Kenyan price war intensifies

Safaricom, the largest Kenyan mobile phone company, has reduced call charges after two of its competitors cut fees and the regulator lowered network costs, states Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Safaricom customers will pay as little as two shillings per minute within its network and three shillings to other networks. The promotional offer, which reduces call charges by as much as 75%, will end on 23 September.

This comes after the Communications Commission of Kenya lowered the mobile phone rate companies charge each other to transmit calls across networks by 50%.

Google is pledging financial and technical support to online business development in Liberia, states The Daily Observer.

Internet Camp Liberia is an event designed by Google encouraging individuals to brainstorm ideas for the most viable online businesses.

The biggest limitations impacting online businesses in Liberia are: the inability to make fiscal transactions online, bandwidth constraints, and the lack of reliable electricity, in the case of hosting online applications locally.

Mobile phone networks dominate Africa's telecommunications markets, providing around 90% of all subscriber connections, says Official Wire.

According to research firm Companies and Markets, the subscriber base is still growing at around 30% per year across the continent, but the growth curves have begun to flatten in more mature markets, forcing operators to compete more aggressively on price and quality of service, as well as by introducing services.

Due to Africa's limited fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile networks are beginning to play an increasing role in Internet service provision, following the roll-out of third-generation mobile broadband services in a growing number of markets.