Zambia’s next general election may see the ownership of fixed-line monopoly Zamtel as a key issue. Main opposition leader Thomas Sata says he will reverse the privatisation as it is a strategic organisation and he believes that rural branches of Zamtel will be closed...

The Philippines may see a quadrupling of its citizens signing up for high-speed Internet by 2012. Source of the forecast is silicon-chip-maker Qualcomm, which maintains representatives in Manila...

3G is accelerating the growth in Internet usage in Turkey, according to research conducted by Turkcell. The Turkish company carried out its survey last month among its modem subscribers...

Demand from the Indian government, telecoms, industrial and utilities segments are expected to propel growth in India during 2010, according to a new forecasting model from Ovum. The market will witness the revival of larger, consolidated outsourced contracts...

A new study conducted by World Wide Worx has identified a growth spurt in South Africa’s Internet user base that looks set to continue into 2010…

 Maroc Telecom’s market share is set to continue its decline, sinking to 46.7% by 2013. This prediction is made in Research and Markets’ new report, which also forecasts 35 million mobile subscriptions in Morocco by the same date...

Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, uses his experience of the emerging markets to explain how marketing techniques are geared towards both avoiding offence and building up customer relations...

Research released by Frost & Sullivan and Colibria shows that mobile social networking is set to increase ten-fold in South America and Africa to a combined total of 527 million users in a market worth almost US$2.4 billion...

 A recent feature from Reuters compared the markets for 3G in China and looked forward towards 4G. In particular, it reviewed the successes of China’s three major players. Michael Schwartz reviews the article and adds his own thoughts...

Wire-line infrastructure will be a better-understood product in Colombia as a result of the recently announced partnership between China’s ZTE and Colombia’s Javeriana University. Technologies such as NGN, transmission and net access are leading candidates for study...

Research and Markets estimate that smartphone sales in China are set for real growth: over 73 million by 2013, which equates to 31% of all handset sales...

Stephane Boyera, Programme Manager to the World Wide Web Foundation, accompanied Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Web Foundation Director Rosemary Leith on their visit to Kenya and Uganda. The journey followed on from their presentation to the 2009 Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Stephane Boyera’s account is summarised here...

Major operators in 15 Middle East markets come under the scrutiny of a new analysis from Reportlinker. The countries’ telecoms infrastructure and fixed-voice sector are described and ranked in order of tele-density...

Some telecoms commentators have commented that the skill-shortage in India will mean higher wages and consequent deployment to Eastern Europe. Tony Kalcina, Chief Product Officer, Clarity, explains how India is already overcoming these potential dangerous obstacles...

As part of Developing Telecoms’ coverage of 3G in India we publish a press release from Wireless Intelligence covering problems confronting Indian 3G. Such challenges are the RoI timetable, restrictions on the 3G consumer marketplace, late roll-out and network sharing to cut costs and thereby survive...

According to a new report from Onda Analytics, Zamtel’s privatisation could result in its market share increasing by 15% under its new owner within six years...

Two Ghanaian journalists, Emily Nyarko and Lawrence Quartey, have been looking at the strengths and challenges that the ICT sector faces in their country. What follows is a shortened version of their recent report on the impact of liberalisation...

A new report from Ovum concludes that while rural India presents significant growth opportunities for mobile, the market that is currently being addressed is less than 25% of the country’s 800 million potential customers. Tackling low ARPU and high service costs is the challenge...

Gold certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) scheme makes Nokia’s Jucu factory the first building in Romania to be awarded global leader status because of its green design and construction...

Five West African markets were chosen for Research and Markets to base its analysis of regional broadband. The familiar problems of poor infrastructure and over-regulation make their presence felt but the analysts are optimistic...

Five West African markets were chosen for Research and Markets to base its analysis of regional broadband. The familiar problems of poor infrastructure and over-regulation make their presence felt but the analysts are optimistic...

The Indian Government’s dream of an auction of 3G airspace by the start of December is now receding. Reports from New Delhi indicate that the Department of Telecom has had difficulties in getting the initial processes underway...

Malawi’s economic future lies in exporting technology; this was a message stressed by Dr Mathews Mtumbuka, Deputy General Manager, Malswitch, when speaking to a conference of accountants in Malawi. His speech is summarised here...