Convergence Partners Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, was named as TechCentral’s newsmaker of 2011 for his significant impact on South Africa’s technology sector over the past 12 months, topping an impressive list consisting of Pieter Uys, Mamodupi Mohlala, Karel Pienaar, Robert Gumede, Roy Padayachie, Lars Reichelt, Michael Jordaan, Pinky Moholi and Mteto Nyati.

According to TechCentral: “Through his Convergence Partners investment vehicle, Ngcaba launched a US$250m satellite with Intelsat (after a false start) and signed a multibillion-rand deal to build a national fibre network with Cell C and Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions.

“Ngcaba has taken to the business world like a proverbial duck to water. Executive chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, in which he also holds a sizeable investment through Convergence Partners, Ngcaba is certainly prepared to put his money where his mouth is.”

“Despite his involvement in the launch of the Intelsat New Dawn satellite and FibreCo’s plans to deploy a R5bn national fibre network consisting of up to 14 000km of fibre infrastructure, Ngcaba has stayed largely out of the media spotlight in 2011. But we’ve been tracking his activities closely and we think he’s worthy of the accolade of newsmaker of the year.”

Read more here: http://www.techcentral.co.za/sa-newsmakers-of-the-year-the-top-five/28200/

Convergence Partners successfully participated as a sponsor and exhibitor at the 14^th annual AfricaCom Conference, held in Cape Town on 9 and 10 November 2011.  AfricaCom is the largest communications conference and exhibition on the Continent, gathering together more than 5,000 telecoms decision-makers. This is the second year that Convergence Partners has exhibited at the conference.

Exhibiting on the Convergence Partners’ stand was Comsol, FibreCo, Plessey and SEACOM with each of the companies presenting their offerings in the communications infrastructure space.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, presented a keynote address titled: “The political economy – where fibre optic meets spectrum” which focused on the need for innovative and visionary regulation of the radio spectrum.

The Convergence Partners’ group was also represented by Craig Wilson, CEO of Convergence Wireless Networks, as a panelist at the WiMAX South Africa conference held alongside AfricaCom.  Arif Hussain, CEO of FibreCo presented at the Master Class as well as on a panel discussions in the Capacity and Networks stream on fibre capacity in Africa.

Although, the Convergence Partners stand focused on showcasing our infrastructure portfolio assets a number of other companies participated in the conference including, Gemalto, Intelsat New Dawn and Dimension Data.

A highlight of the conference was SEACOM in partnership with Main ONE winning the award for most innovative infrastructure project of 2011 at the AfricaCom Awards.

The International Institute of Communications (IIC) announced on 3 October 2011, the launch of a South African IIC chapter.  The announcement was made at their annual conference held in Johannesburg. The theme of the conference, co-hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), is: “Trends in Global Communications: Making Digital Society a Universal Reality.”

The IIC is an independent non-profit global membership organization devoted to the study of policy and regulatory issues in the communications and media industries worldwide.

Convergence Partners Investments and Dimension Data Middle East and Africa Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, will serve as honorary chairman for the inaugural year of the chapter. Other participants of the steering committee will include amongst others: Andrew Barendse, Group Executive Regulatory at Telkom SA; Square Kilometre Array SA project manager, Bernie Fanaroff; Rhodes University Head of Media Studies, Professor Guy Berger; and former ICASA chairman Mandla Langa.

The South African chapter is designed to provide a forum for industry players, academics and senior government policy-makers to engage and debate trends in the telecommunications, broadcasting and new media sectors in the country and region.

Article in ITWeb

FibreCo Telecommunications (“FibreCo”), a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions, announced the awarding of a contract for construction of its nation-wide open-access fibre optic network. FibreCo’s objective is to facilitate affordable and reliable high-speed Internet access for South African citizens and businesses.

The initial phase of FibreCo’s development will result in the creation of 2,300 direct and indirect job opportunities. FibreCo will also facilitate the training of at least 100 fibre optic technicians who will be involved during construction and maintenance of the network in all provinces along its route. Furthermore, FibreCo will make heavily subsidized fibre capacity available to academic and research institutions, enabling greater innovation in the use of information and technology.

FibreCo’s total investment will amount to R5 billion.

The Company envisages the development of a national network stretching over 12,000 km. Phase 1 involves linking up Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban as well as the East and West coast submarine cable landing stations.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of FibreCo, said: “This landmark investment will provide affordable, reliable and fast Internet access to ordinary South Africans.”

FibreCo proudly announced that they have awarded the contract to ZTE for the network construction and supply of technology equipment. ZTE is China’s largest publicly listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions. Work on the initial leg of Phase 1 is already underway, which is a 1,900 km link between Johannesburg and Cape Town via the Free State and Eastern Cape valued at R1 billion.

