SIM Registration Focus in Africa

The AfricaCom 2012 team are delighted to welcome Channel IT at the event and as a guest blogger – see below for their thoughts on SIM Registration Focus in Africa

Governments and Telecom Regulators globally are focussing now on ensuring that all their mobile network users (both pre- and post-paid) are registered with the network in question. Their main reason for driving this program is an attempt to cut down on criminal activities and threats to end users within the country itself.

Some African markets already have well established programs (since 2009 in South Africa’s case) but in other countries this is still a new or even pending initiative. Despite Operator’s acknowledging the need for such undertakings there is often concern about the impact this will have on subscriber numbers or revenues (when these are already low in some cases). In one Sub-Saharan network, for example, the number of users fell by 1.4 million after the legislation was introduced. In addition the Operator carries the cost of these activities, which can be time consuming and involve a great deal of paperwork and bureaucracy.

In reality the statistics will show that subscribers that are lost are in many cases “zero” ARPU subscribers. How often have you had a prepaid SIM card expire on you for non-use? Subscriber numbers are also inflated in many instances to begin with. In reality there is little evidence to support these concerns and the downward trend does not last. Whatever the numbers reflect the reality is that Operators will have to go through the SIM registration exercise at some point in the near future, it’s almost inevitable.

We at Channel IT have developed our own Biometric & Data Capture System which captures demographic information, a user photograph, a fingerprint biometric and a copy of a valid ID card (as per the Operator’s requirements) in both offline and online mode. The system is portable, secure and robust, and has already achieved great success in Nigeria where 38 million users have been successfully and easily registered.

Visit the Channel IT Group stand at AfricaCom (A16a) in Cape Town between the 13^th and 15^th November 2012 and allow us to demonstrate our system to you.

(Stats source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201105130900.html)

Mxit's Alan Knott-Craig on innovation and targeting African needs

 

Alan Knott-Craig is a South Africa mobile entrepreneur with a passion for African business opportunities. He is former CEO of iBurst and runs World of Avatar, the company that recently acquired South African social media brand Mxit.

He will be speaking at AfricaCom in the keynote panel on social media. He shares his thoughts on the market before the event.

Com:    How has Mxit’s strategy evolved since your acquisition?
AKC: We’ve changed from a fairly closed system to a pure open platform strategy, explicitly helping third parties access the user base and build businesses. The 4 key pillars of Mxit going forward are Chat (ie: communication), Money (ie: payments), Shop (ie: API for 3^rd party developers), and Reach (ie: platform for NGOs and governments)

Com: How are consumers’ needs evolving and what needs to be done to address them effectively?

AKC: People are becoming more economically active, demanding more entertainment and using better phones. We need to enable payments within Mxit, provide more & better content to keep people engaged, and to ensure the user experience isworld class across all devices.

Com: How to encourage innovation in Africa’s digital market?

AKC: Give people the tools they need to make stuff. The ideas are there. The ambition is there. The opportunity is there. The people just need tools like Internet access, non-credit card billing, and API’s for platforms that are notexclusively web and iPhone based.

Com:   What advice would you give to young ICT entrepreneurs in Africa?
First, don’t panic. The opportunity is here, but it will be here in 5 years too. Wait for the right idea before jumping in. You need passion to sustain yourself in the dark days, and you can only be passionate about something you love.
Second, when you have a dream, drop what you’re doing and chase it. Don’t try raise money first. Start the race before raising the money.
Third, ignore the American media. Africa is different. Solve African problems. Target Africans. This is our home turf, and its different from the USA.

AfricaCom is the leading annual event for the digital sector in Africa to meet, share best practices, learn about new technologies and services, and do business. One of the keynote sessions will focus on service innovation, including a panel discussion on how social networking services are affecting the telecoms, media and ICT market. Alan Knott-Craig will share the panel with representatives of Facebook, Google +, Viadeo and Motribe.

