Nigeria dedicates 2007 to broadband development

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has declared that this year, 2007, would be focused on broadband development in the country.

Chief Executive, NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, made this declaration while chatting with newsmen on the commission’s projections for this year in Lagos.

“This year would be dedicated to broadband in this country,” he asserted.

He noted that technology infrastructure in the country has improved in the over five years of venturing into the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM).

Dr. Ndukwe pointed out that NCC began the year with the selling of two spectrums to the Mubadala Development Company (MDC) and is currently working out the final stages for the auctioning of Third Generation (3G) licenses.

“Now, we’re moving fast on to 3G licenses,” he said.

Dr. Ndukwe also revealed that NCC is set to inaugurate the first governing board for the Nigerian Internet Exchange Point (IXNP) for the country, even as its members would be drawn mainly from the private sector.

According to him, the government through NCC want the private sector to drive the initiative.
Equally, he said, the initiative is driven by Nigeria’s President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, stressing that the federal government decision to set aside was inspired by the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunisia in November 2005.

Meanwhile, chairman, Presidential Committee on IXNP, Mr. Ndukwe Kalu has said that the exchange has entered the final sign-off stage.

According to him, the visit of the NCC officials to the sites of exchange in Ikeja-Lagos, recently confirms this fact.He said the step was the best way forward in making sure that the exchange is commissioned as soon as possible, expressing optimism that they have seen the equipment and they are satisfied.

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ICANN takes stages @ Aurelio Peccei

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), would take the centre stage at the 34th edition of Aurelio Peccei lecture holding at the Royal Flemish Academy, Belgium.

A press statement from The Club of Rome, the organisers of the monthly lecture, disclosed that next month, April, two key ICANN officials, the African Regional Liaison, Ms Anne-Rachel Inne and the European Regional Liaison, Giovanni Seppia, would lead discussions at the session.

The lecture which is put together by the Brussels-European Union (EU) chapter of The Club of Rome, said that the theme would be “ICANN: achievements and challenges of a multi-stakeholder, bottom up, transparent model.”

The organisers also said that the event would hold on Wednesday, April 4 at the academy, Hertogostraat, Brussels.

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers. These include domain names such as .org, .museum and country codes like .uk for United, .ng for Nigeria, as well as the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols.

Experts say that computers use these identifiers to reach each other over the Internet and careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, hence ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability.

It would be recalled that in the recent past, ICANN has demonstrated that it could live up to the challenges of the Internet dynamic environment.

The process of further internationalization, the role played in a constantly changing community, the expectations from the Internet stakeholders as well as the goals achieved so far together with an overview of the domain name market will be focus of the lecture.

On the other hand, the Brussels-EU chapter of the Club of Rome is an independent non-profit association, registered under Belgian Law, affiliated with the Club of Rome.

The association specifically aims to build bridges between the European Union institutions and the Club of Rome, with the mission to act as a catalyst of reflection on sustainable development in Europe on all levels both government and private, aimed at identifying the most crucial problems facing European society; to analyse them in the global context and to reflect on alternative future solutions for a sustainable European Society, including the elaboration of specific scenarios for the future of the European continent.

In addition The Club is to initiate research in which the major theme is on development of a conceptual foundation for globally sustainable development and for the specific contributions that Europe can make as well as organise a societal discourse on the implementation of European policies in a global context, involving the most important public- and private-sector decision-makers, as well as the general public.

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Starcomms surpasses growth projections

Management of on the Unified License Operators (ULO) in Nigeria, Starcomms Limited, has said that the telco’s growth in subscriber base surpassed its projections, with subscription base of about 490,000 towards the end of last quarter of 2006.

Starcomms, acclaimed to have pioneered the mobile broadband data access service based on Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), said it has consolidated its position as the country’s largest Code Division Multiple Access Third Generation (CDMA 3G) mobile network, with subscription base nearing the half million mark.

Commercial Director at Starcomms, Mr. Prakash Pantham, said that this is coming against the backdrop of indications that the company, which commenced operations in 1990, has surpassed its growth projections in the 2006 operating year.

He also said, an insight into the company’s performance in last year showed that at midyear the subscriber base had reached over 250,000, and with an estimated growth rate of two per cent, the figure had increased to over 490,000 towards the end of last year.

According to him, this was made possible, due to heavy investment the telco made in new technologies and systems; innovative and aggressive pricing of mobile phones and tariffs, all meant to ensure that customers enjoy real value for their money.

He assured that quality customer service delivery, unparalleled product and service innovations, have remained the company’s defining features.

“We are indeed pleased by our achievements so far, although not surprised,” he said.

Mr. Pantham pointed out that Starcomms has established itself as a network effectively tooled to serve the interest of its subscribers.

“If you look at our products and value added services, there is no doubt about our quest to surpass expectations,” Pantham said.

He further noted that the telco invested millions in new technologies and innovations last year, even as he confirmed, that the essence was to build a solid network for voice and data to be available for all categories of subscribers.

“We’re not only doing something special, we want to take it to a new level each year," he asserted.

He emphasised that the Starcomms’ EVDO, launched in February last year, is the mobile wide area wireless service commercially available today with download speeds of 300-600 kilo bytes per second (kbps), with peak carrier capacity of 2.4 Mega bytes per second (Mbps).

He explained that with the EVDO, based on advanced Third Generation CDMA wireless technology, and acknowledged to be a revolution in technology advancement, have true mobile broadband access to the Internet, intranet, and e-mail.

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Siemens Profile-06 rewards excellence

The 2006 African Siemens Profile Awards held recently in South Africa ended with rewards for excellence as winners carted home prizes to various parts of the continent, even as Jennifer Stastny of Popular Mechanics was named the overall winner with her piece on ‘Unseen Ally,’ which also won a prize in the medical solutions category.

This came as Nigerian-based Benin City Correspondent of Ogun State-owned newspapers, The Hope, Mr. Adetokunbo Abiola was named top in the Local Manufacture basic technology category, while Messrs ‘Seun Igbolade and Elvis Orimosele of IT & Telecom Digest and Financial Standards respectively, emerged merit winners in the Information Technology (IT) Business Solutions and Communications in the Carriers and Enterprise categories in that order.

Other winners in 2006 Profile awards from South Africa included Allan Duggan in Research and Development, Duncan McCleod in Policy and Investment as well as Rowan Watt-Pringle in Corporate respectively.

Equally, there were winners from Egypt including Adel El Bahnasawi (Energy), Haitham Dardeeri (Business Solutions (IT) and Samir Mahmoud, Transport.

