ICANN tasks Nigeria on Internet governance

Internationally organized, non-profit company, responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers like domain names such as .org, .museum and country codes like .ng, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has tasked Nigeria on ensuring that Africa take its place in the proposed global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to be hosted in Cairo, first quarter of 2009.

Champion Infotel recalls that Nigeria was in May this year at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) forum in Cairo, Egypt elected to chair the continental Conference of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministers under the leadership of Mr. John Odey.

Also, the Government of Egypt offered to host the 2009 IGF meeting.

Speaking exclusively to Champion Infotel on the forthcoming Internet Governance Forum scheduled to hold in Cairo, the African regional manager at ICANN, Ms Anne Rachel Inne, said that it is vital that Nigeria energise African participation at the forum.

According to her, little or no action has been seen since Nigeria took over the mantle of leadership of the African Conference of ICT Ministers and would like to see more action especially in preparation to the Cairo meeting, which Africa is hosting.

It is lamentable that little action is coming from Africa and it would not be an exciting future to realize that the continent did not contribute to the Internationalization of ICANN, which is touted to be top on the Cairo agenda.

She pointed out that on the continent, “our countries are at different levels right now of development the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD),” but her main concern is that most of these ccTLDs are not working the way they are supposed to be working.

“Most of them are managed by entities that either do not have the means, sustainability or simply do not have the human and technical capacity to get them to the point where they need to be,” she decried.

Conference of ICT Ministers in Africa, she said, began as a good omen two years ago with Egypt holding the first chair of the committee to be rotated every two years and Nigeria as the incumbent chairperson, it is relevant to take the bull by the horn to ensure that Africa’s voices are heard not only at the Hyderabad session but also at the 2009 session in Cairo.

“Nigeria as the incumbent chairperson of the Conference of ICT Ministers in Africa is supposed to be organizing preparatory meetings on the Internet Governance Forum which would be held in Africa- Cairo next year,” she charged.

The essence of the preparatory meeting is to help Africa harmonise its views, because, “Different people are thinking different things about IGF and we are ready to give insight into what ICANN is doing,” Inne said.

She expects Africa to be fully on ground with the developments in ICANN and raise salient issues concerning the continent.

“And I want Africa to be part of it all, especially concerning the internationalization of ICANN,” she said.

Stressing that her concerns is on the internationalization of ICANN, “because I want Africa to be part of the processes and I don’t want the region to say later that they were left out or did not know what happened or even that they did it again without African input,” she warned.

Inne advised that by taking charge of the situation Nigeria would make sure that certain issues or process that do not favour Africa are taking out of the way rather than lamenting later: “we didn’t really know what was happening.”

To this effect, she noted that in several other forums, ICANN in the region has been briefing ministers and secretary generals and regulatory agencies as to update them.
Recently, she said, there was a meeting in Senegal with AfriNIC, ISOC, AfriSPA and regulatory authority in Senegal about Internet Governance in general.

In a related development, all is now set for the Hyderabad meeting of ICANN in India, which would take place at the Hyderabad International Conference Center (HICC) and arrangements are in top gear as ICANN anticipates a successful meeting.


The Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Mr. Sha Zukang, assured that it would be a fulfilling one.

A letter of invitation to the third meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, signed by Zukang and made available to Champion Infotel showed that the meeting would be open to all World Summit on the information Society (WSIS) accredited entities, as well as other institutions and persons with proven expertise and experience in matters related to Internet governance.

He pointed out that following broad-based consultations through the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), the proposed agenda for the Third Meeting of the IGF would include the reaching of the next billion Internet users; promoting cyber-security and trust; managing critical Internet resources; taking stock and the way forward; and emerging issues - the Internet of tomorrow.

“The overall theme of the meeting will be ‘internet for all,’" he said.

Zukang also said that this theme complements that of the 2008 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, which was ‘connecting people with disabilities’.

“The theme underscores the importance of ensuring that we include the world’s 650 million people with disabilities as we move towards giving internet access to the next billion people,” he said.


Zukang equally expressed his gratitude to the Government of India for accepting to host the next meeting of the internet Governance Forum (IGF).

“Our host this year provides us with a practical example of how tremendous economic growth can be achieved through harnessing the tools which the Internet has placed at our disposal. We will see first hand in the host city of Hyderabad, how India’s development through the application of Information and Communication Technology (lCT) has been truly astounding," he said.


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Bank PHB & Temonst24

It was a welcome development that Bank PHB recently repositioned itself by way of deploying Temenost24, a banking application and Oracle Database application to boost its services nationwide.

Chief Executive Officer, Bank PHB Plc, Mr. Francis Atuche, who disclosed this in Lagos, said that the deployment was being executed painstaking to ensure continuous better service to the customers.

According to him, central to this deployment, has been the development of its workforce, who are well trained and groomed in the orientation that the customer is the heart of Bank PHB business.

Atuche also said that the deployment was elucidated by growing network of branches which is now in excess of 180 nationwide.

He recalled that in September 2007, Bank PHB began the search for the kind of technology that would deliver on its mission and vision, culminating in the selection of the best technologies to support its business into the future.

“The appropriate technology fits were Temenost24 banking application from Temenos, a Swiss based company and listed on the SwissStock market and Oracle database running on IBM hardware,” he said.

