The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Criticisms over Remita fees borne out of ignorance, says Obaro

    The Chief Executive Officer of SystemSpecs, John  Obaro, at the weekend, attributed the criticisms that greeted the collection of fees by Remita, the software driving the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme, to ignorance.

    Obaro spoke after his induction into the BoICT Hall of Fame and upon receiving the Indigenous Software Provider of the Decade awards at this year’s Beacon of Information and Communication Technology Awards in Lagos. He said Remita in itself is 14 years old.

    He said: “We are in a business where we will always have one issue or the other and we take it as it comes; we resolve one problem and another problem comes up. The issue about our fees came because of ignorance but today, many more people are aware of the use of IT; that they can use their mobile phones to make payments; make transfers. When we started all these four years ago, that was when the use of electronic transfer was just coming up. So, many people didn’t understand what it was. Once there was a little spark, it easily became a wild fire, but with time, when people started understanding it, the confusion calm down and cleared. The issue of fees is being negotiated with government and it will be sorted out.

    “Not many people know that the product was there. We were operating at the corporate level; it was TSA that brought us to limelight and many people assumed Remita is TSA. Remita has always been there, but the government showing interest was a good opportunity and in the past two years, a number of state governments have shown interest; so      \                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       you find a diffusion of the use of technology across board, now from national to the states and there are not many businesses today that would have think of starting up without using computers.  That was not how it used to be. There was a time you needed to sell the use of computers by allaying the fears of people you needed to educate people.”

    He said the software quality in Nigeria has improved significantly, especially in the last two to three years, ading that a lot of things have happened. “We have a good number of Nigerians who trained abroad. Some of them have come back; yes, a good number of them are going out, but you also have quite a number who are able to work in a borderless manner. They have worked in different parts of the world. They have support software development technology. I believe we are rising up to the challenge. Yes, there are challenges here and there. If there no challenges, there will be no businesses. So, we take on these challenges as they come,” Obaro said.

  • Smile allays fear over malware attack

    Smile Nigeria at the weekend assured its customers of the security and safety of their connectivity on its network.

    It however urged customers  experiencing service disruption caused by the reported malware on some notable broadband service providers in the country to visit their nearest Smile shop for solution.

    Acknowledging that some of its customers’ devices were affected by the reported malware believed to have been instigated by Jisatsu, Smile said many of its customers  were unaffected by the malware as a result of its timely identification through its firewall.

    Smile Nigeria, nonetheless, regretted any inconvenience caused by the incident and advised those that have noticed any service disruption to contact the nearest Smile shop or call the call centre for prompt attention and solution.

    Smile, the pioneer of 4G LTE in West Africa, is a full service telecoms firm in Nigeria. In a statement, it reassured its customers that it has always adopted the best technologies in enhancing its network infrastructure so as to withstand any attack.

    The quick response from Smile and its willingness to support customers on its network who experienced service disruption due to the malware has received commendation from industry analysts.

    Business Renaissance Group (BRG) Secretary, Dr. Funsho Akomde, commended Smile for its swift response and willingness to stand by its customers.

    The Telecoms Collective President, Smart Egbuchalam, said the robustness of the cutting-edge technologies deployed by the telco assured of unmatched data quality, voice clarity and overall network integrity. He however advised the company to be wary of the antics of hackers who have appetite for destruction.

    Renowned for its pacesetting streak, Smile launched the first 4G LTE network in West Africa in Nigeria in 2014, revolutionising the way people access the Internet.

     

  • ‘We will disrupt smartphone market’

    A NEW entrant into Nigeria plans to disrupt its smartphone market by manufacturing devices that are of high quality and at prices that are pocket-friendly.

    Head of Expansion Marketing, Xiaomi Global Steven Wang spoke during the unveiling of Redmi Note 7, the firm’s flagship product, which has a powerful 48MP rear camera and a gorgeous dual-tone gradient glass design.

    He said the country remains strategic to its African operation.

    “Redmi Note is one of Xiaomi’s most popular series, Redmi Note 7 truly illustrates our philosophy of innovation from everyone because of amazing performance and attractive price. Partnering Jumia, we’re very excited to bring Redmi Note 7 and Redmi 7 to our customers in Nigeria,,” Wang said.

