May 2008 - KICTANet

Experts: Lack of standards affects Kenya software industry
by Rebecca Wanjiku 06 May '08

06 May '08

Experts: Lack of standards affects Kenya software industry Lack of quality standards has greatly hampered progress in Kenya’s software development industry, according to local developers. The absence of quality standards developed to safeguard against substandard work has left local vendors vulnerable, and other businesses are putting their money on international software giants like SAP and Oracle. http://www.computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/05/05/experts-lack-standards-a… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

NSE @ Week19
by Bill Kagai 05 May '08

05 May '08

MediaCorp (c) *Nairobi Stock Exchange – Authorised Information Vendor Faida Investment Bank - Licensed Agent* *Global Overview* Everybody wants to chat a chap called Jerry Yang. He was offered USD 47.5 Billion for a company called Yahoo which he started 14 years ago and rejected the offer. Standard & Poor think Yahoo is worth USD 30 Billion and immediately after rejecting the offer, the investors started throwing their shares away at losses in Wall Street. Accompanied by his fellow co-founder David Filo, Yang fueled one of their jets and flew to Seattle to tell Steve Ballmer that since the Yahoo share had hit a peak of USD 37 way back in 2006, then Microsoft ought to have that price as the bottom line for any negotiation. Ballmer asked him to sod off. Yang thought the Microsoft share will plummet in Wall Street but unfortunately it was Yahoo that started spiraling downwards. Google shot up. We understand Yang has not managed to sleep as he awaits his shareholders wrath this morning. That's business!! *For the time being, Google will continue ruling the internet as both Microsoft and Yahoo look for other ways of 'sharing power'.* Stocks made a modest gain on Friday after jobs data offered fresh evidence the economic slowdown is not as severe as feared, but technology shares faded on a surprise net loss from Sun Microsystems Inc .Wall Street on the other hand feels that the worst is over and are very bullish for the next half of the year. The Dow gained 1.29 percent over the course of the week, the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended up 1.15 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.23 percent. Investors were not convinced, so they went to the 'god of investment' Warren Buffet to get his comments on this. The guru did not mince his words. He told them to lower their expectations. Berkshire Hathaway is now interested in acquiring profitable private businesses in France, Italy and UK for he believes the U.S. continues to follow policies that will make the dollar weaken against other major currencies. His parting shot to the investors in Berkshire – '*As an investor, you don't need to predict the economic cycle (or even pay much attention to it). Instead, you should focus on evaluating individual businesses if you pick your own stocks -- or, simply buy the entire market in the form of an index fund.* When a shareholder asked for the single best specific investment idea Buffett could recommend to an individual in his 30s, Buffett said: *"I would just have it all in a very low-cost index fund from a reputable firm, maybe Vanguard. Unless I bought during a strong bull market, I would feel confident that I would outperform...and I could just go back and get on with my work."