Multimesh may sue Copyrights Commission

*Over alleged piracy

The last is not heard of the misunderstanding between Multimesh Communications Limited and Entertainment Highway Limited, right owners of the English Premiere League, EPL and operators of HiTV, over rebroadcast rights, as Multimesh is considering dragging the Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) to court, for unlawful, forceful and damaging of its transmission equipment worth millions of Naira.

Multimesh, a Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) operator, which hinges on wireless telecommunications offerings to deploy its Television (Tv) broadcasting, has insisted that NCC raid was illegal.

ITRealms Online recalled that a fortnight ago, NCC enforcement team led by one, Mr. Ajala, and made up of armed police men, reportedly raided Multimesh office in Calabar, Cross River State and took away transmission equipment and damaged quite a number in the process.

According to the chief executive officer, Multimesh, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, in a petition dated January 8, 2009, addressed to the Minster of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Mike Aondaokaa, and copied the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the raid was malicious because the bone of contention was not piracy, but a business dispute.

Sir Godfrey maintained that it was a misunderstanding and not piracy issue as claimed by Entertainment Highway, even as he decried that NCC instead of resolving the issue amicably deployed its enforcement team to Multimesh office in Calabar.

He described the NCC raid as “maliciously vandalizing its station in Calabar for reasons best known to them.”

However, following the prompt intervention of the National Broadcasting Commission, the misunderstanding was put to rest with some clauses and agreement.

But the echoes from Multimesh, as shown by ITRealms Online investigations is that the firm is on the verge of engaging the Copyrights Commission with a law suit to replace most, if not all the equipment damaged during the purported piracy raid on the company.

Our investigations, also confirmed that advances have been made for the procedure to ensure it followed due process, beginning with the assessment of the damage and cost of replacement.

Effort at gathering the total sum was not successful, last weekend, as the chief executive officer of Multimesh, Sir Godfrey, was said to have traveled.

In a telephone conversation with ITRealms Online, the Director, Public Affairs at the Copyrights Commission, Mr. Olisa Obi, confirmed the raid and eventual resolution, while saying he read it in the newspapers, because he has been on vacation.

Obi was emphatic that NCC, though a government agency do not destroy or demolish people’s equipment in the bid to enforce the law.

“We don’t demolish things, we can dismantle but we don’t demolish or destroy,” he declared.

Obi, who reminded ITRealms Online that he was a director of enforcement for over three years at the commission, hence he was sure NCC officials did not destroy any equipment.

“We can only dismantle equipment and seize them during raids,” he said.

Meanwhile, details of the resolution reached by NBC between Multimesh and owners of HiTV, over rights to rebroadcast English Premier League (EPL) signals in the South East and South South, have begun to emerge.

In the meeting held at NBC’s headquarters in Abuja, its officials led by the Director General, Mr. Yomi Bolarinwa, extracted an agreement from the feuding parties, just as it was established that a contract had earlier existed between the two organisations since 2007.

This, industry observers, said gave credence to the claims by Multimesh that what transpired was a business dispute and not a case of piracy.

The agreement signed read in part that in “Pursuant to Section 2 (1) (Q) of the National Broadcasting Commission Act No. 38 of 1992 (as amended), the NBC 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 EPL matches.”

Also resolved was 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.

Additionally, 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.

This deal was confirmed on telephone by the chief executive, HiTV, Mr. Toyin Subair.

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What You should know about Twitter (4)

While our business model is in a research phase, we spend more money than we make.


What’s next for Twitter?

We continue to follow user behavior and pay close attention to feature requests.
We launched our mobile site, m.twitter.com after getting lots of requests for this feature.

However, we are also very much guided by our philosophy of keeping things simple and intuitive so we like to restrain ourselves with regard to features.

That being said, people seem to be calling for more interesting ways to share feedback with one another and organize themselves and their updates into groups--we’re paying attention to these requests.

We plan to build Twitter, Inc into a successful, revenue-generating company that attracts world-class talent with an inspiring culture and attitude towards doing business.


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Omatek consolidates on e-learning

Computer manufacturing firm in the country, Omatek Plc, has opened yet another vista for electronic learning (e-learning) for the education sector.

The Group Managing Director, Omatek Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, said at a press conference in Lagos that the latest initiative is to consolidate the firm’s position in the education sector and is add-on to the Omatek e-Xpress programme already in the public domain.

“The e-learning scheme is a holistic solution to consolidate Omatek’s positioning in the education sector,” she said.

The newest Omatek e-learning scheme, Mrs. Seriki said, would act as a one-stop shop which provides a platform to ensure that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools are readily deployed to schools and classrooms under a carefully structured learning environment.

“That is equipped with our 8” and 10” computers; internet connection to create virtual connectivity between students and teachers or lecturers. It also involves the deployment of a robust content and curriculum development,” she said.

According to her, the internet connectivity via the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology would offer hotspots around the schools, “thus creating an enabling environment for teachers and students to deploy their Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) for connectivity.”

She explained that the Omatek e-Learning scheme has been divided into modules for ease of deployment and these modules will assist in streamlining the processes where the practice of teaching and learning could enjoy intervention by the introduction of Information Technology (IT) tools necessary for the creation of e-learning environment across schools in the country.

“The main thrust of the scheme is to create an e-learning experience that will serve to further deepen teaching and learning engagements while reducing concurrent costs of managing materials and resources allocated to schools,” Mrs. Seriki said.