Mr. Atuche further said that the deployment would offer Bank PHB customers seamless, straight-through processing of as many transactions as possible to ensure that the bank delivers on flexibility and prompt response.

“Our expected transactions processing rate will be unprecedented in sub-Saharan Africa and will remain unmatched for a long time to come,” he declared.

Although the bank commenced deployment on Monday, November 3, this year, with efforts focused on ensuring a seamless and hitch-free transition, which never was, as customers were practically taken aback to the old days for over a week after the deployment began.

Hence, its customers were not able to access their accounts even with the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

This, industry observers said that the inability to access customers account from the bank during the supposed transition was uncalled for because if well planned and streamlined, the deployment could still take place without customers feeling it in the first instance.

Therefore, it seems that the bank though on the right lane, did not do its homework well, because since the consolidation of the banking sector, this disruption seems to be the first because one of the banks has to deploy any software to better its service.

Probably, Bank PHB should have done better and manage the situation without necessarily disrupting its services.

The fear now is that if this kind of disrupt could occur at deployment, what happens when there is a breakdown due to system error or corruption.

May be a better homework needed to be done to avert this by understudying the kind of software solution on offer.


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ICT4D: The missing link in 7-point agenda

Features of the week:

Media reports had it that telecom input was missing in the 7-point agenda of President Musa Yar’Adua. REMMY NWEKE reports that the issue of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) cannot thrive without telecom taking a centre stage in the agenda of this administration.

At the recent Information and Communications Technology (ICT) forum at the Transcorp Hilton in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, a group of three concerned friends were seen during a tea break, at a corner arguing profusely over the current Federal Government’s Seven-point agenda of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration in relation with ICT sector, especially for an all inclusive development.

For the first speaker, Yar’Adua’s administration has failed the education sector because it has not incorporated the ICT-in-education in the agenda as currently presented, himself having served as a lecturer in the university, should have known better the import of ICT in education.

The second speaker was emphatic that the 7-point agenda does not have core ICT infrastructure at heart, yet the government hopes to be among the most 20 advanced economies of the world in the year 2020. And as far as he is concerned, Nigeria is going nowhere without fixing the telecommunications infrastructure, which is reputed as the root of ICT for development (ICT4D).

And for the third speaker, Yar’Adua may mean well, but his ill-health, which has refused to leave the news-stand, may be deterring his good intentions, after all it is a healthy person that can think well enough to incorporate the points his colleagues raised.

He simply urged his colleagues and Nigerians at large to continue to pray for Mr. President, although personally, he is not excited that despite knowing his fate, health-wise, Yar’Adua insisted in accepting to run for the office of the President, even as he was not happy with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and immediate past president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for ‘imposing’ a sick president on Nigerians.

He argued further that the slow pace of things as recently pointed out by the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okojie, is really driving most Nigerians crazy and was quick to add that the war against cyber crime, for instance, by the law enforcement agencies, particularly, the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC), could not be matched with the kind of efforts by Obasanjo’s administration in the past eight years before Yar’Adua took over power on May 2007.

According to him, the law enforcement agencies are driven by the kind of vitality from the Presidency and it looks as if nobody is talking about the cyber crime bill anymore, which has been left at the National Assembly since the last quarter of the Obasanjo era.

What is ICT4D?
Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D), has been largely defined as a movement aimed at bridging the digital divide, in other words, the disparity between technologically advanced nations and less developing countries as well as between the poor and the rich at this century of technology evolution.

For the civil society advocates, often, ICT are associated with computers and the Internet only but it has a more inclusive description used to focus on information creation and handling via electronic means, thus, ICT consists of radio, television, video, photography and telephone. Thereby, having four key attributes; it must be two way communications, it must be accessible for information at anytime, anywhere, that is, 24 hours by 7 days in a week. Based on the foregoing, distance matters less and brings about cost reduction in terms of tariff.

Therefore, civil society advocates also argued that ICT for development (ICT4D) is about people cultivating the quality of their lives, through education, health, dignity and opportunity, culture and community-based relationship.

“It is about control over the kinds of things that make life meaningful. Putting computers in schools and health care centres is a good first step, but not the ultimate goal of development. A lot more hi-tech is needed to help realize people’s full human potential, especially those who face poverty, exclusion and marginalization.

The ultimate goal of using ICTs for human development is to empower people to actively shape the world around them, enabling solutions that promote economic prosperity with equity, fostering democracy that is socially just and opening new opportunities for the realization of our full human potential,” official of a non-governmental organization, ITDG, said.

Yar’Adua’s 7-points conflict:
The Presidency in a press statement, made available to Champion Infotel on August 1, 2007, stipulated that the Yar’Adua’s seven points agenda revolve around power and energy, food security, wealth creation, transport, land reforms, security and education.

Lately, according to the executive summary also made available to Champion Infotel, the agenda has seven key areas including critical infrastructure, Niger Delta, food security, human capital development, land tenure changes and home ownership, national security and intelligence and wealth creation.

To start with, there seems to be some disparity between the press statement made available to newsmen on August 1, 2007 and the executive summary being distributed as leaflets among government agencies and departments nationwide without core mention of ICT except for the so called critical infrastructure. The difference between the stipulated 7-point and seven key areas as postulated by the government, could simply go for semantics.

