings’ account, where individuals can deposit smaller savings amounts for more immediate needs. As the account is password-protected, its savings channel could offer greater security than savings ‘under the mattress’.
Phone coverage essential for mobile money services Increased network coverage and mobile phone ownership, as well as a growing number of mobile money services in many countries, including Ghana, are crucial to the success of any mobile money-based financial inclusion strategy. Therefore, one of the key elements of the research was a set of positive steps to reduce barriers to the adoption and usage of mobile money in Ghana. These included providing mobile phones to customers, access to a mobile money agent and a sensitisation campaign. As a result of these interventions, the research found that rural populations’ interest in adopting mobile money was very high. Jenny Aker, assistant professor of economics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, said, “While these early findings are limited, the research suggests that simple interventions to alleviate the barriers to mobile money adoption can help to encourage its use for receiving remittances and as a saving mechanism. If further research supports these conclusions, mobile money could be an important mechanism for promoting financial inclusion.” ✆ www.communicationsafrica.com
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INVESTISSEMENT
Data
Des plates-formes Open Data pour des pays africains
U
N PROGRAMME DE plates-formes Open Data fait partie de l’initiative « Autoroutes de l’information », qu’a récemment lancée la BAD afin d’améliorer, de manière notable, la gestion et la diffusion des données en Afrique. Les travaux se poursuivent afin de compléter et d’étendre ces plates-formes à l’ensemble des pays africains d’ici juillet 2013. La plate-forme Open Data est un outil facile à utiliser, qui permet d’extraire les données, de créer et de partager ses propres rapports personnalisés, ainsi que de visualiser les informations liées à des thématiques, à des secteurs ou à des pays, sous forme de tableaux, de graphiques et de cartes.
Du développement des pays africains Grâce à cette plate-forme Open Data, les usagers peuvent accéder à un large éventail de données sur le développement des pays africains, recoupées à partir d’une variété de sources officielles, internationales et
nationales. La plate-forme facilite également la collecte, l'analyse et la mutualisation des données entre les pays et avec les partenaires internationaux au développement. Elle offre à une variété d’utilisateurs, tels que les décideurs, experts, chercheurs, chefs d'entreprises et investisseurs du monde entier, l’opportunité, unique, d'accéder à des données fiables et actualisées sur l'Afrique. Les usagers peuvent visualiser l’évolution chronologique des indicateurs de développement, sur un laps de temps donné, mener une analyse approfondie aux niveaux national et régional, se servir des graphiques prêts à l’emploi - voire créer les leurs -, bloguer, partager leurs points de vue et travailler avec leurs pairs, faisant ainsi émerger une communauté d’utilisateurs avertis. Avec l’initiative de plate-forme Open Data, le Groupe de la BAD veut accroître de façon substantielle l’accès à des données de qualité, nécessaires à la gestion et au suivi des résultats de développement dans les
Cette initiative révolutionnera la gestion et la diffusion des données en Afrique pays africains - entre autres, la réalisation des OMD. La mise en place de cette plateforme fait suite à un certain nombre d’initiatives importantes, tant mondiales que régionales, visant à élargir la disponibilité de données de qualité sur l'Afrique et, partant, à favoriser les prises de décision dûment motivées, la responsabilisation publique et la bonne gouvernance. Cette initiative est l’occasion unique pour que tous les pays africains prennent les devants dans la mise en œuvre et la promotion des normes statistiques internationales à travers le continent, et qu’ils améliorent la qualité des données qu’ils diffusent. ✆
All-in-one \adj: all-inclusive. For the contact centre, Interactive Intelligence defines its all-inone IP communications platform this way: All communications applications running on a single platform. A single point of administration for all functionality, meaning less training and less complexity. Add-on applications activate with simple license keys, to bypass costly, complex integrations. Complete fault tolerance and business continuity for all contact centre applications. A single allinclusive solution from a single vendor, including a single maintenance contract. All redefined by a lower total cost of ownership. Shouldn’t this be your definition too?
www.inin.com
www.communicationsafrica.com
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ÉCONOMIE
Internet
Le haut débit, de l’accès à l’éducation Un rapport sur le large bande met l’accent sur des stratégies visant à profiter des réseaux à haut débit pour atteindre l’éducation pour tous
F
AIRE AVANCER L’AGENDA de l’éducation pour tous, un rapport du groupe de travail sur l’éducation de la Commission pour le large bande montre comment l’accès aux technologies à haut débit, via des plateformes mobiles ou fixes, peut être élargi afin qu’étudiants et professeurs puissent partout en tirer des bénéfices pour eux-mêmes et pour leurs communautés. Le rapport, coordonné par l’UNESCO, souligne l’importance du déploiement du haut débit en tant que moyen d’accélérer les avancées vers l’objectif du Millénaire relatif à l’enseignement primaire universel et vers les objectifs de l’Education pour tous. Trois ans à peine avant la date fixée pour atteindre ces objectifs, 61 millions d’enfants en âge de fréquenter le primaire sont encore privés d’école. Il en va de même pour 71 millions d’enfants en âge de fréquenter le premier cycle du secondaire. On estime qu’il faudrait 1,7 million d’enseignants supplémentaires si l’on veut parvenir à l’enseignement primaire universel. De plus, près de 793 millions d’adultes – dont 64 % de femmes – ne disposent pas encore d’une alphabétisation de base, principalement en Afrique subsaharienne et en Asie du sud et de l’ouest.
Le Secrétaire général de l’UIT, Hamadoun I Touré
26 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Les révolutions en cours de l’âge numérique « De nombreux progrès ont été réalisés en vue d’atteindre en 2015 les objectifs concernant l’éducation mais beaucoup de pays sont encore loin du compte», a déclaré Irina Bokova, qui copréside la Commission pour le développement digital avec le Secrétaire général de l’UIT, Hamadoun I Touré. « A cet égard, la fracture numérique reste une fracture du développement. Les révolutions en cours – internet et portables – offrent à tous les pays, en particulier aux pays en développement et les moins avancés, des opportunités sans précédent. Nous devons utiliser au mieux le haut débit afin d’élargir l’accès à une éducation de qualité et afin d’offrir à tous les citoyens les connaissances, compétences et valeurs dont ils ont besoin pour vivre et travailler correctement en cet âge numérique ». Le rapport reconnaît que la participation à l’économie globale dépend de plus en plus de la maîtrise des outils de navigation du monde numérique mais que les programmes scolaires privilégient encore l’accumulation de connaissances plutôt que la maitrise de leurs applications. Ils ne réussissent pas à donner aux étudiants les compétences numériques dont ils ont besoin pour se faire
une place au sein d’une économie du savoir. « Personne ne conteste la capacité du haut débit à développer et améliorer l’éducation mais aussi le vécu éducatif des étudiants », a déclaré Hamadoun I. Touré. « Une éducation de qualité et diversifiée constitue la base sur laquelle des familles peuvent bâtir leurs futurs moyens de subsistance. L’éducation ouvre les esprits mais aussi des perspectives d’emplois. L’étudiant d’un pays en développement peut aujourd’hui avoir accès à la bibliothèque d’une université prestigieuse n’importe où dans le monde ; un chômeur peut se reconvertir et chercher un emploi dans d’autres domaines ; des enseignants peuvent s’inspirer et s’appuyer sur les ressources et les expériences d’autres enseignants. Grâce à ces développements, le monde en ligne permet des avancées en matière d’éducation, de dialogue et de compréhension entre les peuples dans le monde réel ».
