Ministry of Innovation and Technology Ethiopia to host 17th annual IAD Summit, June 2019

The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) Ethiopia have partnered with Extensia ltd. to host this year’s Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit at the Sheraton Addis, Ethiopia. As Official Summit partner, MInT have committed the highest level of support and participation at the summit, contributing to the agenda by ensuring the participation of high-level speakers from the government of Ethiopia, inviting top representatives from the United Nations, African Union, Smart Africa and other African Governments.

Quote from Minister of Ethiopian Innovation and Technology, His Excellency, Dr. Ing. Getahun Mekuria:
It is my honor to welcome you all to the African’s diplomatic capital—and a rising conference tourism destination city of Addis Ababa. The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) in collaboration with its esteemed partners organize Ethiopia’s 3rd International ICT Expo week with the intention of bringing together established technology service vendors, private and public sector decision makers, integrators, and users of ICT technology for business or public good, as well as startups and academia with unique solutions, to create important networks and valuable partnerships. The one week event combines, rewarding and recognition of Ethiopian innovators, unrivaled conference content and panels with a major exhibition and a well-crafted networking opportunity. The Expo will take place at the Millennium Hall from June 6 to 10, 2019 and in parallel the Innovation Africa Digital summit (IADs) at Sheraton Addis hotel from June 10 to 11, 2019.

The city of Addis Ababa provides the appropriate setting for business travelers, and those curious to explore the opportunities of the wider Ethiopian market. ICT Expo Ethiopia will also support growth within the private sector and expect to welcome more than 200,000 visitors, and in the IAD summit more than 500 participants expected to participate from the world.

Quote from Extensia CEO:

Extensia is proud to host our flagship IAD summit at the prestigious Sheraton Addis for the 4th time and with continued support from the government of Ethiopia. This year’s IAD summit is great timing for Ethiopia considering the recently announced market liberalisation plans in the country. His Excellency, Dr Getahun Mekuria has embraced the theme of the summit and the opportunity to support African Countries in improving their national ICT agendas.

The 17th annual IAD Summit addresses the need for African Countries to accelerate their ICT maturity. With only 3 sub Saharan African countries in the top 100 of the ITU’s Global ICT maturity index there is much work to do and tremendous opportunities ahead. Each country is looking towards 2030 sustainable development goals and the foundations for the achievement of many of these goals can be supported by a healthy ICT ecosystem. Each country has it’s own distinct identity and own objectives driving their ICT agenda and the IAD summit provides an opportunity to identify best practices and innovative strategies for accelerating these agendas. Global ICT leaders will share thoughts, ideas and best practices with an audience of Ministers, Regulators, Service Providers and Major End Users from across Africa.
Ministry of Innovation and Technology Ethiopia to host 17th annual IAD Summit, June 2019

The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) Ethiopia have partnered with Extensia ltd. to host this year’s Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit at the Sheraton Addis, Ethiopia. As Official Summit partner, MInT have committed the highest level of support and participation at the summit, contributing to the agenda by ensuring the participation of high-level speakers from the government of Ethiopia, inviting top representatives from the United Nations, African Union, Smart Africa and other African Governments.

Quote from Minister of Ethiopian Innovation and Technology, His Excellency, Dr. Ing. Getahun Mekuria:
It is my honor to welcome you all to the African’s diplomatic capital—and a rising conference tourism destination city of Addis Ababa. The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) in collaboration with its esteemed partners organize Ethiopia’s 3rd International ICT Expo week with the intention of bringing together established technology service vendors, private and public sector decision makers, integrators, and users of ICT technology for business or public good, as well as startups and academia with unique solutions, to create important networks and valuable partnerships. The one week event combines, rewarding and recognition of Ethiopian innovators, unrivaled conference content and panels with a major exhibition and a well-crafted networking opportunity. The Expo will take place at the Millennium Hall from June 6 to 10, 2019 and in parallel the Innovation Africa Digital summit (IADs) at Sheraton Addis hotel from June 10 to 11, 2019.

