[economic times] Videocon lost more than 1 million subscribers, while Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar added 3 million subscribers each in January this year, the Indian telecom regulator said on Friday.
More than 71% of mobile subscribers in India are active users, data revealed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or Trai, in January. Around 548.66 million people were using mobile phones of the total subscriber base of 771 million mobile subscribers.
Bharti Airtel had the highest ratio of active subscribers compared to its total subscriber base at 92.63%, followed by Idea Cellular with 90.34% but Etisalat showed the lowest ratio of 33.55%.
Bharti Airtel also continued to lead the industry, grabbing more than one-fifth of the market share. RCOM and Vodafone Essar were the second and third largest telcos as of January-end. BSNL was the only public telco to have a market share of more than 11.6%.
Jammu & Kashmir has the highest proportion of active subscribers at 81.26% followed by Assam with more than 81% and Maharashtra at 77.58%. In contrast, the financial capital Mumbai has the lowest proportion of active mobile users with nearly 60%.
71% mobile users active in January
Monday, March 07, 2011
India - Supreme Court upheld TDSAT against BSNL on domestic and international roaming registration fees
[times of india] The Supreme Court said that state-owned BSNL is not entitled to charge private operators for providing signaling network for roaming services just on the basis of registration by their subscribers, even though they were not availing the facility.
BSNL provides connection to private operators who offer roaming services to their subscribers and charge monthly registration fees at the rate of Rs 25 per user for domestic roaming and Rs 50 for international roaming.
There are several subscribers who register for the roaming service but may not avail the facility unless they move out from their home network.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia dismissed the BSNL plea that it was entitled to charge Rs 25 and Rs 50 for national and international roaming charged from the companies whether the registered subscriber avail the service or not.
The court found no merit in the BSNL appeal, which was filed to challenge the TDSAT order.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on September, 1, 2010 had said that the BSNL was entitled to take interconnect charges for the roaming facilities availed by the subscribers of the private telecom operators using its network.
The tribunal in its order had said that only on the basis that the subscribers were registered for the roaming facilities with their servicer providers did not enable the PSU to charge roaming facilities from the operators.
Against this order, the PSU had moved the apex court, saying that the clause 6.6 of the interconnect agreement with the cellular operators doesn't stipulate that the interconnect charges for roaming by the subscriber of the private operators would be payable to BSNL only on the actual use of its network for such facilities.
The BSNL submitted that the actual user of roaming facility by the subscriber was not at all any condition in relation to the entitlement of BSNL to recover signaling charges from the private operators for using its network.
The PSU contended that immediately upon registration of the subscriber for roaming facility by the private service operators, the BSNL becomes entitled for payment of roaming facilities.
Supreme Court turns down BSNL plea on roaming services charges
BSNL provides connection to private operators who offer roaming services to their subscribers and charge monthly registration fees at the rate of Rs 25 per user for domestic roaming and Rs 50 for international roaming.
There are several subscribers who register for the roaming service but may not avail the facility unless they move out from their home network.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia dismissed the BSNL plea that it was entitled to charge Rs 25 and Rs 50 for national and international roaming charged from the companies whether the registered subscriber avail the service or not.
The court found no merit in the BSNL appeal, which was filed to challenge the TDSAT order.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on September, 1, 2010 had said that the BSNL was entitled to take interconnect charges for the roaming facilities availed by the subscribers of the private telecom operators using its network.
The tribunal in its order had said that only on the basis that the subscribers were registered for the roaming facilities with their servicer providers did not enable the PSU to charge roaming facilities from the operators.
Against this order, the PSU had moved the apex court, saying that the clause 6.6 of the interconnect agreement with the cellular operators doesn't stipulate that the interconnect charges for roaming by the subscriber of the private operators would be payable to BSNL only on the actual use of its network for such facilities.
The BSNL submitted that the actual user of roaming facility by the subscriber was not at all any condition in relation to the entitlement of BSNL to recover signaling charges from the private operators for using its network.
The PSU contended that immediately upon registration of the subscriber for roaming facility by the private service operators, the BSNL becomes entitled for payment of roaming facilities.
Supreme Court turns down BSNL plea on roaming services charges
Friday, March 04, 2011
Thailand - Govt is to sell AIS concessions to foreign operators if compensation claims fail
[bangkok post] The Information and Communications Technology Ministry is pushing ahead with plans to sell the mobile concessions of Advanced Info Service to a group of foreign telecom giants if compensation negotiations fail.
"We are in preliminary talks with eight international telecom firms and they all expressed interest in taking over the mobile operations of the country's largest mobile operator," said ICT Minister Juti Krairiksh yesterday.
The eight are Telecom Italia of Italy, China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo of Japan, SK Telecom of South Korea, Axiata of Malaysia, and three US operators.
Mr Juti said he had held confidential talks with top executives of the eight firms along with executives and board members of TOT Plc at the Mobile World Congress in Spain last month.
The discussion covered past concession amendments of mobile operators, including AIS, and the consequences following the asset seizure case against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Feb 26 last year.
Mr Juti acknowledged that the prospective foreign investors expressed their interest in a partnership with AIS after he told them "the fate of the AIS concession is now hanging in the balance".
He said SK Telecom had already confirmed its interest, while NTT has been given two weeks to submit its proposal.
Analysts and industry veterans, however, warned that the ministry's move could harm the Thai telecom industry and shake foreign investors' confidence.
The TOT board on Monday decided to solve its dispute with AIS amicably by setting up a state panel to resolve telecom concession amendments in its efforts to demand 74 billion baht in compensation from the largest mobile operator.
The TOT had earlier intended to file a claimant lawsuit against AIS for violating the telecom concession.
Another ICT Ministry committee working to resolve telecom concession amendments on Monday also failed to conclude the compensation to be demanded from the operators. The ministry asked the cabinet for another week to seek more information.
An ICT source said both AIS and Total Access Communication (Dtac) confirmed their standpoint that they would not accept any compensation claims by their concession owners.
The companies said if they accepted the losses, it could mean they admitted that all their past contract amendments had been illegal.
AIS raised three key points at the committee meeting, chaired by the ministry's permanent secretary, Jirawan Boonperm, on Friday last week, reiterating that the past concession amendments between AIS and TOT did not cause any damage to the state telecom enterprise and each change was voluntarily approved by the TOT board and attorneys. AIS said the changes benefited TOT, telecom authorities and consumers. AIS also insisted it had done nothing wrong and complied fully with the concession.
Plans firm to sell off AIS concessions to foreigners
"We are in preliminary talks with eight international telecom firms and they all expressed interest in taking over the mobile operations of the country's largest mobile operator," said ICT Minister Juti Krairiksh yesterday.
The eight are Telecom Italia of Italy, China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo of Japan, SK Telecom of South Korea, Axiata of Malaysia, and three US operators.
Mr Juti said he had held confidential talks with top executives of the eight firms along with executives and board members of TOT Plc at the Mobile World Congress in Spain last month.
The discussion covered past concession amendments of mobile operators, including AIS, and the consequences following the asset seizure case against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Feb 26 last year.
Mr Juti acknowledged that the prospective foreign investors expressed their interest in a partnership with AIS after he told them "the fate of the AIS concession is now hanging in the balance".
He said SK Telecom had already confirmed its interest, while NTT has been given two weeks to submit its proposal.
Analysts and industry veterans, however, warned that the ministry's move could harm the Thai telecom industry and shake foreign investors' confidence.
The TOT board on Monday decided to solve its dispute with AIS amicably by setting up a state panel to resolve telecom concession amendments in its efforts to demand 74 billion baht in compensation from the largest mobile operator.
The TOT had earlier intended to file a claimant lawsuit against AIS for violating the telecom concession.
Another ICT Ministry committee working to resolve telecom concession amendments on Monday also failed to conclude the compensation to be demanded from the operators. The ministry asked the cabinet for another week to seek more information.
An ICT source said both AIS and Total Access Communication (Dtac) confirmed their standpoint that they would not accept any compensation claims by their concession owners.
The companies said if they accepted the losses, it could mean they admitted that all their past contract amendments had been illegal.
AIS raised three key points at the committee meeting, chaired by the ministry's permanent secretary, Jirawan Boonperm, on Friday last week, reiterating that the past concession amendments between AIS and TOT did not cause any damage to the state telecom enterprise and each change was voluntarily approved by the TOT board and attorneys. AIS said the changes benefited TOT, telecom authorities and consumers. AIS also insisted it had done nothing wrong and complied fully with the concession.
Plans firm to sell off AIS concessions to foreigners
Thailand - Govt is seeking to unravel the concession agreements with AIS, including claims for compensation
[the nation] This week's moves in the matter of illegal amendments to telecom concessions and the huge sums in compensation said to be due to state agencies have thrown an already complex situation into even deeper confusion.
TOT's board decided on Monday not to claim damages from amendments to the concession of Advanced Info Service (AIS), said to total Bt74 billion.
However, the government may not be able to let the case go easily. Ultimately, it may seek channels through which to claim damages. Otherwise, it may risk facing charges of dereliction of duty.
The TOT board's decision followed many years of examining amendments to its concessions and charges from various state agencies over the allegedly illegal nature of amendments in the case of AIS's concession.
The agency's board reasoned that the issue would end up in the hands of an ICT Ministry panel founded to negotiate with all concession holders over compensation for losses suffered by state agencies because of allegedly illegal amendments to their concessions.
ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh said yesterday he would not intervene in the board's decision. However, his ministry knew how it would proceed in the case.
A source said the ministry was waiting for its committee founded to negotiate compensation claims with concession holders to wrap up the talks. Then the committee will submit the results to the Cabinet for consideration.
If the concession holders decline to pay compensation, the Cabinet could order TOT and CAT to cancel the concession amendments and claim damages in the Civil and Criminal Courts.
A TOT source said that after an examination of the case and consultation with legal experts, TOT decided it had only a slim chance of winning a damages claim against AIS. It would be hard to find clear-cut evidence that AIS had colluded with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to reap benefits from his policies.
Therefore, the source said, it was judged better to let the ICT Ministry panel proceed with talks with all concession holders and submit the result to the Cabinet.
AIS recently denied the damages claims in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. It said it had done everything in compliance with the law, regulations and its concession.
Chuti said yesterday he did not understand why the TOT board felt afraid of losing the case to AIS. He said he would continue to protect the state's interests or he would risk facing charges of negligence of duty under Article 157 of criminal law.
Chuti denied that the claims of damages against the concession holders were aimed at pressuring them to pay kickbacks to the Democrat Party. While the concession holders want to see the damages claims settled by arbitration panels, Chuti said he wanted the cases to go straight to court.
Last week, TOT also asked the Finance Ministry to consider paying damages for TOT's losses of telecom excise. CAT Telecom did the same by filing a damages claim at the Central Administrative Court.
A Finance Ministry source said that if the ministry agreed that changes to the telecom excise had cost the state agencies, then it would bring a charge against the Thaksin cabinet on its own.
The Thaksin cabinet imposed the telecom excise in 2003 to allow fixed-line and cellular-concession holders to subtract 2 per cent and 10 per cent respectively from their concession fees and pay it to the Excise Department. The balance of the fees then went to TOT or CAT. Both state agencies claim this arrangement hurt them financially. The Surayud government abolished the telecom excise in 2007.
Chronology: The concession problem saga
May 2007 - The Council of State rules that some telecom concession amendments did not comply with the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act. This leads to the appointment of state-private committees under the 1992 law to probe the amendments.
2008 - TOT and CAT Telecom approaches arbitration panels to claim damages from the concession holders in connection with the Thaksin Shinawatra government's move in 2003 to let concession holders deduct telecom excise from their concession fee.
November 2009: The Finance Ministry's State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) discloses that the allegedly unlawful concession amendments cost TOT a cumulative Bt87 billion and CAT more than Bt50 billion.
December 2009: The committees of TOT and CAT during the tenure of ICT Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee conclude that none of the concession amendments financially damaged state coffers, and on the contrary boosted state revenue and assets to the tune of at least Bt100 billion.
February 26, 2010: The Supreme Court rules in the assets-seizure case against Thaksin.
November 19, 2010: ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh sends letters to TOT and CAT to take steps to protect their interests in connection with the Supreme Court's ruling on the Thaksin case.
January 31, 2011: TOT notifies all telecom operators to compensate for damages caused by the concession amendments, telecom excise, and access charge to the tune of more than Bt214 billion.
February 1, 2011: Singapore Telecom senior executives hold discussions with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on the telecom policy ahead of the Cabinet meeting on the same day. The cabinet approves the ICT Ministry's proposal to set up a panel to seek proposals from the concession holders on how to pay the compensation.
February 4, 2011 - AIS sends a letter to the homes of all 12 TOT board directors and the acting president, urging TOT to withdraw by February 9 its notification of the damage claim. If not, AIS might consider bringing civil and criminal charges against TOT and each individual responsible for the notification to protect its interests.
February 11, 2011: AIS takes its dispute with TOT to the arbitration panel after TOT declines to withdraw the notification claiming damages.
February 22, 2011: Three of the 12 TOT board directors resign from their posts.
February 23, 2011: ICT Minister Chuti sends a letter to TOT and CAT, urging them to protect their interest in connection with the Thaksin case. Two more TOT directors resign from their posts.
February 25, 2011: TOT and CAT claim damages from the Finance Ministry over losses caused by their concession holders deducting telecom excise from the concession fees.
February 28, 2011: TOT's board decides not to claim damages from AIS over the concession amendments, letting the ICT Ministry panel decide the issue.
Stand-off forces govt to consider options
TOT's board decided on Monday not to claim damages from amendments to the concession of Advanced Info Service (AIS), said to total Bt74 billion.
However, the government may not be able to let the case go easily. Ultimately, it may seek channels through which to claim damages. Otherwise, it may risk facing charges of dereliction of duty.
The TOT board's decision followed many years of examining amendments to its concessions and charges from various state agencies over the allegedly illegal nature of amendments in the case of AIS's concession.
The agency's board reasoned that the issue would end up in the hands of an ICT Ministry panel founded to negotiate with all concession holders over compensation for losses suffered by state agencies because of allegedly illegal amendments to their concessions.
ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh said yesterday he would not intervene in the board's decision. However, his ministry knew how it would proceed in the case.
A source said the ministry was waiting for its committee founded to negotiate compensation claims with concession holders to wrap up the talks. Then the committee will submit the results to the Cabinet for consideration.
If the concession holders decline to pay compensation, the Cabinet could order TOT and CAT to cancel the concession amendments and claim damages in the Civil and Criminal Courts.
A TOT source said that after an examination of the case and consultation with legal experts, TOT decided it had only a slim chance of winning a damages claim against AIS. It would be hard to find clear-cut evidence that AIS had colluded with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to reap benefits from his policies.
Therefore, the source said, it was judged better to let the ICT Ministry panel proceed with talks with all concession holders and submit the result to the Cabinet.
AIS recently denied the damages claims in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. It said it had done everything in compliance with the law, regulations and its concession.
Chuti said yesterday he did not understand why the TOT board felt afraid of losing the case to AIS. He said he would continue to protect the state's interests or he would risk facing charges of negligence of duty under Article 157 of criminal law.
Chuti denied that the claims of damages against the concession holders were aimed at pressuring them to pay kickbacks to the Democrat Party. While the concession holders want to see the damages claims settled by arbitration panels, Chuti said he wanted the cases to go straight to court.
Last week, TOT also asked the Finance Ministry to consider paying damages for TOT's losses of telecom excise. CAT Telecom did the same by filing a damages claim at the Central Administrative Court.
A Finance Ministry source said that if the ministry agreed that changes to the telecom excise had cost the state agencies, then it would bring a charge against the Thaksin cabinet on its own.
The Thaksin cabinet imposed the telecom excise in 2003 to allow fixed-line and cellular-concession holders to subtract 2 per cent and 10 per cent respectively from their concession fees and pay it to the Excise Department. The balance of the fees then went to TOT or CAT. Both state agencies claim this arrangement hurt them financially. The Surayud government abolished the telecom excise in 2007.
Chronology: The concession problem saga
May 2007 - The Council of State rules that some telecom concession amendments did not comply with the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act. This leads to the appointment of state-private committees under the 1992 law to probe the amendments.
2008 - TOT and CAT Telecom approaches arbitration panels to claim damages from the concession holders in connection with the Thaksin Shinawatra government's move in 2003 to let concession holders deduct telecom excise from their concession fee.
November 2009: The Finance Ministry's State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) discloses that the allegedly unlawful concession amendments cost TOT a cumulative Bt87 billion and CAT more than Bt50 billion.
December 2009: The committees of TOT and CAT during the tenure of ICT Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee conclude that none of the concession amendments financially damaged state coffers, and on the contrary boosted state revenue and assets to the tune of at least Bt100 billion.
