Stressing importance of CCTV technology

The Inspector General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro recently gave directives to banks to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) to aid in curbing of crime. REMMY NWEKE reports the importance of CCTV technology, stressing that it can no longer be over-looked.

Watching one of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) news segments recently, there was a footage of a video recording of robbery incident in one of the South-western states, precisely Ile-Ife, Osun, obviously captured via the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) technology, and released by the Nigeria Police, which eventually aided the security agency to apprehend the culprits.

The report also stated that this display took place at a session between the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sir Mike Okiro with some chief executives and chief security officers of financial institutions in the country, which turned out to be attended by about 50 per cent of the invitees. That is, reportedly 13 out of the 25 banks.

Sir Okiro had a few months after assumption of office directed that banks in the country install CCTV at their premises, bullet and bomb proof bullion vans among others; subsequent to about 62 Police personnel killed in related bank robberies within his 100 days in office.

Just like the name entails, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, within a range of limited set of monitors specifically. This is in contrast to a broadcasting system, even as CCTV is at times referred to as video magnifiers for low vision users. Thus, it allows the authorized personnel to view and record high-risk areas to deter activities, mostly theft, control inventory, and increase productivity.

According to experts at the securiguard.com and Wikipedia.org, an online free open source-based encyclopedia, CCTV is a television technology that uses camera mounted on a remotely controlled, self propelled robotic device linked to a video monitor usually installed in public places to aid security either through cables or wirelessly.

Giles May, a United States based CCTV analyst, traced its originality to Germany in 1942, when it was particularly structured to record the launch of V2-rocket by German engineer, Walter Bruch, and soon CCTV were being set up in the main business streets in an effort to prevent crimes. Banks and stores equally followed thereafter to aid monitoring of activities within such establishments. CCTV techniques could be deployed for individual or corporate usage either at home, office and even properties.

Globally, May said, CCTV video cameras could be found in many public places including banks, airports, subways, stores and malls, police and military facilities as well as in the streets. Attributing the deployment in such places to be highly-crowded locations, which are known as hotspots for crimes like theft, terrorism and other acts of violence.

Equally, May said, that recent studies revealed that a criminal is less likely to commit personal crimes such as assault within the range of view of a camera, given the fact that the suspect’s details could be captured by the cameras and used to track him or her later on, could greatly discourage such a person from committing an offense.

Whereas some proponents against CCTV deployment have argued on whether it actually curtail rate of crime, it is no longer news to note that CCTV provides help in uncovering criminals caught in the act. The video recordings of the CCTV installed in shops could provide identification to shop-lifters and burglars or clues to crimes done within the vicinity.

Other than monitoring criminal acts, the close watch method evident in CCTV deployment is known to be useful for combating anti-social behaviours, which include and not limited to minor offenses like littering, drunkenness, traffic violations, urinating in public and other public order offenses.

Invariably, most CCTV deployment are connected to crime reduction, electron microscopy, medical imaging and robotics are few other usage of this technology. Hence, CCTV comes in various types including those with camera capture only images, while others are known to record sounds also.

However, the type of CCTV camera to be deployed depends entirely on the potential core usage. For instance, if the main reason of deployment is basically for close watch or traffic control, it may not be necessary to acquire coloured cameras; mostly since black and white images in this kind of technology is reputed to have better resolution.

On the other hand, if the main purpose of the CCTV system is criminal identification and deterrence, a coloured system is essential so as to help immensely in proper identification of relevant objects that made up such activities.


One other reason some high net-worth individuals go for CCTV is because it offers a relative sense of peace and safety to the everyday citizen; the knowledge that criminals and terrorists are unlikely to commit offenses when there are cameras around, help calm people’s minds,thereby reducing stress, just as it’s predicted to ignite decrease in crime rates.

Therefore, it did not come to most Lagosians as a surprise that the current government in Lagos state led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Babatunde Fashola, expressed concern over the level of crime in his domain and decided to deploy about 10,000 CCTV units for crime control at strategic spots of the metropolis.

Affirming this recently, Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Mr. Jide Sanwo-Olu, said that 14 black spots had been identified in the state where the CCTVs and other infrastructure would be set up, even as he declined to name the areas for security purposes, stressing that the equipment had already been purchased and the construction work had since commenced.

The Lagos CCTV project and Okiro’s directive, attracted a lot of comments from Nigerians at the Nairaland.com, an online discussion forum, with some commending the concept, others expressed pessimism, yet another group took to the popular ‘Sidon de look’ attitude; waiting to see what future will unveil.

For one of the contributors who identified himself as ‘Lagerwhenindoubt’ the idea is not novel, but agreed on its importance, wondering if the CCTV project is not another white elephant initiatives “foisted on our intelligence to make it seem as if the reigning government has plans to fight crime.”

