The Second National Operator (SNO), Globacom Limited, has unveiled 08125 as the latest in its Mobile Subscriber Identification Digital Numbers (MSIDN) for new on the network.
Disclosing this, the Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) at Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, said that the new number series followed the expansion of the network’s capacity and a rapid increase in its subscriber base, “hence the need to create room for new customers.”
Also, Jameel said, this means that 10 million more subscribers could sign on to the network and enjoy “sharp voice quality calls and the most competitive prices”.
According to him, new subscribers would enjoy a vast array of value added services and products including the newly introduced Glosoccer that updates users on football scores, the Frenszo Chat service that enables registered subscribers to find and make friends on the network; Prepaid and Postpaid Blackberry, Mobile Internet, massive coverage across Nigeria and roaming in several countries across the world.
He explained that the 0815 series is the fourth number prefix to be deployed by Globacom an indication of a reputation of the fastest growing networks on the continent and the Middle East.
“Glo Mobile rolled out in August 2003 with the 0805 number series. This was then followed by the 0807 and 0705 MSIDN series,” he said.
Jameel further said that the 0815 series is already available in dealers’ shops and in Gloworld outlets around the country.
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Experts canvass for IPv6 task force
Group of concerned Information Technology (IT) experts across the continent of Africa have canvassed for the setting up of Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) Task Force, to enhance the adoption of this latest version of IP.
IPv6 is an Internet Protocol version designed to succeed IPv4, the first implementation which is still in dominant use at present, but is expected to go into complete depletion by mid 2011. IP is an Internet layer protocol for packet-switched internet works, while IPv6 was defined in December 1998 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) with the publication of an Internet standard specification through its Request for Comment (RFC) 2460 and supports 2128 (about 3.4×1038) addresses.
This expansion provides flexibility in allocating addresses and routing traffic and eliminating the primary need for Network Address Translation (NAT), which gained widespread deployment as an effort to alleviate IPv4 address exhaustion.
Leading the proposal for the African Task Force on IPv6 in a submission made available to ITRealms Online from the African Network Information Center (AfriNIC), Technical head of the Egyptian IPv6 test beds and labs, Smart Village, Giza-Cairo, Mr. Hisham Ahmed Ibrahim, lamented that only Africa is the continent yet to get this kind of task force.
AfriNIC is a non-government, not-for-profit, membership organization, based in Mauritius that serves the African Internet Community.
The call, Ibrahim noted has become crucial to ignite general acceptance and consensus from African countries and organizations active in the field of Internet and access, towards the official launch of an African regional IPv6 Task Force.
“Africa is the only region in the world without a regional task force concerned mainly with IPv6 and its regional development, which led to some allegations from foreign organizations that the African community needs chaperoning when it comes to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development, especially in regard to the Internet and IPv6,” he said.
According to him, starting such a regional organization with the help of the already established Internet concerned African organizations, well educated and trained African technical community, would help to bring together Local Internet Registries (LIR), regional efforts and even governments to focus on one of the most anticipated Internet issues these days, which is IPv6.
Ibrahim pointed out that with less than 7 per cent of the IPv4 blocks left in the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) pool, predictions are that total depletion would come to the fore within the middle of next year.
“These predictions do not take into consideration the impact of distributing the final 5-8 blocks among the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs),” he said, stressing that Africa should take a stand now to face such a challenge and to turn that imminent date into an opportunity.
He urged for contributions that would make this regional initiative up and running as soon as humanly possible.
He also explained that the establishment of the task force is to assemble a group of African experts, all over the continent that work mainly with nations, LIRs and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) on fully supporting and implementing IPv6 capabilities and down streaming these capabilities to their consumers using African experiences and knowhow.
As at the time of going to the press, the proposal has begun to receive commendations and supports across the continent from various experts and expert groups.
One of such supports came from the president of the global body for IPv6 Forum, Mr. Latif Ladid, who described it as a “highly welcome initiative,” and promised to have a roundtable on that subject when he visits Egypt in early next month.
Ladid also disclosed that he has extended the request to the chairpersons of the currentIPv6 Forum chapters on the continent of Africa, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Kenya and Ghana.
Endorsing the initiative, Uganda-based IT expert, who gave his name as Mr. Amos, said that they are in the process of establishing country-based task force to lead the adoption of IPv6.
“I strongly welcome the idea of having this championed at the Regional level,” he declared.
Another Ugandan expert, Mr. Paul Ikanza, noted that implementing the adoption in African countries has witnessed some frustration in spite of lots of training camps and IPv6 is covered every time there is a technical workshop or conference.
“But I have realized there isn’t a structure beyond the awareness campaign cum training, so there is a definite gap. My government, for example, has not actively planned for this issue to my knowledge. I have even gone as far as contacting the press to give it mass coverage but it seemed like I was being alarmist,” he said.
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A decade of telephony liberalization in Nigeria
As Nigerians continue to celebrate enhanced access to communication made possible by opening up of the industry. REMMY NWEKE x-rays a decade of realistic liberalization of telephony in the country.
Historically, the liberalization of telecommunications in the Nigeria may have started in 1992 with about 300,000 telephones, mainly fixed lines, with a few expensive cellular mobiles available and practically displayed as part of affluence by very little number of wealthy citizens in the country.
Defined as an electronic device, a mobile phone or ‘mobile’ which is also called cellphone and handphone; is used for mobile telecommunications via mobile phone calls, text messaging or data transmission over a cellular network of specialized base stations known as cell sites.
Experts at a free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, highlighted that mobile phones differ from cordless telephones, which only offer telephone service within limited range through a single base station attached to a fixed land line. They cited an instance that ‘low-end’ mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, while ‘high-end’ otherwise called ‘smartphones’ are mobile phones that come with more advanced computing ability, including support for Internet access, electronic mail (email), gaming, Bluetooth, infrared, camera, multimedia messaging service (MMS), Media Players (MPs), radio and Global Positioning System (GPS).
Notably, the first hand held phone was traced to a demonstration by Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, which weighed two kilos and 17 years later, in 1990, an estimated 12.4 million people worldwide had cellular subscriptions and also 19 years afterward, precisely in 2009, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions have reached approximated 4.6 billion globally, which is, about 300 times the 1990 figure, thus it became a phenomenal economic revolution, mostly in a developing country like Nigeria.
On the hand, fixed telephony or landline and in some instances referred to as ‘main line’ or fixed line,’ is a telephone line that is inflexible, therefore, attached permanently to a phone box through a cable from a major source routing into homes and offices.
Though reputed to have a solid medium, either through metal wire or optical fibre, as against a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves; landlines usually have a lower price for calling time, and the user hardware costs less than mobile phones, but they are less convenient in terms of accessibility.
A land line is also used to increase the security of communications, as it cannot be intercepted by a receiver without physical access to the line. So, a fixed phone line is the opposite of a mobile phone line, which could be hard-wired or wireless in modern age.
