Experts task politicians on .ng usage

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) experts in the country have tasked Nigerian politicians on the adaptation of the nation’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), dot ng.

They said that the upcoming general elections in 2011 could be a morale booster to the .ng, especially the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), if all political office holders start to exhibit patriotism by using the nation’s domain name.

Those who made this call include the first Nigerian Information Technology Youth‘s Ambassador and Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), Mr. Gbenga Sesan and former President of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem among others.

Investigations by ITRealms Online showed that as at the time of filing this report, almost every Nigerian politician campaigning for public office in 2011 has dot com (.com) or dot org (.org).

The dot com represents commercial websites hosted in the United States, while dot org means organisation’s website, equally hosted in the States.

.ng is the country-code Top-Level Domain designated for Nigeria under the sponsorship of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the administrative arm of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN’s); a global body charged with the coordination of the Internet, on March 15, 1995. Presently .ng has a little over 10,000 domain registrants, which could be described as dismal for a nation like Nigeria that boast of being the most populated country on the continent.

NIRA is the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names and maintains the database of names registered in the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).Registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), as an independent not-for-profit organization NiRA manages the .ng ccTLD name space in the public interest of Nigeria and global internet communities.

Currently, NiRA says it encourages all applicants for .ng domain names to register their domains through one of the Accredited Registrars, even as the second level domains available to Nigerians comprises nine, namely com.ng - commercial entities and purposes, which is open every Nigerian, edu.ng, which is restricted to higher and further education and research institution; name.ng is open and could be used to register a personalised name; net.ng for Internet service, telecoms providers’ infrastructure; while org.ng is for not-for-profit entities, which also is opened to interested parties.

Additionally, the sch.ng is for other academic institutions event as it’s closed and at regional level; gov.ng is usually closed and is meant for national, regional, states and local government bodies and agencies. Whereas mil.ng is a closed domain name for the military and related purposes as well as mobi.ng being for mobile devices meeting .mobi generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) standards.

ITRealms Online investigations noted for instance that the acclaimed consensus candidate for the Adamu Ciroma-led northern caucus and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, could be sited at http://atikuabubakar.com for the 2007 2011 at http://www.atiku.org/

For the retired General, Muhammadu Buhari, contesting for the presidency on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the forthcoming 2011 elections, could be located at http://www.buhari.org.

Equally for General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida popularly known as IBB, his online presence could be located at www.babangida.com, just as the incumbent governor of Kwara State, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, could be found at www.abubakarbukolasaraki.com.

Reacting on this development of using foreign domain names by Nigerian political class for 2011 elections and beyond, Executive Director, PIN, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, said that the first implication is security, which entails that the so-called owners are not in control of the domains.

“It means the content is hosted on servers they have little, if any, control over. If, for any reason, opponents seek to take down such websites, it’ll be quite easy,” he said, stressing that it’s an indication that very few Nigeria-based companies play active role in web-hosting at this era.

“It also goes to show that they are politicians in a country that has very few companies that host locally due to the high cost of such - because of infrastructure problems,” he declared.

Pointing out that the way forward is that they have began to embrace Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) mainly because they want to impress the youth in exchange for their votes, there could be a change at the end of the tunnel.

“Now that they’re embracing ICTs - or at least, pretending to reach out to youth via social networking platforms, we expect that any of them who eventually assumes the position of authority will take ICT more serious,” he anticipated.

In his comments, the former president of Nigeria Internet Group and chief executive of Teledom Group International, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, said that it takes a concentrated awareness campaign to get people at that level to buy into the concept of .ng.

While insisting that politicians must take advantage of .ng, he said that it’s not acceptable to the Nigerian populace for any political office aspirant to host his online presence outside .ng.

“It must be .ng or nothing. We need to create awareness among them,” he said.


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Using Cloud computing as back-up option

Remmy Nweke in this report examines the advantages of using Cloud Computing as alternative back-up, especially for developing countries.

Since the advent of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in Nigeria, Chuks Egbune, a public relations analyst has chosen to follow the part of being ICT compliant and as a youthful Nigerian, full of energy, if he is classified often as online person, Chuks is not likely to agree otherwise.

So, he soon commenced a book project after finishing his Master’s degree programme, as an activity to keep his intelligence warm while waiting for the result to come.
Factually, he has finished the concept, planning, and designing, and has just written his boss for some permission and assistance in terms of salary advance to ensure that the dream comes through.

Unfortunately for him, the same week he applied for salary advance, his laptop, a Siemen model, which has been the sole incubator of the book project; went blank. Initially, he thought it was a mere electrical fault that could be rectified as soon as techies touch it.

So, he summoned his technical person, ‘Dayo Pc’ who used to practice his artisan at the Otigba Market, popularly known as Computer Village in Ikeja suburb of Lagos, who soon after took the laptop with intention to fix it, at least, before the end of work-hours the following being a Monday.

