Podcasts about mnos

"Global roaming is not the world's greatest performance enhancer," says Sara Brown, EVP of Marketing at FloLIVE, in a conversation with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News at IT Expo. FloLIVE, which operates the world's largest cellular network for IoT, announced its Local Breakout Service, enabling mobile network operators (MNOs), MVNOs, and IoT service providers to offer localized connectivity. This service addresses data sovereignty regulations, enhances privacy compliance, and improves latency by keeping data within its country of origin rather than routing it globally. Meeting Enterprise IoT Challenges Enterprises are no longer new to IoT; many have deployed multiple generations of connected devices and are now acutely aware of pain points like latency, data sovereignty, and scalability. FloLIVE aims to solve these challenges by offering: Regulatory compliance for markets like Brazil, Turkey, China, and India, where strict data localization laws apply Improved latency by reducing reliance on inefficient global roaming routes Simplified multi-operator management, eliminating the need for enterprises to juggle multiple commercial agreements Simplifying Global IoT Deployments For U.S.-based partners managing global IoT implementations, FloLIVE provides a single point of contact for global coverage. Instead of dealing with 50+ commercial agreements, partners can rely on FloLIVE for one operator, one billing system, and one global platform with localized connectivity. What's Next for FloLIVE? FloLIVE is heading to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where it will launch VoLTE Services—a game-changer for industries like automotive, security, and elevators, ensuring seamless emergency voice communications. To learn more, visit https://flolive.net/ #IoTConnectivity #5G #LocalBreakout #DataSovereignty #GlobalIoT #TelecomReseller  

Tower companies report an increase in colocation requests from MNOs and other wireless operators, more than for lease amendments on existing sites. Onboarding second or third tenants involves different considerations than hosting the anchor tenant. Harmoni Towers' CCO Chas Peterson and SVP of Business Development Aaron Bloom discuss these key colocation considerations with Inside Towers Business Editor John Celentano.Support the show

Follow Building in Public Podcast: https://x.com/builtnpublicpod In this episode of Building in Public, Rich and Shaan from XNET discussed their progress as a decentralized neutral host mobile operator. They explored the XIP-10 proposal to reduce token supply and its benefits for the community. Rich highlighted XNET's demand-side GTM, enabling millions to connect via existing carriers, with growth potential in the U.S. market. They covered MNOs vs. MVNOs, international expansion, and the Solana ecosystem's supportive culture. Updates included funding milestones, Sphere Pay and Kamino integrations, and plans to onboard millions of users to Solana, showcasing XNET's vision for decentralized mobile networks. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 00:41 - Discussion on XIP-10 and Token Burns 03:56 - Understanding XNET's Business Model 06:25 - Customer Segments: MNOs vs. MVNOs 10:09 - International Expansion and Roaming Opportunities 12:29 - Wi-Fi and Cellular Spectrum in Global Deployments 14:05 - Transition from Polygon to Solana 16:50 - Community Growth and Social Engagement 18:31 - Exciting Developments with XNET Foundation 20:49 - Meme Coins and Retail Engagement 22:31 - Scaling Supply Side through Brownfield Deployments 28:37 - Upcoming Features and Integrations 30:18 - Where to Find More Information on XNET Disclaimer: The hosts and the firms they represent may hold stakes in the companies mentioned in this podcast. None of this is financial advice.

German companies are mulling several investments in Egypt, including:A EUR 1 billion direct reduced iron factory.A EUR 30 million flame-resistant material factory.A EUR 5 million first phase of a bicycle parts factory. Auto parts factory in Egypt.China Glass Holding subsidiary CNG Egypt New Energy Glass kicked off construction work on a USD300 million glass factory.The ro-ro shipping line connecting Damietta Port with Italy's Port kicked off operations on Thursday with its first shipment setting sail. Net foreign assets in the Egyptian banking system fell to USD9.2 billion by the end of October, down from USD10.31 billion in September.The Cabinet approved the creation of a desert land development chamber under the Federation of Egyptian Industries. MPs are set to discuss and vote on a draft cash-based subsidies bill today that aims to give cash-based subsidies to citizens under the poverty line without access to social insurance.The CBE sold EGP47.0 billion worth of the bills, surpassing its EGP35.0 billion target, at 30.86%, 0.27% higher than their last auction. Minister of Finance announced that Egypt is set to issue a sovereign sukuk denominated local currency. The issuance is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.Prime Minister said that the government will not repeat previous mistaken policies of keeping the exchange rate static on the assumption that a fixed rate demonstrates stability. The Supreme Council for Investment is preparing to issue new decisions aimed at empowering the private sector in strategic projects that the government seeks to expand during the coming period. Egypt has reopened fish exports to the EU after a three-year freeze.We maintain our overweight recommendation of EKHO at a downgraded FV of USD1.19/share. Despite the outstanding risks represented in further currency depreciation and downward pressure on global prices or lag in local repricing, EKHO is exerting efforts to withstand such risks. EKHO is currently trading at a FY25f PE of 5.0x and EV/EBITDA of 3.7x.EFIC released 3Q24 consolidated financial results. Net income grew 569% YoY (+49% QoQ) to EGP535 million, bringing 9M24 net income to EGP1.3 billion (+157% YoY). EFIC is currently trading at a 2025f PE of 7.3x and EV/EBITDA of 4.7x.CANA has exited from investments in four entities worth EGP142 million.The total value of the bank's investment portfolio in September 2024 amounted to about EGP2.8 billion, compared to about EGP1.9 billion at the end of 2023.HRHO's commercial bank Bank NXT partnered with global payment solutions firm Mindgate Solutions to launch a new digital platform for corporate clients.CICH and Compass received FRA approval to launch the C3 Capital Fund targeting EGP3 billion. HRHO has finished its role in advising Maarif Education on its takeover of Ibn Khaldoun Education. MNOs are set to launch eSIM cards before the end of 2024. 

 Hassan Allam Holding inked a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ portfolio company and Ras El Hekma project master developer Modon Holding, in an agreement to cooperate on projects in the “infrastructure, energy, and water and wastewater treatment, and special building” sectors, the companies said in a joint statement. The CBE payment platform Instapay will start accepting Egypt-bound remittances from Gulf nations before within two months, the bank's deputy assistant governor for payment systems and services said. For the time being, transfers will be received in EGP, but opening this up to AED and SAR is being studied. The Oil Ministry is in talks with suppliers to postpone LNG shipments from 4Q 2024 to 1Q 2025, a government source said. The shipments are part of the 20 cargoes of LNG that the government bought for USD 907 mn to cover domestic needs between October and December.The Readymade Garments Export Council is negotiating with foreign companies from China, Turkey, and Vietnam to establish factories in Egypt, some of which are based on the localization of imported industries. We raise our FV of SWDY to EGP75.00/share, up from the previous EGP45.69/share, yet we maintain our Equalweight recommendation given the recent price rally in the stock price. SWDY is trading at FY25e P/E of 10.2x and EV/EBITDA of 5.0x. DOMT reported 3Q24 results, showing a net profit of EGP166.9 million (+63.5% YoY, 90.2% QoQ), with NPM of 6.6% (+1.5pps, +2.3pps QoQ). DOMT is currently trading at 2025f P/E of 13.3x and EV/EBITDA of 7.7xNTRA has given its preliminary approval to MNOs to increase prices of telecom services (phone calls and internet services) in Egypt.Following HELI's Board approval in August to start procedures to acquire a 770 feddan land plot in Capital Gardens, HELI disclosed that the land plot area is 766 feddans worth EGP12.6 billion, 10% of which has been paid and the rest of which will be paid over six years.Al Ahly Sabbour is looking to list around 20-25% of its shares on the EGX.The indicative price range for the United Bank IPO, set between EGP 12.70 and EGP 15.60 per share, suggests significant upside potential within the sector, valuing the bank between EGP 13.97 billion and EGP 17.16 billion. This pricing translates to a projected 2025 P/B of 0.8x to 1.0x and a P/E of 4.7x to 5.8x. In contrast, the sector averages for 2025 stand at 0.8x P/B and 2.9x P/E, highlighting a notable discrepancy. HRHO announced that its private equity arm has launched a USD 300 million Saudi Education Fund (“SEF”) with the target of building an institutional world-class K-12 operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. BTFH is continuing to reap the benefits of its growth strategy during 9M24, with consolidated operating revenues increasing at 404% y/y to record EGP4.8 billion, while net profit exceeded EGP1.13 billion, up from 86 million pounds during the same period of the previous year. CNFN launches a new project in Zayed City with investments amounting to EGP1.5 billion.State-owned El Nasr Automotive and the privately held Al Safy Group have set up a joint venture, dubbed SN Automotive, to assemble global car brands locally to sell in Egypt and export to other North African nations. Egypt's car imports witnessed a significant decline of more than 28% in August 2024, amounting to USD156.09 million, compared to approximately USD217.09 million during the same month last year.

Are telecom operators prepared for a future where connectivity is as seamless as it is sophisticated? In this episode, we speak with Emir Aboulhosn, CEO of NetLync, who has been instrumental in transforming how operators deliver mobile services through NetLync's pioneering Entitlements-as-a-Service (EaaS) model.  Emir shares the story behind this innovative platform, which debuted earlier this year and has quickly attracted over 100 operators worldwide. This service enables mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) of all sizes to launch essential mobile features within weeks, slashing deployment times from traditional timelines that stretched to a year or more. The conversation explores how NetLync's solution is democratizing access to advanced connectivity features, allowing even smaller operators to compete with larger players. Emir discusses how EaaS is breaking down barriers in an industry traditionally dominated by OEM agreements, making technologies like eSIM Quick Transfer, VoLTE, and WiFi Calling accessible to a wider range of operators. We also look into the upcoming global adoption of eSIM-only smartphones and how NetLync is positioning itself to support this shift, ensuring that operators are prepared to provide the seamless connectivity experiences customers demand. As we unpack the broader implications of EaaS, Emir dives into NetLync's self-onboarding, developer-focused approach and how this method is simplifying integration while setting a new standard for customer experience. What does the future hold for telecom operators as eSIM technology becomes the norm and entitlements technology continues to expand? Tune in as Emir provides insights into NetLync's vision for connectivity's next frontier and shares valuable takeaways for an industry poised for transformation. How do you see this impacting the telecom landscape, and are operators truly ready for what's next? Let us know your thoughts.

Connor welcomes Samer Bishay, founder of Karrier One, who recently acquired Cellular Spectrum in Canada. This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Karrier One, allowing them to transition from a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to a mobile network operator (MNO). This change not only gives them a seat at the table among major players in the telecom industry but also enhances their ability to communicate and collaborate with other MNOs. They discussed the importance of owning spectrum and how Karrier One plans to leverage this acquisition to address infrastructure challenges, particularly in rural and remote areas. The conversation also touched on the various approaches to building cellular networks, including CBRS and Wi-Fi offload, and how Karrier One's spectrum-agnostic strategy empowers spectrum holders to monetize their assets. Additionally, they explored Karrier One's inclusive approach to partnerships, emphasizing the importance of cultivating a community of deployers and contributors. Samer highlighted the excitement surrounding the potential of their technology, likening it to the early days of the internet. Overall, this episode provided valuable insights into the evolving landscape of the telecom industry and Karrier One's innovative strategies to enhance connectivity for underserved populations. 00:00 - Introduction 00:47 - Acquisition of Cellular Spectrum 01:52 - MNO vs. MVNO 02:30 - Building Cellular Networks 03:54 - Challenges of Wi-Fi Offload 05:08 - Inclusive Network Building 05:50 - Cultivating Community of Deployers 07:19 - Creating Infrastructure Equity Disclaimer: The hosts and the firms they represent may hold stakes in the companies mentioned in this podcast. None of this is financial advice.

