Muson Centre, Lagos, 21-23 August 2006
PRESENTATIONS
(Main conference 21-22 August 2006)
DAY 1 - Monday 21 August
2pm Conference Opening
Welcome Remarks by Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of KNOWLEDGE MEDIA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (publishers of IT Edge/www.itedgenews.com).
Welcome Speech & Official Opening
Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Minister of Communications, Nigeria
Keynote 1: Regulatory challenges and achievements in the VoIP arena
Eng Ernest Ndukwe, Vice-Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission
Keynote 2: VoIP as part of an ISP’s survival strategy
Eng Sam Adeleke, President, ISP Association of Nigeria (ISPAN)
Keynote 3: How Nigeria’s communication companies have responded to the challenges and opportunities created by VoIP
Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON)
4pm Refreshment Break
Keynote 4: The impact of VoIP on African voice markets
Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act looks at how VoIP impacts on voice markets:
How grey markets operate and the scale and extent of them
What legalised VoIP means in different countries and what happens when VoIP competition is more widely available?
The winners and losers in the legalisation process
The emergence of a new business model bringing together broadband and VoIP
New potential developments like VoIP peering, eNUM and mobile VoIP
Keynote 5: AfrISPA’s vision for VoIP deployment in Africa
Eric Osiakwan, Executive Secretary, AfrISPA, Ghana
Keynote 6: ITU-T standardization activities in the new telecommunication environment: VoIP studies
Paolo Rosa, Head, Standards Co-operation & Communications, ITU-T, Switzerland
6pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Regulatory and business strategies to maximize the benefits of VoIP
All keynote speakers
7pm Networking Cocktail Party
DAY 2 – Tuesday 22 August 2006
9am Session 1: INTERNATIONAL LINKS
Maximising international connectivity via a virtual service provider
Yossi Barkan, Executive Director, Africa, PCCW Global, Hong Kong
Moving beyond Skype - Using directed SIP VoIP to drive quality international voice terminations
Stunning Growth Rates of Peer to Peer VoIP Networks
Problems Identified in “Legacy” P2P Networks
Overcoming These Problems Though the Directed SIP P2P Model
Advanced Services—P2P VoIP Without the Computer
Huge Traffic Flows Enable Cost-Effective High-Quality Voice Termination Routes Available on a Wholesale Basis
Eric Ram, Executive VP, International Business Development, Fusion Telecommunications International, USA
SHOWCASE PRESENTATION by NexTone
National/International VoIP interconnect and peering
Sean Pickering, NexTone, South Africa
10.30am Refreshment Break
11am Session 2: TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
TDMoIP vs VoIP: Which technology is better for your network?
Gaéthan Donlap Kouanga, Video and IP Services Manager, Eutelsat
Using fixed-mobile convergence to attract enterprise customers: An overview of the technology, applications and regulatory issues
Yves Desmet, Senior Vice-President, World Wide Sales, Verso Technology, Belgium
12.30 Lunch
2pm Session 3: IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDIES
VoIP – Creating real value for African enterprises
Morten Hald, MD, Emperion, Denmark
NITEL: A case study on an incumbent PTT migrating from legacy TDM networks to IP
Rob Hewitt, COO, Afrigate, UK
Is VoIP still viable in the Nigerian market?
