Contador Harrison

Mobile network operators in East Africa should look to data traffic growth and increased data prices as a means of arresting voice revenue decline in one of the fastest growing mobile market in sub Saharan Africa. Over the last few months, a couple of operators have been sending pricing signals to customers to help manage this finite resource. Unlike two years ago, there is a clear movement towards data usage among users in the four member states of East African community namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda where customers are using less mobile voice and SMS services. The loss of SMS service business is fatal to mobile operators and is highly attributed to the rise of over the top apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage that have become a hit with mobile subscribers in the region. Such apps have provided rich communications over a data connection, allowing customers to forgo SMS use. Customers have an economic incentive to use over the top apps...

A study of information security shows that executives in East African countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi are confident of the cyber security levels of their own companies thus increasing the risk for cyber crime. In the survey, 83% of executives were confident of their organization's information security precautions. Another 62% even viewed their organization as a leader having an effective strategy in place and being proactive in implementing industry-leading standards in information security strategy and execution. The survey found that only 12% actually qualified as true information security leaders. The survey defined "leaders” as companies in East Africa that have a chief information security officer or equivalent in place and have an overall information security strategy. The same companies also have measured and reviewed the effectiveness of their security in the last year and understand exactly what types of security events ha...

One thing I like about technology is that it does not discriminate who you are or what you do. In my case, it has become the norm for me to conduct a thorough search online before embarking on a trip especially in foreign countries and there is no doubt Google is my favorite search engine. Also, I do bookmark several websites and download apps that facilitate my travel plans that help me on my plans that I consider any time I’m traveling. My primary travel plans start with a destination search as well as the basic maps and transportation functions. The current traffic conditions are also equally important before I set off and while am on the go, I always ensure I’ve downloaded the app where I am capable of getting estimated travel times as well as finding alternative routes if things look busy with Google Maps Navigation Beta. I also use maps apps on my Macbook to create a map of the places that matter to me most and access them from my iPhone. I can mark location...

Africa's mobile phone market is now officially the fastest growing in the world. This has turned the region as the last frontier for the industry that has lured international interests from Korean, India and Chinese handset makers. African has challenges like lowering prices for handsets and services and boosting a patchy network. Use of mobiles is exploding among the one billion people in Africa, where landline networks are poorly developed. Many people rely on the devices for financial transactions and that has made Africa the leader in the use of mobile money. Despite the challenges in maintaining networks, Africa is the last frontier of mobile telephony in the world. Global consultants PwC recent report indicated the number of mobile telephone subscriptions in Africa has exploded from 16 million in 2000 to more than 500 million in 2012.PwC expects there will be 600 million subscribers in the next three years and many Africans will continue to have two SIM c...