W.AfriTel, vetting ground for investors

Features of the week:

The West African International Telecommunications (W.AfriTel) exhibition is in its sixth year. REMMY NWEKE examines its impact since inception in this report.

FOLLOWING the return of democracy in Nigeria over six years ago, the level of growth recorded in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecommunications sector, has been overwhelmingly more than $10 billion (about N1,287 trillion).

This is up from $50 million in 1999. The sector is now competing with the banking and financial sector for the second place position after petroleum, according to the Communications Minister, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, recently.

One key factor in attracting FDIs into a given economy in this era is through specialized exhibitions accompanied with conferences. This enables potential investors opportunities to pay a visit to the country, feel the pulse of their potential customers, as well as carry out subtle market survey on likely products to be introduced in such an economy.

A step well taken

As at today, there are about seven ICT-inclined exhibitions held annually in Nigeria. From the United States embassy organized Computer, Telecommunications and Office Equipment (CTO), to African Information Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC), e-Nnovate organized by XL8 Communications and West African International Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology (W.AfriTel) among others.

Leading the pack in attracting FDI lately is W.AfriTel, which began driving investors into the country to visualize the enormous consumers’ yearning for attention in year 2000.

This step was given impetus by a British national, Mr. John Thomson, who has criss-crossed the globe including South Africa, severally organizing events through his firm, the Exhibition Management Services (Pty) Limited, who discovered Nigeria as a veritable future land of opportunities.

His footsteps soon paid off than expected as it got the blessing of the management of the popular Eko Hotel in form of partnership and in no distant time, an appendage came up at the hotel’s premises in the highbrow area of Victoria Island, Lagos. This appendage is known today as the New Expo Centre.

While the likes of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and Econet Wireless Nigeria (EWN) were busy pursuing their Digital Mobile License (DML) with the nation’s regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Thomson’s EMS was busy strategizing to bring to Nigeria more potential investors.

Partnership that works

And before the first call was made through the two competitors in the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) market, EMS has finalized plans in June 2001 for the first in the series of ICT exhibitions to come.

In the words of some of the exhibitors thereafter, it was a boom, hence Mr. Thomson did not waste time as he commenced plans to stabilize the expo.

This culminated in the partnership with IT & Telecom Digest, as a sole agent for W.AfriTel in the country.

This partnership has continued to pay off as annually visitors and exhibitors alike keep growing both in interests and investments potentials.

Therefore, it was not a surprise to note that over 3,000 visitors were recorded in 2005 alone.

Available statistics showed that W.AfriTel’s participating companies main function focused on telecommunications, oil and gas, banking and legal sector. Others are commercial, manufacturing, building and construction.

While visitor’s role in purchasing decisions was aggregated into four main categories, namely final decision makers, recommend a decision, specify a product and non-categorised.

The four categories made up about 3.7.60, 3.9.75, 7.90 and 14.75 per cents in that order within the year under review.

In addition, visitors’ job function cuts across chief executive officers with the highest mark of 40.10 per cent; sales and marketing, 12.80 per cent; senior management, 14.20 per cent; while professionals recorded 11.06 per cent.

Also in the visitors’ job function were consultants with 4.35 per cent, technical management 4.05 per cent, general operating cadre scored 3.90 per cent, research and development was 1.85 per cent, technicians 2.35, education and training 2.0 as well as unclassified 3.34 per cent respectively.

“So, it was a welcome development for us at EMS that we finally found a worthy Nigerian partner for this important event,” Mr. Thomson had declared at the sealing of a deal with IT & Telecom Digest.

Voices @ W.-AfriTel-05

Speaking on W.AfriTel-05, Communications Minister, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, described it as a success story due to the pedigree it has achieved over the years, saying that the impressive arrangement on the ground speaks volumes about those behind the exhibition.

