The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Disruptive technologies take toll on telcos

    Disruptive technologies take toll on telcos

    The rise and popularity of over-the-top (OTT) services has taken a huge toll on the bottom line of telcos across the globe. The OTT services include instant messaging, voice/ video calls and others. In Nigeria, there appears to be no regulatory framework to halt the decline, LUCAS AJANAKU reports that telcos are rooting for far reaching reform to save the industry.

    These are certainly not the best of times for telcos in Nigeria. Disruptive technologies have come and with its coming are daunting challenges. Disruptive technologies can are now in virtually every facet of human endeavours. From car hailing, advertising, education, financial service to e-commerce, it has left its mark by disrupting the traditional way of doing things and had left in its trail, job losses and shut mortality of businesses.
    In the telecoms sector, disruptive technologies manifest in the emergence of Over-the-Top (OTT) apps which allow users to access services such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), live video streaming. Other social media apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Viber, Skype, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and many more also play in the space.
    These OTT offer services over the networks, deliver value to customers but without any carrier service provider being involved in planning, selling, provisioning, or servicing them.
    Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Sunday Dare, said active subscribers figure witnessed decline because subscribers prefer to use these OTT platforms for making voice and video calls as well as send messages. This means that the traditional telcos cannot directly earn revenue from such services and they are literally now screaming, as they see their incomes continue to nosedive in the face of these disruptors.
    The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, captured the impact of OTT when he made a short presentation before members of the National Assembly .
    He had said: “MTN is committed to continue its efforts to provide the best data network to the people of Nigeria. In this regard, however, there are a number of factors that impact the sector’s sustainability such as: the depletion of operator revenues by unlicensed providers of “over-the-top” telecoms services who do not have any physical presence; nor pay any taxes; nor make any significant contribution to employment or other socio-economic objectives of government in Nigeria.”
    When South African leading carrier, Vodacom released its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2016, it showed sharp decline in short message service (SMS) volumes declined.
    SMS volumes peaked in September 2011, with 3.3 billion messages sent over a six-month period on Vodacom’s network.
    Since then, SMS volumes have shown a steady decline – which is mainly a result of the increased use of messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
    In Nigeria, the uptake of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger is fueled by the increased use of smartphones which is a product of affordability.
    The telcos have been aggressively growing their smartphone user base by making more affordable devices available in the market by partnering original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). They have been doing this in the hope of shoring up revenue lost to voice calls from data services. This however appears to be hurting the interests of the telcos.
    These users then take advantage of the benefits of mobile messaging services.

    ALTON reacts

    The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the industry body of all licensed telecoms operators and infrastructure providers, by the consumers, the regulator and the policy makers, has lamented the impact of OTT on the bottom line of carriers.
    Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, said OTT utilise traditional Mobile Network Operator (MNO) infrastructure to offer social networks, voice and instant messaging services to retain users’ loyalty and drive stickiness with a view creating large on-line communities and eventually attract huge advertisement revenues.
    The MNOs have neither rights nor control over the OTT services, as customers have the discretion to use the internet as they like.
    Increasing usage of OTT services by customers is adversely impacting on traditional telecoms platforms. According to Ovum, the independent analyst and consultancy: The growing adoption of OTT services by customers instead of traditional telecoms services will occasion global revenue loss of $386billion over a period of six years (2012 – 2018) for the traditional telecom operators, thus endangering network development.
    On the OTT services in Nigeria and the ‘Displacement Effect”, he said data shows that voice minutes have been declining due to impact of OTT; voice minutes has been declining while VoIP has been increasing; OTT Data flux has been increasing as shown with the 2016 data. telcos are losing money due to this trend.
    Adebayo said urgent action is required to save telcos further loss due to activities of OTT players who do not invest in infrastructure.
    According to him, telcos incur the costs while OTT players make the money. “Telcos invest a lot on network infrastructure in order to provide basic and innovative services to customers. Core voice and SMS revenues are decreasing continuously due to impact of OTT players who offer voice, video and messaging services free of charge to their users. Telecom operators will continue to invest a lot to make the networks support the data tsunami, with the required quality of service and numerous innovative services.
    “On the top of their infrastructures and customers, they will strive to keep with huge investments, the OTTs are offering contents & applications, using huge amount of telcos bandwidth, collecting revenues but paying nothing to the Telco operators and to the government.
    The increasing adoption of OTT applications by telecom subscribers negatively impact on incoming international traffic as well as SMS at huge cost to the telcos but revenue to OTT.
    OTT players also holds much customers’ personal data they can use for any desired purpose without risk of being sanctioned by the government while telcos are not permitted to use or disclose subscriber information to third party,” he said.
    Like Moolman, Adebayo lamented that OTT operators offer the same services as the operators (voice, SMS, content, and others), but are neither subject to licensing under the NCA nor have any contractual obligation with operators in terms of interconnection.
    The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof Garba Dambatta said the cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted to the country through the telecoms sector now stands at $68billion. He said the contribution of the sector to the GDP is about 10 per cent, adding that the Commission will continue to strive to increase and sustain these gains.
    ALTON said the industry is a catalyst for telecoms infrastructural development in the country, and also a major employer of labour having created over 30,000 direct job opportunities and over 500,000 indirect job opportunities.
    “Telcos have paid over N300billion to the coffers of the government in taxes and levies annually. The OTT players have no traceable address in the country, which makes little or no contribution to the nation’s direct economy either in employment generation, payment of taxes and others.
    “S.31(1) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA) states that no individual or corporate is authorized to provide telecommunications services in the country without obtaining a prior authorisation or exemption from the Commission.
    “OTT service providers are currently providing voice and instant messaging services throughout the country without satisfying this requirement.
    “This means that they are also not covered by obligations such as annual operating levies, emergency service provisioning, Do not disturb (DND) and other consumer-protection measures, taxation, subscriber registration/identification, lawful interception, mandatory consumer codes, and others,” he said.