February 26, 2010: The Supreme Court rules in the assets-seizure case against Thaksin.
November 19, 2010: ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh sends letters to TOT and CAT to take steps to protect their interests in connection with the Supreme Court's ruling on the Thaksin case.
January 31, 2011: TOT notifies all telecom operators to compensate for damages caused by the concession amendments, telecom excise, and access charge to the tune of more than Bt214 billion.
February 1, 2011: Singapore Telecom senior executives hold discussions with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on the telecom policy ahead of the Cabinet meeting on the same day. The cabinet approves the ICT Ministry's proposal to set up a panel to seek proposals from the concession holders on how to pay the compensation.
February 4, 2011 - AIS sends a letter to the homes of all 12 TOT board directors and the acting president, urging TOT to withdraw by February 9 its notification of the damage claim. If not, AIS might consider bringing civil and criminal charges against TOT and each individual responsible for the notification to protect its interests.
February 11, 2011: AIS takes its dispute with TOT to the arbitration panel after TOT declines to withdraw the notification claiming damages.
February 22, 2011: Three of the 12 TOT board directors resign from their posts.
February 23, 2011: ICT Minister Chuti sends a letter to TOT and CAT, urging them to protect their interest in connection with the Thaksin case. Two more TOT directors resign from their posts.
February 25, 2011: TOT and CAT claim damages from the Finance Ministry over losses caused by their concession holders deducting telecom excise from the concession fees.
February 28, 2011: TOT's board decides not to claim damages from AIS over the concession amendments, letting the ICT Ministry panel decide the issue.
Stand-off forces govt to consider options
New Zealand - Regulator is reviewing pricing of wholesale bitstream access
[national business review] The Commerce Commission is reviewing unbundled bitstream (UBA) broadband pricing, covering pricing components not included in a review of UBA data transmission costs already being carried out.
The UBA service allows telecommunications companies to supply broadband services to retail customers without the need to replicate Telecom's copper local loop.
Telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson said the decision to carry out the latest review was a result of submissions received throughout the current review's consultation phases.
Another factor was the Ministry of Economic Development's release of a supplementary order paper to the Telecommunications Amendment Bill. The bill, if passed, would lock in the UBA price for three years, Dr Patterson said.
"The Commission is conscious that a decision needs to be made in a timely manner given the importance of the UBA price to the companies involved but is equally conscious of the importance of fully addressing all issues raised in submissions."
Review of unbundled bitstream broadband pricing
The UBA service allows telecommunications companies to supply broadband services to retail customers without the need to replicate Telecom's copper local loop.
Telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson said the decision to carry out the latest review was a result of submissions received throughout the current review's consultation phases.
Another factor was the Ministry of Economic Development's release of a supplementary order paper to the Telecommunications Amendment Bill. The bill, if passed, would lock in the UBA price for three years, Dr Patterson said.
"The Commission is conscious that a decision needs to be made in a timely manner given the importance of the UBA price to the companies involved but is equally conscious of the importance of fully addressing all issues raised in submissions."
Review of unbundled bitstream broadband pricing
Australia - Govt has proposed changes to the ombudsman scheme to strengthen consumer protection
[computer world] A discussion paper which proposes giving the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) scheme more power to enforce telecommunications regulations was released today by Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.
The discussion paper forms part of the continuing reforms to telecommunications consumer safeguards.
“The recently released TIO statistics show that complaints to the ombudsman remain at very high levels and this is not acceptable,” said Senator Conroy in a statement.
According to the TIO, overall complaints for the July to December 2010 period increased nine per cent, driven by a sharp increase in mobile phone service issues. Mobile phone issues alone increased some 20 per cent.
“While I acknowledge the hard work the TIO does to deliver consumers with quick and effective solutions, I want to ensure it has the appropriate tools to deal with complaints,” he said.
Some options strengthen the compliance and enforcement regime could include a new industry code or standard providing the TIO with a public reporting power, strengthening the compliance mechanisms under the existing Telecommunication Consumers Protection (TCP) Code, and providing the Australian Consumer Communications Action Network (ACMA) with the ability to issue infringement notices.
Conroy proposes Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Scheme reform
see also discussion paper
The discussion paper forms part of the continuing reforms to telecommunications consumer safeguards.
“The recently released TIO statistics show that complaints to the ombudsman remain at very high levels and this is not acceptable,” said Senator Conroy in a statement.
According to the TIO, overall complaints for the July to December 2010 period increased nine per cent, driven by a sharp increase in mobile phone service issues. Mobile phone issues alone increased some 20 per cent.
“While I acknowledge the hard work the TIO does to deliver consumers with quick and effective solutions, I want to ensure it has the appropriate tools to deal with complaints,” he said.
Some options strengthen the compliance and enforcement regime could include a new industry code or standard providing the TIO with a public reporting power, strengthening the compliance mechanisms under the existing Telecommunication Consumers Protection (TCP) Code, and providing the Australian Consumer Communications Action Network (ACMA) with the ability to issue infringement notices.
Conroy proposes Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Scheme reform
see also discussion paper
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
France - Free Mobile (Iliad Group) and Orange have signed a GSM roaming agreement and will extend this to 3G
[4-traders] Following a series of negotiations that have taken place over the past few months, Free Mobile (Iliad) and Orange signed a national roaming agreement on 2 March 2011 for their respective 2G networks in France.
Free Mobile and Orange have decided to extend this agreement to cover their 3G networks.
This agreement will take effect once Free Mobile has deployed a network that offers coverage for 25% of the French population. Under the terms of its licence, Free Mobile has taken a clear commitment to deploy a network that offers coverage to at least 90% of the population by 2018.
Free Mobile and Orange sign a 2G roaming agreement and agree to extend this to 3G networks
Free Mobile and Orange have decided to extend this agreement to cover their 3G networks.
This agreement will take effect once Free Mobile has deployed a network that offers coverage for 25% of the French population. Under the terms of its licence, Free Mobile has taken a clear commitment to deploy a network that offers coverage to at least 90% of the population by 2018.
Free Mobile and Orange sign a 2G roaming agreement and agree to extend this to 3G networks
France - Former France Telecom CEO, Didier Lombard, will leave the company in its best interests
[reuters] Didier Lombard, who stepped down as chief executive last year after a wave of suicides hit France Telecom, said on Wednesday he would leave the company.
Lombard, who was expected to stay at the group as special adviser to current Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard on strategic options, said he had decided to give up that role in the "best interests" of France Telecom.
Last week, Chief Executive Stephane Richard took on the added post of chairman following the resignation of Lombard, who was initially supposed to remain chairman until June.
Lombard, who became France Telecom's chairman and chief executive in February 2005, said in a statement he hoped the group will "be able to move forward with dignity and confidence, pursuing its development both in France and internationally, under the direction of Stephane Richard,"
Former France Telecom boss Lombard leaves company
Lombard, who was expected to stay at the group as special adviser to current Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard on strategic options, said he had decided to give up that role in the "best interests" of France Telecom.
Last week, Chief Executive Stephane Richard took on the added post of chairman following the resignation of Lombard, who was initially supposed to remain chairman until June.
Lombard, who became France Telecom's chairman and chief executive in February 2005, said in a statement he hoped the group will "be able to move forward with dignity and confidence, pursuing its development both in France and internationally, under the direction of Stephane Richard,"
Former France Telecom boss Lombard leaves company
China - China Telecom will aims to achieve 100 million fibre optic lines by 2015 with a major investment
[people's daily] China Telecom plans to triple the number of users for its fiber optic broadband service this year to reach 30 million.
The company further aims to grow the user base to 100 million by the end of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
China Telecom plans to cover every city in China with the fiber broadband service in three years and convert all copper lines to fiber, China Daily reported. Under the Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government will focus on developing the telecommunications infrastructure, with total investments reaching 2 trillion yuan. Broadband development would account for 80 percent.
"Only 23 percent of Chinese families have Internet access now, so China still has huge potential in this industry," said China Telecom chairman Wang Xiaochu.
This plan will provide broadband access, high-definition IPTV, 3D and rich media services that require bandwidth of about 10 megabytes and above.
China Telecom will follow the government's policies to improve infrastructure and cooperate with local authorities to integrate telecommunications, television and Internet networks.
The company further plans to introduce cloud computing and Internet of Things services, more internet applications for mobile and fixed Internet users and to accelerate its transformation into a comprehensive telecommunications provider.
It is expected to benefit the optical fiber firms.
Orient Securities holds that this large-scale user access upgrade will stimulate the upgrading of fiber optic metropolitan area networks and backbone transmission networks, and a fast-growing optical communication sector is expected.
Donghai Securities estimates that the investment made by the telecom operators in broadband construction will increase by 47 percent year on year in 2011 to 68 billion yuan. The broker believes that related accessory, equipment, and optical fiber cable sectors are will be the top three most popular sectors in the stock market.
China Telecom to build world's largest fiber optic network
The company further aims to grow the user base to 100 million by the end of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
China Telecom plans to cover every city in China with the fiber broadband service in three years and convert all copper lines to fiber, China Daily reported. Under the Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government will focus on developing the telecommunications infrastructure, with total investments reaching 2 trillion yuan. Broadband development would account for 80 percent.
"Only 23 percent of Chinese families have Internet access now, so China still has huge potential in this industry," said China Telecom chairman Wang Xiaochu.
This plan will provide broadband access, high-definition IPTV, 3D and rich media services that require bandwidth of about 10 megabytes and above.
China Telecom will follow the government's policies to improve infrastructure and cooperate with local authorities to integrate telecommunications, television and Internet networks.
The company further plans to introduce cloud computing and Internet of Things services, more internet applications for mobile and fixed Internet users and to accelerate its transformation into a comprehensive telecommunications provider.
It is expected to benefit the optical fiber firms.
Orient Securities holds that this large-scale user access upgrade will stimulate the upgrading of fiber optic metropolitan area networks and backbone transmission networks, and a fast-growing optical communication sector is expected.
Donghai Securities estimates that the investment made by the telecom operators in broadband construction will increase by 47 percent year on year in 2011 to 68 billion yuan. The broker believes that related accessory, equipment, and optical fiber cable sectors are will be the top three most popular sectors in the stock market.
China Telecom to build world's largest fiber optic network
Ethiopia - France Telecom as managers of ETC have cut 8,000 jobs, retaining 4,000 staff
[daily ethiopia] French telecommunications giant, France Telecom, and the Ethiopian government are involved in a dispute following a decision to cut 8,000 jobs at Ethio Telecom in a bid to restructure the state-owned company. Concerned over a number of irregularities, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi last week delegated a representative to find a solution to the issue.
In a bid to restructure and modernize the state run Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the country’s government, three months ago, outsourced the management of Ethiopia’s sole telecommunications entity to French telecommunications giant, France Telecom.
Soon after taking over the management of ETC, now rebranded as Ethio Telecom, France Telecom moved to cut over 8000 jobs in accordance with an agreement reached with the government before the signing of the two year management agreement.
This came after a pre-contract assessment made by France Telecom showed that ETC had an excess of over 12,000 staff as far as the new structure was concerned. And after discussions with the Ethiopian government, France Telecom was given the green light to downsize ETC personnel.
But a list containing 4,000 staff members selected to remain in the new structure has been rejected by a representation of the staff who claim that the selection exercise launched by the new management was not based on merits.
According to employees, a number of deceased ETC personnel alongside many who now live outside the country appear on the list provided by the new management.
Seeking redress, the affected employees complained to Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, who last week delegated his advisor and former mayor of Addis Ababa, Minister Arkebe Equbaye, to investigate the matter and find a solution.
But in spite of efforts made by Mr. Arkebe, including the removal of those responsible for the flawed staff selection, it is not certain if any of those affected by the mass lay off would be recalled.
Apart from its strong objection over the massive lay off exercise, ETC staff union has also raised concerns over the future of affected employees. But although the government shares the same sentiments, according to sources close to the Prime Minister’s office, no solution or response should be expected anytime soon.
Ethiopia: No Hope For Ethio Telecom Employees?
In a bid to restructure and modernize the state run Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the country’s government, three months ago, outsourced the management of Ethiopia’s sole telecommunications entity to French telecommunications giant, France Telecom.
Soon after taking over the management of ETC, now rebranded as Ethio Telecom, France Telecom moved to cut over 8000 jobs in accordance with an agreement reached with the government before the signing of the two year management agreement.
This came after a pre-contract assessment made by France Telecom showed that ETC had an excess of over 12,000 staff as far as the new structure was concerned. And after discussions with the Ethiopian government, France Telecom was given the green light to downsize ETC personnel.
But a list containing 4,000 staff members selected to remain in the new structure has been rejected by a representation of the staff who claim that the selection exercise launched by the new management was not based on merits.
According to employees, a number of deceased ETC personnel alongside many who now live outside the country appear on the list provided by the new management.
Seeking redress, the affected employees complained to Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, who last week delegated his advisor and former mayor of Addis Ababa, Minister Arkebe Equbaye, to investigate the matter and find a solution.
But in spite of efforts made by Mr. Arkebe, including the removal of those responsible for the flawed staff selection, it is not certain if any of those affected by the mass lay off would be recalled.
Apart from its strong objection over the massive lay off exercise, ETC staff union has also raised concerns over the future of affected employees. But although the government shares the same sentiments, according to sources close to the Prime Minister’s office, no solution or response should be expected anytime soon.
Ethiopia: No Hope For Ethio Telecom Employees?
Algeria - Govt expects valuation of Djezzy by end of May in its bid to nationalise the firm
[reuters] Consultants hired by Algeria to value Orascom Telecom's local mobile phone unit are scheduled to complete their work by the end of May, Algerian telecommunications minister Moussa Benhamadi told Reuters.
Algeria's government has said it will nationalise the Djezzy unit after a row with the Egyptian parent company over hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes and over the unit's ownership.
Uncertainty over how long the nationalisation will take, and how much Algeria will pay for the lucrative unit has hampered a multi-billion-dollar deal for Russia's Vimpelcom to buy Orascom Telecom assets.
Algeria in January appointed law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP to provide a valuation of Djezzy, which has been Orascom Telecom's biggest revenue generator.
"The consultancy firm started its work a week ago. The evaluation operation is due to last for three months. Talks will start after the presentation of the results by the firm," Benhamadi said on Wednesday.
Orascom Telecom has said it may be forced to take Algeria to international arbitration unless the dispute over Djezzy is resolved soon.
Algeria sees Orascom Tel unit valuation by end-May
Algeria's government has said it will nationalise the Djezzy unit after a row with the Egyptian parent company over hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes and over the unit's ownership.
Uncertainty over how long the nationalisation will take, and how much Algeria will pay for the lucrative unit has hampered a multi-billion-dollar deal for Russia's Vimpelcom to buy Orascom Telecom assets.
Algeria in January appointed law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP to provide a valuation of Djezzy, which has been Orascom Telecom's biggest revenue generator.
"The consultancy firm started its work a week ago. The evaluation operation is due to last for three months. Talks will start after the presentation of the results by the firm," Benhamadi said on Wednesday.
Orascom Telecom has said it may be forced to take Algeria to international arbitration unless the dispute over Djezzy is resolved soon.
Algeria sees Orascom Tel unit valuation by end-May
South Africa - New minister is making progress, settled standards dispute over digital TV and looking at broadband
[financial mail] Communications minister Roy Padayachie has notched up some quiet successes since taking the job in October.
For one thing, he ended the confusion created by the communications department over which digital TV standard to adopt. A review process he put in place led to the selection of the European standard over the one backed by South Korea and Brazil.
His commitment to the European standard has brought the process back on track and allayed fears that a switch to the Korean/Brazilian standard would push the migration process back years and cost the local technology sector millions.
Padayachie is also behind moves to tighten the department’s oversight at the crisis-ridden SABC, Telkom and Sentech.
Though he has tidied up some messes , he has not yet spelt out the specifics of what he sees as priorities for his department.
A national broadband policy has been doing the rounds for a while but is short on specifics. “ We are hoping for a vision rather than some ad hoc response to issues in the sector,” says Research ICT Africa executive director Alison Gillwald.
She says: “There will be no dramatic shift in policy without a public process.”
This was evident when Padayachie met 30 of the top ICT businesses leaders last week to get their views on what was needed to boost the sector.
The meeting was well received by the participants. They have long complained that the department made little effort to consult them and tended to come up with policy in a vacuum. “It was very refreshing,” says Allied Technology (Altech) CEO Craig Venter.
Venter was one of the harshest critics of the move to review the digital TV standard process and had tried to schedule a meeting, without success, on six occasions with Padayachie’s predecessor, Siphiwe Nyanda.
Meeting these business leaders is only the beginning of Padayachie’s engagement with the sector.
“He also plans to meet the smaller companies. He does not want to get roped into seeing to the needs of a few larger ones,” says Venter.