Although fixed wireless devices get their electrical power supply from the main utility stations, like Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), in contrast, mobile wireless or portable wireless tend to be battery-powered. Main difference could be located in the ability of the fixed locations; because the efficiency and bandwidth are compromised if comparing fixed systems against the mobile aspect. In more advanced nation’s mobiles act as emergency backups for fixed lines in case of a power blackout or natural disaster.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report in 2003 approximated that 1.263 billion main telephone lines exist globally, with China having 350 million, and the United States coming second with 268 million. Equally, in 2008 it was discovered that there were 1,270,000,000 fixed line subscribers worldwide, against estimated 4.6 billion mobiles as at December 2009, that is, 67.0 per cent growth.
However, in Nigeria it took the then Federal Minister of Communications, Chief Olawale Ige, an engineer, to sell the idea of harmonizing the existence and operations of telecommunications companies via a presentation to the Supreme Military Council (SMC) leaders at that time, headed by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangada (IBB); on the essence of establishing a Commission to take charge of telecommunications, whose approval paved the way for what is known today as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This consent by the Babangada-led SMC encouraged the Minister of Communications to engage the consultancy of another reputed engineer, Mr. Vincent Maduka, resulting in the enactment of Decree 75 of November 1992. Maduka was to explore the modalities within which the proposed Commission was to be established and the processes. This also gave birth to the founding of NCC as part of the Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications (MoC) with Engineer Cletus Ogbonna Iromantu as the pioneer Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), who worked assiduously during the tutelage without a board, practically.
And at the expiration of Iromantu’s administration, Dr. Emmanuel Nnama was appointed into the office of EVC with the mandate of seeing to practical liberalization of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. Although his leadership reportedly embarked on the process in what some experts described as ‘part-liberalisation,’ which gave rise to the persistent clamour by industry associations, for instance, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) presided over at that time by Mr. Ernest Chukwuka-Anene Ndukwe.
Dr. Nnama’s leadership was short-lived, when Ndukwe, himself, was asked in the first quarter of 2000 to come and essentially implement the ‘holistic liberalization’ as being canvassed by his group hitherto, following the disbanding of the Ministerial Committee that organized the first Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) licensing regime under his predecessor.
By this time, the subscription of telephone lines, mainly fixed were a little in excess of 400,000, while mobile was 20,000 lines. These were nothing to write home about for a nation of over 100 million population and by 2001, despite debates on the kind of technology to be deployed by the operators under the GSM platform eventually, the repeat of the Digital Mobile licensing rounds took yet another centre stage, in collaboration with the Federal Government’s agency in-charge of privatization, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).
So, following the conclusion of the bidding process under Ndukwe’s watchful administration beside the World Bank’s interest in developing this sector, the exercise, was this time tagged ‘most successful auction’ due to the transparency involved. This saw to the emergence of the likes of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Econet Nigeria Limited and the third operator being the mobile arm of the state-owned Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) – Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTel), thereby, charging the telecom landscape in the country.
By August 2003, another round of license was awarded to Globacom Limited as the Second National Operator (SNO), coming after NITEL which is the first national carrier. These licenses made the sector more competitive and most Nigerians who were staved of communication through modern technologies during NITEL’s monopoly era, welcomed this development with both arms, with people acquiring mobile phones and even for relatives and friends, so as to stay in touch.
March 2006 saw the regulator, NCC, advancing arrangements to grant the Unified Access Service Licenses, of which eight companies emerged successful in the exercise after paying the prescribed fee among other conditions.
Outlining the criteria for the unified license regime at the peak of the exercise, Ndukwe told ITRealms Online that existing licensees must meet the criteria, with an active and operating network infrastructure, have a customer base of at least 10,000 connected subscribers or justifiable evidence of financial capability for substantial network rollout in response to the call for expression of interest.
Applicants, he said, must be up to date with payment of all fees and charges due to the Commission such as Annual Operating Levy (AOL), spectrum and numbering fees, and must have submitted the annual audited accounts, up to date on payment of company tax and equipment type approval, while current in settlement of interconnection obligations.
For new applicants, the immediate past NCC chief executive officer, had said, would be subjected to the usual licensing application requirement. Explaining that the service area would be as in the original licenses issued by the Commission to the applicant, stressing that a nationwide mobile or Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) license would be converted in a nationwide Unified License and a regional FWA or PNL license would be converted into a Unified License that covers the same region.
He noted that the scope of license covered fixed telephony whether wired or wireless, digital mobile, international gateway, national long distance, regional long distance services respectively, even as the Commission proposed that National Mobility would cost N260m, while Regional Mobility was based on the tier structure, running between N9m and N33m for the licensing fees.
Then, in January 2007, Mubadala Development Company acquired a renewable 15-year Unified Access License (UAL) via the Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services (EMTS) as the fifth GSM operator trading under Etisalat Nigeria for the sum of $400million, about N516 million with 40 per cent stake sold to Etisalat.
According to the current president, ATCON, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, a telecom engineer, the 10-year tenure of Ndukwe at NCC as the EVC, has been severally described as the ‘Telecommunication Revolution era’ in Nigeria, because, apart from setting up a well accepted standard internationally, he was able to build an institution, which is unusual in this part of the world.
Still, investigations by ITRealms Online revealed that one thing that was missing in the most part of Ndukwe’s 10-year in office, was the database of development within the sector, which actually came to the fore at the end of 2005, when teledensity was calculated based on population estimate of 126 million as at December of that year.
While from December 2006, the teledensity evaluation was based on a population of 140 million, whereas from December 2007, teledensity was calculated on active subscribers due to avalanche growth in mobile phone access. This practically rendered NITEL’s over 400,000 fixed lines invalid, mainly due to the poor quality of service and customer relations previously, which existed prior to the advent of GSM in the country.
Nevertheless, as at April 2010, Nigeria has grown teledensity by 56.32 per cent with a total of 146,600,937 subscribers spread across all networks. The Fixed wired cum wireless platform amounted to 9,327,586; mobile based on Code Division Multiple Access (CMDA) accounted for 13,148,043, while mobile growth on GSM recorded 124,125,308, according to NCC’s datasheet, maintaining that mobile subscription has clocked over 78 million active subscribers.
In granting licenses since the liberalization of the industry began over a decade ago, NCC has classified this into Class and Individual licenses respectively.
As indicated by NCC’s sources, under the Class licenses exist sales and installation of terminal equipment including Mobile Cellular Phones and High Frequency (HF), Very high frequency (VHF) and Ultra high frequency (UHF) radio, to name a few. This is in addition to licensing of those who operate in the repairs and maintenance of telecom facilities, cabling, Tele-centre/Cyber Café, and public payphone.
On the other hand, Individual licenses comprised of what NCC tagged as ‘Basic Licenses’ namely Community Telephony, Internet Services, Prepaid Card Calling Services, Public Payphone Services, Sales and Installation, Voice Mail, even as the ‘Major licenses’ include Unified Access Service License, Digital Mobile License (DML) otherwise called the GSM, Electronic Directory Information Services, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS), Internet Exchange, International Gateway, Interconnect Exchange, Metropolitan (Fibre) Cable Network, National Carrier, National Long Distance Communications (NLDO), Public Mobile Communications Trunk Radio Services, and Public Mobile Communications Vehicle Tracking Services.
