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Issue 1 2016 Édition 1 2016

Africa Afrique www.communicationsafrica.com

Bell Labs initiates debate on the transformation of economies and societies with The Future X Network

Base Stations Reducing operational costs with UMTS Broadcasting How free-to-air satellite Fibre platform services work connections Technologies for commerce Des télécommunications d'urgence et la gestion des catastrophes

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

FEATURES: G Internet G Mobile G Infrastructure REGULAR REPORTS: G Bulletin - Agenda G Solutions S01 CAF 01 2016 - Start_Layout 1 12/02/2016 08:22 Page 2 S01 CAF 01 2016 - Start_Layout 1 12/02/2016 08:23 Page 3

Issue 1 2016 Édition 1 2016

Africa Afrique www.communicationsafrica.com CONTENTS

Bulletin 4

Bell Labs initiates debate on the transformation of economies and societies with The Future X Network Events 8

Base Stations Agenda 9 Reducing operational costs with UMTS Broadcasting How free-to-air satellite Solutions 31 Fibre platform services work connections Technologies for commerce Des télécommunications d'urgence et la gestion des catastrophes

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

FEATURES: G Internet G Mobile G Infrastructure FEATURES REGULAR REPORTS: G Bulletin - Agenda G Solutions A note from the Editor Fibre 18 How terrestrial fibre connectivity is taking off on the back of subsea cable growth and new funding; managed services for part THIS ISSUE OF Communications of a high-quality corporate communications portfolio serving varied vertical sectors; and how to dramatically boost network Africa/Afrique offers insights into resilience with hardware-accelerated shared mesh protection terrestrial fibre connectivity, Base Station Management 22 managed services for corporate An overview of UMTS technologies, which connect the continent at relatively low energy usage and operational costs communications, and work towards increasing network resilience. It Test & Measurement 24 assesses, also, UMTS technologies, in The challenges faced by mobile network operators as they work to deliver improved coverage and capacity; and FLIR's thermal relation to operational costs. It imaging accessory adds functionality to smartphones and tablets, and offers new opportunities to iOS and Android app analyses the coverage and capacity developers challenges faced by operators. This Satellite Broadcasting 28 issue also addresses thermal imaging functionality for smartphones and A year of free-to-air platform services provision to markets dominated by terrestrial channels tablets, delivered by app developers. Read, too, of developments in satellite broadcasting, with respect to the provision of free-to-air platform services provision.

Une note du rédacteur CETTE ÉDITION DE Communications Africa/Afrique compris des articles sur le TIC, l’équipment, et le film. Il y a un article sur le deuxième Forum mondial de l'UIT sur les télécommunications d'urgence, et le ARTICLES rôle des télécommunications d'urgence dans la gestion des TIC 17 catastrophes. Il y a un article sur la Le deuxième Forum mondial de l'UIT sur les télécommunications d'urgence, et le rôle des télécommunications d'urgence croissance des importations mondial dans la gestion des catastrophes de l'information et des Equipement 23 communications ralentit à bas depuis cinq ans. Il y a un article sur La croissance des importations mondial de l'information et des communications ralentit à bas depuis cinq ans l’’Institut français de Madagascar et Film 30 la préservation du patrimoine Cinémathèque Africain. L’Institut français poursuit son soutien à la préservation du patrimoine Cinémathèque Africain en collaboration avec la région Ile-de-France et L’Institut français de Madagascar

Managing Editor: Andrew Croft - [email protected] Audit Bureau of Editorial and Design team: Bob Adams, Prashanth AP, Sindhuja Balaji, Hiriyti Bairu Circulations - Miriam Brtkova, Andrew Croft, Ranganath GS, Georgia Lewis, Rhonita Patnaik, Nicky Valsamaki Business Magazines Louise Waters and Ben Watts Production: Nikitha Jain, Nathanielle Kumar, Nelly Mendes, Donatella Moranelli and Sophia Pinto Email: [email protected] Head Office: Middle East Regional Office: Alain Charles Publishing Ltd Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLC Publisher: Nick Fordham University House Office 215, Loft 2A Publishing Director: Pallavi Pandey 11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place PO Box 502207 Magazine Sales Manager: Steve Thomas - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7834 7676, London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Dubai Media City, UAE Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 0076, Email: [email protected] Telephone: +44 20 7834 7676 Telephone: +971 4 448 9260 Fax: +44 20 7973 0076 Fax: +971 4 448 9261 Country Representative Telephone Fax Email China Ying Matthieson (86)10 8472 1899 (86) 10 8472 1900 [email protected] Subscriptions: [email protected] India Tanmay Mishra (91) 80 656 84483 (91) 80 67710791 [email protected] Chairman: Derek Fordham Nigeria Bola Olowo (234) 8034349299 [email protected] Printed by: Buxton Press Printed in: February 2016 UAE Graham Brown (971) 4 448 9260 (971) 4 448 9261 [email protected] Communications Africa/Afrique is a bi-monthly magazine USA Michael Tomashefsky (1) 203 226 2882 (1) 203 226 7447 [email protected] ISSN: 0962 3841 Serving the world of business

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Anritsu showcases latest test and measurement developments for a connected future AT MOBILE WORLD Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, Anritsu is demonstrating a range of key product and technologies in its test and measurement offering that support the latest 3GPP and IoT technology developments and network deployments; in particular, the company will be focusing on some of the emerging test and measurement issues within 5G, LTE-A Pro, Connected Home and M2M device testing.

ACE stretches cable from Sao Tomé & Principe to Cape Town ORANGE, TOGETHER WITH the other members of the ACE consortium, have begun work on the second phase of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable system, extending the cable system to 17,000km with potential or actual high-speed access available to 25 countres; today, nearly 12,000km of fibre optic cable are already used to connect 18 countries - France, Portugal, the Canary Islands (Spain), Mauritania, Anritsu addresses test and measurements of the new 5G air interface R&D Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São in a high availability solution that will serve all future customers in Tomé & Príncipe - with two landlocked countries, Mali and Niger, compliance to the standards of the International Civil Aviation connected via a terrestrial extension. Organization (ICAO).

Huawei makes MWC a force for behind digital CTO celebrates 115 years of communications industry transformation across all industry sectors collaboration, support ad leadership GUIDED BY THE vision of Building a Better Connected World, Huawei is ACTIVITIES TO MARK the 115th anniversary of the Commonwealth committed to driving business and industry advancement through Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in 2016 include an anniversary technology innovation, fostering a robust industry ecosystem through launch ceremony attended by over 120 member country representatives, open collaboration, and helping global carriers and enterprise diplomats, industry executives and journalists; speaking of the customers achieve agile innovation, rapid transformation and business organisation’s role today, Secretary-General Sharma noted, “The CTO is success in the digital era; at MWC 2016, Huawei's senior executives and working closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat to advocate for ICT technology experts are sharing the company's vision and growth access for all, and helps governments and the private sector to utilise strategies for 2016, and unveiling new products in key technology areas telecommunications as means of connection and inclusion.” such as wireless, IoT, and a range of vertical industry solutions. The MMIX at MWC Study shows increasing security risks to payment REFLECTING THE EXPLODING demand for mobile content globally, The data and mobile payment methods MMIX at Moble World Congress encompasses a four-day programme WITH ACCEPTANCE OF mobile and other new forms of payments that includes the full-day MMIX Summit sponsored by MixRadio, and expected to double in the next two years, a global study shows a critical keynote and track sessions in the MWC conference; the MMIX Summit

need for organisations to improve their payment data security practices; kicks off with a keynote from Scott Mirer, vice president, device partner this is according to a recent survey of more than 3,700 IT security ecosystem at Netflix and features sessions examining subjects such as practitioners from more than a dozen major industry sectors the future of film, TV and broadcast, as well as developments in digital independently conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of digital music, mobile games, social video and mobile media - with executive

security specialist Gemalto. speakers from key connnectivity corporates including CNN, Getty Images, Google, Next Games, Rovio, Sony Mobile Communications, City of Cape Town works with ADVA FSP 3000 Telefónica-Movistar+, Telenor, Viacom International Media Networks CloudConnect for 400G metro network trial and Warner Music Group. ADVA OPTICAL NETWORKING and the City of Cape Town in South Africa have successfully transmitted data rates of up to 400Gbit/s across Cape Connected Women speak on imcreasing inclusivity at Town’s metro transport network; the trial combined existing ADVA FSP Mobile World Congress 3000 infrastructure and the latest CloudConnect 400Gbit/s technology SEVERAL PROGRAMMES AND events focused on increasing diversity and to connect the townships of Nyanga and Mitchells Plain. driving inclusion in mobile communications at Mobile World Congress 2016, ranging from 'Accelerating Digital and Financial Inclusion for FREQUENTIS and ND SatCom collaborate on ATM- Women' to 'Women Leadership Accelerating the Digital Age' to grade voice communication 'Connected Women in Technology'; launched in 2010 as a Global CONTROL CENTRE SYSTEMS supplier Frequentis has deepened a Development Alliance, a partnership with USAID, DFAT, GSMA and Visa, partnership with satellite communication systems integrator ND SatCom GSMA Connected Women works with mobile network operators and their for IP-based ATM-grade voice com munication over satellite networks; partners to take action to reduce the gender gap in connectivity and both companies committed to expanding their partnership to deliver improve access to mobile money services by overcoming barriers to highest voice quality through to dynamic delay compensation, resulting women’s ownership and use of mobile phones.

