East Africa - a major force on the continent
International interest in East Africa's telecommunications remains very high as the sector's professionals are preparing to gather for their annual meeting East Africa Com, which will take place in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on 8-9 April. The annual congress and exhibition for the region organized by Informa Telecoms & Media (formerly called GSM>3G East Africa), will bring together over 400 telecommunications professionals to discuss the evolution of the region's market. The event was moved from its previous location in Nairobi for the first time in four years, due to the uncertain political situation in Kenya.
The event promises to be the scene of lively debates among the region's telecommunications leaders and international delegates active in the market. In the past year, a number of large international telecommunications groups have not only invested in the region, but also started new operations in some of its countries.
In Uganda, competition is intensifying as two new mobile licensees are launching services…
Warid Telecom (whose CEO Zul Javaid will present at the event) and HiTs Telecom, both backed by Middle Eastern investors (Warid Telecom by the Abu Dhabi Group, one of the largest groups in the Middle East, and HiTs Telecom is a Saudi-based company gaining momentum in several Africa markets). They are competing with the three already established operators MTN, Celtel and Uganda Telecom. In host country Tanzania, the five mobile operators are going face-to-face with ISPs to reach data users with 3G services. The market's leaders will present their strategies at the conference, with Dietlof Mare, CEO of Vodacom Tanzania giving a keynote presentation, and Bashir Arafeh representing Celtel in the same session as Head of East Africa at group level, and MD for the Tanzanian operation.
In neighbouring Kenya, the region's leading market, France Telecom Group acquired a majority stake in Telkom, thus consolidating its position on the continent with this first move into East Africa. A new team has been appointed at the helm of the incumbent to draw from the group's experience in convergent services and deliver both fixed-line services and new mobile ones. The rest of the region will certainly look to these three countries to determine the future of their own markets. In the meantime, most operators are still very much focusing on improving basic coverage and quality of service on their networks. As voice is still by far the main service used by subscribers, and as ARPU levels are low, all operators are looking for ways to reduce their costs to maximise margins.
All these issues and more will be debated at East Africa Com (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 8-9 April 2008), with a high-level conference which include a strategic plenary day and two specialist streams to cover technical and commercial issues in more depth. The event will also provide exceptional networking…
"East Africa Com is the place where the region's telecoms professionals meet to share their experiences and learn from each other,” says Julie Rey, Head of Region - Africa for the Com World Series.
This year's move to Tanzania will bring in new people who haven't attended the event previously, bringing in fresh perspectives and networking opportunities". In addition to those mentioned previously, key speakers include Noel Meier (CEO, MTN Uganda), Noel Herrity (DG, Zantel, Tanzania), Prof. John Nkoma (DG, Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority), Eng. Abdulle Hassan (CTO, Telcom Somalia), Ahmed A. Dirie (CTO, Golis Telecommunications Company, Somalia), Rakesh Kukreja (MD, Simbanet Tanzania) and Dylan Lennox (Managing Executive - New Technologies, Vodacom Tanzania).
The conference will be co-located with an exhibition featuring leading telecommunication solutions providers displaying their latest products.
For more information, go to http://www.comworldseries.com/eafrica
East African telecoms market overview
Mobile subscriptions grew by 67% in Eastern Africa over the 12 months to September 2007. The sub-region recorded the highest growth in Africa over that period. In comparison, the continent's growth rate was 44%. Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts 54 million subscriptions by 2012 in Eastern Africa, a 73% growth since end of 2007.
Voice remains the major telecommunications service used in Eastern Africa but the data segment is also in expansion, fuelled by converged licensing frameworks and the deployment of technologies other than GSM. Mainly used by incumbent fixed line companies such as Telkom Kenya, Sudani or TTCL (Tanzania), CDMA networks cover most markets. WCDMA/HSDPA was pioneered in the first quarter of last year by Vodacom in Tanzania and then Uganda Telecom launched it in November 2007 in Uganda. As at end of 2007, WiMAX was available in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. As in the mobile voice industry, the ISP market is undergoing consolidations.
In 2007, South African groups Telkom and Mweb (Naspers) acquired respectively Africa Online and Afsat. Africa Online is present in eight markets, including three East African countries, while Afsat has subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Three of the continent's most dynamic markets (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) dominate East Africa, and by the presence of Africa's two largest telecom groups: Celtel International (part of Zain, the new brand for MTC),and MTN. Overall there are fixed and mobile 37 operators (including new ones in Uganda and Kenya) in the region, plus over 20 internet service providers
(ISPs).
About Informa Telecoms & Media
Informa Telecoms & Media, a leading provider of business intelligence and strategic marketing solutions to the global telecoms and media markets, has a team of 90 analysts and researchers tasked with producing a range of intelligence services including news and analytical products, in-depth market reports and datasets focused to technology, strategy and content.
The company also organises more than 125 annual events, attended by more than 70,000 executives. In addition to the Com World Series, the company's events cover subjects as diverse as fixed and mobile operator strategy, technology, TV, mobile music and games.
