Communications Africa 6 2014 mobile

Afrique

AfricaComSolutions, services and applications to

connect the continent

NetworkCorporate concerns with

counterfeit cabling

SecurityHow to handle jailbroken

devices in the enterprise

NumériqueDes outils pour réduire la

fracture entre les sexes

Europe m15 - Kenya KSH300 - Nigeria N400 - South Africa R20 - UK £10 - USA $16.50

Broadcasting innovations on show at IBC

Africa

FEATURES: Internet Mobile InfrastructureREGULAR REPORTS: Bulletin - Agenda Equipment - Équipement

www.communicationsafrica.com

Issue 6 2014Édition 6 2014

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S01 CAF 6 2014 - Start_USE_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:14 Page 2

A note from the EditorTHIS ISSUE OF CommunicationsAfrica/Afrique looks at innovativeservices and solutions on show atAfricaCom in Cape Town, South Africa.This issue, includes, also, assessmentsof business models and technicalconsiderations that support extendedand enhanced connectivity, mobilityand security. With respect to broadcasttransmission and reception, there hasbeen plenty to report on from theenterprises at IBC, held recently inAmsterdam, The Netherlands.

Une note du rédacteurCE NUMÉRO DE ce magazinecomprend des analyses del'évolution des économies, lesréseaux, et de la recherche. Plusprécisément, ces articles sontconcernés par la fracture numériqueentre les sexes, la connectivité àlarge bande et la connectivité dansles pays arabes.

Bulletin 4

Events 8

Agenda 10

Equipment 53

ARTICLES

AfricaCom 20A showcase of innovative solutions and services for the continent’s communicators

Business 32Creating commercial models that support innovation in wireless connectivity

Satellite 33The benfits of C-band adoption to African economies

Network 35The potential in number portability; combatting counterfeit cabling; and the convergence of digital and traditional platformsfor customer service

Research 45Comparing customer-centric operations with network-centric communications companies

Security 48Enterprise concerns to be addressed with respect to jailbroken devices

IBC 50

Économie 34Autour les outils pour réduire la fracture entre les sexes au niveau des compétences numériques et de laconnectivité

Réseau 40Le haut débit et le développement économique et social

Recherche 44Un paysage de la téléphonie mobile diversifié dans les pays arabes

CONTENTS

Managing Editor: Andrew Croft - [email protected]

Editorial and Design team: Bob Adams, Prashant AP, Hiriyti Bairu, Ranganath GS, Rhonita Patnaik, Zsa Tebbit, Nicky Valsamakis and Ben Watts

Production: Nathanielle Kumar, Donatella Moranelli, Nick Salt and Sophia White Email: [email protected]

Publisher: Nick Fordham

Publishing Director: Pallavi Pandey

Magazine Sales Manager: Steve Thomas - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7834 7676, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 0076, Email: [email protected]

Country Representative Telephone Fax EmailChina Ying Matthieson (86)10 8472 1899 (86) 10 8472 1900 [email protected] Tanmay Mishra (91) 80 656 84483 (91) 80 40600791 [email protected] Bola Olowo (234) 8034349299 [email protected] Africa Annabel Marx (27) 218519017 (27) 46 624 5931 [email protected] Camilla Capece (971) 4 448 9260 (971) 4 448 9261 [email protected] Michael Tomashefsky (1) 203 226 2882 (1) 203 226 7447 [email protected]

Head Office: Middle East Regional Office:Alain Charles Publishing Ltd Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLCUniversity House Office 215, Loft 2A11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place PO Box 502207London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Dubai Media City, UAETelephone: +44 20 7834 7676 Telephone: +971 4 448 9260Fax: +44 20 7973 0076 Fax: +971 4 448 9261

Subscriptions: [email protected]: Derek FordhamPrinted by: Buxton PressCommunications Africa/Afrique is a bi-monthly magazine ISSN: 0962 3841

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Serving the world of business

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Communications Africa Issue 6 20144

BULLETIN

Siemon makes more of its IcePack portfolioNETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST Siemon has extended its rangeof IcePack cooling doors in Africa to match its expanding range of datacentre cabinets, to fit Siemon’s VersaPOD, V800 and V600 cabinets inboth 45 and 42U heights; the IcePack system works by close-coupling aspecialised fin-and-tube coil array that absorbs and cools equipmentheat exhaust, thus cooling the most challenging hotspots and providingprotection against future heat build-up.

SkyVision ensures connectivity at Unity Bank in NigeriaCOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER SKYVISION Global Networks has formed apartnership with Unity Bank, a Nigerian retail financial institution;SkyVision provided satellite-based virtual private network (VPN) servicesvia its local Nigerian hub to support Unity Bank’s local area network(LAN), connecting the bank’s headquarters in Lagos to its numerousbranch offices nationwide.

Vizocom enhances the Internet with EutelsatINTEGRATED SATELLITE BROADBAND solutions provider Vizocom hasselected the Eutelsat’s 21B satellite to implement a reliable and flexibleconnectivity service in countries with harsh and challengingenvironments and limited terrestrial infrastructure; Vizocom’s newsubsidiary AfricAsia Satellite Services will take advantage of two high-power service areas of the Eutelsat 21B satellite to offer connectivity withspeeds ranging from 6Mbps to 10 Mbps in the Middle East and Africa.

New network order for ComtechCOMTECH EF DATA Corp has received a US$1.6mn order for satelliteinfrastructure equipment and professional services, to be utilised by atelecommunications service provider to roll-out a new pan-Africansatellite-based mobile backhaul and international trunking network; thenetwork hub will be based in the United Arab Emirates, and this firstphase of deployment will be to remote sites in Chad and South Sudan.

Tangoe and Torch offer mobility and fixed solutionsA PROVIDER OF connection lifecycle management (CLM) software andrelated services, Tangoe has entered into a strategic partnershipagreement with a South African telecom estate management andadministration company, Torch, to extend Tangoe’s Matrix solution suiteinto Africa; Tangoe will provide clients with comprehensive software andservice solutions to optimise visibility and control of their complete fixedand mobile communications.

INWI migrates to Openet’s management solutionMOROCCAN OPERATOR INWI has deployed Openet’s Policy Manager tosuccessfully provide convergent policy control and advanced allowancemanagement; INWI has integrated the solution with Openet’s advancedBalance Manager and Offer Catalog products to monetise and shortentime-to-market for innovative new use cases.

The solution for low throughput connectivityETSI’S STANDARDISATION GROUP dedicated to Low ThroughputNetworks technology has released the first three specifications of anInternet of Things (IoT) network dedicated to low throughputcommunications; these new requirements provide a breakthrough in themachine to machine business, allowing low-costobject connection, witha few milliwatts for transmission and a cheap modem

PCCW Global and Paratus Telecom work in NamibiaHKT’S INTERNATIONAL OPERATING division, PCCW Global has recentlysigned an international MPLS and IPX interconnection agreement withParatus Telecom of Namibia to enhance high definition voice and MPLSnetwork coverage in Namibia and neighbouring countries; thecollaboration will also provide PCCW Global additional access to thestrong developing economies of Angola and Zambia, while extendingParatus Telecom’s Ethernet, voice and IP VPN coverage via PCCWGlobal’s resilient MPLS/IPX network, which reaches over 3,000 cities inmore than 130 countries, and enabling Paratus to benefit from PCCWGlobal’s direct ownership in the major undersea West African CableSystem (WACS).

Liquid telecom reveals East Africa’s lead on InternetACCORDING TO LIQUID Telecom Kenya CEO Ben Roberts, Kenya currentlyleads in African connectivity with the highest bandwidth per person onthe continent, the fastest speeds, and some of the lowest internet costs;describing the connection of the continent’s most concentrated clusterof undersea cables, the development of the Kenyan Internet ExchangePoint, the creation of thousands of points of presence by internationaland national service and content providers, Mr Roberts said, “Kenya hasachieved a confluence of infrastructure and provision that haspositioned it with the highest growth in Internet take-up compared toincome per capita in Africa.”

Bentley Walker to use Gazprom capacityGAZPROM SPACE SYSTEMS director general Dmitry Sevastiyanov andBentley Walker CEO Anthony Walker have signed a contract at IBC 2014,by which Bentley Walker will use Yamal-402 satellite capacity forbroadband service delivery in Africa; Bentley Walker has deployed aniDirect Evolution 9m antenna located at the Aflenz Teleport run byTelekom Austria, which will be applied to uplink signal to Yamal-402satellite.

Low Throughput Network (LTN) technology is a wide area bidirectionalwireless network with key differentiators compared to existing networks. Itenables long-range data transmission (distances around 40 km in open field)and/or communication with buried underground equipment and operateswith minimal power consumption allowing several years of operation evenwith standard batteries.


“Increased global mobile broadband usage isnot only impacting traditional post-paid

billing systems but also intelligent network(IN) pre-paid charging systems. This is even

more prevalent in Africa given the largenumber of subscribers on pre-paid mobile

plans...If operators are to evolve they mustimplement real-time or online charging

systems.” - Corine Suscens,senior marketing manager, Openet


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BULLETIN

Un firewall du marché centré sur la menaceAVEC L'INTRODUCTION DU premier Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) dumarché centré sur la menace, Cisco change la manière dont lesentreprises peuvent se protéger contre les menaces ciblées; Cisco ASAavec la technologie FirePOWER offre une connaissance du contextecomplète et les contrôles dynamiques nécessaires pour détecter lesmenaces en continu, corréler les informations obtenues et optimiser lesdéfenses pour protéger les réseaux.

Vizocom et Eutelsat s’associent pour la première foisLE SERVICE DE connectivité par satellite de Vizocom, spécialiste del’intégration de solutions Internet haut débit par satellite, baptisé «AfricAsia Satellite Services » va bénéficier de la forte puissance de deuxfaisceaux du satellite Eutelsat 21B, pour offrir des débits allant de 6Mbps à 10 Mbps au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique; ce service a été déployédepuis avril 2014 sur plusieurs bases militaires au Mali.

Orange et BOA élargissent leur partenariatLES CLIENTS DE Bank of Africa (BOA) et d’Orange Money pourront dansles mois à venir alimenter directement avec leur téléphone mobile leurcompte Orange Money depuis leur compte BOA, et vice versa; « Lacomplémentarité de nos activités avec BOA apportera à nos clientscommuns plus de confort en leur permettant d’effectuer des opérationsfinancières depuis leur mobile, où qu’ils soient dans le pays et àn’importe quel moment de la journée, sans avoir besoin de se déplacer,» a déclaré Marc Rennard, Directeur Exécutif AMEA chez Orange.

Nilesat et Eutelsat renforcent leur coopérationEUTELSAT COMMUNICATIONS ET Nilesat ont signé un contrat de locationde capacité à portant sur plusieurs répéteurs du satellite Eutelsat 8 WestB; ce satellite, dont le lancement est prévu pour mi-2015, est destiné à ladiffusion de contenus vidéo sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord.

La science, la technologie et l’innovation en AfriqueLA BANQUE AFRICAINE de développement (BAD) et ses partenairessont organisé la deuxième édition du Forum ministériel sur la science,la technologie et l’innovation (STI) en Afrique, à Rabat, au Maroc, ausein de l’Académie Hassan II des Sciences et Techniques; le forum a placé sous l’égide du gouvernement marocain et co-organisé par laBAD et le gouvernement finlandais.

iSAT a lancé un bouquet pour le KenyaEUTELSAT ET iSAT Africa s’associent pour accélérer l’accès aux chaînesnumériques au Kenya et en Afrique de l’Est; sur la zone de couvertureafricaine du satellite Eutelsat 70B, iSAT et Eutelsat diffuseront unbouquet de chaînes qui servira à alimenter les têtes des réseauxnumériques et les foyers équipés pour la réception directe par satellite..

Des extensions de données volumineuxCOUCHBASE A ANNONCÉ le lancement de Couchbase Server 3.0; «Couchbase érige la norme en matière de technologie de base dedonnées distribuée évolutive et hautes performances », a déclaré BobWiederhold, président-directeur général de Couchbase.


EN VUE D'AUGMENTER sa part de marché dans lesecteur des téléphones intelligents au Moyen-Orient,ZTE présente pour la première fois ses produitsphares – Grand SII LTE, Nubia Z5S Mini et Blade Vec 4G– dans la région. Prévu révolutionner le segment destéléphones intelligents dans la région, le lancementde ces produits fait partie de l'initiative stratégiquede la société internationale de télécommunicationsvisant à renforcer sa présence sur le marché auMoyen-Orient.« Les É.A.U., qui font partie des leaders dans lesecteur des télécommunications internationales avecune croissance considérable sur le marché desréseaux 4G, sont l'un de nos marchés les plusintéressants. Afin de renforcer la position de pionnierde ZTE sur le marché des CCG, Dubaï nous ouvrira lesportes pour intégrer l'ensemble de la région duMoyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord (MENA). Nouslancerons nos produits haut de gamme dans cetterégion à travers un canal ouvert et un canald'opérateurs », a déclaré Ning Tian, directeur pour larégion MENA chez ZTE Mobile Device.Les téléphones intelligents 4G révolutionnairesphares de ZTE lancés lors du salon Gitex Shoppersont innovants et dotés de fonctions haut de gamme.Le Grand SII LTE, réputé pour sa vitesse detraitement exceptionnelle, est l'un des téléphonesintelligents 4G les plus rapides au monde. Il contientle nouveau processeur Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 etpossède un écran de 5,5 pouces à résolution HDcomplète de 1 080 pixels, assurant ainsi un affichaged'une clarté cristalline.Fonctionnant sous Android 4.3 OS, le Grand SII LTE estdoté d'une option de sécurité unique qui permet aux

utilisateurs de déverrouiller leur combiné avec leurvoix, à l'aide d'une phrase de leur choix. Il offreégalement des fonctions audio améliorées pour desappels plus clairs, ainsi qu'un appareil photo de 13mégapixels et un appareil photo frontal de 2mégapixels pour des photos de meilleure qualité.Le Nubia Z5S Mini comble les besoins desconsommateurs en matière de valeur esthétique avecson allure stylée, conçue par l'artiste italien StefanoGiovannoni. Il est également doté d'un système surpuces 4G MSM8926 quadri-cœur de 1,2 Ghz, ainsi qued'un écran tactile de 4,7 pouces et 720 pixels, l'un desexcellents panneaux IGZO de Sharp. Il offre uneconnectivité 4G LTE et une fente pour carte MicroSD,permettant d'augmenter la mémoire interne de 16 Go.Le Nubia Z5S Mini compte 13 mégapixels à l'arrière, et ilest équipé d'un capteur illuminé au dos avec uneouverture F2.2, le tout dissimulé derrière une lentille encristal de saphir, ainsi qu'un flash à DEL et un appareilphoto frontal de 5 mégapixels. Permettant de choisirentre trois modes, y compris un mode automatique etun mode professionnel pour un contrôle amélioré, cetéléphone intelligent ZTE répondre aux besoins des

amateurs d'autoportraits individuels et de groupe.En parallèle, avec son processeur quadri-cœurQualcomm et son affichage ultra-net TFT de 5 pouces,le Blade Vec 4G de ZTE ne fait que 7,8 mm d'épaisseur.Le dos de l'appareil est en fibre de verre, avec uneconception spéciale à rayures, ce qui le rend à la foisélégant et résistant aux rayures. Ce téléphoneintelligent 4G est doté d'un écran d'une résolution de1 280 x 720 et d'un appareil photo 8MP, et ilfonctionne sous Android 4.4 KitKat.« Le secteur des téléphones intelligents a connu unecroissance phénoménale dans le monde entier,particulièrement dans les pays du Moyen-Orientcomme les É.A.U. et l'Arabie saoudite. Cette région –qui devrait représenter le deuxième plus vastegroupe de consommateurs de téléphones intelligentsau monde selon l'étude Quarterly Mobile PhoneTracker de l'International Data Corporation (IDC)– estindubitablement l'un des principaux marchés ciblespour ZTE et nous sommes déterminés à établir notremarque sur le marché des téléphones intelligents enfournissant des produits qui sont adaptés auxbesoins des consommateurs », a indiqué Tian.Tao Jiang, vice-président pour la région EMEA(Europe, Moyen-Orient et Afrique) chez ZTE MobileDevice, a ajouté : « Bien que ZTE jouisse déjà d'uneposition de premier plan dans beaucoup de pays sil'on considère nos terminaux qui permettent dedévelopper et de soutenir les infrastructures, noussommes également optimistes sur l'expansion de laprésence de nos nouveaux téléphones intelligents etinnovants et de leur part de marché dans les secteursdes téléphones intelligents et des produits mobilesau cours des prochaines années dans les É.A.U. »

ZTE s'apprête à renforcer sa part de marché dans le secteur des téléphones intelligents au Moyen-Orient

Grand SII LTE, Nubia Z5S Mini et Blade Vec 4G


S02 CAF 6 2014 - Agenda 01_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:16 Page 7


AGENDA

8 www.communicationsafrica.com

NOVEMBER/NOVEMBRE3-4 RAN World Berlin, Germany www.ranworldevent.com

4-5 TV Connect Middle East & North Africa Dubai, UAE mena.tvconnectevent.com

4-6 Global MilSatCom London, UK www.globalmilsatcom.com

5-7 OilComm Texas, USA www.oilcomm.com

11-13 Africa Com Cape Town, South Africa africa.comworldseries.com

12-13 Global Broadband Traffic Management Barcelona, Spain www.broadbandtrafficevent.com

12-13 SatCon New York, USA ccwexpo.com

18 TMT World Congress London, UK www.tmtfinance.com

18-20 SATIS Paris, France www.satis-expo.com

DECEMBER/DÉCEMBRE7-11 ITU Telecom World Doha, Qatar www.itu.int

Events/Événements 2014

AS A PART of SATIS' outreach efforts towards French-speakingcommunities throughout the world, the event's schedule will placeemphasis on challenges related to French-language media.

As a part of the agreement struck by member countries and otherinstitutions within the ITU (International Telecommunication Union),Africa as a whole will switch from analog to digital television on June17, 2015. This change will open up new perspectives for thedevelopment of Africa's audio-visual landscape, from film and TVproduction to broadcasting and screening, including advertising andhardware. Major players on the audio-visual market have alreadyprepared for Africa's digital transition; these include Canal +, Eutelsat,Orange, Lagardère, StarTimes (China), MultiChoice/DStv, SES, and Intelsat.

In this context, the topics discussed during the talks at SATIS willinclude the media and culture of French-speaking countries, and theywill also present the current state of French-language film productionduring the talk scheduled on Wednesday, November 19 at 5 pm.Speakers at SATIS will include experts, technical managers of African TVstations, and consultants.

The event will also host a forum on the evolution and businessopportunities of DTV and audio-visual technologies in Africa, organized

in partnership with the Paris chamber of commerce's committee onFrench-African exchanges. The forum will be held on Tuesday,November 18, from 2 pm to 6.30 pm. During that afternoon, ten talkswill shed light on the opportunities and challenges of this revolution.

One talk will be dedicated specifically to Nollywood, with SergeNoukoue, who is in charge of acquisitions at A+ and has founded theNollywood Week film festival; he will share his experience on audio-visual production in Africa. Nollywood was born in the streets of Lagosat the end of the 1980s, and illustrates Nigeria's film industry. Thecountry is the world's second largest producer of films, after Bollywoodand before Hollywood, with over 1,000 films each year.

Furthermore, a discussion on the development of the Africanaudiovisual industry and the opportunities for French SMEs will be heldby Pierre Jalladeau (general manager of CFI's African branch), MactarSilla (general manager, MS Consulting and Africa Communication etConseil), François Thiellet (founder and manager, Théma TV), Jean-Christophe Ramos (corporate business manager, Canal+ Afrique), andEve-Lise Blanc-Deleuze. They will share advice and strategies to follow,and will also discuss the challenges stemming from China'scompetition, as major players on the Chinese audio-visual market havealready taken notice of Africa's strong potential on this market.

