Mobile and Telecoms
New Partnership Brings Fibre to Thousands in Namibia’s First Smart City
(L to R) MD of Paratus Namibia, Andrew Hall and MD of Ongos Connect, Americo de Almeida. Paratus Namibia and Ongos Connect have signed a commercial connectivity agreement, confirming that Paratus will be the technology/infrastructure partner to bring fibre connectivity to over 11,000 new residents in Ongos Valley, Namibia’s first smart city development. The agreement is the conclusion of a two-year planning process during which time Paratus has been working on building the infrastructure (the point of presence and backhauls) to provide the necessary fibre connectivity for residents. As part of the agreement, all Ongos Valley residents will receive 1GB of free data per month for the first five years of residence. “The very essence of a smart city is connectivity. The Covid-19 pandemic has a...
MTN Rwanda Taps Ericsson to Deploy New Operations Centre
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) MTN Rwanda has selected its longtime partner, Ericsson, to deploy a Network Operations Centre (NOC). The five-year contract will support MTN Rwanda to focus on enhancing consumer experience through Ericsson’s Managed Services solution that will deliver an automation-driven Information Technology (IT) operation. Ericsson will provide NOC for a range of MTN Rwanda’s applications and the corresponding IT Infrastructure to support critical business segments and enhance operational efficiency. The new agreement is an important milestone in MTN Rwanda’s modernisation and digital transformation journey, the company says. Through the NOC, MTN Rwanda’s Network Operations Centre and the Incidents Management tools will be automated enabling furthe...
Could Vodacom Unseat Rival MTN After These 2 Massive Acquisitions?
Image sourced from SABC News. Vodacom South Africa has announced two major acquisitions today – the buying of a 55% controlling stake in Vodafone Egypt, the North African country’s largest telecom, and a major move in SA’s local fibre market through a new deal with Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) that will see a co-controlling interest in the hands of Vodacom. Currently the third-largest telecom company in Africa, these two acquisitions better position Vodacom to unseat long-time rival MTN as Africa’s top telecom. The Vodafone Egypt Deal Vodacom Group South Africa is reportedly entering the North Africa market for the first time ever after announcing that it will seek to acquire Vodafone Egypt from Vodafone Group for $2.7-billion. Vodafone Group, a UK-based mega-corp, is the parent com...
Safaricom Pulls Staff Out of Ethiopia As War Nears the Capital City
Demonstrators take part in a rally in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 7, 2021, in support of the national defense forces. Image sourced from Eduardo Soteras, AFP via Business Daily Africa. East Africa’s leading telecom company Safaricom has reportedly evacuated some of its employees from Ethiopia, fearing disruption to its operations due to the ongoing armed conflict and civil unrest in the horn of Africa country. The firm evacuated employees from the country on Wednesday and Friday. Safaricom is part of a larger consortium that is aiming to start operations in Ethiopia sometime next year, after months of negotations with the Ethiopian government. The Safaricom consortium was awarded an operating license in the country by the government for an initial period of 15 years. A number of nat...
Nigeria Finally Sets Date to Host Highly Anticipated 5G Spectrum Auction
Image sourced from the Verge. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has finally officially declared the date on which it will auction the 3.5Ghz spectrum for the deployment of 5G technology in the West African country. Currently, the auction is expected to be held on 13 December 2021 and, according to the Information Memorandum (IM), seen by TechNext, presented by the NCC at a stakeholders engagement forum held in Lagos recently, the reserved price for the spectrum has been started at $197.4-million. At the auction, bidders can win a 10-year 5G spectrum license but must have an operational Universal Access Service License (UASL) as a minimum requirement for bidding. New entrants or licensees without a UASL will be required to obtain one to qualify for the 5G license. The NCC said vi...
MTN’s Takeover Plans for Telkom Would Need the Government’s Support First
Sourced from Business Tech South Africa’s MTN Group, the largest telecom in Africa and 2nd largest in its home nation has reportedly made a pitch to buy SA’s third largest telecom, Telkom. According to an anonymous insider who spoke to Bloomberg, Telkom has shown no interest in being taken over by the MTN Group. It currently seems unclear if MTN will continue persuing the purchase of the semi-private telecom. “There is no deal on the table in relation to this matter,” MTN said in a statement after inquiries. Telkom itself has yet to comment on the reported offer. Telkom currently has a market valuation $1.94-billion, which pales in comparison to MTN’s valuation of $21-billion. A valuation that has steadily surged following a multi-year asset-disposal programme and a recent spike in the pri...
