Juwah unveils six-point agenda

•Declares zero tolerance for non-compliance

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah has unveiled a six-point agenda expected to moderate his tenure as the helmsman of the commission.

He was quick to declare his regime’s zero tolerance for non-compliance of regulatory directives.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, he said that the agenda would form his leadership strategies to guide major focus of short, medium and long term actions, programmes and projects during his tenure.

Juwah noted that NCC in the last 10 years was directed at growing teledensity with the massive deployment of mobile telephony, which resulted in an impressive statistics of over 80 million active lines and more than 110 million connected lines.

“Teledensity is now above 53 per cent. It is safe, therefore, to say we have achieved appreciable voice mobile telephony penetration,” he declared.

Hence, he said, NCC would be working towards sustaining this growth, but the next five years, under his leadership and regulation will focus on six key areas, namely consolidation and integration of mobile wireless services; fixed line and broadband deployment for national development; and enhanced competitive market as well as choice for the consumers.

Additionally, Juwah outlined three other areas of focus to include vigorous compliance monitoring and enforcement of regulations and directions, national connectivity for accelerated growth, enhanced international relations.

Speaking further on consolidation and integration of mobile services, he said, currently mobile networks in Nigeria are not fully optimized.

“The nation can derive more value from an enhanced and optimized mobile network, especially with an improved Quality of Service,” he said, stressing that the Commission would encourage the upgrade of mobile networks to include Third Generation (3G) based data overlays for the implementation of application services including but not limited to mobile payment, estate agency and other entertainment services using the Internet as a plank.

“We want to achieve this by implementing the key performance indicators for quality of services that can be possibly monitored independently by the Commission with zero tolerance for non-compliance,” he asserted.

Equally, he said, such wireless network would also deliver enhanced and integrated services to such other national projects such as the Emergency Communications Centres being implemented by the Commission in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

On fixed lines and broadband deployment for national development, Juwah pointed out that Nigeria missed a great opportunity due to her inability to massively deploy fixed lines when other development-focused nations of the world did.

“While it is true that mobile phone has attained high penetration and usage, for many homes, businesses and companies, there still exist a yawning need for basic fixed line access with its numerous advantages,” he said, underscoring the fact that the premium nature of mobile services contributes to the issue of its affordability compared with fixed lines.

This, Juwah said, has led to some despair in many circles about the ability of this nation to catch up with the robustness of a fixed network complemented by mobile.

And as a matter of deliberate focus, NCC has decided to bring fixed lines back to homes, schools, offices, and businesses, highlighting that to achieve this, plans for massive deployment of broadband infrastructure will be explored by the Commission.

“We are therefore currently working out the details on how to implement this desirable project which would bequeath the nation with an accomplished and robust telephone network for national development,” he said.

As a result of this, he said Nigerians should expect more licenses coming out from the Commission, while investors are being informed of new opportunities that the Nigerian market presents.

On the enhanced competitive market and choices for the consumer, the NCC boss told newsmen that there is need to improve the competition in the market place today.

“Competition brings about the best in all the operators. Competition also breeds best atmosphere for the consumer,” he said, maintaining that enhancing competition in the market and availability of choice is a statement of intention to fight for the interest of the consumer.

“Cost has always been the greatest complaint of the average consumer in Nigeria,” he acknowledged.

While on the vigorous compliance monitoring and enforcement of regulations and directions, Juwah said NCC has observed a major lapse in the disposition of the service providers towards compliance to regulations or directions issued by the Commission.

“This is as a result of a combination of factors, including sanctions for none compliance that are not commensurate to the degree of breach. This is prevalent in spite of the fact that same service providers are fully consulted during the processes of formulation of the regulations,” he explained.

He sounded a note of warning that it would no longer be business as usual as the NCC moves into the next phase of regulation with emphasis on compliance.

“The Commission under us will give a lot of emphasis on compliance monitoring and strict enforcement of extant regulations and directions. Since these regulations were products of wide consultation, it is incumbent on the Commission to see to their full compliance,” he asserted.

On his agenda on national connectivity for accelerated growth, Juwah hinted that one of the key milestones in the measurement of the attainment of the vision statement of the Commission is in the reduction of distance to access to telecommunications services for every Nigerian.

“Achieving national connectivity through deployment of fibre rings across the nation and cascading broadband and ICT infrastructure will form our road map in promoting availability and access for national economic and social development,” he said.

Juwah further said, under his administration, would give more expression to international relations and interactions, saying he hopes the benefit of this focus would translate in the attraction of investments, projects and good image to the country.

To this extent, he said, NCC at the recent 10th Plenipotentiary Meeting in Mexico, had a session with the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, for the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) located in Abuja and campuses scattered across the country to be conferred the status of Centre of Excellence.

He submitted that the aforementioned is not by any means the complete portfolio of his focus in the coming years, adding that the role of NCC is to advise government on major issues in telecommunications and ICT development as pertains to the country.

“We shall continue to work with government as a major stakeholder,” he pledged.

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MTN Nigeria Communications Limited recently in Lagos launched a new product tagged magic number and two other offerings. REMMY NWEKE who was there writes that the game of price war may have begun.

Penultimate week, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited made a show of its latest products with top on the agenda being the unveiling of its ‘Magic number’ and two other products.

The magic number, according to MTN officials, makes it possible for customers on the network to pick a given number of interests for free calls. Also, they launched two other pocket-friendly packages comprising MTN Talk-On and MTN Family and Friends.

These products, MTN said, come with tariff structures that bring true value to over 35 million subscribers on the network.

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, who was represented at the occasion by Mr. Bola Akingbade, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, described the triple offer as a change that is coming to every MTN customer which could be experienced in a tangible way.

He explained that the true value inherent in the tariff discount is that every customer could enjoy the unbeatable value of the MTN Magic Number.

“Every customer can make free on-net calls to and from one number for 30 whole days and nights,” he said.

MTN Talk-On, he said, ensures both conversations and purse strings remain unbroken, stressing that this is because it offers the lowest first minute call rate in the market and an incredible 25k per second for the rest of the day.

Equally, he said, for most customers who may want to keep valuable relationships on the front burner, “MTN Family & Friends is just perfect. This is because with MTN Family & Friends, a customer can make calls at 20k per second only to six registered numbers including one international number and one number from another network.”

Farroukh also said that a customer could still take pleasure in free midnight calls to all MTN numbers, noting that there are no hidden charges or access fees of any sort, adding that the trios are offer of a true value for money.

“It means instant connections to your loved ones and call rates that are first-of-a-kind, never-done-before in the history of telecommunications in Nigeria. From absolutely free calls to and from your loved one on-net, to the lowest first minute call rates, you will once again receive from MTN, the value you deserve – transparent rates without hidden charges or access fees,” Farroukh said.