Eventually, all these plans became a nightmare as 11 months later, Dayo Pc is yet to return the laptop or even fix it as promised. One of his reasons being that he, Dayo, has been fully-employed by a company in Sango Ota, Ogun State, near Lagos State; which has made it impossible for him to devote time to fix the laptop since he works Mondays to Saturdays.

Then came after much pressure, the story from Dayo Pc that the laptop’s motherboard was bad, hence he had arranged with a trader on computer parts at the Computer Village to assist him in buying the kind of Siemens motherboard when he travels to China on business trip. Just as the time factor crept due to whenever he went to the Village, the China-bound trader was never around to ascertain whether he was able to buy the needed Pc motherboard or not.

Of course, tired of waiting for Dayo Pc and engaging in literally ‘computer prostitution’ by borrowing laptops from a few immediate family members, lasting weeks to months, he called to mind of his external hard-disk drive and took a decision to access it next weekend. Again, Chuks was unfortunate with the external
drive as it could not be accessible with any other computer, be it laptop or desktop.

Another difficulty emerged when the hard-disk drive was taken to Computer Village in search of a solution despite that his laptop could be hanging somewhere in the corner of the market, that is, even if Dayo Pc would still remember where. His trip to Computer Village was not successful as it did not yield the needed result due to his inability to locate anyone of the notable computer artisans to open it for the same reason that it does not show on any PC.

Now, while lamenting his ordeal to a close friend, who reminded him of a discussion they had earlier on Cloud Computing, a few months ago. This friend, Okwudinma, recollected that if he had stored the book project electronically online either by sending a copy of it to himself or by saving it as a draft mail after attachment has completed; it should have saved him the anguish he is currently going through, trying to reproduce the book.

Due to the merits of Cloud Computing, Chuks decided to dig more on the subject.

Experts at Cloud Computing Journal have described the element of cloud “as a virtualization of resources that maintains and manages itself.” While those experts at HowStuffWorks.com noted that the application allow users to log into a Web-based service, which hosts all the programmes to deliver on job demand, and went on to define Cloud Computing as a remote machines owned by another company would run everything from electronic mail (email) to word processing as well as complex data analysis programmes. Cloud computing, they said, could change the entire computer industry globally.

Additionally, experts at HowStuffWorks.com predicted that in a cloud computing system, there is a significant workload shift. Pointing out that whereas the local computers no longer have to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to running applications; the network of computers that make up the cloud handles them instead.

They argued that the hardware and software demands on the user’s side would be reduced, highlighting the fact that the only thing the user’s computer needs to be able to run is the cloud computing system’s interface software, which could be as simple as a Web browser, and the cloud’s network takes care of the rest.

Participants at the recent West Africa Internet Governance Forum in Dakar, Senegal, noted that as much as they approve further exploration of the technology, it is inimical for government at any level to host its data on cloud computing.

Recognizing the importance of the subject matter, WAIGF participants said, discussing cloud is good for the future of the internet and its prospects.

Information expert at IBM, Mr. Kelly Sims while speaking on the launch of the firm’s new cloud computing consulting and implementation services, said that it helps new clients to move into the cloud, thereby encouraging businesses of all sizes to take advantage of this increasingly-attractive computing model. IBM said, applying its industry-specific consulting expertise and established technology record to offer secure, practical services to companies in public, private and hybrid cloud models.

Sims said, industry-specific Business Consulting Services for Cloud Computing by IBM’s Global Business Services uses an economic model for assessing the total cost of ownership for building private clouds, and or moving data as well as applications off-site in a public or hybrid cloud model.

Also, Sims said that on technology consulting, design and implementation services, IBM Global Technology Services’ new services would help clients install, configure and deliver cloud computing inside the data center.

“While the economics are compelling to businesses of all sizes, concerns over security, data portability and reliability are causing reluctance among enterprise customers,” Sims said.

Intel’s Public Relations Manager, South and Sub-Saharan Africa, Ntombezinhle Modiselle, said recently that the firm’s Cloud 2015 vision has three key elements, namely a “federated” cloud that allows enterprises to share data across internal and external clouds; an “automated” network that automatically allows the secure movement of applications and resources to significantly improve energy efficiency in data centers; and PC and device-savvy “client-aware” clouds that know what types of applications, commands and processing should take place in the cloud or on your laptop, smartphone or other devices, thus taking a user and specific device’s unique features into account to fully optimize an online experience.

Intel, Modiselle said, would support these goals by creating software and building new capabilities into Intel Xeon processors, which include features such as Intel Virtualization Technology and Intel Trusted Execution Technology form the basis of cloud computing today.

Intel, he said, embraces the Open Data Center Alliance’s vision and goals as well as plans to deliver products and solutions consistent with these goals, stressing that Intel will work with its hardware and software partners, engaging the industry to innovate on open standards, delivering a faster ramp to the next stage of the Internet, and deliver an open, interoperable and secure cloud that will empower the next generation of business, movies, gaming, music, social media and other yet-to-be-invented Web services.

ITRealms Online learnt that while the alliance determines future requirements for cloud infrastructure, the Intel Cloud Builders programme will help bring these requirements to life with full solutions, which now has a total of 20 reference architectures with several more on the horizon.

“It represents a community of the most critical providers of technology in the cloud, including Canonical, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, EMC, Enomaly, Eucalyptus Systems, Gproxy, HP, IBM, Intel, Joyent, Microsoft, NetApp, NetSuite, Novell, Parallels, Red Hat, Univa and VMware,” Skaugen noted.

And for president, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chris Uwaje, cloud computing, could be likened to ‘Internet Computing,’ which is a fast-growing trend towards the sharing of applications, software and other Information Technology (IT) resources by companies on an on-demand basis, thus qualifying in Nigeria’s slag as pay-as-you-go.

Cloud-based service providers, he said, supply these resources the same way as public utility companies supply electricity or water to consumers, and then bill for the quantities used.

On the global scene, an increasing number of Small Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are getting a grip on the technology because of its ability to cut costs and reduce the need for capital equipment – both hardware and software.

Despite an incorrectly perceived level of complexity, it is mostly common business applications that are provided, all of which are easily accessed from a web browser.

But more importantly, the technology enables budget-strapped companies to achieve high-quality solutions with limited capital. The cost of entry is low; some compare it to a developing country that implements wireless networks without ever building a landline telephone infrastructure. As needed, businesses can tap ‘clouds’ of computing power, without regard to where the cloud is physically or without the complexities of managing it.

As a result, small and midsize organisations gain better redundancy and continuity than they usually have for internally managed applications. However, the primary driver of cloud computing is the low cost of the service.

Recent surveys support the finding that the uncertain economic climate will accelerate the growth prospects for the cloud computing model as vendors position offerings as right-sized, zero-CAPEX alternatives to on-premise applications.

Locally, ICT experts have advised the Federal Government to support ‘cloud computing,’ a system equally defined as the future of high-tech computing.
Uwaje, said that it’s the next big thing to happen to any IT industry, stressing that it would boost small businesses in the country.

“Cloud computing is a commercial term for internet business, and Nigerians should not be left out of the game. Indeed, it will dictate the economic, social and cultural survivability of nations. One can rightly say that the internet is and remains the root and origin of cloud computing,” he observed.

In addition, chief executive of Infoware Nigeria, Uwa Agbonile, reportedly corroborated Uwaje, saying that cloud computing could aid small medium enterprises to reduce their total cost of ownership of technology, using hosted solutions.

Director, Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Malcolm Johnson, recently noted that cloud computing could assist small medium-sized enterprises reduce cost on infrastructure, also said cloud computing offers speed and streamlines application deployment without upfront capital, stressing that for this reason alone, many businesses are now considering adaptation of the cloud model to provide more efficient and cost-effective network services.

In summary, Cloud Computing facilitates gaining of access to one’s applications from anywhere, and at any time, as long as there is internet access and the data centre where the documents are being hosted is live.

For Chuks, it’s a lesson never to forget, thus bringing to the fore that every step in life is a lesson opportunity, but don’t forget the issue of adaptation of cloud computing, before it becomes too late.

Before then, the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) need to advice the government and at large, Nigerians on this technology or possibly come out with a white paper on Cloud Computing in Nigeria.
 
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Paga joins league of MobileMoney licensees

Electronic payment solution provider, Paga has joined the league of Mobile Money licensees in the country granted operational approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The co-founder and chief executive officer, Paga Inc, Mr. Tayo Oviosu, said they received license from CBN to launch mobile money service in the country, noting that they are set to launch in early 2011 with four products directly targeted at resolving pain points that Nigerians have to contend with today when it comes to cash: money transfer, bill payments, mobile phone airtime top-up, and merchant payments.

According to him, the Paga service is underpinned by a secure and innovative payments platform built with the flexibility to operate in any environment and on the most basic mobile phone.

“Paga will be available on all mobile networks and delivered to customers in partnership with strong local banks, microfinance institutions, retailers, non-governmental organisation (NGOs), and public sector organisations to achieve its mission of bringing affordable and reliable financial services to a larger segment of the Nigerian population,” he said, stressing that Paga is expected to announce several major partnerships in the coming weeks.

Oviosu also said CBN has made clear its goal to bring high quality financial services to an even broader segment of the population and Paga commends CBN in that regard, especially for laying the strong foundation for this to occur.

“At Paga, we are driven by the simple idea that the ubiquity of the mobile phone has created an avenue to transform lives across Africa in many different ways. Paga will be at the forefront of this transformation,” Oviosu said.

