Changing lives with Yello’ Love

Features of the week:

MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, recently concluded its Yello Love Bug promo and has commenced presentation to winners. REMMY NWEKE reports that the telco is changing lives of Nigerians with this initiative.

Introduction:

Penultimate Sunday, the morning sun began to emerge like a beautiful bride, few hours later the rain began to fall in what observers at the presentation ceremony of the brand Toyota Corolla cars to some winners of the MTN’s Yello Love Bug promotion, tagged ‘showers of blessing’.

The venue was the popular Protea Kuramo Waters, Victoria Island, Lagos, where winners and well wishers especially life partners defied the rain fall and trooped out to receive their prizes after spending a wonderful moment at the resort.

Although the telecommunications giant and Third Generation (3G) compliant telco, MTN Nigeria, in the bid to keep up and sustain its subscriber-base, appreciated them by introducing the Yello Love Bug promo in commemoration of this year’s Valentine’s Day, which was precisely held on February 14, of which the love emanating thereof, changed some subscriber’s lives.

Remarkable is that till date, MTN has lived up to its promise giving the two presentations so far made with regard to this promo. While the first presentation took place at Protea, the second was held at The Palms, Lekki, Lagos, just as each of the 14 winners that emerged were packaged to include a N100,000 wardrobe makeover and lunch during their special weekend preceding the presentations, would go home with Toyota cars to wrap it up.

While the star prize winner gets BMW 1 series in addition to a weeklong trip to Paris with a partner and the sum of $3,500 for a change of wardrobe.

The journey so far:

The General Manager, Consumer Marketing at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ikechukwu Kalu, while speaking recently at the last draw in Lagos, disclosed that the promo witnessed tremendous participation of about 93 million subscribers.

The winners, he said are being led by star prize winner and an Akure-based civil servant, Mr. Biodun Ogunwoya, who would soon ride home with BMW 1 series wagon car. That is, after he had expended a week-long trip with his partner to Paris.

MTN decision to present some of them with their brand new cars, is in fulfilment of the telcoms promise, recalling 72 subscribers on the network, won N100,000 each at various electronic draws for the promotion as well as four journalists, 10 other subscribers benefited by having a weekend trip to any resort in the country for two in addition to their ownership of new Toyota Corolla cars respectively, whereas additional four cars were added after the promo was shifted by few weeks based on its impressive outing.

“The MTN Y’ello Love bug promo was a Valentine campaign launched by the telco to avail its subscribers the opportunity to win BMW 1 series, a trip to Paris for two plus $3,500 cash, 10 customers won weekend trip to a resort in Nigeria in addition to a Toyota Corolla and N100,000 for wardrobe make over,” he asserted.

Another 50 customers, he said, went home with N100,000 each, 100 customers were treated to a special Valentine’s day dinner with free hotel accommodation, yet another 5000 subscribers won N5,000 airtime each and 500 customers won exquisite hamper for the season.

The coming of MTN:

MTN Nigeria prides itself as a leading cellular telecommunications company, which launched its GSM operation on May 16, 2001 in the country.

Since its commercial launch in August 2001, MTN has steadily deployed its services nationwide covering over 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of the Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunications for the first time ever.

In the winners’ world:

Obviously the excited winners in the Yello Love Bug promo, were unanimous in declaring that MTN Nigeria has been the best customer-friendly brand.

These praises, according to some of them were not unexpected as they declared that MTN is the leading communications company, hence it’s living up to the customer-centric nature of a good leader expected in this sector, whilst moving its customers ahead always.

The first presentation took place on Sunday, May 26, while the second batch was held on June 2, 2007, where various set of winners were handed over the keys to their cars, at a brief ceremony.

A winner and member of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sani Wara, was full of praises to God for His immense blessing, and said he began to believe the promo when he followed the directive from MTN, to visit the telcos website and eventually saw his number.

This came as a businessman and one of the winners, Alhaji Bala Danladi from Minna, Niger State, told newsmen after receiving his car keys that the event would forever remain indelible in his mind as it marked the realisation of his dream of visiting Lagos.

“I have never been to Lagos all my life. So you can see my surprise when I was called to come down to Lagos. I thank MTN for the car and this wonderful experience too,” he declared.

For a Benin city-based businessman, Mr. Courage Osayi, who was overwhelmed with joy, beamed with smiles alongside his fiancée, Ms Favour David, the weekend sponsored trip and treat at Grand Kuramo Waters was accomplishment of thier forthcoming wedding plans.

“I have never experienced this kind of treatment before. It was like a trip to paradise because MTN has played a big role in my planned marriage by organising a honeymoon for us before the real thing. They even gave us a brand new car for the wedding,” he said.

