Telecom Namibia sponsors 13th Businesswomen Conference in Oshakati

Telecom Namibia, which is celebrating its 20^th birthday, is the main sponsor of the 13^th Economist Businesswomen Conference which starts at Oshandira Lodge in Oshakati tomorrow.

This annual conference brings together mainly female entrepreneurs who are starting, expanding and/or working to improve their businesses, for a day of networking and professional development.

Over 100 participants are expected to attend the event, which will give them tools they need to move their businesses and careers forward by generating new ideas, making new connections and exploring new opportunities.

Telecom Namibia board member Feitjie Veldskoen, who is billed to open the conference, is expected to re-commit the company to initiatives that encourage women entrepreneurship and empowerment in order to change lives for the better and make a difference to society. 

Attendees will also learn from the following presentations by established business leaders and executives:

·         The importance/benefits of strong relationships to grow your business with Nangula Uaandja, Partner: PriceWaterhouseCoopers

·         The power of your brand with Erica Mulondo, National Service Manager, Standard Bank Namibia

·         Money lessons from Lyanla with Afra Schimming-Chase, Founder: Chase & Associates

·         Telecommunication solutions for small businesses with Amanda Hauuanga, Head: Marketing at Telecom Namibia

·         Women and investments with  Monica Kalondo, Managing Director: Stimulus Investments

·         The Law of Contract with Frieda Kashi, Legal Practitioner, Law Society of Namibia

·         Innovation and business idea generation with Silas Newaka, Innovation Marketplace Officer, Namibia Business Incubation Centre (NBIC)

“This conference is a platform for women to improve their business and management skills, consequently providing, mentoring, and networking opportunities that are critically needed for the success of their businesses,” said Frans Ndoroma, Managing Director of Telecom Namibia.

“From the very beginning it has been Telecom Namibia's resolve to help the communities we operate in and we are thankful to all our customers and partners who have very sincerely appreciated our efforts over the past 20 years," said Ndoroma.

The Telecom MD added that the annual conference has opened new opportunities for deserving women and has provided them a platform to enhance their skills and believe in their abilities. “Therefore, Telecom Namibia is proud to continue its support to women as wed celebrate a landmark moment in our company’s history,” he said. 

Telecom Namibia has been a long-time partner and supporter of the Namibia Businesswomen Projects which organizes the anual Businesswomen Conference, the Katuka Mentorship Programme, the Namibian Businesswomen of the Year Award and the Businesswomen Bursary Fund.

Broadband

Get TN Broadband services and be assured for a fast, reliable and secure internet service!

Telecom Namibia (TN) Broadband options are complete broadband services with high-speed service, unlimited downloads, internet on the go, and much more. TN Broadband provides you fast download at varying speeds, so you can get everything the Internet has to offer, including downloading music, videos and playing online games. TN Mobile Broadband helps you surf the net in and out of home when on the move.

Why TN Broadband

TN provides a range of choices on various broadband options, both broadband on its own or with an added service of TN phone line.

TN Broadband is fast and reliable, you can talk and surf at the same time, home Hub to support multiple computers, affordable tariff plans and security.

TN wants to make the Internet accessible to everyone. The objective of our latest action is to allow the internet user to connect without fear. Whatever time they spend connected, they pay less.

No capping on fixed broadband

TN's Fixed Broadband subscribers can access all the amazing information available on the world-wide web, send and receive email both locally and worldwide, do business on-line, and more with no limits on usage at a flat rate. This incredible offer is enjoyed by all ADSL and WiMAX customers, be they home users or companies.

TN fixed broadband packages offer the following benefits:

• Is a fantastically affordable solution for those requiring high access speeds with no cap restrictions.
• Uncapped means no need to top up accounts or repeatedly change settings.
• It is easy to budget for with fixed monthly fees and no hidden costs.

All Fixed Broadband services should be seen as a "best-effort" service. Speeds experienced will fluctuate depending on distance and usage on TN's network.

Unlimited mobile broadband

TN offers unlimited access to its fastest Mobile Broadband – also known as 3G-EVDO. With the new Unlimited Mobile Broadband Plan, customers enjoy unlimited access to the Internet, with no limits on the amount of data volumes at a fixed monthly fee. This is so far the cheapest and only unlimited fast Mobile broadband in Namibia.