Under the Private Network Links (PNL) equally referred to as fixed, there are Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) for hubs and international as well as domestic services, International Data Access, Fixed Telephony, Local Exchange Operators, International Submarine Cable Infrastructure and Landing Station Services, Value Added Network (Special Numbering) Services, Collocation Services, Central Equipment Identity Registry Services, Non-Commercial Closed User Radio Networks for non-telecoms companies, and Commercial Basic Radio Communications Network Services.
Above all, the Nigerian Communications Commission has approximated 35 licenses on offer and this figure is not static as the telecommunications market expands into a complete converged Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector, with Nigerians watching in anticipation the unification of about three various regulatory agencies of the government; involving communications, broadcasting and software management, which has been overdue since 2008 when the Ministries of Information and Communications were merged as one.
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Adeleke tasks Nigerian youths on Internet usage
President, Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), Chief Samuel Adeleke, has tasked Nigerian youths on the use of the internet.
Speaking recently at the 2010 edition of the Nigeria Internet Governance forum organized by the Digital Sense Africa (DSA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos, Chief Adeleke said that youths should take the bull by the horn and explore the internet positively.
He recalled that there was a time in Nigeria when some creative individuals came up with the concept of filling bread nylon and then called it ‘ice water’, which was being sold at the traffic due to the tropical weather of the country and people were patronizing it.
“Those of you who remember the initial pure water that is, a polythene or nylon bag used for bread, filled with water and wrapped on top,” he noted, stressing that it was then called ‘ice water.
According to him, the person that has the best of innovative ideas would carry the day.
Pointing out that the idea came because it was usually sold on the road during traffic and somewhere decided to package it into pure water, which is today being sealed by machines for mass production and in fact being produced at almost every cranny of the country.
Adeleke, therefore charged Nigerian youths to be an idea creator as far as the internet is concerned, because by the time others would discover it, he or she must have made sufficient money.
“Be an idea creator so that when others join, you must have made your money. And that is my appeal to you,” he urged.
Also speaking, the president, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajay, said that in discussing Internet Governance, there are key issues that come to the fore, namely security, openness and privacy as well as access, diversity and critical Internet resources.
For Ajayi, he did not see reason why some computers could not be made to use local languages to enable locals to read their own information on the internet in their own languages or local dialect.
“This means, we must have computers that could be used in those local languages that have key board that support local languages,” Ajayi said.
Pointing out that Google and Yahoo are companies that are solely based on the Internet and they are making more money than the oil companies in Nigeria and there are some other smaller Internet based.
The Nigeria Internet Governance Forum is the second that DSA is organizing with NCC, while this year’s global edition would hold in September, 2010 in Lithuania.
ITRealms Online recalls that Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is run by the IGF secretariat, with the purpose of supporting the United Nations Secretary-General in carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) with regard to convening a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue - the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Speaking recently at the 2010 edition of the Nigeria Internet Governance forum organized by the Digital Sense Africa (DSA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos, Chief Adeleke said that youths should take the bull by the horn and explore the internet positively.
He recalled that there was a time in Nigeria when some creative individuals came up with the concept of filling bread nylon and then called it ‘ice water’, which was being sold at the traffic due to the tropical weather of the country and people were patronizing it.
“Those of you who remember the initial pure water that is, a polythene or nylon bag used for bread, filled with water and wrapped on top,” he noted, stressing that it was then called ‘ice water.
According to him, the person that has the best of innovative ideas would carry the day.
Pointing out that the idea came because it was usually sold on the road during traffic and somewhere decided to package it into pure water, which is today being sealed by machines for mass production and in fact being produced at almost every cranny of the country.
Adeleke, therefore charged Nigerian youths to be an idea creator as far as the internet is concerned, because by the time others would discover it, he or she must have made sufficient money.
“Be an idea creator so that when others join, you must have made your money. And that is my appeal to you,” he urged.
Also speaking, the president, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajay, said that in discussing Internet Governance, there are key issues that come to the fore, namely security, openness and privacy as well as access, diversity and critical Internet resources.
For Ajayi, he did not see reason why some computers could not be made to use local languages to enable locals to read their own information on the internet in their own languages or local dialect.
“This means, we must have computers that could be used in those local languages that have key board that support local languages,” Ajayi said.
Pointing out that Google and Yahoo are companies that are solely based on the Internet and they are making more money than the oil companies in Nigeria and there are some other smaller Internet based.
The Nigeria Internet Governance Forum is the second that DSA is organizing with NCC, while this year’s global edition would hold in September, 2010 in Lithuania.
ITRealms Online recalls that Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is run by the IGF secretariat, with the purpose of supporting the United Nations Secretary-General in carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) with regard to convening a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue - the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Alternatives to cybercrime by Akinyemi
A Lagos-based internet enthusiasts and motivational speaker, Mr. Adeolu Akinyemi, has said there are alternatives to cybercrime.
He made this observation while speaking on ‘The Alternatives,’ at the recent launch of the Maga No Need Pay tunes and video, as part of the campaign against cyber crimes in the country, organized by the Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) with the support from software giant, Microsoft Corporation and in partnership with the Osun State University and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
Mr. Akinyemi, said that it takes the same effort and time to commit crime and to think positively and make honest living.
Equally, he suggested that those who are involving themselves in cyber crimes could take to singing, acting and even online marketing to name a few alternative options.
According to him, the ability to follow positive instructions and perseverance were the keys for success in all endeavours.
He cautioned that those who make their so-called wealth through cybercrime otherwise called 419 after a section of Nigerian constitution on crime could be making their money very easily when the opportunity calls, but the bottom line is that it goes as quickly as it is gotten.
This is coupled with lack of freedom associated with such a trade, emphasizing that Internet is still a goldmine, advising that before one could find the gold wherever it exists, there are lots of ‘rubbish’.
He encouraged Nigerian youths to preserve in their efforts to grow and become notable individuals of tomorrow.
Akinyemi also decried that efforts of the few bad eggs who indulge in 419 trade mess up the efforts of the greater number of Nigerians, but expressed optimism that with more youths doing positive things, especially online, the bad eggs efforts would be overcome.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
He made this observation while speaking on ‘The Alternatives,’ at the recent launch of the Maga No Need Pay tunes and video, as part of the campaign against cyber crimes in the country, organized by the Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) with the support from software giant, Microsoft Corporation and in partnership with the Osun State University and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
Mr. Akinyemi, said that it takes the same effort and time to commit crime and to think positively and make honest living.
Equally, he suggested that those who are involving themselves in cyber crimes could take to singing, acting and even online marketing to name a few alternative options.
According to him, the ability to follow positive instructions and perseverance were the keys for success in all endeavours.
He cautioned that those who make their so-called wealth through cybercrime otherwise called 419 after a section of Nigerian constitution on crime could be making their money very easily when the opportunity calls, but the bottom line is that it goes as quickly as it is gotten.