Mr. Osayi expressed gratitude to MTN for giving his life a big lift, stressing that himself as a living proof, would be heading to his base, Benin city, to assume the position of MTN goodnews evangelist and how much the company could go in touching the lives of its loyal customers.

Yet another winner, Miss Vivian Okoro, a youth corper, currently serving in Abuja, described her emergence as an act of God, noting that the recent theft of her mobile phone turned out to be a big blessing.

“I just started using MTN in January this year when my mobile phone was stolen. My boyfriend then replaced it but rather gave me an MTN Subscribers Identification Module (SIM),” she said,thus, she was very sceptical on getting the news that GSM line has won a car and accompanied fortune.

Reacting to her three-day stay in Grand Kuramo Waters Resort, Ms Okoro, commended MTN for the ‘royal’ treatment accorded her, adding, “See how MTN has turned me into a Princess; from the wardrobe makeover to the brand new car, the company has transformed me for the better.”

Equally for a caterpillar driver, Mr Sharafadeen Jogunola, MTN is God’s vehicle for the transformation of his life. While applauding the telco, Mr. Jogunola said that MTN has rewritten his life story; from rags to riches.

“I never imagined myself owning a car for now. But as you can see, when big men ride in their cars, I will also cruise in mine because MTN has made me a ‘big man’ and shown that the promo is real,” he asserted excitedly.

Commenting at the presentation, MTN Corporate Services Executive, Mrs Amina Oyagbola, congratulated all the winners for making MTN their network of choice.

“MTN is a socially responsible company which has continued to touch the lives of its customers in very many ways and Y’ello Love Bug promo is one of such programmes it has put in place to reward these customers for their unflinching patronage,” Mrs. Oyagbola noted, stressing that MTN is currently investing several billions of Naira into infrastructural expansion of its network, and described the recent commencement of 3G services by the company as a proof of this as well as consolidation of its market leadership.

Additionally, GM Consumer Marketing, Mr. Kalu, pointed out that the promo was coherent with MTN’s policy of placing high premium on its subscribers, and described the presentation as another promise fulfilled and leadership delivered.

“We promised our loyal customers a mind-blowing Valentine’s celebration and the presentation of these cars have shown that we have delivered completely and totally, which is a mark of responsible leadership,” Mr. Kalu said.

He reiterated the telco’s commitment toward providing unmatched service quality to its subscribers so as to move them ahead everywhere they go, just as MTN would soon present additional two brand new cars to winners at a ceremony to be held at its Ikoyi office.

Champion Infotel gathered that though the redemption billed to end before this month of June runs off, would see MTN giving out a total of 15 brand new cars and N100,000 to scores of customers, the truth is that despite every odd brought about by lack of infrastructure, a telecom operator like MTN is ready for the impending 3G competition.

Like Alhaji Sani and Danladi charged the telco, this good step should be sustained.

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ITU unveils online strategies to curb cyber crime

Global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) regulator, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), at the weekend, unveiled new online strategies for combating cyber crimes.

The new strategies developed as an online tool, ITU said, is to keep track of crucial ICT security standards work through a single access point.

Champion Infotel investigations showed that ITU launched ICT Security Standards Roadmap as a follow up to the announcement by the global regulator of its Global Cyber Security Agenda (GCSA).

According to the ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, the agenda is an ambitious two-year plan to curb cyber crime, between 2007 and 2009.

He also said that for the first time, ICT security vendors, service providers, developers, researchers and the public will now have security standards at their fingertips, with one common user interface.

The guide called the ICT Security Standards Roadmap brings together information about existing standards and work in progress by the world’s key standards developers.

“It is a collaborative effort between ITU, the European Network and Security Information Agency (ENISA) and the Network and Information Security Steering Group (NISSG),” he said.

Dr. Touré also noted that enhancing security in cyberspace is a matter of critical concern in an increasingly networked society.

He stressed that crimes on the Internet alone have led to losses estimated at several billion dollars, both from online theft and from costs related to fixing networks that have been the victim of cyber attack.

He pointed out that cyber crime takes several forms; from breaching network security, financial fraud, and invasion of privacy and identity theft to virus attacks or spam.

Equally speaking on the standards, Director, ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, Mr. Malcolm Johnson, said that there has never been a greater incentive to revitalize the order and trust in the stability and reliability of communications systems, and standardization in security design for networks, adding, its a key prerequisite.

“Standards-development bodies have a unique ability to address security vulnerabilities in ICT by bringing together all players,” he said.

Mr. Johnson also said ITU has been supportive of publications and development of many important security recommendations, as well as behind many open discussions on providing security guidelines to protocol authors and identifying threats and vulnerabilities.

In addition, the guide provides information for potential users of security standards and other stakeholders to gain an understanding of what standards are available or under development as well as the key organizations that are working in these areas.

Mr. Johnson pointed out that this web-based tool also lists standards-development organizations and the security standards they publish.

