The Nation Newspaper

Tag: internet

  • Expert decries high cost of internet service in Nigeria

    Expert decries high cost of internet service in Nigeria

    An Ilorin-based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert, Mr Rasheed Olajogun, said high cost of Internet service was affecting businesses in the country.

    Olajogun stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) over the weekend in Ilorin.

    He said a lot of businesses could be done if there was “affordable, steady and stable Internet service”.

    He said students in various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria would also boost their studies if Internet service was affordable.

    The ICT expert noted that affordable cost of the service would also improve research work in the nation’s universities, as well as improve data collection, which he said the country was lagging behind.

    “The fact that the country’s education system now revolves round Internet usage means that the service must be affordable.

    “The federal government must also ensure that Internet is available in rural areas too.

    “This will mean that candidates from there need not to come to the city to register for their JAMB, NECO and WAEC examinations,” he added.

  • ‘Internet penetration stands at 6%’

    ‘Internet penetration stands at 6%’

    • $25b spent on telecoms infrastructure

    Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, has said over the last one decade, a total of $25 billion has been spent in the provision of telecoms infrastructure, lamenting that a paltry six per cent internet penetration has so far been achieved.

    She said a lot more funding is required if penetration is to be deepened, adding that overnment will focus on the provision of the physical infrastructure and place emphasis on affordability.

    Omobola who spoke on Bloomberg TV during her recnt visit to Sillicon Valley, the United States of America (USA) to showcase the potentials of the nation’s information communication technology (ICT) sector, said her misison was not to create another Sillicon Valley in Nigeria but to take some lessons away from the experience of the US, especially how Sillicon Valley has helped to build big IT companies.

    “Nigeria is a fast growing IT industry. It has been grwoing at 20 per cent over the last five years,” she said, lamenting that local content has been so insignificant.

    “What we are trying to do is create more Nigerian companies. We are here at Sillicon Valley to learn how Sillicon Vallye has helped to create some of the largest IT companies in the world. What is it that they have done? We are not trying to create another Sillicon Valley but trying to see what they have done (in order to domseticate that in Nigeria) to create more local companies,” she said.

    According to her while mobile subcription has passed the 1000 million mark, the same could not be said of internet penetration which she put at 45 million out of a population of 170 million people.

    “Internet penetration is important. Obviously we have a long way to go. So for us, the priority is first to connect the physical infrastrucure and then we talk about access and affordability,” she said, lamenting that 70 per cent of the population are still the rural folks without “significant earning capacity.”

    She said after putting the physical infrastructure in place, the next prioroty will be to drive affordability which will impact on accessibility because a lot of the youths have been excluded from the benefits arising from e-health, e-education and others associated with the internet.

  • Curbing internet vulnerability

    A few years after I was born, my father met with a stranger.  From the beginning, dad invited him to live with our family and the stranger quickly accepted and was around from then on.  As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.

    In my young mind, he had a special niche.  My parents were complementary instructors: mum taught me good from evil and dad taught me to obey.  But the stranger…he was our storyteller.  He would keep us spell bound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.  If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed to predict the future!  He made me laugh and he made me cry.

    The stranger never stopped talking but dad did not seem to mind.

    Many years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family.  He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.  His name?  We just call him TV.

    He has a wife now.  We call her Computer.  Their first child is Cell Phone; second child is iPod.  By the way, they now have a wonderful grandchild.  She is a genius!  She is fondly called Blackberry; BB for short.  She is nearly more popular than her mum.  Her new baby cousin is iPad.  This stranger has decided to take up permanent residence in our house.  What can we do?

    The internet is neutral – can be asked to do anything.  So, if there is any problem, it is with those that give it instruction.  The information society in which children and young people all over the world are growing up offers an unprecedented level of services and information which can be accessed through the computer, mobile phone, game console, iPod, iPad, personal digital assistants etc.

    As a neutral tool for disseminating data, the internet can be used for good or for ill.  It has enormous potential as a source of education for people of all ages and capacities.  It can also be used to set online traps to exploit users for criminal purposes.  Among those who are most vulnerable to such traps are children.

