MTL Launches FreeNET

We are maintaining ground lines--MTL...launches FreeNET dial up service
BY SAM BANDA JNR 08:58:59 - 20 June 2007

Fixed phone service providers Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) says the rolling out of the US$7.5 million (K1.05 billion) Liberty phone line project in the country was not meant to phase out ground lines (copper line), which most Malawians have become used to.

MTL’s Chief Commercial Officer Stephan Hoehne said in an interview on Saturday that various technologies they intend to introduce would depend on the ground lines.“Ground lines will be there. After all, the copper line will assist us in the more technologies we will be introducing to Malawians shortly,” he said.

He said Liberty phone lines would try to ease congestion, which has been there with ground lines and that the communication service would be faster.“There have been congestion with only ground lines being used and communication has moved at a slow pace and now the Liberty phone will try to help on that and also bring in new things,” said Hoehne.

Ground lines have proved to be a big disadvantage in the country as they are subjected to vandalism.There have been several cases of people stealing MTL cables thereby disrupting the communication process.“The new MTL management found that the Liberty phone is the appropriate communication technology for Malawi and that is why we undertook this project. The issues of vandalism are water under the bridge with the Liberty phone for it does not use cables but it’s a wireless phone line,” he said.He then cautioned all those who indulge in theft and vandalism of MTL cables that their actions were retrogressive to national development.“We get so many cases of cable theft and vandalism, which really is retarding development. Communication is very important because without it, things do not move.

However, with introduction of Liberty phones, we have to move forward and talk about positive things,” said the chief commercial officer.

• MTL has launched Liberty phone in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
• The project would be extended to other 24 areas in the country with the latest launch being in Zomba last Friday.
• Meanwhile, MTL Tuesday launched yet another new product called MTL Freenet dial up service in Blantyre in its efforts to provide quality Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and this service is using the ground line.
• "We have been offered a licence on this. FreeNet is a dial up service, which will enable MTL customers to have access to the Internet and has no monthly subscription, registration and the service connects to your computer via a modem and your MTL line,” said Hoehne Tuesday.

The Rest @ Malawi Daily News

"Lawmakers Who Switch Parties Can Be Ousted" Says Judge

BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawi's highest court ruled Friday that lawmakers who switch parties after their election can be ousted from parliament, a decision affecting scores of President Bingu wa Mutharika's supporters.

The ruling, delivered by Chief Justice Leonard Unyolo, could affect about 70 of parliament's 193 members, including Cabinet ministers, all of whom left the United Democratic Front to join Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party. Mutharika was elected as a member of the United Democratic Front in 2004, but quit the party last year to found the Democratic Progressive Party, accusing his former allies of blocking his clampdown on corruption, and survived a subsequent attempt to impeach him.

the Rest @ The International Herald Tribune

Somali Refugees Stretching Malawi Security

Somali Refugees have been flooding into Malawi since the Somali war reignited. Malawi is shutting down a camp near the Mozambique border and tightening up their border with Tanzania. Officials have security concerns about trafficers using Malawi as a pass through country.

-Lee

In Malawi, our staff are rushing to install additional facilities for 3,000 refugees at Dzaleka refugee camp following a government order to close the only other refugee camp in the country. Although UNHCR will take until July to move all the refugees and asylum seekers from Luwani camp, it will have some of the necessary facilities in place in Dzaleka by the government's deadline of May 31.

The government said its decision at the end of last month to close Luwani was prompted by increasing concern at the number of asylum seekers who arrive from Ethiopia and Somalia, claim asylum, stay a few days at Luwani and then disappear over the border into Mozambique en route to South Africa.

It termed these arrivals - from what it sees as the unstable Horn of Africa - a threat to its own security. Luwani is located near the southern border with Mozambique, while Dzaleka is near the capital, Lilongwe, in the centre of the country. The government believes placing all asylum seekers in Dzaleka, further from the border, will reduce the number using Malawi purely as a transit route for heading toward South Africa.

The government also announced the deployment of soldiers to reinforce police along Malawi's northern border with Tanzania in order to tighten control on undocumented crossings. UNHCR has welcomed the government's assurance that these changes in policy, which are its right, do not mean any reduction in the government's international commitment to continue providing asylum to refugees. It is imperative that legitimate asylum seekers still have access to protection.

With the decision to close Luwani, the government also stopped moving newly arrived asylum seekers from the transit station it operated with UNHCR near the border with Tanzania. That has resulted in a build-up of asylum seekers at the transit station, which has a normal capacity of about 100 people but now holds more than 350. The government wants new asylum seekers moved to Dzaleka, which had previously been considered full with its current 5,000 residents. UNHCR is working to ensure a makeshift reception centre for new arrivals is available at Dzaleka by the end of the month.

The transfer of the 3,000 refugees from Luwani - likely to begin in the second half of June and take up to a month to complete -- will require additional school and medical facilities at Dzaleka.

Initially refugees will be housed in temporary structures and tents before they erect homes. Building materials for traditional houses - wooden poles and grass - is already being stockpiled. To ensure the disruption to education is minimized, students at first may have to study in makeshift structures.

Unlike those asylum seekers who quickly transit through Malawi with the apparent services of traffickers - the group who triggered the government's closure of Luwani -- most of the refugees to be relocated have been long-term residents of the camp. Some had hoped to become self-sufficient through farming at Luwani but there is little land available at Dzaleka so they will remain dependent on aid.


The Rest @ All Africa.com