However, currently, report has it that work is on-going and detailed plans will be developed for all aspects of the 7-point agenda with key sector leads from the office of the chief economic adviser to the President and the National Planning Commission.

Also, Yar’Adua’s administration assured that the sector leads would continue to work with individuals within the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with a promise to include key stakeholders within the business community to implement the various policies.

Critical infrastructure:
On the critical infrastructure which seems to be the only relative ICT infrastructure, the administration also said, infrastructure is key to the government’s 7-point agenda, which includes power, transportation, national gas distribution and telecommunications.

“The developments of these sectors are essential in ensuring Nigeria’s ability to develop as a modern economy and an industrialized nation by 2020,” the executive summary read in part.

Worthy of note is that under the critical infrastructure, power was recognized as a major challenge to ICT4D and was categorized into two, namely the technology related and reform related. On the technology related, the executive summary stated that this points to inadequate electricity production and supply infrastructure, insufficient gas supply, limited investment and funding, inappropriate pricing, poor management, unclear ownership and conflicting goals and objectives.

On the telecommunications component of the critical infrastructure, the summary indicated that the impediments to efficient delivery of high quality service include the inadequacy of infrastructure backbone, dearth of fixed lines, weak or non-existent regulations to deal with anti-competition behaviours, lack of rural telephony coverage and inability to meet universal service obligation, as well as decisive resolution of the ownership and control of SAT-3 that links Nigeria to parts of Africa, Europe and Asia.

Champion Infotel gathered that the federal government’s strategies that will be used to improve telecommunications services in the country, comprising the enactment of anti-trust law, effective regulation, infrastructure upgrade by the national operators, incremental expansion into rural areas, and effective utilization of the Universal Access Fund (UAF).

Telecom, missing link in 7-point agenda:
Speaking, last month, at the annual ICT symposium of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), chief executive of The Executive Cyberschuul (TEC), Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, who dwelt on “The Good and the Bad of Nigeria’s Telecom ‘Revolution,’” noted that based on the administration’s press statement widely published of August 1, 2007, there is no telecom input in the 7-point agenda of Alhaji Yar’Adua.

Any other thing like the so-called critical infrastructure blue print of the government was an after-thought and did not give in-depth view of how the government intends to solve the problem of infrastructure in the nation’s ICT sector.
“It does not contain a telecom component,” he declared, stressing that perhaps if the authors of 7-point agenda had replaced ‘transport sector’ with ‘communications’ it should have made a lot of difference and even sounded real.

He posited that based on the aforesaid 7-point agenda, the business of transforming Nigeria to be part of the globe’s most 20 economies in earth could be a mirage.
“This shows that the business of revolutionizing Nigeria is very largely unfinished,” he asserted.

Commenting on the subject matter, Dr. Ike Mowete of the University of Lagos, said that the President’s 7-point Agenda may not explicitly mention ICTs or telecom, but it is evident that the infrastructural improvements that may come about will be of tremendous benefit to the ICT industry.

“Besides, one would want to believe that the 7-point represent the ‘minimum requirements’ expectation he would like to focus on,” he said.

ICT as catalyst for development:
Meanwhile, inside the conference hall at Transcorp Hilton, the Minister of Information and Communications, Chief John Ogar Odey, told his audience that ICT is a major catalyst for development, which is critical for the survival of any economy.

As said by him, there is a consensus among African leaders and the world that leveraging on ICT potentials would bring about sustainable development, emphasizing that the host of the 2008 Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO)-organised forum is an indication that Nigeria is committed toward making ICT the prime mover of its economy, insisting that ICT challenges must be addressed, especially on the infrastructure, if Africa is to realize its full economic potentials and opportunities that abound thereof.

Conclusion:
Champion Infotel investigation revealed that Alhaji Yar’Adua has not for once attended any ICT event in person since assuming office on May 29, 2007, which over a year and eight months; even when such industry events are taken from Lagos, the hub of commercial activities and ICT in the country to the city of power, Abuja.

The fact is that President Yar’Adua has given Nigerians, mostly his critics enough room for criticism and unexpected comparison with Obasanjo. Industry observers wondered if Obasanjo was complacent like Yar’Adua posture currently depicts, what should have happened to the ICT sector or do we need to organize another summit on Information Society, before he could wake up to the realities that without ICT4D, the so called Vision 2020, may not take off, let alone Nigeria making an impact in its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), where the bulk of the citizens and women are in rural areas and without relevant social amenities.

Therefore, it is very crucial that he makes an effort to grace some of these occasions, even if it means few minutes, because it would definitely have an effect on him as a person and the nation in the long run, moreso, on the way political decisions are made on ICT sector.

Relying on aids like Ministers to give reports is good but not good enough in an ‘unknown’ terrain like ICT; where technological innovations are being turned out almost on daily basis. A walk round in an ICT exhibition would certainly make an impact. And the earlier he begins to strategize in this direction; his views about ICT for development would be heightened for the betterment of all Nigerians.


