The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Rlg plans enterprise kioks’ expansion

    Pan African mobile phone assembly firm, Rlg Communications, is planning to expand its enterprise kiosks  to empower more youths.

    The  kioks are solar powered,  and are designed to assist young entrepreneurs trained by the firm to sell and offer after sales services to customers.

    Its Country Director, Nigeria, Ilesanmi Tosin, who spoke on the sideline at the Adulawo Technology City, Ilesa, Osun State, explained that at the kioks the trainees would repair  mobile phones in their area.

    According to him, the repairs are  not limited to Rlg Communications products alone, also to those of other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

    He said: “The enterprise kiosk is an empowerment scheme because the youth will own the kiok and repair mobile phones of other OEMs. Because of our peculiar power challenge, the kioks are fitted with solar power so that electricity will not be a barrier to the work of the beneficiaries as they are expected to work in the remotest part of the country.

    “The kioks will be given based on the expression of interest by the intending youths. It is going to be given out as a facility with a repayment plan clearly worked out through a micro-finance institution.”

    According to Ilesanmi,  the assembly plant in Ilesa is the biggest on the stable of the firm, adding that it worth $10million.

    He said it would be improper for everybody to bemoan the electricity challenge in the country without taking action, arguing that power deficit is not a wholly Nigerian problem, but that of the sub-Saharan African.

    He added that it is only the black man that could brave the odds and rewrite the history of the continent from that of misery to that of promises and hopes.

  • How users abuse digital data exchange

    Aside breaking the barriers in voice communication, data is another frontier being explored by operators to shore up dwindling revenue as average revenue per user (ARPU) dips. LUCAS AJANAKU reports that unguarded exchange of intimate digital content is wreaking havoc on homes.

    MR Hughes (not real name) got married about two years ago. About 45 years old, he married a 28-year-old graduate of the College of Education, Ikere, Ekiti State. The wedding, which took place in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was colourful.

    Wedding over, the wife joined her husband in Lagos. Wedding pictures were lavishly posted on the internet. The pictures were shared among friends on virtually all the available social media platforms.

    Before the wedding, each of them had willingly shared their personal data on one social media platform or the other. So, when the wedding pictures came flying, it was easy to identify who was married to whom.

    Life appeared beautiful until the serenity of the marriage was shaken by a flurry of anonymous calls, text messages, threatening posts on social media platforms and sometimes, voice calls. All these were emanating from the man’s ex-girlfriends.

    “I am tired of these calls. Unknown persons decided to open a new Facebook account where they hurled abuses at me. Sometimes, callers would hide their numbers and call me at very odd hours of the night and tell me my husband jilted them and promise to ensure that I know no peace,” the woman lamented.

    She said her major worry was that her husband gives away information about her to the callers. She has forgotten that at the point of signing on to any of the social media platforms, she had ignorantly parted with her personal details, such as mobile phone numbers and residential address.

    If the woman was troubled, Mr Hughes was not. He confessed to his pastor that he also receives such anonymous calls but absolved the wife of any wrongdoing.

    “The pastor settled the matter through counselling. He advised that if we could not change our phone numbers, we should be weary of answering calls from unknown persons. On our accounts on social media platforms, he advised that we remove our pictures if we could and stay away from the maddening crowd surrounding social media platforms,” he said.

    Mr Hughes is not a lone victim of unguarded data exposures. There are several victims courtesy of the development of science and technology. Many homes have been broken while age-long family ties ruptured through the click of a button.

    According to a new study by security software giants, McAfee, almost 50 per cent of adults exchange intimate digital content with their partners–but few  take the necessary precautions while doing so.

    The study, titled 2014 Love, Relationships and Technology, examined over 1,500 customers and how they share and store intimate data on mobile devices, with current or former ‘significant others’.

    According to McAfee, almost half of all smartphone users surveyed had sent or recieved intimate photos or text messages using unsecured digital devices, increasing the risk of having private lives blown up on the internet.

    According to a wholly tech online platform, MyBroadband Newsletter, McAfee’s study highlighted how sharing personal content such as suggestive texts, nude photos, suggestive video and passcodes on devices could potentially lead to cyber-stalking and while risking exposure of private content leaking online.

    The report discovered that while 69 per cent of smartphone users were securing their devices with a password or passcode, more than 64 per cent of adults were sharing these details with other people.

    It noted that in addition to sharing passwords, 50 per cent of the individuals examined in the study share mobile phone content and 48 per cent share email accounts.

    On the study, Vice President MacAfee Consumer Business, Gary Davis, was quoted as having said: “With all the stories we’ve heard about intimate photos being leaked, it’s hard to believe people are still sharing their passwords.