    The risks and vulnerabilities related to the use of the internet include: exposure to illegal and harmful content such as pornography, gambling, brain washing and recruitment for terrorist activities, cyber bullying and inappropriate content; disclosure of personal information leading to the risk of physical harm, sexual abuse and identity theft; creation, reception and dissemination of illegal and harmful content; and excessive use of the internet to the detriment of social and or outdoor activities, important for health, confidence building and social development and general well being.

    Others are unauthorized use of the parents’ credit cards to pay for online services and merchandise and targeting through spam and advertisements from companies using internet sites to promote age or interest targeted products.

    Child abuse materials emanating from other countries are thriving in Nigeria, exploiting children users’ ignorance and vulnerability of the internet infrastructure.  As Nigeria comes to terms with issues of child abuse materials and commits to the protection, Nigeria does not have sufficient legislation to combat child pornography and related matters.

    Internet has become the single largest domain where Nigerian youths are presently being engaged.  The reality in today’s Nigeria digital world has transformed individual lifestyle.  The Nigerian youth’s daily life, from villages to cities, is full with SMS, e-mail, chats, online dating, multiplayer gaming, virtual worlds and digital multimedia.  Although, these technologies mean added convenience and enjoyment for many, government and users alike are often one step behind the fast paced innovation in these areas.

    Diokpa writes from Lagos.

  • Subscribers’ Internet services blues

    Subscribers’ Internet services blues

    The coming of the internet turned the world into a global village. In realisation of this fact, Chief Executive Officer, SO4 Engineering, Soji Oluwasuyi, designs his works and sends to his clients in Port Harcourt, Bayelsa, Abuja and other parts of the country through the internet. He does this at a cybercafe in his neighbourhood until he was embarrassed by security men who claimed they were looking for advance fee fraudsters in the cybercafe. He promptly bought a modem valued at N4999 from one of the service providers and signed onto a data bundle plan of N6,000 monthly.

    “I needed to send a drawing to a client in Abuja. I tried several times to send the material but it was fruitless. I called my service provider to complain but was assured that my problem would be solved. The problem lingered for three days until I was forced to explore the cybercafe option in the adjoining street,” he said.

    Muyiwa, a Lagos based journalist has a similar story to tell. Muyiwa, who subscribers to the only surviving code division multpile access (CDMA) operator in the country, was upbeat when he got the modem. He was encouraged to buy the modem because his colleagues in the office had vouched for the integrity of the service provider.

    “I got the modem. Initially it was working but suddenly, its services went down. I was using the modem of one of the GSM operators. The problem I had with the GSM was that network can only be assessed in my office. And I like to work as much as I could from home but there is usually no network service in my area. So, my colleagues recommended this to me, I bought it only to get my fingers burnt,” he lamented.

    Oluwasuyi and Muyiwa are but few of several data subscribers in the country who subscribe to data plans, pay from their nostrils but never get the speed and bandwidth promised by the service providers.

    When there is outage due to no cause of the subscribers, they are usually not compensated for the downtime. Again, when subscribers take up bundle plans and buy a particular number of megabytes (megs) but due to low usage, they were not able to exhaust the meg, such megs are rarely rolled over when the subscribers renew the contract at the end of the contract terms. However, when a subscriber uses up the megs purchased, the operator does not blink an eye lid before snaping its services.

    President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Deolu Ogunbanjo, lamented the exploitative situation, adding that in an ideal setting, people should not pay for services not rendered.

    “It is worriosme. Unfortunately, between 80 and 90 per cent of complaints is for voice calls. Twelve years after the telecoms revolution, focus is still on voice clarity but because less than 20 per cent of subscribers actually get dongles, attention has not been on the quality of data services. From our findings, only one of out every ten complaints is about data services. Again, many subscribers now prefer phones that are internet-enabled, regardless of whether they are literate or not.

    “But it is worrisome because when you now complain, the operators will tell you that a committee has been set up on the implementation of the national broadband policy of the Federal Government. They will enjoin the subscriber to wait and things would get better,” he said.

    He said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) should compel the operators to create a special icon on their website so that complaints could be lodged there. “NCC should encourage operators to put proper consumer management in place. It should not take an operator up to 24 hours to address subscriber’s complain but it takes weeks in the country,” he said.

