I was attracted by the headline of a news report on 234next.com, this dawn: Commission to tackle kidnapping with technology The spate of kidnapping in the country can be curtailed by embracing the use of telecommunications technology. The acting vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) expressed this view yesterday, following the release of the four recently abducted journalists. Bashir Gwandu, addressing chief executives ... [Read more]
With over 7.4 million subscribers as of September 2009, MTN is easily Ghana's leading telecommunications network, offering mobile telephony services, Internet connectivity and more. I recently picked up an MTN "Exclusive 3G Pack" for 100 Ghana Cedis (about $69) and have used it extensively for about 14 days mainly in Accra. The information below is based on some of my experience using the mobile broadband service. The 3G pack contained: an ... [Read more]
With over 7.4 million subscribers as of September 2009, MTN is easily Ghana's leading telecommunications network, offering mobile telephony services, Internet connectivity and more. I recently picked up an MTN "Exclusive 3G Pack" for 100 Ghana Cedis (about $69) and have used it extensively for about 14 days mainly in Accra. The information below is based on some of my experience using the mobile broadband service. The 3G pack contained: an ... [Read more]
Glo Mobile is very likely to be launched in Ghana before the end of this year 2009. Having shifted their launch date severally, a launch in December 2009 seems imminent. Glo Mobile's entry into Ghana comes at a time when Ghana's mobile communications industry appears to be saturated already. For a population of about 22 million people, there are presently five active mobile telecommunications services viz: MTN, Tigo, Zain, Vodafone & ... [Read more]
Glo Mobile is very likely to be launched in Ghana before the end of this year 2009. Having shifted their launch date severally, a launch in December 2009 seems imminent. Glo Mobile's entry into Ghana comes at a time when Ghana's mobile communications industry appears to be saturated already. For a population of about 22 million people, there are presently five active mobile telecommunications services viz: MTN, Tigo, Zain, Vodafone & ... [Read more]
iPhone here, iPhone there, iPhone everything. Apple's iPhone, an Internet-connected, multimedia GSM smartphone, has become very popular globally since it was launched in the United States around June 2007. It is now the standard-bearer among keyboard-less smartphones and has inspired several very similar designs from leading mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Samsung Instinct etc. What makes iPhone most appealing to me is ... [Read more]
Operator Name: MTN - Mobile Telephone Networks (Pty) Ltd Network Name: MTN Technology: GSM 900/1800/2100, HSPA, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS (3G), HSDPA, HSUPA Network Status: Live June 1994 Subscribers: 17,428m (March 2009) Ownership: MTN Corporate Headquarters: MTN Innovation Centre, 14th Avenue Fairland, Gauteng 2195, South Africa Telephone: +27-11-912-3000 Email: mtshal_b@mtn.co.za Web Site: ... [Read more]
Operator Name: VirginMobile SouthAfrica (Pty) Ltd Network Name: Virgin Mobile Technology: GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G Network Status: Live June 2006 Subscribers: 495,000 (June 2008) Ownership: Virgin Group and Cell C Corporate Headquarters: 2nd Floor CitiGroup Building, 145 West Street Sandown, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Telephone: +27 (0) 11 676 5000 Email: CustomerCare@virginmobile.co.za Web Site: ... [Read more]
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has welcomed the decision by the European Parliament to accept the amendment of the GSM Directive to allow UMTS (WCDMA-HSPA) technology to be deployed in the 900 MHz band. The political agreement for this new move was reached by the European Parliament on 24th March 2009. According to a press release from the GSA, Mobile broadband services enabled by WCDMA-HSPA technology have been successfully ... [Read more]
In June 2005, Mobile Africa published an article in which Mr. Tayo Ajakaye raised issues (and some very valid ones too) about the quality of value added services being provided by GSM network operators (see: Value Added Services: Who Uses Them? I followed that article with a rejoinder, RE: Value Added Services: Who Uses Them?, in which I faulted Mr. Ajakaiye's argument, though I agreed with him that quality of service needed (and gasp - still ... [Read more]