“It is clear that you have built your enterprise on trust and honesty hence the very encouraging numbers of exhibitors that participate yearly at your exhibitions. I congratulate you for your vision and your commitment to the growth of the telecom sector of the Nigerian economy,” he said.

For the former chief marketing strategist at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Afam Edozie, last year’s edition was simply great given increasing crowd that graced the event.

Stressing, “At our stand at MTN which is the Y’ello stand, I think we’re getting loads and loads of people there, certainly more visitors than last year, there’s a tremendous amount of interest in the solutions that we have there. For us, it’s been a great show, we’re really enjoying it, and I think we’re getting lots out of it as well. We’ve been at W.Afri.Tel right from the beginning.”

Marketing Director, SES Astra based in Luxembourg, Mr. Mathias Steinhe, said the show was a big win, promising his firm’s participation this year.

“The exhibition has been great for us. There has been an incredible demand for our products. We deal in satellite and selling bandwidth to the Nigerian market and Africa at large. As I said there is great demand, it has made a lot of people here very interested in our solutions. We feel we are going to become a very big player in the African market place in general because people here seem to be developing a very strong relationship with us and that we know will give us a great success. On the other hand, it also has been a great learning experience for us because we are just seeing the ingenuity of the people here and making solution basically out of nothing and we are very impressed by the Nigerian attitude towards communications in general,” Mr. Steinhe asserted.

Equally for the Development Manager, France Telecom, Ms Catherine Mauvais, W.AfriTel exposed her firm to the Nigerian market and would not be forgotten in a hurry.

“We are here in Nigeria to look at the market and at the same time look for distributors and partners for our products. We have people in almost every country but we do not have any in Nigeria, so that is why we are here,” she declared.

Thomson’s promise

Obviously determined, Mr. Thomson recently told newsmen that more FDIs are on their ways to Nigeria, due to its accommodating nature. He therefore predicted more inflow in the country in the next five years.

Over the last five years, the W.Afri.Tel, has consistently brought in companies from Europe, America and Asia, among other regions, to exhibit their technological products and services in Nigeria.

As the dates for this year’s event draw closer, editor-in-chief of IT & Telecom Digest, Mr. Mkpe Abang promises participants that last year’s show having been a sell-out, “this year’s event will offer unmatched opportunities for plugging into Nigeria’s engine of growth – telecom.”

He also said that already, this year’s event would open the floodgates to greater chances for growth for operators, equipment suppliers and professionals.

“Last year was a sell-out and from early indications for 2006, we are already having problems with space, as most of the exhibitors at last year’s show are returning with scarcely any chance of expanding the event venue as it stands today,” he confirmed.

W.AfriTel-06, scheduled to hold between June 20 and 22, is expected to be declared open by Chief Adebayo, along with notables in the ICT industry.

Last line

Therefore, more of such events as W.AfriTel should be encouraged to take root in the country, given that it has impacted positively on the economy and people of Nigeria. This would not only make the nation a more veritable land for investments, but open up the system for stakeholders to deliberate on issues of high concern, especially on efforts at bridging the digital divide.

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Pan-African radio, TV channel coming

Remmy Nweke

A two-day conference of African Ministers of Information and Communications would today, take off in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting is anticipated to adopt a draft and programme for establishment of a Pan-African radio and television channel.

To be presided over by the chairman, African Commission for the establishment of Pan-African Radio and Television Channel and President of Senegal, Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, the conference is in accordance with the request by the Executive Council meeting last February in Egypt at the fifth ordinary session of the assembly, which mandated the African Ministers for Information and Communications to discuss the relevant substantive, technical and financial issues, and to present their recommendations in this regard to the sixth ordinary summit.

Mr. Wade is also expected to present to the conference the commission’s conclusion of experts’ meeting held in Cairo, last November and a follow-up on committee meeting in Cairo, last February on the project.

A draft agenda made available to correspondent indicates that the conference is to hold an election of the bureau, as well as debate on key points including “A Pan-African Channel, Why? To Whom? Editorial policies and contents of programmes of the Channel: Which programmes? And to which publics?