He pointed out that on the back of a highly successful and on-going pilot kicked off in Lagos last September, the Paga team has made refinements and positioned for a nationwide launch.

Equally commenting in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, co-founder, Paga, Mr. Jay Alabraba, said the pilot phase had allowed his firm to gain good feedback from customers and merchants as they fine-tune for launch.

“We are processing applications from merchants as we build our nationwide network of Paga agents. We are on track to have 5,000 agents by launch. So far, it’s clear that one major attraction to Paga is the simplicity of our interface and the opportunity for merchants to make a commission on every transaction they perform,” he said.

Alabraba emphasised that Paga is focused on its mission to expand financial access in Nigeria, noting that currently, over 80 per cent of Nigerians are unbanked.

And for another co-founder, Aisha Bashir, “Even more use very unsafe and expensive means to send money or pay for goods and services on a regular basis. With Paga, anybody with a mobile phone, regardless of their location or the network they are on can access a safe and convenient means of transferring money, paying billers or merchants, buying or sending airtime to others, etc. Paga will change the way people think about cash. It will change the way people live, positively.”

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ICT: Ghana pledges support to Nigeria business

The Ghanaian Minister of Communications, Honorable Haruna Iddrisu, has assured that the Ghanaian government would continue to support the establishment and development of Nigerian businesses in Ghana.

Speaking at the 2010 Technology Distributions (TD) Awards Night held recently in Accra, Ghana, Iddrisu said the good neighborliness that existed between Ghana and Nigeria over the years was based on the need to collectively address the development challenges of the West African sub region.

He also said that the government has created the right environment to attract and sustain direct foreign investment.

He cited a number of government approvals that Ghana has recently granted Nigerian companies, noting that the policy has never been designed to discriminate against Nigerian businesses.

Iddrisu said that his presence at the event underscored the importance that government attached to the business initiatives from Nigeria.

While congratulating the management of TD for her dedication to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market in West Africa and for packaging the awards night in which the star award, the TD Platinum Award was won by IPMC Ghana.

Additionally, DBS won the TD Gold award, Sambus netted the TD Pearl Award and Intu – IT smiled home with the TD Rising Star award, even as side attractions included a Fashion Show and a dancing competition.

In his contributions the Nigerian Acting High Commissioner to Ghana, Alhaji Kumarwa, who also acted as the Chairman of the event said that Technology Distributions initiative to reward her resellers in Ghana.

Alhaji Kumarwa also noted that the success of Nigerian businesses in banking, construction, and ICT has been tremendous and congratulated the award winners of the night.

He further urged the resellers to take advantage of the pedigree of TD as the No 1 ICT Distributors in West Africa to grow a structured channel in the market.

Presenting a paper on ICT in 2011, the Managing Director of Technology Distributions Limited, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh, said that the Ghana market remains the gateway to Africa.

She wondered if Ghana can use ICT to enforce her leadership to the benefit of Africans, given her political stability and natural resources that have made the nation the OEM preferred environment in Africa.

Mrs. Ekeh said that TD presents the most credible platform for the acquisition of ICT equipment necessary for the transformation and restoration of Africa.

The MD explained that TD has a long standing relationship with the best ICT brands in the world including Microsoft, HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Zinox, and Cisco.

Armed with logistics arms in the UK and the Netherlands, TD offers very attractive incentives to the trade in the form of original and quality products, products availability, and affordable pricing.

She urged the Resellers to act proactively in order to actively participate in the vision to become key drivers of the technology revolution across Africa.

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Angaye urges MDAs to embrace .ng

The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Professor Cleopas O. Angaye, has said that urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to connect to the nation’s domain name, .ng, maintaining his stand that African nations lack political will to embrace new technologies.

Speaking at the Nigerian IT Merit Award organized by the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) in Lagos, weekend, Angaye, who dwelt on “Nigeria at 50: The Impact of Information Technology” said that MDAs must connect to .ng to check the increase in cybercrimes in the country.

“NITDA at the forefront of encouraging Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to connect to the Nigerian domain name dot ng, in order to check the increasing rate of cybercrimes, among others,” he said.

Commending NCS for demonstrating leadership as an association of Information Technology practitioners, Prof. Angaye said that the topic fitted the momentum of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country.

“For indeed IT has played a key role in Nigeria’s economic, educational, social and political growth in spite of daunting challenges,” he said, stressing that a section of the industry recently maligned him for bringing these issues to the front burner, which he felt the author misunderstood the context in which he made his observation.

Angaye explained that his job as a public officer allowed him to be familiar with the hydra of misunderstanding to expect that by lopping off one of its heads, the monster would have been killed, noting that recently he had pointed out that IT development in African nations and not Nigeria particularly was being hampered by lack of “adequate political will … to fully support and embrace new technologies.”

He wondered why such an obvious fact should generate so much acrimony among a section of the larger ICT sector.