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Cybersecurity, most challenging of our time – Toure

Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr Hamadoun Touré, has declared that cyber security is one of the most important challenges at this time of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“Cybersecurity is one of the most important challenges of our time,” he said.
Toure in his closing address to the 63rd session of ITU Council which ended last Friday in Geneva, said that the rapid growth of ICT networks has enabled opportunists to exploit online vulnerabilities and attack countries’ critical infrastructure.

“Spam is a constant and growing problem that threatens to stretch the capacity of the Internet to transport data to the fullest, while phishing and malware affect computer systems around the globe,” he said, noting that the costs associated with cyberthreats and cyber-attacks are real and significant - not only in terms of lost revenue, breaches of sensitive data, cyber-attacks and network outages but also in terms of lives ruined by identity theft, debts run up on plundered credit cards or the online exploitation of children.

“Our very trust in the online world is at stake - jeopardizing the future of the information society, which is in danger from these growing cyberthreats,” he asserted.

ITU, he said, has taken a leading role in promoting cybersecurity and trying to combat the growing tidal wave of cyberthreats.

He recalled that on the occasion of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2007, ITU launched the Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA).

This, he explained, as a High-Level Experts Group (HLEG) that has spent the last year reviewing the issues and developing proposals for long-term strategies to promote cybersecurity, an achievement honoured with the award of the ITU Silver Medal to the Chair of the HLEG, Chief Judge Stein Schjolberg.

The GCA, he continued, is now moving into its operational phase and ITU is undertaking a vital partnership in conjunction with the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats (IMPACT) hosted by the Government of Malaysia, to put a global early warning system at the disposal of all member states.

Toure, also said that the Child Online Protection (COP) initiative is a vital project that will protect one of the most vulnerable groups online by providing valuable guidance on safe online behaviour, in conjunction with other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners.

Champion Infotel also gathered that the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon equally welcomed ITU’s COP initiative and urged all states to support it.
ITU member states stand united in their determination to combat the growing menace of cyber crime and the risks posed by new and emerging cyberthreats.


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Infosys, Computer Warehouse Group unveil Finacle 10

Asian software giant, Infosys Technologies Limited in collaboration with the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) subsidiary, the ExpertEdge Software and Systems Limited, has launched the latest version of its Finacle version 10 application in Lagos.

This, the company said, heralds the beginning of series of unveiling for Finacle version 10 in the West African region.

Speaking at the event, the Associate Vice President and Head, Europe, Middle East and Africa market for Finacle at Infosys, Mr. Amit Dua, said that the Finacle version 10 is a universal banking solution brought to the door steps of banks in the sub-region.

He also said that this reiterates Finacle’s global leadership in banking transformation, and noted that seven Tier-1 and 2 banks around the world have already rested their trust on Finacle 10 as a solution to power their domestic and international operations.

Dua explained that the new version would enable banks to transform their multi-country operations through a standard platform and processes.

According to him, Finacle version 10 comes with a set of 5000 parameters and an enhanced scripting studio to deliver rapid product innovation, just as the new version also brings with it a whole new set of offerings including Islamic banking, wealth management and an enhanced mobile banking solution.

“With Finacle 10, Infosys offers banks in the region an agile, scalable, proven solution that lowers total cost of ownership and accelerates time to market,” Dua said.

He noted that West African banks are now being challenged with increasingly complex internal and external environments that require greater business agility, a reduced cost structure and minimum risk.

“Finacle’s powerful architectural foundation enables banks to rapidly respond to changing customer demands and a competitive market landscape. We have invested over $60 million in the last three years to build a state of the art banking solution,” he disclosed.

Stressing that Infosys strong commitment towards the West African market, along with strong alliances for surrounding implementation services, and dangling before banks a truly differentiated offering.

He pointed out that with the estimated 278 million mobile phones on the continent, mobile banking is predicted to grow in a big way in Africa.

“Africa today has an estimated 90 per cent unbanked population and with an estimated 230 million unbanked households, solutions like mobile banking and financial inclusion that enable banks to reach out to the unbanked are also expected to open doors of opportunity for banks in the region,” he said.

He noted that Infosys has had a long standing partnership with Computer Warehouse Group for the West Africa market.

Also speaking, the group Managing Director, CWG, Mr. Austin Okere, said that his firm and Infosys have worked together in sales and support of banking solutions for a large number of banks in the country by using CWG world class integration services and Infosys’ portfolio of banking solutions and services, thus the two companies help banks to address changing business and technology cycles as well as assist them in achieving a unique competitive edge.

He noted that as a leader in banking transformation, Finacle has a global footprint across 61 countries and has been acknowledged by top analysts including Gartner, Forrester and Celent among the leaders of the core banking solution space.
MultiChoice boosts Ogun with 10 resource centres

Leading Digital Satellite Pay TV operator in the country, MultiChoice Nigeria, has commissioned 10 additional educational resource centres in Ogun State.
This brings to 91 the total number of educational resource centres across the nation powered by the company in its efforts at enhancing education through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The MultiChoice Resource Centre project is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of MultiChoice in which the company provides secondary schools with Digital Satellite Television (DStv) decoders, television sets, stabilizers, video recorders, generators, chairs and tables, and a bouquet of 6 educational channels among others.

