Telco chiefs, Akunyili on collision path

JUST few weeks in office, the newly appointed Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili, may be heading for a collision path with chief executive officers (CEOs) of multinational telecommunications operators in the land.

Feelers reaching ITRealms Online at the end of Akunyili’s first ever stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, last week Tuesday, showed that most chief executive officers operating telecommunications, especially of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) were displeased on the outcome of the forum.

Moreso on the manner with which the chief executive officer of Zain Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Ligali, was literally told to have his seat for allegedly making a ‘political statement’ when he tried to recount that quality of service (QoS) has been on the improvement ladder and as a matter of fact, the last Christmas was better than that of before and the need to improve on telecommunications infrastructure.

Even as the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has sounded a note of warning, saying such embarrassment should be redressed.

ITRealms Online investigations showed that Prof. Akunyili had interrupted Ligali, and warned CEOs to devoid of political statements in their contributions at the forum.

For most of the operators who spoke to ITRealms Online, that was the height of an insult from what they described as ‘industry novice,’ moreso to a chief executive officer of a multinational telecom operator, who does not have any political inclination.

“Could you imagine the way the minister responded to Ligali of all people? Just be rest assured that as a multinational company, they may not be necessarily disposed to deal with her at that level,” one of the forum participants fumed after the meeting, which held at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja.

For another chief executive who spoke to ITRealms Online on anonymity, “I would not be surprised that future meetings by this minister would be attended by mostly junior officers as she has no respect for multinational entities, let alone telecom operators of that magnitude until she leaves office, if she can address a chief executive officer in that rude manner.”

Stressing, “Can you reduce tariff without addressing infrastructure problems,” just as our source insisted that if it was easy to fix, why has government not fixed the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

In its official reaction to the development, operators under the aegis of ALTON said they were taken aback by the honourable minister’s interjection.

ALTON chairman, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, noted that Mr. Ligali is the CEO of Zain, “a very important member of our association.”

According to Adebayo, the issues raised by Ligali were the state of the industry and current challenge due to the poor state of the national energy infrastructure and security situation.

“…And one would expect that the Minister who is new in the terrain would respect and accept the position stressed by Mr. Ligali, the presiding officer of a leading network,” he said.

ALTON also described the development as unfortunate.

“It is unfortunate and we hope that the Minister will take a step to redress the embarrassment caused Mr. Ligali and his network as this can affect a relationship,” the group warned.

In fact, those who spoke to ITRealms Online called on Prof. Akunyili to tender an unreserved apology, knowing fully well she is serving the public and should treat people representing companies with some respect if she expects any in return.

Our source, further noted that Mrs. Akunyili must be humble if she intends to make any mark before leaving office, saying that with the stakeholders meeting, they were expecting her to come up with some policy agenda that she will pursue to curb the ills bedeviling the industry as contained in a press statement by Special Adviser to
Akunyili on Media, Mr. Charles Chikezie.

“Alas, it was not to be, rather, she was busy insisting on companies writing the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to copy her ministry. This leaves me wondering if she plans to form policies and implement same by herself alone,” one of the participants asked.

Media report had it that Akunyili, more or less made the forum to look like another telecom consumers parliament, presided over by her, which actually is within the purview of NCC as most of the utterances from her was on quality of service and tariff reduction.

Thus, industry analysts described the forum as a misguided one, because it was short of policy guidelines.

They further argued that telecom service providers cannot reduce tariff with immediate effect, when she refused to hear one of them like Mr. Ligali, who was ready to tell her the truth and factors surrounding tariff reduction strategies and its viability at this time in point.

Equally, they saw the embarrassment on Ligali as an affront on the operators’ psyche thereby creating an atmosphere of fear on management of telecom companies, which in the actual sense was a shooting on the wrong foot.

ITRealms Online recalls that Prof. Akunyili and the Minister of State, Alhaji Aliyu Bilbis, had summoned a stakeholders’ forum for telecoms providers to deliberate on some of the “ills bedeviling the industry.”

According to Mr. Chikezie, the meeting was expected to create an avenue for the minister to explore the challenges in the communications sector, so as to fashion out measures that will make it operate optimally as well as derive full benefit for Nigerians.

Officials of NCC led by its Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, chief executives of all telecom operating companies including Digital Mobile License (DML) and Private Network Links (PNL) operators, Internet Service Providers (ISP) among other stakeholders were present at the forum.

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What You should know about Twitter (2)

By accepting messages from sms, web, mobile web, instant message (IM), or from third party API projects, Twitter makes it easy for folks to stay connected.

Isn’t Twitter just too much information?
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At Twitter, we ask one question, “What are you doing?” The answers to this question are for the most part rhetorical. In other words, users do not expect a response when they send a message to Twitter.

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This means you can step in and out of the flow of information as it suits you and it never queues up with increasing demand of your attention.

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Challenges before Dora Akunyili

The excitement surrounding the appointment of Prof. (Mrs) Dora Akunyili as the new helmsman in the Information and Communications Ministry stand as hurdle for her success in the portfolio, reports REMMY NWEKE.


Since the announcement and swearing-in into office of the latest ministerial appointees, last December, especially that of Prof. (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili, as the new Minister of Information and Communications, has been creating some excitement among industry stakeholders.

ITRealms Online recalls that Prof. Akunyili, was until her latest appointment, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) after serving in that capacity since 2001, most of which marked part of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

Initially, most Nigerians were taken aback as they expected her to be posted to health, a ministry under which she presided over the affairs of NAFDAC, yet others saw her coming to Information and Communications as a tool to diminish her rising profile within the Nigerian politicians, professionals and international community; given anticipation that she may broker the jinx of being the best presidential candidate from the South East come 2011, especially as the Minister of Information; which in the past left it’s occupants bitter in the sight of the people due to avalanche of lies and cover-ups they have to do in the name of protecting national interest, even when the populace know the truth.

