Experts task ICT ministers on DotAfrica domain names

AS the third extraordinary meeting of African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers in charge of Communication and Information Technologies (CITMC) ended at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, weekend, experts in the ICT sector are now challenging the body of ministers to mandate the AU to implement the Dot Africa on behalf of member states.

DotAfrica is a specific Internet namespace for Africa, when applied in the next round of new Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) would be launched in the nearest future.

Also, ITRealms Online gathered that the Ministers were expected go about the implementation in cooperation and partnerships with relevant stakeholders and institutions, including the preparation and the submission of the DotAfrica application to ICANN.

The two-day ministerial session, which took place from Friday, 6 to Saturday, 7 August this year, came on the heels of the end of experts’ session presentation to the CITMC-3 which commenced August 3, in Abuja.

This application is billed to reaffirm the position of the extraordinary session of CITMC held in Johannesburg in 2009, which acknowledged the benefits of the Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and work together to promote the use of Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) as they are critical national resources while ensuring that the technical and administrative operations meet the international standards to foster trust and use of African domain names in order to bring financial, economic and socio-cultural benefits to continent.

Africa currently has a population of one billion, with 86 million as Internet users, even as the penetration rate is said to be at 8.7 per cent.

This has been described as good compared to the world average of 26.9 per cent.
Experts further noted that with the introduction of DotAfrica, it would create an attractive regional home for the Pan-African Internet community; as the first sponsored registry to be operating from Africa and therefore serving the specific needs of its communities.

Additionally, it would echo the on-going operation and successes of other sister community gTLDs such as DotEu (DotEuropa) and DotAsia which have created a new Internet identity for their users and businesses who seek more regional presence without being confined within the limits of one country.

DotAfrica, experts elucidated, would contribute to the development of Internet on the African continent and proposes to re-invest back proceeds into the social and technological advancement initiatives within the community.

A revenue allocation structure, they hinted, would be adopted by the DotAfrica registry to guarantee that a portion of revenues be directly re-invested into the community through a grant programme.

DotAfrica will be adding value to the namespace as a recognizable phrase which focuses on the Africa identity as well as likely to capture the essence of the community served, maintaining that with DotAfrica spanning over a large portion of region, it would providing registrants with accrued possibilities for establishing their Internet presence.

ITRealms Online recalled that in 2007, the board for the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) council reported on policy development process on the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs), which came in two parts.

Part A, ITRealms Online notes, include the requirements for a board report in addition to the GNSO council’s final report comprising their substantive discussion of the principles, policy recommendations and implementation guidelines.

While part B of the final report would contain a range of supplementary materials that have been used by the committee during the course of the policy development process, most notably detailed constituency statements, expert papers and other reference materials.

The process for the introduction of new gTLDs, the council said, is central to fostering choice and competition in domain registration services, and as such is significant to the promotion of ICANN’s core values.

Equally, it was learnt that the evolution of the namespace toward enhanced diversity of services and service providers must be planned and managed effectively to ensure that the security, stability, reliability and global interoperability of the Internet is maintained.

In addition, the proposed policy would guide the introduction of new gTLDs to be created by the GNSO over a period of two preceding years through its bottom-up, multi-stakeholder policy development process.

Importantly, GNSO had received assistance from ICANN staff to help ensure that their final recommendations and guidelines are implementable, even as the questions that have been addressed by the GNSO in the development of new gTLD policy are complex and involve technical, economic, operational, legal, public policy, and other considerations; the intended result is a straightforward process that awards new gTLDs if they satisfy the criteria and no objections are sustained.


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Nigeria, a strategic market for Aviat – Burchell

The Vice President for Africa Region at Aviat Networks, Mr. Trevor Burchell, was in Nigeria recently on a working visit during which he spoke with Senior Reporter, REMMY NWEKE on the import of the company’s new brand identity and essence of his visit, as well as some industry issues.
Excerpts:


WHAT is the overall significance of your visit to Nigeria?
If you go back to the time before the GSM (Global System for Mobile) operations started in Nigeria, we had already started investing in this country with our solutions to most of the existing (CDMA) Code Division Multiple Access operators then. So it’s a market we’ve always believed in. We have invested heavily in the Nigerian market and obviously with the two previously existing brands that merged, , that is, Harris Corporation MCD and Stratex Networks; it was a matter of time before the merged brands will assume a new identity so that people will see it as the one company it truly is.