Speaking at the commissioning held at the African Church Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Commissioner for Education, Professor Segun Awonusi expressed happiness at the MultiChoice resource centre initiative, thanking all stakeholders who collaborated to make the project a possibility in Ogun State for a job well done.

He assured MultiChoice Nigeria and its project partner, SchoolNet Nigeria, that the centres will be well maintained and put to optimal use by all students in the state.

Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, MultiChoice, Ade Adefeko, said at the occasion that Multichoice is very committed to Nigeria’s educational development, stressing that plans are on to extend the resource centre project to as many schools as practicable, so as to create sustainable relationships with stakeholders all over the country.

He also disclosed that MultiChoice is focused on leveraging its expertise and assets for development and growth of African communities through education.

“In line with the strategy, therefore, MultiChoice aims to contribute towards the development of Nigerian communities, support human capital development, and as well contribute towards bridging the digital divide,” he said.

Adefeko further said that ICTs have the potential to enhance and support various developmental goals while also acting as catalyst for improving the quality of education.

Expressing the appreciation of the company to the Ogun State Government, the SchoolNet Nigeria, and all the principals of beneficiary schools, Adefeko promised that MultiChoice would not relent in its effort to give back to the community, as plans are on-going to launch initiatives in other areas, especially on health related projects.

In her speech, Assistant National Coordinator, SchoolNet Nigeria, Mrs. Ronke Bello, said the MultiChoice resource centre initiative is designed to grant beneficiary schools access to education bouquet on DStv with the aim of integrating the programmes into their curriculum, as this will further enhance the teaching and learning processes in the classrooms.

She stated that SchoolNet Nigeria conducted a 3-day Teacher-Training programme for selected teachers from the beneficiary schools from October 27 to 29, adding that the teachers who are now regarded as Master-Trainers, would have the task of training their colleagues on how to utilize the facilities.

She pointed out that SchoolNet Nigeria has also developed a MultiChoice Resource Centre Educator’s Guide to aid the teachers and schools on the use and maintenance of the resource centres as well as its integration into the curriculum.


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Omatek goes into data recovery service

Newly unveiled subsidiary of Omatek Ventures Plc, the Omatek Engineering Services Limited (OESL) would focus on avalanche of services including disaster and data recovery, network optimization and web security.

Chief Operating Officer (COO), OESL, Mr. Femi Numa made this disclosure in Lagos and said that in addition, his firm would be designing optimized green network power solutions, also known as the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and inverters for home and industrial uses.

He said OSEL has come to further reinforce the confidence of Nigerians that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) service infrastructure could be managed according to internationally recognized best practices. He stressed that OESL would maximize customer satisfaction with the services provided using effective web-based helpdesk system.

The new subsidiary, he said, works in partnership with Kelong - a Chinese company reputed to be one of the world’s biggest UPS’ manufacturers’ was recently commissioned to produce a range of UPS, inverters and power backup systems that could be used for telecommunications applications, in homes, offices, server rooms, medical institutions, industries, large corporations, banks, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) points and other mission critical environments, hotels, industries and factories.

Speaking at the a cocktail for the visiting foreign partners, which attracted top dignitaries from the corporate and government circles in Lagos recently, Omatek Group Managing Director, Mrs. Florence Seriki said the strategic partnership between Omatek group and its foreign technical partners led by Valona of Singapore is aimed at delivering world class ICT solutions to the banking and financial institutions, telecoms, government, oil and gas as well as the public sector.

She noted that this alliance has become necessary in view of the need to address critical ICT areas in the Nigerian business terrain.

Several presentations were made by OESL foreign partners including Messrs Naresh Kapoor and Andy Poy of Valona Holdings West Africa and Mr. You Cheng Hwee of Maximus Consulting, Singapore who also visited several organizations to assess their needs requirements.

Members of OESL board of directors, captains of industries, top bank executives, security experts and ICT solutions professionals.

Meanwhile, the 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.

Champion Infotel 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.


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Receiver Pays gives freedom to talk – Etisalat

Mobile operator, Etisalat Nigeria, has revealed that one of the uniqueness of its newly introduced Easy Starter platform, also known as prepaid, is the feature that enables the receiver of the call to pay.

This, the operator said, affords Nigerians more opportunities to talk a lot easier than they have done hitherto.

Giving this highlight about Easy Starter, the Vice President Marketing at Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar said that one of these features is the Receiver Pays feature available as a default on its Easy Starter prepaid package.

“Receiver Pays allows the initiator of a call to request that the person they are calling agree to pay for the call. Should the person agree, the call initiator is not charged for the call instead the receiver pays for the call,” he said.

Mr. Ammar also said that this innovative feature empowers a lot of Nigerians even more as they could now talk with their families, friends, business associates and other key people without having to pay for the call.

“This is a unique and innovative feature from Etisalat. And everyone is now empowered to make calls even if they do not have any call credits left on their phone. Receiver Pays effectively eliminates the need for them to ‘flash’ as they can initiate a call to the person they desire to speak to and should the person accept to pay for the call, the connection becomes active and the person who initiated the call can talk for free. This is a first from Etisalat Nigeria and it shows that we have come to the market to make Nigerians talk a lot more than they have been doing before now,” he said.

He further said, subscribers could take full advantage of this feature as it is a useful tool for moving business and personal lives and relationships forward.

