Africa Telecoms - Issue 21

2011 in review

ISSUE 21 ZAR 29.95 US$ 3.50 UK£ 2.25 EU€ 2.95 Rest of Africa US$ 2.95

www.africatelecomsonline.com

2012 - The Year Ahead

Thought Leadership with Madoda Khuzwayo

Q&A with Mahmoud Sayed Ahmed

[ 04 ] guest ed Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx.

[ 06 ] news

The latest local and global telecoms news

Contents

14

Consumer Electronics Show

10 of the best gadgets & news highlights from CES 2012.

[ 28 ] gadgets

Want the next big thing in portable devices? Our gadget review is here to help you choose.

[ 32 ] stats

Africa Telecoms presents statistics and data relating to the African telecoms market.

[ 64 ] q&a

With Mahmoud Sayed Ahmed, Marketing Director for Motorola Mobility, MEA.

[ 68 ] calendar

Upcoming events, shows and conferences which you can’t afford to miss.

[ 70 ] jobs

A list of the latest telecoms positions from across Africa.

[ 72 ] lastword

Your wish is its command. Siri answers all, or at least tries.

2 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

34 Thought Leadership

Madoda Khuzwayo, CEO of MynextMail speaks exclusively to Africa Telecoms on building the cloud - African style.

Issue 21

Regulars

A Year 38 2011in Review Brett Haggard gives us a roundup of the events that dominated the technology sector in 2011, and what these can teach us about what’s coming in 2012.

48 Top 10 for 2012 Africa Telecoms presents 10 companies to watch out for in 2012.

Lesley Stones examines who will be making waves in the ICT sector in Africa and Beyond.

10

for the mag [ Publisher ] Mohammed Khan mkhan@3ipublishing.co.za [ Managing Editor ] Bradley Shaw bshaw@3ipublishing.co.za [ Sales Director ] Sarah Theron stheron@3ipublishing.co.za [ Art Director ] Hayley Davis hdavis@3ipublishing.co.za [ Sub-Editor ] Niki Sampson [ Printing ] Tandym Press

56 Megatrends: Defining our Future

By Birgitta Cederstrom, ICT Business Unit Leader for Africa, Frost & Sullivan.

[ Contributors ] Birgitta Cederstrom, Arthur Goldstuck, Brett Haggard, Jodi Levine, Bradley Shaw, Lesley Stones, and Sarah Theron Africa Telecoms and Africa Telecoms Online are published by: 3i Publishing Unit 6, Planet Art 2, 32 Jamieson Street, Cape Town 8001 T: +27 21 426 5590 | E: info@3ipublishing.co.za www.3ipublishing.co.za www.africatelecomsonline.com BPA Audited Average Qualified Circulation from Nov 10 – Jan 11, 9989 per edition.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 3

Guest ed Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director of World Wide Worx

This revolution won’t be blogged Few events generate more noise than the launch of a groundbreaking new gadget. In that sense, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas at the beginning of every year, was unexpectedly quiet for many this January.

Jaded hacks, hungry bloggers and knee-jerk tweeters alike bemoaned the absence of the next big thing.

In truth, a consumer revolution was under way at CES, but it was not in the headlines, nor in any of the individual devices launched.

Rather, it was a quiet revolution in the way consumer technology is made, sold, used and connected.

Yes, there were groundbreaking products aplenty. The highlights were fairly clear: The ultrabook revolution: the first evidence that this new laptop category, driven by Intel, would be real. More than a dozen sleek, slim, gorgeous and – most important – fast – models were launched The TV revolution: Samsung and LG both launched the first 55” TV sets using OLED – organic LED – screens, which produce image clarity that seems impossible; and Samsung’s Smart TVs take integration of the device, content and connectivity into a new era, in particular with its TV Apps store.

The driving revolution: Audi, Ford and Mercedes all unveiled new “smart” technology for in-car use, including voice control, in-car apps and connectivity The broadband revolution: any device worth connecting was connecting via LTE, or 4G. Driven by Verizon, but pervasive across all providers and products None of these, in themselves, were enough to excite the been-there-got-the-free-T-shirt crowd. But even they will soon find themselves in a new world, where your gadgets think for you.

The emphasis on the word “smart”, spotted in so many devices and even entire categories of devices, gave the game away. “Smart” in consumer technology really means that the user does NOT have to be smart. It means that the device is doing most of the thinking for you. Or, at least, has been designed so carefully, you don’t have to think about how to use it.

The reason is that the purpose of the device is built into the design, which means that it speaks for itself in terms of how to

4 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

use it. Few would argue against the view that Apple showed the way towards this revolution. The late Steve Jobs was obsessed with intuitive yet elegant design, and that was key to the success of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Those, in turn, represented a true object lesson to all other consumer technology companies.

It’s taken them a while, but most have caught up or are almost there.

Take Nokia, which has shaken the complacency of those who thought they could safely ignore the brand while they focused on the iPhone and Android ranges. Its MeeGo-based N9 and the Lumia range of Windows phones have rocketed the one-time rubber maker back into smartphone contention.

It’s not the operating system as much as the elegance and simplicity of design that has restored the image of Nokia.

That elegance may owe much to the design and functionality revolution sparked by Steve Jobs, but it is given a curvy spin by Nokia that edges it past the comparatively sharp-edged iPhone.

Samsung’s new Series 9 and the many ultrabooks following in its wake are doing for Windows laptops what the MacBook Air did for Macintosh: providing a featherweight heavyweight contender for the computing crown that was about to be handed to the tablet category.

But it’s not only size and weight that is doing the trick. It is also the sheer “wantability” of the device, which in turn is generated by that elegant simplicity, combined with an unprecedented obviousness of functionality.

This revolution, then, is about camouflaging the Smart as the Obvious. The technology simply fits in, and that’s the quietest revolution you can get. AT Arthur Goldstuck is managing director of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za.

Follow him on Twitter on @ art2gee

News

Africa Telecoms brings you all the latest telecoms news from Africa and around the world.

Kawuleza and Gateway

Communications

to expand capacity offering across South Africa

Kawuleza Wireless, a growing Internet service provider (ISP) in South Africa, is working with Gateway Communications to provide high speed bandwidth to major South African cities. Kawuleza has commissioned an STM1 in Cape Town, expected to go live in mid-January, which will expand the company’s existing reach within the area. Kawuleza will then be utilising capacity from Gateway’s STM1 to provide customers with affordable and reliable connectivity in Johannesburg and will add Durban as a new location. Here, Kawuleza will be able to offer incremental capacity packages to customers, as they need them.

Gateway Communications has been chosen as Kawuleza’s primary capacity supplier and has been selected as a preferred provider for Kawuleza’s rapid expansion plans. The company’s four-year plan sees Kawuleza growing 20-fold; expanding to Witbank, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth and East London amongst other locations. Kawuleza anticipates a future customer base of over 22 000 within the next five years. Kawuleza currently works with customers such as Foschinidata, which provides ICT services to the Foschini Retail Group and NYK Logistics, a transportation logistics company in South Africa.

“Gateway Communications’ technical and on-the-ground experience has proven to be invaluable,” says Mike Edwards, acting CEO of Kawuleza Wireless. “Gateway Communications provides us with cost effective, reliable and efficient capacity and with its large African footprint and redundant networks, it is an ideal partner to support our growth. We will now be able to easily reach customers in areas that we have never serviced before.” AT

6 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

N

News

NVIDIA Tegra 3

processor to power Audi’s next-gen dashboard and infotainment system Audi has selected the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(R) 3 mobile processor to power in-vehicle infotainment systems, as well as new digital instrument clusters that replace traditional dashboard gauges, across its full line of vehicles worldwide, beginning in 2013.

The tight integration of these systems with the vehicle, as well as their simple user-interface and realistic graphics, will enable safer, more intuitive driving by providing critical information that can be easily understood with a quick glance.

Both the infotainment and the instrument-cluster systems will utilise visual computing modules (VCMs) powered by Tegra 3.

VCMs are computer subsystems equipped with Tegra processors, memory and IO controllers, designed specifically for automotive applications. By utilizing VCMs, Audi can quickly and easily incorporate the newest Tegra visual computing technologies into their vehicles, enabling it to offer the most cutting-edge visual computing capabilities in the marketplace.

“Audi has long been at the forefront of automotive design, integrating state-of-the-art technology into our vehicles,” said Ricky Hudi, chief executive engineer: electrics & electronics, at Audi.

“Our deep relationship with NVIDIA demonstrates how we have

consistently stayed ahead of the competition.”

“Last year, we introduced the first live Google Earth experience in a car. This year, we are shipping vehicles featuring the Tegra 2 mobile processor. And next year, we will again break new ground with Tegra 3, delivering beautiful, rich visual experiences through the dashboard and the infotainment system. NVIDIA is the clear choice to power our next generation systems.”

Dan Vivoli, senior vice president at NVIDIA, said: “Audi and NVIDIA are radically narrowing the gap that has existed between consumer electronics and automotive electronics. By leveraging technology from the very latest smart phones and tablets, Audi is leading the market with innovations that enhance safety and make driving more enjoyable.”

Tegra 3 processor is a complete system-on-a-chip that incorporates a quad-core ARM CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce® GPU and dedicated audio, video and image processors. This highly energy efficient, integrated design enables ultra-fast application processing and vibrant 3D graphics, while placing fewer demands on vehicles’ electrical systems. AT

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 7

N

News

Eaton Towers secures $30m debt facility for Ghana tower investments The African tower ownership and management company, Eaton Towers, has secured a US$30 million debt facility from Standard Bank Group, acting through Stanbic Bank Ghana and Standard Bank of South Africa, to build and develop both existing and new telecom towers across Ghana.

This is Eaton’s first bank debt financing and follows the US$150 million equity investment into Eaton Towers last September by Capital International Private Equity Funds (CIPEF), a private equity investor that focuses on emerging markets.

Peter Lewis, CFO of Eaton Towers, said: “We are delighted to have completed our first bank debt financing with Standard Bank Group. Given our strong deal pipeline and the interest we are seeing from financial and development institutions, we are confident that this will be the first of many such financing deals. This debt facility is an endorsement of our business model and demonstrates our ability to leverage our assets in Africa in a highly efficient way.”

The debt facility and equity investment will enable Eaton Towers to add scale to its business of selling telecom tower co-location and shared-infrastructure facilities to mobile operators. Specifically, the debt facility will fund operational maintenance of existing towers that Eaton manages for Vodafone Ghana and the construction of new towers in Ghana. Eaton Towers has drawn down US$10 million of the facility so far.

In October 2010, Eaton Towers signed a 10-year contract to take over the operations and co-location management of 750 telecom towers for Vodafone Ghana and the company plans to extend its operations across other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. AT

8 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

8.ta

slashes broadband pricing by up to 25% for new and existing subscribers

South African mobile broadband provider, 8.ta has reduced broadband rates for its Once-Off and its Post-paid Internet packages.

Amith Maharaj the managing executive for Telkom Mobile said: “8.ta has reduced its broadband pricing, responding to the need for affordable broadband Internet in the South African market. Effectively, 8.ta has tailored these packages to give users the freedom to choose packages that suit their pockets. Existing 8.ta Internet subscribers will automatically be migrated to the new price plans, and after their contracts are up for renewal they can also opt to subscribe on a month to month or 12 months contract basis.” This continues the drive

by South African operators to reduce data prices and it is anticipated this will continue to the benefit of both businesses and consumers. AT

N

News

Broadband delivers strongest growth since 2009, with 581.3 million subscribers globally The latest broadband and IPTV figures published by the Broad-

Russia stars in IPTV expansion

band Forum show a significant surge in growth in Q3 2011, with more new subscribers added in the quarter than at any time since early 2009. The figures also point to the growing importance of fibre as FTTH and hybrid FTTx deployments increase.

Overall broadband growth during the quarter, according to figures prepared for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic (http:// www.point-topic.com), is estimated at 17.4 million lines, bringing the global total to 581.3 million – a quarterly increase of 3.08% and an annual growth rate of 12.89%.

“These are very healthy figures for Q3 and they demonstrate the ongoing strength of the broadband market,” commented Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh. “We are especially pleased to see the trend in fibre technologies beginning to take off. Our G-PON certification program, launched in Q3 and with first certifications already in place, has been very widely welcomed and this is an indication that the market is ready for much further growth in this area.”

IPTV subscribers grew by 6.06% in the third quarter of 2011 and now total 54.4 million globally. IPTV continues to grow steadily, generating significant additional revenues as service providers work hard to make IPTV an integral part of their product package.

Asia, once again, is the fastest growing region for IPTV but European markets are strengthening on an individual basis and while some saturation is taking place there is fundamental strength in the market, which has driven the region to a three-year high in quarterly net additions.

The top ten countries for IPTV all reported strong growth. Russia is the major success story, entering the top ten for the first time in eighth place and rising to seventh place. Growth in France, the current world leader, is still very strong, in spite of the already high penetration rate; but China will soon take over the top spot, by sheer force of market size.

Fibre tech plays catch-up

With the strong push for more fibre deployments, the Broadband Forum’s testing and certification programme for G-PON was a critical and timely announcement for the industry in 2011 and this work continues in 2012 as more vendors seek to achieve certification for their fibre products. At the same time the Broadband Forum will continue to expand this programme to cover additional ONU modules and address XG-PON1.

The organization is also planning to build on its IPv6 work and MPLS in Mobile Backhaul Initiative (MMBI), ensuring a smooth transition to LTE/4G. In 2012, it will publish important work defining the industry specifications for multiservice architecture and continue work on a TR-069 CWMP CPE Conformance programme, as well as launching new work in support of business services and machine-to-machine requirements.

Mersh emphasised the importance of standards and certification programmes: “Standards provide the foundation on which vendors and service providers can build their roadmap for development and deployment of products and services. Our task at the Broadband Forum is to provide the specifications and tools to ensure that global service providers and vendors can achieve standards based deployments. Doing so leads to interoperability and drives down the costs of deployment, encouraging innovation and faster rollouts of new services. One of our key new programs, Broadband Forum Certification, gives service providers worldwide the full confidence in the quality and competitiveness of their vendor equipment selection. We have made major steps forward with our MMBI and new G-PON Certifications and we intend to continue this work and introduce further programs in 2012.” AT

The figures show that FTTx is now gaining ground on more traditional technologies. DSL continues to be the most dominant technology, adding more lines than any other in Q3. However, in percentage terms both FTTH and FTTx/hybrid technologies showed the largest growth with over 8% overall, compared with 2.2% for cable modems and 2% for DSL. FTTx added just under 19 million lines in Q3 2011, which is more than double the number in the same period in 2010 and it continues to accelerate. This means that market share for fibre technologies – now at 16% – is fast catching up with cable’s 19.5%.

Oliver Johnson, CEO of Point Topic, said: “Hybrid FTTx will be where the action is over the next few years. Consumers are showing signs of being ready to pay for faster connections and the hybrid solution set is a cost effective way of getting relatively high speeds to them.”

Asia dominates, OK? With a rise of almost 1.5% in the year, the proportion of broadband subscribers in Asia continues to increase. Results from other regions were more muted, although both Europe and the Middle East & Africa returned better numbers compared with the same period in 2010. The Americas also performed better in Q3 than Q2, with overall net additions in subscriber lines rising by 309,518.

Asia continues to dominate with over 10.3 million more subscriber lines added in the quarter, higher than in Q2 and the same quarter in 2010. With over 246 million lines in total, Asia now has 42.34% of the total market share in broadband. Of the top ten countries, strongest growth continues to be in China.

Broadband Forum backs certification and STANDARDISATION

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 9

N

News

Nokia to cut 4,000 smartphone manufacturing jobs On the back of Nokia’s dismal results for Q4 2011, showing a US$1.25billion loss, 4,000 manufacturing jobs are to be cut in North America and Europe, in favour of moving smartphone production to Asia. The 3 factories being affected are in Finland, Hungary and Mexico. These plants will however remain open (however, vastly reduced) for customization for these locals markets.

Nokia has noted that this shift will improve their competiveness in the global smartphone market, with most of their component suppliers already in the region. Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice-president for markets, said: “Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive.”

The work of assembling phones will be handed to Nokia’s existing workforces in Masam, South Korea, and the Chinese capital, Beijing. Nokia’s 3,500 strong Sao Paulo design, research and development staff compliment will remain untouched.

