Thanks to the launch of several submarine cables connecting it to Europe et the rest of Africa, Western and Central Africa is soon to experience dramatically improved internet access. This will no doubt give a great opportunity for new operators and Internet Service Providers to create a niche in the region's telecoms market. More particularly, it will improve access to communications for all, particularly for underserved segments such as the young and people on low income.
Robert Aouad is one of those entrepreneurs who has spotted the huge potential for alternative service providers to deliver internet access to the region. He is the main promoter of the ISOCEL project, launched in 2004 and which after 4 months became the first private ISP in Benin after the incumbent. ISOCEL is currently in the process of deploying similar wireless networks in six secondary cities in Benin and operate and manage ICT community centers.
Robert will be a panellist at the West & Central Africa Com cognress in Dakar in June, where he will share his thoughts on how fixed-Line, mobile & wireless operators can deliver reliable and affordable broadband services in the region. As an advance preview of the message he will put forward at the event, he answers five questions for us.
What are the key trends in West & Central Africa’s telecommunications market today?
The telecommunications market in West & Central Africa tends towards a radical transformation in the next 10 years, with increased competition among mobile operators, particularly as ARPU is diminishing. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of new subscribers will come from a low-revenue segment living in remote areas. This will push the sector’s stakeholders to make up for this decrease in revenues by offering other value-added services, mainly access to mobile internet.
What are the key markets trends to watch and why?
It would be interesting to observe the arrival of new generation technologies and their adoption in a larger market, such as WiMAX, HSDPA, CDMA EV-DO Rev B etc. After a few years, we will have a better understanding of which of these different technologies are most successful and if they have a sustainable business model.
How has the global economic situation affected your market, and how has your company responded to it?
We are lucky to be in a market which is still largely under-exploited. This means that we haven’t felt the consequences of the global economic situation, which hasn’t affected our growth in terms of subscribers and revenues. On the other hand, we operate in a market where the buying power is among the lowest and this has always forced us to create products and services that are affordable for our target customers.
Which services or technologies are likely to have the biggest impact on the market in the years to come?
It is certain that mobile internet access will have a remarkable growth but the success of 3rd and 4th generation technologies will be confronted with issues of available capacity when the number of users grows exponentially. We also hope that the MVNO model will be adopted massively by countries in West & Central Africa as it represents a win-win partnership for actual and virtual operators.
How important is the West & Central Africa Com congress for the region’s telecoms industry and what do you expect to take out of the event?
Like every year, the West & Central Africa Com congress is an occasion to meet the main stakeholders in the telecommunications market and to hear about the new market trends. The fact that the event is taking place in a French-speaking country will probably encourage more operators from the region to participate.
16 Apr 2010
New event NigeriaCom launched at a crucial time for Nigeria's telecoms market
The ash cloud from Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull is still causing a standstill in Northern European airports, and as a result two of my colleagues are extending their stay in Nigeria’s business capital Lagos.
They are there to meet operators and vendors to talk about forthcoming event NigeriaCom, which will take place at the newly built Eko conference centre in Lagos on 28th and 29th September. The event is a new addition to the Com World Series: in 2008 and 2009, the West & Central Africa Com event took place in Nigeria’s administrative capital Abuja, and is now returning to Dakar in Senegal. Feedback from the event concluded that Nigeria was such a booming telecoms market that it required a specific event, while West & Central Africa Com could have a more truly regional feel if located in a relatively smaller market. The idea is proving successful, as both events are attracting high levels of interest from operators, investors, regulators and vendors.
The Dakar event is supported by Senegal’s Minister of Telecommunications, ICT, and Transports Abdourahim Agne, who will preside the opening session. The programme includes representatives from 25 operators, including the major groups investing in the region (MTN, Zain, Orange, Etisalat, Lintel/Africell, Bintel, Intercel), as well as leading telecom solutions vendors (Ericsson, Qualcomm, Corning, Helios Towers, ECI Telecom) and international carriers (Belgacom, Telenor).
The NigeriaCom programme is still being finalised, but it has already received the support of Nigeria’s major operators: already confirmed speakers include the CEOs of MTN Nigeria (Ahmed Farroukh), Starcomms (Maher Qubain), Etisalat Nigeria’s (Steven Evans), Pinet Informatics (Lanre Ajayi) and senior representatives from Zain.
The event will be held at a crucial time in Nigeria’s telecoms market: thanks to the launch of new submarine cables, operators will be able to launch better and more affordable broadband services, which are in great demand. At the same time, they are still to an extent struggling to improve their networks in order to deliver acceptable quality of service and coverage. In addition to these changes, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), will have a new head this year. Ernest Ndukwe, who led the market’s liberalisation and promoted a healthy competitive environment for its stakeholders, came to the end of his 10-year tenure earlier this year. He is currently replaced by Stephen Adedayo Bello as Acting Executive Vice Chairman, and a new head is expected to be announced in the next few months, if not weeks.