This is mostly because some people still saw the old brand (Harris Stratex) as two separate companies in the market. But the new brand brings with it corporate unity for the company.

One of the values or benefits of my visit to Nigeria is that it enables me to spend some quality time with our customers. I’ve had meetings with most of them since I came especially MTN, Bharti Airtel, and numerous other customers, which maintain long relationships with us not just in Nigeria but across Africa.

Therefore, it is always a normal thing to meet with our customers when I visit and engage them to understand their directions and current market dynamics.

So, what then is the value proposition of the recent brand identity change of Aviat Networks for Nigeria?

The new brand brings together the previously existing companies, because some customers used to see us as either Harris or Stratex networks. But we were also seen more as a company providing transmission services and transmission products.

With Aviat as it exists now, however, we have introduced some new solutions and products under the Aviat brand.

These include our Site Controller solution that helps control power and energy management for telecom sites as well as our current efforts in the WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) space by our acquisition of Telsima earlier.

So, we now have a lot of offerings from Aviat which will help establish the new brand and with the new identity, we have overcome our past identity problem; which is that we don’t just want to be known as a transmission service provider alone. I think the new brand gives us an opportunity to reposition the company for people to see us in a number of competencies than we were not previously known for.

One cardinal advantage Nigeria will have with the new brand is that instead of having a company previously known for transmission and microwave solutions, you now have an integrated telecom solutions management company with various areas of competence.

The new identity will now enable us to enter markets where we were not that well known before, and the previous identity will no longer be a stumbling block for us.

So, in areas like management services and WIMAX, Aviat hopes to capitalize on its new identity to explore and take control of such areas as we have done in other places.

Can you give us the general value of the Nigerian market within the Aviat Networks portfolio?
As I will always maintain, Nigeria is a very strategic market for us right now. It is actually the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world today, and it has been for a number of years now.

Even the economic slow-downs and the banking crises recorded in Nigeria and globally last year, didn’t affect the telecoms market in Nigeria much.

We believe in the Nigerian market and we are confident that it will still remain our number one market in the African region for the Aviat brand. Our message to the Nigerian market is that, the Aviat brand is still number one and we intend to remain number one as we have the people that are passionate about the business. We are also confident about Nigeria remaining our number one market in Africa.

How does this affect the recent change in management of Aviat Networks in Nigeria?
Change in management is something that always happens in any company and obviously if you looked at Nigeria specifically, our previous management probably did a lot for the company.

They did a lot in making us to be among the very top players in the Nigerian market. What we have tried to do is to make sure we grow our people internally and allow them to take over from our expatriates and drive the company forward.

Even though the leadership of the previous management brought us to where we are today in Nigeria, we still feel it’s time for our own people, in our local office to take over and run things. Mr. Olawale Osimosu is the new helmsman for the Nigerian office now.

We believe in our people and the change is meant to empower them and show our commitment to having Nigerians running our offices in Nigeria.

What is your projection for Aviat, for instance, in the next five years?
I think I still see Aviat as retaining its position as the leader in the market, but I also see a much stronger leap for us in the area of managed professional services.

Also, I think we have a lot to offer in terms of our ability to provide cost saving solutions to the operators and the ability to provide more solutions, that will enable operators optimize their current assets or existing infrastructure.


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Nigeria’s internet penetration records rapid growth in 3yrs

The latest forecast on Telecommunications Report for Nigeria by a London-based Companiesandmarkets.com has revealed that Nigeria made rapid growth in Internet penetration between 2007 and 2009, just as the first quarter of this year, Q1, 2010,
Nigeria maintained faster in mobile sector than in the same period a year earlier.

Part of the report made available to ITRealms Online, stated that Nigeria is expected to maintain the lead in the mobile sector till the end of 2014.

This coming as the report anticipated development of the nation’s fixed-line, internet, broadband and mobile sectors in the next four years.

According to the report, based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outline, Nigeria showed a rapid increase in internet penetration in the country between 2007 and 2009. This, the report is an indicative of the overall progress made in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria following the strong growth of the telecoms sector in the last decade.

The report showed however, that for the 12 months to March 2010, the market recorded a significantly slower growth than in any other year since the full liberalization of the telecoms sector, growing in the first quarter of 2010, albeit at a slower rate than the previous quarter.

