THE FUTURE OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
SPECIAL EDITION
ISSUE 9, 2008
The Masses Choice
Equatel Telecoms on a mission to equalising opportunities through telecom for the latest mobile news log on to: www.mobileworldmag.com
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The book provides a brief overview of the development of Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, since deregulation, and the challenges associated with service provision and maintenance of network infrastructures. It is about Telecom in Nigeria; a Country of possibilities, Nigerians; a Happy people, a people of Unity and Faith, highly resilient and courageous, a determined people, who celebrates culture in diversity; One nation, One people, one love and with one choiceNigeria.
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Group Publisher/ Editor in Chief Akin Naphtal Publishing Director Jim Jackson Associate Editors Larry Madowo David Ajao Contributing Writers Myke Phillips Emmanuel Okoegwale Head, Photography Dantobi S. Agbozi Head of Marketing Lola Agboola Public Relations Manager Ola Akinsolu Reporters Gibson Chibuzo Augustine Opara Marketing Executive Hope Ettueyi
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7 Olayinka Bangbose Street Off Toyin Street Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria.
CONTENTS cover story... Equatel on a mission to equalising telecom opportunities
8
features... 17 Mobile value added service round up 2007; Looking forward
25 3G and Mobile marketing in emerging markets
regulars... NEWS Gateway subsidiary raises $60 million to accelerate roll out of GTV. Visafone raised $200 for roll out.
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France telecom enters Kenya market.
25
Kenyan fraud goes hi-tech
26
Zain reports record earnings for 2007, highest ever in Kuwait's private sector history
31
MOBILE TV
21
Mobile TV enters Kenyas market.
Buyers Guide:
35
Read our vital statistics before you make that vital purchase. Issue 9 2008
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COVER STORY
Lagos |
Abuja | Port Harcourt
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NEWS
GATEWAY SUBSIDIARY RAISES $60 MILLION TO ACCELERATE ROLL OUT OF GTV
G
ateway Broadcast Services, an unrestricted subsidiary of Gateway Telecommunications, has raised $60 million to accelerate the roll out of its pan African pay-TV service,
GTV.
GTV is Africa’s first widely accessible pay-TV service, providing a choice of high quality television programming at an affordable subscription price. The GTV service includes exclusive coverage of some of Africa’s most desirable programming including the English Premier League and the FA cup. Gateway is experiencing strong demand for the GTV service and having launched in June 2007, the company has sold more than 50,000 decoders and GTV is now available in 12 countries across Africa. This further investment in GTV will allow Gateway to accelerate the roll out of the service, with a view to expanding its footprint to over 30 countries during 2008, while maintaining a fully funded business plan. The $60 million PIK loan agreement has been entered into with GoldenTree Asset Management, one of the world’s leading relative value investment funds, as the sole lender and follows on from the successful fund raising of $40 million in May 2007. Julian McIntyre, Managing Director of Gateway Broadcasting Services commented, "From a standing start 6 months ago, GTV has shown tremendous growth, selling more than 50,000 decoders across 12 countries. We are delighted to be in a position to be able to capitalise on the continued demand for accessible pay-TV in Africa, with geographic expansion into 18 more countries, improved routes to market and an exciting content offering."
world with less than 1% of television-owning households in subSaharan Africa currently subscribing to pay-TV services, compared to 15% in Eastern Europe, 36% in Western Europe and 93% in North America. However, with over 46 million TV sets and growing at well over 10% per annum, Africa represents a large and rapidly growing market for subscription television which Gateway’s own independently commissioned research estimates will grow to over $3bn by 2015. GTV is a dynamic new Pan-African pay-TV service delivering choice, quality and innovation to a new breed of TV viewer. With a balanced and exciting choice of premium content, GTV is redefining pay-TV in Africa by offering it at a price point accessible to the ordinary African. GTV is committed to supporting local content as well as offering major international programming ideal for the whole family. GTV carries both major international channels as well as a number of in-house channels, including “G Prime”, a general entertainment and movie channel, and “G Sports 1”, “G Sports 2” and “G Xtra” The G Sports channels focus on live sporting events, including the major European football leagues. The direct-to-home, satellite-based service will deliver the highest quality digital reception across the continent. An advanced and efficient delivery platform will substantially reduce the cost and ease of set-up for customers. GTV is delivered across Gateway Communications’ satellite infrastructure. GTV is already available in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Rwanda, Mauritius, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Namibia, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone and is currently proceeding with a phased roll-out across sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa represents the least penetrated pay-TV region in the
www.fonecare.biz
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COVER STORY
“EQUATEL ON A MISSION IN EQUALISING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH TELECOM� There is much debate concerning what type of service provider will emerge in the future telecom industry but whatever model emerges Equatel Telecoms has set out to create a dynamic platform that will grant unhindered access to quality telecommunications services to the underserved population of Nigerians, premised on a value chain that includes affordability and a robust technology. In this Interview with Mr. Henry Onaga, Chief Executive Officer and Suleiman Bello, Executive Director at EQUATEL Telecoms spoke exclusively to mobileworld team. Qs: Can you tell us what you do at EQUATEL Telecommunications Limited? Ans: Equatel is a new company in Nigeria that intends to pioneer the new GSM SIM public pay phone. The technology we intend to deploy in Nigeria is actually a unique one that has been hardly tried anywhere, but it offers some unique potential for the Nigerian market, especially for those living in the rural areas, who probably have not had access to telecommunications. It is a GSM SIM Card based technology that actually gives the subscriber a unique iden-
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tity such that their telephone user experience approximates that of subscribers that use handsets. EQUATEL is presently being driven by some well established Nigerian entrepreneurs in collaboration with EQUATEL UK LIMITED who are our technical partners and equity stakeholders. Qs: What are the challenges you envisage when you launch your new service? Ans: Basically, the initial challenge that we foresee is that of
COVER STORY
change. You know human beings are naturally averse to change. Because this is actually a unique technology that has not been used before, definitely, there would be a lot of questions by subscribers. Secondly, because it is equally new to the operators, there have been some bottlenecks here
we will begin to have and record their experience. But again, there has been what I will call test marketing, and the reception and perception has been very wonderful and fantastic. If we draw from that, I can tell you that it will be a runaway success. People will virtually queue up and jump on one another to have this service.
and there, in terms of getting the operators themselves ready to collaborate with us on this project. The challenges we envisage are rather similar or typical to those any new business will face in Nigeria. They are that of security, lack of infrastructure and the challenge of a hugely illiterate semi urban and rural populace. But again, we have anticipated that, and we have made our platform to be user friendly such that people who are barely literate, and who can recognise figures can use our terminals.
Qs: Which of the GSM operators are you collaborating with?
