1 August 2013

TELECOM Namibia, which acquired second biggest mobile operator, Leo in November last year, for a paltry N$2 says the deal was a "handy gift" ahead of its 20 years anniversary.

Speaking ahead of the ICT summit, which the company will host next week, Oiva Angula Senior Manager of Corporate Communications and Public Relations said in an interview the price was justifiable given Leo's poor financial state at that time.

"I must say that the selling of Powercom t/a Leo was a handy gift which came as Telecom Namibia was celebrating 20 years of exemplary service to Namibia and its people. Telecom Namibia strategically decided to go GSM and the opportunity to buy up Powercom t/a Leo just came at the right time for Telecom Namibia," he said.

The acquisition made Leo a 100% Namibian company, owned by Telecom Namibia. "This is a very significant development for the cellular industry in Namibia. Moving forward we fully intend to ensure that we extend the Leo services to all Namibians in the shortest possible time. Secondly, the most important goal is to provide Namibians with fixed-mobile converged services, thereby providing value for money to customers," he said.

"The sale price was N$2. This was deemed a fair price given the state of Powercom."

With this development, all the major telecoms companies are now state owned but Angula does not see this as a problem. "Yes, the regulator Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) and not the state approves tariff structures by all the operators in Namibia. Telecom Namibia/Powercom and MTC are established on commercial principles and are expected to enhance shareholder returns in their own way."

Asked whether MTC and Leo running on different technology systems, is this not a duplicate and waste of resources, Angula said where possible all backbone infrastructure will be made available to all operators.

"The technology differentiations are on the access networks which is standard practice. Yes we are making use of the NamPower overhead cables as part of our national express routes," he said.

"We have already begun to invest millions in the Leo network to provide greater coverage," Angula said.

Source: The Namibian

23 August 2013

Telecom Namibia has introduced the TN Mobile brand following its acquisition of the second biggest mobile operator in the country, Leo. The new TN Mobile logo is designed with the aim of entering the mobile phone market as a fresh new brand and to achieve success.

This was done at a special ceremony officiated by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Joel Kaapanda at Ongwediva on 22 August 2013.

According to the Managing Director of Telecom Namibia Frans Ndoroma, the new branding aims to start fresh and avoid any negative points from the brand's history.

“The Leo brand is proprietary to Orascom Telecom and our free use of it is to 30th September 2013. Besides this, we need to rebrand Leo to get rid of all historical negativities and skepticism regarding the brand based on certain perceptions,” Ndoroma said.

"The unveiling of the TN Mobile brand is aimed at supporting the Telecom Namibia Group's strategic direction. The introduction of a new brand also represents the beginning of the end of Leo branding across our operations," he added.

He said the TN Mobile will offer more value in the form of quality service, improved coverage and data capability and an integrated fixed and mobile proposition. Ndoroma reiterated that customers of the former Leo will continue receiving the same services at Leo outlets while the old brand is phased out over the next few months.

Minister Kaapanda said the re-branding of Leo as TN Mobile was a significant milestone which signals Telecom Namibia‘s readiness to take its (mobile) business to the next level of development and progress.

“Since starting its operation about 21 years ago, we have seen Telecom Namibia taking various initiatives in strengthening your position in the ICT industry,” the minister said.

“We have seen your digitisation of the network infrastructure and the introduction of next-generation access technologies. We have also seen the company embarking on various social programmes to cater the demands and needs of the public.”

The re-branding of Leo to TN Mobile is an effort to support Telecom Namibia’s convergence strategy.

“Fixed-mobile convergence is an inevitable surety as customers continually look for ways to connect to content from any device, while doing it with the simplest access possible. This is why the Telecom Namibia Group is working towards combing its powerful fixed line infrastructure with GSM technologies for future revenue growth while staying consumer competitive and relevant,” Kaapanda added.

“I wish to congratulate the Telecom Namibia Group on this milestone with the unveiling of the “TN Mobile” brand today. I am sure there are exciting activities planned in conjunction with the unveiling. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing a more vibrant journey for the Telecom Namibia Group with the TN Mobil brand,” the minister concluded.

9 Augustus 2013

The Telecom Namibia ICT Summit 2013 was held at Safari Hotel in Windhoek, Namibia, from 7-8 August. About 800 people attended the conference under the theme, “ICT – New Horizons.”

The two-day event included partnership building meetings, breakaway sessions, golf-tournament, presentations on various issues and trends of the ICT sector.

A cocktail dinner was held the previous evening at Windhoek’s favourite home for the performing arts, the Warehouse Theatre.

“With ICT as a central pillar for future growth to reach new horizons, our key challenge is to understand the potential of ICT as a tool to shape our economy and to meet future challenges,” said Joel Kaapanda, Minister of Information and Communication Technology.

Telecom Namibia’s board chairman, Joseph Iita said the country has “seen a multiplication of ICT service providers and vendors, and increasingly sophisticated product and service offerings to take Namibia to new horizons in the use of technologies in all facets of our national life.”

Managing Director Frans Ndoroma said the country has succeeded to build a robust, modern ICT infrastructure which is geared towards enabling people to imagine new possibilities, capture new opportunities and reach out to new horizons.

Ndoroma said Telecom Namibia has made capital investments to support ultra-high speed connectivity and enable Government, businesses and individuals to leverage the increased bandwidth for pervasive ICT use.

“Our success in this is dependent on our resolve to work together and take a collective quantum leap into the digital world of the 21st Century. This is an ambitious national aspiration. It is, however, an achievable goal. Please join Telecom Namibia in this exciting journey,” he concluded.