They quoted the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as saying that the country’s mobile market gained only12.5 million subscribers in 12 months to March 2010, thus reflecting a 19.5 per cent, year-on-year growth.

This was significantly lower than the 19.5mn new subscribers in the 12 months to March 2009, which reflected a 44.1 per cent during the same period.

The company jointly founded by the duo of Mike King and Paul Chapman as the chief executive officers, said they believe this could be an early sign of a tailing off in the Nigerian mobile market given the near saturation of mobile services in urban and semi-urban areas.

“By contrast, the majority of rural areas are still underserved. High roll-out cost, low revenue intake and poor levels of security are some of the factors limiting rural roll-out in Nigeria. To this end, we believe that the market will see slower growth going forward even though mobile penetration still hovers around just 50 per cent,” they stated in part of the report made available to ITRealms Online.

Equally they noted that perhaps the biggest development in the mobile sector in the last few months was the introduction of the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) registration.

“After many months of uncertainty, the regulator, with full backing from the government, commenced the exercise on May 1 2010,” the report declared.

Buyers of new SIMs in the country, the report added, are now required to register their personal and biometric data with their preferred service provider for onward storage in a central database that could be accessed by the regulator and some security agencies in the country.

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Golden jubilee: Stakeholders to celebrate Icons of ICT

Plans have been advanced for the hosting of stakeholders in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as part of the nation’s golden jubilee celebration.

Disclosing this, the anchor person and chief executive officer, eWorld Magazine, Mr. Aaron Ukodie, told ITRealms Online that the sector, which has been widely recognized worth to be celebrated specifically at this time of the nation’s growth in history.

He also said that the event scheduled for September 21, 2010 in Lagos, has been tagged ‘ICONs of ICT: 50 Years Anniversary Edition.’

“It is therefore important that as Nigeria celebrates 50 years of Independence from colonial rule, the ICT sector which has been widely recognised as the most effective catalyst in national development role out drums in celebration and plan ahead a more rewarding and nation impacting path”, Ukodie said.

He pointed out that the extraordinary quantum role played by the Information and Communication Technology in the development of Nigeria in the past 50 years is worth the celebration and forms part golden jubilee celebration that has been slated for October 1, 2010.

Also, he said, the event would witness the launch of a publication that will celebrate the remarkable roles played by key actors in the sector in the past 50 years based on the aforementioned title.

The publication, he said, would profile key players in the Nigerian ICT firmament for the past 50 years and a summary of the developments that have taken place in the sector.

"Over 60 men and women have been listed for profiling and indexing of their contributions to ICT and national development in the past years,” he said.

Before now, he said, key personalities have confirmed to speak at the event, including the immediate past chief executive officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, who would dwell on "ICT Development In Nigeria; 50 Years After.”

Ukodie further said that the former Communications Minister and a commissioner in the NCC, Chief Olawale Ige, would also share thoughts on the above topic.

“They will look at the place of ICT in achieving Nigeria’s bid to be among the 20 most developed nations in the world,” he said.

Explaining that their keynote presentations would be followed by a panel of discussant made up of technocrats and knowledgeable ICT players who would assess the Nigerian ICT sector in the last 50 years and proffer solutions on how the country could achieve the mark of other developed nations.

He listed some of the discussants to include Chief Ezekiel Fatoye, former Executive Director of NITEL and Multilinks, President of ATCON, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, Prof. Cleopas Angaye of NITDA and Chief Chima Onyekwere of Linkserve.

Ukodie insisted that if there is any industry that should mark this golden jubilee celebration, it should be the ICT sector, just as he solicited stakeholders’ support to make the event a memorable one.

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Samsung Real Dreams passes out 50 in 3rd batch

Another set of 50 students drawn from Nigerian youths for empowerment in the ‘Samsung Real Dreams’ programme have passed out at the conclusion of the third batch last weekend in Lagos.

The programme structured to empower the youths on web design, video editing and print graphics in the “Samsung Real Dreams” last Friday passed out from the School of Media and Communication, Pan African University in Lagos, with Managing Director/CEO, Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA), Mr. Jinuk Nicolas Shin, challenging the graduands.

Samsung Real Dreams, led by Samsung Electronics and International Youth Foundation in partnership with School of Media and Communication, Pan African University is designed to increase economic activity in African region by promoting technical skills acquisition for young disadvantaged youths between 21 and 35 years of age for successful, long-term careers and entrepreneurship.