She pointed out that the hardware components of the scheme would comprise the Omatek 8”and 10” smart notebooks, specifically designed with 60 Gigabytes hard disk space and 512 Megabytes (mb) as well as 1 Gigabyte (Gb) of Random Access Memory (RAM) respectively for students and teachers in the educational sector, backed with robust Wi-Fi coverage of each school.

She further enlightened that the smart notebooks are equally portable and come in various attractive colors, including pink, purple, black, and navy blue.

“An alternative computer is the 15.4 laptop for teachers and lecturers,” she said.
Additionally available under the scheme, she said, is the Omatek all-in-one compact PC which comes with a 15-17” flat screen and has the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and monitor built into one.

“It is ideal for schools, computer/ICT laboratories,” she declared, stressing that the advantages of the Omatek Compact computer apart from space conservation is that it has an option of being a touch screen irrespective of the regular flat screen model.

“The Omatek Compact comes with 80 Gigabytes (GB) of Hard Disc Drive (HDD), combined Personal Computer (PC) and CPU, wireless mouse, Wi-Fi ready and it’s equipped with Digital Video Display (DVD) writer,” she said.

Mrs. Seriki emphasized that Omatek is equipped for the e-learning scheme with funding arrangement from partnering banks structured under the e-Xpress initiative which has not been fully utilized based on the various options of facilities available to be explored.

According to her, the Omatek factories in Nigeria and Ghana guarantee quality production, empower the youths, create employment opportunities through encouraging adaptation to technology transfer, research and development.

Omatek, she maintained is committed to bridge the digital divide in the country and this initiative is a demonstration of its strong support for the future of the country’s educational sector.

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Experiencing Nokia N96 excitement

Review:

Preamble:
Yes, the expectation was high and African continent was not excluded and it came to pass that last quarter saw the continental launch of Nokia N96 in the region.

For Nigeria, a continuously growing telecommunications and precisely the fastest mobile market cannot be over-emphasized.

As a mobile device, Nokia N96 is a tool never to regret having it around, especially when one finds him or her self in the ever changing mobile world like we live in today.

Although the first attempt was to go to the preloaded demo to showcase the values embedded in the device, which ended up being cranky, making it imperfect to run, hence discouraging. But determined to see it all, it was easy to understand that the demo came with good intention, though the cracks could be from the number of copies conducted at a given time, according to experts.

Optimizing PIM:
Nevertheless, it was easy to switch between another compatible phone, mostly of Nokia model with N96, culminating that in less than three minutes after connection was paired, it switched 873 contacts, 58 calendar entries, 114 text messages, 23 Multimedia Service (MMS), 2 notes, 17 bookmarks without any hassles or further prompts. This gave credence to the claim of its data transfer application ability for the transmission of Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) information from other compatible Nokia devices.

PIM is a collection of multicast routing protocols, each optimized for a different environment. There are two main PIM protocols, namely the PIM Sparse Mode and PIM Dense Mode. A third PIM protocol, Bi-directional PIM, is less widely used.

However, this PIM innovation is a plus, as it made it comfortable to transfer details from an old phone, for instance, to a new one; which most of the time is the challenge and majorly why most people are very adamant to change their mobile handsets, unless it got bad eventually and become technically unrepairable or stolen.

Local synchronization:
These much was actualized via local synchronization of the two phones for contacts and calendar among other data, even as it is viable with a compatible Personal Computer (PC) using compatible connection. But one must be wary of where the information is emanating, whether from the old phone to the new one or vice versa, but it is advisable to dwell more in terms of exercising with the new phone than the old one, so as not to loose data due to erroneous attempt.

N96, therefore, was able to notify on the number of contacts switched, as nothing was changed in the contacts, thus encouraging and could be a marketing instrument for the model.

Basically, on inserting of any new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), the N96 handset would ask if you would like the new SIM contact to be displayed in the contact and if the user decided on the negative, the choice becomes no.

The camera:
For the N96 camera, it seems difficult to find and operate compared to N82. In N96 you have to press the camera button and hold; hence overriding every thing about the phone, which initially takes the user to the camera mode and another press and hold then amounts to capturing of images. This, to an extent of someone who wants an easy and quick capture, is unarguably slow.

But for quicker actions, users have to navigate through the standard depending on individual settings, may be from the front displayed menu; discover the camera and then capture, which still entails press and hold until it snaps.

N96 dangles 5 megapixel with 2 pixels of the secondary camera based on Carl Zeiss Optics: Tessar lens, the auto-focus, and exposure pave the way for dual-Light-Emitting Diode (LED) camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light and so on.

Multimedia:
Interestingly, from the front row button of multimedia; television (tv), video, live, my videos, video feeds, directory, last watched are simply enticing and therefore could be easily accessed.

With the C drive reflecting the phone memory worth 56.2 Megabytes (Mb), the E drive which is the removable Mass memory is valued to be 13.7 Gigabyte (Gb), N96 offers rotatory screens like most high-end NSeries, especially the popular Nigerian check-check phone, the N82.

Although the mobile TV could have been exciting as well, but due to most Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operators are yet to make such service available, it thereby proved difficult currently to connect, especially when operators are not at home with the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB).

But then, individual could watch video on it very clearly and is exciting to have the inbuilt video clips otherwise known as Video on Demand (VoD), which in fact could be self recorded when busy to be watched later either at home or still on the move.

Car charger:
The car charger refer to in Nokia parlance as Mobile Charger DC-4 is handy in a situation like Lagos-Nigeria where power supply is still epileptic and as a mobile executive, getting home late to discover there was no electricity supply could be a hard stress.

Typically, when you realize one has to be on the move the following morning and there is no hope for the public power to be restored before then and even if, how long would you charge the battery before returning to traffic once again.