Egypt and Turkey seek to boost trade from USD5 billion to USD15 billion over the next five years. The two countries signed 18 MoUs to strengthen cooperation on transport, energy, defense, education, tourism, health, culture, agriculture, and finance.The Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee is meeting later today to review interest rates. We remind you that we expect the CBE to keep the current rates on hold, with a potential rate cut in 4Q24, or - more conservatively - in 1Q25.Automotive player Stellantis is restarting assembly of the Jeep Grand Cherokee L locally at the factories of the Arab Organization for Industrialization's Arab American Vehicles Company. Stellantis is reportedly in talks with the Industry Ministry over assembling Citroen's C4X model in Egypt.Egypt intends to make three payments worth USD633 million to the International Monetary Fund during September 2024.The Egyptian Drug Authority and Unified Procurement Authority announced the launch of the government's new unified purchasing initiative for inactive ingredients used in medicine production, as part of a bid to localize drug manufacturing. The initiative will begin with 30 substances that represent more than 60% of the import bill for inactive ingredients used in drug production.As part of the restructuring of ownership of some subsidiaries of EKHO, EKHO announced that all the shares owned by the International Financial Investments Company (a subsidiary of EKHO) in the share capital of NatGas have been transferred to another subsidiary, Nat Energy B.V. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of EKHO). In addition, all shares owned by Nat Energy, Nat Gas, and EKHN B.V. (subsidiaries of EKHO) in the share capital of Kahraba have been transferred to another subsidiary, Kahraba B.V. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of EKHO). These transfers do not affect the indirect ownership of EKHO in the capital of the aforementioned companies. TotalEnergies wants to supply gas from its fields in Cyprus to Egypt for liquefaction and re-export as LNG or to be fed directly into the grid, according to an Oil Ministry statement. The company is also evaluating investment offerings included in the government's new oil and gas exploration tender that is currently being prepared.HELI (FV: EGP18.84, OW) sold 90 units in New Heliopolis for EGP482.0 million. HELI plans to offer 200 units in New Heliopolis at the end of October 2024.NTRA is studying allowing MNOs to increase services' prices after fuel prices increased, according to local press.Basata Financial Holding, a JV between MTIE and BINV, and Jordan Kuwait Bank have completed the acquisition of a 27.1% stake in Madfaatcom, a Jordanian e-payments company, according to local press.Egypt's iron and steel exports declined 19% YoY to USD1.17 billion in the first seven months of 2024. The sector's exports declined more than 40% in July alone to record USD134 million on lower volumes and global prices.

The Electricity Ministry has completed its study on increasing electricity prices, with plans to introduce the hike in September following cabinet approval.Foreign investments in treasury bills increased last May by about USD2.04 billion, reaching USD37.5 billion at the end of May, compared to USD35.46 billion at the end of April.The Ministry of Electricity is satisfied with the existing “gas, steam, and combined cycle” thermal electricity generation plants and plans to not add any new projects of this type until 2030.Nissan Egypt is planning to invest USD55.9 million in the Egyptian market until 2026, according to a cabinet statement.According to local media, PHDC (FV: EGP7.11, OW) achieved stellar 2Q24 sales of EGP33.2 billion, up 157.7% y/y and 2.9% q/q, bringing 1H24 sales up 233.1% y/y to EGP65.5 billion. According to local media, ORHD (FV: EGP26.26, OW) intends to launch Touban in El Gouna in September 2024. The project is expected to generate sales of EGP45.0 billion over a five-year period.The Housing Ministry approved a fixed pricing system for land offerings, replacing the previous competitive bidding process.ARAB Board approved a EGP617.9 million capital increase through rights issue.The government is set to sign contracts with eight local-foreign consortiums to produce a total of 1.7 bn Kw/h of electricity from municipal solid waste across a number of governorates. The firms and bodies involved in the projects include ORAS (FV: EGP344.18, OW) and SWDY (FV: EGP45.69, EW) among others.We raised our FV of MTIE to EGP8.20/share and maintain our Overweight recommendation. In our valuation update, we factored in:Improved WC dynamics on the back of higher local products contribution to the company's distribution portfolio,Reflected developments across business lines, namely Telecoms, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, and NBFS,Adjusted the valuation to the new number of shares post bonus shares distribution, andRolled over the model and updated our macro assumptions.MTIE is currently trading at 2024f P/E of 7.8x and EV/EBITDA of 6.0x.According to local press, MNOs are currently conducting technical tests for the “WiFi Calling” service in preparation for its launch before the end of this year in Egypt. The service will be at the same price as traditional calls according to the system of accounting for each subscriber.DOMT released 2Q24 financial results, reporting net profit of EGP87.8 million (-13.0% YoY, -42.8% QoQ), bringing 1H24 net profit to EGP241 million (-4.4% YoY). DOMT is currently trading at 2024f P/E of 5.1x and EV/EBITDA of 4.0x.ALCN (FV: EGP35.86, EW) issued its preliminary 4Q23/24 results. Bottom line came in at EGP2.055 billion, up 8.7% QoQ and 71.9% YoY, bringing FY23/24 bottom line recorded EGP6.140 billion compared to EGP4.388 billion in FY22/23 (+39.9% YoY). BTFH released 1H24 results. Net attributable income reached EGP817 million compared to a loss of EGP146 million in 1H23. OIH released 1H24 financial results. Net income expanded by 244% y/y, recording EGP296.2 million versus EGP86.1 million last year.CANA sold its entire 39.7% stake in El Sherif Markets to home appliances manufacturer Fresh in a EGP95.2 million transaction.Petrojet targets finalizing the implementation of a new project for LPG and naphtha production in Suez during 4Q24 with investments worth EGP1.3 billion.Weekly Commodities Update

In his new book, titled "the End of Telecoms History", Professor William Webb argues that as data consumption is slowing and the broadband speeds offered to most people is now good enough, the telecoms industry has reached a turning point. In this episode of our podcast, William speaks to PolicyTracker journalist Richard Haas about what implications this new reality could have on mobile operators (MNOs) and regulators alike. Amazon: The End of Telecoms History, William Webb

We were delighted to talk to Luke Kehoe, Telecoms Analyst and World Traveler.  Luke has moved to Beijing to study, and he gives us his impression of the city, the food, and the consumer digital ecosystem.  Luke updates us on a range of important Telecoms Industry topics. He comments on the state of the Global RAN market, contrasting growth across the various regions. Luke gives us his views on where the European Mobile Telecoms Market is going in relation to business pressures, competition, and the regulatory regime. His has interesting thoughts on how previously MNOs differentiated by infrastructure and that they are moving to differentiation by services with the failure of the 5G business model to deliver returns. There has been a hollowing out of the Mobile Operators businesses as they have struggled to maintain profitability and we discuss where this will lead. There are also some very interesting and surprising new market entrants with strong brand recognition coming from different business sectors.  It was great to get Luke's insightful comments delivered in a very clear manner.  Finally, as always, we play out on Luke's choice of a classic and inspirational song.  Enjoy. Contacts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-kehoe/ http://www.lukekehoe.com/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/          

Satellite direct-to-device technology could solve the challenge of connectivity in remote areas. It is attracting interest from mobile network operators (MNOs), satellite operators and investors. However, is the technology ready to meet customers' expectations? What is the revenue opportunity today and how will it evolve over time? Join the discussion with satellite and space experts, Lluc Palerm and Christopher Baugh. Learn more about our satellite strategies for telcos research programme and our report on the satellite direct-to-device market.

Alpha Wireless, a global leader in antennas and streetworks solutions, has introduced the Small Cell Fusion platform. This is the first 5G small cell antenna design that can be mounted mid-pole on existing streetworks infrastructure, achieved by combining three modular panels to create a canister shape. Breaking the boundaries of traditional deployment, this innovative design marries the performance and flexibility of small cell panels with the aesthetics of canister antennas, setting a new benchmark for network densification. As 5G adoption escalates, the need to further densify networks is driving a shift from macro sites to street-level small cells. Yet, mobile network operators (MNOs) and neutral hosts are challenged to secure new site locations, particularly as cities seek to minimize street clutter. In response to this urgent industry need, Alpha Wireless designed the Small Cell Fusion platform to pioneer a new approach to mounting and concealing antennas on existing street assets, expanding access to sites traditionally off-limits to speed and simplify densification projects. Built on proven Alpha Wireless antenna performance, the innovative Small Cell Fusion system offers a modular design that is flexible and field-operable, allowing a blend of different panels to be selected based on each cell's requirements. This enables MNOs to mix and match coverage capabilities for each sector to minimize interference in their existing network without compromising radio frequency (RF) performance. The Alpha Wireless Small Cell Fusion platform is the first to extend the options available for mounting small cell antennas to include middle-of-pole mounting as well as top-of-pole and side-of-pole. This versatility means small cells can be mounted on lamp posts, utility poles, existing masts, walls and other vertical structures, enabling multi-operator deployments that blend seamlessly with existing infrastructure to meet strict zoning restrictions. Moreover, the modular design not only means that the Small Cell Fusion platform is engineered for adaptability, allowing operators to tailor deployments to evolving network demands, but also that sectors can be changed at any time for a future-ready network investment that's built to last. "As network operators shift focus from macro sites to small cells, new tactics are needed to minimise visual impact and simplify RF planning, paving the way to faster permitting and streamlined deployments. Our commitment to innovation has led us to develop the modular Small Cell Fusion platform - the only solution out there that lets you build a canister antenna around the existing pole," said Fergal Lawlor, Chief Executive Officer, Alpha Wireless. "We created this solution because we believe there are better ways to build wireless networks, and our approach has been proven by overwhelmingly positive industry feedback. This response fuels our excitement to launch this game-changing solution specifically designed to solve real-world densification challenges for 5G and beyond." The Small Cell Fusion antenna platform expands Alpha Wireless portfolio of concealment solutions that empower 5G sites to be quickly built out closer to subscribers. To learn more, meet Alpha Wireless in Hall 2 Meeting Room 2A13MR at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 26-29, 2024. See more stories here.

This article was written for National Technology Day, 6th January 2024 by Sam Jackman, Chief Development Officer of Shared Access, an independent owner and operator of communications infrastructure. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have built out strong 2G, 3G and 4G networks for the outdoor environment and are well on the way to having good 5G coverage in place. This will improve as each MNO rolls out their standalone 5G core networks which will de-couple their 5G networks from their 4G and so release the handbrake. The truth is that we won't experience true 5G until it runs on its own core. Mobile connectivity what does good look like? The indoor environment is, however a totally different scenario. The fact is that buildings block mobile signals, and new energy efficient building materials like glass, concrete and steel create 'faraday cages' that stop signals penetrating inside buildings. This problem hasn't been fixed at a national level and so dedicated systems need to be installed inside each and every building - systems that either deliver guaranteed, dedicated capacity or repeater systems that take outdoor signal and 'repeat' it inside the building. Both approaches have high costs and historically have not seen a return on investment for the MNOs. The facts are simple. If every user inside a building switched to the new MNO who has paid to improve the signal, the number of users inside that building still wouldn't cover the costs to justify a return on investment. It's worth noting that to deploy a guaranteed capacity system (such as a Distributed Antenna System or 'DAS'), fibre connectivity into the building is required. To date this hasn't been available in lots of cities across Ireland - or where it is available, the cost to use it is so expensive that it has, again, killed return on investment calculations. As such, while we are connected by great coverage outside, we often still struggle for connectivity and capacity inside. And that's a bitter pill to swallow, because around 80% of mobile phone usage takes place inside buildings. So what can be done to achieve a better mobile signal in buildings and in busy areas? Additional macro sites need to be built by the MNOs - masts, rooftops and urban 'street solutions' which deliver street level capacity 4G and 5G infill solutions. As more capacity is deployed outdoors, there is greater possibility that signals can penetrate building infrastructure, improving coverage and capacity. Installation of dedicated in-building mobile connectivity systems. These can be DAS solutions or sophisticated booster systems. Either approach relies on increased investment - whether through additional macro sites boosting the external signal from which an internal booster can piggyback, or through installation of fibre for a DAS system. One size doesn't fit all; any solution needs be based on footfall, building layout and design. Perhaps most importantly, landlords and tenants need to be open to covering the cost of any in-building system, because mobile network operators no longer have a compelling business case to invest in this type of infrastructure. This is why neutral hosts such as Shared Access entered the market, to facilitate this critical investment. What does the future hold for mobile connectivity? There will unquestionably be more landlord and tenant funded systems for in-building mobile connectivity. Demand has grown and there is now a strong commercial understanding and awareness of this need. Mobile is now seen as fundamental to a building, just like the other core services, such as Wi-Fi, water and power. Once mobile connectivity has been installed in a building, it can support a host of other services, including IoT, sensors, video calls, security systems and private networks. Crucially, all these layers can be used to achieve cost savings and/or business growth, which will justify the investment. As mobile networks shift to be viewed more as a commodity than a speciali...

