Airtel Congo starts selling Congo designed tablet - Hear more at West & Central Africa Com

Airtel Congo has started offering its customers the first African-produced tablet, leading the way in the region in terms of device strategy.
Airtel is Congo's mobile market leader, and launched the first 3G network in the Central Africa country in October 2011. The company has now launched a XAF150,000 (US$284) data package including a Way-C tablet, a Huawei modem and 25MB worth of data. The Android Way-C tablet was developed by local developer VMK and Internet connection is made via Wi-Fi or USB connection.
VMK's founder and CEO Vérone Mankou, dubbed as 'Africa's Steve Jobs' for his visionary initiative, will be a speaker at West & Central Africa Com taking place in Dakar, Senegal in June. The event will bring together the telecoms, media and ICT worlds to discuss the evolution of the digital market in the region. Other confirmed speakers include representatives of operators Sonatel-Orange, Etisalat Nigeria, Isocel Telecom Benin, Millenium Telecom Centrafrique, as well as social media specialists People Input and Yookos. The programme is still being finalised so get in touch with julie.rey@informa.com if you wish to recommend speakers.

Nader Gohar of CNC to discuss the role of the media at North Africa Com

Nader Gohar, Chairman of CNC Cairo News Company, and Chairman of the Arab Union of Electronic Media Journalists will be a keynote speaker at North Africa Com, to discuss the expanding role of the media in North Africa’s new digital society.
Nader Gohar is a pioneer in TV news production in the Middle East and an award-winning producer. His extensive career in journalism gives him an incomparable expertise on the changing role of the media, as well as first-hand experience of the importance of the media in the socio-political landscape in the region.
In 2011, he and his CNC staff fully supported the Egyptian Revolution being the first to cover the complete picture from Tahrir Square, risking their lives to do so. As a result in April 2011 Nader Gohar was honored at the Radio & Television Correspondent annual dinner at Washington DC convention hall for his role at the television coverage of the Egyptian revolution.
His experience will bring a unique perspective on the role of the media in North Africa's digital landscape. The event will take place in Tunis on 15-16 May.

MTN close to 100 million subscriptions in Africa

A recent document by Informa Telecoms & Media of the top operating groups by subscriptions shows that MTN is well ahead of its competitors in Africa. the South Africa-based group is getting close to the 100 million subscriber mark, with 92,466,137 subscriptions.
Its main competitors are further behind, with Vodafone/Vodacom at 52.5 million, Bharti Airtel at 44.6 million, France Telecom/Orange at 35.6 million, and Orascom completing the top 5 with 27.9 million. The other two groups with major presence in Africa are Etisalat with 20.8 million subscriptions (largely through its Atlantique Telecom subsidiary) and Millicom International with 16.9 million subscriptions under the Tigo brand.

Tunisiana's new CEO Ken Campbell to be a keynote speaker at North Africa Com

Ken Campbell took his new role as CEO of Tunisia's leading mobile operator Tunisiana in December 2011. He is no stranger to the company, as he was Commercial Director in 2003 before taking positions at Vodafone Romania, Bite group and Wind Mobile. His expertise in customer experience management was praised by Tunisiana's owners Qtel, and he said he was excited about the opportunities there, given the company has just bought a fixed-line provider and the country is undergoing dramatic changes.
Mr Campbell will join the Leadership Summit in the opening keynote session at North Africa Com, where he will share Tunisiana's strategic objectives, particularly on adapting to changing market conditions. The session will also benefit from the perspective of Michel Monzani, Senior VP for Orange's Middle East and North Africa Operations.

Samsung Electronics confirmed as one of the leading sponsors at AfricaCom 2012

Samsung Electronics has confirmed it will be a sponsor at AfricaCom 2012. Africa's leading teleocms, media and ICT event will take place in Cape Town, South Africa on 14th and 15th November.
Samsung Electronics is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company consists of nine independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs.
At AfricaCom, Samsung Electronics will give a keynote presentation in the LTE and Mobile Broadband stream.

Regulatory panel at North Africa Com to include Tunisiana and Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI)

The conference programme of the 2012 North Africa Com event is currently being confirmed. It will be fully announced early next month, but here's a preview of what it will include.
The overall theme of the event will be 'Transformation and Innovation for a New Dawn in Digital Communications', including the role of regulation in supporting the market's development. Two speakers have already confirmed their participation, representing opposite sides of the debate: the operator's point of view with Mohamed Abbes, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Tunisia's leading mobile operator Tunisiana, and on the regulator side Moez Chakchouk, CEO of the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI).The session will look at the different regulatory environments and authorities around the region, how operators and investors can encourage governments to create helpful regulatory climates, and methods for controlling the competitive market while advocating growth and network expansion. Other panellists to be confirmed will include representatives of operators and of telecommunications regulatory authorities from across the region.
The conference programme will include contributions from leaders of the region's telecoms, media and ICT, including Orange, Vodafone Egypt, Tunisiana, Etisalat and more.

