Between WiFi and WiMax: The relationship

Features of the week:

Terminologies are daily being churned out for various aspects of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), including Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax). REMMY NWEKE, examines the relationship between these two in this report.

A participant at an industry-based seminar recently in the Garden city of Port Harcourt, South-South Nigeria, was frustrated to leave literally before the end of the session.

When accosted on his way out, the response was as astonishing as it was revealing.

According to the participant, “some of these acronyms end up bringing confusion. I think I have heard enough for today. I have heard enough of WiFi and WiMax.”

This is due to the fact that there are too many jargons in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), which no doubt, discourage some interested stakeholders to follow the trends in the industry.

President, Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, agrees to the fact that too many acronyms have left some stakeholders at cross-roads with evolutions in the industry.

He also called for caution and consistency in development of these acronyms, such as WiFi and WiMax.

What is WiFi?

Defined as an interoperability of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system of connecting Personal Computers (PCs) among other devices within its standards of 802.11 and above, as certified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is a component of a series of wireless specifications together with 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11g.

In other words, any WiFi certified product could be deployed or use at any access point with the other ranges of similar brand, that is 2.4 Gega Hertz (GHz) for 802.11b or 11g, 5GHz for 802.11a, dual-band among others, are known to be compatible with any other wireless radio frequency standards, even if not “WiFi Certified.”

And in order to actualise the dreams of proponents of this standard, WiFi zones also known as hotspots are created around the world for accessibility of travellers and mobile people as at when and where required.

Just as it is meant to provide free access to both providers and users, whilst the services are paid for via the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who are expected to issue the user with a WiFi access number for a fee.

This gave rise to the evolution’s initial presence via hotspots mainly at international conference centres, hotels and airports to name a few.

WiFi Alliance

This paved the way for the setting up of WiFi Alliance, which promulgates and certifies related products for global consumption.

Established in 1999 by several industry leaders, WiFi Alliance is a non-profit organisation (NGO) with the goal of driving the adoption of a single worldwide-accepted standard for high-speed Wireless LAN (WLAN).

With over 250 members and still growing, the Alliance tends to expand through businesses, homes, and public hotspots by providing wireless access locations for people on-the-go.

Till date, several universal specifications numbering over 2,500 products, have been developed which passed through rigorous testing and WiFi certification of wireless devices.

Certifications, WiFi Alliance explained, are carried out to define how member products are tested to certify that they are interoperable with other WiFi certified products. The group has currently about 10 independent test laboratories scattered globally in North America, Europe, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Korea, Germany and China.

On successful testing of a product, the concerned entity is granted the WiFi seal of interoperability and may choose to display the WiFi Certified logo on that product, which is based on individual product success story.

What is WiMax?

WiMax, conversely, is an acronym which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) and has been described as a standard-based technology that enables delivery to the last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).

It now has a forum which propagates its development, known as WiMax Forum.

The forum made up of leading operators and communications component as well as equipment manufacturers which resolved to promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment that conforms to IEEEs and European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), mostly on its HiperMAN standards.

Cetecom link

As at July 2005, Cetecom Spain, began to validate member-company products’ scripts used and during certification. With presence in over 125 countries and membership across 350 companies, WiMax forum is seen as representing the entire organisation.

And by January 19 this year, the first batch of four fixed wireless broadband network products to achieve the designation of WiMAX Forum Certified (WCA) were announced. These companies and products that completed certification and interoperability testing, included Aperto Networks’ PacketMAX 5000 base station, Redline Communications’ RedMAX AN-100U base station, SEQUANS Communications’ SQN2010 SoC base station solution, and Wavesat’s miniMAX Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) solution.

Just as Cetecom lab confirmed 26 additional reservations from manufacturers for testing slots for both subscriber and base station equipment certification. And in order to handle this additional capacity, Cetecom said, it already has a multiple test lines for these products; a process that lasted till March, when forum’s meeting was held in France along the 3rd session on Plugfest.

President, WiMax Forum Mr. Ron Resnick, said that the latest fixed wireless broadband network products used that achieved the designation of WiMax certified were based on the defined Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) system profile operating in the 3.5GHz frequency spectrum.

Some of the forum member-companies and products to complete certification and interoperability testing in this regard, he said, include Airspan’s MacroMAX base station and EasyST subscriber station solution, Axxcelera’s ExcelMax base station, SEQUANS Communications’ SQN1010-RD subscriber station solution, Siemens’ WayMAX@vantage base station and subscriber station solutions, and Wavesat’s miniMAX subscriber station solution.

Mr. Resnick, who also is Director, Marketing, Broadband Wireless Division, Intel Corporation, explained that certification is based on equipment supplier conduct of an extensive series of test procedures, consisting of protocol conformance, radio conformance and interoperability testing.

“To date, 14 fixed WiMAX products have received the WiMAX Forum Certified seal in the two months since the programme first started certifying equipment. By achieving the certifications of FDD profile equipment, the WiMAX Forum and our members continue to make significant progress in delivering products that help network operators build out their fixed WiMAX networks,” he said.

For the senior analyst, broadband access technologies at the Yankee Group, Lindsay Schroth, the first availability of fixed WiMAX equipment is a demonstration of the commitment of the Forum, the vendors and the providers to reaching their critical milestones.”

Emphasising, “This is a crucial step in the process of developing and certifying both fixed and mobile WiMAX networks. We expect this announcement to impact the deployment time tables of large and small service providers around the world that will use fixed WiMAX networks as a way to deliver true broadband services to consumers and business users.”