4 Communications Africa Issue 1 2016 www.communicationsafrica.com

1 1 12:07 S01 CAF 01 2016 - Start_Layout 1 12/02/2016 08:23 Page 5 Remote power just got easier....

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Exterity showcases integrated digital signage and IP be business applications that drive growth over the next five years; the video at ISE 2016 report points to manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and retail as some ENTERPRISE IP VIDEO solutions provider Exterity has demonstrated of the most dynamic markets, where AR offers a new way for people to ArtioSign, which combines digital signage with IP video, at the recently- interact with information hands-free, to provide a greater depth of held 2016 edition of ISE in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ArtioSign control and access to knowledge. enables businesses to stream TV and video alongside live news updates and tailored messages to strengthen their communications. Intracom Telecom presents innovative solutions for ‘Smarter Connected Societies’ at MWC AG mobile introduces its devices to Nigeria’s mobile TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND solutions vendor Intracom market Telecom presents a range of new products and solutions at Mobile World AFRICAN MOBILE TECHNOLOGY brand AG Mobile has launched in Congress 2016 in the areas of wireless access & transmission, telco Nigeria; recognised as one of the continent’s first ODM (original design software and IoT enabling solutions, as well as cloud solutions with manufacturer), it was the first South African brand to release its own emphasis on ehealth, all serving and powering the smart, connected mobile device in 2007. city; more specifically, Intracom Telecom is presenting its newest Streetnode millimetre-wave product as a gigabit-to-the-home solution, A network of new digital experiences opens with the emphasising the convenience of installation of wireless terminals on the launch of Visa Developer rooftops of served subscribers, so ISPs can expand their access network VISA INC HAS has launched Visa Developer, an open platform that will down to remote residences and provide the highest quality of end-user drive innovation in payments experience by operating in the license exempt spectrum. and commerce, allowing software application Facebook Helps West African businesses connect developers to have open with customers access to payments SOCIAL NETWORK FACEBOOK recently hosted a roundtable with technology, products and enterprises from Ghana and Nigeria as part of its effort to support services by Visa; the new entrepreneurship in West Africa, focussing on how Facebook can help platform is designed to help small businesses reach exactly the right customers; Nunu Ntshingila, financial institutions, The Visa Developer homepage head of Africa for Facebook, said, “As more and more people turn to merchants, and technology smartphones and the web to discover and connect with businesses, companies meet the demands of consumers and merchants, who Facebook is the best platform for African SMEs to promote their brands.” increasingly rely on connected devices to shop, pay and get paid. Friend MTS launches automated IPTV anti-piracy Millicom set to sell its Tigo DRC mobile network service at CABSAT 2016 operation to Orange CONTENT AND PLATFORM security specialist Friend MTS is once again TELECOM AND MEDIA company MIllicom has signed an agreement for ramping up the fight against video piracy with the launch at CABSAT the sale of its Tigo business in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 2016 of Viper, the first technology-led anti-piracy solution specifically to Orange SA, subject to regulatory approvals; Mauricio Ramos, CEO of designed to tackle the growing threat from illegal IPTV set top boxes; Millicom, said, “Proceeds from the sale will strengthen our balance Friend MTS CEO Jonathan Friend said, “Viper will finally enable operators sheet allowing us to reinvest in our existing Latin American and African and broadcasters across the globe to effectively fight this increasing markets, improving earnings and cash flow and reducing leverage.” threat and work towards shutting it down for good.”

Growing industrial sector cybersecurity concerns fuel Enensys ready to launch new DTT solutions for growth for PAS broadcast industry at NAB SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS COMPANY PAS generated record-breaking DIGITAL TV TRANSMISSION systems manufacturer Enensys growth across its business units in 2015, with its cybersecurity business Technologies is introducing equipment for a new DTT transmission unit growing the fastest, returning a 48 per cent increase in orders year standard; as with its DVB successes, Enensys’ initial products – a ROUTE over year; Eddie Habibi, PAS founder and CEO, said, “With the number of ser ver, the ATSC3.0 Scheduler and an ATSC3.0 modulator – sit between cyber incidents on the rise, industrial companies depend on PAS encoding and transmission, and broadcasters can use them to deliver solutions to detect unauthorised activity deep within the proprietary live streams directly from an encoder outputting DASH segments, while control systems, which IT-based tools fail to identify.” managing the ATSC3.0 physical parameters: MultiPLP allocation, SFN synchronisation, and so on. MTN Zambia Launches AMAVIP service in partnership with Kirusa TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY MTN Zambia has launched a social service in partnership with Kirusa, specialist in voice and social media solutions for mobile users; Kirusa’s AMAVIP service gives celebrities and their fans an opportunity to interact with each other in a more personal way, by record and access voice blogs anytime and anywhere.

Report suggests business applications will drive augmented reality and wearable technology WHILE MUCH OF the hype around augmented reality (AR) and wearable devices has been focused on consumer technology, a report from Technology based on Enensys’ well-known modular platform HDc has been Beecham Research entitled ‘Augmented Reality and Wearable developed to comply with the new DTT standard, allowing broadcasters and Technology – an operational tool for the enterprise’ suggests that it will network operators to take advantage of the benefits provided by it

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L’expérience proposée aux participants du Mobile de télécommunications dans la région EMEA, et Mirantis est sans World Congress conteste en pointe de la technologie. » LA GSMA A lancé son programme MWC Tours, offrant une série de visites guidées pour répondre aux besoins spécifiques des différents publics Orange, partenaire de la 6ème édition de du Mobile World Congress 2016; conduits par des experts, les tours MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, en Europe et en Afrique donneront un aperçu de grands axes prioritaires du secteur comme la A L’OCCASION DE la 6ème édition, et pour la deuxième année 5G, l’IdO, les médias, le commerce de détail et la sécurité, avec des consécutive, Orange s’est associé avec UniFrance en renouvelant son visites virtuelles basées sur webinaire. partenariat avec le 1er festival mondial de cinéma français en ligne «MyFrenchFilmFestival.com »; l’engagement d’Orange dans le cinéma se Deux nouveaux cours de Mooc Lab Inria sur des traduit ainsi par sa présence à toutes les étapes de la vie des films, bases de données relationnelles et des villes depuis la coproduction jusqu’à la sortie en salles et la distribution en intelligentes numérique sur tous les écrans via son offre de vidéo à la demande qui DEUX ANS APRÈS avoir créé ses premiers MOOCs (Massive Open Online continue d’innover et propose depuis 2014 des films à l’achat. Courses), Inria a publié un premier retour d’expérience et annonce l’ouverture de deux nouveaux cours; le premier est dédié à une meilleure Une étude des Bell Labs annonce jusqu’à 40 % de compréhension des bases de données relationnelles, le second portera réduction de coûts d’exploitation sur des défis technologiques et sociétaux des villes intelligentes. LES BELL LABS, l’unité de recherche d’Alcatel-Lucent, révèlent dans une étude que les fournisseurs de services de communications peuvent xriveSavers offrira un service de récupération de diminuer jusqu’à 40 % leurs coûts d’exploitation en « virtualisant » dans données pour les clients de Kingston Technology le cloud les fonctions complexes déployées sur les passerelles SPÉCIALISTE EN LA récupération de données, de l’eDiscovery et des résidentielles; Enrique Hernandez-Valencia, directeur des Bell Labs et solutions d’investigation numérique, DriveSavers a annoncé un l’un des auteurs du rapport, a déclaré : « S’il est indispensable de partenariat élargi avec Kingston Technology Company dans le cadre de réduire les coûts pour maintenir une croissance rentable, disposer d’une son programme de satisfaction de la clientèle KingstonCare; le architecture de passerelle résidentielle virtualisée est une condition partenariat offre désormais un service étendu de récupération des requise pour permettre aux fournisseurs de services de prolonger le données pour les entreprises basées en Europe, au Moyen-Orient et en réseau domestique dans le cloud de façon harmonieuse. » Afrique (EMEA), et est spécialement conçu pour certains disques SSD de classe entreprise. Des partenaires du monde entier se réunissent à Davos pour connecter ceux qui ne le sont pas encore Ammeon s'associe à Mirantis pour déployer Mirantis UN NOUVEAU PARTENARIAT mondial, ayant pour ambition de connecter OpenStack en EMEA 1,5 milliard de personnes supplémentaires, a été mis au point dans le L'UN DES PRINCIPAUX intégrateurs de systèmes pour le secteur des cadre d'une séance spéciale de la Commission des Nations Unies "Le télécommunications dans la région Europe Moyen-Orient Afrique large bande au service du développement durable", tenue au Forum (EMEA), Ammeon s'est associé à Mirantis, l'entreprise pure-player économique mondial de Davos; cette séance s'inscrivait dans le cadre OpenStack, en vue de livrer Mirantis OpenStack dans toute la région des efforts déployés par la Commission pour créer une dynamique et EMEA; Fred Jones, diercteur général d'Ammeon, a déclaré à ce propos : « demander aux dirigeants mondiaux de faire figurer la connectivité large L'adoption OpenStack connaît un essor fulgurant auprès des entreprises bande en tête de leurs priorités.