Qs: Looking at the current situation of GSM in Nigeria, it seems the subscribers have lost hope with the operators in terms of call drops and inability to terminate calls. Do you see that happening with EQUATEL SIM pay phone? Ans: Well, my take on this is that EQUATEL SIM public pay phone will generally approximate what you have with the GSM sector, because we are going to ride on the back bone of GSM operators; i.e. we are going to piggyback on their backbone and network facilities, and if their services are not good, it is going to affect us substantially. But because we have taken time to develop a technology that substantially takes care of some inherent disadvantages that are found in ordinary handsets, I envisage that we would not have as much problems as the handset users. Take for instance, in terms of reception, our unique pay phone have some advantages in terms of reception because we have strong antennas that boost reception. Also, our phones are able to receive signals in both rugged terrains and distant locations where ordinarily handsets may not be able to receive signals. To that extent, I think it will not be as bad and again, in terms of noise level and distortion in channels, it will definitely be lower than that of ordinary handset users. So the voice clarity on our telephones will be a lot better than you have, using a handset. With this, I think the Nigerian subscribers will be in for a better experience when we finally roll out. Qs. Currently the NCC puts the subscribers base at 39 million, what market share are you targeting. How many subscribers do you hope to sign on before the end of 2008? Ans: I think this is actually the major strength of EQUATEL public pay phone. We have a model that creates a matrix of subscribers, i.e. a cluster of subscribers. For example, one terminal can serve as many as 2000 subscribers and we intend to deploy close to 50, 000 terminals, within three to four years. And if you use a multiplier of 2,000 subscribers, you will begin to imagine that up to a hundred million people can be on our network. But again, the beauty is that for the GSM operators that we are partnering with, it does not necessarily have the same consequence in terms of capacity because our user model creates a sequence such that if we have probably 50,000 terminals out there, you can only have 50, 000 simultaneous subscribers using it at a time. The other 100 million minus 50,000 are virtually on queue. They are subscribers that will take their turns to use the equipment. So in terms of resource utilisation and optimisation, the GSM operators will definitely see a lot of value addition in our operations. Qs: So far, what is the response of the general public to your product? Ans: The product is still at a stage I will refer to as an embryonic stage. It has not yet been unveiled to the general public such that
Ans: We are going to take off with MTN because of a plethora of factors that we have put into consideration. Coming closely on the heels of MTN will be CELTEL, who are already discussing with us and whose pitch we have won. Celtel is warming up to introduce our services next year, and it appears that within the first and second quarter of next year, a lot of activities will be on going with both networks. Qs: Are you collaborating with the CDMA companies? Ans: Because the CDMA operators have not really taken a quantum leap in terms of deployment or rolling out nationwide, we have only considered them for another phase in our road map. We are going to start with voice and simple applications like SMS, voice messages, etc. Some heavy data applications will come later, but they are all in our road map. The good news is that our subscribers will eventually enjoy every facility you can possibly have on any other GSM telecommunications platform available in the Nigerian Market. Qs. What relationship do you have with the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC? Ans: The NCC has already licensed us to provide the services we are embarking on, and I am sure and very positive that when we roll out, NCC will definitely breath a sigh of relief; because most of the problems in the sector even in terms of reaching the rural populace which they have been spending so much money on, will be a thing of the past as they will see a company that will offer them that vehicle at almost no cost. We are looking forward to receiving strong support both from NCC and the Ministry of Communication because what they are planning to achieve with mega billions of naira, we are going to offer them the same platform at a more efficient rate and at a shorter time. We are going to make these services available to Nigerians soon. Therefore, we hope they will avail us of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) when the time comes. This is because we are actually going to do it and we are going to do it right and the regulator will take the entire accolades for the good job. Qs. What are your plans to ensure that your facilities across the country are properly secured? Ans: Strategically, we have come up with a deployment model that tends to take care of some basic security issues. Our policy is that we would not deploy on the highway. We are going to deploy in what we have described as controlled environments. And controlled environment simply defined (functionally), as we put it, are places where you have presence of people 24 hours. Where we do not have presence of people 24 hours, our terminals are plug and play devices such that you can actually make it semi mobile. At the end of your operation for the day, you can unplug and take it home and the next day you bring it back. So, we believe that with that we will not have security issues. Qs. What plans do you have to recruit security personnel to ensure that your facilities are well secured and to guide against your facilities being vandalised?
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COVER STORY
Ans: Basically, we have taken a lot of things into consideration. When we say we are going to locate our facilities in purely controlled environment, what we mean is that we will locate it in public places that have 24 hours security. Secondly, we are trying to develop a strategy that will bring in tow, these umbrella business centres and people who have the quest and hunger to become entrepreneurs. What we mean is that we have already enlisted some dealers who have been empowered to develop sub-dealers and these sub dealers will have responsibility for designated terminals. So, these clusters of terminals would deďŹ ne their territories for selling our airtime. For those of them who have been given this responsibility, they will equally have a quasi authority to ensure that these terminals are safe and unencumbered from either vandals or mischief-makers. How it will work is that for those of them who believe that it is not very safe, when they close work, they can take it in and bring it out the next day. Then, for a more formal and functional organization, take for instance an ofďŹ ce environment, like this where you have 24 hours security, It would be arranged for such organisations to provide security for the facility. It will be part of the assets of the organisation. Those to be located in schools and
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motor parks will be handed over to constituted authorities in those places such that they will develop a regime of security that will ensure that these things are properly managed and handled. In the motor parks we would go through the designated Unions. We are going to achieve this by not just giving them responsibilities, but also what we would like to call carrots, by creating revenue centres for them, since they will be earning revenue from the air-time they will sell to subscribers. This will make them to see the facilities as their own, as they will have a stake in it. Therefore, they will be ready to go the extra miles to protect it. Qs. How will your tariff look like? Ans: At the moment, the issue of tariff is still being held close to the chest. It is strategic. But one thing I can assure you is that we are going to be mindful of our target segment. We are not here to exploit the market. Qs. Will people see EQUATEL as being friendly in terms of pricing?
COVER STORY
Ans: Like I said earlier, there is a lot of collaboration between us and the GSM service providers and we cannot be different from what is presently prevalent in the industry. Although, we have an understanding with them that we are actually targeting the low income segment of the market and by so doing, for our products to appeal to that market segment, they must be competitive in terms of pricing. We intend to benchmark the business centre operators that offer cheaper services than handset users at present. So this gives you an idea of where we are heading to but one thing we are sure of is that customers will heave a sigh of relief when we unveil our prices.
ing the General Sani Abacha’s regime that set out to deploy CDMA, after joining them in one of the industry’s most outstanding and daring recruitments, having arrived the industry at the very top as a green horn, with no previous industry experience. Qs. How do you relax? Ans: Previously, when I had less work to do, sometimes I played lawn tennis and I try to do some serial networking, hanging out with some good fellows. Also, I move in the circle of people whom I consider very positive, I am at my best when I get into discussion with people who look at the bright side of life.
