[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP- AFRICA (WEEK 15)

[Mwathi Francis]

Mobile tax dominates East Africa meeting
6th April 2009

High taxes charged on mobile airtime and import duty on mobile
handsets dominated discussions at the East Africa Com meeting held in
Nairobi last week. Mobile phones can improve employment through
innovation and education among young people, and import duty and value
added tax on all mobile phones handsets should be abolished, said
Dorothy Ooko, communications manager for Nokia East Africa.

A tax waiver on mobile phones would make access to mobile phones
cheaper for citizens, enabling millions of youths to become
entrepreneurs in their communities, added Ooko. These businesses will
eventually reduce the level of unemployment and contribute to economic
growth, she said.
"Laptops and PCs are zero (tax) rated in order to increase Internet
penetration. Mobile phones are the laptops of the future in our
continent and therefore require zero rating," she added. Kenya, Uganda
and Tanzania should cut taxes on mobile phone airtime to encourage
usage and help operators weather the economic crisis, said Vitalis
Olunga, chairman of industry group GSM Africa.
http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/04/06/mobile-tax-dominates-east-africa-meeting


Helping farmers at the touch of a button
6th April 2009

The ability to correctly diagnose and treat crop diseases such as
banana wilt via mobile phone is just one of endless possibilities for
smallholder farmers if location-specific (geospatial) information were
available, according to researchers.  "A trained community worker can
input the location coordinates, take a photo of the diseased crop,
send it to our database, from which we would forward the image for
expert review and feedback," Whitney Gantt, a project officer with the
Grameen Foundation. "In addition to being able to identify a disease,
people will know what to do."

The Grameen Foundation is conducting a seven-month pilot project in
two Ugandan districts, whereby community workers collect and
disseminate information on crop acreage and projected harvests through
mobile device surveys.  In the scheme, 45 community knowledge workers
(CKWs), selected from existing farmers' groups, are trained in using
mobile devices for data collection.

Each has a mobile phone, some of which are equipped with cameras. From
a drop-down menu on the phones, the CKWs are able to enter the
required data, which is then transmitted to the foundation's database
for agricultural forecasting. The phone cost ranges from US$30 each to
$330. "It is a cost-effective method and we are also testing the three
devices to see which collects better data," Gantt said.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83805


Broadband a step closer to South Africa: West Africa Cable agreement signed
9th April 2009

South Africa’s broadband industry has received another boost with news
that a number of telecoms operators have signed a deal that will boost
capacity through the laying of an undersea around West Africa to
Europe. The West Africa Cable System (WACS) has been agreed by a
number of telecoms companies including Angola Telecom, Broadband
Infraco, Cable & Wireless, MTN Group, Portugal Telecom, Sotelco, Tata
Communications, Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom.
http://www.tradeinvestsa.co.za/news/090409_WACS_agreement_signed.htm


Botswana Parliament launches website for e-governance
3rd April 2009

The Botswana Parliament website launched on Tuesday is expected to be
used to brand the National Assembly.  Launching the website, former
Education Minister and Serowe South Member of Parliament (MP) Dr
Gaositwe Chiepe said it will also assist Parliament to communicate
better and serve its stakeholders more effectively. She said
Parliament treats its public image with care; hence it had to delay
the launch to ensure that whatever appeared on the website was
accurate and factual. "Today websites are the face of organizations
because your website can speak for you when you cannot,” she said.
"The websites are dynamic and interactive in that people will be able
to log in to the Hansard, Order Paper, Bills, Motions, Questions and
papers tabled in Parliament.
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=15&dir=2009/April/Friday3


Malawi awards 2 more mobile licences
9th April 2009

Malawi has awarded two more mobile operating licences to consortia of
local and international firms. The Malawi Communications Regulatory
Authority (Macra) chairman Thengo Maloya said in a statement that La
Cell Private and Expresso Telecom Group have been awarded the latest
licences, Reuters reported. The southern African country already has
three operators with Zain leading the pack with over 1 million
subscribers, followed by Telekom Networks Malawi, partly owned by the
Malawian government. Maloya said the additional operators were meant
to help bring down the cost of doing business in Malawi and to improve
the quality of telecommunications services.
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=666792






-- 
Francis Mwathi
Support Community Facilitator
UgaBYTES Initiatives (www.ugabytes.org)
Telecentr.org (www.telecentrecommunity.ning.com)
Tel: +256 414 370163
Mob: +256 752 995063
Skype: francis.mwathi
E-Mail: mfrancis at ugabytes.org