The 6th annual Telecom Namibia ICT Summit saw over 930 participants including CEO’s, business individuals, ICT companies and over twelve exhibitors drawn from educational institutions and private companies attending the premier event.

The 3-day event, taking place under the theme “ICT-an integral part of everyday lives,” brought together representatives from civil society, government ministries and agencies, the private sector and ICT vendors and service providers to explore the many digital opportunities and challenges presented by ICT.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology who officiated at the event said ICT will become an integral part of people’s lives.

“In Africa, just like in the rest of the world, ICT is increasing in importance in people’s lives and it is expected that this trend will continue to the extent that ICT literacy will become a functional requirement for people’s work, social, and personal lives,” Minister Kaapanda said.

He said with the arrival of the West African Cable System, the governments of Namibia and Botswana in collaboration with Telecom Namibia, Botswana Telecom and MTC have laid the foundation with state-of-the-art infrastructure for ICT promotion, growth and development.

“There is bandwidth available in abundance and now, it is up to the players to explore bandwidth as a transformational tool to do business, to empower individuals and improve service delivery in government and the private sector,” he said.

Kaapanda also expressed delight at the prospects of Telecom Namibia its own international points of presence in various countries, from which our neighbours would also benefit immensely.

Board Chairman of Telecom Namibia Joseph Iita reiterated the importance of ICT in development. “Unlike previous technology waves, this new wave of ICT touches everyone and everything: ICT no longer just enable us to do new things; it shapes how we do them. It transforms, enriches and becomes an integral part of almost everything we do,” Iita said.

He said ICT products and applications are inseparable from our daily lives. “Computers, the internet, mobile phones, control systems, data banks and “smart networks” all play a vital role in our everyday lives today, and are essential to our future development.”

Telecom Namibia Managing Director Frans Ndoroma said ICT has acted as a game-changer in many sectors. “IT has created a revolution in the social and economic life of many countries around the world, where they have been successful in establishing an ultra-high speed, pervasive, intelligent and trusted ICT infrastructure,” said Ndoroma.

The MD further said that ever since Telecom Namibia took the decision to transition itself towards a Next Generation Network Operator, there have been rapid advances in ICT. “We have witnessed the introduction of many innovative products, services and solutions by Telecom Namibia and other ICT players which, in many respects, transformed the way we work, live, learn and interact in Namibia.”

The Summit took place from 9 to 11 October 2012.

Telecom Namibia today announced the successful conclusion of its ‘Fibre to the Home’ (FTTH) service trial which run from December 2013 to 30 August 2014.

The 9-months user trial of fibre broadband connectivity to homes was conducted at the Omeya Residential and Golf Estate, some 30km south of Windhoek, to test the service and ensure stability and reliability for customers.

The trial involved 30 homes at the Omeya Residential and Golf Estate – and the results show that the service is capable of speeds of up to 120Mbps, setting a new Internet speed benchmark in the country.

Most areas in Namibia currently have ADSL and WiMAX up to 10Mbps.

Fibre optics cables were deployed to support the trial, while backbone and supporting systems were upgraded to provide a seamless offering of enhanced services to the participants in the trial phase

The trial demonstrates the commitment Telecom Namibia has to being a leader in broadband and providing the best and fastest IP and value added services to its numerous stakeholders including consumers, government and the private industries. The company has been investing heavily into fibre technology as backhaul to its powerful digital backbone infrastructure.

“FTTH, which is synonymous with high-speed broadband, is essential for economic growth, which is why we want Namibia to have the best broadband to enhance the competitiveness of local businesses and efficiency of public institutions,” said Isak ǂOuseb, Acting Head of Marketing at Telecom Namibia.

ǂOuseb said the FTTH project supports the wider Namibia’s Vision 2030, which seeks to build a knowledge-based society by the year 2030.

“High speed broadband service will enable Telecom Namibia to strengthen its position in the market. However, the overriding goal is to ensure that Namibians have access to very fast broadband as soon, as cost-effectively and as affordably as possible,” he said.

“Consumers want to be connected all the times to social networks, the Internet and their favourable apps. They also want value added services like video-on-demand, surveillance, online gaming (cloud-based), e-governance and e-education. These are very basic expectations which service providers like Telecom Namibia need to deliver on. Investing now in high-speed broadband means that Telecom Namibia will be able to deal with the escalating data demands of today and tomorrow,” he said.

ǂOuseb said that Telecom Namibia is now set and ready to begin the commercial roll-out of the service to selected areas by September this year. Telecom Namibia will be the first and only company to bring this advanced technology to residential and business customers, for the best-ever Internet experience in Namibia, he added.

Telecom Namibia today announced that it has extended its 3G EVDO mobile service to Katima Mulilo, Oshikango, Ondangwa, Okahandja, Henties Bay and the Long beach near Swakopmund.

The service became available since 9 November this year.

According to the Senior Manager of Mobile Networks Samuel Duncan, the newly installed 3G-EVDO network infrastructure will bring faster and even more reliable data services to these towns and localities.

The extension of the 3G-EVDO network to Katima Mulilo, Oshikango, Ondangwa, Okahandja, Henties Bay and the Long beach will enable Telecom Namibia customers, living, working or traveling across these towns and areas, to experience faster 3G data service.

New 3G-EVDO base stations are currently being installed in Windhoek to complement the existing 11 base stations in the capital city. These will be in Khomasdal, Avis, Katutura, Kleine Kuppe, Pioneers Park and Otjomuise.

The 3G-EVDO service is currently available in Windhoek, Oshakati, Ongwediva, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Oranjemund, Rosh Pinah, Tsumeb, Rundu, Otjiwarongo, Grootfontein, Luderitz, Keetmanshoop, Aussenkehr, Gobabis, Mariental and Rehoboth and Scorpion Mine.

"A robust and reliable network is at the heart of everything we do at Telecom Namibia and we are dedicated to ensuring our customers in each and every region of the country feel the benefit of this," Duncan said.

He said the combination of the company`s recent CDMA network improvements, upgrade and the latest deployments give its customers access to some of the most advanced wireless voice and data services in the country.

The company`s mobile broadband service is available to individuals and businesses by contacting the nearest Teleshop. Customers can select from any of Telecom Namibia`s mobile broadband packages starting from the lowest package of N$289 a month or subscribe for the unlimited premium plan for only N$999 a month.