SAP, a global leader in mobile interconnection and mobile consumer engagement services,  has broadcasted an IPX peering agreement with the largest telecom operator in the Middle East and Africa, Etisalat UAE to deliver LTE roaming traffic to all its mobile operators.

The contract will strengthen the commitment of SAP Mobile Services, a division of SAP, to rapidly and efficiently increase the LTE roaming community and create a smooth global roaming experience for mobile subscribers.

Matthew Tonkin, the vice president, Sales, IPX of SAP Mobile Services, said that the strategic LTE roaming peering agreement will help Etisalat operator companies to join with SAP Mobile Services’ strong IPX customer community and launch LTE roaming quickly. It will also help SAP Mobile Services establish strong and steady growth in the Middle East and builds on the existing peering between SAP and Etisalat.

“The next 12 months will see an acceleration of LTE network deployments, with operators looking for immediate and comprehensive international coverage. Collaboration with Etisalat, currently the only Middle Eastern IPX provider, helps SAP reach the largest operator community in the region and globally,” he said.

“We are delighted to be working with SAP Mobile Services to mutually enhance our customers’ mobile roaming experience,” said Ali Amiri, executive vice president, Carrier and Wholesale Services Etisalat UAE. “The agreement will also help SAP Mobile Services to establish a strong and steady growth in the Middle East and take LTE roaming services to a new level, building on the existing peering between the two companies. Etisalat SmartHub IPX is a strategic addition to the Etisalat SmartHub portfolio, which will enhance our role as a global communication hub.”

Etisalat is a multinational company valued at USD 22 billion. It is a blue-chip organization that has nearly 42,000 people are directly employed by the company.

LG electronics has today handed over, Makina Self Help Primary, the last project of its three-year partnership with the World Food Program (WFP) Kenya that saw LG contribute about USD 1.3 million to provide meals and construction of schools facilities in Nairobi slums.

LG and WFP Kenya entered into a partnership in 2009 to provide school meals and infrastructure to “LG hope Schools” in the slums of Nairobi. The three faced programme saw LG provide school meals and construct school facilities to increase enrollment, hence pupil performance and promote good nutrition and health.

“The ultimate goal of the LG-WFP partnership was to contribute to sustainable development through the transformation of run-down and under-resourced schools into LGE Hope Schools, which would become community centres that promote opportunities and brighter futures for poor, disadvantaged children,” said Joseph Kim, Managing Director of LG East and Central Africa.

The partnership started with LG providing USD 403,920 to offer meals to 24,715 children in 15 schools in the slums of Nairobi. This donation was received at a time Kenyans were facing high food and fuel prices experienced across the world.

“Schools meals effectively keep children in school and help them learn, especially those who are sadly not getting enough to eat at home. WFP is therefore grateful for the support from LG which helped us provide school meals to children in slums,” said Paul Turnbull, WFT acting County Director.

This collaboration is aimed at alleviating short-term hunger and improve educational performance through providing of school meals by establishing good basic infrastructure for schools in order to ensure schools are able to provide proper hygiene, food storage, supply of water and low cost-cooking.

Makina Self Help Primary is located in the heart of Kibera slum, Nairobi. The school has 480 pupils from kindergarten to grade 8 of which many are orphans or from a single parent home. The school was chosen as a beneficiary because it is located in the poorest catchment area, had the worst infrastructure in terms of education facilities, and inadequate number of classrooms compared to the number of school children enrolled.

MBC Group viewers in North Africa and the Middle East will enjoy the next generation television experience by syncing their mobile devices with their television sets, through Ixonos service.

“The service synchronizes smart devices with the TV set, converting tablets and smart phones into 2nd screen devices that enable viewers to access a wealth of online information relevant to the programming, interact socially as well as benefit from personalised interactive advertisements,” Ixonos said.

This new service will enhance television experience for the many MBC viewers. They will be able to get relevant information on their mobile devices to get information about the television programme they are watching.

The service also allows viewers to sync their social media accounts with the MBC accounts, getting customized advertising on their social media accounts.

“By combining data from the viewers’ social media profiles with their television watching habits we can create in-depth viewer profiles. This enables running highly-targeted – and thus more effective – interactive advertisements,” explains Roope Suomalainen, Director, Experience, from Ixonos.

