Connectivity – Page 7

Fiber Connections Between Kenya and its Neighbors

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of ICT in Kenya. He explained how Kenya is very close to being linked to all of its neighbors, and how the national backhaul system is fully operational. In a country with such massive economic and social disparity, I am hopeful that Ndemo’s efforts to bring ICT services to all of Kenya will serve as a catalyst for stability and equality of opportunity.

To where are Kenya’s cables extending?

Kenya has the most extensive backhaul terrestrial system, and they are reaching out to adjacent countries. According to Ndemo, Kenya has three cables into Tanzania, as well as three cables into Uganda. Some of these cables make up part of the East African Backbone system, which also includes Rwanda and Burundi, and cables from Kenya to those nations are still under construction. Laying the connecting cables has been more difficult for Burundi, since this is a new experience for them and they have lower capacity in this space.

Photo: BBC News

Ndemo also confirmed that there are current discussions and plans to bring fiber to South Sudan, though no construction is currently underway. There is only 60 kilometers between Kenyan cables already laid and the South Sudan border.

The possibility of connecting Somalia, however, is contingent on the political situation. Though Kenya has a microwave only 2 kilometers from the border of Somalia in the state of Mandera, they will not bring the connection across without complete assurance that there will not be privacy infringements. Both of these nations are quite close to being a part of the East African Backbone system.

August 17, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Fiber cable cut in Egypt

Reports on Tuesday indicated that a fiber optic cable in the northern part of Egypt had been damaged, resulting in the loss of all telecommunications in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria and parts of the Nile Delta region.

Contractors lay the East African Marine Cable (image: Reuters)

One official told IT News Africa that “a Telecom Egypt fiber line near Alexandria has been damaged resulting in loss of telecommunications for all three mobile operators.”

The official, however, did not give details as to why the cable was damaged, and it remains unclear whether it was an attack or a miscue on the operator’s part.

Telecom Egypt, the country’s state-owned fixed line monopoly is responsible for all ADSL Internet connections and the three mobile phone operators in Egypt also use the cables for connectivity.

Egypt is not unfamiliar to telecom cuts. In recent years, the country has lost Internet service after Mediterranean cables were cut, leaving the country largely blacked out for days.

The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, did say that they were attempting to rectify the problem “as soon as we understand exactly what happened.”

Users across the country reported immediate drops in speed and connectivity. At local cafes in Cairo, users immediately saw a difference in connection speed.

“I hope they get this sorted out quickly, because I have to upload things daily and this cut is affecting how I work,” said an Egyptian blogger and journalist, who added that the “Internet is my life. If it goes down, it really hurts my ability to work.”

Joseph Mayton

August 16, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

South African Govt partners with Nokia

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) in South Africa and Nokia Corporation have announced an ambitious new partnership aimed at implementing a number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects, targeted at providing a thrust for innovation and growth across the country.

Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology in South Africa (image source: World Economic Forum)

This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) by the DST and Nokia, establishing a framework on which potential areas of collaboration can be developed, funded and implemented.

Addressing the media on this partnership last week, the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, acknowledged the role of ICT in stimulating economic growth.

“This is why the DST is leading the implementation of the national ICT research, development and innovation strategy. In this regard, we view public-private partnerships to be of importance for us in achieving this objective,” said Pandor.

One of the key expected outcomes of this plan is an innovative indigenous ICT industry that addresses South Africa’s ICT needs in the public and private sectors, and attracts investment by multinationals involved in innovation and manufacturing.

Vice President for Government Relations for Nokia Middle East and Africa, Jussi Hinkkanen, said South Africa has a thriving telecommunication industry with a lot of potential for disruptive innovation.

“Our objective is to support local talent in developing their skills, and then integrate them into both regional and global markets,” said Hinkkanen.

“As South Africa’s leading mobile company, it is our responsibility to identify areas where our technical skills can facilitate the development of society. We hope the educational focus under this collaboration will motivate thousands of South African learners to explore careers in technology,” said, Gerard Brandjes Nokia South Africa GM.

“Nokia Siemens Networks is using its global expertise in telecommunications and in-depth knowledge of the local South African market to advise the SKA bid teams, from both a technical and business perspective, about the best options to transport the huge volumes of generated data to the high-performance computer center of the SKA.

We have been involved in the project from the start, supporting and advising the project team on all technical requirements, capacity planning, provisioning and skills,” said Rufus Andrew, Nokia Siemens Networks South Africa MD.

The DST and Nokia believe that opportunities exist for bold interventions that will enable South Africa to secure a greater share of global markets, and help bridge digital divide.