AS THE IBC 2014 show closed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands,recently, all the pieces appeared to be falling into place forsatellite industry technology specialists NovelSat. Winning a prestigious CSI Award,booking orders for the new NS300 modem and dozens of successful meetings withindustry executives were all part of the good news.The CSI Award for Best Satellite Contribution/Distribution/Transmission Solution,

which NovelSat won, recognises the value of the company’s FreeBand solution,which gives DSNG and other remote satellite users free satellite bandwidth forcontribution using existing distribution bandwidth.While overtaking the satellite industry competition at the awards ceremony,

NovelSat also introduced its new NS300 Professional Satellite Modem at IBC. TheNS300 was designed for cost-effective data transmission applications requiring upto 30Mbps. In addition to generating a lot of interest, the company has alreadyreceived orders for the new NS300.NovelSat finished up 2013 marking triple digit growth, more than doubling

revenue year over year, with thousands of deployments in over 100 countries. Inaddition to successful satellite modems, modulators and demodulators, thecompany continues to develop new technologies to make satellite transmissioneasier and more cost-effective. This development effort will continue to pay offwith new technology announcements in the coming months."I want to thank the people at CSI for the industry award that recognizes the

hard work of the entire NovelSat team," remarked Itzik Wulkan, NovelSat CEO. "Wehave an exciting year ahead with new technologies, new markets and newopportunities for growth around the globe."NovelSat plans to announce a new line of satellite transmission products

currently in development. The company has not yet publicly disclosed details.

NovelSat awarded at IBC

African audiovisuals at SATIS

Joining the NovelSat Professional Modem Series, the NS300 is an idealplatform for low data rate applications



MANAGEMENT, ENGINEERING AND development consultancy MottMacDonald has supported Eaton Towers’ acquisition of 3,500 mobilenetwork towers from Airtel. The consultancy provided commercial andtechnical due diligence to Eaton Towers, a leading independenttelecoms tower company in Africa.

In 2013, Airtel, a leading global telecommunications servicesprovider, began a process to sell all/part of its mobile network towers in

up to 17 African countries. This dealsees Eaton Towers purchase 3,500towers in six countries whichconsolidates and builds on itsexisting operations in Africa. Thistransaction also follows EatonTowers’ and Airtel’s strategies todrive cost efficiencies throughoutthe industry via the use of sharedpassive infrastructure.

Mott MacDonald provided a 10-year forecast of future towerdemand based on market andtechnology evolution using an in-

house developed tower market demand model. This forecasted likelytenancy demand and tenancy ratios and analysed tower space and GISlocation data to examine the attractiveness of each portfolio to mobilenetwork operators. An assessment of potential co-location pricing andsite operating costs was also provided, using Mott MacDonald’sextensive database of benchmarks.

Andrew Doyle, Mott MacDonald’s manager of technology andcommunications, said, “Our deliverables gave Eaton’s finance partnersconfidence in the potential markets they were interested in and were keyin finalising this acquisition.”

A PROVIDER OF professional IPTV technologiesfor the secure distribution of live, on-demandand recorded video over IP, Exterity has joinedthe Southern African CommunicationsIndustries Association (SACIA).

Exterity has been designing, developing andmanufacturing technically innovative productsthat deliver networked video over IP.Membership of SACIA enables the company toimprove its relationships with systemintegrators and information communicationtechnologies specialists in South Africa.

The decision to join SACIA follows increaseddemand for the Exterity professional IPTVsystems in Sub-Saharan Africa. SACIA has beenset up specifically to promote the adoption ofprofessional standards and ethical businesspractice in the communications industrythroughout Southern Africa. To that end, itprovides market research and intelligenceservices, networking and the development oftraining and skills development programmes.

“Joining SACIA ensures that we are involvedwith organisations that are shaping the marketas demand for our professional IPTV systemscontinues to accelerate in Sub-Saharan Africa,”said Colin Farquhar, CEO at Exterity.

“This enables us to help set the scene in the

region and to share our know-how with theregion’s communications industry as itincreasingly deploys professional IPTVsystems.”

Gary Davies, sub-Saharan Africa salesmanager at Exterity, commented, “SACIA isamong the most active associations in SouthAfrica and becoming a member of such anorganisation demonstrates our interest inhelping our local partners and customers tomeet their professional IPTV requirements. Weare looking forward to being more involved withthe local decision makers in order to develop asustainable and efficient IPTV industry.”

“Over the last few years our membershipbases has expanded to include most of theestablished technology vendors active in theSouthern African market, as well as a growingnumber of Universities, governmentdepartments and business entities,” saidKevan Jones, executive director of SACIA.

“The next step in SACIA development isreflected in greater support from theinternational vendor community whorecognises the business potential of the Africanmarket. By signing up as a SACIA member,vendors reinforce their commitment to a higherlevel of service and ethics.”


AGENDA

10

DIGITAL SECURITY FIRM Gemalto is providing M2Mconnectivity for Solarkiosk, a compact, solarpowered station transported onboard a mobilevehicle. This cabin features photovoltaic panelsacross its roof to generate sustainable energy inareas outside of conventional power cabling andinfrastructures.Gemalto’s Cinterion modules deliver rugged M2Mconnectivity powering a mobile router, provided byINSYS icom, which enables condition monitoring ofthe Solarkiosks’ photovoltaic panels and tracksenergy production and consumption through a webinterface.

DATA, VOICE AND IP provider Liquid Telecom has committed to the expansionand investment of its operations in Rwanda, in order to enable morebusinesses and homes to gain access to its high-speed broadband serviceboth within Rwanda and surrounding countries.Liquid Telecom has long recognised the advantages of Rwanda’s central

African location and role as an Internet services hub for east and centralAfrica. In June 2014 the company announced that it had completed the buildof the East Africa Fibre Ring which connects Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzaniaand back into Kenya. This provides consistently high speeds and continuousuptime across the region. Over the next two years, the group’s wholesalebusiness in Rwanda will invest US$34mn in laying thousands of kilometres ofnew fibre across the country and to the borders of Burundi, the DRC, Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda. This new fibre will enable more businesses and homesto access its broadband service. In addition, operators in neighbouringcountries will be able to interconnect with Liquid Telecom Rwanda’s network.As part of the expansion plan, and following a successful rollout at Liquid

Telecom Zimbabwe, Liquid Telecom Rwanda will be the first company inRwanda to lay extensive fibre to the home (FTTH) starting in the capital cityof Kigali, where it has already built a metropolitan fibre ring. Homes andbusinesses in the country have traditionally used a combination of WiMAX,dongles, satellite and mobile broadband but will now be able to connect usingfibre laid directly to the premises.The FTTH service will be available from Liquid Telecom Rwanda’s retail

business. It will offer speeds of up to 100Mbps which, combined with unlimitedcapacity, will provide home connections comparable to large multinationalcorporations enabling usage such as high definition video, live TV streaming,uninterrupted VoIP calling, real-time online gaming and both uploading anddownloading of large files. Future plans for the FTTH service include offeringvalue-added and OTT services similar to those currently launching inZimbabwe.

Liquid Telecom invests in Rwandan networkexpansion, including first fibre to the home

Gemalto M2M tech to enablegreener energy

Exterity joins SACIA to support IPTV integration

Mott MacDonald advises on mobile towers acquisition


Mott MacDonald has advised onEaton Towers’ acquisition ofmobile towers

Solarkiosks support simple plug-in access forappliances, devices and broad range of systems


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A SOUTH AFRICAN private small satellite contractor, with businessinterests and ongoing contracts in numerous countries around the world,has just established their headquarters in Somerset Links Business Parkin South Africa’s Western Cape.

The Space Commercial Service Holdings (SCSH) group consists of anumber of subsidiary companies, all specialising in different aspects ofthe high-tech small satellite industry, and brings with it 48 on-sitepersonnel to Somerset West. This is made up of 37 electrical, mechanicaland process engineers, and nine specialists in the fields of IT, geo-riskmanagement, geo information systems, and social development. Thebalance of staff is made up of sales, marketing, management andadministrative personnel.

Apart from buying its own office space at Somerset Links, the groupwill further invest significantly in a clean room Facility, a necessaryadjunct to any satellite manufacturing company. Although the cleaneoom is situated within the normal office area, it is a speciallyconstructed room which is totally sterile and thus, suitable for themanufacturing of sensitive high tech equipment. Only personnel withspecial clearance will be allowed to enter the room, and only after theyhave taken all the prescribed precautions.

“Our relocation from Stellenbosch Technopark was necessitated bygrowth in the group and thus, the need for more office space, technicalwork areas, laboratory space, and especially the need for amanufacturing Clean Room Facility. Easy access to the N2 and a short 20minute drive from the airport, were all considerations given the travelload on personnel,” said Dr Sias Mostert, chairman of SCSH.

“Economic Empowerment is our business. We specialise in creatingworking platforms for a variety of industries using the unique properties

of geostationary satellites and low earth orbit small satellites. Theseplatforms could be geospatial business intelligence for farming, ecology,weather, mining, urban development, population counts, strategicapplications, and the socio-economic development sector.”

The Helderberg Business Chamber is more than pleased by theirmove. Daantjie Malan, chairman of the chamber, said, “We are delightedto welcome Space Commercial Service Holdings into the HelderbergBusiness fraternity. The entire region is to benefit in terms of job creationand it will certainly send a strong signal to other industries that theHelderberg Basin is a future business growth point, especially beingadjacent to the huge Paardevlei development.”


AGENDA

12

GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER SkyVision Global Networks Ltd hasdonated satellite connectivity solutionsto support students at Ghana’s CrossoverInternational Academy. SkyVision’sdonation included upgrading theacademy’s communications equipmentwith the support of VT iDirect, andproviding Internet connectivity for anadditional year, enabling students toaccess online educational programmesand related e-learning tools.In 2013, the first phase of this

charitable project was initiated jointly bySkyVision and iDirect, a world leader insatellite-based IP communicationstechnology.SkyVision’sSkyDirect VSAT service

based on iDirect’s platform was installedand deployed throughout theacademy, delivering reliable Internet access to all students.Located in the remote village of Tongor-Attokrokpo, Ghana, all of Crossover’s

students are orphans, supported by charitable donations from around the globe.SkyVision’s extension project will provide quality satellite communicationsthroughout the school, considered by the faculty, as a ‘lifeline’ for continuedlearning. Internet provides the students with access to streaming video, socialmedia, and email, and offers online programs such as the Khan Academy formathematics, and PRO for reading and comprehension. The extended Internetservice will enable over 250 students to enjoy the benefits of global connectivity,enjoying online programming in the classroom and the opportunity to communicate

with the outside world, far removed fromtheir remote villages.“Without SkyVision stepping up and

once again, donating a second year ofInternet service, we would have beenforced to shut down our e-learningprogrammes, commented James Conti,co-founder and CEO, Wings for Crossover.“Seeing the joy in the students’ facesevery morning reminds us how muchthey appreciate this truly generous gift.”Chad Cooper, co-founder, Wings for

Crossover, said, “SkyVision has enabledour students to be educated and to riseabove their often difficult circumstances.As a result of SkyVision’s generosity,these children will have the chance tobreak the cycle of poverty througheducation, make better lives for

themselves, and for the generations to follow.”“We are both proud and honored to support Crossover and the many students in

need of education. It has been a pleasure to follow and be part of this important andlife-changing project”, stated Tzvika Zaiffer, director of product management &marketing.Ori Watermann, SkyVision CEO, commented, “We are committed to giving back to

the global communities in which we work and education is a fundamental steppingstone towards these children’s growth and success. This project is proof of thesignificance and importance of satellite communications in education. SkyVision isproud to support the future in this developing nation, starting with its children, it’smost vital resource.”

SkyVision has donated communications equipment to Ghana’s CrossoverInternational Academy, with the support of VT iDirect

SkyVision extends its commitment to Ghana’s Crossover Academy for underprivileged children

SA satellite company sets its base in Somerset West


o a

From left: Nirkash Jithoo, COO Space Advisory Company, Jessie Ndaba,Programme Manager Space Advisory Company and NewSpace Systems, Dr.Sias Mostert CEO Space Commercial Services Holdings, and JamesBarrington-Brown, MD NewSpace Systems

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POSIFLEX TECHNOLOGY INC., which designs andmanufactures point of sale (POS) touch screenterminals and peripherals, haslaunched a new mobilePOS and has opened itsfirst Middle East & NorthAfrica (MENA) office in Dubai inthe UAE.

At the 2014 edition of GITEX,held in October in Dubai, Posiflex debutedthe MT-4008W, a mobile POS specifically createdfor both the retail and hospitality sectors. It is an 8”tablet that supports MSR attachment, and can beintegrated with the choice of a detachable pistol gripor a hand strap depending on the application. Anoptional dock station allows the device to functionas an all-in-one POS.

The ergonomically designed detachable pistolgrip is equipped with a 1D or 2D barcode scannerand houses a removable battery that effectivelylengthens the operation life of the tablet. Largermobile devices are typically cumbersome, butthe MT-4008W’s pistol grip and preciseweight balance ensure the device is easyfor a user to carry and handle.

“The MT-4008W creates a brand new user-friendly experience formobile retailing and hospitality,” said Owen Chen, president and

CEO of Posiflex.The MT-4008W is highly versatile as well as mobile. Its

optional dock station integrates a 3” WIFI thermalreceipt printer andconnectivity optionssuch as Serial ports,USB ports, LAN portsand CR ports. This allowsthe tablet to transforminto a traditional all-in-onePOS solution instantly,

which can carry out multipletasks simultaneously.

More than 360mn people live in theMiddle East and North Africa and 60 percent of thepopulation is under 25. As such, Posiflex sees strongpotential for the development of retail consumption in the

region, especially as MENA governments diversify theireconomies to focus more on both the retail and

hospitality markets. Tourism, which accountsfor 7.7% of the region’s GDP, is rising and

helping to further drive up hospitalityand retailing revenue.


AGENDA

14

YAHSAT IS WORKING in partnership - with Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital),on the manufacture of Al Yah 3, and Arianespace on Al Yah 3’s launch into orbitin Q4 2016 from French Guiana.

Masood M Sharif Mahmood, chief executive officer at Yahsat, said: “After arigorous selection process, Yahsat has chosen two industry-leadingorganisations that will manufacture and launch our third satellite in late 2016.Having worked with Arianespace for the launch of Y1A, one of the world’s mostadvanced satellites currently in orbit, and with Orbital’s impressive track recordof building over 150 satellites that have

amassed over 1,000 years of in-orbit experience, both companies have proventheir ability to meet and exceed our expectations for world class connectivity inAfrica and Brazil.

“Looking ahead as development and launch plans progress, Yahsat willcontinue to explore ground partners and distributors across both Africa andBrazil. Our aim is not just to launch a satellite, but also provide a 360 degreeservice platform to facilitate the distribution of broadband and connectivityservices in our target markets. Part of this exercise is to ensure we build theright distribution and operational platforms within each of our markets, and weare actively engaged in identifying strong partners across both continents.”

David W. Thompson, Orbital’s chairman and chief executive officer,commented, “Being a part of this program is very important to our teambecause it enables us to contribute to the development of the advancedtechnology industry in the UAE. We look forward to working with the Yahsat teamon this high-throughput/light-weight GEOStar satellite.”

Lightweight, ergonomic and versatile, thePosiflex MT-4008W is the perfect companionfor both mobile retailing and hospitality

Al Yah 3 to reach 600mn users

OVER 50 PER CENT of the global population will have Internetaccess within three years’ time, with mobile broadband oversmartphones and tablets now the fastest growing technology inhuman history, according to the 2014 edition of the State ofBroadband report, released at the 10th meeting of the BroadbandCommission for Digital Development. The report indicates thatmore than 40 per cent of the world’s people are already online,with the number of Internet users rising from 2.3bn in 2013 to2.9bn by the end of this year. Over 2.3bn people will access mobilebroadband by end 2014, climbing steeply to a predicted 7.6bnwithin the next five years. There are now over three times as manymobile broadband connections as there are conventional fixedbroadband subscriptions. The popularity of broadband-enabledsocial media applications continues to soar, with 1.9bn people nowactive on social networks. In total, there are now 77 countrieswhere over 50 per cent of the population is online, up from 70 in2013. The top ten countries for Internet use are all located inEurope, with Iceland ranked first in the world with 96.5 per cent ofpeople online. The lowest levels of Internet access are mostlyfound in sub-Saharan Africa, with Internet available to less thantwo per cent of the population in Ethiopia (1.9 per cent), Niger (1.7per cent), Sierra Leone (1.7 per cent), Guinea (1.6 per cent),Somalia (1.5 per cent), Burundi (1.3 per cent), Eritrea (0.9 per cent)and South Sudan (no data available).

“With broadband Internet now universally recognised as a vitaltool for social and economic development, we need to makeconnectively a key development priority, particularly in the world’spoorest nations. Connectivity is not a luxury for the rich - rather, itis the most powerful tool mankind has ever had at its disposal tobridge development gaps in areas like health, education,environmental management and gender empowermentbehind,”said ITU secretary-general Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, who serves asco-vice chair of the commission with UNESCO director-generalIrina Bokova.

Posiflex’s mobile POS solution for retail and hospitality sectors

Half the world will be online by 2017


Al Yah 3 is scheduled forlaunch in Q4 2016


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AT THE GALA event of the 11th AnnualInternational Business Awards held at theWestin Vendôme Hotel in Paris, France,Movitel - a subsidiary of Viettel Group inMozambique - was presented as the GoldWinner of ‘Fastest Growing of the Year inMiddle-East and Africa’ Award.

Within only one year, Movitel has increasedits coverage area from 60 per cent to 80 percent and doubled the number of coveredpeople from 35 per cent to 85 per cent. Nearly600,000 people in at least five rural districts inMozambique have been covered and servedtelecom services for the first time in life. Movitelhas had over five million users, taking theleading position in the mobile market.

By the end of 2012, only six months fromlaunching, Movitel made total revenue of

US$69.7mn. The next year saw significantrise in revenue, US$154.5mn, of whichUS$102.3mn was recorded in the second halfof the year, which was an increase of 65.8 percent year-on-year.

Movitel has improved its successfulbusiness strategy as a caring and innovativenetwork for every Mozambican. Especially,Movitel is becoming the favorite operatoramong the youth and urbanites.

Viettel has been grantedtelecommunications in nine countries with totalpopulation of over 160mn, total investmentvalue of US$1.5bn. Five subsidiary companies inCambodia, Laos, Haiti, Mozambique and Timorhave provided services. Two companies in Peruand Cameroon launched on October 2014. Theother two, in Burundi and Tanzania, are underinfrastructure deployment of their networks.

Total revenue from overseas business ofViettel reached US$1bn in 2013 with around11.5mn subscribers, bringing in more thanUS$180.5mn accumulated profits.


AGENDA

16

SOUTH AFRICAN COMMERCIAL bankNedbank Ltd is deploying the EzioeBanking solution developed bydigital security specialist Gemaltoto provide wholesale customers withunmatched online transaction security and superior convenience.The Ezio Corporate eBanking PKI solution requires no software

installation. The user simply connects the USB key to their PC or Macand the device launches a “safe zone” that permits to securely review,approve and digitally sign all types and amounts of bankingtransactions within a protected online environment.

A GROUP OF good governanceorganisations has launchedApplication Action 4 Transparency(A4T) to empower citizens with adigital tool that allows them to trackpublic expenditure.

The application is beingcoordinated by the Zambia Institute ofMass Communication (ZAMCOM),Transparency International Zambia(TIZ) and Sweden’s Fojo MediaInstitute (with the support of theSwedish government).

The project aims at fightingcorruption and mismanagement ofGovernment by putting the power tochange in the hands of citizens.

ZAMCOM and TIZ launched thepioneering Public Expenditure TrackingSurvey (PETS) A4T on May 7, 2014. Theinitiative is aimed at empoweringcitizens with a digital tool that will allowthem to track public expenditure.

Citizens who have a mobile phonewith Internet access can check theamount of Government money pledged

to various sectors and the amount thathas been spent in Lusaka.

For phones with no internet access,the A4T would be available throughshort messaging system (SMS) servicethat has been created feeding directlyinto the application.

The project has been launched inLusaka as a pilot site with a possibilityof being scaled up to other districts ata later date.

