Vodacom Targeting Angola, Uganda, Ethiopia

South Africa-based mobile group Vodacom has confirmed that it is ready to expand its operational footprint across Africa, and is on the hunt for small-scale acquisitions. Vodacom, which is majority owned by the UK’s Vodafone Group, currently operates in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and chief executive Pieter Uys told Dow Jones Newswires that the company is looking to make a series of acquisitions in the USD100 million range.

Uys noted that Vodacom will focus on countries that offer a stable political environment, have densely populated cities and offer room for growth. As such, the CEO pinpointed Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda as likely targets. Announcing its FY11 results earlier this week, Vodacom noted that the financial year ended March was the first time that its operations outside South Africa have contributed positive cash flow. As a result, Uys told Dow Jones: ‘We feel more comfortable that we have the recipe to be successful outside South Africa’.


In March 2012 Sifiso Dabengwa, CEO of Vodacom’s chief rival MTN Group confirmed that his company was interested in lining up so-called ‘bolt-on’ deals in new African markets, once again naming Angola and Ethiopia. In the former, a third mobile licence has been expected for some time, with state-run incumbent Angola Telecom keen to secure an international partner to assist with its entrance to the sector. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa still operating a monopoly in the wireless sector, with state-run Ethio Telecom the sole licensee.

Elsewhere, Uganda is overcrowded by comparison, boasting six active wireless operators, with another, Sure Telecom Uganda, waiting in the wings. Of the country’s cellcos, Uganda Telecom Ltd and Warid Telecom Uganda are plausible targets, with the ownership of both companies coming under scrutiny in recent years.

Uganda Moves To Stop Airtel, UTL Cut-off

The Ugandan government moved to stop Airtel Uganda from deactivating calls to the Uganda Telecom network over a UGX 10 billion dispute.

According to local paper the Daily Monitor, ICT Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said the government was talking to both sides in a bid to resolve the dispute.

Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission, also confirmed that talks were underway to resolve the matter but it was unclear if an understanding had been reached.

Airtel had announced that its customers would no longer be able to make or receive calls to UTL numbers from 1 September. This followed the termination of the interconnect agreement between the two operators on 15 August, after UTL failed to pay up to UGX 10 billion in outstanding interconnect fees and legal fines to Airtel.

Joseph Kanyamunyu, Airtel's spokesman said the operator would not lift the ban on calls until UTL clears the debt.

Airtel To Terminate UTL Calls

Airtel Uganda has announced that starting 5th September 2011 its subscribers will not be able to receive calls from or make calls to Uganda Telecom (UTL) lines.

In a statement published on Wednesday Airtel states that the decision follows the expiry on 15th August 2011 of the interconnection agreement between itself and UTL.

Earlier reports had indicated that UTL owes Airtel over 8 billion shillings in interconnection fees.

UTL has been battling a court case in which MTN Uganda is demanding over 20 billion Uganda shillings. Last week a court in Kampala ruled in favour of MTN but UTL has appealed against the decision .

69% of UTL is owned by the Libyan government through its investment vehicle, Libyan Africa Portfolio (LAP), with the remaining 31% owned by the Ugandan government.

UN sanctions in March required the freezing of Libya’s assets for the duration of its on-going civil war, but in order to prevent the loss of jobs, the Ugandan government took over complete control of the company.

Early this year Uganda’s Media Owners Association reportedly ceased any advertising for UTL, citing unpaid fees of 3 billion Uganda shillings.

Libyan Owned Uganda Telecom in Finacial Crisis

THE financial sustainability of Uganda Telecom (utl) remains uncertain following several claims of unpaid dues in billions owed to the firm’s partners and service providers. 

Among the companies seeking payment is MTN, which for the second time this year, has sued utl claiming unpaid sh9.3b accrued from interconnection charges, indicating a further deepening rift and uncertainty in the telecom industry. 

According to sources, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is also demanding about sh6b from utl over non remitted contributions to the rural communication development funds. 