“Acting as a central tracking facility, its not only enabling identification of standards and related activities, but also fosters coordination among standardization bodies, reducing duplication of effort and making it easier to identify existing gaps,” he said.

Equally, the guide, would afford development on an ongoing basis to enhance its scope and include other standard-development organizations, even as its organized in five sections.

These include ICT standards development organizations and their work, approved ICT security standards, security standards under development, future needs and proposed new security standards, and best practices, just as the standards are in a searchable database format with links to their sources.

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Intercontinental to launch Prepaid MasterCards

LEADING financial institution in the country, the Intercontinental Bank Plc, has concluded plans to launch its Prepaid MasterCard into the nation’s electronic payment solution market.

Disclosing this in a chat with newsmen at the corporate headquarters of the bank in Victoria Island Lagos, the Executive Assistant to the Group Chief Executive, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Soji Janyo, said the bank would soon be going public with some of its latest in stock.

One of this offers, he said, is the Prepaid MasterCard, a product developed in response to the yearning of teeming banking community, especially for those who travel abroad at short intervals and is the first of its kind in the nation’s banking history.

Highlighting the benefits of the Prepaid MasterCard, the Group Executive, Intercontinental Direct Card Services, Mrs. Uchenna Okwodu, said that it currently comes in two denominations, namely the $100 and $200 cards respectively.

She also said that this could be acquired over the counter at any of the bank’s branches nationwide at additional cost of $25.

Mrs. Okwodu added that it could be obtained without necessarily having an account with the bank, just as it would avail users the opportunity of making payment anywhere in the world, even as it is reloadable.

This prepaid MasterCard, she pointed out, is very good for Nigerians and those studying abroad, hence their guardians could reload their card at intervals without hassles.

“Intercontinental is the first bank to introduce this in order to make its customer feel at home and better as well at ease in moving around, mostly when they have to make purchase abroad,” she said.

According to her, before now, getting any electronic payment card takes up to five days, but with technology available to the bank and its partner, MasterCard, this prepaid product was developed and could be acquired in matters of few hours.

“All that is required is for the customer to fill our form, submit passport photograph with identification,” Mrs. Okwodu said.

She noted that the bank has two other denominations, namely $1000 and $2000, which would require nametag on the card and could take about three days to actualise.

She further disclosed that the bank as the leading financial institution in the country, has so far issued over 20,000 MasterCards.

Mrs. Okwodu explained that each prepaid card issued is registered at the branch of issue and head office card centre, and “only minimal personal information would be requested as required by MasterCard ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) theory.”

She advised that users should always have in mind some of the salient questions about their cards, so as to enable them answer correctly at point of emergency.

Equally speaking, the Card Service Operations Officers at Intercontinental Direct, Mrs. Gina Anyanwu accompanied by Mr. Kayode Sorinwa, assured that plans have been completed to ensure that this product is available nationwide, stressing that there is a plan with MasterCard to handle emergency Prepaid cards in the case of theft to enable such user to still complete his or her purchase on time and get home.

She however, cautioned that in the case of any rejection, it could be attributed to sites and assured Nigerian users of the latest product that the bank has all it takes to ensure they enjoy the product to the fullest.

Mr. John D. Omachonu of the Corporate Affairs department, also informed Champion Infotel that the official launch date has been fixed for Friday, June 22 in Lagos.

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Will free net calls save MTSFirst?

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Market Intelligence:

Last week, the pioneer Mobile Telecommunications Service (MTS) otherwise known as MTSFirst announced the introduction of free network calls for all range of subscribers.

This, Champion Infotel gathered was in the bid to save the network and regain its glory amidst stiff competition, due to depleting subscriber base.

The initiative tagged MTS Unlimited Tariff Plan, is a customer-centric according to company sources and is to enable the telco meet the telephony needs of a wider-spectrum of potential and existing subscribers on the network as part of its new corporate direction and strategy to increase the company’s market share.

The telco also said “the offer kicked off on Monday, May 21, 2007, and is available to all standard pre-paid subscribers between the hours of 7 p.m and 6.59 p.m, Monday through Friday.

Even, subscribers could also enjoy a special weekend marathon treat that gives them free on-net calls between 7p.m on Friday and 11.59p.m on Sunday.

This, the new management of the company said, was introduced strictly on the dictates of sound corporate governance and high ethical standard.

Additionally, the telco said it places greater premium on customer-centric initiatives and cost-competitiveness in the application of world-class telecommunications service delivery in the country.

MTS also announced an unbeatable slash in the prices of a wide range of handheld and desk-top phones on its network to suit the demands of both low-end and upwardly mobile individuals as well as meet the telephony requirements of various corporate organizations.

Industry analysts see this action as a saving step for the network, unfortunately, every thing seems to be heading to the opposite for the telco, who not long ago relaunched its services and logo, yet, in what observers described as ‘Tsunami exit’ of its top management staff at a go.