Les pays développés et les pays en développement Malgré des progrès rapides en matière d’accès au haut débit, fixe ou mobile, la fracture numérique reste profonde. L’UIT montre de larges disparités, mondiales et régionales, tant au niveau du développement des TIC qu’à celui du coût mensuel de l’accès au haut débit, qui représente dans 17 pays plus de 100% du salaire mensuel moyen. Le rapport est le fruit des contributions de nombreux membres de la Commission et de leurs entreprises, notamment Alcatel-Lucent, le partenariat Connect-to-Learn (The Earth Institute, Colombia University/Ericsson/Milennium Promise), Intel, la Banque Interaméricaine de Développement, les membres de la Commission Suvi Lindén, Jasna Mati et Ivo Ivanovski, ainsi que le conseiller spécial auprès de la Commission Paul Budde. Il comprend des études de cas concernant aussi bien des pays développés que des pays en développement, notamment sur la promotion de l’alphabétisation à travers des téléphones portables (Pakistan) et sur le programme Harmonizer qui forme les jeunes à la résolution des conflits et aux outils des TIC et des médias sociaux (nord de l’Ouganda), deux initiatives soutenues par l’UNESCO. ✆ www.communicationsafrica.com
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NETWORK
Revenue
Will billing grow with the market? Africa’s fast-moving mobile marketplace is relentless - and, with increasingly intense competition for revenue generation, efficient billing is essential to make that happen
T
hough the fastest growing global mobile market, African operators face major challenges holding onto subscribers, delivering latest and nextgeneration services, keeping their networks upto-date through expensive new roll-outs and, at the end of it all, generating income. Talking with CSG International’s David Knox, it is clear there are a number of challenges facing African mobile network operators (MNOs) in a mobile market dominated by prepaid. ARPUs are very low and are unpredictable, with people recharging when they can and not at regular intervals, which makes it hard to predict trends and network utilisation. As a result, Knox says that MNOs are struggling to find ways to counter this situation, which is made worse by the tendency of the average prepaid user to have multiple simcards, one, for example, providing free texts from one network, and another for cheaper voice calls from another network. This scenario contributes to customer retention being a big problem across Africa and while mobile is really the key communications driver for growth here, uptake/progress having now reached 3G and beyond, there has been another issue – smartphones. Despite growth in areas such as dongles, where communities rely on Internet cafes running off such devices, the lack of availability of affordable smartphones for 3G current devices are simply beyond the means of the average person – has been a major constraint to growth but that situation is steadily changing. According to Knox, many more affordable devices /smartphones from other vendors are coming out that specifically target the African market and parts of the AP Region with device costs within the reach of the poorer members of the community. “It’s important to note that for many of the users in these markets the only option for them to have access to the Internet in these areas is via a mobile device – the fixed internet simply doesn’t exist or make sense in remote areas. There are no cables in the ground for a start – so, for many, their first and only Internet experience will be the mobile Internet.”
Options for operators for competitive networks As to whether the billing systems currently employed by Africa’s various regional and group mobile operators are capable of handling current growth in this, predominantly prepaid, www.communicationsafrica.com
market, Knox told CA, “In some cases yes, and in others no. Operators who are running on aging platforms with old hardware may have no option but to replace. However, if this complete replacement is not feasible, or immediately necessary, a better option may be to look at deploying an adjunct system to provide the flexibility and functionality required for new services. It is important though, when choosing an adjunct system to select one, which is capable of becoming a fully convergent solution in future when replacement of the older platforms is required.”
mobile data or to meet requirements around data roaming.”
An adjunct model is one put in alongside what billing platform is already there – often IN prepaid platforms supplied as an original part in the initial network roll-out; systems that have been doing the job perfectly well, that is, up until today’s major growth. Still, many operators wonder why they should embark on relatively large converged billing system implementations if current solutions support their prepaid users and are adequately capable of handling the typically small number of postpaid subscribers they may have. “If it’s not broken why fix it?” says Knox, is one school of thought among operators.
“So you can use this as a building block on the way to reaching a full convergent deployment,” said Knox. “And that’s what we believe should be an attractive option for many operators in the region; you don’t have to embark on an extremely expensive replacement of everything you’ve invested in, simply leave it in place doing what it’s good at doing - but to have the flexibility to handle the newer things entering the mobile ecosystem, introduce an adjunct alongside.”
Such a solution, he told CA, operates with the existing prepaid system but all of the data traffic now goes through the adjunct data deployment. Over time, when the MNO decides they really need to retire the legacy prepaid platform or the legacy biller, they can migrate more of their customers, eventually achieving the goal to have all subscribers supported and billed from the adjunct system, which now becomes the main platform.
Integrated operations for improved management of the customer experience
Moving on from legacy systems and practices
Inextricably tied to billing is Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and while prepaid is an inherently difficult area to manage in this regard, convergence of billing and CRM solutions is the right way forward for African operators, according to Knox. “It is extremely beneficial for operators in Africa to have an integrated CRM and billing architecture. It enables operators not only to increase customer satisfaction through more accurate and timely responses to customer enquiries, but also reduces churn and increases loyalty. Better understanding of customer behaviour through integrated CRM and billing data also enables MNOs to offer targeted promotions and products to the right subscribers at the right time.”
However, it’s when a new service like mobile data comes along that MNOs want and need something different. “Wanting additional flexibility, the MNOs might implement, for example, the kind of system we [CSG] have with an integrated charging and policy solution, which delivers a pre-configured out-of-the-box service. The idea is you can put it in to handle
According to Knox, introducing an adjunct model versus a complete replacement will cost ‘an order of magnitude lower than the complete replacement’, and while integration with CRM involves many variables, one of the arguments for this approach using pre-configured solutions, is to save both time and money.
Said to be the fastest growing mobile market in the world, Africa’s mobile subscriber numbers will pass 750mn by the end of 2013 and the one-billion mark sometime during 2015 - according to leading analysts at Informa
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NETWORK
Revenue
From market to market, whether Botswana or Mozambique, Knox said that regional operators will each have its own requirements. Of his company’s solution, CSG’s convergent billing suite Singleview, Knox said that while it can be configured for any operator requirement, taking a preconfigured solution approach will meet most of African MNO needs best. “A pre-configured solution gives them the benefit that they are not starting from scratch, they have a defined start point. They can then add their own elements after that.” And implementing a solution like Singleview apparently also avoids reconfiguration costs and delays associated with older systems where a software change request can take time and is expensive.
Investing in infrastructure Although, in some cases, local system integrators or the operator’s own IT departments may handle deployments of new billing/CRM platforms, a fully managed service option where the vendor would build, operate and manage the whole platform can be an option (CSG is a case in point). This has major cost benefits for an operator in not needing a large inhouse team of people trained and managing the system themselves. A lack of locally available skilled personnel is another issue which can be solved adopting a fully managed service approach. As to whether it’s worth making extensive changes to billing and CRM solutions at this time when, for many operators, revenues are tight, and capacity, coverage and connectivity must be ensured to even meet the growing broadband/data demands of users, Knox said that if an operator is going to roll out and invest in infrastructure then they need to ensure they can achieve a suitable ROI, and must, therefore, have the systems in place to bill for the new services they launch. He said MNOs need to do these things in parallel, otherwise they could find themselves in a worst-case scenario of having spent, in some cases, hundreds of millions, and then not being able to recoup quickly enough to ensure business viability. “We’ve actually seen operators in this exact situation where much has been spent on infrastructure and then there is a mad scramble to get the billing systems in place in order to generate revenue - because the only way to do so is if you can bill people for your services!”
David Knox, senior product manager, CSG International
“We want to help African MNOs achieve better customer retention. For instance, if we can help stop people having a multitude of SIM cards in their pockets by having just the operator’s own network SIM in their pocket, that would boost the operator’s ARPU.” He said the use of the pre-configured models is one of the ways in which they’re achieving this. A family group service, is one example, where an operator could very quickly launch a service offering a father and all of his family members a single plan.
In Africa’s broadband/data-rich future the use of data by subscribers offers an opportunity for MNOs to derive generous new revenues, but billing for data will be a challenge. “It will be important for operators to keep their subscribers informed as to how much they are spending / consuming in relation to new data services,” said Knox. “It will also be important for operators to be able to offer subscribers add-on products in real time that they are willing to pay for, thereby offering new revenue opportunities for the operator, and in order to monetise these data services effectively, operators will need to deploy flexible, integrated charging and policy solutions.” ✆
Tim Guest The family bundle offering provides free or discounted calls or texts, so that all the family share the same bundle, with its set of inclusive minutes – voice, texts and data – and all family members draw down their usage from this single bundle. In this way, the operator is doing its best to keep them all together, driving loyalty, rather than fighting the existing scenarios of one family having multiple SIM cards and services from different operators. “When we speak to operators,” said Knox, “this is why we focus on preconfigured use cases showing them what they can achieve with each. And they can see the relevance of those packages and their related ROI models. That helps in setting pricing and projecting uptake and usage.”
