[ Up ] [ Vodacom Page 1 ] [ Vodacom Page 2 ] [ Vodacom Page 3 ]
Scroll down to read twelve pages of information..........
May 25, 2002
VODACOM
ROLLS OUT CONGO NETWORK IN RECORD TIME
Vodacom Congo
(DRC) has built an impressive 88-base station GSM (Global
System for Mobile Communications) cellular network in Africa's fourth largest
country in less than three months.
The
network has satellite links connecting cities more than 1 600 kilometers apart
in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country of 2,3-million square kilometers
and a population of around 60-million.
The network was officially 'opened' at
a banquet in the newly renovated People’s Palace in Kinshasa today. The
banquet, attended by DRC President Joseph Kabila and members of his cabinet, as
well as other political and business leaders, featured the best in Congolese and
South African arts and culture. South African President Thabo Mbeki sent a video
message congratulating Vodacom and the Congolese people on their achievement.
"Although the DRC has one of the lowest GDPs on the continent, Vodacom's
investment of about USD 94 million has already brought coverage to the main centers
of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi which is on par with, if not better than,
the quality of service enjoyed by GSM customers worldwide," says Andrew
Mthembu, Deputy CEO of Vodacom Group and Chairman of Vodacom Congo.
"There are only 100 000 landline phones in the entire country to serve a
population of some 60-million. The Vodacom network offers quality coverage which
far exceeds anything previously available in the DRC. The Congolese people can
look forward to enjoying the benefits and experience of Africa’s largest
telecommunications company.”
Vodacom Congo (DRC) is the newest subsidiary of Vodacom, the biggest pan-African
cellular network. Its establishment
follows the signing of a joint venture agreement between Congolese Wireless
Networks (CWN) and Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Ltd in the last quarter
of 2001.
Commercial switch-on of Vodacom's DRC network took place on 1 May 2002, after
some 12 000 former CWN customers exchanged their existing SIM (Subscriber
Identity Module) cards for new Vodacom Congo SIM cards.
”The cut-over from the existing CWN network to the new Vodacom Congo network
presented significant logistical challenges to our local DRC staff and South
African secondees. The SIM swop operation, for example, saw about 28 000 Vodacom
SIM cards being issued free to former CWN and new customers queuing at
Kinshasha's Grand Hotel over a four day period. Our people handled the situation with aplomb," Mthembu
adds.
The other SIM swop operation
took place at Lubumbashi and accounted for the remainder of the SIM cards
issued.
“Our success in rolling out the Congo network, in what is probably the
shortest time in GSM history, is as a result of our partnership with Alcatel,
who have supplied us with not only the equipment and infrastructure, but also
with their expertise and resources,” said Mr. Mthembu, adding that the
contract with Alcatel was worth USD 55 million.
Mthembu says Vodacom Congo already has
more than 50 000 customers after just three weeks of commercial operations and
expects to have more than
200 000 by March 2003.
To help achieve these targets, Vodacom Congo (DRC) will be offering the latest
value-added services and products similar to those available to Vodacom
customers in South Africa.
Vodacom Congo has already appointed super dealers, sub-dealers and other
retailers, giving the network over 1 400 local points of presence across the
DRC, in addition to the almost 500 public phone sites already being installed by
the network. It is anticipated that 4 000 public phone sites will be in
commercial services by the end of March 2003.
"Technology is helping to spur the African Renaissance and Vodacom is
determined that its construction of cellular networks across the continent will
play a leading part in Africa's rebirth," Mthembu concludes.
NOTES
TO EDITORS:
To help achieve the vision of a pan-African GSM cellular network, Vodacom
International Holdings (Pty) Ltd was established on 1 April 2001. Vodacom
Tanzania Ltd, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Ltd, Vodacom Congo (DRC) s.p.r.l are all
subsidiaries of Vodacom International (Pty) Ltd.
In December 2001, Vodacom was
also awarded a licence to operate a cellular network in Zambia.
Issued by: Ivan Booth
Media Relations Manager
Vodacom Group
Ph: 011 653 5343
Cell: 082 99 06 321
On behalf of: Joan
Joffe
Group Executive – Corporate Affairs
Vodacom Group
Ph: 011 653 5885
Cell: 082 99 00 007
25
May 2002
FACTS AND STATS ABOUT
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Ltd
After being awarded a GSM license in
Lesotho in June 1995, Vodacom Lesotho’s network officially switched on in May
1996.
Today, Vodacom Lesotho has some 70 000
customers.
The Government of Lesotho began its privatization
process in 1999 and invited bids for the Lesotho Telecommunications
Corporation's shares in Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Ltd.
The Sekha-Metsi Consortium Ltd was
identified as the successful bidder in July 2000
In November 2000, the Privatization Unit
of Lesotho and the Sekha-Metsi Consortium Ltd signed a Sale of Shares Agreement,
resulting in the latter gaining a 12% shareholding in Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Ltd.