NigeriaCom will definitely be a great place to gauge the market’s mood, to discuss its operators' strategies, and hopefully to meet the new executive team at the helm of the NCC.
They are there to meet operators and vendors to talk about forthcoming event NigeriaCom, which will take place at the newly built Eko conference centre in Lagos on 28th and 29th September. The event is a new addition to the Com World Series: in 2008 and 2009, the West & Central Africa Com event took place in Nigeria’s administrative capital Abuja, and is now returning to Dakar in Senegal. Feedback from the event concluded that Nigeria was such a booming telecoms market that it required a specific event, while West & Central Africa Com could have a more truly regional feel if located in a relatively smaller market. The idea is proving successful, as both events are attracting high levels of interest from operators, investors, regulators and vendors.
The Dakar event is supported by Senegal’s Minister of Telecommunications, ICT, and Transports Abdourahim Agne, who will preside the opening session. The programme includes representatives from 25 operators, including the major groups investing in the region (MTN, Zain, Orange, Etisalat, Lintel/Africell, Bintel, Intercel), as well as leading telecom solutions vendors (Ericsson, Qualcomm, Corning, Helios Towers, ECI Telecom) and international carriers (Belgacom, Telenor).
The NigeriaCom programme is still being finalised, but it has already received the support of Nigeria’s major operators: already confirmed speakers include the CEOs of MTN Nigeria (Ahmed Farroukh), Starcomms (Maher Qubain), Etisalat Nigeria’s (Steven Evans), Pinet Informatics (Lanre Ajayi) and senior representatives from Zain.
The event will be held at a crucial time in Nigeria’s telecoms market: thanks to the launch of new submarine cables, operators will be able to launch better and more affordable broadband services, which are in great demand. At the same time, they are still to an extent struggling to improve their networks in order to deliver acceptable quality of service and coverage. In addition to these changes, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), will have a new head this year. Ernest Ndukwe, who led the market’s liberalisation and promoted a healthy competitive environment for its stakeholders, came to the end of his 10-year tenure earlier this year. He is currently replaced by Stephen Adedayo Bello as Acting Executive Vice Chairman, and a new head is expected to be announced in the next few months, if not weeks.
NigeriaCom will definitely be a great place to gauge the market’s mood, to discuss its operators' strategies, and hopefully to meet the new executive team at the helm of the NCC.
9 Apr 2010
Acknowledging the importance of cultural factors and face-to-face engagement when doing business in different regions of the world
In today’s world of global networking and instant communication, it is easy to forget the importance of regional or national cultural differences in the way people and companies do business.
Moving from France to the UK provided me my first experience of a different way of working, where hierarchy was less important and individual initiative was more valued. In the last few years, I have worked on events in very different parts of the world, particularly in emerging markets with the Com World Series, and witnessed other approaches to business. In some regions, personal contacts are the only way to do business, and relationships take years to build, while in others people are very open to making new contacts and exchanging ideas from a first conversation. In others still, it is crucial to know the right people in order to make any kind of contact, let alone meaningful conversation.
I was shown an interesting tool to begin to understand how different regions approach social interactions and business: Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The model researches countries and region according to 5 parameters affecting their approach to business: Power Distance Index (the extent to which power and hierarchy is important), Individualism (the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups), Masculinity (the distribution of roles between genders), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity) and Long-Term Orientation. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that societies such as the USA and the UK have high degrees of individualism, low power distance and low long-term orientation, while the opposite is seen in China.
Models such as these are interesting tools to examine when doing business in different regions, but I have to say that not all companies are attuned to these differences. It may be a reason why Chinese and Indian companies are being successful in doing business in Africa for instance, where the cultural dimensions are relatively similar, which is not always the case for Western companies.
There is one common point between all regions though: nothing can replace face-to-face engagement when building business relationships. This is why events such as conferences and exhibitions are still a great way to meet clients. When producing congresses around the world, the Com World Series endeavours to stay tuned to local differences, and to deliver events that provide the right type of interaction in order to facilitate networking and business. Some events such as West & Central Africa Com focus on facilitating discussion; others such as South East Asia Com provide more formal in-depth learning; and others focus more on high-level networking with more VIP features, such as the Middle East Telco World Summit. The fine-tuning of conference programmes and congress experience takes time and research to get right, and the most rewarding thing is to hear participants' feedback on how an event gave them a clearer picture of their market opportunities or helped them develop their business in a region.
Moving from France to the UK provided me my first experience of a different way of working, where hierarchy was less important and individual initiative was more valued. In the last few years, I have worked on events in very different parts of the world, particularly in emerging markets with the Com World Series, and witnessed other approaches to business. In some regions, personal contacts are the only way to do business, and relationships take years to build, while in others people are very open to making new contacts and exchanging ideas from a first conversation. In others still, it is crucial to know the right people in order to make any kind of contact, let alone meaningful conversation.