28 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Developed by CSG, Singleview enables charging and billing for any combination of services and payment methods. An operator using Singleview can offer the same services and bundles/offers to all of their customers, irrespective of how they want to pay for them. This gives great power and flexibility to the operator. In order to make Singleview as cost effective and rapid to deploy as possible, (both key criteria for the African market), CSG has pre-configured a set of products and services in Singleview and offers a complete out-of-the-box solution for real-time charging and policy management called ICP (Integrated Charging and Policy). ICP can be deployed as an adjunct solution or as a full legacy replacement, enabling rapid and effective monetisation of data services and flexibility to stay ahead of the competition.
www.communicationsafrica.com
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BROADCAST
Buyers’ Guide Guide de l’acheteur 20 1 3
The guide to the major international manufacturers in all areas of broadcasting and their agents throughout Africa. Classifieds - Manufacturers listed under type Suppliers - With Agents’ names Local Agents - Index
Ce guide contient une liste des principaux fabricants internationaux de matériel de l’audiovisuelle ainsi que leurs distributeurs en Afrique. Liste des produits avec fabricants par produits Liste des fabricants avec noms des distributeurs en Afrique Liste des distributeurs locaux
Classifieds Amplifiers
Digital Video Equipment
Radiocommunications
Comtech EF Data Corp. Kathrein France
African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. C2S Nigeria DTL Broadcast Ltd. Harmonic Quantel Limited
Icom (UK) Ltd. Kathrein France Memotec Inc. Netia Spectrum Communications
Distribution & Links
Receivers - Domestic
African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. Afrikanet Oxford Consultech GlobeCast MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. PCCW Global Ltd. Singapore Telecommunications Limited
Icom (UK) Ltd. Kathrein France
Down Converters
Antennas - Industrial Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Kathrein France
Audio - Other DTL Broadcast Ltd. Ghielmetti AG Netia
Automation and Control Harris Systems Limited Netia
Batteries and Chargers Spectrum Communications
Broadcast Towers & Masts, Channel Combiner Units & Filters Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Broadcast Facilities Build & Operation Ghielmetti AG GlobeCast PCCW Global Ltd. Singapore Telecommunications Limited
Cables & Cable Equipment Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd Kathrein France Reichle & De-Massari AG
AnaCom Inc. Axon Digital Design Comtech EF Data Corp.
Editing Systems C2S Nigeria Grass Valley Netia Quantel Limited
Encoders/Decoders African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. DTL Broadcast Ltd. Grass Valley Harmonic
Filters Kathrein France
Graphics Systems
Camcorders
Quantel Limited
C2S Nigeria
Headend Equipment
Cameras - ENG/EFP
African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. Harmonic Harris Systems Limited Newtec Cy n.v
Kathrein France
Intelsat MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. Memotec Inc. Newtec Cy n.v PCCW Global Ltd. Redwood Technologies Ltd. Reichle & De-Massari AG Singapore Telecommunications Limited SkyVision Global Networks Space Television Spectrum Communications Thrane & Thrane A/S
Satellite Communications
Test & Measurement
African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. Afrikanet Oxford Consultech Amos-SpaceCom AnaCom Inc. Applied Satellite Technology SA (Pty) Ltd CET Teleport Comtech EF Data Corp. GlobeCast Hellas Sat Consortium Ltd. Intelsat MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. Memotec Inc. Milano Teleport S.p.A. Newtec Cy n.v PCCW Global Ltd. Singapore Telecommunications Limited SkyVision Global Networks Space Television Thaicom Public Company Ltd. Thrane & Thrane A/S
Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd Ghielmetti AG GL Communications Inc. Kathrein France
Receivers - Industrial
Satellite Receivers
AnaCom Inc.
AnaCom Inc. Comtech EF Data Corp. Harmonic Kathrein France Newtec Cy n.v Rascomstar-QAF Space Television
Microwave Links
SMATV - Systems & Components Space Television
Axon Digital Design Quantel Limited
Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Memotec Inc. Spectrum Communications
Connectors
Newsroom Systems
Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd Kathrein France Reichle & De-Massari AG
Studio Furnitures
Grass Valley Harris Systems Limited Quantel Limited
Ghielmetti AG
Decoders
OB Vans
Harmonic
DTL Broadcast Ltd. GlobeCast Harris Systems Limited
Grass Valley
Cameras - Lenses C2S Nigeria
Cameras - Studio
LNBs
Grass Valley
Colour Correctors
Digital Glue / Distribution Cabinets Axon Digital Design
www.communicationsafrica.com
Standards Converters Axon Digital Design
Telecommunications Afrikanet Oxford Consultech Amos-SpaceCom AnaCom Inc. Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Applied Satellite Technology SA (Pty) Ltd CET Teleport Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd GL Communications Inc.
Transmitters and Antennas AnaCom Inc. Applied Satellite Technology SA (Pty) Ltd Kathrein France Memotec Inc.
Turnkey Systems African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. Afrikanet Oxford Consultech Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. Harris Systems Limited SkyVision Global Networks
Uninteruptible Power Supplies Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd
Video - Other DTL Broadcast Ltd. Ghielmetti AG Intelsat MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. Netia
VSATs Afrikanet Oxford Consultech Amos-SpaceCom AnaCom Inc. MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. Memotec Inc. Newtec Cy n.v PCCW Global Ltd. Singapore Telecommunications Limited SkyVision Global Networks Space Television
VTR - Professional C2S Nigeria
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BROADCAST BUYERS’ GUIDE 2013
Suppliers AAE Systems Inc. 642 North Pastoria Avenue Sunnyvale CA 94085 USA Tel: +1 408 7321710 Fax: +1 408 7323095 Web: www.aaesys.com E-mail: sales@aaesys.com
Advantech 380 Fairview Way Milpitas CA 95035 USA Tel: +1 408 5193898 Web: www.advantech.com
African Union Communication (Pty) Ltd. PO Box 4187 Rietvalleirand 0174 South Africa Tel: +27 12 0018670 Fax: +27 12 3474376 Web: www.aucom.co.za E-mail: info@aucom.com.za admin@aucom.co.za
Amos-SpaceCom
Asia Broadcast Satellite Limited
7 Menachem Begin Street Ramat Gan, 52521 Israel Tel: +972 3 7551000 Fax: +972 3 7551001 Web: www.amos-spacecom.com E-mail: amos-info@amos-spacecom.com
PO Box 502129 Unit 1701 Al Thuraya Tower 1 Dubai Media City Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 4542677 Fax: +971 4 4542655 Web: www.absatellite.net E-mail: salesmea@absatellite.com
Agents:
Cameroon - MDR Space Ltd. Congo DR - NITD Solutions SPRL Senegal - Systemes PV South Africa - Eltekon satellite Consulting & Services Zambia - Network Consultants Limited
AnaCom Inc. 1996 Lundy Ave San Jose, CA 95131 USA Tel: +1 571 294 7456 Fax: +1 408 716 2538 Web: www.anacominc.com E-mail: sales@anacominc.com Agents:
Afrikanet Oxford Consultech Oxford Culham Innovation Centre Science Center, Building D5 Oxford England OX14 3DB United Kingdom Tel: +44 1865 408365 Fax: +44 207 9006479 Web: www.afrikanet.net E-mail: contact@afrikanet.net Agents:
Angola - Afrikanet Angola Cameroon - Afrikanet Cemac Online SARL Chad - Presta-Bist Telecom Afrikanet Chad Congo DR - Afrikanet DRC Cote D’Ivoire - Airti-Afrikanet Cote D’Ivoire
Alcatel-Lucent 3 av. Octave Gréard Paris 75007 France Tel: +33 1 40764924/1400 Fax: +33 1 40761413 Web: www.alcatel-lucent.com E-mail: regine.coqueran@alcatellucent.com
South Africa - Stratosat Datacom (Pty) Ltd.
Andrew Wireless Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd. PO Box 786117 11 Commerce Crescent West Eastgate, Sandton, 2146 South Africa Tel: +27 11 7196000 Fax: +27 11 4445393 Web: www.andrew.com www.commscope.com/andrew E-mail: asa@commscope.com
Applied Satellite Technology SA (Pty) Ltd 102 Willem Botma Street Wierda Park, Centurion, 0046 South Africa Tel: +27 12 0018010 Web: www.ast-sa.co.za E-mail: info@satcomms.com
ArabSat
30 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Axon Digital Design PO Box 48, Gilze, 5126 The Netherlands Tel: +31 16 1850450 Fax: +31 16 1850499 Web: www.axon.tv E-mail: info@axon.tv Agents:
Egypt - Etaco South Africa - Jasco ICT - Broadcast Solutions South Africa - Neimeyer A.J.
C2S Nigeria 5b, Afolabi Awosanya Street Off Agbaoku Street, Opebi Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria Tel: +234 803 7591870 Web: www.c2snigeria.com C2S Nigeria is an authorised reseller for broadcast equipment brands including Sony, JVC, Canon, Arri, Editshare, TVUPack, AJA, Playbox, Datavideo, Evertz, Harmonic, Sennheiser and many more!
CET Teleport Bexen 2, Aerzen 31855 Germany Tel: +49 5154 9371001 Fax: +49 5154 9371010/3524 Web: www.cetteleport.com E-mail: info@cetteleport.com
Comtech EF Data Corp.
Agents:
Egypt - Alcatel-Lucent Egypt
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) is one of the fastest growing satellite operations in the world. ABS offers a complete range of solutions including DTH, CATV, Cellular Backhaul, Vsat and Internet Backbone Services. ABS operates four satellites with its fifth Satellite (ABS 2) in Construction and scheduled to launch in 2013.