All telecom operators are required to remit 1% of their gross revenue to the commission for the fund. 

Sources revealed that a fortnight ago, the Uganda Media Owners Association also suspended any form of advertising from utl because of about sh3b unpaid dues accruing from advertising. 

The association comprises major media houses, including Monitor Publications, Vision Group, NTV, WBS, UBC, Capital FM, Simba and Sanyu FM. 

Airtel Uganda public relations officer Joseph Kanyamunyu said utl also owes them about sh8b from “interconnect and related charges.” 

MTN is also demanding another sh744m in interests accrued from May 31, 2011. 

“The actions of the defendant amount to breach of the interconnection agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant,” read the suit. 

“They have continuously disputed figures, but in this case they signed and acknowledged the debt, but we are half way the year and they have still failed to pay,” said an MTN official. 

The MTN suit filed on June 15 says the interconnect fees are for the period from January 2010 to December 2010. 

But utl chief Donald Nyakairu said there was nothing new in the law suit. “The only difference is in the figures, they are just causing anxiety within the public,” said Nyakairu. The suit follows an earlier one, filed about three months ago, over MTN’s claims of unpaid sh20b in interconnection charges that the telecom giant says was accumulated over a three-year period. 

The interconnection fee is the amount an operator pays another for routing traffic through their networks. 

David Ogong, the UCC director of competition and corporate affairs, said they had been mediating over this issue and the two players agreed to keep their networks connected until June 26, 2011. “We are advising the Government that we could have a big problem in our hands, we have tried our best to see that utl pays,” said Ogong. 

The Libyan government owns about 69% of utl under its investment arm, Libya Africa Investment Portfolio. The Government owns the rest. But a few months ago, government took over full control of utl partly complying with UN sanctions against Libyan assets in the wake of the political turmoil in the North African state.

Uganda Takes Over Libyan-Owned UTL

The Ugandan government has taken over management of troubled Libyan-owned telecommunications company, Uganda Telecom Ltd. (UTL), Uganda's minister of information and communications technology said Tuesday.

As a regulator and a minority shareholder in Uganda Telcom, the government has decided to take over management of the company to safeguard its interests and the interests of its customers, Aggrey Awori said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

"We cannot sit and watch as things get out of hand," he said.

The Libyan Arab Portfolio, or LAP Green Network, holds a controlling stake in Uganda Telecom.

According to Awori, the move is part of government's decision to implement the United Nations-initiated sanctions against Libya. Last week, the Ugandan central bank took over Libya-owned Tropical African Bank.

Uganda Telecom has been struggling to meet payment obligations to other Ugandan telecom companies arising from interconnection fees. A company spokesman couldn't return calls seeking comment immediately.

Earlier this month, MTN Uganda--a unit of Johannesburg-listed MTN Group Ltd. threatened to block calls to Uganda Telecom over a 20 billion Ugandan shillings ($8.3 million) unpaid interconnection fees that have accumulated over a three-year period.

Airtel Uganda Ltd. also claims that Uganda Telecom owes it UGX8 billion in interconnection fees and had also threatened to terminate calls to the network. Airtel Uganda Ltd. is a unit of India-based Bharti Airtel Ltd.

However, government has prevailed upon the two companies from blocking calls to Uganda Telecom, to avoid inconveniencing the public. People familiar with the situation say that the two companies were now planning to attach some of the properties belonging to Uganda Telecom.

Attachment is a legal process by which a court of law, at the request of a creditor, designates specific property owned by the debtor to be transferred to the creditor, or sold for the benefit of the creditor.

Uganda's foreign affairs minister announced last week that government would freeze Libyan assets worth $375 million; other Libyan-owned companies that have been affected by the sanctions include Tamoil East Africa, National & Housing Construction Company, Laico Lake Victoria Hotel and Libya Oil. 

