Electronic mail errors, Computer Village to the rescue

Last December may not be pleasant for some Nigerians who experienced electronic mail errors, which solution was proffered at the Computer Village, reports REMMY NWEKE.

FEW days into the festive December month, Mr. Ibukun Brown, a Lagos resident, was anxiously expecting a mail from his relatives abroad concerning the season. He has been experiencing some difficulties in opening his electronic mail (e-mail), which is a Yahoo! account.

After two days, he became worried that his relatives even called to intimate him of the mail they had sent earlier which he was yet to reply.

He jumped from one cyber café to another since his office Internet service has literally failed him, but all to no avail.

What kept surprising him was that even in his office, colleagues using other e-mail platforms check their mails without stress, except those of them on Yahoo! Still lamenting the situation, one of the junior staff walked up to him to seek advice because she was also experiencing the same hiccup in checking her mails.

The junior staff also told him that she had been going through this difficulty for over a week before someone recommended Ibukun to her, because he seems to be the most relative techie person around.

In the course of trying to find a solution to this nightmare, Ibukun decided to pay a visit to the Computer Village in Ikeja-Lagos, for consultation with some famous computer gurus.

At first, he put up a call to a friend cum computer artisan, Isaac ‘Zik’ Nwa-Anambra, whom he met while trying to fix his laptop earlier on. Isaac encouraged Ibukun to come along with his mobile Universal Serial Bus (USB) dail-up Internet kit from Zain for them to run a test of what he was complaining about.

Before noon on the date of appointment Ibukun handed over his laptop bag to Zik, where every thing he needed for the verification of the fault were packed and within a twinkle of an eye, Zik mounted the system on the table, dialed the connection and the same message bothering Ibukun resurfaced.

Yahoo! code 15 errors appeared on the screen, reading in detail, “Sorry for the inconvenience. You’ve stumbled upon a temporary problem we’re having with Yahoo! Mail.”

According to Zik, usually this problem gets resolved quickly, without the user doing a thing basically; advising that the reload or refresh button on the browser should be pressed.

“Try signing out and back into Yahoo! Mail. Hopefully that will take care of things,” he declared, stressing that in the case it does not, please try again shortly.

Looking further on the screen, Ibukun, who by now has taken over, was busy receiving directives from Zik, reading out the message which states the fact that he was able to be read “this page means we’ve been automatically notified of the issue, and chances are we’re working on it now.”

And the message went on, “If you think you’ve been more than patient and tried the tricks above, feel free to contact Customer Care about Error Code 15. Thanks, The Yahoo! Mail Team.”

He also counseled Ibukun to retry after about five minutes and when he later clicked on contact customer care about error code 15, the website automatically switched him back to the home page for signing into Yahoo! mail.

An attempt to visit the Yahoo! Mail Help-error code window, Ibukun was required to fill a form which format encompasses “What is your name? What is your Yahoo! ID? What is your email address? Confirm email address?” and a pick from list of over 30 errors were displayed in the fourth stanza as ‘Error being reported,’ Feedback and then the user must send the form to Yahoo! help desk.

Next, Yahoo! informed Ibukun that the firm and survey partners working on behalf of Yahoo!, may contact him to participate in customer satisfaction surveys while appreciating his submission.

Suddenly, Zik interjected while Ibukun was still wondering on the next step and asked if he has another electronic mail address, which he confirmed in affirmation, so, the artisan demanded that Ibukun go into the mail options in Yahoo!

Hence, Ibukun was asked to go to the column on Management of Mail Addresses, click on the Post Office Presence (POP) access and forwarding, where it was advocated by Yahoo! that its platform could be used as permanent email address, “forward to another mail account or download your Yahoo! messages to your POP3 mail client.”

Post Office Protocol (POP), is a protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Most e-mail applications sometimes called an e-mail client use the POP protocol, although some could use the newer Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

Also, according to Webpodia.com, POP refers to Point-Of-Presence, an access point to the Internet, largely owned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). A point of presence is a physical location, either part of the facilities of a telecommunications provider that the ISP rents or a separate location from the telecommunications provider, that houses servers, routers, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) switches and digital or analogue call aggregators.

However, Ibukun proceeded to click on ‘Need Help?’ which gave him the Web and POP Access [POP Settings] explaining that Ibukun could access Yahoo! Mail via the web interface and through any email programme using POP3 such as Eudora, Outlook or Netscape Mail, to name a few.

On the forwarding option, Zik told Ibukun that he could forward all his mails from his Yahoo! account messages to a different email address, so, he was required to enter the alternate email address in open column, after which it was verified that such account so chosen is valid.

“Before we can forward your incoming messages, we need to verify that you own this email address. We do this in order to protect your privacy and prevent unauthorized use of this feature,” Yahoo! experts stated.

For this, Zik enlightened that the forwarded email does not deny Ibukun access to his primary email account and could be changed at any time he feels that normalcy has returned in his access to the initial e-mail address.

Before then, Ibukun was asked to visit his supposed alternate email account in order to authenticate the email sent by Yahoo!, an indication that the email is valid.

“Click send verification to have Yahoo! send an email to the address above,” Yahoo! experts said, stressing that by clicking on the link, for example, http://popfwd.mail.yahoo.com/pf/VerifyCode?.addr=ibukunbrownsco@gmail.com&.c=a7f1e10&.intl=uk&.bm=&.loginas=ibukunbrownsco&.done=http%3a//uk.f265.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Options%3fYY=12345; in the email or enter the confirmation code that was provided or generated.

And Zik continued to encourage him that from that date, every email sent to his Yahoo! mail would touch base and then be forwarded automatically to the latest email account which is the alternate account.

Verify the account, Zik said, your POP access and forwarding settings would be saved.
And in less than 10 minutes, Ibukun could read or access any new mail that find its way to both of his email accounts with different POPs.

Zik further said that alternatively, Ibukun and friends could simply change the viewing model in their emails by signing in normally, and clicking on other services such as addresss, note pad, from where they could choose option.

That day, Ibukun went back to the office excited and throughout the week, he devoted time assisting his colleagues with similar problems, leaving him eventually as a goal getter as he was the talk of the town in the office among peers.

And by the next day, Ibukun’s relative abroad had resent the earlier message to him again, which of course, found its way forwarded to the alternate email.

With a rest of mind, Ibukun was able to pick his family members from the airport to their home in Ilaje for the reason for the season.

Investigations carried out by ITRealms Online showed that in developing countries like Nigeria where Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is yet to be optimized in terms of service provision, it is difficult to maintain more than one email, more so when intermittent hiccups like the one Ibukun and his colleagues recently experienced occur, even as Microsoft do not allow its account users to forward their mail accounts as obtained in other platforms.

However, what this implies is that there are lots of artisans plying their trades at the Computer Villages scattered all over the country, especially in Lagos and what remains is how government and even corporate entities could come up, even if it means empowering some of the nation’s youth through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schemes, so as to encourage them become more professional via organised training in various aspects of ICT.

Zik, no doubt is just one of thousands of his peers, who with their school certificates are industrious and skillfully gifted.

One of the artisans at the Computer Village, Ikeja, Mr. Dayo Adeyemi, told ITRealms Online that he is disposed to more training, which he hopes would open new opportunities for him and his colleagues.

For the Public Relations Officer, Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN), Mr. Godwin Enumoh, who recently told ITRealms Online that intellectually, the group has members that could stand the test of time when it comes to dexterity.

He agreed that collaboration is vital for the growth of the artisans in the market, with potential to contribute immensely to the national economy. He urged government through its agencies like the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), State governments and Centre For Adaptation of Technology (CAT) among others to liaise with CAPDAN for such initiative to be meaningful.

Only time will tell how the government intends to resuscitate Computer Villages, mostly in the city like Lagos, by transforming these markets into Silicon Valley for the country.

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NigComSAT-1, a technical tragedy – ATCON

... Urges work on NigComSAT-2

UMBRELLA body of telecommunications companies in the country, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), has described the failed Nigerian Communications Satellite-1 (NigComSAT-1) as a technical tragedy, urging that the Federal Government (FG) should commence work on NigComSat-2.

Speaking in Lagos, the National President of ATCON, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, said that the nation needed to start the processes on NigComSAT-2 immediately on learning about the failure of NigComSAT-1, which was reportedly parked after developing charging fault, prior to November 10, 2008 when the government owned up.

Ekuwem said that Nigeria must start process toward the actualization of the NigComSAT-2 without further delay.

However, he advised that before then, government must truly unravel the cause of the failure of NigComSAT-1, warning that the incident should not deter the government from investing in future satellite projects.

“No nation shies away from challenges. We should proceed to NigComSAT-2 provided we unravel the cause of the failure of NigComSAT-1,” he said.

Reviewing 2008, ATCON president also noted that Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is about provision of broadband for the populace and NigComSAT would play a vital role in this regard.

He pointed out that currently, Nigeria is celebrating voice, maintaining that broadband is the next application to boost economic productivity, while lamenting that till date, Nigeria is not known to have produced completely any part of ICT tools.

Ekuwem further canvassed for the usage of the so-called area boys and girls for development.

“They must be used to change the face of our economy,” he declared, calling for adaptation of franchise, citing Virgin Mobile in the United Kingdom as a franchise company that merely resells airtime to the end users.

As said by him, by adapting to franchise in the country, ICT firms would help immensely in taking developmental diffusion to the rural areas.

“We want every nook and cranny to have service,” he said.

Additionally, he disclosed that ATCON would focus on education of its members through a workshop that would raise some pertinent issues.

He wondered how many engineering students could write correct English proposal, saying that with the advent of the global village, the world has become one job market.

“I would like to dedicate this last tenure to mentoring,” he said.

Equally, he said, that ATCON plans to organize two stakeholders forum and ComBIT, emphasizing that one of the workshops would focus on global financial crisis as it affects ICT.

“Experts would use the platform to react to what is on ground. Are we ready if America cuts its crude import? Are we saving for the rainy day?” he said.
Pointing out that the issue at stake is not that of population as the likes of Island and Japan do not produce oil.

“Nigerians are intellectually sound, so it’s in our own best national interest to use our oil money on ICT development,” he said.

Ekuwem further disclosed that the theme for ComBIT 2009 would be “ICT for Development.”

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What You should know about Twitter (3)

ADDITIONALLY, users are very much in control of whose updates they receive, when they receive them, and on what device.

For example, we provide settings for scheduling Twitter to automatically turn off at dinnertime and users can switch off Twitter updates at any point.

Simply put, Twitter is what you make of it--receive a lot of information about your friends, or just a tiny bit. It’s up to them.

How is Twitter built?
Our engineering team works with a web application framework called Ruby on Rails. We all work on Macintosh computers except for testing purposes. Our web site and user interface were designed using Omnigraffle and Photoshop.

We built Twitter using Ruby on Rails because it allows us to work quickly and easily--our team likes to deploy features and changes multiple times per day. Rails provides skeleton code frameworks so we don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time we want to add something simple like a sign in form or a picture upload feature.

How do you make money from Twitter?

Twitter has many appealing opportunities for generating revenue but we are holding off on implementation for now because we don’t want to distract ourselves from the more important work at hand which is to create a compelling service and great user experience for millions of people around the world.

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NBC resolves Multimesh, HiTV dispute

THE National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has resolved the dispute between Multimesh Communications Limited and Entertainment Highway, owners of HiTV, over rights to broadcast English Premier League (EPL) signals in the South East and South South.

Chief executive officer, Multimesh, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa and his counterpart at HiTV, Mr. Toyin Subair confirmed this to ITRealms Online, last weekend.

ITRealms Online recalls that a fortnight ago, precisely on Thursday, January 8, 2009, officials of Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) raided Multimesh’s office in Calabar, carting away equipment in the name of broadcasting pirated EPL as purportedly reported by HiTV.

Barely a week letter, the management of NBC invited the two organization as part of dispute resolution and brokered peace, just as Multimesh accused NCC of maliciously vandalizing its station in Calabar for reasons best known to them.

In a meeting at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, last week Wednesday, NBC officials led by its Director General, Mr. Yomi Bolarinwa.

According to Ohuabunwa, NBC was able to intervene in the dispute very skillfully with an agreement from the feuding parties, even as it was agreed that an agreement had indeed existed between the two organisations since 2007, thus giving credence to the claims by Multimesh that what occurred was a business dispute and not a piracy case.

Equally Mr. Subair told ITRealms Online that Multimesh has agreed to make payment based on the states’ coverage earlier in conflict.

Additionally, ITRealms Online gathered that the resolution signed at the NBC office included that in “Pursuant to Section 2 (1) (Q) of the National Broadcasting Commission Act No. 38 of 1992 (as amended), the National Broadcasting met with the representatives of Entertainment Highway Ltd and Multimesh Communications Ltd to resolve the dispute on Channel Carriage License Agreement for the Broadcast of the English Premier League Matches.”

After the deliberations, it was also resolved that the Channel Carriage Agreement signed in 2007 between the parties still subsists; that Multimesh Communications Limited has agreed to pay for Calabar, Port Harcourt and Yenogoa where the Premiership matches are being broadcast.

Equally, Multimesh was directed to send a three (3) months upfront payment in advance and another three on post dated cheques covering the season which ends in May 2009 to Entertainment Highway Limited.

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ChamsAccess to change business landscape – Prof. Akinde

CHAIRMAN, board of directors, Chams Group Plc, Prof. Adebayo Akinde, has declared that the newly inaugurated subsidiary of the firm, ChamsAccess Limited, would change transaction landscape in the country.

Akinde made this declaration in his address to the inaugural meeting of the board of directors of ChamsAccess Limited in Lagos, last weekend.

“This new addition to the Chams stable is emerging from the future to change the landscape of information dissemination, transaction and interactive payment solution business in Nigeria,” he asserted.

According to him, ChamsAccess Limited was born out of the desire to bridge a perceived information gap in the country.

“To provide the consuming public with the quality and convenience of service they rightly deserve,” he said.

Akinde also said that ChamsAccess Limited has been dully founded and registered to deploy and maintain ChamsAccess Service Terminals (CAST) which is a 24/7 self-service, electronic payment platform that allows the use of payment cards.

“It is safe, fast and convenient and does not need human interface. The terminals facilitate payment of bills purchase of airtime recharge cards, telephony services and video emailing,” he said.

In addition, the chairman said, the latest subsidiary would deploy and sell Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in the country with the mission to be a world class company that provides the most suitable way to interactive solutions such as bill payments, telephony, internet services, e-ticketing and boarding to mention a few.

“ChamsAccess Limited prides itself as being a company that will not only bridge the information gap in Nigeria, but also ensure that we provide the convenience, reliability, efficiency and safety of payments and transactional services,” he said.

Reiterating the commitment of the group, Akinde noted that the formulation and deployment of innovative-edged technology, is not only changing the face of the industry, but also cut across all sectors of the economy.

“We have built an enabling infrastructure to support our key public sector projects,” he said.

He said some of these key projects are based on the concession awarded Chams Consortium by the Federal Government of Nigeria to issue the new national identity cards.

These chip-based ID cards, he said, come with full fledge biometric data capture and would have payment capabilities that will ride on the trusted ChamSwitch backbone on the backend.

“It would be given a front end interface for usability through an array of infrastructure being deployed by ChamsAccess such as the e-booth consisting of three ChamsAccess terminals and 1 ATM,” he said, promising that millions of these payment-enabled ID cards will be issued in the coming months.

“This will open a world of business opportunities for banks, government agencies, merchants as well as small and medium scale businesses. ChamsAccess is positioned to be the preferred medium for acceptance and transaction of these services,” he said.

Also commenting, the General Manager, ChamsAcess Ltd, Mr. Seye Femi-Gureje, assured that ChamsAccess would not lack the courage or the principle to undertake and perform its duties and responsibilities, noting that they are aware of the herculean task before his team.

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Recession’ll inspire growth in IT – Ibelegbu

MANAGING Director, Task Systems Limited, Mr. Dave Ibelegbu, has said that the current wave of recession globally would inspire growth in the Information Technology (IT).

Deliberating on IT in a depressed economy, Mr. Ibelegbu expressed the confidence that the recession would propel good omen for IT sector, because “it would curb under utilization of available equipment, lay emphasis on appropriate technology and catalyze more creative and effective means of support.”

He also said that the norm today is for people to migrate to new and higher levels of technology as soon as the manufacturers announce and make such new stuffs are available in the market place.

“Most times migration is not based on the needs of the user thereby leading to under utilization,” he noted, stressing that there is hope that with less funds to sustain unnecessary migration, users would be forced to look inwards and use what they have maximally.

According to him, companies would then have to take support more seriously to ensure that productivity objectives are met on time.