FibreCo has also signed capacity purchase agreements with its first 3 clients for the Johannesburg-Cape Town route, namely BT, Cell C and Internet Solutions, allowing them ownership of fibre infrastructure and the ability to build bespoke optical transmission networks.

Arif Hussain, CEO of FibreCo, commented: “We are delighted to welcome BT, a client with a truly global brand, to the FibreCo network alongside Cell C and Internet Solutions, who have been valued partners since inception. On the strength of these contracts, coupled with the financial backing of our shareholders, we have secured the necessary funding”.

FibreCo Press Release

Article from ITWeb

Article from MyBroadband

Article from TechCentral

On 22 April 2011
Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced that Arianespace successfully launched the Intelsat New Dawn satellite. The Ariane 5 vehicle lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:37 p.m. (EDT), followed by spacecraft separation from the launch vehicle at 6:12 p.m. and signal acquisition at 6:29 p.m.
The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is owned by a joint venture between a consortium led by Convergence Partners and Intelsat. The satellite’s 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz transponder units are designed specifically to supply critical communications infrastructure for African customers, who have experienced exceptional growth along with the development of the region.
Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8° East, Intelsat New Dawn will be ideally positioned to serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver new capacity for voice, wireless backhaul, fixed line and wireless infrastructure, broadband and media– the fastest growing satellite-based applications in Africa.
Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, said, “The satellite will not only deliver crucial services specifically tailored for Africa, it will also herald the dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater involvement in the space communications industry.”
Intelsat New Dawn is the first of eight satellites slated for launch over the next two years and is part of the largest satellite program in Intelsat’s history. The investment program is expected to provide enhanced high-powered capacity to Intelsat’s global fleet. Intelsat’s next launch is expected to be the Intelsat 18 satellite, slated for later in 2011.

Intelsat New Dawn Launch Press Release

Read article from MyBroadband

Read article from News24

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Read article from Finacial Mail

On Friday 25 February 2011, Communications Minister Roy Padayachie met with the leaders of 30 of SA’s top ICT players to discuss cooperation between government and private sector in order to create jobs and enhance growth. Chairman of Convergence Partners and Dimension Data, Andile Ngcaba, attended the roundtable discussions, which were aimed at developing a 2020 vision for the South African ICT sector.  Andile noted that applications and software are central to the ICT ecosystem and that opportunities exist for innovation and development in these fields. The potential for job creation opportunities would also arise from the production of new set top boxes, required for migration to digital television signal distribution in South Africa.

Andile Ngcaba said: “The conversation that has been started between the Ministry and the ICT industry is encouraging and key in building a strong ICT industry in South Africa.  Out of this dialogue, it became clear that in order for South Africa to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by the emergence of the new ICT ecosystem, it would be critical to have in place pervasive and accessible broadband infrastructure and undertake a concerted effort to up skill our human resources to ensure sustainable and quality job creation in South Africa.”

Vacancies to be filled in six months

Who attend Padayachie Roundtable

ICT panel to tackle jobs

The R250bn pot

The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is scheduled to be launched on 29 March 2011 from Arianespace’s launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Intelsat New Dawn is the first ever African private sector communications satellite.

A joint-venture between a consortium led by Convergence Partners and Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, the New Dawn satellite and its 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz transponder units are designed specifically to supply critical communications infrastructure for African customers. Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8 degrees East, Intelsat New Dawn will be ideally positioned to serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver wireless backhaul, broadband and media content – the fastest growing satellite-based applications in Africa.

Delivered on time and within the originally announced $250 million budget, the Intelsat New Dawn venture has been approximately 90% funded from African sources. The Convergence Partners consortium also includes strategic shareholder Altirah Telecoms and the not-for-profit Convergence Partners Foundation.

When placed into service in the second quarter of 2011, Intelsat New Dawn will address the capacity backlog faced by African wireless telecom operators, broadband service providers, corporate network service providers and media operators who have experienced exceptional growth along with the economic development of the region. Customers contracting for capacity in advance of launch are the leading communications services providers in the region, including Vodacom International Ltd, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Ltd, Bharti Airtel (originally contracted through Celtel Nigeria) and Gilat Satcom.

Thierry Guillemin, Chief Technical Officer of Intelsat, said, “With manufacturing of the satellite now concluding, our team transitions its focus to the launch mission in French Guiana. We will conduct tests on-site as the final preparations for this historic satellite are completed.”

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, said, “With a launch slot secured for Intelsat New Dawn, we are now on the cusp of seeing this landmark venture become a reality. The project has been in development for five years, with the last two-and–a-half focusing on construction. When launched, the satellite will not only deliver crucial services specifically tailored for Africa, it will also herald the dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater involvement in the space communications industry.”