    Way forward

    In accordance with international trends, we recommend “same service, same licensing” regime to avoid distortion in the digital landscape, ALTON said.
    ALTON supports models intended to engender revenue-share arrangements on advertisement-based OTT content. This co-operative model is being developed by operators and may necessitate special data bundles; we support innovative solutions by operators to minimise impact of disruptive platforms in the best interests of consumers and of industry sustainability.
    Security issues need to be addressed: because of Lawful Interception (LI) reasons – OTT players will not open up their services for LI, and that poses a huge security risk. There is need to consider regulation regarding LI compliance for OTT services. Sustainability issues also need attention.
    He argued that operators should reserve the right to charge for OTT calls based on criteria available to the operators, such as OTT calls terminating to offshore IP addresses; OTT calls based on call count or duration per call; possibly apply limits to call duration or call count for basic unregulated OTT calling, OTT calls based on time of day while OTT video (P2P) is subject to the above.
    He however said OTT video content streaming may not need to be regulated as carriers could decide to apply QoS parameters to the specific service, and manage QoS as applicable for their subscribers. Also operators can decide to prioritize or de-prioritize OTT traffic on their networks for economic and quality reasons.
    He urged the NCC to introduce data price floor to ensure that telcos price data profitably irrespective of activities carried out by data customers.
    “We recommend that OTT players enter into agreement with telcos for revenue share or payment of a kind of interconnect fee to telcos.
    “ALTON is committed to the continued growth and development of the Nigerian telecommunications industry and respectfully requests that in order to save the legacy telecoms operators, measures must be put in place which will avoid distortion in the digital space in order to ensure unimpeded development of telecommunications infrastructure in the country,” Adebayo said.

  • NITDA to sanction breach of local content policy

    Regulator of the information technology sector, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it is ready to implement local content policy in the sector as contained in the executive orders signed by the Federal Government.

    Its Director-General, Dr Ibrahim Pantami, who spoke on the sidelines of the StarUp Nigeria, a pitching event for tech startups in the country in Lagos, said pursuant to the implementation of the policy, he has met with all the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the country with a view to ascertaining capacity and quality required to meet huge population of the country.

    He said the startup forum which was organised by the Office of ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a department in NITDA, was to identify and promote innovative ideas by youths to develop the IT ecosystem and create job opportunities.

    He said implementation of the policy has been a problem in the past but said the executive orders of the presidency makes the implementation imperative. He added that a new approach is also being explored.

    Pantami said: “Implementation is a problem but it should not be for one person. We are doing our best as a federal government agency and we are urged to encourage or rather enforce local content or national content/indigenous content in ICT. The efforts we are putting place now is not like before. That is one. The effort now is to encouraging because we took it upon ourselves that we are going round MDAs, checking online, reviewing their budget, notifying them that whenever they intend to execute any project, local content must be patronized and those that we identify as defaulters, we write to notify them officially like we recently wrote a letter to the Bank of Industry (BoI) when it purchased some apps for m-power. We asked them to put on hold and we called their attention to that. We have also done that to many organisations and agencies.

    “Whenever our attention is drawn to that, we notify them.  They must put it on hold and if they fail to do that, the next action will be taken because that executive order is from the Presidency and it will reported back to the Presidency.”