He pointed out that since 2001, MTN has been committed to offering “true value, the kind that enriches your life in tangible ways, the kind that continues to inspire us to set the pace in Nigerian telecommunications as we have done for 10 years now.”

MTN believes, he said, believes that true value also goes beyond offering the lowest rates in the telecoms market.

“True value includes the most extensive nationwide coverage that serves over 35 million Nigerians in 2, 394 cities, towns and villages. It includes the widest 3G network coverage translating to affordable, high-speed internet services wherever business and pleasure take you. It includes 292 CSR projects sites in all 36 states of Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and myriads of sponsorship initiatives in sports, music and several fields of
endeavor,” he said.

Noting that today, it also includes revolutionary tariff plans, underscoring the fact that
revolutionarily they would significantly enrich customers’ treasured relationships and change the face of Nigerian telecommunications once.

Looking back at the inception of MTN in the Nigeria telecommunications scene, the MTN boss reassured customer of improved service delivery.

For lots of industry observers, this triple product launch is the beginning of the journey towards marking its 10th anniversary a favourable one for subscribers on the network with a commitment to always offer this kind of value, the kind that enriches lives and ensures the service that every customer would desire to have.

Speaking further, the Chief Marketing Officer, Bola Akingbade who launched the services on behalf of Ahmad Farroukh, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Magic Number alongside the other true value packages reflect a desire by MTN to enrich the lives of its customers.

Commenting, the company’s General Manager for Business Intelligence, Mr. Ibrahim Abba Gana explained that from the company’s assessment of calling patterns across telecommunication networks, the operator made a number of key findings which it is now converting to benefits for customers.

For instance, he said, the vast majority of subscribers on the network, comprising up to 80 per cent of subscribers do not call for more than a cumulative one minute every day. “That is, counting the entire number of calls they make in a day together with the entire duration of these calls, the vast majority of telephone subscribers do not call for more than one minute in a day, comprising several calls of a few short seconds only,” he said.

He said that this implies that some class of consumers who incidentally make up the bulk of the customer base of telecommunication operators are ordinarily shortchanged by tariff plans which charge them high tariffs in the first minute in enticing them to enjoy subsequent low tariffs.

“A tariff plan for instance that says that you must pay 60 kobo per second for the first minute before you begin to enjoy tariffs of 20 kobo per second will not benefit this customer segment, because their daily calls seldom exceed two minutes anyway,” Baba Gana said.

But for MTN, he said, what would ordinarily benefit this class of telecom consumers to which majority of Nigerians belong is to provide an opportunity to make calls at very low rates right from the onset of the call, from the moment the call is initiated.

Additionally, Abba Gana said, in considering the calling patterns, MTN had discovered that for most consumers, there are particular numbers to which calls are made on a consistent basis over a long period.

He cited another instance by saying that a man may make regular calls to his wife or partner and vice versa over a consistent period. Indeed such calls, he said, qualify to be a special one which could be made enjoyable with cheaper call rates or entirely free which MTN has chosen.

The Magic Number, MTN officials said is a reflection of the need to add genuine value to customers’ lives by providing them with an avenue to keep in touch with people who are special in their lives at practically no cost.

On how the Magic Number works, he explained that subscriber simply registers the number of the one special person in his life, beginning with the payment of an access fee of N250 and for one month, he or she is able to call that special person for free.

Literally, what this means is that such a person paid only N250 for a one-month call.

Besides, Baba Gana pointed out that special person would be able to call the other for free in the course of the whole month, despite the fact that both subscribers enjoy the free calls benefits of the Magic Number, only one subscriber needs to pay the token access charge of N250.

He emphasised that Magic Number will help to forge closer family affinity in providing people with a means by which to remain connected to each other, freely.

It was not entirely surprising that Magic Number, few days after is eliciting a lot of excitement among telecom consumers in the country.

On MTN’s Family and Friends, officials said at the occasion that this avails customers to simply identify a total of six special numbers, with each of these numbers; the originator would be able to make a call at 20 kobo per second from the very first second of his call.

Out of the six numbers, four should be MTN numbers, and one international number as well as a number from another network. Noteworthy is that at 20 kobo per second an equivalent of N12 per minute, this offer looks very enticing and qualifies lately as very cheapest call rate in the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications sector in MTN network in recent times.

Though other operators have proclaimed a 20 kobo per second tariff, this only begins to apply after the first minute, which entails that calls are charged at about 60 kobo per second.

Nevertheless, as it is now obvious, the majority of subscribers do not spend more than one minute on the phone on a daily basis and so may actually be victims of a shortchange at the moment.

While customers on MTN’s Family and Friends tariff plan could enjoy themselves with the Magic Number, thereby bringing the number of available relations to engage to seven.

On the third new package which operator named MTN Talk On, which implies it was designed for the upper echelons of the society; people who need to use their phones at length on a daily basis.

In the MTN Talk On, subscribers enjoy a 50 kobo per second tariff for the first minute and thereafter 25 kobo per second. Again subscribers who subscribe to this offer also enjoy the benefit of the Magic Number., which they could choose a Magic Number each month, pay a N250 access charge and call and be called for free from that number for a month.

As we journey into the 10th year of telecom revolution in the country, the expectation has continued to rise from telecom operators as competitors consistently find avenues of bringing tariffs on downward slope.

The bottom line is that which way one may be looking at it, customers’ better days are just nearby.

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Ekeigwe tasks accountants on technology adaptation

Information Technology (IT) audit expert, Mr. Chris Ekeigwe has identified technology as a big challenge to the accounting profession in the country, urging Nigerian accountants to adapt to technology.

This, he said, is to avert accountants’ extinction due to lack of knowledge, just as his firm has disclosed plans to host an empowerment session, tagged Finance Accounting and Audit Technology Conference (FAATech) confab in May this year.

Ekeigwe, who is the chief executive officer, EDP Audit & Security Associates, also said, at a media session weekend that this is more evident because there are software packages that could be installed to take the place of accountants and do even better jobs.

“This is because it’s now possible to put a package or application up to do all the work of an accountant and get non-accountant to manage it, who over time could master process, while you get better results,” he said.

According to him, about 70 per cent of all the frauds committed in banks nowadays were facilitated through technology, stressing that this is so merely because the accountants in those banks have been left in the dust; hence their inability to manage what happens.

“You can’t compete in digital age without technology know-how. You can’t be auditing a bank manually,” he lamented.

Ekeigwe noted that for adequate digital auditing at this era, accountants need to have what he described as electronic eyes to be able to monitor and know where things have gone wrong.

Presently, he said that Nigeria lacks sufficient accountants equipped with the technology wherewithal, even as he wondered how such an accountant would cope in a computerized bank or telecom environment.

Professionals like accountants, he said, needed to be convinced that they require knowledge to survive, asserting that in an information age, wealth is essentially digital.

“So, we need to take technology approach, which means that people have to invest in themselves if we must succeed. We must invest in knowledge,” he said.

Additionally, Ekeigwe enjoined Nigerian professionals, especially accountants to begin the process by investing in the infrastructure that would make the technology change to happen.

It is in this regard, he said, that EDP in effort at proffering solution is organizing a workshop, which he tagged ‘Finance Accounting and Audit Technology (FAATech)’ conference to be hosted in Lagos in May, this year.

As said by him, FAATech 2011, has compelling motivation and message for finance, accounting and audit professionals in the country, stressing that the professions must reverse their technology incompetence, take their rightful position in information systems ecology and lead technology in organisations.

“Or risk being relegated to tawdry professions or to obscurity at the margin of society,” he said.
This, he said, should be of a serious concern to be addressed with a sense of urgency.

FAATech, Ekeigwe pointed out, seeks to galvanize finance, accounting and audit professionals, leaders and institutions to focus them on technological adaptations vital to their survival, compete and prosper in the digital age.

“We intend to catalyze and motivate positive behaviour towards strategic technology competence for finance, accounting and audit professionals,” he said.

Maintaining that the clamoured change here, goes beyond word processing and spreadsheet skills, Ekeigwe noted that those are not strategic empowering technologies because they have been commoditized.

“The urgency of the times demands that we take necessary developmental steps to inject and entrench strategic technology competences in the profile of the finance, accounting and audit professionals now,” he said.

Ekeigwe concluded by citing the former vice president of United States, Al Gore, who said that nobody competes in capitalism without capital, just as “we cannot compete in the information age without technology competence.”

The future of accounting as a profession, Ekeigwe said, depends much on the degree to which accountants become technology competent and called on professionals to stand up to the technological challenges of this time.

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‘Opera to increase presence in Nigeria’

Web Evangelist, Opera Software, Mr. Zi Bin Cheah has revealed that the company plans to increase its presence in Nigeria, reports CHARLES OKOH.

He said apart from ranking as the second highest user of Opera Mini in Africa and eighth globally, the nation is a market to watch.

Cheah who was speaking recently in Lagos, said African region is an important and growing market for Opera Software.

He also said in the year up to December 2010, Opera Mini page views in the top 10 countries of Africa increased by 365 per cent, unique users increased by 176 per cent and data transferred increased by 331 per cent.

“So it will continue to be a focus. We are also looking at ways to increase our presence in Nigeria. Nigeria is the second highest user of Opera Mini in Africa and 8th globally and certainly a country to watch,” he said

Cheah said the Opera Mini, which is a browser on the mobile phone has grown on a year to year growth from October, 2009 to October 2010 by more than 200 per cent on number of users, page views and number of data transfer.

He also said apart from helping Nigerians to develop some innovative mobile ideas, they also want to come to Nigeria and understand what is going on in the market.

“Nigeria is one of our top markets so we did a study called state of the mobile web where we captured our markets in different countries with regards to the mobile web. We realized some interesting facts from the reports about Nigerians. We observed that Nigeria has the highest search-related pages amongst our biggest markets. So what it means is that Nigerians, probably, they are the people that like to search the most using our browser that is why more than 35 per cent of the pages Nigerians browse are search-related,” he said.

Cheah said the study also found that both Nigerians and Americans tend to save the most when they use the Opera Mini.

“What I mean by saving cost is that Opera Mini is a browser that does compression. For example, if I go to CNN.com Opera Mini will not download CNN.com directly from CNN.com server. It will go to Opera Mini server, fetch the pages from CNN server and compress it by 80 to 90 per cent. From that perspective the user would save money and data,” he said.

On the relevance of Opera Mini with the coming of broadband in the country, he said Opera Mini would become more popular because it is not just on mobile phone but also on computer, game devices, TV set up boxes, four wheel drive TV screens amongst others.

“We are really the browser on every device. So, when broadband becomes more available we would see more users on more devices and that make us happier and also we believe that as broadband picks up mobile browsing would continue to grow very strongly,” he said,

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Facebook harvests N228.3bn from investors

Leading social network medium, Facebook has raised $1.5bn (N228.3bn) from investors, valuing the world’s most popular social networking site at about $50bn, writes CHARLES OKOH with agency report.

About $1bn of the total came from overseas clients of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank handling the share sale.

The remaining $500m came from Goldman itself, and Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies.

Facebook said it could have raised more money from the oversubscribed offer.

Facebook’s chief financial officer, David Ebersman said its business continues to perform well and they are pleased to be able to bolster its cash position with this new financing.

“With this investment completed, we now have greater financial flexibility to explore whatever opportunities lie ahead,” he said.

The company said that it had “no immediate plans” for the proceeds from the fundraising, but would “continue investing to build and expand its operations”.

It added that it would begin filing public financial reports on April 30, 2012.

The New York Times reported the Goldman and Digital Sky Technologies investment earlier this month.

At $50bn, Facebook would be worth more than eBay and Time Warner.

Meanwhile, Mark Hevnenwas reported as saying that Facebook wants a better mobile experience for more people on its platform.

“We want people to have a great mobile experience no matter what type of phone they carry. Smartphones have offered better features for sharing with friends but aren’t used by most people around the world,” he said.

Last weekend, he said, Facebook launched a new mobile application to bring Facebook to the most popular mobile phones around the world.

“The Facebook for Feature Phones application works on more than 2,500 devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and other manufacturers, and it was built in close cooperation with Snaptu,” he said.

The application he explained provides a better Facebook experience for most popular features, including an easier-to-navigate home screen, contact synchronization, and fast scrolling of photos and friend updates.

“We also wanted to make it available to as many people as possible. Similar to Facebook.com site we’ve worked with mobile operators from around the world to let you try this without paying for any data charges,” he said.

According to him the project is a 14-mobile operators led offering which has free data access when using the new Facebook mobile application during the first 90 days after they launch.

During the next few months, Facebook, he said, plans to make the application available through more carriers in other countries so end-users who could have a great mobile Facebook experience no matter what device they may use.

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SIM card registration: 11m subscribers covered so far

Almost eight months after the commencement of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card registration, Nigeria has recorded an estimated 11 million subscribers.

This is coming as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has advanced plans for takeoff of its own SIM registration come February this year.