    Jumia Nigeria CEO, Juliet Anammah, said the coming of  Xiaomi would help deepen mobile phone penetration and help the country in meeting its four per cent quota of the 700 million new global mobile subscribers of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Intelligence.

    She said: “The launch of Redmi Note 7 is coming at a time Nigeria is mentioned among seven countries that would contribute 700 million new mobile subscribers to hit the six billion mobile subscribers mark in the world by 2025.

    ‘’Availability of honest price point smartphones, such as Xiaomi, will deepen smartphone penetration in the country and help the country in meeting its four per cent quota of the 700 million new global mobile subscribers, as predicted by GSMA Intelligence.”

    Wang said the Redmi Note 7 marks the greatest shift in design in the series, sporting a new premium style with the front and rear covered in Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The gorgeous 19.5:9 Dot Drop display measures 6.3 inches diagonally and has a FHD+ resolution of 2380 x 1080.

  • Spectranet gets award for best 4G LTE @ BoICT

    Broadband and internet services provider, Spectranet 4G LTE has earned Best 4G LTE Provider of the Year at the 2019 Beacon of ICT (BoICT) Awards.

    The awards underscores the consistency demonstrated by Spectranet 4G LTE in offering reliable and affordable internet services and products to subscribers.

    Speaking on the award, Chief Executive Officer, Ajay Awasthi noted that: “Spectranet 4G LTE is a customer centric, innovative and value-driven brand that has stayed true to giving the very best of products and services to its customers. We have maintained this culture over the years through purpose and commitment. We are indeed very grateful to Communications Week Media and everyone that voted in support of Spectranet 4G LTE for finding us worthy of this award. ”

    On Spectranet’s plans for subscribers and the country’s ICT industry, Mr. Awasthi adds: “We will draw strength from this honour to rededicate ourselves to the cause of increasing high quality broadband penetration in Nigeria. The honour, indeed, motivates us to further strengthen our position as a leading provider of affordable, reliable internet connectivity and solutions. Spectranet 4G LTE remains committed to contributing significantly to the growth of Nigeria’s ICT industry. ”

    Chief Executive Officer, Communication Week Media, Ken Nwogbo lauded the brand’s efforts in deepening growth and development in the country through internet connectivity and solutions.

    “Spectranet 4G LTE has performed well with the provision of internet connectivity and solutions that aid business growth and operations.  We hope this honour will inspire the brand to deliver more innovations.’’

    Spectranet Limited was the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) to launch 4G LTE internet service in Nigeria. The brand is known for providing affordable, faster and more reliable internet broadband to Nigerian homes and offices. Its internet service is currently available across Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan and Port Harcourt. Its state of the art network ensures high-speed internet connectivity for the customers.

    Spectranet 4G LTE is a recipient of multiple awards for Best Internet Service and 4G LTE Provider in Nigeria in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

  • ISON BPO wins award @ BOICT

    iSON BPO has emerged winner of  BPO Contact Centre of the Year awards at the 2019 Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series.

    The Distinguished Lecture is aimed at charting the way forward for the country’s ICT sector while the award ceremony rewards best practices and recognizes outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector.

    The theme of this year’s celebration is “Telcos and Banks Partnership to Drive Financial Inclusion.”

    It examined efforts to empower Nigerians to boost financial growth and development. The event brought together top politicians and government functionaries as well as captains in the ICT industry and financial institutions.

    Commenting on the awards, the Global CEO, Mr. Pravin Kumar, iSON BPO said, “While we have been very satisfied with our journey in Africa over last 8 years, we have seen maximum growth in Nigeria due to excellent quality of Nigerian youth, always willing to learn more and excel in their work.

    “This Award is a wonderful acknowledgement of our sustained innovative contributions to the growth of the ICT industry in Nigeria. We are indeed encouraged to further develop our technology and continue to deliver excellent services for the success of our clients. I am so proud of all the team and their hard work and dedication which has led to this amazing moment. Our colleagues are absolutely thrilled with the win which is the result of a wonderful team collaboration harnessing everyone’s skills and experience,” Kumar added.

