The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • MTN, RIM partner on Blackberry 10

    MTN Nigeria and Research In Motion (RIM), makers of the brand new Blackberry Z10 smartphone, are planning to introduce the new Blackberry 10 to the country. If the deal sails through, MTN will be the first to bring the latest Blackberry to the Nigerian market.

    MTN customers will be among the first users in the world to experience the new product, which has been re-designed to give customers a unique experience.

    Speaking on the deal, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Larry Annetts, said the firm is giving them value for their money.

    “MTN is offering pre-order opportunities thus conferring on our customers the privilege of being one of the first to own the device in Nigeria. Not only that, those who pre-order will get the smartphone at a bargain price and they will be contacted for pickup at locations of their choice even before the phones become commercially available at retail stores. They are not required to make any deposits; they will simply pay on delivery,” he said.

    MTN Nigeria has an alliance with RIM, dating back to 2007, when MTN Nigeria was the first telecoms company in Africa to offer Blackberry on pre-paid.

    Analysts say the success of the Blackberry 10 will largely rest on winning back those customers who fled for the gorgeous hardware and exceptional user interface of the iPhone or fancied the range of phones running Android. The task is tougher here, though at least BlackBerry has 70,000 apps available on day one. This is a remarkable achievement and is many ways is enough to be going on with. Apple and Android have over 700,000 apps each, but the number of jewels is much lower.

     

  • The fall of cybercafé

    About ten years ago, cybercafe business was highly profitable. The owners were virtually minting money. Now the story is different. Cybercafe can hardly make ends meet. Many businesses have closed shop because of huge debts. Those still in business are merely existing. Lucas Ajanaku reports

     

     

    When he left Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, about 10 years ago, Kayode Adeyeye had made up his mind not to seek a white collar job. He took this step because he had seen people who, after leaving school became ‘professional applicants.’

    To achieve his dream, Adeyeye mobilised funds from relatives and friends to set up a cybercafé in his neighbourhood in Agbado-Ijaye, a Lagos suburb.

    “I did not want to be a liability after graduating. I raised about N1.5 million and ploughed it into cybercafe business. I got 10 personal computers (PCs), rented a warehouse, bought an electricity generating set, got some furniture in place and started business,” he said.

    According to him, at the beginning, business was good; money was coming in from people who came to browse the Internet. An hour attracted about N200. He had problems coping with the huge customer traffic. Since necessity is the mother of invention, his wife introduced snacks and soft drinks and the business flourished. That was then.

    Today, the story has changed. One hour browsing time has come down to N100.

    At Karimu Laka Street, Egbeda, another Lagos suburb, a large building used to house DS Cybercafé and Computer Training Centre. Five years ago, the building was a beehive as men, women, old and young, thronged the place to browse and get computer education. He combined the business with Internet calls. His peak period was during the American Diversity Lottery programme. But the story has since changed as the firm has closed shop.

    The Emesck Solutions Cybercafe in Abule Odu, also a Lagos suburb, has also been deserted. The Client Service Executive, Yetunde Odukoya, a part time student of Wolex Polytechnic, said as at 8.30 am, she had not attended to any customer.

    “Before the advent of Blackberry and other smartphones, business was good. Now, with a mobile phone of about N2,500, one can take and send picture, chat, check email and do other things on the Internet. What has compounded the woes of the business is that most of the mobile operators give 10 megabytes (MBs) of data to their customers on purchase of N100 worth of airtime. This will last me for two weeks,” she said.

    She added that power supply and regular raid on cafes by security agencies have contributed to the near-demise of the business. The gradual migration of examinations and recruitment into the armed forces in the country to the electronic platform that ought to have boosted the income of operators is not doing so. “Tutorial centres and private schools buy laptop, biometric data capturing machine, printers and other things needed to register candidates online,” she added.

    According to a report, in 2003, the country had over 15,000 cyber cafes, with over 10,000 of them in Lagos State alone. At the twilight of 2007, this figure paled into insignificance to just about 1,002. Today, it is estimated that there are no fewer than 2,000 flourishing cybercafés in the country.