So, with your N96 car charger compatible, one could easily put it on and connected to the handy while on the move, so that by the time you get to the destination, your phone must have charged enough in a daily traffic that spans not less than four hours.

Bluetooth Speakers:
The Nokia Bluetooth Speakers MD-7W, are compatible with N96 and offer the room for users to enjoy high-quality stereo sound wirelessly. They also deliver optimized Third Dimension (3D) sound, thus providing a stereo-wide experience, and dynamic bass control for a strong bass performance.

To enjoy this feature, one has to attach the speakers magnetically for convenient portability of which power and battery life could be viewed through the LED indicator.

Additionally, its Bluetooth connection was one hand. Although, it’s transfer of data to a laptop appeared slower than that of N82; That is, if the Bluetooth transfer of data could complete in thirty (30) seconds on N82, it takes N96 about 50 seconds to accomplish.

While the headset connection creates some difficulties in linking up, making it vulnerable to compete with like of other high-end Bluetooth results among competition, like Sony Ericsson.

Voice command:
One thing that distinguishes Nokia Nseries, especially the N96 is the quality of its voice command. Although at first, one has to really undergo checks on the voice recognition otherwise it could always ask you ‘if you mean Kem’ when you asked for ‘Nkem’.

Therefore it is relevant to note that the voice command needs a neutral English speaker to conducted the voice over that is finally inputted into the models, otherwise it would become endless ‘if you mean …” Or, may be, engaging voice experts from various regions of the world to encourage and stimulate the use of Voice command, which is very important for those who prefer hands-free usage most of the times.

Easy WLAN:
There was a hot debate going on and yours sincerely was at the highbrow Victoria Island in Lagos, precisely at the Civic Centre, and needed to be online while waiting for a meeting to take off, it was not difficult to discover the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) in that vicinity, as it propelled the move to sign-on and was part of the debate. Hence encouraging for mobile people and for those who still want to be connected to the global village no matter where they are.

Last line:
Above all, it is a tool to buy, if you really need to be mobile.

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Epson targets N592m from Nigeria, opens office

Account manager for South Africa at Epson Corporation, Mr. Shaun Robinson, has said that his firm’s target this financial year is $4 million, about N592m from the Nigerian market.

This is coming as plans is up for Epson to open a country office.

Responding to questions at the ‘Exceed Your Vision’ seminar in Lagos, organized in collaboration with its main distributor in the country, Technology Distribution (TD) West Africa Limited, Mr. Robinson declared “our target for this year in Nigeria is $4 million.”

Equally responding, the General Manager, Marketing at TD, Mrs. Chioma Chimere assured that given the avalanche of her company’s outlet through the dealers and resellers in the West African region, they would be equal to the task.

She also solicited the support of all dealers and resellers to put in their best so as to surpass the target of Epson team in Nigeria.

She stressed that they have well trained technical staff to back up the Epson series of printers that would soon flood the nation’s market.

Earlier while introducing Epson to participants, the Business Development Manager, Epson Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Sylvain Volly, asserted, “TD is our main distributor in Nigeria.”

The resurfacing of Epson in Nigeria through the TD partnership is to reclaim rightful place in the ever growing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market in West Africa.

In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), he said, Epson is consolidating its position with engagement of over 2,400 employees.

“We’re leaders in personal inkjet office products,” he asserted.

Epson, which is a part of Seiko Epson Corporation, a conglomerate worth over $1.3 trillion in revenue with over 90,000 employee globally, even as it is made up of 109 group of companies covering sales.

With specialty in printers, Mr. Volly noted that Epson has over 8,155 patents worldwide as at last year.

He listed the company’s range of products to include video projectors, large format printers, Dot matrix printers and laser printers.

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Use Open Source to fight poverty - Odum

Finland-based Nigerian Chief Technology Officer of WoodGong Communications, Mr. Sunny Odum has advocated for the adaptation of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the country, saying that it’s truly free.

“Free and Open Source is truly what the name implies,” he said, stressing that in a developing country like Nigeria, there is need to tap into FOSS in order to alleviate poverty.

“Granted that we in the developing world is so scared to copy technologies from the developed world, are we also not capable of using FOSS that we are even encouraged to rip and use, hook, line and sinker?” he wondered.

Mr. Odum in a paper entitled “Global Economic Turmoil, Free and Open Source Software and Nigerian Information Technological Development” made available to ITRealms Online, said that people in the developing country like Nigeria, “need not pay a dime on software if they adopt, adapt and develop FOSS.”

In accordance with FOSS philosophy, he quipped, “What can we not do: from desktop to servers and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) platforms to super computers.”

Lamenting that in 2004, Nigerian software import was reported to be about US $1 billion, pointing out that this kind of fund could be channeled to vital infrastructural development.

For him, he did not see the reason why a country like Nigeria that is blessed with abundant human resource cannot optimize technology for poverty eradication, noting that technology is not god and does not reside in any where.

“Technology does not belong to anyone. Technology is everywhere. In fact, techné is the art or process or know-how or means to an end or outcome. Technology is derived from the Greek word techné, which could as a matter of fact be originally Egyptian,” he asserted.

Mr. Odum emphasized that technology is a mere combination of articulation of thinking and organized process of reaching a pre-determined outcome or solution.
“Therefore, from time immemorial, technology has accompanied even the most primitive of humanity and many animals. So, what is this fallacy about technology transfer? Is it not possible that one human being or animal can copy another human being or animal?” he said.

Odum further cited an instance that when A copies the knot tying skill of B, has B transferred his skill to A?