    “Ultimately, they’re increasing the risks of these photos becoming public and possibly jeopardising their identity and reputation.”

     Highlights

    It was discovered that 61 per cent of men are more likely to use their mobile devices to send and receive intimate contents as against 48 per cent of women while 45 per cent of adults involved in the study said they stored intimate contents that they have received, in comparison to 40 per cent who store suggestive photos, videos or messages they have sent.

    According to the report, of those who have sent intimate, 77 per cent have sent this content to their ‘significant other’, while 10 per cent of individuals in the study noted that they had sent similar content to people they have never met before.

    In the survey involving adults, 96 per cent of them confessed that they trust their ‘significant other’s’ intimate content or otherwise private information they have sent, and only 32 per cent have asked their partner to delete the information when ending the relationship.

    Balancing Act reported that 25 per cent of respondents indicated that they have taken their partner’s mobile device to see other content stored on it, including messages and photos.

    According to McAfee Security Expert, Robert Siciliano, people who choose to engage in the sharing of such content should take precautions “before something adverse happens that will expose you in ways you never wanted”.

     Need for caution

    MacAfee counsels players in the digital village not share passwords with anyone, irrespective of the intimacy of the relationship. It warned that should there be any reason to share password with anyone, a new one should be created and should be changed immediately after it had been used if there is any suspicion of its being interfered with.

     Create PIN for your devices

    Create a personal identification number (PIN) or passcode on your smartphone and other mobile devices. This will prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access to your data should your devices be lost or stolen. In the event your device gets lost or stolen, what the boys in Computer Village, Ikeja would do would be to ‘flash’ the device. All the data will get lost in the process and nobody will be able to publish your personal data online.

     Place your fingers always on your delete button

    Endeavour to delete personal or intimate messages as soon as they have been sent. Unauthorised persons may get access to your device and use such information against you. It could also save your relationship from crumbling. The reputation you have built over the years should also be prevented from being damaged just through the dial of a button.

     Once shared, it’s public knowledge

    You must bear in mind that before you press the send button, post, tweet, chat or do other things online,  that once a  private information is shared, especially online, it  immediately gets out of your control and go viral. Therefore, the protection of your personal information is your responsibility.

    Director, Public Affairs, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Tony Ojobo, said the internet is not regulated and may never be regulated. He advised people to be careful what they share online because some people are waiting in the wings to use such personal data.

  • Anti-competitive practices killing small operators, says group

    Anti-competitive practices in the telecoms sector are one of the reason for the near-extinction of small players in the industry, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) has said.

    It said the biggest players in the information communication technology (ICT) space today started small, some in their garages.

    For instance, the membership of internet service providers (ISPs), which was more than 92 in 1997, has whittled down to less than 30 because of government policies that encourage anti-competitive practices to flourish.

    Speaking on the sideline at a forum in Lagos, President of NIG Bayo Banjo lamented that the policies over the years have ensured that small operators do not thrive.

    He said the absence of control of premeditated anti-competitive practices by regulators was detrimental because when small operators are allowed to thrive, they will create jobs and grow the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He called on the government to provide a level playing field so that small players could grow.

    President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), Lanre Ajayi, said government policies are usually well-intentioned but ar,e most of the times, injurious to the survival of small indigenous players.

    Ajayi, who spoke at a Telecom Summit in Lagos, warned the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to first carry out the economic impact assessment test of its open access broadband policy, which it hopes will accelerate broadband penetration in the country before its launch.

    The open access broadband policy of the NCC hopes to license seven infrastructure service providers (Infracos). The six geopolitical zones of the country will have one Infraco while one will serve Lagos.

    The policy has roundly been criticised because, Sweden, which is its model, is not as acquisitive and permissive as Nigeria. It has also been criticised because it will put billions of tax payers’ money within the reach of political jobbers and briefcase investors.

  • NCC to sanction frequency jammers

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned individuals and organisations  that install frequency jammers which disrupt the free flow of communication traffic on their premises to remove them or be sanctioned.

    Its Director, Spectrum Administration, Dr Nwaulume Augustine, said the regulator monitors jammers, adding that when such is discovered, the regulator would demobilise the jammers.

    He said frequenc+y jammers are equipment that harbours no data.

    He said: “Frequency jammers are like white noise that you generate to disrupt the actual radio communication.

    “They are done deliberately so that you will not be able to initiate or receive calls. That is the intention.”