-Dow Jones Newswires

MTN To Cut Links With Uganda Telecom Over Three-Year Debt

A three year dispute over inter-connectivity fees has culminated in MTN Uganda announcing that it is severing interconnectivity with its industry rival Uganda Telecom (UTL), the Daily Monitor reports.

“MTN customers will therefore be unable to place direct calls to UTL subscribers, and vice-versa,” MTN said in a notice on Wednesday. “This action has been necessitated by UTL continuously defaulting on the settlement of its interconnect payments, amounting to about Shs20 billion accumulated over a period of three years,” the statement added.


In an earlier separate interview, UTL company Secretary Donald Nyakairu said the company was in the process of settling MTN’s dues. This, however, seems not to have materialised.

The stand-off comes after a row between the two companies, stemming from 2006 over the unpaid interconnectivity fees ended in UTL failing to pay MTN. UTL has also been in dispute with Warid Telecom and Airtel Uganda over unpaid interconnectivity fees all totalling to over Shs12 billion.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is also demanding Shs9 billion in unpaid yearly fees from UTL although its Interim Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi declined to elaborate on the matter.  “Interconnectivity issues are between telecom subscribers,” Mr Mutabazi said yesterday. “We only encouraged dialogue but we do not interfere.” Yesterday, MTN said UTL had unjustifiably and persistently refused to honour their business obligation and attempts to resolve the matter failed.

MTN last year took UTL to court and secured an order to pay the money in dispute.  Court documents obtained by the Daily Monitor indicated that between November 2008 and 2009, MTN demanded Shs7 billion in outstanding interconnectivity fees.

In February 2008, it issued UTL with another invoice demanding another payment of Shs6 billion, also for interconnection fees for March 2007 to December 2007.  UTL paid Shs3 billion but said it would not pay the balance of Shs3 billion which it said was not as a result of domestic traffic which attracts interconnectivity fees but was international traffic with Sudan.

In 2006, Ms GEMTEL a telecom operator in South Sudan requested Uganda to facilitate its calling code. On May 10, 2006, Works Minister John Nasasira wrote to UTL approving a request to extend its network coverage to South Sudan. UTL notified Gemtel that it will grant it usage of code +256 477.  +256 is the official Uganda country code.

On June 22, 2006 UTL informed MTN that it had set up interconnection with GEMTEL adding that it had been assigned +256477 which is a Ugandan calling code. MTN says this is the source of the accumulated fees.

Competitors Follow Warid as Price War Rages In Uganda

Graphic: New Vision

ZAIN, MTN and Uganda Telecom yesterday announced a reduction in call rates as the tariff war took a new front in Uganda, one of Africa’s fiercest telecom markets.  Last week, Warid drew first blood by dropping call rates to sh5 per second across all networks.  The move by Warid set the stage for a furious price war as the telecom firms tried to outpace each other.

On Tuesday, MTN and UTL declared lower call rates between sh4 to sh5. But Zain quickly outmaneuvered the three by announcing sh3 per second to all networks, including Zain to Zain. It now means that Zain is the cheapest operator, charging sh180 (USD0.082) per minute to all networks. The offer applies to both prepaid and postpaid customers.

Zain
Levi Nyakundi, the Zain marketing manager for usage and retention, said the drop was permanent.  “It is a 66% price drop on the most popular tariff plan - Zain Flexi - which has been sh9 on-net and sh11 off-network,” said Nyakundi.

It was expected that Zain, bought by India's Bharti Airtel, would adopt a drastic pricing model largely on heavily discounted call charges, as happened in Kenya about two months ago, where calls are as cheap as sh81 (Ksh3).

 Uganda Telecom
Uganda Telecom had also turned the barrels to the other operators, announcing a rate of sh4 for calls from UTL to UTL and sh5 for calls to other networks.  According to a statement from UTL’s chief marketing officer, Mohamadou Konkobo, UTL customers will now spend a maximum of sh240 to make a call within the network and a maximum of sh300 to call other networks.