Padayachie has not revealed his vision for the sector but this will probably be spelt out in the next few weeks when he delivers his department’s budget speech. What is already clear is that the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting will be one of his most pressing concerns.
The conversion to digital broadcasting is seen by government and business as a way to boost the local technology sector.
“Digital migration is a low-hanging fruit,” says Venter. The conversion will mean SA’s 11m TVs will need their own set-top boxes or satellite dishes to convert the signal.
The migration will open up opportunities for small electronics companies, because even a large manufacturer such as Altech would be able to make only 2m set-top boxes a year.
Venter says the migration will create thousands of jobs. Altech and consumer electronics group Ellies are planning to set up about 20000 small businesses to install the set-top boxes.
The conversion to digital broadcasting is not the only thing on Padayachie’s to- do list. He is committed to overseeing Telkom opening up its network to allow its rivals access to its local exchanges by November. The auction of radio spectrum that will enable new high-speed data services is also a priority.
In addition, the minister has to appoint a new director-general for his department following the abrupt departure of Mamodupi Mohlala.
Padayachie has a full in-tray and has yet to articulate his vision but when he does, there is a good chance it will be well thought out and based on broad consultation.
Communication at last
For one thing, he ended the confusion created by the communications department over which digital TV standard to adopt. A review process he put in place led to the selection of the European standard over the one backed by South Korea and Brazil.
His commitment to the European standard has brought the process back on track and allayed fears that a switch to the Korean/Brazilian standard would push the migration process back years and cost the local technology sector millions.
Padayachie is also behind moves to tighten the department’s oversight at the crisis-ridden SABC, Telkom and Sentech.
Though he has tidied up some messes , he has not yet spelt out the specifics of what he sees as priorities for his department.
A national broadband policy has been doing the rounds for a while but is short on specifics. “ We are hoping for a vision rather than some ad hoc response to issues in the sector,” says Research ICT Africa executive director Alison Gillwald.
She says: “There will be no dramatic shift in policy without a public process.”
This was evident when Padayachie met 30 of the top ICT businesses leaders last week to get their views on what was needed to boost the sector.
The meeting was well received by the participants. They have long complained that the department made little effort to consult them and tended to come up with policy in a vacuum. “It was very refreshing,” says Allied Technology (Altech) CEO Craig Venter.
Venter was one of the harshest critics of the move to review the digital TV standard process and had tried to schedule a meeting, without success, on six occasions with Padayachie’s predecessor, Siphiwe Nyanda.
Meeting these business leaders is only the beginning of Padayachie’s engagement with the sector.
“He also plans to meet the smaller companies. He does not want to get roped into seeing to the needs of a few larger ones,” says Venter.
Padayachie has not revealed his vision for the sector but this will probably be spelt out in the next few weeks when he delivers his department’s budget speech. What is already clear is that the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting will be one of his most pressing concerns.
The conversion to digital broadcasting is seen by government and business as a way to boost the local technology sector.
“Digital migration is a low-hanging fruit,” says Venter. The conversion will mean SA’s 11m TVs will need their own set-top boxes or satellite dishes to convert the signal.
The migration will open up opportunities for small electronics companies, because even a large manufacturer such as Altech would be able to make only 2m set-top boxes a year.
Venter says the migration will create thousands of jobs. Altech and consumer electronics group Ellies are planning to set up about 20000 small businesses to install the set-top boxes.
The conversion to digital broadcasting is not the only thing on Padayachie’s to- do list. He is committed to overseeing Telkom opening up its network to allow its rivals access to its local exchanges by November. The auction of radio spectrum that will enable new high-speed data services is also a priority.
In addition, the minister has to appoint a new director-general for his department following the abrupt departure of Mamodupi Mohlala.
Padayachie has a full in-tray and has yet to articulate his vision but when he does, there is a good chance it will be well thought out and based on broad consultation.
Communication at last
Tanzania - Increasing demands for improvements in quality of services as coverage is largely complete
[the citizen] As competition increases in the mobile phone services sector in Tanzania companies the attention is now shifting towards the quality of services as the best way method to survive.
The reliability of both voice and text messages services is forcing mobile phone companies to invest heavily in the infrastructure and new technologies. Most major firms have already extended their coverage to cover almost the whole country.
It is expected that 'mobile penetration levels' - the number of handsets compared with size of population - is to grow bigger as the National backbone laying reaches completion.
And having outwitted each other in the voice services mobile phones have shifted competition to internet services such that currently mobile telephones is still largely the only way that many people in urban areas get access to the internet because of the poor quality, and often complete lack, of fixed-line networks.
But this has not come without effect. Most major mobile firms have had to employ the 3G technology to improve their services. Zantel will, this year, become the latest entrant into that technology which is designed to enable mobile operators offer its users a wide range of services, including high-speed data, efficiently while achieving greater network capacity.
Norman Moyo, Zantel CEO informs that the firm is set to roll out its 3G network in April, raising the stakes in the battle for the Internet market.
The strategy he chooses is for the firm to be a converged services provider providing data, wholesale and voice services, with the planned network set to offer high speed mobile internet access, mobile video conferencing and videophone, among other services which it cannot provide with its 2.5G system.
He notes that the technology will boost its clientele base including corporate organisations whose employees work in the fields and require faster and reliable internet. "In this case our focus therefore will be on enhancing our network quality for improved customer experience when using our services and launching of innovative products targeting specific segments to ensure that our customers get value for their money," he says.
Fierce competition has pushed mobile firms to tailor better products for consumers while the battle of who offers better in the telephony industry seem to be giving clients broader choices.
But with internet penetration making further inroads across the country, the battleground seems now to be Internet telephony. According to Dr Haji Semboja, a university of Dar es salaam economist, Information Technology is the crane that is cutting across communities' work and with the advantages of packages offered by telecommunications companies; the market is getting more vibrant.
"And more telecommunications are vying to grab the lion's share of this rapidly emerging market as they roll out one product after another, "he says
Currently, Zantel communications set-up is based on a 2.5 G network whereby voice and data services are based on a General Packet Radio Service otherwise known as GPRS.
"Our GPRS data network has been improved with the usage of EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) that can deliver throughput speeds on the network faster than GPRS performance speeds," Mr Moyo says
It is an innovative movement towards accessibility and availability which he says has improved the overall consumer experience when retrieving data anywhere.
But in the first half of the year, he notes that the newest implementation to their network will be the introduction of the revolutionary 3G, a system, he says, will directly compete with other leading communication companies within the country offering their consumers a choice between GPRS/ EDGE and 3G wide-area coverage on voice calls and Internet access.
With this in mind our strategy is to be the first converged services provider by offering data, wholesale and voice services. He says the firm would further focus at growth of its broadband business, target the corporate, high value customers and retain their existing customers.
"This means we are aiming at spot one in Internet, corporate segment, in wholesale capacity, and a profitable operator in the country in terms of profit before interest and tax," he says.
He notes that this year would see a more focused strategic operation to concentrate on mainland regional sales such as Arusha, Mwanza and Tanga whereby data and voice services will be the primary focus.
The 3G technology, he says, will be implemented in phases starting with Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar and later to other parts of the country.
"In such a competitive market, innovative ideas are imperative and therefore naturally result in investment."
He says that recent consumers' studies have determined that data services are starting to dominate voice services.
"Undeniably ,this is a world that loves to talk and emphasis should be placed on creating reliable and affordable voice and data services as they are tasked by the business to provide and maintain a quality network, "he affirms
But as the industry grows, this will also provide more horizon for students pursuing courses in telecom engineering as the demand for such specialists will also increase.
"As the market revolutionizes so will there be a shift in trend on employment needs, and that means universities and vocational institutions would have to increase output," he says.
Zantel Set to Roll Out 3G Network as Telecom Rivalry Grows
The reliability of both voice and text messages services is forcing mobile phone companies to invest heavily in the infrastructure and new technologies. Most major firms have already extended their coverage to cover almost the whole country.
It is expected that 'mobile penetration levels' - the number of handsets compared with size of population - is to grow bigger as the National backbone laying reaches completion.
And having outwitted each other in the voice services mobile phones have shifted competition to internet services such that currently mobile telephones is still largely the only way that many people in urban areas get access to the internet because of the poor quality, and often complete lack, of fixed-line networks.
But this has not come without effect. Most major mobile firms have had to employ the 3G technology to improve their services. Zantel will, this year, become the latest entrant into that technology which is designed to enable mobile operators offer its users a wide range of services, including high-speed data, efficiently while achieving greater network capacity.
Norman Moyo, Zantel CEO informs that the firm is set to roll out its 3G network in April, raising the stakes in the battle for the Internet market.
The strategy he chooses is for the firm to be a converged services provider providing data, wholesale and voice services, with the planned network set to offer high speed mobile internet access, mobile video conferencing and videophone, among other services which it cannot provide with its 2.5G system.
He notes that the technology will boost its clientele base including corporate organisations whose employees work in the fields and require faster and reliable internet. "In this case our focus therefore will be on enhancing our network quality for improved customer experience when using our services and launching of innovative products targeting specific segments to ensure that our customers get value for their money," he says.
Fierce competition has pushed mobile firms to tailor better products for consumers while the battle of who offers better in the telephony industry seem to be giving clients broader choices.
But with internet penetration making further inroads across the country, the battleground seems now to be Internet telephony. According to Dr Haji Semboja, a university of Dar es salaam economist, Information Technology is the crane that is cutting across communities' work and with the advantages of packages offered by telecommunications companies; the market is getting more vibrant.
"And more telecommunications are vying to grab the lion's share of this rapidly emerging market as they roll out one product after another, "he says
Currently, Zantel communications set-up is based on a 2.5 G network whereby voice and data services are based on a General Packet Radio Service otherwise known as GPRS.
"Our GPRS data network has been improved with the usage of EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) that can deliver throughput speeds on the network faster than GPRS performance speeds," Mr Moyo says
It is an innovative movement towards accessibility and availability which he says has improved the overall consumer experience when retrieving data anywhere.
But in the first half of the year, he notes that the newest implementation to their network will be the introduction of the revolutionary 3G, a system, he says, will directly compete with other leading communication companies within the country offering their consumers a choice between GPRS/ EDGE and 3G wide-area coverage on voice calls and Internet access.
With this in mind our strategy is to be the first converged services provider by offering data, wholesale and voice services. He says the firm would further focus at growth of its broadband business, target the corporate, high value customers and retain their existing customers.
"This means we are aiming at spot one in Internet, corporate segment, in wholesale capacity, and a profitable operator in the country in terms of profit before interest and tax," he says.
He notes that this year would see a more focused strategic operation to concentrate on mainland regional sales such as Arusha, Mwanza and Tanga whereby data and voice services will be the primary focus.
The 3G technology, he says, will be implemented in phases starting with Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar and later to other parts of the country.
"In such a competitive market, innovative ideas are imperative and therefore naturally result in investment."
He says that recent consumers' studies have determined that data services are starting to dominate voice services.
"Undeniably ,this is a world that loves to talk and emphasis should be placed on creating reliable and affordable voice and data services as they are tasked by the business to provide and maintain a quality network, "he affirms
But as the industry grows, this will also provide more horizon for students pursuing courses in telecom engineering as the demand for such specialists will also increase.
"As the market revolutionizes so will there be a shift in trend on employment needs, and that means universities and vocational institutions would have to increase output," he says.
Zantel Set to Roll Out 3G Network as Telecom Rivalry Grows
Nigeria - Regulator has called for operators to reduce prices and increase quality of service
[leadership] Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah has called on major telecom operators and vendors in Nigeria to improve on their current investments in the various networks so as to achieve better quality of service and price reduction.
Speaking at the just concluded Mobile Conference held in Barcelona, Spain, Juwah stated that telecom operators in the country needed to invest more resources in their networks to improve on the quality of services being delivered to Nigerians.
"Apart from quality of service, we need to see the operators reduce prices far more than they are doing at the moment. It appears the reductions are currently based on special packages. We don't think that is enough. We want to see reductions that affect the subscribers generally, and we think it is about time that the operators do something so that we don't have to introduce other measures that will be drastic to achieve that", he said.
He advised the operators to take a cue on investments from other operators around the world that are present at the congress with a view to deepening their investments in the country to achieve the twin desirable solutions of right quality at the right price.
Juwah who also received the commendations of the Secretary General of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, said the Commission was ready to collaborate with the ITU in whatever way possible to ensure the realisation of the broadband vision for the benefit of the Nigeria and its citizens. He said the Commission would need the assistance of the ITU which has enormous recourses including human recourses.
"It is something that we want to deploy to change the face of ICT in Nigeria, and to reduce the digital divide between us and the developed world an also to revive our fixed line services", he said. He informed the ITU boss that while international consultants are looking at the approaches to this, the Commission was going to adopt the "Open Access" model which he said, might become the African continent model because of its wide acceptance in other parts of the world.
While commending NCC's plans, the ITU boss said its Bureau of Telecom Development would come to provide the credibility desired to make the programme realisable in Nigeria.
"I commend your initiatives. I have been following all that you have been doing. Since you took over, you recognised that a lot have been done. And you are moving now, shifting the entire thing to a new paradigm. Let's do it together. Your success is my success. We will help you to do it because we really have a common interest here. Let's do it and showcase it", Toure said.
Toure said he was pleased that NCC has chosen to move broadband to the centre of development. "Broadband will, therefore, be a toll for all our development, a tool for e-education, a tool for e-health, a tool for e-irrigation, a tool for commerce, a tool for governance. It is not an end on itself but a means to an end. Our challenge is how we move technology to achieve these objectives, for the continent. It demands an effective regulatory framework and I am sure that the Commission has the right approach," he said.
NCC Wants Telecom Operators to Cut Tariff
Speaking at the just concluded Mobile Conference held in Barcelona, Spain, Juwah stated that telecom operators in the country needed to invest more resources in their networks to improve on the quality of services being delivered to Nigerians.
"Apart from quality of service, we need to see the operators reduce prices far more than they are doing at the moment. It appears the reductions are currently based on special packages. We don't think that is enough. We want to see reductions that affect the subscribers generally, and we think it is about time that the operators do something so that we don't have to introduce other measures that will be drastic to achieve that", he said.
He advised the operators to take a cue on investments from other operators around the world that are present at the congress with a view to deepening their investments in the country to achieve the twin desirable solutions of right quality at the right price.
Juwah who also received the commendations of the Secretary General of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, said the Commission was ready to collaborate with the ITU in whatever way possible to ensure the realisation of the broadband vision for the benefit of the Nigeria and its citizens. He said the Commission would need the assistance of the ITU which has enormous recourses including human recourses.
"It is something that we want to deploy to change the face of ICT in Nigeria, and to reduce the digital divide between us and the developed world an also to revive our fixed line services", he said. He informed the ITU boss that while international consultants are looking at the approaches to this, the Commission was going to adopt the "Open Access" model which he said, might become the African continent model because of its wide acceptance in other parts of the world.
While commending NCC's plans, the ITU boss said its Bureau of Telecom Development would come to provide the credibility desired to make the programme realisable in Nigeria.
"I commend your initiatives. I have been following all that you have been doing. Since you took over, you recognised that a lot have been done. And you are moving now, shifting the entire thing to a new paradigm. Let's do it together. Your success is my success. We will help you to do it because we really have a common interest here. Let's do it and showcase it", Toure said.
Toure said he was pleased that NCC has chosen to move broadband to the centre of development. "Broadband will, therefore, be a toll for all our development, a tool for e-education, a tool for e-health, a tool for e-irrigation, a tool for commerce, a tool for governance. It is not an end on itself but a means to an end. Our challenge is how we move technology to achieve these objectives, for the continent. It demands an effective regulatory framework and I am sure that the Commission has the right approach," he said.
NCC Wants Telecom Operators to Cut Tariff
Europe - EC has warned about delays from creaking ICT infrastructure
[v3] A tenth of projects under the ambitious Digital Agenda initiative, which seeks to drive economic and social change by modernising Europe's creaking IT infrastructure, are delayed, according to the European Commission.
Digital Agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes told CeBIT attendees today that the strategy was adopted nine months ago, and that most of the 101 concrete actions in the agenda will be completed in the near future.
Kroes remained confident that the EC will be able to reach most of its targets by 2013, despite falling behind in some areas.
"My team and I are systematically monitoring progress. I can tell you that we are where we should be with 90 per cent of the actions. Ten per cent are already completed, and 80 per cent are on track," she said. "Unfortunately the remaining 10 per cent are delayed."
Problems are not being left to "fester", according to Kroes, and actions are underway to ensure that services are delivered as soon as possible.
Kroes also announced that an annual 'Digital Scoreboard' will be published from May to ensure that Europe meets its targets and to keep citizens updated about the progress being made.