Between WiFi and WiMax

One good thing about these two, according to experts is that both co-exist and become increasingly complementary technologies for their respective applications.

Simply put, new standards within the specification of 802.11 is WiFi while those beyond 802.11, such as 802.16 is known as WiMAX, and offer many enhancements, anywhere from longer range to greater transfer speeds.

Formerly, the term “WiFi” was used only in place of the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, in the same way that “Ethernet” is used in place of IEEE 802.3. The Alliance expanded the generic use of the term in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability, as upheld by experts at www.webopedia.com.

Experts at WiMax forum, were optimistic that WiMax technology will be incorporated in most notebook computers and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) by next year, 2007, hence allowing for urban areas and cities to become “metro zones” for portable outdoor broadband wireless access.

According to experts at Internetworld365.com, WiFi is another name for IEEE 802.11 and is a term coined by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). Products certified as WiFi by WECA are interoperable with each other even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a WiFi product could use any brand of Access Point with any other brand of client hardware that is built to the WiFi standard. WECA has since transformed into WiFi Alliance

WiFi, experts noted, was intended to be used for mobile devices and LANs, but is now often used for Internet access, allowing a person with a wireless-enabled computer or PDAs to connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point. The geographical region covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot.

WiFi also allows connectivity in peer-to-peer mode, which enables devices to connect directly with each other. This connectivity mode is useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications, as said by Wikipedia online.

A person with a WiFi device, such as a computer, telephone, or PDA can connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point.

Today

In Nigeria today, companies deploying either WiFi or WiMax have taken their trade to various parts of the country.

Today, WiFi is being deployed in some offices even in Nigeria, where a good number of staff prefer to have mobile Internet access, such as in Laptops and handheld devices that have internet compatibility and certified for such deployment.

Managing Director, NetnearU, Wireless Internet Solution provider, Mr. Kaycee Kennedy, said as at first quarter, that, his firm has over 327 hotspots nationwide and would tackle the challenges faced in deployment of Internet linked PC in the country, as well as the issue of affordability, and reaching out to rural areas.

Given the rise and rise of wireless access availability, Dr. Ekuwem, while peeping into the future and fusion of WiFi and WiMax in the Unified Licensing Regime (ULR) which took off in Nigeria last March 1, predicted that by end of 2008, about 50 per cent of household in the country would have internet access.

Speaking at a one-day seminar on Internet service in the ULR organised by the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Dr. Ekuwem posited that it is anticipated that before this year ends, that mobile WiMax would be readily available in most cities in the country.

“Mobile WiMax would triple the efforts of Third Generation (3G) features” he declared, citing an instance with BreezeMAX, which is Alvarion’s 3G OFDM platform, that comes with advanced Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) functionality and is a leading WiMAX-ready platform.

He expressed optimism that WiMax has the capability to act as a vehicle in the evolution of the fixed broadband wireless market to widespread availability of mobile broadband and reflects our commitment to the future of WiMAX.

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Telcos blame govt over unrestored roads ... As NATCOMS insists on N5 SMS

Remmy Nweke

OPERATORS of telecommunications in the country have blamed the government and its agencies over unrestored roads initially excavated for laying of telecom infrastructure.

This development is coming as telecom consumer rights group, National Association of Telecommunication Consumers (NATCOMS), insisted on downward review of tariffs, asking for N5 Short Messaging Service (SMS).

Responding on behalf of operators to a question raised by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, at the 30th Edition of Telecoms Consumer Parliament, the General Manager, VGC Communications, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said that from all indications, operators who are required to lay telecom pipes in any state must have fulfilled its own obligation.

This obligation, he said, includes that they pay about N8,000 for a portion of road excavated to the state government and to the federal agencies respectively in most cases for the same purpose.

Unfortunately, he lamented, these roads are never fixed afterwards by the relevant government agencies.

He therefore, exonerated telecom operators from any unrestored roads, excavated due to installation of infrastructure in the country.

Explaining further, Mr. Adebayo said, telecos before excavating roads usually apply for ‘right of way’ from either federal or the state government departments.

In the approval given therein, he said, they are being charged for excavation, supervision and restoration of the road portion.

Mr. Adebayo also said, having paid for the restoration to the government, operators telcos cannot be held responsible for restoration of these roads.

He said that in most cases, state governments do not perform the function of supervision which they have collected money for thereby rendering them vulnerable to attacks by miscreants and some communities who do not understand the importance of what they are installing.

This, he said, has forced them to make arrangements for Police protection when they are laying their cables.

Further, he said, “If government doesn’t charge them for restoration and supervision, I think operators will like to undertake the responsibility of restoring the excavated roads.”

Corroborating Mr. Adebayo, the EVC advised government to only charge administrative fees only and get undertaking from operators to restore the excavated roads in the bid to lay relevant infrastructure for telecom.

He emphasised that government cannot restore roads because of bureaucratic process which he noted, delays restoration.

In a related development, NATCOMS has called on all the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operators to review their tariffs downward in the spirit of the five years of GSM, due next month, August.

National president, NATCOMS, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, said in view of the fifth anniversary, subscribers are expecting that GSM operators reduce their cost of services, including the Value Added Services (VAS).

He said that there is no significant different in the cost of intra-network and inter-network calls, demanding, however that intra-network calls be reduced by 50 per cent.