“Let me ask: how many African countries have the political will to introduce electronic voting as one means to ensure credible elections? How many countries have enacted laws to protect intellectual property as it relates to software? How many financial systems recognize knowledge encoded in a Compact Disc as sufficient collateral for a bank loan? It is within that context that I called and still call for more political will to embrace new world trends,” he enthused.

Locally in Nigeria, he said that the Federal Government may have set the tone with many commendable IT initiatives, but many State Governments except a few and Local Governments have lacked the will to follow the examples.

“So, the benefits of IT have not sufficiently trickled down to the grassroots. That is partly why NITDA introduced the Rural Information Technology Centers (RITC) at the State and Local Government levels,” he said, reiterating that the aim is to help bridge the internal digital divide in the country.

“I have also received flaks for the one step slip in ITU ranking of Nigeria in e-readiness. We were ranked 63 in 2007 and 64 in 2008. I do not know the FIFA ranking of our national football team today, but I know we were number 1 in Africa and number 5 in the world some years back. I do not think we should throw tantrums over ITU rankings,” he said.

Emphasising that stakeholders should be patient with the current efforts of government to reform the power sector, bearing in mind that electricity and Information Technology are inseparable.

“In other words, if our ‘ranking’ in power slips, so will our e-readiness,” he asserted.

For him, Angaye said, it is a mark of responsible leadership to be honest, noting that he owes that as a duty to stakeholders to speak forthrightly on issues and challenges facing the IT industry.

“The solutions will require our collective ‘political will’ at all levels and tiers of governance,’ he declared, maintaining that this was not to say that IT has not made contributions to national development.

He described as the single most important developmental initiative of the Federal Government this decade the enactment of the National Information Technology Development Act 2007.

“That Act apart from giving birth to NITDA in a legal sense, created the only national framework for the orderly and systemic development of IT in Nigeria. Before then the IT terrain had been foggy, the issues convoluted and the implementation haphazard. Nonetheless, major strides were taken in past five decades. The most impact was recorded in the banking sector,” he said.

As said by him, Nigerians may have forgotten the era of ‘tally numbers’ and long queues in banks, simply because today, banking transactions could be done in the comfort of living rooms and offices.

“The terms “electronic-banking” and “electronic payments” are now familiar buzz words, but those services would not have been possible without software both at the back end and at the front end of the transactions,” he said.

However, he said, it is important to point out that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Government are required by official regulation to clear their IT projects with NITDA.

The aim, he said, is to ensure that IT development is harmonized and standardized under a secure IT-enabled environment while also avoiding duplication and wasting of resources.

“Among the very significant contributions of IT to national development is the redelegation of the technical point of contact of the Nigerian Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD),” he said, stressing that until recently, such a national resource was being coordinated and managed outside the shores of Nigeria by a volunteer foreigner.

The birth of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), he said, has helped to put the Nigerian ‘flag’ on the internet.

“Every true Nigerian business in government or in the private sector now must migrate to the dot ng domain and fly the flag of Nigeria in cyberspace,” he said, as NITDA would soon issue a regulation making this mandatory for all MDAs.

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George, Dapo receive I4j grants

Messrs Aguwa George of Online Comics and Dapo Conde of NaijaCampus.com have emerged winners of N1 million grant each in the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG’s) Internet for Job (I4J) initiative.

The duo where presented with their grants at just concluded Investor’s Forum which held in Lagos.

A press statement from NIG indicated that the applicants for the grant had opportunity to present their proposals to a panel of judges made up of NIG Executive and information technology (IT) industry leaders in October this year also in Lagos.

“A total of fifty-five (55) applications were received, while thirty-seven (37) of them made presentations,” the official statement made available to ITRealms Online last weekend indicated.

Presenting the grant to the winners, the immediate past President, Nigeria Internet Group, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, urged them to ensure the success of their projects so that they could demonstrate to other Nigerians that jobs could really be created using the Internet.

He recalled that the Internet for Job (I4J) Initiative is a programme designed by the group to explore the potential of the Internet to create jobs for the people and transform the nation into a knowledge society.

The Initiative, he said, was launched at a colourful event in Lagos on July 12, 2007 by then Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe and the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Professor Cleopas Angaye.

Ajayi went on to state that the objectives of the I4J Initiative comprise creating of Internet entrepreneurs, positive engagement of Nigerian youths, thereby diverting their attention away from anti-social activities, and to serve as a bridge to the digital divide between Nigeria and the developed countries.

Additionally, he said that I4J is to create local Internet content, accelerate Nigerian’s transformation to knowledge society, and kick start a “Dotcom” boom in Nigeria.

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Swift Networks rolls out 4G in Lagos

Wireless broadband services provider, Swift Networks Limited has revealed the commercial launch of its Forth Generation (4G) broadband services.