Speedlink is ‘a game-changer’

A toast to marking the official launch of Speedlink by the Minister of Information & Communication Technology Joel Kaapanda (second from right) and the MD of Telecom Namibia Frans Ndoroma, Board members Roger Gertze and Feitjie Veldskoen, and Board Chairman Joseph Iita (extreme right).  Telecom Namibia has launched a new broadband service called Speedlink that aims to provide customers with faster and cheaper Internet services. Minister of Information and Communication Technology Joel Kaapanda officially launched this latest broadband product from Telecom Namibia at a breakfast function held in Windhoek on 31 May 2012. The Speedlink product is a direct benefit arising from the recently commissioned West Africa Cable System (WACS) of which Telecom Namibia is the landing agent in the country. Free Speedlink upgrade with SpeedLink, Telecom Namibia upgraded all its existing broadband customers on its ADSL and WiMAX platforms from their current packages to the next higher package. For example, a customer on a 1Mbps (megabits per second) was upgraded to the next 2Mbps package for free. The implications are that all these customers were upgraded to a higher speed at the same monthly charge, while others were upgraded to a higher speed with a reduction in their monthly charge. All existing customers were upgraded based on an agreed matrix. Home customers, for example, benefit from 33% link speed improvement on the entry level package and up to 50% on the higher packages. This means that packages are upgraded from 256k to 384k representing 33%, while packages upgraded from 512k to 1024k represent a 100% link improvement. The savings derived from increased speed packages without any costs to customers range from 33% to 50%, and new customers will benefit from 36% up to 41% when they sign up for Speelink packages. Packages The new product consists of Speedlink Business and Speedlink Home which enable both business and residential customers to enjoy faster Internet speeds at cheaper monthly rates. The Speedlink Home range comprises: the entry-level 384k package, priced at N349 per month, and the premium Speedlink Home package, priced at N$949 per month for a 36 months contract, featuring a download speed of up to 2048k.  The other packages are the 512k and 1024k priced at N$549 and N$649 per month respectively, for a 36-month contract.     Packages benefit from unlimited monthly data usage, free modem, web space, voice/fax numbers, fax2email address, on-net voice calls, and up to 2 static IP addresses. Speedlink Business provides download speed of 512 to 10240kbps and 256 to 2048kbps for upload. Speedlink Business is equipped to deliver business users consistently high speed connections and value for money.  With unlimited usage, businesses can download whatever they need to at all times, without the need to restrict users.  Up to 10Mb speeds better equip businesses to efficiently perform data intensive tasks such as sending and receiving large documents, graphics or media files, video conferencing or using web-based software.  Faster speeds can bring to life more flexible working with quicker VPN access to internal systems.  By using the inclusive IP addresses, businesses can reduce their communications costs with IP and video calling.

Slow Internet downloads being experienced by some customers

Telecom Namibia wishes to apologise to some of its broadband customers for slow internet downloads from international sites. The problem lies beyond the Namibian borders as a result of a failure on the SEACOM undersea cable and also capacity loss to one of our upstream service providers, Belgacom, in Europe.

Telecom Namibia is doing everything in its power to make alternate arrangements, including an upgrade of its facilities in Keetmanshoop to accommodate redundant capacity to deal with failures of this kind. It is expected that the normal fast internet services will be back within the next three weeks.

We truly apologise for the inconvenience this must have caused. We also call upon all affected customers to exercise patience and understanding as we work diligently around the clock to overcome the problem with our partners.

Warning to protect Internet Modems against power surges and lightning damage

The lightning season, the period from December through April, is upon us. Lightning storms may be fascinating to some people, but they can cause damage to home appliances and electronics.

During these six months there is a potential for lightning strikes to hit your house or nearby power lines. If this happens, the electricity can travel through the phone lines, causing damage to phones and modems.

Internet users must be particularly vigilant and be prepared for Mother Nature’s onslaught during this time of year when telephone/modem router line is most vulnerable, because of the frequency and severity of thunderstorms and the constant threat from lightning ground currents.

We thus wish to advise customers to protect their phones and modems from harmful ground currents caused by nearby lightning strikes, by acquiring lightening protectors to enjoy peace of mind during bad weather conditions. Internet users are further advised there are separate lightening protectors either for single or multiple devices.

Whenever there is a thunderstorm, it is possible that lightning or electrical power surges caused by lightning, may damage one or more of computer components with excessive voltage. All types of modems are especially susceptible, because a harmful power surge can reach the modem in two ways – through the electrical power grid and through the telephone line to which the modem is connected.

We advise customers that whenever it rains they should unplug their computers and modems, completely from the wall socket in order to avoid damage from harmful power surges. Not only should all power supply cables be unplugged, but also any telephone/fax cables that are connected to the computer.

Our advice to customers to take precautionary measure should be taken seriously as customers will be liable for the replacement of their modems if they are damaged or broken as a result of power surges and/or lightning attacks.  

However, Telecom Namibia has taken all precautionary measures to minimise network related faults caused by adverse weather conditions and to ensure that our network equipment survives the worse lightening attacks. Our technicians will be readily available to ensure that interruptions of any nature are rectified as quickly as possible.

SADC telecom operators want to ensure against fraud and revenue loss

Whilst the telecommunications industry in Africa has seen a quantum leap in the past decade, with some markets being more competitive and lucrative, there remains this shadowy side of telecoms in Africa - Fraud.