"Broadband is a type of digital oxygen essential for our prosperity and our wellbeing. It is the solid foundation that can get everyone online," she said.
"A million jobs may depend on the successful rollout of broadband, not to mention Europe's wider prospects for economic growth and social cohesion."
The proportion of the European population regularly using the internet has increased by five per cent to 65 per cent over the past year, while the number without access to the internet has dropped from 30 per cent to 26 per cent, Kroes said.
CeBIT: European Commission warns on Digital Agenda delays
Digital Agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes told CeBIT attendees today that the strategy was adopted nine months ago, and that most of the 101 concrete actions in the agenda will be completed in the near future.
Kroes remained confident that the EC will be able to reach most of its targets by 2013, despite falling behind in some areas.
"My team and I are systematically monitoring progress. I can tell you that we are where we should be with 90 per cent of the actions. Ten per cent are already completed, and 80 per cent are on track," she said. "Unfortunately the remaining 10 per cent are delayed."
Problems are not being left to "fester", according to Kroes, and actions are underway to ensure that services are delivered as soon as possible.
Kroes also announced that an annual 'Digital Scoreboard' will be published from May to ensure that Europe meets its targets and to keep citizens updated about the progress being made.
"Broadband is a type of digital oxygen essential for our prosperity and our wellbeing. It is the solid foundation that can get everyone online," she said.
"A million jobs may depend on the successful rollout of broadband, not to mention Europe's wider prospects for economic growth and social cohesion."
The proportion of the European population regularly using the internet has increased by five per cent to 65 per cent over the past year, while the number without access to the internet has dropped from 30 per cent to 26 per cent, Kroes said.
CeBIT: European Commission warns on Digital Agenda delays
South Africa - Gauteng Province is to invest in broadband to reduce costs of economic participation
[itweb] The Gauteng provincial government will invest in ICT infrastructure and deploy broadband in a bid to bring down the cost of participating in the formal economy.
However, finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe did not indicate how much the provincial government would invest in ICT and broadband, nor the scope of these projects, during his budget speech this morning.
Addressing the Gauteng legislature, Nkomfe said: “Specific focus will be put on strategic infrastructure investment aimed at lowering the cost of economic participation by focusing on strategic economic infrastructure.”
Among Nkomfe's infrastructure priorities are rail, roads, freight, transport and ICT, including the rollout of broadband. “This is in order to address our socioeconomic infrastructure investments as a strategy of stimulating economic growth and job opportunities,” says Nkomfe.
Over the next three years, the province will invest R36.1 billion to implement its infrastructure investment programme. Of this amount, R17 billion will be used to build new infrastructure, and R4.3 billion will be spent on maintenance. The balance of the allocation will be used to refurbish and upgrade infrastructure, says Nkomfe.
Left out
Despite the e-tolling situation and the billing crisis at the City of Johannesburg making it into Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane's state of the province address last month, these issues were ignored in the budget.
The Democratic Alliance's finance spokesman Mike Moriarty says the opposition party is “disappointed that the MEC had nothing to say about the billing crisis in local government; after all, the province has an oversight role in this regard”.
Moriarty adds the party “would also have welcomed an unequivocal statement that the province would not be seeking additional income out of the exorbitant toll fess, but this was not forthcoming”.
The toll fees were initially set at 66c a kilometre, but national government has agreed to revisit this figure after a national outcry. The new fees will be published before the tolls around Gauteng's freeways come into operation in June.
Gauteng expects to earn R67.9 billion in the new financial year, which will increase to R78 billion by the end of 2013/14.
Gauteng to invest in broadband
However, finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe did not indicate how much the provincial government would invest in ICT and broadband, nor the scope of these projects, during his budget speech this morning.
Addressing the Gauteng legislature, Nkomfe said: “Specific focus will be put on strategic infrastructure investment aimed at lowering the cost of economic participation by focusing on strategic economic infrastructure.”
Among Nkomfe's infrastructure priorities are rail, roads, freight, transport and ICT, including the rollout of broadband. “This is in order to address our socioeconomic infrastructure investments as a strategy of stimulating economic growth and job opportunities,” says Nkomfe.
Over the next three years, the province will invest R36.1 billion to implement its infrastructure investment programme. Of this amount, R17 billion will be used to build new infrastructure, and R4.3 billion will be spent on maintenance. The balance of the allocation will be used to refurbish and upgrade infrastructure, says Nkomfe.
Left out
Despite the e-tolling situation and the billing crisis at the City of Johannesburg making it into Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane's state of the province address last month, these issues were ignored in the budget.
The Democratic Alliance's finance spokesman Mike Moriarty says the opposition party is “disappointed that the MEC had nothing to say about the billing crisis in local government; after all, the province has an oversight role in this regard”.
Moriarty adds the party “would also have welcomed an unequivocal statement that the province would not be seeking additional income out of the exorbitant toll fess, but this was not forthcoming”.
The toll fees were initially set at 66c a kilometre, but national government has agreed to revisit this figure after a national outcry. The new fees will be published before the tolls around Gauteng's freeways come into operation in June.
Gauteng expects to earn R67.9 billion in the new financial year, which will increase to R78 billion by the end of 2013/14.
Gauteng to invest in broadband
UK - Consumers group supports a ban on the use of "up to" speeds for broadband
[which] Which? believes that providers should not use 'unlimited' claims in phone and broadband advertising where there are restrictions to usage.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) asked the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), who write the Advertising Codes, to review the use of 'unlimited' claims in telecommunications advertising.
Which? has responded to the CAP and BCAP consultation and set out proposals on the use of 'unlimited' claims in the advertising of broadband and other telecommunications advertising, including mobile broadband and mobile phone calls, texts and internet usage.
Which? responds on use of 'unlimited' claims
'Unlimited' claims in phone and broadband adverts
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) asked the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), who write the Advertising Codes, to review the use of 'unlimited' claims in telecommunications advertising.
Which? has responded to the CAP and BCAP consultation and set out proposals on the use of 'unlimited' claims in the advertising of broadband and other telecommunications advertising, including mobile broadband and mobile phone calls, texts and internet usage.
Which? responds on use of 'unlimited' claims
'Unlimited' claims in phone and broadband adverts
Algeria - Broadband access is forecast to rise to 6 millions users by 2013
[ennahar] Access to broadband internet (ADSL) is expected to reach six million subscribers Algeria by 2013 against 830,000 in today, said Tuesday the director general of the public operator Telecom Algeria, M'hamed Dabouz .
"Algeria Telecom expects to achieve by 2013, some six million broadband access," said Dabouz at a meeting organized by the government daily Al-Mujahid.
"In late 2010, Algeria Telecom had approximately 830,000 broadband subscribers on DSL for some five million Internet users," he said.
The number of subscribers accessing the Internet through optical fiber (FTTH deployed recently) currently does not exceed 300, but the operator intends to expand rapidly in urban areas with high density, the official said.
Algeria, whose population exceeds 35 million, end 2010 had over three million fixed telephone subscribers, the source said.
Algeria Telecom, which employs over 26,000 people, plans to invest 10 billion dinars (100 million euros) between 2009 and 2013 to expand its fiber optic network to double the number of fixed telephone subscribers, six million in 2013.
The public operator has also launched in June 2010 the laying a submarine cable in the development of its international telecommunications linking Oran (western Algeria) to Valencia (Spain).
Between 2000 and 2005, two cables have been laid connecting the city of Annaba (East of Algeria) to Malta and Algiers to Marseille (southern France).
Algeria: 6 million subscribers to broadband Internet in 2013
"Algeria Telecom expects to achieve by 2013, some six million broadband access," said Dabouz at a meeting organized by the government daily Al-Mujahid.
"In late 2010, Algeria Telecom had approximately 830,000 broadband subscribers on DSL for some five million Internet users," he said.
The number of subscribers accessing the Internet through optical fiber (FTTH deployed recently) currently does not exceed 300, but the operator intends to expand rapidly in urban areas with high density, the official said.
Algeria, whose population exceeds 35 million, end 2010 had over three million fixed telephone subscribers, the source said.
Algeria Telecom, which employs over 26,000 people, plans to invest 10 billion dinars (100 million euros) between 2009 and 2013 to expand its fiber optic network to double the number of fixed telephone subscribers, six million in 2013.
The public operator has also launched in June 2010 the laying a submarine cable in the development of its international telecommunications linking Oran (western Algeria) to Valencia (Spain).
Between 2000 and 2005, two cables have been laid connecting the city of Annaba (East of Algeria) to Malta and Algiers to Marseille (southern France).
Algeria: 6 million subscribers to broadband Internet in 2013
Nigeria - A forum called for a revolution to boost Internet penetration with lower prices and more ISPs
[daily independent] Stakeholders who gathered at a broadband forum jointly organised by eWorld magazine and eBusines Life magazine in Lagos last week, collectively agreed that a broadband revolution would boost internet penetration and reduce pricing.
They, however, insisted that Nigeria needs more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect the last mile and actualise a broadband vision for the country.
They frowned at a situation where internet penetration remains low and pricing in bandwidth still high, in spite of the two submarine cables that have already birthed at the shores of the country.
Worried by the continuous high cost in bandwidth, President of Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Bayo Banjo challenged MainOne and Glo 1, the two submarine cables in the country, to bring down the cost of bandwidth. Banjo called on the two submarine cable operators to slash the cost of bandwidth below $300 per megabyte and allow more ISPs to connect last mile service, which offers to take broadband to homes, offices and schools in every part of the country.
Responding, a representative of MainOne assured Nigerians that the cost of bandwidth could fall as low as $300 per megabyte, but asked for some time to actualise it. He said market forces and growth would definitely bring down the cost of bandwidth, such that Nigerians would have access to high internet speed at highly reduced rate.
Counting the gains that broadband revolution will bring to Nigeria, President of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Titi Omo-Ettu said Glo 1 and MainOne's investments in their submarine cables are stimulants and integral to business development, that would enhance local content development.
"Businesses should be done using local content and Nigerians must stop the importation of finished products with foreign content. But this must be done if there is availability of broadband that will give Nigerians the platform to explore opportunities," Omo-Ettu said.
He assured Nigerians that ATCON would stimulate the business of broadband by partnering with stakeholders in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and disabused the minds of Nigerians from looking for foreign partners to do businesses with. If Nigerians are encouraged, they could do better than foreign partners, he said, adding that the availability of broadband could foster such envisaged performance.
In his speech, former Communications Minister Olawale Ige, who chaired the Broadband Forum, said the forum was proof of the dividends of democratic universal operations, facilitated by digitalisation, which led to the convergence of technologies and created a liberalised playing field for competition by infrastructure and service providers.
"It further affords flexibility in policy formulation and strategies, relative to each region or nation's development, in espousing appropriate technologies and growing at a convenient pace," he said.
The objectives of the Broadband Forum, as listed by the organisers, include bringing key stakeholders in the telecom sector to x-ray and chart a new course for the future of broadband and Internet connectivity as well as engaging governments at all levels to take broadband to consumers of Internet services: Ige said these objectives were paramount to achieving broadband availability as well as Internet penetration.
He said the terminology, broadband, had a long history, beginning with the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) in the Legacy era, with limited speed of content delivery to modern day, Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) technologies beginning with 2G GSM enhancements like the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), through to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
He added that the envisaged next generation networks that would be built on optical fibre architecture and Internet Protocol (IP)-based, could conveniently be referred to as the ultimate in content delivery as the bandwidth availability would be very much above those of mobile systems that are limited to spectrum and other network capabilities.
Explaining the whole essence of the Broadband Forum as stated in a paper jointly written by Mr. Aaron Ukodie, Publisher of eWorld Magazine and Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, Publisher of eBusiness Life Magazine, Mrs. Emuophedaro said there was still some gaps in efforts by Nigerian stakeholders to grow broadband market, especially in the area of last mile connectivity that is yet to be achieved.
Several papers on how to achieve last mile connectivity, boost broadband and mobile application in the ecosystem and new media, were presented by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts. The papers include Broadband and Digital Rights, Sustaining Broadband Through Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, The Role of IXPN in Nigerian Broadband, Transforming Nigeria with Broadband Access and Connectivity and Dream Pipes to Actualise Pipe Dreams, among other presentations.
The Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, in his paper titled, Dream Pipes to Actualise Pipe Dreams, listed four important factors to actualise broadband availability and penetration to include awareness, access, affordability and availability.
Broadband Forum Challenges ISPs to Deepen Internet Penetration
They, however, insisted that Nigeria needs more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect the last mile and actualise a broadband vision for the country.
They frowned at a situation where internet penetration remains low and pricing in bandwidth still high, in spite of the two submarine cables that have already birthed at the shores of the country.
Worried by the continuous high cost in bandwidth, President of Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Bayo Banjo challenged MainOne and Glo 1, the two submarine cables in the country, to bring down the cost of bandwidth. Banjo called on the two submarine cable operators to slash the cost of bandwidth below $300 per megabyte and allow more ISPs to connect last mile service, which offers to take broadband to homes, offices and schools in every part of the country.
Responding, a representative of MainOne assured Nigerians that the cost of bandwidth could fall as low as $300 per megabyte, but asked for some time to actualise it. He said market forces and growth would definitely bring down the cost of bandwidth, such that Nigerians would have access to high internet speed at highly reduced rate.
Counting the gains that broadband revolution will bring to Nigeria, President of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Titi Omo-Ettu said Glo 1 and MainOne's investments in their submarine cables are stimulants and integral to business development, that would enhance local content development.
"Businesses should be done using local content and Nigerians must stop the importation of finished products with foreign content. But this must be done if there is availability of broadband that will give Nigerians the platform to explore opportunities," Omo-Ettu said.
He assured Nigerians that ATCON would stimulate the business of broadband by partnering with stakeholders in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and disabused the minds of Nigerians from looking for foreign partners to do businesses with. If Nigerians are encouraged, they could do better than foreign partners, he said, adding that the availability of broadband could foster such envisaged performance.
In his speech, former Communications Minister Olawale Ige, who chaired the Broadband Forum, said the forum was proof of the dividends of democratic universal operations, facilitated by digitalisation, which led to the convergence of technologies and created a liberalised playing field for competition by infrastructure and service providers.
"It further affords flexibility in policy formulation and strategies, relative to each region or nation's development, in espousing appropriate technologies and growing at a convenient pace," he said.
The objectives of the Broadband Forum, as listed by the organisers, include bringing key stakeholders in the telecom sector to x-ray and chart a new course for the future of broadband and Internet connectivity as well as engaging governments at all levels to take broadband to consumers of Internet services: Ige said these objectives were paramount to achieving broadband availability as well as Internet penetration.
He said the terminology, broadband, had a long history, beginning with the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) in the Legacy era, with limited speed of content delivery to modern day, Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) technologies beginning with 2G GSM enhancements like the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), through to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
He added that the envisaged next generation networks that would be built on optical fibre architecture and Internet Protocol (IP)-based, could conveniently be referred to as the ultimate in content delivery as the bandwidth availability would be very much above those of mobile systems that are limited to spectrum and other network capabilities.
Explaining the whole essence of the Broadband Forum as stated in a paper jointly written by Mr. Aaron Ukodie, Publisher of eWorld Magazine and Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, Publisher of eBusiness Life Magazine, Mrs. Emuophedaro said there was still some gaps in efforts by Nigerian stakeholders to grow broadband market, especially in the area of last mile connectivity that is yet to be achieved.
Several papers on how to achieve last mile connectivity, boost broadband and mobile application in the ecosystem and new media, were presented by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts. The papers include Broadband and Digital Rights, Sustaining Broadband Through Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, The Role of IXPN in Nigerian Broadband, Transforming Nigeria with Broadband Access and Connectivity and Dream Pipes to Actualise Pipe Dreams, among other presentations.
The Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, in his paper titled, Dream Pipes to Actualise Pipe Dreams, listed four important factors to actualise broadband availability and penetration to include awareness, access, affordability and availability.
Broadband Forum Challenges ISPs to Deepen Internet Penetration
Hungary - Govt is to make broadband available in all areas to boost national competitiveness
[real deal] The government plans to help make broadband internet available in the whole of Hungary as part of competitiveness-boosting and IT development measures, state secretary for infocommunications told a press conference in Budapest on Monday.
Zsolt Nyitrai said the government's digital renewal action plan incorporates competitiveness-boosting elements with job creation and the development of creative industries.
He added that the plans will support solutions built on the convergence of mobile phone, TV and internet technologies as well as any initiative helping the country's infocommunications development.
There were 2.979 million internet subscriptions in Hungary at the end of June 2010, according to Central Statistical Office data. Fully 34.8 percent of all subscriptions were for mobile internet.
According to ACNielsen Piackutato Kft, 80 percent of Hungarian internet subscribers have a broadband connection, compared to an average of 65 percent in the European Union.