With Nokia struggling to regain its dominant market position in the global handset manufacturing industry, it is no surprise that they are taking such drastic steps. However, whether or not this is too little, too late, only time will tell. One fact is certain; Nokia has one last chance to prove itself. With shareholders and execs alike hoping for a runaway success of the WP7 devices, including the recently launched Lumia 800, Nokia has much to prove with the shift from Symbian to WP7 . AT 10 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Zambia reverses Zamtel sale to LAP GreenN In July 2009, the government of the Republic of Zambia announced its intention to privatise Zamtel through the sale of up to 75% of the Company’s equity. The successful bid from Libya’s LAP GreenN was accepted in June 2010, and the company acted quickly and decisively to turn around the fortunes of the ailing parastatal.

With the September 2011 election victory of Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front party over incumbent Rupiah Banda, the sale of Zamtel under Banda’s government has become highly politicised. To add further complexity to an already tense and difficult situation, the overthrow of the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi, opened the floodgates for the new Zambian government to take advantage of a chaotic political landscape in Libya.

This culminated in the new Zambian government recently announcing a full reversal of the sale of Zamtel to LAP GreenN. This was revealed in a press statement released by the President’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, George Chellah.

According to the statement, President Sata deemed it desirable and expedient to compulsorily acquire the 75% shareholding of Lap Green Network in Zamtel and ordered the dissolution of the Board of Directors of the company. Mupanga Mwanakatwe, a former Airtel executive, has been appointed as Zamtel’s new chairman and acting chief executive officer - with a new board to be installed shortly.

In his comments on the recent developments, Lap GreenN’s newly appointed chairman Wafik Alshater, stated that ‘LAP Green is now under new leadership as part of broader changes in Libya. The new management is determined to safeguard its legally acquired assets which ultimately belong to the Libyan people, who fought a bitter war of liberation in 2011.”

“We will pursue all options and do everything possible to retain our stake in Zamtel – a highly prestigious part of our panAfrican network...LAP GreenN is deeply committed to the future of Zamtel. Since acquiring the company for US$257 million in June 2010, the largest ever private investment in Zambia, we have quadrupled its subscriber base, securing more than 800,000 subscribers by the start of 2012. We see a very positive future for the company under the joint ownership by LAP GreenN and the Zambian Government, and we look forward to further growing the business and to continue making a major contribution to the Zambian economy. Since June 2010, over 1,700 jobs have been created at Zamtel and with our distributors. A vibrant Zamtel is helping to strengthen the Zambian telecoms sector through competition and choice. This situation will not only be damaging to the telecoms industry in Zambia but would also send the wrong signal to those looking to invest in this country,” Alshater added. AT

N

News

Knott-Craig makes a move to Cell C With Alan Knott-Craig’s 3-year restraint of trade coming to an end in February 2012, after leaving Vodacom as their CEO in 2009, the board of Cell C has announced that he will be taking the helm as their new CEO from April 2012.

Cell C Chairman and acting CEO, Simon Duffy believes that Knott-Craig is the perfect man for the job, his “experience and expertise are unrivalled in South Africa.”

Duffy continues: “You look at his achievements, they are remarkable. He took Vodacom from nowhere to 25 million customers and he was successful before that at Telkom and he turned Vodacom into a very formidable operation.” Furthermore, Duffy went on to say that Knott-Craig was selected after an extensive 6-month search both internationally and locally for a suitable candidate.

Cell C has had a checkered past having gone through a number of CEO’s and also having had lengthy gaps with no one at the helm. Knott-Craig will be the first South African and the 5th CEO to take charge of the operator.

Knott-Craig’s dearth of experience in setting up Vodacom from ground zero effectively, and turning it into the number one mobile operator in South Africa is certainly going to benefit Cell C. With this knowledge base and connections we can expect big things from Cell C after “Mr. Tough” joins the operator. AT

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 11

N

News

ShoreTel, Ruckus Wireless speed enterprise migration from desk phones to smartphones Ruckus Wireless™ and ShoreTel® will be delivering Mobile Unified Communications (UC) Starter Kit, combining Wi-Fi and voice over IP (VoIP) products, which is specifically designed for the small and medium-sized business (SMB) sector.

The Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) offering is a verified system within the ShoreTel Innovation Network, ensuring tight coordination between the two platforms for end-to-end interoperability.

For mid-size enterprises looking to test mobile unified communications over Wi-Fi, Ruckus and ShoreTel have also created custom, discounted product bundles for their respective channel partners.

The ShoreTel/Ruckus bundle delivers advanced UC and wireless networking capabilities necessary to support corporate voice and data requirements all in an affordable and easy-to-use package. The

Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi system extends ShoreTel’s VoIP reach beyond the wired environment – allowing customers to use smartphones, tablets and Voice over Wi-Fi phones over the existing enterprise IP voice system, while maintaining superb voice quality.

“With the growth of mobile devices and consumerisation of IT, there is now huge demand by enterprises for the use of diverse smartphones using advanced Wi-Fi and VoIP technology,” said Denis Maynard, vice president of worldwide sales for Ruckus Wireless.

“ShoreTel and Ruckus now give organisations a complete turnkey system that takes advantage of the best VoIP and Wi-Fi technologies to easily and securely integrate employee smartphones into their existing network framework.” AT

VimpelCom and Algeria’s Ministry of Finance sign MoU over Orascom Telecom Algérie VimpelCom and the Ministry of Finance of the Algerian Democratic People’s Republic have announced that they have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to explore the possible sale to the Algerian state by Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (OTH) of an interest in its subsidiary, Orascom Telecom Algérie (OTA). VimpelCom has agreed that it will consider selling a majority stake in OTA, subject to an acceptable price and satisfaction of other conditions. The two sides have also agreed to consider alternative acquisition scenarios that could be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Any such transaction would be subject to, among other things,

12 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

definitive documentation and mutual agreement on price. Following signing of the MoU, the Ministry of Finance and VimpelCom will undertake a process to agree on the valuation of OTA with the involvement of each party’s financial advisors. The transaction will also require corporate approvals by OTH and VimpelCom. OTH has not been party to the discussions regarding the MoU and the transaction. VimpelCom owns 51.7% of OTH, which, in turn, owns 96.81% of OTA. It is contemplated that the governance and management control of OTA would be structured so as to permit OTH and, consequently, VimpelCom to continue to consolidate OTA under International Financial Reporting Standards. AT

10 of the best

Gadgets & News highlights from CES The International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas saw the announcement of a whole slew of techno-awesome.

We take a look at 10 products that really jumped out at us.

14 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

by brett haggard

Issue 21

AFRICA TELECOMS 15

01

Thinner, brighter, darker

LG 55EM960V 3D OLED TV

Up to now, we’ve contented ourselves with so-called LED TVs, which have really just been LCD TVs using LED backlighting. With the arrival of Organic LED screens, TVs can finally fulfil their true potential. Not only does OLED tech do colours and contrast noticeably and jawdroppingly better than ever, but it enables manufacturers to make TVs that are astoundingly thin. Take the 55” screen that LG showed off at CES as an example: the Korean company’s 55EM960V 3D TV is only 4mm thick. That’s right, 4mm. On top of that, the bezel that surrounds it is almost invisible, and the end result – when coupled with the screen’s incredible image quality – is utterly astonishing.

OLED TVs probably won’t hit African shores for a while, and when they do they might demand a kidney or first-born as a deposit, but we’re pretty sure they’ll be worth the price.

16 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

02

Tougher than ever

Corning Gorilla Glass 2

Gorilla Glass was first introduced back in 2007 by glassware maker Corning to combat the growing complaints about the fragile and scratch-prone glass used on mobile devices. It was a hit, making its way onto over 600 million devices between 2007 and December 2011. At CES 2012, Corning announced Gorilla Glass 2, a product that’s as robust as the original glass but is now 20% thinner. Its new, trim waistline will allow for the same strength and scratch-proofing offered by the original Gorilla Glass but, more importantly, it will enable manufacturers to produce future gadgets that are more elegant than ever without being more fragile. Big names that have already signed on are Acer, Sony, LG, Asus amongst others, so expect their 2012 lineups to include some slim, sexy and tough products.

Kingston Digital announces Wi-Drive app for Kindle Fire with update for Apple devices Kingston Digital, the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, announced an app to enable Wi-Drive™ use with Kindle Fire. Shipping in later Q1 2012, Kingston® Wi-Drive will also be available in a 64GB capacity. In addition, existing Wi-Drive users can get a free app update for Apple devices that allow AirPlay and DRM support. Kingston Wi-Drive is wireless portable storage for tablets and smartphone devices including Kindle Fire, Apple® iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®, and lets users store and share content wirelessly with three users simultaneously.

Kingston Wi-Drive was first released in 2011 for Apple devices and can now be used for the Android-based Kindle Fire tablet. The app, available on the Amazon Appstore for Android, allows Kindle Fire users to expand the capacity of the device beyond the 8GB of internal storage.

The 64GB version coming soon allows even more storage and sharing, and joins the Wi-Drive family currently available in 16GB and 32GB capacities.

An app update for Apple devices allows AirPlay support for streaming of music, photos and videos. For iPhone users working with documents, Wi-Drive presents the “Open in” option so the user can select which app to use to view the document, and also allows copying to the Wi-Drive app. Purchased or DRM content can now be accessed on Apple mobile devices through the Safari browser via the Wi-Drive’s IP address as long as the device is assigned to a computer using an iTunes account.

“Since its debut, Kingston Wi-Drive has been a success with Apple mobile device users. As more consumers adopt Kindle Fire as their mobile device for personal media consumption, we are

proud to help this new segment of users store and share photos, videos, music and much more,” said Andrew Ewing, Flash memory business manager, Kingston. “The combination of the app update, higher capacity and Kindle Fire support makes Wi-Drive the perfect wireless storage solution for mobile users.”

Kingston Wi-Drive allows users to stream videos, access music or share files with tablets and smartphone owners. The distinctively designed, pocket-sized Wi-Drive utilises Flash-based technology to store data from USB-compatible PCs. These files are then easily retrieved via Wi-Drive’s built-in wireless signal without requiring cables or an Internet connection. Three users can work simultaneously with different file types from a single Wi-Drive without any performance disruption. AT

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 17

Intel and Motorola Mobility strike multi-year strategic mobile partnership Intel Corporation and Motorola Mobility have announced that the two companies are entering into a multi-year, multi-device strategic relationship that includes smartphones which Motorola will begin shipping later this year using Intel® Atom™ processors and the Android™ platform.

The collaboration, which also covers tablets, will combine Intel’s leadership in silicon processor technology and computing innovation with Motorola’s mobile device design expertise to deliver products that have the high performance, long battery life and convenience necessary for increasingly mobile lifestyles.

“When great silicon and software technology meets great mobile and design innovation, amazing things can happen,” said Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini. “Our long-term relationship with Motorola Mobility will help accelerate Intel® architecture into new mobile market segments. We expect the combination of our companies to break new ground and bring the very best of computing capabilities to smartphones and tablets, which in turn will help to create powerful new experiences that connect and enrich people’s lives wherever they may be.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Intel to deliver smartphones and tablets based on Intel’s Atom processor to consumers and businesses,” said Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility. “Though there are five billion mobile subscribers in the world, less than 800 million are using a smartphone today. With Android as the leading smartphone OS globally and advancements in computing technology we see tremendous opportunity for the converged devices market.”

Smartphones and tablets are quickly becoming an indispensible part of people’s daily lives -making them constant companions. The strategic relationship between Intel and Motorola Mobility will expand opportunity for continued innovation in these areas as they work closely to leverage Intel’s low power system-on-chip (SoC) roadmap for Motorola Mobility’s converged mobile device portfolio. The companies will collaborate across hardware, software and services to deliver complete solutions and disruptive new user experiences that offer long battery life, increased computing performance, advanced imaging and video capabilities, and seamless wireless connections.

18 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

03

Light art

Nokia Lumia 900 Smartphone

Nokia’s new Windows Phone 7 phone, the Lumia 900, stole the show at CES, garnering numerous “Best of CES” awards from some pretty sceptical pundits. Its stunning slim design is slightly bigger than that of its predecessor, the Lumia 800, but it puts that space to good use by packing in a 1.4GHz processor, LTE connectivity and 14.5GB of internal memory.

Nokia’s choice of camera includes an 8MP image sensor with a Carl Zeiss lens and a 1MP front-mounted camera that lets you video-call friends and family. The 4.3” AMOLED screen is beautiful to look at, thanks to Nokia’s new ClearBlack display technology, as well as being super-responsive. It’s the LTE tech that really sets the Lumia 900 apart, as it’s the latest evolution of 3G connectivity and offers superb up and download speeds. Despite so much complexity, the Lumia 900 has a talk-time of up to 7 hours, making it an excellent all-rounder.

RIM showcases New BlackBerry 7.1 OS Nokia’s Keynote address at CES 2012

A wide range of software improvements awaited BlackBerry® 7 smartphone customers at the BlackBerry® booth at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012). Research In Motion showcased the new BlackBerry® 7.1 OS as well as updates to the BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), BlackBerry® Traffic™ and BlackBerry® Travel™ apps. The new OS and app updates make seizing and sharing the moment even easier.

BlackBerry 7.1 has started rolling out to subscribers worldwide. The new releases of BBM, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel have been available on BlackBerry® App World™ since CES. Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at Research in Motion, said at CES that “BlackBerry 7 delivered a next-generation platform for our customers around the world; and the range of software updates announced today build upon the strengths of that platform to further enhance the mobile experience and make life easier, from managing daily tasks to planning big adventures.” Further innovations on the OS include: 1. BlackBerry’s tap & share The BlackBerry 7.1 OS incorporates a new feature called BlackBerry® Tag that can change the way BlackBerry users share information and content. By simply tapping their NFC enabled BlackBerry® smartphone against another NFC enabled BlackBerry smartphone, users can make sharing easier than ever. They can instantly invite a friend to BBM, exchange contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content, and they can also pair their BlackBerry smartphone with an NFC enabled Bluetooth® device.

2. Wi-Fi enabled tethering and calls With the updated OS, users can now turn their BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile hotspot that can be shared by up to five Wi-Fi® enabled devices, including laptops and tablets. The 7.1 update also supports carrier implemented Wi-Fi calling services (UMA/GAN where available), allowing users to make Wi-Fi calls.

3. Updated MAPS According to RIM, finding and taking advantage of good deals has become that much easier with BlackBerry® Maps – an app that comes preinstalled on BlackBerry smartphones and has been enhanced in the BlackBerry 7.1 OS update. When users launch the new application, they can discover special offers, coupons, and discounts from nearby vendors. Users can immediately act on the deals presented to them by clicking to call the vendor or clicking to get the best route to the location where the deal is offered.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 19

04

Ultra ultrabook

Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook

This 13.3” ultrabook is only 15mm thick, is powered by Intel’s Core i-series processors (the exact models are not yet confirmed), uses SSD drives for maximum performance, and its battery life is looking good at around the 7 hour mark. Acer has given it features called Instant On and Always Connect that ensure it resumes super-fast (Acer says 2 seconds) and is always connected, even in Sleep mode. Perhaps best of all is a feature Acer calls MagicFlip, a concealed I/O panel hidden just below the S5’s hinge. At the press of the MagicFlip button, the servo-powered panel slides out of the machine to reveal a USB 3.0, HDMI and Thunderbolt port. Multimedia hasn’t been neglected either, as the Aspire S5 is kitted out with Dolby Home Theatre V4 speakers that deliver larger-than life audio when watching movies and listening to music. It’s a fantastic-sounding package that’s going to be hard to beat, so we can’t wait to see what the other manufacturers will come up with to take it on as 2012 progresses.