Staff Writer

August 15, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Google Creating a Map of Africa’s Broadband Cables

Google’s Sub-Saharan Africa office is funding a project by Steve Song to create a comprehensive map of all terrestrial broadband fibre-optic cables in Africa. Using crowdsourcing methods and contacts within the ICT4D space, Song is spearheading an effort to convince governments and telecoms that it is in their own interests to make public where they have laid terrestrial broadband cables. The project is named AfTerFibre (Africa’s Terrestrial Fibres).

AFterFibre, which started in June, is currently building its network of contacts, engaging governments and telecoms in conversation regarding the location of their cables. In an effort to be as public and open as possible, Song has organized a public google group to collect the information. As the group makes agreements and collects data, they will incrementally publish an updated map of Africa’s terrestrial cables, hopefully one about every two months. Then, next summer, they hope to publish the completed map.

After creating the preeminent map of the undersea cables surrounding Africa last year, the next logical step was to make a map of Africa’s terrestrial fiber, explains Song. “The undersea map has inspired a lot fiber infrastructure construction. It gave people a sense that there is something to build to.”

The terrestrial cables map hopes to extend that vision to people in rural areas around Africa. Song imagines the mayor of a secondary or tertiary town in Botswana or Rwanda who sees the map and says, “we are only 100 km away from a terrestrial fiber. Why don’t we make our city the broadband hub in the region and transform our economy with this high speed fiber-optic connection?”

Photo: Steve Song at ManyPossibilities.net

“We hope that the map is more than just a reference tool, but a sign of inspiration. When you see all the connectivity in the region, you can’t help but feel that something is about to happen,” Song said.

Presently, most operators in Africa are not publicly announcing the location of their cables, so people don’t know where they are. Song’s goal is to convince operators that they stand to benefit by releasing this information to the public, just as the operators arguably have after Song published the undersea cables map. Some operators have been skeptical about publishing the exact location of their cables, for fear of someone cutting them. Song assured the operators that the map will not be absolutely accurate, but simply accurate enough to spawn additional connectivity to previously unconnected areas. “So you won’t be able to locate the cables like you would locate a restaurant on your smart phone,” Song explains, but you will be able to locate the general area so that as a business or a local government you can make an educated estimate about how far you are to a connection.

The government of Kenya has been particularly resourceful in gathering the location their cables. The permanent secretary of the Ministry of ICT, Bitange Ndemo, committed his staff to gather and supply the information for the AfTerFibre project, effectively relieving Song from all of the logistical work. Ndemo’s commitment reflects Kenya’s recent move to make government data public and usable. Contrarily, in South Africa the process has been slower. Song contrasts the countries: “Everyone seems on the same page in Kenya. In universities, industries, and government there is a strong sense of ‘let’s transform Kenya and a strong sense of digital enterprise.’ Whereas in South Africa there is more finger pointing than creating a sense of common cause. In South Africa, we run the risk of losing information and the advantage that we started with.”

August 11, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

How to Stop the Next Famine in Somalia? Internet Infrastructure

I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about a series of ways that Somalia could get broadband Internet connectivity. The article was reposted in several British, Somali and Kenyan online newspapers and was even criticized by a group of IT professionals in Somaliland. Given the hunger crisis outbreak in the Horn of Africa since then, I want to revisit the issue of connectivity in Somalia. It appears that mobile and Internet access is being recognized as a crucial need for humanitarian agencies.

Photo: AP

Information and communication technology (ICT) services during humanitarian crisis are much improved from a few years ago. Ushahidi and Frontline SMS have demonstrated the power of text services. Mobile money by MercyCorps in Haiti provided some organized method of food distribution and sustained economic activity. The government of Luxembourg recently partnered with the World Food Programme to test a connectivity kit to restore voice and text communications when power systems are wiped out during natural disasters. The list could go on.

A famine is different than other disasters, however. It does not affect ICT infrastructure directly as a hurricane or tsunami would. ICTs, then, can play a key role in organizing humanitarian relief efforts during a famine or crisis of any sort. In addition, ICTs can prevent famines because of the increased communication they can provide.

Remember economist Amartya Sen’s claim that a famine has never occurred in a working democracy? Famines are not so much a result of a lack of food, but rather a lack of effective distribution and communication. Democracies, with all their checks and balances of power, give enough voice to the people so that food is delivered when needed.

I argue that the amount of communication inherent in a democracy is the real key to the distribution and production of food that stops a famine. Public communication, not necessarily democracy, stops famines. In fact, what Sen defines as a “working” democracy, is simply a democracy where people of all social classes have a voice. A “working” democracy, then, is itself founded on the principles of the equality of communication.

It isn’t social media that will end the famine, but it is a process and steady cycle of communication between social groups. The more communication, the less social injustice—famine included. This type of communication can better occur with significant ICT infrastructure, which allows people in different locations to still communicate and share ideas.

