Bandwidth guidelines: FG warns MDAs against defaulting

The Federal Government has warned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over defaulting in the guidelines for the procurement and implementation of bandwidth, network connectivity and other Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

Sounding this note of warning last week, was the Secretary to the Federal Government, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed at the formal launch of the broadband access partnership between Galaxy Backbone Plc and MainOne Cable Company, which held in Abuja.

Yayale Ahmed in his address to the occasion, cautioned the MDAs to be conscious of the guidelines for the procurement and implementation of bandwidth, network connectivity and other ICT infrastructure for Federal Government MDAs, which mandated Galaxy Backbone Plc as the sole solution provider of such means of communication to the parastatals.

He also said that the directive still upholds in all MDAs and remains in effect and full compliance is required from all government MDAs.

According to him, Galaxy Backbone still remains the custodian of this guideline, warning that defaulting MDAs may face sanctions.

SFG further said that the partnership between Galaxy and MainOne is consistent with the Mission and Mandate of the company, which is to securely and cost-effectively provide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and services to the public sector and underserved communities where government is expected to intervene.

Describing the partnership as cost-saving, Yayale-Ahmed said, the Federal Government is to save in excess of 65 per cent from the broadband access partnership between Galaxy Backbone and MainOne Cable Company.

The Secretary to the Federal Government equally noted that government saving is over previous charges on bandwidth.

“In the course of processing approval for this partnership, I understand that savings in excess of 65 per cent over previous charges will be accruing to the government,” he declared.

This, he said, shows that Galaxy Backbone has been diligent in utilizing cost saving mechanisms inherent in the procurement process, pointing out that this no doubt is in consonance with the government’s efforts at improving efficiency in the management of the available limited resources.

He anticipated that the deal has significant price reduction, which would contribute to bridging the Digital Divide to the benefit of dwellers in rural communities and boost access in educational institutions.

Commending the management of Galaxy Backbone for this partnership, Ahmed urged the company to seek avenues to partner with other organisations within and outside the public sector, in order to ensure that ICT becomes a critical contributor to national development and government transformation, just as he congratulated MainOne Cable Company for accepting to partner Galaxy Backbone.

“I call on both companies to ensure that their impact is manifested in all parts of the country and not just in Lagos and Abuja,” he said.

ITRealms Online gathered that MainOne Cable invested a total of $240 million and the Federal Government has spent about $120 million on Galaxy Backbone since its inception in 2006.

Galaxy Backbone is a government owned company whose primary mandate is the provision of ICT Infrastructure and other transversal services to Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Government.

Presently, the company has connected over 300 MDAs of the Federal Government to its network, with over 2,500 remote sites across the country and rolling out a metro-wide fibre optic network within the FCT, Abuja. Galaxy offers solutions that include: Broadband, Hosting, Remote office connectivity and a host of other related solutions.

On the other hand, Main One Cable Company Limited is reputed as the first in submarine cable offering with open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa. A wholly African-owned cable firm, Main One’s vision is to expand the much needed capacity on the African continent and reduce costs of broadband communications across the continent.

This vision has been realized with completion of a 7000km submarine cable system with capacity to transmit 1.92Tbps which was placed into service on July 1, 2010 with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
 
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Technology Outlook refocuses on ICT threshold

The Technology Times Outlook 2011 would refocus on threshold of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online by Shina Badaru, said that the annual Business Summit on ICT Roadmap for Nigerian economy.

According to him, the next year convergence of ICT leaders and frontier thinkers to envision measures for a growth-oriented environment in what will be a threshold year for technology growth in the country.

The event being organized by Technology Times Media Limited, publishers of the Technology Times print and online titles, he said, the summit billed to hold February 8-10, 2011, at The MUSON Centre, Lagos, will mark a threshold year for telecoms and overall ICT development in Nigeria.