Commissioned in December 2008 and built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, the hybrid C-band/Ku- band satellite will be operated and marketed as a part of the global Intelsat fleet, bringing to 22 the number of Intelsat satellites serving Africa. Arianespace was selected as the launch partner and will use the most powerful version in the Ariane 5 range, the Ariane 5 ECA (Cryogenic Evolution type A), for this dual payload mission of the Intelsat New Dawn and Yahsat 1A telecommunications satellites. The Ariane 5 launcher for the Intelsat New Dawn satellite recently arrived at the Spaceport in French Guiana, where it is being readied for the mission.

For more details on Intelsat New Dawn and to view frequent updates leading up to the launch, please visit www.intelsatnewdawn.com.

About Intelsat New Dawn

Initially announced in December 2008, the US$250 million project is funded approximately 15% with equity and 85% with debt. African institutions are providing approximately 90% of the total financing required for the joint venture and Intelsat will contribute the balance. Nedbank Capital, part of the Nedbank Group (one of South Africa’s largest banking groups) and a leading telecom project financier in South Africa, has arranged the non-recourse debt financing. A consortium of lenders including Nedbank, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa and the African Development Bank will provide the debt funding. The equity is provided by Intelsat (74.9%) and the Convergence Partners- led group (25.1%), which also includes Altirah Telecoms and the not-for-profit Convergence Partners Foundation.

Read more here!

New Dawn press release 16 Feb 2011 FINAL

BusinessDay Article

IT Online Article

Techcentral Article

Business Wire Article

MyBroadband Article

News Clip

Engineering News

Tax incentives, a job-creation fund and digital TV migration are heralding a golden opportunity for the South African information, communications and technology (ICT) industry, according to the Chairman of Convergence Partners and Executive Chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa.

Speaking after President Jacob Zuma delivered his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Thursday, Ngcaba said the measures announced meant that companies could confidently roll out infrastructure such as fibre-optic cables to improve connectivity in the country.

“The country needs thousands of kilometres of cable in order to improve connectivity as more and more undersea cables land,” he said.

Zuma announced three measures that would help create five million jobs over the next 10 years. These were: the R9-billion job-creation scheme, R20 billion in incentives and tax breaks aimed mainly at manufacturing; and R10 billion from the Industrial Development Corporation.

“Then the President also announced that the country would go ahead with digital TV migration that is a wonderful opportunity for the sector,” Ngcaba said.

SA is converting its national broadcast system from an aged analogue service to digital.

“This means that set-top boxes will have to be made here and there is a whole manufacturing plan,” Ngcaba said.

He said at least R10million households would have to have these devices installed. I-Net Bridge.

See attached article

The Convergence Partners stand was a hive of activity for the duration of the event (especially when our gorgeous ladies served up some great cocktails at the end of day 1). Companies in the Convergence Partners stand that were formally exhibiting at AfricaCom included Seacom, Convergence Wireless Networks (comprising WiA and Intra), Intelsat New Dawn Satellite Project, Plessey, Comsol, Integrat, Skillpod Media, Bloodhound, Inala, Convergence Border Management Solutions, as well as the Convergence Partners Foundation.

AfircaCom also coincided with the media launch of Convergence Partners’ latest project, FibreCo (see below blog).

The main themes discussed at the conference this year centred around:

• infrastructure sharing and managed services – in light of declining ARPUs, operators are seeking significant cost reduction models;
• rural connectivity – the next major untapped market, although sustainable, scalable models remain challenging; and
• the continuing shift from voice services (still the majority of the industry revenue base) to data and VAS, driven by the proliferation of broadband hungry smartphones.

Skillpod Media CEO Mark van Diggelen said: “AfricaCom was SkillPod Media’s first exposure to a mobile / telco trade event, we used it to showcase our new online and mobile platforms and experienced resoundingly positive feedback from the industry, resulting in a number of key contacts been met, with whom discussions have started. Further to this the professionalism of the Convergence stand drew in a plethora of delegates, all interested in better understanding the services on offer by SkillPod, again resulting in a lot of contacts being made with industry players, wishing to provide services to our overall offering and make use of a number of our services for their solutions. Overall the event was a resounding success, in that our new solutions were warmly received, we managed to network with key contacts, either at the stand or at the various networking events and more so we interacted with a number of key industry players that highlighted a number of opportunities, that we’d previously never considered.

According to Darren Morgan, Head of Sales at Comsol, “AfricaCom was a wonderful experience this year, it’s always great to be under one roof with all the peers of your industry. It’s rare to have all vendors, suppliers, integrators and customers from a certain industry in the same place at the same time and this certainly makes the event a memorable one. This year we were lucky enough to share a stand with fellow companies involved with the Convergence Partners family and that certainly added to the event for us.  A fantastic experience all round”.

Integrat Director, Leonard Cremer said: “The Convergence stand was a great initiative and Integrat will definitely be joining again next year. Integrat not only benefited by exhibiting at the show but also believes it extracted real value from the networking between the Convergence companies”.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2011!

See attached pics