This is coupled with lack of freedom associated with such a trade, emphasizing that Internet is still a goldmine, advising that before one could find the gold wherever it exists, there are lots of ‘rubbish’.
He encouraged Nigerian youths to preserve in their efforts to grow and become notable individuals of tomorrow.
Akinyemi also decried that efforts of the few bad eggs who indulge in 419 trade mess up the efforts of the greater number of Nigerians, but expressed optimism that with more youths doing positive things, especially online, the bad eggs efforts would be overcome.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
AfriNIC names four new directors
With the conclusion of the African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) board of directors’ election, four new directors have joined the executive chamber of the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa.
Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adiel A. Akplogan, who confirmed this at the weekend, said that as a result of the board elections which took place during the AfriNIC-12 public member and policy meeting on Thursday, June 3, 2010, in Kigali.
AfriNIC’s general assembly meets once a year while its Public Policy Meetings are held twice a year, one back-to-back with the General Assembly.
“We‘re pleased to announce the election of the candidates to the AfriNIC’s board,” he said.
Akplogan, listed the names of the newly elected board members to include Messrs Mr. Nezar N. Sami (Egypt) and Mr. Khaled Koubaa (Tunisia) respectively as primary and alternate directors from the Northern Africa region. While Senegalese Mrs. Ndeye Maimouna Diop Diagne and Malian, Mr. Alioune B. Traore respectively were made board member as primary and alternate directors from the Western Africa region.
He also said that the terms of the newly elected board members would commence on July 1, this year, and would elapse after a three-year period.
In his congratulatory message to the new board members, the chief executive officer wished them success in their new positions.
“On behalf of the 2010 election committee, we would like to thank all the other candidates that stood for this election for their interest in serving the community,” he said, expressing appreciation to the elections committee and its chair for their good job in coordinating the whole process.
ITRealms Online recalled that a Nigerian expert in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, Mr. Obinna Nweje and seven others from various African countries were nominated into the league of candidates to battle for the board of directors in the African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa for this year.
At the close of nominations on May 14, this year, board election to be held in Kigali on June 5th, 2010.
According to the list made available to ITRealms Online, North Africa region has two candidates namely Nezar Sami, and Khaled Koubaa; while the West Africa region has the highest candidates of six, viz, Mouhamet Diop, Katim S. Touray, Yen Choi, Alioune Badara Traore, Obinna Nweje and Ndeye Maimouna Diop Diagne.
AfriNIC is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organisation, with main role being to serve African region as Regional Internet Registry, by spearheading Internet technology and policy development on the continent.
AfriNIC’s core values are to operate with transparency, professionalism and efficiency; committed to integrity in all that we do, always and everywhere; recognize and value individual contribution and teamwork; cultural and language diversity in our region; technology driven organization that encourages continuous learning and innovation; value collaboration and cooperation with related organizations.
The AfriNIC organizational structure is set to encourage a bottom-up self governance management model where policies and other organisational functions are determined by the community in general and members who elect representatives that seat on the Board of Directors.
The discussions are conducted via both public meetings and e-mail discussion lists, whereas there are no requirements or pre-requisites for any person or entity to participate.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adiel A. Akplogan, who confirmed this at the weekend, said that as a result of the board elections which took place during the AfriNIC-12 public member and policy meeting on Thursday, June 3, 2010, in Kigali.
AfriNIC’s general assembly meets once a year while its Public Policy Meetings are held twice a year, one back-to-back with the General Assembly.
“We‘re pleased to announce the election of the candidates to the AfriNIC’s board,” he said.
Akplogan, listed the names of the newly elected board members to include Messrs Mr. Nezar N. Sami (Egypt) and Mr. Khaled Koubaa (Tunisia) respectively as primary and alternate directors from the Northern Africa region. While Senegalese Mrs. Ndeye Maimouna Diop Diagne and Malian, Mr. Alioune B. Traore respectively were made board member as primary and alternate directors from the Western Africa region.
He also said that the terms of the newly elected board members would commence on July 1, this year, and would elapse after a three-year period.
In his congratulatory message to the new board members, the chief executive officer wished them success in their new positions.
“On behalf of the 2010 election committee, we would like to thank all the other candidates that stood for this election for their interest in serving the community,” he said, expressing appreciation to the elections committee and its chair for their good job in coordinating the whole process.
ITRealms Online recalled that a Nigerian expert in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, Mr. Obinna Nweje and seven others from various African countries were nominated into the league of candidates to battle for the board of directors in the African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa for this year.
At the close of nominations on May 14, this year, board election to be held in Kigali on June 5th, 2010.
According to the list made available to ITRealms Online, North Africa region has two candidates namely Nezar Sami, and Khaled Koubaa; while the West Africa region has the highest candidates of six, viz, Mouhamet Diop, Katim S. Touray, Yen Choi, Alioune Badara Traore, Obinna Nweje and Ndeye Maimouna Diop Diagne.
AfriNIC is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organisation, with main role being to serve African region as Regional Internet Registry, by spearheading Internet technology and policy development on the continent.
AfriNIC’s core values are to operate with transparency, professionalism and efficiency; committed to integrity in all that we do, always and everywhere; recognize and value individual contribution and teamwork; cultural and language diversity in our region; technology driven organization that encourages continuous learning and innovation; value collaboration and cooperation with related organizations.
The AfriNIC organizational structure is set to encourage a bottom-up self governance management model where policies and other organisational functions are determined by the community in general and members who elect representatives that seat on the Board of Directors.
The discussions are conducted via both public meetings and e-mail discussion lists, whereas there are no requirements or pre-requisites for any person or entity to participate.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Data revenue to surpass voice by 2015 – Titilayo
Managing Director, SWAP Telecoms and Technologies, Mr. Babatunde Titilayo has identified some future potentials of telecommunications industry in the country, predicting that data revenue would surpass voice revenue in the next five years.
Speaking at the West Africa Information and Communications Technology (WAFICT) congress’ session on CEO’s perspective future potential and challenges, said that future development would see to the full convergence of fixed and mobile internet market, which would open new market.
Also, he said, that the emergence of wireless broadband through home network and mobile device would continue to rise, while mobile network operators (MNOs) revenue from data services would grow stronger than voice revenue over the years leading to 2015.
He stressed that the emerging would be driven by data demand, new Third Generation (3G) licenses and would see to the reduction in bandwidth cost in the country.
“There would be a shift from Second Generation (2G) to 3G services, which would also open up the market space,” he said.
Mr. Titilayo pointed out that operators are currently looking at taking transformative measures and sometimes disruptive model to current business models to differentiate themselves from peers with the intense competition in the industry and provide needed quality services to ever demanding mobile users at a reduced operating cost.
“Therefore, outsourcing and forging strategic alliances with specialist companies looks the only best way out,” he said.
The SWAP boss, further predicted that with less than 60 percent teledensity, the telecom industry has not reached the maturity stage.
