Africa Telecom articles from March 2001

Africa Telecom archives from March 2001

The USTTI: Closing the Digital Divide in the Developing World.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Renee Mantei, Special projects Manager, and Kelly O'Keefe, Curriculum Coordinator In this time when rapidly evolving IT and telecommunications technologies are fueling flobal development, communications leaders everywhere are becoming...

Telefonica Joins Mediterranean Cable Plan.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Telefonica, a Spanish telecom group said it would participate in the construction of a new underwater cable linking Algeria with Spain. The ALPAL-2 project linking Algiers to the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca is due to begin in the...

Benin to Open Web Site.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Benin's first Internet portal was opened on February 22, 2001. The Web site, called Beningate, will be a showcase of Benin on the World Wide Web, informing Internet surfers on all aspects of the country's economic, political, and socio-cultural...

Finline Gets Order to Deploy its Trilogy Wireless System in Cameroon.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Finline Technologies Ltd. announced that it, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Finline International Inc., has entered into an agreement with Equatorial Communications Inc. for the purchase, supply and operation of a multichannel, multipoint...

Telecom Egypt Seeks an International Mobile Partner.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Telecom Egypt's chairman said he would seek a strategic partnership with an international mobile telephone operator via a mid-year tender to prepare the company to re-enter the mobile business next year. "We need the experience and...

Nokia to Supply Mobile Network Expansion to MobiNil in Egypt.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Nokia and MobiNil ECMS (The Egyptian Company for Mobile Services) have signed an agreement for the expansion of the MobiNil GSM network in Egypt. The contract marks another new GSM customer for Nokia. In the initial phase of the expansion,...

Africa Online Expands to Egypt.
March 1, 2001... Africa Online has extended its operations into North Africa by acquiring MenaNet Communications, the second largest ISP in Egypt. The US$8.7 million deal gives Africa Online a foothold in North Africa and the Middle East and adds Egypt, one...

Mobiles-Only Option Studied for Telecom Egypt Sale.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The terms of the tender for a new advisory contract in the privatization of Telecom Egypt have been altered to provide for the option of the mobile phone interests of the state-owned company being sold separately, bankers following the deal...

Journalists Get Internet Awareness.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In a move to reverse the low level of computer literacy and Internet awareness among Gambia's workforce, a multimedia company, Unique Solutions, organized an Internet awareness course for journalists in the country. CEO of the company,...

Ghana Telecom Joins Intercontinental Cable Project.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Ghana Telecommunications Co. Ltd. has begun work on a US$24 million submarine fiber optic cable project to connect its grid to an intercontinental cable network, a company official said. According to Frank Gyawu, project manager, the...

Morocco Tenders for Firms Interested in Fixed Phone Sale.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Morocco's telecom watchdog Agence Nationale de Reglementation des Telecommunications (ANRT) has invited domestic and foreign firms to submit proposals and suggestions to guide its plans to liberalize the country's fixed line telephone services...

Government Mulls Reoffer of Telkom Kenya Stake.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Kenyan government said it was considering whether to reoffer a 49 percent stake in state owned Telkom Kenya because its attempts to get a higher price have made little progress. Finance Minister Chris Okemo said the government was still...

Nigeria's GSM Winners Discuss Interconnectivity Plan.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Nigeria's telecoms regulator said it had allocated digital international numbering plans to its GSM phone license holders ahead of the scheduled rollout of mobile phone networks in May. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in a...

$1.14 Billion Paid for Mobile Phone Licenses.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Telecom consortiums, including the state-run firm Celcom, have paid over US$1 billion for four mobile phone licenses in Nigeria. Three foreign-backed consortiums each paid the asking price of US$285 million per license within the requisite...

Internet Helps Students to Share Solutions for Urban Ills.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The UNDP has initiated an innovative Internet distance learning course to enable students at 19 universities and other institutions around the world to exchange information on solutions to urban environmental problems facing the poor. ...

interWAVE Selected for Network Expansion in Somalia.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... interWAVE Communications International Ltd., a pioneer in the wireless network industry, announced that it has been selected by Somalian mobile telecommunications operator, Barakaat Telecommunications Co., as a turnkey supplier of GSM network...

Telkom SA IPO Set for 2001.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The South African government has confirmed that the initial public offering (IPO) of fixed line incumbent Telkom will proceed as planned in 2001. While presenting the annual budget, Minister for Finance Trevor Manuel confirmed that the...

