SEACOM Expands to Five More African Countries

East African submarine cable operator SEACOM has announced that its services are now accessible from five additional African nations: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The network expansion is coupled with increasing resilience through its recent acquisition of east and west coast submarine cable capacity. SEACOM’s approach of partnering with established players to provide broadband services will continue as it develops its products and services based on resiliency, service quality and flexibility in line with customers’ evolving needs.

Suveer Ramdhani, SEACOM’s Head of Product Strategy, said: ‘This latest development is integral to the continued development and expansion of the SEACOM network in Africa and in particular to countries that have had limited access to broadband connectivity. We will continue to build relationships to meet our customers’ growing need for resilient and seamless capacity. This is part of SEACOM’s objective to build the African internet.

MTN Fight With Swazi Regulator Over 3G Licence Persits

According to the Swazi Observer, MTN Swaziland CEO Ambrose Dlamini has assured the cellco's customers that MTN is poised to introduce its commercial 3G network 'soon'.


The Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) declined to grant MTN Swaziland, the country’s sole mobile network operator, a 3G licence. MTN had hoped to received the concession at the end of 2010.


MTN was believed to have carried out a month long pilot of four UMTS base stations last year. It was then granted a temporary 3G licence to cover several events including the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA) summit, held last August.


The permit was valid from 16 August to 30 September, with 3G services allowed to be offered to post-paid customers only. 


Dlamini commented: 'Swazi MTN is 3G ready, all we have to do is to press a button and make the service available to the MTN network users. We are ready, what is outstanding at the moment is to be granted the appropriate licence by the regulator. As soon as we get the licence, we advise that our customers will experience an immense improvement on the data speeds and all other benefits which will come with the 3G technology'.

However, according to the Times of Swaziland, the SPTC has broken its silence regarding the decision - claiming that MTN demanded that the regulator grant it a an 'exclusive' 3G licence in a secret meeting dated 24 January.


Chairman of the SPTC board of directors Phanuel Vilakati commented: 'To demand that MTN Swaziland be granted licences without applying for them in terms of the [Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1983] would not only be engaging in wrongful conduct but would undermine the purpose of delegating power to the Director of Communications'. 


Vilakati added that the granting of a self provisioning international gateway licence is a matter of government policy, as it concerns issues of national security. He indicated that no 3G licence will be issued until the government has addressed MTN's demands.

In a retaliatory gesture, MTN Swaziland has now filed a court application to have SPTC managing director Elijah Zwane arrested for continuing to connect new customers to MTN’s new fixed-wireless network, following the termination of the two parties' shareholder agreement; until recently the SPTC held a 41% stake in MTN Swaziland on behalf of the government. 


MTN has alleged that the SPTC is unlawfully connecting customers to its network. SPTC's affidavit stated: 'The first respondent (SPTC) admits that it has been operating as a fixed line operator, in addition to other telecommunication services which it is authorised to provide in terms of the [Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1983]. It is incorrect to limit the respondent's interest in mobile telephone services to the joint venture (JV) with the second applicant (MTN)'.

Infraco To Launch Broadband In November

Broadband Infraco, the new State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) that will sell high capacity long distance transmission services to network service providers in South Africa, has confirmed that it will unveil its new ZAR1 billion (USD144.1 million) network during the third week of November.

The company has been plagued by licensing issues since its inception three years ago. The Broadband Infraco Act of 2007 stipulates that telecoms regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is obliged to issue Broadband Infraco both an Individual-Electronic Communications Network Services (I-ECNS) licence and an Electronic Communication Services (ECS) licence.

However, commercial ISPs objected to it receiving an ECS licence, as they claimed it would give the company an unfair advantage. In January 2010 ICASA bowed to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda's policy directive, and only awarded the I-ECNS concession.

Broadband Infraco has since confirmed that it will operate exclusively within a wholesale business model, targeting both fixed and mobile operators, as well as internet service providers. Licensed operators may buy multiple capacity increments of 155Mbps - up to 10Gbps. Broadband Infraco’s lowest capacity service reportedly offers transmission speeds akin to 20 HD movies being screened simultaneously.