L'Internet des objets pourrait être la 'clé' qui transformera les pays en développement

DANS UN NOUVEAU rapport publié par l'UIT et entraîné la création de toute une série de une 'révolution de l'Internet des objets' dans par le géant des réseaux Cisco, l'Internet des dispositifs IoT facilement accessibles, bon ces pays: objets (IoT) est décrit comme ouvrant, à marché et adaptables aux pays en Accessibilité: Les dispositifs IoT sont déjà l'échelle mondiale, d'immenses possibilités développement, offrant ainsi un moyen couramment employés, bon marché et de développement susceptibles d'améliorer la optimal de galvaniser la croissance dans les facilement remplaçables sur les marchés des vie de millions d'habitants de la planète et économies émergentes et d'améliorer pays en développement. Les infrastructures de d'accélérer spectaculairement les progrès sur sensiblement la qualité de vie des habitants – base nécessaires (Wi-Fi, cybercafés, etc.) la voie de la réalisation des Objectifs de moyennant un investissement minimal. existent déjà dans de nombreux pays en développement durable fixés par les Nations Par Internet des objets, on entend, dans les développement, et la connectivité mobile de Unies. grandes lignes, le nombre croissant de base est pratiquement universelle. Le rapport "Harnessing the Internet of dispositifs qui sont connectés à l'Internet et Accessibilité financière: Les coûts de la Things for Global Development" (Mettre peuvent communiquer avec d'autres recherche-développement dans le domaine de l'Internet des objets au service du dispositifs, bien souvent sans intervention l'Internet des objets continuent à être développement dans le monde) décrit humaine. absorbés par la forte demande sur les comment l'IoT pourrait radicalement changer Le rapport conjoint UIT/Cisco souligne marchés des pays développés, et les légers les choses dans des domaines comme la qu'indéniablement, l'Internet des objets a ajustements apportés aux dispositifs IoT pour prestation de soins de santé et l'éducation à d'ores et déjà des conséquences importantes les pays en développement ne coûtent pas l'échelle locale, ce qui transformerait en dans les domaines de la santé, de l'éducation grand-chose. profondeur les communautés à une échéance et des programmes visant à améliorer les Capacité d'adaptation: Les dispositifs IoT qui aurait encore été inimaginable il y a moyens d'existence (par exemple la sont conçus pour être adaptables. Nombre seulement quelques années. productivité agricole) dans les pays en d'entre eux offrent déjà des fonctions 'plug & La thèse de ce rapport conjoint est que la développement. Il cite trois grands facteurs play' très simples, sans qu'il soit besoin de demande soutenue de technologies IoT a qui pourraient, avec un appui, aboutir à créer faire appel à des techniciens expérimentés.

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Events/Événements 2016 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2-3 Next Generation Optical Networking Africa Cape Town, South Africa africa.nextgenerationoptical.com 17-18 eCommerce Africa Cape Town, South Africa www.ecommerce africa.com - 22-25 Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Spain www.mobileworldcongress.com MARCH/MARS 1-2 Cards & Payments Africa Johannesburg, South Africa www.terrapinn.com 8-10 CABSAT Dubai, UAE www.cabsat.com 14-15 Oil and Gas Telecommunications London, UK www.smi-online.co.uk 15-16 Big Data and Smart City (ICBDSC) Muscat, Oman www.mec.edu.om 15-17 Design of Reliable Communication Networks (DRCN) Paris, France drcn2016.lip6.fr 20-24 Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) Anaheim, USA www.ofcconference.org APRIL/AVRIL 3-6 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking (WCNC) Doha, Qatar wcnc2016.ieee-wcnc.org 10-15 IEEE Computer Communications (INFOCOM) San Francisco, USA infocom2016.ieee-infocom.org 11-12 Cloud MENA Dubai, UAE mena.cloudworldseries.com 11-15 MVNOs World Congress Amsterdam, The Netherlands mvnosworldcongress.com 13-14 AITEC Southern Africa ICT Maputo, Mozambique aitecafrica.com 25-29 IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Isttanbul, Turkey noms2016.ieee-noms.org MAY/MAI 2-6 WSIS Geneva, Switzerland www.itu.int 11 WorldDAB Automotive Brussels, Belgium www.worlddab.org 11-13 Networks, Computers and Communications Hammamet, Tunisia www.isncc-conf.org 11-14 ITU Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt www.itu.int 23-27 IEEE Communications Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia icc2016.ieee-icc.org

Egypt to host ITU’s 2016 Global Symposium for Regulators

THE UNITED NATIONS agency for information and communication Mustafa Abdul Wahid, acting Chairman of the NTRA, signing the technologies, ITU is working with the National Telecom Regulatory agreement on behalf of the Government of Egypt, commented, “This Host Authority of Egypt (NTRA) to host the 2016 Global Symposium for Agreement is a confirmation of the good cooperation and long Regulators (GSR) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 11 to 14 May 2016. relationship between the NTRA and ITU. The NTRA looks forward to Organised by ITU and hosted by the Government of Egypt, the event will implementing more projects with ITU.” welcome world-class speakers with a dynamic programme focused A series of GSR pre-events will take place on 11 May, including a around the hot topics challenging today’s ICT regulators. Thematic Pre-Conference ‘Global Dialogue on Digital Financial Inclusion’ “ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators has quickly grown into the held with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and in world’s pre-eminent gathering of the global ICT regulatory community,” collaboration with other partners. A Regional Regulatory Associations said ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao. “A transparent, best-practice Meeting and a private-sector Chief Regulatory Officers Meeting will also regulatory framework is indispensable to the growth of new ICT markets be held on 11 May. The theme for GSR-16 is Be Empowered, Be Included: and services. The GSR offers a unique opportunity for regulators to engage Building Blocks for Smart Societies in a Connected World. in a dialogue around priorities and concerns directly with industry leaders, May 12 and 13 will host the sessions of the Global Regulators-Industry to showcase their successes, and to learn from the experiences of other Dialogue (GRID), which are open to regulators, policy makers and policy-makers tackling similar challenges. This is what makes GSR a must- members of ITU’s Development Sector. On 14 May, there will be two attend event for the global ICT policy-making community.” parallel tracks, a Regulators’ track, open only to regulators and policy The director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, makers, and an Industry track, open to ITU-D sector members. The final Brahima Sanou, expressed his thanks to the Government of Egypt and to closing ceremony will be open to all participants. the National Telecommunication Authority of Egypt (NTRA) for having GSR-16 allows regulators, policy makers, industry leaders and other offered to host GSR-16. key ICT stakeholders to share their views, engage in interactive He said, “I am impressed with the event venue and the facilities, as discussions and identify best practices moving forward, not only in the well as the dedication of the host country team who are doing their ICT/telecommunications sector, but also in terms of how utmost to stage a successful GSR and ensure a memorable and safe visit ICT/telecommunications interacts with other regulation in today’s for all GSR-16 participants.” increasingly interconnected and collaborative ICT-based environment.

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Augmented network intelligence in a new human framework CAN THE NETWORK of the future be defined today? Bell Congress, the objective of new technological Labs president Marcus Weldon and his team come deployment is to create or save time, so that more can closest to approaching an understanding of the be achieved. Time is the true unit of value in the digital technologies and architectures in place and in prospect, world. and their service to human existence, in The Future X Regardless of how else the new era is defined, the Networks (http://www.bell-labs.com/our- ability to create or save time with new network research/future-x-book/#). technologies - with "Future X Network" deployments - is The book is organised around numerous themes, each a key defining factor in the new Automated Age of which addresses core aspects of daily lives. Through addressed by Marcus Weldon and Bell Labs. Mr Weldon and his fellow authors, Bell Labs offers insights into network performance and efficiency, Enterprise revolutions augmented intelligence and automation, technological Most of the revolution will happen in healthcare, developments and universal connectivity, and the transportation, education and governmental entities commercial and social benefits to emerging and and activities. These areas above all are more established markets of "Future X Network" deployments. disconnected than others, and thus more in need of change, and proportionately more open to change than A new network, a new world mature service sector operations and enterprises. The This is the first book that Bell Labs has published. "We implication in this projection is that assets will be thought it was about time the industry had a better converged and consolidated to deliver more dialogue about the future," Mr Weldon said. He seeks to transformation at local levels. In such scenarios, the open up an agnostic debate on the possibilities of a cloud must be the edge cloud, closer to the site of technological revolution that will fundamentally change development. These edge clouds must have very low society. No products are mentioned; it is vendor-free. latency and high performance, serving the core or metro It is a book for discussion, not a book with answers. "There are lots of things here cloud, in a new form of architecture optimised around energy. that are highly speculative," Mr Weldon said. There will be a new sort of alliance between global and local services, driven by economic or cost imperatives, driven by the sheer volume of data management Interconnectedness, interdependence and associated infrastructure requirements. Mr Weldon traces this development via Collectively, Bell Labs senses a new era, defined by automation, in which the development of computing from the mainframe world through interactive and technologists are developing the capacity to transform economy and eventually dedicated processing to deep cloud networks and now edge cloud technologies and society. It may be revolutionary. It may be eventually defined as a revolutionary contextualised network access and utilisation. point in human history. This is to be an era of digital interfaces and data analysis. Massive device scaling in the cloud and improvements in software and signalling Of automation, Mr Weldon said, "This is not going to be an era of Big Data. It is going solutions and energy management make the edge cloud possible and viable. Near- to be an era of small knowledge." field virtualisation (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) complement the The Automation Age follows the Information Age, the last industrial revolution, edge cloud and operate through new IT architectures to deliver cost-efficiencies, in which commerce has been transformed by connectivity and new ways of sharing performance and personalisation. And, interestingly, everything becomes part of a experiences and products. This extends now into contextual automated corporate virtual private network (VPN), where everything is, as Mr Weldon put it, experiences and new forms of user-generated content. Everything becomes "instrumented and controlled". Imagine a logical conclusion beyond current connected over time, and it is over this period of time that economies and societies capabilities, in which all things - organic and artificial - may be tracked and are transformed. Individuals and institutions become increasingly interconnected analysed, made more productive and more valuable. and interdependent. Describing the possibilities and probabilities of the Future X Network, Marcus Weldon observed, "We are in a new capacity world of machines...and we need to build a brand new network. Bell Labs initiates debate on the transformation of economies and societies with The Future X Network