  • MTN seeks greater space for girls in ICT

    Nigeria’s largest mobile operator, MTN has thrown its weight behind the global campaign by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to encourage more girls and young women to consider careers in the ICT industry recognising that they are critical to the sustainability of ICT in Nigeria.

    This commitment was made by the company’s General Manager in charge of Regulatory Affairs, Oyeronke Oyetunde, during the celebration of the ‘International Girls in ICT Day 2017’ organised by ‘eBusiness Life’ magazine.

    Commenting on the theme of this year’s campaign – ‘Expanding horizons, changing attitudes,’ Oyetunde said the empowerment of the female folk has taken on a new urgency especially with many countries now forecasting a shortage of skilled ICT professionals within the next ten years. “This is why it is even more vital that we attract young women into the technology space, which will not only empower them, but also serve as a springboard to overcome cultural and social barriers that may prevent them from accessing life-changing opportunities. We need to create these large scale opportunities if we are to sustain healthy growth rates for the overall benefit of the industry,” she concluded.

     

  • NCC: Corporate governance code ‘ll stop telcos mortality

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta, has lauded the new Code of Corporate Governance for the telecoms industry recently activated by the Commission. He assured that it would soon usher in a crop of fresh and visionary leaders in the industry.

    Fielding questions from newsmen at the side line of a workshop organised in Lagos to sensitise stakeholders on the new code, the NCC boss, however, noted that the commission was not being reactive to the recent happenings in the industry with the activation of the fresh regulation.

    The NCC, under his leadership, has introduced the mandatory code of corporate governance for the telecommunications industry, which was hitherto voluntary.

    “The corporate governance code had come before the recent happenings in the industry, meaning, we do not react to situations in the sector on ad hoc basis.  However, where we have to come in to stave off undesired developments in the sector we don’t hesitate to do so. But more than that we also put proactive steps in place in order to ensure that the sector remains stable and resilient,” he explained.

    Citing the example of the recent intervention of the commission to save 9Mobile from total collapse, Danbatta, said: “We intervened jointly with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), consistent with an item of our eight-point agenda, strategic collaboration and partnership.”

    He further stressed that with the activation of the new code, the NCC is trying to ensure an enduring corporate instructional structure in place, with a view to sustaining stability in telecoms sector.

    “We are in the process of trying to ensure we have transformational leadership in the telecoms sector; leaders that will introduce new ideas, new ways of work, with it-cannot- be-business-as-usual mentality, leadership that has vision and a compelling narrative about the future for all stakeholders in the industry. Unless and until we do this, we will not be able to sustain the contribution of the sector to GDP, which currently stands at about 9.8 per cent.

    “We are mindful of what we have to do to sustain this resilience as indicated by all the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), statistics which confirm the resilience and stability of the sector. That’s why we are taking these measures, measures that any regulator would proactively take to protect the industry,” he said.

  • Mobile ransomware threat increases

    Mobile ransomware threat increases

    The global nightmare of ransomware shows no sign of slowing down, with the volume of mobile ransomware rising over three-fold (3.5 times) during the first few months of the year, Kaspersky Lab’s Malware Report has shown.

    The number of mobile ransom-ware files detected reached 218,625 during the first quarter (Q1), compared to 61,832 in the previous quarter, with the Congur family accounting for more than 86 per cent.

    Ransomware targeting all devices, systems and networks also continued to grow, with 11 new cryptor families and 55,679 new modifications making their appearance in Q1.

    Congur ransomware is primarily a blocker – setting or resetting the device PIN (passcode) so this requires the attackers to have administrator rights on the device, and some variants of the malware take further advantage of these rights to install their module into the system folder from where it is almost impossible to remove.

    Despite the popularity of Congur, Trojan-Ransom. AndroidOS. Fusob.h remained the most widely used mobile ransomware, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of all users attacked by this threat during the quester. Once run, the Trojan requests administrator privileges, collects information about the device, including GPS coordinates and call history, and uploads the data to a malicious server. Based on what it receives, the server may send back a command to block the device.

    The United States (U.S) became the country hardest hit by mobile ransomware in Q1, with Svpeng ransomware the most widespread threat.

    In all, 55,679 new Windows ransomware modifications were detected during the quarter representing a near two-fold increase on Q4, 2016 (29,450). Most of these new modifications belonged to the Cerber family.