NATCOMS also urged the operators to reduce off peak period, that is, calls between 7pm and 7am by 50 per cent, just as it lauded fixed wireless operators for initiating free weekend intra-network calls on their networks.

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NITEL gives debtors ultimatum to pay N4.8b

Remmy Nweke

Probably waking from slumber, the recently Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) acquired Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) has given Private Telecom Operators (PTOs) and corporate users of its services numbering 109 an ultimatum till Thursday, July 6, this year, to settle an accumulated debt worth N4.8 billion or face suspension of services till further notice.

Disclosing this in Lagos, the Public Relations Manager, NITEL Lagos zone, Mr. Ig Nwangwu, said that these customers of the company “if, by the end of Thursday July 6, 2006, fail to settle a cumulative debt of N 4.8 billion,” would be suspended on the telco’s offering.

Out of this amount, he said, about 81 per cent is being owed by about 62 telecommunications companies which acquired interconnect circuits through which they, in turn, provide mostly pre-paid services to the public. “Some of these companies are, unfortunately, not known to have made any payments beyond the initial installation costs for the circuits even as they carry their customers’ pre-paid traffic unhindered by NITEL,” he decried.

Mr. Nwangwu also said that the rest of the debt is owed by some 62 banks, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and point-to-point telecommunications traffic re-sellers.

“Demand notices soliciting the cooperation of the companies concerned have since been sent to their last known addresses,” he said.

Recalling that the recovery of these debts was a key factor in the agreement reached between the management of NITEL and Industrial Unions in NITEL following the June 2006 strike by workers of the company.

A joint committee of the management and unions was constituted to ensure that debts owed by all, including wholesale customers are collected so as to meet the May and June 2006 salary bills of the company,” he submitted.

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SABI to boost Internet diffusion ... As DBI trains lecturers on ULR

Remmy Nweke

TELECOMMUNICATIONS regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has introduced the State Accelerated Bandwidth Initiative (SABI) to boost Internet penetration among other services in the country and precisely at the 36-state levels.

This development came as NCC subsidiary and international telecommunications institute, the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Abuja, has concluded plans to train top-lecturers from higher institutions nationwide, to cushion the manpower requirement in the recently introduced Unified Licensing Regime (ULR)

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, made this disclosure, at a one-day seminar on the Unified Licensing Regime (ULR) hosted by the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and at the last Telecom Consumers Parliament both held in Lagos.

The Parliament is organised monthly by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC

Represented at the NIG event by the Head, Business Development at NCC, Mr. Nnamdi Nwokike, he dwelt on “Internet Service in the ULR” as the guest speaker.

He said that with SABI on board, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, such as the Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), as well as competent ISPs should partake in SABI in order to drive Internet access to the rural people.

As said by him, ISPs would need to work extra miles to ensure that there is a control of access to objectionable content such as adult materials to protect children and vulnerable individuals in the society.

Noting that Internet engineers and technologists are still very few in Nigeria relative to the demand. He stressed that the result is that innovations from the home-front are almost non-existent as “we depend on the advanced countries.”

Based on this, Dr. Ndukwe revealed at the Parliament weekend, that DBI has concluded plans to train Nigerian lecturers from the higher institutions on ICT so as to prepare them for the new regime.

This, he said, would also enable them to groom their students for the regime as well.

Elucidating on the training of lecturers, chief executive, DBI, Dr. Olasupo Ogunfemi, disclosed that funds have been sourced but the training would be in batches so as to optimise the real meaning behind the project.

He also said that DBI management is excited over the project and ready to kick off.

It would be recalled that recently, DBI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri Imo State, in its premises at Utako District Abuja.

Equally, a 31-member delegation from the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in United States, paid a one-day visit to the institute, recently.

The team, received on arrival by DBI boss, Dr. Ogunfemi. He was accompanied by the EVC of NCC Dr. Ndukwe and some senior members of staff at DBI, directors as well as commissioners from NCC.

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TD dangles incentives on dealers

Remmy Nweke

Technology Distributions (TD) Limited, has introduced some measures to boost its market share, dangling incentives before its dealers in the country.

According to the Group Head, Brand and Communications, Mr. Clems Ugorji, TD has introduced two categories of dealership.

Explaining that in the first category, which he described as ‘big time’ dealers who made up to N350 million sales in the quarter would be treated to an oversee trip within the West African region of Ghana, for a week all-paid expenses trip.

The second category, Mr. Ugorji, who was addressing the dealers at a forum in Lagos, said, are expected to have a turnover of about N50 million within the period and in recognition of this, they would be treated to a weekend trip to Ghana.

He advised them to brace up to the challenges as TD is ready to support them to break even.

Stressing that the essence, is that TD is expanding its brand basket, including Hewlett Packard (HP), Zinox, Microsoft, APC, Epson, Cisco and Telecomm products.

He pledged that TD would continue to offer premium product quality as well as unique reseller support that would enhance dealers’ contributions.

TD, he noted currently has over 350 resellers nationwide.

TD which prides itself as a world-class technology leader in distribution was incorporated on May 24, 1999, to pioneer technology distribution in West Africa. The company said that its wide coverage of brands has assured that the need to bring the broadest and best portfolio of products and solutions to our expanded national and international customer base is consistently met.

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Vandals cut 4 main NITEL cables in Lagos zone

Remmy Nweke

As Nigerians are still in the euphoria of sale of the national carrier, Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), last Monday, vandals have cut short the excitement following their visit to the telco, cutting and removing four big-capacity cables from its outlet at Alakija bus stop along the Lagos –Badagry Expressway.