Vodacom
Tanzania Ltd
In July 1999, Vodacom won a ten-year license
to operate Tanzania's second GSM cellular network.
At that time, there were three cellular
networks operating in Tanzania, but only one was a GSM network. Within three
months following the completion of its state-of-the-art GSM infrastructure on 31
August 2000, Vodacom Tanzania became the largest digital cellular network in
that country.
A year later, the company had connected
120 000 customers and this has since grown to 250 000 and
Vodacom’s investment in its network has risen to more than US$100-million.
Tanzanian shareholders own 35% of
Vodacom Tanzania and include Caspian Construction and Planetel Communications.
The Vodacom Group (Pty) Ltd has a controlling interest of 65%.
An estimated 52 000 people travel
between South Africa and Tanzania each year and Vodacom Tanzania Ltd provides
cellular coverage in the tourist areas of the Serengeti, Zanzibar, Pemba Islands
and the International Airports of Dar Es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.
Coverage also extends to greater Dar Es Salaam as well as Morogoro, Dodoma,
Tanga, Arusha, Moshi, Mbeya, Mwanza,
Shinyanga, Unguja and, more recently, to Iringa and Tabora.
Vodacom Tanzania also covers the summit of Africa’s
tallest mountain and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. At 5 895 meters,
the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point on the planet covered by
GSM.
Vodacom Tanzania has also reached
agreement with Safaricom in Kenya to cover the highway from Arusha to Nairobi.
Vodacom Tanzania is also helping to open
up the globe for Tanzanians. The company has signed international
roaming agreements with cellular networks in more than 30 countries worldwide,
including South Africa, Mozambique, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,
Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.
Vodacom
Congo (DRC)
Vodacom Congo (DRC) s.p.r.l. - a joint
venture between Congolese Wireless Networks (CWN) and Vodacom International
Holdings (Pty) Ltd – was established in December 2001.
The agreement was signed by Alieu Conteh, Chairman and CEO of CWN, and
Andrew Mthembu, Chairman of Vodacom Congo and Deputy CEO of the Vodacom Group.
At that time, CWN operated a GSM network
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with some 22 000 customers and had
18 years remaining of its 20 year licence.
Vodacom has a 51% stake in the
joint venture while CWN has 49%. Andrew
Mthembu occupies the chairman's position, Alieu Conteh is deputy chairman and
Alioune Dieng is CEO.
Vodacom’s US$94-million investment
takes CWN’s coverage of the DRC beyond Kinshasa and Lubumbashi and into the
potentially very profitable mining areas including Mbuji Mayi where people are
thirsting for reliable access to telecommunications. In addition, Vodacom Congo
is the first cellular network operator to offer DRC customers international
roaming.
Vodacom International believes that the
total potential market for cellular stands at 10% of the DRC's 60-million
inhabitants and the company is confident that the joint venture will capture a
significant market share.
Other GSM cellular players in the DRC
are Sait with 30 000 customers and Celtel with more than 160 000 customers.
There is also an analogue network called Starcell with approximately 20 000
customers. Between them, the networks primarily cover Kinshasa, Lubumbashi,
Mbuji Mayi and Matadi.
25 May 2002
BACKGROUND INFO: TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN AFRICA
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has generally
been marginalized from the tele-communications revolution. Excluding South Africa, in 1996 SSA had about
1,46-million working phone lines serving
a population of about 575-million.
Basic telephony provision is still a
major need in many parts of the continent.
The situation is worst in rural areas where teledensity is five times
lower than in urban areas.
But it’s not all bad news: speaking at
the opening press conference for ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2001 in November last year,
the ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi, pointed out that at the time of AFRICA
TELECOM 98, there were barely 2-million mobile subscribers on the whole African
continent.
By the end of December 2001, that number
was expected to be to 30-million - nearly one and a half times the number of
fixed-line subscribers.
And, he added, some old myths could
finally be put to rest. No longer were there more telephones in Tokyo than in
Africa. “In fact, there are twice as many fixed lines - and significantly more
cellular subscribers in Africa - than in Tokyo”, he remarked.
He went on to announce that the
Sub-Saharan African teledensity was no longer trapped below 1 percent - the base
level considered essential to economic growth and development.
According to Utsumi, fixed-line teledensity
grew from 0,9 to 1,2 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2000.
High teledensity levels are the best
news for strong economic growth in any country. To illustrate, South Africa with
a GDP per capita of US$3000 and a population of some 43-million people,
outperforms the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa with a GDP per capita of US$490.
Progress was also being made in the
areas of regulation and competition, with some 36 new operators having launched
mobile services in Africa between January 2000 and June 2001.
And well over half the countries in Africa now have an independent
regulator.
And with ITU now forecasting that there
will be more than 100-million mobile cellular subscribers in Africa by the year
2005, the outlook for the continent has never been brighter.