    “The mobile threat landscape for ransomware was far from calm in Q1. Ransomware targeting mobile devices soared, with new ransomware families and modifications continuing to proliferate. People need to bear in mind that attackers can – and increasingly will – try to block access to their data not only on a PC but also on their mobile device,” notes Roman Unuchek, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

    Kaspersky Lab solutions detected and repelled 479,528,279 malicious attacks from online resources located in 190 countries all over the world.

    No fewer than 79,209,775 unique URLs were recognised as malicious by web antivirus components.

    Attempted infections by malware that aims to steal money via online access to bank accounts were registered on 288,000 user computers.

    Crypto-ransomware attacks were blocked on 240,799 computers of unique users.

    Kaspersky Lab’s file antivirus detected a total of 174,989,956 unique malicious and potentially unwanted objects.

  • ‘No business can thrive without security’

    ‘No business can thrive without security’

    With boost in access to smartphones and 150 million active subscribers; internet connections of over 90million as well as teledensity of over 100 per cent, technology has redefined business in many ways. One of these areas is e-hailing, a process of ordering a car, taxi, limousine, or any other form of transportation pick-up via a computer or mobile device. While e stands for electronic, hail refers to the traditional process of signalling an approaching taxi-cab to stop. The Operations Manager, Taxify, Uche Okafor, says security is vital to e-hailing business. LUCAS AJANAKU met him

    nsecurity is a major threat to e-hailing technology services in cities. How best can operators address this menace?

    The sharing economy in its purest essence thrives on trust. With e-hailing, it is important for operators to continuously put security measures in place to improve reliability and encourage the culture of trust. Being an e-hailing app that connects riders to reliable rides, a top priority of ours is ensuring that everyone that uses our platform feels secure. We do this by ensuring that all our driver-partners are required to undergo a vehicle inspection, present a valid driver’s licence and undergo direct training that assesses emotional intelligence before they are deemed fit to drive on the platform.

    Additionally, trust-building features that reveal the driver-partners photo, name, vehicle type and registration as well as each driver’s star rating is available on the Taxify app such that riders know who their driver is before getting in the car and can instantly compare the driver-partner information on the app against what is standing in front of them. Also, both driver-partner and riders have multiple support channels on Taxify.

    Because digital media goes through the lifeblood of e-hailing, there is an additional feature in-app that gives riders the option to share their active trip status with friends and family, so everyone you permit can track your trip in real time. Anonymous feedback after every trip is also a security feature that allows you to rate the driver and leave comments on the quality of the ride experience.

    At present, we are rolling out Taxify Cover, a unique insurance initiative by Taxify Nigeria in partnership with AIICO Insurance Plc and facilitated by AutoGenius. The cover adds an extra layer of security by providing bespoke insurance to protect Taxify users on all Taxify trips. The Taxify Cover aims at insuring all drivers in the event of any incident that may occur while using the Taxify app. This cover also extends to riders on Taxify trips. In addition to all these, we are continuously working on developing new tech powered features to ensure safety of riders and driver-partners.

    With kidnappings and ritual killings on the rise, ride-sharing may never become a reality. Do you agree with this?

    One thing that is true is that Nigerians are naturally intuitive people, which means that as a country, we recognise a good deal when we see one. Ride-sharing is a simple way to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and increase the number of people moving around in each car. This means reduced traffic congestion, more affordable fares and decreased automobile emissions.

    If you look closely at the transportation space in Nigeria, you will find that ride-sharing is already fairly popular informally. It’s not strange to see, for example, independent car owners at bus stops picking up people going their way in exchange for a fee. Tech powered ride sharing solutions give better structure, quality control and security to the existing ride-sharing model operational in Nigeria.

    What are the survival chances of these e-hailing (or ride-hailing) apps in a society that is prone to unstable internet access?

    The e-hailing sector ban transportation in most cities around the world, meaning that there is still a lot of market potential. For Taxify, it is not so much about survival as it is about growth and becoming a strong alternative to public transportation and personal cars. We are seeing that smartphone penetration in Nigeria is on the rise, driven by the availability of cheaper smartphones and an increased appetite for mobile internet. The mobile network ecosystem as a whole is improving and consumers now have more options. Importantly, the Taxify app is built to require less data from our riders.

    Moving around in a city, such as Lagos, could be a nightmare. What has cab done to ease the transportation problems?

    Lagos is moving towards attaining the mega city status. It is such an exciting market given the evolving taxi ecosystem. Taxify believes that ride hailing has the potential to ease up a lot of transportation tension in Lagos. Lagosians want to move around their cities fast and comfortably without the added hassle of manually seeking out a ride. Also, we see that people are showing a preference for using Taxify to avoid spending time and money in traffic and on parking.