Similar programmes have alreadybeen launched in the Kampala, Uganda

Nawa Mutumweno

In one year, Movitel has increased its coveragearea from 60 per cent to 80 per cent

Digital tracker monitors Zambia’s public spending

TAISYS TECHNOLOGIES ANDKenyan financial institution EquityBank are issuing an ultra-thinmobile banking smart SIM withpatented technology from Taisys.Equity Bank customers can nowenjoy funds transfer, micro-payments and other mobilefinancial services that are agnosticacross mobile devices, includingtraditional basic-featurephones using Taisys’smBanking andd u o S I Mofferings. Thet e c hno l o g yalso allows thebank to extendto customersm o b i l etelecommunicationservices approved byCommunications Authority ofKenya.

Traditionally, banks providingmobile banking services rely onthe telecommunications providerto issue smart SIMs. Besidessubstantial investments from thebank in product development, thebanks do not have direct controlover the platform, making day-today maintenance difficult andcreating customer experiencesthat are less than ideal. With

Taisys’s patented ultra-thinsmart SIM - duoSIM - can bedirectly attached the surface of anexisting telco-issued SIM, andplaced into the mobile device.Taisys’s duoSIM can then be used

to execute mobile bankingtransactions, releasing the bankfrom the limitations of a telco-issued banking SIM.

CEO of Taisys, Jason Hoexpresses great optimism inKenya’s market potential. “With apopulation of 40mn, and 14mn

m o b i l e

money users, Kenya is a maturemarket with users familiar withmobile financial services. Taisyssees this as a great impetus forgrowth in mobile banking,” hesaid. He also sees Taisys’scollaboration with Kenya’s largestbank as a strategic partnership toexpand the offering of mobilebanking services, and providingsuch services to a widerpopulation in Kenya.

Nedbank and Gemalto secure online banking

Viettel’s growth in Mozambique acknowledged

Equity Bank set to challenge M-Pesa


By adopting duoSIM technology,Equity Bank can now provide analternative mobile banking andmobile money solution to consumers

A4T has empowered citizens with adigital tool that allows them to trackpublic expenditure



LORS D'UNE TABLE ronde réunissant des chefsde file de l'industrie et du gouvernement, quis'est tenue cette semaine au Caire, à laquelleSon Excellence Atef Helmy, ministre égyptiendes Communications et de la Technologie del'Information, et Hesham El Alaily, Présidentexécutif de la NTRA, la GSMA a publié unnouveau rapport révélant le potentiel importantpour la croissance future en Egypte. En prenantdes mesures afin d'accroître la pénétration duhaut débit mobile, le pays pourrait débloquer310 milliards de livres égyptiennessupplémentaires (soit 43 milliards d'USD) dePIB et engendrer 1,2 million de nouveauxemplois dans l'économie égyptienne d'ici2030. Développé par Plum Consulting, lerapport, « The Economic and Social Impact ofMobile Broadband in Egypt » (« L’impactéconomique et social du haut débit mobile enÉgypte »), estime que cette opportunité ne peutêtre exploitée qu’à travers des politiquesfavorables à l’investissement à long terme et unenvironnement réglementaire stable. Il signalenotamment que l'Egypte possède actuellementl'un des taux les plus bas au monde defréquence assignée au réseau mobile.

« Avec le passage des services vocaux etSMS classiques au haut débit mobile, les

opérateurs mobiles en Égypte sont de plus enplus paralysés par la capacité limitée du réseaunational de fibre optique. De même, lesconnexions internationales à haut débit sontprimordiales si l’Égypte espère concourirefficacement au niveau mondial », a déclaréTom Phillips, chef des affaires réglementairesde la GSMA. Ces entraves, associées àl’absence de l’utilisation du spectre deradioélectrique pour prendre en charge lesdernières technologies mobiles à haut débit,

étouffent la croissance économique. « Despolitiques qui encouragent les investissementsdans le domaine du haut débit mobile etactivent un spectre radioélectriquesupplémentaire à allouer aux services mobilessont essentielles à la transformation de l’aveniréconomique de l’Égypte. »

Lors de la table ronde qui s'est tenue cettesemaine, le ministre M.Helmy a invitél'industrie de la téléphonie mobile de réunir ungroupe de travail conjoint visant à répondre auxcontraintes actuelles et à évaluer les exigencesde l'offre et de la demande dans le cadre dudéploiement du réseau mobile haut débit. Laformation de ce groupe de travail sera discutéelors de la conférence Mobile 360 - Middle East,organisée par la GSMA, à Dubaï, plus tard cemois-ci.

Suite à des discussions fructueuses, il estdésormais temps pour le gouvernement etl'industrie de prendre des mesures concrètesafin de stimuler l'innovation et la croissancepar le biais des réseaux mobiles. Cettecollaboration correspond à un aspect critiquede notre effort conjoint visant à améliorer lesvies de nos citoyens et à positionner l'Egypteen tant que chef de file de la région," a déclaréSon Excellence Atef Helmy.


AGENDA

18

L’ENTREPRISE ORACLE CORPORATION alanncé une initiative destinée àrenforcer et étendre les compétencesdes professionnels de l’informatiqueen Afrique. Ce programme comportantquatre volets a été conçu pourrépondre à l’adoption de nouvellestechnologies par les entreprises etgouvernements africains, laquelle aeu pour effet d’accentuer encoredavantage la pénurie deprofessionnels ayant les compétencesnécessaires pour utiliser au mieux lessystèmes mis en place.

Selon Oracle, les formidablesprogrès de la technologie intervenusau cours des cinq dernières annéesont généré un déficit de compétencesen matière de TI. D’un bout à l’autre del’Afrique, des organisations adoptentde nouvelles technologies à unrythme qui devance largement ladisponibilité de main-d’œuvrequalifiée appropriée.

« À l’heure actuelle, lestechnologies de l’informationpromettent de favoriser l’inclusionsociale, de lutter contre la corruption,de développer l’économie numériquetout en créant des liens plus fortsentre les citoyens et leurs

gouvernements, les entreprises etleurs clients, ainsi qu’entre les ONG etles communautés qu’elles servent », adéclaré Alfonso Di Ianni, premier vice-président d’Oracle pour la régionEurope centrale et orientale, Moyen-Orient et Afrique. « Ces technologiespeuvent atteindre tous ces objectifstout en réduisant considérablementles coûts et en améliorant l’efficacité.Cependant, pour que la technologieappuie une telle évolution, il estindispensable que les organisationsaient facilement accès à une main-d’œuvre capable de mettre en placeces systèmes et d’en assurerl’entretien. »

L’initiative d’Oracle est articuléeautour de quatre axes prioritaires, àsavoir les aptitudes des employés, lacompatibilité des infrastructuresinformatiques, la disponibilité de main-d’œuvre et le développement descompétences des jeunes. Elle s’adresseaussi bien aux gouvernements qu’ausecteur privé et aux organisations àbut non lucratif afin de mettre en placeune stratégie à long terme en matièrede compétences à même de répondre àla demande de compétencesadéquates en TI.

Oracle comble le déficit de compétences en TISELON DE GEMALTO, Nedbank Ltd a déploié sa solution de banque enligne Ezio pour offrir à ses clients entreprises une sécurité et un confortd’utilisation sans équivalents pour leurs transactions en ligne. Gemaltofournit également à Nedbank ses services de conseil, la distribution destokens aux utilisateurs finaux et réalise la gestion à distance de ceséquipements pour le compte de Nedbank Ltd.

Avec cette solution entièrement externalisée, les utilisateurs Nedbankconnectent simplement une clé USB, qui ouvre une « zone de sécurité »permettant d’approuver et signer numériquement tout type detransaction dans un environnement en ligne protégé.

La solution PKI « Corporate » de banque en ligne Ezio ne nécessite pasd’installation logicielle, ce qui élimine le recours au support techniquesouvent coûteux, tout en garantissant un haut niveau de satisfactionutilisateur. Il lui suffit de connecter la clé USB à son PC ou à son Mac pourque l’appareil lance une « zone de sécurité » permettant d’approuver etsigner numériquement tous les types et tous les montants detransactions bancaires dans un environnement en ligne protégé. Ezioassure également l’intégrité de la session, et ceci même dans le cas oula plateforme de connexion pourrait s’avérer vulnérable. La plateformeévolutive et multi-application peut être administrée à distance,permettant à la banque de mettre à jour les certificats et déployer denouveaux services sans déployer d’équipements supplémentaires.

« Nous utilisons les solutions PKI de Gemalto depuis plus de dix ans,et chaque nouveau déploiement est un franc succès, » indique FredSwanepoel, directeur des systèmes d’information de Nedbank Ltd. «Dans le but d’offrir des solutions bancaires de tout premier plan à nosclients entreprises, nous avons déployé la toute nouvelle solution PKI deGemalto, lancée sous le nom de Plug and Transact TokenTM. Il s’agitpour nous de nous différencier de nos concurrents en proposant dessolutions sécurisées toujours plus conviviales et qui permettent unmeilleur suivi des informations ».

Le rôle essentiel du haut débit mobile en Égypte

Nedbank déploie la solution clés en main de Gemalto


«Le haut débit mobilereprésente une opportunité

importante pour lesentreprises, les

consommateurs et legouvernement, pouvant

accélérer considérablementle développement

économique et social» - TomPhillips, chef des affaires

réglementaires de la GSMA


S04 CAF 6 2014 - Report FA_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:19 Page 19

Held in November, in Cape Town, AfricaCom 2014 promises to be the biggestand best African technology event, gathering senior decision-makers fromacross the digital sphere

An event for Africa’sentire digital ecosystem

EVENTS AfricaCom

FOR ANYONE INVOLVED in thiscontinent’s digital economy, Africa Comis the event to be seen at. Attended by9,000 of the smartest, most switched-

on digital movers and shakers in Africa,supported by over 300 of the biggest-hittingspeakers representing digital enterprise andinitiatives in Africa and beyond the continent,the event of choice for more than 375 of theworld’s most innovative, forward-thinkingtelecommunications brands, this is place andthe event to showcase solutions and servicesto deliver value to Africa’s communicationstechnology networks and users.To ensure that as much of the diversity of

the market is addressed, AfricaCom nowcomprises 11 events:• Vision for Africa Keynotes.• AfricaCom 100.• LTE Africa.• Africa Cast Plus Multiplatform Focus Day.• TM Forum Live @ Africa Com.• VSAT Africa.• Mobile Money & M-Commerce.• Digital Music Africa.• AfricApps.• Africa Com Masterclasses andEntrepreneurs Incubatur Hub.

• Africa Com Awards.

Exhibitors at an innovative eventThere are many innovations on show, from newand established technologists. Examples ofexemplary innovators follow below and in thefollowing pages.PeerApp offers a glimpse at the future of

Africa as a digital continent. Growth in Internetcontent consumption is driven by increasedbandwidth, appetite and devices, andoperators face challenges in delivering Internetcontent - especially video - cost-effectively andin line with customer expectations. PeerApphelps 80 operators in Africa and 450 globally tospeed Internet content delivery across theirnetworks to their subscribers.6d Technologies supplies agile and flexible

solutions across value added services andnetwork solutions, and works to supportmobile marketing, revenue optimisation,unified device management, and mobilecommerce. 6d works with Econet Wireless inZimbabwe on a service delivery platformsolution, serves Tigo with its number

management system in multiple Africanmarkets, and works with Smart in Tanzania onunified device management.Satellite operator ABS offers a range of

tailored solutions including broadcasting, dataand telecommunication services tobroadcasters, service providers, enterprisesand government organisations. It operates afleet of six satellites - ABS-1A, ABS-2, ABS-3,ABS-4/Mobisat-1, ABS-6 and ABS-7 - covering80 per cent of the world's population acrossAfrica, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East,CIS and Russia.ABS has procured two Boeing 702SP

satellites (ABS-3A & ABS-2A) for launch in 2015and has optioned more satellites to add to itsfleet over the next three years.Shenzhen Coship Electronics is exhibiting,

promoting hi-tech Chinese enterprise indigital video. COSHIP has provided globalpay TV operators with a variety of digital TVsolutions which have been deployed inEurope, Asia, North America, South America,Oceania and Africa.AfriPipes provides customers fibre optics

ducting solutions. The company commencedmanufacturing operation in November 2007 inDurban, South Africa - and has built itsbusiness by deploying German and Americantechnology with high throughput. Its associatecompany, AfriPipes Kenya, operates out ofNairobi, manufacturing 32mm and 40mmAfriSil Ducts.The Mosaic portfolio developed by BICS

comprises a comprehensive, flexible andinnovative suite of solutions designed to beused individually, or collectively. BICS hasrecently deployed full connectivity for Unitel'snewly-launched mobile network operator(MNO) in São Tome and Principe, allowingresidents and visitors to make internationalvoice calls and use short message service(SMS) and data roaming technology.Specialists in backhaul solutions and

network infrastructure, Bluwan’s multi-gigabitwireless transmission system allows serviceproviders to solve bandwidth density issues byincreasing the coverage and capacity ofexisting networks. LinkFusion, Bluwan’s point-to-multipoint backhaul and access solution,can be deployed as service providers seek tocombat network saturation, capacity shortagesand coverage gaps.

World Panel Inc has developed a powerfulsuite of mobile energy solutions that offerpower, durability and affordability to charge 5Volt battery devices - including cell phones,smartphones, tablets and LED lights. Thecompany’s ‘Direct-from-the-sun’ patentedtechnology enables charge times as fast as awall outlet, at an affordable price.Workz has increased its capacity to serve

communications markets with an expandedfulfilment centre in Dubai, in the UAE. Thesecure printing and services provider openedits new Dubai headquarters in September 2014- a 60,000 sq ft facility including not only a newfulfilment, card and packaging printing facilitybut also logistics and warehouse space. As thelargest telecoms logistics and fulfilment centrein the region, the new facility increases thecompany’s current production capacity to60mn retail packs per year.

Communications Africa Issue 6 201420 www.communicationsafrica.com

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ALCATEL-LUCENT IS OPENING up Africa’smost populous nation to the benefits ofultra-broadband connectivity by launching asuperfast, 100 gigabit-per-second fiber-opticnetwork with MTN Nigeria, a subsidiary ofDubai-based MTN Group and the leadingservice provider in Africa. MTN Nigeria, which covers more than

almost 90 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass,will deploy a 100G network that re-usesexisting 10G optical assets therebypreserving MTN past investments whileensuring future proof connectivity. Nigeria’s growing economy is fueling a

proliferation of mobile subscribers, whichnumber about 275 to every one landline inthe country. As a result, Nigeria has asignificant need for reliable, mobilebroadband access to support growingdemand for bandwidth hungry services suchas streaming video plus the ever-increasingneed from enterprises for storage and datacenter connections. The new network alsogives MTN the capacity and flexibility tooffer wholesale services to other serviceproviders in the region.

Alcatel-Lucent and MTN Nigeria set out to build ultra-broadband network



AFRICACOM

21

WITH 37 SATELLITES serving broadcasters, video service providers, telecomoperators, ISPs and government agencies operating across Africa, Asia, Europeand the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the leading operators in the commercialsatellite business.

Meeting the communications requirements of markets in Africa is ofstrategic importance for our company. Eutelsat has been active in the Africanmarket for more than 16 years and with a stronger global network and two newsatellite launches in 2015 offering greater African C- and Ku-band coverage, weare in a significantly stronger position than ever before to serve our customersin the region.

Currently, eight Eutelsat satellites, located at orbital slots from 5° West to70° East, offer Ku- and/or C-band capacity for video and IP services in sub-Saharan Africa: Eutelsat 5 WEST A (C-band), Eutelsat 3D, Eutelsat 7A, Eutelsat10A, Eutelsat 16A, Eutelsat 36A and B and Eutelsat 70B. All these satellites alsooffer telecom services (except Eutelsat 16A and Eutelsat 36A).

The Indian Ocean region is served by 6 satellites: Eutelsat 5 WEST A (C-band),Eutelsat 7A, Eutelsat 10A, Eutelsat 16A, Eutelsat 36A and Eutelsat 36B. All ofthese offer video, IP and telecom services (except Eutelsat 36A). Telecomservices are also offered by Eutelsat 16B. In addition, with the planned launch in2015 of two new satellites featuring African coverage in C- and Ku-band, we areshowing further commitment to help all categories of customers reach theirmarkets throughout the continent.

Eutelsat 8 WEST B, a new high capacity satellite, will be launched in 2015 to8° West. It will introduce a C-band mission to 8° West, with 10 operationaltransponders connected to footprints covering the African continent andreaching west to South America. Eutelsat 8 WEST B will also feature 40operational Ku-band transponders designed primarily to serve Direct-To-Homemarkets in North Africa and the Middle East.

Eutelsat will also be leasing capacity on a new RSCC (Russian SatelliteCommunication Company) satellite, Express-AMU1, to be launched in 2015 to 36°East. This satellite will provide follow-on and expansion capacity for Eutelsat36A. Express-AMU1 will be a state-of-the-art high-capacity satellite with up to 70transponders. It will ensure service continuity and growth for broadcast marketsdeveloped by Eutelsat in sub-Saharan Africa. Eutelsat’s capacity on the satellitewill be called Eutelsat 36C.

Eutelsat is confident about the future of satellite in the African market. TheBroadcast sector represents a vast potential with significant opportunities forgrowth to support new digital platforms, increase adoption of HD and accelerateanalogue switch-off. Africa’s VSAT market should also be one of the fastestgrowing in the world over the next 20 years. The number of VSAT terminals willbe driven by demand for back-up services and reliable high-speed internetconnections from a wide range of sectors including oil & gas, mining, banking,transportation and distribution as well as government services.

Eight Eutelsat satellites, located at orbital slots from 5° West to 70° East, offer Ku- and/or C-band capacity for video and IP services in sub-Saharan Africa

A fleet of satellite solutions for AfricaH



SELEVISION AND ARABSAT have entered into an exclusive long-termpartnership to deliver the first hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV)service to the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region. The service willbe provided to Arabsat customer base from three different locations -Jordan Media City in Jordan, Du in UAE and Overon in Spain. The ArabsatSatellite based HbbTV service will be complimented by the SelevisionOTT platform and content library of Selevision to provide different viewerexperience for the 26deg Arabsat hotspot. Broadcasters will enjoydifferent standardised applications in addition to the wide possibilitiesof customised applications. The service will be available to viewers on allHbbTV compatible set-top-boxes in the market. Furthermore, Arabsatand Selevision will launch the first HbbTV Channel in the region as a pilotto present the concept to the customer base of Arabsat.

Dr Raed Khusheim, chief executive officer at Selevision, said, “We aredelighted to enter into this strategic partnership with Arabsat, one of theworld’s leading satellite operators. We are constantly looking forwardand committed to delivering engaging new services for customers, TheHBBTV service will be compatible with all available HBBTV-ready boxesin the market, furthermore, we have also announced REDO, Selevisionnew invention; the first hybrid android unit with approved C.A.S systemplatform: REDO unit will allow us to provide a variety of interactive newhybrid services to the market before any other provider in the region.”Khalid Balkhyour, president & CEO of Arabsat, said, “Arabsat is

always keen to deliver new experience to its viewers and facilitateaccess to new technology for its broadcastors base customers; thispartnership with Selevision will add value to Arabsat hotspot at26deg E with its growing neighborhood that will benefit both thebroadcaster and the viewer. This platform will leverage on Arabsatreach and on Selevision extremely competitive offerings and services.Both Parties have invested in this platform to provide an excellentcooperation model in the industry.”


AFRICACOM

22

Wireless hauling specialist Ceragon has received follow-on ordersfrom a global tier 1 operator serving 20 countries across Asia andAfrica, bringing the total order value to over US$50mn in the yearto date from this customer. In Africa, Ceragon's Evolution Long-Haul solution will serve to expand the operator's mobile reachacross eight national markets. In Asia, Ceragon's all-out-doorexpertise and FibeAir solutions will be used to both expandexisting 3G services and facilitate the upgrade to high-speed4G/LTE networks.Ira Palti, president and CEO of Ceragon, said, "Both the African

and Asian markets continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Ceragon isexcited to take part in such growing number of global networkexpansion projects."

Throughout Africa, operators areincreasingly aware of the need fortheir digital service offerings to bedynamically steered by the changingneeds and online behaviours of theirsubscribers, which has had a positiveimpact on Tecnotree’s activity in thisregion. To be a successful telecomsplayer and to remain relevant, youneed to know not only how, when,where and which services subscribersuse their smartphones for, but alsoways to collaborate with companiesoffering these services anddeveloping packages to fit into theircustomer’s lifestyle.