“We will get to 80 per cent teledensity on a per capita basis to talk of maturity so there are potentials even though at very much reduced Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) ,” he said.
He noted though the fact that there are challenges for operators for the aforementioned to be achieved, in addition to lesser revenue cum subscriber-base at the same cost.
Titilayo emphasized that in making choice to survive and continue to grow ARPU in the Nigerian telecom market, operators are faced with three choices.
“… To thrive, to survive or to die; What they can control is cost and high cost can kill any company,” he asserted.
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Speaking at the West Africa Information and Communications Technology (WAFICT) congress’ session on CEO’s perspective future potential and challenges, said that future development would see to the full convergence of fixed and mobile internet market, which would open new market.
Also, he said, that the emergence of wireless broadband through home network and mobile device would continue to rise, while mobile network operators (MNOs) revenue from data services would grow stronger than voice revenue over the years leading to 2015.
He stressed that the emerging would be driven by data demand, new Third Generation (3G) licenses and would see to the reduction in bandwidth cost in the country.
“There would be a shift from Second Generation (2G) to 3G services, which would also open up the market space,” he said.
Mr. Titilayo pointed out that operators are currently looking at taking transformative measures and sometimes disruptive model to current business models to differentiate themselves from peers with the intense competition in the industry and provide needed quality services to ever demanding mobile users at a reduced operating cost.
“Therefore, outsourcing and forging strategic alliances with specialist companies looks the only best way out,” he said.
The SWAP boss, further predicted that with less than 60 percent teledensity, the telecom industry has not reached the maturity stage.
“We will get to 80 per cent teledensity on a per capita basis to talk of maturity so there are potentials even though at very much reduced Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) ,” he said.
He noted though the fact that there are challenges for operators for the aforementioned to be achieved, in addition to lesser revenue cum subscriber-base at the same cost.
Titilayo emphasized that in making choice to survive and continue to grow ARPU in the Nigerian telecom market, operators are faced with three choices.
“… To thrive, to survive or to die; What they can control is cost and high cost can kill any company,” he asserted.
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Zinox launches e-learning revision suite
Internationally certified personal computers brand in the country, Zinox Computers, has launched electronic learning revision suite in effort to bring relief to all stake holders in the nation’s education sector.
Announcing this last weekend, Head, Zinox e-Learning, Mrs. Loretta Agbakoba, said that this service is available through the Zinox Card, stressing that the new e-learning tool provides students with over 80, 000 questions and answers suitable as revision materials in Senior School Certificates Examinations, NECO, GCE, JAMB, and other qualification examinations into tertiary institutions.
“These practice modules are most likely to end the era of poor performance in examinations,” she said. Mrs. Agbakoba also said that the Zinox revision modules were designed to complement sound teaching and learning processes, restore the credibility of the schools and schools’ examinations, and substantially reduce the alarming proportions of examinations malpractices in Nigeria.
She explained that these modules were perfect examination revision tools because they help students to master the content of their syllabus and at the same time make them proficient in the practical details of exams.
“Students can choose from eight academic subjects, moderates his/her answers with timing, check answers, and personally monitor performance. The experience produces more confident students who would definitely score high grades in their examinations,” she said.
Recalling that about 60 per cent of Nigerian students failed to meet the bare minimum standards for admission into tertiary institutions, noting that from the remaining 40 per cent who met the minimum cut-off marks most scored close to it, not really showing commendable academic brilliance.
She expressed the hope that the new e-learning tool from Zinox eLearning Technologies would aid millions of high school students to achieve the mastery needed to succeed in their future qualification examinations for tertiary institutions.
The revision modules, she said are being upgraded on a daily basis in keeping with the international standards of the World e-Books Library, disclosing that the inclusion of the revision modules would enhance the indispensability of the Zinox Card as Nigeria’s foremost source for e-books and education resources.
She, therefore, called on parents, teachers, school administrators and governments to obtain the Zinox Card for their wards.
ITRealms Online recalled that in 2009, Zinox Computers launched its exclusive partnership with the World e-Books Library (WEL), a leading public on-line library with over a million titles and documents in stock.
The partnership is a strategic alliance to introduce a new technically cutting edge e-knowledge product in Nigeria. The product is a very powerful web based e-knowledge tool that differentiated the Zinox brand and accelerated customer satisfaction by innovatively empowering users of Zinox Computers with the world’s largest e-library service, with over 1,000,000 e-books.
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Announcing this last weekend, Head, Zinox e-Learning, Mrs. Loretta Agbakoba, said that this service is available through the Zinox Card, stressing that the new e-learning tool provides students with over 80, 000 questions and answers suitable as revision materials in Senior School Certificates Examinations, NECO, GCE, JAMB, and other qualification examinations into tertiary institutions.
“These practice modules are most likely to end the era of poor performance in examinations,” she said. Mrs. Agbakoba also said that the Zinox revision modules were designed to complement sound teaching and learning processes, restore the credibility of the schools and schools’ examinations, and substantially reduce the alarming proportions of examinations malpractices in Nigeria.
She explained that these modules were perfect examination revision tools because they help students to master the content of their syllabus and at the same time make them proficient in the practical details of exams.
“Students can choose from eight academic subjects, moderates his/her answers with timing, check answers, and personally monitor performance. The experience produces more confident students who would definitely score high grades in their examinations,” she said.
Recalling that about 60 per cent of Nigerian students failed to meet the bare minimum standards for admission into tertiary institutions, noting that from the remaining 40 per cent who met the minimum cut-off marks most scored close to it, not really showing commendable academic brilliance.
She expressed the hope that the new e-learning tool from Zinox eLearning Technologies would aid millions of high school students to achieve the mastery needed to succeed in their future qualification examinations for tertiary institutions.
The revision modules, she said are being upgraded on a daily basis in keeping with the international standards of the World e-Books Library, disclosing that the inclusion of the revision modules would enhance the indispensability of the Zinox Card as Nigeria’s foremost source for e-books and education resources.
She, therefore, called on parents, teachers, school administrators and governments to obtain the Zinox Card for their wards.
ITRealms Online recalled that in 2009, Zinox Computers launched its exclusive partnership with the World e-Books Library (WEL), a leading public on-line library with over a million titles and documents in stock.
The partnership is a strategic alliance to introduce a new technically cutting edge e-knowledge product in Nigeria. The product is a very powerful web based e-knowledge tool that differentiated the Zinox brand and accelerated customer satisfaction by innovatively empowering users of Zinox Computers with the world’s largest e-library service, with over 1,000,000 e-books.
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South-East: Obi of Onitsha applauds Glo
The traditional ruler of Onitsha Ado Kingdom, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe has applauded the second national telecom operator, Globacom, for providing a remarkable quality of service in the south eastern part of the country.
This acclamation came during a courtesy visit on the monarch by officials of Globacom from the South East regional led by the Business Director for the region, Mr. Ralph Ehimhen.
Igwe Achebe said that rapid roll out in Onitsha and its environs cannot be overlooked, expressing the hope that Glo has been exhibit a truly Nigerian company commitment towards bringing the best of telecom services to the people.