Additionally, Burkinabe Ramata Sore, took home the prize for Communications category.

Speaking at the event, chief executive, Siemens Southern Africa, Mr. Sigi Proebstle, noted that with the aim of rewarding reporting excellence in the fields of science and technology in Africa, the firm is making a mark on increasing in the number of entrants from across the continent, which he said, made the Profile Awards truly Pan-African in their scope and reach.

Proebstle also said that it is his firm’s belief that science and technology reporting needs to be continuously accelerated and improved upon on the continent in order to demystify these very important topics that have the potential to impact massively on the lives of all Africa’s people.

“The recognition and reward of those writers, broadcasters and producers who effectively do this, therefore, is a vitally important task,” he said.

He stressed that as developments in science and technology continue apace, it is relevant to stay up-to-date with the leading edge of innovation, which is why Siemens sees the reporting of science and technology in an easily understandable format as a priority for Africa.

“We believe that science and innovation can help us create a safer and healthier society, a cleaner environment and a prosperous knowledge-driven economy for this entire continent's people,” he said.

The Executive Director for Development at Rhodes University Grahamstown, Mr. Kerry Swift, and the convener of the judging panel said that overall, the trend was up in terms of the number of entries received, countries participating and in the depth of knowledge displayed.

He added that of particular importance for the 2006 awards was the quality and quantity of entries from the north of Africa, which indicated that a wide spread from countries across the continent such as Nigeria, Egypt and Burkina Faso, as well as from Francophone Africa came in.

“Of the winning entries, what stood out clearly was the depth of research, the ability to unbundled complex technology, individual writing styles and a broad interest in the technology arena, with several entries considered to be world-class,” he said.

Mr. Swift pointed out that entries were examined for reporting that was accurate, informed and balanced, and that communicated science and technology reporting in an easily understood manner, with strong emphasis placed on context.

“The category and merit awards went to those journalists who unbundled technology so audiences could easily grasp the nature and benefits of new technologies, and who did so in a clear and concise manner,” he declared.

The judge panel was composed of senior journalists from English, French and Arabic media, technology writers, academics and technologists among others, Siemens’ profile media awards is a yearly contest among African journalists who have done work the previous year on science and technology.

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More winners emerge in Y’ello Love Bug promo

More winners have emerged at the on-going MTN Nigeria Valentine Day promotion tagged “Y’ello Love Bug.”

The latest include five customers who won an all-expenses-paid trip to a prime resort in the country, a brand new Toyota Corolla car and N100,000 wardrobe marke-over.

Second prize-winners numbering 25 would also get N100,000 each and N5,000 airtime consolation prizes for 25,000 customers.

According to Acting General Manager at MTN Nigeria for Consumer Market, Mr. Ikechukwu Kalu, it is another case of MTN moving its customers ahead especially in their relationship.

He liken the draw to a bond MTN is making with its subscribers in the country especially in enabling conducive environment both the operator and customers.

He pointed out that recently, MTN played host to about 100 customers by treating them to special Valentine Day dinner at various locations nationwide.

“The experience of the 100 customers treated to the special dinner in various locations across the country is going to look like child’s play compared to what these next set of lucky customers will get after their trip,” he said, stressing that they would each be given keys to brand new Toyota Corolla cars for keeps.

Mr. Kalu explained that it takes N400 to qualify for the promo, whereas new customers are expected to buy new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) with a minimum of N200.

As said by him, multiple entries are allowed hence opening more channels for customers to the promo.

The Y’ello Love Bug is a channel MTN Nigeria has created to empower its subscribers by empowering them to move ahead.

The promo is expected to end by March 31, this year.

It would recalled that MTN Nigeria is equally sponsoring Who Wants to be a Millionaire with N10 million up for grabs.

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SwiftVoice phone service makes a debut

Upcoming provider of reliable broadband data, Internet and phone services to small and medium enterprises, Swift Networks Limited, has commenced offering of its phone services, known as SwiftVoice.

Managing Director, Swift Networks Limited, Mr. Charles Anudu, who revealed this to newsmen in Lagos, said that their services are affordable, with superior call quality, which is bundled with broadband service.

This, he said, is coming in less than one year after it had a commercial launch of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), which is a wireless broadband service.

According to him, the phone service launched at just concluded Computer, Telecommunications and Office Equipment (CTO) exhibition in Lagos, is to take its customers to the next level definition of communication using broadband Internet.

He added that with this service, customers would be able to subscribe to simple, affordable and high-quality telephone services, alone or bundled with broadband Internet.

“Swift would be the first widely deployed wireless broadband company to offer affordable and feature-rich local and international telephone services in Nigeria,” he said.

The new service, he also said, is unique because it is a facilities-based phone service specifically designed for use over Swift’s broadband network.

“As a result, the service will provide customers with exceptional call quality and an array of enhanced features,” Mr. Anudu said, stressing that the service would run off Swift’s newly installed switch, which is capable of handling both Internet Protocol (IP) and Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) calls.

Mr. Anudu further informed that the whole broadband Internet and voice project has been executed with inputs from world-class innovative communications companies including Motorola, Eagle Telephonics and Cisco Systems whose terminal devices have been tested and adopted for this project.

“In the same way that Swift broadband Internet is bringing reliable and affordable services to Nigerians, SwiftVoice would change the way people use the telephone,” he declared, adding that his firm is excited to bring these benefits into the nation’s market, especially its current and prospective subscribers who will, at last get their broadband internet access, telephone and fax services from one company and on one monthly bill.

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Bluetooth, taking hands-free to next level

Features of the week:

Bluetooth is a new wave of excitement currently cutting across telecom subscribers in Nigeria, Remmy Nweke, examines how the wireless solution could be optimised.

Willy Okpe, 30, is a graphic designer based in Orita area of Ibadan in Western Nigeria. His desire to keep date with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) wave that is fast growing in the country with the advent of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) encouraged him to buy a mobile phone set, which comes with an ear piece.

On a good day, Willy usually adorns himself with an ear piece connected to the handset in his pocket or pouch through a cable stretching up to his ear, then he adds up another mobile phone which he hangs on his neck through a stripe, then a digital camera that he uses to make an impressive documentary on his belt.

In his office, Willy looks very sophisticated as it were but on a second thought, a colleague described him recently as a suicide bomber awaiting to explode due to his appearance; two phones and a camera. This remark, however, did not go down well with Willy as it left him with the thought for another option that could be wireless, at least, to minimise the number of ear-piece cables he has literally wired himself with.