However, another group of stakeholders saw her stepping into the latest appointment as God’s sent with the optimism that she would perform more than ever anticipated.

Those who spoke in variance of opinions included the president, Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, Secretary General of a non-governmental organisation, Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness and Development (JACITAD), Prince Osuagwu among other notable stakeholders.

Commenting on Prof. Akunyili’s appointment, stakeholders were divided along the line of a professional techie person and on the side of the natural ability to deliver. For Ndukwe Kalu, it was applause for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for finding it worthy to appoint Prof. Akunyili to serve in this ‘all important’ sector.

He hinged his reasons on a tripod of the Ministry involved, Minister and President, saying that Nigerians are watching to see Prof. Akunyili repeat her magic in NAFDAC in the Ministry of Information and Communications within the shortest possible time.

As said by him, the Ministry is an entity that could advance solutions for Nigeria economically through ICT. Citing an example of India and Asia Pacific nations, Kalu said that today they make more money than Nigeria makes in oil.

“Look at India and Asia for ready examples. India today makes much more money than Nigeria would make even if oil was $300 per barrel,” he declared, noting that their revenue have not crashed with oil price falling in recent times.

“We need to position our nation for the future of ICT,” he said, expressing optimism that in no time, the Ministry would transform to the much expected Ministry of Information and Communications. “We still expect the reform to make it ICT Ministry; representing the most important ministry in these very trying times, globally.”

The second, according to his theory is the personality of Prof. Dora Akunyili, who presently needs no introduction in Nigeria, saying that when she came into NAFDAC Nigeria was in a sad state.

“I, for one only bought drugs from one location for fear of fake drugs that was killing us heavily. Today, we’re at a critical moment that if nothing is done to reposition Nigeria in ICT, we may go into recession that is unprecedented,” he said, stressing that he had explicit confidence in Prof. Akunyili to make it happen once more for Nigeria and deliver, maintaining that she got what it takes and with God on her side, she will make it.

The third aspect of his position was President Yar’Adua, pointing out that one thing he has going well for him, is that he means well.

“We may quarrel with his speed or choice of intervention but we agree he means well. So, for him to make this posting we would rightly assume that Mr. President means well and has a plan, an ace up his sleeve,” he said.

As said by him, when these three are combined, “I tell you that the minister and ministry to look out for is Prof Akunyili and Ministry of Information and Communications,” advising her to study critically the dynamics of this sector and how critical it is, and avoid sycophants and negative politicians but reach out to the professionals in this sector.

Another highly placed stakeholder, who spoke on annomity, told ITRealms Online that the day she was nominated, “I said she might be coming to Information.” Describing Prof. Akunyili as a versatile person, our source beliefs she would bring life to the Ministry due to her honesty and ever willing to learn, “so, she will be amenable to change.” Expressing the belief that what Nigeria needs now, especially in ICT sector as the mover is the zeal and strength with which Akunyili used to work while in NAFDAC.

“I personally trust God to use her to straighten a number of issues in the Ministry. I wish her all the best,” our source said.

A member of the Nigerian IT Professionals in the Diaspora, who described himself as Mr. Dele, noted though he hates predicting failure, but this was the same position he held when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss was appointed and months after it is no longer hidden that “EFCC has gone to the dogs.”

Welcoming Prof. Akunyili, Mr. Dele also noted that she did well at NAFDAC and became a doyen of the international community, but wondered if her administration at NAFDAC was a one-man show.

“If it was a one man show, then Nigerians are back to square one of using tainted drugs,” he said, expressing doubt on how far she could go, especially because the Ministry is saddled with lack of infrastructure and needs proactive approach to move the nation towards digital age.

“Wishing her all the best at the same time; her failure will not be because she lacks the will, but because of the situation on the ground and the people she might surround herself with,” Mr. Dele cautioned.

For another member of IT professionals in diaspora and chief executive officer of San Jose-based Learning Right Technologies LLC, Ms Mary (Molly) Uzoh, who pointed out that Prof. Mrs. Akunyili does not have to be a ‘techie’ to be an efficient Federal Minister of Information and Communication.

Although she said that Akunyili is not the Minister of Science and Technology, but its necessary that technology be fused into all Federal Ministries.

“However, if the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is not tech savvy enough to drive the infusion of technology into all the federal ministries through its tons of agencies, including the National IT Development Agency (NITDA), any extraordinary effort by any ‘techie’ minister in Nigeria will just be a struggle,” she said.

Uzoh was very optimistic that Akunyili’s track record speaks for itself, declaring “.... No, we should not predict failure for her before she fails. Her previous assignment was not an easy one at all. In fact, she has a whole lot of ‘non-techie’ broken Information and Communication issues to fix in that ministry and I’m sure she is equal to the task.”

The Editor, ICT Today Magazine, Mr. Rommy Imah, thinks the appointment of the distinguished scholar, Prof. Akunyili as Information & Communications minister was not a mistake, as she is eminently qualified to occupy any office in this country except perhaps, that of the Attorney-General.

“I see a woman who is coming with great enthusiasm and ready to replicate the wonders she performed at NAFDAC. If assigning Dora the post of Minister of Information & Communications was a ploy by her ‘detractors’ to rubbish her political future, they have miscalculated this time round,” he declared.