Fujifilm displaying their awards at CES 2012

20 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Acer’s Keynote address at CES 2012

05

Shoot like a pro

Fujifilm X-Pro1

What to do when the digital camera market is eaten up by the proliferation of smartphone cameras? Appeal to the pros, of course, and that’s just what Fujifilm did in 2011 with the release of its awesome X100, a retro-styled professional-level camera that enjoyed both excellent build quality and a good collection of advanced features. This year sees the arrival of the X-Pro1, a significant evolution of the X100 achieved by, among other things, adding an interchangeable lens mount. It sports a similar retro look, and features highlights that include three single-focus lenses (18mm, 35mm and 60mm), a 16MP image sensor and a hybrid electronic/optical viewfinder. The X-Pro1’s images are simply amazing, thanks in large part to a thin yet durable lens mount that brings the image sensor closer to the lens’s first element – a feature that ensures less light is lost. This is one serious camera, and it’s bound to appeal to serious photographers everywhere. It’s not cheap, though – expect the body alone to cost in the region of R20 000 when the X-Pro1 lands in SA.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 21

06

Make sure you stretch first

Lenovo Ideapad Yoga

The Yoga is a new ultrabook from Lenovo that runs Windows 8. This may not sound too exciting, but the Yoga does more than just that. It’s the first ultrabook to have a touchscreen, and it’s this that lets it take advantage of the tablet-centric design of Windows 8’s new “Metro” interface. It responds to up to 10 points of touch at the same time, so you could fire up your favourite drawing application and go to town with both hands, and the Yoga would pick up all of your fingers. If you’re wondering where the Yoga name comes from, it’s due to the way the notebook can “bend” – it’s possible to fold it completely in half so it looks like a tablet PC. As its hardware is more powerful than that of a tablet, Lenovo is giving the user the convenience of a tablet computer but the power and performance of an ultrabook in a single package. Nice.

22 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Lenovo’s idea pad on show at their stand

Introducing Xperia S: the first Sony smartphone The first smartphone from the new Xperia NXT series was announced at Sony’s press conference ahead of the 2012 International CES show in Las Vegas.

The Xperia S is an Android smartphone that delivers a stunning viewing experience with a 4.3” Reality display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine with HD resolution and a 12MP camera that takes pictures in just 1.5 seconds from standby.

Xperia S also comes with a powerful 1.5GHz dual-core processor for faster performance as well as 32Gb of internal flash storage.

The new Xperia S enables easy connectivity with multiple screens for consumers looking to share and enjoy content on whichever screen best suits their situation, whether it’s TV, smartphone, laptop or tablet.

Consumers can watch their favourite content from the Sony Entertainment Network by connecting their Xperia S through HMDI to TV or share photos wirelessly with just one touch.

Xperia S is also NFC enabled to allow consumers to share content with each other as well as enjoying an increasing number of NFC applications and services.

Xperia S will be able to access the entertainment experiences from Sony Entertainment Network.

It is also PlayStation™ Certified, guaranteeing a high quality smartphone gaming experience and access to the PlayStation® Store.

Music Unlimited offers a global catalogue of 12 million unique songs while Video Unlimited has the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows from all major studios.

07

Sharp storage

Swiss army knife w/1TB SSD

Swiss Army knives have long been a favourite musthave item for boys (and men) around the world, and this year they have gotten even better. Victorinox, the Swiss manufacturer behind the popular pocket knife, showed off a new model at CES that comes with a removable SSD that packs a whole terabyte of storage space into its tiny chassis. That’s a thousand gigabytes! It also has a tiny monochrome LCD display that shows how full the drive is and what’s on there.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 23

08

Raising TV IQ

Samsung’s Smart TVs

Samsung announced a whole bunch of new additions to its Smart TV range at CES, promising “smarter interaction, smart content and smart evolution”. What this all boils down to is better TVs that are able to do more than just show you moving pictures. The newest of Samsung’s Smart TVs will use cameras and microphones to let consumers change channels, adjust the volume and turn the TV on and off with gestures and voice commands, similar to how Microsoft’s Kinect sensor lets people control Xbox games with their bodies. Downloadable apps form part of Samsung’s strategy as well, and the company is planning on extending existing functionality even further. People will be able to share content from phones and other Smart TVs using these apps, and much more. Basically, Samsung is future-proofing its TVs with new and useful functionality.

24 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Samsung’s stand at the main technology hall

09

It plays Skyrim!

Razer’s Project Fiona Gaming Tablet

It’s always a surprise to see companies known for one thing involving themselves in a totally different area, but that’s exactly what peripheral-maker Razer has done. The company’s new gaming tablet, codenamed Project Fiona, runs Windows 8 and has two handheld controllers mounted on both edges, but more impressive than this is the fact that it’s able to run demanding games in 720p at high detail settings.

Razer showed it off at CES, running Skyrim using Ultra detail settings, and the results were impressively smooth – an amazing feat considering how demanding Skyrim is known to be. That it uses Windows 8 means it will have a massive game library on launch, and its impressive power is sure to make for a satisfying tablet gaming experience without the irritation of having to touch the screen all the time. The only concerns are battery power and possible heat issues, but we’re sure Razer’s boffins will have it all figured out come launch time, tentatively slated for Q4 2012.

Razer’s new tablet on show at the main technology hall

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 25

10

You raise me up

Huawei Ascend P1 S Smartphone

Huawei is not a company traditionally associated with super-slim smartphones, but it aims to change that with the introduction of its new Ascend P1 S Smartphone, a ridiculously-thin device that’s less than 7mm thick. It’s not just thin, however – it’s also packed with cutting-edge mobile technology and has a large, 4.3” Super AMOLED Gorilla Glass touchscreen that gives it a very smart, attractive aesthetic. It’s also powered by a blazingly fast 1.5GHz processor and comes with two cameras: one for taking 8MP pictures and another mounted on the front of the phone for video calling, this one a 1.3MP camera. Perhaps its second most noteworthy feature (after its world-first slimness) is the fact that it runs Google’s new Android operating system, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. In all, it’s a pleasantly surprising product from an unexpected source.

ITU receives Emmy Award for new audio broadcast ‘loudness’ standard ITU has received a prestigious Emmy Award from the US National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the “Standardization of Loudness Metering for Use in Broadcast Audio”.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is dedicated to the advancement of television broadcasting and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry.

The annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Award recognises ITU’s ground-breaking work on the worldwide standardization of loudness metering for use in broadcast audio, which the Academy considered as outstanding and showing excellence in engineering creativity. ITU-R Recommendation BS.1770 on “Algorithms to measure audio programme loud-

26 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

ness and true-peak audio level” was elaborated over a decade as a result of the dedication of many specialists including Craig Todd of Dolby Laboratories, USA; Gilbert Soulodre of Communications Research Centre, Canada; and Spencer Lieng of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The standard was finalised during the last study period within ITU-R Working Party 6C under the chairmanship of David Wood of the European Broadcasting Union. The pertinent algorithm and the agreed parameters are now contained in the ITU-R Recommendation approved by ITU Member States, giving worldwide guidance on loudness metering.

ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré expressed satisfaction that ITU had been internationally recognized for its work in setting new standards in broadcast television. “The Emmy

The main hall at CES 2012

Award exemplifies the close relationship that ITU enjoys with its membership and partners in industry,” Touré said. “By working together under the aegis of an intergovernmental platform we are able to develop standards that enhance the quality of ICTs and their accessibility to a worldwide audience”.

“ITU’s pioneering work has led to many innovations in broadcast television,” said François Rancy, director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau, in Las Vegas to receive the Emmy Award. “The ITU-R Recommendation BS.1770 on Loudness Metering in Audio Broadcasting will improve the experience of watching television for viewers worldwide as they will no longer have to adjust the volume on their sets while switching channels or watching commercials.”

“There are many applications where it is necessary to measure and control the perceived ‘loudness’ of audio signals,”

said Christoph Dosch, chairman of ITU-R Study Group 6, which focuses on Broadcasting Services. “Examples of this include television and radio broadcast applications where the nature and content of the audio material changes frequently.

In these applications the audio content can continually switch between music, speech and sound effects, or some combination of these. It can also change between various audio or audio-visual sources, for example in international programme exchange. Such changes in the content of the programme material can result in significant changes in subjective loudness, and the new standard on loudness metering will make it easier for television viewers.”

Dosch added that the matter of subjective loudness is also of great importance to the music industry where dynamic processing is commonly used to maximize the perceived loudness of a recording.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 27

Gadgets

Africa Telecoms is always in the know when it comes to the hottest gadgets and devices.

Altec Lansing inMotion Air Rating: Price: R2 199

NEED TO KNOW: • • • • • •

Qualifies as a Class 1 Bluetooth device, reaching an extended range of up to 100 metres Play your music wirelessly from your computer using our USB transmitter (no software required). Up to 333 ft (100 metres) range Stream music wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad, smartphone and other stereo Bluetooth device: Up to 33 ft (10 metres) range apt-X technology works within Bluetooth to deliver CD quality audio Portable: rechargeable battery delivers up to 7 hours of playing time Full-featured remote controls main functions in iTunes, Windows Media Player, and most other music players

These great wireless speakers are easy to set up, with superb sound. They are super easy to connect via Bluetooth to smartphones, tablets and of course MP3 players. Altec Lansing has made sure that it supports all major operating systems at the moment: including Apple, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile and even Symbian devices.

The best feature of this device, other than the impressive sound quality and great bass, is the 7-hour battery life these speakers can give you when not plugged into power. The remote control is a great addition, enabling you to control music when it is connected to your smart device and computer. It can even run your iTunes or Windows Media player.

Listed in Mashable’s “5 of Our Favourite Gadgets So Far This Year”, this is truly a superb device.

Capdase Portfolio Dot for Motorola Xoom Rating: Phone Price: R449

NEED TO KNOW: • • •

•

Special fit for Motorola Xoom Slim portfolio design offers full protection for your Motorola Xoom Multi-angled stand position offers flexibility and comfortable vision, including a lower slightly slanted angle for convenience when typing and sending e-mail Suede lining to prevent scratches on your Motorola Xoom

No longer is a cover just a cover but it also seems to provide a sense of identity for its users, and this goes with an individual’s choice of device. This Capdase Portfolio for the Xoom Tablet is a fairly good cover with a number of options for the position of the device. A fairly upright position for viewing media, whether watching movies or flipping through pictures, it also has a lower angle for use when typing on the tablet.

The one downside is that the Xoom does not sit firmly inside the cover itself and has a habit of lowering itself while in use. This becomes problematic as it covers the home button on the lower lefthand side of the screen, which for navigation on an Android device does not make it ideal at all.

Overall it is a good-looking device and will certainly protect your beloved tablet from the bumps and scrapes that it would be subjected to in normal day to day usage.

28 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

g

Gadgets

Asus Zenbook UX21 Rating: Phone Price: R11 999

NEED TO KNOW: • • •

Ultra slim design Intel Core i5 processor Bang & Olufsen audio

For a company that predominantly specialises in high-performance gaming hardware, the Zenbook is a magnificent piece of hardware. Asus has been making notebooks for some time now – let’s not forget that it was the first major brand to give us a compact netbook – and a while ago it released, with little fanfare, a range of designer machines. But the Zenbook is the first device that has made us sit up and scrape our smacked gobs off the floor. It’s every bit as sexy as a MacBook Air, with brushed aluminium surfaces contrasting the Apple machine’s smooth finish. Two USB ports, an audio jack, charge point and SD card reader are found along its left and right edges. Inside, a high-def 11.6” display overlooks a chicletstyle keyboard and large trackpad. Windows 7 32-bit cruises along on a Core i5 processor mated to 4GB of RAM, and storage comes courtesy of a super speedy 128GB SSD. Performance is excellent. Intel’s dual-core chip makes light work of almost any reasonable task you’d throw at the 11” display, and there’s enough RAM without making Windows chug along. 128GB of storage might be a compromise for some, but the speed benefits are well worth it.

If you want a capable machine that’s not just another Apple, this is right on the money.

Nixon Master Blaster Headphones Rating: Price: R1 850

NEED TO KNOW: • • • • •

Patent pending ball and socket design for unlimited range of fit Genuine leather headband and over-ear cushions Unique full-size volume knob Removable braided cable Custom-moulded travel case for secure portability

The ultimate in listening pleasure: a deep deep bass that cannot be equalled will have you bopping to beats all day. Whether plugged into your laptop or desktop computer, or accompanying you as you go about your daily business, using your mobile phone, iPod or other MP3 playing device, these headphones will certainly keep you entertained.

Nixon is best known for its fashion accessories like watches, wallets and handbags, to name a few. From this one would expect the design of this device to be clearly out of the top drawer and these headphones don’t disappoint.

The full leather headband and over-ear cushions make for great comfort.

The full-size volume control on the right earcup is a superb addition that should be adopted by all premium headphone manufacturers as it makes the changing of volume super easy while using the headphones during the course of the day.

The only downside from these headphones is that the comfort is brought into question with a fair amount of inward pressure on the ears. This could be a deal breaker for some, as after extended use this may get fairly uncomfortable.

At the price point of these headphones, you would expect them to be perfect. However, although the industrial design is clearly cutting-edge, they just aren’t perfect in every way you’d expect.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 29

g

Gadgets

HTC Sensation XL Rating: Price: R6 999

NEED TO KNOW: • • •

HP Envy 110 printer Rating: Price: R2 999

NEED TO KNOW: • • •

Super stylish design Print, scan, copy Wireless connectivity

Printers are – almost unanimously – regarded as the least sexy device you can have on your desk. For that reason alone they’re usually on a separate stand, far away from the modern desktops playing home to increasingly sexy hardware.

HP’s Envy aims to bring sexy back to scanning (printing and copying), though. Made of glass and metal, it weighs enough to feel less flimsy than the plastic monstrosities we’ve become accustomed to.

There are no extraneous flaps and ports either. The whole thing is motorised: send it a job and the paper tray folds out automatically to catch your printed sheets. Once you’ve removed those, it hides itself again. The front panel houses a touch-screen that lets you preview images when you use the memory card reader. It also supports HP’s web services, including ePrint: your printer now has an email address to which you can send any document or photo, and it figures out the rest.

Another tech extra is support for Apple’s AirPrint protocol. Your iPhone or iPad will be able to print photos wirelessly now.

30 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

4.7” S-LCD capacitive touchscreen 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset 768MB RAM / 16 GB storage

The Sensation XL is just that: sensational as a mobile phone. The 4.7” screen has serious presence and is very slick. Dr Dre gives some additional sound performance with this device; and the bundle including Dr Dre Beats Headphones with a Beats pouch turns this into a true value for money offering.

The solid build quality is another factor to be applauded: the single-piece backing feels great in hand. For its size, the weight is also impressive at a mere 162g – not lightweight but certainly not heavy. With HTC Sense 3.5 preloaded on this device and a great deal signed with Dropbox for an additional 5GB of cloud storage, you can still enjoy the extra storage the mystically missing MicroSD slot would have given you, although downloading movies and music off Dropbox is not ideal. Some might consider 16GB internal sufficient in our multimedia world, but the MicroSD card will be missed. This new version of Sense makes the HTC Sensation as customizable as you could wish for, with lock screen graphics and even apps. You will even be able to remove panels from your navigation and add them back as you need the icon space for all those Android apps you will be downloading and using on this device.

Overall, a great device that might, however, encounter hesitation in many markets without the MicroSD slot.

g

Gadgets

LG Mouse Scanner LSM-100 Rating: Phone Price: TBC

NEED TO KNOW: • •

Doubles as handheld scanner LG Smart Scan technology

Think “handheld scanner” and you’ve probably got visions of those red-laser things they use at the supermarket. Coincidentally, LG’s LSM-100 Mouse Scanner has a laser in it, but that’s just used for tracking movement across a variety of surfaces. It does this job well, and as far as being a mouse goes we can only fault it for not being wireless.

That is forgiven when seeing how incredibly functional it is as a scanner. There’s no magic or voodoo involved here. Simply move the mouse across the document you’d like to scan – almost as if you’re colouring in a picture – and the supplied software stitches it all together. The end result is a colour scan that is nearly as good as anything you’ll get from a regular multifunction machine in the office. Usefully, you can also just scan a particular section of a page – great for grabbing excerpts for presentations.

It’s handy, but at the price it might serve you better to get an actual scanner or all-in-one machine that does an equally good job.

Belkin Play Max HD router Rating: Price: R1 699

NEED TO KNOW: • • •

Wireless DSL router 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports Can stream HD content

Wireless routers are those “set it and forget it” pieces of technology – the appliances of the tech world. You already have a toaster, why buy one that browns bread faster or takes more slices?