Liquid Eyes Africa’s Largest Tech Markets After $250-Million Boost from IFC
Strive Masiyiwa, Liquid Intelligent Technologies Executive Chairman and Founder with Makhtar Diop, IFC’s Managing Director. The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced a new partnership with South African tech group Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid) to expand data center capacity and the rollout of fiber-optic cable across the continent. IFC’s equity and debt investments in Liquid, which to date total approximately $250-million, will support the company to grow its hyperscale data center capacity in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa through its subsidiary, Africa Data Centres. The partnership with Liquid, one of Africa’s leading independent fiber and digital services providers, aims “to increase digital connectivity and inclusion in Africa and ...
Safaricom to Take All M-PESA Services Offline – When, Why & How Long
Image sourced from WeeTracker Safaricom is set to take down all M-PESA services from Saturday 6 November 2021 at 23:59 until Sunday morning 04:00 – effectively for four hours as Kenya’s largest telecom company conducts maintenance on its services for around the 10th time this year. The company says that all M-PESA services, including the purchasing of airtime, will be inaccessible during these 4 hours in the very early morning, a time which Safaricom says, “has been planned to result in the least of inconvenience to our customers.” “We apologize for any inconvenience that may be caused and thank you for your continued support.” Safaricom is asking those whose businesses may be affected by the outage to make necessary arrangements to “cushion” the impact of the services being offline. While...
Just How Many Shares is MTN Nigeria Preparing to Sell in Upcoming Offer
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) The MTN Group, representing the largest telecom company in Africa, has announced that it is preparing to sell shares in its Nigeria arm worth about $242-million in the continuation of its plan to dispose of assets and pay down debt. MTN Nigeria, which was listed in Lagos in 2019, will offer 575 million shares, according to a statement released on Thursday. The move marks a larger effort to sell about 14% of the MTNs holdings in its Nigerian arm – the “largest and most profitable unit,” according to the company. The news has spiked the price of MTN’s shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by 3.6%, the largest rise in over a month. The MTN Group stock has surged 138% this year, making it the best performer on the FTSE/JSE Africa...
Just How Many Shares is MTN Nigeria Preparing to Sell in Upcoming Offer
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) The MTN Group, representing the largest telecom company in Africa, has announced that it is preparing to sell shares in its Nigeria arm worth about $242-million in the continuation of its plan to dispose of assets and pay down debt. MTN Nigeria, which was listed in Lagos in 2019, will offer 575 million shares, according to a statement released on Thursday. The move marks a larger effort to sell about 14% of the MTNs holdings in its Nigerian arm – the “largest and most profitable unit,” according to the company. The news has spiked the price of MTN’s shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by 3.6%, the largest rise in over a month. The MTN Group stock has surged 138% this year, making it the best performer on the FTSE/JSE Africa...
Paratus & MTN Namibia Sign Country’s First Roaming Agreement
(L to R) MTN MD Elia Tsouros and Paratus Namibia MD Andrew Hall. Paratus Namibia and MTN Namibia announce that they have signed a national roaming agreement, a first of its kind in the Southern African country. The agreement signals that Paratus and MTN customers throughout the country will benefit from the integration of two networks to deliver better and increased national coverage for all. By collaborating, this agreement allows both Paratus and MTN Namibia to expand their own networks and neither operator needs to duplicate mobile coverage in certain areas of the country. This infrastructure sharing deal marks a milestone in Namibian telecommunications history because the cooperation between two operators will provide not only a better mobile LTE service to customers but also a very at...
Telkom Adds MTN as Roaming Partner
Telkom has announced that its customers now have access to three networks following the group’s recent addition of telecom giant MTN as a roaming partner. Telkom operates a network of approximately 6,900 base stations & continues to expand this footprint. It entered into an agreement with Vodacom South Africa for 2G, 3G and 4G services in December 2018. In this latest agreement, effective 1 November 2021, MTN South Africa has been added for the provision of 2G, 3G & 4G services. According to Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer, this innovative approach to network deployment allows Telkom to give customers the best coverage the country has to offer whether on the Telkom network or through network partners. “The access to MTN South Africa’s 2G, 3G and 4G network adds coverage while re...