Insisting that Dora is going to surprise Nigerians and the world once again as she has done it before and she will do it again. “You don’t need to be told that God has a hand in her life. And she confirmed this much during her maiden press conference as a minister,” he said, wishing her goodluck.

The interim coordinator, ICT Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ICT-CAN), Mr. Emma Eke, said, Nigeria is faced with a serious issue that has nothing to do with gains of ICT. Indeed, the nation stands to miss it again this time around, he said, pointing out that the allotment of portfolio could have put a round peg in a round hole.

“Let’s face it! What a wrong approach to continuity theory, which supports the fact that Dora, who has all these while monitored drugs and foods administration in the country could have been given related job,” he said.

Emphasising that it could have been better having her assume Minister of Health portfolio. “This could have seen her giving a tight supervision on the parastatals under that ministry. But, we have missed the chance!

Yes, ICT will start once again to groom a ‘green horn’ and chances of having her redeployed after is there. When can the country move forward,” he wondered?

The Secretary-General, JACITAD, Prince Osuagwu, said, the Mrs Akunyili is doomed if she does not resign now, maintaining that whichever way, she would lose as Ya’Adua’s spokes person, because she is known for her hard stance on upright ideologies.

“This time around, she has to bend the truth sometimes, and reduce the level of trust and confidence people repose on her or stand by what she believes in, and get kicked out easily. Now is the only time for her to leave and hear the ovation loud and clear. Any delay would be disastrous for her. I hope she understands,” he prayed.

Telecom expert and chief executive officer, The Executive Cyberschuul (TEC) Lagos, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu tasked the new administration of Prof. Akunyili, to reform the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector.

For him, one of the key subject proposal, is the Ministry of ICT, noting that stakeholders expected her to throw more lights on the position of the government, which he described as the “unfinished business of industry restructuring of technology.”

He said, government under the leadership of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has taken nonchallant posture as far as this restructuring is concerned, which commenced during Chief Obasanjo’s tenure and precisely in 2006 with a Committee established to that effect.

“There is unfinished business of industry restructuring of technology, information and communications apparatus of government; roadmap to achieve improved quality of service in the telephone system; and strategies for upgrading broadband access to Nigerians,” he said.

Omo-Ettu also advised that several questions are begging for answers and if not brought to the fore, could be swept under the carpet, which has been the hallmark since Yar’Adua’s administration.

He recalled that government in 2006 commenced a desire to restructure the information and communications industries when it set up a Committee to examine the wherewithal of a converged industry.

Restructuring of the ministry in its present state, he said, goes beyond mere change of name, lamenting that though the government after setting up the committee to this effect surprisingly went on to create the nomenclature called Ministry of Information and Communications.

“It however impulsively went ahead to create the Ministry of Information and Communications ahead of the work of the Committee only to realize that restructuring in a true sense was more than mere name-changing and merging of Ministerial portfolios,” he said.

The telecom engineer pointed out that the Committee completed its work and advised government on the amount of work required to effect a true change that will take advantage of the march of science and technology in the years ahead, describing it as irresponsible for that process to still be in the coolers after about two years after the committee was inaugurated.

“Work has stalled on the project and the Yar’ Adua government, since he took-over in 2007, operating as if the issue never mattered,” he decried, stressing that stakeholders may spoil for war with the Yar’Adua’s administration as this current position is not acceptable.

“We should not accept this posture and we must call government to account,” he asserted.

ITRealms Online recollects that proponents of a restructured industry had argued that because of the radical changes that the likes of Internet Protocol (IP) introduced into the polity, must be contentious if not totally difficult to determine what is telecommunications, broadcasting, technologies and services, especially in distinguishing between where one stops and the other begins.

This, a school of thought said, would provide a clear view and sharp industry management that could translate to enhanced smooth management, thereby reducing cost of doing business and ultimately cost of service provision.

Also they had argued that a continuous application of legacy systems and management of new systems using the old methods will create confusion, duplicity, legal entanglements, increase cost of doing business and ultimately impose severe cost on consumers.

“Those who are opposed to change argue issues which surround who gains what and who losses what. They talk about persons when the argument is about issues and they particularly make otherwise healthy debates to become unexciting. These are usually enough to confuse a government that has no view of its own,” he warned.

He emphasized that government’s mandate is to resolve these issues or to quit if it lacks the interest and will to apply emerging technologies into governance, which is why government cannot be allowed without taking actions.

Additionally, one critical issue begging for attention is that of infrastructure provisioning, which involves electricity power generation and cost of keeping it running 24 by 7, especially if the dream to reduce call tariff will be actualized in the nearest future.

Just as Akunyili should try to carry stakeholders along, even as was noted recently at the stakeholders meeting in Abuja, till date she is yet to request a memo from industry associations as a way of keeping her abreast. A step that needed urgent attention.

The truth is that she may not make relevant impact without the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), because making the right policy is one thing and its implementation is another, even as she must know where the bounder-line is situated to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the two, especially as she came from a regulator’s background.

However, whether she is a square peg in a round whole or otherwise and a tool for ‘political settlement’ as being feared by some of her supporters will manifest in a matter of time.

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Multimesh petitions FG over closure by NCC

... As HiTV insists on violation

Management of Calabar-based Microwave Multi-channels Distribution Systems (MMDS) operator, Multimesh Communications Limited, has petitioned the Federal Government on the closure of its office over alleged pirated programming by operatives of the Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC).

Just as Entertainment Highway insisted on its position that the firm’s rights were violated by Multimesh.

