Cape Town - South Africa is set to be the launch pad for African expansion of the Sailfish mobile operating system.
Finnish mobile development outfit Jolla, which re-engineered Nokia's Meego OS into Sailfish, wants to expand the operating system into all Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) countries after the Russian government indicated that Google and other Western-based internet companies might be in violation of that country's rules.
The dispute has opened the door for Jolla to expand Sailfish into political allies as an alternative to Google.
"This is a logical continuation of Russia's announcement last week to develop a mobile ecosystem based on Sailfish OS. After Minister [Nikolay] Nikiforov's visit last week here in South Africa, we are now taking practical steps forward to create the Sailfish Africa ecosystem together with local powerhouses from e-commerce, digital media and mobile," said Jolla chair Dr Antti Saarnio.
Nikiforov, the Russian minister of Telecom and Mass Communications, visited SA to pitch the idea of co-operation to build a mobile operating system that could rival Google's Android which commands around 85% market share.
Sailfish will launch in SA with Cell C and will gradually expand into the rest of Africa.
"In addition to South Africa, we are currently building similar initiatives with local partners in India and Russia. We expect to announce further news about the expansion of the ecosystems in the coming weeks," Saarnio added.
"Online and offline businesses are rapidly moving to mobile and it is essential for African economies to start developing their own independent ecosystems for mobile," said Dr Sello Rathete, local project partner and co-founder of Cell C.
Alternative internet
Jolla plans tie-ups with local tech companies which can then offer Sailfish on devices and platforms specific to the markets in which they operate.
"Africa deserves to have its own independent mobile ecosystem. Current development with only one mobile OS is leading to digital colonialisation, and it must be avoided. That is why we see strong interest from local players to join the agenda," Saarnio said.
There has been some outrage over revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden that the US government has been scooping up internet data.
Brazil president Dilma Rousseff has also suggested that the country build an alternative fibre optic cable to the current internet. That 34 000km long cable would link Brazil, SA, Russia and China.
Developers believe that by offering an alternative mobile ecosystem, internet businesses in developing countries could flourish.
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