Predicting a 2012 Full of Opportunities in Emerging Markets Telecoms, Media & ICT

2011 was a busy year for telecoms, media and ICT in emerging markets, where the full strength of the global economic storm did not completely blast away growth - especially in mobile markets.

For 2012 the telecoms, media and ICT world will continue to change quickly. Whilst economic outlooks remain bleak for many global markets, emerging markets are likely continue to successfully tread water. There are positive signs of stabilisation in many African states, with vendors building new offices here with the hope of winning early business. Even though they will avoid the main brunt of the global economic gloom, it is likely there won't be excessive risk taking in emerging markets. Cost control has always been a necessity for those working in low ARPU markets, and so 2012 will see a continued focus on increasing productivity. But it is clear that a strategy of purely surviving and doing more with less will not be good enough for those looking to claim meaningful market share.

Many businesses will be aiming for business transformation, and this will be based on the following priorities: driving the consumption of ICT, mobile/cloud technologies and social networking, and improved analytics for existing technology/services. These priorities, where completed successfully, are game changers and the foundation for innovating and transforming business models for success. Another tactic occurring among global ICT players (like IBM, SAP, and Oracle) is that they are using acquisition strategies in order to grow in the mobile, cloud, and social software and IT-services markets. With this strategy and natural market developments, the competition for market share and users will carry on growing.

Cloud will certainly shake up traditional offerings and the next 12 to 18 months will show how innovation created by new and existing local ICT companies will compete with global legacy IT vendors.

In the world of VAS any new telecoms/ICT services will need thorough business plans for medium to longterm ROI before launching.

All in all it's looking to be an exciting year! And our team is certainly looking forward to the challenge of addressing these market developments and catering for the peer to peer and B2B learning and networking. Don't miss our global series or you may just miss out....

WISHING YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A PROSPEROUS 2012!

It has been a great year to work on emerging markets for telecoms, media and ICT - and if we've worked with you this year, then thank you for all your support in 2011! We wish you confort and joy this festive season, and hopefully a well earned break!

It's been a long and fruitful year for us with our annual must-attends AfricaCom and Telco World Summit Middle East (to name but a couple), as well as successful launch events like VAS Africa and Enterprise ICT Africa, and whilst here at the Com team we are enjoying mulled wine and turkey, we are also looking forward to the opportunities coming in 2012, and we’re going to seize them with both hands.

We will of course keep our legacy of focusing on quality, market leadership and delivering results – and on top of these we will bring more innovation and even greater representation from the wider digital ecosystem in emerging markets - our Cloud Africa event will be the perfect example of this for 2012!

We look forward to hopefully working with you towards these goals in the coming months. So here’s to a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2012!

With warm regards,

The Com Team

Michel Monzani, SVP at Orange, will speak at North Africa Com

Michel Monzani, Senior Vice President at Orange's Middle East & North Africa Operations, has confirmed his participation to the North Africa Com conference and exhibition to take place in Tunis in May. He will share his perspective on how operators are adapting their strategies to a new market environment.
Michel Monzani started his career at France Télécom in 1981 and has held various positions within the company. In 2008, he was appointed Senior Vice-President within France Telecom Group Africa, Middle East & Asia Division, leading the Development and Partnership department and the West Africa, Middle East & Asia geographic zone.
Michel Monzani has been a board member of several fixed-line, mobile and internet companies associated with France Telecom in various countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.
As Orange group has a presence in several markets of the region, including the event's host country Tunisia, his expertise will add great value to the discussions.

Andile Ngcaba of Convergence Partners named South Africa's Newsmaker of the Year

TechCentral published today its top 5 'Newsmakers of the Year' in South Africa, dedicated to 'individuals who had the biggest impact on SA’s technology sector in the past 12 months'.
Top of the list is Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of investment company Convergence Partners, which includes interests in Dimension Data, FibreCo and launched a US$250m satellite with Intelsat. He is described as 'a former Umkhonto we Sizwe commander and later senior government bureaucrat, who has taken to the business world like a proverbial duck to water'.
Andile is also a regular keynote speaker at AfricaCom. His presentation at the event in November covered strategies for convergence across Africa, and his expertise was greatly appreciated by the audience of senior telecoms and ICT executives.
Also in the list are Karel Pienaar, MD of MTN South Africa, Telkom Group's CEO Nombulelo Moholi, forme minister of communications Roy Padayachie, and First National Bank CEO Michael Jordaan.