In his speech, Mr. Jinuk Nicolas Shin said the tech design is a fast growing business and Samsung has trained participants in the basic skills needed to succeed in this very important industry.

“I hope what you got from here will fire your dreams. I dream that all of you will have good jobs. I dream that you will be very professional in your chosen field. Those who are talented and hard working will be one of the best guys in the world. And I dream that you will remember Samsung when you become superstars,” he charged.

He noted that with growing improvements, which is very important to the programme, expressing optimism that the graduands would have good jobs and secondly the opportunity to further develop their careers and professionalism.

“I am very happy that Samsung has been a part of your career development,” he declared.

Mr. Shin also said there are many Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiatives Samsung could embark on but the electronic giant decided to focus more on areas where the firm is strongest which are innovation and enterprise.

He informed that Samsung philosophy is that instead of giving fish to the youth, teach them how to fish, hence the Samsung Real Dreams started last year in partnership with organizations that could help achieve the desired goal, and there have been quite a number of successful stories.

Welcoming participants to the occasion earlier, Dean, School of Business and Communication, Pan African University, Prof. Emevwo A. Biakolo expressed appreciation for Samsung Real Dreams programme.

He further said the school is satisfied that Samsung valued the programme and the school of media and communication offers holistic education with change in attitude forming an integral part of the learning system.

Prof. Biakolo, stressed the school’s curriculum inculcated the spirit of freedom and responsibility and enjoined graduands to espouse professionalism which expresses itself in little details.

He advised them to take care of little things, care of human relationship, tools of work, dressing and self presentation as well as courage, because it is easy to forget those little things.

He pointed out that it has been a fruitful exercise and congratulated the students for having successfully completed the course.

Disclosing that his institution has involved into conducting an impact analysis on the programme

“We have been doing some analysis because our partner needs it and we also need it to establish the impact of this initiative on the lives of these young people. Analysis of the first set of Samsung Real Dreams revealed that 83 per cent of them have either set up their own businesses or are gainfully employed,” he said.

According to him, this shows clearly that the initiative is making a difference in the lives of the young people compared to where they were.

“My impression is that I see improvement all the time in the area of output in the work of these people. The output whenever they do exhibition is improving all the time,” he said.

Equally commenting, Head, Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA), Mrs. Funke Michaels-Ntekim who joined Prof. Biakolo in presentation of prizes to three Most Improved and Most Hard Working Students respectively, noted that Samsung Real Dreams graduates have open access to faculty members and SEWA.

She said they are members of an exceptional group who will always enjoy open access to Samsung.

“We are open to offer them professional advice and mentorship,” she said.
Samsung Real Dreams is about discovering raw talents and grooming same so that beneficiaries can go out with a well developed talent, packaged to conquer. People who have benefited from the program have their own businesses, and are employers of labour.

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Juwah promises to sustain Ndukwe’s legacy

Newly inaugurated Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah, has said his leadership would endeavour to sustain the success of his predecessor, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, who retired after 10 years in office.

This is coming as he reaffirmed the Commission’s resolve to remain transparent, fair and firm, just as the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has pledged to support his leadership.

Dr. Juwah gave this insight while hosting members of ATCON during a courtesy visit by the group at his office in Abuja.

According a press statement made available by the Head, Media and Public Relations, Mr. Reuben Muoka, Dr. Juwah reiterated that the telecom regulatory body under his leadership would uphold the principles of transparency, fairness, and firmness in managing the nation’s telecom industry.

His administration, Juwah said, would work towards entrenching stakeholder consultations in all its actions and programmes to ensure that the Commission’s achievements are sustained and expanded.

The Commission, Juwah also said, has recorded success in the past, hence, he was privileged to be in the saddle and promised to give the opportunity his best shot and continue with the several laudable programmes of the Commission that were initiated by his predecessor

“I have no option than to give it my best shot and to ensure that the legacy of success is sustained, and further expanded,” he asserted, while commending ATCON for visiting to show support in his first week in office.

Revealing that the Commission is set to tackle the issue of quality of service and within days will host a stakeholders’ forum to find address the issue.

“We want them (operators) to give good services to Nigerians at affordable prices. We want them to play by the rules of regulation. We want them to join us to make the industry better for the benefit of all” he said.