    To set up a cybercafé, one would require about N2.5 million for Internet connectivity, N150,000 monthly subscription fee; payment for rent, computers and other infrastructure that would make the place congenial for business transaction. An average cybercafé would need between 20 and 30 computers and other accompaniments, such as printers, scanners and generators. An independent Internet group in Britain revealed that Internet service providers (ISPs) in Africa lose over $400 million yearly for pairing of local traffic in exchange and international bandwidth provision. This colossal loss is incurred because most African countries do not have Internet exchange point (IXP) where ISPs can interconnect and share local traffic.

    Adeyeye recalled that he paid N450,000 to DPC to acquire its modem alone and another N30,000 monthly subscription fee. “How much you pay as subscription is a function of the number of computers you intend to use. When I was in business, I used only 10 computers and paid N450,000 and N30,000 monthly subscription fee,” he said.

    Like Miss Odukoya, he said the undulating power supply by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), constant harassment and extortion from security men, emergence of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) and private telephone operators (PTOs) offering Internet service in their bouquets and the ear of unified licences have contributed to the near-moribund state the business in the country.

    Though the cost of browsing has gone down drastically from between N150 and N200 per hour to about N120 per hour, administrative cost continue to rise. Rent is reviewed yearly while the pump price of petrol underwent adjustments for more than a dozen times under former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. Today, automotive gas oil (AGO) or diesel goes for N150 per litre in the Lagos area while petrol is N97 per litre.

    Adeyeye said: “You don’t get power supply from PHCN but they never stop bringing bills.” For his 40 kva generator, which runs on diesel, he spends N9,000 while the other two that use petrol would accommodate about 15 litres, costing N1,455; this lasts for only six hours before. The problem is that the generators pack up no sooner had they been bought. “I bought that generator for N80,000; used it for only one month and it packed up,” he lamented. His four generators have parked up, adding that he used them for only three months.

    Even when the generators work, there are always fluctuations in the signal of ISPs. Thus, for one week, the signal strength may be as low as 25 per cent. When this happens as it so often does, it is double jeopardy.

    The sudden surge in cyber crimes in the country did not help matters. The Managing Director, Brand Definitions, Richard Afolalu, said the level of cyber crime in the country has made law enforcement agents to see anyone browsing in a cybercafé as a fraudster. And contrary to the legal dictum of being presumed innocent until proven otherwise by a court, one is subjected to humiliation by barely literate, but perpetually inebriated policemen.

    “If you are unlucky to be arrested at a cybercafé or attacked by armed gangs who dispossess you of your cash and valuables, would you go there again? So, people who can afford modems and pay for data stay at home and do whatever they want to do,” he said.

    Cybercafés were real haven for young cyber criminals.By special arrangements, these criminals pay their way to have night access to the cafes where they send scam mails. “Whenever you see any cybercafé operating overnight browsing, it is with an intention to defraud. These boys, called Yahoo Boys, pay them to use the facility,” a security expert said on condition of anonymity.

    But an operator denied this, saying those with criminal intentions do it within the confines of their bedrooms. Though this brings more cash to mobile operators, it also attract international odium to the nation. E-commerce and transaction have remained low in Africa because of Internet fraud. In 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) carried out an operation that led to the seizure of goods worth N319 million in Lagos alone while the EFCC made seized over $1 billion.

    Some years ago, officials of the EFCC and Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) agreed to discontinue overnight browsing. Besides, they were to run their services on membership instead of the pay-as-you-go format that is dominant in the country.

    The intervention of the EFCC was as a result of the enactment of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Offences Act 2006, signed into law on June 5, 2006 by Chief Obasanjo which transferred the policing of cyber crime to telecoms operators and also empowered the EFCC to enforce provisions of the act.

    Even with these challenges, the proprietor of Emesck Solutions who simply identified himself as Emeka, said hope is not lost. “Not many people use hand held devices. Students come in and do research. Turnover may be small, cybercafes will continue to fill the gap,” he said on telephone.