One of the better ways to increase communication in a nation is mobile and Internet services along with IT infrastructure. I spoke with Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICTs and a Director of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), this week about possible broadband cable connections with Somalia. He was optimistic and outlined some possibilities, contingent on the Somali political environment. Ndemo explained that Kenya has broadband cables and a microwave just 2 km from the border with Somalia in Mandera. Both Kenyan and Somali telecoms have approached CCK, hoping to make a connection into Somalia. However, Kenya has declined as of now, for security risks. If they route the cable into Somalia then they risk privacy concerns and people cutting the cables. Given the political instability in Somalia right now, Kenya has yet to route the cable. Somalia remains unconnected to the rest of the East African Backhaul System, and still remains without any lighted fiber-optic cables, greatly limiting Internet usage and global communication.

It may seem strange for a government to invest in expensive broadband cables when its citizens are struggling to find enough food, but perhaps such an investment would end up ending its struggles with famine. Or, instead of the Somali government investing in IT infrastructure, they could grant easier regulations to private telecoms, and let them route and light cables throughout the nation. This would leave the government with less control over the telecommunications industry, but would save any financial costs.

Ultimately, though, the manner in which Somalia increases public communication is not as important as making sure that something is done to increase IT infrastructure throughout the nation. At the end of the day, food security concerns are tied to communication capabilities, and mobile and Internet infrastructure can play a significant role in decreasing the probability of famine.

August 9, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mozambique Socially Invests in ICTs for Rural Development

While recent studies in the developed world show that the Internet actual reinforces economic disparity and even social classes, Mozambique is taking a unique approach to utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs) to break down economic and social disparity.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding with a domestic service provider, MCEL, to roll out Internet and mobile services specifically in rural areas. The two allocated $255 to this effort.

Current Internet penetration in Mozambique is only at 2.7% (2010 data), and mobile penetration is at 26% (2009 data), slightly lower than its neighbors. As can be seen on the following map, coverage is limited in Mozambique.

It is surprising, then, that the government is taking specific action to bring Internet and mobile access to rural populations, since penetration in urban areas is still quite low. People in urban areas arguably have greater need for the Internet and mobile services for their jobs, while rural people tend to communicate less with others and focus on agricultural production.

Photo: Mark.W.E

The expansion of ICT services to rural Mozambique can stimulate human development in rural areas, however, when used correctly. There are plenty of applications that apply particularly to rural peoples, like mHealth and mAgriculture such as Esoko and Medic Mobile. The Mozambique government is hoping that an increase in ICT access in rural areas will stimulate human development there, which will in turn raise the economy and eliminate disparity.

In other words, Mozambique’s ICT policy displays the fact that it has different development priorities than many other developing countries. If they were totally focused on economic growth, they would use their funds to increase connectivity and ICT services in urban areas, which would increase the use of ICTs by those who are most likely to use ICTs for business endeavors. However, Mozambique is instead utilizing their ICT funds for social goals, like helping the poorest of the poor. Many countries talk about bringing access to the poor through their Universal Access Funds, but Mozambique is actually funding socially-justifiable ICT programs over economically-justifiable ones. They deserve a round of applause.

August 3, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

MTN rolls-out rural mobile broadband project

South Africa’s second largest mobile operator, MTN plans to roll out over 1 000 Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) base stations in rural areas for the next two years.

MTN SA’s Chief Technology Officer Kanagaratnam Lambotharan (image source: file photo)

During an interview session with ITNewsAfrica today, MTN Chief Technology Officer Kanagaratnam Lambotharan says his company’s vision was to provide mobile broadband connectivity throughout South Africa, citing the huge investments in solar powered radio transmission and Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites.

MTN plans to bring the much-needed broadband capacity to millions of its subscribers in the country and its operations across the continent and the Middle East. The company has made significant broadband investments in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), and in East Africa Cable System (EASSy) undersea cables.

“These investments in undersea cables have already decreased the cost of Internet connectivity, further giving consumers an enhanced customer experience,” says Lambotharan.

“Broadband access will need to come from other access networks, such as mobile. For many consumers, their first internet experience is via a mobile handset, and MTN is working tirelessly to ensure that every customer has access to the World Wide Web,” says Lambotharan.

He says many studies have proved that access to broadband helped to contribute to socio-economic development and lead to a significant increase in a country’s GDP.

Lambotharan said Africa was still lagging behind in terms of broadband penetration, but was quick to point out that MTN was confident that when the undersea cables and fibre optic cables were operational they would spur socio-economic development and help the continent address the challenges of under development.

