Howard Earley, COO of Plessey, a Convergence Partners investee says that Plessey has identified the opportunities that exist and need for a next-generation service provider with the ability to build the infrastructure required by the fast growing communications industry.

He says that Plessey is well positioned to fulfill this role due it being able to:

• provide a comprehensive, solution themselves, thereby providing a broad, modular range of telecommunications solutions that keep pace with and can be very precisely mapped to the new opportunities opening up to customers;  and
• call, where relevant, on the global consulting and solutions design experience and capability of their parent company, Dimension Data, and also on the carrier, connectivity, and communications specialisations within Internet Solutions

The result of this unique positioning is that Plessey and Dimension Data are being commissioned to, respectively, project-manage the laying of fibre and provide the equipment to light up the fibre.

Article from ITWeb

Convergence Partners investee, Seacom, reports that, in 2012, it will upgrade its East African submarine cable and increase capacity to meet rising demand from the African continent.

In addition, Seacom will be expanding its core backhaul routes, such as the network between Johannesburg and Mtunzini, in KwaZulu-Natal, and the Marseilles to London cable.

Seacom CEO Mark Simpson says the operator’s network expansion plans and growth strategy will parallel Africa’s increasing telecommunications demand.

“What has become clear is that we must continue to expand its reach and performance. In fact, participation with other cable systems on the East and West African coasts signals the evolution of the Seacom network,” he says.

The Seacom submarine fibre-optic network system was launched on July 23, 2009, and serves to directly connect South Africa and East Africa with Europe and Southern Asia, covering a distance of over 17 000 km.

In July, Seacom and US-based digital optical network equipment supplier Infinera Corp, successfully trialled five 100 Gb/s channels of coherent optical transmission over a distance of 1 732 km using Infinera’s phototonic integrated circuits.

Simpson confirmed that the Infinera technology enables seamless upgrades from existing 10 Gb/s networks without having to upgrade the underlying fibre infrastructure. This will provide Seacom’s land-based network in South Africa with a total capacity of over 8 Tb/s per fibre an effective tenfold increase on its current capacity. This is in line with Seacom’s plans to expand the marine portion of the cable to over 4.8 Tb/s.

Article from Engineering News

SEACOM and MAIN One, the only two privately funded and open-access based African submarine fibre optic cable systems, were awarded “Best Pan African Initiative” at the AfricaCom Awards 2011 ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa, last week. The award recognises an initiative taken by an organisation or a group of organisations to improve telecommunications services at a regional or continental level.

Main One Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke, explained: “Through this partnership, Main One and SEACOM have extended their individual cable systems to the opposite coasts of Africa without the efforts required to construct brand new routes.

“The ability to connect the east and west coast of the continent directly results in improved throughput but also provides a system around most of the continent which provides improved redundancy for telecommunications operators.”

Commenting on the award, Mark Simpson, SEACOM CEO, said: “We are honoured to be recognised once again for our efforts in continuously extending pan-African connectivity by investing in infrastructure, products and services that meet the continent’s insatiable demand for bandwidth.

“This partnership shows our determination to find viable ways to extend our system with partners who share our vision of building the African Internet on an open and equitable basis.”

In addition, MTN South Africa received awards for the ‘Best Network Improvement’, for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) pilot test in Gauteng province, and ‘Best Marketing Campaign (dubbed Bow Wow) for MTN Zone.

MTN South Africa’s Chief Marketing Officer, Serame Taukobong said: “MTN is ecstatic to have once again gained this important recognition. These awards go to thousands of MTN employees, our partners and customers who shared the MTN vision with us and ensured that our objectives are realised.

“The accolades are further affirmation from the industry and our customers that we are on the right track and need to cement the work we have been doing to provide our customers with the seamless experience they have come to expect from MTN.”

Article in Seacom website

The Guardian Nigeria

Gadget Magazine

SEACOM, the pan-African ICT enabler, announced the appointment of Mark Simpson as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with effect 5 September 2011. Brian Herlihy, the current CEO, will remain with the company as a member of the Board and take on the new role of Executive Director where he will focus on strategic projects essential for SEACOM’s continued success.

An industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, Mark Simpson has held a number of senior international executive positions during his career, most recently as President and CEO of Pacific Crossing, a company operating a trans-Pacific cable system between the United States and Japan. He was also Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Asia Netcom (now Pacnet) and CEO of C2C Pte Ltd, Asia’s then largest cable system.

Commenting on his appointment, Mark Simpson said: “The SEACOM system has changed the African ICT landscape and I am pleased to be joining a market shaping company with a firm plan to evolve its core infrastructure and lead Africa into the next stage of ICT growth.

“It is a great opportunity to come to a company with a great team that has accomplished so much already and set out a clear strategic plan going forward. I look forward to working cooperatively with Brian, who has meant so much to SEACOM.”