    The awards acknowledge iSON BPO’s expertise in enabling organizations to deliver transformative customer experiences, helping organizations to move from transactional processing to customer lifecycle management (CLM), enabling monitoring and reduction of cost per customer while increasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) & Retention.

    The Company has been recognized for its ability to deliver and manage end-to-end contact centre and digital transformation solutions.

  • Vodacom Bags Three Awards, Inducted into Hall of Fame

    Over the weekend, Vodacom Business (Africa) Nigeria was a spotlight among who is who in the Information Technology Communication (ICT) sector of the country, as the technology infrastructure company shines with three prestigious awards.

    The awards were received during the 10th edition of the annual Beacon of ICT (BoICT) Awards held in Lagos State.to celebrate giant stride achievers among hallmark for good works in the sector.

    The occasion widely considered the biggest in the Nigeria Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry saw Vodacom shines with awards for Enterprise Broadband Services Provider of the Year, Internet of Things (IoT) Focused Company, and Enterprise Solutions Provider of the Year award.

    The High-point of the occasion was when the pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications provider was inducted as member of Beacon of the ICT Hall of Fame, and honourary with a feather cap for the three awards.

    The organiser said the awards came as recognition for the brand’s active involvement in deepening economic growth with the creation and provision of telecommunication solutions and support services for enterprises and businesses in Nigeria seamlessly.

    The recognition equally reflect Vodacom Business Nigeria’s investments in delivering innovative solutions to multinationals, government, small and medium enterprises whilst offering value for growth in the sector..

    Speaking on behalf of Vodacom Business Nigeria, Managing Director, Wale Odeyemi who received the awards described the awards as ‘inspiration’ and reward for innovation.

    “We’re honoured and inspired yet again to go further and sustain our commitment to contribute to the rise of Nigeria’s ICT industry. This honour point to the fact that we are doing something differently beyond the conventional which has earned us these awards consistently for about a decade.

    “The underlying drive in these recognitions is to get better and better at what we do. Vodacom Business Nigeria will keep walking on the path of improvement, sustaining the culture of innovation, while driving the advancement of Nigeria’s economy with products and services that aid growth and development,” he said.

    Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo urged Vodacom Business Nigeria not to relent towards enhancing the country’s fortunes on the global ICT map.

    Vodacom Business has been adjudged winners of the prestigious awards at various times since inception of BoICT.

    The company emerged winners in the Enterprise Broadband Services Provider of the Year category in 2018, three times in the Internet of Things Focused Company category and eight times in the Enterprise Solutions category, with the ninth earning the corporate connectivity brand a place in the BoICT Hall of Fame for Enterprise Solutions.

     

    Vodacom Business (Africa) Nigeria, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vodacom Group, is a leading pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications provider. We provide services to the continent’s largest businesses in sectors including oil and gas, retail, banking, mining, distribution, and tourism; helping them stay connected across Africa, and to the rest of the world. Our core infrastructure connects over 580 million people, across more than 40 African countries and includes over 50 satellite transponders, 24 dedicated teleports and access to multiple sub-sea cable landing ports. Vodacom Business’ mission is to build the future of African communications through continued investment in infrastructure, products and services, creating the best value for its customers and the communities in which it operates.

  • Tech critical to legal services, says Quicklaw

    Online legal support firm Quicklaw Limited has stressed the importance of leveraging technology to simplify legal processes in the country.

    It said navigating the Nigerian legal system could be quite intimidating for small business owners and individuals without the support of a lawyer. He added that the importance of legal support cannot be over emphasised as it helps to protect the business and individuals in the long run.

    The firm noted that with the operational cost of running a business, it is presumed that having a lawyer on retainership is an unnecessary expense and as a result, legal services are only patronised when serious legal problems arise. Taking into consideration the current wave of technological innovation across various industries of the business climate, the legal industry has also acknowledged the effectiveness of technology in improving service delivery.