PO Box 1038 Diplomatic Quarter Riyadh 11431 Saudi Arabia Tel: +966 1 4820000 Fax: +966 1 4887999 Web: www.arabsat.com E-mail: info@arabsat.com
2114 West 7th Street Tempe Arizona 85281 USA Tel: +1 480 3332200 Fax: +1 480 3332540 Web: www.comtechefdata.com E-mail: sales@comtechefdata.com
Comtech EF Data is the leader in satellite bandwidth efficiency and link optimization. Our products include Advanced VSAT Solutions, Modems, RAN & WAN Optimization, managed Bandwidth and RF products. We are a technology innovator, providing exceptional product quality and reliabilty. Our solutions enable users to reduce OPEX/CAPEX and increase throughout.
Corning Inc. One Riverfront Plaza Corning New York 14831 USA Tel: +1 607 9749000 Fax: +1 607 9745927 Web: www.corning.com E-mail: inquiries@corning.com Agents:
South Africa - Corning Products SA (Pty) Ltd.
DTL Broadcast Ltd. Johnson’s Estate Hayes Middlesex UB3 3BA United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 88135200 Fax: +44 20 88135022 Web: www.dtl-broadcast.com E-mail: info@dtl-broadcast.com DTL Broadcast market extensive ranges of rack mount and stand alone miniature video and audio converters, distributors and and audio embedders/de-embedders. If you work with formats such as SMPTE SDI, composite and component video, AES and analogue audio, you’ve come to the right place! Just call +44 (20) 88135200
Eutelsat
70, rue Balard Paris Cedex 15 F-75502 France Tel: +33 1 53 984747 Fax: +33 1 53 983700 Web: www.eutelsat.com E-mail: booking@eutelsat.fr African Office Eutelsat Africa 2nd Floor, West Floor Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton Johannesburg Tel: +27 11 8815512
www.communicationsafrica.com
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Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd
GlobeCast
Hughes Network Systems LLC
8 Simmonds Street Cnr Webber Street Selby Johannesburg 2001 South Africa Tel: +27 116301000 Fax: +27 116301229 Web: www.falconelectronics.co.za E-mail: info@fe.co.za
5, all e Gustave Eiffel Issy les Moulineaux 92136 France Tel: +33 1 55952600 Fax: +33 1 55952700 Web: www.globecast.com E-mail: info@globecast.com Agents:
Office 1206 City Tower 1 Sheikh Zayed Road Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 3326300 Fax: +971 4 3326292 Web: www.hughes.com E-mail: hughesam@eim.ae
Kenya - GlobeCast Nairobi South Africa - GlobeCast Africa
Icom (UK) Ltd.
Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd is a leading supplier in southern Africa of Data Center Network and Racking Equipment; Communication Solutions; and Data Center Power. Falcon has been in the IT industry forever 25 years and has extensive industry experience, with the emphasis on supplying quality products and services. Branches in South Africa: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth Agents:
South Africa - Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd
Gazprom Space Systems, JSC
Gazprom Space Systems Moscovskaya street, 77B Schelkovo Moscow Region 141070 Russia Tel: +7 495 5042906 Fax: +7 495 5042911 Web: www.gazprom-spacesystems.ru E-mail: info@gazprom-spacesystems.ru
Ghielmetti AG Industriestrasse 6 Biberist 4562 Switzerland Tel: +41 32 6711313 Fax: +41 32 6711314 Web: www.ghielmetti.ch E-mail: info@ghielmetti.ch Agents:
Morocco - Abchir SARL
GL Communications Inc.
Grass Valley 17 rue du Petit Albi BP 8244 Cergy Pontoise Cedex 95801 France Tel: +33 1 34207000 Fax: +33 1 34207047 Web: www.grassvalley.com E-mail: nicolas.jomard@thomson.net
Grass Valley 475 Brannan Street, Suite 400 San Francisco California 94107 USA Tel: +1 415 8526500 Fax: +1 415 8546569 Web: www.grassvalley.com
Harmonic 4300 North First Street San Jose California 95134 USA Tel: +1 408 5422500 Fax: +1 408 5422511 Web: www.harmonicinc.com E-mail: info@harmonicinc.com
Harris Systems Limited 1010 Eskdale Road Winnersh Wokingham Berkshire RG41 5TS United Kingdom Tel: +44 118 9648000 Fax: +44 118 9648001 Web: www.broadcast.harris.com E-mail: sales.emea@harris.com
Hellas Sat Consortium Ltd. 818 West Diamond Avenue Third Floor Gaithersburg 20878 USA Tel: +1 301 6704784 Fax: +1 301 6709187 Web: www.gl.com E-mail: gl-info@gl.com
www.communicationsafrica.com
PO Box 27556 Nicosia 2435 Cyprus Tel: +357 22 861400 Fax: +357 22 861510 Web: www.hellas-sat.net E-mail: sales@hellas-sat.net
Blacksole House, The Boulevard Altira Park, Herne Bay Kent CT6 6GZ United Kingdom Tel: +44 1227 743030 Fax: +44 1227 743090 Web: www.icomuk.co.uk E-mail: export@icomuk.co.uk Whether a few portable radios for local area coverage or larger more-complex systems, ICOM UK have a solution for you. ICOM UK LTD are distributors of ICOM High-Quality Radio Communications equipment. Available in a range of HF, VHF and UHF options in both analogue and digital formats.
iDirect Technologies 13865 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 100 Herndon Virginia 20171 USA Tel: +1 866 3450983 Web: www.idirect.net
Inmarsat 99 City Road London EC1Y 1AX United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 77281777/20 77281000 Fax: +44 20 77281142 Web: www.inmarsat.com E-mail: customer_care@inmarsat.com
Intelsat
3400 International Drive, NW Washington D.C. 20008 USA Tel: +1 202 9446800 Fax: +1 202 9447898 Web: www.intelsat.com
Interactive Intelligence
Thames Central Hatfield Road Slough Berkshire SL1 1QE United Kingdom Tel: +44 1753 418 800 Web: www.inin.com E-mail: martina.knappe@inin.com
Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications
2nd Smolensky per., 1/4 121099 Moscow Russia Tel: +7 499 2528333 Fax: +7 499 2410784 Web: www.intersputnik.com E-mail: dir@intersputnik.com The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications was established 15 November 1971. Today, Intersputnik has 26 member states in practically all parts of the world, from Latin America to SouthEast Asia and from Europe to Africa.
Irdeto PO Box 3047 Hoofddorp 2130 The Netherlands Tel: +31 23 5562222/5562000 Fax: +31 23 5562240 Web: www.irdeto.com Agents:
South Africa - Irdeto Africa
Kathrein France 7 Rue des Gardes Verri res-le-Buisson 91370 France Tel: +33 1 69536453 Fax: +33 1 69536454 Web: www.kathrein.fr E-mail: kathrein@kathrein.fr
Agents:
South Africa - Intelsat
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Measat Broadcast Network Systems (ASTRO)
MEASAT Teleport and Broadcast Centre Jalan Teknokrat 1/2 Cyberjaya 63000 Malaysia Tel: +60(3) 8213 2188 Fax: +60(3) 8213 2233 Web: www.measat.com E-mail: sales@measat.com MEASAT is a premium supplier of satellite communication services to leading international broadcasters, DTH platforms and telecom operators. In Africa, the AFRICASAT-1a satellite at 46.0°E provides high powered state of the art satellite capacity across the African continent, with connectivity to Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia.
Netia
Quantel Limited
Reichle & De-Massari AG
377 Chemin de Farjou Claret, 34270, France Tel: +33 4 67590807 Fax: +33 4 67590820 Web: www.netia.com E-mail: i.michoux@netia.com
Turnpike Road Newbury Berkshire RG14 2NX United Kingdom Tel: +44 1635 48222 Fax: +44 1635 815815 Web: www.quantel.com E-mail: marketing@quantel.com
Binzstrasse 32 Wetzikon, 8622 Switzerland Tel: +41 44 9338111 Fax: +41 44 9304941 Web: www.rdm.com E-mail: hq@rdm.com
Netia, a globecast company is a leading provider of software solutions enabling efficient management and delivery of content to today’s full array of media platforms. Relied on by more than 1,000 users in 200 installations over 40 countries, Netia solutions allow content producers to manage content from ingest to delivery. Agents:
Egypt - ETACO Ethiopia - Fortune Enterprise PLC Ethiopia - USI South Africa - Soundfusion
Newtec Cy n.v
To contact our agent in Africa, please call. Tel: +254 731 434 789 E-mail: edna@measat.com
Laarstraat 5 Sint-Niklaas, 9100 Belgium Tel: +32 3 7806500 Fax: +32 3 7806549 Web: www.newtec.eu E-mail: sales@newtec.eu
Memotec Inc.
