Telkom sells stake in Vodacom and will launch it’s own Mobile network?

“Telkom plans to become SA’s fifth cellular provider by the middle of next year, and is preparing to enter into talks with an existing mobile operator to roam on its network.

Speaking after presenting the company’s interim results for the six months to 30 September yesterday, CEO Reuben September told ITWeb the company would employ a strategy of “selective build” to add mobile capability to its existing infrastructure.”

Strangely ITweb is reporting “5th Mobile operator”, right now there are only 3. Virgin Mobile is an Virtual operator and has no license and Technically Neotel is using mobile technology (CDMA) however the license is actually for fixed services.  So why 5th? get the Read more

MTN launches Location based service for security

“There is no question that everyone needs to know that their family and friends are safe because nowadays safety has become a basic need. In an effort to satisfy this need, the telecommunications group MTN has launched MTN WhereRU and MTN 2MyAid services to help consumers locate their loved ones and enable them to call for help in an emergency situation.”

Read more

Kenya makes second attempt at mobile number portability (MNP)

“Kenya’s long delayed plans for mobile number portability (MNP) seem to be back on track again after the regulator confirmed that the service would be launched next year. The plans, originally announced in 2004 were put on hold last year after the regulator cited the high costs of implementing the system.

According to a public notice carried in the local press today, Service Provider Number Portability (SPNP) will be implemented in Kenya  between March and September 2009.”

Well, it seems with MNP delays are common, MNP was originally announced in 2001 here in South Africa, but was only launched in 2005. A national MNP roll out is complex, the main issues being getting the mobile operators to agree to specifications. You often find incumbent operators try to influence the system and rules in their favour. I suppose it’s the fear that new entrants will capture market share. Read More
Are African operators ready for a surge in mobile broadband?

“A strategic business model can save African operators millions of Euros in network costs and is a powerful tool for operators to cash in on the popularity and growth of mobile broadband. A clear technical and commercial model is critical for making fully informed business decisions and ensuring broadband success, say the consultants at Omnitele.”

I previously wrote about mobile broadband and the changing value chain for mobile operators, i still think that in Africa mobile broadband has huge opportunity for growth. Read more

Cell C, To install SMS Anti-Spam platform

“South African mobile operator, Cell C has ordered an anti-spam service for its SMS platform from Airwide Solutions, along with a capacity boosting router. Cell C, South Africa’s smallest mobile phone operator, is making the investment to be better prepared for the festive season peaks in SMS traffic as well as to address the rising global prevalence of mobile spam.”

SMS spam is an issue that has been looked at many times by the GSMA as well as the GSM Africa Fraud Forum. This is a difficult one to nail down, since there are valid uses for mass SMS sending, such as campaigns competitions etc. Most WASPS (Wireless application service providers) allow their customers to send bulk messages, and customers can upload a spreadsheet of numbers or use the API’s. Read more.

This year’s awards carried the same format as the previous years’ by first giving the public the opportunity to nominate their favourite South African Online stores in 20 different categories.  Once a list of nominees had been published the public and a panel of Judges were given the opportunity to cast their votes. The awards had over 10,000 votes cast for 2008.

The votes were split 49% from the public and 51% from the judges. This year’s judges were Albert Bredenhann, Andy Hadfield, Arthur Goldstuck, Charl Norman, Damaria Senne, Ferdie Bester, Henk Kleynhans, Ismail Dhorat and Marlon Parker.

Congratulations to the 2008 winners.

Best Auction Website
Bid or Buy (http://www.bidorbuy.co.za)

Best Automotive Website
Autostyle Motorsport (http://www.autostyle.co.za)

Best Online Bookstore
Kalahari.net (http://www.kalahari.net)

Best Clothing and Accessories store
Edgars (http://www.edgars.co.za)

Best Computer Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)

Best Electronics Store
Nivo (http://www.nivo.co.za)

Best Flower and Gift Store
NetFlorist (http://www.netflorist.co.za)

Best Food and Wine Store
Woolworths (http://www.woolworths.co.za)

Best Game Store
Kalahari.net (http://www.kalahari.net)

Best Health and Beauty Store
Faithful to Nature (http://www.faithful-to-nature.co.za)

Best Home and Garden Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)

Best Jewelry and Watches Store
Wantitall (http://www.wantitall.co.za)

Best Kids and Baby Store
eDreams (http://www.edreams.co.za)

Best Music and Movie Store
Look & Listen (http://www.lookandlisten.co.za)

Best Photographic Store
SA Camera (http://www.sacamera.co.za)

Best Property Website
Property24 (http://www.property24.co.za)

Best Sports and Outdoor Store
SA Rugby (http://www.sarugby.com)

Best E-Commerce Enabler
MWEB Business (http://www.mwebbusiness.co.za)

Best Travel Booking Website
Flight Center (http://www.flightcenter.co.za)

Best E-Commerce Website
Look & Listen (http://www.lookandlisten.co.za)

Look and Listen recently launched their new striking website which got them this year’s Best E-Commerce Website award while eDreams won the most awards this year by winning the Best Computer Store, Best Home and Garden Store and Best Kids and Baby Store categories.

