Editor’s Note: Here’s a brief of what’s been happening in the Africa mobile telecom industry, courtesy of Global Mobile Daily. With news from telcos and manufacturers such as Etisalat, RIM, and Orange in countries like South Africa, Madagascar, and Nigeria.
Etisalat follows Zain in launching Wi-Fi app
Etisalat is set to offer iPass, the Wi-Fi roaming service, two months after iPass launched with rival operator group, Zain. Etisalat’s customers will be able to roam automatically on Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe in 113 countries. The app works only on the iOS and Android platforms. Zain launched its “Zain Pass” service first in Kuwait in 3Q12.
RIM opens second apps lab in South Africa
Device manufacturer RIM has opened a BlackBerry apps lab in Cape Town, South Africa. The company opened its first app lab in the country in Capital city Pretoria in May 2012. The aim of the BlackBerry apps labs is to help accelerate mobile application development in South Africa and to support the larger context and objectives of the South African Department of Communications’ eSkills Institute. RIM has also opened apps labs in Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt.
Orange Madagascar launches vehicle tracking services
Orange Madagascar has launched “Fleet Live”, a location based service (LBS) enabling customers to track their vehicles. As in all African mobile markets, Madagascar is a consumer voice dominated market. However incumbent Telecom Malagasy and Orange have been competing on the enterprise segment beyond voice and basic Internet access services. According to Informa Telecoms & Media, Madagascar had 6.2 million mobile subscriptions in September 2012. Airtel led the market with a 43% market share, followed by Orange (30%) and Telecom Malagasy (27%).
Cell C to LTE launch by end-2012
South African operator Cell C will launch LTE by end-2012. The service will first be available in cities of Durban and Cape Town. The announcement follows the launch of LTE by market leader Vodacom in October 2012. In the meantime, MTN and 8ta have been trialling the technology with MTN committing to launch also end-2012.