Responses, projections Latency is going to be a key driver of development of new network architectures. Application processing times and network resources must maintain satisfactory balances in order to add value to services. Latency matters, particularly as xx applications and networks become more sophisticated, whether service providers are handling special cases such as financial trading or general cases such as gaming. The network has to be scaled with a massively distributed cloud, in order to deliver sufficient response times. Latency impacts bandwidth. TCP throughput relies on a balance between TCP window size and round-trip latency. Mr Weldon observed, "Edge clouds for latency and bandwidth are going to be the new key paradigm." Edge cloud and access technology are critical components in enabling the transformation to new digital realities. They will allow for huge amounts of data processing and ubiquitous connectivity, serving increasingly automated and self- aware economies. As Mr Weldon observed at the 2015 edition of Mobile World

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Eutelsat and Camusat set out to serve MNOs AdaptiveMobile boosts Satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and telecom infrastructure specialist Camusat are working in MTN revenue control partnership to enhance turnkey connectivity solutions for mobile operators in Sub-Saharan Africa. The two entities aim to drive further the growth of mobile communications in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly in MOBILE NETWORK SECURITY under-developed remote rural areas - where over half of Africa’s population lives. In the vast territories yet to specialist AdaptiveMobile, be covered, terrestrial infrastructure would require heavy investment over several years to link unconnected which works with 22 mobile communities to mobile networks. operators across 18 countries, is promoting the success of its A dynamic partnership Grey Route Controls solution, Eutelsat can deliver satellite coverage which identifies, mitigates and of all African territories. Camusat protects against mobile provides expertise in telecom security threats and shields infrastructure deployment - including operators from financial building, providing electrical power exploitation. and maintaining towers for mobile Operators in the region are telephony networks. using the solution to identify Michel Azibert, Eutelsat's and shut down grey route traffic commercial and development and recapture millions of dollars director, said, "This partnership marks in revenue each month. Tangible a new step in our collaboration with benefits they are seeing include Africa's mobile telephony operators. a significant decrease in the (L-R) Michel Azibert, Eutelsat's deputy CEO and commercial & development volume of customer complaints In addition to regular lease of satellite director, and Richard Thomas, Camusat CEO capacity to support network and billable time handling development, our new partnership with Camusat equips us to offer solutions covering the entire concerns. In addition the insight communication chain with maximum flexibility and irrespective of location." gained through the software is Camusat CEO Richard Thomas added, "This new partnership with Eutelsat in a tremendously dynamic enabling MNOs to identify new market represents a future growth driver from which our mobile operator clients will be able to derive maximum revenue streams in vertical benefit by extending the limits of their markets. This agreement will ensure connectivity for communities who markets as well as gain market have remained beyond reach of mobile networks." share over competitors.

Siemon supplies West Africa with data centre cabling solutions NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST Siemon has in-class suppliers," commented Gbenga Adegbiji, installed cabling solutions in the 3,500m² MainOne head of capital projects at MainOne. "We needed to data centre located just outside of Lagos, Nigeria. specify products that would fully support The 600-rack facility is the largest co-location applications today and well into the future to allow facility of its kind in West Africa and delivers for growth and expansion, and we chose Siemon to consistent high-level performance, data storage and enable us to achieve these important objectives." data security to support leading businesses from Siemon and its certified installed partner, Lagos across the region. based DBH Solutions, collaborated on the process of MainOne is the only data centre in West Africa built to designing the cabling infrastructure, which Uptime Institute Tier III specification, which comprises the high performance XGLO fibre optic guarantees 99.98 per cent availability and means no solution with OS2 singlemode and OM3 multimode more than 1.6 hours of downtime per year. Fully fibre, and the Z-MAX end-to-end Category 6A compliant with the TIA 942 data centre standard, shielded copper cabling system. Siemon"s high bandwidth cabling systems ensure Ideal for next generation backbone applications, that MainOne has the most solid and future proof XGLO exceeds all ANSI/TIA/EIA and ISO/IEC insertion XGLO fibre jumpers and pigtails from Siemon cabling infrastructure foundation to support its loss and return loss requirements to provide growing customer base. MainOne with 10Gb/s performance and beyond. schedule, it provided significant advantages in "To successfully establish a facility of this scale, it Meanwhile, the Z-MAX shielded system combines terms of product handling and ease of installation. was crucial to select top quality products from best- consistent best-in-class performance with security "We are confident that with the high performance and robust noise immunity to easily support 10Gb/s. Siemon cabling solutions we have deployed in our It also provides the highest margins on all state-of-the-art facility, we will be able to provide performance requirements for Category 6A/Class EA, quality and reliable services to our customers," said including critical alien crosstalk parameters. Funke Opeke, CEO at MainOne. A combined total of more than 2,400 XGLO optical Steven Foster, managing director at Siemon EMEA, fibre links, using 1,200 pairs of OM3 and 1,200 pairs observed, "The availability of high performance data of OS2, were installed for the backbone centre facilities in West Africa is critical to its ability infrastructure, which connects every cabinet to to achieve future growth and profitability. MainOne is Cisco Nexus 7000 series core switches located in setting the standard in this region and we are pleased each of the two main network rooms. Z-MAX was that our technology is playing a critical role in used to connect servers and work area outlets to supporting the development of the digital economy in Siemon's Z-MAX Cat6A shielded cabling access switches and, given the challenging this rapidly developing part of the world."

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AfricaOnline Ghana MATRIXX Software and Vlocity launch digital industry cloud solution for telcos uses Radwin Network TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST MATRIXX providers deploying Go Digital can offer an elegant, one- PART OF GONDWANA International Software and industry cloud apps company Vlocity have click customer experience, with multiple payment options Networks (GIN), AfricaOnline formed a strategic partnership and launched Go Digital, a for additional mobile services. Ghana Ltd is rolling out its new cloud-based solution that helps communications and digital MATRIXX and Vlocity combine decades of experience in Radwin Network in Accra, the capital service providers (DSPs) deliver a differentiated customer digital strategy, eCommerce, CRM and communications city of the West African country, experience and grow revenue from video and music industry-specific cloud apps to help communication offering superior reliable high speed streaming, roaming passes, lifestyle applications and more. providers transform their customer experience. Go Digital broadband for its corporate clients, Built for agility, the MATRIXX-Vlocity solution can be delivers a ‘new and improved’ customer acquisition-to-cash based around a symmetrical fixed launched in less than three months. solution that can be deployed in less than three months. It wireless broadband infrastructure. Consumers’ service expectations are increasingly shaped utilises Salesforce cloud infrastructure, a common data The company has confirmed that by their experiences with digital companies like Amazon, model, and does not require complex integration to existing it has plans to extend the service to FitBit and Uber, which provide consumers personalized IT infrastructure. The solution is immediately available for peri-urban areas in the next phase service, adapt to their changing needs, and put them in leading telcos, with Swisscom, Telstra and Sky Italia among of deployment as well as to cities control. Go Digital is based on the Salesforce platform and the first to have access. like Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale combines Vlocity Communications Industry Cloud apps and Dave Labuda, founder, CEO and CTO of MATRIXX Software, where radio connectivity is already the MATRIXX Digital Commerce platform. said, “Legacy platforms are preventing service providers present. With Go Digital communications customers can define their from executing on their digital agendas. MATRIXX and Kwadwo Ohemeng Asumaning, own experience: they can easily try, buy and manage digital Vlocity have developed a new solution to meet the MD of AfricaOnline Ghana, services such as video and music streaming, track their aggressive go-to-market strategies of telcos addressing commented, “We believe that our usage in real-time, receive smart alerts which allow one- digital disruption head on.” long-term presence in Ghana, click purchasing of top-ups, share selected balances with David Schmaier, CEO and founder of Vlocity, said, “The serving major key corporates and friends, add roaming passes on-the-fly and consume MATRIXX and Vlocity partnership brings a unique SMEs gives us the experience and services in bite size chunks to better match their needs. combination of technology and transformation assets to competencies to better understand Further, they receive a consistent service experience, telcos wishing to engage their customers in dynamic, digital the needs of our customers and regardless of device or channel of engagement. ways. The Go Digital solution creates a significant new recommend appropriate solutions Go Digital includes a virtual “control centre” allowing the revenue opportunity for communications providers, one to their requirements.” customer to manage all of their digital services. Service that can be rapidly deployed in any carrier or DSP.”

