Anthony Masunga discusses popular services, main operator challenges and money services, ahead of VAS Africa this June

Anthony Masunga, COO

Botswana Telecom

VAS Africa speaks with Anthony Masunga ahead of VAS Africa this June

VAS Africa: Please describe your company’s position and objectives in Africa

Anthony Masunga: My company (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation including beMOBILE) is evolving from single lines of business (Mobile, Fixed, Internet) into a converged operator. These changes were introduced in 2013 through organisational restructuring and will be supported by massive investment in technology to support the strategy of fixed mobile convergence. In addition to that, changes at shareholding level will involve partial privatisation of the whole company which would see the Government of Botswana listing 49% of the shares in the local Botswana Stock Exchange.

VAS Africa:  What do you think are the top 3 major trends affecting your business in the region in 2014?

Anthony Masunga: Consumer Demand: Access to Affordable, high quality internet

Capex for Fixed Access Network: Investment in the access network to improve wireline broadband connectivity vs returns

Capex for High Speed Mobile broadband (LTE and 3G): Investments in the mobile networks to improve mobile broadband experience vs. returns

VAS Africa:  Which do you consider to be the most popular services for African consumers and enterprises?

Anthony Masunga: Mobile money transfer for the consumers

VAS Africa: What are the main challenges operators need to adapt to in order to deliver attractive services to their customers?

Anthony Masunga: Truly identifying the needs of the customers (African markets differ from country to country and no single solution is fit-for-all markets)

VAS Africa:  What is the best way forward for operators and OTT players – competition or partnership?

Anthony Masunga: Partnership (Lowers opex for operators and improves time-to-market).

VAS Africa:  How are mobile money services likely to evolve in the years to come?

Anthony Masunga: More public utility companies will embrace the technology and it will be used for purchase of water, power, TV subscription and social payments.

VAS Africa:  How do you see mobile fitting into marketing and advertising campaigns?

Anthony Masunga: It will just be a cheaper and more direct form of marketing and advertising campaigns provided issues of SPAM are addressed

VAS Africa: Which companies are showing most innovation in the region and what can be learnt from them?

Anthony Masunga: First National Bank in partnership with different Mobile Networks for money transfer and payment services (e-wallet, m-wallet and payments)

See Anthony Masunga speak on the 24th June at 12:40! 

Friday News Round-Up

Hot Stories in Emerging Markets

Are the BRICS building legal barriers to social media?
http://memeburn.com/2012/04/are-emerging-markets-clamping-down-on-social-media/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+memeburncom+%28memeburn%29

Safaricom, Qualcomm team up for ‘3G Experiential Tour’
http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/04/12/safaricom-qualcomm-team-up-for-3g-experiential-tour/

4 Ways Mobile Technology Can Improve Care
http://africahealthitnews.com/blogs/?p=1191

Mideast telcos eye profit in mobile advertising
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=495061&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28

Nokia unveils ‘starter’ phone in Nigeria
http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/nokia-unveils-starter-phone-nigeria/2528/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+biztechafrica%252FCgBD+%2528BiztechAfrica+News+updates%2529

Etisalat to boost network coverage
http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/04/11/etisalat-to-boost-network-coverage/

Blog Spot
Eat Out speak at East Africa Com; hear from the Founder of the leading restaurant guide, content provider & marketing consultant for restaurants
http://comworldseries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/eat-out-speak-at-east-africa-com-hear.html

‘Makes You Think’ Video

Did You Know - Mobile Stats for Africa 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kamlf-uAHU&feature=youtu.be

Infographics of the Week
Is Mobile Africa’s Future?
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/global/share/19jan2012/mobile_africa/

Report of the Moment
Mobile Africa Report 2012
http://www.mobilemonday.net/reports/MobileAfrica_2012.pdf

Informa bullish on mobile data during the economic downturn

During my time with Informa Telecoms & Media I have not had the opportunity to consult with Mark Newman, our Chief Research Officer, anything like a regularly as I would have liked. The last time I had cause to do so was in the lead-in to December's GSM>3G Middle East conference in Dubai, at which Mark was in the Chair, sharing the stage with heavy-hitters from the likes of Etisalat, Zain, Turkcell and Nawras. At that event, all of these companies made very positive noises about mobile data services in the context of the markets which they serve.