The Chief Operating Officer of Swift Networks, Mr. Chuma Okoye, gave this hint in Lagos on Monday, saying that the firm’s services on 4g is now available to business and residential users.

According to him, this followed the successful rigorous testing of its 4G-based Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) broadband network and backend systems which lasted for over three months.

He said that with Swift 4G broadband, anyone could now use the internet at the fastest speed allowed by today’s wireless broadband technology, whether in the office or at home, as long as the location is within the Swift coverage area.

In Lagos, he said, Swift 4G signal currently covers the area inhabited by over 10 million people, with further expansion on-going.

“We’re offering access to the internet at a game-changing speed. With higher speed access, Nigerian businesses and consumers will be more productive and competitive as they are able to do more everyday at 4G speeds,” he said, stressing that users would be share the same 4G connection, make and receive clear voice calls at affordable prices, without the complications of cabled networking.

This, he said, is in fulfillment of Swift Networks promise to deliver its 4G service under the brand name “Swift 4G Broadband,” reflecting the fastest wireless broadband service allowed by today’s technology.

The services provided, he said, would cover a broad spectrum of user needs aimed at meeting any business and lifestyle requirement for very fast and consistently reliable broadband speed.

Overall, he said, Swift Networks would continue to back its services with superior and world class customer service.

“With Swift 4G, Nigerian businesses and consumers will be more productive and competitive,” he said, citing for instance that a business could now use one reliable broadband connection to support the needs of all of its staff, and depending on the size of its building, create a WiFi cloud sufficient for the whole users without the need of an external router.

“This business will also get clear voice, fax, web and e-mail hosting, as well as customized hosted PABX services from Swift at an affordable price,” he said.

Underlining the fact that any itinerant boss would have the option of a nomadic 4G modem with which he could access the corporate network or the internet while outside the office and this would be on the same bill as the office.

“Parents can now access the internet, corporate files, company networks and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) from home, while supervising the kids’ homework or online games, over the multiple user Swift 4G broadband hub at the house,” he said, just as the family could also get a fixed telephone service on which it can make and receive calls at affordable rates.

The Assistant General Manager (AGM) Sales and Marketing at Swift Networks, Mr. Philip Sonibare, said they have designed new service plans to meet the business and lifestyle needs of various target segments.

“We have also planned a series of roadshows to interface our new 4G offering with our target customers,” he said, explaining that customers would be able to test drive our services at these demo centres and compare it with what else is available in the market.

“In fact, we will encourage them to bring along their 3G and EVDO modems to compare with ours and experience the difference. Our services will be available for purchase at either these demonstration centres, online via our website, at any of our offices or accredited retail outlets.”

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Galaxy, MainOne partner on broadband access

Galaxy Backbone Plc and MainOne Cable Company have concluded plans to launch exceptional broadband access to Nigerians this week.

Confirming this, the Manager, Marketing Communication at Galaxy, Mr. Franklyn Ginger-Eke, said that the current wind of broadband revolution in Nigeria has set to move to the next level as Galaxy Backbone partners MainOne Cable for the delivery of what he described as superior data and voice services to its customers.

This, he said, comes on heel of a recent strategic agreement with MainOne Cable Company for the direct procurement of bandwidth capacity for the next 15 years.

According to him, Main One provides the backbone infrastructure which provides superior and reliable access to broadband communication services while Galaxy will deliver data, Internet, voice and video services to its customers via its integrated infrastructure platform, using 1-GOV.net.

He noted that with commercial launch of MainOne services on July 1, this year, Galaxy Backbone and MainOne Cable took a decision to host an event in Abuja to formally announce the service partnership which is quite strategic for both brands.

“This partnership will have a significant positive impact on the attainment of the ICT sectoral objectives and by extension the overarching goals of the Nigerian Vision 20: 2020 strategy,” he said.

Eke quoted the Chief executive officer, Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, as saying that his firm is really excited about the strategic partnership with Main One Cable because it is now better positioned to help the government achieve its ICT goals by delivering enhanced quality of data, internet, voice and video services.

Also, his counterpart at MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke, said that through the deal, they have further extended the footprint upcountry which allows the parties to bring better-quality, reliable and affordable broadband communication to the Federal Government and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) within the region.

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Emakpore tasks service providers on care centres @ rural areas

Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mrs. Lolia Emakpore, has tasked telecommunications operators in the country to extend their customer service plans to the rural communities.

She made this call at the 35th Telecom Parliament, which held at the Badagry Town Hall in Lagos State, at the weekend, saying that the Commission is worried over the difficulties experienced by rural consumers who reside in remote locations where there are no provisions for walk-in customer contact centers by the service providers.

“This is not acceptable to the Commission and has to be addressed with a great sense of urgency,” she said.

Emakpore who was represented at the occasion by Dr. Femi Atoyebi, noted that the desire of the Commission is to ensure that best practice is observed in all telecom call centers.

