MTN Rwanda deploys new Internet technology

MTN Rwanda deploys new Internet technology

MTN Rwanda boss Khaled Mikkawi (File Photo)

BY SAUL BUTERA

Rwanda’s leading telecom company by market share, MTN, has said that the company has deployed a technology called Aradial Authentication, Authorization, Accounting (AAA) that will provide wireless services in Kigali. MTN entered a deal with Aradial, a global provider of AAA, to provide Internet Protocol services and others including Wi-Fi, WiMAX, wireline Internet, VoIP, IPTV and mobile data). MTN’s Senior Marketing Executive, Yvonne Makolo, revealed that the operator has rolled out Wi-Fi services in Kigali but have not yet commercially launched but is still doing the final tests. “This will allow our customers to access wireless internet services using Wi-Fi enabled cellular phones and computers in most areas of Kigali,” Makolo added. The technology solution integrates with access controllers to manage Wi-Fi base stations. Aradial’s deployment operates with Ericsson’s intelligent network over MTN’s provisioning infrastructure to ensure zero charging leakages in the operator’s prepaid billing. During the launch, Aradial’s CEO, Ori Etkovitz said that they are very happy with the project. “The hotspot/Wi-Fi solution supports a walled garden portal for user login, bandwidth management, and real-time network policy control, all driven by our powerful business control engine,” Etkovitz explained. This breadth of functionality will further enable the operator to implement volume, time and expiration enforcement and to extend its current offering to current and future subscribers. MTN’s, CTO, Rami Farah said that being the leading communications provider by market share, they are committed to providing with their customers reliable and affordable services. “The new solution will enable us to exercise full control over the usage of our hotspots very cost effectively, while improving our subscribers’ service experience,” he added. The Aradial solution incorporates an external and centralized Aradial Radius server that supports a range of hotspot controllers. It manages multiple wide area Wi-Fi base stations that use beam-forming technology to provide access to the city as well as to rural areas. With the technology, MTN Rwanda will be able to offer better Internet connectivity to its customers, increasing its profitability while eliminating the overhead associated with customer provisioning, authorization and accounting. Rwandatel is the leading Internet provider in the country with 62 percent on its ADSL network compared to MTN’s 35 percent on the GPRS (32KBps) and Wimax network (64 KBps, 256 KBps and 1 MBps). Artel and ISPA share the remaining 3 percent and this is according to the recent report by AEO report released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Kigali last year. Aradial Technologies serves ISPs since 1997. Both entry-level and high-end service providers with millions of subscribers can easily integrate Aradial into their IT and network infrastructures. With more than 300 deployments in over 70 countries around the world, the suite can be installed on small and affordable hardware, on Windows, Linux or Solaris operating systems, and over a variety of databases. (the new time)

SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT: 2010 global forecast bodes well for Africa

By rama isibo (the new time)

The year 2010 promises to be a better year for Africa and emerging markets in general. While the developed world saw their growth contract by 3.5 percent, the emerging markets still maintained 2 percent growth. According to the Nomura forecast this means that there has been a 5% swing towards the developing world.

When trying to forecast 2010 for Africa one must remember that 4 countries make up 75 percent of Africa’s $1.7 trillion GDP.

South Africa ($463b), Egypt ($403b), Nigeria ($230b) and Algeria ($220b). So continental forecasts are heavily skewed towards those four, when predicting for our region we must take into account overall trends due to lack of data.

Analysts expect commodity prices to rise, this will be good for African countries that are increasingly reliant on minerals. Even commodities like coffee and tea will rise on the global market, the price of tea recently doubled at an auction in Mombasa.

Demand in energy will surely increase but the Wall street journal expects oil prices to stabilise at $72 - $75 a barrel. This will be driven by demand in China and India but a commitment to change to greener fuels in the west will check the growth.

While other economic indicators are strong overall, inflation has been controlled, public spending reduced and the fallout from bad debt was not as bad as anticipated.

It is the realm of employment that we will see continued slow growth, employers have at least stopped job cuts for now.

This crisis has showed us that employment is the be-all and end-all of economic management. Jobs must be protected at all costs, the only true economic indicator that matters is employment.

Governments will see lower tax revenues due to fewer workers on the payroll, companies then post lower profits and the vicious circle continues.

Regionally there will be growth in sectors that are logistically integrated and can take advantage of the wider market.

The service sector is particularly vibrant and will benefit from faster internet speeds promised by the new sea-cable. The East Africa manufacturing sector will continue to struggle due to inefficiency, lack of investment, high energy costs, logistical pressures and cheap imports.