Bharti Airtel Africa improves customer MTN connects enterprises and informal merchants engagement with IMImobile service with digital payments and services solution

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER Bharti Airtel Africa has MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, PARTICULARLY in the fast moving introduced innovative consumer services for merchants and content consumer goods (FMCG) sector, and informal merchants can now providers across the continent, working with IMImobile. benefit from reduced costs, increased security and greater The new Airtel Tap2Bill service innovation enables content providers efficiencies around payments, following an initiative by MTN’s and merchants to utilise Airtel’s billing infrastructure to charge and bill business and switching house for a cashless payment solution. their customers. The service will be available via a secure portal that will help content providers and merchants grow their business across Africa, without the need to invest in costly billing and payment capabilities. “Around 70 per cent of informal Airtel Africa chief executive officer Christian de Faria said, “We are very merchants in Africa are not able to make pleased to announce this new customer payment innovation to the market. It will support the growth of content services and enable content and receive electronic payments, and producers and merchants across Africa to share and benefit from Airtel's therefore recognise the value of inclusive scale, market and technology." payment solutions.” - Debbie Minnaar, “Ensuring the constant growth of choice and general manager: products and services, variety of mobile services is key across Africa group enterprise business unit, MTN and Airtel recognise that they are in a unique position to help content providers and “This solution is aligned with MTN’s efforts to deliver digital merchants." - Jay Patel, chief executive services to our multinational clientele, while at the same time serving the underserved,” said Debbie Minnaar, general manager: officer, IMImobile products and services, group enterprise business unit at MTN. “We estimate that around 70 per cent of informal merchants in Airtel Africa has worked with IMImobile since 2011 on mobile service Africa are not able to make and receive electronic payments, and provision and innovation. therefore recognise the value of inclusive payment solutions. This IMImobile chief executive officer Jay Patel commented, “Ensuring the switching payment solution will enable MTN to increase the constant growth of choice and variety of mobile services is key across economic participation of informal cash only merchants in Africa Africa and Airtel recognise that they are in a unique position to help while allowing users to safely transact in a digital space, to benefit content providers and merchants." both FMCGs and consumers.”

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Tanzanian MVNO Amotel selects WTL to establish BICS launches dynamic network connections IPoS solution in Africa

WORLD TELECOM LABS (WTL) has been appointed by we are extremely impressed with the experience and GLOBAL WHOLESALE CARRIER Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited (MTC- enthusiasm of the WTL team.” for voice, mobile data and Amotel) to bring voice and data connectivity to remote capacity services, BICS has rural villages close to Lake Tanganyika in Katavi, in Delivering voice and data to villages launched RouteFlex, an Tanzania. Services will be established later in other Vivada provides everything an operator needs to automated business continuity villages in Kigoma, Njombe and Kilimanjaro. deploy cost-effective and sustainable GSM and data and optimisation solution that In June 2015 Amotel became the first licensed networks in rural areas. It runs on less than 200W has been developed to address mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Tanzania. which can be supplied by solar with battery back-up. the need for enhanced The company has since entered a business agreement Vivada recognises that multiple revenue streams connectivity in Africa. The to operate as an MVNO through national telco will ensure a sustainable business model. It can satellite solution enables Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited deliver services to all types of pre and post-paid operators to manage QoE and (TTCL). Amotel will now deploy WTL’s new Vivada customers with varying telecoms budgets including secure an optimal traffic (Village Voice and Data) system to build low OPEX, low GSM for every type of handset; WiFi connectivity for balance. CAPEX networks in three villages that are not currently smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs – and RouteFlex provides an covered by any kind of network, as part of a proof of connectivity to cybercafés and hotspot call cabins. intelligent and cost-efficient IP concept project with finance from the Universal Vivada includes a micro GSM base station, WiFi over Satellite (IPoSAT) back-up Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF). routers and modems, backhaul integration, billing solution, supported by an SDN Professor Robert Mabele, board chairman of MTC- software, VoIP switches and an SMS server. (Software Defined Network) Amotel, said, “We know that connectivity in rural areas Traffic from the village is validated by WTL’s real- which enables operators to leads to economic development and improvements in time charging system and voice calls are then handle high volumes of IP data the quality of life. Amotel is a company which takes its converted into VoIP and compressed using WTL’s across satellite by applying responsibilities very seriously and we are determined award-winning VoIP SBC which uses patented end-to-end differential to make a difference. We evaluated a number of rural technology to minimise the amount of backhaul treatment to different types of systems and WTL’s Vivada was consistently top across bandwidth required. Calls are transferred to a hub in aggregated data flows during our scoring criteria. The build has already started and Dar es Salaam where a WTL switch routes it onwards. peaks or outages.

Tigo Tanzania makes a million on Facebook Anritsu launches software solutions to support EAST AFRICAN OPERATOR Tigo Tanzania has accumulated a million followers on manufacturing tests ofIoT and M2M devices Facebook, the highest such figure in Tanzania, effectively reinforcing Tigo’s COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST Anritsu Corporation has position as a leading digital lifestyle enterprise in the country. introduced three new measurements software packages expanding the Tigo’s Facebook page was created in June 2011 and has grown to become an ideal functions of the Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A to support platform for interaction for its customers, where they learn about the company’s manufacturing tests of IoT/M2M applications. With these new releases, new products and services and latest innovations. In a recent Tanzania Anritsu has added support for 802.11p, Bluetooth DLE, and Z-Wave to its Leadership Awards ceremony, acknowledging Tanzania’s best organisations and measurement software product line for the MT8870A, covering a individuals, Tigo won two trophies - for 'The Hall of Fame in Brand Excellence' frequency range from 10MHz to 6GHz. and 'The Best use of Social Media in Marketing'. The rapid expansion of the IoT/M2M applications market is increasing The upsurge in the use of social media in Tanzania has spurred the use of the need for wireless testing of communications terminals and modules. Facebook in the country in recent years. According to analysts at marketing The majority of these products support both mobile wireless systems, company Socialbakers, Tanzania currently has 4,144,040 Facebook users. So, as such as LTE and W-CDMA, as well as short-range 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Tigo general manager Diego Gutierrez said recently, these numbers effectively Bluetooth in one unit, requiring a fast, all-in-one, test set for measuring meant Tigo has nearly a quarter of the total Facebook users in the country. Mr multiple wireless systems. Gutierrez commented, "Our platform on Facebook and our official twitter handle The Universal Wireless (Tigo_TZ) have become essential tools for us to listen and learn from our Test Set MT8870A has been growing technology-savvy customers and the public in general. We are proud to specifically designed for the have reached this milestone and thank our customers for their evangelistic high volume manufacturing loyalty to us. Tigo Tanzania will continue to cater for its customers’ digital needs test of all common cellular and offer even richer and more interactive digital content.” and short range wireless technologies. An MT8870A Increasing community engagement in Kiswahili instrument mainframe can The interest in Tigo Facebook followers was buoyed by the launch, in 2014, of contain up to four TRX test Facebook in Kiswahili, Tanzania’s national language. Tigo customers are able to modules MU887000A/01A access Facebook in both English and Kiswahili through their mobile phones each capable of without incurring additional data charges. Tanzania has over 130 ethnic groups independent control by an that constitute its 45mn population, over 80 per cent of whom speak fluent external PC. Each module Kiswahili in addition to other local dialects. Spoken by 120-150mn people globally, has an integrated vector Kiswahili is the national language in both Tanzania and Kenya and it is also signal generator (VSG) and Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A now gaining ground in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Being the lingua franca in much offers support for 802.11p, Bluetooth DLE and vector signal analyser (VSA) of Southeast Africa, Kiswahili has been adopted has one of the working Z-Wave, covering a frequency range from 10 to perform both transmitter languages of The African Union (AU) and of the East African Community (EAC). MHz to 6 GHz and receiver RF tests.

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Ooredoo opts for RAD gains MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 Certification with MiNID GoSwiff for mPOS THE AWARD-WINNING MINID developed by RAD, part of its COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY Service Assured Access (SAA) solution portfolio for “What makes MiNID unique is OOREDOO Group has selected communications service providers, has become the first that it easily adds powerful PM mobile payments and marketing miniature network interface device (NID) to receive MEF CE solutions provider GoSwiff as its 2.0 certification. capabilities to any existing partner for the implementation of RAD’s SAA solutions for mobile, business and wholesale device. This, together with its its international mobile point of service providers are designed to improve the way they sale (mPOS) platform. compete: service agility to minimise time to revenue, versatility in enabling CE 2.0 The partnership will cover nine complete visibility of network performance for greater network upgrades and simplicity, markets covering Algeria, operational efficiency and better QoE to reduce churn. Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Myanmar, With this certification, operators can now instantly make it extremely attractive to Maldives, Oman, Qatar and Tunisia. upgrade their infrastructure to support premium Carrier service providers.” - Ulik Broida, It will include recruiting Ethernet 2.0 certified offerings for business, mobile merchants to the platform, from backhaul and wholesale services without expensive vice president of marketing and large corporates to micro- investments in network forklifts. business development, RA merchants. “This certification is yet another milestone for RAD’s GoSwiff is providing an integrated innovative technology and further positions the field- “What makes MiNID unique is that it easily adds powerful multi-payment solution including programmable, patented MiNID as the leading product of its PM capabilities to any existing device,” Broida explained. mPOS, mobile money and airtime kind in the market,” said Ulik Broida, vice president of “This, together with its versatility in enabling CE 2.0 network top-up for Ooredoo’s merchant marketing and business development at RAD. Together with upgrades and simplicity, make it extremely attractive to clients. GoSwiff also provides RAD’s central-site performance monitoring controller and service providers.” value added services including RADview management system, MiNID provides a powerful Regardless of the application for which it is used, MiNID, merchant reward programmes, to performance monitoring (PM) overlay, which enables by re-using existing hosting equipment, reduces CapEx by encourage a greater volume of operators to run full-scale Carrier Ethernet and IP service doing away with box-size demarcation devices, which is also transactions, and consumer activation and online diagnostics over any network, even a major advantage when additional shelf-space is limited or loyalty tools to enable Ooredoo to one featuring a mixed assortment of equipment from already unavailable Moreover, MiNID reduces OpEx by better engage with its customers. various vendors. eliminating installation, power and maintenance costs.