How does it work?

Right now, you have to register and complete an application which needs to be approved. Once it has been approved, you are given a tracking code which needs to be inserted into your blog and Adgator handles the rest. Adgator works on Cost per Impression/Thousand (CPM) rather then Cost per a Click (CPC), you get payed every time an ad is displayed regardless if it is clicked or not. CPM advertising becomes useful when it comes to branding campaigns rather then lead or sales generation.

AdGator promises a revenue split of 50/50 with bloggers that sign up for the ad network. Using some napkin mathematics, the average earning per impression seems to be 10c (ZAR) / +1c (USD) .

You can also choose to display Ad’s in the following ad units:

• 468×60
• 120×600
• 120×120
• and a Page peeler

Right now the service is only available in South Africa, but there are plans to roll out in Nigeria and Kenya,

How relevant are the ads?

From the email or the website, it’s not clear how the ad’s are targeted. Is it based on the content of the site? Or the content of the post? Keywords in the post? Or is it based on your selection of the category of the blog?

I have not tested out the service so how relevant the ads remains to be seen. However right now it seems to be based on how you classify you blog according to a set list of categories. The issue with this is, i could not classify this blog under any of the categories. The closest fit i could find for StartupAfrica were Telecommunications or Computer: Electronic, none of which actually describe this blog.

Will it work?

Considering the number of blogs registered with Afrigator and the clout of MIH/News24 behind them i am sure this service will be a success. News24 and MIH already have sales team in place that sell advertising space on their internet properties such as news24, this would be an additional channel.

Justin Hartman also writes that the consolidated Afrigator blog network is as powerful as the number 1 South African site:

The top 100 blogs in South Africa (as measured by Afrigator) account for more than 1.7 million unique users and serves over 5.6 million page views each month.

This makes the network as powerful in terms of audience reach to South Africa’s #1 local website, News24, which also serves around 1.7 million uniques each month ~ (Nielsen Netratings - Q2 June 2008).

Though, in the longer term, when you consider that proponents of social media saying the advantage of traditional advertising is shrinking and companies should be looking at viral marketing, social recommendations and conversations with customers. Will we see a decline in brand based advertising? Or will there always be a need? Put in another way, with the shrinking advantage of brands will companies actually see a return on brand based advertising?

while 43 percent of iPhone owners earn in excess of $100,000 annually, the strongest growth in users is coming from those earning less than the median household income,

iPhone adoption since June 2008 rose 48 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 per year and by 46 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $75,000. These growth rates are three times that of those earning more than $100,000 per year.”

This makes sense, you consolidate instead of owning a PC/Laptop and a broadband connection, you have a single device with access to wireless broadband. Anywhere.

However, the 3G Iphone may be within reach of ‘low’ income households in the USA, but when you look at the pricing here in South Africa it is way out of reach of the average man on the street. That’s why i still maintain, we need a low cost device with a really simple user experience  and internet browsing like the Iphone, a product like that would be a winner.

Before the under 100$ Laptop (OLPC) project, there was the under $50 mobile project

The emerging market handset programme is an initiative by the GSMA launched in 2005, the idea was to bring really cheap handsets into emerging markets. The initiative was a huge success, so why cant we get an ultra low cost internet device?  These cheaper handsets are usually limited in functionality, basic voice,sms etc.

However Nokia have recently announced a range of new low-cost handsets and services for emerging markets, including the first low cost handset that has a music player.

The first services Nokia will offer in emerging markets will focus on email, agriculture and education, which based on consumer feedback, present the strongest demand in emerging markets.

Mail on Ovi, which is enabled on Nokia Series 40 devices, offers the possibility to create an email account directly on the mobile phone without having to use a personal computer, giving millions of users the possibility to create their first internet identity and communicate in new ways. A trial of Mail on Ovi will launch in a few select markets by the end of November 2008.

Nokia Life Tools is a range of agriculture information and education services designed especially for rural and small town communities in emerging markets. These services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which can display information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone does, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.