CEO Dave Smith commented: ‘In anticipation of receiving the I-ECNS licence, Broadband Infraco installed some 11,765km of fibre optic cable connecting Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban and other large metropolitan centres including Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Port Elizabeth, East London, Nelspruit and Polokwane. The award of the Electronic Communications Services (ECS) licence from ICASA is the remaining piece of the puzzle for Broadband Infraco to deliver entirely on all aspects of its statutory mandate in accordance with applicable legislation’. According to Broadband Infraco, its network also extends connectivity to the borders of South Africa’s neighbouring countries, namely: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. The fibre-optic cables are scalable up to hundreds of gigabits of data per second, depending on future growth.

Telkom SA Prepares to Spread Into the Rest of Africa

SOUTH African Telecommunications operator, Telkom, has secured operating licences in east, south and west Africa, the company revealed on Monday in an interview.

Responding to questions, Telkom spokesman Pynee Chetty said the telecoms giant had secured operating licences in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Swaziland and Namibia.
“Telkom’s ambition is to become a significant Information Communication Technology (ICT) player in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the enterprise market.

“Apart from the satellite-based (SAT3) cable system, Telkom has invested in the new WACS, EASSy and SAFE submarine cables systems to further strengthen its position with regards to connectivity on the African continent,” said Chetty.

He said the operations in those countries consisted of consumer and enterprise solutions within the respective markets.

Chetty said Telkom would continue to service all these markets and acquire capabilities, through partnerships or own assets, to meet the demands of the local African enterprise and global multinational customers.
“The company continues to investigate opportunities in Africa and endeavours to expand into countries where customer demand warrants such actions.
“As far as the specific products and services are concerned, it is logical to utilise existing skills and capabilities acquired in the domestic market as far as possible when entering new markets,” said Chetty.

MTN Swaziland Gets New Chairman

THE MTN Swaziland Board has appointed David Dlamini as the new Chairman for the next two years.

Dlamini takes over from Senator Winnie Magagula who served two terms as Chairman of the Board since 2005. He is not new as Chairman of the Board of MTN. He Chaired the Board from 2002 to 2005.

Dlamini is the longest serving member of the Board having joined MTN as a Director in 1999.
The new chairman is running a consultancy company in Information Technology and Public Finance.

He Holds a Bsc. Degree in Business Administration and a Master in Business Leadership (MBL).
Dlamini also sits in various other Boards in the country as Director. Observer

MTN Makes Changes in Africa Team

South Africa's MTN Group has shuffled its key management in its African subsidiaries. MTN Group President and CEO, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko, says these appointments will go a long way towards helping MTN to achieve its vision of being the leading telecoms player in emerging markets.

“An appropriate degree of mobility of staff between our various operations facilitates increased learnings across the business and provides our staff with attractive and meaningful opportunities for growth within emerging markets. Over time, this should further bolster our ability to attract and retain the best skill and capability across our footprint,” says Nhleko.

Mr Themba Khumalo, the current CEO of MTN Rwanda is to take over as the new CEO of MTN Uganda. Previously Khumalo was an executive at MTN South Africa before his appointment as CEO of MTN Swaziland.

Mr Khaled Mikkawi, former CEO of the MTN operation in Liberia, will become the CEO of MTN Rwanda. Mikkawi was with Investcom for nine years before the company was acquired by MTN in 2006.

Mr Erik van Veen, the current COO of MTN Uganda, is the new CEO of MTN Zambia.

In the West and Central Africa region (WECA), MTN Guinea Bissau CEO, Mr Frans Joubert, has been appointed CEO of MTN’s operation in Liberia. Mr Anthony Masozera, the current CFO for MTN Rwanda, will become the new CEO of MTN Guinea Bissau. Mr Wim Vanhelleputte has been appointed CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire. Vanhelleputte joined MTN from another mobile operator where he served as CEO.