For example, the proliferation ofsocial media continues at pace andwith the rapidly increasing number ofmobile devices connecting to the web,accessing social media from mobilephones is a trend that is showing nosign of slowing down. For operators,this is a golden opportunity forreaching the current connectedgeneration.

Call completion is the key touchpoint between OTT (messaging andsocial media) applications and thetraditional voice service. It istherefore not surprising that in orderfor operators to be more attractiveand relevant to their subscribers, theyneed to offer options to integrateservices between these twocommunication spheres. TheTecnotree Reachability Expresssolutions enable operators to reachout and integrate person to personmessaging into the parallel OTTcommunication streams, as relevantand appropriate in their markets.

At the same time operators mustbe pragmatic about the fact that theuse of traditional voice messaging isdeclining, with a certain profile ofsubscribers using it extensivelywhile others prefer to only receivenotifications of missed calls. TheReachability Express suite allows forhigh volume MCN at low cost, whileon the same architecture combiningrich services and integrationcapabilities. This is important fromthe perspective of serviceprovisioning, service migration andcharging. It therefore optimises corenetwork integration and resourceconsumption, driving down OPEX andoperational complexity.

Similarly, Visual Voicemailprovides a visual interactivity to endusers for voice mail messages. Incontrast to the traditional voicemailmessage retrieval method of callingin to a voicemail service number,visual voicemail users receivemessages as they are automaticallydownloaded to their handsets. Inaddition, intuitive user interfacesand high functionality give end usersthe ability to easily change settingsas well as personalise theirvoicemail accounts and greetings.The service improves customerexperience, the ability to leveragepremium bundles, easypersonalisation for customers, 100per centvoice mail retrieval rate,campaigns, promotions andadvertisements.

Stavros Vougas,vice president MEA & APAC, Tecnotree

Reachability is key to Zain’s digital service

The Visual Voicemail delivery for Zain Kuwait includes the Tecnotree AgilityCall Completion solution with Tecnotree Visual Voicemail functionality, whichprovides interfaces between the backend voicemail system and mobilehandsets. The Visual Voicemail functions independently from the voicemailbackend and thus supports all generations of Tecnotree’s messagingplatforms.

Nadia Al Saif, value added service director at Zain Kuwait, commented,“This new service innovatively allows customers to easily access andmanage their voicemails on their iPhone and Android operating systemswith just one click. By providing an additional platform for integrating 3rdparty advertising and other operator related content services – VisualVoicemail can truly be harnessed as a tool to re-engage with the subscriberto consume more operator aggregated services – a valuable tool for CSPs togenerate additional revenues.”

Ceragon supports network expansion

Arabsat and Selevision to launchbroadcast broadband TV

Zain Kuwait’s new, single-click access VisualVoicemail system, available to customers throughexisting handsets


1 09/10/14 12:30 PM

HbbTV is a global initiative that bringstogether broadcast and broadband TV

services into one ideal user experiencethrough connected TVs, set-top boxes andmultiscreen devices; the HbbTV standard

utilises existing standards and webtechnologies including OIPF (Open IPTVForum), CEA, DVB, MPEG-DASH and W3C


mahindracomviva.com


PACE OF CHANGE in networks is acceleratingand puts great demand on promptupgrades. With application virtualisation,network evolution is increasingly driventhrough new software functionality. Studiesconducted by Ericsson show that networkswith the latest software release performbetter and offer a superior user experience.With the increasing importance of regularsoftware upgrades there is a need to adaptthe telecom software models so that theybecome similar to the IT industry - with clearsoftware packages and transparent pricingmodels. To achieve this, Ericsson hasintroduced a new software model, theEricsson Software model, with the releaseof Software 15A.Stéphane Téral, principal analyst mobile

infrastructure and carrier economics atInfonetics Research, said, "The telco model aswe know it is obsolete. The old hardware-basedtelecom model isn't in synch with today'ssoftware-driven network reality. Asvirtualization increasingly decouples hardwarefrom software, mobile operators need toembrace the ICT software model to becomemore agile and remain relevant."Ericsson’s software model introduces

software value packages such as HD voice,multi-carrier mobility and loadmanagement, enabling operators tosimplify the implementation of innovativefunctionality. The software packagesaddress customer needs in four areas;secure smart device business, increasecoverage and capacity, drive efficiency andcapture new revenues.Together with a software subscription

component, the Ericsson’s software modelreduces time to market for newfunctionality. With these software valuepackages delivered on a predictable basis,operators can more efficiently integrateupgrades into their network and simplifythe network planning process. Regularupgrades mean that users always enjoy thebest experience from the networks.Johan Wibergh, head of segment networks

at Ericsson, said, "This is a logical evolutionin the shift toward virtualization. Our newmodel builds on the software performancebenefits by making it simpler and faster foroperators to implement the packages thatbest address their business needs. Networkscan do much more today and their speed ofevolution will only increase."


AFRICACOM

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A KEY SUPPLIER of test, monitoring, and analysis equipment, GL GLCommunications has enhanced its T1 E1 Analyzer Software and Hardware toversion 8.10.1. Vijay Kulkarni, CEO of the company, explained, “Unlikeconventional test equipment, GL's test platforms provide visualization,capture, storage, and convenient features like portability, remotability, andscripting. Our T1 E1 line of products provides comprehensive analysis andemulation capability of any product on the market. Any traffic over T1 E1 linesincluding voice, fax, modem, signaling, mobile, IP, VoIP, ATM, and more isaddressed. Our newly introduced tScan16 is a high-density T1 E1 board with 16Rx ports and the newer PCIe (x1) bus interface. The sixteen T1 E1 ports areReceive-only ports optimized for high performance voice and data capture,monitoring, and analysis requirements. tScan16 extends the family of GL’s T1E1 platforms with greater density, increased ports, and reduced power.”

The new Dual T1 E1 Express (PCIe) Boards are high-density Dual T1 or E1boards with newer PCIe (x1) bus interface. These cards are identical to theportable tProbe units except for FXO FXS and Datacom functionality. Inaddition to basic T1 E1 applications and optional special applications, Dual T1E1 Express (PCIe) Boards also support enhanced VF drop and insert withsoftware selectable VF Tx and Rx impedances (135 Ω, 150 Ω, 600 Ω, 900 Ω, orHigh), Pulse Mask Compliance, Jitter Generation and Measurement testingapplications. The software products: HDLC Tx Rx Server is WCS-based servermodule, which provides HDLC frame transmit/receive capabilities over HDLCstreams on T1 E1 lines. It permits to create multiple HDLC streams of variousbandwidths (time-slots, hyper channels, and sub channels) and provides UDPinterface to the client applications for data Tx/Rx over these newly createdHDLC streams. The application (client) and the HDLC Tx Rx server exchangethe data over UDP transport. The WCS LAPD Server provides Layer 3 LAPDprotocol services over GL's T1 E1 boards. It permits to create multiple LAPDlinks of various bandwidths (time-slots, sub-channels) and provides UDPinterface to the client applications for generating & receiving LAPD payloadover these created LAPD streams.

Ericsson is leading initiatives to utilise networkassets more dyanmically

GL enhances T1 E1 emulation / analyzer range

MADAGASCAN NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS operator TelecomMalagasy (Telma) is working with PCCW Global, the internationaloperating division of Hong Kong telecommunications service providerHKT, on the country’s first international MPLS interconnection. Telmaoffers fixed, mobile and Internet capacity through the EASSY submarinecable and the 6,000km+ national fibre optic backbone. It offers, also, amobile money service.The MPLS interconnection will result in Telma’s Ethernet and IP VPN

coverage being extended across PCCW Global's resilient MPLSnetwork, which reaches 3,000 cities in more than 130 countries,plus connectivity to and from Madagascar via major submarinecable systems including EASSY.In addition, the agreement will give PCCW Global greater local

access to Madagascar cities, including Antananarivo the capitalcity and to the other major hubs. Madagascar is the world’s fourthlargest island and is located in the Indian Ocean of the Southeastcoast of Africa.Importantly, this new interconnect agreement will boost business

development in Africa, a significant market for both PCCW Global andTelma.Patrick Pisal-Hamida, Telma Group’s chief executive officer, said,

“This collaboration is an important milestone in the development ofour international business, especially international data services. Itwill extend the coverage area of our services beyond Madagascar tothe rest of the world and vice versa.”James Welch, PCCW Global’s vice president and head of sales of

EEMEA, said, “This agreement is a critical element of our wider pan-African development. Interconnecting with Telma ensures that we canprovide extensive connectivity to Madagascar and the rest of Africa atcompetitive cost and with faster provisioning times, too.”

Ericsson adopts new networks software model

PCCW Global and Telecom Malagasy collaborate onimproving connectivity into and out of Madagascar



Visit us at AFRICA COM 11-13 November 2014 CTICC Cape Town, South Africabooth A1


WINDOWS PHONE ENTHUSIASTS can getexcited about the Lumia 830 rolling outaround the world—and the Flipboard teamis ready to celebrate too. Flipboard is pre-loaded on Lumia 830 phone and isavailable on all Windows Phones with atleast 1 GB of RAM, such as the Lumia 920and HTC One M8.However, Microsoft andFlipboard have confirmed that their teamsare continuing to work together to develop aroadmap for optimising Flipboard for lowermemory Windows Phones.Like the releasefor Windows tablets and desktops, thisnewest edition of Flipboard is tailored justfor Windows Phone 8.1 users.From its architecture to visual design,

Flipboard for Windows Phone includessome great features. As CTO Eric Fengexplains, “We’re re-imagining many of ourdesigns and interactions so readers can getto more of the content they care about morequickly.”

Cover Stories is centralAfter you pick a few topics for yourmagazine, Flipboard takes you directly to

your Cover Stories. Cover Stories collectshighlights from everything you’re following

and gets more personalized as you add newthings to your Flipboard.

Search and follow more sourcesContinue to customize your Flipboard bytapping on the search icon in the top rightcorner. Enter keywords to find articles, photos,publications and Flipboard magazines, orbrowse through sections like News, Tech,Travel and Design. Open the app bar (it lookslike three dots) on any story for the options toShare it or Follow the story’s source.

See everything you’re followingAll the sources you’ve followed are listed inone place. Tap the menu icon in the top leftto find everything on your Flipboard,including the sources you’ve added and themagazines you’ve been making.

Share to other Windows phone appsWhen you find something you think is interestingon Flipboard, you can share it to other Windowsphone apps. Tap the share icon on articles,photos and videos to send it as a text message,email, social media post and more.


AFRICACOM

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OPERA MINI HAS become the first web browser on Samsung’s Gear S, the Tizen-based wearable device platform. Users of this new smart watch will be able toenjoy web browsing from their wrists.

Opera Mini on black Samsung Gear SWith more than 250mn monthly users around the world, Opera Mini is known forits compression technology that shrinks the size of webpages to as little as 10%.The result is a faster and more energy-efficient browsing experience. It helps toload image-heavy pages in a snap.

Finger-friendly features for small-screen web browsingIn addition, the Opera Minibrowser includes many finger-friendly features. The Smart Pagegives users all their social updatesand the latest news on one screen.Opera Mini’s Speed Dial featureswebsite shortcuts as largebuttons, enabling Gear S users toreach their favorite sites in asingle tap. Private browsingremoves any trace of the webpages visited on the wrist-gazer’sdevice.

A full-web browsing experience on a wearable device"As a lightweight but powerful browser maker, Opera has been a pioneer ofmaking the web accessible across a huge variety of connected devices, such asthe internet keyboard, the dual-screen handheld game console, VOIP phonesand, now, wearable device," said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. "We arethrilled that Opera Mini will be the first browser for Samsung Gear S users todownload. This is an exciting, new experience for smart-gear users."

Samsung’s smart watch gets a full-web browser

EGYPTIAN SATELLITE OPERATORNilesat has taken a long-termlease for multiple transponders onthe Eutelsat 8 West B satellite tobe launched in mid-2015 to theleading video neighbourhood inthe Middle East and North Africa.Eutelsat is one of the world's mostexperienced operators ofcommunications satellites.The 7/8 degrees West video

neighbourhood operated byEutelsat and Nilesat broadcastsmore than 1,000 TV channels toover 52 million homes locatedfrom Morocco in the West to theGulf in the East. Eutelsat andNilesat have progressively built acomprehensive broadcastinfrastructure at 7/8 degreesWest, comprising three Eutelsatand two Nilesat satellitesspecifically designed for Direct-to-Home reception. Bothoperators have steadily broughtnew capacity on line to meetthriving demand and theacceleration of High Definitionchannel launches.The next phase of expansion

comes next year with Eutelsat 8

West B that will bring additionalresources, increased operationalflexibility and improved signalintegrity for client broadcasters.The additional transponders

booked by Nilesat on Eutelsat 8West B complement resourcesalready leased on the Eutelsat 8West C satellite that equipsNilesat to meet immediatecustomer expectations for high-performance capacity. Serviceson Eutelsat 8 West C satellite willbe transferred to Eutelsat 8 WestB once the satellite entersservice.Michel Azibert, Eutelsat chief

commercial and developmentofficer, said, “Eutelsat’spartnership with Nilesat hasfostered the creation of anunmatched broadcastingneighbourhood serving channelsseeking to optimise their reachand deliver high quality.“We are committed to

delivering industry-leadingservice and look forward topursuing and strengthening evenfurther our strong collaborationwith Nilesat.”

Flipboard comes to Windows Phone

Nilesat inks multi-transponder contracts forEutelsat’s 8 West B broadcast satellite




A SUBSIDIARY COMPANY of telecommunications andmedia group Millicom, Tigo Tanzania launched a first-of-its kind service recently when it paid out a returndirectly to 3.5mn Tigo Pesa mobile money customers.The new service, launched as Tigo Wekeza (Swahili

for "Tigo Invests"), will now provide customers with aquarterly return based on the average balance of cashheld in their Tigo Pesa accounts.

The initiative is a world-first in several ways.Customers do not need to register separately inorder to benefit and any returns due are paiddirectly into their Tigo Pesa wallet. If a customer sochooses, they can nominate a non-profitbeneficiary instead.This month's back-dated return was based on

average balances held over three and a half years.Millicom’s President and CEO, Hans-Holger

Albrecht said: “This innovation reflects ourcommitment to develop mobile money into an evenmore attractive service and will extend financialinclusion further."It comes in a year during which we have already

pioneered cross-border mobile money transferswith automatic currency conversion as well as aunique interoperability arrangement with otheroperators in Africa.”In Tanzania, Tigo has secured regulatory

approval for its Tigo Wekeza service followingnew rules introduced by the Bank of Tanzaniaearlier this year.To date, no other regulatory financial authority has

instituted similar provisions. In Namibia for example,service providers are permitted to earn interest onpooled funds but payments made directly tocustomers are banned.Tigo Pesa customers can now expect to receive

an SMS message notifying them each time paymentreturns to them are due. Non-active users canbenefit as long as they reactivate their account inresponse; while those that don't can access thefunds at any later stage.Tigo Tanzania's General Manager Diego Gutierrez

said, “With Tigo Wekeza now in place, we expect itsvalue to grow as more and more subscribers startand continue to regard Tigo Pesa as a store of valueand wealth creation. We also expect to seewidening financial inclusion in the long run.”Tom Phillips, the Chief Regulatory Officer of the

mobile industry association, the GSMA, said inrecognition: "This unique service is a furtherexample of the many pioneering ways in which theindustry supports inclusive financial and socialpolicy goals."Congratulations to Tigo. I look forward to seeing

other operators offering similar services.”


AFRICACOM

28

BOTSWANAN WIRELESSOPERATOR BTC Mobile, whichoperates under the beMobilebrand, has selected Ericsson forthe expansion of its networkinfrastructure.According to a recently-

published report by theBotswanan news outlet MmegiOnline, the project is expectedto be completed by the end ofthe year, with the aim ofboosting mobile networkcoverage and increasingsubscriber numbers. ‘We haveset ourselves apart in themarket as a service providerthat customers across thevarious groupings of low andhigh income levels can count onfor the widest coverage,’commented Paul Taylor, CEO ofbeMobile’s parent BotswanaT e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n sCorporations Limited (BTC).

A PROVIDER OF professional assetmanagement services andconsultancy to the telecomsindustry. TXO Systems works with itsclients to acquire, redeploy, resell,and recycle technology assets,responsibly and sustainably,allowing them to generate revenues,reduce expenses and achievecorporate responsibility objectives.

Founded in 2005 and operating onfive continents, TXO Systems’ clientsinclude fixed and mobile operators,leading original equipmentmanufacturers, large enterprises anda broad range of other channelpartners. TXO Systems is certified toISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO27001, TL9000 and AATF and WEEEcompliant processes.

TXO Systems is returning toAfricaCom, at which it will bedemonstrating how it can helpoperators drive massive savings oninfrastructure procurement costs andcreate new revenue opportunities byredeploying, reselling or recyclingtheir surplus telecoms equipment.Tom Parker, VP business developmentat TXO Systems, said, "This is withoutdoubt the best telecoms event in

Africa and a great platform for TXO toshowcase its asset recovery andrecycling services. This year, we lookforward to demonstrating our newsmart inventory management tools, i-VALUE, i-JUDGE and i-TRAC, to existingand new telecoms clients.".

TXO has significant experience insupporting telecom network upgrade,expansion and maintenanceprogrammes and managing end-to-end asset recovery projects, inEurope, the Middle east and Africa(EMEA), Asia-Pacific regions and theAmericas - serving manufacturers andoperators.. It was awarded, recently,the TL 9000 V5.0 certification forquality management. The awardaddresses the brokering anddistribution of telecommunicationsequipment including switches,transmission equipment, and legacyand optical equipment. TL 9000certification denotes conformance toa telecommunications-specific set ofrequirements based on the ISO 9000Management System, developed bythe Quality Excellence for Suppliers of

Telecommunications Forum (QuESTForum) to distinguish 'best in class'suppliers and manufacturers.

TXO Systems demonstrates expertise at AfricaCom

ZAMTEL AND NEC Corporation, which specialises in the integration of ITand network technologies, are working together on the construction of anew digital microwave radio transmission network to boost mobilecoverage and capacity for citizens, enterprises and tourists acrossZambia. The turnkey deal, which includes the supply, delivery,installation, testing and commissioning of NEC’s microwavetransmission network equipment, is expected to be completed within 12months and will cost US$18.3mn. NEC will upgrade Zamtel’s existingbackbone and access systems and commission new links to connect itsmacro base stations and core network wirelessly.This investment in Zamtel transmission infrastructure aims to upgradeand modernise the company’s digital microwave transmission backbonenetwork in order to meet current and foreseeable future growth in mobiledata demand, while supporting the company’s LTE rollout plan.“This partnership will see NEC design, manufacture, supply, deliver,install, test, migrate and commission a native Ethernet microwavebackbone and access radios specifically tailored to Zamtel’srequirements,” said Zamtel CEO Dr Mupanga Mwanakatwe, who addedthe new digital microwave backbone and access project will include theinstallation of 2Gbps, 600Mbps, 300Mbps and 150Mbps backbone andaccess networks based on native Ethernet microwave radio networktechnologies, adding that on completion, the investment will lead to anadvanced national IP microwave backbone and access network.Dr Nobuhiro Endo, president at NEC Corporation commented, “Byboosting the coverage and capacity of its wireless backhaul network,Zamtel will be able to meet the ever rising demand for mobile broadbandservices from local citizens, enterprises and tourists across the country.NEC’s highly reliable and cost-effective solution will enable Zamtel tosupport continued economic growth and underpin emerging services,such as mobile money and high definition mobile TV, in both rural andurban locations.”

Ericsson to work onexpansion in Botswana

Millicom’s money service automatically pays returns

NEC at work on Zambia’s new backbone



Global connectivity,Local delivery

YOUR SATELLITE SOLUTIONS FOR AFRICA

Meet us at AfricaCom, 11 – 13 NovemberStand N° D6

www.eutelsat.com

S05 CAF 6 2014 - Belintersat - Gazprom Advertorial_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:21 Page 29

With three new satellites set to enhance coverage across the continent, RSCC offersunique footprints with support for any type of satcom or broadcasting application

The new Russiansatellites for Africa

PROFILE RSCC

RUSSIAN SATELLITECOMMUNICATIONS Company(RSCC) is a new player on theAfrican satcom market. The

company has got 47 years of vastexperience in the industry and currentlyoperates 12 satellites in 11 GEO orbitalslots located on the arc from 14W to 145E.Main domestic market for RSCC is Russia,where it is a major satellite operator, butthe company for many years has beensuccessfully working in Europe, MENA andCentral Asia.