Qs: where do you see EQUATEL in the next five years? Ans: I see EQUATEL as a company that will in the next five years say we have come, we have seen, we have conquered. We are going to bestride the pay phone sector like a colossus and we are going to move with such a frenetic speed that will make any intending player in this sector to either loose hope or come in at its peril. And we are going to combine it with a lot of social responsibility. We are going to get people to feel a stake in this business. We are going to work hand in gloves with our subscribers and we will give them a sense of pride and uniqueness about using our products. We envisage that there is going to be a convergence in our platform such that it will not be entirely and strictly class stratified such that people who have handsets and who could ordinarily afford higher tariffs will still have a flair to use our services; especially because of the kind of convenience we will offer to subscribers and the seamless approach we would bring to bear our service delivery. Qs. could you give us a brief profile of yourself? Ans: I am Henry Onaga. I have been around for quite a while in the corporate circles. I trained primarily as an accountant and got my MBA in Marketing. Quite early in my career, I was entrusted with doing things that are novel and challenging. I started with the financial services sector with Credit Alliance Financial Services as one of their analyst, later I moved to the Leventis Group as a manager. They sent me to their Breweries Division, and I managed the Sales Administration Department. The Head of sales Administration Department was a senior management position but they had to start me as a middle manager because I was relatively quite young and they were not too confident of what I could do. Eventually when within one year, I established myself and rewrote the history of the organization in terms of anchoring the major units, the warehousing units, the depot operations, logistics and transport and Direct Sales Unit. First of all for the first time, I was able to give an accurate account of all the stock items in an organization that had operated for 15 years without being able to reconcile their stock. Because of the feat that I achieved, the Depot operations that were closed, was re-opened. When my General Manager challenged me to come up with an operational manual, it was promptly delivered. I headed a committee of three managers comprising the Internal Auditor, Commercial Manager and Myself. We came up with a manual that is still operational till date. Again, because of the controls that I established we re-opened the depots that were closed as a result of the losses and thefts occurring there and the Depot Operations led to an unprecedented increase in sales as our sales shot up by over 300% (percent). This earned me very quick promotions. After then I moved on to make my impact in some other vital sectors of the economy, which included Advertising and Oil & Servicing. Prior to joining EQUATEL, I worked as the Managing Director, Cell Communications Limited, one of the Private Telecommunications Operators that were licensed dur-
THE MASSES CHOICE
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COVER STORY
SULEIMAN BELLO is the executive director at equatel Qs. How do you hope to manage the customer care aspect of the business? Ans: Basically, our customer care approach will be in two ways. One we are going to facilitate the activities of GSM operators that are going to run with us to be able to handle customer issues. Because we would not forget that primarily, our subscribers will be their subscribers. They are going to be CELTEL or MTN subscribers. The first level platform of customer care will be with the operators and then at the super customer care level, we will give support to operators, and the beauty of it is that our management system has come up with a technology that is highly diagnostic such that before any subscriber complains, we would have known.
I strongly believe that EQUATEL is going to make a lot of difference in Nigeria. EQUATEL has what it takes. It is a company that has vision and mission. Looking at the telecommunications sector in Nigeria from the NITEL days to the present dispensation, you will come to realise that there has been so many gaps in the past of which one of them is reaching out to the rural areas. I think EQUATEL has what it takes to bridge this gap.
Also, our terminals mirror the network operations of the GSM operators and are even able to identify and tell us the status of the network. So, while we support them to satisfy our customers, we are equally going to support the GSM operators to tell them where they are going wrong and where they are having problems. Our network has the capacity to tell the operators how many times they have run either on main power supply or alternative power supply. We can tell them when their network is down as a result of some extraneous situations. So, it is going to be a symbiotic relationship between us and the GSM operators. We are more likely to be at the background to support the GSM operators to have an efficient customer care system. Qs. Are you going to have a separate customer care unit different from that of the GSM
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operators? Ans: What we are going to have in-house in EQUATEL, is what we call NOC, i.e. a monitoring unit that will be there to resolve any issue that will be coming from the customer desk of the operator. We are not going to maintain a subscriber/customer care centre, that would be duplicating functions and it may create gaps. We are going to synchronise our support with that of operators. QS: How optimistic are you that EQUATEL will do well in the market? Ans: I strongly believe that EQUATEL is going to make a lot of difference in Nigeria. EQUATEL has what it takes. It is a company that has vision and mission. Looking at the telecommunications sector in Nigeria from the NITEL days to the present dispensation, you will come to realise that there has been so many gaps in the past of which one of them is reaching out to the rural areas. I think EQUATEL has what it takes to bridge this gap. Qs: Since your major targets are the underserved and the rural population, are you soliciting for government support in terms of deployment? Ans: There are some levels of support from the government that we anticipate already. We have applied to the government to be one of the beneficiaries of the Universal Service Provision Fund, USPF. This is because we strongly believe that our business qualifies to benefit from this fund. We are hopeful that we will be one of the beneficiaries.
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NEWS
MOBILE OPERATORS LOOK MOBILE TV SUBSCRIBERS FOR VALUE IN M-BANKING TO EXCEED 460 MILLION AND PAYMENTS BY 2012 As mobile TV services expand over the next five years, ABI Research sees the total number of subscribers growing to 462 million, driven in large part by the expansion of 3G networks, and flat-rate plans for mobile video. The build-out of mobile video delivery networks and an increase in the amount of available content will also contribute to the market's growth. Around 25% of mobile subscribers will regularly use wireless banking services by the end of 2009, compared to around seven per cent now, according to a survey of mobile operators conducted by Boston-based consultancy Aite Group. The report, which is based on an October 2007 survey of 12 international mobile operators, found that by the end of 2009, 25.5% of users are expected to use their hand sets for mobile banking, while 26.3% will use them for mobile commerce. By year-end 2009, almost 20% of subscribers are expected to regularly use phones for person-to-person (P2P) payments, compared to less than five per cent at the end of 2007. Meanwhile over 10% are expected to use mobile handsets to make contactless payments in 2009. With the majority of payments being diverted to phone bills at the end of 2007, mobile operators stand to gain tremendously as mobile transactions continue to increase, says Aite Group. "Mobile operators clearly have a high opinion of themselves when it comes to the role they believe they will play in the future of mobile transactions," says Nick Holland, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. "Though they may lose out in some areas, such as payment share for mobile commerce, new technologies like mobile POS payments may lead to a very bright future for the intersection of mobile devices and payments." A separate Aite study released earlier this year predicted that the number of US customers using mobile banking services will rise from 1.6 million in 2007 to 35 million by year-end 2010.
"Mobile operators' sustained investment in video delivery will continue to be rewarded by subscribers' growing adoption rates, particularly as they upgrade to new video-capable handsets," says research director Mike Wolf. "Consumers are being increasingly enticed by better experiences through more powerful and larger screens as well as by a widening array of subscription options." ABI Research sees the Asia-Pacific region as the overall leader in the adoption of mobile video services. The number of subscribers to mobile video services in Asia-Pacific will grow from 24 million in 2007 to more than 260 million by 2012. High levels of penetration will occur in both Japan and South Korea, each a leading market in mobile video services, while China and India will both contribute significantly to the overall total due to very large subscriber populations, even though the overall penetration of video services will remain much lower than in more technologically advanced countries. "South Korea and Japan will continue to lead worldwide, while some countries in Western Europe will also continue to see strong growth," notes Wolf. "North America will also see some strong uptake as more services become available in 2008 with the launch of AT&T's MediaFLO service, the continued expansion of Verizon Wireless' MediaFLO subscriber base, and the growth of on-demand mobile video services."
A more recent report by TowerGroup also predicted that takeup of m-banking services will soar, rising from 1.1 million in 2007 to 40.9 million by 2012. The growth will be driven by major improvements in technology across wireless networks, handsets and applications, said TowerGroup. Issue 9 2008
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FEATURES
MOBILE VALUE ADDED SERVICES ROUND UP 2007; LOOKING FORWARD by Michael Philips
P
resently in Nigeria there is rising minutes of usage (MoU) per subscriber, and decreasing ARPU (average revenue per user). The cause is that Telco’s earnings by from voice are declining due to an ever-decreasing tariff given the stiff competition. Hence the tangible profit made by the GSM companies per call has moved downward. The GSM companies have found a solution at hand by extra spotlight on VAS, toting up the present bouquet of VAS products. The year 2007, we saw a variety of VAS products been introduced by the GSM companies through the various WASP (Wireless Application Services Providers). There are about 120 WASPs in Nigeria today. Majority of the VAS products were entertainment and information based. Most WASPs offered various SMS based competition where prizes ranging from Recharge Cards(Airtime) to Luxury Cars were up for grabs .In addition a very few WASPs offered IVR (interactive voice response) based competitions with huge monetary rewards for the participants. The WASPs at various points leveraged Electronic Media alliances and partnership to achieve very high participation. Furthermore, other VAS products that achieved great market share in 2007 are mobile entertainment services in the areas of wallpapers, animations, java game, ringtones and caller ringback tone. In this category of mobile content Ringtones and caller ringback tone received the most downloads. A contributing factor was the tremendous growth of the Nigeria Music Industry. The Caller Ring back Tone achieved the highest usage by subscribers. Unfortunately it was only available on the network of just one GSM company until at the ending of the year when a second GSM company seeing the unprecedented and tremendous profits started offering it to its subscribers. Interestingly, at the moment only 3 WASPs offer content for caller ring back tone. Caller ring back tone has achieved over 20% usage in Nigeria.