Unknown persons, according to the officials of NITEL, mid last week, cut and removed four big-capacity cables from a NITEL manhole at Alakija bus stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Confirming this development, Public Relations Manager at NITEL, Lagos zone, Mr. Ig Nwangwu, said the cables provided telecommunications service to over 1,000 customers spread over FESTAC Town, Satellite including Navy Town, Abule Ado and the Trade Fair Complex.

Other areas affected, he said, are ASPMDA, Agric., Alaba and Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo main campus.

Mr. Nwangwu, also said, a total length of about 2.1 kilometres of both 400 and 800-pair cables is being replaced in those areas to ensure early restoration of normal service as soon as possible.

He gave the estimated cost of this replacement exercise in the neighbourhood of N23 million.

As said by him, the cost excludes the immeasurable inconvenience now being suffered by “our customers in those areas as a result of the disruption of their telecommunications service as well as the resultant loss of revenue to NITEL.”

NITEL, he said, therefore, regrets this inconvenience to its valued customers and other telephone users and implore them to bear with the telco.

“We are vigorously pursuing the repair of the damage while police investigation continues with a view to tracking down those behind the acts of economic sabotage and wanton vandalism on NITEL property,” he assured.

Emphasising that it will be similar acts of vandalisation was visited on NITEL external line plant network in Lagos where it was recorded earlier this year (2006) in Idumota on the Lagos Island and then Shogunle and Ijora on Lagos Mainland.

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Zinox warranty extended by 6 months

Remmy Nweke

LEADING system manufacturer in Nigeria, Zinox Computers, has extended its warranty for a batch of computers produced between March and May, this year.

The gesture, Zinox said was designed to cushion the effects of long delays experienced while clearing its equipment at the local ports, which resulted in weakening of a batch of motherboards.

Head, Technical Strategy at Zinox, Mr. Innocent Okorie who disclosed this in a press statement made available to our correspondent and endorsed by the Head, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Echika Ezuka, explained that motherboards are extra sensitive electronic components that are not supposed to be unduly exposed to heat and humidity.

According to Mr. Okorie, the company further explained that these delays under unfavorable weather conditions have, as was expected, occasioned a 4% failure rate on that batch of motherboards.

It would be recollected that last year Hewlett Packard and DELL equally had to replace world wide different models of their systems that were discovered to have major component failures. It is therefore seen that Zinox move was in tune with international standard practice.

“Ordinarily we record a little less than 1 per cent failure rate on our motherboards and we consider a 6 per cent failure as high. We have returned the remaining of that batch of motherboards to the manufacturers, who immediately replaced them. But we consider it our duty to protect our customers,” he said.

The technical expert further said that those who have purchased PCs from Zinox with this batch of motherboards, that is, between January and May, this year, would enjoy an additional six months warranty, making theirs an 18-month comprehensive warranty.

Mr. Okorie stressed that extension was in line with Zinox’s vow to constantly provide the continent with systems that are of global standard and to ensure that Africans participate gainfully and increasingly in the growing information age.

Worthy of note was that chairman of Zinox Technologies Limited, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, at the commissioning of their ultra-modern plant last year pleaded with the Federal Government to resolve the issue of the usual 2 to 6 months delays, at the local ports, experienced by importers of raw materials for local production.

As said by him, this has been responsible for the collapse of the several manufacturing entities and uncompetitiveness of locally manufactured goods.

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Southwood to speak @ VoIP on impacts

Remmy Nweke

Chief executive of Balancing Act, United Kingdom, Mr. Russell Southwood, would be delivering a keynote at the forthcoming third Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) forum in Lagos.

This is coming as the forum organisers has shifted the dates by one month, that is, from July 30 through August 1, but would not be August 21 to 23.

Mr. Southwood’s keynote would examine how VoIP impacts on voice markets.

The organisers, African Information Technology Conference and Exhibition (AITEC), also said that Mr. Southwood would dwell on how grey markets operate, the scale and extent.

Equally, he would be touching on what the legalised VoIP means and has to offer in different countries and forecast on VoIP competition, when widely available among others.

Additionally, Managing Director, Skannet Nigeria Limited, Mr. Sunday Folayan, would be among speakers at the third annual African Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) forum.

Mr. Folayan, who would be taking the forum on the first interactive workshop for corporate users, is expected to provide an elaborate introduction to VoIP.

He would be joined by Sales Director Africa at iBasis United States, Mr. Mawuli Tse, who is to take participants on international VoIP links, even as Dr. Gillian Marcelle, a principal consultant

with Technology for Development, South Africa, would be examining the progressive VoIP regulations.

The event being put together by the African Information Technology Exhibition and Conferences (AITEC) in partnership with Nigerian IT Edge, comes with the theme, “The Developmental and Business Imperatives of Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony in Africa.”

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‘3G consumes lots of bandwidth, but delivers high data rates’

Remmy Nweke

AS the Nigerian telecommunications market braces up for the Third Generation (3G), chief regulator, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe has said that its services consume a lot of bandwidths, but generate high data rates.

“A 3G video service, for example, generates over 500 kilobits per second (kps) data rates compared with 13 kps generated by a GSM user,” he declared.

Speaking at the a business luncheon organised by the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Dr. Ndukwe took the audience on “Third Generation Services and Their Potentials for Nigeria.”

He also said that Nigeria has commenced demonstration frequencies, but explained that the commission is using the equipment vendors, namely Huawie, Ericsson and Alcatel.