The petition by Multimesh dated Thursday, January 8, 2009, and addressed to the honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Ministry of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondaokaa and signed by the managing director and chief executive officer of Multimesh Communications Limited, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, denied the allegation that the firm operated illegally in its transactions with Entertainment Highway, right owners of the English Premier League (EPL) in the country.

ITRealms Online recalls last Thursday, officials of NCC with policemen raided and shut Multimesh office in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

According to the letter, on the said date, a team of armed mobile police men in the company of Mr. Ajala from NCC in Lagos stormed “our Television Station in Calabar, broke our offices and safe and carted away our transmitters, computers, files, invoices, receipt booklets and various other valuables and shut down our station, on the guise of a false complaint by Hitv Ltd.”

Ohuabunwa, in the letter explained that as the second largest MMDS cable company licensed by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), to carry out the business of broadcasting and with a subsisting three year agreement with Hitv Ltd to retransmit the English Premier League in South South and South East of Nigeria, with initial take off in Rivers State, Multimesh cannot be called a pirate.

“For the purpose of clarity, we have a subsisting three years agreement with Hitv and have paid for the rights for Rivers State; we have provided Hitv a N30,000,000 million, Bank Guarantee with another N18,000,000m upfront payment made into their account with GTB. We are not pirates as falsely reported by Mr. Toyin Subair,” Ohuabunwa stated in the letter.

Sir Godfrey further appealed to the Minister for his personal intervention, saying that what happened was that since the initial execution of the agreement and payments made to Hitv Ltd.

“We have had a lingering misunderstanding over the rebroadcast rights and channel carriage license,” he said, noting that the development was well reported to the NCC and the NBC.

“The latter (NBC) was shunned by Subair in their attempt to settle the differences,” he said.

Raising a special complaint against the Director General of NCC, Ohuabunwa noted that Mr. DG had from inception of the relationship between Multimesh and HiTV been intimated with all the developments, but chose not to do anything, instead he send his men and policemen to raid Multimesh office.

Sir Godfrey alleged that Hitv plan is to sustain very strict monopoly and exclusivity which are in sharp contrast with the NBC laws.

“My Lord, we are of the strong opinion that Mr. Toyin Subair and Management of Hitv and Highway Entertainment Ltd are deliberately harassing us and other cable operators in Nigeria in their greedy plan to maintain monopoly and exclusivity in airing the English Premier League (EPL) in Nigeria, which is completely against the National Broadcasting Code and the Federal Government Policy in deregulating and deepening the broadcast industry in Nigeria,” Multimesh boss said, insisting that two clauses under Dispute Resolution in contract state have not been exhausted before the current NCC closure.

In his response via a telephone chat, the chief executive of HiTV, Mr. Toyin Subair, told ITRealms Online that he has one question for Multimesh, “Was there any agreement with us to cover which state?”

According to him, the only relative relationship HiTV has with Multimesh was of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and even at that, it was inconclusive.
“Port Harcourt was the only place we discussed with them and we have not even agreed yet,” he declared.

Entertainment Highway, he said, believes in doing business the right way, hence, everything they are offering to the Nigerian public have been paid for ahead of time.
Lamenting that what most of these so-called cable operators in the country are doing is to engage a companies like his (Entertainment Highway) for the first time in a location and afterwards went ahead to broadcast it nationwide.

“They never intended to do business the right way,” he decried, explaining further that usually Entertainment Highway acquire its rights with three years bank guarantee, but local cable operators would want to pay monthly, which does not mean well for his company.

Attributing this kind of attitude to the problems that have bedeviled the industry before the coming of Entertainment Highway, about 18 months ago, Subair stressed that it is not even right for the economic growth of the country and advised Nigerians and cable operators precisely to learn how to do business right.

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Akano highlights gains of IT training

Chief executive of Information Technology (IT) institute, New Horizon, Mr. Tim Akano, has said that IT training institutions have done a lot in impacting relevant skills for economic development of the country.

Speaking to newsmen recently in Lagos, New Horizons, he said, has done so much to leapfrog the economy through IT training and empowerment.

“The world is far ahead of Nigeria in IT development and New Horizons is trying to bridge the gap by taking IT training to primary, secondary and tertiary institutions,” he said.

As said by him, at New Horizons, they had decided to take IT training to schools because experience has shown that training achieves quicker results when taken to schools to catch the students at their youthful age.

“The IT big shots of our world today started at tender ages. Bill Gates for instance, commenced Microsoft business at the age o f 13, Apple started at the age of 19, Google Boys started and came into fame at the age of 19. At this age brackets, youths tend to learn faster and achieve greater results,” he declared.

Stressing that for this reason, New Horizons resolved to take its training to young and talented Nigerians that are still in schools.

He pointed out that before the coming of New Horizons, there were pockets of IT training centres, “but when we came on board, we discovered the gap and decided to bridge it through intensive IT training in schools.”

Akano explained that what New Horizons does is to offer the kind of IT training that will challenge people into creativity and design things by themselves.

“When we started IT training in schools, government liked it, especially after seeing the high level of students those schools are graduating every year. Because government liked it, government now wants IT education to be inculcated in the curriculum of tertiary institutions.

New Horizons, he pointed out, started the integration of IT certification based training into the university curricula.

“Four years ago there was nothing like that in our tertiary institutions,” he asserted, highlighting that his school pioneered it by starting with Beacock University three years ago, from where it moved to Covenant University in Otta, and to Lagos State University among other universities in the country.

“We took IT training to both private and government owned universities,” he said.
Nowadays students from those Universities that we partnered can not get their BSc Degrees without getting a certification in IT and graduates from those Universities are now hot cakes in the labour market,” he said.