One aspect of the effect of enmass exodus of its top officials must have resulted in the poor services thereby thrusting the management of the telco in hands of ‘faceless’ group of personnel, yet to be proclaimed months after the exodus.

For instance, MTSFirst services are nothing to talk home about as subscribers have continued to lament increased poor services.

A case in point has been the telco’s Internet value added service, which has immensely depreciated.

Recent reports have it that MTSFirst night browsing leaves less to be desired on daily basis, as the customers, especially those who subscribed for evening till midnight lose an average of two hours either trying to connect, waiting to be connected or precisely cannot connect, because, according to sources at MTS, “there is likelihood that we have many subscribers at this area.”

But even if the reality is the increase in the number of subscribers in a given area, experts contended that nothing stops the company from improving on their infrastructural capacity to focus on that area.

The Consumer Protection Agency of the Federal Government should wake up to its responsibility, by coming up with an initiative to save subscribers from falling prey of drowning telcos, even as industry-based non-governmental organisations, and the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), should take this issue seriously before it gets out of hand of becoming insolvent.

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AlphaTech exhibits customisation @ W.AfriTel-07

Emerging telecommunications Value Added Service (VAS) provider, Alpha Technologies, at the weekend, took its customisation solution to the just ended West African International Telecommunications exhibition (W.Afri.Tel) 2007, held in Lagos.

Addressing newsmen at the AlphaTech stand, the managing director, Mrs. Maggie Peters, said that the vision of the company is to offer Nigerians and telecom subscribers at large, real value for their money especially for those whose business revolve around the telecommunication sector, by deploying what she called SMAT numbers.

As said by her, with the SMAT numbers telecom subscribers would have the opportunity of personalising their business name or individual names.

She cited an instance that her company could provision a given telephone number to read alongside the customer’s name, such as 0700-KinkyFlowers or 0800-Zedonoil and 0700-Oladimeji among others.

Mrs. Peters also said that Alpha Technologies, licensed by the industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on 0700 and 0800 as non-toll free service and toll free service lines respectively, has the software to enable this service on all mobile devices and is compatible with every network operator in the country.

The service, which is available for both fixed and mobile lines, she said, could be subscribed to through getting of the SMAT subscription form or SMAT electronic cards available at all the Guaranty Trust Bank and First Inland Bank branches nationwide.

She explained that activation steps for SMAT involves scratching off the silver foil on SMAT card to reveal the security code numbers, following which the subscription would be confirmed and that the services come in three categories, namely SMAT sole, SMAT biz and SMAT corp.

Annual subscription, she said, for individual users on SMAT is N15,000, even as it has an attached SMAT fax which costs N25,000 annually.

On the SMAT biz, Mrs Peters informed that it’s a package for Small and Medium sized enterprises, while the SMAT Corp is focused on corporate organizations.

She further said that SMAT Biz cost N25,000 for entry level, any additional number on this category attracts N15,000 per line and subject to maximum of three lines.

“The SMAT number package for corporate organisation cost N50,000, which entitles the subscriber to two phone lines,” she said, noting that any additional lines attract N20,000 and subject to maximum of 18 phone lines.

Implemented of any of categories, Mrs. Peters said, could be on 0700 and 0800 respectively, stressing that with the toll free service lines recipients of calls pay for it, such as customer care services.

“With the recipient paying for the cost of the call made to him or her provides the customers a faster and easier means to reach him and it helps to make their businesses more accessible,” she said.

This would also encourage troubleshooting of customer’s problems more easily and encourage customers to call them.

She listed the benefits of toll free services, for instance, to include enhancing customer services by providing customers a no-change means of reaching the service provider, means of business development and source of feedback from customers, broadens market reach, especially sales while driving market for the organisation among others.

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eNNOVATE-07 expo gets August date

The nation’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector has been set aglow as the annual eNNOVATE Expo date has been announced.

Champion Infotel recalls that eNNOVATE, Nigeria’s premier technology and value added services expo which made its debut in 2005 and organized by the communications consultancy firm, XLR8 Ltd, has been a platform for popularising value added technology solutions.

In addition, it has become a platform for education of potential users of ICT tools to better their lives.

Project Manager for eNNOVATE 2007, Mr. Adewole Ojo, disclosed to Champion Infotel that all is now set for the event scheduled to hold next month, August 16 through 18 at the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan-Lagos.

He said that since its debut over two years ago, “eNNOVATE has witnessed the participation of leading international technology-driven organizations including DHL, Nokia, MTN, Mtel, Hewlett Packard, Starcomms, IBM, Accelon, and many more, even as it has personal participation of Nigeria’s minister of communications and key officials of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).”

