Opera Mini

Opera Software ASA has again released its latest State of the Mobile Web report. The report provides information on the top global trends affecting the mobile Web. In addition to the top global trends and country snapshots, the report highlights trends in Africa and aggregate operator data for the top 10 countries.

On a global scale, Opera Mini usage in Nigeria continues to surge, pushing past Poland and taking the #9 spot.

The top 12 countries using Opera Mini in Africa are South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Zambia, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana and Gabon.

From April 2008 to April 2009:

• Overall page-views in the top 12 countries listed increased 422%.
• Overall unique users in the top 12 countries listed increased 169%.
• Overall data transferred in the top 12 countries listed increased 348%.

Important milestones

• Since the last spotlight on Africa in September 2008, Nigeria jumped from #4 to #2 and Zambia jumped from #9 to #6. Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana and Gabon are new to the spotlight.
• Growth rates continue to soar in Africa–especially in Libya, with 4,155% user growth since April 2008, and in Nigeria, with 2,353% user growth since April 2008.
• Kenya leads the top 12 countries in page views, with each user browsing 372 pages on average each month.

Operator data trends

• Customers of U.S. operators view more data-intensive pages than subscribers in any other country. The average page viewed over U.S. operator networks is approximately 32 KB compressed or almost 320 KB uncompressed.
• Operators in the Ukraine were the big winners. Their customers view 582 pages per month, on average. Ukraine operators also sport the highest data transfer per user at more than 10 MB per month compressed. This is as much as 100 MB of mobile data per user uncompressed.

“Opera Mini has helped create and define the mobile Web experience for consumers around the world,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “Our relentless focus on delivering the best possible mobile Web experience helps drive adoption of mobile data plans. We believe that Opera Mini is the perfect win-win solution for both operators and consumers alike.”

About Opera Software ASA

Opera Software ASA has redefined Web browsing for PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices. Opera’s cross-platform Web browser technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA.

Zain

1 August 2008 – Nairobi, Kenya – Zain Group, the leading telecommunications mobile operator servicing over 50 million customers in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa, today announced it has re-branded its entire African operations from Celtel to Zain (www.zain.com). The move coincides with the linking of the world’s first borderless mobile service ‘One Network’ across two continents.

14 country operations across Africa will immediately rebrand to Zain, namely: Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Zain will launch its mobile operation in Ghana later in 2008.

At a press conference held in Nairobi, Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group’s Chief Executive Officer, noted:  “By rebranding to Zain, we are bringing together our African and Middle East operations under a single, strong and unique identity. We believe the Zain brand provides an optimal platform upon which we can build a top 100 global brand with the ultimate goal of better serving our customers. It builds upon the success of our African operations and will propel the Zain Group towards becoming one of the top ten global mobile telecommunications companies by 2011.”

To mark the launch of its new colourful identity across Africa, Zain also announced the creation of the world’s first cross-continental borderless network, extending and linking its ‘One Network’ service between Africa and the Middle East. The service will be available to 500 million people stretching from the west coast of Africa to the Middle East, covering an area larger than the United States of America. One Network allows Zain customers affordable cross-border communications, helping friends and families stay connected.

“This truly is a defining moment in the history of global telecommunications. The connecting of One Network across two continents demonstrates how under one brand, Zain is able to offer enhanced mobile telephony services. Going forward it will now be easier and more affordable for people to keep in touch and support cross-continent trade and enterprise. This is the essence of the Zain brand promise to create ‘A wonderful world’” commented Dr Al Barrak.

From today, all Zain customers (pre-paid and post-paid) in Africa and the Middle East using ‘One Network’ will enjoy the benefits of being treated as a ‘local’ customer wherever they are. Customers can make calls and send messages at local rates when communicating with a travelling Zain customer who will receive incoming calls free-of-charge and be able to make calls back home at local rates. Pre-paid customers can also top up their phones with recharge cards bought from either their home country or more than one million outlets available in one of the 15 One Network countries. The One Network service is automatically activated upon crossing the geographic border into one of the countries, with no prior registration required or sign-up fee.