     

  • Akwa Ibom to invest in Poland

    Akwa Ibom State is to invest in Poland to boost trade relations with the country, Governor Godswill Akpabio said yesterday.

    Speaking when the Polish Ambassador to Nigeria, Prezemyslaw Niesiolowski led a 16-man delegation to visit Akpabio in Uyo, the state capital, Akpabio said: “We are committed to cooperate with the Republic of Poland  in business relations to boost the economic hub of the country and for the future cooperation between Nigeria and Poland. I am aware that Poland is skilled on manpower with a wide range of industries in the country. I am glad that the representatives of such business companies are in the state for the trade mission.

    “Akwa Ibom State is a virgin state waiting for development. Your visit to the state signifies the fact that industrialisation is becoming a reality in the state. So, we are determined to cooperate with Poland in the business sector in the state. Nigeria still remains the most attractive place for business investment in Africa where investors all over the world come into the country to invest with tonnes of profits.

    “Poland is known for its investment in the maritime sector. So, I call on you to look towards the direction of the maritime sector in the state, through the Ibaka Deep Seaport and the power sector through the Independent Power Plant (IPP) and in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry because we are in a hurry to catch up with the rest of the world”.

    Earlier, Niesiolowski said the visit was to organise a trade mission in the country with Akwa Ibom as a business community for the mission.

    He said they would seek partnership with the state to create a momentum in bringing an administrative business idea for the growth of the society.

     

  • Quality of service still a mirage

    Quality of service still a mirage

    Subscribers are complaining daily of poor quality of service. All efforts by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCCS) to get service providers to address the problem seem to have failed. Is there no way out? Lucas Ajanaku reports

     

    When she travelled to the east for vacation, she was shocked by the service she got from her service provider. Aside from being unable to make voice calls, all the short message service (SMS) or text messages she sent were never delivered, yet the teleco deducted money for the service.

    “I could not make nor receive calls. Worst still, all the text messages I sent were not delivered, but I paid for each message twice. The first deduction is made as soon the screen of the handset displays ‘message sending’ while another is deducted when the phone dsiplays ‘message sent.’ If it is on-net, that will translate to N10 for one message instead of N5 while if it is off-net, it will tranlate to N20 for one message instead of N10,” the lady who identified herself simply as Silverline said.

    Goodie Olanrewaju, a businessman and resident of Egbeda, a Lagos suburb, is also not happy with the quality of services he gets from his service providers. Compelled to use three different global system for mobile (GSM) communications lines, he still cannot get satisfactory services from his service providers, leading him to feel frustrated.

    “I decided to buy three lines in the hope that when I make on-net calls, I will be free from the hiccups but there is no respite. Many a time I tried to call my wife’s number and my service provider will tell me that the number I dialled was not assigned to any customer,” he lamented, adding that the problem became terrible during the last Yuletide as neither calls nor messages sailed through while money for the messages were deducted with the speed of light.

    These are but very few of the experiences of more than 100 million telecoms subscribers in the country. They work hard and pay through the nose to buy recharge cards for which they hardly get the value because of quality of service issues.

    According to telecoms sector experts who spoke on the issues of quality of service degradation (network reliability, network availability, call drop, call set-up, denial of service and others) being experienced by consumers of mobile services, are caused by network congestion. It causes poor reception, drop calls, poor voice signal as well as blocking of interconnect routes between networks. “Since GSM technology is based time division access, so when one person is talking on the network and there is no space for another call to enter, the other call will be aborted,” an official of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), said on condition of anonymity.

    Poor service quality is not peculiar to Nigeria. Though there could be occasional service disruption in services in matured telecoms markets like that of South Africa, it is common in emerging markets.

    The issue of poor service quality recenty forced the regulator of Ghana’s telecoms sector, the National Communications Authority (NCA) to slam a ban on the sale of SIM cards to MTN Ghana subscribers.