Dr. Juwah said the Commission respects ATCON and its leadership as a credible organization which they would leverage in its consultative processes with the stakeholders, promising to support the organization in its quest to create awareness about the telecom industry, which is one of the mandates of the Commission.

In his remarks, ATCON President, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu said the visit was to congratulate Dr. Juwah and ATCON members that the government has found one of their own who is capable of regulating the industry and that the association would be available to support and advise the Commission.

He pointed out that the operators are doing their best in the registration of SIM Card registration programme, but requested the Commission to give adequate time and publicity about the programme.

“We do not think that the Commission should leave the issue of sensitization to the operators. For one reason: the operators have their own interests and we think that our country has interest that is not discordant but is superior to the interest of the operators.

“We therefore think that our people will listen to NCC more than they will listen to operators”, he said.

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Not all Chinese products are substandard – Nokia

Mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia has denied allegation that all mobile devices from China are fake, according to the Director, Communications for Nokia in Greater China and Korea, Ms Louise Ingram.

He also said that contrary to some impression that all mobile devices manufactured in China are substandard, “Nokia has declared that this is far from the truth.”

Ms. Ingram said this during a media tour of Nokia’s manufacturing facility in China recently, noting that the plant is one of Nokia’s nine manufacturing facilities across the world.

Ingram also said the phones produced there undergo the same stringent quality controls and tests that have made Nokia the world’s leading brand in mobile devices.

The Nokia executive was however quick to add that many counterfeit phones are indeed produced in China and described the act as a global criminal activity that affects many successful consumer product companies in a wide range of industries, and Nokia is no exception. According to Ingram, ‘wherever it exists, counterfeiting damages local economies and negatively affects people with legitimate jobs in the supply chain’.

Meanwhile, in a bid to protect unsuspecting buyers from the apparent hazards of these devices, Nokia has adopted a hard line policy with its authorized distributors and retailers with regards to counterfeit products.

Through a dedicated field force, Nokia is able to monitor which outlets are selling counterfeit products and these retailers can be penalized by not receiving rebates, incentives and market support. They may also lose their license as Nokia authorized dealers.

Also speaking, Head, Government Affairs and Business Environment, Mr. Jussi Hinkkanen said, though Nokia abhors the apparent menace of the counterfeit products, the job of effectively addressing the negative trend rests squarely on regulatory agencies. He said a good way for consumers to ensure that they are purchasing the genuine devices is to patronize genuine Nokia outlets.

According to the Hinkkanen, ‘it is important for consumers to understand the risks of buying counterfeit mobile phones, which in spite of their poor quality offer the consumer no recourse in terms of warranty or after sales service’.

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Etisalat to enhance customer care

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, has said that the network is gearing up to enhance customer care services.

Speaking at a customer care forum in Lagos, Mr. Ammar extolled customers’ for choosing Etisalat despite its late entry into the market and for remaining loyal to the network.

He said at the forum attended by Etisalat’s subscribers, that the platform provided an opportunity for feedback to the innovative network.

“It also served as an avenue for the company to reiterate its commitment to providing superior service to its customers using innovation and customer service as bedrock,” he said.

Mr. Ammar also said, that the customers are the sole reason the network continues to grow in the Nigerian market and that their satisfaction is key to the success of the network.

“As customers, you play a vital role in the fast expansive growth of our business and remain the sole reason we continue in business, and for this reason we will constantly solicit feedback from you in order to continue to meet and exceed your expectations,” he assured.

“The customer is at the heart of everything we do. All our continued product innovations, our rapid roll-out, qualitative service delivery, our 24-7 call centres, manned by highly trained and capable staff, are all aimed at delighting our customers. Our desire to take our customer experience from a state of contentment to one of delight, led us to recently re-launch our easy starter product with the introduction of You & Me and Bonus-on-incoming calls,” he said, stressing that a forum like this provide the network, with firsthand feedback from valued customers to enable them serve customers better.

A customer and resident of Gbagada, Mr. Emmanuel Nbanara, commended Etisalat for empowering customers to achieve their business goals.

“As a businessman, my phone is my most important business tool and the fact that Etisalat has bonus on incoming calls means I get plenty of free minutes from all calls received from other networks, and that makes me use the line more and more,” he said.

Also speaking, a trader by profession, Alhaja Taiwo Sekinat Baruwa, said that she heard about the network from her travels to Dubai for business and used Etisalat, as her local number in the United Arab Emirate (UAE).