    Telecoms operators agree that subscribers should not pay for services not rendered. President of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said: “Subscribers should not be charged for unsused data subscription period. Charges should be based on actual consumption and not expiry dates. However, subscribers should pay attention to the details of the subscription that they make. Some of those details are stated in terms which most people either don’t read or do not understand if they read.”

    The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) said the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) is another window of opportunity opened to the subscribers to ditch an ineffiecient operator. President of the group, Lanre Ajayi, agreed that subscribers have been having issues with the data services which have not been addressed. “The good thing is that there is MNP. The only limiting factor could be the terminal head of the dongle but what is common now are dongles with generic terminal. That means the only thing to change is the SIM card. Competition will enthrone quality service delivery,” he said.

    He advised subscribers to always read the terms of contract before siging it. According to him, it is not wise for a subscriber to agree to a term that allows him/her to forfeit his unused megabyte. “Then the NCC must keep deepening the competition space for the subscribers,” he said.

    President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Bayo Banjo, said unless the Federal Government steps in, subscribers will continue to graon. According to him, the cost of bandwidth is too high and only the rich can afford it. “The cost of badwidth is too expensive. Bandwidth is technically free but the cost of transportation. The Federal Government should subsidise the cost of bandwidth. It could use its amortised cable, SAT 3 or NigComSat to crash the high cost of bandwidth in the country,” he said, adding that in South Korea, internet is free except in homes.

    “What the companies are doing is that they are sharing. Service will remain bad because the average Nigerian cannot afford the cost of bandwidth. That is the cause. Government should subsidise bandwidth so that when the customer base becomes large, there will be economies of scale. MainOne has promised that if it attains certain level of volume, it would bring the cost of one meg to $25 per month which translates to N3000 for one meg. The firm needs that volume, so what people are doing now, if you look at Mobitel, Spectranet, they are giving you one meg at 10,000 per month but in truth, it is really not one meg they are giving. That explains why you have the slow speed,” he said.

    An operator, who craved anonymity, said the harsh operating environment has added to the woes of the telecoms sector. According to him, cables are wilfully vandalised by people who feel they could make money out of the copper which is not there. He said businesses have to pay for two optic fibre cables (OFCs) so that they could have redundant capacities, adding that in most cases, the two cables get vandalised. “At Saka Tinubu, OFCs were damaged due to ongoing road construction. Services would naturally be disrupted. The cost of energy is another crushing cost. We spend heavily on running generators. The Federal Government continues to make empty promises about the power sector. So, it is really challenging doing business in Nigeria,” he said.

    MyBrodaband defined the internet as the worldwide interconnection of individual networks operated by government, industry, academia, and private parties. Originally, the Internet served to interconnect laboratories engaged in government research, and since 1994 it has been expanded to serve millions of users and a multitude of purposes in all parts of the world.

  • Internet addiction, a mental health condition

    Internet addiction, a mental health condition

    Helen Obiageli Oshikoya read Law, Politics and Economics at St Mary’s Hall in Oxford. She came back to Nigeria and did Law conversion, LLB at the Lagos State University (LASU) and worked with Mobil and Bristol Helicopters before going into mental health and psycho educational learning. Yetunde Oladeinde speaks with Oshikoya, who is the initiator of Nobelova Gradiani, about her passion and more.

     

    WHY did you opt for Law?

    I read Law because I wanted to please my parents. I wanted to be a teacher, an actress or anything that would let me express myself and have people around me. I was the only child for about 7 years. There was a time that I used to buy friends; I did everything possible just to have friends. At the end of the day, I realised that this was not what I needed.

    Tell us about your parents and how they influenced your life?

    My father, Col. P.A Aniekwe, went to Sandhurst. He was in the Biafran army and he later joined the Nigerian army after the civil war. My mother is half Irish (mum) while her father is from the ruling family of the Obong of Calabar. She worked with the Ministry of Agriculture where she was in control of the presidential livestock. She has retired now but she still does things in this area.

    Which was your first job?

    I went to work in Mobil and I was in the legal department for about 18 months. From there I went to Bristol helicopters in the United States where my step father is the chairman. I later did my masters in social science specialising in core social science subject which is a Child Development Mental Healthcare, Juvenile Delinquency, Probational Services, Educational Learning Assessment in the Open University, Milton Keys in the United Kingdom and I graduated in 2005.