Also there would be continuation of debates on mobilization of financial resources; who is financing the project and how before the presentation of the Egyptian proposal.

Afterwards, there would be a key point debate on management of the channel; how is the channel financed and by whom? This precedes the conference session on technicalities; comprising technical means and which satellites to deploy.

According to the decision on the establishment of this channel in February this year, the Executive Council of the Commission has noted the proposal by Egypt to host the Terrestrial Broadcasting Centre (TBC) of this Channel, and her readiness to provide the technical facilities necessary for the functioning of the centre and to make use of her satellite capabilities.

The council also took cognizant of the importance of socio-cultural assimilation in Africa as an element of stability.

It was mindful of the significant role the media play in enhancing public awareness, particularly in the field of healthcare and protection against communicable diseases among others.

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North America tops global IT spending

Remmy Nweke

North America is topping the global spending on Information Technology (IT) for the year 2005, according to the report released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), just as Africa and Middle East (MEA) stayed at the bottom of the ranking.

Vice President and Regional Managing Director at IDC for Middle East and Africa (MEA), Mr. Jyoti Lalchandani disclosed this in Lagos at the opening of its West African office.

Speaking on the IDC West Africa organizational overview, capabilities and expertise, Mr. Lalchandani, said that North America topped the chart with $420.7 billion in 2005. This is against minute $21.53 billion from the Middle East and Africa in the year under review.

The aforementioned figures represented 43.7 and 2.1 per cents respectively for both North America and MEA in the global IT spending.

The research, he said, was grouped into five continents, namely North America Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Asia Pacific and MEA globally for effective analysis.

He also revealed that Western Europe came second in IT spending with $289.7 billion, CEE was named third with $23.3 billion, while Asia Pacific came behind CEE as fourth with $184.4 billion.

This amounts to 30.1 per cent of global spending coming from Western Europe, 2.4 per cent from CEE and 19.1 per cent from Asia Pacific.

He further disclosed that IDC, a premier global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market intelligence and advisory firm has expanded its horizon within the MEA, hence the opening of office in West Africa and specifically in Lagos-Nigeria to cater for the regional market.

“We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based strategic decisions,” he said.

As said by him, IDC has been delivering technology intelligence, industry analysis, market data, and strategic and tactical guidance since 1964.

IDC is a division of International Data Group (IDG) based in the United States and prides itself as the world’s leading technology media, research and event company.

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Negroponte, Akwule, others for digital confab

Remmy Nweke

Chairman, One Laptop Per Child Foundation, Prof. Nicholas Negroponte and renowned telecommunications expert based at the George Mason University, Fairfax, United States, Prof. Raymond Akwule would lead other Information and Communications Technology (ICT) exponents to the first continental Digital World conference slated for Nigeria in September.

This is the first time the conference is coming to Africa and is being hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in conjunction with Growing Business Foundation (GBF) and the Think Tank forum of the Club of Rome, otherwise known as tt30.

Founded in 2001, tt30 is the young think tank of the Club of Rome, focusing on network for the debate and resolution of today’s global problems and challenges. It is made up of about 30 independent men and women drawn worldwide, between the ages of 25 and 35.

While NCC is the nation’s regulatory authority for telecommunications and over the years, has earned a reputation as a foremost telecom regulatory agency on the continent.

Head, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Dave Imoko, said that the theme of the event scheduled for September 12 and 13 in Abuja is “ICTs for Education and Development,” and that, at least, nine global experts have confirmed participation as speakers at the event including the aforementioned.

Other leading figures in the global ICT to join the two professors are Dr. Mohsen Khalil of the World Bank, Prof. David Mellor of Strathclyde University, Prof. Raoul Weiler, President Club of Rome and Mr. Joerg Geier, tt30 Club of Rome.

