Category: Infotech

Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has launched the students PC ownership scheme with the theme: “promoting increased access and utilisation of ICTs in education”. The initiative was launched in conjunction with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja.

A statement by the ministry, quoted Mr Johnson as saying that the scheme is a collaborative and mutually beneficial effort among PC assemblers, universities, banks, global technology companies and telecoms companies.

‘’This initiative is entirely technology driven and contributes to the growing number of e-commerce initiatives that will move us to the desired digital, diversified, productive and efficient economy,’’ she said.

She informed participants at the launch that the technology used to power the initiative was developed by a group of extremely talented Nigerian software developers- a testament to the fact that Nigerians can develop a viable and vibrant local software industry catering to the nation’s domestic needs and exportable to other markets.

Mrs. Johnson decried the low PC penetration in Nigeria which is ranked the lowest in Africa. She added that affordability and availability of the devices and the slow pace by which ICTs were being adopted for teaching and learning in secondary and tertiary institutions was partly responsible for the low PC penetration in the country.

Airtel Nigeria has condemned the approval granted three distressed Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to merge.

The development, it warned, was capable of giving undue advantage to that segement over Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication by unleashing anti-competition practices.

Shola Adeyemi of Airtel’s Regulatory Affairs Department, who spoke in Lagos, also faulted the non-delineation of the telecoms market before the study on the levels of competition in the industry. He argued that the action amounted to putting the cart before the horse.

He said: “The proposed merger by the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators (Multilink, MTS and Starcomms), which will establish a single national Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband operator is an action capable of giving the CDMA operators a competitive advantage over GSM operators who are unable to launch LTE services in Nigeria owing to the dearth of spectrum and until release of the Spectrum in 2015 as announced by the NCC.”

He warned that the devlopment might result in the CDMA operators having a dominant position in the broadband market.

Adeyemi, who spoke at NCC Stakeholder’s Forum, lamented the impact of interconnect debts on GSM operators.

He said: “Some CDMA operators do not comply with the terms of the Interconnect Agreements and are owing GSM operators substantial amounts as Interconnect debts. This act has an impact on the operators’ cash flow and network expansion projects as well as increases operators’ bad debt exposure.

“The Commission’s inability to intervene and compel the CDMA operators to pay their debts is spurring them to act with impunity thereby distorting the telecommunications market. It is noteworthy to mention that failure to comply with Interconnection obligations under the Competition Practices Regulations 2007 is a conduct deemed to be substantial lessening of competition.”

Adeyemi recalled that the NCC informed operators in September 2012 that it was conducting a study on the level of competition in the industry and that it had appointed KPMG as its consultants.

He said: “We are concerned that the Commission did not clearly state the specific market in focus and the purpose of the study.(Section 20 of the Competition Practices Regulations, 2007 requires the Commission before examining potential dominance in telecommunications markets to define the relevant markets).”

Adeyemi recalled that when a similar exercise was conducted by the Commission in 2008/2009, leading to the determination on dominance in selected markets in 2010, the market areas in focus were identified prior to the examination of dominance.

“In our view, it is only after a proper market delineation has been carried out that an in-depth market review can be conducted to enable the Commission determine the level of competition as well as whether telecoms operators hold a position of dominance, and, if so whether they are abusing this position by acting in a manner that substantially lessens competition,” he said, adding that the telco has it doors opened to discuss other anti-competitive practices directly with the regulator and consultants.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has faulted the closure of Base Transmission Stations (BTS) by law enforcement agencies because of its members’ refusal to pay spurious charges.

President of the group, Gbenga Adebayo, said the development has taken a toll on quality service delivery, urging the Federal Government to stop the agencies’ illegal activities. The BTS’ closure, he said, is affecting quality of service.

He told The Nation in Lagos that the body might be compelled to seek redress if reason is not allowed to prevail over its quest for more internally generated revenue (IGR). He insisted that resort to extra-judicial methods of employing task forces to forcefully seal off facilities is unacceptable.

He recalled the spate of premeditated attacks on telecoms infrastructure and the losses incured due to the floods that swept across the country, which had combined to challenge quality of services.

