• Chinese, Nigerian presidents satisfied with bilateral ties • Pang Yuliang Acquired German Parchim Airport

Mobile telecommunications account for as much as 70 percent of Africa's telecom market. Due to the geographical factor, development of mobile telecom has outpaced that of fixed line telephones.
Chinese telecom industry analysts point out that Chinese telecom carriers and terminal makers have to grasp the best opportunity as most of areas in Africa is lagged behind in telecom infrastructure construction to take a lead in the competition.
They think Egypt, Libya, and Algeria are the most potential telecom markets in Africa, and it is suitable to launch high-end mobile phones in several countries in North and South Africa, but merely low-end products for other countries.
ZTE won two USD30 million contracts last month to provide phone equipment to the African nations of Lesotho and Ghana. In August, the Chinese company secured a USD312 million contract to build a fiber-optic network in Venezuela.
China's government has also helped by giving Nigeria and other developing countries loans to buy phone equipment, Ndukwe said. Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged USD3 billion in loans to African nations over the next three years during a China- Africa summit held last month in Beijing.
ZTE is China's largest listed telecommunications equipment provider specializing in offering customized network solutions for telecom carriers worldwide. The company develops and manufactures telecommunications equipment for fixed, mobile, data and optical networks, intelligent networks and next generation networks as well as mobile phones. ZTE was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1997.
Document SCIW000020070313e33d00006
News Digest
392 words

13 March 2007

The Saigon Times Daily

SGTD

English

(c) 2007 Saigon Times Group
Asia-pacific
JAKARTA
A 20-year-old Indonesian woman who is in hospital in critical condition has been confirmed to be suffering from bird flu, an official at the national bird flu center said yesterday.
JAKARTA
Indonesia is considering banning granite chip exports, the country’s foreign minister said yesterday, amid a dispute with Singapore over Jakarta’s moves to stop exporting sand vital to the island’s construction industry.
DHAKA
Bangladesh needs to spend US$8 billion on the environment in the next 20 years, particularly in the capital, to sustain economic growth and help reduce poverty, a World Bank report said.
CHIANG MAI
A Swiss man facing 75 years in a Thai jail for defacing images of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej was convicted yesterday on charges of lese majesty and damaging property.
BEIJING
Thousands of Chinese farmers and laid-off workers rioted in central China, attacking police and smashing squad cars, a local official said yesterday, the latest in a string of violent demonstrations.
TOKYO
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied yesterday that a groundbreaking security agreement he is to sign with Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Tokyo this week was aimed at reining in China.
AFRICA
LAGOS
The Nigerian military yesterday rescued two Croats and one Montenegrin man who were being held by suspected ransom-seekers in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, a state government spokesman said.
EUROPE
ATHENS
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Athens to sign a long-delayed Balkan oil pipeline deal with Greece and Bulgaria on Thursday, ensuring the flow of cheaper Russian crude to the Mediterranean.
KOUROU
An Ariane-5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Sunday, putting into orbit a British military satellite and an Indian telecommunications satellite, officials said.
MIDDLE EAST
DUBAI
Dubai airport was closed for at least eight hours yesterday after a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft was involved in an accident while trying to take off, officials said.
JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks on Sunday that yielded little sign of progress towards peace.
THE AMERICAS
BOGOTA
President George W. Bush gave a vote of confidence to Colombia on Sunday, promising to secure more aid and a trade deal for his close ally President Alvaro Uribe as he fights a rebel insurgency and drug traffickers.
(Source: International media)
Document SGTD000020070313e33d00028
Interested in Affordable VoIP and Fast Internet Access? -- Join Cyber Digital's CEO Live on MN1.com
461 words