Government pledges full broadband coverage in Hungary
Zsolt Nyitrai said the government's digital renewal action plan incorporates competitiveness-boosting elements with job creation and the development of creative industries.
He added that the plans will support solutions built on the convergence of mobile phone, TV and internet technologies as well as any initiative helping the country's infocommunications development.
There were 2.979 million internet subscriptions in Hungary at the end of June 2010, according to Central Statistical Office data. Fully 34.8 percent of all subscriptions were for mobile internet.
According to ACNielsen Piackutato Kft, 80 percent of Hungarian internet subscribers have a broadband connection, compared to an average of 65 percent in the European Union.
Government pledges full broadband coverage in Hungary
India - Finance minister announced funding for the roll-out of the Internet to 250,000 villages
[Govt of India] The Union Minister of Finance Shri Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Union Budget for 2011-12, has announced that Bharat Nirman package consisting of 6 flagship programme has been allocated Rs.58,000 crore, which represents an increase of Rs.10,000 crore from the current year. Bharat Nirman package includes Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Rural telephony.
Shri Mukherjee emphasized that the Government’s flagship programmes have been the principal instrument for implementing its agenda for inclusive development.
With a view to take INTERNET at the grass root level, the Finance Minister said that a plan has been finalized to provide Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country in three years.
Bharat Nirman Allocation increased by Rs.10,000 Crores
Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2.5 Lakh Panchayats Planned in three Year
Shri Mukherjee emphasized that the Government’s flagship programmes have been the principal instrument for implementing its agenda for inclusive development.
With a view to take INTERNET at the grass root level, the Finance Minister said that a plan has been finalized to provide Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country in three years.
Bharat Nirman Allocation increased by Rs.10,000 Crores
Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2.5 Lakh Panchayats Planned in three Year
UK - Welsh Assembly has set "ambitious" targets broadband access of 30Mbps by 2016
[computer weekly] The Welsh Assembly is using ambitious European targets in a tender for next-generation broadband access in the principality.
The government wants suppliers to provide all businesses in Wales with a minimum of 30Mbps by the middle of 2016; for all homes to have access to a minimum of 30Mbps by the end of 2020; and for 50% of all residential and business premises in Wales to have access to 100Mbps by 2020.
"Broadband services provided must, at all times, be at prices comparable to those available on the market in urban areas of the United Kingdom," it said in a request for tender published in the Official Journal of the EU.
It warned interested parties it expected them to provide a significant - multi-million pound - investment to go with money from the assembly itself and anticipated European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funds.
The assembly said earlier it would make available £1,000 per home to help Wales residents get high-speed broadband.
The assembly planned to use a competitive dialogue approach. This would also explore ways to drive up demand and take-up by end users, let public sector bodies use the network to deliver services to end users and improve mobile coverage.
Welsh Assembly sets ambitious broadband targets for national network
The government wants suppliers to provide all businesses in Wales with a minimum of 30Mbps by the middle of 2016; for all homes to have access to a minimum of 30Mbps by the end of 2020; and for 50% of all residential and business premises in Wales to have access to 100Mbps by 2020.
"Broadband services provided must, at all times, be at prices comparable to those available on the market in urban areas of the United Kingdom," it said in a request for tender published in the Official Journal of the EU.
It warned interested parties it expected them to provide a significant - multi-million pound - investment to go with money from the assembly itself and anticipated European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funds.
The assembly said earlier it would make available £1,000 per home to help Wales residents get high-speed broadband.
The assembly planned to use a competitive dialogue approach. This would also explore ways to drive up demand and take-up by end users, let public sector bodies use the network to deliver services to end users and improve mobile coverage.
Welsh Assembly sets ambitious broadband targets for national network
Tunisia - Govt is set to confiscate 51% holding in Orange Tunisia as part of assets of former President
[telecoms.com] Less than a year after its launch, Orange Tunisia may be on the verge of gaining a new majority shareholder in the form of the country’s incoming government. According to a report from Reuters, the 51 per cent stake held by Investec could be seized following a rumoured draft cabinet decree to the effect that all assets of former president Ben Ali and his family be seized.
The Mabrouk Group, owned by the son-in-law of the former president, Marwan Mabrouk, is the owner of these shares through its Investec vehicle. The remaining 49 per cent is owned by France Telecom, which may now be given the option of buying the Investec stake. In 2010, the Tunisian government awarded the country’s first 3G licence to Orange which, according to Reuters, has responded to the rumours with the statement that the company’s priority is to maintain operations.
Orange launched in Tunisia in May 2010 and had 748,000 subscribers at the end of the year, following market leader Orascom with six million users and Tunisie Telecom with 4.3 million, according to Informa.
Tunisian government set to become majority shareholder in Orange?
The Mabrouk Group, owned by the son-in-law of the former president, Marwan Mabrouk, is the owner of these shares through its Investec vehicle. The remaining 49 per cent is owned by France Telecom, which may now be given the option of buying the Investec stake. In 2010, the Tunisian government awarded the country’s first 3G licence to Orange which, according to Reuters, has responded to the rumours with the statement that the company’s priority is to maintain operations.
Orange launched in Tunisia in May 2010 and had 748,000 subscribers at the end of the year, following market leader Orascom with six million users and Tunisie Telecom with 4.3 million, according to Informa.
Tunisian government set to become majority shareholder in Orange?
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Bundles - OECD analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of bundles for broadband customers
[oecd] Bundling can provide both benefits and drawbacks to broadband customers. In general, bundled services are less expensive when purchased together and consumer surplus from one good in the bundle can help “subsidise” another less-valued element. Bundling also allows the integration of products in a way that benefits consumers such as by giving them unified billing, a common helpline number or the integration of voice mail message retrieval via the television set.
In other cases bundles can lead to situations where customers are worse off. Consumers may be required to purchase a bundle which contains one product they value and others they do not. Bundling also raises some significant concerns regarding transparency and consumer “lock in”. Bundles may make it difficult or impossible for subscribers to switch providers of certain bundled services and not others.
An OECD data collection of over 2 000 offers of stand-alone and bundled services from 90 firms across 30 OECD countries reveals that broadband services in the OECD are overwhelmingly sold as mixed bundles, allowing users to choose among stand-alone offers or bundled services. Of the 90 operators surveyed, 77% allow users to buy stand-alone broadband service. 17% tie broadband service to a fixed-line voice service and 4% require a television package to obtain broadband access. Only 2% of the offers surveyed required subscribers to take a triple-play service to have broadband.
Broadband bundles are typically sold with a significant price discount over stand-alone prices. The average bundled discount compared with buying the services separately is USD 15 (PPP) per month or 26%. The average price of a triple-play bundle across all countries and operators is USD 65 (PPP) per month, while the median price is USD 59 PPP. The average entry-level price for a triple-play bundle is USD 41 PPP per month.
Consumers often consider the incremental cost of adding broadband to an existing phone and television subscription. The minimum incremental cost of adding broadband service to an existing service ranges from USD 0 to 37 (PPP) across countries in October 2009. Overall, the average incremental price of broadband once a user already has a phone or cable line is USD 15 (PPP). This is, on average, a 32% reduction off the minimum stand-alone price available in the market.
Bundling plays a key role in extending broadband access to those who value it less than the lowest stand-alone price in the market. There are 14 countries where consumer surplus is maximized for a consumer by a bundle which includes a broadband component even when the user places a value on broadband below the minimum stand-alone broadband price in any market. Broadband is also a component of the welfare maximising bundle in two countries (Switzerland and France) even when the
user’s perceived value of broadband is set at zero.
The benefits to consumers largely derive from having a choice between stand-alone and bundled services and stand-alone offers still play a key role in maximising consumer surplus. The percentage of countries where a consumer’s optimal service selection includes at least one stand-alone service varies between 43% and 63% when users are willing to pay the OECD average monthly price for voice (USD 19 PPP) and video (USD 24 PPP) and their willingness to pay for broadband varies between USD 0–50 (PPP) per month.
The availability of stand-alone services will also play a key role in the competitive potential of overthe-top (OTT) services that allow consumers to watch video or make voice calls “over-the-top” of an existing broadband connection. The development and maturation of these services may lead to more users subscribing to just stand-alone broadband services. Because OTT services require a certain level of network quality to function correctly they should be considered in any debates surrounding traffic prioritisation/network neutrality.
The complexity of communication offers and bundles has made it increasingly difficult to understand and compare service prices and characteristics. A lack of transparent information about services and their prices makes consumer price comparisons more difficult and leads to market inefficiencies.
Regulators and consumer-protection agencies should encourage ISPs to provide more information on the characteristics of packages they are selling and to make prices clear and understandable for consumers.
Some regulators may consider requiring ISPs to include all services, fees and taxes clearly in one total price which is available visibly on the website. Websites and tools that can help users compare bundled offers are beneficial to the market and lead to stronger price and service competition. Regulators may be the best positioned to build these tools.
Bundled services can also lead to consumer lock-in for sub-optimal service choices if subscribers are not able to switch providers easily and with minimal expense. One of the key responsibilities of telecommunication regulators is to ensure that markets function efficiently and that consumers can switch providers when better offers appear – essentially “voting with their feet”.
Regulators should take steps to ensure that switching is as simple as possible for consumers by addressing any procedural, financial or relational switching barriers. Procedural costs can be addressed by requiring better price information from operators, seamless switching across providers and number portability across services. Ensuring users can port numbers at any time during a subscription and making porting available to over-the-top providers could also help improve consumer mobility.
Telecommunication providers often require minimum contract lengths to cover their fixed costs but consumers should be allowed to move to a month-to-month contract once the initial term is over.
Regulators and competition authorities may need to work together to address lingering problems with market dominance, noting that operators face varying levels of competition in different areas of the country. This may also include examining options for sharing infrastructure either via extended unbundling regulations or by investments in separated/mutualised infrastructure.
Incremental improvements in consumer broadband valuations can lead to higher broadband take-up and its resulting network effects in the economy. Boosting the perceived value of broadband (e.g. willingness to pay) to USD 25 (PPP) would make broadband a part of an optimal service mix in all OECD countries assuming consumers will pay the average OECD price for stand-alone voice and video.
Governments can work to increase broadband value by making more public-sector information available and reducing any barriers or disincentives to interacting with the government online. Governments can also increase the perceived value of broadband connections by helping to promote the adoption of smart-grid technologies for electricity, reducing bureaucratic blocks to effective e-health applications, developing innovative online transportation applications and making more e-learning options available.
Broadband Bundling: Trends and Policy Implications OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 175. DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2010)2/FINAL
In other cases bundles can lead to situations where customers are worse off. Consumers may be required to purchase a bundle which contains one product they value and others they do not. Bundling also raises some significant concerns regarding transparency and consumer “lock in”. Bundles may make it difficult or impossible for subscribers to switch providers of certain bundled services and not others.
An OECD data collection of over 2 000 offers of stand-alone and bundled services from 90 firms across 30 OECD countries reveals that broadband services in the OECD are overwhelmingly sold as mixed bundles, allowing users to choose among stand-alone offers or bundled services. Of the 90 operators surveyed, 77% allow users to buy stand-alone broadband service. 17% tie broadband service to a fixed-line voice service and 4% require a television package to obtain broadband access. Only 2% of the offers surveyed required subscribers to take a triple-play service to have broadband.
Broadband bundles are typically sold with a significant price discount over stand-alone prices. The average bundled discount compared with buying the services separately is USD 15 (PPP) per month or 26%. The average price of a triple-play bundle across all countries and operators is USD 65 (PPP) per month, while the median price is USD 59 PPP. The average entry-level price for a triple-play bundle is USD 41 PPP per month.
Consumers often consider the incremental cost of adding broadband to an existing phone and television subscription. The minimum incremental cost of adding broadband service to an existing service ranges from USD 0 to 37 (PPP) across countries in October 2009. Overall, the average incremental price of broadband once a user already has a phone or cable line is USD 15 (PPP). This is, on average, a 32% reduction off the minimum stand-alone price available in the market.
Bundling plays a key role in extending broadband access to those who value it less than the lowest stand-alone price in the market. There are 14 countries where consumer surplus is maximized for a consumer by a bundle which includes a broadband component even when the user places a value on broadband below the minimum stand-alone broadband price in any market. Broadband is also a component of the welfare maximising bundle in two countries (Switzerland and France) even when the
user’s perceived value of broadband is set at zero.
The benefits to consumers largely derive from having a choice between stand-alone and bundled services and stand-alone offers still play a key role in maximising consumer surplus. The percentage of countries where a consumer’s optimal service selection includes at least one stand-alone service varies between 43% and 63% when users are willing to pay the OECD average monthly price for voice (USD 19 PPP) and video (USD 24 PPP) and their willingness to pay for broadband varies between USD 0–50 (PPP) per month.
The availability of stand-alone services will also play a key role in the competitive potential of overthe-top (OTT) services that allow consumers to watch video or make voice calls “over-the-top” of an existing broadband connection. The development and maturation of these services may lead to more users subscribing to just stand-alone broadband services. Because OTT services require a certain level of network quality to function correctly they should be considered in any debates surrounding traffic prioritisation/network neutrality.
The complexity of communication offers and bundles has made it increasingly difficult to understand and compare service prices and characteristics. A lack of transparent information about services and their prices makes consumer price comparisons more difficult and leads to market inefficiencies.
Regulators and consumer-protection agencies should encourage ISPs to provide more information on the characteristics of packages they are selling and to make prices clear and understandable for consumers.
Some regulators may consider requiring ISPs to include all services, fees and taxes clearly in one total price which is available visibly on the website. Websites and tools that can help users compare bundled offers are beneficial to the market and lead to stronger price and service competition. Regulators may be the best positioned to build these tools.
Bundled services can also lead to consumer lock-in for sub-optimal service choices if subscribers are not able to switch providers easily and with minimal expense. One of the key responsibilities of telecommunication regulators is to ensure that markets function efficiently and that consumers can switch providers when better offers appear – essentially “voting with their feet”.
Regulators should take steps to ensure that switching is as simple as possible for consumers by addressing any procedural, financial or relational switching barriers. Procedural costs can be addressed by requiring better price information from operators, seamless switching across providers and number portability across services. Ensuring users can port numbers at any time during a subscription and making porting available to over-the-top providers could also help improve consumer mobility.
Telecommunication providers often require minimum contract lengths to cover their fixed costs but consumers should be allowed to move to a month-to-month contract once the initial term is over.
Regulators and competition authorities may need to work together to address lingering problems with market dominance, noting that operators face varying levels of competition in different areas of the country. This may also include examining options for sharing infrastructure either via extended unbundling regulations or by investments in separated/mutualised infrastructure.
Incremental improvements in consumer broadband valuations can lead to higher broadband take-up and its resulting network effects in the economy. Boosting the perceived value of broadband (e.g. willingness to pay) to USD 25 (PPP) would make broadband a part of an optimal service mix in all OECD countries assuming consumers will pay the average OECD price for stand-alone voice and video.
Governments can work to increase broadband value by making more public-sector information available and reducing any barriers or disincentives to interacting with the government online. Governments can also increase the perceived value of broadband connections by helping to promote the adoption of smart-grid technologies for electricity, reducing bureaucratic blocks to effective e-health applications, developing innovative online transportation applications and making more e-learning options available.
Broadband Bundling: Trends and Policy Implications OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 175. DSTI/ICCP/CISP(2010)2/FINAL
Roaming Hubs - BICS and Vodafone are to interconnect their hubs for better management of roaming traffic
[telecoms.com] International carrier services collaboration BICS, which is formed of Belgacom, Swisscom and MTN, has pooled roaming resources with Vodafone Roaming Services to connect their respective roaming hubs. The move will initially simplify the administration of roaming traffic between the Belgacom, MTN, and Vodafone networks but will eventually expand to handle all operator members of both hubs.
As well as decreasing the administrative and technical tasks associated with roaming, the move will enable all operators on both roaming hubs to increase the number of roaming services and destinations they can market to, the firms said.
Whereas roaming agreements can be struck in a bilateral manner between two operators, creating more complexities and paperwork with each agreement, roaming hubbing seeks to improve the process by allowing operators to join hubs and have the hubs strike interconnect deals with other hubs.
“This cooperation is a major step for the mobile industry to guarantee seamless roaming for all mobile users when they cross national borders, and is a direct response to the expansion of the mobile environment globally in terms of subscribers, networks, technologies and applications”, said Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS.
Vodafone, BICS, polish up roaming hub deal
As well as decreasing the administrative and technical tasks associated with roaming, the move will enable all operators on both roaming hubs to increase the number of roaming services and destinations they can market to, the firms said.
Whereas roaming agreements can be struck in a bilateral manner between two operators, creating more complexities and paperwork with each agreement, roaming hubbing seeks to improve the process by allowing operators to join hubs and have the hubs strike interconnect deals with other hubs.