ogy).This is a VAS product wherein subscriber is allowed to create his own surrounding during a call by playing music in the background. The service is basically intended for the younger generation. Also is the Music radio service where users can listen to a large number of songs of their choice made available under various categories via request sent to a short code. Songs can also be dedicated to a selected loved one. The advent of 3.5 G network will give rise to Video RBT (video ringback tone). The GSM companies and WASP need to employ certain strategies to achieve the much need revenue required from VAS services. GSM companies are toting the line of eliminating WASP from the revenue chain of VAS. This is because they need additional revenue share for the content and services they are providing. This may lead to GSM operators getting into direct relationships with various players at different levels for gaining access to premium content. The all encompassing strategy will involve having the products available across the bearers of IVR, SMS, WAP /GPRS so that whenever a subscriber thinks of a product it is there at his disposal on the move. Also areas of Mobile Billing Platform should be encouraged this will lead to a robust M-commerce in Nigeria.
In this year 2008, there will be an increase of a next generation of mobile services .These services will take the users into keen perspective. The services are User generated contents which allow subscribers make a personal statement. We should watch out for a high adaptation of BGM (background Music technolIssue 9 2008
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gl “ ob O i t d al ne Ro ra tel of ss “A e a Co ll ws co the n c p ex rm on e m e fe on ce ac tin opl ve w ke llen k, en e f nt y t CE ts rom s.. t p . an ren lat O ” ,N d ds fo A aw rn cha , o rm dt lle pp fo ra ng or r a s O tu n TD el e s” ni up g C ar tie d th s ate ,
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NEWS
POLICE ARREST 56 PEOPLE FOR HANDLING STOLEN MOBILE PHONES
A
series of police raids in London, UK during last month had resulted in the seizure of 324 stolen mobile phones and 56 arrests. The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) used undercover police officers and recruited informants to help them clamp down on mobile phone theft. Many of the arrests, while focusing on mobile phones also uncovered a large array of other stolen goods as well. Detective Constable David Baker said: "Operation Prestige targeted London boroughs that needed to be urgently investigated for street robberies. "We had a single point of contact in each borough that we worked closely with, and we also relied on a lot of information, including from the public." The NMPCU is usually granted two search warrants every week, and believes that mobile phone crime is often linked to possession of firearms and drug trafficking. The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) was officially launched in December 2003 and works in partnership with the Government, the Telecoms Industry, other Law Enforcement Agencies. The body not only targets mobile theft, but also people who misreport handsets as stolen - when in fact they have just been lost - so that they can claim on their personal insurance policies.
HUAWEI DEPLOYS 8,000 BASE STATIONS IN GERMANY
C
hina's Huawei is understood to have secured an undisclosed contract to install some 8,000 base stations in Southern Germany. An insider from Huawei confirmed the news to the SinoCast news agency, but the two companies have not released any information about the matter. The contract is from Telefonica O2, who had originally ordered its infrastructure kit from Nokia and Nortel. The kit supplied by Nortel was later replaced by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks. The win comes shortly after the company won a core network contract with T-Mobile throughout Europe.
VISAFONE RAISED $200 FOR ROLL OUT 13 Nigerian banks gathered recently, at a syndication/business plan meeting, in Lagos, to raise about $200 million to abet Visafone roll out capacity building and expansion, ahead of its formal entry into the telecoms industry. The vote of confidence on Visafone’s, it was gathered, was as a result of the company’s determination to exploit quality service as it watchword and impact positively on the nation’s telecommunication sector. The 13 banks, which participated at the meeting, were First Bank of Nigeria Plc, GTBank, Oceanic, Zenith, Intercontinental Bank, Eko Bank, Bank PHB, Fidelity Bank, First Inland Bank, Afribank, Sterling Bank, Access, FCMB and Afro Financial Corporation. Speaking at the business plan meeting, the Managing Director of Visafone, Ninan Thomas, said the company’s business strategy will focus on quality of service, excellent clarity and wide coverage. Thomas also presented a demonstration of the technologically advanced handsets with 3G capability and functionality which will grant Visafone subscribers access to the internet and their emails. The handsets produced in collaboration with world renowned handset makers like Nokia and Motorola, will be launched into the market in February 2008 when the company rolls out for full commercial operations. Other banks, though not in attendance have also expressed overwhelming interest in being a part of the Visafone project based on the innovative and compelling business plan and strategy of Visafone which also has a national spectrum covering the entire nation like the GSM companies. Visafone, a wholly owned Nigerian telecommunications company has the Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia, as Founder and promoter, who industry watchers believe will replicate his legendary magic in telecoms. The company received its Unified Access Service licence as a telecom operator from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on August 1, 2007 and was incorporated in Nigeria on June 20, 2007, following its acquisition of Cellcom. Less than two months after its registration, Visafone was announced as the Approved Bidder for the three carriers in the 800 MHz spectrum put on auction by the NCC. Visafone brushed off stiff competition from Multilinks, GiCell Wireless Limited and TC Africa Telecoms Network Limited to clinch the 800 MHz licence which will allow Visafone to roll out commercially across Nigeria.
Issue 9 2008
19
Multimedia solutions make it easy to offer TV anywhere, music downloads and sharing of pictures and video. Consumers want to be in the “driver’s seat” when it comes to multimedia experiences. They want to be able to create their own content, share it with others and decide what to view and when to do it. Our solutions will make this happen with full operator control over service roll-out and payments.