Ade Ojuri, CEO, Junisat, Nigeria
AFRICAN VoIP FORUM WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP 1: Corporate Users - Introduction to VoIP An interactive workshop
Sunday Folayan, MD, Skannet Nigeria
9am – 1pm Monday 21 August 2006
While VoIP is set to change the landscape of the communications industry, it is already being used by a number of traditional Telephone companies to connect their regional offices, while on a smaller scale, it is being used by Small Offices/Home Offices who want to trim their communications expenses. The advantages of using VoIP technology includes simplicity, flexibility, cost savings as well as finally removing the huge constraint of circuit switched architecture, and taking advantage of the ubiquitous nature of IP, which is fast becoming a de-facto medium of world-wide communication.This hands-on workshop is designed to introduce participants to the VoIP technology, using the Asterisk Open Source PBX software. Participants will amongst others be exposed to the following:
Introduction to the VoIP technology
Basic definitions and building blocks
Transpprt protocols and packetization
Public Swiched Networks and characteristics
Protocols for VoIP call control
Introduction to the Asterisk Open Source PBX
Configuring simple VoIP Servers
Configuring simple VoIP Clients
Quality of Service (QoS) Issues
Services and implementation issues
Overview of large scale implementations and issuesAt the end of the workshop, participants will be able to setup and deploy an Asterisk-based PBX system which will work either via IP or PSTN and be capable of Least Cost Routing.
WORKSHOP 2: International links for ISPs & Telecom Operators
Mawuli Tse, Sales Director, Africa, iBasis
9am – 12pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006
The VoIP landscape - from PC-to-PC to VoB
Carrier level interconnections
Quality monitoring on a VoIP network
Selecting operators - what to consider
WORSHOP 3: VoIP - Survival strategies for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes
Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act, UK
2pm – 5pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006
VoIP will change the business model for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes. Beyond the ever-present hype, it will begin to transform business fundamentals in some of the following way: threatening existing international revenues; lowering the cost of entry to the voice market; and creating new opportunities like mobile VoIP. All of this will upset traditional markets and the question is: will you survive this shake-out? The workshop has three sessions of just under an hour each with a coffee break. Each of the sessions will have time for questions and answers and sessions 2 and 3 will have interactive exercises. The three sessions deal with the following:
Session 1: The business opportunities VoIP offers
In this session Russell will look at the kinds of business models that have arisen elsewhere and how things might develop in Nigeria. He will look at the business models for businesses like Skype and Vonage to illustrate how the business model for retail VoIP is developing in North America and Europe.
He will then look in greater detail at the type of opportunities that might arise in Africa, including:
• Pre-pay VoIP calling cards
• IP-payphones
• Skype/Vonage clones
• Campus-wide IP-mobility solutions
• Municipal networks
• Corporate IP calling via VPNs
• Push-to-talk
• Home broadband
• Triple/Quad play (including mobile TV)
• Mobile VoIP
• VoIP peering
He will explain the relationship between these opportunities and the changes in regulation that will enable them to flourish legally.
Session 2: Assessing investment in new VoIP opportunities
VoIP produces very different types of opportunities. For example, grey market operators have taken advantage of the price arbitrage opportunities that exist. In other words, for example, they are able to compete on price against artificially high international calling prices.
Once VoIP is more widely legalised, then this level of price arbitrage opportunity will decline or disappear as prices come down in the market. It will be important to look at the relationship between quality and pricing and to understand what latitude exists for differentiating different service offers.
Some opportunities will allow new players to enter the market relatively cheaply whereas others will require capital investment in new infrastructure. The level of capital required – along with an assessment of the risks inherent in different propositions – will help clarify where any potential should be made and whether a new opportunity is suitable for your company.
Lastly the session will examine timing issues and their impact. Some opportunities – like those related to price-arbitrage – are short or medium-term. Others like mobile VoIP are longer term because the technology is not yet available.
All of these factors will be gathered into a simple matrix and scored so that participants can see where the better opportunities lie in Africa.
Session 3: VoIP pricing and service strategies in a competitive market
The last session of the workshop will look pricing and service strategies and how they develop in a competitive market. Russell Southwood will explain how operators tackle these issues and the way in which different approaches to service and pricing are reflected in the service offer to customers. He will examine the relationship between cost and the price of providing different levels of service.
After this briefing, participants will be split into two groups to devise pricing and service strategies for two different companies, one a start-up and the other an existing operator. The two groups will then come together and show what approaches they have arrived at. The group will then look at how it is possible to respond to competitor pricing in ways that differentiate the customer offer.
