Oluniyi David Ajao is the principal brain behind the Mobile Africa website. He has a penchant for writing about technology, especially mobile communications technology.
At a glance
- Runs a personal blog at www.davidajao.com/blog/
- Writes blog round-ups for Global Voices, forth-nightly.
- Writes for TeleRead, a blog about e-books on mobile devices.
- Blogs about e-currencies and e-business in general, at GoldEconomy.biz
- He is the Associate Editor (West Africa) for Mobile World magazine.
- Blogs for Web Hosting Search about Web Hosting.
- He currently writes from Accra, Ghana and is a Web Developer with Web4Africa.
Articles written by Oluniyi David Ajao, and published on Mobile Africa
- Kasapa’s Fixed Phone Service: Bridging A Gap
Ghana’s only CDMA cellular network is branded Kasapa and operated by Kasapa Telecom Limited which itself is a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited. Kasapa's network is based on a CDMA2000 1X digital technology running at 800 MHz frequency.
- Nigerians unhappy about Celtel's free network calls
Celtel Nigeria recently announced free calls within its network every Sunday. The catch however is that, subscribers had to load their account with 500 naira, to enjoy an hour of free call, the next Sunday. Not every Nigeria however, is happy with the offer. At least not Yomi Adegboye or Felix Adebayo who both blogged about the issue.
- Surviving the energy crisis in Ghana
The current energy crisis in Ghana has been affecting the livelihood of many people in Ghana, in many ways. Those who rely on electrical energy for their livelihood are amongst the ones hit most. Power supply has been very unstable and unreliable despite the load-shedding exercise, which so far, has lasted over 8 months. The purpose of this write-up is to provide an alternative for people who earn a living on the Internet, to be able to keep track of their business, even when power from the national grid is off and all other alternative power supplies have failed.
- Mobile Internet in Ghana
Mobile Internet technologies play a very important role, in making Internet services available to many, in Africa. The role of cellular networks in Africa's telecommunications industry cannot be over-emphasized. In fact, cellular networks dominate in Africa, as a result of the fact that the number of mobile phone subscriptions far exceed those of their fixed-line counterparts. To do this end, it is only expedient that we at Mobile Africa share useful information, about the various Internet service offerings by the cellular networks in every African country where a form of data/Internet access exists, over a cellular network. We are starting the Mobile Internet series, with Ghana in celebration of the west African nation's 50th Independence Anniversary celebration.
- Are Mobile Data Technologies viable as mainstream channel of Internet connection?
I know of a few people who are very obsessed about connecting to the Internet, via mobile technologies - I was once one of them. One can hardly blame them. Most African countries are poorly connected by the fixed telecom operators. Broadband connectivity via technologies like ADSL are limited to large cities, in African countries where they are available at all. The number of fixed lines are grossly inadequate, and so dial-up Internet is not an option, for most people. This is the gap that mobile telecommunications companies are filling, using technologies like GPRS, EDGE, CDMA2000 1x, UMTS and HSDPA.
- Areeba's Trump Card in Ghana's Mobile Internet Arena
As early as April 2004, Areeba (then known as Spacefon) announced it was rolling-out Africa's first-ever EDGE-capable cellular network. This was however not to be implemented until later October 2006 when it was commercially launched though it had hitherto been available over-the-air, way before then.
- New-born baby named "Celtel"
The positive impact of mobile communications in Africa cannot be over-emphasized. Indeed, the impacts of mobile telephony on the African continent, are tremendous.
- Why Africa leads the traffic to BBC News' WAP site
Global news leader - the BBC, last week announced that traffic to its WAP site from Africa, and especially Nigeria, is the highest.
- African Mobile Roaming Charges - One of the last forms of legal daylight robbery
The title of this article is the same title of the lead story of Balancing Act, this week. I choose the same title because I want to share my opinion about the subject.
- Mobile Telephony in Rural Ghana; Case Study: Moree, Central Region, Ghana
This write-up by Oluniyi David Ajao throws a spotlight on a typical rural setting in the fishing communities in rural Ghana, and how mobile telephony affects their lives, using Moree as a case study.
- Text Messages (SMS) as the best feedback tool for Radio Broadcast
In Yoruba language (south-western Nigeria), radio is referred to as “asoromagbesi”; meaning, the one that talks without getting a feedback. Rightfully so. The Yoruba people used to be right be in describing a radio as such, because a few decades ago, one could only listen to radio, one could not give an instantaneous feedback. Not any more. Those days are gone, for good. Today, one does not only listen to radio, one can only participate in the discourse via telephone, fax, email, SMS, and of course, the good old letter-writing.
- What accounts for low patronage of data services over mobile networks in Africa?
