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Tag: value-added-services

  • ADVERTORIAL: Record-breaking Attendance Expected At East Africa Com


    More than 600 telco leaders are due to attend East Africa’s premier learning and networking event which gets underway on Wednesday.

    East Africa Com is a two-day, multi-streamed conference with a 40+ stand networking exhibition.

    The conference is the only event to represent the East African region and evolved from the highly successful GSM>3G World Series.

    Any biz-news subscribers taking the opportunity to reserve last-minute tickets will receive a 25 per cent discount (details below).

    Among the speaker panel of 37 are 19 operator CxOs and ministers, including:

    • Raed Haddidin, Commercial Director, East Africa Region, Zain Group
    • Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom, Kenya Peter Reinartz, Deputy-CEO,
    • Orange Telkom Kenya Tushar Maheshwari, CCO, Warid Telecom Uganda Ali
    • Bin Jarsh, CEO, Canar Telecom Sudan Noel Herrity, Director General,
    • Zantel, Tanzania Nkateko Nyoka, Chief Officer: Regulatory and
    • Government Relations, Vodacom Group Shiletsi Makhofane, Acting Chief
    • Executive Officer, Africa Online Holdings Deng Malok, Managing
    • Director, Bilpam Telecommunications Co. Ltd, Sudan Charles J.K
    • Njoroge, Director-General, Communications Commission of Kenya Joe
    • Kimani, CEO, Flashcom, Kenya

    Part of the Com World Series, the conference reflects the changing mobile communications market, where previously well defined boundaries between wireless and fixed technologies and providers are becoming increasingly blurred.

    The organisers, Informa Telecoms & Media, say that broadening the remit allowed attendees to benefit from a more all-encompassing prospective whilst still delivering focused, actionable and incisive intelligence.

    "Moreover, our technology agnostic stance embraces the global nature of the changes the market is experiencing but is careful to apply it specifically to our markets to allow a 360 degree view of the future landscape within the distinct territories in which we operate," according to the organisers.

    Among the innovations this year are:

    • New Keynote sessions, by popular demand, extra plenary speakers on the
    • morning and closing afternoon – your chance to hear directly from even more C-
    • level speakers
    • More interactive sessions: more engaging panels, Q+A and industry debate to
    • ensure the most productive use of your time
    • New topics: convergence, broadband strategies, value-added services backed
    • by our in-depth analysis
    • More of the region’s telecommunications ecosystem represented; more ISPs,
    • more fixed and wireless operators, more CxOs, all under one roof for you to
    • meet and do business with

    To take advantage of the biz-news subscriber discount, email [email protected] and quote "Biz News" for your 25 per cent discount off the ticket price.

    Conference details:
    East Africa Com
    1 – 2 April 2009
    Nairobi, Kenya
    www.comworldseries.com/eafrica

    View the very latest agenda

    Join our group on Linked-In

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    Other dates for your diary:
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    West & Central Africa Com 17-18 June 2009 – Abuja, Nigeria

    North Africa Com 27-28 October 2009 – Cairo, Egypt

    Africa Com – 18-19 November 2009 – Cape Town, South Africa

    View all ComWorldSeries 2008 events

  • VOIP Driving Service Revenue Increases


    VOIP is a major contributor to rising broadband value added services, which generated USD $25.7 billion worldwide in 2007.

    According to the latest data from Point Topic this represented an increase of 62 per cent on 2006 and the expectation is that growth will continue to be robust.

    Of the service revenues generated worldwide, 56 per cent come from the combination of Voice over IP (VOIP) and security.

    They are followed, in order of global revenue generated by online gaming, home networks, music downloads and video over broadband.

    John Bosnell, senior analyst at Point Topic, said the success story of 2007 was VOIP. “Overall revenue has very nearly doubled, average revenue per user (ARPU) is up and take-up in major markets, particularly North America and Western Europe is growing quickly,” he said.

    Bosnell said value added services were growing strongly and were increasingly significant in overall revenue terms.

    “We estimate that value added services were 10 per cent of total broadband revenues, which includes subscriptions, in 2003, but by the end of 2007 that has increased to over 30 per cent,” he said.

    “As it gets harder to make a profit in the hyper competitive line rental market the operators and suppliers have to look to add value, and revenue, with their service offerings.”

    Point Topic splits VOIP into two segments, IP Telephony which means VOIP provided by ISPs and Internet Telephony, which includes services like Skype which route through the user’s PC.

    Bosnell said it was difficult to measure active users of the Skype and its cousins, like the applications embedded in the popular instant messaging services, but Point Topic estimates put the worldwide number of active users at around 20 million.

    Whilst the ARPU is relatively low on these services, IP Telephony on the other hand produces around 10 times as much revenue per user.

    VOIP is not a bottomless well.

    At the end of 2007 VOIP accounted for 27 per cent of fixed lines in France, many served via bundled deals. Market saturation is still some way off but not out of sight.

    “We expect VOIP to continue to grow strongly in the next few years and in combination with other value adds, particularly IPTV, global revenues should continue to grow,” concludes Bosnell.