    Improved transportation has been linked to accelerated economic development, as one vehicle servicing the transportation needs of up to 50 residents would lead to reduced traffic bottlenecks and a saner city.

     

    There is an increased competition in a city, such as Lagos with over 20 million people, what are your strategies?

    The city of Lagos holds massive potential given the size of the population and that over a million rides happen on a daily basis. Ultimately, we aim to change the way that people move within the city, create jobs and transform the transportation ecosystem. Competition is good and we believe there is room for several players in the ride-sharing economy. We believe that Taxify can effectively contribute to healthy competition by improving the quality of service, motivating driver-partners and offering affordable prices to Lagosians.

    Our belief is that happier drivers translate to happier customers and as such we treat our driver-partners better so that they can in turn offer high quality service to customers. Our commission is 15 per cent (compared to competitions 20-25 per cent), so Taxify’s driver-partners earn significantly more than with other competitors.

     How are you managing the downsides from the execution of your strategies to become the dominant operator in the country?

    Our underlying strategy is to treat driver-partners better so that they can offer high quality service to customers. We take a lower commission which means more money in the driver-partners pockets. We do all this while still delivering affordable and quality ride experiences to our riders. Lagosians understand this ecosystem and appreciate it.

    Ultimately, we cannot rule out the risk of lower priced alternatives penetrating the market but what has separated us and would continue to separate us is that on our platform, riders benefit and drivers benefit. We are opening up more jobs and empowering more people in Lagos and riders are getting better value for their naira.

     Don’t you think the trend of Taxify drivers equally offering services to rival operators, vice versa, could be detrimental in future?

    A key selling point for e-hailing in the eyes of driver-partners is that they become entrepreneurs almost instantly. Driver-partners are their own bosses and can choose to operate on as many e-hailing platforms as they want.

    What we have noticed, however, is that a lot of driver-partners show strong preference for driving and earning on the Taxify platform as their earning potential is significantly higher with Taxify, given that we take a lower commission and are always giving back to our driver-partners in the form of bonuses.  The earning potential, flexibility and choice that Taxify offers is also very appealing to part-time driver partners who choose Taxify as a great source of extra-income as they know that even if they have as little as a spare hour, they can just go online and offer a few trips.

    We have an open-door policy for our driver-partners – we encourage them to give us open feedback about and share their ideas on how we can improve. Drivers are listened to and their feedback is acted upon.They enjoy driving with Taxify, which in turn results in better quality service for the riders.

    Charges by Taxify are relatively higher when compared to that of its biggest competitor. Why is this so?

    This is because of the -40 per cent campaign competition it is running. Taxify entered the market to increase democratisation in the e-hailing space, we have always been the e-hailing app that offers better value for money.

    What is interesting is that the last few months that competition has run this campaign have shown that lower fares do not automatically equal better ride experiences. Although more riders may make initial requests on competing platforms, fewer drivers are available as the drivers do not believe the fares on competing platforms factor in the economic conditions and rising cost of vehicle maintenance.

    Taxify has the shortest ETAs of any e-hailing app in Nigeria, meaning that riders do not have to wait long periods for their rides to arrive or make cancellations because drivers are refusing to show up, ultimately resulting in great experiences for both our riders and drivers.

    Drivers on Taxify are happy going online to deliver safe, convenient and affordable rides as they believe they are getting their efforts worth on our platform. Riders also enjoy affordable and reliable rides on Taxify. It’s a win, win situation.

  • Huawei urges Fed Govt to unlock digital potential

    Chinese Technology giant, Huawei Technology Ltd, has said the time has come for Nigeria to unlock the dividends of digital economy to enable it face the challenges of dwindling oil revenue, infrastructural deficit and massive unemployment.

    Its Managing Director, Mr Tank Li, who threw the challenge, said Nigeria has all its takes to be counted amongst the world’s 20 strongest economies in the next 10 years.

    He spoke during a presentation at a forum organised by the Federal Ministry of Communications  with other key stakeholders in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

    “The Nigerian government has realised the potential of its digital economy. Unlocking the dividends of digital economy becomes imperative in the face of dwindling oil revenue with increasingly pressure on the economy evident in budget deficits, infrastructural deficit, high unemployment rate, harsh business environment and corruption amongst others,” he said, adding that the Federal Government is about to launch the smart Nigeria digital economy project that aims to solve efficiency problems and create leapfrogging opportunities in the economy for the next 10 years.

    Quoting the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah who said the financial services within the country’s digital economy would add $88 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) and create more than three million jobs within the next 10 years, Li said Huawei would be in the vanguard of support for Nigeria to nurse such ambition into fruition within the period.