MTN
On its part, MTN announced a “celebration promotion” at sh3 per second on the per-second billing tariff plan and sh160 for calls within the MTN Yellowmax tariff plan. Isaac Nsereko, the MTN chief marketing officer, explained that clients on the per-minute plan will pay sh320 per minute for the first 10 minutes of the day. For the rest of the day, calls will cost sh160 within the MTN network.

On the MTN per-second tariff plan, customers will pay sh6 for the first five minutes, then sh3 per second for the rest of the day within the MTN network. Calls from MTN to other networks remain at sh6 per second all day, which remains one of the highest in the market.

Warid  Telecom
Warid CEO Madhur Taneja, whose firm sparked off the price war last week, said he was pleased that other telecoms were responding to the price reduction. “Reducing call rates is the way to go and the consumers will get value for their money and I hope that every player in the market does so,” he said. Officials from the other mobile telephone companies; Orange, Smile and i-Telecom were not available for comment yesterday.

The current price war is seen as a result of growing competition in the market as well as industry regulator Uganda Communications Commission’s recent reduction of the ceiling of interconnection fees from Shs180 to Shs130 per minute where firms fail to agree bilaterally.

Espionage
It has been a feverish seven days in which telecoms have spied on each other for tariff structures booked with advertising agencies and letters to the regulator, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), with cancellation after cancellation before final tariff plans were agreed upon.

MTN boasts of about 50% of the market share. It means there are still more calls from MTN to MTN. But the telecom giant now faces stiff competition on voice that will be compounded when Bharti adapts its Asian model, where it has over 100 million subscribers.

In a letter to the UCC dated September 28, 2010, the MTN chief executive officer, Themba Khumalo, said the network had introduced the tariff to celebrate its 12 years of existence in Uganda.   “During these 12 years, we have been at the forefront of making telecommunications affordable and accessible,” Khumalo wrote.  The new MTN tariffs have been launched under the umbrella campaign labelled ‘Yarriba’.

The UCC public relations officer, Isaac Kalembe, said the development is good for the industry.  [Personally] I think we are moving in the right direction because it is the wish of UCC that the rates are reduced,” said Kalembe.

Analysts also believe this plays into the hands of the consumer who has been paying an exorbitant price compared to other regional markets, largely because of the high interconnection fees.

There has not been a response yet from Orange Uganda.  Orange is the most recent entrant to the country's mobile telecom market.

Warid Tariff Cuts Could Open Price War in Uganda

The mobile telephone industry in Uganda appears headed for a new price war after Warid Telecom announced it was slashing the cost of its cross-network calls to Shs5 (USD 0.023) per second.


Warid Uganda CEO Madhur Taneja said yesterday that the new rate, which is half of what the company charged previously, was aimed at reducing the cost of telephone calls.

“High mobile cross-network tariffs have been a barrier to mobile users but we want to break that obstacle by offering the lowest rate in the market,” he said.

The industry average for cross-network calls, which means calls made from one network to another, is around Shs10 per second or Shs300 (USD 0.13) per minute and Warid’s new price, which the firm says is permanent and makes it the cheapest in the market, is likely to draw a response from other players.

Rival firms were non-committal about what kind of response would be forthcoming. Isaac Nsereko, the chief marketing officer of market-leader MTN Uganda, told Daily Monitor  newspaper in a telephone interview that the Shs5 tariff was not a “big deal” and that MTN charges as low as Shs4.5 per second for calls within its network on its discount promotion and Shs5.5 per second to other networks.

Competitors
Ms Cesear Mloka, the marketing director of the second-largest player Zain Uganda/Bharti Airtel, declined to comment when contacted.

However, Zain today introduced a bonus offer where prepaid subcribers earn bonus credit equivalent to 50% of credit recharge.  The bonus can be used only for calls to another Zain line.

Zain Kenya recently led a price war in that market that was followed by a swift cutting of call rates to as low as Uganda Shs75 per minute across all networks. The uniform call rate in Rwanda is about Uganda Shs270 per minute while in Tanzania it’s about Uganda Shs7.5 per second.