This, she said, NCC believes could be achieved with a commitment from the service providers through operational effectiveness and compliance with the call center service level agreement jointly endorsed between NCC and the service providers.

According to her, in order to address this concern, NCC decided to host the 35th Consumer forum in Badagry with the theme: Customer Care Help Lines: A veritable platform for effective customer service delivery.

She further said that NCC has noted the efforts made by some service providers to increase the spread of their walk-in- customer contact centers in cities and major towns across the country, but urged them to extend this gesture to the rural areas.

“However, a lot needs to be done to ensure that consumers irrespective of their location have access to customer care help lines,” she said.

Emakpore pointed out that it was in this stead that NCC created the consumer outreach programme to provide a platform for interaction among consumers, the service providers and the regulator.

“The forum is also a feedback mechanism for the Commission in making regulatory intervention for the protection of consumers,” she said.

She equally described the platform as the tradition of NCC through the bureau to take this forum to the door step of the consumer at regular intervals, noting that the 34th edition was held in Jimeta, Adamawa State.

“And today, we are here in Badagry, Lagos State for the same purpose,” she said.

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Text4million: Six winners emerge in Glo Season2 text4million

The first set of six winners emerged in the Glo’s Season 2 “text4millions” promo, just as they received their prizes.

The winners include Celestine Ogolo, a journalist from Port Harcourt, Chief Godwin Adiele, a businessman from Umuahia, Malam Y. A. Rufai from Katsina, Daniel Olawunmi, a businessman from Kano, Kola Lesaodo from Jos and Yaya Musibau; a hotelier from Ikare, Ondo State.

Also, the six winners who emerged from the daily draws made in the promo received their prizes of N1 million each at a special presentation ceremony held in Lagos, last Friday. Globacom’s Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO), Mr. Mohamed Jameel expressed delight that the first set of winners emerged in the draws made during the first few days of the promo, stressing that Globacom would keep its promise of creating two millionaires daily out of existing and new subscribers on the Glo network.

“Today’s presentation clearly demonstrates that the Glo ‘text4millions’ promotion is on course. The over 133 Glo millionaires created during the first season, some of whom are here today, are a true testament to the fact that the Glo ‘text4millions’ promotion is transparent, credible and real,” he said.Jameel also said that by the end of the promo, Glo would have created two millionaires daily, making a total of 200 millionaires.

“In addition, there will be three winners of the monthly prize of N10 million which is spread over three months and the grand prize of N30m which will go to one lucky winner during the grand finale of the promo,” he noted. He explained that the promo which began about a week ago has been warmly embraced by subscribers on the Glo network, pointing out that the response and participation so far is indicative of the positive acceptance of the promo by Nigerians.

He wished the lucky winners an exciting Xmas and New Year celebration, urging them to invest their winnings wisely for the benefit of their immediate families and the good of society. The ongoing Season 2 of the Glo ‘text4millions’ promo was embarked upon due to the positive impact the first season had on the lives of lucky Glo subscribers who won millions of naira as well as other prizes.

Additional prizes to be won in the ongoing Season 2 of the promo include one brand new 3.5 litres Toyota Venza for 3 months, one HP Laptop computer daily for 100 days and one motorbike daily for 100 days. 1,000 Glo subscribers will also win a N500 recharge card every week.
 
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Visafone unveils Super Xmas Xchange

Visafone Communications has unveiled a new initiative called ‘Super Xmas Xchange.’

This programme, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator said, would enable existing customers to bring their old Visafone mobile phones and Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) and get brand new mobiles at a special reduced price of N1600.

Confirming this development, the Managing Director, Visafone, Mr. Ramachandran Balachandran, said all Visafone mobile customers activated on or before August 31 2010, that is, active for three months or more, are eligible to avail of the offer, which features two handsets with Frequency Modulated (FM), the ZTE S132 and ZTE S100.

“With the purchase of these handsets at the special price of N1, 600, customers also get an additional N100 free on-net airtime. The offer remains open while stocks last,” he said.

Balachandran also said that Visafone, a vibrant Nigerian mobile operator, has been a path breaker and pioneer in offering value to the Nigerian customer.

“This programme is a demonstration of our commitment to our existing customers, and shows the value that Visafone places on its customer relationships. It makes the concept of caring for customers come alive,” he said.

Balachandran urged customers to visit any of the designated Visafone shops close to them and take advantage of the Super Xmas Xchange at this season.

Customers, he said, are also free to retain their old handsets after purchasing a new one under the programme.

He asserted that Visafone is reputed for its innovative programmes, which rewards customers, in addition to giving them value for money through attractive tariffs and excellent voice and data quality.

According to him, Visafone, a wholly owned Nigerian company operates with the service ideals of quality, clarity and coverage and promises to renew the joy of communication and give Nigerians the passport to reach the world.