    He said: “The potential gains of the digital economy will manifest in digital accounts, payments, mobile money, health and educational services along with other sectors of the economy.

    “Huawei is committed to building the technological infrastructure that will harmonise devices, pipe, and the cloud. These will serve as the backbone of a digital economy. As such, devices, pipe, and cloud technology are the strategic focus of Huawei’s investment in the future

    “As a global leading ICT solution provider, Huawei’s products and solutions have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world’s population.”

    He recalled that in 1999, Huawei entered Nigeria and over the last 17 years of development and growth, it has become a big family with over 1,200 workers of which 70 per cent are locals.

    “Huawei is a leading global ICT solutions provider. We advocate customer-centricity, dedication, and continuous innovation based on customer needs. This approach has earned us the respect and trust of our customers, and led to Huawei’s robust growth.

    “Starting out as a Shenzhen-based private company, Huawei has grown into a Fortune 500 company with annual sales of over $75 billion. It is worthy of note that Huawei now ranks 83rd on the Global Fortune 500 list.

    “Our telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in more than 170 countries and regions. Among our  170,000 employees globally, around 80,000 are engaged in Research & Development (R&D).

    “To better present the results of our R&D investment in Nigeria, we spent over $6 million and established the Innovation and Experience Centre. It is built on 500 square meters, including the data centre on the ground floor, to serve Nigerian customers.

    “This is positioned to provide an experience where people can witness global best practice, a center for idea exchange with business solution innovation and also a platform to develop win-win ICT eco-system,” he added.

  • NIDA seeks strategies on smart cities

    The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Isa Pantami, has stressed the need for Nigeria to restartegise on the implementation of smart cities in the country.

    Speaking in Abuja as a panel chair at the ongoing Smart Cities Nigeria 2017 that has: Leveraging on technology solutions to emprove the efficiency of cities as its theme, he said the government should collaborate with stakeholders as it work to realise the dream.

    He said: “Working towards realising smart cities is a must for the government in collaboration with stakeholders. However, as a developing country, with our peculiarity as a country, there is a need for us to rethink about smart cities implementation.”

    According to him, there is need to explore smart technologies and infrastructure, communication technologies, platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) applications required for achieving smart cities.

    “We need to know smart city fundamental infrastructure and networks requirement; safety and security issues; application of urban technologies like Geographic Information Systems (GIS), IoT, cloud computing and big data analytics and others. Also, (there is need to explore) how intelligent transport solutions can help solve transportation challenges in our cities especially traffic monitoring and efficient logistics and how these systems can be integrated seamlessly to create social and economic value.

    “We need to be conscious of climate change. There is need to build a sustainable business model, our own architecture for smart initiatives and ensure the right infrastructure are available. Infrastructure, such as broadband, 5G, electricity, smart devices and agents, smart urban spaces, web-based applications, mobile technologies and e-services as well as open government data issues are crucial to achieving sustainable smart cities.

    “We are, however, working diligently and partnering strategically with relevant stakeholders in the country and international development partners to ensure fundamental infrastructure is available to realise the promises of the ICT. We are also rolling out a regulatory framework for IoT-enabled applications to provide a standardised framework for smart initiatives in government to ensure data generated through smart applications are protected and centrally available for the creation of social and economic value. We would support this with the right PPP regulatory framework and guidelines to create a friendly investment environment for smart initiatives,’’ he said, adding that as a country, there is need for innovation about and ensure sustainability smart cities implementation.

    He said he had inaugurated two committees to fast-track the implementation of the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to ensure data/information exchange within and outside the country is secured so that the country could earn the trust and confidence of people and the international community in using Nigerian cyberspace and e-services generated through smart cities.

  • ISPs critical to attainment of NBP, says NCC

    ISPs critical to attainment of NBP, says NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have significant roles to play in the achievement of the Federal Government’s  plans for National Broadband. Its Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Sunday Dare,  spoke at a stakeholders’ forum on ISPs in Lagos. He said the dwindling fortunes of the subsector remained unacceptable to the Commission.

    According to the NCC, 90 per cent of licencees in that subsector have gone into extinction while there are no fresh applicants to play in the subsector either.

    “We strongly believe that ISPs have critical roles to play in the attainment of national broadband growth objectives and must therefore not be left to die out.