In 2014-2015 RSCC implements totalrenewal of its orbital fleet. Three newsatellites will have coverage over Sub-Saharan Africa: Express-AM6 (53E),Express-AM7 (40E) and Express-AM8 (14W).The first of them (Express-AM6) wassuccessfully launched in the end of October2014. Launches of the other two areplanned for the 1-st half of 2015. These newsatellites will provide quite uniquefootprints which allow deploying any typeof satcom and broadcasting application inAfrica.• Express-AM6 (53E). Pan-African C-band

beam, providing excellent opportunityfor TV broadcasters to distribute contentover African continent and for telecomservice providers to deliver satelliteconnectivity all across EMEA region.

• Express-AM7 (40E). High-powersteerable spot C and Ku band beams,designed for DTH, cellular backhaul,broadband internet access, USO,distance learning, telemedicine and

government applications. They alsoprovide better coverage of certainregions in Africa.

• Express-AM8 (14W). Wide Ku-bandfootprint stretching from Middle Eastacross North Africa to West Africa,including the waters of Persian Gulf, RedSea, Mediterranean and Gulf of Guinea.Ideal for enterprise VSAT, maritime andSCADA applications.

The significance of satellite connectionsNowadays when many submarine cableshave arrived to the continent and a lot ofsatellite capacity is pointed towards Africa,there is a quite interesting situation on themarket. The total number of satellitesworking in Africa is huge, but if you look ateach specific region or country the footprintsdiffer. This situation makes satellite serviceproviders working on many satellitessimultaneously, in order to benefit from thebest coverage of a specific region. 2dBdifference can reduce the total cost ofownership for entire satellite network greatly.This allows network operator to use smallerantennas, less powerful BUCs and providehigher throughput with better availability byusing most advanced MODCODs, to squeezemore bits of information from each Hertz ofsatellite capacity. And in the end to makesatellite connectivity more affordable for end users.

Why RSCC works for AfricaWith the launch of three new RSCC satellitesAfrican satellite service providers will havean opportunity to improve coverage of certainregions greatly. It is worth mentioning inparticular Express-AM7 satellite panned forlaunch to 40E in Q1 2015. Its powerfulsteerable spot C and Ku band beams areideal to operate in West and South Africa,supporting cellular backhaul, corporate VSATand DTH applications, government, firstresponders, telemedicine, distance learningand USO networks, as well as offshorecommunications in the Gulf of Guinea.Besides that high availability and resistanceto rain fade of C-band meet networkrequirements of Oil & Gas industry, cellularoperators and other CIR based applicationswith high SLAs, while high EIRP and G/Tlevels make C-band beam cost-effective forcustomers.

Moreover, RSCC satellites can be packedwith dedicated solutions and VSATequipment bundles helping service providersto increase satellite bandwidth utilizationefficiency. This will allow network operatorsto reduce CapEx for their networks andincrease the economic efficiency of each MHzleased from satellite operator.

Andrey Kirillovich, PhDDirector of Integration & ProjectsRussian Satellite Communications Company

Express-AM7 (40E) steerable spot C and Ku band beams


Andrey Kirillovich, PhD, Director of Integration &Projects, Russian Satellite Communications Company


Russian communications operator Gazprom SpaceSystems elaborates its expansion strategies in Africa

Entering a new frontier

Satellite

THIS YEAR, GAZPROM Space Systems (GSS) has made an impact on theAfrican and Middle East markets. Among other achievements, GSS wasrecognised by the world telecom experts of Euroconsult as a “Regional

Operator of the Year” at the World Satellite Business Week in Paris inSeptember 2014. Could you elaborate on your strategy and what projectshave already been implemented in Africa, in particular?

Our team is working very hard in these markets and, taking into accountstrong competition in these regions, we are pleased with the results. Insuch a highly competitive and complex market as Africa, we rely onproviders having extensive experience in the region. Our company makesan effort to strongly support and develop the established partnership. Weare constantly improving our services, to create a comfortable businessenvironment for our customers and are always willing to share businessrisks with them. We faithfully and promptly treat even minor requests, andare ready to calculate and re-calculate link budgets to provide the mostoptimal solution and deliver satellite capacity for testing at any time. Suchefforts bring the result! Just a few examples of the projects that we haveimplemented with our partners.

Telemedia (South Africa) and GSS arranged broadcasting of TV channelsfor the biggest Angola government television corporation Televisio PublicaDe Angola (TPA) via the Yamal-402 satellite. TPA came to Yamal-402because of its high transponder EIRP, which allows to provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) video in all regions of Angola including Cabinda and thePortuguese-speaking Islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. Besides, theextensive coverage makes it possible to receive these TV channels in theembassies of Angola throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Cooperation between GSS and Telemedia has been developing since thebeginning of 2014 when the South African operator, with a nine-metreantenna located in a Johannesburg suburb, uplinked a bouquet of African TVprograms. Among them, sports channels dedicated to horse racing were themost popular. These horseracing channels are interesting not only forbookmakers and betting shops in South Africa but also for the viewers acrossthe entire southern and central African region from Dakar (Senegal) in thewest to Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar in the east. These countrieshave the target audiences for horse racing services of Phumelela, the ownerof these TV channels. Another package of educational TV channels isuplinked by Telemedia in the transponder with the inter-beam connectivity(Southern – European) for reception in Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

We continue our cooperation with a Namibian company SatSpace. It is awell-known provider of reliable and cost-effective Internet service on thecontinent. SatSpace started using Yamal-402 capacity in October 2013. Sincethen, the company doubled the utilised capacity. Currently, SatSpace iscompleting the construction of their own teleport in Angola for providingservices via Yamal-402, which will allow us to extend our cooperation inAfrica significantly.

Recently, GSS and the company ISAT Africa (a member of WananchiGroup Holding Limited in Kenya and one of the biggest players on thesatcom/ broadcast market in Africa) announced a contract, according towhich ISAT Africa would use Yamal-402 Southern Beam for operation of thenetwork, deployed in DR Congo and other Central African countries. We alsoextend business with our European partners. Castor Networks is one of thefirst customers of GSS for Yamal-402. The company uses capacity for theirservices in 3 Yamal-402 beams i.e. Northern, European and Southern, aswell as cross-strap connectivity between European and Southern beams.Castor Networks has an office in Johannesburg, and opened anotherrepresentative office in South Sudan recently. This office promotes Internetaccess services based on Yamal-402 in the region. In South Africa, CastorNetworks moved a lot of VSATs to Yamal-402. Besides, a number of bigprojects for governmental agencies of African countries were implementedwith the capacity of the Yamal-402 Southern Beam. The European Beam isused by the company for maritime projects in the Mediterranean Sea andthe Middle East. Services for oil and gas enterprises as well as for maritimebusiness are realised in cooperation with ITC Global (USA). Among our otheractive business partners I would like to highlight such companies as OnLime(Germany), BentleyWalker (UK), IABG (Germany), GlobeComm (Netherlands).The list is constantly growing, and we do hope that it will be filled up withnew close associates both in Africa and beyond .

DmitriySevastiyanov

Communications Africa Issue 6 2014 31www.communicationsafrica.com

GAZPROM SPACE SYSTEMS


How new wireless backhaul techniques are bringing connectivity to underserved areasand profits to operators

A business modelto bridge the digital divide

BUSINESS Coverage

T BRINGING UNIVERSAL CONNECTIVITYto urban areas in Africa is wellpublicised. Whilst major cities benefitfrom the majority of investment, the

cost and uncertain returns involved inexpanding connectivity into remote or lessestablished urban areas often detersoperators from investing more widely.However, a new wave of ultra-efficientwireless technology is opening up thesemarkets and presenting profitableopportunities for operators to roll-out widescale coverage.

A business opportunityAlthough the challenges with rolling outbroadband in Africa are frequently talkedabout, the revenue opportunities these fastgrowing areas present to the mobile industryare much less discussed. With their highpopulation density, youthful demographicsand increasing number of new businessventures, the socio-economic profile of theseareas has led to a pent-up demand for highspeed connectivity (mobile and fixed). Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs),

for instance, are important drivers of growth ineconomies across Sub-Saharan Africa as theyaccount for up to 90 per cent of all businesses.With AfricanEconomicOutlook.org recentlyforecasting that the African continent’seconomies are set to accelerate from anaverage 4 per cent growth rate in 2013 tobetween 5 and 6 per cent in 2015, SMEs clearlypresent a big opportunity for operators. Being able to cost-effectively bridge the

digital divide and expand connectivity in thesegrowing areas therefore represents acompetitive edge for operators at a time whenthe mainstream mobile market is becomingsaturated. Recent technological advances inwireless infrastructure mean mobile operatorshave never had a better opportunity tocapitalise on this demand.

The road to wide-scale connectivityWhilst mobile operators have known for sometime that they need to diversify and create newrevenue streams, setting up traditionalinfrastructure to address fixed connectivity isnot always financially viable; a large initialinvestment may be required, taking many yearsto break-even.

This had led a growing number of forwardthinking operators to maximise the return ontheir existing backhaul infrastructure by usingspare capacity to address enterprise access.This co-existence of multiple virtualisedservices within the same physical network ismade possible through the intelligent softwarenow available in wireless backhaul solutionslike point-to-multipoint (PMP) microwave.By creating converged networks such as

this, operators can deploy the high capacitybackhaul needed to future-proof the mobilenetwork, and simultaneously monetise itsspare capacity. This highly cost effective approach is

revolutionising the business case for operatorsto address the large but diffuse population ofSMEs with latent demand for enterprise-gradeinternet access. Not only does this representprofitable business for the operator, but thereare also well-established societal benefits; theWorld Bank estimates that a 10 per centincrease in broadband penetration can deliverup to 1.5 per cent GDP growth and up to 4.5indirect jobs per direct job created.

A new wireless waveFurther cost efficiencies can be achievedthrough PMP microwave which creates a wide-area sector of coverage from a ‘hub’ location.Multiple sites, either backhaul or access, canbe served by a PMP sector, which enablesequipment and spectrum costs to beamortised across a number of links. Analystconsultancy Senza Fili found this allows PMPmicrowave to deliver total cost of ownershipsavings of up to 50 per cent over fibre or point-to-point microwave technologies, whiledelivering identical carrier-grade services.The software defined networking (SDN)

ability of the latest high capacity PMP microwavesolutions provides the flexibility to customisevirtual networks and support a range of services.For example, dedicated capacity can beallocated to backhaul at the same time asdefining tiered connectivity offers for enterpriseaccess. By efficiently managing resources in thisway, operators can run mobile backhaul at amuch lower cost and achieve a quick return oninvestment for enterprise access. Strategy Analytics recently documented that

the use of SDN to boost the efficiency of datatraffic on backhaul could save mobile

operators in Africa and the Middle East $162million a year by 2017.

Vision for the future Economic growth in Africa is undoubtedlybuilding momentum in the enterprise accessmarket, due to both the growing number ofSMEs and in the large multinationalsstrengthening their presence in the region.However, the geographical distribution ofbusinesses requires operators to review theirstrategies if they are fully to address thisdemand.By utilising the latest wireless technologies

like PMP microwave, operators now have aneconomically viable business model to expandcoverage and maximise the opportunities fromthis market. This not only provides newrevenue streams, but bridges the digital dividethrough providing new carrier-gradeconnectivity to previously under-served areas.At CBNL, we’ve worked with Tier 1 operators

across Africa in deploying PMP microwavenetworks which backhaul next generationmobile and enterprise access services. Thisconverged approach has not only supportedour customers’ growth strategies but broughtuntold benefits to the businesses andcommunities in which they serve.

Dr John Naylon, CTO at CBNL


SIEMENS IS EXPANDING its portfolio ofindustrial network products with theScalance X204-2FM Industrial EthernetSwitch (FM = fibre monitoring) and theMM991-2FM media module. The newdevices are the first to have integratedfunctions for the diagnosis of glass fibreoptic cables in industrial networks. Theyenable users to detect faults such asreduced signal power at an early stage andthen to initiate countermeasures so as toincrease availability. Diagnostics can easilybe performed from any computer withInternet access via a Web interface or simplenetwork management protocol (SNMP).

www.siemens.com

Fibre for industry

S06 CAF 6 2014 - Report CA - CB - BA_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:42 Page 32


Why C-band spectrum is acritical catalyst for African development

SATELLITECoverage

C-BAND SPECTRUM IS widely usedthroughout Africa to provide essentialconnectivity and capacity, particularlyin remote or rural locations. This critical

connectivity supports the growth of Africa’s GDPand delivers services that enhance the lives ofmillions of Africans.C-band’s importance to the continent of

Africa and the satellite sector cannot be denied,but there are other parties seeking access to theband. The International MobileTelecommunications (IMT) community istargeting C-band in its quest for more spectrum,and an agenda item will address this request atthe International Telecommunication Union’s(ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference(WRC-15) in November 2015.The operation of IMT services in C-band has

the potential to cause excessive levels ofharmful interference and might preclude futureuse of this band for satellite services. This couldhave a drastic impact on communications andcritical services throughout the continent.For example, a number of important sectors

providing services across Africa are reliant on C-band:• The financial services industry uses C-band toconnect bank branches, facilitating financialinclusion on a continent where - according tothe World Bank - less than a quarter of adultshave an account with a formal financialinstitution.

• Many African countries have identified smallbusinesses as significant contributors to

economic growth and job creation. Satelliteprovides cost effective and robust broadbandservices for these users, helping themexpand their endeavours and accessinternational markets: firstly, governmentsutilise satellite communications for a numberof essential services, including telemedicineand e-learning; secondly, satellite providessecure communication channels for thepublic sector. During elections, C-bandspectrum facilitates communication betweenvoting stations and helps expedite theaggregation and transfer of ballots.

In Nigeria, the C-band spectrum is pivotal tothe country’s lucrative television industry, withsatellite assisting in providing capacity for earthstations. It is expected that Nigeria’sentertainment and media industry will reachrevenues of approximately US$8.5bn by 2018(PwC), with television advertising, subscriptionsand licence fees providing US$1bn of that total.Furthermore, more than 25mn mobile

subscribers in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) are reliant on C-band capacity to providemobile and internet connectivity. Satellite isused to provide maximum reach and reliabilityand also serves as a back-up to fibreconnections.Angola’s oil industry also utilises C-band for

VSAT communication on the west coast,because the spectrum is resistant to rain fade,providing maximum reliability in an area proneto heavy rain fall.

C-Band spectrum cannot be shared with IMTResearch conducted recently by Euroconsult inpartnership with the European Space Agency1has shown that sharing the spectrum withmobile wireless services will negatively affectsatellite services - including public safetyfunctions. The interference that would becreated by sharing could disrupt criticalconnectivity for global businesses,governments, relief workers and communities.This effect will not be immediate but, rather, willbe felt over time as each country that wants tointroduce these new services will need to takeaction domestically to make the spectrumavailable to mobile operators.The IMT community is also promoting the

idea that C-band satellite applications can easilybe moved to other frequency bands, such as Ku-and Ka-bands. This is untrue:• The large footprints of C-band are necessaryfor many regional mobile and fixed networksand if C-band is no longer used, it couldresult in a costly migration process thatcould preclude services from beingexpanded to more remote regions in need ofconnectivity.

• In regions that experience heavy andsustained rainfall, Ku- and Ka-band are notas reliable as C-band, which could harmmany of the networks in place, particularlythose that are used for the banking and oiland gas industries. Any interruption inservice could result in huge revenue losses;impacting the region’s overall GDP.



Une étude de la GSMA révèle que plus de la moitié des citoyens dans les États arabes sontdorénavant abonnés à des services de téléphonie mobile

Autour de la vague de nouveaux services et applications innovants

RECHERCHE Services

PLUS DE LA moitié de la populationdes États arabes du Moyen-Orient etd’Afrique du Nord sont dorénavantabonnés à un service mobile, offrant

à la région une occasion unique d’utiliser latechnologie pour favoriser la croissancesociale et économique. Selon le nouveaurapport de la GSMA, intitulé « Arab States:Mobile Economy 2014 » (États arabes :l’économie de la téléphonie mobile en 2014),on comptait 195 millions d’abonnés uniquesà la téléphonie mobile fin 2013 dans larégion, soit un taux de pénétration de 53 pourcent de la population totale. Le nombre totalde connexions mobiles1 dans la régions’établissait à 404 millions en fin d’année.« La téléphonie mobile a enregistré une

croissance spectaculaire dans les Étatsarabes ces cinq dernières années, procurantd’importants avantages socio-économiquesdans chaque pays de cette région diversifiée», a déclaré Anne Bouverot, Directricegénérale de la GSMA. « Alors que lesopérateurs régionaux continuent d’investirdans les réseaux et services de haut débitmobile, nous invitons les gouvernements dela région à collaborer avec le secteur de latéléphonie mobile afin d'atteindre tout unegamme d’objectifs, depuis le déploiement deréseaux dans des zones mal desservies enAfrique du Nord jusqu’à l’assurance de lamise en place de la bonne infrastructure afinde soutenir les centres d'affaires mondiauxtels que Dubaï.« Dans les économies émergentes, les

solutions de commerce mobile élargissent lesservices financiers aux populations nonbancarisées et aident à combler le fossénumérique. Dans les pays du Golfe, latéléphonie mobile favorise l’innovation dans

des domaines telles que les communicationsM2M (entre machines) et les solutions de villeintelligente. Nous constatons également queles réseaux mobiles jouent un rôle importantdans la réponse aux catastrophes et la gestiondes crises », a ajouté Mme Bouverot.

Un paysage de la téléphonie mobile diversifiéLes 19 marchés formant les États arabescomprennent à la fois les pays du Golfeavancés et de nombreux marchés émergentstrès peuplés en Afrique du Nord. Ces deuxsous-régions varient fortement en termes deconditions socio-économiques, de pénétrationde la téléphonie mobile, de maturitétechnologique et d’environnementsréglementaires.Un certain nombre de pays du Golfe, dont

Bahreïn, le Koweït et les Émirats arabes unis(EAU), affichent déjà des taux de pénétrationd’abonnés uniques à la téléphonie mobilesupérieurs à 75 pour cent. En comparaison,seulement 16 pour cent de la population auSud-Soudan est abonnée à un service mobile(voir tableau). L’Égypte est le plus importantmarché de la région avec 44 millionsd’abonnés uniques à la téléphonie mobile à fin2013, représentant 23 pour cent du total de larégion. Les cinq plus importants marchés, entermes de taille, sont l’Égypte, l’Arabiesaoudite, l’Irak, l’Algérie et le Maroc, quireprésentent ensemble près des deux tiers dunombre total d’abonnés uniques à latéléphonie mobile de la région.

Une région en croissance rapideLe secteur mobile dans les États arabes aenregistré une croissance supérieure à lamoyenne mondiale au cours des cinqdernières années. Les abonnés uniques à latéléphonie mobile ont progressé de 9,5 pourcent par an (TCAM) entre 2008 et 2013, contreune croissance moyenne de 8,2 pour cent auniveau mondial ; les connexions mobiles ontaugmenté de 13,2 pour cent par an au cours dela même période, contre un taux de croissancede 11 pour cent au niveau mondial.Le manque général d’infrastructures de

lignes fixes dans la région signifie que latéléphonie mobile est déjà le principalmoyen de communication et également deplus en plus le principal moyen d’accès àl’Internet. La téléphonie mobile a joué un rôleactif pour réduire la fracture numérique etréaliser l’inclusion financière despopulations précédemment mal desservies,en particulier dans certaines parties del’Afrique du Nord.

