Author: Cyrus

My sources at Orange Kenya tells me that iPhone 4 wil be selling in Kenya officially by November. A source at the company tells me that many of the operators which were selling the iPhone in Africa hadn’t exhausted their supply of 3G and 3Gs versions of iPhone but the Cupertino based company is so much determined to exploit the African market that it will be selling the new baby soon in the continent. But don’t expect the iPad 3G with it. Orange Kenya is even accepting reservations for the phone now on their website though the link seems dead…

Company intensifies mobile activities and expands distribution network Gilat Satcom (www.gilat.net), a leading provider of fixed and mobile satellite communication services delivering advanced communication solutions to customers operating beyond the reach of traditional telecommunications, today announced that the company is reinforcing its activities throughout Africa. Gilat Satcom Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) is widely active today in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The company is the market leader for Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and provides backbone internet connectivity in over 25 countries in Africa. The company perceives an increasing demand for its mobile satellite products and services throughout…

This is mind-boggling. I have been trying to compute the data shown in this report and what I see just amazes me. Safaricom has released the Mpesa and M-kesho transaction report for the last three years. The report paints a picture of growth. I mean GROWTH. Picture this. Safaricom Cumulative Person-to-Person transfer has grown by a whooping $4 Billion and monthly transfers have grown by $163 Million for the period of July 2009 to July 2010. Safaricom M-Pesa users grew by 61% from July 2009 to July 2010. That is from 7,387,980 to 11,895,515. Cumulative Person to Person transfer for…

Integrated telecommunications provider, Telkom Kenya, has supported the recent decision by the East African Community (EAC) partner states to ban scrap metal exports in the region, which will stem exports of vandalized Telkom copper cables. The export ban comes in the wake of rising concerns around the impact of scrap metal exports on industries within the EAC region. In a statement issued today, the Telkom Kenya Deputy CEO, Jane Karuku, welcomed the decision, saying it will save the company huge amounts of lost revenue and funds deployed to replace vandalized copper cables.

Orange customers will from tomorrow enjoy the most competitive international calling rates in the local market. The Integrated Communications provider Telkom Kenya has launched a special offer for the month of Ramadhan that will see Orange customers make calls for as low as 8 shillings per minute to the USA, Canada, India and China. “This offer is aimed at making it more affordable for our customers to spread the joy of Ramadhan to their friends and relatives who are outside Kenya”, said Head of Corporate Communications Angela Ng’ang’a-Mumo. She added, “The Ramadhan offer will see the cost of making calls…

You know you might think that it is the only small fish like us who get into trouble with Google. No. Googlers dont give a hoot even when you are as monied as Royal Media as long as you dont behave. Nor will the  Youtube arm of Google hear of it. Royal Media Services might have tasted this when they had their youtube channel which already had a good following pulled off. Citizen TV had been loading FIFA videos which they had no rights over onto Youtube without realising that they were going against the Youtube TOS. The problem is…

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of the Samsung Wave (Model: S8500) to be made available in Kenya through Kenya’s leading mobile service provider Safaricom. The Samsung Wave  is the first mobile handset to be released on Samsung’s new, open mobile platform, Samsung bada, and the cornerstone of the company’s commitment to provide a smartphone for every lifestyle. The Samsung Wave offers a Super AMOLED 3.3” display that makes the screen truly come alive, a Social Hub to bring you closer to your contacts and connections, and TouchWiz 3.0 for an intuitive…

According to Nairobi Star, a local Daily, Kenya’s National Security and Intelligence Service (NSIS) is not happy with the BlackBerry donations by USA to IIEC. The intelligence body is not happy arguing that the American CIA was able to view results before they reached the National tallying centre. NSIS is said to have been very much angered with the move and tried to block the usage of the devices. It is good to donations but sometimes we get all kinds of donations in this country. 21,000 Netbooks would have been better donation than 21,000 Blackberry’s since they cost almost the…

Safaricom seems to be all over lately. We have a new breed of victim here. The Cyber Cafe Operators. A walk in cybers in Nairobi, Kisumu and Nakuru CBD shows you a different thing over the last one month. Safaricom is running the “Free” or is it “Unlimited” Internet for just Ksh 8? Majority of the internet users in Kenya are still the Facebook, Email and Social Media users. They don’t spend much in the net and they just need basic services. Though people believe that the majority of the users are the job applicants or so, I agree to…

Opera, the Oslo-based browser development company, has released its latest monthlyState of the Mobile Web Report which it calls the “World Cup Edition” and Chile is the Winner. Mobile Web in Africa continued to see triple digit growth, with page views increasing by 182% over last year, unique users by 124% and data transferred by 160%. The report is specifically looking at the top 12 countries in Africa using Opera Mini. Of the top 12 countries, Sudan and Ghana lead with the highest page-views growth rates of 4,645% and 916%, respectively. Kenyan users are leading with the highest page-views at…

Telkom Kenya has pulled the biggest coup on Safaricom. It has entered into a national partnership with Kenya’s biggest mobile telecommunications dealer, Mobicom Group Ltd . Mobicom ended its contract with Safaricom just few days ago and many of the local media speculated that it was headed to Zain (Bharti Airtel). That was not to be as Orange just released a statement detailing that Mobicom is joining its distributorship. Mobicom covers 85% of the Kenyan market with 42 outlets spread across the country. The firm was responsible for more than 10% of Safaricom revenue. Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph has kept…

Google is dedicated to making the Internet relevant and useful to Africans, and to developing meaningful products for Africa. We realize fully, we can not do this alone. We believe that tech entrepreneurs and developers have the opportunity to transform the web for the world and Africa. With this in mind, Google is hosting developer and tech days across Africa with two exciting events, G-Uganda and G-Kenya, taking place early this September. These web and mobile themed conferences will focus on Google’s developer and business technologies from Chrome Extensions, App Engine, to mobile and AdWords.

Telkom Kenya has officialy upped the mobile market price wars by becoming the first mobile service provider to let customers make free calls within its network. The Bunda- free calls to all promotion will see Orange mobile customers make free calls to all subscribers on Orange mobile, Orange Wireless or Telkom Fixed from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m daily from Monday 26th July 2010 until 31st August 2010. After these hours, customers will then enjoy making calls at Kshs. 1 per minute to friends and family and Kshs. 4 to others on the same network and Kshs. 8 for off…

Leading converged communications provider Internet Solutions (IS) Kenya today, sought to educate the public on the importance of deploying strong and dependable ICT infrastructure and secure planning in order to protect businesses against losses brought on by natural disasters, catastrophic events or sabotage. This was done during a breakfast seminar held at The Norfolk Hotel to discuss Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery planning which was officiated by PS Ministry of Information and Communication Dr. Bitange Ndemo and Internet Solutions, Director of Sales E.A, Mr. Loren Bosch. Business continuity and disaster recovery IS Kenya has been at the fore front…

Listed telecoms firm Safaricom has entered into partnership with pay TV Company MultiChoice that will allow DStv customers pay their bills through the M-PESA service. The service will be available to DStv customers country-wide, most of whom are already users of the revolutionary M-PESA service. While signing the partnership at Safaricom House, Safaricom CEO Mr. Michael Joseph said the partnership was strategic as many DStv subscribers are high value customers whom Safaricom is targeting for its M-PESA Pay Bill service. “The convenience that this service offers to them will eventually make them want to use the service with other M-PESA…