PHDC (FV: EGP5.59, OW) is a top pick especially in light of potential EGP depreciation and expected inflation given the usual rush to real estate as a store of value. We select PHDC given a number of factors:Solid sales in 2023 and 2024 should be further supported by PHDC's upcoming launch of its new project, whose proximity to Palm Hills October is expected to dictate a premium in pricing.Large residual land bank and a solid development track record.Stock offers one of the widest valuation gaps among sector peers at 78.0%.Stock trading at one of the lowest EV/sqm multiples among sector peers at EGP835/sqm, below the sector average of EGP1,168/sqm.Stock trading at one of the lowest FY24 P/E multiples among sector peers at 5.6x, below the sector average of 13.3x.Egypt's annual core inflation rate decelerated by 1.7% in December to 34.2%, down from 35.9% in November, monthly core inflation rate rose to 1.3% in December 2023 from 1% in November.Annual urban inflation retreated for the third consecutive month, recording 33.7% YoY in December, down from 34.6% YoY in November. On the other side, monthly urban inflation inched marginally up to 1.4% MoM in December, up from 1.3% MoM in November.JPMorgan announced on Wednesday its decision to exclude Egypt from its index for government bonds of emerging markets (GBI-EM), effective January 31, 2024. The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva vowed full support for the Egyptian economy. The government plans to increase natural gas connections to more than 15 million households by the end of 2024, up from 14.2 million at the end of June 2023. Ministry of Electricity intends to raise electricity prices for MNOs by 20-21%, according to local press. We already factoring in higher energy prices in our ETEL numbers.The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones intends to begin granting the golden license to investors in the healthcare sector next month.The Egyptian Stock Exchange Registration Committee approved the temporary registration of the shares of City Lab Company with an issued capital of EGP64 million distributed over 640 million shares.The FRA BoD has issued a decision to amend granting a license and the rules for owning shares in companies operating in non-banking financial activities. The decision regulates the percentage of contribution and ownership. 

On this week's show discuss the new Pro-Ject Dark Side of the Moon Turntable and talk about five mistakes to avoid with your earbuds. We finish up with a discussion about 5G Broadcast. Can it do what ATSC 3.0 can. We also read your emails and discuss the week's news. News: Comcast Plans World's First DOCSIS 4.0 Service Launch Next Week Netflix is planning to launch retail destinations in 2025 - The Verge Best Buy is axing physical DVD and Blu-ray business in this depressing digital world Netflix Usage Slips Behind YouTube Among U.S. Teens Other: Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4 The Dark Side of the Moon Turntable The Dark Side of the Moon album is recognized for its artwork almost as much as the music. It shows an enigmatic prism that reflects beams of light into space. It's a magical and mystical theme that illustrates the band‘s complex sound pallet. For us, it was a no-brainer to create a turntable based on this concept & image. The result is an extraordinary turntable unlike any the audio market has seen. With high-quality materials were able to implement the core aspects of the artwork. The plinth is made of MDF- a dense, sturdy, resonance-absorbent material. The stainless steel axle of the heavy aluminum sub platter rotates in a bronze bushing. An AC motor drives the sub-platter & platter with a silicon drive belt. The low-resonance tonearm is a completely new design. It's definitely one of the highlights of this turntable. The combination of black aluminum & acrylic parts is an eye-catcher to say the least. The supplied Pick it PRO Special Edition MM phono cartridge delivers the rich sonics you would expect from Dark Side of the Moon turntable. With the addition of the LED-backlit rainbow, the turntable looks even more impressive in low light. As with all Pro-Ject turntables, The Dark Side of the Moon Turntable is handmade with care in Europe! Pre-order with November Delivery $1999.00 5 wireless earbuds mistakes you're probably making Get the best performance and user experience from your wireless earbuds by avoiding these common mistakes. Full article here… Don't skip the ear fit test - using the correct ear tip size for your ear canal is paramount to achieving optimal audio performance and the best noise-canceling experience.  Don't leave Active Noise Canceling on - The processing power required to analyze ambient noise levels and cancel them out has a big impact on energy consumption of your wireless earbuds, and can shorten battery life significantly.  Check Audio Settings - make sure you're connected via the highest wireless audio codec over Bluetooth that your earbuds can support from a similarly codec compatible playback device. Take better care of the charging case -  Keeping your earbuds on charge overnight might feel convenient but it could be detrimental to the lifespan of the charging case's internal battery. Longer than necessary recharges can put a strain on the battery, degrading the battery cells and significantly shortening capacity. Download the app and use it periodically - companion apps provide numerous ways to enhance the listening experience through features like adaptive audio, noise canceling modes, and adjustable EQ settings. You will also need the app to upgrade firmware. What is 5G Broadcast? 5G Broadcast is a one-to-many technology where all mobile device viewers receive the live event through the 5G network. As the devices are effectively passive, adding more devices doesn't affect the network at all. Therefore, all users have the same high-level quality of experience and service. Although live video distribution is very important, 5G broadcast/multicast does not necessarily mean mobile TV. In fact, 5G is bringing new broadcast and multicast capabilities to the whole ecosystem. These can include software updates over the network to cars, phones, and other wireless devices What are some applications: Live events (sporting, festivals, and breaking news) are suitable for the one-to-many distribution model over 5G. Public safety messages are one of the basic 5G broadcast tasks. Think Weather, Flood, Fire etc Automobile manufacturers can update software and firmware as well as media and entertainment systems. 5G Broadcast can help with OTA real-time traffic and V2X delivery. V2X is a system under development that allows vehicles to communicate with each other. 5G multicast can enhance the fan experience in new ways and also bring benefits for MNOs. Venue casting can bring the live experience to the home. 5G can help improve the VoD experience by helping offload 35% of the traffic on mobile networks. Do we need this?  

Fixed Wireless Access, or FWA, has emerged as a powerful enabler in the mobile landscape and is one method being used to fulfill the growing user demand for data. FWA is another offering to provide high-speed internet access to homes, businesses, and remote areas without relying on traditional wired connections like fiber or cable lines for the ‘last mile' of connectivity. The demand for FWA itself among broadband users is growing with analyst firms expecting FWA users to reach 14-18 million in 2027 in the United States. While solving for the last mile is one benefit of Fixed Wireless Access, it also offers operators a path to expand their business offerings and generate more revenue. They're able to obtain new subscribers by promoting bundles for mobile and FWA services. The service is also able to provide initial high-speed access to businesses and consumers in urban and suburban areas to supplement and enhance existing networks. The advancements and proliferation of Fixed Wireless are advancing around the globe. MNOs worldwide are involved in FWA, but there are many others as well including MSOs and WISPs with regional operators playing a pivotal role in the growth of FWA.  Samsung is the leader in enabling operators to harness the next wave of Fixed Wireless Access applications. It will continue to advance mmWave leadership for FWA by offering new dual-band products and by enabling faster FWA deployments with its proven vRAN architecture.

¡Acompáñenos en un nuevo episodio de nuestro podcast! En esta entrega, nos adentramos en el mundo de la tecnología 5G y sus implicaciones para los operadores de redes móviles (MNOs), centrándonos tanto en la ubicación como en los requisitos de intercepción legal. Nuestro invitado especial, Javier D'Agostino, Director de Ventas para América Latina en SS8 Networks, es un experto en estas áreas críticas y arrojará luz sobre cómo el 5G afecta a los MNOs. Hablaremos sobre cómo los MNOs deben adaptarse a los estándares de precisión de ubicación más altos exigidos por 5G y exploraremos el impacto de 5G en la intercepción legal, incluyendo nuevos protocolos de seguridad y arquitectura virtualizada. Descubra las ventajas de 5G no solo para los consumidores, sino también para la seguridad pública y los servicios de emergencia. Aprenda cómo la velocidad, la baja latencia y las capacidades de ubicación mejoradas de 5G pueden revolucionar las respuestas a emergencias, la gestión del tráfico, la atención médica, el turismo y más.

With much of the world standing on the brink of mainstream 5G usage, operators are looking for ways to extract maximum value from their network investments – essentially trying to figure out how to monetize 5G. Operators have spent the past few years on things like spectrum, working to increase base stations needed for sufficient coverage and capacity, and implementing new software tools that allow for autonomous networks and faster delivery of services and upgrades. Providers are now starting to take advantage of the high-speed, low-latency, and connectivity capacities that 5G brings to the market. Today, operators are finding new ways to monetize 5G with Fixed Wireless Access, network slicing, as well private 5G networks. The learnings taken from 4G, including slower roll-out plans and commodity-based plays, are also helping to inform strategies surrounding 5G. Operators will usher in a new wave of innovation that could unlock additional revenue streams as they monetize 5G. Private networks for enterprises in particular offer a great opportunity for monetization due to their scalability over the latest in Wi-Fi technology. Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about how operators can take advantage of the high-speed, low-latency, and connectivity capacities that 5G brings to the market.

Light Reading's Mike Dano joined the podcast to discuss why cable MVNOs are performing better than expected and what this means for wireless provider competitors such as T-Mobile. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Philippines' mobile network operators (MNOs) are now using shared towers to accelerate and lower the cost of digital transformation in the country as a result of the government's common tower policy. In this B-Side episode, Suresh Sidhu, chief executive officer and founder of EdgePoint Infrastructure Sdn. Bhd., speaks with reporter Miguel Hanz L. Antivola how telecommunications infrastructure companies support the Philippines' digital transformation. Recorded remotely on June 5, 2023.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged within the 5.0-5.25% range at its policy meeting this Tuesday and Wednesday. Egypt's core inflation rose to 40.3% y-o-y from 38.6% in April. We expect the MPC to leave rates unchanged at the June 22 MPC meeting. The government is targeting oil and gas exports of USD 21 bn in 2023, up 15% YoY and another c.15% increase in 2024 to USD 24 bn. Short-term deposits from Arab countries with the Central Bank of Egypt reached USD 14.9 billion as of December 2022. Long-term deposits from Arab countries stabilized at USD 15 billion. The Egyptian Stock Exchange is considering setting up a sub-market for startup companies to help them raise capital from the public market. The Egyptian Stock Exchange is formulating a plan to launch a comprehensive market for futures contracts in Egypt.  Baker Tilly, the independent financial advisor determined TAQA's indicative fair value at EGP8.90/TAQA share, or EGP12 billion. This implies a 2022 P/E of 32.1x and P/B of 6.2x. We remind you of the multiples valuation for TAQA: If we assume that the company will grow by 20% in 2023, profits of EGP450 million, and a book value of EGP2.4 billion. If we utilize 10x P/E and 2x P/B (19% ROE), the average valuation for TAQA will be EGP4.6 billion. This translates into EGP3.44/share.The share swap deal through which SKPC will acquire Ethydco will be executed at 1:1.6, i.e. every 1.00 share in Ethydco will be swapped for less than 1.6 shares in SKPC. (Al Mal) This means that the valuation has been mirroring the capacities and has slightly adjusted for the difference in debt profiles between the two entities. It also means that within the merged/combined entity, SKPC will be 38% and Ethydco will be 62%. ORHD's (FV: EGP20.38, OW) El Gouna will see USD100.0 million in fresh investment in the next two years allocated toward building a new hotel and expanding existing ones.PHAR has revised upward the estimated total cost of its Biosimilar plant to EGP2.5 billion, up from an initial estimated cost of EGP1.2 billion. MCRO plans to add 26 new products to its portfolio during the coming two year. The company targets 2023e sales of around EGP1.0 billion.Investors are in talks with the Public Enterprises Ministry to acquire stakes in two pharma companies including “Chemical Industries Development Company – CID” through a capital increase. The Egyptian government allocated EGP85 billion in FY23/24 for the works of the high-speed train. The entire project is set to cost some USD23 billion (c.EGP700 billion). Worth highlighting that Siemens Mobility, ORAS (FV: EGP181.70, OW), and Arab Contractors were contracted to build the first phase of the high-speed rail line, while Deutsche Bahn and SWDY (FV: EGP22.87, OW) are on board to manage and operate the first line. South Sinai governorate is studying to offer 3 water desalination plants in 2024 with a total capacity exceeding 45k cubic meters per day.The offering of Port Said and Damietta companies for container and cargo handling will take place after deciding on the acquisition offer submitted to the two companies by a subsidiary of Qatar Sovereign Fund. AMNOs are waiting for NTRA's approval on price increases within days. Market speculations point at an increase of 10-15% on telecom services provided by MNOs.Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has begun manufacturing devices at its Tenth of Ramadan factory. According to local media, ARAB's (FV: EGP0.65, EW) Board preliminarily approved an IFA valuation of ARAB's subsidiary, Amer Syria, at USD13.0 million (EGP0.34/ARAB share). This compares to the USD18.0 million (EGP0.48/ARAB share) offer received by ARAB for Amer Syria in March 2023.Weekly Commodities |            Last Price&nb

Thomas Neubauer, the VP of Business Development and Innovations at TEOCO and co-founder of AirborneRF and Han de Glint from KPN, explain in our latest interview how challenging the implementation of any sophisticated BVLOS operations are when it comes to flight approval requests. During the interview, they also cover: - A recent case study utilising connectivity data in the Netherlands - Current infrastructure needs for drones - Utilising connectivity data from MNOs for airborne drone operations - Standardisation efforts that extend past the telecommunications industry to the aviation industry - How cross-industry collaboration between telecommunication companies and drone companies provides a faster route to approvals from aviation authorities DroneTalks Group is a collection of services and platforms dedicated to uplifting the drone ecosystem. That includes our main educational platform DroneTalks as well as specialised trainings for drone industry professionals, the event Aerial Cities for industry stakeholders (both private and government) and the job portal DroneTalks Jobs for professionals.  For more information on drone-related services, including marketing and PR, please contact us at info@dronetalks.ch. Our partners at Murzilli Consulting also offer an outsourced strategic regulatory department for drone organisations as well, for more in-depth guidance. EpizódszegmensekHanganyag szerkesztése