Chris Gabriel, CEO Zain in Africa said “We are confident that our African customers will embrace the vibrant and colourful Zain identity. As one brand, we will be better positioned to offer customers more innovative products and services alongside the best network coverage on the continent.”

The rebranding of Celtel comes less than a year after the Zain brand became the Group’s master corporate brand that was successfully launched across its Middle Eastern markets.

Zain

Zain, the leading mobile telecommunication operator in the Middle East and Africa present in 22 countries, announces today its consolidated financial results for the first half of 2008. The results showed significant growth in revenues with customer numbers exceeding 50 million.

H1-2008 Key Performance Indicators

For the first half of 2008, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of US$ 3.488 billion, an increase of 26% compared to H1-2007. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 20% for the same period to reach US$ 1.305 billion. Zain consolidated net profits reached US$ 551.5 million, an increase of 7% on H1-2007 profits.

Year on year customer growth across the two continents where Zain operates was 58% with the Zain Group serving 50.74 million managed active customers at 30 June, 2008.

Commenting on the company’s H1-2008 financial results, Zain CEO, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak said: “On the back of splendid results for 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, despite fierce competition in many markets we are elated that Zain continues its excellent performance in the first half of 2008. Highlighted by crossing the 50 million customer milestone, these impressive results reflect the exceptional operational efficiencies in a company that is investing heavily and rapidly expanding across two continents.”

Dr Al-Barrak added, “We have started to reap the rewards of our recent large investments particularly in Iraq, Nigeria and Sudan with these 3 countries now serving more than half of Zain’s 50 million customers, and we expect similar rewards when our operations in Saudi Arabia and Ghana commence commercial operations.”

Zain in Saudi Arabia
Further to Zain Saudi Arabia’s successful listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange and a share price currently trading at double its initial offering, Zain has committed capital investments to date in networks exceeding US$1.5 billion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Currently the operation is testing the network with thousands of friendly users and Zain confirms that it will commence commercial operations by the end of August 2008. “We look keenly forward to launching our modern network and commercial offerings in the Kingdom, promising to offer the Saudi community world class telecom services. We are confident that our investment in the Kingdom will reap rewards for all our stakeholders.” said Dr Al Barrak.

One Network in the Middle East
After its widely praised and successful launch in Africa offering customers favorable rates for cross-border communications, on April 14, 2008 Zain introduced the world’s first borderless ‘One Network’ mobile service to 14 million customers in four countries in the Middle East-Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Sudan. On this, Dr Al Barrak noted “One Network’s preferential offerings removing borders and high roaming charges have been warmly welcomed and we expect it will be the catalyst for further growth in customer acquisition as we soon plan to link the 2 continents.” Saudi Arabia and Ghana will join One Network on launch of commercial services. Zain plans to roll-out One Network in all its operations, subject to regulatory approvals.

Capital Increase to raise in excess of US$4 billion
Zain also announces that the capital increase subscription period (as approved at the Annual General Assembly meeting on March 2008) will take place between August 17, 2008 and September 18, 2008. This capital increase will raise approximately US$4.4 billion. “Zain aspires to be a top-ten global telecom company by 2011 and increasing the company’s capital will provide the company with the liquidity necessary to continue its ambitious expansion strategy, while reducing the borrowing costs of the company’s operations and increasing shareholder value in the long term” concluded Dr Al Barrak.

Zain brand and community support
On June 27, 2008 the Zain brand was revealed to 50,000 concert goers and a worldwide TV audience of one billion as Zain was the main sponsor of a vast outdoor concert held in Hyde Park, London, honoring the former President of South Africa and Nobel Prize Laureate, Mr. Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The event raised substantial funds for his charitable work, as well as increasing the profile of African artists who Zain sponsored to attend and perform at the concert. Zain gave people across Africa the chance to participate in the event by offering its mobile phone networks to well-wishers wanting to send text messages wishing Nelson Mandela a happy birthday. All the money raised from this was given to the 46664 foundation.