Explaining why the Global System for Mobile operators where not part of the demonstration, Dr. Ndukwe said, it was to avoid temptation of their going headlong in rolling out the services.

The demonstration, he also said, would last for three months after which the outcome would be evaluated to know if extension is necessary.

Dr. Ndukwe, further expressed optimism that GSM operators have the chance of getting 3G license and NCC has not actually developed the modalities as to the licensing.

Describing 3G as a farther enhancement of telecommunications services to Second Generation (2G) and enhanced 2G, which is 2.5, he said it facilitates users’ opportunities to transmit and receive voice, data, as well as picture signals simultaneously on portable mobile phone while on the go.

He pointed out that the relative speed of the user with respect to the base station or source of transmission, affects the data rate at a given quality of service.

On the service point of view, Dr. Ndukwe said, 3G provides toll quality telephone service, compact disc quality music, picture and video offering, internet access and location based services as well as high end games in addition to electronic commerce with rich content.

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Ericsson names i-Cell distributor

Remmy Nweke

ACCLAIMED top distributors of mobile phones in the country, I-Cell has been named an authorized distributor by Sony Ericsson for its range of mobile handsets.

Sony Ericsson is one of the leading global brands with young, fund and trendy brand model offerings that appeal across a wide spectrum; from entry to premium levels.

Sony Ericsson’s products known for its appeal with premium imagery, offer the latest in technologies.

Sales and Marketing Director, i-Cell, Mr. Miran Ellahee, disclosed this development, and said that the signing up with Sony Ericsson is part of i-Cell’s commitment to Nigerian customers to benefit on a wider choice of brands.

“While we also provide genuine Sony Ericsson products with warrantee,” he said.

He also informed that there would be series of marketing activities to support Sony Ericsson business plans.

“In its efforts to provide value, several activities are under consideration, including bundle offers, organizing consumer road shows and trade incentive schemes among others,” he declared.

Participation in trade exhibitions, Mr. Ellahee said, would be a key element in the relationship.

Mr. Ellahee stressed that i-Cell is poised to entrench its dominance in the nation’s market as a leader in mobile handsets distribution.

Strategically, he said, Nigeria is a key market for i-Cell’s global business plans and therefore poised to deploy resources heavily.

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NCC, ATCON hail FG on sale of NITEL

Remmy Nweke

Stakeholders in the telecommunications sector in the country have hailed the federal government over the sale of the national carrier, Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) to Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) at the price of $170 million, about N170 billion.

Some of the stakeholders who spoke to ITREALMS Online on this development described it as long overdue but good development.

They included the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, President of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, chief executive of Private Telephone Operator (PTO), Independent Telephone Network (ITN), Chief Adebayo Akande and executive director, MultiLinks, one of the four telcos complaint to the Unified Licensing Regime (ULR), Chief Ezekiel Fatoye.

Dr. Ndukwe in a press statement made available to newsmen and endorsed by the Principal Manager, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Inatime Spiff, said, it is heart-warming to him that NITEL has been sold to a dominantly Nigerian company, even as he challenged the new owners, Transcorp, to prove that Nigerians can successfully manage a company of such size.

“I wish to congratulate the President, the Minister of Communications, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Transcorp on this epoch-making event, and I believe Nigerians should be happy that at last NITEL is being successfully privatized,” Dr. Ndukwe asserted.

Noting that what it requires to move a multi-billion naira company like NITEL to the next level is to have experienced hands in business management and of course Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at the helm of affairs, stressing that there are many Nigerians in the diaspora as well as locally with the capacity to achieve this.

Welcoming Transcorp’s involvement of British Telecom (BT) at this stage, Ndukwe said that BT being a known player in the global telecom stage would bring their international experience to bear upon helping Transcorp to repackage NITEL for higher performance.

On his advice to the new owners of NITEL, Dr. Ndukwe urged Transcorp to immediately take charge of the critical departments of NITEL and inject new blood into the top hierarchy of the company. He also advised the new owners that even within NITEL and its subsidiary, Mtel, there are competent professionals who only require motivation to bring out the best in them.

For Dr. Ekuwem who also is the chief executive, Teledom Group of Companies, the sale of NITEL has been dragged to a state of creating confusion in the industry, given the important role the company plays in the nation’s telecom sector.

Therefore, he lauded the government for making the sale possible eventually, noting, that is one of its responsibilities.

Although he expressed disappointment in the wholesome sale of NITEL, saying he had expected unbundling of the national carrier, just as he tasked government to ensure that since it is a wholesome sale, every other related issue, such as emoluments, gratuity and salaries being owe staff of NITEL must be cleared.

Chief Akande in his reaction agrees that Nigerians with interest in NITEL have been “expecting it and is a welcome development.” He stressed that most valuable aspect has been the sale to a Nigerian company and looks forward to the structure taking a new turn both in organization and personnel orientation.

“Now, NITEL would be different, that is, private sector driven. It is no doubt a good development, and its expected that attitudes of personnel and organization would change,” he declared.

Equally, the Executive Director, Multilinks, Chief Fatoye, said, “we are all expecting the sale of 51 per cent shares rather than 75 per cent,” that was eventually disposed.

He noted that the good thing about the disposal of NITEL is that it was bought over by Nigerians.

On expectation, Chief Fatoye, said he would like to see NITEL really improve and transform into a giant that it was by coming back to its operational at par with competition.

