[Lack of landline phone availability makes mobile handset infrastructure investment an attractive African adventure.]

by Ben Charny -- "Next-generation cell phone networks are arriving in Africa, a region some carriers view as an enormous business opportunity, despite widespread poverty.

Two weeks ago, carrier Multi-Links Telecommunications flipped the switch on a new cell phone network in Lagos, Nigeria, that's capable of handling hundreds of thousands of more calls at a time than existing cell networks and of downloading e-mails or Web pages at dial-up modem speeds.

And in about three months, Nigerian carrier Rel-Tel will introduce a similar next-generation cell phone service not just to Lagos, but to other parts of the country. Starcomms, another Nigerian carrier, plans to have a similar network in place by year's end."

More...

Back to Headlines...