WORD TELECOMMUNICATIONS Updates (WTU)

Nairobi, September 4, 2019: Airtel Africa, a leading telecommunications services provider with operations in 14 countries across Africa, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Ferrao as Regional Director of its East Africa business. Ian Ferrao has more than 12 years of experience in senior management telecommunications roles in Africa. Prior to joining Airtel Africa, he was the CEO of Vodacom Tanzania PLC, the CEO of Vodacom Lesotho and Chief Commercial Officer at Vodacom Business Africa. He holds a First Class Honours Degree in BSc Management Sciences from the Warwick Business School. Commenting on this appointment, Raghunath Mandava, Airtel Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are excited to welcome Ian as Regional Director for East Africa, which includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda. He brings a wealth of relevant telecommunications and mobile money experience within the region and will be an asset to the business. He will be part of the Africa

Now pay at any shop, supermarket, petrol stations and many other outlets, effortlessly using your mobile phone. SimBanking Visa is a service available to any CRDB Bank account holder with SimBanking and any Visa branded TemboCard. SimBanking Visa lets you make payments for products and services, transfer funds to any Visa cardholder worldwide as well as deposit and withdraw from any mVisa agent all over the world. SimBanking Visa has a feature called “Scan to Pay” that allows for a very simplified payment methodology through Quick Response (QR Code) technology. All one has to do is download a SimBanking App from App Store (IOS users) and Google Play Store (Android users). Simply Scan a QR Code at any business accepting Visa transactions and make payment. Paying with SimBanking Visa is secured and convenient. No need to carry cash, just Scan, Pay and Go.

The Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Mr William Lukuvi explains a point to the audience. Looking on is Airtel Tanzania Corporate Communication and Regulatory Affairs Director, Ms. Beatrice Singano. Airtel Tanzania the Smartphone Network has partnered with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Settlement Development (MLHHSD) whereby Airtel customers can now pay their land bills through Airtel Money. The move is aimed at further promoting and deepening financial inclusion among the Tanzanians by easing payment processes where customers had to travel to the Ministry or find nearest bank to pay their land bills. As per the latest statistics from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Tanzania has more than 260 million mobile money subscriptions with total mobile money transactions value pegged at more than TZS 8 trillion. The launch of Land bills payment through Airtel money will increase the total number of subscription as well as mobile money

South Africa industry regulator Icasa's complaints and compliance committee (CCC) has fined MTN South Africa ZAR 5 million for contravening regulations when it raised the price of one of its data plans. MTN did not notify Icasa at least seven days before changing the price of its monthly 1GB WhatsApp data bundle to ZAR 30. This was a serious contravention, the CCC stated, as only two working days' notice was given.

Russian national operator Rostelecom has upgraded the Google Global Cache system on its own infrastructure in federal districts of South Russia and North Caucasus. As a result, customers of the operator are able to use services from Google without delay.

Japanese operator NTT Docomo has teamed up with Omron and Nokia Solutions and Networks to jointly roll out trials of 5G mobile services inside factories. During the trials, Docomo, Omron and Nokia plan to test the feasibility of using 5G connectivity to create layout-free production lines using Autonomous Mobile Robots, which are able to act autonomously in complex and changing environments. The three partners also plan to demonstrate the feasibility of human-machine collaboration inside manufacturing plants.

Ooredoo Qatar has partnered with the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company to provide a smart city network in Lusail City. As a flagship project of Qatari Diar, Lusail City is deploying smart systems and citywide sensors with Ooredoo's network infrastructure serving as the ICT backbone. The partnership will see Ooredoo's advanced wired and wireless networks as the foundation for a wide range of Lusail City's secure services.

Uzbekistan mobile operator Ucell has introduced to customers its new line of packages called Combo. Each package includes two services from the operator. The package with missed call alerts and number screening service is offered for UZS 450 daily subscription rate or UZS 7,900 monthly rate. The package combining voice mail and number screening is offered for the same rate. The bundle including filtering of incoming calls and SMS is offered for UZS 590 daily or UZS 12,900 monthly rate. Other combinations of services are also available.