    I am a member of the Nigerian Psychological Association, British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association and certified to perform both clinical and educational assessments. I have provided hospitals, schools and establishments with the best in developmental, educational and psychometric tests; also provided interventions and workforce engage programmes that really work.

    At what point did you go into psycho-educational services?

    It started off as a tutorial service thing called SIM (Success is Mind). What I had in mind was to help children overcome challenges in learning. After a while, I noted that there was no amount of techniques that could help, they weren’t helped developmentally. So I plotted a team that would watch children from the hospital up to the end of their education.

    Basically track them developmentally and surveying the child. What happened was that I needed to construct a team. So I looked at the system and the way it was done in the UK. From the pediatrician to a development therapist like myself. If there is a challenge with development, then a psychiatrist is required but if it’s educational then it is a therapist.

    So I sourced around for the best in those areas and pulled them together. I first went into a partnership called Success is Mind (SIM) psycho-educational services. Along the line, the vision became more diversified and I created another called Nobelova Gradani that has more areas. Here I pulled expertise from the United Kingdom and America.

    What was the focus here?

    We actually focused on three needs in the society and the first is development surveillance. This is the process where we check children in hospitals to see that children are developing well, through developmental screening to check development delays and disorders. The most severe case is the autism stage. Autism is a group of development brain disorders collectively called autism spectrum disorders.

    There are five of them and they are termed pervasive disorders. These include classified Autism, Aserger, Pervasive Developmental Disorder PDNO, Retts Disorder and the Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. It depends on which area the child falls on. Initially, they start off as a delay and it takes a while before the child is declared Autistic.

    What’s the difference between Autism and Cerebral Palsy?

    Cerebral palsy arises as a result of some brain trauma either during pregnancy or after the child has been born. It results in the way that some parts of the body are not coordinating well. The child has learning disability or inability to speak too.

    So what are some of the challenges you face doing this?

    The challenges I face include awareness about the screening and a lot of parents have not been told the dangers of not screening their children. Five in every 100 kids are on the Autism spectrum and the numbers are increasing. The attitude here is if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. We are not into preventive but we need to reduce the impact of the outcome. It’s a lifelong thing and it renders the child to be totally dependent on others. There is also the ignorance between mental health and mental illness.

    Do you restrict your coverage to children?

    We extend beyond children and we graduate to schools where we have school health units. We make sure that the children are healthy. Unfortunately, many think that because a child does not have physical impairment, then he is okay. For instance, a child that has autism may not look it but the child is not well enough for learning.

    The UBE initiative of 2004 says that every child has the right to health in spite of the child’s health. We do eye, ear, scoliosis, dental and screening for learning disabilities. We also moved in from psychological well being to mental health that includes adolescents and adults.

    We have a lot of traffic here; a lot of adolescents and adults who have mid-life crisis, matrimonial issues, suppressed memories of sexual abuse and domestic violence. There are some conditions that need treatment, going to church alone can’t do it. For Autism, there are some supervised medications that must be taken. Parents should stop seeking counselling from people who are not qualified.

    Can you tell us about one or two cases that you handled?

    There was an instance of a child who could not talk properly and it was misdiagnosed as autism. We did screening and discovered that he had a speech and language disorder. Interventions were put into place and today he can talk. I also worked with a child who had Down syndrome and it was so profound that she was not meant to walk till she was 10 years old. She was about three years at that point and after working with her, she walked six months after. We have the inclusion unit at Leaves Green, Magodo and King’s School, Gbagada. The learning support units are normal education unit in mainstream schools. Here they get normal education with their therapy.

    Do you have current figures?

    Well, for Autism, one in a hundred kids is affected while you have 5 in 100 for adolescence. While the mental conditions are as a result of environmental factors like peer pressure, sexual abuse, drug addiction, as well as internet addiction and addiction to pornography. The 2013 mental health act now has included addiction to internet as a mental health condition. In China they have centres that deal with this and you have children where no matter what they cannot detach themselves from cartoon, chatting and browsing without destinations. It is a growing concern and it should be taken seriously. It creates anti-social behaviour and when a child does this they are fertile ground for people sourcing for children to be used as sleeping cells for terrorism.