The local telecoms industry has already been rocked by the slashing of call rates within networks with different firms charging a flat fee of between Shs1,500 – Shs2,000 for 24 hours of unlimited calls.

Dual phone craze
The higher cross-network call charges have, however, forced many subscribers to buy more than one sim-card to allow them call cheaply within one network and then swap cards when they need to call other networks. It has also boosted the sale of dual sim-card phone handsets.

Warid, Orange and Uganda Telecom are currently offering new subcribers phones whith dual-sim capability.

Uganda Communications Commission, the industry regulator, recently announced a reduction in the ceiling of interconnection fees from Shs180 to Shs130 per minute where firms fail to agree bilaterally.

The industry has also seen a dramatic fall in data prices following the landing of undersea cables on the East African coastline which brought broadband internet, but the competition here has mainly been between MTN and Orange Telecom.

--Daily Monitor

Uganda Gets New Mobile User's Watchdog

A new body has been set up to protect the interests of mobile phone users in Uganda.

A report from AllAfrica.com says that the Mobile Telephone Watchdog will help guard consumers against bad practice by the country’s cellular operators.

Uganda’s wireless sector was home to more than 4.4 million subscribers at the end of June 2010.  MTN Uganda controls around 46% of the market, with Zain Uganda claiming around 19%, and Uganda Telecom and Warid Telecom accounting for approximately 16% each. The remaining 3% is split between Orange Uganda and I-Tel.

Late Comer Orange Uses Internet To Penetrate Ugandan Market

Internet and data services are the new forces behind Orange’s penetration into the Ugandan market.  This informs the firm’s strategy as it strives for market dominance amid raging price competition.

MTN Uganda boasts of the largest subscriber base estimated at 5.6 million, an achievement anchored on a low pricing penetration strategy, wide network coverage and attractive user services like MTN Mobile Money transfer.  Zain Uganda comes second with more than two million subscribers after a turnaround strategy driven by sharp discounts on calling rates and improved network quality.  UTL has registered about two million subscribers on the back of sharp price discounts. Its favourite packages include UTL Jazz and UTL Extra that provides one of the lowest off net calling rates in the market.

Calls under the latter profile are charged at Ush320($0.15) for the first and second minutes while the rest are charged Ush270 ($0.12) each.

Orange’s approach is driven by its 3G network that boasts high Internet connectivity speeds backed by solid fibre optic links, minimal interruptions and relatively cheap offers. Its bandwidth for instance, goes for Ush0.9 per KB, the lowest charge in the local market.

Experts also argue that the use of dedicated bandwith packages that are strictly allocated to individual users as opposed to shared bandwidth packages offered elsewhere has strongly boosted growth in the Internet and data services segment.

According to the chief executive Phillipe Luxcey, the firm has recorded a remarkable growth with its highly discounted local and international calling tariffs in the midst of widespread discounts by bigger players.  “Our focus is on a multimedia service that offers high quality voice calls, fast Internet speeds and information services,” said Mr Luxcey.

Orange Uganda commenced operations in March becoming the country’s fifth mobile operator after Zain Uganda, MTN, Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL) and Warid Telecom.  Orange’s minimum Internet access offer comes with a modem priced at $102 for 1 GB capacity with a monthly fee of $25. Prior to Orange’s entry, many consumers complained of low connectivity speeds and high user fees.

In contrast, Orange’s low-priced, high speed Internet packages have attracted several users keen on downloading heavy pictures, videos and playing music for long intervals.  So far, Orange has registered 10,000 mobile Internet subscribers since the product launch and boasts of total installed capacity of 600MB that can be doubled.

In addition, fibre capacity has been increased sixfold to accommodate customer growth but only 20 percent of international Internet capacity has been utilised, with the rest being sold to local Internet service providers, according to Mr Luxcey.