Also for the Digital World is another United States-based Nigerian scholar, Prof. Manny Aniebonam of George Washington University, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, and Dr. Osita Ogbu, the Economic Adviser to the President, among other speakers.

According to Mr. Imoko, the proposed conference is in line with the United Nations (UN) recently concluded two-phased World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which rounded up in Tunis on November 18, 2005.

He pointed out that WSIS outcome identified ICT as the main factor that will accelerate development considerably and globally over the next decades.

“It was also noted that the use of these new tools will enhance the processes of educating young people in Africa and elsewhere,” he said.

Mr. Imoko further said that embracing the age of information and knowledge societies has become a prerequisite for any nation that desires development in 21^st century and Nigeria would not be left behind.

“It’s widely recognised that education – formal and non-formal is the key for fighting poverty, enhancing human development and achieving the various Millennium Development Goals. Today, access to information and to knowledge can be significantly enhanced by new and widely available technologies,” he said.

The Digital World Conference 2006, will promote dialogue and action towards taking full advantage of ICT tools to address the challenges and requirements for education and development in Africa.

Just as several exciting development projects will be showcased at the event, including the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.

At the conference, he explained that there will be a combined plenary sessions, breakout session, exhibition, networking and data management.

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Adamawa to introduce computer science in secondary schools

Remmy Nweke in Yola

Adamawa State government in the north-east part of Nigeria, would soon introduce computer science in selected secondary schools across the state, just as it has expressed commitment to the growth of Information Technology (IT) within its domain.

Governor Boni Haruna disclosed this at the opening of the 20th annual national conference of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) in Yola, capital of Adamawa state.

The governor who was represented at the occasion by the deputy governor, Alhaji Bello Tukur, said plans have been advanced to introduce this course into the secondary school curriculum of the state.

This, he noted was in addition to computer science course at Adamawa State University and Adamawa Polytechnic.

Adamawa, Alhaji Tukur said, is committed to development of Information Technology (IT) through out its landscape, stressing that a step has been taken by creating a website for the state where it now showcases kind of services and activities available in the state.

This, he said now avails the outside world the opportunity to interface with potentials abound in the state.

Welcoming the society to the state, the deputy governor congratulated NCS for the choice of Adamawa for the 20th conference.

According to him, the theme of the conference “Framework for IT penetration in rural Nigeria: Bridging our Digital Divide (FITPEN)” is timely considering the need to integrate the rural populace.

He recognized IT as a common denominator of 21st century and tools for socio-economic interaction.

“It behoves on all of us to be part of the crusade to ensure that IT is taken to the rural areas,” he said.

Adamawa government, he said, has embraced IT as it has commenced steps towards developing its IT strategic action plan.

Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Iya Abubakar, tasked members of NCS to come up with a concrete recommendations and agenda for possible implementation.

The resolution, he said, should include those living in the rural areas, and a way of capturing the Nigerian IT market for global audience and most importantly the IT hub of Africa.

NCS President, Dr. Chris Nwannenna, said that the group is not comfortable with the plans by the government to acquire $100 laptop being championed by the One Laptop Per Child foundation in the United States, because the professional experts advice were not sought in the initiative.

He warning that it would not take the path of an attractive PC project which ended up being the first generation of microcomputer consisting of PC XTS.

According to him, the recent Outsourcing committee by the government without members of NCS may not have the hindsight of the industry.

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Bank consolidation, ICT spur electronic payment in Nigeria

Remmy Nweke

Chairman of West Africa Bankers Association (WABA) and Managing Director of UBA Group Mr. Tony Elumelu, has said that on-going bank consolidation and acceptance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, such as mobile phones have greatly boosted the penetration of electronic payment (e-payment) solutions in the West Africa region with particular reference to Nigeria.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the sixth edition of the Card Expo Conference and Exhibition in Lagos, Wednesday, he noted that acceptance of alternative delivery channels banking activities, such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), payment cards and Point of Sale (PoS) for retail banking in the country has been attributed immensely to evolution in the nation’s banking industry.