“If you need to make a very important business call and you realize that you have run low on call credit or you need to speak to a family member on a topic of urgent importance and you do not have credit on your phone, this feature definitely comes very handy. You would be able to initiate a call to them and when they agree to pay for the call, you are connected and you can talk to them at no cost to you,” he said.

Ammar was precise on the benefits of this service to everyone, mostly students, who could call their parents or guardians from school for free; business owners could be more easily reached by their staff or customers even when they do not have call credit on their phones as well as parents in rural areas could stay in touch better with their children in or outside Nigeria with the service for free.

“This product is very useful for everybody and will surely make life easier all round,” Ammar declared.

To initiate a call on the service, he explained that the caller only needs to dial 268 before the number of the subscriber they desire to call.

“As soon as they do this, the receiver is informed that a call has been initiated to them and they are requested to confirm if they would be willing to receive and pay for the call. And if they accept to receive the call, the call is connected and they are charged for it,” he said.

Another exciting feature of Receiver Pays, he said, is that it allows subscribers to have a permanent list of five (5) callers they would be willing to pay to receive their calls whenever they initiate Receiver Pays calls to them.

“To do this, they simply set up the list of their chosen 5 people on their permanent list and anytime any of the people on this list initiate a receiver pays call to them, the call would be automatically connected without the receiver needing to be prompted,” he said.

The list, he continued, could be created and edited at anytime at the subscribers’ discretion and at no cost.

“The Receiver Pays feature is available as a default menu on the SIM Tool Kit (STK) or Service Menu of the Etisalat SIM card,” he asserted.


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Nokia N79, N85 hit market

Nokia N79 and N85, have been unveiled as the latest additions to the Nokia Nseries range into the market.

Speaking on the products, Director, Nokia Nseries, Juha Kokkonen, who was in the country recently, said that both products sum up the powerful fusion of technology and style, due to it is combination of intelligent and customizable design, thus setting new standards for mobile entertainment, gaming and sharing - a fully loaded multimedia computer.

“The Nokia N79 packs cutting-edge technology into a compact design – a characteristic of the iconic Nseries – that allows people to discover, create and share their passions with others. It has been designed for those who want a device that is as appealing as it is powerful and comes with interchangeable covers that have automatically matching screen themes. This balance of performance and style means that it is a powerful and defining step forward from the popular and very successful Nokia N72 and Nokia N73,” he said.

He explained that behind its sleek exterior, Nokia N79 is a technology powerhouse that offers a full range of multimedia experiences including integrated navigation where available, music with FM transmitter, high-speed connectivity, superior web browsing, 10 pre-loaded N-Gage games and an advanced 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

The Nokia N79, which comes with Xpress-on smart covers that are available in five cool colors: light sea blue, espresso brown, olive green, white and coral red, is perfect for the style conscious.

“The convergence of photos, music and navigation where available in the Nokia N79 combines with hi-speed 3.5G HSDPA and Wi-Fi to make it quick and easy to share experiences on websites, blogs or online communities,” he said.

Nokia N85, according to the General Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Mr. Phillip De La Vega, was created to be more than the sum of its parts, offering a complete mobile entertainment package designed for connecting, sharing and discovering.

“The iconic Nokia Nseries dual slider design has evolved to become smaller and sleeker while integrating the newest features and services to deliver the best mobile experience to date,” he said.

Described as the entertainment package, he said, N85 comes with an eye-catching 2.6” Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screen and smooth, sleek finish, thereby redefining the mobile experience.

“It boasts of N-Gage gaming, music with in-built FM transmitter, 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and geo-tagging capabilities, three month integrated license for turn-by-turn voice navigation where available and high-speed connectivity, all in one device,” Phillip said.

Further, he said, that N85 is engaging and interactive with its pre-loaded 10 made-for-mobile N-Gage gaming titles that jump off of the screen, thanks to the dazzling OLED display and a voucher to activate one full game license. Dedicated gaming keys light up when the device is in landscape gaming mode to further enhance the action-packed experience.

A state-of-the-art 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and bright dual LED Flash captures clear, sharp images as well as Digital Video Display (DVD)-quality videos at 30 frames per second. Combined with A-GPS it is possible to geo-tag favorite pictures to see where each photo was taken.


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HiTV launches in United Kingdom

Nigeria-based Digital Satellite Television (DSTv) trading with the name of HiTV, has launched some in the United Kingdom (UK) on the Sky digital satellite platform.

HiTV, a subsidiary of Entertainment Highway Limited, which claims to be the first indigenous and leading pay-TV platform, said it would use the UK launch to beam Nigeria films otherwise referred to as Nollywood and a Nigerian dedicated Tv station, Nigezie to the world.

Chief executive officer, HiTV, Mr Toyin Subair, who disclosed this in a press statement made available to Champion Infotel, said that the window is expected to provide a break for some of Nigeria’s entertainment and showbiz offerings.

He said that HiTV, which commenced operation in August 2007 and operates the satellite Direct-To-Home (DTH) service, executed the UK project through collaboration with Canis Media, to manage their entry into the UK television market, sourcing an available EPG slot and handling the complex regulatory aspects involved in the launch of a UK channel by a foreign broadcaster.