Well, contrary to what you may think, routers are not “all the same”. We’ve come a long way from the days of 54Mbit/s 802.11g routers, and the 802.11n models are capable of speeds that make it possible to stream full high-definition content across your house. Network cables? Pfft – where we’re going you won’t need wiring. That said, if you do need wires the Play Max HD does boast Gigabit Ethernet ports – something not all modem routers have.

But the wireless features are where it’s at, and the HD has plenty. Quoted, theoretical speeds for this dual-band router are 300Mbit/s – but this varies a lot based on wiring and other wireless appliances in your house. Our tests showed it to be fast enough for streaming HD video, and file transfers were super speedy as well. Add in the USB ports, which turn the router into a network storage device, and you’ve got an all-in-one solution that’ll bring your office network bang up to date.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 31

Statistics

This month’s statistics focus on VoIP, International Call Volumes, Active Handsets and Operator Subscriber Data 30%

where did the growth go? The skype effect Source: Telegeography

Annual minutes growth

25% 20% 15%

Carrier Traffic + Skype

10% “Missing” Traffic Growth due to Skype

5%

Carrier Traffic Only

0%

TDM and VoIP Traffic (billions of minutes)

450 400 350

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

INTERNATIONAL CALL VOLUMES AND GROWTH RATES (1990 - 2010) Source: Telegeography

VoIP Minutes TDM Minutes Total Minutes Growth

30%

25%

20%

300 250

15%

200 10%

150 100

5% 50 0

0% 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001§ 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

32 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Switched and VoIP Traffic Growth

1991

active handsets by device type & smartphones share of total handsets Source: Analysis Mason

500

80%

450

70% 60%

350

50%

300 250

40%

200

30%

150

20%

100

10%

50 0

Percentage of handsets

Handsets (million)

400

0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Smartphones

Other handsets

Smartphones’ share of total handsets

TOP 20 MOBILE OPERATORS SUBSCRIBER BASE 2011 Source: Adapted from Wireless Intelligence

SUBSCRIBER BASE (MILLION)

s e p p p p p p p rtel) DDI) oup bile oup oup com oup com oup roup r r r r r i obil rou eles rou rou rou rou rou rou o a M ne G Wir T&T G nica G MO G com G com G erica G rint No au (KItalia G ank M MTN G endi G ina Un irtel G SK Tele STC Glenor G A lefo OCO Tele Tele Am p h rti A e iv ChinVodafo Verizon tb S T C f m ( V o o t e a D c S e e T TT in c Bh Tele Spr N eutsch Fran D

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 33

TL

Thought Leadership

Madoda Khuzwayo Chief Executive Officer of MynextMail速 34 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

TL

Thought Leadership

Big sky

By Brett Haggard

country

Building the cloud – African style

Say the words ‘cloud computing’ to anyone in the African technology landscape and, almost immediately, their thoughts go to big data centres filled with hosted instances of Microsoft Exchange, Office and SharePoint. But, argues Madoda Khuzwayo, CEO of MynextMail® and a six-year veteran of the cloud-computing environment, there really is life outside of providing cookie cutter-like offerings from the Microsoft fold.

Competing head-on with a growing number of hosted offerings from the Redmond giant’s partners, MynextMail’s offerings span the e-mail, contacts, calendaring, instant messaging and voice-over-IP disciplines and will soon offer functionality in the collaboration suite space. The difference is, however, that MynextMail is built on existing open source technology from iSwap and as such can be heavily customized to extraordinary customer requirements. And Khuzawayo says that his company feels this places it in a stronger position to win business than its peers in the market.

Cloud for Africa There’s a lot of merit in what Khuzwayo says.

After all, cloud computing is a new concept in itself.

And the use of technology in business is a similarly new concept when it comes to many African businesses.

So why should a solution moulded on ‘best practices’ that were defined and established in other (more mature) territories such as the United States or Europe be applicable here?

“We have chosen to standardise our offering on an open source solution called iSwap and heavily customise the individual components so that they better suit our customers and the African territory,” Khuzwayo says.

“In contrast to this, then, the Microsoft approach is very limiting,” he adds.

“One of our proudest differentiators is the fact that our customers, through their feature requests, can drive the direction of the solution and make it more applicable.”

He explains: “It’s something that competing offerings

can’t testify to offering and a distinction we think makes all the difference, especially in the African context.”

When things are as clearly defined and cut-and-dried as what’s on offer from Microsoft’s cloud offerings, there’s almost no room for innovation and differentiation, Khuzwayo says. “Our solution encourages innovation – and that is something we feel is a strong and valuable differentiator.”

What customers want Apart from specific functionality being developed at the customer’s request, Khuzwayo says that MynextMail’s approach to delivering functionality is a far truer reflection of the cloud ethos than many on offer today.

“Cloud is all about allowing customers to rent exactly what they need, when they need it,” he continues.

“But instead of doing this, the majority of offerings consist of entire suites of product that are simply delivered in the cloud as opposed to on-premises.”

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 35

TL

Thought Leadership

But instead of doing this, the majority of offerings consist of entire suites of product that are simply delivered in the cloud as opposed to onpremises.

So – one wonders – are there solutions tailored to the most common features of small businesses, medium businesses, some larger businesses and some enterprises, with per seat prices for each, but no way for customers to take a single feature from a higher-end solution and integrate it with a lower-end package, and in so doing, arrive at a solution that meets their exact needs?

Khuzwayo is reassuring: “Our solution is all about that: the ability to piece together an ideal solution from the different pieces of distinct functionality. And where the required functionality doesn’t exist, chances are we can have it developed.”

Business model for Africa Khuzwayo says that a stark reality of doing business in Africa is the low level of sophistication out there.

“Many companies are still coming to grips with technology and how it can make their business more efficient,” he says. “And while many of our peers see this as a reason to hold back, we see it as an opportunity to get in on the proverbial ground floor.”

As such, Khuzwayo says – for a number of new clients – getting connected to e-mail is a major step. Once they’ve mastered that, however, the growth path towards collaboration is smooth.

While MynextMail is currently far stronger in the South African market than in other African countries, the executive team says the potential for growth on the continent is massive and that it will be a strong focus for the coming years.

“We already have a growing presence in South Africa’s neighbouring countries and will continue to grow our presence in the 36 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

coming months,” Khuzwayo says.

He adds that MynextMail’s approach when going into any new market is to establish a loyal reseller base with which it can partner, as opposed to going it alone.

“The African technology market is founded on trusted long-term relationships,” he emphasises, “and that’s the primary reason no company has been able to make a solid go of it by addressing customers directly.

“We realise this and have done everything we can to build solid relationships with existing resellers, all the time ensuring our channel model is structured in such a way that it guarantees long-term returns for both parties.

“That means, in simplistic terms, that we remunerate the reseller responsible for bringing a client into the fold, for the duration of their contract with us. And that’s far more attractive to resellers than the roughly two years’ worth of remuneration they’ll be rewarded with in dealing with some of our market peers,” he says.

Overcoming challenges While Khuzwayo says that MynextMail’s favourable channel model is garnering it a great deal of interest in the markets it’s operating in, the biggest challenge it faces is the level of knowledge in the market.

“This starts with getting resellers who have traditionally made their living in the conventional resale of IT equipment and software to make the transition towards the cloud-based model, both from an infrastructure and a revenue stream perspective.”

TL

The counterpoint: Microsoft Office 365 The counterpoint to Khuzwayo’s argument is of course the fact that Microsoft’s own cloud-based productivity service – Office 365 – has made an appearance on South African shores. And as far as early reports are concerned, it’s delivering a great deal of value.

Available as a free trial service until somewhere around the middle of 2012, the service is hosted in Microsoft’s European data centres and will allow South African businesses and professional users to try Office 365 for free for the next six months.

The Office 365 service revolves around the productivity suite of the same name and is designed to give users access to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook and other Office applications – either via the cloud or on their desktop – and connect these to Microsoft-hosted instances of Exchange, SharePoint and Lync.

Using this model, no existing Microsoft infrastructure is necessary to use Office 365.

Melanie Botha, Microsoft South Africa’s marketing and operations director, expects the early adopters of the service in South Africa to be the SME sector, which will benefit from access to the

same business productivity solutions used by major enterprises.

“Small companies can now take advantage of the best technologies the largest companies use, but on a scalable pay-as-you-go basis, with solutions that are easy to get and use. Now small companies can cater to their technology needs without big infrastructure investments, and get access to several technology tools they didn’t have before,” she says.

Botha says that professionals and small businesses can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website – all provided within Office 365 – in just 15 minutes, for a matter of rands per user, per month.

“Office 365 for enterprises has an array of choices for midsize and large businesses, as well as government organisations, starting from approximately R20 per user, per month for basic email,” she adds.

“Office 365 for enterprises also includes the option to purchase Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“It also includes educating the customers in the market about the existence of cloud, why it is in many cases superior to conventional IT models and, more importantly, why they should be considering it.”

Thankfully though, Khuzwayo says that MynextMail’s business model also favours young entrepreneurs and that there’s a growing number of university graduates the company is speaking to about starting their own reseller businesses.

“As it turns out, starting a cloud-focused reseller business is a great fit for the African entrepreneurial landscape since it doesn’t require a great deal of startup capital (something that’s in short supply in the African market) and can be bootstrapped really quickly.

“And because our business model is new and exciting, there’s some novelty attached to it,” he says, adding: “All of this bodes very well for the future.”

Looking ahead But there’s a great deal more in the pipeline than simply providing cloud-based collaboration services.

Khuzwayo says that he feels there’s a growing trend towards real-time communications and to this end MynextMail will be focusing heavily on the development and delivery of a unified set of communications tools.

“This means our customers will be able to choose – regardless of device – what method of communications they want to use, and the back end must take care of the rest.”

And so MynextMail will have to spend a great deal of time over the coming year ensuring its offering is compatible with multiple

Thought

For approximately R200 per Leadership user, per month, organisations can get Office Professional Plus, along with email, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, videoconferencing, web conferencing, 24/7 phone support, on-premises licences and more,” she concludes.

To some extent, the availability of Office 365 directly from Microsoft flies in the face of what many of Microsoft’s hosting partners have been offering when it comes to Hosted Exchange, SharePoint and in some instances Dynamics (ERP) solutions.

Over time, however, the solutions on offer from Microsoft’s partners should end up appealing to larger organisations, while Office 365 will become typecast as the solution for companies that sit in that uncomfortable space between needing their own on-premise infrastructure and relying on a POP or IMAP type mail service provided by a third party, most commonly an ISP. Right now there’s very little to lose for companies looking to make the decision for themselves .

platforms – BlackBerry, Android, Apple and Windows Phone – and moving more and more applications into the cloud, most notably those in the productivity realm.

“Right now, the challenge is infrastructure, since there’s currently insufficient infrastructure to host and deliver productivity suites in Africa. When the infrastructure shapes up, however, it will be important for us to be ready to deliver,” he adds.

Not just about mobile Rounding up his commentary on the market, Khuzwayo says that even though mobile will be a strong component of the cloud environment over the coming years, he firmly believes the primary activity will be on desktops and notebooks.

“And that’s quite honestly because these platforms are better suited to the kind of work companies need to do on a daily basis,” he says.“Aside from a purely comfort-zone centric view of things, there’s also the fact that today’s infrastructural challenges – particularly in some African countries – mean that a great deal of processing takes place locally, on a desktop or notebook.

“So, while the younger generation is more comfortable on mobile platforms, they will have to adjust their expectations and make use of desktops and notebooks for some time to come.”

To clarify one thing, however, Khuzwayo says he still thinks that younger individuals will have their first and most meaningful online experiences on a cellular handset. “When it comes to accessing the cloud for business use, though, we will see notebooks and desktops around for quite a while,” he concludes. AT Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 37

38 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

The

Big 5

by Brett haggard

of 2011

A roundup of the events that have dominated the technology news in 2011 and what these can teach us about what’s coming in 2012.

Veterans of the technology journalism fraternity will tell you that news is cyclical.

And nowhere is this truer than in the technology industry where development cycles and release schedules are closely adhered to.

That said, most journalists agree that 2011 felt like one of the quietest news years in some time.

While the stories that made their way onto the news wires from a technology perspective were both significant and industry changing, 2011 was about incremental development.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s get right into it ...

LTE shifts into focus: more bandwidth, more fun

Internet connectivity is all about speed, price and coverage.

New technologies generally deliver better speed and coverage, but (because they’re new) tend to drive cost up. So, even though it looked as if 2011 would see the vast majority of mobile network operators focusing on milking more performance out of HSPA (and let’s face it, there’s still some headroom for growth left here), it was very encouraging to see a

number of networks planning their moves to LTE. It’s a contentious topic, since the current LTE networks in pilot and early rollout are delivering a performance level that’s on a par with what

LTE is delivering a theoretical peak downlink speed of 300Mbps. current HSPA networks are able to deliver in ideal circumstances.

The difference is, however, that LTE makes far better use of the spectrum it’s allocated – and that’s going to be key in the race to deliver better, more cost effective data services in the coming years.

Two South African networks – MTN and Vodacom – are officially trialling LTE networks; and a number of networks worldwide are in the same process or a little further along this road.

What kind of performance are we talking about?

Well, the fastest HSPA-based networks on the

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 39

continent (and here we’re talking about a technology that’s been evolved, rejigged and upgraded for the past four years or so) are able to deliver peak downlink speeds of 42Mbps.

LTE in its current ‘ground-floor’ implementation is delivering a theoretical peak downlink speed of 300Mbps (although trials in the South African market yield a maximum downlink of about 35Mbps).

The important part is that HSPA comes from a place where

Vendors are already predicting that ultrabooks will take 35% of the worldwide notebook market during 2012.

14Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplink speeds were the proverbial ‘business’ in 2008, only receiving mass adoption in 2010.I’m sure you’ll agree that from 14Mbps to 42Mbps is quite an upgrade in three years. Imagine what’s possible with LTE.

Pocket power: ultrabooks dominate

Apple’s re-imagined 11” and 13” MacBook Air set the market alight when it hit the consumer market two years ago.

With mainstream grade performance, upwards of seven hours of battery life and a ridiculously svelte exterior, pundits couldn’t believe we’d arrived at a time and place where users were able to get meaningful work done on a notebook this thin and light.

It took the rest of the market close to a year to catch up and begin

40 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

coining the term ‘ultrabook’, but during 2011 it seemed like every vendor either released a unit or announced plans to release one of these thin, light and powerful beasties.

In a market where thinner, lighter and faster have always been the driving forces, why is a new category of notebooks such big news?Well, for one, mainstream vendors are able to offer topend performance (fuelled by Core i5 and Core i7 processors) in super-thin and light form factors that are capable of catering for the needs of easily 90% of the computer-using public.

For another, hyper connectedness through ubiquitous WiFi and 3G/HSDPA and LTE networks means people can work from literally anywhere, in any time zone.

And lastly, there are cloud services available for everything today – meaning that the lines of distance, locale and time zone are becoming properly blurred for the first time ever.

Unconvinced?

Speak to me in two to three years’ time when ultrabooks are 90% of the mobile computing market and larger, heavier, desktop replacement-type notebooks only hold 10% of the market.Vendors are already predicting that ultrabooks will take 35% of the worldwide notebook market during 2012.

We’re talking about a complete redefinition of what we classify as a ‘notebook’ today. And that’s kind of exciting.

Tablets computing: essential equipment

A year or two ago, tablets were nothing more than hipster playthings and must-have techie toys.

Today, it’s an entirely different story. Every major consumer technology brand has a tablet game plan and some household

names in the online technology landscape – Amazon, most notably – have joined the fray.

What’s the hubbub all about?

Well, when it comes to interacting with information, media and the online world, it doesn’t get more personal than the tablet. And with the way the world is evolving, users need little more than the functionality provided by a tablet to satisfy their ‘personal computing’ needs.

Own the user’s ‘personal computing’ experience and there’s a ton of knock-on effects to benefit from: namely the ability to own their

In tablets, no one thing will win. The combination of hardware, software and services will be key. cloud computing experience, satisfy their craving for applications and more importantly, become the conduit to their media needs.

Money, money, money.

It’s the reason Apple’s smiling all the way to the bank, all of the vendors with Android Tabs are opening their own stores for tablet content, and Amazon – a company that focuses on media – has its own tablet.