“This cooperation is a major step for the mobile industry to guarantee seamless roaming for all mobile users when they cross national borders, and is a direct response to the expansion of the mobile environment globally in terms of subscribers, networks, technologies and applications”, said Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS.
Vodafone, BICS, polish up roaming hub deal
REACH - Telstra and PCCW have completed a restructuing of the joint venture, clearing the way to further overseas expansion
[intl business times] Australia’s telco giant Telstra and Hong Kong-based telecom service provider PCCW have completed their Reach restructure. The two announced in January that the international assets in their 50/50 Reach joint venture would be divided between both parties. The remaining joint assets will continue to be managed by Reach in Hong Kong.
The restructure represents a milestone in Telstra International’s strategy to drive greater customer and shareholder value.
Telstra International’s expanded platform in the Asia Pacific region enables business growth and increased control over the end-to-end service delivery platform. This will allow its enterprise and global service provider customers to experience enhanced customer service, improved service management and delivery and more competitive market positioning.
As a result of the restructure Telstra International will have: direct ownership of more undersea cable assets in particular the Reach North Asia Loop; an international PSTN voice capability that already boasts the carriage of 4.5 billion minutes per year; additional Points-of-Presence globally thereby creating an extended product portfolio across all regions; the ability to transition the international voice network to Internet Protocol (IP) to allow more synergies between voice and data services; and, satellite services and associated base stations that reach over two thirds of the Earth’s surface.
Telstra is also acquiring additional global backbone and backhaul systems and a Global Roaming Exchange platform, otherwise known as a GRX.
Telstra International Executive Director Global Sales, Mr Philip Mottram said the greater control over the global assets will enable Telstra International to achieve operational efficiencies and reduce time to market for new connectivity and managed services, helping create an overall simpler customer service experience.
“At a time when customers are increasingly demanding support for innovative delivery models, this restructure will enable us to accelerate our new product development program which comprises the build, deployment and launch of new strategic products and services that address key emerging network and service provider market opportunities.
“This is an extremely exciting time for Telstra International, as we can continue to focus on driving connectivity into the Asia Pacific region, whilst streamlining processes and passing the benefits of enhanced customer service and more competitive market positioning,” Mr Mottram said.
Australia's Telstra, Hong Kong's PCCW complete Reach restructure
The restructure represents a milestone in Telstra International’s strategy to drive greater customer and shareholder value.
Telstra International’s expanded platform in the Asia Pacific region enables business growth and increased control over the end-to-end service delivery platform. This will allow its enterprise and global service provider customers to experience enhanced customer service, improved service management and delivery and more competitive market positioning.
As a result of the restructure Telstra International will have: direct ownership of more undersea cable assets in particular the Reach North Asia Loop; an international PSTN voice capability that already boasts the carriage of 4.5 billion minutes per year; additional Points-of-Presence globally thereby creating an extended product portfolio across all regions; the ability to transition the international voice network to Internet Protocol (IP) to allow more synergies between voice and data services; and, satellite services and associated base stations that reach over two thirds of the Earth’s surface.
Telstra is also acquiring additional global backbone and backhaul systems and a Global Roaming Exchange platform, otherwise known as a GRX.
Telstra International Executive Director Global Sales, Mr Philip Mottram said the greater control over the global assets will enable Telstra International to achieve operational efficiencies and reduce time to market for new connectivity and managed services, helping create an overall simpler customer service experience.
“At a time when customers are increasingly demanding support for innovative delivery models, this restructure will enable us to accelerate our new product development program which comprises the build, deployment and launch of new strategic products and services that address key emerging network and service provider market opportunities.
“This is an extremely exciting time for Telstra International, as we can continue to focus on driving connectivity into the Asia Pacific region, whilst streamlining processes and passing the benefits of enhanced customer service and more competitive market positioning,” Mr Mottram said.
Australia's Telstra, Hong Kong's PCCW complete Reach restructure
Zimbabwe - Mobile operators are now disconnecting unregistered customers on their networks, potentially large numbers involved
[new zimbabwe] ZIMBABWE’S three mobile phone companies at midnight began disconnecting customers who failed to register their sim cards by Monday’s deadline.
Industry regulator, the Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), introduced the new requirement in June 2010, initially setting a deadline of August 31 of last year for networks to keep details of their users.
At the end of August, however, only 3,8 million subscribers had registered their sim cards out of about 6,5 million mobile phone users in the country.
No figures were immediately available of how many more subscribers had registered by Monday night, but the networks have been ordered to stop services to unregistered users.
POTRAZ says registering mobile phone users, a standard in many countries around the world, will help in the fight against crime, but some civil rights campaigners are registering hesitantly given a high level of mistrust of the government. Most people don’t trust the government with their personal details in fear of surveillance.
But POTRAZ says it wants to, among other things, “combat transmission of messages or making of telephone calls that are … grossly offensive, obscene or threatening in nature; spread falsehoods for the purposes of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any other person … (and) making a series or combination of telephone calls without reasonable cause for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety.”
The mobile operators – Econet, Telecel and Net One – have used notices on radio, television and newspapers to raise awareness of the registration deadline.
Requiring mobile phone users to register has the potential to stall telecommunications' spectacular growth of recent years, according to the forecast group IHS Global Insight.
"The introduction of mandatory registration of SIM cards in at least 10 countries has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth and will see the disconnection of millions of unregistered subscribers," IHS Global Insight said in a recent report.
The requirement has already negatively impacted South Africa, which has led implementation of the policy and gave customers until end of last year, as MTN and Vodacom recorded drops in users by 6.4 and 5 percent respectively.
Drops are expected elsewhere as nine other nations, which include Kenya, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana, and account for about 80 percent of subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa, follow suit.
"As the registration deadline passes in each country, a significant one-off drop-off is expected as those unregistered SIM cards are deactivated," IHS said recently.
A similar move by Algeria in 2008 hit subscriber numbers. The second biggest operator Mobilis had nearly two million SIM cards de-activated and revenues fell to $140 million in fourth quarter 2008 from $173 million in 2007.
The United Nations has noted that the ease with which Africans can get mobile phone lines, which they can now buy on the streets - with no need for documentation - has helped swell official user numbers from just one million in 1996 to an estimated 350 million by the end of 2009.
Other countries requiring mobile phone users to register include Japan, Australia, Thailand and Germany. United States lawmakers last month unveiled a bill to identify pre-paid users to stop terrorists, drug dealers and gangs from using unknown numbers.
Mobile networks disconnect unregistered customers
Industry regulator, the Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), introduced the new requirement in June 2010, initially setting a deadline of August 31 of last year for networks to keep details of their users.
At the end of August, however, only 3,8 million subscribers had registered their sim cards out of about 6,5 million mobile phone users in the country.
No figures were immediately available of how many more subscribers had registered by Monday night, but the networks have been ordered to stop services to unregistered users.
POTRAZ says registering mobile phone users, a standard in many countries around the world, will help in the fight against crime, but some civil rights campaigners are registering hesitantly given a high level of mistrust of the government. Most people don’t trust the government with their personal details in fear of surveillance.
But POTRAZ says it wants to, among other things, “combat transmission of messages or making of telephone calls that are … grossly offensive, obscene or threatening in nature; spread falsehoods for the purposes of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any other person … (and) making a series or combination of telephone calls without reasonable cause for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety.”
The mobile operators – Econet, Telecel and Net One – have used notices on radio, television and newspapers to raise awareness of the registration deadline.
Requiring mobile phone users to register has the potential to stall telecommunications' spectacular growth of recent years, according to the forecast group IHS Global Insight.
"The introduction of mandatory registration of SIM cards in at least 10 countries has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth and will see the disconnection of millions of unregistered subscribers," IHS Global Insight said in a recent report.
The requirement has already negatively impacted South Africa, which has led implementation of the policy and gave customers until end of last year, as MTN and Vodacom recorded drops in users by 6.4 and 5 percent respectively.
Drops are expected elsewhere as nine other nations, which include Kenya, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana, and account for about 80 percent of subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa, follow suit.
"As the registration deadline passes in each country, a significant one-off drop-off is expected as those unregistered SIM cards are deactivated," IHS said recently.
A similar move by Algeria in 2008 hit subscriber numbers. The second biggest operator Mobilis had nearly two million SIM cards de-activated and revenues fell to $140 million in fourth quarter 2008 from $173 million in 2007.
The United Nations has noted that the ease with which Africans can get mobile phone lines, which they can now buy on the streets - with no need for documentation - has helped swell official user numbers from just one million in 1996 to an estimated 350 million by the end of 2009.
Other countries requiring mobile phone users to register include Japan, Australia, Thailand and Germany. United States lawmakers last month unveiled a bill to identify pre-paid users to stop terrorists, drug dealers and gangs from using unknown numbers.
Mobile networks disconnect unregistered customers
Nigeria - Continuing controversy over the fourth attempt to privatize NITEL
[Leadership/All Africa Global Media] The Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) has gone into many troubles in an effort to privatise it with each effort crashing like a pack of sand at the end of every exercise. BETHRAND NWANKWO, in this report, x-rays the various attempts to sell the embattled telecommunication firm and concludes that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) still has an unfinished job.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Thursday 17, 2011 announced the cancellation of the sale of the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) and its subsidiary, the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication Limited (M-tel) to New Generation Telecommunications, the consortium that won the bid during the February 2010 privatisation exercise of the telecommunication firms. The cancellation, according to the privatisation agency, was due to the inability of the New Generation consortium to complete the agreed payment terms on the transaction.
In line with the rules, Omen International, the reserved bidder during the transaction was expected to be invited to acquire the troubled telecommunication firms.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East, February 2-4, 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center, FL.
Giving reason for the cancellation of the exercise, the Director-General of BPE, Ms Bola Onagoruwa, while speaking at a budget defence session with the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation, said New Generation failed to abide by the terms of the deal in spite of several extensions of the payment deadlines.
She disclosed that the BPE had already made recommendations to the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) that NITEL/M-tel should go to the reserved bidder, adding that the privatisation agency would seal the deal with Omen International as soon as the approval of the NCP was received.
"We wrote the NCP Chairman in January over the issue intimating him on the situation and gave him our recommendations. He wrote back seeking for clarification which we have given. What we are now waiting for is the permission of the NCP to go ahead to give the sale to Omen International," she said.
The New Generation Telecommunication won the bid on an offer of $2.5 billion for a 75 per cent stake in NITEL/M-tel, while the reserved bidder, Omen International Consortium, offered $956,996,091.
The current effort to transfer NITEL/M-tel to a competent investor is the fourth in the series and all the previous attempts ended in controversies.
In the history of privatisation worldwide, hardly has there been a more difficult privatisation process than the attempt to divest the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL), and its mobile arm, the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication Limited (M-tel).
The tortuous road to NITEL's privatisation first began with the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in 2001. This empowered more efficient and business minded private competitors to reap from the sector while the political managers operating NITEL, busied themselves with stripping the national asset of the last breath of life remaining in it.
In 2002, Investors International London Limited (IILL) made an attempt to acquire NITEL, but defaulted in paying the bid price of $1.317 billion and lost the opportunity. After that attempt to sell the firm failed, BPE, under the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai working on the instructions of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, took formal steps to outsource management of NITEL by engaging an unknown firm, Pentascope of Netherlands to manage the pioneer telecommunication company in Nigeria.
However, despite the hues and cries from Nigerians that Pentascope had no known address and telecom experience to revive the ailing company, the then director general of BPE, Mallam el-Rufai stood his ground and handed over the telecom firm to the Dutchmen.
Under the contractual agreement, Pentascope was expected to manage and prepare NITEL for its eventual privatisation. If it had been properly managed, NITEL would have attracted capable and eligible investors. The management contractor was also expected to expand its services in 2003, by creating more land lines and providing at least 500,000 lines for M-tel, that was never to be.
In spite of inheriting several billions of naira upon taking over NITEL, Pentascope was said to have incurred several billions of debt within the two years, thereby creating doubts about its ability or competence in managing the troubled NITEL. By the time the Dutchmen left, NITEL, which hitherto, had over 400,000 lines could not boast of 300,000 lines.
However, NITEL's problem was compounded when its monopoly was broken with the award of second national carrier licence to Mike Adenuga's Globacom.
The second attempt at privatising NITEL was in the late 2005, when BPE came close to selling it to Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which analysts said had experience of countries with infrastructure problems as Nigeria and would have been well-placed to revive NITEL's fortunes, but it failed as a result of greed on the part of government.
The Egyptian telecom had offered $256.5 million which federal government said was below expectation and thereafter cancelled the transaction. It was learnt that federal government has pegged the price as $500 million but the Egyptian firm only offered $256.5 million which was rejected.
After the failed attempt to sell NITEL to Orascom, a group of Nigerians led by the former Director General of Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof (Mrs) Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and guided by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, horridly formed Transnational Corporation (TransCorp) and NITEL and Mtel were handed over to TransCorp at the cost of $500 million.
The sale of NITEL to TransCorp in 2006 was believed to be the most successful with TransCorp acquiring 75 per cent share of NITEL/M-Tel which was later reduced to 51 per cent due to issues of finance and labour problems.
NITEL's problem under TransCorp was more internal than external. A combination of visionless/inexperienced majority owners, inept management, poor financial profile, demoralised employees and a lack of customer service acumen made nonsense of the exercise.
There is no doubt that the federal government contributed in the company's woes and helpless situation NITEL finds itself at the moment. Nevertheless, if one looks back with the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that the process that led up to its privatisation had set NITEL up to fail and eventually go bankrupt.
Prior to the last privatisation exercise which was won by the New Generation consortium, BPE had planned to unbundle NITEL and sell it in bits but at the same time wanted an investor who was ready to acquire the entire conglomerate. The NITEL's components include: the undersea cable, otherwise known as SAT-3; domestic fixed line telephony; national fibre optic transmission backbone; code division multiple access (CDMA) network; and M-tel (the GSM arm).
Prospective investors were then invited to apply to acquire either a 75 percent equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components. So many telecommunication firms including; MTN Nigeria Communication Limited and Globacom Nigeria Limited indicated interest to acquire the entire conglomerate but were latter disqualified on the advice of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), which advised that any existing GSM operator in Nigeria should not be allowed to buy entire NITEL because since the operator has a GSM licence, it would amount to having two licences.
The Mike Adenuga's Globacom was disqualified from NITEL conglomerate because it has both GSM licence and another licence as the second national carrier. Acting on the advice from NCC, firms such as MTN and Globacom were barred from bidding for the NITEL conglomerate but could only bid for one or several of the components they did not have similar licences.
Based on the rules, MTN Nigeria, therefore, placed a $25 million bid for a stake in the SAT-3, the undersea cable; Globacom was allowed for other components, except for undersea cable and the mobile unit.
At the end of the day, BPE cleared six companies to bid; these were: Brymedia (WA), AFZI/ Spectrum Consortium, MTN Nigeria Communication, Globacom Nigeria Ltd, Omen International Ltd (BVI) and New Generation Telecommunications Ltd (formerly Telefonica Consortium).
Since BPE said it would give preference to any firm or group of firms that would bid for the entire NITEL conglomerate, the firm was given to the New Generation Telecommunications Consortium which emerged preferred bidder offering $2.5 billion, Omen International came second with an offer of $956,996,091. Brymedia emerged third with $550 million offer. Other contenders who bid for the acquisition of 75 per cent equity in NITEL and its M-Tel subsidiary included AFZI/Spectrum Consortium, fourth with a bid of $375.5million.
The New Generation Consortium included: China Unicom of Hong Kong, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria's GiCell Wireless Ltd.
After the emergence of the preferred bidders, an outcry was raised challenging the conduct of the process following controversial denials by some members of the consortium of some of the bidders denying any knowledge of the deal.
About six months after the bid was concluded, China Unicom (Hong Kong), a member of New Generation Consortium, took paid advertorials in one of the national dailies and denied being involved in the deal.
The telecom firm announced in a statement that one of its subsidiaries, China Unicom (Europe) Operations Ltd was interested in NITEL, but there are no discussions on any "substantive and legally binding agreements." Filing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), quoted the firm as saying that its UK unit, China Unicom (Europe) Operations Ltd., "would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in NITEL," and "indicated its interest in the provision of technical and managerial support services." The statement credited to China Unicom (Hong Kong) made many Nigerians uncomfortable, as why a member of the winning consortium was telling the world that there are no "legally binding agreements" on the sale of a corporation it bid for $2.5 billion. Worse, to say that its subsidiary "would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in NITEL," after completion of the exercise raised serious questions about the position and interest of China Unicom in NITEL, and by extension, the New Generation Consortium.