IFS International Announces New Customer for TPII in South Africa.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... IFS International Inc., a provider of advanced software solutions for the banking, retail, and e-commerce industries, announced that ABSA, a world top 50 banking company, has licensed its TPII product to manage a new network of automated teller...

WorldCom to Pay Datatec $138.5 Million for UUNet SA.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... WorldCom will pay Datatec US$138.5 million for the South African IT group's 76 percent stake in Internet firm UUNET SA. Datatec has long said it wants to get rid of its UUNET holding, and announced in November that it had agreed to sell it...

M-Cell Unit Secures Unisys Wireless Phone Deal.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Airborne, a new unit of South African mobile network operator M-Cell, announced that it has entered into a multimillion dollar deal with US systems integrator Unisys for Internet-based wireless telephony. Sam Michel, Airborn's chief of...

South Africa Awards Third Mobile License to Cell-C.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... South Africa has awarded its long-delayed third mobile phone license to Saudi-backed Cell-C. The three main contenders in the race were Cell-C, backed by Middle Eastern conglomerate Saudi Oger and US Verizon; NextCom, backed by Hong Kong's...

UUNET SA Partners with NetCom and Nanoteq to Deliver Security Solutions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... UUNET SA announced that it will be partnering with NetCom Solutions SA and Nanoteq to deliver Internet security solutions to its customer base. In terms of the agreement, UUNET will continue to manage the relationship with its customers,...

Companies Floundering in E-Business Confusion.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... South African companies remain paralyzed when it comes to e-business strategies and operations, a fact that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Management Consulting Services said could lead to many of them losing considerable market share. A...

Technology Group Shops for Bidders.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A South African technological group is shopping for international contenders for the support of the Spaceway satellite constellation under contract to US-based Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS). The contract would result in a multimillion...

Marconi Clinches Deals to Help South African Project.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... One of South Africa's biggest telecom operators has turned to Coventry-based Marconi to improve the performance of its national network. Marconi will install and manage a system called ServiceOn Access to oversee the task for Transtel. The...

UUNET SA Wins Bidvest Tender to Create First MPLS Network.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... I-Fusion, a solution provider within the Bidvest Group of companies, has recently awarded the group's Internet connectivity to UUNET SA for an initial period of one year to develop the first MPLS network of its kind in South Africa. The...

UUNET SA Acquires Equity Stake in Smartcom to Develop Converged Mobile Solutions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... UUNET SA has acquired 50 percent plus one share of Smartcom, a member of the Smartcall group, the largest independent Vodacom exclusive service provider in South Africa. The acquisition enables the development of converged mobile solutions for...

Regulator Bans Internet Calls.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Tanzania's telecom regulator has banned Internet calls, also known as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), until further notice. Communications Commission (TCC) director Abihudi Nalingingwa told reporters that Internet service providers...

ClickThings and Affinity Internet Holdings Form Distribution Agreement to Serve Africa.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... ClickThings Inc., a New York City-based software technology provider that specializes in server-based collaborative commerce and content management solutions, and UK-based Affinity Internet Holdings, a provider of branded Internet and telecoms...

MIH Selects OpenTV E-Mail Application for Africa.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... OpenTV, an interactive television (iTV) and media solutions company, will develop and implement a customized, TV-based e-mail application for international television, Internet, and technology group MIH Ltd. MIH, which provides digital...

Motorola and Forward Industries Form an Alliance.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Motorola Inc. and Forward Industries Inc. have jointly announced that they have formed an alliance to supply soft carrying solutions for consumer wireless products in the European, Middle Eastern, and African (EMEA) markets. Forward will...

WFI Teams with Bechtel for Turnkey Solutions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... US telecom outsourcing company Wireline Facilities Inc. (WFI) has teamed with engineering giant Bechtel Corp. to provide turnkey network implementation services for GSM and 3G networks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Bechtel, which...

Comtech Telecommunications Awarded $1.5 Million Contract.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has received a US$1.5 million contract from a major US-based corporation to provide fiber optic communications in an African country. Under the contract, received by the Comtech Systems Inc. subsidiary of...

IBridge to Market Tame in Africa.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... VirtualSellers.com Inc., a provider of enterprise application development solutions, announced that it has entered into a licensing and distribution agreement with IBridge Network Inc. Under the agreement, privately-owned IBridge will be...

African Telecom Summit 2001.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Representatives from over 30 African Telecommunication Administrations as well as several senior executives of leading telecom and IT companies will gather in Accra, Ghana, March 27-29, 2001 for the 3rd African Telecom Summit, taking place at...