“The key limitations to rolling out infrastructure however remain the availability of high capacity transmission and in some cases grid power, which requires additional investment from telecoms players such as MTN.”

“As a company with operations in emerging markets, the availability of reliable energy sources in rolling and maintaining a reliable network is crucial.

“The unavailability of reliable energy supplies makes network rollout very expensive, thus dissuading potential investors from investing,” says Lambotharan.

Lambotharan says the cost of purchasing hardware such as computers and modems was the key factor that derailed universal broadband access.

“It is with this in mind that MTN launched Internet TV. The purpose-built keyboard provides customers with Internet access without the need to purchase computer hardware,” says Lambotharan.

Savious Kwinika

August 2, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Egypt’s mobile users on the rises

Mobile service providers in Egypt said their number of subscribers has risen (image: stock.exchng)

The three mobile service providers in Egypt announced that the number of subscribers has risen in the second quarter of the current year to reach 78.153-million subscribers, an increase of 10.7 percent.

The percentage of mobile market penetration in Egypt has reached almost 91.94 percent of the country’s population of 85 million.

Vodafone Egypt came out in the top spot with 33.74 million subscribers through the end of June, with a market share of 42.2 percent, followed by Mobinil with 30.583 million subscribers and a market share of 39.1 percent.

Etisalat announced that it is nearing a market share of 17.7 percent with some 13.83 million subscribers.

Vodafone Egypt said that its subscribers used 18.363 million minutes in the second quarter of the year. The company added that its subscriber base picked up an additional 1.913 million customers the second quarter of 2011.

The released data from all three companies said that there are 1.384 million customers using monthly contracts with an approximation of 161.2 EGP per customer. Pre-paid card customers reached 32.361 million subscribers and spent each around 22.4 Egyptian pounds.

Manar Ammar

August 1, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

African operators kick off LTE trials

Magnus Mchunguzi, MD Ericsson SA

Ericsson is currently conducting Long Term Evolution (LTE) trials with a number of African mobile operators including Econet, Movicel and Unitel.

This is according Magnus Mchunguzi, Ericsson South Africa Managing Director.
“It is interesting that for the first time in Africa a lot of operators are asking for LTE, perhaps not on a large scale but as a trial offer. A lot of companies are trying to offer LTE on a network shared level,” says Mchunguzi.

“There is definitely a lot of movement in the LTE environment, he adds.”

Ease of deployment

Ericsson’s base stations have reduced the cost of deploying new broadband technology.

“One can get 2G, 3G, HSPA, and LTE on one base station. In the past if you wanted to offer new technology, you had to remove the hardware and install a new one. The cost of deploying new technology was very high. Today this will be driven purely by software updates. The platform remains the same and you simply update the software,” says Mchunguzi.

Ericcson is fully LTE ready according to Magnus: “Our new base stations, known as multi-standard radios, that are already offering 3G and HSPA have been deployed, we just need to update the software and they will be LTE ready.”

MTN pilot implementation

In early July 2011, MTN South Africa in partnership with Ericsson launched its LTE network in the Gauteng area of South Africa.
MTN SA’s Chief Technology Officer Kanagaratnam Lambotharan said the launch would give selected MTN customers a glimpse of the future.

“Being the first operator in Africa to launch an LTE pilot network of this scale is a reaffirmation of MTN’s vision to be the leading telecoms operator in emerging markets and emphasises our technology and innovation leadership in mobile communications.

On MTN’s investment in technology he says: “Full deployment of LTE in future will allow MTN to maximize its infrastructure investment to provide its subscribers with a quality experience that is richer, faster and with significantly more capacity than that provided currently.”

Bontle Moeng

July 27, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Smart cards to boom in MENA market

New research predicts that the smart card market is to grow rapidly (image: stock.xchng)

New research predicts that the smart card market is to grow rapidly in coming years. The market research firm Frost and Sullivan released new research predicting that the smart card market in the Middle East and North Africa is to grow to $328.5 billion by 2014, according to the Middle Eastern News business service Bawaba.

The telecommunications industry will account for the majority of growth, comprising 64.4 percent of all smart card sales.

Smart cards are small microprocessors that hold information related to their user. Most people are familiar with smart cards’ application in mobile phones, where they are mostly used to hold contact information.

In the period from 2011-2013, the Middle East and North Africa will see fast growth in the smart card market, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8 percent, it still lags behind the global market that is estimated by Frost and Sullivan to grow at a CAGR of 12 percent.

Smart cards are also used in cell phones, insurance cards, credit cards, and debit cards, but Frost and Sullivan attributed the growth to demands for digital security. Smart cards can be used in national identity cards.

Jahd Khalil

July 27, 2011/by actualize

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