In May 2008, Zain announced that it is partnering with the Earth Institute and Ericsson in providing mobile telephony and internet connectivity to over 400,000 people in remote areas in 10 sub-Saharan African countries as part of the Millennium Villages projects. This builds on Zain and Ericsson’s previous collaboration when the companies joined forces and upgraded and expanded Celtel’s infrastructure by building an additional 21 radio sites to provide mobile coverage up to 20 kilometers into Lake Victoria. This will ensure mobile coverage to over 90 percent of the fishing zones, where up to 5,000 people have lost their lives each year from accidents and piracy.

About Zain
Zain is a leading emerging markets player in the field of telecommunications aiming to become one of the top ten mobile groups in the world by 2011. Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator. Since 2003, it has grown significantly becoming the 4th largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 50.74 million active customers (as at 30 June 2008).

In the Middle East the company operates under the Zain brand name in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Sudan. In Lebanon the company operates as mtc-touch. Zain plans to commence operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in August 2008.

In Africa, Zain operates under the Celtel brand (www.celtel.com) in 14 sub-Saharan African countries namely: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The company’s mobile telecommunications operations in Ghana will begin in Q4, 2008.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of over US$25.8 billion on 30 June 2008.

Mobile Mania
Mobile telephony is now firmly entrenched as the predominant mode of telephony in almost every African nation. By 2001 mobile subscriber numbers had increased at such a rate that they had overtaken those of fixed lines, making Africa the first region of the world to achieve this. By the end of 2003, mobile users are estimated to have reached 51 millions, according to ITU, and are forecast to grow to 67 millions by the end of 2005. In just the first few years of the new millennium, Africa has added more telecommunication users than in the whole of the previous century. Africa is currently the world region with the highest level of mobile communications growth. The vast majority of mobile users use GSM technologies.

Evolving A Uniquely African Approach
The business and operating climate in the African telecommunication sector has radically shifted. Firstly, market liberalization has helped shape an environment which fosters competition. Regulatory bodies are being established, to oversee the introduction of services, resolve disputes, and support competition. A glance across Africa’s mobile landscape illustrates the benefits of competition. The only countries with less mobile than fixed telephone subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2003 were either those without mobile networks or without mobile competition. Mobile competition has benefited even the poorest countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia both have per capita incomes of around US$100, yet the Democratic Republic of Congo has a mobile penetration of around 2% – some 15 times greater than Ethiopia’s, which stood at 0.13% at the end of 2003.The difference? Whilst Ethiopia has only 1 GSM operator, the Democratic Republic of Congo has 3 GSM networks, in addition to non GSM cellular networks.

Pan Regional Giants
Competition alone is not the key. The emergence over the last 3-4 years of African based, pan-regional mobile operators, is another significant reason behind mobile’s growth. The spheres of mobile influence of these strategic investors now reach across the continent. It is these operators, such as Vodacom, Orascom Telecom and MTN who have been able to apply uniquely African approaches onto the markets on which they operate. They also provide competition – not just any competition, but their presence ensures that competition is of a suitable quality to help stimulate market growth. “Operators such as MTN or Vodacom have the knowledge of operating in different African markets which they can then duplicate onto other markets in the region,” explains Michael Minges, Head of ITU’s Market, Economics and Finance Unit and lead author of the 2004 African Telecommunications Indicators report. “But crucially they also possess a vital zeal to spread the benefits of mobile communications across the region, and with this enthusiasm they have helped created a mobile revolution in Africa.”

As Africa’s telecoms investment climate has shifted, in turn, potential investors in the region are becoming more willing to make concessions which they would not have done 10 years ago. Vendors, looking to grow in new markets as they face saturation elsewhere, are increasingly tailoring their approach to the region, developing special lower-cost solutions to suit the needs of the region.