Willy is not alone. Since the GSM made its debut over five years ago, a unique feature among Nigerians, has been the use of mobile handset ear piece for calls, music and radio, which almost changed the acronym GSM to ‘General Street Madness (GSM)’, because some people have formed the habit of talking through the wired headsets connected between their phones in the pockets and ears, making it somewhat difficult to really know when GSM users are making calls or talking on phone without soliloquising.

Inquiries with an ICT expert pointed at the use of Bluetooth to scale down if not eliminate the amount of wiring people like Willy carry around on daily basis. So, he went online and a search landed him at Bluetooth.com, which is the international Special Interest Group (SIG) on bluetooth accessories, where he could find some help and tips on how to migrate to his dream of wireless communications.

What’s Bluetooth?

Known among experts as an industrial standard for low power, short range, radio communication between devices, Bluetooth enables mobile phones, computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and related devices to communicate across short distances, by providing a Personal Area Network (PAN) also known as Piconet.

Equally Bluetooth operates in famous Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band that exists within the 2.4 Gega Hertz (GHz) band; referred to as 2.4GHz to 2.4835GHz in the United States and Europe or 2.472GHz to 2.497GHz in Japan.

Mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices also operate in this band, hence the likelihood for interference, experts at the United States-based Bluetooth.com said, that the Bluetooth technology uses Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) to reduce interference by hopping through the available frequencies to minimize the effects of interference.

Currently, Bluetooth is planned to allow three classes of device, each with difference in power requirements and maximum ranges, consisting of class one which has 100 milliwatts (mW) and approximated range of 100 metres; class two has 2.5 mW and 10 metres about 30 feets and class three comes with 1mW for 1 meter.

This means that a Bluetooth enabled device such as mobile phones, when connected and switched on, could be left in the bedroom while the owner wears the headset in the sitting room or just outside a company parameter and still receives calls without hitches within a given distance of about 100 meters if on class one model among other options.

Therefore, Bluetooth allows data to be transmitted at up to 1 mega bit per second (mbps) or up to 3mbps with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), which has been available since November 2004 in version 2.0+, against the version 1.2 that was adopted in November 2003, just as each Bluetooth device is uniquely identified by an exclusive 48-bit identifier.

Simply put, Bluetooth is a specification for short distance wireless communication between devices that could be from two to upto eight as gathered lately, mostly via Plantronic brand.

History of Bluetooth

Almost all the known brands in mobile communications now has one series of bluetooth brand or another. From Ericsson to Siemens, Nokia, Motorola to LG. Invariably the history of bluetooth globally would not be complete without the mention of Ericsson as the first inventor.

Historically, Bluetooth was first made public by Ericsson on May 20, 1999 and was officially harmonised and promoted by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Today, manufacturers have encouraged the establishment of brand specific interest group, such as Sony Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Toshiba and Nokia.

The name “Bluetooth” according to Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Blatand or Harold Bluetooth in English. At early stages of the trade association a code name was required to propagate the product and over an evening discussion on European history and the future of wireless technology discussants felt it was appropriate to name the technology after King Blatand. He had been instrumental in uniting warring factions in parts of what is now Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Just as the technology is designed to allow collaboration between differing industries such as the computing, mobile phone, and automotive markets. Obviously the code name stuck.

Relatively, a Scandinavian firm originally designed the logo at the time the trade association was announced to the public kept with the traditions of the name, as the logo combines the runic alphabetic characters “H” which looks similar to an asterisk and “B”.

Since Bluetooth technology was created in 1998, the Bluetooth SIG and its member companies have achieved some great milestones including adoption of its name. This feat was followed in 1999 with the release of the Bluetooth 1.0 specification and a year later, the first Bluetooth consumer products hit the market - a Bluetooth headset and phone adapter from Ericsson.

In 2001, the Bluetooth SIG was incorporated as a privately held trade association and before the end of 2002, Bluetooth wireless technology has over 500 qualified products in the market place globally.

In the following year, 2003, SIG adopted Bluetooth core specification version 1.2, even as Bluetooth product shipments exceeded one million per week and a year later, in 2004, SIG approved version 2.0+ an Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), with installation in over 250 million devices, while product shipments go beyond 3 million per week with SIG membership hitting 3000.

By 2005, SIG and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) forum announced collaboration to take Bluetooth to the next level in technology, even as shipments rose to 5m chipsets per week as it recorded the 4000^th member. Before the year ended, SIG also set up headquarters in Seattle, United States with regional offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific, precisely in Malmö, Sweden and Hong Kong.

Although online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia informed that ‘unofficial story’ showed that the name, Bluetooth came from the book ‘The Long Ships’ by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson.

Then again, Bluetooth technology has undergone several evolutions as of today; it has not only been added into mobile phones to access the Internet but has even ventured into cars.

Noteworthy is that the first manufacturer to put Bluetooth technology in their cars was BMW, in the 3 series, 5 series and the X5. The input affords users with Bluetooth equipped phones to be able to use some of the phone’s features, such as making calls, while the phone itself could be left in a suitcase or in the car boot.

Compatibility:

One thing is getting a device and another is knowing how to connect same correctly, especially if it is wireless solution. Most Bluetooth brands in the market today are compatible with several other products from various manufacturers.

For instance, a Sony Ericsson HBH-PV700 Bluetooth headset which weighs 23 grammes and ranges up to 10 metres with five hours talk time; is compatible to 89 mobile phones with 39 from Sony Ericsson, Nokia 17, Motorola 14, Samsung 7, Sagem 1, Siemens 2, Blackberry 1, Qtek 2, Panasonic 1, Sharp 3 and LG 5 as at the time of going to the press, according to investigations and so is most of the Bluetooth brands in the market today.

Activation:

For you to enjoy Bluetooth connection on your devices, it must be activated thus enabling mobile phones and headsets to work together as a way of introducing the devices to each other.

Within the Bluetooth parlance, activation or connection is also known as pairing, adding or bonding and this is a significant part of connecting to Bluetooth. Users interfacing implementation process as laid down by manufacturers could differ from one device to another, despite some very basic steps to go through in connecting two devices for the first time.

Experts at Bluetooth SIG advise users to always conduct the pairing process in a secure environment. At first, every new Bluetooth devices should be charged before connection could be made or turn on. Although in some devices, like Bluetooth wireless headsets, powering up the device could also initiate the pairing process.

By turning the Bluetooth functionality on in a device makes it visible and as a security measure, some devices allow the Bluetooth functionality to be off, hidden, or visible and its up to the user to check these functionalities in affirmation.