He opined that companies would have to depend more on the experience and versatility of IT solutions companies that have proven track records, like Task Systems Limited.

“We have been providing solutions consistently and effectively to multinationals and blue chip companies for the past 20 years, and would remain key players even in a depressed economy,” Ibelegbu declared.

Anticipating challenges to be thrown up by the recession, he said that Task System has expanded its outlets and workforce in the New Year, with emphasis on engineering competencies.

Mr. Ibelegbu further revealed his company has set up the Task Solutions Group (TSG), a strong technical arm that is accredited by most Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to service their products in the country.

“The TSG runs a HP Support Centre, same for ACER, Toshiba, Zinox, APC and Microsoft. He said that the TSG operates a carry-in support centre in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Owerri, Enugu, Kano, Ibadan, and Benin,” he disclosed.

Additionally, he said, Task has set up a national helpdesk to manage the company’s contact center and ensure clients issues are properly closed out.

The Help Desk functions complement the software intervention, comprehensive and preventive maintenance services, networking etc for major companies like Shell, SNEPCO, ELF, Chevron, and so on, at all their locations in Nigeria.

“Task has over 150 engineers deployed on-site at these companies,” he said.

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SymbolsM boosts Microfinance with CRM module

LEADING technology integrator, Progenics Corp Limited, has added another module, the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), to boost the services of Microfinance Banks (MfBs).

This, Progenics also said would afford MfBs to meet their ever increasing need of the banks for information technology driven services.

Head, Business Development at Progenics, Mr. Yemi Daniel made this revelation in Lagos, saying that the module, CRM, would improve the banks’ customer experience over an electronic mailing (e-mail) engine to its existing Microfinance banking application, SymbolsM.

Outlining the features of the new module, Mr. Daniel said that it generates and sends mail alerts to customers whenever there is a transaction as well as gives notification alert of account balance and statement details.

“SymbolsM is a comprehensive and integrated Microfinance banking application that has been designed to systematically align all facets of banking operations to produce unparallel customer service delivery without the attendant operational bottlenecks,” he said.

Daniel also said the module gives fixed deposit maturity alert and loan payment notification to customers and equally sends birthday and wedding anniversary greetings to customers.

“The uniqueness of the new module is that the customer defines how it should work. In other words, the module is designed in a way that it is the customer that will tell the bank when he or she wants mail to be sent,” he said.

In addition, Mr. Daniel said that, based on the extra and robustness of SymbolsM as well as the need to assist as many MfBs as possible to enjoy the benefits of the application.

He declared that Progenics Corp Limited has drastically reduced the price of the software, stressing that reduction in price is to make the application affordable by both small and big Microfinance banks.

“The reduction in price is part of our effort to help Microfinance banks grow and be able to complement the commercial banks, especially in this era of information technology and we are also doing it to make the software affordable by the emerging small Microfinance banks,” he said, emphasizing that the application’s current client base, has been on the increase, especially among the Microfinance Banks.

“Quite a number of MfBs are already using SymbolsM since its launch late last year,” he asserted, noting that some new financial companies have also signed on to their investment application called Symbols Investment.

As said by him, the new sign-on on Symbols Investment includes Sky View Capital Limited, First Trustees Limited, Renaissance Capital and North Bridge Investment, as well as Credit Trust finance and Kofana Securities.

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FCMB, Travia partner on Microsoft solution

FIRST City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB), has successfully concluded an enterprise performance management project in conjunction with Tavia Technologies Limited, a solution from Microsoft Corporation.

Chief Information Officer, FCMB, Mr. Yinka Oni, gave this indication, saying they believe that in future, decisions at the bank will need to be taken with insight.

“The bank therefore needed to invest in a performance management system that will make insightful decisions,” he said, pointing out that Microsoft PerformancePoint has significantly benefited the bank’s performance management team.

“What they used to spend a whole day to do can now be done in less than an hour,” Oni said.

Speaking, Managing Director, Tavia Tech, Mr. Ayo Olashoju, said that his firm recommended Microsoft PerformancePoint as the performance management solution at FCMB because it delivers the capabilities to meet the bank’s needs for an integrated data resource, an automated performance reporting system and a more efficient data management process.

He also said that the state-of-the-art system deployed by the bank measures and tracks both financial and non-financial performance and delivers the information through dashboards on an enterprise portal to key business unit heads. This system comprises of Microsoft PerformancePoint for performance management, Microsoft
SharePoint for an enterprise portal and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 as an enterprise datawarehouse.

“With the implementation, the bank now enjoys significant improvement in the ease and speed for generating performance management reports including the automation of the Monthly Performance Review (MPR) reports,” Mr. Olashoju said.

For the Head, Performance Management, FCMB, Mr. Ademola Ogunmiloro, the need to improve efficiency became mission critical in order to achieve the bank’s development goals and sustain the growth rate.

Ogunmiloro affirmed that since the automation of the data management and reporting system, the FCMB’s monthly performance reports (MPR), which were previously delivered on day five, are now delivered on the first day of each month.

“In addition to the reduction in time and manpower previously expended on the reporting process, the CEO gets an automated dashboard on his mobile device on a daily basis. The additional analytical capability is also making users more intelligent as we now have the platform to go into core business analytics. We are using the data to increase productivity without increasing costs. The feedback from the executives has been excellent.”

In his comment, Microsoft’s Financial Services Business Manager, Mr. Bode Fagbemi, commended FCMB for using the power of technology to drive business performance especially now that increasing productivity, reducing costs and enhancing customer value have become mission critical for the success of banks in the midst of an economic downturn.

“Our vision for PerformancePoint is to bring the powerful capability of business intelligence to all information workers in the banking sector to democratize access to critical business insight and to drive more effective business actions” he said.