The pricing on these handsets are between 25 and 90 Euro’s, with the higher end phones having all the bells and whistles. Still very much out of reach. So for lower income groups, a single device for all communications, music, and telephony seems to be key. Offer these in a single device that’s user friendly, and that’s sure to be a winner.

2 February 2009: Deadline for receipt of applications and powerpoint slides to be submitted to Maxum

9 February 2009:  Successful applicants invited to prepare presentation for Business Beat Function

16 February 2009: Business Beat function at The Innovation Hub, Pretoria

1 March 2009: Deadline for receipt of proposals for Maxum’s pre-incubation programme

30 March 2009:    Presentation of selected proposals to Maxum’s Selection Panel

Will it Work?

I think this is a great initiative by Maxum, however i do think the model has a few issues. Currently the programme offers you a “Hot Desk” for 6 months, with free internet access. Years ago this may have been attractive here in South Africa considering the high cost of bandwidth and no broadband.

Today, 3G data costs are competitively priced and prices are constantly being pushed down. Also considering the cost of fuel, why would an entrepreneur travel and incur expenses when he could just as easily work from home and use the traveling expenses to purchase bandwidth?

Secondly, the programme lasts for 6 months which means the entrepreneur would either have to quit his job or work after hours. Only people with sufficient capital, that can afford to will be able to quit their day job and take up the offer. This excludes a whole host of entrepreneurs that may want to be part of the programme but they have bills to pay, student loans to pay off, family responsibilities.

Some of the benefits

The networking by attending the events hosted by Maxum, exposure to business mentors who could assist you and the Maxum management team. They will also introduce you to VC firms if the idea or concept is good enough.

Revising the model

Creating internet/online applications with frameworks like Django and Rails can be done very quickly and easily, a prototype or demo can be created in a few days by skilled programmers.

For Internet Startups, the time frame could be compressed to between 1 and 3 months. Offer entrepreneurs the option of subsidized bandwidth from home to reduce traveling expenses.  This would allow entrepreneurs without large amounts of capital to actually participate in the programme.

Another alternative would be a StartupCamp, whereby a group of developers get together in a room for 3-4 days and hack away to create a working product at the end of the 3 days. There have been events like this held in the US/UK previously.

Why Log your trips?

In South Africa, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) offers tax rebates on traveling done for business purposes. Though you have to keep a log of all your trips done for business purposes. Prior to TripLog, you either had to manually record this in a physical logbook and to this day there are still people who do this, or manually update on a spreadsheet. Both of these options are cumbersome and time consuming.
How does it work?

You simply register, with your email address, mobile number and password. Confirm your account via email, and you will receive a confirmation SMS and you are ready to log your trips. To log all you need to do is send an SMS to a short code in the following format:

Opening Kilometres, Closing Kilometres, Destination, Purpose

For example:
100000, 100200, Pretoria, Board Meeting

The information is almost immediately displayed online in your personal logbook.

The site allows you to export your log book for a sepcified that, which can then be printed and submited for your tax return. SMS’s are charged at R1.50 (+- $ 0.15c). TripLog is a web 2.0 startup with a real business model, that could prove to be quite lucrative and has enterprise applications as well. Companies with a large number of vehicles, sales people or reps would require a service like this. TripLog could be extended by catering for enterprises i.e multiple log books that can be viewed from a single account.

This 3 year programme that is Jointly funded by the MFA and DST are specifically for the area of  ICT (Information and communications technology) with a paricular focus on how they can assist the educational and health sectors as well as other industries.

South Africa’s ICT community, Academia, NGO’s (Non Govermental Organisations), SME’s (Small to medium enterprises) and the educational community are all invited to submit proposals for acceptance into the programme. In particular social entrepreneurs are invited to submit proposals that could assist rural communities and and under serviced urban communities. Some of the challenges that could be addressed (but not limited to) as part of the proposal would be Lack of connectivity, Increasing comuter litracy, access to self-learning and increasing awareness.

A steering committee has been set up, which will meet quarterly to decide on projects. As part of its activities, SAFIPA plans to host
annual international conferences over the next three years,  together with relevant programme stakeholders, such as universities, companies and communities. Each annual conference will assess progress on a year-on year-basis and will feed into a learning and knowledge system.

Visit the Safipa website for more details and the first call for proposals close on the 24th of October.

According to Hash at WhiteAfrican, Kelele was born out of connections made at TED Global in Tanzania last year, when 25+ bloggers from around Africa were brought face-to-face for the first time. The announcement for the official launch was made a day after BarCampAfrica.

What is Kelele?