“We are thrilled to continue working with MBC and helping them to realize their vision; to enrich people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment,” explains Antti Aumo, VP of Marketing at Ixonos.

Most analyst have depicted that in years to come, the idea of television as we know it, will be over. Gadgets that can access television content are changing day by day.

The Social Media Awards (SOMA) last week awarded personalities and companies that use social media to drive business or pass their message, on the 9th of August.

The social media awards recorded over 12,000 votes for the various categories in the award programme. This is according to OLX’s Marketing Manager, Priscilla Muhiu.

The awards that were initiated by the classifieds site, OLX brought together members of various industries who have found a common use of social media tools.

“Social media has definitely caught up in East Africa. We are seeing more and more companies launching their social media platforms in order to interact/engage with their target audience on a personal level,” Muhiu said.

“Social media provides a platform for dialogue with consumers. Businesses can use social media to disseminate product information, handle consumer complaints/issues as well as promotion.”

Some of the companies and personalities that emerged top in their own category included: Nation Television for the digital channel; Safaricom’s Bob Collymore bagged the CEO of the year using social media; Safaricom also won the customer care on the Twitter and Facebook category.

Here is the full list of the nominees in each category and the subsequent winners.

Airtel Kenya has set up a dedicated site in Unit 3 in the new parking area at the Nairobi airport to ease possible congestion after a fire outbreak that led the airport to be closed. The firm has also provided a high powered Wi-Fi router in the new immigration area for passengers to access free data services in a move to support the affected travelers and rescue operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In addition to the above, Airtel is also enabling passengers to make short duration calls across the world for free. The temporary operations manned by six staff on a rotational basis is located at a tent near the entrance to the airport’s Unit 3 terminal.

The company’s managing director Shivan Bhargava noted that “Our response has been driven by the necessity for crisis communication for passengers, airline and airport staff”.

A statement from Kenya Airways through its chief operating officer Mbuvi Ngunze thanking its guests and stakeholders for their cooperation and understanding during this difficult time commended the contribution from Airtel with Mr. Ngunze saying “This is an important patriotic gesture which as Kenya Airways we really applaud.”

Mr. Bhargava expressed his Company’s gratitude to the management of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and Kenya Airways for facilitating the process to enable them be a part of the relief efforts.

Aggreko, temporary power and temperature control services provider has signed contracts with Electricité de Guinée (EDG) to deliver a 50 MW temporary power package to help alleviate power shortages currently affecting the capital Conakry.

The Aggreko installation will bring much needed additional capacity to the local grid and will ensure a more robust and reliable power supply is delivered to the commercial heart of the country in order to help keep business and industry up and running and keep the lights on in the city.

“We are happy to be assisting EDG, the national utility of Guinea in this important project,” commented Christophe Jacquin, Managing Director, Aggreko North and West Africa. “By delivering this large-scale, fast-track power solution, we are helping to provide a more consistent and reliable power supply to the people of Conakry while EDG work on addressing the issues facing the power infrastructure,”

“The Aggreko power plant will provide us with the time and space needed to address the power supply issues affecting the capital,” commented Nava Touré, Managing Director, Electricité de Guinée. “Their proven track record in providing similar power solutions across Africa gives us the confidence that they are the right partner for this vital project.

The current infrastructure for broadband is not adequate for expansion of internet service, this is according to Mr Lanre Ajayi, the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

“With low broadband penetration rate and high cost of access to broadband, significant work still remains to be done and significant investments still required to be made. Adequate infrastructure will drive the demand for broadband that would be more affordable and accessible to its end users,” Ajayi was quoted by the Vanguard.

According to Ajayi poor telecom infrastructure coupled with legislative issues are hindering the penetration of high speed internet access.

“We all know that, globally, issues around broadband development have continued to be on the front burner. This is because of the importance of broadband in the provision of various converged service types, especially the growing demand for speed, efficiency and effectiveness in provision of data,” he said.

“Indeed, the association is imploring governments to put in place policies that will drive broadband development and make it the digital right of every citizen through affordability and access.”

Nigeria has a broadband plan that will see it achieve at least 80 per cent penetration by the year 2018. The country is hoping to have internet and technology being used fully in all its sectors by the set date.