When trying to connect devices, SIG said, users should make the devices visible so that they could discover one another. After the devices are paired, users could set the devices to hidden if they have concerns about being discovered by others unknown to them.

Real pairing takes place by placing both devices in the connection mode after duly charged, powered up, and the Bluetooth functionality turned on; each device needs to initiate a communication session. Normally, in a connection between two devices, one device acts as the ‘host’ and the other as the ‘guest.’ The device in the host role is the one with the user interface from which most of the connection setup will take place, pointing out that a device could be in the host role with one device and in the guest role with another device.

For example, in a phone and wireless headset pairing, the phone is the host. However, in a phone and laptop pairing, the laptop is the host.

Followed by responding to the request by entering the passcode, which at default is four – 0000, but could be changed as users deem fit on one or both devices.

In some cases, SIG noted that like with wireless headsets, the passcode is a fixed passcode assigned to the headset by the manufacturer. In those cases, the user enters the assigned passcode into the host device. The user will find this passcode in the user manual. In other cases, the user will be able to enter in his or her own passcode from onset.

Conseqently, the user will enter the passcode once into each device. It is highly recommended that users employ an eight character alphanumeric passcode for the one-time pairing process. After the passcode is entered, the devices will validate one another and complete the establishment of a trusted connection.

Similarly, trusted devices could be deleted or disconnected based on priority, especially when one of the devices is lost or stolen, “you should unpair that device with all the devices to which it was previously paired,” while an option of adding new device is up to the user.

Specific pairing on headset

A specific pairing could occur between Bluetooth wireless headset to Bluetooth mobile phone, by finding the connectivity settings of the phone, but ensure that Bluetooth connectivity is on and visible, before choosing to add new device.

Initiate connection session on both devices by the pairing process on the headset, would require the user to press and possibly hold a button for about five seconds, whereas the mobile phone would prompt user for passcode. Enter in the passcode assigned to the wireless headset, and allow devices to complete the pairing process.

The Bluetooth bug:

This bug has since caught up with some Nigerian telecom subscribers and Champion Infotel went to town to sample opinion on Bluetooth.

Adducing reasons for his choice of Bluetooth, Manager, Legal/Regulatory at the Interconnect ClearingHouse Nigeria Limited, Mr. Ihuefo Udeh, told Champion Infotel that he uses Nokia Bluetooth headset because it offers him convenience, comfort and efficiency at the same time. Hence he does not always have to bring up his hand to the ear to answer calls and usually have busy phone because of the nature of his work.

According to him, the convenience it affords could be experienced in the office, that is, by talking on the phone while using your two hands to either write or look for something and indeed do other things without affecting your conversation. Another instance given by Mr. Udeh, was that if driving, he uses his two hands more efficiently and avoids the danger of not only losing concentration but also escaping the law, which has made it a traffic offence for anyone to be using phone while driving.

“I have been using bluetooth for about 1 year and I use a Nokia Bluetooth and have Nokia phones all connected to it. Nokia phones and accessories are very user-friendly, works efficiently and are rugged,” he said.

On the implication, Mr. Udeh declared that the emissions from Bluetooth has been proved to be too minimal to be harzadous to either the ear or other organs of the body, noting that telecom users even have stronger emissions using the phones directly.

Though he encouraged Nigerians to embrace the use of Bluetooth headsets with their mobile phones, explaining that what he did was to divert one of the phones to another, probably the host from where he now answers calls.

For the communications manager, LM Ericsson Nigeria, Mr. Bode Sowunmi, who began to use it less than a year ago, said Bluetooth headsets are more convenient. He sticked to Ericsson brand because Ericsson invented bluetooth, stressing that it helps him to control appliances remotely, such as TV, stereo to name a few, although his primary usage is for the phone.

Mr. Sowunmi would like to see Bluetooth special interest group emerging from Nigeria so as to share information and maximise the benefits.

Speaking on why the choice of Bluetooth headset, a Lagos-based Personal Assistant to a Managing Director, Mr. Uche Ogidi, told Champion Infotel that his newly acquired Samsung Bluetooth brand is serving him well and avails efficient communications in terms of driving. “You can easily receive calls,” he said, emphasising that it is a wonderful development that should be encouraged among telecom subscribers in the country.

Marketing Expert, Mr. Seun Odah, who uses Plantronic brand, said his Bluetooth headset connects to four different phones and looks forward to having another series in Plantronic that could connect eight phones, noting that the bluetooth aspect has been very useful.

Conclusion:

Nowadays, most Bluetooth headsets in the market and Nigerian telecom sphere precisely are ‘universal’ in mechanism, meaning that they are compatible with lots of mobile phones, which may not necessarily be of the same brand. Therefore offering subscribers a large choice to choose from.

While non universal type of bluetooth currently could be purchased between N2,500 and N3,500, universal type goes from N3,500 upto N12,000, for instance.

The beauty of Bluetooth wireless technology is that it frees not just your hands, it also allows your devices to talk to each other without cables, and across the range of up to 10 metres, at the least.

For the likes of Willy Okpe, the ball is now in his court to go wireless and remain connected.

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ICANN indicts Asia-Pacific over attack

Global coordinating agency in charge of the Internet, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released its fact sheet on the recent attack on six out of the 13 Internet root servers, and blamed hackers from the Asia-Pacific region for that assault.

Root servers are the base on which the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) runs. Each server contains a copy of the same file, refreshed and replaced twice a day, which lists where on the Internet all the directories for top-level domains such as .com or .net or .uk could be found. The file itself is actually very small but it acts as the Net’s definitive directory and without it, the single Internet that we enjoy now would be put at risk.

Champion Infotel, recalls that on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, between the hours of 12pm and 14:00 pm, approximated two-and-a-half hours, the system that acts as the engine of the Internet came under attack. This was repeated three-and-a-half hours after the initial attack stopped, this time lasting for five hours.

Thanks to the determination of engineers across the globe coupled with a new technology developed and implemented after the last Domain Name System (DNS) was attacked October 21, 2002, even as the attack had a very limited impact on actual Internet users.

Attacks on the Internet are usually orchestrated by faceless hackers. Hackers are software experts specialising in inventing programmable codes to be used on the Internet, which could be positive or negative, but dominantly negative in approach.

ICANN said the relevance of the factsheet is to explain to stakeholders what really happened and take note of such act.

According to the factsheet made available by ICANN’s general manager, public participation, Mr. Kieren McCarthy, the future factsheets is expected to follow a similar approach of providing clear and topical non-technical information about various aspects of the Internet in which ICANN is involved.

Equally, ICANN said, the attack was on the core DNS servers of the Internet which was hit by a significant distributed denial of service attack, otherwise known as (DDoS).

“In such an attack, billions of worthless data packets are sent from thousands of different points on the Internet to specific computer servers in order to overwhelm them with requests and so disrupt the smooth running of the Internet,” ICANN explained.

However, this factsheet, he said, provided the most important details of the attack and briefly explains how the domain name system works and the systems in place to protect it. He also said the factsheet outlined how such attacks were possible and profer solutions against future attacks.

Root servers are managed currently by 12 entities known as the ‘root server operators,’ including VeriSign Global Registry Services with two servers while others have one each, namely, Information Sciences Institute, Cogent Communications, University of Maryland, NASA Ames Research Centre, Internet Systems Consortium Incorporated, United States Department of Defence (DOD) Network Information Centre, United States Army Research Laboratory, Autonomica/NORDUnet, RIPE NCC, ICANN and WIDE Project.

Historically, 9 of the 13 root servers are originally based in the United States with four in California. The four outside the United States were based in Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The executive summary of the factsheet stated that the Internet sustained a significant DDoS attack, originating from the Asia-Pacific region, but stood up to it.

Although ICANN acknowledged the fact that two out of the six root servers attacked were badly affected.

“The two worst affected were those that do not have new Anycast technology installed,” ICANN said, stressing that the attacks highlighted the effectiveness of Anycast load balancing technology.

ICANN also said that more analysis is needed before a full report on what happened can be drawn up, just as the reasons behind the attack are still unclear, pointing out that root server operators worked together in a fast, effective and co-ordinated effort.

ICANN further said that recommendations made last year for improving the security of the DNS still need to be followed through and probably strictly as well as other measures to be considered.

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GSMA decries Nigeria’s absence in IMEI-DB

The umbrella body of mobile communications operators under the aegis of Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA), has decried the absence of Nigeria in its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) database (IMEI-DB).

Speaking to Champion Infotel exclusively on the missing of Nigeria, the fastest growing GSM market on the African continent in IMEI-DB, the Director, Fraud and Security at GSMA, Mr. James Moran, lamented the situation that after over five years, none of the operators has shown keen interest in being part of the IMEI database.

“At present, there are no Nigerian operators connected to the IMEI Database and I am not aware that any of them has any plans to do so,” he said.

Mr. Moran also said that efforts to contact Nigerian GSM operators in this respect in the past following media reports on increase of stolen mobile phones did not yield any fruit, even with the efforts of the regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

According to him, efforts to join IMEI-DB heightened in year 2004 but did not last long as none of the operators eventually came up to endorse relevant papers officially.

“In 2004 it appeared that barring of stolen handsets was on the agenda and there was an expectation that the operators would commit to the initiative by signing a binding agreement. However, to the best of my knowledge nothing ever came of this,” he said.

Mr. Moran also expressed disposition of GSMA to accommodate any of the willing operators to join in the fight against handset theft.

“GSMA is always willing to help operators combat handset theft and we are willing to work with, and support the efforts of, the Nigerian operators if they wish to undertake any positive initiatives,” he said.

He also said, GSMA has engaged operators in many countries around the world in relation to various initiatives to combat handset theft and he is ever-happy to offer the same help to the Nigerian operators, so as to enable them benefit from the experience of GSMA expertise.

GSMA, he pointed out, is well placed to help its members with the sharing of stolen handset data by offering the use of the IMEI database, that was introduced in 1996 to provide a facility to which GSMA members could connect to upload and download stolen handset data.

“We believe the IMEI database is a suitable vehicle to host a Nigerian national database and we have provided IMEI data sharing facilities to operators in many countries free of charge. We are currently working with operators in a host of other countries to ensure that they also have the necessary tools to allow them use the IMEI database,” the security chief said.

He emphasised the resolve of GSMA to offer the Nigerian operators the opportunity to use the IMEI database as a facility to exchange stolen handset data and more willing to support them to establish a suitable solution for combating handset theft with maximum efficiency and minimum cost.

“We do not impose any sanctions on operators that fail to take remedial action as handset initiatives tend to be voluntarily undertaken in individual markets by industry working in partnership with government and law enforcement,” he told Champion Infotel.

GSMA, he said, recognises that unsupported deployment of EIR’s by member networks is of limited value in terms of effectiveness in combating handset theft. Although EIR deployment, and connection to the IMEI Database, could help, “it is critical that other parties who have an interest in combating handset theft can engage fully to implement appropriate crime prevention measures.”

He further gave some specifications mapped out by GSMA to encourage operators to include implementation by handset manufacturers, of which the industry agreed technical principles to be used in preventing the change of handset IMEI’s, use of the industry initiated IMEI reporting and correction process by handset manufacturers and operators to report and correct identified IMEI security weaknesses.

As said by him, GSMA also assist thorough investigation of mobile phone-theft related crimes by law enforcement agencies and the maintenance of appropriate statistics to measure the scale of the problem and to monitor progress made.

He maintained that the introduction of specific legislation by national regulators/governments to criminalize the reprogramming of IMEI’s such as what has happened in France and the UK and is under consideration in a number of jurisdictions.

“It is hoped that a holistic range of measures, such as those listed above, will complement the deployment of EIR’s/CEIR and greatly enhance the value of each of the other measures in an effort to reduce handset theft related crime. Where this has happened, like the UK, handset theft rates dropped significantly in a short period of time,” he submitted.

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Watch out Online lotto

Nowadays, almost on daily basis, people receive mails from abroad congratulating them for an online lotto from uklottery421342@bellsouth.net and purportedly from United Kingdom National Lottery Headquarters, The Marina Offices, St Peters Yacht Basin, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1HX England.

A particular factor in this kind of mail is that recipients never played any lottery in the first place.

The mail also claims that the recipient was chosen amongst electronic mail addresses.

In addition, the fraudulent letter gives out a reference number and a batch number, asking that the recepient contact the processing consultant.

The mail, which was reportedly sent by one Mrs. Susan Moore gave the name of the consultant as Mr. Luis Santiago who should be contacted through: lotteryagent20071111@yahoo.co.uk, or through +44 (0) 701 113 8303.

Also the sender requested that you fill in a form with full names, address, sex, age, marital status, occupation, e-mail address, telephone number, brief description of company or individual, amount won, country and date of winning of notification.

The mail reads in part: “Dear Lucky Winner, We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of United Kingdom Lottery international Lottery programs that was held 7th ,March 2007. The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of Draw 1,157 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodiespicked by an advanced automated random computer search from the Internet, no tickets were sold.