He also linked the growth in the adoption of e-payment system to increasing customers’ sophistication.

Represented at the event by an Executive Director, UBA, Mr. Chika Mordi, he said the banking consolidation directed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made local banks bigger with higher capacity to provide elaborate retail banking.

“There is a strong need to increase retail access to customers. And this can only be done through the electronics channels. The adoption of card payment, ATMs, PoS, mobile phones for banking services is changing the retail banking delivery landscape in the country,” he asserted.

As said by him, utilities-based organizations, government agencies are also adopting electronic payment delivery channels, therefore moving away from cash simple lodgement to electronic channels.

Mr. Elumelu equally commended Intermarc Consulting Limited, the organizer of the Card Expo for having the foresight to commence the propagation of e-payment evangelism even when it was not in vogue.

A good will message from the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, eulogised the Card Expo, saying it has been helpful to the nation’s plan towards empowering private sector led regional powerhouse.

“This expo and exhibition conference which is attracting significant interest from major global smartcard producing companies will showcase how ICT can really help meet this objective,” he said.

Prof. Isoun further said telecommunications satellite that his ministry proposes for launch next year would boost the country’s communications with the rest of the world and jump-start the full utilization of smartcard in all sector of the economy.

“All these are been done to provide the much-needed desired infrastructural backbone to provide the foundation for the much desired revolution in our payment system with the utilization of smartcard and eliminate the risk involved in carrying and movement of cash,” he said.

Additionally, he appealed to the financial institutions and telecommunications service providers in the country to avail themselves of the opportunity to source the production of their SIM cards locally as it was done for recharge card.

In her welcome speech, Mrs Ibokun Awoshika, the Chairperson of Intermarc Consulting said she was happy the adoption of card payment system is getting better in the country. According to her, “six years ago when the idea of Card Expo was muted, we were called dreamers. People felt that the ideal of card payment cannot work in Nigeria because of the so called “Nigerian factors”. But we are happy today that Nigerians are today using ATMs for their cash withdrawal needs.”

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MTN opens outlet @ Transcorp

Remmy Nweke

GLOBAL System for Mobile communications, MTN Nigeria Communications, has opened an outlet at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The new retail outlet attracted commendations from the General Manager, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Mr. Andre Herrenschmidt, said the Service Centre Lite, located at the lounge of the hotel is exciting.

Mr. Herrenschmidt also said the centre will provide customers with an easy and most convenient way to load MTN airtime among other services on the network.

“This is indeed a laudable initiative which once again has given MTN the added advantage over competitors,” he said.

Also speaking at the launch, General Manager, Consumer Sales, MTN Nigeria, Ms Funmi Omitowoju, said the Service Centre Lite is first in appreciation of the needs of the customers to receive personal attention.

“MTN has taken its commitment to customer service to even greater height. We have recognised and responded to the ever-changing and increasing sophisticated needs of our subscribers by designing an ultra-modern and contemporary centre that brings MTN even closer to you,” she declared.

She highlighted the benefits of the centre, saying, “Only in this centre will you have 14 hours of quality one-on-one customer service, with a fully interactive and stimulating environment that is engaging and exciting.”

She stressed that the extended operating hours offers greater flexibility and more convenient access complementing the busy schedules and lifestyle of our subscribers.

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MTS wins M2 award, launches Hot profit for CTO

Remmy Nweke

Pioneer wireless operator, MTSFirst, has emerged winner for excellent contribution to Marketing and Management for the year 2006.

This is coming as MTS has concluded plans to introduce a package for business centre operators, known as hot profit.

The organizers said MTS award was as a result of the telecom company’s marketing and branding innovativeness, which has enhanced the visibility of the MTS brand in the market place.

Put together by the management of M2, a weekly newspaper conferred the award on MTSFirst at a ceremony held at Ikeja-Lagos.