He recalled that Globacom’s contract package was chosen as the official line for staff during his days at the Shell Petroleum Development Company, adding that Glo’s services have made a significant impact on the cost and manner of doing business in the commercial city of Onitsha.
“We are also pleased that your company has been able to provide employment for a lot of indigenes not only in Onitsha but across the South East”, he said.
Speaking earlier, the Glo Business Director, South East, Mr. Ralph Ehimhen, said the visit was to seek the blessing of the royal father and thank him for the support given to Globacom by the Onitsha traditional council and the entire people of the zone.
He said Glo is committed to qualitative services as it is on record that it has the best coverage in Onitsha and the whole of Anambra State with over 100 Base Transmission Station (BTS) deployed in urban and rural locations.
“We have already commissioned optic fibre links across the South East, linking cities such as Owerri, Onitsha and Enugu with other parts of the country. This has drastically reduced the cost and frequency of movement for business transactions by our people, especially in a commercial city like Onitsha”, he said.
Ehimhen added that with a major transmission switch in the South East region and a second switch nearing completion, there will be more network expansion and improved service quality enjoyed by Glo subscribers in Onitsha and the entire South East zone.
The upcoming launch of the Glo 1 submarine cable linking Africa with the rest of the world, he said, will also ensure that Glo exceeds the requirements and expectations of Nigerians in voice and data communication as it will offer faster and greater bandwidth at incredibly affordable rates.
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This acclamation came during a courtesy visit on the monarch by officials of Globacom from the South East regional led by the Business Director for the region, Mr. Ralph Ehimhen.
Igwe Achebe said that rapid roll out in Onitsha and its environs cannot be overlooked, expressing the hope that Glo has been exhibit a truly Nigerian company commitment towards bringing the best of telecom services to the people.
He recalled that Globacom’s contract package was chosen as the official line for staff during his days at the Shell Petroleum Development Company, adding that Glo’s services have made a significant impact on the cost and manner of doing business in the commercial city of Onitsha.
“We are also pleased that your company has been able to provide employment for a lot of indigenes not only in Onitsha but across the South East”, he said.
Speaking earlier, the Glo Business Director, South East, Mr. Ralph Ehimhen, said the visit was to seek the blessing of the royal father and thank him for the support given to Globacom by the Onitsha traditional council and the entire people of the zone.
He said Glo is committed to qualitative services as it is on record that it has the best coverage in Onitsha and the whole of Anambra State with over 100 Base Transmission Station (BTS) deployed in urban and rural locations.
“We have already commissioned optic fibre links across the South East, linking cities such as Owerri, Onitsha and Enugu with other parts of the country. This has drastically reduced the cost and frequency of movement for business transactions by our people, especially in a commercial city like Onitsha”, he said.
Ehimhen added that with a major transmission switch in the South East region and a second switch nearing completion, there will be more network expansion and improved service quality enjoyed by Glo subscribers in Onitsha and the entire South East zone.
The upcoming launch of the Glo 1 submarine cable linking Africa with the rest of the world, he said, will also ensure that Glo exceeds the requirements and expectations of Nigerians in voice and data communication as it will offer faster and greater bandwidth at incredibly affordable rates.
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ICANN completes Key-signing-key exercise
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has completed the key-signing-key (KSK), which is the generation of the cryptographic key to be deployed in securing the root zone of the Domain Name System using (DNSSEC) for the first time.
The exercise saw to the completion of the verification of every aspect of the equipment; software and procedures associated with the generation of the KSK to ensure correctness and trustworthy.
A press statement from ICANN informed that the ceremony was conducted with the goal of ensuring that there is widespread confidence throughout the technical Internet community that the root zone, once signed, could be relied upon to protect users from false information.
The ceremony unveiled detailed checklist with ICANN arranging for the whole system to be subject to a SysTrust audit, a process supported by the archived, unedited video footage and the legal attestations of key participants.
ICANN recalls that the KSK required considerable effort and investment, just as the body benefited from an extremely productive collaboration between staff at ICANN, VeriSign and the US Department of Commerce.
ICANN, with the help of some talented consultants, has designed processes that are thought to surpass those of many commercial Certificate Authorities not only in the degree of openness and transparency in their design and execution, but also in terms of the security engineering involved.
The design of the overall system requires ICANN to execute a ceremony like this one four times per year. The next ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 12 in El Segundo, California, where ICANN has built a second facility intended to ensure continuity for the DNS (and hence Internet users world-wide) in the event of a serious disaster in one location.
All design documentation for the ceremony will be published by ICANN, not only to promote transparency in the process for the root zone, but also to act as a valuable reference to any other organization that needs to build similar systems to support DNSSEC in top-level domains, enterprises, or anywhere else.
The deployment of DNSSEC in the root zone of the DNS will hence not only act as a catalyst for global DNSSEC deployment because of the special nature of the root zone, but also because of the design and engineering investment ICANN is giving back to the wider community.
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The exercise saw to the completion of the verification of every aspect of the equipment; software and procedures associated with the generation of the KSK to ensure correctness and trustworthy.
A press statement from ICANN informed that the ceremony was conducted with the goal of ensuring that there is widespread confidence throughout the technical Internet community that the root zone, once signed, could be relied upon to protect users from false information.
The ceremony unveiled detailed checklist with ICANN arranging for the whole system to be subject to a SysTrust audit, a process supported by the archived, unedited video footage and the legal attestations of key participants.
ICANN recalls that the KSK required considerable effort and investment, just as the body benefited from an extremely productive collaboration between staff at ICANN, VeriSign and the US Department of Commerce.
ICANN, with the help of some talented consultants, has designed processes that are thought to surpass those of many commercial Certificate Authorities not only in the degree of openness and transparency in their design and execution, but also in terms of the security engineering involved.
The design of the overall system requires ICANN to execute a ceremony like this one four times per year. The next ceremony is scheduled to take place on July 12 in El Segundo, California, where ICANN has built a second facility intended to ensure continuity for the DNS (and hence Internet users world-wide) in the event of a serious disaster in one location.
All design documentation for the ceremony will be published by ICANN, not only to promote transparency in the process for the root zone, but also to act as a valuable reference to any other organization that needs to build similar systems to support DNSSEC in top-level domains, enterprises, or anywhere else.
The deployment of DNSSEC in the root zone of the DNS will hence not only act as a catalyst for global DNSSEC deployment because of the special nature of the root zone, but also because of the design and engineering investment ICANN is giving back to the wider community.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Monday, June 21, 2010
15 new Gloworld to open soon – Olusope
Managing Director of Gloworld, Mrs. Shade Olusope, has said that an estimated 15 new Gloworld outlets would soon be opened nationwide.
She said that this is in line with Glo’s commitment to bring the best telecommunications services backed by excellent customer service support to Nigerians in all parts of the country, saying that the 15 new Gloworld outlets would be opened in quick succession in several cities.