O3b Networks Ltd.
7755 Henri Bourassa Blvd. West Montreal Quebec H4S 1P7 Canada Tel: + 1 514 7384781 Fax: + 1 514 7384436 Web: www.memotec.com E-mail: communication@memotec.com memotecsupport@memotec.com
Milano Teleport S.p.A. Via Cascina Nuova, 1 Lacchiarella Milan 20084 Italy Tel: +39 02 89085000 Fax: +39 02 90032728 Web: www.milanoteleport.com E-mail: info@milanoteleport.com sales@milanotelport.com Milano Teleport S.p.A. operates the largest independent teleport in Italy. Founded in 1997 its business spans from DTH and DTT TV Broadcasting to Broadband Wireless and Maritime services worldwide. For the Media & Broadcast Industry, Milano Teleport provides Satellite Services Worldwide (DTH, DTT, Contribution Links, Turn Around Services and Video over IP Connections) leveraging its modern Uplink Facility and its massive fiber connections with European main carriers.
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 5 Den Haag, 2582 The Netherlands Tel: +31 70 7116500 Web: www.o3bnetworks.com E-mail: getconnected@o3bnetworks.com
Pace PLC Victoria Road Saltaire, West Yorkshire England BD18 3LF United Kingdom Tel: +44 1274 532000 Fax: +44 1274 532010 Web: www.pace.com
PCCW Global Ltd. 33rd Floor PCCW Tower, Taikoo Place Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Tel: +1 703 6211590 Fax: +1 703 3732612 Web: www.pccwglobal.com E-mail: africa@pccwglobal.com PCCW Global is an operating division of HKT, Hong Kong s premier telecommunications service provider which is majority-owned by PCCW Limited. With teams based in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas, PCCW Global serves the voice and data needs of multinational enterprises. Covering more than 1,800 cities and 120 countries, the PCCW Global network supports a portfolio of integrated global communications solutions. To learn more about PCCW Global, please visit www.pccwglobal.com.
32 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Rascomstar-QAF
1 Place du President Wilson Toulouse 31000 France Tel: +33 5 34572340 Fax: +33 5 61298214 Web: www.rascomstar.com E-mail: marketing@rascomstar.com RascomStar-QAF is a pan-African satellite operator mandated by the pan-African governmental organization RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication Organization), which is a convention of 45 African countries acting through their Telecommunication Ministries to support its project. RSQ operates the RASCOM-QAF1R (RQ1R) satellite, successfully launched in August 2010 and is fully operational for an in-orbit lifetime of 18 years. The RQ1R satellite transponders bear four categories of managed services: • GSM Extension Service (R*GES) based on low cost easy to install GSM integrated site • Telephony Extension Service (R*TES) based on low cost easy to install small Ku-band terminals • High Speed Internet Service (HSI) is an optional service for R*TES and R*GES to provide broadband connectivity • Backbone Connectivity Service (R*BCS) connecting gateways (any to any) in Africa
SES Broadband Services Ch teau de Betzdorf Betzdorf, 6815 Luxembourg Tel: +352 710725545 Web: www.ses.com E-mail: broadband@ses.com Agents:
South Africa - SES Broadband Services
Signalhorn Illerstrasse 15 Backnang 71522 Germany Tel: +49 7191 9710 Fax: +49 7191 971100 Web: www.signalhorn.com E-mail: info@signalhorn.com
Singapore Telecommunications Limited
31 Exeter Road #26-00 Comcentre 239732 Singapore Tel: +65 67 880022 Fax: +65 64 834140 Web: www.singtelteleport.com E-mail: satellite@singtel.com With more than 35 years of experience in fixed satellite services and over 20 years of experience in mobile satellite services, SingTel Satellite has been proven to be a leading provider of customised satellite solutions for industries such as broadcasting, business continuity, remote telephony, data communications, emergency relief operations, maritime and offshore.
• In addition to Managed Services, RSQ can lease raw capacity: Bandwidth Lease Service (R*BLS) in both Ku and C-band for customers needing to deploy their own telecommunication networks such as VSAT networks, TV contributions, GSM Backhauling, Internet access, etc
We are recruiting new African resellers & agents. Be an authorised SingTel Reseller or Systems Integrator Today!
Agents:
SkyVision Global Networks
Mauritius - Rascomstar-QAF
Redwood Technologies Ltd. The Redwood Building Broad Lane, Bracknell Berkshire RG12 9GU United Kingdom Tel: +44 1344 304344 Fax: +44 1344 304345 Web: www.redwoodtech.com E-mail: sales@redwoodtech.com
PO Box 7328 Hanagar Street 8, Neve Neeman B Hod Hasharon 45240 Israel Tel: +972 3 9230311 Web: www.skyvision.net
www.communicationsafrica.com
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SkyVision Global Networks
Spectrum Communications
Kinetic Business Centre Theobald Street Borehamwood Hertfordshire WD6 4PJ United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 83871750 Fax: +44 20 83874004 Web: www.skyvision.net E-mail: info@skyvision.net
PO Box 8983 Sharjah United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 6 5572592 Fax: +971 6 5572593 Web: www.spectrummea.com E-mail: sales@spectrummea.com
Soicex Electronique 5, Avenue des Cr tes BP 92139 Ramonville St-Agne, 31520 France Tel: +33 5 61733072 Fax: +33 5 61756040 Web: www.soicex.com E-mail: contact@soicex.com
Spectrum Communications is a leading Manufacturer of Microwave Radio Systems and Provided of Total Turnkey Transmission Solution to Network Operators in the Middle East and Africa. Partnering with Comnet SARL provides Spectrum the ability to provide complete Alternate Wind Turbine and Solar Panel based Solution for Remote Locations.
Thrane & Thrane A/S
Thaicom Public Company Ltd.
Explorer Bgan Satellite terminals from Thrane & Thrane are mobile broadband units enabling broadcast units enabling broadcasters to transmit live from any hotspot in the world from the minute they arrive, EXPLORE terminals combined with a low bit-rate video codec provides a mobile, cost efficient and easy to use solution for mobile SNG.
Space Television PO Box 9317 78 Republic Road Ferndale Randburg Johannesburg, 2000 South Africa Tel: +27 11 7819900 Fax: +27 11 7819908 Web: www.spacetv.co.za E-mail: sales@spacetv.co.za
Thaicom, one of Asia s leading satellite operators, delivers expertise and technological firsts to customers worldwide. With AFRICOM-1 the payload mission dedicated to Africa on the THAICOM-6 satellite the company will provide broadcasters and telecom operators in Africa with a full range of satcom end-to-end services via its PanAfrican high-power C-band beams.