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah made this disclosure in Lagos in an interactive session with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) media.

He also said that top on his agenda at NCC is the issue of Quality of Service (QoS), which paved the way for his setting up of a task force on quality of service as soon as he resumed at the commission.

According to him, one of the terms of reference for the task force on QoS was to discuss how the quality of telecom services could be improved for the benefit of Nigerian subscribers.

Juwah noted that this was the focus of the first meeting he convened with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of operating telecom companies on October 8, 2010.

“One of the major achievements of that task force is the fast tracking of the regulation on QoS, which has been longstanding,” he said, stressing that with this regulation, every service provider would now be held properly accountable by telecom consumers and the regulator.

Another important issue which needed immediate attention on his assumption of office, Juwah said, was SIM Card registration for which NCC immediately published the draft regulation for industry consultation.

“We sort to manage a situation where SIM cards were still being sold in the streets, several months after the Commission set the May 1, 2010 date for operators to commence registration,” he said.

NCC, therefore want to ensure that all new SIM cards are registered by the operators as mandated and expect them to render regular account of the numbers registered.

He pointed out that NCC is now finalizing arrangements to commence registration of all existing SIM Cards from February 2011.

Business Champion recalls that on Thursday, July 29, 2010, the Nigerian Senate, at a sitting in Abuja, confirmed Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah as the new Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

This follows the controversy that trailed his screening by the Senate Committee on Communications, which resulted in disbanding due to purported irregularities and poor screening.

Juwah’s confirmation brought to an end the four–month search for replacement of Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, the erstwhile chief executive of the Commission whose two-term tenure ended in March, 2010.

In addition, Juwah was confirmed alongside other nominees for the vacant positions of two commissioners at the telecom regulatory agency board, namely Mr. Peter Egbe Igho, a retired Permanent Secretary from Benue State who replaces Alhaji Ahmed Joda as Chairman, Mr. Okechukwu Itanyi, former Deputy Governor of Enugu State, who replaced Mr. Stephen Bello as Executive Commissioner, and Alhaji Mohammed Bintube from North East who took the place of Mr. Patrick Kentebe as Commissioner.

Dr. Juwah, with about 30 years hands-on experience as a telecoms engineer is seen by the Presidency as having the necessary credentials to manage Nigeria’s telecom regulatory agency and maintain its international reputation.

The Delta State born telecom expert with a doctorate degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester, England, served as a Member, Subcommittee for Telecommunication Sector Liberalization and Restructuring in Nigeria in 2002, the committee that laid the solid foundation for the liberalization of the industry and enactment of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.

Equally, with his 30 years telecom experience in Nigeria spanning from the early 1990s when he managed the network operations of MTS Firsts wireless’ ETACS mobile telephony to the late 1990s when he superintended over the deployment of CIL, till the early 2000 when he managed the deployment of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, which gave rebirth to MTS, Dr. Juwah is seen to have traversed the entire Nigeria’s telecom industry.

Knowledgeable in digital exchanges, base station, data communication and subscriber access networks construction and operations, Dr. Juwah has played coordinating roles in the set up of an ETACS, GSM and CDMA Mobile Networks in Nigeria at various times in Nigeria.

This was in addition to his roles in practical pricing, billing, interconnection, licensing and regulatory affairs and network fraud control within the Nigerian environment.

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JACITAD condoles Focus TV over fire incident

A non-governmental organisation, the Joint Action Committee for ICT Development and Awareness (JACITAD) has condoled the management and staff of Focus Television over the recent fire incident that razed down their office facilities located at Lateef Jakande Road, Ikeja.

The Executive members of the association led by its president, Mr. Prince Osuagwu, also visited the site of the fire disaster and after seeing the rubles that was left of the former studio, urged the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to come to the rescue of Focus Television.

“It is so sad that this is happening at the beginning of this year 2011 which experts have predicted to be an activity year for the ICT sector. This scene is shocking and there is no gainsaying the fact that the entire Nigerian ICT industry has been hit badly by this disaster. I am saying this because Focus TV has been a frontline electronic media which passion for the development of ICT in Nigeria is never hidden.”

He also consoled the chief executive officer of the private TV station, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, praying that God would restore into many folds, all that the company had lost to the fire disaster.

Mr. Osuagwu called on all well-meaning Nigerians especially players in Nigeria’s ICT industry to respond to the situation so that the TV station which has carved a niche in setting agenda for ICT practice in Nigeria could be brought back to its feet.

He further presented a cheque for the donation of N100,000 from JACITAD to Mr. Adewusi, saying that the donation was to reassure the management and staff of Focus TV that the industry which they have helped to nurture would not turn its back on them at this trying time.

Immediately after the JACITAD president’s speech, the Executive Director of another Nigerian company, also championing the development of ICT in Nigeria, Digital Sense Africa (DSA), Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, said that the gesture by JACITAD was worth emulating and therefore announced a handsome donation to ensure that Focus TV comes back quick to business as usual.

Mrs. Nweke decried the inability of fire service personnel at Alausa to contain the fire, describing it as a sad situation.

She also prayed that God released the grace for Mr. Adewusi and his management team to bear the loss. Fellow industry player, Mr. Bayero Agabi of AITInfotech, who also visited the scene of disaster lamented that the incident was just too big for one man only at the beginning of the year.

He noted that what has gone with the fire cannot be quantified in monetary terms, adding that since the studio came on live in 2008, a lot of additional investments have been made in terms of equipment and documentation of programmes.

Earlier when Mr. Adewusi was giving account of the fire incident, he said: “I am yet to believe that these rubbles are the remains of my live studio I left in good shape the night before. I wish I would just wake up tomorrow and all these are just dreams.

“Can you imagine that not even a pin was recovered from this studio? Where will I begin my life from? Which of the equipments am I going to get and which one is good to be left out? Life sometimes can be wicked. I left here a night before the incident with high hopes of what we were going to do the next day but was only called around 7.00 am the next morning that my studio was on fire. In less than ten minutes I was here and the damage was done before I could save anything.

“Our suspicion is power surge from a reported crazy supply by PHCN that morning “ he added. Focus TV was commissioned in 2008 by the former Minister of State for Communications, Alhaji Dasuki Ibrahim Nakande. The studio is a digital entertainment cable television station with bias for information technology, business and gospel.

It is a cable channel on the Disc Communications platform, offering a bouquet of digital cable channels that could be received with an installed Yagi antenna on UHF 45.7 MHz on the DISC terrestrial transmission space.

Since its launch, it has become a powerful tool in the hands of creative men and women, entertainers, politicians and the state as a medium for broadcasting items of news, music, talk, sports, entertainments and movies.