I was shown an interesting tool to begin to understand how different regions approach social interactions and business: Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The model researches countries and region according to 5 parameters affecting their approach to business: Power Distance Index (the extent to which power and hierarchy is important), Individualism (the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups), Masculinity (the distribution of roles between genders), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity) and Long-Term Orientation. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that societies such as the USA and the UK have high degrees of individualism, low power distance and low long-term orientation, while the opposite is seen in China.
Models such as these are interesting tools to examine when doing business in different regions, but I have to say that not all companies are attuned to these differences. It may be a reason why Chinese and Indian companies are being successful in doing business in Africa for instance, where the cultural dimensions are relatively similar, which is not always the case for Western companies.
There is one common point between all regions though: nothing can replace face-to-face engagement when building business relationships. This is why events such as conferences and exhibitions are still a great way to meet clients. When producing congresses around the world, the Com World Series endeavours to stay tuned to local differences, and to deliver events that provide the right type of interaction in order to facilitate networking and business. Some events such as West & Central Africa Com focus on facilitating discussion; others such as South East Asia Com provide more formal in-depth learning; and others focus more on high-level networking with more VIP features, such as the Middle East Telco World Summit. The fine-tuning of conference programmes and congress experience takes time and research to get right, and the most rewarding thing is to hear participants' feedback on how an event gave them a clearer picture of their market opportunities or helped them develop their business in a region.
29 Mar 2010
Operators focus on return on investment in the recovery from the economic downturn
Last week’s Eurasia Com event in Istanbul was a one of the most enjoyable I’ve been to in the last months. Not only was it hosted in one of the world’s most vibrant cities - Istanbul - but the event itself had the perfect mix of learning from telecoms leaders and of networking.
After final count, over 600 people attended the event over the 2 days, sharing their time between the conference sessions and networking in the exhibition . The interesting point about this number is that different crowds attended each day, making it possible to make new contacts at each break or lunch, or indeed in the drinks reception which took place at the Conrad Hotel's Summit Bar, offering fantastic views over the Bosphorus. The audience was composed of representatives of the whole telecoms ecosystem (operators, vendors, regulators, brands etc.) from Turkey, the CIS, the Black Sea region and neighbouring markets.
The debates covered the key issues that concern all stakeholders in the telecoms market : operators’ strategies, evolution of the telecoms ecosystem, increasing competition, broadband strategies, value-added services, convergence, customer growth and retention. However, it seems that the tone of the discussions has changed in the last year.
In 2009, telecoms players were justly concerned by the global economy and the fall in revenue it caused. As a result, they were looking at cost-reduction strategies to avoid losses. Last week, they put the emphasis on ensuring return on investment instead, possibly a more positive way of approaching the market's challenges. Most of them (particularly the Turkish operators such as Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea) have kept their network investments up during the downturn, and now they are focusing on ensuring that they generate returns. As Ineke Botter, CEO of Bakcell in Azerbaijan summed up: “if an investor invests a quarter of a million dollars in a network, you have to make sure it’s followed up by revenues”. This focus on ROI means operators are looking more closely at addressing new market segments (rural areas, youth, mature customers, enterprises), improving loyalty strategies to up-sell to existing customers, service innovation such as mobile marketing, and joint ventures with other industries such as the banking sector for m-commerce.
The conference included a mix of presentations, case studies and lively discussions, with plenty of opportunities to develop next year’s programme with new topics. If you were there and would like to give some feedback, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
After final count, over 600 people attended the event over the 2 days, sharing their time between the conference sessions and networking in the exhibition . The interesting point about this number is that different crowds attended each day, making it possible to make new contacts at each break or lunch, or indeed in the drinks reception which took place at the Conrad Hotel's Summit Bar, offering fantastic views over the Bosphorus. The audience was composed of representatives of the whole telecoms ecosystem (operators, vendors, regulators, brands etc.) from Turkey, the CIS, the Black Sea region and neighbouring markets.
The debates covered the key issues that concern all stakeholders in the telecoms market : operators’ strategies, evolution of the telecoms ecosystem, increasing competition, broadband strategies, value-added services, convergence, customer growth and retention. However, it seems that the tone of the discussions has changed in the last year.
In 2009, telecoms players were justly concerned by the global economy and the fall in revenue it caused. As a result, they were looking at cost-reduction strategies to avoid losses. Last week, they put the emphasis on ensuring return on investment instead, possibly a more positive way of approaching the market's challenges. Most of them (particularly the Turkish operators such as Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea) have kept their network investments up during the downturn, and now they are focusing on ensuring that they generate returns. As Ineke Botter, CEO of Bakcell in Azerbaijan summed up: “if an investor invests a quarter of a million dollars in a network, you have to make sure it’s followed up by revenues”. This focus on ROI means operators are looking more closely at addressing new market segments (rural areas, youth, mature customers, enterprises), improving loyalty strategies to up-sell to existing customers, service innovation such as mobile marketing, and joint ventures with other industries such as the banking sector for m-commerce.