8 March 2007

ENP Newswire

ENPNEW

English

(c) 2007, Electronic News Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
Release Date - 08032007
HAUPPAUGE, NY -- (ENP Newswire) -- 03/08/07 -- J.C. Chatpar, President/CEO/CFO of Cyber Digital, Inc. (OTCBB: CYBD), a leading designer and software developer of advanced digital voice and broadband data switches, will be featured live on Market News First (
) for an exclusive interview with MN1's Steve Kanaval. The interview is scheduled for Friday, March 9, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. CDT.
Cyber Digital, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of digital switching, Internet, and networking systems that enable simultaneous communication of voice and data to a large number of users.
The company offers a range of distributed digital switching systems for digital telecommunications applications and networks, which includes Cyber Distributed Central Office (CDCO) designed to provide digital voice communications to subscribers in densely populated urban areas; and Cyber Tandem Exchange, an intercity exchange for long distance voice and data trunk services, as well as a regional trunk exchange connecting to various local CDCO exchanges.
In addition, for developing countries, the company offers Cyber Rural Exchange, a small distributed Class 5 central office exchange, primarily intended for rural, remote, or community telephone applications and Cyber Switch Exchange, a digital switching system designed for use as a private branch exchange for offices, universities, hospitals, and other large organizations.
Its range of broadband Internet protocol (IP) systems include Cyber Business Internet Gateway, an IP gateway for VoIP and broadband data applications; Cyber Internet Access Network, an IP distribution router/soft-switch that permits several business users to simultaneously access the Internet and broadband data networks; Cyber Firewall series IPSec firewall appliance that offers simple do-it-yourself installation software for business-to-business e-commerce secure access and virtual private network applications; and Cyber Web Server and Cyber Domain Name Server.
The company sells its products in the United States, India, China, Brazil, Russia, and Nigeria.
Join J.C. Chatpar to learn more about the goals of the company, as well as its position in the stock market.
About MN1.com
Market News First is an online, market news provider that brings investors current news on the market. Market News First is the only online, live radio web site that brings real market news to investors and features live interaction with companies from the AMEX, NYSE, NASDAQ, Over the Counter Bulletin Board and the Pink Sheets.
Through daily, live commentary we keep you up to date on the companies you invest in along with what's going on in the stock markets by the second.
Contact:
Mercantile Ascendency
Vince Duhon
214.461.3500
[Editorial queries for this story should be sent to [e-mail]]
Document ENPNEW0020070308e338001xj
Interested in Affordable VoIP and Fast Internet Access? -- Join Cyber Digital's CEO Live on MN1.com
451 words

8 March 2007

Market Wire

ITWR

English

(c) Copyright 2007 Market Wire, Inc.
HAUPPAUGE, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- Mar 08, 2007 -- J.C. Chatpar, President/CEO/CFO of Cyber Digital, Inc. (OTCBB: CYBD), a leading designer and software developer of advanced digital voice and broadband data switches, will be featured live on Market News First ( www.mn1.com ) for an exclusive interview with MN1's Steve Kanaval. The interview is scheduled for Friday, March 9, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. CDT.
Cyber Digital, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of digital switching, Internet, and networking systems that enable simultaneous communication of voice and data to a large number of users.
The company offers a range of distributed digital switching systems for digital telecommunications applications and networks, which includes Cyber Distributed Central Office (CDCO) designed to provide digital voice communications to subscribers in densely populated urban areas; and Cyber Tandem Exchange, an intercity exchange for long distance voice and data trunk services, as well as a regional trunk exchange connecting to various local CDCO exchanges.
In addition, for developing countries, the company offers Cyber Rural Exchange, a small distributed Class 5 central office exchange, primarily intended for rural, remote, or community telephone applications and Cyber Switch Exchange, a digital switching system designed for use as a private branch exchange for offices, universities, hospitals, and other large organizations.
Its range of broadband Internet protocol (IP) systems include Cyber Business Internet Gateway, an IP gateway for VoIP and broadband data applications; Cyber Internet Access Network, an IP distribution router/soft-switch that permits several business users to simultaneously access the Internet and broadband data networks; Cyber Firewall series IPSec firewall appliance that offers simple do-it-yourself installation software for business-to-business e-commerce secure access and virtual private network applications; and Cyber Web Server and Cyber Domain Name Server.
The company sells its products in the United States, India, China, Brazil, Russia, and Nigeria.
Join J.C. Chatpar to learn more about the goals of the company, as well as its position in the stock market.
About MN1.com
Market News First is an online, market news provider that brings investors current news on the market. Market News First is the only online, live radio web site that brings real market news to investors and features live interaction with companies from the AMEX, NYSE, NASDAQ, Over the Counter Bulletin Board and the Pink Sheets.
Through daily, live commentary we keep you up to date on the companies you invest in along with what's going on in the stock markets by the second.