“In addition to the above issues faced by our industry, we continue to face closures of functional sites by agencies of government, and we hereby draw the attention of the Federal Government and the public to the continuous incessant and unlawful closure of telecommunication facility sites by some individuals, communities and indeed state authorities, in spite of the disasters that we face,” he said.

According to him, the impunity by the task force using extra-legal means to effect such closures without regard for the inconveniences on telecoms subscribers and the socio-economic disruptions it presents gives great concern.

“We are deeply concerned by this un-ending illegal closure of sites, as it does not enable service recovery and maintenance activities on functional sites,” he said, adding that this would affect service delivery.

Despite the landing of three submarine cables in the country and the bandwidth provided by SAT 3, access cost and speed remain a challenge to Internet users, reports LUCAS AJANAKU

When Joseph Akomolafe bought a modem from one of the service providers for N4,500 a few months ago, he thought his problems wth getting Internet access on his laptop at home were over.

A resident of Ajasa Community, a Lagos suburb, he said he was compelled to buy the modem to stop constant harrassment by plain-clothe policemen who raid cyber cafes. He also thought he could work within the comfort of his home and assist his kids to do their homeworks.

He was wrong as he learnt later that there is no network coverage in his area. “I inserted the modem and waited for it to get installed. Installation completed, I bought recharge card and signed up to a data plan. I was shocked that it could not connect to the Internet. I had to start searching for signal around the neighbourhood. When I eventually got one, the speed was slow and frustrating,” he told The Nation, adding that he had no choice but to give out the modem to his undergraduate younger brother.

The experience of Joseph is similar to that of Richard Adeyemi, a resident of Baruwa, another Lagos suburb. According to Adeyemi, who is self-employed, he had bought the modem of a particular Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator on the recommendation of his friend who lives and works in Ikeja, Lagos. Thinking that what was good for the goose would also be sauce for the gander, he bought the modem and took his time to install it as instructed. “After the installation, I recharged and hooked-up to a data plan. I was disappointed that the signal strenght was not good enough to open the internet pages I wanted. The speed was slow. The waiting game was painful and frustrating,” he said.

The experiece of Akomolafe and that of Adeyemi confirmed those of other Nigerians who have subscribed to one data plan or the other from telecos. Nigerians are disappointed that they are going through this harrowing experience despite the commercial launch of three submarine cables in the country. In addition, they still pay through their noses for services they don’t get. According to them, the monopoly of bandwidth supply hitherto enjoyed by Sat 3 undersea cable through former state-run, but now moribund telco, NITEL, has been broken by the coming on stream of Glo 1, MainOne and the West Afrcan Cable System (WACS) which MTN funded substantially.

The expectation of a new era of low cost and speedy internet access brought about by the promises of owners of the cables, meant that it would lead to a 50 per cent crash in the cost of bandwidth in Nigeria, as it is in other countries where the cables have landing points.

The Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evan, said the country has attained maturity in voice, adding that the next frontier is data. The same sentiment was shared by the Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah.

However, telecoms and submarine cable operators have laid the blame at the footstep of the government, citing the punitive cost of bandwidth in the country.They said submarine cable operators have tried by bringing broadband capacity to the country through their submarine cables, but lamented that the broadband capacities were being underutilised because of the absence of a national backbone infrastructure that will take broadband capacities to the nooks and carnnies of the country for last-mile connectivity.

Director, Regulatory Affairs for Airtel Nigeria, Mr Tobechukwu Okigbo, said the government must address the situation, by fully supporting telecoms operators in taking broadband capacities from the shores of the country, to address the needs of the people in the hinterland, instead of leaving it to the operators alone.

An official of MainOne has given an insight to what is wrong with the system. The official, who spoke in Lagos, said most consumers are yet to feel the impact of the broadband services. The official ascribed the major reason for this, as the paucity of access to infrastructure for the distribution and last mile portion of service provision from existing infrastructure owners to end users, adding that service providers are compelled to choose between developing their own backbone network infrastructure, or are compelled to purchase access from the existing last mile providers at cut throat, uncompetitive prices.

Speaking on the development, Ismail Olubiyi, Chief Executive Officer, Geoid Telecom Nigeria, an internet service provider (ISP), said the absence of last mile infrastructure is responsible for the low speed and high bandwidth cost. “Both Glo 1 and MainOne submarine cables have landing stations, but they have not made provisions for last mile connectivity to all areas. Unless that is looked into, crash in pricing and speed may not be feasible in the forseeable future,” he said.