What did 2011 teach us in the tablet wars?

Well, quite simply that it’s about owning the ecosystem and delivering a great experience at every turn. No one thing will win.

The combination of hardware, software and services will be key.

And that means where some vendors, such as Apple are deficient

(most notably in providing apps and media to some regions of the world), there’s opportunity for other vendors to shine. Watch this space.

Weather forecast: cloudy

It might seem a bit clichéd, but cloud computing is coming like a freight train. And 2011 was the year where all shadow of doubt about the future of computing was removed.

Let’s face it, every major development in the business computing world has been preceded by a similarly major development in the consumer computing sector. And 2011 was that year for cloud computing. Don’t get me wrong. There’s been a ton of evidence for cloud computing bubbling away in the background for a couple of years now.

Services like Gmail, Dropbox and Salesforce.com are all fine and well, but 2011 was the first time cloud services began natively integrating with consumer electronics like smartphones, tablets, home media devices and of course the trusty old personal computer.

Apple’s iCloud began enabling personal information, media and applications to automatically be backed up and synchronized though the cloud.

Devices in Google’s ecosystem began doing the same thing – all tied together via a single unifying Google identity.

Why is this important?

Well, it tells us what kind of cloud services we’re likely to see arrive first in the business world over the next year and more importantly, it primes the users of those services (people who happen to be consumers in their spare time) for the mindset required to embrace cloud.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 41

The scary part is, with cloud such an integral part of users’ personal computing experience, it’s only a matter of time before users begin demanding the same kind of services from the businesses they work for.

Prepare for the onslaught.

Let it ride: big data and data partnerships are king

Underpinning the value offered by cloud computing, software developers and providers of online services realized sometime during 2011 that customers are loathe to input their information over and over again, or even sign up for new services endlessly – especially when their data and a perfectly good identity already exist in one or another service they already make use of.

That’s the reason last year saw a number of parties positioning themselves as identity providers and more importantly, repositories for user data that gets used for providing a better, more integrated service by third parties.

Last year, we saw Facebook, Google and Twitter becoming so much more than providers of their own services. And this will only continue to happen during 2012.

Users of online services will want the different parties providing services to them to take care of the flow of their data through applications and services.

They will want their address book to be exposed in certain applications, their calendaring information to be exposed through other applications and their social media information to be exposed through virtually all applications.

Importantly however, they’re not simply going to trust just

anybody with this data. They will trust brands that they’ve had good experiences with and those brands that have in the past displayed the kind of behavior they value.

With cloud such an integral part of users’ personal computing experience, it’s a matter of time before they begin demanding the same in the business space.

This means two things.

Firstly, for those trustworthy brands, there’s an opportunity to become a centralized identity provider and cloud-based repository for their users’ data.

Secondly, it will be more imperative than ever for newcomers to this market to align with the right, trusted brands in the market. And to develop the kinds of relationships that allow for the leveraging of identity and big data.

Outlook 2012

While I believe we’re in for a quieter year when it comes to earth shatteringly cool gadgets and technologies, 2012 will be a very significant year in the technology landscape.

2012 will be less about speeds, feeds, screen clarity and sexy form factors and more about what services and other useful features and functionality consumer electronics and business computing vendors can build into their devices.

And that means innovation is back in fashion. AT

2012 will be less about speeds, feeds, screen clarity and sexy form factors and more about what services and other useful features and functionality consumer electronics and business computing vendors can build into their devices.

42 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

CLO 44 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

UDY with a (great) chance of mobiles

By Jodi Levine Senior Consultant Indian Atlantic Telecoms

As global markets indicate the potential for yet another recession in 2012, the African telecoms market has much to be proud of as it continues to grow and attract new investment.

In late 2011, Africa overtook Western Europe and the Americas to have the second largest number of mobile subscribers after Asia, with 616 million subscribers. According to Informa Telecoms & Media, Africa has moved from fourth place in 2010 to second place in 2011 and they predict Africa will remain in this position for the next five years. Over the past 10 years, the number of mobile connections in Africa has grown an average of 30% per year and is forecast to reach 735 million by the end of 2012. Although these are impressive numbers, Africa as a continent still has a low mobile penetration relative to more developed areas and therefore still presents a major opportunity for growth, being one of the last bastions of organic customer acquisition. Industry analysts identify Nigeria’s 90 plus million subscribers as the largest mobile market on the continent, followed by Egypt and South Africa.

Operators consolidate

Pan-regional players are strengthening their positions, with MTN continuing to dominate the continent through customer reach and market size. Investors are all too keenly aware of MTN’s presence

in some volatile markets including Nigeria and Libya as well as Iran and Syria, all of whom have endured political and social change in 2011 continuing into 2012. Mobile phone operator Tigo is rumoured to be looking to expand its footprint with the possible acquisition of Libya’s LAP Green Network properties in Uganda and Zambia.

Orange continues to focus on Africa with 22 markets and a third of its global customer base in Africa. One notable new acquisition

by Orange in 2011 was that of Congo Chine Télécom, a mobile operator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a reported US$196 million. Orange indicates its African objectives are to deliver a better service based on quality as a key differentiator, and then to develop better service offerings. QoS remains a key issue for most of the continent’s mobile users for voice and data as network capacity becomes constrained and falling revenues hinder further investments.

Indian operator Airtel appears to have stabilised its operations following its acquisition of Zain’s African footprint in June 2010 and in 2012 we expect Airtel to make a bigger impact on the market

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 45

with VAS, new service offerings and customer retention, as well as continuing to lead in its outsourcing and managed services model with strategic partners.

In 2011, Airtel announced its arrival in Africa with across the board tariff cuts, leading to fierce competition in many markets and significant voice tariff erosion. The result is less than impressive revenues for operators. In some markets tariffs have been reduced by as much as 80%. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore announced that amid a slumping net profit they have decided to adjust tariffs upwards. Like many others, they have decided to diversify and focus on non-voice services such as data, video conferencing, data storage services and reselling software.

MNOs have become more creative in their offerings to try and gain a competitive advantage and increase revenues. Examples include MTN offering reduced rates and free incoming calls when roaming in the countries where it operates; Airtel Nigeria offering prepaid customers bundled services; and MTN offering dynamic tariffing based on traffic loading.

New operators face the increased challenge of establishing market share in a rapidly declining ARPU and multi SIM environment. South Africa’s newest MNO, 8ta, completed its first operating year after launching in October 2010. 8ta reported a pleasing subscriber base of just over 1.1 million, representing about 2% of the South African market; however 8ta is still a way off its goal of 12% market share and the reported ARPU is way below that of its competitors. This customer acquisition came at a heavy price with a loss of R1.1 billion (approximately US$138 million) being reported for the six months to September 2011.

registered user accounts in 120 countries.

This acquisition represents the significant impact social media is having on the African population, who have typically been excluded from access to applications and services previously available only to smartphone owners. Services such as eTXT from ForgetMeNot Africa also open up the world of internet and social media to basic handset owners.

In order to facilitate the increased demand for data services, Africa has seen major investment in submarine fibre optic cables in the recent past with cables coming online in 2011, and more planned for 2012. In May 2011, Seacom and MainOne joined forces to link their respective east and west coast submarine cables to provide an open-access cross-continental cable system. 2011 also saw increased focus on terrestrial fibre rollouts at the expense of existing VSAT services.

The focus on cost structures and specifically network OPEX has seen more developments in network infrastructure sharing and tower deals. Helios Towers Africa continued its rollout in Africa with expansions in Ghana and Tanzania. Standard Bank Group provided US$85 million syndicated financing for Helios Towers Tanzania Ltd, to finance the next phase of its towers network – having earlier in the year successfully concluded a private equity deal, securing a facility agreement worth US$40 million for Helios Towers Ghana.

Strategic operator partnerships have emerged in the towers market with Tigo being Helios’ preferred anchor tenant and joint venture partner, and MTN that of American Towers. Financial viability of the independent tower market may be questioned in markets like Ghana where each key operator has sold off towers to a different independent tower company, thus shifting the onus on OPEX maintenance and predictability to the tower company rather than permitting the tower company to establish a multi-tenant operation.

Mobile money schemes are widely accepted across Africa due to the gap between the banked and the unbanked, and a significant portion of the unbanked owning a mobile phone.

Access is key Social media and instant messaging (IM) services are taking off in Africa with over two-thirds estimated to be using the mobile phone as a primary access device.

BlackBerry has established itself as one of the must-have business tools and aspirational handset models in Africa, growing 27% YoY to Q2 2011. However, increased competition from iPhone and Android-OS phones, low-cost BlackBerry QWERTY lookalike models, and the global BBM outages experienced in the second half of 2011 are challenging BlackBerry’s position on the continent. There is increased customer demand for instantaneous and cost-effective messaging services as well as redundancy with more than one service provider.

The impact of global internet bandwidth being available to Africa is highlighted by the 36 million Facebook users in Africa with 50% growth in new connections in H2 2011. In South Africa, social media firm MXit was acquired by World of Avatar, a mobile investment company headed by Alan Knott-Craig Jnr. Mxit is the largest mobile social network in Africa with more than 43 million

46 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Changing lives The mobile industry’s impact on society has extended to much more than increased GDP and employment. As well as improving communication, the mobile phone is facilitating improvements in agriculture, banking, education, healthcare and the empowerment of women with several operators focusing on the “changing lives” impact that its operations bring across Africa.

Mobile money is a key area that has had massive growth in 2011.

Mobile money schemes are widely accepted across Africa due to the gap between the banked and the unbanked, and a significant portion of the unbanked owning a mobile phone. However, more work needs to be done to drive the number of mobile money users.

For example, at the end of September 2011, MTN had 5.7 million registered mobile money users in 12 markets, representing only 3.6% of its total customer base of 158.59 million.

2011 was the first year of operations for many mobile money

schemes rather than the hype and talk of previous years. A key challenge for mobile money operators is to ensure that customers are active in using the services as well as in building the agency network and providing vendors with the necessary skills to facilitate financial transactions. We expect to see significant investment in driving active mobile money users in 2012. mHealth got a serious push in 2011 with focus on services in Africa where rural populations are most isolated from doctors and hospitals. Various campaigns have been initiated to try and change the face of healthcare in Africa. Health eVillages were launched in September 2011 by the Robert F. Kennedy Center and Physicians Interactive to equip doctors in underserved regions with inexpensive phones and high-powered diagnosis tools like drug guides, medical alerts, journal summaries and references pulled from Skyscape, a medical reference app company. Pilot projects have been run in Haiti, Kenya and Uganda and it is hoped they will continue to spread throughout the continent.

In 2011, the Praekelt Foundation launched its TxtAlert mobile tool in South Africa after being in operation for over two years in other countries. TxtAlert sends automated, personalised SMS reminders to patients on chronic medication. The Praekelt Foundation has many other mobile initiatives: in December 2011, YoungAfricaLive launched on Vodacom Tanzania after its success in the South African market. Young Africa Live is a mobile community and forum that entertains and educates young people on topics of love, sexual health, gender and relationships – issues adversely affecting the youth in Africa.

Green initiatives remain a priority for MNOs and were highlighted in November 2011 at the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) climate meeting in Durban, South Africa. The ITU states that the ICT sector contributes around about 2-2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is expected to grow as the ICT sector develops. The ICT sector can significantly help reduce climate change by promoting the development of more efficient devices, applications and networks. Telepresence technologies were also highlighted as a way to reduce travel and hence some of its negative impact on the environment.

2012 is going to be a busy year for investment in African telecoms. The International Finance Corporation announced in November 2011 that it plans to spend up to US$700 million on new African telecommunications projects in 2012, with potential investments in new data centres, tower sharing and IT services.

•

• •

•

•

seeking to consolidate their existing footprints focusing on strategic markets and customers with expanded services to the enterprise segment Increased focus on managing the mobile customer and delivering targeted offerings for revenue stimulation or retention; with operators seeking to provide the best solutions to address the customers’ needs at a specific point in the customer lifecycle with retention, loyalty plans, tariff simulation and even tariff migration Increased focus on driving active mobile money users to stimulate transactional non-airtime revenues ICT skills capacity and capability remaining an issue for the continent in 2012; but with key industry players already acknowledging the issue, Africa can begin to address this with investment in local skills and training Customers preferring niche data operators providing quality of service in urban areas; and seeking alternative service providers to existing mobile voice services The emergence of specialist data centre service providers providing co-located and disaster recovery services for various sectors. Demand will be driven by cloud computing and growth in individual sectors such as financial services The return of VSAT services led by certain sectors such as financial services seeking quality over price for branch and intra-group connectivity; terrestrial fibre will continue to be cost efficient and decrease in price, but quality of deployments may erode its reliability. AT

Companies focusing on the evolution of these global trends tend to be growth driven and innovative in a rapidly changing environment.

2012 in a nutshell Based on extensive African experience and client projects from 2011, we at Indian Atlantic expect to see in 2012: • Pan-regional operators

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 47

48 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

TOP TEN FOR

2

Could 2012 see the world start to recover from the dire economic and political turmoil of the past few years? Maybe.

Africa Telecoms reckons these 10 companies are going to fly anyway. An interesting trait most of them share is that they ‘get’ Africa and understand its needs, its opportunities and its problems. This gives them a strong foundation for further growth in this continent of untapped opportunities, writes Lesley Stones.

The Africa Telecoms Top 10, now in its third year, is selected by Africa Telecoms’ own editorial team. The list is not ranked in any specific order and is based on the Top 10 companies the team thinks will make the most significant impact in the sector in 2012.

2012 Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 49

1

Motorola Mobility A $12.5 billion plan for Google to take over Motorola Mobility has hit a technical hitch with the European Commission. The commission decided at the end of last year to halt the deal while it seeks more feedback from rival companies and users who would be affected by the acquisition.

But that seems unlikely to stop the deal, which will see Google – developer of the popular Android software for mobile phones and tablets – take control of the handset manufacturer. A key aim of the move is for Google to boost its patent portfolio, to help it compete more effectively with rivals such as Apple.

Motorola Mobility holds 24 500 patents, and since the smartphone market is currently a hotbed of patent litigation and counter-litigation, Google is buying the business to get all the ammunition it can to avoid having to pay royalty fees if it’s caught infringing patents held by anybody else.

Just how badly Google wanted Motorola Mobility was shown by the fact that it was prepared to pay a 63% premium on the value it was trading at on the New York Stock Exchange.

Motorola Mobility was spun off from Motorola as a separate company last year, with the fancy goal of fusing innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people’s lives.

Its portfolio includes smartphones, the Xoom tablet, wireless accessories, video and data delivery, set-tops and data-access devices.

Motorola Mobility has two technology businesses: Mobile Devices to develop smartphones; and the Home business that designs digital set-top boxes and end-to-end video solutions.

It uses Google’s Android operating system in its devices, which creates a natural fit between the two companies. Google CEO Larry Page said the acquisition would enable Google to “create amazing user experiences that would supercharge the entire Android ecosystem’’.

WACS This is bound to be a great year for WACS, the West Africa Cable System, because the submarine cable will finally go live within the next few weeks.

The high capacity 16 000 km fibre optic cable links South Africa and West African countries to the UK, and was constructed by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks. Its consortium of backers includes leading telecoms carriers such as Neotel, Telkom, MTN, Vodacom and Gateway Communications.

South Africa’s Neotel will run the main network operating centre from Johannesburg. Neotel’s facilities already host the SEACOM cable that gave Africa its first big taste of broadband a couple of years ago. But now we can’t get enough of the stuff, so WACS will be an enormously welcome addition to the telecoms and internet landscape.

WACS is the highest capacity cable to reach these shores with a total capacity of 5.12 Tb/s, of which at least 500 Gbits/s is expected to be lit when it first goes live. The US$650 million cable will operate on an open-access policy so any telecoms provider can access its capacity.

MTN alone has invested US$90 million, making it the biggest single investor, and the mobile operator has landed the cable in several countries along the African coastline.

WACS is the first submarine cable to land in Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congo and Togo, promising a significant reduction in costs and an increase in connectivity for operators in those countries.

50 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

3

2

Helios Towers Everybody knows it makes perfect sense for cellular operators to share their basic infrastructure like cellular masts. Sharing the cost of erecting and maintaining thousands of base stations obviously slashes both the capex and opex and lets operators reach rural areas more quickly and cost effectively.