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Abati refutes hackers claim on N.25m

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) enthusiast and chairman, The Guardian, Dr. Reuben Abati, has refuted the recent electronic mail which circulated last weekend that he was in dare need of N250,000 to save the life of his daughter.

According to an email from Dr. Abati, hackers broke into his email account and used it to solicit for financial assistance to take care of a so-called emergency situation.

“Friends and associates of Dr. Abati are advised to disregard the mail,” another email made available to ITRealms Online stated.

“It is not from me and I am in Lagos, not India, as alleged,” he said, insisting that there is nothing wrong with him or any member of his family.

ITRealms Online recalls that the purported mail from hackers indicated that Dr. Abati had an emergency.

“I seriously consider you to help me with sum of 250,000 Naira which I will pay immediately I get back, I am on a conference in India, I will be back on the 15th of January 2009.”

The hackers mail also read “My Daughter is seriously in need of medical attention after he was involved in an accident in Lagos , she is now at a private hospital waiting for medical solution and she has been asked to make payment the same above amount before further  medical treatment will be continue, I don’t want to loss her.

Hope to hear a positive news from you. I don’t want other to know about this, do keep it to yourself, all I need at the moment is 250,000 as a loan for her medical deposit so that the Doctor can save her life, I can not send money from where I am now.”

Additionally, the fake mail read, “I am very confused and desperate and I don’t seem to understand why this thing is happening to me, I promise to refund you your money immediately I get back home.

“Please kindly contact the doctor via email dr.ojolowoonline@googlemail.com or call 070411505005 to know who and where to send the money. I am trusting you that you will do the needful immediately.”

When ITRealms Online contacted the number in the mail, the individual concerned did not even know that his number has been used for such dirty deal.

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Siemens Profile awards-09 draws closer

The 2009 Siemens Africa Profile Awards competition is drawing nearer to the deadline as it seeks entries to honour African journalists who excel in science and technology journalism, according to the Manager Media Relations at Siemens Southern Africa, Ms Sithembile Mokaeane, reports CHARLES OKOH.

A press statement from her office in Midrad, South Africa showed that the Siemens Profile Awards, now in its eighth year, is the only pan-African awards that exclusively promote science and technology journalism.

“African journalists are invited to submit entries before 31 January 2009 for any work published in print, online or broadcast media,” she said.

She also announced that the annual awards have become a leading item on the continent’s journalism calendar.

“We are impressed by the increased number of entries from all media platforms, and the general improvement in the quality of submissions,” she said. “The African media are continually prioritizing science and technology coverage.”

Mokaeane further said the 2007 Siemens Profile Awards attracted a record 264 entries from 17 African countries.

“The entries were in four languages: English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. The heightened media interest in science and technology issues during this year is expected to boost entries,” she said.

Issues such as the surge in technology uptake and increased science research across the continent are already emerging as prominent themes in media coverage, she noted.

Equally, Mokaeane said that award categories have been changed.

“The 2009 entries may be submitted in six categories, namely, industry, energy, healthcare, information technology (with emphasis on business process and outsourcing), technology-related corporate social responsibility and the student category,” she outlined.

In addition, Mokaeane said the new categories are expected to simplify the entry submission process, resulting in increased number of entries.

Pointing out that online submissions are welcome at www.profileawards.co.za or by post or courier to Siemens country offices around African continent.

ITRealms Online recalls that the Siemens Profile Awards aim to advance quality science and technology reporting. Journalists are encouraged to identify country specific technology issues and by addressing them bring about change in social-economic conditions.

The awards encourage African science journalists to anchor their reporting in sound research, quality reporting and individual journalistic flair.

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NCC must brief minister properly ATCON

Umbrella body of registered telecommunications companies in the country, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has advised the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to ensure that the newly appointed Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. (Mrs) Dora Akunyili, is more properly briefed.

Reviewing the industry in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, at the weekend, the National President, ATCON, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, said that should as matter of urgency ensure it briefs the Minister more properly, so as to position her for the challenges ahead.

Welcoming the minister on behalf of ATCON, Ekuwem, who also is the group chief executive of Teledom International Group, noted that they are excited on her enthusiasm and keen interest to move the industry forward.

He was quick to remind her that the tide has now changed since she assumed office as the Federal Minister in charge of Information and Communication, advising her to play according to the game by being aware of her limits.

That way, he said, there would be harmony and peaceful co-existence among the industry players including between her ministry and NCC as well as the larger stakeholders.

“At NAFDAC, she was a regulator and now, she is a honourable minister. Presently, she is not a regulator as far as telecommunications is concerned,” he declared.

The ministry, ATCON said, should concentrate in making relevant policies that would improve the state of things in the country.

“The ministry should not co-regulate telecom. The turf of regulation is on NCC, while policy making rests on the ministry,” he explained, stressing that this points needed to be clarified because of what ATCON observed at the just concluded stakeholders’ forum held in Abuja.

Dr. Ekuwem maintained that he believes that NCC did not brief the minister appropriately, otherwise, things could not have tilted toward only consumerism-based discussion at the stakeholders forum, rather than how to improve the industry holistically.

Describing Akunyili as one Nigerian that is intellectually sound, ATCON called for understanding among stakeholders, while urging her to use her good offices in ensuring that Nigeria invest its oil money in the development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

Ekuwem further said that ATCON’s annual repackaged conference and exhibition, ComBIT, which made its debut last year was a success story, revealing that in the near future, it could be rebranded CeBIT Africa, if the current clamour by some stakeholders is anything to go by.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government last weekend told telecom service providers to ease the pains of subscribers by insisting on an immediate reduction on the tariff.