According to him, this year’s theme, would examine issues around the impending migration of Nigeria’s telecom networks to Third Generation (3G).

He also said that already lined up as sponsor of eNNOVATE 2007 is DHL, the world’s leading international expedited logistics operator, emphasising, “DHL has a wide international reach and spread which it continues to coordinate to global acclaim by deploying the very latest in technological tools and applications.”

Equally on queue and billed to sponsor eNNOVATE 2007 is Cisco, the world’s leading provider of networking for the Internet, noting that Cisco has within a little over two decades grown to a global entity with offices scattered around worldwide.

He recollected that Cisco operates a network academy programme with an objective to train and impart ICT skills.

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Beta launches SpeedStar Skola PCs

Leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for Personal Computers (PCs) in the country, the Beta Computers Limited, has launched its SpeedStar series of Skola PCs into the market.

Managing Director, Beta Computers, Mr. Will Anyaegbunam while disclosing this, said that it’s part of the firm’s strategies aimed at advancing the course of Information Technology (IT) development in the country.

He said that the SpeedStar Skola PCs, is a product specifically designed for use in educational and training institutions, cyber cafes and homes.

Mr. Anyaegbunam also revealed that SpeedStar Skola is already attracting patronage, just as it comes with one year warranty, covering both labour and parts.

“Skola Pcs are affordable to ensure that it is within reach of end users,” he said, pointing out that arrangements are in place with leading financial institutions in the country to grant educational institutions instalment payment facility for upward of 12 months.

“At very subsidised rates with deposit of only 20 per cent through the company’s SpeedStar Computer Easy Purchase Program (SCEPP),” he said.

The new product, according to him, enables scholars to enjoy the benefits of professional performance PCs at very reasonable prices.

“All SpeedStar Skola PCs come with the highly rated E-Tutor Educational software developed by Nigerians for Nigerians to cover the nation’s educational curriculum for WASC and SSCE,” he asserted.

Mr. Anyaegbunam equally informed that Microsoft Corporation has granted special concessions on the company’s office application software to ensure that scholars have access to a rounded Information and Communication Technology (ICT) learning experience at the least possible cost.

He further said that supplementary content is being developed for inclusion in the Skola PC package to continually enhance better value option for the brand.

He informed that SpeedStar Skola PCs entered market in two models, namely Skola 1.0V and Skola 2.0i, explaining that Skola 1.0V, priced at N44,995.00, is specially designed for scholars at pre-school, primary and secondary school levels to initiate and consolidate their use of PC for their e-learning.

On the other hand, Mr. Anyaegbunam said that Skola 2.0i, offered at N51,995.00, is a higher configuration for senior scholars in higher education.

“It is well equipped with advanced features to better handle multiple tasks and provide excellent upgrade options to incorporate and access latest technology offerings,” he said.

Processor used in the Skola 1.0V, he said, is very energy-efficient, using less than 20 watts of power, thus making it possible to work efficiently in hostile environment, where there is no air conditioning.

Beta Computer chief expressed his firm’s appreciation to Nigerians for voting SpeedStar the PC brand of the year 2007, which was presented to the organisation at the recently held Titans of Tech awards.

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Focus TV makes a debut

A new television station , Focus Digital Television (Focus TV), has made its debut in the country, just as it targets 5 million audience.

Announcing this, the Executive Coordinator, Focus TV, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, told Champion Infotel in Lagos, that the station was berthed based on weighty proposition put forward having seen the need to refocus the nation’s ICT audience among other programmes slated for dissemination to its yearning audience.

He said, Focus Tv would be offering bouquet of digital cable channels that could be received with an installed Yagi antenna on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) 45.7 Mega Hertz (MHz) on the DISC terrestrial transmission space, movies and soaps would form part of the programming sequence because of the role they have played in shaping and educating society, especially in Nigeria.

“Programmes have also been galvanized to sustain a projected viewer-ship base of 5 million subscribers with a short time,” he said.

Mr. Adewusi pointed out that based on this determination, the station, promises to offer unique programmes.

This, he said, would ensure constant reminder of its duty to the people they serve and to ensure the much talked about local content that is needed to encourage ingenuity and pride of place in home grown broadcast inputs among industry practitioners at various levels.

“Focus Digital Television comes on stream with its network of experienced broadcast and journalism professionals poised to foster an enduring and profitable cable channel that will stream entertainment, business, sports, features, documentaries, religious broadcast, news embellished in quality programmes.

“It has bias for ICT reporting in line with global trends which takes into cognizance the role of ICT in the development of the various strata of society and humanity.,” he said.

Mr. Adewusi, added that the station with lots of experience to bear, especially form ICT Watch; a weekly industry feature on Minaj Broadcast International (MBI) sustained over the last seven years.

“We would continue to provide issue-based reports and analyses as well as the coverage of industry innovation and product launch,” he said, stressing he would bring his both local and foreign contacts of captains of industry to bear on the programme, even as he is not averse to entertainment and politics as these remain entrenched in Focus TV scale of interest.

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VIA wins Computex-07 award

Foremost fabless supplier of market-leading core logic chipsets for Personal Computers (PCs), VIA Technologies, has bagged the best of Computex awards 2007.

The award held in Taipei, Taiwan was won through its Ultra Mobile Platform, according to the chief executive, VIA Technologies, Mr. Wenchi Chen, for its power efficient design.

He explained that the UMP was made up of 1Gega Hertz (GHz) VIA C7-M ULV processor and VIA VX700 mobile system media processor, the all-in-one digital media IGP chipset.

Also, the VIA Ultra Mobile Platform was chosen for its rich media integration and significant platform size reduction, just as the VIA Ultra Mobile Platform for Ultra Mobile Devices (UMDs) could be found inside many ultra mobile products on display at this year’s show.

Deputy Director of CPU Product Marketing, VIA Technologies Incorporated, Epan Wu expressed the company’s delight to be recognized for its innovative work in designing ultra power efficient mobile processors and highly integrated chipsets.

“It’s good to have our goal of being the platform of choice for Mobility 2.0 validated by the judges of this prestigious ICT trade show,” Wu said.

The director said that mobility 2.0 would go beyond today’s limited mobile Internet to a full-featured Web 2.0 browsing and computing experience at the fingertips through the next generation of Ultra Mobile Devices (UMDs).

The device, according to him, weighs less a kilogramme, and based on the x86 architecture, while bridging the gap between the notebook and the mobile phone, as well as bringing the benefits of a PC with all the applications, information and entertainment users require to an ultra portable handheld form factor.

The Deputy Director added that the VIA Ultra Mobile Platform is the leading choice for companies producing UMDs with more VIA based designs available to consumers on the market today.

CompuTex 2007, the acclaimed world’s second largest and the region’s most important ICT exhibition cum trade show, took place between June 5 and 9 at the Taipei World Trade Centre.

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Glo is living up to expectation – Adebayo

The former Communications Minister, Chief Cornelius Adebayo has commended the Second National Operator (SNO), Globacom for living up to expectation of Nigerians.

Speaking at the just concluded 7th West African International Telecommunications exhibition (W.AfriTel-07) in Lagos as the special guest of honour while visiting Globacom’s stand at the event, he noted that the SNO has been steadfast in its vision to boost the telecommunications development in the country.

“One is very happy that you people (Globacom) are living up to expectation. Keep it up,” he declared.

Excited at the success currently recorded by Globacom, the former Minister during whose tenure Glo began operations, lauded the chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga, saying the telco has not let Nigerians down since it commenced operation in August 2003.

The former minister also said he had always believed in the Nigerian company and had supported it fully right from the onset, despite criticisms from certain quarters.

He expressed joy that Globacom has not disappointed as it has recorded landmark achievements in the few years the telco has been in operation.

“I had to maintain my ground when I was facing criticism for supporting the company at the beginning,” he said, adding, “I am happy that Globacom has not let the country down.”

Chief Adebayo, noted for his deep understanding of the telecommunications industry, was the chief guest of honour at the event, which has become an integral part of the calendar of the nation’s growing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

Meanwhile, Globacom has given boost to its prepaid subscribers as it availed them option of migration from the Classic 200 package to the new Classic Plus package.

Globacom also said it’s offering Classic subscribers further opportunities to migrate free of charge.

Company sources said that the enhanced Classic Plus package offers among other things a new off-peak on-net call rate of 40 kobo per second and 48 kobo per second for on-net calls at peak period.

Glo’s peak period is from 7a.m. to 9:59pm Mondays to Fridays, while off peak is from 10pm to 6.59am and all weekends.

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Celtel extends ‘One Network’ to six countries

Pan Africa mobile communication operator, Celtel, has extended its free roaming service, otherwise known as ‘one network’ to six nations on the continent.

Champion Infotel recalls that in September 2006, Celtel offered its customers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders without roaming call charges and without having to pay to receive incoming calls.

At the weekend, the telco said it has scrapped roaming charges for its users in six countries, in readiness to extend its world’s first borderless mobile network to more countries in East Africa.

This is coming as the telco also said its advancing plans to expand the service to 15 nations in Africa.

The One Network service allows Celtel subscribers to make calls at local rates and receive free incoming calls in countries where it operates.

Chief executive, Celtel Kenya, Mr. David Murray said, “We have extended the one network from Tanzania , Kenya and Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo and Gabon. This is a world first.”

He stressed that telephone links between many African countries have traditionally been bad and in many cases cell phone users could not send text messages to other users on the continent.

Speaking last September in Kampala, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam during simultaneous press briefings, Celtel management informed that this was only the beginning of their efforts to connect Africa as no other mobile phone operator has been able to do to date, and that their efforts would not stop within East Africa.

However, Mr. Murray noted that a year later, the service is now gearing towards including three other countries within Central Africa.

A press statement from Celtel International quoted its chief executive, Mr. Moez Daya, as saying, the telco was delighted to bring 160 people from East and Central Africa closer and together through One Network.

“In a region historically dependent on freedom of movement across borders, we are now offering a communications solution that fits the needs of our customers, breaking down barriers and making life better for businesses, families and individuals from West to East. We have made the service easy to use and convenient by putting in place more than 140,000 places where our customers can buy airtime,” he said.

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Sony Ericsson is doing well in Nigeria – Nkpa

Various brands of Sony Ericsson mobile phones are doing well in the Nigeria’s market, according to the National Account Manager at the telco, Mr. Emeka Nkpa.

He disclosed this at the just concluded West African International Telecommunication Exhibition (W.AfriTel) 2007 held at the New Expo Centre, Eko Hotel Lagos.

Mr. Nkpa singled out the latest introduction by the mobile communications giant in the country, the W880i and said that he is impressed with the acceptance and demand it has generated since the product was officially launched last month in Lagos.

Although he could not give out the statistics, but assured that the brand especially W880i is doing impressively well in the mobile communications market place.

He cited an instance with the Sony Ericsson W880i, saying that, with its 9.4 millimetre (mm) thin, the W880i is acclaimed as the slimmest Sony Ericsson phone and combines the full Walkman phone experience with a device that fits easily into the pocket.

As said by him, the W880i comes with 1Giga Byte (GB) memory stick micro (M2) provided in-box that gives users the room to store up to 900 full-length tracks.

Mr. Nkpa added that the host of innovative music applications, such as Walkman Player 2.0 & Disc2Phone afford users to easily get music on the Walkman phone, and enables searching for play lists once it has been downloaded.

He emphasised the efficacy of W880i, saying that as one of the slimmest music phones available, it has the true beauty of design in a brushed stainless steel finish which stood it out in colour variants via steel silver or flame black.

In addition, he said, the Disc2Phone music management software, affords the user to transfer their choice of tracks easily from PC straight onto the phone.

He stressed that with the Bluetooth audio streaming, on W880i, all of that music could be enjoyed wirelessly on a stereo bluetooth headset.

“Or by streaming music directly to a home or car stereo via the new Music Bluetooth Receiver (MBR),” he said.

He reiterated the resolve of Sony Ericsson to continuously increase its market share in Nigeria.

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Forrester names HP leader in BSM software market

Forrester Research Incorporated, a leading analyst firm has named Hewlett Packard (HP) the leader in the business service management (BSM) software market.

Report released by Forrester on BSM report, said that HP software earned the highest score for business service mapping and the second highest score for both its overall current product offering and end-to-end monitoring.

Analysts at Forrester Research and authors of the BSM report, Mr, Peter O’Neill and Ms Evelyn Hubbert, defined BSM as software that dynamically links business-focused Information Technology (IT) services to the underlying IT infrastructure.

“The acquisition of Mercury Interactive provides HP with a strong BSM solution with a new and improved configuration management database (CMDB) strategy,” the authors wrote, adding that the HP solution allows IT to either take a back-end approach by monitoring the processes supporting the business services through HP business process insight software or by monitoring the front end – the end user experience.

On vendor summary specific, Forrester noted that the strength of HP’s modular implementation approach, allows quick time-to-value and a step-by-step approach to managing the business services of an organization.

The vendor summary also noted that HP Universal CMDB is “a complete system that provides the key capabilities required to support today’s business service management processes,” and that HP Service Desk Customers “are able to receive a closed-loop service health view.”

Vice President, Products, Management Software, HP, Deb Traub, pointed out that key technologies acquired from Mercury have allowed HP to become a leader in the BSM market.

“With the Mercury assets, HP can provide a comprehensive solution that enables customers to monitor the health of business services and applications from the points of view of the business, its customers and its partners,” the VP said.

He also said that the HP Business Availability Center software, a comprehensive business service and application management solution, helps businesses to manage the health of business services and applications as well as optimize their availability, performance and effectiveness.

“Using HP Business Availability Center along with HP Business Process Insight software further enables both bottom-up and top-down analysis,” Traub said.

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‘ICT’ll create more jobs’

The long held fears that deeper penetration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Africa would lead to massive job losses has been dispelled by preliminary results from an ongoing study, reports John Mireny.

The research undertaking is being coordinated by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and seeks to measure the impact of ICTs in poverty alleviation and job creation in Africa.

ICTs refer to the combined use of new emerging electronic technologies—computers and Internet, mobile phones, radios, TVs, multi-media platforms like CDs.

The early study’s results were announced by Eskedar Nega, ECA’s programme officer at a gathering of Africa Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Africa preparatory meeting here in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

She contended that, evidently, the initial results, supported by indicators that are showcased by Africa’s emerging mobile telephony industry, new jobs have been created where telecoms have been liberalised, as the case can be overwhelmingly proved in Tanzania.

However, she sounded a warning that the reverse could be unfolding where technology becomes obsolete, or due to excessive automation, as when ICTs replaces old tasks and occupations, for instance when telephone switchboard operators are sent parking.

With reference to the study, she said, ICTs could create new tasks and occupations through Webpage designers, call centre worker or a variety of new intermediaries.

But, most likely, she said, the preliminary results from their ongoing results showed that outsourcing, community multi-purpose centres (CMCs) that uses post office as outlets and combining several technologies (radio, GSM, Internet, TV and multi-media) could create thousands of jobs, as well as market driven e-agriculture and software development.

Africa, just like India, has the potential to tap synergies brought about by outsourcing, she said.

The study showcases Egypt as an exemplary African country where e-Agriculture has shown its potential to create new and decent jobs.

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Africa must tap ICT benefits – Katang

Chief Executive Officer of Abuja-based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firm, Dr. Armstrong Katang, has said that for Nigeria and Africa at large to overcome poverty and underdevelopment they must tap from various economic benefits of ICT.

Dr. Katang, who spoke in Lagos at the just ended West Africa Information Communication Technology Congress (WAFICT), noted that the country still faces a lot of infrastructural challenges that impede on the growth of ICT penetration.

He also said that government and the organised private sector must collaborate to expand ICT penetration in Nigeria and on the continent, stressing that what is at stake here is the future of the continent and Nigeria precisely.

He emphasised that the youths represent the next generation and every hand must be on the deck to ensure that plans began early for the future of the country, “If we want to be part of the global economy of the future that will thrive and survive only on ICT.”

In addition, Dr, Katang said, the mission of Alteq is to develop next generation of African leadership through creativity in using ICT.

“Nigeria and West Africa should not just be concerned about consuming technology but the ones that will be relevant to the needs of the people,” he advised.

He pointed out that the quest to create socio-economic empowerment for the future generation of Africa and Nigeria in particular through information communications technology should be the thrust of all activities.

“As an organization our firm is committed to the design, development and use of all technology that improves quality of life. We pride ourselves in offering international quality consulting services at locally competitive prices,” he said.

Recalling the theme of the WAFICT congress, “Driving West Africa Growth through ICT” he said that what it means is that both social and economic life from agriculture, education, and transportation among others must be ICT driven.

“This does not mean every individual must necessarily have a Personal Computer (PC), but the next generation must be empowered with tools and information they require to succeed in all human endeavours,” Katanga said.

He further said that part of the objective of the congress was to create a platform for the present professionals in the industry, as well as the students and youths who are the futures.

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UNIDO, Microsoft join forces on PC penetration

Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Information Technology (IT) giant, Microsoft Corporation, have joined forces to boost Personal Computer (PC) penetration on the continent.

This follows the two firms endorsement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Ouagadougou, during the first African Sub-Regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Best Practices forum, reports Wanjohi Kabukuru.

This, industry sources said was in reaffirmation of their commitment to help bridge the digital divide in African.

The MOU signed by UNIDO’s secretary general Dr Kande Yumkellah and Chairman of Microsoft in Africa, Dr Cheick Modibo Diarra, the continent is set to gain from refurbished computers from the corporations in the West to small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in Africa.

“SMEs are the cornerstone of any economy. By providing computers, software and training to entrepreneurs we aim to foster jobs and opportunities in SMEs in rural Africa. We are committed to developing a model for refurbishment that is sustainable, both economically and environmentally,” Yumkella said.

The initial pilot project, he added would kick-off in Uganda before the end of this year, from where it is expected to extend to other parts of the continent.

This, he said, is in tandem with UNIDO mandate, which is to help countries achieves sustainable industrial development.

“The issue is not about new or refurbished computers, but that our small scale entrepreneurs will be able to take advantage of the knowledge economies now and not tomorrow. We cannot let our people take the same long and slow route to development when it is obvious they can leapfrog to that era now.” Kandeh informed.

“Refurbished computers are like generic drugs and HIV/AIDS anti retroviral drugs (ARVs) in the end both of them work on the same principle. They are affordable and easily accessible. It does not mean when you have refurbished computers you cannot access the Internet,” he said.

UNIDO scribe also said that this is what the collaboration with Microsoft is seeking to demystify.

“We want our SMEs to grow and help our economies to develop and produce more. That way, we can help reduce poverty in the continent,” Yumkellah, who was a former Trade minister in Sierra Leone, said.

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