«Le mobile amène une vaguede nouveaux services et

applications innovants dansla région, bien que nous nefaisions que commencer à

voir le potentiel detransformation positif du

haut débit mobile»


Pénétration des abonnés uniques à la téléphonie mobile dans les États arabes en 2013 (% de la population)Algérie 48 %Bahreïn 76 %Égypte 53 %Irak 60 %Jordanie 71 %Koweït 77 %Liban 51 %Libye 61 %Maroc 51 %Oman 72 %Palestine 46 %Qatar 73 %Arabie saoudite 74 %Sud-Soudan 16 %Soudan 41 %Syrie 42 %Tunisie 53 %Émirats arabes unis 83 %Yémen 45 %États arabes (total) 53 %

Source : GSMA Intelligence

Une partenariat entre NTT Com et Liquid Telecom autour IP

LA SOCIÉTÉ NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) a été sélectionnée par Liquid Telecom pourfournir des services de transit IP visant à répondre à la demande croissante de bande passante sur lemarché africain. NTT Com fournit des services de conseil, d’architecture, de sécurité et des services cloudpour optimiser les environnements des technologies de l’information et des communications.

Andrew Alston, directeur de stratégie IP chez Liquid Telecom, a déclaré : « La demande pour unecapacité IP sur notre réseau fibre panafricain continue de croître bien au-delà des prévisions mondialespour l’Afrique. NTT Com est un fournisseur fiable qui nous fournit un transit IP de haute qualité vers etdepuis l’Internet mondial sur tous les continents. Liquid Telecom partage la vision d’avant-garde IPv6 deNTT Com et IPv6 est déployé intégralement à travers la totalité de notre dorsale africaine »


Why a failure to facilitate switching means poorer service, and less marketcompetition, and lower levels of innovation

Making more frommobile number portability

NETWORKPoertability

ACCORDING TO RESEARCH publishedby the GSMA in November 2013, sofar only a handful of countries inAfrica have introduced mobile

number portability (MNP), which allowspeople to retain their existing phone numberwhen switching operators. This low take-up isnot unique to Africa; the GSMA’s report saysthat only a quarter of developing marketshave introduced MNP to date, while only afurther 15 per cent are known to beimplementing MNP in the future.

Under European Union law, a personalmobile number is now enshrined as a humanright with the legislators firmly of the opinionthat people shouldn’t be forced to change theirdigital identity when seeking a higher-qualitymobile service. However, this argument hasfailed to impress some regulators in Africa whoremain lukewarm towards MNP despite ageneral consensus about its benefits. Theaccepted arguments in favour of MNP are thatremoving the barriers to switching enablesconsumers to search for a better service andprice which then stimulates marketcompetition, innovation, better service levelsand also, in some cases, reduces the power ofa dominant player and encourages newentrants into the market.

So what are the barriers to the adoption ofMNP in Africa?The priorities of regulatorsThe traditional role of most regulators hasbeen managing disagreements and disputesbetween the operators and between operatorsand government rather than protecting therights of the consumers. In addition, manyregulators are busy addressing a range ofconflicting priorities such as network sharing,improving quality of service (QoS),redistributing spectrum and establishingcentral broadband infrastructures and so MNPis often quite far down their list of priorities.

Another worry is that the introduction ofMNP will start a price war which is notgenerally good for markets - or government taxrevenues - where large-scale infrastructureinvestments still need to be funded – andindeed can negate one of the major benefits ofMNP which is that it forces operators to investin improving their service.

Resistance by dominant operatorsNaturally the largest operator will not welcomeany threats to its captive customer base andthere is little to say about this! However,experience shows that it is often the strongestoperators that will benefit from MNP due totheir superior service and product capabilities.

However, one would think that where thereis a competitive market operators wouldwelcome the opportunity for consumers toswitch easily with the result that the best mostcost-effective service provider gaining marketshare. But this doesn’t seem to be happeningas many large African countries with a highnumber of domestic operators (five or more)such as the Democratic Republic of Congo haveyet to introduce MNP. In Uganda it was decidedthat MNP implementation would be costly andthat the market was ready to benefit fully fromMNP. However, the technology is widelyavailable and simply needs to be customisedto suit each market.

Demand from customers, and network issuesThe time taken to port numbers to use thefacility is often perceived as the main obstaclefor switching. However, according to the GSMA,in Ghana, 92 per cent of porting requests arecompleted within five minutes with almost halfa million numbers (447,095) ported in thecountry during the year ending June 2013, up 21per cent year-on-year.

The Ghana success story can be attributedto strong leadership from the NationalCommunications Authority which activelydrove the MNP programme, understood thecomplexity and challenges related to launchingMNP and ensured the MNP service wasefficient, consistent and reliable. In somecountries - for example, Zimbabwe - manypeople own a dual-SIM handset that makes iteasy to switch between networks and so theremay be no real incentive to port their numbers.And, in Kenya, it is cheaper to buy a new SIMthan to port from one operator to another. And,in most countries, mobile money services arespecific to individual networks and cannot beported with the associated mobile number.

Therefore, customers thinking of portingtheir number are often put off due to the riskand inconvenience of losing their existingmobile money service.

Analysis of industry prospectsThecla Mbongue, senior research analyst forAfrica at the analyst firm Ovum, has observed,“MNP has been launched in six African marketsso far: South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana,Morocco and Nigeria. In Sub-Saharan Africamore specifically, MNP has not had muchimpact on operators’ market shares. Themarkets are predominantly prepaid with ahigh occurrence of multiple SIM cards usage.In such environments, mobile users sharetheir multiple numbers with their contactsand do not often see the need of goingthrough the process of porting numbers. Webelieve that most of the subscribers portingtheir numbers would be small business userswho do not want to lose customers whenchanging numbers. The main reason forporting numbers include: poor quality ofservice on the network to be left and moreattractive tariffs on a new network.”

James Wild, a consultant at LaurasiaAssociates, has worked on the MNPprogrammes in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Hebelieves that the low take-up of MNP in Africa isnot surprising given the situation in the rest ofthe world. He said, “When we talk about lowtake-up in Africa, we need to remember thatacross European countries only around 4-8 percent of mobile customers switch providerseach year. This is in a saturated and developedmarket with much price competition. Thereforeit’s not really surprising that in Africa and othernon-saturated emerging markets that only 1-2per cent of mobile subscribers ask to switch.”

However, Wild says that 55 per cent ofcountries worldwide have MNP and heexpects that within five years it will beuniversal.

Leigh Smith, MD, World Telecom Labs


World Telecom Labs (WTL) developed Text ToPort, a vital component of Nigeria’s MNPprogramme, which enables people to texttheir provider in the first instance to notifytheir intention to switch to another provider.This text then sparks a string of actions bythe old and new provider to transition boththe number and the customer’s account.www.wtl.be

S07 CAF 6 2014 - Report GA - AB_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:22 Page 35

1 9 12:54:09 PM

A lokk into how the influx of copper coated aluminium cable coming via less scrupulous installersis now making its way into the cabling market and what is being done to tackle this issue

The danger ofcounterfeit cabling

NETWORK Cabling

AFRICA FACES A growing problemwith counterfeit cable, withunscrupulous manufacturers anddistributors passing non-

standards compliant cable includingcopper clad aluminium (CCA) product off asthe real thing. Lee Funnell, EMEA technicalmanager at Siemon, explains why it pays tobe vigilant and why purchasing andinstalling anything less than a qualityindustry standards compliant system froma reputable source can be costly.

Product counterfeiting is a well-knownproblem. However, establishing the scaleof this activity is notoriously difficult. Areport from the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development put thevalue of counterfeit goods that crossedinternational borders at over US$250bn,while the International Chamber ofCommerce (ICC) expects the globalcounterfeit goods market to be worthUS$1.7 trillion by 2015 — that is over twoper cent of the world’s total currenteconomic output.

Increasing influxThe structured cabling industry is by nomeans immune from the influx of fakeproducts and systems. Africa is alreadyseeing a significant increase in reports ofcopper clad aluminium (CCA) beingmanufactured, installed and used. Thosepurchasing it generally fall into two groups— one, who are actively seeking out andtrying to pass off CCA as standardscompliant cable, and second those who arebeing duped into thinking that they havegot a bargain due to its lower price. In someinstances component compliantcertificates are provided, misrepresentingthe actual product supplied.

CCA cables typically appear under threedistinct guises:• Cables openly sold as CCA, usually at

around half the price of their solidcopper counterparts

• As low cost ‘own brand’ or unbrandedversions pretending to be genuinecopper cables

• Counterfeit cables masquerading aswell-known brands, or with namessimilar enough to the genuine thing, asto fool the uninformed buyer

CCA cable is now widely available and iseven sometimes sold via legitimate outletsthat also sell premium branded products.This has led to proper practices becomingblurred and there are even those in theindustry who are trying to defend its use,mainly because it has been used for manyyears in RG58 and RG59 coaxial datacables.

Material lossCCA cables generally consist of analuminium central core of around 80 percent of the conductor diameter, with theremaining outer 20 per cent being coppercladding. Aluminium conductors exhibitinferior electrical and mechanicalproperties and, as a direct consequence,offer poor signal transmission, particularlyat low frequencies with restricted flexingcapabilities also leading to poor physicalcontact of the end points.

Aluminium also has poor malleabilitycompared to copper, meaning that it willbreak more easily if overworked, which is aparticular issue for patching. CCA alsosuffers from oxidation of exposedaluminium at connection points and thiscan drastically reduce the lifetime ofconnections.

Standards issueWhile their composition should certainly beenough to deter their use, the fact is that CCAcables are not compliant with any local orinternationally recognised standards. There isno ambiguity when it comes to therequirements defined in these standards, asthe details in the specification are

comprehensive with respect to the cableconductors. Some examples are as follows:• IEC 61156 states that ‘the conductor

shall be a solid annealed copperconductor’

• ISO/IEC 11801 at an international leveland EN 50173-1 in Europe specifyconductors to be solid copper

• EN 50288 says that ‘the conductor shallbe solid copper and comply with therequirements of EN50288-1:2003’

• ANSI/TIA-568-C.2, by reference toANSI/ICEA S-90-661-2006 for Category5e, states that ‘solid conductors shallconsist of commercial pure, annealed,bare copper’

Drilling downAccording to independent laboratory tests byDelta and others, CCA cables fail to meet thebasic requirements of four-pair, twisted-paircables - CCA cables fail insertion loss, DCloop resistance, return loss, and fail onattenuation to crosstalk ratio (ACR).

CCA cable is now widely available and is evensometimes sold via legitimate outlets that alsosell premium branded products.

CCCA’s CableCheck App is aconvenient field-screening

tool for checking suspiciouscable communications cable



Reliable, fi ve-bar connectivity for service providers in emerging markets

With EpicNG, Intelsat’s next-generation, high-throughput, backhaul solution, delivering future connectivity in Africa just got easier. Intelsat EpicNG is engineered for mobile operators that need to serve remote customers, across any terrain, regardless of conditions. Best of all, EpicNG works with your existing infrastructure, making it the most cost-effective and reliable solution for your network.

Only Intelsat, a company with 50 years of technical and operational expertise, a global fl eet of approximately 50 satellites, and the next-generation satellite platform, can promise you epic fl exibility and endless connectivity.

Meet with Intelsat during Africa Com 2014 at Stand E6.

Epic Flexibility, Endless Connectivity

www.intelsat.com/broadband



NETWORK Cabling

Siemon conducted its own tests on asample of CCA cable purporting to meetCategory 5e standards – and the resultswere negative.

The cable under test had a lengthmeasurement of 89.5 metres and the testwas carried out to ANSI/TIA-568 Category5e permanent link standards using a FlukeDTX-1800. The cable ends were terminatedto Siemon MAX® 5eoutlets.

Not surprisingly, the link failed on bothinsertion loss and return loss. The insertionloss failed across the entire frequencyrange, with a massive negative margin of9.9dB at 72.8MHz. The cause of this was aDC loop resistance of 43.5 ohms. Thestandard requires that DC resistance of anyconductor not exceed 9.38 ohms per 100metres, so the maximum loop resistanceshould have been 9.38/100x87.3x2 or16.24 ohms.

The return loss failure was across all fourpairs, with the worst-case margin being -6.8dB at 73MHz.

The heat is onPerhaps the biggest cause for concernabout the use of CCA is that these cables donot have any form of genuine fireperformance rating. In fact, none of thesecables are able to conform to theUnderwriters Laboratories (UL) fire grades.

CCA cables also have a greater heatresistivity than copper and will producehigher than expected temperature rises whenused to provide power over Ethernet (PoE andPoE+). Its higher attenuation properties bringabout some frightening possibilities,particularly in applications such as IP CCTV,where power is continuously drawn throughnetwork cables on a 24/7 basis. It is a veryreal possibility that heat will build up fasterthan it can be dissipated, with potentiallydisastrous outcomes.

Purchasing criteriaThe standards are unequivocal about therequirement for solid copper conductorsand, therefore, substituting CCA for copperin existing designs and claiming categorycompliance is both fraudulent and highrisk, and should never be entertained.Despite the warnings, the temptation to uselow-cost CCA cable instead of standardscompliant all copper variants is proving toohard for some to resist.

The negative consequences, however,could be significant and are likely to resultin demands for replacement of the entireinstallation, which will leave the installer inserious financial difficulty while the disputeis resolved with the supplier. Litigation anddamage to reputation are just two likelyoutcomes for any installers that go downthis route. For end users though, themessage is simpler – make sure you knowwhat you are getting.

Words of warningWith such a diverse choice of high qualityproducts on offer via expert manufacturersand distributors, there is absolutely no reasonto use sub-standard CCA cable. The smartestinvestment is in systems that are proven to

meet industry standards for quality, safety andperformance. Now due to the efforts oforganisations like the Communications Cable& Connectivity Association (CCCA), FibreopticIndustry Association (FIA) and BICSI, as well asleading vendors, the market is becomingbetter educated about CCA cable and thedangers of purchasing and installingcounterfeit cabling.

Aluminium conductors exhibit inferior electricaland mechanical properties and, as a directconsequence, offer poor signal transmission,particularly at low frequencies.

Any cost-saving option isshort-lived and that the

failure rates and real risksassociated with this sub-

standard cabling mean thatthe costs far outweighinvestment in quality

systems


NOKIA NETWORKS HAS conducted the first livenetwork trial of a software feature that improvessmartphone performance on 3G networks. NokiaHigh Speed Cell FACH, which encompassesthree 3GPP standard features, cuts smartphone-generated network signaling by up to 80 percent, boosts response time by up to 65 per centand achieves up to 20 per cent faster browsing.Up to 40 per cent power savings, contributing tolonger smartphone battery life for subscribers,were also shown. The tests were run on thecommercial 3G/HSPA network of a majorEuropean operator using test devices fitted withQualcomm Snapdragon processors that supportHigh Speed Cell FACH.Running applications such as WhatsAppMessenger, Facebook Messenger, web browsing

and e-mail, smartphones often send and receivesmall data packets of just a few hundreds ofbytes or a few kbytes. High Speed Cell FACHhandles these small data packets moreefficiently to improve the overall customerexperience and enable operators to support ahigher number of smartphones on theirnetworks.“Smartphones already outsell feature phonesand by 2018, smartphone penetration in somedeveloped markets is expected to exceed 90 percent.(1) With virtually all these smartphonesbeing 3G-enabled, it’s important to be able toimprove network efficiency under high signalingload,” said Thorsten Robrecht, vice president,Mobile Broadband portfolio management atNokia Networks. “Nokia Networks already offers

a unique set of software features to reducesmartphone signaling. High Speed Cell FACH isnow the next step.”Part of the Nokia Liquid Radio WCDMA SoftwareSuite, High Speed Cell FACH is already available,so operators can prepare for the market whensmartphones support the feature. High Speed Cell FACH is an important capabilitythat Qualcomm Technologies supports on itslatest Snapdragon processors that are nowcommercially available to smartphonemanufacturers. These live network testsproduced substantial performance gains thatexceeded Qualcomm’s expectations, includingbeating previous laboratory test results.

(1) Informa (December 2013)

Nokia Networks shows how to make smartphone browsing faster and cheaper


S08 CAF 6 2014 - Report EC - EB_Layout 1 31/10/2014 10:59 Page 39

L’opportunité importante pour les entreprises, les consommateurs et le gouvernement,pouvant accélérer considérablement le développement économique et social

Un plan nationalpour le haut débit

RÉSEAU Égypte

LORS D'UNE TABLE ronde réunissantdes chefs de file de l'industrie et dugouvernement, qui s'est tenue cettesemaine au Caire, à laquelle Son

Excellence Atef Helmy, ministre égyptien desCommunications et de la Technologie del'Information, et Hesham El Alaily, Présidentexécutif de la NTRA, la GSMA a publié unnouveau rapport révélant le potentielimportant pour la croissance future enEgypte. En prenant des mesures afind'accroître la pénétration du haut débitmobile, le pays pourrait débloquer 310milliards de livres égyptiennessupplémentaires (soit 43 milliards d'USD) dePIB et engendrer 1,2 million de nouveauxemplois dans l'économie égyptienne d'ici2030. Développé par Plum Consulting, lerapport, « The Economic and Social Impact ofMobile Broadband in Egypt » (« L’impactéconomique et social du haut débit mobileen Égypte »), estime que cette opportunité nepeut être exploitée qu’à travers despolitiques favorables à l’investissement àlong terme et un environnementréglementaire stable. Il signale notammentque l'Egypte possède actuellement l'un destaux les plus bas au monde de fréquenceassignée au réseau mobile.

« Avec le passage des services vocaux etSMS classiques au haut débit mobile, lesopérateurs mobiles en Égypte sont de plus enplus paralysés par la capacité limitée duréseau national de fibre optique. De même,les connexions internationales à haut débitsont primordiales si l’Égypte espèreconcourir efficacement au niveau mondial »,a déclaré Tom Phillips, chef des affairesréglementaires de la GSMA. Ces entraves,associées à l’absence de l’utilisation duspectre de radioélectrique pour prendre encharge les dernières technologies mobiles àhaut débit, étouffent la croissanceéconomique. « Des politiques quiencouragent les investissements dans ledomaine du haut débit mobile et activent unspectre radioélectrique supplémentaire àallouer aux services mobiles sontessentielles à la transformation de l’aveniréconomique de l’Égypte. »

Lors de la table ronde qui s'est tenuecette semaine, le ministre M.Helmy a invitél'industrie de la téléphonie mobile de

réunir un groupe de travail conjoint visant àrépondre aux contraintes actuelles et àévaluer les exigences de l'offre et de lademande dans le cadre du déploiement duréseau mobile haut débit. La formation dece groupe de travail sera discutée lors de laconférence Mobile 360 - Middle East,organisée par la GSMA, à Dubaï, plus tardce mois-ci.

Suite à des discussions fructueuses, il estdésormais temps pour le gouvernement etl'industrie de prendre des mesures concrètesafin de stimuler l'innovation et la croissancepar le biais des réseaux mobiles. Cettecollaboration correspond à un aspect critiquede notre effort conjoint visant à améliorer lesvies de nos citoyens et à positionner l'Egypteen tant que chef de file de la région," adéclaré Son Excellence Atef Helmy.

Recommandations pour la croissance àlong termePour réaliser pleinement le potentiel du hautdébit mobile, le rapport propose que legouvernement et le régulateur travaillentmain dans la main avec l’industrie du mobileafin de développer une vision claire pour une« Égypte numérique » qui stimulel’investissement. Parmi les principalesrecommandations :

Adoption d’un environnementréglementaire stable pour soutenirl’investissement du secteur privé dans lesdomaines de la fibre optique et des réseauxmobiles.

Développement d’un nouveau plannational pour le haut débit qui s’aligneavec les pratiques internationalesoptimales afin de surmonter les obstaclesrencontrés dans le passé et définir desobjectifs et des politiques révisés pour les10 prochaines années.

Libération d’urgence d’un spectreradioélectrique supplémentaire dans lesbandes 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1,8 GHz et 2,1GHz grâce à un processus équitable ettransparent pour résoudre les problèmes decapacité et de couverture mobiles. L’autoriténationale de régulation destélécommunications est invitée à publier uncalendrier clair avec les échéanciers pour lalibération de ce spectre afin de stimuler lesinvestissements.

L’accès aux installations nécessaires audéploiement du haut débit mobile - tellesque les conduits de fibre optique, lespasserelles internationales et les sites depylônes - devrait être surveillé de près afind’assurer l’efficacité des prix de gros pourtous les participants au marché.