The government also said that a lot of the challenges presently confronting the operators on the poor quality of service would become a thing of the past as soon as they take to the option of infrastructure sharing.

Information and Communication Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, gave this indication in Abuja at the Stakeholders’ forum, and said government stance is informed by the incessant cry of the citizens against the poor quality of service delivery level when they pay so much for the services.

“The cost of mobile telephone services in Nigeria may not be the most expensive in Africa, but it ought to be amongst the cheapest, considering our large population, and huge demand for communications. At present, there are only very few liberalized countries in Africa with higher tariffs than what obtains within Nigeria,” she said.

Emphasising that Nigeria’s government want to show concern that operators are empathetic to their subscribers.

“By the time we have the next meeting; I want us to start congratulating you. If you reduce tariff, then you will encourage us to say these people are out to help us,” she said.

The Ministry, she pointed, is aware of the huge maintenance and operational cost of their Base Stations and the reported problems of infrastructure vandalization, and had made efforts to put this into context, and can safely say that tariffs can and should be reduced.

“To this end, it is our resolve to pursue strategies that can lead to the creation of an efficient telecommunications sector based on fair competition, service quality and low tariffs,” she said.

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Lagos drags ALTON to Supreme Court

In its bid to ensure that the Lagos State Government (LSG) Mast and Tower Edict sees the light of the day, the Babatunde Fashola-led government has advanced plans to drag telecom operators to the apex court in the land, the Supreme Court.

ITRealms Online recalls that telecommunications regulation is among the exclusive list of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).

Even as a Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Joseph Auta, had on February 25, 2007, delivered a landmark judgment in favour of ALTON in the suit No. FHC/L/CS/517/06, which was on registered trustees of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) & Ors versus Lagos State Government & Ors.

Also, Lagos State appealed the judgment which ITRealms Online gathered was not favourable either, hence the choice for the apex court, the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
ITRealms Online investigations further showed that filing of papers have reached advanced stage to facilitate the case getting first hearing before the end of this quarter.

Commenting on this, the publicity secretary, ALTON, Mr. Damian Udeh, told ITRealms Online on phone that they also heard about the Supreme Court plan from the media, and has not received official papers to that effect, but, expressed the believe that in the coming weeks, they intend to consult with their lawyers.
“We have not been served papers officially,” he asserted.

Encouraged by the executive, the Lagos State House Assembly reportedly passed a law ‘The Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency Law, 2004’ which both the High Court and Appeal Court have ruled out of order, maintaining that telecommunications regulation is an exclusive of the federal government responsibility as contained in the Constitution.

Although Lagos State claims it is seeking the validation of the law in protection of environment within its domain, but telcos and allied operators see that step as deceitful attempt to boost its revenue base, even as efforts at settling out of court failed in the past.

Meanwhile, Gov. Fashola said at Channels TV recently that Lagos State has the powers to regulate the urban planning element of its environment, noting that it is saddening to see about four mast towers mounted at a location ordinarily where it could have been just one.

He also pointed out that some mast towers were located too close to residence and public centres such as schools and expressed dismay over a recent incident that involved a fallen mast tower and a school building.

Advising telecommunications operators to co-locate, he reiterated the state’s resolve to pursue the case up to the Supreme Court, since the operators have gone to court in the first place.

Fashola equally said that the state is not keen in contesting the powers of the Federal Government (FG) or the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the regulation of telecommunications in the country, but maintained that host states of these companies should be entitled to some incentives.

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ICT: Of shackled strides, missed opportunities (1)

You have heard that the Internet, mobile phones and other ICT tools are changing the world. Please add ‘truly’ between ‘are’ and ‘changing’.

Dateline: Lagos, Sallah Day. It is usual for various neighbourhoods to find which ‘malam’ would help slaughter their rams. Those who have had to do the business themselves know how frustrating it can be when no ‘malam’ shows up by 12 noon on Sallah day.

This last one was a different one. One neighbourhood’s resident mentioned the need for a ‘malam’ to a ‘maiguard’ and the chap turned in a piece of paper, photocopy of a slip on which there was a crude drawing of a ram, a knife, some Arabic inscription, a phone number and a name.

Apparently, one Suleiman had turned in the piece of paper to all the ‘maiguards’ in the vicinity in anticipation of Sallah day – indicating anyone could use the mobile phone number to their advantage. This number dialled, Suleiman showed up in a jiffy.

He slaughtered the ram, left the details for his subordinates and moved on to other places where his services were needed. Suleiman took advantage of ‘access’ to boost his business. He didn’t need to be told to do so. He needed no campaign by anybody as to what he could do with his phone.

All he needed was the phone and access on it and the remaining could be left for him. For his services, he charged N2,000 instead of the traditional N1,000 and his clients were glad to have got a good and fast solution. Give broadband access to Suleiman and wait to be amazed what he is capable of doing with it.

And the coming of Barrack Hussein Obama! Visit www.change.gov and see how a young man is changing the world using access to the web. The rest needs not be told. How about his almost impossible story of grassroot campaign, fundraising and eventual victory all fuelled by the power of the web and mobile applications.

Like no one else before now, he used social networking websites (isn’t almost everyone now on FaceBook?) and other web tools such as YouTube to build an army of young people whose excitement – and driven action – played not just a small part in giving him a much-deserved victory seeing he livened up the floor of even American presidential politics with his promise (and delivery) of a 21st century campaign.

His choice of a running mate was made using SMS broadcast, (mark the word ‘broadcast’), he was always on his phone cracking away at eMail, and he kept the world following his every step with up-to-the-minute updates through his campaign website. In 2008, politics and governance were redefined through new technologies!