The city of Addis Ababa provides the appropriate setting for business travelers, and those curious to explore the opportunities of the wider Ethiopian market. ICT Expo Ethiopia will also support growth within the private sector and expect to welcome more than 200,000 visitors, and in the IAD summit more than 500 participants expected to participate from the world.

Quote from Extensia CEO:
Extensia is proud to host our flagship IAD summit at the prestigious Sheraton Addis for the 4th time and with continued support from the government of Ethiopia. This year’s IAD summit is great timing for Ethiopia considering the recently announced market liberalisation plans in the country. His Excellency, Dr Getahun Mekuria has embraced the theme of the summit and the opportunity to support African Countries in improving their national ICT agendas.

The 17th annual IAD Summit addresses the need for African Countries to accelerate their ICT maturity. With only 3 sub Saharan African countries in the top 100 of the ITU’s Global ICT maturity index there is much work to do and tremendous opportunities ahead. Each country is looking towards 2030 sustainable development goals and the foundations for the achievement of many of these goals can be supported by a healthy ICT ecosystem. Each country has it’s own distinct identity and own objectives driving their ICT agenda and the IAD summit provides an opportunity to identify best practices and innovative strategies for accelerating these agendas. Global ICT leaders will share thoughts, ideas and best practices with an audience of Ministers, Regulators, Service Providers and Major End Users from across Africa.

NIGERIA: NCC ENFORCES NEW REGULATIONS ON VAS PROVIDERS

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that new regulations to improve customer experience when dealing with providers of Value Added Services (VAS) are now in place.

Alhaji Adedigba, Deputy Director in the Consumer Affairs Bureau at the NCC told the 84th Edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) (organised by the NCC in Lagos yesterday) that VAS providers are expected to comply with the new rules this week.

“I am happy to inform you that key resolutions reached at the 83rd Edition of the TCP held in Lagos in April 2018 have been documented and forwarded to all relevant stakeholders for immediate implementation. Some of the resolutions are to stop Value Added Services’ automatic renewal and forceful subscription and (for them to) implement a two-step authorisation of opt-in process for VAS subscription. On the strength of the above resolutions, the Commission has issued two directions and one of the directions became effective on June 26th, 2018.”

The NCC said it has instructed operators to start rolling over unused data from 26 June 2018.

Telcos are now expected to add a subscriber’s unused data to their next data subscription or face a penalty of up to N5 000 000 fine on the 1st failure per SIM card and up to N500,000 for every day defaulted following the initial transgression.

Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC said the delivery of telecommunications services should prioritise the interests of consumers.

“Let me state that the Commission is committed to protecting the interests of telecoms consumers at all times, while also finding ways of addressing challenges facing the service providers.”

He also told the TCP the authority’s ‘Do-Not-Disturb’ (DND) facility, which requires consumers to send a text message reading ‘STOP’ to 2442 in order to halt all unsolicited messages or to call the NCC on through its toll-free line, remain available for use – despite the implementation of the new rules for VAS providers in Nigeria.

Source: IT Web Africa

 

SOUTH AFRICA: VOX TO INVEST R550M, MAINLY IN FIBRE

Privately held ICT company Vox (formerly Vox Telecom) said on Wednesday that its shareholders have approved a R550m investment to invest in, among other things, broadband fibre-optic infrastructure.

The investment will be used to extend Vox’s fibre roll-out through its wholly owned subsidiary Frogfoot Networks, said Vox CEO Jacques du Toit in a statement. In addition, the money will be used to “bolster job creation and improve efficiencies through enhanced automation”, Du Toit said.

“The capital injection into our operations endorses our conversion strategy. We are moving away from being just an Internet service provider into a telco that provides connectivity and integrated services. We are laying the foundation to secure market share and growth in key geographic precincts around South Africa,” he said.

The bulk of the R550m investment will be used to “fast-track” Vox’s fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-business networks. In the past 18 months, the company has secured 86 000 FTTH and 10 000 FTTB “opportunities”, Du Toit said. “We now have more than 300 coverage areas where we are able to provide fibre related services.”