The conference included a mix of presentations, case studies and lively discussions, with plenty of opportunities to develop next year’s programme with new topics. If you were there and would like to give some feedback, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
19 Mar 2010
Is South East Asia the leading emerging market in terms of LTE opportunities?
Last month Singapore mobile operator MobileOne (M1) announced that it managed to successfully complete a 100 Mbps data call on its trial LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. According to the operator, this made it the first South Asian operator to achieve the milestone while using commercial LTE hardware and software.
LTE is rapidly becoming a hot technology even in emerging markets, and one of the most promising is that of South East Asia. HSPA networks have been deployed in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and LTE is the next step for operators to deliver better, faster mobile broadband services. That is why this year's South East Asia Com congress (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-21 July) will include a whole focus day on LTE.
The session will offer a comprehensive programme of presentations, case studies and discussions. Leading operators and industry players across the ecosystem (including Indar Atmanto, President Director of PT Indosat Mega Media, Indonesia) will share their experience and expertise on how to drive the broadband leadership towards revenue growth in the LTE space.
Key topics include:
- Status Of Next Generation Fixed & Wireless Broadband In Asia Pacific
- Exploring LTE Opportunities For Implementing Next Generation Services & Creating A Successful Business Case For LTE
- Examining LTE Standards, Spectrum Allocation Challenges & Evolution Paths For LTE Development
- Uncovering The Full Commercial Potential of LTE Through New Revenue Streams
- Evaluating Deployment Strategies, Challenges & Timescales In Planning LTE Network & System Architecture
- Paving The Way Towards 4G Vision In South East Asia
We are still looking for case studies and presentations for this session, so don't hesitate to get in touch for more information.
LTE is rapidly becoming a hot technology even in emerging markets, and one of the most promising is that of South East Asia. HSPA networks have been deployed in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and LTE is the next step for operators to deliver better, faster mobile broadband services. That is why this year's South East Asia Com congress (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-21 July) will include a whole focus day on LTE.
The session will offer a comprehensive programme of presentations, case studies and discussions. Leading operators and industry players across the ecosystem (including Indar Atmanto, President Director of PT Indosat Mega Media, Indonesia) will share their experience and expertise on how to drive the broadband leadership towards revenue growth in the LTE space.
Key topics include:
- Status Of Next Generation Fixed & Wireless Broadband In Asia Pacific
- Exploring LTE Opportunities For Implementing Next Generation Services & Creating A Successful Business Case For LTE
- Examining LTE Standards, Spectrum Allocation Challenges & Evolution Paths For LTE Development
- Uncovering The Full Commercial Potential of LTE Through New Revenue Streams
- Evaluating Deployment Strategies, Challenges & Timescales In Planning LTE Network & System Architecture
- Paving The Way Towards 4G Vision In South East Asia
We are still looking for case studies and presentations for this session, so don't hesitate to get in touch for more information.
12 Mar 2010
Turkcell financial results are down, but it is still a leader in Eurasia
The announcement of Turkish giant Turkcell’s financial results was met with varying degrees of concern. The results shown were down: the group’s net income dropped by 45% for the fourth quarter, and 25.9% for the full year. Most reports pointed out that this was explained in part by a reimbursement based on previously announced regulatory decisions. But lower operational profitability is another reason. In addition, the various components of the group show different pictures: while ISP Superonline “successfully increased its revenues by 58% to TRY252 million (TRY160 million) and recorded a positive full year EBITDA for the first time” according to Turkcell’s announcement, the contribution of the group’s subsidiaries Astelit in Ukraine and Inteltek in Turkey were the major culprit in the decrease.
The group cited “Intensifying challenges in the macroeconomic, competitive and regulatory environment” to explain its impaired operational and financial performance in 2009, but this wasn't enough to reassure investor TeliaSonera (which owns 37.1% of the group as the main shareholder), as CEO Lars Nyberg is said to have called for a board meeting “to solve this problem”.
However, the situation isn't too bad for Turkcell. It has a presence across Eurasia, and a top position in the dynamic Turkish market, not only in the telecoms market but also as one of the major Turkish brands. In addition, its innovative strategy in terms of technology and services is unrivalled by other operators - Turkcell proudly announced last week(possibly trying to distract from the attention caused by its finances) that it was among the first operators in the world to reach a speed of 42.2Mbps with its 3G technology. All in all, Turkcell isn’t likely to lose its leadership any time soon.