    “Following the recent spate of service disruptions on the MTN network, the National Communications Authority (NCA) has had to engage Scancom Ltd, on several occasions, on the issues of quality of service degradation (i.e. network reliability, network availability, call drop, call set-up, denial of service, etc) being experienced by consumers of mobile services. In spite of these engagements, network performance on MTN continues to deteriorate. Consequently, the NCA has directed Scancom Ltd to, with immediate effect, cease selling and/or adding any new SIM cards/subscribers to MTN network until further notice,” a directive from the NCA read in part.

    The ban which was slammed at the twilight of last year was lifted recently. The NCA said it had monitored MTN’s quality of service and key performance indicators (KPIs), such as call drop rate, call setup time, call congestion rate, and stand-alone-dedicated control channel congestion rate since the suspension began at the end of November 2012.

    The regulator noted that there has been continual improvement in the KPIs compared to their performance prior to the ban. As a result, the NCA lifted the directive of 30 November 2012 banning MTN from selling and adding new SIM cards/subscribers. NCA added that Scancom, owners of MTN Ghana, has actively engaged with it since the ban was implemented to define and implement procedures that would improve customer experience, including 24/7 network monitoring and support services. It is also collaborating with partners in improving response time and has formed a special crisis management team.

    Analysts say the NCC should borrow a laefe from Ghana and see if that will be the right therapy for persistent drop in service quality.

    According to figures released by the NCC, active mobile subscriptions increased by a million as the figure hit 110.3 million at the end of November 2012, up from109.4 million recorded at the end of October.

    The data revealed that GSM communication contributed significantly to the increase in the active subscriber base to 110.3 million. MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat increased their combined subscriptions from 105.9 million in October to 106.8 million at the end of November 2012.

    The sick baby of the industry, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators such as Visafone, Starcomms, Multi-Links and ZoomMobile further experienced decline in their subscriber base from 3.1 million in October, to 3 million at the end of November 2012.

    In the same vein, fixed wired and wireless network operators also recorded a decline in their meagre active subscriptions from 454,644 lines in October to 432,899 a month after.

    Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, National Association of Telecom Subscribers (NATCOMS) decried the worsening quality of service, arguing that after almost a decade of trial, the operators ought to have got it right now. According to him, the NCC should not pander to the whims and caprices of the operators and other persons, corporate organisations and group of persons that profiteer from promotion and lotteries on the network.

    “The situation has become very embarrassing. We had thought banning promotions and lotteries would help stem the ugly tide. Since it has not, I think what the NCC should do now is to stop further allocation of new number ranges to the operators until such a time that there is a measure of sanity on the network. Each of these number ranges has capacity for ten million subscribers.

    “The NCC should not listen to the various lobbyists that have been putting pressures on the NCC to unban promos and lotteries on the network. The network is for communications and not for lottery. Anybody that wants to play lottery should go play lotto or coupon. Such a person could go per three from four and win whatever jackpot but that should be allowed to ride on the telecoms network again,” Ogunbanjo told The Nation.

    While the NCC imposed a total fine of N1.17billion GSM operators in the country for failing to comply with the minimum standard of quality of service last year, it also banned promos and lotteries on the network.

    While MTN and Etisalat coughed out N360 million each, Airtel and Glo paid N270 million and N180 million respectively to the coffers of the Federal Government as fine.

    Operators have consistently blamed the development on persistent disruption to operation by unscrupulous elements in the society whose stock in trade is fibre cuts. Oyeronke Oyetunde, general manager, Regulatory Affairs, said most of the issues concerned with service quality cannot be divorced from the high incidence of fibre cuts. According to her, MTN alone suffers a minimum of seventy fibre cuts a month. She said the issue of ‘emergency calls only’ that appears when a subscriber is trying to make calls is also a function of network problem.

    She recalled that the telco is cureently undertaking equipment swap to make the network more resilient. The equipment swap will see the telco replace “obsolete” equipment with modern ones.