    On the country’s campaign to meet the broadband target, he said a committee had been set up to harmonise the handover of the spectrum that would partly facilitate the achievement from the goals. The frequencies are still in the custody of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

    The spectrum is called 2.6 gigahertz (GHz) and it ranges from 2.5GHz to 2.69Ghz. Before now, it was used by the NBC operators who are licensed to do Muti-channel Multi-point Distribution ++System (MDDS).

    MDDS is defined as a wireless system consists that of head-end equipment (equipment for satellite signal reception, radio transmitter, other broadcast equipment, and transmission antenna) and reception equipment at each subscriber location (antenna, frequency conversion device, and set-top device). MMDS transmits on Super High Frequency (SHF) microwave frequencies and can be encoded for pay-for-view and subscriber services, all from studio facility.

    He said: “That committee is still working. I don’t know if it is possible for the licence to be auctioned this year based on the fact that not so much progress has been made with regard to getting it freed from those users.

    “But I am very sure that by the first or second quarter of next year, something would have happened because it is very important.  It is very vital to wireless broadband.” He spoke on the sideline at a capacity training forum for journalists in Lagos.

  • How users abuse digital data exchange

    Aside breaking the barriers in voice communication, data is another frontier being explored by operators to shore up dwindling revenue as average revenue per user (ARPU) dips. LUCAS AJANAKU reports that unguarded exchange of intimate digital content is wreaking havoc on homes.

    MR Hughes (not real name) got married about two years ago. About 45 years old, he married a 28-year-old graduate of the College of Education, Ikere, Ekiti State. The wedding, which took place in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was colourful.

    Wedding over, the wife joined her husband in Lagos. Wedding pictures were lavishly posted on the internet. The pictures were shared among friends on virtually all the available social media platforms.

    Before the wedding, each of them had willingly shared their personal data on one social media platform or the other. So, when the wedding pictures came flying, it was easy to identify who was married to whom.

    Life appeared beautiful until the serenity of the marriage was shaken by a flurry of anonymous calls, text messages, threatening posts on social media platforms and sometimes, voice calls. All these were emanating from the man’s ex-girlfriends.

    “I am tired of these calls. Unknown persons decided to open a new Facebook account where they hurled abuses at me. Sometimes, callers would hide their numbers and call me at very odd hours of the night and tell me my husband jilted them and promise to ensure that I know no peace,” the woman lamented.

    She said her major worry was that her husband gives away information about her to the callers. She has forgotten that at the point of signing on to any of the social media platforms, she had ignorantly parted with her personal details, such as mobile phone numbers and residential address.

    If the woman was troubled, Mr Hughes was not. He confessed to his pastor that he also receives such anonymous calls but absolved the wife of any wrongdoing.

    “The pastor settled the matter through counselling. He advised that if we could not change our phone numbers, we should be weary of answering calls from unknown persons. On our accounts on social media platforms, he advised that we remove our pictures if we could and stay away from the maddening crowd surrounding social media platforms,” he said.

    Mr Hughes is not a lone victim of unguarded data exposures. There are several victims courtesy of the development of science and technology. Many homes have been broken while age-long family ties ruptured through the click of a button.

    According to a new study by security software giants, McAfee, almost 50 per cent of adults exchange intimate digital content with their partners–but few take the necessary precautions while doing so.

    The study, titled 2014 Love, Relationships and Technology, examined over 1,500 customers and how they share and store intimate data on mobile devices, with current or former ‘significant others’.

    According to McAfee, almost half of all smartphone users surveyed had sent or recieved intimate photos or text messages using unsecured digital devices, increasing the risk of having private lives blown up on the internet.

    According to a wholly tech online platform, MyBroadband Newsletter, McAfee’s study highlighted how sharing personal content such as suggestive texts, nude photos, suggestive video and passcodes on devices could potentially lead to cyber-stalking and while risking exposure of private content leaking online.

    The report discovered that while 69 per cent of smartphone users were securing their devices with a password or passcode, more than 64 per cent of adults were sharing these details with other people.

    It noted that in addition to sharing passwords, 50 per cent of the individuals examined in the study share mobile phone content and 48 per cent share email accounts.

    On the study, Vice President MacAfee Consumer Business, Gary Davis, was quoted as having said: “With all the stories we’ve heard about intimate photos being leaked, it’s hard to believe people are still sharing their passwords.

    “Ultimately, they’re increasing the risks of these photos becoming public and possibly jeopardising their identity and reputation.”

    Highlights

    It was discovered that 61 per cent of men are more likely to use their mobile devices to send and receive intimate contents as against 48 per cent of women while 45 per cent of adults involved in the study said they stored intimate contents that they have received, in comparison to 40 per cent who store suggestive photos, videos or messages they have sent.