But analysts believe Orange Internet’s biggest undoing lies in limited network coverage though it boasts 450 live sites spread across the country.  Orange has managed to get only 500,000 out of available nine million subscribers in the voice segment. This is partly due to its lucrative local and international calling tariffs and quality voice reception. Currently, it charges as little as Ush200 ($0.09) for on net calls.

-The EastAfrican

MTN Uganda Sues UTL Over Interconnection Fees

MTN Uganda is suing Uganda Telecommunications Ltd (UTL), seeking UGS7.2 billion (USD3.55 million) for unpaid interconnection fees. In a case filed at the Kampala High Court's Commercial Division, MTN accused UTL of breach of contract.
It claims that in February 2001 its management entered into an agreement with UTL to interconnect their respective networks, as required by their respective telecoms licences awarded by the Uganda Communications Commission. According to MTN, in accordance with the interconnection charges that were detailed in the agreement its management issued invoices to UTL, but that the state-owned telco failed to pay them. MTN has asked for a court order compelling UTL to pay the owes plus interest, damages and costs.

LAP Aquires 80% Stake in Sudan's Gemtel

Libyan government investment vehicle Libyan African Investments Portfolio (LAP) has acquired an 80% stake in Southern Sudanese telecoms operator Gemtel via its telecoms arm, LAP Green Networks, Ugandan news source The New Vision reports.

Gemtel was licensed by the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) in 1996 and launched commercial GSM services shortly after in the cities of Juba and Yei. By mid-2009 the company had expanded its footprint to cover Waw, Torit, Bor and Rumbek.

Gemtel uses the dialling code of Uganda (+256), thanks to an interconnection agreement with Uganda Telecom (UTL) signed in September 2006, which allows the cellco to use the gateway for USD50,000 in interconnection fees per month.

LAP Green already operates in East Africa through its 80% shareholding in Rwandan fixed line and mobile telephony operator Rwandatel and 69% stake in UTL. The company also holds an interest in Sahelcom and Sonitel of Niger, and controls Oricel Green, a mobile operator in Cote d’Ivoire.

According to a statement from LAP Green, the firm has been shortlisted to buy a 75% stake in Zambia’s sole fixed line operator, Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel).

Artel Dishes UTL For Rwanda Government Network

State-owned ISP New Artel Rwanda has said that it will now deliver high speed internet access from SEACOM’s fibre-optic cable through the national backbone, local daily The New Times reports. The company had in November planned to land the submarine cable through Uganda Telecom's (UTL’s) Point of Presence (PoP) Rwandatel that month.

However, officials have since discovered that incumbent telco Rwandatel does not have the capability of delivering the 155Mbps capacity. ‘In order to have a more reliable connectivity, the capacity will be delivered through the national fibre-optic backbone by UTL from Gatuna to Kigali,’ commented Francis Karemera, CEO of New Artel.

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB)-ICT expects to deliver the national backbone to the Gatuna border by the end of February to route the data to Kigali. New Artel plans to provide 155Mbps to the Kigali Metropolitan Network to connect government ministries, universities and districts. The network aims to connect 97 government agencies in Kigali and 226 in the districts, linking 36 main nodes nationwide.

Rwandatel Fibre-Optic Line Reaches Kigali By April

The 900km fibre-optic cable of Rwandan fixed line operator Rwandatel is expected to land in the capital Kigali by April this year, local daily New Times reports.

According to the operator’s CTO, Basilio Sadindi, the cable had been slated to land in Kigali by January 2010, but sister telco Uganda Telecom (UTL) has encountered delays in laying the cable from Ugandan capital Kampala to Masaka in the south of the country. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, UTL and Rwandatel, which are both subsidiaries of Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks, contracted Green Future in September 2009 to deliver SEACOM's fibre connection to Uganda and Rwanda.

After a full connection to the submarine cable, Rwandatel's internet subscriber base is expected to increase by 10% in the first year. After signing a contract in August last year, UTL and Rwandatel also agreed to purchase an additional 155Mbps of capacity from the SEACOM submarine cable.