-UBS will acquire Credit Suisse USD 3.25 bn in return for receiving up to CHF 100 bn in liquidity from the Swiss central bank.  - Minister of Finance revealed draft state budget for FY23/24. It factors in 5% real GDP growth, a primary surplus of 2.5% of GDP, and an overall deficit of 6.37% of GDP. -El Sisi has directed the government to raise the personal income tax exemption threshold to EGP 36k from EGP 24k currently. -State-owned real estate companies El Nasr Housing and Development and Maadi for Development and Construction will attract investments from strategic investors through capital increases rather than selling stakes.  -CLHO recorded net attributable profit of EGP78.8 million in 4Q22 (-31.7% YoY, -4.5% QoQ). For FY22, net attributable profit came in at EGP326 million (-15.9% YoY). CLHO reported revenues of EGP620 million in the first 9 weeks of 2023, an increase of 24% YoY.  CLHO is currently trading at 2023f P/E of 12.6x and EV/EBITDA of 6.8x.-MNOs should receive NTRA's approval for price increases within days, unless NTRA decided to keep prices unchanged.-ESRS raised rebar prices by 9.7% or EGP2,850/ton to EGP32,135 (including VAT) as of March 20, 2023. Rebars price went up c.37% YTD. -Cement Chamber of Union addressed the Ministry of Industry to facilitate challenges facing cement producers and help expand producing different cement types like those in Europe and the US. -Government has received Emirati interest to participate in the development of EGAL led by Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) in return for a stake in the company's capital increase.-ADIB Egypt intends to focus on more aggressive growth over the next three years and will launch a digital consumer finance company and a microfinance company in 2H23. ADIB is trading at 2023 P/E of 2.87x and P/B of 0.6x.-FAIT's 4Q22 net profit recorded an impressive EGP2,225 million (+89% y/y,+316% q/q) bringing FY22 net profit to EGP4,826 million (+60% y/y), supported by a one-off gain of EGP1,458 million booked in 4Q22 along with impairments reversals of EGP200 million. The stock is currently trading at P/B23 of 0.7x and P/E23 of 5.3x, with ROAE of 13%. -HRHO and GB Capital's Kaf Life Insurance has obtained a commercial life insurance license from FRA. -Pachin has 10 working days to respond to National Paints Holding's (NPH) takeover bid after FRA yesterday approved the offer, which was for 75-100% at EGP34/share. -The winning consortia's contribution to Containers handling in Ain Sokhna Port is: 50% for Hutchison Ports, 25% for CMI terminals, and 25% for COSCO.-Weekly Commodities UpdateBrent, USD/bbl            73.0     -11.9%Diesel-HSFO Spread, USD/ton          412.0   -3.1%Egypt Urea, USD/ton  377.5   -6.3%Polyethylene, USD/ton           1,160.0            -0.9%Polypropylene, USD/ton         1,040.0            -1.4%Steel/Iron Ore Spreads, USD/ton       498.2   -2.0%LME Aluminum Cash Price, USD/ton 2,226.5            -1.6%Egyptian Retail Cement, EGP/ton      1,915.0            1.9%Steam Coal, USD/ton 173.0   -6.6%Crude Palm Oil, USD/MT       890.7   -3.3%SMP, USD/MT            2,739.0            -1.1% 

Egypt's USD1.5 billion Sukuk issuance was c.4x oversubscribed, which narrowed the final yield to 10.875% from an initial guidance of 11.625%.Cabinet approved yesterday setting price floors for corn, soybean, and sunflower crops sold by farmers to the government, to encourage farmers to increase production and lower the country's import bill.FDI in 1QFY22/23 reached USD3.3 billion (+94% YoY).Egypt secured USD330 million from Japan to support The Universal Healthcare program.Cabinet approved yesterday a request by the Ministry of Housing to stop any subsidies for low-income housing units, which used to be sold excluding the value of the land. Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy is negotiating with ORAS to launch wind electricity generation projects with capacities that could reach 3,000 MW and investments up to USD3 billion. The projects are planned to be fully operational by 2028. ECAP 4Q22 net profit reached EGP44.2 million (+208.0% YoY, -18.9% QoQ), bringing FY22 net profit to EGP171.1 million (+75.6% YoY).Almarai has bought PepsiCo's entire 48% stake in the parent company of juice and dairy producer Beyti for USD68 million. Almarai is considering exporting some USD240 million worth of Egypt-made juices and food products to its Saudi factories every year.Stellantis, Nissan, and Al Mansour Automotive could invest a total of USD145 million in the nation's auto industry over the next three years. If all three agreements are executed, the companies would produce a total of 60k-70k traditional and electric vehicles every year, some of which would be earmarked for export.The Public Investment Fund has reportedly hit pause on talks for the acquisition of state-owned United Bank due to a dispute over its valuation.Oil prices fell to their lowest in two weeks on Wednesday. Brent crude futures settled 3% lower at USD80.60/bbl. Kima denied the details published yesterday about the new ammonium nitrate and nitric acid project. The company clarified that the investment cost and financing structure are still under study and not determined yet.ZMID reported FY22 net profit of EGP261.1 million, up 0.7% y/y. The Board proposed the distribution of EGP0.15/share cash dividends. Damietta Containers and Cargo Handling Company is negotiating with four major shipping lines to add a number of services to its terminal by the end of 1H23 as part of a strategy to increase number of containers handled.NTRA fined Egypt's MNOs a combined EGP35.7 million for failing to meet standards.

The CBE decided to keep overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation unchanged at 16.25%, 17.25%, and 16.75%, respectively. Egypt's current account deficit narrowed by 20.2% to USD3.2 billion in 1Q22/23. The improved performance was attributed primarily toNet FDI inflows doubled to reach USD3.3 billion.Tourism revenues surged more than 43% y-o-y to USD4.1 billion, driven by a more than 50% increase in arrivals.The trade deficit narrowed to USD9.1 billion, down 18% from the same period last year.Suez Canal receipts rose 19% to USD2 billion.On the other hand,Foreign investors pulled almost USD2.2 billion as the war in Ukraine and interest rate hikes by global central banks drew funds away from emerging markets.Remittances fell more than 20% to USD6.4 billion. The balance of payments recorded an overall surplus of USD523.5 million during the July-September period. Suez Canal revenues grew 47% y-o-y in January to an all-time monthly high of USD802 million. The cost of insuring against default on Egypt's one-year t-bills (CDS) is currently around 500 bps, down significantly from the peak of almost 1,800 last July but still up significantly from lows in 2021. The energy sector represents 50% of the state-owned companies that the government plans to offer stakes in this year. Egyptian Electric Utility & Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency approved a new tariff for using the electricity transmission grid during FY22/23. The tariff for extra high voltage is 4.96 piasters/kwh, 14.53 piasters/kwh for the high voltage, and 15.52 piasters/kwh for medium voltage. The CBE has instructed local banks to use FX obtained from the interbank market to fund imports rather than to cover overdrawn FX accounts. According to local news, HRHO has decided to postpone listing its consumer finance arm ValU until next year.Several local banks have re-applied the mortgage financing initiatives with returns of 3% and 8%, after transferring the initiative to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Communities instead of the CBE. The 13 draft oil agreements for oil exploration in the Western Desert, Gulf of Suez, and the Mediterranean will bring minimum investments of USD650 million. Ethydco is currently negotiating to reschedule USD1.25 billion in debts. The Education Ministry will launch an in-school tutoring scheme across all governorates at the start of the second semester of the academic year next week. NTRA is currently discussing with MNOs allowing Wi-Fi-supported calls service, which is expected to be implemented during the current year. Sweden-headquartered outsourcing company Transcom has opened an outsourcing center in Sixth of October's Smart Village.  

-Egyptian Banks: Love at the time of macro challenges. Egyptian banks are delivering ROEs north of 20%, and most of them are trading below book values. Most banks that got acquired in Egypt recently witnessed transaction multiples that are double those seen amongst listed banks. Treasury investments will present a good opportunity to park excess liquidity, and the high-interest rate environment will serve NIMs and push them higher. ADIB, CIEB, CANA, SAUD, HDBK, along with COMI of course that continues to be cheap.-Government sale of assets and the real estate sector steal the show. High focus went from the market to the stocks where the government intends to sell assets including HELI, EGAL, AMOC, SKPC, HDBK, EFIH, MNHD, ABUK, & ALCN.   -Damietta and Postsaid Containers Handling (DCH, PCH) are also ready to be sold to a strategic investor within weeks.  FV of CSAG is around EGP22.00-26.60, based on P/E 22/23 transaction multiple of 10.0-12.0x.  - EGP held steady against the USD yesterday, settling at 29.63/USD.-Yesterday's treasury auction of three-month bills was more than 10x oversubscribed, ultimately selling EGP 87.1 bn worth of bills at a weighted average yield of 20.52%. -Finance Ministry has issued the amended executive regulations for the VAT Act, which contain new targeted tax breaks designed to support manufacturing and boost exports.-Federation of Chambers of Commerce estimated the volume of goods that are still in the ports at the present time at about USD5.4 billion.PP Unit stated that the consortia qualified for the tender of the construction of the EGP3.5 billion dry port and a logistics center at the 10th of Ramadan should start submitting their technical and financial bids on April 30. The list of competing alliances includes the French “SWDY-CMA”, the French “Bolluret-Miriam”, “ORAS - Abu Dhabi Ports.”-PPP Unit started that 28 international consortia submitted their documents to qualify for the tender of the construction of 17 water desalination plants. -Chevron and Eni have made a significant gas discovery in the Eastern Mediterranean. Media states that the field has been estimated to hold 3.5 trn cubic feet of gas.-EU will impose a ban on imports of Russian diesel, jet fuel, and other oil products starting February 5, while the G7 also plans to implement price caps on those products.-Negotiations between the Holding Company for Construction and Development (HELI's major shareholder) and Gulf companies and funds include partnering on the Heliopark project.-ETRS confirmed that the company is still studying the acquisition of the National Company for Transport and High Seas Services “NOSCO”, and the deal is planned to be completed in 1Q23.-Price of some meds could increase by 20-25% by the end of February after around 50-60 medicine manufacturers submitted requests to the Egyptian Drug Authority to increase prices, to offset currency weakness.-CLHO plans to spend around EGP3.0 billion over the coming six years on the development of 4 hospitals, according to local press.-MNOs are in discussions with the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to increase prices of telecom services, after a hike of around 40% in costs on currency weakness.-Egyptian Poultry Association requested from The Holding Company for Food Production to raise the poultry selling prices from the current EGP62/Kg to a new EGP82/Kg amidst the rise in market prices and production costs.-House Economic Affairs Committee began its discussion of the Unified Insurance Act yesterday, which was approved by the Senate last April.