“Is there a technology transfer between A and B?,” he assumed.

Hence, he did not see any qualms in Nigerians copying existing technologies even when the nation is too reluctant to develop its own?

“Again, Nigeria is endowed with huge population and human resources, massive raw materials and excellent weather conditions. What is stopping intelligent Nigerians from developing or copying existing technologies to eradicate poverty in Nigeria?” Odum asked.

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New Horizons eyes 10 new IT centres

Global computer training institute, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers Inc., is planning to set up 10 new computer education centres in the country.

Director, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Mr. Jamal Suboh, told newsmen in Lagos, while on a working visit that this is part of the firm’s strategic plans to broaden the scope of training programmes with a view to empowering thousands of Nigerians for professional careers.

He said New Horizons which already has presence in over 150 countries globally is determined to improve its operations in the country, for market growth.

Suboh also said the company would be introducing its Mentored Learning, which offers flexibility of training for all categories of students along with the expansion of the ultra-modern new training centres to be set up in all the geo-political zones in Nigeria.

He noted that the projects when completed will attract revenue for the company to the tune of about $10 million within the next few years.

“Our medium term objective is to have at least 10 more training centres established here since the Nigerian market still has the potential for growth,” he said.

Suboh attributed this to more accessibility of these centres which is very important to deliver the trainings.

“We are integrating the Mentored Learning into our training modules in order to cater for the varying training needs of all categories of students. It is a flexible training that is already being run in about 250 other centres globally,” Suboh said.

He explained that the various centres will be managed with the latest training solutions that will enable sponsors of candidates, particularly corporate organizations, to assess the performance of students in class work and skill acquisition as a means of ensuring that they have a deep understanding of the emerging technologies and software as well as their application to business operations.

ITRealms Online recalls that last year alone, New Horizons invested about N500 million in Nigerian universities under its ICT Infotainment programme through which over 5,000 undergraduates benefited to improve their IT skills.

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UNCC-AA hosts CODIST-I in April

The United Nations Conference Centre  Addis-Ababa  (UNCC-AA), Ethiopia, is set to play host to the first session of the Committee on Development Information Science and Technology  (CODIST-I) slated for April.

The Regional Advisor, ICT Initiatives at the ICT, Science & Technology Division (ISTD),United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Mr. Thierry H. Amoussougbo, revealed this to ITRealms Online at the weekend.

He said that the four-day event has been scheduled to take place between April 28 and May 1, this year, at UNCC-AA, Ethiopia.

He also said that the theme for CODIST-I is “Scientific Development Innovation and the Knowledge Economy.” Amoussougbo noted that the Committee on Development Information, Science and Technology (CODIST) is one of the seven subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) composed of senior officials and experts from member States, who meet on a biennial basis.

As said by him, the role of CODIST is to review challenges and issues pertaining to the information and communications technology, geo-information, science and technology sectors; formulate policies and strategies to address Africa’s development challenges; and determine priorities to be reflected in the work programme of the ICT, Science and Technology Division of ECA.

ITRealms Online gathered that CODIST-I tends to bring together member states’ delegates in the field of ICT, Geo-information and science and technology and other experts to advise ECA in these areas and to review progress made by the Commission and member states towards implementing the recommendations of CODI-V.

The regional adviser further said that participants are expected to come from official delegates, which are persons designated and sponsored by member states to represent and speak on their behalf.

While the observers will be made up of states that are, not members  of the Commission, intergovernmental organizations,  academic institutions and research centres, agencies of the United  Nations and non-governmental organizations, stakeholders in any substantive field (ICT), Geo-information and science and technology) within CODIST’s purview who are not official delegates are cordially invited to participate as  observers.

While exhibitors, he pointed out could come as persons, organizations, or corporate entities that have products, services, or information to exhibit and disseminate are invited to attend as exhibitors.

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NigcomSAT-1 returns to orbit in 2010

... As Nigeria, China finalize deal on satellite 2, 3

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and its Chinese counterpart have reached agreement on the replacement of the nation’s NigComSAT-1, which was de-orbited early last November, just as the tentative completion date for the replaced satellite to return to orbit has been scheduled for last quarter of 2010.

These indications were given, last weekend, by sources close to the presidency, even as another casualty was recorded in the global satellite industry by the European satellite operator, SES, which culminated in the shutting down of its ASTRA 5A, based on reported technicalities.

Unlike NigComSat-1, ASTRA 5A has a back-up satellite, which paved the way for its operators, SES to commence procedures for immediate return to orbit within the possible time.

Our sources also said that in order to guard against lack of back-up in the future, the Chinese authorities has reached another deal with Nigeria to split the NigComSAT-2 and 3 into phases.

This step is anticipated to cushion the effect of any eventuality as regards to the satellite failure in the future, with its attendant lose of clientele.

To prevent a recurrence, our source continued, China has decided on a phased out plan for the unleashing of NigComSat-2 and 3, which would be built into the new deal as part of strategies to avoid the dilemma faced by NigComSat-1 customers when the solar panel of Africa’s first communication satellite failed last quarter.

ITRealms Online also gathered that in the latest deal, NigComSat- 2 and NigComSat-3 will be launched into orbit six and 12 months after the replacement of NigComSat-1 by 2010.

“Between six and 12 months after the return of NigComSAT-1, the two phased out backups will be launched,” our source said.

It was further gathered that as replacement work has commenced, under-writers across the two countries, have been working on insurance claims of the satellite by China and Nigeria.

ITRealms Online recalls that NigcomSat-1 was built by the China Great Wall Industry Corporation at a cost of $250 million. It became the first African geosynchronous communications satellite when it was launched. It is operated by NigComSat Limited.

