NITDA, NIPSS converge to interrogate Nigeria’s digital fate, orange economy growth - ITREALMS

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In a high-stakes strategic engagement, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reinforced its commitment to the nation's digital transformation through a strengthened collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), reports ITREALMS.

​Hosting the Director General of NIPSS, Professor Ayo Omotayo, alongside the elite participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 48, 2026, NITDA provided a platform for a profound interrogation of how digital innovation can act as the primary driver for sustainable growth, with a specific, surgical focus on the Orange Economy.

Orange, itel partner Sanza XL @AfricaCom - ITREALMS

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Orange is partnering with itel the leading mobile brand in Africa and, once again, with KaiOS Technologies, maker of the leading operating system for smart feature phone KaiOS, to launch a new 4G version of the Sanza Phone, “Sanza XL”. From December 2019, this mobile phone with voice recognition functionalities will be on offer for around 28 US dollars in seven countries in Africa and the Middle-East: Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Jordan, Mali and Senegal. Other Orange Group countries will follow in 2020.

The simplicity of a feature phone combined with the advanced functionality of a smartphone, at an affordable price

The Sanza XL has a bigger screen than the Sanza at 2.8’, an improved 2 Megapixel camera, 4 GB of internal memory for more storage and high-speed 4G access, while retaining excellent battery life of up to 7 days depending on usage.

The device enables access to over two hundred essential applications, including: WhatsApp to send voice messages in any language, Boomplay, YouTube, Facebook and the Google Assistant to control certain device functions with your voice.

Orange applications will also be available on the phone: My Orange, Orange Money and Livescreen to enable users to keep up-to-date on their favourite topics.

In Africa, price is often an obstacle to purchasing a mobile phone and, by extension, accessing the internet. This is why the Sanza XL will be on sale for around 28 USD and will be progressively launched in 7 countries, followed by the other Orange Group countries in 2020. By extending the Sanza range with the Sanza XL, Orange, a champion of digital inclusion in Africa and the Middle East, is reasserting its commitment to supporting its customers and offering internet access for all.

Orange is present in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has around 125 million customers as of 30 September 2019. With revenues of 5.2 billion euros in 2018, this area is a strategic priority for the Group. Orange Money, its mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer is available in 17 countries and has 45 million customers. Orange, a multi-service operator and benchmark partner of the digital transformation, provides its expertise to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.

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Orange, MainOne partner on West Africa submarine cable - ITREALMS

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Orange and MainOne Cable Company are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement allowing for a major investment by Orange in the West Africa submarine cable system, MainOne, reports ITREALMS. Through this partnership Orange will acquire additional capacity, thereby reinforcing its position in the African telecommunications ecosystem. MainOne’s current cable system comprises a 7,000km submarine cable, which was launched in 2010 and has landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. The partnership between Orange and MainOne Company will provide for the construction and installation of two new branches and stations. These will connect the cable to Dakar in Senegal and Abidjan in the Côte d’Ivoire by mid-2019. Orange will be the owner of the cable station in Dakar. Orange’s investment represents a major milestone for this project. Orange Marine, a 100% subsidiary of the Orange Group, has been chosen to manage the installation of these two new branches. Connectivity, capacity & growth opportunities Thanks to this new cable connection, local populations will benefit from better connectivity, lower prices and access to new services. Orange will benefit from multiple Terabits per second of additional bandwidth for the development of fixed and mobile data in Africa. More specifically, this cable extension is an opportunity to improve connectivity and offer a broader range of services for both Orange Côte d’Ivoire & Sonatel. In addition, MainOne offers an alternative route that guarantees the protection of voice and data traffic passing through the other cables in the area – SAT3 WASC SAFE and ACE. A key asset of the Group's broadband network in Africa Through this new partnership, Orange confirms its position as a leading player in the submarine cable market. In this role, the Group aims to develop the quality of service of its worldwide networks and facilitate the use of new digital services for end-users. Orange has a strong commitment to the African continent, which has been at the heart of the Group’s strategy for the last few decades. The Group is investing heavily in building infrastructure and providing access to communication services over the long-term. "Orange's ambition on international networks is both to meet the needs of our affiliates in their interconnection with the Internet world and to increase our leadership on the international data services wholesale market. This partnership with MainOne will allow us to strengthen our presence, with new significant assets in West Africa,” said Jérome Barré, Chief Executive Officer of Wholesale and International Networks. “The development of new digital services in Africa has fostered huge social and economic developments over the past few years. As barriers to access continue to fall with improved networks and more affordable equipment, Orange, as part of its multi-service strategy, is seeking to position itself as an important partner in the continent’s digital transformation Through this new partnership, Orange is set to secure and improve direct access to high-speed broadband services in two of its most important countries, Senegal and the Côte d’Ivoire,” said Alioune Ndiaye, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East and Africa. In her comments, MainOne’s Chief Executive Officer Funke Opeke reiterated the company’s vision for a connected West Africa: “MainOne continues to lead the digital transformation of our sub-region by investing in affordable connectivity to drive economic development. Our objective is to bridge the digital divide between and within West Africa and the rest of the world. We are committed to deepening broadband penetration across West Africa and believe our investments in technologically advanced subsea infrastructure will continue to liberalize the international bandwidth market, further support Orange and other wholesale customers, and ultimately result in improved digital services in the region”. Orange is present in 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has 119 million customers (at 30 June 2018). With 5 billion euros of revenues in 2017, this zone is a strategic priority for the Group. Orange Money, its flagship mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer is available in 17 countries and has 38 million customers. Orange, a multi-services operator and key partner of the continent’s digital transformation, provides its expertise to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.