On the contrary, the Chief Executive Officer, Telecoms Answers Associate, Titi Omo-Ettu, argued that the solution is not in government providing infrastructure, but in making the environment conducive for private investors to do so.

“Many solutions have been thought out and we have identified and recommended them. One solution is the one that our firm has presented to NCC for endorsement and it has been endorsed. We are working now to mobilise the industry to raise the level of penetration of available internet capacity which must be taken from the mouths of the submarine cables in Lagos to all corners of the country.

“Our own solution involves mobilising industry players to confront the barriers to investment and asking for government to support the needs of investors when they come forth. The major barriers are access to funding and building human capacity,” Omo-Ettu said.

Glo 1 undersea cable, which has since gone commercial, is a-9,800km-long cable from the UK through Mauritania, Morocco and 16 West African countries with dedicated extension to New York, anchored at its Landing Station at Alpha Beach, Lekki, Lagos. The $800million undersea cable was fianaced solely by Nigeria’s second national operator, Globacom.

Glo 1 cable is expected to deliver transmission capacity that will radically change Nigeria and Africa’s economic landscape by providing high speed internet services, thereby making telecom services much faster, more reliable and cheaper for consumers.

With a capacity of 640 Gigabit per second and an ultimate capacity of 2.5 Terabit per second, experts say its ultimate capacity is enough to cater for the required broadband capacity of Nigeria for at least in the next 15 to 20 years.

The facility will provide the needed opportunity for West African countries and, indeed, Africa to leap-frog economically through an excellent communication network and a cost-effective voice, data, video and e-commerce services across Africa, Europe and elsewhere.

With 99.9 per cent up time reliability, world-class long distance voice, video and data communication services for African customers, the undersea cable will support the large bandwidth requirements of direct consumers and other service providers.

The firm said the cable will free up resources for other forms of investments which governments and business developments need through broad market coverage at high capacity and at a fraction of cost and time, and also facilitate foreign investment and employment opportunities in the sub region.

The Intrepid, the ship which brought the Glo 1 cable, left for Accra, Ghana to complete the Phase One of the installation in other West African countries, including Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire. Glo 1 in Ghana will also boost the nationwide launch of Glo Mobile Ghana. Glo also said the Phase two of the submarine cable project will connect South Africa through Angola.

The MainOne submarine fibre optic cable involves, the laying of 7,000 kilometres of submarine fibre optic cable between Seixal (a suburb of Lisbon) in Portugal, Accra in Ghana, and Lagos. The system is based on a trunk-and-branch topology, and it includes branching units to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. The 1.92 Terabits per second of available bandwidth, is being leased wholesale to telecoms operators and internet service providers on an open access basis, thereby encouraging competitive pricing and large customer base.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke, with 1.92Terabites per ssecond in submarine capacity, MainOne is capable of effectively servicing the connectivity requirements of West Africa.

Sector analysts say the investments are coming at an appropriate time as it will unlock the constrained West African telecoms market and boost the economic potential of the region. “A compelling opportunity exists to lower the restrictive cost of international telecoms and significantly expand internet access via submarine cable, which will lead to greater efficiency and more competitive business. MainOne is an important step towards realising this opportunity,” an expert said.

WACS is 500 Gb/s initial capacity upgradable to 5.12 Tb/s, the most of any undersea cable landing in Africa to date, a capcity which is actually too much for coastal areas with direct access. In most of the nations served by the WACS cable, mobile broadband will become a reality. 4G and LTE will truly be possible. MTN Nigeria said it has rolled out a bouquet of services running on the new ultra-high capacity submarine cable. The services, according to the telco, are being rolled out and managed by MTN Business, a division of the company focused on business-to-business solutions.

THE Director-General, National Lottery and Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr Peter Igho, has called on the National Assembly to pass a law on intrusive and unsolicited calls by telecoms operators.

Most of these calls, he said, were “telemarketing cold calls” foisted on the customers, mostly at odd hours of the day.