Eskimi Tops Google on Opera's List of Mobile Destinations in Nigeria

Nigerians are getting involved with mobile social networking site Eskimi.  Opera Software released its monthly State of the Mobile Web report, and this month focused on the growth of the mobile web browsing in Africa. The report looks at the usage of Opera Mini across 53 African countries in the past 12 months. Eskimi became the 2nd most visited site in Nigeria and Namibia.

Eskimi managed to overtake Google, Yahoo, BBC, Goal.com in Nigeria and Namibia during last 6 months. That is pretty huge since search, news and sports have been at the top for a long time now. A sign that the hunger for social networking and local content is really on the rise, especially since Facebook is the only site that leads Eskimi.

You can see Eskimi's Co-Founder & CEO Vytautas Paukstys speaking at NigeriaCom, taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, this 26-27 September. @VytasPaukstys

Be Involved in Nigeria’s Premier Telecoms Event – Nigeria Com 2012

Gain unique market perspectives and insights from a 40 strong speaker-line up including 25+ Operator leaders. The 2 day agenda equips you to capitalise on new networks and services, while the 40 stand networking exhibition will showcase the world’s foremost technology and solutions available for your business. With 600+ attendees, if you do telecoms business in the region, this is an event you cannot afford to miss!
Find out more about being involved for 2012 – speaking,sponsoring or exhibiting, partnering or attending.

Top comedian Nik Rabinowitz to host AfricaCom Awards 2012!

The AfricaCom Awards team is delighted to announce that 2012’s event will be hosted by top South African comedian Nik Rabinowitz!

Nik currently presents "The Week that Wasn't" on Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk, playing a legion of characters for SA's most popular online satirical production - ZA News.

Nik was raised on the mean, green streets of Constantia, Cape Town, a world of ride-bys (on horseback), piano lessons, and unrelenting love and financial support from family members. He grew up on a farm, climbing trees and commentating on his own rugby games in at least three of South Africa’s eleven official languages. 

After somehow graduating from UCT with a Business Degree and a large afro, he took off with a band of traveling actors and a herd of donkeys before discovering stand-up comedy one spring afternoon in 2001. Ten years later, he was nominated (by his peers) as one of the top 4 stand-up comedians in South Africa at the SA Comics Choice Awards.

In 2010 he starred in Bafunny Bafunny, touring SA and the UK (where they sold out The Royal Albert Hall). He subsequently appeared on the UK's most popular comedy show, BBC 2's Mock the Week. Nik has also produced and performed six one man shows including the latest sell-out, You Can't Be Serious. 

With Nik’s presence at the AfricaCom Awards 2012, it’s set to be an even more star-studded evening!

The AfricaCom 2012 brochure is ready... come and see the future of Digital Africa

The AfricaCom 2012 brochure is ready! After 15 years, Africa’s leading event is going through its most radical change to truly showcase the continent as the most innovative digital market.


The Com World Series team has gathered feedback from all those interested in digital Africa: the event’s long-standing supporters, leading African operators, local entrepreneurs, investors, international brands, consultants, analysts, journalists, bloggers, applications developers… All their ideas gave us snapshots of the most innovative, challenging, thought-provoking, inspiring initiatives, services and strategies to be seen in Africa’s digital world.

The result of this extensive information gathering is the most exciting AfricaCom event ever: packed with even more hot speakers, networking activities, interactive sessions, learning opportunities and business prospects.

Come and hear the future of Digital Africa...

Here’s what to look out for this year:
-          Discussions on the evolution of the digital ecosystem with traditional operators (MTN, Orange) facing alternative –some say disruptive – players such as Google, Amazon and Facebook
-          A keynote speech from mobile pioneer Alan Knott-Craig, now shaking up South Africa’s mobile market at the helm of Cell C
-          Participation from some of the most innovative international and local digital brands: Rovio, Mxit, Groupon, Universal, Motribe, Billboard, Endemol, MTV and more
-          A new focus on start-ups at the Entrepreneur Incubator Hub, where investors, incubators and entrepreneurs meet and share best practice
-          AfricApps talks and workshops for African developers to create, monetise and publicise their apps
-          Mobile Monday South Africa gathering for a great pre-show chat
-          A larger exhibition with more companies, feature areas, coffee points to make the most of the event
-          And lots of sessions, pre-conference workshops and co-located events so there is something for all interests

Check the full programme here and visit our website for more information www.comworldseries.com/africa. 