Hosted and organised by AITEC AFRICA and ITEdge
PRESENTATIONS
(Main conference 21-22 August 2006)
DAY 1 - Monday 21 August
2pm Conference Opening
Welcome Remarks by Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of KNOWLEDGE MEDIA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (publishers of IT Edge/www.itedgenews.com).
Welcome Speech & Official Opening
Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Minister of Communications, Nigeria
Keynote 1: Regulatory challenges and achievements in the VoIP arena
Eng Ernest Ndukwe, Vice-Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission
Keynote 2: VoIP as part of an ISP’s survival strategy
Eng Sam Adeleke, President, ISP Association of Nigeria (ISPAN)
Keynote 3: How Nigeria’s communication companies have responded to the challenges and opportunities created by VoIP
Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON)
4pm Refreshment Break
Keynote 4: The impact of VoIP on African voice markets
Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act looks at how VoIP impacts on voice markets:
How grey markets operate and the scale and extent of them
What legalised VoIP means in different countries and what happens when VoIP competition is more widely available?
The winners and losers in the legalisation process
The emergence of a new business model bringing together broadband and VoIP
New potential developments like VoIP peering, eNUM and mobile VoIP
Keynote 5: AfrISPA’s vision for VoIP deployment in Africa
Eric Osiakwan, Executive Secretary, AfrISPA, Ghana
Keynote 6: ITU-T standardization activities in the new telecommunication environment: VoIP studies
Paolo Rosa, Head, Standards Co-operation & Communications, ITU-T, Switzerland
6pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Regulatory and business strategies to maximize the benefits of VoIP
All keynote speakers
7pm Networking Cocktail Party
DAY 2 – Tuesday 22 August 2006
9am Session 1: INTERNATIONAL LINKS
Maximising international connectivity via a virtual service provider
Yossi Barkan, Executive Director, Africa, PCCW Global, Hong Kong
Moving beyond Skype - Using directed SIP VoIP to drive quality international voice terminations
Stunning Growth Rates of Peer to Peer VoIP Networks
Problems Identified in “Legacy” P2P Networks
Overcoming These Problems Though the Directed SIP P2P Model
Advanced Services—P2P VoIP Without the Computer
Huge Traffic Flows Enable Cost-Effective High-Quality Voice Termination Routes Available on a Wholesale Basis
Eric Ram, Executive VP, International Business Development, Fusion Telecommunications International, USA
SHOWCASE PRESENTATION by NexTone
National/International VoIP interconnect and peering
Sean Pickering, NexTone, South Africa
10.30am Refreshment Break
11am Session 2: TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
TDMoIP vs VoIP: Which technology is better for your network?
Gaéthan Donlap Kouanga, Video and IP Services Manager, Eutelsat
Using fixed-mobile convergence to attract enterprise customers: An overview of the technology, applications and regulatory issues
Yves Desmet, Senior Vice-President, World Wide Sales, Verso Technology, Belgium
12.30 Lunch
2pm Session 3: IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDIES
VoIP – Creating real value for African enterprises
Morten Hald, MD, Emperion, Denmark
NITEL: A case study on an incumbent PTT migrating from legacy TDM networks to IP
Rob Hewitt, COO, Afrigate, UK
Is VoIP still viable in the Nigerian market?
Ade Ojuri, CEO, Junisat, Nigeria
AFRICAN VoIP FORUM WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP 1: Corporate Users - Introduction to VoIP An interactive workshop
Sunday Folayan, MD, Skannet Nigeria
9am – 1pm Monday 21 August 2006
While VoIP is set to change the landscape of the communications industry, it is already being used by a number of traditional Telephone companies to connect their regional offices, while on a smaller scale, it is being used by Small Offices/Home Offices who want to trim their communications expenses. The advantages of using VoIP technology includes simplicity, flexibility, cost savings as well as finally removing the huge constraint of circuit switched architecture, and taking advantage of the ubiquitous nature of IP, which is fast becoming a de-facto medium of world-wide communication.This hands-on workshop is designed to introduce participants to the VoIP technology, using the Asterisk Open Source PBX software. Participants will amongst others be exposed to the following:
Introduction to the VoIP technology
Basic definitions and building blocks
Transpprt protocols and packetization
Public Swiched Networks and characteristics
Protocols for VoIP call control
Introduction to the Asterisk Open Source PBX
Configuring simple VoIP Servers
Configuring simple VoIP Clients
Quality of Service (QoS) Issues
Services and implementation issues
Overview of large scale implementations and issuesAt the end of the workshop, participants will be able to setup and deploy an Asterisk-based PBX system which will work either via IP or PSTN and be capable of Least Cost Routing.