EXPLORE THE FULL POTENTIAL OF YOUR IDEAS TALK TO US ABOUT MULTIMEDIA
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3G AND MOBILE MARKETING IN EMERGING MARKETS By Emmanuel Okoegwale
M
obile Marketing simply put is reaching consumer via a mobile device, such as a mobile Phone. Mobile allows brands that have relied on traditional channels to create a more direct, sustained relationship with consumers. Mobile Marketing is yet to gain its foothold in Nigeria but with the upcoming 3G networks, this will allow data intensive applications,Brand and advert agencies will quickly see the opportunities in engaging the Mobile subscribers because of its uniqueness and interactivity. South Korea is a classic example where Mobile marketing is striving. The largest network operator, SK Telecom, has some. 500 clients and controls 80% of the country’s mobile advertising market. AirCross pushes multimedia ads to about one million users who have opted in, lured by reductions in their phone bills. It also has a database of four million SMS opt-ins, though multimedia is growing at a faster rate, having pulled in big advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes and BMW since its launch last year The 3G Marketing is the next big thing in mobile services but how prepared are the Network operators, Brand owners and Brand marketers to move away from the traditional media to mobile? 3G Marketing has the capacity to reach mobile users in style and with rich contents for mobile subscribers. Content in many formats like video, sms, mms and audio and can now target the mobile users. It will put the creativity of Brand manager to task. Present Mobile marketing ecosystem in Nigeria is not buoyant with innovative services because the focus of Mobile operators still tends towards Voice where 95 percent of the accrued revenue comes from. Mobile Marketing is still in its infancy as Brand marketers are not even experimenting with what is available presently. Caller Ring Back and Bluetooth marketing do not require very complex technology but yet am yet to see one single deployment in the whole Nigeria. The opportunities are immense and rewarding .More than 89 percent of Fortune 500 companies are dedicating more than 10 percent of their marketing Budget to mobile marketing in year,2008! The challenges for mobile marketing in Nigeria is tasking because Most Brand managers do not even understand
the workings of the technology. Inux of low end phones will also inhibit the growth and spread of 3G Marketing and will be the immediate obstacle to mass-market 3G marketing because the user base is not sophisticated enough. Availability of 3G network in major cities will be a decisive factor if it will become a marketing medium of choice. Network operators are still battling with capacity issues and 3G might not be a front burner issues in low Average Revenue per user (ARPU) catchments areas and by implication brand owners may never be able to deploy a national mobile marketing campaign. They will have to manage with Regional. The road ahead for 3G marketing is tough since Bandwidth issues will crop up intermittently. A key attribute of 3G is its ability to deliver high-quality MMS content, including streamed video with 3G subscribers able to tune into paid-for content from the likes of cinema owners like Numetro and silverbirds, showing cinema clips. Mobile Adverts can be streamed alongside a Tv programme and even Mobile users can be directed to a web site or WAP site that is dedicated to that ad. Network operators should also allow media agencies to access their database so that campaigns can be more targeted based on the segmentation of subscribers but where they cannot allow that, then they can as well have an in-house agency because without a segmented database, there would be indiscriminate messaging to a mobile advertiser’s user base or publisher base and this could seriously damage the development of this potentially lucrative advertising market. The mobile should not go the way of the internet in terms of spam. The time to put the structure in place is now. Issue 9 2008
21
MOBILE TV
MOBILE TV NOW IN KENYA Convergence goes a notch higher where the television and the mobile phone is one in Kenya’s humongous leap to the Big Boys League. LARRY MADOWO breaks it down.
M
illions around the world are expected to follow the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 on their mobile phones. Kenyans woke up to that possibility in October when a new division of Multichoice Kenya launched trial versions of the service. Theoretically, this could give the country’s over 12 million mobile subscribers access to high quality television delivered right to their mobile phones right where they are. The new addition to the technology menu called Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) is being pioneered in the country by Digital Mobile Television, owned by the pan-African satellite TV provider Multichoice. DVB-H is a one-to-many broadcast technology that does not interfere with the quality of the video even if many users access the service simultaneously unlike 3G. The latter is a point-to-point transmission which uses cellular telephony network infrastructure and frequency therefore subject to bandwidth and quality limitations. Picture quality could suffer if many users watch video content at the same time, making the network overloaded. With DVB-H, the quality of the stream can be customized flexibly to the content thus enabling optimization of audio-visual quality. “The convergence of communication technologies is here with us, the Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) gives us the two best selling consumer products in history combined in one – the mobile telephone and television,” said Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary in the Information and Communication ministry.
22
MobileWorld
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MOBILE TV
While commending Multichoice for its leadership in technology to keep Kenya on the cutting edge of information, he added “Kenya is one of the first countries in Africa to have access to this technology. I commend Multichoice Africa for there pioneering spirit that has ensured that Kenyans have access to mobile television well in advance of some of the world’s most developed countries.” Only seven countries globally have launched the mobile television service with another 30 doing test runs on the platform. The Kenyan launch therefore puts the country at the forefront of broadcasting technology and also marks an emerging global trend in the convergence of the television and the mobile phone.
The package The DMTV service will offer a specialized service of ten mobile television channels from DStv’s current offering in the satellite service. Consumers will subscribe to it by reloading airtime scratch cards of KSh 1,000 monthly. The channels include SuperSport 3, SuperSport Update, SuperSport 2, CNN International, Big Brother Africa and Africa Magic. The service is initially available on the Safaricom network alone on the Samsung P910 mobile for now. DMTV International chief executive officer, Francois Theron said: “We are excited that Kenya becomes one of the first countries in the world to rollout DVB-H service. DMTV will rollout the service to all mobile operators in Kenya.”
is now firmly in the league of early-adopter countries where 300 million mobile users were to receive TV content through their handsets by the end of last year. Industry analysts are convinced that more than 150 million people around the world will become regular users of mobile broadcast services in the next three years. The sales and marketing manager at Digital Mobile Television (DMTV) Martin Mbutho said Multichoice had picked Kenya as a trail market because of the positive growth of the mobile sector and the trend-conscious profile of its consumers. Namibia, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana are some of the African countries that have began trials for DVB-H before going lice commercially with it. Industry regulator the Kenya Communications Commission said at the launch at a Nairobi hotel that it expects more companies to follow DMTV’s cue and stream TV content through the mobile phone. The new technology has potential to increase access to TV as there almost ten times more mobile subscribers than the approximate 1.5 million television sets in Kenya. It is also in line with the new global requirement of a shift from analogue to digital broadcasting. In Kenya, the government has put broadcasters on notice to shift to digital broadcasting by 2015.
One will need a configured SIM card and KSh 28,000 for the P910 but DMTV says more supported models are to follow soon. Kenya
Issue 9 2008
23
Hear about and discuss the most important issues with the entire value chain: • How can network operators, content providers and device manufacturers generate revenue through mobile marketing? • What are the emerging technologies surrounding mobile marketing, and how they cab be used effectively? • How can mobile marketing alienate the consumer, and how can this be prevented? • Mobile advertising and the big brand. • Entertainment and sport: Leveraging mobile to captivate your audience • How SMS and MMS have effectively been utilised for advertising and marketing
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NEWS ANALYSIS
FRANCE TELECOM ENTERS KENYAN MARKET
O
range brand owner prepares to turn around a loss-making national fixed line operator and take on East and Central Africa’s most profitable company, Safaricom in the mobile business. Telkom Kenya has been referred to as a ‘sleeping giant’ for as long as most telecoms industry types can remember. The title is not totally undeserved. Dogged by bad management practices and unproductive staff for years, dragged down by costly cable vandalism and buried under the aggressive marketing of mobile phone companies, there wasn’t much on the balance sheet to report. Only a seemingly bottomless government purse kept the corporation from closing booth. In 2005, the government brought in PKF consultants to diagnose the problem at Telposta Towers and prescribe an antidote. PKF recommended privatization as the only way out of the myriad problems dogging the telco and the state set in motion the process of relinquishing its majority position. Back then, its total number of fixed lines in offices and homes stood at 300,000 and wasn’t showing signs of improving despite having been a monopoly since inception. It is only a year or so later that its privilege in the market paving the way for the entry of a number of Local Loop Operators. Two are already in operation Flashcom and Popote Wireless while the licensing of another to provide was characteristically embroiled in controversy. None other than the impressionable International Finance Corporation(IFC) investment arm of the World Bank was advising the government on the deal. Treasury Permanent Secretary Esther Koimett was quick to point this out when the Opposition claimed the government was rushing to sell Telkom at a throwaway price to finance its campaigns for the General Elections on December 27. “The process is not being rushed and it’s not possible to have advisers of International Finance Corporation (IFC) calibre presiding over a non-transparent process,” she had pointed out. Incidentally called the Orange – France Telkom’s brand name – Democratic Movement had promised to reverse the sale should they take over power but by the time of going to press they were still locked in a stalemate over the results which they say their presidential candidate Raila Odinga rightfully won and not President Kibaki who was declared winner.