Badaru said that Technology Times Outlook, which made its debut in 2008, was initiated to create the nation’s frontline technology thought leadership event where ICT leaders in industry and government annually share their experiences and insights on policy, technology and market dynamics that will shape and define the Nigerian economy over the next 12 months and beyond.
Mr. Badaru, who is the founder of the organisations said Technology Times Outlook 2011, will offer an opportunity to review the last decade of the sector and offer frontier thinking into the next decade of ICT development in Nigeria.
“Some 10 years ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria set out a landmark vision that was conscious of the role that telecoms can play in national development and subsequently committed resources to ensuring that rapid expansion of telecoms network by according priority to the rollout of digital mobile networks,” he said.
Stressing that then, Nigeria could only boast of about 700,000 installed fixed lines of which only about 500,000 were actually connected to subscribers.
“There was just one mobile network provided by the operator M-TEL, the mobile subsidiary of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL). That was an analogue network that had capacity of 210,000 lines with less than 30,000 lines connected to subscribers,” he noted.
As said by him, by October 2010, Nigeria has recorded a milestone of 84,990,100 active telephones lines, thus bringing the country’s teledensity to 60.71 while total connected lines have peaked at 104,915,200.
“The growth of telecoms network investments and expansion has also brought overall installed capacity in the Nigerian telecoms market to 157,357,716 lines,” Badaru observed, noting that the telecoms market has been a veritable driver of growth complementing the rollout of new and value added services in diverse segments of the Nigerian ICT industry.
So, the year 2011, he predicted would be a major watershed for telecoms development, since it would mark a decade after the landmark GSM auctions of 2001, which coincides with the August 2001 commercial rollout of digital services in the market.
“Technology Times Outlook 2011 will offer a broad spectrum of stakeholders, thought leaders, innovators and frontier thinkers to envision the next decade of ICT development in Nigeria and offer a roadmap that will foster an environ for a growth-oriented industry,” Badaru said.
The Summit will review the post-Unified Nigerian Telecoms Market, through insightful analysis by professionals drawn from industry, government, development agencies, media and academia to examine the impact of policy reforms on key segments of the Nigerian telecoms market.
 
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Web 2.0 amplifies citizens’ voice to govt – Prof. Afolabi

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, has identified Web 2.0 as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool that amplifies the voice of the people to their government.

Prof. Afolabi made this observation in a keynote address at the public presentation of broadband access partnership between Galaxy Backbone Plc and MainOne Cable Company, which held in Abuja at the weekend.

Free Online encyclopedia, wikipedia.org, has described the term Web 2.0 as commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive systemic biases, interoperability, user-centered design and development of the World Wide Web (www).

In other words, a Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as consumers of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (prosumers) are limited to the active viewing of content that they created and controlled.

These includes social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies to name a few.

Stressing the importance of Web 2.0, Afolabi said that the effect for government is that it has increased people’s expectations as both citizens and public servants could now contribute and participate in an interactive dialogue as opposed to passively consuming digital media.

“They can share information and collaborate across organizational boundaries,” he said.

The heads service noted that recent evolution has seen the creation and emergence of Face book users’ number about 29,000 to protest at the 2am over the lockout on bars in Melbourne CBD and followers of President Goodluck Jonathan urging him to reverse his ban on Nigerian football soon after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where the Super Eagles performed abysmally.

He pointed out that currently in the country, President Jonathan’s Face book platform has become a centre of gravity for national issues yearning for discussion.

“And citizens can have direct access to him (Jonathan) and the executive arm of government,” he said, underscoring the fact that the Face book forum has provided
access to the president to over 350,000 followers.

“The new social networking platforms provide powerful new ways for individuals to aggregate their points of view and amplify their voices to the government,” he declared.

According to him, connected government is now the dominant theme in electronic government (e-government), citing an instance of a recent United Nations e-Government survey.

Prof. Afolabi pointed out that connected government emphasises the benefits of seeking to ‘make the whole more than the sum of the parts’ by creating connected governance mechanisms aimed at orchestrating hitherto known as disjointed e-government themes.

He was quick to add that connected government is not, a universal trend nor an inevitable ‘one size fits all’ destination for all jurisdictions in the manner of the earlier government online programmes.

“Connected government deals with a more subtle and difficult set of leadership issues relating to infrastructure platforms, information sharing, coordination and collaboration,” Afolabi said.

He outlined six foundational pillars of connected government to include citizen centricity, standardized common infrastructure, back-office reorganization, governance, new organizational model and social inclusion.

Commending the partnership, Afolabi noted that as government begins to put services online and citizens begin to expect services online, the demands for bandwidth capacity, support and technical efficiency on the partnership will increase tremendously.

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Uduma, others urge politicians to embrace .ng

Internet experts in the country have maintained that the political class needs to look inwards in their search to have their ‘political contents’ hosted online in the name of websites, insisting that any politician that knows his or her onion must patronize the nation’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) .ng, instead of the foreign domains.

Some of those who commented on the imperativeness of patronizing .ng include the President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mrs. Mary Uduma, Director of NIRA, Mr. Sola Bickersteth and Registrar of the Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN), Mr. Sekiri Shehu Mohamed.

Speaking at the weekend to ITRealms Online, Mr. Shehu said that is not in the best interest of the country for Nigerian politicians to use foreign domain against the .ng.

He wondered where the patriotism of the political class has gone, saying that they need to exhibit their Nigerianness by localizing their domain names, which is their interface with the world.

“Using foreign domain against .ng is unfair to the ccTLD,” he bemoaned.

In her comment on the subject, NIRA president, Mrs. Uduma said that Nigerian need to make .ng adaptation a passion; hence .ng should be the preferred domain name for all well meaning Nigerians including politicians.

This, she explained is more pertinent because of security, saying that the use of foreign domain against .ng should be holistically discouraged and called for strong campaign against this practice.

She therefore urged Nigerians to ensure they support only those politicians who root for local brands like .ng, while enjoining politicians to believe in the Nigerian brand.

“For the citizens to support a politician, the politician should show example of their believe in Nigerian brand and promote it by proudly have their domain names on .ng for all their websites,” she said, stressing that having .ng should be seen as part of the rebranding project of the federal government, which is good for the country and political growth.

Equally speaking, a director of NiRA, Mr. Sola Bickersteth, said that politicians need to understand that anytime they give out an internet address that does not end with .ng, it is equivalent to carrying telephone lines with +44 or +167 instead of 234.

The implications, he enumerated to include that in an era where nations are actually attacking themselves over the internet and the American constitutions empowers the American president to order the disconnection of Internet communications if the nation is under threat, it is vital for a nation like Nigeria to take is country code Top Level Domain seriously.

“That implies that Internet communications taking place in Nigeria is directly under the control of foreign governments as exemplified by the recent leaks on Nigeria by Wikileaks,” he noted.

Bickersteth pointed out that politicians campaigning with websites that do not end with .ng are only confirming that they are not prepared for modern leadership and should change immediately to .ng domains for their campaigns.

“If and when they get elected, they most recognise that countries are beginning to amend their constitution to declare internet as a fundamental human right and in modern economies or information societies if you like, providing internet access is as important as building roads, he said, buttressing his point with the fact that even the Word of God confirms that knowledge is power.

Politicians, he said, need to recognise .ng against foreign domains like .com, .co.uk, emphasising that this should form part of requirement to confirm their readiness for leadership in 2011 as the world economy has gone digital.

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DSA plans 2-day forum on Internet & broadband evolution

Plans have been advanced for the hosting of the 2011 edition of the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum, which would hold in Lagos between March 24 and 25, with center of attention being on internet development in the country, according to the Executive Director, Digital Sense Africa, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke.

She also said that in the last two years, the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum, has been uniquely successful in creating a roundtable for the discussion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with particular reference to Internet Governance.

This year, she said, that the forum’s theme would dwell on ‘Internet Governance and Broadband Evolution in Nigeria.’

She explained that the essence is to bring to the forefront the knitty gritty of Internet Governance likely impact on the burgeoning broadband evolution which reportedly berthed in the country with the successful landing of two submarine cables; namely the Glo 1 and MainOne cable respectively.

Mrs. Nweke confirmed that the two-day event would hold at the prestigious Golden
Gate Paradise, Ikoyi-Lagos with several speakers lined up for the event from within the shores of Nigeria and internationally.

She noted that apart from re-examining the previous dual editions, those issues of concern, especially on the preparation of Nigeria to host the West African Internet Governance (WAIG) forum is top on the agenda.

Pointing out that notable Internet Service Providers (ISP), Value Added Service (VAS) providers, network vendors and consumer groups are expected at the forum.

“Most companies would use the platform to showcase their brand offering and services,” he said.

“Exhibiting ISPs, she said, would be handy to explain to Nigerians at the event how their products would facilitate penetration and improved competition for the benefit of ordinary internet users in the country.

She further urged members of the Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) who have commenced mobile internet services to take full advantage of the forum and expo to expose their various products to participants.

DSA boss equally said, the forum and expo would attract co-location companies, thereby availing subscribers and potential cyber café operators an avenue to interact and discussion subjects that could move the country forward, especially on Internet governance in line with the global internet forum otherwise refer to as IGF.

She further said that the forum would enable Nigerian internet community to articulate their views so as to ensure that Nigeria voice is coherent during WAIGF slated to hold mid-2011.

This important outcome, she said, was reaffirmed by paragraphs 37 and 38 of the Tunis 2005 Commitment, which states in part, “… goals can be accomplished through the involvement, cooperation and partnership of governments and other stakeholders, that is, the private sector, civil society and international organizations, and that international cooperation and solidarity at all levels are indispensable if the fruits of the Information Society are to benefit all.”

In addition, the paragraph 38, she pointed as stating that aforementioned efforts “should not stop with the conclusion of the Summit … emergence of the global Information Society to which we all contribute provides increasing opportunities for all our peoples and for an inclusive global community … we must harness these opportunities today and support their further development and progress.”

The Tunis Summit of 2005 paved the way for the IGF mandate of which paragraph 72 of the Tunis agenda, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General was charged to convene a meeting with regards to the new multi-stakeholder forum, known as the IGF.

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WATRA, Phase3 to partner on connectivity

The West African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (WATRA), may have advanced strategies to partner Phase3 Telecom on regional connectivity across the West Africa sub-region.

Executive Secretary, WATRA, Mr. Nnamdi Nwokike, made this known in Abuja, last week at a dinner party organized by Phase3 to mark the end of 2010 business year.

He said that the regional telecommunications regulatory body, WATRA, is fully in support of the plan by Phase3 Telecom to build its aerial optic across West Africa.

“There is an urgent need to develop communication infrastructure within the region in order to ensure that services among the countries in West African become autonomous of Europe,” he said.

Nwokike noted that the limited cross-border connectivity infrastructure has over the years made communication among countries in West Africa to be unnecessarily expensive, as member states often have to route their calls through Europe before reaching one another.

He underscored the fact that the problematic interconnection among member countries in the region had been working separately, Nwokike said that with formation of WATRA, a decision has been taken to develop a blueprint on how West African countries could operate common communication infrastructure.

Chief executive Officer, Phase3 telecom, Mr. Stanley Jegede in his address, expressed delight at the move by WATRA to help in the development of common infrastructure.

Jegede said that over the years, his firm has had to visit every country in West Africa to seek for permits to set up, stressing that with the decision by WATRA to now have a common body in charge of regional infrastructure, time spent on getting permits, right of ways and licenses and related matters will be greatly reduced.

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Etisalat Group’s ‘smart service’ honoured

Etisalat Group has emerged the best wholesale provider of telecommunications services in the Middle East for the third consecutive year at the annual Capacity Awards ceremony, which held in Amsterdam, Holland recently.

The event organized by Capacity Media recognized Etisalat’s leadership in providing ‘smart services’ and for developing its portfolio beyond the provision of transit and interconnection.

Executive Vice President, Carrier & Wholesale for Etisalat Group, Mr. Ali Amiri, said that this year, the telecom operator introduced its ‘Smart Hub’ which is the region’s most important hub for wholesale connectivity, applications and content.

This facility, he said, enables Etisalat to provide access to a more sophisticated range of services including roaming hub, and showed that the platform allows other operators to establish a network of 600 roaming partners around the world with the minimum effort.

Etisalat, Amiri said, established the regional hub for internet traffic, thanks to its extensive investment in wholesale capacity., noting that the network has continued to grow with the addition of TEAMS cable earlier this year; one of the first cables connecting East Africa, and bringing affordable broadband access to millions of people on the continent with the rest of the world.

In 2010, he recalled that Etisalat announced, in conjunction with industry leading partners, the Regional Cable Network (RCN), the first terrestrial cable connecting the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan Syria and Turkey to Europe.

“This cable will not only provide extra capacity, but will also add resiliency to regional networks,” he said.

Reacting to the award, the Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar described it as a direct reflection of long years of operations founded on excellence in customer service in all its operations worldwide.

“We are constantly working to understand how to improve our service to our customers in Nigeria and globally,” he said, stressing that the award is yet another testimony to Etisalat’s pioneering status among regional operators and the success of its business strategy in meeting customer needs and exceeding their expectations.

Etisalat, he said, has continued to be one of the largest carriers of voice traffic in the region and recently introduced wholesale Points of Presence around the world.

“Etisalat has also extended its MPLS Virtual Private Networks (VPN) across the region, enabling advanced services for business customers,” Ammar said.

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CWG wins 3 awards @ ADA’10

The 2010 edition of the Africa Digital Awards ended in Lagos recently with the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) carting home three priced awards.

These include each awards coming to three of CWG’s subsidiaries, namely the Computer Warehouse Limited, ExpertEdge Software, and DCC Networks in addition to the ICT Man of the decade bestowed on the Group Managing Director of CWG, Mr. Austin Okere.

Disclosing this, the Head, Corporate Communications at CWG, Mr. Chidi Okpala said they were excited to have carted away four awards in honour of its contribution, continuous innovation and professional deployment of reliable technology solutions within the past decade, across businesses within the West African region.

He quoted ICT Watch Africa, the organizers as saying that the ceremony was held in celebration of its 10th year anniversary and also in continuation of the celebrations to mark Nigeria at 50.

According to him, for the Most Outstanding ICT Support services of the Decade, ExpertEdge Software, CWG’s software division was honoured, while DCC Networks, the communications division was awarded the Most outstanding Corporate VPN of the Decade.

Speaking after receiving the award, DCC’s Sales Manager, Mr. Sylvester Ekpo, expressed appreciation to ICT Watch Africa for the honour and pledged to all its customers to keep improving on innovative services coming from DCC Networks.

The CWG Group has for the past 18 years been known for its unique innovation and excellent service to the corporate market.

Over the years too, the company has grown from a small company dealing in the sale of hardware boxes to a very large organization with over 500 staff, skilled in hardware and infrastructure services, Communications and Software services and scattered across its offices in Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.

The general manager, DCC Networks, Mr. Oladipo Raji dedicated the awards to all CWG’s customers across Africa.

“It is to you our customers in Africa we owe this award and we promise we shall keep providing you with innovative solutions, the right support to grow your business and we shall keep partnering with you in other to see your business grow with the times in terms of Technology,” he said.
 
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1,251 customers emerge @ Verve Use & Win promo

A total of 1,251 customers of various banks partnering with Interswitch Nigeria Limited on its Verve Use & Win promo, which ended yesterday in Lagos.

The 13-week promo concluded Tuesday with 96 winners merging weekly with some carting home 32 inch LCD TV, MP3, and branded flash drives.

Out of the 1,251 winners, three went home with brand new Toyota Yaris cars, including a First Bank customer in Owerri, Ms Chioma Ndlema, Mr. Felix Chizoba Okwara, an Intercontinental Bank customer from Satellite branch, Lagos while the final customer to win a car is Dr (Mrs) Adeoye Williams.

Speaking at one of the draws and prize presentation ceremony, the Divisional Head, Verve Business Unit, Interswitch, Mrs. Tobi Boshoro, said the winners emerged from all the geopolitical zones of the country.

According to Boshoro, the Verve Use &Win promo was structured to deepen the awareness about the Verve brand, giving Nigerians ample opportunity to explore the benefits inherent in the Verve brand.

She also said that because of the promo the volume of transactions that had been carried out on the platform had increased tremendously.

“As Nigerians have discovered the advantages; particularly the various rewards accrue from using the Verve card,” she said.

Commenting on the increased use of the Verve card, she said it was becoming a culture in the banks to see a huge percentage of transactions being executed on the platform.

This, she said, has increased the volume of transactions on the platform, adding that till recently, no cases of fraud or card abuse have been recorded on the platform since the latest migration.

She urged bank customers to opt for the use of Verve ATM card due to the embedded chip & PIN security features, which has made fraudulent transactions by unauthorised persons impossible.

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Agabi emerges ICT broadcaster of the decade

Nigerian foremost Information and Communication Technology (ICT) broadcaster, Mr. Bayero Agabi, has emerged the broadcaster of the decade at the just concluded African Digital Awards 2010.

This, organisers said is for his contributions using broadcasting to promote ICT in the past decade.

Commenting on the award, Bayero who has carved a niche for himself in the area of ICT reportage in Africa expressed appreciation to ICT Watch Africa, the organizers of the recognition.

Agabi said he was thrilled by the award because he bagged it when Nigeria celebrated 50 years of nationhood. Bayero Agabi a pan African ICT for development promoter remained the only African journalist to have won the prestigious UNEC/AISI media award twice, in addition to over twenty three awards both local and international in over a decade.

A pioneer of ICT on television in West Africa, Agabi is the executive director of Knowhow Media and president Tribe Media Company, owners and operators of tribe tv, cyber Africa magazine, ait infotech network and tribe times international magazine.

Presenting the prize to Bayero, former president, Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and chief executive officer, Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, described Bayero Agabi, as the most professional and competent ICT journalist he has met in the past ten years.

According to a citation read at the event, Agabi who also is the managing editor, Tribe Times Magazine, a print medium used to promote Africanity, celebrates the richness of African tribes, her people in Diaspora with distinguishing landmarks the world over. Just as publishes Cyber Africa magazine and anchor cum produce Cyber Africa on TV magazine at the Africa Independent Television Network.

Both of which x-rays the development, trends and happenings in the ICT world in Nigeria and beyond with a view to ‘’Connecting Africa with the New Age’’.

Agabi’s journalism career spanned through over a decade. Starting as a film editor with Channels Television in 1993, Bayero has risen to become Nigeria’s leading ICT broadcast journalist since joining Africa Independent Television AIT in 1997, where he coordinated various political programmes that dared the military dictators at that time.

Currently, he lays claims to over 26 awards achieved both locally and internationally for promoting ICT development in the region, including the Africa Information Society Initiative / GTZ Media Award for TV (2005) , International Foundation For Excellence (IFEX) Award [Excellent Performance Award (2002)], Award of Excellence (2005), RIMA Foundation Award For News Media TV Station 2008, National campaign towards mass Computer/ IT [Award of Honour For Outstanding Contribution to ICT Reporting in Nigeria (2006)], Best ICT Reporter of the year (Electronic) 2003, IT Reporting media of the year 2009 (Electronic)], ATCON National Telecom Merit award (2004);

He was named the Most Outstanding ICT Editor of the decade -electronic, 2010; TV Video category Award 2007, 2007 AISI (African Information Society Initiative ) GKP Media Award for TV / Video, Best IT Reporter of the year 2009, Best Software / IT Reporter Electronic, Media (Radio) 2001.

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APC unveils infrastructure management software

APC by Schneider Electric has unveiled the newest version of its InfraStruxure management software, a core feature of APC’s InfraStruxure architecture, which provides an open, vendor neutral management platform for data centre physical infrastructure.

Vice President, Enterprise Software at APC by Schneider Electric, Soeren Brogaard Jensen, said that the new features help companies to conserve energy and cut costs by delivering active, open, management across all key domains of the data centre, including power, cooling, rack systems, and security systems.

He noted that utilisation of InfraStruxure management software has become imperative for Information Technology (IT) managers in order to avoid unplanned downtime and to maximise energy efficiency.

In addition, he said, it comes with full integration capabilities with enterprise and building management systems, the software provides a core platform to monitor and manage data centre assets.

“More than ever, businesses are looking to maximise energy efficiency and minimise the complexity of their data centre operations. We updated our InfraStruxure management software to provide not only critical monitoring and measurement but extensive operational upgrades to enable seamless implementation of virtualisation and the reduction of overall carbon footprints,” says Soeren Brogaard Jensen, Vice President Enterprise Software, APC by Schneider Electric.

“By using APC’s InfraStruxure Management Suite, IT managers can finally implement virtualisation without worrying about whether their physical infrastructure can support the nomadic loads. These upgrades allow customers to maximise current resources, conserve energy and better plan for the future.”

Outlining the new features of APC’s InfraStruxure management software portfolio enable IT managers, he said it would change the way they monitor, operate, manage and maintain their data centres through the integration of new virtualisation capabilities and upgraded energy efficiency and operations software.

The latest capabilities, he listed to include a data centre project management tool, which enables the design of new data centre build-outs or upgrades.

This new functionality, he said, allows users to simulate changes and scenario planning without impacting data centre operations. Data Center Lab’s drag and drop functionality and instant feedback on the impact of adding new IT gear makes the tool ideal for the creation of blueprint design proposals including floor layouts, rack layouts and inventory lists for data centre expansion, consolidation or new build projects.

On the InfraStruxure capacity to update impact analysis, he said, the application provides an instant overview of data centre physical infrastructure operations including UPS, power distribution and cooling, independent of the types and brands of equipment present in the data centre.

“This application is uniquely able to alert an IT manager when a temperature or other physical infrastructure-related event has occurred that could potentially impact the individual IT equipment. Vendor-agnostic inventory management and real-time device failure notifications are shown within physical data centre layouts,” he said.
 
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3Line, Toyota to reward Freedom card users

Ahead of the Yuletide, 3Line Card Management and the premier distributor of Toyota brand of cars in Nigeria, Elizade Nigeria Limited (ENL) have commenced Christmas Sale Promotions to enable all buyers of Toyota brands obtain instant pre-loaded Gift cards.

The Christmas promo tagged “Get a Toyota, Get a Gift” which kicked-off on December 1, 2010 would run till the end of the month.

According to the General Manager, 3Line Card Management, Mrs Funke Ade-Ojo said in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online that the ‘Get a Toyota, Get a Gift’ reward comes with three year manufacturer’s warranty or 100,000 km, a free annual vehicle condition report, registration, trade-in option and tracking device as well as free accessories such as floor mat, fire extinguisher and C-Caution reflective signal.

The new buying initiative, she said, is between two companies that are first in their separate industries, stressing that ENL is the number one Toyota distributor in Nigeria, while 3Line pioneered gift cards in Nigeria in 2008 with its Freedom gift card, which is a customizable payment card that could be given instead of the traditional gift item.

“It gives the recipient the freedom to choose what he wants as a gift as against the traditional gifts that may not appeal to the recipient,” she said.

Ade-Ojo also explained that Freedom gift cards are redeemable at any retail outlet where Freedom cards are accepted and value redeemable at over 8,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) nationwide.

“The card is innovative because it is the ideal incentive for customers, employees, business partners, and survey respondents, anyone you want to motivate, reward, or just to show appreciation,” she said.

Mrs. Ade-Ojo recalled that in 2008, 3Line introduced Freedom gift card into the Nigerian market and it was sold and accepted for purchases at various shops at the malls, just as she informed that the Freedom gift card would greatly reduce the gift choice dilemma on the part of the giver, while giving the recipient the freedom to choose an ideal gift.

She pointed out the uniqueness of Freedom gift card, saying there are a few gift vouchers in the market but that the Freedom gift card would in many ways bring value added benefits to the receiver.

For her, Get a Toyota, Get a gift offer could not have not have come at a better time than during this Yuletide season of giving and all the confusion, logistics and frustration associated with deciding on the ideal incentive, reward or gift for loyal employees and customers alike.
 
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ATCON welcomes calls for fundamental Internet access

The recent calls by stakeholders for the consideration of access to broadband Internet as a fundamental human right for all Nigerian citizens has been described as a welcome development.

The president of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu gave this description in a lecture he gave at the weekend in Lagos during the Distinguished Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Annual Lecture (DEEEAL) organised by a division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

Omo-Ettu, who spoke on “Pathway to connecting the Last Man” noted that the clamour is appropriate, especially coming from common men, but said that realising this dream would take a gradual process.

Therefore, he appealed for patience, stating that definitely it would come to pass.

“The precise time that this transformation in the mind of the common man occurred is hard to put a finger on. My guess is that it was a gradual process but a welcome one nonetheless,” he said.

ITRealms Online recalls that this call has emerged from various industry forums on Internet Governance and Five Years of IGF: The Way Forward for Nigeria organised by Digital Sense Africa in Lagos, last April, which re-echoed at the Broadband for Nigeria forum in Abuja in July.

Tracing the history of the lecturer, he noted that an idea similar to what is now called DEEEAL lecture was mooted in 1996 during when he was the chairman of the division.

“Its advocates argued that the Division as the Institution was then known ought to institute a platform where a notable Electrical Engineer should be given the rostrum to recommend a worthy objective which the Division could pursue as a matter of national development,” he said.

According to him, it was recommended that such a speaker must demonstrably break new ground - worthy of the Institution’s support and backing.

The audience and its selection, he said, would be primarily, but not entirely, at the discretion of the nominee-lecturer and should include a wide spectrum of top professionals from government, politics, academia and business.

“The lecture, like any of our other programmes, must also have a subtle economic objective that chimes with the ethos and operations of the Division,” he said.

Pointing out that since the DEEEAL Lecture commenced a few years after, it could now boast of a list of illustrious speakers.

“I have been fortunate enough to be present at all the lectures delivered in the past three years and I can say, with contentment and pride, that its raison d’être has been retained,” he said.

Commending the leadership of the division, he noted that the 2009 lecture was given to Mr. John Ayodele, who promoted the idea of “Distributed Generation for our public electricity supply system”. He said that 12 months on, and given that inadequate power is one of the impediments to the development and growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria, he is yet to see how far the Institution has pushed this radical idea which strictly speaking, is a fundamental shift from the way the power service has been managed.

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Technology, a superb tool – Plouffe

The campaign manager of President Barack Obama in the 2008 American president election, Mr. David Plouffe, has described Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools as a wonderful innovation, especially for political crusade.

Speaking at a one-day MTN Life Enrichment seminar which held in Lagos, last week, Mr. Plouffe said that any country that want to get attraction of people, mostly the youth at heart must embrace technology, noting that they are always in search of new ways of doing things.

“I think it (technologies) is a wonderful, wonderful thing,” he declared.

Dwelling on ‘Delivering Greater Value Through Innovation’ he also said that in order to make a difference in public campaigns, ICT tools cannot be over-emphasised, stressing that it’s a good thing to dream and dream big.

Technology adaptation, he said, has been on the rise and the only way of equal such demand in people or political oriented movement is to embrace technologies, which he added would drive a lot of things in the future.

Additionally, Mr. Plouffe said, nowadays, a lot of people can actually raise various funds online.

“I can today raise the money I need and campaign online,” he said, noting that anything that affects America, traverses the world, hence it is crucial to engage the supporters before any decision is taken.

This, he pointed out has been made more feasible by technologies.

According to him, the success of President Obama’s election was anchored on technologies.

“Technology was at the bottom of Obama’s president,” he asserted, stressing that the world is changing rapidly and only technology could drive the entire process of future evolution.

He cited an instance with Japan, where he said that almost all the population now conduct their businesses and life through the mobile phone technologies.

Plouffe, who was President Barrack Obama’s chief campaign manager during the 2008 presidential elections in the United States of America, explained that
Plouffe who also spoke at A-Class Park and Event Centre, Abuja, noted that the campaign required a well thought-out strategy because it sought to reach out mainly to untapped publics.

Technology, for him, was key to the success of the Obama campaign and that in today’s dynamic world, little could be done without exploring the huge platforms that the internet and the mobile phone provide in connecting to target publics.

“Our strategy during the 2008 campaign changed the complexion of the people that vote normally in America. Twenty million people voted for the very first time, 20 per cent of them below the age of 30,” he said.

The secret, Plouffe said, was that they ran a campaign that fitted the way people lived their lives, noting that the mobile phone and the internet are major assets that must be explored to achieve high consumer connection in today’s world.

Welcoming guest earlier at the event, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Mr. Kolawale Oyeyemi, who stood in for the chief marketing officer, Mr. Bola Akingbola, said that at MTN, they believe so much in giving customers innovative tools to win in their business and that was the reason behind the invitation extended to Mr. Plouffe.

He described Mr. Plouffe as a pioneering force in the field of technology and grassroots leadership, who had innovatively rewritten the American history.

One of the highlights was the exhibition of recently launched MTN bundle packages.

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Airtel reiterates commitment to CSR

Newly rebranded Airtel Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the country.

This is coming as the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Dr. Ado Bayero, commended Airtel Nigeria for the successful launch of its brand in Nigeria and the promise to provide Nigerians with improved quality of service.

Welcoming the Airtel management to his Palace, led by the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Rajan Swaroop, Dr. Bayero, described Airtel Nigeria which has been consistent in its focus on delighting its customers.

He charged the organization to ensure that its coverage of Kano city and its environs is better and more robust under the new brand name.

The Emir, who was represented by the Wamban Kano, Alhaji Abass Sanusi, wished Airtel Nigeria the best and pledged to support the organization within his domain.

In his comment, Mr. Swaroop assured the Emir of Airtel’s commitment to deepening its network in Nigeria, ensuring that its services touch the common man and bridge the digital divide in the country, expressing optimism that Airtel, sooner than later, would win the hearts of customers across Nigeria and emerge as one of the most admired brands.

He also said that the company had already taken relevant steps to crash call tariff across the country with the launch of its 2Good tariff plan, noting that with the plan, customers could now make calls after the first minute of the day at 20 kobo per second.

“This would apply to all calls (on net and off net) for all local destinations and to the United States (US),” he said.

Swaroop said, the new tariff offer from Airtel clearly lives up to the expectations of Nigerians and the challenge laid down recently by His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the launch of the Airtel brand in Abuja, where he urged the company to make telecoms services more affordable for consumers.

Swaroop further added that Airtel is committed to providing quality education to poor children, saying that education of less privileged children will result in true freedom, empowering children to experience the freedom to earn, to choose and to live right.

He said Airtel will construct schools across the country, equip the schools with furniture, provide uniform for the students and upscale the skills of the teachers.

He equally informed the Emir that the company has decided to commence the education project on a pilot scale similar to Airtel’s model in India where the mobile operator started with one project and later expanded it to 254 schools throughout the country.

On completion of the pilot school project near Abuja, according to him, the social investment programme will be extended to other parts of the country.

The Chief Executive Officer also expressed the desire of Airtel Nigeria to create jobs for Nigerians, stressing that the jobs will be created directly and indirectly in the coming weeks. He said plans are underway to increase the number of staff in Airtel call centre from 600 call agents to 1000 with the aim of providing its Nigerians improved customers service.

The new Airtel brand comes with a promise to meet the emerging needs of customers with innovative, affordable and relevant solutions to empower consumers, giving them the freedom to do what they choose and provide them with the tools to meet life’s daily challenges.

The red primary colour of the logo reflects the warmth and vibrancy of the African continent. It is the colour of life and of the African sun at dusk. These qualities are reflected in Airtel’s brand personality of being brave and bold, sensitive and empathetic. The new curved addition to the logo is a symbol which will help ensure instant recognition across our diverse international markets.

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APC dedicates datacenter application

Leader in integrated critical power and cooling services, APC by Schneider Electric, has established dedicated software for data centres

President, APC, Laurent Vernerey, who made this disclosure, recently said that the venture into software business is to enable the company focus and drive a leadership position across all aspects of the data centre environment.

The data center software business, he said, would be responsible for advancing all software and management systems for the data centre physical infrastructure, just as a team would have direct accountability for software development, offer creation, sales, service, marketing and partner programmes.

“By establishing a new and dedicated software business with a clear strategy and focus, we are showing our true commitment to become the global leader in software for data centres,” Vernerey said, noting that this evolution within APC is well aligned with the Schneider Electric vision of becoming the world leader in energy management.

Also, the APC boss said, the data center software business would be a key contributor to Schneider Electric’s Ecostruxure architecture and a strong supporter of Schneider Electric’s energy management initiatives.

He pointed out that the APC’s InfraStruxure management software portfolio, a critical element of Ecostruxure, will be the focus of this team.

“Through InfraStruxure, the Data Center Software business will simplify and drive energy and operational efficiency entitlements across all aspects of the data centre,” he said.

He underscored this with the fact that 451 Group report released recently, indicated that datacenter management & energy-efficiency software; “Schneider Electric has the scale, brand, vision and penetration to take a leadership position in data center energy management software; its size is also helping it make important alli­ances.

“InfraStruxure is currently just one of several offerings in this market, but it has the potential to be a clear leader,” he said.

The APC InfraStruxure management software portfolio, according to him, helps companies to improve energy and cost efficiencies, and supports short- and long-term planning, forecasting and budgeting. With this portfolio data centre managers and IT executives have the ability to take a holistic view of data centre physical infrastructure service quality, end-to-end energy use and the various costs associated with it.

APC chief executive officer further said that the vendor-neutral software provides the industry’s first and broadest integrations with critical IT support systems, including power management, building management and enterprise management, enabling the monitoring, controlling and resolving of issues in a user-friendly environment.

The software portfolio, he said, include InfraStruxure Operations - for daily operations and inventory management; InfraStruxure Central - for data gathering and monitoring; InfraStruxure Capacity; InfraStruxure Change - for planning and optimisation; and InfraStruxure Energy Efficiency - for energy analysis and modeling down to the server location in a rack.

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