* *Zeroing Back Home* Safaricom excitement has not waned off. Government planned to raise 50 Billion, banks bankrolled investors with hefty loans with one bank reputed to have loaned approximately Kshs 36 Billion for the IPO. MediaCorp Stock Detectives are now pondering if this strategy qualifies to be classified as 'predatory lending' since most of the investors are planning to sell the shares if they hit anything above Kshs 8.00 when trading starts. Nobody wants to contemplate or entertain the thought that share prices can go up or down. We cannot make any assumptions here other than hope for the best. Back at NSE, turnover rose slightly to KSh.1.47bn from KSh.1.45bn posted the previous week, the number of shares traded stood at 35M against 33M the previous week. The NSE 20 share index was up 3.02% during the week to settle at 5364.72. The NSE All share index gained a total of 3.41 points or 3.27% during the week to stand at 107.78. CFC, Equity, Nation Group and Access Kenya fall in our 'to watch' list for this week. * * * * *Price Movement This Week* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *26th Aprl* *28th Aprl* *29th Aprl* *30th Aprl* *1st May* *2nd May* *Price Change * *Price Change * *Shares Traded Last Week* *Total Shares Issued* *Agricultural* *Code* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Unilever Tea* *UNLV* 56.00 56.00 0.00 0.00% - 48,875,000 *Kakuzi* *KAKZ* 35.25 36.00 36.25 38.00 36.00 0.75 2.13% 8,400 19,599,999 *Rea Vipingo* *RVPL* 19.65 20.50 20.25 20.75 20.50 0.85 4.33% 89,271 60,000,000 *Sasini* *STCL* 16.25 16.20 15.65 16.40 16.20 -0.05 -0.31% 154,035 228,055,500 * * * * *Commercial & Services* * * *Access Kenya Group* *AKGL* 30.25 30.50 32.25 33.50 34.50 4.25 14.05% 2,839,300 199,885,578 *Car & Gen* *CAGR* 50.00 50.00 50.00 0.00 0.00% 200 22,279,616 *CMC* *CMCH* 15.10 15.30 16.15 17.20 18.25 3.15 20.86% 4,575,016 582,709,440 *Hutchings Biemer* *HUBM* 20.25 20.25 0.00 0.00% - 360,000 *Kenya Airways Ltd* *KAIR* 53.50 52.50 53.00 52.50 53.00 -0.50 -0.93% 488,800 461,615,484 *Marshalls*** *MSHL* 44.00 39.75 -4.25 -9.66% 500 14,393,106 *Nation Media Group.* *NATN* 325.00 327.00 331.00 342.00 338.00 13.00 4.00% 52,950 71,305,260 *Scangroup Ltd* *SCGP* 29.50 31.00 32.00 33.50 33.50 4.00 13.56% 465,200 160,000,000 *Standard Group Ltd * *STDG* 53.50 52.50 54.50 54.50 54.50 1.00 1.87% 48,325 73,275,029 *TPS Eastern Africa (Serena) Ltd* *TPEA* 71.00 72.00 73.50 73.00 76.00 5.00 7.04% 54,675 105,864,742 *Uchumi Supermarkets* *UCHM* 14.50 14.50 0.00 0.00% 180,000,000 * * * * *Financial* * * *Barclays Bank* *BARC* 71.50 72.50 72.50 73.00 72.50 1.00 1.40% 1,593,155 1,357,884,000 *CFC Bank* *CFCB* 109.00 109.00 115.00 116.00 124.00 15.00 13.76% 801,700 273,684,211 *Diamond Trust* *DTBK* 92.50 93.00 94.50 96.00 98.50 6.00 6.49% 161,499 163,037,108 *Equity Bank Ltd* *EQTY* 218.00 227.00 245.00 257.00 252.00 34.00 15.60% 814,500 362,209,905 *Housing Finance* *HFCK* 43.50 42.00 42.25 42.75 42.00 -1.50 -3.45% 1,183,180 115,000,000 *Centum Limited* *CENT* 27.75 27.75 29.00 29.00 29.25 1.50 5.41% 1,377,450 549,951,880 *Jubilee Holdings Ltd* *JBLH* 196.00 198.00 198.00 198.00 198.00 2.00 1.02% 21,900 45,000,000 *K.C.B Bank* *KCBL* 33.25 33.25 33.50 33.25 33.00 -0.25 -0.75% 7,485,685 1,996,000,000 *Kenya** Re* *KERE* 16.10 16.45 16.55 16.70 16.95 0.85 5.28% 3,047,251 600,000,000 *National Bank* *NBKL* 53.00 53.00 53.00 53.00 55.00 2.00 3.77% 858,077 200,000,000 *National Industrial Credit* *NICB* 65.50 65.50 64.50 64.00 63.00 -2.50 -3.82% 445,234 296,692,383 *Pan Africa Insurance Holdings Ltd* *PAIH* 80.00 80.00 80.00 0.00 0.00% 700 48,000,000 *Standard Chartered Bank* *SCBL* 203.00 202.00 203.00 208.00 205.00 2.00 0.99% 64,846 271,967,810 * * * * *Industrial & Allied* * * *Athi River Mining Ltd* *ARML* 96.00 97.50 97.50 97.50 98.00 2.00 2.08% 56,910 94,000,000 *BOC (K)* *BOCK* 160.00 160.00 0.00 0.00% - 19,525,446 *Bamburi* *BMBR* 192.00 190.00 190.00 190.00 190.00 -2.00 -1.04% 484,782 362,959,275 *British American Tobacco* *BATK* 158.00 160.00 159.00 160.00 160.00 2.00 1.27% 77,600 100,000,000 *Carbacid* *CARB* 137.00 137.00 0.00 0.00% - 11,326,755 *Crown Berger * *CRBG* 47.25 46.00 44.75 44.00 42.00 -5.25 -11.11% 42,500 23,727,000 *E.A.Cables* *EACL* 42.00 43.25 43.50 43.75 44.50 2.50 5.95% 587,200 202,500,000 *E.A.Portland* *EAPC* 120.00 116.00 116.00 -4.00 -3.33% 200 90,000,000 *E.A.Breweries* *EABL* 168.00 169.00 170.00 171.00 171.00 3.00 1.79% 299,968 790,774,356 *Eveready East Africa Ltd* *EEAL* 6.90 6.80 6.75 6.40 6.40 -0.50 -7.25% 245,000 210,000,000 *Kenol* *KOCL* 92.50 92.50 92.50 92.00 92.00 -0.50 -0.54% 47,400 147,176,120 *K.Pow.