[kictanet] KDN

[bitange at jambo.co.ke]

SA Media is awash with KDN.  See below.

Ndemo.


New SA undersea cable operator

Sep 28 2007 09:07 AM

Belinda Anderson

Johannesburg - JSE-listed Altech, the IT, multimedia and aspirant telco in
the Altron stable, will soon own a stake in the prospective East African
Submarine System (EASSy), through its acquisition of a controlling stake
of Kenya Data Networks (KDN), a lead player in the cable consortium.
Altech CEO Craig Venter said this was one of the reasons the acquisition
of the Sameer ICT Group in Kenya - which includes 51% of KDN, Swift Global
and Infocom - made sense for Altech. He said it believed undersea cables
were a critical part of the development of the continent's telecoms
infrastructure.

Although Venter would not be drawn into the controversial discussion
around whether or not EASSy will be allowed to land on South African
shores, Altech's potential participation as an additional South African
shareholder should further increase the cable's local ownership stakes.

The Department of Communications has yet to release official rules for the
landing of foreign owned cables on South African shores, but has said that
cables should be majority South African owned. EASSy was, up until now,
around a quarter South African owned, with other shareholders including
Neotel, Telkom and MTN.

Venter said the Sameer ICT deal; worth more than R500m, would position
Altech as a pre-eminent data network operator and internet service
provider (ISP) in East Africa.

Broadband player in Central Africa

This, coupled with Altech being granted a license to deliver broadband
internet services in Rwanda using both WiMax and WiFi technologies,
further positions it as a player in this space in the east and central
African region.

Altech got the license in Rwanda is just six weeks, illustrating that
African regulators are moving quickly to facilitate the adoption of new
technologies.

KDN's network infrastructure includes fibre from Mombasa to Nairobi and to
the border of Uganda, 300km of fibre within Nairobi and 150 WiFi hotspots
as well as an international gateway license and a stake in the prospective
EASSy cable. It also plans to further extend its network to countries
including Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Swift Global, meanwhile, is an ISP and provider of corporate virtual
private network (VPN) solutions and voice over internet networks (VoIP) in
Kenya and Tanzania.

Infocom is an ISP and supplier of broadband services in Uganda.

The three companies made more than R60m in after tax profits last year.

Test WiMax license

Back home, Altech also has a test WiMax license, and has been trialling
the technology from five sites in Gauteng, in partnership with Samsung
Electronics and CityNet Wireless.

Venter said WiMax was eight times faster than HSDPA (the upgrade on 3G),
and would be a technology of major significance going forward.

When regulator Icasa converts existing telecoms licenses into the new
ones, in terms of the Electronic Communications Act, it will have to
determine which Value Added Network Service Provider (Vans) operators
should be granted licenses entitling them to roll out their own
infrastructure. These would then be allowed to apply for spectrum (space
in the radio waves).

Venter said Altech was confident that it would get the spectrum it needed.
He said Altech was an independent player that could bring pricing down to
the right kind of levels.

Although Icasa often comes under criticism, Venter said he believed the
regulator was doing a good job, even though it would naturally like to see
things move faster. But, Altech had managed to get its test WiMax license
quickly, something that he commended Icasa for.

Altech generates a significant amount of cash - R341m in the six months to
August - and had nearly R1.2bn at the end of the half-year to fund its
expansion plans. The group turned over nearly R4bn and made after tax
profits of R178m in the six months.

The market is waiting in anticipation to see the outcome of what Fin24
sister publication Finweek termed its "treble cautionary tale" (See:
What's in the centre Mr Venter?, Finweek August 23 2007), with both parent
Altron and fellow subsidiary Bytes also trading under simultaneous,
unspecific cautionary announcements.  These were renewed recently.

belindaa at finweek.co.za