    Only last week, the telco reported fibre cuts in the Eastern part of the country which led to service outage in the area. It is reported that the fibre cuts are as a result of ongoing road construction of various routes around Aba, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Eket, IkotAbasi, Ete, Uyo and Calabar.

    According to Akinwale Goodluck, MTN’s Corporate Services Executive, “In recent times, multiple cuts on our Eastern Fibre Network has impeded the delivery of consistently good quality of service in the East. These particular cuts are as a result of road construction activities, which has impacted many of our sites. However, we suffer over 70 fibre cuts monthly nationwide due to vandalization, sabotage and other criminal activities.Please bear with us as we are doing everything in our control to restore good service.”

    Efforts to get the reaction of NCC failed as calls to Tony Ojobo, director, Public Affairs at the NCC, were not picked neither was the email sent to him acknowledged, let alone replied. But an official of the NCC said the regulator may choose the option of stopping further sale of SIM cards because its mandate is to ensure that every Nigerian gets access to telephoney.

  • Govt to assist telcos with green power funding

    The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) will give prefrential treatment to telcos that opt for green power solutions in addressing their energy challenge, its secretary Alhaji abdullahi Maikano, has said.

    According to a document entitled: “Guiding Principles: Universal Service Provision Fund Strategic Management Plan 2013-2017”, prepared by the management of USPF last September, one of the cardinal principles of the fund is that it will not be skewed in favour of any particular technology.

    “Technology Neutrality: USPF programmes and projects will be guided by the principle of technology neutrality and allow the market place to define the best technology solutions,” the document noted.

    Maikano, said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would give preference to companies proposing green power when it opens bidding for broadband penetration into underserved and un-served communities or locations in the country.

    “During the bidding for the clusters, companies proposing Green power would be given preference and the most subsidies. This is because aside from the need to protect the planet, the use of traditional power will make deployment in these areas uneconomic as the operational cost will outstrip the revenues that may be generated from these areas. The low operational cost of green power such as solar or wind power makes it viable to deploy in these areas over the long term,” Maikano said at a GSM/International Finance Corporation (IFC) Green Mobile Forum organised in Lagos.

    USPF is a special fund set up by the Federal Government under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, designed to bring Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services to unserved, underserved and deprived groups as well as communities in the country. It is funded through one per cent of the total revenue of all licensed telecommunications firms in the country.

    Maiko, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, on the occasion pledged the commitment of the Commission to helping operators develop green power as solutions to the energy challenges in the industry.

    Airtel Nigeria, which co-hosted the forum, called for increased investment in green power generation initiatives as a way out of the nation’s energy supply deficit.

    Airtel’s Chief Technical Officer, Awadhesh Kalia, said an aggressive approach will be required by GSM operators in Nigeria to improve the current level of energy efficiency if the dream of realising the long-term gains of green power supply would be achieved.

    “Significant investment in green initiative is vital to maximising business in a responsible manner. There must be field competence, OEM support; institutionalisation of the curriculum on telecom power technologies and development of local competence by upgrading skills-set through training and development,” he said, adding that the telco has taken various initiatives to tackle the energy its energy problem.

    Such measures, according to him, include varying combination of solar-powered solutions, hybrid, grid and co-location, all of which have been effectively deployed to reduce energy consumption, burning of fossil fuel and carbon footprint. Airtel presently has an eco-system that powers its base stations across the nation.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Expert laments dearth of last mile infrastructure

    Dearth of distribution infrastructure and last mile portion of service provision from infrastructure owners to end users has been identified as factors responsible for poor broadband penetration in the country.

    This has compelled service providers to either embark on developing their own backbone network infrstructure or buy access from last mile providers at costs that don’t make economic sense.

    An official of MainOne, Kemi Adeyanju, who spoke in Lagos lamented that the firm had to embark on providing the infrastructure at cost.

    “Without effective distribution infrastructure, service providers are forced to choose between developing their own backbone network infrastructure, while compelled in the interim to purchase access from the existing last mile providers at un-economic prices.”