“When Etisalat started in Nigeria I got the chance to pick my number and have been using that number since. Because sometimes I may not be around to answer my phone, I am always happy when I get the text notifying me of the numbers that have tried to phone me. It helps me stay in touch with my customers and my business,” she said.

The feature which also helps her to transfer credit has been very good for as a mother, stressing that the network on the fast expansion as she could use her phone when travelling by road to neighboring states.

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MTN decries cost of doing business in Nigeria

MTN Nigeria has decried the cost of doing business in Nigeria, citing the likes of multiple regulations and taxations as well as environmental bottlenecks.

Speaking in Lagos, at a one-day conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Nigerian Environment as well as Taxation, the Regulatory Affairs Manager, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Quasim Odunmbaku, narrated how painful it is for the mobile operators to deliver required quality of service (QoS).

According to him, multiple regulation and taxation are adding to a number of other environmental hiccups, which are alien in other operating climes in telecom service delivery.

He also said that operators are putting in place a number of initiatives to surmount the challenges in their unrelenting efforts to meet subscribers’ expectations.

In his presentation at the occasion, entitled ‘ICT and the Nigerian Environment: Key Service Dependencies and MTN’s Role in Achieving Sustainable Environmental Practices’ and organized by AIT Infotech Network, eWorld Magazine and IT. EgdeNews.Com, Odunmbaku said, Nigerian operators were yet to build the critical mass of telephony towers and masts sufficient to meet Nigeria’s communications needs.

As said by him, in United Kingdom, with a smaller land mass and population of 52,500 base stations as at end of last year, compared to Nigeria, which has a mean15,000 serving a population of 150 million and a teledensity of about 50 per cent.

MTN, he said has largely overcome QoS challenges experienced in the fourth quarter of 2007 through the implementation of robust network improvement measures, which included the investment of about N85 billion to upgrade the network in 2007 alone.

Equally, he said that by establishing the largest private transmission network in Africa, leading to creation of ICT super highway backbone for use by the entire ICT Sector.

MTN also took an active part in the joint industry-NCC Quality of Service Working Group, which provided an industry-led framework for identifying QoS-impacting issues and address them, noting that much of the QoS challenges now being experienced arise from environmental rather than operational factors, such as inadequate supply of power from the national grid.

Further, MTN said it has spent over N12 billion to acquire generators to provide power for it’s over 4,798 sites nationwide and expend N500 million monthly on diesel and generating set maintenance for power generation.

Recent degradation in national grid power supply, he said, has increased pressure on generators, increased maintenance cost and outstripped local market capacity for supply of generators to operators.

“There has been unprecedented theft of whole generators, parts and diesel, indiscriminate vandalisation of fibre optic cable and other network infrastructure; cause of major network outages in recent times,” he said.

The company noted that an average of 50 sites is inaccessible per day on account of community issues making it difficult to address network maintenance needs.

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Starcomms launches int’l roaming to 100 countries

With over 3.2 million subscribers, the management of leading Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Starcomms plc, has deemed it feet to launce international roaming to enable customers keep to their lines, even when outside the nation’s shores, reports GERALDINE OKOLIE.

Starcomms said that it’s now connected to about 600 networks in over 100 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, America and the Middle East.

This comes as the first CDMA operator to provide roaming to its customers in the country, following the sealing of the deal with MACH, a leader in provision of hub-based mobile applications exchange solutions and Accuris Network, another the leading firm in provision of inter-standard and converged solutions.

Chief Executive Officer, Starcomms, Mr. Maher Qubain, said that with this development, Starcomms now have the rare opportunity of seamless access to international mobile roaming on all wireless technology networks.

“This will greatly expand Starcomms network coverage outside Nigeria and simplify the roaming experience of the customer who may have cause to travel outside the country. Already Starcomms has coverage in 31 major cities covering 175 towns in Nigeria,” he said.

The commitment of Starcomms to providing innovative products and services that simplify lives and enhance living for our customers is a tradition we hold dear.

“We know that many customers yearn for the high quality services of Starcomms everywhere they go. So, the pioneering step of adding inter-standard roaming capabilities to our portfolio as a CDMA network in this country is just more evidence of our practice of always being the first to give the customer the best,” he said.