NigComSat-1 was insured by a consortium of international insurance firms, including SpaceCo of France, Munich Cray of Germany, and the People’s Insurance Company of China.

Equally, local insurance companies, banded together as co-insurers retained about 10 per cent of the risks shared, an equivalent percentage of the premium.

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Main One engages US firm, Pioneer Consulting

Main One Cable Company Limited with licenses to land its undersea cable in the country and Ghana, has engaged a United States-based telecommunications consulting, engineering and market research firm, Pioneer Consulting.

Chief Executive Officer, Main One Cable, Ms. Funke Opeke, who made this known to ITRealms Online, said the consulting firm was hired as an integral part of the Main One management team, to supervise the implementation of the network.

“It will provide expert advice while tracking the design, engineering and implementation of the project,” she said.

The development, she said would enable the company to remain focused on ensuring that deadlines are met.

“And we’re very happy at the tremendous progress we have continued to record in this regard. We trust that on completion in May 2010, the Main One project will usher a new lease of life in international connectivity on the West African coast,” Opeke assured.

In his comment, the Managing Partner, Pioneer Consulting, Mr. Howard Kidorf, expressed confidence that his team would deliver.

“Our team of experts is delighted at the opportunity to work with the team at Main One Cable Company,” he said, noting that their excitement was that Main One Cable Company recognized the import of Pioneer Consulting to deliver a comprehensive project management and engineering services that the project needs to be successful.

Director, Submarine Networks, Pioneer Consulting and lead project manager, Mr. Keith Schofield said, “Main One is progressing ahead of schedule with marine route survey activities underway and key licenses being confirmed. We have also undertaken a full contract review audit of the system supplier.”

He further pointed out that Main One Cable Company and Pioneer Consulting are determined for the busy manufacturing schedule and construction of cable stations, both in Nigeria and Ghana, to complement the Portuguese station already in place.

“Pioneer Consulting’s long experience in submarine networks makes us the natural choice for soundly implemented projects,” the project leader said.

ITRealms Online brings to mind that the phase one of the Main One undersea cable project which began since last year is expected to connect Africa through Europe to the rest of the world. The first phase is 6,900 kilometers long and will extend from Portugal to Nigeria and Ghana respectively.

The second phase is expected to extend by another 6,000 kilometers to South Africa.

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20 millionaires to emerge in Zain Valentine promo

Zain Nigeria has introduced a Valentine Millionaire promo scheduled to make 20 subscribers on the network millionaires within one month.

The promo which is to run for four weeks is expected to produce at least, 5 millionaires per week.

The promo designed to give many Nigerians and especially subscribers on Zain network a lift financially, despite the current global meltdown, was introduced to provide people with the wherewithal to celebrate Valentine Day.

Head, Corporate Communications, Zain Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Oparah, who announced this, said the promo which commenced last Tuesday, January 20, 2009, nationwide, would end on February 16, 2009.

“The Promo is opened to every subscriber of Zain Nigeria,” he said.

Weekly, he said, winners would be selected and announced every Monday via the mass media during the duration of the promo.

“Cash prizes will be presented to the winners later in line with the terms of the promo,” Oparah said.

He explained that 30 successful participants would emerge winners weekly, out of which the top five among them would receive N1,000,000.00, (a million naira) each, while 25 others will receive N100,000.00 Naira.

He also said that in all, 20 lucky participants will become millionaires, while 100 (one hundred) other winners will receive N100,000.00 each.

Oparah enlightened that in order to participate in the Valentine promo, Zain subscribers in the country are expected to use a minimum of N100 daily for one week, that is, Tuesday through Monday.

“A minimum usage of N700 per week in N100 usage per day for seven days, will guarantee the participant one entry for a weekly draw,” he said.

Participants, he said, could enhance their chances of becoming millionaires by increasing the number of entries during the promo duration.

To increase subscribers’ chances of winning, Oparah advised Zain customers to participate in the weekly promo cycle throughout the four weeks by ensuring that they use, at least, N100 daily during the designated period of the promo.

“We want our customers to derive more value from the use of their phones. We are determined to improve the financial profile of many Nigerians, lifting many out of poverty and enriching those who are not exactly poor but desire to have more money,” said Oparah.

According to him, the promo has been carefully timed for the Valentine period when people need money to buy gifts or go on holiday with their loved ones.

“Weekly, our promo will produce millionaires and other winners,” he declared.

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Internet growth records 23.4% in 2008 - IWS

Internet World Statistics (IWS) has declared a fantastic growth in the internet penetration globally to the tune of over 1,573,269,743 persons worldwide, in the just ended year, 2008.

This, IWS said, amounts to 23.4 per cent penetration rate as at the last quarter of 2008.

IWS justified its percentage mark based on the considerate global population of 6,708,755,756 persons according to the United States’ Census Bureau data.

In efforts at setting the records straight, IWS informed in a press statement, last Sunday that Internet had fantastic expansion in 2008, because almost every region of the world recorded interesting growth.

“All world regions showed growth, however, at very different rates,” part of the press statement read.

However, IWS attributed this development to cultural, social and economic differences.

“It is quite normal due to cultural, social, and economic differences prevailing in each part of the world as well as the already existing number of users in each region,” IWS said.

IWS further noted that it did not want to publish this information before now, but due to various conflicting reports, it was forced to, hence it apologized for publishing partial result.

“… Because, we have not finished updating all the Internet World Stats website. Circumstances beyond our control have forced us to speak up and publish partially updated statistics, sorry about this.”