Kelele will be an annual African bloggers’ conference held in a different African city each year and run by an organising committee in that city. Kelele will be held for the first time in August 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Why Kelele?

Kelele is the Kiswahili word for “noise”. The conference will be gathering African bloggers in the tradition of historical African societies where everyone has a voice, where society has room for debate and discussion.

With too many voices marginalised or simply ignored in Africa society today for a variety of reasons, it is believed that technology in general and grassroots media tools such as blogs in particular represent the most powerful way in which to give Africans back their voice. Hence, KELELE will make a powerful, positive, inspirational noise that will be heard across the continent and beyond.

The theme of Kelele ’09 Nairobi is “Beat Your Drum”, which was chosen in order to connect the traditional Africa method of getting messages across vast distances – the talking drums – to the 21st century and the tools we use today to get our messages across via blogs and the Internet.

When will Kelele ’09 Nairobi take place?

The organisers have tentatively booked the 13th – 16th August 2009.

Here is a summary of the proposed programme:
Day 1 August 13: Arrival in Nairobi and official opening
Day 2 August 14: Conference Day
Day 3 August 15: Skills/Training Day and Outreach Day. Official closing
Day 4 August 16: Sight seeing / departure

The conference would seed the next generation of bloggers and advocates of open dialogue in Africa - which is why one day will be focused on having the top 100 bloggers around Africa training new bloggers in whichever host country it’s in.

Also, The African Bloggers’ Awards will be launched - which aims to recognise the top blogger from each African country. The winner from each country will be invited and sponsored to attend Kelele ’09 Nairobi. The conference is hoped to be called “Kelele” wherever it is held.

My Opinion

Since the idea is to bring African bloggers together and give everyone a voice (too many voices are marginalised or simply ignored in Africa), I’ll suggest that the African Bloggers’ Conference should promote the voice of the country where it is being held. So for a bloggers’ conference in Lagos, Nigeria, for instance, it might be called ARIWO - the yoruba word for “noise”.

This would connect the people in the host African country together, since the conference is tagged with their traditional name for the word “noise”, and would also contribute to spreading the African traditions and cultures across the continent and beyond. Besides, people would be proud when their native language is used as the tag of the annual African Bloggers’ Conference.

You can follow Kelele on Twitter here. http://twitter.com/kelele

I previously wrote about how mobiles can assist people in  poverty

In a study (PDF) by Harvard economist Robert Jensen he reported that when mobile phones were launched in kerala in 1997, Fisherman used the phones to call local markets while still at sea. This in turned helped raise profits by 8%, lowering consumer prices by 4% and reduced catch wastage from 6.5% to practically nothing.

Mobiles have proven to assist in lifting people out of poverty, though how do we capitalize on this and unlock the potential?

One of the ways i believe this can be done is by offering mobile solutions and using mobiles to assist people in the Informal market (Micro Enterprises). StartupAfrica hosted a session at MobileActive to discuss Online Market Places & Assisting the informal sector with mobile technology and there were some great ideas that came out of this.

Where can mobiles assist in the informal sector?

• Price Information
• Market Information
• Sourcing of raw materials / services
• Self organization between members
• Financial Services
• Customer Relationship Management
• Inventory Management

Examples

Cell Bazaar is a market place, for your mobile that allows people, without regular access to the internet to post classified listings and view them as well. They offer listings via SMS, Voice, and the Internet. Cell Bazaar lists one of the stories of Abdul, who is a farmer of Jack Fruit, and every year he is at the mercy of the buyer. Though once he finds out about Cell Bazaar, he is able to post his crop for sale and get the best possible price. Watch the video

Kazi 560 is a marketplace for jobs, where job alerts are sent via SMS. Registration can be done via any phone via a simple SMS and can be posted via SMS as well. Kazi 560 posts on average 100 jobs per a week, with 30,000 subscribers receiving alerts of jobs.

My take

Both of these solutions are great, Cell Bazaar is more general and applicable to any type of business while kazi 560 is pretty specific. Since mobile solutions are pretty limited (SMS Characters & Screen sizes), solutions need to be specific and created for specific niches. There are other informal industries out there that could benefit with the use of mobile technology.

Further Reading, Jonathan Donner’s research into the use of mobile technology by the informal sector.

Hat Tips: Juliana Rotich at Afromusing and Swati at Google for the Tip on the two sites.

MobileCamp

MobileCamp is an unconference inspired by Barcamp that we are planning to hold in South Africa, if you would like to be part of the working group, join the MobileCamp Group

Creating Digital Marketplaces and using mobiles to assist the informal sector.

This session will be held tomorrow at the Strikers boardroom, at 9:30