“After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of three winners in he category\\\\”A\\\\” .You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of £1,000,000 (One Million Pounds Sterling): with the following winning information below: Ref No: UK/9420X2/68, Batch No: 074/05/ZY369.

“Do fill out the claims form in other to process the claims of your prize without delay.

“Sincerely, Mrs. Susan Moore. FOR UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.”

The reality is that if you did not play any lotto, don’t worry about replying this kind of mail. So watch out!

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NCC inaugurates IXNP board

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, has said that his agency is set to inaugurate the first governing board for the Nigerian Internet Exchange Point (IXNP).

Disclosing this at an interactive session with the media in Lagos at the weekend, Dr. Ndukwe said that the inauguration would not pass this week and members of the board would be extensively drawn from the private sector.

“We want it to be private sector-led initiative,” he said, stressing that it would also herald the launch of the exchange point.

The initiative, he said, is significantly driven by President Olusegun Obasanjo himself, adding that the federal government decided to put fund down to set up the exchange so as to encourage the nation’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to tap into the exchange.

This, he said, was encouraged by the President’s participation at the 2005-second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS-05) held in Tunisia.

In a related development, IXNP has entered the final sign-off stage, according to the chairman, Presidential Committee on IXNP, Mr. Ndukwe Kalu.

He confirmed to Champion Infotel that following the visit of key NCC officials to the sites of exchange in Ikeja-Lagos, fortnight ago, the final sign-off testing involving all the radio and tracking the same on the exchange has been established.

Mr. Kalu described the steps as the best way forward in making sure that the exchange is commissioned as soon as possible.

“They have seen the equipment and I hope they are satisfied,” he said.

Champion Infotel recalls that following the recent completion of the Lagos branch, seven Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have connected to the exchange, even as 20 others are on queue to be connected, which would be added as soon as the inauguration takes place.

“The three sites of Lagos branch are completed and ready,” he said, emphasising that the Presidential committee on IXNP has officially notified NCC that the exchange is ready.

“We’re waiting for the inauguration of the interim board of the exchange and formal commissioning of the exchange by the NCC. This schedule is based on NCC timing,” Mr. Kalu submitted.

He also listed those seven ISPs currently on the exchange to include Tara Systems, Cyberspace, Netcom Africa, Linkserve, Amsco, Medallion and Disc Communications.

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UWB, WiMedia partner on ultra-wideband

Leading industry semiconductor, software Original Equipment Manufacturers cum Original Design Manufacturers (OEM/ODM) group, the Ultra-Wideband Forum is partnering WiMedia Alliance to grow ultra-wideband market.

The WiMedia Alliance is a not-for-profit open industry association that promotes and enables the rapid adoption, regulation, standardization and multi-vendor interoperability of ultra-wideband (UWB) worldwide.

According to Shannon Reid of UWB Forum, the partnership was in response to the International Electrical, and Electronic Engineers (IEEE 802.15.3a) task group vote to withdraw the Project Authorization Request (PAR) for that activity, hence UWB Forum and WiMedia Alliance announced that the industry will continue to grow the ultra wideband market.

Reid also said that the partnership is a show of commitment to the commercialisation of UWB and the need to standardize ultra-wideband projects.

“This statement was made in response to the vote by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a task group (TG3a) members, here at the Interim Meeting of the IEEE, to withdraw the January 2003 project authorization request (PAR) that initiated the development of high data rate UWB standards,” Reid said in a press statement made available to Champion Infotel.

Similarly in a joint statement they reiterated that as the industry organizations dedicated to UWB products, “we thank all contributing TG3a members and voters for their respective efforts during the past three years.”

However, they concur that, at this stage in UWB market development, a more prudent course of action is necessary to allow the market to move forward with the commercialization of multiple UWB technologies.

It would be recalled that members of the IEEE 802.15 TG3a voted weekend, to recommend dissolution of the task group.

Also, the 802.15 Working Group approved a motion to recommend dissolution of the 802.15.3a project to the IEEE SA NESCOM.

Even as TG3a’s most commendable achievement is the consolidation of 23 UWB PHY specifications into two proposals: MultiBand Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) UWB, supported by the WiMedia Alliance, and direct sequence-UWB (DS-UWB), supported by the UWB Forum.

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Starcomms, SA & U sign deal

Largest Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Third Generation (3G) mobile operator, Starcomms Limited and SA & U Associates, a Lagos-based marketing communications consultancy, have signed a deal to provide a platform on its recharge cards for media buyers.

The latest agreement, would afford the marketing communications firm to source adverts for placement on Starcomms recharge cards.

Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony in Lagos recently, Commercial Director Starcomms, Mr. Prakash Pantham, said as a leading and innovative telecoms operator, Starcomms has decided to go into the pact in order to set a pace in the Nigerian telecommunications sector.

“Across the continent, the sale of scratch cards is a multi-million dollars industry, employing millions of Africans. In Nigeria it has been estimated that Nigerians use about 40 million units of scratch cards monthly. As a leading player in the telecoms sector, we thought it wise to further raise the stakes by providing a value-added service on our recharge cards, and also offer a credible platform for discerning advertisers in order to increase their brand share and presence since every passing minute someone is making or receiving a call on the Starcomms’ network, hence recharging his phone,” he said, adding that with over 400,000 active subscribers, and operations in Nigeria’s major commercial cities of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Ibadan, Starcomms sells over one million recharge cards per month.

However, with its plans to extend operations to Aba, Onitsha and Asaba in the coming weeks, the subscriber base is projected to more than double.

He said that the cards are available in various denominations from N500 to N9,000.

According to Nkem Jibunoh, Technical Consultant, SA&U Associates, this development confirms a Massachusetts, U.S based Telecommunications research firm, Pyramid’s assertion that Starcomms was a telecommunications company to watch out for among its peers in its most recent report on the Nigerian telecommunications sector.

“This concept is the first of its kind in the whole of Africa , and perhaps, the world. Though, it is in line with our chosen forte as an innovation-driven firm, without Starcomms it probably would have remained stillborn.

“We came up with this concept for a number of reasons. First, against the backdrop of the fact that organizations the world over are becoming customer-centric. It is natural that there is no better place to advertise your customer care hotlines than through the recharge card. It is like unwittingly saying ‘please recharge and call us up’. Second, millions of naira have been paid for adverts on radio, T.V and even newspapers that the targets do not get to hear, watch or read either because of our peculiar power situation or economic reasons, or both. But these same people have phones that they recharge now and again. What is more, advertising on recharge cards is about tracking technology and flowing with the trend, which is moving from cash to card,” she said.