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Orange selects Broadpeak for advanced video service delivery

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Leader in content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions, Broadpeak has been selected Orange, the largest operator of mobile and internet services in France, reports ITRealms.

The choice of Broadpeak's solutions, ITRealms gathered was to power the delivery of advanced video services.

Using the BkS350 origin packager and recorder from Broadpeak, the operator will be able to benefit from the most advanced features related to video processing for delivery to any type of screen with a superior quality of experience (QoE).

Providing an uncompromised QoE and infinite scalability, Broadpeak's solutions will help Orange keep pace with growing consumer demand for high-quality content anytime, anywhere, on any screen and increase the operator's revenue streams.

ITRealms also reports that at the heart of the solution is Broadpeak's BkS350 origin and packaging server, is capability of recording linear services in one format and dynamically packaging the content in the requested ABR format.

“This capability will allow Orange to offer a great variety of services, which are highly desired by today's television viewers. Orange will also use Broadpeak's BkS400 HTTP video cache servers and BkM100 video delivery manager. The BkS400 server features a unique ability to cache content at the headend level, reducing the load at the origin level and offering high streaming capacity so that Orange can respond to the increasing demands of end users,” Jacques Le Mancq, CEO at Broadpeak said.

In addition, the CEO said, Orange has a track record for delivering world-class video services, and this partnership reflects that commitment.

"Our video delivery solutions are highly scalable and future-proof, making them perfect to a competitive operator like Orange that is continuously growing, launching new services, and enhancing QoE for subscribers," Le Mancq said.

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Orange, CNED partner on access to education in Africa

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The Orange and National Distance Learning Centre (CNED) have partnered to facilitate access to educational content on smartphones in Africa, reports ITRealms.

 This revelation, ITRealms gathered, came during the Global Partnership for Education Summit in Dakar, Senegal, which was attended by Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Jean-Michel Blanquer, French Minister of National Education, Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange, and various representatives of education and training in Africa.

ITRealms also gathered that hundreds of thousands of African students have difficulties accessing high-quality educational content and in order to address this, Orange launched an offer in Africa to provide access to educational content from the best international universities and training centres.

In the fields of education and training, Orange wants to allow everyone - student, teacher or individual - to acquire new knowledge and skills in the best conditions, from a university, a training centre, or at home.

Orange’s direct contribution to this ambitious project, which is essential for development in Africa, is based on its infrastructures and networks which allow for the distribution of this content to people in the 19 countries in Africa where it operates, wherever they are located.

In order to meet this objective, Orange and the CNED have established this partnership to distribute educational content. With over 29,000 people registered internationally and an excellent reputation across the world, the CNED confirms its position as a leader in Europe and French-speaking Africa for distance learning. It now has a large database of content, covering primary and secondary education, higher education and vocational training.

The CNED’s content will be distributed in French in ebook format through the MondoCNED application. The content can then be downloaded onto smartphones where it can be read on any screen size and can even be available offline. This partnership is already available in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the coming months will be introduced to other countries (Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, etc.).

“Of all the digital revolutions, higher education and vocational training is one of the most strategic for Africa, as the benefits of digital technology can help train millions of managers which this continent needs to independently take charge of its development in the long term. This partnership with the CNED confirms the Orange Group’s commitment to this major ambition to provide everyone with access to education through digital services”, states Bruno Mettling, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.

“These new ways of learning on the move reflect the development of the digital ecosystem. This opportunity for easy, rapid and widespread deployment is the first step of an ambitious strategic plan and a major driver of our development overseas. Educating, promoting career interests, encouraging, supporting, giving confidence, providing hope and cooperation... There is no better summary for this partnership which is based on one of the CNED’s core values: social value. If a person reaches their education or training target, society as a whole benefits,” affirms Michel Reverchon-Billot, CEO of the CNED.

In addition to the CNED, other partners will be able to offer their educational content to Orange customers, notably French online universities, French-speaking universities and African universities which already produce their own educational digital resources.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Orange brand in Liberia, continues strong presence in West Africa

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In line with its Essentials2020 strategic plan, Orange has launched its brand in Liberia with Cellcom Liberia becoming Orange Liberia, reports ITRealms.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Orange Group and Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, Bruno Mettling, said that following the rebranding of Cellcom, Orange Liberia has joined one of the world’s most powerful brands and stands to benefit from being part of a large international group.

ITRealms gathered that Orange would provide its marketing expertise and world-class technical capability to further strengthen the operator’s established network and enhance customer service in Liberia.

ITRealms reports that with over 1.6 million customers at the end of February 2017, Orange Liberia is the leading mobile operator in Liberia in terms of customers.