Smiles Launches as Uganda's Seventh Phone Operator

Smiles Communications Uganda has launched its WiMAX network in the capital city of Kampala, with plans to cover the entire country by the end of next year.

'We bring to the Ugandan market a WiMAX platform that uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to make calls, the first of its kind on the African continent,' the company's CEO, Mr. Philip said.

Mr. Phillip said the firm would begin with wireless table phones that would be located in public places including markets, taxis and bus parks. 'We are informed of how the competitors operate and we are going for the bottom of the pyramid business,' he told the Daily Monitor.

The other operators in Uganda are MTN, Orange Uganda, Uganda Telecom, Warid Telecom, Zain and the recently launched I-Telecom.

MTN Uganda Gets US$100 m for Network Expansion

MTN Uganda has raised US$100 million in debt to fund the expansion of its network. Isaac Nsereko, chief marketing officer at MTN confirmed the development to the Reuters news agency.

Absa Capital, the investment banking arm of Absa Group was lead arranger of the  syndicated loan.

"We are using it to invest in the network, different sections of the network really," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Based on data from the Mobile World, the country's five current operators and their market shares are: MTN (41%); Zain (22%); Uganda Telecom (19%); Warid Telecom (17%) and Orange (2%). A sixth network, I-Tel launched its network last month.

Uganda Allows Gemtel to Use +256 Code

The Daily Monitor reports that the Ugandan government has cleared a South Sudan network to continue using Uganda’s dialing code (+256), under the condition that the region’s cellcos continue to pay for it.

The decision follows complaints from Ugandan MPs that Southern Sudan mobile operator Gemtel was given leeway by Uganda Telecom (UTL) to use the national code without parliamentary approval. Defending the move, State Minister for ICT Alintuma Nsambu told the country’s ICT Committee, ‘In any case we gain more if there is a bigger clientele in South Sudan using our code, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) will collect more.’

The issue was widely publicised in 2007 after the Parliamentary Committee on State Enterprises learnt that Gemtel was using the country code without paying.

South of Sudan is currently served by two wireless network operators; privately-owned Gemtel, which offers limited coverage of a number of southern towns including Juba, Waw and Yei; and Lebanese-owned Vivacell, which launched commercial wireless services in January 2009.

Uganda Telecom & Standard Chartered in Mobile Banking Deal

Customers of Standard Chartered Bank, who subscribe to Uganda Telecom Limited, will now access banking services through their mobile phone handsets.

In this agreement, customers would simply need to register with the bank to have access and thereafter, they would have to press the characters on a mobile phone to get data.

Bank General Manager in charge of Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Harton Maliki said the bank invested in the new service to enable its customers acquire data quickly and efficiently.

“It is a secure system fordata that is not stored on the Sim card. It is readable and is for downloading by only users,” Mr Maliki said.

The initiative, aimed at increasing access to bank’s services, was announced on Wednesday at the bank’s head offices in Kampala.

“At Standard Chartered, We are continuously developing solutions to respond to the evolving needs of our customers. M-banking - like other recent initiatives from the bank - seeks to enable our customers to do their banking at their convenience anytime, anywhere, any day,” Mr Maliki said.

He said the bank’s M-banking proposition in Uganda provides its customers with a number of services on a unique platform called Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD); a system used by a few banks across the world.

UTL Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Hans Paulsen said the partnership was another way of mobile telephone use penetrating into the world with bank customers now accessing services from their respective places.

Mr Paulsen said the bank service is another way, among the many uses, a mobile phone can be utilised adding that he was optimistic the customers will get the value for their money.
 
“Utl is proud to be part of growth in mobile penetration and this being one of the biggest social phenomena, which will impact and change the way that we trade and pay as well as bringing affordable and convenient access at your fingertips,” Mr Paulsen said.  

Uganda Telecom Selects Redknee For Its Mobile Money Service

Redknee, a leading provider of mission-critical software and solutions for communications service providers, is pleased to announce that it has been selected by Uganda Telecom to provide Redknee's Mobile Money 2.0 solution, enabling Uganda Telecom subscribers to pay for goods and securely store and transfer funds with their mobile phones. Implementation will begin as soon as all requirements for launching the service have been approved.