First, he said, security cameras such as the ones installed require some investment in large data storage and trained security agents and Information Technology (IT) staff.

Secondly, he noted that they require to a large extent a de-centralized Police force that could independently manage crime in each state or local governments with a detailed profile of criminals and their movement around the country, while sharing information with other security agencies and government bodies nationwide.

“I heard we have a little over 340,000 police men in the Nigeria Police Force, what percentage is trained to evaluate data from CCTVs and other modern day security technologies?” he wondered, stressing that he would rather prefer to have a bunch of police checkpoints than CCTV cameras.

“At least, it should deter the robbers briefly enough to escape the scene before the police do and leave you behind. As we always say, let us sit-down and watch,” he submitted.

Another anonymous contributor, alleged that armed robbers in Nigeria usually inform police personnel upfront before any raid so the idea of checkpoint does not work, “In fact, most weapon used are trailed back to our police force. CCTV will work only if we have determined officers that believe in justice for all.”

A member of the forum, Mr. James, commended the Lagos State government for installing CCTV to monitor activities in the metropolis and to track criminals. He alleged however, that some Nigerian banks are known to have placed dummy CCTV cameras in their banking halls. While extending the commendation to the Police, he said, that very soon, he expects CCTV cameras in examination halls to catch those involve in exam malpractices.

Also, Prince Kevo pointed out that it is a good omen to see the nation moving from parading criminal suspects to matching faces in CCTV footages with individuals on a non-existent database is so incredible.

For Togi Dan, who likened CCTV to Internet Protocol (IP) camera used in monitoring, especially if one is anywhere in the world, said, it is possible to use it as well to monitor their homes, work and businesses.

In his submission, Kobo Junkie, explained that at first, the so called CCTV some of them are outdated, as they do not produce clear images, zoom in, even as some just produce movements. “Some CCTV/BETAMAX TV in banks really are dummies,” he said.

Now, with the streamlined view, he also said, the person behind the operations of the CCTV usually sees the activities of the robbers in the hall and could alert the police when no other person in the hall could make a move. Therefore, there is probably no need for database and identification.

Above all, the efficacy of CCTV deployment outweighs its demerit and deserves to be encouraged. And no matter how long it has taken the Police and government officials like Gov. Fashola, to make up their minds on this technology and get to the bottom of check-mating crimes in the country; other state governments need to urgently emulate Gov. Fashola if the fight must be won.

It must be said that decision of this kind requires collective effort, which entails that the Central Bank of Nigeria, for instance, need to join forces with the Police and sanction erring banks as far as IGP directive on CCTV is concerned.

Of course, it cannot be donw without the requisite laws, hence, the National Assembly has to come on board actively.

And just like Sir Okiro retorted when asked how he felt over shunning of his sermon by some banks; they may insure their money, but the banks cannot insure life, especially of Police personnel, after all, life has no duplicate.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Electronic gate controversy:Stakeholders may boycott Eko Hotels

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) stakeholders may shun future events organized at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos over alleged exploitations associated with its electronic gate controversy.

ITRealms Online gathered that several industry stakeholders who were invited to attend events at the hotel decried the toll collection on them, in order to honour an event hosted at the premises, despite the organizers paying the requisite fees.
It was also gathered that even the organizers of such events themselves are victims of the toll fee collection.

This became evident since the reconstruction of the hotel’s gate into self-served electronic system, which allows visitors, especially car-owners to gain entrance through pressing of button, which prints out a pass containing the time and date of their accessing the gate.

Equally, this pass is presented at the gate on the way out, followed with the calculation of how many hours the car was parked in the premises.

Although the management placed a notice at the gate informing whom it may concern of the N200 charge per hour, while the first 10 minutes is free, it was not clear if event organizers and their guests were exempted.

However, ITRealms Online investigation revealed that the hotel staff at the gate still collect toll from people who have visited the hotel on official grounds, even after the organizers had paid the official price for the usage of some of the halls, thereby amounting to double taxation; both on the organizers and their unassuming guests.

Efforts to speak with the guest relations officers on duty, last weekend Friday, proved abortive as the two attempts could not find any of the supposed six officers who man the desk on shift to attend to our inquiries.

But coming to their rescue, the duty manager, Mr. Shola Ojeyemi, told ITRealms Online when contacted that the toll fee became necessary due to some unidentified persons who have turned the hotel parking space meant for customers only into their own and could even park their vehicles for endless hours, moreso when they do not have business in the hotel or recourse to the management.

He explained that any official visitor to the hotel, particularly invited for an event should not be charged further toll, because arrangement has been made to ensure that organizers have enough ‘free pass’ for their guests, depending on expected participants, which must be endorsed by the management staff or a manager.

Unfortunately for Nigerians, most event organizers are still ignorant of this option, thus not tapping it, even as the gate staff do not offer any explanation whatsoever.