Friday News Round-Up

The digital world is changing: new business models, new players, new services. The emerging markets of Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia are pioneering ways to make the most of the new opportunities. To catch up on the latest examples of innovation and business developments, we put together a weekly list of the Hot stories we come across. The Com World Series team live and breathe emerging markets, so we want to make sure we spread the news!


Hot Stories in Africa & Middle East

Google launch SMS version of Gmail in Africa
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18898967

South Africa's FNB integrates mobile banking to Facebook
http://www.techcentral.co.za/fnb-takes-banking-to-facebook/33582/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+co%2FUqJF+%28TechCentral%29

Kenyan and Ugandan start-ups make location pay its way"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18858897

Mobile apps increasingly help Muslims observe Ramadan
http://www.ameinfo.com/mobile-apps--help-muslims-ramadan-306925

Saudi Telecom profits exceed forecasts
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/18/saudi-telecom-results-idUSL6E8IIHIC20120718

Webinars

Webinar: Boosting Customer Retention
http://webinars.telecoms.com/webinar/customer-retention-and-arpu/

The Com World Series team concentrates on emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia 24/7 – 365 days of the year. You can follow the news with us by joining our online communities.

Entries now open for the 5th annual AfricaCom Awards!

It's time to start preparing your entry forms for the 5th Annual AfricaCom Awards!

One of the industry's most prestigious accolades, the AfricaCom Awards 2012 recognise the triumphs of Africa's vibrant digital ecosystem and enable you to celebrate your achievements from the past year and rub shoulders with the most influential digital leaders.

With exciting new categories and an authoritative new judging panel, the 2012 Awards reflect the amazing drive for innovation and spirit of excellence that is evident in Africa's digital market.

Deadline for entries: 7th September 2012

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Word is already spreading fast
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Our very own Emily Martyr recently took to the airwaves to talk about the AfricaCom Awards on SABC Radio's Socially Africa Show.

Click here to hear her discuss how the Awards have grown to reflect the unprecedented amount of innovation and investment in Africa's digital ecosystem and recognise leading players both large and small, at the following link.

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Find out more and enter online today
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Access our easy-to-use online entry system - please select the Invoice option for the Free to Enter awards.

For full details of this year's Awards - including the categories, gala dinner and entertainment - download the AfricaCom Awards brochure.

Good luck and we look forward to celebrating with you at this year's AfricaCom Awards on 14th November!

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www.africacomawards.com
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Africa mobile leader Alan Knott-Craig to give a keynote speech at AfricaCom 2012

Alan Knott-Craig, new CEO of Cell C is one of the pioneers of Africa’s mobile telecommunications, and recognised as a leading innovator in the region’s business world.

He started his career in telecoms as Director of Telematics in 1989. He then moved to South Africa’s incumbent operator Telkom as Senior General Manager for Mobile Communications in 1992, at the beginning of the development of cellular technology.

He became the first Managing Director of Vodacom Pty as the company launched its mobile operation in 1993 and became Chief Executive Officer of Vodacom (Proprietary) Limited in 1996, a position he kept until 2008. During this time he built the company into a 33 million customer operator in 5 countries across Africa: the home market of South Africa, as well as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Lesotho.

After a 3-year break from the world of telecommunications, during which he was a non-executive director of NedbankLimited, he joined South Africa’s 3^rd operator Cell C as its new CEO in 2012. Since then Cell C has embarked on a radical move to challenge the position of market leaders Vodacom and MTN: cuts in prepaid tariffs, cost-efficiency initiatives and network improvements financed by a $180 million cash injection from its majority shareholder Oger Telecom.