    She said in the cable market, there are other operators providing the same serviceses MainOne, arguing that these operators have core retail and wholesale businesses integrated and they also have infrastructures

    “The challenge we face regarding last mile services puts us at a disadvantage and indicates that our segment is not competitive. We have had experience where our competitors sell services in Abuja and Lagos at the same price, they refuse to share infrastructure with us, and most time give infrastructure away to other players in the market,” she lamented.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Insecurity threatens investment in data centre

    Data centre business may not flourish in the country.

    Experts in data management, who spoke on the issue, said the fear that insecurity in the cloud keeps individuals and private enterprises from chossing the option.

    Executive Director, Kitskoo Cloud, Monu Ogbe and head, Document Management, FirstBank of Nigeria Mrs Grace Oyebo, said the fear of storing data in the cloud is genuine.

    Ogbe said the fear of insecurity has led its firm to partner with Tech Mahindra of India and launch of Kitskoo Guradian, its flagship product.

    “Security of data is one reason why Kitskoo has partnered with Tech Mahindra. We are going to launch the Kitskoo Guradian which will serve as backup for customer,” Ogbe said.

    For Oyebo, the cloud is not an option on the cards for FirstBank’s electronic data management services (EDMS).

    “We have not gone to the cloud because right now, people cannot ascertain its security. As an expert that goes for international conferences at least twice a year, meeting with experts in the cloud, there are still a lot of things to be dealt with in the cloud. In First Bank, we are very careful. You have to apply technology based on your own level (of development). You don’t say because people are doing it in Japan and other places, you have to do the same. If people are saying cloud and you want to go, there are some underlining factors you must consider. I don’t think we have gone to the cloud,” she said.

    According to her, though the bank has not started, there is a plan in that direction in the pipeline “We have not started but we intend to cloud some items which we are keeping secret to our hearts but we have a lot of back up devices,” she said.

    On disaster recovery sites, she said the bank has three of such sites across the country. “We have our disaster recovery sites, the hot site and the cold site not in the cloud anyway but I will not disclose where they are because of secuiryt reasons. We have them all over so that if there is any disruption, we fall back to them but for the cloud, we are planning to go but I don’t want to disclose our plan in this respect because, “We have at least three disaster recovery sites in Lagos and outside Lagos so that even when there is a downtime, you scarcely can know. The crowd you noticed recently in our branches was because we are changing our financial system FINACO from 7 to 10 and there is no way it will not impact on our services on working days.”

     

     

     

  • Samsung unveils brand ambassadors in Nigeria

    Samsung Electronics West Africa, has unveiled its brand ambassadors for its Mobile Division. Movie industry icon Kate Henshaw and star musician, Banky W, will work to raise awareness for Samsung mobile products and ultimately, contribute to making Samsung phones the preferred brand in the West Africa sub-region.

    Henshaw was unveiled as brand ambassador at a media breakfast meeting organised by Samsung.

    Speaking at the unveiling, Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim stated that Henshaw and Banky W represent the values that Samsung has stood for over the years.

    “The Samsung brand stands for qualities of innovation, change, discovery, self-expression and excellence in performance. And these very same qualities are epitomised by Banky W and Kate Henshaw, whose quality and depth of work as well as versatility as artistes have endeared them to Nigerians today. We are indeed very proud and privileged to have them as our Brand Ambassadors.”

    Kim further described its signing of Kate Henshaw as an opportunity for Samsung to reach out to its customers through Nigeria’s movie industry. “We want to further connect with our customers at all touch points, especially through film as it is one of the passions of people in West Africa,” he explained. Samsung plans to leverage Henshaw in its brand advertising as well as product advertising for mobile phones.