41/103, Rattanatibet Road Nontaburi Province, 11000 Thailand Tel: +66 2 596 5060/5910736/49 Fax: +66 2 9505058 Web: www.thaicom.net www.africomsat.com E-mail: pradeepu@thaicom.net
Lundtoftegardsvej 93 D 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark Tel: +45 39 558800 Fax: +45 39 558888 Web: www.thrane.com E-mail: info@thrane.com
Thuraya PO Box 33344 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 2 6422222 Fax: +971 2 6317755 Web: www.thuraya.com
Viewsat Building CH5 Normandy Business Park Cobbett Hill Road Guilford GU3 2AA United Kingdom Tel: +44 1483 235400 Fax: +44 208 1814591 Web: www.viewsat.eu E-mail: safia@viewsat.eu
Yahsat Al Falah Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 2 5100000 Fax: +971 2 5100001 Web: www.yahsat.ae E-mail: info@yahsat.ae Agents:
South Africa - Star Network Marketing Services Company
Agents ANGOLA Afrikanet Angola Casa 19 rua 48 Cassaquel do Borraco Maninaga Luanda E-mail: luanda@Afrikanet.net
NITD Solutions SPRL
Etaco
Boulevard du 30 juin residence Taba Congo App.8, Commune de la Gombe Tel: +243 0 15102447/991417303 E-mail: freddy.mangala@nitdsolutions.com
15, Nasser El Thawra Street Al Haram Cairo Tel: +20 2 3586527 Fax: +20 2 7794989
ETHIOPIA CAMEROON Afrikanet Cemac Online SARL BP 25240, Younde Tel: +237 22621739/+44 56 01569712 E-mail: cemac@afrikanet.net
MDR Space Ltd. Bastos Yaounde BP 35446 Tel: +237 22 208078 Fax: +237 73 626468 Web: MDR.space.cm@gmail.com
CHAD Presta-Bist Telecom - Afrikanet Chad Avenue Charles De Gaulles PO Box 587, N’Djamena Tel: +235 66 29 93 78 E-mail: prestabist@afrikanet.net
CONGO DR Afrikanet DRC Avenue Colonel Ebeya Kinshasa Tel: +243 998 204833 E-mail: cnc@Afrikanet.net
www.communicationsafrica.com
COTE D’IVOIRE Airti-Afrikanet - Cote D’Ivoire 28 BP 989 Abidjan 28 Tel: + 225 24 493779 E-mail: airti@afrikanet.net constantbrou@airti-ci.ne
EGYPT Alcatel - Lucent Egypt PO Box 5 Building 144, Smart Village KM 28 Cairo - Alex Desert Road Giza 12577 Tel: +202 3539 55 55 Fax: +202 3539 23 30
ETACO 15 Nasser Elthawra Street Al Haram Cairo 12111 Tel: +20 2 5865270 Fax: +20 1 22126503/2 7794989 E-mail: mhalawa@etacoegypt.com
Fortune Enterprise PLC PO Box 1525 Adis Abada Tel: +251 91 1233905 Fax: +251 11 3715429 E-mail: amduri@aethiopic.com
USI PO Box 2362 6th Floor Haile Gebre-Selassie Building Addis Abada 110 Tel: +25 111 6627303 Fax: +25 111 6627302 Web: www.usiethiopia.com E-mail: michael.shebelle@usi.com.et
KENYA
MAURITIUS Rascomstar - QAF Rogers House 5 President John Kennedy Street Port Louis Web: www.rascomstar.com E-mail: marketing@rascomstar.com
MOROCCO Abchir SARL 15 Angle Bd D’Alexandrie et Rue d’Armenie Quartier des Hopitaux Tel: +212 22864451 Fax: +212 22864450 Web: www.abchir.ma E-mail: salima@abchir.ma
SENEGAL Systemes PV Dakar Tel: +221 33 825 97 55 Fax: +221 77 569 8017 E-mail: contact@systemespv.com
GlobeCast Nairobi PO Box 1069 Sarit Centre Nairobi 0606 Tel: +254 20 2720011/71 2135664
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SOUTH AFRICA Corning Products SA (Pty) Ltd. Perseverance Industrial Park 25 Kohler Road Port Elizabeth 6209 Tel: +27 41 4046400 Fax: +27 41 4046440
Eltekon satellite Consulting & Services Mogale City 1746 Tel: + 27 83 2836861 E-mail: kevin@eltekonsat.com
Falcon Electronics (Pty) Ltd 8 Simmonds Street Johannesburg South Africa Tel: +27 11 6301000 Fax: +27 116301202 Web: www.falconelectronics.co.za E-mail: grant@fe.co.za
GlobeCast Africa
Neimeyer A.J.
Penthouse Level Mentone Centre 1 Park Road, Richmond 2092 Tel: +27 11 4822790 Fax: +27 11 4822792
PO Box 652374 Benmore 2010 Tel: +27 11 7841322 Fax: +27 11 7841304 Web: www.broadcastequipment.co.za
Intelsat
SES Broadband Services
138 West Street Second Floor Sandton Tel: +27 11 5354700 Fax: +27 11 8847269
The Pivot, Block E 2nd Floor Monte Casino Boulevard Fourways Johannesburg
Irdeto - Africa
PO Box 3073 Pinegowrie Gauteng Afrique du Sud 2123 Tel: +27 11 8380620/21/22/23/24 Fax: +27 11 8380625 E-mail: soundf@global.co.za
Watershed House 147 Bram Fisher Drive Randburg, 2194 Tel: +27 11 2893856 Fax: +27 11 8862042 E-mail: ssanders@irdeto.com
Jasco ICT - Broadcast Solutions
Soundfusion
Star Network Marketing Services Company Unit 101, The Gatehouse Century Way Century City, 7441 Cape Town 8000 Tel: +27 21 5285200 Fax: +27 21 5285219 E-mail: africa@yahsat.ae
Stratosat Datacom (Pty) Ltd. 24/26 Spartan Road Aeroport Ext. 21 Spartan 1619 Tel: +27 11 9740006 Fax: +27 11 9740068 Web: www.stratosat.co.za E-mail: alan@stratosat.co.za
ZAMBIA Network Consultants Limited 6879 Olympia Park Extension Postnet #343 P/Bag E891 Lusaka Tel: +260 211 290674/977 445708 E-mail: chewe@netcon.co.zm
Cnr Alexandra Avenue 2nd Road, Midrand, 1685 Tel: +27 11 2661500 Fax: +27 11 2661532 Web: www.jasco.co.za
Major boost for local content development in East Africa THE GROWING IMPORTANCE of Kenya’s electronic media and creative content industries was emphasised in President Kenyatta’s speech to the opening session of Parliament in which he said his government would introduce legislation to increase the required level of local content for local free-to-air TV channels from 40 per cent to 60 per cent. Referring to the recent international accolades for Kenyan, productions, he gave a great boost to Kenya’s creative arts industry by stating in no uncertain terms the vital role the sector has to play in the economy: “Kenyans who have received international recognition have shown that investing in the arts and entertainment sectors will not only create jobs. It will boost tourism and promote our culture around the world.” President Kenyatta’s initiative follows a convergence of industry events to gain leverage for the creative industries in East Africa. The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) and AITEC’s Broadcast, Film & Music Africa Conference (BFMA) have joined forces to increase the attraction of the region for creative content stakeholders to travel to East Africa in June to “network, learn and do business” according to AITEC’s business slogan. The two events take place back to back in June. BFMA takes place in Nairobi over 26-27 June and ZIFF’s dates are 29 June - 7 July. Commenting on this important industry President Uhuru Kenyatta partnership, AITEC Chairman Sean Moroney, said: “East Africa has great potential to become a centre of innovation and content generation for the electronic media industry. By working with ZIFF our aim is to create a compelling destination for film-makers, investors and potential partners from throughout Africa and internationally. There are great synergies between the two events. ZIFF is primarily focussed on production end -products and BFMA covers technology and business issues for the industry and content development, so together we are able to provide an unparalleled comprehensive industry overview for one trip into the region by international participants.”
34 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
A conference for the creative arts and broadcast industry The new government’s focus on the creative arts and broadcasting will heighten the relevance of the 2013 Broadcast, Film & Music Africa Conference, taking place at Nairobi’s prestigious Kenyatta international Conference Centre. Content development will be a major focus of the conference, which bills itself as ‘The Business & Technology Event for Creative Content & Electronic Media in Africa’. Over 80 local and international experts will be making presentations, participating in panel discussions or leading training workshops over the two-day event, attendend by over 1,000 film, broadcast and content development professionals from throughout the continent. Just under half of the countries in Africa have liberalised their broadcast markets and there has been a considerable growth in the number of new television and radio stations. The final opening up by the rest of the countries on the continent promises the kind of growth that the mobile market has experienced over the next five years. Whereas broadcast media used to be simply a small number of TV and radio channels, there is now a proliferation of ways in which broadcast programming can be received by its audiences including satellite, IP-TV, PC and mobile. Taken together, the number of channels and the many different ways of receiving programming has begun to fragment the traditional market. African broadcasters need to find new ways to sustain their audiences and attract new advertising. Africa’s broadcast and film industries are entering the new decade full of dynamism and potential as a result of last liberalisation in broadcasting and unprecedented entrepreneurial drive in film-making over the past decade. The 3rd African Broadcast and Film Conference will provide a stock-taking opportunity for players in both industries, and empower them with the knowledge and business contacts they need to build effectively on the gains so far.
www.communicationsafrica.com
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Internet
Where tele meets communications Developments seen in the broadcast industry - particularly, at NAB 2013 - have finally brought it into the communications space - as research underway indicates that broadcast and communications may soon become one industry
I
F THE PRACTICE of town-twinning were extended to trade fairs, the National Association of Broadcasters' annual exhibition could usefully be paired with the Consumer Electronics Show. Held in Las Vegas, in the USA, each January. CES was this year dominated by a push for larger and higher resolution television screens, orchestrated by companies such as Hitachi, JVC, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba. Their motive is to revive sales in a market where demand for 1920 x 1080 pixel screens has reached saturation. Where the consumer electronics market leads, content producers and broadcasters invariably follow. The most in-your-face exhibits at the NAB show were 3840 x 2160 'ultra-high-definition' screens in a range of sizes. By far the best of these was a prototype on the Sony stand, as crisp and clean as a 9.7 inch 'retina quality' Apple iPad but at 30 inch size. The auxiliary theme evident on many of NAB exhibition booths was the increasing integration of IP technology into broadcast infrastructure, from production right through to playout.