JSE-listed Telkom on Wednesday reported a double-digit decline in earnings and flat revenue for the six months ended September 30 amid a tough operating environment characterised by constrained consumer spending and rising operating costs. A sluggish economy, increasing electricity and fuel prices, rising interest rates cycle and high unemployment, which constrained and impacted levels of consumer spending, negatively impacted the group's performance during the half-year under review. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) declined 17.3% to R4.9-billion, with a 4.7 percentage point Ebitda margin decline to 23.4%, during the first six months of the year, owing to flat revenues, changes in the consumer product mix and increased operating expenses, including costs related to loadshedding. A 31.4% increase in the cost of handsets, equipment, software and directories, following higher mobile handset sales of 19.7% and the increase of 73.1% in information technology (IT) hardware and software revenue, contributed to the lower Ebitda. “Total operating expenses increased by 5%. The increase stayed well below inflation. The main contributor to the rise in service costs is expenses to ensure uninterrupted service during loadshedding,” said Telkom Group CEO Serame Taukobong. Service fees increased 21%, driven by a significant increase in diesel expenses, owing to increased loadshedding, and higher advisory fees incurred, mainly attributable to mergers and acquisition-related transactions and key strategic projects. Headline earnings a share contracted 51.9% to 137.2c and basic earnings a share declined 52.5% to 131.6c during the six months to September 30. Telkom reported a 0.7% decline in revenue to R21.2-billion, driven by good traffic growth and an increase in mobile handset and IT hardware and software sales, offset by the impact of legacy product migration and a decrease in fixed, mobile and IT service revenue owing to the strained economic conditions. Telkom's Consumer division reported a 10.9% increase in mobile customers to 18-million subscribers, with 61.1% of customers using broadband services. Despite a 14.1% increase in mobile data traffic, mobile revenue from external customers remained flat at 2.3%, owing to the changes in the product mix to ensure Telkom retains and grows mobile subscribers, while also retaining its value positioning of providing affordable services. “The plan to stabilise Openserve continues positively, with 65% of revenue now coming from next-generation products and services. The growth in high-capacity links for carriers, an increase in demand for fibre services and growth in enterprise connectivity is also pleasing,” Taukobong continued, noting, however, that despite a 10.8% growth in next-generation revenue, Openserve's total revenue declined by 4.3%. Openserve continued with its growth trajectory in the fibre market, increasing homes passed with fibre by 35.8% and homes connected with fibre by 33.7%. Openserve currently has the highest homes connected ratio in the country at 46.2%. BCX, meanwhile, reported a 0.8% growth, boosted by a satisfactory 13.7% growth in IT business revenue. This segment was muted for the past two-and-half years as corporates reduced IT spend. Swiftnet experienced a 2.1% decrease in revenue to R660-million, driven by the impact of continued focus on modernisation from mobile network operator (MNO) customers. “We expect modernisation to continue over the next year, coupled with the deployment of new base station sites as the MNOs deploy their respective newly acquired permanent spectrum allocations,” says Taukobong. Management is continuing to explore various options of realising the value of the mast and towers business and will update the market in due course. “During the period under review, capital investment increased by 2.2% to about R3.7-billion, as we continue to focus on investing in fibre and mobile, our key growth areas. We are co...

Summa Networks software enables mobile communications on 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and beyond. Francesca Rigamonti, Marketing Director at Summa Networks speaks with Don Witt of The Channel Daily News, a TR publication, about their Subscribers, policy and identity management software which was developed by a carrier for carriers, helping bridge the gaps between legacy and future networks and ideal solution for rip & replace. The Summa Networks' solution enables the creation and management of a single subscription with an unlimited number of profiles: UDR, UDM, AUSF for 5G Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for LTE Data Equipment Identity Register (EIR) Subscriber Location Function (SLF) Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for IMS Voice Home Location Register (HLR) and Authentication Center (AuC) for 2G/3G Francesca Rigamonti With 30 carriers utilizing their technology, it is obvious that their SDM model with a common database design is catching on and can improve performance while reducing costs. Summa Networks have also developed an integrated, fully virtualized, cost-effective, and unique VoLTE/VoWiFi solution: voLTEinabox. About: Summa Networks is the market specialist in Subscriber, Policy and Identity management solutions. Their mission is to guide carriers of all sizes and types in their transition towards 5G, while they still need to operate on 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G NSA networks until ready to upgrade to 5G SA, first as an overlay function in hybrid interworking mode, then as pure 5G standalone. Their trusted SDM solution, including an HLR, HSS for LTE, HSS for IMS, 5G NSA, UDR, UDM, AUSF, PCRF, PCF provided in a single piece of software, has a numerous set of features like AAA for VoLTE and VoWiFi. Their solution is suitable for MNOs, MVNOs, MVNE/As, Private LTE, IoT networks. Summa Networks belongs to the holding Enreach, European UCaaS leader and MVNO in 7 European countries. For more information: www.summanetworks.com

Join Connor and Jonah from Second Element Partners (SEP) along with Sal and Mahesh from Escape Velocity Ventures (EV3) for the first episode of the Proof of Coverage Podcast. We discuss: Helium as the "0 to 1" moment for token-incentivized physical networks, the evolution of the proof of coverage (PoC) model, "why now" for DeWi, eSIM innovation, and more! Show notes: 0:00 - personal intros, Hexagon Wireless as a protocol-agnostic DeWi accelerator (Jonah) 7:15 - intro to EV3, why investors see DeWi as a massive opportunity (Sal and Mahesh) 13:28 - EV3 VALUE-ADD as Hexagon seed-round investors, their elite deal-sourcing strategy (Connor and Mahesh) 15:40 - why we created the Proof of Coverage podcast, target audience (Connor) 18:08 - Helium LoRa as the 0 to 1 moment for token-incentivized physical networks (Jonah) 20:34 - smart DeWi skeptic takes, evolution of the proof of coverage (PoC) model (Sal) 23:51 - potential future improvements to PoC tokenomics: time-based vs. growth-based token emission models, extending PoC runway for a DeWi protocol (Connor) 26:30 - location-based PoC models, incentives for creating contiguous coverage (Mahesh) 30:00 - "why now" for DeWi? as illustrated by Sal Gala via his "Moats of a Telco" meme (Sal) 38:07 - DeWi isn't crypto innovation, it's telecom innovation (Mahesh) 39:37 - eSIMs lowering consumer switching costs, T-Mobile vampire-attacking other MNOs via eSIM trials, iPhone 14 to have 6 eSIM slots and ZERO physical SIM slots (Jonah) 42:36 - eSIMs are bullish for DeWi...continued (Sal) 45:00 - who's gonna default on their phone? (Connor) 45:31 - first-mover vs. second-mover advantage (Helium vs. Pollen) (Connor and Sal) 48:51 - Twitter usernames, it's not goodbye it's see you later Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The hosts or the companies they work for (Second Element Partners or Escape Velocity Ventures) may own tokens that are mentioned on the podcast.

Virtual Radio Access Networks, or vRAN, are the future of the radio access side of mobile operators' networks. vRAN is software that runs on off-the-shelf servers rather than the proprietary, dedicated hardware that mobile network providers have been running for decades. vRAN allows service providers to optimize their deployments. With software upgrades there will be a transition to quick, convenient, near-zero-touch operations. The virtualization of the network allows for extraordinary scaling efficiencies, ramping up resources as needed. Dynamic scaling enables networks to add processing power, memory, and connection resources on the fly when new functionality needs to be instantiated. This will free them up for other tasks when customers do not need them directly. Network slicing provides management benefits for operators as well by allowing providers to create and run multiple virtual networks on the same physical equipment, decreasing hardware costs. vRAN gives MNOs greater network availability and better deployment flexibility using pooled, centralized resources that operate on standardized commercially available hardware, and Samsung's leadership in development and deployments for major operators around the world is impressive. We are all excited to see the network virtualization we've discussed today continue to advance around the globe.

With the rapid push to 5G, operators are looking for fast, scalable ways to deploy while also having the flexibility and agility to manage services and optimize their networks. There are two ways that operators achieve this flexibility: using a virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) and embracing O-RAN standards. vRAN gives MNOs greater network management and service agility and better deployment flexibility using pooled, centralized software-driven network functions operating on standardized commercially available hardware. Samsung's cloud-native vRAN was the first in the industry to deliver to the market the virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Centralized Unit (vCU) that run on general-purpose processors. Samsung's cloud-native vRAN supports single band, dual-band, and Massive MIMO radios. Since Samsung started developing vRAN in 2016, it has become the industry leader in the fully virtualized 5G cloud-native vRAN market. Samsung is the only major vendor to have vRAN commercial deployments with Tier One operators on multiple continents and to provide a commercial vRAN solution that supports both Samsung and 3rd party Massive MIMO radios. Open RAN is a choice for network operators who want more flexibility and agility in their network. As a member of the Open RAN Alliance, Samsung is committed to virtualized and fully interoperable networks. Samsung believes that Open RAN starts with opening the fronthaul and fully disaggregating the baseband with vRAN. Beyond the production of O-RAN compliant solutions and integration and interface work done in traditional RAN, Samsung's cloud-native vRAN is O-RAN compliant and integrated with other vendors' radios. Earlier this year, Samsung won two GLOMO Awards for its fully virtualized 5G RAN solution, an indication that the industry recognizes the importance of vRAN and the virtualization of the network. Watch and listen to this Networks Tech Talk episode to learn more about what vRAN and Open RAN mean for operators, Samsung's views on them, and Samsung's leadership in both technologies.

Magdalena Bay has been working in business development for eight years now. She is an expert in the MVNO market, but outside of work, she loves spending time with her kids and showing her golden retrievers at dog shows. In this episode, Magda educates us on how Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) work, especially with how Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and MVNOs price their offers.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Learn what the MNO and MVNO are all about; Understand how MNOs and MVNOs provide value to their customers; and Find out how pricing works in the MVNO market   “You need to give time to your customers so they can adjust to the new models you are trying to introduce. And maybe, sometimes, the strategy that you're implementing won't work in the beginning, but if you just wait little by little, then it can bring the results.”  – Magdalena Bay   Topics Covered: 01:45 – How Magda got into pricing 02:10 – Learning how Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) work 07:21 – Why pricing in the MVNO market is interesting 09:27 – Sample scenarios of how MVNO provides value to customers 11:34 – How pricing in MVNO works 14:26 – What it means to play on a breakage when you're in the MVNO market 16:20 – Magda asks Mark: “How do you approach your consulting when you're in a totally new industry for you?” 18:18 – Does Mark have plans of getting experience from other countries and industries? 23:14 – Magda's piece of pricing advice for the listeners   Key Takeaways: “Pricing here is extremely difficult, in the sense that obviously, some of the customers wants to have everything the cheapest possible way. And in this setup, the infrastructure and building, everything cost your investment. You have to get your return on this investment. And as you mentioned before, MVNOs are always competing with these big boys, with MNOs, so this is almost impossible to be on the same pricing level.” – Magdalena Bay “Assuming that you would get also unlimited plans from the MNO, you are very limited on how much you can earn, because you are only limited to this, let's say, two zloty per bundle or two euro per bundle – just any number I'm saying now – and you can't grow on this, if you know what I mean.” – Magdalena Bay   People / Resources Mentioned: AT&T: https://www.att.com/ Verizon: https://www.verizon.com/ Orange: https://www.orange.com/ T-Mobile: https://www.t-mobile.com/ Free: https://www.free.fr/ Teleco: https://www.teleco.com.br/ Affinity Cellular: https://www.affinitycellular.com/ Airvoice Wireless: https://www.airvoicewireless.com/ Assist Wireless: https://www.assistwireless.com/ Beast Mobile: https://beastmobile.net/   Connect with Magdalena Bay:  LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/magdalenabay/ Email: baymagda@gmail.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

In this episode, we're going to explore web3 in the African context.The premise of web3 technology, and tools like NFTs, in particular, is that they can and perhaps will create new paradigms and economic models and that these models will have positive implications for creators and fans alike. And we believe that the decentralized and permissionless nature of web3 blockchains and protocols can have especially positive implications across Africa and emerging markets, as well. We're going to look at NFTs as a tool, and web3 as a technology and infrastructure that can create new and perhaps more beneficial and inclusive economic models than the status quo. In commemoration of this episode, we're also minting a collection of AI artwork entitled Dawn of Bugs, with Senegalese digital artist Linda Dounia. For more information on the collection, the artist, where to mint, and our thoughts on value in the NFT and African art context, check out What is the Value of African Art? NFTs and Web3 Experimentation. The collection, Dawn of Bugs, is available at reserve auction on Foundation.06:18 - Whenever there is a change in technology, like crypto and web3, there are ultimately new paradigms, as Seyi Taylor explains.10:09 - For Africans, in particular, new paradigms means a permissionless opportunity to participate in the global digital economy.12:36 - New paradigms allow for new communities and institutions, and new tools, like NFTs, that have the potential to create new economic models altogether.14:11 - The opportunity for creators, in particular, is to move from an advertising-based to a commerce-based business model. We hear from Visa's Head of Crypto, Cuy Sheffield. And NFTs can be important for black and African creators in the context of their historical experience as under-monetized and under-credited producers of culture.20:43 - We explore new communities and institutions like DAOs.25:19 - Why are Africans particularly interested in building new institutions? A conversation with The Flip's b-mic, Sayo Folawiyo.Select resources for this episode:The Flip's Crypto GlossaryWhy you can't just screenshot an NFT by Cleo AbramWho Disrupts the Disruptors? by Packy McCormickWhat Co-ops and DAOs Can Learn from Each Other by Austin RobeyNFTs and a Thousand True Fans by Chris DixonNFTs make the internet ownable by Jesse WaldenThe Web3 Renaissance: A Golden Age for Content by Li JinWho will own the creator economy? A web2 vs. web3 showdown by Justine MooreThis season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners – MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises – MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