Contact:

Mercantile Ascendency

Vince Duhon

214.461.3500

[e-mail]


Document ITWR000020070308e338002pb
MoneyGram International 2007 Analyst Day - Final
25,992 words

7 March 2007

Voxant FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE

FNDW

English

© Voxant Inc. All rights reserved.
TIM GALLAHER, VP, IR, MONEYGRAM INTERNATIONAL: Good morning and welcome to the 2007 MoneyGram International Analyst Day. If I get these going right.
I'll remind you, the various remarks we make today about future expectations, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from expectations, plans and prospects contemplated in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed in our filings with the SEC. I encourage all participants in our Analyst Day to read our SEC filings, including our 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2006, which was filed with the SEC on March 1, 2007.
I'll now turn the mic over to Phil Milne, our Chairman and CEO.
PHIL MILNE, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MONEYGRAM INTERNATIONAL: Thanks, Tim. Well, good morning everyone and welcome to Minneapolis. And I will tell you, and nobody will believe this, but this is really the first snow that we've had in the entire winter and you guys get to witness it. We got two feet over the last, what, 10 days and we had nothing before that. So you guys must be the issue with that, but we're glad that you traveled here and we thank you for attending. It's great to see such a strong turnout here today. And as always, we continue to appreciate your interest in the company and look forward to sharing some views today about where we're going and how we view the payment systems world.
It -- we were talking a little bit earlier with a couple of folks, it's almost been three years since we went out public, which just is amazing. It'll be three years, at the end of the second quarter. And it's really gone fast and we're proud of the accomplishments since we've been out on our own. But more importantly, I hope today that you see that we all feel really good and think we've got a strong runway and a lot of runway left ahead of us in the key businesses as we push forward. So we're really excited about our future.
Today you're going to hear mostly not from me. You guys hear from me a lot and today you're going to hear from I guess mostly Tony, but Bill Putney as well. They're going to do the heavy lifting today and then we'll be back up to take questions.
I've got, I think, the bulk of the senior management team here today. And maybe we'll just do a quick introduction if you didn't get a chance to meet everybody. We'll start up here.
Tony Ryan. Tony really runs the business side for us on a global basis. Bill Putney, who is the portfolio guru. And of course you just met Tim, IR. We've got Dave Parrin, our Chief Financial Officer over here. And sitting in the back, Mary Dutra, she does global operations and settlement. And Terri Johnson, who is our General Counsel. And Cindy Stemper next to her, she's HR. Let's see, Dave Albright over here, he's our Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer. And is Haider here? No. He was. Our VP of Compliance was here. We've got [Ben Wilke] who works in our Treasury staff back in the back in the room. So did I catch everybody? Cathy Rebuffoni, Communications, standing there. Did I miss anybody? That was pretty good, we've almost got you outnumbered, so that was good too.
Uh-oh. [inaudible] next. Yes. Okay.
I always start these presentations off and we do this when we meet with our employees here and around the globe, when we are out on the road talking about the business, I even do this when we sit down with the Board. We always start talking about our values. And I think it's really critical and I think it's served us well. We've had these in place for quite awhile and well before all the problems hit Corporate America. But we always talk about respect, courage, passion, integrity and teamwork. And this is something that really is the foundation for the organization and really sets the tone within here about how we interact with each other and how we interact with the various stakeholders, our shareholders, our customers, our consumers. So it's really the foundation of our organization and it is something that we have worked and tried to weave into the very fabric of this company and I think it has served us very, very well over the years.
And then our Purpose Statement and we're all about affordable, reliable and convenient. And this really has been the benchmark for what we're doing out in the marketplace, how we view our role in the marketplace and as we look at different opportunities, this is really the benchmark that we're looking for. We're very -- we try to be very consumer focused and very focused on the partnerships that we have with our various business partners, the banks and the retail agents and the bill paying community. So very consumer focused, very agent, customer focused and it's all about affordable, reliable and convenient.
So we're a purpose driven and values based organization and we think that has -- is going to continue to serve us well. And I think over the years, this has created an atmosphere where we've been able to increase shareholder value and hopefully if we're executing well on the strategies that we have and we hold fast to the values and the purpose statement, this will continue to translate into increasing shareholder value.
Just some quick highlights. 2006 of course is history. But I think just a few things to mention. We did crest $1 billion in revenue for the first time last year, which for us was a real milestone and we topped out about $1.160 billion and that was an exciting thing for this organization and especially for someone like me who's been around a long time and really got here when it was a $100 million company. Net income was just a little over $124 million, that constituted about $1.45 here on EPS.
We did repurchase 2.2 million shares, which has really been kind of our ongoing effort if we can't redeploy the capital back into the business. The business is always the first call on capital. We've been investing heavily in the money transfer and of course the bill payment businesses, and we continue, as I said, to see a lot of runway. So our first call on capital is to invest back in the business and we think that's an excellent use of shareholder money. But beyond that, if we don't find any acquisitions that we're excited about, we're not going to leave a lot of capital sitting around. So we have been buying shares back.