It has been projected that almost 90 percent of the five million households in Uganda do not have a bank account. Redknee's Mobile Money services will enable Uganda Telecom to provide its subscribers the means to store funds easily and to send payments and transfers using a safe and inexpensive channel.

Redknee's newly introduced Mobile Money 2.0 solution enables subscribers to store and transfer funds through their mobile handset, providing an ideal service for developing countries that may have poor or limited banking resources in their rural communities.

Some of the rural regions of Uganda lack an easily accessible banking infrastructure, which has been a key barrier to providing financial services. Through increased mobile penetration in Uganda and the expected launch of Mobile Money, Uganda Telecom will be providing Ugandans with unparalleled access to a new generation of financial services.

"Uganda Telecom realizes that the benefits of Redknee's Mobile Money solution go beyond innovation and service excellence, but also have the potential to deliver socio-economic change. I believe this solution will put Uganda Telecom in good stead to truly elevate Uganda's citizens with easy access to financial services across the board," says Hans Paulsen, Chief Commercial Officer of Uganda Telecom.

The Mobile Money service is planned to be available initially for domestic payments and transfers, and Uganda Telecom has the potential to expand the service and other microfinance initiatives easily, quickly and cost effectively to international regions. Uganda Telecom serves over 1 million subscribers.

"The benefits of Mobile Money services for the high-growth markets translate into strong socio-economic benefits. This milestone that Uganda Telecom has committed to achieving helps to truly elevate Uganda's citizens by providing easy access to financial services," says Mark Yaphe, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Redknee.

Redknee's Mobile Money portfolio includes Mobile Wallet, Mobile Money Transfer, Roaming Recharge and Airtime Reseller. Redknee's Mobile Money solution is easily integrated into any existing billing solution, reducing the expense and time-to-market for operators.

MTN Apologises to Ivory Coast's President

The MTN Group, one of Africa’s largest telecoms companies, has apologised to the President of Ivory Coast Mr Laurent Gbagbo after the Chief Executive Officer of the company’s subsidiary in that country, Mr Aimable Mpore, humiliated him.

Mr Mpore was subsequently expelled by the government of Ivory Coast. According to a Bloomberg news report, it was claimed that Mr Mpore had made a financial donation of $132,000 to a former secretary in President Gbagbo’s office to help build a clinic and buy an ambulance.

“The authorities are blaming Mr Mpore, a Rwandan-Canadian national, for failing to cross-check with the presidency before making the donation,” the report said.

The Secretary, Ms Bléhon Emilienne was subsequently arrested on charges of alleged fraud and bribery - although it may prove difficult to pursue a trial if Mr Mpore is barred from returning to the country.

In a statement released by MTN South Africa, the company offered an “apology to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the Minister of Interior and other affected officials who may have been the victims of this identify fraud incident.”

According to MTN, the incident was a case of an identity fraud against MTN Ivory Coast in which the culprit falsely used the names of high ranking government officials and not a deliberate attempt by Mr Mpore or MTN to bring shame to Mr Gbagbo and his government.

Mr Mpore worked in Uganda for years as the boss of MTN Uganda’s top rival, Uganda Telecom, before he quit and left the country. Under him, UTL staggered and was reinvigorated only when the Libyan investors came in.

“MTN is committed to playing a supportive role in the economic development of Ivory Coast, as demonstrated by its huge investments which are contributing to the rapid development of the telecommunications sector in the country,” said MTN Corporate Affairs Group Executive January Nozipho.

She also expressed MTN Group’s confidence in Mr Mpore, saying he was the victim - and not an accomplice - in the identify fraud incident.

“The CEO has always acted in good faith while carrying out his duties. It was never his intention - or that of MTN CI - to discredit the person or the position of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ivory Coast,” she said.