Some of the money will be used to grow Vox’s salesforce from 280 people now, to 450 within the next 18 months. It said that over the past 24 months, it has invested R50m into the first phase of a sales expansion programme. Du Toit claimed that the investment will give Vox the largest direct salesforce in South African telecoms. The expanded salesforce will be complemented by new channel partners, including agents, resellers and wholesale partners.

In addition, Vox will train 24 “previously disadvantaged individuals” in its 14-month executive management development programme.

Lastly, Vox will continue to focus on the automation of its internal processes, Du Toit said. This includes the migration to a new operations and business support system that has been developed over the past two years.

Source: News Central Media (Tech Central)

EAST AFRICA: MICROSOFT, LIQUID TELECOM TO BOOST CLOUD ADOPTION IN AFRICA

Microsoft East Africa and Liquid Telecom have joined forces to improve and accelerate the use of cloud services across Africa. The companies said the joint project will help boost the continent’s access to world-class software. Microsoft has a long-term strategic vision to enable affordable broadband access to its customers to empower business and increase productivity. To move this objective forward, Microsoft will collaborate with Liquid Telecom, a pan-African telecommunications provider that operates the region’s largest independent fibre network, which spans over 40,000km across twelve countries.

The joint effort will focus on the delivery of cloud services, small-and-medium business development and the enablement of a television white space technology and partner ecosystem to provide further connectivity across the continent.

Businesses across Africa have traditionally been slower adopters of cloud services, particularly in areas with limited ICT infrastructure. The partnership will address this by combining Liquid Telecom’s extensive network reach with Microsoft’s innovative business solutions that bring the cloud closer to the end user. Through fast and more affordable connectivity, Microsoft’s extensive cloud-based software offerings, such as Azure and Office 365, will become more accessible through Liquid Telecom. This will enhance business potential and enable startups and home-grown operations to be more productive and efficient.

As part of the project, Microsoft and Liquid Telecom will also be creating ‘Business in a Box’, which will offer small-and-medium businesses a cloud-based toolkit of relevant applications, cloud services and connectivity. The project, with the scope to influence and improve the capabilities of cloud computing in Africa, will accelerate the economic growth and competitiveness of Africa.

Source: Telecompaper.com

Kenya:Govt to Monitor Social Media During Elections

Kenya will not shut down the Internet during the election period unless the situation gets out of hand, officials said Thursday.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) chairman, Mr Ben Gituku said that the government would only take action if it deemed it as a necessary step to secure the country.

“We hope we will not get there, unless it gets out of hand. We do not see Internet shutdown happening,” Mr Gituku said during a press conference in Nairobi to issue guidelines on the conduct of electronic media during the elections on Thursday.

Kenyans are increasingly concerned, especially with rising political temperatures ahead of the August polls, that the government would shut down the Internet as witnessed in other regional countries.

In neighbouring Uganda, the government ordered the shutdown of popular social media platforms over “security concerns,” an action political observers said was aimed at stifling media scrutiny of the elections as well as clamping down on freedom of expression.

Similar actions were taken by the governments of Burundi, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A recent report by social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, said eastern Africa countries are among the top violators of freedom of expression online with some ordering an Internet shutdown while others like Kenya use punitive laws to intimidate citizens.

NCC to fine TELCOs N5m for unsolicited text messages

Henceforth, any network provider that sends unsolicited text messages (SMS) to subscribers would pay a fine of N5million.
The Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this yesterday at the 46th convocation of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
He spoke on: “The Role of ICT in Tertiary Education in Nigeria-NCC interventions.”
Danbatta explained that the commission has contributed over 1.4 trillion naira to the country’s economy since its inception.
The chairman urged policy makers to adopt information communication technology (ICT) to grow the economy.
He canvassed the use of ICT in addressing the challenges in agriculture, health, energy and education sectors.
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“It is in the interest of the country to harness the potentials in the information-driven age to facilitate the socio-economic development.
“The commission will continue to facilitate the improvement of the content delivery and capacity development of tertiary institutions,” he said.
He emphasized that NCC’s commitment to improving learning in tertiary institutions to reduce time wastage in accessing teaching and learning materials.
According to him: “Functional SAT 3, Main-One, Glo 1 and WACS and In-Country Fibre Optic Cables Distribution and Last Mile, were other viable investment opportunities for business people.”