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HP takes BladeSystem to W.A. markets

Remmy Nweke

Hewlett Packard (HP) has taken its latest in stock, BladeSystem C-Class into the West African market, just as the firm launched the product in Lagos, Nigeria.

Speaking at the launch of BladeSystem c-Class portfolio in Lagos, Managing Director, HP West Africa, Dr. Lloyd Atabansi, said the event was to keep customers updated in HP’s product rollout globally.

He said, that the product which was initially launched globally at San Francisco in June, was being relaunched locally, weekend, in order not to leave any gap between its customers in developed and developing countries like Nigeria.

Responding to questions, the Enterprise Business Manager for HP West Africa, Mr. Chukwuma Okpaka, said the BladeSystem has been in the market for sometimes now, but the BladeSystem C-Class is an enhancement of what was in the hitherto available.

According to him, the latest is already available for the region and precisely in the country as from July 1, this year.

He also said the launch which comprised technical sessions for dealers and end-users was to intimate them on the benefits embedded in the portfolio and BladeSystem C-class precisely.

He stressed that the HP portfolio drives its advantage from the best technologies across the brand’s innovations that make everything from non-stop servers to HP printers the best in the industry.

“The new innovation fundamentally improves how our customers buy, manage and use their computing resources” he declared.

Emphasised that by implementing a simple ‘out-of-the-box’ design, HP BladeSystem c-Class customers could dramatically reduce IT costs and the barriers to change presented by racked, stacked and wired data centres.

Also speaking on the new generation of ProLiant portfolio, Mr. Yakubu Hussaini of HP, noted that the new Central Processing Unit (CPU) technology introduced by Intel was in line with the HP portfolio.

“The new generations are developed for today’s demanding workloads,” he asserted.

The Business Development Manager at Intel, Mr. Samuel Mensah, hailed the unveiling in Lagos, pointing out that with Dual Core portfolio from Intel, the performance benefits compared to what competitions are offering is not equalled.

He urged customers to go for the latest technologies because, according to him, it offers better time to market for businesses.

The event was witnessed by the Marketing Manager at HP Ms Ijeoma Onyiuke among other dignitaries.

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VIA, ARM strengthen relation on processor

Remmy Nweke

Chip manufacturer, VIA Technologies Incorporated, has announced extension of their agreement with ARM over the licensing of the ARM926EJ-ST and ARM968E-ST processor respectively to further strengthen VIA’s product portfolio and joint relations.

As users increasingly demand personal electronics with expanded feature sets and advanced connectivity, ARM technology delivers flexible processing performance while maintaining low power consumption and system cost.

Senior, Vice President, VIA Technologies Incorporated, Tzumu Lin, Said that through the licensing of the ARM926EJ-S and ARM968E-S processors, VIA and its subsidiaries have a powerful component for integration into a wide range products lines ideally complementing VIA’s existing performance-per-watt leadership with the VIA C7 processor platform.

“As VIA looked to enhance existing product lines and move into new digitally intelligent device markets, the ARM family of processors stood out as the natural choice,” the Senior Vice President said.

Emphasising that the licensing of these ARM processors will enable VIA to increase the functionality and performance of solutions aimed at the mobile phone markets, and drive expansion plans in areas such as set-top boxes, telematics, and personal media players, where the firm said it foresee tremendous potential for growth.

According to the Vice President of Segment Marketing, ARM, Mr. Ian Drew, “Increasing needs for expanded functionality in a wide range of personal electronics is leading innovators such as VIA to choose ARM technology as the architecture of choice.”

ARM boss noted that the ARM926EJ-S and ARM968E-S processors deliver a solid development environment and the power to run tomorrow’s applications.

Pointing out that this license agreement is also an important step in accelerating the adoption of ARM processor technology into key digital device markets.

ARM926EJ-S macro-cell is fully synthesizable, and features a Jazelle technology-enhanced 32-bit RISC Central Processing Union (CPU), flexible size instruction and data caches, Tightly Coupled Memory (TCM) interfaces, Memory Management Unit (MMU).

It also provides separate instruction and data AMBA bus-compliant AHB interfaces particularly suitable for Multi-layer AHB technology-based systems.

The ARM926EJ-S processor implements the ARMv5TEJ instruction set and includes an enhanced 16 x 32-bit multiplier, capable of single cycle MAC operations.

On the other hand, the ARM968E-S Processor also is a macro cell, fully synthesizable 32-bit RISC processor aimed specifically at embedded real-time applications, and is the smallest, lowest power ARM9ET family processor to date.

The core implements the ARMv5TE instruction set and features an enhanced 16 x 32-bit multiplier capable of single cycle MAC operations, and 16-bit fixed point DSP instructions to accelerate signal processing algorithms and applications.

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Thales appoints InterSwitch gold partner

Remmy Nweke

Electronic Security (eSecurity) firm, Thales eSecurity, has named Nigerian leading transaction switching and payment processing company, InterSwitch, gold partner.

The partnership offers InterSwitch the franchise to handle its business and interface with customers within the West and Central African (WECA) regions.

InterSwitch focus within the Thales product arena is primarily on host and network security. The products that we offer into the Nigerian market are complimentary this enhances the nature of the value-added reseller relationship.

According to Mr. Mark Burke of Thales, “Clearly Africa is an enormous market, and with South Africa handling all territories directly adjoining them, places like Angola, Sierra Leone, Ghana etc are not handled officially, so a West/Central positioning would enhance the way our regions in Africa are serviced. Thales has a lot of confidence in InterSwitch to provide levels of support to their clients in that country.”