And the winner is… In December, France Telkom finally won its bid for a 51 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya, paying Ksh 26 billion for it. Its winning bid beat three others put in by Reliance of India, Telkom South Africa and Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAP). Thrown into the deal as an incentive by the government is a mobile phone licence that the new managers have said they are rolling out probably within the first quarter of this year. It is not inheriting a debtless corporation though; figures the bidders accessed in August ahead of the sale showed Telkom Kenya to be in debt to the tune of KSh 69 billion. Out of this, the Kenya Revenue Authority is owed KSh 36.3 billion, its own pension fund KSh 10 billion and a syndicate of banks another KSh 5.8billion et al. Luckily for Paris, the Nairobi committed to cover the debts after the transfer of Telkom Kenya’s 60 per cent
orange
TM
stake in Safaricom to the government. The transfer was occasioned by the need to have the two compete on an equal footing once the Frenchmen roll out Kenya’s third mobile network. The government still did make a clean KSh 20 billion from the deal as it had set a reserve price of US $ 300 million and France Telkom paid well above that. The sum included KSh 4 billion for the mobile phone licence thrown into the deal. It did help the government seal a budget deficit of KSh 109 billion, having resolved not to factor donor funding into the budget for the second year running. The work of turning around Telkom is well set out with deadlines to meet and an impatient public to placate. It has to be converted into a profitable outfit in less than three years and prepared for listing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange by 2013. In the shareholder agreement signed between the France Telkom and the Kenyan treasury, they will cede 19% of their stake with the state dropping its own share by 19% to offer 30% to the public in an Initial Public Offer.
Change from the top The new management went straight to work on getting the right team at the top. Two days before Christmas, they names turnaround specialist Dominic Saint Jean, as the new chief executive officer at Telkom Kenya. His deputy will be Peter Reinarte, who has also got wide commercial experience in running mobile telephony networks. Their 51 per cent stake in the firm give also affords them the right to a majority representation in the board apart from naming the top manager. “Dominic has earned a reputation as one of the most respected turnaround leaders in telecoms market,” said Marc Rennard, the Executive Vice President of France Telecom and now board member of Telkom Kenya. He added that the 58-year-old engineer with 34 years of telecoms experience has a combination of deep executive experience and long history as a strategic thinker, making him an outstanding choice for the job at hand. He expects Telkom Kenya – which he hinted might retain its identity and brand – to be number two mobile company in the next three to five years. The French conglomerate is also gearing up to offer a “quadruple play” service; fixed and mobile telephony, broadband and television services all in one bundle. It may adopt the global telecoms standard of integrating fixed and mobile networks and offer special deals to customers who buy both products together. The new CEO, is fresh from a tour of duty in Mauritius where he is said to have hoisted Mauritius Telecom from third position to first in the mobile phone market. His biggest trial is going to be Safaricom, which controls 80 per cent of the mobile business and has a bewitching hold on the market. It is also East and Central Africa’s most profitable company with KSh 12 billion net profit in 2007 having generated KSh 47.4 billion in revenue. Should it succeed in that Great Commission, then some of the awards Safaricom has been getting at every occasion might be just coming his way. Not to mention the recognition and reputation he is already building besides the paycheck.
Issue 9 2008
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NEWS ANALYSIS
KENYAN FRAUD GOES HI-TECH By Larry Madowo
I
n the olden days, travellers were often warned of highway robbers who took advantage of people making long-distance trips to rob them. That was the era of the bandits. The sea pirates and robbers of yesteryears belong there as well. Enter the 21st century and the advent of the mobile phone and with it the advancement of the con game. In fact, most people today consider the mobile phone one of the most profound inventions of contemporary times. Nothing belies this fact more than the fact that the penetration of landlines in Kenya stagnated at 0.3 million for years, while that of mobile phone subscribers is more than 20 times higher in seven short years. The actual count is estimated to be at about 10 million subscribers on the country’s two GSM operators, Safaricom and Celtel. The Vodafone group holds 40 per cent stake in the former and the latter is part-owned by the Zain Group. Majority of the subscribers are prepaid customers for whom a SIM card is dirt-cheap as an attempt by the two operators to attract the masses. Unlike in some countries, no personal details are needed before obtaining the line and this leaves the subscribers faceless monsters capable of withholding vital information or even outright lying to customer care agents, and other subscribers. As a result of this, the country has been hit by a dramatic increase of short messages and calls telling subscribers they are winners and asking for money to ‘facilitate’ the prize money. Another fact is the relative affordability of the medium for quick and reliable communication. Statistics put the losses from consumers in the last one year alone at tens of millions of shillings gone with the wind quite literally. Millions of sms’s get sent across the networks daily and a good number of these are from fraudsters who spend their time and intellect devising new ways to con the oblivious public. The illegal game goes most times undetected because of the sheer large number of legitimate sms promotions running in the country. Most times the conmen and women use existing promotions to call ‘harvested’ numbers and inform them they have won large amounts of money. In a country where a just under 40 per cent are unemployed, they are only too quick to believe. The main difference is that while real promotions do not ask winners to pay before claiming prizes, the fake ones demand money in form of airtime before getting the non-existent prize. One former magistrate in Nakuru, about 200km from the capital Nairobi received two phone calls telling him he had won Ksh 500,000 in a promotion he hadn’t even entered. The callers called him with a number with the Tanzanian country code of 255 instead of the Kenyan 254 and he immediately smelled a rat. But a secondary school boy who was also told he had won half a million and asked for Ksh 3,000 airtime to facilitate the transfer wasn’t so judicious. Police stations across the country get numerous complaints daily from subscribers who have been duped only for the numbers to go dead after they send the money. Customer care lines at Celtel and Safaricom were jammed with inquiries and complaints about real and dubious promotions. Many companies continue to buy space in the papers to warn the public against falling prey to the tricksters and cautioning against giving any personal details. It has almost become standard for any legitimate
promotions to publicize the number that they will use to notify winners to counter the con game. Unfortunately, less than half of the population has access to newspapers therefore giving the tricksters a healthy reprieve. About one in five people have received an sms informing them of having won in a promotion of some sort or the other. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers, whose members are hardest hit and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance teamed up with Safaricom and Celtel to set up a mobile fraud hotline in December. Customers now send a short message to the number 333 to determine if the request to redeem a prize is genuine or a fraud. Those discovered to be fraudulent are forwarded to the police to investigate and apprehend the culprits. "The rest of the world has taken similar action and instituted additional precautions on how a sim card is acquired," said KAM chair Steven Smith at the launch. In addition, the Kenya Betting Control and Licensing Board announced it would be introducing new administrative rules to review the way promotions are carried out in the country. The refined game has been perfected even in the most unlikely quarters: prison. Death threats and extortionist schemes were found to have originated from inmates at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison in the same month. The prisoners were said to be sending death threats to prominent businesspeople then demanding airtime of Ksh 10,000 upwards. The terrified victims quickly did as ordered by transferring the amount to the originating phones. The convicts then re-transfer the money to their accomplices outside the prison to convert into hard cash. Officer in charge Duncan Ogore confirmed that his staff had confiscated a number of mobile phones from inmates at the prison. The devices are contraband in Kenyan prisons and had been smuggled in by prisoners on transfer from other holding facilities. Inmates are now searched using metal detectors but that did not stop 8 of them from escaping from the prison by cutting open their window and climbing down the wall, using tied blankets. One of the phones had been found with Ksh 46,000 credit(about US $ 730). Celtel has consequently cracked the whip insisting on new customers providing personal details before getting SIM cards. Safaricom House thinks otherwise, arguing that compelling subscribers to reveal personal details is not enforceable under any law and will undoubtedly restrict mobile penetration business-wise. Said chief commercial officer Peter Arina: "The onus of authenticating identification particulars would be one that the mobile operators might not want to carry as failure to capture correct identification details might expose operators to legal liability." At the bottom line is the prohibitive costs that would have to be used to profile over 10 million subscribers and the logistics of authenticating official government documents. And the con masters will be hoping East Africa’s most profitable company leaves it there to assure them of more paydays. With Africa being the fastest growing mobile market in the world, it seems the ingenious criminal minds are working overtime to keep up with the developments from the technology and reap where they did not sow. If it were another civil war, the West would label it in characteristic Blood Diamonds the movie way, TIA. This is Africa