    “As we all know, the larger telecoms industry (of which the ISPs are integral part) is beset with numerous challenges. Issues with power, accessibility to foreign exchange, multiple taxation/regulation, infrastructure, vandalisation as well as high cost and long delays in obtaining rights of way (RoW) and permits not only degrade the quality of services provided by our licencees, they also negatively affect the attainment of critical national objectives on the speedy roll-out of broadband networks to power socio-economic growth and the enhancement of our industry’s contribution to national GDP.

    “To overcome these challenges, the commission has been very actively engaging with stakeholders and reaching sustainable resolutions for the overall benefit of all Nigerians.For instance, we recently successfully engaged the CBN to secure priority access to foreign exchange for operators. We are also working closely with all relevant stakeholders to harmonise RoW approval frameworks as well as achieving greater uniformity in infrastructure authorisations and permit regimes across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

    The commission is nonetheless keenly aware that different sectors of our industry are differently impacted by the issues mentioned above. We are aware for instance, the viability of ISPs is particularly challenged by factors such as the availability of cheap/ubiquitous mobile internet access, bandwidth costs, vertical integration of mobile network operators as well as growing uptake of leased line services by corporates among others. Also noteworthy is the question of availability/effectiveness of local internet exchange points,” Dare said.

    To underscore the importance the Commission placed on internet access, he said the first item of the Commission’s eight point agenda is facilitation of broadband penetration through the provision and optimisation of access to and the use of affordable fixed and mobile broadband in Nigeria.

    He said some of the actions the Commission have taken in this direction include the licensing of five Infracos to deploy broadband infrastructure to the rest of the country following the successful licensing of Lagos and Northcentral zones, aggressive pursuit of broadband penetration first in the major cities across Nigeria and subsequently, in underserved and unserved areas and making internet access more affordable through cost-based intervention. “We are currently conducting a cost study on retail data tariffs following the determination of price bands for wholesale/leased line services in consultation with the industry,” Dare said.

  • ‘No business can thrive without security’

    ‘No business can thrive without security’

    With boost in access to smartphones and 150million active subscribers; internet connections of over 90million as well as teledensity of over 100 per cent, technology has redefined business transaction. One of these areas is e-hailing, a process of ordering a car, taxi, limousine, or any other form of transportation pick up via a computer or mobile device. While e stands for electronic, hail refers to the traditional process of signaling an approaching taxicab to stop. The Operations Manager, Taxify, Uche Okafor, says security is vital to e-hailing business. LUCAS AJANAKU met him

    Insecurity is a major threat to e-hailing technology services in cities. How best can operators address this menace?

    The sharing economy in its purest essence thrives on trust. With e-hailing, it is important for operators to continuously put security measures in place to improve reliability and encourage the culture of trust. Being an e-hailing app that connects riders to reliable rides, a top priority of ours is ensuring that everyone that uses our platform feels secure. We do this by ensuring that all our driver-partners are required to undergo a vehicle inspection, present a valid driver’s licence and undergo direct training that assesses emotional intelligence before they are deemed fit to drive on the platform.

    Additionally, trust-building features that reveal the driver-partners photo, name, vehicle type and registration as well as each driver’s star rating is available on the Taxify app such that riders know who their driver is before getting in the car and can instantly compare the driver-partner information on the app against what is standing in front of them. Also, both driver-partner and riders have multiple support channels on Taxify.

    Because digital media goes through the lifeblood of e-hailing, there is an additional feature in-app that gives riders the option to share their active trip status with friends and family, so everyone you permit can track your trip in real time. Anonymous feedback after every trip is also a security feature that allows you to rate the driver and leave comments on the quality of the ride experience.

    Presently, we are rolling out Taxify Cover, a unique insurance initiative by Taxify Nigeria in partnership with AIICO Insurance Plc and facilitated by AutoGenius. The cover adds an extra layer of security by providing bespoke insurance to protect Taxify users on all Taxify trips. The Taxify Cover aims at insuring all drivers in the event of any incident that may occur while using the Taxify app. This cover also extends to riders on Taxify trips. In addition to all these, we are continuously working on developing new tech powered features to ensure safety of riders and driver-partners.

    With kidnappings and ritual killings on the rise, ride-sharing may never become a reality. Do you agree with this?

    One thing that is true is that Nigerians are naturally intuitive people, which means that as a country, we recognise a good deal when we see one. Ride-sharing is a simple way to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and increase the number of people moving around in each car. This means reduced traffic congestion, more affordable fares and decreased automobile emissions.

    If you look closely at the transportation space in Nigeria, you will find that ride-sharing is already fairly popular informally. It’s not strange to see, for example, independent car owners at bus stops picking up people going their way in exchange for a fee. Tech powered ride sharing solutions give better structure, quality control and security to the existing ride-sharing model operational in Nigeria.