He noted that his firm is thrilled that Thales has recognized its leadership role in providing financial institutions, corporates and the Nigerian public with secure and reliable solutions for interactive commerce.

InterSwitch operates an integrated, secure, auditable and open platform for financial transactions, e-commerce, telecommunications value-added services, e-billing and payment collections/monitoring. The company provides a cost-effective value-driven infrastructure through which organisations can provide services to their customers (and receive payment) using multiple channels.

Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, Managing Director of InterSwitch Limited, said, “achieving this partnership with Thales will give us high visibility within Thales and this will result in our being able to better support our customer. We are proud to have been appointed a gold partner.”

Thales e-Security provides e-business security solutions to several thousand customers worldwide.

Over half of the world’s banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales e-Security technology.

Operating in three main markets covering e-security, card payment and network security, Thales e-Security addresses the business security needs of corporates and governments alike.

For more than 20 years the company has been at the forefront of security and payment technology, co-operating and contributing to set the industry standards used for financial transactions and e-commerce globally.

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Motorola trains dealers on sales technique

MOBILE telecommunications giant, Motorola Nigeria, has again, displayed its unique interest in the development of human capacity utilisation when it gathered its major distributors, dealers and sales representatives to a comprehensive sales and marketing skills acquisition training.

The four-day event was held in Lekki-Lagos, as informed by the Country Sales Director, Mr. Charles Asinugo, noting that Motorola Nigeria aimed at sharpening the sales and marketing skills of its partners, in order to ensure a mutually beneficial working relationship between all the parties.

Facilitated by Motorola worldwide trainers, Maurice Levine and Collin Hull from Europe, the training, took participants through advanced sales and marketing strategies.

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Obasanjo launches CANi

Remmy Nweke

President Olusegun Obasanjo would, tomorrow, officially launch the ‘Computer for All Nigerians Initiative’ (CANi). The project is billed towards making Personal Computers (PCs) available at more affordable prices to the citizenry.

CANi is a Public, Private Partnership between the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and Intel, Microsoft, Omatek, Zinox, Brian and Beta computer companies among other technology companies. The formal launch is slated to take place at place at the Presidential Villa, Asokoro, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

With CANi, PCs for home use would be available to workers in paid employment in the public and private sectors at affordable and easy payment terms yet to be disclosed.

Whereas payments could be planned over 24 months, that is, two years, at competitive interest rates through employers and participating financial institutions.

According to the Programme Director of the independent body established to administer CANi, Project Management Office (PMO), Mr. Soji Romeo, the core aims are threefold.

“We are here to provide affordable technology that meets the unique needs of the Nigerian home computer market; develop the local computer hardware and software economy; and to improve Nigerians’ computer literacy and, thus, stimulate the use of technology in our lives,” he said.

Also speaking on the initiative, Intel’s General Manager for Emerging Markets, Mr. Mark Beckford, said the company is committed to making PC technology more broadly available to people in developing nations.

Digital inclusion programmes, such as CANi, he noted, forms part of Intel’s global World Ahead Programme, which aims to speed up access to technology and information in developing nations by focussing on the three key areas of “accessibility, connectivity and education.”

Mr. Beckford further pointed out that the focus needs to be on delivering products and technologies that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs and usage models of developing markets like Nigeria.

Equally commenting of the project, General Manager Microsoft West Africa, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, corroborated, stressing that the company believes strongly in CANi, a fact which has reflected in Microsoft’s significant investment in logistics and project support.

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FG disposes NITEL to Transcorp for $750m

Remmy Nweke

FEDERAL Government Monday in Abuja, finally disposed the 75 per cent of the national carrier, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) along with mobile subsidiary, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTel), to Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) for $750 million (N1.1 billion).

According to reports, the sale was facilitated through a negotiated process, but then, bringing to a stop a near-jinx status of selling NITEL.

It would be recalled that over the last five years, the government of Nigeria has tried selling the carrier through the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). Even the efforts to transform NITEL by the management contractors ended up compounding issues as its debt profile kept hiking.

However, the purchase according to Transcorp was made possible through a 1 billion Euro
(about N170 billion) credit secured by the firm from the European Union Development Council at four per cent interest.

Throwing more light on the sale of NITEL, Director-General (DG), BPE, Mrs. Irene Chigbue, said that with disposing of the 75 per cent through Transcorp, all liabilities cum debts would remain with NITEL, “except personnel related issues such as pensions liabilities and costs associated with downsizing which the government will assume."

She also said that the remaining 25 per cent shares are still with government and would soon be disposed too.

Transcorp is led by the Director-General, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Dr (Mrs) Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, and made up of some influential business icons in the nation’s capital market, shipping, agriculture, oil and gas and telecommunications.

Mrs Okereke-Onyiuke expressed optimism over the group’s determination to experiment on the ingenuity of their expertise, basically Nigerians.

As said by her, Transcorp will not keep the 75 per cent of NITEL to itself as it will next month (August) start the Initial Public Offer (IPO) so as to enable interested Nigerians invest into Transcorp, thus own part of former NITEL.

She further revealed that the remaining 25 per cent with the government will before November this year be put up for the public to buy by the government, assuring of Transcorp’s support to that effect.

Already, Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke said that the credit by Transcorp worth N1.1billion will be injected into NITEL in addition to US $1 billion within the next two years to increase NITEL capacity as well as aggressively build out its networks.