Issue 9 2008
27
Exceeding Expectations
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Welcome to the MobileWorld Executive Forum (MWEF) MobileWorld Executive (MWEF) is learning, sharing and networking center for IT & Telecom industry leaders. Community activities are on-line and in-person events. The private, invitation-only forum is fuelled by a genuine and generous exchange of ideas, observations, exciting new information, and analysis. Our aim is to bring together the community of senior IT & Telecom leaders working within larger public and private sector organisations in the emerging countries. Members receive additional free benefits in the form of research and case studies presented at Forum meetings. Events are Free to attend for successful applicant* To protect our members privacy, we do not accept salespeople and journalists. For further information regarding membership and sponsorship opportunities please contact Akin Naphtal on +44 79 0060 0222, 080 5120 4849 or akin.naphtal@mwexecutiveforum.org To reserve your free place, visit www.mwexecutiveforum.org or email forum@mwexecutiveforum.org
9 th edition
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NEWS
ZAIN REPORTS RECORD EARNINGS FOR 2007,
HIGHEST EVER IN KUWAIT'S PRIVATE SECTOR HISTORY
Z
ain, the leading mobile telecommunications company in the Middle East and Africa, announces a record earning, its customer up by 56%, revenue up by 32% and profits up by 11% in the fiscal year 2007. Zain became the first company to record the highest ever net profits in the history of Kuwait's private sector history. Zain recorded consolidated revenues of USD 5.91 billion (KD1.677 billion) for 2007, an increase of 32% compared to 2006. The consolidated EBITDA increased by 25% compared to last year and reached USD 2.56 billion (KD 725.34 million). Zain also announced a milestone consolidated net income of US$1.130 million (KD320.45 million) as compared to US$1.015 million (KD 294.98 million) in 2006 an increase of 11%. Earnings per share stood at US$0.61 (172 fils) as against US$0.55 (159 fils) in the prior year period, an upsurge of 11%. Active Customers grew impressively and reached 42.4 million (inclusive of 3 million Iraqna customers, acquired on December 31, 2007), an increase of 56% on 2006. Zain Group Results for Year End 2007 USD
2007
2006
Growth
Customers (Million)
42,4
27,037
56%
Revenues (Billion)
5.91
4.47
32%
EBITDA (Billion)
2.56
2.04
25%
Net Profit (Billion)
1.130
1.015
11%
61
55
11%
EPS (cents)
Mr. Asaad Ahmed Al-Banwan, Chairman of Zain “Once again we have seen outstanding success over the course of a year delivering strong and sustainable growth across the board. These impressive results reflect the exceptional operational efficiencies in a company that is rapidly expanding across two continents.”
tor and Deputy Chairman, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak said: “On one hand, increasing the company’s capital will provide Zain with the liquidity that is necessary to enable it to meet its commitments to its stakeholders according to our ambitious strategy of being a top ten mobile operator by 2011. On the other hand, this increase will play a significant role in reducing the borrowing costs of our operations in the short term and allow us to leverage for the future when the right opportunities arise.” Dr Al Barrak also added, “The successful rebranding of the company’s master corporate brand to Zain; the introduction of our ACE strategy; the conclusion in completing a 100% share ownership in Celtel; the expansion of “One Network” free roaming services to 12 countries;, our successful bid to win the third mobile license in KSA and the acquisition of Iraqna in Iraq serve as but a few highlights of Zain’s remarkable progress in 2007.”
Notably Zain’s Board of Directors have recommended a cash dividend of 90 fils per share and a 50% stock dividend (bonus shares) for the fiscal year that ended December 31, 2007. The Board also recommended to increase the company’s paid in capital by 75% with a nominal value of 100 fils per share and an issuance premium of 750 fils. Commenting on the company’s 2007 financial results and the Board of Directors recommendations, Zain’s Managing DirecIssue 9 2008
31
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PEARL 8100
The Positives Outstanding piece of technology with great multimedia features for business user The Negatives Lack of Wi-Fi and 3G
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
8700
The toggle wheel and menu are its big strength The Negatives Can’t edit attachments and compose an email with attachment
4hrs/360hrs
Size/Weight
107X50X15/89g
Internal memory
64MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
shared memory
Screen
64,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
1.3 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/acc+
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
No
Rating: 87% The Positives Mobile on the move also let you view your attachments.
Talk Time/Standby
1.34W/kg
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
4hrs/450hrs
Size/Weight
94X69.5X19.5/134g
Internal memory
64MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
shared memory
Screen
64,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
No
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
No
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
No
SAR rating
TBC
Rating: 85% The Positives Cool looking phone and loaded with features.
U 990
The Negatives The touch-sensitive soft keys just slow things down.
VITAL STATISTICS
PRADA
The Negatives No expandable memory.
5.9hrs/434hrs
Size/Weight
103.5X54X15/112g
Internal memory
100MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w +microSD Yes
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Camera
5 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/acc+
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth, Infrared, USB, HSDPA, 1.8 Mbps
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 87% The Positives Stylish phone that boast of a decent flash and good call quality.
Talk Time/Standby
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
3.2hrs/200hrs
Size/Weight
94X44X15/103g
Internal memory
128MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
56,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
1.3 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/acc+/wma
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/mail
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 89% Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
The Positives Good camera and stylish look.
Z8
The Negatives Confused camera setting.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.5W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
5hrs/380hrs
Size/Weight
109x50x15/112g
Internal memory
90MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 megapixels
Ringtone
polyphonic. mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.5W/kg
Rating: 88% The Positives Colourful , good camera and stylish look.
V8
The Negatives Confused camera setting.
VITAL STATISTICS Talk Time/Standby
5hrs/380hrs
Size/Weight
103x53x11.9/112g
Internal memory
90MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 88% The Positives Has an improved user interface with a stylish design.
Z3
The Negatives Confused camera setting.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.5 W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.2hrs/230hrs
Size/Weight
106x46x16/115g
Internal memory
20MB
Frequency
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic. mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/im
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
No
SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
6hrs/300hrs
Size/Weight
103x42x16/103g
Internal memory
20MB
Frequency
900/1800 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
56,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/wma
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth, USB
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 84% The Positives Has an improved user interface with a stylish design.
KRKZ
The Negatives No much functionality.
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 88%
Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
The Positives Great business phone, with responsive keyboard, media player and great camera.
E90
The Negatives Size might be user of some users
Rating: 87% The Positives Excellent features with Carl Zeis camera lens with auto focus snaps.
N95
The Negatives Joystic might be galling.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
1.12W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
6hrs/350hrs
Size/Weight
110X49X19/210g
Internal memory
42MB
Frequency
3G/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
3.2 megapixels
Ringtone
mp3/aac+
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluethooth/infrared/ usb
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.84W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.10hrs/240hrs
Size/Weight
99x53x21/120g
Internal memory
50MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
5 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 94% The Positives Small slick slider camera phone.
