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Cable Technology Feature Article

July 26, 2011

IDC and Wananchi Agree to Two Contracts

By Narayan Bhat, TMCnet Contributor


Canadian digital solutions vendor, IDC, has agreed to two more contracts worth more than $1 million from Wananchi Group, an African cable service provider rolling out DTH broadcast service in the sub-Saharan region.

As per the agreements, the Canadian company will provide equipment, software and financial (credit) support for the African operator.

“The first contract is worth about USD one million. Under the second contract, valued at US$591,000, IDC (News - Alert) will provide operations and technical assistance to Zuku DTH satellite platform in Kenya,” the Canadian company stated in a press release.

Wananchi Group, which is said to be the first to launch triple-play network in Africa, has recently added Zuku Satellite to bring video, voice and data services to consumers in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa.

The agreement also includes a revolving credit facility for Wananchi, which plans to expand its service across the African continent.

"We believe that this unique structure acts as an important cornerstone for our relationship going forward. We have broken new ground and as the business grows, we look forward to this facility growing along with it," said Richard Essex, chief development officer of East Africa Capital Partners (EACP), and Africa Telecommunications Media and Technology Fund (ATMT).

"This is an important step in the growth path of IDC Systems Group. We will look to [expand] this credit facility for Wananchi, and [pursue] other viable opportunities within this new framework," stated Frederick Godard, president and CEO, IDC.

Last month, IDC announced that it had signed a contract with Wananchi for the development, build-up, and roll-out of a new direct-to-home broadcasting service that would provide television programming to the sub-Saharan region of Africa.


Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.