    The internet is designed to pull in children that are anti-social, captivate them, keep them intrigued and make them believe that they can’t do without it. That is how terrorists capture them. For instance, Facebook says you must be over 15 years to open an account but a lot of parents open accounts for their kids. These days when children go to parties and are faced with peers on the same table they can chat with, they ping instead and you have low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is a mental health problem. The criteria for mental health are very wide and in Nigeria, almost everyone is at risk.

    How would you describe the Boko Haram crisis in this context?

    For someone to sit down and plot to kill is something else. I don’t believe that such a person is well. It still comes to the issue of anti-social behaviour as seeds for mental health. You need to have predisposing conditions or factors. There are some behaviours that are not normal like being eccentric, violence, suppression, hatred and segregation.

    They all create fertile ground for people with violent ideologies to penetrate. We need to protect our children. Drugs and alcohol are known to kids but they cannot see the psycho damage and mental health. You need to have predisposing conditions or factors.

    I am working on a book titled, “My personal childhood development surveillance records”. It is a book which monitors children’s development and it has the development screening in it. When the baby is born, the book is given to mother to write vital information about the baby. Most times, you find that mothers of children who have brain damage can’t tell you if the baby cried or not. If the baby didn’t cry, it means that the child may have lost oxygen. When I had my daughter, her lungs weren’t working and some emergency measures were used. I was hemorrhaging and she had to be resuscitated. Time is of essence. Mothers must be knowledgeable and ask about the birth process. You have the right to ask. Unfortunately, when you ask parents whose kids have problems fundamental questions they usually have no answers.

  • New kid on the internet block

    T HE Chief Executive, Business Impact Limited, Olatunde Samson, hit it at 24. He was an undergraduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, when he started his own company.

    He started after seeing potential business opportunities. He studied Business Administration and graduated in 2007. They call him the youngest whiz kid because of his exploits on the Internet.

    He moved from receiving N4,000 as a monthly allowance from his parents to making his first million while in the university.

    His company trains young entrepreneurs on how to build and sustain their businesses. Samson is an example of success, because he overcame poverty to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs today.

    A characteristic that has set Samson apart, is his strong will to achieve and a resourceful spirit. His first taste of success was in online business. He poured his life into the business.

    “I came about Internet business when I was in 200 level. After gaining admission, I studied the environment for one year and I discovered that you have to do something to keep body and soul together.

    “When I got to 200 level, I tried to raise funds to augment my little allowance from my home. That was how I stumbled on Internet business. It was my pastor at RCCG (Maranatha Parish) that introduced me to the business. He was also into Internet business. That was how I started. The pastor monitors my progress even up till today. The Internet business is what I do for a living.

    Though young, inexperienced and without capital then, Samson took the leap of faith and started his own company. Not having enough business knowledge, he had to learn the rudiments from his mentors.

    On how he made his first break from the Internet business, Samson said: ”What I did to make my first million was to sell products of experts. We call it resale right business.

    “Different experts write often to create products, which they put on the net for sale they give copyright out after you buy.

    “You can re-brand the product. Change the name if you like or sell it the way it is, you will make your money. It is a legal business. The first method I used was to get access to those products. I observed that most Nigerians were not open to making money on the Internet. I had to look for a way to recreate the product, then resell it. I made N2.5 million in two weeks in September 2008 from creating and selling my products. What I did was to turn what I know to a video. I did about six videos on how to go about the business .

    “I combined the videos and sold it out to Nigerians. In two weeks, my income was N2.5 million.”

    Looking back, Samson has proved to be a skilled risk-taker, who has demonstrated intuitive ability to recognise and meet unfilled needs in the market. His eye for innovation spills over to all areas of the business, as he is continually seeking out and listening for new ways to improve life for the company’s clients and team members. Samson has come a long way.

    “Doing everything on my own without outside help; and growing it to this point with no large capital investment”is his greatest business accomplishment. He has a tremendous amount of energy, which is balanced between his entrepreneurial and technical abilities.

    That is, his talent lies both in starting ventures and following through with the attention it takes to sustain them at a level of excellence. He saw an unclaimed, yet promising niche in the computer industry that people failed to see.

    According to him, there are a lot of things to do on the Interne . “We have a lot of opportunities, but some will not work for Nigerians because of limitations brought about by yahoo-yahoo boys.