E65
The Negatives No expandable memory.
Rating: 84% The Positives Excellent speaker and very sturdy.
N76
The Negatives Flickering display.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.63 W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
6hrs/260hrs
Size/Weight
105x46x15.5/115g
Internal memory
50MB
Frequency
3G/850/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
176x220 px, 262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic. mp3
Music
mp3/aac/mpeg
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems,mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, wi-fi
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.50W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.3hrs/260hrs
Size/Weight
109x53x21.8/124g
Internal memory
20MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac/amp/ wma
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth, USB
Voice recording
Yes
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 84% Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
6300
The Positives Lovely slim phone with brilliant display. The Negatives Poor battery life & internal memory too small.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
3.3hrs/348hrs
Size/Weight
106.4x43.6x11.7/91g
Internal memory
6MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
176x220 px, 262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
polyphonic, mp3
Camera
2 megapixels
Ringtone
mp3/aac
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, wi-fi
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
1.18W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.3hrs/348hrs
Size/Weight
106.4x43.6x11.7/89g
Internal memory
6MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
176x220 px, 262,000colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 90% The Positives Lovely slim phone with brilliant display.
E50
The Negatives Poor battery life & internal memory too small.
Rating: 90% The Positives Design for business users, no fiddly controls.
5300
The Negatives Screen resolution is low not a good complement for features.
VITAL STATISTICS
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.63 W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.10hrs/233hrs
Size/Weight
92.4x48.2x20.7/106g
Internal memory
5MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
256,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
1.3 mega pixels
Ringtone
mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.87W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
Rating: 89% The Positives Stylish phone that boast of a decent flash and good call quality.
N73
The Negatives No expandable memory.
Rating: 89%
VITAL STATISTICS 3.5hrs/265hrs
Size/Weight
101x496x20/125g
Internal memory
40MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
240x320 pixels, 16M colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth, USB
Voice recording
Yes
Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
E61
The Positives Long battery life, loads of office functionality and good resolution. The Negatives Lack of camera.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.6W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
9hrs/400hrs
Size/Weight
117x70x14/144g
Internal memory
62MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
16M colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
nil
Ringtone
mp3/aac
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, wi-fi
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
1.18W/kg
Rating: 89% The Positives HSDPA enabled for internet speed. Good for entry level smartphone users.
6120
The Negatives Battery life could be better.
VITAL STATISTICS Talk Time/Standby
3hrs/250hrs
Size/Weight
105x46x15/89g
Internal memory
35MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
16M colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
Yes
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 90% The Positives Has push email capabilities and strong battery life.
E50
The Negatives Lack of 3G and wi-fi.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.86 W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
6.5hrs/216hrs
Size/Weight
113x43.5x15.5/104g
Internal memory
70MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
1.3 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.87W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.5hrs/265hrs
Size/Weight
101x496x20/125g
Internal memory
40MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
240x320 pixels, 16M colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/im
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth, USB
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 84% The Positives Come with GPS reception with loads of great features.
6110
NAVIGATOR
The Negatives
Rating: 90%
VITAL STATISTICS
Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
The Positives Good camera and loaded with features.
U600
The Negatives The touch-sensitive soft keys just slow things down.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.48W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.5hrs/250hrs
Size/Weight
103.5x49x10.9mm/81g
Internal memory
60MB
Frequency
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000Spaces
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
3.2 megapixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared, hsdpa, 1.8 mbps
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
1.34W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
4hrs/270hrs
Size/Weight
102x47.8x9mm/105g
Internal memory
55MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
5 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared, hsdpa, 1.8 mps
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.679 W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
2.5hrs/155hrs
Size/Weight
103x44x9.4/77g
Internal memory
128MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
64,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
VGA
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes + EDGE
Messaging
sms/mms/im
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
0.84W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
3.5hrs/265hrs
Size/Weight
103x51x13/66g
Internal memory
40MB
Frequency
900/1800 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/aac+/wma
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 87% The Positives Stylish phone that boast of a decent flash and good call quality.
G600
The Negatives No expandable memory.
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 87% The Positives Dual face design and nice music player.
D840
The Negatives The phone interface is hard to use.
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 84% The Positives Stylish phone that boast of a decent flash and good call quality.
X820
The Negatives No expandable memory.
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 90% Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
The Positives Top class phone packed with great features.
W960
The Negatives Touch screen is difficult to use.
Rating: 92%
W950
The Positives A whopping 4GB memory holds 4,000 tracks. Outstanding piece of technology with great multimedia features for business user. The Negatives No camera.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
0.6W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
9hrs/370hrs
Size/Weight
117x70x14/144g
Internal memory
8GB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
16M colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
nil
Ringtone
mp3
Music
mp3/mpeg/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms/ems/mail
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, wi-fi
Voice recording
Yes
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
1.34W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
4hrs/360hrs
Size/Weight
107x50x15/89g
Internal memory
64MB
Frequency
900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
Shared memory
Screen
64,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
1.3 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
No
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
No
SAR rating
1.34W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
9hrs/370hrs
Size/Weight
109x55x16/89g
Internal memory
8GB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
64,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
3.2 mega pixels
Ringtone
mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 87% The Positives Great screen and loads of improvement to email.
W910I
The Negatives Not impressed.
Rating: 84% The Positives Much better than P990i with improve update and better battery.
P1I
The Negatives Limited application.
VITAL STATISTICS
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
3.5hrs/265hrs
Size/Weight
106x55x17/89g
Internal memory
40MB
Frequency
3G+/900/1800/1900 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,144 Colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
3.2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 89% Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333
The Positives Good cyber shot model with lovely features.
K850I
The Negatives Poor video recording.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
1.14W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
9hrs/400hrs
Size/Weight
102x48x17/118g
Internal memory
40MB
Frequency
3G/900/1800/1900MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000Spaces
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
5 megapixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
7.5hrs/340hrs
Size/Weight
103x47x9.4/73g
Internal memory
1MB
Frequency
900/1800 MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
5 mega pixels
Ringtone
mp3
Music
mp3/aac+/wma
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 85% The Positives Ultra slim design (9.4mm thin). The Negatives No FM radio.
W880I
VITAL STATISTICS
Rating: 89%
W850I
The Positives Great phone with good sound quality. Allows full track download from Sony Ericsson online store. The Negatives Lack of auto focus and awkward control.
VITAL STATISTICS SAR rating
TBC
Talk Time/Standby
3.5hrs/320hrs
Size/Weight
98x47x21/116g
Internal memory
64MB
Frequency
3G/900/1800MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
2 megapixels
Ringtone
polyphonic, mp3
Music
mp3/aac+/mpeg
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, infrared
Voice recording
Yes
SAR rating
1.84W/kg
Talk Time/Standby
9hrs/400hrs
Size/Weight
104x46x12.5/95g
Internal memory
16MB
Frequency
3G/900/1800/ 1900MHz
Phonebook Capacity
1000w + Sim
Screen
262,000 colours
Loudspeaker
Yes
Camera
3.2 mega pixels
Ringtone
polyphonic/mp3
Music
mp3/aac+
GPRS
Yes
Messaging
sms/mms,im & email
Voice dialling
Yes
Connectivity
bluetooth, usb, infrared
Voice recording
Yes
Rating: 86% The Positives 3G handset, auto focus and 3.2 mega pixel. The Negatives
T650
Rating: 87%
VITAL STATISTICS
Visit i-Cell Authorised Service Centre for original warranty handsets. Address: 49 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Tel: +234 (01) 2557333