Nokia/ALU merger creates comettitve MYCOM OSI showcases new product capabilities advanntage from scale and execution and solutions at AfricaCom

SCALE AND EXECUTION have become critical success factors as telecom AN INDEPENDENT PROVIDER of next generation service assurance, industry is disrupted by the advent of new paradigms such as software automation/orchestration and analytics solutions, MYCOM OSI defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV), attended the most recent AfricaCom, Africa’s bigggest technology with vendors seeking to either arrange a buy-out or partner, as witnessed event, in November 2015 to showcase its solutions to the continent’s by the recent Cisco/Ericsson alliance. So, to the Nokia acquisition of communications service providers (CSPs). Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia’s de-facto control of Alcatel-Lucent after its The AfricaCom conference and expo was attended by an EUR15.6bn (US$17bn) all-share offer. estimated 10,000 players in the African digital world, with 350 The NOK/ALU merger has been discussed as a possibility since the days influential speakers and more than 375 telecom solution providers of Nokia Siemens Network (NSN), given the companies’ geographic participating. The 2015 event was its 18th edition and was themed revenue breakdown synergies and the mostly complementary nature of around ‘Innovation, Transformation & Leadership for Digital Africa’. their product portfolios. This possibility of a combination of the two MYCOM OSI was formed in 2014 by merger of telecom industry companies started getting more attention since the Mobile World Congress service assurance software providers MYCOM and OSI. MYCOM’s of 2014, when rumors were circulated that execs had been meeting each expertise in network performance management, and OSI’s other over some tapas in Barcelona to explore such an option. experience in fault management, served both entities in the Nokia’s strides on margin and cash flow, coupled with Alcatel- development of aervice management capabilities. Today, MYCOM Lucent’s successful execution of its SHIFT plan, have enabled the dream OSI provides deep telecom expertise and solutions in areas to become a reality. But before that, Nokia had to earn all regulatory fundamental to network and service quality, the primary contributor approvals, first from the US and finally last October from France. The to customer experience, loyalty and churn. negotiations at the highest level (between Nokia’s CEO Rajeev Suri and The executive team at MYCOM OSI highlighted how the France’s Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs Emmanuel company’s service assurance platform has helped tier 1 CSPs Macron) proved to be quite challenging and Nokia had to agree to optimise their network and service quality whilst reducing several caveats required by the French government, such as placing operational and capital expenditure and customer churn. In ALU’s French facilities at the forefront of key future technology research addition, at AfricaCom 2015 MYCOM OSI talked about its business in programmes in the new entity. Moreover, Nokia also has to keep backing Africa and the appeal of its solutions. a number of French government technology initiatives that Alcatel- At AfricaCom, the company also offered insights into 5G Lucent is currently engaged in, such as the 'Industry of the Future' technologies, its quality of service (QoS)-driven NFV Orchestration programme, the funding of academic tuition and the placement of solution, its networks analytics and network leading technology experts at the French facilities. automation/orchestration solutions, and its solutions for multi- domain network performance, fault management, and service Source: Frost & Sullivan management.

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Attacking malaria with an app

IT IS POSSIBLE now to gain automatic quickly, accurately and at a lower cost than contracting it, it is often fatal to children diagnosis of malaria on an iPhone. xRapid is other current methods. With an App Store under five and is a major contributor to the first commercially available mobile release and distribution underway, xRapid poverty. Malaria has also been a big topic in application that has the functionality to heralds a new direction in disease case the news in 2015. The rise of drug resistant diagnose a major disease quickly and management and mobile health as an strains in South East Asia has been a accurately. \xRapid utilises a \portable industry. constant concern. On a more positive note microscope and a pattern recognition Malaria is a truly global disease. Not only however, we have seen the progress the algorithm to identify the malaria parasite do 3.2bn people live under the threat of world has made against malaria in line with the Millennium Development Goals. Added to this, a Nobel prize for Tu Youyou, the Chinese researcher who invented the most effective and widely used treatment for malaria, shows increasing recognition of the need to tackle the disease on a global scale.

Methods to fight malaria xRapid is looking to disrupt the current methods of testing by creating a stronger solution. Testing is vitally important in malaria case management as it links the challenges of treatment, drug resistance and vaccine research. Treating malaria patients early and avoiding the over prescription of drugs relies heavily on testing, whilst the efficacy of a vaccine can only be qualified through screening programmes. Testing for malaria needs to be fast, accurate and cheap. The problem with current methods is that they can either be slow, expensive and time consuming or inaccurate and unstable. xRapid brings together the strengths of current methods while avoiding the flaws; it provides speed, accuracy and accessibility in its method and a lower cost per test than anything else on the market. Add this to all of the smart potential of mobile phone applications and users begin to see a very competitive product. Improving diagnostic testing is an important breakthrough in the management of any disease. However, there is potential for xRapid beyond individual results and even beyond testing for malaria alone. The retention of information that smartphone technology allows makes for a powerful disease mapping tool, and if apps like xRapid are used widely the data collected could contribute towards predicting future outbreaks. The pattern recognition method also has the potential to spot other diseases. xRapid CEO and co-founder said, “This is just the beginning; we are already working on expanding xRapid to test and diagnose other diseases from tuberculosis to Lyme disease. Right now we are very excited to be the first iPhone app to diagnose a major disease like malaria. Half of the global population is at risk, and we are very proud to be doing our part in improving the lives of those affected. The mHealth revolution is starting to help people all over the world.”

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AGENDA

Autour de TIC et des stratégies visant à atténuer les conséquences des catastrophes naturelles

LES PLUS DE 500 participants de 70 pays seulement d'investir dans les systèmes d'alerte Alozainah, Président-Directeur général de la assistant au 2ème Forum mondial UIT sur les avancée, la prévention des risques, les Communication and Information Technology télécommunications d'urgence: Sauver des vies communications d'urgence, les technologies Regulatory Authority (CITRA) en présentant le (GET-2016, Koweït, 26-28 janvier) ont mis en sociales et les systèmes de télécommunication rapport final du Forum. avant l'importance des TIC dans l'alerte avancée permettant de surveiller les risques, mais aussi "Nous sommes tous réunis ici au Koweït pour et les secours en cas de catastrophe, avec le de développer, d'entretenir et de renforcer ces exploiter au mieux l'immense potentiel des lancement, à l'échelle mondiale, de deux systèmes. Ce texte souligne aussi la nécessité télécommunications et des TIC, qui permettent nouvelles initiatives majeures, à savoir le Réseau d'améliorer la résilience des nouvelles de sauver des vies lorsque survient une UIT de volontaires pour les télécommunications infrastructures TIC. catastrophe", a dit Brahima Sanou. "Ce Forum a d'urgence et le Fonds mondial pour une "Ce Forum a été un grand succès", a affirmé le permis de nouer des partenariats qui seront intervention rapide en cas d'urgence. Secrétaire général de l'UIT Houlin Zhao. "Chaque essentiels pour concrétiser nos ambitions." Les participants au Forum GET-2016, qui se jour ou presque, une catastrophe se produit dans S'exprimant à l'occasion du lancement du tenait au Regency Hotel de Koweït, ont débattu de le monde. Le nombre élevé de participants Réseau UIT de volontaires pour les l'évolution de la situation et des dernières témoigne de notre volonté commune d'unir nos télécommunications d'urgence et du Fonds innovations technologiques, des mécanismes de forces pour contribuer à atténuer les effets des mondial pour une intervention rapide en cas financement, des études de cas par pays, des catastrophes." d'urgence, M. Sanou a invité toutes les parties difficultés rencontrées pour déployer les TIC dans Les documents finals adoptés par le Forum prenantes à contribuer aux initiatives qui les zones frappées par des catastrophes, des GET-2016 offrent des orientations stratégiques à permettent de sauver des vies. questions liées aux changements climatiques et la communauté internationale comme aux Siaosi Sovaleni, Premier Ministre adjoint des du rôle du secteur privé et d'autres parties différents pays et auront pour effet de mieux faire Tonga, a déclaré ce qui suit: "Tous les prenantes non étatiques. Ce Forum a également connaître le rôle que les différentes entités participants au Forum ont convenu que les TIC été le cadre d'une série d'expositions proposant pourraient jouer pour faire des étaient l'une des clés de la gestion des des solutions pour une utilisation optimale des télécommunications/TIC l'un des pivots de la catastrophes. Ils ont en outre mis en lumière la TIC en situation d'urgence. gestion des catastrophes et de l'atténuation de nécessité d'adopter une approche multipartite et Les TIC jouent un rôle déterminant dans la leurs effets. ont manifesté leur appui sans faille aux initiatives réduction des risques de catastrophe. Au "Les participants à ce Forum ont adopté des lancées par l'UIT, qui aideront grandement les paragraphe 33 du Cadre d'action de Sendai pour stratégies concrètes qui renforcent nos capacités pays à renforcer leurs capacités et fourniront des la réduction des risques de catastrophe, il est d'intervention en situation d'urgence," a déclaré ressources accessibles pour atténuer les effets souligné à quel point il est nécessaire, non le Président du Forum GET-2016, Salim des catastrophes naturelles et sauver des vies."