According to IWS, useful growth trends were evident at the various geographic regions, noting that the number of Internet users in the world grew by 253,397,634 persons in 2008 alone.

This, IWS said represents a 19.2 per cent yearly increase with regard to the number of estimated users that existed one year ago at year-end 2007.

Described as the “early adopters” IWS said North America and Australia showed the smallest growth in the year under review.

“This is considered a normal behavior because the “early adopters” have already completed their fast growth phase,” IWS explained, pointing out that the Internet penetration rates were already very high in those areas.

The territories and regions identified as “late adopters” logically are just initiating their high growth rates, such as South America, the Middle East the Caribbean, and Africa show this trend, with corresponding high growth rates of 63.2 per cent, 34.6 per cent, 33.6 per cent and 19.8 per cent.

IWS noted that Internet users in Europe increased by 48,709,081 persons, while the region finalizes its fast growth phase, evidenced by the low 14.0 per cent growth rate.

Asia, on the other hand, according to the report, is just starting its high growth phase and the current growth rate of 26.8 per cent would soon go up.

“Asia Internet users increased by 136,689,484 persons and is by far the region with the largest population of Internet users,” IWS said.

The current low Internet penetration rate in Asia indicates that there is much potential for future Internet usage growth in Asia.

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Telecom subscribers lose 1m handsets annually – Expert

Annually, telecommunications subscribers in the country an estimated 1 million mobile phones are reportedly stolen, according to the chief executive officer, NetVisa GSMSecured Nigeria Limited, Prince Emeka Uchendu.

NetVisa was licensed three years by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to put in place the relevant strategies for the implementation of an anti-theft mobile phone initiative in collaboration with the regulator.

Uchendu, who gave this insight last weekend in Lagos, in a chat with newsmen, on the preparation of his firm for the commissioning of the nation’s Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR), said that all is set for the official of the registry by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Declaring that registration of stolen phones would be free-of-charge as from February 2009, Prince Uchendu, said that precisely, Nigerians reported in the last eight years of GSM advent, more than 750,000 stolen mobile phones.

“Between 750,000 and 1m are reportedly stolen per year. Each year in Nigeria, more than 750,000 mobile phones are reported lost or stolen,” he asserted.

Stressing that this figure precisely depicts that 1423 mobile phones are lost each week, or “Eight mobile phones are lost every hour.”

He said that several stolen mobile phones were taken from cars, social venues such as restaurants, bars and clubs.

While mobile handsets stolen from cars represented 28 per cent, Uchendu noted that those lost at eatery accounts to 20 per cent, pointing out that a substantial number of thefts occur at the homes of the victims, thus recording nine (9) per cent, whereas workplace witnessed eight (8) per cent.

Also, Prince Uchendu said that most mobile phones reported stolen were on Monday.
“Phone thefts have also been reported in several armed robberies. Most phones are reported as lost or stolen on Monday, suggesting that most phones go missing over the weekend,” he declared.

Explaining that blocking of mobile phones is not limited to GSM handsets alone, but cut across all mobile devices, especially phones.

“All mobile network operators, both GSM and CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access – send a list of phones to be blocked or unblocked each day or in real time and also receive the details of phones to be blocked or unblocked from the other service providers,” he enlightened.

NetVisa, he said, has the facilities to engage the operators once a mobile phone has been reported missing.

“The whole process is facilitated through an Electronic Information Exchange messaging platform hosted and operated by NetVisa Mobile Device Security,” he said.

Further, he said, that Tuesday, January 27, the federal government would commission the nation’s CEIR spearheaded by NCC, maintaining that registration of stolen phones would be free-of-charge.

According to him, the initiative slated to be officially opened by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was conceived by the government through NCC, while it was put in place by NetVisa GSMSecured Limited, in affiliation with the global operators group, the GSM Association (GSMA) and Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Uchendu also said that the commissioning would pave the way for the full implementation of the project by all mobile operators in the country, through enabling telecom operators to be cautious of stolen phones and block same when eventually it is appropriately reported by their owners.

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Omatek to unveil latest smart notebooks

On 8", 10"

Leading local Personal Computer (PC) assembly firm in the country, Omatek Plc, said that it has perfected strategies to unveil its latest and advanced version of smart notebooks. The new device comes in the eight and 10 inches categories.

Chief Executive Officer, Omatek Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki who made these disclosures in Lagos, at a media launch last week said that the latest smart notebooks from the stable of her company are coming due to customers’ demands.

According to her, the eight and 10 inches notebooks were initially manufactured for pupils, but demands spur her company to advance on the qualities and features of the smart notebooks to be optimally useful for even the working class who want to look smart and still be mobile.

Although she noted that the initial batch of 8 and 10 inches notebook from Omatek has the same specifications, their hard-disc sizes have improved from 216 to 512 and from 512 to 1 Gigabytes.

The batteries, she said, are normal computer batteries such that can last up to an hour or more, while the weight is lighter than before with strong Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) presence.

Also, the latest smart notebooks, she said, come with the Microsoft Starter Edition and could be used for the implementation of the Schoolnet.

“All we have to do is to load it and that’s the end of the story,” she declared.
Even as it is preloaded with Linux Operating System (OS) which offers the Open Office, a similar to Microsoft Word.

As of today, Mrs. Seriki said that Omatek is repackaging its education scheme; electronic youth (e-youth), e-tertiary to form Omatek for Education Initiative.

According to her, both states and local governments can tap into this initiative to better the lots of all categories of students in the nation’s school system.

