Mobile

VENTURES AFRICA – As part of plans to reposition itself in Africa’s Smartphone market, Chinese phone maker Tecno has partnered Qualcomm Incorporated and Etisalat to launch the Tecno P3 smartphone into the Nigerian market. “Our desire is to flood the Nigerian and African mobile phone markets with Tecno smartphones.” Boukali Mounir is the Director, Brands [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Mobile service providers in Nigeria have been sanctioned to pay a 53.8 million naira ($340,000) fine by the telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, for breaching the rules on registration of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards in the country. According to the commission’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Reuben Muoka, 269 [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Celebrated Nigerian internet entrepreneur and iROKOtv CEO, Jason Njoku and partner, Bastian Gotter, today announced the official launch of SPARK, a $1m-backed company to support and develop aspiring Nigerian tech and Internet entrepreneurs. The Lagos-based company said in an official statement it “is set to fill the vacuum that currently exists in the country’s angel investment ($30,000 to 75,000 funding level) eco-system.” [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – By breaking down the demographics and behaviour of its users, a survey by an African social network, 2go, has declared Nigerians are more social than South Africans. Marc Herson, director at 2go, revealed this while speaking at the Focus Day at Mobile Web West Africa 2013 holding in Lagos. Herson said in Nigeria [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Turkey’s largest cell phone operator Turkcell has dropped its multibillion-dollar lawsuit against MTN Group, after a US Supreme Court ruling did not work in its favour. The Turkish telecoms company filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit in the US District Court of Columbia over the awarding of Iran’s second mobile licence to MTN [...]

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally posted on Open Society Foundation By Marie-Soleil Frere Better and wider access to Internet and mobile is changing how journalists work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing more access but also sometimes greater risk. Internet and mobile devices allow journalists to contact multiple sources on a [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Following the announcement of significant investments in infrastructure and operations by other telecommunications service providers in Nigeria, indigenous telecoms company, Globacom Ltd. (Glo), has entered a $500 million partnership deal with ZTE to upgrade its infrastructure nationwide. Speaking on the partnership, Group Operating Officer (GCOO) of Glo, Mohameed Jameel said the contract, which [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Large corporate brands in Africa’s biggest economy, South Africa have woken up to social media, following in the footsteps of their customers, according to new findings from technology market researchers World Wide Worx and information analysts Fuseware. The South African Social Media Landscape 2012 study by World Wide Worx and Fuseware, reveals [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Nigeria-based online gaming company, KULUYA.com, on Thursday announced that it had raised another small seed stage investment to expand commercial activities, thereby increasing the company’s valuation to $2 million. The news comes on the heels of the gamer’s launch of its redesigned site KULUYA 2.0, where users will be able to challenge other [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – In an effort to deal with constant network outages in Kenya, Safaricom on Tuesday said it has bought back-up batteries worth Sh96 million ($1.1 million) for its cell towers. It is understood that General Electric (GE), the US firm, has now connected 48 such batteries at the mobile network operator’s base stations [...]

VENTURES AFRICA- South Africa’s largest wireless carrier, Vodacom, has said it expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year ended March 2013, to be between 20 percent and 25 percent – higher than the 709 cents posted in 2012. Headline EPS, the main measure of profit in South Africa, excludes certain one-time items. Basic [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Running a business in today’s tech savvy world requires constant engagement with customers i.e. feeding clients with info and getting the required feedback. And the role of social media in this two-way street is crucial as it creates an informal platform where businesses and customers relate. Social media has come to stay. [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Due to massive usage of local domain names, Nigeria has slashed the cost of its DotNG Internet domain registration fee from N200,000 ($1,259) to N15,000 ($94), which translates to approximately 93 percent price decrease. Speaking to reporter in Lagos, Chief Operating Officer, Nigeria Internet Registration Association of Nigeria (NiRA), Ope Odusan, said, “The [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Monday launched Mobile Number Portability (MNP) across Nigeria’s GSM networks, enabling customers change their subscription to other mobile networks while retaining their mobile digits. The MNP system makes it easy for telecom subscribers to migrate across networks in search of quality service without the fear of [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Nairobi has seen the rise of Kenya’s first tech hub, iHub as series of investments have been initiated to promote the development of Kenya’s technology sector. The iHub offers free internet access and specialist forums for entrepreneurs and promotes the innovation-intensive industries. Kenya’s tech hub, which was funded by Hivos and Omidyar Network, [...]