“Telemarketing is marketing conducted over the telephone. Most telemarketing calls are ‘cold calls’ meaning the recipeints of the call has not requested that the telemarketer contact him/her,” he said, adding that apart from the fact that such calls have been associated with various scams and fraud, they are aften considered as provocative, espaecially when they occur during dinner hours, early in the morning, in the middle of an important meeting, late in the evenings or in the middle of the night.

Igho, who spoke in Lagos, said in some countries, telemarketing is subject to regulatory and legislative controls related to consumers’ privacy and protection. He therefore wants the Nigerian parliament to pass a law that will make it a criminal offence for any operator to call its subscribers without the consent of such subscribers.

“In some countries, telemarketing is subject to regulatory and legislative controls related to consumers’ privacy and protection. Unfortunatley, such legislations are yet to be enacted in Nigeria. The Nigerian parliament should enact a law that criminalises unsolicited and intrusive telemarketing at odd hours,” he said.

According to him, the US has restricted telemarketing at the federal level through the enactment of the Telephone Comsumer Protection Act of 1991, adding that many professional associations of telemarketers have codes of ethics and standards that members comply with.

While some jurisdictions have impelemented, he warned ‘do not call’ lists through either legislation or industry oganisations, telemarketrs are barred from initiating contacts with subscribers.

“Legislative versions often provide for heavy penalties on companies which call individuals on these listings. The US Federal Trade Commission has implemented a National do Not Call Registry in an attempt to reduce intrusive telemarketing naionwide,” he said.

He also cited Canada as another country where telemarketing is under strcit regulation, adding that it is now being handled by the Canadian Radio-Televison and Telecommunication Commissio while in Australia, the practice is restricted by the Australian Federal Government and poilced by the Austrian Communications and Media Authority. He said Austrian government restricts calling hours for both research and marketing, urging the National Assembly to take steps to halt the practice in Nigeria.

New Horizons Nigeria, a franchise of New Horizons Worldwide, world’s largest independent IT training organisation with offices in 80 countries and six continents has emerged Microsoft 2012 Valued Partner, putting the organisation in the top five per cent of Microsoft’s ecosystem globally.

A statement by the firm explains that Microsoft competency differentiates organisations such as New Horizons in the business world and enables the organisation to capitalise on market opportunity with tailored benefits such as eligibility for a direct relationship with Microsoft, customer technical sales and advisory services, and prioritized exposure on the Microsoft customer marketplace.

The MD/CEO of New Horizons, Nigeria, Mr Tim Akano, said this partnership is an added advantage to New Horizons, which is a fast growing organisation with strong interest in the growth and development of the ICT and e-business aspect of Nigeria’s economy, as it will increase the nation’s opportunity to have more Microsoft Certified Professionals.

Furthermore, he said New Horizons will continually use its unparalleled knowledge gathered in its 30 years of operations in 80 countries and six continents to ensure best IT and e-business trainings for Nigerians.

Akano said, “With our robust relationships with Microsoft, EC-Council, Oracle, Cisco, Certiport, Certified Biometrics Professional (CBP), Linux and Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP) the future is bright for the Nigerian ITProfessionals.”

The firm empowers about 50,000 Nigerians yearly in universities, schools, military, and corporate organisations.

Ahead of complete migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, GOtv, which premiered the second generation Digital Video Broadcast Technology (DVB-T2), when it launched its direct terrestrial television service last year, has restated its commitement to quality.

With the launch of the technology came a bold announcement to deliver its service on the most up-to-date technology platform.

The advertisement of that intent has left competitors (still dependent on the outdated DVB-T or T1 technology) playing catch up. Of GOtv’s decision to adopt the most modern technology, Chief Adewunmi Ogunsanya, chairman, Details Nigeria, promoters of GOtv, said: “We are very excited to about the launch of GOtv, a true testament of our vision to democratise the pay television landscape in the country and make digital television services a must-have for all Nigerians. This launch forms part of our broad-based strategy to contribute to Nigeria’s digital migration through sensible infrastructure investments and competitive service delivery.”

Compared with its analogue cousin (T1 technology), DVB-T2 is a geological age ahead. For the end-user, digital television has potential for resolutions and sound fidelity comparable with blu-ray home video and with digital multiplexing. It also offers the possibility of sub-channels and distinct simulcast programming from the same broadcaster.