Lesson: It is leadership, not followership – especially as the Nigerian case has shown in 2008 – that needs a campaign on what is achievable with broadband access.
The good: Access improved considerably during the year, with efforts of providers who introduced products such as iZAP, for instance, to bring fast internet access to individual phone level. In Ijebu-Ode, where the first leg of this review was fine-tuned, Izap did all the trick. But in Igbara-Oke where the second leg was to be firmed up, Starcomms is yet to show up.

Maybe in 2009! Other vendors – mobile and fixed wireless service providers – have stepped up the game by providing access options that have kept many Nigerians online more than before.

The performance review table of operators who ever played in the industry shows that as at close of business on December 31 2008, 9 operators are running full stream, eight are ailing, one was bought substantially into while six were bought over 100 per cent.

Four have since closed shops, seven are begging for buy-over and two are fit for merger while the performance of one is indeterminate as its subscribers are largely unknown. Today, 19 are trudging on in the market.

Etisalat finally executed the Mubadala mono-selection license of 2006 and rolled out services in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, Ibadan and Ogbomosho, several months after the promised date. It does not matter when, point is that it came at last.

It is still in search of the joker that could repeat what Globacom did when it arrived in 2003 with the per-second rate of charging, a feat which one operator had said was impossible -- as if anything is impossible in engineering. 2008 was indeed full of action, slowed down by executive slow motion right from the top.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), nation’s regulator must have had a busy year. For long, it conceived the ideas of the Wire-Nigeria Initiative (WIN), State-Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) and so on, certainly for the purpose of connecting Nigerians to such possibilities as 2008 demonstrated.

Now, Nigerians cannot wait to see it happen. The telecom regulator came up with a code and practice regime on standard three-digit code number which shall serve the purpose of emergency services in Nigeria. Ditto for pre-registration of phone subscribers and number portability except that the matter spent the entire year being on the drawing board.

A ban was announced on products’ promotion of GSM mobile telephone service providers in Nigeria as the regulatory authorities hinted that measurement of phone quality revealed unsatisfactory performance of all GSM operating networks. The regulator discouraged operators even from placing advertisements that are capable of adding more subscribers or result in additional airtime usage on their networks in the face of un-abating congestion.

Two mobile operators, which instituted a court case against a directive of NCC to compensate consumers for poor service, had the case thrown out by the Court and they have gone on appeal, although they paid the fines under various degrees of insubordination to the directive. Chances are that the National Assembly has taken notice of this and gone working, not to rest after the unnecessary battle some of those in the lower House went into with the regulator the previous year.

Nigeria’s Globacom made its way into Benin Republic, towards the fulfilment of the promise of building a truly African network. Transnational Corporation, Transcorp, which bought into Nigeria’s ailing national carrier, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 2006 was threatened with withdrawal of license if no remarkable improvement was recorded in NITEL’s and Mtel’s, services. There was no improvement but the license was not withdrawn either. There was also the rebranding of two major players.

Amidst all the good news, there was a threat of a probe of the Rural Telephony Project (RTP) which was never to be. The threat gave way to a solution which is neither here nor there as government handed over RTP’s remnants to five telephone service provider upstarts which it said are the ‘operators’. The RTP is a $200 million telecommunications loan packaged by a consortium of Chinese investors in 2002 for provision of telephone service in 96 rural communities in Nigeria. It finally stalled after several months of inaction.

There was encouraging activity with Nigeria’s Top Level Domain, .ng, as the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) finally announced institutional structures and major framework under which the association would operate.

Namely four institutional elements: The Secretariat, Policies & Procedures, Technical Infrastructure and Service Provider Partners. Several draft documents, which sought to map the way forward were reviewed and pioneer registrars came alive.

Then the bad. The big disappointment for Nigeria’s ICT space in 2008 was the fact that the Federal Ministry for ICT did not emerge. Very senior IT practitioners expressed serious concern about the direction, or lack of it, that government trudged in the year under review.

It was widely believed that just as many were clamouring that IT be raised to the level of a Ministry in a converged regime for regulation and project implementation, the IT sections of Federal Ministries were about being merged with the Departments of Planning and Statistics!

Government in 2006 commenced a desire to restructure the information and communications industries when it set up a Committee to examine the wherewithal of a converged industry. It, however, impulsively went ahead to create the Ministry of Information and Communications ahead of the work of the Committee only to realise that restructuring in a true sense was more than mere name-changing and merging of Ministerial portfolios.

It is understood that the Committee completed its work and advised government on the amount of work required to effect a true change that will take advantage of the march of science and technology in the years ahead.

Work has since stalled on the project and the Yar’ Adua government, since take-over in 2007, has operated as if the issue never mattered.

Proponents of a restructured industry argued that because of the radical changes that Internet Protocol (IP) has offered, it will be contentious if not totally difficult to determine what is telecommunications, broadcasting or IT service, and especially to distinguish between where one stops and the other commences. A clear view and sharp industry management shall resolve this and enhance smooth management, reduce cost of doing business and ultimately cost and options of service provision.

On the other hand, a continuous application of legacy systems and management of new systems using the old methods will create confusion, increase cost of doing business and ultimately impose severe cost on consumers.

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Etisalat extends promos till Jan. 31st

Fifth Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator, Etisalat Nigeria, has extended the duration of its Free Airtime and Gift redemption promotions by 10 and 21 days respectively.

A press statement from Etisalat Nigeria, weekend, indicated that its ‘Recharge ‘n’ Receive’ and ‘Gift Redemption’ promotions, which started December last year, have both been extended.