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Remita excites workshop participants

REMITA e-payment workshop recently ended in the commercial nerve centre of the country, Lagos with excitement reading all over the participants, majorly made of bankers.

The workshop organised by software house, SystemSpecs, according to Head, Remita Business Development, Mr. Gbenga Adegbulugbe, is strategic and planned to create a platform to share experiences of her clients who have successfully migrated to the present e-payment platform.

"We decided to organize this workshop in order to share experience with our partner banks, provide them with latest development in Remita, and come up with a clear cut direction on how best to meet the expectation of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he said.

Commenting at the end of the workshop, Head, Funds Transfer Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Cecily Aigbiremolen, said, it was worthwhile as the knowledge about Remita has improved considerably.

"We are now better equipped to meet the expectations of our customers and the government directive," Aigbiremolen declared.

Also speaking, the Group Head, Remita Business Development, Dr. Akin Oduntan, said
Remita remains the only real-time multi-bank e-payment solution in Nigeria today.

"What this means is that, with Remita you don’t have to deal with several banks at the same time to make payments. From a single screen you can view your consolidated bank balance from all banks and make payment electonically. We are excited about this product and the ease of payment it has given to users," Oduntan said.

Earlier in his address to the occasion, the Managing Director, SystemSpecs, Mr. John Obaro, who declared the workshop open said, "e-payment is the ability to pay suppliers, vendors and staff salaries at the touch of a button. With Remita you can send all your payment instructions to all your banks electronically and receive feedback immediately."

He listed what a true e-payment solution should afford its users to include view your consolidated bank balances on a single screen, process all your payments electronically from end-to-end, conduct multi-bank activity from just one place, and replicate your existing payment workflow.

Obaro also said that modern e-payment solution should ensure that users make payments to micro-finance banks, institute amount-based security, send detailed credit advices via Short Messaging Service (SMS) and e-mail, view reports and audit trail, deliver schedules to relevant parties, as well as implement easy use.

ITRealms Online recalls that Remita, a corporate e-payment solution from SystemSpecs, rides on secured e-payment platforms to deliver funds to bank accounts and associated schedules to relevant bodies, enabling schedules delivery and notifications to beneficiaries, at the click of a button.

Even as it could be deployed for payment of vendors, suppliers and staff salaries, pension contribution and all forms of taxes.

Estimated 21 participants from different banks were attended the forum while another set of bankers met yesterday, January 20, this year, in Abuja to share experiences on Remita e-payment.

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Zain’s low cost handsets sold 1m

•In eight months

Leading Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator, Zain Nigeria, made big scores with its Ulta Low Cost Handsets (ULCH) by selling over 1 million in eight months.

Public Relations Manager, Zain Nigeria, Mr. Emmanuel Otokhine, made this disclosure in Lagos, saying the introduction of Ultra Low Cost Handsets in the first quarter of last year was a huge success.

He noted that the specially designed handsets for low income earners has given a boost to Zain’s corporate image, improve public perception of the brand and dress the company up in a flattering corporate, social and responsible costume.

“Curiously, the reality on ground eight months down the line is, to say the least, amazing. Not only has Zain scored big by selling over 1 million of these new breed handsets,” he said.

The telecom giant, he also said, has scaled a monumental hurdle by giving voice to many Nigerians who live on the lower rung of the economic ladder.

According to him, from the creeks in the Niger Delta to the hilly villages up North, Nigerians are now talking, courtesy of Zain’s N1,700.00 ZTE handsets.

He explained that the Ultra Low Cost Handset (ULCH) were bundled with Zain SIM cards and N50 airtime on activation of the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, and additional N200 airtime is credited to the phone, bringing the total value of free airtime to N250.00.

Otokhine noted that in the country today, many who live on the lower rung of the ladder nurture a big dream, “the dream to join those with bigger wallet to enjoy the benefits of the unfolding communication revolution sweeping round the country.”

This dream, he said, has remained a pipe dream because of communication entry level high hurdle.

He pointed out that with the price tag of N6,000 or more on the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) phones, the only dream of owning a phone many could conveniently call their own is by purchasing a used phone which are often unpredictable and at times dismally dysfunctional.

“This is even made worse by the painfully complex socio matrix of the Nigerian society which tends to hold with derision those who carry phones that are not considered socially huge status enforcing,” he declared, stressing that the hurdle for these folks, especially rural dwellers encouraged Zain to introduce the $15 GSM phones, another first in the country.

“The introduction of the N1,700 phones is the first in the history of telecom in Nigeria and indeed in Africa. The feat has consigned to history, tons of hypothesis which tend to support the notion that a GSM phone with such price is not economically feasible for now,” he clarified.

Also commenting on the development, Zain’s distributor in the North Central Region, the Chief Executive Officer, Godex International Limited, Mr. Godwin Bazari, said the ultra low cost handset is one of the best things that have happened to many Nigerians in the rural areas.

“To say that there is still a very large market for voice in Nigeria is an understatement. In the cities, you see many people flaunting two or three handsets and at the same time clamouring for data services and Third Generation (3.5G) technology. The reality in many high density villages in the North Central region is really very different,” he said.

Mr. Bazari equally remembered that when his firm went to a village called Ayingba in Kogi State to sell the bundled ultra low cost handsets, the villagers did not just exhaust the cartons but overwhelmed the team with gifts.

“I was surprised to see chiefs, farmers, petty traders and some students give us several gifts including tubers of yam, plantain and so on, because we came to sell Zain SIMs bundled with handsets and airtime,” he said.

Bazari said the experience has humbled him a lot that he has made serious efforts to establish a customer interaction centre in many of these rural areas to ensure that no customer is deprived of quality telephony experience.