IP versus traditional audio/video routing Harris Broadcast's Stan Moote and Paul Greene delivered a paper exploring the merits of IP routing (Figure 1) compared with integrated baseband routing. "IP routing is a term that refers to a set of protocols which define data connections across many networks to route data from a source to a destination. These protocols build routing tables in order to know how to forward data. As broadcasters, we like to think of IP routing as a bunch of Ethernetconnected switches that open a path between devices. We are more interested in the bandwidth and connection ports available than in the protocols. "Video routers and IP routers are in no way similar. To add more to the difference, IP routing is packet based. Packets can be delivered via different paths and received in seemingly random order. Dropped packets often occur, resulting in retries that can be easily accomplished since IP routing is bidirectional. Bottom line is that the real-time nature of video routing is lost when switched over IP. www.communicationsafrica.com
Figure 1 60x60 IP HD-Video Router "All this may seem negative and make one feel IP routing is 100% undesirable within a broadcast plant. By taking advantage of higher Ethernet bandwidths, carefully configuring and provisioning the IP routing and switching components, IP routing can and will happen for sure in the future. "The key is to have a common router control structure that makes the operation seamless to the operator. An operator needs to select the source and destination regardless of which format or transport structure the signals are currently in. This requires a control structure that takes into account conversion and intelligent tie-line management to perform the grunt work of ensuring a seamless flow of signals throughout the plant.
"The initial implementation of this topology will be conversion devices external to the router responding to a central control system. As more and more processes get migrated into the router itself, the conversion devices will be integrated into the router’s I/O. This paves the way for even more functionalities within the router using a third signal path for metadata, watermarking and other signal tracking functions."
Next-generation DVB handhelds Peter Siebert of the Geneva-based DVB Project Office and Frank Hermann of Panasonic coauthored a presentation on the subject of next-generation DVB handhelds, “the ultimate air interface for mobile television”. Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
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Internet
BROADCAST
“After having published the DVB-H specification in 2004 and the T2-Lite Annex in the T2 specification DVB in 2011, there is now an additional mobile specification called Next Generation Handheld (NGH). T2Lite is basically a subset of the overall DVBT2 specification...specifically designed to be implemented easily in already existing broadcast infrastructure. It can be used in combination with T2 fixed broadcast reception. A broadcast network operator can add T2-Lite with marginal costs to an already existing terrestrial broadcast network. NGH on the other side provides the ideal solution for scenarios where compatibility to an already existing broadcast network is not required. Under these circumstances NGH can provide superior robustness and/or spectral efficiency as compared to T2-Lite. NGH combines a wide range of latest coding technology and is for sure the most advanced air interface for mobile broadcast. This new air interface combined with bigger screen sizes and improved resolution of new mobile devices like smart phones and tablets could result in an attractive service offering.”
IP based broadcast master control FOX Network's VP of Engineering & Development. Thomas Edwards, addressed the issue of creating a fully IP based master control system (Figure 2): "As Ethernet speeds of 10 and 40 gigabits per second are becoming more common, and as speeds of 100 gigabits per second are becoming available, the possibility of transporting uncompressed or lightly compressed HD video over Ethernet is becoming more realistic. The adoption of this technology could allow broadcasters to benefit from the economies of scale of a $21 billion Ethernet switch industry, to aggregate multiple video links into single connections, to have hitless redundant switching in the IP domain, and to use simpler video server systems based on offthe-shelf PC platforms. Ethernet could also provide for bandwidth independence to allow 4K and higher resolutions. "It is likely that the future master control may need to deal with SD, HD, 4K, and 8K formats simultaneously. Rather than devising and purchasing novel cabling systems for higher resolutions devised exclusively for broadcast, it is attractive simply to consider the use of 10 to 100 gigabits per second Ethernet. There can be a heterogeneous mix of uncompressed, 'visually lossless' compressed, and 'distribution/highly compressed' video of many resolutions simultaneously being sent over Ethernet in the broadcast plant."
36 Communications Africa Issue 3 2013
Figure 2 “All-IP” Master Control Schematic Cloud-based content distribution Inetsat CEO Pablo Salomon's theme was the use of cloud and edge video servers as an alternative to satellite for linear channel distribution. "We propose a 'distributed playout' distribution model for linear channels with no live content. It has many advantages in terms of cost and flexibility compared with the traditional satellite distribution model. In this model, satellite Integrated receiver/decoders at the local operator head ends are replaced with low cost video servers connected to low bandwidth internet connections to a back end platform in the cloud. "Each video server stores enough content so that previously aired content does not need to be distributed again in subsequent repetitions. Content and play list are distributed several hours before air time to ensure continuous playback even if the internet connection goes down for a few hours. The cloud back end monitors and updates the video servers with new content files and play list, allowing the automated operation of hundreds of video servers to be as simple as the operation of a single
server. This same architecture can also be used in combination with satellite for localisation/ad insertion purposes. "The key advantage of this model is its ability to replace the high cost satellite or fiber point to point connections that must have guaranteed bandwidth with low cost, low bandwidth internet connections with no need for guaranteed bandwidth or quality of service while achieving higher reliability and always high image quality on the feed output to the operator. In order to achieve this key advantage, channels must have some characteristics described in the following section. Another advantage is not requiring any equipment on the programmer or broadcaster side as no central playout or satellite uplink is needed. The content can be uploaded to the cloud and the channel can be managed from any desktop PC. Also, the internet connection required has the same low bandwidth requirements as the connection at the operator’s side. Even if the content needs to be distributed to hundreds of video servers, the channel will only need the bandwidth to upload it once to the cloud and then all the video servers will download it from the cloud.” ✆
NTP Technology Penta 721 IP routing and distribution interface
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EQUIPMENT
Entire Office Systems announced as Ericsson-LG distributor BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS FIRM Entire Office Systems (EOS) has been appointed the official distributors of Ericsson-LG products in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Aria Technologies Africa, the distributor of Ericsson-LG products in sub-Saharan Africa, announced the appointment of EOS at a recent function held in Harare, Zimbabwe. Also present at the function were representatives of the Postal and Regulatory
The Ericsson-LG ARIA SOHO telephone system designed for small and medium sized businesses.
Authority of Zimbabwe, telecommunications provider TelOne and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Information Communication and Technology. EOS specialises in reselling information communication technology solutions for both private institutions and the government. Petros Muchato, managing executive of the company said he welcomed the partnership with Aria Technologies, saying it would open up new opportunities. Muchato added that EOS would now be in a position to appoint resellers of their products in major towns across the region. “It brings stability to the market and we now have full control of our operations as we will now be able to sell products we have in stock and this will translate into growth in terms of market share and revenue,” he said. “Our focus is principally to serve both existing and potential customers in small and medium businesses, large business and e-government, telephony voice space and to deliver feature-rich products,” Muchato noted. Established in 2001, EOS claims it is a leading player in
the dynamic telecommunications technology sector. Hannes Viljoen, managing executive of Aria Technologies praised the partnership with EOS, saying that both companies had achieved a lot within a short space of time. Viljoen said the company could leverage on the introduction of optic fibre network to allow people to use cheaper modes of communication across the region.
The Ericsson-LG Wireless SOHO telephony system
Hetzner South Africa launches CM4all Sites SOUTH AFRICAN WEB hosting company Hetzner has expanded its partnership with web developer Content Management AG (CM-AG), integrating the CM4all site building solution into its portfolio. CM-AG announced that Hetzner has successfully launched an English-language version of CM4all Sites. The new product, named SiteBuilder, is available in Lite and Standard packages for R19 (approximately US$2) and R59 (US$6.50) per month, respectively. Founded in 1999, Hetzner currently hosts more than 230,000 active domains, making it the leading web hosting company in South Africa, CM-AG claimed. Athena Turner, marketing and communications manager at Hetzner said, “We have been cooperating successfully with CM-AG since 2008 and are confident that their latest site building solution will be appreciated by our customers. “CM4all Sites ideally combines outstanding usability with comprehensive and sophisticated functionality so that anyone at all can create and maintain a professional desktop and mobile website,” she explained. Due to CM-AG’s content management core, mobile websites can be created for iOS and Android smart phones directly within CM4all Sites. A well-structured menu allows users to precisely define which parts of the existing content they want to adopt and whether they want to add a mobile start page, CM-AG said.
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Robert Schovenberg, Management AG.
