Econet shortlisted for top Africa gong

ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe and its France-based partner Astellia have been shortlisted for the 'Best cost efficiency solution for Africa' at the Africa Com Awards set for Cape Town South African next month.

Now in their 6th year, the Africa Com Awards are recognised as the "premier accolade for anyone operating in Africa's digital market".

Econet Wireless is Zimbabwe's largest telecoms operator while Astella describes itself as the lading provider of network and subscriber intelligence for mobile operators.

The Zimbabwean firm roped in Astellia to help address the challenge of operation in a market characterised by erratic power supplies which were hindering the company from delivering and guaranteeing reliable voice and broadband services to its subscribers.

In a statement Friday, Astellia said it helped Econet calculate the impact of power outages and network congestion on its operational efficiency which allows them to prioritize and optimize investments to offer a better quality of experience to customers and increase revenues.

"The results from the revenue assurance tool were successfully used to prioritize capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments on strategic high traffic sites guaranteeing a fast and substantial return on investment (ROI)," said Econet Wireless technical director Kizito Makuni.

"Furthermore, we will be using revenue assurance data to justify future CAPEX investments to ensure a short payback period and efficient use of resources."

Commenting on the nomination, Makuni said: "This nomination is a proof of recognition of our network and service infrastructure robustness as well as an acknowledgement of our relentless pursuit of delivering the best possible experience to our customers."

Astellia's Africa managing director, Jean-Philippe Larvol, added: "We are very honoured by this nomination.

"The independent endorsement of Astellia's expertise by an international jury of experts is a seal of quality. It is a real motivator to continue to provide African mobile operators with cost efficient solutions."

Econet unit EcoCash has also been nominated for 'Best Mobile Money Service', Econet Solar International for the 'Rural Telecoms Award' while Liquid Telecom has been nominated for 'Best Connectivity Solution for Africa', 'Best Cost Efficiency Solution for Africa' and 'Best Marketing Campaign'.
    

Liquid Telecom's chief executive Nic Rudnick is in the running for 'Industry Personality of the Year'.

AFRICA COM 2013 AWARDS

OFFICIAL SHORTLIST

Best Network Improvement
Seacom - SEACOM's African Ring
Orange - Internet for All
Tigo Tanzania - Network Improvement
Sky Vision - Project Mauritius
Huawei Technologies - Huawei FMC Solution

Best Quality User Experience
Orange - My Orange
Deloitte Digital - Data Visualisation
Orange - My Orange Facebook
Orange - Internet Everywhere
Roamtech Solutions Ltd - Music Service
Ericsson - Ericsson Multiscreen Self-care
Citrix - T3100 Adaptive Traffic Manager

Best Cost Efficiency Solution for Africa
World Telecoms Lab - WTL's 2nd Generation VoIP
Liquid Telecom - Liquid Telecom - the longest fibre links in Africa
Conduct Telecommunications - Open access, dark fibre infrastructure in the last mile
Astellia and Econet Wireless - Revenue Assurance
PeerApp - UltraBand transparent caching platform
TKM Maestro Limited

Rural Telecoms Award
Orange - Mobile Agricultural Info (Labaroun Kassoua)
Econet Solar International - HPS Home Power Station
Helios Towers Africa - Shared Telecoms Infrastructure
Safaricom limited - VUMA online
Vodacom Business Nigeria- Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Solutions
SkyVision - Project Rodrigues

Best Connectivity Solution for Africa
Orange - ACE Cable
Poynting Antennas (Pty) Ltd - Subterranean Cellular Base Station
Conduct Telecommunications - Open access, dark fibre infrastructure in the last mile
Bluwan - Bluwan's BroadFusion access solution and the Access in Africa project
Liquid Telecom - Liquid's fibre network
Seacom - Remote Peering

Best Marketing Campaign
OgilvyOne Africa - Marketing Campaign for Airtel Nigeria - Padi Na Good Thing O! - Half Dollar
Orange - Orange African Cup of Nations 2013
Liquid Telecom - 'I Am'
MTN - Welcome to the World

Best Mobile Marketing Campaign
Orange - E-Recharge & Win -Botswana
OgilvyOne Africa - Mobile Marketing Campaign for Airtel Kenya - FREE Your Smartphone
Mobitainment - The Excella'nt Competition

Best Digital Music Initiative
OgilvyOne Africa - Online marketing campaign for Airtel FRNDZ Unlimited Offer
Mahindra Comviva - Digital Music Library
Spice VAS Africa Pte Ltd - MOD360
Roamtech Solutions Ltd - Bonyeza 699

Best Mobile Money Service
Mahindra Comviva - Ecocash
Orange Niger - Mobile Ticketing
Safaricom Limited - M-Shwari
Orange - Orange Money Visa Service
ORANGE - Orange Money International Transfer
Mer Group Telecom Division - Mobile FinaGate

Best App for Africa
Prezence - Bid or Buy
SatPack Travel- Africa: Live App
Orange - My Orange
Opera Software - Opera Mini
Prezence - Real Time Wine
ydangle apps (Pty) Ltd - Flick

Most Innovative Service 
Intersec - Loyalty Management Suite 5.0
Arabsat - Satellite communication services
TXT Ghana Ltd - Job 1917
Deloitte Digital - Data Visualiser
ORANGE - My Orange Facebook
Safaricom Limited - Cashless Payment Solution
MTN Swaziland - MTN XtraTime
Orange - Mobile Yellow Pages (User Generated Content Directory)
PCCW Global -PCCW Global Products & Services

Best Pan African Initiative 
Tata Communications - Africa Connectivity and Collaboration Expansion
Orange - International Airtime Hub
Orange - Orange Regional Money Transfer
SkyVision - SkyVision South Africa
Seacom - SEACOM's IP Network
PCCW Global -Landlocked But Not Locked Out

Industry Personality of the Year
Safaricom Limited - Betty Mwangi-Thuo
WIOCC - Chris Wood
Liquid Telecom - Nic Rudnick

Changing Lives Award
Orange - Mobile Agricultural Info (Labaroun Kassouwa)
Open Idea - Medigraf: Remote Medical Diagnostics
Orange - EDUCI
MTN Swaziland - MTN Schools' Connectivity Project
YooMee Africa AG - Broadband internet access for students and faculty, University of Douala, Cameroon