    “We have close to 25 businesses we can do on the Internet. What you have to do is to get a computer system (Pentium 11 or 111) or a laptop, am internet connection and you need the basic knowledge on how to use the Internet effectively. You need someone to mentor you. You also need focus and dedication. Lastly, you need God to bless you. One thing about Internet business is that if you can locate a need, you create solution for it. You will keep on making money in Nigeria.

    “If you look around, you will see different opportunities, different needs which need solution. People need you to give them solution and they will pay you any amount. What we did was to look for a loophole of what people could do to make a living. We were able to locate the need, create solution to it by putting it on video. Till today, we are still selling the videos. The package is N25,000.“

    For his efforts, Success Digest awarded him the Small Business Person of the Year. The entrepreneur must have a backbone, and capacity to sustain and to be agile enough to organise ideas and business growth, he said.

    He is committed to helping the unemployed. He is working with non-profit organisations to help them start home-based businesses. He believes his aims are achievable. His vision is to expand.

    His advice to young Nigerians: “One of the greatest instruments that can help to achieve this is for young people to develop a new mindset. We must begin to see possibilities in impossibilities.

    “The Nigerian dream is a possibility and we youths must not focus on the ills of this country but see bliss. John Mason wrote that Edison was afraid of the dark—yet he overcame that obstacle in a big way and invented the light bulb.

    “That should be our attitude to Nigeria.We must cease to be complainers, but endeavour to be problem solvers. What’s more, Charles Caleb Colton said: ‘Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is the one elicited from the darkest storm.’

    “So every youth must make sure to see gains even in the midst of pains and then take up the campaign for peace and positive change. Firstly, however, we must heed the words of the legendary Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

     

  • How to make money selling information on Internet

    For women interested in starting a new business, Efe Imiren, the Chief Executive of Service Forts Resources Limited, is a good example.

    Describing her entrepreneurship spirit as innate, Imiren said she began to hone her skills in 1999 during her undergraduate years. With the advent of the Internet, she turned her passion into a profitable business named Service Forts Resources Ltd.

    What motivated her to do this business? She said: “I walked into the business. I had the idea of building a seminar and a travel company to provide consultancy services. Consequently, I began to create my business plan and other stuff you do when you want to set up a company. During that preparation stage, I got to hear of something called information marketing business workshop. I had never heard anything like that in Nigeria, so I attended, and that was where I learnt that the business I was planning to set up is called information marketing business.” She earned her first income online in 2008.

    She made her first sale online as an affiliate of a web hosting business. Right from the day she left the university for the career world, Imiren has been involved in information marketing business. “My career path had always been in selling information for a living. However, I didn’t know it was called information marketing until my mum gave me a copy of Success Digest and for the first time in my life, I saw an advert for a seminar calling for prospects to attend a training called Information Marketing Business Workshop. By this time, I had written a business plan, which was centred on selling high profile seminars for a living, and I was going through the business plan with my dad when my mum shoved a copy of Success Digest into my hands. That first training, which took place for the first- time ever in Nigeria at Success Attitude Development Centre (SADC), turned my life around for good. With this training, and the Lord’s backing, I have within three years established six companies (all registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under the vibrant brand name Service Forts. Each of these companies is information marketing business all turning in millions – and they are all heavily driven by one factor – my internet marketing prowess. I earn a consistent six figure income per month and sometimes close to N1 million working online from the comfort of my computer – selling information.”

    According to her, anybody with access to the same information and training that she has can achieve the same results – if not better. When she ventured into the business, she had N26,000 on her, which was savings from paid employment.“I used N10,000 to buy two videos from a guru and used N6,000 to register for a seminar being organised by the same guru and the balance to fix the nuts and bolts required to kick-start my business,” she said.

    Imiren listed the challenges she encountered when she started to include information overload (including over-delivered seminars or e-books with no clear pathway on what to do now), lack of technical know-how, lack of a marketing system and inability to discern where or how to start.

    She believes she was divinely led. “The Lord helped me to quickly locate the shoulder of an industry giant on which I can stand on. Newton said if you stand on the shoulders of giant, you would see farther than your peers and I believe in most cases, this helps you make the right decisions. To conquer the information overload and know exactly what to do now, I became connected to a guru who showed me what to do, how to do it and when to do it.”