One of the group’s top executives, Tayfun Cataltepe (Chief Corporate Strategy & Regulations Officer), will give a keynote presentation at EurasiaCom in Istanbul later next week, which will give an insight in the group's future strategy. It is part of a new Turkey Focus Day at the event, looking at the opportunities and trends in this very dynamic market. The event will also include contributions from Turkey and Eurasia’s leading operators, from regional groups (MTS, Altimo) to national incumbents (Turk Telekom, RomTelecom, Tajiktelecom, KyrgyzTelecom), competitive mobile operators (Vodafone Turkey, Bakcell Azerbaijan, Vtel Georgia), alternative service providers and ISPs (Altel Kazakhstan, wi-tribe, koç.net, SuperOnline, Borusan Telekom, Doğan Telekom), and more.
This event will be a great occasion to gauge the state of the market in the region and the future opportunities within it, from the point of view of investment, technology and services.
The group cited “Intensifying challenges in the macroeconomic, competitive and regulatory environment” to explain its impaired operational and financial performance in 2009, but this wasn't enough to reassure investor TeliaSonera (which owns 37.1% of the group as the main shareholder), as CEO Lars Nyberg is said to have called for a board meeting “to solve this problem”.
However, the situation isn't too bad for Turkcell. It has a presence across Eurasia, and a top position in the dynamic Turkish market, not only in the telecoms market but also as one of the major Turkish brands. In addition, its innovative strategy in terms of technology and services is unrivalled by other operators - Turkcell proudly announced last week(possibly trying to distract from the attention caused by its finances) that it was among the first operators in the world to reach a speed of 42.2Mbps with its 3G technology. All in all, Turkcell isn’t likely to lose its leadership any time soon.
One of the group’s top executives, Tayfun Cataltepe (Chief Corporate Strategy & Regulations Officer), will give a keynote presentation at EurasiaCom in Istanbul later next week, which will give an insight in the group's future strategy. It is part of a new Turkey Focus Day at the event, looking at the opportunities and trends in this very dynamic market. The event will also include contributions from Turkey and Eurasia’s leading operators, from regional groups (MTS, Altimo) to national incumbents (Turk Telekom, RomTelecom, Tajiktelecom, KyrgyzTelecom), competitive mobile operators (Vodafone Turkey, Bakcell Azerbaijan, Vtel Georgia), alternative service providers and ISPs (Altel Kazakhstan, wi-tribe, koç.net, SuperOnline, Borusan Telekom, Doğan Telekom), and more.
This event will be a great occasion to gauge the state of the market in the region and the future opportunities within it, from the point of view of investment, technology and services.
5 Mar 2010
Nigeria’s broadband market set to boom thanks to improved international connectivity
The last few weeks have abounded with news on Nigeria’s telecoms market, from the announcement of the departure of regulator Ernest Ndukwe to company launches and announcements relating to submarine cable projects.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest communications market, and the eighth fastest growing telecommunication market in the world. It offers ideal conditions for continued expansion: a large young population, levels of penetration that leave room for growth (54.8% mobile penetration at the end of 2009, and limited fixed market), favourable regulatory conditions (which were led by Ernest Ndukwe during his 10 year leadership at the Nigerian Communications Commission), high level of investment and a very competitive telecommunications market.
However, it has so far suffered from insufficiencies in the networks and from the lack of international connectivity. But this is changing, thanks to international projects that are coming to fruition this year and will increase available capacity for broadband services. One of them is the Glo 1 submarine cable system landed in Lagos last September, which is due to connect Nigeria to West Africa and Europe. Another is led by Main One Cable; it is in the final stage of deployment of its high capacity fibre-optic cable between Portugal, Ghana and Nigeria, and is due to go live in June this year.
These projects will enable the provision of faster, more broadly available internet services. They will create great opportunities for the major mobile operators (MTN, Zain, Glo, Etisalat), and for the many alternative operators and ISPs such as Starcomms, Zoom Mobile, Pinet Informatics, GiCell Wireless, or new entrant Geoidtel.
A number of them will be speaking at the forthcoming West & Central Africa Com congress to take place in Dakar, Senegal in June. An additional event will be held in Lagos, Nigeria in September, dedicated solely to the trends and opportunities in Nigeria’s market, with representation from the whole market’s ecosystem: fixed, mobile and wireless operators, ISPs, the NCC, government organisation, investors and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to get to know Nigeria’s telecommunications market and meet its leaders.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest communications market, and the eighth fastest growing telecommunication market in the world. It offers ideal conditions for continued expansion: a large young population, levels of penetration that leave room for growth (54.8% mobile penetration at the end of 2009, and limited fixed market), favourable regulatory conditions (which were led by Ernest Ndukwe during his 10 year leadership at the Nigerian Communications Commission), high level of investment and a very competitive telecommunications market.
However, it has so far suffered from insufficiencies in the networks and from the lack of international connectivity. But this is changing, thanks to international projects that are coming to fruition this year and will increase available capacity for broadband services. One of them is the Glo 1 submarine cable system landed in Lagos last September, which is due to connect Nigeria to West Africa and Europe. Another is led by Main One Cable; it is in the final stage of deployment of its high capacity fibre-optic cable between Portugal, Ghana and Nigeria, and is due to go live in June this year.