The customs union will begin to facilitate the EA manufacturing sector and make it possible to integrate and reduce logistical pressures.

For Rwanda it is urgent that these logistical pressures are reduced, this requires removal of trade barriers and higher investment in road maintenance, rail and air travel.

Within our economy, we can expect more growth in certain targeted sectors. Banking will see growth as targeted credit is released to strategic sectors such as construction, transport, and retail.

The private sector will still grow at a slower rate than we expect, the black economy still is a problem and we need to find a way to bring it on-stream.

The reforms undertaken recently will continue to provide growth. Legislation in consumer rights is expected in 2010, this ought to improve service and outlook.

We have nothing to fear but fear itself, this last year was psychologically daunting with regards to the economy. We can now look to the future knowing the world is in recovery.

ECONOMY : Reviewing the year 2009

ECONOMY : Reviewing the year 2009

By Rama Isibo

As ever times moves, 2009 as zipped by and we are already looking forward to 2010. We must look back at 2009 as a good year for Rwanda overall considering the global crisis. We kept up with steady growth and integrated further into the East African Community (EAC). This was a year that saw many of the reforms implemented in recent years rewarded with acclaim in the form of awards. They were too many to name, one was crucial – the doing business award. The new streamlined process in setting up a business allowed more new companies to be established than any year before. For the first time in recent years our own taxes have overtaken aid as the main source of government income. This was also caused by a reduction in aid and investment and prompted a loosening in fiscal discipline with a 27 percent increase in the budget. The effects were much higher urban inflation than stated and the average cost of living went up by almost a third. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) was set up and running, a behemoth that incorporates several arms of government that it is a ministry in all but name, even superseding its line ministry Minicom. This has weakened Minicom and I wonder if it will exist for much longer. Most business people I speak to are happy with RDB. They prefer the new process of sideways integration across institutions to create a systematic approach to business. The EAC became the main focus of strategic business thinking. More regional companies moved into Rwanda than ever before, particularly in the service sector. Rwandan companies are hopefully going to think in terms of the wider market available. The free movement of goods is still a major issue, customs have been streamlined and the number of weighing stations reduced. The arrival of Tigo Rwanda made the lumbering giant that is MTN to sit up and take notice. MTN responded by listening to customers for the first time and giving them services like multimedia messaging. The effect of Tigo is yet to be seen but customers can expect call tariffs to get lower in the coming year. All these events pale in comparison to my event of the year, not many Rwandans have noticed but a seminal moment happened recently. For the first time in history Rwandans are now directly connected to the international banking grid, and foreigners can now use their visa cards in Rwanda to spend more while touring. The Rwanda banking system has always had a giant gorilla on its back in the form of SIMTEL, an outdated and inefficient switch system that was obsolete even in the 1970’s. It is the reason why we still rely on triplicate paper transfers and not electronic transfers. The decision to end the monopoly of SIMTEL is the most important in our recent history and will be reflected in growth in the banking sector. Our banking system has one hand tied behind its back, it struggles to deal with mere deposits and withdrawals. They need to move to secondary services and streamline their operations, so frontline staff can deliver services that people actually need. Economic highlights of the year 2009 Agriculture Based on MINAGRI preliminary estimates the agriculture sector production increased by 11.2 percent in volume during the 2009 season. Inflation Contrary to the situation that prevailed during 2008 that marked high inflationary pressure, the country experienced low inflation in 2009 Monetary During the first semester of 2009, money supply showed a downward trend to the slowing down banking sector credits to private sector following the liquidity crunch experience at the beginning of the year. During first semester new loans authorized by the banking system to prIvate sector compared to same period in 2008 fell by 24.02 percent Exchange Rate The Rwanda Franc exchange rate against the US dollar was quite stable during the first half of 2009 registering moderate depreciation of 7.16 percent and 11.74 percent Forex revenue dropped from $473 million to $365 million by June 2009 due to the delay in external budget support disbursements Banking The consolidated balance sheet of the 8 commercial banks increased moderately by 2.8 percent from Rwf 511 billion to Rwf525 billion as at June 2009 16 additional branches and one counter were opened by commercial banks. National Bank of Rwanda also gave it non objection to Kenya Commercial Bank to open 7 branches Capital Markets Companies like BRALIRWA, MTN and CIMERWA have expressed interest in issuing corporate bonds, one municipal band from Kigali City Council (KCC) is undergoing ramaisibo@hotmail.com (newtimes) Ends