African culture and content is taking over the world - from Afrobeats and amapiano, to Nollywood and Netflix originals, to fashion. To what degree can Africans monetize their creativity not only on the continent but globally? To what extent can Africans, as owners of culture and intellectual property, participate in the upside? And if content has been largely an export product, to date, how do *we* develop the local creator ecosystem, as well?05:11 - A brief history of the creator economy. From aggregation theory to 1000 true fans.07:59 - We start with the platforms, and TikTok's Boniswa Sidwaba.11:11 - A challenge with creator monetization for African creators is the value of their audience to an advertiser. We hear from YouTuber Tayo Aina, with a cameo from another YouTuber, Hank Green.15:33 - Because of limited monetization opportunities from the platforms directly, creators ink brand partnerships and sell direct to their audience. 19:49 - The challenge with monetizing an audience directly in a market like Nigeria is the poor macroeconomic situation. So content remains largely an export product, says Iroko's Jason Njoku. 23:17 - But the local fanbase is still incredibly important, and the local infrastructure still needs to be built. It's what Mr Eazi is trying to do for the music industry. 29:22 - How do we make sure value accrues back to the markets from which the content comes?31:42 - Our retrospective conversation between The Flip's Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo.Resources referenced in this episode:What is Aggregation Theory? by Ben Thompson1000 True Fans by Kevin KellySo...TikTok Sucks by Hank GreenTayo Aina's YouTube Creator AcademyThis season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from Subsea cables to roaming charges and satellite launches. Natalie brings us the big news from Exa Infrastructure, which is now an anchor tenant on the IONIAN subsea cable, as well as a partner in the project's deployment. Saf covers the latest on EU roaming charges, following the latest "will they, won't they" developments from the UK's MNOs. And Alan looks to the skies to find out why OneWeb's launch schedule is up in the air. Joining the conversation this week, Gerd Simon, chair of the Datacloud Awards judging panel shares his top tips for composing a winning entry, as well as his trends for 2022. Season 4, episode 1 is presented by editor Melanie Mingas and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, deputy editor Natalie Bannerman and reporter Saf Malik. Keep up with all the latest from our magazines, news and events over at Capacitymedia.com and don't forget to nominate your top female leaders from across the industry for the 20 Women to Watch 2022 power list.

Food prices are disproportionately expensive in African markets. In some countries, consumers spend 50% or more of their income on food. It's a logistics problem and a retail fragmentation problem, and it's also an agriculture and processing problem. So in this episode, we explore the agriculture and processing value chains on the continent. [04:44] - Lack of processing capabilities is a problem in African markets. But processing capabilities are hampered by inconsistent supply from smallholder farmers, as we discuss with ReelFruit's Affiong Williams.[08:33] - We speak with Releaf's Ikenna Nwezi about the company's interventions in the palm oil value chain in Nigeria.[16:05] - On the importation and exportation of raw and processed foods, and the markets served by processors on the continent. [22:03] - How do farms increase their efficiency? We talk precision agriculture with Revolute Systems' Jacobus Els.[28:43] - A retrospective conversation with The Flip's Sayo Folawiyo and Justin Norman.This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

How can Africans receive greater access to quality healthcare? That's the problem we'll attempt to explain in this episode, and it's a wicked problem.In this episode, we go deep into the healthcare value chain from diagnostics to labs to clinics and pharmacies, to better understand how it all works and how those we speak to in this episode are working to get improved care to Africans across the continent.[04:49] - Today, there is a greater trend towards reactive, not proactive medicine, due to high out-of-pocket spend for medical care, as 54gene's Dr. Jumi Popoola explains.[07:01] - The high degree of out-of-pocket spending coupled with low incomes ultimately creates the problem of low accessibility to high-quality healthcare, about which we speak to Ilara Health's Emilian Popa.[11:05] - Medical care starts with diagnostics. How do we get cheaper and more accessible diagnostics to the last mile? And why are diagnostics so important in the first place?[16:39] - Also, how do we get more payers into the healthcare ecosystem to pay for diagnostics? [21:39] - Fragmentation of pharmacies and healthcare facilities at the last mile is also a problem. We hear from Suleman Sule with Field Intelligence.[25:46] - We speak to Zipline's Israel Bimpe. When it comes to high-value essential medicines, perhaps on-demand delivery is required to increase availability and reduce waste. [32:47] - 54gene's ultimate mission is to ensure the treatments being used on the continent are the right treatments and, through their biobank, to participate in the research process to develop new drugs and treatments for Africa and beyond. [36:45] - A retrospective conversation between The Flip's Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo. This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

As MFS Africa announces its $100 million Series C, The Flip's Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo sit down for a conversation with MFS Africa's Founder and CEO, Dare Okoudjou.[02:34]- First question, on MFS Africa's recent acquisition of Baxi, and their expansion into Nigeria.[05:36] - Why Nigeria? And why now?[09:15] - On MFS Africa's expansion capabilities. [12:49] - Beyond remittances. - on trade clusters and markets.[18:05] - How does MFS Africa think about collaboration in the ecosystem while keeping the discipline to focus strictly on a B2B service? [22:26] - On sexiness and fundraising.[29:51] - On valuations and fintech consolidation. [35:39] - Having scaled across 30+ countries, what does Dare think about regulatory fragmentation? And what does he wish happens from a governmental point of view? This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

MNos idos dos séculos 15, aos primórdios da Sociedade de Antigo Regime, o poder do Rei era absoluto. qual era o papel do Morgadio? Com Luísa Serrano, professora, autora do livro "Como Fomos Assim Estamos".

As we began our exploration into retail and the so-called B2B commerce platforms, we kept asking about the nature of last-mile retail. Why is it so fragmented? And can we expect retail consolidation? In this episode, we explore why retail looks the way that it does in African markets, and how B2B commerce platforms are working to empower retailers in the context of the way in which last-mile retail works to meet the demands of their customers, the mass-market consumers across the continent. These platforms aggregate demand at the fragmented last mile, to ensure that products not only get to consumers but get to consumers more efficiently, with the aim to ultimately reduce the costs of goods, which, as we talked about last episode, are disproportionately expensive in African markets.[05:12] - Why is retail in Africa so fragmented? As Twiga Foods' Peter Njonjo explains, it's largely due to the rate of population growth in urban cities across the continent.[07:42] - How are B2B commerce platforms attempting to provide solutions for retailers in the context of massive fragmentation? We go on a journey of discovery with ZUMI's William McCarren.[14:29] - So what exactly do B2B commerce platforms do, and how does retailer aggregation work? Sokowatch's Daniel Yu explains.[16:52] - And as a result, these platforms can offer embedded finance offerings to SMEs and retailers who may not have previously had access to credit.[22:07] - On the back of demand aggregation, platforms like Twiga Foods and Sokowatch are both needing to invest further upstream at the supply level of the value chain, as well.[31:30] - A retrospective conversation with The Flip's host, Justin Norman, and b-mic, Sayo Folawiyo.This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

As we continue our season on value chains, in this episode, we explore logistics. The cost of goods and food is disproportionately higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world, with consumers in some markets, spending 50% or more of their total income on food alone. A major reason for these high prices is logistics. So how do we fix this? How do we improve the efficiency of logistics on the African continent, and ultimately drive down the cost of goods? [04:20] - On the role of containerization and efficient ports, with Jetstream Africa's Miishe Addy.[11:37] - After we get through the ports, our goods are loaded onto a truck. We hear from Omar Hagrass on how Trella is trying to improve long-haul efficiency in North Africa and the Middle East.[15:26] - From the port, we move on to the wholesale distributor. As we discuss with Daniel Yu, Sokowatch is aggregating small retailers at the fragmented last-mile and offering same-day delivery of fast-moving consumer goods. [22:37] - As the nature of retail evolves and more small merchants need logistics solutions, logistics-as-a-service providers like Sendbox are playing a role at the last-mile. We hear from its CEO, Emotu Balogun. [26:41] - But amidst all of this tech and innovation - what about infrastructure? To what extent is the problem just poor ports and roads? The Flip's b-mic, Sayo Folawiyo, and its host, Justin Norman, call up infrastructure investor Dami Agbaje for some insight. [32:42] - This episode's retrospective with Sayo and Justin. This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

IoT connectivity disruptors that are backed by private equity and venture capital investors are often prepared to take more risks to deliver revenue growth than their MNO counterparts. Such activity is often driven by ambitious plans to deliver on the growth expectations (and exit strategies) of their financial backers. In this podcast, Michele Mackenzie (Principal Analyst) and Tom Rebbeck (Partner) highlight some of the findings from the fifth report in our IoT connectivity disruptors series, IoT connectivity disruptors: case studies and analysis (volume V). The podcast also relates to our previous article on merger and acquisition activity in the IoT connectivity market.

This episode concludes our three-part fintech series this season. In the first two episodes, we tackled payments. In this episode, we explore the other layers of the financial services stack - namely, identity and data. Africa Stack is a play on India Stack - India's pioneering platform of open APIs and digital infrastructure that underpins the country's rapid move towards a paperless, cashless, and digital future. But whereas India Stack was built in one market, with one currency and one regulator, and with significant government investment, how does Africa Stack get built across a fragmented continent? [04:33] - What is India Stack, why is it important, and what does it mean for Africa Stack?[07:20] - We explore one layer of the stack - identity - with Smile Identity's Mark Straub.[08:51] - Identity is a distinct challenge in Africa due to the gaps left by governments. According to The Economist, in countries like Tanzania, Ethiopia or Malawi, for example, less than 20% of births are registered.[12:50] - Another important part of identity is address verification - something that OkHi's Timbo Drayson is attempting to improve upon.[19:25] - One reason why Africa Stack is important is because of the opportunities created by data layer and open banking startups, like Mono, as discussed with its CEO, Abdul Hassan.[23:14] - Whereas Mono is tackling bank customers in bank-led Nigeria, Pngme is focused on USSD transaction data, the telco rails that power mobile money. We hear from Pngme's Brendan Playford.[27:40] - Beyond data aggregation, there is a need for data empowerment, to create opportunities for real-time, customized credit, for example.[30:25] - So how will Africa Stack come together across such a fragmented ecosystem?  This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

In episode one of this season, we explored how money moves within borders in Africa. In this episode, we explore how money moves across them. [01:27] - Africa is the most expensive region in the world to send money to, according to the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide report. [07:26] - Why are there such limited cross-border payment options within Africa?[08:30] - And why is sending money across borders in Africa so expensive? AZA Finance's Elizabeth Rossiello tells the story of investment in infrastructure and liquidity, or lack thereof.[13:39] - How do you create liquidity across markets and between curriencies?[18:12] - How are fintechs providing better rates and leveraging technology to reduce the cost of cross-border payments?[24:32] - On the chicken and egg game of infrastructure and payment volumes across borders. Ham Serunjogi, Chipper Cash's CEO, shares the companies outlook on making cross-border payments more accessible in Africa.This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

We hear a lot, in the African tech ecosystem, that the competition is with cash. Virtually every country in the world is on some form of a journey to move from cash to cashless. Many African markets, however, are quite far on that journey. And to understand how to accelerate this trend on the continent, we first need to understand how money moves.[04:55] - For most Africans, the mobile money experience starts with agent networks, like TeamApt's MoniePoint, in Nigeria.[09:47] - Though increasingly, people are getting paid by employers directly into their mobile wallets. Bulk disbursement startups like Julaya, in Cote d'Ivoire, play a role here. [13:24] - But how does money actually move, between accounts and banks? The movement of money is powered by national payments switches. In South Africa, its payments switch is BankservAfrica. [20:06] - So now that we know how money moves, how are fintechs building greater utility into their mobile wallets, to compel users to keep money in them? [25:56] - How should we think about the design and extensibility of mobile wallets, in the context of physical wallets? This season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

In this episode, Dan and Jason discuss EdgeQ's new system on a chip, Telefonica's vision for the cloud native journey, Rakuten Group buys Altiostar, Intel's strategy evolution and Helium's 5G ambitions.