    In sync with its thrust on introducing innovative, consumer-oriented, breakthrough technology products, Samsung also announced a brand new member in its Galaxy line-up with Samsung Galaxy Grand. The 5-inch display, smart dual-SIM Galaxy Grand combines the features of Samsung’s game-changing Galaxy S III and the revolutionary Galaxy Note II, which were released by the manufacturing giant last year. The device has gone up for preorder on various online stores in Nigeria, ahead of its release next month. Consumers who take advantage of the preorder campaign are entitled to a free limited edition flip cover of the device, autographed by Banky W, while those who redeem their order before Valentine’s Day stand a chance to win a ticket to the official unveiling of the device on February 15, 2013. The opportunity to spend a weekend at the prestigious Oriental Hotel and also enjoy dinner with the brand ambassadors is also open to consumers who preorder the device.

    According to Samsung Electronics West Africa’s Business Head (Hand Held Products), Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas, the Galaxy Grand is revolutionary not only in terms of the great Smartphone experience that it will provide but also in terms of its value proposition. “We feel that the Galaxy Grand will further fuel the growth of the Smartphone market in Nigeria and will especially delight consumers looking for a great Smart dual-SIM phone. The Galaxy Grand best meets the growing consumer preference for a large screen device that gives them a great multimedia experience and superior performance.”

    Samsung Electronics led both the smartphone and overall handsets market in the fourth quarter of 2012, with the company shipping 106 million handsets, of which 60 million were smartphones, according to ABI Research. Samsung had a 31 per cent share of smartphone shipments in comparison to Apple’s 24.5 per cent share, the research firm said. Having cornered 41 per cent market share, Nigeria leads other African market in the sales and adoption of various Samsung electronics devices on the continent, especially in the mobile phone segment.

    From its inception as a small export business, Samsung has grown to become one of the world’s leading electronics companies, specializing in digital appliances and media, semiconductors, memory and system integration. Today, Samsung’s innovative and top quality products and processes are recognized all over the world. The company has continued to expand its product lines and reach, following its mission of making life better for consumers all over the world.

  • Women in infotech form group

    A new group, Nigeria Women in Information Technology (NiWIIT) says it is committed to driving the future in the country by harnessing the latent growth potential of women in technology.

    According to a statement signed by Jide Awe, Chairman, Publicity, Events and Trade Services, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the group is committed to driving the future of Nigeria by harnessing on the strengths and contributions of women in Information Technology, in line with its motto of “Advancing the use of Information Technology amongst women”.

    NiWIT is a new Interest Group in NCS like Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN), Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria.(ISPON), Integrated Strategic Planning and Analysis Network (ISPAN) and others.

    Membership is open to female members of NCS, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and any woman involved in IT, providing professional options for all women in the IT industry.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • MTN bags CPC’s awards

    MTN Nigeria Communications Limited has been honoured by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) for its consistent efforts at improving customer experience on its network and for its corporate social responsibility initiatives.

    In a statement the telco expalined that the award which was given at the maiden edition of the Nigeria Consumer Awards (NiCA) organised by the CPC, followed a very rigorous selection process which included electronic voting by members of the public, surveys and focus groups and painstaking collation and moderation of results by a panel of judges, which included representatives from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), CPC, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other industry regulators.

    MTN emerged winner in the categories of “NiCA Award for Service Excellence” in the Telecoms category and the “NiCA Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.”

    Speaking on the awards, MTN Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Wale Goodluck, said, “Short-listing and eventual selection of MTN as the winner of the Award for Service Excellence in the telecoms category at the NiCA Awards marks a significant recognition and endorsement of our ongoing efforts to continue to improve the entire scope of service delivery to our esteemed customers despite the constraints of our operating environment.”

    “The CSR Award, on the other hand, is another salient recognition of MTN’s efforts to selflessly give back to society in a sustainable manner through carefully designed projects with measurable long-term impact.”

    He said the awards are a validation of MTN’s efforts at enriching the lives of the Nigerian consumer, adding that the company would continue to engage with its stakeholders to have a consistent view of their expectations and continue to work on exceeding them.

    NiCA was instituted last year to recognise and honour worthy contributions by businesses, non-government organisations and individuals that play important roles in protecting consumers in Nigeria. The CPC also hopes that the NiCA will remain the highest award for service and product excellence in Nigeria.