Source: Business/telecom

ETHIOPIA WORKING ON LAUNCHING CARRIER ROCKET

The Ministry of Science and Technology said Ethiopia is building a medium sized satellite launching rocket that would come to fruition within the next three years.

Ministry Public Relations Director Wondwosen Andualem said a prototype of the carrier rocket was prepared as a launch pad for the actual work.

“Efforts are underway to launch a medium sized rocket into space within the next three years,”said the director.

He said satellite building capacity has also been growing owing to knowledge and technological exchanges with development partners.

Efforts are ongoing to manufacture both the satellite and its carrier rocket locally, according to the Director, who indicated its significance for security, weather forecast and other services.

Considering its serious significance, the nation has formed a Space Science Council and Institute Chaired by the Prime Minister.

With the successful accomplishment of the task, Ethiopia would join countries competing to launch satellites in the equator, Wondwosen added.

Source: Extensia’s weekly telecom headlines

NIGERIAN TELCOS DEMAND FLEXIBILITY FROM REGULATOR

Telecommunications companies in Nigeria have urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to seek alternative disciplinary measures other than fines.

Speaking through their umbrella body, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the operators say fines slammed on them by the regulator are impacting their businesses.

According to ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo, the NCC should exercise more flexibility when it comes to issues affecting the industry.

“Operators suffered from harsh regulatory environment in 2016. Rather than imposing huge fines that are capable of grounding telecoms business in the country, NCC should be more flexible. NCC must consider other means of disciplining the operators, rather than fine,” Adebayo said.

He described the ecosystem as harsh for the operators in 2016 as a result of the numerous bottlenecks that still need to be dealt with – including delays with right of way permits, incessant closure of telecoms sites, harsh regulatory environment, and social environment effect.

Source: Extensia’s weekly telecom headlines

MTN SHARES SLUMP TO SIX-YEAR LOW / NIGERIAN WOES DEEPEN

MTN Group shares slumped to a six-year low after a Nigerian senator claimed the wireless carrier may have illegally moved more than the previously estimated US$14bn out of the country, citing early findings from an investigation into the allegation.

The stock declined 2,3% to R107,50 by the close in Johannesburg, the lowest since July 2010, extending the fall since the allegations were first raised last month to 13%. MTN “categorically denies” the claims, its Nigeria unit’s CEO, Ferdi Moolman, told lawmakers in Abuja, the capital.

“We have realised from preliminary investigations that it is actually outrageously higher than” the original figure, Dino Melaye, the senator who raised the allegation last month, told reporters in Abuja, on Wednesday.

Netflix Selects Spectranet for First Server Deployment in West Africa

Netflix, the World’s leading Internet TV service and Spectranet, Nigeria’s leading 4G broadband service provider, said they have successfully deployed one of the first dedicated Netflix servers in Africa.

At CES 2016, Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive announced “… the birth of a new global internet TV network”.

With the launch, consumers around the world, Africa (Nigeria) inclusive, have started enjoying TV shows and movies simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the high capacity server Netflix is deploying through the partnership with Spectranet will hold the entire Netflix content library, in Lagos, providing Spectranet’s customers with the best possible video streaming performance. This solution offers faster delivery in a cost effective way.

Speaking on the new accomplishment by the Company, Mr David Venn, CEO of Spectranet, said, “because we focus on providing families with an excellent and affordable broadband service, this partnership with Netflix means that our customers will be able to enjoy the very best TV experience available in Nigeria. We are honoured that Netflix has selected Spectranet for one of its first deployments in Africa and the only one in West Africa.”