These projects will enable the provision of faster, more broadly available internet services. They will create great opportunities for the major mobile operators (MTN, Zain, Glo, Etisalat), and for the many alternative operators and ISPs such as Starcomms, Zoom Mobile, Pinet Informatics, GiCell Wireless, or new entrant Geoidtel.
A number of them will be speaking at the forthcoming West & Central Africa Com congress to take place in Dakar, Senegal in June. An additional event will be held in Lagos, Nigeria in September, dedicated solely to the trends and opportunities in Nigeria’s market, with representation from the whole market’s ecosystem: fixed, mobile and wireless operators, ISPs, the NCC, government organisation, investors and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to get to know Nigeria’s telecommunications market and meet its leaders.
26 Feb 2010
Mobile Money still championed by emerging markets
Three years after Safaricom launched its pioneer m-Pesa service in Kenya, African operators are still world leaders in the provision of mobile money services. The seemingly simple service, allowing unbanked people to transfer money by text, has allowed countless ordinary people to send money to their loved ones and business partners without hassle, while providing Safaricom with a unique tool to improve customer loyalty. The service was so successful that backer Vodafone launched it in Tanzania, Afghanistan, and announced last week that Vodacom was to launch it in South Africa in partnership with a local bank.
More operators have joined the trend. In January this year, Zain became “the biggest mobile commerce operator in the world in terms of geographical coverage”, by extending its Zap service to Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone (after starting in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). Orange is also addressing the market, with its Orange Money service in West Africa. In North Africa, Maroc Telecom launched MobiCash last month, and Egypt-based group Orascom is partnering with Western Union for a mobile money service.
It is not only large operator groups ‘banking’ on the market: small, Africa-based companies are providing services which could shake up the offer of financial services to consumers. Two interesting examples are to be found in West Africa. Moneyboxafrica, based in Nigeria, is a new savings and payment system based on a scratch card and enabled by any mobile phone. In Sierra Leone, Splash Mobile Money allows clients using Zain, Africell and Comium networks to send money to other mobile users by registering to the Splash system. The Managing Directors of both companies (Adeniyi Elumaro of Moneyboxafrica and Michael Foley of Splash) will join the Mobile Money Panel at the forthcoming West & Central Africa Com congress (Dakar, Senegal, 16-17 June) and will discuss their visions of how to deliver on customers’ needs for better banking services.
The subject of mobile money will feature prominently in some events of this year’s Com World Series. A special session is to be dedicated to the subject at the leading pan-African event AfricaCom, with presentations and a panel discussion from operators, solutions vendors, financial institutions and regulators. In the Middle East event (Dubai, 30th November – 1st December), the topic will be covered as part of the value-added services stream, looking at the mobile money opportunity in markets where needs are different from those found in Africa: on the one hand, mobile money transfer is a valuable service for the large immigrant workforce wishing to send money home to their families, while on the other hand the high end of the customer base will be looking at more advanced m-commerce services. At Americas Com (Rio, Brazil, 30th June – 1st July), a panel discussion will address the challenges and opportunities for the mobilization of payments and remittances in Latin America.
The discussions will certainly cover how the services are adapted to different market conditions, regulatory environments, and distribution networks. It will be interesting to see if and how mobile money services will evolve from simple money transfers to more advanced mobile commerce services.
More operators have joined the trend. In January this year, Zain became “the biggest mobile commerce operator in the world in terms of geographical coverage”, by extending its Zap service to Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone (after starting in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). Orange is also addressing the market, with its Orange Money service in West Africa. In North Africa, Maroc Telecom launched MobiCash last month, and Egypt-based group Orascom is partnering with Western Union for a mobile money service.
It is not only large operator groups ‘banking’ on the market: small, Africa-based companies are providing services which could shake up the offer of financial services to consumers. Two interesting examples are to be found in West Africa. Moneyboxafrica, based in Nigeria, is a new savings and payment system based on a scratch card and enabled by any mobile phone. In Sierra Leone, Splash Mobile Money allows clients using Zain, Africell and Comium networks to send money to other mobile users by registering to the Splash system. The Managing Directors of both companies (Adeniyi Elumaro of Moneyboxafrica and Michael Foley of Splash) will join the Mobile Money Panel at the forthcoming West & Central Africa Com congress (Dakar, Senegal, 16-17 June) and will discuss their visions of how to deliver on customers’ needs for better banking services.