Receiving the award on behalf of the company, Head, Brand & Marketing Communications, Mr. Tope Ayedun, expressed gratitude to the organizers for the recognition accorded MTS.

Mr. Ayedun also dedicated the award to MTS subscribers nationwide.

He promised that entire members of staff of the telco would continue to work hard regularly project the company performance to a higher level.

Mr. Ayedun equally assured potential and existing subscribers of the network’s commitment to continue providing dependable and affordable telecommunications services even as the plans to reach 15 more cities before the end of the year remains on course.

Meanwhile, MTSFirst is set to launch its business centre package today in Lagos.

According to the Chief Marketing Officer, Ms Uche Ofodile, said the new package tagged “Hot Profit” is for business centre operators and comes with attractive tariffs which allow operators to generate significant revenue from their businesses and ultimately change their fortunes.

“Good times are here again, as MTS keeps reaching out to the people,” she said.

She explained that to enjoy this package, business centre operators are required to complete a registration form and purchase an MTS telephone line at any of the MTS shops or dealer outlets in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

This, she said, enables commercial telephone operators to make GSM calls for as low as N15.75 per minute while international calls still remain very affordable.

The package would be officially launched today in Lagos while other cities like Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Abeokuta, would soon follow.

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UNESCO laments lack of broadcast, audio-visual policies

Remmy Nweke

LACK of adequate policies for broadcasting and audio-visual industry has been identified as a major obstacle facing policy and decision makers in developing countries, a study has revealed.

The study published recently by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), titled “Harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the audio-Visual industry and public service,” said, it was conducted across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

According to the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, said developing countries are facing crucial decisions that affect the broadcasting and audio-visual industry.

He said that nowadays, as pillar for information and cultural exchanges, policy makers in these countries sometimes lack the necessary tools to adequately be informed on their choices and strategies.

Dr. Khan expressed optimism that the research would assist UNESCO member states in analyzing and understanding the impact of multilateral, regional and bilateral trade policies on future audio-visual landscapes of these countries.

Additionally, the UNESCO chief said it would stimulate reflection on potential implications, positive or negative, for the expression of local culture.

He emphasized that the research studies on current audiovisual trends is a joint venture of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector and its Culture.

This have facilitated them to go beyond the areas and themes traditionally covered by each sector such as media development, cultural industries and enterprises, and introduced a new, inter-sectoral dimension into the programme: the impact of international trade on the audiovisual industry and its effects on local cultural expression.

The research conducted under this project and presented in the book, provides an overview of the main trends in the broadcasting and audiovisual industry worldwide, with a focus on regional patterns of production, consumption and trade in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The sample of countries, he said, were selected so as to represent contrasted audiovisual landscapes, some of the studied countries boasting tremendous audio-visual trade volumes while others have very limited production capacities.

Parallel to the publication of the research result now available in English and French, UNESCO organized a series of regional workshops in Bogotá, Singapore and Dakar, where the findings were shared and discussed with key groups in the three regions, and where a dialogue was encouraged among stakeholders.

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webgallery nigeria.com makes a debut

Remmy Nweke

IN effort to take its presence and activities beyond the Nigeria shores, a corporate media and marketing organization based in Lagos, Webgallery Nigeria Limited, has launched its website, www.webgallerynigeria.com.

Disclosing this was the chief executive, Webgallery Nigeria Limited, Mr. Akin Akinola, who said the platform would also offer other entities, especially the firm’s clients the opportunities of showcasing their products and services.

The website, he said, was built with the firm’s clients in minds, even as it has a one million pixels partitioned into 10,000, that is, 10 x 10 pixels and squares. A pixel is a single dot or unit in any graphic image.

A combination of squares, Mr. Akinola said, will conveniently house an image, which when clicked automatically redirect users to the client’s website.

The chief executive said that by subscribing to the online service of www.webgallerynigeria.com, “organizations would position themselves to get noticed by millions of potential clients, customers surfing the world wide web, on a daily basis.”