Our investigation also showed that even organizers themselves still pay toll fees to avoid the attendant embarrassment, which have been confirmed on several occasions.
Factually, this has continued to scare some genuine car-owner visitors to the hotel away, hence forcing those who dare without knowing how long their meeting could take to find alternative parking space within Victoria Island and then ply commercial motor-bikes otherwise known as Okada to Eko Hotel’s gate.

Some of the stakeholders who commented on the development said that they have since the new gate stopped bringing their cars to the hotel, even when on official engagement, describing it as a double exploitation; taking from the organisers and guests alike.

Others, who spoke anonymously, lamented that it is disheartening that this kind of thing is going on in Nigeria without any government checking it.

“I have travelled widely both home and abroad without seeing where hotels charge toll on visitors, at the same time taking money for renting their space for a business meeting?” one of the participants at an ICT-industry event fumed.

“They are waiting until when an event is organised and there is no attendant to see reason,” he further declared.

According to some of the respondent, even if organizers at the hotel are ignorant of the offer, which borders on the public relations of the hospitality company, there is a need to alert them or at best attach it permanently to organizers benefits when booking.

“Since it’s rare for people to live in the hotel, which means most of their guests are visitors. So, how can you be tasking your visitors?” he wondered, warning that Eko Hotel should not result to exploiting Nigerians, rather than hospitality and called on the government, especially in Lagos State, to look into this kind of ‘extra-taxation urgently, even as the latest addition about the electronic toll gate has not been added to Eko Hotels & Suites websites.

Most of the participants, last weekend, made up of dealers of one of the electronic product brands, drawn nationwide for a forum, equally lamented on the toll fee, saying it is discouraging for potential customers, hence, leaving wrong impression on them since there is no other known hotel in the country charging official visitors to events for parking.

As the rainy season draws nearer, this situation is most sympathetic for those who eventually come to events early at the hotel, who may be ignorant of the ‘free pass’, because definitely their toll fee would amount the highest since every hour is N200 and the event may be delayed.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Know your Skype end user licence (5)

Skype Online Material: the Skype buttons and widgets available for download on the Skype Website at http://www.skype.com/share/buttons/, as such may be changed from time to time by Skype in its sole discretion.

Skype Promotional Materials: any and all trademarks, names, signs, logos, banners, and any other materials, in whatever form, owned and/or used by Skype for the promotion of its company, its products and activities, other than the Skype Online Material.

Skype Services: the Skype Website and any other products and services made available to You by Skype or its Affiliates, in addition to the Skype Software.

Skype Software: the software distributed by Skype for internet communication applications, including without limitation the Skype API, UI and Documentation, as well as any future versions, improvements, developments, programming fixes, updates and upgrades thereof.


Skype Staff: the officers, directors, employees and agents of Skype or its Affiliates, or any other persons hired by Skype or its Affiliates.

Skype Website: any and all elements, contents and the ‘look and feel’ of the website available under the URL, www.skype.com , – among other URL’s –, from which website the Skype Software can be downloaded.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Protect internet‘s uniqueness, ISOC urges

This year’s International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) organized World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF), ended in Lisbon, Portugal with the Internet Society (ISOC) urging participants on the need to protect Internet ‘s uniqueness.
This, the group said, made it possible to still be relevant over 20 years of its open-stakeholder activities.

The Senior Manager, Outreach and Coordinated Communication at Internet Society, Mr. Gerard Ross, in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online said it is important to remind the assembly of policy makers on the need to respect and preserve the unique development model responsible for the Internet’s unprecedented growth and success.

He quoted ISOC president, Ms Lynn St. Amour as saying that the ‘Internet model’ of collaborative development has continued to underpin the Internet’s contribution to innovation and creativity, supporting global deployment of innovative and often surprising applications.

Also, Amour said the model, which arose from a need for collaboration and knowledge sharing has propelled the inclusive multi-stakeholder processes, open standards development, and decentralized responsibility for managing the various aspects of the Internet’s technical and management functions.

“The opportunities and advantages of increasingly converged services arise specifically from the Internet’s intrinsic design principles and development model, which together create a vibrant environment of innovation and creativity,” Ms St. Amour said.

Emphasising that likewise, modern Next Generation Networks (NGNs) could be developed and deployed on the existing Internet because of visionary architectural decisions made literally decades ago.

“Indeed, today’s NGNs will become tomorrow’s legacy networks, replaced by applications running on the Internet, designed for as yet unknown future improvements,” she said.

The WTPF, was established as a less formal venue for discussions than regular ITU meetings. It is not designed to produce prescriptive outcomes with the binding force of an international treaty, but rather to foster debate and seek multi-stakeholder consensus on the way forward.