The ISR solutions from MACH and Accuris Networks is delivered through a proven services infrastructure and offers turnkey inter-operability between wireless technologies, including CDMA, 1xEVDO, GSM, GPRS/UMTS, WIFI, WiMax and LTE.

The solution, which can be implemented using existing connections, offers end-users all of the services that are available on their home network, even when they are travelling. With end-to-end one-number interoperability, operators can provide complete voice and messaging services easily.

The seamless interoperability roaming access that MACH provides for over 600 networks all over the world is in line with the high quality services that Starcomms has been providing its customers in Nigeria.

For the Chief Commercial Officer, Starcomms, while speaking about the new possibilities said the operator will never trade high standard for anything.

“Our focus in providing international roaming opportunities for our customers is not just about the service but about the quality of their experience while roaming with the Starcomms service. We have continued to make sure that our customers who have cause to travel outside Nigeria feel at home anywhere with all their contacts having access to them seamlessly,” he said.


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Customers applaud Glo on Recharge & Win

Telecoms consumers on Glo Mobile have applauded the network for living up to the expectation on the Recharge and Win promo.

Those who commented on the promo that offered subscribers prizes worth over N70 million, stated that since Globacom which commenced operations in 2003, has continued to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians and citizens of other countries where it operates in the West African sub region.

Osagie Sylvester, a Glo subscriber based in Benin City, Edo State, said that Globacom had “over the years built an uncommon confidence in the hearts of its subscribers to the extent that they will continue to identify with anything that has to do with Globacom”.

“The truth is that I have seen people around me, including personal friends, winning a car and cash prize of N1million in Glo promos in the past. This is the reason for my implicit confidence that the company lives up to its promises. This is also why I keep recharging and I believe that I will soon get lucky in Glo promos like some other winners.”

Obajusigbe Adeyemo, another Glo subscriber residing in Akure, said that a couple of months ago; he witnessed the presentation of a car to a Glo winner in Okitipupa area of Ondo State..

“I was in Okitipupa for a function some months back and I saw Globacom officials who came to present a car to one person that won in one of the Glo promos. I also watched some other prize presentations done on television, so when I heard about the recharge and win promo, I did not hesitate because I felt it could be my turn”, he enthused.

The Glo “Recharge and Win” Promo offered exciting prizes such as one Kia Picanto car to one lucky winner per day for a period of 30 days in addition to 90 motorbikes, 300 bicycles, 90 flat screen television sets and 3,000 multiband radio sets.

One thousand seven hundred and fifty-five winners have emerged in the promo during the first draw held at Globacom headquarters on Tuesday.

At the draw which was held in the presence of the media and the representative of the national lottery regulatory commission, 15 Glo subscribers spread across the country won brand new Kia Picanto cars while 45 others won motorcycles.

Similarly, 45 Glo subscribers won 32-inch flat screen television sets, 150 won bicycles while 1,500 other Glo subscribers won multi-band radio sets.


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Akunyili inaugurates new NCC board

Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, yesterday inaugurated the new board of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) amidst urgent appeal to the telecom regulator, to among others stop telecom operators from selling new SIM card without capturing necessary data of the buyers.

Swearing in the four new members of the board, Prof Akunyili said the second phase of the sim card registration exercise should commence with immediate effect.

The minister who said she observed the modalities of the registration as having flaws and the cost of the contracts on the high side, emphasized that the modalities must change while adding that the ministry and relevant stakeholders would brainstorm to determine who bears the burden of paying for the project, the government or the operators.

“Considering our huge population, we deserve to have one of the lowest tariffs in Africa despite our obvious infrastructural challenges, infrastructural sharing will definitely reduce operational cost and drive down tariffs. For example, there is no way we can be talking about new intercontinental fibers optics without a reduction in the cost of the broadband access,” she said.

Akunyili who acknowledged the progress so far made in the communications industry also reaffirmed the need for improvement in the sector for the benefit of the Nigerian populace.

According to her, “much progress has been made in the communications industry but we are still far from our destination, our teledensity has not yet achieved parity with the active segment of the population, swathes of our country side beyond the high ways have no telecoms signals, while cost of our internet services is still high”.

Akunyili however assured the board members of the ministry’s support to enable them discharge their mandate.

In their separate speeches, the chairman of the Board and the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Mr Peter Igoh and Eugene Juwa, promised to ensure that their operations will be in tandem with the provision establishing the commission.