Simpson will be responsible for leading SEACOM into a new era of data-based projects and growth assisted by Herlihy. In addition he will bring to bear his operational know-how in developing and running a best-in-class quality of service international network and ensuring that SEACOM’s customers are well served by its network, products and services.

In his new capacity as Executive Director, Brian Herlihy will retain a key role in the strategic direction of the company focusing on maximizing development opportunities and network deployment.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board. His experience will contribute considerably to securing SEACOM’s efforts to consistently improve network operations while maintaining our position of being first to market with new products.

“Mark’s extended experience ensures that SEACOM can leapfrog technology evolutions and develop a best-in-class pan-African solution.

“I am confident that our cooperation will provide me the capacity to pursue the correct partnerships necessary for SEACOM’s vision to truly lead the development of the African Internet,” concluded Brian Herlihy.

SEACOM Press Release

Read more here!

Article from Engineering News

Article from TechCentral

Convergence Partners investee company, Seacom has signed a master services agreement with Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM), the leading telecommunications service provider in Mozambique, which gives it access to the largest and most distributed fibre optic network in Mozambique as well as a diverse route into Zimbabwe and additional border presence into Malawi and South Africa.

Through this agreement, customers in Zimbabwe are able to interconnect to the Seacom system in Maputo via Mutare. This additional route through Mozambique complements Seacom’s existing route through South Africa via Beit Bridge and provides Zimbabwean customers with resiliency and redundancy.

Brian Herlihy, Seacom CEO, comments: “This agreement with TDM demonstrates our commitment to partner with established players to improve the range of service to customers while continuously expanding the reach of Seacom’s low cost services into land-locked countries across the region.”

Currently, more than a dozen countries across the African continent have access to Seacom’s low cost products and services via its extended network.

Article in Seacom website

Article in ItOnline

Convergence Partners investee company Integrat continues its strategic role in the industry via the election of its Operations Director, Dieter van Rooyen, to the WASPA management committee for the 2011/12 term. WASPA is the Wireless Application Service Providers Association, a self-regulating body that governs mobile telecommunications value added services.

Integrat has been a member of WASPA since its inception in 2004 and has served on the management committee for two terms, says Norman Parkin, Integrat CEO, who has stepped down from the WASPA management committee.

Integrat has been operating in the mobile space since 2001 as a wireless application service provider (WASP) aggregator. “As a self-regulating body, industry members need to get involved with setting policy and ongoing regulation, says Van Rooyen. “I am looking forward to providing a valuable contribution; as one of the largest aggregators in the industry, it is in our interest to be hands-on in order to continually protect our customers and the consumers.”

Compliance has become a central part of value added services. WASPA has a very mature Code of Conduct, but new challenges arise, for example, with the imminent implementation of the Consumer Protection Act. “This will be one of the biggest challenges facing the WASPA management committee in the following 12 months, says Van Rooyen. Industry bodies need to align their existing policies to meet the requirements of the new Act; it is going to significantly change the landscape.”

Integrat is committed to serving WASPA and strives to continually improve the quality of service that its members provide to consumers.

Read more here!

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

FibreCo Telecommunications (“FibreCo”), a partnership between Cell C, Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners, announced today that it will be developing an open-access long-haul terrestrial fibre optic broadband network as an answer to the need for national transmission infrastructure to meet the nation’s aspirations for world-class broadband connectivity.

FibreCo brings the ability to fund, deploy and manage a cost-effective high speed long-haul fibre network which will support the explosive growth in bandwidth requirements of the country anticipated over the coming years.

Construction of the network will follow a three-phase approach and ultimately will cover a total distance in excess of 12,000km. The initial phase will focus on rolling out a 4,500km redundant core ring linking Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban to international cable landing stations within two years.

Cell C’s extensive national wireless network will provide the platform for the co-location of optical transmission equipment at their base stations as well as wireless access solutions for FibreCo’s customers. Through Internet Solutions, FibreCo has access to deep capabilities in the delivery of value-added networking solutions into the enterprise market, including facilities for the hosting of its customers optical termination equipment in urban centres. Convergence Partners contributes unmatched expertise in the development and financial structuring of large scale telecommunications infrastructure projects.

FibreCo is building a state-of-the-art managed network to deliver the most efficient route combinations and services to its customers, through the deployment of its own fibre optic cable and related infrastructure, as well as through partnerships or strategic alliances with other infrastructure providers wherever appropriate.

Lars P. Reichelt, CEO of Cell C, said:

“FibreCo’s objective is to completely transform the dynamics of SA’s broadband sector by building and managing a long-haul national fibre-optic transmission network on an open-access model.

“By enabling a step change in the affordability of true high-speed connectivity for customers across South Africa, FibreCo is aiming to have a strong positive socio-economic impact for the country by improving the overall broadband experience for users and the competitiveness of both the public and private sectors.”