Above all, Omatek, she said, has entered into partnership with the Second National Operator (SNO), Globacom to ensure that it delivers on this new deal with internet connectivity.

“Our USB (Universal Serial Bus) Internet modem is very compact for mobile people,” she said.

She underlined the fact that the scheme would continue to enjoy the support of the likes of First Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

She pointed out that the latest Omatek smart notebooks, especially the 8” for instance is AMD Geode LX 800, 500 Mega Hertz (MHz), while the Central Processing Unit (CPU) has 0.9 Watts processor.

Equally, she said, that it is a mobility notebook with alloy casing, stressing that both 8” and 10” have been renewed with ultra low voltage processors and low power consumption.

The 8”, she said, for instance, has 800 x 480 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) resolutions, upgradeable memory sizes of 256 megabits (Mb), 512 Mb and 1 Gigabytes.

On the storage, Mrs. Seriki explained that the product now has 2.5 inch 60 Gegabytes of hard disc drive (HDD), whereas the battery capacity is now 400mAh, in addition to having wireless local area network (LAN) 802.11b/g, two USB ports, SD, MS, MMC compatible as well as 0.3 Mega pixels camera.

The same, she said, also apply to the new 10” with a wider screen size for feasibility, just as she allayed the fears of smart notebooks not having compact disc drive (CD), explaining that Omatek has made provision for slim portable optical drive to be attached to the package, which uses USB 2.0 connection.

This, she further said, could be used for CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW. Combo, DVD-RW.
ITRealms Online recalls that Omatek Computers Ghana Limited, recently launched its e-xpress consumer initiative to make computer acquisition easy and affordable.

Launched in conjunction with the Ministry of Communication under the umbrella of the Ghana Government Assisted PC Programme otherwise known as i-Advance, Omatek e-xpress Consumer Scheme comes with a huge funding support from partnering banks which makes it easy for civil servants, corporate executives, corporate organizations, educational institutions, small and medium enterprise (SME’s) as well as students to acquire computers through a convenient payment plan which spans between 12 and 24 months.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki said the collaboration between Omatek e-xpress scheme and the i-Advance will help to bridge the digital divide, while enhancing IT penetration in Ghana.

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

She further said that the international quality consciousness for Omatek brand of products is reflected in ‘The Best Systems Builder Award’ presented by Microsoft in 2005.


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1st Edo ICT summit holds in May

Plans have reached an advanced stage for the hosting of the maiden first Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) summit in Edo State. The event is slated to hold in May this year.

The event being organized by the Invest magazine a quarterly journal that projects Nigeria as a profitable destination for trade, tourism and investment in collaboration with Centurion Information Technologies (CIT).

Head, Media & Marketing for the 1st Edo ICT Summit 2009, Mr. Tunde Omiwole, told ITRealms Online at the weekend that the technology event has been scheduled to hold in Benin-City, Edo State, from May 18-20, 2009.

“The summit aims to help to create a world-class information and communications technology industry in Edo State to support the state’s economic transformation in the years ahead,” he said.

Omiwole who noted that the theme of the summit would be on “Leveraging ICT as a Competitive Economic Advantage,” emphasized that the objectives of the summit include to mobilize the Edo State business class throughout the country to invest massively in ICT in the state and in its 18 local governments areas; to tap generously into the technological resources of the Edo State diaspora populations in the developed world; and to mobilize Edo State tertiary educational institutions to become change agents.

Omiwole in a press statement also made available to ITRealms Online quoted the publisher, Invest, Mr. Frederick Apeji, as saying that the forthcoming 1st Edo ICT Summit 2009, will provide a platform to analyze the current realities of the economy of Edo State.

“And to discourage over-dependence on the oil-generated federal allocations, as its major available resource for economic growth,” he said, stressing that the ultimate goal is to create a ‘silicon valley’ in Benin-City, Edo State, during the next decade.

“The summit will therefore focus on what to do and how to do it, starting from 2009,” Apeji declared.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, CIT, Mr. Ugochukwu Mpamugo, said that his firm is pleased to partner in this project, which he described as a visionary technology project for Edo State.

“We believe that Nigerian states should identify certain niches around which to grow their economies,” he asserted.

Mpamugo further said that with the well-established tradition of promoting tertiary education on a massive scale, Edo State is a good candidate to spearhead an ICT revolution in the country.

“We, therefore, look forward to contributing our expertise and growing experience in public sector ICT consulting to make this summit a success,” he said.

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Millionaires emerge @ Nokia Gift Fest promo

Two more winners last week emerged at the Nokia’s Gift Fest promotion currently on the third draw, as they won one million Naira each.

Those who emerged at the latest draw include a recharge cards dealer, Rotiba Gbenga and a staff of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Mr. Hassan Fatai.

While Fatai, who bought the phone for his brother received the news with skepticism, Gbenga, who lives in Ketu, Alapere in Lagos, simply went into a frenzy screaming.

Champion Infotel recalled that the draw saw 15 people in the white category winning 50,000 each; six in the Green category winning 100,000; four winning N250,000 in the red category; two in the Gold category winning 500,000, while two in the Blue category won one million naira each.

Speaking at the event held in Lagos, Manager, Retail and Customer Marketing, Nokia, Mrs. Titi Olubiyi, said that Nokia used the promo to appreciate its loyal consumers and to empower them financially during and after the yuletide.

She also said that Nokia thought of a perfect gift that would be convenient and create some excitement around its brands, promising that 2009 will be more exciting.

“Any Nokia brand with 12 months warranty logo sticker on the box, qualifies everybody to participate in the Nokia Gift Fest,” she said.