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NCC warns operators over threats to lives

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has warned that it would not allow telecommunications to endanger lives of Nigeria.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, gave this warning last weekend in Abuja while receiving the Director General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Dr. (Mrs) Ngeri S. Benebo and her team.

According to him, NCC would not allow any industry operator to endanger the lives of the Nigerian people in the process of carrying out their telecommunications business.

Ndukwe explained that the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) technology is a mobile system that functions effectively with base stations, stressing that what the Commission has done is to set guidelines that must guide the erection of such towers and masts in order to create a standard.

He cited for instance, that some studies have shown that mainland Britain alone has over 40,000 towers while Nigeria currently has about 15,000.

The difference shows in the quality of telecommunications services available in the two countries although Nigerian operators are continuing with their roll out of base stations in order to improve their services.

“Without base stations, you have no communications,” he said.

Ndukwe noted that in the past there have been all kinds of health concerns expressed about base station especially those located in residential areas.

He observed that although the steel structure of a mast may look imposing “it is only the small antenna at the top that has any connection with radiation, pointing out that the output might be very negligible.

“The radiation from the electric pole is more; even a TV antenna radiates more power,” he said.

Ndukwe assured on the readiness of NCC to work with other agencies like NESREA in other to give the best to the Nigerian people.

“As government agencies, it is mandatory for us to engage in continuous discourse.
The best approach is this kind of meeting we are holding today,” he told his guest.

Earlier, Dr. Benebo had commended the success of the telecommunications industry but noted that even as Nigeria keys into breakthrough in telecommunications sector in order to meet up with modern challenges, it is however imperative that the various key players in the sector are properly regulated and encouraged to adopt the environment friendly and best available technologies.

“There is also need to check the proliferation of communication masts with due regard to human rights, public health and environmental quality,” she advocated.

Both agencies promised to work together in ways that can develop the country’s telecommunications sector and improve the environment.

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MultiLinks, 3 banks in wealth creation alliance

Multi-Links Telkom has entered into alliance with three banks in the country on its latest initiative on wealth creation.

Public Relations Manager, Multi-Links Telkom Nigeria, Mr. Olubayo Abiodun, informed that these banks include First Bank of Nigeria, Bank PHB and Stanbic IBTC.

As said by him, the firms are teaming up for the expansion of wealth creation while providing the opportunity to share in Nigeria’s enormous telecommunications growth.

He said that the foremost Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, Multi-Links Telkom plans to combine its resilient technology and cutting edge advantage in the telecommunications business with the vast branch network and high integrity of the banks to offer opportunities to prospective Nigerians to share in the fortunes of the company.

“The operation of the relationship will be unveiled at a series of business conferences that will be attended by individuals and organizations interested in wealth creation,” he said. Companies operating in the areas of computer accessories, computer training, mobile phone distributors, office automation, office equipment, IT service, Internet service, and Insurance are some of the institutions expected to benefit from the wealth creation initiative.

He also said that the initiative which provides for both corporate and individual relationships with Multi-Links Telkom would be kicked off simultaneously nationwide, mostly where Multi-Links Telkom have coverage.

With this initiative, he said, the crushing impact of the global economic meltdown could be mitigated by discerning organizations and individuals who decide to take advantage of the partnership initiative offered by Multi-Links Telkom.

“The scheme is an ample opportunity for organizations and individuals to share in the growing fortunes of Nigeria’s telecommunications sub-sector which has defied the global downturn in economic indices,” he said.

Under the partnership scheme, he explained that Multi-Links Telkom would provide the products and services to be used in the creation of wealth for the subscribers to the scheme.

“The participating banks on the other hands will serve as channels for the subscribers to the scheme to perfect their documentation for eligibility in the scheme,” he said.

With the massive branch network of the three banks, the opportunity to participate in the scheme has been further made flexible for the willing subscribers to the partnership scheme.

Interested participants are expected to obtain participation forms from any of the three designated banks across the country where Multi-Links Telkom has operations from yesterday, Tuesday, 22nd January 2009.

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Many worries of ATM

The introduction of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), was intended to aid the realisation of the nation’s desire to attain a cashless society. However, CHARLES OKOH reports that some ugly trends are now mitigating against this innovative march to an e-economy.

UNTIL recently, using the banking hall for any form of transactions was not an experience that many would wish for their enemies.

You could spell horror on the faces of many a customer as soon as they walk into a banking hall to meet with lots of people who may have spent several hours there just to withdraw or deposit money.

The worst culprits were the old generation banks. Then, people made mockery of customers going with mattresses and pillows to their banks.

Soon after, came the new generation banks and with it reforms and innovations. One of such innovations with modern banking transactions was the introduction of e-payment products, chief of which is the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Since the introduction of the ATMs, many customers could hardly tell how banking halls look like again, except when they have to deposit money in their accounts.

Bisi Balogun, not real names, recently said she does all her transactions electronically. According to her, the experience has spared her the trouble associated with the banking halls.

“The e-payment products have opened the doors for Nigerians to enjoy what until recently they could not have imagined,” she said.

She also said that using the ATM had saved her the embarrassment of going to the bank to withdraw small amount of money.

“When I am broke and want to withdraw small amount of money, I do not have to face the humiliation one suffers from many bank cashiers. In fact, the ATM comes with some measure of respect as people still see it as elitist irrespective of the fact that one may have withdrawn as little as one thousand naira only,” she said.

Many banks today, have deployed hundreds of ATMs nationwide and have been employing deliberate policies to encourage their customers to use the ATMs.

Some banks have even moved further to configure their ATM to pay cash for both domestic and international cardholders to have instant access to cash at any ATM in the country.