Focus TV derives its offering from the ICT Watch; a weekly industry feature on Minaj Broadcast International (MBI), MITV and TVC which has been sustained for over seven years and continues to provide issue-based reports and analyses as well as the coverage of industry innovation and product launch.


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eTranzact simplifies mobile banking on phones

Following its recent licensing by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to offer mobile banking, eTranzact International Plc, has simplified its module for delivery on mobile banking in the country.

Confirming this to ITRealms Online, last weekend, the chief executive officer, eTranzact International Plc, Mr. Valentine Obi, said that they have advanced technology modules to deliver on its latest license.

He also said that the as an award-winning multi-application and channel electronic switching, eTranzact would leverage on the new global Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform.

He explained that USSD allows for high speed interactive communication between the subscribers and application across a GSM network, adding that the major difference between what is obtainable hitherto is that USSD is a new mobile banking service facilitating bank account access to the mobile phone owner through GSM enabled handset.

He elucidated that its simplest and fastest form of mobile banking, which is menu driven and interactive service.

This, he said, is session-oriented service distinct from the Short Messaging Service (SMS), which is a store-and forward based service

In addition, he said this makes it possible for eTranzact mobile banking module to be accessible to all Nigerians mobile subscriber without discrimination and availing them the great opportunities embedded in the platform for electronic transactions.

Mr. Obi said that with this module every subscriber on Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) networks in the country would be able to benefit from easy mobile banking services under the eTranzact platform.

He noted that before now, some mobile phone users in the country were excluded from enjoying this kind of e-payment services due to their kind of phones usually refer to as ‘legacy phones’, mostly those without Global Package Radio Services (GPRS) feature.

Pointing out that with the incursion of the USSD, which is a Java package, mobile phone users now have the potential of using whatever model of mobile phones to access eTranzact e-payment application.

“So today, what we have done is to make it possible for low-end mobile phones to do mobile banking and be part of the revolution,” he declared.

Obi stressed that over 80 million Nigerians now have access to mobile phones and it would be a misnomer to leave them out, hence eTranzact decided to take the challenge by changing the modules of e-payment and transactions to accommodate every Nigerian.

The Group Head, Mobile Payment at eTranzact, Mr. Patrick Eregie, said that this latest offering eTranzact would boost the economy, especially at the rural areas, where people at the urban have been known to send money to their relatives.

“You can transact 24 hours from anywhere,” he said, even as it would save time for money transfer.

Eregie noted that eTranzact is currently the only e-payment provider in the country that enables payment solution via your mobile phones across all GSM networks.

He illustrated that this is because the services are very simple, user-friendly, common and acceptable on all kind of phones. The associated ATM card, he said, could be used at any ATM system own by eTranzact partnering banks and deployers nationwide, just as bills could be settled with same, such as for any Cable TV bills, PHCN bills, Postpaid bills, Airtime TopUp of any GSM/CDMA network, Check account or card balance to name a few.

To electronic generate this application, he said mobile phone users can make request via text by sending ‘U’ to 4045 for MTN and Etisalat; 32060 for Airtel as well as 31030 for Glo.

eTranzact prides itself as the first online real-time payment system that allows account holders to pay for goods and services purchased from merchants, transfer funds to any bank account, cell phone, any card, pay bills, order products among others without stress.

The e-payment firm also said that this is possible because eTranzact permits cardholders to use any of various channels to transact including the web, using any internet browser in a secured transaction; mobile phones either on GSM or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or analog as well as Point of Sale (POS), Automated Teller Machines (ATM), other mobile devices and across 11 banks.

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Airtel launches Wazobia easy recharge

Airtel Nigeria has unveiled Wazobia, an easy recharge module structured to give consumers on the network more freedom to top-up phone credit and boost availability of airtime by empowering vendors.

The new recharge service, Airtel Easy Recharge, is expected to empower customers across the country, offering them more convenience, flexibility, freedom, and ease in loading their phone credit.

Chief Executive officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Rajan Swaroop, said that Airtel easy recharge, is a denomination-less recharge system which offers customers a unique opportunity to recharge their phones and those of their friends and family members with any value from N50 without having to use the scratch cards.

He noted that the launch would be followed by an extensive roll out in 15 other markets in Africa.

“Airtel expects the service to make airtime readily available to its customers throughout the country 24/7 and empower its vendors to provide recharge service to consumers everywhere, more effectively,” he said.

The new system, he said, comes less than two months after the unveiling of Airtel brand in Nigeria and is in line with the mobile operator’s promise to deliver the most exciting and relevant initiatives, products and services that enable consumers to accomplish more in their daily lives.

In addition, he said, the service would help Airtel to deepen airtime availability to its customers, especially through distribution network made of retailers, vendors, non-fixed vendors and more importantly, its consumers.

Swaroop pointed out that Wazobia easy recharge provides consumers and retailers the flexibility of recharging their phones with varying amounts.

“The minimum recharge that can be done is N50,” he said, stressing that by making recharges available from as low as N50, Airtel is enable over 5 million Nigerians to stay mobile and enjoy the freedom and excitement, which Airtel offers.

He reiterated that Airtel’s mission is to deliver relevant, reliable and innovative solutions that empower our customers to overcome challenges in their daily life.

He said, at Airtel always listens to consumers and would continue to do its utmost to meet or even exceed their expectations.

“Mobile telephony is a key component of our daily lives; therefore, we can equate airtime to the fuel that drives our mobile communication,” he said.

The choice of Wazobia for the easy recharge, he said, is because Nigerians popularly referred to N50 as ‘Wazobia’ and the word also represented togetherness for the whole country.

“Airtel sees this as an original Nigerian term that captures the spirit of the people and we want to identify with such locally relevant opportunities” he said.

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Starcomms launches new slogan

Starcomms Plc has unveiled new marketing communications campaign that re-affirms its customers as the core of its business interest with the slogan “listen to the network that is listening to you.”

Chief commercial officer of Starcomms, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari disclosed this last weekend, saying that the operator has innovatively crafted the new campaign to be a corporate philosophy, the new slogan is a campaign that has been embedded into the business and work style of all Starcomms personnel, cutting across all staff levels.

The new marketing campaign, he also said, is an expression of the value that Starcomms places on his customers noting that this is not just a campaign that will be there for a few months or a year.

“It is a campaign that will be imbibed by all Starcomms personnel and thereby becomes a philosophy in our work ethics, particularly in how we respond to the needs of our customers,” he said.

Describing the new campaign as a brand refreshing concept, he said that Starcomms as a brand has been in the mindset of telecoms service consumers for a long time, and enjoys significant awareness in their mind.