& L.* *KPLC* 209.00 209.00 210.00 210.00 213.00 4.00 1.91% 28,384 79,128,000 *KenGen* *KEGN* 25.00 26.00 25.75 26.00 25.75 0.75 3.00% 1,936,199 2,198,361,456 *Mumias* *MSCL* 12.90 12.95 13.15 13.15 13.25 0.35 2.71% 3,780,787 1,530,000,000 *Olympia** Capital Holdings* *OCHL* 14.05 14.10 14.15 14.30 14.15 0.10 0.71% 106,700 40,000,000 *Sameer Africa Ltd* *SAMR* 11.85 11.40 11.00 11.70 11.90 0.05 0.42% 280,250 278,342,393 *Total* *TOTL* 33.50 33.50 33.75 34.00 34.00 0.50 1.49% 379,715 175,064,706 *Unga* *UNGA* 14.40 14.25 14.25 14.20 14.00 -0.40 -2.78% 31,300 63,090,728 * * * * *Alternative Investment Market Sector (AIMS)* *A.Baumann* *ABCL* 12.50 12.50 0.00 0.00% - 3,840,066 *City Trust * *CITL* 150.00 150.00 0.00 0.00% - 5,207,558 *Eaagads* *EAGD* 37.00 37.00 0.00 0.00% - 8,039,250 *Express * *EXPK* 21.00 22.00 21.00 21.50 21.50 0.50 2.38% 31,575 35,403,790 *Williamson Tea* *WTKL* 88.00 88.00 87.50 88.00 0.00 0.00% 2,700 8,756,320 *Kapchorua* *KTCL* 76.00 76.00 0.00 0.00% - 3,912,000 *K.Orchads* *KEOL* 3.00 3.00 0.00 0.00% - 12,868,124 *Limuru Tea* *LTCL* 338.00 338.00 0.00 0.00% - 600,000 **Agricultural Sector This sector traded 251,000 shares, which accounted for 0.72% of the week's traded volume. Sasini Ltd eased five cents to close the week at shs.16.20 on a volume of 154,000 shares. Kakuzi up 4.33% to shs.20.50 moved 89,000 shares. Commercial and Services Sector Commercials had 8.5M shares traded, which accounted for 24.32% of the week's traded volume. CMC Holdings actively moved 4.5M shares at between shs.15.00 and shs.18.75. AccessKenya up 14.05% to shs.34.50 moved 2.8M shares. Scangroup moved 465,000 shares during the week and closed at an improved price of shs.33.50 Financial Sector Financials had 17.8M shares traded and represented 50.94% of the weeks traded volume. KCB was the week's biggest mover with 7.4M shares changing hands at between shs.32.25 and shs.34.00. Kenya Re moved 3M shares during the week at between shs.15.50 and shs.17.40. Industrial and Allied Sector This sector had 8.3M shares, which accounted for 23.92% of the week's traded volume. Mumias Sugar was the most heavily traded counter in this sector, with 3.7M shares changing hands at between shs.12.90 and shs.13.45. KenGen up 3.00% to shs.25.75 moved 1.9M shares. ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MARKET SEGMENT (AIMS). This market segment had 34,000 shares, which accounted for less than 1% of the week's traded volume. Express Ltd moved 31,000 shares during the week and closed at shs.21.50. *Corporate Actions* 29-Apr-08: Crown Berger • Final Dividend: 1.00/= • Books close: 16-Jun-08 • Payment: 17-Jul-08 28-Apr-08: Standard Group • Interim Dividend: 1.10/= • Books close: 18-Jul-08 • Payment: 15-Aug-08 28-Apr-08: Standard Group • Interim Dividend: 1.10/= • Books close: 11-Jul-08 • Payment: 15-Aug-08 28-Apr-08: Limuru Tea • 1st & Final Dividend: 5.00/= • Books close: 21-May-08 16-Apr-08: ScanGroup • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.90/= • Books close: 20-May-08 • Payment: 19-Jun-08 Bildad Kagai MD - MediaCorp Limited Nairobi Stock Exchange Authorised Information Vendor Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue P. O. Box 20311 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel. 254 20 272 8332 Fax. Rendered Obsolete www.mediacorp.co.ke