    To overcome the technical challenges, she bought materials, read and vowed not to attend any other seminar until she had produced results from the ones she had attended.

    “What I did was to study all the materials (especially the videos) and bonuses I got from previously attended seminars, day and night. Success doesn’t just jump on you, all the gurus going about shouting and churning out “how-I-made N3million-in-three-weeks-infoproducts” ask them, they studied one material or another and put it to work.”

    Imiren’s company is running seminars in Abuja, Warri and Port Harcourt this year to lift Nigerians out of poverty. These seminars cover importation, travel and web consulting .

    Her company is also organising a tour of five European countries for all first-time travelers.

    She has developed a wonderful support system for families, friends, and employees who want to veer into a new business venture.

    Her counsel is that they do something they’re good at and make sure there is a need for their products or services by testing the market.

    A major challenge facing small business owners is growing their companies — which are often self-funded. She said always keeping an eye on ways to cut costs is the way to go.

    She defines her main expenses and monitors them. She closely monitors her products, and ensures that she doesn’t slow cash flow by purchasing inventory she doesn’t need and has enough on hand to keep customers happy.

    Today, she enjoys a successful career as a speaker, author, consultant and trainer.

    Imiren can be reached through these websites:http://www.ServiceForts.comhttp://www.VacationCruiseWorld.comhttp://www.MyHoneyMoonGuide.com

  • Internet service providers oppose sale of 2.3GHz band

    Internet service providers oppose sale of 2.3GHz band

    Internet Service Providers (ISPs) yesterday kicked against the sale of the remaining spectrum in the 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) band. They insisted that it will compound the misfortune of operators within the band.

    Atel Ajha, chief operating officer (COO) of Spectranet spoke on behalf of two other operators, Mobitel and DOPC, at a forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the ‘Best Option for Licensing the Remaining Slots in the 2.3Ghz Band’. He claimed that instead of selling the remaining slots to fresh operators, they (currently operating within the band) should be given the opprotunity to buy it.

    According to him, the standard practice all over the world is that operators in the band range are given 30 MHz, suggesting that guardband of between 2.3Ghz and 2.4Ghz should also be provided to take care of interference.

    According to him, the request is predicated on the need to extend service deployement to other states of the federation with superior technology and new customers’ experience.

    He warned that “Today’s planning must provide for future technology requirment,” arguing that the proposal of the NCC to open bid for the 30 MHz will unleash an era of “unfair competition”on the industry.

    Ajha lamented that there is no significant wireless operators in the country when in fact, globally, they are the ones that provide the primary network operations.

    He said international bandwidth rate is the country is one f the highest in the world, adding that when the country is compared with the rest of the world, its national long distance and metro network is also too exorbitant so is also the rental cost too.

    He fears that if another operator is licensed and that operator has infrastructure like interantional carrier licence as well as metro and national long distance fibre ownership may lead to cross-subsidy on ISP creating an “unfair competition” in the industry.

    In his opening remarks, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Eugen Juwah, said convening the forum in line with the NCC’s participatory regulatroy approach. “The objective of this forum, in line with the Commission’s policy of participatory regulation amongst other things is to provide an avenue for stakeholders and users of the 2.3 GHz band to discuss, technically criticise, exchange ideas and proffer options that will help the Commission in arriving at a decision on the licensing of the remaining 40 MHz bandwidth in the band for the benefit of all Nigerians.

    “This forum is very remarkable as we have in our midst highly respected presenters with decades of practical experience at their disposal to deliberate on options and challenges as it relates to further licensing of the band,” Juwah said.

     

  • Firm unveils Internet products

    Internet security firm, Norton by Symantec, has released the latest versions of its security products into the market. They are Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, and Norton Anti-Virus.

    The products are Windows 8 compatible and engineered to make Windows 8 safer and faster compared with running Windows Defender on Windows 8.

    In a statement, the Group President, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec, Janice Chaffin, said the products will guarantee the security of users online.

    “According to this year’s Norton Cybercrime Report, one in 10 social network users said they’d fallen victim to a scam or fake link on social network platforms. Today, consumers are living nearly every aspect of their lives online and often putting personal information at risk.“

  • 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.