    According to the report, of those who have sent intimate, 77 per cent have sent this content to their ‘significant other’, while 10 per cent of individuals in the study noted that they had sent similar content to people they have never met before.

    In the survey involving adults, 96 per cent of them confessed that they trust their ‘significant other’s’ intimate content or otherwise private information they have sent, and only 32 per cent have asked their partner to delete the information when ending the relationship.

    Balancing Act reported that 25 per cent of respondents indicated that they have taken their partner’s mobile device to see other content stored on it, including messages and photos.

    According to McAfee Security Expert, Robert Siciliano, people who choose to engage in the sharing of such content should take precautions “before something adverse happens that will expose you in ways you never wanted”.

    Need for caution

    MacAfee counsels players in the digital village not share passwords with anyone, irrespective of the intimacy of the relationship. It warned that should there be any reason to share password with anyone, a new one should be created and should be changed immediately after it had been used if there is any suspicion of its being interfered with.

     Create PIN for your devices

    Create a personal identification number (PIN) or passcode on your smartphone and other mobile devices. This will prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access to your data should your devices be lost or stolen. In the event your device gets lost or stolen, what the boys in Computer Village, Ikeja would do would be to ‘flash’ the device. All the data will get lost in the process and nobody will be able to publish your personal data online.

    Place your fingers always on your delete button

    Endeavour to delete personal or intimate messages as soon as they have been sent. Unauthorised persons may get access to your device and use such information against you. It could also save your relationship from crumbling. The reputation you have built over the years should also be prevented from being damaged just through the dial of a button.

    Once shared, it’s public knowledge

    You must bear in mind that before you press the send button, post, tweet, chat or do other things online, that once a private information is shared, especially online, it immediately gets out of your control and go viral. Therefore, the protection of your personal information is your responsibility.

    Director, Public Affairs, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Tony Ojobo, said the internet is not regulated and may never be regulated. He advised people to be careful what they share online because some people are waiting in the wings to use such personal data.

  • NCS urges Fed Govt to revisit Orosanye’s report

    Dissatisfied with the Federal Government’s white Paper on the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) has urged the government to review the report in the interest of the industry.

    Its President, Prof David Adewumi, who spoke on the telephone with The Nation, said convergence had become the vogue all over the world, adding that firms are adopting convergence.

    According to the president, all over the world, technologies are converging arguing that if that has become the practice, it is worrisome why regulators, especially those with overlapping functions, would be allowed to continue to function at cross-purposes.

    He said: ”We, in the NCS belief in what is happening in the global stage. Therefore, we are totally in support of Oronsanye’s report. We are in total alignment with the recommendations as it concerns the ICT sector. It is in the best interest of the industry.

    “We urge the Federal Government to take a second look at the recommendation. It should not be thrown out completely because it is in the best interest of our industry.”

    He said if the agencies were merged, it would not only save cost, it would also save the long process of decision making and sometimes, the in-fighting between agencies of the government.

    “Convergence in the industry will save the government the huge cost on overhead and other expenses incurred by employees of the various agencies with overlapping and conflicting functions.

    “The industry will profit from convergence. There will be quality inputs into decision making as stakeholders will contribute their quota to debates about policy implementation. It is going to be a win-win situation for the industry and we all will be better for it,” the don explained.

    He added that convergence would also ease the process of decision making in the sector as the long list of approvals that have to be obtained before decisions are taken will be reduced.

  • NATCOMS blames telcos for poor customer care

    The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) has blamed telecoms service providers for their failure to put an efficient customer complaint management structure in place.

    Its National President, Deolu Ognbanjo, said while subscribers’ numbers have grown tremendously, the sophistication in managing customers’ complaints arising from poor service quality continue to be an issue.

    According to him, each time customers call the customer care lines of the operators, the customers are compelled to listen to the advertisement of the various products bouquet available on their stable after which an answering machine will start another round of unsolicited musical entertainment.

    He said this practice is not acceptable as it appears to be a deliberate attempt to waste the time of the customers.

    He said: “Customer care lines are there but will only attend to more than between five and10 per cent of customers who actually have pressing issues and concern. All the operators are guilty of this. I think it is a deliberate on their part to continue to frustrate their customers.

    “Out of every 100, to continue to frustrate between 90-95 per cent of subscribers who wants to complain against their operations. But Nigerians must also demand a process and that is what we want to do.

    “It takes too long for customers to get redress if they ever do. A lot of them drop the idea of getting justice along the way because they feel the efforts they are putting into it is not worth the while.”

    According to him, the operators do not have the right to keep their customers waiting endlessly to get their challenge fixed, adding that the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) must take step in this direction.