1 0

Fwd: FW: [Fwd: FW: ICT Expo - Lack of Substantial Information]
by evelyne ofwona 05 May '08

05 May '08

Another take on the ICT expo Evelyne Majale <evelyne(a)kictanet.or.ke> wrote: From: "Evelyne Majale" <evelyne(a)kictanet.or.ke> To: "'evelyne ofwona'" <evelyneofwona(a)yahoo.com> Subject: FW: [Fwd: FW: ICT Expo - Lack of Substantial Information] Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 13:32:27 +0300 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* kaziafrika(a)googlegroups.com [mailto:kaziafrika@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Robert Alai *Sent:* Monday, April 28, 2008 10:14 AM *To:* kaziafrika(a)googlegroups.com *Subject:* Re: ICT Expo - Lack of Substantial Information Willy The most boring expo ever. I just havent met anybody who praised it. Very boring and the people manning the stands had very scant info on the companies they were representing. I must again come and confess that that Safcom guys were well ahead. The you guys had all the info on which products are coming ssoon and even the exxpected dates. And they were confirming what I have heard also. But Popote guys must improve to be competetive. ICT village. ICT board (old men at the stand). And the youth conference was boring since the PS and others couldn't be asked questions. I really like the ICT conferences to be like the Strathmore annual ICT conference. We must be allowed to put our leaders to task. Wakina Mwaniki can do better. ICT village is represented well in kaziafrika and so I appeal to them to please be serious. Alai On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 8:38 AM, william mwangi > wrote: John, I totally agree with you. I was researching on how to integrate services like mpesa or sokotele with the web (for buying online). I visited the stands for safaricom and celtel at the expo and none of the individuals could give me a solid answer. They all told me to go to their head offices. These among other stands didn't have well informed presenters to 100% answer the questions. Or did I misunderstand the theme of the expo? Regards, William M. On 4/27/08, *john kihahu* > wrote: Hi pple? For those who attended the ict expo, did you happen to find it as boring as I did? I thought kaziafrika would get a stand! -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com www.kaziafrika.com www.wananchiforums.com MPESA (for Adverts): 0726 034 530 FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

1 0

Kenya ICT Board member quits amid controversy
by Rebecca Wanjiku 05 May '08

05 May '08

Kenya ICT Board member quits amid controversy Faced with perceptions of conflict of interest over Digital Villages projects, a member of the Kenya ICT Board has resigned. Peter Kimacia's resignation comes after several months of controversy over his involvement in the ICT Board and his role as the head of the Digital Villages Network (DVN), a public-private sector partnership. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/23/kenya-ict-board-member-quits… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

6 5

Experts: Kenyan businesses unprepared for security attacks
by Rebecca Wanjiku 05 May '08

05 May '08

Experts: Kenyan businesses unprepared for security attacks The switch to more computerized information and processes has led to increased productivity and profits for many Kenyan companies, but information security has been neglected, according to IT experts in the country. Many companies in Kenya adopt high-tech hardware and software, but very few are fully investing in information security and frequent audits to identify vulnerabilities, according to John Gichuki, an information security and forensic auditor. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/28/experts-kenyan-businesses-un… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

11 14

Leading technologist from Africa joins Internet Society staff
by Dorcas Muthoni 03 May '08

03 May '08

We are very proud of Michuki.. congratulations on this appointment. Keep flying the Kenyan flag high! * RESTON, VA, USA and GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - 30 April 2008 -* Michuki Mwangi, a leading figure in African Internet development and technical capacity building, has joined the staff of the Internet Society (ISOC) as Senior Education Manager. http://www.isoc.org/isoc/media/releases/080430pr.shtml -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

