Tanzania: AMOTEL appoints WTL to provide voice, data

 ITRealms:

AMOTEL has said it will be deploying World Telecommunication Lab (WTL’s) new Vivada system (Village Voice and Data) to build low OPEX, low-CAPEX networks in three villages that are not currently covered by any kind of network, ITRealms reports. WTL recently announced that the collaboration will bring voice and data to remote rural villages close to Lake Tanganyika in Katavi Region and later to take the services to other villages in Kigoma, Njombe and Kilimanjaro regions ITRealms gathered that the proof of concept project is being financed by the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) as part of its US$9.6 million, about N19.1billion investment to improve connectivity in Tanzania which was announced in April. In June AMOTEL became the first licensed Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Tanzania with a mission to embrace new innovations and developments to serve the rural areas. AMOTEL has entered a business agreement to operate as an MVNO through a national telecom company called Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL). The Board Chairman of Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL Professor Robert Mabele, said, “We know that connectivity in rural areas leads to economic development and improvements in the quality of life. AMOTEL is a company which takes its responsibilities very seriously and we are determined to make a difference.”  WTL’s Vivada has been specifically developed to provide operators large and small with a cost-effective, quick to deploy and sustainable system for rural GSM and data connectivity. It runs on less than 200W which can be supplied by solar with battery back-up, ITRealms learnt. Vivada recognises that multiple revenue streams will ensure a sustainable business model. It can deliver services to all types of pre and post-paid customers with varying telecoms budgets including GSM for every type of handset; WiFi connectivity for smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs – and connectivity to cybercafés and hotspot call cabins. Traffic from the village  ITRealms informs, is validated by WTL’s real-time charging system and voice calls are then converted into VoIP and compressed using WTL’s award-winning VoIP SBC which uses patented technology to minimise the amount of backhaul bandwidth required. Calls are transferred to a hub in Dar es Salaam where a WTL switch routes it onwards. Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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World Telecom Labs celebrates 1bn minutes for Nigeria’s interconnect exchange carriers

ITRealms:

World Telecom Labs (WTL) has announced that more than 1 billion minutes have passed through its second generation Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) switches deployed by five of Nigeria’s interconnect exchange carriers, ITRealms reports.

The announcement was made at an event celebrating the achievement at the ongoing annual NigeriaCom telecoms conference and exhibition. All five of the carriers were presented with a trophy to mark the occasion.

“Licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the carriers – Breeze Micro, Exchange, ICN, Niconnx and Solid – were established to increase competition and transparency in the Nigerian telecom marketplace. The four leading mobile operators in Nigeria are now all required to divert 10% of their inter-carrier voice and SMS traffic to one of these operators,” WTL said.

Leigh Smith, MD of WTL, said “What a triumph for the NCC. The benefits of introducing the new carriers are clear:  a huge amount of traffic is being taken off the infrastructure of the established carriers in Nigeria thereby freeing up capacity, increasing speeds and reducing latency. In addition, there is greater transparency and openness in the market.”

Jihad Jaafar, CTO, Breeze Micro, said “The billionth minute is a significant moment for both Breeze Micro and our interconnect exchange carrier colleagues.  WTL has been instrumental in our success.  Its team of experts continue to be generous in sharing their knowledge and experience which is benefiting both the telecoms market and indeed the people of Nigeria.”

Chukwudi Obi

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