WORKSHOP 2: International links for ISPs & Telecom Operators
Mawuli Tse, Sales Director, Africa, iBasis
9am – 12pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006
The VoIP landscape - from PC-to-PC to VoB
Carrier level interconnections
Quality monitoring on a VoIP network
Selecting operators - what to consider
WORSHOP 3: VoIP - Survival strategies for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes
Russell Southwood, CEO, Balancing Act, UK
2pm – 5pm, Wednesday 23 August 2006
VoIP will change the business model for telcos, ISPs and cyber-cafes. Beyond the ever-present hype, it will begin to transform business fundamentals in some of the following way: threatening existing international revenues; lowering the cost of entry to the voice market; and creating new opportunities like mobile VoIP. All of this will upset traditional markets and the question is: will you survive this shake-out? The workshop has three sessions of just under an hour each with a coffee break. Each of the sessions will have time for questions and answers and sessions 2 and 3 will have interactive exercises. The three sessions deal with the following:
Session 1: The business opportunities VoIP offers
In this session Russell will look at the kinds of business models that have arisen elsewhere and how things might develop in Nigeria. He will look at the business models for businesses like Skype and Vonage to illustrate how the business model for retail VoIP is developing in North America and Europe.
He will then look in greater detail at the type of opportunities that might arise in Africa, including:
• Pre-pay VoIP calling cards
• IP-payphones
• Skype/Vonage clones
• Campus-wide IP-mobility solutions
• Municipal networks
• Corporate IP calling via VPNs
• Push-to-talk
• Home broadband
• Triple/Quad play (including mobile TV)
• Mobile VoIP
• VoIP peering
He will explain the relationship between these opportunities and the changes in regulation that will enable them to flourish legally.
Session 2: Assessing investment in new VoIP opportunities
VoIP produces very different types of opportunities. For example, grey market operators have taken advantage of the price arbitrage opportunities that exist. In other words, for example, they are able to compete on price against artificially high international calling prices.
Once VoIP is more widely legalised, then this level of price arbitrage opportunity will decline or disappear as prices come down in the market. It will be important to look at the relationship between quality and pricing and to understand what latitude exists for differentiating different service offers.
Some opportunities will allow new players to enter the market relatively cheaply whereas others will require capital investment in new infrastructure. The level of capital required – along with an assessment of the risks inherent in different propositions – will help clarify where any potential should be made and whether a new opportunity is suitable for your company.
Lastly the session will examine timing issues and their impact. Some opportunities – like those related to price-arbitrage – are short or medium-term. Others like mobile VoIP are longer term because the technology is not yet available.
All of these factors will be gathered into a simple matrix and scored so that participants can see where the better opportunities lie in Africa.
Session 3: VoIP pricing and service strategies in a competitive market
The last session of the workshop will look pricing and service strategies and how they develop in a competitive market. Russell Southwood will explain how operators tackle these issues and the way in which different approaches to service and pricing are reflected in the service offer to customers. He will examine the relationship between cost and the price of providing different levels of service.
After this briefing, participants will be split into two groups to devise pricing and service strategies for two different companies, one a start-up and the other an existing operator. The two groups will then come together and show what approaches they have arrived at. The group will then look at how it is possible to respond to competitor pricing in ways that differentiate the customer offer.
Hosted and organised by AITEC AFRICA and ITEdge
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