In advance of this event, the ITU Secretary-General produced a report with “draft opinions” on a wide range of topics including: Convergence, Emerging Telecommunication policy and regulatory issues, Next Generation Networks (NGNs), and International Telecommunication Regulations.

These issues became the core of the WTPF’s agenda and the Internet Society has contributed to the discussions by submitting views on key technical and development considerations pertinent to the agenda.

However, such a broad agenda of challenging topics underlines, in the Internet Society’s view, the strong need to include diverse inputs representing a range of expertise.

While the Internet Society welcomes the inclusion of ITU Sector Members in its discussions at the WTPF, it has encouraged the ITU Secretariat General to continue opening its conferences to all interested stakeholders and broadening participation beyond its Member States and Sector Members, to the Civil Society, the Internet community and the research community.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Etisalat to unveil new product @ W.Afri.Tel-09

The fifth Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operator, Etisalat Nigeria, has concluded plans to storm this year’s West African Telecommunications (W.Afri.Tel) exhibition coming up in June this year. 

Official of the telco who disclosed this weekend said, Etisalat intends to leverage on the successes achieved through its participation at the 2008 edition of the exhibition.

“Its participation at the exhibition’s eighth edition, even when it was yet to formally commence operations, drew a mammoth crowd of curious visitors who flocked at the company’s booth to catch a glimpse of what telecom services the new entrant would be intending to offer. The legion of intending subscribers who had signed up as potential Etisalat customers, at the event professedly overwhelmed the company officials,” the official said.

Consequently, Etisalat has planned to unveil new products at this year’s W.Afri.Tel and leverage on the successes achieved at the previous edition of W.Afri.Tel.

“Our main aim as the fifth GSM operator is to introduce a whole new range of innovative offerings to our subscribers. Our status as a late entrant necessitates that we be innovative in our product offering. Our participation at last year’s edition, and the sheer volume of requests about our formal launch date, as well as the enthusiasm about our packages and tariffs from the public was overwhelming.

Hence, we are taking advantage of W.Afri.Tel’s popularity to avail our customers of the latest offerings from the Etisalat stable,” highly placed company source said. 

In his reaction to Etisalat’s decision to take part at W.Afri.Tel-09, the Editor-in-Chief of IT & Telecom Digest, sole Nigerian representative to Exhibition Management Services, organisers of the event, Mr. Mkpe Abang, described it as a vote of confidence on the Nigerian information and communications sector.

He also commended the telco’s strategy to showcase new products and services at W.Afri.Tel as very timely.

“As competition in Nigeria’s telecom sector continues to get fierce, due to the peculiar nature of the country’s telecom sector, the onus is on operators to apply ingenuity in their product offerings,” he asserted.

Etisalat’s plans to showcase exclusive new products at W.Afri.Tel-09 is commendable, noting that visitors’ attendance at W.Afri.Tel have continued to soar over the years.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

‘Banking & Payment tech confab-09 is set’

All is now set for the hosting of this year’s Banking & Payment Technologies West Africa conference, scheduled to hold at Muson Centre beginning from Monday through Wednesday next week.

Chairman of AITEC Africa, the organisers of the event, Mr. Sean Moroney, made this disclosure at a media parley in Lagos.

He also disclosed that Oceanic Bank Plc, has confirmed its sponsorship of the 2009 conference.

‘Oceanic Bank, one of Nigeria’s leading innovative banks in the deployment of information technology in banking services, has confirmed its top-level sponsorship of this year’s Banking & Payment Technologies West Africa Conference,” he said.

In addition, he said that the opening welcome address on the first day of the conference, focusing on “Transforming Access to Finance Through Branchless Banking” would be delivered by the chief executive of Oceanic Bank Plc.

He stressed that the first day, would be hosted by a consortium of agencies promoting the extension of banking services to the unbanked through mobile technology and other innovations.

These organisations include Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the MSME Project which is a joint pilot of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Bank.

The conference, Moroney said, will highlight technologies used by pioneering organizations in the financial services industry, including microfinance organizations, to reduce costs and reach new customers.

Further, he said, the three-day event would afford Nigeria’s financial services sector to gain knowledge and experience from over 50 local and international experts, including speakers from South Africa, Peru and the Philippines.

“All of which have pioneered innovative mobile banking systems,” he declared.
Pointing out that the Central Bank of Philippines is sending their Branchless Banking Advocate to share their experience of regulating the market during a period of rapid mobile banking development – which Nigeria is now poised to undergo.

Corroborating this, the chief executive of Oceanic Bank Plc, Dr. Cecilia Ibru, who was represented at the occasion by the Head, Retail Banking Group, Mr. Ade Asekun, Mrs. Funso Oyelahunnu, congratulated the hosts of the event on the world-class programme they have lined up.
“Oceanic is proud to be associated with such a leading-edge conference, which has such a valuable role to play in educating the market on the opportunities and risks presented by Nigeria’s roll-out of mobile banking services,” she said.