According to her, the outlets would be commissioned between June 24 and October this year, noting that they are located in Oke Ado in Ibadan, Oyo State, Seme Border and Fadeyi in Lagos, Bauchi, Sapele, Nsukka, Owerri and Lokoja in Kogi State.
Others, she said, are located in Ago-Iwoye, Ogoja, Gboko, the University of Port Harcourt, Ondo, Ijebu-Igbo and Akure, the Ondo state capital.
Mrs. Olusope also said that the opening of the new outlets became necessary due to the rapid roll-out and expansion of coverage to more communities all over the country by Glo.
“With this rapid expansion, it became imperative to have more Gloworld outlets to deliver Glo’s traditional, excellent customer care support to the people in these environments,” she said, stressing that since the operator is determined to bring outstanding service delivery to all nooks and crannies of the nation where it has coverage, resources have been invested into building and commissioning new Gloworld outlets to bring excellent services closer to the people.
“We urge our subscribers in these locations to take advantage of the improved Glo presence through these new Gloworld outlets to get access to information about the various products and services we offer that can lead to positive changes in their lifestyles and how they communicate”, she said.
Gloworlds are specialized outlets manned by trained and dedicated staff committed to giving total satisfaction to Glo subscribers. They offer convenient and easy access to telecommunication products and offer exceptional customer care service in a world class and friendly environment. There are currently 45 Gloworld outlets across the country.
Gloworlds offer Customer Care services ranging from SIM replacements, manual configuration of handsets, Blackberry support services, 3G services, post-paid payments, high net-worth individual (HNI) dedicated services, issues resolution and enquiries about promotions, products and services, e-payment and value added services. The outlets also offer sales of mobile handsets, SIM cards, recharge cards, telecoms accessories, and modems.
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She said that this is in line with Glo’s commitment to bring the best telecommunications services backed by excellent customer service support to Nigerians in all parts of the country, saying that the 15 new Gloworld outlets would be opened in quick succession in several cities.
According to her, the outlets would be commissioned between June 24 and October this year, noting that they are located in Oke Ado in Ibadan, Oyo State, Seme Border and Fadeyi in Lagos, Bauchi, Sapele, Nsukka, Owerri and Lokoja in Kogi State.
Others, she said, are located in Ago-Iwoye, Ogoja, Gboko, the University of Port Harcourt, Ondo, Ijebu-Igbo and Akure, the Ondo state capital.
Mrs. Olusope also said that the opening of the new outlets became necessary due to the rapid roll-out and expansion of coverage to more communities all over the country by Glo.
“With this rapid expansion, it became imperative to have more Gloworld outlets to deliver Glo’s traditional, excellent customer care support to the people in these environments,” she said, stressing that since the operator is determined to bring outstanding service delivery to all nooks and crannies of the nation where it has coverage, resources have been invested into building and commissioning new Gloworld outlets to bring excellent services closer to the people.
“We urge our subscribers in these locations to take advantage of the improved Glo presence through these new Gloworld outlets to get access to information about the various products and services we offer that can lead to positive changes in their lifestyles and how they communicate”, she said.
Gloworlds are specialized outlets manned by trained and dedicated staff committed to giving total satisfaction to Glo subscribers. They offer convenient and easy access to telecommunication products and offer exceptional customer care service in a world class and friendly environment. There are currently 45 Gloworld outlets across the country.
Gloworlds offer Customer Care services ranging from SIM replacements, manual configuration of handsets, Blackberry support services, 3G services, post-paid payments, high net-worth individual (HNI) dedicated services, issues resolution and enquiries about promotions, products and services, e-payment and value added services. The outlets also offer sales of mobile handsets, SIM cards, recharge cards, telecoms accessories, and modems.
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6 winners emerge in predict & win promo
Six subscribers, last weekend emerged winners in the Starcomms predict and win promo, bringing to 10 the number of winners since the commencement of World Cup tournament in South Africa.
Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms Plc, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, who affirmed this, said that the offer avails subscribers have fun whilst the world cup lasted.
Since the commencement of the tournament on June 11, 10 winners have emerged in the matches that have been played so far, with all of them getting generous airtime prizes for predicting the match outcome rightly.
Some of these subscribers, he listed to include Mbifreke Asanda, Nneji Nnowi Thomas, Henry Abbey, Joseph Chukwudi Chibeze, Abubakar Lawal and Innocent Eke.
He explained that to win in the Predict and Win competition, a subscriber must through his prediction determine the final score line latest by the end of the first half of every match by sending an a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to the short code, 31321, from a Starcomms line.
For instance, he said that to predict a match between Nigeria and Argentina text: star# Nigeria 1 Argentina 0 at a cost of N25 per text message.
“By predicting the exact score of the match, the subscriber stands the chance to win goodies from Starcomms” he said, noting that a subscriber could send as many entries as possible in order to increase his or her chances of winning fabulous prizes like Moto Q9c Smart Phone, data card, handset and free airtime.
He enlightened that all entries before the half time of the match would be considered as a correct entry, noting that as soon as the subscriber sends his entry, he would receive a message saying “thank you for playing Predict & win”.
Explaining the reasons behind the promo, he pointed out that the game expected to end on July 11, Maheshwari said that it is the tradition of Starcomms to associate with the passion of its subscribers.
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Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms Plc, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, who affirmed this, said that the offer avails subscribers have fun whilst the world cup lasted.
Since the commencement of the tournament on June 11, 10 winners have emerged in the matches that have been played so far, with all of them getting generous airtime prizes for predicting the match outcome rightly.
Some of these subscribers, he listed to include Mbifreke Asanda, Nneji Nnowi Thomas, Henry Abbey, Joseph Chukwudi Chibeze, Abubakar Lawal and Innocent Eke.
He explained that to win in the Predict and Win competition, a subscriber must through his prediction determine the final score line latest by the end of the first half of every match by sending an a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to the short code, 31321, from a Starcomms line.
For instance, he said that to predict a match between Nigeria and Argentina text: star# Nigeria 1 Argentina 0 at a cost of N25 per text message.
“By predicting the exact score of the match, the subscriber stands the chance to win goodies from Starcomms” he said, noting that a subscriber could send as many entries as possible in order to increase his or her chances of winning fabulous prizes like Moto Q9c Smart Phone, data card, handset and free airtime.
He enlightened that all entries before the half time of the match would be considered as a correct entry, noting that as soon as the subscriber sends his entry, he would receive a message saying “thank you for playing Predict & win”.
Explaining the reasons behind the promo, he pointed out that the game expected to end on July 11, Maheshwari said that it is the tradition of Starcomms to associate with the passion of its subscribers.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
Africa Digital awards, lectures get new date
The organizers of the ICT Watch Africa Digital Awards & Lecture Series 2010, have announced a new date for the event.
According to the chief organizer, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, it would now be held on Sunday, July 25, 2010.
The awards ceremonies would be preceded by a lecture series with the theme: Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee: Sustaining the Telecoms Growth Beyond 2010, just as “The date has been shifted to Sunday July 25, 2010.”
He pointed out that as the countdown draws nearer, companies have started jostling for the event, especially the award categories.