10 10

Are ICT issues drying up?
by Victor Maloi 03 May '08

03 May '08

Dear Members, Just like many projects in Kenya, I feel like we are going downhill yet there are many policy issues we should be discussing. This morning I perused through the Ministry of Information Website only to find there is all the important Bills that they have lined up. What is wrong with Bwana PS. Is there something you want to hide from us? The just concluded ICT conference at the KICC was sinply great. Missing in action was the ICT Board. They could not even bother to have somebody man their stand throughout. Was meeting Kenyans at the conference not important? Although the PS attended all the sessions, it was not enough because we needed his troops there to help the thousands of people who attended. Bwana PS we do not want the elitism in the Board to continue. These are people more known outside of Kenya than the people they pretend to help. Victor Maloi

3 2

Part-Time UNIX System Administrator
by Moses Kemibaro 01 May '08

01 May '08

Part-Time UNIX System Administrator Dotsavvy is currently looking for a part time UNIX (primary) and Windows (secondary) system administrator, to assist us maintaining our offsite servers and potentially the ones we have in house as well. Qualifications. The applicant must possess the following skills . Experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. . Experience with securing UNIX systems (lockdown). . Expert in installing and configuring Apache, PHP, MySQL . Able to configure and maintain Postfix and SSH. . Ability to document your work. The applicant ideally has experience with the following skills. . FreeBSD administration. . Samba configuration. . Asterisk configuration and maintenance. . Windows server 2003 administration with Active directory configuration. The Work. At Dotsavvy you will be part of a young and dynamic team dedicated towards delivering industry leading web-solutions. We offer a flat organizational structure where everyone is encouraged to voice any issue in order for the company to improve as a whole. You will be responsible for making sure the Server(s) are running with as little problems at all possible. It will be expected that you are able to define and document your own procedures in respect to managing the servers. The position currently available is 2-6 days of work a month, which will most likely grow over time as the operations expand. We are looking to fill the position as soon as possible. Application. Applicants interested should send a CV / resume of experience to jobs(a)dotsavvyafrica.com right away. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com www.kaziafrika.com www.wananchiforums.com MPESA (for Adverts): 0726 034 530 FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

1 0

Part-Time UNIX System Administrator
by Moses Kemibaro 01 May '08

01 May '08

Part-Time UNIX System Administrator Dotsavvy is currently looking for a part time UNIX (primary) and Windows (secondary) system administrator, to assist us maintaining our offsite servers and potentially the ones we have in house as well. Qualifications. The applicant must possess the following skills . Experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. . Experience with securing UNIX systems (lockdown). . Expert in installing and configuring Apache, PHP, MySQL . Able to configure and maintain Postfix and SSH. . Ability to document your work. The applicant ideally has experience with the following skills. . FreeBSD administration. . Samba configuration. . Asterisk configuration and maintenance. . Windows server 2003 administration with Active directory configuration. The Work. At Dotsavvy you will be part of a young and dynamic team dedicated towards delivering industry leading web-solutions. We offer a flat organizational structure where everyone is encouraged to voice any issue in order for the company to improve as a whole. You will be responsible for making sure the Server(s) are running with as little problems at all possible. It will be expected that you are able to define and document your own procedures in respect to managing the servers. The position currently available is 2-6 days of work a month, which will most likely grow over time as the operations expand. We are looking to fill the position as soon as possible. Application. Applicants interested should send a CV / resume of experience to jobs(a)dotsavvyafrica.com right away.