Jibunoh further said that the adverts on recharge cards concept is a direct response to the new drive in the economy to make it retail/consumer focused like it is in developed economies where at least 40 per cent of their balance sheet and yield volume is realized from the lower end of the market.

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eTranzact goes to Ghana,

Zimbabwe

Nigeria’s premier multi-channel payment solutions provider, eTranzact, has continued to extend its services to other African countries with the signing of agreements between eTranzact and other organisations in Ghana and Zimbabwe.

eTranzact said it’s availing citizens of these countries immense benefits of using solutions to ease payments for goods and services.

Head, Business Development at eTranzact, Ms Folake Olabiyi informed that some of the partners to the agreement included Ghana Telecom and Mutual Fund Administrators in Ghana.

She also said that in Zimbabwe, the partners are Zimbabwe Electronic Supply Authority (ZESA), TelOne, Telecel Zimbabwe, City of Harare, City of Bulawayo and City of Mutare. The services that are being facilitated by eTranzact cuts across finance, education, telecom, water and electricity bill payments.

eTranzact said it has installed online fee payments at both Zenith University College and Telecom University College, in addition to micro finance payments for the Databank’s ePack and mFund, all in Ghana.

She also said that with the deal, the country’s telecom service provider, Ghana Telecom offers subscribers funds transfer, top up airtime of their phones as well as pay for goods and services from the convenience of their mobile phones.

“The solutions we have made available to our subscribers have enhanced the benefits they derive from using their mobile phones, enabling them to do a lot more than just call and send text messages,” says George Babafemi, Business Development Manager, Ghana Telecom.

In Zimbabwe, several local government administrations have installed eTranzact solutions to facilitate the payment of water rates and other fees that they are authorised to collect.

The City of Harare, City of Bulawayo and City of Mutare are the first to install this online payment system.

The same multichannel payment system has been installed by the Zimbabwe Electric Supply Authority, (ZESA), for the payment of electricity bills.

She added that TelOne and Telecel, both telecom services providers, have with the deal enabled their subscribers the possibilities of topping up airtime of their phones remotely.

Speaking on the development, Managing Director, eTranzact Zimbabwe, Mr. Douglas Manvura, said, eTranzact solutions drive service delivery, making it possible for many organisations to give more value and benefits to their customers.

“Paying for services, especially in the utility sector, could be quite tedious for both the customer and organisation. But with the eTranzact solution, customers are not required to be physically present to make payments, thereby helping customers save time and money,” he said.

Also speaking, Chief Executive, eTranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi, noted that in all of these situations, eTranzact’s expertise and novel solutions are being deployed to ease payments and funds transfer, making life easier for customers and helping organisations simplify their payments structures.

“The solutions we have deployed in Ghana and Zimbabwe are part of our long term strategy to expand eTranzact services globally, because we’re a worldwide payment solutions provider,” he said.

According to him, eTranzact payment solutions are designed to facilitate payments using the best technology available, guaranteeing ease of use, in addition to security of the transactions.

“Technology is helping to bridge the gap between service offerings and delivery in Africa. Services that were before now beyond the reach of many people have been made available. Using mobile phones and the Internet to pay for these goods and services is only a natural extension of technology permeating to a larger segment of the society,” he added.

eTranzact’s launch of services in Zimbabwe and Ghana brings to three the number of countries on the African continent where it is actively promoting easier means of paying for goods and services. Its global network also extends to other continents, availing organisations and their customers a unique bouquet of multichannel payment solutions.

“Ultimately, eTranzact solutions will be national boundaries-neutral, enabling people, wherever they are domiciled, to do simple tasks, such as money transfer, without filling out forms or standing in queues to do the transfer,” says Mr. Obi.

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LG Electronics bags SON quality award

Korean leader in home appliances and mobile communications, LG Electronics, has bagged the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), quality award with its air conditioners.

The award, which is in recognition of the high quality of LG Electronics’ air conditioning products in the Nigerian market, was presented by the zonal coordinator of SON, Dr. Yunus Alaya.

The zonal coordinator said the quality award (NIS NoEE - 724) was being presented to LG Electronics in recognition of the company’s compliance with global best practice in the production of air conditioners.

Dr. Alaya also said that through this certification, LG Electronics’ air conditioners have passed the quality tests in conformation with the NIS 46:1974 standards by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria.

“Air conditioners made by LG Electronics, are hereby authorized to carry the NIS mark,” he said.

Reacting to the award, General Manager (AC) at LG Electornics for West Africa operation, Mr. Peter Ko, said that quality certification of air conditioners manufactured by LG Electronics has further affirmed the firm’s commitment to international best practice.

“It further strengthens our vision of being Nigeria’s national brand, a goal that LG Electronics has nursed since we arrived the Nigerian market several years ago,” he said.

Mr. Ko also said that LG Electronics will remain steadfast towards providing simultaneous availability of all the company’s goods at the same time as they are available in other markets throughout the world.

He noted that LG Electronics has a capacity to produce 300,000 units of air conditioners per annum in Nigeria.

Also commenting, Technical Head, Somotex Nigeria Ltd, a major partner of LG Electronics in Nigeria, Mr. Gagandeep Lakhanpal, said they are very happy with the quality certification of LG air conditioners, stressing that it confirms the fact that LG products are made to world standards.

“LG is currently the only company that offers a one-year Pan-African warranty on all its electronics products in the country,” he said.

In addition, the Group Managing Director, Somotex, Mr Anil Mohinani reassured that the group would keep on investing in the country to bring LG’s world class products nearer to the Nigerian consumers.

Even as he said that the capacity of its present plant for refrigerators has also been enhanced to 350,000 units per annum from March this year.

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LASIMRA heads for Appeal Court

The Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) has reiterated its resolve to head to the Appeal Court over its dissatisfaction on a Federal High Court ruling on regulation of telecommunications in the state.

General Manager, LASIMRA, Mr. Joe Igbokwe who confirmed this to Champion Infotel at the weekend, said that there is no doubt if Lagos State was dissatisfied with the Court ruling of February 23, saying that it is high time states stop depending on the Federal Government to develop its territories.

“We’re going and there is no doubt about it. The attorney general is in charge and we are going to the Appeal Court,” he said.

He also dismissed claims in some quarters of the industry that the main force behind the state’s desire to legislate telecom has been the revenue.

According to him, the money is secondary, stressing that what matters to the government of Lagos State is to ensure that its citizens’ benefit optimally from the growing telecommunications industry, which has most of the telcos located in Lagos.