    At the vanguard of this innovation is Quicklaw.ng by Quicklaw Limited designed to redefine and modernise the legal industry in the country.

    QuickLaw Limited CEO, Sade Michael, said the online platform aims to change the perception of the Nigerian legal system with its value offering of easily accessible, fast and affordable services. Through the website, Quicklaw Limited fosters a community of increasingly legal-conscious individuals.

    Michael said: “This platform was founded with the focus of proactively helping people secure and protect the things they value. Now, Nigerians can easily access lawyers all over the country via a 24-hour chat line to obtain free legal advice and get answers to their queries. They will be able to manage their legal affairs much more conveniently and at affordable rates. In summary, Quicklaw Limited provides substantial value across a wide range of legal services, from registering a business, to creating contracts, to resolving property matters and much more.”

  • Global Accelerex seeks expansion in Africa

    The financial technology (FinTech) firm, Global Accelerex, is expanding its footprints to sub-Saharan Africa, having fully established itself as the Fintech firm of choice in the country.

    Its Managing Director,Tunde Ogungbade, who spoke during a media roundtable in Lagos, said the firm has positioned itself for rapid expansion into the African market, following the giant strides  recorded and its remarkable achievements in the country.

    “In our quest to constantly deliver excellent customer satisfaction, we opened the first customer contact centre in the industry. The facility is staffed with a team of passionate customer service professionals that provide sterling service to the delight of customers. The centre, which is open 24/7, enables seamless reception of inbound, outbound calls, and live call monitoring to guarantee quality assurance even on public holidays,” Ogungbade said.

    He said the firm launched the first Android Point of Sale (PoS) terminal certified for payment acceptance in the country, which is the N5 Android PoS device. It performs four times faster than any other payment terminal and has efficient battery conservation, lasting up to five days before the battery drains out. It is loaded with a lot of apps for the enhancement of business operational efficiency such as creation of sales records and invoices for merchants, and inventory management, which include stock monitoring, re-order level and automatic replenishment systems.

    He said with regional offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan and Kano, which serve the six geopolitical zones in the country, the firm has been able to provide countrywide support for its customers. This is in line with its objective to make financial payments seamless and convenient for Nigerians.

    He said the firm has continued to blaze the trail in innovation and exceptional service delivery. Its in-house Innovation and Technology Team embodies creativity, flexibility and agility that give the company the much-needed leverage to compete favourably in the industry by developing cutting-edge solutions that enable customers achieve their business goals.

    “The culture at Global Accelerex is to adapt global best practices to the peculiar African market. Our solutions are tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, large corporations and government agencies, helping them in their payment and business processes to propel growth,” he said.

    Ogungbade said the firm decided to rebrand to take on a new look that reflects its status as a world-class FinTech player on the continent. He reassured the firm’s  customers that with the rebranding, it has a greater responsibility to serve them even better.

    “We not only provide and operate customised platforms that meet clients’ specific payment needs, we also provide value-added services that help businesses to effectively manage their business processes.  We have set new standards in cashless payment systems with exceptional service delivery, superior applications and ground-breaking initiatives, which have placed us far ahead our competitors,” he said.

  • Visa urges more investment in cybersecurity

    American multinational financial services corporation, Visa Inc., has  urged financial institutions to continue investing in cybersecurity tools. Visa facilitates electronic funds transfers through its branded credit cards, gift cards, and debit cards.

    Its Head, Risk Management, West and Central Africa, Aribidesi Lawal, said though a lot has been done by the lenders and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in this respect, there is still much more to be done, adding that Visa as technology firm, has done a lot to make customers’ trust the platform for making and receiving payments and therefore, help to deepen the government’s cashless drive.

    Lawal, who spoke on “Securing the future of digital payments”, he said the firm has done a lot to curb both real and emerging threats in the payment industry. Aribidesi said security used to be synonymous with hindrance, innovation tools and solutions, but has stopped being so.

    Speaking on its free solutions to drive cashless payment and online transactions, he said the eCommerce Threat Disruption (eTD) scans the front-end of ecommerce merchant websites; identifies connection between malicious malware and merchant websites to combat growing e-commerce frauds.