Alan Knott-Craig will give a keynote speech at AfricaCom on Wednesday 14^th November, sharing his vision of how the communications market is transforming.

Social Media Teaches Operators How to Manage Millions of Users Each Day

VAS Africa                    
3-4 July 2012              
Hilton Sandton                   
Johannesburg, SA         
www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica 

The second day of VAS Africa has closed in Johannesburg, South Africa to great acclaim. For the second year in a row the event has provided an important platform for VAS experts

from the telecommunications, media & ICT industry in Africa.  Furthermore, this second annual event was far more extensive than the 2011 event, both in terms of content, and in terms of including more of the 'disruptive' players in the ecosystem. Day 2 in the conference keynotes was all about focusing on this potentially disruptive element, as operator executives spoke alongside social media and OTT gurus.

The day kicked off with Google's speech, delivered by business development expert Bryan Nelson, about how local content & app providers must make their offerings more 'searchable'.  The keynotes then saw a fantastic 'Ecosystem Brainstorm' with leading experts Prins Mhlanga, Managing Exec. of Vodacom's Digital Media, Maxime Cuvellier, business development for Orange Technocentre, Randall Abrahams, MD at Universal Music SS, Ben Zaaiman, CEO of mLab SA and Andrew Herd, Multi-Media Manager at ABN Digital. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the discourse between these different players in  the ecosystem, but what became clear was that operators have a need to take the lead in important matters like billing for content, and that a lot of simplification of such systems still needs to take place.

The conference then moved on to focus in particular on the social media side of things, with illuminating presentations from both Vodacom'ss Prins Mhlanga, and the CEO of popular social networking platform Mxit, Alan Knott-Craig.  The audience then benefitted from a 'Social Media Panel & Tweetathon' with questions for the panel being delivered from the audience via Twitter using #VASAfrica.  The panel really addressed controversial issues challenging providers of social networking platforms, including child protection controls, and general privacy rules. Expert opinions and examples from Alan Knott-Craig, Nic Haralambous, CEO of Motribe, Tshepo Selokela, Tech 'Bunny' at Cell C's Customer Support Office and Bradley Shaw, Tech Editor at Rolling Stones Magazine.  The clear message from the panel was that operators really need to modernise and pick up pace if they want to compete with successful social networking players like Mxit. In fact, Alan Knott-Craig did not hold back in letting the audience know that the traffic on operator's networks in a month is comparable to that on Mxit's platform in a day. The network isn't overwhelmed because the software engineering used by Mxit is far more capable than the systems in use by operators - so there are definitely still lessons to be learned.

The rest of the day was dedicated to the inaugural Mobile Marketing Summit, proudly in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association SA, with a real focus on issues like; how to reach African consumers through mobile, how to guaranty quality content, using mobile to build relationships with lower-income consumers, examining whether Africa is ready for apps, and leveraging the mobile web in a meaningful way. Simultaneously there were fascinating VAS case studies from mPedigree, Orange Community Phone Project, Dr. Math and the BBC Worldeide Service.

This could not have been achieved without event sponsors Comviva, Spice, Business Connexion, Intersec, Huawei, SSD-TECH, Adaffix & Lumata, without whom the free passes for operators, app developers and other key industry segments would not have been possible. Thank you to our Sponsors!

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See You Next Year!

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Re-Aligned focus for 2013:

Digital Services Africa                    
25-26 June 2013             
Sandton Convention Centre                           
www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica

   

    

Operators need other players in digital services ecosystem to drive traffic on their networks

VAS Africa                  

3-4 July 2012                

Hilton Sandton                 

Johannesburg, SA         

www.comworldseries.com/vasafrica  

**** Join us for Day 2 - Tweet about the show #VASAfrica ****    

Today saw the opening of the second annual VAS Africa Com Conference & Exhibition. At the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, 600 per-registered delegates congregated at this exciting, industry leading event. This year saw huge expansion of the conference from 2011, including an inaugural APPGIG on the opening day, specifically tailored to independent app developers.  This was of course alongside the usual Strategic Keynotes that delegates expect of Com World Series events, with thought leaders and decision makers from organisations across the ecosystem taking to the stage.