A press statement from HiTV’s marketing department, noted that the step is seen as a milestone in the Group’s quest to position the Nigerian market for very robust and effective participation in global broadcasting.

“To say we are elated is being modest. We are indeed very proud of this achievement especially when viewed in terms of our relatively short period of existence in the business. This is only the beginning of greater things to happen,” Subair was quoted as saying.
For the chief executive officer, Canis Media, Mr. Ed Hall, “the launch of HiTV on the Sky platform not only reflects the rapid growth that the African broadcasting industry is experiencing, it also shows how much potential there is for foreign broadcasters to attract significant audiences in the UK.”

He noted that the beam set on channel 204 in Sky’s popular entertainment genre, is free-to-air, broadcasting 24 hours a mixture of entertainment, Nigerian movies, music and popular culture programmes.

“It brings new and exciting programming from Africa to European audiences and includes the well received Nigezie Chart Shows and reality talent shows,” he said.
HiTV will be the third Nigerian broadcaster to have launched in the UK in the past five months alone, thereby sustaining the perception of African broadcasting as one of the fastest growing sectors.

In recognition of the outfit’s rising profile as a home of quality programming, it would be recalled that the two channels now on the Sky platform- Nigezie and Hi Nolly, were recently nominated for the 2008 Hotbird TV Awards in the Lifestyle categories and Cinema categories respectively.


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ALTON decries extortion of operators

Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has decried the extortion of telecommunications service providers in the country through indiscriminate levies and charges by the agents of government both at the states and local governments.

Briefing the media last weekend, ALTON Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said the group’s attention has been drawn by its member companies to several complaints received on indiscriminate imposition of levies and charges on telecom operators in their localities.

“Some of our members have lamented on the practice by some state governments, local
governments and other government agencies in the imposition of indiscriminate levies and charges on telecommunications operators and their operations within their localities,” he said.

ALTON, he said, views these developments with serious concerns and as a trend, which if left unabated, will inevitably reverse the gains and advancement recorded in the Nigerian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

“With dire consequences on the country’s socio-economic development and growth,” Adebayo said.

He pointed out that operators are engaged in infrastructure build-out activities that are otherwise government’s responsibilities and involve huge capital cost, all in their desire to support government and provide efficient, affordable telecommunications services and improved quality of life for Nigerians.

“It is also public knowledge that operators subscribe to alternative sources of power supply for an average of 20 hours per day through the use of power generating sets, a minimum of two units per cell site,” he said.

He recollected that in some localities operators generate their power by 100 per cent.

“In some places generating sets in fact served through 100 per cent dependency on power generators, and operators often provide other amenities that includes access roads to enable it provide services in localities where public infrastructure are virtually non-existent,” he noted.

According to him, these are only few of the series of associated costs, which on their own are economically unviable and continues to adversely impact service delivery and threaten the operational integrity of telecommunications service providers.

“We are primarily concerned that the immense efforts of our members at this time to deal with the challenges of improving quality of service in the industry, by engaging in massive rollout of equipment and infrastructure, is currently being undermined by the various arbitrary and indiscriminate charges, fines and levies at different levels of government,” Adebayo said.

ALTON, he said, believes that most of these occurrences are ill-motivated and driven by parochial revenue generation strategies employed by certain elements within the affected levels of government in the country.


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NAYES-08 holds today @ UNN

THE New Art Theatre of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State, would today, Wednesday, play host to Nigerian students and young professionals at this year’s edition of the National Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (NAYES-08), reports CHARLES OKOH.

Tagged: The Internet, Imagination, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the summit would run from 2 to 5 p.m. and is free for all interested young entrepreneurs and upstarts.

A press statement from Hugtech Information Links organizers of the summit and signed by the President, Mr. Uche Ugochukwu, indicated that the event would be a platform to announce the national youths campaign for the information society aimed at raising the awareness of the importance of bridging the digital divide and creating the Nigerian information society which holds on May 17, 2009.

Ugochukwu, who is also the key speaker, said NAYES is about promoting entrepreneurship among youths in the country and to make outstanding contributions to entrepreneurship development in the country.

“We are providing an independent and credible platform for the promotion of innovation, creativity and imagination, well articulated, organized and structured entrepreneurship promotion and awareness programme,” he said.


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Wanted! Business model for public Tv stations

Rising from a three-day Africast event penultimate week the global community would actually have left Nigeria with a great sense of satisfaction that something tangible is being done in the broadcast sector to migrate Nigerian broadcasters from analogue to digital.

The International Telecommunications Union, ITU, put a 2015 window but Nigeria has set 2012 for the migration.

Africast is a biennial programme of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which brings together broadcast experts from different parts of the world, to brainstorm on broadcast issues and chart a way forward.

This year’s event explored the theme: Digitization and the Challenges of Broadcasting; a theme most apt because the world is at the verge of a major broadcast shift and Nigeria provided the much needed platform for a major discourse.

Information and Communications Minister, Mr. John Ogar Odey made the best of the moment by informing the international community how prepared Nigeria was for the digital shift, explaining that he had just set up a Presidential Committee to prepare the country’s position and suggest things that were possible and could help the government of Nigeria in taking a crucial step that could impact positively on the people.