However, like every other innovation, there is a flip-side to the automated solutions.

Recently, at one of the new generation banks at Isolo area in Lagos, a man walked into the premises of the bank to withdraw some money. At the first attempt, the machine did not dispense cash. Just when he was about making a second attempt, a pretty young lady, who saw that he was attempting to try again, cautioned him against doing so.

The lady told him, that he stands to be debited to the tune he had intended to withdraw if he tried again.

She narrated her own experience, not long before, when she had to go to the person in charge for reconciliation only to discover after a long while that she had been debited for money she did not withdraw.

Whereas, hers may be easy to resolve given that the ATM in question was that of her bank, what will be the fate of those who have used ATMs that belong to another bank and who may not know immediately that they had been debited.

Mr. Kola Ali, a staff of one of the new generation banks in Lagos, needed to use cash to solve an immediate problem where he was. Luckily for him, he looked around and saw a nearby ATM. He approached the machine but the attempt was fruitless. He had no way of knowing that his accounts had been debited to the tune of N2,000 until after a while when he checked his balance.

Ali also, narrated another experience when he used the ATM in his bank, but was unsuccessful, only to be notified later through a short messaging services (SMS) alert that his account had been debited to the tune of N10,000. He hurriedly approached officials in charge of the ATM where he was told to fill a form.

This worrisome trend is indeed a cause for concern for many unwary customers who may not take time to be checking their balance often.

Cases like these will only stall the march of the nation to a cashless society.

The ATMs are increasingly becoming unreliable because most times people would have to move from one ATM to the other, just about the same time it would have taken one to go to the bank and withdraw money.

The explanations often displayed by the machines are: Temporary out of cash, your network is not connected or try elsewhere among others.

Coupled with all these is the lackadaisical approach of some banks staff in loading the machine when it runs out of cash.

Another first generation bank in Isolo, had about five customers intending to withdraw through the ATM. Whereas the ATM was working, but it had ran out of cash.

When the lady in charge of attending to complaints was approached, she pleaded with the customers to be patient because the officer in whose care the ATM is was not around.

She pleaded that in 30 minutes the person would have been back. 30 minutes became two hours and yet the person was no where to be found. The problem of these customers were made worse because they did not come with either their cheque book or withdrawal slip and to think that this particular ATM is located right in the premises of the bank makes it even more worrisome.

An information technology expert, who does not want his name in print, said that banks should endeavour to find solutions to these problems, because the benefits accruing to them from e-payments are enormous.

He also said since many banks are trying to confine small accounts holders to the machines, because of the desire to make more money from charges thereof, it goes without saying that they stand to lose when the confidence of people are dampened by their inability to access their money, whenever and wherever they so desire.

“This will serve as a disincentive to such customers, and ultimately, the banks stand to lose,” he noted.

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Glo slashes rate on international calls

The international gateway subsidiary of the Second National Operator (SNO), Globacom Limited, the Glo Gateway, has announced a 70 per cent reduction in its international calls to the United Kingdom, United State of America and Canada.

A press statement from Glo Gateway, said subscribers instead of the N39 per minute earlier charged for calls to these destinations, Glo will now charge 20 kobo per second and N12 per minute for calls to all lines in the United States of America and Canada as well as calls to only landlines in the United Kingdom.

Head, Glo Gateway, Mr. Ibrahim Fadipe, disclosed in a statement in Lagos, last weekend, that the new call tariff is being offered in a new promotion called “Glo International Talk Extravaganza” promotion billed to end on January 31, 2009.

He explained that the new tariff is applicable to calls made from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday and calls made throughout the weekend. The offer, which is the most competitive in the industry, is open to new and existing customers on both the prepaid and postpaid platforms.

Fadipe said the heavy reduction in the tariff underlines Globacom’s resolve to continue to offer its subscribers affordable telecommunication services.

Glo Gateway which began operations five years ago has become a major player in the global telecommunication environment. With its international gateway switches, the company is able to offer hubbing services for the rest of the world.

Fadipe said that Glo Gateway currently aggregates international traffic for other countries and terminates them into their destinations.

It also carries international call traffic for several telecom operators in Nigeria.

“Because of the direct interconnectivity which we have established with many international carriers, we will be able to hub several million minutes of international traffic monthly to different destinations across the globe,” Fadipe stated, adding that “the direct connectivity also ensures high quality call termination, offering users of Glo Gateway service high quality international calls”.

Globacom is currently building 8,300-km long submarine cable to link Europe and the Africa sub-region and carry data and internet traffic between Nigeria and the rest of the world. The contract being executed by leading telecommunication vendors, Alcatel of France, will cater for long term bandwidth requirements for voice and data transmission in the region.

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Visafone records 2.5m subscribers, ends Fantastic promo

The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, Visafone Communications Limited, has ended its Fantastic bonanza offer otherwise known as ‘12 cars in 12 weeks promo’ with more four winners emerging last weekend.

This development came as Visafone announced that it has recorded about 2.5 million subscribers in 10 months of operation.

The event, which held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, had in attendance a large audience of Visafone subscribers and media practitioners.

The draw yielded four more lucky winners of Kia Rio saloon cars bringing to 12 the number of cars given out by the operator.

The new four winners are Port Harcourt based Mr. Jumbo Eric, a resident of Okokomaiko, Lagos, Mrs. Olasunkanmi, Mallam Muhammed Jibrin from Kano and Joy Scott a Benin-based business woman.

ITRealms Online recalls that the Fantastic Bonanza was flagged off amidst fanfare on October 13, 2008 with new subscribers as well as old ones who recharged their phones with at least N400 monthly being eligible to win the brand new Kia Rio cars on offer.