Telecom Namibia will provide a hub and platform for learning, debating and networking around this important issue of Fraud as it hosts the Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) 5^th Regional Workshop on ICT Fraud, Revenue Assurance and Network/Cyber Security in Windhoek from 14^th – 16^th November 2011.

Information and Communication Technology Minister Joel Kaapanda is expected to officiate at the workshop. Telecom Namibia Managing Director, as host, will address the opening session.

This is the only event within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Region where issues on Telecommunications Fraud Management, Revenue Assurance and Network/Cyber Security are discussed. Delegates will spend three days of sharing knowledge, latest thinking, experiences and evaluate practical solutions for reducing fraud, assuring revenue and overcoming security attacks on our ICT networks.

Today, the challenges faced by the telecom sector are wide ranging. One such challenge is revenue leakage which is a fact of life, given the technical and business challenges in this complicated environment. Companies worldwide take a 1.5-2% leakage in revenue as normal. Now, due to competitive pressures, companies are beginning to focus on internally tightening their processes to curb revenue losses.

However, revenue leakage, across the entire revenue chain, remains a challenge for operators. It is an inherent risk in the telecom revenue cycle, irrespective of the region of operations. Various revenue assurance research reports say that the degree of exposure lies in the range of 10% to 15% of a CSP’s gross revenue, depending upon factors such as networks, type of services, geography, and revenue assurance maturity level.

The workshop, among others, will focus on:

- How effective Fraud Management Systems (FMS) can help detect and reduce telecoms fraud;

- Effective ways of conducting investigations in telecoms in order to achieve best results;

- Strategies to provide adequate barriers against fraud in subscriber prepaid systems;

- Key issues surrounding strategic risk management of network fraud and security;

- Interconnection bypass;

- Addressing internal fraud; and

- Combating fraud and security in the Next Generation Networks.

SATA was established in 1980 in pursuant of the Southern Africa Development Community SADC Treaty and the provisions of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology. Until 1999, the association was known as the Southern Africa Telecommunications Administrations (SATA).

The regional association handles issues such as technical standards, tariffs, sub-regional information infrastructure (SRII), cross-border investment (satellite technology) and public/private partnerships.

SATA has 15 member operators namely Telecom Namibia, Angola Telecom, Movicel Angola, Botswana Telecom Corporation, Telecom Lesotho, Econet Ezi-Cel (Lesotho), Malawi Telecommunications Limited, Mauritius Telecom, Telecomunicações de Moçambique, Telkom South Africa, Swaziland Posts & Telecommunications Corporation, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited, Tel.One Zimbabwe and TeleAccess (Zimbabwe). 

Telecom Namibia launches exciting all-new ‘Share’ campaign

Telecom Namibia recently re-affirmed its commitment to its customers by launching a fresh and exciting ‘Share’ advertising campaign aimed at personalising its brand promise, “Sharing your world,” with customers.

The first of the ads debuted on 24 October in local print media targeting existing and potential customers.  The ads will continue to run in the media, online, and social media this year – with exciting competitions and fabulous prizes to be won.

The all-new advertising campaign centres around the company’s brand promise, “Sharing your world.” This basic statement defines what Telecom Namibia is. Our brand promise personifies the Telecom Namibia brand. This is a brand that at its very core has a passion for connecting people to make life easier for them.  It is a truth about who we are and what we have always stood for.

Our brand promise is born from the understanding that the company plays a vital role in enabling all customers to communicate with the rest of the world, to share ideas, emotions, information, thoughts, dreams and expectations through Telecom Namibia’s fast, reliable, state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure.

What is this ‘Share’ concept?

Telecom Namibia is a successful, provider of a wide variety of innovative and effective ICT technology and services that allows customers to Share their progressive aspirations in life, at work and in their community.

Telecom Namibia offers customers a wide variety of choice, effective products and services that facilitate sharing.  Our main promise of sharing to customer is:

• Share our dream of all that is possible

• Share a whole new world of possibilities

We offer customers the ability to Share from a variety of platforms…

Telecom Namibia customers have thus the potential to enter a whole new world of possibilities through the ability to share their life-stories with loved ones and friends alike.  Telecom Namibia prides itself in providing means for people to connect with each other and share their expectations, feelings, life, memories, plans, stories, time or, in fact, share your whole world.

Re-affirming a commitment

With the re-affirmation of our brand promise Telecom Namibia commits itself to share a whole new world of possibilities with its customers – a commitment to deliver innovative and cost-effective products and services to them.

As a company, Telecom Namibia’s mission is to transform and enrich lives through communications by way of our vision of making things possible for our customers.

Through our renewed commitment to making life easier for customers, our goal is to enrich everyday communications by simplifying and removing obstacles in communication technology so that we bring our customers closer to what matters to them most: the latest ICT possibilities at your fingertips to Share the world with ease and convenience.