Should we expect anything at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit.

image credit: vicfallscarnival.com

These are some of the concerns that are supposed to be addressed over the next few days at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit 2015 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Starting tomorrow and leading up to the 16th of April 2015, a number of decision-makers in the public and private sector from 50 countries will be meeting to compare notes and listen to the presentations related to these issues.

The Ministry of ICT, as the Summit’s key partner, has thrown its full weight behind Zimbabwe’s hosting of this summit and as can be expected,  its core objective will be showcasing local ICT. There’s a lot that will be touched including, cloud computing realities, Rural Telephony and its impact in the African tech space, Fibre to the Home (FTTH), iInfrastructure Outsourcing Policy and LTE.

Will there be any productive dialogue from all of this? It’s hard to say actually. The skeptic in me doesn’t want to see this is anything more than just a huge networking opportunity (you know, the one benefit always slapped onto any gathering) at an awesome tourist destination.

Like any other public/private sector indaba, there’s a lot laid out on the menu. Issues that have a direct impact on the industry are always brought up and very impressive presentations are made to give everyone an idea of where we are and in some sense where we should be going.

Whether this formula will translate into direct problem-solving is another matter altogether. Like any other Zimbabwean (and indeed African) who’s heard about this Summit, I’m really interested in knowing how it will have a tangible contribution to what we hope to see ICT doing for our economies.

Who knows, maybe this innovation Africa Digital Summit and the knowledge sharing there might go a long way in helping add clarity to the formulation of the National ICT Policy that we are waiting for earnestly.

For more info visit: www.techzim.co.zw

TelOne launches its $36 Fibre to the Home service along with WiFi hotspots

picture courtesy of TelOne website

A few days ago  l spoke about TelOne’s new corporate identity and how the telecoms operator would be launching a couple of new products at an official corporate event.

TelOne Fibre To The Home (FTTH)

The star product has been the new TelOne Fibre to The Home offering. Initial deployment will be in Harare in areas like Mt Pleasnt Heights, Westgate, Madokero, Ruwa and Zimre Park. According to TelOne these areas have the capacity to connect over 15,000 homes. The TelOne FTTH has also been crossed over to Norton, Zvishavane and Ngezi.

What’s the cost?

picture courtesy of TechZim website

There are 3 packages available. The entry package, dubbed the

 Starter Package,

 priced at $36 with speeds of up to 5 Mbps and a download cap of 20 GB. This

goes head to head with the ZOL Fibroniks package set at $39.

The Boost Package

is set at $70 for speeds of up to 10 Mbps and a download cap of 50 GB.

The Intense Package

  is the leader of the pack with unlimited downloads and is pegged at $118 with speeds of up to 20 Mbps. Installation of fibre will set you back $50.

TelOne Metro City WiFi Hotspots

TelOne has introduced WiFi hotspots around the city of Harare and 10 sites have been cited as being online already. These sites are

• Mupedzanhamo
• TelOne Centre for Learning
• Julius Nyerere Way
• Runhare House
• Cleveland House
• Roadport/ Amtec
• Montagu Heights
• TelOne Shop Harare Showgrounds
• TelOne Shop Joina City
• TelOne Shop Borrowdale

The Metro City WiFi project is being rolled to other parts of Zimbabwe, but, just like the FTTH we are yet to get definitive dates on when this will show up in other corners of Zimbabwe.

For more info visit: www.techzim.co.zw

                                www.telone.co.zw

Telone-to-launch-new-identity-citywide-wifi-and-fibre-packages-tomorrow

picture courtesy of TelOne website

This is a bit of a challenge for an operator like TelOne that has the distinction of being the Number 1 only local provider of ADSL broadband in an environment where the internet is experienced through mobile phones first, and fixed internet also means WiMAX solutions from every other competitor.

To its credit, TelOne has been trying a lot to adapt to everything around it. The highlight of all this will be showcased tomorrow evening. TelOne is unveiling two new products along with a new corporate identity.

According to information from reliable sources, TelOne is introducing its network of WiFi hot spots around Harare, dubbed Metro City WiFi. These WiFi hot spots are meant to give TelOne an access point to mobile broadband subscribers that already form a clear majority of internet users in Zimbabwe.

The second new product will be the TelOne Fibre to the Home (FTTH) service that has been a major focus of TelOne’s efforts of being an Internet-First operator.

picture courtesy of TechZim website

The new brand identity is what TelOne has been teasing in print adverts this past week and will be represented by a new logo that we will see for the first time tomorrow night.

No doubt all of this sounds exciting for a host of reasons. The Fibre to the Home product is coming into a market that is being led by Liquid and ZOL, the force behind the ZOL Fibroniks package that is meant to make Fibre a reality for Zimbabweans with a $39 entry package as well as the most extensive fibre network in the country whose density is remarkable when compared to other countries in Africa.

TelOne currently sits on the second largest fibre network in Zimbabwe and has been offering somewhat reasonable pricing for its ADSL package. The hope is that this same competitiveness will extend to its fibre service.

At the same time, the Metro City WiFi service gives TelOne a shot at competing with mobile telecoms operators, something that it hasn’t been able to execute with a mobile network operator licence that it never used.

Hopefully TelOne will compete aggressively in terms of service delivery and not just pricing.

See more at: http://www.techzim.co.zw

                   http://www.telone.co.zw

PAYMENTS VIA ECOCASH AND TELECASH SUSPENDED

picture courtesy of MultiChoice Zim

DStv Zimbabwe has just announced that it has suspended payments through mobile money serviceEcoCash, something that ought to put a damper on any attempts at beating holiday queues through m-commerce convenience.

According to a post published on the DStv Facebook page, this temporary disruption has been caused by technical challenges and it is indefinite. In responses to questions asked in the comments section of the Facebook post, DStv Zimbabwe also pointed out that payments through Telecash are also suspended. This means that payment through the Telecash GoldCard and the EcoCash Master Card aren’t possible as well.

The only mobile money option that is still working is financial institution CABS’ Textacash, an option that might provide relief to its 300,000 plus subscriber base but still leaves the bulk of mobile money subscribers who use EcoCash and Telecash in a fix.

The traditional payment options, that is the financial institutions like CBZ Bank, NMB Bank, ZB Bank, Stanbic, Standard Chartered, Steward Bank, FBC Bank, Met Bank, CABS and POSB (and are now ironically becoming the alternative solutions) are still available. The biggest frustration there is the fact that banks aren’t as flexible in terms of operating hours, something that rules out payment over the holidays like Easter that starts tomorrow.

Still, if you have made a payment via Textacash and want to follow up n it this holiday, DStvZimbabwe walk-ins will be open on Saturday until 2pm and there is the call centre option that you can access until 5pm.

For more info visit: www.multichoicezimbabwe.co.zw

                                    www.techzim.co.zw

UNLIMITED IS BACK!

picture courtesy of powertel website

Remember how local InternetService Provider, Powertel, made the biggest pricing mistake in telecoms last year when it scrapped its superstar unlimited package and opted to introduce a usage-based system instead. Well, the ISP seems to be fighting for customers’ attention with its new unlimited package.

There’s a bit of a monish to this new unlimited package which has been dubbed the Weekly Fiesta Mobile Broadband Promo. First, it’s not as spectacular as the old unlimited package.

It only allows you unlimited browsing during off-peak hours (8pm to 6am), like the off-peak unlimited browsing option introduced by uMax last year. There is also a set number of days you get this unlimited window, based on which data plan you choose. The table below gives a breakdown.

Search:

DATA PLAN COST ($USD) UNLIMITED BROWSING DURATION

100 MB 2.50 1 day

500 MB 12.50 3 days

1 GB 23.00 7 days

2 GB 39.00 14 days

Showing 1 to 4 of 4 entries

According to Powertel, downloads will be enabled for the unlimited browsing window, and even if you burn through your actual data during peak periods you will still have access to the unlimited browsing window.

Apparently Powertel is trying to increase its value proposition to its subscriber base that felt cheated when it killed its unlimited offering that, for a while, stood out as the most cost efficient access to unlimited internet.

While it’s too late to say whether this is going to be huge hit with Powertel subscribers that stayed on or if it will be enough to lure back the ones that deflected to other ISPs, it does seem like a step in the right direction.

However, with services like ZOL Fibroniks coming in at $39, the market is changing rapidly and Powertel has to really ramp up its value offering. It still has to compete on aspects like the amount of data offered, coverage and the speeds, so solving the price puzzle is just one aspect to consider.

For more info visit www.powertel.co.zw

                                   www.techzim.co.zw

MULTI-CHOICE REDUCES PRICES

picture courtesy of TechZim

With effect from the 1st of May 2015, the prices of all DStv packages will be drastically reduced. Some packages like HD PVR Premium, DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus have been reduced by 40% while DStv Access, DStv Family and DStv Compact have been reduced by 15%. This means that you can access SuperSport for only $33 a month! The Xtra View Access Fee remains unchanged.

It’s a climb down from the price increases that were announced last month and have been put into effect today. The new price structure is reflected in the table below.

Bouquet	Current Monthly Price($US)	New Monthly Price ($US)
Access	11	9
Family	21	18
Compact	32	27
Compact Plus	55	33
Premium	81	48
HD PVR Premium	92	55
Xtra View Access Fee	11	11

In a press statement, MultiChoice has mentioned how this action was a response to the massive backlash that the Naspers owned entity received from its consumers throughout Africa when it effected its annual price increase.

Locally, Zimbabwean consumers weren’t amused, and there was an avalanche of complaints from affected parties. In countries like Zambia, thousands of DStv subscribers even went as far as signing a petition, and in West Africa, some governments were called on by their citizens to reign in MultiChoice for monopolistic behaviour.

While this seems like a logical reason for the price reduction, it looks like MultiChoice is actually preparing for a more competitive environment. A lot of entertainment options have popped up in the past few years but have failed to really disrupt the dominance DStv has in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa.

Now, the landscape is changing. The rapid rollout of fibre, coupled with entrants like VOD providers in the form of Aflix TV and iROKO has meant that people are relying less and less on one provider of entertainment. In the case of Zimbabwe, we have Econet at advanced stages of the launch of its ipidi service and with digital migration all but complete, there’s going to be an improvement in entertainment from state broadcaster ZBC, with its 6 channels and Web TV.

The good news about this is that while MultiChoice braces itself for competition, DStv has just gotten so much more affordable.

 And this turned out to be a lie....HAPPY FOOLS DAY! 

For more info visit www.techzim.co.zw