Harnessing Approaches that Work
Mobile operators in Africa have been quick to see the benefits of prepaid services. In a region where per-capita incomes are low, and payment upfront in cash is generally the preferred means of payment, prepaid services are ideally suited. They reduce the risk of bad credit to operators while exposing a whole new consumer group to telecommunications services; those who would not normally have qualified for postpaid mobile services or fixed lines. A growing number of African networks operate only as prepaid, and four out of every five African subscribers – almost twice the global average – use prepaid services. Prepaid services have been further adapted to offer mobile ‘payphone’ services. It is tapping into these regional specific approaches, and accessing new sectors of the population who have not previously been exposed to telecommunications, which have helped to drive up mobile usage in recent years, and will continue to do so.

How Far do Mobile’s Benefits Really Extend?
Despite its suitability for the African market, how far has mobile really gone in terms of extending the benefits of telecommunications? Levels of mobile penetration vary considerably across the region, ranging from under 1% in Ethiopia to 74.7% in Réunion at the end of 2003, indicating that, for much of the region there is still huge scope for growth. Mobile technology has, however, gone further than any other communications technology in Africa in terms of bridging the digital divide. Mobile’s ease of payment means that services extend to segments of urban and rural populations who previously would not have been able to afford them, and where demand is high. Mobile infrastructure also extends way beyond that of fixed-line, into rural and ‘universal access’ markets, something to which wireless technology is innately more suited than the traditional fixed-line. Nevertheless, network coverage remains low with only an estimated 50% of Sub-Saharan Africa covered by a mobile signal, indicating that there is still a large untapped market, provided operators can be encouraged to extend network coverage.

Boosting Local Jobs
Mobile technology has also spawned a number of new employment possibilities. Prepaid card sellers or mobile resellers, such as Nigeria’s ‘umbrella people’ so called as they use umbrellas to provide shade whilst plying their wares – are now commonplace. Mobile reselling is a boom business – umbrella people, for example, have reportedly been able to exhaust 2-3 MTN prepaid cards, each valued at roughly USD11.60, per day.

Affordability of service is still a key issue – if services are unaffordable for potential new users, then this sector of the market cannot offer prospects for expansion. After a period of rapid mobile uptake, the mobile growth curve is set to continue. ITU forecasts mobile subscriber growth of 17% during 2004. To maintain the momentum of growth however, operators – as elsewhere in the world – will need to look to new areas of growth to attract new users.

Tapping into New Growth Streams Data
Applications such as WAP are beginning to surface. One of the most publicized examples is of Senegal’s Manoni, which launched a service to enable farmers to query databases on pricing information, utilizing WAP. The service is used by over 1 000 users.

Meanwhile, SMS (short message service) usage is showing signs of a fast uptake in Africa. While the majority of SMS traffic tends to be for mundane communications, SMS has also been harnessed for a number of innovative, region-specific applications. In Zambia, mobile operator Celtel has launched a mobile payment system whereby users can make payments using SMS, with a code identifying the payee.

Applications such as mobile banking have the potential to make a major impact in Africa, a region where cash payments are preferred and where people do not generally carry credit cards.

Migration to 3G?
A lack of fixed-line infrastructure as well as low PC penetration means that the potential for mobile Internet is considerable. Indeed 3G services have already been launched in a number of African countries, including Angola. Although there are no 3G networks in operation on the continent, network upgrades have enabled service launches. Recently Ericsson was awarded Africa’s first EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution) contract, to provide the technology to Ghana’s Scancom. Deploying EDGE will provide a migration path toward 3G, and enable Scancom to assess demand for enhanced data services. High speed or not, mobiles can still allow users to access the Internet “We are seeing users using regular GSM networks to gain access to the Internet, ” says Minges “It is certainly slow, but in areas where no alternative exists it is the only way to gain Internet access.” Given this, a logical technology to deploy would be GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), which could provide a higher speed access solution. Yet operators have still to embark on a large-scale rollout of the technology – by the end of 2003 GPRS had only been launched in three African markets. “Operators should be exploiting the potential of GPRS ” explains Minges “Given the obvious thirst for Internet access, GPRS could provide users with Internet access at speeds equivalent to dial up access as well as new revenue streams for operators.”