Her bank, she noted remain the country’s leading innovator applying information technology to optimize the reach and the quality of services across the country.

“Our support for this event demonstrates our commitment to maintaining this leading position in the market – as well as supporting the development of the market by supporting an educational event of this high caliber,” Dr. Ibru asserted.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Ubosi hits Lagos airwave with 2 FM stations

Nigerian broadcasting technocrat, Mr. Chris Ubosi, has finalized arrangement for the launching of two Frequency Modulated (FM) radio stations slated to debut on Friday, May 1, this year.

The two FM stations waiting to hit the airwaves before weekend are The Beat FM 99.9 and Classic 97. 3 FM stations, with primary coverage areas being Lagos and its environs.

This is coming at a time the global community is meeting at the National Association of Broadcasters Conference (NAB) in last Vegas of the State of Nevada, United States, to reaffirm the future, survival and relevance of broadcasting to the various communities.

Affirming this development, Mr. Ubosi, said that another history would be made this week Friday, with the launch of the two brand new stations into the Lagos environment, asserting that this step is in reaffirmation of his faith in the usefulness of broadcasting to various Nigerian communities in particular.

Giving a preview into the package, weekend, Ubosi said The Beat for instance, is a full service station with local and international music, entertainment and topical news targeting audiences from age 15-35.

“The youth forms the larger part of this audience. It will bring a fresh and vibrant tilt to the market,” he said.

On the Classic FM, Mr. Ubosi said it’s targeted at those with more mature lifestyle – age 35 and above, who form the decision makers and high profile consumers in the market.

“All the music, programming and presentation on this station will be tailored to reflect this,” he declared.

As said by him, the station would equally benefit from his long history in the country’s deregulated broadcast sector and infuse a new life as well as tempo into the market place.

ITRealms Online recalls that Mr. Ubosi was a founding member of Cool FM and left early last year as the Deputy Managing Director.

He has since consulted for various State governments as well as the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in the establishment of digital radio stations, even as he served on the Federal Government Committee on the draft of the Mass Communications Policy in 2004.

He expressed optimistic that he has put a professional team together that will make a difference in the broadcast landscape in record time as well as a seasoned Board of Directors.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Traffic offenders’ database ready by July 1– Chidoka

Database on traffic offenders in the past three years are now being captured by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

This FRSC said is expected to be concluded on or before July 1, even as all the banks collecting fines on behalf of FRSC must be connected to its locally developed software before this date.

Disclosing this in his presentation at the two-day National Addressing System held in Lagos, the Corp Marshal, Mr. Osita Chidoka, said that effective from July 1, 2009, all traffic offenders in the country would be entering FRSC database and would be alerted when such offenders settle their fine at some designated banks nationwide.

Dwelling on “The Importance of National Addressing to National Security” Mr. Chidoka noted that the importance of national addressing system cannot be over emphasized as it helps immensely during emergencies and control of traffic at a given area.

He also said that it would help employers of labour to know the kind of drivers they employ and differentiate good from the bad; who may be having some challenges, especially for potential drivers, lamenting that what some of them do is to cause accidents because of their poor eye vision and move to another key transporter until they simply retire as private drivers.

Describing the initiative as revolutionary, Chidoka that it would open a new paradigm for the nation, because is very critical and works as a parameter in social change, just as it is helpful to securities and paves the way for development.

All vehicles licensed in the country are yet unverifiable because there is no addressing structure to facilitate that, but with the move by the federal government through NIPOST, a remarkable achievement is expected to come out of the project.

He also listed Costa Rica as one of the developing countries still tinkering on its addressing system, maintaining that research has shown that it is a major issue in developing economies.

In his goodwill message, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, who was represented by Mrs. Nwakanma, commended the Ministry of Information and Communications for coming up with this workshop at this moment of rebranding Nigeria.

For him, the concept of re-branding Nigeria entails a positive re-orientation of the values of the populace.
“Successful re-orientation requires a return to our national values and ethos and above all, it requires a re-discovery of our national identity, closely tied to which is our system of national addressing,” he said.
He noted with dismay that regularly Nigerians seek to track long lost relations and friends, resorting to the media, simply because of the unreliable national addressing system.
SGF emphasized that beyond telling the Nigerian story, the populace must learn how to live it out and the first step towards that is to be able to identify who and where individuals and groups are within the country.
He condemned the naming of two or more streets in the same city after one individual, when there are several other distinguished Nigerians waiting to be recognized.
“You may have seen Chukwuma Abubakar Street, Chukwuma Abubakar Way, Chukwuma Abubakar Crescent all in one city,” he said, describing it as a major weakness in national addressing system that need to be reviewed.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Samsung introduces new products, host dealers

Technology innovator in consumer electronics, Samsun Electronics, weekend unveiled new range of home appliances at the dealers’ conference held in Lagos.
Some of the new products include top-mounted-freezer refrigerator features the Coolever Zone Plus and comes with vegetable box; which adjusts its humidity level all by itself.

