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WrapUp: Our pick of main stories, Thursday 15th January
Former Apple CEO’s ‘Obi’ smartphones to launch in Kenya by March, Airtel Kenya makes management changes a day after integrating…
Former Apple CEO’s ‘Obi’ smartphones to launch in Kenya by March, Airtel Kenya makes management changes a day after integrating yuMobile subscribers and Safaricom subscribers to receive calls for free while roaming in Uganda…These and much more in our today’s news wrap up.
Former Apple CEO’s ‘Obi’ smartphones to launch in Kenya by March
Obi Mobiles, the new smartphone brand co-founded by veteran marketer and former Apple CEO John Sculley, is set to be unveiled in March in Kenya, followed by a phased roll-out across other markets in the region.
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John Scully was the CEO of Apple for a decade, between 1983 and1993. Under his management, annual sales at Apple increased from $800 million to $8 billion.The company also revealed that they had signed on DESPEC, the leading IT distributor as its exclusive channel partner in the region.
The firm is set to roll out a superior line-up of Obi devices suited to consumers in the region in Q1 2015, with an aim to capture 5 per cent market share by the end of this year.
A new entrant in the consumer technology sector, Obi Mobiles is a venture of Sculley’s Toronto-based Investment and Acquisition Company, Inflexionpoint. It marked its global launch in India, followed by the Middle East markets in 2014.
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Airtel Kenya makes management changes a day after integrating yuMobile subscribers
Just a day after it announced that it successfully integrated yuMobile’s 2.5 million subscribers into its network, Airtel has announced new management changes which will see Dick Omondi – formerly head of corporate communications and CSR – assume a new role of corporate affairs director.
Dick Omondi’s new appointment follows the firm’s merger of its Public Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility with that of Regulatory and Legal Affairs into a new corporate affairs unit to be led by Dick Omondi who now becomes the corporate affairs director of the telecoms firm. This means that apart from communications and CSR, Mr Omondi will also be in charge of the firms regulatory and legal affairs.
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Safaricom subscribers to receive calls for free while roaming in Uganda
Safaricom has discounted roaming rates for roaming calls made in Uganda following the adoption of the One Network Area initiative by the country.
This comes a few days after the cut roaming rates for its subscribers in 21 countries.
This will see Safaricom subscribers receive calls for free while roaming in Uganda as well as enjoy a flat rate of Kshs 10 for calls between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda instead of paying as high as Kshs 215 a minute.
Presidential Digital Talent Program set to be launched on February 3rd
The Presidential Digital Talent Program (PDTP) is set to be launched on February 3 with the first bunch of interns being taken in.
This comes after the government through the Ministry of ICT requested all qualified students to apply for the programme since December 12, 2014 to January 9, 2015.
The PDTP is a programme that was initiated in the year 2014 by the Ministry of ICT and is being implemented by ICT Authority through a private and public partnership arrangement. The program is one of the key initiatives and project spelt out in the ICT Master plan and a key deliverable for the Jubilee government and the Vision 2030 Social and Economic strategic pillars.
Ericsson looking for a techie to head its mobile money business
Ericsson has opened the search for a techie to head its sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile money business in Nairobi, in a reflection of Kenya’s growing status as the continent’s financial technology hub.
The Swedish IT firm is seeking a slice of Kenya’s rapidly growing mobile money industry that facilitates the transfer of billions of shillings every day.