In this week's episode, our host Robert Hanna welcomes Daniel Prieskel onto the show.Daniel and his brother Ronnie co-founded Preiskel & Co, a boutique telecommunications law firm based in London. Daniel has been named as just one of 7 Telecoms Global Thought Leaders by WhosWhoLegal, and is particularly well regarded for his commercial and regulatory expertise in the sector.Over the last 20 years, he's advised MNOs, MVNOs, resellers, telephony providers, IoT manufacturers, data centre firms, satellite providers, handset manufacturers and government regulators. He also provides advice to a variety of industry bodies, and has been a judge for the prestigious Capacity Awards. In this episode, he explains:Why he decided to become a telecommunications lawyerHow the firm's client list has grown beyond its telecommunications niche, and now includes major players in fashion, food and transportationWhy he enjoys running a specialist firm, and the inevitable challenges that come with running a practiceThe impact of Brexit on the legal labour market, and some key leadership tipsThe huge significance of the current remote working boom for the industryOut now on the Legally Speaking Podcast website and all major audio platforms!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/legallyspeakingpodcast)

HGC aims to create a game-changing business ecosystem for global OTTs, ISP and edge platforms and bring the best end user experience to customers with the next-generation edge infrastructure.Learn HGC's collaboration strategy with local carriers, ISPs, MNOs, data centre operators, public cloud providers on supporting OTTs' fast scaling up, globalization of digital footprints and new niche market penetration in South East Asia.More, HGC acts as an aggregator and single contact point for OTTs to reach end users (which we called the Eyeball-as-a-ServiceTM ) very quickly by overcoming the complex technical and commercial arrangements while enhancing efficiency and faster time-to-market. HGC telco's edge infrastructure continues to evolve to boost the 5G edge latency-sensitive use cases such as gaming/ VR/ esports and deliver the best Quality of Experience Last but not least, join us at DataCloud Global Congress to explore the opportunities for telco partnerships in the edge infrastructure ecosystem.  More about HGC:  https://www.hgc-intl.com/SUBSCRIBE to JaymieScottoTV for the latest Telecom News: https://www.youtube.com/JaymieScottoTV HOMEPAGE: http://www.jsa.net LIKE JaymieScottoTV on FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/JaymieScotto...  FOLLOW JaymieScottoTV on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jsatv

Tower leasing is a big topic these days.U.S. mobile network operators, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, are upgrading or modifying master lease agreements with the Big 3 public tower companies, American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications, as these MNOs implement their 5G network builds.Big 3 towercos cater to MNO near- and long-term needs. But mid-tier and small tower owners and landowners often get into uncomfortable negotiations when MNOs want to locate on their tower or build a tower on their land.What leasing terms and conditions should apply? What are appropriate lease rates? And how are these rates determined?Ken Schmidt, President, Steel in the Air, an expert on site leasing, unpacks these issues in conversation with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.Support the show (https://insidetowers.com/subscription/)

In this episode, we sit down with Buhle Goslar, Africa CEO of JUMO. JUMO is a financial technology company that partners with banks, MNOs and other e-commerce players to deliver progressive financial choices to customers in emerging markets across Africa and Asia.Buhle discusses all things FinTech, the reason we're not seeing the full benefits of financial inclusion in South Africa & moving away from pay secrecy.TalentintheCloud's Website: https://talentinthecloud.io/TalentintheCloud's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talentinthecloud/Buhle Goslar's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buhlegoslar/JUMO's Website: https://www.jumo.world/Stacey Japhta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyjaphta/

This episode of Akamai’s Service Provider Confidential discusses what’s important to the mobile subscriber experience, why mobile security is an important component, and the solutions that can help both ISPs and MNOs. 

In this episode, host Janet Shulist facilitates a debate between Arunjay Katakam, futurist and entrepreneur and Nika Naghavi, Director of Data and Insights for the Mobile Money Program at the GSMA. Arunjay and Nika debate the future of mobile money in developing countries, with Nika representing the MNOs and Arunjay representing Fintechs and over-the-top players. Guest bios: Nika Naghavi is the Data & Insights Director for the Mobile Money Programme at the GSMA. In her role, she provides the programme and its stakeholders with intelligence and analysis on future trends and opportunities within the Mobile Money sector with a focus on emerging use cases, business models, disruptive innovation, best practices and social impact opportunities. Nika joined GSMA in 2013 and has held various roles, including overseeing Mobile Money Programme’s publication and projects as well as designing an overarching data strategy to ensure that the Programme keeps providing the most relevant analytics and insights to meet the needs of the industry. Arunjay Katakam is motivated by his passion for financial inclusion and solving poverty, Arunjay is focused on how he can use technology for good, breaking down barriers to democratise money. A highly regarded payment expert with strong strategic and analytical skills, Arunjay worked with the GSMA Mobile Money programme for five years. Where he provided a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of mobile money including analysing the impact of new technologies and business models. As advisor to the Head of Mobile Money, in 2018 Arunjay led the strategy pivot to a Payments as a Platform approach and helped secure $17m funding for phase 4 of the programme. Janet Shulist has more than six years of experience supporting financial inclusion initiatives through digital finance and mobile technology in emerging markets. She runs her own consultancy to support fintechs and digital finance providers and previously was a Mobile Money Insights Manager at GSMA. Key topics: Nika fills us in on some of the key highlights from this year’s state of the industry report on mobile money. Janet asks the guests how MNOs and Fintech companies have responded to the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Who is better equipped to reach those last one billion unconnected people- MNOs or Fintech companies?

In this episode, we explore the evolution of mobile financial services and the opportunity to deepen financial inclusion in African markets. This opportunity exists for mobile network operators, as well fintechs like PalmPay, backed by hardware manufacturer Transsion, whose smartphone brands - Tecno, Itel, and Infinix - account for over 50% of smartphone devices on the continent.1:55 - We explore the evolution from USSD-led Mobile Money 1.0 to smartphone-led Mobile Money 2.0, with Hover's Wiza Jalakasi.5:11 - Chris Williamson, the Head of M-Pesa at Vodacom Group, describes the future of M-Pesa and mobile financial services, and the role M-Pesa wishes to play to broaden the use cases and lay the rails for others in the ecosystem to build on top of.10:27 - We also hear from Ramatoulaye Adama Diallo, the CEO of Orange Money Senegal, on Orange's approach to increasing the utilization of mobile financial services, and their role in the development of the tech ecosystem.14:24 - While telcos have an outsize advantage from a distribution and customer perspective, so too does Transsion. We speak to PalmPay's Sofia Zab on how the fintech is leveraging their strategic investment from Transsion to integrate financial services into the hardware, and on the work they are doing to build out the digital use cases for its users. 20:16 - Where are there opportunities for startups to partner with MNOs or manufacturers, and how do they go about developing said partnerships? We hear from two emerging market fintech veterans - Adia Sowho and Hayden Simmons. 26:05 - As always, a reflective discussion between Sayo Folawiyo and Justin Norman - this week, on the differences between and opportunities for telco-led versus hardware-led mobile financial services.

Virtualized RAN, or vRAN, is a highly complex topic, and there's a lot of confusion about what it means in the context of 5G.On this episode of Recalibrate, we break it all down, highlighting vRAN's use cases, benefits, and role in our collective 5G future.vRAN is a virtualized radio access network and is seen as the next step in the evolution of cellular networks and specifically advancing 5G. Essentially, it's taking previously hardware-driven functions and making them virtualized or software-based.Think about the transition that took place in IT networks. Like those shifts, many operators are looking to move toward a more software-based network to become more flexible in management, services and feature introduction.vRAN moves the controller functions of today's hardware base stations to centralized servers or closer to the edge of a network, allowing Mobile Network Operators, or MNOs, to pool and adjust radio resources to better accommodate for user traffic.vRAN can effectively support low-latency and new, highly available services, works on options other than expanding fiber connections where necessary, and brings along fewer operational and maintenance headaches than you might realize.Today's future-proof, 4G vRAN solutions are ready to deliver in the 5G world and provide the connectivity and performance users will come to expect from ever-evolving networks, and host Tyler Kern and guest Derek Johnston took this opportunity to dive into exactly how that rollout will occur.Networks TechTalk podcast was previously named Recalibrate with Samsung Networks.

Virtualized RAN, or vRAN, is a highly complex topic, and there’s a lot of confusion about what it means in the context of 5G. On this episode of Recalibrate, we break it all down, highlighting vRAN’s use cases, benefits, and role in our collective 5G future. vRAN is a virtualized radio access network and is seen as the next step in the evolution of cellular networks and specifically advancing 5G. Essentially, it’s taking previously hardware-driven functions and making them virtualized or software-based. Think about the transition that took place in IT networks. Like those shifts, many operators are looking to move toward a more software-based network to become more flexible in management, services and feature introduction. vRAN moves the controller functions of today’s hardware base stations to centralized servers or closer to the edge of a network, allowing Mobile Network Operators, or MNOs, to pool and adjust radio resources to better accommodate for user traffic. vRAN can effectively support low-latency and new, highly available services, works on options other than expanding fiber connections where necessary, and brings along fewer operational and maintenance headaches than you might realize. Today’s future-proof, 4G vRAN solutions are ready to deliver in the 5G world and provide the connectivity and performance users will come to expect from ever-evolving networks, and host Tyler Kern and guest Derek Johnston took this opportunity to dive into exactly how that rollout will occur.

These days Roaming is front of mind for mobile operators as we consider the global economic impact which Covid 19 has introduced and the effects it will have on the coming years to travel trends and roaming. It's clear Roaming relationships are more important than ever. So while the industry considers its next move many MNOs will be using this time to get ahead on the rollout of 5G Roaming services for their subscribers. Recently we had the opportunity to interview Vice president Product Management Mobile Services at iBasis Chris Lennartz. In his interview Chris discusses IPX services in the context of 5G Roaming and how Roaming teams are getting acclimitised to the challenges and opportunities it brings.

Rather than a CB radio service or some sort of community service broadcasting weather forecasts, CBRS is a shared spectrum approach allowing Mobile Network Operators to reach areas where it’s not possible to utilize fiber or other forms of connectivity.It also solves limitations like limited 4G LTE in remote areas and a lack of predictable latency, an inability to prioritize traffic and security limitations with Wi-Fi.Ashish Bhatia, Senior Technical Sales Engineer at Samsung Electronics America, said new FCC rules allows for shared use of the 150 MHz spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band from 3.55 to 3.70 GHz on a licensed basis, a complicated sounding way of saying there now can be shared tiers.“It breaks down like this – using a three-tier sharing model, users are broken down into tiers based on priority that go from tier one, incumbent users, to tier two, commercial users with priority access licenses, and tier three, where general, authorized users live,” Bhatia said. “This categorization and shared access helps enable efficient use of finite spectrum resources.”With better indoor coverage and a high quality, reliable service, it should be something customers in those areas, whether commercial or residential, are pleased to utilize, as well.“The CBRS spectrum can be used for home broadband in rural or underserved areas where fiber or other forms of connectivity aren’t possible,” Bhatia said. “For enterprises, with the use of small-cell infrastructure supporting the CBRS bands, they can have direct control over their network coverage with high quality of service and little to no licensing fees, because the spectrum is shared.”It all works together to provide an exciting opportunity for MNOs and their customers.

Let's talk about digital identity with Niklas Bergvall, Chair of the Mobile Connect Interest Group at GSMA. In episode 16, Niklas fills us in on how mobile operators around the world have joined forces to build a standard for strong authentication and other services to help protect our digital identity – Mobile Connect. "It may be that you and I, and some of the listeners of the podcast, are interested in identity. For the rest of the world its a necessary evil." Niklas and Oscar discuss Mobile Connect (a mobile identity-based service), its proven global use cases (such as China Mobile), why digital identity became a strategic priority for GSMA and the unique insights of MNOs to improve digital identity. Niklas Bergvall Niklas Bergvall, Chair of the Mobile Connect Interest Group at GSMA, leads the international Mobile Connect community developing and commercialising new identity capabilities using Mobile Connect. The Mobile Connect community engages over 70 mobile operators in over 30 countries, countless service providers, reaching over half a billion people worldwide. With over 20 years of experience in the mobile ecosystem, Niklas has an exceptional understanding of the key challenges being faced when launching products and services internationally. Prior to the GSMA, Niklas launched and managed a number of global business-to-business products and services in various roles at Vodafone, Oxford Instruments and Europolitan. Find Niklas on LinkedIn. Find out more about GSMA at www.gsma.com and Mobile Connect at www.gsma.com/identity/mobile-connect. Ubisecure also has a useful blog on 'What is Mobile Connect?' - check it out here: https://www.ubisecure.com/mobile-connect/what-is-mobile-connect/ - and an overview page on the Mobile Connect solution - read it here: https://www.ubisecure.com/mobile-connect-telecom/. We’ll be continuing this conversation on Twitter using #LTADI – join us @ubisecure!  