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KidsCo launches BigTV for teens

DIRECT-to-Home (DTH) pay television platform, MyTV has launched BigTV under its KidCo’s international children’s channel.

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online shows that BigTV is the second under this platform and is KidsCo first brand extension and is offering live action programmes, including comedies and films, to 8-14 year- olds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

BigTV which went live on August 1, 2010 relaced Tele Toon is into broadcast shows including Chuck Finn, Even Stevens, My parents are Aliens and 100 deeds for Eddie McDowd across sub-Sahara Africa. KidsCo is evaluating plans to expand the channel globally.

Reacting to the launch of the station recently, the Director of Broadcast at KidsCo, Sara Wookey said: we are very excited about the launch of our second channel. Our success with KidsCo has focused on delivering engaging and educational entertainment to 6-10 year-olds and families exclusively. The launch of BigTV would enable us to provide continuity for our existing audience and engage with an older market. My TV has done a superb job rolling out KidsCo to date and we look forward to repeating the success with BigTV”.

The General Manager, Bahjat Mirza said: my TV’s aim is to have something of interest for each and every member of the family, across the full age spectrum. The launch of KidsCo was an provide age-appropriate, quality content for aspiring adults. These are really exciting times for My TV as we believe BigTV will be as successful as KidsCo and we are thrilled by the growing cooperation with KidsCo.”


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Spio-Gabrah urges FG to update e-legislation

Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Telecom Organisation (CTO), Dr. Ekwow Spio-Gabrah, has urged the Federal Government to update the country’s e-legislation toward persecuting cyber criminals.

He made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja during the just concluded Third Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Communication and Information Technologies Ministerial Conference.

“Sometimes, a country does not have laws that allow it to persecute cyber criminals. Even when they are arrested, there may be nothing in the law that specifically makes cyber crime a crime," he said.

He said the situation prevailed ``because these are crimes of technology, which have been developing in the last few years’’ while many of the existing laws were made in the 1960’s when there were no computers and internet services.

"So, countries need to update their e-legislation so that appropriate sanctions will follow when people are caught in cyber crime," he said.

Also, he explained that the issue of cyber crime became common because of easy access to technology as well as the anonymity of the current information communication and technology world.

"Anybody can pick up a mobile phone and laptop computer to do a lot of things because ICT is now penetrating in all aspects of human endeavour. The financial sector, the banking system, national security and civil service operations, corporate world all are dependent on ICT," he noted.

Spio-Gabrah urged regulators, who licensed internet service providers, to endeavour to monitor their operations and subscribers regularly to curb cyber crime.

He urged regulatory agencies to use inscriptions and decoding technologies in monitoring cyber criminals.

He noted that cyber crime was internet based and urged managers of cybercafés not to encourage cyber criminals to utilise their facilities in promoting cyber crime.

"The highest numbers of victims in terms of value of money lost tend to be in the U.S. and certain countries in Europe, where people are looking for easy money, therefore, they fall victims to cyber criminals," he noted.

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NSN boosts GSM operators’ spectrum with DFCA

GSM operators worldwide will now be able to get more from limited spectrum and improve their overall Quality of Service (QoS) as Nokia Siemens Networks launched a unique Dynamic Frequency and Channel Allocation (DFCA) feature that can double GSM network capacity within existing spectrum. The feature supports growth, while maintaining service quality and controlling costs, reports CHARLES OKOH.

A press statement from the global body said GSM operators in emerging markets are adding millions of subscribers every month, but spectrum limitations prevent operators from adding new subscribers to their existing networks without building more base stations sites.

Head, GSM/EDGE product management, Nokia Siemens Networks, Prashant Agnihotri, said DFCA has immense potential to help operators address the challenge of ever increasing voice and data traffic.

“It helps operators squeeze voice calls into less bandwidth, so it can be alternatively used for data, either through Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or by re-farming the spectrum to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access/Long Term Evolution (WCDMA/LTE). It brings a substantial increase for operators in terms of potential earnings per base station site,” Agnihotri said.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ DFCA feature helps operators to continue acquiring new subscribers while overcoming current spectrum bottlenecks. Using a combination of software features, it increases the traffic carrying capacity of existing sites, while improving network quality. This, in turn, minimizes the immediate investment in additional sites, reducing the total cost of ownership. An added benefit is a huge increase in energy efficiency per subscriber.

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