This cooperation is finally happening as more operators put their needless rivalry behind them, and Nigeria’s Helios Towers is one of the savvy companies that will benefit.

Helios erects and runs towers on behalf of operators as a management sub-contractor. It also erects towers of its own and allows four or more operators to share these facilities.

Leasing fully managed tower sites from Helios gives operators the promise of the highest quality of service and uptime, and the ability to venture into areas the operator hasn’t yet managed to reach alone.

Helios has also struck some nice deals to take over existing infrastructure that operators have built for themselves – once the operators realise it’s a headache, not a competitive advantage, to maintain their own masts.

In actual figures, Helios reckons operators can save US$200 000 in capex and up to 20% in opex by co-locating on one of its towers. So it’s no surprise that infrastructure sharing via managed services is in a high-growth phase as operators strive to cut their running costs.

Liquid Telecom Liquid Telecommunications is an independent data, voice and IP provider, and right now it’s busy building the largest fibre network in southern Africa. Its fibre will provide backhaul between most urban areas and last mile connectivity in the major cities of Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The network will be directly connected to the submarine cables of SEACOM, SAT3, WACS and EASSy for almost endless international capacity.

“Our fibre networks are being built to last and will provide virtually unlimited capacity for decades to come,” says CEO Nic Rudnick.

By the end of 2011 the company had already laid more than 8 500 km of fibre optic cable across those four countries, supplemented by the satellites and wireless broadband that Liquid Telecom also offers.

Its satellite networks provide connectivity to residential and commercial customers in 18 African countries.

It operates satellite ground facilities in the UK, Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Somalia, Burundi, Niger and Kenya, and its range of international carrier services includes routing management, settlement and billing services, transit services, network design, operation and traffic services, and internet bandwidth.

Liquid Telecom says its expertise, the quality of its services and its experience of both African and European markets makes it ideally placed to provide the optimum solutions for telecoms players.

The company recently built a high capacity broadband network in Zambia, which served to increase competition and reduce end-user prices by 50% in some areas. It is also Zambia’s first fully redundant network, and promises Service Level Agreements not previously seen in the country.

4 Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 51

5

MXit You can’t argue with numbers like 44 million customers in 128 countries and a service that delivers 800 million messages a day.

No, that isn’t Twitter – it’s MXit, the South African instant messaging service that’s going global.

Twitter, in comparison, handles a mere 200 million daily messages, or just a quarter of the number that MXit delivers. Doesn’t that make you proud to be African?

The service was growing by 15% every three months last year, and that was before the injection of fresh young management and more capital when gaming specialist World of Avatar bought MXit from its founder.

World of Avatar’s Alan Knott-Craig Jnr is the new CEO and has determined plans to grow and improve the already phenomenally successful service.

While some people say the heydays of MXit are fading as more sophisticated handsets proliferate, Knott-Craig has an answer. MXit boomed because it’s free and operates on even the most basic handsets, serving customers at the lower level of the pyramid. But it isn’t limited to that market, he says.

“We have serious competition from BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsUp and Facebook, but our advantage is that everybody isn’t using iPhones yet. The world isn’t Silicon Valley: the world is Soweto and we have a lock on that market.”

Now Knott-Craig Jnr aims to enhance MXit’s performance on more sophisticated handsets, so it can grow with its existing customers when they graduate to flashier phones.

Another aim is to make it ubiquitous throughout Africa, with an overall goal of making MXit the biggest digital communicator in the world.

Windows Phone Ok, we know this is an operating system – not a company. But it has Microsoft and Nokia behind it, so don’t get pedantic.

Windows Phone should be big in 2012 partly because it’s got the clout of those two companies behind it, and also because it’s fun. Instead of showing a grid of application icons, the display features a dynamically updating set of tiles with useful information and animations.

And if you get bored with the apps you have, there are 40 000 more to choose from, with more than 100 new titles being added every day.

Microsoft and Nokia say they are creating a rich ecosystem that will be hard to compete with, because they are combining Nokia’s mapping and navigation properties and its localised music store offerings with the world’s leading gaming platform in Microsoft’s Xbox – and adding in Office and Live.

The system’s integration with Live should be a selling point as it offers 25 GB of SkyDrive storage for documents, mail, images and other files.

Windows Mobile will appeal to business users too, since Microsoft’s Office and other communications and productivity tools are tightly integrated into the system.

Leo McKay, head of communications for Nokia South Africa, says the software is original as well as easy and fun to use.

But what will ultimately make Windows Phone surge is the fact that people are excited about it. Even hardened reviewers are raving about the phone, McKay says, and once it becomes freely available this year, the uptake will quickly spread.

52 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

7

6

Broadband Communication Networks The strength of Nairobi-based Broadband Communication Networks lies in its skilled workforce, which has been developed over almost a decade.

The company is a telecoms solutions provider that offers a wide variety of network solutions for both mobile and fixed line operators as well as large business customers in Africa.

It has three key areas of activity: new network installation services, network maintenance and network testing.

Broadband Communication Networks can design and implement both wireless and wire-line facilities, and its portfolio of services allows telecoms companies to have a project handled right from site acquisition through to site construction, network design, installation, configuration and the commissioning of their networks.

Its engineers have implemented wireless projects in Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Malawi and Uganda, along with many in Kenya.

The company has grown each year since its formation in 2001, fuelled by the liberalisation of the mobile industry in Kenya and East Africa.

It works with several manufacturers to boost its expertise through technology transfers, allowing it to develop its capacity as the African market grows. This collaboration has given it a more experienced workforce than any other in the region, the company says.

Alcatel-Lucent Innovations to improve the capacity and cost efficiency of networks is one of AlcatelLucent’s strengths. The company’s research and development arm, Bell Labs, recently unveiled lightRadio, a new range of products to free mobile operators from their dependence on antenna masts and mobile base stations.

These are generally the most energy-consuming parts of the network, and the most expensive and difficult to maintain.

The lightRadio system is a described as an ‘active antenna’ that will radically simplify mobile networks, expand capacity, cut operating costs and reduce energy consumption.

Which means it has the potential to help operators increase their connectivity to everyone around the world.

Etisalat, Telefónica, France Telecom, Orange and China Mobile have joined the lightRadio programme to work with Alcatel-Lucent to deploy this new lightRadio technology.

Alcatel-Lucent has also launched vectoring technology to let operators boost the data speeds and capacity on existing copper networks to deliver broadband of 100 Mbps. That helps them to make the most of their existing assets as they make the gradual and costly transition to fibre.

Another division of the company, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, is directly benefiting Africa by its technologies used in the ACE, WACS, EASSy, Main One Africa, eFive and TE-North cable systems. These cables are finally bringing broadband connectivity to Africa in the quantities we have long been waiting for.

In November, Alcatel-Lucent was named African Vendor of the Year at the CommsMEA awards, for its achievement and contribution in bringing innovative technologies and best of class services to its customers on the continent.

8

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 53

9

SES Luxembourg-based SES is a satellite operator that owns a fleet of 49 geostationary satellites plus a global network of teleports. That impressive inventory lets SES provide reliable and secure satellite communications to broadcasters, telecoms operators, governments and corporate customers worldwide.

The company says its capacity enables it to cover 99% of the world’s population, and its reach is backed up by market knowledge in delivering TV content, broadband links to remote locations and secure communications for governments.

In May last year SES joined forces with Kenyan TV and broadband operator Wananchi to launch a new Direct-to-Home offering called Zuku TV in East Africa. Zuku TV is designed to provide affordable and quality content to the mass markets in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi.

Each of these countries has a pay TV penetration level of less than 1%.

SES has also developed a training programme for installers to ensure that subscribers receive the best installation service for their satellite reception equipment. Installer training began in Nairobi, followed by Uganda and Tanzania.

If East Africa’s potentially enormous TV audience isn’t enough to make SES a strong candidate for growth this year, political instability might. SES’s ability to provide secure communications is a big winner with governments that are operating intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Government demand for satellite connectivity has increased threefold in the past 10 years, mainly for military communications. So at least political turmoil is good for somebody, as the growing demand saw SES initiate a massive investment programme to launch 13 new satellites by the end of 2014, and it launched five of them in 2011.

MTN A recent study by Standard Bank predicted that mobile phone subscribers in Africa would rise from 500 million in 2010 to almost 800 million by 2015. MTN will be aiming to win many of those to add to its existing 158 million customers across 21 countries.

Some of that growth will be achieved by offering compelling data services. MTN MobileMoney has already been implemented in 12 countries, and Nigeria will also roll out these services soon. MTN now has almost six million subscribers, with Uganda and Ghana each accounting for 37% of the total.

The company has also signed a deal with Norway’s Opera Software to make accessing the internet easier on a mobile phone. Together they will offer MTN customers Opera Mini, the world’s most popular mobile web browser.

The collaboration gives MTN subscribers a more affordable, more user-friendly and faster mobile web experience.

With an eye to long-term growth, MTN is supporting the creation of an African developer community so that services can be localised for mass adoption. It has invested US$30 billion in building data centres and fixed as well as mobile networks to deliver cloud services such as ehealth and educational content to both rural areas and Africa’s economic hubs.

To encourage the creation of content that is relevant for Africa, MTN has launched an apps competition that challenges developers to create innovative applications inspired by their local conditions.

The best will be included in MTN’s application store, apps@play, which already has 17 000 free downloadable apps.

54 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

10

Tre

Defining our Future Every year, thousands of new companies are formed globally.

In excess of 90 percent do not survive more than two to five years and only a handful survive beyond 50 years. A large contributing factor to their failure is that existing customer needs, which these companies were established to address, have become irrelevant over a period of time. Most companies also fail to scale their business and cross US$100 million in revenues. The information and consulting industry is worth US$366 billion globally and currently there are just slightly over 100 companies with revenues over US$100 million. Only

56 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

25 of them have a history of over 50 years and Frost & Sullivan, the global research & consulting firm, is one of them.

Such trends, which have a profound impact on the business environment over time, are termed ‘Mega Trends’ by Frost & Sullivan. Mega trends are defined as global, sustained and macroeconomic forces of development that impact business, economy, society, cultures and personal lives, thereby defining our future world and its increasing pace of change. Mega trends have diverse meanings and varying impact on different industries, companies and individuals. Analysis of these mega

nds

by Birgitta Cederstrom, Frost & Sullivan ,ICT Business Unit Leader for Africa trends and their implications forms an important component of a company’s future strategy, development and innovation process, and directly impacts product and technology planning.

To address this very important issue amongst its global customer base, Frost & Sullivan embarked on an ambitious global project to identify the top 50 mega trends. A global team of 150 analysts and consultants, with expertise in various industries and economies, convened to brainstorm, scenarioplan and generate ideas for future growth opportunities for businesses. The result is an insight into how these trends will

change the pace and scenario of life as we know it as well as the repercussions of these trends in business. Some of the mega trends identified by Frost & Sullivan include “smart” emerging as the new green; geo socialisation; innovating to zero; beyond BRIC; the next game changers; space jam; personal robots; e-mobility; and new business models – to name a few. Here we look at four mega trends that Frost & Sullivan expects to affect global technology companies: moving from connecting subscribers to connecting devices; cloud computing; urbanisation and smart grids.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 57

1 Moving from connecting subscribers to connecting devices Prices of mobile devices, as well as the tariffs for mobile services, have declined sharply resulting in unprecedented growth in subscriber and penetration numbers. Mobile penetration in most markets today exceeds 100 percent. The economic value that was added, based on providing mobility to consumers, has been significantly exploited. The Blue Ocean Strategy of creating new economic value is to shift the paradigm to connecting devices instead of connecting consumers. It is quite possible that, if executed well, penetration levels of 800 percent, or a total connected device ecosystem exceeding 80 billion devices by the year 2020, will be the result.

Whilst the connecting devices trend, i.e. Machine to Machine (M2M), is not new, the current ecosystem is ripe for an accelerated take up of this trend. Rapidly declining prices of radio and telecom infrastructure is a key enabler. Added to that is the fact that most countries today have ubiquitous broadband coverage – both fixed and wireless. The availability of platforms such as Android and iTunes, amongst several others, helps leverage the collective innovation capability amongst millions of application developers globally. The baton for discovery of the applications has been passed on to the consumer and this wisdom of the crowds’ phenomenon helps accelerate the development and innovation cycle.

The consumer electronics industry will be a key benefactor of this Mega Trend. Devices which operate in a networked environment will enable consumers to drive a greater degree of personalisation. There will be an explosive level of innovation that will come through from the convergence of these two industries: consumer electronics and connectivity. In many instances, the connectivity piece will be completely transparent to the end-user. We have seen the first signs of this emerging business model in the offering from Amazon Kindle, with global connectivity and completely transparent carriage charges for users. Carriage costs are marginal compared with the overall benefit for Amazon, as well as the consumer, and hence the consumer does not get charged for the usage of data separately.

Implications for telecom service providers This Mega Trend is a huge growth opportunity for the telecom service providers (telcos). Whilst the revenue streams will possibly be as low as a few cents per device per month, the number of devices that will be connected is huge. The telcos undoubtedly will earn revenues from the connectivity piece. This will, however, be commoditised and the margins will be under continuous pressure. The battle will be intense for the incremental revenues from the creation of the ecosystem.

The first wave of the data connectivity phase has been won by Google, Apple, Facebook and other Over the Top (OTP) players.

The upcoming wave of connecting consumer devices will attract electronic giants such as Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips and others. These companies approach the market from a thoroughly global perspective and their scale will be significantly higher than 58 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

the telcos. The competitive advantage for a telco resides in its strength in operational excellence, its monthly billing relationship with its customers and its strong local distribution presence.

Telcos need to adopt a two-pronged approach to succeed. Firstly, they need to develop strong global partnerships with the likes of Sony, Apple and Google, and be an early entrant into the market to garner a significant share of the connectivity pie. Secondly, there are several areas that will favour the telcos more than global players, including sectors like the development of smart cities, security solutions and other business to business solutions. Telcos are in a powerful position to be a one-stop solutions provider to enterprise customers by helping them navigate this connected device ecosystem. Telcos will have to develop capabilities or partner companies with skills in business consulting and IT integration to make this possible.

Implications for systems integrators (SIs) An important requirement for the connected device paradigm to become reality would be to stitch customised solutions to address both the consumer and enterprise requirements. This opens a new opportunity for the SIs of the world to work with ecosystem partners in order to design solutions such as transportation solutions for a smart city and/or home delivery systems for consumers. The SIs will, however, need to design these solutions with newer business models, which are OPEX-based, maybe using the cloud computing paradigm. In addition to the current SIs, other players from the ecosystem and beyond, like automation players, and/or infrastructure players, are expected to enter the market.

Implications for enterprises The connected device ecosystem will enable companies to collect real time information on the usage of their products and services.

This will significantly improve the quality of products, increase the pace of innovation and most importantly lead to better utilisation of global resources. Business models will change from outright purchase of products to pay as you go, as information about exact usage trends will be available. Insurance companies may offer customised annual premium packages based on a consumer’s driving habits, rather than the one size fits all approach they adopt today.

The increased sophistication in cars will translate into the development of collision-less vehicles. Whilst a lot of these may sound futuristic, Frost & Sullivan believes strongly that many of these scenarios will be real by the year 2020.

2 Cloud computing There is a growing awareness among enterprises to access their information technology (IT) resources extensively through a “utility” model; a development broadly called “cloud computing.” Cloud is the natural evolution of service delivery over a network. The biggest benefactor of this trend will be enterprises, as they look to leverage the innovation that cloud has brought to the consumer Internet ecosystem. Cloud represents the next wave in the computing industry, as it strives to eliminate inherent inefficiencies in the existing IT architecture and deliver “IT as a service” to the end-users.

Cloud computing can be specifically defined as a pool of computer, memory and input/output resources, applications or operating environments with seemingly infinite scalability, delivered as a service over a network, be it private or public.

There are five key characteristics that help define the cloud computing business model: on-demand, pay-as-you-go, rapid elasticity, shared pools, ubiquitous access.

The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle, with regards to the cloud computing business model, is how it will be delivered. There are two distinct models at play: private cloud or public cloud. Many companies may also opt for a hybrid option – some applications on the public cloud and some on the private cloud. The choice of which environment an enterprise chooses depends on various factors including company size, business sector, risk appetite, cost considerations and type of service sought. In general, small and medium customers are likely to opt for affordable public cloud services, while the large enterprises will take a hybrid approach.