Orange va acquérir deux filiales d’Airtel au Une nouvelle plate-forme mondiale pour faciliter Burkina Faso et en Sierra Leone la création de villes intelligentes et durables ORANGE ET BHARTI Airtel International (Netherlands) BV (Airtel) ont signé LA PREMIÈRE COMMUNAUTÉ mondiale en ligne des villes intelligentes, un accord portant sur l’acquisition par Orange des filiales d’Airtel au Burkina lancé récemment, vise à aider les acteurs de la ville à créer des villes Faso et en Sierra Leone. intelligentes et durables. Cette nouvelle communauté cherche à Orange va acquérir 100% des actions des deux sociétés. Le chiffre d’affaires identifier les principaux "points faibles" du développement urbain. consolidé des deux sociétés est d’environ 275 millions d’euros. Orange réalisera Le lancement de cette plate-forme communautaire s'inscrit dans la ces opérations en partenariat avec ses filiales en Côte d'ivoire et au Sénégal. dynamique préparatoire du premier Forum mondial sur les villes Le montant de la transaction pour Orange sera construit sur un multiple de 7,9 intelligentes, qui sera organisé par la CEI, en partenariat avec l'ISO et fois l’Ebitda de ces deux filiales d’Airtel à la fin de leur exercice annuel au 31 mars l'UIT, à Singapour le 13 juillet 2016, en même temps et au même endroit 2016. La finalisation de ces transactions reste soumise à l’approbation des que le Sommet mondial des villes www.worldcitiessummit.com.cg et la autorités compétentes. Semaine internationale de l'eau www.siww.com.sg. Ces acquisitions s’inscrivent dans le cadre de la stratégie de développement "La création de villes intelligentes et durables est devenue l'un des international d’Orange, qui vise à accélérer sa croissance en pénétrant de grands thèmes qui préoccupent aussi bien les administrations dans le nouveaux marchés émergents à fort potentiel. monde entier que les institutions des Nations Unies", a déclaré Houlin A travers ces opérations, Orange va renforcer ses positions en Afrique en Zhao, Secrétaire général de l'UIT. "La prise en compte du potentiel des ajoutant deux pays à sa couverture et en augmentant sa base clients mobile de villes intelligentes va de pair avec la prise de conscience suivante: près de 5,5 millions de clients. Confirmant sa stratégie offensive sur ses introduire des éléments d'intelligence dans une ville existante, ou marchés, Orange marque une nouvelle étape de sa croissance et couvrira 20 encore créer à partir de rien une ville intelligente, est une tâche pays en Afrique en 2016. complexe qui nécessite de renforcer la coopération et d'harmoniser la Ces acquisitions font suite à l’accord initial signé entre Airtel et Orange en juillet prise de décision entre les différents acteurs de la ville et les 2015 concernant l’acquisition potentielle des opérations d’Airtel au Burkina Faso, organismes internationaux de normalisation tels que l'UIT, la CEI et Sierra Leone, Tchad et Congo Brazzaville. Les accords portant sur des l'ISO". acquisitions potentielles dans les deux pays restants sont arrivés à échéance. D'ici 2050, selon les estimations, 66% de la population mondiale Les conseillers pour ces transactions sont Lazard et la Société Générale pour vivra en zone urbaine. Pour les municipalités, le défi est d'envergure: Orange, et Arma Partners LLP pour Airtel. il leur faut fournir à ces habitants des ressources de base (denrées Présent dans 28 pays, Orange servait 263 millions de clients dans le monde au alimentaires et eau salubres et ressources énergétiques en 30 septembre 2015, dont 200 millions de clients du mobile et 18 millions de suffisance), tout en assurant une durabilité globale sur les plans clients haut débit fixe. Orange est également l'un des leaders mondiaux des économique, social et environnemental. Les villes doivent s'efforcer services de télécommunications aux entreprises multinationales sous la marque d'améliorer considérablement l'efficacité de leur fonctionnement et Orange Business Services. de leur utilisation des ressources.

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QUOTES

In the information security field, CIOs In 2014, South Africa had an Internet are focusing on maximising their penetration rate of about 40 per cent. “budgets without compromising “There is a significant growth but it security. This is driving a move towards tends to be concentrated in the ‘golden’ the next generation firewall, which does its cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, job efficiently, while the cost justification Durban and East London. Mobile is perfect. Within networks, we can expect technology has been a game changer: enterprises to look more closely at traffic people have at least a mobile phone even filtering and move away from applying in the most remote rural areas, but we everything to everything.” need to go beyond using it as a - Perry Hutton replacement for a fixed line and develop e-services. Our target (Government) is to regional director for Africa, Fortinet achieve 100 per cent broadband penetration by 2020 as well as While CIOs and security professionals transforming 70 per cent of all front-line may feel safe with large investments service to e-Service by 2019.” “in firewalls, virus detection and other - Hon Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize perimeter defenses, the on-the-ground Deputy Minister, Department of reality is that today’s hackers continue to Telecommunications and Postal Services, get better at their jobs and will easily get Republic of South Africa around these protections through a virtual side-door without ever being spotted. There are so many basic vulnerabilities We are at the crossroads of a huge that organisations need to address, and change in communications networks, “with the advent of 5G Wireless and because of this it is increasingly important for companies to lock-down internal access cloud networking underway. Operators and controls and protect the data from inside.” enterprises alike will see their networks challenged by massive increases in traffic.” - David Gibson VP of strategy and market development, - Marcus Weldon Varonis CTO, Alcatel-Lucent; president, Bell Labs

Digital financial services have Africa offers a great potential for expanded rapidly in recent years, growth, as satellite communication “connects previously isolated “especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, extending financial services to many rural communities in the region more efficiently and low-income communities that were and cost-effectively than before. Gilat is previously excluded. The challenge now is well-placed to drive rural broadband to make sure products and services are solutions in Africa, and become the best improved to meet the specific needs of partner to the new HTS providers who new customers.” plan to deploy their services across the continent.” - David Crush programme manager for the Partnership for - Dov Baharav Financial Inclusion, IFC interim CEO and chairman of the board, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd

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GET-2016 TIC

Utiliser les TIC pour sauver des vies Le deuxième Forum mondial de l'UIT sur les télécommunications d'urgence, et le rôle des télécommunications d'urgence dans la gestion des catastrophes

E DEUXIÈME FORUM mondial sur les pour les Affaires du Cabinet et Ministre par vies ont mis en avant l'importance des TIC dans télécommunications d'urgence (GET- intérim de l'Electricité et de l'Eau du Koweït. l'alerte avancée et les secours en cas de 2016, Koweït, 26-28 janvier) accueillit "L'Emir du Koweït s'est vu remettre en 2014 un catastrophe, avec le lancement, à l'échelle Ldes dirigeants des secteurs public et Prix décerné par les Nations Unies en mondiale, de deux nouvelles initiatives privé, des universitaires, ainsi que des récompense de l'action humanitaire de son majeures, à savoir le Réseau UIT de volontaires représentants d'organisations non pays, et je suis très heureux que ce Forum se pour les télécommunications d'urgence et le gouvernementales et d'institutions des tienne alors même que nous fêtons le 10ème Fonds mondial pour une intervention rapide en Nations Unies. anniversaire du couronnement de notre Emir.” cas d'urgence. Le programme du Forum comprendra toute Les participants au Forum GET-2016, qui se Des objectifs de développement une série de débats axés sur les nouvelles tenait au Regency Hotel de Koweït, ont débattu Ce Forum est l'occasion, pour les décideurs et tendances et les innovations technologiques, de l'évolution de la situation et des dernières les autres participants, de débattre et les mécanismes de financement, les études de innovations technologiques, des mécanismes d'adopter des stratégies concrètes pour définir cas, les difficultés rencontrées pour déployer de financement, des études de cas par pays, comment les technologies de l'information et des moyens de télécommunication/TIC après des difficultés rencontrées pour déployer les de la communication peuvent contribuer à la une catastrophe, les questions liées aux TIC dans les zones frappées par des mise en oeuvre de la Déclaration et du Cadre changements climatiques et le rôle du secteur catastrophes, des questions liées aux d'Action de Sendai pour la réduction des privé et d'autres partenaires non étatiques. changements climatiques et du rôle du secteur risques de catastrophes pour la période 2015- "Ce Forum de trois jours offre une occasion privé et d'autres parties prenantes non 2030, à la réalisation des objectifs énoncés exceptionnelle d'examiner de près le rôle des étatiques. dans le Programme de développement durable télécommunications/TIC au service de Ce Forum a également été le cadre d'une à l'horizon 2030 et à l'atténuation des effets l'atténuation des effets des catastrophes et série d'expositions proposant des solutions des changements climatiques, conformément des secours en cas de catastrophe", a dit pour une utilisation optimale des TIC en à l'Accord de Paris adopté par la Conférence Brahima Sanou, Directeur du Bureau de situation d'urgence. sur les changements climatiques réunie en développement des télécommunications de Les TIC jouent un rôle déterminant dans la décembre 2015. l'UIT. "Nous voulons, au cours de ce Forum, réduction des risques de catastrophe. Au "Tout l'intérêt de ce Forum est de rassembler lancer des programmes concrets qui paragraphe 33 du Cadre d'action de Sendai en un même lieu des leaders d'opinion pour changeront les modalités du déploiement et de pour la réduction des risques de catastrophe, il trouver comment mobiliser les nouvelles l'utilisation des ressources de est souligné à quel point il est nécessaire, non technologies, non seulement pour sauver des télécommunication/TIC au service de la seulement d'investir dans les systèmes vies, mais pour améliorer la vie quotidienne de gestion des catastrophes, en particulier d'alerte avancée, la prévention des risques, les tous", a déclaré le Secrétaire général de l'UIT pendant la phase d'intervention.” communications d'urgence, les technologies Houlin Zhao. "L'UIT va poursuivre sa mission, La Forum compris une table ronde sociales et les systèmes de télécommunication qui consiste à fournir en temps utile aux ministérielle sur l'amélioration de la permettant de surveiller les risques, mais aussi collectivités frappées par une catastrophe, aux planification préalable et l'efficacité des de développer, d'entretenir et de renforcer ces équipes de premiers secours, aux pouvoirs secours dans l'optique du développement systèmes. Ce texte souligne aussi la nécessité publics, et aux entités s'occupant de gestion durable, ainsi que d'un Dialogue entre hautes d'améliorer la résilience des nouvelles des catastrophes, des moyens de personnalités sur le thème des questions infrastructures TIC. communication fiables et adaptés.” technologiques, réglementaires et "Ce Forum a été un grand succès", a affirmé opérationnelles. le Secrétaire général de l'UIT Houlin Zhao. Des actions humanitaires Une série d'expositions présentant des "Chaque jour ou presque, une catastrophe se Organisé par l'UIT, l'institution spécialisée des solutions et des utilisations concrètes des TIC produit dans le monde. Le nombre élevé de Nations Unies pour les télécommunications et en situation d'urgence a été inaugurée au participants témoigne de notre volonté les TIC, ce Forum est accueilli par le cours d'une cérémonie spéciale. commune d'unir nos forces pour contribuer à Gouvernement du Koweït. Il réunit des L'ouverture officielle du Forum a été atténuer les effets des catastrophes.” délégués du monde entier: ministres, précédée, le 25 janvier, de deux manifestations Les documents finals adoptés par le Forum régulateurs des TIC, responsables de la gestion préalables centrées, l'une sur la Convention de GET-2016 offrent des orientations stratégiques des catastrophes sur le plan national, Tampere, et l'autre sur le rôle des TIC dans la à la communauté internationale comme aux chercheurs, entreprises du secteur privé, réduction des risques de catastrophe. différents pays et auront pour effet de mieux Nations Unies et ONG. faire connaître le rôle que les différentes "C'est une grande fierté pour l'Etat du Le Forum entités pourraient jouer pour faire des Koweït d'accueillir cette important Les plus de 500 participants de 70 pays télécommunications/TIC l'un des pivots de la événement", a affirmé Sheikh Mohammad assistant au 2ème Forum mondial UIT sur les gestion des catastrophes et de l'atténuation de Abdullah Al-Mubarak al-Sabah, Ministre d'Etat télécommunications d'urgence: Sauver des leurs effets. ¥