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners said:

“Whilst the cost of international transmission has dropped significantly since 2009 with the arrival of new undersea fibre networks, national transmission in South Africa still accounts for a very significant proportion of telecommunications costs to end users and constitutes a critical bottleneck to ordinary citizens and businesses.

“Through its open-access pricing model, FibreCo will effectively transfer the significant economies of scale inherent in fibre-optic networking technologies to its customers, paving the way for lower broadband access costs for end users, improvements in communications service quality and innovation and enhanced regional connectivity.

Derek Wilcocks, MD of Internet Solutions said:

“FibreCo’s approach will maximize the opportunities afforded by the massive increase in international bandwidth capacity coming to SA’s shores via undersea cables over the next couple of years and allow South African businesses and end-users to fully experience the opportunities created by the rapid advances in voice, video and broadband computer applications worldwide.”

FibreCo is based in Johannesburg, with a full management team headed up by Arif Hussain. The FibreCo team comprises experienced professionals in telecommunications, project management and strategy.

See attached press release

Read more here

Comsol reports that wireless 
telecoms networks and their maintenance are a growing focus among private clients, as the costs of owning and maintaining a private network soar.

Large companies across many vertical markets, especially mining operators, are increasingly looking to wireless networks to provide communications solutions between different parts of the organisation. This is in part owing to capital still being difficult to raise in the uncertain and volatile post-
recession period, the company says.

Comsol sales manager Darren Morgan says that wireless communications networks provide a reliable alternative to laying wires for a similar network. Wireless networks provide high-speed connections, reduced maintenance and are able to cover large distances in remote areas.

Morgan notes that, in the realm of wireless communications, the greatest threat to hardware life-cycle costs is technological advances. 
This often prompts whole networks to be upgraded before the hardware has reached the end of its service life, owing to it being technologically inferior. This is why Comsol offers fully managed services, where equipment is owned by Comsol and the service it provides is offered on an operating expenditure basis.

Morgan explains that the older technology would then be redeployed elsewhere, or redis-
tributed through Comsol’s retail outlets. The client’s network will be upgraded, while the service fees will be increased in relation to the speed of the new network.

Comsol offers a wide range of implementation and maintenance contracts, tailored to specific client needs. Morgan says that clients may choose to own the network hardware, and contract Comsol to perform maintenance. 
Clients have access to a 24/7 call centre to report any failures, the company reports.

Clients may also opt for a comprehensive solution, where Comsol owns the wireless network, and installs and maintains it to client specifications. Such networks are typically under constant surveillance from a remote control office. Technicians monitor all 
aspects of the network, including energy management, hardware cooling and availability, 
and regular maintenance is carried out.

An advantage in opting for this contract is that clients do not incur the 
depreciation of the hardware, and are not responsible for maintaining the network, Comsol states.

“Mines favour our networks, owing to commercial telecommunications operators usually not having networks in the often rural settings in which they 
operate.

“By using their own network, miners are able to reduce the number of connections to commercial communications service providers, by communicating 
internally over vast distances,” he explains.

While wireless networks can be deployed almost instantaneously, a number of contractors involved with the construction of State-owned power utility Eskom’s new coal-fired Medupi power station needed a quick and reliable communications network, from Gauteng to the Limpopo site.

“We are currently able to provide about 60 contractors with independent, reliable wireless communications networks. Individual networks were implemented, so that contractors do not have to contend among themselves for the available bandwidth,” he explains.

The company also reports being involved in the design, construction and maintenance of a 
1 200-km link in Kenya. Morgan notes that, given the vast distances involved in the link, the use of a wireless network reduces the amount of maintenance needed, 
when compared with those of conventional systems.

“The amount of paperwork, in the form of applications to local authorities and to acquire land rights, is also 
reduced, resulting in faster implementation times,” he says.

Further, Comsol reports that it maintains aggressive service level agreements (SLAs) that 
ensure speedy service delivery. The company has a number of 
offices spread across South Africa to reduce its response times to failures, as agreed in its rigorous SLAs.

“On average, the company achieves a seven-hour response time to failures at some of our most remote clients.

“Should we fail to deliver on our SLAs, we have agreed to
severe penalties,” he says.

See attached link

Convergence Partners, together with investees Seacom, Integrat, SkillPod, Comsol, Inala, Bloodhound, Convergence Wireless Networks, New Dawn and Convergence Border Management Solutions will be exhibiting at Africa Com 2010 at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town on the 10^th and 11^th of November 2010.  We will also be profiling the Convergence Partners Foundation and the great work it has done in 2010. AfricaCom is the largest Pan-African industry event in Africa, with more than 4000 attendees from more than 200 operator companies across Africa.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, will be speaking in the afternoon Keynote Session on the 10^th of November on “Assessing the Investment Climate in Africa’s Telecommunications Markets”.

More details on the conference can be found on http://africa.comworldseries.com/

Come hear Andile speak and visit our stand!

See attached AfricaCom brochure