Speaking at the last draw, the Acting General Manager, Marketing & Strategies at Visafone, Mr. Clifford Onyeike, told the audience that they have crossed 2.5 million subscribers in less than 10 months in the market.

Onyeike also said that to win in the promo, all any customer needed was to buy and activate a Visafone handset and then ensure recharge with, at least, N400 every week to qualify for the weekly draws.

He appreciated Nigerians, especially Visafone subscribers for lifting the network to another record-breaking subscriber-base, while urging potential customers to ensure that they join the network that care for them.

“We have garnered a record-breaking 2.5 million subscribers in just 10 months, thus, making us the fastest-growing mobile phone company in Nigeria,” he asserted.
Visafone began commercial operations on February 22, 2008.

In the past, the likes of Pastor (Mrs.) Florence N. Toby, Ibadan-based Mrs Zainab Salami, and Mr. Emeka Igenaka, had emerged in the draw for weeks 6, 7 and 8 in that order.

The promo, which commenced on October 13, 2008 and ran through on January 4, 2009.

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Zain Group wins Lebanese mobile deal

Leading mobile telecom company in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa(MEA), Zain Group, has announced a successful tender to continue managing one of Lebanon’s two mobile operations, MIC2 branded as MTC Touch, for an additional year commencing February 1, 2009.

This contract, according to officials of Zain Group is extendable for one year as per the new management agreement terms set by the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications.

They also said that by offering the most competitive price to run the network, Zain, through MTC Touch in Lebanon, is committed to increase its customer base by an additional 400,000 as part of a rapid and devoted government-funded expansion plan.

Currently MTC Touch has over 800,000 active customers.

Meanwhile, subscribers of Zain Nigeria, have applauded its instant bonus airtime promo, saying it was handy during the just ended yuletide season.

Zain officials said that subscribers on the network used the instant airtime bonus to send season greetings, to friends, family members and business partners via the Short Messaging Service (SMS) in addition to making very important voice calls.

Also, ITRealms Online recalls that Zain bonus offer prepaid customers instantly N200 bonus airtime on every N2000 recharge using its physical cards; N100 bonus on every N1000 recharge and N50 and N20 bonus airtime on every N500 and N200 recharge respectively using recharge cards.

Mr. Otokhine said the operator offers 10 per cent instant bonus airtime to customers who recharge with N500, N1000, N2000, and N5, 000 electronic vouchers or electronic pins.

According to him, the promo, which ends on January 31, 2009, afforded subscribers to drastically reduce their airtime deductions.

Some of the beneficiaries including Damilola Sobowale, ‘Dare Ajayi and Pius Uwaleke said the bonus airtime enabled them to significantly reduce the cost of sending seasonal greetings and making calls during the yuletide season.

Ajayi said he was particularly pleased with the instant crediting of his line with the bonus offer each time he recharges his phone with either N1000 or N500 recharge cards, stressing that the bonus promo could not have come at a better time.

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TTC Mobile introduces ‘09-scholarship

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training outfit, TTC Mobile, has introduced a nationwide technology scholarship.

Chief executive officer, TTC Mobile Ltd., Mr. Akin Aregbesola, made this disclosure in Lagos, last weekend, said that it is no longer in doubt that the future global economy greatly depends on technology.

“There is therefore an urgent need to raise an army of technology soldiers to sustain and surpass present efforts to take Nigeria to the Information Age,” he said.
Mr. Aregbesola also said that in order to encourage this kind of soldiers to emerge, TTC Mobile has announced its National Technology Scholarship to further empower Nigerian youths.

“It is a programme that will take participants through four weeks of rigorous practical training,” he said.

Stressing that beneficiaries of the programme would be admitted in two categories.
“Category A beneficiaries will go through this training, absolutely free of charge. Participants from outside Lagos will be provided with a 3-star hotel accommodation, in addition to daily feeding allowances during training. They will also be supported with transport allowances,” he said.

Aregbesola explained that category B entails that beneficiaries will also receive free training but will be required to pay a minimal amount to cover training materials.

“Training for category B beneficiaries will be delivered in four locations across the country, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Awka,” he said.

Highlighting that this training has been scheduled to commence in February this year, promising it would be very rich and meets international standards, as equipment worth over N5,000,000 have already been acquired for practical.

“Training will empower participants with relevant skills for employment, as well as open your eyes to possibilities and liberate your creative mind,” Aregbesola said.

Affirming that his team recently returned to the country after a consolidation exercise with prospective partners in the United Kingdom (UK), Aregbesola said that the project is being sponsored by one of the biggest banks in the country in recognition with his firm, TTC Mobile, as contribution to the national development in the last five years.

“In the past, we have partnered with the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) to deliver similar scholarship programmes,” he said.

Emphasizing that the 2008 version was held in 10 locations in the country covering Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Awka, Uyo, Kaduna, Benin-City and Warri, even as this year, the category A beneficiaries will come to Lagos, while the Category B beneficiaries will be trained at their preference venue amongst Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Awka training centres.

“Aside the training, we are also partnering with telecommunication service companies and Recruitment firms. They will be at the training to assess participants and take CVs for possible employment and placement with clients companies respectively,” he said.

Further, he stressed that the training proper would cover routing and switching which lead to Cisco & Huawei Certifications, telecommunications industry association certification, BTS Engineering for GSM/CDMA industry, leading to BTS Certification.
“Training starts in Lagos, February 16,” he said urging prospective trainees to call TTC on 0805 088 1404 to get further details.

ITRealms Online recalls that TTC is rated as a leading telecom training company in Nigeria, with its team of trainers, headed by the General Manager, Mr. Ishola Peter.

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