Consequently, NITEL was the dominant fixed line operator in the country with operations in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until the deregulation of the industry five years ago.

Equally, its mobile arm, Mtel claims it have achieved about 1 million subscribers base as at December 2005.

With its assets littered nationwide and beyond, NITEL, has shares in several other companies including the Regional African Satellite Organization (RASCOM) 6.91 per cent; International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) 0.21 per cent; South Atlantic Telecommunication (SAT3)/West African Submarine Cable Organization (WASC) 7.33 per cent and ICO Global Communications Ltd (I-CO) 0.07 per cent. Its share in International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) worth 0.60 per cent, was liquidated in 2005 owing to Intelsat’s privatization completion.

Executive Vice Chairman of National Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Ernest Ndukwe in his remark stated that Nigerians should be happy that NITEL is finally being sold into private hands because "NITEL is a multi-billion telecom outfit that needs only good management to be turned around".

Transcorp, wholly Nigerian owned conglomerate was incorporated in 2004 in response to the need for a mega corporation. Last year, it pulled off a major deal by buying over NICON Hilton Hotel, Abuja which it now renamed Transcorp Hilton.

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Nigeria leads @ PIWA contest

Remmy Nweke

Nigeria has taken the lead in the first Panos Institute for West Africa (PIWA) contest on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) media tagged “Print Media in West Africa: Mediator for Information Society Issues.”

Announcing the result, ICT Programme Assistant at PIWA, Aissatour Tounkara, informed correspondent that Nigerian ICT journalist and editor, ITEdge Magazine, Mr. Olusegun Ohimeh Oruame, took the first prize.

He made the prize with his piece on “In Nigeria … Change is mobile.”

The second prize however, went to Mrs Ramata Sore, of L’Evenement, Burkina Faso, for her piece on ‘Faire du Bio a L’aide des TIC.

The special award specifically sponsored by the Centre for International Policy for West and Central Africa (CIPACO) went to Mr. Fernand Nouwligbeto, for his article/ “Telecoms/TIC en Afrique: Reformer le Cadre juridique pour doper La croissance economique.”

While the award for the radio went to Mr. Filifing Diakite of Radio Guintan, Bamako, for his production, “Le register des dossiers judiciaries et statistiques judiciaries.”

The PIWA official also said that a total of 33 productions for the print media, and four (4) radio productions, came from 10 countries in the West African region.

These countries included Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, the Centrafrican Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Chad.

Mr. Oruame would be presented his prize along others at a regional workshop, Post-World Summit on the Information (WSIS) with the theme: “ICT Governance and Post WSIS,” slated to hold Jun 13 through 15 in Sally, Senegal.

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Adebayo, Ndukwe to grace Telecoms, IT summit

Remmy Nweke

Minister for Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications commission (NCC) would next week Tuesday, lead stakeholders to the one-day summit on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Lagos.

The summit entitled “Telecoms/IT Summit is organised by City People, a media organisation based in Lagos and is scheduled to take place at the Agip Recital Hall, Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

While Chief Cornelius Adebayo would declare the Summit open, Dr. Ndukwe, is expected to deliver the keynote address on the challenges faced by the regulator in carrying out its oversight functions.

Also to grace the summit are the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mr Mohamed Jameel, Chief Executive Officer, Starcomms Ltd, Mr Maher Quabain, Executive Director, Multi-Links Telecommunications Ltd, Chief Ezekiel Fatoye.

Chief Executive, MTS 1st Wireless, Mr Damoye Oyesiku, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh of Zinox Computers, Mrs Florence Seriki of Omatek Computers, Mr Valentine Nwaturocha, Chief Executive Officer, Swift Computers Ltd among others.

The summit has the theme; “Taking Advantage of Opportunities in the Telecoms/IT Sector.”

It follows on the heels of a successful 2-day Telecoms/IT exhibition hosted by the same organization at the Silverbird Galleria in Lagos last October.

As said by the organisers, City People Media Group, the summit is intended to benefit ordinary Nigerians in addition to the Telecoms/IT communities to tap from the enormous advantages in the sector.

Topics for the summit include “Creative Marketing of Telecoms Deliverables,” “Taking Advantage of banks’ facilities,” “How to make legitimate money from the Internet”, “ Careers in Telecoms/IT and human resources management,” “How to set up profitable Cybercafes and business centres,” “Web payment made easy” and “Maintaining a responsive Customer Care Centre,” even as several other topics are slated for discussion.

The organisers also said that speakers cut across the whole sector including the banking sector and foreign embassies as representations are expected from both the Canadian and American embassies.

Equally expected to deliver papers at the Summit are Mr. Mohamed Jameel, Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mr Titi Omo-Ettu, Chief Executive Officer, The Executive Cyberschuul and Mrs. Florence Seriki, Managing Director, Omatek Computers Ltd.

Others expected at the Summit are Mr Calixthus Okoruwa, Chief Executive Officer, XLR8 Nigeria Ltd, Barrister Kierian Enechi who had an impressive record as Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Henry Omenogor, an Internet wizard and the writer of the book, “Internet Wealth E-Code”. Mr Fola Odufuwa, a research expert and the Chief Executive Officer of eShekel Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, Managing Director, Interswitch Nigeria Ltd and Mr. Femi Adeabgo, Managing Director, Savemycontacts Nigeria Ltd are also expected to deliver papers at the Summit as well as a couple of other speakers.

Several Telecoms/IT operators are seizing the avenue to make a public presentation of products and services at the event as well as display of products at the foyer of Agip Hall.

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