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AFRICOMwww.afri-com.com

Africom

4 November 2011

fricom entered the market a year ago following deregulation of the telecommunications sector last year when the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) said licensed operators with the infrastructure could provide both data and voice communication in a bid to improve the country’s tele-density. The country welcomed Africom’s involvement in the market, as the established mobile service providers in Zimbabwe were finding it difficult to offer a satisfactory level of quality to subscribers.

As well as being a pioneering private equity investor in te lecommunicat ions infrastructure in Zimbabwe, Africom was one of the first in Africa to build a wholly IP (internet protocol) based telecommunications network encompassing satellite, fibre and broadband wireless access. The company is now busy fine tuning its operations and expanding coverage in a highly technical market, putting years of planning and $30 million in hard cash into action.

For a relatively poor African country there is plenty of competition in Zimbabwe and Africom has no doubt ruffled a few feathers. In September this year, Africom advised its customers through

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an SMS message that the Africom CDMA network had been officially interconnected with the competitive Econet mobile and the TelOne fixed line networks—but it also took the opportunity of taking a swipe at the opposition by reminding the market that its charges for making calls to other networks cost only US$0.12, or less than half of what the incumbent GSM operators were charging.

At the time that Kwanayi Kashangura, who founded Africom, launched the network, he said that it wasn’t his intention to compete directly with mobile operators but that he did want to “enhance the service”. However, there is a considerable amount of cross coverage with mobile operators offering internet

services on their platforms. Having been granted a converged licence, Africom aimed to participate in voice, data, internet and other services.

The Africom network, which is the first such privately-owned network in the country, allows subscribers to have access to high-speed data transmission platforms. It allows the transmission of computer data from one physical location to another, through fibre optic cables and broadband wireless channels, for such

For a relatively poor African country

there is plenty of competition in Zimbabwe and Africom has no doubt ruffled a few feathers

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Kevin VenterManaging DirectorOffice Number: +27 11 475 7887Mobile Number: +27 83 969 1913E-Mail: kevin@soletech.co.za

Sole TechnologiesGlobal Hardware Specialist

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applications as internet access, file transfers and financial applications such as point of sale and ATM transactions. The Africom service is already available in Harare city centre, Grani-teside, Southerton, Kopje, Borrowdale and Avondale. It is expected to be available in Newlands and Msasa before the end of the year, and work is already underway to increase network coverage to the rest of Harare and Bulawayo.

Africom has considerable experience in building virtual private networks and provides a company’s premises with structured cabling and wireless local area networks. High speed broadband is on tap using a variety of media from fibre to satellite and a recently completed CDMA service.

Despite the underlying problems in Zimbabwe, the country still has a number of multinational business operations working there as well as many local businesses needing access to the international markets they serve. All of these are now potential users of Africom’s services which promise reliable solutions whether communicating with head office or business partners. One of Africom’s aims is to economically

Africom

Sole Technologies has made massive inroads in the IT

sector in the four short years since our inception. We

have strategically targeted the ever-growing ASP &

ISP market and our relationship with Africom is a true

testament to how far we have come. We have diversified

our product offering to cater for the bulk of our clients’

needs. Our competitive pricing, coupled with our certified

technicians, puts us miles ahead of our competitors.

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empower Africans by creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to start service provider businesses that will service their local communities.

Over and above the communications themselves, Africom provides a number of other value added services. With network security of paramount concern, potential users should be assured knowing that Africom has provided security solutions to some of the leading players in the financial, mining and retail sectors.

The importance of a disaster recovery service, in most cases, becomes relevant when a business is affected by serious downtime.

At the individual customer level, Africom has a product that goes under the name of MiChoice. It’s a way for customers to create their own communications package

Africom

In this respect, Africom says it has carved a niche for itself by seeking to over configure its infrastructure for use by organisations wanting to build resilience into their operations. Key accounts often rely on Africom for either primary or secondary communication links as a way of cushioning themselves against unforeseen network challenges.

From a consulting point of view, Africom’s fully certified engineers are called on to carry out a full network audit to reveal a network’s backed true characteristics—a service that is then backed by considered recommendations on how it can be improved and optimised.

At the individual customer level, Africom has a product that goes under the name of MiChoice. It’s a way for customers to create their own communications package by selecting exactly the right mix for them from a wide range of services. It’s a way of enabling customers to manage their communications expenditure. MiChoice is a prepaid product that allows customers to recharge their accounts and access the services. Customers buy a modem of their choice, getting a RUIM card at the same time, and then specify their preferred data volume. The service comes with an Africom email address and—in a country where fax is still widely used—a fax-to-email number.

In order to raise awareness and build a more prestigious profile, Africom is now sponsoring Zimbabwe’s premier golf tournament to the tune of $500,000. The Africom Zimbabwe Open is an event on the Sunshine Tour circuit and was first played in 1984 as part of what was known as the Safari Tour, a collection of tournaments in Africa that were played by professionals based on the European Challenge Tour. The event has attracted some of the world’s leading players: past winners include major golf stars like Vijay Singh and Nick Price, who along with Mark MacNulty is the most successful player at the event, both men having recorded three victories. www.afri-com.com BE

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