He stressed that it is as a result of the many innovative and customer friendly products and services Starcomms has introduced into the market in the past.

Maheshwari however observed that the new campaign, which is meant to refresh the mind of the consumer about the value of the Starcomms brand, is not a rebranding of Starcomms saying that the Starcomms brand is a brand that inspires every consumer to be passionate about it.

For instance, he said that “many customers are passionate about the philosophy of the talking drum, and that is part of “we speak your language” campaign, adding that “the new campaign does not take away the philosophy of the talking drum. It still remains relevant today as it was yesterday.”

He said that “the campaign is the result of a study that was conduct long ago, whereby it was revealed that Starcomms is indeed a brand that listens to the consumer. And when the result came we felt that it was time for us to introduce a new campaign to re-vitalized the brand and to re-invent the brand by adding to what the brand already have and thereby take it forward.”

According to him, a Nigerian singer, Nneka, will be the face of the brand in the new campaign, which will feature in newspaper, billboard and fliers across the country stating that the new campaign cuts across every sector of the society.

He said that the campaign is key to Starcomms desire to meet the needs of its customers stressing that that hence, every personnel in the company has been taken through the theme of the campaign so that they will know how to listen to the consumer when the need arises.

He further said that the new campaign is a demonstration of the innovativeness of Starcomms in the industry stating that “we have had a lot of campaign in the industry which has been spearheaded by us.

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Nokia supports Social Innovation camp

Nokia Nigeria has reiterated its support for the Social Innovation Camp, which recently ended in Lagos.

Head of Communications, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Osagie Ogunbor disclosure this in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, saying that the support was in line with established reputation for innovation by the mobile manufacturer.

According to him, Nokia partnered with a social enterprise venture, Co-Creation Hub to provide a platform for young Nigerians to come up with business ideas that also address some of Nigeria’s social issues.

He noted that Co-Creation Hub had sought entries from Nigerians on how they could use mobile technology to set up businesses that address issues like the quality of education, health, combating corruption and deepening democracy.

He explained that the entries were reduced to six out of which three winners emerged after a 48-hour camping at the Pan-Africa University, Lagos.

Nokia, he said, alongside the likes of TBWA/Concepts allowed winners to use their platforms to transform the ideas into thriving businesses.

He said that a software developer, Mr. Segun Fodeke, won the first prize with his idea on how mobile devices could be used to track the performance of elected government officials against the promises they made while seeking elective positions.

The second position, Ogunbor said, went to Olusegun V. Sangowawa for her idea on using mobile technology to improve people’s access to health information.

Tosin Agboola’s entry clinched the third position with the idea, which seeks to use mobile phones platforms to alert Nigerians about wanted criminals rather the current use of newspapers, whose reach is quite limited due to poor literacy level and poverty.

He highlighted the fact that Nokia is particularly availing any of the winners who develops a mobile application, an opportunity to upload such on Ovi Store.

"Ovi store is Nokia’s proprietary platform from which millions of Nokia faithful can download applications, games, maps and music," he said.

Recalling that worldwide, there are at least 3 million downloads on Ovi store every day. Equally, Nokia’s Head of Marketing for West Africa, Mr. Reuben Onwubiko was quoted as saying that Ovi Store platform provides the winners a life-time opportunity to make money from the revenue from downloads all over the world.

"The onus is therefore on those who have entered for the competition to ensure that they come up with solutions that would be acceptable even beyond the shores of Nigeria," Onwubiko said.

Founded in 2008 in the UK, Social Innovation camp runs as process/event to create innovative applications of the web and mobile technology to solve social problems. Social innovation camps have been run London, Edinburg, Slovakia, Australia, South Korea, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Czech Republic. The Nigerian initiative is the first of its kind on the African continent.

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Manipulations, theft of DDC’ll not affect 2011 elections - Zinox boss

No amount of manipulations by evil doers or theft of the Direct Digital Capture (DDC) machines would influence the outcome of 2011.

Chairman, Zinox Technologies, Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh gave this insight on Monday while appearing on a television programme, Kaakaki on the African Independent Television (AIT).

According to him, the theft of DDC machines before or during the voters’ registration exercise would amount to a mere waste of time for the perpetrators as it would not in any way influence the outcome of the 2011 elections.

He explained that the data being collected by the DDC machines would still be merged evaluated at the backend of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before insertion in the database servers.

This, he said, would give the ample time to discover and remove the likes of double registrations among other irregularities eventually.

He maintained that Zinox met with the deadline for supplying of 80,000 DDC machines, days before the curtain was drawn.

He attributed the delays experienced at the registration centers the software, which was Linux, an open source.

The scanners, for example, he said, were calibrated by INEC to achieve a high resolution of the finger prints and this led to initial delays that INEC has swiftly rectified.

Enlightening that the DDC equipment are installed out there in the dusty harmattan and the hot sun; conditions Zinox boss said wear down most electronic appliances.

He pointed out that these machines were allowed to run up to 10 hours at a stretch on batteries, which is an unusual contraption in most parts of the world.

Batteries, he said, are supposed to be back-ups but here they are the main supply of power because of the peculiar energy situation in the country.

He further said that the set of hardware were of the highest international quality with the extra strength to stand the rigors of the Nigerian setting.

While commending INEC for being passionate about producing a credible voters’ register for the country, Ekeh said that Nigerians should support the growth of local institutions by being patient and totally cooperative.

He said that Nigerians must support INEC and help all the patriotic efforts that INEC has put in place to materialize. He said that Nigeria has derived invaluable benefits from the fact that the Nigerian company, Zinox, was the first to deliver of the 3 companies contracted to supply the DDC machines.

He said that thousands of Nigerians have acquired new competencies in Information Technology and logistics through the assembling and distribution of 80,000 machines.

He said that the thousands of Youth Coppers engaged by INEC for the registration would form a new crust of IT savvy manpower in Nigeria in spite of their shaky start. He urged Nigerians to show appreciation for the tireless hours of work that fellow Nigerians are contributing to nation building by being supportive and not negative.

Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh expressed deep gratitude to the governments and people of Nigeria for the opportunity given to his company to show that Nigerians can also perform to match world class standards. He urged all to take advantage of the learning opportunities embedded in the voters’ registration to bring about a new Nigeria in education, power, and governance. Above all, he said, that this should be a reversal point for all those who are skeptical of Nigerian competence in enterprise management.

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Nokia to embed GTBank's MoVe on phones

New Nokia phones in the NSeries coming into the country would have GTBank’s Mobile Velocity (MoVe) application embedded.

The General Manager, Information Technology (IT) at GTBank, Mr. Dare Adeyeri made this disclosure at the formal launch of a strategic partnership between GBTBank and Nokia in Lagos on Tuesday.

He said that most of the NSeries coming into the country towards the end of this year would have this application preloaded before shipment to this part of the world.

Adeyeri also said that GTBank’s MoVe application would be available on Nokia Ovi, which is an online store and open vista for opportunities for GTBank on the Ovi platform.

According to him, Naira Mastercard from GTBank, is the only accepted means of card payments on the Ovi Store, while GTBank’s innovative mobile banking application, MoVe, which is available for free download on Nokia’s premium application store, www.store.ovi.com and GTBank’s www.gtbank.com.

Mr. Adeyeri who stood in for the Deputy Managing Director of GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje equally said that the partnership with Nokia is in line with the bank’s quest to leverage on emerging possibilities of mobile marketing as the bank seeks to expand its already robust electronic banking platform.

This, he said, would bring to its customers cutting edge innovation and services at all levels, a vision he believes would be a boost with Nokia partnership.

Revealing that Nokia used GTBank internet banking platform to conduct the pre-0order for Nokia’s newest smartphone, the N8, which is another first for any bank in the West African sub-region.

He listed some of the features of GTBank MoVe application to include real-time currency exchange calculator for most of the world’s currency as well as Naira; ATM and brand locator, GTConnect widgets to name a few.

In his comment, the General Manager, Nokia West Africa, Mr. James Rutherfood made it clear that though Nokia is diversifying into mobile solutions, the mobile phone manufacturer is not stepping down its manufacturing aspect.

The convergence of solutions, he said, has encouraged Nokia to look into this area, stressing that Nokia has transitioned to a mobile solutions.

This, he said, is evident with is Nokia’s Ovi store, which is open 24 by 7 days per week and is accessible in 190 countries, while 85 per cent of those who signed in repeats visit daily.

Additionally, Rutherfood said that about 30 million downloads are witnessed on Ovi store per day with about 120 operators involved globally.

He noted that at Nokia, they would continue to seek ways to deliver an unbelievable experience.

He maintained that Nokia is not exiting mobile manufacturing because a lot have involved and devices are becoming much richer in terms of features.

The mobile business, he said, keeps up in business, just as counterfeit products have become a global challenge, which is not limited to Nigeria alone.

Earlier, while welcoming guest to the session, the Group Head for Communications and External Affairs, GTBank, Mrs. Lola Odedina, said that the partnership has been a tortuous way to where they are now and commended all those who played active part in ensuring that it comes to fruition in their bid to serve Nigerian customers well whether living in Nigeria or diaspora.

Incorporated since 1990, GTB Plc started as a private limited liability company wholly owned by Nigerian individuals and institutions. The approval as Commercial Bank followed came in August 1990 and operations were started in February 1991.

GTBank a partner of Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas commenced universal banking in 2002 and was certified with ISO 9001:2000 in 2006 and by July 26, 2007 the bank was the first sub-Saharan bank and first Nigerian joint stock company to be listed on London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse.

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UNILAG convocates 76 students in Computer Engineering

The University of Lagos (UNILAG), last weekend, convocated a total of 76 students in computer engineering from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

This was out of a total of 4,554 students graduated in various fields across the College of medicine – 243; faculty of business administration - 355; Engineering - 403, Law - 248, pharmacy - 89; school of postgraduate studies – PhD-76, Masters - 2,875 and PGD-265.

Equally, a total of 119 students made first class, while four PhD candidates received their doctorate degrees.

The 76 students graduated at the weekend comprised nine from second class upper, five from the second class lower, while first class has six and second class upper has 34 students including Master Obianika Kennethrex Ndukaife; whereas 15 students made second class lower and seven of them got the third class in the 2009/2010 graduation session.

Disclosing this at the convocation ground, the Vice Chancellor, UNILAG, Prof. Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe, noted that 3,655 students from the Faculties of Arts, Education, Environmental Sciences, Sciences, Social Sciences and Distance Learning Institute (DLI) were awarded various certificates, diplomas, degrees and prizes on Wednesday, last week.

While on Thursday, he said, it was unique because besides students from the college of medicine, faculties of Basic medical sciences, clinic sciences, dental sciences, business administration, engineering, law, pharmacy and school of postgraduate studies, received degrees, certificates, diplomas and prizes.

“We conferred Honourary doctorate degree on an eminent Nigerian, award professorship emeriti on seven scholars and distinguished professorship on a professor of obstetrics and gynecology,” he said.

Prof. Sofoluwe gave the figure of total graduating students to be 4,554 across various fields.
A total of 119 students, he said, made first class, while four PhD candidates got doctorate degrees.

“I want to specifically congratulate the department of Mass Communication, after so long a time for product four PhD graduating students,” he said.

The VC assured that UNILAG would continue to strive for academic distinction, stressing that a time will come, when the university will not graduate students in the pass category.

“In fact today’s convocation is another testimony to that,” he declared.

Prof. Sofoluwe also revealed that World Bank has chosen UNILAG for the Establishment of Centre of Excellence for Multi-Media and Cinematography.

“Our department of Mass Communication has continued to blaze the trail in professional and academic relevance and pedagogical purity,” he said.

As said by him, based on the quality and relevant proposal sent to the world bank by the department under Step B Project, the department came first among 15 institutions that competed for the five million USD grant for the establishment of the centre.

He pointed out that the World Bank delegation recently visited the university and expressed desire to commence the project on or before the end of this month.

“We are sincerely grateful to the World Bank Step B project operators,” he said.

One of the graduating students, Master Ndukaife, told ITRealms Online that he was happy to have made it to this stage, which is a five-year educational journey.

According to him, is not all that started this journey are still alive, but today, I am among the graduating students. I give thanks to God for this favour.

Additionally, he gave gratitude to God for his family for their being there for him throughout this pursuit.

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M-Net dangles $200,000 on Big Brother Africa-6

Digital Satellite Television (DStv) operator, M-Net Africa, has called for entries for the 6th edition of its reality show, the Big Brother Africa (BBA6) with from the 14 participating countries on the continent, reports CHARLES OKOH.

The show which attracts a prize money of $200 000 for the winner, would have housemates from Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe who meet the entry criteria.

The Managing Director, M-Net Africa Mrs. Biola Alabi, said M-Net is looking forward to the new season of the show, adding that last year’s All Star version was a great success.

She said M-Net is extremely pleased with the show’s performance last year as some of the continent’s favourite BBA housemates from previous years were reunited.

“It was compelling, entertaining and exciting television. This year it’s once again time for fresh faces and new perspectives, so we encourage entries from across the 14 countries,” she said.

“As with previous years, we won’t be divulging too many details about the new season as yet. Our audiences respond favourably to surprises, they look forward to see what will happen next, what the new twists will be and we aim to please. This is a game like no other and with the format remaining highly popular with our audiences; our focus now is on creating something new and innovative while maintaining those aspects, like the strategic nomination sessions and dramatic eviction nights that are the foundation of this show,” she said.

On his part, Managing Director, Endemol, producers of the show, Mr. Sivan Pillay, said he is enthusiastic about the new season.

He said Big Brother is a television format that continues to enjoy great success around the world, including countries like Spain and Germany where more than 10 editions of the show have been created.

“Africa is no exception to this and the format continues to be popular,” he said.

Applicants must be 21 years old or older, fluent in English, have a valid passport and citizen of any one of the 14 participating countries.

Nigeria’s Kevin Chuwang Pam and Uti Nwachukwu won the 2009 and 2010 editions respectively. Previous winners were, Zambia’s Cherise Makubale, Tanzania’s Richard Bezuidenhout, and Angola’s Ricco Venancio.

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MTN introduces Magic Number, 2 other products

MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, has introduced its three pocket-friendly offers with
MTN Magic Number leading the pack.

Other product line unveiled at the weekend includes MTN Talk-On and MTN Family and Friends.

These products, MTN said come with tariff structures that bring true value to over 35 million subscribers on the network.

Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, who was represented at the occasion by the Bola Akingbade, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, described the triple offer as a change that is coming to every MTN customer which could be experienced in a tangible way.

He explained that the true value inherent in the tariff discount is that every customer could enjoy the unbeatable value of the MTN Magic Number.

“Every customer can make free on-net calls to and from one number for 30 whole days and nights,” he said.

He explained that TN Talk-On ensures both conversations and purse strings remain unbroken.

“This is because it offers the lowest first minute call rate in the market and an incredible 25k per second for the rest of the day,” he said.

On the other hand, for most customers who may want to keep valuable relationships on the front burner, he said, “MTN Family & Friends is just perfect. This is because with MTN Family & Friends, a customer can make calls at 20k per second only to six (6) registered numbers including one international number and one number from another network.”

The CEO also said that a customer could still take pleasure in free midnight calls to all MTN numbers.

“No hidden charges or access fees of any sort,” he said, stressing that the trio are offer of a true value for money.

“It means instant connections to your loved ones and call rates that are first-of-a-kind, never-done-before in the history of telecommunications in Nigeria. From absolutely free calls to and from your loved one on-net, to the lowest first minute call rates, you will once again receive from MTN, the value you deserve – transparent rates without hidden charges or access fees,” Farroukh was quoted as saying.

He pointed out that since 2001, MTN has been committed to offering “true value, the kind that enriches your life in tangible ways, the kind that continues to inspire us to set the pace in Nigerian telecommunications as we have done for 10 years now.”

MTN believes, he said, believes that true value also goes beyond offering the lowest rates in the telecoms market.

“True value includes the most extensive nationwide coverage that serves over 35 million Nigerians in 2, 394 cities, towns and villages. It includes the widest 3G network coverage translating to affordable, high-speed internet services wherever business and pleasure take you. It includes 292 CSR projects sites in all 36 states of Nigeria including the FCT and myriads of sponsorship initiatives in sports, music and several fields of endeavor,” he declared.

Noting that today, it also includes revolutionary tariff plans, underscoring the fact that revolutionarily they would significantly enrich customers’ treasured relationships and change the face of Nigerian telecommunications once.

While reassuring customer of improved service delivery, he said that as MTN begins the journey towards marking its 10th anniversary, they are committed to always offer this kind of value, the kind that enriches lives and ensures the service that you deserve.

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MasterCard launches ATM finder for the Android

MasterCard Worldwide last week, launched the MasterCard ATM Hunter application for Android smartphones, reports ATM market place.

This is coming as YourCash Limited has concluded plans for the installation of 500 free-to-use ATMs in convenience stores throughout the United Kingdom (UK).

MasterCard senior vice president of Global Digital Marketing, Cheryl Guerin, said that with this success, iPhone and Blackberry as well as Android users could locate ATM that offer MasterCard at ease.

“With the success of this application on the iPhone and Blackberry, it is a natural progression to bring it to the active Android user base as well,” Guerin said.

The MasterCard ATM Hunter leverages the location-based technologies of the Android platform to search for the nearest ATM. Users can customize the search based on the nearest ATM or a specific ATM if the cardholder needs to make a deposit or a surcharge-free cash withdrawal, Guerin said. The application also can locate wheelchair accessible and drive-through ATMs.

ATM Hunter also enables cardholders to report a problem at an ATM location. “This new feature facilitates real-time communication back to MasterCard to report a non-working ATM or ATM that no longer exists at a specific location,” Guerin said.

Meanwhile, YourCash Limited said it has advanced plans to install 500 free-to-use ATMs in convenience stores throughout the United Kingdom this year, according to Lee Middleton, the company’s director of Change and Marketing.

The company’s ATMs are equipped with General Packet Radio Service, enabling mobile transmission of data. As a result, retailers do not have to install a telephone line for the ATMs if the machines remain in the same location within the store, Middleton said.

To reduce deployment costs, merchants fill the ATMs with the stores’ cash. YourCash electronically reimburses retailers’ bank accounts at the end of the business day, replacing funds withdrawn by cardholders, Middleton said. Retail customers can use the ATMs to add minutes to their mobile phone accounts and to check bank balances.

YourCash also signed an agreement with iDesign to provide on-screen advertising for ATMs.

London-based iDesign promotes in-store sales on ATM screens. This strategy encourages cardholders who withdraw funds from ATMs to spend some of the money with the retailer before leaving the store. IDesign also promotes advertising campaigns for mobile telephone operators, DVD providers and other vendors whose products are not sold in the store.

“Your Cash offers the convenience market a total ATM experience,” said Jenny Campbell, chief executive of YourCash, which has its headquarters in Milton Keynes. “From our established surcharging ATMs to more technologically advanced free-to-use ATMs, we can offer our customers a solution that will not only suit their business but also benefits their business and ultimately their customers.”

YourCash was formerly known as Hanco ATM Systems Ltd. Royal Bank of Scotland Group owned the business until Hanco ATM Systems’ management purchased the company in a leveraged buyout. The deal became effective October 1.

YourCash has deployed 1,700 free-to-use ATMs throughout the U.K. and 600 free-to-use machines in the Netherlands. Company officials said YourCash controls 32 percent of the free-to-use ATM market in the United Kingdom. The company has deployed 6,000 ATMs overall.

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