The subject of mobile money will feature prominently in some events of this year’s Com World Series. A special session is to be dedicated to the subject at the leading pan-African event AfricaCom, with presentations and a panel discussion from operators, solutions vendors, financial institutions and regulators. In the Middle East event (Dubai, 30th November – 1st December), the topic will be covered as part of the value-added services stream, looking at the mobile money opportunity in markets where needs are different from those found in Africa: on the one hand, mobile money transfer is a valuable service for the large immigrant workforce wishing to send money home to their families, while on the other hand the high end of the customer base will be looking at more advanced m-commerce services. At Americas Com (Rio, Brazil, 30th June – 1st July), a panel discussion will address the challenges and opportunities for the mobilization of payments and remittances in Latin America.
The discussions will certainly cover how the services are adapted to different market conditions, regulatory environments, and distribution networks. It will be interesting to see if and how mobile money services will evolve from simple money transfers to more advanced mobile commerce services.
22 Feb 2010
As Bharti tries another move into Africa, is the Indian operator business model transposable there?
Outsourcing, managed services, and more generally cost-reduction strategies have been major areas of interest in African telecoms markets in the past couple of years, as the decline in ARPU levels started to have a impact on revenues which was not compensated as much by the organic growth experienced until then. African operators began to work on their costs and look more closely at their margins rather. At last year’s AfricaCom congress, Zain Africa’s Chris Gabriel gave a keynote speech in which he presented the key points for a sustainable business models: scale and efficiency were at the top of his list, and most operators investing in Africa would have agreed.
Indian operators are renowned for business models that excel at optimising scale and efficiency, in order to achieve strong margins in very low-ARPU markets. The “Indian model” has been praised as the champion of emerging markets, and it is no wonder that it is often mentioned as one to emulate in Africa. Indeed, a number of Indian companies have been trying to enter the continent, with Essar in East Africa, Tata in South Africa and, as announced this month, Bharti in talks with Zain group to buy its African operations. The move would make sense, as Bharti would bring its knowledge of low revenue markets to operations which need a shake-up. In particular, it could develop interesting value-added services, for example on the content side. I met an Indian VAS vendor who was talking enthusiastically about how mobile content is driven by the same two obsessions in India and Africa: music and sport (although the sports people are so passionate about are different: cricket in India and football in Africa).
But is it as straightforwad as it sounds? Talking about the Bharti-Zain news with participants at Mobile World Congress last week, I heard some questions about how easily Bharti could work its magic in Africa. The company has limited experience of the continent - or indeed of any market outside India – and working cultures are very different. In India, Bharti can count on a relatively well-trained workforce, which will be harder to find in some African markets, unless it brings in its own staff. In addition, it would be unfair to say that Zain hasn’t attempted the so-called Indian model in its markets, outsourcing key areas to reduce costs and concentrate on selling services. But the group’s efforts haven’t been as rewarded as its backers hoped for, and some of its operations have amounted huge debt.
Changing business models, and the new ownership trends in Africa’s telecoms markets, will certainly be key topics of discussion at this year’s African events in the Com World Series. We are currently drafting the programmes for the new NigeriaCom event in Lagos in September, and for the annual AfricaCom in Cape Town in November. Now is the time to get in touch and give your input.
Indian operators are renowned for business models that excel at optimising scale and efficiency, in order to achieve strong margins in very low-ARPU markets. The “Indian model” has been praised as the champion of emerging markets, and it is no wonder that it is often mentioned as one to emulate in Africa. Indeed, a number of Indian companies have been trying to enter the continent, with Essar in East Africa, Tata in South Africa and, as announced this month, Bharti in talks with Zain group to buy its African operations. The move would make sense, as Bharti would bring its knowledge of low revenue markets to operations which need a shake-up. In particular, it could develop interesting value-added services, for example on the content side. I met an Indian VAS vendor who was talking enthusiastically about how mobile content is driven by the same two obsessions in India and Africa: music and sport (although the sports people are so passionate about are different: cricket in India and football in Africa).
But is it as straightforwad as it sounds? Talking about the Bharti-Zain news with participants at Mobile World Congress last week, I heard some questions about how easily Bharti could work its magic in Africa. The company has limited experience of the continent - or indeed of any market outside India – and working cultures are very different. In India, Bharti can count on a relatively well-trained workforce, which will be harder to find in some African markets, unless it brings in its own staff. In addition, it would be unfair to say that Zain hasn’t attempted the so-called Indian model in its markets, outsourcing key areas to reduce costs and concentrate on selling services. But the group’s efforts haven’t been as rewarded as its backers hoped for, and some of its operations have amounted huge debt.
Changing business models, and the new ownership trends in Africa’s telecoms markets, will certainly be key topics of discussion at this year’s African events in the Com World Series. We are currently drafting the programmes for the new NigeriaCom event in Lagos in September, and for the annual AfricaCom in Cape Town in November. Now is the time to get in touch and give your input.
12 Feb 2010
As the mobile world is getting ready for its annual fest in Barcelona, what are the key trends in emerging markets?