Furthermore, according to postings on Bloomberg.com and Dow Jones, the firm, in the statement added that a possible investment in NITEL "is subject to certain conditions being fulfilled." The firm also disclosed that it has not started discussions on any "substantive and legally binding agreements." The controversy was ignited when Sophia Tso, spokesperson for China Unicom denied that the firm was part of the New Generation Telecoms consortium which won the bid for NITEL.
Speaking with Bloomberg on telephone from her Hong Kong base, Tso said, "neither Unicom nor its unlisted parent joined the bidding for NITEL, as Nigerian Telecommunications is known." The denial by China Unicom, was speedily followed by that of another consortium member, Telcom New Zealand, which also denied being part of the Brymedia consortium that came third in the bidding process, adding to speculations that all was not well with the deal even though Brymedia also swiftly responded to the denial which it claimed was not true.
Though BPE swiftly rose up to defend itself by denying the claims of the firms, the controversy raged on until it consumed the job of the former Director General of the Agency, Dr Christopher Anyanwu, which led to his suspension.
However, the Managing Director of GiCell, Alhaji Usman Gumi, the Nigerian member of New Generation Consortium, was able to douse the fear of many Nigerians when he reiterated the Chinese firm's involvement in NITEL bid, which he said, only extended to an interest in offering technical and managerial support.
Gumi assured Nigerians that the consortium had the financial backing from Dubai's Minerva Group and that the $2.5 billion bid was fair value for the firms.
Questions thus arose over the participation of China Unicom (Europe). For instance, was the "technical and managerial support" Gumi said Unicom was offering part of the $2.5 billion bid, or was the support coming free of charge? But Gumi, who is the only visible member of the consortium, was optimistic that the consortium had both the financial and technical know-how to manage the embattled NITEL. He said that China Unicom (Europe) would "consider a minimum of 20 per cent equity participation on terms to be agreed." What was not clear then was whether the remaining 55 per cent equity would be paid by Minerva Group and by extension, how much was each member of the consortium, including his GiCell Wireless, was going to contribute. Nigerians were not bothered on how much each member of the consortium would contribute, but what mattered to many was that the full price be paid, but that never came to be as the consortium kept dribbling BPE and the entire country.
In order to address the controversy, NCP set up a seven-man committee in March, 2010 to conduct further due diligence on several bidders, after Ms Bolanle Onaguruwa, a director in the Agency was named Acting DG.
In spite of the controversy, acting chairman, Technical Committee of the NCP, Taiwo Osipitan, after three months, in an assessment report not only recommended that the bid result be ratified, but that the preferred winner should be issued with a confirmation letter, as the transactions followed a "very transparent bid process" in accordance with international best practices and standards.
The President, thereafter, set up another committee headed by the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Adetokumbo Kayode, but the committee was still on its assignment when the cabinet was dissolved. Although, information available had it that the report prepared by the minister alone, upheld the transaction. Another committee, headed by the current Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke was also constituted which equally upheld the transaction and asked the President to approve the deal.
However, after a few months delay, the President gave New Generation Consortium the go ahead to make the payment.
The New Generation was given 10 calendar days starting from October 25, 2010 to pay $750 million to secure the bid and thereafter pay the balance of $1, 750 million in 60 days from the date of the issue of an offer to close the deal that would give it operational control of NITEL.
The deadline expired on November 4, 2010, without the group making any payment but instead, sent a letter to the NCP, asking for an extension of time to 30 banking days to enable it remit the funds through its bankers.
The Consortium, thereafter, got another 20 working days extension to enable it pay the $750 million to secure the bid, having failed to pay within the initial 10 days in accordance with the provisions of the Requests for Proposal (RFP).
The GiCell boss hinged the inability of the consortium to make the payment to difficulty faced in concluding the due diligence and compliance processes associated with the transfer of such huge funds because its bankers had developed 'cold feet'. "The partners needed to be reassured of their investment security," he added.
New Generation made spirited efforts to meet the deadline, with two of its officials travelling to Dubai in an attempt to close the deal with the proposed financier and a member of the consortium, Minerva Group. But despite the attempts made, the consortium was unable to come up with the money.
With the inability of the consortium to meet up with the payment, the Federal Government had two options on its next line of action. One was to grant further extension or invite the reserved bidder, Omen International.
Last month, the GiCell boss had told LEADERSHIP in a telephone interview that the Consortium had secured funds from its foreign financiers and had written a letter to the BPE asking for more time to make the payment after the Christmas holidays because the financial world has closed for the year.
But before the Christmas break, the DG of BPE, Ms Bola Onaguruwa had warned that there would be no further extension of the deadline if the consortium failed to meet the deadline and true to the warning, the privatisation agency, on February 17, 2011 announced the cancellation of the exercise.
As it is now, many Nigerians expect the BPE to invite the New Generation Consortium which claimed it had secured funds from its foreign financiers to make the payment or better still, invite the reserve bidder, Omen International, which came second in the bidding process, to come forward and make payment. But it remains to be seen if New Generation will be considered again because the Director General of BPE had vowed never to extend the deadline.
Commenting on the issue, a source within the BPE who opted to remain anonymous, wondered how bidders without any track record in the telecom industry won the bid to manage a firm as big as NITEL.
His words: "NITEL is a prized national asset which unfortunately was ruined by mismanagement. We have made several efforts to sell it in the past without success and we should have learnt our lesson by now. The right thing to do is to allow a company that knows the Nigerian environment, a company that has a stake in the country, a company that can immediately revive the organisation. Going for a greenhorn in the industry may take us back to the days of Pentascope and IILL and we will begin another round of endless search for a core investor," he stated.
For a former staff member of NITEL and President, Association Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Titi Omo-Ettu, "NITEL no longer exists to me. I have long run out of ideas on saving NITEL." Like Omo-Ettu, many Nigerians have run out of ideas on saving NITEL, the telecom firm appears to have defied every solution to make it come back to life.
Writing on "NITEL, BPE and Strange Allegations," Mr Segun Oruame said there are mounting questions on whether the BPE has not already chosen a private-sector owner for NITEL and whether its advertisement asking prospective buyers to bid for NITEL is not a sham. According to him, there are growing allegations of bribery and money exchanging hands to pave way for a pre-selected buyer.
But the truth of the matter remains that, BPE has a litany of failed privatisation exercises that put the onus of responsibility on it to prove that it is transparent on the exercises. More than ever before, the BPE must show that it has no hidden agenda on the 'NITEL plague.'
Nitel/M-Tel - One Privatisation, Too Many
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Thursday 17, 2011 announced the cancellation of the sale of the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) and its subsidiary, the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication Limited (M-tel) to New Generation Telecommunications, the consortium that won the bid during the February 2010 privatisation exercise of the telecommunication firms. The cancellation, according to the privatisation agency, was due to the inability of the New Generation consortium to complete the agreed payment terms on the transaction.
In line with the rules, Omen International, the reserved bidder during the transaction was expected to be invited to acquire the troubled telecommunication firms.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East, February 2-4, 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center, FL.
Giving reason for the cancellation of the exercise, the Director-General of BPE, Ms Bola Onagoruwa, while speaking at a budget defence session with the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation, said New Generation failed to abide by the terms of the deal in spite of several extensions of the payment deadlines.
She disclosed that the BPE had already made recommendations to the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) that NITEL/M-tel should go to the reserved bidder, adding that the privatisation agency would seal the deal with Omen International as soon as the approval of the NCP was received.
"We wrote the NCP Chairman in January over the issue intimating him on the situation and gave him our recommendations. He wrote back seeking for clarification which we have given. What we are now waiting for is the permission of the NCP to go ahead to give the sale to Omen International," she said.
The New Generation Telecommunication won the bid on an offer of $2.5 billion for a 75 per cent stake in NITEL/M-tel, while the reserved bidder, Omen International Consortium, offered $956,996,091.
The current effort to transfer NITEL/M-tel to a competent investor is the fourth in the series and all the previous attempts ended in controversies.
In the history of privatisation worldwide, hardly has there been a more difficult privatisation process than the attempt to divest the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL), and its mobile arm, the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication Limited (M-tel).
The tortuous road to NITEL's privatisation first began with the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in 2001. This empowered more efficient and business minded private competitors to reap from the sector while the political managers operating NITEL, busied themselves with stripping the national asset of the last breath of life remaining in it.
In 2002, Investors International London Limited (IILL) made an attempt to acquire NITEL, but defaulted in paying the bid price of $1.317 billion and lost the opportunity. After that attempt to sell the firm failed, BPE, under the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai working on the instructions of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, took formal steps to outsource management of NITEL by engaging an unknown firm, Pentascope of Netherlands to manage the pioneer telecommunication company in Nigeria.
However, despite the hues and cries from Nigerians that Pentascope had no known address and telecom experience to revive the ailing company, the then director general of BPE, Mallam el-Rufai stood his ground and handed over the telecom firm to the Dutchmen.
Under the contractual agreement, Pentascope was expected to manage and prepare NITEL for its eventual privatisation. If it had been properly managed, NITEL would have attracted capable and eligible investors. The management contractor was also expected to expand its services in 2003, by creating more land lines and providing at least 500,000 lines for M-tel, that was never to be.
In spite of inheriting several billions of naira upon taking over NITEL, Pentascope was said to have incurred several billions of debt within the two years, thereby creating doubts about its ability or competence in managing the troubled NITEL. By the time the Dutchmen left, NITEL, which hitherto, had over 400,000 lines could not boast of 300,000 lines.
However, NITEL's problem was compounded when its monopoly was broken with the award of second national carrier licence to Mike Adenuga's Globacom.
The second attempt at privatising NITEL was in the late 2005, when BPE came close to selling it to Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which analysts said had experience of countries with infrastructure problems as Nigeria and would have been well-placed to revive NITEL's fortunes, but it failed as a result of greed on the part of government.
The Egyptian telecom had offered $256.5 million which federal government said was below expectation and thereafter cancelled the transaction. It was learnt that federal government has pegged the price as $500 million but the Egyptian firm only offered $256.5 million which was rejected.
After the failed attempt to sell NITEL to Orascom, a group of Nigerians led by the former Director General of Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof (Mrs) Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and guided by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, horridly formed Transnational Corporation (TransCorp) and NITEL and Mtel were handed over to TransCorp at the cost of $500 million.
The sale of NITEL to TransCorp in 2006 was believed to be the most successful with TransCorp acquiring 75 per cent share of NITEL/M-Tel which was later reduced to 51 per cent due to issues of finance and labour problems.
NITEL's problem under TransCorp was more internal than external. A combination of visionless/inexperienced majority owners, inept management, poor financial profile, demoralised employees and a lack of customer service acumen made nonsense of the exercise.
There is no doubt that the federal government contributed in the company's woes and helpless situation NITEL finds itself at the moment. Nevertheless, if one looks back with the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that the process that led up to its privatisation had set NITEL up to fail and eventually go bankrupt.
Prior to the last privatisation exercise which was won by the New Generation consortium, BPE had planned to unbundle NITEL and sell it in bits but at the same time wanted an investor who was ready to acquire the entire conglomerate. The NITEL's components include: the undersea cable, otherwise known as SAT-3; domestic fixed line telephony; national fibre optic transmission backbone; code division multiple access (CDMA) network; and M-tel (the GSM arm).
Prospective investors were then invited to apply to acquire either a 75 percent equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components. So many telecommunication firms including; MTN Nigeria Communication Limited and Globacom Nigeria Limited indicated interest to acquire the entire conglomerate but were latter disqualified on the advice of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), which advised that any existing GSM operator in Nigeria should not be allowed to buy entire NITEL because since the operator has a GSM licence, it would amount to having two licences.
The Mike Adenuga's Globacom was disqualified from NITEL conglomerate because it has both GSM licence and another licence as the second national carrier. Acting on the advice from NCC, firms such as MTN and Globacom were barred from bidding for the NITEL conglomerate but could only bid for one or several of the components they did not have similar licences.
Based on the rules, MTN Nigeria, therefore, placed a $25 million bid for a stake in the SAT-3, the undersea cable; Globacom was allowed for other components, except for undersea cable and the mobile unit.
At the end of the day, BPE cleared six companies to bid; these were: Brymedia (WA), AFZI/ Spectrum Consortium, MTN Nigeria Communication, Globacom Nigeria Ltd, Omen International Ltd (BVI) and New Generation Telecommunications Ltd (formerly Telefonica Consortium).
Since BPE said it would give preference to any firm or group of firms that would bid for the entire NITEL conglomerate, the firm was given to the New Generation Telecommunications Consortium which emerged preferred bidder offering $2.5 billion, Omen International came second with an offer of $956,996,091. Brymedia emerged third with $550 million offer. Other contenders who bid for the acquisition of 75 per cent equity in NITEL and its M-Tel subsidiary included AFZI/Spectrum Consortium, fourth with a bid of $375.5million.
The New Generation Consortium included: China Unicom of Hong Kong, Minerva Group of Dubai and Nigeria's GiCell Wireless Ltd.
After the emergence of the preferred bidders, an outcry was raised challenging the conduct of the process following controversial denials by some members of the consortium of some of the bidders denying any knowledge of the deal.
About six months after the bid was concluded, China Unicom (Hong Kong), a member of New Generation Consortium, took paid advertorials in one of the national dailies and denied being involved in the deal.
The telecom firm announced in a statement that one of its subsidiaries, China Unicom (Europe) Operations Ltd was interested in NITEL, but there are no discussions on any "substantive and legally binding agreements." Filing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), quoted the firm as saying that its UK unit, China Unicom (Europe) Operations Ltd., "would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in NITEL," and "indicated its interest in the provision of technical and managerial support services." The statement credited to China Unicom (Hong Kong) made many Nigerians uncomfortable, as why a member of the winning consortium was telling the world that there are no "legally binding agreements" on the sale of a corporation it bid for $2.5 billion. Worse, to say that its subsidiary "would be interested in exploring the possibility of equity investment in NITEL," after completion of the exercise raised serious questions about the position and interest of China Unicom in NITEL, and by extension, the New Generation Consortium.
Furthermore, according to postings on Bloomberg.com and Dow Jones, the firm, in the statement added that a possible investment in NITEL "is subject to certain conditions being fulfilled." The firm also disclosed that it has not started discussions on any "substantive and legally binding agreements." The controversy was ignited when Sophia Tso, spokesperson for China Unicom denied that the firm was part of the New Generation Telecoms consortium which won the bid for NITEL.
Speaking with Bloomberg on telephone from her Hong Kong base, Tso said, "neither Unicom nor its unlisted parent joined the bidding for NITEL, as Nigerian Telecommunications is known." The denial by China Unicom, was speedily followed by that of another consortium member, Telcom New Zealand, which also denied being part of the Brymedia consortium that came third in the bidding process, adding to speculations that all was not well with the deal even though Brymedia also swiftly responded to the denial which it claimed was not true.
Though BPE swiftly rose up to defend itself by denying the claims of the firms, the controversy raged on until it consumed the job of the former Director General of the Agency, Dr Christopher Anyanwu, which led to his suspension.
However, the Managing Director of GiCell, Alhaji Usman Gumi, the Nigerian member of New Generation Consortium, was able to douse the fear of many Nigerians when he reiterated the Chinese firm's involvement in NITEL bid, which he said, only extended to an interest in offering technical and managerial support.
Gumi assured Nigerians that the consortium had the financial backing from Dubai's Minerva Group and that the $2.5 billion bid was fair value for the firms.
Questions thus arose over the participation of China Unicom (Europe). For instance, was the "technical and managerial support" Gumi said Unicom was offering part of the $2.5 billion bid, or was the support coming free of charge? But Gumi, who is the only visible member of the consortium, was optimistic that the consortium had both the financial and technical know-how to manage the embattled NITEL. He said that China Unicom (Europe) would "consider a minimum of 20 per cent equity participation on terms to be agreed." What was not clear then was whether the remaining 55 per cent equity would be paid by Minerva Group and by extension, how much was each member of the consortium, including his GiCell Wireless, was going to contribute. Nigerians were not bothered on how much each member of the consortium would contribute, but what mattered to many was that the full price be paid, but that never came to be as the consortium kept dribbling BPE and the entire country.
In order to address the controversy, NCP set up a seven-man committee in March, 2010 to conduct further due diligence on several bidders, after Ms Bolanle Onaguruwa, a director in the Agency was named Acting DG.
In spite of the controversy, acting chairman, Technical Committee of the NCP, Taiwo Osipitan, after three months, in an assessment report not only recommended that the bid result be ratified, but that the preferred winner should be issued with a confirmation letter, as the transactions followed a "very transparent bid process" in accordance with international best practices and standards.
The President, thereafter, set up another committee headed by the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Adetokumbo Kayode, but the committee was still on its assignment when the cabinet was dissolved. Although, information available had it that the report prepared by the minister alone, upheld the transaction. Another committee, headed by the current Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke was also constituted which equally upheld the transaction and asked the President to approve the deal.