Universal Service Market
The Universal service market offers some surprisingly vibrant growth opportunities. Cautious of extending the reach of mobile services into rural areas, where service uptake may not be as rapid as in urban areas, operators have been slow in seizing the prospects these markets offer. “Operators should see these markets as a growth opportunity” says Minges. “Providing a service such as a community payphone can generate over 3 times the monthly revenue of a conventional user.” While services such as community payphones clearly do not provide a boost for handset sales, they do mean that levels of mobile traffic are kept high. Mobile initiatives in the universal services area include the Grameen Phone initiative. This initiative replicates the Grameen Telecom’s village phone programme running in Bangladesh, which currently has over 40 000 village phone operators. The Grameen initiative in Uganda operates in partnership with MTN Uganda and provides low cost mobile services into poor rural areas.

The Death of the Fixed-line?
Providing that operators maintain a focus on service affordability, as well as looking to new growth areas, the future for mobile looks very positive. But what of fixed-line growth, which has been almost static beside the burgeoning mobile market? Total numbers of fixed lines are forecast to reach 30 millions by the end of 2005, according to ITU. Although by this point the number of fixed lines will be dwarfed by mobile, fixed-line growth will nevertheless have been steady, increasing by around 6-10% each year. The key to fixed-line’s growth lies with wireless technologies, and it is only through these technologies that fixed-line can ‘fight back’. Offering fixed-line services over fixed wireless access (FWA) networks offers all the advantages of mobile – they are cheaper to install than conventional copper wire networks – but are also attractive in their ability to provide high data speeds. It is this ability to provide broadband which needs to be exploited, to leverage the one advantage fixed-line services has over mobile.

Fitting the Market’s Needs
Fixed-line services will also need to be adapted to meet the needs of the market, paying attention to areas which have helped mobile grow – in particular the ability to prepay for calls. The suitability of FWA networks means that they are already being deployed in certain countries in Africa. In Nigeria, for example, by mid 2003, new fixed wireless networks accounted for some 30% of all fixed lines. If the Nigerian experience can be duplicated across other countries, and fixed wireless technologies can be harnessed to revamp traditional fixed-line services, then there may still be hope for Africa’s fixed-line market.

Wireless Way Forward …
Fixed, Mobile or Internet, Africa’s ICT future is definitely a wireless one. In the absence of fixed-line networks, in addition to a lack of PCs, Mobile phones are likely to becoming increasingly used as means to access the internet, and in the immediate future it is mobile technologies such as GPRS combined with wireless technologies such as WiFi, which are likely to drive the mobile Internet market. With a number of the region’s mobile networks ready for GPRS, it is only a matter of time until operators keen to address stagnant levels of ARPU (Average Revenue per User) – begin to push GPRS as a means of accessing the Internet.

Fixed-line operators must also look to wireless options to diversify and extend their service range. As well as voice services, fixed wireless technology will also allow operators to offer highspeed broadband Internet access, and this could well prove to be the one antidote to declining fixed revenues.

Vested Interests in Africa’s Mobile Future
The stakeholders in Africa’s mobile industry will each have their own roles to play in shaping the future mobile market. Regulators and policy makers can act decisively to ensure that competition friendly policies are encouraged, such as keeping license fees to a minimum, and that any lack of transparencies in the business climate are addressed. Regulators should step in to make the prospect of rural expansion a more attractive one to operators, such as by including – and enforcing – higher rollout obligations for new market entrants, or by providing incentives such as lowering of asymmetric interconnect rates to entice existing players further into areas which previously had no network coverage. Operators themselves should be encouraged to share infrastructure where possible to keep their costs down and encourage competition.

Manufacturers must continue finding methods to keep infrastructure costs as low as possible, as well as tailoring their approach to address the needs of the region – such as looking at tailoring solutions to low ARPU users. Vendor financing agreements, with the backing of governments and investment bodies will also encourage manufacturers to provide network enhancement and expansion.

With around 51m mobile subscribers in a market of 800m, Africa offers tremendous growth potential, and by continuing to deploy and adapt an approach which fits the needs of the market, then the mobile growth curve looks set to continue.

by ITU Africa