Also its latest additions of 1 Door Fridge and 1 Door Freezer, a combination of intelligent technology and stylish design gives users the option of having two individual standalone products or a side-by-side fridge freezer.

Additionally, with the launch of its latest state of the art washing machines; the
Poseidon Big and Frontier, Samsung’s new lineup of washing machines combines awesome design, quite sound and super capacity.

Speaking at the conference which attracted over 250 participants, Mr Woosang Cho, president of Samsung Electronics Nigeria, said, “Samsung feels enormous joy to say that today marks a unique turning point in the life of the Samsung brand of Home Appliance Products here in Nigeria owing to the fact of unveiling of our new brand of Home Appliance Models into the Nigerian market.”

He also said that these products have been the toast of the press, elites and all who matter in the world of Home Appliance everywhere they have been launched around the world.

The objective of the conference, he said, is to show case the new range of all appliances model, which theme is ‘design for living space’.  

The event, he said, was an opportunity for Samsung to bond and interact with its dealers, as well as foster networking opportunities amongst those present.

“Its new spilt type air conditioners, the MB model with 9K & 12K Btu not only provides powerful cool fresh air, but actually improves the quality of the air one breathes,” he said.

Samsung’s new air conditioners, he explained, are masterpieces that merge design with health maintenance, and making art functional. 

Champion Infotel recalls that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2006 parent company sales of US$63.4 billion and net income of US$8.5 billion.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Ekweremadu plegdes support for NigComSAT

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has pledged the National Assembly commitment to assist NIGCOMSAT Ltd to appropriate adequate funds for NigComSat 2 and 3, reports CHARLES OKOH.

Speaking during a visit to NigComSAT ground station complex at Obasanjo Space Center along airport road, Abuja, Friday last weekend, Senator Ekweremadu said the National Assembly will do everything to assist in the actualization of NigComSat 2 and 3.

A press statement endorsed by the Manager, Internal Communications at NigcomSat Limited, Samiya H. Usman, quoted Senator Ekweremadu as saying that it would help the country to become a contemporary of other nations but commercially viable as well as help the nation to be counted when technology issues are discussed.

He also urged the management of NIGCOMSAT Ltd to bring stakeholders especially state governors, ministers, captains of industries to appreciate the technological drive Nigeria has.

Earlier on, the Managing Director, Mr. Ahmed Rufai told the august visitor that NIGCOMSAT trained engineers now perform well as their counterparts in the space industry in other parts of the world.

He explained that the ground station antennas that were initially installed by the Chinese are now being installed by the Nigerian engineers as a demonstration of technology know-how acquisition.

And called on the National Assembly to assist as they had done before for the country to benefits from the satellite technology and its spin-off.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Cisco announces additional portfolio

Cisco Nigeria has announced new additions to its portfolio that aim to boost both the fundamental components of a network security infrastructure and the delivery of cloud security services.

A press statement from Cisco Nigeria and made available to Champion Infotel, highlighted the importance of the ability for businesses to collaborate with greater confidence at a time when employees are becoming increasingly mobile and interactive.

Managing Director, Cisco Nigeria, Mr. David Seda, said that this announcement comes at a time when collaboration and mobility technologies are redefining how, when and where business gets done.

He also said that the new Cisco product offerings have been formulated to incorporate a greater defence against attacks from malign threats such as malware and botnets, regardless of where professionals connect and communicate.

“The technology includes Cisco Security Cloud, which supports the recently announced Hosted Email Security Services as well as Global Correlation - a new technique that powers integrated security services. New Cisco ASA 5500 Series 8.2 Software has been designed to provide end-to-end protection for offices of all sizes, improving threat mitigation and enabling companies to more securely connect, communicate, and conduct business,” he said.

Cisco SAFE, he further said, in turn, is a security reference architecture that provides prescriptive validated design guides to help organisations plan, design, and deploy security solutions across the network; such as in campus offices and data centres.

“As collaboration trends extend communications outside company offices, businesses must re-examine how they protect their extended enterprises,” he said, stressing that while the flexibility inherent in business applications, social media, software as a service and wireless technologies is leading to widespread adoption and interactive business models, those very technologies and business models are jeopardized by threats that are just as agile.

Much of the basis for Cisco’s announcement was highlighted when Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers delivered a keynote speech at the recently held RSA (the Security Division of EMC) Conference in San Francisco entitled ‘Collaborate with Confidence,’ which expanded on these security trends and described his perspective on the heightened importance of network security in a collaborative world.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Ndukwe solicits more foreign investors for Nigeria’s broadband

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe has solicited for more foreign investors for the nation’s broadband initiative.