Yesterday, in Informa's telecoms.com blog, Mark reported a general feeling of optimism around mobile data worldwide. Mark began by noting the "widely held view that the mobile content sector is failing to live up to expectations, 3G has disappointed and mobile operators have thrown away an opportunity to develop a revenue stream that could ultimately surpass the voice business."

Mark feels that "if 2008 is remembered for one thing, it should be for being the year that this notion was dispelled. Until last year, the non-voice business was dominated by SMS. For a typical European operator, SMS accounted for up to 80% of non-voice revenues in previous years. But this figure has started to fall sharply. Operators such as Vodafone are seeing non-SMS services generating up to half of non-voice revenues. Investment in 3G - or 3.5G - is now generating payback."

While pointing out the erroneous nature of the idea that North America is a laggard in terms of mobile data adoption, Mark notes that Japan and South Korea continue to be the real hotbeds of enthusiasm for data services. This has been a well-worn truism for as long as I've been attending conferences and workshops themed around boosting the acceptance and profitability of mobile content, data and value-added services. I recall being asked to take over the running of a London conference about five years ago and hearing all kinds of actors in the mobile VAS value chain complaining about revenue sharing arrangements with operators and MNOs' 'walled garden' approaches. The participants were at least 90% European and content providers and aggregators were much better represented than network operators. Everyone seemed to be casting envious glances at their Japanese and Korean counterparts, speaking warmly about how the likes of NTT DoCoMo were enabling the growth of a healthy mobile content ecosystem.

Only last week, when I was asked to make a presentation on mobile social networking at the most recent Mobile Monday Istanbul meeting, I found myself referring constantly to the greater success of some of these services in the Far East. Quoting from an Informa Telecoms & Media report, I told the Turkish audience that according to a Sydney Morning Herald article published in December 2007, half of Japan’s top 10 works of fiction are now written on mobile handsets. These works, called keitai shousetsu’, each sells an average of 400,000 copies and are written entirely on cell phones complete with emoticons and common SMS abbreviations.

Today, according to Mark Newman, the ratio of prepaid subscribers to postpaid goes a long way toward accounting for the differences among markets in mobile content adoption and usage. Postpaid subscriptions account for 99% of all subs in South Korea, 94% in Japan and 90% in the US. Mark points out that these are the countries with the highest mobile data ARPUs.

Overall, Mark feels that even if the most pessimistic scenarios for the economic downturn come to pass, it seems unlikely that the mobile content sector will stop growing. Mark points out that 2008 saw a switch to flat-rate and mobile Internet models and believes that 2009 will see this trend continue and will see the arrival of more-affordable mobile Internet devices. For Mark "the bigger uncertainty is whether mobile operators will accept a role as dumb pipes rather than continuing to invest in their own services and smart-pipe strategies. "

Today I should complete handing over my notes to colleagues who will be developing our annual Russia & CIS Com conference, set to take place in Moscow in early June. With the Russian MNOs having now deployed 3G networks in most major cities, our research respondents have expressed the desire to use the event to debate how best to accelerate the process of getting a return on these investments by encouraging customers to accept mobile data and content services.

3G Americas on LatAm region's contribution to the 4 billion global mobile subs

Just before the Christmas break, our friends at 3G Americas flagged up a historic milestone for the cellular industry, announcing that as of December 2008 there exist "4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide." Citing the number crunching of our very own market watchers at Informa Telecoms & Media, the GSM family-focused wireless industry trade association noted that this "represents 60% of the entire global population today" and that "in some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless and changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever."