For government and industry, digital television re-allocates the radio spectrum so that it can be auctioned off by the government. In the auctions, telecommunications companies can introduce new services and products in mobile telephony, wi-fi internet, and other nationwide telecommunications projects.

In addition, digital broadcasting creates improvements in video and sound quality that gives room for high definition television. Moreover, the transmission and reception of broadcasting data expands to other different platforms, including mobile phone TV, Internet Broadcasting IPTV, DVB-h (Digital Video Broadcasting – camcorder).

The superior technology of GOtv also offers a wider spectrum than T1 and is more efficient. At its best, T1 allows for an upload of about 20 channels on a platform. T2, on the other hand, yields about thrice that size. This is about 60 channels on its platform, given the same bandwidth. Another edge it has is that it experiences less interference than what obtains in T1

GOtv’s launch came at a time the country is slowly kicking off its drive towards the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) goal of migrating TV broadcasting from an analogue to digital platform by the year 2015. Already, five cities–Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Kano– currently enjoy digital television transmission.

Digital migration, according to the government, will spark domestic production of set-top boxes. Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said the government is wooing foreign and local companies to invest in the production of digital TV set-top boxes, with the hope of producing 20 million set top boxes.

“I don’t believe that we should repeat the same mistakes we made in the past. We are partnering with the Ministry of Trade and Investment to encourage and incentivise companies, both those established inside and outside Nigeria to take advantage of the coming digital migration because there will be a need for companies that manufacture set top boxes,” she said.

But there a are fears that these arrangements may not meet deadline, as such are yet to kick off.

Mr. Mayo Okunola, General Manager of GOtv Nigeria, explained that the GOtv platform was designed to make digital television available to all. “The GOtv brand was specially created to make available an affordable digital television services for all. When people think digital television, they immediately imagine it has to be expensive. This is not the case with GOtv, which offers great family entertainment at affordable prices,” Okunola explained.

With less than N10, 000, a subscriber can acquire a GOtv decoder, install it by himself and enjoy premium content for as little as N8, 000 or N9, 500 for GOtv and GOtv Plus respectively. The package comes with a three-month free subscription. At the expiration of the initial three months, subscribers will have to renew their subscriptions, depending on their choice of bouquet, for N1, 000 and N1, 500 respectively.

GOtv bouquet offers a rich menu of 25 channels, while GOtv Plus has all the 25 channels on GOtv plus additional seven channels, including CNN, Sony Entertainment TV (SET), SuperSport Blitz, NatGeo Wild, Disney Junior, MTV Base and the primary AfricaMagic channel–an aggergate of 32 top-tier channels.

For fans African entertainment, GOtv offers five AfricaMagic channels. These are AfricaMagic, AfricaMagic Hausa, AfricaMagic Movies, AfricaMagic World and AfricaMagic Yoruba– channels through which Africans confront the distortions normally associated with viewing through non-African prisms.

Desirous of engaging its numerous customers Peppe Terra, has opened an acount with popular social media, Facebook.

According to a statement by the firm, the Peppe Terra Facebook page is an innovative and user friendly presence on the web, with modern approach to cooking that is slowly evolving as the ultimate destination for cooking related discussions, updates and chats – all pertaining to a lively mix of authentic and modern culinary practice in Nigeria. It features information and interaction on recipes, ingredients, cooking trends and consumer perceptions on cooking and food in general.

It added that it is poised to using this engaging social media, beside twitter and google plus, to add a more personal touch to its marketing campaigns, as well as communicate with the consumers on a direct one to one basis.

Peppe Terra, with its promise of “No Stress – No Mess – Peppe Terra – All Plus”, was launched in Nigeria in December, 2010 and the response from the consumer has been extraordinary.

Roy Deepanjan, Managing Director, TGI Nigeria Limited (the makers of Peppe Terra, from the House of Chi) said: “Peppe Terra with its phenomenal franchise amongst consumer will always try to engage with her consumers through every possible touchpoint and Facebook was just one of the options. The Facebook page has developed an online community where consumers log in on a regular basis, to learn, discuss and share views on Nigerian cooking, food & recipes.”