Already, he listed some of the nominees to include Globacom, Omatek Computers, Zinox Computers, Accion Micro-Finance Bank Limited, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Teledom, Valucard, Interswitch, Contact Solutions Limited, NITDA, NCC, NBC, Systemspecs, Expertedge Software, Chams Plc, Nokia, Samsung, Zain, MTN, ZOOMMOBILE, DCC Networks, HIIT Plc, Visafone and 21st Century.
Mr. Adewusi equally disclosed that interest has been shown in the event beyond the shores of the country and that there is high probability that a number of companies in the sub-region would compete fiercely with Nigerian companies for prizes at the event.
Adewusi, who is the chief executive officer, FiveStar Focus and anchorman of ICT Watch Network on MITV, TVC and Focus Cable Television, said that the firm commitments had been made by the leadership of the National Assembly to be present at the occasion.
He explained that the change in date was to accommodate the views of soccer–loving Nigerians, who asked that such an important event should not take place when the World Cup is taking place on the African soil for the first time.
Further, he disclosed that some of the awards to be carted away include the most outstanding financial software solution of the decade, the most outstanding cum innovative computer factory, the most outstanding e-processing company of the decade, the most outstanding telecommunications gateway provider of the decade, as well as the most outstanding ICT Conglomerate of the decade.
Speakers lined up for the event, he said, include Prof. Clement Dzidonu from Ghana who would dwell on ‘Engr. Ernest Ndukwe’s Impact in Africa Development’, while Dr. Tunde Adegbola of Africa Language Technology is expected to discuss “Content and Internet-based Products and Services,” and Prof. Emenwo Biakolo of Pan Africa University on “Legislation, Policy and How Far Nigeria has Come.”
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According to the chief organizer, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, it would now be held on Sunday, July 25, 2010.
The awards ceremonies would be preceded by a lecture series with the theme: Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee: Sustaining the Telecoms Growth Beyond 2010, just as “The date has been shifted to Sunday July 25, 2010.”
He pointed out that as the countdown draws nearer, companies have started jostling for the event, especially the award categories.
Already, he listed some of the nominees to include Globacom, Omatek Computers, Zinox Computers, Accion Micro-Finance Bank Limited, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Teledom, Valucard, Interswitch, Contact Solutions Limited, NITDA, NCC, NBC, Systemspecs, Expertedge Software, Chams Plc, Nokia, Samsung, Zain, MTN, ZOOMMOBILE, DCC Networks, HIIT Plc, Visafone and 21st Century.
Mr. Adewusi equally disclosed that interest has been shown in the event beyond the shores of the country and that there is high probability that a number of companies in the sub-region would compete fiercely with Nigerian companies for prizes at the event.
Adewusi, who is the chief executive officer, FiveStar Focus and anchorman of ICT Watch Network on MITV, TVC and Focus Cable Television, said that the firm commitments had been made by the leadership of the National Assembly to be present at the occasion.
He explained that the change in date was to accommodate the views of soccer–loving Nigerians, who asked that such an important event should not take place when the World Cup is taking place on the African soil for the first time.
Further, he disclosed that some of the awards to be carted away include the most outstanding financial software solution of the decade, the most outstanding cum innovative computer factory, the most outstanding e-processing company of the decade, the most outstanding telecommunications gateway provider of the decade, as well as the most outstanding ICT Conglomerate of the decade.
Speakers lined up for the event, he said, include Prof. Clement Dzidonu from Ghana who would dwell on ‘Engr. Ernest Ndukwe’s Impact in Africa Development’, while Dr. Tunde Adegbola of Africa Language Technology is expected to discuss “Content and Internet-based Products and Services,” and Prof. Emenwo Biakolo of Pan Africa University on “Legislation, Policy and How Far Nigeria has Come.”
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Panabiz, Canon enter deal on office automation
Panabiz International Limited and Canon have entered a deal to give office automation a boost in the country.
Disclosing this, the General Manager, Panabiz International Ltd, Mr. Kunal Malhotra, said the partnership with Canon would add further value to the company’s vision of being the preferred office automation solutions provider in the country with the addition of a wider range of products to its existing product portfolio.
He also described the partnership as a convergence of two leaders teaming up for a strong and revolutionary business relationship, Malhotra noted it would give Panabiz, for instance, the opportunity to grow and expand business by catering to the consumer imaging segment as well as offering more products to the office automation segment.
Malhotra said that by the middle of July 2010 a complete range of Canon Business Solutions and Canon Consumer Imaging products would be available for sale by Panabiz.
He listed some of the products to include low, medium and high volume Multi Function Products (MFP), which could copy, print, scan and fax as well, in addition to Large Format Printers (LFP), High Speed Scanners, cheque scanners, printing press to name a few, for the office automation sub-sector. Also available are Flat Bed Scanners, Laser Printers and Inkjet Printers for the Consumer Imaging segment.
“It is a strategic partnership that would provide great business opportunities for both companies as Panabiz would introduce Canon, the leading global player in imaging segment, in Nigeria,” Malhotra said.
Panabiz, he revealed, would proudly be its sole representative in the country, with further backing from Canon upon the brand equity that Panabiz has established for being the No.1 office automation solutions provider.
He stressed that Panabiz and Canon are focused on enhancing product portfolio for Office Automation and Consumer Imaging solutions to provide customers with a wider range of products to pick from. He added that quality products from the stable of Canon will be backed by excellent after sales services support by Panabiz.
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Disclosing this, the General Manager, Panabiz International Ltd, Mr. Kunal Malhotra, said the partnership with Canon would add further value to the company’s vision of being the preferred office automation solutions provider in the country with the addition of a wider range of products to its existing product portfolio.
He also described the partnership as a convergence of two leaders teaming up for a strong and revolutionary business relationship, Malhotra noted it would give Panabiz, for instance, the opportunity to grow and expand business by catering to the consumer imaging segment as well as offering more products to the office automation segment.
Malhotra said that by the middle of July 2010 a complete range of Canon Business Solutions and Canon Consumer Imaging products would be available for sale by Panabiz.
He listed some of the products to include low, medium and high volume Multi Function Products (MFP), which could copy, print, scan and fax as well, in addition to Large Format Printers (LFP), High Speed Scanners, cheque scanners, printing press to name a few, for the office automation sub-sector. Also available are Flat Bed Scanners, Laser Printers and Inkjet Printers for the Consumer Imaging segment.
“It is a strategic partnership that would provide great business opportunities for both companies as Panabiz would introduce Canon, the leading global player in imaging segment, in Nigeria,” Malhotra said.
Panabiz, he revealed, would proudly be its sole representative in the country, with further backing from Canon upon the brand equity that Panabiz has established for being the No.1 office automation solutions provider.
He stressed that Panabiz and Canon are focused on enhancing product portfolio for Office Automation and Consumer Imaging solutions to provide customers with a wider range of products to pick from. He added that quality products from the stable of Canon will be backed by excellent after sales services support by Panabiz.
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
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