The 3G Americas release goes on to quote Marisol Gomez, our LatAm region analyst, with whom I've had the pleasure of working in the last few months. Marisol says: "the Latin America and Caribbean region continues to show steady consumer growth with 16% year-on-year growth as subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million, equating to 76% penetration."

I remain keen to keep an eye on the Latin American mobile scene, not least because preparations for the next GSM Americas/Americas Com conference are well underway. As part of this, the Com World Series team is now working much more closely with our Sao Paulo-based colleagues at sister company Informa Brasil. Marisol and I have both been involved in detailed briefings designed to ensure that we harmonise our efforts with our Brazilian friends and jointly add value to an already well-established regional discussion and networking forum. We return to Rio de Janeiro for the 2009 iteration, hosting the event at the wonderful beachfront Windsor Barra Hotel 30th June-1st July.

It's gratifying to see the folks at 3G Americas continuing to cite Informa TM market information given that I've personally striven to develop further our partnership with Chris Pearson, who heads up the association and Erasmo Rojas, who leads activities in Latin America. For as long as I've been involved in our Americas event, Chris and Erasmo have jointly led a co-located 3G Americas Executive Briefing, which assembles CxO-level speakers from leading mobile carriers. We are on track to offer this feature of the conference once again in 2009, and both sides have been discussing how we can do even more to ensure that the audience maximises the opportunity to engage with the panellists and derive maximum value from their presence.

Chris and Erasmo both seem very keen that the wider conference begins to offer more insights around the roadmap for evolution towards LTE.

"Third generation technologies continue to evolve and the GSM operator today has a clear path towards LTE," stated Chris earlier this month. "In addition to the evolution to LTE by GSM operators, LTE is proving to be the technology choice for CDMA operators as well."

3G Americas quote Informa TM's estimate that there are nearly 415 million 3G subscriptions to date, with 77% share of the 3G market on UMTS/HSPA networks or 320 million connections, and the remaining 95 million on CDMA EV-DO. Our figures suggest that the number of commercial UMTS/HSPA networks has risen to 258 in more than 100 countries, including 41 networks in 20 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

"HSPA and HSPA+ will compete with any and all mobile wireless technologies available today and in the near future," concludes Chris Pearson. "In fact, recent commercial launches of HSPA+, such as that of Telstra in Australia, are reporting peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21.6 Mbps. 3G is more than capable of delivering the bandwidth customers need today, and the emerging LTE technology provides us with a clear evolution path for the future."

Turkish 3G awards: no surprises

The stalling and wrangling is finally over: the Turkish Government has awarded 3G licenses. The surprises? None.

As confirmed by today's Global Mobile Daily, the three established cellcos, Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea, all bagged licenses, raising between them a total of €822 million (US$1.04 billion) for the state coffers.

Market-leading Turkcell (55.54% of the subscriber base, according to WCIS as of Sep 2008) won the ‘A’ licence with the largest bandwidth block of 40MHz, with a bid of €358 million. Vodafone Turkey (26.56% market share) was awarded a license in the 35MHz spectrum band after paying €250 million, while third-placed operator Avea (17.90% market share) was awarded a 30MHz operating license €214 million. The auction for a fourth bid was cancelled due to a lack of suitable bidders.

The 3G licensing process will not, therefore, introduce any new MNOs onto the Turkish market, as has been the case in one European country. A Romanian 3G licence was awarded to RCS & RDS, a cable MSO and broadband service provider with no previous mobility proposition. Having launched 3G services in December 2007, RCS & RDS has now built a mobile market share of just under 4.5% according to WCIS figures.

If operators do face any new competition for subscribers in the recently-initiated era of MNP in Turkey, this will come in the form of MVNOs, which look set to enter the market at some stage in 2009. Those who track the Turkish market will not be surprised to learn that MNO, MVNE and MVNO strategies are set to be discussed at length at our Istanbul Eurasia Com conference (31 March & 1 April 2009), which will gather delegates from Caspian and Central Asian markets as well as from the host country.