South Africa: Internet Providers Lose Out on Licences - AllAfrica.com

Lesley StonesJohannesburg

TECHNOLOGY companies hoping to win a license to construct their ain voice and information webs have got been snubbed by the regulating authorization and will still be forced to rent their bandwidth from the incumbent telecoms operators.

Internet service suppliers had hoped that an burdensome procedure of updating every telecoms license to follow with the new Electronic Communications Act was a opportunity to stop their dependance on the bigger participants such as as Telkom and Neotel.

But the Mugwump Communications Authority of Sturmarbeiteilung (Icasa) is issuing only a smattering of the highly prized licenses that allow operators construct their ain networks. Those licenses will travel to the companies already able to make so, including Telkom, Sentech, Neotel, iBurst and the cellular operators.

Every other participant is being offered a far less flexible license that allows them supply only electronic communication theory services over a web leased from the bigger players.

MWeb, Internet Solutions and Altech Autopage are all craving the freedom to build their ain national webs to command their costs and quality of service. All three have got run trials using airplane pilot networks, which would make competition in the marketplace far more than effectively than keeping web substructure in the custody of a few dominant players.

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Internet Solutions chief executive officer Angus Og MacRobert said it was dissatisfactory that so far every company retention an old license as a Value Added Network Services (Vans) supplier was getting a license that prevented them edifice their ain infrastructure. "We are looking for a full licence," he said.

Altech Autopage had already predicted it would be denied a full-scale license and have launched a legal challenge to hold the full process. Altech chief executive officer Craig Venter said lucidity was needed on whether old Vans licenses allowed companies to construct their ain network, in which lawsuit they were entitled to new licenses bestowing the same conditions.

Icasa spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela said the tribunal hearing set down for July 29 was not interrupting the license transition process.

Zambia raises US$4 million for rural ICT fund - NetworkWorld.com

The Communications Authority of Republic Of Zambia have raised more than than 14 billion Zambian kwacha (US$4 million) for rural information and communication
technology, according to a authorities official.

Minister of Communications and Conveyance Dora Siliya said the money will be used to supply information and communication
engineering (ICT) services in rural areas. The money have been raised through service complaints slapped on mobile-phone service
suppliers and Internet service suppliers (ISPs) operating in the state by the Communications Authority of Zambia. Don't Miss!

Siliya said in the aftermath of a conference on telecenter issues in Capital Of Zambia last hebdomad that the Zambian authorities is developing
ICT programmes aimed at rural communities, which are less serviced by most service providers.

The country's 5th national development plan, for 2006-10, foregrounds the demand to put up rural ICT initiatives, which include
the development of telecommunication substructure and entree to ICTs by the rural population, Siliya noted. Related Content

Siliya said in improver to the finances raised from the service providers, the Zambian authorities have also put aside US$1 million
to be used for the same program. The programmes for rural ICT monetary fund will be implemented by the Communications Authority of Zambia,
which modulates communicating systems in Republic Of Republic Of Zambia in cooperation with service suppliers wanting to widen their services to
rural areas.

"It is such as an initiative, which will authorise Zambians by unlocking the resources for creative activity of occupations and wealthiness creation
because service suppliers will widen their services to distant rural areas," Siliya said.

The Communications Authority of Republic Of Zambia have not started giving out the funds, however, claiming it is still working on a policy
that volition supply guidelines on how the finances should be given out and who measure ups to entree them.

Siliya said the authorities will force the authorization to begin the execution of the programme as soon as possible.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.

Uganda: Submarine Network to Lower Internet Costs - AllAfrica.com

John OdyekKampala

THE cost of using cyberspace at home, coffeehouses and business offices is put to significantly drop with the building of a new pigboat cablegram web on the East African coastline.

The pigboat cablegrams enable cheap, faster transportation of large amounts of voice and information communicating across the globe.

Seacom, a Mauritius-based company, is constructing the pigboat cablegram web that volition nexus East Africa, South Africa, Europe and Asia.

The grouping presented its concern programs to the Government at the Capital Of Uganda Serena Hotel recently.

The Agha Caravansary Fund for Economic Development have paid $75m for a 25% interest in Seacom. Agha Caravansary and respective international companies have got also invested $600m in the project.

The cablegrams are also expected to make more than occupations in the cyberspace sector, Dr, Ham Mulira, the information and communicating engineering minister, said.

He said the engineering would cut down the cost of voice and information transmittal by up to 80%.

The monthly cost of artificial satellite golf course to cyberspace service suppliers presently stand ups at about $5,000 to $15,000 per two megabits per second. But the mark is to cut down the monthly charge per unit to about $45 to $200 per two megabits.

"This volition output decrease to stop users enabling them to entree cyberspace and other ICT services at rates comparable to those in Europe and America," Mulira said.

"This undertaking and others are expected to back up the creative activity of 12,000 occupations per twelvemonth from a lower limit of 30 phone call Centres operating on two shifts. "The phone call Centres cannot run now because of inadequate bandwidth, limited powerfulness supply and the absence of other information and communicating engineering infrastructure."

"Eastern Africa have been the lone portion of the human race without pigboat cablegrams connectivity," said Brian Herlihy, the president of Seacom.

"The cardinal constructions are starting to be in topographic point now. The impact on the cost of doing concern will be huge.

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"Power supply and telecommunications installations are of import elements for economical development," Herlihy stated.

"With the building now underway, and about 16 calendar months left to commissioning date, we are on agenda to ran into the bandwidth necessitates of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa," he commented.

Brian Ntege, the manager NFT Consult, an ICT house said: "The inquiry now is when Seacom and similar companies could get providing services to clients and not whether the building of the cablegrams should take place."