Amélioration de l’utilisation des servicesgouvernementaux en ligne afin de faciliterla pénétration des services mobiles à hautdébit.

« Le haut débit mobile représente uneopportunité importante pour les entreprises,les consommateurs et le gouvernement,pouvant accélérer considérablement ledéveloppement économique et social », aajouté Phillips. « L’industrie du mobile estprête et disposée à travailler en étroitecollaboration avec le gouvernement égyptienpour favoriser l’innovation et la croissancegrâce à la technologie mobile, et positionnerl’Égypte comme un chef de file dans la régionet améliorer la vie de ses citoyens. »

Nous accueillons favorablement lesconclusions de la table ronde qui s'esttenue cette semaine et sommes impatientsde tirer profit de cette dynamique pourréaliser des changements concretspermettant d'accélérer le développementéconomique et social en Egypte par biaisdu réseau de téléphonie mobile," apoursuivi M. Phillips.


ALCATEL-LUCENT DÉPLOIE UN réseau defibre optique 100 Gbit/s très haut débitavec MTN Nigeria, filiale du groupe MTNbasé à Dubaï et principal fournisseur deservices en Afrique. Le pays le plus peupléd’Afrique pourra ainsi tirer pleinementparti des avantages d’une connectivité trèshaut débit.

MTN Nigeria, qui couvre près de 90% dela superficie du pays, va procéder audéploiement d’un réseau 100G s’appuyantsur l’infrastructure 10G optique existante,afin de capitaliser sur les investissementsdéjà en place, tout en déployant unesolution d’avenir, à la pointe de latechnologie.

MTN, Alcatel-Lucent, et unréseau fibre optique 100G



What to do, and what to remember, when managing digital and traditional platforms for customer service

Striking the right balance

NETWORK Digital

IN AN AGE where people are just as likely to contact a callcentre or visit a branch as they are to Tweet, email or text acompany, it has become essential for businesses to have amulti-channel customer service strategy. Organisations that

get this right will not only retain a higher percentage ofcustomers, they are also more likely to attract repeat businessand attract new business as their reputation grows. However, ascustomer care continues to evolve into a complex cross-channelenvironment, some companies are struggling to harness therapidly changing landscape to positively affect businessoutcomes.

Understanding the new customer experienceMost organisations, regardless of what industry they operate in,still lack sufficient direction on how to develop a comprehensivecross-channel customer service strategy that delivers effortlesscare across multiple contact points. Developing an effectivecross-channel delivery model requires a clear view into the rootcause of cross-channel behaviour. Businesses need an end-to-end view of the customer experience across all channels in orderto formulate and deploy a multi-channel strategy that provides

measurable gains in customer satisfaction, including phone,web, chat, email, social mobile and SMS.

Technology advances including social media and theemergence of online customer support options such as chat,coupled with the breakthrough of mobile, has meant somebusinesses are not sufficiently equipped for this new customerservice landscape.

Changing customer communications channelsWhile many people still prefer to contact a call centre for issueresolution, growing consumer demand for self-service solutionsmeans that online customer service delivery now comes a closesecond. Convergys research found on cross-channel experiences,

Convergys research found on cross-channelexperiences, 35 per cent of consumerscontact a call centre in the first instance,while 28 per cent will visit a website




NETWORKDigital

35 per cent of consumers contact a call centre in the firstinstance, while 28 per cent will visit a website. There is now aninherent willingness to use online and other self-service options,depending on the complexity of the resolution involved. Thisbehaviour is likely motivated by an unspoken belief that onechannel is better-suited to quickly resolve that specific issue. Inother words, customers gravitate to the channel of leastresistance depending on what they are trying to do.

Mobile adds a further dimension to the customer service mix.Of four emerging channels - mobile, text, social and webcam -mobile apps and text messaging had the highest current usageamong younger ages. While these mobile service options are notyet commonplace in general, there is higher adoption amongyounger generations; 23 per cent of 18-35 year olds used mobileapps and text message as a customer service channel, comparedto just seven per cent of 55-74 year olds. This is a trend that willonly accelerate as the ‘digital native’ population (categorised asthose born after 2000) increases and grows in influence.

In order to build a seamless cross-channel customer platform,there are a number of factors to be considered. This can includeelements such as; the business operation, the physical locationof your customers, the availability of customer service staff and,of course, budget.

Investment in online must be a priority in order for theorganisation to futureproof itself for the next generation ofconsumers. For example, effective tools to capture social mediachatter about the organisation, or a chat facility on the companywebsite coupled with prompt resolution, can be a powerful tool

for customer satisfaction. As organisations mature their multi-channel approaches, chat must be positioned as a proactiveintercept tactic. However, only a few organisations havesuccessfully implemented an online chat support function. Plan for the future, don’t forget the presentAlthough there has been a rise in the use of mobile, social and onlineto contact businesses, particularly among ‘Generation Y’ and ‘digitalnatives’, businesses should not look for a root and branch overhaulof their customer management systems quite yet. It remains vital forcompanies to maintain a balance between traditional (phone, post)and digital (social, online) customer support programmes in order tocater for all their customers.

There will always be demand to speak to someone on the phone,in the same way as there will always be demand for self-serviceresolution via technology channels. What is important is thatbusinesses can help the customer via their preferred channel andoffer swift service in order to deliver the best possible customerexperience. Those organisations that accelerate adoption of thesecross-channel strategies, and use analytics to better understand theircustomers behaviours and preferences, will position themselves tobecome industry leaders with levels of customer service unmatchedby their competitors.

Cormac Twomey, SVP EMEA at Convergys

Developing an effective cross-channeldelivery model requires a clear view into the

root cause of cross-channel behaviour.

Investment in online must be a priority inorder for the organisation to futureproof

itself for the next generation of consumers



De la assistance technique, des réunions, des études d’incidence, des bonnes pratiqueset des boîtes à outils pour réduire la fracture entre les sexes au niveau des compétencesnumériques et de la connectivité

La présence des femmesaux marchés en développement

ÉCONOMIE Numérique

L’ENGAGEMENT DE LA GSMA et laClinton Global Initiative est en faveurde l’opération Connected Women «Accélérer l’essor de l’économie

mobile féminine », lors de la réunionannuelle de la Clinton Global Initiative quis’est déroulée à New-York. La GSMA et sespartenaires coopèrent dans le cadre duprogramme Connected Women pouraccélérer la croissance de l'économienumérique féminine ; leur action a déjàtouché 10 millions de femmes parl'intermédiaire des initiatives existantes. Leprogramme Connected Women va mener desétudes qui fourniront des enseignementsprécieux sur les avantages socio-économiques d’une plus grande intégrationdes femmes à tous les niveaux, et qui serontutilisées par les partenaires pour développerdes initiatives et des services à l’attentiondes consommatrices et des travailleuses.

« L’omniprésence et l'accessibilitéfinancière du mobile nous offre l’opportunitésans précédent d’améliorer ledéveloppement social et économique », adéclaré Anne Bouverot, Directrice Généralede la GSMA. « Les femmes, en particulier, ontcependant tendance à être laissées pourcompte, non seulement en tant queconsommatrices de services mobiles, misaussi en tant qu’employées et dirigeantesdans le secteur des communicationsmobiles. Pour y remédier, la GSMA s’estalliée à des acteurs-clés du secteur qui ontl’ambition d’exploiter davantage le potentielde l'économie numérique féminine. »

Des obstacles à l’accèsEn partenariat avec le Ministère australiendes affaires étrangères et du commerceextérieur (DFAT) et l'Agence américaine pourle développement international (USAID), laGSMA va entreprendre un projet de recherchepour mieux comprendre les disparitésactuelles entre les sexes au niveau dutéléphone mobile, les catalyseurs et lesobstacles à l’accès au téléphone mobile et àson utilisation, ainsi que les implicationspour les décideurs du secteur et autresparties prenantes. Cette étude compteraparmi les plus complètes réalisées à ce jourpar la communauté internationale sur lessouhaits et les besoins technologiques des

femmes à la base de la pyramide. Ce projetde recherche comprendra 12.000 entretienset 84 groupes de discussion en Chine, enColombie, en République Démocratique duCongo, en Égypte, en Inde, en Indonésie, enJordanie, au Kenya, au Mexico, au Niger, auNigeria et en Turquie.

En partenariat avec A.T. Kearney, la GSMAva aussi entreprendre et publier un travail derecherche majeur qui examinera l’état del’égalité entre hommes et femmes dans lesecteur, mettant en lumière les bonnespratiques et offrant des conseils stratégiquesdans les domaines de changement potentiel.L’objectif de ce travail de recherche est demieux faire connaître les opportunités pourles femmes et leur rôle dans l’écosystèmemondial des télécoms, ainsi que d’impulserle changement dans le secteur en montrantcomment les femmes peuvent soutenir lesaspirations du secteur. Le rapport fournirades indicateurs permettant de suivre lesprogrès et l’activité.

Des services appropriésUne fois les rapports de recherche finalisés,au début 2015, les partenaires du programmeGSMA Connected Women, parmi lesquels ontrouve actuellement Ooredoo, Qualcomm,Roshan et Smart Communications, se sontengagés à en exploiter les enseignements etles recommandations pour mettre en placedes programmes et des services destinés auxfemmes qui sont leurs clientes et leursemployées. Les opérateurs partenaires de laGSMA utiliseront les résultats pour fournirdes services appropriés, notamment : unmeilleur accès à l’internet mobile pour les

femmes ; le recrutement de femmes commedistributrices de recharges de téléphonesmobiles au sein de leurs communautés, cequi leur permettra d’élargir l’accèsnumérique tout en générant des revenuspour leur foyer ; la fourniture d’information etde services dont les femmes ont besoin enmatière de santé, d’éducation et decompétences professionnelles ; la fourniturede technologie mobile aux ouvrières d’usinepour leur donner accès à l’information sur lasanté ; et le lancement de services conçuspour protéger les femmes en situation devulnérabilité, en leur permettant de bloquerles correspondants indésirables, empêchantle harcèlement et la violence verbale.

Mme Bouverot a poursuivi : « Leprogramme GSMA Connected Women est lefer de lance du développement del’économie numérique féminine et nousavons hâte d’accueillir de nouveauxpartenaires pour nous aider à apporter desavantages socio-économiques essentiels auxconsommatrices et aux travailleuses dumonde entier. »

«L’omniprésence etl'accessibilité financière du

mobile nous offrel’opportunité sans

précédent d’améliorer ledéveloppement social et

économique» - AnneBouverot, DirectriceGénérale de la GSMA


ALCATEL-LUCENT FOURNIT SA solution detransmission par faisceaux hertziens enmode paquet 9500 MPR (MicrowavePacket Radio), leader du marché, à Djezzy(OTA). Ce projet va permettre demoderniser l’architecture de backhaulingmobile de l’opérateur, afin de répondre àla demande liée à l’explosion del’utilisation de smartphones.OTA, une division de Vimpelcom, est

fournisseur de services mobiles algérien. Lesystème 9500 MPR longue distanced’Alcatel-Lucent va doter l’infrastructureOTA d’une capacité huit fois supérieure,avec un encombrement géographique troisfois inférieur aux systèmes traditionnels. Le système consistera également en une

infrastructure nettement plus rentable endehors des zones urbaines et dans lesrégions reculées du pays. Ce projet demodernisation réseau répond aux besoinsde l’opérateur en matière de fournitured’accès 3G, mais aussi en matière deservices 4G LTE futurs.

Une solution pour Djezzy

S09 CAF 6 2014 - Report GA - CA - EA_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:34 Page 44


Service plans basedon real-time QoE

RESEARCHService

RESEARCH COMMISSIONED BYMahindra Comviva and conducted byOvum Consulting indicates a need foroperators to adopt a consumer-centric

approach than a network-centric dataoptimisation strategy. The study reveals that 20per cent of sites are congested at any point intime.

With the growth in mobile data, thecomplexity of managing traffic has alsointensified driven by greater use of bandwidthhungry applications and heightened customerexpectations for an ever-higher Quality ofExperience (QoE). According to OvumResearch’s recent forecasts, global mobilebroadband connections will cross US$4.5bn at aCAGR of 19 per cent from 2012 to 2018 asdemand for data connectivity from big andsmall-screen devices continues. It also predictsthat mobile broadband revenues will grow toapproximately US$278bn in 2018 at a CAGR of 11per cent. In the face of unrelenting data growth,the study highlights the benefits operators

would reap by deploying intelligent mediaoptimisation to deliver an assured serviceexperience and better monetise data traffic.Current optimisation techniques are appliedprincipally as a blunt instrument for Capexcontainment. The broad application ofoptimisation policies such as compression hasnegative fallout on revenue, especially foroperators who predominantly extend volumebased plans to customers. As an example, videooptimisation in a high-traffic location improvesbandwidth utilisation and overall browsingexperience. However, the application of thesame policy at congestion-free locationsgenerates lower traffic volume, reducing thenumber of bytes and revenues per customers.

Commenting on the significance of mediaoptimisation, Madan G Onkar, vice president,Internet and broadband solutions, said, “Data isthe new growth category for operators inemerging markets. The ability to delightcustomers with a personalised, consistent,experience and innovative offers is a critical

services differentiator. Intelligent context-awareapplication of optimisation techniques wouldenable operators to balance twin pressures ofnetwork and revenue growth.”

Data traffic is distributed unevenly on thenetwork. Around 20 per cent of cell sites arecongested at any point of time. The study positsa more intelligent approach to optimisation ispossible, one that can improve customerexperience and service personalisation basedon real-time invocation of business rules andpolicies. Unlike conventional techniques,intelligent media optimisation selectivelyapplies performance-improvement techniques,based on a combination of variables includingcell traffic load, customer location, network type,application, device and ARPU profile.

Currently, 20 per cent of operators haveinvested in intelligent optimisation tools. Thereport indicates that 60 per cent of operatorswould deploy intelligent media optimisation in2014 and 2015, driven by the need to deliver aconsistent QoE and growth revenues.



The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) updates its research on the LTE ecosystem,confirming that smartphones are driving growth in long-term evolution adoption

Ecosystem emerges withsmart devices as drivers

RESEARCH LTE

THE LATEST UPDATE to the Status of theLTE Ecosystem report publishedrecently by the Global mobileSuppliers Association (GSA) confirms

that 183 manufacturers have announced2,218 LTE-enabled user devices, includingoperator and frequency variants. 978 newproducts were announced during the pastyear, representing 79 per cent annual growth.The number of manufacturers increased by52.5 per cent in the same period.

Smartphones are the main user devicecategory and the main growth driver. 1,045smartphone products have been launched,translating to an improved share of 47 per centof all LTE device types. This compares with 455smartphones and 36 per cent share a year ago.98 per cent of LTE smartphones are multimode,capable of operating on at least one 3Gtechnology in addition to LTE.

The next most popular LTE device category isrouters (comprising CPEs and personalhotspots), followed by tablets, with donglespushed down to 4th place. 207 LTE-connected

tablets are announced, which is an 18%increase in the last 3 months alone.

The 1800 MHz (3GPP band 3) continues tobe the most prominent band for LTE networkdeployments globally and also has the largestdevices ecosystem with 944 user devices. Over42% of all LTE devices can operate in thisspectrum.

The evolving LTE ecosystemThe GSA represents GSM/EDGE, WCDMA-HSPAand LTE suppliers, providing reports, facts,analysis and information explaining marketdevelopments and trends. This latest Status ofthe LTE Ecosystem report covers LTE FDD andTDD devices. The majority of terminals operatein the FDD mode. The TDD mode also has a fastmaturing ecosystem with 644 devicesannounced. The ecosystems for TDD bands 38(2.6 GHz) and 40 (2.3 GHz) dominate and arevirtually identical, each supported by morethan 420 user terminals. Band 41 (2.6 GHz) iswell represented with 261 products, followedby Band 39 (250 products). Another rise in the

number of devices supporting Bands 42 and 43(3.5 GHz) is noted.

Alan Hadden, president of the GSA, said,"Operators worldwide are investing strongly inimproving the customer experience,efficiencies and growth. 25 per cent of LTEdevices support Category 4 (150 Mbps peakdownlink speed). 16 devices support Category6 (300 Mbps)."

Global capabilitiesMany operators are bringing HD voice serviceto their LTE customers by introducing VoLTE,technology. Availability of VoLTE-enabledterminals is rapidly expanding. 146 VoLTE-capable phones (including carrier andfrequency variants) have been announced byleading vendors including Apple, Asus, Fujitsu,Huawei, LG, Pantech, Samsung, Sharp andSony Mobile.

Worldwide, 331 LTE networks arecommercially launched (GSA Evolution to LTEreport, September 2014). GSA expects this torise to at least 350 networks by end 2014.


Global LTE1800 commitments (Source: GSA)


FG WILSON’S INTERNATIONALtelecommunications prowess hasbeen reaffirmed by the role itsgenerator sets played in helping a

major telecoms operator make hugeoperational cost savings on a solar hybridpower solution across Papua New-Guinea.

PowerOasis, the a leading supplier oftelecoms power solutions for remote and off-grid sites, successfully delivered the innovativeproject on behalf of Digicel – one of theregion’s largest telecoms operators. Closemonitoring of the project during the first year ofoperation has revealed an operational costsaving of over US$40,000 and a 72 per centreduction in diesel fuel consumption.

The solar hybrid power solution involved theinstallation of 25 FG Wilson generator sets – acombination of P11-6S (11 kVA) and P16.5-6S(16 kVA) – all of which included integrated1,000L fuel tanks and extended serviceengines - helping to reduce maintenancerequirements and increase service intervals to1,000 hours.

John O’Donohue, CEO of PowerOasis,commented, “The key objective ofPowerOasis’s hybrid power solution for Digicelwas to significantly reduce overall operationalcosts – and choosing FG Wilson generator setswas key to successfully achieving this. Weknow through experience that FG Wilsongenerator sets are relatively easy to install andmajor cost savings were made at the outset asit took less than five days to deploy the site,rather the 12-15 day deployment time which isoften the case.

“Given the extreme remoteness of a lot ofthe Papua-New Guinea sites and thechallenging nature of the terrain, durability wasa vital attribute for the generator sets, which isa hallmark of the FG Wilson product. The1,000L fuel tanks on which the generator setsare mounted played an important role inensuring their reliability and in protectingagainst fuel theft, which can be a major burdenon costs for off-grid projects.

“Digicel’s specifications required a solutionwhich would significantly decrease fuelconsumption and achieve more cost-effectivemaintenance intervals. Through the hybridpower solution we have managed to deliver aproject which has required no more than fivesite maintenance visits and diesel refuels per

year – sites such as these can often require asite visit every month.

“We benchmarked the generator setsoperating individually at the sites against themoperating as part of a hybrid solution and thecost savings delivered by the hybrid solutionare vast. The initial outlay can be greater, butthere is no doubting the major savings that canbe enjoyed in the long-term.

“For operators rolling out new networks inremote markets, the need for reliable, efficientpower sources has become a critical factor - thedifference between profit and loss. PowerOasishybrid solutions, using FG Wilson generators,are ideal for rapid site development.”

With a peak power load of 1.5 KW required ateach site, the generators, batteries, solararrays and rectifiers are sized and configured tomeet operational and autonomy hours. Thebattery charge cycles are managed to complywith manufacturer recommendations andachieve battery life of at least four years. Theremote monitoring of the sites is proactivelymanaged by Digicel, with PowerOasisproviding back-up support.

Stephen McKinty, GM at FG Wilson,commented, “The Papua New-Guinea project isa high-profile demonstration of our well-established and internationally-renownedexpertise in the telecommunications sector.The robust and resilient design of generatorsfor the telecoms industry is paramount to theirperformance, especially if situated in remotelocations. Our renowned product availabilitywas an important reason for FG Wilsongenerator sets being chosen for this project.

“Our generator sets deliver power every

hour of every day in even the most remote andharsh telecom sites, which is why customersthroughout the world turn to FG Wilson to meettheir needs in this sector. Choosing FG Wilsonmeans lifecycle costs you can count on,combined with the guarantee of expert localsupport which comes with every project wehelp deliver.