Last year we grew the money transfer business, on a volume basis, at 41%, which was really a high water mark for us in 2006. And really represents a lot of work that happened over a number of years in terms of growing the agent base and growing the capabilities and the infrastructure of the organization and some of the investments that we've been making on a global basis in things like signs and marketing campaigns.
And then we also had a very strong year in our agent growth, I think it was our strongest in a number of years at 24%. We ended the year at 110,000 locations on a global basis. So just some quick highlights and as I said, I know 2006 is in the history books, but I think these things really set us up for the future.
We continue to operate in two business segments. Our global funds transfer business, which has money transfer, which has really been the growth engine of the organization, our money order business, which is the roots of this company going back to 1940, and of course our bill payment suite of products. And then on payments systems, the official check product, which is where the bulk of the float portfolio is derived from. We still sell money orders to financial institutions and our rebate and gift certificate business and, of course, a program that's been around since the '80s and still is there is our share draft business, with the credit unions.
Looking at the segments, you can see that the global funds transfer business continues to be the fastest growing piece of the organization. And of course that is mostly fee based. So we have really made a transformation in this business and in 2006, it was -- the float business was only 20% of the operating income and that's down from about 26% the year before. So we continue to make that transformation from being a paper based, float based organization to an electronic, fee-based organization. And I think you'll continue to see that happen over time.
We think as we put all this together, we'll kind of recap this. We -- I hope you'll walk away from here today understanding that we know how we want to grow this company and that we've got very clear strategies to do that. We really like the markets that we're playing in and you especially look a that global money transfer business and how fragmented it is and I know -- I never get sick of looking at these numbers, but maybe you guys do. Western Union thinks they have about 17% and we think we have 4. So the big two have less than 25% of the global market share and from there it's really fragmented. And it's a big, big market. And we're now in over 170 countries and we just love the depth of that market and the breadth of it and the international opportunities and think that we are really putting together a global franchise in that business.
Immigration, a lot going and swirling around and you can watch Lou Dobbs and hear him rant and rave about immigration. But it's here to stay, the Western economies need it and you're hearing some of the Western European countries really, I think Spain was just out talking about how important the guest worker program has been to their economic growth. And I think we all know how important it's been here in the US and will continue to be. So we really like the dynamics of immigration and what that means for this organization.
We continue to invest in the back office and invest in the product set and invest in technology. And we think that's important to the future and as we've talked about on the conference calls, we continue to reinvest in this business, whether it's from a marketing standpoint, whether it's getting signs up, investing in getting the right feet on the ground in various countries, all the way through what we're doing on compliance. We really like this business and we're going to continue to invest in it. And one of the things that we just love about it is that the bulk of our business is tied up in long-term contracts that gives us that recurring revenue model, which I think is a real strength of the organization.
So from a financial profile, of course, we are extremely low on the leverage side. We are cash flow. It's a great thing and we generate a strong cash flow out of this business and our long-term financial goals continue to be we want to consistently deliver double-digit revenue and earnings growth and ROE of 16 to 20%. And that's really what our long-term goals from a numbers standpoint are.
Before I turn it over to Tony and Bill, just a couple of pieces of news that I just wanted to share with you that I don't have a slide on. One is that we rolled out on March 1, Giant Eagle, which is a grocery store chain based out of Pittsburgh. They have 216 locations and about $5.5 billion in sales and that was a Western Union takeaway for those who are keeping score of that. So we're really excited about that one. And as I said, we just rolled it out last week and are very, very excited about the future with Giant Eagle.
And then one other piece of news. We just resigned SUPERVALU to a long-term agreement. They've been a customer of ours, I think, for five years, and if -- they had just purchased Albertsons last year, which was another one of our banners. So, they were very -- two very important customers of ours that merged and we just re-signed them to a new long-term agreement for wire transfer, urgent bill and money order. And out of that we pick up a piece of business that we didn't have within the SUPERVALU family and that's Shaw's out on the Northeast and I think it's about 200 stores we're picking up out of that, which we think will roll probably in the next month or two. So we're very excited about that. So, two good pieces of news to kick off Analyst Day with.
So with that, just -- Tony's going to come. Tony Ryan, he's -- Tony's been with us 10 years now? 10 years. And as I said, Tony runs the business side for us on a global basis. So I'll turn it over to Tony.
TONY RYAN, EVP, GLOBAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS, MONEYGRAM INTERNATIONAL: Good morning, everybody. I'll start off the presentation here. We're going to look at our float products in the portfolio and I'll take the product side and give a bit of an explanation about the products and services in that portion of the business and then Bill will come up and talk a little bit more specifically about the portfolio.
Starting with our products, PrimeLink, our official check outsourcing product today. These are interest checks,