Developing Telecoms | DBN finances PowerCom's Namibian mobile project

9 February 2012

Services

LATEST NEWS:

MTN extends managed services partnership with Ericsson in Ghana Indian Handset Market Witnesses 14.1% Growth in 2011 Network planning partnership to cover Southeast Asia Open framework boosts service delivery for Israeli operator Kosovan contract renewed for emerging markets provider Indian startup reneges on terms of infrastructure agreement Carrier grade Wi-Fi base stations enable connectivity in Ouagadougou Slow progress in Nepal, but penetration exceeds expectations First 4G-LTE network goes live in Hungary BSS transformation contract underway in Malaysia Mobile number portability set to shake up Chile’s mobile market South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco lead Tweeting in Africa Enthusiastic response to Tanzania’s first voice SMS service New platform allows fast uploading for Thai news reporters 3G growth healthy in Belarus as mobile market nears saturation Global top up service for Chinese expatriates Subscriptions on the rise in Kuwait over 2011 Free mobile access to Wikipedia for Africa & ME customers Political risk throughout North Africa may temper short-term growth RCom receives loan from Chinese banks Emergency communications terminals deployed in South Sudan Digital wallet services launching in China A strong 2011 for Ghana with more growth to come First Israeli-owned high-speed cable system goes live Indian government loses tax case to Vodafone Subscriber growth and LTE painting a pretty picture for UAE market 3G forecast looks rosy in China Partnership agreement expands satellite operations in Africa and Middle Eas... Rising penetration rates in Iran could be misleading Copper-Alternative Grounding Wire targets infrastructure theft OSS update for newest Thai operator Muscovites to receive modernised network Market Uncertainty Ahead for Established Players in Israel

DBN finances PowerCom's Namibian mobile project

Friday, 29 December 2006 00:00 | Alec Barton

Attention: open in a new window.

Guaranteeing that suppliers are paid is a key factor in any contract, as PowerCom Namibia knows. To ensure that PowerCom can press forward with its contractual obligations to supply 95% of Namibia with mobile coverage within five years, letters of credit are needed for the equipment involved to be shipped into Namibia. The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) is stepping in to ensure that this major contract can go ahead.

Six months of guarantee to the tune of US$4.23 million is the facility being extended by DBN. A further sum, being put forward for three other projects, totals US$886,000. DBN is highly supportive of all the projects in question but singles out the coverage of 95% of Namibia's populated areas by mobile telephony because of its positive economic implications.

Length of PowerCom's licence is 15 years. The mobile operator is also upbeat as DBN will follow the original shareholding by becoming a new source of finance. One area of disappointment is that PowerCom has admitted that it has not met its early December deadline for rolling out its service. The Christmas break is now the starting-point, as the company's Managing Director was always determined not to launch until he was certain the system was absolutely reliable.

* The remaining US$886,000 million of support will be split among Edu-Loan Namibia (US$674,000 for loans to 230 Namibians), Enviro-Fill Namibia (US$141,000 to extend the life of a landfill site near Windhoek) and Wendjizuva Pharmacy (US$70,000 to purchase new stock).

More info: