Lack of biofuel feed stocks, impacts on ICT sector

Features of the week:

GSMA recently disclosed that a biofuel project in Nigeria was terminated due to lack of biofuel feed stocks. REMMY NWEKE examines the impact to the nation’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

JUST a few weeks ago, it was revealed that the pilot biofuel project embarked upon in the country by one of the nation’s leading telecommunications operators, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, alongside the worldwide operators group, the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) and Ericsson, was terminated because of lack of biofuel feed stocks.

Background:
A little over two years ago, the trio of MTN Nigeria, Ericsson and GSMA announced they were teaming up in using biofuels to expand mobile coverage in Nigeria amidst other developing countries of the world.

And, precisely on October 11, 2006, it was proclaimed that they have established biofuels as an alternative source of power for wireless networks in the developing world, by setting up a pioneering project in Nigeria to demonstrate the potential of biofuels in replacing diesel as a source of power for mobile base stations located beyond the reach of the electricity grid.

What is Electricity grid?
Electricity grid is commonly known to be the official or public power supply system in a given country like Nigeria, with grid connection costing about $25,000 (about N213,675.21), which includes the purchasing of transformer by the desiring entities.

Described by GridWise.org, as a huge, complex network of wires and devices that carries electricity from where it is generated to where it is used, electricity grid in Nigeria, as at two years ago, showed only 25 per cent is connected to the electricity grid, thereby forcing telecom operators to invest in the alternative.

What is biodiesel?
The General Manager, Regulatory at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, agreed with experts that biodiesel is a biofuel produced from various feedstocks including vegetable oils, such as oil-seed, rape-seed, soya bean, and animal fats or algae, which could be blended with diesel for use in diesel engine vehicles. While biofuel is a term that applies to any solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel produced from organic once-living matter, thus covers a wide range of products, some of which are commercially available today.

According to experts, biodiesel have several advantages over conventional diesel as a power source for base stations, because it could be produced locally, create employment in rural areas, while reducing the need for transportation, related logistics and security. Biodiesel, also, has much lower impact on the environment than conventional diesel and its cleaner burning fuel results in fewer site visits, thus extending the life of base station generators, and reducing operators costs.

For GSMA officials, biofuel results out of produce from feed stocks grown on deforested idle and marginal land for the purpose of biofuel crop plantation, paving the way for lowering carbon emissions than diesel when calculated on a whole of life basis and taking into account the effect of land use changes.

Initial positions:
The Chief Technology Information Officer of MTN Group, Mr. Karel Pienaar, noted that the early adoption of biofuel-powered mobile networks would place Africa at the forefront of a new wave of innovation that is making mobile communications affordable and accessible across the developing world.

He said, the project, supported by expertise and funding from the GSMA’s Development Fund, Ericsson and MTN, established a pilot biodiesel-powered base station solution in Lagos and was hopeful to later deploying biodiesel-fueled base stations in rural regions of south eastern and south western Nigeria.

The three organizations also agreed to set up a supply chain designed to benefit the local population by sourcing a variety of locally-produced crops and processing them into biofuel. This includes groundnuts, pumpkin seeds, jatropha, and palm oil to be used in the initial pilot tests.

Economic sense of mobile base stations:
Commenting, chief executive officer, GSMA, Mr. Rob Conway, said that the extension of mobile networks into rural areas is vital to boost the social and economic welfare of developing world. Stressing, “Biofuels have the potential to make that happen by giving mobile operators local access to a commercially and environmentally sustainable power supply.”

Equally, the project tended to draw on findings of the pilot to help operators across the developing world determine whether they could use biodiesel to power their networks in rural areas.

The Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Ericsson, Mr. Bert Nordberg, said then that in order to reach the next billion mobile users, the biofuel source is vital to lower-spending segments of the population profitably, mostly by using locally-produced biofuels.

Nigeria lacks biofuels feedstock:
Responding to ITRealms Online queries on the project termination, GSMA said that Nigeria lacks relevant feed stocks to sustain biodiesel project.

GSMA’s spokesman, Mr. David Pringle, stated in an email response that as at the duration of the project, which lasted for eight months, between October 2006 and May 2007 that Nigeria lacked the requisite quantity needed for the sustainability of the project.

“The pilot found that Nigeria didn’t, at that time, have a large enough sustainable source of non-food feedstock,” he declared, pointing out that though the business environment continues to evolve, and urged Nigerian mobile operators to come up with their kind of envisaged biofuel-powered base stations for the industry.

The pilot, he said, involved base station generator trials in Lagos to support three test sites located in Badagry, Makurdi, Lagos with biodiesel produced from feedstock and procured in Plateau State. Other potential feed stocks were assessed from Ogun, Kogi, Benue, Borno and Kano. He stressed that the pilot established the operational feasibility of biodiesel production use in standard tower base stations.

Outcome of the pilot phase and Jatropha:
According to Pringle, the pilot programme, came to some conclusions, including that availability and proximity of feedstock is critical, saying “Although, there are significant investments in jatropha plantations underway in neighboring Mali and to a lesser extent in Nigeria (particularly in the north), a sustainable source of non-food feedstock requires years to become established.”

Portrayed as a non-edible evergreen shrub found in Asia, Africa and the West Indies, Jatropha, is seeds containing a high proportion of oil which could be used for the production of biofuel, and is noted as a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees from the family Euphorbiaceae.

GSMA equally said the processing machinery and quality control are critical “ingredients for transesterification and must be available - methanol, fresh water, caustic soda.”

For Pringle, operators should partner with a regional bio-fuel producer to ensure quality and economics of scale in the venture.

Head, Marketing Communications at Ericsson West Africa, Mr. Olabode Sowunmi Jnr. confirmed the termination of the pilot project, but did not offer explanation, while the external communications manager of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Okeleke was mute on the subject as at press time, as well as other key mobile operators in the country.

Powering 50 per cent base stations:
However, the unfortunate news of the project termination broke the same week, MTN Group alongside over 20 operators on the continent took part in the GSMA renewable energy operators forum recently hosted in Kenya by Safaricom, a leader in the use of renewable energy for networks with 30 base stations already powered by solar and wind energy. The outcome of the meeting was that they resolved to achieve 118,000 base stations on this platform before the end of 2012, via renewable energy.

The forum participants comprised of MTN Nigeria, MTC Namibia, MTN Cameroon, MTN Group, MTN Uganda, Safaricom Kenya, Vodacom Tanzania, Vodafone Egypt, Zain Group with operations in 14 African countries; namely Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia with advances to launch mobile operation before the end of December 2008 in Ghana.

Others were Econet, AXIS, Bharti, Dialog, Digicel, Idea Cellular, Indosat, Grameenphone, Mobinil, Orange, Orascom Telecom Holding, Roshan, Smart, Telefonica, Telenor Pakistan, Vimpelcom and Zantel.

Speaking at the session, Mr. Conway said, achieving this objective of 118,000 in the next four years, would amount to saving up to 2.5 billion litres of diesel per annum and cutting of annual carbon emissions by up to 6.3 million tonnes. He predicted that by 2012, up to 50 per cent of new off-grid base stations in the developing world could be powered by renewable energy.

Currently, he noted that off-grid base stations have primarily been powered by generators running on diesel fuel, which is increasingly expensive, generates carbon dioxide emissions, and could be difficult to transport to remote locations.

“As they strive to bring the benefits of mobile coverage to as many people as possible, operators need to find reliable, sustainable and economic sources of power far beyond the reach of national electricity grids,” Conway said, adding that GSMA has built expertise in solar, wind and other renewable energy sources that mobile operators could easily tap to help them in connecting the unconnected, reduce operating costs and minimize environmental damage.

Following extensive research with mobile operators, Conway noted that GSMA estimated that 1,500 base stations worldwide have been powered by, at least, one form of renewable energy and outlined the challenges till date to include commercial viability, equipment availability and lack of expertise, but remarked that GSMA’s research suggested that rising diesel prices and falling renewable equipment costs entails that operators investing in green power sources for base stations could recoup the capital costs in as little as 24 months.

The Ghanaian example:
ITRealms Online gathered that a long-time producer of biofuel feed stocks in Ghana, Mr. Joe Jackson, in partnership with Kwabenah Smith runs Orun Energy to re-engineer mobile base stations. He claims to have produced a 45 per cent reduction in the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and a 55 per cent reduction in Operating Expenses (OPEX). Already, he said that Orun Energy’s low-cost base station achieves 60 per cent energy savings in tests with Ghana’s Kasapa since 2005 when the project began.

Counseling Nigeria operators:
Worried by lack of investment in biofuel-related products, Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Mr. Obi Adiuku-Brown, counseled Nigerians, especially the operators, to invest in small-scale factories for the product, like the brown sugar production.

He pointed out that a by-product of the brown sugar called ‘molasses’ could be used as animal feed and also for the production of ethanol, noting that Nigeria currently has four brown sugar industries located in Kwali, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Zaria in Kaduna, Omor in Anambra State and Eba’a in Rivers State.

Ethanol, a liquid fuel made from corn or other agricultural products such as sugar, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colourless liquid and a psychoactive drug.

Wikipedia, an open source free encyclopedia, states that except for use of fire, the fermentation of sugar into ethanol is one of the earliest organic reactions employed by humanity, with a long history as a fuel for heat and light as well as a fuel for internal combustion engines.

While Molasses also known as treacle is a thick syrup by-product from the processing of the sugarcane or sugar beet into sugar. In some parts of the world, molasses also refers to sorghum syrup. The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or beet, the amount of sugar extracted as well as the method of extraction.

Conclusion:
Although GSMA since October 2005, provides consulting support to innovative pilot projects that use mobile technology to boost social, economic and environmental welfare in developing countries, the grid connection has been found to be unavailable in many locations in developing countries of the world, while the portion of the population targeted by current mobile network expansion is increasingly off the grid zone.

Just as GSMA in 2007 in its top-10 findings, stated that where grid power could be attained it took a longer period of time to come by, that is, between six months and two years. Therefore, the cost of extending the grid to power off-grid base station could be enormous.

Equally, industry watchers advocated for alternative source of energy supply, with a greater number favourably endorsing the biofuel method, saying it’s cost effective and at the same time boosting the agricultural produce of any given nation to embraces it, even as it could be a source of foreign exchange earnings within the region.

As suggested by Pringle, mobile operators must engage long-time producers of biofuel seeds if this war is to be won.

Remarkable though is that even the major suppliers of base stations, such as Ericssons have anticipated the growing demand for green networks and have introduced a variety of low-energy products as well as renewable energy power solutions to aid mobile penetration which in turn boosts Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in developing country, like Nigeria.

And as a result, Nigeria should wake up by embracing biofuel feed stocks through the avalanche of research institutions, especially the over 94 universities in the country with corporate organizations like operators sponsoring a chair so as to encourage research and development in this regard, whereas focus should be given to agric universities.

This, would ensure, that the alternative source like biofuels must be produced in a manner that contributes to the socio-economic development of the local, rural and indigenous peoples and communities, thereby giving hope to its sustainability.


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... As Cisco Live! holds in South Africa

CISCO, the world’s leading networking giant has announced that its Cisco Live! a new format for the company’s annual Networkers conference would this year be hosted in South Africa.

This year, the four-day event scheduled to take place at Sandton, South Africa would begin on December 1, 2008 and is expected to draw network engineers from all over Africa for technical training, education and networking.

A press statement from Cisco Nigeria, informed that this annual conference, has for years, been at the forefront of educating participants on new technologies.

The new Networkers at Cisco Live! will incorporate a mix of technical and business offerings, just as the format broadens the traditional technical focus to include executive tracks that examine the role of technology in improving business in a challenging economic climate.

Regional Sales Manager, Cisco Nigeria, Mr. Richard Edet, said, “It is exciting that the first time the Cisco Live! brand is being introduced outside of the United States to Africa. With Cisco Live! we are taking the event to the next level to provide a platform where industry players from Nigeria and indeed across Africa can learn new technologies, discuss business trends, share ideas and network.”

He also said, the theme of this year’s conference is “The Power of Collaboration,” and delegates could look forward to thought-provoking keynotes from local and international Cisco executives and industry experts.

Furthermore, Networkers at Cisco Live! will provide a platform for customers to share their technology success stories and discuss best-practice approaches with influential business leaders and decision makers.

Delegates will also have an opportunity to meet with Cisco executives and experts to gather valuable insights about Cisco’s technology strategy and roadmap.

The Vice president of Global Innovations for the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, Mr. Rick Hutley, has been nominated as a keynote speaker at the event alongside a host of world renowned resource people.

Hutley who bears responsibility for engaging Cisco’s largest global customers, will discuss the role of collaborative technologies in addressing the key business challenges and opportunities that organisations face today.


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Nokia unveils 3 phones

LEADING manufacturer of Information Technology (IT) devices, Nokia, has unveiled three new mobile phones; the Nokia 6600 fold, the Nokia 6600 and Nokia 3600 slides respectively into the Nigeria markets, reports CHARLES OKOH.

According to the General Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Mr. Philip De La Vega, the stunning balance and sophisticated looks with the latest in mobile functionality, minimalist design and present an appealing array of easy-to-use features.

“There is a strong consumer demand for mobile handsets that blend elegant looks with modern features and each of the three devices introduced offers a slightly different take on a core design language. We believe they are both beautiful to use and beautiful to behold – and offer a range of choice,” he said.

The Nokia 6600 fold, he explained, smoothly opens to reveal a stunningly bright 2.13’’ OLED screen displaying up to 16 million colors.

“With its seamless design, the signature ‘smooth back’ of the Nokia 6600 fold creates a comfortable contour when opened, and remains subtle and compact when closed,” he said.

He also said the Nokia 6600 slide stays true to its name as it smoothly slides open in the hand, displaying a glossy, high-quality steel covers and aluminum center key constitute both understated elegance as well as visual simplicity.

“Its well-balanced feature set is created to be exciting and intuitive. Tapping the Nokia 6600 slide twice conveniently indicates time, snoozes, alerts and silences or rejects incoming phone calls and has a 3.2 mega pixel camera,” he said.

The Nokia 6600 slide and the Nokia 6600 fold are available in all authorised Nokia out lets nationwide and come with 12-month warranty as well as after sales services.

On the Nokia 3600 slide, he said it aims to win hearts with a blend of tasteful colors, materials and tactile finishes, and minds with a full range of the latest features. Soft ceramic paint and metal combined with high gloss surfaces and gradated colors to make the Nokia 3600 slide beautiful to both touch and see.

“The small, ergonomically shaped Nokia 3600 slide also delivers a 3.2 mega pixel camera with auto focus and 2 LED flash and is excellent for taking pictures or videos, even in dim lighting conditions,” he said.

“While the beauty of the Nokia 3600 slide will tell the world about its owner, the pre-installed Nokia Maps application with an optional Nokia Bluetooth GPS Module LD-4W. This application, where available, will tell the owner a lot about the world they are in. The Nokia Maps application holds more than 15 million points of interests, including restaurants, shops, hotels and more,” he added.


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NGN human capital worries CTO

THE Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) has expressed worries over the management of Next Generation Networks (NGN) migration by Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), especially telecom operators.

This, CTO said was the reason behind its recent assemblage of human resource directors and managers in telecommunications industry from 15 countries in Cape Town, South Africa, to deliberate on the challenges of developing and maintaining employees with the skills required for next generation networks.

Besides a general introduction to Next Generation Networks, the meeting among other things examined the most effective ways of implementing a Talent Management Programme across the organisations and how to manage talent across different generations.

Communications Officer at Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, Nomita Das, said that discussions detail were on addressing employee development needs and the strategic alignment of Human Resources (HR) and line managers’ roles to achieve organizational goals.

In his address to the workshop, the Senior Programmes Manager of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Mr. Marcel Belingue, pointed out that fixed and mobile networks are migrating to new and converging platforms such as Third Generation (3G) or NGN, in order to offer end-users a range of new services.

"Content has become the key application in most parts of the world, with a significant amount created by savvy, challenging and demanding end-users themselves. These rapid changes in technology and customer behaviour are forcing telecom operators around the world to transform their business and develop new skills to cope with a new era," he said.

Mr. Belingue further said that naturally, government ministries and regulators also have to adapt to these changes in order to adopt the best policies and keep up with market forces.

Pointing out that the high-level workshop was organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation to help raise awareness of solutions and best practices from and in different parts of the world.

CTO, an international development partnership between Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth governments, business and civil society organisations, provides the international community with effective means to help bridge the digital divide and achieve social and economic development, by delivering to developing countries unique knowledge-sharing programmes in the use of ICT in the specific areas of telecommunications, IT, broadcasting and the Internet.


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Glo goes to Lagos Trade Fair

SECOND National Operator (SNO), Globacom, at the weekend, joined other participants at the on-going Lagos International Trade Fair, Badagry Expressway, Lagos, with a bouquet of products and services.

Sales Director at Globacom, Mr. Ken Hall, said that the firm’s pavilion clearly depicts a brand committed to giving subscribers the best.

According to him, the exhibition structure comes in the company’s green colour and the interior is a quick reminder of the ambience of the Gloworld shops across the country.

He explained that Globacom is at the 2008 Fair with all its superior services and offerings for all categories of subscribers.

“Glo is offering products such as Glo lines, recharge cards, value added services and the most affordable Blackberry to visitors at its stand,” he said.

In addition, he said, Glo is displaying the qualities which made it Nigeria’s most advanced telecommunication company by showcasing world-class telecoms services like voice Short Messaging Service (VSMS), mobile banking, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), mobile Internet, vehicle tracking, container and parcel tracking, Text2email and numerous others to visitors to its beautiful stand.

“Visitors who patronize the Glo stand at the Fair are not going back home empty handed as the company has brought a lot of gift items for its numerous customers,” Mr. Hall said.

Glo customers at the Fair also have the opportunity to win 10 mobile phones and recharge cards worth thousands of naira in a draw to be held as the Fair progresses.
Visitors, he said, have the chance of making their purchases and winning good gifts from the network.

These range from biros, fez caps, Naija wrist-bands, gift bags, T-Shirts, chairs to tables


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SWAP Tech lifts ESDPSS with N1.5m

SWAP Technologies & Telecoms Limited, has lifted the Workforce Management’s Employability Skills Development Programme Scholarship Scheme (ESDPSS) with the corporate social responsibility (CSR) support worth N1.5 million.

A press statement from Swap’s Corporate Services Manager, Mrs. Isabella Yusuf, stated that the support scheme seeks to ensure that youths, especially university and polytechnic graduates, are better equipped with modern Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) skills that would enhance their status preparatory to gaining employment in today’s hyper-competitive job market.

“This corporate support of youth empowerment underscores our company’s believe that individual Nigerians and the nation as a whole can become more competitive through the creation of technological advantage which a program like ESDPPSS engenders,” she said.

According to her, Swap Technologies & Telecoms has been one of the best performing, profit-making telecoms infrastructure companies in the country, through the importation of telecom towers, shelters, rectifiers, generators, antennas, palisade fence, radio frequency (RF) cables and other accessories that are vital for the roll out of telecommunication networks.

She also said that Swap services a line up of private telecom operators and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operators.

Some of these clients, she listed to include MultiLinks-Telekom, ZOOMmobile, Visafone Communications Limited, Celtel and contractors of virtually all telecom operators in the land.

These include Harris Staratex, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, Helios Towers, IHS Nigeria, Bell-X, Telcon, Ghatoni, Fadco, Lucratel, Interkel, Alps, IPNX and CITCC to name a few.

The company is also a major player in the field of construction of cell sites, and has built over 200 sites for mega companies like Multilinks-Telkom, ZOOMmobile and Visafone.

Also speaking, the managing director of SWAP, Mr. Tunde Titilayo, disclosed that his company has advanced plans to expand into the West African region.

“We also built sites in Ivory Coast and plans major expansion of business outside Nigeria in the growing markets of the Benin Republic, Ghana and Ivory Coast,” he said.

Titilayo pointed out that Swap has strategic tie-ups with manufacturers of highest standards like Africa Cellular and Tricom Structures for un-interrupted supplies of telecom towers.

“We bring in the best quality and highest specification shelters from JK Shelters and Palladium Projects. All the manufacturers are located in South Africa. We also buy the rectifiers and batteries from the world-famous company, the Emerson Network Power. Swap is also partnering by becoming one of the two exclusive distributors to the Nigerian industrial house that has set up a state-of-the art factory for manufacturing telecom towers in Nigeria,” he said.

Mr. Titilayo stressed the need for Swap to continue being a responsible corporate citizen as it was no longer just a private company but has become answerable to over 500 investors who invested in the company in good faith and in anticipation of handsome rewards from an ethical company dedicated to good corporate governance.


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WTSA join forces with UN on climate change

WORLD Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08) ended its 2008 session recently with a concensus to join forces with the United Nations in the battle to reduce the impact of climate change through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

The 10-day meeting, which was the first of its kind held on the continent of Africa, precisely in South Africa, saw participants numbering 768 from 99 countries, endorsing the proposition to restructure the old-age International Telecommunication
Union (ITU)’s standards to strengthen it as the global premier ICT standards body.

In addition, eight new chairmen were elected bringing a fresh outlook to many of ITU’s areas of study.

A press statement made available at the weekend by the duo of Chief, Media Relations and Public information and Communications Officer, Messrs, Sanjay Acharya and Toby Johnson, indicated that this focus on strengthening ITU standards would impact positively on a wide range of issues regarding the future direction of the ICT industry.

Also top on the WTSA agenda at the just concluded meeting was ICTs and climate change, the deployment of Internet Protocol version six (IPv6), accessibility to ICTs for persons with disabilities, conformance and interoperability testing, and encouraging academic participation in ITU’s work.

The event attended in addition by 13 Ministers, adopted a resolution to work towards reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the use of ICTs, in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

They equally resolved that ICTs could be a major mitigating factor in efforts to moderate climate change and to limit and ultimately reduce GHG emissions across all industry sectors, in addition to acknowledging that ITU was committed to achieving climate neutrality within three years.

Another resolution tasks the ITU secretariat intend to carry out studies in order to introduce the use of an ITU Mark as a voluntary programme permitting suppliers to make a visible declaration that their products conform to ITU-T recommendations.

Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), Mr. Malcolm Johnson, said in a message from members that ITU is, and will remain the world’s pre-eminent global telecommunication and ICT standards body.

“And we also hear very clearly that ITU should continue on its mission to connect the world, and that bridging the standardization gap - by increasing developing country participation in our work - is an essential prerequisite to achieve this goal,” he said.

Stressing that the reorganization of the Study Groups was not a simple task, noting “It has been attempted before but this time we have established a streamlined and efficient structure, avoiding duplication and focusing on our key objectives.”


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3-yrs: Zain spends $12bn in Africa

ZAIN Group has invested over $12 billion on the African continent in the last three years, according to the group chief executive officer, Zain Group, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak.

He also said that Zain invested similar amount in the Middle East since 2003, adding that the telco undertook an exciting and brave rebranding of all its operations over the last 12 months to the new Zain brand.

Making this remark during the annual Zain management Accelerate, Consolidate, Expand (ACE) meeting in Jordan, Dr. Al-Barrak, highlighted that the meeting, saw an inspirational speech given by Neil Armstrong, who in 1969, became the first man to walk on the moon.

The meeting was attended by the Jordanian Prime Minister, Mr. Nader Dahabi; the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Bassem Rousan and the CEO of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Dr Ahmed Hiasat.

Al Barrak explained that the purpose of having such a world figure was to motivate Zain leaders, “from all our operations to be brave and take risks in their daily personal and business dealings.”

As said by him, it has been the determination of Zain’s leadership that got it to its present global position in the telecommunications market place.

“This is what got Zain to where it is today, and this is what will get Zain into the top-ten global telecommunications in the world by 2011,” he said.

Emphasizing that like Armstrong and his crew, Zain has undertaken many daring and pioneering missions, from its first $423 million acquisition of Fastlink, Jordan in 2003, to its record-breaking $3.4 billion acquisition of its African operations, Celtel, in 2005 and most recently, the $6.1 billion license acquisition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to name a few.

He further said Zain operates in some of the most challenging markets on earth such as Iraq and many sub-Saharan African countries, and has invested over $12 billion on the African continent alone in just three years, even as it spent a similar amount in the Middle East since 2003.

Mr. Armstrong, who introduced himself to Zain executives and managers from across 22 countries said, “Stepping foot on such a low altitude is a characteristic I am not well known for. Taking risks, unconventional solutions, good ideas, testing and team work, are all the necessary ingredients for a company to succeed in today’s world.”

He also urged participants at the meeting that as managers, “You bear the responsibility of Zain’s success, as nothing takes the place of persistence and there is little satisfaction in reaching easy goals, so aim high.”


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7 millionaires emerge @ MTN Treasure Hunt promo

GLOBAL System for Mobile Communications (GSM) giant, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, has raised the fortunes of seven lucky winners of its on-going treasure hunt promo to the status of millionaires.

Each of the seven won one million naira to join the millionaires club on the network, while many more went home with consolation prizes of Plasma TV, Digital Video Display (DVD), and mobile phone sets at the event which took place at Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, General Manager, Consumer Marketing at MTN, Mr. Kolawole Oyeyemi, said, the Treasure Hunt promotion is to reward MTN customers during this festive season.

“MTN is committed to giving back to customers on its network whose continuous patronage sustains the business,” he said.

He also said the presentation was an indication that MTN always keeps to its promises, stressing that last year, the operator went round the country to touch the lives of its customers.

“This year we want to make Nigerians win one million naira each week, two million every two weeks and 10 million in the grand finale. What we are witnessing today is the making of seven millionaires who are already winners,” he said.

Oyeyemi further called on subscribers to take advantage of the promotion and change their fortunes.

MTN Treasure Hunt is an innovative consumer promotion which offers customers the opportunity to win one million naira every day for 100 days, in addition to other consolation prizes such as plasma TV sets, DVD players and handsets.

The latest millionaires including Edward Agu, Babatunde Abidokun, Cajeten Anikwe, Raheem Ibrahim, Adeola Oludare, Alhaji Lawal Sadi and Winnie Agadu as well as the consolation prize winners were present to receive their prizes at the venue.


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Easy Starter, 1st prepaid from Etisalat – Ammar

LESS than three weeks of its commercial launch in the nation’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market, the fifth Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator, has described its prepaid platform known as Easy Starter, as the first from Etisalat.

According to the Vice President, Marketing, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, Easy Starter uniqueness is that distinct Etisalat operations tag its prepaid differently, thus Easy Starter is a Nigerian brand of prepaid on the network.

He also said that Easy Starter comes with a robust range of unique offering.

“The Easy Starter is the first prepaid package from Etisalat with a robust range of services geared towards giving subscribers value and optimized talk time,” he said.

Looking back at the commercial launch, Ammar said that eager subscribers have continued to throng the company’s designated centers to redeem their reserved numbers and take advantage of its unique service offerings.

He noted that redemption centers, including Etisalat shops nationwide and selected branches of Oceanic Bank, Sweet Sensation and Big Treat Supermarket, have continued to behold a large turn out of subscribers in a bid to redeem their Easy Starter prepaid packs, depending on their choice under the pre-commercial launch campaign, 0809uchoose.

He explained that Easy Starter package is the innovative prepaid product of Etisalat Nigeria designed to give subscribers the power to enhance as well as maximize both air and talk time.

The package from Etisalat, he said, has a robust range of services geared towards giving subscribers value and optimized talk time.

“The innovative package comes with unique features that easily distinguish it as the brand of choice; they are the homezone tariff plan, Receiver Pays (or Call Collect) and Recharge Others,” he said.

It is important to note that subscribers can enjoy all these services by default as they are automatically activated as soon as the subscriber joins the network,” he said.

Additionally, he said, that one of the main features of Easy Starter, the homezone, is a tariff plan that allows subscribers the opportunity to select the areas where they make the most calls as their homezone in order to enjoy lower tariffs.

“Our tariff structure is the simplest in the history of telco in Nigeria and it is designed for the ease of our customers who remain a driving force in all we do,” he said.

With Easy Starter, Ammar pointed out that Etisalat subscribers have two levels of tariff; either you are in your homezone or out of the homezone. The difficulty associated with having to determine how much a call costs is removed as it is either 40 kobo in the homezone or 50 kobo outside the homezone per second.

“This is practical innovation, simplicity at its best and unique to this market,” he said.

Customers, he said, could dial 242 to access the service on interactive voice response (IVR) and follow the voice prompts to set their homezone or dial *242# to set their homezone on activation of their lines.

As part of a set of promotional offers, Etisalat is offering the first 10 homezone selections are free. After the promo which ends at the end of November, subscribers will be able to make 3 free homezone changes a month. Subsequent changes will thereafter attract a minimal cost.


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Validity: NATCOMS demands compensation from Starcomms

NATIONAL Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), has demanded compensation from a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, Starcomms, for not adhering to directives by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), over its inability to increase validity days on the network in the last eight months.

ITRealms Online recalled that NCC had earlier this year directed Starcomms to increase its validity periods for any loaded recharge card to a minimum of 90 days. But Starcomms did not abide by the directive, even as NATCOMS planned to drag Starcomms to court before the telco last month increased validity to 90 days.

President, NATCOMS, Chief Deola Ogunbanjo, who disclosed this in Lagos, said that Starcomms despite previous warnings has continued to give subscribers on the network 15-day airtime validity instead of 90 days or 180 days as obtained in other networks until last October.

According to him, during the month of October, NATCOMS observed in the nation’s telecommunications industry as it concerned subscribers about Starcomms insistence in the last eight months to give its consumers just 15 days validity for loaded recharge cards.

In the month of September this year, he said, NATCOMS had warned Starcomms that if they do not increase their validity period to the minimum of 90 days, NATCOMS would take the operator to court over the issue.

This, he said, was because, Starcomms refused to comply with the directive given by NCC in the last two quarters.

"But on discovery of NATCOMS seriousness, Starcomms, last month, October, increased the validity period," he said.

Against the afore-mentioned, NATCOMS said subscribers on Starcomms network are demanding for compensation for deliberately ignoring the regulator’s directive overtime and delaying the implementation, to the disadvantage of subscribers as well as loss of call validity period by subscribers.

Equally, Ogunbanjo said that during the third week of October, 2008, several subscribers on MultiLinks Telkom’s network could not recharge their credit, which prompted NATCOMS to intervene by paying a visit to the operator’s customer care centre at Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island only to be told that Head, Consumer Affairs Department, Mrs. Odulaja, was not available.

Eventually, NATCOMS contacted NCC through the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Mrs. Lolia Emakpore, who took immediate action on the matter, and promised an early resolution.


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3rd ngNOG forum holds @ UNILAG

THE University of Lagos (UNILAG), would next week Monday, play host to this year’s forum of the Nigerian Network Operators Group (ngNOG) meeting and conferences, respectively.

While the workshop takes place between November 17 and 21, the two-day conference has been scheduled to hold from November 24 through 25.

Chairman, UNILAG Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of ngNOG, Prof. Charles Uwadia told ITRealms Online that the event is aimed at building capacity and exchanging technical knowledge by way of workshop meetings and culminates in a conference dedicated to the application of technology in education to foster research and learning in the country.

He said that the forum which is the third in the series is a capacity building platform for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in tertiary institutions and others, even as it is open to interested institutions of higher learning and corporate bodies to participate and collaborate.

“It is a capacity building forum for ICT in tertiary institutions and others that are interested. It is an initiative of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from within the universities that have other tertiary institutions as partners and the private sector. It is an annual conference and workshop where networking ICTs share ideas,” he said, adding that the essence is to enhance their capacity to maintain and sustain the networks on campuses.

On the modalities for attendance, Prof. Uwadia said interested individuals and institutions are only requested to pay a nominal fee, stating that so far, 18 tertiary institutions and over150 participants have indicated interest for this year’s event.

Uwadia also said the forum whose first exploratory event took place at the University of Ibadan in 2005 actually commenced formal meeting in 2006 at the University of Jos, while last year’s was held at the Ado Bayero University in Kano.

He further said participants and instructors in the workshop and conferences would comprise of engineering staff from network service providers, ICT managers in educational and commercial organizations, policy makers and administrators from regulatory bodies and members of the research and education community.

He stressed that this year’s meetings would feature an exhibition which would run alongside the conference to provide the community and related ICT technology services providers the opportunity to showcase their products.


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Lagos civil servants commends Omatek

CHAIRMAN, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCN), Lagos State branch, Comrade Adebayo Oluwa, has commended Omatek Ventures Plc for fulfilling its promise of handing over Personal Computers (PC) to the beneficiaries of its recently launched initiative for civil servants in the state.

ITRealms Online recalls that Omatek has disbursed over 500 PCs to civil servants in the centre of excellence under its e-Xpress initiative in partnership with ASCN.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Oluwa said, he was impressed with the timely delivery of the computer systems which range from the latest 8 inch smart book to the rugged Desktop computers.

Comrade Oluwa also said, the acquisition of the computer systems by the public servants in the state, would go a long way in improving their efficiency and productivity.

This, he noted, is in line with the Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration efforts at computerizing the entire civil service in Lagos State.

He, therefore, urged other interested public servants in Lagos State to take advantage of the Omatek e-Xpress initiative to acquire their computers through an easy and convenient payment plan which spans between 12 and 24 months.

Equally, speaking, one of the beneficiaries, Mr. Olaniyonu, a civil servant from the Education District 1, Agege, expressed his gratitude to Omatek Computers for the opportunity given to him to own a computer.

He applauded Omatek Computers for including civil servants under its e-Xpress initiative.

So far, Omatek e-Xpress initiative has also been launched in Oyo, Ogun, Abia, Cross River, and a host of other states.

The Omatek e-Xpress initiative is expected to boost IT penetration in the country, with the aim of putting, at least, one computer in every Nigerian home in no distant future.

Meanwhile, Omatek Computers Ghana Limited in partnership with the government of Ghana has launched its e-Xpress consumer initiative to make computer acquisition easy and affordable in the gold country.

The e-Xpress scheme was launched in conjunction with the Ministry of Communications under the umbrella of the Ghana Government Assisted Personal Computer (PC) Programme - i-Advance.

Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, said that her firm’s e-Xpress Consumer Scheme comes with a huge funding support from partnering banks which makes it easy for civil servants, corporate executives, organizations, educational institutions, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) as well as students to acquire computers through a convenient payment plan which spreads between 12 and 24 months.

Seriki also said the collaboration between Omatek e-Xpress scheme and the i-Advance would help to bridge the digital divide, while enhancing Information Technology (IT) penetration in Ghana.

Omatek, she said, remains the only company in East, West and Central Africa that produces computers and casings from Completely Knocked Down (CKD) components sourced from the highest grades of manufacturers, thus making all Omatek computers of world-class standards comparable to any other foreign brand.

She also said that the international quality consciousness for Omatek brand of products was reflected in “The Best Systems Builder Award” presented by Microsoft in 2005.

The award, she noted, covers the West, East and Central Africa, and in effect, confirms Omatek’s pioneering status in building quality computer brands.

Commenting, the Minister of Communications, Dr. Benjamin Aggrey–Ntim said the new partnership between Omatek e-Xpress and i-Advance would enhance e-governance, especially in the public sector.

This, he said would also make the country become a truly technology driven society, urging civil servants to optimize the use of the computers to justify government’s expenditure on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructural development.

The event also marked the official unveiling of the new Omatek brand identity, power products and 8”& 10”TFT screen positioned for the education sector.

On hand to launch the e-Xpress was the Ghanaian Minister of Communication, Dr. Benjamin Aggrey – Ntim. The Ghanaian Minister of Education, Prof. Dominic Forbi, unveiled the Omatek 8 inches smartbook while the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Sen. Musilium Obanikoro unveiled the new Omatek Corporate identity.


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Microsoft’s has TCO advantage over Linux – Hansen

MICROSOFT Corporation has said that despite competition in the software market, customers have the choice to pick it’s Operating Systems (OS) due to the total cost of ownership over Linux.


Operating System (OS) is tagged the most important programme that runs on a computer, which entails that every general-purpose computer must have an OS to run other programmes.

In other words, operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.

Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Apart from the fact Linux is freely distributed, its functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main alternative for proprietary Unix and Microsoft operating systems.

IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other giants of the computing world have embraced Linux and support its ongoing development.

Reacting to media reports over jostlings in government to outsmart Linux OS in Nigeria, the regional general manager for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa (WECA), Mr. Thomas Hansen, told ITRealms Online that although a joint marketing agreement was drafted to provide an investment based on the best practices for deploying technology in K-12 education level in a large culturally and geographically diverse market such as Nigeria.

K–12 is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education. It is used in the United States, Canada, and some parts of Australia and lately in Africa, which is an expression Kindergarten of 5 or 6-year-old through 12th grade.

This, Mr. Hansen said demonstrated the value and benefits of this technology by Microsoft for that purpose, stressing that through the course of pursuing the opportunity, it became clear that the customers in one of the pilots, the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) wanted to pursue a Linux OS. To Microsoft’s knowledge, the other pilot with Education Tax Fund (ETF) was never executed.

“As such, the joint marketing agreement became irrelevant; no such marketing agreement was ever agreed to, and no money was ever spent,” he said.

On the issue of government organs deploying Linux in departments and schools due to the high cost of Microsoft solution, in some countries, basically four African nations, namely South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, Mr. Hansen said that Microsoft has strong relationships with the governments in the aforementioned countries, noting that customers always decide on what OS solutions most meet their needs.

“From our standpoint, those governments and indeed every customer should always decide which software solutions meet their needs most appropriately. We strongly believe that governments must carefully consider all costs of acquiring and using a PC along with the benefits of widespread application availability, maintenance, and training among other factors,” he said.

Emphasizing that studies have shown that when the total cost of ownership (TCO) is considered, the Windows platform often costs the same or less than Linux.

“Further, when the full range of user benefits are taken into account, such as the wide range of applications available, familiarity, and ease-of-use, Windows is often has a much better overall value,” he said.


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Internet: NIG harps on legitimate money making

PRESIDENT, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, has advised Nigerian internet users to apply Information Technology (IT) tools positively for give a boost to the country’s image and to make legitimate money.

NIG is a non-profit organization channeling its strengths on positive application of the Internet in the country.

Ajayi who also presides over PiNet Informatics as its chief executive gave this advice in a chat with ITRealms Online in Lagos, and said that there are tremendous opportunities for people to make money genuinely online.

“I would advise Nigerians to explore better ways of using the internet. Honestly, the internet offers tremendous opportunities for people to make money. Genuine money is being made on the internet, but the problem is lack of awareness, and this has been what leads people to the criminal use of the internet,” he said.

The internet, NIG president said, offers fantastic opportunities to make genuine money.

He pointed out that big enterprises are daily emerging on the internet and cited for example, the Yahoo!, and Google of this world among others.

“There are opportunities that individuals and small companies can exploit on the internet to make genuine money,” he insisted.

Ajayi also enjoined Nigerians to explore this positive side of the Internet and make their money genuinely rather than dragging the name of the nation into the mud with their individual bad tendencies.

“So, I would advise Nigerians to explore the positive use of the internet. There’s much money to be made genuinely on the internet, than the amount being made from the negative activities,” he maintained.

NIG, he noted, is an advocacy group that has not failed to use any avenue or platform available to make known its goals to the populace in the country.

“One of our advocacy activities comprises influencing government policies,” he said.
This, he also said, NIG has done effectively by sitting at various meetings including the National Cyber crime Working Group.

“We made input into the activities of the group, which did its best particularly in coming up with the draft bill on cyber crime,” he said.

Ajayi further said that on awareness, Nigeria Internet Group has not failed to seize every opportunity to educate the public on the damage cyber crime inflicts on the national image and economy.

He condemned the delay in passing the cyber crime bill into law by the National Assembly, noting that the bill was sent by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the National Assembly before leaving office on May 29, 2007 and up till date nothing has been heard about moving efforts to move it to the next stage.

“The bill till date has not been passed into law. This is a challenge facing the fight against cyber crimes in the country. Sometimes, when law enforcement agencies arrest cyber criminals, they have difficulties prosecuting them due to insufficient laws. This is what the draft bill on cyber crimes is to tackle,” he said.

NIG, therefore called on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to step-up his administration’s campaign against the ugly trend to save the nation the increasingly bad image.

Nigeria, he said, should involve a tripod strategy to overcome cyber crime, underscoring the need for the establishment of a legal framework.

“This is what the draft bill on cyber crime before the National Assembly intends to do,” he said, stressing that there is also a need for co-operation among stakeholders, including the provision of technical solutions by the operators in the sector.

“This will make life more difficult for the criminals in the community,” he said, stressing, there is a need to institute public awareness campaign on the dangers of cyber crimes.

The aforementioned three ways are the fundamental means to curb the menace of cyber crimes in the country, though the trio options are not exclusive.

Describing them as strategies that have to be combined together to fight the menace, saying that if Nigeria is able to combine these strategies, then it would amount to a level of seriousness on combating the menace


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FAQ about FeedBurner (3)

GIVEN the dramatic growth of feed-based content in recent years, how much advertising market share does Google hope to gain from this acquisition, both immediately and over time?

A. While we don’t release specific projections, we think there is great value in feed-based advertising. As more and more content emerges on the web, users are looking for an easier way to aggregate that content. We think we can create opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences while maintaining a high quality user experience.

Q. Where does Google see feed-based advertising going in the future, in terms of both revenue and the technology itself?

A. While we don’t release specific projections, we think there is great value in feed-based advertising. As more and more content emerges on the web, users are looking for an easier way to aggregate that content. We think we can create opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences while maintaining a high quality user experience.

Privacy

Q. How will the acquisition affect user privacy?

A. Google has a long-standing commitment to protecting the privacy of users’ personal information. FeedBurner users can expect the same high standards of privacy protection following this acquisition. We believe that notice and choice are the foundations of privacy. As such, we are committed to transparency for our end users, and to respecting the choices they make with regards to their privacy preferences.

The transition to Google’s privacy policy and the opt-out mechanism we are providing for current FeedBurner users will help us achieve these goals.

Q. How will Google use the information gained from the FeedBurner acquisition?

A. Google’s privacy policy lets users know the types of information we receive and collect when you use our services, as well some of the steps we take to safeguard information.


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Obama fever grips ICT sector in Nigeria

Cover of the week:

INFORMATION and Communications Technologies (ICT) tools, on the continent were set agog with the victorious emergence of Senator Barrak Obama in the just concluded United States’ presidential election, penultimate Tuesday.

Investigations by ITRealms Online showed that many Nigerians received Short Messaging Services (SMS) from within and across the continent.

An indication some industry analysts say was a reaffirmation of ICT tools as professing the global village concept.

Also our investigations revealed that as part of the celebration, aside from lots of SMS exchanged between the early hours of Wednesday, when the initial results were made public till last weekend, people where still receiving and sending congratulatory messages and exchanging electronic mails pleasantries on Obama phenomenon.

In other words, telecom operators reaped bountifully from Obama’s victory right from the time results began to trickle in and the larger ICT family based on the convergence and proliferation of Digital Satellite Televisions (DSTv) otherwise known as pay TV, Nigerians were served the victory live via the likes of DaarSAT, DSTV, HiTV, and MyTv to name a few, bringing the news into homes.

In the wake of the electoral success, some African ICT experts quickly created a website, http://www.africaservice.com/index3.php, for sending congratulatory messages to President-elect, Obama.

One of such SMS’ read “Bros, Congratulations, Obama has won,” another said “It is a new dawn, Obama becomes the next US president.”

Some actually made voice calls across the continent to congratulate one another over the Obama’s victory. Whereas other SMS’ simply read ‘Yes, we can.’

In addition, some tourist centres like hotels in Lagos among other big cities in the country are offering their services at discounted rates, including Internet services for less than 10 per cent of the normal cost, to name a few.

Equally some of the emails making the round, stated that Obama’s victory was a victory for the African continent and black race.

“Yes, Obama won … It is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice! Obama has affirmed it for us. Yes, we can. Yes our kids can and God is wonderful. Please let us continue to pray for Obama and his family,” says the chief executive of San Jose-based Learning Right Technologies, LLC, Mrs. Mary (Molly) Uzoh.

For another Nigerian IT expert in diaspora, Mr. Dele Olawole, Americans have spoken with the just concluded election, because, they elected a president enmass, the first black to occupy the prestigious White House of the most powerful nation on earth.

“This is the moment. A defining moment in the history of human kind and I
asked myself, is there anything really Black and White or purely human
being? That question was answered by this election,” he said.

Stressing that for the first time in the history of mankind, Americans led the way by voting for a human being rather than colour, thus showing the mental derangement of perpetrators of racism, although the impact of racism on black people cannot be over estimated.

“It has so much destroyed our being while repressing us to the bottom of
human development index. It got to a point that an average African looking at himself sees nothing but despair,” he said.

As said by him, “Obama has shown we can,” pointing out that this should be a turning point in the life of Africans all over the world that thought they cannot.
“Yes you can with the right attitude, will, determination and glory of God. Yes, you can,” he declared.

In addition, he expressed the hope that Obama dispensation in the White House will be a moment when black will be proud of themselves and say “Yes, we can. A moment to encourage and inspire. Yes, you can.”

According to him, the next four years will be a great challenge to Obama, because it will be a reference point through which research will be conducted on the failures of African leaders.

“It will enable us to see if failure is a genetic defect or otherwise. It will enable us to see that perhaps we might have been patronizing the wrong people as our leaders in Africa all along,” Olawole said.

He enjoined Africans to reach for their heights because they can, saying “Congratulations to the Americans.”

The Chief Technology Officer of WoodGong Communications, Finland, Mr. Sunny Odum while concurring with Olawole, said it “Could not have been better, hence Obama is a litmus test.”

The ‘Yes we can’ topic alone attracted over 200 comments exchanged around the Obama victory online.


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Omatek unveils engineering subsidiary

OMATEK Ventures Plc has unveiled one of its latest subsidiaries, the Omatek Engineering Services Limited (OESL), at a ceremony in Lagos, last weekend.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, said the engineering services subsidiary is basically a power backup solution provider and was inspired due to unreliability of public power system in the country.

She also said that the aim of the subsidiary is to assist Nigerians, especially Information and Communications Technology (ICT) users to ensure that they stay on most of the time when the public power system fails.

According to her, most importantly is to safeguard the ICT tools deployed across all the sectors of the economy.

In her overview of the new subsidiary, Mrs. Seriki said it’s a division of Omatek Ventures Plc initially incorporated as a limited liability company in 1988 and involved in computer sales, training, engineering and consultancy services.

Omatek Ventures, she said, was divided into various profit centres in 1992, which include the general sales unit comprising three independent sub-units, namely tender unit, marketing cum retail unit, wholesale unit and warranty backup support department.

Relatively other profit centres include engineering services and training.

Each unit, she pointed out is independent and managed by competent professionals.

“The company has been providing IT services to the banking, oil industries, government institutions and corporate companies,” she declared.

Initially, she noted that the engineering unit was incorporated as Portable Engineering Services Limited with strong emphasis on engineering support services.

“This Portable Engineering Services has been finally incorporated as Omatek Engineering Services Limited with broader products and services,” Mrs. Seriki said.

Also speaking, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Omatek Engineering Services Limited, Mr. Femi Numa, said the firm would offer after sales and backup support of all Omatek brand of products, computer maintenance and repairs services, cell preventive and comprehensive measures, networking and communication, on-site support, uninterrupted power supplier (UPS), inverter and other power backup solutions as well as computer security.

OESL, he said, is partnering with some key foreign entities with requisite experiences led by Chinese Kehua Group, which produces the first range of UPS and inverters that are 100 per cent compatible with Nigeria mains supply.

Other products such as battery monitoring device, surge protectors, automatic transfer switch, web SNMP modules, and lighting arrestors are also available in the Omatek range of power products.

“These products have passed quality control tests, EMC tests and International Standard Organisation (ISO) certification,” Numa said.

Meanwhile, the first-ever ComBIT-08 organized by the umbrella body of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) entities in the country, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) ended in Lagos, a fortnight ago, with Omatek Venture Plc showcasing avalanche of products.

Some of the products, according to the Deputy General Manager (DGM) Sales, Mr. Biyi Fashoyin included the Omatek’s dual Smart books of 8 and 10 inches respectively, the Omatek Plasma TV and Omatek home entertainment speakers as well as the Omatek Inverters and batteries.

Describing the three-day event as a good outing for the company, he also said that some visitors to Omatek stand during the expo were showered with lots of branded gifts.

He said that Omatek was delighted with the kind of turn-out to the event and specifically at its stand where some staff were at hand to explain the modalities and usage of its products, mostly the Smart books.

ITRealms Online recalled that recently, Omatek launched the dual model Smartbooks in Lagos as well as its eXpress scheme for Public Civil Servants in the centre of excellence.

Speaking at the launch, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Adebisi Sosan, commended Omatek Ventures Plc, for launching the Computer for All Public Servants in Lagos State.

Sosan who doubles as the State’s Commissioner for Education, was a special guest of honour at the event held in Alausa-Ikeja, and said the company deserved to be commended so as to encourage it to do more for the citizens of the state, especially in ensuring that they are technology compliant.

She noted that with the support of corporate organizations like Omatek, Lagos State would remain on top of most Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-driven state among equals.

“With the support of Omatek, Lagos would remain top among other states in the country,” he said.

Further, Mrs. Sosan said that the gesture of Omatek would facilitate unprecedented Information Technology (IT) penetration in the state, thereby touching the grassroots and urged civil servants in the state to eschew corruption and enlighten their colleagues about the Computer for All Public Servants being propelled by Omatek.

“Kindly enlighten others on what Omatek is doing with this launch and in the state,” she said.

The group chief executive officer, Omatek Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki informed that beneficiaries would have the option of paying for their choice of Personal Computers (PC) in Omatek stables between 12 and 24 months from the date of initial payment.

Seriki also said that Omatek is partnering with First Bank of Nigeria Plc, AfriBank Plc, and Skye Bank Plc, encouraging any interested public, especially civil servants in Lagos State to take up this advantage being offering by the company to not only own a PC of choice but to make use of them so as to be computer literate.

Omatek, she said, has designed this initiative under its e-Xpress project that was originally launched in 2004.

She stressed “This scheme has its own funding and has been structured for the civil servants, small and medium enterprises (SMES), education sector and corporate executives.”

Omatek, she said, is the first Completely Knock Down (CKD) factory in Africa to produce computer casings, speakers, desktops and notebooks.

Just as the company now boast of five subsidiaries, namely Omatek Ventures Distribution Limited, Omatek Engineering Services Limited, Omatek Computers Limited, Omatek Distribution Limited Ghana and the Omatek Ghana Factory Limited.


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Intel, FCTA launch skoolnigeria.com

INTEL Nigeria has completed its first phase of the World Ahead Programme with the launch of its skooolnigeria.com in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA), Nigeria Ministry of Education, Shell Nigeria and the Education Trust Fund.

As part of Shell’s drive to enable communities in Nigeria, Shell Nigeria will provide significant support to the programme and will continue to work with partners to drive education and ICT enablement.

Intel Business Development Manager for Nigeria, Mr. David Ibhawoh, noted that his firm in collaboration with FCTA, launched the teacher PC ownership scheme in Nigeria earlier this year, thus enabling over 6,000 teachers to own PCs in the first phase of the national Teacher Assisted PC Purchase Programme (TAPP).

"Our goal is to set the standards for ideal educational delivery where ICT becomes an integral tool for everyday learning," he said, stressing that governments worldwide are rapidly adopting strategies to use the power of information and communication technologies to transform education.

"This is increasing access to good education, raising standards and student attainment and preparing students for the 21st century knowledge economy. We take a holistic approach to ensuring that education, content, accessibility and connectivity work synergistically to up-level ICT development of communities – such is the mandate of the Intel World Ahead Programme," Ibhawoh declared.

He explained that skoool.com, already launched in other African nations including Ghana and South Africa provides localized digital education content for both students and educators alike.

"Maths and science modules tailored to suit the Nigerian national curriculum are now available on the interactive teaching platform, thereby increasing accessibility to this content," he said.

Additionally, he said, Intel would soon roll out its Classmate PCs, even as the Intel Teach Programme and skoool content to 15 more schools in Nigeria this year. Intel also aims to reach another 16,000 teachers in Abuja in the next few months, as part of the Intel Teach Programme.

The Secretary for Education at FCTA, Alhaji Halilu Pai, said they are proud to bring the latest education technology to Nigeria in collaboration with Intel and are pleased to note the interest this has generated amongst local students and teachers.

"Technology enables students to interact, communicate and collaborate with each other, and we strongly believe that these factors will enable them to excel on a global level. Intel’s support to local capability and capacity development is unparalleled and we look forward to working together to create more opportunities for the youth of Africa," he said.

Also commenting, former principal, Government Secondary School Jabi Abuja, Mrs. Esther Odekina, pointed out that this project has broadened Intel Teach Programme which has trained over 24,000 teachers in Nigeria, just as 300 public Nigerian schools this year would be equipped using Intel-powered Classmate PCs, thus taking students’ learning experience to new heights.

"Enrolment at the Jabi School in Abuja has increased by 25 per cent as a result of the additional facilities and computer accessibility. This goes to show the importance of the role technology plays in education and we are pleased that Intel is raising the bar in order to provide African students with the necessary tools to face 21st century challenges," she said.


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Ekuwem, Ndukwe for Leadership Watch ‘08 lecture

PRESIDENT of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem and the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, would tomorrow, Tuesday, November 11, lead stakeholders to the eight editions of the annual Leadership Lecture and role model awards, in Lagos.

The one-day event organized by Leadership Watch, an acclaimed integrity non-for-profit organization for the promotion of democracy, good governance, human capital development, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) education, consumer rights advocacy and sustainable development in the country, has been scheduled to hold at the Golden Gate Restaurants, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The event to be presided over by Dr. Ekuwem, would honour selected notable Nigerians with the role model awards.

According to the organizers, some of special guests expected to grace the occasion include Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Dora Akunyili, chairman Channels Television, Mr. John Momoh and Ambassador Segun Olusola.

The event would have the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the chief guest of honour, and feature a lecture billed to explore the abundant opportunities offered by ICT in the modern day global economy and make meaningful contributions towards the successful realization of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s Vision 20-2020.

The awards, according to the chief host, Rev. Martin Iwuanyanwu, is meant to recognize role models in the society and honor them publicly with a view to imparting in the young ones the spirit of nation building.

He also said that Ndukwe would deliver a paper based on the theme of the day: “Nigeria’s Leadership and Vision 20-2020: Imperatives of Knowledge-Driven Economy.”

Iwuanyanwu, further said that this year’s event, would witness a larger participation as dignitaries across the country including state actors, civil society practitioners, captains of industry, entrepreneurs, scholars and 400 participating members of El-Net Club drawn from partnering institutions in Lagos have all indicated their interest to attend.


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