However, Africast 2008 happened at a time there are very great and positive developments in the country’s broadcast market. This was demonstrated at the robust exhibition which held at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. Big Nigerian broadcasters were all present including the African Independent Television (AIT), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Voice of Nigeria (VON), Radio Nigeria, Multichoice and a host of others as well as hardware manufacturers and marketers.

Most of them were broadcasting live. In fact, AIT, actually took some of its programmes from their exhibition standard.

Africast came up at time that the country’s Digital Satellite Television (DSTv), sub-sector of broadcasting, is getting fully deregulated. After a period of protracted monopoly enjoyed by Multichoice, the NBC has breathed some fresh air into the DSTV sector immediately giving birth to HiTV and lately DaarSat.

At the moment HiTV is hitting over 150, 000 subscribers and DaarSat recently launched services in a major outing demonstrating to the rest of the world that it was ready to do business in that globally competitive sector.

For a start, all the signals coming into DaarSat will be received and turned around at the Kpaduma Hills, headquarters of the organisation. Even now quite a number of other operators are warming up for services. This was something very positive that the international community saw in Abuja.

However, when the special guest at the occasion, Senate President, represented by Senator Ayogu Eze was being taken round the stands, some remarks made by some people in government suddenly prompted the question: how prepared are Nigerian broadcasters to compete globally?

Asked to visit the VON and the NTA facilities, somebody suddenly asked, I hope they are not going to show us those things they have always shown us? The simple explanation is that in terms of technology those organisations may not be ready to compete globally.

But this issue quickly gave rise to another one: the deregulation of the Broadcast industry and the readiness of the public broadcaster, the NTA, to compete globally. Pursuing this position, somebody close by quickly remarked that in spite of previous efforts by government to dress up the station, it doesn’t seem to be in a position to compete. That on its own is a problem. The other problem, according to his submission is that as an international broadcaster, the station also engages in activities that will stifle the competition or the voice that NBC is trying to create in the sector.

Unable to understand his line of thought, one could only ask for some explanations. Readily obliging, the gentleman who looked versed in broadcasting traced some recent developments in the broadcast industry and juxtaposed them with the position of the government broadcast stations in international broadcasting.

He remarked that watching the DaarSat launch on television, the chairman of the organization, Chief Raymond Dokpesi had bragged that his station would serve Nigerian news and Nigerian type programming to the international community. This, the organization hopes to achieve because of heavy investment in satellite space and downlink facilities. What could be very encouraging, he continued, is that if the station succeeds others would follow. Nigeria would have a very strong voice at the international community, having joined the prestigious pay TV business.

In the past few years, NTA has been hitting the international community with Nigerian contents. What cannot be guaranteed, according to this young man who wished to remain anonymous, is the quality of content being dished out. However, one certain thing is that the contents are taken on Intelsat 907 as the main vehicle into the United Kingdom (UK) and gets into the United States through Globecast, a major platform for international broadcasters. While the other channels are paid for and have received equipment, NTA signals are free.

Meanwhile, the station pays at least $3m dollars to satellite owners every year. The reason for this kind of attitude is that as a public broadcaster, the station has not attached a business edge to its operation. Buttressing his position, he pointed out that when South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) came into Nigeria, it was through a pay TV platform. When British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television also came into Nigeria it was through a pay TV platform. But the locals receive free signals on their TV back home.

Since payments were made for those services, it then means the national broadcaster is able to send quality signals to its international arm and be able to make some money from subscription to upset the cost of programming and satellite space. This is not the practice at the NTA presently.

For this gentleman, the position of the NTA is quite ironical. With a devastating global financial crisis, organisations should be looking at more avenues through which to make money and survive, and not waste the tax payers’ funds.

Why not discounting that there is always a mutual distrust between public and private broadcasters, he noted that such mistrust is always addressed by the regulator through appropriate regulations. He pointed to the case of Public-service TVs and Private broadcasters in Europe who are on each other’s neck over sports rights which the public broadcasters are buying with tax payers’ money but are being given out to subscribers cheaply. The private broadcasters are accusing the public broadcasters of exorbitant right fees by tapping into the triple source of revenue – public subsidy, advertising, and the ability to generate huge deficits.

The European Commission is addressing the situation by revisiting the 2001 Broadcasting Communication, although there seems to be a consensus that “a state channel’s output should be predominantly public-service, but it needs to be viable service too.

His position is that at least the European public broadcasters are making efforts to do modern business but not the NTA which is giving out signals free in prime markets. Just as the European Commission is addressing the case between the Public-service and Private broadcasters in Europe, he urged the Nigerian government through the NBC to, as a matter of urgency, do something about the NTA situation.

What does he therefore suggest? He advocated a regulation that could create better business models for Nigerian broadcasters. Granted that any station has liberty to decide what it does with its signals, whether to give it free or not, he is of the opinion that properly licensing NTA and bringing it in line with the regulations of the NBC may go a long way into putting the station in a position to know that it has to make money apart from the subventions by government, and decide on reasonable channels through which to spend the money.

Broadcast contents coming out of Nigeria must be made competitive both in quality and in terms of cost and only competition and fair trade practices can guarantee survival and success of the various organisations rushing to give the country a voice at the international level.

•Funtua Ahmed, broadcast analyst, writes from Kaduna.



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