Thursday, December 17, 2009
By JOSHUA MASINDE
Ugandans have a reason to smile. They have a seventh telecommunications operator to choose from. Aptly called Smile, the new company which launched operations in November promises cheaper call rates.
Smile CEO, Irene Charnley said its target is the segment of people who are underserved by costly communication facilities.
"Some people have to wait up to late in the evening to get 
that promotion but our customers won't have to wait," Charnley added.
that promotion but our customers won't have to wait," Charnley added.In a major innovation, Smile customers will not need to have a phone or a sim card to communicate.
Instead, Charnley explained, Smile customers using their telephone number or Smile ID, together with a secret PIN code could log to any Smile phone run by Smile Agents.
"Once logged in, customers can make low cost calls and have access to a range of unique Smile features which traditional payphone and mobile operators do not offer," she said.
Smile offers free phone number and a voice mailbox, free message retrieval from any Smile phone, a contact list that is accessible from any Smile phone, a current airtime balance that is always visible as well as voucher less airtime top ups and transfers.
Smile's Chief Financial Officer Sharon Venessa Naidoo said after the US$ 30million spent on commencement of its operations in Kampala, the company plans to invest more in a countrywide roll out within the next three years.
Uganda is Smile's first operation. It plans to go into Tanzania, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
BY JOSHUA MASINDE
Warid Uganda could have been sold by the end of the week if everything went according to plan. Essar Group, one of the largest Telecommunication industries in India is the intending buyer.
The Dhabi Group, which owns Warid, announced it had agreed to enter into exclusive discussions in relation to an investment by Essar Group into the telecommunications portfolio of the Dhabi Group’s African assets. A statement from Essar Telecom said the transaction will involve an equity infusion into these businesses as growth capital and will be the basis of a partnership to create a significant presence in Africa. The Dhabi group offers telecom services in African countries under the brand name Warid Telecom.
Essar is seeking to merge its telecoms licence in Uganda with the operations of Warid Telecom. The group had outlined a $200 million (approx. Ush 350 billion) investment when it bagged an operational licence for Uganda in June 2009, and said it was in exclusive talks to invest in the Dhabi group’s telecom operations in Africa.
“A large part of that will now be used for buying into Warid Uganda. It will give Essar immediate access to over 1.5 million users and a share in one of the fastest growing operators in the region,” a source close to the deal said.
Warid would be a good buy. It has been posting impressive subscriber growth since its launch in February 2008 as a fourth telecom operator in the country. It hit 1.2 million subscribers in April 2009.
Warid has shaken up the Uganda telecom scene since its entry. MTN, which is the dominant operator according to subscriber numbers, cut its tariffs by 14% prior to Warid’s launch. Even then, Warid entered the market with even lower rates. Through 36 customer centres, Prepaid starter kits were sold for Ush 3,000 and international calls were offered at the rate of a local call for a three months promotional period. Its recent promotion, the Pakalast, which enables callers to load only Ush 1000 (about US$ 0.5) and call for 24 hours, has been very popular. Over the same period Average Revenue per User has continued to slide. While MTN has an ARPU of US$ 12 per month (About Ush 25,000) in 2006, it has dropped to Ush 13,000 in April 2009. Zain, which had an ARPU of US$ 12 in 2006, had dropped to US$ 4 (about Ush 7,500) in 2009.
Difficult operating conditions in the country are likely to ensure that rates do not drop further. Most network operators depend on diesel generator power for more than 40% of their sites, according to a new independent survey of the sector. As the number of antenna towers dotting the country’s landscape increases, the government is working on regulations to encourage infrastructure sharing among the networks.
Essar has significant interests in telecommunications services, including mobile telephony in an Indian joint venture with Vodafone, telecom tower infrastructure, telecom retail and IT/telecom enabled services.
On January 19, 2009, Warid Telecom won the Investor of the Year Award for investing over US$200m since it was licensed by the Uganda Investment Authority. But, with the current six operators, industry players have admitted tight competition, and increasing costs of operation, even as the telecommunications industry in Africa presents a bright future. Despite this, Uganda’s teledensity stands at around 30%, indicating a market with potential.
Essar had earlier paid US$ 3 million in license fees to receive Uganda’s sixth mobile licence in May 2009 and plans were in high gear for a launch of its services.
Warid Uganda could have been sold by the end of the week if everything went according to plan. Essar Group, one of the largest Telecommunication industries in India is the intending buyer.
The Dhabi Group, which owns Warid, announced it had agreed to enter into exclusive discussions in relation to an investment by Essar Group into the telecommunications portfolio of the Dhabi Group’s African assets. A statement from Essar Telecom said the transaction will involve an equity infusion into these businesses as growth capital and will be the basis of a partnership to create a significant presence in Africa. The Dhabi group offers telecom services in African countries under the brand name Warid Telecom.Essar is seeking to merge its telecoms licence in Uganda with the operations of Warid Telecom. The group had outlined a $200 million (approx. Ush 350 billion) investment when it bagged an operational licence for Uganda in June 2009, and said it was in exclusive talks to invest in the Dhabi group’s telecom operations in Africa.
“A large part of that will now be used for buying into Warid Uganda. It will give Essar immediate access to over 1.5 million users and a share in one of the fastest growing operators in the region,” a source close to the deal said.
Warid would be a good buy. It has been posting impressive subscriber growth since its launch in February 2008 as a fourth telecom operator in the country. It hit 1.2 million subscribers in April 2009.
Warid has shaken up the Uganda telecom scene since its entry. MTN, which is the dominant operator according to subscriber numbers, cut its tariffs by 14% prior to Warid’s launch. Even then, Warid entered the market with even lower rates. Through 36 customer centres, Prepaid starter kits were sold for Ush 3,000 and international calls were offered at the rate of a local call for a three months promotional period. Its recent promotion, the Pakalast, which enables callers to load only Ush 1000 (about US$ 0.5) and call for 24 hours, has been very popular. Over the same period Average Revenue per User has continued to slide. While MTN has an ARPU of US$ 12 per month (About Ush 25,000) in 2006, it has dropped to Ush 13,000 in April 2009. Zain, which had an ARPU of US$ 12 in 2006, had dropped to US$ 4 (about Ush 7,500) in 2009.
Difficult operating conditions in the country are likely to ensure that rates do not drop further. Most network operators depend on diesel generator power for more than 40% of their sites, according to a new independent survey of the sector. As the number of antenna towers dotting the country’s landscape increases, the government is working on regulations to encourage infrastructure sharing among the networks.
Essar has significant interests in telecommunications services, including mobile telephony in an Indian joint venture with Vodafone, telecom tower infrastructure, telecom retail and IT/telecom enabled services.
On January 19, 2009, Warid Telecom won the Investor of the Year Award for investing over US$200m since it was licensed by the Uganda Investment Authority. But, with the current six operators, industry players have admitted tight competition, and increasing costs of operation, even as the telecommunications industry in Africa presents a bright future. Despite this, Uganda’s teledensity stands at around 30%, indicating a market with potential.
Essar had earlier paid US$ 3 million in license fees to receive Uganda’s sixth mobile licence in May 2009 and plans were in high gear for a launch of its services.
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