Users also have the option to choose a fourth delivery model – community cloud.

Delivered through a private network, the community cloud serves a community of organisations that have similar infrastructure requirements. Currently, community clouds are witnessing adoption primarily by governments, especially in the US and Europe.

Frost & Sullivan’s research suggests that the market for cloud computing in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) had already exceeded US$1.1 billion in 2010. With a 91 percent share, SaaS is the dominant segment of the cloud market in the Asia Pacific region. Almost one in every four enterprises is already using some form of a cloud service. The majority of customers have started off with Software as a Service (SaaS) as their first step towards embracing the cloud.

Today markets like Australia lead the entire Asia Pacific region in this trend. Cloud represents an opportunity, not just for the IT vendors and system integrators, but also for the telecom service providers. To succeed, they must make the cloud as easy to use as the basic telephony service they provide.

Whilst there is the well defined trend in migration to the cloud, there are also several challenges that are hindering adoption. The primary restraints are security and privacy issues, with customers apprehensive about factors like regulatory compliance, inadequate service level agreements, shared infrastructure (for public clouds), data storage issues, and unclear legal implications.

The implementation of cloud computing is expected to have three key implications in the information and communication technology

(ICT) industry in the long term: • It will accelerate innovation in the ICT industry. It will reduce the entry barriers for new companies who want to offer compelling services • It will shake up the ICT industry over a period of time. There will be a greater participation in the enterprise market by large consumer Internet companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook • The area of collaboration (convergence of social networking, unified communications, video and mobility) will be the biggest benefactor For end-users, cloud computing offers significant promise for enterprises saddled with inefficient IT infrastructure. It offers the critical promise of aligning IT with business needs and creating a truly agile business environment. Additionally, small and medium businesses will have access to applications that were traditionally limited to large enterprises, due to the huge investments needed in start up costs. Every large enterprise, including governments, should adopt a “Cloud First” policy; alternatives should only be considered if it is not feasible to have a cloud-based service.

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 59

3 Urbanisation Rome was one of the first cities in the world to reach a population of one million people. This was in the year 5 BCE. It took about 18 centuries for the next city, London, to boast the same number of inhabitants. This trend of urbanisation gathered incredible momentum in the 20th century. The primary reason for urbanisation is best explained by the fact that the top 25 cities of the world today account for half of the world’s wealth. While the world population will continue to see continued growth, urbanisation will happen at an even more frantic pace in the coming decades.

By 2020, we expect that close to 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. This mega trend has impacted businesses, societies and cultures in the past 100 years, benefiting many industries such as real estate, infrastructure, and transportation. Frost & Sullivan studies have shown that the rate of urbanisation is much faster in developing countries. Frost & Sullivan believes that 50 percent of the top Mega Cities in the world will consist of develop-

60 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

ing countries by the year 2025.

Looking ahead into the next decade, the result will be the integration of core city centres with suburbs and satellite cities, resulting in expanding city limits from the current average of 40 km to about 64 km. The future impact of the city development on mobility, working life and societies is going to be tremendous.

Frost & Sullivan expects three concepts of urbanisation to emerge: mega cities, mega regions and mega corridors.

• Mega cities: Integration of core cities with suburbs and housing over 5 million people • Mega regions: Integration of two or more cities or expansion of a city to join with adjoining daughter cities to form mega regions housing over 15 million people. For example, Johannesburg and Pretoria (forming Jo-Toria) • Mega corridors: Urbanisation corridors connecting two or more mega cities or mega regions, converging to form mega corridors. These can be 100 km long and have a population of over 25 million living within the corridor. The Hong KongShenzhen-Guangzhou mega corridor in China has a population of 120 million people Frost & Sullivan expects the emergence of 30 mega cities, 15 mega regions and at least 10 mega corridors with more than 20 million people by 2020. Urbanisation will lead to new hub-and-spoke business models for healthcare, logistics, retailing and many other functions, forcing organisations to rethink their “urban” business model. Mega cities, mega corridors and mega regions will be in a continuous race to attract the brightest talent and the worlds’ best companies. As the cities, regions and corridors get crowded; they will put tremendous pressure on the infrastructure and the planet.

This will drive the trend towards the development of “smart cities”.

The primary emphasis of the smart city will be to increase the productivity of the citizens, enhancing its competitiveness, whilst making the best use of scarce natural resources. This can be achieved through the effective use of ICT. Minimising CO2 emissions will be the other important component of the smart city plan.

Frost & Sullivan expects over 40 global cities will emerge and be labelled as smart cities by the year 2020. Many of these cities will emerge from the developed markets of North America and Europe.

4 Smart grids Smart grids is the emerging paradigm in the global utility and electric power industry. The electric grid architecture we have today is almost a century old. While there have been incremental advances in technology, there has never been a wholesale restructuring of the system. The grid is very inefficient and often the operator has limited real time knowledge of what is going on in the system. The existing grid has evolved on the principle of “build and grow”. The utilities have been creating infrastructure with the assumption that power demand growth will keep increasing. While this is certainly true because of the changing lifestyle and massive demand of the energy hungry digital world, the utilities have long ignored the need to strike an optimum balance between growth and efficiency.

Increased concerns about global warming, pressure on bottom lines, proliferation of intermittent but clean energy sources like solar and wind in the grid, combined with advances in ICT, have forced the utilities to rethink their business model and technology evolution.

Smart grids consist of a web of technologies aimed at automating, improving efficiency, and increasing availability of the electric grid ranging from generation and transmission to distribution levels. Automation also includes tools to conduct predictive, preventative and supply analysis based on data collection that is conducted at the transmission and distribution level.

Key components of smart grids To progress from conventional grids to smart grids these are some the features that need to be overcome: • Centralised power generation dominates, resulting in substantial power and transmission losses

» THE HOME NETWORK

• •

Ageing infrastructure in most regions results in a strained grid Current philosophy is to do one-way metering of power consumption: this means the customers have no control over what they consume and no say in making choices The emerging smart grids solution will look to address most of the inefficiencies and challenges of the conventional grids, by effectively marrying digital ICT and clean energy technologies with the power grid.

Key characteristics of smart grids include: • • • •

•

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), facilitating two-way communication between customers and the utility Integrating several small generating facilities (including micro-generation) like wind and solar into the system Facilitating large customers like offices and hospitals to sell excess energy (they self-generate) back to the grid Planning and supporting the large scale advent of electric vehicles. These vehicles will also store energy that can be supplied back to the grid during peak demand periods Increased efficiencies and reduced operational expenditures and environmental effects

Key drivers for utilities Smart grid development depends on the prevailing regulatory regime in the country, level of deregulation, varying business drivers, and of course progressive thinking on the part of the company’s strategic planners.

However, the following have been the broad business drivers for utilities to embark on smart grids planning: • Government mandates and funding: Governments have been

» MOBILITY ON STEROIDS

» INTERNET OF THINGS “S” Citizen “S” City Planning

“S” Business

“S” Buildings

“S” Mobility

6bn

• •

8-10 Devices per home Universal remote

20bn

• •

5-6 Devices per individual Touch as the default input method

80bn

• •

“S” Energy

500 per sq km Smart cities

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 61

•

•

pushing the idea of smart grid through regulatory mandate as well as funding for smart grid implementation. Australia, South Korea and Japan have already committed a total of US$258 million to smart grid development. Government push is the most important reason driving the utilities towards smart grid.

Cost savings: Catering to peak load power requirement, manpower cost and line losses are the major cost components for the utilities. In several countries, the power requirement peaks at certain times of the year. To provide for this excess power, utilities have to build special power plants that only operate for a limited number of hours in a year. By implementing a sound demand response system, the utilities can save billions of dollars by removing the need for these plants.

Higher revenues: The US economy currently loses US$150 billion every year due to power outages. By accurately pinpointing the outage location and rapidly responding with the use of technology, utilities can restore power and thus start generating more revenues. Also, in certain competitive markets like New Zealand, where customers can switch power retailers fairly easily, companies can expand their customer base by providing better service with the use of smart grid technologies.

THE Mapping of business opportunities INCLUDE: •

Metering companies: Smart metering is the most critical and fundamental part of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). A smart meter costs almost US$200, which is about 10 times the cost of a normal digital meter. Currently, smart meter

‘‘

Mega trends can be used as a base for strategic decision-making by understanding their impact on organisational functions

‘‘

62 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

•

•

deployment presents the maximum opportunity to the firms involved in smart grid area.

Network communication providers: A secure and robust network is required at local area network (LAN) level, wide area network (WAN) level and home area network (HAN) level to ensure the interaction of the different modules of a smart grid and an efficient data transfer – so that objectives such as selfhealing, demand response control, time of use pricing, etc may be met. Network layout is a major opportunity area in the AMI infrastructure as it is critical to help a smart meter meet its purpose.

Software solutions developers: Data management systems form the brain to analyse the wide array of data collected through a plethora of sensors and smart meters.

conclusion Companies focusing on the evolution of these global trends tend to be growth driven and innovative in a rapidly changing environment. Mega trends can be used as a base for strategic decisionmaking by understanding their impact on organisational functions such as marketing, research and development budget spending, product planning and development, human resource management, technology planning, and innovation scouting. Identifying uncontested marketplace opportunities and new competition arising from non-traditional sources will help organisations innovate to meet expected accelerating change in future technology and align current strategies to address the needs of the “Customer of the Future”. AT

Q&A

Africa Telecoms chats to Mahmoud Sayed Ahmed, Marketing Director MEA for Motorola Mobility

‘‘

‘‘

Motorola had strong brand and product presence in various markets in Africa, whether through direct on the ground market presence or presence through a strong local distributor

This issue of Africa Telecoms is looking at the ‘year that was’ and the ‘year to come’. Motorola Mobility went through its most exciting change at the beginning of 2011 with its divorce from Motorola Inc. and the creation of Motorola Mobility.

Has this been a successful change and has it changed anything for the brand?

The move helped Motorola to consolidate its businesses in order to streamline business process. For the Motorola Mobility brand it has still been business as usual, but the move has helped to introduce a more focused approach to the mobility business.

Then, more recently, we had the amazing news that Google had made an offer to purchase Motorola Mobility. This deal was still not

64 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

concluded at the time of the Q&A. However, has there been any communication of changes that can be expected from Motorola Mobility because of this takeover? If not, in your opinion does this strengthen the position of Motorola in the Android market?

The Google/Motorola Mobility acquisition is not yet finalized and so we cannot comment at this time.

2011 saw an interesting year for Motorola with some very exciting devices being launched, most recently the RAZR, and the relaunch of the iconic RAZR brand. What was the rationale behind relaunching this iconic brand? A few weeks into the launch, would you say that this device has been accepted in the market?

The original RAZR clamshell has been the most successful phone in the Motorola stable to date, selling over 130 million units worldwide in its four-year run and becoming the bestselling clamshell phone in the world. It remains one of the most iconic and recognizable brands around the globe.

This isn’t a re-introduction – it is a next generation device with some of the most advanced smartphone technology inside. It combines brains, beauty and power to deliver a whole new level of innovation. Motorola has been innovating and delivering all new power to smartphones and tablets with our wildly successful XOOM and ATRIX products. Now we can combine the power and superior software into a design that stands out and begs to be seen. We’re bringing sexy back.

We have seen great acceptance with the launch of the Motorola RAZR; and the product has been globally launched in 18 markets within the two-week launch window. It has received some very strong consumer reviews and commentary. We are excited at the sales results we have been seeing to date.

Motorola launched the RAZR with an exclusive deal with Vodacom in South Africa. Has this been a successful launch; for what period does this exclusivity run; and will Motorola look at similar deals with other operators in Africa?

The Motorola RAZR presented a commercial case which worked for both Motorola and Vodacom. Vodacom saw value in the RAZR offering and partnered with us for launch. We are very excited about this partnership, but will continue to work with all other operators in South Africa to bring RAZR to a wider consumer base in the South African market.

‘Patent wars’ have been a constant subject for discussion throughout 2011. Do you think this will affect Motorola moving into 2012?

IP (intellectual property) protection continues to be a hot topic in the mobile industry and Motorola is committed to protecting its patents in 2012, as it has been previously.

address various segments of the market, including entry level So far, Motorola has managed to steer clear of most litigation smartphones for consumers with limited budgets or new entrants because of its veritable fortress of around 17,000 patents. Analysts into the smartphone space. have presumed that this is the reason why Google went forward Africa is a focus for most telecoms vendors and handset with the acquisition. Has this been confirmed as yet or do you have manufacturers. What is Motorola Mobility’s focus in Africa any opinion? for 2012?

The Google/Motorola Mobility acquisition is not yet finalized Motorola’s focus in Africa revolves around and so we cannot comment at this time. the markets that are showing a strong growth Moving into 2012 there seems to be an in network migrations from 2G to 3G. That exciting portfolio of new products coming is when a smartphone experience can be to South Africa, including, presumably, truly fulfilling. the launch of the XOOM 2 in early As operators drive new tariff plans 2012. Can you tell us about any other around data to increase ARPU, we see exciting products that are in store for us a noticeable growth in demand for a this year? smartphone. Motorola will actively play Motorola Mobility is constantly driving in the markets where we see a strong innovation with new product developments operator drive for data as the main driver and updated product ranges. Our 2012 for increasing ARPU. product portfolio will have devices Does Motorola have what it takes to be launched under two product franchises: A successful when competing against the Life Connected portfolio and A Life Proof traditionally dominant players in Africa portfolio. like Samsung and Nokia? And what are the Each franchise – and consequently the company’s competitive advantages? devices launched under it – speaks to a Motorola had strong brand and product strong consumer need in the market, with presence in various markets in Africa, the devices satisfying that consumer need. whether through direct on the ground This fits within Motorola’s brand promise market presence or presence through a of a Life M-Powered. That enablement will strong local distributor. So we understand come in the form of new innovations on how Africa ticks. both the software and hardware platforms On top of a strong market understanding of the devices. of the continent, Motorola continues The device market in Africa is different to introduce entry level smartphones from the rest of the world in that low-end that have software innovations. A good and feature phones still dominate. How example of this is the Moto Switch UI, a successful is Motorola in this market and software innovation that allows consumers are you looking to expand this product The original RAZR clamshell has to customize the user interface depending portfolio? been the most successful phone in the on the present location.

While it is true that low-end feature Motorola stable to date, selling over Finally, Motorola Mobility has been phones still dominate in Africa, the trend 130 million units worldwide included in our list of Top 10 Companies that we are seeing globally and that is being to watch in 2012. What can we expect from adopted in Africa is that of a migration the company in 2012? from feature to smartphone usage. And this is where Motorola Motorola will continue to bring to market device experiences that has chosen to be present – with devices that operate solely on the are differentiated and compelling, addressing various consumer Android platform (the fastest growing OS in 2011). segments and available in various hardware formats – all with a With this global growth around Android smartphones, Motorola brand promise to enable people to live a Life M-Powered. AT has been actively engaged in rolling out Android devices that

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 65

by sarah theron

When the going gets tough the satellites keep going!

The past financial year has proved very challenging for many companies across diverse industries and regions around the world. However, the global satellite market is growing. According to the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) data, world satellite industry revenue was US$168.1 billion in 2010 and the market has experienced an average annual growth of 11.2% from 2005-2010.

Currently, these figures can be broken down into satellite services made up of US$101.3 billion, ground equipment made up of US$51.6 billion, build services made up of US$10.8 billion and launch services made up of US$4.4 billion.

Satellite communications is a growing global market with many opportunities and niches as there is an ever increasing demand for high quality bandwidth communications via satellite across a wide variety of industries, particularly government, military, mining and resources.

To provide further insight into the global satellite industry and the growing demand for fast and secure satellite communications, Africa Telecoms speaks to three 66 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

satellite industry heavyweights from three different segments of the industry.

For Robert Bell, executive director of the World Teleport Association (WTA), the unique value of satellite technology is evident: “It has the best economics of any possible form of communication in terms of one-to-many communications and provides the best means of establishing connections with remote areas. The latter is an important requirement of governments, military organisations and enterprises such as mining and resources”.