Mr. Akinola further said it would also offer direct access to companies’ website, from a click of the mouse and guarantee users’ presence on the homepage for a 24-month period.

He advised interested prospective subscribers to select their preferred positions and number of boxes required on the grid and pay through Interswitch, bank credit or draft.

He emphasized that the management team of webgallery consist of top-level professionals drawn from various aspects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry with the operational team well groomed.

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Back to classroom with HumanManager

Remmy Nweke

Senior managers and executive management employees of selected high-profile companies would tomorrow, Thursday, June 15, return to the classroom for a course on HumanManager.

HumanManager is a leading software solution for human resources and management developed by SystemSpecs Limited, Lagos.

According to the senior marketing manager at SystemSpecs, Mr. Moses Briamah, the course tagged “HumanManager Executive Overview,” has been designed to equip senior managers and executive management staff with basic rudiments.

He also said the course would expose lucky participants to the basic concept of HumanManager and its operations.

HumanManager Operations, Mr.Briamah noted, relates to organizational human

resource and compensation policies. Emphasizing that the course would focus

on the impact of strategic decisions on organisation’s human resource budgeting.

He said that, those to attend would include director generals, managing directors, corporate services executive, human resource managers and general managers.

Also expected in the calibre of attendance are those in decision making portifolio.

“Who are saddled with the responsibility of optimizing their human capital policies through an effective human resources and compensation management system,” he said.

The one-day course, Mr. Briamah said, would touch on the overview of organisation’s corporate profile, HumanManager set-up and transaction modules.

He further said that course content would equally examine critically the issues of budgeting, control and security in HumanManager as well as reporting in HumanManager via standard and user defined reporting respectively.

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JuniSat unleashes bandwidth management

Remmy Nweke

JuniSat, satellite solution provider subsidiary of Juniper Solutions Limited, has announced plans to introduce a Bandwidth Management Solutions (BMS) on the continent.

BMS when becomes available is anticipated to reduce the cost of bandwidth currently by 70 per cent, thus enabling customers to experience a tremendous improvement in Internet velocity in browsing, uploading and downloading.

Chief executive, Juniper Solutions Limited, Mr. Gboyega Ojuri, disclosed this and said that it would enhance the kind of offering by his firm as well as boosting the Bandwidth on Demand Frequency Hopping (BoD FH) of individual customers.

“During this period, what customers will get is unprecedented stability and performance,” he declared.

Mr. Ojuri also said that it will assist greatly the effective traffic management on the return link for all users on the same bandwidth and same platform.

He noted that JuniSat provides different bandwidth for its users on W3A platform, which is one of Eutelsat’s most sophisticated satellites, combining Ku and Ka bands respectively.

This, Mr. Ojuri said, will accelerate users’ links to perform at optimal level without witnessing drag on their network even when their links is under heavy traffic.

BoD FH, he explained, is a new feature on JuniSat that balances load or traffic on bandwidth all by itself. Stressing that this comes to play whenever users are making use of more than the threshold of their bandwidth, usually set at 70 per cent by default.

As said by him, the solution will make their modem to ‘hop’ on to another carrier on the same bandwidth that has less traffic.

He said this is achieved by shifting heavily loaded links to other links where the traffic is less, based on the bandwidth at a given time.

Equally, Mr. Ojuri informed, that BoD FH full utility would be a clear departure from what is currently obtained in the industry.

JuniSat, he further said, is offering these services through its network of partners that are connected to every Eutelsat satellite across the world, which enables the firm to cover 75 per cent of world population and land mass.

“The only place we don’t have coverage now is in China,” he said, pointing out that the company had invested in several cutting edge solutions for the sole aim of making the management of bandwidth easy and transparent for all clients.

He noted that this was the reason why JuniSat had implemented Net Enforcer, a tool for monitoring sites across the network and bandwidth bank, a regulatory solution that monitors the usage of bandwidth on the network.

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