Lotto dumps Rwandatel for MTN

Lotto Rwanda has fallen out with its GPRS provider, Rwandatel, for failing to provide coverage, on time, for a database for information and transparency, states All Africa.

According to Lotto's CEO, Phillip Brizoua, the decision to terminate Rwandatel's services was made because the company was not satisfied. "If we decide to work with someone, I prefer that they do their honest part to the best of their ability.

"Our server is now at the MTN Centre from where it will be configured and by the end of next week people can again start buying tickets by SMS. They have over 10 000 dealers countrywide and it will be easy to reach the population," says Brizoua.

AccessKenya's chosen contractors have broken ground and started digging what will be the largest IP-based fibre network in Kenya, says IT News Africa.

The ISP chose Enterprise G'en`erale Malta Forrest, a well-established contractor and engineering company, to manage the digging and laying of the physical infrastructure for the fibre network.

The project will be Kenya's first completely IP-based fibre network and the contracted phase will cover approximately 250 buildings right across Nairobi from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Dagoretti Corner and other areas close to the central business district.

The Zambian government is introducing unified licences to cater to diverse telecommunications operations, reports IT News Africa.

Zambia joins many other African countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria in providing one licence for an array of services. This is being done to attract investment by international service providers who fear investing in the country because of restrictive licence conditions.

Several African countries are now focusing on the provision of data, Internet backbone and video conferencing in addition to voice services to boost telecom in the region through harmonisation of licence procedures.