Ndukwe, who made this call, weekend, at the just concluded World Telecommunications Policy Forum (WTPF), hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Lisbon, Portugal, extended Nigeria’s invitation to the international investment community to the huge broadband infrastructure deployment and services opportunities existing in the country and the continued rise in demand for telecom services.

He also attributed the huge success in the current funding of the telecom and ICT sector in Nigeria to the consolidation programme of the banking sector, which has equipped the nation’s banks with the wherewithal to match the financial needs of the industry.

“The recent Nigerian banking consolidation had resulted in the emergence of large strong national banks with large portfolios, who have become the local financiers of the ICT industry in Nigeria,” he said.

The session which held on the theme: “Strategic Dialogue on ICTs’ with the sub-theme, “Confronting the Crisis” brought together leaders from government and the industry to address the problems facing vendors, operators and governments in the face of the ongoing global crisis with an objective of formulating proactive strategies to help the ICT industry weather the storm, while leveraging the power of ICT to accelerate economic recovery in other sectors.

Ndukwe in his response noted that Nigeria is an integral member of the global economy and that some portions of the Nigerian ICT industry are funded by overseas investors. He said given this scenario, the attendant repatriation of funds by foreign investors has had some negative impact on the smaller companies who are less able to attract foreign investments.

The NCC boss said notwithstanding this situation, the Nigerian consumers have continued to demand for more services while uptake of ICT services has resulted in huge growth in the number of subscribers, which has in turn created the need for more investments, especially in the area of broadband and Internet services.

He further said that with the various divergences in the economic crisis, the global economic meltdown is truly global and demanded a global effort to deal with the effects that the crisis is having on nation states.

Additionally, the Secretary General, ITU, Dr. Hammadoun Toure, in his opening remark reiterated the need for frank and divergent discussions as essential to the development of appropriate strategies which would lead to the recovery.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Etisalat’s ringback tune debuts

The fifth licensed Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator, Etisalat has launched ring-back tune on its network.

Ring back tune is usually a customised subscriber’s ring tune of choice, which affords callers on a given line to listen to whenever they initiate a call that line pending when it is answered.

Disclosing this, the Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, said that it is another sign of exciting commitment from the network to create fun and entertainment to its customers.

The new fully-packed ring-back tunes, he said, is a consumer-friendly service designed to enhance the mobile phone experience of its subscribers by giving them the choice to personalize the tune callers hear every time a call is made to their Etisalat number.

According to him, it was designed to meet the desire of fun-loving customers, and affords subscribers the opportunity to assign special ring back tunes to friends as well as to a group of defined callers.

“To get started and add fun to your talk experience on Etisalat network, customers will simply choose from our various music catalogs and genres ranging from Nigerian, International to Top Hits and Pop Charts by dialing 251 or sending ‘RBTON’ as a text message to 251 and choosing from the list of tunes available,” he said.

Ammar equally said that the service was designed to provide fun and a whole world of entertainment to customers who want to express their feeling and interest through music.

Stressing that each download ring back tune would be available for 30 days after which the subscriber can either change to a new tune or renew the existing one.

Etisalat is a company driven by innovation. We are always ready to offer our subscribers new value for their money,” Ammar explained, pointing out those subscribers who do not wish to access the ring back tune package would retain the standard network tone available to all subscribers.

“It is our pleasure to provide a platform that will give our customers the desired fun, choice and entertainment,” Ammar said.

As said by him, customers will have the opportunity to download up to 10 tunes in their library, assign more than one tune to play at random, send a tune as a gift to a friend, assign different tunes to play to up to 10 different callers and assign different tunes for up to 10 groups of callers.

He explained that to download ring back tune via Short Messaging Service (SMS), customers are to simply text ‘download’ followed by the code of the preferred tune to 251 from an Etisalat line.

Citing for instance that in order to download the Banky W “0809ja” tune, subscribers simply be demanded to send ‘download7774’ as a text message to 251.

“Each tune downloaded cost N100 each per month,” he said, just as by dialing 251 from an Etisalat line, subscribers could browse a selection of music and listen to various tunes, create different groups with up to ten people each, assign different tunes to these individuals or groups and change settings at any time.
“All of these organizer services are for free at the moment,” he said.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Glo connects Nigeria, Benin Rep on one-network

The Second National Operator (SNO), Globacom Limited, has connected Nigeria and Benin Republic on its one-network platform.

Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO), Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, said that subscribers who roam across the two countries would henceforth not pay any roaming charges as they would be charged the same rate they pay for local calls in their countries.

He also said that this offer is open for subscribers across its postpaid and prepaid on the network.

“From now on, there will be no more roaming charges for all Glo subscribers between Nigeria and Benin Republic. Just travel to and from these two countries any time with your postpaid or prepaid Glo line and pay existing local rates for your calls and SMS,” he declared.