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FIBRE Terrestrial

The trend towards contiguous networks How terrestrial fibre connectivity is taking off on the back of subsea cable growth and new funding

HE RISE IN the number of undersea officer of MainOne, and MainOne's banking services, especially mobile, social cable projects in sub-Saharan Africa marketing operations supervisor Temitope and internet banking.” over the past few years is providing a Osunrinde point to a number of new Treal boost for the continent’s many developments in the sub-region, which Investing in fibre terrestrial fibre projects. In December 2015, combined, make it second only to South Nearly double the numbers of terrestrial fibre Liquid Sea, an offshore subsidiary of Liquid Africa. The company affirmed, “We see more projects in Africa were announced, as of Telecom, announced that it is to lay new engaging and relevant use of technology by December 2015 compared with full year subsea cable off Africa's eastern coastline. Africans. And we haven’t yet scratched the 2014. New projects, comprising over The project will run some 10,000km from surface." 22,000km of fibre and over US$730mn of South Africa to the Middle East. It is investment, were launched in 19 African designed to enable a reliable and affordable countries. Indeed, virtually every country on international connectivity service to both Most of the developments the continent has embarked on national coastal and landlocked countries in Eastern, in municipally-driven metro fibre backbone projects, spurred by the Central and Southern Africa. development of undersea cables. And this fibre – with the exception wave of investment is triggering investment Understanding the growth trend of South Africa - have been in metropolitan fibre networks including Liquid Telecom already has a substantial fibre to the home (FTTH). communications technology presence in confined to Africa’s capital At least ten FTTH projects were either Africa and it hosts the continent's largest cities commenced or announced last year. These single contiguous network. Communications include: Africa/Afrique interviewed Liquid Telecom, • Cote d’Ivoire, where FTTH is to be as well as a number of companies active in MainOne believes that the increase in expanded in the capital city, Abidjan, the sector, to assess their understanding of terrestrial fibre and other connective under the ‘Kouzin Distributor’ franchise. the growth trend. Liquid Telecom expects technologies will have significant benefits • Kenya, where Liquid Telecom will spend that Africa’s terrestrial fibre sector is set to across all areas of the digital economy. The US$13.7mn to complete the FTTH projects undergo record breaking growth in 2016. A company told Communications that the former owners of the company company spokesperson said, “In addition to Africa/Afrique, “The increased roll out of Kenya Data Network (KDN) had started. the sea cable, Liquid Telecom is laying fibre infrastructure across Africa also assists • Rwanda, where Liquid Telecom is 100km of new fibre every week.” in Data Centre developments since it allows investing more than US$35mn in laying Leading figures at MainOne - the leading companies host their systems off premises. Rwanda’s first FTTH network. provider of innovative telecom services and Financial Services organisations have • By the end of 2016, FTTH is expected to network solutions in West Africa – contributed significantly to this growth, reach 15,000 homes in the following concurred. Funke Opeke, chief executive particularly in terms of rise in adoption of geographies:

SEA-ME-WE 5 completes shore end in TI Sparkle’s Sicilian landing station INTERNATIONAL SUBMARINE CABLE system SEA-ME- international services business. As a leading global DE-CIX. SEA-ME-WE 5 is the first cable in the WE 5 has completed its shore end at Telecom Italia carrier and through a global backbone of around Europe-to-Asia route to provide advanced Sparkle’s landing station in Catania, Sicily. 570.000km of fibre, TI Sparkle offers a full range of connectivity solutions on a POP-to-POP basis from With a design capacity set at 24 Terabit per IP, data, cloud, data centre, mobile data and voice open telehouses in Europe - such as TI Sparkle second on 3 fibre pairs deployed for a total length solutions to fixed and mobile operators, Internet Sicily Hub - as well as in Singapore, in a decisive of 20,000 km, the new cable system will provide service providers, media and content providers and effort to effectively address today’s demand for IP lowest latency connectivity through 17 countries - to multinational enterprises. Its sales force is and capacity services. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, active worldwide and distributed over 39 With its participation in the SEA-ME-WE 5 Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, UAE, countries. consortium, TI Sparkle has secured its leadership Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, TI Sparkle’s connectivity solutions out of Sicily in the fast growing Asia to Middle East and Europe France and Italy - offering an additional network on SEA-ME-WE 5 will be available through its next route, enhancing its proposition with a diversified layer of diversity and resilience for the heavily generation data centre in Palermo Sicily Hub, an and low latency route to and from Asia. loaded Asia to Europe route. open and complete service marketplace And with the recent opening of the Sicily Hub, Telecom Italia Sparkle SpA is the wholly owned interconnected with all international cables located in Palermo, Sparkle is further subsidiary of Telecom Italia Group with the mission landing in Sicily, where customers can also peer strengthening its role as leading European hub in to develop and consolidate the Italian telco’s directly with content providers or publicly through the Mediterranean.

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Terrestrial FIBRE

South Africa initiative, ‘Project Link’. This project is aimed communications technology (ICT) solutions In Cape Town MTN commenced its first FTTH at providing increased metro fibre in Africa to provider, and China Telecom are the deployments outside Gauteng at the end of provide greater broadband access. When it contractors for six of these. They include: last year. Thousands of homes are now being goes live, Accra will become Google’s 520km in the Republic of Congo (Huawei); connected in the Western Cape second African super fast broadband city 4,000km in Guinea (Huawei); 3,000km in In Johannesburg, residents of the suburb after Kampala, Uganda. Project Link, unlike Senegal (Huawei); 400km in Sierra Leone of Blairgowrie voted last year in favour of ‘Google Fiber’ which sells high-speed (Huawei); 200km in Togo (Huawei); and telecommunications start-up Vumatel rolling Internet directly to consumers in a handful of 428km in Malawi (China Telecom). In out FTTH broadband in their neighbourhood. US cities, sells broadband capacity to other addition, China’s EximBank, the Chinese Vumatel has already rolled out fibre to other Internet service providers and mobile government and China International suburbs in the city carriers. Telecommunication Construction In Durban MTN launched FTTH in KwaZulu- At present, most of the developments in Corporation (CITCC) are investing in a further Natal last October. The FTTH project municipally-driven metro fibre – with the three projects totalling 3,875km of fibre. connects about 439 homes to MTN’s high exception of South Africa - have been Yet despite these very real advances, speed fibre network and is said to deliver confined to Africa’s capital cities. But last connectivity remains a major issue. It is Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps year saw the spread of metro fibre outside estimated that fewer than 16 per cent of Zambia is host to a Liquid Telecom’s FTTH of the capital cities and into secondary Africans have access to the Internet, project launched last year that now delivers cities. An example is Liquid Telecom’s fibre compared with 63 per cent of Europeans and fast broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps to investments in Kilifi, Kenya. Unsurprisingly, 79 per cent of North Americans. In addition, around 8,000 homes and busin