“The state cannot continue to go to Abuja to beg for money,” he declared, emphasising Lagos State through LASIMRA would continue to fight the course to ensure that a minimum standard is established.

Mr. Igbokwe decried the seeming less concern of telecom companies in the country, saying that in other countries they do pay certain homage to the host state.

“If we subject them to a minimum standard, they would pay. They do it in other countries but when they come here, they try to break the law,” he lamented.

He cited an instance that if there is any mishap as result of mast collapse in Lagos State since most of the operators have their key infrastructure within its location, and it involves life and death, would the family concerned go to the federal government or the state for immediate assistance.

“Of course they would go to Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu (Governor of Lagos),” he said, pointing out that those definitely to be affected would be Lagosians, hence there is need to have a fair share of the telecom that is regulated.

He insisted that Lagos is going to file an appeal and it has 60 days to do that since the last ruling.

“Definitely we have to file the appeal and don’t forget we have 60 days to appeal,” he said.

“Also, don’t forget we (state) have taken the federal government to the Supreme Court before and we won and nothing stops us from winning again,” he said.

It would be recalled that penultimate Friday, a judge of the Federal High Court Ikoyi, Lagos, Mr. Ibrahim Auta, had declared LASIMRA law as unconstitutional, null and void, maintaining that telecom matters were under the exclusive legislative list which belongs to the federal government and that no state house of assembly had the right to enact any law on such matters.

“I am in total agreement with the submissions of the counsel to the plaintiffs; the infrastructure law had interfered with the National Assembly’s exclusive control of matters pertaining to telecommunications in Nigeria, and no state government can make any law which is supposed to be made by the National Assembly. The court enters judgment in favour of the plaintiffs,” he held.

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Stakeholders focus on post-ULR

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and foremost continental Information and Communications Technology (ICT) magazine, IT & Telecom Digest, have concluded plans to host a one-day stakeholders forum on post-Unified Licensing Regime (ULR).

The forum, which is the second in the series, would focus on the eight Unified Licensed Operators (ULO), and offers them an avenue to present their scorecards to the nation’s ICT sector.

It would be recalled that last year, NCC granted eight Unified Access Licenses to Multi-Links Telecommunications Limited, Prest Cable & Satellite TV Systems Limited, Intercellular Nigeria PLC and Starcomms Limited, as the first set, while the second batch included VGC Communications Limited, MTN Nigeria, Dan Jay Telecoms Limited and Bourdex Telecoms and yet another early this year to Mudabala Development Company (MDC) of Kuwait.

However, MTN has since December 2006 acquired VGCC Ltd, just as national operators like the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited and Globacom also have bouquets of licences wrapped up in their licences.

The organisers said that the licensees would be using the platform to tell the world what challenges they have come up against since the license came on stream, while trying to apply the various platforms afforded them by the new regime in addition to their future plans.

Chief host of the event and Editor-in-Chief of IT & Telecom Digest, Mr. Mkpe Abang, informed that the theme of the forum is “Unified Licensing Regime – New Phase of Nigeria’s Telecom Revolution: the prospects, possibilities and realities.”

He also said that the forum, scheduled to hold next month in Lagos, would enable winners of the all-purpose licensees to air their views on how far they have gone in making use of the new licence issued.

“While the regulator will use the forum to gauge the impact the operators have had so far on the country with the coming of the Unified licensing regime,” he said.

As said by him, the occasion would provide a platform to focus on new technologies and how Nigerian telcos and operators alike could take adequate advantage thereof.

Mr. Abang added that with the speakers drawn from the government and private sector, the academia and core ICT environment, the one-day event would explore other opportunities available to the several companies that either by choice or by design, did not go for the unified licence.

Noteworthy is that in February 2001, the NCC opened the nation’s telecom space by granting licences to three companies; MTN, MTel and Econet now Celtel following an auction held in January of the same year. And as the exclusivity elapsed, NCC commenced the Unified Licensing Regime (ULR).

Head, public affairs, at NCC, Mr. Dave Imoko said the commission intends to use the platform offered by the stakeholders forum to take stock of how winners of the Unified Access Service Licences have faired, what challenges they still have to surmount and chart the way forward.

He pointed out that ULR opened up the sector to more possibilities and more choices for both operators and consumers.

“So, with this forum we will also be looking at new trends in the sector particularly new technologies and how Nigerian operators can take advantage of them for the benefit of the consumers, because rather than wait, we must be at the forefront of technological breakthroughs,” he said.

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CWL flaunts Microsoft Exchange-07

Computer Warehouse Limited (CWL), recently flaunted the latest in stock from Microsoft Exchange 2007 at a Microsoft mini exhibition in Lagos.

CWL, which is a subsidiary of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) is a Certified Microsoft Gold partner.

Corporate Affairs and Marketing Manager at CWG, Ms Moronike Popoola, in a press statement made available to Champion Infotel said that CWL now has in stock; the revolutionary products from Microsoft including Windows Vista, Microsoft office 2007 and Exchange 2007.

She also said that Microsoft Exchange 2007, for instance, comes with all the functionalities, differences and new features from its predecessor and could be demonstrated experts from CWL.

“Our experts are on hand to respond to any query or intrigues,” she said, stressing that the Exchange 2007 is a fully revolutionized messaging application.

She explained that what used to be offered in a single Exchange 2003 product is now spread through a series of roles-based servers.

“The new modular architecture further reduces the load from client connections and allows for better scalability and failover reliability,” she said, adding that the roles also simplify deployment and improve administration options.

As said by her, most server roles are optional, with the exception of Client Access, which operates as the middle tier for other server roles, especially for Exchange mailbox servers.

“Out of the box, Exchange 2007 arrives with many new filtering features, far surpassing Exchange 2003 and major competitive messaging servers. Some key new filter features are open proxy validation, IP-based safe lists and admin quarantines,” Ms Popoola said.

Those who manage businesses, she said, would find e-mail, electronic calendars and other forms of messaging even easier to use with Exchange Server 2007.

She emphasized that to effectively address security concerns, Exchange 2007 has been designed to work to protect a company from potential external threats, while allowing employees to work from virtually any device, anywhere in the world.

“For business users and government employees, the new Office experience will increase productivity and be more enjoyable,” she said.

Equally speaking, Mrs. Yosola Abiodun-Adigun, said that CWL is geared towards adding value around Microsoft solutions with special focus on the deployment of Microsoft Exchange 2007.

“We are already working closely with some of our key customers to assist with their MS Exchange migration to the 2007 version” she said.


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