It’s been an annual date on the telecoms calendar for decades now, and it was once the place where emerging markets were championed. As most of the world’s operators, vendors and analysts will be present at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I am expecting it to still be a good place to discuss the major trends in the sector. However it seems that this year’s event is looking mostly at the Northern hemisphere and may not address the issues in markets of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America. Even Asia seems a bit short-changed, as China is very well represented on the keynotes and by its vendors, but South-East Asia doesn’t appear as prominently.So, I’ll be spending my week finding out about how the issues addressed at Mobile World Congress relate to emerging markets. Here are my first thoughts/questions
LTE features heavily on the programme and on analysts’ bets on the most talked-about subject. It is indeed a big topic, particularly as TeliaSonera launched the world’s first LTE network in December. It is also big news in Asia, where operators in even the more emerging markets of Indonesia and the Philippines have committed to LTE deployments. It will be interesting to see what is said about the opportunities for these markets, particularly as we are working on a special LTE Focus Day at our next South East Asia Com event (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-21 July). I am also interested in hearing what the LTE opportunities are for Africa. Some markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, have already seen the launch of HSPA or HSPA+ services, but when will operators need to start thinking of LTE? Most of the continent already has 3G, and there is demand for internet services, but the lack of disposable income is still an issue for the take-up of data offerings. As for Latin America, a relative late starter for 3G (except in Chile, leading the region’s telecoms sector), when are we to expect operators to start looking into it?
Offering affordable and relevant value-added services is another key area, particularly for emerging markets where voice is still the major services and where ARPU levels can be extremely low. Mobile money has so far been a major success in emerging markets (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa with Safaricom’s m-pesa,, Zain’s Zap and Orange Money), and it will be covered in a day-long session at the opening of the congress. But where else can operator look at? Social networking is raising a lot of interest, but is it applicable outside Western markets? Content is expensive, and often lacking in locally-produced offerings. Mobile marketing is an interesting option, and mobile internet seems the most likely service to increase data usage.
More specifically for the African market, I will be looking at the increasing capacity demand and the evolution of the market, as I am working on the new Capacity & Wholesale event to be co-located with this year’s AfricaCom. New submarine cables will hugely increase the continent’s access to broadband, but there is still work to do to connect the land-locked areas with fibre. Satellite operators still have a strong position in the market despite costly offerings, and it will be interesting to see how they react to new competition. And with the debates on operators’ strategies, their position in the telecom ecosystem, and the rise of managed services and outsourcing, how is the role of wholesale and international carriers evolving?
Finally, I wonder if the organisers will reflect on the recent disaster in Haiti, and include sessions on telecoms in emergency situations. In such times, it is important to remember that access to communications can have a crucial impact on rescue efforts, medical provisions and the logistics of providing aid.
LTE features heavily on the programme and on analysts’ bets on the most talked-about subject. It is indeed a big topic, particularly as TeliaSonera launched the world’s first LTE network in December. It is also big news in Asia, where operators in even the more emerging markets of Indonesia and the Philippines have committed to LTE deployments. It will be interesting to see what is said about the opportunities for these markets, particularly as we are working on a special LTE Focus Day at our next South East Asia Com event (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-21 July). I am also interested in hearing what the LTE opportunities are for Africa. Some markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, have already seen the launch of HSPA or HSPA+ services, but when will operators need to start thinking of LTE? Most of the continent already has 3G, and there is demand for internet services, but the lack of disposable income is still an issue for the take-up of data offerings. As for Latin America, a relative late starter for 3G (except in Chile, leading the region’s telecoms sector), when are we to expect operators to start looking into it?
Offering affordable and relevant value-added services is another key area, particularly for emerging markets where voice is still the major services and where ARPU levels can be extremely low. Mobile money has so far been a major success in emerging markets (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa with Safaricom’s m-pesa,, Zain’s Zap and Orange Money), and it will be covered in a day-long session at the opening of the congress. But where else can operator look at? Social networking is raising a lot of interest, but is it applicable outside Western markets? Content is expensive, and often lacking in locally-produced offerings. Mobile marketing is an interesting option, and mobile internet seems the most likely service to increase data usage.
More specifically for the African market, I will be looking at the increasing capacity demand and the evolution of the market, as I am working on the new Capacity & Wholesale event to be co-located with this year’s AfricaCom. New submarine cables will hugely increase the continent’s access to broadband, but there is still work to do to connect the land-locked areas with fibre. Satellite operators still have a strong position in the market despite costly offerings, and it will be interesting to see how they react to new competition. And with the debates on operators’ strategies, their position in the telecom ecosystem, and the rise of managed services and outsourcing, how is the role of wholesale and international carriers evolving?
Finally, I wonder if the organisers will reflect on the recent disaster in Haiti, and include sessions on telecoms in emergency situations. In such times, it is important to remember that access to communications can have a crucial impact on rescue efforts, medical provisions and the logistics of providing aid.
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