“The PowerOasis solution optimises theenergy captured from sunlight which helpslead to cost savings in diesel fuel, reducedservicing overheads and prolonged generatorlife. Improvements in site availability leads tofurther business benefits, including reducedsubscriber churn and increased revenuegeneration. The direct costs savings result in arapid return on investment in the solar upgradeto the generator/battery hybrid solution.”

FG Wilson has been providing reliable powerto the telecoms sector for over 47 years. As partof its commitment to ongoing productdevelopment, FG Wilson has recentlydeveloped a suite of new options to meet thespecific needs of the telecoms sector. Theseinclude a range of base fuel tanks with varioushigh capacity options, single or double wall,fuel anti-theft features and single point lifting.

Through a global network of 370 Dealers, FGWilson successfully serves and supportscustomers all over the world. With the back-upof FG Wilson’s Applications Support Team, andTechnical Support Centre, Dealers can meetany power requirement, no matter howcomplex.

For more information about FG Wilson, visitwww.fgwilson.com

PowerOasis power solution optimisessolar energy and delivers optimumvalue in Papua New-Guinea

FG Wilson is righton call for the telecoms sector

POWERRenewables

The Papua New-Guinea project isa high-profile demonstration ofFG Wilson’s expertise in thetelecommunications sector



Why jailbroken devices - which have been modified with user-installedsoftware - pose a significant threat to enterprise operations

Building blocksto data management

SECURITY Devices

PERSONAL AND ENTERPRISE computing landscapes arechanging, and software ecosystems are changing with them.Mobile phones and tablets outsold conventional desktopand notebook computers in 2013, and continue to expand in

terms of footprint and functionality. These rapid mobile computingdevice sales are driving increased rates of app downloads. Marketpredictions for mobile app downloads are expected to be well over200bn per year by 2017, according to ABI Research. It is clear thatmobile apps across multiple platforms are making steady anddramatic inroads into the enterprise, with iOS leading adoption rates.

As a result of this strong mobile adoption, app developers who couldonce simply focus on application source code reviews and web anddesktop-centric security reviews, are now seeing the need tosignificantly expand their security requirements scope to align with anew threat landscape that is specific to the mobile computing platform.IT security teams are also confronted with the change of the use of newdevices in traditional regulated markets. A recent study by the PonemonInstitute found that many organisations are not taking the necessarysteps to protect regulated data, such as protected health information(PHI) on mobile devices and in the cloud. This presents a worrying trendand the challenges around mobile security, which will only continue togrow in complexity.

Mobile apps are being targeted by hackersMobile devices are being used for everything from consumer bankingand e-commerce to enterprise productivity, infotainment and more. As aresult, more and more sensitive data and intellectual property (IP) isfinding its way onto these platforms. One issue is that mobile devicesare characterised by untrusted execution environments. In other words,hackers can quite easily invade these devices without the owner’sknowledge and compromise apps and data, as well as lost devices beingan easy target for identity theft, data theft, and fraud.

All business segments are adopting mobile devices into theirproductivity and services growth plans, including financial institutions,retail establishments, game publishers, video service providers, andhackers. Malware, unauthorised access, code tampering, piracy, andintellectual property theft are all major issues on the mobile platform.These challenges are more difficult to deal with because mobile devices,and the resident apps, live outside the firewall and are predominantlyowned and maintained by users rather than companies. Even oncorporate devices that have security policies such as mandatory PINs,business policy wrappers and authentication policies, apps and data arestill vulnerable to attack. This is because all these measures assumethat the device’s controlled download and execution automaticallyprotects the apps, the data, and the user. In reality, a jailbroken device

may do none of these things.Jailbreaking (iOS) or rooting (Android) is the process of bypassing

restrictions, policies and safeguards built into devices by Apple andAndroid operating systems to enable device owners (and hackers) toinstall apps from outside the official App store and to bypass usagerestrictions and checks that are built into the platform. In a traditionalsense, jailbreaking/rooting is executed by a user on their own device inorder to use their personal device “freely”. These jailbroken/rooteddevices present a tempting target for hackers, who are able to leveragethese compromised environments to cause direct financial loss andultimately damage a corporate brand.

Building a self-defending and tamper-resistant appProtecting an application and its code in a fundamentally distrusted andpotentially malicious environment is a different discipline from ITsecurity policy enforcement, and requires a fundamentally differentapproach. The key is to leverage the same multi-layer, binary codeprotection paradigm as used for tamper-resistance in applications. Thiswill help achieve effective mobile shielding obile computing.

Vince Arneja, VP Product Management, Arxan Technologies

Market predictions for mobile appdownloads are expected to be well over200bn per year by 2017, according to ABIResearch



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S10 CAF 6 2014 - Report DA_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:25 Page 49

The latest solutions and services on show at the annual International BroadcastingConvention event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery ofentertainment and news content

Innovationsin broadcasting

BROADCAST IBC

IBC 2014 came at an interesting time formany visitors, just three weeks beforethe UK Digital Production Partnership's'File Delivery Day'. From October 1

onward, all major broadcasters in Britain willrequire television programme andadvertising content to arrive as data filesrather than on digital video tape. This is badnews for motorcycle couriers but very goodindeed for the UK's primary telco, BT, which isenjoying high demand from productionhouses for direct optical IP connectivity.Broadcasters around the globe are making asimilar transition."FD-Day was high on the agenda of

practically every UK visitor we talked to,"commented Eyeheight sales director MartinMoore. "It will also affect overseas productioncompanies creating programmes for UK-basedbroadcasters, and not before time given thatthe whole world is now moving away from tapeto IP-based content delivery. Fast file turnroundis becoming increasingly important throughoutthe production and postproduction business.Our latest BroadcastSafeFCPX plug-in allows aprogramme file to be processed on a modernhigh-specification Apple desktop computerfaster than it takes to view rather than typicallyfour times longer than real-time on a low-spec

machine. Faster processing means fasterdelivery of completed content, higheroperational efficiency throughout the businesschain."

512 gigabyte SanDisk memoryThe original catalyst for the migration to file-based broadcasting was the popularisation ofnetworked media asset management, allowingprogramme editors and playout facilities toshare content via networked hard-disk drives.Almost equally important has been the

increasing use of solid state flash memory bycamera crews who previously shot on tape.One of the biggest new products at IBC thisyear was also the smallest: a postage-stamp-sized SanDisk memory with 512 gigabyte

capacity, half a terabyte, ready to go straightinto your snapshot camera or latest-generationbroadcast production camera. Price, when thecard is introduced, will be US$799.99.File-based media asset management has

itself shrunk in size, cost and complexitythrough the increasing use of channel-in-a-boxsystems. This approach was pioneered byPlayBox Technology which celebrated atIBC2014 both its 15th anniversary plus thedelivery of over 15,000 playout and brandingchannels.

Samsung's prototype 105 inch 4K resolution21:9 curved UHDTV video display was a realjaw-dropper. It should be obligatory viewing foranyone wondering what 4K has to offer in adomestic television viewing environment. 21:9is of course the CinemaScope format whichbecame popular in the film industry from 1953onward. Prototype video screens using thisformat have been shown in recent years by afew display manufacturers and could welldisplace 16:9 in the long term.Wider still was a 10,000 x 2,000 pixel

resolution 360 degree panoramic videocapture system shown by the FraunhoferInstitute for Telecommunications. This sourcedfrom 10 compact high-definition camerasfacing upwards into a circular configuration offlat mirrors.For convenience, the live-stitched image

was displayed on a single relatively small flatscreen. It was promoted as a format from whicheditors could select 16:9 (or wider) video froma recording surround-vision production.Interest in 3D at broadcast trade shows hasdeclined almost to zero. One conceptuallyoriginal demonstration in IBC's FutureTechnology area was an attempt to show adirect-view holographic video image generatedin a small dish. The result defied my efforts toSamsung's prototype 105 inch 4K resolution 21:9 curved UHDTV video display


The future of broadcasting is quite easy to predict, dictatedprimarily by consumer display manufacturers, with 4K UHD-

capable screens displacing HD screens as the affordablestandard for home viewing, sourcing initially from videoupconverted within each set, just as many viewers today

watch upconverted SD on their 1920 x 1080 displays



BROADCASTIBC

photograph it but a summary can be read at www.3dragons.jp. Equallyunexpected, albeit daft, was GoPro's 'Fetch' camera harness for dogs. Asnip or snap at 69 euros. Camera control can be performed remotelyusing an iPhone app. If only one could control the dog. Anevia chose IBC2014 as the launch venue for a new service which

will allow cloud storage and cloud streaming of OTT media content. It isbased on the integration of Anevia's ViaMotion products with AmazonWeb Services, allowing operators to offer cloud TV to their subscribers,including live, VOD, catchup and nPVR services.

IP Live ProductionKirk's award for the most significant IBC2014 conference paper wouldquite certainly go to Messrs Chen, Gardiner, Kojima and Stone of Sonyfor their presentation titled 'IP Live Production'. The main objective ofthis approach is to retain the production practices of SDI and implementcommercial off-the-shelf IT infrastructure. The SDI router could bereplaced by an IP switch allowing connected production equipment tocommunicate using IP rather than SDI. A network interface would beintegrated into all new production equipment. For legacy SDI equipment,an SDI-to-IP conversion module would be required using the samenetwork interface. A reduction in the physical infrastructure is the mostobvious benefit, resulting from the higher bandwidth and duplexcapability of IP physical cables (2 x 10 gigabits per second for 10GBEcompared with 3 gigabits per second for 3G-SDI). Monitoring within thebroadcast facility becomes more flexible. Video and audio sources canbe monitored in the gallery as usual and on desktop computers orportable tablets. Proxies and thumbnails can be generated at source,which further simplifies monitoring and reduces the need for multi-viewprocessors. The proposed IP live production system can supportstreaming of real-time and non-real-time metadata alongside video andaudio signals, which is not possible with SDI-based infrastructure.

The Art of Better PixelsIn 'The Art of Better Pixels', D.G. Brooks of Dolby summarisedexperiments aimed at delivering extended video dynamic range ratherthan, as the television industry has tended to do, simply concentratingon increased display resolution:"It is hard to exaggerate the impact that the cathode ray tube had, and

still continues to have, on the design of television standards. First, thecolour gamut was defined by the rare-earth phosphors used. Second,the brightness was limited to approximately 100 candela per squaremetre both to control large area flicker and to prevent the electron beamfrom spreading and reducing spatial resolution. UltraHD as specified inITU-R BT.2020 was the first standard partly to break free from theseconstraints but it retained the CRT reference brightness limit andcorresponding electro-optical transfer function based on the gammacharacteristic of the CRT.“Tests were performed to determine the baseband bit-depth required

to ensure that no contouring artifacts would be visible. The traditional TVgamma 2.4 non-linear curve was found inefficient for high dynamicrange images. Both 10 and 12-bit PQ extended dynamic range (EDR)signals can be encoded by the dual-layer codec proposed. The standarddynamic range base layer can be coded as either 8 or 10-bit dependingon the backwards compatibility requirements.“Existing TV receivers ignore the enhancement layer. EDR receivers

would combine base and enhancement layers to reproduce EDR imagesat either 10 or 12-bit PQ depending on the source. The TV receiver wouldalso incorporate a new display management block which maps thecontent to the evolving characteristics of each display by using metadatapresent in the EDR stream."

Sony represented the mechanics of IP Live Production

Fast file turnround is becoming increasinglyimportant throughout the production andpostproduction business; theBroadcastSafeFCPX plug-in allows aprogramme file to be processed on a modernhigh-specification Apple desktop computerfaster than it takes to view rather thantypically four times longer than real-time ona low-spec machine




BROADCAST IBC

Beyond MetadataT. Tommasi (ESAT-PSI, Belgium) and colleagues addressed the subject'Beyond Metadata: Searching your archive based on its audio-visualcontent'. The proposed system (AXES) allows users to retrieve contentinstantaneously using metadata, spoken words, or a vocabulary ofreliably detected visual concepts comprising places, objects and events.Users can also interrogate using models are learned on-the-fly, usingtraining images obtained from an internet search engine. The systemsupports different types of model for object categories (e.g. 'bus' or'house'), specific objects (landmarks or logos), person categories (e.g.

'people with moustaches'), or specific persons. The AXES system wassuccessfully implemented at the Netherlands Institute for Sound andVision in Hilversum) and at the BBC in London.

LTE BroadcastingJörg Huschke (Ericsson, Germany) described the company's LTEBroadcast system which is based on the Long Term Evolution standard.Ericsson expects video traffic in mobile networks to grow by around 55%annually until 2019. "In a dense cellular network, it is not spectrally efficient to

continuously broadcast linear TV programmes with low viewingnumbers. Those programmes are better provided on-demand using fixedbroadband or LTE unicast only in cells where users request them. Thethreshold in the considered scenario is a viewing share of about 1 to 4%.There are only 7 to 12 programmes with a yearly average viewing shareabove this threshold."We propose to employ a dedicated signal for each of both devices

even for the same TV stream. A signal adapted to the high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of roof-top antennas should be usedfor technologies required to support legacy fixed receivers, whereas forthe signal adapted to the low SINR typical for mobile receivers it isessential to use the most efficient technologies soon after ratification ofthe standards."

DVB-T2 LiteThe IBC's own award for best paper at this year's conference went to G.Alberico and colleagues from Italian broadcast, RAI, for theircontribution: 'DVB-T2 Lite - exploiting HDTV networks for services tomobile receivers'.

SummaryThe future of broadcasting is quite easy to predict, dictated primarily byconsumer display manufacturers. 4K UHD-capable screens will soondisplace HD screens as the affordable standard for home viewing,sourcing initially from video upconverted within each set just as manyviewers today watch upconverted SD on their 1920 x 1080 displays. 4Kcamera prices are now following the pattern experienced in HD camerapricing a decade ago.The market both in Europe and worldwide has already reached the

point where 4K is the logical choice for every production company keento future-proof its material.

IBC returns to Amsterdam 11-15 September 2015.

David Kirk

The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications used 10 compact high-definition cameras facing upwards into a circular configuration of flat mirrors




EQUIPMENT

53

PLAYBOX TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATEDadditions to its range of broadcast playout andbranding solutions at the 2014 AfriCastexhibition in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, 21-23October - exhibiting together with C2S Nigeria.PlayBox Technology UK sales director Ben

Gunkel said, "AfriCast is by far the mostimportant show for broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa. It gives us the opportunity tomeet with many of our existing customers inthe region and has certainly proved effective ingenerating new business...Africanbroadcasters have long appreciated the IT-based approach which PlayBox Technologypioneered and continues to develop. Workingin partnership with C2S Nigeria, we are able todeliver a modern, interconnected and highlyautomated platform plus a very high standardof customer support."Mr Gunkel elaborated, "We will be

demonstrating a complete working systemcentred on our AirBox automated playoutsystem, TitleBox graphics manager andCaptureBox PRO multichannel ingest server.AirBox provides automated content playout forsatellite channels, cable head-ends, over-the-air broadcasters and corporate TV users. It canbe programmed locally or remotely to operate

unattended 24/7. The enhanced AirBoxincorporates a GPU-enhanced graphics mixerwhich allows video rotation effects and depth-order laying effects to be performed in realtime. Logo animation facilities are also addedwith a multiplicity of applications in titling,captioning or channel branding. The audiocapabilities of AirBox are also expanded withsupport now provided for AJA Corvid videocards, Dolby E and Dolby Digital Plus."CaptureBox PRO allows multiple channels

of high-definition or standard-definitioncontent to be captured from SDI digital feeds,analogue sources and MPEG transportstreams. Four video sources can be monitored

on a single screen and controlled via a newstreamlined user interface. The CaptureBoxPRO feature set also includes capture-listimport from third-party traffic systems, a GPU-accelerated encoding engine, plus expandedmetadata handling and creation during theingest process. Loudness metering with true-peak measurement allows audio levelmonitoring and adjustment at any time.”Mr Gunkel explained that the introduction of

ScheduleBox, available as software for anexisting PlayBox Technology system or as anindependent server, allows template-basedmanagement of single, or multiple televisionchannels. He said, “Operators can select daily,weekly or monthly views and performprogramme block management per televisionchannel. Gaps or overlaps are easily identifiedin the programme blocks. Block status such asdraft, new and ready-for-publishing can bemonitored and controlled. Enhancementsinclude nested blocks for easy ad placementand management; validation rules for checkingagainst pre-defined media usage rules;customised playlist item properties;customised schedule view; automated gap-filling based on block category and improvedschedule/template view.

PlayBox playout and branding solutions at AfricaCast

A PlayBox Technology system in use at Nigerian-based broadcast channel EbonyLife TV, located atthe ultra-modern movie production centre inCalabar, Cross River State


S11 CAF 6 2014 - Equipment_Layout 1 31/10/2014 11:37 Page 53

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ÉQUIPEMENT

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TOSHIBA CORPORATION A annoncé ledéveloppement de nouveaux CI decommutation d’antenne RF SP12Tpour les smartphones compatiblesavec la norme LTE Advanced pourobtenir la plus faible perted’insertion[2,4] et la plus petitedistorsion RF de l’industrie.L’expédition d’échantillons commencedès aujourd’hui.

Avec le développement descommunications mobiles, le nombrede bandes de fréquences RF et dedébits de données augmenteconsidérablement. Lescaractéristiques des CI decommutation d’antenne, utilisés dansles circuits RF des appareils mobiles,évoluent vers les fonctions multiportset l’amélioration des performancesRF, notamment de la perte d’insertionet de la linéarité. De plus, afin derépondre à l’augmentationspectaculaire des appareils decommunication mobiles à haut débitsur les marchés émergents,

l’amélioration de ces performancesRF doit être obtenue en utilisant uneméthode économique.

En réponse à ces exigences,Toshiba a développé le « TaRF6 », unprocessus TarfSOIMC nouvellegénération (le RF SOI [silicon oninsulator] avancé de Toshiba) enutilisant une technologie de siliciumsur isolant (SOI). Le TarfSOIMC réalisel’intégration des circuits analogiques,numériques et RF sur une même puce.Par rapport aux autres solutionstraditionnelles, comme les GaA, ilcrée une solution économique quiprend en charge des performances RFet des fonctions de commutationextrêmement complexes.

Avec le nouveau processus «TaRF6 », des transistors MOSFETpersonnalisés pour les applicationsde commutation RF ont étédéveloppés et utilisés dans lenouveau CI de commutationd’antenne RF SP12T, entraînant ainsiune performance de 0,42 dB dans la

perte de l’insertion (f=2,7 GHz) etde -90 dBm dans la distorsion dedeuxième harmonique. Par rapportaux produits utilisant le processus «

TaRF5 » précédent, on observe uneamélioration de 0,26 dB dans laperte d’insertion (f=2,7 GHz) et de18 dB dans la distorsion de deuxièmeharmonique. La perte d’insertionplus faible contribue à uneconsommation d’énergie faible dessmartphones, tandis que ladistorsion plus faible contribue audéveloppement de smartphonesavec agrégation d’opérateurs quiexigent une faible distorsion.

Toshiba élargira sa gamme deproduits utilisant le processus «TaRF6 » à faible perte d’insertion etfaible distorsion d’ici la fin del’année pour répondre auxexigences des fonctions complexeset multiports exigées par la normeLTE qui est actuellementimplémentée dans le monde, et parla norme LTE Advanced qui doitsuivre. Toshiba envisage par ailleursde proposer des services defonderie SOI utilisant la technologieTarfSOIMC.

des CI de commutation d’antenne RF pour smartphones compatibles avec la norme LTE Advanced

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C & D Technologies ..........................................................................19

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Eutelsat SA ......................................................................................29

F G Wilson Engineering Ltd.* ............................................................5

GL Communications Inc. ..................................................................33

GlobalTT ..........................................................................................45

Greenlee Communications Limited ................................................55

Infomir GmbH ..................................................................................53

Intelsat..............................................................................................37

Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. ................................................................56

Lanck Telecom ..................................................................................21

Liquid Telecommunications..............................................................13

MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd ................................................17

Orange................................................................................................7

PCCW Global Ltd ..............................................................................11

Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) ....................25

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. ..............................................49

Telemedia (Pty) Ltd ..........................................................................43

WIOCC ..............................................................................................39

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Toshiba Corporation a annoncé ledéveloppement de nouveaux CI decommutation d’antenne RF SP12T


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