CEO
of
Content
When activated, CM4all Sites automatically publishes the mobile website and the desktop version simultaneously. CM4all Sites delivers numerous additional features,
including an instant setup page, an enhanced WYSIWYG editor and a comprehensive file browser with an interactive drop zone, the web developing company said. With CM4all’s new widget technology, users at all levels will be able to integrate features into their websites ranging from contact forms through to photo galleries and social media connectivity with Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Additionally, CM4all Sites is designed with an open widget API that enables the integration of third-party services and allows for continuous development of widgets by CMAG, OEM partners and external software engineers. Robert Schovenberg, CEO of CM-AG, added, “We are very pleased that our long-standing OEM partner Hetzner South Africa has successfully integrated CM4all Sites into its VAS portfolio. “Strategically designed to support every business model from DIY to BIFM, CM4all Sites meets the complex demands of today’s hosting providers and enables Hetzner South Africa to market traditional hosting services in an appealing, all-inclusive paid website package.” The user interface of the English-language version of CM4all Sites was adapted to Hetzner South Africa’s corporate design. CM-AG safeguards the software’s availability with 24hour support and continuously updates both the operating system and the software application.
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Alcatel-Lucent to service ACE cable system ALCATEL-LUCENT HAS signed an agreement under which it will help service the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system. The company, which made the deal with an ACE consortium, will help maintain 6,300km of the cable which links Africa to Portugal from its ship based in Cape Verde. In service since December 2012, the ACE interconnects 15 African countries, seven of which it has connected to the Internet for the first time. Yves Ruggeri, chairman of the consortium’s management committee said, “Since its commercial service, the ACE has delivered fast and cost-effective capacity to end-users and a valid alternative route to provide everyone with broadband access. Alcatel-
Lucent’s turnkey expertise and experience will help us maintain the reliability and continuity of services that are so crucial to social and economic development.” With an ultimate design capacity of 5.12 terabits per second, the cable system provides a high-speed data network that supports broadband services such as e-education and healthcare applications and is designed to address present and future needs for connectivity and capacity. The overall system spans 17,000km, linking South Africa to France via Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Tenerife
(Spain) and Portugal. ACE also joins other African systems to the Atlantic private maintenance agreement (APMA), allowing operators to access Alcatel-Lucent’s maintenance vessels and specialist personnel for cable repairs. Philippe Dumont, president of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks added, “This contract further strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s leading role as a marine service provider, helping operators ensure optimal network availability and quality of service. We are pleased to continue our co-operation with the ACE consortium to deliver a tailored solution adapting to the particular maintenance philosophies of individual cable owners and their needs.”
Globacom and Huawei seal US$750 million deal CHINESE COMPANY HUAWEI will assist the upgrade and expansion of Globacom’s telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria as part of a recent agreement signed by the two companies worth US$750mn. Muhammed Jameel, chief operating officer of Globacom, said the new deal would enable the telecommunications firm to embark on a holistic overhaul of its network with a view to providing better services to more than 25mn of its subscribers across the country. Jameel commented, “In preparation for our 10th year anniversary in Nigeria, we have decided to concentrate on upgrading our network with the latest technology, which can provide a bullish network that can provide better services to our customers.” Globacom’s chief operating officer explained that under the contract, Huawei would upgrade every element of the network, ranging from base transceiver stations (BTS), mobile switching centres (MSC) and transmission infrastructures, among others. “In the contract, BTS, microwave radio facilities and MSC will be upgraded… it will also include back-hauling of the total network with a view
to delivering a total network with the most modern equipment,” Jameel said. “We are upgrading the transport network from 10 gigabytes (GB) to 100 GB. This will enable more data services,” he added. According to Jameel, the upgrade of Globacom’s infrastructure network will be complete by the end of 2013, with Huawei expecting to complete the upgrades within six months. “The US$750mn contract will translate into upgrading of all the network elements and covers the cost from the time the project will start until the time it will be completed,” he said. David Fan, vice-president of Huawei West Africa commented, “We find it a great honour to sign the contract. The two companies are similar. Globacom is from Nigeria, which is an emerging market in Africa, while Huawei is also from an emerging market in China. “We are, therefore, pleased to receive the contract and by the time we finish the network upgrading, we would have also made the Globacom network ready for a long term evolution (LTE) technology network. All they need to do is to obtain the licence to provide services on the 4G network,” he noted.
Tigo launches new cell site in Kakola Kahama, Tanzania TIGO TANZANIA HAS expanded its network by launching a new cell site in Kakola Kahama, North Western Tanzania. As part of its ongoing network expansion plan to boost the quality of its services and coverage across the country, Tigo has installed a new communications tower in the region. Elias Bandeke, public relations officer at the company explained that new network infrastructure has already been established in other remote areas such as Kigoma and is set to continue in Mwanza, Tabora, Mara and Kagera. Tigo general manager Diego Gutierrez added: “As mentioned during our recent site launch in Kasulu-Kigoma, we plan to expand across the country to improve the coverage and quality of our network to ensure that more Tanzanians get to experience Tigo’s products and services.” Gutierrez said that Tigo is committed to the country and the expansion plans showed that customers were always at the core of what they do.
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The continuous growth of the network has enabled innovative solutions that consumers and businesses across Tanzania take advantage of in their daily lives, he claimed. These solutions include everything from affordable communication and data solutions to healthcare solutions, he added. “With the continued rollout of its network, Tigo is maintaining its excellence in customer service and continue to offer its customers consistent and reliable products,” Gutierrez said, noting that with an existing network presence in numerous regions in the mainland and Zanzibar, the network expansion is aimed at covering more regions across the country. Kahama District commissioner Benson Mpyesa said that the launch of the new communication tower at the area would enable
Tigo will launch a new communications tower in Kakola Kahama.
the district to use the Tigo network to provide communications with the highest quality. Meanwhile, in West Africa, Tigo has received 10 nominations at this year’s Ghana Telecom Awards (GTA) set to take place on 31 May 2013 in Accra. Tigo is part of Millicom International Cellular (MIC), which provides affordable, widely accessible and readily available cellular telephone services to more than 43mn customers in 13 emerging markets in Africa and Latin America.
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A new standard for the TETRA market SEPURA OFFERS THE STP9000 series of The Sepura STP9000 TETRA hand-portable radios at the TETRA World Congress 2012 in Dubai. This brand new series of hand-portables inherits all of the market-leading attributes of Sepura’s existing flagship STP8000 series, and fuses them with a new generation of highly innovative features which will take the TETRA hand-portable market to an even higher level. The key focus of the STP9000 series is driving efficiency improvements across users’ operations, while also enhancing their safety and security and improving the user experience. The STP9000 achieves this by incorporating a comprehensive range of new features such as IP67 robustness, an enhanced user interface, built-in RFID tag and super-sensitive GPS capability. The STP9000 series comprises three variants: STP9000, featuring a full keypad and large, colour screen; STP9100, with a reduced keypad and large, colour screen and STP9200, offering a reduced keypad and monochrome screen.. Jens Thostrup, senior vice president for Sepura, said, “The Sepura STP9000 series of TETRA hand-portables is truly innovative, designed for users who want the best from their digital radios. Mission-critical operatives across the public safety sector will be among the main users of the STP9000. Reflecting the direction of the TETRA market as a whole, it will also appeal to users in the utility, public transport and industrial / manufacturing sectors. The IP67 rating will be of particular interest to organisations and industries where resistance to both fine dust and water ingress are required.”
Une vision de l’architecture réseau SDN ALCATEL-LUCENT A PRÉSENTÉ sa vision de l’architecture réseau « Software-Defined Networks » (SDN) et dévoile une nouvelle solution SDN révolutionnaire pour data centers, qui sera fournie via sa nouvelle société baptisée Nuage Networks - une société du Groupe Alcatel-Lucent dédiée à l’architecture réseau SDN. Les particuliers et les entreprises sont demandeurs d’informatique dématérialisée (cloud computing) et de stockage. Les data centers actuels sont bien équipés en informatique. Leurs opérateurs peuvent ajouter ou modifier les serveurs virtuels et le stockage de façon quasi instantanée suivant la demande des clients. La solution logicielle ouverte visant à éliminer les principales contraintes de réseau de data centers qui font obstacle à l’adoption des services cloud. Grâce à la plateforme VSP (virtualised services platform), les prestataires de la santé, les banques, les services publics et les entreprises d’autres secteurs, ainsi que les grandes sociétés du web et les opérateurs télécoms pourront adapter leur offre cloud pour fournir une connectivité sûre et immédiate à une multitude de clients. Michel Combes, nouveau directeur général d’Alcatel-Lucent affirme « C’est très motivant de faire mes premiers pas chez Alcatel-Lucent avec une annonce qui nous ouvre de nouveaux marchés. La stratégie SDN d'Alcatel-Lucent et la plateforme Nuage Networks reposent sur notre plateforme CloudBand qui permet l'orchestration et l’automatisation des datacenters et des ressources réseau. Nous sommes très bien placés pour aider les opérateurs et les fournisseurs de services Cloud à construire des infrastructures et des services de Cloud à grande échelle, et d’offrir à nos clients comme à nous-mêmes de nouvelles opportunités de revenus. »
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