Founded in 2004, the mobile operator has been a driving force in democratizing access to telecommunication services across the country, despite difficult market conditions. It has always been a precursor in terms of network deployment and in 2012 was the first operator in Liberia to launch 3G (HSPA+) services following by 4G-LTE services in 2016. Orange will pursue this strategy and will continue to invest in the development of its network where the company is already a market leader.

With a population of 4.6 million people and relatively low mobile penetration rate (70% of the population) the country has a high growth potential for Orange. To support this development, the Group will work to reinforce the quality of access in several areas:

Chuks Egbune/GEE 

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Orange driving digital transformation in MEA

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Orange Telecom has said it’s driving digital transformation in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with new innovations in smart metering, solar power, Near Field Communication (NFC) and customer experience, reports ITRealms.

The Deputy CEO and Chief Finance and Strategy Officer, Ramon Fernandez, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa (MEA) Bruno Mettling, and Jean-Marc Vignolles, Chief Operating Officer for Orange MEA, outlined their vision and priorities, identifying a number of new sectors and activities in which Orange could play a key role in delivering digital transformation in this region.

ITRealms gathered that the Middle East and Africa remains a key growth contributor for Orange, just as Bruno Mettling, CEO, Orange MEA, said the Middle East and Africa remains a key growth contributor for Orange. 

"Today, we are present in 21 countries in the zone, with more than one in 10 Africans being Orange customers. We are investing for the long term and plan to continue playing a major role in the digital transformation of the region, from providing infrastructure and access to communications services through to developing new models that will help the region grow,” he said.

Also, ITRealms reports that Orange Money, is part of the Group’s ambition to strategically diversify around mobile financial services. With more than 19 million clients (+36 per cent year on year) , Orange Money is a proven success and, for the first time, Orange Money has exceeded one billion euros of transactions in June 2016. It has recorded around 50 per cent growth in revenue in the first half 2016 compared to first half 2015.

In February 2016, ITRealms further gathered that Orange partnered with Google to launch the Orange Rise 31, an affordable new Android-based smartphone bundled with data, available in 10 countries in the MEA.

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Orange to acquire 100% Cellcom Liberia

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One of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with 157,000 employees as at 30 September 2015, Orange is pushing to enter the Liberian telecom market by efforts to acquire Cellcom Liberia, 100 per cent, reports ITRealms.

Orange desire arises from the consummation of the recent agreement it entered with Cellcom Telecommunications Limited to acquire via its Cote d’Ivoire subsidiary, recalling that Cellcom is the leading mobile operator in Liberia.

Tom Wright of Orange in a press statement made available to ITRealms distributed via Africa Press Organisation (APO), the operator would provide its marketing expertise and world-class technical capability to further strengthen the network operator, enhance services to consumers and contribute to the economic growth of Liberia. 

ITRealms gathered that with the new development, Cellcom’s founders and employees will remain involved in the business to ensure a smooth integration, support performance and continue long-standing relations with the government of Liberia.

In addition, ITRealms reports that this acquisition is part of the international development strategy of Orange, which aims to accelerate its growth by entering new emerging markets with high potential. This will enable Orange to strengthen its positions in Africa, which is a strategic priority for the Group.

 

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Winners emerge in Orange Data for Development Challenge 2014/2015

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Orange has announced the winners of this year’s Data for Development (D4D) Challenge in Senegal which ran from 2014 to April 2015 in conjunction with Sonatel and Orange under the patronage of the Senegalese Ministry of Higher Education and Research, ITRealms reports.

The winners of the challenge, University of Manchester and the Santa Fe Institute, ITRealms learnt clinched the first prize of US$5000.00 (approximately 995,000.00 Naira), for using mobile phone data for electrification planning, with support from the Université Cheikh Anta Diop.

The challenge as gathered by ITRealms was organised around five core questions and themes relating to health, agriculture, transportation/urban planning, energy and national statistics; identified with the Senegalese Ministries or partner institutions, and designed specifically to challenge organisations to produce solutions for the purpose of societal development and the welfare of the population in Senegal.

Special consideration was also awarded for progress made in data sciences, anonymisation, big data ethics and to foster greater involvement with local organisations and promote education in this growing field.

Other prizes as learnt by ITRealms went as follows; Agriculture Prize for Genesis of millet prices in Senegal; Health Prize for Uncovering the impact of human mobility on schistosomias; National Statistics Prize for Virtual Networks and Poverty Analysis in Senegal; Transport Prize for National and Regional Road Network Optimisation for Senegal; Scientific and Ethics Mention price for Construction of socio-demographic indicators with digital breadcrumbs; Data Crossing Prize for Using mobile phone data for Spatial Planning simulation and Optimisation Technologies (SPOT); Data Visualisation Prize for O05, Data for Development Reloaded: Visual Matrix Techniques for the Exploration and Analysis of Massive Mobile Phone Data, and Practical Application Prize for Mobile Data as Public-Health Decision Enabler.

The competition as gathered by ITRealms was overseen by an External Ethics Panel comprising twelve members from across academia, business, public and non-profit organisations and the final winning entries were selected by the D4D Committee.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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