Jameel noted that Glo subscribers roaming between these two countries from now on would enjoy this without charges as they could now receive calls free as part of Glo’s one network pricing strategy.  

He emphasized that the one-network concept was to enable Glo subscribers to enjoy an unbroken connection across the two countries. 

“We recognize the strong economic and cultural ties between Nigeria and Benin Republic. There is a high movement of people across these two countries. Our One Network service will therefore boost communication in the region as it makes it stress free and much cheaper,” Jameel asserted. According to him, this service would be extended to cover any country where Glo launched its services.

Globaco’s vision, he said, is to be the largest and most successful telecom network in Africa, just as its preparing to roll out services in Ghana this year and plans have been extended to other African countries soon.

In Benin Republic where Glo commenced operation on June 5, 2008, the network has made a remarkable impact on the telecoms market, stressing that its service became the choice network in that country within the first 100 days.  

With this, Glo Mobile Benin, he said, soon after endeared itself to Beninese as it became the first operator in that country to launch Per Second Billing (PSB) and several value added services including Magic Plus, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), GPRS, Easyshare and Ring Back Tune. It was also the first network to roll out services across the country at the same time.

Recalling that in Nigeria, Glo Mobile achieved a similar feat when, despite starting operations two years after other networks, it recorded 1 million subscribers in nine months but also became the fastest growing network on the continent.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Zain outlines benefits of one4one offer

Management of Zain Nigeria has outlined benefits of One4One offer it recently introduced into the nation’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market.

Giving this outline through its spokesman, Mr. Emeka Oparah, Zain Nigeria recalled that the commencement of a new promo tagged One4One allows customers of the leading mobile network in Africa and the Middle East to get bonus minutes when they make calls to any Zain line.

He also said, that the promo rides on a strong selling proposition as it instantly takes a whopping 50 per cent burden off the wallet of every existing Zain customer and of course new subscriber of the company.

While the mechanics of the offer may appear very simple, he said, it could even be reduced to a poetic one-liner, customers of the second largest mobile operator in Nigeria, are beginning to develop an addiction for the offer because of the bountiful opportunities it throws up.

For instance, consumers have realized that the very essence of the promo rests on an equal plank as it harps on a philosophy that reflects the ‘sharing’ spirit.

Stressing that the promo captures, in an absolute sense, the beauty of an effective partnership as it thrives on a 50/50 relationship between the telco and its customers.

Additionally, he said with its extended application, customers of Zain get a bonus minute when they make a minute call to any Zain line.

He cited an instance, saying “if you make a 2-minute call to any Zain line, you only pay for one while Zain pays for the other minute within the same call. If a customer makes 10 minutes call to any Zain line, he only pays for 5 minutes while Zain bears the other remaining charge within that call. In fact, every time you call another Zain line, you pay for one minute and Zain pays for the next minute of the same call.”

He pointed out that the offer does not come with any covert caveat just as there are hardly any small prints in the section spelling out the lean terms and conditions of the promo. “Specifically, to benefit from the offer, a customer must make one complete minute call before he or she can enjoy the next one free minute call; the free minute will apply within the same call; offer applies to on-net calls made during peak and off-peak period; the reward is instant; Zain bears the cost of the free minutes and the offer only applies to on-net calls; i.e. when you call a Zain number,” he said.

Equally, customers are not allowed to accumulate or carry over the free minute to another call.

Explaining that the free minute could only be used within the same call just as the offer only applies to voice on-net calls.

“Normal charging will apply to On and Off net SMS. Offer is open to Pre and Post-paid subscribers but the following will be excluded: all classes of Payphone, Family and Friends and Happy Hour,” he enlightened.

Further, he said that another interesting dimension to the new promo is the timing, which is significant in many ways, noting that it came at a period when the global economic meltdown has splashed several financial roadblocks on the already stony path of countless Nigerians.

“These challenges range from job losses to slump in crude oil prices to an unpredictable exchange rate, crash in the stock market, high prices of consumer goods and unbearable house rents only to mention but a few. Without a doubt, these burdens are not just daunting but capable of causing frustration and despair. It is against this backcloth that Zain has resolved to extend a helping hand, thus allowing its customers save more while they transact their businesses and keep their friendship and family bonds much closer,” he said. 

Describing it as a unique offer, Oparah said the benefits are numerous including the clearly demonstration of the telco’s commitment to translate its brand philosophy of helping people everywhere Zain operates to see, experience and appreciate a “Wonderful World”.

“We have no doubt that this offer will offer some relief to homes and businesses at this critical time. Zain is introducing the Offer at this time because of the company’s desire to assist Nigerians to stay in touch with family, friends and business associates despite the effect of the current global economic realities,” Oparah said.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D