She equally said the company is always thinking of new ways to reward its customers and that the next promo will be for the Valentine urging its customers to watch out for it.

The event further saw the presentation of cash prizes to winners of the second draw in the various categories that were present.

In her comment at the occasion, Communications Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Mrs. Ngozi Anene, said everybody irrespective of the type of phone purchased, is qualified as longs as the handset has the Nokia warranty logo sticker.


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EFF solicits support on FreeYourPhone campaign

San Francisco-based non-governmental organization, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is soliciting public’s support in its new campaign to free cell phones from the software locks that stifle competition and cripple consumers.

A press statement endorsed by the Civil Liberties Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ms. Jennifer Stisa Granick and Senior Intellectual Property Attorney at EFF, Mr. Fred von Lohmann, said that the campaign’s website is FreeYourPhone.org.

According to them, hundreds of thousands of cell phone owners have modified their phones to connect to a new service provider or run the software of their choosing, and many more would like to.

“But the threat of litigation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has driven them underground,” EFF said.

They noted that the DMCA prohibits “circumventing” technical protection measures used to protect copyrighted works. But many cell phone manufacturers and service providers build these software locks to protect their business models instead of copyrighted material.

“Apple locks its iPhone to AT&T and prevents users from installing any software that has not been pre-approved by Apple,” said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann, insisting that consumers need a DMCA exemption to lift the cloud of legal risk that otherwise serves only to reduce competition and consumer choice.

Every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office convenes a rulemaking to consider granting exemptions to the DMCA’s ban on circumvention to mitigate the consumer harm. EFF has already filed exemption requests with the Copyright Office addressing the issues, but the rulemaking proceeding also accepts public comments about the proposals.

“Companies are using the DMCA to threaten customers out of exercising their consumer rights,” said EFF Civil Liberties Director Jennifer Granick, who stressed that the Copyright Office needs to hear real stories about how these software locks frustrate consumers and developers.

On FreeYourPhone.org, people can sign EFF’s petition to the Copyright Office and share their stories about cell phone frustrations. EFF will also help people officially submit those stories to the Copyright Office before the February 2 deadline.

The Copyright Office will hold public hearings on the DMCA exemption requests in Washington, DC, and California in the spring, and the final rule making order will be issued in October.


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Yar’Adua to commission anti-theft mobile device

All is now set for the official commissioning of the nation’s multimillion Naira anti-theft mobile phone initiative being super-headed by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with NetVisa GSMSecured Nigeria Limited, by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The process which commenced three years ago, had undergone successful relevant trials, thus ready for launch.

Chief executive officer, NetVisa, Prince Emeka Uchendu, told Daily Champion at the weekend that the initiative would be commissioned on Tuesday, January 27, this year, at the Yar’Adua Conference Centre, Abuja, the federal capital territory, even as registration of stolen phones would be free-of-charge.

According to him, the initiative slated to be officially opened by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was conceived by the government through NCC, and was put in place by NetVisa GSMSecured Limited, in affiliation with the global operators group, the GSM Association (GSMA) and Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Uchendu also said that the commissioning would pave the way for the full implementation of the project by all mobile operators in the country, through enabling telecom operators to be wary of stolen phones and block same when eventually it is appropriately reported by their owners.

“The task of combating the menace of stolen phones in Nigeria is enormous and has risen to become a very frightening and national issue, mostly when a lot of lives are wasted everyday in the bid for criminals to steal mobile phones,” he said.

The NetVisa boss, equally said, that the need for the solution arose the primary concern of the regulator, which in turn licensed his firm after due process.

“In the past three years, we, at NetVisa have been working with mobile network operators to put a system in place that will curtail the theft of mobile phones in Nigeria and the regional West African countries,” he declared.

To this effect, he said, NetVisa has deployed a Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) and is ready to implement this for the benefit of all Nigerians.

Uchendu pointed out that the kind of registry, presently deployed by Nigeria is the first of its kind in continent of Africa, although he was quick to add that there is a similar registry already existing precisely in Dublin, South Africa, but noted that it has not been successfully implemented to totally checkmate the predicament of stolen mobile phones.

“It is for the social well-being of all Nigerians who use mobile phones,” he said, encouraging subscribers in the country to ensure they promptly report theft of their phones, especially mobiles to the nearest police station and their network operator.

Disclosing that as from next month, February 2009, Nigeria would be able to block effectively any stolen mobile phone certified by the operators as may be reported by the owner with relevant evidence to support the claim.

He estimated that about 1million mobile phones are stolen annually since the coming of GSM into the country in 2001.

Uchendu, therefore, cautioned that at the beginning, the second hand phones would be waived from immediate blocking, since they may not have been stolen originally from this part of the world, but warned that in the months to come, this would change.

And to further safeguard mobile phones, he said that in the past 10 years, the International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) embedded by manufacturers no longer come in Random Access Memory (RAM), but Read Only Memory (ROM), hence the CEIR installed have the capacity to block any modem phone reported stolen among mobile operators, rendering such phones useless in Nigeria.

“What this means is that with ROM, the IMEI numbers are visible but cannot be altered and any attempt could result in damaging the phone,” he explained, stressing that IMEI is a 15 digit code transmitted to the network each time a subscriber attempts to make call on a given network from a mobile handset.

Uchendu, accompanied by some officials of his firm, including the company secretary, Ms Amaka Ekweozor, Executive Director, Finance and Admin, Mr. Olayinka Giwa and Mr. Grema Abubakar, made it clear that subscribers are not supposed to pay any other additional money in order to be registered in the CEIR since they have paid for the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) pack at inception.

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