The WTA has been dedicated to helping the operators of teleports maintain and expand their businesses for over 25 years and Bell has seen many satellite companies grow at an astounding pace. “The satellite industry is a very significant niche and definitely a growth business. It’s a business that has been doing nicely through some pretty turbulent times. This is because satellites are becoming more and more vital to many different industries,” Bell adds.

David Ball, chief technology officer of Australia’s leading specialist satellite commu-

nications company NewSat, believes that the satellite industry is driven largely by a demand for high bandwidth satellite communications across the Middle East region, along with demand from emerging markets across Africa, Asia and South America.

Ball has experienced this first-hand, seeing NewSat’s continuous growth across mining, resources and government markets in these regions: “The FY11 period proved very challenging for many companies, across diverse industries and regions. NewSat proved resilient to wider market factors and delivered a successful year’s results through its continued focus on customers and high growth markets.”

New contracts for services into the Middle East were particularly lucrative for NewSat, which has significantly increased its business with military and government agencies in this region. As demand for satellite communications across emerging markets is expected to increase, satellite companies like NewSat are placed in a favourable position to continue its growth.

“Satellite service business, be it direct-to-home, enterprise communications, manufacturing and launching satellites, is on the increase. The insatiable appetite for bandwidth worldwide is what is driving all of this: connecting the unconnected; oneto-many for broadcast applications; one-to the-middle-of-nowhere for the mining communities; as well as enterprise and military users,” Ball explains.

In light of this growing need for high-speed, better-quality bandwidth, industry trends and drivers that support the expansion of the global satellite market include a continuous demand for Internet, cellular connectivity and 3G/4G deployments across developing and geographically challenged countries; an increasing number of businesses relying on real-time communications; an increasing number of remote area applications to drive operational and labour efficiencies across resources; and a growing demand from disaster recovery, emergency services, government sectors, system integrators, telecommunications companies and Internet service providers to on-sell satellite services.

NewSat’s core Teleport in South Australia and its thriving Jabiru Satellite Program are closely aligned with the key growth drivers of the global satellite industry, providing a sound platform for future growth as the company transforms into a global satellite operator.

Ball describes the situation. “The demand we see here in this part of the world is highly centred on oil, gas, mining military applications and ‘telegrade’ communications. We are not looking at residential Internet, we are looking at ‘telco’ grade telecommunications. In other words, uncongested links to remote areas.”

A self-proclaimed ‘latecomer to the field’, with a background as a combat arms infantry soldier, Marc LeGare, chief executive officer of Proactive Communications, is a specialist in military communications technology.

“In the late 90s the US army decided to digitise all its communications platforms so that in conflict situations friendly forces could recognise each other and military units could sketch the battlefield to identify the locations of potential enemies. Satellite communications has a great role in a conflict environment but, as David Ball alluded to earlier, there is a growing trend for this technology in commercial military integration”, LeGare says.

As 75-80% of the US Department of Defence satellite consumption is supported by the commercial satellite communications arena, Proactive Communications’ mission is to provide reliable and secure enterprise-class communication capabilities to government agencies, military, and corporate entities around the world.

LeGare continues: “Almost everyone on the US side – and from my experience in the Middle East even the coalition forces – has access to the open Internet for various purposes, whether it’s for moral welfare and recreation, telephone or unclassified research. And it’s all provided by satellite communications.”

This really paints a picture of how amazingly diverse the satellite business is. Comparing current trends to past trends, Bell agrees: “At one time, almost 20 years ago,

media, broadcasting and television dominated the business … perhaps 80% of the revenue came from these segments. Since then things have changed enormously.”

Technology is also changing the dynamics of the ways in which people communicate, live and work. It is a time when fast communications and Internet are expected to be available anywhere, anytime – and satellites can accommodate this demand.

TV, for example, is undergoing an unprecedented revolution. People want to watch TV and catch up with shows when it suits them. Bell explains: “For the satellite providers this is a booming market. Satellites can send content anywhere, anytime, in any format and members of WTA are really excited about this. They are investing huge sums of money in the systems that make TV-on-the-go quick and easy. The ability to use these commercial capabilities is going to be an important development in this area.”

Enterprise markets are also one of the biggest drivers of growth for satellite communications, with demand rapidly increasing not only for operational purposes but also for worker welfare. Resources projects such as mining village entertainment and communications are driving changes in demand for satellite technology.

Mobile phones and computers are imperative in today’s world. Whether calling or texting a friend or updating Facebook and LinkedIn, people’s desire for communications, service speed and technology has dramatically increased.

For example, employees on isolated mine, oil and gas sites now expect to have remote access to technology. When they have finished a long day’s work they want to connect with friends and loved ones in real-time, via Internet-based applications such as VoIP, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Satellite companies like NewSat are also seeing a huge demand from mine sites for digital entertainment platforms that provide 5-star hotel-grade in-room entertainment. Whether they are reading newspapers or downloading music and movies from their laptop, employees want comparable Internet speeds and the latest entertainment. Ball believes that these demands can only expand, as shown by the evergrowing number of remote sites being built by large mining and resource exploration companies.

Satellite technology is also evolving to meet an increasing need for fast, immediate communication because satellites have to be able to offer more capacity: the orbital arch is becoming overcrowded, nearing its capacity of only 180 satellite ‘parking slots’. This has brought about the innovation of the Ka-band satellite.

“Ka-band is the latest satellite frequency that we are all going to be using – perhaps I should say ‘commercialising’. It has a higher frequency than previous bandwidths, which allows more information to be sent through at one time than ever before. There are currently about $5 billion of Ka-band assets going into space, starting in 2007 through to 2014,” Bell says.

Ball explains that one of the challenges NewSat faced with its teleport business – despite its success – was getting the right capacity, in the right quantities, at the right times for its customers. “Taking control of our destiny with the Jabiru satellite fleet has enabled us to be in the driver’s seat of capacity and capacity availability. This increased bandwidth obviously gives us a lot more throughput to remote locations, a lot more things you can do with smaller antennas than you can do in lower frequency bands. There is higher throughput for a given antenna size, and a lot of dynamics and trade-offs to provide for our customers.”

Bell agrees: “Ka-band, which can also be combined with other bandwidths to create hybrid satellites, is really powerful as it opens up this enormous world of additional bandwidth while maintaining the reliability that satellite is famous for.”

The satellite industry’s success and growth through a challenging economic period has demonstrated the industry’s strength and resilience. As our three satellite executives confirm with their encouraging insights into the current and future state of satellite communications, the satellite industry occupies a unique and exciting position in the world’s economy. AT Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 67

Calendar

Africa Telecoms events calendar February 2012 - September 2012

february 07-08 TM Forum Management World Asia Singapore

www.tmforum.org

07-09 7TH Annual Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum Johannesburg, South Africa

Rumana Bukht: +44 208 600 3800

www.cto.int

27-01 Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Spain

www.mobileworldcongress.com

march 07-08 AITEc banking & Mobile money comesa 2012 Nairobi, KENYA

Helen Moroney: +44 148 088 0774

www.aitecafrica.com

13-14 Mobile Money World Africa 2012 Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

13-14 Near Field Communication World Africa 2012 Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

13-15 6th Annual e-Gov Africa Forum 2012 NAMIBIA

Rumana Bukht: +44 208 600 3800

www.cto.int

april 17-18 east africa com Nairobi, KENYA

Louisa Rogers: +44 (0)20 7017 51575

www.comworldseries.com

may 15-16 North Africa Com Tunis, Tunisia 68 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Louisa Rogers: +44 (0)20 7017 51575

www.comworldseries.com

21-24 Telecoms World Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

21-24 satcom africa Johannesburg, South Africa

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

21-24 the tv show africa Johannesburg, South Africa

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

21-24 submarine networks world africa Johannesburg, South Africa

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

21-24 TM Forum Management World 2012 Dublin, Ireland

www.tmforum.org

23-24 CLOUD AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa Louisa Rogers: +44 (0)20 7017 51575

www.comworldseries.com

june 06-07 aitec banking & mobile money west africa 2012 Lagos, Nigeria

Helen Moroney: +44 148 088 0774

www.aitecafrica.com

13-14 west & central Africa Com Dakar, senegal

Louisa Rogers: +44 (0)20 7017 51575

www.comworldseries.com

Johannesburg, South Africa Louisa Rogers: +44 (0)20 7017 51575

www.comworldseries.com

july 03-04 vas Africa

10-11 Aitec Africa - Broadcast & Film Africa Nairobi, Kenya

Helen Moroney: +44 148 088 0774

www.aitecafrica.com

If you would like Africa Telecoms to add an event to the calendar, please contact Mr. Bradley Shaw at bshaw@3ipublishing.co.za

sept 10-13 Internet Show Africa 2012 Johannesburg, South Africa

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

10-13 The Mobile Show Africa 2012 Johannesburg, South Africa

Tarryn Volkwyn: +27 (0)11 516 4000

www.terrapinn.com

Issue 21 AFRICA TELECOMS 69

ICT Jobs at your fingertips Register free at www.careerjunction.co.za and create a professional online Resume!

Web Ref.

EE Senior Transmission Specialist

EE Regional Marketing Manager

Team Leader / Agents

Bloemfontein, South Africa (Free State)

Bloemfontein, South Africa (Free State)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Market Related Basic Salary

Market Related Basic Salary

Market Related Basic Salary

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position at Quest in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1323939

CJ Ref# 1341706

CJ Ref# 1323949

Change Manager

Sales Executive

Senior Server Hosting Administrator

South Africa (Gauteng)

Sandton, South Africa (Gauteng)

Johannesburg (Rosebank), South Africa (Gauteng)

CTC Neg

R1,200,000 - R1,700,000 Per Annum CTC Negy

Market Related CTC

Contract position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position at The National Emplyment Center in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1341472

CJ Ref# 1341323

CJ Ref# 1341369

EE Call Center Learnership

Call Centre Quality Manager

Telemarketing Manager

Bloemfontein, South Africa (Free State)

Cape Town (Woodstock), South Africa (Western Cape)

Goodwood South Africa (Western Cape)

R100 - R600 Per Month Basic Salary

R300,000 - R320,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits

R28,000 - R35,000 Per Month Basic Plus Commission

Temporary junior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent management level position at Inbound Telecommunications Call Centre in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position at Quest in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1341427

CJ Ref# 1341282

CJ Ref# 1341746

Training Manager

Call Centre Manager

Training Manager

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Cape Town (Woodstock), South Africa (Western Cape)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Market Related CTC

R390,000 - R400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits

Market Related Basic Salary

Permanent management level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position at Quest in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1341052

CJ Ref# 1341650

CJ Ref# 1341069

Quality Manager

Customer Service Consultant

Call Centre Manager

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Tokai, South Africa (Western Cape)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Market Related CTC

R5,000 Per Month Basic Salary

Market Related CTC

Permanent management level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent junior level position at Quest in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent management level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1341051

CJ Ref# 1341444

for more jobs visit www.careerjunction.co.za

CJ Ref# 1341050

Software Developer (VB6 / SQL)

Radio Planner

Service Manager

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Sandton, South Africa (Gauteng)

Midrand, South Africa (Gauteng)

CTC Neg

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Up To R550,000 Per Annum Basic Salary

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Contract skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1329104

CJ Ref# 1318746

CJ Ref# 1318363

Key Account Manager

Device Manager

Service Delivery Manager

Sandton (Sandhurst), South Africa (Gauteng)

Johannesburg (Rosebank), South Africa (Gauteng)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

R300 - R400 Per Annum CTC

R250,000 - R350,000 Per Annum CTC

Market Related CTC

Permanent position in the Telecommunication industry.

Temporary position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1333479

CJ Ref# 1333477

CJ Ref# 1340852

Desktop Support Engineer

Contents Specialist

Specialist ITS System Development

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Sandton, South Africa (Gauteng)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Market Related CTC

R1,000,000 - R1,500,000 Per Annum CTC Neg

R418,000 - R650,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits

Permanent position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent management level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Temporary senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1340803

CJ Ref# 1340847

CJ Ref# 1340470

Commissions Administrator

Senior Strategic Sourcing Manager

Team Leader / Desktop Support

South Africa (Gauteng)

South Africa (Gauteng)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Market Related Cost To Company Incl Benefits

Market Related Cost To Company Incl Benefits

Market Related CTC

Permanent management level position at Telkom SA Limited in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1340939

CJ Ref# 1324639

CJ Ref# 1340850

Facilities Officer

Telesales Call Centre Manager

System Development / Payroll ABAP

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Durban, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal)

Pretoria, South Africa (Gauteng)

Market Related CTC

R418,000 - R550,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits

R550,000 - R665,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits Neg

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent management level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1340698

CJ Ref# 1340845

CJ Ref# 1340653

Administrator / Partnership Manag

Handyman

Key Account Manager

Pretoria South Africa (Gauteng)

Cape Town, South Africa (Western Cape)

Johannesburg (Rosebank), South Africa (Gauteng)

Market Related Salary

Market Related CTC

R300,000 - R400,000 Per Annum Basic Salary Plus Benefits

Contract skilled level position at Telkom SA Limited in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent position in the Telecommunication industry.

CJ Ref# 1340844

CJ Ref# 1340349

CJ Ref# 1340693

Payroll ABAP Development

Adsl Engineer

Johannesburg (Rosebank), South Africa (Gauteng)

Pretoria, South Africa (Gauteng)

Sandton, South Africa (Gauteng)

R200,000 - R350,000 Per Annum CTC

R550,000 - R665,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Incl Benefits Neg

Market Related Cost To Company Incl Benefits Neg

Permanent position at International VAS - Telco/ Mobile environemnt in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent senior level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Permanent skilled level position in the Telecommunication industry.

Handset & Device Specialist

CJ Ref# 1340688

CJ Ref# 1340648

for more fmcg jobs visit www.careerjunction.co.za

CJ Ref# 1200405

Last Word Bradley Shaw writes exclusively for Africa Telecoms

Your wish is its command Remember the classic comedy show of the late ’70s to mid’80s called Benson, starring the supremely talented Robert Guillaume? As you may recall, Benson was the sharp-tongued director of household affairs – aka the butler – for the widowed scatterbrain, Governor Eugene Gatling, played by James Noble.

The story was a spinoff from the series called Soap that preceded Benson. Interestingly, Benson was more popular, running for six seasons, with Soap only managing four seasons.

Another interesting item of trivia is that Benson might have contained the first reference to the Internet on an American television network. This occurred in an episode aired on 22 February 1985 in which the characters were accessing the ARPANET, the first functioning packet switching network, the core of which eventually became the Internet as we know it.

The series was also notoriously unlucky enough to fire – citing “creative differences” – a rookie comedian named Jerry Seinfeld, who took the role of a courier for three episodes in 1980.

Ask yourself how fictional character Benson would have reacted to two of our app imitators of His Butlership: virtual PA Siri or eatery advisor Alfred. Can you not picture the quizzical look on Benson’s face as he studies his iPhone for Siri’s responses to his queries? Although Android’s ‘personal robot’ Alfred is fixated on food and can’t even speak to Benson, I bet the old-school butler would prefer the name Alfred over Siri any day.

Would Benson have appreciated, or even understood, these brilliant Siri questions and answers collected by a motley bunch of “researchers” on the Internet?

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?

42 cords of wood, to be exact. Everyone knows that.

Who’s your daddy?

You are. Can we get back to work now?

Who is your mother?

No comment.

Why? I don’t know. Frankly, I’ve wondered that myself.

Talk dirty to me The carpet needs vacuuming.

What do you think of Android?

I think differently.

I love you Oh, stop …

72 AFRICA TELECOMS Issue 21

Will you marry me?

Let’s just be friends, OK? Although Android users have been promised voice integration in the future, for now it looks as though Siri is the only feasible alternative for people who yearn for their very own Benson to butle for them.

A sobering footnote is now in order. As amazing as the Siri technology is, there is a major downside for millions of would-be users. In developing economies, where data is still a somewhat slow and costly commodity, the recommendation is to steer clear of Siri.

A recent report by Arieso shows that the iPhone 4S uses three times more data than previous iPhones. Operators may be salivating at the possibility of that much more data revenue but I would caution our African mobile operators to watch their networks: this much additional data usage could put an intolerable strain on already ailing networks. AT