1 0

The dynamics of mobile operator-subsidized laptops
by alice 01 May '08

01 May '08

* http://www.arcchart.com/blueprint/show.asp?id=462 The dynamics of mobile operator-subsidized laptops *printer friendly articles <http://www.arcchart.com/blueprint/print.asp?id=462> 2 Apr 2008 /by: Matt Lewis/ *Last weekend, a friend was showing off his shining new laptop – an HP machine with Intel processor, 1GB of memory, DVD burner and a large 15.4” display. Not amazing specs, but it had an amazing price – it was free! After checking to see if the serial number had been filed off, I learnt the laptop was free from AOL UK, which is now owned by the Carphone Warehouse. The broadband provider has a promotion which bundles 8Mbps broadband with unlimited local and international calls for $50 a month. Oh, and they throw in a free HP laptop as well. What’s the catch? Well, there isn’t really much of one. The deal locks the customer into a two-year contact: a prison sentence for someone like me, but manageable for a typical consumer, particularly one that doesn’t already own a PC or is looking to upgrade their old one, as was the case with my friend.* Giving away a free laptop allows a broadband service provider to achieve three key objectives in a developed market like the UK, which is highly competitive and where household internet penetration is flat-lining. Firstly, it provides a differentiated service offering, distracting consumer attention away from the price versus speed comparison. Secondly, it opens up a new constituency of consumers who have a desire for internet access but for whom the affordability of a PC is beyond their means. Finally, a free laptop sweetens the two-year contact, making consumers more willing to lock themselves into an operator for such a long period of time. Wholesale, I estimate the laptop probably costs AOL about $550. The operator will amortise that over the two-year period, but is unlikely to be making any margins from the laptop itself, especially when the associated distribution and logistics costs are taken into consideration. As a bundled offering, margins will come from the plain vanilla broadband and VoIP telephone services. However, as the terminal provider, unlike its competitors, AOL is in a position to pack the laptop full of content, features and services which has the potential to take their customers’ monthly ARPU well over the $50 mark. If these economics sound vaguely familiar, they certainly should. The terminal-subsidy-content-and-services-premium model is an established aspect of the mobile phone industry. As newer, more powerful and feature-rich handsets have come to market, operators proved willing subsidizers (often down to zero dollars) in order to proliferate these devices across their subscribers base in the hope of reaping bigger rewards from the take-up of premium services. From last year, laptops started shipping with embedded mobile broadband modules –initially for EV-DO networks and subsequently for HSPA. Now, all the big laptop vendors have mobile broadband devices on their roadmaps and many will be shipping products in 2008. Apart from this, the industry has seen a jump in the take-up of 3G data-cards (primarily used with laptops) on the back of aggressive promotional activity over the last 12 months from mobile operators – particularly those in Europe. It is now possible to get a USB data-card and 3G broadband for less than $20 a month, with an 18 month lock-in. By now I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Now that laptops are becoming mobile broadband enabled, does it make sense for cellular operators to start subsidising the cost of the laptops as they are already doing with handsets, and as some fixed broadband operators, like AOL, have started doing? On one hand, the raw economics make sense. For example, the wholesale cost of a Nokia N-series devices or a high-end Samsung phone is higher than most basic laptop models. There is also more opportunity to pass on support costs to the laptop vendor, something not possible with handsets. From the end-user’s perspective, a laptop destined for home use will have its value spread across all family members (unlike a phone which is only used by one person), augmenting the perceived value and increasing the potential for lock-in periods of longer than 18 months. The opportunity for service bundling which includes laptop, handset, broadband and voice is also compelling. However, while all this is a powerful service differentiator for a mobile operator trying to grab consumer mindshare in a market where all operators have identical network capabilities, the ability to boost ARPU through a subsidised laptop offering is more challenging and will only be achievable by certain cellular providers. Going back to the Nokia N-series phone; an operator will be inclined to generously subsidise such a device since the multimedia (music, video, camera etc.) and navigation features mean a user is more likely to consume data and premium content. The same cannot be said for a notebook unless the operator, like AOL, has a portfolio of online collateral which it can channel the laptop user towards. A few mobile operators do have such collateral – Orange is perhaps the best example and has resulted from the France Telecom ownership of the pan-European Wanadoo ISP which has now been completely re-branded as Orange. It will be interesting to see how the operator laptop subsidy plays out. T-Mobile toyed with such an offering last year in Germany, and discussions with two other mobile carriers show they’re not averse to such a concept. One scenario is that mobile operators which also have an ISP business in a local market (e.g. Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile in Germany, Orange in France and the UK, Telefonica in Spain and TIM in Italy) adopt the laptop-subsidy model primarily to keep their ISP business competitive. However, as a result, competing mobile operators may feel compelled to offer a similar laptop-subsidy package to remain competitive. Such an eventuality would speed the day when consumers no longer pay – or expect to pay - for any of their terminal devices, be it a set-top box, WiMAX router, laptop, mobile phone or gaming console.

1 0