    “There has to be a consumer management complaint process and procedure/resolution. We are saying there has to be a time limit or else a process where there is an NCC desk or an NCC mini consumer court or a telecoms consumer court to quickly manage this.

    “If for instance, you see a bad product, you quickly take it to the manufacturer and it is addressed with dispatch. In telecoms, what happens? They just keep wasting your time,” he added.

  • Samsung chief promises devices’ convergence

    Samsung Electronics West Africa said with the ever- increasing development in the technology space, it will keep up pace and ensure it converges all its devices for the comfort of its customers in the country.

    Its Managing Director, Bravo Kim, who spoke at the unveiling of its range of wireless printers, said in line with convergence, the South Korea technology firm is thinking in the direction of connecting its washing machines to its customers’mobile phones to enhance its consumers comfort.

    According to him, in furtherance of its promoting the development of skilled manpower in the country, it will keep investing in strengthening the Samsung Engineering Academy in the country to empower youths in engineering.

    On the printers, he said it is the first of its kind in the country that does not require the use of a router, adding that all that is needed is for the smart device to be connected to the printer through a WiFi after downloading the application from the internet.

    Kim said the printers also have the near field communication (NFC) feature that allows it to connect to the printer, through tab, and print whatever the customer intends to print. “The printers are not operating system-specific. It can print from Microsoft Word, jpeg pictures and others,” he said.

    A political-economy expert, Prof Pat Utomi, said the country has a lot to learn from South Korea, which started from a humble beginning has become a tech giant in the world .

    He said the South Korean’s a remarkable story of a turnaround country, urging leaders to emulate the purposefulness and transparent leadership of the Koreans.

  • GTBank chief to telcos: seek banking licence for mobile money

    GTBank chief to telcos: seek banking licence for mobile money

    The Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr Segun Agbaje, has advised telecoms firms to apply for banking licence if they are so interested in mobile money business.

    Speaking on the sideline at a forum with business editors in Lagos, he described mobile money as a new product in the country, insisting that with time, acceptability would come as more people get to know about it.

    According to Agbaje, accepting money deposits from customers is a business that is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), arguing that any person or group of persons that wish to get involved in the business of deposit-taking must seek operating licence from the CBN.

    Asked if the mobile money scheme would have been better were it driven by the telcos, he said: ‘’No. I shouldn’t think (mobile money would have done better if it had been led by the telcos) so. I think mobile money is a new product. I am sure it will eventually pick up.”

    He said the starting point for telcos wishing to do mobile money is first seeking licence from the appropriate authority.

    He said: “If telcos want to do mobile money, you gonna have a banking licence because banking is a regulated business and mobile money is a deposit taking business and anybody who wants to do deposit taking business would have to get a banking licence or agree to be regulated by the CBN.”

    The telcos have complained about unfair treatment by the apex bank. They argue that they own the infrastructure on which the transactions take place and they are allowed to play passive roles.

    Speaking in Lagos, Acting Chief Executive/Chief Commercial Officer, Matthew Willsher, said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), CBN, the lenders and the operators need to sit and put an efficient programme in place that would assure the success of the scheme.

    He said: “I have always believed that the CBN, NCC, telecoms operators and banks need to build efficient mobile money structure that will guarantee the project’s success. Mobile money remains a convenient, secure and affordable way to send money to friends and family.

    “As at today, mobile money remains a huge business opportunity for stakeholders, but there is the need to get the fundamentals right. It is only when the fundamentals, like knowing whether a bank-led or telco-led model is best for the country, that the level of success expected would be achieved. At Etisalat, we are committed to the mobile money project. We see a lot of business potential in this field. But, as I said, regulators and other stakeholders need to get the fundamentals right.”

  • ‘Boko Haram still hindering access to stations’

    ‘Boko Haram still hindering access to stations’

    Access to the decommissioned base transmission stations (BTS) in the troubled parts of the North is still hindering restoration of services, the Association of Lincence Telcom Operators (ALTON) has said.

    ALTON is the umbrella body for major telcos in the country, drawing the strength of its membership from operators, such as MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat.

    Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, said it is sad that the operators still do not have access to the sites to rev their engines.

    He spoke on the sideline when the group signed a landmark agreement with Lagos State government on issues that have been hampering rapid deployment of infrastructure in the state.

    He said: “Again, it’s a function of access and the kind of access that we have. We are ready to work and we are here to work because no operator is happy, having equipment sit down somewhere and not on live traffic.

    “But if access is a challenge then you can risk people’s lives; you can risk machinery; you need to wait until you have it all cleared.’’

    He said other state governors should see telecoms infrastructure as means to socio-economic development but not items on which to grow internally generated revenue.