The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007 - (Page 17)

INTERNATIONAL November 15 · 2007 - 17 R & M Finds Potential In Africa Foreign Investors Scrambling for Positions DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 1, 2007) A new report by Paul Budde Communications, an Australia based research consultancy, has found that, while being the world’s most rapidly growing market for mobile telephony and also home to the fastest growing ﬁxed telephony markets in the world, Africa still has some of the world’s lowest penetration rates. Foreign investors are scrambling for positions in this very lucrative market as privatization and liberalization are progressively being introduced. Explosive growth in the mobile sector has meant that by early 2007 mobile users constituted almost 90% of all African telephone subscribers. Other wireless solutions are also used to serve as substitutes for inadequate ﬁxed-line infrastructure, according to the study. A surge in demand for Internet access and broadband capabilities is expected to drive these developments further in the coming years. Several international ﬁber projects currently under development will deliver the necessary bandwidth to Africa and bring down costs. Overall, Budde thinks Africa’s telecoms future looks very promising and offers great opportunities to service providers, equipment vendors and investors. The continent’s mobile market is consistently growing at around 50-60% every year. Enormous further potential remains, with market penetration standing at little more than 20%. Due to Africa’s poor ﬁxed-line infrastructure, the mobile networks are beginning to play an increasing role in Internet service provision as well, following the launch of 3G services in a number of markets – a welcome new revenue stream in an almost entirely prepaid environment with low ARPU levels. Newly introduced converged licensing regimes have increased the competitive pressure in a number of key markets but also allow the mobile operators to branch out into new service segments. Africa’s data trafﬁc is on the rise, fuelled by rapid growth of ADSL and wireless broadband services. Massive efforts are under way to adapt the continent’s underdeveloped infrastructure to the growing need, both on the national and international level. Broadband has begun to rapidly replace dial-up as the preferred access method, and this process is already virtually completed in the continent’s more developed markets. Overall Internet market penetration is still low at just over 4%, leaving ample room for further growth in the coming years. The extent of Next Generation Networks and services on the continent is still limited. There are, however, encouraging developments. Several countries have launched broadband initiatives and are rolling out dedicated IP-based networks and new ﬁbre optic links. Given the still large amounts of unsatisﬁed demand for basic voice services in Africa, VoIP is a primary application at this stage, and this technology is now gaining ground on the continent following steady improvements in Internet bandwidth, deregulation in several countries and the growing number of VoIP service providers entering the market. The ﬁrst triple play services have been launched across the continent, offering converged voice, data and broadband TV/video. WiMAX technology, currently being rolled out in at least 20 African countries, will enable the continent to leapfrog straight to wireless NGNs at affordable cost. The number of African countries where VoIP can be regarded as open to private operators has more than doubled to around 20 in 2007. Nevertheless, at least 10% of international calls in almost every country on the continent are still carried by unlicensed grey market players, because many operators are not yet passing on the full cost savings from VoIP to their customers. Proﬁt margins are still very healthy in this emerging market. Broadcasting is an integral part of Africa’s development and a means of communication over the vast areas of the continent. Improvements in broadband infrastructure and the emergence of 3G mobile systems are now opening the way to convergence of conventional and digital media as well as telecommunications. With far greater ownership of TV sets compared to PCs in Africa, the broadcasters’ viewers represent a huge potential customer base for Internet services as well. Interactive TV, especially the variety using mobile phone text messages (SMS), has found its way to Africa and is growing fast. At least nine African countries are currently trialing or planning to introduce Broadband TV and VoD services, typically converged with voice and data services under so-called triple play models. Source: “2007 Africa - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Overview,” Distributed by Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c73145) International in Brief Avaya, a global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, and Avaya Financial Services (AFS) are offering 0% finance option for customers of Avaya BusinessPartners to lease equipment and pay for services over two years with no interest and no upfront charges. The offer is targeted at customers who lease a new Avaya Small Medium Business (SMB) solution that includes the Avaya IP Office 500 with VoiceMail Pro messaging for business use. Avaya IP Office is the company’s flagship solution for SMBs. It is an Intelligent Communications solution designed to specifically meet the needs of home offices, standalone businesses, and networked branch and head offices for small and midsize businesses. Avaya - www.avaya.co.uk Voiceserve, Inc., a UK-based company targeting European, Middle Eastern and African phone customers with VoIP and Pay As You Go services, says its next generation VoiceSIM card, VoiceSIM 2.0, will be on wholesale and retail sale on December 1, in time for the winter giftgiving holidays. The VoiceSIM will be available initially through its independent distribution channels. Beneﬁts will include free roaming in over 120 countries, as well as virtual local numbers from 29 locations worldwide. Voiceserve & Voipswitch registered users will have the advantage of being able to call forward from their VoIP, mobile and ﬁxed phone numbers to the VoiceSIM. Instead of forwarding friends and family a new telephone number whilst traveling or opting to incur large roaming bills, Voiceserve customers simply forward calls to the existing number and the new VoiceSIM. Voiceserve – www.voiceserve.com http://www.avaya.co.uk http://www.voiceserve.com http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c73145 http://www.wcgltd.com http://www.wcgltd.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007

The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007 Online Wireless Recharge It's a Wrap for Gift Cards Contents GENERAL PREPAID Prepaid 101: Merchandising Regulatory Rundown: Wireless Broadband, LNP, Internet Taxes, and Stored Value Legislation Guest Editorial: Honest Minutes: "The Times They Are A-Changing" 5 Minutes With Daniel Neal, CEO of kajeet The Legal Line Prepaid Wireless Roundup WIRELESS Wireless in Brief 011 Mobile Launches Mobile International Dialing Hop-on Adds GSM Phone to Product Line Virgin Mobile USA Launches New Services kajeet Adds to Handset Line MarketStar Publishes Mobile Phone Usage Study Nokia and Cellfire Team Up Verizon Selects Firethorn iVisionMobile Launches Messaging Platform Sprint Expands "Unlimited by Boost" INTERNATIONAL Spot Rates NOMAD Brings MasterCard EMS to Europe R&M Finds Potential in Africa International in Brief TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY Caveat Emptor When Negotiating IP Licensing T&T in Brief MySpace and Skype Ink Deal Octastic Announces New Media Gateway DSP Pactolus Selected by Global Crossing Tadiran Announces New Loyalty Incentive Program Oblio Telecom Launches New Prepaid Products Total Call Enhances Prepaid Calling Cards PAYMENTS A Gift Card Technology Guide Pinnacle and PaySpot Roll Out POS/Prepaid Solution TIO Networks Announces Membership Program TransFund$ Partners with TruckersB2B AMR Finds Retailers Returning to Main Street Payments in Brief Diebold to Offer Prepaid Gift Card Technology InComm to Sell nFinanSe Discover Cards iVisionMobile Offers Retailers Mobile Payments i2c to Offer Stored Value Webinars Mobilians Starts U.S. Mobile Payments Operation NetSpend Increases Savings Program Interest EXTRAS Classifieds Contact Us Our Advertisers

The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007

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