These
trends are encouraging signs that Africa can bridge the digital divide quickly
if it overcomes certain obstacles. But while
things have improved, Africa cannot rest on its laurels.
Indeed,
while Africa’s relative share of the world’s fixed telephone and mobile
networks has grown, it is still low in relation to the size of the continent’s
population.
Yaoundé
Declaration
On 28 May 2001, African ministers
responsible for telecommunications, assembled in Cameroon to prepare for the
World Telecommunication Development Conference which took place in Istanbul from
18 to 27 March 2002.
At this meeting
they adopted a joint strategy – the Yaoundé
Declaration - for bridging the digital divide that separates the
North from the South and urban areas from rural areas.
The strategy was seen as
‘different’ to several other initiatives adopted in recent years because it
reflected an active solidarity among African countries as well as a new
awareness of the continent’s needs.
Through the Yaoundé Declaration, Africa
appealed with one voice to decision-makers, firms, equipment manufacturers,
funding agencies and information technology specialists to ensure that the right
solution was found to close - once and for all - the huge gulf in the rate of
penetration of information technologies in daily life that separates the people
of the North from those of the Southern hemisphere, and Africa in particular.
Furthermore, the
Yaoundé Declaration reflected the new vision for the continent which was to be
contained in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Nepad
The NEPAD initiative was endorsed by the
OAU summit of Heads of State and Governments in Lusaka, Zambia on July 11, 2001.
NEPAD is a pledge by African leaders,
based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction, that they have a
pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both
individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development
and, at the same time, to participate actively in the world economy and body
politic.
NEPAD consists of several initiatives,
devoted to:
Peace, Security, Democracy and Political Governance: This
section covers the conditions for sustainable development, namely peace and
security and the democracy and political governance.
Economic and Corporate
Governance: This section covers the
conditions for sustainable development namely improved state capacity to promote
economic growth and development.
Bridging the Infrastructure Gap:
The infrastructure sectoral priority includes
all Infrastructure sections (on sub-regional and continental level) for
Information and Communication Technologies, Energy, Transport and Water and
Sanitation.
World Telecommunication
Development Conference, Istanbul, March 2002
The World Telecommunication Development
Conference (WTDC-02) held in Istanbul -–.
International Telecommunication
Union’s third World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-02) - the
world’s largest and highest-level global conference on development
telecommunications – attracted some 1150 delegates from 152 countries. It was
attended by 394 government delegates, representatives from 56 regulatory
authorities, 45 operators, 23 scientific and industrial organizations and 22
regional and international organizations.
Africa went to the WTDC-02 in Istanbul
full of hope and with the conviction that the world would be more attentive to
its problems. The Yaoundé Declaration, laid down guidelines for the work that
was to be done at Istanbul on the digital divide.
It was Africa’s intention to obtain
from WTDC-02 new measures to encourage, in particular:
·
an increase in teledensity so that
telecommunications can play its role as an economic catalyst;
·
implementation of pilot projects conducive to
universal access in Africa;
·
more sustained establishment of equipment
manufacturers with a view to developing appropriate technologies at lower cost
as a means of increasing teledensity on the continent;
·
instant access for people in all corners of the
continent to all forms of information, the key to a new society in which people
will acquire broader freedom;
·
training, human resources development and
capacity-building in information technology;
·
financial flows from funding agencies to
support telecommunication infrastructure development programs for the benefit
of inhabitants in the rural areas of our continent.
The Conference reviewed current major
policy issues, determined actions to narrow the Digital Divide.
It closed with delegates adopting the Istanbul Declaration and Action
Plan addressed to both governments and private sector for the years 2003 to
2006.
Based on six programs, the Plan
strives to reduce access costs to facilitate the greatest number of people
possible to cross the Digital Divide.
Throughout the conference, delegations
stressed the need to:
·
develop larger scale partnerships, whether
public/private, public-public and South-South, for implementing strategies for
ICT development,
·
enhance co-operation particularly with regional
organizations and private sector and to reinforce and support regional ICTs
for-development initiatives, such as Africa’s New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) in a bid to increase available resources for telecoms
development.
In his closing remarks, Mr Hamadoun Touré,
Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, told delegates that
the commitment made at Istanbul was the beginning of a new era.
Quoting Lord Keynes, he said "the
difficulty lies not in new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones. The time is
ripe, we must escape and focus not on Digital Divide but on Digital
Opportunities."
He said that the digital age represented
a new frontier of human accomplishment and that its locus resided in all
countries.
"If we all commit ourselves to the
conclusions of this Conference, the low teledensities in developing countries
can be tripled or even quadrupled before our next World Telecommunication
Development Conference, Internet penetration will reach at least 25 percent of
the population and every school will be wired or unwired, making information
accessible to every child in the world."
