The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • 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.

  • Firm set to boost Internet service

    Wireless Internet operator, Ambion Wireless, said availability of fast and affordable Internet access will deepen its penetration in the country and bring to the people, the untapped potential of the Internet.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, its Managing Director, Tolulope Buraimah said Ambion will increase Internet penetration through the provision of low cost Internet solutions for its clients. This would allow the country to tap into the many benefits of the Internet.

    Buraimah, who said the firm would leverage on the partnership it has with ATI Telecoms to deploy SuperWiFi, the latest technology in the world, to the country, also said the roll-out of its services would mark the end to the downtime usually associated with the services of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

    “SuperWiFi uses the same signal that television sets use. That means that anywhere there is television signal, there will also be internet connection,” he said, adding that the technology has worked in Japan, the United States, Hong Kong and other parts of the developed world.

    He said the services of the firm would be in phases, adding that Lagos would be the city of first launch while other major cities in the country will follow suit.

    According to experts, the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, has not only created a global audience, it has also provided opportunities for e-commerce, product advertising, do online surveys, provide technical support and obtain customers’ feedback. The Internet also allows for immediate dissemination of information as well as initiate an online discussion.

     

  • Abuja hosts digital Africa confab, exhibition

    Federal Capital Territory has been selected to host the inaugural Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition, slated for April 23-25, this year.

    According to a statement by the organisers of the event, based on the latest statistics from the International Communications Union (ITU), Nigeria, has the largest telecoms market, and the highest number of internet users in the continent as at today.

    The three-day Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition will be held at Nicon Luxury Hotel, in Abuja, the capital city. Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja Sheraton Hotel, Bolingo Hotel, Protea Hotel Asokoro, Chelsea Hotel, Rockview Hotel, and Hampton Suites have been designated as official accommodation hotels for guests expected from around Nigeria, African countries, and the rest of the world.