The company, he said, has recorded several firsts since its establishment, including its certification by CDG as the first Open Market Handsets (OMH) compliant network in Africa, even as it has won several prestigious awards for excellence, innovation and customer initiatives.

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MTN extends service hours @ Customer Care Centres

Mobile operator, MTN Nigeria, has extended its service hours in selected Walk-In centres across the country, reports CHARLES OKOH.

Customer Relations Executive, MTN Nigeria, Akin Braithwaite, said in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online that select service centres and connect stores nationwide would now operate beyond its normal office hours on week days.

“Most of the designated centres will, in addition, open on Saturdays and Sundays to serve customers,” he said.

The initiative, he said, would take immediate effect, is aimed at availing MTN’s numerous customers of a wider window to resolve any service-related issues, get answers to their queries or purchase product and services.

Also, he said the initiative will also now make it possible for office workers and others who are busy during the traditional office hours to take advantage of MTN’s customer support infrastructure.

Braithwaite explained that for some of the 28 designated centres, comprising of Service Centres and Connect Stores, daily business begins as early as 7am and they will remain open till 8pm.

“Our goal is to ensure that all categories of our customers are able to access support and assistance directly from our trained professionals. This extension of service hours will also ultimately thin out the volume of customers seeking attention in our Walk In centres at any given time. In essence, this initiative will ultimately translate into better experience for customers on the MTN network,” he said.

On his part, MTN Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, said this is happening in this industry for the first time.

“It is consistent with our tradition of breaking new boundaries to offer our customers unparalleled experience on our network. As a leader in this industry, we are committed to seeking more ways of adding value to the lives of our customers and indeed the generality of Nigerians,” Goodluck said.

MTN had recently added a 650-man online customer assistance centre to its existing customer support infrastructure to complement current Call Centre expansion.

Goodluck also said the establishment of the centre was part of a strategy deliberately designed to both improve the quality of customer support available to MTN’s customers and also add value to the local communities by creating employment opportunities for Nigerians.

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APC’s EcoBreeze hits market

The APC by Schneider Electric, has introduced the EcoBreeze, a modular indirect evaporative and air-to-air heat exchanger cooling solution for data centers.

Vice President, Rack and Cooling Solutions at APC, Mr. Pat Johnson said that the EcoBreeze has the ability to switch automatically between air-to-air and indirect evaporative heat exchange to consistently provide cooling to data centres in the most efficient way.

He also said that EcoBreeze has been designed to be able to reduce energy consumption by leveraging temperature differences between outside ambient air compared to Information Technology (IT) return air to provide economised cooling to the data centre.

“The EcoBreeze meets ASHRAE 90.1/TC 9.9 requirements for efficiency and economisation with multiple frame sizes with varying voltages and phases to address any data centre’s cooling needs,” he said.

Johnson noted that as data centres constantly expand and local energy companies place heavy restrictions on a data centre’s ability to pull more power from the grid, there is an urgent need to reduce power consumption through energy efficiency and economisation.

“The EcoBreeze addresses the needs of today’s data centres by implementing multiple forms of economisation into each module. The unit, located outside the perimeter of the data centre, takes advantage of localised climates and can automatically switch between two forms of economised cooling,” he said.

Johnson explained that air-to-air heat exchange brings about hot IT air in from the data centre through the modules Electronically Commutated (EC) fans, which is then passed through internal channels of the Indirect Evaporative Cooler (IEC).

“After the IT air is cooled it leaves the IEC and passes through a cooling coil and is returned to the data centre,” he declared.

For the indirect evaporative heat exchange, he said that when ambient temperatures could not support an air-to-air heat exchange, cooling is done through indirect evaporative cooling, which removes heat from the IT air by evaporating water on the outside of the heat exchanger channels.

“The EcoBreeze is the first solution on the market that prevents the outside air from coming in contact with the data centre air, regardless of which cooling mode is used (air-to air or indirect evaporative),” he said.

The EcoBreeze, he said, has a proportional R410a refrigerant system as well as an onboard water treatment system, eliminating the need for chemical water treatment, stressing that this feature addresses environmental concerns associated with some refrigerant or water based systems.

“Both of the economisation cooling strategies employed by the EcoBreeze maximise localised climate conditions to ensure the most efficient and effective form of cooling throughout the year,” he said.

Emphasising that the EcoBreeze do not only provide multiple types of air economisation, but it’s modular design allows the unit to adapt to the future cooling needs of the data centre.

“These features, coupled with the fact that the unit uses outside air and is able to automatically switch to the most efficient of cooling modes, really set the EcoBreeze apart from other cooling solutions,” Johnson said.

Further, he said that when building new data centres, IT managers look to APC products and solutions to create the most efficient and adaptable facilities.

“We are always excited when we can offer a product like the EcoBreeze that can address both the immediate and future needs of the customer,” he said.

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