Highlights in Day 1 of the conference included a strategic panel debating how best to drive demand for data services, and ensure that all parties benefit. Panellists included the CCO for broadband and data services from Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Leon De Fleoriot, Bryan Nelson who manages business development for Google, Jose Henriques, CMO for Unitel Angola, Tim Walter, Executive Head of Marketing at Nashua Mobile and Nicholas Okoye, President & CEO of Anabel Mobile - the device manufacturer.

The main message from this panel highlighted that operators are prioritising services which will drive data growth, but don't necessarily have all the means to succeed on their own. In fact, they very much need other parts of the ecosystem, including OTT players with millions of subscribers, the local content providers, app developers and the device manufacturers. These other players wanted to encourage closer partnerships with operators, and more transparency - it was clear that nobody thought it is quite easy enough yet, so there's more work to do and further partnerships to be formed.

After the keynote, the conference split into focus streams, offering greater choice of content, and even more expert speakers.  Conference Manager, Emily Martyr, commented that "VAS Africa 2012 provided an unrivalled opportunity for learning and networking, thanks to the focus on VAS across disciplines, including the big strategic picture, mobile financial services, enterprise services, and more." The greater choice of topics enabled delegates to meet like-minded peers with similar business challenges and concerns.

These meetings were greatly benefitted by the dedicated networking time provided by the event organisers, including the successful VIP Speed Networking session, and then the more relaxed Evening Networking Drinks - delegates certainly made the most of each and every opportunity to talk and exchange ideas.

All in all Day one was a great success, in no small part thanks to the sponsors Comviva, Spice, Business Connexion, Intersec, Huawei, SSD-TECH, adaffix & Lumata, without whom the free passes for operators, app developers and other key industry segments would not have been possible.

Day 2 holds even more content and networking & learning opportunities. Google will be presenting other opening keynote, followed by an extended discussion on content, apps and social media - with top speakers including Vodacom SA's Managing Executive for Digital Media, Prins Mhlanga, Universal Music South Africa's MD, Randall Abrahams, mLab SA's CEO, Ben Zaaiman, Mxit's CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, to mention just a few.

Day 2 also heralds the flag ship Mobile Marketing Summit, in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association - it's a chance for delegates to get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the mobile marketing & advertising space, and a forum at which to mingle with large brands leveraging the mobile channel in Africa.

Finally, the Com World Series team, organisers of VAS Africa made the exciting announcement that the 2013 event will be realigned with changing market priorities, and will change from VAS Africa, to be called Digital Services Africa in 2013! This change is reflecting the expansive services now available over mobile and digital channels - no longer do all players recognise the term Value Added Services, but in fact more segments of the ecosystem will be included in this umbrella event name, including cloud, m2m, TV, IPTV & other content broadcasting, and more! It's one not to be missed.

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What are your thoughts on this year's Vas Africa Conference and exhibition?   
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Tweet about your experience using #VASAfrica @allaboutcom on twitter!
     
https://twitter.com/allaboutcom
 
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Take a look at the photos from the packed busy conference on Google+
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Click here: http://bit.ly/NtIVod
 
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Big thank you to our 2012 Sponsors:
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Comviva
Spice
BCX (Business Connexion)
Intersec
SSD-Tech
Huawei
Lumata
Adaffix
 

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Join us for Day 2! 
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How to get there:
 
Hilton Sandton
 
138 Rivonia Road
Sandton
Johannesburg
South Africa
2196
Tel: +27 011 322 1888
 
http://www.hilton.co.uk/sandton
 
View the directions: http://bit.ly/9orv4V