However, after a few months delay, the President gave New Generation Consortium the go ahead to make the payment.
The New Generation was given 10 calendar days starting from October 25, 2010 to pay $750 million to secure the bid and thereafter pay the balance of $1, 750 million in 60 days from the date of the issue of an offer to close the deal that would give it operational control of NITEL.
The deadline expired on November 4, 2010, without the group making any payment but instead, sent a letter to the NCP, asking for an extension of time to 30 banking days to enable it remit the funds through its bankers.
The Consortium, thereafter, got another 20 working days extension to enable it pay the $750 million to secure the bid, having failed to pay within the initial 10 days in accordance with the provisions of the Requests for Proposal (RFP).
The GiCell boss hinged the inability of the consortium to make the payment to difficulty faced in concluding the due diligence and compliance processes associated with the transfer of such huge funds because its bankers had developed 'cold feet'. "The partners needed to be reassured of their investment security," he added.
New Generation made spirited efforts to meet the deadline, with two of its officials travelling to Dubai in an attempt to close the deal with the proposed financier and a member of the consortium, Minerva Group. But despite the attempts made, the consortium was unable to come up with the money.
With the inability of the consortium to meet up with the payment, the Federal Government had two options on its next line of action. One was to grant further extension or invite the reserved bidder, Omen International.
Last month, the GiCell boss had told LEADERSHIP in a telephone interview that the Consortium had secured funds from its foreign financiers and had written a letter to the BPE asking for more time to make the payment after the Christmas holidays because the financial world has closed for the year.
But before the Christmas break, the DG of BPE, Ms Bola Onaguruwa had warned that there would be no further extension of the deadline if the consortium failed to meet the deadline and true to the warning, the privatisation agency, on February 17, 2011 announced the cancellation of the exercise.
As it is now, many Nigerians expect the BPE to invite the New Generation Consortium which claimed it had secured funds from its foreign financiers to make the payment or better still, invite the reserve bidder, Omen International, which came second in the bidding process, to come forward and make payment. But it remains to be seen if New Generation will be considered again because the Director General of BPE had vowed never to extend the deadline.
Commenting on the issue, a source within the BPE who opted to remain anonymous, wondered how bidders without any track record in the telecom industry won the bid to manage a firm as big as NITEL.
His words: "NITEL is a prized national asset which unfortunately was ruined by mismanagement. We have made several efforts to sell it in the past without success and we should have learnt our lesson by now. The right thing to do is to allow a company that knows the Nigerian environment, a company that has a stake in the country, a company that can immediately revive the organisation. Going for a greenhorn in the industry may take us back to the days of Pentascope and IILL and we will begin another round of endless search for a core investor," he stated.
For a former staff member of NITEL and President, Association Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Titi Omo-Ettu, "NITEL no longer exists to me. I have long run out of ideas on saving NITEL." Like Omo-Ettu, many Nigerians have run out of ideas on saving NITEL, the telecom firm appears to have defied every solution to make it come back to life.
Writing on "NITEL, BPE and Strange Allegations," Mr Segun Oruame said there are mounting questions on whether the BPE has not already chosen a private-sector owner for NITEL and whether its advertisement asking prospective buyers to bid for NITEL is not a sham. According to him, there are growing allegations of bribery and money exchanging hands to pave way for a pre-selected buyer.
But the truth of the matter remains that, BPE has a litany of failed privatisation exercises that put the onus of responsibility on it to prove that it is transparent on the exercises. More than ever before, the BPE must show that it has no hidden agenda on the 'NITEL plague.'
Nitel/M-Tel - One Privatisation, Too Many
Bahamas - Sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless continues to be controversial
[jones bahamas] Despite hundreds pouring into the downtown area in protest of the pending sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) on Wednesday, the majority of people polled by the Bahama Journal yesterday said the protest “simply didn’t make sense.”
Despite hundreds pouring into the downtown area in protest of the pending sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) on Wednesday, the majority of people polled by the Bahama Journal yesterday said the protest "simply didn’t make sense."
Sheer pandemonium erupted in Rawson Square, after the massive crowd flooded in the area in protest of the government’s pending controversial sale of a 51 per cent stake of the BTC to British-based telecom giant Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC).
"Personally I don’t see what they’re protesting about because the deal has already been sealed according to facts and figures," Gloria Darville said.
Arnette Knowles felt the same way.
"When it was open for discussion, no one said anything," she said.
"The sale seems pretty much like a done deal. There’s no need to make any noise at this point but I understand they want to be heard. But as a government, sometimes tough decisions have to be made."
Dwayne Rodgers said BTC should have been sold a long time ago.
"I don’t know why people are making noise about it now," he said.
Rudolph Farrington shared similar views.
"The protest was politicised and it should not have been," he said.
"It’s good to demonstrate but do so peacefully and the way they operated yesterday was unacceptable. Imagine the amount of visitors that saw that action; I wonder what they thought?"
Lionel Munroe said too much politics was involved.
"All I saw down there was more yellow shirts," he said.
"The protest shouldn’t have happened. If BTC’s unions are fighting for their rights then let them do so alone without the influence of politics. I say sell BTC so we can get better service."
There were a few people however, who felt the protest was exactly what the country needed.
Tiffany Bullard said she agreed with the protest because in her view, everything in The Bahamas is being sold.
"BTC should not be sold it should remain in the hands of Bahamians," she said.
"It was definitely necessary," Alex Morely said.
"Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough and this is only the beginning. Anytime you see people challenge the system, even if its in a small way, you have to support that - that is what we need right now."
Franklyn Donaldson said the protesters simply did what was constitutionally right.
"They are doing what they feel is right by trying to help me, my children and my grandchildren in years to come," he said.
"What are my grandchildren’s’ children going to have?"
A young man, who identified himself only as Keno, told the Journal that the protest was long overdue.
"I feel good that Bahamians are standing up for themselves," he said.
"I feel right now that the government does not care anymore about us. They only seem to care about the foreigners and what they are bringing to the table."
Keno said there are many Bahamians who can do the work that foreigners are doing.
"This is real to me so I’m in agreement with the protest," he said.
"They needed to do that and if they don’t see it now, the Free National Movement will see it when it’s too late come election time."
Undoubtedly the protest will go down in the annals of Bahamian history.
Members of unions, political parties and civic organisations along with concerned citizens, swarmed Bay Street for a mass meeting of what they called "The People’s Parliament."
Chanting "Hubert and wireless gat to go," they carried Bahamian flags and placards that read: "Stop selling out our country, stop selling the future of our babies," "BTC-100% Bahamian is what we want," "Politicians if you vote for LIME, you’re fired."
Bahamians Sound Off On BTC Protest
Despite hundreds pouring into the downtown area in protest of the pending sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) on Wednesday, the majority of people polled by the Bahama Journal yesterday said the protest "simply didn’t make sense."
Sheer pandemonium erupted in Rawson Square, after the massive crowd flooded in the area in protest of the government’s pending controversial sale of a 51 per cent stake of the BTC to British-based telecom giant Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC).
"Personally I don’t see what they’re protesting about because the deal has already been sealed according to facts and figures," Gloria Darville said.
Arnette Knowles felt the same way.
"When it was open for discussion, no one said anything," she said.
"The sale seems pretty much like a done deal. There’s no need to make any noise at this point but I understand they want to be heard. But as a government, sometimes tough decisions have to be made."
Dwayne Rodgers said BTC should have been sold a long time ago.
"I don’t know why people are making noise about it now," he said.
Rudolph Farrington shared similar views.
"The protest was politicised and it should not have been," he said.
"It’s good to demonstrate but do so peacefully and the way they operated yesterday was unacceptable. Imagine the amount of visitors that saw that action; I wonder what they thought?"
Lionel Munroe said too much politics was involved.
"All I saw down there was more yellow shirts," he said.
"The protest shouldn’t have happened. If BTC’s unions are fighting for their rights then let them do so alone without the influence of politics. I say sell BTC so we can get better service."
There were a few people however, who felt the protest was exactly what the country needed.
Tiffany Bullard said she agreed with the protest because in her view, everything in The Bahamas is being sold.
"BTC should not be sold it should remain in the hands of Bahamians," she said.
"It was definitely necessary," Alex Morely said.
"Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough and this is only the beginning. Anytime you see people challenge the system, even if its in a small way, you have to support that - that is what we need right now."
Franklyn Donaldson said the protesters simply did what was constitutionally right.
"They are doing what they feel is right by trying to help me, my children and my grandchildren in years to come," he said.
"What are my grandchildren’s’ children going to have?"
A young man, who identified himself only as Keno, told the Journal that the protest was long overdue.
"I feel good that Bahamians are standing up for themselves," he said.
"I feel right now that the government does not care anymore about us. They only seem to care about the foreigners and what they are bringing to the table."
Keno said there are many Bahamians who can do the work that foreigners are doing.
"This is real to me so I’m in agreement with the protest," he said.
"They needed to do that and if they don’t see it now, the Free National Movement will see it when it’s too late come election time."
Undoubtedly the protest will go down in the annals of Bahamian history.
Members of unions, political parties and civic organisations along with concerned citizens, swarmed Bay Street for a mass meeting of what they called "The People’s Parliament."
Chanting "Hubert and wireless gat to go," they carried Bahamian flags and placards that read: "Stop selling out our country, stop selling the future of our babies," "BTC-100% Bahamian is what we want," "Politicians if you vote for LIME, you’re fired."
Bahamians Sound Off On BTC Protest
Solomon Islands - Regulator intends to penalise Bemobile for failure to meet licence obligations
[solomon times] The Telecommunications Commission of the Solomon Islands (TCSI) has announced that Bemobile Solomon Islands Limited is in breach of its license.
The Telecommunications Commission says Bemobile has failed to provide telecommunications service to 75 per cent of the population by 1st February 2011 and has failed to rectify the situation by 14th February 2011 as required in its license.
Telecommunications Commissioner Nicholas Williams says Bemobile has failed to meet its obligations on a number of requirements since June last year.
This includes the launch of its service on 18th June 2010, coverage obligation of 50 per cent by 18th September 2010 and a required total of 75 per cent of the population by 30th November 2010.
Mr Williams says Bemobile has confirmed to TCSI that they have not been able to build any additional sites since December 2010.
"TCSI has found that Bemobile has failed to meet its third coverage threshold of 75 per cent of the population that commenced on February 1st 2011, as well as during the 14 day rectification period that was provided for under the license."
He says the National Statistics Office and TCSI have both examined claims of whether Bemobile might have reached 64 per cent coverage and have both agreed that the figure is not correct.
Mr. Williams says the Telecommunications Commission has moved to exercise the US$1 Million dollar fine in connection with Bemobile's failure to meet the third threshold.
It is understood that TCSI is defending a court challenge by Bemobile on the lawfulness of the coverage obligation and exercise of the fine.
Bemobile Penalized
The Telecommunications Commission says Bemobile has failed to provide telecommunications service to 75 per cent of the population by 1st February 2011 and has failed to rectify the situation by 14th February 2011 as required in its license.
Telecommunications Commissioner Nicholas Williams says Bemobile has failed to meet its obligations on a number of requirements since June last year.
This includes the launch of its service on 18th June 2010, coverage obligation of 50 per cent by 18th September 2010 and a required total of 75 per cent of the population by 30th November 2010.
Mr Williams says Bemobile has confirmed to TCSI that they have not been able to build any additional sites since December 2010.
"TCSI has found that Bemobile has failed to meet its third coverage threshold of 75 per cent of the population that commenced on February 1st 2011, as well as during the 14 day rectification period that was provided for under the license."
He says the National Statistics Office and TCSI have both examined claims of whether Bemobile might have reached 64 per cent coverage and have both agreed that the figure is not correct.
Mr. Williams says the Telecommunications Commission has moved to exercise the US$1 Million dollar fine in connection with Bemobile's failure to meet the third threshold.
It is understood that TCSI is defending a court challenge by Bemobile on the lawfulness of the coverage obligation and exercise of the fine.
Bemobile Penalized
South Africa - Govt intends to extend its "special rights" in TELKOM with a view to ensuring rural services
[business live] The government is in discussions to extend certain special rights that it holds at Telkom, as it believes the company is a strategic asset that can assist with the roll out of broadband in rural areas.
THE government is in discussions to extend certain special rights that it holds at Telkom, as it believes the company is a strategic asset that can assist with the roll out of broadband in rural areas.
The state owns 39% in Telkom and has special rights through its Class A shares, which give it the right to appoint a chairman, four nonexecutive directors and veto powers regarding the CEO's appointment. The rights will expire on Saturday.
Telkom's board under the chairmanship of Lazarus Zim, who was appointed about two weeks ago, is working vigorously to ensure that it is able to appoint a CEO before the expiry date. Last week it interviewed candidates to take over from outgoing acting CEO Jeffrey Hedberg.
Communications Minister Roy Padayachie on Friday said that the government has "accepted" the rights will expire this week. However, the government is in discussions to "entrench certain special rights" it enjoys at Telkom, by including those rights in the new articles of association.
Mr Padayachie would not comment on which rights the state is keen to re-institute.
A Telkom executive said that to re-institute those rights, 75% of votes from other shareholders would be required. Combined with the Public Investment Corporation’s shares, the government owns about 54% in Telkom.
Mr Padayachie said the government was in discussions with the JSE to ensure that the rights it seeks are not in conflict with listing rules.
He said Telkom was a strategic asset and an important instrument to achieve universal access, including access to broadband services.
Meanwhile, Mr Padayachie held the first of a series of meetings with the CEOs and chairmen of the top 30 telecommunications and technology companies on Friday to discuss how they can, among other things, contribute to job creation and skills development.
The government aims to create 5-million jobs in the next 10 years.
Mr Padayachie said the New Growth Path also targets broadband infrastructure development as one of the main areas to fast-track economic development and job creation.
"We seek to guarantee that ICTs (information and communication technologies) will make its substantive contribution as an enabler for economic growth and the creation of new jobs and skills amongst our people as we strengthen the foundation for a knowledge-based economy."
Andile Ngcaba, the chairman of Dimension Data Africa, said jobs in the industry would come from many projects, such as the roll out of fibre networks and the migration from analogue to digital TV, which has the potential to create two indirect jobs per one direct job.
There are many layers in the digital migration process, from manufacturing, distribution and installation.
About 11-million set-top boxes, which can be used to receive the digital broadcasting signal, will be made in the next three years.
"The growth of (software) applications also provides job opportunities because we cannot always rely on international applications."
State seeks to extend special rights over Telkom
THE government is in discussions to extend certain special rights that it holds at Telkom, as it believes the company is a strategic asset that can assist with the roll out of broadband in rural areas.
The state owns 39% in Telkom and has special rights through its Class A shares, which give it the right to appoint a chairman, four nonexecutive directors and veto powers regarding the CEO's appointment. The rights will expire on Saturday.
Telkom's board under the chairmanship of Lazarus Zim, who was appointed about two weeks ago, is working vigorously to ensure that it is able to appoint a CEO before the expiry date. Last week it interviewed candidates to take over from outgoing acting CEO Jeffrey Hedberg.
Communications Minister Roy Padayachie on Friday said that the government has "accepted" the rights will expire this week. However, the government is in discussions to "entrench certain special rights" it enjoys at Telkom, by including those rights in the new articles of association.
Mr Padayachie would not comment on which rights the state is keen to re-institute.
A Telkom executive said that to re-institute those rights, 75% of votes from other shareholders would be required. Combined with the Public Investment Corporation’s shares, the government owns about 54% in Telkom.
Mr Padayachie said the government was in discussions with the JSE to ensure that the rights it seeks are not in conflict with listing rules.
He said Telkom was a strategic asset and an important instrument to achieve universal access, including access to broadband services.
Meanwhile, Mr Padayachie held the first of a series of meetings with the CEOs and chairmen of the top 30 telecommunications and technology companies on Friday to discuss how they can, among other things, contribute to job creation and skills development.
The government aims to create 5-million jobs in the next 10 years.
Mr Padayachie said the New Growth Path also targets broadband infrastructure development as one of the main areas to fast-track economic development and job creation.
"We seek to guarantee that ICTs (information and communication technologies) will make its substantive contribution as an enabler for economic growth and the creation of new jobs and skills amongst our people as we strengthen the foundation for a knowledge-based economy."
Andile Ngcaba, the chairman of Dimension Data Africa, said jobs in the industry would come from many projects, such as the roll out of fibre networks and the migration from analogue to digital TV, which has the potential to create two indirect jobs per one direct job.
There are many layers in the digital migration process, from manufacturing, distribution and installation.
About 11-million set-top boxes, which can be used to receive the digital broadcasting signal, will be made in the next three years.
"The growth of (software) applications also provides job opportunities because we cannot always rely on international applications."
State seeks to extend special rights over Telkom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