Some GSM networks in Africa have in recent times been introducing advanced data services on their cellular networks and even upgrading to 2.5G, 2.75G & 3G platforms. Despite this development, patronage of services like GPRS, MMS, EDGE, UMTS is still very low though one would opine that indeed these services are ideal for unwired Africa. What is responsible for this? One wonders.
- CDMA Data: Ghana versus Nigeria
I was elated when Kasapa announced it was upgrading from its AMPS system to CDMA2000 1x. I was, because, I knew all the 'goodies' that came with any cellular network running on CDMA2000 1x.
- Mobile2busy Unit Transfer
Mobile Africa is all about sharing using information about mobile communciations technology in Africa, and its useful applications in our everyday lives.
- September 19th GSM Boycott in Nigeria - Two Years After. Any Changes? (Part Two)
The second part of this articles outlines the concerns brought forward by the two organizations namely Consumer Rights Project (an NGO) and the National Association of Telecommunication Subscribers (NATSCOM), and attempts to compare what is available in Nigeria today, to see if there has been any change since the September 19th boycott by GSM network subscribers in Nigeria.
- September 19th GSM Boycott in Nigeria - Two Years After. Any Changes?
In September 2003, subscribers of the GSM networks in Nigeria complained bitterly about poor quality of services amongst other things. The network operators were defensive or adamant; and so, the battle line was drawn.
- Roaming into Nigeria
I had to visit home again after a long time away, in October 2004. I had nothing to worry about. It would be like I was still in my country of residence. Armed with my notebook computer, a VISA debit card, few personal effects, and of course, my good old Nokia 7250i, I set off for Ibadan (south west Nigeria), my beloved home town.
- The significance of the new .mobi domain suffix
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the new .mobi domain suffix for websites that are built specifically for mobile phones and devices.
- SMS as a social and business networking tool
Short Messaging Service (also known as SMS or Text Messaging) has edged its way into the lives of millions of people around the world as a very useful tool for social and business networking. Indeed, the ubiquitous SMS is today one of the most effective means of modern communication.
- The Beauty in Areeba: A Close Look at Ghana's Leading Cellular Network
Spacefon Areeba yesterday sent a text message to all its subscribers reading: "Our evolution is complete. Spacefon Areeba is now Areeba! We welcome you to Areeba - the heart of your world".
- Comparative Analysis of ONEtouch mini top-up and Spacefon Areeba Unit Transfer
Last week, Spacefon Areeba unveiled a new service called Spacefon Areeba Unit Transfer and this week, ONEtouch GSM also launched a very similar service called ONEtouch Mini top-up. Though the services are similar, there are differences in price and validity period.
- Mobile Africa is One
The web site, "Mobile Africa" started like a dream. The concept behind this web site was born out of the inspiration derived from writing the article: "Mobile Telephony. Which Way for Africa?", written in March 2004.
- Mobile Phones: No Longer A Show Of Class
In the early 1990's, in many African countries, mobile phones were very limited in number, and only an exclusive preserve of the rich and powerful. Mobile phone networks were few and limited to the urban areas. In most cases, many African countries had only one mobile phone company, and usually a subset of the state-owned monopoly, telecom company. That was then. Now, fast-forward to 2005, and the situation is different.
- GSM Desktop phones
GSM desktop cellular phones offer voice and text-messaging transmissions. They provide dual-band support (either 850/1900 MHz in the Americas or 900/1800 MHz in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East) for calling capabilities needed in rural areas, or in developing metropolitan areas where phone service is simply not available to all residents.
- The "Space to Space" phenomenon in Ghana
The history of digital mobile telephony in Ghana, is a long and windy one. The essence of this article however, is to take a close look at the current wave of road-side 'businesses' in Ghana, popularly referred to as: "Space to Space".
- Mobile Phone Technologies in Africa
Much of the technology available globally is also available in Africa. Thus, the information here might apply elsewhere. Our prime focus though is Africa.
- 'Glo-ing' in Nigeria
Glo Mobile, the GSM subsidiary of Globalcom Nigeria Limited has been a great player in the telecom industry since it was launched in 2003.
- Prepaid Roaming in Africa
The case for prepaid international roaming in Africa is very strong indeed. Most subscribers on cellular networks in Africa are on the prepaid platform. What better way could there have been to reach out to this large number of people who form the majority? None.
- Spacefon Areeba's GPRS. A Review.
Ghana's premier and leading GSM network, Spacefon Areeba soft-launched its GPRS offering and made it available to a few subscribers, on a beta test. The author is oppurtuned to be among the selected few. This article seeks to a sneak preview into what is coming.
- GSM Evolution in Ghana
What can be described as the GSM evolution in Ghana, started essentially as way back as November 1996 with the launch of the first GSM service by Scancom Limited under the brand name of Spacefon, now known as Spacefon Areeba.
|
See Also:
