Weekly News Roundup - Africa September 21

Created By: Esther on 21-Sep-2007 12:00 AM

Africa's Investments in Undersea Cable Hit $1.4 Billion
Investments by African firms in undersea telecoms transmission cables have reached a total just over $1.4 billion.
The new figure was reached following the announcement by a Nigerian firm, Mainstreet Technologies, that it would build its own undersea cable at a cost of $300 million (mn). The project is conceived as a rival to SAT-3, a transatlantic transmission system sponsored mainly by telecoms firms led by Telkom of South Africa.

Ugandan MPs Query UCC's $40,000 Centre
MEMBERS of Parliament on the ICT committee were on Wednesday shocked to find that Uganda Communication Commission had established a $40,000 ICT centre in Fort Portal distrcit, western Uganda and handed it to a businessman free of charge. UCC reportedly established the centre in 2004 and handed it to the assistant Town Clerk, Mr Thomas Rabwoni, who runs it under Rafrisa Info Services.

Mobile Communications for Rural Homes
Ericsson the world's leading telecommunications supplier has announced that it is partnering with The Earth Institute at Columbia University to provide connectivity to the Millennium Villages project.
The partnership is designed to bring mobile communication and Internet services to approximately 400,000 people in 10 African countries where the project is being implemented. The Millennium Villages project is a community-led initiative whose aim is to lift rural African communities out of extreme poverty trapping hundreds of millions of people throughout the continent. Currently working with 79 villages of approximately 5,000 people per village, the project is tackling challenges related to agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, gender equality, business development and other vital issues.

Fight cyberbullies, schools told
Schools are being given guidance urging them to take firm action against pupils who use mobile phones and the internet to bully other children and teachers.
More than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have faced some kind of cyberbullying, according to a government study.

Big future beckons for tiny chips
The next step in the silicon industry's steadfast pursuit of ever smaller and faster chips has been unveiled.
Intel has shown off what it says are the world's first working chips which contain transistors with features just 32 billionths of a metre wide.

Uganda's Data Management System to Improve
Oracle, a United States of America based software Development Company has launched its upgraded 11G data management system in Uganda.
"Up to today we had the Oracle 10 version but this has been upgraded to 11G that has got the ability to store and manipulate unstructured data, video pictures with a good format and has got the ability to provide disaster recovery of data," said the company's senior sales consultant for Europe, Middle East and Africa Mark Ashdown.

Nigeria's Internet Registration Grows
The Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has increased the number of domain names in the country to over 3,000 in less than six months of its existence.
The chairperson of NiRA and chief executive of Amsco Telecom Limited, Mr. Ndukwe Kalu made this disclosure in Lagos in a chat, and said that this figure is expected to reach 1 million in the next 24 months.


Government mulls broadband help
The UK government is considering intervening in the way broadband is rolled out, in an effort to speed up the deployment of super-fast services.
Stephen Timms, Minister for Competitiveness, ordered a summit to look at the role of government in providing next-generation broadband.


Broadband speeds under scrutiny
Broadband speeds in the UK are much slower than advertised by internet service providers, a study by Computeractive magazine has found.
Some 3,000 readers took part in speed tests and 62% found they routinely got less than half of the top speed advertised by their provider.
It is the latest in a series of questions over the way net firms advertise broadband services.
 

IT Skill Compulsory for ICAN Members in Nigeria
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, has made Technology Competence a prerequisite for inducting its new members.
It noted in a statement that, from 2008, every graduate of ICAN is expected to acquire Information Technology skills under the Institute's Technology Competence Initiative (TCI) or show proof of such competence before he or she can be inducted.


 

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