While the ‘Recharge ‘n’ Receive’ promo has been extended till January 31, the Gift Redemption promo has been extended to January 20, 2009.

The ‘Recharge ‘n’ Receive promo was introduced during the yuletide season to reward customers with 20 per cent extra credit on any recharge of N500 and above on the Etisalat network.

Acting Chief Commercial Officer (CMO), Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Amar said the bonus airtime, which could be used anytime on any network, is instantly credited to the customer as soon as they load their phones with required denomination.

On the second promo, tagged ‘Gift Redemption,’ he explained it gives subscribers an opportunity to win an instant gift at any Etisalat shop they visit with their used recharge cards.

“Prizes on offer include mobile phones, t-shirts, face caps and Plasma TVs,” he said.
Amar also revealed that the new development on both promotions, was as a result of reactions of subscribers.

“These promotions have been quite impressive, which indicate that we are achieving our core business strategy of delighting our valued customers. Both promotions revolve around every one of our customers and we have taken the step to extend them because we are keen to make even more of our customers’ winners for an extended period of time,” he said.

The CMO reiterated Etisalat’s commitment of placing the customer at the heart of its business, saying “the bonus credit can be used to make calls or send texts to any network at anytime of the day. Usage of it is not tied solely to the Etisalat network. We are conscious of our customers’ need to communicate widely and reach out to their families, friends and loved ones across networks, across the country and across the world.”

Champion Infotel recalled that Etisalat Nigeria launched commercial operations in October with its Easy Starter package.

Apart from the regular features available on all Subscriber Identification Module (SIMs) at the moment, Etisalat has other unique and innovative features such as Receiver Pays, Missed Calls Notification, Homezone and Recharge Others. These unique features are all firsts in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria and set the latest entrant into the GSM market clearly apart.

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Microsoft unveils Windows 7 beta

Software giant, Microsoft Corporation, has unveiled its latest Windows 7 beta, thereby on trial.

Chief executive, Microsoft, Mr. Steve Ballmer made this announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, last week.

According to him, the first beta version of the successor to Windows Vista is immediately available as a downloadable disk image to MSDN, TechBeta and TechNet subscribers, while the general public will get to test drive the new operating system (OS) from January, Friday 9.

He said, that Windows 7 is expected to hit shelves towards the end of this year or the first quarter of 2010.

Stressing that Microsoft’s broad roadmap for operating system releases, specified a three-year gap between releases.

The new OS first made an appearance in October, when a ‘pre-beta’ version was given to attendees of Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC) 2008.

ZDNet reports that before Mr. Ballmer’s pronouncement, head, Microsoft United Kingdom (UK), on Windows, Mr. John Curran, had called the beta release the “feature-complete.”

He said, Windows 7 would appeal to business users and Information Technology (IT) professionals because of its enhanced security which entails that the new OS does not require new hardware investments above those required by Vista.

“[The encryption feature] BitLocker was a key enhancement in Vista, but Windows 7 takes that a step further,” Curran said, noting that BitLocker To Go is the new feature.

“If you take a traditional Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive and then turn on BitLocker, you can either put in a password or lock [the USB drive] using a smartcard,” he said.

A USB drive encrypted using BitLocker To Go, he explained would be usable on a PC running Windows 7, Vista or XP, although an XP machine will only be able to read the drive after downloading software to allow this.

“Any hardware that runs Vista, you can have confidence it will run Windows 7 the same or better without a hardware upgrade,” Curran said, claiming that the new OS is fundamentally built on Vista.

“Most Vista-compatible applications will also be compatible with Windows 7. The exceptions would be applications that are highly operating-system-specific, such as antivirus or file-management software,” he said.

As said by him, Windows 7 is “designed and optimised for the mobile PC, whether it is a netbook or a laptop”, and claimed the new OS would work even on current netbooks such as those using a1.6GHz Intel Atom Central Processing Unit (CPU).

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OLPC suffers set back, cuts jobs

The popular One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, has suffered another setback as it announced intention to cut workforce by 50 per cent, reducing salaries for the remaining staff, and restructuring its operations.

CNET News.com reports that the founder of OLPC, Dr. Nicholas Negroponte, made this announcement last week Wednesday and said that the organisation which aims at providing low-cost laptops to children in developing countries, announced the cuts in a company blog post.

“Like many other nonprofits that are facing tough economic times, One Laptop Per Child must downsize in order to keep costs in line with fewer financial resources... While we are saddened by this development, we remain firmly committed to our mission of getting laptops to children in developing countries.”

Negroponte expressed gratitude for the work contributed by staff being let go.
“The fact that there are 500,000 children around the world who have laptops is testament to their extraordinary work and is already a key part of OLPC’s legacy,” he said.

Also he wrote that the company will focus on development of its second-generation device, but will hands-off development of the sugar operating system to the open-source community.

The project recently revived its two-for-one deal on its low-cost laptop. Amazon.com was tapped to handle its Give One, Get One programme, launched initially in 2007. Through the program, anyone can pay for two XO laptops; one is shipped to the buyer, and the other is sent to a schoolchild in a developing nation.

The device comes loaded with both Windows XP and the Linux-based Sugar operating system created for the XO. The inclusion of XP stemmed from concerns that developing nations wouldn’t buy the laptops for its classrooms without the world’s dominant OS on it.

However, the group has faced its share of challenges in the three years since it was formed. Its XO laptops initially cost $188 (£125) each, instead of the anticipated $100, and some countries are scaling back their deployment plans. Intel, which was briefly part of the project, quit in January 2008, claiming OLPC was pressuring it not to compete with its own laptops.

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