    Another new tool is the Payment Attack Scenario Simulation (PASS), which he said, proactively tests known and hypothetical vulnerabilities to model and predict malicious behaviour; provide intelligence to remediate such vulneravbilities.

    While the Card Attack Tool (CAT) scores all card not present transactions to identify Bank Identification Number (BVN) testing attacks; Real-Time Attack Disruption (RAD) enables acquirer reporting and merchant suspension, Vital Signs enables Real-time ATM fraudulent cash-out monitoring, reporting and investigation for all VisaNet clients.

    On   fraud and authorisation insights and performance, Lawal said tools such as Visa Transaction Controls (VTC) for Consumers/Visa  Purchase Controls (VPC)  for P-Cards are on sale to customers.

    He said application programming interface (API) for issuers allows cardholders to track and manage all payment activities on enrolled accounts and tokens.

    Cardholders set purchase restrictions on an account use and request alerts on different payment activity/events, using their smartphone or computer, adding that it could be used for all brands and card types.

  • Telecoms sector requires 38,000 new BTS

    A Nigerian firm, Pan African Towers (PAT) Limited, has said there is a 38,000 deficit of base transmission station (BTS) in the telecom sector requiring huge investment.

    It, however, said the introduction of colocation and infrastructure sharing by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has eased the task as it has taken a chunk of capital expenditure (capex) off the mobile network operators (MNOs).

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Wole Abu, who spoke on the sideline of the signing of $20 million infrastructure investment deal with Canadian firm, Watt Renewable Corporation in Lagos, said power constraints account for 70 per cent of the challenges being faced by MNOs in the country.

    He said: “Co-location is an imperative because it brings down the operating cost of an operator. And as we deploy them, they do not have to carry capex cost.  Yes they are collocating and collocation is an imperative. Nigeria is growing. Technology is shifting. When it was 2G, you had bigger towers, longer but as we go on in the Gs it becomes shorter.  5G is like a WiFi coverage. We need about 38,00 more towers to provide coverage in Nigeria. We are in position to provide that. Very soon, you will be seeing collocation in active towers.”

    The partnership will see Watt Renewable provide alternative energy solutions such as solar and other renewables to all towers owned and managed by PAT in Nigeria to help the latter reduce exposure by as much as 50 per cent.

    Speaking on the deal, Abu said the deal is significant, because “it’s a milestone in our journey of innovation, service delivery, and pushing Nigeria to the broadband target. This is at the forefront of the NCC’s agenda for setting up infrastructure company”.

    Abu said the deal will impact greatly and positively on the quality of service for both voice and data in the country. He cited the erratic power supply situation as one of the major challenges confronting telecoms operators in Nigeria, which appears not to be improving.

    He said the erratic power supply “is taking a huge chunk of money from the operators. “So, there is a need to act fast before we have issues. PAT and Watt Renewable Corporation deal will gladly address some of these lapses”, he said.

    Abu said PAT manages about 1,000 towers in Nigeria, which according to him, will double by year end, adding that the firm also has footprints in Ghana.

    Watt Renewable Chief Executive Officer, Oluwole Eweje, also said the partnership is an infrastructure based one, adding that the Nigerian subsidiary will provide alternative power supply to PAT to help it cut expenses on electricity generation by half.

    Eweje said: “We are not just providing power to a business, what we are also doing is to use that as an anchor station to provide power to communities that are without power within the country. We are looking at connecting at about 4,000 new connections, businesses and residential homes. PAT has towers across the country, even in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. We shall be providing them with the facilities.”

    He added: “We have been working on this project since last year before we concluded recently. It is a $20 million (N7.2 billion) deal. It is a long term project. We have got some international investors on this for us. In the first phase, about 45 sites will be rolled out; we are targeting growing organically in the country.”

    Director of Investor Relations, Watt Renewable, Sherisse Alexander, who spoke on the development, noted that for improved services, partnership between telecoms operators and power firms are critical to the development of telecoms sector in Nigeria.

    PAT Financial Controller, Seun Fajebe explained that it is a partnership where the tower firm needs not put money down because there are investment partners.