International IoT connectivity is emerging as a key requirement for global enterprises and is set for strong growth over the next five years. Key verticals including automotive, aviation and transport and logistics are looking to MNOs and MVNOs to meet their connectivity needs across global markets. Network technologies are evolving to offer better IoT solutions but it is not yet clear whether these technologies are optimised for IoT roaming. In this webinar, we will explore a number of issues relating to the opportunities and challenges of offering global connectivity for IoT. Andrew Parkin-White, MEF Advisor on Mobile IoT will be joined by an expert panel including Tata Communications and Pod Group to explore these issues. Key questions: What are the evolving needs of enterprises for global connectivity and where is the market opportunity? How are MNOs and other players facing the challenges in offering IoT roaming solutions? Are they able to exploit market potential? Do we have the right network technologies in place to deliver seamless IoT roaming? Are Embedded SIM and Remote SIM provisioning solutions an alternative to roaming? Speakers: Alistair Elliot - CEO Services Pod Group Andrew Parkin-White - IoT Advisor MEF Kim Bybjerg - VP IoT and Mobility, Tata Communications Sam Barker - Senior Analyst Juniper Research

Our hosts Janet Shulist and Arunjay Katakam take you through recent news: 1. Tech speeding up aid operations in 2019 http://news.trust.org/item/20191217232954-gshlg/ 2. The threat to MNOs is finally here, it's not Banks, it's not Facebook/WhatsApp/Google, etc and it is not mainstream Chinese players Alibaba and Tencent (at least not yet). The treat is coming from other Chinese actors. https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/17/operas-africa-fintech-startup-opay-gains-120m-from-chinese-investors/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/palmpay-launches-in-nigeria-on-40m-round-led-by-chinas-transsion/ 3. Designing to close the gender gap https://www.womenandmoney.design/#opportunities Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Leave a review on iTunes and every other podcast app. Spread the development love by sharing or tweeting this podcast. Let us know your thoughts @m4dinsider and join the discussion by signing up at www.m4dinsider.com

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have noticed that a 'brick' several hundred million dollars heavy has descended on the continent in an unprecedented period of time, most of it venture capital earmarked for fintech startups in Nigeria.On this episode, Indian tech founder Arunjay Katakam joins Andile Masuku and Osarumen Osamuyi to extend our conversation about the implications of all the hype surrounding Africa's fintech scene and what the broader implications might be for the continent's tech ecosystem at large.We’re still vibing off of our last show, dubbed African Fintech Signal Check 2019: Nigeria's Killing It! (Part 1). That show, which guest featured Wiza Jalakasi, unpacked some of the most pertinent happenings in Africa’s fintech landscape and in legacy financial services arena over the last couple of months or so. If you haven't listened to that show (Episode 134), do that before you dig into this one.Arunjay Katakam is a former EY consultant who has co-founded three startups, exiting two— one of which eventually sold to Twitter. Today Arunjay is co-founder and CEO of a London-based cross-border remittance startup called Yooz and advises founders at DFS Lab. His extensive tech entrepreneurship experience spans work in developing markets in Asia and Africa, as well as developed markets in the Global North.Click here by-pass the pleasantries and skip straight to the main discussion.Topics discussed in this episode include:1) Arunjay suggests that there are three major cost factors/points of friction preventing mobile money from enjoying WhatsApp-level ubiquity and mainstream adoption. [18:50]2) Can ECOWAS's ECO currency plans lay the groundwork for smoother regional money flows? [26:25]3) Might the recent $20 million investment close by "credit-as-a-service" startup Migo (formerly Mines.io)— designated for taking on the Brazilian market, spark a new trend towards African/Africa-focussed startups taking on key markets outside the continent? [31:54]4) In what ways might the dynamics of engineering fintech startup success in India be comparable with the same in African key markets? [35:53]5) Does "a rising tide raise all boats", or will large fintech startups like OPay and PalmPay stifle innovation by smaller players? [51:42]6) How might mobile network operators (MNOs) respond to the prospect of wholesale disruption as "Over-the-top (OTT) Application 2.0" takes hold, and what learnings might they draw from Chinese and Indian ecosystems to inform their strategies? [57:54]Bonus Topics: Can successful startups be built without having to tell lies, even apparently "harmless" ones? + Is RxAll Africa's ...

MultimediaLIVE — So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have noticed that a 'brick' several hundred million dollars heavy has descended on the continent in an unprecedented period of time, most of it venture capital earmarked for fintech startups in Nigeria.On this episode, Indian tech founder Arunjay Katakam joins Andile Masuku and Osarumen Osamuyi to extend our conversation about the implications of all the hype surrounding Africa's fintech scene and what the broader implications might be for the continent's tech ecosystem at large.We’re still vibing off of our last show, dubbed African Fintech Signal Check 2019: Nigeria's Killing It! (Part 1). That show, which guest featured Wiza Jalakasi, unpacked some of the most pertinent happenings in Africa’s fintech landscape and in legacy financial services arena over the last couple of months or so. If you haven't listened to that show (Episode 134), do that before you dig into this one.Arunjay Katakam is a former EY consultant who has co-founded three startups, exiting two— one of which eventually sold to Twitter. Today Arunjay is co-founder and CEO of a London-based cross-border remittance startup called Yooz and advises founders at DFS Lab. His extensive tech entrepreneurship experience spans work in developing markets in Asia and Africa, as well as developed markets in the Global North.Click here by-pass the pleasantries and skip straight to the main discussion.Topics discussed in this episode include:1) Arunjay suggests that there are three major cost factors/points of friction preventing mobile money from enjoying WhatsApp-level ubiquity and mainstream adoption. [18:50]2) Can ECOWAS's ECO currency plans lay the groundwork for smoother regional money flows? [26:25]3) Might the recent $20 million investment close by "credit-as-a-service" startup Migo (formerly Mines.io)— designated for taking on the Brazilian market, spark a new trend towards African/Africa-focussed startups taking on key markets outside the continent? [31:54]4) In what ways might the dynamics of engineering fintech startup success in India be comparable with the same in African key markets? [35:53]5) Does "a rising tide raise all boats", or will large fintech startups like OPay and PalmPay stifle innovation by smaller players? [51:42]6) How might mobile network operators (MNOs) respond to the prospect of wholesale disruption as "Over-the-top (OTT) Application 2.0" takes hold, and what learnings might they draw from Chinese and Indian ecosystems to inform their strategies? [57:54]Bonus Topics: Can successful startups be built without having to tell lies, even apparently "harmless" ones? + Is RxAll Africa's ...

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have noticed that a 'brick' several hundred million dollars heavy has descended on the continent in an unprecedented period of time, most of it venture capital earmarked for fintech startups in Nigeria. On this episode, Indian tech founder Arunjay Katakam joins Andile Masuku and Osarumen Osamuyi to extend our conversation about the implications of all the hype surrounding Africa's fintech scene and what the broader implications might be for the continent's tech ecosystem at large. We’re still vibing off of our last show, dubbed African Fintech Signal Check 2019: Nigeria's Killing It! (Part 1). That show, which guest featured Wiza Jalakasi, unpacked some of the most pertinent happenings in Africa’s emerging fintech landscape and in the legacy financial services arena over the last couple of months or so. If you haven't listened to that show (Episode 134), do that before you dig into this one. Arunjay Katakam is a former EY consultant who has co-founded three startups, exiting two— one of which eventually sold to Twitter. Today Arunjay is co-founder and CEO of a London-based cross-border remittance startup called Yooz and advises founders at DFS Lab. His extensive tech entrepreneurship experience spans work in developing markets in Asia and Africa, as well as developed markets in the Global North. To by-pass the pleasantries, head straight to the main discussion: [18:50]. Topics discussed in this episode include: 1) Arunjay suggests that there are three major cost factors/points of friction preventing mobile money from enjoying WhatsApp-level ubiquity and mainstream adoption. [18:50] 2) Can ECOWAS's (Economic Community of West African States) Eco currency plans lay the groundwork for smoother regional money flows? [26:25] 3) Might the recent $20 million investment close by "credit-as-a-service" startup Migo (formerly Mines.io)— mostly designated for taking on the Brazilian market, spark a new trend towards African/Africa-focussed startups taking on key markets outside the continent? [31:54] 4) In what ways might the dynamics of engineering fintech startup success in India be comparable with the same in African key markets? [35:53] 5) Does "a rising tide raise all boats", or will large fintech startups like OPay and PalmPay stifle innovation by smaller players? [51:42] 6) How might African mobile network operators (MNOs) respond to the prospect of wholesale disruption as "OTT (Over-the-top) Application 2.0" takes hold, and what learnings might they draw from the Chinese and Indian ecosystem experiences to inform their strategies? [57:54] Bonus Topics: Can successful startups be built without having to tell lies, even apparently "harmless" ones? + Is RxAll Africa's very own Theranos in the making? [9:13] To view resources referenced in this episode, visit https://www.africantechroundup.com/fintech-signal-check-2019-part-2/ Image credit: Babatunde Olajide

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) licensed a total number of 20 new Internet Service Providers (ISPs) between January and October this year. This makes the operators licensed by the NCC 120 in number. The number of licensed operators was at one time over 170 but because of the challenges surrounding the business, many operators quit. The exit of some of the old ISPs was due to a number of challenges faced in the sector, and this has, in turn, had an effect on the active service providers. One of the challenges is the serious pressure the ISPs have come under from mobile network operators (MNOs) over the years. The intense competition and other operational challenges such as increasing capital and operational expenditure have been cited as the bane of ISPs in the country. Addressing the issue, the NCC’s Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Funlola Akiode, urged the operators to renew their licenses and fulfil their licensing obligations.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Principal Analyst, Michele Mackenzie discusses the trend of collaboration between mobile network operators and mobile virtual network operators for the purpose of expanding the IoT connectivity opportunity. 

In this month's podcast, our 5G expert Dr Arslan Usman and our MD Dan Cunliffe team up to examine the 5G carrier network playing field.Join them as they discuss which MNOs have taken the lead, the challenges they'll face, and how businesses can prepare for 5G's impact on fixed connectivity.

Bývalému šéfovi vojenskej tajnej služby Romanovi Mikulcovi sa niekto vyhráža zverejnením jeho súkromných fotiek. Mail s vyhrážkou a fotkami dostal po tom, ako komunikoval s Marekom Vagovičom. Za nedoplatok na dani vám budú môcť zobrať vodičský preukaz. To je návrh ministerstva financií. Bude to fungovať? Pýtali sme sa právnika Andreja Leontieva. Moderuje Peter Hanák.

The core team of Jamie, Iain and Scott are beck in town and they start by mulling over the faltering attempts of by operators to diversify away from their core business in the endless search for margin and growth. That moves them seamlessly onto the topic of operator consolidation and what is the optimal number of MNOs. Elsewhere suspicion of Chinese kit vendors remains the story that keeps on giving and Iain reckons there may be trouble ahead for 5G.

It was with great pleasure that recently we had the chance to catch up with Arthur Panos Director of Roaming at the Bridge Alliance. In his interview Arthur told us about his story in Vodafone Group, retail trends in Asia, regulations in Australia and beyond and the great work of the Bridge Alliance in bringing MNOs together across Asia and Africa.

In 2008 Stephen Ornadel led innovative changes to the International standards for fraud prevention for MNOs, engaging MNOs globally and the whole vendor community to embrace stricter measures for fraud prevention which today have become ubitquitous globally. It was a great pleasure therefore to get the whole career story from Steve, from his first days as a mobile operator in TMobile, through his career in Telcordia and iconectiv to his current role today as Vice President of Business Development at Mobileum. Providing insights on Fraud prevention today, MNP, eSIM, the future of telecoms, and the advanced analytics of Mobileum, it’s always a great pleasure to hear his wisdom.

One company known for leadership in the Mobile Engagement space is Infobip. Reaching tier 1 in ROCCO’s A2P SMS and SMS Firewall Vendor Performance reports. They are a company that from the feedback we have received, MNOs clearly admire and want to work with in this space. It was therefore a great pleasure to recently meet ELVINO KRIZMANIC Director of Channel Partnerships and RENATA STEFIC Director of Telecoms Solutions. In their interview Renata AND Elvino talk about their telecoms story, the Omnichannel approach to mobile engagement and what's next for Infobip.

In this last episode in our Roaming Regulation series, we review silent roaming and Bill shock from a global perspective and we uncover some of the key trends in how MNOs are changing what they do, to avoid further bill shock and silent roaming. "Music: www.bensound.com" or "Royalty Free Music from Bensound"

Nothing demonstrates our dependence on mobile connectivity quite like the long summer vacation from school. How else are parents going to entertain angsty kids on the long trip to grandma's house? U.S. consumers and business users are spending many hours on our mobile phones each day, with that number poised to grow even more. 5G promises step increases in performance that will unleash new applications and services that today's best effort 4G/LTE networks cannot support, but much change needs to happen first. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) need to carefully consider their 5G wireline infrastructure strategies in order to fully capitalize on the commercial opportunity. Today, we're talking to our own Brian Lavallee about the transformative promise of 5G, the state of 5G globally, and the technology strategies MNOs are taking to get to 5G.

Aktueller Status Gerüchte eines PayPal Clone der dt. Banken sowie die Herausforderungen wenn sie denn doch launchen, sowie MNOs im Payment als Herausforderer der Banken und PayPal

That is what Josh Russell reckons. See if you agree.

That is what Josh Russell reckons. See if you agree.

That is what Josh Russell reckons. See if you agree.