    What are the survival chances of these e-hailing (or ride-hailing) apps in a society that is prone to unstable internet access?

    The e-hailing sector currently makes up about two per cent of urban transportation in most cities around the world, meaning that there is still a lot of market potential. For Taxify, it is not so much about survival as it is about growth and becoming a strong alternative to public transportation and personal cars. We are seeing that smartphone penetration in Nigeria is on the rise, driven by the availability of cheaper smartphones and an increased appetite for mobile internet. The mobile network ecosystem as a whole is improving and consumers now have more options. Importantly, the Taxify app is built to require less data from our riders.

    Moving around in a city such as Lagos could be a nightmare, what has cab done to ease the transportation problems?

    Lagos is moving towards attaining the mega city status. It is such an exciting market given the evolving taxi ecosystem. Taxify believes that ride hailing has the potential to ease up a lot of transportation tension in Lagos. Lagosians want to move around their cities fast and comfortably without the added hassle of manually seeking out a ride. Also, we see that people are showing a preference for using Taxify to avoid spending time and money in traffic and on parking.

    Improved transportation has been linked to accelerated economic development, as one vehicle servicing the transportation needs of up to 50 residents would lead to reduced traffic bottlenecks and a saner city.

     

    There is an increased competition in a city such as Lagos with over 20 million people, what are your strategies?

    The city of Lagos holds massive potential given the size of the population and that over a million rides happen on a daily basis. Ultimately, we aim to change the way that people move within the city, create jobs and transform the transportation ecosystem. Competition is good and we believe there is room for several players in the ride-sharing economy. We believe that Taxify can effectively contribute to healthy competition by improving the quality of service, motivating driver-partners and offering affordable prices to Lagosians.

    Our belief is that happier drivers translate to happier customers and as such we treat our driver-partners better so that they can in turn offer high quality service to customers. Our commission is 15 per cent (compared to competitions 20-25 per cent), so Taxify’s driver-partners earn significantly more than with other competitors.

     How are you managing the downsides from the execution of your strategies to become the dominant operator in the country?

    Our underlying strategy is to treat driver-partners better so that they can offer high quality service to customers. We take a lower commission which means more money in the driver-partners pockets. We do all this while still delivering affordable and quality ride experiences to our riders. Lagosians understand this ecosystem and appreciate it.

    Ultimately, we cannot rule out the risk of lower priced alternatives penetrating the market but what has separated us and would continue to separate us is that on our platform, riders benefit and drivers benefit. We are opening up more jobs and empowering more people in Lagos and riders are getting better value for their naira.

     Don’t you think the trend of Taxify drivers equally offering services to rival operators, vice versa, could be detrimental in future?

    A key selling point for e-hailing in the eyes of driver-partners is that they become entrepreneurs almost instantly. Driver-partners are their own bosses and can choose to operate on as many e-hailing platforms as they want.

    What we have noticed, however, is that a lot of driver-partners show strong preference for driving and earning on the Taxify platform as their earning potential is significantly higher with Taxify, given that we take a lower commission and are always giving back to our driver-partners in the form of bonuses.  The earning potential, flexibility and choice that Taxify offers is also very appealing to part-time driver partners who choose Taxify as a great source of extra-income as they know that even if they have as little as a spare hour, they can just go online and offer a few trips.

    We have an open-door policy for our driver-partners – we encourage them to give us open feedback about and share their ideas on how we can improve. Drivers are listened to and their feedback is acted upon. They enjoy driving with Taxify, which in turn results in better quality service for the riders.

    Charges by Taxify are relatively higher when compared to that of its biggest competitor. Why is this so?

    This is because of the -40 per cent campaign competition it is currently running. Taxify entered the Nigerian market to increase democratisation in the e-hailing space, we have always been the e-hailing app that offers better value for money.

    What is interesting is that the last few months that competition has run this campaign have shown that lower fares do not automatically equal better ride experiences. Although more riders may make initial requests on competing platforms, fewer drivers are available as the drivers do not believe the fares on competing platforms factor in the current economic conditions and rising cost of vehicle maintenance.

    Taxify now has the shortest ETAs of any e-hailing app in Nigeria, meaning that riders do not have to wait long periods for their rides to arrive or make cancellations because drivers are refusing to show up, ultimately resulting in great experiences for both our riders and drivers.

    Drivers on Taxify are happy going online to deliver safe, convenient and affordable rides as they believe they are getting their efforts worth on our platform. Riders also enjoy affordable and reliable rides on Taxify. It’s a win, win situation.